The political importance of the Independents had declined with the humiliation of Fleetwood, and of the officers who sympathized with him. Their strength had rested on the Army, and with the dislocation of the Army came the termination of their ascendancy. On the 21st of February the surviving members of the Commons House, who had been excluded by Colonel Pride, were restored to their former seats, a measure which placed power once more in Presbyterian hands.
Monk, the author of this revolution, addressed Parliament on that same day, and gave it as his opinion that the interests of London must lie in a Commonwealth--that Government only being capable of making the country, through the Lord's blessing, the metropolis and bank of trade for all Christendom; "and as to a government in the Church," he proceeded to say, "the want whereof hath been no small cause of these nations' distractions; it is most manifest that if it be monarchical in the State, the Church must follow, and Prelacy must be brought in, which these nations, I know, cannot bear, and against which they have so solemnly sworn: and, indeed, moderate not rigid Presbyterian government, with a sufficient liberty for consciences truly tender, appears at present to be the most indifferent and acceptable way to the Church's settlement."[61]
The fortunes of Presbyterianism had been changeful fortunes. It had been established by the Long Parliament; its power had waned under the predominant sway of the Army; though adopted more or less throughout the country, it had been nowhere so fully developed as in Lancashire; and it had received no special encouragement from Oliver Cromwell. After his death it received a slight impetus, only to be checked by the Republican policy of Vane and the Military. But now Presbyterianism appears reconstituted in the Church of England--re-established as the national religion; and it is of great importance to remember this fact throughout the narrative of the Restoration; for it was with Presbyterianism thus situated, rather than with Independency, or any other ecclesiastical systems, that Episcopacy came first into competition and conflict after the King's return.
It soon became plain to which ecclesiastical party most influence belonged. On the 2nd of March the Westminster Confession was readopted; a proclamation was issued for enforcing all existing laws against popish priests, Jesuits, and recusants; and a bill was introduced to provide for an authorized approval of ministers previously to their holding benefices. The Solemn League and Covenant reappeared on the wall of the House of Commons, and also was ordered to be read in every church once a year. Upon the 13th, Dr. Owen, the Independent, was removed from the Deanery of Christ Church, and Dr. Reynolds, the Presbyterian, appointed in his room.