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 Prefented to 
 The Cornell University, 1860, 
 
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 Regius Profeffor of Hiftoiy in the 
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 DA 395.G96 1854 
 
 History of the English Revolution of 164 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028040149 
 
®]^e lEuroptan IKirarg* 
 
 HISTORY OP THE ENGLISH RESOLUTION. 
 
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 / (7^' 
 
 I-ROM IHE PICTUEE BY VAITDYKE , 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION 
 
 • OF 1640: 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHAKLES I. 
 TO niS DEATH. 
 
 BY F. GUIZOT, 
 
 AUTHOR 07 "HISTOIBE DE LA CIVILIZATION EK FRANCE," 
 See. &c. &c. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY WELIAM HAZLITT, ESQ. 
 
 OF TBS mSDU: TEUflX, BABBISTEE-AT-XAir. 
 
 LONDON: 
 DAVID BOGUE, FLEET STEEET. 
 
 MDCCCLIV. , , , , , 
 
 
,i,i:iKiii():) 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The full explanation given by M. Guizot, in the following; 
 preface, of the nature of his work, renders any remark on 
 my part unnecessary. I will therefore merely state that in 
 translating it my desire has been to render the author's 
 meaning as nearly as possible in his own style ; whether I 
 liave succeeded in this object, it is for others to determine. 
 As to the books, documents, and speeches quoted, I have in 
 all cases gone back to the original sources consulted by the 
 author, and given the ipsisdma verba of the respective writer 
 or speaker. M. Guizot, in ' setting forth his authorities, 
 refers to his own edition of the Memoirs relative to our Revo- 
 lution (a most valuable publication) ; the references in my 
 translation are to the best English edition of each work 
 cited. The ample index now given is an entirely new 
 feature, and will, I trust, be accepted as an important one. 
 
 William Hazlitt. 
 HnDDLE Temple, 
 
 Dec. 1845, 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIEST EDITION. 
 
 I HAVE published the original memoirs of the English revo- 
 lution; I now publish its history. Previous to the French 
 revolution, this was the greatest event which Europe had to 
 narrate. 
 
 I have no fear of its importance being underrated; our 
 revolution, in surpassing, did not make that of England less 
 great in itself; they wer? both victories in the same war, and 
 to the profit of the same cause; glory is their common attri- 
 blite; they do not eclipse, but set off each other. My fear is 
 least their true character should be mistaken, least the world 
 should not assign to them that place which is properly theirs 
 in the world's history. 
 
 According to an opinion now widely adopted, it would 
 seem as though these two revolutions were unexpected events, 
 which, emanating from principles and conceived in designs 
 unheard of before, threw society out of its ancf.ent and natural 
 course ; hurricanes, earthquakes — instances, in a word, of 
 those mysterious phenomena which altogether depart from 
 ihe ordinary laws of nature, and which burst forth suddenly 
 ■ — blows, as it were, of Providence — it may be to destroy, it 
 may be to renovate. Friends and enemies, panegyrists and 
 detractors, alike adopt this view. According to the oae class, 
 they were glorious events, which brought to light, I'or the 
 first time, truth, liberty, and justice, before the occurrence of 
 
 a 
 
X PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 which all was ahsurdity, iniquity, and tyranny^ to whioh alone 
 the human race owes its terrestrial salvation. According to 
 the other class, they were deplorable calamities, which inter- 
 rupted a long golden age of wisdom, virtue, and happiness; 
 v/hose perpetrators proclaimed maxims, put forward preten- 
 sions, and committed crimes, tiU then without parallel: the 
 nations in a paroxysm of madness dashed aside from their 
 accustomed road; an abyss opened beneath their feet. 
 
 Thus, whether they exalt or deplore them, whether they 
 bless or curse them, all parties, in considering revolutions, 
 forget all the circumstances, alike isolate them absolutely from 
 the past, alike make them in themselves responsible for the 
 destiny of the world, and load them with anathema or crown 
 them with glory. 
 
 It is time to get clear of all such false and puerile de- 
 clamaition. ■ ' 
 
 JFar from having interrupted the natural course of eveiits 
 in Europe, neither the English revolution nor our own, 
 ever said, wished, or did anything that had not been 
 said, wished, done, or attempted, a hundred times before they 
 burst forth. They proclaimed the illegality of absolute 
 power; the free consent of the people, in reference to laws 
 and ta^xes, and the right of armed resistance, were elemental 
 principles of the feudal system; and the church has often 
 repeated these words of St. Isidore, which we find in the 
 canons of the fourth council of Toledo: "He is king who 
 rules his people with justice; if he rule otherwise, he shall 
 no longer be king." They attacked prerogative, and sought 
 to introduce greater equality into social order: kings 
 throughout Europe have done the same; and, down to our 
 own times, the various steps in the progress of civil equality 
 Lave been founded upon the laws and measured by the pro- 
 gress of royalty. They demanded that public offices should 
 bethroym open to the citizens at large, should be distributed 
 according to merit only, and that power should be conferred 
 
PBEFACE TO THE FIKST EDITION. sf 
 
 by election: this is the fundamental principle of the internal 
 government of the church, which not only acts upon it, but 
 has emphatically proclaimed its worth. Whether we consider 
 the general doctrines of the two revolutions, or the results to 
 which they were applied — whether we regard the govern- 
 ment of the state,, or civil legislation, property or persons, 
 liberfy or power — nothing will be found of which the inven- 
 tion originated with them, nothing which is hot equally met 
 with, or which, at all events, did not come into existence in 
 periods which are called regular. 
 
 Nor is this all: those principles, those designs, those efforts 
 which are attributed exclusively to the English revolution 
 and to our own, not only preceded them by several centuries, 
 but are precisely the same principles, the same eJQforts, to 
 which society in Europe owes all its progress. Was it by 
 its disorders and its privileges, by its brute force, and by 
 keeping men down beneath its yoke, that the feudal aristo- 
 cracy took part in the development of nations ? No : it 
 struggled against royal tyraimy, exercised the right of resist- 
 ance, and maintained the maxims of liberty. For what have 
 nations blessed kings? Was it for their pretensions to divine 
 right, to absolute power? for their profusion? for their courts? 
 No : kings assailed the feudal system and aristocratical privi- 
 leges; they introduced unity into legislation, and into the 
 executive administration; they aided the progress of equality. 
 And the clergy — whence does it derive its power? how has 
 it promoted civilization? Was it by separating itself from the 
 people, by taking fright at human reason, by sanctioning 
 tyranny in the name of Heaven? No: it gathered together, 
 withciut distinction, in its churches, and under the law of 
 God, the great and the small, the poor and the rich, the weak 
 and the strong; it honoured and fostered science, instituted 
 schools, favoured the propagation of knowledge, and gave 
 activity to the mind. Interrogate the history of the masters of 
 the world; examine the influence of the various classes which 
 
 a2 
 
"XU PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, 
 
 hare decided its destiny; wherever any good shall manifest 
 itself, wherever the lasting gratitude of man shall recognise 
 a great service done to humanity, it will be seen that these 
 were steps towards the object which were pursued by 
 the English revolution and by our own; we shall find our- 
 selves in presence of one of the principles they sought to 
 establish. 
 
 Let these mighty events, then, no longer be held forth as 
 monstrous apparitions in the history of Europe; let us hear 
 no more about their unheard-of pretensions, their infernal in- 
 ventions. They advanced civilization in the path it has 
 been pursuing for fourteen centuries; they professed the 
 maxims, they forwarded the works to which man has, in all 
 time, owed the development of his nature and the ameliora- 
 tion of his condition; they did that which has been by turns 
 the merit and the glory of the clergy, of the aristocracy, and 
 of kings, 
 
 I do not think mankind will much longer persist in abso- 
 lutely condemning them because they are chargeable with 
 errors, calamities, and crimes. Admit all this to the fuU: 
 nay, exceed the severity of the condemners, and closely ex- 
 amine their accusations to supply their omissions; then sum- 
 mon them, in their turn, to draw up the list of the errors, the 
 crimes,, and the calamities, of those times and those powers 
 which they have taken under their protection: I much doubt 
 whether they will accept the challenge. 
 
 It may be asked: in what respect, then, are the two revo- 
 lutions so distinguishable from tmy other epoch, that carry- 
 ing on, as they did, the common work of ages, they merited 
 their name, and changed, in effect, the face of the world? 
 The answer is this: 
 
 Various powers have successively predominated in European 
 society, and led by turns the march of civilization. After 
 the fall of the Eoman empire and the invasion of the Barba- 
 rians, amid the dissolution ''"f all ties, the ruin of all regular 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xiil 
 
 power, dominion everywhere fell into the hands of bold 
 brute force. The conquering aristocracy took possession of 
 aU things, persons and property, people and land. In vain 
 did a few great men, Charlemagne in France, Alfred in 
 England, attempt to subject this chaos to the unity of the 
 monarchical system. All unity was impossible. The feudal 
 hierarchy was the only form that society, would accept. It 
 pervaded everything. Church as weU as State; bishops and 
 abbot? became barons, the king was merely chief lord. Yel^ 
 rude and unsettled as was this organization, Europe is in- 
 debted to it for its first step out of barbarism. It was among 
 the proprietors of fiefs, by their mutual relations, their laws, 
 their customs, their feelings, their ideas, that European civi- 
 lization began. 
 
 They weighed fearfully upon the people. The clergy 
 alone sought to claim, on behalf of the community, a little 
 reason, justice, and humanity. He who held no place in the 
 feudal hierarchy, had no other asylum than the churches, no 
 other protectors than the priests. Inadequate as it was, yet 
 this protection was immense, for there was none beside. 
 Moreover, the priests alone offered some food to the moral 
 ' nature of man; to that invincible craving after thought, know- 
 ledge, hope, and belief, which overcomes all obstacles and 
 survives all misfortune. The church soon acquired a pro- 
 digious power in every part of Europe. Nascent royalty 
 added to its strength by borrowing its assistance. The pre- 
 ponderance passed from the conquering aristocracy to the 
 clergy. 
 
 •By the co-operation of the church and its own inherent 
 rigour, royalty rose up to a stature above that of its rivals; 
 but- the clergy which had aided, now wished to enslave it. 
 In this new danger, royalty called to its assistance sometimes 
 the barons, now become less formidable, more frequently the 
 commons, the people, already strong enough to give good 
 ■help but not strong enough to demand a high price for their 
 
XIV PREFACE TO THE F1ES,T EDITION. 
 
 services. By their aid, royalty triumphed in its second struggle, 
 and became in its turn the ruling power, invested with the 
 confidence of nations. 
 
 Such is the history of ancient Europe. The feudal aris- 
 tocracy, the clergy, royalty, by turns possessed it, successively 
 presided over its destiny and its progress. It was to their 
 co-existence and to their struggles that it was,, for a long 
 time, indebted for all it achieved of liberty, prosperity, en- 
 lightenment; in a word, for the development of its civili- 
 zation. 
 
 In the seventeenth century in Englajid, in the eighteenth 
 in France, all struggle between these three powers had 
 ceased; they lived together in sluggish peace. It may even 
 be said, that they had lost their historical character, and even 
 the remembrance of those efforts, which, of old, constituted 
 iheir power and their splendour. The aristocracy no longer 
 protected public liberty, nor even its own; royalty no longer 
 laboured to abolish aristocratical privilege; it seemed, on the 
 contrary, to have become favourable to its possessors, in re- 
 turn for their servility.. The clergy, a spiritual power, feared 
 the human mind, and no longer able to guide, called upon it, 
 with threats, to check its career. Still civilization followed 
 its course, daily more general and more active." Forsaken 
 hj its- ancient leathers, astonished at their apathy and at the 
 humour they displayed^ and' at seeing that less was done for 
 it as its power and its desires grew larger, the people began 
 to think it had better take to transact its own affairs itself; 
 and, assuming in its own person all the functions which its 
 former leaders no' longer fulfilled, claimed at once of the 
 crown liberty, of the aristocracy equality, of the clergy the 
 rights of human intellect. Then burst forth revolutions." 
 
 These did, for the benefit of a nbw power, what Europe 
 had in other cases already several times witnessed; they gave 
 to society leaders who would and could direct it in its progress. 
 3y this title alone had the aristocracy,, the church, and 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIKST EDITION. XV 
 
 Toyalty by turns enjoyed tlie preponderance. The people now 
 took possession of it by.tte same means, in the name of the 
 same necessities. 
 
 Such was the true operation, the real characteristic of the 
 English revolution as well as of our own. After having 
 considered them as absolutely alike, it has been said that they 
 had nothing but appearances in common. The first, it has 
 been contended, was political rather than social; the second 
 sought to change at once both society and government; th^ 
 one sought liberty, the other equality; the one, still more re- 
 ligious than political, only substituted dogma for dogma, a 
 churdi for a church; the other, philosophical more especially, 
 claimed the full independence of reason: an ingenious com- 
 parison, and not without its truth, but well nigh aa super- 
 ficial, as frivolous as the opinion it pretends to correct. 
 "While, under the external resemblance of the two revolutionaj 
 great differences are perceptible, so, beneath theiip differences, 
 is hidden a resemblance still more profound.. The English 
 Eevolution, it is true, from the same causes that brou^t it 
 forth an age before ourSj retained a more decided impress of 
 the ancient social state: there, &ee institutionsi which, had 
 their origin in the very depth of barbarism, had survived the 
 despotism they could not prevent? the feudal airistocraey, -or 
 at least a portion of it, had united its cause to that of the 
 people; royalty, even in the days of its supremacy, had^ never 
 been fuUy or undisturbedly absolute; the national church had 
 itself begun religious reform, and called forth the daring in- 
 quiries of mind. Everywhere, in the laws, the creed^ the 
 manners of the people, revolution found its work half accom- 
 plished; and from that order of things which it sought to 
 ehange, came at once assistance and obstacles, useful allies; 
 and still powerful adversaries. It thus presented a singular 
 mixture of elements, to all appearance the most contrary, at 
 once aristocratic and popular, religious and philosophical, ap- 
 pealing sJternately to laws and theories; now proclaiming a 
 
Xri PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 new yoke for conscience, now its entire liberty; sometimes 
 Tiarrowly confined within the limits of facts, at others soaring 
 to the most daring attempts; placed, in short, between the 
 Bid and new social state, rather as a bridge over which to 
 pass from the one to the other, than as an abyss of separation. 
 
 The most terrible unity, on the contrary, pervaded the 
 French revolution; the new spirit alone dominated; and, the 
 old system, far from taking its part and its place in the move- 
 ment, only sought to defend itself against it, and only de- 
 fended itself for a moment; it was alike without power as 
 without virtue. On the day of the explosion, one fact only 
 remained real and powerful, the general civilization of the 
 country. In this great but' sole result, old institutions, old 
 manners, creeds, the memory of the past, the whole national 
 life, had fused themselves and become lost. So many active 
 and glorious ages had produced only France. Hence the 
 immense results of the revolution, and also its immense erroi's; 
 it possessed absolute power. 
 
 Assuredly there js a great difference, and one worthy 
 to be well borne in mind; it strikes us more especially when 
 we regard the two revolutions in themselves as isolated events, 
 detached from general history, and seek to unravel, if I may 
 so express it, their peculiar physiognomy, their individual 
 character. But let them resume their place in the course of 
 ages, and then inquire what they have done towards the de- 
 velopment of European civilization, and the resemblance wUl 
 reappear, will rise above aU minor differences. Produced by 
 the same causes, the decay of the feudal aristocracy, the church, 
 and royalty, they both laboured at the same work, the dominion 
 of the public in public affairs;- they struggled for liberty 
 against absolute power, for equality against privilege, for 
 progressive and general interests against stationary and indi- 
 vidual interests. Their situations were different, their strength 
 unequal; what the one clearly conceived, the other saw but 
 in imperfect outline; in the career which the one fulfilled, the 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, Xvil 
 
 other soon stopped short; on the same battle-field, the one 
 found victory, the other defeat; the sin of the one was con- 
 tempt of all reUgious principle, of the other hypocrisy ; one was 
 wiser, the^ther more powerful; but their means and their 
 success alone differed; their tendency, as well as their origin, 
 was the same; their wishes, their efforts, their progress, were 
 directed towards the same end; what the one attempted or 
 accomplished, the other accomplished or attempted. Though 
 guilty of religious persecution, the English revolution saw 
 the banner of religious liberty uplifted in its ranks; notwith- 
 standing its aristocratic alliances, it founded the preponderance 
 of the commons; though especially intent upon civil order, it 
 still called for more simple legislation, for parliamentary 
 reform, the abolition of entails, and of primogenitureship ; ' 
 and though disappointed in premature hopes, it enabled 
 !English society to take a great stride out of the monstrous 
 inequality of the feudal system. In a word, the analogy 
 of the two revolutions is such, that the first would never 
 have been thoroughly understood had not the secoiid taken 
 place. 
 
 - In our days, the history of the English revolution has 
 changed its face. Hume' for a long series of years enjoyed 
 the privilege of forming, in accordance with his views, the 
 opinion of Europe; and, notwithstanding the aid of Mirabeau,^ 
 Mrs. Macauley's declamations had not been able to shake his 
 authority. AU at once, men's minds have recovered their natural 
 independence; a crowd of works have attested, not only that 
 this epoch has become once more the object of lively sympathy, 
 but that the narrative and opinions of Hume have ceased to 
 satisfy the imagination and reason of the public. A great 
 
 ' The first volume of Hume's Histoiy of the House of Stuai't appeai'ecl in 
 .Efigland in 1754, and the second in 1756. 
 
 » Mrs. Macauley's work was to have been a ' History of England from 
 the Accession of James the First to the Elevation of the House of Hanover,' 
 hut it reaches no further than the fall of James the Second. It was pub- 
 lished in England from 1763 to 1783. Of the French translation, sent 
 forth in 1791, under the name of Mirabeau, only two volumes appeared. 
 
XVUl PREFACE TO THE FIKST EDITION, 
 
 orator, Mr. Fox,' distinguished writers, Mr. Malcolm Laing,* 
 Macdiarmid,? Brodie,'' Lingard,^ G-odwin,'' &c., liastencd to 
 meet this new-roused curiosity. Born' in France, the move- 
 ment could not fail to make its way there; HHistmra die 
 CromweU by M. Villemain, L'Histoire de la Revolutum de 
 1688,, by M. Mazure, evidently prove, that neither for us, was 
 Hume sufficient; and I have been able myself, to publish the vo- ! 
 luminous collection of the original memoirs of th at epoch, without_ 
 wearying the attention or exhausting the curiosity of readers J 
 It would little bpcome me to enter here into a detailed ex- 
 amination of these works ; but I do not hesitate to assert 
 that, without the French revolution, without the vivid light 
 it threw on the struggle between the Stuarts and the English 
 people, they would not possess the new merits which dis- 
 tinguish them. I need only as a proof, the difference that 
 is to be remarked between those produced by Great Britain, 
 and those which France gave birth to. How great soever 
 the patriotic interest inspired in the mind of the former, by 
 the revolution of 1640, even when they place themselves 
 under the banner of one of the parties which it edueed, 
 historical criticism reigns throughout theii' works; they apply 
 themselves move especially to exact research^ to thfe com- 
 parison and cross-questioning of witnesses; what they relate^ 
 is to them an old story they thoroughly know, not a drama 
 at which they are present; a period long past, which they 
 pride themselves on being well acquainted with, but in whose 
 
 > History of the Two Last Kings of the House of Stuart, 4tDi London* 
 1808. 
 
 - History of Scotland from the TTnion of the Crowns to the Union of the 
 Kingdom, 4 Tols.Svo. First published, 1800. 
 
 • Lives of British Statesmen, 2 vols. 8vo, second edition, London, 1820. 
 The second volume contains the Lives of 'Strafford and Clorendoni. 
 
 • History of the British Empire, from the Accession of Chailes the First 
 to the Restoration' of Charles the Second, 4 vols. Svo. Edinburgh, 1822. 
 
 » History of England ; the 9th and 10th volumes (London, 18213, 8vo)> 
 eontaiu the reigns of James I. and Charles I.. 
 
 • HistDiy of the Commonwealth of England; London, 183i;: 4'Tol9. 8vo. 
 ' This Collection, now completed, forms 25 vols. Svo. Paris, Didior. 
 
PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION. xix 
 
 bosom they live not. Mr. Brodie fully participates in all 
 tlie prejudices, distrust, and anger of the bitterest puritans 
 against Charles and the cavaliers; while, to the faults, 
 the crimes of his party, he is wholly blind. But, at least, 
 one would imagine so much passion would produce an, 
 animated narrative; that the party exciting so much sym- 
 pathy in the mind of the writer, would be described with 
 truth and power. Not so: despite the ardour of his pre- 
 dilections, Mr. Brodie studies, but sees not, discusses, but 
 describes not; he admires the popular party, but does not 
 produce it strikingly on the stage; his work is a learned and 
 useful dissertation, not a moral and animated history. Mr. 
 Lingard shares in none of the opinions, none of the affections 
 of Mr. Brodie; he remains impartial between the king and 
 the parliament; he pleads the cause of neither, and makes no 
 attempt to refute the errors of his predecessors; he even 
 boasts of not having opened the work of Hume since he 
 undertook his own; he wrote, he says, with the aid of original 
 documents alone, with the times he wished to describe ever 
 before his eyes, and with the firm resolution of shunning all 
 systematic theory. Does he restore life to history by this- 
 impartiality? Not at all: Mr, Lingard's impartiality is, in 
 this case, sheer indifference; a Eoman-catholio priest, it 
 matters little to him whether Church of England men or 
 Presbyterians triumph} thus, indifference has helped him no 
 better than passion did Mr. Brodie to penetrate beyond the 
 external, and, so to speak, the material form of events; with 
 him, too, the principal merit is in having carefuUy examined 
 facts, and collected and disposed them in commendable order. 
 Mr. Malcolm Laing had discerned with more sagacity the 
 political character of the revolution; he shows very well 
 that from the first, without distinctly apprehending its own 
 aim, it sought to displace power, to transfer it to the house of 
 commons, and thus to substitute parliamentary for royal 
 government, and that it could only rest on this basis. But 
 
XX PEEFACE TO THE FIKST Eui-iiON. 
 
 the moral side of the epoch, the religious enthusiasm, the 
 popular passions, the party intrigues, the personal rivalries, 
 all those scenes in which human nature displays itself, when 
 freed from the restraint of old habits and laws, are wanting 
 in his book; it is the re^jort of a clear-sighted judge, but of 
 one who has only resorted to written documents, and has 
 Called before him in person neither actors nor witnesses. I 
 might pass in review all the works with which England has 
 been recently enriched on this subject; they would all, on 
 examination, be found to present the same character — 
 a marked revival of interest in this great crisis of the 
 national life, a more attentive study of the facts that relate to 
 it, a keener feeling of its merits, a juster appreciation of its 
 causes and consequences; still it is but meditation and learn- 
 ing applied to the production of works of erudition or phi^ 
 losophy. I seek in vain for that natural sympathy in the 
 writer for his subject that gives to history light and life; and 
 if Hampden or Clarendon were to return to life, I can scarcely 
 believe they would recognise their own times. 
 
 I open the Histoire de Cromwell by M. Villemain, and find 
 altogether another scene before me. It is less complete, less 
 learned, less exact than several of the works I have adverted 
 to; but, throughout, there is a quick and keen comprehension, 
 of the opinions, the passions, the vicissitudes of revolutions, 
 of public tendencies, and individual character, of the uncon- 
 querable nature and the so changing forms of parties; the ~ 
 historian's reason teaches him how to appreciate all situations, 
 all ideas; his imagination is moved by all real and deep im- 
 pressions; his impartiality, somewhat too sceptical if any- 
 thing, is yet more animated than is frequently even the 
 passion of the exclusive advocates of a cause; and though the 
 revolution only appears in his book confined within the too 
 narrow frame of a biography, it is clearer and more animated 
 than I have met with it elsevrhere. 
 
 The reason of this is, that, setting aside the advantages of 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XXi 
 
 talent, M. Villemain had those of situation. He has viewed 
 and judged the English revolution from the midst of that of 
 France; he found in the men and the events developiuT 
 themselves heneath his own eyes, the key to those he had to 
 paint; he drew life from his own times and infused it into the 
 times he wished to recal. 
 
 I have no desire to carry these reflections further; I have 
 ventured so much only to point out how great is the analogy 
 between the two epochs, and also to explain how a French- 
 man may believe that the history of the English revolution 
 has not yet been written in a fuUy satisfactory manner, and 
 that he may be allowed to attempt it. I have carefully 
 studied nearly aU the old and modern works of which it has 
 formed the subject; I did not fear that this study would 
 weaken the sincerity of my own impressions or the indepen- 
 dence of my judgment; it seems to me there is too much 
 timidity in dreading so readily least an auxiliary should be- 
 come a master; too much pride in refusin'g so absolutely all 
 aid. Yet, and if I do not deceive myself it will easily be re- 
 cognised, original documents have more peculiarly been my 
 guides. I have nothing to observe here, as to the " Memoirs;" 
 I endeavoured in the "Notices" I prefixed to my edition 
 of them, clearly to explain their character and worth; 
 those which did not find a place in my " Collection," though 
 I have made use of them in my " History," appear to me of 
 too little importance to require remark. As for the collections 
 of official acts and documents, they are very numerous; and, 
 though often explored, still abound in unworkjd treasures. 
 I have had constantly before me those of Eushworth, Thurloe, 
 the journals of both houses of parliament, the " Parliamentary 
 History," the old one as well as that of Mr. Cobbett, the 
 " Collection of State Trials," and a great number of other 
 works of the same kind, which it would be uninteresting to 
 enumerate. I also found in the pamphlets of the time, not 
 only English, but French, some curious information; for the 
 
XXi; PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 French public was more occupied than is imagined with tne 
 English revolution; many pamphlets were published in 
 France for and against it, and the Frondeurs more than once 
 put forward its example, against Mazarin and the court. I 
 must also say, to do justice to a man and a work now too 
 much neglected, that I have often consulted with profit the 
 History of England, by Eapin de Thoyras; and that not- 
 withstanding the inferiority of the writer's talents, the 
 English revolution is perhaps better understood in it, and 
 more completely displayed than in the works of most of its 
 successors. 
 
 In conclusion, let me be allowed to express here my gra- 
 titude to all those persons who in France and in England, 
 have been good enough to sanction my work in its progress, 
 and to promote it by the most valuable assistance. Amongst 
 others, I owe to the kindness of sir James Mackintosh, as 
 inexhaustible as hjs mind and knowledge, suggestions and 
 advice which no one but liimself could have given me; and 
 one of those, who, amongst ourselves, are the most versed in 
 the past history as well as in the present state of England, 
 M. Gallois, has thrown open to me, with a kindness I have 
 some right to consider friendship, the treasures of his library 
 and of his conversation. 
 
 F. G. 
 
 Taeis, April, 1820. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE EDITION OF 1841. 
 
 The History of the Revolution of England comprises three 
 grand periods. In the first, under Charles I. (1625 — 1649), the 
 Sevolution was preparing, was put forth, and took its stand. 
 In the second, under the Loiig Parliament and Cromwell 
 (1649 — 1660), it essayed to found its own form of govern- 
 ment, which it called a Republic, and fell in the attempt. 
 The third period is that of monarchical re-action, successful 
 for a while, under Charles II., who, in his cautious selfishness, 
 aimed at nothing beyond his own personal enjoyment, but 
 ruined by the blind passion of James II., who aimed at abso- 
 lute power. In 1688, England achieved the point she aimed 
 at in 1640, and quitted the career of revolution for that of 
 liberty. ^ ' 
 
 I pubhsh, without alteration, a new edition of my History 
 of the first period. I have collected, for that of the two other 
 periods, a body of materials which, as I believe, are neither 
 without importance or variety. A day wiU doubtless come, 
 when I shall be able to make use of these materials: mean- 
 time, wanting the leisure to complete my narrative of this 
 stupendous event, I apply my mind at every available moment, 
 to its just comprehension. 
 
 E.G. 
 
 Piiiig, January, 1841 . 
 
HISTORY 
 
 or 
 
 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 
 
 FItOM THE 
 
 ACCESSION OF CHARLES I. TO HIS DEATH. 
 
 BOOK THE FIEST- 
 
 1625— 1629< 
 
 Accession of Chailes the First to the throne — State and disposition of 
 England — Meeting of the first parliament — Spirit of liberty manifested 
 therein — Its dissolution — First attempts at arbitrary government — 
 Their bad success — Second parliament — Impeachment of the Duke of 
 Buckingham — Dissolution of parliament — 111 admiuistration of Buck- 
 ingham — Thii'd parliament — Petition of rights — Prorogation of parha- 
 meht — Murder of Buckingham — Second session of the third parliament — 
 Fresh causes of public discontent — The king's displeasure — dissolution 
 of the third parliament. 
 
 On the 27tli of March, 1625, Charles the First ascended the 
 throne, and immediately afterwards (2nd April) convoked a 
 parliament. Scarcely was the house of commons assembled, 
 (18th June,) Tvhen a worthy man, who had been reckoned 
 in the last reign among the opponents of the court. Sir Ben- 
 jamin Eudyard, rose (22nd June) and moved that henceforth 
 nothing should be neglected to maintain a perfect harmony 
 between the king and the people : " For," said he, " what 
 may we expect from him, being king ; his good natural dis- 
 position, his freedom from vice, his travels abroad, his being' 
 bred in parliament, promise greatly."^ 
 
 All England, indeed, gave way to joy and hope. And it 
 tvas not merely those vague hopes, those tumultuous rejoic- 
 ings, which a new reign, as a inatter of course, gives i-Jse to; 
 
 ' Pai'l. Hist. vol. ii. col. 3. 
 B 
 
Z HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 tliey were serious, general, and seemingly well founded. 
 Charles was a prince of grave and pure conduct, of acknow- 
 ledged piety, diligent, learned, frugal, little inclined to prodir 
 gality, reserved without moroseness, dignified without arro- 
 gance. He maintained decorum and order in his household; 
 everything about him announced a noble, upright character, 
 the friend of justice ; his manners and deportment awed his 
 courtiers, and pleased the people; his virtues had gained him 
 the esteem of all good men. Weary of the mean ways, the 
 talkative and familiar pedantry, the inert and pusillanimous 
 policy of James, England promised herself happiness and 
 liberty under a king whom she could respect. 
 
 Charles and the English nation did not know to what a 
 degree they were already antagonistic one to the other, nor 
 the causes which, long since at work, and growing each day 
 more powerful, would soon prevent the possibility of their 
 understanding and agreeing with each other. 
 
 Two revolutions, the one visible and even glaring, the other 
 internal, unperceived, but not the less certain, were being ac- 
 complished at this epoch; the first, in the kingly power of 
 Europe; the second, in the social state and manners of the 
 English people. 
 
 It was just at this time, that, on the continent, royalty, freed 
 from its ancient trammels, was becoming everywhere well 
 pigh absolute. ' In France, in Spain, in most of the states of 
 the German empire, it had quelled the feudal aristocracy, and 
 was ceasing to protect the liberty of the commons, having no 
 longer need of them to oppose to other enemies. The higher 
 mobility, as if it had lost even the feeling of its defeat, crowded 
 around the throne, almost proud of the brilliant display of its 
 conquerors. The burghers, dispersed, and of a timid- nature, 
 rejoicing in the order now beginning to prevail, productive of 
 a happiness till then unknown to them, laboured to enrich and 
 enlighten themselves, without aspiring as yet to any place in 
 the government of the state. Everywhere, the pomp of courts, 
 the dispatch of administrative business, the extent and reo-u- 
 larity of wars, proclaimed the pi-eponderance of royal powei-. 
 The maxims of divine right and passive obedience prevailed, 
 . feebly contested even where not recognised. In a word the 
 progress of civilization, of letters, and arts, of internal peace 
 
ENPLISH REVOLUTION. S 
 
 and prosperity, embellishing this triumph of pure monarchy, 
 inspired princes with a presumptuous confidence, and people 
 with admiring compliance. 
 
 Royalty in England had not remained an exception to this 
 European movement. From the accession of the house of 
 Tudor, in 1485, it had ceased to have as adversaries those 
 proud barons, who, too weak to struggle individually against 
 their king, had formerly, by coalescing together, been able 
 now to maintain their own rights, at other times to associate 
 themselves, by main force, in the exercise of royal powfer. 
 Broken up, impoverished, reduced by its own excesses, above 
 all by the wars of the two Roses, this aristocracy, so long 
 unmanageable, yielded, almost without resistance, first to the 
 haughty tyranny of Henry VIII., and afterwards to the skilful 
 policy of Elizabeth. Becoine the head of the church, and the 
 possessor of immense estates, Henry, by distributing these 
 with lavish hand among families whose greatness he himself 
 thus created, or whose fallen fortunes he thus restored, began 
 the metamorphosis of barons into courtiers. Under Elizabeth 
 this metamorphosis was completed. A woman and a queen, a 
 brilliant court at once gratified her taste and her sense of 
 power, and augmented that power; the nobility thronged 
 thither with delight, and without too much exciting public 
 discontent. It was a rare temptation thus ta- devote them- 
 selves to a popular sovereign, and to seek by intrigues, and 
 amid constant festivities, the favour of a queen who enjoyed 
 that of the country. 
 
 The maxims, the forms, and the language, often even the 
 practices of pure monarchy, were forgiven in a government 
 useful and glorious to the natiojti; the affection of the people 
 kept full pace with the servility of the courtiers; and towards 
 a woman, all whose perils were public perils, unbounded de- 
 votion seemed a law to the gentleman, a duty to the protestant 
 and citizen. 
 
 The Stuarts could not fail to advance in the path which, 
 since the accession of the Tudors, English royalty had entered 
 •upon. A Scotchman, and of the blood of Guise, James I., by 
 his family reminiscences and the habits of his country, was 
 attached to France, and accustomed to seek his allies and his 
 models on the continent, where, ordinarily, an English prince 
 
 b2 
 
■4 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 only saw enemies: accordingly, he soon showed himself stiB 
 inore profoundly imbued than Elizabeth and even than Henry 
 Vm. himself, with the maxims which, at that time, were iri 
 Etirope the basis of pure monarchy ; he professed them with the 
 pride of a theologian and the complacency of a king, protesting 
 on every occasion, by the pomp of his declarations, against the 
 timidity of his acts and the hmits of his power. Compelled, 
 sometimes, to defend, by more direct and simpler 'arguments, the 
 measures of his government, arbitrary imprisonments or illegal 
 taxes, James at such times alleged the example Of the king of 
 France or of'Spain. " The king of England," said his ministers 
 to the house of commons, "must not be worse off than his 
 equals." And such, even in England, was the influence of the 
 revolution lately accomplished in continental monarchy, that 
 the adversaries of the court were embarrassed by this language, 
 almost convinced themselve? that the inherent dignity of princes 
 required that all should enjoy the same rights, and at a loss 
 liow to reconcile this necessary equality among kings with the 
 liberties of their country.' 
 
 Nurttired from his infancy in these pretensions and these 
 maxims, prince Charles, upon arriving at manhood, was still 
 nearer exposed to their contagion. The infanta of Spain was 
 promised to him: the duke of Buckingham suggested to him 
 the idea of going secretly to Madrid to sue in person for her 
 heart and hand. So romantic a design pleased the young 
 man's imagination. The next thing was to obtain the king's 
 consent. James refused, flew into a passion^ wept, and at 
 last yielded to his favourite rather than to his son.^ Charles 
 was received at Madrid with great honours, (March, 1623,) 
 and there saw, in all its splendour, monarchy majestic, su- 
 preme, receiving, from its immediate servants a devotion, 
 and from the people a respect, almost religious; rarely con- 
 tradicted, and even then always sure of ultimately getting 
 the better of all opposition, by its mere will. The match with 
 •the infanta was broken off; so Charles married, instead of her, 
 Henrietta-Maria, princess of France;' for his father had made 
 up his mind, that beyond those two courts there Was no alli« 
 
 ' Journals of the Commons, 1614. 
 2 Clarendon's History of the Rebellion,' (1798,) i. 18. 
 ' The mnrriage negotiated in 1624 was not definitively concluded Uil 
 May, 16!25 ; it tooli place in England the next month. 
 
EKGLISn REVOLUTION. 5 
 
 ance suitable to the dignity of his throne. The influence of 
 this union on the English prince was precisely the same which 
 lie had felt in Spain; and the monarchy of Paris or Madrid 
 became in his eyes the very image of the natural and iegiti- 
 mate condition of a king. 
 
 Thus English monarchy, at least in the monarch, his 
 cpunseUors, and his court, followed the same direction as the 
 monarchies of the continent. Here, also, ever3-thing mani- 
 fested the symptoms and effects of the revolution already 
 accomplished elsewhere, and which, in its most moderate 
 pretensions, only allowed the liberties of subjects to exist as 
 subordinate rights, as concessions by the sovereign's genC" 
 rosity. 
 
 But while on the continent this revolution found the 
 people as yet incapable of resisting it, perhaps even disposed 
 to receive it, in England a counter-revolution, secretly at 
 work in society, had already mined away the ground under 
 the feet of pure monarchy, and prepared its ruin amid its 
 fancied pyogress. 
 
 When, on the accession of the Tudors, the high aijstocracy 
 bowed and humbled itself before the throne, the English 
 commons were not in a position to take its place in the 
 struggle of liberty against power; they would not even have 
 dared to aspire to the honour of the contest. In the fouP'r 
 teenth century, at the time of their most rapid progress, their 
 ambition was limited to the obtaining a I'ecognition of their 
 most simple and primitive rights, to the achieving a few 
 incomplete and precarious guarantees. Never had theii^ 
 fancy soared so high as to 'give them the notion .that they 
 had any right, that they were called upon to take a share in 
 the sovereignty, to participate in a permanent and positive 
 nianner in the government of the country; the barons alone, 
 they thought, were fitted for so high a purpose, 
 
 Li the sixteenth century, harassed and ruined, like the 
 barons, by the civil wars, tlie commons needed above all 
 things order and repose; this royalty gave them, imperfectly 
 indeed, but still more secure and better regulated than they 
 had ever known it before. They accepted the benefit with 
 earnest gratitude.' Separated from their ancient leaders, 
 standing well nigh alone in presence of the throne and of 
 those barons who once were their allies, their language wa^ 
 
6 ■ klSTORY OF THE 
 
 humWe, their conduct timid, and the king miglit well have 
 believed that thenceforward the people would be as docile as 
 the great nobles. 
 
 But the people was not in England, as on the continent, an 
 ill-combined coalition of citizens and peasants, whose eman- 
 cipation from their ancient servitude had proceeded by very- 
 slow degrees, and who were not yet quite free from the yoke. 
 The English house of commons had, as early as the four- 
 teenth century, received within its walls the most numerous 
 class of the English aristocracy, all the proprietors of small 
 fiefs, who had not sufficient influence or wealth to share with 
 the barons the sovereign power, but were proud of the same 
 origin, and had long possessed the same rights. Become the 
 leaders of the nation, these men had more than once commu- 
 nicated to it a strength, and, above all, a boldness, of which the 
 commonalty alone would have been incapable. "Weakened 
 and depressed, in common with the lower orders, by the long 
 miseries of civil discord, they soon, in the bosom of peace, 
 resumed their importance and their pride. While the higher 
 nobility, flocking to court to repair their losses, were invested 
 with factitious greatness, as corrupting as precarious, and 
 which, without giving them back their foimer fortunes, sepa- 
 rated them more and more from the people; the gentry, the 
 freeholders, the citizens, solely occupied in improving their 
 lahds or their commercial capital, were increasing in riches 
 and credit, were becoming daily more closely united, were 
 drawing the entire people under their influencej and, with- 
 out show, without political design, almost unconsciously to 
 themselves, were taking possession of all the social strength, 
 the true source of power. 
 
 In the towns, commei-ce and industry were rapidly de- 
 veloping themselves : the city of London had already 
 acquired immense wealth; the king, the court, nearly aU the 
 great nobles of the kingdom, became its debtors, as neces- 
 sitous as insolent. The mercantile marine, that nursery of 
 the royal navy, was numerous, and active iu every quarterj 
 and the sailors seemed imbued with all the earnestness of 
 their employers. 
 
 In the country, things followed the same course. Property 
 Was more and more divided out. The feudal laws opposed 
 obstacles to the sale and subdivision of fiefs : a statute of 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 7 
 
 Heni-y VIL to a great extent removed these obstacles indi- 
 rcKtlj; the high nobility received this as a favour, and 
 hastened to profit by it. They, in like manner, alienated most 
 of the vast domains that Henry VIII. had distributed among 
 them.' The king favoured these sales in order to augment 
 the number of possessors of ecclesiastical property, and the 
 courtiers were fain to have recourse to them, for all the 
 abuses within their reach did not suffice for their necessities. 
 By and by, Elizabeth, to avoid asking for subsidies, always 
 burdensome even to the power that obtains them, sold a 
 large extent of the crown lands. Nearly all, these were 
 bought by gentlemen who lived on their estates, by free- 
 holders who cultivated theirs, or by citizens retiring from 
 trade, for they alone had acquired by their industry or 
 > economy the means of paying for that which the prince and 
 the courtiers could not keep. Agriculture was prospering, tlie 
 counties and towns were becoming filled with a rich, active, 
 and independent population; and the movement that put into 
 their hands a lai-ge proportion of the public wealth was so 
 rapid, that, in 1628, at the opening of parliament, the house 
 of commons was three times as rich as the house of lords.^ 
 
 As this revolution was accomplishing itseU^ the commons 
 again began to grow uneasy under tyranny. With greater 
 property, greater securities became necessary. Eights exer- 
 cised by the prince for a long time without dispute, and 
 still without obstacle, came well nigh to be deemed abuses 
 when a much greater number of persons felt their weight. 
 It was asked, had the king of England alw^ays possessed 
 them? — whether he ought ever to have possessed them? By 
 degrees, the remembrance of their ancient liberties, of the 
 efforts that had achieved the great charter, and of the maxims 
 it consecrated, returned to the minds of the' people. The 
 court spoke with contempt of those old times, as rude and 
 barbarous; the people recalled them with respect and affec- 
 tion, as free and bold. The glorious liberties they had 
 
 ' Clarendon, v. 6. 
 
 2 Hume, (Hisfoiy of Euglaud, Oxford, 1826, tI. 209,) cites inooufii-ma- 
 tion of tliis assertion, Sanderson and Walker, historians of little authority, 
 liave not been able to discover, in coiemporai'y writers whose testimony 
 deserves more confidence, so precise a valuation of the compai'ative wealth 
 pf the two houses ; bnt everything attests that the house of commons was 
 much richer than the house of lords. 
 
8 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 asserted were no longer of service, and yet all trace of them 
 was not lost. Parliament had not ceased to meet; kings, 
 finding it docile, had often even employed it as an instruT 
 ment of their power. Under Henry VIII., Mary, arid Eliza-r 
 beth, juries had showed themselves complaisant, servile even, 
 hut still the institution existed. The towns had preserved 
 their charters, the corporations their franchises. In short, 
 though long strangers to resistance, the commons still poS' 
 sessed the means of resistance; institutions tending to liberty 
 were not half so much wanting as the power and will to make 
 use of them. The power, however, returned to them with 
 'the revolution, which communicated such rapid progress to 
 their material greatness. That the will might not be far 
 behindhand, all that was needed was another revolution, 
 which should inspire a mora,l greatness, embolden their am- 
 bition, elevate their thoughts, niake resistance a duty, and 
 dominion a necessity. The Reformation had this effect, ' 
 
 Proclaimed in England by a despot, the. Eeformation 
 began there in tyranny; scarcely born, she persecuted her 
 partisans and her enemies alike, Henry VIII. with one 
 hand raised scaffolds for the catholics, with the other piled 
 Tip faggots for the protestants who refused to subscribe to 
 the creed, and approve the government which the new 
 church received'from him, 
 
 There were, then, from the outset two reformations — that 
 of the king and that of the people ; the first unsettled and 
 servile, more attached to temporal interests than to belief^ 
 alarmed at the movement which had given it birth, and seek- 
 ing to borrow from Catholicism all that in sepai'ating from 
 Catholicism it could retain; the other, spontaneous, ardent, 
 despising worldly considerations, accepting aU the conse- 
 quences of its principles — in a word, a true moral revolution^ 
 undertaken in the name and with the ardour of faith. 
 
 United for some time — under queen Mary by common 
 suffering, and at the accession of Elizabeth by common joy — 
 the two reformations could not long fail to separate, and turn 
 against each other. And such was their situation, that poli- 
 tics became necessarily mixed up in their debates. In sepa- 
 rating herself from the independent head of the Catholic 
 church, the Anglican church had lost all its own strength, 
 •iad no longer held her rights or her power but as of the 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION, 9 
 
 power and rights of the sovereigns of the state. She was 
 ilins bound to the cause of civil despotism, and constrained 
 to profess its maxims in order to legitimfite her own origin, 
 to serve its interests in order to preserve her own. On their 
 part, the nonconformists, in attacking their religious adver- 
 saries, found themselves also compelled to attack the tem- 
 poral sovereign, and in accomplishing the reformation of the 
 church, to assert the liberties of the people. The king had 
 succeeded to the pope; the Anglican clergy, successors of 
 the Catholic clergy, no longer acted but in the name of 
 the king : throughout, in a dogma, a ceremony, a prayer, 
 the erection of an altar, the fashion of a surplice, the royal 
 will was compromised in common with that of the bishops, 
 the government in common with the discipline and faith. 
 
 In this perilous necessity of a double struggle against the 
 prince and the church, of a simultaneous reformation in re-, 
 ligion and state, the nonconformists at first hesitated, , Popery, 
 and everything that resembled it, was odious and unlawful in 
 their sight ; but not so, as yet, royal authority, even though, 
 despotic. Henry VIII. had begun the reformation, Eliza 
 beth saved it. The boldest puritans hesitated to measure 
 the rights, to prescribe limits to a power to which they owed 
 so much ; and if at intervals individuals made a step towards 
 this holy object, the astonished nation thanked them silently, 
 but did not follow them. 
 
 Bdt something must be done ; reform must either retrograde, 
 or lay its hand too upon government, which alone obstructed 
 its progress. By degrees, men's minds grew more daring; 
 the force of conscience gave boldness to ideas and designs: 
 religious creeds required political rights; people began to in- 
 quire why they did not enjoy them? who had usurped them? 
 by what right? what was the way to regain them? The ob-» 
 scure citizen, who, lately, at the mere name of Elizabeth, 
 would have bent low in fearful respect, and who, probably, 
 would never have turned towards the throne a bolder look if 
 in the tyranny of the bishops he had not recognised that of 
 the queen, now sternly interrogated both the one and the 
 other as to their pretensions, when constrained to do so in 
 defence of his faith. It was more particularly among the 
 private gentry, the freeholders, burghers, and the commonalty, 
 that this feeling of inquii-y and resistance in the matter 
 
10 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 of government, as well as in matter of faith, diffused itself, 
 for it was among them.tliat religious reform was fermenting 
 and making its way. Less interested about religious creeds, 
 the court and a part of the lower nobility were content with 
 the innovations of Henry VIII. and his successors, and sup- 
 ported the Anglican church from conviction, indifference, 
 self-interest, or loyalty. Less connected* with the interests, 
 and at the same time more exposed to the violence of power* 
 the English commons thenceforward entirely changed, with 
 reference to royalty, their attitude and their ideas. Day by 
 day, their timidity lessened, and their ambition grew. The 
 views of the citizen and the freeholder, even of the peasant, 
 were raised above his condition. He was a Christian; in his 
 own house, among his friends, he boldly examined the mys- 
 teries of divine power; what terrestrial power then was so 
 exalted that he must abstain from considering it? In his Bible 
 he read the laws of G-od; to obey them, he was forced to re- 
 sist other laws; he must needs then ascertain where the latter 
 should atop short. He who seeks to know the limits of a 
 master's rights will soon seek also their origin: the nature of 
 royal power, of aU powers, their ancient limits, their recent 
 usurpations, the conditions and the sources of their legitimacy, 
 became ' throughout England the subject of examination and 
 conversation: examination, at first timid, and undertaken 
 rather from necessity than choice; conversation, for a long 
 time secret, a,nd which, even when held, the people were 
 afraid to carry to any length, but which gave greater free- 
 dom, and a boldness hitherto unknown to mind. Ehzabeth, 
 however popular sjnd respected, felt the effects of this growing 
 disposition,' and rigorously resisted it, but so as not to en- 
 counter actual peril. Matters grew much worse under James. 
 "Weak and despised, he wished to be thought a despot; the 
 dogmatic display of his ilnpotent pretensions only provoked 
 fresh daring, which again he irritated without repressing. 
 The popular thought soared high and free — it had no longer 
 any check; the monarch was an object of ridicule, his fa- 
 vourites, of indignation. On the throne, at court, haughty 
 jiride was without power, even without effect; the base cor- 
 ruption to which it resorted, inspired thinking men vrith 
 
 ' See Ajpeudix, No. 1. 
 
ENGLISH HEVOLUTION. XJ 
 
 profound disgust, and brought the highest rank within tho- 
 reach of degrading insults on the part of the populace. It 
 was no longer the privilege of lofty minds to look nobility 
 in the face, and measure it coolly: the commonest citizens 
 equally asserted this right. The opposition soon appeared 
 as haughty and more confident than power; and it was net 
 the opposition of the great barons, of the house of lords, 
 it was that of the house of commons, resolved to take in the 
 state a place, to assume over the government an influence, 
 which it had never attained. Their indifference tc the 
 pompous menaces of the prince, their haughty, though re- 
 spectful language, manifested that everything was changed; 
 that they thought proudly, and were determined to act au* 
 thoritatively; and the secret impression of this moral revolu- 
 tion was already so diffused, that, in 1621, when awaiting a 
 committee of the commons, which came to present him with 
 a severe remonstrance, James said, with an irony less painful 
 to himself than it would have been could he have foreseen 
 coming events: "Place twelve arm-chairs, I am going to re- 
 ceive twelve kings."' 
 
 And, in fact, it was almost a senate of kings that an abso- 
 lute monarch called around his tlirone, when Charles I. con- 
 voked the parliament. Neither the prince nor the people, 
 more especially the latter, had as yet clearly ascertained the 
 principle, or measured the compass of their pretensions; they 
 approached each other, with the design and sincere hope of" 
 union, but at bottom disunion was already complete, for both 
 the one and the other thought as sovereigns. 
 
 As soon as the session was Opened, the commons began to 
 look closely into every department of government; external 
 and domestic affairs, negotiations, alliances, the application of 
 past subsidies and of future subsidies, the state of religion, 
 ti^ repression of popery; nothing appeared to them beyond 
 their cognizance. They Complained of the Eoyal Navy, as 
 affording inadequate protection to English commerce (Aug. 1 1, 
 1625,) of Dr. Montague, the king's chaplain, for defending 
 the Romish church and preaching up passive obedience, (7th 
 July.) They expected from the king alone the redress of aU 
 their grievances, but meantime evinced their determination to- 
 
 • Enpin's Hist, of England, viii. 183 ; Kennet's Hist, of England, iii. 743. 
 
12 HISTOEy OF THE 
 
 interfere in every case by inquiries, petitions, and the expres- 
 sion of their opinion. 
 
 They but slightly reproached the government of Charles; 
 it was only just commencing. Yet so extended and ener- 
 getic an examination of public aiFairs appeared to him already 
 an encroachment; the freedom of speech offended him. One 
 of the court party, Mr. JEdward Clarke, essayed a complaint 
 on this head in the house: " unbecoming and bitter words,'' 
 he said, " had been made use of." A general cry summoned 
 him to appear at the bar, and explain: he persisted; and the 
 house was on the point of expelling him, (Aug. 6.) 
 
 Their speech, indeed, was sufficiently bold, though in 
 humble terms. "We do not desire, as 5 Henry IV. or 29 
 Henry VI., the removing from about the king any evil coun- 
 sellors. We do not request a choice by name, as 14 Ed- 
 ward II., 3, 5, 11, Eichard II., 8 Henry IV., or 31 Hemy 
 VI. ; nor to swear them in parliament, as 35 Edward I., 9 
 Edward II., or 5 Eichard II. ; or to line them out their direc- 
 tions of rule, as 43 Henry III., and 8 Henry VI.; or desire 
 that which Henry III. did promise in his 42nd year: ' Se 
 acta omnia per assensum magnatum de concilio suo electorum, 
 et sine eorum assensu nihil.' We only in loyal duty offer up 
 our humble desires, that since his majesty hath, with advised 
 judgment, elected so wise, religious, and worthy servants, to 
 attend him in that high employment, he will be pleased to ad- 
 vise with them together, a way of remedy for these disasters 
 in state, brought on by long security and happy peace; and 
 not be led with young and simple council," Thus spoke 
 {6 Aug.) sir Eobert Cotton, a learned, eloquent, and moderate 
 man; and the commons, while protesting with him that they 
 had no intention of imitating the boldness of the old parlia- 
 ments, congratulated themselves upon hearing it recalled to 
 mind. 
 
 The king grew angry, but did not openly complain. Such 
 language, though disagreeable, did not appeal to him as yet 
 dangerous. Besides, he wanted subsidies. The last parUa- 
 ment had ardently demanded war with Spain; the new one 
 ■could not refuse to support it. Charles insisted that without 
 •delay the means of prosecuting it should be furnished him, 
 promising to redress just grievances. 
 
 But the house no longer trusted to promises, not even to 
 
ENGLISH RRVOI.UTrON. 13 
 
 those of a king who had not yet broken any, and whom they 
 esteemed. Princes inherit the faujts as well as the thrones 
 of their predecessors. Charles thought' the people should 
 fear nothing from him, as he had done no ill; the people, that 
 all the sources of past ills should be extirpated, that nothing 
 might be feared for the future. The commons only gave, at 
 first) a small subsidy, and the customs duties were only voted 
 for a year. This last resolution seemed an insult, and the 
 lords refused to sanction it. Why should the commons, de- 
 manded the court people, place less confidence in the present 
 king than in his predecessors? They all had tho customs 
 duties voted for the continuance of their i-eign, Yet his 
 majesty had fully exhibited, with a rare sincerity, the state 
 of the financeSj refusing no document, no voucher, no expla- 
 ■ nation, that was required. The urgency of the public necessi- 
 ties was evident; there was little wisdom, thought the lords, 
 in angering so soon, without motive, a young prince who 
 showed himself so inclined to live on good terms with the 
 parliament. 
 
 The commons did not say they would not grant larger 
 Subsidies; but they proceeded with the examination of 
 grievances; resolved, though they did not announce the in- 
 tention, to obtain, first and foremost of all things, their redress. 
 The king was indignant that they should thus dare to pre- 
 scribe to him, and suppose that he would yield to force, or 
 permit himself to be set aside. It was a usurpation of that 
 sovereignty which belonged to him alone, and which in no 
 case he would suffer to be brought in question. Parliament 
 was dissolved, (Aug. 12.) 
 
 Thus, notwithstanding their mutual good will, the prince 
 and the people had only met to disagree ; they separated 
 without either the one or the other side feeling itself weak 
 or believing itself in the wrong, equally certain of the legiti- 
 macy of its pretensions, equally resolved to persevere in 
 them. The commons protested that they were devoted to the 
 king, but would not yield up to him their liberties. The king 
 said he respected the liberties of his subjects, but that he 
 would take care to govern by himself, without their inter- 
 ference. And he immediately set about it. Orders from the 
 council to the lord lieutenants of the counties enjoined them 
 to raise by way of loan the money the king wanted. They 
 
14 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ■were to apply for this to the rich citizens in their districts, 
 and to send to the court the names of those who should refuse 
 to lend, or even be tardy in their loans. They calculated at 
 once upon affection and upon fear. At the same time, the 
 fleet sailed on an expedition against Cadiz, the- bay of wlijch 
 was crowded with richly-freighted vessels. In order, mean- 
 while, to gratify the people, the clergy were directed to proceed 
 against the Catholics, who were forbidden to go further than 
 five miles from their place of abode, without previous permis- 
 sion, were ordered to recall from the continent the children 
 whom they had sent there to be educated, and were disarmed. 
 The commons demanded their own liberties; they were given, 
 instead, a little tyranny over their enemies. 
 
 This contemptible expedient did not content them; besides, 
 the persecution, even of the Catholics, was equivocal, and mat- 
 ter of suspicion; the king sold them dispensations, or gi-anted 
 them pardons, under his own hand. The loan brought but 
 little money to the treasury; the expedition against Cadiz 
 failed; the public attributed the failure to the unskilfulness 
 of the admiral and the drunkenness of the troops; the govern- 
 ment was accused of neither knowing how to choose its gene- 
 rals, nor how to regulate the conduct of its soldiers. Six 
 months had scarcely passed, when a sec6nd parliament was 
 thought necessary, (Feb.'G, 1626.) Rancour had not yet 
 taken deep root'in the soul of the young king; and his des- 
 potism was at once self-confident and timid. He thought 
 the commons would be delighted to return so soon; perhaps 
 he even hoped that the firmness he had shown would ren- 
 der them more docile. He had, moreover, taken measures 
 to keep from parliament the most popular orators. The earl 
 of Bristol, a personal enemy of the duke of Buckingham, 
 received no summons to attend. Sir Edward Coke, sir Eobert 
 Philips, sir Thomas Wentworth, sir Francis Seymour,^ and 
 others, being named sheriffs of their counties, could not be 
 elected for them. It was not doubted but in their absence 
 the commons would be submissive; for the people love the 
 king, it was said; 'tis only a few factious men that lead them 
 astray. 
 
 ' Seven in all ; the tliree others, of less note, -were Sii- Grey Palmer, Sir 
 ■William Fleetwood, and Mr, Edwai-d Alford. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 15 
 
 But the commons, too, had their notion, that the king was 
 being le(J astray, and that to restore him to his people, it was 
 only necessary to remove him from the favourite. The first 
 parliament had limited itself to exacting from the throne, by 
 delaying the subsidies, the redress of public grievances. The 
 present resolved to assail, at the very foot of the throne, the 
 author of their grievances. The duke of Buckingham was 
 impeached, (Feb. 21.) 
 
 The duke^was one of those men who seem born to shine in 
 courts, and to displease nations. Handsome, presumptuous, 
 magnificent, frivolous, but daring, sincere and warm in his 
 attachments, open and haughty in his hatreds, alike incapable 
 of virtue or hypocrisy, he governed without political design, 
 troubling himself neither about the interests of the country, 
 nor even those of power, wholly occupied with his own great- 
 ness, and with exhibiting, in dazzling display, his co-royalty. 
 On one occasion he had endeavoured to render himself popular, 
 and had succeeded: the rupture of the intended marriage of 
 Oiarles with the infanta was his work. But public favour 
 was, with him, only a means of obtaining ascendancy over 
 the king, so that when public favour quitted him, he scarcely 
 observed its loss, so full of proud joy was he at I'etaining over 
 Charles the influence he had insolently exercised over James I. 
 He had no talent whereby to support his ambition; frivolous 
 passions were the sole aim of his intrigues; to seduce a woman, 
 to ruin a rival, he compromised, with arrogant carelessness, 
 now the king, now the country. The empire of such a man 
 seemed to a people becoming, day by day, more grave and 
 serious, an insult as well as a calamity; and the duke continued 
 to usurp the highest oflSces of the state,i without appearing, 
 even in the eyes of the populace, anything better than an 
 upstart without glory — a daring and incapable favourite. 
 
 The attack of the commons was violent: it was diflB.cult to 
 
 1 He was duke, marqnis, and earl of Buckingham, earl of CoTentry, 
 viscount Villiers, liai-on of Whaddon, lord high admiral of England and 
 Ireland, goTernor-general of tlie seas and navy, master of the horse, lieu- 
 tenant-general-admiral, commander-in-chief, warden of the cinque ports, 
 governor of Dovor castle, keeper of the royal forests south of Trent, lord 
 high keeper, high steward of Westminster, constable of Windsor castle, 
 gentleman of the bedchamber, knight of the garter, privy councillor, &c. 
 The royal domains he had managed to have given Mm were valued at 
 S84:,395;., &c.— Brodie, Hist, of the British Empire, &c. ii. 122. 
 
16 HISTORY OF THE ' 
 
 prove agaiilst Buckingham any legal cnme;,the house re- 
 solved (Apr. 22,) that' public report alone was sufficient 
 ground On which to proceed; and it collected together aU. the 
 leading chai-ges adduced by general rumour.' The duke 
 repelled them — most of them, at all events — satisfactorily, 
 but Vpithout any advantage to himself. It was misgovernment 
 that the commons wished to reform. Innocent of theft, mur- 
 der, or treason, Buckingham was not less pernicious. The 
 boldness of the commons gave courage to court enmities. 
 The earl of Bristol, in March, 1626, complained of not having 
 been summoned to parliament.^ Buckingham, who feared, 
 wished to keep him at a distance. The lords acknowledged 
 the earl's right, and Charles sent him a summons, but accom- 
 panied it with an order to remain on his estates. The earl 
 appealed a second time to the house of lords, beseeching them 
 to examine whether the liberties of all the peers of the realm 
 did not require that he should come and take his seat. The 
 king immediately impeached him of high treason, (May 1.)^ 
 ■In self-defence, Bristol, in his turn, impeached Buck- 
 ingham;'' and Charles saw his favourite pursued at once by 
 the representatives of the people and by an old courtier, 
 i It was a step at once endangering his power, and deeply 
 offensive to his pride. They had not been able to convict 
 Buckingham of any crime: this blow, then, was aimed at his 
 minister and his friend. He said to the commons: " I must 
 let you know, that I will not allow any of my servants to be 
 questioned amongst you, much less such as are of eminent 
 place and near unto me. The old question was,' ' What shall 
 be done to the man whom the king will honour?' But now 
 it hath been the labour of some to seek what may be done 
 against liim whom the king thinks fit to honour. I see you 
 specially aim at the duke of Buckingham; I wonder what 
 Jiath so altered your affections towards him. I do well re- 
 member, that in the last parliament, in my father's time, when 
 lie was the instrument to break the treaties, all of you (and 
 yet I cannot say all, for I know some of you are changed, but 
 yet the house of commons is always the same) did so much 
 honour and respect him, that aU the honour conferred on him 
 
 1 Pni-I. Hist. ii. 32. ' lb. 72 3 lb. 79 ♦ lb. 86 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. If 
 
 was too little; and what he hath done since to alter and change 
 jour minds, I wot not; but can assure you he hath not med- 
 dled, or done anything concerning the public or commonwealth, 
 but by special directions and appointment, and as my servant; 
 and is so far from gaining or improving his estate thereby, 
 that I verily think he hath rather impaired the same. I 
 wish you would hasten my supply, or else it will be worse for 
 yourselves; for if any ill happen, I think I shall be the last 
 that shall feel it."' , At the same time, he forbade the judges 
 to answer the questions which the upper house had submitted 
 ' to them upon a point in the earl of Bristol's" ease, fearing 
 their answer would be in that nobleman's favour. 
 
 The judges were silent; but the commons did not desist. 
 Eight of its members were appointed to support, in a confer- 
 ence with the upper house, the impeaclnnent of Buckingham 
 (May 3).' As soon as the conference was over, the king causeii 
 two of the commissioners, sir Dudley Digges and sir John Eliot, 
 to be sent to the Tower for insolence of speech,'' (May 11.) 
 The incensed commons declared they would do nothing till 
 these gentlemen were set at liberty.^ In vain the friends of 
 the court sought to frighten them as to the fate of parliament 
 .itself,'' (May 13;) their threats only appeared an insult, and 
 ' they were fain to offer to the house an apology for having in- 
 sinuated that the king might very likely be tempted to govern 
 alone, like the princes on the continent. The two prisoners 
 speedily quitted the Tower. 
 
 On its part, the lords demanded also that lord Arundel, 
 ■whom the king had caused to be arrested during the sitting 
 of parliament, should be set at liberty, and Charles here, in 
 like manner, gave way,' (June 8.) 
 
 Wearied of seeing himself defeated by adversaries whom lie 
 had himself called together and could disperse, after trying the 
 effect of various overturesof civility which were always received 
 with great delight, but which, meaning nothing, prevented 
 nothing, hearing that the commons were preparing a general 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. ii. 49. ' Ibid. 100. 
 
 ' J/)iirnal3, Commons. They were, sir Dudley Digges, Mr. Herliert, Mr. 
 Seldeh, Mr. Glamille, Mr. Pym, Mr. Whitby, Mr. Wandes&rd, and sir 
 John Eliot. 
 
 •i P. Hist. ii. 103. » lb. 119. = lb. 120. ' lb. 132. 
 
 C 
 
IS HIST03T '01' THE 
 
 Temonstraaee, Charles resolved to relieve himself from a position 
 that hmniliated him in the eyes of Europe and in his own. A 
 rumour went abroad that parliament was about to be dis- 
 solved. The upper house, which began to seek popular 
 favour, hastened to address a petition to the king to dissmade 
 him from this design; and all the peers aceompanied the com- 
 mittee charged with its presentation. " No, not -a minute!" 
 exclaimed Charles. The dissolution was immediately de- 
 clared, (June 15,)' and a royal proclamation explained the 
 reasons for it. The projected remonstrance of the common* 
 was publicly burnt, and whoever possessed a copy of it, was- 
 ordered to burn it also.^ Lord Axundel was placed under 
 arrest in his own house, Bristol in the Tower ;^ the duke of 
 Buckingham thought himself saved, and Chsjrles felt himself 
 a king. 
 
 His jcy was as short as his foresight, absolute power has 
 also its necessities. Engaged in a ruinous war against Spain 
 and Austria, Charles had not at his disposal an army which 
 rhe could employ in conquering at the same time his enemies 
 and his subjects. Few and badly disciplined, his troops were 
 exceedingly expensive; puritanism reigned in the navy; he 
 dared not trust the militia, far more under the influence of 
 the citizens and country gentlemen than of the Idng. He had 
 removed adversaries, but not embarrassments and obstacles; 
 and the insane pride of Buckingham now created new trou- 
 bles. To avenge himself on the cardinal de Richelieu, who 
 had prevented him from returning to Paris, to follow up his 
 daring success with Anne of Austria, he induced his master 
 to enter into a war with France. The interests of protest- 
 antism served as a pretext; it was essential to save RocheUe, 
 then under siege, or the French protestants would be lost. It 
 was hoped that, for this cause, the people would passionately 
 arm themselves; or, at least, would suffer themselves to be 
 oppressed without resistance. 
 
 A general loan was ordered, of the same amount as the 
 subsidies which parliament had promised, but not voted. The 
 commissioners were enjoined to interrogate the refractory as 
 to the grounds of their refusal, to learn who had persuaded 
 them, by what arguments, with what design. This was at 
 ©nee an attack upon property and an inquisition into opinion. 
 > P. Hist. ii. 193. » lb. 20T. s lb. 193. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 19 
 
 Several regiments were spread over different counties, and 
 quartered upon the inhabitants. The seaports and maritune 
 districts received orders to furnish vessels armed and equipped, 
 the fir^t attempt at ship-money. Twenty were demanded from 
 the city of London; the corporation replied, that to repel the 
 armada of Philip II., queen Elizabeth had required fewer: 
 the answer to this was, that " the precedents in former times 
 were obedience and not direction."' 
 
