When he reached Whitehall, he went with his attendants to the banqueting-house, where they heard an exhortation made by Lockier, chaplain to his Highness; an observance which, as the introduction to a military government, was concluded by the appropriate ceremony of three volleys discharged by the regiments in attend

ance.

The title of the instrument by which this new authority was established, was the "Government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging;" and the substance of it was, that the supreme legislative authority should be vested in one person, and in the Commons in Parliament assembled that the Protector should be assisted by a council, consisting of not fewer than thirteen or of more than twenty-one persons; that all writs, commissions, and grants, should run in his name; and that from him should be derived all magistracy and honours; that he should have the command of the forces both by sea and land, and with his council should have the power of war and peace; that no law should be suspended, altered, or repealed without the consent of Parliament; and that a Parliament should be summoned every third year. It was directed, however, that, till the meeting of the first triennial Parliament, in September 1654, the Protector and council should have power to raise money for the public defence, and to make such laws and ordinances as the welfare of the nation might require. It was likewise provided, that all bills passed by the Parliament should be presented to the Lord Protector for his assent, and

that if he did not grant it within twenty days, the bills should then become law notwithstanding. Each Parliament was to sit five months; and if an intermediate Parliament was called by the Lord Protector, it was not to be prorogued nor dissolved within three months, unless with its own consent. It was fixed that every person, possessing an estate in lands or goods to the value of two hundred pounds annually, should have a vote at the election of members of Parliament, except such as had been concerned in the war against the Parliament, or in the rebellion in Ireland. It was ordered that the keeper of the seal, the treasurer, the admiral, the chief justices of the two benches, and the chief governors of Scotland and Ireland, should be nominated by Parliament, and in the intervals of Parliament, by the Protector and council. It was determined, that, as soon as might be, a provision should be made for the maintenance of the clergy, more certain and less contentious than the way of tithes; and that no person should be compelled to conform to the established church, nor be any way restrained in the profession and exercise of his religion, except the adherents of popery and prelacy. It was agreed that Oliver Cromwell should be declared Lord Protector for life, and that in case of his demise, the Council of State should assemble, to the number of not fewer than thirteen, and immediately elect his successor.*

In forming an estimate of the motives which

Cromwelliana, p. 130,

induced Cromwell to dissolve the Long Parliament, it ought not to be forgotten, that he himself immediately afterwards acted upon the very principles which he loudly condemned in the leaders of that celebrated assembly. Vane and his friends maintained that the country was not yet sufficiently settled to be intrusted with the irritating duty of a general election; and, therefore, it was necessary that a certain number of the old members should remain, not only for the purpose of conducting the government in the meantime, but also for instructing, in the forms of business, the new representatives who might be returned. For the same reason, it was provided by the bill which was about to be passed when the grenadiers entered the House, that there should not at any future period be a complete dissolution of the Commons, but that only a part of the members at one time should be returned to their constituents. It is remarkable, that in constituting his first Parliament, he proceeded on the very ground now explained, and obviously for the same considerations; a proof, if any were wanted, that his anger was kindled against the Rump, not for their practical errors in the conduct of affairs, but for showing too much political wisdom, and for arranging a scheme of government which would soon have deprived the army of the dangerous power which had fallen into their hands.

Barbone's Parliament, in like manner, was dismissed for being too honest. There were in it, no doubt, several hot-headed fools who aimed at impracticable improvements, and laboured

to bring the English people to a condition of simplicity and innocence which has never been attained in the social state. But, with few exceptions-the "trepanners and spies" whom Cromwell had introduced-they had the good of their country at heart, and would have forced on some changes, which, by reducing the army, must have precluded the despotism on which the Council of Officers meant to establish their power. Finding, too, that they were disposed to assert a degree of independence which he never intended they should possess, the General joined in the calumnies with which they were assailed; increased the ridicule which was directed against their proceedings; and, finally, by creating a schism in their body, drew over the venal and ambitious to his own ranks, and exposed the honest fanatics to everlasting contempt. By these means, however, he attained the rank and authority which were conferred upon him on the 16th of December, 1653; when he found himself in the possession of a more ample treasury, a finer navy, and more numerous land forces, than had ever supported the throne of England, or commanded the respect of foreign states.

CHAPTER IV.

From the Accession of Cromwell to the Protectorate, to his Death in September 1658.

IT has been asserted, that in the Institute of Government under which Oliver assumed the supreme power, the title of King was originally engrossed, and that it was only in compliance with the scruples of certain individuals whose ambition had not yet been gratified, that the word Protector was afterwards substituted. But the appellation in such cases is a mere sound; and Cromwell had determined to exercise the full rights of sovereignty, in the civil as well as in the military department. As is usual on the accession of a hereditary monarch, he issued new patents to the judges, and commissions to the principal officers of the army; obtaining, at the same time, a statute declaring it high treason to compass or imagine any violence to the person or government of the Lord Protector, or to revive the claims and title of Charles Stuart.

He accepted, on the same occasion, the congratulations of foreign princes through the medium of their ambassadors; whom he received at his palace with all the form and etiquette of