The British nation a history / by George MWrong . aw was stern. Cromwellhimself, when Governor of Ely, stopped a service in thecathedral choir with the stern summons to the clergyman, Leave off your fooling and come down, sir. His soldierssometimes broke into chilrches, destroyed crosses andcrucifixes, and even beautiful stained glass, and tore topieces prayer-books and surplices. None the less wasCromwells Church comprehensive, and it required nouniformity of doctrine or service. Presbyterians, Inde-pendents, and Ba])tists, varying greatly in details of doc-trine, became rectors and vicars of
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . aw was stern. Cromwellhimself, when Governor of Ely, stopped a service in thecathedral choir with the stern summons to the clergyman, Leave off your fooling and come down, sir. His soldierssometimes broke into chilrches, destroyed crosses andcrucifixes, and even beautiful stained glass, and tore topieces prayer-books and surplices. None the less wasCromwells Church comprehensive, and it required nouniformity of doctrine or service. Presbyterians, Inde-pendents, and Ba])tists, varying greatly in details of doc-trine, became rectors and vicars of Euglisli ]»arisiies. Tbeyhad good incomes, for Cromwell would not hear of the THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE PROTECTORATE 399 abolition of an Established Church with its tithes. Hewas also zealous to insure high character in the religiousteachers. Thirty-eight commissioners, who came to beknown as Triers, sat permanently at London, and theirchief duty was to see that no unworthy person ministeredin the State Church. Even for those outside the Estab-. FlKlTANS DESTKOyiXG THE CkoSS IN CllEAPSlDE. lishment Cromwell favoured tolerance. His governmentwinked at the use of the Anglican ritual in London. Thenew Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they were con-temptuously called, because they sometimes trembled withreligious emotion, suffered cruel persecutions in variousparts of England, but Cromwell himself showed kindnessto their leader, George Fox. Since the days of Edward Ithe Jews had been kept out of England, but Cromwell al-lowed some of them to come back, though even he couldnot secure for them the legal toleration that he deprecated the persecution of Roman Catholics, and 400 THE BRITISH NATION saved many from it. In a word, he was the steadfastfriend of free opinion. But when opinion was alliedwith action against his authority, it found him relent-less. The Cavaliers complained loudly that the Puritanmoral regime was intolerable. The major-generals actedas moral police
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