25, 29, Feb. 1, 3. Burton's Diary, ii. 371-464.
Thurloe, i. 766; vi. 767.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1658. Jan. 22.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1658. Feb. 3.]
kingdom were preparing to join his standard; the leaders of opposition in
parliament had combined with several officers in the army to re-establish
the commonwealth, "without a single person or house of lords;" and
a preparatory petition for the purpose of collecting signatures was
circulated through the city. Cromwell consulted his most trusty advisers,
of whom some suggested a dissolution, others objected the want of money,
and the danger of irritating the people. Perhaps he had already taken his
resolution, though he kept it a secret within his own breast; perhaps
it might be the result of some sudden and momentary impulse;[1] but one
morning[a] he unexpectedly threw himself into a carriage with two horses
standing at the gates of Whitehall; and, beckoning to six of his guards to
follow, ordered the coachman to drive to the parliament house. There he
revealed his purpose to Fleetwood, and, when that officer ventured to
remonstrate, declared, by the living God that he would dissolve the
parliament. Sending for the Commons, he addressed them in an angry and
expostulating tone. "They," he said, "had placed him in the high situation
in which he stood; he sought it not; there was neither man nor woman
treading on English ground who could say he did.
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