12th,  1653.)  Four  days  later  a  new  scheme  of  govern-  xn  THB
ment,  called  "  The  Pr-otectorate,"  was  adopted,  by  which  PROTECTO-
the  supreme  powers  of  state  were  vested  in  a  lord  pro-  RATE*
tector,  a  council,  and  a  parliament ;  and  Cromwell  was  solemnly  in-
stalled for  life  in  the  office  of  "  Lord  Protector  of  the  commonwealth
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland."

20.  The  parliament  summoned  by  Cromwell  to  meet  in  September
of  the  following  year,  suspecting  that  the  Protector  aimed  at  kingly
authority,  commenced  its  session  (1654)  by  an  inquiry  into  the  right
by  which  he  held  his  power ;  upon  which  Cromwell  plainly  informed
the  members  that  he  would  send  them  to  their  homes  if  they  did  not
acknowledge  the  authority  by  which  they  had  been  assembled.  About
three  hundred  members  signed  a  paper  recognizing  Cromwell's  scheme
of  government ;  while  the  remainder,  amounting  to  a  hundred  and
sixty,  resolutely  refused  compliance,  and  were  excluded  from  their
seats ;  but  although  parliament  was  in  some  degree  purged  by  the
operation,  it  did  not  exhibit  the  subserviency  which  Cromwell  had
hoped  to  find  in  it.  On  the  introduction  of  a  bill  declaring  the  Pro-
tectorate hereditary  in  the  family  of  Cromwell,  a  very  large  majority
voted  against  it.  The  spirit  which  characterized  the  remainder  of
the  session  showed  Cromwell  that  he  had  not  gained  the  confidence
of  the  nation ;  and  an  angry  dissolution,  early  in  the  following  year,
(Feb.  1655,)  increased  the  general  discontent.  Soon  after,  a  conspiracy
of  the  royalists  broke  out,  but  was  easily  suppressed ;  and  even  in
the  army,  among  the  republicans  themselves,  several  officers  allowed
their  fidelity  to  be  corrupted,  and  took  a  share  in  counsels  that  were
intended  to  restore  the  commonwealth  to  its  original  vigor  and  puri-
ty. During  the  same  year  (1655),  a  war  with  Spain  broke  out ;  the

24


370  MODERN  HISTORY.  [?ABT  IL

island  of  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  was  conquered ;  the  treasure-
ships  of  the  Spaniards  were  captured  on  their  passage  to  Europe ;
and  some  naval  victories  were  obtained.
