particulars will be subsequently noticed, was discovered and defeated.  The circumstance furnished an opportunity favourable to his views; and the re-establishment of “kingship” was mentioned in the house, not as a project originating from him, but as the accidental and spontaneous suggestion of others.  Goffe having expressed[a] a hope that parliament would provide for the preservation of the protector’s person, Ashe, the member for Somersetshire, exclaimed, “I would add something more—­that he would be pleased to take upon him the government according to the ancient constitution.  That would put an end to these plots, and fix our liberties and his safety on an old and sure foundation.”  The house was taken by surprise:  many reprehended the temerity of the speaker; by many his suggestion was applauded and approved.  He had thrown it out to try the temper of his colleagues; and the conversation which it provoked, served to point out to Cromwell the individuals from whom he might expect to meet with opposition.[1]

The detection of the conspiracy was followed[b] by an address of congratulation to the protector, who on his part gave to the members a princely entertainment at Whitehall.  At their next meeting[c] the question was regularly brought before them by Alderman Pack, who boldly undertook a task which the timidity of Whitelock had declined.  Rising in his place, he offered to the house a paper, of which he gave no other explanation than that it had been placed in his hands, and “tended to the settlement of the country.”  Its purport, however, was already known, or conjectured; several officers instantly started from their seats, and

[Footnote 1:  Burton’s Diary, 362-366.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1657.  Jan. 19.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1657.  Feb. 20.] [Sidenote c:  A.D. 1657.  Feb. 23.]

Pack was violently borne down to the bar.  But, on the restoration of order, he found himself supported by Broghill, Whitelock, and Glynn, and, with them, by the whole body of the lawyers, and the dependants of the court.  The paper was read; it was entitled, “An humble Address and Remonstrance,” protesting against the existing form of government, which depended for security on the odious institution of majors-general, and providing that the protector should assume a higher title, and govern, as had been done in times past, with the advice of two houses of parliament.  The opposition (it consisted of the chief officers, the leading members in the council, and a few representatives of counties) threw every obstacle in the way of its supporters; but they were overpowered by numbers:  the house debated each article in succession, and the whole project was finally adopted,[a] but with the omission of the remonstrance, and under the amended title of the “Humble Petition and Advice."[1]