exposed to them with tears (for tears he had at will),
the calamities of the nation; and then, when he found them moulded to his
purpose, instead of assenting to the advice which he had himself suggested,
feigned reluctance, urged objections, and pleaded scruples of conscience.
At length he yielded; but it was not till he had acquired by his resistance
the praise of moderation, and the right of attributing his acquiescence to
the importunity of others instead of his own ambition.[2]

Exposed as he was to the continued machinations of the royalists and
Levellers, both equally eager to precipitate him from the height to which
he had attained, Cromwell made it his great object to secure to himself the
attachment of the army. To it he owed the acquisition, through it alone
could he insure the permanence, of his power. Now, fortunately for this
purpose, that army, composed as never was army before or since, revered in
the lord-protector what it valued mostly in itself, the cant and practice
of religious enthusiasm. The superior officers, the subalterns, the
privates, all held themselves forth as professors of godliness. Among them
every public breach of morality was severely punished; the exercises of
religious worship

[Footnote 1: See instances in Bates, Elenc. 344; Cowley, 95; Ludlow, i.
207; Whitelock, 656; State Trials, v. 1131, 1199.]

[Footnote 2: See Ludlow, i. 272; ii. 13, 14, 17.]

were of as frequent recurrence as those of military duty;[1] in council,
the officers always opened the proceedings with extemporary prayer; and to
implore with due solemnity the protection of the Lord of Hosts, was held
an indispensable part of the preparation for battle. Their cause they
considered the cause of God; if they fought, it was for his glory; if
they conquered, it was by the might of his arm. Among these enthusiasts,
Cromwell, as he held the first place in rank, was also pre-eminent in
spiritual gifts.[2] The fervour with which he prayed, the unction with
which he preached, excited their admiration and tears. They looked on him
as the favourite of God, under the special guidance of the Holy Spirit, and
honoured with communications from heaven; and he, on his part, was careful,
by the piety of his language, by the strict decorum of his court, and by
his zeal for the diffusion of godliness, to preserve and strengthen such
impressions. In minds thus disposed, it was not difficult to create
a persuasion that the final triumph