Preachers would often be loud in commending the Godliness as well as
Bravery of the Army, and roar out the Praises of their General, that
sanctify'd Vessel, whom they would call a _Gideon_, a _Joshua_, a _Moses_,
that glorious Instrument, which God had raised and made Use of to
rescue his Church from Idolatry and Superstition, and his Saints from
Tyranny and Oppression. They would exclaim against the Wickedness and
Immorality of their Enemies, inveigh against Lawn-Sleeves and
Surplices, Altar-Pieces, and Common-Prayers; call the Orthodox Clergy,
the Priests of _Baal_, and assure their Hearers, that the Lord hated the
_Cavaliers_; that they were an Abomination to him, and that he would
certainly deliver them into the Hands of his chosen People. When a Man
is obliged to hear all this, and sees moreover the Spirit and Alacrity
that is raised in his Comrades after a moving extemporary Prayer, the
real Enthusiasm the Men are thrown into by the Singing of a Psalm, and
the Tears of Zeal and Joy run down the Cheeks of Men, whom he knows to
be Faithful and Sincere, as well as Resolute and Daring. When Man, I
say, such a one as I have describ'd, should be forc'd to hear and see
all this, it would hardly be possible for him, not to believe, in the
first Place, that God actually assisted this Army; and in the Second,
that the Means, by which that Assistance was procured, were the
Strictness of the Discipline and the Religious Duties, that were
observed in it; tho' he himself should never Join in the one, or
Submit to the other, but against his Will, and with the utmost
Reluctancy. I am persuaded, that such an Opinion, well rivetted in a
Man, would, in such an Army as I am speaking of, be of vast Use to him
in all Adventures and Expeditions of War; and that, if he was fit at
all to be made a soldier, it would in the Day of Battle inspire him
with a Confidence and Undauntedness, which the same man could never
have acquired, _Cateris Paribus_, if he had served among other troops,
where Divine Worship had been little insisted upon, or but slightly