 To justify this language, the doctrine of passive obedience 
 was ordered to be everywhere preached up. The archbishop 
 of Canterbury, George Abbot, a popular prelate, refused to 
 license the sale in his diocese of a sermon (by Dr. Sibthorp) 
 in support of absolute power; he was suspended, and rele- 
 gated to Canterbury.^ 
 
 It soon appeared that too much had been presumed on the 
 passions of the people; they did not permit themselves to be 
 persuaded to forget their liberty for the sake of their creed. 
 Besides, they distrusted the sincerity of this new zeal; leave 
 them free, let a parliament be called, they would lend their 
 reformed brethren on the continent much more solid aid. 
 Many citizens refused to contribute to the loan; some, ob- 
 scure and powerless, were pressed into the fleet or army; 
 others were cast into prison, or charged with distant mis- 
 sions which they were not in a position to reject. Discontent, 
 though as yet not breaking out into sedition, did not confine 
 itself to n^urmurs only. Five gentlemen, detained in custody 
 by an order in council, claimed of the court of king's bench, 
 as the inherent right of every Englishman, to be dischai'ged 
 on bail.^ An imperious king and an irritated nation alike 
 pressed the case on to judgment. The king required of 
 the judges to declare, as a principle, that no man airested 
 by his orders should be admitted to bail; the people de- 
 manded to know whether all security was withheld from the 
 defenders of -their liberties? The court of justice rejected the 
 application, (Nov. 28, 1627,) and sent the parties back to 
 
 ' WMtelooke, Memorial of English Afiairs, (Loudon, 1683,) p. 7. 
 
 « lb. p. 8. 
 
 ' Their names were, sir Thomas Darnel, sir John Corbet, sir Vi'alter 
 £iarl, sir John Heveningham, and sir Edward Hampden, (llushworth, Histori- 
 cal Collections, London, 1639; i. 458.) This last must not he mistaken for 
 Ills cousin, John Hampden, afterwards so celehrated. 
 
 c2 
 
20 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 prison; but without laying down the general principle the 
 king desired: already, struck with a double fear, the magis- 
 *rates dared not show themselves either servile or just; and, 
 to obviate as they best might the dilemma, they refused to 
 despotism their consent, to liberty their aid. 
 
 £1 their jealous ardour to maintain all their rights, the 
 people took under their protection even the soldiers who 
 served as the instruments of tyranny. In every direction^ 
 complaints were raised of the excesses of these men; to re- 
 press them, martial law was enforced. The people took it ill 
 that so arbitrary a power should be exercised without the 
 sanction of parliament, and that Englishmen, soldiers or 
 otherwise, whether employed in persecuting or in protecting 
 their fellow-citizens, should be deprived of the security of the 
 law. 
 
 In the midst of this irritation, as yet impotent, but more 
 and more aggressive, news came that the expedition sent to 
 the succour of Rochelle, and which Buckingham commanded 
 in person, had failed, (Oct. 28.) The unskilfiilness of the 
 general had caused this failure; he had neither been able! to 
 take the isle of He, nor to re-embarit without losing the best of 
 his troops, officers and soldiers. It was long since England 
 had paid so dear for so much disgrace.' In country and town, 
 a multitude of families, beloved and respected by the people, 
 were in mourning. The indignation was universal. The 
 labourer left his fields, the apprentice his shop, to see whether 
 liis employer, gentleman or citizen, had not lost a brother, or 
 son; and returned, cursing Buckingham, and accusing the 
 king, to relate to Ms neighbours the disasters he had heard 
 described, the general sorrow he had witnessed. Losses of 
 another kind came to embitter , men's minds; the enemy's 
 navy harassed and interrupted English commerce ; its 
 vessels remained in port; the unemployed sailors talked over 
 the reverses of the royal navy, and the causes of their own. 
 inaction. From day to day, the gentry, . the citizens, the 
 populace, became more closely united in one common resent- 
 ment. 
 
 Buckingham, on his return, notwithstanding his arrogance, 
 
 » Tlie disaster is painted with a groat deal of ensrgj' iu a letter from HoUiii 
 to sir Thomas Wentworth, of the 19th of November, 16^7. GtrafTords Letters 
 and Despatches, (London, 1739,) i. 44. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. gl 
 
 felt the weight of public hatred and the necessity of saving 
 himself from it; besides which, some expedient must be found, 
 to remove these embarrassments, to procure money. In the 
 way of tyrannical force, all that could be done or thought of 
 had been exhausted. Sir Eobert Cotton, as the mildest of 
 the popular party, was called in to council the king. He 
 spoke with wisdom and frankness, insisted on the just griev- 
 ances of the nation, on the necessity of redressing them in 
 order to obtain its siipport, and recalled the words of Lord 
 Burleigh to queen Elizabeth: "Win their hearts, and you 
 may have their hands and purses."' He advised the calling 
 a fresh parliament, and to reconcile the duke of Buckingham 
 with the public, it was agreed, that in the council where this 
 resolution should be officially adopted, its proposition should 
 proceed from him. The king acceded to sir Eobert's 
 suggestion. 
 
 The prisons were thrown open ■? men who had been cast 
 into them for their resistance to tyranny were suddenly re- 
 leased — insulted yesterday, powerful to-day. The public 
 received them with transport; twenty-seven of them were 
 elected. Parliamentmet (March 17,1628.) "Every man, "said 
 the king, at the opening of the session, ".must now do according 
 to his conscience, wherefore, if you (which God forbid) should 
 not do your duties in contributing what the state at this time 
 needs, I must, in discharge of my conscience, use those other 
 means, which God hath put into my hands, to save that 
 which the follies of some particular men may otherwise hazard 
 to lose. Take not this as a threatening, (for I scorn to 
 threaten any but njy equals,) but an admonition from him 
 that, both out of nature and duty, hath most care of your pre' 
 servation and prosperities."' The lord-keeper speaking after 
 the king, added : " This mode (of supply), as his majesty hath 
 told you, he hath chosen, not as the only way, but as the 
 fittest; not as destitute: of others, but as most agreeable to 
 the goodness of his own most gracious disposition, and to the 
 desire and weal of his people. If this be deferred, necessity 
 and the sword of the enemy will make way to the others. 
 Remember his majesty's admonition; I say, remember it."^ 
 
 • Pai-l. Hist. ii. 212. 
 
 ' Seventy-eight prisoners were at that time released. Eushworth, i. 473. 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 218. * lb. 221. 
 
22 HISTOIIV OP THE 
 
 Thus Charles sought by his language to disguise his situ- 
 ation: a haughty solicitor, sinking under the weight of hia 
 faults and failures, he made a threatening display of inde- 
 pendent majesty, absolute^ superior to all faults, all reverses. 
 He was so infatuated with this idea, that it never entered 
 into his conception, that his state was liable to injury; and 
 fuU of genuine pride, he thought it due to his honour, to his 
 rank, to reserve to himself the rights, and not to depart from 
 the language of tyranny, even while appealing for the aid of 
 liberty. 
 
 The commons were not at all disturbed at his threats; 
 thoughts no less proud, no less inflexible than his own, filled 
 their souls. They were resolved solemnly to proclaim their 
 liberties, to compel power to acknowledge them original and 
 independent, no longer to suffer that any right should pass 
 for a concession, any abuse for a right. Neither leaders nor 
 soldiers were wanting for this great design. The whole nation 
 pressed round the parliament. Within its walls, talented and 
 daring men advised together for the national good, Sir Ed- 
 ward Coke, the glory of the bench, no less illustiious for his 
 firmness than for his learning ;i sir Thomas Wentwortk ^ 
 afterwards earl of Strafford, young, ai-dent, eloquent, born tq 
 command, and whose ambition was then satisfied with the ad- 
 miration of his' country; Denzil HoUis,^ the younger son of 
 lord Clare, companion in childhood of Charles, but the sincere 
 friend of liberty, and too proud to serve under a favourite,; 
 Pym, a learned lawyer, especially versed in the knowledge of 
 the rights and customs of parliament,* a cool and daring man, 
 of a character fitted to act as the cautious leader of popular 
 passions ; with many others, destined at a future period, of which 
 none of them had the slightest idea, for such various fortunes, 
 to be the adherents of such utterly opposed parties, yet now 
 anited by common principles and common aspirations. T^i 
 this formidable coalition the court could only oppose the power 
 of habit, the capricious temerity of Buckingham, and the 
 haughty obstinacy of the king. 
 
 The first intercourse of the prince and the parliament was 
 
 ' Born atMileliam, Norfolk, 1049; lie was then 78 years of age. 
 
 ' Bom in London, April 13, 1533 ; lie was then 33 years of age. 
 
 ' Born in 1597, at Hougliton. Nqttiugliamslnre ; he was then 31 years oM. 
 
 * Born in 1584, in Somersetshire ; he was then 44 years old. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 23 
 
 ftiendly.. Notwithstanding his menacing attitude, Charlea 
 felt that he must give way; and, while determined to regain 
 all their rights, the commons had the fujl intention of showing 
 their deTotedness to him. Charles was not offended by their 
 freedom of speech; and the speeches were as loyal as they 
 were free. "I humbly beseech tliis house," said sir B. Rudyard, ' 
 (March 22) " to be curiously wary and careful to avoid all 
 manner of contestation, personal or real. The hearts of kings 
 are great, as are their fortunes; .then are they fitted to yield 
 when they are yielded unto. It is comely and mannerly that 
 princes, in all fair appearance, should have the better of their 
 subjects. Let us give the king a way to come off like him- 
 self; for I do verily believe, that he doth with longing ex- 
 pect the occasion. The way to show we are the wise coun- 
 cillors we should be, is to take a right course to attain the 
 end of our councils, which, in my opinion, may by this means 
 be compassed; by trusting the king, thereby to breed a trust 
 in him towards us." All were not equally animated by 
 these peaceful ideas; there were some sterner minds, which 
 anticipated less fearful evils from a fresh rupture, and better 
 appreciated the incurable nature of absolute power. All, 
 however, showed themselves animated with the same wishes; 
 and the house, taking into consideration, on equal terms, the 
 grievances of the people and the wants of the throne, after a 
 fortnight's session, unanimously voted (April 14) a consider 
 able subsidy, but without passing the vote into a law. 
 
 Charles's joy was extreme; he forthwith assembled the 
 eouncili and informing it of the vote of the house : " I liked 
 parliaments, at first," said he, " yet since, I know not how, I 
 have grown to a distaste of them; but now I am where I was 
 before; I love them, and shall rejoice tO' meet with my people 
 often. This day I have gained more reputation in Christ- 
 endom than if I had won many battles." The same joy was 
 displayed by the council; Buckingham thought he must, as 
 well as Charles, emphatically express his gratification; he feli- 
 citated the king on so happy a concord with pailianiient.. ' ' This," 
 said he, " is not a gift of five subsidies alone, but the opening 
 of a mine of subsidies, that lieth in. their hearts. And now 
 4o open my heart and to ease my grief, please you to pardon m« 
 
 . 1 P(U-1. Hist. ii. 2,33i 
 
24- HISTOKY OF THE ! 
 
 a word more : I must confess I have long lived in pain; sleep 
 hath given me no rest — favours, fortunes no content, such 
 have heen my secret sorrows, to be thought the man of sepa- 
 ration, that divided the king from his people, and them from 
 him ; but I hope it shall appear they were some mistaken 
 minds that would have made me the evil spirit that walketh 
 between a good master and loyal people, by ill offices ; 
 whereas, by your majesty's favour, I shall ever endeavour to 
 prove myself a good spirit, breathing nothing but the best 
 services to them all."' 
 
 The secretary of state, Cooke, reported (April 7) to the 
 house the king's satisfaction, and the favour that in all things 
 he was ready to show to parliament. The commons congra- 
 tulated themselves on this; but Cooke, with the short-sighted 
 meanness of a courtier, also spoke of the duke of Buckingham, 
 and his speech in the council : the house was offended. " Is 
 it that any man," said sir John Eliot, " conceives the men- 
 tion of others, of what quality soever, can add encouragement 
 or affection to us in our duties and loyalties towards his 
 majesty, or give them greater latitude or extent than naturally 
 they have; or is it to be supposed that the power or interest of 
 any man can add more readiness to his majesty than this gra- 
 cious inclination towards us gives him? I cannot believe it. 
 I shall readily commend, nay,, thank that man, whose endea- 
 vours are applied to such offices as may be advantageable for 
 the public; yet, in this manner, so contrary to the customs 
 of our fathers, and the honour of our times, as I cannot, 
 without scandal, apprehend it, so I cannot, without some cha- 
 racter of exception, pass it; and therefore I desire that such 
 interposition may be let alone. Now let us proceed to those 
 services that concern him, which, I doubt not, in the end, 
 will render us so real unto him, that we shall need no other 
 help to endear us to his favour."^ 
 
 This just pride appeared to Charles insolence, to Bucking- 
 ham a clear symptom of new perils; but neither the one nor 
 the other said anything on the subject, and the house pursued 
 its work. 
 
 It had entered into a conference with the upper house to 
 determine in concert the just rights of subjects, and to claim 
 
 « Pari. Hist. ii. 274. « lb. 275. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 23 
 
 a. new and solemn sanction of them from the prince, (April 3.) 
 Charles, informed of the designs which the commissioners of 
 the commons manifested in these conferences, took great 
 umbrage. He had the house exhorted to hasten the defii>i- 
 tive vote of the subsidies, and his minister added,' (April 12, 1 
 " I must with some grief tell you, that notice is taken, at 
 if this house pressed, not only upon the abuses of power, but 
 upon power itself : this toucheth the king, and us who are 
 supported by that power. Let the king hear of any abuses of 
 power, he will willingly hear us ; and let us not bend ourselves 
 against the extension of his royal power, but contain ourselves 
 within those bounds, that we meddle only with pressures and 
 abuses of power, and we shall have the best satisfaction that 
 ever king gave." 
 
 On their part, the peers, servile or timid, persuaded the 
 commons to content themselves with requiring from the king 
 a declaration, to the eifect, that the great charter, with the 
 statutes confirming it, were in full force, that the liberties of 
 the English people also were in force, as in times past, and 
 that the king would make use of the prerogatives inherent in 
 his sovereign power, only for the benefit of his subjects, 
 (April 23.)2 
 
 The king assembled both houses in a solemn sitting, de- 
 clared that he regarded the great charter as inviolate, the 
 ancient statutes as inviolable, and called upon them to rely, 
 for the maintenance of their rights, on his royal word, in which, 
 he said, they would find more security than any new law could, 
 give them, (April 28.)' 
 
 The commons did not allow themselves to be either intimi- 
 dated or seduced ; the recent abuses had braved the power, 
 altogether Surpassing the foresight of the old laws; there 
 must be new, explicit guarantees, invested with the sanction 
 of the whole parliament. It was doing nothing to have 
 vaguely renewed promises, so often broken, statutes so long 
 forgotten. Without wasting many words about the matter, 
 respectful, but inflexible, the house drew up the famous bill, 
 known under the name of the ' Petition of Rights,' adopted 
 it, and transmitted it to the upper house for its assent, 
 (Mays.) 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 278 ' lb. 329. ' lb. 332. 
 
26 „ - HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The lords had nothing to say against a bill which conse- 
 crated acknowledged liberties, or repressed abuses universally 
 condemned. But the king returned to the charge, again de- 
 manding that they should rely on his word, and offering to 
 coniirm, by a new bill, the great charter and the ancient 
 statutes; addressing advice upon advice to the peers, to the 
 commons message upon message; deeply irritated, but cautious 
 and nuld in his speech, proclaiming his firm resolution neither 
 to suffer any restriction in any of his rights, nor to abuse; 
 those which he enjoyed. 
 
 The perplexity of the peers was great. How secure the 
 liberties of the people, without depriving the king of absolute 
 power? for sudi was the question. They tried an amend- 
 ment : the biU was adopted with this addition : " We humbly 
 present this petition to your majesty, not only with a care of 
 preserving our own liberties, but with due regard to leave 
 entire that sovereign power wherewith your majesty is trusted 
 for the protection, safety, and happiness of your people," 
 (May 17.)i 
 
 When the bill thus amended came back to the commons : 
 "•Let us look unto the records," said Mr. Alford, " and see 
 what they are : what is ' sovereign power?' Bodin saith,,that 
 it is free from any conditions. By this we shall acknowledge 
 a regal as well as a legal power; let us give that to the king 
 the law gives him, and no more." " I am not able," said Pym, 
 " to speak to this question, for I know not what it is. All our 
 petition is for the laws of England ; and this power seems to be 
 another distinct power from the power of the law. I know 
 how to add ' sovereign' to the king's person, but not to his 
 power; and we cannot leave to him a ' sovereign power,' for 
 we never were possessed of it." " If we do- admit of this 
 addition," said sir: Thomas Wentworth, "we shall leave the 
 subject worse than we found him. Our laws, are not ac- 
 quainted with 'sovereign power,' " (May 17.)^ 
 
 The commons kept their ground; the public became more 
 and more pressing; the peers, not bold enough to demand 
 liberty openly, were not ■ bold enough either to sanction; 
 tyranny, They withdrew their amendment out of regard 
 for them ; an unmeaning phrase was substituted for it, and 
 
 * Pari. Hist., ii. 055. = lb. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 27 
 
 the petition of rigMs, adopted by both houses, was solemnly 
 presented to tbe king, who, conquered himself, at last promised 
 to i-eceive it, (May 28.) 
 
 His answer (June 2) was vague, evasive;' he did not 
 sanction the bill, and only repeated what the house had re- 
 fused to be content with. 
 
 Victory seemed gliding away from the commons; on meet- 
 ing next day, they renewed the attack, (June 3.)^ Sir Joihn 
 Eliot passionately recapitulated all the national grievances; the 
 usher had orders to remain at the door, to see that no member 
 went out, under pain of being sent to the Tower. It was re-r 
 solved that a general remonstrance should be presented to the 
 king ; the committee of subsidies was charged with the drawing 
 it up. 
 
 At tliis point, fear came over some of the members, that 
 legitimate fear which arises at the prospect of mighty convul- 
 sion, and without asking who is in the right, or what is to be 
 done, calls out to pause, when its party begins to rush forward 
 with what it deems jsredpitate passion. Sir John EKot was 
 charged with being actuated by personal enmity; sir Thomas 
 Wentworth, with imprudence; sir Edward Coke, they said, 
 had always been obstinate and intractable.^ The king thought 
 this state of things might give him a respite, if not the means 
 of fuUy recovering his ground. He forbade the house thence- 
 forth to meddle with aSkirs of state, (June 5.)* 
 
 The whole house was in a consternation; this was too 
 much, an insult in the opinion of even the most moderate. 
 AU were silent : " Our sins are so exceeding great," at 
 length said sir John Eliot, " that unless we speedily 
 turn to God, God will remove himself further from us; ye 
 know with what affection and int^rity' we have proceeded 
 hitherto to have gained his majesty's heart! I doubt a mis- 
 representation to his majesty hath drawn this mark of his 
 displeasure upon us. It is said also-, as if we cast some asper- 
 sions on his majesty's ministers ; I am confident no ministerj 
 how dear soever, can " 
 
 At these words, the speaker suddenly rose from his chair, 
 and said, with tears in his eyes, " There is a command laid 
 upon me to interrupt any that should go about to lay an 
 
 1 Pari. Hist, iii 374. = II). 380. = Ih. 383. « lb. 401. 
 
28 histohy of the 
 
 aspersion on the ministers of state." Upon this-sir John sat 
 down. 
 
 Sir Dudley Digges said, " Unless we may speak of these 
 things in parliament, let us arise and be gone, or sit still and 
 do nothing." Hereupon there was a deep silence in the house, 
 which was broken by 
 
 Sir Nathaniel Rich ; " We must now speak, or for ever 
 hold our peace," said he ; " for us to be silent when king and 
 kingdom are in this calamity is not fit. The question is, 
 shall we secure ourselves by silence; yea or nay? I know it 
 is more for our own security, but it is not for the security of 
 those whom we serve. Let us think on them: some instru- 
 ments desire a change ; we fear his majesty's safety and the 
 safety of the kingdom. Shall we sit still and do nothing, 
 and so be scattered. Let us go to the lords and show our 
 dangers, that we may then go to the king together, with our 
 representations thereof." 
 
 Suddenly the house passed from stupor to rage. All 
 the members rose, all spoke at once, amidst utter confusion, 
 " The king," said Mr, Kirton, " is as good a prince as ever 
 reigned ; it is the enemies to the commonwealth that have 
 so prevailed with him; therefore let us ain^ now to discover 
 them ; and I doubt not but God will send us hearts, hands, 
 and swords, to cut all his and our enemies' throats." — " It is 
 not the king," answered old Coke, " but the duke (a great 
 cry of, " 'Tis he, 'tis he!" was shouted on all sides,) that 
 saith, ' TVe require you not to meddle with state government, 
 or the ministers thereof.' "■• . The speaker had left his chair ; 
 disorder increased, and no one attempted to cairn it, for the 
 most prudent men had nothing to say : anger is sometimes 
 legitimate, even in the eyes of those who never get into a 
 passion themselves. 
 
 While the house, a prey to this tumult, was meditating 
 the most violent resolutions, the speaker went out secretly, 
 and hastened to inform thei king of his imminent peril.* 
 Fear passed from the house to the court. The next day a 
 milder message was sent, in expknation of the one which had 
 caused such irritation :* but words were not enough. The 
 commons remained much agitated ; they discussed the sub- 
 ject of the German troops, already levied by Buckingham, 
 > Pari. Hist. ii. 403. " lb ' It. 406, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 29 
 
 and who were shortly to disembark ; one member affirmed 
 that, the evening before, twelve German officers had arrived 
 in London, and that two English vessels had received orders 
 to bring over the soldiers.' The subsidies were stiR in 
 suspense. Charles and his favourite feared longer to brave 
 an opposition daily more powerful. They made no doubt 
 that the full sanction of the petition of rights would suffice to 
 calm everything. The king went to the house of lords, 
 where the commons were also assembled, (7 June.) ' They 
 had been mistaken, he said, in supposing that in his first 
 answer there was any by-view, and he was ready to give one 
 that would dissipate all suspicion. The petition was read 
 anew, and Charles answered by the usual form^" Soit fait 
 <li-oit comme il est desire." 
 
 The commons returned triumphant; they had at last 
 achieved the solemn acknowledgment of the liberties of the 
 English people. To this all publicity must be given ; it 
 was resolved that the petition of rights, printed with the 
 king's last answer, should be diffused all over the country, 
 and enrolled, not only in both houses, but also in the courts 
 of "Westminster. The bill of subsidies was definitively 
 adopted. Charles thought his trials were over : " I have 
 done my part," said he ; " wherefore if this parliament hath 
 not a happy conclusion, the sin is yours ; I am free of it."'^ 
 
 But an old evil is not so soon cured, and the ambition of 
 an irritated nation is not appeased with a first success. The 
 passing of the bill of rights was evidently not sufficient. The 
 reform of principles only was accomplished; this was no- 
 thing without reform in practice ; and to secure this, there 
 must be a reform of the king's council. Now Buckingham 
 still kept his position, and the king continued to levy the 
 ■customs duties without the sanction of parliament. Enlight- 
 ened by experience as to the danger of delay, blinded by 
 ■passion as to that of too abrupt and too harsh demands, 
 pride and hatred combining with the instinct of necessity, 
 the commons resolved to deal without delay the last blows. 
 In a week, two new remonstrances were drawn up, one 
 against the duke, the other to establish that tonnage and 
 poundage, like other taxes, might only be levied by law, (1 3 
 and 21 June.)^ 
 
 > Purl. Hist., ii. 108. = II). 109. = lb. 420, 4-01. 
 
30 HISTOKY or THE 
 
 The king lost all patience, and, resolved to give himself 
 at least some respite, he went to the house of lords, had 
 the commons summoned, and prorogued the parliament, 
 (June 26.) 
 
 Two months afterwards, the duke of BucMngham was 
 murdered, (Aug. 23.) Sewn up in the liat of Felton, his 
 assassin, was found a paper, in which the last remonstrance 
 of the house was referred to.' Felton did not fly, or defend 
 himself ; he merely said that he regarded the duke as the 
 enemy of the kingdom, shook Ms head when spoken to about 
 accomplices, and die4 with composure, confessing, however, 
 that he had done wrong.^ 
 
 Charles was greatly disturbed at the murder, and indig- 
 nant at the joy which the multitude manifested at it. Upon 
 the close of the Session, he ha|d endeavoured to gratify the 
 public feeling, by restraining the preachers of passive obe- 
 dience, and espedally by severities against the papists, the 
 scape-goats of every reconciliation between the prince and 
 the country. The assassination of Buckingham, in which 
 the people saw their deliverance, threw the king back into 
 tyranny. He restored his favour to the adversaries of par- 
 liament: Dr. Montague, whom the commons had prosecuted, 
 was promoted to the bishoprick of Chichester ; Dr. Main- 
 waring, whom the house of lords had ooodemned, received a 
 rich benefice; bishop Laud,^ already famous for passionate 
 devotion to the principle of high power in king and church, 
 passed to the see of London. The king's public conduct 
 corresponded with these court favours : tonnage and pound- 
 age were levied with rigour ; and the irregular tribu- 
 nals continued to suspend the course of law. Returned 
 thus noiselessly to the path of despotism, Charles had now 
 somewhat more prospect of success than before: he had 
 detached from the popular party the most brilliant of its^ 
 leaders, the most eloquent of its orators. Sir Thomas Went- 
 worth, created a baron, entered the privy council, despite the 
 reproaches, nay, the threats, of his former friends : " I shall 
 meet you in "Westminster Hall," said Pym to him, biddino- 
 him adieu at their last friendly interview ; but Wentworth, 
 
 1 Appendix No. II. ' Clarendon, i. 53 ; State Trials, iii. 071. 
 
 ■* Born at Keading, 1573. He was at this time lishop of Bath and 
 WeUs. 
 
ENGLISH BEVOLUTION, 31 
 
 ambitious and haughty, dashed. passiouatel7 on towards 
 greatness, far from foreseeing how odious, how fatal, he 
 would one day Be to liberty. Other defections followed his;' 
 and Charles, surrounded with new councillors, more staid, 
 more able, less decried than Buckingham, saw without appre- 
 hension the approach of ihe second session of parliament, 
 (20 Jan. 1629.) 
 
 The commons had scarcely assembled before they pro- 
 ceeded to ascertain what effect had been given to the bill of 
 rights, (21 Jan.) They learned that instead of the king's 
 second answer, it was the first, the evasive and rejected one, 
 which had been added to it. Norton, the king's printer, 
 owned that the very day after the prorogation, he had re- 
 ceived ordere thus to alter the legal text, and to suppress all 
 the copies which contained the true answer, that of which 
 Charles had boasted, when he said, " I have done ray part; 
 I am free of it." 
 
 The commons sent for the papers, verified the fact of the 
 alteration, and said no more about it, as if ashamed to ex- 
 pose too publicly so gross a violation of faith : but their 
 silence did not promise oblivion.^ 
 
 All the attacks were renewed against the toleration of 
 papists, the favour granted to false doctrines, the depravation 
 of morals, the ill distribution of dignities and employments, 
 the proceedings of the irregular courts, the contempt of the 
 liberties of subjects.^ 
 
 So great was the excitement of the house, that one day it 
 listened in silence and with favour to a man new to them, 
 badly dressed, of a common appearance, who, addressing them 
 for the first tinae, denounced, in furious and very indifferent 
 language, the indulgence of a bishop to some obscure preacher, 
 a rank papist, as he called him. This man was Oliver Crom- 
 well,* (Feb. 11.) 
 
 Charles essayed in vain to wrest from the commons the 
 concession of the tonnage and poundage duties, the only ob- 
 ject for which he had assembled them. He employed new 
 ■ tiu'eats, new persuasions, admitting, that he held these taxes, 
 like aU others, of the pure.gift of his people, and that to par- 
 
 - Sir Dudley DIgges, Sir Edw. Lyttleton, Hoy, 'Wandesford, &c. 
 = Piu-1. Hist. ii. 435. ' lb. 438, 468, 4.73. 
 
 * lb. 464 : Memoirs of Wmwiclc, 247. 
 
aZ BISTOEY OF THE 
 
 liament alone it belonged to establish them, but insisted, at 
 the same time, that they should be granted him for the whole 
 of his reign, as they had been to most of his predecessors.* 
 The commons were inflexible: this was the only weapon o. 
 defence against absolute power which remained to them. 
 "With one excuse after another tliey persevered in delay, and 
 daily set forth their grievances, but without any exact aim, 
 without putting forward, as in the preceding session, any clear 
 and precise propositions, for they were all this time a prey to 
 violent but vague agitations, disturbed with the sensation of 
 an evil they knew not how to cure. The king grew impa- 
 tient; they refused his demand without proffering any of their 
 own, without laying any application before him, which he 
 might reject or sanction; it had, he felt, an air of pure male- 
 volence, of being a mere plan for impeding his government. 
 Mention was made that he intended to prorogue parliament. 
 Sir John Eliot at once (March 2) proposed a new remon- 
 strance against the levying of the duties in dispute. The 
 speaker, alleging an order from the king, refused to put the 
 motion to the vote. The house insisted: he left the chair. 
 HoUis, Valentine, and other members, forced him back to it, 
 despite the efforts of the court party, who endeavoured to 
 rescue him from their hands. " God's wounds," said Hollis, 
 " you shall sit till it please the house to rise." " I wiU not 
 •say I will not," cried the speaker, " but I dare not." But pas- 
 sion was now without curb; they compelled him to resume 
 his seat. The king, informed of the tumult, sent orders to 
 the serjeant-at-arms to withdraw with the mace, which, by 
 custom, would suspend all deliberation: the serjeant was kept 
 in his chair like the speaker, the keys of the hall were taken 
 from him, and a member, sir Miles Hobart, took charge of 
 them. The king sent a second messenger to announce the 
 dissolution of parliament; he found the doors locked on the 
 inside, and could not gain admittance. Charles, in a paroxysm 
 of fury, sent for the captain of bis guards, and ordered him 
 to go and force the doors. But, in the interval, the commons 
 had retired, after having carried a resolution which declared 
 the levying of tonnage and poundage illegal, and those guilty 
 of high treason vfho should levy or even pay them.' 
 
 > rarl. Hist. ii. 442. 2 lb. 487—191. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. .33 
 
 All accommodatioii was impossible: the king went to the 
 house of lords, 10th March. " I never came here," said he, 
 " on so nnpleasing an occasion, it being for the dissolution of 
 parliament; the disobedient carriage of the lower house hath 
 alone caused this dissolution. Yet they would mistake me 
 wonderfully that think I lay the fault equally upon all the 
 lower house; for, as I know, there are many as dutiful and 
 loyal subjects as any are in the world, so I know it is only 
 some vipers amongst them that have cast this mist of dif- 
 ference before their eyes. As those evil affected persons must 
 look for their reward, so you that are here of the higher house, 
 may justly claim from me that protection and favour that a 
 good king oweth to his loyal and faithful nobility."' The 
 dissolution was pronounced. Immediately afterwards, ap- 
 peared a proclamation, setting forth : " That whereas, for 
 several iU ends, the calling again of a parliament is divulged, 
 howsoever his majesty hath showed, by his frequent meeting 
 with his people, his love to the use of parliaments; yet this 
 late abuse having, for the present, driven his majesty unwill^ 
 ingly out of that course, it will be considered presumption for 
 any one to prescribe to him any time for the calling of that 
 assembly."^ 
 
 Charles kept his word, and now only occupied himself with 
 the project of governing alone. 
 
 • Pari. Hist. 492. 'Ili.fi35. 
 
34 HISTOEY OF THB 
 
 BOOK THE SECOND. 
 
 1629—1640. 
 
 Intentions of the Mng and his council — Prosecution of the leading memV,. ^ 
 of parliament — Apparenb apathy of the country — Stnigglfrof the miuistrj- 
 and court — "the queen — Strafford— Laud— Want of cohesion in, and dis- 
 credit of government— Civil and reBgious tyranny — Its effects on the 
 different elasaes of the nation — Trial of Prynne, Barton, and Bastwick — 
 Of Hampden — Insurrection of Scotland — ^First war Tiith the Scots — 
 Peace of Berwick— Short parliament of IdiO — Second war -with Scol- 
 laiid — Its bjid success — Comrocation of the long parliament. 
 
 ■JSToTHiNG is SO dangerous as to take a system of government 
 as it were on trial, with, the idea that one may at any time 
 resort to another. Charles had committed this fault. He 
 Jiad attempted to govern in concert with the parliament; but 
 with the fuU persuasion, however, as he fcecpently intimated, 
 that if parliament was too troublesome he should be able to. 
 do perfectly well without it. He entered upon tlie career of 
 despotism with the same heedlessness, proclaiming his inten- 
 tion to adhere to it, but fuUy believing that, after all, if ne- 
 cessity became too strong for him, he could at any time have 
 recom'se to parliament. 
 
 His most able councillors were of the same opinion. Neither 
 Charles nor any about him had, at this time, conceived the 
 design of abolishing for ever the ancient laws' of England, 
 the great national council. Short-sighted rather than enter- 
 prising, insolent rather than absolutely ni-intentioned, their 
 words, and even their acts, were more daring than tiieir 
 thoughts. The king, they said, had shown himself just and 
 kind towards his people; he had yielded a great deal, granted 
 a great deal. But nothing would satisfy the commons; they 
 required the king to become their dependent, their ward; this 
 he could ^not do, without ceasing to be king. When the prince 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 35 
 
 aad paxliament could not manage to agree, It waS for tte j»ar- 
 liament to give way; for the prince alone was sovereign. 
 Since the commons would not give way, he must perforce 
 govern without them; the necessity was evident; sooner or 
 later the people would understand this, and then, parliament 
 having become wiser, there would be nothing to prevent the 
 king's recalling it, in case of need. 
 
 With still less foresight than the council, the court only 
 saw in the dissolution a deliverance from a difficulty. While 
 the house of commons was sitting, the courtiers were by no 
 means at ease; none of them dared to push boldly their for- 
 tune, nor enjoy their credit freely. The embarrassments of 
 power impeiied the intrigues, and spread a gloom over 
 the festivities of WhitehaU. The lung was thoughtful, the 
 queen intimidated. Parliament dissolved, this uneasiness and 
 restraint disappeared; frivolous grandeur reassumed its bril- 
 liancy, and private ambition its full swing. The court asked 
 for nothing beyond this; and troubled itself in no degree to 
 inquire whether, in the prosecution of its immediate object, 
 it was not aiding to bring about a change in the government 
 of the country. 
 
 The people judged otherwise : the dissolution was, in their 
 «yes, a sure symptom of a deep-laid scheme, of a resolution 
 to destroy parliaments. The commons had no sooner sepa- 
 rated, than, at Hampton Court, Whitehall, wherever the 
 court assembled, the papists, secret or avowed, the preachera 
 and adherents of absolute power, the men of intrigue and 
 pleasure, indifferent to all creeds^ congratulated one another 
 on their triumph ; whilst in the Tower, and the principal 
 gaols of London and the provinces, the defenders of the 
 public rights, treated at once with contempt and rigour, were 
 undergoing imprisonment, were under impeachment for what 
 they had said or done in the inviolable sanctuary of parlia- 
 liament.^ They claimed their privileges, they demanded to 
 be discharged upon bail, and the judges hesitated what to 
 answer, but the king communicated with the judges,^ (Sept. 
 1629;) and the application of the prisoners was refused- 
 
 * The members arrested were, Denzel Holies, sir Miles Hobait, sb 
 John Eliot, sir Peter Hayman, John Selden, William Coriton, Walter 
 long, William Stroud, and Benjamin Valentine. — State Trials, iii. 236 
 
 • Park Hist ii. 318, «« seo. 
 
 ' d2 
 
36 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 Their courage did not fail them in this trial ; the greater 
 number refused to own themselves guilty of any wrong, 
 or to pay the fines to which they were condemned. They 
 preferred remaining in prison. Sir John Eliot was destined 
 to die there. 
 
 While this prosecution was going on, public anger continu- 
 ally increased, and did not hesitate openly to manifest itself. It 
 was a sort of continuation of the parliament, vanquished and 
 dispersed, but stiU struggling before the judges of the country^ 
 through the voice of its leaders. The firmness of the accused 
 kept up the ardour of the people, who constantly saw them 
 pass and repass from the Tower to Westminster, and accom-" 
 panied them with their acclamations and their prayers. 
 The visible anxiety of the judges afforded some expecta- 
 tions. " All is lost!" was the cry; yet stiU the public con- 
 tinued to alternate between hope and fe^r, as in the midst 
 of the battle. 
 
 But this great trial ended. Frightened or seduced, some 
 of the accused paid the fine, and, ordered to live at least 
 ten miles from the royal residence, retired to conceal their 
 weakness in their respective counties. The noble stead-* 
 fastness of the rest was buried in the depth of their dungeons. 
 The people, who saw and heard no more of them, were them- 
 selves no longer seen nor heard. Power, not meeting with 
 open opposition, thought the day all its own, and that the 
 nation, from which it had estranged itself, was prostrate 
 beyond recovery. Charles hastened to conclude peace with 
 France, (April 11, 1629,) and Spain, (Nov. 5, 1630;) and 
 found himself at last without rivals at home, without enemies 
 abroad. 
 
 For some time, government was an easy matter enough. 
 The citizens for awhile took heed only to their private in- 
 terests: no discussion, no warm excitement agitated the 
 gentry in their county meetings, the burghers in their town- . 
 halls, the sailors in the ports, the apprentices in their 
 shops. It was not that the nation was languishing in apathy, 
 but its activity had taken another direction ; it seemed to 
 h&ve forgotten in labour the defeat of liberty. Less ardent 
 than haughty, the despotism of Charles interfered with it 
 Twy Slightly in this new state; the prince meditated no vast 
 designs, lie had no uneasy desire for extended and hazardous 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 37 
 
 glory; he was content to enjoy with dignity his power and 
 his rank. Peace dispensed him from exacting from his 
 subjects heavy sacrifices; and the people gave itself up to 
 agriculture, to commerce, to study, and no ambitious and 
 restless tyranny interposed to impede its efibrts, or compro- 
 mise its interests. PubKc prosperity accordingly rapidly 
 advanced, order reigned, and this regular and flourishing 
 condition gave to power the appearance of wisdom, to the 
 country that of resignation. 
 
 It was around the throne and among its servants that the 
 troubles of government recommenced. As soon as the 
 struggle between the king and the people appeared at an 
 end, two parties disputed which should influence the reno- 
 vated despotism; the queen and the ministry, the court and 
 the council. 
 
 On her arrival in England, the queen had not disguised the 
 dulness she experienced in her new country. Eeligion, institu- 
 tions, customs, language, everything displeased her; she had 
 even, just after their union, treated her husband with puerile 
 'insolence, and Charles, nut of all patience with her pas- 
 sionate outbursts of humour, found himself, on one occasion, 
 driven abruptly to send back to the continent some of the 
 attendants whom she had brought over with her, (July, 1626.) 
 The pleasure of reigning could alone console her for her 
 exile from France; and she reckoned upon the fuU enjoyment 
 of this satisfaction from the time she ceased to have the awe 
 of parliament before her eyes. Agreeable and lively in her 
 manners, she soon acquired over a young king of highly pure 
 principles, an ascendancy which he admitted with a sort of 
 gratitude, sensibly touched, as it were, by her consenting to 
 enjoy herself at all in his society. But the happiness of a 
 domestic life, dear to the serious mind of Charles, could not 
 satisfy the frivolous, restless, and hard character of Hen- 
 Tietta Maria ; she wanted an acknowledged, insolent empire 
 -^an empire of display, an empire which should be cognizant 
 of all things, and without whose permission nothing should 
 be said or done; she wanted, in short, power, as power 
 always presents itself to the mind of an arrogant, imthinking 
 woman. Round her ralhed, on the one hand, the papists, oa 
 
 » Clarendon, 1. 126. 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the Other, the frivolously ambitious, the petty intriguers, the 
 young courtiers, who had early gone to Paris to learn the 
 secret of pleasing her. All these professed to her alone to 
 look, the one class for fortune, the other for the triumph, or 
 at all events, the deliverance of their faith. It was in her 
 apartments that the leading papists at home, and the emis- 
 saries of Borne, discussed their most secret hopes; it was 
 there her favourites displayed the notions, manners, and 
 fashions of the continent.* Everything there was foreign, 
 and offensive to the creed and customs of the country; there 
 every day were put forward projects and pretensions that 
 could only be realized by illegal measures or abused favours. 
 The queen took part in these intrigues^ assured the plotters 
 of success, claimed sanction for them of the king; nay, 
 required of him that, in order to honour her, as she said, in 
 the eyes of the people, he should consult her on aU occasions, 
 and do nothing without her consent. If the king refused her 
 wishes, she would angrily accuse him, that he neither loved 
 her nor knew how to reign. And then Charles, happy to 
 find her solicitous for his power, or as to his love, had no 
 other thought thaa to dissipate her grief or her anger. 
 
 The most servile councillors would scarcely have sub- 
 mitted without resistance to this capricious sway. Charles 
 had two who were deficient neither in mind nor spirit, and who, 
 though devoted to his cause, desired to serve him otherwise 
 than according to the fancies of a woman or the pretensions 
 of a court. , 
 
 In forsaking his party to attach himself to the king, Straf- 
 ford^ had not been called upon to sacrifice any very fixed 
 principlesi or basely to betray his conscience. AJnbitious and 
 ardent, he had been a patriot out of hatred to Buckingham, 
 out of a desire for glory, to display in full lustre his talents 
 and his energy of mind, rather than from any righteous or pro- 
 found conviction. To act, to rise, to govern, was his aim, or 
 rather the necessity of his nature. Entering the service of 
 the crown, he became as earnest ia its cause as he thereto- 
 fore had been in that of liberty, but it was as a grave, proud, 
 
 '' May's History of the Long Pai'liament. (London, 1647.) Book i. 21. 
 ' He was at this period called lord WentwoMh — ^not being created end of 
 Strafford till the 12th of January, 1640. 
 
ENGLISH REyoLUTlON. 39 
 
 able, unbending minister, not as a frivoloua and obsequious 
 courtier. Of a mind too vast to shut itself up in the 
 paltry circle of domestic intrigues, of a pride too hotheaded 
 to give way to court forms and notions, he passionately de- 
 voted himself to business, braving all rivalry, breaking down 
 aU resistance; eager to extend and strengthen the royal 
 authority, now become his own, but diligent at the same time 
 to re-establish order and repress abuses, to put down private 
 interests he judged illegal, and promote aU such general in- 
 terests as he deemed not dangerous to royalty. A fiery 
 despot, stiU all love of country, all desire for its prc«perity, 
 for its glory, was not extinct in his heart, and he perfectly 
 comprehended upon what conditions, by what means, absolute 
 power must be bought over. An administration arbitrary 
 but powerful, consistent, laborious, holding in scorn the rights 
 . of the people, but occupying itself with the public happiness, 
 despising all petty abuses, all minor misgovemment, making 
 Subordinate to its will, and to its views, the great equsdly 
 with the small, the court as well as the nation^this was his 
 aim, this the character of his rule, and which he strove to 
 impress on the government of the king. 
 
 The fnend of Strafibrd, archbishop Laud, with less worldly 
 passions, and a more disinterested ardour, brought into the 
 council the same feelings, the same designs. Austere in his 
 conduct, simple in his life, power, whether he served it or 
 himself wielded it, inspired in his mind a fanatical devotion. 
 To prescribe and to punish, this was in his eyes to establish 
 order, and order ever seemed to him justice. His activity 
 was indefatigable, but narrow in its views, violent, and harsh. 
 Alike incapable of conciliating opposing interests, and of rer 
 specting rights, he rushed, with head down and eyes closed^ 
 at once against liberties and abuses; opposing to the latter 
 his rigid probity, to the former his furious hate, he was as 
 abrupt and uncompromising with the courtiers as with the 
 citizens; seeking no man's friendship, anticipating and able 
 to bear no resistance, persuaded, in short, that power is .aU- 
 snfficient in pure hands; and constantly the prey of some 
 fixed idea, which ruled him with all the violence of passicn, 
 
 and all the authority of duty. 
 
 Such councillors suited the new situation of Charles- 
 
40 HISTOEY OP THE 
 
 'Standing apart from the court, they were less anxious to 
 please it, than to serve their master; and had neither the 
 pompous insolence^ nor the idle pretensions of the favourites. 
 They were persevering, laborious, bold, ca,pable, devoted. 
 The government of Ireland had scarcely passed into the hands 
 of Strafford, ere that kingdom, which had tiU then been only 
 a trouble and expense to the crown, became a source of riches 
 and strength. Its public debt was paid; the revenue, pre- 
 viously collected without system, and squandered without 
 shame, was regularly administered, and soon rose above the 
 expenditure; the nobles were no longer allowed to oppress the 
 people with impunity, or the aristocratic and religious factions 
 to tear each other to pieces, in fuU liberty, as theretofore. 
 The army, which Strafford found weak, without clothes, 
 without (fiscipline, was recruited, well disciplined, well paid, 
 and ceased to pillage the inhabitants. Favoured by order, 
 commerce flourished, manufactories were established, agricvd- 
 ture advanced; In short, Ireland was governed arbitrarily, 
 harshly, often even with odious violence; but yet, to the inte- 
 'rest of general civilization and royal power, instead of being 
 as formerly, a prey to the greedy extortion of revenue ofiicers, 
 high and low, and to the domination of a selfish and ignorant 
 aristocracy.' 
 
 Invested in England, as to civil affairs, with a less ex- 
 tended and less concentrated authority than that of Strafford 
 in Ireland, and less able than his friend, Laud did not fail to 
 pursue the same line of conduct. As commissioner of the 
 treasury, he not only repressed all pilferings and illegitimate 
 ■expenditure, but applied himself to the thorough under- 
 -standing of the various branches of the public revenue, and 
 to the finding out by what means its collection cojild be ren-- 
 dered less onerous to the subject. Vexatious impediments, 
 grave abuses, had been introduced into the administration of 
 the custom duties, for the profit of private interests; Laud 
 listened to the complaints and representations of merchants, 
 employed his leisure in conversing with them, informed him- 
 self by degrees as to the general interests of commerce, and 
 freed it from trammels which had materially injured it, with- 
 out any advantage to the exchequer. In March, 1636, the 
 
 See Appendix, III. 
 
ENGLISH UENOLUTION. 41 
 
 office of higH treasurer was given, on his recommendation, 
 to Juxon, bishop of London, a laborious, moderate-minded 
 man, who put an end to numberless disorders which had alike 
 been injurious to the crown and to the citizens. To serve, 
 as he fancied, the king and the church. Laud was capable of 
 oppressing the people, of giving the most iniquitous advice; 
 but where neither king nor church was in question, he aimed 
 at good, at ti'uth, and upheld them without fear as to himself, 
 without the slightest consideration for other interests. 
 
 If, on the one hand, this administration, upright, diligent, 
 but arbitrary, tyrannical, on occasions, and refusing all re- 
 sponsibility, was too little for the country; on the other, it 
 was a great deal too much for the court. Favourites may 
 succeed there; if they meet with enemies, they also make 
 partisans, and in this conflict of personal interests a skilful 
 intriguer may successfully oppose those he serves to those 
 whom he offends. Such had been Buckingham. But who- 
 ever would govern, whether by despotism or by the laws, in 
 the general interest of king or people, must lay his account 
 to have the hatred of all the courtiers; and accordingly it arose 
 among them against Strafford and Laud, quite as intense, 
 and infinitely more manoeuvring, than among the people. 
 On Strafford's first appearance at Whitehall, a general sneer 
 curled every lip, at the sudden elevation and somewhat un- 
 polished manners of the country gentleman, who had beenmore 
 especially heard of as a parliamentary opponent of the court.' 
 The austere manners, the theological pedantry, and the blunt- 
 ness of Laud, were equally disliked there. Both these men 
 were haughty, inattentive, and by no means affable in their 
 manners; they disdained intrigues, counselled economy, and 
 talked of business and necessities which a' court does not like 
 to hear about. The queen conceived an aversion for them, 
 for they impeded her influence with the king; the high aris- ' 
 tocraciy took offence at their power; and ere long the whole 
 court united with the people to attack them, joining vigor- 
 ously in outcries against their tyranny. 
 
 Charles did not forsake them"; he had full confidence in 
 their devotedness and ability; their opinions were quite ih 
 
 ' Ho«fell's Letters, 1650, Letter 34; Strafford's Letters, i. 79; Bio- 
 graphja Britannica, in vita. 
 
42 HISTORY OF TUK 
 
 unison with his own, and he entertained for the profound 
 piety of Laud a respect blended with affection. But in re- 
 taining them in his service, despite the court, he was not in 
 a condition to make the court submit to their government. 
 Grave in his deportment and sentiments, his mind was not of 
 sufficient depth or grasp to comprehend the difficulties of ab- 
 Bolute power, and the necessity of sacrificing everything to it. 
 Such were, in his eyes, the rights of royalty, that it seemed 
 to him nothing ought to cost him an effort. In the council, 
 he applied himself, regularly and with attention, to public 
 affairs; but this duty fSfiUed, he troubled himself very little 
 about them; and the necessity of governing was infinitely less 
 present to Ids thoughts than the pleasure of reigning. The 
 good or bad temper of the queen, the usages pf the court, the 
 prerogatives of the officers of the palace, appeared to him im- 
 portant considerations, which the political interests of his 
 crown could not require him to forget. Hence arose, for his 
 aiinisters, petty but continual annoyances and difficulties, 
 which the king left them to the full endurance of, thinking he 
 did enough for them and for himself by retaining them in 
 their offices. They were charged to exercise absolutism, 
 yet the power to do so failed them the moment they called for 
 some domestic sacrifice, some measure contrary to the forms 
 and rules of Whitehall. All the time of his administration in 
 Ireland, Strafford was constantly called upon for explanations 
 and apologies; now, he had spoken lightly of the queen, and 
 now again, some influential family had complained of his 
 hauteur; he had to justify his words, his manners, his cha- 
 racter; all these idle accusations obliged him to reply, frcm 
 Dublin, to something that bad been said, some rumour that 
 was afloat about him in the palace; and he did not always ob- 
 tain an assurance in return, which (setting him at ease as to 
 these minor perils) enabled him to carry on without fear the 
 authority yet left him.' 
 
 Thus, notwithstanding the energy and zeal of his principal 
 councillors, notwithstanding the tranquil state of the country, 
 notwithstanding the private worth of the king's conduct, and 
 the proud bearing of his language, the government was with-j 
 out strength and without consideration. Assailed by domestic 
 
 > Strafford's Letters, i. 128, 138, 142, U4; U. 42, 105, 120, &c. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 43? 
 
 dissensions, carried away alternately by oppbsing influences, 
 sometimes arrogantly shaking off the yoke of the laws, some- 
 times giving way before the slightest difficulties, it proceeded 
 without any settled plan; it forgot, at every turn, its own 
 designs. It had abandoned, on the continent, the cause of pro- 
 testantism, and had even forbidden lord Scudamore, its ambas- 
 sador at Paris, to attend divine service in the chapel of the 
 reformers, because the forms did not come near enougn to the 
 rites of the English church.^ And yet it allowed the marquis 
 of Hamilton to raise in Scotland a body of six thousand men, 
 and to go and fight at their head (1631) under the- banners 
 of Gustavus Adolphus,* not foreseeing he would there imbibe 
 the principles and creed of the very puritans, whom the 
 church of England proscribed. Charles's faith in the re- 
 formed religion, such as Henry VHI. and Elizabeth had made 
 it, was sincere; and yet, whether from tenderness to his wife, 
 or from a spirit of moderation and justice, or froni an instinct 
 of what suited absolute power, he often granted to the 
 catholics, not only a liberty at that time Ulegal, but almost 
 avowed favour.^ Archbishop Laud, as sincere as his master^ 
 wrote against the court of Eome, even preached strongly 
 against the worship conducted in the queen's chapel, yet 
 at the same time he showed himself so favourable to the 
 system of the Romish church, that the pope thought him- 
 self authorized to offer him a cardinal's hat, (Aug. 1633.)* 
 In the conduct of civil affairs^ there reigned the same indeci- 
 sion, the same inconsistency. No broad, dear plan was per- 
 ceptible; no powerful hand made itself unitbrmly felt. Des* 
 potism was pompously displayed, and, on occasion, exercised 
 with rigour; but to give it a fixed basis, required too many 
 efforts, too much perseverance; it came, by degrees, to be left 
 quite out of mind, so that its abstract pretensions daily more 
 and more exceeded its means. The treasury was administered 
 with order and probity; the king was not wasteful; yet the 
 want of money was just as great as could have been brought 
 about by the grossest prodigality on the part of the prince* 
 and the worst peculation on the part of his officers; in the 
 same way that Charles had haughtily refused to yield to 
 
 > Neol'3 History of the Puritans, 1822 ; ii. 234, ' Clarendoii, i. 2iS4. 
 ' Land's Diary, p. 49 ; Whitelocke's, 18. 
 
44 HISTOKY OF THK 
 
 parliament, to obtain from it an income sufficient for his ex- 
 penses, he now thought he should lower himself, by reducing 
 his expenses, to a level with his income.* Splendour about 
 the throne, court festivals, the old customs of the crown, 
 were in his eyes conditions, rights, almost duties of royalty; 
 sometimes he was ignorant of the abuses put in practice to 
 provide for these, and when he did know, he had not the 
 courage to reform them. Thus, though relieved by peace 
 from all extraordinary expenditure, he found himself unable 
 to meet the wants of his government. English commerce; 
 was prospering; the mercantile marine, daily growing more 
 numerous and more active, solicited the protection of the 
 royal navy. Charles confidently promised it, and even made, 
 from time to time, serious effijrts to keep his word;^ but, as 
 a general rule, the merchant fleets were without convoy, for 
 the king's vessels wanted rigging, and the sailors were unpaid. 
 The pirates of Barbary came to the British channel, to the 
 very straits of Dover; they infested the shores of Great 
 Britain, landed, pillaged the villages, and carried off thou- 
 sands of captives (1637). Captain Rainsborough, who was 
 at length sent to the coast of Morocco to destroy one of their 
 haunts, found there three hundred and seventy slaves, English 
 and Irish; and such was the weakness or the improvidence 
 of the administration, that Strafford was obliged to arm a ship 
 at his own expense to preserve the very port of Dublin from 
 the ravages of these pirates.^ 
 
 So much incapacity, and its inevitable perils, did not escape 
 the observation of experienced men. The foreign ministers 
 who resided in London wrote word of it to their masters; 
 and soon, notwithstanding the known prosperity of England, 
 it became a common topic on the continent that the govern- 
 ment of Charles was feeble, imprudent, insecure. At Paris, 
 at Madrid, at the Hague, his ambassadors were more than 
 
 ' The pensions, wliich, under the reign of Elizabeth, were 18,000i., rose, 
 Tinder James I., to 80,000Z. ; and, in 1626, a little more than a year after the 
 accession of Charles I., they already amounted to l'20,000i. The expenses 
 of the king's household, in the same interval, had increased from 45,006/. to 
 80,000i. ; that of the wardrobe, had doubled ; that of the privy puise, tripled, 
 &c.— Eushworth, i. 207. 
 
 • Warwick's Memoirs ; Eushworth, i. 2, 2S7, &c. 
 
 » Strafford's Letters, i. 68 ; ii. 86, &c.; Wafer's Poems, (1730), 871. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTIOK- 4& 
 
 once treated slightingly — nay, with contempt.* Strafford, 
 Laud, and some others of ,the council, were not ignorant of 
 the evil, and sought some remedy for it. Strafford, especially, 
 the boldest as well as the most able, struggled passionately 
 against all obstacles; he became anxious for the future, and 
 would have had the king, governing his affairs with diligence 
 and foresight, assure to himself a fixed revenue, well-stored 
 arsenals, fortified places, and an army.^ He, for his own 
 part, had not hesitated to assemble the Irish parliament (1634), 
 and,' either through the fear he inspired, or the services he 
 had rendered the country, he had made it the most docile as 
 well as the most useful instrument of his power. But Charles 
 forbad him to call it again;' the queen and he dreaded the 
 very name of parliament, and the fears of his master did not 
 permit Strafford to give to tyranny the forms and support of 
 the law. He urged the point for a time, but without success, 
 and at last submitted. Energetic himself, he underwent the 
 yoke of weakness; and his foresight was of no avail, for he 
 spoke to the blind. Some of the council, who thought as he^ 
 did, but were more selfish, or better aware of the futility of 
 any efforts, withdrew, when, to support his views, a struggle 
 was needed, leaving him alone with Laud, exposed to the 
 intrigues and hatred of the court. 
 
 Tyranny, thus frivolous and unskilful, daily needs some 
 new tyranny to carry it on. That of Charles was, if not 
 the most cruel, at least the most unjust, the most charge- 
 able with abuse that England had ever endured. With- 
 out being able to allege in excuse any public necessity, 
 without dazzUng men's minds by any great result, to satisfy 
 obscure wants, to gratify fantastic and unmeaning whims, 
 he set aside and outraged ancient rights equally with the 
 
 The writings of the time, among others the letters colleoted by Howell, 
 present a thousand examples of this : I shaU only cite one. When sir 
 Thomas Edmonds went to France, in 1639, to conclude the treaty of peace, 
 the gentleman sent to meet liim to St. Denis, and preside at his entrance, 
 said to him, with a sneer, " Your Excellency will not be astonished I have 
 BO few gentlemen with me, to pay you honour and accompany you to court j 
 there were so many killed in the isle of Be ;" a bitter allusion to the terrible 
 defeat of the English at that island, under the orders of the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham. — Howell's Letters, (1705,) 210. 
 
 » Strafford's Letters, ii. 61, 63, 66. ' lb. i. 365. 
 
•4& HISTOBT OF THE 
 
 new-bom wishes of the people, making no account either of 
 iflie laws and opinions of the conntiy,- or of his own pro- 
 iQises, essaying altogether hap-hazard, according to cir- 
 cumstances, every species of oppression; adopting, in shorty 
 the most rash resolutions, the most illegal measures, not to 
 secure the triumph of a consistent and formidable system, but 
 to maintain by daily expedients a power ever in embarrass- 
 Hiemt. Subtle lawyerfe, set to work rummaging among old re- 
 cords to discover a precedent for some forgotten iniquity, labo- 
 riously brought to light the abuses of past times, and erected 
 them into rights of the throne. Thereupon, other agents, 
 not so learned, but more actively daring, converted these pre- 
 tended rights into real and new vexations; and if any appeal 
 was made, servile judges were ready to declare that, in point 
 of fact, the crown had of old possessed such prerogatives. Was 
 the acquiescence of the judges at all matter of doubt-^-was it 
 thought necessary not to put their influence too strongly to 
 the test, the irregular tribunals, the star chamber, the council 
 of the north,' and a number of other jurisdictions, indepen.-. 
 ■dent of the common law, were charged to take their plac^ 
 and the aid of illegal magistrates was called in when the 
 severity of legal magistrates did not suffice for the purposes 
 of tyranny. Thus were re-established imposts long faUeou 
 into desuetude, and others invented till then imknown; thus 
 re-appeared those innumerable monopolies, introduced and: 
 abandoned by Elizabeth, recalled and abandoned by Jaanes I., 
 constantly disallowed by parliament, and at one time abolished 
 by Charles himself, and which, giving to contractors or to pri-" 
 vileged courtiers the exclusive sale of almost all cammodLlie% 
 inflicted suffering upon the people, and irritated them stiH 
 more by/the unjust and most irregular subdivision of their 
 profits.^ The extension of the royal forests, that abuse which 
 
 ' Instituted liy Henry Virt. at Yori, in 1537, after the troubles wMoh 
 hroke out in the northern counties, in consequence of the suppression of the 
 }esser monostejies, to adnanister justice and maintain order in these coun- 
 ties, independently of the courts at Westminster. The jurisdiction of the 
 court, at first very limited, become more extended and arbitrary under 
 James I. and Charles I. 
 
 ' The following is a Kst, though an incomplete one, of the wares then 
 made monopolies of :. salt, soap, coals, iron, wine, leatlier, starch, feathers, 
 cards and dice, heaver, lace, tobacco, barrels, beer, distilled Uquors, the 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLDTION. 47 
 
 had often driven the barons of old in England to arms, became 
 so great, that the forest of Koekiugham alone was increased 
 from six to sixty miles in circuit, while, at the same time 
 they hunted out, and punished by exorHtant fines,*- the least 
 encroachment on the part of the subject. Commissioners 
 went about the country questioning here the rights of the 
 possessors of former domains of the crown, there the rate of 
 emoluments attached to certain offices, elsewhere the right of 
 citizens to build new houses, or that of agriculturists to change 
 their arable land into pasture, and they proceeded, whenever 
 they could make out a case at all, not to reform abuses, but to 
 *11 their continuation at a high price.^ Privileges, irregularities 
 -ff all kinds, were, between the king and those who made a 
 ^siness of them, a compact subject of disgraceful bargains. 
 They even turned into a commodity the severity of the judges; 
 Under the least pretext^ unheard-of fines were imposed, which, 
 striking terror into those who apprehended a similar visita- 
 tion, determined them to secure themselves beforehand by a 
 handsome bribe. It really seemed as though the tribunals 
 had no other business than to provide for the wauts of the 
 king, or to ruin the advesrsaries of his power.* If discontent 
 in any particular county appeared too general for such pro-^ 
 ceedings to be easily practicable, the provincial militia was 
 disarmed, and royal troops were sent there, whom the inhabit- 
 ants were bound, not oinly to board and lodge, but moreover 
 to equip. For not paying that which they did not owe, men 
 were put in prison; they were released on paying a portion 
 of the amount, more or less, according to their fortune, credit, 
 or management. Imposts, imprisonments, judgments, rigours, 
 or favours, everything was matter of arbitrary rule; and 
 arbitrary rule extended itself daily more and more over the 
 rich, because there was money to be got from them, over the 
 
 weighing of hay and straw in London and Westminster, red herrings, hutter, 
 potash, linen cloth, paper rags, hops, buttons, catgut, spectacles, combs, 
 saltpetre, gunpowder, &c. 
 
 ' Lord Salisbury was condemned to be fined, on this ground, 20,OOQZ. ; 
 lord Westmoreland, 19,000Z. ; sh: Christopher Hatton, 12,OO0i.; lord New- 
 port, 30002.; air Lewis Watson, 4000Z., &c.; Strafford's Letters, ii. 117. 
 Pari. Hist. ii. 642. 
 
 ' May, i. 17 ; Eushworth, ii. 2, 915. 
 
 ' The sum total, of the fines imposed during this epoch for the king's 
 profit, amounted to inore than six millions of money. See Appendix IV 
 
48 HISTORY OV THE 
 
 poor, tecause they were not to be feared. At last, when 
 complaints grew so loud that the* court took alarm, the magis- 
 trates who had given cause for them purchased impunity 
 in their turn. In an access of insane despotism, for speaking 
 a few inconsiderate words, Straiford had caused Lord Moxmt- 
 norris to be condemned to death j and, though the sentence 
 had not been carried into effect, the mere statement of the 
 prosecution had raised against the deputy in Ireland, in 
 England, even in the king's council, loud reprobation. To 
 appease it, Strafford sent to London six thousand pounds, 
 to be distributed among the principal councillors. "I fell 
 upon the right way," answered lord Cottington, an old and 
 crafty courtier, to whom he had entrusted the affair, " which 
 was to give the money to him that really cotdd do the busi- 
 ness, which was the king himself;" and Strafford obtained at 
 this price, not only exemption from aU consequences, but the 
 permission to distribute, at his own pleasure among his 
 favourites, the spoils of the man whom, at his own pleasure, 
 he had caused to be condemned.' 
 
 Such was the effect of Charles's necessities: his fears car- 
 ried him even much further than his necessities. Notwith- 
 standing his haughty indifference, he at times felt his weakness 
 and sought for support. He made some attempts to restore 
 to the higher aristocracy the strength it no longer enjoyed; 
 Under the pretence of preventing prodigality, country gen- 
 tlemen were ordered to five on their estates; their influence 
 was feared in London.^ The star-chamber took under its 
 care the consideration due to the nobility. A want of re- 
 spect, an inadvertency, a joke, the least action which seemed 
 not to keep in just recognition the superiority of their rank 
 and of their rights, was punished with extreme rigour, and 
 always by enormous fines for the benefit of the king and the 
 offended party .^ The aim was to make the court people 
 
 ' Strafford's Letters, i. 611. 
 
 ' More than two hundred gentlemen were proceeded against in one day 
 (March 20, 1635), and by the same indictment, for having disobeyed this in- 
 junction. Bnshworth, i. 3, S88. 
 
 • A person named Grenville was condemned to pay the king 4000Z. and as 
 much in damages to lord Suffolk, for having said of the latter that he was 
 a hose lord ; Fettager was fined 30002., and ordered to be flogged, for having 
 Used the same term in reference to the earl of Kingston. Sushworth, ii. 3. 
 Append. 43, 73. 
 
EVGLISH REVOLUTION. 49 
 
 powerful and respected; but these attempts were not followed 
 up, either because their futility was soon ascertained, or be- 
 cause the history of the barons of old had the effect of inspiring 
 the king with some distrust of their descendants. In point of 
 fact, some of them were foremost in the ranks of the malcon- 
 tents, and only these had any credit among the people at 
 large. The court stiU succeeded, on occasions, in humiliating 
 private gentlemen before the lords of the court; but it be- 
 came clearly necessary to seek elsewhere a body, who, already 
 powerful in themselves, still stood in need of aid from the 
 crown, and might, by being admitted to a share of absolute 
 power, contribute in return to its support. For a long time 
 past the English clergy had solicited this mission; they were 
 now called to fulfil it. 
 
 Emanating in its origin from the sole will of the temporal 
 sovereign, the Anglican church had, as has been seen, thence 
 lost all independence; it had no longer a divine mission, it 
 subsisted no longer of its own right. Standing apart from 
 the people, who did not elect them, separated from the pope 
 and the universal church, formerly their support, the bishops 
 and the superior clergy were mere delegates of the prince, 
 his chief servants: an altogether false position for a body 
 charged to represent that which is most independent and ele- 
 vated in the nature of man — faith. The English church had 
 early perceived this defect in its constitution; J)ut its many 
 perils, and fear of the strong hand of Henry VIII. and of 
 Elizabeth, had prevented it from taking any steps to retrieve 
 its position. Assailed at once by the catholics and the non- 
 conformists, its possessions and its faith still alike precarious, 
 it devoted itself unreservedly to the service of temporal 
 power, acknowledging its own dependence, and admitting the 
 absolute supremacy of the throne, which, at tta', time, could 
 alone save it from its enemies. 
 
 Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth, Some few indica- 
 tions manifested themselves, here and there, on the part of the- 
 Anglican clergy, of rather loftier pretensions. Dr. Bancroft, 
 chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury, maintained that epis- 
 copacy was not a human institution, that it had been, from 
 the time of the apostles, the government of the church, and 
 that bishops held their rights, not from the temporal sove- 
 
50 HISTORY OP THE- 
 
 reign, but from God alone'. This new clergy, in fact, had begun 
 to think its power more firmly based, and took a first step to- 
 wards independence; but the attempt, ventured timidly, was 
 haughtily repulsed. Elizabeth asserted the plenitude of her 
 spiritual supremacy, emphatically repeating to the bishops that 
 liiey were nothing but by her will; and the archbishop of 
 Canterbury contented himself with saying he wished the doctor 
 was right, but he did not dare flatter himself he was.* The 
 people energetically sided with the queen; their only thought 
 was to advance reform, and they perfectly well understood 
 that if the 'bishops aspired to independence, it was not to 
 free faith from temporal authority, but to oppress it on their 
 own account. 
 
