But consider this...1660 was before Zaccheus and Rebecca (Bristol) Cande started having children and thus far in our study efforts, the dynamic story of democracy in America hasn't been thwarted by some more insight into how other places have evolved politically.
For our purposes we've dug into Hume's volume 5 of THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE INVASION OF JULIUS CEASER TO THE ABDICATION OF JAMES THE SECOND, 1688. We happened into a copy at a tag sale and this one was published by Porter and Coates in Philadelphia, no date. The pages are breaking as we turn them to learn. Even more reason to get this stuff online!
We want to look at some of the conditions that fostered such violent and abruptive changes as occurred in England leading up to the Restoration. And Hume plummets us into the tender times of leaders passing away and a younger generation taking the reigns. For a system so entrenched in familial bonds setting the precedent for how the future will go, deaths in the family can be revolutionary.
In 1658 Oliver Cromwell dies and he is succeeded by his son Richard. Hume fills us in on the political landscape as effected by the change in "Protector." Richard's brother Henry who was governing Ireland with popularity insured Richard that Ireland would be obedient. The British Army and Navy accepted the succession. Counties and corporations acknowledged their allegiances. And Richard hit the ground running. A Parliament was called to furnish supplies for ordinary administration and for fulfilling those engagements with foreign princes (especially with Sweden) previously arranged by Cromwell, Sr.
"In hopes of obtaining greater influence in elections, the ancient right was restored to all small boroughs, and the counties were allowed no more than their usual members" (16 Hume).
The House of Peers consisted of the same persons appointed by Oliver.
And 1658 rolled into being 1659 when "All the Commons at first signed, without hesitation, an engagement not to alter the present government" (17 Hume).
It seemed a smooth transition. But there were, it seems, internal tensions between parties. And in those party differences, were some pretty divisive distinctions between departments if we consider a nation to be made up of different parts of operation. Hume suggests that the whole Republican Party in the Army sided with Fleetwood, a brother-in-law of Richard and one of the most considerable officers in the Army. This party was drumming up the drama and intrigue instead of simply being transparent about their ambitions. Fleetwood was, according to Hume, "entering into cabals" against Richard Cromwell. They were having secret meetings at Fleetwood's apartments and gaining joiners like officers and big wigs and even Richard's uncle Desborow. The pressure was put on the Protector to call a general council of officers who might make proposals "for the good of the army." Thin lines between special interest seeking to gain control of the whole enchilada and departments looking out for themselves AND the what's best for the nation!
Fleetwood is said, in this work, to be something of a fanatic, addicted to republic and to a 5th monarchy or "dominion of the saints." So as we read along in this HISTORY OF ENGLAND we find direct connections to language used in early America for our families.
As we learn in Peter Malia's VISIBLE SAINTS: WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, 1648-1798, the thread of the saints ties core themes of Old World to New World together. And a major strand of that thread is religion not being separate from political organization.
So in both the theocratic sense and in the military being one and the same with rulers in government, we have braided elements of construction back in the 1650's/1660's when we look at empires.
In 1659 in England, the men working with Fleetwood proposed to Richard Cromwell that the whole military power should be entrusted to some person in whom they might all confide and the London city militia agreed, for "the good old cause." In other words, many of the men had the sense that they should be re-building the strength of the empire into the type of emperor/war commander-in-chief and army structure that had for so long stood other great empires in the best stead to kick arse and take control of the universe.
Parliament stepped in and voted that there should be no meeting or general council of officers EXCEPT with the Protector's consent and/or by his orders. Allowed to formulate on their own, a militarized force would openly create a shadow government in the broad stroke painting of organization and many times throughout history such shadow governments build themselves into direct competition with the seated authorities and it can get really ugly.
In retaliation to the check on their potential power, the officers demanded that Richard dissolve the Parliament. Even his uncle threatened Richard and the younger Cromwell caved.
Parliament got dissolved and the Protector got considered a failure. Cromwell signed his demission and Henry over in Ireland was also threatened and he quietly resigned his command as Deputy of Ireland.
So the Council of Officers who were NOT voted for now possessed supreme authority and deliberated on what form of government they should establish.
Many were inclined to exercise the power of the sword as the only means of getting anything done and it was decided that using the sword against their own people would be an "effective" means of getting the money out of the people. The people would be induced to pay taxes levied by arbitrary will and wouldn't have any representatives to speak up for them. Of course, this did not sound very civil because it wasn't and the Officers felt that they should maintain a shadow of civil administration so that there would be fewer questions of their doings.
