Cromwell was dressed in a suit and cloak of black velvet, with long boots,
and a broad gold band round his hat. He took his place before the chair,
between the two commissioners; the judges stood in a half-circle behind it,
and the civic officers ranged themselves on the right, the military on the
left, side of the court.
[Footnote 1: Exact Relation, 26. True Narrative, 4. Ludlow, ii. 33.
Clarendon, iii. 484. Thurloe, i. 754. The author of this new constitution
is not known. Ludlow tells us that it was first communicated by Lambert to
a council of field officers. When some objections were made, he replied,
that the general was willing to consider any amendments which might be
proposed, but would not depart from the project itself. Some, therefore,
suggested that, after the death of the present lord-general, the civil and
military government should be kept separate, and that no protector should
be succeeded by any of his relatives. This gave so much offence, that, at a
second meeting, Lambert, having informed them that the lord-general would
take care of the civil administration, dismissed them to their respective
commands.--Ludlow, ii. 37. It is to this, perhaps, that the Dutch
ambassador alludes, when he says that Cromwell desisted from his project
of being declared king on account of the displeasure of the
officers.
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