Cromwell Quotes

Oliver Cromwell Every man who wages war believes God is on his side. I'll warrant God should often wonder who is on his.

King Charles I go now from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown.

Priest Let us pray. Almighty God, look down upon this thy house and we, thy humble servants. Grant us the spirit of thy grace through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Priest An edict, squire, from the archbishop himself and by order of the king.

Cromwell By order of the king. Is the Church of England not a Protestant church? Would the king turn the house of God into a Roman temple?

Priest Mr. Cromwell, I beseech you.

Cromwell Does the king think that God can be bought with gold, trinkets and gilded rubbish?

Priest I know only that I have been instructed.

Cromwell Has this king forgotten the Reformation?

Priest Mr. Cromwell—

Cromwell Away with this Popish idolatry! Did the Lord not say unto Moses: "Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image nor bow down to them"? Has this king forgotten the Spanish Inquisition? Is the Roman Catholic Church to have a seat in Westminster?

Oliver Cromwell Gentlemen, an immovable Parliament is more obnoxious than an immovable king! You are drunkards, tricksters, villains, whoremasters, godless, self-seeking, ambitious tricksters. You are no more capable of conducting the affairs of this nation than you are of running a brothel!

King Charles Mr. Cromwell, you are impertinent.

Cromwell Such issues are beyond good manners, sir. Catholicism is more than a religion, it is a political power. Therefore, I am led to believe there will be no peace in Ireland until the Catholic Church is crushed.

Cromwell Your Majesty, it is my most solemn duty to place you under arrest.

King Charles By whose command, sir?

Cromwell By the command of Parliament, sir.

King Charles I know of no authority in England above that of the king.

Cromwell It is upon that issue that this war was fought.

King Charles I do swear that I hold this England and its laws dearer to my heart than any here. But gentlemen, if you were to reduce me to a figurehead, a puppet king manipulated by Parliament, how then would I serve my country? What manner of king would I be?

Cromwell I am persuaded, Your Majesty, that England must move forward to a more enlightened form of government based upon a true representation of a free people. Such an institution is known as democracy, sir.

King Charles A democracy, Mr...?

Cromwell Cromwell, sir.

King Charles Democracy, Mr. Cromwell, was a Greek drollery based on the foolish notion that there are extraordinary possibilities in very ordinary people.

Cromwell It is the ordinary people, my lord, who would most readily lay down their lives in defence of your realm. It is simply that being ordinary, they would prefer to be asked and not told.

Oliver Cromwell Was not Gideon outnumbered by the Amalekites? It is not numbers that count, but speed and surprise. Let no man move, except upon the word of his commander! Though we be outnumbered, we shall win this battle! I promise you! So now ].

Oliver Cromwell O Lord, thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not thou forget me.

Oliver Cromwell In the name of God! What are we all? Men? Cowering and quivering like downtrodden serfs. The king is not England, and England is not the king! It is not the survival of the king that is at issue here. It is the survival of England. And this king, by his dishonesties, by his treasons, and by his secret treaties with foreign powers, has shown himself to be ill-fitted to govern this great nation!