To do this, of course, they couldn't very well share the actual power of office or leave any loopholes undefended, where the people might slip in and re-direct the governance in a more fair and balanced direction.
The Officers assumed that the old, expelled by Cromwell "Long Parliament" would be content to act in subordination to military commanders, so they did some outreach and tried to muster up this weak and token, mouthpiece Parliament.
They appealed to the speaker, Lenthal, and strongly suggested that Parliament should resume their seats. Lenthal tried to evade their proposal. He was busy, he said, working on the salvation of his own soul! He'd felt a pull towards being more religious than political and was preparing to "participate of the Lord's Supper" which he'd resolved to do that very week. The Officers reiterated their desire to have a Parliament and tried to convince Lenthal that public service was just as good in God's eyes as partaking in religious affairs. Lenthal did not launch into a lecture on the differences between religious affairs and the affairs of men, still rattled as he was by the army's purging of the Parliament. And since it was rumored that a quorum of the Parliament would be at the House on the appointed day, Lenthal presented at the House as well. Tentative steps towards regaining their power very quickly turned into action on the part of those assembled. There were members missing and these were referred to as "secluded."
The Parliament chose a council, making sure the military wasn't a majority on it.
They appointed Fleetwood the Lieutenant-General, but on the terms that his commission was pending the pleasure of the House.
They chose seven people to nominate and fill the vacancies on their team.
And they voted that ALL commissions should be received from the speaker and be approved and assigned by him in the name of the House.
Just this much resolve to end the coup d' etat of the military did threaten the military and the general officers expressed their disgust at Parliament's precautions. This disgust may have taken a violent turn but for the larger mission at hand.
This larger mission was more undertow and sentimental than it was a concrete plan at that date. Nothing brings people together in an awkward but determined way like mutual contempt. And there was plenty of contempt for Parliament going around. The bulk of England were, according to Hume, royalists and Presbyterians who were still angry about Cromwell's coup d' etat. But there were also lots of people who wanted to overthrow the Rump! All this energy against a modern governance solidified in a general feeling of longing for the old days. The Presbyterians were willing to let go of old feelings that when roused caused much excitement and distracted people from staying on point, this, in order to restore the royal family. Much as they wanted a more classic organization by bishops in the church, they leaned towards known-structure in politics.
And the nobility and gentry also wanted to see the royalty back on the throne. So many rumps in the chair of power wasn't helping them out personally. They saw the objective of governance to be royal, to maintain the air of aristocracy, and to nurse their own relationships with privilege "by which alone they could be redeemed from slavery" (21 Hume, Vol 5).
"...and no man was so remote from party, so indifferent to public good, as not to feel the most ardent wishes for the dissolution of tyranny which, whether civil or the military part of it were considered, appeared equally oppressive and ruinous to nation." --David Hume
The Long Parliament as it was called for its long period of occupation of the House wasn't apolitical. These were men who enjoyed the title of supreme authority, ambitious politicians, who observed that some appearance of a Parliament would certainly benefit the military. The Long Parliament, in particular, could not be dissolved but by their own consent and though violence had interrupted their reign, it had not been able to destroy their right to be an instrument of governance. But, violence had been used time and again in England and all over Europe to make a point, and, while political theory was developing, very often, progress towards the peaceful negotiations of powers was incapacitated by such convulsions. These were the ages of all the people being on the cusp of modern and there was no small amount of DOUBT that people could adopt new ways. This doubt compounded justified fears of old ways and the same old patterns of destruction which ripped apart tribe and nation all through the ages.
Now England was locked in a standoff, all the various possibilities for governance were present on the stage, and the great questioning resounded. Who's in charge here? Who answers to who? In the pecking order, does legislation dictate action on behalf of the military and the people, or do military commanders and the people dictate legislation?
It was, compared to a traditional throne situation, a democratic moment.
This did not stop the will of various parties for enacting their specific plans for England. And the tide of support for king gathered steam in anti-Parliament fervor.
Many counties resolved to take up arms in effort to raise the tide even higher and hoping to flood the confusion afoot and drown out all this talk of alternative progress. Enterprises were planned and manned. Lord Willoughby of Parham and Sir Oratio Townsend, for example, prepared to secure Lynn. General Massey was engaged to seize Gloucester. Lord Newport, Littleton, and some others conspired to take possession of Shrewsbury. And the list went on, leaders with their own factions of support, bristled. A veritable coat of quills took up positions in key spots around the region. The king himself, attended by the Duke of York, secretly arrived at Calais with the intention of putting himself at the head of his royal subjects. The French Court had promised to supply him with a small body of forces to countenance the insurrection of the English. Sir George Booth was poised to take Chester, Sir Thomas Middleton--North Wales, Arundel, Pollar, Granville and Trelaway were going to take Plymouth and Exeter.
