Cleo. When a considerable Part of a Nation, for some End or other, seem to mend, and set up for Reformation; when Virtue and Sobriety are countenanced by many of the better Sort; and to appear Religious is made Fashionable. Such was the Time in which _Cromwell_ enter'd himself into the Parliament's Service. What he aim'd at first was Applause; and skilfully suiting himself in every Respect to the Spirit of his party, he studied Day and Night to gain the good Opinion of the Army. He would have done the same, if he had been on the other Side. The Chief Motive of all his Actions was Ambition, and what he wanted was immortal Fame. This End he steadily pursued: All his Faculties were made subservient to it; and no Genius was ever more supple to his Interest. He could take Delight in being Just, Humane and Munificent, and with equal Pleasure he could oppress, persecute and plunder, if it served his Purpose. In the most Treacherous Contrivance to hasten the Execution of his blackest Design, he could counterfeit Enthusiasm, and seem to be a Saint. But the most enormous of his Crimes proceeded from no worse Principle, than the best of his Atchievements. In the Midst of his Villanies he was a Slave to Business; and the most disinterested Patriot never watch'd over the Publick Welfare, both at Home and Abroad, with greater Care and Assiduity, or retriev'd the fallen Credit of a Nation in less Time than this Usurper: But all was for himself; and he never had a Thought on the Glory of _England_, before he had made it inseparable from his own. Hor. I don't wonder you dwell so long upon Cromwell, for Nothing can be more serviceable to your System, than his Life and Actions. Cleo. You will pardon the Excursion, when I own, that you have hit upon the Reason. What I intended to shew, when I ran away from my Subject, was, that able Politicians consult the Humour of the Age, and the Conjuncture they live in, and that _Cromwell_ made the most of his. I don't question, but he would have done the same, if he had been born three or four score Years later. And if he had been to command an _English_ Army abroad, when the Duke of _Marlborough_ did, I am persuaded, that he would sooner have endeavoured to make all his Soldiers dancing Masters, than he would have attempted to make them Bigots. There are more ways than one, to make People brave and obstinate in Fighting. What in _Oliver'_s Days was intended by a Mask of Religion and a Shew of Sanctity, is now aim'd at by the Height of Politeness, and a perpetual Attachment to the Principle of modern Honour. There is a Spirit of Gentility introduced among military Men, both Officers and Soldiers, of which there was yet little to be seen in the last Century, in any Part of _Europe,_ and which now shines through all their Vices and Debaucheries. Hor. This is a new Discovery; pray, what does it consist in?