election, and the fitness of the members returned. A
conference took place [April 19, 1653] between the leaders of
the Commons and the officers of the army. ... The conference
was adjourned till the next morning, on an understanding that
no decisive step should be taken; but it had no sooner
reassembled, than the absence of the leading members confirmed
the news that Vane was fast pressing the bill for a new
Representative through the House. 'It is contrary to common
honesty,' Cromwell angrily broke out; and, quitting Whitehall,
he summoned a company of musketeers to follow him as far as
the door of the House of Commons."
J. R Green,
Short History of England,
chapter 8, section 9.
ALSO IN:
J. Forster,
Statesmen of the Commonwealth: Cromwell.
J. A. Picton,
Oliver Cromwell,
chapter 22.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1651-1672.
The Navigation Acts and the American colonies.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1651-1672;
also, NAVIGATION LAWS.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1652-1654.
War with the Dutch Republic.
"After the death of William, Prince of Orange, which was
attended with the depression of his party and the triumph of
the Dutch republicans [see NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1647-1650], the
Parliament thought that the time was now favourable for
cementing a closer confederacy with the states. St. John,
chief justice, who was sent over to the Hague, had entertained
the idea of forming a kind of coalition between the two
republics, which would have rendered their interests totally
inseparable; ... but the states, who were unwilling to form a
nearer confederacy with a government whose measures were so
obnoxious, and whose situation seemed so precarious, offered
only to renew 'the former alliances with England; and the
haughty St. John, disgusted with this disappointment, as well
as incensed at many affronts which had been offered him, with
impunity, by the retainers of the Palatine and Orange
families, and indeed by the populace in general, returned into
England and endeavoured to foment a quarrel between the
republics. .... There were several motives which at this time
induced the English Parliament to embrace hostile measures.
Many of the members thought that a foreign war would serve as
a pretence for continuing the same Parliament, and delaying
the new model of a representative, with which the nation had
so long been flattered. Others hoped that the war would
furnish a reason for maintaining, some time longer, that
numerous standing army which was so much complained of. On the
other hand, some, who dreaded the increasing power of
Cromwell, expected that the great expense of naval armaments
would prove a motive for diminishing the military
establishment. To divert the attention of the public from
domestic quarrels towards foreign transactions, seemed, in the
present disposition of men's minds, to be good policy. ... All
these views, enforced by the violent spirit of St. John, who
had great influence over Cromwell, determined the Parliament
to change the purposed alliance into a furious war against the
United Provinces. To cover these hostile intentions, the
Parliament, under pretence of providing for the interests of
commerce, embraced such measures as they knew would give
disgust to the states. They framed the famous act of
navigation, which prohibited all nations from importing into
England in their bottoms any commodity which was not the
growth and manufacture of their own country. ... The minds of
men in both states were every day more irritated against each
other; and it was not long before these humours broke forth
into action."
D. Hume,
History of England,
chapter 60 (volume 5).
{885}
"The negotiations ... were still pending when Blake, meeting
Van Tromp's fleet in the Downs, in vain summoned the Dutch
Admiral to lower his flag. A battle was the consequence, which
led to a declaration of war on the 8th of July (1652). The
maritime success of England was chiefly due to the genius of
Blake, who having hitherto served upon shore, now turned his
whole attention to the navy. A series of bloody fights took
place between the two nations. For some time the fortunes of
the war seemed undecided. Van Tromp, defeated by Blake, had to
yield the command to De Ruyter. De Ruyter in his turn was
displaced to give way again to his greater rival. Van Tromp
was reinstated in command. A victory over Blake off the Naze
(November 28) enabled him to cruise in the Channel with a
broom at his mast-head, implying that he had swept the English
from the seas. But the year 1653 again saw Blake able to fight
a drawn battle of two days' duration between Portland and La
Hogue; while at length, on the 2d and 3d of June, a decisive
engagement was fought off the North Foreland, in which Monk
and Deane, supported by Blake, completely defeated the Dutch
Admiral, who, as a last resource, tried in vain to blow up his
own ship, and then retreated to the Dutch coast, leaving
eleven ships in the hands of the English. In the next month,
another victory on the part of Blake, accompanied by the death
of the great Dutch Admiral, completed the ruin of the naval
power of Holland. The States were driven to treat. In 1654 the
treaty was signed, in which Denmark, the Hanseatic towns, and
the Swiss provinces were included. ... The Dutch acknowledged
the supremacy of the English flag in the British seas; they
consented to the Navigation Act."
J. F. Bright,
History of England,
period 2, page 701.
ALSO IN:
W. H. Dixon,
Robert Blake, Admiral and General at Sea,
chapters 6-7.
D. Hannay,
Admiral Blake,
chapters 6-7.
J. Campbell,
Naval History of Great Britain,
chapter 15 (volume 2).
G. Penn,
Memorials of Sir William Penn,
chapter 4.
J. Corbett,
Monk,
chapter 7.
J. Geddes,
History of the Administration of John De Witt,
volume 1, books 4-5.
See, also, NAVIGATION LAWS, ENGLISH: A. D. 1651.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1653 (APRIL).
Cromwell's expulsion of the Rump.
