HISTORY OF ENGLAND

86 THE LITTLE PARLIAMENT. XI. 6.A.D. 1653.itself indeed compelled to order the continued payment of thewar-tax granted by Parliament only for a limited time, yetthis was done under the excuse that the persons were not yetassembled who should rightly exercise the supreme power.In the most express terms the principle was stated that thesword ought to have no part in the civil power. Still thearmy and the council of war regarded themselves almostas a provisional government. They considered themselvesnot merely entitled, but actually bound to re-establish a civilauthority.In the deliberations in which the character and form of thisauthority were discussed, Harrison, adopting the principlewhich the General himself had laid down, gained the advantageover Lambert, whose proposals tended in another direction.It was resolved to select the new assembly from amongthe most zealous believers, the godly in the land. The verysuccesses of the army whose opinions they shared appearedto justify the preference given them. On the proposal of theseparatist congregations, particularly the Independent, withwhom the council of officers was in correspondence, themembers were nominated by this body all 'God-fearing men,who had given proofs of their fidelity, energy, and devotedzeal for the cause of God.' In determining the number, theyadopted as their standard, as Parliament had done, the relativeamount contributed by each county to the taxes.Yorkshire sent eight members, Devonshire seven, Kent five,Cambridgeshire four, Westmoreland only one. London suppliedseven ; we find mentioned as seventh in the registerPraise-God Barebones ', after whom the assembly was nicknamedby its enemies. Altogether there were 144, amongthen1 six from Ireland and five from Scotland. On the 4thof July they met in tolerably complete numbers in Whitehall.Surrounded by his officers, Cromwell made them a lengthyspeech, chiefly on the reasons for the dissolution of the lastParliament, and then committed to them the charge of thepeace and safety of the country. He delivered over to them,' Leather-seller Barebones appears in 1641 in a meeting of Brownists, in whichhe holds forth against the Book of Colnmon Player.XI. 6. THE LITTLE PA RLIAMENZ 8 7A.D. 1653.as the council of officers had decided, the supreme power andcontrol of the Commonwealth. All were to owe obedience totheir commands.This however can only be understood to mean that thearmy would lend the support of their strong hand to thedecisions of the assembly. They seemed to regard themselvesas an instrument of God for the convocation of theassembly and the execution of its decrees. The assembly itselfassumed the title of the 'Parliament of the English Commonwealth' ; they considered themselves the divinely appointedrepresentatives of the nation. In a solemn proclamation theyrequested all people to pray that God would deign to makeuse of them for the extension of his kingdom, for the establishmentof righteousness, for the breaking of every oppressiveyoke. The members felt themselves to be moved by thespirit as they sat together. They are confident that the spiritof God was never so clearly manifested as in this assembly.The efforts at reform for which they now prepared areremarkable for all time.We know how vehement and loud had long been the protestsagainst the abuses in the administration of justice. Asearly as January 1652 a commission was empowered toinquire into the excesses and irregularities which prevailed,and to suggest means for their remedy. That no results followedfrom this commission was generally attributed to thelawyers, against whose corrupt interests Cromwell himselfinveighed. On the basis of the preliminary work done by theold commission, which was handed over to a fresh one, and atonce inflamed by the most pressing remonstrances and urgedon by its own impulses, the Parliament of the godly now tookup the cause with decisive energy.The English system of justice rests on the common law,which is administered by jury and Courts of Justice, and onthe equity procedure, which includes all that the other doesnot cover, and is represented in the Court of Chancery, thecourt of justice of the Lord Chancellor. In the assembly thensitting the principle of this arrangement was already contested,for, it was agreed, equity owns neither rule nor law, itdepends on the greater or less extent of the Chancellor's