233Exactly what they meant by “a Free State” the founders8 of the Republic did not explain. Hobbes and Harrington agreed in defining the new government as an oligarchy9. A pamphleteer praised it as an aristocracy. But the principles on which it was ostensibly based were the principles of democracy. In their resolutions of January 4, 1649, the House of Commons had declared that the people were, under God, the original of all just power, and had based their claim to override10 the Lords on that ground. In their declaration of the reasons for establishing a republic, they asserted that kings were officials, instituted by agreement amongst the people they governed, whom the people had therefore a right to dethrone in case of misgovernment. Milton, who became one of the Secretaries of the Council of State, echoed the same principles. In his Tenure11 of Kings and Magistrates12, he asserted “that all men were naturally born free, being the image and resemblance of God Himself,” and anticipated Rousseau in tracing the origin of government to a social contract. Yet, in spite of democratic professions, the Republic was simply the rule of the Long Parliament under a new name. All the power which the King and the three estates of the realm had formerly13 possessed14, the little remnant of the House of Commons claimed as its own. All the checks which the existence of King and Lords, or the share of the Church in legislation, had once imposed, were now swept away. The one new institution established was simply a further development of that system of government by committees which the Civil 234War had made necessary. The Council of State was neither a senate nor a cabinet; it possessed no power either to balance or to control the Parliament, but was only an annually15 elected committee, to which the Parliament had entrusted16 executive and administrative17 duties. Of the forty-one persons composing it, all but ten were members of the Parliament itself.
Thus the Long Parliament possessed an authority which no political assembly in England has ever possessed before or since. Its power of legislation was unlimited18. It exercised the executive power indirectly19 through the Council, and directly through its own resolutions. By interference with private suits, and by the appointment of committees with quasi-judicial21 functions, it also exercised the judicial power. Its sovereignty was undivided and uncontrolled.
“This was the case of the people of England at that time,” said Cromwell, eight years later, “the Parliament assuming to itself the authority of the three estates that were before. It had so assumed that authority that if any man had come and said, ‘What rules do you judge by?’ it would have answered, ‘Why, we have none. We are supreme in legislature and judicature.’”
What made this authority still more burdensome was that there was no prospect22 of its ever ending. Instead of sitting for about seven months in the year, as Parliaments do now, it sat all the year round, never taking more than three or four days’ holiday. Moreover, by the Act of May 11, 1641, it could not be adjourned23, prorogued24, or dissolved, 235save by its own consent, and though the King, who had passed the act, was dead, it was held to be still in force. So, in Cromwell’s phrase, the country was governed by “a perpetual Parliament always sitting.”
Although the claims of the Long Parliament had reached their highest, the theory on which they rested had ceased to be in accordance with facts. “The Commons of England in Parliament assembled,” said the resolution of the House on January 4, 1649, “being chosen by and representing the people, have the supreme power in this nation.” But the House was never less representative than at the moment when it passed this vote. By the expulsion of royalist members during the war, and of Presbyterians in 1648, it had been, as Cromwell said, “winnowed, and sifted25, and brought to a handfull.” When the Long Parliament met in November, 1640, it consisted of about 490 members; in January, 1649, those sitting, or at liberty to sit, in the House were not more than ninety. Whole districts were unrepresented. In the list of sitting members given in a contemporary pamphlet, there were none from the counties of Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Cumberland, and Lancashire, or from any borough26 within their limits. Wales was represented by three persons, and London by but a single citizen. In later years, a few readmissions and a few new elections swelled27 the total of sitting members to about 125, but at no date between 1649 and 1653 was the Long Parliament entitled to say that it represented the people. Its power rested not on popular consent, but on the 236support of the army, and on the superstitious28 reverence29 which Englishmen paid even to the shadow of a Parliament.
