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 he had formed, it was necessary to see that the preparation was continuous—that Prussia was always and increasingly prepared.

In the history of our own country—for we must not, in smug complacency and with a show of unctuous rectitude, merely look abroad for the marks of diplomacy—we might go for illustration of its sinister attributes to quarters where, perhaps, they are least expected. It has been claimed for Oliver Cromwell that he was 'no Frederick the Great, who spoke of mankind as diese verdammte Race—that accursed tribe': he belongs to 'the rarer and nobler type of governing men who see the golden side, who count faith, pity, hope among the counsels of practical wisdom, and who for political power must ever seek a moral base'. We should not be content with that character for the Protector even in his home policy; still less in his foreign policy. A knowledge of the diplomacy of 1654 is of itself sufficient to destroy the picture and discredit the artist. It used to be thought that Cromwell then stood forth as arbiter among the rulers of Europe, and, in particular, that the monarchs of France and Spain were suitors for his support. Instead of this the facts show him courting France