been due to his desire to remain in the country for as long as possible, casting a watchful eye over Parliament. Cromwell returned in May of the following year, having put pay to the Irish resistance. It is very interesting to note that Cromwell delayed his venture to Ireland until such a time as he desired, the very time that Parliament had ceased for that year, and did not return only until it sat again in May 1650 – though this was primarily to face a new threat in Scotland. Cromwell seems to have held a strong distrust of the Rump he had created. It is because of this reason that it can be inferred that the Rump parliament was not the instrument of choice for Cromwell, that maybe he had no other alternative but to leave the Rump parliament in control. If he had believed them to be capable then he would surely have allowed them to govern more independently.While Cromwell was away in the North battling with the armies of Charles II, the Rump did little. They made an amendment to the Uniformity and Recusancy Act in September of 1650, which did not enforce attendance at the national church, but this did not go far enough to satisfy the army. The rump appeared to be more interested in issuing restrictive legislature - such as the aforementioned adultery and blasphemy acts – rather than creating law and social reform. It also failed to pay the army, perhaps the biggest strain on the nation since the outbreak of the civil wars.The rump did have certain achievements which have been highlighted in this essay. The reason they have been labelled a failure is due only to the fact that did not achieve enough. Cromwell had left them there to create reform, and the political utopia he felt was necessary for England. They had failed in this goal, being so caught up in trying to please different parties, they had fell blind to their true goal, that of restoring national stability. ...
