" He rose immediately, bowed to the
ambassadors, and walked in state through the hall to his carriage.[1]
That which distinguished the present from the late form of government was
the return which it made towards the more ancient institutions of the
country.
[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 622. Merc. Polit. No. 369. Parl. Hist. iii. 1514,
and Prestwick's Relation, App. to Burton's Diary, ii. 511. Most of the
officers took the oath of fidelity to the protector. Lambert refused, and
resigned his commissions, which brought him about six thousand pounds per
annum. Cromwell, however, assigned to him a yearly pension of two thousand
pounds.--Ludlow, ii. 136.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. June 26.]
That return, indeed, had wrung from Cromwell certain concessions repugnant
to his feelings and ambition, but to which he probably was reconciled by
the consideration that in the course of a few years they might be modified
or repealed. The supreme authority was vested in the protector; but,
instead of rendering it hereditary in his family, the most which he could
obtain was the power of nominating his immediate successor. The two houses
of parliament were restored; but, as if it were meant to allude to his
past conduct, he was bound to leave to the House of Commons the right of
examining the qualifications and determining the claims of the several
representatives.
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