LECTURE XLIX.-THE PROTECTOR AND THE KING. The rule of Oliver. The fame of England. Death of Oliver. The army Recall of Charles II. Reaction against the Puritans. The Plague and the Fire. supreme. 1. OLIVER and his army were now victorious everywhere. The poor remains of the Long Parliament, which had begun so grandly and had done such brave things, were now sunk into contempt. They looked on with displeasure at the new tyranny which was growing up, but they were quite helpless. At last, one day Oliver marched into the House with a body Cromwell of soldiers, had the Speaker pulled out of his chair breaks up by force, called his mace a bauble, and after abusing 1653. the and insulting the members, turned them all out of parliament the House, and locked the door. No one dared cry "Privilege of Parliament" this time; Oliver and the Ironsides were too strong for them. Lord the 2. The government was now supposed to be republican, and England was called a commonwealth; but in fact the whole country lay at the feet of Cromwell. He would have He is made liked very much to be made king and called so, but Protector. army, much as they honoured and trusted him, hated the title of king, and he was instead called the Lord Protector. He now resolved to try and govern in the old way, with a House of Lords and a House of Commons; but his plan did not succeed very well. One of the parliaments he summoned was not fairly elected, and was generally despised. One of its most active members being the leather-seller, PraiseGod Barebone, it was derisively called by the people "Barebone's Parliament." His other parliament, when it attempted to do its duty and to put some check on his despotic will, he dissolved, just as James or Charles would have done. His House of Lords was ridiculed by everybody. Scarcely any of the real nobility of the old families which the people respected would attend; it was said that Oliver invited draymen and cobblers to take seats in it. It was quite true that men of all trades had been officers in Cromwell's army, had done good and true work for the country, and were worthy of all respect; but when they attempted to appear as lords and nobles they became ridiculous, and even the House of Commons would not honour them by calling them lords. His government. 3. If ever there was an absolute monarch in the world, Oliver became one now. Bad as it would have been for the country if this had gone on, it cannot be denied that as long as Oliver reigned he reigned gloriously. He restored justice and order; no judge dared touch a bribe now; no one dared stir up strife or tumult. He was even, for those days, tolerant in religion. The great parties had broken up into many different sects by this time, and Oliver strove to make them live peaceably together. He even allowed the Jews to come back to England; none of whom had entered the country since the day when Edward I. had banished them. It is curious to consider that when Shakespeare drew the character of Shylock, he had probably never seen a Jew. Some of them were now permitted to come back, and they, by degrees, established themselves in London, though they were not allowed to build a synagogue till 1662. Cromwell, indeed, became so famous that some of the Jews in foreign parts began to think he must be their expected Messiah, and sent a body of Rabbis to England to try and find out whether he had not had some Jewish ancestors. Cromwell does not seem to have been at all flattered by this compliment, and sent the Rabbis off again in great indignation. 4. It was while Cromwell was Lord Protector that the first missionaries were sent out by England to convert the heathen. England is now, probably, the greatest missionary country in the world; very large sums of money are raised every year by the Church of England and other bodies for the purpose of spreading Christianity far and wide. It was now that the first interest was excited in the cause. The government caused collections to be made in every parish in England for sending missionaries to the American Indians. The first of the missionaries was a most devoted and heroic man named Eliot, who converted a great many of the savages, and translated the Bible into their language. 5. England now rose to great fame and glory abroad. After Elizabeth's death she had sunk down under the Stuart kings to be almost a second-rate power; but Cromwell's wisdom and strength raised her up again, till she seemed the greatest and mightiest nation in Europe. England's fame. The All the other countries tried to win her friendship. Her fleet once more became grand and powerful. She had an admiral named Blake, who was as brave and gallant as Raleigh or Drake. England went to war with Holland at this time, which was also a great naval power, with brave admirals and fine ships. But they and all the other enemies of England were conquered. English pride was much gratified during these wars by the taking of Dunkirk, a port in Flanders, for it seemed to make compensation for the loss of Calais, which, though it had happened 100 years before, they never could forget. Evelyn the Royalist notes in his diary, "I went to see the great ship newly built by the Usurper Oliver, carrying ninety-six brass guns, and 1000 tons burthen. In the prow was Oliver on horseback, trampling six nations underfoot-a Scot, Irishman, Dutchman, Frenchman, Spaniard, and English, as was easily made out by their several habits. A Fame held a laurel over his insulting head; the word God with us.' 1658. 