Politically the all-important question was how long the army would continue to maintain this remnant of the Long Parliament in power. The agreement between the two covered a fundamental difference in their political views. The army regarded the maintenance of the existing assembly as a temporary expedient30. The Parliament looked upon itself as a legitimate31 sovereign with an indefeasible right to rule. By a Free State, the army meant a democracy, and could not understand a republic without republican institutions. Above all it demanded that the new State should be based on a written constitution defining the rights of the governed and the powers of the government. In the Agreement of the People, drawn32 up in January, 1649, it sketched33 the outlines of the republic it desired. The Long Parliament was to come to an end in April, 1649. All ratepayers assessed to the relief of the poor, and every man not a menial servant or a pauper34, were to have votes. Electoral districts were to be made more equal. Parliaments were to be elected every two years, and not to sit for more than six months in the year, and a Council of State was to hold power when they were not sitting. If the State chose, it might provide for the maintenance of a national Church, but with the exception of Popery and prelacy, all forms of Christianity were to be tolerated. Finally, as a safeguard against arbitrary power, certain fundamental rights were 237enumerated with which no government might interfere20: freedom from impressment, equality before the law, and freedom of worship.
The constitutional scheme of the army was presented to the Parliament on January 20, 1649. They did not ask that it should be imposed on the nation by law, but that it should be tendered to the nation for acceptance. It was to be circulated, somewhat as a petition, amongst the people for signatures, and if most of the supporters of the cause approved of it, steps were to be taken to give it effect. The Parliament received the Agreement with thanks, and laid it aside.
April, 1649, passed and they showed no sign of dissolving. Their feeling on the subject of a new Parliament was well expressed by Harry36 Marten in 1650. Marten compared the Commonwealth to the infant Moses. When Moses, he said, was found amongst the bulrushes and brought to Pharaoh’s daughter, she took care to find out the child’s mother, and to commit him to her to nurse. The Commonwealth was an infant, of weak growth and very tender constitution; nobody was so fit to nurse it as the mother who brought it forth3, and till it had obtained more years and vigour37 they should not trust it to other hands.
In 1649, there was much to be urged in favour of this view. At home and abroad the young Republic was surrounded by enemies. In England it was threatened by Royalists, Presbyterians, and Levellers; in Europe it had no friends. The execution of Charles I. had excited universal horror amongst 238foreigners. There was indeed no prospect of the general league of European potentates38 to punish regicide, for which Royalists hoped, but both governments and peoples were hostile. In Russia, the Czar imprisoned39 English merchants and confiscated40 their goods. In Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, ministers preached sermons denouncing the English sectaries, and proving that there was no necessary connection between Protestantism and king-killing. In the United Provinces, where republicans might have expected sympathy, public opinion was equally incensed41 against them. The States-General addressed Charles II. as King, condoled42 with him on the death of his father, and allowed Rupert to equip his fleet in Dutch ports. They refused to give audience to Strickland, the English agent in Holland, and declined to recognise the new State. In May, 1649, a special ambassador from England, Dr. Dorislaus, was murdered by Scottish Royalists at The Hague, and though the Dutch Government promised redress43, popular feeling secured the escape of the murderers. Much of this hostility44 was due to the influence of the Stadtholder, William II., whose marriage with Mary, daughter of Charles I., had made the House of Orange the one firm friend of the House of Stuart. William II. helped his brother-in-law with money and advice, and would have done more if he had been able. But Holland, the richest and most powerful of the seven provinces, was opposed to the warlike schemes of the Stadtholder and wished to remain at peace with England.
In France, the King’s death made every Englishman 239unpopular. The war with Spain and the distractions45 of France itself prevented Mazarin from assisting Charles II., but he would not recognise the Republic. The relations of England and France grew rapidly worse. The French Government forbade the importation of English draperies; the English replied by prohibiting French wines, woollen goods, and silks. French privateers and even government ships attacked English commerce, and during 1649 and 1650 took English shipping46 to the amount of five thousand tons, and goods worth half a million. Naturally English merchants made reprisals47 on French trade. Diplomatic intercourse48 came to a stop; one French agent was ordered to leave England, a second was turned back at the coast, and a third was dismissed almost as soon as he arrived in the country.
The hostility of France made Spain comparatively friendly. It did not recognise the Republic, but its ambassador kept up unofficial intercourse with the Council of State, and its Government maintained a real neutrality between English parties. It waited till the permanence of the new government should be assured, and in the meantime declined to help a claimant whose chances of restoration seemed precarious49. Cottington and Hyde, the ambassadors whom Charles II. sent to Spain, were received with coldness, and their petitions for assistance rejected. On the other hand, Ascham, the agent of the Commonwealth, was murdered by English Cavaliers as soon as he reached Madrid (May 27, 1650), and only one of his murderers was punished. “I envy those 240gentlemen,” said the Spanish prime minister, “for having done so noble an action.” Political necessity might force Spain to preserve friendly relations with the Commonwealth, but the feeling of subjects and rulers alike was as hostile as that of the French.
