lord-protector and the parliament; but chiefly in the parliament, for every act passed by them was to become law at the end of twenty days, though the protector should refuse it his consent. Parliament should not be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved, without its own consent, for five months; and there was to be a new parliament called within three years of the dissolution of the last. The members of the parliament were adopted from a plan by Vane, brought forward during the Long Parliament—namely, three hundred and forty members for England and Wales, thirty for Scotland, and thirty for Ireland. The members were to be chosen chiefly from the counties, and no papist, malignant, or any one who had borne arms against the parliament, was admissible. In the protector resided the power of making war or peace with the consent of the council; he held the disposal of the militia, and of the regular forces and the navy, the appointment of all public offices with the approbation of parliament, or during the recess of parliament with that of the council, subject to the after approval of parliament; but he could make no law, nor impose taxes without consent of parliament. The civil list was fixed at two hundred thousand pounds, and a revenue for the army capable of maintaining thirty thousand men, with such a navy as the lord-protector should deem necessary. The elective franchise extended to persons possessed of property worth two hundred pounds, and sixty members of parliament should constitute a quorum. All persons professing faith in Jesus Christ were to enjoy the exercise of their religion except papists, prelatists, or such as taught doctrines subversive of morality. Cromwell was named lord-protector for life, and his successor was to be elected by the council, and no member of the family of the late king, or any one of his line, should be capable of election. A council was specially named by the Instrument, to consist of Philip, lord viscount Lisle, brother of Algernon Sydney, Fleetwood, Lambert, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Sir Charles Wolsey, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, Edward Montague, John Desborough, brother-in-law of Cromwell, Walter Strickland, Henry Lawrence, William Sydenham, Philip Jones, Richard Major, father-in-law of Richard Cromwell, Francis Rouse, Philip Skipton, Esqrs., or any seven of them, with a power in the protector, and a majority of the council, to add to their number. Thurloe, the historian, was secretary of the council, and Milton Latin secretary.
This instrument being ready, Cromwell swore solemnly to observe it, and to cause it to be observed; and then Lambert, kneeling, offered the protector a civic sword in the scabbard, which he took, laying aside his own, as indicating that he thenceforward would govern by the new constitution, and not by military authority. He then seated himself, covered, in the chair of state, all besides standing uncovered; he then received from the commissioners the great seal, and from the lord mayor the sword and cap of maintenance, which he immediately returned to them. On this the court rose, and the lord-protector returned in state to Whitehall, the lord mayor bearing the sword before him, amid the shouting of the soldiers and the firing of cannon. The next day, the 17th of December, the lord-protector was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in Westminster and in the city, and thus had the successful general, the quondam farmer of Huntingdon, arrived at the seat of supreme power, at the seat of a long line of famous kings, though not with the name of king, to which many suspected him of aspiring. Yet even without the royal dignity, he soon found the position anything but an enviable one, for he was surrounded by hosts of men still vowed to his destruction and the restoration of the monarchy; and amongst those who had fought side by side with him towards this august eminence, were many who regarded his assumption of it as a crime, to be expiated only by his death. Before we proceed, however, to notice the protector's struggles with his secret or avowed enemies, and with his new parliament, we must notice what had been doing meantime in the war with Holland, which had still been raging.
In May, 1653, the fleets of England and Holland, each amounting to one hundred sail, put to sea. That of England was under the command of Monk, Dean, Penn, and Lawson; that of Holland under Van Tronip, De Ruyter, De Witt, and Evertsens. At first they passed each other, and whilst Monk ravaged the coast of Holland, Van Tromp was cannonading Dover. At length, on the 2nd of June, they met off the North Foreland, and a desperate conflict took place, in which Dean was killed at the side of Monk. Monk immediately threw his cloak over the body, to avoid discouraging the men, and fought on through the day. In the night Blake arrived with eighteen additional sail, and at dawn the battle was renewed. The result was, that the Dutch were beaten, lost one-and-twenty sail, and had thirteen hundred men taken prisoners, besides great numbers killed and wounded. The English pursued the flying vessels to the coast of Holland, and committed great ravages amongst their merchantmen. But the undaunted Van Tromp, on the 29th of July, appeared again at sea with above a hundred sail. Monk, on his appearance, stood out to sea for more battle-room, and one of the Dutch captains seeing this, said to Tromp that they were running; but Tromp, who knew the English better, replied curtly, "Sir, look to your own charge, for were there but twenty sail, they would never refuse to fight us." Monk, on his part, ordered his captains to attempt making no prizes, but to sink and destroy all the ships they could. The battle, therefore, raged furiously, from five in the morning till ten; but at length the gallant Tromp fell dead by a musket shot, and the courage of the Dutch gave way. In this fight the Dutch lost thirty ships, about one thousand prisoners, besides the numbers of slain, the English losing only two vessels.
These splendid victories enabled Cromwell to conclude advantageous treaties with Holland, France, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Most of these states sent over ambassadors to congratulate him on his elevation, and these were received at Whitehall with much state. The royal apartments were furnished anew in a very magnificent style, and in the banqueting-room was placed a chair of state raised on a platform with three steps, and the lord-protector gave audience seated in it. The ambassadors were instructed to make three obeisances, one at the entrance, one in the middle of the room, and the third in front of the chair, which the protector acknowledged with a grave inclination of the head. The same ceremony was repeated on retiring.
