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<DATE>2007-10-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Emma Leeson Huber</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B070914.apex.</ITEM>
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<STC T="T">669.f.22[34]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99860646</BIBNO>
<VID>163617</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 21 -->
<HEAD>THE HUMBLE PETITION OF RICHARD CROMWELL, Late LORD PROTECTOR of <HI>England, Scotland,</HI> and <HI>Ireland,</HI> to the Councel of Officers at <HI>Walingford Hou&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER>Humbly &s;heweth:</OPENER>
<P>THAT whereas, after the Addre&s;&s;es of many thou&s;ands of the&s;e actions, faithfully promi&s;ing to e&s;tabli&s;h me on my Fathers u&s;urped Seat, and prote&s;ting before God to live and die for me, whom they &s;tiled their <HI>Jo|&s;hua,</HI> appointed by God to compleat that happine&s;&s;e to the Saints which was begun by my Father, whom they called <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that had brought them out of <HI>Aegypt</HI> and the Wilderne&s;&s;e unto the borders of <HI>Canaan,</HI> of which number you of the Army were not the la&s;t, nor lea&s;t part: Yet notwith&s;tanding you forgeting your Promi&s;es and Engagements, were guilty of &s;uch in&s;olent and contrary proceedings as to turn me out of my place before I was well warm, under the &s;pecious pretence of &s;etting up the <HI>Good old Cau&s;e,</HI> which then you interpreted to be the Refu&s;e, or (as it's commonly called) the <HI>Rump</HI> of the <HI>long Parliament;</HI> which piece of a Parliament you had no &s;ooner e&s;tabli&s;hed, and vowed your &s;elves by a &s;olemn Oath their faithfull and con&s;tant Servants, but you turn'd them to gra&s;&s;e before they had lei&s;ure to fleece the Commonwealth. Yet for all this, you &s;till pro&s;ecute the <HI>Good old Cau&s;e,</HI> which &s;ince it hath &s;o many Colours, I know not how to define it otherwi&s;e then a meer <HI>cheating of the Publick:</HI> But to let that pa&s;&s;e, you devi&s;ed a thing called a <HI>Committee of &s;afety,</HI> which being a Crew of Sword-men, with &s;ome others of your own Faction, appointed unto them&s;elves a certain time to produce a mo|del or form of Government, which time being expired, they ended as &s;afely as they began, their pregnant womb being not delivered of &s;o much as a Mou&s;e.</P>
<P>The&s;e things con&s;idered, and &s;ince you are now at a <HI>non plus,</HI> not knowing which way to turne your &s;elves, I humbly beg of you (Gentlemen) to let me appear once more upon the Stage, be&s;eeching you to re&s;tore me unto my former dignity of being your Protector: It may be you'l &s;ay, I am altogether uncapable of &s;o great a tru&s;t: For an&s;wer; If you'l believe my Mother, I am the Son of <HI>Oliver,</HI> and think my &s;elfe as wi&s;e as &s;ome of you, and much hone&s;ter then the be&s;t of you. What though I was pictur'd with an Owls head and a Fools Coat? I'me &s;ure my Brother-in-law <HI>Fleetwood</HI> (your titular General) de&s;erves it as well as my &s;elf; for although he had &s;o much wit as to depo&s;e me, wherein he &s;hewed him&s;elf more then Fool: yet when he &s;et up the tail of the long Parliament, and afterwards &s;uffred them to be ca&s;t out by the ambition of <HI>Lambert,</HI> he &s;avor'd more of the later. But I pray Gentlemen con&s;ider what profit and advantage will acrue to your &s;elves as well as the Nation, in ca&s;e you readvance me to the Government; for I will call &s;uch a Parliament as &s;hall rai&s;e money for the &s;atisfying of all Soldiers Arrears, and take a cour&s;e that they be dayly paid for the future, and you your &s;elves &s;hall be my privy Councellors, provided you be more acute in con&s;ulting the affairs of Government then you have been lately in forging one. And for the good of the Commonwealth in generall, we will countenance