LVII. CHAP. the army since his misfortune in Cornwal. Manchester, who commanded, though his forces were 1644. much superior to those of the king, declined an en gagement, and rejected Cromwel's advice, who 9th Nov. earnestly pressed him not to neglect so favourable an opportunity of finishing the war. The king's army, by bringing off their cannon from Dennington-castle, in the face of the enemy, seemed to have sufficiently repaired the honour which they had lost at Newbury; and Charles, having the satisfaction to excite, between Manchester and Cromwel, equal animosities with those which formerly took place between Essex and Waller,' distributed his army into winter-quarters. 23d Nov. Rise and THOSE Contests among the parliamentary generals, which had disturbed their military operations, were renewed in London during the winter season; and each being supported by his own faction, their mutual reproaches and accusations agitated the whole city and parliament. There had long prevailed, in that party, a secret distinction, which, though the dread of the king's power had hitherto suppressed it, yet, in proportion as the hopes of success became nearer and more immediate, began to discover itself, with high contest and animosity. The INDEPENDENTS, who had, at first, taken shelter and concealed themselves under the wings of the PRESBYTERIANS, now evidently appeared a distinct party, and betrayed very different views and pretensions. We must here endeavour to explain the genius of this party, and of its leaders, who henceforth occupy the scene of action. DURING those times, when the enthusiastic spirit character met with such honour and encouragement, and was depend- the immediate means of distinction and preferment; it was impossible to set bounds to these holy feryours, or confine, within any natural limits, what ents. 1 Rush. vol. vii. p. 1. was LVII. was directed towards an infinite and a supernatural CHA P. object. Every man, as prompted by the warmth of his temper, excited by emulation, or supported by 1644. his habits of hypocrisy, endeavoured to distinguish himself beyond his fellows, and to arrive at a higher pitch of saintship and perfection. In proportion to its degree of fanaticism, each sect became dangerous and destructive; and as the independents went a note higher than the presbyterians, they could less be restrained within any bounds of temper and moderation. From this distinction, as from a first principle, were derived, by a necessary consequence, all the other differences of these two sects. THE independents rejected all ecclesiastical establishments, and would admit of no spiritual courts, no government among pastors, no interposition of the magistrate in religious concerns, no fixed encouragement annexed to any system of doctrines or opinions. According to their principles, each congregation, united voluntarily and by spiritual ties, composed, within itself, a separate church, and exercised a jurisdiction, but one destitute of temporal sanctions, over its own pastor and its own members. The election alone of the congregation was sufficient to bestow the sacerdotal character; and as all essential distinction was denied between the laity and the clergy, no ceremony, no institution, no vocation, no imposition of hands, was, as in all other churches, supposed requisite to convey a right to holy orders. The enthusiasm of the presbyterians led them to reject the authority of prelates, to throw off the restraint of liturgies, to retrench ceremonies, to limit the riches and authority of the priestly office: The fanaticism of the independents, exalted to a higher pitch, abolished ecclesiastical government, disdained creeds and systems, neglected every ceremony, and confounded all ranks and orders. The soldier, the merchant, the mechanic, indulging the fervours C 2 LVII. CHA P. fervours of zeal, and guided by the illapses of the spirit, resigned himself to an inward and superior di1644. rection, and was consecrated, in a manner, by an immediate intercourse and communication with heaven. THE catholics, pretending to an infallible guide, had justified, upon that principle, their doctrine and practice of persecution: The presbyterians imagining that such clear and certain tenets, as they themselves adopted, could be rejected only from a criminal and pertinacious obstinacy; had hitherto gratified, to the full, their bigoted zeal, in a like doctrine and practice: The independents, from the extremity of the same zeal, were led into the milder principles of toleration. Their mind, set afloat in the wide sea of inspiration, could confine itself within no certain limits; and the same variations, in which an enthusiast indulged himself, he was apt, by a natural train of thinking, to permit in others. Of all christian sects this was the first, which, during its prosperity as well as its adversity, always adopted the principle of toleration; and it is remarkable that so reasonable a doctrine owed its origin, not to reasoning, but to the height of extravagance and fanaticism. POPERY and prelacy alone, whose genius seemed to tend towards superstition, were treated by the independents with rigour. The doctrines too of fate or destiny were deemed by them essential to all religion. In these rigid opinions, the whole sectaries, amidst all their other differences, unanimously concurred. THE political system of the independents kept pace with their religious. Not content with confining to very narrow limits the power of the crown, and reducing the king to the rank of first magistrate, which was the project of the presbyterians; this sect, more ardent in the pursuit of liberty, aspired to a total abolition of the monarchy, and even of the aristocracy; and projected an entire equality of rank LVII. 1644. rank and order in a republic, quite free and inde- C HA P. pendent. In consequence of this scheme, they were declared enemies to all proposals for peace, except on such terms as, they knew, it was impossible to obtain; and they adhered to that maxim, which is, in the main, prudent and political, that, whoever draws the sword against his sovereign, should throw away the scabbard. By terrifying others with the fear of vengeance from the offended prince, they had engaged greater numbers into the opposition against peace, than had adopted their other principles with regard to government and religion. And the great success, which had already attended the arms of the parliament, and the greater, which was soon expected, confirmed them still farther in this obstinacy. SIR Harry Vane, Oliver Cromwel, Nathaniel Fiennes, and Oliver St. John, the solicitor-general, were regarded as the leaders of the independents. The earl of Essex, disgusted with a war, of which he began to foresee the pernicious consequences, adhered to the presbyterians, and promoted every reasonable plan of accommodation. The earl of Northumberland, fond of his rank and dignity, regarded with horror a scheme, which, if it took place, would confound himself and his family with the lowest in the kingdom. The earls of Warwic and Denbigh, sir Philip Stapleton, sir William Waller, Hollis, Massey, Whitlocke, Maynard, Glyn, had embraced the same sentiments. In the parliament, a considerable majority, and a much greater in the nation, were attached to the presbyterian party; and it was only by cunning and deceit at first, and afterwards by military violence, that the independents could entertain any hopes of success. THE earl of Manchester, provoked at the impeachment which the king had lodged against him, had long forwarded the war with alacrity; but, being a man of humanity and good principles, the view of LVII. CHAP. of public calamities, and the prospect of a total subversion of government, began to moderate his ar1644. dour, and inclined him to promote peace on any safe or honourable terms. He was even suspected, in the field, not to have pushed to the utmost against the king the advantages obtained by the arms of the parliament; and Cromwel, in the public debates, revived the accusation, that this nobleman had wilfully neglected at Dennington-castle a favourable opportunity of finishing the war by a total defeat of the royalists. "I showed him evidently," said Cromwel," how this success might be obtain"ed; and only desired leave, with my own brigade "of horse, to charge the king's army in their re"treat; leaving it in the earl's choice, if he thought 66 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."m MANCHESTER, by way of recrimination, informed the parliament, that, at another time, Cromwel 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 Cromwel |