In England itself, the reaction which began when the King became a captive was increased by the manner of his death. Ten days after the execution, there appeared in print the Eikon Basilike—the portraiture50 of King Charles in his solitude51 and sufferings. The book was really written by Dr. Gauden, but no Cavalier doubted that it contained the King’s thoughts and feelings set down by his own hand. It inspired Royalists with more fervid52 loyalty53; converted the wavering, and touched even the indifferent. The mob began to believe that Charles had been the best of monarchs54, and the meekest55 of martyrs56. He was no longer the perfidious57 tyrant58 of politicians, but the man with the mild voice and mournful eyes whom dramatists were to glorify59. Milton complained that the people, “with a besotted and degenerate60 baseness of spirit, except some few who yet retain in them the old English fortitude61 and love of freedom, are ready to fall down flat and give adoration62 to the image and memory of this man, who hath offered at more cunning fetches to undermine our liberties and put tyranny into an art, than any British king before him.” In his Eikonoklastes, he undertook to shatter the idol63 of “the inconstant, irrational64, and image-doting rabble,” but failed altogether.
For the moment, the royalist party was too weak 241to be a serious danger. In Holland and in France, a crowd of ruined noblemen and battered65 soldiers waited impatiently for the chance of striking another blow against their conquerors66. Already Montrose was enlisting67 men in Northern Europe for a fresh descent on Scotland. In his lines to the dead King, he had promised to avenge68 his death.
“I’ll sing thine obsequies in trumpet69 sounds,
And write thine epitaph in blood and wounds.”
Other exiles, with an eye to profit as well as vengeance70, took to privateering. From the Irish ports, from the Isles71 of Man, Jersey72, and Scilly, issued swarms73 of privateers, who infested74 the Channel and plundered75 English merchantmen. Nor were more distant seas secure. A few months later Prince Rupert, with what was left of the royal fleet, took a number of prizes in the Atlantic, made a sudden raid into the Mediterranean76, intercepted77 homeward-bound ships off the Azores, and even spread havoc78 in West Indian waters. “We plough the seas for a subsistence,” wrote one of his officers, “poverty and despair being our companions, and revenge our guide.”
At home, however, the Royalists were crushed and subdued79. Some of their leaders were prisoners; others had suffered under the Republic’s High Court of Justice. As a rule, the penalties inflicted80 on the defeated party were limited to pecuniary81 fines. Early in the war, the Parliament had resolved to sequestrate all the property of those in arms against it. Subsequently it adopted the plan of compounding 242with delinquents82; that is, allowing a Royalist to redeem83 his estate on paying a certain proportion of its value. These compositions varied84 in amount from one-half to one-tenth of the capital value of the property, and were determined85 according to the position and the criminality of the owner. Under this system, large sums were raised to pay the expenses of the war, but it was less effective as a means of raising revenue than as a method of punishing Royalists. A country gentleman who had melted his plate and felled his oaks to succour the King found himself forced to raise money when money was scarce and land had immensely fallen in value. The fixing of his fine was a long and cumbrous process, and till it was fixed86 his estate was under sequestration. If he failed to pay his instalments at the right time, or was found to have understated his property, there came a re-assessment of the fine, or a fresh sequestration of the estate. He might long as fervently87 as ever to see the day when the King would enjoy his own again, but, disarmed88 and impoverished89 as he was, he could do little to bring it nearer. Yet many Cavaliers were willing to risk their lives again in the attempt. This section of the party maintained an active correspondence with the exiled Court, and by 1650 a central royalist council was established with agents in every county. But the most sanguine90 plotters admitted that without some assistance from abroad the party in general was “too extremely awed” to take up arms.
