members were driven from the House; and Cromwell was proclaimed
dictator. It is strange, indeed, that the lesson which is to be drawn
from this event, and which has been repeated in France time after time
since the Revolution, has not yet been learned: the only escape from
continued political anarchy is despotism. But the weakness of despotism
is that it ends with the life of the despot. Cromwell's son was forced
to abdicate, and the monarchy was restored. The same division of parties
in the Parliament continued, and they began to take the names of Whigs
and Tories. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the dissensions
of these two factions again threatened to make government impossible. In
administration the evil was felt most; the union of ministers of both
parties was proving unworkable. So fickle did legislation become that no
one could say one day what the House would do the next. It was at this
crisis, and about the year 1693, that William III., who cared more for a
strong administration than for political differences, created what is
known as cabinet government, and, as Professor Gardiner says, "refounded
the government of England on a new basis." Recognizing that power should
not be separated from responsibility, he affirmed the principle that the
ministers of state should be selected from the party which had a
majority in the House of Commons. But the time was not yet ripe for the
complete application of this principle. Early in the eighteenth century
Sir Robert Walpole set the example of resigning when he no longer
possessed the confidence of a majority of the House of Commons; but in
the latter half of the century the great Earl of Chatham introduced
again the practice of selecting ministers irrespective of party. Despite
the fact that he was supported by the personal influence of George III.,
the attempt failed. A succession of weak ministries followed; and out of
the confusion the modern division of Liberals and Conservatives emerged.
Thus it was not until the beginning of the present century that the
doctrines of the solidarity of the Cabinet and its complete dependence