This was to be the episode of the year. And it was not without its spies and traitors and plays on confidences and stresses on allegiances. See especially the activities of Mordaunt and Sir Richard Willis.
The day of the flash action dawned hot, heavy, and tempestuous, somewhere was revealed the hazy red glow of a warning sunrise in August. The weather rivaled the uprising men and added to the mythological proportions of the herculean heroics of the individual warriors. In reality, the rendezvous was foiled, many of the players thrown into prison and some just quietly slipped away. The Trojans of Ancient Days would have been shaking their heads and deeming paltry the petering out.
Only one project of the big plans got underway. Sir George Booth was determined to seize Chester. With the Earl of Derby, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Mr. Lee, Colonel Morgan Booth soldiered on. Sir William Middleton with some troops from North Wales joined Booth and they all subdued anyone in Chester who tried to oppose them. It was conventional, it was like the old days, it was...not enough as a singular act to prompt a royal re-up. In their declaration, they made no mention of the king and only demanded a free and full Parliament. So it wasn't Booth who betrayed the secret mission. But as Parliament saw it, Booth had come from a Presbyterian family and his actions in Chester definitely smacked of a dangerous conjunction with the royalists.
Parliament sent Lambert to suppress these "rebels" in Chester. Sir George Booth was quickly routed, he was taken prisoner, and his army was dispersed. For the moment the royalists swamping the countryside soaked back into the woodwork. Those that didn't cool it on the cause were rounded up and Parliament filled the jails with their open and secret enemies. There was even talk of exiling loyal families to Barbadoes, Jamaica, and/or other colonies on notion that, thus cast off, they could not perpetuate this fierce (and often familial) friending of king pushers.
Parliament was as determined as rival military commanders and royalty to not only figurehead supreme authority, but to reap the rewards from a captured people. And though the masses at this time were not quite as depicted in the movies--just a flea-infested, fickle-hearted, now huddled, now running from the feet of anyone with any kind of status, unable to express anything about life lump of misfits and peasantry--the masses were captive to the sort of chess game that seemed ad nauseam.
In reality these were men, women, and children, families and neighborhoods, villages and tribes and congregations and urban centers with all the emotions of human beings, all the basic needs of survival, and all the common or universal desires for the health of the earthly environment. It was not surprising that many people perceived the great and tempestuous weather dashing the lowly men contenders an Act of God and one which proved, yet again, that worldly affairs were encumbering and suffocating the possibility of paradise here or "there." Spiritually, people felt uplifted by the prospect of aligning with a Higher Power at least, someday like maybe in an afterlife. In actual earth-bound terms, humans of this age were more weighted with ways and warring for dominance in those ways than any people who'd come before them in Europe. It was England's turn to feel infantile next to empires and civilizations that had managed to culminate their forces and beat on peoples OUTSIDE their own kingdoms and realms. All this in-fighting wasn't helping England conquest and claim Almighty anywhere else in the world either.
And now Parliament found itself at the mercy of experienced with getting their own way military commanders. If they'd trusted Lambert to take care of Booth, that trust was just as quickly thrown back in their faces when Lambert mis-used appropriated funds and drew up a petition that read more like a poorly written manifesto. Instead of projecting principles into politico speak, Lambert just made a list of demands, preposterous for their plainness. Lambert seemed to have captured the flag and so tried to take a turn as the hand moving the chess pieces. He wanted Fleetwood to be Commander-in-Chief, himself as Major-General, Desborow as Lieutenant General of the Horse, Monk to be Major-General of the Foot, and while he was at it he came up with the stipulation that NO OFFICER SHOULD BE DISMISSED FROM HIS COMMAND BUT BY A COURT MARTIAL.
All this attempted situation room commanding by a military man without any experience as a statesman in modern governance kind of scared Parliament who, in those days, were already on high alert so easily ALARMED. If they conceded to such commands by Lambert, there would be no shortage of military men to rise through the ranks and pose even more challenge to some form of governance a little less dictatorial.
In direct opposition to Lambert's desire for Parliament to have no powers to dismiss the military, the Long Parliament cashiered Lambert, Desborow, Berry, Clarke, Barrow, Kelsey, and Cobbett. Sir Arthur Hazlrig even proposed the impeachment of Lambert for high treason. In the non-violent territory of rhetoric the people MUST BE shown that Parliament WAS SERIOUS about its words being as powerful as weapons.
