all minor differences, formed one united party; and
recognised that their struggle against the party of prerogative depended
on the ability, influence, and integrity of their deputies.

+The Second Stage of Representation.+--There is no need to enter into
that long struggle between the nation and the monarchy which followed.
We pass on, then, to the time when the parliaments, having wrested a
share of power, began to split up into parties. It was natural that when
power became divided two parties should arise; one upholding the
authority of the Parliament against the King; and the other favouring
the divine right of Kings. The Puritans and Cavaliers in the troublous
times of Charles I. were the earliest signs of this tendency. The Long
Parliament, which met in 1640, was divided on these lines; the
misdemeanors of the King brought on civil war; the parliamentary troops
defeated the royal troops after a bloody struggle; and the King was
brought to execution. The succeeding events were full of instruction.
The Parliament attempted to govern the nation--or, rather, we should say
the House of Commons did, for the House of Lords was abolished. But it
proved quite unfit for the purpose. It was thoroughly disorganized, and
rent by violent factions. The anarchy which ensued was ended by a
military despot, Oliver Cromwell, who entered the House of Commons in
1653 with his soldiers. The Speaker was pulled from his chair; the
members were driven from the House; and Cromwell was proclaimed
dictator. It is strange, indeed, that the lesson which is to be drawn
from this event, and which has been repeated in France time after time
since the Revolution, has not yet been learned: the only escape from
continued political anarchy is despotism. But the weakness of despotism
is that it ends with the life of the despot. Cromwell's son was forced
to abdicate, and the monarchy was restored. The same division of parties
in the Parliament continued, and they began to take the names of Whigs
and Tories. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the dissensions
of these two factions again threatened to make government impossible. In
administration the evil was felt most; the union of ministers of both
parties was proving unworkable. So fickle did legislation become that no
one could say one day what the House would do the next. It was at this
crisis, and about the year 1693, that William III., who cared more for a
strong administration than for po