ty,
and the thought of a nation self-governed into the dream of a kingdom of
God. Dunbar and Worcester, the strife with the Houses, the final strife
with the king, turned the dream into a practical policy. Every obstacle
fell before it. Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church alike passed
away. The loyalty of the nation, the stubborn efforts of Cromwell and
Ireton, failed to uphold the Monarchy. Lords and Commons fell in the
very moment of their victory over the king. Desperately as men clung to
the last shadow of a Parliament, the victories of Blake, the
statesmanship of Vane, failed to preserve the life of the Rump. In the
crash of every political and religious institution the Army found itself
the one power in the land, and the dream of its soldiers grew into a
will to set up on earth a Commonwealth of the Saints.

[Sidenote: The Puritan State.]

In this resolve Cromwell was at one with the New Model. Like every
soldier in his army, he held that by the victories God had given them He
had "so called them to look after the government of the land, and so
entrusted them with the welfare of all His people, that they were
responsible for it, and might not in conscience stand still while
anything was done which they thought was against the interest of the
people of God." But he never doubted that the nation would own its
calling as zealously as his soldiers did. He had no wish to change the
outer form of its political or its social life; he would maintain social
distinctions as he would maintain Parliaments. But the old institutions
must be penetrated with a new spirit. Conscience and worship must be
free. Holiness must be the law of England's life. Its rulers must be
found among "godly men," and their rule must be widened beyond the
common sphere of temporal government. The old distinctions of the
secular and the spiritual world must be done away. In public and in
private life the new government must enforce obedience to the will of
God. Socially such a theory seemed realized at last in the
administration of the major-generals. Never had Cromwell been so
satisfied. The "malignants" who had so long trodden pious men under
foot lay helpless at the feet of the godly. The "Cavalier interest,"
which was but "the badge and character of countenancing profaneness,
disorder, and wickedness in all places," was crushed and powerless.
"Christian men" reigned supreme. Cromwell recalled how "it was a shame
to be a Christian within th