Oliver Cromwell Quotes
Take away that fool's bauble, the Mace.
The wooden mace, covered with gold leaf and topped by a gold crown, symbolizes the authority of the King or Queen of Great Britain. The mace rests on the Treasury bench in the House of Commons during each session of Parliament.
Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658, Revolutionist, Ruler, & Lord Protector of England, On dismissing the Rump Parliament, April 20, 1653
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
England had gone through a bloody Civil War with the Parliament on one side and the King on the other. The King lost and was beheaded later that year. See {597353}.
Several years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, revolutionary activity had already broken out in the American colonies—See {634132} for an example. This law gave the British authorities much more “clout” in dealing with the “seditious” American activities. It protected English law enforcement officials from being tried in local Colonial courts for murder or assault in putting down insurrections. George Washington and other Patriots were outraged over this law. See {634131}.
At the time there was no concept of serious separation of powers. For all practical purposes, the King ruled and he shared some of his powers with the Parliament. The next centuries in England would see the great battle for governmental power between the monarch and the Parliament. Today, the British monarch has no power but still retains a great deal of influence in England but largely because Queen Elisabeth is so well loved and respected.
This is the same man who introduced the Stamp Act 12 years before which started the whole problem in America. See {74956}.
The statement so offended the Lords—the highest court of England—that he was imprisoned by the Lords and not released until he had recanted the position. The argument goes on today in many countries incuding the United States.
The King's staff had threatened Parliament before. See Dudley Carleton.
In 1628 Parliament, in response to abuses by King Charles I, was about to pass The Petition of Rights–-a type of Bill of Rights. The King gave assurances that the practices—such as forcing nobles to lend him money—would not continue and didn't want to be embarrassed by passage of a law which he claimed would indicate that the Parliament did not trust him and weaken the dignity of the monarchy. The Petition of Rights passed with Cole’s leadership.
Song traditionally sung at the end of British Labour Party meetings
The actress was in Jordan and was requested for a command performance before King Hussein. She was told to curtsey when she was introduced to the King.
In 1642 King Charles I asked the whereabouts of 5 members of Parliament whom he wanted arrested:
This was taken by some as prophesy or what Quakers refer to as “specific fore-seeing.”
He was expelled from Parliament for such.
In the English system there is no “separation of powers”. Parliament makes the laws and its ministers execute them. The highest judges are members of Parliament (the House of Lords) as well. So Lord Bereford was in the legislature when the statute was debated and passed.
The colonists in America had no representatives in Parliament. Galloway who opposed armed rebellion against Britain {621966} admitted that the British treatment of America was wrong but saw other solutions. It will never be known if any of them might have worked. The world would have been very different had they been tried.
When requested to have the assembly remove items in the proposed constitution at the last minute:
Charles I was tried by Parliament but at the time there was the concept of Royal Impunity and there was no existing crime that he could be charged with despite the murder of many of his citizens. Cooke established the legal precedent making Tyranny a crime. See {624032}.
Oliver Cromwell was an English general and statesman who, first as a subordinate and later as Commander-in-Chief, led armies of the Parliament of England against King Charles I during the English Civil War, subsequently ruling the British Isles as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. He acted simultaneously as head of state and head of government of the new republican commonwealth.