 Nothing decisive was done under James I.; selfish and 
 cunning, he cared little about aggravating the evil, provided 
 he kept clear of the peril. He maintained his supremacy, 
 but granted so much favour to the bishops, took so much 
 care to strengthen their power, by harsh treatment of their 
 enemies, that their confidence and strength daily augmented. 
 Zealous in proclaiming the divine right of the throne, they soon 
 began to speak of their own; that which Bancroft had timidly 
 insinuated, became an opinion openly avowed by aU the upper 
 clergy, supported in numerous writings, asserted from the 
 very pulpit. Bancroft himself was created archbishop of Can*^ 
 terbury, (Dec. 1604.) Every time that the king made a 
 parade of Hs prerogative, the clergy bowed with respect; but 
 immediately after these acts of momentary humility, resumed 
 their pretensions, putting them forward, more especially aa 
 against the people, the better to conciliate the king, devoting 
 themselves more and mOre to the cause of absolute monarchy, 
 and looking forward to the day when they should be so ne- 
 cessary to it,' that it would be compelled to acknowledge their- 
 independence to make sure of their aid. • 
 
 • When Charles, having quarrelled with his parliament, stood 
 alone in the midst of his kingdom, seeking on all sides the means 
 of governing, the Anglican clergy believed this day was come. 
 They had again got immense wealth, and enjoyed it without 
 dispute. The papists no longer inspired them with alarm. 
 The primate of the church, Laud, possessed the entire con- 
 
 ' In a sermon, preaclied lath Jiui. 1588. — Neol, i. 395. ' lb. i. 397. 
 
EUGLISH EEVOLUTION. SJ 
 
 fidcnce of the king, and alone directed all ecclesiastical aifairg. 
 Among the otter ministers, none professed, like lord Bur- 
 leigh under Elizabeth, to fear and sti-uggle against the en- 
 croachments of the clergy.- The courtiers were indifferent, 
 or secret papists. Learned men threw lustre over the church. 
 The universities, that of Oxford more . especially, were de- 
 voted to her maxims. Only one adversary remained — the 
 people, each day more discontented with uncompleted reform, 
 and more eager fully to accomplish it. But this adversary 
 was also the adversary of the throne j it claimed at the same 
 time, the one to secure the other, evangelical faith and civil 
 liberty. The same peril threatened the sovereignty of the 
 crown and of episcopacy. The king, sincerely pipus, seemed 
 disposed to believe that he was not the only one who held 
 his authority from God, and that the power of the bishops 
 was neither of less high origin, nor of less sacred character. 
 Never had so many favourable circumstances seemed com- 
 bined to enable the clergy to achieve independence of the 
 crown, dominion over the people. 
 
 Laud set himself to work with his accustomed vehemence. 
 First it was essential that all dissensions in the bosom of 
 the church itself should cease, and that the strictest uni- 
 formity should infuse strength into its doctrines, its discipline, 
 its worship. He appUed himself to this task with the most 
 unhesitating and unscrupulous resolution. Power was ex- 
 clusively concentrated into the hands of the bishops. The 
 court of high commission, where, they took cognizance of 
 and decided everything relating to rehgious matters, became 
 day by day more arbitrary, more harsh in its jurisdiction, 
 its forms, and its penalties. The complete adoption of the 
 Anglican canons, the minute observance of the liturgy, and 
 the rites enforced in cathedrals, were rigorously exacted on 
 the part of the whole ecclesiastical body. A great many 
 livings were in the hands of nonconformists; they were 
 withdrawn from them. The people crowded to their serr 
 mons; they were forbidden to preach.* Driven from their 
 ehurches, deprived of their incomes, they travelled from town 
 to town, teaching and preaching to the faithful who, in 
 a tavern, private house, or field, would gather round them; 
 
 ' Neol, ii. 179, etc. 
 e2 
 
52 HISTORY OF *HE 
 
 ■persecution followed and reached them everywhere. In the 
 country, noblemen, retired citizens, rich homes devoted to 
 their faith, received them into their homes as chaplains or 
 as tutors for their children; persecution penetrated even here^ 
 and drove forth the chosen chaplains and tutors.' These 
 proscribed men quitted England; they went to France, Hol- 
 land, Germany, to found churches in accordance with their 
 faith; despotism pursued them beyond seas, and summoned 
 these churches to conform to the Anglican rites.^ French, 
 Dutch, German mechanics had brought their industry into 
 England, and obtained charters which assured to them the 
 free exercise of their national religion; these charters were 
 withdrawn from them, and most of them abandoned their 
 adopted country: the diocese of Norwich alone lost three thou- 
 sand of these hard-working foreigners.' Thus deprived of every 
 asylum, of all employment, fugitives or concealed, the noncon- 
 formists still wi-ote in defence and in propagation of their doc- 
 trines; the censor prohibited these new books, and sought 
 out and suppressed the old.* It was even absolutely forbid- 
 den to touch, either in the pulpit or elsewhere, upon the 
 questions with which men's minds were most agitated;^ for the 
 controversy vras general and profound, upon dogmas as upon 
 discipline, on the mysteries of human destiny as on the proper 
 forms of public worship; and the Anglican church would 
 neither tolerate departure from its ceremonies, nor admit dis' 
 cussion of its opinions. The people grieved to hear no 
 longer either the men they loved, or the topics that occupied 
 their thoughts. To calm their alarms, to prevent being 
 entirely separated from their flock, moderate or timid non- 
 conformist ministers offered partial submission, claiming in 
 return some partial concessions, such as the not wearing 
 a surplice, the not giving to the conmiunion table the 
 form or position of an altar, and so on. They were an- 
 swered, either that the form in question was so important 
 that they must not depart from it, or that it was so unimportant^' 
 as not to be worth their opposing it. Driven to extremity^ 
 they determinately resisted, and insult as well as condemnation 
 
 ' Nenl, ii. 173, etn. ' lb. 205. 
 
 ' Rusliworth, i. a, 2T: ; May, i. 83 ; Neal, ii. 232. 
 * Decree of the star-cliamber, July H, .1637 ; RushwortJi, Ii, 2, appeudi^ 
 S06; Nealjii. 16S. * lb. ii. 163. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 53 
 
 awaited them in the ecclesiastical courts. The bishops and 
 judges, and their officers, thee-and-thoued them in the most 
 insolent manner; called them all sorts of fools, idiots, ras- 
 cally knaves, and habitually ordered them to be silent the 
 moment they opened their mouths to defend themselves, 
 or explain anything.' Even if they renounced preaching, 
 writing, or appearing in public at all, tyranny did not renounce 
 its persecution; its malevolence was characterized by an in- 
 genuity, a tenacity of oppression, which no prudence on the 
 part of the wretched men could foresee, no humility turn 
 aside. Mr. Workman, a minister at Gloucester, had asserted 
 that pictures and ornaments in churches were a relic of idola- 
 try; he was thrown into prison. A short time before, the 
 town of Gloucester had made him a grant of twenty pounds a 
 year for life; it was ordered to cease, and the mayor and 
 municipal officers were prosecuted and fined a large simi 
 for having made it. On quitting his prison, Workman 
 opened a little school; Laud ordered it to be closed. To earn 
 a living, the poor minister turned doctor; Laud interdicted 
 his medicining as he had interdicted his teaching: hereupon 
 Workman went mad, and soon after died.^ 
 
 Meantime, the pomp of catholic worship speedily took 
 possession of the churches deprived of their pastors; while 
 persecution kept away the faithful, magnificence adorned the 
 walls. They were consecrated amid great display,* and it was 
 then necessary to employ force to, collect a congregation. 
 Laud was fond of prescribing minutely the details of new - 
 ceremonies — sometimes borrowed from Rome, sometimes the 
 product of his own imagination, at once ostentatious and 
 austere. On the part of the nonconformists, every innovation, 
 the least derogation from the canons or the liturgy, was 
 punished as a crime; yet Laud innovated without consulting 
 anybody, looking to nothing beyond the king's consent, and 
 sometimes acting entirely upon las own authority.* He altered 
 the interior arrangement of churches, the forms of worship, im- 
 periously prescribed practices till then unknown, even altered 
 the liturgy which parliaments had sanctioned; and all these 
 changes had, if not the aim, at all events the result of rendering 
 
 ' Bushworth, i. 2, 233, 240 ; Neal, i. 250, in the note, p. 352. 
 » NSal, ii. 204. ' lb. 190. * lb. 320. 
 
54 HISTOEY OP THE : 
 
 the Anglican church more and more like that of Rome. The 
 liberty the papists enjoyed, and the hopes they display ed» 
 whether from imprudence or design, confirmed the people in 
 their worst apprehensions. Books were published to prove 
 that the doctrine of the English bishops might very well adapt 
 itself to that of Eome; and these books, though- not regulafly 
 licensed, were dedicated to the king or to Laud, and openly 
 tolerated. 1 Many theologians, friends of Laud, such aa 
 bishop Montague, Dr. Cosens, professed similar maxims, and 
 professed them with entire impunity, while preachers whom 
 the people loved, in vain exhausted compliance and courage 
 to retain some right to preach and write. Accordingly, the 
 belief in the speedy triumph of popery grew daily more 
 strong, and the courtiers, who were nearer the scene of action, 
 fully shared this beUef with the people. The duke of Devonr 
 shire's daughter turned catholic; Laud asked her what 
 reasons had determined her to this? " I hate to be in a crowd," 
 said she; " and as I perceive your grace and many others are 
 hastening towards Rome, I want to get there comfortably by 
 myself before you." 
 
 . The splendour and exclusive dominion of episcopacy thus 
 established, at least so he flattered himself, Laud proceeded 
 to secure its independence. One might have thought that in 
 this desire he would have found the king less docile to his 
 counsels; but it was quite otherwise. The divine right of 
 bishops became, in a short time, the official doctrine, not only 
 of the upper clergy, but of the king himself. Dr. Hall, bishop 
 of Exeter, set it forth in a treatise which Laud took care to 
 revise, and from which he struck out every vague, or timid 
 sentence, every appearance of doubt or concession.^ From 
 books, this doctrine soon passed into acts. The bishops held 
 their ecclesiastical courts no longer in the name and by virtue 
 of delegation from the king, but in their own name; the epis- 
 copal seal alone was affixed to their acts; it was declared that 
 the superintendence of the universities belonged of right to the 
 metropolitan.' The supremacy of the prince was not formally 
 abolished, but it might be said only to remain as a veU to the 
 itsurpations that were to destroy it. Thus throwing off, 
 by degrees, all temporal restraint, on the one hand, the 
 
 ' Whitelocke, p. 22. • NeaJ, ii. 292. » lb. SAS : Whitelocke, nt sup. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTIOK. 55 
 
 •church, on the other, encroached upon civil affairs; her 
 jurisdiction extended itself at the expense of the ordinary 
 tribunals, and never had so many ecclesiastics held seats in the 
 ting's council, or occupied the high offices of state. At times, 
 the lawyers, finding their personal interests threatened, rose 
 against these encroachments; but Charles gave no heed to 
 them; and such was the confidence felt by Laud, that when 
 he had caused the wand of high treasurer to be given to bishop 
 Juxon, he exclaimed, in the transport of his joy, " Now let 
 the church subsist and sustain her own power herself;^ — :all is 
 accomplished for her: I can do no more." ^ 
 
 By the time things had come to this pass, the people were 
 not alone in their anger. The high nobility, part of them at 
 least, took the alarm.^ They saw in the progress of the 
 •church far more than mere tyranny; it was a regular revolu- 
 tion, which, not satisfied -with crushing popular reforms, dis- 
 figured and endangered the first reformation; that which 
 kings had made and the aristocracy adopted. The latter had 
 learned to proclaim the supremacy and divine right of the 
 throne, which, at least, freed them from any other empire; 
 now they had severally to acknowledge the divine right of 
 bishops, and to bow down, in their turn, before that church 
 whose humiliation they had admiringly sanctioned, in whose 
 spoils they had shared. From them was required servility, 
 stiU more jealous of its prerogatives than liberty of its righls; 
 yet others, heretofore their inferiors, were permitted to as- 
 sume independence. They felt their rank, nay, perhaps their 
 property, in danger. Haughtiness on the part of the clergy, 
 was an annoyance to which they had now been long unac- 
 -customed; they heard people say, that the day would soon 
 come when a simple ecclesiastic would be as great a per- 
 sonage as the proudest gentleman in the land;' they saw 
 the bishops or their creatures carry off well nigh all publio 
 offices, well pigh all the favours of the cro-wn, the only com- 
 pensation remaining to the nobles for the loss of their ancient 
 splendour, their liberties, and their power. Charles, besides 
 being sincere in his devotion to the clergy, promised himself 
 in their exaltation a strong support against the iU-will of 
 
 ' Laud's Diary, under the date of the 6th of M^£h, 1636. 
 ' NeaJ, ii. 250. » lb. ii '251. 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the people; and, altogether, the disposition to censure the 
 conduct and to suspect the designs of government, soon be- 
 came universal; discontent spread from the workshops of the 
 city to the saloons of Whitehall. 
 
 Among the higher classes, it manifested itself in a distaste 
 for the court, and a freedom of mind hitherto unknown. 
 Several of the higher nobility, the most esteemed by the 
 country, retired to their estates, in order to show their disap- 
 probation by their absence. In London and about the throne, 
 the spirit of independence and investigation penetrated into 
 assemblies before utterly servile or frivolous. Since the reign 
 of Elizabeth, a taste for sciences and literature had no longer 
 been the exclusive privilege of their professors; the society of 
 distinguished men, philosophers, scholars, poets, artists, and the 
 pleasures of learned and literary conversation, had been sought 
 hj the court as a new source of display, in other quarters, as 
 a noble pastime; but no need of opposition mixed itself up with 
 the spirit of these associations ; it was even the fashion, whether 
 they were held in some famous tavern, or in the mansion of 
 some lord, to ridicule the morose humour and fanatic resist- 
 ance of the religious nonconformists, already known under 
 the appellation of puritans. Fetes, plays, literary conversa- 
 tion, an agreeable interchange of flatteries and favours, were 
 all that entered into the aim of a society, of which the throne 
 was usually the centre and always the protector. It was no 
 longer thus in the reign of Charles; men of letters and men 
 of the world continued to meet' together; but they discussed 
 much graver questions, and discussed them apart from the 
 observation of power, which would have taken offence at 
 them. Public affairs, the moral sciences, religious problems, 
 were the topics of their conversations, wrhich Were brilliant 
 and animated, and eagerly sought by young men returned 
 'from their travels, or who were studying law in the Temple, 
 and by all the other men of a serious and active mind whose 
 rank and fortune gave them the opportunity. Here Selden 
 poured out the treasures of his erudition; ChiUingworth 
 discoursed of his doubts on matters of fkith; lord Falkland, 
 then qtute young, threw open liis house for their meetings^ 
 and his gardens were compared to those of the Acadr™" ' 
 
 ' Clurendon's Memoirs, (1827,) i. 55. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 57 
 
 There neither sects nor parties -vrere formed, but free and 
 rigorous opinions. Unshackled by selfish interests or projects, 
 drawn together solely by the pleasure of exchanging ideas, 
 and stimulating each other to generous sentiments, the men 
 who took part in these meetings debated without constraint, 
 and each sought only truth and justice. Some, more parti- 
 cularly applying themselves to philosophical meditation, in- 
 quired what form of government most suited the dignity of 
 man: others, lawyers by profession, allowed no illegal act of 
 the king or his council to pass unnoticed; others, theologians 
 by calling or taste, narrowly investigated the first ages of 
 Christianity, their creeds, their forms of worship, and com- 
 pared them with the church which Laud was essaying to 
 establish. These men were not united by common passions 
 and perils, nor by any definite principles or object; but they 
 all agreed and, mutually excited each other to detest tyranny, 
 to despise the court, to regret the parliament, to desire, in short, 
 a" reform which they had slight hope of, but in which each, 
 in the freedom of his thought, promised himself the termi- 
 nation of his sorrows, the accomplishment of all his wishes. 
 
 Furthei: from court, with men of an inferior class and 
 inferior refinement of mind, the feeling was of a severer 
 character, and the ideas though narrower more determined. 
 Here opinions were connected with interest, passions with 
 opinions. "With the gentry, it was more particularly against 
 political tyranny that anger was directed. The decay of the 
 higher aristocracy, and of the feudal system, had greatly weak- 
 ened the distinctions of rank among the inferior classes: all 
 gentlemen at this time regarded themselves as the descendants ' 
 of those who had achieved Magna Charta; and were indig- 
 nant at seeipg their rights, their persons, their possessions 
 subject to the good will and pleasure of the king and his 
 councillors, while their ancestors, as they constantly re- 
 minded one another, had of old made war upon the sovereign, 
 and dictated laws. No philosophical theory, no learned dis- 
 tinction between democracy, aristocracy, and royalty, occu- 
 pied them; the house of commons aione filled their thoughts: 
 that represented, in their eyes, the nobles as well as the people, 
 the ancient coalition of the bai'ons as well as the nation at 
 large: that alone had of late years defended public liberty, that 
 alone was capable of regaining it; that alone was though^ 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ©f, when parliament was mentioned; and the lawfuhiess as well 
 as the necessity of its being all-powerful was an idea that 
 by degrees established itself in every mind. With respect to 
 the church, most of the gentry were, as to its. form of govern- 
 ment, without any particular view, and assuredly without 
 any idea of destroying it. They had no hostility to episco- 
 pacy; but the bishops were odious to them as the abettors 
 and upholders of tyranny. The reformation had proclaimed 
 the enfranchisement of civil society, and abolished the usur- 
 pations of spiritual power in temporal matters. The Angli- 
 can clergy sought to resume the power which Rome had 
 lost: that this ambition might be repressed, that the pope 
 should have no successors in England, that the bishops, 
 keeping apart from the government of the state, should 
 limit themselves to administering, according to the laws of 
 the land, the affairs of religion in their respective dioceses, 
 this was the general wish and feeling of the country nobility 
 and gentry, who were all well enough disposed to sanction 
 an episcopal constitution, provided the church neither pre- 
 tended to political power nor to divine right. 
 
 In the towps, the better class of citizens, in the country, a 
 large proportion of the lesser gentry, and almost all the free- 
 holders, carried their views, extended their indignation, particu- 
 larly in religious matters, much further than this. "With them 
 predominated a passionate attachment to the cause of re- ' 
 form, an ardent desire to have its great principles thoroughly 
 worked out, a profound hatred of everything that retained 
 any semblance to popery, or recalled it to their memory. It 
 was under the usurpations of the Roman hierarchy, said they, 
 that the primitive church, the simplicity of its worship, the 
 purity of its faith, were destroyed. Therefore was it, they 
 went on, that the first church of reform, the ,new apostles, 
 Zwinglius, Calvin, Knox, applied themselves promptly and 
 vigorously to abolish this tyrannical constitution and its 
 idolatrous pomps. The gospel had been their rule,' the pri- 
 mitive church their model. England alone persisted in 
 walking in the ways of popery: for was the yoke of the 
 bishops less hard, their conduct more evangelical, their pride 
 less arrogant than that of Rome? Like Rome, they only 
 thought of power and riches; like Rome, they disliked fre- 
 quent preaching, austerity of manners, freedom of prayer; 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 59 
 
 like Rome, they claimedto subject to imnmtable and minute 
 forms the impulses of Christian souls; like Eome, they substi- 
 tuted, for the vivifying words of Christ, the worldly pageantry 
 of their ceremonies. On the sacred day of the sabbath did 
 true Christians desire to perform, in the retii-ement of their 
 homes, their pious exercises? in every square, in every .street, 
 the noise of games and dancing, the riots of drunlsenness insult- 
 ingly broke in upon their meditations. And the bishops were 
 not satisfied with permitting these profane pastimes : they re- 
 commended — nay, almost commanded them, lest the people 
 should acquire a taste for more holy pleasm-es.' Was there in 
 their flock a man whose timorous conscience felt wounded by 
 some usages of the church? they imperiously imposed upon 
 him the observance of its minutest laws; if they saw another 
 attached to the laws, they tormented him with their innova- 
 tions; they crushed the humble; the high-souled, they irritated 
 to revolt. On all sides were maintained the maxims, usages, 
 and pretensions of the enemies of the true faith. And why 
 this abandonment of the gospel? this oppression of the most 
 zealous Christians ? To maintain a power which the gospel 
 conferred on no one, wliich the first believers had never known. 
 It was desired that episcopacy should be abolished, that the 
 church, becoming once more itself, its own, should Ibe hence- 
 forth governed by ministers equal among themselves, simpla 
 ■preachers of the gospel, and regulating in concert, in common 
 deliberation, the discipline of the Christian people; this would 
 be indeed the church of Christ; then there would no longer 
 be idolatry, or tjrranny; and the reformation, at last accom* 
 plished, would no longer have to fear popery, even now at the 
 door, ready to invade the house of God, which its keepers 
 seem getting feady for the reception of the enemy.^ 
 . When the people, among whom, from the first rise of the 
 reformation, these ideas had been obscurely fermenting, saw 
 them adopted by a number of rich, eminent, and influential 
 men, their own direct and natural supporters, they acquired a 
 confidence in them and in themselves, which, though it did 
 not then break out into sedition, soon changed the whole 
 condition and aspect of the country. Ali'eady in 1582 and 
 1616, a few nonconformists, formally separating from the 
 
 ' Nenl.ii. S13; EusIiwovth,'i- 2.191. , ' Bushworth, i. 3, 172i 
 
60 HISTORY OP THK 
 
 church of England, had formed, under the name, afterwards so 
 celebrated, of Brownists and Independents, little dissenting 
 sects, who rejected all general government of the church, and 
 proclaimed the right of every congregation of the faithful to re- 
 gulate its own worship upon purely republican principles.* 
 Prom that epoch, some private congregations had been esta- 
 blished on this model, but they were few in number, poor, and 
 almost all as strange to the nation as to the church. Exposed, 
 without the means of defence, to persecution as soon as it 
 had ferreted them out, the sectaries fled, and generally 
 retired to Holland. But soon love for their country struggled 
 in their hearts, with the desire for liberty; to conciliate both, 
 they sent messages to the friends whom they had left behind, 
 concerting with them to go together in search of a new 
 country, in some scarcely known region, but which at least 
 belonged to England and where English people only were to 
 be found. The more wealthy sold their property,, bought a 
 small vessel, provisions, ipi]^lements of husbandry, and, 
 under the charge of a minister of their faith, went to join 
 their friends in Holland, thence to proceed together to 
 North America, where some efforts at colonization were then 
 making. It seldom happened that the vessel was large 
 enough to take all the passengers who wished to go; on such 
 occasions, all being assembled on the sea side, at the place off 
 which the ship lay at anchor, there, on the beach, the mi- 
 nister of that part of the congregation which was to remain 
 behind, preached a farewell sermon; the minister of those who 
 were about to depart answered him by another sermon. Long 
 did they pray together ere they exchanged a parting embrace; 
 and then, as the one party sailed away, the other returned 
 sorrowfully, to await amid a strange people, the opportunity 
 and means of rejoining their brethren.^ Several expeditions 
 of this kind took place successively and without obstacle, 
 owing to the obscurity of the fugitives. But aU at once, in 
 1637, the king perceived that they had become numerous 
 and frequent, that considerable citizens engaged in them, 
 that they carried p-way vrith them great riches; already, it 
 was said, more than twelve millions of property had thus 
 been lost to the country.* It was no longer merely a few 
 
 ^ Neal, i. 301 ; ii. 43, 92. • lb. ji. 110. ' lb. 186. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLtTTION. fcl 
 
 weak and obscure sectarians who felt the weight of tyranny; 
 their opinions had spread, and their feelings were shared, 
 even by the classes which did not adopt their opinions. In 
 various ways, the government had rendered itself so odious, 
 that thousands of men, differing in rank and fortune and 
 objects, severed themselves from their native land. An 
 order of the council forbade these emigrations, (May 1, 
 1637.)' At that very time, eight vesseb, ready to depart, 
 were at anchor in the Thames: on board one of them were 
 Jpym, Haslerig, Hampden, and Cromwell.^ 
 
 They were wrong to fly from tjrranny, for the people began 
 to brave it. Fermentation had succeeded to discontent. It 
 was no longer merely the re-establishment of legal order, 
 nor even the abolition of episcopacy, that men's thoughts 
 limited themselves to. In the shadow of the great party which 
 meditated this double reform, a number of more ardent, more 
 daring sects were growing, up. On aU sides, small congre- 
 gations detached themselves from the church, taking as their 
 symbol some such or such interpretation of a dogma; some the 
 rejection of such or such a rite; some the destruction of all ec- 
 clesiastical government, the absolute independence of the faith- 
 ful, and the having recourse alone to the inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit. Everywhere passion mastered fear. Notwithstanding 
 the active inquisition of Laud, sects of aU descriptions assem- 
 bled, in towns, in some cellar; in the country, under the roof 
 •of a barn, or in the midst of a wood. The dismal character 
 of the locality, their perils and difficulties in meeting, all ex- 
 cited the imagination of preachers and hearers; they passed 
 together long hours, often whole nights, praying, singing 
 hymns, seeldng the Lord, and cursing their enemies. Of 
 little import to the safety or even to the credit of these fanatic 
 associations was the senselessness of their doctrines, or the 
 small number of their partisans; they were sheltered and pro- 
 tected by the general resentment that had taken possession of 
 the country. In a short time, whatever their appellation, 
 their creed, or their designs, the confidence of the noncon- 
 formists in public favour became so great, that they did not 
 hesitate to distinguish themselves by their dress and their 
 
 ' Kushworth, i. 2, 409. 
 " Nen], ii. 23?. Wnlpolc, GataJogiie of Koyia and Noble Authors, (1738,) 
 1.206. 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE ; 
 
 mannerS) thus professing their opinions- before the very eyes 
 of their persecutors. Clothed in black, the hair cut close, the 
 head covered with a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat, they 
 were everywhere objects of respect to the multitude, who 
 gave them the name of saints. Their credit augmented to 
 sueh a degree, that notwithstan^ng the persecution which 
 followed them, even hypocrisy declared on their sidei 
 Banfa-upt merchants, workmen without employment, men 
 rendered outcasts by debauchery and debts, whoever needed 
 to raise his character in the estimation of the public, 
 assumed the dress, air, and language of the saints, and at 
 once obtained, from a passionate credulity, welcome and pro- 
 tection. • In pohtical matters the effervescence, thoii^h less 
 general, less disorderly, daily extended. Among the inferior 
 classes, the effect either of their bettered means, or of reli- 
 gious opinions, ideas and desires of equality, till then unknown^ 
 began to circulate. In a more elevated sphere, some proud 
 and rugged miaids, detesting the court, despising the impo* 
 tency of the ancient laws, and giving themselves up passion-r 
 ately to their soaring thoughts, dreamed, in the solitude of 
 their reading, or the secrecy of their private conversations, of 
 more simple and efficacious institutions. Others, influenced 
 by aims less pure, indifferent to all creeds, profligate in their 
 manners, and thrown by their humour or by chance among 
 the discontented, desired an anarchy which would make way 
 for their ambition, or at aU events free them from all re- 
 straint. Fanaticism and licentiousness, sincerity and hypo- 
 crisy, respect and contempt for old institutions, legitimate 
 wishes, and disorderly aspirations — aU these concurred to 
 foment the national anger; all rallied together against a power 
 whose tyranny inspired with the same hatred men of the most 
 various feelings and views, while its imprudence and weakness 
 gave activity and hope to the meanest factions, to the laost 
 daring dreams. 
 
 For some time this progress of public indignation passed 
 unperceived by the king and his council; apart, as it were, 
 from the nation, and meeting with no effectual resistance, the 
 government, notwithstanding its embarrassments,, was still 
 confident and haughty. To justify its ponduct, it often spoke, 
 
 ' Mrs. Hutcbiuson's Memoirs. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 63 
 
 and with marked emphasis, of the bad spirit that was abroad; 
 but its momentary doubts did not awaken its prudence ; while it 
 feared, it despised its enemies. Even the necessity of making, 
 day after day, its oppression still more and more oppressive^ 
 did not enlighten it; nay, with an imbecUe pride, it regarded 
 as manifestations of power the additional rigour which the 
 increasing peril obliged it to put in force. 
 
 In 1636, England was inundated with pamphlets against the 
 favour shown to the papists, the disorders of the courts above 
 all, against the tyranny of Laud and the bishops. Already 
 more than once the star-chamber had severely punished such 
 publications, but never before had they been so numerous, so 
 violent, so diffused, so eagerly sought for as now. They were 
 spread through every town, they found their way to the re- 
 motest villages; daring smugglers brought thousands of copiei 
 from Holland, realizing a large profit; they were commented on 
 in the churches, which Laud had not been able entirely to clear 
 of puritan preachers. Incensed at the inefflcacy of its ordi- 
 nary severities, the council resolved to try others. A lawyer, a 
 theologian, and a physician, Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick, 
 were brought at the same time before the star-chamber. Th0 
 government at first wished to try them for high treason, 
 which would have involved capital punishment; but the 
 judges declared there were no means of straining the law so 
 far, so that they were fain to content themselves with a charge 
 of petty treason or felony.' 
 
 The iniquity of the proceedings quite matched the barba- 
 rity of the sentence. The accused were summoned to make 
 their defence forthwith, or that the allegiations would be held 
 as admitted. They answered they could not write it, for that 
 paper, ink, and pens had been denied them. These were 
 supplied, with an order to have their defence signed by a 
 barrister; and yet for several days access to the prison was 
 refused to the barrister they had selected. Admitted at last, 
 he refused to sign the paper, fearing to compromise hjjmself 
 with the court ; and no other counsel would undertake it. Thev 
 asked permission to give in their defence signed by ther.' 
 selves. The court rejected the application, with the infc'' 
 mation that without a barrister's signature they should eoa- 
 
 ' Eusliworth, i. 2, 324 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 "sider the imputed offences proved. " My lords," said Prynne, 
 "you ask an impossibility." The court merely repeated its 
 declaration. The trial opened with a gross insult to one of 
 the prisoners. Four years before, for another pamphlet, 
 Prynne had been condemned to have his ears cut off. " I 
 had thought," said lord Finch, looking at him, " Mr. Prynne 
 had no ears; but methinks he hath ears." This caused many 
 of the lords to take a closer view of him, and for their 
 better satisfaction the usher of the court turned up his hair 
 and showed his ears, upon the sight whereof the lords were 
 displeased they had been no more cut off, and reproached him. 
 " I hope .your honours wiU not be offended," said Prynne; 
 " pray God give you ears to hear."' 
 
 They were sentenced to the pillory, to lose their ears, to 
 pay 5000Z., and to perpetual imprisonment. On the day of 
 the sentence, (June 30,) an immense crowd pressed round 
 the pillory; the executioner wanted to keep them off: " Let 
 them come, and spare not," said Burton; " that they may 
 learn to suffer;" the man was moved, and did not insist.^ 
 " Sir," said a woman to Biuton, " by this sermon, God may 
 convert many unto him." He answered, " God is able to do 
 it, indeed!"^ A young man tm'ned pale, as he looked at him: 
 " Son, son," said Burton to him, " what is the matter, you 
 look so pale? I have as much comfort as my heart can hold, 
 and if I had need of more I should have it." ■• The crowd' 
 pressed nearer and nearer round the condemned; some one 
 gave Bastwick a bunch of fl9wers; a bee settled on it: " Do 
 ye not see this poor bee," said he, " she hath found out this 
 very place to suck sweet from these flowers; and cannot I 
 suck sweetness in this very place from Christ." ^ " Had we 
 respected our liberties," said Prynne, "we had not stood here 
 at this time; it was for the general good and liberties of you 
 all that we have now thus far engaged our own liberties in 
 this cause. For did you know how deeply they have en- 
 •croached on your liberties; if you knew but into what times 
 you are cast, it would tnake you look about, and see how far 
 your liberty did lawfully extend, and so maintain it." ^ The 
 air rang with solemn acclamations. 
 
 state Trinls, iii. 711, ' lb. 751. lb. 753. 
 
 ♦ lb. 752. » lb. 751, « lb. 748. ' 
 
English kevolutiok. 63 
 
 Some months after, (April 18,) the same scenes were re- 
 newed around the scaffold where, for the same cause, Lilburne 
 was undergoing a like cruel treatment. The enthusiasm 
 of the sufferer and of the people seemed even stiU greater. 
 Tied to a cart's tail and whipped through the streets of West- 
 minster, Lilburne never ceased from exhorting the multitude 
 that closely followed him. When bound, to the piUory, he 
 continued to speak; he was ordered to be silent, bat in vain; 
 they gagged hhoti. He then drew from his pockets pamphlets, 
 which he threw to the people, who seized them with avidity; 
 his hands were then tied. Motionless and silent, the crowd 
 who had heard hini remained to gaze upon him. Some of 
 his judges were at a window, as if curious to see how far his ' 
 perseverance would go; he exhausted their ctiriosity.' 
 
 As yet the martyrs had been only men of the people; none 
 of them distinguished by name, talents, or fortune; most of 
 them, indeed, before their trial, were of but little considera- 
 tion in their profession; and the opinions they maintained 
 were, chiefly, those of the fanatic sects, whieh were popuiar' 
 more especially with the multitude. Proud of their courage, 
 the people soon charged the higher classes with weakness and 
 apathy: " Honour," said they, " that did use to reside in the 
 head, is now, like the gout, got into the foot."^ But it was 
 not so: the country nobles and gentlemen, and the higher 
 class of citizens, were no less irritated than the people; but 
 more clear-sighted and less enthusiastic, they waited for some 
 great occasion giving weU-grounded expectation of success. 
 This public cry aroused them, and inspired them with confi- 
 dence. The time had come when the nation, thoroughly ex-» 
 cited, only needed known, steady, influential leaders, who 
 would resist, not as adventurers or mere sectaries, but in the 
 name of the rights and interests of the whole country. 
 
 A gentleman of Buckinghamshire, John Hampden, gave 
 the signal for this national resistance. . Before him, in- 
 deed, several had attempted it, but unsuccessfully; they, 
 like him, had refused to pay the impost called ship money, 
 requiring to have the question brought before the court of 
 Bang's bench, and that they should be allowed, in a solemn 
 
 ' State Trials, 1315, ci seq. . 
 
 ^ A saying related in a letter of lord Hnugliton to Sir Thomas Wentworth, 
 doted May lOtk. 1C2T. Straiford's Letters and Despatches, i. 38. 
 
 F 
 
66 . HISTORT OF THE 
 
 trial, to naaintain their opinion of the illegality ofithe tax, 
 and the legality of their refusal to pay it; but- the court had 
 hitherto always found means to elude the discussion;' Hamp- 
 den enforced it. Though in 1626 and 1628 he had sat in 
 parliament on the benches of the opposition, he had not at- 
 tracted any peculiar suspicion on the part of the court. Since 
 the last dissolution, he had lived tranquilly, sometimes on his 
 ^states, sometimes travelling over England and Scotland, 
 everywhere attentively observing the state of men's minds, 
 and forming numerous connexions, but giving no utterance 
 to his own feelings. Possessing a large fortune, he enjoyed 
 it honourably, and without display; of grave and simple 
 manners, but without any show of austerity, remarkable for 
 liis affability and the serenity of liis temper, he was respected, 
 by all hi* neighbours, of whatever party, and passed among 
 them for a sensible: man, opposed to the prevalent system, but 
 not fanatic nor factious. The magistrates of the county, ac- 
 cordingly, without fearing, spared lum. In 1636> in their 
 assessment, they rated Hampden at tlie trifling sum of twenty 
 shillings, itttending without doubt to let him off easy, and also 
 hoping that the smaUness of the rate would prevent a prudent 
 man from disputing it. Hampden refused to pay it, but 
 without passion, or noise; solely intrait upon bringiBg to a 
 solemn judicial .djecisio% in Ms own person, the rights of his 
 CGUBtry. In prisoni.his conduct was equally quiet and re- 
 served; he only requjr;ed to be brought before the judges, and 
 represented that the king, was no less interested than himself 
 in having ^uch a, question settled by .the laws. The king, 
 full of confidence, having recently obtained from the judges 
 the declaration, that, in case of urgent necessity, and for the 
 security of the kingdom, this tax might be legally imposed, 
 was, at last, persuaded to allow Hampden the honour of • 
 fighting the case. Hampden's counsel managed the affair 
 with the same prtidfiuce that he! himself had shown, speak- 
 ing of the king and his prerogative with profound respee^ 
 avoiding all declamation, all hazardous principles,, resting 
 solely on the laws and history of the country.'' One of them, 
 , I^r. Holborne, even checked himself several times, begging 
 the court to forgive him the warmth of his arguments, and to 
 
 ' •fiushwortli, i. S, 323, 4U, &c. ' lb. i. 3, 352 ; State Trials, iii. S2S. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 67 
 
 v.^'u-n liim if lie passed the limits whieli decorum and law pre- 
 iSeribed. The crowii' lawyere, themselves, praised Mr. Hamp- 
 den for his moderation. During the thirteen days the trial 
 -lasted, amid all the public irritation, the fundamental laws of 
 the conmtry were debated without the defenders of pitblic 
 liberty once lajdng tliemselves open to any charge of passion, 
 any suspicion of seditious design.' 
 
 Hampden was condemned (June 12), only four judges 
 voting in bis'fa»vour.^ The king congratulated Mmself on this 
 decision, as the decisive triumjjh of arbitrary power. The 
 people took the same view of it, and no linger hoped aught 
 from the magistrates or the laws. Charles had but small cause 
 for rejoicing., the peoplej in losing hope, regained courage. 
 Discontent, hitherto deficient in cohesion- became Unanimous: 
 gentlemen, citizens, farmers, tradespeopte, presbyterkns, sec- 
 tarians, the whole nation felt itself wounded by this decision.* 
 The name of Hampden was in every mouth, pronounced 
 with tenderness and pridte, for his destiny was the type of 
 his conduct, his conduct the glory of the country. . The 
 friends and pairtisans of the^ court scarcely dared to maintain 
 the legality of its victory. The judges excused themselves j 
 almost eonfesshig their cowardice, to obtain forgiveness-. 
 The more peaceful citizens were sorrowfully silent; the 
 bolder spirits expressed their indignation aloud, with secret 
 satisfaction. Soon, both in London and the provinces, the 
 discontented found leaders who met to talk of the future. 
 EverjTvhere measures were taken to concei't with and up- 
 hold each other in case of necessity. In a word, a party 
 was formed, carefuUy concealing itself as such, but pub- 
 licly avowed by the nation. The king and Ms council vrere 
 still rejoicing over their last triumph, when already their ad- 
 versaries had found the occasion and the means to act. 
 
 About a month after Hampden's condemnation, (Jufy 23,) 
 
 ' State Trials, iii. 846—1254. 
 ' Sir Humphry DaTCnport, sir Jolin Denliam, sir EicJiai-d Hutton, and sir 
 Oeorge Crooke. Contrary to tMe general assertion, Mr. lingardi says tliat 
 five judges declared in favour of Hampden. Hist, of Engltuid, 1825, x. 33, 
 His error evidently ai-isesi from liis liaviug reckoned, for two voices, the two 
 opinions given in favour of Hampden by Judge Crooke, which ai-e both in- 
 serted iu the trial. (State Trials, iii. 1127 — 1181.) In 1045, the son of 
 ■ judge Hutton was killed at Sherborne for the royal cause. 
 
 • May, passim. Hocket, Life of Bishop Williams, part 2, p. 127. 
 
 j.'2 
 
6S HISTORY 01' THE 
 
 a violent sedition broke out at Edinburgh, it was excited 
 by the arbitrary and sudden introduction of a new liturgy. 
 Since his accession, after the example of his father, Charles 
 had incessantly been endeavouring to overthrow the repub- 
 lican constitution which the Scottish church had borrowed 
 from Calvinism, and to re-establish Scottish episcopacy, the 
 outline of which stiU existed, in the plenitude of its authority 
 and splendour. Fraud, violence, threats, corruption, every- 
 thing had been essayed to procure success for this design. 
 Despotism had even shown itself supple and patient; it had 
 addressed itself sometimes to the ambition of the ecclesiastics, 
 sometimes to the interest of the small landed proprietors, 
 offering to the latter an easy redemption of their tithes, to 
 the former high church dignities and honourable offices in 
 the state, always advancing towards its object, yet content- 
 ing itself with a slow and tortuous progress. Fi-om time to 
 time the people became more and more alarmed, .and the 
 national clergy resisted ; its assemblies were then suspended, 
 its boldest preachers banished. The parliament, generally 
 servile, sometimes hesitated; the elections were then inter- 
 fered with, their .debates stifled, even their votes falsified.'. 
 The Scottish church, in the course of struggles wherein vic- 
 tory always declared for the crown, passed by degrees under 
 the yoke of a hierarchy and discipline, nearly conformable 
 with that of the English church, and which regarded as equally 
 sacred the absolute power and the divine right of bishops 
 and of the king. In 1636, the work seemed all but com- 
 pleted; the bishops had recovered their jurisdiction; tlie 
 archbishop of St. Andrew's (Spottiswood) was chancellor of 
 the kingdom, the bishop of Boss (Maxwell) on the point of 
 becoming high treasurer; out of fourteen prelates, nine had 
 seats in the privy council,, and preponderated tliere.^ Charles 
 and Laud thought the time had come for consummating the 
 matter by imposing upon this church, without consulting 
 either clergy or people, a code of feanons, and a mode of 
 worship, in accordance" with its new condition. 
 
 , But the reformation had not been in Scotland, as in En"* 
 land, born of the will of the prince and the servility of the 
 
 ' Barnel's Own Times; Lning, Hist of ScoUaucl, iii, llO, 
 ' Laing, iii. 122. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTIOK. tj^ 
 
 court. Popular from its commencement, it had, by its own 
 Strength, and in spite of all obstacles, mounted to the throne 
 instead of descending from it. No difference of system, 
 , situation, or interests had, from the outset, divided its parti- 
 sans; and in the course of a long struggle, they had accus- 
 •tomed themselves, by turns, to brave and to -wield power. 
 The Scottish preachers might boast of having raised the 
 nation, sustained civil war, dethroned a queen, and ruled 
 their king till the day when, ascending a foreign throne, he 
 escaped from their empire. Strong in. this union, and in the 
 remembrance of so many victories, they boldly mixed to- 
 gether, in their sermons as in their private thoughts, politics 
 and religion, the affairs of the country and religious contro- 
 versies; and from the pulpit censured by name the king's 
 ministers • and their own parishioners alike freely. The 
 people, in such a school, had acquired the same audacity of 
 mind and speech; owing to themselves alone the triumph of 
 the reformation, they cherished it not only as their creed, 
 but also as the work of their hands. They held as a funda- 
 mental maxim the spiritual independence of their church, 
 not the religious supremacy of the monarch, and thought 
 "themselves in a position, as well as called upon by duty, to 
 protect against popery, royalty, and episcopacy, that which 
 alone it had set up against them. The preponderance given 
 to their kings, by their elevation to the throne of England, 
 for awhile abated their courage; hence the success of James 
 against those presbyterian doctrines and institutions, which, 
 as simple king of Scotland he had been fain to submit to. 
 Kings are easily deceived by the apparent servility of nations. 
 Scotland intimidated, seemed to Charles, Scotland subdued. 
 By the aid of his supremacy and of episcopacy, he had kept 
 under in England the popular reformation which had always 
 been successfully contested by his iM'edecessors; he thought 
 he could destroy it in Scotland, where it had reigned, where 
 it Was alone legally constituted, where the supremacy of the 
 throne was only acknowledged by the bishops themselves, 
 barely able to retain their own position by its support. 
 
 The attempt had that issue which has often, in similar 
 cases, been the astonishment and sorrow of the servants of 
 despotism: it failed at the point of apparent success. The re- 
 establishment of episcopacy, the abolition of the ancient laws. 
 
'70 HISTORY OF 'THE 
 
 tlie suspension or corruption of political and religious assenir 
 blies, ayll that could be done out of sight, as it were, of the 
 people, had been done. But the instant that, to complete 
 the work, it became necessary to change the form of public 
 worship, on the very day 'of the intrpduction of the new 
 liturgy into the cathedral of Edinburgh, all was over. In a 
 few weeks, a sudden and uniyersal rising brought to Edin- 
 burgh' (Oct. 18, 1637), from all parts of the Idngdom, an 
 immense multitude, landholders, farmers, citizens, tradesmen, 
 peasants, who came to protest against the innovations with 
 which their worship was threatened, and to back their protest 
 by their presence. They crowded the houses and streets^ 
 encamped at the gates and beneath the walls of the town, 
 besieged the hall of the privy council, who vainly demanded 
 assistance from the municipal council, itself besieged, insulted 
 the bishops as they passed, and drew up, in the High-street an 
 aiccusation of tyranny and idolatry against liiem, which was 
 signed by ecclesiaaties, gentlemen, and even by some lords.^ 
 The king, without answering thdr complaints, ordered the 
 petitioners to return home; they obeyed, less from submission 
 than from necessity; and returned in a month (USTov. 15) more 
 numerous than before. This second time there was no dis- 
 order, thar passion was grave and silent; the upper classes 
 had engaged in the quan-el; in a fortnight, a regular organ- 
 ization of resistance was proposed, adopted, and put in action; 
 a superior council, elected from the different ranks of citi- 
 zens, was charged to proseouite the general entwprise; in 
 every county, in every town, subordinate councils executed 
 its instructions. The insurrection had disappeared, ready to 
 rise at the voice of the government ithad given itself. 
 
 Charles att last replied, (Dec. 7,)' but only to conlirm the 
 liturgy, and to forbid -the petitioners to assemble, under 
 the peinalties of treason. The Scottish council were ordered 
 to keep the royal proclamation secret, until the moment 
 of its pubhcaition; but ere it reached Scotland, the leaders 
 of the insurrection already knew its contents. Theyimmer 
 diat^ly convoked the people, to support their representatives, 
 The council, to anticipate them, at once published the pro ■ 
 clamaiion, (Feb. 19, 1638.) At the same moment, on the verj 
 
 ' Euslnvortli, i. 2, 40-1. 
 • Neal, ii. 374; Laiiig, iii. 13(1. ^EuslnTo^tIl, i. -2,408. 
 
KNGLISH REVOLUTION. 7f 
 
 footsteps of the king's heralds, two peers of the reahn, lord 
 Hume and lord Lindsay, caused a protest, which they had 
 ]iad signed, to be proclaimed and placarded in the name of 
 their fellow-citizens. Others performed the same office iii 
 every place where the Idng's proclamation was read. Every 
 day more excitdd, more menaced, more united, the insuiv 
 ^eiits at last resolved to bind themselves by a solesm league* 
 similar to those -which, since the origin of the reformation, 
 Scotland had several times adopted, in order to set forth and 
 maintain before all men their rights, their faith, and their 
 wishes. Alexander Henderson, the most influential of the 
 ecclesiastics, and Archibald Johnston, afterwards lord Wai-ris- 
 ton, a celebrated advocate, drew up this league under the 
 popular name of Covenant; it was revised and approved of 
 by the lords Balmerino, Loudon, and Eothes, (March 1, 
 1^38.) It contained, besides a minute and already ancient 
 profession of faith, the formal rejection of the new canons 
 and liturgy, and an oath of national union to defend, 
 against every danger, the sovereign, the reUgion, the laws 
 iand liberties of the country. It was no sooner proposed than 
 it was received with universal transport. Messengers, re- 
 lieving each other from village to village, carried it, with 
 incredible rapidity, to the most remote parts of the kingdom, 
 as the fiery cross was borne over the mountaans to call to war 
 all the vassals of the same chieftain.' Gentlemen, clergy, 
 citizens, labourers, women, children, all assembled in cjx)wds 
 in the churches, in the streets, to swear fealty to the cove- 
 nant. Even the highlanders, seized with the national imr 
 pulse, forgot for a moment their passionate loyalty and fierce 
 animosity to the lowlanders, and joined the insurgents. In 
 less than six weeks, all Scotland was confederat-ed under the 
 law of the covenant. The persons employed by government, 
 
 ' When a cHef mshed to assemble his clan on any sudden and im- 
 portant occasion, he MUed a goat, made a cross of some light wood, set 
 the four ends of it on fire, and then extinguished them in the blood of the 
 ■goat. This cross was called the fiei'y cross, or the cross of shame ; be- 
 cause he who refused to obey the token was declai'ed infamous. - The cross 
 was given into the hands of a quick and .trusty messenger, who, nianing 
 rapidly to the nearest hamlet, transferred it to the principal person, without 
 ntteiiiig any other word than the name of the place of rende^iTous. The new 
 messenger forwai-ded it with equal "pronijititude to the next village ; it thus 
 went, with amizing celerity, over the whole district dependent on the same 
 
72 HISTOHX OF THE 
 
 a few thousand catholics, and the town of Aberdeep, alone 
 refused to join it. 
 
 So much daring astonished Charles: he had been told of 
 insane riots by a miserable rabble; the municipal council of 
 Edinburgh had even come forward humbly to solicit ' hia 
 clemency, promising the prompt chastisement of the factious; 
 and his Scottish courtiers boasted daily of learning, by their 
 correspondence, that all was quiet, or nearly so.' Incensed 
 at the powerlessness of his will, he resolved to have recourse 
 to force; but nothing was ready; it was necessary to gain time. 
 The marquis of Hamilton was sent to Scotland, instructed 
 to flatter the rebels with some hope, but not to say anything 
 binding the king or to come to any settlement, Twenty thour 
 sand covenanters, assembled at Edinburgh for a solemn fast, 
 went to meet Hamilton, (June, 1638;) seven hundred clergy-, 
 men, dressed in their robes, stood on an eminence by lihe road 
 side, singing a psalm as he parsed.* The party wished tg 
 give the marquis a high idea of its strength; and Hamilton, 
 as well to preserve his credit with the country as to obey th^ 
 instructions of his master, was incUned to seem conciliatory. 
 But the concessions he proposed were deemed insufficient and 
 deceitful; a royal covenant he attempted to set up, in opposi-» 
 tion to the popular covenant, was rejected with derision. After 
 several useless interviews, and several journeys from Edin- 
 burgh to London, he suddenly (Sept.) received from the king 
 orders tc grant to the insurgents all their demands; the abo- 
 lition of the canons, of the liturgy, and of the court of high 
 commission; the promise of an assembly of the kirk, and of a 
 parliament in which all questions should be freely delDated, 
 and in which even the bishops might be impeached. The 
 Scots were at once rejoiced, and utterly amazed; but still 
 mistrustful, and the more so from the care taken to remove 
 
 chief; and passed on to tbose of Ms allies, if the danger was common to th^m. 
 At the sight of the fiery cross, every man from sixteen to sixty, capable of 
 bearing arms, vtbs obliged to take his best weapons and his best accoutre- 
 ments, and to proceed to the place of rendezvous. He who failed in this, 
 was liable to have his lands devastated by fire and blood ; a peril of wliich 
 the fiery cross was the emblem. In the civil war of 1745, the fiery cross 
 was often in circnlation in Scotland ; once in particular, it travelled in three 
 hours the whole district of Bredalbone, about thirty milesi This custom 
 existed in most of the Scandinavian nations, 
 
 ^ Clai'endon, i. ' May, 1. 40. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION, 7? 
 
 every pretext for their longfer confederating. The general 
 synod assembled at Glasgo\ii (Nov. 21.) It soon perceived 
 that Hamilton's only object was to impede their progress, and 
 to introduce into its acts some nullifying articles. Such, in 
 fact, were the king's instructions.* The assembly, however, 
 proceeded, and were taking measures to bring the bishops to 
 trial, when Hamilton suddenly pronounced their dissolution. 
 ■(I^ov. 28.) At the same time they heard that Charles was 
 preparing for war, and that a body of troops levied in Ireland, 
 by the exertions of Strafford, was on the point of embarking 
 for Scotland.^ Hamilton departed for London; but the synod 
 refused to disperse, continued their deliberations, condemned 
 all the royal innovations, asserted the covenant, and abolished 
 episcopacy. Several lords, till then neutral, (among others 
 the earl of Argyle, a powerful nobleman, and renowned for 
 his wisdom,) openly embraced the cause of their country. 
 Scottish merchants went abroad to buy ammunition and arms; 
 the covenant was sent to the Scottish troops serving on the 
 •Continent, and one of their best oflBicers, Alexander Leslie, was 
 invited to return home, to take, in case of need, the command 
 of the insurgents. Finally, in the name of the Scottish people, 
 a declaration was addressed to the English nation, (Feb. 27,) 
 to acquaint them with the just grievances of their brother 
 Christians, and to repel the calumnies with which their com- 
 mon enemies sought to blacken them and their cause. 
 
 The court received this declaration with ridicule; the con- 
 duct of the insurgents was laughed at there, as absurd inso- 
 lence; the only thing the courtiers professed to be annoyed at 
 was the degrading annoyance of having to fight them; for what 
 glory, what profit, could be got by a war with a people so poor, 
 vulgar, and obscure?^ Though a Scotchman himself, Charles 
 trusted that the old hatred and contempt of the English for 
 Scotland would prevent the covenanters' complaints from 
 taking any effect upon men's minds in the south. But the 
 faith which unites nations soon effaces the boundary-lines that 
 divide them. In the cause of the Scots, the malcontents of 
 England ardently recognised their own. Secret correspondence 
 ■was rapidly established between the two kingdoms. The decla- 
 rations of the insurgents were spread everywhere; their griev- 
 
 ' See Appendix, No. V. ' Strafford, ii. 233. 278, 279. 
 
 ' Mav, i. 47. ■ 
 
n 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ances, their proceeflings, their hopes, became the subject of 
 popidar conversation; in a short time, they acquired friends 
 and agents in London, in all the counties, in tte army, eren 
 at court. As soon as their firm resolution to resist was as- 
 eertained, and that opinion in England seemed to lend them 
 Its support, there w^ere not wanting Scotch, and even English 
 coiiirtiers, who, to injure some rival, to revenge themselves 
 for some refusal, to provide against chances, hastened to ren- 
 der them, underhaaid, good service, sometimes by sending 
 them information, sometimes by exaggerating to the other 
 courtiers their number, boasting of their discipline, and af* 
 fecting great uneasiness on the king's account, and regret thsd 
 he should incur such difficulties and dangers from want of a 
 little complaisanoe. The royal army, in its way towards Scot* 
 land, encountered a thousand reports <gpi«adon purpose to in- 
 timidate and keep it back; the earl of Essex, its general, was 
 earnestly advised to beware, to wait for rdmfoixsements; the 
 enemy, it was said, was much superior to him; they had been 
 seen at such a place, near the frontiers; they occupied all the 
 fortresses; even Berwick -would be in their hands before he 
 •could arrive there. The -earl, a scrupulous and faithful officer^ 
 though but little favourable to the designs of the court, eon* 
 tinned his xnandi, entered Berwick wiAout obstacle, and sooa 
 ■found- that' the troops of the insurgents were neither so nu- 
 merous nor so Well prepared as he had been told. Yet these 
 Tep6:5tB, as eagerly Kstened to as they were carefully spread, 
 did not the less trouble men's mands.' The anxiety increased 
 when the king arrived at York, (April.) He went there sur* 
 rounded with extraordinary pomp, still infatuated with the 
 idea of "the irresistible ascendancy of royal majesty, and flat- 
 tering himself that to display it would suffice to make- the 
 irebels return to their duty. As if to balance the appeal of 
 nation to nation, which had been made by Scotland to England; 
 he, in Ms turn, appealed to the nobility of hits kingdom, sum- 
 moning them, according to the feudal custom, to come and 
 render him, on this occasion, the service they owed him. 
 
 The lords and a crowd of gentlemen flocked to York as to 
 a festival. The town and camp presented the appearance of 
 a court and tournament, not at all that of an army and of 
 
 ' ClaiendoJi, i. 
 
EN6I.ISH EK.VOLUTION. 7^ 
 
 war. Charles's vanity ■waS delighted -with feucb display; bijt 
 Intrigoe, disorder, and insubordination prevailed around him.' 
 The Scots on the frontiers familiarly communieated with his 
 soldiers. He -wanted to exact from the lords an oath, that 
 they would tipon no pretext whatever keep up any connexion 
 "with the rebels; lord Brook and lord Say refused to take it; 
 and Charles dared not proceed further against them than to 
 order them to quit his court. Lord Holland entered the 
 Scottish territory, but on seeing a body of troops whom Leslie 
 had sldlfuUy disposed, and whom the earl, without much 
 examination, considered more numerous than his own, he 
 withdrew wil3i precipitation," Officers and soldiers all hesi- 
 tated to commence a war so generally anathematized. The 
 Scots, well informed of what passed, took advantage of this 
 disposition. They wrote to the chiefs of the arany, to lord 
 Essex, lord Arundel, lord Holland, in moderate and flatter- 
 ing terms, expressing aa entire confidence in the sentiments 
 of the nobility as well as of the people of Englaajd, and pray- 
 ing them to interpose and obtain for them from the king 
 justice and the restoration of his favour.' Soon, sure of being 
 supported, they addressed the king lumsdf, with humble 
 respect, but without relinquishing any of their claims.'' Charles, 
 a man without energy, and as readily put out by obstacles as 
 he was heedless before they presented themselves, felt alto- 
 gether embarrassed. Conferences were opened, (June 11.)^ 
 The king was haughty, but eager to conclude the matter; 
 the Scots obstinate, but not insolent. Charles's pride was 
 content with the humility of their language; and on the 18th 
 of June, 1639, by the adviee of Laud himself, uneasy, it is 
 said, at the approach of danger', a pacification was concluded 
 at Berwick, under which both armies were ordered to break 
 up, and a synod and Scotch parliament to be shortly con- 
 voked, but without any clear and precise treaty to put an 
 end to the differences which had given rise to the war. 
 
 That war was only adjourned, and this both parties equaUy 
 foresaw. The -Scots, in dismissing their troops, gave the 
 Officers an advance of pay, and ordered them to hold them- 
 selves constantly in readiness." On his sid^ Chades had 
 scarcely disljanded his army before he began secretly to 
 
 Clarendon,!. KlisKivorth, ii. 2, 933. ^ Clai'endon,.i. 
 
 Eusliivorth, ii. 2, 938. ^ lb. 940. • ° Wliitelocke, 31. 
 
76 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 levy another. A month after the pacification he sent for 
 Strafford to London to consult him, as he said, on some mili- 
 tary plans; and he added, " I have much more, and indeed 
 too much cause to desire your counsel and attendance for some 
 time, which I think not fit to express by letter, more than 
 this : the Scots povenant begins to spread too far."' Strafford 
 obeyed the summons instantly. It had long been his most 
 ardent desire to be employed near his master,, the only post in 
 •which his ambition could hope for the power and glory it 
 aimed at. He arrived, resolved to employ against the ,adver- ^ 
 saries of the crown the whole of his energies; speaking of the 
 .Scots with profound contempt, asserting that irresolution alone 
 had caused the late failure, and yet so confident in the firm- 
 ness of the king, that he promised himself from it irre- 
 sistible support. He found the court agitated with petty 
 intrigues; the earl of Essex, treated coldly, notwithstanding 
 his good conduct in the campaign, had retired in discontent; 
 the officers mutually accused each other of incapacity or want 
 of courage; the queen's favourites were eagerly at work, 
 seeking to turn the general embarrassments to the advance- 
 ment of their own fortunes and the downfal of their rivals; 
 the king liimself was low-spirited and anxious.* Strafford, 
 however, soon felt ill at ease, and unable to obtain the adoption 
 of what he judged necessary or to carrj^out even what he had 
 got adopted. The intrigues of the courtiers were soon directed 
 against him. He could not prevent one of his personal ene- 
 mies, sir Harry Vane, from being, through the queen's influ» 
 cnce, elevated to the rank of secretary of state.^ The public, 
 who had witnessed his arrival with anxiety, uncertain what 
 use he would make of his power, soon learned that he was 
 urging the most rigorous measures, and pursued him with 
 -their maledictions.* Matters became pressing. A dispute had 
 arisen between the king and the Scots, as to the construction 
 of the treaty of Berwick, of which scarcely anything had been 
 reduced to writing; Charles had had a paper, wliich, accord- 
 ing to the covenanters, expressed its real conditions, burnt 
 •by the common hangman; of this the Scots now loudly com- 
 plained, and the king did not care to put forth anything 
 in disproof of their statements, for in negotiating he had 
 
 Strafford's Letters and Despatches, ii. 372. * Clarendon, i. 314. 
 
 ' Clarendon, i. 21C. * May, i. 04, et seq. 
 
ENGLISH EF.VOLCTION, ^7 
 
 permitted them to hope that which he did not mean to 
 accomplish.! Irritated by this want of faith, and exhorted 
 by their English friends to redouble their distrust, the 
 synod and parliament of Scotland, far from yielding any 
 of their pretensions, put forward others still more daring. 
 The parliament demanded that the king should be bound to 
 convoke them every three years, that freedom of election and 
 of speech should be assured them, so that poUtical liberty, 
 firmly secured, might watch over the maintenance of the 
 national faith.^ The words, 'attempt on the prerogativCr 
 ' invaded sovereignty,' and so on, now sounded more loudly 
 than ever at court and in the council : " I wish these people," 
 said Strafford, " were well whipped into their right senses."^ 
 War was resolved upon. 'But how maintain it ? what new 
 and plausible motives put forward to the nation? The pubhc 
 treasury was empty, the king's private purse exhausted, and 
 opinion, already sufficiently powerful to make it advisable 
 it should be heard, if not followed. The pretext sought for 
 oifered itself. From the beginning of the troubles, cardinal 
 Richelieu, displeased with the English court, in which Spanish 
 influence prevailed, had been in correspondence with the 
 Scots; he had an agent among them, had sent them money 
 and arms, and promised, in case of need, greater assistance. A 
 letter from the principal covenanters was intercepted, bearing 
 the address, ' To the king,' and evidently intended for the king 
 of France, whose assistance it requested.* Charles and the 
 council did not doubt that this ' appeal to a foreign prince, 
 high treason by law, would inspire all England \nth. an 
 indignation equal to their own; this was enough, they thought, 
 to convince all minds of the legitimacy of the war. In this 
 confidence, which served to veil the hard yoke of necessity, 
 the calling of a new parliament was determined upon, and mean- 
 time, Strafford returned to Ireland (March 16, 1640) to obtain 
 supplies and soldiers from the parliament of that kingdom also» 
 
 ' Clarendon, i. ; Eusliworth, li. i, 965. 
 ' Hushworth, i. 2, 992. '« Strafford's Letters, ii. ]38^ 
 
 * Clarendon, i. ; 'Wliitelocke, 32. See in particular tlie pieces pub- 
 lisUed on this subject by M. Mazure, at the end of bis Sist. dc la Ecvolu- 
 tion de 1688, iii. i02. They evidently prove, contrary to ibe opinion of 
 Hume, Laihg, Brodie, &c., that the letter of the Scottish chiefs was actually 
 sent to the king of France, and that he received it, though Charles managett 
 to intercept a copy of it. 
 
IS • HISTOSY OF THE 
 
 ' At the news that a papliament was summoned, England 
 Was astonished; it had ceased to hope for a legal reform, 
 though such Was all it had thought of. Bfowever great its 
 discontent, all violent designs were foreign to the ideas, of 
 the nation. Sectarians, in some places the multitude, and 
 a few men already compromised as leaders of the nascent 
 parties, alone fostered darker passions and ra«re extended 
 designs. The public had approved and upheld them in their 
 resistance, but without sharing in any of their ulterior pro- 
 jects, or even donceiving their existence. Continuous troubles 
 had made many worthy citizens doubt, if not as to the lawful- 
 ness, at least as to the propriety of the ardour and obstinacy 
 of the last parliaments. They called to mind, without blaming, 
 but with regret, the harshness of their language, the dis- 
 orderly character of their excited debates, and all promised 
 themselves greater moderation in future. Under tlie influ- 
 ence of 'these feelings, the constituencies returned a house of 
 commons opposed to the court, resolved to have all grievances 
 redressed, and in which all those men whose opposition had 
 rendered them popular took a seat, but composed, for the 
 most part, of peaceable citizens, free from ail party engage- 
 ments, afraid of all violence, all secret combinations, and 
 precipitate resolutions, and flattering themselves they should 
 reform abuses without offending the Iting, or hazarding the 
 peace of the country. 
 
 After considerable delay, which gave some displeasure, the 
 parliament met, (April 13, 1640.) Charles had the letter of 
 the Scots to the Mng of France laid before it, enlarged upon 
 their treason, announced war, and demanded subsidies. The 
 house of commons took little notice of the letter, and seemed 
 to regard it as an incident of no importance compared 
 \vitlt the great interests they had at stake.' This ofiended 
 the king, who thought the house took up his quarrel with too 
 much indifference. On their side, the house complained of a 
 certain want of respect and etiquette towards their speaker, 
 on the, day of his presentation to the king.'' The court> after 
 having passed eleven years without a parliament, had some 
 (ffifEculty in laying aside its scornful levity: and the house, 
 notwithstanding their pacific intentions, had very naturally ra- 
 snmetl, on their retui-n to Westminster, the dignity of a. publics 
 ' Pail. Hist. ii. 035. » lb. 
 
EN(Sr,ISH HEVOLUTION. 7g> 
 
 power, eleven years slighted, and recalled from necessity. 
 Tlie debaites soon assumed a grave character. The king re- 
 quii-ed the house to vote the subsidies before they proceeded 
 to consider their grievances, promising he would let them sit 
 afterwards, and listen with kindness to their representations. 
 Long discussions arose on this point, but without violence, 
 though the sittings were attended with earnest assiduity, and 
 prolonged much later than usual.' A lew bitter words, escap- 
 ing from members not much known, were immediately re- 
 f)ressed, and the speeches of several servants of the crown, 
 esteemed in other respects, met with a favourable reception.'' 
 But stiU the house showed a thorough determination to have 
 their grievances redressed before they voted supplies. In vain 
 was it ui'ged that war was imminent; they eared little about 
 tiie war, though they did not say as much, out of respect for 
 the king., Charles had recourse to the interposition of the' 
 lords. They voted that in their opinion the subsidies ought 
 to precede the question of grievances; and demanded a con- 
 ference with the commons to exhort them to tliis procedure.* 
 Tlie commons accepted the conference; but voted, in their 
 turn, on re-entering their own chamber, that the resolution of 
 the lords was an infringement of their privileges, for that 
 they had no right to take notice of sia/ppJies till they came 
 regularly before them.* Pym, Hampden, St. John, and others, 
 seized upon this incident to inflame the house, whose inten- 
 tions were more moderate than suited its principles and its 
 position. It grew agitated, impatient, but still checking 
 itself, though fully resolved to maintain its rights. Time 
 passed on; the king permitted himself to say that this par- 
 liament would be as intractable as its predecessors. Already^ 
 iinritated, he sent a message to the house, that if they would 
 grant Iiim twelve subsidies, payable in three, years, he would 
 engage henceforth never to levy ship-money without the con- 
 sent of parliament, (May 4,, 1640.)^ The sum seemed enor- 
 mous; it was mojfe, they said,, thaffi aE the mosaey in the 
 kingdom. Besides, it was not snfficieKt that tlie king should- 
 give up ship-money; it was; essential that, as a principle, both 
 as to the past and as to the future, it should be declared illegal. 
 The house, however, had no desire to break entirely with th& 
 
 ' Clfjcndon, i. ' lb. ' Pari. Hist. ii. 060 ; Clarendon, i. 
 