In England their possible allies against the government were the Presbyterians and the Levellers. 243The Presbyterians were numerous, rich, and powerful. Their strength lay in London, in the large towns, and in Lancashire, but most of the middle classes and the bulk of the beneficed clergy91 belonged to their party. The Presbyterian clergy had protested loudly against the King’s trial; many of them preached against the Republic, and some were bold enough to pray for Charles II. They condemned93 the Commonwealth as “an heretical democracy,” and refused the engagement to be faithful to it which Parliament imposed. But beyond this passive resistance few of them went. Cordial co-operation between Presbyterians and Royalists was impossible, for the desires of the parties differed widely. What the Presbyterians wanted was a constitutional monarchy on the basis of the terms offered the King in the Newport treaty; what the Royalists wanted was the restoration of monarchy as it had existed before the war began. One party demanded the establishment of some form of Presbyterianism, the other the maintenance of Episcopacy. In 1648, the distrust and apathy94 of the Presbyterians had prevented the success of the Royalists, and the same cause prevented their union now. The Royalists distrusted the Presbyterians quite as much. To men like Hyde, they seemed traitors95 and rebels, whose penitence96 was hollow, and whose principles were as fatal to monarchy and religion as those of the Independents. By depriving Charles of his kingly power they had made it possible for the Independents to deprive him of his life. A Royalist summed up the share of the 244two parties by saying that the Independents cut off the King’s head, but the Presbyterians brought him to the block. Adversity might draw Presbyterians and Royalists together; but not till hatred97 of military rule and dread98 of anarchy99 had effaced100 the memories of the war was their joint101 action possible.
As little prospect was there of the union of the Levellers with the Royalists. Under the name of Levellers two distinct parties were included, neither of which, however hostile to the existing government, was favourable102 to monarchy. A small section, calling themselves the true Levellers, demanded sweeping103 social changes. Without these, said they, the Republic is a mockery. “Unless we that are poor have some part of the land to live upon freely as well as the gentry104, it cannot be a free Commonwealth.” At present, they asked for the right to establish themselves on the commons and waste lands, but they dreamed of a socialistic republic in which there would be no private property in land, no buying or selling, and neither rich nor poor.
The majority of the Levellers demanded political changes only, and protested they had no desire “to level men’s estates, destroy property, or make all things common.” What they wanted was to limit the powers of the Government and extend the rights of the individual. The three chief points in their programme were manhood suffrage105, annual Parliaments, and complete religious liberty. Their complaint was that the revolution of 1648 had stopped too soon, and that the Republic was not an absolute democracy.
245The socialists106 were harmless dreamers whose doctrines107 fell on stony109 ground, but the teaching of the democrats110 bore abundant fruit. Lilburn, their spokesman, was an effective pamphleteer, a vigorous orator111, and a party leader of singular pertinacity112 and courage. In his struggle with the Government he gave voice not only to the aspirations113 of his own party, but to the feelings of all the opponents of the Republic. The Government seized his pamphlets, threw him in prison, and put him on trial for treason. It only increased his popularity. When “honest John” denied the right of the sword to dictate114 laws, and demanded the liberty which was the birthright of every Englishman, no London jury would agree to convict him. He was imprisoned time after time, but it was impossible to suppress him till Parliament passed an act for his banishment115 (December, 1651).
With so many enemies around them, the founders of the Republic had to deal with a task of extraordinary difficulty. But all the machinery116 of government was in their hands, and although their supporters were a minority, energy and enthusiasm compensated117 for lack of numbers. The Council of State consisted of country gentlemen of military or political experience, with a few lawyers, a few merchants, besides three or four professional soldiers. It contained a number of able men, and several statesmen, than whom, as Milton says of Vane, better Senators ne’er held the helm of Rome when the Roman Senate beat back Pyrrhus and Hannibal. The system of governing through committees 246and boards made it possible to add to each of the bodies entrusted with the management of a department a certain number of outsiders of special knowledge or skill. The administrative business of the Republic was consequently far better conducted than that of the Long Parliament or the monarchy. Royalist pamphleteers represented the men in power as universally corrupt118 and self-seeking; but with some few exceptions they were men of high character and great disinterestedness119. To a foreign observer, hostile rather than friendly, they seemed worthy120 to exercise power, however defective121 their title to it might be.
“Not only are they powerful by sea and land,” wrote one of Mazarin’s agents, “but they live without ostentation122, without pomp, and without mutual123 rivalry124. They are economical in their private affairs and prodigal125 in their devotion to public affairs, for which each man toils127 as if for his private interest. They handle large sums of money, which they administer honestly, observing a strict discipline. They reward well and punish severely128.”
