Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/504

 500 CROMLECH CROMWELL of Jeremy Taylor (1838). To the department of historical and biographical literature he contributed the " Personal History of George IV." (1830), "Political Life of Burke" (1840), and " Historical Sketches, Speeches, and Char- acters " (1842). On topics more strictly pro- fessional, he published "The Apocalypse of St. John, a new Interpretation " (1827), " Di- vine Providence, or the three Cycles of Reve- lation" (1834), " The True Idea of Baptism " (1850), " Scenes from Scripture " (1851), and several volumes of sermons, besides essays on questions of public interest, such as disserta- tions on the "Tracts for the Times," "The Popish Supremacy," " Papal Aggression," " Marriage with a deceased Wife's Sister," and " The proposed Admission of Jews to Parlia- ment." He was also a frequent contributor to various periodicals. CROMLECH, or Cromleh, a primitive kind of sepulchral monument among the ancient Scan- dinavian and Celtic nations. It consisted of a large flat stone laid on other stones set upright to sustain it. These monuments are supposed Kit's Coty House. by some antiquaries to have been also used as altars on which sacrifices were offered. One of the best known cromlechs is that called Kit's Coty House, situated on a hill about $ m. N. E. of the village of Aylesbury, in the county of Kent, England. It is composed of three upright stones (two about 8 ft. square and 2 ft. thick, and the third somewhat small- er), which support an irregular roof stone about 11 ft. long, 8 ft. broad, and 2 ft. thick. The stones are of the kind called Kentish rag, and are rough and irregular in shape. Though the cromlech, dolmen, and kistvaen are fre- quently confounded, they are different, the first being open at the sides and ends, and larger, whereas the dolmen and kistvaen are closed up on every side. The word cromlech is prob- ably derived from the Armoric crom, crooked or bending, and lech, or leh, a stone. By the inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall cromlechs are called coetne Arthor, or Arthur's quoits. CROMWELL. I. Oliver, lord protector of the English commonwealth, born at Huntingdon, April 25, 1599, died at the palace of Whitehall, Sept. 3, 1658. His family belonged to the class of English gentry, and his social position was well described by himself, when he said, " I was by birth a gentleman, neither living in any considerable height, nor yet in obscurity." The Cromwells were connected with the St. Johns, the Hampdens, and other eminent Eng- lish historical families. The great-grandfather of Oliver was Sir Richard Williams, a nephew of Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, whose name he took. His grandfather was Sir Henry Cromwell, who had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and who was famous for his chari- ties. Robert Cromwell, a younger son of Sir Henry, married a daughter of William Stew- ard of Ely, who was descended from the youngest son of Alexander, lord steward of Scotland, founder of the house of Stuart. This lady and Charles I. were eighth cousins, and her son Oliver was three generations nearer to Alexander than was the king whom he sup- planted. The income of Oliver's parents was 360 a year, a large sum for those days. Rob- ert Cromwell was a justice of the peace, and sat in one of Elizabeth's parliaments. Many anecdotes are related of the youth of the future protector, most of which were probably coined after he had risen to distinction. A monkey snatched him from his cradle, and took him to the housetop. A curate saved him from drown- ing, and lived to tell him that he repented the deed when he was warring against the church. He had a fight when five years old with Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., and flogged him, when the royal family was on a visit to his uncle at Hinchinbrook. A gigantic female fig- ure drew his bed curtains, and told him that he should become the greatest man in England, but did not mention the word king. What seems certain is, that he was a fro ward boy, much given to robbing orchards and to prac- tical jokes. He took to learning by fits and starts, and, much to the surprise of his master, who flogged him severely and often, made but little progress. In 1616 he was sent to Sidney Sussex college, Cambridge, where he is rep- resented as having lived a wild life ; but as in after days he showed a fair knowledge of Latin, it is to be supposed that his studies were not neglected. In 161V, after his father's death, he left Cambridge, and was, according to some of his biographers, entered of Lincoln's Inn. The accounts of his London life are contradic- tory. One represents him associating with the best company, while the other paints him as a coarse profligate. His youth was probably spent like that of most men of his class, being that neither of a devotee nor a debauchee. In 1620 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir James Bourchier, and soon afterward his mind took that serious turn which had so great an effect on his life. He is said to have given the best proof of his sincerity by making resti- tution to persons of whom he had won money. He prayed, preached, and exhorted with unc- tion, and assisted those of his brother Puritans who needed aid in his neighborhood. He was