Fleetwood's commission was vacated and the command of the army vested in seven persons.
And Parliament voted that they would have NO MORE general officers. Clearly, the potential for these ambidextrous leaders to swing out of Parliament's court was troublesome to say the least.
To enforce an end to military officers taking it upon themselves to drum up patriotic and financial support, the Parliament declared it high treason to levy money without the consent of Parliament. Besides having enforcement value with the military, this measure narrowed the chances of anybody cabal-ing it up behind Parliament's back. Additionally, in charge of the money was the whole point of the purse. If Parliament wasn't in control of raising money and the money raised, it couldn't control anything else with the purse which pretty much made pursing money a waste of time and worse, possibly a danger to itself since SOMEBODY would, no doubt, get a hold of the prize and use it for their own purposes.
Yet again, all this political string-pulling proved not an equal match to the swords of soldiery.
Lambert drew some troops together to decide the controversy. It wasn't a controversy to Parliament, it was done, decided, declarative! But to Lambert a bunch of men compared to the arse-end of an animal couldn't possibly have as much power to persuade as warrior stock.
Okey's regiment started leading his regiment to the assistance of Parliament, trying to follow orders of the seated power, and Lambert deserted them. He rode hard to defend the dwindling height of the spear and to protect the morals of all military behind a shield of pressing-on ancient warrior spirit.
Morley and Moss mustered their regiments into Palace Yard, resolute to oppose the oncoming violence of Lambert. They stationed themselves and waited.
Lambert wasn't unskilled or inexperienced, immature or impotent just because Parliament decided not to cow-tow to his demands. He may have been too busy soldiering and dignifying the military structure with his obedience to be a fancy orator or a delegate for subcommittees ranked above him in the new scheme of things, but he wasn't STUPID.
Lambert placed his soldiers in the streets which led to Westminster Hall.
As the members of Parliament and the speaker made their way to work, Lambert's force told them to go home! You can imagine weighing the sounds and sights of armored men with swords in hand on the scales with the ongoing duties of routine paperwork and foul-smelling desk chambers, and coming to some decision albeit with dread about going home. This was an instance of occupation, only it hadn't reached a frenzied level of stabbing, plundering, and a general smashing of anything in sight, YET.
This effectively expelled the Rump for the time being and the officers snagged back the proverbial vest, they felt they were again in charge with sovereign authority. At such a standstill in terms of productivity and the mechanization of the peoples' resources into beneficial for nation, neither the military nor the Parliament nor the king nor the church really was vested with much more than they'd ever have without some kind of progress from this point.
The military, this time, formed itself into a committee of 23 persons including seven officers who called themselves the "committee of safety."
There was some marketing done to spread the promise of summoning a parliament CHOSEN BY THE PEOPLE, but in actuality the authority was more interested in assembling a military Parliament composed of officers elected from every regiment in service.
Hume tells us that all through the three kingdoms nothing but melancholy fears pervaded. There were no hope and change picket signs. Not much open campaigning suggesting that the people could wiggle out from under the military's thumb. And this level of political activity that had transpired was so far from the more transparent and yet closely-guided religious moves that had seemed God-deemed, was, frankly to the people of the day much more unfamiliar as any kind of workable and sustainable governance. The people braced themselves for more rounds of bloody massacre and extermination. Especially the nobility who had so carefully aligned themselves with particular royal families and picked from the landscape what they'd personally needed as rights and privileges to thrive, were shaking in their boots. On the whole, the masses, would suffer under a regime of military or a nobility persuasion and structure.
Without any real ties into the governance and health of the region, "the people" had less allegiance in general and more freedom to float. Dis-attached from a general goal, the people went in a lot of different directions in a hand-to-mouth kind of way and energies for the politics of supreme authority dissipated. People tacked themselves to other like-mindeds and everybody was more orbital to having real power than they were sharing the power of the such a whiddled talking table as the House had become.
Yeah, so petitions, proposals, and pages of colonist's problems got bogged down in the stalled committees of the Mothercountry. Local authorities in early America did the best they could with whatever materials they had to work with, mostly in the form of compacts and charters.