SIR HENRY VANE (THE YOUNGER).
(From a painting by William Dobson, in the National Portrait Gallery.)
The pecuniary resources of the Republic were far greater than any of the Stuarts had ever possessed. The revenue of Charles I., in 1633, was estimated at ￡618,000. The revenue of the Republic, in 1649, from monthly assessments129, customs, excise130, fines from delinquents, and sales of confiscated lands amounted to about two millions. But the demands upon the revenue were greater still. The safety of the seas and the possibility of a foreign war made the reorganisation of the navy an immediate131 necessity. 247Accordingly, Warwick’s commission as Lord High Admiral was revoked132, and the command of the fleet given to three Generals at Sea, Blake, Deane, and Popham. In place of Warwick, the Admiralty Committee of the Council of State exercised a general supervision133 over naval134 affairs, but the building of ships, the care of their crews, and all the practical management of the navy were given to a Board of Navy Commissioners135 taught by service at sea what a fighting fleet required. During the next three years, forty-one new men-of-war were added to the navy, which was further increased by hired merchantmen. The sailors were better fed, better paid, and better cared for than they had been under Charles I., and, moreover, their zeal136 was stimulated137 by giving them a third of all the prizes they took. Invasion rapidly became an impossibility, and the dominion138 of the seas a reality instead of an empty claim.
The army of the Commonwealth, if small for the tasks before it, was amply sufficient to suppress rebellion or prevent invasion. The twenty-one thousand men of the “New Model” had swollen139 to a host of double that size. The standing140 army, in 1649, amounted to forty-four thousand men, of whom twelve thousand were destined141 for the reconquest of Ireland. In character and composition it differed little from the “New Model.” The uniform had become universal, and henceforth redcoat and soldier were synonymous. As the pay of the troops was high, and discharged with comparative regularity143, it was no longer necessary to raise recruits by pressing. For the officers the army had become a career, and 248few retired144, unless disabled or cashiered. Officers of all grades were inspired by a certain corporate145 feeling, and accustomed to act together in politics. But between officers and privates a serious divergence146 of opinion was beginning to reveal itself. The agitation147 of the Levellers had found a ready response in the lower ranks of the army. Many of the soldiers demanded, like Lilburn, the immediate realisation of the democratic Republic. Others wanted the re-establishment of the Council of Agitators148 and the abolition of martial149 law. As in 1647, reluctance150 to serve in Ireland and the question of arrears151 of pay swelled the discontent.
Lilburn seized the opportunity to attack the council of officers, and Cromwell as its guiding spirit. He and his disciples152 denounced the Lieutenant-General as a tyrant, an apostate154, and a hypocrite. “You shall scarce speak to Cromwell about anything,” says one of their pamphlets, “but he will lay his hand on his breast, elevate his eyes, and call God to record. He will weep, howl, and repent155, even while he doth smite156 you under the fifth rib157.”
Personal abuse had no effect on Cromwell, but he felt the danger with which this agitation threatened the Republic. Tenaciously158 attached to the existing social order, he regarded the teaching of the Levellers as calculated to overthrow159 authority and destroy property. In one of his later speeches he sums up his views on the levelling movement. The distinction between class and class was the corner-stone of society. “A nobleman, a gentleman, a yeoman, that is a good interest of the land and a great one.” But 249the “levelling principle” tended to reduce all the orders and ranks of men to an equality. Consciously or unconsciously it aimed at that, “for what was the purport160 of it but to make the tenant153 as liberal a fortune as the landlord?” The preaching of such a doctrine108 was a danger to the State “because it was a pleasing voice to all poor men, and truly not unwelcome to all bad men.”
When it came to propagating levelling views in the army, and inciting161 soldiers to disobey their officers, Cromwell’s way with the ringleaders was short and sharp. In March, 1649, Lilburn and three other incendiaries were brought before the Council of State.
“I tell you,” said Cromwell, thumping162 the council table, “you have no other way to deal with these men but to break them, or they will break you; yea, and bring all the guilt163 of the blood and treasure shed and spent in this kingdom upon your heads, and frustrate164 and make void all that work that, with so many years’ industry, toil126, and pains you have done; and therefore I tell you again, you are necessitated165 to break them.”