"In plain black clothes and gray worsted stockings, the
Lord-General came in quietly and took his seat [April 20], as
Vane was pressing the House to pass the dissolution Bill
without delay and without the customary forms. He beckoned to
Harrison and told him that the Parliament was ripe for
dissolution, and he must do it. 'Sir,' said Harrison, 'the
work is very great and dangerous.'--'You say well,' said the
general, and thereupon sat still for about a quarter of an
hour. Vane sat down, and the Speaker was putting the question
for passing the Bill. Then said Cromwell to Harrison again,
'This is the time; I must do it.' He rose up, put off his hat,
and spoke. Beginning moderately and respectfully, he presently
changed his style, told them of their injustice, delays of
justice, self interest, and other faults; charging them not to
have a heart to do anything for the public good, to have
espoused the corrupt interest of Presbytery and the lawyers,
who were the supporters of tyranny and oppression, accusing
them of an intention to perpetuate themselves in power. And
rising into passion, 'as if he were distracted,' he told them
that the Lord had done with them, and had chosen other
instruments for the carrying on His work that were worthy. Sir
Peter Wentworth rose to complain of such language in
Parliament, coming from their own trusted servant. Roused to
fury by the interruption, Cromwell left his seat, clapped on
his hat, walked up and down the floor of the House, stamping
with his feet, and cried out, 'You are no Parliament, I say
you are no Parliament. Come, come, we have had enough of this;
I will put an end to your prating. Call them in!' Twenty or
thirty musketeers under Colonel Worsley marched in onto the
floor of the House. The rest of the guard were placed at the
door and in the lobby. Vane from his place cried out, 'This is
not honest, yea, it is against morality and common honesty.'
Cromwell, who evidently regarded Vane as the breaker of the
supposed agreement, turned on him with a loud voice, crying,
'O Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Vane, the Lord deliver me from
Sir Henry Vane.' Then looking upon one of the members, he
said, 'There sits a drunkard;' to another he said, 'Some of
you are unjust, corrupt persons, and scandalous to the
profession of the Gospel.' 'Some are whoremasters,' he said,
looking at Wentworth and Marten. Going up to the table, he
said, 'What shall we do with this Bauble? Here, take it away!'
and gave it to a musketeer. 'Fetch him down,' he cried to
Harrison, pointing to the Speaker. Lenthall sat still, and
refused to come down unless by force. 'Sir,' said Harrison, 'I
will lend you my hand,' and putting his hand within his, the
Speaker came down. Algernon Sidney sat still in his place.
'Put him out,' said Cromwell. And Harrison and Worsley put
their hands on his shoulders, and he rose and went out. The
members went out, fifty-three in all, Cromwell still calling
aloud. To Vane he said that he might have prevented this; but
that he was a juggler and had not common honesty. 'It is you,'
he said, as they passed him, 'that have forced me to do this,
for I have sought the Lord night and day, that He would rather
slay me than put me on the doing of this work.' He snatched
the Bill of dissolution from the hand of the clerk, put it
under his cloak, seized on the records, ordered the guard to
clear the House of all members, and to have the door locked,
and went away to Whitehall. Such is one of the most famous
scenes in our history, that which of all other things has most
heavily weighed on the fame of Cromwell. In truth it is a
matter of no small complexity, which neither constitutional
eloquence nor boisterous sarcasm has quite adequately
unravelled. ... In strict constitutional right the House was
no more the Parliament than Cromwell was the king. A House of
Commons, which had executed the king, abolished the Lords,
approved the 'coup d'état' of Pride, and by successive
proscriptions had reduced itself to a few score of extreme
partisans, had no legal title to the name of Parliament. The
junto which held to Vane was not more numerous than the junto
which held to Cromwell; they had far less public support; nor
had their services to the Cause been so great.
{886}
In closing the House, the Lord-General had used his office of
Commander-in-Chief to anticipate one 'coup d'état' by another.
Had he been ten minutes late, Vane would himself have
dissolved the House; snapping a vote which would give his
faction a legal ascendancy. Yet, after all, the fact remains
that Vane and the remnant of the famous Long Parliament had
that 'scintilla juris,' as lawyers call it, that semblance of
legal right, which counts for so much in things political."
F. Harrison,
Oliver Cromwell,
chapter 10.
ALSO IN:
J. K. Hosmer,
Life of Young Sir Henry Vane,
part 3, chapter 17.
F. P. Guizot,
History of Oliver Cromwell,
book 4 (volume l).
L. von Ranke,
History of England, 17th century,
book 11, chapter 5 (volume 3).
W. Godwin,
History of the Commonwealth,
volume 3, chapters 27-29.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1653 (JUNE-DECEMBER).
The Barebones, or Little Parliament.
