Denouncing of Cromwell and the Army
- Due to the exclusion of over seventy republicans from Parliament as a result
of the Oath of Recognition, Cromwell's first Parliament of 1645 as Lord Protector
was poisoned from the start.
- Following the purge of Parliament, the remaining members had serious reservations
about critical elements in the Instrument of Government.
- The Parliamentary Presbyterians, unhappy with the tolerant church the Protectorate
had established, passed bills to narrow the parameters of freedom of worship.
- Others moved to reduce size of the army. Although the Instrument of Government
required that the standing army would be no larger than 30,000 men, it had
grown to a force as large as of 60,000 men. However Cromwell, mindful of the
loyalty displayed by his soldiers throughout the war, was reluctant to cut
the military.
- Parliamentary Republicans opposed very nature of the Instrument.
- Bills undermining the power of the Protectorate made their way through Parliament
towards ratification. However, as bills were prepared for presentation, Cromwell
seized on a clause in the Instrument that allowed for dismissal of Parliament
to be based upon the lunar calendar, and dissolved Parliament twelve days
early.