“For the Sake of Liberty” 1652–1654tled so entirely and abruptly, contrived a strategy with Cromwell whereby a major-
ity of the House proclaimed their inability to rule and surrendered authority back
to Cromwell – thereby avoiding another military coup. Milton’s clear-sighted judg-
ment of this body’s political ineptitude is evident in the Defensio Secunda as he
echoes the Cromwellians’ rationale for their dissolution:
The elected members came together. They did nothing. When they in turn had at
length exhausted themselves with disputes and quarrels, most of them considering
themselves inadequate and unfit for executing such great tasks, they of their own
accord dissolved the Parliament. (CPW IV.1, 671)The structure of the new government was already outlined in the Instrument of
Government, England’s first written constitution, drafted by Lambert and a cabal of
officers. On December 16 Cromwell was sworn in as Protector; the office was for
life, but elective, not hereditary. Reportedly, Lambert offered Cromwell the crown
and he refused. Parliaments were to be triennial, and much more representative
than Barebones or the Rump. The first parliament of 460 – 30 from Scotland, 30
from Ireland, and the rest from the counties and cities of England and Wales – was
to assemble on September 3, 1654 and sit at least five months. All men over 21 “of
known integrity, fearing God, and of good conversation,” and with an estate worth
£200, were eligible to vote or be chosen, except for Roman Catholics, those in-
volved in the Irish uprising, and those who fought for the king and remained “ma-
lignant.”^111 Bills passed would become law upon the Protector’s signature but would
do so after 20 days without it. In parliament’s intersessions Cromwell was to govern
with a permanent Council of State, 15 of whose members were named in the
Instrument – officers and civilians chosen for their past service and supposed fitness –
and laws passed by them required assent of a majority.^112 In theory the Instrument
created a chief executive with carefully limited powers, but Cromwell’s personal,
political, and military power weighed against that balance. The Instrument also pro-
vided for an established church with state maintenance for ministers, but with pro-
tection for Christian religious practice outside it, except for popery, prelacy, and
disturbers of the peace (Ranters and Quakers). On February 3 the Protectorate
Council of State, on Thurloe’s recommendation, reappointed Milton without speci-
fying his title or salary, suggesting some initial uncertainty as to just how he would
be employed; Philip Meadows was reappointed with the title of Latin Secretary.
Later entries make clear, however, that Milton continued as Secretary for Foreign
Tongues at his previous salary of about £288 a year.^113
The transition was comparatively smooth, save for outraged republicans like
Ludlow, Overton, and Vane who saw any “single person” as a repudiation of the
Good Old Cause, Fifth Monarchists and some sectaries like Harrison and Christopher
Feake who saw Cromwell usurping the place of King Jesus soon to appear, and
royalists in London and Scotland who mounted plots and insurrections in the inter-