Oliver Cromwell and the French Romantics

It was not until 1841, when Thomas Carlyle published his essay about Cromwell and Napoleon in Heroes and Hero-Worship , that the Protector began to regain public esteem among his countrymen. 'His place in History', wrote Carlyle, 'has been a place of ignominy, accusation, blackness and disgrace; and here, this day, who knows if it is not rash in me to be among the first that ever pronounced him not a knave and a liar, but a genuinely honest man!' For Carlyle the Cromwellian period was the last heroism England had known. His 1845 edition of Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches was infused with nostalgia for lost greatness: 'The Genius of England no longer soars Sunward, world defiant, like an Eagle through the storms, "mewing her mighty youth", as John Milton saw her do.' Carlyle's version of the self-made man, and the position he won for Britain in the world, appealed to the new urban classes and their political aspirations. After nearly two centuries of neglect and opprobrium, Cromwell emerged as a champion of the common man. The Chartists took him to their heart and erected his statue in Manchester.