himself, abstained from sitting among them, and by
the open influence of Desborough, a bold and reckless man, who began to
despise the weak and wavering conduct of Fleetwood. Here originated the
plan of a general council of officers,[a] which was followed by the
adoption of "the humble representation and petition," an instrument
composed in language too moderate to give reasonable cause of offence, but
intended to suggest much more than it was thought prudent to express. It
made no allusion to the disputed claim of the protector, or the subjects of
strife between the two houses; but it complained bitterly of the contempt
into which the good old cause had sunk, of the threats held out, and
the prosecutions instituted, against the patriots who had distinguished
themselves in its support, and of the privations to which the military were
reduced

[Footnote 1: Viscount Howard, of Morpeth, July 20, 1657, afterwards created
Baron Dacre, Viscount Howard of Morpeth and earl of Carlisle, by Charles
II., 30 April, 1661.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1659. April 6.]

by a system that kept their pay so many months in arrear. In conclusion, it
prayed for the redress of these grievances, and stated the attachment of
the subscribers to the cause for which they had bled, and their readiness
to stand by the protector and parliament in its defence.[1] This paper,
with six hundred signatures, was presented to Richard, who received it with
an air of cheerfulness, and forwarded it to the lower house. There it was
read, laid on the table, and scornfully neglected. But the military leaders
treated the house with equal scorn; having obtained the consent of the
protector, they established a permanent council of general officers; and
then, instead of fulfilling the expectations with which they had lulled his
jealousy, successively voted, that the common cause was in danger, that
the command of the army ought to be vested in a person possessing its
confidence, and that every officer should be called upon to testify his
approbation of the death of Charles I., and of the subsequent proceedings
of the military; a measure levelled against the meeting at Whitehall,
of which the members were charged with a secret leaning to the cause of
royalty.[2] This was sufficiently alarming; but, in addition, the officers
of the trained bands signified their adhesion to the "representation" of
the army; and more than six hundred privates of the regiment formerly
commanded