" he
concluded, "I cannot undertake this government with that title of king, and
this is mine answer to this great and weighty business."[1]

Thus ended the mighty farce which for more than two months held in suspense
the hopes and fears of three nations. But the friends of Cromwell resumed
the subject in parliament. It was observed that he had not refused to
administer the government under any other title; the name of king was
expunged for that of protector; and with this and a few more amendments,
the "humble petition and advice"[b] received

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, vi. 261, 267, 281, 291. Journals, April 21-May 12.
Parl. Hist. iii. 1498-1502. Ludlow, ii. 131. Clar. Papers, iii. 342.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. May 8.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1657. May 25.]

the sanction of the chief magistrate. The inauguration followed.[a] On the
platform, raised at the upper end of Westminster Hall, and in front of a
magnificent chair of state, stood the protector; while the speaker, with
his assistants, invested him with a purple mantle lined with ermine,
presented him with a Bible superbly gilt and embossed, girt a sword by his
side, and placed a sceptre of massive gold in his hand. As soon as the oath
had been administered, Manton, his chaplain, pronounced a long and fervent
prayer for a blessing on the protector, the parliament, and the people.
Rising from prayer, Cromwell seated himself in a chair: on the right, at
some distance, sat the French, on the left, the Dutch ambassador; on one
side stood the earl of Warwick with the sword of the commonwealth, on
the other, the lord mayor, with that of the city; and behind arranged
themselves the members of the protector's family, the lords of the council,
and Lisle, Whitelock, and Montague, each of the three bearing a drawn
sword. At a signal given, the trumpets sounded; the heralds proclaimed the
style of the new sovereign; and the spectators shouted, "Long live his
highness; God save the lord-protector." He rose immediately, bowed to the
ambassadors, and walked in state through the hall to his carriage.[1]

That which distinguished the present from the late form of government was
the return which it made towards the more ancient institutions of the
country.

[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 622. Merc. Polit. No. 369. Parl. Hist. iii. 1514,
and Prestwick's Relation, App. to Burton's Diary, ii. 511. Most of the
officers took the oath of fidelity to the protector. Lambert refused, and
resigned his