Upon Wednesday' we fought the Scottish Armies. They were in number, according to all computation, above Twentythousand; we hardly Eleven-thousand, having great sickness upon our Army. After much appealing to God, the Fight lasted above an hour. We killed (as most think) Threethousand; took near Ten-thousand prisoners, all their train, about thirty guns great and small, besides bullet, match and powder, very considerable Officers, about two-hundred colours, above ten-thousand arms;-lost not thirty men. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Good Sir, give God all the glory; stir up all yours, and all about you, to do so. Pray for your affectionate brother, OLIVER CROMWELL. I desire my love may be presented to my dear Sister, and to all your Family. I pray tell Doll I do not forget her nor her little Brat. She writes very cunningly and complimentally to me; I expect a Letter of plain dealing from her. She is too modest to tell me whether she breeds or not. I wish a blessing upon her and her Husband. The Lord make them fruitful in all that's good. They are at leisure to write often; but indeed they are both idle, and worthy of blame.* LETTER CXLV A PIOUS Word, shot off to Ireland, for Son Ireton and the 'dear Friends' fighting for the same Cause there. That they may rejoice with us, as we have done with them : none knows but they may have 'need' again of mutual experiences for refreshment.' 1 'Wedensd.' in the Original. A curious proof of the haste and confusion Cromwell was in. The Battle was on Tuesday,-yesterday, 3rd September 1650; indisputably Tuesday; and he is now writing on Wednesday !— * Harris, p. 513; one of the Pusey stock, the last now but three. 66 TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL IRETON, DEPUTY-LIEUTENANT OF Dunbar, 4th September 1650. Sir,-Though I hear not often from you, yet I know you forget me not. Think so of me "too"; for I often remember you at the Throne of Grace.-I heard of the Lord's good hand with you in reducing Waterford, Duncannon, and Catherlogh:1 His Name be praised. We have been engaged upon a Service the fullest of trial ever poor creatures were upon. We made great professions of love; knowing we were to deal with many who were Godly, and "who" pretended to be stumbled at our Invasion:—indeed, our bowels were pierced again and again; the Lord helped us to sweet words, and in sincerity to mean them. We were rejected again and again; yet still we begged to be believed that we loved them as our own souls; they often returned evil for good. We prayed for security: they would not hear or answer a word to that. We made often appeals to God; they appealed also. We were near engagements three or four times, but they lay upon advantages. A heavy flux fell upon our Army; brought it very low,-from Fourteen to Eleven thousand: Three-thousand five-hundred horse, and Seven-thousand five-hundred foot. The Enemy Sixteen-thousand foot, and Six-thousand horse. The Enemy prosecuted the advantage. We were neces sitated; and upon September the 3d, by six in the morning, we attempted their Army:—after a hot dispute for about an hour, we routed their whole Army; killed near Three-thousand; and took, as the Marshal informs me, Ten-thousand prisoners; their whole Train, being about thirty pieces, great and small; good store of powder, match and bullet; near Two-hundred 1 'Catherlogh' is Carlow: Narrative of these captures (10th August 1650) in a Letter from Ireton to the Speaker (Parliamentary History, xix. 334-7). 2 Begged of them some security against Charles Stuart's designs upon England. • '7ber' he writes. 36 Colours. I am persuaded near Fifteen-thousand Arms left upon the ground. And I believe, though many of ours be wounded, we lost not above Thirty men. Before the Fight our condition was made very sad, the Enemy greatly insulted and menaced "us"; but the Lord upheld us with comfort in Himself, beyond ordinary experience. I knowing the acquainting you with this great handiwork of the Lord would stir-up your minds to praise and rejoicing; and not knowing but your condition may require mutual experiences for refreshment; and knowing also that the news we had of your successes was matter of help to our faith in our distress, and matter of praise also,—I thought fit (though in the midst of much business) to give you this account of the unspeakable goodness of the Lord, who hath thus appeared, to the glory of His great Name, and the refreshment of His Saints. The Lord bless you, and us, to return praises; to live them all our days. Salute all our dear Friends with you, as if I named them. I have no more;-but rest, your loving father and true friend, OLIVER CROMWELL.