of "their cause" depended on the
authority of the general under whom they had conquered; while the full
enjoyment of that religious freedom which they so highly prized rendered
them less jealous of the arbitrary power which he occasionally

[Footnote 1: "The discipline of the army was such that a man would not be
suffered to remain there, of whom we could take notice he was guilty of
such practices."--Cromwell's speech to parliament in 1654. It surprised
strangers.--Certa singulis diebus tum fundendis Deo precibus, tum audiendis
Dei praeconiis erant assignata tempora.--Parallelum Olivae apud Harris,
iii. 12. E certo ad ogni modo, che le Truppe vivono con tanta esatezza,
come se fossero fraterie de' religiosi.--Sagredo, MS.]

[Footnote 2: Religioso al estremo nell' esteriore, predica con eloquenza ai
soldati, li persuade a vivere secondo le legge d' Iddio, e per render piu
efficace la persuasione, si serve ben spesso delle lagrime, piangendo piu
li peccati altrui, che li proprii.--Ibid. See also Ludlow, iii. 111.]

assumed. In his public speeches, he perpetually reminded them that, if
religion was not the original cause of the late civil war, yet, God "soon
brought it to that issue;" that amidst the strife of battle, and the
difficulties and dangers of war, the reward to which they looked was
freedom of conscience; that this freedom to its full extent they enjoyed
under his government, though they could never obtain it till they had
placed the supreme authority in his hands.[1] The merit which he thus
arrogated to himself was admitted to be his due by the great body of the
saints; it became the spell by which he rendered them blind to his ambition
and obedient to his will; the engine with which he raised, and afterwards
secured, the fabric of his greatness.

On the subject of civil freedom, the protector could not assume so bold
a tone. He acknowledged, indeed, its importance; it was second only to
religious freedom; but if second, then, in the event of competition, it
ought to yield to the first. He contended that, under his government, every
provision had been made for the preservation of the rights of individuals,
so far as was consistent with the safety of the whole nation. He had
reformed the Chancery, he had laboured to abolish the abuses of the law, he
had placed learned and upright judges on the bench, and he had been careful
in all ordinary cases that impartial justice should be administered between
the partie