Haselrig and others supported this protest, and then the council withdrew.
Cromwell and his party immediately held a council on what steps wore now to be taken, and on the 22nd July issued a declaration in the name of the lord-general and his council of officers, ordering all authorities to continue their functions as before; and in return, addresses of confidence arrived from generals and admirals. On the 6th of June Oliver, in his own name as captain-general and commander-in-chief of all the armies and forces, issued a summons to one hundred and forty persons to meet and constitute a parliament. Six were also summoned from Wales, six from Ireland, and five from Scotland. On the 4th of July about one hundred and twenty of these pensions, of Cromwell's own selection—persons, according to his summons, "fearing God, and of approved fidelity and honesty"—met in the council-chamber at Whitehall. Many of these were gentleman of good repute and abilities—some of them were nobles, others of noble families—as colonel Montague, colonel Howard, and Anthony Ashley Cooper. Others, however, were of little worldly standing, but had been selected on account of their religious zeal and character. Amongst them was one Barbon, a leather-seller in Fleet Street, who had acquired the cognomen of Praise-God, and whose name being purposely misspelled, became Praise-God Barebone, and the royalist wits of the time, therefore, dubbed the parliament Barebone's Parliament. Hume has represented the zealous independents of that age giving their children such names as Accepted Trevor, Redeemed Compton, God-Reward Smart, Stand-fast-on-high Stringer, and even to a brother of Barbone's, "If Christ had not died for you, you had been damned Barebone," whence, he says, "the name being too long for common use, they shortened it to Damned Barebone." All this, however, cannot be received as the truth, as there is reason to believe that much is due to the hatred of the royalists.
The more common appellation of this singular parliament was "The Little Parliament." Cromwell opened their session with a very long and extraordinary speech, in which he gave a history of the past contest with the monarchy, and the mercies with which they had been crowned at Naseby, Dunbar, Worcester, and other, places; of the backslidings of the Long Parliament, and the "necessity" to remove it and call this assembly. He quoted a vast quantity of Scripture, and told them that they were called of God to introduce practical religion into state affairs; and he then delivered into their hands an instrument, consigning the supreme power in the state into their hands till the 3rd of September, 1651, three months previous to which date they were to elect their successors, who were to sit only for a year, and in their turn elect theirs.
This resignation of the supreme power once in his hands, has been described by historians as a gross piece of hypocrisy, used to avoid the odium of seizing for himself the power of the parliament, which he had forcibly dissolved. Whether that were the case or not, it certainly was a prudent policy, and a safe one, for he knew very well that he possessed supreme power as head of the army, and could, if necessary, dismiss this parliament by that power as he had done the former one. In their character of pietists or saints, as they were called, this parliament opened its session, electing Francis Rouse their speaker, and by exercises of devotion, which continued from eight in the morning till six at night. Thirteen of the most gifted members preached and prayed in succession, and they adjourned, declaring that they had never enjoyed so much of the spirit and presence of Christ in any meetings for worship as they had done that day. It was moved the next morning that they "should go on seeking the Lord" that day too, but this was overruled, and Monday, the 11th, was fixed for that purpose. They then voted themselves the parliament of the commonwealth of England, invited Cromwell and four of his officers to sit as members amongst them, and on the 9th of July reappointed the council of state, amongst whom we find the names of colonel Montague, afterwards earl of Sandwich, the uncle of the poet Dryden, Sir Gilbert Pickering, lord viscount Lisle, brother of Algernon Sydney, Sir Ashley Cooper, and other names of equal note; and however they might be ridiculed on account of their religion, they soon showed that they were conscientious and independent men. The strongest proof of this was that they did not shrink from opposing the power and interests of Cromwell, who had selected them. Scarcely were they met, when they were appealed to to decide upon the case of John Lilburne, who, on the dissolution of the Long Parliament, petitioned Cromwell to allow him to return from his banishment. Cromwell gave no reply, but independent John took the liberty of appearing in London. He was at once seized and committed to Newgate. Lilburne, supported by his friends, petitioned the house to hear and decide the case, though it was the proper business of a jury. They might now have gratified their patron, whom Lilburne had continually assailed as a robber, a usurper, and a murderer; but they declined to interfere, and left him to the ordinary criminal court. There Lilburne so ably defended himself that he was acquitted; but he was again seized on the plea of libellous and seditious language used on his trial, and the house could then no longer refuse, at the instigation of the council, to imprison him. Being removed from the Tower to Elizabeth Castle, in Jersey, and thence to Dover Castle, he there became a convert to the principles of George Fox, a remarkable end for so fiery and democratic a character. The parliament lost no time in proceeding to assert that divine commission, which Cromwell, in his opening speech, had attributed to their call through him. They declared that they were appointed by the Lord, and would have greatly alarmed Cromwell had he not taken care to include among them a sufficient number of his staunch adherents But they excited the same alarm in a variety of other classes. They set to work resolutely in cutting down the expenditure of the government; they abolished all unnecessary offices; they revised the regulations of the excise; reformed the constitution of the treasury; reduced exorbitant salaries, and examined thoroughly the public accounts: they adopted measures for the sale of the confiscated lands, and enacted rules for the better registration of births, deaths, and marriages; in fact, they introduced those salutary regulations for registration, to which we have only reverted of late years. They went further; they made marriage by a civil magistrate valid, and, indeed, necessary for the enjoyment of the civil
