to the pressure of the army, dissolved Parliament. Power was again entirely in the hands of the army. The army Rump. While pursuing its own objects, the army had sought support in Parliament by allying itself with that Republican party which saw with displeasure the existing half-monarchical organization of the country. On the triumph of the military, the Republicans received their reward. All Cromwell's arrangements were swept away: the old Republican remnant of the Long Parliament, the Rump, was recalled and reinstated as the legal Parliament. Forty-two of the old members, with Lenthall, their old Speaker, at their head, returned to the House in triumph, passing, as if to show the source of their authority, between two lines of officers. The first steps of the restored Rump were the re-establishment of the old machinery of Government, the Committee of Safety and the Council of State. But with its success its old impracticable pride returned. It forgot that it was but a creature of the army. It had at first been well received. Monk in Scotland, Henry Cromwell in Ireland, Lockart in Flanders, Montague with the fleet, acknowledged its authority. But the strong Republican feeling of the Rump would not allow it to grant what was the real wish of the army, and it soon fell into its old quarrel with the military power. The army demanded that Fleetwood should be Commander-in-Chief of the land forces in England, in fact, an irresponsible military chief, side by side with the civil power. Not only was this demand rejected, but the Rump proceeded itself to reorganize the army, entirely abolishing the office of Lord-General, and restricting Fleetwood's command as Lieutenant-General to a short period. It even insisted that all commissions should be derived from the Speaker, a proceeding which was ridiculed by the army, who spoke of the old lawyer as their new Lord-General. The Rump tries to rule the army. The army and Rump between them had thus assumed all power. There was no place left for the Protector; Richard thereRichard retires. fore quietly subsided into private life. Although the army had given a sullen consent to the late votes, it had been much against its will, and before long an opportunity occurred of making its power felt. The rapid change of the Government, and the threatened danger of a renewal of the oligarchy of the Long Parliament, or, should the army prove victorious, of a mere unstable military rule, had formed a close union between the Royalists and the great body of the Presbyterians of England, who had all along been willing 1659] THE ARMY AND THE RUMP Quarrels of 719 to accept royalty if properly limited. An insurrection broke out in Cheshire. The employment of the army became again necessary. Lambert hastened to suppress the outbreak. Victorious in the field, he returned in triumph to London, and found himself strong enough, in conjunction with the other officers, to the army and demand that the late obnoxious votes should be rescinded. When the Rump, at the instigation of Haselrig, refused these demands, it was a second time ejected by the same power which had re-established it. the Rump. This act, which seemed to promise nothing but mere anarchy supported by the army, still further strengthened the wish of the people to return to a settled government, even though it were royalty. The army, while united, was so strong that any attempts at insurrection appeared useless. But the army was no longer united. With no great head to keep them together, the individual generals formed ambitious plans of their own, and the different sections of the army became jealous of each other. Monk had for years commanded the army of Scotland. By careful selection of officers he had rendered it devoted to himself. It saw with jealousy the actions of the army of London, in which it had no share; and its leader, a cautious, reticent man, pledged to no party, and seeking solely his own advantage, seized the opportunity of raising himself to preeminence. For the present he declared himself the champion of the civil power, determining to watch the course of events. He refused to acknowledge the provisional Government which the London army had established, and at the head of 7000 men crossed the Tweed at Coldstream (Dec. 8). Lambert had hastened to Newcastle to oppose him, but his army gradually melted away from him, and he himself became a prisoner. Monk's appearance in England was followed by a universal cry for a free Parliament. Lawson, with the fleet, sailed up the river, and declared against the army. The apprentices in London rose. The soldiers themselves, mistrusting their leaders, made terms with Parliament, and on December 26th, the twiceexpelled Rump was again enabled to reassemble, and awaited in hope the arrival of Monk, whom it still regarded as its friend. On his march through England, however, he had full opportunity of seeing the real feelings of the nation, as petition after petition for a free Parliament was presented to him. And Monk, with whom principle was quite second to his own advancement, Monk marches had already determined that his own interest lay in to London, porting the popular will. But it was still nominally as supporter of sup and demands a free Parliament. the Rump that he reached London. He even, on February 9th, under its orders, destroyed the defences of the City of London, which had gradually been growing enthusiastic for a free Parliament. But he acted evidently under restraint, and the very next day, moved by a severe vote in the House against all who refused to abjure the pretensions of any single person, he returned with his army to the City, summoned the Common Council, and declared that he would make common cause with them in demanding a full and free Parliament. The blow was thus struck; a burst of joy ran through the City. "At Strand-Bridge," writes Pepys, "I could at one time tell thirty-one bonfires; in King's Street seven or eight, and all along burning, and roasting, and drinking for rumps; there being rumps tied upon sticks, and carried up and down;" for such was the jesting manner in which the citizens showed their contempt for that body. Monk then demanded the restoration of all the Presbyterian members of the House who had been excluded, and finally insisted that all vacancies should be filled up and the Parliament dissolve itself. Thus at length terminated, constitutionally, the Long Parliament, after an existence of nearly twenty years. It proves Monk invites Writs were then issued for a new House of Commons, and, as was to be expected from the temper of the people, when it met on the 26th of April, it contained a vast number of members friendly to the royal family, though most of them Presbyterians. Monk at once, whatever may have been his previous views, accepted the necessity of the case, and entered into friendly intercourse with the exiled King. He wrote inviting him to return, but urging him, as he wished for success, to return. to promise a general pardon, liberty of conscience, the confirmation of the confiscated estates, and the payment of the army arrears. The advice was wise. But Charles, led by his bigoted counsellors, Hyde, Nicholas, and Ormond, refused to adopt frankly the course proposed, and drew up a declaration at Breda, in which, while he seemed to give the promises required, he really rendered them valueless by adding that they should be limited by the subsequent advice of Parliament. One danger only lay in his way. This was the temper of the army, so long a predominant political power. It could ill bear the sudden destruction of all its work. The danger was so imminent, that Monk had to create an armed force to oppose it. For this purpose he called out and organized the militia, while he attempted by promises and rewards to soothe such regiments as were 1660] THE RESTORATION 721 within his reach. The danger passed off with only one slight outbreak. Lambert escaped from prison, and raised a small army in the middle of England. His attempt was easily suppressed, and he was again brought as a prisoner to London. The Parliament, or Convention as it was called, assumed the old form of English Parliaments: the House of Lords returned to their seats. The Declaration of Breda was presented to them, and answered by an address Charles received of invitation; and amidst the joy of all England, except Joyfully, except of the army, which received him with gloomy looks as he by the army. passed the camp at Blackheath, Charles returned to his kingdom. POPES.-Alexander VII., 1655. Clement IX., 1667. Clement X., 1670. THE HE Parliament which had re-established the monarchy had been summoned by writs not issued by the King. The work of the Parliament. It was consequently irregular, and is known by the name of the Convention Parliament. Its duty was to settle, if possible, the great questions which must inevitably arise It had exacted no upon such a sudden change of government. pledges from Charles, but had trusted wholly to the vague promises of the declaration which he had issued from Breda. As, with careful ambiguity, all those promises were modified by reference to the future consent of Parliament, they were not of much legal value, but they had at least marked out the principles on which Charles was willing to treat with his subjects. The promises were four in number-an act of amnesty or oblivion extending to life, liberty and property for all but those excepted by Parliament; liberty of conscience, so that no man should be disquieted for differences of opinion which did not disturb the peace of the kingdom; the settlement in Parliament of all disputed claims on property which had lately changed hands; and the payment of arrears due to Monk's army. The amnesty, the settlement of claims of property (which included |