* We observe there are no regards to Bridget Ireton, no news or notice of her, in this Letter. Bridget Ireton is at London, safe from these wild scenes; far from her husband, far from her Father-will never see her brave Husband more. LETTER CXLVI DUBITATING Wharton must not let 'success' too much sway him; yet it were fit he took notice of these things he, and idle Norton whom we know, and Montague of Hinchinbrook, and others. The Lord General, for his own share, has a better ground than 'success'; has the direct insight of his * Russell's Life of Cromwell (Edinburgh, 1829; forming vols. 46, 47 of Constable's Miscellany), ii. 317-19. Does not say whence ;-Letter undoubtedly genuine. own soul, such as suffices him, such as all souls to which 'the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding,' are or may be capable of, one would think! FOR THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD WHARTON: THESE Dunbar, 4th September 1650. My dear Lord,-Ay, poor I love you! Love you the Lord: take heed of disputing!—I was untoward when I spake last with you in St. James's Park. I spake cross in stating "my grounds: I spake to my judgings of you; which were: That you, shall I name others?-Henry Lawrence, Robert Hammond, etc., had ensnared yourselves with disputes. I believe you desired to be satisfied; and had tried and doubted your "own" sincerities. It was well. But uprightness, if it be not purely of God, may be, nay commonly is, deceived. The Lord persuade you, and all my dear Friends! The results of your thoughts concerning late Transactions I know to be mistakes of yours, by a better argument than success. Let not your engaging too far upon your own judgments be your temptation or snare: much less "let" success,- -lest you should be thought to return upon less noble arguments.1 It is in my heart to write the same things to Norton, Montague and others: I pray you read or communicate these foolish lines to them. I have known my folly do good, when affection has overcome 2 my reason. I pray you judge me sincere,-lest a prejudice should be put upon after advantages. How gracious has the Lord been in this great Business! Lord, hide not Thy mercies from our eyes! My service to the dear Lady. I rest, your humble servant, OLIVER CROMWELL.* 1 Decide as the essence of the matter is; neither persist nor 'return' upon fallacious, superficial, or external considerations. outrun. * Gentleman's Magazine (London, 1814), lxxxiv. 419. Does not say whence or how. VOL. II. P LETTERS CXLVII-CXLIX Of these Letters, the first Two, with their Replies and Adjuncts, Six Missives in all, form a Pamphlet published at Edinburgh in 1650, with the Title: Several Letters and Passages between his Excellency the Lord General Cromwell and the Governor of Edinburgh Castle. They have been reprinted in various quarters: we copy the Cromwell part of them from Thurloe; and fancy they will not much need any preface. Here are some words, written elsewhere on the occasion, some time ago. "These Letters of Cromwell to the Edinburgh Clergy, treating of obsolete theologies and polities, are very dull to modern men: but they deserve a steady perusal by all such as will understand the strange meaning (for the present, alas, as good as obsolete in all forms of it) that possessed the mind of Cromwell in these hazardous operations of his. Dryasdust, carrying his learned eye over these and the like Letters, finds them, of course, full of "hypocrisy," etc. etc.-Unfortunate Dryasdust, they are coruscations, terrible as lightning, and beautiful as lightning, from the innermost temple of the Human Soul;-intimations, still credible, of what a Human Soul does mean when it believes in the Highest; a thing poor Dryasdust never did nor will do. The hapless generation that now reads these words ought to hold its peace when it has read them, and sink into unutterable reflections,-not unmixed with tears, and some substitute for "sackcloth and ashes," if it liked. In its poor canting sniffing flimsy vocabulary there is no word that can make any response to them. This man has a living god-inspired soul in him, not an enchanted artificial "substitute for salt," as our fashion is. They that have human eyes can look upon him; they that have only owl-eyes need not.' Here also are some sentences on a favourite topic, lightning and light. As lightning is to light, so is a Cromwell to a |