By force of circumstances Cromwell had become a virtual
dictator, but he had no love of absolute power. He therefore accepted a
so-called Instrument of Government, drawn up by some of his officers. It
provided that Cromwell should be Lord Protector for life, with the assistance
of a council and a Parliament. The Instrument is notable as the first written
constitution of a modern nation. It is the only one which England has ever had.
CROMWELL AS LORD PROTECTOR, 1653-1658 A.D.
As Lord Protector in name, though a king in fact, Cromwell
ruled England for five years. He got along with Parliament no better than the
Stuarts had done, but his successful conduct of foreign affairs gave England an
importance in the councils of Europe which it had not enjoyed since the time of
Elizabeth. Cromwell died in 1658 A.D. Two years later the nation, weary of
military rule, restored Charles II to the throne of his ancestors.
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION
It seemed, indeed, as if the Puritan Revolution had been a
complete failure. But this was hardly true. The revolution arrested the growth
of absolutism in England. It created among Englishmen a lasting hostility to
absolute power, whether exercised by King, Parliament, Protector, or army. And,
furthermore, it sent forth into the world ideas of political liberty, which,
during the eighteenth century, helped to produce the American and French
revolutions.
