A vision, or
day-dream, impressed his enthusiastic imagination, detailing the steps
by which he was to rise, and assuring him, "that he should be the
greatest man in England, and near being King." Yet, though this seemed
to warn him of an impassable bound to his greatness, the pageant of
royalty which he had so often vilified and derided, on a close view
appeared so irresistible, that he became enchanted with its
fascinations, till, in aiming at the decorations of power, he nearly
sacrificed the substance.
At this juncture the daring character and versatility of Monthault
marked him out to the Protector as a proper instrument to negotiate with
Lambert, whose talents were far more dangerous than the fanaticism of
Fleetwood or Desborough's virulence. It was plain that though Monthault
wore the enlarged phylacteries and sanctified demeanour of the sect he
had lately adopted, he was more a hypocrite than an enthusiast. It is
well known, that Cromwell found means to discover every private incident
in the lives of his agents, and thus penetrated into all their views.
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