merely because they fancied they sided against God. Nor were there wanting men of the greatest candour and penetration, who thought, that this was one of the principal causes of the overthrow of our Church and State; Cromwell then availing himself of this appearance, as Doctor Price does now, to persuade religious people, that he was fighting the Lord's battles, and that opposing the King and the Bishops, was only opposing tyranny and a profane hierarchy. To shew you how much our want of religious decency contributed towards the overthrow of our Church and Government in the last century, I shall produce another extract from the Rev. Mr. Baxter's Narrative of his Life and Times. That candid divine and judicious politician, after mentioning the unhappy differences between those who conform to the Church of England, and those who do not, says:

Page 32, &c. "When they [the Nonconformists] had been for a while called by that name [Puritans], the vicious multitude of the ungodly called all Furitans, that were strict and serious, were they ever so conformable; so that the same name in a Bishop's mouth, signified a Nonconformist, and in an ignorant drunkard's or swearer's mouth, a godly Christian. But the people being the greater number, became among themselves masters of the sense. The ignorant rabble, hearing that the Bishops were against the Puritans, (not having wit to know whom they meant) were emboldened the more against all those whom they called Puritans themselves; their rage against the godly was increased; and they cried up the Bishops, &c., because they were against the Puritans. Thus the interests of the Diocesans, and of the profane sort of people, were unhappily twisted.

"As all the Nonconformists were against the Prelates, [whose interest was closely connected with the king's] so others of the most godly people were alienated from the Bishops; because the malignant sort were permitted to make religious persons their common scorn; because they saw so many vicious men among the conformable clergy; because fasting and praying, &c.,

were so strictly looked after, that the Bishops' courts did make it much more perilous than common swearing and drunkenness proved to the ungodly; because the book that was published for recreations on the Lord's day, made them think, that the Bishops concurred with the profane; because so great a number of conformable ministers were suspended or punished for not reading the book of sports on Sundays, and so many thousand families, and many worthy ministers driven out of the land, &c., all these, upon my own knowledge, were the true causes, why so great a number of those persons, who were counted most religious, fell in with the parliament; insomuch that the generality of the stricter sort of preachers joined with them. Very few of all that learned and pious synod at Westminster were Nonconformists before, and yet were for the Parliament; supposing that the interest of religion lay on that side.

46

Upon my knowledge, many that were not wise enough to understand the truth about the cause of the king and parliament, did yet run into the parliament's armies, or take their part, as sheep do together for company; being moved by this argument, Surely God will not suffer almost all his most religious servants to err in so great a matter. If these should perish, what will become of religion ?'-But these were insufficient grounds to go upon. And abundance of the ignorant sort of the country, who were civil, did flock into the parliament, and filled up their armies afterwards, merely because they heard men swear that were for the common prayers and Bishops, and heard others 'pray that were against them; and because they heard the king's soldiers with herrid oaths abuse the name of God, and saw them live in debauchery; and the parliament's soldiers flock to sermons, talk of religion, and pray and sing psalms together on their guards. All the sober men, that I was acquainted with, who were against the parliament, were wont to say-The king has the better cause, but the parliament has the better men. And indeed this unhappy complication of the interest

of prelacy and profaneness, and this opposition of th interest of prelacy to the temper of the generality c the religious party, was the visible cause of the over throw of the king in the eye of all the understanding world."

Page 31. "Though it must be confessed, that the public safety and liberty wrought very much with most. especially the nobility and gentry, who adhered to the parliament; yet was it principally the differences about religious matters, that filled up the parliament's armies, and put into their soldiers the resolution and valour which carried them on in another manner than mercenary soldiers are carried on. Not that the matter of bishops, or no bishops, was the main thing, though many called it Bellum Episcopale. For thousands that wished for good bishops were on the parliament's side. But the generality of the people (I say not all) who used to talk of God and heaven, and scripture and holiness, and read books of devotion, and pray in their families, and spend the Lord's day in religious exercises, and speak against wearing, cursing, drunkenness, profaneness, &c.; I say, the main body of this sort of men adhered to the Parliament. And on the other side, the gentry that were not so precise and strict against an oath, or gaming, or plays, or drinking; nor troubled themselves so much about God and the world to come; and the ministers and people that were for the king's book for dancing and recreation on the Lord's days, and those that made not so great a matter of every sin, but were glad to hear a sermon which lashed the Puritans, &c., the main body of these were against the parliament."

