the great Protector and a colossal bronze figure was
authorized and erected. I know of no more impressive sight in all
England than this great statue, standing in solitary grandeur near the
Houses of Parliament, representing Cromwell with sword and bible, and
with an enormous lion crouching at his feet. It divides honor with no
other monument in its vicinity and it seems to stand as a warning to
kingcraft that it must observe well defined limitations if it continues
in Britain. I saw several other statues of Cromwell, notably at
Manchester, Warrington and at St. Ives.

An incident illustrating the sentiment with which the Protector is now
regarded by the common people came under my own observation. With a
number of other sightseers, we were visiting Warwick Castle and were
being shown some of the portraits and relics relating to Cromwell, when
the question was raised by someone in the party as to his position in
English history. A young fellow, apparently an aspirant for church
honors, expressed the opinion that Cromwell was a traitor and the
murderer of his king. He was promptly taken to task by the old soldier
who was acting as our guide through the castle. He said, "Sir, I can not
agree with you. I think we are all better off today that there was such
a man as Cromwell."

That appears to be the general sentiment of the people of Great Britain,
and the feeling is rapidly growing that he was distinctly the defender
of the people's rights. True, he destroyed many of the historic castles,
but such destruction was a military necessity. These fortresses, almost
without exception, were held by supporters of King Charles, who used
them as bases of operation against the Parliamentary Army. If not
destroyed when captured, they were re-occupied by the Royalists and the
work had to be done over again. Therefore Cromwell wisely dismantled the
strongholds when they came into his possession, and generally he did his
work so well that restoration was not possible, even after the Royalists
regained power. The few splendid examples which escaped his
wrath--notably Warwick Castle--fortunately happened at the time to be in
possession of adherents of Parliament. The damage Cromwell inflicted
upon the churches was usually limited to destruction of stone images,
tombs and altars, as savoring of idolatry. This spirit even extended to
the destruction of priceless stained-glass windows, the loss of which we
can not too greatly deplore, espec