Lilburn and his friends went to the Tower, but the effervescence amongst the soldiers still continued. At Salisbury, in May, 1649, three of the regiments166 selected to go to Ireland broke into open mutiny, and declined to march till the liberties of England were secured. Their watchword was “England’s freedom, soldiers’ rights,” and they expected other regiments to join them. But Cromwell and Fairfax left them no time to gather 250strength. Hurrying from London to Oxfordshire by forced marches, the two generals fell on the mutineers at Burford, took four hundred prisoners, and scattered167 the rest. Little blood was shed. Three non-commissioned officers were shot; the rest of the mutineers were told that they deserved to be decimated; nevertheless, they were re-embodied in the ranks, and shipped off to Ireland.
Cromwell did not limit himself to the soldier’s task of striking down the enemies of the cause; he laboured with equal zeal to conciliate doubtful supporters and regain168 lost friends. Many Independents were willing to accept the Republic, now it was established, if they could do so without approving the method by which it had been brought into being. Cromwell was probably the author of the compromise by which these men were induced to take their seats in the Council of State side by side with the authors of the late revolution. Equally conciliatory was his attitude on the question of the House of Lords. To fanatical republicans like Ludlow, it was a proof of his want of principle that he objected to the abolition of that institution, and wished to retain it as a purely169 consultative body. In reality, his natural conservatism disinclined him to make more constitutional changes than necessity required, and he sought to keep the support of those few peers who had hitherto stood by the cause. In April, 1649, Cromwell even made overtures170 to the Presbyterians. He offered, as he had offered in 1647, to consent to the establishment of the Presbyterian system, if there were toleration for men of 251other creeds171 who “walked peaceably.” He was willing to consent to the readmission of the members excluded by Pride’s Purge173, if they would promise fidelity174 to the Republic. But the Presbyterians refused his offers.
Of these attempted compromises there is little trace in history, but Cromwell’s letters show his efforts to convert individuals. Robert Hammond and Lord Wharton had once been his comrades in the struggle, but now, as Cromwell put it, they had reasoned themselves out of the Lord’s service. To win them back, it was to faith rather than to reason that he appealed, for that was the way he had quieted his own scruples175.
“It were a vain thing,” he told Wharton, “to dispute over your doubts, or undertake to answer your objections. I have heard them all, and I have rest from the trouble of them, and of what has risen in my own heart, for which I desire to be humbly176 thankful. I do not condemn92 your reasonings. I doubt them.”
Pride’s Purge and the King’s execution stuck in Wharton’s throat. He condemned the illegality by which the Republic had been established and the character of some of the men concerned.
“It is easy,” replied Cromwell, “to object to the glorious actings of God, if we look too much upon instruments. Be not offended at the manner; perhaps there was no other way left. What if God accepted their zeal as he did that of Phineas, whom reason might have called before a jury?” But above all, “what if the Lord have witnessed His approbation177 and acceptance to 252this also—not only by signal outward acts, but to the heart too?”
To Cromwell this union of the outward sign with the inward conviction was something far above argument. The logic178 of events was the only convincing logic. It was the answer that he had given to Hammond’s doubts in 1648. “Fleshly reasonings ensnare us”; let us see what the purpose of God is, as it is made manifest in events. For as nothing happened but because God willed it should happen, so what men termed events were to the Christian35 “dispensations,” “manifestations,” “providences,” “appearances of God.” There was no such thing as fate—“that were too paganish a word.” There was no such thing as chance. Every battle was “an appeal to God”—Cromwell often uses that phrase as a synonym142 for fighting. Victory or defeat was not an accident; it was the working of “the Providence179 of God in that which is falsely called the chance of war.” Therefore each successive triumph of his cause was a fresh proof of its righteousness. His victories in Ireland became a justification180 of the Republic. “These,” he told the Speaker, “are the seals of God’s approbation of your great change of government.”
That there was something fatalistic in this belief cannot be denied. Cromwell himself once owns that he was inclined to make too much of “outward dispensations.” But the confidence in his cause which this creed172 gave was the source of his power over his followers181.
253“In the high places of the field,” said one of them, “as at Dunbar, Worcester and elsewhere, when he carried his life in his hand, did not his faith then work at a more than ordinary rate? Insomuch that success and victory was in his eye, when fears and despondencies did oppress the hearts of others, and some good men too.”
