y declared he was
seen talking with Sir Willmott Burrell near the Gull's Nest, and fear
for the preacher came over them all--why, they could not tell.

CHAPTER II.

Poesy! thou sweet'st content
That e'er Heaven to mortals lent,
Though they as a trifle leave thee
Whose dull thoughts cannot conceive thee;
Though thou be to them a scorn
That to nought but earth are born;
Let my life no longer be
Than I am in love with thee.

GEORGE WITHER.

There are two things that to a marvellous degree bring people under
subjection--moral and corporeal fear. The most dissolute are held in
restraint by the influence of moral worth, and there are few who would
engage in a quarrel, if they were certain that defeat or death would be
the consequence. Cromwell obtained, and we may add, maintained his
ascendency over the people of England, by his earnest and continually
directed efforts towards these two important ends. His court was a rare
example of irreproachable conduct, from which all debauchery and
immorality were banished; while such was his deep and intimate, though
mysterious, acquaintance with every occurrence throughout the
Commonwealth, its subjects had the certainty of knowing that, sooner or
later, whatever crimes they committed would of a surety reach the ear of
the Protector. His natural abilities must always have been of the
highest order, though in the early part of his career he discovered none
of those extraordinary talents that afterwards gained him so much
applause, and worked so upon the affections of the hearers and standers
by. His mind may be compared to one of those valuable manuscripts that
had long been rolled up and kept hidden from vulgar eyes, but which
exhibits some new proof of wisdom at each unfolding. It has been well
said by a philosopher, whose equal the world has not known since his
day, "that a place showeth the man." Of a certainty Cromwell had no
sooner possessed the opportunity so to do, than he showed to the whole
world that he was destined to govern. "Some men achieve greatness, some
men are born to greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
With Cromwell, greatness was achieved. He was the architect of his own
fortunes, owing little to, what is called, "chance," less to patronage,
and still less to crime, if we except the one sad blot upon the page of
his own history, as connected with that of his country. There appears in
his charact