When he was commanding the army Cromwell had been a successful dictator, as are all successful military commanders. Maybe this is what led him to believe that government should be operated in a similar way.
After being in a position of near absolute power it’s almost impossible to surrender it, especially if one believes that it’s all part of God’s plan, as Cromwell undoubtedly did believe. Whether his successes had made him very confident is difficult to say. It can hardly be doubted, however, that they would have helped to make him extremely impatient of any debate about policies he believed to be necessary for the new State. Patience is a virtue cultivated by successful politicians, but not usually by military commanders.
Eventually he tired of the Parliament’s endless debates and inaction. On 20 April 1653 he took a troop of soldiers to the House. Denouncing the body as ‘no Parliament’ and some of its members as ‘whore-masters’ and ‘drunkards’ he ordered his troops to clear the chamber.
Cromwell’s famous quote on seeing the Mace, the Speaker’s symbol of authority, gives us some idea of his contempt for the Parliament: ‘What shall we do with this bauble?’ he asked, and then answered contemptuously: ‘Take it away.’ Then he dismissed the Council of State as well. The so-called ‘Long Parliament’ was finally ended. Yet another coup had taken place in England. Oliver Cromwell was dictator without even a submissive Parliament to which he had to answer.
One thing the Rump Parliament had done that must have pleased the rapidly inflating ego of Oliver Cromwell was to grant him an allowance of four thousand pounds per year and the gift of Hampton Court palace as well. Despite his Puritan disregard for flamboyant displays he willingly accepted both and took to wearing the clothes befitting one of such high station. It doesn’t take very much to corrupt people, even those who might think of themselves as incorruptible. And Oliver certainly thought of himself in those terms.
Apparently there was little or no dissent from Cromwell’s latest actions. Some thought that they would eventually lead back to monarchy. Ultimately they were correct. Others, the more deeply religious Puritans, called, ‘Fifth Monarchists’ those who expected Christ to return and reign over the world would be disappointed when Jesus Christ failed to make his appearance. Nevertheless, they were pleased when a few months later Cromwell created a new, unselected assembly of men nominated by his army commanders. These were mostly Puritans who Oliver praised as ‘saints’. They first met on 4 July 1653.
The assembly took its work far more seriously than even Cromwell himself had first expected. They called themselves a ‘Parliament’ and it has come down to us as the, ‘Barebones Parliament’, from one of its more devout members, a Fifth Monarchist with a name proclaiming his devotion, ‘Praise God Barebone’, not from its small numbers.
Creating a Parliament is one thing, expecting it to do the bidding of one man is quite another. When more than two people gather to discuss and to make rules, no matter how limited their instructions may be, they will have the tendency to debate at length, and exceed their authority. They will begin to believe that they are meant to rule. And if, as in the case of the 'Barebones Parliament', they believe themselves to be the ‘saints’ that Cromwell had named them, it should be expected that they would act as they saw fit. Cromwell had created another fiend that he couldn’t control.
This, too, had to be ended. And it was on 12 December 1653 the ‘Barebones Parliament’, under pressure from the army, voted its own dissolution. The army then presented Oliver Cromwell with a solution to the political problems facing the country. This was a document entitled, ‘Instrument of Government’, by which he would become the, ‘Lord Protector’. It also proposed a new Parliament elected on a strictly property qualification contract, excluding royalists and Catholics, and another Executive Council to advise both the Parliament and the Protector.
Cromwell didn’t hesitate in accepting the proposal as a ‘Constitution’ for the Commonwealth of England, Ireland and Scotland. It was England’s first and to date its only written Constitution. Of course, it wouldn’t have been created without the knowledge and consent of the person who was to be its nominated leader. Cromwell couldn’t refuse leadership, so on 16 December 1653; Oliver Cromwell took the oath as Lord Protector. A new era was about to begin in a land still torn by political, social and religious differences and bitterness.
