figure, who told him that before his death he should be the greatest man in England. In the third parliament of Charles I., Cromwell took his seat in parliament for Huntingdon. Heartily weary of the unconstitutional proceedings of the monarch, and seeing no clear way to an end, it is said that Cromwell and many other puritans who afterwards fought valiantly for the popular cause would have retired from England. In Holland or in America they would have sought a new home and then the whole events of English history must have been changed. Without such men as Cromwell, Eliot, Pym, Hampden, and others of the same stamp, the king must have triumphed. But the king defeated himself. Those who would have quitted the scene of strife were not permitted to depart. Ships ready to weigh anchor were arbitrarily detained, and those who were willing to relinquish any part in the struggle were forced to remain When the civil war began Cromwell accepted a commission under the Parliament and as captain Oliver fought at Edge Hill. Subsequently he raised a troop of horse, of which he became colonel-a conspicuous man— one of whom King Charles remarked, "I would that some one would do me the good fortune to bring Cromwell to me dead or alive!" He was appointed lieutenant under the Earl of Manchester, but it was in vain that he endeavoured to move the heavy spirit of his superior. Cromwell saw plainly that a few bold strokes would put an end to the war; the earl hesitated; the other generals acted with incautious caution-to Oliver they seemed like men half asleep. He plumply declared there “ never would be a good time in England till it had done with the Lords." He openly stated that if he met the king in battle, he would fire his pistol at him as at another man. The men under Cromwell's command resembled their leader; they were worthy of the name of Ironsides; they had learned to fear God and to know no other fear.

As the struggle of the King and the Commons went on, the alliance of the Scots became of increasing importance to each party. The king on his part was willing to concede, in terms at all events, anything the Scots might demand, provided they would render him assistance. But the covenanters doubted his royal word, and were loth to have anything to do with the royal cause; still there was a royalist party in Scotland— Montrose their chief man-and on their help the king had considerable reliance. The Commons were also anxious to conclude an alliance with the Scots, and the Scots on their part were not unwilling to treat with the English Commons. Commoners were therefore sent to Scotland from

the English Parliament, chief of whom was Henry Vane. The proposition of the Scots was that they should invade England on the distinct understanding that the Parliament adopted the covenant and recognised through the two kingdoms the Presbyterian form of government, or, as they vaguely expressed it, "according to the pattern of the most reformed

Arrest of Puritans Embarking for the Colonies.

Church." Vane, relying on the vagueness of the expression, conceded the point, merely introducing the word league as well as covenant, thus giving to the alliance a political as well as religious character. The two houses signed the league and covenant on the 25th of September, 1643, and the Scots undertook to send an army of 21,000 men into England,

commanded by the Earl of Leven, and they were to receive thirty-one thousand pounds a month, one hundred thousand pounds of it in advance and another sum so soon as peace was concluded.

The Scots crossed the Tweed the 16th of January, 1644, and in conjunction with the Parliamentary forces, lay siege to York, defended by the Marquis of Newcastle. Towards the end of June, "Prince Rupert with an army of some twenty thousand fierce men, came pouring over the hills of Lancashire, where he had left harsh traces of himself, to relieve the Marquis of Newcastle," who was now beset by the Yorkshiremen under Fairfax, the Scots under Leven, and the "associated counties" under Cromwell. On hearing of his approach the besiegers raised the siege and drew off in the direction of

MARSTON MOOR.

