womanish spirit,-I would not that you should lose them! I would not that you should lose any servant or friend who might help in this Work; that any such should be offended by a thing that signifies no more to me than I have told you it does. That is to say: I do not think the thing necessary; I do not. I would not that you should lose a friend for it. If I could help you to many 'friends,' and multiply myself into many that would be to serve you in regard to Settlement! And therefore I would not that any, especially any of these who indeed perhaps are men that do think themselves engaged to continue with you, and to serve you, should be anywise disobliged from you.

'I have now no more to say.' The truth is, I did indicate this as my conclusion to you at the first, when I told you what method I would speak to you in.* I may say that I cannot, with conveniency to myself, nor good to this service which I wish so well to, speak out all my arguments as to the safety of your Proposal, as to its tendency to the effectual carrying on of this Work. [There are many angry suspicious persons listening to me, and every word is liable to different misunderstandings in every different narrow head!] I say, I do not think it fit to use all the thoughts I have in my mind as to that point of safety. But I shall pray to God Almighty that He would direct you to do what is according to His will. And this is that poor account I am able to give of myself in this thing.t

And so enough for Monday, which is now far spent: 'till tomorrow at three o'clock‡ let us adjourn; and diligently consider in the interim.

His Highness is evidently very far yet from having made up his mind as to this thing; the undeveloped Yes still balancing itself against the undeveloped No, in a huge dark intricate manner, with him. Unable to declare' himself; there being in fact nothing to declare hitherto, nothing but what he does here declare, namely darkness visible. An abstruse time his Highness has had of it, since the end of February, six or seven weeks now; all England sounding round him, waiting for his Answer. And he is yet a good way off the Answer. For it is a considerable

*"This was my second head of method; all this about myself and my own feelings in regard to the Kingship,-after I had proved to you in my first head that it was not necessary, that it was only expedient or not expedient. I am now therefore got to the end of my second head, to my conclusion.

† Somers Tracts, vi., 365-371.

Burton, ii., 2.

question this of the Kingship: important to the Nation and the Cause he presides over; to himself not unimportant, and yet to himself of very minor importance, my erudite friend! A Soul of a Man in right earnest about its own awful Life and Work in this world; much superior to feathers in the hat,' of one sort or the other, my erudite friend!—Of all which he gives here a candid and honest account; and indeed his attitude towards this matter is throughout, what towards other matters it has been, very manful and natural.

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However, on the morrow, which is Tuesday, at three o'clock, the Committee cannot see his Highness; attending at Whitehall, as stipulated, they find his Highness indisposed in health ;-are to come again to-morrow, Wednesday, at the same hour. Wednesday they come again; wait for above an hour in the Council-Chamber;'-Highness still indisposed, "has got a cold:" Come again to-morrow, Thursday! Which,' says the writer of the thing called Burton's Diary, who was there, did strongly build up the faith of the Contrariants,-He will not dare to accept, think the Contrariants The Honorable House in the meanwhile has little to do but denounce that Shoreditch Fifth-Monarchy Pamphlet, the Standard set up, which seems to be a most incendiary piece ;—and painfully adjourn and re-adjourn, till its Committee do get answer. A most slow business;-and the hopes

of the Contrariants are rising.

Thursday, 16th April, 1657, Committee attending for the third time, the Interview does take effect: Six of the Grandees, Glyn, Lenthall, Colonel Jones, Sir Richard Onslow, Fiennes, Broghil, Whitlocke, take up in their order the various objections of his Highness's former Speech, of Monday last, and learnedly rebut the same,-in a learned and to us insupportably wearisome manner; fit only to be entirely omitted. Whitlocke urges on his Highness That, in refusing this Kingship, he will do what never any that were actual Kings of England did, reject the advice of his Parliament.* Another says, It is his duty; let him by no means shrink from his duty!-Their discoursings, if any creature is curious on the subject, can be read at great length in the

* Somers, p. 386.

distressing pages of Somers,* and shall be matter of imagination here. His Highness said, These were weighty arguments; give him till to-morrow to think of them.† 'To-morrow at three: spero!' says the writer of the thing called Burton's Diary, who is not one of the Contrariants.

SPEECH XI.

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ALAS, to-morrow at three his Highness proves again indisposed; which doth a little damp our hopes, I fancy! Let us appoint Monday morning: Monday ten o'clock, at the old place,' Chamber of the Council-of-State in Whitehall. And so, on Monday, 20th April, 1657, at the set place and hour, the Committee of Ninety-nine is once more in attendance, and his Highness speaks, -answering our arguments of Thursday last, and indicating still much darkness.

'MY LORDS,'

I have, as well as I could, considered the arguments used by you, the other day, to enforce your conclusion as to that Name and Title, which has been the subject of various Debates and Conferences between us. I shall not now spend your time nor my own much, in recapitulating those arguments, or giving answers to them. Indeed I think they were mainly' but the same we formerly had, only with some additional inforcements by new instances: and truly, at this rate of debate, I might spend your time, which I know is very precious; and unless I were 'to end in being' a satisfied person, the time would spin out, and be very unprofitably spent,—so it would. I will say a word or two to that only which I think was new.

