, 30 April, 1661.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1659. April 6.]
by a system that kept their pay so many months in arrear. In conclusion, it
prayed for the redress of these grievances, and stated the attachment of
the subscribers to the cause for which they had bled, and their readiness
to stand by the protector and parliament in its defence.[1] This paper,
with six hundred signatures, was presented to Richard, who received it with
an air of cheerfulness, and forwarded it to the lower house. There it was
read, laid on the table, and scornfully neglected. But the military leaders
treated the house with equal scorn; having obtained the consent of the
protector, they established a permanent council of general officers; and
then, instead of fulfilling the expectations with which they had lulled his
jealousy, successively voted, that the common cause was in danger, that
the command of the army ought to be vested in a person possessing its
confidence, and that every officer should be called upon to testify his
approbation of the death of Charles I., and of the subsequent proceedings
of the military; a measure levelled against the meeting at Whitehall,
of which the members were charged with a secret leaning to the cause of
royalty.[2] This was sufficiently alarming; but, in addition, the officers
of the trained bands signified their adhesion to the "representation" of
the army; and more than six hundred privates of the regiment formerly
commanded by Colonel Pride published their determination to stand by their
officers in the maintenance "of the old cause.
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