hey have not only conquered Scotland and Ireland, but rebellious
England too; and there suppressed a Malignant party of magistrates and
laws."

[Sidenote: Divisions in the army.]

The army was quick with its reply. Already in the preceding November it
had shown its suspicion of the new government by demanding the
appointment of a soldier as General in the place of the new Protector,
who had assumed the command. The tone of the Council of Officers now
became so menacing that the Commons ordered the dismissal of all
officers who refused to engage "not to disturb or interrupt the free
meetings of Parliament." Richard ordered the Council of Officers to
dissolve. Their reply was a demand for the dissolution of the
Parliament; and with this demand, on the twenty-second of April, Richard
was forced to comply. The purpose of the army however was still to
secure a settled government; and setting aside the new Protector, whose
weakness was now evident, they resolved to come to a reconciliation with
the republican party, and to recall the fragment of the Commons whom
they had expelled from St. Stephen's in 1653. The arrangement was
quickly brought about; and in May, of the one hundred and sixty members
who had continued to sit after the king's death, about ninety returned
to their seats and resumed the administration of affairs. The continued
exclusion of the members who had been "purged" from the House in 1648
proved that no real intention existed of restoring a legal rule; and the
soldiers trusted that the Rump whom they had restored to power would be
bound to them by the growing danger both to republicanism and to
religious liberty. But not even their passion for these "causes" could
make men endure the rule of the sword. The House was soon at strife with
the soldiers. In spite of Vane's counsels, it proposed a reform of the
officers, and though a Royalist rising in Cheshire during August threw
the disputants for a moment together, the struggle revived as the danger
passed away. A new hope indeed filled men's minds. Not only was the
nation sick of military rule, but the army, unconquerable so long as it
held together, at last showed signs of division. In Ireland and Scotland
the troops protested against the attitude of their English comrades; and
Monk, the commander of the Scottish army, threatened to march on London
and free the Parliament from their pressure. The knowledge of these
divisions encouraged Haselrig and his coadj