 ♦ lb. ii. 503 ; ib. 1. 231. ■"» ib. ii. 570;' ib. i, 232. 
 
80 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 king; it was demonstrated that the amount of the twelve 
 subsidies was not, by a great deal, so higli as had been at 
 first said; and notwithstanding their repugnance to suspend 
 the examination of grievances, to show their good faith and 
 loyalty, they took the message into consideration. They, 
 were on the point of deciding that subsidies should be granted 
 without fixing the amount, when the secretary of state, sir 
 Harry Vane, rose, and said, that unless the whole of the mes- 
 sage were adopted, it was not worth while to deliberate, for 
 that the king would not accept less than he had asked. The 
 attorney-general, Herbert, confirmed Vane's statement.^ As- 
 tonishment and anger took possession of the house; the most 
 moderate were struck with consternation. It was late, the 
 debate was adjourned till the next day. .But on that day, the 
 moment the commons assembled, the king summoned them to 
 the upper house; and three weeks after its convocation par< 
 liament was dissolved, (May 5.) 
 
 An hour after the dissolution, Edward Hyde, afterwards, 
 lord Clarendon, met St. Jolin, the friend of Hampden, and 
 one of the leaders of the opposition, already formed into a 
 party. Hyde was dispirited; St. John, on the contrary, 
 though of a naturally sombre countenance, and who was never 
 seen to smile, had now a joyous look and beaming eyes: — ■; 
 '' What disturbs you?" said he to Hyde. " That wliibh dis- 
 turbs many honest men," answered Hyde, " the so imprudent 
 dissolution of so sensible and moderate a parliament, which, 
 in our present disorders, was the only one likely to apply a 
 remedy." " Ah, well," said St. John, " before things get 
 better, they must get still worse; this parliament would never 
 have done what must be done."^ 
 
 , The same day, in the evening, Charles was full of regret J 
 the disposition of the house, he said, had been falsely repre- 
 sented to him: he had never authorized Vane to declare that 
 unless he had twelve subsidies he would accept of none. Next 
 day, too, he was very uneasy, and assembUng a few expe- 
 rienced men, asked whether the dissolution could not be re- 
 called. This was judged impossible; and Charles returned, 
 to despotism, a little more anxious, but as reckless, as haughty, 
 ii8 before the attempt he had just made to quit it. 
 
 I Clnreniloi}, i, 
 
ENCUSH REVOLUTION. SI 
 
 The urgency of the situation seemed for a moment to re-* 
 store to his ministers some confidence, to their measures some 
 success; Strafford had returned from Ireland, (April 4,) suf- 
 fering under a violent attack of the gout, threatened with a 
 pleurisy, and unable to move.' But he had obtained from 
 the Irish parliament all he had asked; subsidies, soldiers, 
 offers, promises; and as soon as he could leave his bed, he set 
 once more to the work with his accustomed vigour and devo- 
 tion. In less than three weeks, voluntary contributions, 
 under the influence of his example, poured into the exchequer 
 nearly 300,000/., the catholics furnishing the greatest part 
 of it.^ With these were combined all the vexatious means in 
 use, forced loans, ship-money, monopolies; the coining of 
 base money was even suggested.' . In the eyes of the king 
 and liis servants, necessity excused everything: but necessity 
 is never the limit of tyi'anny: Charles resumed against the 
 members of the parliament his old and worse than useless 
 practices of persecution and vengeance. Sir Henry BeUasis 
 and sir John Hotham were imprisoned for their speeches; 
 the house and papers of lord Brook were searched; Mr. 
 Carew was sent to the Tower for having refused to give up 
 the petitions he "had received during the session, as chairman 
 of the committee appointed to examine them.* An oath was 
 exacted from all the clergy never to consent to any alteration 
 in the government of the church; and the oath concluded 
 with an et cmtera which provoked a smile of mistrust and 
 anger.^ Never had more arrogant or harsher language been 
 used: some Yorkshire gentlemen had refused to comply with 
 an ai'bitrary requisition; the council wished to prosecute 
 them: " The only way with my gentlemen," said Strafford, 
 " is to send for them up and , lay them by the heels."^ He 
 knew better than any other the extent of the inevitable evils; 
 but passion in him stifled alike all prudence and.#ll fear; it 
 seemed as though his earnest effort was to communicate to the 
 Mng, the council, and the court, that fever which blinds man 
 
 ' Strafford's Letters, ii. 403. - Neal, ii. 296. 
 
 3 May, i. 63 ; Whitelocke, 32. 
 
 « Pai-1. Hist. ii. 584 : Kushworth, ii. 2, 1196. 
 
 » The following was the purport of this paragraph : " I swear, never to 
 
 jgive consent to any alteration in the government of this church, ruled as it 
 
 is at present hy ai'ohbishops, hishops, deacons, archdsacons, &c." Neal, 
 
 ii. 302; Euahworth, ij. 2, 1186. « Stiafford's Leiters, ii. 409. 
 
 G 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 to his true condition and to his danger. He again fell ill, and 
 was even at the brink of the grave; but his physical weak- 
 ness only increased the harshness of his counsels; and almost 
 ere he could stand, he departed with the king for the army, 
 already assembled on the frontiers of Scotland, and whi jb he 
 was to command. 
 
 On his way, he learnt that the Scots, taking the -offensive, 
 iad entered England (Aug. 21), and on arrrving at York, 
 be found that at Newbum (Aug. 28), they had beaten, 
 almost without resistance, the first English troops that had 
 come in their way. Neither of these events was the work 
 of the Scots alone. During the pacification, their agents in 
 London had contracted a close alliance with the leaders of 
 the malcontents, who had exhorted them, if the war re-com- 
 menced, promptly to invade England, promising them the aid 
 of a numerous party. A messenger was even sent to Scot- 
 land bearing inclosed in a hollow staff an engagement to 
 that purjfiose, at the foot of which, to inspire the Scots with 
 more confldence, lord Saville, the only ostensible leader of the 
 plot, had counterfeited the signatures of six of the greatest 
 English lords. A fierce hatred against Strafford had alone 
 induced lord Saville, a man of very indifferent character, and 
 held in very light estimation, to engage in this audacious in- 
 trigue; but there is every probability that some most influ- 
 ential and most sincere patriots had also taken part in it.* 
 They had not misconceived the disposition of the people. 
 ParUament was no sooner dissolved, than aversion for the 
 war was everywhere openly displayed. In London, placards 
 ealled upon the apprentices^ to rise and tear in pieces Laud, 
 the author of so many evils. A furious band attacked his 
 palace, and he was obliged to seek refuge at Whitehall. St; 
 Paul's church, where the court of high commission sat, was 
 forced by another party, crying, iVb bishops, no high commis- 
 sion !^ In the counties, violence alone procured recruits. To 
 ©scape enlistment, many persons mutilated, some hanged 
 themselves;' those who obeyed the call without resistance, 
 were insulted in the streets and treated as cowards by their 
 families and. friends. Joining their regiments, they carried 
 
 • Bumet, Own Times ; Wiitelocke ; Havchviolfe's Papers, ii. 187. 
 » Clarendon, i. ; Whit^loclte, 31. » Strafford's Letters, ii. 361, 
 
ESGLTSH REVOLUTION. 83 
 
 thither, and tliere found the same ieelings. Several offi- 
 cers, suspected of popery, were killed by their soldiera-i 
 When the army came up with the Scots, the insubordination 
 and murmuring redoubled; it saw the covenant floating, 
 written in large characters on the Scottish-etandnrds; it heard 
 the drum eaUing the troops to sermon, and at saarise the 
 whole camp ringing with psalms and prayers. At this sight, 
 at the accounts which reached them of the pious ardour and 
 friendly disposition of Scotland towards the English, the 
 soldiers were alternately softened and incensed, cursing this 
 impious war, and ah-eady vanquished, few they felt as if 
 fighting against their brethren and against God,* Arrived 
 on the baidis of the T3me, the ScotSy without any hostile de- 
 monstration, asked leave to pass.^ An English sentinel fired 
 at them; a few cannons answered; ah action commenced, and 
 almost immediately the English amny dispersed, and Strafford 
 only took the command of it to return to York; leaving the 
 Scots to occupy, without obstacle, the country and the towns 
 between that city and the froBtiers of the two kingdoms.^ 
 
 From that moment Strafford himself was conquered. In 
 vain did he endeavour, now by good words, now by threats, 
 to inspire the troops with other feelings; his advances to the 
 oflieers were constrained, and ill concealed hig contempt and 
 anger; his rigour irritated the soldiers without intimidating 
 them. Petitions from several counties soon arrived, entreat- 
 ing the king to conclude a peace. Loirds Whai'ton and 
 Howard ventured to present one themselves; Strafford caused 
 them to be an-ested, convoked a (Botirt-martial, and demanded 
 that they should be shot, at the head of the army, as abettors 
 of revolt. The court remained silent; at length, Hamilton 
 spoke: "My lord," said he to Strafford, ^'when this sentence 
 of yours is pronounced, are you sure of the soldiers?'' Strafford, 
 as if struck with a sndden i-evelation, turhed away his head 
 shudderingly, and made no reply.'' Yet his indomitable pride 
 still upheld his hopes; "Let the king but speak the word," 
 he wrote toLaud, " and I will makethe Scots go hence faster 
 than they came; I would answer for it, on my life; but the 
 instructions must come from .another than me." In fact, 
 
 ' Eushworth, i. 1191-9. = Heyiiii, Life of Lmitl, 40i. 
 
 ' Clarendon, i. ; Eushworlli, ii. 2, ]23li. * Bnr:;ct, Own Times, 
 
 li 2 
 
'S4- HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 Charles already avoided him, afl-aid of the energy of his 
 councils. 
 
 This prince had fallen into profound despondency; every 
 day brought him some new proof of his weakness; money -was 
 wanting, and the old means of raising it no longer answered; 
 ■the soldiers mutinied or deserted in whole bands; the people 
 were = everywhere in a state of excitement, impatient for the 
 result which was now inevitable; the correspondence with the 
 Scots was renewed around him, in his camp, in his very 
 house. The latter, still prudent in their actions, humble in 
 their speech, spared the counties they had invaded, loaded 
 their prisoners with kindness and attention, and renewed at 
 ■every opportunity their protestations of pacific views, of 
 fidelity and devotion to the king, certain of victory, but 
 anxious that it should be the victory of peace. In con- 
 nexion with the word peace, that of parliament began to be 
 combined. Thereupon Charles, seized ■with fear, determined, 
 {Sept. 7, )V by whose advice is not loiown, to assemble at York 
 the great council of the peers of the kingdom, a feudal assem- 
 bly, fallen into desuetude for the last four centuries, but 
 which formerly, in the time of the weakness of the commons, 
 had often shared alone the sovereign power. Without well 
 knowing what this assembly was, or what it could do, there 
 was hoped from it more complaisance and consideration for 
 the king's honour; it became a questiofl, at couit, whether 
 possibly this assembly could not of itself vote subsidies.- But, 
 before this great council had met, two petitions, one from the 
 city of London,' the other from twelve of the most eminent 
 peers,'' sohcited in express terms, the convocation of a constif 
 tutional parliament. This was enough to overcome the re- 
 maining resistance of a king who could do nothing further. 
 In the midst of these doubts and fears, Strafford, as much to 
 gratify Ms resentment, as to justify his councils, had attacked 
 the Scots and ohtained some advantage over them; he was 
 censured as having compromised the king, and received orders 
 to confine himself to his quarters.^ The peers met. (Sept; 24.) 
 
 ' Kusliworth, ii. 2, 125T. » Clarendon, i. 
 
 ' Eushworth. ii. 2, 1263. 
 lb. 1262: lords Essex, Bedford, Hertford. Worwiplt, Bristol, Mulgravo, 
 $ay and Seal, Howard. Bolingbroke, Mandeville, Brook, and Paget, 
 * Clarendon, i, Lmgoi'd, x. 95, and Brodle. il. SSO, deny the facta. 
 
ENGI.TSn REVOLUTION. 85 
 
 Charles announced to them that he was about to summon a 
 parliament, and' only claimed their advice in treating with 
 the Scots.' Negotiations were begun. Sixteen peers, all 
 inclined to the popular party, were charged wjth th^ir 
 management.^ It was first stipulated that both armies should 
 remain on foot, and that the king should pay that of the Scots 
 as well as his own. For this purpose a loan of 200,000/. was re- 
 quested of the city of London, and the peers added their word 
 to that of the king for its proper expenditure.* After signing, 
 at Ripon, the preliminary articles, Charles, anxious to relax. 
 in the queen's society, from so many difficulties and annoy- 
 ances, transferred the negotiation to London, (Oct. 23,)* 
 where the parliament was about to assemble. The Scottish 
 commissioners hastened thither, certain of finding powerful 
 aUies. The elections were proceeding throughout England, 
 with the utmost excitement. The court, sad and dispirited, 
 in vain sought to exercise some influence over them;, their 
 candidates, feebly supported, were rejected on all sides; they 
 could not even carry the return of sir Thomas Gardiner, 
 whom the king wished to' have as speaker.* The meeting of 
 parliament was fixed for the 3rd of November. Some per- 
 sons advised Laud to choose another day; this, they said, was 
 one of bad omen: the parliament assembled on that day, under 
 Henry VIII., began with the ruin of cardinal Wolsey, and 
 ended with the destruction of the monasteries.® Laud disre- 
 garded the presages, not from superior confidence, but because 
 he was weary of the struggle, and, like his master, recklessly 
 relied upon the chances of a future, the results of which, 
 however, both victors and vanquished were very far from 
 suspecting. 
 
 from inductions derived from officiul and contemporary doonments; but 
 their reasons do not appear to me sufficient to justify tlie rejection of the 
 evidence of Clarendon, whose narrative is foi'mal, circumstantial, and who 
 had no motive for deviating from the truth on tliis point. 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 2, 1275. 
 
 ' Lords Bedford, Hertford, Essex, Snlisbuiy, Warwick, Bristol, Holland, 
 •BerksMro, Mandeville, Wharton, Paget, Brook, Pawlet, Howard, Saville, 
 Snnsraore. t 
 
 > Rushworth, ii. 2, 1279. * lb. 1286. 
 
 5 Clarendon ; Whitelocke, 37. • Whitelocke, 37. 
 
86 KISTOEY OF THE 
 
 BOOK THE THIRD. 
 
 1640—1642. 
 
 Ojwniag of pariiament — ^It seizes on power — State of religious and political 
 parties — The king's concessions — ^Negotiations between the king and 
 the leaders of f ailiament — Conspiracy in the aimy— Strafford's tiial 
 and death — ^The king's journey to Scotland — Insurrection in Ireland — 
 Debate on the remonsti-ance — The king's return to London — Progress 
 of the revolution — >Biots — ^Affair of the five members — The king leaves 
 London — The jueen's departui'e for the continent — Aifair of the militia 
 —Negotiations — ^The king fixes lis residence at York — Both parties 
 prepare for war — The kiug refused admission to Hull — ^Vain attempts 
 at conciliation — Formation of the two armies. 
 
 On the appointed ■day the king opened parliament. He went 
 to Westminister without pomp, almost without retinue, not on 
 horseback and along the streets as usual, but by the Thames, 
 in a plain boat, shunning observation, like a prisoner fol- 
 lowing the triumph of his conqueror. His speech was vague 
 and embarrassed. In it he promised the redress of all griev- 
 aaees, but persisted in caling the Scots ' rebels,' and in de- 
 manding that they should be driven from the kingdom, as if 
 the war was still proceeding. The commons heard him with 
 cold respect. Never at the opening pf a session had the 
 attendance been so numerous; never had their faces worn so 
 proud an aspect in presence of the sovereign.' 
 
 The king had scarcely quitted the house, ere his friends — 
 there were venr few of them — clearly perceived, from the 
 conversation of the various groups, that the public indigna- 
 tion surpassed even what they had feared. The dissolution 
 of the last parliament had exasperated even the most mode- 
 rate. There was no longer talk of conciliation or caution. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 1. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 87 
 
 The day was come, they said, for putting in force the whole 
 power of parliament, and eradicating aU abuses so effectually 
 that not a stray root should remain. Thus, with very un- 
 equal strength, thoughts equally haughty found themselveb 
 drawn up in battle array. For eleven years the king and 
 the church had proclaimed their absolute, independent, jure 
 divino sovereignty ; they had tried all modes of forcing it 
 upon the nation. Unable to effect this, and yet insisting upon 
 the same maxims, they came, in their own weakness, to seek 
 aid from an assembly, which, without putting it forward as a 
 principle, without making any show of it, believed in their 
 own sovereignty^ and felt themselves capable of exercising it. 
 They began by a distinct announcement of all their griev- 
 ances. Each member brought with him a petition from his 
 town or county; he read it, and, taking it as the text of a 
 ' epeech, proposed, in each case, that the house, tiQ more effi- 
 cacious measures could be adopted, should at least vote the 
 complaints to be legitimate.' Thus, in a few days, opinion 
 from all parts of the country declared itself. Thus were 
 ipassed in review and condemned, all the acts of tyranny, 
 monopolies, ship-money, arbitrary arrests, the usurpations of 
 the bishops, the proceedings of the extraordinary courts. 
 None opposed the resolutions;^ such was the unanimity, that 
 several were adopted on the motion of men who, soon after, 
 became the most intimate confidants of the king.* 
 
 As if these means were not sufficient to reveal the whole 
 state of the case, more than forty committees were appointed 
 to inquire into abuses, and to receive the complaints of the 
 citizens.'' From day to day, tradesmen and farmers came 
 on horseback, in whole bands, bearers to parliament of the 
 complaints of their town or district.^ In every direction, 
 such aecusntions were called for; they resounded from the 
 pulpit, in the pubhc streets, and were eagerly received, from 
 whatever quarter, in whatever form, and admitted with 
 equal confidence, whether they arraigned generally the whole 
 government, or individuals, whose punishment, by name, was 
 ■demanded. The power of the committees was unlimited; no 
 one had a right to oppose them evenhy silence, and the mem- 
 
 "i Pari. Hist. ii. 640. - lb. 672. 
 
 • Sir John Colepepper, lord Digby, lorif Falkland, &o. 
 ♦ Enshwortli, i. 2, 28 ; Neal, ii. 318. = Whitelocke, &c. 38 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE : 
 
 tiers of the privy council themselves were obliged to state, if 
 , eaUed upon, what had passed in their deliberations.' 
 
 To the disapprobation of acts was joined the general pro- 
 scription of the actors. Every agent of the crown, of what 
 rank soever, who had taken part in the execution of the 
 measures condemned, was marked by the name of ' delin- 
 quent. '^ Li every county, a list of the delinquents was 
 drawn up. No uniform and definitive punishment was put 
 in effect against them; but they might, at any time, at the 
 pleasure of the house, on the least pretext of some new 
 offence, be brought before it, and punished by fines, impri- 
 sonment, or confiscation. 
 
 In examining their own elections, the house declared un- 
 worthy of a seat among them whoever had taken part in any 
 monopoly, (Nov. 9, 1640.) Four members were on this 
 ground excluded, (Jan. 21, 1641.) Such was the case also 
 with several others under the pi;etext of some irregularity, 
 but, in reality, without legal justification, and merely because 
 their opinions were distrusted. Two of the most notorious 
 monopolists, sir Henry Mildmay and Mr. Whitaker, were ad- . 
 mitted without obstacle: they had come over to the dominant 
 party.' 
 
 At the aspect of this power, so immense, so unlocked for, so 
 determined, fear seized upon all the servants of the crown, 
 upon all who had to apprehend an accusation or an enemy. 
 For them, danger impended from all sides, defence presented 
 itself nowhere. The sole desire of the court now was to 
 pass unnoticed; the king concealed his affliction, his uneasi- 
 ness, under Hhe veil of complete inaction; the judges, 
 trembling for themselves, would not have dared to protect a 
 delinquent; the bishops, without attempting to prevent it, 
 saw their innovations abolished all around them. John 
 Bancroft, bishop of Oxford, died suddenly, from vexation and 
 fear;* the presbyterian preachers resumed, without any legal 
 steps, possession of their livings and pulpits; all the dis- 
 senting sects publicly assembled again; pamphlets of every 
 description circulated in full liberty. Eoyal and episcopal, des- 
 potism, though still existent, ivith its ministers, its tribunals,- 
 its laws, its worship, was everywhere motionless, powerless." 
 
 1 Clniendon. ' « Id. ' Pari. Hist.ii. 651; Clnrendon. 
 
 * Eapin, ix. 21. = Clfu-endon; Nenl, ii. 329. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 89 
 
 Strafford had foreseen this explosion, and entreated 
 the king to dispense with his attending parliament, " He 
 should not he able to do his majesty any service there," he 
 ■wrote to him, " but should rather be a means to hinder his 
 affairs; in regard he foresaw that the great envy and ill will 
 of the parliament and of the Scots would be bent against 
 him. Whereas, if he kept out of sight, he would not be so 
 much in their mind, as he should be by showing himself 
 in parliament; and if they should fall upon him, he being 
 at a distance, whatsoever they should conclude against him, 
 he might the better avoid, and retire from any danger, 
 having the liberty of being out of their hands, and to go 
 Over to Ireland, or to some other place where he might be 
 most sei"viceable to his majesty." But the king being very 
 earnest for Strafford's coming, laid his commands upon him, 
 and told him, " that as he was king of England he was able 
 to secure him from any danger, and that parliament should 
 not touch one hair of his head."' Strafford still hesitated, but 
 upon a second invitation, braving the storm, since it was in- 
 evitable, he set out with the resolution of himself accusing 
 before the .upper house, on proofs recently collected, the 
 principal members of the house of commons, of having ex-, 
 cited and aided the Scottish invasion. Aware of the blow he 
 was about to strike, Pym and his friends struck first. On 
 the 9th of November, Strafford arrived in London; on the 
 10th, fatigue and fever confined him to his bed; on the 
 1 1th, the house of commons closed their doors, and, on the 
 motion of Pym, abruptly impeached, him for high treason. - 
 Lord Falkland alone, though an enemy of Strafford's, said 
 that delay and some examination seemed required by the 
 justice and dignity of the house. "The least delay may 
 lose everything," said Pym; " if the earl talk but once with 
 the king, parliament will be dissolved; besides, the house 
 only impeaches : it is not the judge." And he proceeded im- 
 mediately, with a committee, to lay the accusation before the 
 lords,^ 
 
 Strafford was at this time with, the king. At the first inti- 
 
 > Whitelocke, 37. One irould think Mr. Lingard (x. 207) had not seen 
 this passage ; for he says it was only the friends of Strafford who Qdvised 
 him not to go to London, but that for his own part he did not hesitate an 
 instant. ^ State Trials, iii..l383. 
 
90 . HISTORY OF THE 
 
 matiori^ he liastened to tlie upper house, where Pym had pre- 
 ceded him. He found the doors closed, and angrily rebuked 
 the usher, who hesitated to admit him; he was advancing up 
 the hall to take his seat, when several voices called upon him 
 to retire. The earl stopped, looked round, and, after a few 
 minutes' hesitation, obeyed. Recalled an hour afterwards, 
 he was directed to kneel at the "bar: he was then informed 
 that the lords had accepted his impeachment, and decided, on 
 the demand of the commons, that he should be sent to the 
 Tower. He attempted to speak, but the house refused to 
 hear' him, and the order of commitment was forthwith exe- 
 cuted. ^ 
 
 To the impeachment of Strafford almost immediately suc- 
 ceeded that of Laud, a man less feared, but stiU more odious. 
 A fanatic as sincere as stern, his conscience reproached him 
 with nothing, and he was utterly astonished at the impeach- 
 ment. " Not one man in the house of commons," he said, 
 " does, in his heart, believe me a traitor." The earl of 
 Essex sharply took up these words as insulting to the com- 
 mons, who had accused him. Laud, still more surprised, 
 made an apology, and begged to be treated according to the 
 ancient usages of parliament. Lord Say expressed himself 
 indignant that he should pretend to prescribe to them how 
 they Tfrere to prbceed. The archbishop, now thoroughly agi- 
 tated, was silent, incapable of understanding other passions 
 than his own, or of remembering that he had ever thus spokem 
 to Ms enemies (Dec. 18.)^ 
 
 Two other ministws, the lord keeper Finch, and the secre- 
 tary of state Windebafflik, had taken an equally active paxf in 
 tyranny; but the former, a crafty courtier, had foreseen what 
 was coming, and for the last three months had applied himself, 
 at his master's expense, in gaining the indulgence of the leaders 
 of the opposition; the other, a weak man and of mediocre un- 
 derstanding, inspired neither hatred nor fear. The commons, 
 however, impeached both, though without any exhibition of 
 passion, and as if merely to satisfy the public demand. Win- 
 debank absconded. Lord Finch obtained pernussion to ap- 
 pear before the house, and there, in humble terms but graceful 
 manner, made an unmeaning apology, (Dec. 21.) -The party 
 
 > State Trials, iii. 1384. « lb. it. 319, 
 
ENGLISH BEVOLUTIOK. 91 
 
 was pleased with this, as the first homage paid by a minister 
 of the crown to its power, and allowed him time to make his 
 way beyond sea. Several members were astonished at this 
 so partial justice? but Pym and Hampden, skilful leader^ 
 did not wish to discourage baseness on the part of their oppo- 
 nents.' Impeachments against two bishops, some theologians, 
 and six judges, were also set on foot. But that of Strafford 
 alone was followed up with ardour. A secret committee, in- 
 vested with immense powers, was commissioned to scrutinize 
 his whole life, to trace, in his words as well as in his acts, 
 nay, even in the councils he had given, whether the king had 
 adopted them or not, proofs of high treason.^ A similar 
 committee formed in Ireland, served as an auxiliary to that 
 of the commons. Tlie Soots concurred by a virulent decla- 
 ration, hinting very unmistakably that their army would not 
 leave the kingdom till justice had been done on their most 
 cruel enemy. To popular hatred and fear, it did not seem 
 too much that the three nations should be leagued against one 
 prisoner.^ 
 
 Thus delivered from their adversaries, and preparing 
 signal vengeance against the only cme they feared, the com- 
 mons took possession of the government. They voted subsi- 
 dies, but of insignificant amount, merely su:^ient to supply 
 the necessities of each day.* Commissioners selected from 
 their body, and named in the bill, were alone entrusted with 
 their application. The custom duties, in like manner, were 
 only voted for two months, and renewed from time to time. 
 To meet the expenses, more considerable and more prompt 
 revenues were needed. The commons borrowed, but in their 
 own name, from their partisans in the city^ even from their 
 own members, and on the sole seeimty of their promises thus 
 originated public credit.* The king pressed the dismissal of 
 the two armies, particularly that of the Scots, dwelling upon 
 the b^^irden their continuance in England imposed on the 
 northern counties; but the house had need of them,^ and felt 
 in a position to induce the people to suffer this burden: 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. ii. 686 ; ClaifiBdon, (Oxford. 1807,) i. 274, ii. 15, ] 7 ; May, 
 i. 86, 172 ; Wliitelooke, 40. = Clarendon, i. 279. 
 
 ' lb. 297. The trial of Strafford forms me 8th volume of Bushworth's 
 collection ; I refer to it thus once for all. • Pail. Hist. ii. 701. 
 
 » Clarendon, vt sup. ' Baillie, Letters, i. 240. 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 " The Philistines are too strong for us still," said Mr. Strode; 
 " we cannot do without our allies." The king's importunities 
 were eluded; nay, in the distribution of the funds allotted for 
 their pay, more favour was shown to the Scots than to the 
 English troops, whose officers did not all inspire parliament 
 with the same confidence.' Some of these took offence, but the 
 house paid no heed to it. They did more: they resolved that 
 the Scots had lent the English a brotherly assistance, that for 
 the future they should be called brothers, and voted in their 
 favour, as an indemnity and recompence, the spm of 300,000^. 
 The negotiations for a definitive peace with Scotland were con- 
 ducted by a committee of parliament rather than by the king's 
 council. The leaders of both bouses, particularly those of the 
 commons, dined together every day at Mr. Pjrm's, at their own 
 expense; here they were joined by the Scottish commissioners, 
 by the authors of the principal petitions, by the most influential 
 men in the city; here they discussed the atfairs of both 
 houses and of the state.^ Such was the tendency of all powers 
 to parliament, that the councillors of the crown, incapable or 
 afraid of deciding the slightest question of themselves, re- 
 ferred to it in everything, without its needing to make any 
 demand to that effect. A Eoman-catholic priest, Goodman, 
 had been condemned to death; the king, who dared not par- 
 don him, placed his life at the disposal of the commons, the 
 only means of saving it; for, notwithstanding their passions, 
 they manifested no desire for blqodshed, (Feb. 1641.)' The 
 people had conceived a hatred for the queen's mother, Marie 
 de Medicis, then a refugee in London : every day the multitude 
 suiTounded her house, loading her with insults and menaces. 
 It was to the commons that the court applied to know whether 
 she could remain in England, and how her safety should be 
 cared for. They answered she had better depart, voted 
 10,000/. for her journey, and their wish was immediately 
 carried out (May).'' Decisions of the courts of law, long 
 since pronounced, came Under their jurisdiction, as well as the 
 private affairs of the king and court. The condemnation of 
 Prynne. Burton, Bastwick, Leighton, and Lilburne, was de- 
 clared illegal, and their liberation ordered, (Nov. 7,)' together 
 
 • •Whitelockev^46. = Clarendoa, Mem. (1837,) i. 90. 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 710 ; State Trials, iv. 59. 
 « Pari. Hist. ii. 78S, 703 ; May, i. 108. » Paxl. Hist. ii. 839, 731. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 93 
 
 with a large indemnitj', -frhich, however, they never received: 
 the common fate of past merits, soon effaced by new deserts, 
 new necessities. The joy of the public was their only re- 
 oompence: at the news of their return, a crowd of five thou- 
 sand persons went to meet them; everywhere, on their route, 
 the streets were hung with flags and laurels, and all the men 
 wore rosemary and bays in their hats.' The transports of the 
 people, the weakness of the king, everything urged on the 
 commons to ' take into their sole hands the reins of the state, 
 everything concurred to elevate them into sovereign power. 
 
 Their first attempt at the reform of institutions manifestly 
 proclaimed, if not their sovereignty, at least their complete 
 independence. A biU was proposed, (Jan. 19, 1641,) wliich 
 presciibed the calling of a new parliament, every three years/ 
 at the most. If the king did not convoke one, twelve peers 
 assembled at Westminster might summon one without his co- 
 operation; in default of this, the sheriffs and municipal officers 
 were to proceed with the elections. If the sheriffs neglected 
 to see to it, the citizens had a right to assemble and elect re- 
 presentatives. No parliament could be dissolved or adjourned 
 without the consent of the two houses, till fifty days after its 
 ■meeting; and to the houses alone belonged the choice of their 
 respectUre speaker.^ At the first news of this biU, the king 
 quitted the silence in which he had shut himself up, and as- 
 sembling both houses at Whitehall, (Jan. 23,)' said, " I like to 
 have frequent parUaments, as the best means to preserve that 
 right understanding between me and my subjects, which I so 
 earnestly desire. But to give power to sheriffs and constables, 
 and I know not whom, to do my office, that I cannot yield 
 to." The house only saw in these words, a new motive to 
 ■press forward the adoption of the bill; none dared counsel 
 the king to refuse it; he yielded, but in doing so, thought it 
 due to his dignity to show the extent of liis displeasure. He 
 said, " I do not know for what you can ask, that I can here- 
 after make any question to yield unto you; so far, truly, I 
 iave had no great encouragement to oblige you, for you have 
 gone on in that which concerns yourselves, and not those 
 things which merely concern the strength of this kingdom. 
 You Lave taken the government almost to pieces, and I may 
 
 « May, i. 80, 157; WMtelocke, 40. 
 ' Kusliworth. i. 3. 189. ' Parl.Hist. ii. 710. ■ 
 
94 HISTOKT OP THE 
 
 saj, it is almost off its Mnges. A skilful watchmaker, to 
 make clean his watch, will take it asunder, and when it is put 
 together again, it will go all the better, so that he leave not 
 out one pin of it. Now, as I have done all on my part, jaa 
 know what to do on yours." (Feb. 16, 1641.)' 
 
 The houses passed a vote of thanks to the king, and forth- 
 with proceeded in the work of reform, dejpanding, in suc- 
 cessive motions, the abolition of the star chamber,, of the 
 north court, of the ecclesiastical court of high commission, 
 and of all the extraordinary tribunals.^ > 
 
 No one opposed these proposals; there was no debate, even; 
 the statement of grievances took its place. Jlven the men 
 who began to fear a disorderly movement and the ulterior 
 designs of the party, would not have dared to defend powers, 
 odious through their acts, and in point of fact illegal, though 
 several were invested with a legal existence. Political reform 
 was the unanimous desire, without any reference to social 
 condition or religious opinions; no one, as yet, troubled him- 
 self with calculations as to its precise consequences or extent. 
 All concurred in it without questioning themselves as to their 
 intentions and motives. Men of a soaring mind, of long and 
 Steady foresight, or already compromised by proceedings 
 which the laws condemned, Hampden, Pym, Holies, Stapleton, 
 contemplated the taking from the crown its fatal prerogativ'^ 
 to transfer the government to the house, and to fix it there 
 irremovably. 'Ilis was in their eyes the country's right, 
 and for the yetyple as well as for themselves the only sure 
 guarantee. But, impelled to this design still more from ne- 
 cessity than from any clearly conceived principle, sanctioned 
 by public opinion, they proceeded towards its accomplishment 
 without declaring it. Men following in their train, violent 
 sectaries, members as yet obscure, though very active, Crom- 
 well, Henry Martyn, from time to time gave utterance, as 
 against the king or the form of government, to words of a more 
 menacing character, but they seemed, at least in the house, 
 without consideration or credit; and even those who won- 
 dered, or were indignant at their rugged violence, were not 
 alarmed at it. The majority of the house flattered them- 
 selves, that, after the destruction of abuses, they should re- ' 
 
 > Pni), Hist, m 71fi. » lb, 717. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 95- 
 
 turn to the condition which they called that of old England, 
 the power of the king supreme, but restricted by the periodical 
 power of the two houses, within the limits of the law; and 
 meanwhile, they accepted, as a temporary necessity, the almost 
 sxclusive domination of the commons, more conformable, foi 
 that matter, than they themselves , imagined, with the ideas 
 and feelings, somewhat confused in their nature, which 
 animated them. Thus political reform, equally desired by 
 all, though with very different views and hopes, was being 
 accomplished with aU the force of irresistible unanimity. 
 
 In rehgious mattes it was quite different. From the very 
 first day, an utter diversity of opinions and wishes on this 
 subject was apparent. A petition from the city of London, 
 backed by 15,000 signatures, demanded the entire abolition of 
 episcopacy. (Dec. 11, 1640.)* Nearly at the same moment, 
 seven hundred ecclesiastics limited themselves to requiring 
 the reform of the temporal power of the bishops, of their 
 despotism in the church, of the administration of its revenues ; 
 and soon after, there arrived, from various counties, nineteen 
 petitions, signed, it is said, by more than 100,000 persons, 
 recommending the maintenance of episcopal government.^ 
 Within the walls of parliament itself the same difference of 
 views was manifested. The petition of the city was all but 
 refused by the commons, being only admitted after a violent 
 debate.^ A bill was proposed, declaring all ecclesiastics in- 
 capable of any civil function, and excluding the bishops from 
 the house of lords; but in order to induce the commons to 
 adopt it, (Mai'ch 9 and 11, 1641,) the presbyterian party were 
 obliged to promise they would go no further; on this condition 
 alone did Hampden obtain the vote of lord Falkland;* but 
 the bill, when it reached the lords, was rejected, (May 24 and 
 June l.y Furious at this, the presbyterians demanded the de- 
 struction of bishoprics and deaneries and chapters, (May 2^)f 
 but the opposition was so warm that they resolved to postpone 
 their motion. At one time, the two houses seemed agreed upon 
 repressing the disorders that broke out on all sides in public 
 worship, and on maintaining its legal forms, (Jan. 16;)' but, two 
 days afterwards, their dissensions re-appeared. Of their so'? 
 
 > Eushworth, i. 3, 93. 2jjeai, ii 356. - ' Baillie, Letters, i. 24i. 
 
 * Clarendon, i. 366. = P. Hist. ii. 704—814. 
 
 » P. Hist. 814; Cliuendon, i. 368. " Nenl, ii. p. 339. 
 
98 HISTORY OF TUE 
 
 authority, without even informing the lords, the commons sent 
 commissioners into the counties to carry off from the churches 
 the images, altars, crucifixes, and all the other relics of 
 idolatry, (Jan. 23;)' and these messengers sahctioned by 
 their presence the popular passions, the outbreak of which 
 had preceded them. On their side, the lords, learning that 
 the independents had publicly resumed their meetings, (Jan. 
 18,.) summoned their leaders to the bar, (Jan. 19,)^ and re- 
 proved them, though but timidly. Nd opinion, no intention 
 on this subject, was really predominant or national. Among 
 the partisans of episcopacy, some, small in number, but ani- 
 mated with the energy of faith or the pertinacity of personal 
 interest, maintained its pretensions to divine right; othci's, 
 looking upon it as a human institution, deemed it essential to 
 monarchy, and thought the throne compromised by the power 
 of the bishops suffering any serious blow; others, and these 
 were numerous, would willingly, while excluding the bishops 
 from public affairs, have retained them at the head of the 
 church, as tradition, the laws, and state convenience seemed 
 to them to require. In the opposite party, opinions wer? no 
 less various; some were attached to episcopacy by habit,' 
 although their notions were not favourable to it; according 
 to many of the most enlightened, no church constitution ex- 
 isted by divine right, or possessed absolutely legitimacy; 
 it might vary according to time and place; the pai'liament 
 was . at liberty always to alter it, and public interest ought 
 alone to decide the fate of episcbpacy, respecting whose 
 abolition or maintenance there was no fixed principle. Eut 
 the presbyterians and their ministers saw in the episcopal 
 system an idolatry condemned by the gospel, at once the suc- 
 cessor and forerunner of popery; they repelled, with all the 
 indignation of zealous faith, its liturgy, its form of worship, 
 its most reipote consequences; and reclaimed for the repub- 
 lican constitution of the church, the divine right which the 
 bishops had usurped. 
 
 For some time after the first successes of political reform, 
 these dissensions impeded the progress of parliament. As soon 
 as religious questions came under discussion, the adversaries 
 of the pourt, hitherto unanimous, became divided, nay, op- 
 
 ' Nenl, ii. 343. 2 lb. 348, 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 97 
 
 posed each other; the majority often varied, and no party 
 presented itself which was on every occasion animated by the 
 same spirit, devoted to the same designs, and capable of mas- 
 tering the other sections. Pym, Hampden, the leading chiefs 
 of the political party, took care to spare the presbyterians, 
 and supported even their most daring motions; yet it was 
 well known that they did not share their fanatical passions, 
 and that what they had at heart was rather to reduce the tem- 
 poral power of the bishops than to alter the constitution of 
 the church,' and that in the upper house, among the most 
 popular lords, the establislunent had numerous partisans. A 
 few prudent men advised the king to take advantage of these 
 dissensions, and to prevent the union of the political and reli- 
 gious reformers, by boldly confiding to the former the affairs 
 of the crown. 
 
 Negotiations were accordingly opened. The marquis of 
 Hamilton, always earnest to interpose between the parties, 
 was the most active agent in conducting them; the earl of 
 Bedford, a moderate man, influential in the upper house, and 
 much esteemed by the public, took a dignified share in them. 
 The leaders of both houses often assembled at his house; he 
 possessed their confidence, and seemed authorized to treat in 
 their name. The king, who consented earlier than he him- 
 self could have wished, first formed a new privy, council,^ to 
 which lords Bedford, Essex, Warwick, Say, Kimbolton, JP^- 
 some others were summoned; all of them of the pof^ilar pjlfly, 
 some even ardently engage^ in the opposition, but all nigh 
 in rank. The pride of Charles, already wounded at bending- 
 even before them, did not permit him to carry the admissioii of 
 his defeat lower in the scale. But the point was insisted on; 
 the new councillors, would not be separated from their friends 
 each day more clearly manifested to the king the importane- 
 of those leaders of the commons whom he regarded witl 
 such bitter disdain. They, on their side, without rejecting 
 the overiures made them, manifested little eagerness in 
 the matter, less, however, from indifference than from per- 
 plexity: by accepting, they would, indeed, attain the prin- 
 cipal aim of all endeavours; they would, in the name of the 
 country, achieve legal possession of power, impose a ministry 
 
 » Clarendon, ut sup. "- Id. i. 302. 
 
98 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 upon the crown, and subject the Idng to the counsels of par- 
 liament; but then he required them to save Strafford and the 
 church; in other words, to set at liberty their most formidable 
 enemj, and to break with the presbyterians, their warmest 
 friends. On both sides tJie perplexity was great, and dis- 
 trust already too deep to yield so soon to ambition or to fear. 
 At length, however, direct and precise proposals Were made. 
 Pym was to be chancellor of the exchequer, Hampden tutor 
 to the prince of Wales, Holies secretary of state; St. John 
 was at once appointed attorney-general. The ministry was 
 to have for its leader the earl of Bedford; with the title of 
 lord high treasurer. The previous occupants of these various 
 oflJces had tendered or abeady given in their resignation.' 
 
 But during these negotiations, carried on by both parties 
 with little hope, perhaps also without any warm desire of 
 success, other proposals reached the king, far more adapted 
 to his feeUngs. Discontent had spread in the army; several 
 officers, members of the lower house, too, had openly ex- 
 pressed it. " If," said one of them f commissary Wilmot) ia 
 the house, " all the Scotch have to do to get their money is 
 to demand it. the English soldiers will know how to follow 
 the example.'"'* A report of this feeUng soon reached the 
 ears of the queen ; her favourite, Henry Jermyn, established 
 a connexion with the malcontents, and by his means she 
 received them at Whitehall, and expressed her deep sympathy 
 with their situation, the same, said she, though far less sad, 
 fer less perilous, with that of the king. Lively and ingra- 
 tiating in her manners, placing her whole hope in them, she 
 had little difficulty in persuading them that they held the 
 destiny of the state in their hands. Secret conferences were 
 established, in the course of which all sorts of plans were 
 brought forward. Some proposed that the army should march 
 to London, and forthwith deliver the king from his bondage; 
 others, more sagacious, merely proposed that it should 
 address to parliament a petition expressing its devotion to 
 the king and the church; declaring, that, in its opinion, 
 the reformation of the state was completed, and requiring a 
 stop to be put to innovation. Aid from abroad was also dis- 
 cussed, levies in Portugal, France; frivolous notions, without 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 73, &c. ; Whitelooke, 41 ; Sidney Papers, ii. CO*. 
 s Wliitelocke, U.. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. gS 
 
 any result, but confidently advanced by hair-brained men, 
 perhaps just risen from the dinner-table, and at all events 
 more intent upon pushing themselves forward than upon the 
 success of the cause. In connexion with these palace cabal- 
 lings, there were, in the army itself, some intrigues, more 
 active than efficacious. The malcontents came to and (it, 
 between the camp and London, and short manuscript paia 
 phlots circulated in the cantonments. The king himself 
 had( after awhile, an interview with Percy, brother to the 
 earl of Northumberland, and one of the conspirators; he dis- 
 countenanced, by Percy's advice, all violent projects, all idea 
 of bringing the army to London; but the copy of a petition 
 was submitted to him, as menacing to the parliament as those 
 daily received by the commons were to the crown and the 
 «hurch. He approved of it, and, to give influence to the 
 leaders of the enterprise, suffered himself to be persuaded to 
 affix his initials to it, in sign of assent.' 
 
 The plot continued without advancing; the petition was 
 not presented, but nothing escapes the distrust of a nation, 
 and once their jealousy is excited, they regard designs as 
 acts, words as designs. In public places, in taverns, a multi- 
 tude of voluntary spies collected the imprudent remarks of 
 the officers, and reported them to Pym,-who had the superin- 
 tendence of this department. Ere long, treachery revealed 
 more; Goring, one'of the conspirators, discovered the whole to 
 the earl of Bedford. Nothing had been done, but the king had 
 allowed himself to h'sten to propositions involving the worst 
 that was to be feared. The leaders of the commons kept 
 this discovery to themselves, waiting for some greit occasion^ 
 to make good use of it; they did not even break off the nego- 
 tiations, stiU carried on in the king's name with reference to 
 their appointment to office. But, from that moment, aU hesi- 
 
 > May, i. 97; Clarendon, i. 401 ; iul32; WMtelocke, 4S ; Eushworth, 
 J. 3, 252. 
 
 ' Mr. Brodie denies this fact, (iii. 109,) and tliinks that Goring did not 
 reveal the plot, till in theooiirseof the month of April, 1641. This is, indeed, 
 ■what might he concluded from Hushand's Collection, p. 195, &c. ; bnt an 
 attentive examination of the whole of this intrigue, and a comparison of the 
 different passages indicated in the preceding note, prove, to my mind, that 
 the meetings of the officers commenced in the beginning of the winter of 
 ' 1641, and that Pym and his friends had notice of them in the beginning of 
 March. This is also the opinion of Mr. Lingard, x. 128. note 27. 
 
 h2 
 
•100 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tation disappeared fi'om their councils ; they united themselves 
 «l6sely ■with the fanatic presbyterians, the only party whos< 
 co-operation was sure, -whose devotion was inexhaustible, f'oi 
 they alone had fixed principles, ardent passions, a revolution 
 to accomplish, and popular force to accomplish it with. Mean- 
 time, the destruction of Strafford was irrevocably resolved, 
 and his trial began, (March 22.) 
 
 The whole house of commons insisted upon being present 
 ■Jo support the impeachment. "With them sat, for the same 
 purpose, commissioners from Scotland and Ireland. Eighty 
 peers acted as judges; the bishops, upon a desire to that ef- 
 fect very decidedly expressed by the commons, decKried being 
 present, as is indeed the case always in trials for life or 
 death. Above the peers, in a closed gallery, sat the king 
 and queen, anxious to see all that passed, but desirous of con- 
 cealing, the one his anguish, the other her curiosity. Around, 
 in galleries and on raised steps, was a crowd of spectators, of 
 both sexes, nearly all of high rank, already affected by the 
 pomp of the spectacle, the importance of the trial, and the 
 well-lmown character of the accused.' 
 
 Brought by water from the Tower to Westminster, the 
 prisoner passed through the multitude assembled at the doors, 
 -without confusion or insult; despite the general hatred, his 
 so recent greatness, his deportment, the very terror lately 
 attached to his name, still commanded respect. As he pro- 
 ceeded on, his form prematurely bowed by sickness but his eye 
 glittering and haughty as in his youth, the crowd made way 
 and uncovered, and he saluted them ■with courtesy, regarding 
 this demeanour of the people as a good omen.^ Hope had 
 not failed him; he despised his ad^^J'crsaries, had well studied 
 their charges, and did not doubt he should clear himself o.^ 
 the crime of high treason. The accusation of the Irish alone 
 had for a moment astounded him ; he could not understand 
 iow a kingdom till then so submissive — nay, so eager to flatter 
 and to serve him, could thus so suddenly have changed. 
 
 The second day, an incident showed him that he had 
 misunderstood his situation and the difficulties of his de- 
 fence : " I hope," said he, " I shall easily repel the imputa- 
 tions of my malicious enemies." At these words, Pym, wh 
 
 May, i, 92; State Trials, iii. 1114. ■' State Trials, iii. Iil7. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. J 01 
 
 was managing the trial, angnly took him up. " It is to the 
 commons this insult is addressed; and I pronounce it a crime 
 thus to charge them with malicious enmity." Strafford, 
 agitated at this, fell upon his knees, apologized, and from 
 that moment, perfectly calm arid self-possessed, allowed to 
 escape him not one sign of anger or even of impatience, not 
 a word which could be turned against him.- 
 
 For seventeen days, he, unaided, against thirteen accusers 
 who relieved one another, argued the charges which they 
 brought forvrard. A great many were incontestably proved, 
 convicting him of injustice and tyranny. But others, foolishly 
 exaggerated or blindlycredited by hatred, were easily repelled, 
 and none, in truth, came within the legal definition of high 
 treason. Strafford applied all his efforts to dispossess them 
 of this character, speaking with magnanimity of his imperfec- 
 tions, of his frailties, opposing a modest dignity to the violence 
 of his adversaries, and proving, without contumely, the pas- 
 sion-born illegality of their proceedings. Disgraceful ob- 
 stacles impeded his defence; his counsel, obtained with great 
 difficulty and despite the commons, were not allowed to 
 speak as to facts, nor to examine the witnesses; permission 
 to bring forward witnesses for the defence was not granted 
 him till three days before the trial commenced, though most of 
 them were in Ii-eland. At every opportunity, he claimed 
 liis right, thanked his judges if they consented to acknow- 
 ledge it, made no complaint when they refused, and simply 
 replied to his enemies, who were angry at the delays created 
 by his able defence: " I have as much right, I believe, to de- 
 fend my life, as others have to assail it." 
 
 So much energy embarrassed and humiliated the accusers. 
 Twice (March 25, April 9,) the commons summoned the 
 lords to proceed more rapidly with a trial, which, they said, 
 (taused them to ks^ time highly precious to the country.' 
 The lords refused; the success of the accused gave them 
 back a little energy. When the case for the prosecution was 
 over, before Strafford's counsel had opened their lips, or he 
 himself had resumed his defence, the impeachment committee 
 felt themselves conquered, at least as to the proof of high, 
 treason. The excitement of the commons became extreme i 
 
 State Trials, iii. 1420. ^ parl. Hist. ii. 743. 
 
102 HISTORY OF THK 
 
 favoured by the letter of the law and his own fatal genius, 
 this great criminal, then, was about to escape them, and reform, 
 scarcely born, would once more have to sustain the attack of 
 its most dangerous enemy. A sudden and bold stroke was 
 resolved upon. Sir Arthur Haslerig, a hard, coarse-minded 
 man, proposed to declare Strafford guilty and to condemn, 
 him by act of parliament, (April 10, 1641.).' This proceed- 
 ing, which dispensed the judges from all law, was not with- 
 out example, though its precedents all belonged to periods of 
 tyranny, and had even been denounced soon after their occur- 
 rence, as iniquitous. Some notes found among the papers of 
 the secretary of state. Vane, and given to Pym by his son,' 
 were produced as supplementary proof sufficient to make out 
 high treason. They imputed to Strafford that he had advised 
 the king, in open council, to employ the Irish army to 
 ijuell England. The words they attributed to him, though 
 contradicted by the evidence of several members of the 
 council, and in themselves susceptible of a less odious inter- 
 pretation, were too conformable with his general conduct, 
 and with the maxims he had often declared, not to produce 
 a strong impression on all minds. The bill immediately 
 obtained a first reading. Some thought they were sacrificing 
 the law to justice, others justice to necessity. 
 
 All this while the trial went on, for the commons would 
 not give up any chance against -the accused, nor allow the 
 peril of the act of parliament to release him from that of the 
 legal judgment. Before his counsel began to speak on the 
 question of law, Strafford resumed his defence, (April 13,) 
 he spoke long and with marvellous eloquence, applying him- 
 self to prove that by no law could any one of his actions be 
 charged as high treason. Conviction every moment grew 
 Stronger in the minds of his judges, and he ably followed its 
 progress, adapting his words to the impressions he saw 
 Springing up, deeply agitated, but not allowing his emotion to 
 keep him from perceiving and marking what was passing 
 around him. " My lords;" he said, in conclusion, "these gen- 
 tlemen tell me they speak in defence of the commonwealth 
 against my arbitrary laws; give me leave to say it, I speak 
 
 ' Hia name was HaiTy Vane, Uie same as liis father's. It is lie who 
 \riU aWaya be referred to hereafter as one of the leaders of the independent 
 party, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 103 
 
 m defence of the commonwealth, against their arbitrary 
 treason. . . My lords, do we not live by laws, and must wc be 
 punished by laws before they be made? My lords, if tliis 
 crime, which they call arbitrary treason, had been marked 
 by any discerner of the law, the ignorance thereof should be 
 , no excuse for me; but if it be no law at all, how can it in 
 rigour or strictness itself condemn me? Beware you do not 
 wake these sleeping lions, by the searching out some neglected 
 moth-eaten records; they may one day tear you and your 
 posterity to pieces. It was your ancestors' care to chain 
 them up within the barricadoes of statutes; be not you am- 
 bitious to b« more skilful and curious than your forefathers 
 m the art of killing. For my poor self, were it not for your 
 lordships' interest, and the interest of a saint in heaven, who 
 hath left me those sacred pledges on earth," — at this his breath 
 stopped, and he shed tears abundantly on mentioning his wife, 
 but looking up again immediately, he continued — " I should 
 never take the pains to keep up this ruinous cottage of mine; 
 it is laden with such infirmities, that, in truth, I have no 
 great pleasure to carry it about with me any longer." Again 
 he stopped, as if seeldng an idea: " My lords, — my lords, — 
 my lords, something more I had to say, but my voice and spirits 
 fail me; only I do, in all humility and submission, cast myself 
 down before your lordships' feet; and whether your judgment 
 in my case be either for life or death, it shall be righteous 
 in my eyes, and received v-Tlth a Te Deum laudamus." 
 
 The auditory were seized with pity and admiration. Pym 
 was about to answer; Strafford looked at him; menace 
 gleamed in the immobility of his mien; his pale and pro- 
 truded lip bore the expression of passionate scorn; Pym was 
 .igitated, and paused ; his hands trembled, and he sought without 
 finding it a paper which was just before his eyes. It was 
 the answer he had prepared, and which he read without 
 being listened to by any one, himself hastening to finish an 
 harangue foreign to the feelings of the assembly, and which 
 he had great difiiculty in delivering.' 
 
 Emotion passes away, anger remains! that of Pym andhia 
 friends was at its height. They hastened the second read- 
 ing of the bill of attainder (April 14). In vain did Selden, 
 
 ' State Trials, iii. 1469. 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the oldest and most illustrious of the defenders of liberty, 
 Holborne, one of Hampden's counsel in the affair of ship- 
 money, and several others,' oppose it. It was now the only- 
 resource of the party; for they clearly saw that the lords 
 would not condemn Strafford as judges and in the name of 
 the law. They even wished the trial to be at once suspended, 
 that Strafford's counsel should not be heard; and such was 
 their violence, that they talked of summoning to the bar and 
 punishing " those insolent counsel who dared to undertake 
 the defence of a man whom the house had declared guilty of 
 high treason." The lords resisted these outrageous pro- 
 positions; Strkfford's counsel were heard, but tfee commons 
 did not answer them, did not even go to hear them, saying 
 it was beneath their dignity to dispute with lawyers; and 
 four days after, notwithstanding the active opposition of lord 
 Digby, till then one of Strafford's, most furious assailants, 
 the bill of attainder passed its third reading, (Apr. 21.)* 
 
 At this intelligence the afflicted kipg only thought how he 
 might save the earl, no matter at what price: " Be sure," he 
 wrote to him, " on my royal word, that you shall not suffer, 
 either in your life, or in your fortune, or in your honour." 
 Every engine was set at work with all the blind haste of fear 
 and grief. The chiefs of the commons were offered all sorts of 
 concessions; a plot was concerted for the escape of the pri- 
 soner. But the plot injured the negotiations, the negotia- 
 tions the plot. The earl of Bedford, who appeared disposed 
 to some compliance, died suddenly. The earl of Essex, in 
 answer to Hyde, who was speaking of the insurmountable 
 resistance that the king's conscience would oppose to the biU, 
 said: " The king is obliged to conform himself and his own 
 understanding to the advice and conscience of his parlia- ' 
 ment."^ Sir William Balfour, the governor of the Tower, 
 was offered 20,OOOZ. and one of Strafford's daughters in mar- 
 riage for his son, if he would aid his escape; he refused. He 
 was ordered to receive into the piison, under the name of 
 guards, a hundred chosen men, commanded by Captain Bil- 
 lingsley, a discontented officer; he informed the commons of 
 the offer and of the order. Every day witnessed the formation 
 and failure of some new plan for the preservation of the earl. 
 
 State Trials, Hi. 1169. - CloieiidiSU, i 3,")0, e« passim. ' lb. i. 377. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 103 
 
 At last, the king, contrwy to Strafford's own judgment, 
 caused both, liouses to be Summoned, and, acknowledging the 
 eaiTs faults and promising that he would never employ him 
 again, not even as a constable, declared; at the same time, 
 that no argument, no fear, would ever make him consent to 
 his death, (May 1.) 
 
 But the hatred of the commons was inflexible, and more 
 daring than the king's grief: they had foreseen his resist 
 ance, and prepared the means of overcoming it. Ever sinf a 
 the bill of attainder had been carried to the upper house, the 
 multitude assembled daily round Westminster Hall, armed 
 with swords, knives, and sticks, shouting, ' Justice! Justice!' 
 and menacing the lords who delayed their vote.' ArundeP 
 was obliged to get out of his carriage, and, hat in hand, beg 
 of the multitude to retii-e, undertaking to press the accom- 
 plishment of their wishes. Fifty-nine members of the com- 
 mons had voted against the bill; their names were placarded 
 in the streets, with these words: Here are the Straffordians, 
 traitors to their country ! The pulpit sent forth similar 
 denunciations; the ministers preached and prayed for the 
 punishment of a great delinquent. The lords, acting upon a 
 message from the king, complained of these disorders to the 
 commons, (May 3 ;) the commons returned no answer.* Yet 
 the bill still remained in suspense. A decisive blow, kept in 
 reserve for such an occasion, was resolved upon: Pym, sum- 
 moning fear to the aid of vengeance, from his place in the 
 house, denounced the plot of the court and the officers to 
 raise the army against the parliament, (May S.)* Some of 
 those. implicated absconded, which confirmed every suspicion. 
 A wild terror took possession of the house and of the people. 
 .It was resolved that the doors should be closed, and that aU 
 members' letters should be opened. (May 11.)' Absurd 
 alarms still further added to the agitation of men's minds. A 
 report 'vas spread in the city (May 15) that the house of com- 
 mons, having been undermined, was about to be blown up; the 
 miUtia took to their arms; an immense multitude rushed to 
 Westminster. Sir Walter Earl hastened to inform the house 
 of the rumour; as he was speaking, Mr. Middleton and Mr. 
 
 • Pari. Hist. ii. 759 ; Wliitelocke, 45. 
 
 ' lord Montgomery, according to Wliitelocke, ib. = Pari. Hist, u 778. 
 
 * lb. 776. = Ib. 788. 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Hoyle, remarkably corpulent men, rose suddenly to listen to 
 him; the floor creaked: " The house is blowing up!" cried 
 several of the members, rushing out of the hall, which "was 
 immediately tl^ronged with the populace; and there was an- 
 other scene of the same nature in the course of the week.' 
 In the midst of so much excitement, measures skilfully planned 
 were establishing the empire of the commons and the suc- 
 cess of their designs. In imitation of the Scottish cove- 
 nant, an oath of union, for the defence of the protestant 
 religion and the public liberties, was taken by both houses; 
 the commons even wished to extend it to the peoxsle; and on 
 the loi'ds declining to sanction this, declaimed whoever should 
 refuse to take it incapable of holding any office in church or 
 state.^ Finally, to secure the future from any peril, a bill 
 I was proposed, declaring that this parliament could not be dis^ 
 solved without its own consent, (May 7.)' Even this daring 
 measure scarcely occasioned any surprise; the necessity of 
 giving a guarantee to loans, now, it was said, more difficult to 
 obtain than ever, served as a pretext; the general excite- 
 ment stifled all objection. The lords attempted to amend 
 the bill, but in vain: the upper house was conquered; and the 
 judges now extended to its weakness the sanction of their own 
 cowardice; they declared that within the meaning of the law 
 the crimes of Straffiard really constituted high treason.^ The 
 bill of attainder was submitted to a last debate: thirty-four 
 of the lords who had attended the trial absented themselves; 
 among those present, twenty-six voted for the bill, nineteen 
 against it, (May 7;)'' nothing more was needed but the 
 king's consent. ' 
 
 Charles still resisted, thinking himself incapable of such 
 dishonour. He sent for Holies, Straffi)rd's brother-in-laWj 
 and who, on this ground, had taken no part in the' prosecution. 
 " What can be done to save him?" he asked, with anguish. 
 HoUes advised that Straffi)rd should solicit the king for a 
 reprieve, and that the king should go in person to present his 
 petition to parliament, in a speech which HoUes himself drew 
 Tip on the spot: at the same time, he promised to do all in his 
 power to induce his friends to be satisfied with the earl'a 
 
 • Pari. Hist. ii. 783. ' lb. V78 ; Ned, ii. .IIS. 
 
 ' Clniendon, i. 409 ; 1)711116100116. <15 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 78ti. 
 
 * PmI. Hist. u. 737. lb. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 107" 
 
 banisliment: the matter thus arranged, they parted. Ah-eady 
 it is said, the efforts of Holies had met with some success, 
 when the queen, ever hostile to Strafford, alarmed at the 
 outbreaks of the people, each day more violent, and 
 moreover, it is reported, fearing, from the information of 
 some of her confidants, that to save his life, the earl had 
 engaged to reveal all he knew of her intrigues, came and 
 beset the king with her suspicions and terrors:' her 
 alarm was so great that she wished to fly, to return to 
 France, and she was ah-eady making preparations for her de- 
 parture.^ Moved by the tears of his wife, incapable of de- 
 ciding for himself, Charles first assembled a privy council, 
 and then the bishops. Juxon, bishop of London, alone coun- 
 selled him to obey his conscience; all the others, the bishop of 
 Lincoln, in particular, an intriguing prelate, long opposed to 
 the court, urged him to sacrifice an individual to the throne, 
 his conscience as a man to his conscience as a king.^ He had 
 scarce quitted the council chamber, when a letter from Straf- 
 ford was delivered to him, (May 9:) "Sire," wrote the 
 earl, " after a long and hard struggle, I have come to the 
 only resolution befitting me; all private interest should give 
 way to the happiness of your sacred person, and of the state. 
 I entreat you to remove, by attending to this bill, the obstacle 
 which prevents a happy concord between you and j'our sub- 
 jects. Sire, my consent herein shall acquit you more to God 
 than all the world can do beside. To a willing man there is 
 no injury done. By God's grace, my soul, about to quit this 
 body, forgives all men all things, with infinite contentment. 
 I only ask that yoii would grant t6 my poor son and his three 
 sisters, as much kindness, neither more nor less, as their un- 
 fortunate father shall be deemed to merit, according as he 
 shall one day ere long be held guilty or innocent."* 
 
 The next day, the secretary of state, Carletoil, went, on 
 the part of the king, to inform Strafford that he had consented 
 to the fatal bill. (May 10;) The earl seemed somewhat sur- 
 prised, and, for his only answer, raising his hands to heaven,. 
 
 ' Burnet's Own Times. 
 - See a letter of M. de Moiitreiiil, the Frencli miiii«ler. dated the 23rd May. 
 1C41 ; Mazure, Hist, de la Eevolxitiou de 1088, iii. 422. 
 
 ' Clai-enrlon, j. 398. ' Slate Trials, iii. 1510. 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 exclaimed, " Nolite confidere principibus et filiis hominum, 
 quia non est salus in illis."' 
 
 Instead of going in person, as he had promised Holies, to 
 heg a reprieve of parliament, the king contented himself with 
 sending by the prince of Wales, a letter, which concluded 
 with, this postscript, "If he must die, it would be a charity 
 to spare him till Saturday." The houses read the letter 
 twice, and without noticing this cold request, ordered the 
 execution for the next day. (May 11.) 
 
 The governor of the Tower, who was to accompany Straf- 
 ford,^ urged him to take a carriage, to escape the violence of 
 the people: "No, Master lieutenant," answered he, "I dare 
 look death in the face, and I liope the people too. Have you 
 a care that I do not escape, and I cai-e not how I die, whether 
 by the hand of the executioner, or by the madness and fury 
 of the people; if that may give them better content, it is all 
 one to me:" and he went out on foot, preceding the guards, 
 and looking around on all sides, as if he had been marching 
 at the head of an army. As he passed the chamber where 
 Laud was imprisoned, he stopped; the evening before he had 
 sent to request him to be at the window, and to bless him 
 on his way: " My lord," he bowed and said, " your prayers 
 and your blessing. The archbishop extended his arms to- 
 wards him, but of a mind less firm than his friend's, and that 
 enervated by age, he fell back senseless. , " Farewell, ray 
 lord," said Strafford, as he moved on, " God protect your iu- 
 nocency!" Arrived at the scaffold, he ascended without hesi- 
 tation, followed by his brother, the ministers of the church, 
 and several of his friends, knelt down an instant, then rose 
 and addressed the people: " I desire," said he, " for this king 
 -dom, every earthly prosperity; while I lived, this was my 
 constant endeavour; dying, it is my only wish. But I en- 
 treat each and all of you, who listen to me, to examine 
 yourselves seriously, your hands on your hearts, whether 
 the beginning reformation of a kingdom should be written in 
 •characters of blood; think over this when you go to your 
 homes. Never let me be so unhappy, that the least drop 
 of my blood should rise up in judgment against any of 
 you; but I fear you are in a wrong way." He knelt dow;n 
 
 ' " Put not your trust in princes, tior in tlie ions of men, for in tliem there 
 ie uo solvation." — Wliitelooke, 46. ' Poil. Hist. ii. 7C0. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLnTION. 109 
 
 again, and prayed for a quarter of an hour; then, turning to 
 his friends, he took leave of them all, shaking hands with 
 each, and giving each some advice. " Now," said he, " I have 
 nigh done! one stroke will make my wife husbandless, my 
 dear children fatherless, and my poor servants masterless, and 
 will separate me from my dear brother and all my friends! 
 But let God be to you and them all in all!" As he disrobed, 
 " I thank God," added he, " I am not afraid of death, nor 
 daunted with any discouragement rising from my fears; but 
 do as cheerfully put off my doublet at this time as ever I did 
 when I went to bed." He called the executioner, forgave 
 him, prayed an instant, laid his head, on the block, and gave 
 the signal himself. His head fell; the executioner held it up 
 to the people, saying, " God save the king!" "Violent accla- 
 mations burst forth; several bands of men spread through the 
 city, celebrating their victory with loud shouts; but others 
 retired silently, filled with doubt and uneasiness as to the 
 justice of the wish they had just seen fulfilled.* 
 
 Disturbed by the exhibition of the latter feeling, the 
 commons did all in their power to repress it; nothing more 
 irritates conquerors than to find a dead enemy stiU dangerous. 
 Mr. Taylor, for having said, in private conversation, that they 
 had committed a murder with the sword of justice, was sent to 
 the Tower, expelled the house, and declared incapaible of ever 
 taldng his seat again, (May 27.)^ Lord Digby had published 
 his speech against the bill of attainder; the house forbade its 
 circulation, and had it burnt by the common hangman, (July 
 13.)* Never had their strength appeared so great, so firmly 
 established; the king consenting to the death of the earl, had 
 also adopted, almost without looking at it, the bill which 
 deprived him of the right of dissolving parliament without 
 its own consent. Yet the commons stiU needed security; 
 and the more their power increased, the more they felt im- 
 pelled towards tyranny. The king, in delivering up Strafibrd 
 to them, had lowered himself in their eyes, but given them 
 no greater confidence in him, and hatred, stiU deeper than 
 before, redoubled their mistrust. ' A royalist party, besides 
 that of the court, began, moreover, to form amongst them. Pym, 
 
 < State Trids, iii. 1531; Warwick's Mem. (1703) 104 
 2 Tarl. I-Iis:. ii. CUfi. = lb. 754. 
 
