Cromwell Dismisses the Rump Parliament

The setting

Four years after the king's execution, the remnant of the Long Parliament known as the Rump had still not dissolved itself. Oliver Cromwell, commander of the army, entered the chamber with soldiers and brought its sitting to an end.

Key passage

You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

As reported in later accounts, which differ in their wording.

What followed

Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. The episode became a byword for the dismissal of a failed assembly, and its closing words were quoted in the House of Commons in 1940 to help bring down Neville Chamberlain.

Connected