"Ironsides."[301] The Parliamentary officers tied an orange scarf over their accoutrements, and the standard of each regiment bore on one side the colonel's device, and on the other the Parliament's watchword, "God with us." Presbyterian divines became Parliamentary chaplains, in which capacity Dr. Spurstow was attached to John Hampden, and Simeon Ash--"good old Ash," as afterwards he used to be called--followed Lord Brooke. Marshall and Burgess attended upon the Earl of Essex, commander-in-chief. [Sidenote: _Character of the Army._] The character of the Parliamentary army was not at first what it afterwards became. When the war commenced, as Cromwell subsequently remarked, "there were numbered among the soldiery, old, decayed serving men and tapsters," who dishonoured the cause; Papists, too, were reported to be in the ranks, strange as that report may appear. Charles, after the battle of Edgehill, flung the reproach in the face of his enemies, and declared that all men knew the great number of Papists who fought under their banner.[302] The Parliament indignantly repelled the accusation, as utterly inconsistent with their avowed opinions and designs. So undoubtedly it was, and if any adherents of the popish religion actually existed in the patriot camp, they could be there only as Jesuits in disguise, in order to corrupt the good affection of their comrades; still, it would appear that such a charge could never have been hazarded but for the miscellaneous character of the troops at the commencement of the outbreak. Religious instruction and discipline, however, were speedily instituted; the men were furnished with copies of the Scriptures;[303] the preaching of the Gospel prevailed in every place where the forces were quartered; and various means were employed to improve the moral and spiritual condition of the soldiers. [Sidenote: 1642.] Turning to look for a moment at the Royalists, we observe that there were sound-hearted Protestants and truly religious men amongst them, but there were also considerable numbers of Roman Catholics;[304] others--we fear they were the majority--cared very little, if at all, for religion, either in substance or form. Some scoffed at sacred things, and made a boast of their profanity and licentiousness. If Puritans quoted Scripture, sometimes with more reverence than wisdom, Royalists could use it with a blasphemous kind of vulgar wit which it is shocking to record. For example, on an ensign captured in Dorsetshire, a cannon was painted, with this motto: "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise." [Sidenote: _Nature of the Struggle._] [Sidenote: 1642.]