110 HISTORT OF THE 
 
 Hampden and Holies found themselves obliged to ally them- 
 selves more and more closely with the sectaries, and this 
 alliance displeased even the warm friends of liberty. " To 
 what purpose," they asked, " embarrass political reform with 
 doubtful questions? In matters of worship and discipline, 
 opinions differ; against absolute power, England is unanimous; 
 that is the only enemy we should hunt down without mercy." 
 Sometimes this view of things prevailed, and the house, 
 resuming the examination of grievances, recovered its unani- 
 mity. The abolition of the star chamber, of the northern 
 court, the court of high commission, of all arbitrary tribunals, 
 was definitively pronounced, and the king, after two days' 
 hesitation, gave his assent, (July 5.)' PoUtical reform, such, 
 at least, as it had at first been wished for and conceived, 
 seemed accomplished; but to what purpose set it down in 
 statutes, if the carrying it out was to be left to its enemies? 
 The king's hesitations, the rumours of plots, the defections 
 perceived or foreseen in the army and the parliament, 
 awakened alarm; to lose power, the parliamentary leaders 
 felt would be to ruin themselves and their cause; to retain 
 it, the assistance of the people was necessary, and the people^ 
 devoted to the presbyterians, claimed in its turn a share of 
 the triumph. AU the motions against the church re-appeai"ed; 
 the Scots even began openly to solicit for uniformity of 
 worship in the two countries. These attempts once more 
 failed; and then ill success, the perplexity into which both 
 houses were thrown by so many passions and heterogeneous 
 designs, gave to tljeir proceedings an appearance of uncer- 
 tainty and weariness, out of which some promised themselves 
 repose. But the religious struggle became more and more de- 
 cided; the sectaries grew bolder, the church was more and more 
 shaken. Even in the upper house, her firmest support, every- 
 thing attested her decline: the spiritual lords were no longer, 
 according to ancient custom, mentioned separately at the head 
 of the bills; the clerk of the house, when reading them, 
 afiected to turn his back to the bench of bishops, and in public 
 ceremonies the temporal lords assumed the precedence.'* 
 These symptoms did not escape the presbyterian party, who 
 incessantly renewed their attacks, took the lead of the poU- 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 853. = Ncal, a. 4lo, 411. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. Ill 
 
 tical reformers, ■whom they maintained in the possession of 
 power, and, notwithstanding apparent reverses, daily ad- 
 vanced towards success. 
 
 The king, all at once, recalled to mind his project of visiting 
 Scotland, where the execution of the treaty of peace, at last 
 about to be concluded, called, he said, for liis presence. At 
 the same time it was stated that the queen, giving out ill health 
 jis the pretext, was preparing to depart for the continent. 
 The malcontent army lay on the road the king would take, 
 and the queen's connexions with the continent had long been 
 matter of suspicion. This double journey, sudden and simul- 
 taneous,' gave distrust the fuel it required. Its doubts were 
 quite legitimate. Without power or influence in London, 
 surrounded by useless courtiers and panic-struck councillors, 
 Charles had turned his thoughts towards the kingdom of his 
 fathers, and the absolute monarchs of Europe. In Scotland, 
 he intended, by yielding all demands, both as to church and 
 state, to gain the good-will of the people, and to load the 
 lords with favours. In the army, a visit from him, and the 
 conciliatory deportment he contemplated, could not fail to 
 increase the number of his partisans. As to the continent, 
 his views were less precise; but without imagining or even 
 foreseeing war, he already sought money and allies. The 
 commons did not give utterance to their suspicions; but they 
 required that the queen should not leave London, and that 
 the king should defer his depai-ture (June 26). Chai-les exhi- 
 bited some displeasure at this, affecting to regard the request 
 as an unmeaning caprice. To make it supposed that he 
 attached no importance to his answer, he referred the com- 
 mons for it to the Scottish commissioners, who, he said, soli- 
 cited him to hasten his journey, and to the queen herself. 
 The Scots willingly agreed to a delay; and the queen readily 
 promlss'l not to depart.' Reassured for a moment, the com- 
 mons pressingly urged the disbanding of the army, hitherto 
 purposely retarded. Letters from the house guaranteed 
 the troops the prompt payment of their denaands. To pro- 
 vide for this, some zealous citizens had their plate melted; 
 fresh loans were ordered, new taxes imposed.^ But the dis- 
 
 • Pail. Hist. ii. SIB, et seq. 
 - May, i. 305 ; Pai-1. Hist. ii. 841, The interest demanded for this loan 
 «as fixed at ten per cent.. 
 
112 HISTOHY OF THE 
 
 banding proceeded slowly, from the want of money, and also 
 from the difficulties interposed by many of the officers.' The 
 king secretly congratulated himself upon this circumstance; it 
 made the commons resume their anxieties. The delay agreed 
 upon had now expired. The commons solicited another, but 
 without success (Aug. 8);^ the king announced that he was 
 about to depart. The house started the project of demanding 
 that a regent should be appointed during his absence, that 
 public business might not be suspended; but the idea was not 
 acted upon.^ The king contented himself with naming the 
 earl of Essex qaptain-general south of Trent, and departed on 
 the 10th of August, fuU of hopes which he could not help 
 giving vague utterance to, but of which no one could con- 
 ceive the grounds. 
 
 The house was not long in perceiving that they only lost 
 time by sitting uncertain and inactive during his absence. 
 It was much more important to them to watch closely their 
 adversaries, and to refresh the zeal of their partisans in the 
 counties. After a fortnight of barren sittings^ they.resolved 
 to adjourn (Aug. 27).'' Many of the members wished to look 
 after their private concerns, or to take some repose; but the 
 leaders allowed themselves no rest whatever. A committee 
 under the direction of Hampden was sent to Scotland, to 
 remain near the king, and watch over the interests of parlia- 
 ment.^ Another committee, numerous and invested with 
 large powers, sat at Westminster in the interval of the two 
 sessions; Pym acted as its chairman. The house of lords 
 took similar measures." A great many members spread them- 
 selves over the country, eager to diffuse their sentiments 
 and their fears. Both parties, under the appearance of a 
 truce, wei'e seeking abroad new strength, both meditating new 
 contests. 
 
 In passing through the English army, which was disband- 
 ing, and the Scottish army, which was returning home, the 
 king did not think it advisable to stop long. Still his attempts 
 with the soldiers, particularly among the officers, were so 
 
 > Clarendon, i. 422. « Pari. Hist. ii. 897. ' lb. 892-. 
 
 * The recess was to last from Sept. 8 to Oct. 20 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 904. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. ii. 902. This committee was composed of six members— 
 namely, the earl of Bedford, lord Howard, sir Williom Armyn, sir Philip 
 Btapleton, Nathaniel Fiennes, and John Hampden. « lb. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 113 
 
 public that lord Holland, who presided over the disband- 
 ing, wrote an anxious letter on the subject to the earl of 
 Essex"' (Aug. 16), adding, that on his return to London he 
 vould tell him more. Arrived in Edinburgh, Charles made 
 to the parliament and church of Scotland all the concessions 
 they; demanded: triennial parliaments, the abrogation of the 
 ancient prerogatives of the crown, the prosecution of the! 
 principal opponents of the covenant, even the intervention of 
 parliament in the nomination of the privy council, nothing 
 was refused. • The king lent himself to the presbyterian 
 worship, with a gravity which had nothing of the air of mere 
 complaisance about it, assiduously attending their frequent 
 prayers, and listening attentively to their long sermons; and, ■ 
 whether laymen or ecclesiastics, noblemen or citizens, the chiefs, 
 of the covenanters were treated with marked favour; titles, 
 offices, promises, pensions were lavished upon them. 
 
 On a sudden, rumour went through the city (early in Oc- 
 tober) that the most influential noblemen in parliament, 
 Hamilton and Argyle, had quitted it, followed by their friends, 
 and had retired to Kinneil castle, the residence of the earl of 
 Lanark, Hamilton's brother, to escape the danger of an arrest 
 and even of assassination. The astonishment at this was 
 extreme; all asked, none could give an answer, what had 
 inspired the fugitives with such fears, the king with such de- 
 signs. Strange conjectures spread abroad; the king haughtily 
 complained of them as an insult, and demanded of pai-liament 
 the exclusion of Hamilton, till his honour was vindicated. 
 The parliament, firm but circumspect, formed no sudden de- 
 cision, but ordered an inquiry. Numerous witnesses were 
 heard; the committee made its report; it declared, without 
 going into particulars, that there was no occasion of repara 
 tion to the king, of fear to the fugitives. The two noblemen 
 returned to' parliament, remained silent, as did Charles, on 
 what 'had passed, and from them the public learned notliing 
 ftirther. 
 
 Neither party wished' it should be better informed; out 
 meantime, the matter had someho^v been explained to it. 
 At the time the king, in order to gain over Scotland against 
 England, was maldug so many concessions, he was meditating 
 
 ' CliU'CiKlou, i. 4.24. 
 I 
 
114 ■ HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the overthrow of his enemies in both kingdoms. Convinced 
 that the judges could not do otherwise than condemn as treason, 
 the correspondence of the English malcontents with the: 
 Scottish covenanters, which preceded and perhaps produced 
 the last invasion, he had come to Scotland Hmself to seek for 
 proofs, purposing, on his return, to bring against the leaders 
 of the commons that accusation which Strafford, anticipated 
 by their more rapid movement, had not been able even to 
 announce. ' A young and daring nobleman, at first devoted 
 to the covenant, but since restored to the king's favour, the earl 
 of Montrose, had engaged to procure for him the so anxiously 
 desired documents. Relying upon this promise, Charle* 
 commenced his journey to the North; but before he arrived,, 
 a letter in cipher, intercepted by Argyle, had excited the 
 luspicion of the Scots, and the king found Montrose in prison. 
 JLmmated by the danger and burning for revenge, the earl. 
 sent him word that if he could see him he would acquaint 
 him with Ms real enemies, and their past machinations. By 
 the aid of some trusty friends> Montrose secretly quitted hia 
 prison, went at night to the king's bedchamber, told him all 
 he knew, accused Hamilton of having, with Argyle, taken 
 part in the plans of the malcontents, assured the king that 
 their papers would furnish proofs of this, and finally per- 
 suaded >iim to secure at once the persons of these moblemen^ 
 amd to have them summarily dispatched if they resisted. Ever 
 ready to adopt daring resolves, and without tlnnking of the 
 effect which so violent an act could not fail to- produce on the 
 minds of the people whom he was seeking to conciliate, Charles 
 consented to everything; the plot proceeded simultaneously 
 with the concessions, and everything was ready for its exe™ 
 cution, when the two lords, warned in time, caused the whole 
 thing to fail by their public departure.^ 
 
 The Scottish parliament wisely did its best to stifle the 
 affair; it no longer feared the peril, and did not, wish tO' 
 endanger what it had just obtained, by pushing matters to. 
 listremity. The king himself, to conceal his designs and 
 their want of success, raised Hamilton to the rank of duke, 
 Argyle to that of marquis; Lesley was created earl of Leven; 
 
 » Hardwicte'a State Papers, ii. 399 ; Clm'endoii, i. 463; Burnet, Mem. 
 of the Hamiltons, 148 — 171 ; Baillie'a Letters, i. SaO, ct seq. ; Laing, Hist. 
 «f Scotloud, iii. Sa?, and 347 ; Brodie, iii. 142, 106. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 115 
 
 but Hampden and the English committee, well informed of 
 all that had taken place, hastened to send word of it to London 
 where the parliament was about to meet. Fear seized the 
 party there. "^ With all their distrust they had not antici- 
 pated such dangers as these, and the leaders thought their 
 rormer relations with the Scottish insurgents had been par- 
 doned, together with the rebellion itself by the last treaty 
 of peace. At this indication of the king's obstinately vindic- 
 tive intentions, men, otherwise moderate, thought themselves 
 irredeemably compromised. Mr. Hyde meeting lord Essex 
 and lord Holland, who were anxiously discussing the news, 
 ridiculed their fears, and reminded them of what they them- 
 selves thought of Hamilton and -Argyle a year before: " Both 
 the times and the court," they replied, "are much altered 
 since that."* On the first day of their assembling, the com- 
 mons applied to the earl of Essex for a guard, rendered in- 
 dispensable, they said, for the safety of parliament. It was 
 at once granted. In conferences held at lord Holland's house 
 at Kensington, the leaders of both houses communicated to 
 each other the information they from time to time received, 
 and their suspicions, and deliberated what was to be done, all of 
 them agitated, all impelled by their uneasiness to dare every- 
 thing. " If there be a plot of the king against us," said lord 
 Newport, " his wife and children are here;"* and their alarms 
 were all the greater, because they dared not zaake use of them 
 to stir up the people, for nothing having tran^ired in Scot- 
 land, in London nothing could be revealed. 
 
 In the midst of this secret agitation, came all of a sudden 
 the news, (Nov. 1,) that an insurrection, as general as violent, 
 had covered Ireland with massacre, and threatened with the 
 most imminent danger the protestant religion and the parlia- 
 ment. The Irish catholics, leaders and people, had risen in every 
 direction, claiming liberty for their worship and their country, 
 invoking the name of the queen, even of the king, showing a 
 commission which they had, as they said, received from him, 
 and announcing the project of delivering themselves and the 
 throne from the English puritans, their common oppressors. 
 The conspiracy, long preparing all over the kingdom, was 
 disclosed solely by chance, and that only at Dublin, (Oct. 22,) on 
 
 > Evelyn'-i Merc., ii. Append, p. 40, 40 : Piul. Hist. ii. 914. 
 ' Clarendon, i. 404. ' Pnrl. Hist. ii. 984. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the evening next before its explosion, so that there was scarcely- 
 time to secure from the outbreak the seat of governmient. 
 Everywhere else it met with very little obstacle; on all sides 
 the protestants of Ireland were attacked unawares, ejected 
 from their houses, hunted down, slaughtered, exjposed to all 
 the perils, all the torments that religious and patriotic hatred 
 could invent against heretics, foreigners, and tyrants. The 
 most fearful and distressing accounts arrived of the miseries 
 they were subjected to; of infinite murders, of suiferings alto- 
 gether unprecedented; and the evil was indeed so great, that 
 it might be exaggerated, according to men's fears or designsj 
 without offending truth or exhausting credulity.^ A half 
 savage people, passionately attached to the barbarism which, 
 their oppressors made matter of reproach, while the/ pre- 
 vented them from quitting it, had seized with transport the 
 hope of deliverance which the dissensions of their tyrants 
 offered them. Eager to avenge in a day ages of outrage and 
 misery, they with a proud jOy committed excesses which 
 struck their ancient masters with horror and dismay. The 
 English authorities were utterly without the means of resist- 
 ance; in its hatred to Strafford and the crown, solely occupied 
 by the design of establishing liberty in England, parliament 
 had forgotten, that in Ireland it desired to keep up tyranny. 
 The treasury there had been thoroughly exhausted, martial 
 law abolished, the army reduced to an insignificant corps, the 
 royal power disarmed. It had even, contrary to the king's 
 wish, forbidden the disbanded Irish troops to pass into foreign- 
 service;'' and these had accordingly spread over the country, 
 adding their force to the insurrection. Finally, though the 
 earl of Leicester had been appointed successor to Strafford, 
 
 1 May, ' (ii. 4,) makes the number of protestants -wlio were massacred, 
 200,000; Clarendon reduces it to 40,000 or 50,000, (ii. 237.) It is pro- 
 bable, from the coi-respondence of the judges then in Ireland, and the inquirv 
 made into the subject in 16ii, that even the last account is exaggerated. 
 Yet this inquiry, -which Mr. Lingard (x. note A. p. 4;63,'469) considers as 
 decisiTe, desei-ves no confidence ; not only was it made three years after the 
 outbreak, but at an epoch when the royalist party reigned absolute in Ire- 
 land, and had just made peace with the catholics ; it had evidently for its 
 object to soften as much as possible the excesses of the insurgents, the 
 Bufferings of the protestants, and thus to excuse the alliance the king was 
 on the point of contracting. 
 
 = Eushworth,- i. 3, 381. 
 
ENGUSH KK VOLUTION. 117 
 
 there was as yet bo, viceroy resident in Ireland; the public 
 business was entrusted to two judges, destitute of capacity or 
 influence,' and whose presbyterian zeal had alone procured for 
 them this difficult office. 
 
 A cry of terror and fierce hate arose against popery all 
 over England; every protestant thought himself in danger. 
 The king, who had received the news in Scotland, hastened to 
 communicate it to the two houses, announcing certain mea- 
 sures which, with the assistance of the Scots, he had already 
 taken to repress the rebellion, but leaving all future manage- 
 ment of the affair entirely to the care of parhament.^ Charles 
 had nothing to do with the insurrection, and the pretended 
 commission produced by Sir Plielim O'Neil was a gross- 
 forgery; but his known hatred of the puritans, the confidence 
 he had more than once manifested in the catholics, the in-, 
 trigues that for the last three months he had been carrying- 
 on in Ireland, to secure strongholds and soldiers there in 
 case of need,^ the promises made by the queen, had persuaded, 
 the Irish that they might, without fearing a sincere disavowal,, 
 make use of his name. Ireland in rebellion, Chai-les hoped' 
 so great a danger would render the parliament more tract- 
 able; and without supporting the rebels, without contem 
 plating for a moment any alliance with them, he was not, 
 like his people, seized with anger and fear at their revolt; he 
 was in no haste to repress it, and left the affair to parliamj'snt 
 at once to throw upon it all the blame for any mischances, and 
 to remove from himself the suspicion of complicity; perhaps, 
 also, to relieve himself in the eyes of his catholic subjects 
 from responsibility for the rigour they would be subjected to. 
 But cunning is of no avail against the passions of a people;, 
 Le who will not affect to adopt cannot deceive them. The; 
 leaders of the comtnons, more skilful and better situated, 
 only thought of working them to their own profit. Their- 
 uneasiness had now disappeared, for the English people, 
 thought themselves fallen into a peril analogous to their own.. 
 
 1 Sir William Parsons, and sir John Borlase. ' Clni-endoii, i. 40'/ . 
 
 = Carte, Life of Oraiond, i. 133 ; iii. 30 ; Claiendon, State papers, li. 337 ,-^ 
 Antrim's information, in tlie appendix to Clsirendon's Histoiy of the Irish- 
 Eebellion. The testimony given by Antrim, more especially as to facts, 
 does not, however, in my opinion, deserve the confidence placed in it by 
 lingard, r. J 50, and God^r 
 
118 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 Prompt to accept the power offered them by the king, not- 
 withstanding the pomp of their declarations and the violence 
 of their threats, the care of repressing the rebellion occupied 
 them but little; the assistance, "both in troops and money, 
 sent to Ireland, was weak, tardy, and ill-arranged. To 
 England alone were addressed all their speeches, all their 
 real action, and by a step as decisive as unexpected, they 
 resolved to engage it inextricably. 
 
 Shortly after the opening of parliament, a committee had 
 been charged to prepare a general remonstrance, setting forth 
 all the grievances of the kingdom, and the means of redress- 
 ing them. But the reform had been so rapid that they had 
 oeglected to give much prominence tc) the complaints: most 
 of the grievances, the political grievances at least, had disap- 
 peared; the committee took no further heed to its commis- 
 sion, and no one appeared to think any more about it. 
 
 It now suddenly (towards the beginning of November) re- 
 ceived orders to resume its labours, and to make a report 
 without delay.' In a few days the remonstrance was drawn 
 up and submitted to the house. It' was no longer, according 
 to the fii:st intention, an exposition of actual and pressing 
 abuses, and of the unanimous wishes of the country, Isut 
 a dark picture of past evils, of old grievances, of all the 
 delinquencies of the king, contrasted with the merits of 
 the parliament, and the obstacles it had surmounted, the 
 perils it had encountered, and particularly thbse which still 
 threatened it and necessitated the utmost efforts of its 
 power; it was, in short, a sort of appeal to the people, ad- 
 dressed more especially to the fanatical presbyterians, and 
 which, fomenting the passions that the Irish rebellion had re- 
 kindled, excited thein to devote themselves unreservedly to 
 the house of commons, alone capable of saving tliem from 
 popery, the bishops, and the king. 
 
 When the remonstrance was first read, majiy murmurs 
 rose against it; an act so hostile, without public grounds, 
 without any direct ov apparent aim, excited in many mem- 
 bers, till then far from friendly to the court, surprise and 
 suspicion; they complained of the bitterness of the language, 
 the futile indignation against grievances already redi-essed, 
 
 ' Cliu'c-Tidou, i. 469. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 1J5 
 
 of the rudeness stown towards the king, the hopes held out 
 to the sectaiies. What were the hidden designs, the un- 
 known perils that required such violent measures? J£ the 
 remonstrance was destined for the king alone, what good 
 could be expected from it? If it was meant for the people, 
 what right had its promoters to appeal from the house to the 
 people. The leaders of the party said little in reply, not being 
 " able to say all; but in their private conversations, they ar- 
 dently laboured to gain votes, protesting that they only 
 wanted to intimidate the court and frustrate its intrigues; 
 and that if the remonstrance was only adopted, they would 
 not publish it. This was not without efiect, for distrust was 
 now so catching, that men, otherwise of a moderate turn, re- 
 ceived it when suggested without violence, and in the language 
 of reason. In a few days (Nov. 21), at the moment when the 
 house, after a sitting of several hours, was about to rise, the 
 leaders moved that the remonstrance should be immediately 
 put to the vote; they had reckoned their numbers, and thouglufc 
 (themselves sure of success; but lord Falkland, Hyde, Cole- 
 pepper, Palmer, opposed the motion warmly, insisting that it 
 should be adjourned tiU the next day, to which the house 
 ■willingly assented. " Why," said Cromwell to lord Falkland, 
 "would you have it put off? the day would quickly have de- 
 termined it." " There would not have been time enough," 
 said lord Falkland, "for sure it would take some debate." 
 ■" A very sorry one," answered Cromwell, with real or af- 
 fected confidence. Opened the next day at three in the aftei-- 
 noon, when night came the debate seemed scarcely begun. It 
 was no longer the court and the country contending; for the 
 first time, there were now engaged two parties, if not both 
 national, at least both sprung from the body of the nation; 
 both putting themselves forward as the upholders of pubhc 
 interests and feehngs, both reckoning worthy and indepedent 
 citizens andong their followers. Common hopes had united 
 them; opposite fears divided them; each sagaciously fore- 
 saw the result which would follow the triumph of its adver- 
 saries, but mistook that which its own victory would pro- 
 duce. They struggled with unexampled rancour, and were 
 all the more obstinate that they stiU observed decorum, and 
 dared nqt loudly accuse each other, according to the dictates 
 of their suspicions. The hours passed on; fatigue di-ove away 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the weak, the indjiferent, and the aged; even one of the 
 king's ministers, the secretary of state, Nicholas, left the house 
 before the close of the debate. " This," said, sir Ben amin 
 Eudyard, "willbethe verdict of a starving jury." At length, 
 towards midnight they divided: one hundred and fifty-nine, 
 - Fotes adopted the remonstrance, one hundred and forty-eight 
 ■;.vere against it. Forthwith Hampden rose, and moved that 
 " t should be printed at once. " We knew it!" many cried; 
 'you want to raise the people and get rid of the lords." 
 ' The house," said Mr. Hyde, " is not in the habit of thus 
 ubUshing its decisions; in my opinion the doing so is not 
 lawful, and would produce mischievous effects; if it be adopted, 
 let me be allowed to protest." " I protest," said Mr. Palmer ,: 
 '" I protest, I protest!" re-echoed their friends. This, again, , 
 with the other party, gave rise to astonishment and indigna- 
 tion; protests, in use with the lords, were unknown to the 
 commons: Pym rose to demonstrate their illegality and 
 danger; he was interrupted byinvectives; he persisted, and was 
 answered by threats. The whole house was on its legs, and 
 several members, their hands on their swords, seemed on the 
 point of beginning a civil war within the walls of parliament. 
 Two hours passed away, the tumult recommencing with every 
 attempt to carry a resolution. At last Hampden, after de- 
 ploring mildly but gravely this humiliating disorder, proposed 
 that the house should rise, and adjourn the further discussion 
 of the question till the afternoon. They separated. " Well," 
 said lord Falkland to Cromwell, as he was going out, " was 
 there a debate?" " I'll take your word another time," said 
 Cromwell; and whispered him in the ear with some assevera- 
 tion — " had the remonstrance been rej ected, I would, to-morrow, 
 have sold everything I possess, and never seen England more; 
 and I know many other honest men of the same resolution." ' 
 The afternoon sitting was comparatively tranquil; the 
 royalists had given up all hope of victory, and their adver- 
 saries had seen themselves so near losing it, that they did not 
 desire to renew the struggle. They had announced the im- 
 peachment of the protestants; but Mr. Hyde had friends in 
 the house who refused to give him up. Mr. Palmei", indeed. 
 
 • Clarendon, i. 48, 285 ; 'Warwick's Mem. ; Mav, li. ]6, et scq.; Eush- 
 WOrth, ii. 3, 425 ; Whitelocke, 51. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 121 
 
 sent to the Tower, but quitted it almost immediately. 
 After some mutual explanations, this quarrel was hushed up. 
 A majority of twenty-three ordered the remonstrance to be 
 printed.' The execution, however, of the order was delayed,, 
 as it was first necessary to present it to the king, who was 
 daily expected. 
 
 He arrived, confident and haughty (Nov. 25), notwith- 
 standing the check he had received in Scotland, and what he 
 had heard of the new acerbity of parliament. Everywhere 
 on his way, particularly at York, he had been received with 
 •vociferous manifestations of affection and joy. In many places,. 
 his concessions to the Scots had dehghted the people; his 
 secret machinations were unknown, or not understood. Be- 
 sides, in. the country, as well as in pa.rliament, the royalist 
 uarty was getting together, and exhibiting its feelings. This 
 was the case even in the city of London. The king's friends had 
 carried the election of the new lord mayor, Richard Gourney, 
 an active, courageous man, devoted to the king, who prepared 
 a most brilliant reception for his sovereign. A multitude of 
 citizens on horseback, armed, preceded by the banners of the 
 various companies, went to meet him, and escorted him with 
 acclamations to the palace of "Wliitehall. The king in return 
 gave them a magnificent banquet, and conferred the honour 
 of knighthood on the lord mayor and several of the alder- 
 men ;2 and the day after his arrival, eager to show the com- 
 mons that he tliought his position a strong one, he withdrew 
 the guard which, in his absence, the earl of Essex had ap- 
 pointed for their safety, (Nov. 26.)^ 
 
 The aspect of afiairs now changed; to the unanimous en- 
 tlmsiasm of the entire kingdom succeeded party struggles; to 
 reform, revolution. The leaders saw this, and their conduct 
 suddenly assimied a new character. The remonstrance was 
 presented to the king, (Dec. 1 ;) he patiently listened while- 
 it was read; and then, addressing the committee, asked: 
 " Does the house intend to publish this declaration?" " We 
 can give no answer," was the reply. " Well, then," said the 
 king, " I suppose you do not expect aii answer to so long a 
 petition now; I shall give you one with as much speed as the 
 
 1 Clarendou, i. 490 ; Par]. Hist., ii. 937. 
 ». Eushwortli, i. 3, 439 ; May, ut sup. ; ■Whiteiocke, 50 ; Evelyii's Mem., 
 Appendix ii. 79. ^ Pail Hist. ii. 940, 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 weightiness of the business 'will permit."' The leaders of the 
 commons were altogether indifferent on the point; without 
 any delay whatever, they at once brought forward projects 
 that even the remonstrance did not hint at. Hitherto they 
 had redressed grievances, appealed to the ancient laws; now 
 they proclaimed new principlesj imperiously demanded inno* 
 nations. A bill was under discussion for levying troops foi 
 Ireland; they inserted these words in the preamMe, " That 
 the king hath, in no case, or upon any occasion but invasion 
 from a foreign power, authority to press the free-born sub- 
 ject, that being inconsistent with the freedom and liberty of . 
 his person."^ Another bill was proposed, that the organiza 
 tion of the militia and the nomination of its officers, shouH 
 for the future only take place with the concurrence and cottT 
 sent of parliament, (Dec. 7.)* By the influence of thepres- 
 byterians, the biU excluding all ecclesiastics from civil offices 
 (Oct. 23)* had, a few days before the king's return, been 
 again brought forward and adopted; but the lords kept it 
 waiting; the commons now angrily complained of this: " This 
 house," said they, " being the representative body of the whole 
 kingdom, and their lordships being but as particular persons^ 
 and coming to parliament in a particular capacity, if they 
 shall not be pleased to consent to the passing of these acts 
 and others necessary to the preservation and safety of the 
 kingdom, then this house, together with such of the lords 
 lliat are more sensible of the safety of the kingdom, will join , 
 together, and represent the same unto his majesty." And the 
 popular noblemen, the earls of Northumberland, Essex, and 
 Warwick, permitted this language to pass unnoticed.® Out 
 of doors, the party rallied round their leaders with equal 
 ardour; the remonstrance was published, (Sept. 14.)^ The 
 city declared that, in receiving the king with so much pomp, 
 the citizens of London had not meant to convey any change of 
 sentiment towards their true friends, and that they would live 
 and die with the parliament.' A petition from the apprentices 
 Set forth, in lamentable array, the sufferings of commerce and 
 trades, imputing them to the papists, the bishops, and bad 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. ii. 942. 
 « Clorenclon, i. 507; Pwl. Hist., ii. 969 ; May, ut sup. 
 ' May, ut sup.'. Clarendon, i. 513. * Pail. Hist. ii. 916.' 
 
 ' Journals, Commons, Dec. 3. " Pari. Hist. ii. 970. " Mav. > 
 
ENGLISH revolution; 123 
 
 councillors.' In the counties, associations were formed de- 
 voted to the defence of the people's liberty and faith. FrMa 
 all quarters, the nation hastened to the aid of the commons; 
 sinister reports from time to time .produced new proofs of 
 their attachment; now it was rumoured that the life of Pym 
 had been threatened; now, that the Irish rebels were pre- 
 paring an invasion; a mysterious visit, a word picked up in 
 the street, sufficed as groundwork for the party to base a 
 plot upon, and to call upon their adherents for fresh oaths of 
 union; and while the commons each day demanded the re- 
 storation of their guard; the multitude assembled each day 
 round Westminster Hall formed one for them, incessantly 
 sending forth shouts proclaiming a common peril. 
 
 Against these daring pret&nsions, maintained by such 
 tumultuous passions, Charles, on his side, rallied all his par- 
 tisans, the interested servants of absolute power, the loyal 
 defenders of the king, whatever his cause, and those citizens 
 who had until of late opposed tyranny, but who were 
 brought back to the foot of the throne by the fear of inno- 
 vations and excesses. The latter formed, almost solely, the 
 rising royalist party in the house of commons. Lord Falk- 
 land, Mr. Hyde, and sir John Colepepper were its leaders; 
 and Charles resolved to attach them to Mm. Already, before 
 his journey into Scotland, he had held secret iuterviews with 
 Hyde; and by the respectful wisdom of his advice, by his 
 aversion to all innovations, above all, by his devotion to the 
 church, Hyde had gained his confidence.^ He did not equally 
 _ Hke lord Falkland, who despised the court, cared little for 
 the king, whom he had not come near, and opposed the inno- 
 vators, rather for the sake of offended justice than for that of 
 menaced power. Charles feared him, and did not feel at 
 ease in his presence. However, it was necessary to conciliate 
 him. Hyde, his most intimate friend, undertook the nego- 
 tiation. Falkland at first refused; his scrupulous virtue 
 severed him from the abettors of revolution; but his prin- 
 dples, his wishes, the impulses of his somewhat visionary 
 imagination, constantly impelled him towards the friends of 
 liberty. He alleged his antipathy to the court, his inability to 
 
 Clai'endoa; i. 519 ; Eushworth, i. 3, 462. 
 ^ Clarendon, Slemoirs, i. passim. 
 
124 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 serve it, and liis resolution of nerer employing either fals6hood» 
 or corruption, or spies; " useful, perhaps necessary means," 
 -said he. " but ■with which I ■will never sully my hands," 
 Surprised and piqued at having to solicit a subject, Charles 
 ' nevertheless persisted. Hyde enlarged upon the immense 
 injury such a refusal would be to the king. Falkland 
 suffered himself to be persuaded, though disheartened be- 
 forehand, as the victim of a devotion prompted neither by 
 affection nor hope. He was named secretary of state. Cole.- 
 pepper, much less influential, but distinguished for his boldr 
 liess, and the resources of his mind in debate, became 
 chancellor of the exchequer. Hyde alone, contrary to tjbfi 
 king's wish, pertinaciously refused any oflace, not from fear, 
 but from prudence, and from the opinion that he should 
 serve him better in maintaining the exteiior independence of 
 his position. The three friends undertook the management 
 of the king's affairs in the house, and Charles promised to 
 attempt nothing there without their counsel.' 
 ■ At the same time, other servants, less useful, but more 
 ardent, hastened from all parts of the kingdom to defend his 
 honour and his life, threatened, as they said, by parliament. 
 Notwithstanding the decay of the feudal system, the sentiments 
 to which it had given rise still animated many of the gentry, 
 Inactive in their country seats, little accustomed to reflection 
 or debate, they despised those prating, cavilhrig citizens, 
 whose gloomy creed proscribed the wine-drinking, the sports, 
 the pleasures of old England, and who assumed to rule the 
 Idng, whom their fathers had not even had the honour to serve. 
 Proud in the recollection of their own independence, the country 
 gentry cared little about the new wants of public liberty. la 
 common with the people, they had murmured against the 
 court and against tyranny; but after so many concessions 
 from the throne, their want of foresight and their loyalty 
 made them indignant at the insolent pertinacity of the inno- 
 vators. They came to London in arms, paraded the streets 
 haughtily, showed themselves and expressed their opinions 
 loudly in the taverns and public places, and often went to 
 "Whitehall to offer their services and solicit some favour fromi 
 the king. There they were joined by others, drav/n togethe" 
 
 n, i. 528, ii. 207 ; Warwick's Mem., JOi. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOMTION. 125 
 
 by a devotion less genuine, but still more blind, the officers, 
 the reformadoes, whom the disbanding of the army had left 
 without pay or employment; most of them soldiers of fortune, 
 bred in the wars of the continent, dissolute, venal, and daring, 
 irritated against the parliament, who had deprived them 
 of their trade, against the people, who detested their manners, 
 and ready to do anything for any master who would employ 
 them, no matter in what cause. Young lawyers, students in 
 the Temple, proteges of the court, or anxious to share its 
 pleasures, or thinking they proved their high birth and elegance 
 of taste by embracing its cause, swelled the restless and pre- 
 sumptuous throng which daily assembled round Whitehall,, 
 inveighing against the commons, insulting all who took part 
 'with them, prodigal of boastings and railleries, and eager 
 for the king, or chance, to give them some opportunity of 
 pushing their fortune by proving their loyalty.' . 
 
 The popular party were no less impatient to give them 
 this opportunity; its assemblages became every day more 
 numerous and excited. Bands of apprentices, workmen,, 
 women, went every morning from the city to Westminster, 
 and in passing by Whitehall, the -shouts, " No bishops! no 
 popish lords!" were sent forth with redoubled energy. At 
 times, they would halt, and one of them getting on a post, 
 would there read to the crowd the names of the " disaffected 
 members of the house of commons," or those of " the false,, 
 evil, rotten -hearted lords." Their audacity went so far as to 
 demand that there should be no sentinel at the gates of • 
 the palace, so that they might see the king at any hour, 
 whenever (hey pleased.^ Violent contests soon arose; the 
 names of cavaliers and roundheads distinguished the two 
 parties; the citizens at first repelled the latter appellation as 
 an insult, but afterwards adopted it as an honourable title.* 
 The cavaliers sought their enemies around Westminster HaU, 
 at once to beai'd them, and to protect the menaced royalists as 
 they left the houses of parliament. It was particularly against 
 the upper house that the people's anger was directed, for the 
 bill excluding the -bishops still remained in suspense there. 
 The archbishop of York, Williams, on his way to the house 
 
 » Ludlow's Memoirs, (1771,) 10. 
 
 « Cloi-endon, i. 526 ; May, «i sup. ; Pail. Hist., ii. 986 
 
 » Clarendon, i. 528, ii. 396 ; Eusliwortli, i. 3, i.m. 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 on foot, tried to arrest with his own hands a young man who 
 followed him with insults; the crowd rushed upon the pre 
 late, and his friends had great difficulty in getting him off.' 
 Both parties by turns made and rescued prisoners. Blood 
 flowed, the cavaKers boasted with derision of having dispersed 
 their adversaries, but the latter returned the next day, more • 
 exjperienced and better armed. One evening, when the lords 
 were still sitting, the tumult without became so violent, that 
 the marquis of Hertford went over to the bishops' bench, and 
 advised them not to go out; " for," said he, " those people 
 vow they will watch you at your coming out, and search 
 every coach for you with,torches, so as you cannot escape,' 
 " Must we then pass the night here?" asked the bishops. , 
 "It is very possible," replied, with a smile, some of the sup- 
 porters of the bill of exclusion. They did depart, however; 
 some in' the carriage of one of the papular lords, others 
 by back passages; and even among their friends many beg9,n 
 to think their presence was not worth the danger it occa- 
 sioned.2 Twice did the upper house claim the assistance of 
 the commons in the suppression of these outrages^ (I>ec. 
 SO'^SO); but the commons remained silent, or answered by 
 complaining of the disorders of the cavaliers. " We must 
 not discourage our friends, this being a time we must make 
 use of all of them," said the leaders. " God forbid the house 
 of commons should proceed in any way to dishearten the 
 people to obtain their just rights in such a way!"* The lords 
 applied to the magistrates, calling upon them to proceed 
 against the rioters according to law; and upon an ordfer, to 
 which was afllxed the great seal, the justices enjoined the 
 constables to place a guard round Westminster Hall to 
 disperse the mob. The commons had the constables to their 
 bar, treated the order as a breach of privilege, and sent one of 
 the justices to the Tower.* At the same time, the house voted 
 that as the king persisted in refusing them a guard, each 
 member might bring one servant with him,, and station Mm 
 at the door of the house, armed as he might think fit. 
 
 These riots, these incessant outcries, this constant, unma- 
 nageable disorder, filled the king With anger and vnth fear; 
 
 > Clarendon, Hist., i. 526, ii. 29i; EushwortU, i. 3, 493. 
 « Pari. Hist., ii. 991. a Ilj. 986. * lb. 987. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 127 
 
 never, amid his darkest apprehensions, had such scenes en- 
 tered his imagination; he was astonished and indignant that 
 royal majesty should have to endure such gross insults; and 
 it was no longer for his power alone, hut for the safety, at 
 all events, for the dignity of his person and life, that he began 
 to be alarmed. The queen, stiU more agitated, besieged him 
 with her terrors; and the pride of the monarch and the ten- 
 derness of the husband could not support the idea of peril or 
 insult to the object of his affections, the partner of his rank. 
 Xiooking around in every direction for some support against 
 the multitude, some means of preventing or punishing their 
 excesses, he resolved to get rid of the governor of the Tower, sir 
 WiUiam Balfour, a person devoted to the commons, and to put 
 a sure and daring man in his place. Three thousand pounds, 
 the produce of the sale of some of the queen's jewels, were given 
 to sir William to appease his anger. Sir Thomas Lunsford, one 
 of the most audacious leaders of the cavaliers assembled at 
 Whitehall, succeeded him (towards Dee. 20.)'' At the same 
 tinie, the king assumed a higher tone with the parliament,. en- 
 deavouring to intimidate it in his turn. Hyde had prepared 
 Si firm and able answer to the remonstrance; Charles adopted 
 it, and had it published in his own name.' The bill for the 
 impressment of soldiers was still under discussion in parlia- 
 ment; before it was presented to him, Charles went to the 
 bouse, and declared that he would not accept it until the 
 passage in the preamble, depriving him of the power of 
 ordering impressment, was strack out, (Dec. 14.)* Irish af- 
 fairs made no progress; he called upon the commons to take 
 them decidedly in hand, and offered to raise ten thousand 
 volunteers if the house would promise to pay them, (Dec. 29.)* 
 On tl-ir part, and perhaps with his consent, the bishops as- 
 sembled to deliberate on their situation; violence awaited 
 them at the doors of the upper house; they resolved to absent 
 themselves, to set forth in a protest the motives of their with- 
 drawal, declaring null and void every bUl that should be 
 adopted without the concurrence of all the legitimate and ne- 
 cessary members of -parliament. Suddenly drawn up and 
 
 » Clarendon, i. 517 ; ii. 284. 
 2 Clftrendon's Memoirs, i. 124 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 970. 
 ' Pari. Hist. u. 988. •* lb. ii. 991. 
 
128 HISTOHY OF THE 
 
 signed by twelve bishops,' the protest was at once pre- 
 sented to the king, who eagerly received it: it presented to 
 him the hope of one day, under this pretext, annulling the 
 acts of that fatal parliament which he could not quell; on 
 the instant, without mentioning the matter to his new coun- 
 cillors, whose advice he feared much more than he estimated 
 their influence, he ordered the lord high keeper to carry it 
 that same day to the upper house, applauding himself for his 
 address, (Dec. 30.)2 
 
 The astonishment of the lords was extreme; they could not 
 conceive how twelve bishops, whose parliamentary existence 
 was at.that moment in question, should thus pretend to order, 
 the fate of parliament itself, to annihilate it by their absence." 
 Communicated without delay to the commons, the protest was 
 received there with that apparent anger and secret joy which, 
 the faults of an enemyinspire. The impeachment of the bishops- 
 for conspiring against the fundamental laws of the kingdom 
 and the existence of parliament^ was at once moved and car- 
 ried. Irritated by their imprudence, perhaps glad to avail 
 themselves of a pretext for forsaking without shame a ruined 
 cause, their friends remained silent; only one voice rose in 
 their^favour,' saying, they were stark mad, and should be sent 
 to Bedlam, and not before the judges.'' The upper house sanc- 
 tioned the impeachment, and sent the prelates to the Tower. 
 Eager to make the most of so favourable an opportunity, the 
 leaders of the commons pressed on all their attacks. They 
 had already complained of the king's declaration on the sub- 
 ject of the Impressment Bill, as destructive of their privileges, ■ 
 which did: not permit that he should take notice of any 
 measure while under discussion; they now insisted on 
 the necessity of firmly securing these privileges, their only 
 anchor of safety amidst so many perils. They- protested 
 against handing over the Tower to sir Thomas Lunsford, a 
 man in almost universal disrepute, without fortune, religion, 
 or morals, known only by his acts of violence against the 
 people, and capable of the inost desperate excesses. Already, 
 
 5 The arcliliisbop of Yorli, and the bisliops of Diii-ham, LichHelJ, St. 
 Asaph, Oxford, Bath and Wells, Hereford, Ely. Gloucester, Peteiiorough, 
 Llandaff, and Norwich. 
 
 2 Pari. Hist. ii. 093 ; Clarendon, i. OIC. 
 « Pari. Hist. ii. 901; Whitelooke, 53. ■> Clarendon, i. .5.52., 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 12S 
 
 sjiid they, the alarm was So great in the city that mefchants 
 and foreigners no longer deposited their bullion in the Tower. 
 They demanded the nomination of another governor. Lord 
 Digtay, now become the king's most intimate confidant, was 
 denounced for having said that parliament was not free.' 
 Finally, reports were even spread that the queen herself 
 might ere long be impeached for high treason. 
 
 The king seemed tb give way; he took no step in favour 
 of the bishops, withdrew the government of the Tower from 
 Lunsford, and gave it to Sir John Byron, a grave and steady 
 man, generally esteemed,^ spoke no more about the riots, did 
 not complain of the last debates. Yet secret reports and 
 vague whispers disturbed the commons. The queen, silent 
 and reserved, seemed animated with some hope; lord Digby, 
 whose presumptuous temerity was well known, visited her 
 frequently, and seemed every day more and more intimate 
 with her and with the king. The concourse of cavaliers at 
 Whitehall doubled. Without explaining their fears, the com- 
 mons sent a message, applying once more for a guard, 
 (Dec. 31.) The king made no answer to the application, 
 which, he said, must be communicated to him in a written 
 petition. Thereupon, the commons ordered arms to be brought 
 into the house, as if assured of some immediate danger-. 
 Three days after, the king's answer came; it was a refusal, 
 concluding with these words . " We do engage unto you 
 solemnly, on the word of a "Idng, that the security of all and 
 every one of you from violence, is and shall ever be as much 
 our care as the preservation of us and osr children." But 
 the house, more alarmed than ever, ordered the lord mayor, 
 the sheriffs, and common council, to keep the London militia 
 on foot, and to place strong guards at various points of the 
 city.^ 
 
 On that very day, (Jan. 3, 1642,) sir Edward Herbert, the 
 attorney-general, went to the house of peers, and, in the king's 
 name, accused of high treason lord Kimbolton and five mem- 
 bers of the commons, Hampden, 'Bym, Holies, Strode, and 
 Haslerig, for having attempted, 1st, to subvert the funda- 
 mental laws of the kingdom, and to deprive the king of his 
 lawful authority; 2ndly, to alienate the people from the king 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. ii. 969. = Clarendon, i. 518. 
 
 > Pari. Hist. ii. 1002 ; Kushworth, i. 3, 471 ; Journals, Commons. 
 
 K 
 
130 . HISTOET OF THK 
 
 bj' odious calumnies; 3rdly, to raise the army against the'' 
 ]Hn§; 4thly, to engage a foreign power, Scotland, to invade 
 the kingdom; Sthly, to annihilate the rights and the very ex- 
 istence of parliaments; 6thly, to exeite against the king and 
 the parliament seditious assemblages, for the purpose of secur- 
 ing, by violence, success to their criminal designs; 7thly, to - 
 levy war upon the king. Sir Edward required, at the same 
 time, that a committee should, be appointed to examine the 
 charges, and that the house would be pleased to secure the 
 persons of the accused.' 
 
 The lords were thunderstruck; no one had foreseen such, 
 a proceeding, and no one daired to speak first. Lord Kim- 
 boiton rose: ^'I am ready," said he, "to obey any order o£ 
 the house; but since my impeachment is public, I demand 
 that my justification may be so too." And he resumed his 
 place amid continued silence. Lord Digby was sitting next 
 him. He whispered in his ear, '^ What -mischievous counsels 
 are given to the king! It shall go hard but I find out whence 
 they come." And he forthwith quitted the house, as if to, 
 seek the information of which he spoke. Yet it was he and 
 no other, it is said, who had urged the king to this enterprise, 
 undertaking, moreover, that he himself would demand the 
 immediate arrest of lord Kimbolton, as soon as the attorney- 
 general should have accused him.* 
 
 On the instant, a message- from the lords informed the 
 commons of what had passed; they had just heard that the 
 Icing's people had gone to the houses of the five members, and 
 were putting their seals on everything in them. The house 
 forthwith voted th«se proceMings a breach of privilege, which 
 the accused were entitled, an^ the constables were called upon 
 in dutyj to resist, and that the , Mrig's ^ffieecs should be ar- 
 rested and brought to the bar as delinquents. Sir John Ho- 
 tham was sent to the lords to request ian immediate conference, 
 and with orders to declare that if the house of peers refused 
 to combine with the commons in demanding a guard from the 
 king, -the commons would retire to a safer place. While they 
 were waiting the lords' answer, a sergeant-at-arms presented 
 himself. " In the name of the king my master," said he, 
 " I am come to require Ml'. Speaker to place in my custody 
 
 ' Kushworth, i. 3, 478. « lb 474; Claiendon, i. 569. 
 
ENGLISH KilVOLUTipN. 18t 
 
 five gentlemen, members of this house, whom his u^ajesty has 
 commanded me to arrest for high treason;" and he proceeded 
 to name them. The accused were present, but not one quitted 
 his place; the speaker ordered the sergeant to retire. Without 
 tumult as ■without opposition, the house appointed a committee 
 to go, the house still sitting, to inform the king that so im- 
 portant a message could only be answered after mature con- 
 sideration. Two ministers of the crown, lord Falkland and sir 
 John Colepepper, formed paji't of the committee: they had been 
 quite ignorant of the plan. The conference with the lords was 
 opened, and in less than an hour it was jointly resolved toi 
 order the removal of the seals plaeed on the papers of the five 
 members, and that a guard should be demanded. The petition 
 for a guard was forthwith conveyed to the king by the duke of 
 Richmond, one of his most honest favourites. " I ■will give 
 an answer to-'morrow," said the king, in his turn; and the 
 commons adjourned to the next day at one o'clock, ordering 
 the accused to be in attendance at Westminster as usual.' 
 
 When the house reassembled (Jan. 4) at the appointed 
 hour, their uneasiness and anger were redoubled; the pre- 
 sentiment of some fresh danger, unknown but certain, agitated 
 every ixiind. The royalists sat sorrowful and eilent; among 
 their adversaries a thousand reports were in active circula- 
 tion, collected the evening before, during the night, that very 
 morning: the cavaliers, it was said, had assembled, the king 
 had sent them word to be ready, two barrels of gunpowder 
 and arms had been brought from the Tower to Wmtehall,^ 
 every one crowded round the five members, with conjectures, 
 information, advice. They themselves knew more of the 
 matter than their informants: the minister of France, long 
 since in secret correspondence with them, and the countess of 
 Carlisle, Pym's mistress, it is said, had given them notice of 
 the coup d'etat in preparation ;? but they mentioned not a 
 word of this. Suddenly entered the house an officer, captain 
 Langrish, lately returned from service in France, and whose 
 connexion with some of the cashiered officers gave him oppor- 
 tunities of knowing all that was going on. He announced that 
 the king was at hand, that he had seen him set out from White- 
 
 > Eushworth, i. 3, 474 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 1007. • 2 EushWortli, i. 3, 478 
 » lb. 477 ; WMtelocke, 53 ; Warwick's Mem. 203 ; Mazure, Hist, de 1ft 
 Eevolution, iii. 429 ; MaJ. de Motteville's Mem. (1750) i. 266. 
 
 k2 
 
13^ HtSTOKY Ot THE 
 
 hall, escorted Iby three or four hundred men, guards, cavaliers^! 
 students, all armed, to arrest the aecused in person. A great 
 tumult arose, but the necessity of a prompt decision i soon ap-; 
 peased it. The house urged the five members to withdi-aw, 
 aa several gentlemen had already drawn their swords for re- 
 sistance. Pym, Hampden, Holies, and Haslerig, at once de-' 
 parted; Strode refused; he was entreated, pressed; the king 
 had already entered Palace Yard; at last his friend, sir Walter 
 Earl, roughly pushed him out. The other members all took 
 their seats. The king had traversed Westminster Hall be- 
 tween a double rank of his attendants; but only his body-, 
 guard ascended with him the stairs leading to the house; on 
 reaching the door, he forbade them, under penalty of death, 
 to foUow him a step further, and entered the house uncovered, 
 accompanied only by his nephew, the count palatine. All 
 the members uncovered and rose. The king, as he passed, cast 
 a, glance at the place where Pym usually, sat; not seeing him 
 therfe, he advanced towards the speaker, " By your favour, 
 Mr. Speaker," said he, " I will borrow your chair for a mo- 
 ment." Then seating, himself, he cast his eyes round on the 
 assembly: " Gentlemen," said he, " I am Sorry for this occa- 
 sion of coming unto you. Yesterday, I sent a serjeant-at-arms 
 upon a very important occasion, to apprehend some that by 
 my command were accused of high treason, whereunto I did 
 expect obedience, and not a message; and I must declare unto 
 you here, that albeit no king that ever was in England shall 
 be more careful of your privileges, to maintain them to the 
 uttermost of his power, than I shall be, yet you must know that 
 in cases of treason no person hath a privilege; and therefore I 
 am come to know if any of "these persons that were accused are 
 here, for I must tell you, gentlemen, that so long as these 
 persons that I have accused, for no slight crime, but for trea- 
 . son, are here, I cannot expect that this house will be in the 
 right way that I do heartily wish it; therefore I am come to 
 tell you that I must have them wheresoever I find them. 
 Mr. Speaker, where are they?" The speaker, falling on his 
 knees, replied, " May it please your majesty, I have neither 
 eyes to see nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the house 
 is-pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here. And humbly 
 beg your majesty's pardon, that I cannot give any other an- 
 swer than this to ^hat your majesty is pleased to demand of 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 133 
 
 me." " Weil,'" replied the king, " since I see all the birds 
 -are flown, I do expect from you that you shall send them 
 unto me as soon as they return hither. But I assure you, on 
 -the word of a king, I never did intend any force, but shaU 
 proceed against them in a legal and fair way; for I never 
 ■meant any other: and now, since I see I cannot do what I 
 came for, I will trouble you no more, but tell you, I do ex- 
 pect, as soon as they come to the house, yoil will send them to 
 toe, otherwise I must' take my own course to find them.'' He 
 then quitted the chair, his hat still in his hand. The house 
 remained motionless; but from several parts of the house, as 
 the king withdrew, arose the cry, " Privilege! Privilege!"' 
 
 "As soon as he was gone, the house, without doing, or even 
 announcing anything, adjourned to the next day; all the 
 members went away, eager to learn to what extent the king's 
 designs had gone, and what the public thought of them. 
 They found outside, on the stairs, in the great hall, at the 
 doors, among their own servants who were waiting for them, 
 and in the assembled multitude, an emotion no less vivid 
 than their own. "Nothing," says an affidavit of the day, 
 " was talked of but the insults of the cavaliers, one of them, 
 a captain Hyde, drew a pistol from his pocket, and said, jeer- 
 ingly, it was not charged, but upon trial it was found to be 
 charged very deep, and he said he had five supplies for the 
 same; and he cursed and swore at the parliament for prick- 
 eai-ed, cropt-eared rascals, and said he'd kill as many of 'em 
 as he could."^ The five members had retired into the city; 
 the citizens took to arms; the lord mayor attempted in vain 
 to calm them; strong patrols were spontaneously formed for 
 the common safety; and during the whole of the evening, 
 bands of apprentices paraded the streets, crying out from 
 door to door that the cavaliers were coming to set the city on 
 fire; some even added that , the king was commanding them 
 in person. 
 
 The agitation was equally great at Whitehall. The king 
 and qtieen had built the highest hopes on this coup d'etat; it ■ 
 had for a long time past occupied all their thoughts, had beea 
 the constant subject of their private conversation, of their con- 
 
 » Buahworth, i. 3, 477 ; Pail. Hist. ii. 1010 ; Journals, Commons ; White- 
 locke, 02, 
 
 » Bnshworth, i. 3, 483 ; Ludlow's Mem, 17. 
 
134 HISTORY OB THE 
 
 ferehces with their most intimate confidants^ In the morning 
 Charles, kissing liis wife before he went away, promise(J her 
 thai; in an hour he would return, master, at length, of his 
 Mugdom, and the queen, watch in h&nd, had counted the 
 minutes till his return.' Now, all had failed; and though 
 the king still persisted in his design, it was without hoping 
 anything from it, without knowing how to accomplish it. 
 Offended, and full of affliction, his wisest friends, Falkland;, 
 Hyde, Colepepper, kept aloof, and proffered no counsel. A 
 proclamation was issued ordering the gates to be closed^ 
 and that no citizen should give refuge to the accused;, but no 
 one, even at court, deceived himself as to the inefficacy of 
 these orders; the very house in which were the five members 
 was perfectly well known ;^ it was not thought any one would 
 make his way thither after them. Lord Digby alone was de^ 
 sirous to expiate by his temerity the imprudence of his advice 
 and his backwardness ia the house of peers at the moment of 
 the impeachment. He offered the king to go in person, with 
 Lmasford and a few cavaliers, to take the members from their 
 retreat, and bring them to him dead or alive*- But Charle% 
 either from «ome remains of respect for the laws, or fi'om the 
 timidity which, alternated in his mind with reckless daring, 
 refused this proposal, and resolved to go himself the next day 
 into the city, and solemnly call upon the common council to 
 -deliver up the accused, hoping, that by his presence and 
 gracious worda he should soften those whose anger he had so 
 little foreseen. 
 
 Accordingly, at about ten o'clock, on the Sth Jan., he left 
 Whitehall without any guards and manifesting an entke con- 
 fidence in the affection of his subjectSr The multitude crowded 
 on his w^ay, but cold g,nd silent, or only lifting up then- voices 
 to conjure him to live in concord with his parliament.^ In 
 some plaoesj threatening cifies were heard;, the words,' ' Pri- 
 vilege of parliament! privilege of parliament!' echoed ai'ound 
 him,' and! a man, nS,med Waiker, threw into his carriage a 
 pamphlet, entitled To your tents, Israel! the, watchword, 
 of revolt of the ten tribes of Jerusalem, when they separated 
 from Eelnoboam.* On arriving at Guildhall, Charles claimed 
 
 1 Madame de Motteville's Mem. i. 2615 ' In Colemau-street. 
 
 » Whitelocke, i>. 5,3<. « Pusliworch, i. 3, 479. 
 
ENOLISH KEVOLDTION. 135 
 
 the surrender of tbe fire members, affable and' mild in his 
 speech, protesting his devotion to the reformed religion, the 
 sincerity of hia concessions, and promising to act in aU things 
 according to the law&. No plaudits answered him; like the 
 people, the common council were grave and sorrowful. The 
 kingaddressilig one of the sheriffs, said to be an ardent pres- 
 bjfterfari, told him be would dine with him. The sheriff 
 bowed, and when the hall rose, received him in his house 
 ■*ntH splendour and respect. On his return to Whitehall, 
 Charles only obtained from the crowd the same reception as 
 before, and re-entered his palace, angry, and depressed.' 
 
 The Commons had meantime assembled (Jan. 5); had voted 
 that after so enormous a breacfaof their privileges, until repa^ 
 ration had been made, and a trusty guard protected them from 
 similar perils, they could not sit with any sense of freedom, 
 and had accordingly adjourned for six days. But, though 
 they adjourned, they did not cease to act. A committee, 
 vested -With great powers,^ was ordered to establish itself in 
 the city,' to make an inquiry into the late outrage, and to ex- 
 amine into the general . state of the kingdom, especially of 
 Ireland, in concert with the citizens, the faithful friends of 
 parliament. The committee was installed at Guildhall with 
 great pomp (Jan. 6); a Strong guard was in attendance, and 
 & deputation from the common council went to meet it, and 
 place at its disposal all the force, all the services of the city.^ 
 Its sittings were as full of bustle as those of the house, every 
 member of which had a right to be present; the place whither 
 the five nieimbers had retired was dose by, and nothing was 
 done without their knowledge and advice.^ Iliey even went 
 several times in person to the committee, and the citizens 
 loudly' cheered them as they passed, proud to have them 
 among them, to be the protectors of ilieir representatives. 
 Tti the midst of this triumph of the commons, their leaders 
 skilfully managed to augment tiieir zeal,, by keeping up their 
 fears. Every hour, the commons and the city contracted a closer 
 ^Uianee and mutually emboldened each other .-^ At last, of 
 
 • Clarendon, i. 561 ; Eusliworth, i. S, 479. 
 ' It was composed Of twenty 'five itaeinbers j two of the king's lainistera, 
 jpaikland and Colepeypet Were upon it ; EushwotUi, «t. sup. 479. 
 5 Clarendon, i. 563. * lb. ; Whitelocke, 84. ' Bushwortli, i, 3, 483. 
 
136 HISTORY t)F THE 
 
 its own sole authority, it is said, and as if it had been the 
 house itself, the committee published a declaration containing 
 the result of its inquiry;^ and the common council addressed 
 a petition to the king, complaining of bad councillors, of the 
 cavaliers, of the pa]f)ists, of the new governor of the Tower, 
 adopting in a high tone the cause of the five members, and 
 demanding all the reforms which the commons had merely 
 touched upon.2 (Jan. 7, 1642,) 
 
 The king was alone, shut up in Whitehall, disclaimed by 
 his more honest partisans. Even the cavaliers, now intimi-? 
 dated, had dispersed, or kept silence. The king attempted 
 an answer to the petition of the common council, and once 
 more ordered the arrest of the accused.' (Jan. 8.) But his 
 answers were without influence, his orders without effect, 
 He learned that, in two days, the house would resume its 
 sittings, and that the five members were to be brought back 
 -to Westminster in triumph, by the militia, the people, and 
 even the watermen of the Thames, of whose entire affection 
 he had till then thought himself certain. " What," said he, 
 angrily, "do these water-rats, too, forsake me!" and this 
 speech, soon repeated among the men, was received by 
 them as an insult calling for revenge.* Abandoned, humi- 
 liated, deserted, irritated at the general cry which daily as-- 
 sailed tiim without one voice on his side to oppose it, Charles 
 could not endure the idea of seeing his enemies pass triumphant 
 before his palace. The queen, alternately furious with anger 
 and trembling with fear, conjured him to depart; the royajistg 
 and messengers, who had been sent to different parts of the 
 kingdom, promised him strength and safety elsewhere; th^ 
 cavaliers, defeated in London, boasted of their influence in 
 their counties; away from the parliament, said they, the king 
 would be free; without the king, what could the parliament 
 do? The resolution was taken; it was agreed to retire first 
 to Hampton Court, and afterwards further if it should be 
 found necessary; secret orders were sent to the governors of 
 several places, whose devotion seemed sure; the earl of New- 
 castle set out for the north, where his influence prevailed, and 
 
 > Clarendon, i. 567, &c. = Eusliworth, i. 3, 480, ' lb. 
 
 * Lilly, Observ. on the Life and Death of king Cbailea ; Mazeres, Tracts 
 41815). 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 137 
 
 on the 10th of January, the evening before the return of the 
 commons, Charles, accompanied only by his wife, his children, 
 and some attendants, quitted London and the palace of White- 
 hall, which he was destined never to re-enter, but on his way 
 to the scaffold.' 
 
 The day after his departure, at about two in the afternoon, 
 the Thames was covered with armed vessels, escorting the 
 five members back to Westminster; a multitude of boats fol- 
 lowed, adorned -with flags, and filled with citizens; along each 
 bank of the river marched the London militia, hearing the 
 last declarations of parliament at the end of their pikes ;^ an 
 ofiicer formed in the army of Gustavus Adolphus, captain 
 Skippon, had the day before been appointed to command 
 them. He was a rough, illiterate man, but daring, of austere 
 morals, and very popular in the city. An innumerable crowd 
 closely followed this procession; as they passed Whitehall 
 they stopped, shouting, 'Where now are the king and his 
 cavaliers? what has become of them?' ^ On their arrival at 
 Westminster Hall, the five members hastened to eulogize the 
 devotion of the city in the public cause, and the sheriffs, in- 
 troduced into the house, received the thanks of the speaker. 
 As they departed, another procession filed up; four thousand 
 knights, gentlemen, freeholders, &c., arrived on horseback 
 from Buckinghamshire, Hampden's native county, with a pe- 
 tition to the' house against papist lords, bad councillors, and 
 in favour of their worthy representative; they had also a pe- 
 tition for the upper' house, and a third for the king, and all 
 carried on their hats a printed oath to live and die with the 
 parliament, whoever might be its enemies.* On aU sides 
 burst forth that proud and joyful enthusiasm which permits, 
 which calls for, on the part of the leaders of the people, the 
 boldest resolutions : the commons gave way to it with j udicious 
 energy, as the pilot to the violent but propitious wind. In a 
 few hours they had voted that no member, under any pretext, 
 could be arrested without their consent; a bill was adopted 
 giving to both houses the right of adjourning, in case of need, 
 to any place they might think fit; an address was drawn up 
 
 > Clarendon, i. 590 ; Eushworth, i. 3, 064 ; Journals, Commons, Jan. 11, 
 1642, et seq. ; Wliitelocke, 54. 
 
 ' May, ii. 41 ; Eiishwortli, i. 3, 484 
 » Clarendon, i. 591. * lb., ut sup. ; Eushworth, i. 3, 486 
 
l38 HISTORY OF THR 
 
 to tie king, that it woiild {)lease him to withdraw from air, 
 John Byron the government of the Tower j and until his 
 answer should be received, Sldppon was ordered to, place 
 guards around that fortress, and nsHTowly to watch its ap- 
 proaches. Letters were despatched to Goring, governor o£ 
 Pbrtsmoiith, forbidding hini to receive into' that town either 
 troops or ammunition without the authority of parliament; 
 sir John Hothsmij a rich and influential gentleman of York- 
 shire, Was ordered to proceed idunediately, and take thecom- 
 Oumd of Hull, an important place, the key to the North of 
 l^ngland) and which contained large arsenals. On the third 
 day (Jan, 13), the house vot^d.that the menaced kingdon^ 
 should without delay be put in a state of defence; the lords 
 refused to sanction this declaration; but this was of little con? 
 Sequence: the commons had effected their object, by passing 
 the resoltition, and conveying their vrishes to the people.' 
 
 The commons were not mistaken in smticijating war; the 
 king's only thought now was to prepare for it* lb London, 
 he was powerless and humiliated; bat no sooner had he left 
 it than he was surrounded only by his partisans, and no longer 
 receiving every day, every horn-, proofs of his weaknessj he 
 freely gave himself up to the hope of conquering with an 
 armed force the enemy from whom he had just fled without 
 a struggle. The cavaliers, too, had reassumed all their pre- 
 sumption; already thfey seemed to look upon the war as 
 dedttred, and were eager to strike the first blowi The day 
 after the king's depftifture, the house learned that two hun- 
 dred of them, commanded by-Lunsford, had marched towards 
 Kingston, twelVe miles from London, where the military 
 stores of the county of Surrey were deposited, as if to take 
 possession of it and to establish themselves there; it was also 
 known that lord Digby bad gone to meet them on the part of 
 the king, to thank thera fdr their zeal, and to concert some 
 hostile' plan with them. The parliament at once took its 
 measures, and these attempts were defeated: lord, t>igbj, 
 energetically denounced, fled beyond sea.^ Thinking him- 
 self still too near London,, the krog left Hampton Court foi? 
 Windsor, (Jan. 12, 1642;) Lunsford and his cavaliferS fol- 
 
 > Pari. Hist, ii, 1028 ; Eushworth, i. S, 469, , 
 ihwortb, ut tup.; Nelson, ii. 845 ; tarl. Hist., ii. 1036; 'Wiute. 
 i. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 139 
 
 lowed hiitni Here, in a secret council, it was resolved tLat 
 the queeh) taking the crown jewels with her, should pro- 
 ceed to Holland, purchase ammunition and arms, and soUcit 
 the aid of the continental monarchs; the pretext to be given 
 for this journey was the necessity of taking over to the prince 
 of Orange the princess Mary, yet a mere girl, whom he had 
 inanied six months before.' On his part, the king, still 
 keeping up his negotiations with parliament, was to retire 
 by degrees to the northern counties, where his partisans were 
 most numerous, to fix his residence at York, and await there 
 the opportunity and the means of acting. Everything thus 
 settled, the queen with great secrecy made preparations for 
 her journey; and the king invited parhament to draw up a 
 Complete statement of its grievances, and thus present them 
 to him all at once, promising to do right to them without the 
 delay of a single day, and thus put an end to their con- 
 tentions, (Jan. 20.)^ 
 
 The house of lords received this message with joy; the 
 king had numerous friends there; many others, alarmed or 
 wearied out,' cmly desired to terminate the struggle so as to 
 leave no anxieties about the future. But the commons, more 
 clear-sighted and more resolute, could not believe either that 
 the king would grant them all they required, or that, if he 
 promised it, he would keep his word. His proposal was, 
 in their eyes, merely a stratagem to get rid of them at a blow, 
 and) 'dismissing them, to resume his arbitrary power. They 
 refused to concur in the eager thanks of the lords, unless at 
 the same time the king was distinctly called upon to transfer 
 the command of the Tower, of the noyal fortresses, and 
 of the militia, to men who possessed the confidence of parUa- 
 ttient.* The peers rejected the amendment, but thirty-two 
 protested against its rejection;* and the commons, strength- 
 ened by the support of such a minority, forwarded the peti- 
 tion to the king in their own name. His answer was a de- 
 cided refusal (Jan. 28)* as tothe government of the Tower 
 and fortresses, and vague and evasive objections as to the 
 mililja. ' His sole- purpose evidently was to yield notliing 
 more, -and meanwhile to gain time. The commons, on their 
 
 ' Clarendon, i. 633; Orlean^^jsioiVe des Sevolutions cS Angleterrf 
 (1694), boek ix. 2 Pari. Hist. ii. 10i5, et seq. 
 