The Scots having marched in advance, were hastily recalled, and formed into line of battle with their comrades in a large rye field on a rising ground, and presented an extensive and imposing front. Some hours were occupied in indecision on both sides, and it was not till five o'clock that the armies were in battle array. There was a ditch between them, and for two hours they gazed at each other, each loth to cross the boundary. Fiery Rupert was in less hurry to begin than usual, and the Marquis of Newcastle, who had no great liking for the smell of powder, had gone home in his carriage fully convinced there would be no battle till the morrow, but Rupert was not disposed to sleep on it. Watching a favourable opportunity, he made a sudden and desperate charge. He and his troopers rushed on the Parliament cavalry, and broke their line effectively. The charge was so impetuous, and at the same time so unexpected, that a panic seized the troops, and officers and men were in full flight before Rupert's horse. Intent only on the work in hand, Rupert pursued the fugitives,-there was all the excitement of a hunt about it,and the fiery prince forgot all about what might become of the royal army with three thousand cavalry suddenly withdrawn. Excited to enthusiasm by Rupert's success, the royalist infantry rushed forward, and threw the troops under the command of Manchester, Leslie, and Fairfax, into the utmost confusion,-they also fled, and Cromwell was left alone with the right wing of the army to flee or to fight. "Nothing daunted, he attacked the royalist cavalry with such vigour, that he completely routed them, and then turned again to oppose the horse of Rupert, who were

just returning from the chase, to find the rest of their troops in flight. These and a body of pikemen, called "white coats," fought desperately. The cavalry, on exhausting their charges, flung their pistols at each other's heads, and then fell to with their swords. At length the victory remained with Cromwell, Rupert drew off, and Cromwell remained all night on the field. He sent messages after the fugitive generals to recall them, but Leslie was already in bed at Leeds when the news reached him, when he exclaimed, "Would to God I had died on the place!" Cromwell won wondrous renown by this action. He kept the field all night with

his troopers, who were worn out by the tremendous exertions of the day, and were in expectation every moment of a fresh attack from Rupert, who might have collected a large body of troops together to overwhelm him. But he had lost the battle by his incurable rashness, after having induced the unwilling Newcastle to risk the engagement, and he made his retreat into Lancashire, and thence into the western counties.

"Four thousand one hundred and fifty bodies of the slain were buried on the moor; the greater part of the arms, ammunition, and baggage of

the royalists fell into the hands of Cromwell, with about a hundred colours and standards, including that of Rupert himself, and the arms of the Palatinate. Newcastle evacuated York and retired to the continent, accompanied by the Lords Falconberg and Widderington, and about eighty gentlemen, who believed the royal cause was totally ruined. This bloodiest battle of the war was fought on the 2nd of July, and on the morning of the 4th the Parliamentary forces were again in muster, and sat down under the walls of York. On the 7th, being Sunday, they held a public thanksgiving for their victory, and on the 11th being ready to take the city by escalade, Glenham, the governor, came to terms, on condition that the garrison should be allowed to march out with the honours of war."

After this victory, which quite destroyed the king's power in the north, Cromwell became still more dissatisfied with those rulers who were for doing nothing vigorously, and who looked with very jealous eye on those who did. Prince Rupert had fled into Lancashire, then south into Shropshire, to recruit his forces; the Scots went northward to shun Newcastle, while the king fell on the troops of the Earl of Essex, and won a partial victory, which was more than overbalanced by falling in with Cromwell at Newbury, where, after four hours' fighting, his majesty decidedly got the worst of it. If Cromwell had been allowed to have his own way, he would have ended the war then and there; but my lord of Manchester had to be consulted, and my lord was for stopping and thinking about it, during which time of thought his majesty re-victualled Donnington Castle. Cromwell expressed his indignation, was accused of insubordination, and defended himself gallantly. Said he:

The im

"It is now a time to speak, or for ever hold the tongue. portant occasion now is no less than to save a nation out of a bleeding, nay, almost a dying condition, which the long continuance of this war hath already brought it into; so that without a more speedy, vigorous, and effectual prosecution of the war, casting off all lingering proceedings, like those of soldiers of fortune beyond sea to spin out a war, we shall make the kingdom weary of us and hate the name of a Parliament.

"For what do the enemy say? Nay, what do many say that were friends at the beginning of the Parliament? Even this, that the members of both houses have got great places and commands, and the sword into their hands; and, what by interest in Parliament, what by power in the army, will perpetually continue themselves in grandeur, and not permit