and encourage the two main props of a State, <HI>viz. Magi&s;tracy</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try:</HI> But as for the dull City of <HI>London,</HI> we may ride it to death if we plea&s;e; &s;he hath been long &s;ick of a Con&s;umption, but will not go to the charge of a purgation whereby &s;he might be rid of tho&s;e humors that ob&s;truct her welfare, occa&s;ioned by a &s;urfeit &s;he took of too much of the fi&s;h call'd a <HI>Lobstar,</HI> which diet my Father fed her withall. But to &s;peak of her <HI>Lord Mayor,</HI> he is the very &s;ame to you, as his hor&s;e to him, who with all his furr'd gang of <HI>Aldermen</HI> are alwayes ready to comply with any power whatever at its fir&s;t appearance, and will ever be your enchained &s;laves, for all their dayly con&s;ultations at <HI>Guild-Hall.</HI> The&s;e are the <HI>Golden Calves</HI> which the City wor&s;hips, and will do till it be utterly beggar'd by their &s;loath, who had rather live in perpetuall bondage then hazard their va&s;t e&s;tates to purcha&s;e the freedome both of them&s;elves and their po&s;terity; for if the pre&s;ent Lord Mayor had as much wit as Frier <HI>Bacon's brazen head,</HI> and would but &s;ay, <HI>Time is,</HI> the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e would be done, and the whole City be freed from that oppre&s;&s;ion which they have for &s;o many years groaned under; but as long as they are led by the no&s;e by their Lord Mayor, and he by the Officers of the Army, hang but one <HI>Red-coat</HI> on the top of <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;teeple, and 'tis enough to keep the City in awe, though there were never a Soldier in it.</P>
<P>But whil&s;t I was penning this, there came one and told me that you had &s;et out a <HI>Proclamation</HI> of a <HI>Parliament</HI> to be called on the 24. of <HI>January</HI> next, without a <HI>&s;ingle Per&s;on,</HI> or <HI>Hou&s;e of Peers:</HI> which thing I &s;uppo&s;e you never intend, but only to delude the People with a bare pretence, the very name of a Parliament being a pritty bable to &s;till and quiet the childi&s;h rage of the <HI>City.</HI> However, if you do perform what you &s;ay, it will be a Parliament of your own &s;tamp, which will bring more di&s;content to the People, then what they now &s;uffer: Be&s;ides, you will utterly cro&s;&s;e the de&s;ign of your grand Ma&s;ter in politicks, <HI>Lambert,</HI> who when he hath done with <HI>Monke,</HI> will be as new to begin again what he aim'd at, as he was before he turn'd out the <HI>Epitome</HI> of the <HI>long Parliament.</HI> Where|fore my Ma&s;ters I be&s;eech you con&s;ider what you go about, and go the &s;afe&s;t way to work, which will be by lifting up me again to the Protector&s;hip: and to this end, call to minde the di&s;contented <HI>Frogs,</HI> who would not have the <HI>Log</HI> to be their <HI>King;</HI> but when <HI>Jupiter</HI> &s;et the <HI>Stork</HI> to rule over them, which exceedingly devour'd them, then they prayed him to re&s;tore their <HI>King Log.</HI> Take heed (Gentlemen) that you do not run the &s;ame fortune as did the Frogs, le&s;t with them you repent too late; but hearken to this &s;ea&s;onable, and (indeed) rea&s;onable advice of your <HI>Quondam Ma&s;ter,</HI> though now poor <HI>Petitioner.</HI></P>
<P>To conclude, (my Ma&s;ters) if you will be plea&s;ed to &s;uffer me once again to mount into the &s;addle of Supremacy, I prote&s;t unto you that I will not be ca&s;t out of it but with the lo&s;&s;e of my life. Before I will be fo befool'd as I was, I'le drive on as furiou&s;ly as my Father when he turn'd Coach-man in <HI>Hide-Park,</HI> and had like to have broken his neck for his labour: And rather then I will &s;o &s;neakingly be thrown down from the very Pinacle of honour,</P>
<LG>
<L>The fortune of bold <HI>Phaeton</HI> Ile run,</L>
<L>Who peri&s;h'd in the Chariot of the Sun.</L>
</LG>
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