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Cromwell, also, is described as having been of a wayward and
violent temper in his youth--cross, untractable, and masterless--
with a vast quantity of youthful energy, which exploded in a
variety of youthful mischiefs. He even obtained the reputation of
a roysterer in his native town, and seemed to be rapidly going to
the bad, when religion, in one of its most rigid forms, laid hold
upon his strong nature, and subjected it to the iron discipline of
Calvinism. An entirely new direction was thus given to his energy
of temperament, which forced an outlet for itself into public
life, and eventually became the dominating influence in England
for a period of nearly twenty years.
The heroic princes of the House of Nassau were all distinguished
for the same qualities of self-control, self-denial, and
determination of purpose. William the Silent was so called, not
because he was a taciturn man--for he was an eloquent and
powerful speaker where eloquence was necessary--but because he
was a man who could hold his tongue when it was wisdom not to
speak, and because he carefully kept his own counsel when to have
revealed it might have been dangerous to the liberties of his
country. He was so gentle and conciliatory in his manner that his
enemies even described him as timid and pusillanimous. Yet, when
the time for action came, his courage was heroic, his
determination unconquerable.
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