 • * Fori. Hist. ii. 1048. * lb. 1049. .» Kushwortb,i. 3, 51T. 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 part, did not wish to lose time: well served at "Windsor, as 
 well as at London — for everjrwhere tie opinion of their 
 strength was great — they had spies and friends, and were 
 perfectly acquainted with all the king's projects, with the 
 meaning of the queen's journey, and with the intrigues of the 
 court in the north of the kingdom and on the continent. The 
 danger was pressing; it might so happen .that the king would 
 he ready "for war before the question of the militia was de- 
 cided, and then, how resist him? Fears more illusory, but 
 nearer at hand, agitated the people; they talked of ammu^ 
 nition removed from the Tower, of plots against the lives 
 of the popular leaders; they were irritated at conquering 
 thus repeatedly to no purpose. A fresh and energetic out- 
 burst of public feeling, it was thought, would alone suffice to 
 surmount the new obstacles which had presented themselves, 
 to impel the zealous to action, excite the lukewarm, and inti- 
 midate their opponents. Petitions flowed in from all parts; 
 from all the counties, from every class of citizens; appren- 
 tices, little shopkeepers, poor workmen, London porters; even 
 women crowded round Westminster Hall with petitions. 
 When these last appeared, Skippon, who commanded the 
 guard, was astonished: " Let us be heard," they cried^ " for 
 one woman that's here to-day, there will be five hundred to- 
 morrow." Skippon went to the house of commons for orders, 
 and, on his return, gently persuaded them to retire. But 
 they came again two days after; having- chosen Ann Stagg, 
 the wife of a wealthy brewer, for their speaker, and bearing 
 a petition, at the end of which they had carefully explained 
 their motives: " It may be thought strange and unbeseeming 
 our sex," said they; " to show ourselves here, bearing a peti- 
 tion to this honourable assembly; but Christ purchased us at 
 as dear a rate as he did men, and therefore requireth the 
 same obedience for the same mercy as of men. We are 
 sharers in the public calamities. We do this, not out of 
 sdf-conceit or pride of heart, as seeking to equal ourselves 
 ■\yith men, either in authority or wisdom; but, according to 
 ■our places, to discharge that duty we owe to God and the 
 cause of his church. The petiticm was received; Pym went 
 out to acknowledge it. He said:' " Good women, your peti- 
 tion, with the reasons hath been read in the house, and is 
 thankfully accepted of, and is come in a seasonable time. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 141 
 
 Repair to your houses, we intreat, and turn your petitions 
 into prayers at home for us. We have been, are, and shall 
 be, ready to relieve you, your husbands, and children." They 
 retired in silence — a remarkable instance of reserve amidst 
 the wild excitement of popular enthusiasm, of moral sobriety 
 amidst the machinations of party.' 
 
 The petitions were all exactly to the same effect; they aU 
 demanded the reform of the church, the chastisement of the 
 papists, the repression of the malignants. Some went more 
 into detail, and in these the house of peers was openly threat- 
 ened: " Let those noble worthies of the peers," said they to 
 the commons, " who concur with your happy votes, be earn- 
 estly requested to join with your honourable house, and to sit 
 and vote as one entire body; which, we hope, will remove 
 our destructive fears, and removed, prevent that which ap- 
 prehension will make the Wisest and peaceablest men to put 
 into execution." " We never doubted the commons," cried 
 the people at the gates of Westminster, " but everything 
 sticks in the lords; let us have the names of those who hinder 
 the agreement between the good lords and the commons.^ Even 
 in the house of lords, the language of the two parties began 
 to be that of war. " Whoever refuses to agree with the 
 commons as to the militia is an enemy to the state," said the 
 earl of Northumberland. He was called upon to explain; 
 " We all think the same!" cried his friends, then in the 
 minority on this question. The multitude were at the door; 
 fear seized the lords; several went out, others changed their 
 opinion. The lord chancellor, Littleton, himself, with some 
 insignificant reservations, voted with the commons, and the 
 bin, at last, received the sanction of the house, as did, a 
 few days afterwards (Feb. 5), the bill for the exclusion of the 
 bishops, which had been tliree months in suspense.^ 
 
 This last was presented to the king by itself (Feb. 7), the ordi- 
 nance respecting the militia not being yet drawn up; his per- 
 plexity was great: he had just informed the parliament of the 
 queen's approaching journey: he had, to soften them, officially 
 given up all proceedings against the five members'* (Feb. 2), 
 
 : 1 Almost all these petitions wert presented bet-ween Jan, 20 and Feb. 6, 
 1643; that of the women, among others, on Feb. 4; Journals, Commons, 
 Pari. Hist. ii. 1049, et seq. = Claiendon, i. 645 ; iii. 74. 
 
 3 lb. i. 648 ; Pail. Hist. ii. 1099, 1367 * Kusliworth, i. 3, 493. 
 
l4d - iiisTOKy of: the 
 
 he had even consented to appoint, as governor of tiief Tower, 
 Sir John Conjers, whom the commons had named^ (Feb. 11); 
 tut liis hope in all this had been to elude any great question, 
 till the time he should be in a position to refuse doing any- 
 thing at all. Tlie exclusion of the bishops troubled his con- 
 science: to give up the militia was to place at the disposition of 
 his enemies the whole available force of the country. Yet he 
 was pressed hard; his own councillors thought he could not 
 refuse; lord Falkland, stiU supposing him sincere, constantly 
 advocated concession; Gplepepper, not particularly devout, and 
 inclined to expedients, strongly urged the adoption of the bill 
 aS'to the bishops, saying that the militia were far more im- 
 portant, for that everything might be regained by the sword, 
 and that then it would be easy to declare void a conseiit ex- 
 acted by violence. "Is this the advice of Hyde?" inquired, 
 the king; "No, sire; I must own I think neither the one biU 
 nor the other ought to be sanctioned." "Tou are quite 
 right, and I shall act upon your opinion." Colepepper went 
 to the queen, pointed out to her the danger which the king, 
 which she herself was exposed to, the obstacles which would 
 be thrown in the way of he^f journey, now the only means pf 
 J)lacing the king in a position to defeat his enemies/ The 
 vehement emphasis of his gesticulation and of his language, 
 .soon aigitated and convinced the queen, as prompt to fear SB, 
 to hope, and, moreover, not over friendly towards , the 
 Anglican bishops. She rushed to her husband's apartments, 
 and, in a passion of tears, implored him to consult their own 
 safety and that of their children. Charles could not resist 
 her; he gave way with sorrow, and already repentant, as in 
 Strafford's trial, authorized the commissioners to sign the biU 
 in his name, said nothing about the militia, and inxmediately 
 departed for Dover^ (Feb. 16), where the queeji was to 
 ■enibark. ' 
 
 He had scarcely arrived there, when a message from, the 
 commons followed him; like Colepepper, they cared much 
 more about the militia than about the exclusion of the bishops, 
 who were already defeated and in prison. They had 
 hastened to draw up their ordinance; they had set forth in it 
 the names of the lieutenants who were to comjnand in each 
 
 > Pari. Hist. ii. 1087 : Clarendon, i. 6,55. 
 - Clarendon, Memoirs, i. 115. 
 
ENGIJSH KEVOLUTION. 145 
 
 county, and solicited He iinnjediafe sanction. " I must take 
 time to consider the matter," said the king; " I will give my 
 iinswer on my return."' On his way back, after the queen 
 iiad embarked,^ he received at Canterbury (Feb. 25) another 
 message, still more pressing than the first. He learned at the 
 same time that the commons objected to the departure of his 
 son Charles, prince of Wales, whom he "had directed to pro- 
 ceed -to Greenwieh, intending to take him with him into the 
 north; that they were prosecuting the attorney-general, Her- 
 beil:, for having obeyed his orders in accusing the fi.ve mem- 
 bers,- and that they had intercepted and opened a letter from 
 lord Digby to the queen. So much distrust, after so much con- 
 ' cession, olEbnded him as much as though his concessions had 
 \)eon sincere. He received the messengers angrily, but vnth.-> 
 out giving any deijisive answei:.^ On arriving at Greenwich 
 (Feb. 26), he found the prince, whom, his tutor, the marquis 
 of Hertford, notwithstanding the prohibition of the com- 
 mong, on reoeiTing the king's orders, had at once taken 
 tliither. At length easy as to his wife and children, he sent 
 hi.* answer to the parliament;* he consented to entrust the 
 militia to the commanders whoni it had named, but on con' 
 dition that he might dismiss them, if he saw fit, and that the 
 principal towns in the kingdom should be excepted from the 
 measiu'e; in these the militia were to remain under the go- 
 vernment of their charters and of the ancient laws; then, 
 without awaiting its reply, he began, by short stages, his 
 journey to York. At Theobalds, twelve commissioners from 
 the parlianient overtook him (March 1); on receiving his 
 onswer, it voted it to be a positive refusal; that, if he per- 
 sisted in it, it would dispose of the militia without consulting 
 liim, and that his return to London could alone prevent the 
 ,;vils with which the kingdom was threatened. The tone of 
 the message was rude and abrupt, as if parliament wished 
 to show it knew its strength, and was not afraid to use it, 
 "I am so much amazed at this message^" said the king, "that 
 I know not what to answer. You speak of jealousies and 
 fears ! lay your hands to your hearts and ask yourselves 
 
 » Piu-1. Hist. ii. 1083, et seq. ' The queen embarked Feb. 23. 
 
 > Claxendon, Memoirs, ut sup. 
 
 « PtttedFeb. 28 ; Kushifrorth, i. 3, 021; Olarenion, Memoirs. 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 whether I may not likewise be disturbed with fears and 
 jealousies? And if so, I assure you this message hath nothing 
 lessened it. As to the militiaj I thought so much of it before I 
 sent that answer, and am so much assured that the answer is 
 agreeable to what in justice or reason you can ask, or I in 
 honour grant, that I shall not alter it in any point. For my . 
 residence near you, I wish it might be so saie and honourable* 
 that I had no cause to absent myself from Whitehall: ask 
 yourselves whether I have not. For my son, I shall take that 
 care oi him which shall justify me to God, as a father, and to 
 my dominions as a king. To conclude, I assure you, upon 
 my honour, that I have no thought but of peace and justice 
 to my people, which I shaU by all fair means seek to preserve 
 and maintain, relying upon the goodness and providence of 
 God, for the preservation of myself and rights;" and he 
 continued his journey. A week after (March 9), at New- 
 market, other commissioners presented themselves ; they 
 brought a declaration in which the parliament, recapitulsiting 
 all its grievances, all its fears, justified its conduct, and once 
 more conjured the king to return to London, to come to an 
 understanding with his people, and thus dissipate the dark 
 presentiments which agitated all minds. Deep feeling per- 
 vaded the firm language in which the message was couched; 
 it equally manifested itself in the interview between the com- 
 missioners and the king: the conversation was long, urgent, 
 earnest, as of men profoundly moved by the prospect of im- 
 pending rupture, and who were still endeavouring to persuade 
 each other to avert it; it was evident that though no longei' 
 hesitating as to their future course, though there were no 
 means of reconciliation, though they felt the struggle to be 
 inevitable and had made up their minds to go through with 
 it, yet both parties felt pain in commencing it, and, though 
 without hope, made yet a last eifibrt against it. " What would 
 you have?" said the king. "Have I violated your laws? have 
 I denied to pass any one bill for the ease and Security of my 
 subjects? I do not ask you what you have done for me. Have 
 any of my people been transported with fears and apprehen* 
 sions? I l^ave offered as free and general a pardon as your- 
 selves can devise. God so deal with me and mine, as all my 
 thoughts and intentions are upright for the maintenance of 
 the true prbtestant profession, and for the observance and 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 145 
 
 preservation of the laws of this land ; and I hope God will 
 bless and assist those laws for my preservation."' " But the 
 militia, sir?" said lord Holland. " The militia? I did not 
 deny it." " But if your majesty would come near the par- 
 liament?" " I would you had given me cause, but I am sure 
 this declaration is not the way to it. In all Aristotle's Rhe- 
 toric there is no such argument of persuasion." " The par- 
 liament," said lord Pembroke, " has humbly besought your 
 majesty to come near it." "Your declaration hath taught 
 me your words are not sufficient." " Will your majesty, then, 
 deign to tell us what you would have?" " I would whip a 
 boy in, Westminster school that could not tell that by my 
 answer; you are much mistaken, however, if you think my 
 answer to that a denial." " Might not the militia be granted, 
 as desired by parliament, for a time?" "No, by God! not 
 for an hour; you have asked that of me in this, which was 
 never asked of a king, and with which I would nolj trust my 
 wife and children." Then turning towards the commissioners 
 of the commons, he said: " The business of Ireland will nevet' 
 be done in the way you are in; four hundred will never do 
 that work; it must be put into the hands of one. If I were 
 trusted with it, I would pawn my head to end that work; and 
 though I am a beggar myself, yet, by God, I can find money 
 for that."^ These last words roused every suspicion; the 
 commissioners saw in them the acknowledgment of hidden 
 resources, the intention of throwing parliament into disrepute, 
 of imputing to it the troubles of Ireland, and finally, the de- 
 sire of being alone at the head of an army, to dispose of it at 
 his pleasure. The conference proceeded no further; the com- 
 missioners returned to London, and the king, continuing his 
 journey, arrived at York without any other incident. 
 
 And now commenced, between the parliament and him, a 
 struggle hitherto without example in Europe, the clear and 
 glorious symptom of the revolution which then took its be- 
 
 '1 Eushworth, i. 3, 523, 524; Clarendon, Memoirs, i. 129. 
 ' This conversation is taken from a paropUet published in London im- 
 mediately after the retnrn of the commissioners, (at W. Gay's, 1642,) and 
 which contained an account of oil that passed between them and the king. 
 The printer of this pamphlet was sent for, and questioned by the peers ; but 
 on his replying that he had the MS. from tlie chancellor's secretary, the 
 house dismissed him. Pari. Hist., ii. 1120 ; Riisliworth, i. 3, 52G. 
 
 L 
 
146 HISTOKy OF THE 
 
 ^^imig, and which! was destined to have its accomplishiaeiit 
 in our own times. The negotiations went on>. but without 
 either party hoping anything fromi them, or even prc^osing 
 to treat. It was no longer eaeh other they addressed in their 
 dieelarations and messages; both appealed! to the whole Batioo, 
 to public opimionj to this new power both seemed to look for 
 their strength aad their success. The origin and extent ot 
 Toyal power,, the privileges of both houses,, th© limits of the 
 aliegiance due. feom subjects, the miEtia, petiitioiis,,the distri- 
 butioffi of offices, became the subjects of am ©ffieial contro- 
 versy, in which the general principles of social order, the 
 diiferent kinds of govemnient, the primitive, rights of liberty, 
 the history, laws, and customs of England, were by turns set 
 forth, explained, and commented upon. In the interval be- 
 tween the dispuites'of the two parties in parliament, and theirs 
 physical struggle on the field of battle, reason and science were 
 seen to create an interposition, so to speak, of several, months, 
 suspending the course of events and using their ablest endear 
 vouTS to secure the free adhesion of the people, by stamping on 
 one or the other cause the charaeter of legitimacy.. At the 
 opening of parliament, England had neither desired nor even 
 thought of a revoloition; the dissenters merely meditated one 
 in the church; the return to legal order, the re-establishment 
 of ancient Kberties,. the reform of actual and pressing abuses^ 
 such had been, or ai least so it thought, ike sole 'wish and 
 hope of the nation. The leaders themselves, bolder and more 
 enlightened, scaafcely former^ ay more extended; projects j the 
 energy of their wUl surpass^ ^he ambition of theiir thoughts; 
 and they had gone on from uay to day without any ultimate 
 aim, without system^ carried forwaird simply by the progres- 
 sive development of their situation, and to satisfy urgent ne- 
 cessities. When the moment aiPrived for drawing the, sword; 
 all were aghast: not that their hearts were timid, nor that 
 civil war im the abstract had either in the eyes of the parliar 
 ment or the people anything strange or criminal about it; oa 
 the contrary, they read it with pride in the great charter, ia 
 the history of their country; more than once they had braved 
 their masters, had taken away and given the crown ; and those 
 times were so far back, that the misery overclouding them 
 was forgotten, and the people only saw in them glorious ex- 
 amples of their energy and their power. JBut it had always 
 been in the name of the laws, of clear and acknowledged 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 147 
 
 rights, that resistance had beea declared; in achieving 
 Kberty, England had ever regarded herself as only defending 
 her inheritance ; and to these words alone, " law," " legal 
 order," had attached that popular and spontaneous respect 
 which rejects discusafflm, and sanctions the boldest designs. 
 Now, however, the two psirties reciprocally accused each 
 other of illegality and innovatioii^ aiDid both vnth justice.; for 
 the one bad violated the ancient rights of the kingdom, and 
 would not abjure the- maxima of tyranny; the other claimed, 
 in the name of principles as yet altogether indefinite aaidi con- 
 fused, liberties and a power till then unknown. Both felt the 
 necessity of throwing the mantle of the law over their preten- 
 sions and their acts; both undertook to jiwstify themselves, 
 not only according to reason, but according to law. With 
 them, the whole nation rushed.eagerly into the lists, agitated 
 still more than their leaders -with senitiments. that seemed to 
 contradict each other, yet alL equally sincere. Scarcely freed 
 from an oppression which the laws of their ancestors had con- 
 demned but not prevented, they aafdiantly sought for more 
 efficacious guarantees; but it was stiU to the very laws, whose 
 inadequacy had been experienced, that their hope was at- 
 tached. New opinions, new ideas were fermenting in their 
 minds? to- these they trusted with vivid, puire faith; they 
 gave themselves up vrith all their might, in all confiding- 
 iiesS) to that enthusiasm which seeks the triumph of truth, at 
 whatever price; and, at the same time, unassumiiig in their 
 thoughts, tenderly fiiithful to old customs, fuH of respect for 
 old institutions, they wished to believe, that,, far from chang- 
 ing aught in them, they were only rendering them true 
 homage, and restoring them to idgdwiir. Hence a singular 
 mixture of boldness and timidity,, of sincerity and hypocrisy, 
 in the pubEcatioHS of all sorts> official- or otherwise, with wMch 
 England was then inundated.. The audour of the national 
 mind was umboundedi, the- movement umiTtersftli iinprecedentedi, 
 immodej-ate; at Lomdioiii,. at York, in all the great towns of 
 the kingdom, pampMetSj^ periodical and occaisioBal journals, 
 were multiplied and diffiised in every quarter;^ political^ reli- 
 
 > The folio-wing are the titles of a. few of these pubh'oations : Mercurius 
 AiilicTis — Mercurius Britannicns^Biisticus- — Pi-agmatinus — Politious-^ 
 Piiblicus; Diiimal Paper — Diurnal Occun-enoes — A Perfect Diurnal of 
 Bcme Passages in Parliameift;- London luteJSgdncer, &c., Sco. 
 
 l2 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE : 
 
 gious, historical questions, news, sermons, plans, counsels, iii- 
 vectives^everything found a place in them, everything was 
 brought forward and discussed in them. Volunteer messen- 
 gers hawked them about the country; at the assizes, on market 
 days, at the doors of churches, the people crowded to buy and 
 read them; and, amidst this universal outburst of thought, 
 this so novel appeal to public opinion, while at bottom both 
 of proceedings and writings there already reigned the prin- 
 ciple of national sovereignty grappling with the divine right 
 of crowns, yet the statutes, the laws, the traditions, the 
 customs of the land, were constantly invoked as the only legi- 
 timate criteria of the dispute; and the revolution was every- 
 where, without any one daring to say so, or even, perhaps, 
 owning it to himself. 
 
 In this state of men's minds, the moral situation of parlia- 
 ment was a false one, for it was by it, ■ and for its advan- 
 tage, that the revolution was being accomplished; forced to 
 carry it on and disavow it at the same time, its actions and 
 its words alternately belied each other, and it fluctuated pain- 
 fully between boldness and cunning, violence and hypocrisy. 
 Considered as exceptional maxims and measures, applicable 
 only to a period of crisis, and to be laid aside with the necessity 
 of the case, its principles were true, and its resolves legitimate; 
 butparties donotrest satisfied with the possession of ephemeral 
 legitimacy, nor nations labour: with enthusiastic devotion for 
 the doctrines and interests of a day; at the very time that the 
 present alone rules and decides their opinions and their con- 
 duct, they persuade themselves that these opinions, this con- 
 duct, have reference to perpetuity, and assume to direct the 
 future in the name of eternal truth. Not content with taking 
 possession of sovereign power, the parliament voted as a prin- 
 ciple, and as if to define the law of the land, that the command 
 of the militia did not belong to the king, that he could not 
 refuse his sanction to bills demanded by the people, that the 
 houses, without his concurrence, had, the right to declare what 
 was law; finally, that it was good and lawful to solicit by pe- 
 titions the change of customs and statutes in force, but that 
 aU petitions for their maintenance should be rejected as nuga- 
 tory.' Notwithstanding the uncertainty and diversity of 
 
 > Pari. Hist. ii. 1140. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 149 
 
 ancient examples, maxims such &s these, estahlished as per- 
 manent and public rights, were evidently contrary to the 
 historical foundation, the regular state, to the very existence 
 of monarchy. The king took advantage of this. In his 
 turn, he spoke, in the name of old England, of her laws, her 
 recollections. Able and learned champions took up his cause; 
 Edward Hyde, who remained in London, sonletimes alone, 
 sometimes in concert with Falkland, drew up answers to aU 
 the parliamentary publications. Eapidly conveyed to York 
 by secret messengers, these were privately delivered to the 
 king, who passed the night in copying them with his own 
 hand, that no one might trace the: author, and then pub- 
 lished them in the name of his council.' Written with talent 
 and perspicuity, sometimes vdth cutting irony, they more 
 particularly aimed at exposing the subtle machinations, the 
 artifices, the illegality of the pretensions of pai-liament. 
 Charles no longer governed, had no longer any actual tyranny 
 to palliate; keeping silence as to his own secret views, his 
 ultimate designs, his despotic hopes, he could invoke the law 
 against his enemies, now, in their turn, the reigning despots. 
 Such was the effect of the royal publications, that pq,rliament 
 made every eiFort to suppress them, while, on the other hand, 
 the king caused the messages of parliament to be printed 
 parallel with his answers.^ The royalist pai-ty visibljr in- 
 creased; they soon grew bolder, and turned the arms of 
 liberty against their adversaries; George Benyon, a rich mer- 
 chant in the city,, addressed a petition to both houses against 
 their ordinance on the militia, and many considerable citizens 
 signed it with him.^ The gentlemen of Kent, at the Maid- 
 stone assizes (March 25), drew up another in favour of the 
 prerogative and of episcopacy;* a few members of parliament, 
 sir Edward Bering among others, who first introduced the bill 
 against the bishopSj openly invited these proceedings." The 
 royal pamphlets met with great favour;, they were pungent, 
 high-toned, in a vein of refined and contemptuous superiority; 
 even among the populace, abuse of the leaders of the commons 
 foundwelcome andcredit; they repeated the sneers about "king 
 Pym," and the "sugar-loaves" he had formerly received as pre- 
 sents, and the " 10,000^. of theking's money" that he had, it was 
 
 1 Clarendons Mem. i. 131 ; Warwick's Mem. 209. 
 s Eusliwortli, i. 3, 1:51. , ^ Pail. Hist. ii. 1160. . * lb. 1147. ' IT). 
 
ISO HISTOliY OF THE 
 
 said, jns'f'giTen aa a ixmrriage, portion witla liis daiigMer; about 
 the cowardice of the earl of Warwick, " whose soul was in 
 Ms shoes," and a thousand other coarse imputations, which 
 lately none would have repeated or even listened to.' In both 
 houses, the king's friends showed themselves haughty and 
 irascible; men who till then had remained silent, sir Ealph 
 Hopton, lord Herbert, repelled sternly all insinuations 
 rfensive to his honour. It was clear that in the opinion 
 of many his cause was gaining ground, and that they would 
 uphold it, on occasion, for they no longer hesitated to adopt 
 it. Parliament took the alarm; the self-love of the leaders 
 was touched; nursed in popularity, they could not patiently 
 endure insult aad contempt, or that in this war of the pen 
 ttie advantage should remain with their enemies. To this 
 new danger, as much from personal anger as from policy, 
 l^y opposed utter tyranny? all freedom of discussion ceased; 
 sir Ealph Hopton was sent to the Tower (March Y),^ lord 
 Herbert censured and threatened (May 20),^ George Benyon 
 and sir Edward Bering impeached (JVQirch 31 and April 26), * 
 the petition of the county of Kent thrown under the table 
 (March 25).* There was a rumour that it was going to be 
 presented again; Cromwell hastened to inform the commons 
 of this r^ort, and received orders to prevent its being car- 
 ried into effect (April 28).'* As yet little noticed in the 
 house, but more able, and already more deeply engaged than 
 any other in the machinations of the revolution, it was ia its 
 external business, in exciting the people, in watching, in 
 denouncing, in tricking the royalists out of doors, that this 
 man's activity and influence were more especially engaged. 
 
 That war was near at hand was no longer doubtful; the 
 two parties could no longer live together, or sit within the 
 same walls. Every day members of parliament were leaving 
 London; some, disgusted or alarmed, retired to tibeir estates j 
 others Sought elsewhere, far from an arena where they •were 
 conscious of defeat, fresh arms against their enemies. , Most 
 of them repaired, to the king, nearly all his councillors had. 
 already joined Hm.^ An unexpected incident hastened this 
 movement, and irrevocably separated the two parties. On the 
 23rd of April, the king, at the head of three hundred horse, 
 
 » Veil. Hist. ii. 1164, U(F>. ' lb. 1118. » lb. 1342 
 
 * lb. 1149, 1188. » lb. 1147. « lb. 1194. ' May, ii. 58 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLTJTION. 15 X 
 
 advanced towards Hull, and sent word to sir John Hotham, 
 tlie governor of the place, to deliver it into his hands, 
 "Weak, irresolute, far from, inveterate against the crown, and 
 without instructions for the regulation of his conduct, sir 
 John, in utter perplexity, entreated the king to wait until he 
 had communicated Ms orders to the parliament. But Charles 
 continued to advance, and at eleven o'clock appeared under 
 the walls. He had already adherents in the town; the even- 
 ing before, his son James, duke of York, his nephew, the 
 prince palatine, and lord Newport, had entered it under the 
 pretence of passing a day there. The mayor and some of the 
 citizens were proceeding towards the gates for the purpose of 
 opening them; Hotham ordered them to return to their 
 homes, and, followed hy his officers, went on the ramparts. 
 There the king, in person, summoned him to admit him. Sir 
 John fell upon his knees, and in great perturbation excused 
 himself from doing so, on tflie gi-ound of the oath he had taken 
 to keep the place at the disposition of parliament. , Violent 
 murmurs arose among the cavaliers who surrounded the king; 
 they threatened sir John, calUng him rebel and traitor: 
 " KiU him!" they cried to the officers of the garrison, " throw 
 him over!" but it was the officers who had decided the go^ 
 vemor's resistance. In vain did Charles himself endeavour 
 to intimidate or seduce them; after a long parley, he retired 
 to a short distance, and, an hour after, sent a request to sir 
 John to admit him -with only twenty horse. Hotham refused 
 this also. " If he had entered with only ten men," he wrote 
 to the parliament, " I should no longer have been master of 
 the town." The Idng returned to the foot of the ramparl^ 
 caused Hotham and liis adherents to be proclaimed traitors, 
 and the same day addressed a message to parliament demand- 
 ing justice for sUch an outrage.' 
 
 The parliament fully adopted aU the governor had done, 
 and returned for answer to the king, that neither the fortresses 
 nor arsenals of the kingdom were personal property, which 
 he could claim in virtue of any law, as a citizen coidd his 
 field of his house; that the care of these places had been 
 vested in him for the safety of the kingdom, and that the 
 
 > Clarendon, i. 798; Busliworth, i. 3, 567; Pai-l. Hist. ii. l]97,inwMcli 
 is to be seen the letter written by Hotham himself, giving the parliament oa 
 account of the event. 
 
152 IIISTOm OF THE 
 
 same motive might authorize parliament to assume that charge.' 
 The answer, frank and legitimate enough, was equivalent to 
 a declaration of war. It was considered as such by both 
 parties. Thirty-two lords, and more than sixty members of 
 the commons, Miv Hyde, among others, departed for York.^ 
 The earls of Essex and Holland, the one lord-chamberlam, 
 the other first gentleman of the bed-chamber, received orders 
 from the king to join him; he wished to secure their persons, 
 and deprive parliament of their support. Witli the sanction 
 of the house, they refused to obey, and were forthwith de- 
 prived of their oflftces.' The chancellor, Littleton, after long , 
 and pusillanimous hesitation, sent the great seal to theking, and 
 got away himself the next day. This produced much sensation 
 in London, whex'e legal government was generally considered 
 inherent in the possessor of the great seal. The peers were 
 agitated and ready to give way. But the energy of the com- 
 mons prevented all indecision. The absent members were 
 summoned to return (May 25 and June 2);'' on the formal 
 refusal of nine lords to do so, they wei-e at once impeached 
 rjune 15);' every citizen was forbidden to take up arms at 
 the command of the king (May 17);" directions were sent 
 into every county for the ' immediate organization of the 
 miUtia (June 4);' in many places it met and exercised 
 spontaneously. The transfer of the stores of Hull to London 
 was ordered, and, notwithstanding all obstacles, accomplished.* 
 The king had ordered the Westminster assizes to be held at 
 York, in order to concentra,te around him all legal govern- 
 ment; but the parliament opposed the order, and was obeyed.^ 
 Finally, the comtnons appointed a committee to negotiate a 
 loan in the city, without any statement as to its intended ap- 
 plication (May 31);'" and commissioners were dispatched to 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 1188, Sec. 
 ' May, vt sup. ; Clarendon's Mem. i. 1T4. On June 16, 18i2, a formal 
 appeal to the house' of commons certified the absence of sixty-five members 
 to be without any known and legitimate excuse ] it was proposed that they 
 fhoiild not re-enter the house till they had justified the motives of their ab- 
 sence ; and this motion piused by a majority of fifty-five ; some proposed 
 'that they should each be fined twenty-flve pounds; but this proposition, 
 was negatived by a majority of twenty-five ; Piul. Hist. ii. 1373. 
 ' Pari. Hist. ii.llTl; Clarendon, i. 739. « Poil. Hist. ii. 1296, 1327. ■ 
 sib. 1368. 6 lb. 1235. ' lb. 1328. 
 
 « lb. 1319. ■ » lb. 1233. i« lb. 1323. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 153 
 
 York, all rich and influential gentlemen of the county, with 
 orders to reside near the king, despite anything he might say 
 to the contrary, and to send word to parliament of whatever 
 they should observe (May 2).^ 
 
 The firrrmess of tlie commissioners was equal to the perils 
 of their mission: "Gentlemen," said the king, when they 
 arrived (May 9),^ "what do you want here? I command 
 you to depart." On their Refusal: "If you will positively dis- 
 obey me," said he, " I advise you not to make any party, or 
 hinder my service in the country, for if you do, I'll clap you up." 
 They answered respectfully, but remained, daily insulted, 
 often threatened, seldom at liberty to go out, but managing to 
 get information as to all that was passing, and to send the 
 intelligence up to London. All York, like all London, was in 
 active motion; the king began to levy a guard; but not ven- 
 turing absolutely to command this service, he had called to- 
 gether the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, that he might 
 obtain it from their zeal.^ The meeting was numerous and 
 noisy (May IS);'' loud acclamations greeted every word the 
 king said ; the parliamentary commissioners were hooted when 
 they made their appearance. But that same day there came 
 to York several thousand freeholders and farmers, whom the 
 grandees had not thought fit to summon ; they had, they said, 
 the same right as the gentlemen to deliberate on the affairs 
 of the county, and presented themselves, accordingly, at the 
 door of the hall in wliich the royalists had assembled. En- 
 trance was denied them; they assembled elsewhere, and pro- 
 tested against the measures they heard were being resolved 
 upon by the gentry. Even the latter were divided; for to the 
 proposition for levying a guard, more than fifty gentlemen 
 replied by a refusal, signed with their names; at the head of 
 the list appeared sir Thomas Fairfax, then young and un- 
 known, but at heart the brave and sincere patriot he after- 
 wards proved himself.* Charles, intimidated at this aspect 
 
 ' These commissioners were the lords Howard and Fairfax, sir Hugh 
 Cholmondley, sir Henry Cholmondley, and sir Philip Stapleton ; Pari. Hist, 
 ii. 1206, 1310, 1212. 
 
 ' Pai-1. Hist. ii. 1222 ; Clarendon, 249. 
 ' Clarendon, i. 832. ' May, ii. 5i. 
 
 ' From a letter of the York committee, dated May 13 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 
 1220, 1233. 
 
154 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 of affairs, announced another meeting, to ■whicli all the free- 
 holders should be summoned: the parliament commissioners 
 were forbidden to attend, but the meeting being held on Hey- 
 worth Moor (June 3), near their residence, their friends 
 brought them word what was passing, and sought their ad- 
 vice how to proceed. More than forty thousand men were 
 present, freeholders, farmers, citizens, on foot, on horseback, 
 some in groups. Others running to and fro to collect their 
 friends. The cavaliers soon pei'eeived that a petition was 
 circulating amongst them, beseeching the Mng to banish all 
 thought of war, and to reconcile himself with the parliament. 
 They burst into invective and menaces, rode violently in 
 upon the groups, snatching the-copies of the petition from the 
 hands of those who were reading it, and declaring that the 
 king would not receive it.' Charles arrived, annoyed and 
 perplexed, not knowing what to say to this multitude, whose 
 presence and turbulence already offended his impracticable 
 hauteur. Saving read a cold, equivocal declaration, he was 
 hastily withdrawing to avoid any reply, when young Fairfax, 
 managing to get near him, fell 'suddenly on one knee, and 
 placed iiie people's petitio^i on the pommel of his saddle, thus 
 braving,, even at his feet, the king's displeasure, who urged 
 his horse roughly against him, to force him to retii'e, but in 
 vain.^ 
 
 So much boldness in the king's presence, in the county 
 most devoted to his cause, intimidated the royalists, particu- 
 larly those just arrived from London, with their minds fuU of 
 the power and energy of paEliament. It was quite enough, 
 they thought, to have given the king so perilous a token of 
 their zeal as to come and join him; they did not wish to 
 compromise themselves further, and, once at "York, showed 
 themselves cold and timid;' Charles requested from them a 
 declaration of the motives which had constrained them to 
 leave London; he wanted it for the purpose of showing that 
 after so much tumult, such violence, the parliament being no 
 longer free had ceased to be legal. They signed it, but the 
 
 • In the eixtli letter of the York committee to the pai'liament, dated 
 June 4 ; and in a letter of sir John Bourchier to his cousin sir Tliomos 
 Barrington, member of the house of commons of the same date ; Pari, Hist. 
 ii. 1349, IBSS. 
 
 » Carte's Life of Orinoii;!, i. 357. » Clarendon, i. 1021. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 155 
 
 next day several of them informed the king that if he pub- 
 lished it they should he obliged to deny it. " What, then, 
 would yon have me do with it?" asked 'Charles, angrily; but 
 tfhey persisted, and the declaralion did not appear.' Notwith- 
 standing the concourse and boastings of the cavaliers, liothing 
 was done; neither money, arms, nor ammunition, not even 
 provisions, were to be found at York; the king had scarcely 
 enough to furnish his own table and to provide for the ordi- 
 nary expenses of his household.^ The qiie^i had sold some of 
 the crowa jewels in Holland, but such was the influence of 
 the menaces of parliament, that a long time elapsed before she 
 could send the amount to the king.* He forbade all his sub- 
 jects to obey the ordinance respeoling the militia (May 27),* 
 and himself gave commissions to the chief royalUsts in every 
 county to levy and organize it in his name.* But imme- 
 diately afterwards, to palliate the effect of this measure, he 
 protested that he had no thought of war; and'the lords at York 
 declared, by an official manifesto, carefully circulated, that, 
 to their knowledge, no preparations, no proceedings an- 
 nounced any such intention.^ So much indecision and decep- 
 tion did not arise from weakness alone; ever since the arrival 
 ~ of the seceders from parliament, Chaiies had been tormented 
 with the most conflicting councils: convinced that his most 
 secure strength lay in the respect of the people for legal order, 
 the lawyers, magistrates, and more temperate men were of 
 opinion that henceforth, strictly observing the laws himself, 
 he should throw u^on parliament alone the discredit of 
 violating them: the cavaliers loudly insisted that delay would 
 ruin everything, that on aU oceasions it was best to anticipate 
 the enemy; and Charles, unable to give up the support of 
 either class of advisers, essayed by turns to satisfy each. 
 
 The situation of parliament had, on the contrary, become 
 greatly simplified;' t!he departure of so many royalist mem- 
 bers had left the leaders of the revolution in undisturbed pos- 
 session of power; a few dissenting voices were still now and 
 
 1 Clarendon i J 022. " Id.ib. 
 
 » lb. * Eushworth, i. 3, rySO. 
 
 ' The first commission of this kind was ^Ten to lord Hasdngs, for the 
 county of Leicester, June 11 ; Eushwortli, i. S, 655. 
 
 ' This dedaration, dated June 15, was signed 'byfoitf-flve lords or meia- 
 bers of the oounoil ; Pari. Hist. ii. 1373 ; Clarendon, i. 1022. 
 
156 - HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 then heard, but reduced to the melancholy task of deploring 
 and warning; the house scarcely deigned to make them any 
 reply whatever. A decided majority deeming war inevitable, 
 boldly accepted it, though with very different views and feel^ 
 ings. To keep up appearances, a comnlittee was appointed 
 to devise means of preventing it (May 27);' proposals of ac- 
 commodation, in nineteen articles, were even drawn up and 
 formally sent to the king (June 2).^ But while awaiting his 
 answer, they continued to suppress every petition for the 
 mnintenance of peace,* and military preparations were pushed 
 forward openly and vigorously. Charles had offered to go in 
 person to suppress the Irish rebellion, every day increasing 
 in violence; his offer was rejected (April IS)."* He refused 
 to appoint lord Warwick, whom the commons had i-ecom- 
 mended, commander of the fleet (March 31); Warwick as- 
 sumed the command, notwithstanding his refusal.* The lord ' 
 mayor, Gourney, had the boldness to publish in London the 
 king's commission, ordering the raising of the militia for his 
 service and in his name; he was impeached, sent to the 
 Tower, dismissed liis office, and alderman Pennington, a 
 zealous puritan, put in his place (Aug. 18.)" The city lent 
 100,000Z. (June 4);' 10,0,000^. were taken from the funds 
 destined for the relief of Ireland (July 30);" a subscription 
 was opened in both houses (June 10); each member, ad- 
 dressed in turn, w^s requested to state his intention at once^ 
 Some refused: '.' If there be occasion," said sir Henry Killi- 
 grew, " I ^hall provide myself with a good horse and a good, 
 sword, and make no question I shall find a good cause;" but,, 
 having said this, he felt it prudent to retire to his coimtry 
 seat, for after such a speech he could not have passed through 
 the streets of London without absolute, danger.^ The aidour 
 of the people was at its height; in the city as at Westminster, 
 the withdrawal of the royalist members had discouraged their 
 partisans. The parhament made an appeal to the patriotism 
 of the citizens; money, plate, jewels, everything was put in 
 
 > Pari. Hist. ii..l319. ' lb. 1321; May, ii. 75. 
 
 • Ampng others, a petition prepared at the beginning of June, in tiia 
 unty of Somerset ; Pari. Hist. ii. 1360. 
 
 * Pari. Hist. ii. 1169. ' » lb. 1164; May, ii. 94. 
 
 « Pari. Hist. ii. 1203 ; State Trials, iv. 159. ' Purl. Hist. ii. 1S28. 
 
 • May, ii. 121 ; Pari. Hist. ii. 1443. ' Clarendon, i, 1016. 
 
ENGLISH HEVOLUTION. 157 
 
 requisition to equip some squadrons of horse, under the promise 
 of interest at eight per cent. The pulpits resounded with the 
 exhortations of the preachers; the amount realized exceeded 
 the demands of the most enthusiastic, the expectations of the 
 most sanguine; during ten whole days there was a constant 
 influx of plate to Guildhall; there were not enough men to 
 receive it, not room enough to hold it; poor women brought 
 their wedding-rings, their gold or silver hair-pins; numbers 
 had to wait a long time before their offerings could be taken 
 out of their hands.' Informed of this success on the part of 
 the commons, Charles was willing to attempt the same 
 means; but enthusiasm is not a matter of imitation. The 
 university of Oxford sent its plate to the king; following its , 
 example, Cambridge, also, had its plate packed up; part of it, 
 indeed, was already gone, when Cromwell, ever vigilant, 
 arrived suddenly, and prevented them from sending away any 
 more.^ The king's commissioners had the greatest difficulty 
 in collecting, from one country-seat to another, a few 
 trifling contributions; and, scoffing at the niggards, a futile 
 and dangerous gratification for a defeated court, was the 
 only consolation left to' the cavaliers. 
 
 The propositions for accommodation reached York;' they 
 surpassed the predictions of the most hot-headed royalists, 
 and deprived the most moderate of hope. The parliament 
 demanded the complete destruction of prerogative, and that 
 power should rest entirely in its hands, the creation of new 
 peers, the appointment or dismissal of all public officers what- 
 soever, the education and marriage of the king's children; that 
 in military, civil, and religious affairs, nothing was to be done 
 without the formal permission of parliament. Such was, at 
 bottom, the true aim, and was one day to be the inestimable 
 result of the revolution; but the time was not yet come when 
 this substitution of parliamentary for royal government could 
 be accomplished by the natural working of institutions, and 
 the predominant, though indirect, influence of the commons on 
 the daily exercise of power. Not in a position to impose its 
 leaders upon the crown as state advisers, the national party 
 
 » May, iii. 81 ; Clarendon, i. 1016 ; Whitelocke, 60. 
 2 May, ii. 108 ; Pail. Hist. ii. 14S3 ; Querela Cantabiigiensis, (1685,) 
 182 ; Barwick's Life, (1724,) 24. 
 
 ' They were presented to tlie king on the 17th of June. 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 felt itself constrained, to subject the crown officially to its 
 dominion, convinced it could not otiierwise be' secure; a fal- 
 lacious and impracticable njjethod, calculated to no other end 
 thaii to plunge the state in ajuarchy, but at this, time the only 
 plan which its. ablest members could devise. Readiagithe pro- 
 posalsr the king's, eyes flashed with anger, his countenance 
 was snffused with a deep crunson; "These, being. past," he 
 said, " we may be waited on bare-headedj we may haive^ our 
 hand kissed^, the style of ' majesty' continued to us, and ' the 
 king's authority, declared by both houses of parliament,' may 
 atiU.be the style, of your commands; we may have sword's 
 and macea carried before, ns, and please ourself with the sight 
 of a crown and sceptre, (and yet even these twigs would not 
 long flourish,, when the stock upon which they grew was ■ 
 dead;) but as to true and real power,, we should remaini but 
 the outsides„but the picture,, bwt tha sign of, a king.'" He 
 broke off all further negotiation. 
 
 The parliament expected no other answer. As soon aa 
 it received it, all hesitation, even in form, disappeared; 
 civil war was put to the house (July 9). One voice alone, 
 the same which in the opening of the session had first de- 
 nounced, pwblic grievances, was now lifted; in opposition. 
 " Mr. Speaker," said sir Benjamin Eudyard, *' I am touched, 
 I am pierced with an apprehension of the honour of the house 
 and success of this parliament;, but tliat we may better con- 
 sider the condition we are in, let us set ourselves three years 
 bach. If any man then eouM have credibly told xis, that 
 within three years the queen shall be gone out of England 
 iatoHhe Low Countries, for any cause whatsoever;, the king 
 shall remove from, his parliament, from' London to York, 
 declaring himself not to be safe here; that there shall be a 
 total rebellion in Lreland; such discord and distempers both, 
 iji, church ^d state here, as now we find — certainly we should 
 have ti'embled at the thought of it; wherefore it is fit we should 
 be sensible now we are in it. On the other side, if any mam 
 then could have <:reidibly told us, that within three years ye, 
 shall have a parliament,, it would have been good news;, 
 that Ship-Money shall be taken away by an act of parlia- 
 ment, the reasons and grounds of it so rooted out, as tliat 
 
 > Eushwoith, i. 3. T2S. 
 
ENGLISH EE VOLUTION. 159 
 
 neither it, nor anytiung Eke it, can ever grow up again; that 
 monopolies, the high commission court, the star-chamber, the 
 Mshops' ■^otes, shall be taken away; the council table regu-', 
 lated and restrained, the forests boumded and limited, ye shall | 
 have a triennial parliament, nay, more than that, a perpetual; 
 parliament, which none shall have the power to dissolve but 
 yourselves, — ^we should have thought tlus a dream of happi- 
 ness. Yet, now we are in the real possession, of it, we do 
 not enjoy it. We stand upon further security, whereas the 
 very having of these things is a convenient, fair security, 
 mutually securing one another; Let us beware we do not 
 contend for such a hazardous, unsafe security as may en- 
 danger the loss of what we have already. Though we 
 had all we desire, we cannot make a matheBaatical se- 
 curity; all human caution is susceptible of corruption and 
 failing. God's providence wiU not be bound; success must 
 
 be his Mr. Speaker, it now behoves us to call up aU 
 
 the wisdom we have about us, for we axe at the verj brink 
 of combustion and confusion. If blood begins once to touch 
 blood, we shall presently fall into a certain misery, and must 
 attend an uncertain success, God knows when, and God 
 knows what! Every man here is bound in conscience to 
 employ his utmost endeavours to prevent the effusion of 
 blood. Blood is a crjdng sin, it pollutes a land. Let us 
 save our Hberties and our estates, but so as we may save our 
 souls too. Now I have clearly delivered my own conscience, 
 I leave every man freely to his."' Vain appeal of a 
 worthy man, whose only course now was to retire from an 
 arena henceforth too agitated for his calm, pure mind. Other 
 anticipations, other fears, equally legitimate, though allied to 
 more headlong, less virtuous passions, imperiously dominated 
 the national party; and the day was come, in which good and 
 evil, salvation and peril, were so obscurely confounded and 
 intermixed, that the firmest minds, incapable of disentan- 
 gling them, were made the instruments of Providence, who 
 alternately chastises kings by their people, and people by 
 their kings. Only forty-five members in the commons 
 shared the scruples of Rudyard;^ and in the house of peers 
 
 ' Pai-I. Hist. ii. 1417. 
 2 The levying of 10,000 Toluuteers in London was to ted in the csm- 
 mons, by 135 to 45 : ib. ii. 1409. 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the earl of Portland alone protested.' War measures were 
 forthwith adopted; the houses seized, for their own use, all 
 the public revenues;^ the counties were ordered to provide 
 arms and ammunition, and to be ready at the first signal. 
 Und^r the title of the committee of safety, five peers and ten 
 meiiibers of the house of Commons were charged with the care 
 of the public defence, and to see the orders of parliament 
 executed (July 4, 1642).' Finally, the formation of an army 
 was decreed, to consist of twenty regiments of foot, of about 
 a thousand men each, and of seventy -five squadrons, each of 
 S'.xty horse. Lord Kimbolton, lord Brook, sir John Merrick, 
 Hampden, Holies, Cromwell, leaders of the people in the 
 camp as well as at Westminster, received commands in it. 
 The earl of Essex was appoitited general-in-chief.* 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 1414. = lb. 1349. 
 
 ' The-five lords were the earls of Korthumberland, Essex, Pembroke, 
 Holland, and viscount Say; the t'en membersof the commons, Hampden, 
 Pym, Holies, Martin, Fienues, Pieirpoint,, Glyn, sir William Waller, sir 
 Philip Stapleton, and sir John Merrick. 
 
 , * The reader will doubtless ifeel an interest in reading the history of the 
 commanders of this truly national army ; it will be found iu the Appendix, 
 No. VL 
 
ENGLISH EEVOIUTION. 
 
 BOOK THE FOURTH. 
 
 1642—1643. 
 
 Breaking out of the civil war — The king raises his standard at Notting- 
 ham — ^Battle of Edgehill — ^Alaims in London — ^Fight of Brentford — 
 Attempts at negotiation — Character of the civil vpar — The queen returns 
 from the continent — Negotiations at Oxford — Distrust of the Earl of 
 Essex — Internal dissensions of parliament — Boyalist conspiracy in the 
 city — Death cf Hampden — Repeated defeats of the pai-liameut — Its 
 energy — ^Efforts of the partisans of peace in pai-Iiament — Project of the 
 king to mai-ch upon London — The project defeated — Siege of Gloucester — 
 Eaised byEssex — ^Battle of Newbury — Death of Lord Falkland— Alliance 
 of Parliament with the Scots — Triumphant return of Essex to London, 
 
 On hearing of these arrangements, the king, freed from all un- 
 certainty, in his turn displayed a greater degree of vigour. 
 A small supply of stores and ammimition had reached him 
 from Holland; the queen promised more.' The marquis of 
 Hertford, the earl of Northampton, lord Strange, sir Ealph 
 Hopton, sir Henry Hastings, the conmiissioners whom the 
 king had dispatched to raise troops in his name, met with 
 some success in the western and northern counties.^ Goring, 
 the governor of Portsmouth, had declared in his favour.* 
 The cavaliers were rising in all directions; they spread over 
 the country, entered by force the houses of the friends of the 
 parliament, carried off money, horses, arms, and brought 
 .them to York, proud of their booty and of their easy victories. 
 Charles at once comprehended that such disorders would 
 greatly injure his cause, and to repress them and at the same 
 time excite the zeal of the royalists, he made a progress in 
 
 > Clarendon, i. 1051. « May, ii. 100. 
 
 s Clarendon, i. 1113; Pari. Hist.ii. U40. 
 M 
 
162 IHSTOKY OF THE 
 
 person through the counties of York, Leicester, Derby, Not- 
 tingham, and Lincoln, everywhere calling the nobility to- 
 gether, thanldng them for their fidelity^ and exhorting them 
 to be orderly and prudent; more active, more affable, than 
 ■was his usual habit, conversing even withthe common people, 
 and everywhere proclaiming his firm attachment to the re- 
 ligion and laws of the country.' These gatherings, these 
 speeches, the gentry forsaking or fortifying their houses, the 
 citizens rebuilding the walls of their towns, the roads covered 
 with armed travellers, the daily exercise of the militia, all 
 presented the aspect of declared war, and at the same time, ' 
 at every moment, in aU parts of the kingdom, gave occasion 
 to it. Blood had already been spilt in several encounters," 
 more like broils than battles.^ The king, by two fruitless 
 attempts on Hull and Coventry, had ah-eady given par- 
 liament occasion to charge him as the aggressor.^ The two 
 parties equally dreaded this reproach : both ready to risk 
 everything to maintain their rights, both trembled at having 
 to answer for the future. At last, on the 23rd of August, 
 Charles resolved forfeaJly to call his subjects to arms, by 
 erecting the royal standard at Nottingham. At six in the 
 evening, on the summit of the hill which overlooks the town 
 surrounded by eight hundred horse and a small body of 
 militia, he first caused his proclamation to be read. The 
 herald had already begun; a scruple arose in the king's mind; 
 he took the paper, and slowly corrected several passages on 
 his knee, then returned it to the herald, who had great diffi- 
 culty in reading the corrections. The trumpets sounded, the 
 stan'dard was brought forward, bearing this motto: " Iljnder 
 nnto Caesar the things which are Cesar's;" but no one knew 
 where to erect it, nor the precise form of the ancient cere- 
 mony of the lord paramount assembling his vassals. The 
 sky was clouded, the wind blew with violence. At last, they 
 planted the standard in the interior of the castle, on the top 
 of a tower, after the example of K'ichard III., the latest 
 known precedent. The next day the wind blew it down. 
 " Why did you put it there?" asked the king; " it should 
 have been set up in an open place, where every one might 
 have approached it, not in a prison;" and he had it taken out 
 
 > May, ii. 89. » Wliitelockc, CS. » Pari. Hist. ii. lio3. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 163 
 
 •of the castle, just outside tlie park. When the heralds sought 
 to plant it in the ground, they found that the soil was a mere 
 rock. With their daggers, they dug a little hole, in which 
 to fix the staff, but it would not stand, and for several hourj 
 they were obliged to hold it up with their hands. The spec 
 tators withdrew, their minds disturbed by evil forebodings. 
 The king passed some days at Nottingham, in fruitless ex- 
 pectation that the country would answer his appeal. The 
 parliamentary army was forming a few leagues off at North- 
 ampton, and already num^jered several regiments. " K they 
 choose to attempt a coup-de-main," said sir Jacob Astley, 
 major-general of the royal army, " I would not answer for 
 his majesty not being taken in his bed."^ Some members of 
 the council urged him to try negotiation once more. " What, 
 already," said the king, " even before the war is begun !" 
 They insisted, on the ground of his weakness. Four deputies* 
 proceeded to London (Aug. 25), but returned unsuccessful; 
 one of them, lord Southampton, had not even been allowed 
 to deliver his message personally to the house.* The king 
 quitted Nottingham towards the middle of September, and, 
 notwithstanding his regret at removing further from London, 
 established his head quarters at Shrewsbury, understanding 
 that the western counties showed more zeal in his cause. 
 
 The earl of Essex had now been at the head of his army 
 for more than a week; when he left London (Sept. 9), an 
 immense crowd accompanied him with loud acclaiaations, 
 waving in the air orange streamers, the colour of his house. 
 Whoever wore any other colour was suspected and insulted.''' 
 At Northampton he found nearly twenty thousand men as- 
 sembled. A parliamentary committee was associated with , 
 him, which accompanied him wherever he went, but acted 
 under his judgment, and was invested with no counter- 
 authority;^ His instiTictions were to transmit a petition to 
 the king conjuring him to return to London, and if he refused 
 to foUow him everywhere, and " by battle or otherwise 
 rescue his majesty, his two sons the prince of Wales and the 
 
 ' Hnshwoith, i. 3, 783 ; Clarendon, i. 1127 ; Lilly, Observ. on the Life and 
 Death of King Cliai'les ; Mazeres, Select Tracts, i. ^ Clarendon, ii. 3. 
 
 ^ The earls of Southampton and Dorset, sir John Colepepper, and sir 
 William Uvedale. •* Pari. Hist. ii. 1458. » Whitelocke, 59. 
 
 " Pari. Hist. ii. 1573 ; the committee was composed of twelve lords and 
 twenty-four members of the commons. 
 
 m2 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 duke of York, from their perfidious councillors, and bring 
 them back to the parliament."' 
 
 The petition was not even presented; the king declared he 
 ■would not receive one from the hands of men whom he. had 
 proclaimed traitors (Oct. 16).^ At Shrewsbury he had gained 
 sirength and' confidence. From the west and the north a 
 great number of recruits had at length arrived; to equip 
 them, he had taken, not without resistance, the arms of the 
 militia of several counties; some parhamentary supplies, des- 
 tined for Ireland, which were on the way through the west 
 to embark at Chester, had fallen inFo his hands. The catholics 
 of Shropshire and Staffordshire had advanced him 5000^.; 
 for a peerage, a gentlema,n had paid him 6000/. ; and even from 
 London his party had secretly sent him money. About 
 twelve thousand men were assembled under his banners.'. 
 Prince Rupert,, his nephew,* lately arrived from Germany 
 (beginning of Sept.), at the head of the cavalry, overrun the 
 neighbouring cQuntry, already odious for his pillaging and 
 brutality, but at the same time already dreaded for his daiing 
 courage. Essex advanced but slowly, as if rather following 
 than desirous of overtaking his enemy. On the 23rd of Sep- 
 tember he arrived at Worcester, at a few leagues only from 
 the king, where he spent three weeks without making any 
 movement whatever. Emboldened by this inaction, by the 
 success of a few skirmishes, and the improved aspect of his 
 affairs, Charles resolved to advance upon Loudon, and finish 
 the war at one blow; and he was already on his third day's 
 march thither^ when Essex turned back after him to defend 
 the parlianient. 
 
 The greatest agitation prevailed in London; none there 
 expected this so sudden peril; the parliamentary party were 
 astonished, the royalists began to put themselves in motion, 
 the people were alarmed. But the fear of the people is 
 easily turned into anger; of this tendency the parliament 
 availed itself. Firm and iinpassioned in action as in speech, 
 it immediately took measures of defence against the king,, 
 and of rigour against the malignants, as it caUed the royalists. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. ii. 1471. " lb. 1484. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. passim ; Mrs. Hutchinson's Memoirs. 
 * Second sou of Frederick V., Under Palatine, king of Bohemia, and of 
 Elizabeth, sister to Charles I. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 165 
 
 All who had not subscribed to the voluntary contributions, 
 were taxed an arbitrary amount, and at once called upon to 
 pay; those who refused were sent to' prison; the suspected 
 were disarmed: requisitions of every kind took place; aU the 
 stables in the town and suburbs were visited, and the horses 
 fit for service seized. Fortifications were hastily raised, a 
 crowd of men, women and children working at them with 
 ardour; chains were hung across the streets, barricades 
 erected ; the militia, kept constantly on foot, were ready to 
 march at a moment's notice.* 
 
 Suddenly, on the morning of the 24th of Octobei , a report 
 arrived that a great battle had been fought, the parhamentary 
 army totally defeated, many ofiicers killed and made prisoners! 
 the news came from Uxbridge, a few miles from London; 
 left there, it was said, by sir James Ramsey, a Scotclunan, 
 and colonel of a regiment of horse, as he passed through the 
 town in his flight. Nearly at the same moment, other intel- 
 ligence came of a very different character, but equally uncer- 
 tain: Essex had gained a complete victory; the remnant of 
 the lung's army was in full retreat. This news came from 
 people who had been met on the Uxbridge road, galloping 
 with all speed to announce this wonderful success at London.^ 
 
 The parliament, as ignorant of the real truth as the people, 
 ordered all the shops to be closed, the miHtia to be at their 
 posts, the citizens to wait for orders, and required from each 
 of its members a personal declaration of firm adhesion to the 
 earl of Essex and his cause, whatever had happened or might 
 happen.^ It was not till the next day (Oct. 26) that lord 
 "Wliarton and Mr. Strode brought from the army an official 
 account of the battle and its results. 
 
 It had been fought on the 23rd of October, near Keynton, in 
 Warwickshire, at the foot of the eminence called Edgehill; not 
 tiU he reached this plsice, after a march of ten days, during 
 which both armies, always within a few leagues of each other, 
 had been completely ignorant of each other's movements, 
 had Essex overtaken the king's troops. Though he had 
 left behind him part of his artillery and several regiments, 
 amongst others that of Hampden, he resolved upon imme- 
 diate attack, and the king, at the same instant, had adopted 
 
 » Pari. Hist. ii. 1478 : Whitelopke, 63. = WMtelocke, 01. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. ii. 1494. , ' > 
 
ti66 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the same resolution. Both were eager for a battle, Essex iw 
 order to save London, Charles to put an end to the obstacles- 
 he met with in a country so adverse to his cause, that thei 
 blacksmiths left their homes to avoid shoeing his, horses. 
 CommeBcing about two in the afternoon, the conflict was 
 fiercely continued till the evening ; the parliamentary, 
 cavaliy, weakened by the desertion of sir Faithful Fortes^u^'s 
 regiment, which, at the moment of charging went over in a 
 body to the enemy, were put to flight by prince Kupert; but in 
 his reckless hot-headedness, excited, too, by the desire of pil- 
 lage, ihe pursued them more than two miles, without troijbiing 
 himself what was going on behind him. Stopped, at last, 
 by Hampden's regiment coming up with the artillery, 
 the prince returned towards the field of battle; and there 
 found the royal infantry broken and dispersed, the earl of 
 ' Lindsey, commander-in-chief, mortally wounded and a pri- 
 soner, and the king's standard in the hands of the parliamen- 
 tarians; the king "himself had, at one time, been left almost 
 byhimself andin great danger of being taken. Essejc's reserve 
 remained alone in good order on the field. Charles and his 
 nephew in vain endeavoured to persuade their squadrons to 
 make another charge; they had returned all in confusion, the 
 soldiers seeking their officers, the officers their soldiers, 
 the horses falling with weariness; nothing could be done 
 with them. The two armies passed the night on the field of' 
 battle, both uneasy as to the morrow, though both claimed 
 the victory. The parliament had lost more men, the king 
 more distinguished persons and officers. At daybreak, Chai-les 
 surveyed his camp; a third of the infantry and many cavaliers 
 were missing; not that all of them had perished, but the cold, 
 the want of provisions, the violence of the first shock, had 
 disgusted a great number of the volunteers, and they had dis- 
 persed.' The king wished to recommence the fight, in order 
 to continue his march upon London without obstruction, but 
 he soon saw that this was out of the question. In the par- 
 liamentary camp the same question was debated; Hampden, 
 Holies, Stapleton, most of the militia officers and members of' 
 the commons, conjured Essex immediately to resume the at- 
 tack: "The king," they said, "is unable to withstand it^ 
 
 1 Eushwortli, ii, 3, 33 ; May, ut sup. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 167 
 
 three fresh regiments have joined us, and he will fall into our 
 hands, or be forced to accept our conditions; the speedy ter- 
 mination of the war can alone save the country evils, the par- 
 liament risks, which it is impossible now to foresee." But the 
 professional men, the officers formed in the continental wars, 
 colonel Dalbier and others, were of a different opinion; ac- 
 cording to them, it was already a great thing to have fought 
 so glorious a battle with mere recruits; London was saved; 
 but its safety had been deai-ly bought; the soldiers, still alto- 
 gether novices, were astounded and dispirited; they would 
 hot recommence the fight so soon with a good heart: the par- 
 liament had but one army, it should be trained to war, and 
 not risk all at once. They spoke with authority; Essex 
 adopted their advice,' and removed his head-quarters to War- 
 wick, in the rear of the royal army, but so as to follow its 
 movements. A few days afterwards, the king, advancing to- 
 wards London, though without any design of proceeding 
 thither at the moment, established his head-quarters at Ox- 
 ford, of all the large towns in the kingdom the most devoted 
 to his cause. 
 
 At London as well as at Oxford, public thanksgivings 
 were offered up; for parliament, said its friends to one 
 another, had gained a great deliverance, though a small 
 victory. They soon, however, discovered that this deliver- 
 ance was not a complete one.^ Nearer the metropolis than 
 the army of Essex, the king's troops spread over the country; 
 most of the deserters had rejoined their Tegiments, cured of 
 their first fears, by the hope of booty. Banbury, Abingdon, 
 Henley, places they thought sure,' opened their gates to the 
 king, without striking a blow. The garrison of Heading, 
 commanded by Henry Martyn, a particular friend of Crom- 
 well's, and a morose, snarling demagogue, basely fled at the 
 mere approach of a few squadrons;^ the king transferred his 
 head quarters thither. Prince Rupert scoured and pillaged 
 the country, up to the very environs of London.^ The city 
 got alarmed; in the house of lords pacific suggestions were 
 made and listened to' (Oct. 29.)' Essex was ordered to draw 
 nearer with his troops; and, meantime, the parliament re- 
 solved to request a safeguard from the king, for six deputies, 
 
 ' "WTiitelocke, 04 - lb. 
 
 » Clarendon, ii. 104. * 'Whitelocke, 64. ' Foil. Hist. iii. 1. 
 
168 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 appointed to open a negotiation. He refused to include in 
 the number sir JoJin Evelyn, whom the evening before 
 (Nov. 2) he had proSlaimed a traitor. ' The commons -(vithdrew 
 their proposal: Essex had arrived (Nov. 7). The lord mayor 
 called a general meeting of citizens at Guildhall (Nov. 8). 
 Two members of parliament, lord Brook and sir Harry Vane 
 attended, to excite their courage, and exhort them to march 
 out and range themselves under the general's standard: " For 
 he has obtained," said lord Brook, " the greatest victory that 
 was ever gotten; near 2000 (I love to speak with the least)' 
 on their side slain, and I am confident not a hundred on our 
 side, unless you will take in women, children, carmen, and 
 dogs, for they slew the very dogs and all; — if you take 
 in women, children, carmen, and dogs, then they slew 
 about two hundred. The general's resolution is to go out 
 to-morrow, and do again as much as lie hath done; all this is for 
 your sakes; for himself, he can be a freeman, he can be a gentle- 
 man, he can be a great man; he can go where he will; there- 
 fore it is only for your sakes he is resolved to go out to-morrow. 
 When you hear the drums beat, (for it is resolved the drums 
 shall beat to-morrow,) say not, I beseech you, I am not of the 
 trained band, nor this, nor that, nor the other, but doubt not 
 to go out to the work, and fight courageously, and this shall 
 be the day of your deliverance."^ The hall rang with accla- 
 mations; but terror was not dispelled. The king, informed 
 by his partisans of everything that passed, had hastened his 
 march; he was at Colnbrook, fifteen miles from London. 
 The parliament submitted to send only five deputies, no 
 longer insisting on the admission of Evelyn. Charles received 
 them well (Nov. 11), and said that in all places, even at the 
 gates of the city, he would be ready to treat.' When his 
 answer was read in the upper house (Nov. 12), Essex rose 
 and inquired vfbat, he was to do, whether he was to continue 
 or suspend hostilities. He was ordered to suspend' them; 
 and sir Peter KiUigrew departed to treat for an armistice. 
 On his arrival at Breiltford, seven mil6s from London, he 
 found hostilities renewed. Notwithstanding the negotiation, 
 tlie king had continued to advance, and had fallen unawares 
 
 - Pari. Hist. iii. 2; Clfljendon, ut sup. ' Pari. Hist. iii. B. 
 
 » Enshworth ii. 68 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 9. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 169 
 
 on HoUes's regiment, which was quartered' at Brentford, in 
 the hope of easily crushing it and so entering suddenly into the 
 city. But the valour of this small corps gave time for the 
 regiments of Hampden and lord Brook, in cantonment at 
 a short distance, to come up, and these, with Holies, sus- 
 tained for several hours the attack of the whole of the royal 
 army. The cannonading was heard in London, but not 
 understood. The moment, however, that Essex, who was in 
 the house of lords at the time, was informed of it, he mounted 
 his horse, and set off with what forces he could muster, to 
 relieve his men. The battle was over before he arrived; the 
 parliamentary troops engaged, after suffering considerable 
 loss, had retired in great disorder; the king occupied 
 Brentford, but had stopped there, and did not seem disposed 
 to advance further.' 
 
