showed him evidently," said Cromwell, "how this success
might be obtained; and only desired leave, with my own brigade of horse
to charge the king's army in their retreat; leaving it in the earl's
choice, if he thought proper, to remain neuter with the rest of his
forces: but, notwithstanding my importunity, he positively refused his
consent; and gave no other reason but that, if we met with a defeat,
there was an end of our pretensions we should all be rebels and
traitors, and be executed and forfeited by law."[*]

* Clarendon, vol. v. p. 561.

Manchester, by way of recrimination, informed the parliament, that, at
another time, Cromwell having proposed some scheme to which it seemed
improbable the parliament would agree, he insisted, and said, "My lord,
if you will stick firm to honest men, you shall find yourself at the
head of an army which shall give law both to king and parliament." "This
discourse," continued Manchester, "made the greater impression on me,
because I knew the lieutenant-general to be a man of very deep designs;
and he has even ventured to tell me, that it never would be well with
England till I were Mr. Montague, and there were ne'er a lord or peer
in the kingdom."[*] So full was Cromwell of these republican projects,
that, notwithstanding his habits of profound dissimulation, he could
not so carefully guard his expressions, but that sometimes his favorite
notions would escape him.

These violent dissensions brought matters to extremity, and pushed the
Independents to the execution of their designs. The present generals,
they thought, were more desirous of protracting than finishing the war;
and having entertained a scheme for preserving still some balance in
the constitution, they were afraid of entirely subduing the king, and
reducing him to a condition where he should not be entitled to ask any
concessions. A new model alone of the army could bring complete victory
to the parliament, and free the nation from those calamities under
which it labored. But how to effect this project was the difficulty.
The authority, as well as merits, of Essex was very great with the
parliament. Not only he had served them all along with the most exact
and scrupulous honor: it was in some measure owing to his popularity
that they had ever been enabled to levy an army, or make head against
the royal cause. Manchester, Warwick, and the other commanders, had
likewise great credit with the public; nor were there