His irresolution returned: he had promised the house
to give a final answer the next morning;[c] in the morning he postponed it
to five in the evening, and at that hour to
[Footnote 1: "Every wise man out of doors wonders at the delay," Thurloe,
vi. 243; also Claren. Papers, iii. 339.]
[Footnote 2: "In these meetings," says Whitelock, "laying aside his
greatness, he would be exceedingly familiar with us, and, by way of
diversion, would make verses with us, and every one must try his fancy. He
commonly called for tobacco, pipes, and a candle, and would now and then
take tobacco himself. Then he would fall again to his serious and great
business" (656).]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. April 22.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1657. May 6.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1657. May 7.]
the following day. The officers observed, and resolved to profit by, the
impression which they had made; and early in the morning[a] Colonel Mason,
with six-and-twenty companions, offered to the parliament a petition, in
which they stated that the object of those with whom the measure originated
was the ruin of the lord-general and of the best friends of the people, and
conjured the house to support the good old cause in defence of which the
petitioners were ready to sacrifice their lives.
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