Six weeks after the expulsion of the Rump, Cromwell, in his
own name, and upon his own authority, as "Captain-General and
Commander-in-Chief," issued (June 6) a summons to one hundred
and forty "persons fearing God and of approved fidelity and
honesty," chosen and "nominated" by himself, with the advice
of his council of officers, requiring them to be and appear at
the Council Chamber of Whitehall on the following fourth day
of July, to take upon themselves "the great charge and trust"
of providing for "the peace, safety, and good government" of
the Commonwealth, and to serve, each, "as a Member for the
county" from which he was called. "Of all the Parties so
summoned, 'only two' did not attend. Disconsolate Bulstrode
says: 'Many of this Assembly being persons of fortune and
knowledge, it was much wondered by some that they would at
this summons, and from such hands, take upon them the Supreme
Authority of this Nation; considering how little right
Cromwell and his Officers had to give it, or those Gentlemen
to take it.' My disconsolate friend, it is a sign that Puritan
England in general accepts this action of Cromwell and his
Officers, and thanks them for it, in such a case of extremity;
saying as audibly as the means permitted: Yea, we did wish it
so. Rather mournful to the disconsolate official mind. ... The
undeniable fact is, these men were, as Whitlocke intimates, a
quite reputable Assembly; got together by anxious
'consultation of the godly Clergy' and chief Puritan lights in
their respective Counties; not without much earnest revision,
and solemn consideration in all kinds, on the part of men
adequate enough for such a work, and desirous enough to do it
well. The List of the Assembly exists; not yet entirely gone
dark for mankind. A fair proportion of them still recognizable
to mankind. Actual Peers one or two: founders of Peerage
Families, two or three, which still exist among us,--Colonel
Edward Montague, Colonel Charles Howard, Anthony Ashley
Cooper. And better than King's Peers, certain Peers of Nature;
whom if not the King and his pasteboard Norroys have had the
luck to make Peers of, the living heart of England has since
raised to the Peerage and means to keep there,--Colonel Robert
Blake the Sea-King, for one. 'Known persons,' I do think; 'of
approved integrity, men fearing God'; and perhaps not entirely
destitute of sense anyone of them! Truly it seems rather a
distinguished Parliament,--even though Mr. Praisegod Barbone,
'the Leather merchant in Fleet-street,' be, as all mortals
must admit, a member of it. The fault, I hope, is forgivable.
Praisegod, though he deals in leather, and has a name which
can be misspelt, one discerns to be the son of pious parents;
to be himself a man of piety, of understanding and
weight,--and even of considerable private capital, my witty
flunkey friends! We will leave Praisegod to do the best he
can, I think. ... In fact, a real Assembly of the Notables in
Puritan England; a Parliament, Parliamentum, or
Speaking-Apparatus for the now dominant Interest in England,
as exact as could well be got,--much more exact, I suppose,
than any ballot-box, free hustings or ale-barrel election
usually yields. Such is the Assembly called the Little
Parliament, and wittily Bare-bone's Parliament; which meets on
the 4th of July. Their witty name survives; but their history
is gone all dark."
T. Carlyle,
Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches,
part 7, speech. 1.
The "assembly of godly persons" proved, however, to be quite
an unmanageable body, containing so large a number of erratic
and impracticable reformers that everything substantial among
English institutions was threatened with overthrow at their
hands. After five months of busy session, Cromwell was happily
able to bring about a dissolution of his parliament, by the
action of a majority, surrendering back their powers into his
hands,--which was done on the 10th of December, 1653.
F. P. Guizot,
History of Oliver Cromwell,
book 5 (volume 2).
ALSO IN:
J. A. Picton,
Oliver Cromwell,
chapter 23.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1653 (December).
The Establishment and Constitution of the Protectorate.
The Instrument of Government.
"What followed the dissolution of the Little Parliament is
soon told. The Council of Officers having been summoned by
Cromwell as the only power de facto, there were dialogues and
deliberations, ending in the clear conclusion that the method
of headship in a 'Single Person' for his whole life must now
be tried in the Government of the Commonwealth, and that
Cromwell must be that 'Single Person.' The title of King was
actually proposed; but, as there were objections to that,
Protector was chosen as a title familiar in English History
and of venerable associations. Accordingly, Cromwell having
consented, and all preparations having been made, he was, on
Friday, December 16, in a great assembly of civic, judicial
and military dignities, solemnly sworn and installed in the
Chancery Court, Westminster Hall, as Lord Protector of the
Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. There were some
of his adherents hitherto who did not like this new elevation
of their hero, and forsook him in consequence, regarding any
experiment of the Single Person method in Government 'as a
treason to true Republicanism, and Cromwell's assent to it as
unworthy of him. Among these was Harrison. Lambert, on the
other hand, had been the main agent in the change, and took a
conspicuous part in the installation-ceremony. In fact, pretty
generally throughout the country and even among the
Presbyterians, the elevation of Cromwell to some kind of
sovereignty had come to be regarded as an inevitable necessity
of the time, the only possible salvation of the Commonwealth from
the anarchy, or wild and experimental idealism, in matters
civil and religious, which had been the visible drift at last
of the Barebones or Daft Little Parliament. ... The powers and
duties of the Protectorate had been defined, rather elaborately,
in a Constitutional Instrument of forty-two Articles, called
'The Government of the Commonwealth' [more commonly known as
The Instrument of Government] to which Cromwell had sworn
fidelity at his installation."
{887}
D. Masson,
Life of John Milton,
volume 4, book 4, chapters 1 and 3.
ALSO IN:
J. Forster,
Statesmen of the Commonwealth: Cromwell.
L. von Ranke,
History of England, 17th Century,
book 12, chapter 1 (volume 3).
S. R. Gardiner,
Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution,
introduction, section 4 and pages 314-324.
Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England,
volume 3, pages 1417-1426.
The following is the text Of the Instrument of Government:
The government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging.
I. That the supreme legislative authority of the Commonwealth
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto
belonging, shall be and reside in one person, and the people
assembled in Parliament; the style of which person shall be
the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland,
and Ireland.
II. That the exercise of the chief magistracy and the
administration of the government over the said countries and
dominions, and the people thereof, shall be in the Lord
Protector, assisted with a council, the number whereof shall
not exceed twenty-one, nor be less than thirteen.
