He then seated himself in the chair, put on his hat
while the rest stood uncovered, received the seal from the commissioners,
the sword from the lord mayor, delivered them back again to the same
individuals, and, having exercised these acts of sovereign authority,
returned in procession to his carriage, and repaired in state to Whitehall.
The same day the establishment of the government by a lord-protector and
triennial parliaments, and the acceptance of the protectorship by the
lord-general, were announced to the public by proclamation, with all the
ceremonies hitherto used on the accession of a new monarch.[1]
It cannot be supposed that this elevation of Cromwell to the supreme power
was viewed with satisfaction by any other class of men than his brethren in
arms, who considered his greatness their own work, and expected from
his gratitude their merited reward. But the nation was surfeited with
revolutions. Men had suffered so severely from the ravages of war and the
oppression of the military; they had seen so many instances of punishment
incurred by resistance to the actual possessors of power; they were divided
and
[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 571-578. Thurloe, i. 639, 641. Ludlow, ii. 40.
The alteration in the representation, which had been proposed in the long
parliament, was generally considered an improvement,--Clar.
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