claimed war against Spain. The command of the fleet was entrusted to the illustrious Blake.

10

The greatest feat of the war was the work of the gallant admiral himself. By an act of daring almost unexampled in the annals of naval warfare, he captured a fleet of Spanish ships in the bay of Santa Cruz under the muzzles of the guns of several powerfully armed forts. “The whole action was so incredible that all men who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken it; and they would hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had done; while the Spaniards comforted themselves with the belief that they were devils and not men who had destroyed them in such a manner.'

"11

England now once more occupied the proud position she had held in the days of the Great Elizabeth, for Cromwell had made peace with Holland and become the recognised champion of the Protestant cause. France sought the powerful assistance of the Puritan soldier, and concluded an alliance with him against Spain.

Six thousand of Cromwell's veterans were sent to co-operate with twenty-six thousand French soldiers in overthrowing the Spanish power in the Netherlands. The ardour of the English for battle excited the wonder of the French; and, as the result of the campaign, Dunkirk 12 was delivered over to England.

There were several other naval expeditions in which Cromwell upheld the honour of the English flag. The Duke of Tuscany had allowed Rupert to sell at Leghorn some English vessels which he had taken. Blake sailed thither with his fleet, and forced the Duke to pay £60,000 indemnity. English commerce had also suffered much from the pirates of Algiers, Tunis, and

Tripoli. The thunder of British guns forced these marauders to afford ample satisfaction and to give guarantees for their future good conduct.

We owe it Cromwell, that England acquired that foreign prestige which she maintains to the present day.

Renewed Attempt at Parliamentary Government.-Cromwell now saw that the only chance of success was by establishing a government as nearly as possible resembling that of King, Lords, and Commons.

Accordingly, he formed a new House of Lords; and the Commons begged him to assume the royal title. The army, however, petitioned against the proposal “in the name of the old cause for which they had bled," and Cromwell felt that an undertaking could not prosper "which would justly and with cause grieve them."

Although he did not accept the title of King, he enjoyed all the honours of royalty. He was to fill the office of Protector for life, and to appoint his successor. The solemn inauguration of the Protector took place in Westminster Hall. The Speaker assisted him to put on a robe of state, purple lined with ermine, presented him with a Bible richly gilt and bound, girded him with a sword, and placed in his hands a sceptre of massive gold. Then the people gave several great shouts, "the trumpets sounded, and the Protector sat in his chair of state, holding the sceptre in his hand."

All ended in failure. When the members excluded during the previous session were re-admitted, the House of Commons refused to acknowledge the new House of Lords; and it was rumoured that they intended to question the authority of the Protector himself. Hearing of this, Cromwell summoned the Commons to the House of Lords, and in a speech of calm rebuke, commanded

them to dissolve-adding, "Let God be judge betwixt you and me." He undoubtedly spoke from the heart when he said, "I would have been glad to have lived under my woodside, to have kept a flock of sheep, than to have undertaken such a government.'

" 13

Death of Cromwell. It is in his untiring efforts to establish a constitution that the incorruptible honesty of Cromwell, his sincere humility, and his dauntless resolution are most strikingly shown. He was one of those men whose character is superior to all the ups and downs of fortune, who remain the same in heart and purpose whether they be rewarded with obloquy 14 or honour, with failure or success.

"His grandeur he derived from heaven alone,
For he was great ere fortune made him so;
And wars, like mists that rise against the sun,
Made him but greater seem, not greater grow."

The cares and perplexities of the last twenty years had completely undermined Cromwell's strength, and the loss of a favourite daughter gave a shock to his system which brought on a mortal illness; and in his 59th year, on the anniversary of Dunbar and Worcester, the great Protector quietly breathed his last."

1. His Cousin Hampden. See p. 29. The father of Oliver Cromwell and the mother of John Hampden were brother and sister.

2. This is said to have taken place about the year 1637-38.

3. Hampden was killed in the battle of Chalgrove Field. See p. 42.

So

4. Barebones Parliament met in 1653. called from the name of one of its promi

8. Five Months, i.e., in accordance with the Instrument of Government. Cromwell declared that the five months' meant 'five lunar months' of four weeks each.

9. War was proclaimed against Spain in 1656. Hostilities had commenced and Jamaica been captured in 1655.

10. Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands.

nent members a leather-merchant called 11. From Clarendon's History of the Great Praise-God Barebone or Barebones.

5. This took place on the 16th of December 1663. 6. In this, the Instrument of Government anticipated the Acts of Union between the Parliaments of Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1800) with that of England.

7. Cromwell's Second Parliament met on September 3rd, 1654; it was dissolved on January 22nd, 1655.

Rebellion.'

12. Dunkirk, captured in 1658. It was afterwards sold to France by Charles II. Cromwell's last parliam nt was dissolved on February 4th, 1653.

13.

14.

Obloquy, a speaking against any one, calunny.

15. Cromwell died on September 3rd, 1658.

THE RESTORATION OF THE STUARTS.

RICHARD

ICHARD CROMWELL.-To an inquiry made on his deathbed, Cromwell stated that, a year before, he had, at Hampton Court, drawn up a paper naming

RICHARD CROMWELL.

his successor. This paper

was never found, but he was said to have mentioned his eldest son Richard.1 The Council supported the son of their great leader, and he was at once proclaimed Protector. His accession was received peaceably by the nation, for the awe of his father's name still remained, the Royalists were unprepared

for action, and all opposition was hopeless so long as the army supported the new ruler.

Richard, however, had no sympathy with Puritan feeling; he had taken no earnest part in political life, and he was not even an officer in the army upon whose fidelity his whole power rested. Accordingly, in disregard of the bitter failure of his father, he issued writs for a freely elected Parliament. When it met, not more than half the members assembled to hear the speech from the throne; and though at last they agreed by a majority to recognise Richard as Protector, they claimed the sole right of appointing officers in the army.

The army,

2

Richard had already mortally offended.

Civilian though he was, he had taken for granted that in becoming Lord Protector he had become LordGeneral. But the army was determined that no one but a soldier should be their leader, and that they should be controlled neither by Protector nor Parliament.

Richard, thereupon, ordered the council of officers to dissolve, upon which they told him that he must choose between them and the Commons. The Protector, thus forced by the army, dismissed the Parliament, and shortly afterwards quietly retired into private life.3

4

Meanwhile, the expelled Rump still clung to what they affirmed were their rights, and the army again. placed them in power in the hope that they would consent to execute its wishes. The stubborn Parliament again attempted to resume authority over the officers, but was for a time prevented by force from meeting; and, though again restored when the army was in need of money, was once more dissolved by General Monk on his return with the army from Scotland."

5

A free Parliament was then summoned; and, when it met on the 26th of April, it was found to contain a great majority of members friendly to the royal family, though most of them were Presbyterians. Monk then declared for the recall of Charles II., and the army was so divided by the ambition of its various leaders that it made no attempt to oppose his resolution. Charles, thereupon, issued from Breda a declaration in which he offered a general pardon and religious toleration. The Parliament at once agreed to his return; and, on his thirtieth birthday, May 29th, 1660, Charles made a triumphal entry into London.

Character of the King.-Charles exercised a strong