III. That all writs, processes, commissions, patents, grants,
and other things, which now run in the name and style of the
keepers of the liberty of England by authority of Parliament,
shall run in the name and style of the Lord Protector, from
whom, for the future, shall be derived all magistracy and
honours in these three nations; and have the power of pardons
(except in case of murders and treason) and benefit of all
forfeitures for the public use; and shall govern the said
countries and dominions in all things by the advice of the
council, and according to these presents and the laws.
IV. That the Lord Protector, the Parliament sitting, shall
dispose and order the militia and forces, both by sea and
land, for the peace and good of the three nations, by consent
of Parliament; and that the Lord Protector, with the advice
and consent of the major part of the council, shall dispose
and order the militia for the ends aforesaid in the intervals
of Parliament."
V. That the Lord Protector, by the advice aforesaid, shall
direct in all things concerning the keeping and holding of a
good correspondency with foreign kings, princes, and states;
and also, with the consent of the major part of the council,
have the power of war and peace.
VI. That the laws shall not be altered, suspended, abrogated,
or repealed, nor any new law made, nor any tax, charge, or
imposition laid upon the people, but by common consent in
Parliament, save only as is expressed in the thirtieth
article.
VII. That there shall be a Parliament summoned to meet at
Westminster upon the third day of September, 1654, and that
successively a Parliament shall be summoned once in every
third year, to be accounted from the dissolution of the
present Parliament.
VIII. That neither the Parliament to be next summoned, nor any
successive Parliaments, shall, during the time of five months,
to be accounted from the day of their first meeting, be
adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved, without their own consent.
IX. That as well the next as all other successive Parliaments,
shall be summoned and elected in manner hereafter expressed;
that is to say, the persons to be chosen within England,
Wales, the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, and the town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall be,
and not exceed, the number of four hundred. The persons to be
chosen within Scotland, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall
be, and not exceed, the number of thirty; and the persons to
be chosen to sit in Parliament for Ireland shall be, and not
exceed, the number of thirty.
X. That the persons to be elected to sit in Parliament from
time to time, for the several counties of England, Wales, the
Isles of Jersey and Guernsey, and the town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all places within the same
respectively, shall be according to the proportions and
numbers hereafter expressed: that is to say,
Bedfordshire, 5;
Bedford Town, 1;
Berkshire, 5;
Abingdon, 1;
Reading, 1;
Buckinghamshire, 5;
Buckingham Town, 1;
Aylesbury, 1;
Wycomb, 1;
Cambridgeshire, 4;
Cambridge Town, 1;
Cambridge University, 1;
Isle of Ely, 2;
Cheshire, 4;
Chester, 1;
Cornwall, 8;
Launceston, 1;
Truro, 1;
Penryn, 1;
East Looe and West Looe, 1;
Cumberland, 2;
Carlisle, 1;
Derbyshire, 4;
Derby Town, 1;
Devonshire, 11;
Exeter, 2;
Plymouth, 2
Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardness, 1;
Totnes, 1;
Barnstable, 1;
Tiverton, 1;
Honiton, 1;
Dorsetshire, 6;
Dorchester, 1;
Weymouth and Melcomb-Regis, 1;
Lyme-Regis, 1;
Poole, 1;
Durham, 2;
City of Durham, 1;
Essex, 13;
Malden, 1;
Colchester, 2;
Gloucestershire, 5;
Gloucester, 2;
Tewkesbury, 1;
Cirencester, 1;
Herefordshire, 4;
Hereford, 1;
Leominster, 1;
Hertfordshire, 5;
St. Alban's, 1:
Hertford, 1;
Huntingdonshire, 3;
Huntingdon, 1;
Kent, 11;
Canterbury, 2;
Rochester, 1
Maidstone, 1;
Dover, 1;
Sandwich, 1;
Queenborough, 1;
Lancashire, 4;
Preston, 1;
Lancaster, 1;
Liverpool, 1;
Manchester, 1;
Leicestershire, 4
Leicester, 2;
Lincolnshire, 10;
Lincoln, 2;
Boston, 1;
Grantham, 1;
Stamford, 1;
Great Grimsby, 1;
Middlesex, 4;
London, 6;
Westminster, 2;
Monmouthshire, 3;
Norfolk 10;
Norwich, 2;
Lynn-Regis, 2
Great Yarmouth, 2
Northamptonshire, 6;
Peterborough, 1;
Northampton, 1;
Nottinghamshire, 4;
Nottingham, 2;
Northumberland, 3;
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1;
Berwick, 1;
Oxfordshire, 5;
Oxford City, 1;
Oxford University, 1;
Woodstock, 1;
Rutlandshire, 2;
Shropshire, 4;
Shrewsbury, 2;
Bridgnorth, 1;
Ludlow, 1;
Staffordshire, 3;
Lichfield, 1;
Stafford, 1;
Newcastle-under-Lyne, 1;
Somersetshire, 11;
Bristol, 2;
Taunton, 2;
Bath, 1;
Wells, 1;
Bridgwater, 1;
Southamptonshire, 8;
Winchester, 1;
Southampton, 1
Portsmouth, 1;
Isle of Wight, 2;
Andover, 1;
Suffolk, 10;
Ipswich, 2;
Bury St. Edmunds, 2;
Dunwich, 1;
Sudbury, 1;
Surrey, 6;
Southwark, 2;
Guildford, 1;
Reigate, 1;
Sussex, 9;
Chichester, 1;
Lewes, 1;
East Grinstead, 1;
Arundel, 1;
Rye, 1;
Westmoreland, 2;
Warwickshire, 4;
Coventry, 2;
Warwick, 1;
Wiltshire, 10;
New Sarum, 2;
Marlborough, 1;
Devizes, 1;
Worcestershire, 5;
Worcester, 2.
