iced, the answer must still be the same for
this as for all the previous portions of his Protectorate. It was
"The Propagation of the Gospel," with all that was then implied in
that phrase as construed by himself.

As regarded England and Wales, the phrase meant, all but exclusively,
the sustenance, extension, and consolidation of Cromwell's Church
Establishment. The _Trustees for the better Maintenance of
Ministers_, as well as the _Triers_ and _Ejectors_, were
still at work; and in the Council minutes of the summer of 1658, just
as formerly, there are orders for augmentations of ministers'
stipends, combinations of parishes and chapelries, and the like.
Substantially, the Established Church had been brought into a
condition nearly approaching Cromwell's ideal; but he had still
notions of more to be done for it in one direction or another, and
especially in the direction of wider theological comprehension. He
did not despair of seeing his great principle of concurrent endowment
yet more generally accepted among those who were really and
evangelically Protestant. Much would depend on the nature of that
Confession of Faith which Article XI. of the _Petition and
Advice_ had required or promised as a standard of what should be
considered qualifying orthodoxy for the Church of the Protectorate.
For such a purpose the Westminster Confession of Faith, even though
its doctrinal portions might stand much as they were, could hardly
suffice as a whole. That Confession was to be recast, or a new one
framed. So the _Petition and Advice_ had provided or suggested;
but it may be doubted whether Cromwell was very anxious for any such
formal definition of the creed of his Established Church. He
preferred the broad general understanding which all men had, with
himself, as to what constituted sound Evangelical Christianity, and
he had more trust in administration in detail through his Triers and
Ejectors than in the application of formulas of orthodoxy. Here,
however, Owen and the other Independent divines most in his
confidence appear to have differed from him. They felt the want of
some such confession and agreement for Association and Discipline as
might suit at least the Congregationalists of the Established Church,
and be to them what the Westminster Confession was to the
Presbyterians. "From the first, all or at least the generality of our
churches," they said, "have been in a manner like so many ships,
though holding forth the s