THE COMMONWEALTH-1649-1660 The king's death was followed by the abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords, and the proclamation of a Common wealth. Executive power was vested in a council of state. In fact the Commonwealth was based upon the army, for the bulk of the nation held monarchical opinions and resented the rule of the sword, the heavy taxation and the suppression of popular amuse ments. All parties in Ireland were hostile to the Commonwealth. The Scots, upon hearing of the king's execution, proclaimed his son. No foreign power recognized the Commonwealth. Its up holders were not united. But mutiny in the army was quelled by the prompt action of Fairfax and Cromwell, and against the army the other malcontents were impotent. Cromwell, in his Irish cam paign, broke up the royalist combination and conquered half the kingdom. He was then recalled to take the command against the Scots. Charles II. had been allowed to land on condition of sub scribing the Covenants, but enjoyed little power. The victory of Dunbar, Sept. 3, 165o, enabled Cromwell to occupy Edinburgh. Charles resolved to invade England, where he hoped to find re cruits. Taking the western road, he reached Worcester without meeting opposition, but also without gaining many adherents. Cromwell marched rapidly south, closed upon Worcester with superior forces and annihilated the Scottish army (Sept. 3, 1651) . Charles ultimately escaped to France. Before the end of 1652 Scotland and Ireland were thoroughly subdued and were thence forward ruled as conquered countries. In Ireland confiscation and plantation on a vast scale ensued.
Expulsion of the Parliament and Rule of Cromwell.— The Commonwealth had obtained recognition from France and Spain, but commercial and colonial rivalry had involved it in war with Holland. A schism opened between the army and the parlia ment. Afraid of the general the parliament sought to put off its dissolution as long as possible. Impatient for certain re forms, the army pressed for a dissolution. Finally Cromwell and the officers expelled both parliament and Council of State in April 1653. There no longer existed a semblance of legal power. The Council of Officers sent letters to the congregational Churches, inviting them to nominate representatives. Out of the names thus submitted the Council chose for England, five for Scotland and six for Ireland. Thus was formed the so-called Little Parliament which was really a congress of Puritan notables. Its reforms alarmed the clergy, the lawyers and the owners of property. Cromwell became convinced that the parliament would not an swer : a minority made a voluntary resignation and the rest were expelled by the soldiers. (See BAREBONES PARLIAMENT.) From this event dates the beginning of a political reaction in England. Those officers who were attached to old institutions drew up the Instrument of Government (q.v.), a written constitution aiming at a separation and balance of powers. It set up (I) a lord protec tor elected for life and wielding executive authority; (2) a coun cil of State nominated in the first instance and holding for life, whose consent was required for important executive acts; (3) a parliament of one chamber representing the three kingdoms and possessing legislative power. Cromwell became protector and called a parliament. When it met, the parliament claimed full power of revising the Instrument. Cromwell maintained that the essentials of the Instrument, such as the division of power between a single person and a parliament, must be regarded as beyond dis cussion. He thought it necessary to exclude a number of the most obstinate members, and dissolved the parliament at the earliest date possible. These events encouraged Royalist conspiracy. Then Cromwell divided England into districts, setting over each a major general armed with extraordinary powers. The approach of war with Spain induced him, however, to call another parliament which met in Sept. 1656. Again Cromwell excluded about Ioo members, while others stayed away of their own accord. Those who remained desired a further return to English tradition. By the so-called Humble Petition and Advice they offered Cromwell the crown, while they claimed for the House the sole power of deciding on its membership, and established a new House of Lords. Rejecting the title of king, which was distasteful to the army, Cromwell accepted the other provisions. After the prorogation he nominated the new Lords. When parliament re-assembled, many of his friends had been removed to the upper house, while the excluded members took their seats. Thus the temper of the Commons was mutinous. They refused to acknowledge the powers of the Lords, and Crom well in anger dissolved the parliament.
In his foreign policy Cromwell had two aims; to help the Prot estant cause and to augment English commerce and colonies. Re gretting the Dutch war, he nevertheless prosecuted it to a success ful conclusion. He negotiated commercial treaties with Denmark, Sweden and Portugal. England had grievances against both France and Spain. Regarding Spain as the bitterest enemy of Protestant ism, and angered by the Spanish endeavour to exclude English commerce from any part of the New World, Cromwell decided upon war with Spain, and was thus led to ally himself with France. He conquered Jamaica and Dunkirk at the cost of giving an impetus to French power and ambition. At the height of suc cess he died, worn out by labour and anxiety.