 London was indignant, and its indignation was all the 
 greater from being combined with redoubled fears. Nothing 
 was talked of but the king's perfidy, and his cruelty, for, it 
 was said, he had intended to take the city by storm during 
 the night, and give up its inhabitants, their I'amilies, their 
 property, to his 'rapacious and licentious cavaliers.'' The 
 warmest advocates for war bitterly complained that he should 
 bring it thus even under their very walls, and expose to such 
 dangers so many thousands of his peaceable subjects. The 
 parliament promptly turned this feeling to advantage. It 
 invited the apprentices to enlist, promising that the time of 
 their service should be reckoned as part of their apprentice- 
 ship;' the city offered four thousand men, taken from its 
 miQtia, and appointed Skippon to command them. " Come, 
 my boys, my brave boys," he said, as he put himself at their 
 head, " let us pray heartily and fight heartily. I will run the 
 same fortunes and hazards with you. Remember the cause is 
 for God, and for the defence of yourselves, your wives and chil- 
 dren. Come, my honest and brave boys, pray heartily and 
 fight heartily, and God will bless us."* During one whole 
 day and night, these levies of militia and volunteers were 
 successively filing out of London to join the army; and two 
 days after the battle of Brentford (Nov. 14), Essex, accom- 
 
 • May, iii. 32. = Wliitelooke, p. 64. 
 
 2 EnshworUi, ii. 8, 53 * Wlutclouke, 65 ; Psu-'.. Hist. iii. 14. 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 panied by most of the members of both houses, and a crowd 
 of spectators, reviewed twenty-four ^thousand men, disposed 
 in battle array on Turnham-green, less than a mile froni tho 
 king's outposts. 
 
 Here the discussion, which had commenced in the general's 
 council after the battle of Edgehill, was renewed. Hampdfin 
 and his friends eagerly dema;nded that an attack should at 
 once be made. Never again, they said, would they find 
 the people at once so determined, so imperiously necessitated 
 to conquer. For a moment their advice prevailed, and some 
 movements of the troops were ordered in consequence. But 
 Essex gave way most reluctantly, the old officers persevering 
 in their opposition. An incident happened to strengthen that 
 opposition. One day, when the army was drawn up in battle 
 array in front of that of the king, whether in consequence of 
 the royal troops appearing to make a demonstration of attajck, 
 or from some other cause, two or three hundred spectators, 
 who had come from London on horseback, suddenly started 
 off at full gallop towards town: at the mere sight of this, 
 the courage of the parliamentary army seemed altogether 
 shaken — desponding expressions circulated, and many soldiers 
 appeared disposed to quit their colours and also return 
 home. When the misconception was cleared up, however, 
 faces regained their serenity, and the ranks closed up firmly; 
 abundance of provisions, wine, tobacco, -and so on, sent by 
 the women of the city to their sons and husbands, brought 
 back confidence and gaiety to the camp. But Essex decidedly 
 refused to hazard all on the strength of the public enthusiasm; 
 he recalled the regiments which had advanced, and took up 
 on aJl sides a defensive position; and the king, who on his 
 part dreaded an attack, having no more ammxmltion,- effected 
 his retreat without obstacle, first to Reading, and then to Ox- 
 ford, where he took up his winter quarters.' 
 
 So much hesitation and delay, against which the leaders of 
 parliament struggled in vain, had more powerful causes than 
 the wavering attitude of the soldiers, or tlie prudence .*f the 
 general. Even the city was full of doubts and division's; the 
 peace-party loudly asserted its principles there, fortified as it , 
 now was by the accession, especially among the higher class 
 
 • WMtelocke, ut sup.j LucUow, Mem. 26. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTIOX. 17 [ 
 
 of citizens, of many who had consented to war with fear and. 
 sorrow, many only because they did not know how to prevent 
 it. Already petitions, wliile denouncing as vehemently as ever 
 popery and absolute power, called upon parliament to restore 
 peace (Dec. 19).' These petitions were suppressed, their 
 authors menaced, but others were sent from the counti-y, and 
 addressed to the lords, who were thought better disposed to 
 receive them (Dec. 22).^ Opposite petitions were not want- 
 ing: on the one hand, the magistrates and common council 
 of the city, renewed by recent elections, on the other, the 
 lower classes of citizens and the populace were devoted to the 
 boldest leaders of the commons, and ardently embraced every 
 opportunity to excite or uphold them. A tradesman named 
 Shute, came almost every day (Nov. 13 and 21, Dec. 9, &c.)' 
 to the bar of the house of commons, followed by a numerous 
 train, and demanding, in the name of " the pious and move- 
 ment party," that war should be carried on with vigour. 
 He was received with cordiality, and thanked for liis zeal; 
 but when his language became too imperious, and he spoke 
 too insolently of the lords and officers of the army, the house 
 felt obli^d to reprimand him (Dec. 11),'' for no one dared to 
 say or even think that the commons could separate from the 
 lords on their side, or triumph without their support. To 
 give the friends of peace some shov^ of satisfaction, it was 
 arranged that the common council should officiallj' petition 
 for peace, not from the parliament, but from the king him- 
 self; the embarrassment of answering such an appeal would 
 thus fall upon Charles, and they were sure the answer given 
 by him would displease the citizens.^ Accordingly, with the 
 consent of the houses, a deputation from the common council 
 proceeded to Oxford (Jan. 2, 1643). The king smiled when 
 they urged him to return to London, promising to suppress all 
 riots: " You cannot maintain peace there by yourselves," said 
 he; and sent back the deputies with his answer, accompanied 
 by a gentleman whom he charged to read it in bis name to 
 the assembled citizens. An immense multitude collected at 
 Guildhall to hear it (Jan. 13); lord Manchester and Pym 
 were present, ready to repel, in the name of parliament, the 
 charges which might be made by the king. At the sight of 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. iu. 43. = lb. 46. ' lb. 12, &c. * lb. 38. ' lb. 39. 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 this noisy multitude, the king's commissioner was frightened, 
 and wished to be excused from reading the letter himself, 
 alleging the weakness of his voice. Imperatively summoned 
 to discharge his duty, he obeyed, and was even forced to read 
 the answer twice, in two diiFerent halls, that every one might 
 hear it. After the second reading, a few royalists, who had 
 doubtingly stationed themselves near the door, hazarded some 
 cheers, at once drowned by violent murmurs. ' The king's 
 letter was long and bitter, full of recriminations, which gave 
 no indication of a wish for peace. Pym and lord Manchester 
 replied; the shout "wewilllive and die with them," arose 
 ' from the multitude, and all petitions for peace were for a time 
 relinquished.' The attempts of the royal party at reconci- 
 liation had never any better result; but they were constantly 
 renewed, and kept Westminster, as well as the city, in a con- 
 stant state of anxious suspense; no one, as yet, thought of 
 putting an effectual termination to them, by those last ex- 
 cesses of tyranny which give to parties a few days of un- 
 limited power, soon punished by long continued reverses. 
 The parliament, intent upon struggling against this inward 
 evil, could not outwardly display its full energy, nowdirect it 
 freely to other conflicts. 
 
 In the counties it was otherwise; there nothiiig stood in 
 the way of parties, no general and decisive responsibility was 
 attached to their acts; and political necessities and calcula- 
 tions neither regulated nor intimidated their passions. Thus, 
 while in the neighbourhood of London the war between the 
 parliament and the king seemed to languish, elsewhere, be- 
 tween the parliamentarians and royalists, it broke forth spon- 
 taneous and energetic, openly carried on in each locality by 
 the inhabitants on their own account, and almost without, 
 attention to what was passing between Oxford and the me- 
 tropolis. Scarce six months had elapsed, before the country 
 was covered with warlike confederations^ freely entered into, 
 either in the interior of particular counties by men holding 
 the same opinions, or between neighbouring, counties, to sup- 
 port their common cause. As a preliminary step, these 
 confederations requested and received from the king or the 
 parliament, according to their views, commissions for their 
 
 » Eushworth, ii. 3, 110 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 49. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 173 
 
 leaders, and power to levy soldiers, impose taxes, and adopt 
 all such measures as they considered necessary to insure suc- 
 cess. After this, they acted separately, and almost at their 
 own discretion, except the occasionally sending an account to 
 Oxford or London of their situation, their proceedings, and 
 soliciting, on occasion, assistance or advice.' In default of 
 these local leagues, in many cases concurrently with them, 
 some rich and influential individual levied a small body of 
 men and carried on partisan warfare, sometimes in his 
 own immediate neighbourhood, sometimes at a greater dis- 
 tance, according to his courage, his strength, or the necessity 
 of the case.^ In other places, if more pacific feelings pre- 
 vailed for awhile, they were manifested with the same inde- 
 pendence; in Yorkshire and Cheshire, the two parties consi- 
 sidering theinselves nearly equal, and more likely merely to 
 damage each other than for either to obtain the victory, 
 concluded a regulai" treaty of neutrality;' -and nearly at thei 
 same time, at the opposite extremity of England, the counties 
 of Devon and Cornwall solemnly promised each other, by 
 commissioners, to remain at peace, and to let the king and the 
 parliament fight the matter out as they might (Feb. 1643).* 
 But both the parhament and the king strongly censured these 
 conventions,' and even those who had entered into them had 
 presumed too much on their mutual forbearance. They were 
 ere long as fiercely engaged in hostilities as the rest of their 
 countrymen. In the eastern, midland, and "south-eastern 
 counties, the most populous and wealthyj the parliamentarj'- 
 party was strongest; in those of the north, the west, and 
 south-west, the preponderance belonged to the king; in the 
 latter, landed property was less divided, industry less active, 
 the higher nobility more influential, and the roman-catholic 
 religion had more adherents. But in both these portions of 
 
 ' The two principal confederacies were, in the north, the counties of 
 Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, for the. royal 
 cause ; and in the east, the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, 
 Huntingdon, Bedford, Essex, Lincoln, and Hertford for the parliament. 
 There were several others, as in the centre, that of the counties of North- 
 ampton, Warwick, Leicester, Derby, and Stafford for the parliament : in the 
 south east, that of the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, 
 for the king, &c. ; Eushworth, ii. 3, 66, &c. 
 
 ' See Mrs. Hutchinson's Memoirs, and those of Ludlow. 
 » Clarendon, ii. ?06 * lb. 203. » lb. 240. 
 
174 HISTORY OF -THE ' 
 
 the kingdom, particularly in that where the king's interest 
 prevailed, the weakest party was stiU strong enough to keep 
 its enemies in check; and the paxliament had this advantage, 
 that the counties devoted to its cause^ nearljt' all contiguous 
 and compact, formed round London a formidable girdle of 
 defence; while the royalist counties, spreading from the south- 
 west to the north-east, from the Land's-end to the extremity 
 of Durham, in a long and narrow line, broken at intervals by 
 districts holding opposite views, were much less united among 
 themselves, had a difficulty in maintaining correspondence, 
 could rarely act in concert, and only protected the rear of 
 Charles's head-quarters at Oxford, a place entirely royalist, 
 but too far advanced in, almost isolated amidst, the enemy's 
 territory. 
 
 A war of this kind, in the heart of winter; and in which 
 the two principal armies remained nearly inactive, could not 
 bring about prompt or decisive results. Everywhere and 
 every day, there were sudden and brief expeditions, small 
 places by turns taken and lost, surprises, skiranishes, wherein 
 the two parties were alternately winners and loseirs to about 
 the same extent.' The citizens were becoming disciplined 
 and experienced, though they were not as yet regular soldiers. 
 Some leaders began to distinguish themselves by their 
 courage, their talents, or their good fortune, but none were 
 known to the whole nation ; their influence was as local as their 
 exploits. Besides, notwithstanding the ardour of men's pas- 
 sions, the conduct of the parties to each other was upon the 
 whole gentlemanly and forbearing; though the aristocracy 
 was no longer in the ascendant, and the new power of the 
 commons was the true cause of the national movement, it 
 was against the king and his tyranny that the country had 
 risen; the different classes of society were not at war, nor 
 wished to crush each other, either in self-defence or in the 
 assertion of liberty^ On both sides, and in most places, com- 
 mand was in the hands of men of nearly equal condition, 
 formed to the same habits, and capable of understanding and 
 respecting each other, even while they fought. Licentious, 
 thoughtless, and rapacious, still the cavaliers were not fero- 
 cious; and the presbyterians retained, amidst their harsh 
 
 • See Mrs. HutcLinson's M;eB(oirs, and those of Ludlow, and May's Hist. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 175 
 
 fanaticism, a respect for the laws, and for hiunanity, of 
 ■which the history of civil discord presents few examples. 
 Eelations, neighbours, friends, engaged under different 
 standards, did not entirely break off all connexion, and lent 
 each other assistance in case of need; though they met op- 
 posed in arms, they observed mutual courtesy, as men who 
 had recently lived together in peace, and who were not sepa- 
 rated for ever.' Prisoners were usually dismissed, upon the 
 simple promise not to serve again: if it happened that they 
 were suffered to depart without their necessities having been 
 properly cared for, even if the. king had seen them file off 
 before him with an air of cold indifference, it was regarded 
 as a serious offence;^ and the cruel brutality of prince Eupert 
 caused so much surprise and created so much indignation, 
 that even the multitude spoke of him with aversion and dis- 
 gust, as of a rude, imcivilized foreigner. Thus the war, 
 though everywhere in fuU operation, remained free from 
 that furious rage which hastens it to a close; both parties, 
 openly and earnestly engaging in it, seemed afraid of striking 
 each other too hard; and there was fighting every day in 
 every part of the kingdom, without the course of events 
 becoming more rapid, the parliament or the king ceasing 
 to lose their time in trivial debates and vain conferences. 
 
 Towards the middle of February, however, the queen's 
 return gave an impulse to affairs. During the year and 
 ^ipwards she had been in Holland, she had evinced, in the 
 negotiations of aid, very uncommon address and activity. 
 The aristocratic party was then uppermost in the States; the 
 stadtholder, her son-in law, seconded her with all his power. 
 Confident and adventurous when no pressing danger disturbed 
 her mind, eminently gracious and insinuating in her manner 
 towards those of whom she stood in need, she found means 
 to interest in her cause this reserved and republican people. 
 In vain did the parliament send over ( September) to the 
 Hague, Mr. Walter Strickland, as ambassador, to remind 
 the States of the services which the English people had for- 
 merly rendered to the liberties of the United Provinces, and 
 to require, Ut least, a strict neutrality. Strickland, after waiting 
 
 ^ Hutcliinson's Memoirs ; Ludlow's Memoirs. 
 Lilly, Observ. on the Life of King Charles. Whitelooke, 60. 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 a loBg time for an audience, obtained, with great difBculty, 
 some equivocal declarations; the people openly manifested their 
 ill ■^'ill towards him, and the queen continued, without inter- 
 ruption, the preparations for her departure.' Four vessels 
 laden with arms, ammunition, oiRcers, and soldiers, accom- 
 panied her, and admii'al Batten, whom parliament had ordered 
 to-intercept thft convoy, did not overtake them till they were 
 disembarking at Burlington (Feb. 22, 1643). Batten can- 
 nonaded the place; the queen was lodged on the quay; the 
 balls fell upon her house, and even into the room where she 
 was sleeping; she hastily got up, and fled into the country, 
 where she passed some hours hid, it is said, under a bank.^, 
 Soon the whole country was full of reports about her courage 
 and her perils. Lord Newcastle came with a body of troops 
 to escort her to York; the gentry surrounded her with 
 transj)ort, full of indignation against the traitor Batten, who 
 had, they insisted, designedly pointed his cannon at the house 
 in whicli she lodged; a host of catholics hastened to serve 
 under her banner. In vain was this infraction of the laws 
 of the kingdom warmly denounced to the king and to the 
 parliament; in vain, with the hope of degrading or intimi- 
 dating lord Newcastle, the name the army of the papists and 
 of the queeri? was given to his Eti'my. Haying long since: 
 received formal a,uthority from the king,* he contemptu-i 
 ously spurned aU these complaints, and retained his new 
 soldiers. He soon found himself at the head of a consider- 
 able force. The queen continued to reside at York, less 
 anxious to rejoin her husband, than delighted to command 
 alone, and to preside without restraint over all the projects 
 with which her court was already in full agitation. Hamil- 
 ton and Moijtrose came from Scotland to consult with her on, 
 the means of engaging that kingdom in the king's cause; 
 Hamilton, always conciliatory and cautious, maintained that 
 it was possible, notwithstanding the decidedly hostile influ- 
 ence of the marquis of Argyle, to gain over the Scottish parlia- 
 ment. Montrose, presumptuous and daring, urged that under 
 the command of the earl of Antrim, a powerful nobleman of 
 the north of Ireland, who had also 6ome to York to offer his 
 
 ' Bushwoi'tli, ii. 3, 157; Harris, Life of CroniweU, 3.50. 
 
 * Clai-endon, il. 3] 3 ; Mcmoiis de Mad. de Motteville. i. 373. 
 
 * Clarendon, ut sup. * See Appendix, Tii. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. ijf 
 
 sorvices, a body of Irish, should land on the coast of Scotland, 
 and, joining the highlanders who were to be raised, massacre 
 the presbyterian chiefs; and he offered himself to carry out 
 as weU as arrange the project.' The queen lent an ear to 
 every suggestion, secretly favouring the most violent, but care- 
 ful to propitiate all who came to render homage to her power. 
 She at the same time, and with great success, entered into secret 
 negotiations with some of the parliamentary leaders, already 
 disgusted with their party, or influenced by her proximity; sir 
 Hugh Cholmondley, governor of Scarborough, who a month 
 before had defeated a body of royalists, promised (end of 
 March) to deliver that town into her hands; even sir John 
 Hotham did not seem indisposed to open to her the gates of . 
 Hull, which before the breaking out of the war he had so 
 rudely shut against the king. In short, throughout the north, 
 the royalists were f&U of ardour and hope; the parliamenta- 
 rians, anxious and silent, wrote letter upon letter to London 
 to demand advice and assistance. 
 
 The parliament itself felt troubled; at the commencement 
 of the war, it had flattered itself with the expectation of 
 speedy success; the increase of taxes excited murmurs;^ there 
 were rumours of conspiracies in the city; notwithstanding the 
 absence of many members friendly to peace, every time peace 
 was spoken of, it found, even in the commons, numerous advo- 
 cates. Negotiations were not quite broken off; it was proposed 
 to renew them, and as a proof of good faith to disband the 
 armies on both sides, as sqon as a treaty .should be com- 
 menced. Sir Benjamin Rudyard supported, the motion: "I 
 have long and thoughtfully expected," said he, " that the cup 
 of trembUng which hath gone round about us to other nations, 
 would at length come in amongst us; it is now come at last, 
 and we may drink the dregs of it, the worst; which God.' 
 avert! There is yet some comfort left, that our miseries 
 are not likely to last long; for we cannot fight here as they 
 do in Germany, in that great, large, vast continent, where, 
 although there be war in some parts of it, yet there are many 
 other remote quiet places for trade and tUlage to support 
 
 ' Eushwoith, ii. 3, 353 ; Baillie's Letters, i. 30i. 
 2 Pari. Hist. iii. 77 ; the new taxes imposed on the ftty of Loudon 
 amounted to 10,000i. a week, those on the -whole kingdom to 33,018/. » 
 week ; Clarendon, ii. 255. 
 
 N 
 
If 8 HISTOEy OF THE 
 
 inr. We must figM as in a cockpit, we are surrounded with" 
 the sea; we have no stronger holds than our own skulls dnd 
 our own riba to keep out.enemies-; so that the whole kingdom 
 will suddenly be but one flame. It hath been said in this house,, 
 that we are bouijd in conscience to punish the shedding of' 
 innocent blood; but, sir, who shall be answerable for all the 
 innocent blood which shall be spilt hereafter, if we do not 
 endeavour a peace by a, speedy treaty? Certainly God iff as 
 much to be trusted in a treaty as in, war; it is he that, gives 
 wisdom to treat as well as courage to fight, and success to 
 both, as it pleaseth him. Blood is a crying sin, it pollutes a. * 
 land. Why should we defile this land, any longer?"' The 
 motion was rejected (Feb. 17),^' but only by a majority o '■ 
 three, and the words of Eudyard were in the mouths of many' 
 well-disposed persons. The leaders of the commons secretly- 
 shuddered at seeijig themselves driven to solicit a peace, im- 
 possible except on conditions which vp-ouid render it fatal tO' 
 them. Yet they gave way; for; few, even among their friends, 
 were so passionately ardent in the matter as not to desire to 
 avoid such evils, if possible; and on the 20th of March, after- 
 some preliminary negotiations, five commissioners? departed 
 for Oxford, charged to discuss for twenty days, first, a stis-; 
 pension of arms, and then a treaty. ■ > 
 
 They were well received by the king; their intercourse with 
 the court was dignified and imposing; the earl of Northum- 
 berland, president of the committee, displayed great mag- 
 nificence: he had brought with him all his household, hiis- 
 plate, his wine; provisions were regularly sent him from 
 London: the royalists visited and dined with him: the king- 
 even deigned to accept from him a fevf presents for his own' 
 table.* Among the earl's coadjutors, plain members of the 
 cbrnmomsj. there wei-e- several who took infinite pleasure in 
 appearing at Oxford with so much parade. But when the- 
 negotiating began, these brilliant demonstrations were without 
 efiect; neither the parliament nor the king could accept each: 
 
 , , I Pari. Hist. iii. 80. , 
 
 ' There -were two divisions in the -house ; in the first the motion was 
 only carried by 70 to 73; in the second,^ by 80 to 83; Pai-1 Hist 
 iii. 79. •> 
 
 " The ead of Northumberland, sir John Hollmid, sir 'Williami Armvn,, 
 William Pierpoint, ojid Bulstrode Whitelooke. Whitelooko, 66. •' lb. C8-. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOI/UTION. 179 
 
 other's conditions, for they were the same as those wMch 
 had been so haughtily rejected before the war commenced, 
 and would have surrendered one or the other party without 
 defence to its adversaries. One evening the parliamentary 
 commissioners flattered themselves they had at last obtained 
 from the king, probably on the subject of the militia, a con- 
 cession of some importance; after a long conference, he had 
 appeared to yield, and was to give them a written answer the 
 next morning. To their great surprise, it was quite dif- 
 ferent from what had been agreed upon; and they learned that 
 before the king went' to bed, the gentlemen of the bed- 
 chamber, the confidants of the queen, had, in the absence of 
 his ministers, induced him to change his resolution.' "If, at 
 least, the king," said Mi-. Pierpoint, one of the commissioners, 
 to the council, " would only treat with, favour some of, the 
 loi'ds attached to parliament, their influence might serve 
 him." But Charles, rancorous and haughty with reference 
 to his courtiers as well as to his people, would scarcely even 
 listen to a suggestion put forward one day of restoring to 
 the earl of Northumberland the oifice of lord high admiral; 
 intrigues of personal interest were as futile as their suc- 
 cess would have been.^ The king, as well as the leaders of 
 the commons, had no wish for peace; he had promised the 
 queen that he would never agree to it without her consent; 
 and she wrote to him from York to dissuade him from it, 
 already displeased that negotiations should have been opened 
 in her absence, and declaring to her husband that she would 
 leave England if she did not officially obtain a guard for her 
 safety.^ A petition from the officers in garrison at Oxford, 
 secretly set on foot by the king himself,* urgently opposed 
 the suspension of arms. Li vain did some of the paxhamen- 
 tary commissioners, in private conversations, endeavour to 
 excite his fears as to the future; in vain did other commis- 
 gionjers, ^ho had come from Scotland to solicit the calling of 
 a parliament in that kingdom, propose ■ their mediation.'' 
 He rejected it as an aflTront, forbade them to meddle with the 
 affairs of England, and at last made the commissioners, as his 
 final answer, the offer to return to the parliament, if it would 
 removfe its place of meeting to some place at least twenty 
 
 ' V/liiteIocl!e, C8. = Claj-cndon. Memoirs, i. 18i. 
 
 s Ibid. -1 Ibid. ' Cliu-endon, ii. V,2i, &p. 
 
 K 2 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 miles from London. Upon the receipt of this message, par- 
 liament immediately recalled its commissioners, and by so 
 urgent an order that they felt themselves compelled to set off 
 the same day (April 15), though it was late and their travels 
 ling carriages were not ready.' 
 
 Their proceedings at Oxford, particularly their intercourse 
 with the king and the court, had inspired the partisans of 
 war with much distrust. Lord Northumberland, on his 
 arrival, heard that one of his letters to his wife had been 
 opened by Henry Martyn, a member of the committee of 
 safety, a man noted only as having fled from Reading at thes 
 mere approach of the royal troops, and for the violence of his 
 language. No nobleman was more tenacious of his dignity 
 than the earl, nor more accustomed to deference on the part 
 of his fellow-citizens. Meeting with Martyn at Westminster, 
 he demanded an explanation of the outrage he had com^ 
 mitted; and, as Martyn in a sneering tone maintained that 
 he had done right, the earl struck him with his cane in the 
 presence of several spectators. When brought before parlia- 
 ment, the quarrel was received by the commons with some 
 perplexity, by the lords with haughty contempt, and almost 
 immediately hushed up.^ Matters were in that condition 
 wherein every incident reveals and foments dissensions which 
 every one would yet fain conceal. Spring was coming on; 
 whether peace was desired or feared, it was essential to think 
 of war. The same day that the commissioners returned to 
 London, Essex again took the field.^ It was still Hampden's 
 opinion that he should march at once upon Oxford, and 
 besiege and reduce the king.* At Oxford itself alarm pre-, 
 vailed, and they talked of going to join the queen and lord 
 Newcastle in the north. But Essex, either stUl distrusting 
 his strength, or already uneasy at his success, again rejected 
 this daring counsel, and still encamped between Oxford and 
 London, contented himself with laying siege to Reading, a 
 place he deemed indispensable to the safety of parliament. 
 
 Reading submitted in ten days (April 27); Hampden then 
 
 ' WMtelocke, 69 ; Eushwortli, ii. 3. 364; Clarendon, ii. 335 
 2 Porl. Hist. iii. 109; Clarendon, ii. 336, 364. 
 ' April 15, according to Eushworth ; April 17, according to May. 
 < Clarendon, ii. 39&, ' 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 181 
 
 once more proposed the siege of Oxford: Essex persisted in 
 his refusal.' Nothing was further from him than treacliery 
 or fear; but he made war with regret, and, to counteract his 
 melancholy anticipations, he had no longer the pleasures 
 of popularity. Even before the recommencement of the 
 campaign, some anger had been expressed against him in 
 the commons, particularly in the committee of safety, the 
 very focus of the party. The more violent had gone so far 
 as to ask whether, then, it was impossible to supersede him, 
 and the name of Hampden, it is said, had been mentioned.^ 
 Hampden was too wise to entertain even the idea of a power 
 for which he felt no desire; whether capable or not of com- 
 manding, he only served under Essex as a colonel. But since 
 the beginning of the war, during the winter more especially, 
 others had acquired a more independent and extended glory. 
 In the north, Fairfax and his father, notwithstanding the 
 superiority of lord Newcastle, daily and in every direction 
 disputed with him, in the most daring manner, the dominion 
 of that part of the country.^ At the head of the confedera- 
 tion of the eastern counties,'' lord Manchester, it is true, had 
 no opportunity of encountering any royalist leader of emi- 
 nence, but he had oftSn given valuable assistance to the 
 parliamentarians of the northern and midland counties; well- 
 organized bodies of militia were ready to follow him; and his 
 franlvness, his liberality, and his gentleness endeared him to 
 the population there. In the same counties, colonel Cromwell, 
 already famous for various dashing exploits, as skilfully plan- 
 ned as ably executed, exercised over the minds of many men 
 of bold spirit, enthusiastic piety, and of a condition at once 
 wealthy and obscure, an influence which already gave proof of 
 great genius and great power. Finally, in the south and west, 
 the dispersion of several bands of royalists and the taking of 
 seven places in three months,^ had gained sir William "Waller 
 the appellation of " William the Conqueror."^ The parliament 
 
 ' Clai'endon ut sup. ' Wood, Athenre Oxoniensis, article "Hampden." 
 ' Fairfax, Mem. (1699) 13, et seq. 
 * Lord Kimbi^ton, known also under the name of lord Mandeville, and 
 who had borne the title of lord Manchester since the death of his father, 
 which took place on the 9th of November, 1642. 
 
 ' Chichester, Winchester, Malmsbury, Hereford, Tewksbury, Chepstow, 
 and Monmouth. ° Clarendon, ii. 417. 
 
182 HISTORY or THE 
 
 then, it was said, was at no loss for either generals or armies,- 
 and if lord Essex refused to conquer, he must make way for 
 Some one else. 
 
 No specific proposition, no public suggestion even, fo^ 
 lowed these bitter speeches. Essex was not merely an officer 
 in the service of a discontented party; to him were attached 
 the lords who were engaged in the war, the moderate men 
 who wished for peace, and the clearer-sighted presbyterians," 
 a:lready uneasy at the proceedings of the more daring sec-i 
 taries. Hampden himself, and the leaders of the political 
 party, though they urged the earl to act with greater vigour, 
 had ho design of separating froin him. Discord then did not 
 openly break out, but, concealed, it was already in active 
 operation, and Essex very soon felt its effects. Those who 
 were fain to show him outward respect, secretly did all in 
 their power to impede him; and his defenders, thinking they 
 did quite enough in speaking for liim, took very little pains to 
 give him practical assistance. Before the end of a months 
 he had to complain of the bad condition of his army; pay, 
 provisions, clothing, all were wanting; suffering and sick- 
 ness deciinated his men, lately so carefully provided for by the 
 city. He made his wants known to the different committees 
 whose business it was to supply them; but his adversaries, 
 more active and indefatigable than his friends, had far 
 greater influence in these quarters; it was, in fact, to liis ene- 
 riiies, in consequence of their ttucesising activity, that most of 
 the executive measures had been entrusted; the subordinate 
 agents were almost aU of their selection. All the general's 
 appeals werevnthout effect.' Though the second campaign had 
 opened, no decided change was perceptible; and already the 
 party which had divested the king of power felt that power 
 slipping from its grasp; already another party, though as yet 
 obliged to relnain silent, were strong enough to reduce the 
 great awiiy of the parliament to inefficiency, and earnest 
 enough in its purpose to risk everything by giving the pre- 
 Beht advantage to the common enemy. ' i 
 
 . Already, too, and under the influence of the same feelings, 
 another army was silently forming. In those skirmishes 
 which, notwithstanding the negotiations and delays between' 
 
 ■ ' May, iii. 101 ; Holies, Mem. 9. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUXION. 1S3 
 
 •Oxford and London, were every day taking place, the par- 
 liamentarians, since the Brentford affair, had experienced 
 frequent defeats. The royal cavalry, more especially, struck 
 terror into the parliamentary horse, and the cavalry was still, 
 -as in the feudal times, the most honoured and efficient force. 
 Hampden and Cromwell were talking one day of this infe- 
 TJority of their party: " How can it he otherwise ?" asked 
 •Cromwell; "your horse are for the most part superan- 
 nuated domestics, tapsters, and people of that sort; theirs are 
 ' the spns of gentlemen, men of quality. Do you think such 
 poor vagabonds as your fellows, have soul enough to stand 
 against gentlemen full of resolution and honour? Take not 
 my words ill: I know you will not; you must have fell6ws 
 animated by a spirit that wiU take them as far as the king's 
 ^gentlemen, or you'll always be beaten." "You are right," 
 said Hampden, " but this cannot be." " I can do something 
 towards at," said Cromwell, "and I will: I will raise men 
 who will have the fear of God before their eyes, and who 
 yviR hring some conscience to what they do; and I promise 
 you they shall not be beaten."' He accordingly went through 
 the eastern counties, recruiting young men, the greater part 
 known to him, and he to them; all freeholders or the sons of 
 freeholders, to whom pay was not an object, nor mere idle- 
 ness a pleasure; all fierce, hardy fanatics, engaging in the 
 war for conscience' sake, and under Cromwell from confidence 
 in him. " I will not deceive you," said he, " nor make you 
 believe, as my commission has it, that you are going to fight 
 for the king and parliament: if the king were before me I 
 would as soon shoot him as another; if your conscience will 
 not aUow you tOido as much, go and serve elsewhere."^ The 
 majority cQd not hesitate a moment, and they were no sooner 
 ■enlisted, than all the comforts of domestic, and all the licence 
 ■ jf military life, were alike interdicted them; subjected to the 
 most severe discipline, compelled to keep their horses and arms 
 in perfect order, often sleeping in the open air, passing almost 
 without relaxation from the duties of military service to 
 
 > This conversation is related in a pamphlet of the time, entitled "Mo- 
 sarcliy asserted to be the best form of government, in a conference at ^Vhite- 
 inll between Oliver and a committee of parliament." London, 1000, 8vo. ^ 
 
 ' Mem. of the JProtectoral House, &c., byMai-k Noble, (1787,)i. 271. 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 exercises of piety, their leader insisted upon their devoting 
 themselves to their new calling as earnestly as to their 
 cause, and that -the free enifergy of fanaticism should in them be 
 combined with the disciplined firmness of the soldier.^ When 
 the campaign opened, fourteen squadrons of such volunteers, 
 forming a body of about a thousand hors^ marched under the 
 orders of Cromwell.^ 
 
 A month passed almost without any incident: The taking 
 of Heading, so little thought of in London, had excited the 
 greatest alarm at Oxford, and the king, instead of acting, 
 was deliberating whether he should not take to flight; The 
 parliament, embarrassed with its internal dissensions, was 
 more occupied with these than about its enemies. Now, it 
 sought to satisfy at once all its adherents, violent and mode- 
 rate, politicians and devotees; now, decisive resolutions, ob- 
 tained with great difficulty hf one party, remained without 
 eifoct, and as if abandoned by conunon consent. The pres- 
 byterians had long demanded, and had been promised an 
 assembly of divines to reform, at length, the church: it was 
 convoked;^ but parliament itself named one hundred and 
 twenty-one of the members; associated with them thirty lay- 
 men, ten lords, and twenty members of the commons, with the 
 honours of precedence; ecclesiastics of all sorts of opinions 
 ■were summoned; and, without authority or independence, the 
 assembly had merely to give its advice on the questions which 
 the houses of parliament, or one Of them, thought fit to proposed* 
 A charge of high treason was brought against the queen, and 
 no one raised his voice against it; but after Pym had carried 
 it to the upper house (May 23), it was no more heard of.-'' 
 The absence of the great seal daily impeded the administra- 
 tion of justice and other public and private business. To 
 put an end to this inconvenience, and moreover, to assume to 
 themselves the legal attributes of sovereignty, the commons 
 ordered a new great seal to be prepared (middle of May); but 
 the lords refused their assent to this proceeding, more afraid. 
 
 > WMtelocke, p. 68 ; Merciirifis Pragmaticus, of the 80th of May, 1618 ; 
 Bates. " Elenchus motuum nuperonim," part 2, p. 220. 
 
 2 May, ii. 80. 
 
 ' By a resolution of parliament of the 12th of June, IGiS; they began to 
 sit on the 1st of July following, 
 
 » Neal, iii. 43. = Eushworth, ii. 3, 331 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 185 
 
 of usurping the emblems of sovereign power than of exer- 
 cising it without this sanction; and many of the commons 
 thought it prudent to add their entreaties.' Sometimes the 
 various parties, voting together with different views, com- 
 bined in a deceptive and barren unanimity; more frequently, 
 of nearly equal strength, they reduced each other to incapa- 
 city, and seemed to wait till some external circumstance 
 should force them to unite or separate for ever. 
 
 On the 31st of May, a fast day, in the church of St. Mar- 
 garet's, Westminster, both houses were listening to a sermon: 
 .1 note was delivered to Pym, who rose immediately, and after 
 a very animated but whispered conversation with those 
 around liim, waiting not for the end of the service, hastily 
 w^nt out with his principal colleagues, leaving the congrega- 
 tion in a state of excitement commensurate with their igno- 
 rance and their curiosity.^ 
 
 Tlie sermon over, the houses met, and the public learned 
 that a wide-spread conspiracy had just been discovered; 
 several lords, it was said, several members of the commons, 
 and a great number of citizens were concerned in it. They 
 had designed to arm the royalists, to seize upon the Tower, 
 the arsenals, and the principal military posts, to arrest the 
 leaders of both houses, and finally, to introduce the king's 
 troops into London. That very day. May 31st, had been 
 named for the execution of the plot. The whole matter, 
 however, it was added, would soon be cleared up, for a com- 
 mittee of inquii-y had been appointed, and abeady several 
 persons were mentioned as having been arrested by their 
 command.^ 
 
 And, in point of fact, in the course of that night and the 
 next day, Edmund Waller, a member of the commons, and a 
 poet of celebrity, Mr. Tomkins, his brother-in-law, formerly 
 attached to the queen's household, Mr. Challoner, a rich 
 citizen, and several others were arrested and examined. AU 
 of them acknowledged, with more or less of detail, the ex- 
 istence of a plot, the extent and purport of which, however, 
 were very differently apprehended by the various conspira- 
 tors. Some had only contemplated the refusing to pay taxes, 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 115; May, iii, ' ciiLrenSon, ii. 378. 
 
 ' lb.; State Tiials, iv. 627. 
 
18.6 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 in order to necessitate peace; others wanted to present to 
 both houses, simultaneously and in great numbers, pacific 
 petitions; others had only been present at some meetings, or 
 "assisted in di-awing up certain lists wherein were set forth the 
 names of all the ascertained citizens, distributingthem into three 
 classeS) the ' well-meaning, the moderate, and the enemie.'!.' 
 But amidst these various notions and motives, the plot, Jong 
 since formed, had daily gained ground. It was now called to 
 mind, that more than three months before, ii one of those 
 negotiations so often resumed and broken off, Waller had 
 been one of the commissioners sent to Oxford, and that on 
 the day of their presentation, he being the last introduced, the 
 king had i-eceived him with particular condescension, saying: 
 "Mr. Waller, though the last, you are not the worst, nor 
 -the least in my favour.^ From that time a constant corres- 
 pondence had been kept up with Oxford, in which certsiin 
 royalist merchants, who had quitted London, to escape the 
 persecution of the commons, were the principal agents;^ one 
 of these, named Hall, lived secretly at Beaconsfield, entrusted 
 with the transmission of messages; lady Aubigny, to whom 
 the parliament had given permission to go to Oxford for her 
 private affairs, had brought back in a little box, a commission 
 from the king, authorizing some of the conspirators to levy 
 men and money in his name ; finally, some days back, a 
 message had been conveyed to Hall, " that the great vessel 
 was come into port," meaning that everything was ready; 
 and he had forwarded this intimation to lord Falkland, who 
 had answered: " Let them make haste, then, for the war every 
 day becomes more difficult to put a stop to."^ 
 
 Here was much more than party-justice needs in the, way 
 of proofs; and parliament might, if it had chosen, have be- 
 lieved more. Seized with a basely passionate desire to save 
 his own life, Waller determined to do so at whatever price. 
 I-Ie put everything in motion; money, confessions, accusations, , 
 addressing the most obscure, as well as the most powerful 
 protectors, supplicating all the fanatics of any influence to 
 come and hear the humble profession of his repentance; as. 
 ready to exaggerate the extent of the plot, as he had perhapSt 
 
 ' WMteloeke, 07. ' Sir Nicliola.s Cnsj), sirGeovge £euyau,.&e. 
 = Srate Trials, iv. OJB; Clai-cnilou, ii. 376. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 187 
 
 been to exaggerate at Oxford, the number and influence of the 
 
 conspirators. Lord Portland and lord Conway had received 
 
 some secret instructions from him; he denounced themj the 
 
 earl of Northumberland and many others were compromised 
 
 by his answers.' Though few among the parties implicated 
 
 had done anything criminal in point of law, many had known 
 
 and approved of what was going on. But parliament, with 
 
 courageous wisdom, v^ould not take advantage either of, the 
 
 imprudence of its enemies or the baseness of its accompHce, 
 
 deeming that justice would suffice for its safety. Only seven 
 
 persons were brought before a court martial; and of five 
 
 who were condemned, but two, ' Challoner and Tonjkins, 
 
 underwent their sentence. They died ,hke brave men 
 
 (July 5), but without thinking themselves or affecting to be 
 
 martyrs; even manifesting, with touching sincerity, $ome 
 
 doubt as to the goodness of their cause: "I prayed God," 
 
 said Challoner, as he ascended the scaffold^ "that if this 
 
 design might not be honourable to him, it might be kno-vyn. 
 
 God heai-d me." Tomkins said, " I am glad the plot has 
 
 been discovered, for it might have occasioned very iU conse^ 
 
 quences." ^ As for Waller, who had likewise been condemned, 
 
 his life was granted as the reoompence of his confessions^ 
 
 by the influence of some of his relations, among others, of 
 
 his cousin Cromwell; perhaps, too, through that lingering 
 
 respect which is still paid to genius, even when it only 
 
 serves to render baseness more conspicuous.' 
 
 For some days, the leaders of the commons flattered them- 
 selves that the discovery and punishment of this conspiracy 
 would throw consternation into Oxford, intimidate the 
 royahsts in London, suspend the dissensions of the parlia- 
 ment, relieve, in a word, their party from the embarrass- 
 ments in which its energy was fruitlessly wasting itself. But 
 these hopes were soon dissipated; scarcely had the thanks- 
 givings ceased to re-echo through the nietropohtan churches, 
 scarcely had it taken the new oath of union, decreed in the 
 moment of peril, before parliament found itself a, sufferer 
 from greater reverses without, and more violent disputes 
 within. 
 
 The king had lieard, without much concern, of the failure 
 
 ' May, iii. if); Clarendon, ii. 379. = State Trials, iv. C3i. 
 
 2 Ibid. C;}.5; May, tit sup. ' 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of the qity plot, for nearly at the same time, he reoeivad in- 
 telligence that in the south, west, and north, his generals had 
 obtained distinguished success; and he preferred a triumph ob- 
 tained by the cavaliers and war, to one achieved by underhand 
 dealings with citizens who had so lately opposed his councils. 
 On the 19th of June, an unexpected event seemed to recal his 
 thoughts to London and the parliament. A report spread 
 that the day before, some leagues from Oxford, on Ghalgrave 
 Common, in a skirmish of cavalry wherein prince Rupert 
 had surprised and beaten the parliamentarians, Hampden had 
 been wounded: " I saw him," said a prisoner, " quit the field 
 before the action was finished, contrary to his custom; his 
 head was hanging down, his hands leaning on his horse's necfc; 
 he is certainly wounded." The news caused a great sensation 
 in Oxford, though rather of curiosity than of joy; they could 
 scarcely believe that such a man should be on the point of 
 falling under so unexpected a blow; they hesitated to re- 
 joice. The king himself, on hearing the news, only thought 
 of embracing so good an opportunity of conciliating, if pos- 
 sible, this powerful adversary, who had done him so much 
 harm, but who was thought capable of repairing everything. 
 Doctor Giles, a country neighbour of Hampden's, and who 
 had kept up a familiar correspondence with him, was then 
 at Oxford; the king told him to send to Hampden, as il 
 from himself, to see how he was, for that if he had no sur- 
 geon he would send him one of his own. The doctor hesi- 
 tated; " for," said he, " I have seemed unlucky to him 
 in several conjunctures of time, when I made addresses to 
 him in my own behalf. Once when my goods were stopped 
 and robbed, and I addressed him for relief, my messenger came 
 in Ms house that very instant in which the news of his eldest 
 son's death came to him; and some good time after, falling 
 into a like calamity, I sent to him again; but my messenger 
 met there with another that brought him the news of his 
 beloved daughter Mrs. Knightley's death; so I seemed to 
 screech-owl him."' The doctor, however, undertook the 
 king's commission. But when his messenger arrived on the 
 24th of June^ he found Hampden almost lifeless ; he had had 
 his shoulder fractured by two balls, and for six days had suf- 
 
 » 'Warwiokls Memoirs, (1702,) 341. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLDTION. 189 
 
 fered the most exquisite tortures. He was, however, told who 
 it -was had sent to inquire for him, and with what intention. 
 A powerful agitation was seen to pervade his whole frame, 
 he appeared about to speak, but could not, and died a few 
 moments after. As soon as his death was clearly ascertained. 
 Charles was- infinitely more gratified than he would have 
 been at finding his antagonist aUve, and inclined to negotiate; 
 and Hampden was no longer mentioned at the court at 
 Oxford, except to recal his offences, or to remark triumph- 
 iintly that he had been killed in the same county, near the 
 very place, where he had been the first to put in execution 
 the order of parliament concerning the militia, and to levy 
 men against the king.' 
 
 In London, on the contrary, and throughout almost the 
 whole country, there was manifested profound grief. Never 
 had a man inspired a whole nation with so much confidence'; 
 whoever belonged to the national party, no matter in what 
 rank or from what motives, looked to Hampden for the 
 success of his views; the more moderate had faith in his 
 wisdom; the more violent, in, his devoted patriotism; the 
 more honest, in his uprightness; the more intriguing, in his 
 talents. Prudent and reserved, while ever ready to brav« 
 danger, he had been the cause of no failure, stiE possessed 
 the affections of all, and, by his unexpected loss, gave a shock 
 to the hopes of all. Happy and but too rare fortune,*- which 
 thus fixed his name for ever on that height, whither the 
 love and fuH confidence of his contemporaries had carried 
 it, and perhaps saved his virtue, like his glory, from the 
 rocks on which revolutions drive and wreck the noialest of 
 their favourites! 
 
 His death seemed a signal for the disasters which now 
 *or more than two months, successively and without inter- 
 •uption, assailed the parliament, aggravating from day to 
 lay the evil as yet hidden, of which they were the result. 
 The enemies of Essex, in leaving his army deficient of ever-y- 
 ,hing, had relied, but mistakenly, on the success of his rivals. 
 While the general-in-chief and the council of war who ac- 
 companied him were sending messenger after messenger to 
 demand money, clothes, ammunition, and arms,^ the news 
 
 1 Clarendon, ii. 396. = Pail. Hist. iii. Mi. 
 
190 HISTOET OF THK 
 
 came that at Atherton-moor, in th^ north, Fairfax had been 
 defeated (June 30),^ that sir John Hotham was on the point 
 of surrendering Hull to the queen, that lord Willoughby 
 eould no longer defend Lincolnshire against lord Newcastle; 
 and that thus the confederation of the eastern counties, that 
 bulwark of parliament, was about to be thrown open to the 
 enemy. It was still worse in the south-west; in one week 
 sir William Waller had lost two battles s^ the peasants of 
 Cornwall, those descendants of the ancient Britons, were dis- 
 persing, in every encounter, the parliamentary recruits; they 
 had been seen at Lansdown, after having modestly begged 
 permission, to run in upon and take a battery previously con- 
 sidered altogether inaccessible; and a fortnight after,, under 
 the walls of Bristol, they mounted to the attapk with the 
 same intrepidity.^ In Cornwall^ landed property had not, as 
 elsewhere, constantly changed hands; the same families of 
 gentry had lived there for centuries, surrounded by the same 
 families of farmers and labourers ; and the people, of a pious and 
 artless disposition, strangers to the new ideas and views, obe- 
 dient without fear or servility to the influence of the nobility, 
 felt for their superiors and their old customs the same en- 
 thusiasm that the most zealous parliamentarians had for their 
 opinions and their rights."* Besides, there and in the adjacent 
 counties were some of the king's most judicious friends-^th(s 
 marquis of Hertfor.d, brother-in-law to Essex, who had for a 
 long time lived retired on his estate, disgusted with the 
 
 > Fairfax, Mem. 36. 
 ^ That of Lansdowu, Somersetshire, July 8, and that of Eoundwny-down, 
 Wiltshire, July 13. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 437, &c. 
 * Sir Edw. Walker's Discom'ses, 50, The services of the men of Corn- 
 T^all were highly estimated hy Charles. In the church of Stratton, aud 
 several others in that county, are still preserved copies of a letter of thanks 
 addressed by the unhappy monarch to these faithful subjects. It runs 
 thus: ■ ■ ■ ' 
 
 "C. E. 
 
 "To the inhabitants of the county of Cornwall. 
 " We are so highly sensible of the merit of our county of Cornwall, of 
 their zeal for the defence of our person, aud the jjist rights of our crown, 
 in a time when we coiild contribute so little to oilr own defence, or to their 
 assistance; in a time when not only no rewai'd appeared, but gi'eat and pro- 
 bable dangers were threatened to obedience and loyalty; of their gi-eat and 
 eminent courage and patience in their iudcfatigable prosecution of their gi'eat 
 work against so potent an enemy, bucked with so sii'org, rich, ani} populous 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 191 
 
 court: sir Bevil Greenville, the most poptilar of the Cornisb 
 gentlemen, all of whom were popular; sir Ralph Hopton, a 
 worthy man and excellent officer, who sought no favours 
 from Oxford, severely repressed piUage, everywhere pro- 
 tected the people, and while fulfilhng what he deemed the 
 duty of a faithful subject, did it with all the humanity of a 
 good citizen. The merit of these generals, the bravery of 
 their soldiers, reflected, by contrast,' utter discredit upon 
 Waller and his army, and inspired them with fear; there was 
 no sort of discipline among the parliamentary troops; they 
 deserted in whole companies; even the commissioners sent 
 by parliament to excite the zeal of the people, were seized 
 with the same terror, and communicated it to those around 
 them. The magistrates of Dorchester were one day showing 
 the fortifications of their town to Mr. Strode, and asked him 
 what be thought of them: "All that," said he, "wiU not 
 stop the cavaliers one Half hour; 'tis mere sport with them 
 to scale ramparts twenty feet high."' Dorchester surren- 
 dered at the first summons (August); Weymouth, Portland,. 
 Barnstaple, Bideford, followed its example (end of August); 
 Taunton, Bridgewater, Bath, had already done the same (end 
 of July) ; Bristol, the second city in the kingdom, yielded 
 to the first attack (July 25),^ through the cowardice of its 
 governor, Nathaniel Fiennes, one of the leaders of the most 
 violent fa(3tion. Every day brought to London the news 
 of some loss; at Oxford, on the contrary, strength increased 
 
 cities, and so plentifully fumislied and supplied witli men, arms, money,, 
 ammunition, and provision of all kinds ; and of the wonderful success witli 
 wMch it pleased Almighty God (though with the loss of some most eminent 
 persons, -who shall never be forgotten by us) to rewaid' their loyalty and 
 patience by many strange victories over their and our tuemies, in despite 
 of all human probability, and all imnginable disadvantages; that as we can- 
 not be forgetful of so gi'eat desert, so we cannot but desire to publish it to 
 all the world, and perpetuate to all time the memory of their merits, and of 
 .our acceptance of the same ; and^to that end, we do hereby render our royal 
 thanks to that our county in the most public and lasting manner we can 
 Revise, commanding copies hereof to be printed and published, and one of 
 them to be read in every church and chapel therein, and to be kept for ever 
 as a record in the same ; that as long as the histoiy of these times and of 
 this nation shall continue, the memory of how much that county hatli 
 merited from us and our crown, may be derived with it to posterity. 
 " Given at our camp, at Siidelev Castle, 
 
 "the 10th of September, 164.3. 
 ', Clarendon, ii. 502. 2 Ensh-i*orth, ii. 3; 284; State Trials iv. 186 
 
192 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 with .confidence. The queen had, at length, joined the 
 king, bringing with her three thousand men and spnue can- 
 non.' Their first interview took place on Keyntoh Down, 
 the place where, the year before, the two parties had for 
 the first time come to blows; and the same day (July 13), at 
 the same hour, Wilmot and Hopton obtained a brilliant vic- 
 tory over the parliamentarians,^ at Roundway-down, in Wilt- 
 shire. Charles and his wife entered Oxford in triumph; 
 while Waller, who, when he set out for the army, had ordered 
 all the constables on his way to hold themselves in readiness 
 to receive his prisoners, returned to London without sol- 
 diers.' 
 
 Essex, still inunovable, and laying the blame of his in- 
 action on those who reproached him for it, was present at ' 
 many defeats, without partaking of them or preventing them. 
 At last, he wrote to the upper house: " If it were thought fit 
 to send to his majesty to have peace, with the settling of re- 
 ligion, the laws and liberties of the subjects, and bringing to 
 just trial those chief deUnquents that have brought all this 
 mischief to both kingdoms; or else, if his majesty shall 
 please to absent himself, there may be a day set down to 
 give a period to all these unhappy distractions by a battle, 
 which, when and where they shall choose shall be indif- 
 ferent, I shall be ready to perform that duty I owe you ; 
 so that if peace be not now concluded, the matter may 
 be at once ended by the sword."* A few days before, this 
 letter would perhaps have been weU. received: at the news 
 of the first reverses, the lords had solemnly protested their 
 fidelity to the king, and prepared new proposals of peaqe 
 '(June 16);^ the commons, on the contrary, rather irri- 
 tated than cast down, had summoned the upper house to 
 adopt, without further delay, their resolution on the subject 
 of the great seal; and, on their refusal, had of their own 
 authority ordered one to be engraved, bearing on one side 
 the arms of England and Ireland, on the other a representa- 
 tion of the house of commons sitting at Westminster, without 
 any symbol to indicate the lords (beginning of July)." In 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 8, ?.74. ' Claa'endon, ii. 434 ; Eusliworth, ii. 3, 285 
 
 " Clarendon, vt sup. 
 
 * .ToTirnols, Lords, July 11 ; Kxishworth, ii. 3, 290 ; Whitelocke, 70. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist, iii 132. « lb. 143 ; Whitelocke, 67. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 193 
 
 such a state of discord, the latter would probably have pro- 
 moted the pacific views of the general; but about the same- 
 time (June 20), the king, flushed with his first successes, 
 ofliciaUy declared that the individuals assembled at West- 
 minster no longer formed two veritable houses; that the 
 withdrawal of so many members and the want of freedom of 
 debate, had deprived them of all legal existence; that for the 
 future he should no longer give them the name of parliameint, 
 and, finally, that he forbade all his subjects to obey that band 
 of traitors.' This indiscriminate and violent condemnation, 
 at once re-established union between the two houses; on 
 July oth they voted in concert that commissioners should 
 propeed, on their part, to request of their brethren the Scots, 
 to send an army to the succour of the protestants of England,, 
 in danger of falling under the yoke of the papists;^ and When 
 Essex's letter reached the house of lords, they resolved that 
 they would address to the king neither petition nor pacific, 
 proposals, till he should have recalled his proclamation de- 
 claring the two houses no longer to form a free and legal, 
 parliament.' 
 
 Essex did not press his views; honest and sincere, in coun- 
 cilling peace he thought he had fulfilled a duty; as for the, 
 rest, he respected the parliament, and his opinion, having 
 been once given, far frpm assuming to dictate to it, he held, 
 himself ready to obey it. For a few days entire union 
 seemed to reign in London among the various parties; all 
 joined in loading lord Essex with marks of esteem ; he speedily 
 received ammunition and reinforcements.^ At the same time^ 
 Waller, notwithstanding his disasters, was thanked for his- 
 courage and treated with honour, as a man whose services might 
 still be highly useful.^ Orders were issued for raising, in the- 
 eastern counties, a fresh army, to be placed under the command 
 9f lord Manchester, with -CromweU as lieutenant-general 
 (July 22).^ Hotham, whom the commons, forewarned in time 
 (beginning of June), had arrested at* Hull (June 29),' before 
 
 1 Eualiworth, ii. 3, 331. ' Pai-1. Hist. iii. 144. 
 
 ' Journals, Lords, July 11. * Pari. Hist. iii. 144. 
 
 5 Clarendon, ii. 482. 
 • Pari. Hist.. iii. 156 ; Clarendon, ut sup. This ai-my was to be com- 
 posed of ten thousand men. 
 
 » Enshworth, ii. 3, 275; 'WhitelooVe, 71. 
 O 
 
194 . HISTORT OF THE 
 
 he had had an oppoptunity of surrendering the town to the king, 
 now awaited in the Tower his punishment; Lord Fairfax 
 succeeded to his command (3 July).' The commissioners who 
 were to proceed to Scotland were named, two by the lords, 
 four by the commons,^ and were requested to hasten their de- 
 parture. Most of the members of the assembly of divines also 
 left London for their parishes, to caJm the fears of the people, 
 and excite them to fresh efforts.^ Every day, in one of the 
 churches of the cjty, in the pi-esence of a multitude of mothers, 
 children, sisters, a special service was celebrated, to invoke the 
 protection of God on all who devoted themselves to the defaiee 
 of their country and of their country's laws ;■* and every morn- 
 ing, at the roll of the drum, crowds of citizens, nien and 
 women, rich and poor, went forth to work at the fortifica- 
 tions.* Never in the house and among the people had so 
 much energy been displayed, with so much prudence and 
 unanimity. 
 
 But the danger stiU increased; the king's successes aug- 
 mented in every direction. Notwithstanding the public ex- 
 citement, some men refused to compromise themselves any 
 more for the parliament; lord Grey of Wark, one of the 
 commissioners appointed by the upper house to go to Scot- 
 land, evaded the employment (July 17);® the lords sent him 
 to the Tower; the earl of Rut(land, who was to have accom- 
 panied him, also excused himself, on the ground of ill health.^ 
 The commissioners from the commons were obliged to set off 
 alone;' and they could go no otherwise than by sea, the roads 
 in the north not being safe, nor Fau-fax strong enough to give 
 them an escort. They were twenty days on their voyage 
 (July 20 — Aug. 9).^ Meantime, the king, better advised, 
 published a milder proclamation. With hope, the wish for 
 peace returned. On the 4th of August, on the motion of 
 the earl of Northumberland, the lords adopted proposals to 
 the king, the most moderate yet put forth; they ordered 
 that both armies should be forthwith disbanded, recalled those 
 members who had been expelled for joining the king, and left 
 
 > Eusliworth, ii. 3, 280. 
 ' The lords Grey ofWork and Entland, sit William Armyn, sir Hany 
 Vane, Mr. Hatpher, and Mr. Barley (Kushwoth, ii. 3, 466). ' " 
 
 " Pari. Hist. iii. 148 ; Clarendon, ii. 486. * NoiJ, ii. 506. « May, ii. 91. 
 ^Poil. Hist. iii. 148 ' lb. J50. » lb. » Eusliwortii, ii. 3, 4U0. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 193 
 
 ,iae questions of the militia and the church for future 
 decision, the one by a synod, the other by parliament. 
 The next day they transmitted these to the commons, 
 declaring, in a haughty tone, that it was time to put an' end 
 to the calamities of the country.' Surprised by this unex- 
 pected attack, the war party vainly insisted. on the danger of 
 thus losing, for the sake of a few months' respite, the fruit of so 
 many efforts, so much suffering already endured. In vain 
 they requested, at all events, to have the matter put off till the 
 answer from Scotland should come. The other parties repliedi: 
 " It was ill done to break off the negotiations at Oxford; the 
 common and meaner sort of people may desire the continuance 
 of the distractions, but it is evident that the more substantial 
 and rich men desire peace, by their refusal to supply money for 
 the carrying on war. At all events, the sending reasonable 
 propositions to the king will either procure a peace, or, being 
 refused, will raise more men and money than all our advances 
 without it." It was resolved, by ninety-four to sixty-five, that 
 the proposals of the lords should be taken into consideration.* 
 A violent agitation seized upon the war party; peace, 
 thus sought amidst reverses, was not a treaty but a defeat^ 
 leaving all public and private interests a prey to the most 
 terrible fears, destroying utterly the hopes of the patriots 
 who desired a more extensive reform, of the ambitious 
 who aimed at a revolution. It was resolved to use every 
 effort to oppose the project. On the evening of the 6th of 
 August, although it was Sunday, the lord mayor, Pennington, 
 whom the king's proclamation had excluded from all anmesty, 
 assembled the common council of the city; and the next day 
 a thre9,tening petition required the commons to reject the 
 proposals of the lords, and to adopt in their stead a resolution 
 of which alderman Atkins, the bearer of the petition, at the 
 same time handed in a copy.* An immense multitude, called 
 
 ' In tbe conference Trhich took place between the two houses (August 
 6th, 16i3), the speaker of the house of lords began in the following terms: 
 *' Gentlemen, the lords believe it too visible to the understanding of all 
 persons that this kingdom, with all these blessings of plenty and abundance, 
 the fruits of our long and happy peace, must be forthwifli turned into that 
 desolation and famine which accompany a civil war, and that tho^e hands 
 and hearts that should prosper this land, do now endanger it by their un- 
 natural dissensions, &c." — Fail. Hist. iii. 156. 
 « Pari. Hist. 3, 156. ' Bushworth, ii. 3, p, 336 ; see Appendix, No. viii. 
 
 o2 
 
196 
 
 together by small pamphlets, distributed the evening before ia 
 every direction, backed this demand by their outcries. After 
 having forced their way through this mob, the lords forthwith 
 complained to the commons of its violence and insolence, de- 
 claring that they would adjourn to the next day, and then 
 adjourn again, if such outrages were not punished. But the 
 commons had already entered upon the consideration of the 
 proposals of peace; after a long debate, eighty-one voted in 
 their favour, and only seventy-nine against them. The tumult 
 was at its height ; outside the people exclaimed that they 
 would not disperse till they had an answer to their mind; 
 within, the opponents of peace violently demanded another 
 division, maintaining that there had been some mistake, and 
 that they would not be thus trifled with. The motion weis 
 complied with : the house again divided; eighty-one members 
 persisted in demanding peace; but the tellers on the other 
 side declared their own numbers to be eighty-eight ; the 
 speaker immediately announced this result, and the partisans 
 of peace left the house in utter, stupefaction and fear.' 
 
 Two days after, on the 9th of August, they tried to turn 
 the tables by a similar manoeuvre. A mob of two or three 
 thousand women assembled t-irly in the morning around 
 Westminster Hall, wearing white ribands on their heads, 
 emblem of peace, ;and sent in a doleful petition, in support of 
 the lords.^ Sir John Hippesley came out and told them that 
 the house also desired peace, and hoped soon to procure it, 
 and that, meantime, he hoped they would retire to their homes. 
 The women remained; at twelve o'clock their number had 
 increased to more than five thousand: some men in women's 
 clothes were amongst them, and, at their instigation, a party 
 penetrated to the doors of the house of commons, crying, 
 t' Peace! Peace!" The guard, merely a corporal's party of 
 militia, requested them to retire; but this only redoubled theii* 
 violence : " Give us up the traitors who are against peace, 
 We'll tear them in pieces! give us up that rascal Pym!" They 
 were forced back to the bottom of the stairs, and a few shots 
 •were fired in the air to intimidate them; " It's only powder!" 
 ihey said, and commenced pelting the militia with stones. The 
 latter then fired at them with ball, and a squadron of hora6. 
 
 Pari. Hist. iii. 108. ' See Appendix, ix. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. ,197 
 
 coming up at the time, charged upon the crowd, sword ia 
 hand; for a moment the women stood their ground, making a 
 lane for the cavalry, whom they assailed with imprecations 
 and blows. They were at last fain to retreat; and after a few- 
 minutes of fearful tumult, there remained of all the qrowd 
 only seven or eight women wounded and weeping, and two 
 lying dead. One of these, well known by the people, had 
 from her childhood sung the old ballads of the country in the 
 streets of London.' 
 
 The victory was complete, but dearly purchased, for it 
 had been gained by fraud and violence; means which disgrace 
 their own success, especially when reform proceeds in the 
 namfe of the laws and professes to restore their vigour. It 
 was already a conunon saying, .that the king had been re- 
 proached with nothing which parliament itself had not in its 
 tui'n been guilty of. The upper house was irritated, the 
 blood of the people had been spilled; intestine animosities 
 ,began to surmount every other feeling. The leaders of the 
 commons tvere informed that a certain number of members, 
 under the direction of the principal lords, proposed to leave 
 London, to seek refuge ^ in Essex's camp, to proclaim there) 
 that they had withdrawn from a parliament the slave of a 
 mob, and to' enter into negotiations with Oxford. The desiga 
 failed in consequence of the probity of Essex, who refused 
 bis concurrence; and it was a great relief to the party to find 
 that their general had no idea of betraying them.^ But tha 
 'ords Portland, Lovelace, Conway, dare, Bedford, .and 
 Holland, none the less left London and joined the king; and. 
 the earl of Northumberland retired to his castle of Petworth.. 
 Illustrious names, which, though not constituting the entire 
 strength of parliament, had served as its shield and invested 
 it with distinction. Astonished to find themselves alone, 
 some of the citizen-chiefs seemed almost intimidated; Pym 
 himself was accused of holding correspondence with the 
 enemy.^ On the other hand, the most violent demagogues, 
 the most fiery zealots, began to give expression to their secret, 
 feelings; John Saltmarsh, afterwards chaplain in Fairfax's 
 army, maintained, that it was essential, at whatever price, 
 to prevent the union of the king and the pepple, and that if 
 
 » Bushwoitb ii. 3, 357. = Claiendon, ii. 485. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 165 
 
196 HISTOKY 03? THE 
 
 the tjng would not yield all they demaxided, he must be ex- 
 <tKpated, he and his race, tod the crown given to some one 
 else. The pamphlet in which this appeared was reported to 
 the house of commons, but Henry Martyn spoke in its 
 defence. " I see," said he, " no reason to condemn Mr. 
 Saltmarsh; 'tis better one family should be destroyed than 
 many." "I move," said sir Nevil Poole, "that Mr. Martyn 
 be ordered to explain what one family he means." " The 
 king and his children," replied Martyn, without hesitation 
 (Sept. 9);' a violence of language till then unprecedented, 
 and which the party 'who gave way to it, were far from bbing 
 able to act up to. No news came from Scotland; it was not 
 even known whether the commissioners had landed, and every 
 day they feared to hear the king was marching on London, 
 or that he had laid siege to Gloucester, the last place remain- 
 ing to parliament in the west of the kingdom, and which 
 alone, by interrupting the communications of the royal armies 
 between the south-west and the north-east, prevented them 
 from acting in concert.^ 
 
 Passions were modified by danger ; ]parties seriously 
 examined their position. Neither the one nor the other was 
 Strong enough readily to crush its adversary, and be still in 
 a situation to carry on, with advantage, war or peace. Instead 
 of seeking deliverance, the moderate in weakness, the zealots 
 in frenzy, the former comprehended that before they treated 
 they must conquer; the latter, that to obtain victory, it was 
 their part to serve, that of their rivals to command. All 
 distrust was laid aside for a while, all private ambition post- 
 poned. A committee, comprising some of the warmest par- 
 tisanS of war,* went to Essex (Aug. 4),* informed him of the 
 measures that had just been taken to recruit and mak^ full 
 psrovision for hi^ army, inquired what else he needed, and, 
 in a word, entrusted the destiny of the country to his hands, 
 with the assurance of the complete confidence reposed in 
 him by parliament. On their part, the' earl and his friends 
 applied themselves to war, as earnestly as though they ha(J 
 
 » Whiteloclte, 72. « lb. 
 
 ' St. John Strode, and Crew, with whom, after some opposition, was asso^ 
 ciatei Mr. Pym. 
 