YORKSHIRE.
West Riding, 6;
East Riding, 4;
North Riding, 4;
City of York, 2
Kingston-upon-Hull, 1;
Beverley, 1;
Scarborough, 1;
Richmond, 1;
Leeds, 1;
Halifax, 1.
{888}
WALES.
Anglesey, 2:
Brecknoekshire, 2;
Cardiganshire, 2;
Carmarthenshire, 2;
Carnarvonshire, 2;
Denbighshire, 2;
Flintshire, 2;
Glamorganshire, 2;
Cardiff, 1;
Merionethshire, 1;
Montgomeryshire, 2;
Pembrokeshire, 2;
Haverfordwest, 1;
Radnorshire, 2.
The distribution of the persons to be chosen for Scotland and
Ireland, and the several counties, cities, and places therein,
shall be according to such proportions and number as shall be
agreed upon and declared by the Lord Protector and the major
part of the council, before the sending forth writs of summons
for the next Parliament.
XI. That the summons to Parliament shall be by writ under the
Great Seal of England, directed to the sheriffs of the several
and respective counties, with such alteration as may suit with
the present government to be made by the Lord Protector and
his council, which the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of
the Great Seal shall seal, issue, and send abroad by warrant
from the Lord Protector. If the Lord Protector shall not give
warrant for issuing of writs of summons for the next
Parliament, before the first of June, 1654, or for the
Triennial Parliaments, before the first day of August in every
third year, to be accounted as aforesaid; that then the
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal for the
time being, shall, without any warrant or direction, within
seven days after the said first day of June, 1654, seal,
issue, and send abroad writs of summons (changing therein what
is to be changed as aforesaid) to the several and respective
sheriffs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, for summoning the
Parliament to meet at Westminster, the third day of September
next; and shall likewise, within seven days after the said
first day of August, in every third year, to be accounted from
the dissolution of the precedent Parliament, seal, issue, and
send forth abroad several writs of summons (changing therein
what is to be changed) as aforesaid, for summoning the
Parliament to meet at Westminster the sixth of November in
that third year. That the said several and respective
sheriffs, shall, within ten days after the receipt of such
writ as aforesaid, cause the same to be proclaimed and
published in every market-town within his county upon the
market-days thereof, between twelve and three of the clock;
and shall then also publish and declare the certain day of the
week and month, for choosing members to serve in Parliament for
the body of the said county, according to the tenor of the
said writ, which shall be upon Wednesday five weeks after the
date of the writ; and shall likewise declare the place where
the election shall be made: for which purpose he shall appoint
the most convenient place for the whole county to meet in; and
shall send precepts for elections to be made in all and every
city, town, borough, or place within his county, where
elections are to be made by virtue of these presents, to the
Mayor, Sheriff, or other head officer of such city, town,
borough, or place, within three days after the receipt of such
writ and writs; which the said Mayors, Sheriffs, and officers
respectively are to make publication of, and of the certain
day for such elections to be made in the said city, town, or
place aforesaid, and to cause elections to be made
accordingly.
XII. That at the day and place of elections, the Sheriff of
each county, and the said Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and
other head officers within their cities, towns, boroughs, and
places respectively, shall take view of the said elections,
and shall make return into the chancery within twenty days
after the said elections, of the persons elected by the
greater number of electors, under their hands and seals,
between him on the one part, and the electors on the other
part; wherein shall be contained, that the persons elected
shall not have power to alter the government as it is hereby
settled in one single person and a Parliament.
XIII. That the Sheriff, who shall wittingly and willingly make
any false return, or neglect his duty, shall incur the penalty
of 2,000 marks of lawful English money; the one moiety to the
Lord Protector, and the other moiety to such person as will
sue for the same.
XIV. That all and every person and persons, who have aided,
advised, assisted, or abetted in any war against the
Parliament, since the first day of January 1641 (unless they
have been since in the service of the Parliament, and given
signal testimony of their good affection thereunto) shall be
disabled and incapable to be elected, or to give any vote in
the election of any members to serve in the next Parliament,
or in the three succeeding Triennial Parliaments.
XV. That all such, who have advised, assisted, or abetted the
rebellion of Ireland, shall be disabled and incapable for ever
to be elected, or give any vote in the election of any member
to serve in Parliament; as also all such who do or shall
profess the Roman Catholic religion.
XVI. That all votes and elections given or made contrary, or
not according to these qualifications, shall be null and void;
and if any person, who is hereby made incapable, shall give
his vote for election of members to serve in Parliament, such
person shall lose and forfeit one full year's value of his
real estate, and one full third part of his personal estate;
one moiety thereof to the Lord Protector, and the other moiety
to him or them who shall sue for the same.
XVII. That the persons who shall be elected to serve in
Parliament, shall be such (and no other than such) as are
persons of known integrity, fearing God, and of good
conversation, and being of the age of twenty-one years.
XVIII. That all and every person and persons seised or
possessed to his own use, of any estate, real or personal, to
the value of £200, and not within the aforesaid exceptions,
shall be capable to elect members to serve in Parliament for
counties.
