Cromwell was now in the middle ago of life: his health was strong, and Ms judgment matured : so far circumstances were favourable to his further elevation. But ho had deficiencies not only in fortune but in person and In manner, which precluded all foreeleht of the height to which be would rise. The description given of him by Sir Philip Warwick on his eotrance to the House of Commons, at the beginning of the Long Parliament, displays in It striking manner his nocourtly rusticity :—" The first time that ever I took notice of him was in the vary begiuning of the parliament held in November 1610, when I vainly thought myself a courtly young gentleman (for we courtiers valued ourselves much upon our good clothes). I came one ruoruing into the house well clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking (whom I knew not), very ordivarily appareled; for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an Ill country tailor; his linen was plain, and not very clean; and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little hand, which was not much larger than hie collar; his hat was without a hat-band; his stature was of a good size; his sword stuck close to his aide; hie countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untunable, and his eloquence full of fervour ; for the subject matter would not bear much of reason." And Sir Philip protests that "it lessened much my reverence unto that great council, for he was very much hearkened to. And yet," he continues, " I lived to sec this very gentleman, whom out cf no to him I thus describe, by multiplied good successes, and by real but usurped power, having bad a better tailor And more converse among good company, iu my own eye, when for six weeks together I was a prisoner in his sergeant's hands, and daily waited at Whitehall, appear of a great and majestic deportment and comely presence." (' Memoirs,' p. 217.) This descrip tion of Warwick's as to his rude presence at this time ie strongly corroborated by a coarse passage in an intemperate sermon preached after tho Protector's death by Dr. South, in which ho thus speaks of Cromwell's appearance when attending the Long Parliament :— " Who," says he, "that beheld such a bankrupt beggarly fellow as Cromwell first entering the parliament house, with a threadbare torn cloak and a greasy bat (and perhaps neither of them paid for), could have suspected that in the apace of so few years he should, by the murder of one king and the banishment of another, ascend the throne, be invested in the royal robes, and want nothing of the state of a king but the changing his bat into a crown." He had as yet had no opportunity for displaying tho extent of hie energy and abilities; the time was at hand when they were to bo proved. It is plain however that Cromwell was taking hie place as a leader in the great popular movement His disregard of courtly manners was not likely at such a time to bo any hindrance to the earnest men now resolutely bent on having their 'grievances' redressed. his fervid eloquence, however unpolished, found eager listeners, and his sagacious counsels ready acceptance. 'Mr. Cromwell' was soon a marked man in the great council of the nation; and ho was one of tho very first to con tribute in pocket and person to the active resistance which soon wee raised to the royal measures. The tyranny and maholministratiou of the weak cud obstinate Charles bad become the subject in 1641 of a strong remonstrance from his parliament, which at once insured their rupture with the king. Cromwell, now associated in the councils of liampdeu, Pym, and the rest of the popular leaders, strenuously supported this remonstrance; and in 1642, when the civil war com menced, be eagerly raised a troop of horse, under the authority of the parliament, with which he immediately took the field in their cause; and 'Cromwell's Ironsides' were the first of the parliamentary horse who successfully withstood Rupert's cavalry. From the first moment of receiving his commission he was one of the most active and energetic of the parliamentary officers, and be was rapidly promoted to be colonel, governor of Fly, and otherwise pieced in posts of honour and trust. In numerous skirmishes iu which he engaged he only once met with any serious misadventure. This was at the ' fight of Winceby,' iu Lincolnshire, when his horse being shot under him, on attempting to rise he was knocked down by a cavalier, and with difficulty rescued by his own party.
Notwithstanding the comparatively advanced age at which Cromwell first buckled on the sword, all writers bear testimony to the military abilities that he displayed throughout the suocession of battles between the parliamentary and royalist forces. At Manton Moor, at Stamford, and in the second battle of Newbury, ho was especially distinguished. With the title of lieutenant-general of the horse ho soon became, under Fairfax, the chief mover of a victorious army ; and so valuable were his services considered by the parliament, that he was exempted from obedience to the selficicuyiug ordinance '—aim injunction which excluded the members of either house from holding any command in the army. This measure was brought forward by Cromwell's friends, who trusted to his popularity in the parliament, and the necessity that it had for his services, to procure an exception hi his favour. Tho result fully answered their expectations: his rivals were set aside, lee power more widely spread, end a greater scope given to his ambition. At the battle of Nsseby (June 1615) Cromwell commanded the right wing, and Ireton, his son-hr-law, the left; the main body of the royalists WWI commanded by the king In person. As the troops were
nearly equal, the event of the day was looked for by each aide with anxious hope. Ireton etas repulnoi early In the day ; but Cromwell and Fairfax, taking advantage of Prince Rupert'e temerity, totally dis the king's infantry, and took his artillery and ammunition. ated with victory, the parliamentary army, under the same leaders, vigorously prosecuted dick success, until they had reduced moat of the royalists In the went, Cromwell at the storming of Bristol and on various other Important occasions taking the principal part. Having In 1640 found leisure to return to Loudon, the thanks of the parliament Nero voted to him ; his services were publicly acknowledged, and rewarded by a grant of 2500/. a year, to be raised from Lord Winchester's estates.
