The Commonwealth-Wars in Scotland, Ireland, and with the Dutch-Expulsion of the 'Rump'-Barebone's Parliament-The Instrument of GovernmentThe Petition and Advice-Death of Cromwell-Events which led to the Restoration.

Effect of
Charles'
Death.

WHATEVER may be thought of the moral right of the 'high court of justice' to condemn Charles and put him to death, there is little doubt that in doing so the leaders of the Independent party made a great political mistake. Both as a sovereign and as a prisoner, Charles had completely discredited himself; but his violent death, and the almost universal sympathy caused by his bearing at his trial and execution, removed the chief obstacle to the rallying of all moderate men, whether churchmen or Presbyterians, round the principle of hereditary monarchy. Ever since the reign of Edward I., each hereditary king had dated his reign from the death of his predecessor, and as an act of parliament lately passed, which forbade the proclamation of a new king, had no constitutional claim to validity, the Prince of Wales at once stepped into the position of king de jure. Since the expulsion of the Presbyterians in 1648 had thrown them also into opposition, the party in power had consisted only of Independents and Sectaries, and made no pretence of being a majority of the nation. So long, however, as the army remained united, no open opposition seemed possible.

Immediately after the execution of the king, the Commons carried out the logical consequence of their claim that 'the people are under God, the original of all just power,' by voting that the House of Lords 'is useless, dangerous, and ought to be abolished.' abolished. Henry Marten moved to omit the word 'dangerous,' but it was thought that insult without satire would suffice, and the resolution

House of
Lords

passed as it stood.

They then resolved that government by

or single person 'is unnecessary, burdensome, dangerous, and ough be abolished'; and an act was passed declaring the people of England to be a commonwealth or free state.

Having thus completed the work of destroying the old order of things, of which the House of Commons itself, mutilated though it was, remained the only legal representative, parliament proceeded

The New

ment.

to arrange for the government of the country by creating Governa council of state, practically identical with a body known as the Derby House committee, which, since the rupture with the Scots, had replaced the committee of the two kingdoms. It consisted of forty members, with Bradshaw as president, and included all the Independent peers, Fairfax, Cromwell, Vane, Whitelock, St. John, Marten, Hazelrig, Skippon and Scot, but not Ireton. Its ordinary secretary was Thurloe; and for foreign tongues, John Milton. The great seal was entrusted to Whitelock and two others; Vane was chairman of the board of admiralty; Blake, Deane, and Popham were made admirals of the fleet; Fairfax was continued lord-general, and Cromwell lieutenant-general, of the army. Of these, Whitelock, Vane, Blake, and Fairfax had all disapproved of the king's death, but were quite willing to take part in the new government which was to replace monarchy. Six of the judges agreed to act under the new régime, and the other places were then filled up. Hardly were the new officials in their places when difficulties beset them on every side. A dangerous mutiny in the army claimed their first attention. This was the outcome of a movement of old date. Ever since the rendezvous on Triploe Heath, John Lilburne had been spreading opinions in the army which tended to the overthrow of all social and military order. He had written, for instance, that 'the officers were below the soldiers,' and his doctrines were eagerly adopted by hot-headed and enthusiastic men, who were called by their opponents Levellers, and were looking for an immediate realisation of the millennium and of the rule of the saints. The political views of the Levellers were embodied in a document styled The Agreement of the People, which was presented to the House of Commons in January, 1649. It demanded a redistribution of seats, followed immediately by a general election, and the creation of a government directly responsible to the new House of Commons. For some time Lilburne himself had been in the Tower; but the dissatisfaction of some of the soldiers, who were ordered to Ireland, was seized on by his friends as offering a favourable opportunity for a general mutiny. Accordingly outbreaks occurred in London, at Banbury, and at Salisbury. The last was the most serious; but Fairfax

Mutiny
of the

Levellers.

and Cromwell marched fifty miles one day to come up with the mutineers, surprised them at dead of night at Burford, in Oxfordshire, and coinpletely crushed them. Of the leaders, a cornet and two corporals wero shot, the rest were pardoned and persuaded to return to their duty. Lilburne, however, still continued to agitate against the government, declaring that the Petition of Right, Magna Carta, and other fundamental laws were subverted, and 'the military power thrust into the very office and seat of civil authority.' In October he was prosecuted for stirring up treason in the army, but acquitted; and there is no doubt that he represented a widespread feeling of discontent.

