The biographer of Cromwell says little about the Protector's
father, but dwells upon the character of his mother, whom he
describes as a woman of rare vigour and decision of purpose: "A
woman," he says, "possessed of the glorious faculty of self-help
when other assistance failed her; ready for the demands of fortune
in its extremest adverse turn; of spirit and energy equal to her
mildness and patience; who, with the labour of her own hands, gave
dowries to five daughters sufficient to marry them into families
as honourable but more wealthy than their own; whose single pride
was honesty, and whose passion was love; who preserved in the
gorgeous palace at Whitehall the simple tastes that distinguished
her in the old brewery at Huntingdon; and whose only care, amidst
all her splendour, was for the safety of her son in his dangerous
eminence." (7)

We have spoken of the mother of Napoleon Buonaparte as a woman of
great force of character. Not less so was the mother of the Duke
of Wellington, whom her son strikingly resembled in features,
person, and character; while his father was principally
distinguished as a musical composer and performer. (8) But,
strange to say, Wellington's mother mistook him for a dunce; and,
for some reason or other, he was not such a favourite as her other
children, until his great deeds in after-life constrained her to
be proud of him.

The Napiers were blessed in both parents, but especially in their
mother, Lady Sarah Lennox, who early sought to inspire her sons'
minds with elevating thoughts, admiration of noble deeds, and a
chivalrous spirit, which became embodied in their lives, and