148 Oliver Cromwell [1642-
thought it folly to irritate him by wars or contradictions in Parliament, if so be they needs must take him for their King, and trust him with their lives when they had thus displeased him/'
These were the principles upon which they thought any settlement should be based, and they meant to make their views heard. " They plainly showed me,'* continues Baxter, " that they thought God's providence would cast the trust of religion and the kingdom upon them as conquerors."
In peace, even more than in war, the army looked to Cromwell to lead it. Apart from his splendid military gifts, he had all the qualities required to win popularity with soldiers. Cromwell had none of the reserve or reticence of Fairfax. A large-hearted, expansive, vigorous nature found expression in his acts and utterances. " He was of a sanguine complexion," says Baxter, " naturally of such a vivacity, hilarity, and alacrity, as another man is when he hath drunken a cup of wine too much." Elsewhere he speaks of Cromwell's " familiar rustic carriage with his soldiers in sporting," and one of Cromwell's officers tells us that " Oliver loved an innocent jest." Nor did it make him less popular that underneath this geniality lay a fiery temper, which sometimes flamed up into vehement utterances or sudden bursts of passion. Partly for this very reason he was generally credited with much more democratic opinions than he really had. People remembered his hard sayings about the Lords during his quarrel with Manchester, and took a practical man's irritation against half-hearted and incapable leaders for rooted