Cromwell's Foreign Policy.
Nothing could surpass the zeal of Cromwell in the support of the Protestant interest at home and abroad. Burnet, on the authority of Stoupe,[558] informs us that he contemplated a sort of anti-propagandist society, to be conducted by seven councillors and four secretaries for four provinces. France, Switzerland, and the Valleys were to be the first; the Palatinate and other Calvinistic countries the second; Germany, the North, and Turkey, the third; and the East and West Indies the fourth. The secretaries were to maintain a correspondence throughout the world so as to watch and promote the spread of Protestantism everywhere. They were to be paid salaries of £500 a year each, and to have at their disposal a fund of £10,000 for ordinary contingencies. Chelsea College, then an old and decayed building, was constituted the head quarters of this mission; and thus, as it was said, those premises were restored to something like the very purpose in reference to which Laud had nicknamed the place "Controversy College"—whilst "the Papists, in derision, gave it the name of an alehouse."[559]
Treatment of the Jews.
The condition of the Jews received attention from the Protector principally with regard to their social status in England. Cromwell wished to concede to them liberty of trade and of worship, and to grant them both synagogues and cemeteries; but prejudice against the people of Israel, which had been nursed throughout the middle ages, and had not yet expired, proved too strong even for the iron will of England's ruler to overcome. The inveterate intolerance which down to our day excluded them from a full share in political rights, then resisted even their moderate claims to a home, a house of prayer, and a grave on British soil. Not only the narrow-minded Mr. Prynne, but even Durie—with all his zeal for union amongst Protestants, as fellow-religionists—contended earnestly against the participation of the Jews in the social rights which were enjoyed by Christians. Men of that class contended that to tolerate Israelites was a sin; that they would seduce the English people; that their possession of religious freedom would be a scandal to Christian Churches; that their customs were unlawful; and that association with them would prove injurious to morals and mischievous to trade. It was all in vain to answer, as did certain Divines—who were themselves by no means free from popular prejudice—that no civil or ecclesiastical authority was intended to be conferred upon the Jews; that they would not be allowed to defame the Christian religion, or work on the Christian Sabbath, or have Christian servants; that they would not be allowed to discourage efforts for their conversion; and that penalties would be inflicted on any person who might apostatize from Christianity to Judaism. The ground of defence thus laid for the scanty toleration which was proposed indicates what erroneous ideas existed, even under the Commonwealth, as to the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty.[560] But Cromwell, though not perceiving all which the subsequent teaching of Divine Providence has made known to us, saw much further than many of his contemporaries who in theological matters were more learned than himself. Guided by the instinct of genius, and moved by the impulse of charity, he was prepared to allow, even to the hated sons of Jacob, the rights of industry and worship; and doing so, this great man aroused unfair suspicions on the part of people who ought to have known better.[561] A feeling of interest respecting the children of Israel appeared in other quarters, and certain individuals, with no mere proselyting zeal, watched the movements of God's ancient nation, and longed to witness its conversion to the faith of Jesus Christ.[562]
CHAPTER XVIII.
The History which we are tracing in these pages resolves itself into a grand epic without any literary skill on the part of the historian. Commencing, as it does, with the opening of the Long Parliament, and ending with the death of Oliver Cromwell—it exhibits the Episcopal Church of England in the midst of its ancient grandeur on the very eve of its downfall; it indicates the causes of that catastrophe; it describes a new ecclesiastical system, which was immediately contrived to occupy the place of its predecessor; and it then unfolds another and a very simple scheme of religious instruction which was established, and superseded, in fact, the elaborate theory of the Westminster Divines. Soon after the opening of our story one character appeared, destined before long to be the commanding figure on the stage of events. Although Cromwell had only taken part with many others in effecting the overthrow of the Anglican Establishment, he, perhaps, of all the actors in those stirring times, most effectually contributed to prevent the full practical development of the Presbyterian polity in England; and most certainly to his genius and determination we must attribute the origin and defence of that unique ecclesiastical system which, during the Protectorate, constituted the Church of England.[563] Really the moral offspring of a revolution which overthrew despotic power, and asserted the right of man to freedom, Oliver was the most absolute ruler which this country ever saw; and in this respect it is obvious and easy to run a parallel between him and the first, if not the second, Napoleon. The cause of such a political phenomenon has been indicated. It is no strange thing. The world has witnessed it over and over again. But, in Cromwell's case, there was what in the case of the first Napoleon there was not;—what alas! amongst the masters of mankind has ever been too rare—a deep, strong, invincible faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not from policy, not as a piece of statecraft, but from a spiritual insight, and as a Christian duty—from love to the souls of men, and with a desire to advance the glory of God—did the Protector watch and foster, protect and promote, the interests of religion. As he was really the temporal head of that new Church, if such it may be termed; as he was the Defender of its Faith, as its existence was bound up with his authority, and as when he died its fate was sealed—the circumstances connected with the close of his eventful life, and the religious character of his last days, require to be related, in order that something approaching to completeness may be given to this imperfect work. With the death of Cromwell we wind up our history for the present.
Cromwell at Hampton Court.