XIX. That the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the
Great Seal, shall be sworn before they enter into their
offices, truly and faithfully to issue forth, and send abroad,
writs of summons to Parliament, at the times and in the manner
before expressed: and in case of neglect or failure to issue
and send abroad writs accordingly, he or they shall for every
such offence be guilty of high treason, and suffer the pains
and penalties thereof.
XX. That in case writs be not issued out, as is before
expressed, but that there be a neglect therein, fifteen days
after the time wherein the same ought to be issued out by the
Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal; that
then the Parliament shall, as often as such failure shall
happen, assemble and be held at Westminster, in the usual
place, at the times prefixed, in manner and by the means
hereafter expressed; that is to say, that the sheriffs of the
several and respective counties, sheriffdoms, cities,
boroughs, and places aforesaid, within England, Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars
of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Mayor and
Bailiffs of the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and other
places aforesaid respectively, shall at the several courts and
places to be appointed as aforesaid, within thirty days after
the said fifteen days, cause such members to be chosen for
their said several and respective counties, sheriffdoms,
universities, cities, boroughs, and places aforesaid, by such
persons, and in such manner, as if several and respective
writs of summons to Parliament under the Great Seal had issued
and been awarded according to the tenor aforesaid: that if the
sheriff, or other persons authorized, shall neglect his or
their duty herein, that all and every such sheriff and person
authorized as aforesaid, so neglecting his or their duty,
shall, for every such offence, be guilty of high treason, and
shall suffer the pains and penalties thereof.
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XXI. That the clerk, called the clerk of the Commonwealth in
Chancery for the time being, and all others, who shall
afterwards execute that office, to whom the returns shall be
made, shall for the next Parliament, and the two succeeding
Triennial Parliaments, the next day after such return, certify
the names of the several persons so returned, and of the
places for which he and they were chosen respectively, unto
the Council; who shall peruse the said returns, and examine
whether the persons so elected and returned be such as is
agreeable to the qualifications, and not disabled to be
elected: and that every person and persons being so duly
elected, and being approved of by the major part of the
Council to be persons not disabled, but qualified as
aforesaid, shall be esteemed a member of Parliament, and be
admitted to sit in Parliament, and not otherwise.
XXII. That the persons so chosen and assembled in manner
aforesaid, or any sixty of them, shall be, and be deemed the
Parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and the supreme
legislative power to be and reside in the Lord Protector and
such Parliament, in manner herein expressed.
XXIII. That the Lord Protector, with the advice of the major
part of the Council, shall at any other time than is before
expressed, when the necessities of the State shall require it,
summon Parliaments in manner before expressed, which shall not
be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved without their own
consent, during the first three months of their sitting. And
in case of future war with any foreign State, a Parliament
shall be forthwith summoned for their advice concerning the
same.
XXIV. That all Bills agreed unto by the Parliament, shall be
presented to the Lord Protector for his consent; and in case
he shall not give his consent thereto within twenty days after
they shall be presented to him, or give satisfaction to the
Parliament within the time limited, that then, upon
declaration of the Parliament that the Lord Protector hath not
consented nor given satisfaction, such Bills shall pass into
and become laws, although he shall not give his consent
thereunto; provided such Bills contain nothing in them
contrary to the matters contained in these presents.
XXV. That [Henry Lawrence, esq.; Philip lord vise. Lisle; the
majors general Lambert, Desborough, and Skippon; lieutenant
general Fleetwood; the colonels Edward Montagu, Philip Jones,
and Wm. Sydenham; sir Gilbert Pickering, sir Ch. Wolseley, and
sir Anth. Ashley Cooper, Barts., Francis Rouse, esq., Speaker
of the late Convention, Walter Strickland, and Rd. Major,
esqrs.]--or any seven of them, shall be a Council for the
purposes expressed in this writing; and upon the death or
other removal of any of them, the Parliament shall nominate
six persons of ability, integrity, and fearing God, for
everyone that is dead or removed; out of which the major part
of the Council shall elect two, and present them to the Lord
Protector, of which he shall elect one; and in case the
Parliament shall not nominate within twenty days after notice
given unto them thereof, the major part of the Council shall
nominate three as aforesaid to the Lord Protector, who out of
them shall supply the vacancy; and until this choice be made,
the remaining part of the Council shall execute as fully in
all things, as if their number were full. And in case of
corruption, or other miscarriage in any of the Council in
their trust, the Parliament shall appoint seven of their
number, and the Council six, who, together with the Lord
Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal
for the time being, shall have power to hear and determine
such corruption and miscarriage, and to award and inflict
punishment, as the nature of the offence shall deserve, which
punishment shall not be pardoned or remitted by the Lord
Protector; and, in the interval of Parliaments, the major part
of the Council, with the consent of the Lord Protector, may,
for corruption or other miscarriage as aforesaid, suspend any
of their number from the exercise of their trust, if they
shall find it just, until the matter shall be heard and
examined as aforesaid.
XXVI. That the Lord Protector and the major part of the
Council aforesaid may, at any time before the meeting of the
next Parliament, add to the Council such persons as they shall
think fit, provided the number of the Council be not made
thereby to exceed twenty-one, and the quorum to be
proportioned accordingly by the Lord Protector and the major
part of the Council.
XXVII. That a constant yearly revenue shall be raised,
settled, and established for maintaining of 10,000 horse and
dragoons, and 20,000 foot, in England, Scotland and Ireland,
for the defence and security thereof, and also for a
convenient number of ships for guarding of the seas; besides
£200,000 per annum for defraying the other necessary charges
of administration of justice, and other expenses of the
Government, which revenue shall be raised by the customs, and
such other ways and means as shall be agreed upon by the Lord
Protector and the Council, and shall not be taken away or
diminished, nor the way agreed upon for raising the same
altered, but by the consent of the Lord Protector and the
Parliament.
