".!be HISTORY o/ the PuRITANs. VoL. II. Oliver " vantages of a mixed monarchy, and infi!led on the (afety and fecurity P;~;~or. " of himfelf and his friends-That by the laws of Edw. IV, and Hen– ~ " ry VII, whatever was done by a king in poifeilion, with the confent " of a houfe of lords and commons, was valid, and all that ferved un. " der him were exempt from puniillment-That without this title all the " grants and fales that had been made were null and void; and all who . " · had collected the public moneys were accountable-In !hort, that the " inclinations of the nation were for a king~That his not accepting the " office would occidion the changing many ancient laws, cufioms, and " formalities-That there would be no !ailing fettlement till things re– " verted to this channel-To all which they added, that it was the ad. '' vice and opinion of the reprefentatives of the three nations; and fince " the parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, advifed and defired " him to accept the title, he ought not in reafon or equity to decline it." "!be protecThe protector attended to thefe arguments, and would no doubt have tor's reafo.ns complied, if he could have relied upon the army, but the chief officers for dedmmg remonfirated firongly againO: it, and many of his old friends, among ~~rnet. whom was his own fan-in-law Fleetwood, threatened to lay down their p. 68. 70. commifiions. All the republicans declaimed loudly againO: his accepting the crown, and prefented a petition to the houfe againfi it, drawn up by Dr. 011Jen, and prefented by lieutenant-general Mafon: They faid, "they " had pull'd down monarchy with the monarch, and ihould they now " build it up ?-They had appealed to God in the late war, who had· " anfwered in their favour, and ihould they now diftrufi him?-They " had voted to ~e tme to the commonwealth, without king or king£hip, .. and Choold they break their vows, and go back to Egypt for fecurity ? " - They thought it rather their bappinefs to be under a legal da11ger, . " which might make them more cautious and diligent--Some fait!, if " they muft have a king, why not the legal one."-Upan thefe grounds they O:ood out, and rejected with fcorn all limitations of the prerogative; under a monarchy. So that whatever might be the protector's inclina– tion, he judged it moO: prudent to decline the crown at prefent; and ac– cordingly, May 8, he fent for the houfe, and acquainted them, that as the circum.flances if affairs then flood, he could not undertake the governRemarks. Whit!. ll· 6'}6. mm! with the title qf KING. Some have been of opinion, that the protector's great genius forfook him in this affair; but it is impoilible, at this difiance of time, to judge of the firength of the reafons that determined him the other way. Had he affumed the title of KING, the army would •have revolted; the cava– liers would have joined the republicans to have pulled him down from the throne, the,whole nation would in all probability have been thrown into confufion, and.himfelf have been the facrifice, The. p,rotector had made
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