Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 3.djvu/352

338 were in earnest to make the execution of justice cheap and prompt, and to revive a pure and zealous ministry of the gospel. In one of these ordinances, they effected the herculean labour which the Barebone parliament had aimed at—the reformation of the court of chancery, the ordinance for this purpose consisting of no less than sixty-seven articles. Well might Cromwell, on the opening of parliament, refer with pride to this great event, an event which would have taken our modern law-makers twenty years to accomplish, which, in fact, they have not accomplished yet. "The chancery," he said in his speech, "is reformed." What a speech in four words, sufficient to have made the reign of any king famous! "The chancery is reformed—I hope to the satisfaction of all good men." This had partly been done by distributing the causes through the other "courts of law at Westminster, where Englishmen love to have their rights tried." In order, too, to effect a most just and speedy discharge of the laws, ho put better judges on the bench, amongst them the pious and ever-memorable Sir Matthew Hale, and made Thurloe, the friend of Milton, secretary of state.

Two other of his ordinances were intended to purify the church of unfit ministers, and to introduce fit and pious ones. This established two commissions, one for the examination of all clergymen offering themselves for the incumbency of any church living, and the other for inquiring after and expelling any "scandalous, ignorant, or insufficient ministers who already occupied such." These commissioners were to be permanent, so that the church in all parts of the country should be purged of improper preachers, and supplied with able and good ones. The supreme commission for the trial of public preachers consisted of thirty-eight members—twenty-nine clergymen, nine laymen—and these were both presbyterian and independents, some even anabaptists, for the protector was less interested in what sect they belonged to, than in the fact that they were pious and able men. The commission for purging the church of scandalous or unfit ministers consisted of from fifteen to thirty distinguished puritan gentlemen and puritan clergymen for each county; and when they dismissed a minister for unfitness, his family had some little income allowed them. Many of the members of these last boards were chosen indiscriminately from the friends or enemies of the protectorate, so that they were known men of real piety and judgment. Amongst these were lord Fairfax, Thomas Scot, a zealous republican, admiral Blake, Sir Arthur Haselrig, Richard Mayor, the father-in-law of Richard Cromwell, for whom Cromwell entertained a high regard and respect, and had him in both parliament, council, and various commissions. Baxter was one of them, and, as we have said, spoke well of the operation of the system. Indeed, if governments must meddle with the church at all, which it would be much better for both church and state to let alone, it is not easy to conceive a more judicious and necessary discipline.

But the 3rd of September arrived, Oliver's fortunate day, on which he had appointed the meeting of parliament. As the day fell on a Sunday, the members met in the afternoon for worship in Westminster Abbey, where they waited on the protector in the Painted Chamber, who addressed them in a speech, and they then went to the house and adjourned to the next morning. Cromwell went that day to the house in great state, in his carriage, with his life guards, a, captain of the guard walking on each side, and the commissioners of the great seal and other state officers following in coaches. After a sermon in the Abbey church they proceeded to the Painted Chamber, where the protector made a speech of three hours in the delivery. A chair of state, marvellously resembling a throne, raised on steps, and with a canopy, was placed for the protector, who sat with his hat on, whilst the members sat bareheaded. On rising to speak he took off his hat, and made what Whitelock styles "a large and subtle speech," and which a distinguished modern historian terms "verbose, involved, and obscure." The reader, on referring to it, would probably deem it one of the most clear, business-like, and pregnant speeches that he ever read. It was largely illustrated by scripture quotations, it is true, for that was inseparable from the religious temperament of Cromwell; but it gave a clear review of the causes which had led to the overthrow of the monarchy, the rise of the commonwealth, and particularly of its then form, as well as of the measures which he had adopted in council, in the interim betwixt his appointment and the meeting of parliament. He told them that he regarded their greatest function to be at that time "healing and settling;" a profound truth—for the nation, and in it every class of men, had been so torn and rent in every fibre, that to soothe and heal was the highest art and policy. Every man's hand, and every man's head, he justly observed, had been against his brother, and no sooner had they put down despotism, than liberty itself began to grow wild, and threaten them with equal danger. The levellers, the fifth-monarchy men, the communists of St. George's Hill, had compelled them to put the drag on the chariot wheels of freedom, or it would soon have taken fire. In all such revolutions, the principles of human right are pushed on by sanguine men, beyond all chance of support from a settled public opinion; and Oliver truly told them that had they gained their object for a moment, it could not have lasted long, but would have in the meantime served the turn of selfish men, who, having obtained public property, would have "cried up property and interest fast enough."

He referred with satisfaction to the means taken to insure a pure ministry, and argued for the necessity of state interference in religion, a matter on which he might, at the present day, have had different views; but he still contended that such interference should only be for promoting a good and virtuous ministry, and by no means infringe on "liberty of conscience and liberty of the subject, two as glorious things," he asserted, "as any that God hath given us." His fears of religious license were chiefly excited by fifth-monarchyism, yet not denying that such a monarchy must come in process of time. "It is a notion," he said, "that I hope we all honour, and wait and hope for the fulfilment of, that Jesus Christ will have a time to set up a reign in our hearts, by subduing those lusts, and corruptions, and evils that are there, which now reign more in the world than I hope in due time they shall do. And when more fulness of the Spirit is poured forth to subdue iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness, then will the approach of that glory be. The carnal divisions and contentions, among