Right so in the midst of all this action on the ground we get some postcard images of the King in the Pyrenees Mountains on and Isle of Pheasants. The pageantry, the mean-browed ministers, the drinking of some wine, and some marrying to make reality picture perfect--from a distance. There was a Treaty signed on the 7th of November 1659 and some territories were rearranged with the layers of license. Maybe selling a baby should be considered as fair-enough dowry piling, maybe it should be considered something else. We don't have time to waste on the river there, we need to get back down to England. Noting as we go that the pacification WITH Denmark involved a siege of Copenhagen and Dunkirk's army trapped on an island and in danger of being starved by the combined sent squadrons of England and Holland (who were French at the time, I think).
Meanwhile...
Monk.
Already an experienced military man...having worked for both the Royalists and Oliver Cromwell; done time in the Tower and so intimate with the powerlessness of poverty and confinement; and having protested the violence when the army expelled Parliament...Monk was not a "fanatic" like some in his family and was well-liked by his fellows who generally called him "Honest George Monk." He did not, however, get along with Lambert. He'd opposed the elevation of Lambert, and probably wasn't surprised to hear that Lambert was going to use force to keep Parliament from working.
But Monk was NOT "a friend" of the Long Parliament either. He was performing the duties of a military man with rank and things kept changing so furiously in the mechanism of Parliament, Monk found himself now under orders from a military takeover of parliament, now being ordered to perform military functions for a civil-controlled parliament.
As Lambert was advancing north with his army, Monk was leading his army from Scotland to London.
Monk sent messengers ahead to explain his intention of peace and to scout for accommodations. Hume tells us that his chief objective in this move was to gain some time, to time his arrival better in the scheme of so much military action taking place. He'd also needed to draw together his scattered troops, have an assembly which resembled, per Hume, a "convention of states," and to pool whatever money was available to support these troop movements.
It was February of 1660 when Monk as captain-general re-established the Long Parliament with the still living members excluded by Pride's Purge restored.
In this there was a tentative-treaty negotiated by Monk's commissioners and the Committee of Safety which Monk refused to ratify because he wanted to enter into negotiations with Newcastle.
The military sovereigns had plenty of trouble besides Monk pushing for alternative negotiations before finalizing agreement. The nation was in total chaos! And, frankly, the military had been reduced "to the greatest necessity." WHY? If the military was insisting that it could levy taxes by the sword, why didn't they have ALL the money when they (under Lambert) expelled the Rump????? There was afoot, a contagious refusal to pay taxes. This was a dangerous protest, the withholding of money threatened to jeopardize the very notion of nation. Or did it? Some say the withholding of money was a reaction against the military coups d'etat and helped get the Rump restored, that the people of a nation control the financial flow in supporting a nation, and so not supporting a military-run nation was simply expression in regards what kind of nation the people wanted.
Arriving in England Monk took quarters in Westminster with his army and he was introduced to the House at which time, the speaker--Lenthal, thanked the mighty Monk for his services to Parliament.
Monk was polite in explaining that it was just his duty, really, no praise necessary. He felt as if his duty per Providence was to restore order to his nation, and this latest tromp to the battlefield was just a step towards more important services. He also felt that is was important to remind Parliament that Parliament's duty is TO NATION. He'd witnessed on his trek all types of men who were expecting the settlement of things in headquarters. Especially after so many people had experienced firsthand the sorts of violence attending wild political convulsions.
The controversial in Monk's speech was and wasn't apparent, he filibustered his way through the most contentious points which were both agreeable and disagreeable to the House. And he laid it on thick, the whole letting Parliament think the choice was theirs, although in reality things had gotten so far out of hand ALL the people were in the throes of forces greater than themselves that can get roiling and smash a people to smithereens.
Monk went on to relay the sentiments of a populace who really wanted the dissolution of the present Parliament. 'Tis true, Monk pushed, they want a NEW ONE, and here's why. They want a FREE AND FULL parliament. They don't want one with the vacant seats of people thrown into prison for having a religious or a political persuasion! They don't want one that's pointless as a diversity because the same old, same old majority ALWAYS dictates the course! They want a parliament that is in touch with the people, even representative of the many walks of life to be near and far in the realms! They want a parliament that meets without oaths and engagements! They don't want the Knights of the Round Table, in other words, they want a free-thinking group of men to get together around a real talking table and have some discourse about the matters of the day and the affairs of the nation! Such a parliament might finally give contentment to the nation, gentlemen.