'You were pleased to say some things as to the power of Parliament, as to the force of a Parliamentary sanction in this matter.' What comes from the Parliament in the exercise of their Legislative power, as this Proposal does, I understand this to be an exercise of the Legislative power, and the Laws formerly were always passed in this way' of Proposal or conference,' and the way of Bills is of a newer date,-I understand that, I say; but - [In short the sentence falls prostrate, and we must start again.]-You said "that what was done by the Parliament

* Somers, vi., 371-387.

↑ Burton, ii., 5.

Glyn, Lenthall, Broghil, Whitlocke (Somers), pp. 371, 2, 386, 4.

now, and simply made to hang upon this Legislative power, 'as any Title but that of King will do,' might seem partly as if it were a thing ex dono, not de jure; a thing that had not the same weight, nor the same strength, as if it bore a reference to 'the general Body of' the Law that is already in being." I confess there is some argument in that,—that is there! But if the degree of strength will be as good without Parliamentary sanction, 'then'-[Sentence pauses, never gets started again.] -Though it too, this Title of Kingship,' comes as a gift from you! I mean as a thing which you either provide for the people or else it will never come to them ; so in a sense it comes from you, it is what they cannot otherwise arrive at; therefore in a sense it is ex dono; for whoever helps a man to what he cannot otherwise attain, doth an act very near a gift; and you helping them to this Title, it were a kind of gift to them, since otherwise they could not get it though theirs'-[This Sentence also finds that it will come to nothing, and so calls halt.]—But if you do it simply by your Legislative power-[Halt again.—In what bottomless imbroglios of Constitutional philosophy and crabbed Law-logic with the Fifth-Monarchy and splenetic Contrariants looking on, is his poor Highness plunging! A ray of natural sagacity now rises on him with guidance.] --The question, "What makes such a thing as this more firm?" is not the manner of the settling of it, or the manner of your 'or another's' doing of it; there remains always the grand question after that; the grand question lies, In the acceptance of it by those who are concerned to yield obedience to it and accept it! [Certainly, your Highness; that is worth all the Law-logic in the world!] And therefore if a thing [Like this Protectorate, according to your argument,—not altogether to mine] hath but, for its root, your Legislative sanction—— If I may put a "But” to it, 'to that most valid sanction!' I will not do so: for I say, It is as good a foundation as that other, which you ascribe to the Kingship, howsoever "grounded in the body of Law." And if that thing 'the Protectorate' be as well accepted, and the other be less well-? Why, then truly it, I shall think, is the better ;—and then all that I say is founded upon Law too!

Your arguments founded upon the Law do all make for the Kingship. Because, say you, it doth agree with the Law; the Law knows,-the People know it, and are likelier to receive satisfaction that way. Those were arguments that have [" had "is truer but less polite] been used already; and truly I know nothing that I have to add to them. And therefore, I say, those arguments also may stand as we found them and left them already;—except, truly, this one point.' It hath been said to me [Saluting my Lord Whitlocke slightly with the eye, whose heavy face endeavors to smile in response] that I am a person who meditate to do

what never any that were actually Kings of England did: "Refuse the Advice of Parliament." I confess, that runs deep enough,' that runs' to all; that may be accounted a very great fault in me; and may rise up in judgment against me another time,--if my case be not different from any man's that ever was in the Chief Command and Government of these Nations before. But truly I think, all they that have been in this Office before, and owned in right of Law, were inheritors coming to it by birthright,- -or if owned by the authority of Parliament, they yet had some previous pretence of title or claim to it. And so, under favor, I think I deserve less blame than any of them would have done, if I cannot so well comply with this Title, and with' the desire of Parliament in regard to it, as these others might do. For they, when they were in, would have taken it for an injury not to be in. Truly such an argument, to them, might be very strong, Why they should not refuse what the Parliament offered! But as for me,' I have dealt plainly with you: and I have not complimented with you in saying' I have not desired, I have no title to, the Government of these Nations. No title,' but what was taken up in a case of necessity, and as a temporary means to meet the actual emergency; without which we must needs-[Have gone you know whither!]—I say, we had been all 'topsyturvying now' at the rate of the Printed Book 'you have just got hold of' [Shoreditch STANDARD SET UP and Painted Lion there], and at the rate of those men that have been seized going into arms,-if that expedient had not been taken! That was visible to me as the day, unless I undertook it. And so, it being put upon me, I being then General, as I was General by Act of Parliament, it being 'put' upon me to take the power into my hand after the Assembly of Men that was called together had been dissolved

-[“ I took it, as you all know :" but his Highness blazing off here, as his wont is when the subject rises, the Sentence explodes]—!

Really the thing would have issued itself in this Book :-for the Book, I am told, knows an Author [Harrison, they say, is Author]; he was a Leading Person in that Assembly! And now when I say (I speak in the plainness and simplicity of my heart, as before Almighty God), I did out of necessity undertake that 'Business,' which I think no man but myself would have undertaken,—it hath pleased God that I have been instrumental in keeping the Peace of the Nation to this day. And have kept it under a Title [Protector] which, some say, signifies but a keeping of it to another's use,-to a better use; a Title' which may improve it to a better use ! And this I may say: I have not desired the continuance of my power or place either under one Title or another,—that have I not! I say it: If the wisdom of the Parliament could find where to place things so as they might save this Nation and the Interests of it,

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