m Ireland the victorious chief, who was now in name, as he had long
been in reality, Lord General of the armies of the Commonwealth, turned
to Scotland. The Young King was there. He had consented to profess
himself a Presbyterian, and to subscribe the Covenant; and, in return
for these concessions, the austere Puritans who bore sway at Edinburgh
had permitted him to assume the crown, and to hold, under their
inspection and control, a solemn and melancholy court. This mock royalty
was of short duration. In two great battles Cromwell annihilated the
military force of Scotland. Charles fled for his life, and, with extreme
difficulty, escaped the fate of his father. The ancient kingdom of the
Stuarts was reduced, for the first time, to profound submission. Of that
independence, so manfully defended against the mightiest and ablest of
the Plantagenets, no vestige was left. The English Parliament made
laws for Scotland. English judges held assizes in Scotland. Even that
stubborn Church, which has held its own against so many governments,
scarce dared to utter an audible murmur.

Thus far there had been at least the semblance of harmony between the
warriors who had subjugated Ireland and Scotland and the politicians who
sate at Westminster: but the alliance which had been cemented by danger
was dissolved by victory. The Parliament forgot that it was but the
creature of the army. The army was less disposed than ever to submit to
the dictation of the Parliament. Indeed the few members who made up what
was contemptuously called the Rump of the House of Commons had no more
claim than the military chiefs to be esteemed the representatives of
the nation. The dispute was soon brought to a decisive issue. Cromwell
filled the House with armed men. The Speaker was pulled out of his
chair, the mace taken from the table, the room cleared, and the door
locked. The nation, which loved neither of the contending parties,
but which was forced, in its own despite, to respect the capacity
and resolution of the General, looked on with patience, if not with
complacency.

King, Lords, and Commons, had now in turn been vanquished and destroyed;
and Cromwell seemed to be left the sole heir of the powers of all three.
Yet were certain limitations still imposed on him by the very army to
which he owed his immense authority. That singular body of men was, for
the most part, composed of zealous republicans. In the act of enslaving
their country, they ha