The seeds of the Civil Wars were sown in the reign of James I. Carlyle thought; working on this manuscript that his opinion of Cromwell rose, to the point where he felt evidence of his true character could only be shown by the unquestionable evidence of his Letters and Speeches and set this aside in order to collect and edit them. The work was edited by Alexander Carlyle from the manuscripts left by Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish peasant who became one of the great names of English literature, was the most important social and political thinker of the Victorian era.