He was honest and admitted that many had appealed to him as warrior-on-the-way to DO SOMETHING to affect a more sensible plan than chaos. But he was "sensible of his duty," and had told the petitioners that the Parliament itself, which was free, right?! The Parliament being free and soon full should be the best judge of all these measures! And..."the whole community ought to acquiesce in their determination" (34 Hume's HISTORY). Monk was rallying that which in the breasts of ambitious men longs for an intimacy between HAVING POWER and HAVING POWERFUL PEOPLE.
He informed the House that the fewer engagements enacted, the more comprehensive would their plan prove. He'd seen a lot of battling in his time and violence was crippling, it gets so senseless, the people can't see the point of strategizing and maintaining defense and so they feel betrayed by their own military. As far as using the military to regain a steady course, Monk advised a general security and not one which was party-trigger-happy "since principals of these factions were destructive either of government or of liberty" (34).
Monk's speech held everyone in suspense and gave everybody plenty to think about!
"But it was impossible for the kingdom to remain long in this doubtful situation," Hume explains. "The people, as well as the Parliament, pushed matters to a decision" (34).
As we noted, the refusal to pay taxes was a widening act of protest. Even the common council of London flatly refused to submit to an assessment required of them! There was an alarming breaking down of national politics between the local level and the mechanism of parliament. The local level in London DECLARED that until a FREE AND LAWFUL Parliament imposed taxes they didn't consider it a DUTY. Of course, we can hear in this a mixture of veteran and august boldness. And IF Parliament yielded to this RESOLUTION it would've put an end to the dominion of the Parliament, much like making a law and then declaring no such things as a law in theory. Parliament considered how to respond to the city of London in order to experiment with their own power and to test Monk's obedience.
Monk received orders--to MARCH into London; to SEIZE 12 persons most obnoxious to the Parliament; to REMOVE the posts and chains from all the streets where rebels were fortifying themselves; to TAKE DOWN AND BREAK the portcullises and gates of the city; AND, to DO IT A.S.A.P.
"To the surprise and consternation of all men" Monk entered the City in a military manner. He was neglecting the entreaties of his friends, the remonstrances of officers, and the cries of the people. He was in captain-general mode, on serious business, and performing as the perfect military might. He apprehended several people on the Round Up list and sent them to the tower, he broke down the portcullises and gates, and he returned to Westminster "triumphant."
In performing the actions of a military machine and then retiring to Westminster, Monk realized that he was, as was the nation, "at the mercy of that tyrannical Parliament whose power had long been odious" (35 Hume). For Monk, the breaking of the City's gates was violent property damage, the type of damage that certainly was NOT helping his nation heal up from this latest bout of misery and destruction. He wrote a letter to the House reproaching them for their nasty orders. He blamed them for falling victim to the passions of fanaticism. He accused them of harboring internal cabals which were as divisive to nation as approaching enemies on the horizon.
He resolved to rectify his MISTAKE. He assumed the responsibility for his actions in the City, apologized as best he could, and vowed to show the world that he, the mighty Monk, "meant no longer to be the minister of violence and usurpation."
Next he REQUIRED of the House, "in the name of the citizens, soldiers, and whole commonwealth" that they issue writs WITHIN A WEEK for the FILLING of the House and to FIX A TIME for their own DISSOLUTION and the ASSEMBLING of a NEW PARLIAMENT.
Monk marched his army into London!
Lambert saw him pass the Tweed at Coldstream, saw him advancing upon him.
Lambert's soldiers deserted him in great multitudes and joined the
ENEMY, Lambert cried.
RANKS! Monk proffered.
Most everybody wanted to forget the calamitous and embrace the calm.
Of course, the coarse way to celebrate was to sing and dance and chant around bonfires and direct their anger and frustration with everything at ONE THING.
Unemployment was high, fathers and daughters were arguing over the finer points of denominationalism, crime was on the rise, the deficits were mounting, farming was in state of shambles as far as being part networks, trade was all screwed up, nobody could make a decision about something and stick to it, everybody owed somebody money, and the people were afraid of each other.
Monk had good talks with Mayor Allen and a common council at Guildhall and felt assured enough of an ongoing correspondence that he returned to Westminster with his army and those who'd joined him instead of perpetuating guerrilla warfare on their own.
Parliament sent a committee to try and get Monk to side with them, but he refused to listen to them EXCEPT in the presence of some of the members who'd been secluded. Parliament laid it on thick and promised all sorts of promotions and bestowments. Had the colonies been more established they might even have thrown in a trip to an island off the coast. Monk was determined to generally be more neutral than sided in gaining such a broad oversight of his nation's troubles.