Whatever happened to himself, the Cause could not fail. “The Cause is of God, and it must prosper182.” It was not for the sake of the Cause, but for the sake of his doubting friends that he strove to persuade them. “The Lord hath no need of you,” he tells one. “The work needs you not, but you it,” he tells another. The fear in his mind was only this: “what if my friend should withdraw his shoulder from the Lord’s work through false, mistaken reasonings?” To serve in that work in any station was “more honour than the world can give or show.” “How great is it,” he cries, “to be the Lord’s servant in any drudgery183!” How little, then, it matters whether a man is called an apostate or a tyrant, or what reproaches that service brings, what estrangements, what vigils, or what labours. “Let us all be not careful what men will make of these actings. They, will they, nill they, shall fulfill184 the good pleasure of God, and we shall serve our generations. Our rest we expect elsewhere: that will be durable185.”
Therefore, when others faltered186 and fell behind, Cromwell (in Marvell’s phrase) “marched indefatigably187 on.” Fortunate was the Republic that in its hour of need it had such a servant. More fortunate would it have been had its rulers realised that the Cause 254which Cromwell served was not a form of government, but ideal ends compatible with any form. He had sought to find religious and civil liberty in a monarchy; he sought it now in a republic; he was to seek it hereafter in a government which was neither. At present it seemed to him inseparable from the life of the Republic.
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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forth
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commonwealth
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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writs
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| n.书面命令，令状( writ的名词复数 ) | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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oligarchy
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override
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| vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于 | |
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tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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formerly
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possessed
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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16
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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18
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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19
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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20
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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21
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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22
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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23
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
prorogued
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| v.使（议会）休会( prorogue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
sifted
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| v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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26
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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27
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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28
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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29
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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30
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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31
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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32
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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33
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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34
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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35
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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36
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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37
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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38
potentates
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| n.君主，统治者( potentate的名词复数 )；有权势的人 | |
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39
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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42
condoled
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| v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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44
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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45
distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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46
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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47
reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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48
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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49
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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50
portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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51
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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52
fervid
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| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
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53
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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54
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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55
meekest
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| adj.温顺的，驯服的( meek的最高级 ) | |
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56
martyrs
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|
| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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57
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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58
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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59
glorify
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| vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化 | |
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60
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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61
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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62
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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63
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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64
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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65
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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66
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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67
enlisting
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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68
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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69
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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70
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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71
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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72
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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73
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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74
infested
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|
| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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75
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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77
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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78
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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79
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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80
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
pecuniary
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|
| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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82
delinquents
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| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
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83
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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84
varied
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|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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85
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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86
fixed
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|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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87
fervently
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|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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88
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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89
impoverished
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|
| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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90
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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91
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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92
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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93
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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94
apathy
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|
| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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95
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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96
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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97
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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98
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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99
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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100
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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101
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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102
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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103
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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104
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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105
suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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106
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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107
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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108
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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109
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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110
democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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111
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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112
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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113
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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114
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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115
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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116
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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117
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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118
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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119
disinterestedness
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120
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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121
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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122
ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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123
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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124
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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125
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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126
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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127
toils
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| 网 | |
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128
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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129
assessments
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| n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价 | |
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130
excise
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| n.(国产)货物税；vt.切除，删去 | |
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131
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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132
revoked
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| adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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134
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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135
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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136
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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137
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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138
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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139
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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140
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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141
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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142
synonym
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| n.同义词，换喻词 | |
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143
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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144
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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146
divergence
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| n.分歧，岔开 | |
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147
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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148
agitators
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| n.（尤指政治变革的）鼓动者( agitator的名词复数 )；煽动者；搅拌器；搅拌机 | |
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149
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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151
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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152
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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153
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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154
apostate
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| n.背叛者，变节者 | |
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155
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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158
tenaciously
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| 坚持地 | |
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159
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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161
inciting
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| 刺激的，煽动的 | |
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thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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163
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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164
frustrate
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| v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦 | |
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necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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166
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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168
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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170
overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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172
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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173
purge
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| n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁 | |
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174
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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175
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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176
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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178
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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179
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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181
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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182
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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183
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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184
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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185
durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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186
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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187
indefatigably
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| adv.不厌倦地，不屈不挠地 | |
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