Glancing back to the Barebones Parliament and beyond, he sketched, the proceedings of himself and the Council and the great successes of the Commonwealth during the intervening eight months and a half, and hopefully committed to the Parliament the further charge of Order and Settlement throughout the three nations, Then he withdrew.

That same day they chose Lenthall for their Speaker, and Scobell for their Clerk.[1] [Footnote 1: Cromwell's Second Speech (Carlyle, III.

16-37); Commons Journals of dates.] Cromwell's hopes were blasted.

The political division of the population of the British Islands was now into OLIVERIANS, REPUBLICAN IRRECONCILABLES, PRESBYTERIANS, and STUARTISTS, the two last denominations hardly separable by any clear line, Now, in this new Parliament, though there were many staunch Oliverians, and no avowed Stuartists, the Republican Irreconcilables and the Presbyterians together formed a majority.

They needed only to coalesce, and the Parliament called by Oliver's own writs would be an Anti-Oliverian Parliament.