XXVIII. That the said yearly revenue shall be paid into the
public treasury, and shall be issued out for the uses
aforesaid.
XXIX. That in case there shall not be cause hereafter to keep
up so great a defence both at land or sea, but that there be
an abatement made thereof, the money which will be saved
thereby shall remain in bank for the public service, and not
be employed to any other use but by consent of Parliament, or,
in the intervals of Parliament, by the Lord Protector and
major part of the Council.
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XXX. That the raising of money for defraying the charge of the
present extraordinary forces, both at sea and land, in respect
of the present wars, shall be by consent of Parliament, and
not otherwise: save only that the Lord Protector, with the
consent of the major part of the Council, for preventing the
disorders and dangers which might otherwise fall out both by
sea and land, shall have power, until the meeting of the first
Parliament, to raise money for the purposes aforesaid; and
also to make laws and ordinances for the peace and welfare of
these nations where it shall be necessary, which shall be
binding and in force, until order shall be taken in Parliament
concerning the same.
XXXI. That the lands, tenements, rents, royalties,
jurisdictions and hereditaments which remain yet unsold or
undisposed of, by Act or Ordinance of Parliament, belonging to
the Commonwealth (except the forests and chases, and the
honours and manors belonging to the same; the lands of the
rebels in Ireland, lying in the four counties of Dublin, Cork,
Kildare, and Carlow; the lands forfeited by the people of
Scotland in the late wars, and also the lands of Papists and
delinquents in England who have not yet compounded), shall be
vested in the Lord Protector, to hold, to him and his
successors, Lords Protectors of these nations, and shall not
be alienated but by consent in Parliament. And all debts,
fines, issues, amercements, penalties and profits, certain and
casual, due to the Keepers of the liberties of England by
authority of Parliament, shall be due to the Lord Protector,
and be payable into his public receipt, and shall be recovered
and prosecuted in his name.
XXXII. That the office of Lord Protector over these nations
shall be elective and not hereditary; and upon the death of
the Lord Protector, another fit person shall be forthwith
elected to succeed him in the Government; which election shall
be by the Council, who, immediately upon the death of the Lord
Protector, shall assemble in the Chamber where they usually
sit in Council; and, having given notice to an their members
of the cause of their assembling, shall, being thirteen at
least present, proceed to the election; and, before they
depart the said Chamber, shall elect a fit person to succeed
in the Government, and forthwith cause proclamation thereof to
be made in an the three nations as shall be requisite; and the
person that they, or the major part of them, shall elect as
aforesaid, shall be, and shall be taken to be, Lord Protector
over these nations of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the
dominions thereto belonging. Provided that none of the
children of the late King, nor any of his line or family, be
elected to be Lord Protector or other Chief Magistrate over
these nations, or any the dominions thereto belonging. And
until the aforesaid election be past, the Council shall take
care of the Government, and administer in an things as fully
as the Lord Protector, or the Lord Protector and Council are
enabled to do.
XXXIII. That Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the forces of
England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is hereby
declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, for
his life.
XXXIV. That the Chancellor, Keeper or Commissioners of the
Great Seal, the Treasurer, Admiral, Chief Governors of Ireland
and Scotland, and the Chief Justices of both the Benches,
shall be chosen by the approbation of Parliament; and, in the
intervals of Parliament, by the approbation of the major part
of the Council, to be afterwards approved by the Parliament.
XXXV. That the Christian religion, as contained in the
Scriptures, be held forth and recommended as the public
profession of these nations; and that, as soon as may be, a
provision, less subject to scruple and contention, and more
certain than the present, be made for the encouragement and
maintenance of able and painful teachers, for the instructing
the people, and for discovery and confutation of error,
hereby, and whatever is contrary to sound doctrine; and until
such provision be made, the present maintenance shall not be
taken away or impeached.
XXXVI. That to the public profession held forth none shall be
compened by penalties or otherwise; but that endeavours be
used to win them by sound doctrine and the example of a good
conversation.
XXXVII. That such as profess faith in God by Jesus Christ
(though differing in judgment from the doctrine, worship or
discipline publicly held forth) shall not be restrained from,
but shall be protected in, the profession of the faith and
exercise of their religion; so as they abuse not this liberty
to the civil injury of others and to the actual disturbance of
the public peace on their parts: provided this liberty be not
extended to Popery or Prelacy, nor to such as, under the
profession of Christ, hold forth and practice licentiousness.
XXXVIII. That all laws, statutes and ordinances, and clauses
in any law, statute or ordinance to the contrary of the
aforesaid liberty, shall be esteemed as null and void.
XXXIX. That the Acts and Ordinances of Parliament made for the
sale or other disposition of the lands, rents and
hereditaments of the late King, Queen, and Prince, of
Archbishops and Bishops, &c., Deans and Chapters, the lands of
delinquents and forest-lands, or any of them, or of any other
lands, tenements, rents and hereditaments belonging to the
Commonwealth, shall nowise be impeached or made invalid, but
shall remain good and firm; and that the securities given by
Act and Ordinance of Parliament for any sum or sums of money,
by any of the said lands, the excise, or any other public
revenue; and also the securities given by the public faith of
the nation, and the engagement of the public faith for
satisfaction of debts and damages, shall remain firm and good,
and not be made void and invalid upon any pretence whatsoever.