Page 44. "And here I must repeat the great cause of the parliament's strength, and the king's ruin-and that was, that the debauched rabble through the land, emboldened by his gentry, and seconded by the common soldiers of his army, took all that were called Puritans for their enemies. And though some of the king's gentry, and superior officers were so civil, that they would do no such thing; yet that was no security to the country while the multitude did what they list. So that

if any one was noted for a strict preacher, or for a man of a pious life, he was plundered or abused, and in dan. ger of his life.—And if a man did but pray in his family,, er were but heard to repeat a sermon, or sing a psalm, they cried out, Rebels! Round-heads! and all their goods that were portable proved guilty, how innocent soever they were themselves. I suppose this was kept from the knowledge of the king, and perhaps of many sober lords of the council; for few could come near them; and it is the fate of such not to believe evil of those that they think are for them; nor good of those that they think are against them. But, upon my certain knowledge, this was it that filled the armies and garrisons of the parliament with sober, pious men. Thousands

had no mind to meddle with the wars, but greatly desired to live peaceably at home, when the rage of soldiers and drunkards would not let them. Some stayed till they had been plundered, perhaps twice or thrice over-but most were afraid of their lives, and oft they sought refuge in the parliament's garrisons, and were fain to take up arms, and be soldiers, to get bread."

Mr. Baxter's account of Cromwell's character, and of his religious troop, is too remarkable not to deserve a place in this extract. Page 98,"No mere man was better and worse spoken of than he [Cromwell] according as men's interests led their judgments. The soldiers and sectaries most idly magnified him, till he began to seek the crown; and then there were so many that would be half-kings themselves, that a king did seem intolerable to them. The royalists abhorred him as a most ́perfidious hypocrite, and the Presbyterians thought him little better. If, after so many others, I speak my own opinion of him, I think, that having been a prodigal in his youth, and afterwards changed into a zealous religionist, he meant honestly in the main course of his life, till prosperity and success corrupted him. At his first entrance into the wars, being but a captain of horse, he had special care to get religious men into his troop. These men were of greater understanding than common soldiers, and therefore were more apprehensive of the importance of the

war; and making not money, but that which they took to be the public felicity, to be their end, they were the more engaged to be valiant. For he that makes money his end, esteems his life above his pay, and therefore is likely enough to save it by flight when danger comes. But he that maketh the felicity of Church and State his end, esteemeth it above his life, and therefore will the sooner lay down his life for it. This Cromwell understood, and that none would be such valiant men as the religious. I conjecture, that at his first choosing such men into his troop, it was the very esteem and love of religious men that principally moved him; by this means he sped better than he expected. That troop did prove so valiant, that, as far as I could learn, they never once ran away before an enemy. Hereupon he got a commission, and brought this troop into a double regi.. ment of fourteen full troops; and all these as full of religious men as he could get. ordinary wit and resolution, had more than ordinary success. With their successes, the hearts both of captain and soldiers secretly rose both in pride and expectation; and the familiarity of many honest, erroneous men, Anabaptists, Antinomians, &c., began withal quickly to corrupt their judgments. Hereupon Cromwell's religious zeal gave way to the power of that ambition, which still increased as his successes increased. Both piety and ambition concurred in his countenancing all that he thought godly. Piety pleadeth for them as godly, and ambition secretly told him what use he might make of them. He meant well in all this at the beginning, and thought that he did all for the safety of the godly, and the public good; but not without any eye to himself."+

These having more than

+ No historian having had so good an opportunity of knowing Cromwell, as judicious Mr. Baxter, who was personally acquainted with him, and served in his army as chaplain; some of my readers will be glad to see, what he further says of that extraordinary man.

"When successes had broken down all considerable opposition, he [Cromwell] was in the face of all temptations,