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And now onward. Hello everyone and welcome back to the history of England, episode 430, The Comeback Kid.

Last week then, we heard of the revival of the good old cause,

bringing down with it the protectorate against which the ex-rumpers had fought from the very start.

Now, look, I know I have in the past expressed some irritation with that phrase about history repeating itself,

but honesty compels me to admit slightly grumply and reluctantly that here we do seem to have a good example of that phenomenon.

Because the rump found itself in pretty much exactly the same bind as they had in 1649 and 1653, they had committed

denier elections, in this case by May 1660, but any such election, unless very carefully designed,

would very probably vote them out of existence and bring the protectorate back, or even worse.

On that, William Prynne has already started the ball rolling by publicly stating the Presbyterian

position for a return to a polity under the rule of the king, which they always wanted anyway.

Hazel-Rig and Parliament had also failed to learn the lessons of the past in 1647,

which was pay the army, capital P, capital A.

And just like Denzel Hollis, they were failing to respect the army's not a reasonable need for indemnity from prosecution,

...