about two years afterwards, when a party of military officers entered the church and dispersed the Assembly; producing no other warrant than a proclamation by General Monk, dischar ging all public meetings of the clergy.

Not being allowed to meet and dispute on the subjects which divided the two great bodies of the kirk, the ministers became more tolerant in their principles, or at least more moderate in their conduct. A historian of that period remarks, that as Cromwell's officers knew the "generality of the ministers were for the King upon any terms, therefore they did not permit the General Assembly to sit, (and in this, I believe, they did no bad office,) for both the authority of that meeting was denied by the protesters, and the Assembly seemed to be more set upon establishing themselves than promoting religion. And I verily believe there were more souls converted to Christ in that short period than in any season since the Reformation, though of triple its duration. Nor was there ever greater purity and plenty of the means of grace than was in this time. Congregations met in great multitudes, some dozen of ministers used to preach, and the people continued, as it were, in a sort of trance, for three days at least. So, truly, religion was at that time in very good case, and the Lord present in Scotland, though in a cloud.”*

There is no doubt that the government of Cromwell was, upon the whole, propitious to

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Kirkton's History of the Church of Scotland, pp. 54,

the quiet and improvement of North Britain. Unlike his conquest of Ireland, which was accompanied and followed by unmixed evil, the success of his arms in the former country checked the current of civil discord, imposed restrictions on the angry passions of the two rival factions, reduced the power of the feudal lords, improved the administration of justice, and replaced the influence of the spiritual estate within its proper limits. So miserable, indeed, was the condition of Scotland at that period, that hardly any change could have been for the worse; and assuredly the circumstances of a people must be wretched in the extreme, when they are found to ascribe the return of happiness to the successful invasion of an ancient enemy, and to date the commencement of their prosperity at an epoch when they were under the severe administration of a military government.*

* Among the numerous reforms introduced by Cromwell, was a new constitution given to the Court of Session, a bench which had become so excessively corrupt, that it became a common saying, that no rich man incurred any hazard of losing his cause there. At first the new judges were all English. Afterwards two or three Scots were added, that they might explain the local practices and customs which were involved in the suits to be tried. The Scots were surprised at the impartiality of the decisions which were pronounced by the reformed judicatory. Long afterwards, Dalrymple, who was President of the Court of Session, is said to have confessed publicly, that he could never get over the natural partiality to "kith, kin, and ally;" and being reminded of the unbiassed conduct of the judges under Cromwell, he replied, "Deil thank them! a wheen kinless lowns."-Godwin, and Tales of a Grandfather.

CHAPTER III.

From the Battle of Worcester till the Dissolution of the Long Parliament.

THE victory gained by the arms of the Commonwealth at Worcester added fuel to the flame of ambition which was already kindled in the breast of Cromwell. His chaplain, Hugh Peters, is said to have observed such a change in the tone of his mind and manners, as to justify the prediction that he would attempt to make himself King. Some authors have stated, that he even proceeded so far as to proffer the honour of knighthood on the field of battle, and that he was with difficulty restrained from exercising, at the period in question, other similar attributes of the royal prerogative.

Upon his return to London, he found himself treated with the respect and deference which were usually confined to crowned heads. He had assigned for his residence a palace formerly occupied by the monarchs of England; and in petitions, as well as in official communications, addressed to him both by the army and civilians, his ears were saluted with a loftier adulation than was ever lavished upon the descendant of a hundred legitimate sovereigns. The ministers

of Newcastle make their humble addresses to his "godly wisdom," and submit their "suits to God and his Excellency."

But the Parliament, while they heaped rewards upon their victorious General, were not less resolved to retain the supreme power, than he was to seize upon it. During his absence in Ireland and Scotland, whither he was accompanied by the more influential of his officers, their authority had acquired a great degree of consolidation; while the success which attended their fleets and armies, gave to their administration a high air of popularity at home, and secured for it the respect of all the neighbouring kingdoms abroad.

It, therefore, became the leading object of Cromwell's policy to lower the power of the Parliament, and to limit its duration. On the second day, accordingly, after he had resumed his seat, he reminded the legislature of two measures, long before submitted to their consideration; namely, an act of oblivion or amnesty in behalf of those who had been engaged in the civil war, and the expediency of fixing a period for their own dissolution. He succeeded in obtaining a vote of the House on both these subjects. It was resolved, that all political offences committed before the battle of Worcester should be forgiven, with the exception of certain cases, which seemed to demand the visitation of public justice; a decision which relieved the royalists from the apprehension of farther penalties, and would thereby, it was imagined, add not a little to the extent of Cromwell's influence, and increase the number of his personal friends. The

other question was not determined without a succession of very warm debates. At length, on the 13th of November, the House met to deliberate whether it were a convenient time to fix the period at which the sittings of the present Parliament should cease; and, on the next day, it was decided, that "this is a proper time." This decision was not adopted without two divisions, the first of fifty to forty-six, and the second, of forty-nine to forty-seven. The period named for the dissolution was the 3d of November, 1654; a distance of three years, which was perhaps not the less pleasing to Cromwell, as it showed how unwilling his adversaries were to resign their power. But it becomes manifest, at the same time, that the authority of the parliamentarians was still nearly equal to that of the army; and thus enables us to account in some measure for the violence of the struggle which afterwards ensued between the two parties.

To feel his way in a situation surrounded with so much danger, Cromwell, after a short interval, called a meeting of his friends, both military and political, at the house of the Speaker, in order to obtain their opinion on the great question, whether it were better to perpetuate the Commonwealth on fixed principles, or to re-establish a mixed form of monarchical government. The officers in general, and especially Whalley and Desborough, were decidedly averse to monarchy. The lawyers, on the other hand, with Whitelock at their head, pleaded for the revival of the ancient constitution, comprehending King, Lords, and Commons, as being better adapted than a republic to the laws, the habits,