The king, who had passed the winter (1645-46) at Oxford, in a con dition to the last degree disastrous and melancholy, in the month of May escaped from that city in disguise, and threw himself upon the protection of the Scottish army, then encamped at Newark. After 803110 negociations, he was delivered up by the Scots to the parlia mentary commissioners, who kept him prisoner at Holdenby, in Northamptonshire. In proportion as the king's power had dimi nished, the division between the Independents and Presbyterians had become daily more apparent. In the army, the majority, with Crom well at their head, were Independents ; in the parliament, Presby terians. Each body, jealous of the other's power, began to strive for the mastery. At length the army rebelled against the parliament; and Cromwell, aware of the advantage that would be gained by the possession of the king's person, directed one Joyce, a young and enterprising soldier, to rescue the king from the hands of the com missioners of the parliament, and to deliver him to the army (June 1647). This scheme was quickly put into execution. Cromwell declared that he deeply regretted the disaffection which the army showed towards the parliament, but the members were not deceived. The Presbyterian members resolved, as soon as ho should come into the House of Commons, to accuse the lieutenant-general of having promoted this schism, and to commit him to the Tower. Intelligence of these proceedings was quickly carried to the army; and Cromwell, perceiving that the crisis was desperate, and that some decided step must instantly be takeu, hastened to the camp, where he procured himself to be invested with the chief command, and then, threatening the unpopular parliament, marched southward to St. Alban's.
As long as there remained any balance between the rival powers in the state, each sought the support of the royal name, and the king's cause appeared not altogether hopeless; he was courted alike by the Presbyterians and by Cromwell. But when the leaders of the army established their dominion, the case was altered. At a cooferenco at Windsor, opened with prayers by Cromwell himself, he announced that be bad given up all belief in the royal promises, and opened the daring comae] of punishing the king by judicial sentence. The time however was not quite at hand for this bold measure. The king was left in custody in the Isle of Wight, end Cromwell again took the field against the Scots in the north and the Welsh iu the west, making preparations at the same time to resist an invasion from Holland threatened by Prince Rupert, to whom seventeen English ships had deserted. Again be was victorious; and his army returned to Lon don, where they broke violently into the parliament-house while the members were in debate, seizing some, and excluding others, by the direction of Colonel Pride. The king's trial now (January 1649) commenced. Cromwell was appointed a member of the court, and attended every meeting of it. but one ; and when the sentence was passed ho was the third who signed the warrant for the execution. Ile was now beset with entreaties to spare the king's life, but his answer to all was an echo of' that to his cousin Colonel Cromwell : "Go to rest, and expect no answer to carry to the prince, for the council of officers have been seeking God, as I also have done, and it is resolved by them all that the king must die." The execution followed accordingly. Five days afterwards the House of Lords was voted useless ; and a council of state was formed, with Bradshaw for president and Cromwell a principal member. Difficulties soon crowded round their government. A mutiny broke out in the army, which required the immediate presence of the lieutenant-general, but was soon suppressed by him, after the execution of three of the ring leade In Ireland the majority were still hostile to the parliament, and an army had been sent there to reduce the royalists to submission. Cromwell having been appointed Lord-Lieutenant and Commander-iu Chief in Ireland, joined the troops in August 1649. He besieged and took Drogheda (or Tredali as it was then usually called) by storm, gave no quer ter to the garrison, and proceeded to capture Wexford, Kilkenny, and ClonmelL Wexford, like Drogheda, resisted, and was stormed, 2000 of the garrison found within being put to death ; the other towns terrified by so frightful a slaughter at once surrendered. In nine months the country was nearly subdued. Satisfied with his success, he left to Ireton the conduct of the troops against his panic-struck adversaries; and having sailed for Bristol, proceeded to London, where he was received with fresh honours by the parliament.