246 Readings in European History or under him, are and be disabled to hold or enjoy the said crown of England and Ireland. . . . And whereas it is and hath been found by experience that the office of a king in this nation and Ireland, and to have the power thereof in any single person, is unneces- sary, burdensome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public interest of the people, and that for the most part use hath been made of the regal power and preroga- tive to oppress and impoverish and enslave the subject ; and that usually and naturally any one person in such power makes it his interest to encroach upon the just free- dom and liberty of the people, and to promote the setting up of their own will and power above the laws, that so they might enslave these kingdoms to their own lust ; be it therefore enacted and ordained by this present Parliament, and by authority of the same, that the office of a king in this nation shall not henceforth reside in, or be exercised by, any one single person ; and that no one person whatso- ever shall or may have or hold the office, style, dignity, power, or authority of king of the said kingdoms and dominions. 1 . . . By the spring of 1653 the Long Parliament, which had been in session nearly thirteen years, was reduced to a mere "rump," as its enemies called it. There were only a hundred or so members left. Cromwell was con- vinced that the members were corrupt and that they meant to keep the power in their hands in spite of their 1 The existing Long Parliament agrees in the following paragraphs to dissolve itself as soon as it can safely do so. The supreme author- ity is declared to reside in " this [Parliament] and the successive repre- sentatives of the people of this nation, and in them only." Two days later the House of Lords was abolished. " The commons of England assembled in Parliament, finding by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England to be con- tinued, have thought fit to ordain and enact, and be it ordained and enacted by this present Parliament and by the authority of the same, that from henceforth the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and is hereby wholly abolished and taken away. . . ."