Meanwhile, affairs in Ireland were looking very serious. Ormond had secured the co-operation of Lord Inchiquin by promising the complete

removal of the political and religious disabilities of the Ireland. Irish Roman Catholics, security of tenure for the Connaught landholders, and the repeal of the law which forbade 'ploughing with horses by the tail.' The Presbyterians of Ulster had been alienated by the king's death. Numbers of English royalists, such as Sir Arthur Aston, had come over to lead Ormond's men. Prince Rupert, with the revolted fleet, was hovering off the coast, and Prince Charles was on his way to the Channel Islands to put himself at the head of the allied forces. Dublin, under Michael Jones, and Dundalk, under George Monk, were almost alone in holding out; and Dublin was besieged by Ormond with a force of 19,000 men. Accordingly Cromwell was asked to take the command, but before he reached Ireland Rathmines. the crisis was over. Though Dundalk had fallen, Dublin had been saved by the address of Jones, who, with but 5000 men, sallied forth on August 2, and utterly routed Ormond's forces in the battle of Rathmines.

Battle of

Defeated in the field, the allies decided to protract the war by compelling Cromwell to undertake a series of sieges. Against these tactics Cromwell took decisive measures. On September 10 he was at Siege of Drogheda, which was garrisoned by the flower of Ormond's Drogheda. English troops, and some regiments of Irish Roman Catholics under the brave Sir Arthur Aston. On the next morning a practicable breach had been made. The first assaults were repulsed; but Cromwell, placing himself at the head of another storming party, carried the breach. Then, 'being in the heat of action,' and according to the harsh laws of war then in use, he commanded all armed men to be put to the sword. Hardly a man escaped; and, besides the garrison, all the 'friars were knocked on the head promiscuously but two.' Cromwell himself seems to have felt compunction

for his hasty act, and, writing to the parliament, expresses a hope that at any rate 'it may tend to prevent the effusion of blood in the future.' Probably it did; for when a breach had been made, if not before,

other garrisons surrendered; and only at Wexford, Kilkenny, and Clonmel was there any more serious fighting. Unhappily at Wexford the resistance of some soldiers in the market-place, after the breach had been carried, led to another massacre. The work of dealing with so

many towns was, however, protracted, and it was not till March, 1650, that Cromwell, who had been hastily summoned home by the parliament, was able to hand over the completion of the work to Ireton. In the towns which surrendered at discretion, quarter was given to the privates; but English officers who had ever before fought for the parliament were hanged or shot. The Irish officers were allowed to go free. Most of them took service abroad, and carried off with them 45,000 Irish soldiers. Most of the English soldiers took service under the parliament. At sea, Rupert's Blake ably seconded Cromwell's efforts; and Prince Rupert, finding Ormond's cause ruined, fled to Portugal, closely pursued by Blake. Ormond and Inchiquin escaped to the continent; Owen Roe O'Neil died. The English forces suffered severely from exposure and from a fever, of which died Jones, the victor of Rathmines, and Horton, the victor of St. Fagans. Ireton held office till 1651, when the fever claimed him as its victim. The command was temporarily taken by Ludlow, author of the Memoirs, who had succeeded Jones as lieutenantgeneral. He held this office till Fleetwood, who married Ireton's widow, came over as deputy.

Fleet.

Scotland.

The cause of Cromwell's hasty recall was the threatening attitude of Scotland. Since the overthrow of the Engagers, Argyll's party had been in the ascendant; but the execution of the king had met with no approval in Scotland, and the government had taken the decided step of offering the crown to the Prince of Wales as Charles II. That prince, however, was by no means sure that his best course was to close with the offer, coupled as it was with the condition of taking the Covenant, so he granted a commission to Montrose to see what could be done towards reviving the old royalist party in the HighMontrose's lands. If Montrose failed, he could then fall back on Argyll. Death. Montrose's expedition ended in complete disaster. Landing in Caithness, he was set on by a force of Covenanters before he had time to gather supporters round him, and was utterly routed at Carbisdale, on the borders of Ross and Sutherland, and only escaped from the field to be captured in peasant disguise. Thus clad, he was taken to Edinburgh, and hanged in the Grassmarket with every circumstance of disgrace. At the last, his noble and fearless bearing extorted the admiration even of his foes; but the atrocities of his Irish and Highland followers were too fresh in the memory of Lowlanders for mercy to be found for their leader.

Charles, therefore, fell back on his negotiations with the government, falsely denied that he had given Montrose a commission, signified his willingness to accept Argyll's conditions, and himself took ship for