A day of public thanksgiving was then appointed, when the City invited the House of Commons to hear a sermon at Christ Church, Newgate, and afterwards to a noble entertainment at the Grocers’ Hall. The day after, the City presented Fairfax with a basin and ewer of gold, and Cromwell with a hundred pounds’ worth of plate and a purse of £200 in gold. The exchange of presents and courtesies ended, for the time, with the presentation to the City, by the House of Commons, of Richmond Park. On the 19th of September 1650 another day of thanksgiving was held for the victory of Dunbar, and another after the victory of Worcester. Cromwell was received on his return to London by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs, who invited him to a Banquet. [Illustration: CROMWELL DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT From a Dutch satirical print in the British Museum.] On the forcible dissolution of the old Parliament, petitions were presented to Cromwell by the City for and against the reinstatement of the Parliament. Cromwell met them both by constituting a certain number of persons the “Supreme Authority.” The City, recognising this body, presented a petition in which they prayed:— “1. That the precious Truths of the Gospel may be preserved in Purity; and the Dispensers thereof, being approved to be learned, godly, and void of Offence, may be sent forth to preach the Gospel. 2. That their settled Maintenance by Law might be confirmed, and their just Properties preserved. 3. That the Universities may be zealously countenanced and encouraged.” (_Maitland_, vol. i. p. 421.) [Illustration: HACKNEY COACHMAN From a contemporary print published by John Overton.] The “Supreme Authority” surrendering its power, Cromwell was made Protector, a step which the City hastened to recognise by inviting him to dine at the Guildhall, and receiving him with all the honours of a sovereign. On the discovery of a conspiracy against his person, Cromwell sent for the Mayor and Aldermen, and, after acquainting them with the nature of the plot, recommended to them the safety and peace of the City, giving them at the same time, in order to strengthen their hands, the entire control of the City Militia. He also sanctioned the revival of the Honourable Artillery Company. As regards affairs municipal, Cromwell limited the number of hackney coachmen to two hundred, under the license of the Mayor and Corporation; and for the sake of the poor he allowed the entrance into the port, free of duty, of 4000 chaldrons of coals every year.