Thomas Bailey

“ That a kind monarch has his strength employ’d,
To cater for the royal appetite,
And kept his sacred person from the fight.
Ask of the Beaver, Slave! what wholesome rules
Binds his community,—unknown to schools:
Inquire the rights he claims,—the law he gives,
In that society in which he lives?
He will instruct thee, ’tis for mutual good,
To share defence, and fellowship and food:—
That gen’ral benefit cements the tie,
Which binds his species in society. ”

“ Among those whose memories have shared the largest portion of this abuse General Ireton stands conspicuous. His uncompromising sternness of principle, and intrepidity of conduct naturally exposed him to this: nor is it to be wondered at that such a character, possessing so much compass,—so much originality, and diversity of feature, should be liable to misrepresentation: it is the error of weak or rash minds to distort what they cannot comprehend; and to mistake their own crudities for imperfections in the sublime objects which they casually contemplate. ”

“ Independence, mere independence,—founded on abstract considerations of the natural powers and propensities of man, irrespective of the moral effects of established habits and sophisticated institutions, appears to have been the object contemplated by the leaders in the late French revolution. Liberty,—rational liberty!—built on the firm basis of a refined morality, deduced from divine Truth and calculated to purify and exalt human nature, was the good sought for, by most of those men concerned in the subversion of the throne of the Stuarts. ”

“ This was, as it were, conventionally done by the country at the revolution in 1688—when the Stuarts were decisively expelled the throne of these realms—and the foul infection of their name, allowed no more to pollute the annals of Britain: a most glorious achievement this; which deliberately recognizing by an act of legislation the real voice of the people, as the only basis of legitimate government laid “the divine right of kings” prostrate before “the majesty of the people;” ”

“ When the restoration of the Stuarts to power became apparent, still greater numbers of the republicans and non-conformists sought refuge in New England from the persecutions which they foresaw awaited them. To the descendants of these men, inheriting the noble detestation of arbitrary power which so strikingly distinguished their forefathers, America owes all her real greatness. ”

“ His object has been to shew mankind, that their vices and follies are the real cause of their degradation;—that good morals, springing from right principles, form the only sure foundation of civil liberty; and that the men who would found an improvement of the social system, on any other basis than [Pg 6] that of an improved moral and intellectual condition of the people, can only enter on a course of fearfully hazardous experiments: rationally hoping for nothing but to reap from the crimes of others, a harvest of contempt and execration as their own portion. ”

“ They knew that there can be no real liberty, and no good political government, without morality; and they believed that the morality of the various members of the community intimately depended upon their religious creed, and upon the character and conduct of the ministers of the national religion. ”

“ But is it wise?—is it generous?—is it just?—in Englishmen thus to insult the memories, and degrade the characters of men to whom they undoubtedly owe much of that stamina in their moral character, which has so nobly distinguished them among the nations of the earth? it cannot be! it is high time that society, in the expression of its language, and the indulgence of its opinions respecting them, reversed that attainder under which they were condemned by the frivolous and licentious generation which followed them. ”

“ The man who was acknowledged to have such claims, by the commonwealth’s men, a body comprizing, probably, more genius, virtue, and sterling patriotism, than were ever united for the accomplishment of any social purpose in the annals of mankind, must have been unquestionably an extraordinary person ”

“ Such conduct in the bulk of mankind, is as becoming as if the tortoise were to impeach the character of the noble courser, because in the strength of his power, he makes the earth to shake beneath him as he scours along the plain, and overleaps in his might the enclosure which circumscribes his limited vision. ”

“ The New England men still exhibit a distinct feature in American society, and probably possess more virtue, intelligence, and independence of character than is to be found in any other state in the union.—See Doctor Dwight’s Travels in New England. ”

“ That the leaders of them were sincere, is abundantly proved by their general character for integrity, and the sacrifices they made to the cause in which they had engaged;—that they were not “fanatics” is proved as far, at least, as respects the Independents, the true Republicans, by the liberality of their sentiments respecting religious toleration:—that they were not altogether visionary in their plans of government, may be demonstrated from the fact that the broad outline of policy marked out by them, still continues to be the land-marks of British policy ”

“ A notion in which he is not at all borne out by contemporary testimony: for though Bishop Burnet remarks, that “Cromwell was wavering whether to put the king to death or not; but that Ireton, who had the temper and principles of a Cassius, stuck at nothing that might have turned England into a Commonwealth, hoping that by the king’s death that all men concerned in it would become irreconcileable to monarchy;” ”

“ The true patriot is he who aims to elevate the tone of morals among his fellow citizens,—to excite them to a just respect for themselves,—
“And teach, by virtue, man to break his chains.”
This was the true spirit of the eminent reformers of the age of Charles the first. ”

“ Among the patriots no one [Pg 7] was more deeply imbued with this sublime spirit, nor partook more largely of the generous enthusiasm it excited, than Henry Ireton, whose inflexible virtue, after the apparent defection of Cromwell, formed the basis on which rested the darling hopes of all the virtuous and enlightened reformers of his day. ”

“ In pursuing the train of thought connected with his subject, the author has been led to touch upon the comparative value of republicanism and monarchy, as conducive in the spirit of their institutions, to advance that perfectibility of the social system which he believes it the duty of every true patriot steadily to pursue. ”

“ With his rooted antipathy to the government of a single person, and his bold and decisive character; at the same time possessing a mind fitted for the most daring resolves, and capacious of enterprizes requiring boldness, and skill in their accomplishment, there can be no wonder that he was amongst the foremost in bringing about the death of the king. This perfectly agrees with the character given of him by Neal, in his history of the Puritans, where he remarks, “Lieutenant-General Ireton was bred to the law, and was a person of great integrity ”

“ Cromwell and his family, as well as others of the party, had embarked, and the rest were on the point of so doing, but were prevented leaving the kingdom by an order in council, “directing the lord treasurer to take speedy and effectual course for the stay of eight ships then in the river Thames, prepared to go to New England, and for putting on land all the passengers and provisions therein intended for the voyage.” ”

“ Let princes learn, then, righteously to sway:—
And to their subjects’ weal just def’rence pay:
Nor lust of pow’r e’er tempt them to withstand
What justice prompts the People to demand. [Pg 18]
Let rights of conscience, social claims allow’d,
Disarm the factious, and confound the proud:
Who seek, ’midst wounded spirits,—tortur’d minds,
That cement which a suff’ring people binds. ”