XL. That the Articles given to or made with the enemy, and
afterwards confirmed by Parliament, shall be performed and
made good to the persons concerned therein; and that such
appeals as were depending in the last Parliament for relief
concerning bills of sale of delinquent's estates, may be heard
and determined the next Parliament, anything in this writing
or otherwise to the contrary notwithstanding.
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XLI. That every successive Lord Protector over these nations
shall take and subscribe a solemn oath, in the presence of the
Council, and such others as they shall call to them, that he
will seek the peace, quiet and welfare of these nations, cause
law and justice to be equally administered; and that he will
not violate or infringe the matters and things contained in
this writing, and in all other things will, to his power and
to the best of his understanding, govern these nations
according to the laws, statutes and customs thereof.
XLII. That each person of the Council shall, before they enter
upon their trust, take and subscribe an oath, that they will
be true and faithful in their trust, according to the best of
their knowledge; and that in the election of every successive
Lord Protector they shall proceed therein impartially, and do
nothing therein for any promise, fear, favour or reward.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1654.
Re-conquest of Acadia (Nova Scotia).
See NOVA SCOTIA: A. D. 1621-1668.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1654 (April).
Incorporation of Scotland with the Commonwealth.
See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1654.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1654-1658.
The Protector, his Parliaments and his Major-Generals.
The Humble Petition and Advice.
Differing views of the Cromwellian autocracy.
"Oliver addressed his first Protectorate Parliament on Sunday,
the 3d of September. ... Immediately, under the leadership of
old Parliamentarians, Haslerig, Scott, Bradshaw, and many
other republicans, the House proceeded to debate the
Instrument of Government, the constitutional basis of the
existing system. By five votes, it decided to discuss 'whether
the House should approve of government by a Single Person and
a Parliament.' This was of course to set up the principle of
making the Executive dependent on the House; a principle, in
Oliver's mind, fatal to settlement and order. He acted at
once. Calling on the Lord Mayor to secure the city, and
disposing his own guard round Westminster Hall, he summoned
the House again on the 9th day. ... Members were called on to
sign a declaration, 'not to alter the government as settled in
a Single Person and a Parliament.' Some, 300 signed; the
minority--about a fourth--refused and retired. ... The
Parliament, in spite of the declaration, set itself from the
first to discuss the constitution, to punish heretics,
suppress blasphemy, revise the Ordinances of the Council; and
they deliberately withheld all supplies for the services and
the government. At last they passed an Act for revising the
constitution de novo. Not a single bill had been sent up to
the Protector for his assent. Oliver, as usual, acted at once.
On the expiration of their five lunar months, 22d January
1655, he summoned the House and dissolved it, with a speech
full of reproaches."
F. Harrison,
Oliver Cromwell,
chapter 11.
"In 1656, the Protector called a second Parliament. By
excluding from it about a hundred members whom he judged to be
hostile to his government, he found himself on amicable terms
with the new assembly. It presented to him a Humble Petition
and Advice, asking that certain changes of the Constitution
might be agreed to by mutual consent, and that he should
assume the title of King. This title he rejected, and the
Humble Petition and Advice was passed in an amended form on
May 25, 1657, and at once received the assent of the
Protector. On June 26, it was modified in some details by the
Additional Petition and Advice. Taking the two together, the
result was to enlarge the power of Parliament and to diminish
that of the Council. The Protector, in turn, received the
right of appointing his successor, and to name the
life-members of 'the other House,' which was now to take the
place of the House of Lords. ... In accordance with the
Additional Petition and Advice, the Protector summoned
'certain persons to sit in the other House.' A quarrel between
the two Houses broke out, and the Protector [February 4, 1658]
dissolved the Parliament in anger."
S. R. Gardiner,
Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution,
pages lxiii-lxiv., and 334-350.
"To govern according to law may sometimes be an usurper's
wish, but can seldom be in his power. The protector [in 1655]
abandoned all thought of it. Dividing the kingdom into
districts, he placed at the head of each a major-general as a
sort of military magistrate, responsible for the subjection of
his prefecture. These were eleven in number, men bitterly
hostile to the royalist party, and insolent towards all civil
authority. They were employed to secure the payment of a tax
of 10 per cent., imposed by Cromwell's arbitrary will on those
who had ever sided with the king during the late wars, where
their estates exceeded £100 per annum. The major-generals, in
their correspondence printed among Thurloe's papers, display a
rapacity and oppression beyond their master's. ... All
illusion was now gone as to the pretended benefits of the
civil war. It had ended in a despotism, compared to which all
the illegal practices of former kings, all that had cost
Charles his life and crown, appeared as dust in the balance.
For what was ship-money, a general burthen, by the side of the
present decimation of a single class, whose offence had long
been expiated by a composition and effaced by an act of
indemnity? or were the excessive punishments of the
star-chamber so odious as the capital executions inflicted
without trial by peers, whenever it suited the usurper to
erect his high court of justice? ... I cannot ... agree in the
praises which have been showered upon Cromwell for the just
administration of the laws under his dominion. That, between
party and party, the ordinary civil rights of men were fairly
dealt with, is no extraordinary praise; and it may be admitted
that he filled the benches of justice with able lawyers,
though not so considerable as those of the reign of Charles
II.; but it is manifest that, so far as his own authority was