But Cromwell was aware of the error which he had committed in the last
parliament. He resolved that none of his avowed opponents should be allowed
to take possession of their seats. The returns were laid before the
council; the majors-general received orders to inquire into the political
and religious characters of the elected; the reports of these officers
[Footnote 1: The proceedings on these occasions may be seen in Ludlow, ii.
115-123; and State Trials, v. 791.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. August 20.]
were carefully examined; and a list was made of nearly one hundred persons
to be excluded under the pretext of immorality or delinquency.[1]
On the appointed day,[a] the protector, after divine service, addressed
the new "representatives" in the Painted Chamber. His real object was to
procure money; and with this view he sought to excite their alarm, and
to inflame their religious antipathies. He enumerated the enemies of the
nation. The first was the Spaniard, the natural adversary of England,
because he was the slave of the pope, a child of darkness, and consequently
hostile to the light, blinded by superstition, and anxious to put down the
things of God; one with whom it was impossible to be at peace, and to whom,
in relation to this country, might be applied the words of Scripture, "I
will put enmity between thy seed and her seed.
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