Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/510

 506 CROMWELL of the greatest battles of that age, and had driven the Stuart family from all its domin- ions. With the increase of his influence and power his political horizon had extended. He aimed at the throne because the kingly office and title were grand elements of strength. He wished to be a liberal constitutional monarch, and had he been met in his own spirit such a monarch he would have become. But he en- countered opposition from many who had thus far acted with him, and the soldiery them- selves, attached though they were to his per- son and ready to do most of his work, were sincerely devoted to republicanism. With their consent he might be anything he chose but king. The best of the republican states- men, headed by Vane, were for maintaining the existing order of things; and they were right, the government that existed since Charles I.'s execution having proved itself worthy of trust, and having managed the inter- nal affairs of the state, and its foreign policy, with a vigor and a prudence that had not been known since the death of Elizabeth. Could Cromwell have been content with a just share of power in the new government, it would have been maintained ; and as the new system would then not have depended on the life of one man, the royal family would have been kept out for ever. But he was bent upon being sole ruler. The 19 months that followed the final overthrow of the royalists were spent in dis- cussions and intrigues. In this period, how- ever, belongs the passage of the navigation act, which secured England's maritime superiority over her great rival, the Dutch republic. On April 20, 1653, Cromwell drove the remnant of the long parliament out of the house of com- mons by force. The council of state was broken up the same day. For some weeks England was near to anarchy. On June 6 Cromwell is- sued summons to 156 persons to meet at West- minster as a parliament. All but two obeyed, and the new parliament met in July. This was the famous Barebone's parliament, scur- rilously so named after one of its members, Praise-God Barbone or Barebone. All but 17 of the members were summoned for England, Ireland and Wales having 6 each, and Scotland 6. Cromwell made to this body a long speech, and resigned his power into its hands. The parliament contained few men of influence, and its conduct only added to the public con- fusion. On Dec. 12 a portion of its members resigned their power into the hands of Crom- well, and the rest either retired silently or were driven out by soldiers from their hall. On Dec. 16 came forth the new institute of government, by which Cromwell was made lord protector, and the supreme legislative authority was vested in him and a parliament, which was not to exceed 400 members for England, 30 for Scotland, and 30 for Ireland. The protector was to be assisted by a council of ^ state. There were many judicious pro- visions in the institute, among which was an improvement of the representation. Parlia- ment was to meet in September, 1654, and until that time the protector and his council were to have unlimited power. Cromwell was to hold office for life, and the council of state was to choose his successor, but at a later period Cromwell was authorized to name him. So far as he could, the protector revived monarchical forms. A variety of ordinances were passed of an arbitrary character, and many acts of the government would have dis- graced the worst times of the Stuarts, Crom- well's defence being the necessity of the case. There was no lack of vigor, and though the protector did all that he could to conciliate the royalists, he found them inveterately hos- tile. A plot to assassinate him was detected in 1654, and two of the conspirators were executed. The protector's foreign policy was bold and manly, save that in making peace with the Dutch he abandoned the high position which the statesmen of the commonwealth had assumed, though the war had been suc- cessful. Parliament met Sept. 3, 1654. * Care had been taken to exclude from it men whose hostility to the protectorate was sup- posed to be unchangeable. Still some repub- licans were chosen, and Bradshaw, their leader, moved for a committee of the whole to deliberate whether the house would ap- prove of the new system of government, which was carried. Warm discussions followed, upon which the protector locked the members out of their hall, and would allow none to return to it who would not sign an engagement that the government was legal. Nearly two thirds signed, and the rest refused ; but the majority soon fell to questioning the "institute," and government was in a minority, whereupon Cromwell dissolved the parliament. A des- potism was established, followed by both roy- alist and republican plots, which failed, and many of those engaged in them were pun- ished. The royalists were very harshly dealt with. England and Wales were divided into 12 districts, the military command in each being vested in a major general. Besides hav- ing control over most of the ordinary affairs of life, the commissions of these officers contained a special order from the protector that they should observe and follow such directions as they should from time to time receive from him. Never before or since has England known so iron a rule, and to the wrongs that were common under it must be attributed not a little of that folly which, five years later, brought about the restoration of the Stuarts. To atone for this denial of freedom to his sub- jects, the protector gave them glory. France and Spain contended for the English alliance, and France succeeded. The Spanish posses- sions in America were assailed, and Jamaica was taken. Admiral Blake was successful in the Mediterranean, against the Barbary powers and Tuscany. The influence of England put an end to the massacre of the Waldenses.