The next day[a] was devoted by the new representatives to exercises of religion, not in any of the churches of the capital, but in the room where the late parliament was accustomed to sit.  Thirteen of the most gifted among them successively prayed and preached, from eight in the morning till six in the evening; and several affirmed “that they had never enjoyed so much of the spirit and presence of Christ in any of the meetings

[Footnote 1:  Proceedings, No. 197.  Parl.  Hist. xx. 153.  Milton’s State Papers, 106.  This last appears to me a more faithful copy than that printed by authority.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1653.  July 5.]

and exercises of religion in all their lives, as they did on that day.”  As it was solely to their reputation for superior godliness that the majority of the members owed their election, the lord-general probably expected from them little opposition to his measures; but they no sooner applied to business than he saw reason to be alarmed at the promptitude and resolution which they displayed.  Though not distinguished by their opulence, they were men of independent fortunes;[1] during the late revolutions they had learned to think for themselves on the momentous questions which divided the nation; and their fanaticism, by converting their opinions into matters of conscience, had superadded an obstinacy of character not easily to be subdued.  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.]