6. Still more to his lasting glory, Cromwell was the friend and protector of all the persecuted Protestants abroad. About the same time, when that fine ship was being built, a The Vaudois. terrible scene was going on among the Alps, where, nestling among the mountain valleys, lived a harmless race of humble Protestants-the Vaudois, or Waldenses-who had not exactly been converted to Protestantism, but who, living in those secluded regions, had kept fast to primitive Christianity, and had never believed or adopted the new things which Rome had added on in the course of ages. The Duke of Savoy determined to force all these poor people to renounce their faith or to leave their homes. Those who did not or could not go away, and who would not give up their Bibles and their religion, were massacred without mercy. Their sufferings were awful. It was told how "a mother was hurled down a mighty rock with a little infant in her arms, and three days after was found dead, with the little child alive, but fast clasped between the arms of the dead mother, which were cold and stiff, insomuch that those who found them had much ado to get the young child out." Those who could escape into the mountains knew where to turn for help; they sent messengers to England, telling this and many another dreadful tale. All England was in a flame. Cromwell instantly proclaimed a general fast, and a national collection for the help of the survivors. Nearly £40,000 was contributed at once. But Cromwell did more. He sent an ambassador to the murdering duke, demanding the instant suspension 1655. of the persecution. Such was the awe inspired by Cromwell's name, that the duke submitted without hesitation; the innocent people were allowed to return to their homes and to worship God in peace. Cromwell had a noble helper in this work—the Puritan poet Milton. Many of the letters on this business were written by him, and his heart, glowing with pity and indignation, poured itself out in a prayer which is almost like an inspired psalm:-— "Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones 7. Notwithstanding all his glory, and his many noble points, the people in general did not love Oliver. If it were true, as Evelyn thought, that one of the six nations which he was trampling underfoot in the prow of his ship was England, we can well understand the feeling. Nor was it likely that the nation would long submit to be governed by a despotism. There were insurrections and plots, and the Protector knew that his life was not safe. He took all sorts of precautions; he wore a steel shirt under his clothes; he never went out unless attended by an escort, and seldom came home by the same road on which he started. He dared not sleep always in the same bed-room, but had several different ones, each of which had a secret door. 8. At last he died a natural death. It was on the day when he had won two of his great victories, and which he used to call his "fortunate day." As he looked back on his career he seemed to have some misgivings as to parts of his conduct. He did not know if he had always acted as befitted a Christian man; but some of his last words were, "Truly God is good. He will not leave me; my work is done; God will be with His people." 1658. Death of Cromwell. 9 He was buried in Westminster Abbey with more pomp and honours than had been shown to our greatest kings. His son Richard was declared Protector in his stead. Richard was very unlike his father; he was, amiable and harmless, but neither clever nor ambitious; he was only fitted for the life of a quiet country gentleman. The one great power in the country, Cromwell's army, utterly despised him. He was very soon turned out, and the old Long Parliament, which began to be contemptuously called the Rump, was called back once more. Richard never made the least effort to keep his high place; he retired very contentedly into private life, and died at last at a good old age. 10. The soldiers soon turned the parliament out again, and made a sort of government of their own. England was still under the army, and now it was with no Cromwell at its The army head. This seemed too dreadful for Englishmen to without Cromwell. endure, and everybody, or nearly every body, began to long for the old constitution back again, under which England had been free, orderly, and famous; not only the Cavaliers, but the Presbyterians too, desired to have their king back. Only that terrible army, which had never yet been beaten, was determined not to have the king back, but to keep the power in its own hands. 11. It is difficult to say what could have been done if the army had remained united; but now that Oliver's firm hand was gone the army began to fall in pieces, and to quarrel within itself. This gave the opportunity so much needed. The most powerful general left was named Monk, who was at the head of one part of the army, and strongly opposed to the other part. He marched down from Scotland to London. As he came, the people flocked around him, imploring him to restore peace and liberty. The fleet sailed up the Thames, and declared against the tyranny of the soldiers. The Londoners assembled by thousands, clamouring for liberty and a free parliament. The people refused to pay any more taxes, and Monk, who had kept silence hitherto, at last declared his mind. He said there should be a free parliament. 12. Everybody knew that the first thing a free parliament would do would be to fetch back the king, and everybody was overjoyed. They lighted bonfires in every street, and all over the country, as far as to the Land's End; they rang the church bells; they all hoped freedom and law were coming back. The Long Parliament met for the last time to issue writs for a new election, and then dissolved itself for ever. 13. Charles II. was now at Breda, in Holland. A fine fleet was sent over to bring him back in triumph to the country which he had quitted in the little fishing-boat ten years before. One of the men in this fleet was Pepys, who tells all about it in his diary. says he heard that King Charles and all his attendants were in a very poor way, both for clothes and 1660. The king is brought back. He |