In minds thus disposed, it was not difficult to create
a persuasion that the final triumph 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.
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