Mr. Morley on Cromwell.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume VII, Issue 68, 19 September 1901, Page 2

Mr. Morley on Cromwell.

In the Cromwellian period, when the ferment at once so subtle and so tumultuous had begun to clear, it was' found that, though by no direct and far-sighted counsel of Cromwell's own, two fertile principles had struggled into recognised life upon English soil —the principle of toleration and the principle of free or voluntary churches. These might both of them have seemed to be of the very essence of the Reformation ; but, iOS everyfliic Free *-Ivrquuy-timl "Free Conscience, the twin pillars of Protestantism in its fundamental theory, were in practice hidden out of sight and memory, and, as we shall see, even Cromwell and his independents shrank from the full acceptance of their own doctrines. Cromwell was no Frederick the Great, who spoke of mankind as diese verdammte Race, that accursed tribe. He belonged to the rarer and nobler type of governing men, who see the golden side, who count faith, pity, hope, among counsels of practical wisdom, and who for political power must ever seek a moral base. This is a key to men's admiration for him. His ideals were high, his fidelity to them, though sometimes clouded, was still abiding, his ambition was pure. Yet it can hardly be accident that has turned him into one of the idols of the school who hold, shyly as yet in England but nakedly in Germany, that might is a token of right, and that the strength and power of the State is an end that teats and justifies all means. A Frugal Monarch. Among the many reasons which might induce the King of the Belgians to reside in Paris there is one which is not the least of all—that of economy, for, if in Belgium ho pays the highest price for everything because he is the King, in France he gets all he wants on the cheap, sometimes for nothing at all, because he is a King. So much for the snobbishness of the Third Republic. All the time during the Paris Exhibition his expenses amounted to a few pounds a day for his rooms at the Palace Hotel. All the attractions, theatres, concerts, and even restaurantes de nuits were only too happy to open their doors and spread thoir tables with the daintiest things for his Majesty, who was an invaluable magnet to attract snobs. Guarding the King of Spain. The most extraordinary precautions are taken in Spain to provide for the safety of the Sovereign at night. His slumbers are watched throughout the night by £he Montcrof de Espinosa, a body of men who for 400 years have enjoyed the exclusive privilege of guarding their Royal master or mistress from sunset to sunrise. They are bound by tradition to be natives of the town of Espinosa, and to have served with honour in the army. They lock the palace gates with much ceremony and solemnity at midnight, and open them again at seven o'clock in the morning. Their fidelity to the person of their Sovereign does not admit of question. An Assault Case. In the course of an assault case heard at the Central Court, Sydney, the other day, the defendant was asked his trade. ' I drive a 'bus,' was the reply. ' You mean,' suggested the precise solicitor on the other side, ' that you drive the horses attached thereto ?' ' Yes, if you would rather have it put in that way,' replied the defendant. Shortly afterwards, in the course of his cross-examination, the solicitor asked the defendant: ' Did you or did you not strike the prosecutor in the face ?' The defendant, after a thoughtful pause, convulsed the court with the following : 'Well, now I come to think, there's a doubt about it. I was under the impression that I did strike the prosecutor on the face ; but perhaps it would be as well to say that I struck him on the nasal organ attached thereto !' The woman who'will admit that some other woman's baby is as smart as hers is not tu be trusted