d "the
visible hand of God," who, in the late contest, "had eradicated kingship."
It was gravely replied, that Protector was a new, King an ancient, title;
the first had no definite meaning, the latter was interwoven with all
our laws and institutions; the powers of one were unknown and liable to
alteration, those of the other ascertained and limited by the law of custom
and the statute law. The abolition of royalty did not originally enter into
the contemplation of parliament--the objection was to the person, not
to the office--it was afterwards effected by a portion only of the
representative body; whereas, its restoration was now sought by a greater
authority--the whole parliament of the three kingdoms. The restoration was,
indeed, necessary, both for his security and theirs; as by law all the acts
of a king in possession, but only of a king, are good and valid. Some there
were who pretended that king and chief magistrate were synonymous; but
no one had yet ventured to substitute one word for the other in the
Scriptures, where so many covenants, promises, and precepts are annexed to
the title of king. Neither could the "visible hand of God" be alleged in
the present case; for the visible hand of God had eradicated the government
by a single person as clearly as that by a king. Cromwell promised to give
due attention to these arguments; to his confidential friends he owned
that his objections were removed; and, at the same time, to enlighten the
ignorance of the public, he ordered[a] a report of the conferences to be
published.[1]

[Footnote 1: See Monarchy asserted to be the most Ancient and Legal Form of
Government, &c. 1660; Walker, Researches, Historical and Antiquarian, i.
1-27; Burton's Diary, App. ii. 493; Thurloe, vi. 819; Whitelock, 565;
Journals, April 9-21.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. April 20.]

The protector's, however, was not one of those minds that resolve quickly
and execute promptly. He seldom went straight forwards to his object, but
preferred a winding circuitous route. He was accustomed to view and review
the question, in all its bearings and possible consequences, and to invent
fresh causes of delay, till he occasionally incurred the suspicion of
irresolution and timidity.[1] Instead of returning a plain and decisive
answer, he sought to protract the time by requesting[a] the sense of the
house on different passages in the petition, on the intended amount of the
annual income, and on the ratifi