130 CHAPTER X. FORMIDABLE CHARACTER OF THE OPPOSITION. PROTECTORATE, HEREDITARY OR ELECTIVE. PART TAKEN BY LAMBERT IN THIS QUESTION. DEBATES ON THE PROTECTOR'S NEGATIVES. IV. Formidable tion that remained. BOOK BUT, notwithstanding that by this arbitrary measure Cromwel had stripped the house of several 1654. of its ablest members, the proceeding was by no character of means attended with the effect he desired. The the opposi- party of those, who regarded the indignity put upon them as unworthy of their notice, and resolved not to part with the advantage which was in their hands, was numerous. The presbyterians formed a large portion of the assembly; and the anti-courtiers still amounted to one half, if they did not rather form a majority of the members. Proceedings respecting the No direct notice is taken in the Journals of this interruption by the protector; the house simply recognition. adjourned from Tuesday to Thursday'; and on that day, after some debate, came to a resolution, that the recognition of government did not com X. 1654. prehend the whole of the instrument of the six- CHAP. teenth of December, but simply the government of the commonwealth by a single person and successive parliaments. The further to maintain the dignity of the house, on the Monday following they converted this transaction into a proceeding of their own, coming to a resolution, that all persons who shall be returned to serve in this parliament, shall, before they are admitted to sit, subscribe the recognition of government". favour of The next day they resolved themselves into a Votes in committee to take into debate and consideration Cromwel. the government of the commonwealth; and, to satisfy the person by whose act they had been called together, this committee immediately voted that the supreme legislative authority should reside in a lord protector and parliament; and, the day following, that Cromwel should be the protector, and that he should hold the office during the term of his natural life. But, having determined this The Gopoint, they proceeded to analyse the instrument discussed, itself, article by article, and occupied themselves article by in committee on this business, from the twentieth of September to the eighth of November. Finally, the instrument came out of their crucible in the form of sixty articles, instead of forty-two. All this time both the lord protector and the nation were held in suspense; and after the whole came vernment article. Time which is occupied in this proceeding. • Journals. b Ibid. • Ibid. d Ibid, Nov. 7. IV. 1654. BOOK out of the committee, it had to be voted over again in regular gradation by the house. The bill for settling the government was read for the first time on the twenty-second of December, and the second time on the day following. It was then three days in the committee; and the amendments passed in the committee, as well as others, occupied the parliament till the nineteenth of January, when it was read a third time. '. Enumera tion of the principal votes. Life of Cromwel endangered dent. All this tedious, equivocal, and minute proceeding, little suited the determined character of Cromwel. On one day it was to be voted, whether the protectorship was to be hereditary, or for life only, and in what manner, and by what authority, a new protector was to be named; on another day, whether any law could be made, or tax imposed, for the future, except in parliament; and in what hands the power of declaring war and making peace was to be vested. All these questions were attended with long and obstinate debates; and the party of the protector was frequently left in a minority. A curious incident occurred on the twentyninth of September, which is thus related in by an acci- Thurloe. "His highness, accompanied only by the secretary, and a few of his gentlemen and servants, went to take the air in Hyde Park, where he caused a few dishes of meat to be brought, and e Journals. X. 1654. made his dinner after dinner the thought took CHAP. him to drive his own coach, to which there were harnessed six fine horses, that had been sent him as a present by the count of Oldenburgh. He accordingly put Thurloe into the coach, and himself mounted the box. For some time he drove very well; but by and by, using the whip a little too violently, the horses set off at full speed. The postillion, endeavouring to hold them in, was thrown; and, soon after, Cromwel himself was precipitated from the box, and fell upon the pole, and from thence to the ground. His foot got entangled with the harness, and he was so carried along a good way, during which a pistol went off in his pocket. [a proof that he was never without fire-arms]. At length his foot got clear, and he escaped, the coach passing along without injuring him!" He was confined with the consequences of the accident for two or three weeks. The court-newspapers took no notice of this circumstance; and the opposition-papers spoke of it in the following style. "The lord protector went in his coach from Whitehall to Hyde Park: the horses, being extremely affrighted, set a running; insomuch that the postillion fell, whereby his highness was in some danger: but, blessed be God, there was little hurth." 'Thurloe, Vol. II, p. 652. Faithful Scout, Oct. 20. h Ibid, Oct. 6. Wither, the poet, however printed on this occa BOOK 1654. The ques ther the protecto be heredi tary or elec tive, debated. Cromwel One of the most remarkable debates occurred in the committee in October. The point under consideration was, whether the protectorate, on tion, whe- the demise of Cromwel, should be hereditary or elective. That question, after being some time rate should canvassed, had been left undecided. This was probably at the same time that it was carried, immediately after the introducing the recognition, that Cromwel should be declared protector for life. But it was found that the vote to make the office hereditary in his family was too strong for the present crisis, and even perhaps for some of the protector's friends, and therefore the suggestion was withdrawn. After an interval however, it was revived'. It was plainly a point near to Cromwel's heart. And upon this occasion we meet with a fresh instance of his wonderful powers of persuasion. Of all the counsellors of the protector, Lambert was held to be the man who combined the most statesman-like qualities with the most daring spirit of enterprise; and accordingly it was generally understood that Lambert, upon the demise of the present chief magistrate, looked forward to be the second lord protector of England. Cromwel undertook, the hardest perhaps prevails on Lambert to take his side in the deliberation. sion a copy of verses, entitled, l'aticinium Casuale: A Rapture on the Late Miraculous Deliverance of his Highness the Lord Protector from a Desperate Danger. Thurloe, Vol. II, p. 681. 1 Thurloe, ubi supra. See above, p. 131. |