Upon his invitation, secluded members went to the House and found no apparent obstructions to re-membering as a body. The restored members first repealed all the ordinances by which they'd been excluded and so voted themselves back into power. Sir George Booth and his party were granted back their liberties and estates. This was like a lifting of sanctions. Monk's commission was renewed and his powers as a military commander enlarged. A tax was fixed for the support of the army and navy. And having passed these votes, Parliament dissolved themselves and issued writs for the immediate assembling of a NEW Parliament.
A council of state was established and the militia of the kingdom was slightly adjusted to be under the orders of such leaders that would help the brotherhood heal up from so many scars and lingering disputes. These militia were enjoined with Monk's army and Monk himself took great pains to rally a united sense and to instill among all the troops a state of discipline and obedience. Of course, generations later would seek to emulate this type of behavior in the services.
While organization and a general sense of health and well-being was bringing disorder and chaos into line with a people being able to move forward, Monk maintained a proper political voice about it all. He was just as hopeful as the next guy that a new Parliament would take the place of the Long Parliament and this would help all the people have ways to put the populous in the mood to work for nation and not against it. And Monk didn't directly communicate with the king, so people could not accuse him of being unfair and favoring. Eventually, Monk did reveal through a messenger (not over a sales dinner) that it was that time in the process when the nation would be more seriously considering what of the old ways to keep and what of the new ways might also work. Monk also advised Charles to be careful overseas as the tides of change and hammering out particular kingdom details were not smooth. And Charles did make way from Spanish territories into Holland (where the people were Chinese, I think).
General elections were such a sign of normalcy and stability, that everywhere there was great zeal for the event that year. Of course, being largely uninformed about distant candidates and the talking points of particular parties, a lot of people simply cast their votes for whomever their village elders suggested. And general elections in that year were not as detailed as they would be in other years, so it was one of those formal measures of the nation that helped all the people see they preferred civility but which didn't allow as much participation of the individuals voting as an advanced nation might offer. Some parties were already pretty organized and had some experience with governing and some parties and individuals didn't have as much support as they would later in history. The Presbyterians and royalists were so-titled that MOST of the people preferred them as party. Meaning, of the diversity of people all over the kingdoms, those two terms of definition most broadly "fit" what most people were pretty sure they liked the best. In some ways it was like asking all the people if they wanted to be English or be Hawaiin--going forward.
It was not a well-formed debate about the conditions of power or the style of governance, and of course for generations people had accepted that the king or queen, any king or queen, would be "entirely free and unencumbered." But, as the military became more and more entrenched and visibly prepared to take over if necessary, people started to give more thought to what it meant to HAVE power. Both insiders and outsiders could see that the application of discipline and resources to a specific cause really helped that cause be less-dominated and more respected as a BIG PLAYER. There were, no doubt, whispers as to the motivations of a guy like Monk, so invested in peace-keeping, so insistent to other officers and some community leaders that nation required order and a consistent working-on. Of course, in many kingdoms the way things had always been was the dominant took the booty, ALL the booty. This had compelled more than one guy to seek TAKING the government as the booty. Government was not thought of as governance as much as it was perceived to be like a hammer or a waterwheel. And once seized in whichever method, such people controlled EVERYTHING with the tool until somebody else took the tool away from them.
And there was a lot of fear-mongering afoot...
Some people got drunk on mead and swore at God and man, some people got drunk on wine and started rumors about the wenches, some people just got drunk and more confused, some people protested the same old, same old--so the nobility gets the booty again and nothing changes for US. And because there had been so much formalizing amongst the military, there developed very specific fears about the army being used as a tool just like government! Since the military was a very visible presence they received the brunt of the fear-mongering. Compared to the Roman Army, cussed at for occupying, accused of being a wedge, and snarled at for being so freakin' disciplined rumors went around by the dozen. There were some "strategists" who tried to seize upon the opportunity and drummed up even more specific threats to sanity. A King had been killed, many other executed, still more imprisoned, there had been harassment and violence had been used to make points...
You think that's going to go UNPUNISHED??? You really think there's a they NOT seeking vengeance?
Rumors even spread amongst the soldiers. Sitting DUCKS, someone taunted. You think because they're offering you back pay, you won't be demoted? You think nobody knows what role you played in the warring? They'll dismiss ALL of you and replace you with soldiers more to their liking. Or they'll let you stay on as the boot-shiners!
About this time in the midst of a lot of talk but not an overwhelming amount of activity, Lambert suddenly made an escape from the tower. Had Lambert just been some nobody who was going to make his way to the shore and row away in the dark, there wouldn't have been a manhunt. But Lambert had deep ties to his army and somebody rifting the military apart at that particular juncture could have turned into another crisis, so Colonel Ingoldsby was dispatched with orders to: GET Lambert.
