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.