cer that the soldiers of the commonwealth could meet on equal terms the high-spirited troops which followed the standard of the King. At Marston-Moor the reputation of Cromwell eclipsed that of every other commander who shared with him the dangers of a doubtful and very perilous engagement; while of the victory of Naseby, if Fairfax was entitled to the first place in the triumph, the true judge of professional merit will bestow the loudest encomium upon the achievements of his lieutenant-general. But a condition of things much more decisive of his character, rose out of his own success. The King was thereby reduced sufficiently low to encourage the hope that the future government of the country might be established on a safe foundation, equally favourable to the just rights of the crown and to the liberties of the people. But such a compromise, which in all circumstances must be attended with great difficulty, was in this case opposed as well by the divided interests of the popular leaders, as by the feeling of superiority which swelled in the hearts of the military victors, who now thought themselves entitled to give the law to the beaten Royalists. There were, in fact, three parties who claimed the right of being heard in the final settlement of affairs; and it unfortunately happened, that on whatever principle the arrangement should take place, one of the three bodies must be sacrificed, to secure the union of the remaining two. A treaty between the King and the Presbyterians necessarily involved the political downfall of the Independents; while an agreement between the crown and the latter

class of religionists, must infallibly have led to the ecclesiastical discomfiture of their opponents, the adherents of the Covenant and of the Westminster Assembly. In short, it is more easy to describe the embarrassment in which the King, the Parliament, and the army, were placed by the conclusion of the war, than to suggest an expedient by which they might have accommodated their differences, and secured the peace of the nation. An honest patriotism would, no doubt, have accomplished much on both sides; but, unhappily for the reputation of the principal characters engaged in that momentous conflict, the evil spirit of private ambition, rivalry, and personal dislike, had universally mixed itself with the sullen temper engendered by a false religion, as well as with that desire for retribution and reprisal which a long course of hostilities could not fail to create in the national mind. We are now about to see in what manner Cromwell conducted himself amidst the dangers and perplexities of his new position; and to determine whether his tactics in parliament and in the council were not equal to those which he displayed in choosing his ground, and fixing the moment of attack, in the presence of an armed enemy.

CHAPTER V.

From the Arrival of the King at Holdenby-House, to the period of his Flight from Hampton Court.

THE Parliament had no sooner obtained possession of his Majesty's person, than they resol ved to diminish the numbers of the army, and to remove from the exercise of a dangerous power the more ambitious of the general officers. At the period in question, the majority of the influential members in both Houses were of the Presbyterian persuasion, and consequently hostile to Cromwell and his Independents; for which reason, the latter resolved to employ the influence which they had acquired from their long service in the field, to prevent the accomplishment of a purpose so obviously calculated to endanger both their interests and their personal safety.

Their bold and sagacious leader divided his time between the camp and the House of Commons, concealing, with his usual dexterity, the plan by which he had determined to oppose the power of the one to the pretensions of the other. It was only from hints which he sometimes dropped in conversation, that his most intimate

friends could conjecture what was passing in his mind; and in reference to his views at the interesting crisis which was produced by the surrender of the King into the hands of the parliamentary commissioners, Ludlow communicates the following characteristic notice: "Walking one day with Lieutenant-General Cromwell in Sir Robert Cotton's garden, he inveighed bitterly against them, (the Commons,) saying, in a familiar way to me, if thy father were alive, he would let some of them hear what they deserved;' adding farther, that it was a miserable thing to serve a Parliament, to whom, let a man be never so faithful, if one pragmatical fellow rise up and asperse him, he shall never wipe it off. Whereas,' said he, when one serves under a general, he may do as much service, and yet be free from all envy and blame.' This text, together with the comment which his after actions put upon it, hath since persuaded me that he had already conceived the design of destroying the civil authority, and setting up of himself; and that he took that opportunity to feel my pulse, whether I were a fit instrument to be employed by him to those ends. But having replied to his discourse, that we ought to perform the duty of our stations, and trust God with our honour, power, and all that is dear to us, not permitting any such considerations to discourage us from the prosecution of our duty, I never heard any thing more from him upon that point."*

In conducting the intrigues, by means of

* Ludlow's Memoirs, vol. 1. p. 187.

which the army was finally turned against the Parliament, Cromwell employed the subtle mind of Ireton, his son-in-law, and commissary-general. Fairfax, indeed, was still commander-inchief, and hence the official business of the different corps passed through his hands, and bore the nominal impress of his sanction. But, in fact, as he himself acknowledges, the real power was vested in his lieutenant-general, who used the name and authority of his superior officer to further the ends of his own ambition. "From the time that the army declared their usurped authority at Triplow-Heath, I never," says Sir Thomas, " gave my free consent to any thing they did; but being yet undischarged of my place, they set my name, in way of course, to all their papers, whether I consented or not, and to such failings are all authorities subject. Under parliamentary authority many injuries have been done; so here hath a general's power been broken and crumbled into a levelling faction. Yet this, I hope, all impartial judges will interpret as force and ravishment of a good name, rather than a voluntary consent, which might make me equally criminal with that faction."*

The measures contemplated by Parliament, were to draft part of the army for the reduction of Ireland, and to place the remainder on a new footing, under the direction of officers attached to their political principles. The death of Essex, it is true, deprived them of the chief means by which they had hoped to realize their scheme, and, at the same time, gave additional strength to

* Short Memorials. Somers's Tracts, vol. v. p. 396.