Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/496

476 other noblemen to be named by the King, he would submit to any terms which, after discussion, should be resolved upon, whatever those might be. In the letter to Warwick the Duke declared before God that he had meant no harm to him; nor could he believe that Warwick had desired to injure himself. They had been old friends, and he appealed to his heart to remember it. Paget and the Archbishop wrote in the same tone. They evidently felt that the Protector had added seriously to the danger of his position by his appeal to the commons. He was willing, they said, to resign his office, but he could not place himself in the councils' hands unconditionally. Life was sweet, and they must not press him too hard. Finally, Sir Thomas Smith added another letter to Petre. The Protector had yielded to the persuasion of his friends, and would refuse no reasonable terms. He would relinquish office, dignity, everj'thing they might require. He only begged for his life. Such an offer ought not to be rejected, 'nor the realm be made in one year a double tragedy and a lamentable spoil, and a scorning stock of the world.'

When the Protector was one day inviting the nation to take arms for him, and the next was begging for his life, the causes of his alternate moods cannot be accurately traced. On the 8th of October, before Hoby's arrival, a meeting had been held at the