The Clerk [reading on, in a louder voice.
Fifth. The Humble Petition
Or Suppliant Address to Zion's Hero.
Whereas, 'tis custom immemorial
That all discussions on domestic themes
Shall by a king be closed; and whereas God himself,
When to his chosen people he had giv'n
The tables of the law, the pulpit changed
Into a throne, the judges he made kings;—
Now, having heard the arguments put forth
On either side, the Parliament doth shew
Unto the Lord Protector that 'tis meet
The people for their consecrated head
Should have a single person, upon whom
The title of the kings of former times
Should be bestowed; and humbly doth implore
Oliver, the Lord Protector, to receive
The English crown by right hereditary.
The Speaker [to Cromwell.
My lord, I crave your leave to speak.
Cromwell. Say on.
The Speaker. My lord, in all times, recent or remote,
Kings have held sway o'er the nations of the earth.
The first of books, which greatly doth abound
In wisdom, saith again and yet again,
In plain words: Reges gentium. We see,
If we consider Gibeon and Actium,
That when a deadly conflict doth arise
Within a nation, 'tis a Gordian knot
That can be severed only by a sword.
The sword becomes a sceptre, and so proves
That by a king all questions must be solved.
