cation of the ordinances issued by himself,
and of the acts passed by the little parliament. By this contrivance the
respite of a fortnight was obtained, during which he frequently consulted
with Broghill, Pierpoint, Whitelock, Wolseley, and Thurloe.[2] At length it
was whispered at court that the protector had resolved to accept the title;
and immediately Lambert, Fleetwood, and Desborough made[b] to him, in their
own names and those of several others, the unpleasant declaration, that
they must resign their commissions, and sever themselves from his councils
and service for ever. His irresolution returned: he had promised the house
to give a final answer the next morning;[c] in the morning he postponed it
to five in the evening, and at that hour to

[Footnote 1: "Every wise man out of doors wonders at the delay," Thurloe,
vi. 243; also Claren. Papers, iii. 339.]

[Footnote 2: "In these meetings," says Whitelock, "laying aside his
greatness, he would be exceedingly familiar with us, and, by way of
diversion, would make verses with us, and every one must try his fancy. He
commonly called for tobacco, pipes, and a candle, and would now and then
take tobacco himself. Then he would fall again to his serious and great
business" (656).]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. April 22.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1657. May 6.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1657. May 7.]

the following day. The officers observed, and resolved to profit by, the
impression which they had made; and early in the morning[a] Colonel Mason,
with six-and-twenty companions, offered to the parliament a petition, in
which they stated that the object of those with whom the measure originated
was the ruin of the lord-general and of the best friends of the people, and
conjured the house to support the good old cause in defence of which the
petitioners were ready to sacrifice their lives. This bold step subdued the
reluctance of the protector. He abandoned the lofty hopes to which he had
so long, so pertinaciously clung, despatched Fleetwood to the house to
prevent a debate, and shortly afterwards summoned the members to meet him
at Whitehall. Addressing them with more than his usual embarrassment, he
said, that neither his own reflections nor the reasoning of the committee
had convinced him that he ought to accept the title of king. If he were to
accept it, it would be doubtingly; if he did it doubtingly, it would not be
of faith; and if it were not of faith, it would be a sin. "Wherefore,