Cromwell Page #9
- G
- Year:
- 1970
- 139 min
- 2,718 Views
This tired, sickening man,
this country oaf...
...crude in speech and manner?
This rough fellow...
...does he display the bearing
of a king?
- You are the one man who can govern.
- In the name of God...
...did we cut the head off this king
only to steal his crown?
This hollow golden ring,
this worthless trinket.
Give it to a whore,
for the price of her bed!
If you would find a head to fit it,
let it adorn some court jester...
...or some strolling player
that he may play your king, but not I.
Power must be absolute,
or it be no power at all.
It was not for power that we did this.
Have you not understood that yet?
Now, Ireton, mark me,
and mark me well.
That you be hard-set upon courses
has not escaped me...
...and if you seek to use me
towards such ends...
...though I love you like a brother,
I swear, I will destroy you.
Every freeborn Englishman be he
the lowest of the lowest...
...is entitled to a voice
in the governing of this country.
But there is no vote for the poor,
for the underprivileged...
...no vote for all those
who took up arms...
...to put down the very autocracy that
this Parliament now imposes upon us.
You did not vote this Parliament
into office.
This gaggle of buffoons, these villains!
Much has been said in this House
about the so-called inequity...
...of certain members being financially
involved in national projects.
Members have ascribed to this state
of affairs dark and sinister motives.
I say if we in Parliament
cannot gain from ruling the country...
...there's really very little point
in our being here at all.
No member of this House should be
permitted to profit from office.
Hear! Hear!
If this House knew its duty,
it would terminate...
...and let a new Parliament be elected.
- Order!
- Gentlemen, I move that this House...
...be given power to remain in office a
further three years without re-election.
A committee of inquiry should be set
up to investigate...
...the financial involvement
of certain members.
Order!
Mr. Speaker. May I have your
permission to address this assembly?
By all means, sir.
My lords, honourable members...
...I have always desired, above my life,
a free Parliament...
...sitting by the authority
of the good people of this nation.
A Parliament open and visible,
to be seen by all men.
It is six years since I handed over
to you this great responsibility...
...in the hope that you would make
good and wholesome laws...
...which the people of this nation
expected of you.
I must confess to some abatement
of my hopes...
...for what has happened
in my absence.
Instead of uniting the good people
of this nation...
...with righteousness and peace...
...which would have been a glorious
and Christian thing to have done...
...what do I find?
Anarchy, corruption...
...division and dissatisfaction.
I say that the enemies of this nation...
...have flourished
under your protection.
You were from the beginning
a provisional government...
...not truly representative
of the people.
For have the people elected you?
Has this House gone once
to the people it purports to represent?
No, it has not! And after six years
of misgovernment, what do we find?
Sir Thomas Fairfax moves a bill
to give this House a further lease...
...of its worthless
and dishonourable life!
Gentlemen, an immovable Parliament
is more obnoxious...
...than an immovable king!
You are drunkards, tricksters,
villains, whoremasters...
...godless, self-seeking,
ambitious tricksters.
You are no more capable of conducting
the nation's affairs...
...than you are of running a brothel!
You are scum, sir.
And not truly elected scum at that.
This is no Parliament.
I shall put an end to it.
I hereby declare this Parliament
dissolved!
- Colonel Harrison!
- Yes, sir. Troops forward!
Rubbish.
- Remove them!
- Come on, get them out.
This is dictatorship, sir! Dictatorship!
Dictator! Dictatorship!
- This is illegal!
- Come, sir.
- I refuse to quit this chair.
- By your leave, sir.
Away with this bauble!
I seem to recall
that we cut off a king's head...
...for such as this.
You are a traitor, sir. It is the likes of
you who have turned my hand to this.
I have sought the Lord's guidance
night and day in this matter.
It is not idly done,
for this nation will be justly governed.
I will give this nation back
its self-respect.
We will walk in this world
with our heads held high.
I will liberate man's souls
from the darkness of ignorance.
I will build schools
and universities for all.
This will become
the golden age of learning.
I will bring the law within the reach
of every common man.
There'll be work and bread for all.
This nation will prosper
because it is a godly nation...
...and because we walk hand in hand
with the Lord.
I swear by the name of the living God...
...that I will see this nation...
...properly governed...
...if I have to do it myself.
Dear God,
give me the strength to do it...
...alone.
Oliver Cromwell ruled the nation
as lord protector for five years.
In that short time, he raised England
to be a great power...
... feared and respected
throughout the world.
Under his hand
were laid the foundations...
... of a truly democratic nation.
In 1658, he died.
Three years later, Charles,
prince of Wales, was crowned king...
... and a monarch sat once more
upon the throne of England.
But an England
never to be the same again.
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"Cromwell" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 6 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/cromwell_6079>.
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