To Cromwell himself they always behaved with respect. They invited
him with four of his officers to sit as a member among them; and they made
him the offer of the palace of Hampton Court in exchange for his house of
Newhall. But they believed and showed that they were the masters. They
scorned to submit to the dictation of their servants; and, if they often
followed the advice, they as often rejected the recommendations and amended
the resolutions of the council of state.
One of the first subjects which engaged their attention was a contest, in
which the lord-general, with all his power, was foiled by the boldness of a
single individual.
[Footnote 1: They have been generally described as men in trade, and of
no education; and because one of them, Praise-God Barebone, was a
leather-dealer in Fleet-street, the assembly is generally known by the
denomination of Barebone's parliament.--Heath, 350. It is, however,
observed by one of them, that, "if all had not very bulky estates, yet they
had free estates, and were not of broken fortunes, or such as owed
great sums of money, and stood in need of privilege and protection as
formerly."--Exact Relation, 19. See also Whitelock, 559.]
At the very moment when he hoped to reap the fruit of his dissimulation and
intrigues, he found himself unexpectedly confronted by the same fearless
and enterprising demagogue, who, at the birth of the commonwealth, had
publicly denounced his ambition, and excited the soldiery against him.
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