This Ingoldsby did, overtaking Lambert at Daventry. At which time other officers were also court martialed.
Meanwhile it came time for the new Parliament to meet and they chose someone who had experience with the Long Parliament but who also respected in theory the notion that a kingdom must needs a king to be the speaker--Sir Harbottle Grimstone. (Sounds like an Edward Gorey character to me, but Hume gives us his name as speaker of this new and improved Parliament).
Because there was a heaping pile of lingering grievances and all this moving forward needed to be done with a great caretaking, Monk decided it was best not to jump up and down in the lately found peace hollering for the king to settle down in the throne. There was an extra need for formality coming from an extreme deficit of civility. It didn't matter that some people were sick of all the politics and just wanted to get on with trading, or that some people would not in their lifetimes reconcile their religious differences with family and friends, or that not absolutely every single person was in favor of one thing or another. What mattered at this part of the process was that all the marbles were put back in the bag. And at one point, it was time to move communications along and send the messenger into the bag with word from Charles.
The buzz was laudible and turned into outright emotional response. And the declaration hadn't even been read yet! Just a letter from Charles was an ENORMOUS step towards SOME KIND OF nation-building that was truly English. Without a moment's delay or a contradictory vote a committee was assembled to: prepare an answer immediately. It was also decided that the letter and the declaration should be published so ALL could be on the same page with the latest developments.
Freed from a state of suspense, Hume tells us, THE PEOPLE (on the whole) "now changed their anxious hope for the unmixed effusions of joy" (42). He also cites this type of national relief as something that no private prosperity could buy. A social triumph! The prospect of public settlement cemented by definite progress in some direction, and it was a direction which they knew well. A KING! Hip, hip hooray; hip, hip hooray!
And not just any old king...one who offered a general amnesty to all persons whatsoever without exception (well, except those afterwards made by Parliament)...
One who promised LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE (sooooooo many people had been hurt in the religious in-fighting) and the assurance that any ACT of Parliament undertaken with fair and balanced deliberations would be considered for insuring the indulgence of liberty of conscience.
One who submitted to the arbitration of Parliament regarding inquiry into all grants, purchases, and alienations. This should give some check to arbitrary...yahoo!
One who assured soldiers of all their arrears...no small thing to tackle...and who promised the same pay as they'd been receiving.
COOL! Somebody cried out. It sounds like REALLY GOOD NEWS for a change.
Members of the Lords and the Commons hastened to reinstate themselves into the order of things anxious to take their share in the settlement. The doors of their House were flung open, someone might have even burned some sage to clear the air, and ALL were admitted.
With the two Houses attending, the King was proclaimed with great solemnity in Palace Yard at Whitehall and at Temple Bar.
The commons voted to bestow a 500 pound jewel on that messenger who had so bravely held his tongue until just the right moment and completed his missions of communication.
50,000 pounds was given as a gift to Charles.
10,000 pounds to the Duke of York.
5000 pounds to the Duke of Gloucester.
Presumably all these gifts were by the arbitration of Parliament.
A committee of Lords and Commons was dispatched to: invite his majesty to return and...
take possession of the government.
It all happened very fast. Everybody was caught up in the celebrations. Even foreign powers were soon inviting the king here, asking him to trade in this port there, making further life-plans based on the sheer decision to restore England to its Imperial structure. The States-General sent deputies with a friendly invite which King Charles resolved to accept. People all over Europe were offering cordial affection. Charles passed from Breda to the Hague attended by numerous crowds. The States-General in a body and later the states of Holland apart "performed compliments."
Every person of distinction wanted to meet him. All ambassadors and ministers of kings, princes, and states clamored to arrange meet and greets and re-acquaint counterparts.
The English fleet came in sight of Scheveling...
Montague had not waited for orders from Parliament but had convinced the fleet to "themselves...tender their duty to his majesty." Over the top Imperial excitement. The Duke of York immediately went on board and took command of the fleet as High Admiral.
King Charles II disembarked at Dover and was met by General Monk "whom he cordially embraced" (43).
"In the space of a few months, without effusion of blood, by his cautious and disinterested conduct alone, he had bestowed settlement on three kingdoms which had long been torn apart with the most violent convulsions," Humes writes in the HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The King entered London on the 29th of May (his birthday which added a dimension of superstition to the perception that Providence had made this all so).