 * Journals, Commons. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 199 
 
 never formed any other wish :' Holies, who had applied for pass- 
 ports, intending to retire with his family to the continent, re- 
 called the application, and remained; everywhere those who 
 had been lately accused of cowardice or treason, took the lead 
 in preparations, efforts, and sacrifices; and their fiery adver- 
 saries, now reserved and docile, seconded them zealously, but 
 without clamour. They even, almost without resistance, 
 allowed Henry Martyn to be expelled the house, and sent to 
 , the Tower for his last outbreak (Aug. 16),^ so firm was 
 their resolution ix) sacrifice everything to temporary unanimity, 
 the only means of safety. This wise conduct soon produced 
 its fruit; while Waller and Manchester were each forming an 
 army of reserve, levies of men, money, and provisions of aU 
 sorts, destined for the army of Essex, the only one at the 
 time fit to resume warlike operations, proceeded with unpre- 
 cedented rapidity. Foui: regiments of the London militia 
 volunteered to serve under him; and on the 24th of August, 
 after a solemn review on Hounslow Heath, in presence of 
 nearly all the members of both houses, the earl departed at 
 the head of fourteen thousand men, to proceed by forced 
 marches to the assistance of Gloucester, which the king, as had 
 been feared, had been closely blockading for the last fortnight,* 
 It was much to his own regret that Charles, after his late 
 victories, had not made a more decisive attempt on London 
 itself; a resolution to that effect had been formed, and on 
 a plan which seemed to promise success : while the king 
 advanced from west to east, lord Newcastle, victorious also in 
 Yorkshire, was to have marched from north to south, and the 
 two great royalist armies would have met under the walls of 
 the city. After the capture of Bristol, Charles immediately 
 sent to lord Newcastle, sir Philip "Warwick, one of his most 
 faithful adherents, to communicate this plan, and to request 
 him to put himself in motion. But the lords attached to the 
 king's party were not generals whom he could dispose of at 
 his pleasure; they had received from him their commission, 
 not their power; and, satisfied with upholding his cause in 
 places where their influence prevailed, had no wish, by re- 
 moving thence, to lose their independence with their means of 
 
 > Eushworth, li 3, 291. » Pari. Hist. iii. 161. 
 
 s May li. 103 ; Holies, Memoirs, (1699,) 22. 
 
200 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 ■success. Newcastle, haughty, granfl in his tastes, fond of 
 pomp and ease, dreaded the fatigue and annoyance of contra- 
 diction; and surrounded himself by a little court, whither 
 the elegance of his mind and manners attracted agreeable 
 men, neither wished to lose himself in the crowd of 
 courtiers at Oxford, nor to take in the king's army a lower 
 grade than the uncouth, ill-bred foreigner, prince Rupert, 
 After having coldly listened to the proposals brought by 
 Warwick, he related to him, with great savour, the story of 
 the Irish arch-rebel, Tyrone, who, being taken prisoner by 
 the lord-deputy Mountjoy, and brought up to queen Elizabeth; 
 «ind Tyrone perceiving the deputy waiting in the privy 
 chamber among the nobility and gentry there, without any 
 ■distinguishing character of the greatness he held in Ireland, 
 vented himself to a eountryiuin of his, as thus : " I am 
 ashamed to have been taken a prisoner by yon great man, 
 who now in a crowd makes himself so low and common, as 
 to be watching for a woman's coming out." And then intir 
 mated that as long as Hull remained in the hands of the enemy, 
 he would not leave Yorkshire.' Warwick transmitted this 
 answer to the king, who dared not resent it. Some still 
 advised him to march upon London, and this was the queen's 
 opinion; but he had not much taste for hazardous enterprises, 
 less, however, from fear of personal danger, than of compro- 
 mising his dignity; already, the year before, after the battles 
 of EdgehiU and Brentford, his pride had been wounded^ at 
 being compelled, when nearly at the gates of the capital, to 
 retrograde. Many good officers advised the siege of Glou- 
 cester, some with disinterested views, others in the hope of a 
 rich booty; colonel William Legge even boasted that he had 
 assured correspondence with Edward Massey, the governor.^ 
 The king at last assented to this plan, and on the 10th of 
 August his army, which he commanded in person, occupied 
 the heights overlooking the town, defended only by a garrison 
 of fifteen hundred men, besides the inhabitants. 
 
 On his arrival, he at once summoned the place to surrender, 
 giving two hours for an answer. Before the expiration of 
 that time, two deputies from the town, serjeant-major Pudsey 
 and a .citizen, presented themselves at the camp, both pale, 
 
 ' Warnfick, Mem. 24.3. . = Clai-endon, ii. 470. 
 
ENGLISH KJSVOLUTION 20t 
 
 thin men, dressed in black, and with heads closely shaved; 
 , " We bring to his majesty," said they, " an answer from 
 the godly city of Gloucester ;" and, on being introduced 
 to the king, they read a letter, which ran thus : " We, the 
 inhabitants, magistrates, officers, and soldiers within this 
 garrison of Gloucester, unto his majesty's gracious message 
 return this' humble answer, ' That we do keep this qity, ac- 
 cording to our oath and allegiance, to and for the use of his 
 majesty and his royal posterity; and do accordingly conceive 
 ourselves wholly bound to obey the commands of his majesty 
 signified by both houses of parhament : and are resolved, by 
 God's help, to keep this city accordingly.' " On hearing this 
 brief reply, delivered in a firm, clear tone, at the strange ap- 
 pearance of the messengers, who stood motionless before the 
 king awaiting his answer, a movement at once of surprise, 
 derision, and anger was about to manifest itself on the part 
 of the courtiers; but Charles, as grave as his enemies, re- 
 pressed it with a gesture, and dismissed the deputies with 
 these words : " If you expect help, you are deceived; Waller 
 is extinct, and Essex cannot come." The messengers had 
 no sooner re-6ntered the town, than the inhabitants, setting 
 iire to the suburbs, left themselves nothing to defend but 
 that which was within the walls.' 
 
 For twenty-six days (Aug. 10 — Sept. 5), by their inde- 
 fatigable valour, they frustrated aU the efforts of the be- 
 siegers; except a hundred and fifty paen, kept in reserve, the 
 whole garrison were constantly on foot; in all their labours, 
 in all their dangers, the citizens took part with the soldiers, 
 the women with their husbands, the children with their 
 mothers. Massey even made frequent sallies, and only three 
 men took advantage of them to desert.^ Tired of so long a 
 delay, attended by neither glory nor rest, the royal army, in 
 a spirit of revenge, licentiously devastated the country round; 
 the officers even frequently employed their men to carry oif 
 from his house some rich farmer or peaceable freeholder of 
 the other side, who only regained his liberty on payment of 
 ransom.^ Within the camp, insubordination, without, the 
 hatred of the people, daily increased. An assault might have. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 474 ; May iii. 96 ; Eushworth, ii. 3, 28C. 
 ' May, iii. 99 ; HnsliwOrth, vt sup. ^ Clarendon, ii, 012. 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 been attempted; but that of Bristol, of sucli recent memory, 
 had cost SO' dear, that none dared propose it. The king onlj 
 looked for success by starying out the place, when, to his ex- 
 treme surprise, he heard that Essex was approaching. Prince 
 Rupert, detaching a coi^s of cavalry from the army, vainly 
 endeavoured to stop him; the earl advanced without suffering 
 himself to be turned from his road, driving the enemy before 
 him. He was already within a few miles of the camp, already 
 the kiig's horse had fallen back on the advanced post of his 
 infantry, when, in the hope of delaying the earl, if only for a 
 day, Charles sent him a messenger with proposals of peace: 
 " The parliament," answered Essex, " gave me no commission 
 to treat, but to relieve Gloucester; I will do it, or leave my 
 body beneath its walls !"i — "No propositions! no proposi- 
 tions!" shouted the soldiers, when they heard of the arrival 
 of a trumpeter from the king. Essex continued his march, 
 and the next day, the 5th of September, as he was deplpying 
 his army on the heights of Presbury, five miles from Glou- 
 cesterj the sight of the king's quarters in flames informed him 
 that the siege was raised.^ 
 
 He hastened to enter the town (Sept. 8) , conveying thither 
 provisions of aU kinds, loaded the governor and his soldiers with 
 praise, congratulated the citizens on their courage, which had 
 saved the parhament, by giving it time to save themselves'; 
 he ill his turn received, in church, under his windows, as he 
 passed along the streets, demonstrations of ardent gratitude, 
 and at the end of two days, turned back towards London 
 {Sept. 10); for his immediate mission had been accomplished, 
 and it was scarcely of less importance to return to the par- 
 liament with the only army capable of protecting it. 
 
 Everything seemed to promise him a return as favourable 
 as his expedition had been: for several days he had utterly 
 misled his enemies as to his route; Cirencester, with a great 
 store of provisions, had fallen into his hands; his cavalry had 
 sustained with glory several attacks-of prince Rupert andTiis 
 dreaded horse; when, on approaching Newbury, on the 19th 
 of September, he found that the enemy had got before hinj, 
 that they occupied the town and neighbouring heights, that 
 
 ' May, iii. 103 ; Clareindon, ii. 516 ; Wliitelocke, 72 ; Eushwortji, ii. 3, 292. 
 ^ May, ut sup. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 203 
 
 Che road to London was liarred against him, and that a battle 
 only could throw it open. The king himself was at the head 
 of his army, in an advantageous position, within reach of such 
 Succours as he might need from the garrisons of Oxford and 
 Wallingford. The country, indisposed to the parliamentarians, 
 carefully concealed all they had. Whatever the chances of a 
 tattle might be, they must be incurred, both for the sake of 
 passing forward, and to escape death by famine. 
 
 Essex did not hesitate; the next morning (Sept. 20) at 
 daybreak, placing himself at the head of his advanced guard, 
 lie attacked the principal height and dislodged the regiments 
 which occupied it. Engaging by turns with every corps and ' 
 against every position, the battle lasted till night, and was so 
 valiantly disputed that both parties, in their accounts of the 
 affray, took pride in commending their enemies. The royalists 
 were animated by the hope of repairing a defeat which had 
 interrupted the course of their victories, the parliamentarians 
 by that of not losing, when so near its attainment, the fruit 
 of a victory which had counterpoised so many reverses. The 
 London militia in particular performed prodigies of valo.ur; 
 twice did prince Rupert, after having broken the eneniy's 
 horse, charge them, without making the least impression 
 'upon their close ranks, bristling with spears. The general 
 officers, Essex, Skippon, Stapleton, Merrick, exposed them- 
 selves like the common soldiers; and the very domestics and 
 workmen and camp-followers, rushed to the field, and fought 
 as bravely as the bravest officers. At nightfall, each army 
 retained its position. Essex, indeed, had somewhat gained 
 ground, but the royal troops blocked up his passage, and he ' 
 expected to have to renew the attack next day, whep:, to his 
 great astonishment, the first rays of morning showed him his 
 enemies retreating and the road clear. He hastened to make 
 the most of this opportunity, and pushing his march, with no 
 other impediment than a few fruitless charges of prince 
 Rupert's horse, arrived the nqxt day but one at Reading, 
 clear of all daliger.' 
 
 The violence of this engagement had dispirited the royalists, 
 not inferior in courage "but far less pertinacious than their ad- 
 
 > Eusliworth, ii. 3, 893; May, iii. 114; Wliitelooke, p 74; Ludlow's 
 Memoirs. 
 
204 . HISTORY OP TitE 
 
 versaries, and as ready to despair as to hope. Their loss, 
 moreover, had been great, and such as ever makes the deepest; 
 impression upon the imagination of a king. More than twenty 
 officers of distinction had fallen, some of them illustrious by 
 their merit as well as by their rank: lord Sunderland, scarcely 
 twenty-three years old, recently married, and already endeared 
 by his qualities and opinions to all the wise leaders, to all tho 
 good protestants of his party ;• lord Caernarvon, an excellent 
 officer, invaluable to the king for the strict, discipline he main- 
 tained, beloved by the soldiers for his justice, and so scru- 
 pulous an observer of his word that nothing could induce 
 him to continue in the army of the west after prince Maurice, 
 who commanded it, had violated the articles of capitulation 
 made with the towns of Weymouth and Dorchester;^ loy^ 
 Falkland, the glory of the royalist party, a patriot, though 
 proscribed at London, respected by the people, though a 
 minister at Oxford, There was nothing to call him to the 
 field of battle, and his friends had more than once reproached 
 him for his needless temerity; " My office," he would answer, 
 with a smile, " is far from being such as to deprive me of the 
 privileges of my age; a secretary at war should know some- 
 thing about war." For some months past he had sought 
 danger with eagerness; the sufferings of tiiS people, the 
 greater evils he foresaw, the anxiety of his mind, the ruin of 
 his hopes, the continual disquietude of his soul, placed as lie 
 was amongst a party, whose sucfcess he dreaded almost as 
 much as its defeat, everytljing had contributed to plunge 
 him into bitter despondency; his temper was soured; his 
 imagination, naturally brilliant, various and gay, had become 
 fixed and sombre; inclined by taste and habit to peculiar 
 elegance in toilette, he had of late taken no care either of his 
 apparel or of his person; no conversation, no employment had 
 any longer charms for him; sitting with his friends, his head 
 buried in his hands, he would, after a protracted silence, sorrow- 
 fully murmur, "Peace! Peace!" The prospect of some negotia- 
 tion alone reviveid him. On the morning of the battle, those 
 . -around him were astonished to find him more cheerful than 
 of late; he seemed, too, to give a long unwonted attention to 
 his dress: "If I be killed to-day," said he, "I would not they 
 
 Clm-enaon, ii. 524. 2 lb. 233— 235. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLCTION. 205 
 
 sbould find my body in foul linen." His friends conjured him 
 to stay away: sadness once more stole over his features. 
 *'No," he said, "I am weary of the times; I foresee much 
 misery to my country; but I believe I shall "be out of it before 
 night," and he joined lord Byron's regiment as a volunteer. 
 The action had scarcely commenced, when a ball hit him ip 
 the lower part of the stomach; he fell from his horse, and died 
 "without any one having observed his fall, the victim of timei- 
 too rugged for his pure and sensitive virtue. His body was 
 not found till next day; his friends, Hyde in particular, pre- 
 served an inconsolable remembrance of him; the courtiers heard 
 without much emotion of the death of a man who was foreign < 
 to their ways and feelings; Charles manifested decent regret, 
 and felt himself more at ease in the council.' 
 
 Essex had just arrived at Eeading, when a deputation 
 ftom both houses came to express their gratitude, to provide 
 for the wants of his army, and to inquire his wishes (Sept. 24).^ 
 Not only was the parliament saved, but it was in a position 
 to think itself secui-e from the recurrence of such perils as it 
 had just escaped. Equal success had crowned its negotia- 
 tions; while Essex and its army were raising the siege of 
 Gloucester, Vane, arrived at length in Edinburgh, was per- 
 fecting a close alliance with the Scots. Under the name of 
 ' a solemn league and covenant,' a political and religious treaty, 
 which devoted to the defence of the same cause the united 
 strength of the two kingdoms, was voted on the same day, by 
 the convention of the states and the general assembly of the 
 church of Scotland (Aug. 17);^ the next dayj Scottish com- 
 missioners set out for London, where both houses, after having 
 consulted the assembly of divines, also sanctioned the cove- 
 nant (Sept. 18);^ and, a week after (Sept. 25), in the church 
 of St. Margaret, "Westminster, all the members of parliament, 
 standing uncovered, with hands raised to heaven, took the 
 oath of adhesion to it, first verbally, and then in writing.* 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 526 ; WMtelocte, 70. 
 2 Journals, Commons ; Whitelocke, 74. 
 ' Burnet, Mem. of tlie Hamiltons, 239 ; Neal, iii. 58 ; Baillie, i. 381. 
 
 < Pari. Hist. iii. 169. 
 5 Pari. Hist., iii. 173;. Neal, iii. 62 ; Eushwortli, ii. 3, 475. Tlie cove- 
 nant was signed by two hundred and twenty-eight members of the commons. 
 
206 BISTORT OF THE 
 
 The covenant was reeeived in the city with the most ferveitt 
 enthusiasm; it promised a reform of the church and a speedy 
 succour of twenty-one thousand Scots; the presbyterians thus 
 at once saw their fears dissipated and their wishes fulfilled. 
 The day after the ceremony (Sept. 26)j Essex made his entry 
 into London; the house of conmions, preceded by the speaker, 
 went in a body to Essex-house, to compliment him; the lord 
 mayor and the aldermen, in scarlet robes, came to render 
 thanks f to the protector and defender of their lives and for- 
 tunes, and of their wives and children." The flags taken 
 from the royal army at Newbury were exhibited to pubKe 
 view; one in particular attracted attention, representing the 
 exterior of the house of commons, with the heads of two 
 criminals figured above, and this inscription: Ut extra, sic 
 intra} The people thronged round these trophies ; the 
 militia, who had shared in the expedition, related all the 
 details; everywhere, in domestic conversations, in sermons, 
 in the groups formed in the streets, the name of Essex 
 was loudly shouted or silently blessed. The earl and his 
 friends resolved to make the most of this triumph. He went 
 to the house of peers, tendered his resignation, and begged 
 that he might be allowed to retire to the continent (Oct. 7). 
 No public danger, he said, made it matter of duty for him to 
 stay; he had already endured too many bitter annoyances ia 
 his command, and he foresaw their speedy renewal; for if sir 
 WUHam Waller were still to possess a commission independent 
 of him, whUe the title of general-in-chief left upon him alone 
 the entire responsibility, another had the right to withhold 
 obedience; he had too deeply experienced the anguish of 
 this situation longer to endure it. Upon this declaration, 
 the lords, astonished, or feigning to be so, resolved that they 
 would demand forthwith a conference with the commons; but 
 at the very moment, a message arrived from the commons 
 which rendered a conference unnecessary; informed of what 
 wa's passing, the commons hastened to announce to the lords 
 that Waller offered to resign his commission, to receive, in 
 future, his instructions from the general-in-chief, and not from 
 the parliament; and they requested the appointment of a 
 
 '• 'Whitelocke, 76. 
 
ENeLISH REVOLUTION. 207 
 
 conunitl^e, which should forthwith settle, to the earl's satisfac 
 tion, this paiaflil affair. The committee was named, and the 
 matter settled ere the house rose.' "Waller and his friends 
 submitted without a murmur ; Essex and his triumphed without 
 arrogance; and the reconciliation of parties seemed consum- 
 mated at the very moment the struggle was recommencing, 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. .177; Wliitelocke, 76. 
 
HISTOEY OP THB 
 
 BOOK THE FIFTH. 
 
 1643—1645. 
 
 State of pai'ties and rise of the independents — Proceedings of the court at 
 Oxford — The king concludes a truce with the Irish — Parliament at 
 Oxford — Death of Pym — Campaign of 1644 — Battle of Marston-moor — 
 Eeverses of Essex in Cornwall — Misunderstanding between the preshy- 
 terian leaders and Cromwell — ^Attempts at negotiation — Self-denying 
 ordinance — Trial and death of Laud — Negotiations at Uxbridge — Beor- 
 ganization of the parliamentary aimy — Fairfax appointed general^ 
 Essex gives in his resignation. 
 
 The joy of the presbyterians was at its height: the parlia- 
 ment owed to their chief its salvation; their enemies were 
 silenced; the Scottish army, near at hand, promised them 
 unfailing support; they alone, consequently, would henceforth 
 dispose of reform and of war, and might at their pleasure 
 continue or suspend either. 
 
 Within the house, as without, in London and in the counties, 
 a fit of religious fervour and tyranny soon manifested their 
 empire. The assembly of divines received orders to prepare 
 a plan of ecclesiastical government (Oct. 12);' four Scottish 
 ministers were summoned to work out, in concert with 
 the assembly, the great design of the party — uniformity of 
 worship in the two countries (Nov. 20).' The commit- 
 tees appointed to investigate, in each county, the con- 
 duct and doctrine of the ecclesiastics in oifice, redoubled 
 their activity and rigour; nearly two thousand ministera 
 
 1 Neal, iii. 123. 
 ' They were Henderson, Eutherford, Gillespie, and Baillie. — BuilUeb I 
 ■ 398 ; Godwin, i. 849. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. £0£> 
 
 were ejected from their Bvings;' many, prosecuted as ana- 
 baptists, Brownists, independents, &c., found themselves 
 thrown into prison by the very men who, a short time before, 
 had cursed with them their common persecutors. In the 
 city, whoever refused to subscribe the covenant was declared 
 incapable of sitting in the common council, or even of voting 
 at the elections of common councilmen (Dec. 20).^ The par- 
 liament, from the beginning of the war, had ordered all the 
 theatres to be closed, without pronouncing any reUgious 
 anathema against them; merely saying, that times of public 
 affliction should be devoted to repentance and prayer, rather 
 than to pleasure (Sept. 2).^ The same prohibition was now 
 extended to all the popular games hitherto jn use on Sundayu 
 and holydays throughout the kingdom; not one was excepted, 
 however great its antiquity, however manifest its harmless- 
 ness. The maypoles, which for ages had been erected, as 
 tokens of public joy at the return of spring, were everywhere 
 puUed down, and orders given that no new ones should be 
 erected; and if even children infringed these laws, their 
 parents expiated each ebuUition of infantine mirth by a 
 flne.^ Archbishop Laud, who had been three years left for- 
 gotten in prison, was aU at once called to the bar of the 
 upper house, and summoned to answer the charges of the 
 commons (Nov. 13).^ Fanaticism counts hatred and ven- 
 geance among its duties. 
 
 Similar zeal was displayed for war: proud of having had 
 so large a share in the late victories, the presbyterians of 
 tfie city no longer spoke of peace; a great number of rich 
 citizens equipped soldiers, and even offered tp serve in person. 
 One of them, Boland WUson, the heir expectant to an , im- 
 mense business, and 2000^. a year in landed property, joined 
 Essex's army at the head of a regiment levied at his own 
 expense.® Even some of the leaders, who had been so 
 friendly on all occasions to negotiation, Holies, Glynn May- 
 nard, harangued the common council, exciting thein to their 
 
 • The writers of the episcopal party have carried the number to 8000, 
 their adversaries reduce it to under '1600. The estimate I have adopted is 
 that which results from the information given by Neal, iii. Ill — 113. 
 
 ' Neal, iii. 66. ' Pari. Hist., ii. 1461. 
 
 ♦ Neal, iii. 139. The fine was twelvepence. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 183. 
 
 s Whitelocke, 76. 
 
210 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 utmost efforts. Never had the party appeared more ener- 
 getic, nor in more certain possession of power. 
 
 Yet its downfal was near at hand. Engaged, from the 
 outset, in a twofold reform, that of the church and that of 
 the state, it did not ' follow both in the name of the same 
 views. In religion its faith was ardent, its doctrines simple, 
 firm, connected. The presbyterian system, that government 
 'of the church by ministers equal among themselves and deli- 
 berating in concert, was not, in its eyes, a human, pliant 
 institution which men could modify at will, according to 
 time and circumstances — it was the only le^timate system, a 
 government existing by divine right, even the law of Chi-ist. 
 The party insisted upon the triumph of this system without 
 limitation, at whatever price, as a holy and indispensable 
 revolution. In politics, on the contrary, notwithstanding 
 the harshness of its acts and of its language, its ideas were 
 ■vague audits intentions temperate; it was carried away by 
 mo systematic belief, no passion truly revolutionary; it loved 
 monarchy though it fought against the king, respected prero- 
 gative though it laboured to bring under subjection the 
 ^own, trusted in the commons alone, yet felt towards the lords 
 neitljer ill wiU nor contempt, ob^ng ancient customs as weU 
 as new necessities, forming to itself no precise views, either as 
 to the principles or the consequences of its conduct, deeming 
 its aim only legal reform, and wishing for nothing more. 
 
 Thus agitated by contrary feeKngs, by turns imperious and 
 wavering, fanatical and moderate, the presbyterian party 
 had not even leaders sprung from among its own ranks, 
 and uniformly animated by sentiments conformable with its 
 own. It followed in the steps of the political reformers, the 
 first interpreters and true representatives of the national 
 movement. The alliance was natural and necessary to it: 
 natural, for they sought, in common with itself, to reform 
 smd not to abolish the government; necessary, for they were 
 in possession of power, and maintained it by the superiority 
 of their rank, their wealth, their intellect; advantages which 
 the most ardent presbyterians never thought of contesting 
 ■with them. But in accepting, even, in case of need, pur- 
 chasing by great concessions the support of the sectaries, the 
 majority of the political reformers did not share their opinions 
 •or views as to the church; a moderate episcopacy, restricted 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION 211 
 
 to the legal administration of ecclesiastical aflfairs, would have 
 better suited them; and they accordingly lent their aid to 
 the presbyterians with reluctance, and secretly did all they 
 could to retard their progress. The energy of the party in 
 the religious revolution was thus frustrated by leaders whom 
 yet it neither could nor would forsake, and their union was 
 ordy complete and sincere on the question of political reform, 
 or, in other words, in that cause wherein leaders and party 
 had neither intractable passions to satisfy, nor absolute prin- 
 ciples to carry out. 
 
 Now at the end of 1643, poliljcal reform — ^legitimate poli- 
 tical reform, at least — was consummated; abuses no longer 
 existed; they had achieved -all the laws they thought ne- 
 cessary, and modelled institutions as well as they could; 
 nothing was wanting to complete the work which the de- 
 fenders of ancient liberties and the presbyterian sectaries 
 alike desired and could in concert accomplish. But the 
 religious revolution was scarcely begun, and political reform, 
 wavering and ill-secured, threatened to become revolution. 
 The time, then, was at band, in which the internal defects of 
 the, till then, dominant party, the incoherence of its compo- 
 sition, of its principles, of its designs, must inevitably become 
 manifest. Every day it was obliged to tread in different 
 paths, to attempt incongruous efforts. What it sought in the 
 church it rejected in the state; it was fain, constantly shift- 
 ing its ground and its language, to invokei m turn democratic 
 principles and passions against the bishops, monarchical and 
 aristocratical maxims and influences against rising repub- 
 licanism. It was a strange sight to see the same men demo- 
 lishing with one hand and destroying with the other — now 
 preaching up innovations, now ciirsing the innovators; alter- 
 nately daring and timid, at once rebels and despots; perse- 
 cuting the bishops in the name of liberty, the independents in 
 the name of power; arrogating to themselves, in a word, the 
 privilege of insurrection and of tyranny, while daily declaim- 
 ing against tyranny and insurrection. 
 
 The party, moreover, found itself at this time forsaken, or 
 disowned, or compromised by several of its leaders. Some, 
 such as Rudyard, careful above all things of their own self- 
 respect, of the claims of virtue, retired from the conflict, or 
 only appeared at long intervals, and then to protest rather 
 
 p2 
 
212 HISTOKr OF THE 
 
 than act. Others, less honest, such as St. John, or more 
 persevering and bolder, as Pym, or concerned chiefly for their 
 own personal safety, sought to conciliate, or at aU events 
 to keep fair with the new party, of whose speedy accession 
 to power they felt certain. Many, already corrupted, had 
 renounced all patriotic hopes; and no longer troubling theni- 
 selves about anything but their own fortunes, formed in the 
 committees invested with the management of aifairs a rapa- 
 cious coalition, which distributed offices, confiscations, and 
 good things of all sorts to one another. Among the lord's 
 hitherto engaged in the national cause, several, as we have 
 Been, had lately forsaken it, to go and make their peace at 
 Oxford; others, withdrawing entirely from public aifairs, rev 
 tired to their country seats, and, to avoid new pillage, new 
 sequestration, negotiated alternately with the court and the 
 parliament. On the 22nd of September only ten lords re- 
 mained in the upper house; on the 5th of October but five.' 
 An order for calling over the names at each sitting,^ and the 
 fear of thus having their absence officially verified, brought a 
 few back to Westminster; but the higher aristocracy, daily 
 more suspected by, and more estranged from, the people, 
 became an incumbrance rather than a support to the presby- 
 terians ; and while their religious fanaticism alienated from 
 them able defenders of the public liberties, their political 
 moderation prevented them from casting off uncertain and 
 compromising allies. 
 
 Moreover, the party had been in the ascendant for three 
 years: whether it had or not, in church or state, accom- 
 plished its designs, it was at all events by its aid and concur- 
 rence that, for three years, public affairs had been conducted; 
 this alone was sufficient to make many people weary of 
 it; it was made responsible for the many evils already 
 endured, for the many hopes frustrated; it was denounced as 
 being no less addicted to persecution than the bishopsj no 
 le-'s arbitrary than the king; its inconsistencies, its weak- 
 nesses, were recalled with bitterness;, and, independently of 
 this, even without factious or interested views, from the 
 
 ' Jounidls, Lords. The ten lords present on the 22nd of September, 
 were the earls of Bollngbroke, Lincoln, Stamford, and Denbigh; viscouut 
 Bay and the barons Grey, Wharton, Howard, Hunsdon, and Daore. 
 » lb. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLTJTION. 218 
 
 mere progress of events and opinions, there was felt a secret 
 need of new principles and new rulers. 
 
 Both, were ready, and, to seize the direction of affairs, only 
 wanted an opportunity. Long before the commencement of 
 the troubles, when the presbyterians began merely to display 
 an intention of imposing on the national church a repub- 
 lican constitution, and to maintain in it, under that form, the 
 uses of power as well as of faith, and thus to dispute with 
 episcopacy the heritage of popery, the independents, Brown- 
 ists, anabaptists, openly demanded why a national church 
 should exist at all, and by what title any power whatsoever, 
 popery, episcopacy, or presbyterianism, arrogated to itself the 
 right of bowing down Christian consciences beneath the yokev 
 of a fallacious unity. Every congregation of the faithful, 
 said they, inhabitants of the same or neighbouring places, who 
 assembled freely together in one common faith to praise the 
 Lord, was a true church, over which no other church could 
 justly have authority, and which had a right, to choose for 
 itself its own ministers, to regulate its own worship, to 
 govern itself by its own laws. 
 
 On its first appearance, the principle of liberty of con.- 
 science, thus proclaimed by obscure sectaries, amidst the 
 errors of a blind enthusiasm, was treated as a crime or as 
 madness. Its asserters themselves seemed to uphold, without 
 understanding it, and less from reason than from necessity. 
 Episcopalians and presbyterians, preachers and magistrates, 
 aU alike proscribed it: the question how and by whom the 
 church of Christ was to be governed, continued to be almost 
 the only point discussed ; all thought they had simply to choose 
 between the absolute power of the pope, the aristocracy of 
 the bishops and the democracy of the presbyterian clergy; it 
 was not asked whether these governments were legitimate in 
 their origin, whatever their form or appellation. 
 
 ' There was, however, a great movement agitating all 
 things, even those which did not outwardly seem affected by it; 
 every day brought forward some test which no system could 
 evade, sbme argument which the dominant party attempted in 
 vain to stifle. Called upon, from day to day, to consider some 
 new aspect of human affairs, to discuss opinions, to repel pre- 
 tensions till then unheard of, the national mind by such work 
 became emancipated, and made use of its new liberty, either to 
 
214 HISTOEir OF THE 
 
 soar to mare extended ideas on man and society, or at once 
 audaciously to shake off all old prejudices, all restraint. At 
 the same time practical liberty, in matters of faith and 
 worship, was almost absolute; no jurisdiction, no repressive 
 authority, had yet taken the place of that of episcopacy; and 
 the parliament, occupied in conquering its enemies, troubled 
 itself very little about the pious escapades of its partisans. 
 Presbyterian zeal sometimes obtained from the houses 
 menacing declarations against the new sectaries; sometimes, 
 the fears and hatred of the political reformers coinciding 
 with those of their devout allies, they employed in concert 
 measures of rigour against their adversaries. An ordinance, des- 
 tined, according to the preamble, " to put down the slanderous 
 papers, books, and pamphlets by which religion and govern- 
 ment had for some time been defamed," abolished the liberty 
 of the press, hitherto tolerated, and subjected to a strict censor- 
 ship all publications whatever (June 11, 1643 ).> But power 
 cannot stop those who precede it in the movement by which it 
 is itself impelled. At the end of a few weeks, the royalists 
 and episcopalians alone felt the weight of these restrictions; 
 the new sects evaded or defied them; and, every day more 
 numerous, more various, more ardent, as independents, 
 Brownists, anabaptists, antipsedobaptists, quakers, antino- 
 mians, fifth-monarchy men, pervaded every corner of the 
 land. Under the very shadow of presbyterian domination, 
 the revolution was, at one and the same time, raisihg up 
 against that party a host of enthusiasts, philosophers, and 
 freethinkers. 
 
 All questions henceforward took a new turn; the social 
 fermentation changed its character. Powerful, respected tra- 
 ditions had hitherto directed and restrained the views of 
 political, and even of religious reformers; to the first, the 
 laws of old England, such at least as they imagined them to 
 have been, to the latter, the constitution of the church, such 
 as it already existed in Scotland, Holland, and Geneva, 
 served at once as a model and a curb; however daring their 
 enterprises, neither had given way to vague desires, to un- 
 limited pretensions: aU was not innovation in their desigt>% 
 nor conjecture in their hopes; and if they misconceived the 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 131. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION 215 
 
 teidency of their acts, they could at least assign an object 
 in them. No decided aim guided the steps of their rivals, 
 no tradition, historical or legal, set hounds to their thought; 
 confident in its strength, proud of its lofty aspirations, its ho- 
 liness, or its daring, they awarded to it the right of deciding, 
 of ruling all things, and taking it for their sole guide, sought, 
 at whatever price, philosophers the truth, enthusiasts the 
 Lord, the free-thinkers mere success. Institutions, laws, 
 customs, events, everything was called upon to regulate itself 
 according to the reason or will of man; everything became 
 the subject of new combinations, of learned creations; and in 
 this bold undertaking everything seemed legitimate, on the 
 faith of a principle or a religious ecstasy, or in the name of 
 necessity. The presbyterians proscribed royalty and aristo- 
 cracy in the church; why retain them in the state? The 
 political reformers had intimated their opinion, that if, in the 
 last resort, the king or the lords obstinately persisted in re- 
 fusing their assent to a beneficial measure, the wiU of the 
 commons ought, of its own authority, to carry the point; 
 why not say this distinctly and openly? Why invoke the 
 sovereignty of the people only in a desperate case and to 
 legitimate resistance, when it ought to be the basis of govern- 
 ment itself and to legitimate power? After having shaken off 
 the yoke of the popish and of the episcopal clergy, the nation 
 was in danger of undergoing that of the presbyterian clergy. 
 What was the good of a clergy? by what right did priests 
 form a permanent, rich, and independent body, authorized to 
 claim the aid of the magistrate? Let all jurisdiction, even 
 the power of excommunication, be withdrawn from them; 
 let persuasion, preaching, teaching, prayer, be the only 
 sources of influence left to them, and all abuse of spiritual 
 authority, all difficulty in making it accord perfectly with 
 the civil power would immediately cease. Besides, 'tis in 
 the faithful, I not in the priests, that legitimate power, in mat- 
 ters of faith, resides: 'tis to the faithful it appertains to choose 
 and appoint their ministers, and not to the ministers to appoint 
 one another, and then impose themselves on the faithful. 
 Nay, is not every one of the faithful a minister himself, for 
 himself, for his family, for aU those Christians, who, touched 
 by his words, shall hold him inspired from on high, and shaU. 
 ■be willing to unite with him in prayer? Who would dare 
 
216 alSTOKY OF THE 
 
 contest witli the Lord tlie power of conferring his gifts on whom 
 he pleases and as he pleases? Whether to preach or to fight, 
 it iS'the Lord alone who chooses ahd consecrates his saints; 
 and when he has chosen them, he intrusts to them his cause, 
 and reveals to them alone by what means it shall triumph. 
 The free-thinkers applauded this language: so that the revo- 
 lution was carried out, no matter to them by what means, or 
 from what motives. 
 
 " Thus arose the party of the independents, far less nu- 
 merous, far less deeply rooted in the national soil than that 
 of the presbyterians, but already possessed of that ascendancy 
 ever achieved by a systematic and definite principle, always 
 ready to give an account of itself, and to bear without flinch- 
 ing all consequences, England was then in one of those. 
 glorious and formidable crises, in which man, forgetting his 
 weakness remembering only his dignity, has at once the sub- 
 lime ambition of obeying pure truth alone, and the insane 
 pride of attributing to his own opinions all the rights of truth. 
 Politicians or sectaries, presbjnterians or independents, no 
 party would have dared to think itself, above the obligation 
 of having right on its side, and being able to prov€ it. Now 
 the presbyterians were not equal to this test, for their wis- 
 dom was founded on the authority of traditions and laws, not 
 upon principles, and they could not repel by mere reason 
 the arguments of their rivals. The independents alone pro- 
 fessed a simple doctrine, strict in appearance, which sanc> 
 tioned all their acts, sufficed for all the wants of their situation,' 
 relieved the strong -minded from inconsistency, the sincere from 
 hypocrisy. They alone also began to pronounce some of those' 
 potent words, >vhich, well or iU-understood, arouse, in the 
 name of its noblest hopes, the most energetic passions of the 
 human heart; equality of rights, the just distribution of 
 social property, the destruction of all abuses. There was no 
 contradiction between tlieir religious and political systems; 
 no secret struggle between the leaders and their men; no 
 exclusive cx'eed, no rigorous test rendered access to the party 
 difficult; like the sect from which they had taken their name, 
 they held liberty of conscience a fundamental maxim, and 
 the- immensity of the reforms they proposed, the vast uncer- 
 tainty of their designs, allowed men of the most various ob- 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 21? 
 
 jects to range beneath their banners i lawyers joined them, iu 
 hopes of depriving the ecclesiastics, their rivals, of all juris- 
 diction and power; liberal publicists contemplated by their 
 aid the formation of a new, clear, simple plan of legislation, 
 which should take from lawyers their enormous profits and 
 their immoderate power. Harrington could dream among 
 them of a society of sages; Sidney, of the liberty of Sparta 
 or of Eome; Lilburne of the restoration of the old Saxon 
 laws; Harrison, of the coming of Christ; even the no-prin- 
 ciple of Henry Martyn and Peter Wentworth were tolerated 
 in consideration of its daring: republicans or levellers, rea- 
 soners or visionaries, fanatics or men of ambition, all were 
 admitted to make a common stock of their anger, their 
 theories, their ecstatic dreams, their intrigues; it was enough 
 that all, animated with equal hatred against the cavaliers and 
 against the presbyterians, would rush on with the same fer- 
 vour towards that unknown futurity which was to satisfy so 
 many expectations. 
 
 No victory of Essex and his friends, on the battle field, or 
 in Westminster-hall, could stifle or even long repress sucl^ 
 dissensions; they were as publicly known at Oxford as ia 
 London; and all sagacious men, parliamentarians or royalists, 
 took them for the basis of their combinations. From ^all 
 sides the king received information of, and was urged to 
 profit by them. Courtiers or ministers, intriguers or sincere 
 friends, each had his private intelligence on the subject, hii" 
 proposals, his suggestions; some urged that war should be 
 pushed forward without interruption, certain that the riva' 
 factions would soon listen rather to their private enmities 
 than to their common danger; others, on the contrary, ad- 
 vised that, by the mediation of the lords who had sought 
 refuge at Oxford, particularly the earls of Holland and Bed- 
 ford, negotiations should be opened up with Essex and his 
 party, who, in point of fact, had never ceased to desire peace; 
 others even proposed making advances to the leaders, already 
 well known, of the independents, with whom, they said, better 
 terms could be made; and lord Lovelace, with the king's 
 consent, kept up a close correspondence with sir Harry 
 Vane, little thinking that Vane, on his side, was acting under 
 the instructions of his own party, in order to ascertain 
 
■218 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the state of tilings at court. But none of these councils 
 ■was adopted.' It was with great diificulty that the lords 
 who had deserted parliament, obtained admission to Ox- 
 ford at all; at the first rumour of their approach, general 
 indignation was loudly expressed against them; the privy 
 council solemnly assembled, deliberated at great length as to 
 what reception should be given them, and, notwithstanding 
 the prudent representations of Hyde, who had recently been 
 appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Charles, though he 
 consented to receive them, decided that they should be 
 •coolly treated.^ In vain did lord Holland, the most elegant 
 and shrewdest of courtiers, contrive, by the aid of Mr. Jet- 
 myn, to regain the queen's favour;' in vain did he exert all 
 his ingenuity to resume his former familiarity with the king, 
 now affecting to whisper in his ear, now succeeding under 
 some pretext, in drawing him into the embrasure of a win- 
 dow, so as to have the opportunity, or at least to give himself 
 the appearance of holding a private conversation with him;* 
 in vain, even at the battle of Newbury, did he fight bravely 
 as a volunteer, and offer his blood as a pledge of his renewed 
 fealty; nothing removed the haughty reserve of the king, nor 
 put a stop to the clamours of the court; and finding their 
 services pertinaciously rejected, the refugee lords now only 
 considered how they might best escape from so disagreeable 
 a position. The advocates of a vigorous war were heard with 
 more favour, but with as little effect; the ill success of the 
 siege of Gloucester had thrown Oxford into a state of impo- 
 tent anarchy and cabal; each blamed the other for that fatal 
 enterprise; the council complained of the disorderly conduct 
 of the army; the army insolently defied the council; prince 
 Eupert, though formally exempted from obeying even on a 
 day of battle any person but the king himself," was jealous of 
 the general-inrchief; the general and great lords' murmured 
 loudly against the independence and churlish uncouthness of 
 prince Eupert. The king, who respected, in the person of 
 his nephews, the dignity of his own blood, could not bring 
 himself to decide against them in favour of a subject, and 
 sacrificed to this ridiculous pride the rights, even the services 
 of his most useful friends. Hyde alone freely endeavoured 
 
 • Pai-1. Hist. iii. 198 ; Wliitelocte, 80. ' Clarendon, ii. 489. 
 
 ' lb., 203, 250. * lb. 498. » lb. 63. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 219 
 
 to^ correct these errors in his sovereign, and sometimes 
 with success; but Hyde himself, new to the court, with- 
 out any distinction or power beyond that which his office 
 gave him, needed the king to support him against the queen's 
 temper, or the intrigues of jealous courtiers; he maintained 
 his reputation as an influential councillor and wise man, but 
 without exercising any real ascendancy, without obtaining 
 any important result. In short, discord was as great at 
 Oxford as at London, and far more fatal; for in London it 
 precipitated, at Oxford it paralysed the progress of things. 
 
 It was amidst such embarrassments, and when, in his heart, 
 he was perhaps as tired of his party as he was of his people, 
 that Charles learned the new alliance between Scotland and 
 the parliament, and that thus another of his kingdoms was 
 preparing to make war against him. He forthwith ordered 
 the duke of Hamilton, who, having regained his confidence, 
 had been appointed his commissioner at Edinburgh, to prevent 
 this union at whatever cost. The duke, it is said, was em- 
 powered to propose that, for the future, a third of the offices 
 in the royal household should be secured to the Scots; that 
 the counties of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Cumber- 
 land, formerly belonging to their territory, should be again 
 annexed to it; that the king himself should fix his residence at 
 Newcastle, and the prince of Wales establish himself and court 
 in Scotland.' Such promises, if indeed they were made, were 
 obviously insincere, obviously incapable of accomphshment, 
 and even had the Scottish parliament been disposed to re- 
 gard them as other than a mere attempt to deceive, a recent 
 event rendered such a delusion impossible. The earl of 
 Antrim had just been arrested in Ireland by the Scottish 
 troops quartered in Ulster, a few hours after his disembark- 
 ation; and on his person had been found the proofs of a plan 
 formed between Montrose and him, during their stay with 
 the queen at York, to transport into Scotland a numerous 
 body of Irish Roman cathoUcs, to raise the highlanders of the 
 north, and thus make a powerful diversion in favour of the 
 king. The design was evidently on the point of being carried 
 into execution, for Montrose had rejoined the king during 
 the siege of Gloucester, and Antrim had just come from 
 
 > Burnet, Own Times, (Oxford, 1833:i i. 01. 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Oxford. As on the occasion of his last journey to Scotland, 
 the king then was meditating the darkest designs against 
 his subjects, at the very moment he was making them the 
 most glowing proposals. The parliament at Edinburgh forth- 
 with concluded its treaty with that at "Westminster, and sent 
 information of all these particulars.' 
 
 It transmitted at the same time details of a still more im- 
 portant discovery it had made; lord Antrim's papers showed 
 pretty manifestly that the king was maintaining a constant 
 correspondence with the Irish rebels; that he had several 
 times received their proposals, their offers, that he was even 
 on the point of concluding with them a suspension of arms, 
 and promised himself, from this arrangement, the most favour- 
 able results for the next campaign.^ It was all perfectly 
 true: Charles, while always cursing her, when he spoke to 
 England, had long been negotiating with rebellious Ireland.* 
 The war, kindled by insurrection, had continued in this 
 unhappy country without intermission, but to no purpose. 
 Ten or twelve thousand soldiers, ill-paid, seldom relieved, 
 were insufficient to subdue it, though enough to prevent it 
 from effecting emancipation. In the month of February, 
 1642, before the breaking out of the civil war, parliament hail 
 desired to make a great effort to put down the rebellion; a 
 loan was opened to meet the expenses of a decisive expedi- 
 tion; and the estates of the rebels, which by future confisca- 
 tions would inevitably lapse to the crown, had been appro- 
 priated, by anticipation, upon a certain scale, for the repayment 
 of the subscribers.^ Large sums had been thus collected, and. 
 some succours sent to Dublin; but the civil war broke out; 
 overwhelmed with its own affairs, parliament thought of 
 Ireland only at long intervals, without vigour or result, merely 
 to calm, when they became too clamorous, the complaints of 
 the protestants of that kingdom, and, above all, to render the 
 iing responsible in the eyes of Ireland for all the calamities 
 that might arise. Charles paid quite as little attention, and 
 made quite as few sacrifices to the interests of his Irish pro- 
 
 > Laing, Hist, of Scotland, iii. 256. « lb. 
 
 » His oorresponSence with lord Ormond leaves no doubt of it ; Carte's 
 Life of Ormond, iii. passim; Mr. Brodifi bas skilfully collected tbe proofi 
 of this in his Hist, of the British Empire, iii. 459, in tlie note. 
 « May, i. 2, 47. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLtTTION. 221 
 
 testant subjects ; and while he reproached parliament with 
 having appropriated to its own use a portion of the money 
 levied for thair service, he himself intercepted convoys 
 destined to supply them with provisions, and took from the 
 arsenals of Dublin the arms and ammunition of which they 
 had such urgent need.' But the principal protestants of 
 Ireland, aristocrats by situation, were attached to episcopacj 
 and to the crown; the army reckoned among its oificers a 
 great number of those whom, as cavaliers, parliament had been 
 anxious to send out of the way; the earl of Ormond, then- 
 general, was rich, brave, generous, and popular; he gained 
 two battles over the rebels,^ and gave the king all the honour 
 of his success. The parUamentary party rapidly declined in 
 Ireland; the magistrates who were devoted to it were re- 
 placed by royalists : the parliament sent over two members 
 of the commons as commissioners,^ to regain some of their 
 lost power; but Ormond forbade them to enter the council, 
 and at the end of four months felt himself strong enough to 
 compel them to return to England (Feb.) All the civil ■and 
 military power was from that time in the hands of the king, 
 who, relieved from a troublesome though ineffectual surveil- 
 lance, no longer hesitated to prosecute the design to which at 
 once his inclination and his difficulties urged him. The queen 
 had regularly maintained with the Irish catholics a corres- 
 pondence, of which her husband was doubtless not ignorant; 
 the insurrection no longer merely presented, as in its com- 
 mencement, the furious ebullitions, the hideous excesses of a 
 savage populace; a sovereign council of twenty-four, esta- 
 blished at Kilkenny (since Nov. 14, 1642), governed it with 
 prudence and regularity; already more than once it had ad- 
 dressed dutiful and affectionate messages to the king, en- 
 treating him no longer to persecute, for the pleasure of his 
 enemies, faithful subjects whose only desire was to serve him. 
 ■Charles did not, as yet, consider himself in sufficient dangei; 
 nor so wholly relieved from the necessity of conciliating ihv. 
 opinion of England, as to accept openly such an alliance; but 
 he might, at least, he thought, show the Irish some favour, 
 and recal to England the troops who fought against them in 
 
 ' Carte's Life of Ormond, ii. appendix 3, 5. 
 
 s The battles ofKilrash and Boss. 
 
 * Saodwin and Eeyuolds in the autnmc of 1C12. 
 
222 HISTOKT OF THE 
 
 Ms name, to employ them agaiiist more odious and more 
 formidable rebels. Ormond received orders to open nego- 
 tiations to this effect with the council of Kilkenny,' and mean- 
 while, to provide the reason or at least the excuse of 
 necessity, nothing was talked of but the distress, real enough , 
 for that matter, to which the protestant cause and its de- 
 fenders were reduced in Ireland. In a long and pathetic 
 remonstrance, addressed to the castle of Dublin, the army set 
 forth all its grievances, all its misery, and declared its reso- 
 lution of quitting a service to which it was prevented from 
 doing justice. Memorials sent to Oxford and London con- 
 veyed to the king and to parliament the same declaration and 
 the same complaints.^ The negotiations proceeded; at the 
 period of Antrim's arrest they were on the very point of being 
 concluded; and towards the end of September, a few d^ys 
 before that on which parliament solemnly accepted at West- 
 minster the covenant with Scotland, England learned that 
 the king had just signed a truce of a year, with the Irish 
 rebels,* that the English troops who had been sent to repress 
 the insurrection were recalled, and that ten regiments would 
 shortly land, five at Chester and five at Bristol.* 
 
 A violent clamour arose on all sides; the Irish were to the 
 English objects of contempt, aversion, and terror. Even among 
 the royalists, and within the very waUs of Oxford, discontent 
 was manifested. ' Several officers quitted lord Newcastle's 
 army, and made their submission to parliament.* Lord 
 Holland returned .to London, saying, that the papists decidedly 
 prevailed at Oxford, and that his conscience did not allow him 
 to remain there any longer.® Lords Bedford, Claxe, and Paget, 
 sir Edward Bering, and several other gentlemen, followed his 
 example, covering with the same pretext their fickleness or their 
 cowardice.'' The parliament was quite ready to receive back 
 the penitents. The king's conduct became the subject of afl. 
 sorts of popular invectives and sarcasms; his so recent pro- 
 testations were called to mind, and the so haughty tone of Im 
 
 • Ormond's commission was dated January llth, 1643 ; the negoHatioiB 
 began in the course of the month of March following. 
 
 ' Eushworth, vi. 637, and following. 
 
 ' Signed Sept. 5, 1643, at Sigginstown, in the oounly of Kildare. 
 . ♦ Godwin, Hist, of the Commonwealth, i. 379. ' WhitelOcke, 78. 
 
 • lb. ' lb. 81 ; Pai-1. Hist. iii. 189. 
 
KNGLISH REVOLUTION. 223- 
 
 answers, when complaints had been made of the correspond- 
 ence between the court* and the rebels; every one took credit 
 to himself for having so sagaciously foreseen his secret prac- 
 tices, and was indignant at his having flattered himself he 
 could thus impose upon his people, or imagine such gross 
 want of faith could meet with success. It was much worse 
 when it became known that a considerable number of Irish 
 papists were among the recalled troops; and that even women, 
 armed with long knives, and attired in savage costume, had 
 been seen in their ranks.' Not content with leaving the 
 massacre of the Irish protestants unavenged, the king then was 
 actually enhstiug in his service the ferocious assassins of 
 the English protestants. Many people, even of a condition 
 superior to the passionate prejudices of the multitude, thence- 
 forth bore towards the king a profound hatred, some because 
 of his duplicity, others on account of the favom- he showed to 
 the odious papists; and his name, hitherto respected, was now 
 frequently mentioned with insult. 
 
 Speedily informed of this state of things and of the en- 
 deavours of parliament to fan the flame, Chaxles, feeling in- 
 sulted that any one should dare to judge of his intentions by 
 his acts instead of by his words, sent, in a state of high indigna- 
 tion, for Hyde, and said he thought there was too much 
 honour done to those rebels at "Westminster in all his de- 
 clarations, by his mentioning them as part of the parliament, 
 which, as long as they shoidd be thought to be, they would 
 have more authority, assembled where they were first called, 
 than aU the other members convened anj^where else. He 
 said the act for their continuance was void from the begin- 
 ning, for that a king had it not in his power to bar himself 
 from the prerogatives of dissolving parliament; and, at all 
 everts, that they had forfeited any right by their rebellion, 
 and he therefore desired a proclamation to be prepared, 
 declaring them actually dissolved, and ezpressly forbidding 
 them to meet, or any one to own them or submit to them as 
 a parliament. Hyde listened with astonishment and anadety; 
 for the mere idea of such a measure appeared to him insanily. 
 " I see," he replied, " your majesty has well considered the 
 argument, which I have not. It is one which calls for very 
 
 1 -VVi'ituincte, 82. 
 
224 U:Si«ky -JHE 
 
 serious reflection. For my own part, I cannot imagine that 
 your maj esty's forbidding them to meet any more at Westminster, 
 •will prevent one man the less going there. On the contrary, 
 your prohibition may have the efiect of bringing back to them 
 many who have severed from them. It may be that the act 
 in question is void, and I am incHned to hope so; but till the 
 parliament itself shall declare this, no judge, much less no 
 private man, will declare such invalidity. It was the first 
 powerful reproach they corrupted the people with against 
 your majesty, that you intended to dissolve this parliament, 
 and in the same way, repeal all the other acts made by that 
 parliament, whereof some are very precious to the people. 
 As your majesty has always disclaimed any such thought, 
 such a proclamation now would confirm all the jealpusies and 
 fears so excited, and trouble rhany of your true subjects. I 
 conjure your majesty to reflect seriously before you carry this 
 design any further."' 
 
 As soon as they heard how frankly Hyde had spoken to 
 the king, nearly all the members of the council expressed 
 their concurrence in his opinion. With all his haughtiness, 
 Charles, in their company, was wavering and timid; objec- 
 tions embarrassed him, and he usually gave way, not knowing 
 what to answer, or how to put an end, even with his own 
 council, to discussions which displeased him. After a few 
 days of hesitation, more ipparent than real, the project was 
 abandoned. Yet some decisive measure seemed necessary, if 
 only to keep the royalist party on the alert, and not to leave 
 the parliament, in this interval of peace, the advantage of en- 
 grossing the impatient activity of men's minds. Some one 
 proposed; since the name of parliament exercised such an in- 
 fluence over the people, to assemble at Oxford all those mem- 
 bers of both houses who had withdrawn from Westminster 
 Hall, and thus oppose to a factious and broken-up parliament, 
 a, parliament undoubtedly legal and regular, since the king 
 would form part of it. The proposal did not please Charles; 
 a parliament, however royalist, was matter of suspicion 
 and distaste to him; he must then listen to its councils, be 
 subject to its influence, perhaps condescend to its desires 
 for peace, and so compromise, in his opinion, the honour of 
 
 ' Clarendon, Memoirs, 206. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 225 
 
 tlie throne. The queen's opposition was still more decided; 
 an English assembly, whatever its zeal for the royal cause, 
 could not fail to be adverse to the catholics and her favourites* 
 Yet the proposal once known, it was diflScult to reject itj 
 the royalist party had received it with transport; even the 
 council forcibly urged its advantages, the subsidies which the 
 new parliament would vote to the king, the discredit into 
 which that at "Westminster would fall, when it should be seen 
 how many members had quitted it.- Charles, accordingly, 
 despite his own repugnance, assented: and such was the ten- 
 dency of public feeling, that the intention of dissolving a re- 
 bellious parliament, had for its sole effect the formation of a 
 second parliament.^ 
 
 The measure at first caused some anxiety in London; It 
 was known that the royalist piirty were at the same time 
 renewing their attempts in the city; that it was in contem- 
 plation to negotiate a treaty of peace directly with the citizens, 
 without the intervention of parliament; that the basis of this 
 treaty was already agreed upon, amongst others the acknow- 
 ledgment of the loans effected in the city, the interest upon 
 which was very irregularly paid by parUament, and winch 
 the king readily offered to guarantee the prompt liquidation 
 of.^ Out of London, another plot was also discovered, formed 
 it is said by the moderate party and a few obscure inde- 
 pendents, to prevent the entry of the Scots into England, 
 and to shake off the yoke of the presbyterians,^ no matter at 
 what price. The commons, lastly, had to deplore the loss of 
 the oldest and perhaps most useful of their leaders: Pymhad 
 just expired (Dec. 8), after a few days' illness — a man of a 
 reputation less brilliant than that of Hampden, but who, both 
 in private deliberations and in public debate, had rendered 
 the party services no less important; firm, patient, and able; 
 skilful in attacking an enemy, in directing a debate or an in- 
 triguej in exciting the anger of the people, and in securing 
 and fixing to his cause the great lords who seemed wavering;* 
 an indefatigable member of almost every committee, the framer 
 of well nigh all the decisive measures of his party, ever ready 
 
 « Pari. Hist. ju. 194. The royal proclamation conToldng the parliament 
 at Oxford, bears date 22nd of December, 1643. 
 < lb. iii. 196 ; Milton, Hist; of li^gland, book iii. 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 200; Whitelocke, 7S. ♦ Clarendon,, ii. 693- 
 
 4 
 
226 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 to undertake duties which others avoided as difficult and trou- 
 hlesome; in a word, regardless of labour, annoyances, wealth, 
 glory, he placed his whole ambition in the success of his 
 party. A little before his illness, he had published a justifi- 
 cation of his conduct, especially addressed to the friends of 
 order and peace, as if he felt some regret for the past, and in 
 secret feared lest he should be blamed for the events of the 
 future.' But death spared him, as it had -done Hampden, 
 the pain of going beyond his opinions, on the one hand, or 
 belying his past life, on the other; and far from malevolently 
 pointing out these slight indications -of doubt in the last days 
 of this veteran of national reform, the men who were pre- 
 paring to convert reform into revolution, Cromwell, Vane, 
 Haslerig, were the first to show honour to his memory: Pym's 
 body lay for several days in public, either to gratify the wish 
 of the people who crowded to view it, or to contradict the re- 
 port spread by the royalists, that he died of the pedicular dis- 
 ease; a committee was ordered to inquire into the state of his 
 fortune, and to erect a monument to him in Westminster;. 
 Abbey; the whole house attended his funeral, and a few days 
 after, undertook the payment of his debts, amounting to 
 10,000/., all having been contracted, as they said, in the 
 service of his country.^ 
 
 • On the same day that the commons passed these resolu- 
 tions, a. deputation from the city common council proceeded ' 
 to the house of lords to return thanks to parliament for its 
 energy, and the lord general for his bravery, to renew before 
 it the oath to live and die in its holy cause, and to invite aU 
 the members to a grand dinner, in token of union (Jan. 13, 
 1644).3 
 
 The parliament resumed all its confidence. On the v ery 
 day when the assembly at Oxford was to meet (22 Jan.;. 
 there was a call of the house at Westminster; only twentj- 
 two lords sat in the upper house, but in the commons Uv 
 hundred and eighty members answered to their names, 
 and of the absentees a hundred were engaged in the public 
 service by order orparliament.* Both houses resolved that 
 they would not allow their rights to be put in question, 
 
 ' See Appendix, x. ' Pail. Hist. iii. 186. 
 
 » lb. 1 87, 1 08 , WMtckeke, 80. * Pari. Hist 199 ; Whitelooke, tit sup. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 227' 
 
 jaad tliat they would reject with contempt any correspondence 
 with the rivals who were opposed to them. An opportunity 
 soon presented itself. A week had scarcely elapsed^ when 
 Essex transmitted to the upper house, without having opened 
 it, a packet which the earl of Forth, the general-in-chief of 
 the royal army, had just forwarded to him. A committee 
 was appointed to examine its contents; its report was prompt 
 and brief: the packet, it said, contained nothing addressed to 
 parliament, and the lord general had nothing to do but to 
 send it back. Essex at once obeyed (1 Feb).' 
 
 It was, indeed, to him alone that the despatch was addressed. 
 Forty-five lords, and one hundred and eighteen members of 
 the commons,^ assembled at, Oxford, informed him of their 
 installation, of their wishes for peace, of the king's favourable 
 disposition, and urged hinfi to employ his influence " to incline 
 also' to peace those whose confidence he possessed."' By 
 these words Were designated the houses at Westminster, 
 whom Charles persisted in no longer recognising as a par- 
 liament. 
 
 On the 1 8th of February, another letter reached Essex; 
 the earl of Forth requested a safe-conduct for two gentlemen, 
 whom he said the king wished to send to London with in- 
 structions relative to peace. " My lord," replied Essex, 
 " when you shall send for a safe-conduct for those gentle-, 
 men mentioned in your letter, from his Majesty to the houses 
 of parliament, I shall, with all cheerfulness, show my willing- 
 ness to further any way that may produce that happiness that 
 all honest men pray for, which is a true understanding be- 
 tween his majesty and his faithful and only council, the 
 parliament."* 
 
 Charles congratulated himself on finding his adversaries so 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 301. 
 2 The prince of Wales and the dnke of York were at the head of this 
 list, wliioh was afterwards augmented by the names of five lords and twenty- 
 three members of the lower ho'»se, who were not at Oxford when the letter 
 was sent. There were reckoned, in addition to these, twenty-two lords 
 KDsent on the king's service, niae travelling on the continent, two inprisou 
 in London, as royalists, and thirty-four members of the commons absent, 
 either on the lung's service, or on leave, or from sickness ; in all, there 
 were eighty-three lords, and one hundred and sixty-five membera of the 
 «ommous, assembled in parliament at Oxford. — Paai. Hist. iii. 218.. 
 3 lb. 209. * lb. 312. 
 
 q2 
 
228 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 impracticable, and that his party wouH thus, at length, b^ 
 reduced to place aU their hope in war. But tiie assembly at 
 Oxford was not of the same temper with the king; it fully 
 perceived its weakness, it had great doubts as to the legiti- 
 macy of its position — so much so, that it had not dared tO' 
 take the name of parliament — and it regretted in secret that 
 the king, by refusing the name to the houses at "Westminster, 
 had placed such an obstacle in the way of peace. It insisted 
 upon his takingj at all events, one step more in the way of 
 conciliation, in his offering some concession calculated to 
 soothe the other party. Charles consented to write to the 
 houses, to propose a negotiation, and he addressed his letter, 
 " To the lords and commons of the parliament assembled at 
 \T estminster," but in the letter, he spoke of " the lofds and 
 commons of the parliament assembled at Oxford" as their 
 equals, (March 3).' A trumpeter, sent by Essex, soon 
 brought back the answer of parliament: ■ it said, " When we 
 consider the expressions in that letter of your majesty we 
 have more sad and despairing thoughts of obtaining peace 
 than ever, because thereby, those persons now assembled at 
 Oxfordj who, contrary to their duty, have deserted your 
 parliament, are put into an equal condition with it. And 
 this present parliament, convened according to the known 
 and fundamental laws of the kingdom, the continuance 
 whereof is established by a law consented unto by your ma* 
 jesty, isj in effect, denied even the name of a parliament. And 
 hereupon we think ourselves bound to let you know, that we 
 must in duty, and accordingly are resolved, with our lives 
 and fortunes, to defend and preserve the just rights and full 
 power of this parliament" (March 9).^ 
 
 The assembly at Oxford lost all hope of conciliation, and 
 thenceforward regarded itself as sitting without any object. 
 It continued, however, to meet till the 16th of April, publish- 
 ing long and doleful declarations, voting a few taxes and 
 loans,' addressing bitter reproaches to the Westminster par- 
 liament, and passing repeated resolutions expressive of fidelity 
 to the king; but it was throughout timid, inactive, and per- 
 plexed with its own weakness,' and, to preserve at least some 
 show of dignity, careful to display in presence of the court 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. lu. 213. » lb. 214. ' lb. - o; Clarendon, ii. U77. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 229 
 
 its anxious desire for legal order aiid peace. The king, who 
 had dreaded the superintendence of such councillors, soon 
 found them as troublesome as useless; they themselves were 
 tired of their solemn sittings, without any aim or result. 
 After earnest protestations that he would continue to regu- 
 late his conduct by their opinions, Charles pronounced their 
 adjournment (April 16);' and scarcely were the doors closed 
 behind them, than he congratulated himself to the queen upon 
 being at last " rid of this mongrel parliament, the haunt of 
 cowardly and seditious motions."'' 
 
 The campaign, about to open, announced itself under unfa- 
 vourable auspices. Notwithstanding the inaction of the two 
 principal armies during the winter, war had been carried on in 
 the other parts of the kingdom, with advantage. In the north- 
 west the regiments recalled from Ireland, after six weeks of 
 success, had been beaten and almost entirely cut to pieces by 
 Fairfax, under the walls of Nantwich, in Cheshire, (Jan. 25).* 
 In the north, the Scots, under the command of the earl rif 
 Leven, had commenced their march into England (Jan. 19); 
 lord Newcastle set forward to meet them, but in his absence 
 Fairfax had defeated, at Selby (April 11), a numerous body 
 of royalists;* and to secure the important fortress of York 
 from attack, Newcastle had found himself obliged to shut 
 himself up in it (April 19).* In the east, a new army of 
 fourteen thousand men was forming under the command of 
 lord Manchester and Cromwell, and nearly ready to march 
 wherever the service of parliament might require its presence. 
 In the south, near Alresford in Hampshire, sir William 
 "Waller had gained an unexpected victory over sir Balph. 
 Hopton (March 29). A few advantages obtained by prince 
 Eupert, in Nottinghamshire and Lancashire," did not com- 
 pensate for such multiplied losses. Want of discipline, and 
 disorder daily increased in the royalist camp ; the honest 
 grew sorrowful and disgusted; the others claimed all the 
 
 > Pail. Hist. iii. 2i3— 2i7. 
 ' Thus he spoke of them, in a letter addressed to the queen, dated 
 Mai-ch 13, 1645; Ludlow, 66. ' Fairfax, 71. * lb. 78. 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 3, 620. 
 • March the 22nd he abandoned the siege of Newark, and in the 
 month of April following, took Papwortb, Bolton, and Liverpool, in Lan- 
 cashire. 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 licence of war as the reward of courage without virtue 
 the king's authority over his officers, and that of the of- 
 ficers over the soldiers, became day after day less and 
 less. In London, on the contrary, all the measures taken 
 were at once more regular and more energetic than ever. 
 Complaints had often been made that the parliament did 
 not act with promptitude, that none of its deliberations 
 could remain secret, but that the king was immediately in- 
 formed of them all; under the name of the committee of the 
 two kingdoms, a council composed of seven lords, fourteen 
 members of the commons, and four Scottish commissioners, 
 was invested, as to war, the relations between the two king- 
 doms, the correspondence with foreign states, &c., with an 
 almost absolute power (Feb. 16).' So great was the enthu- 
 siasm in some families that they denied themselves one meal 
 a week, to give the value of it to parliament; an ordinance 
 converted this offering into a compulsory tax, for all the in- 
 habitants of London and its environs (March 26).^ Excise 
 duties till then unknown were imposed upon wine, cider, 
 beer, tobacco, and many othier commodities (May 16, 1643, 
 and July 8, 1644).^ The committee of sequestration redoubled 
 its severity.* At the opening of the campaign, parliament 
 had five armies; those of the Scots, of Essex, and of Fairfax, 
 at the expense of the public exchequer; those of Manchester 
 and Waller, supported by local contributions, collected weekly 
 in certaiQ counties, which were also called upon to find re- 
 cruits when needed.^ These forces amounted to more than 
 fifty thousand men,* of whom the committee of the two 
 kingdoms had the entire disposal. 
 
 1 Pari. IBst. iii. 246. = Eushwortli, ii. 3, 748. 
 
 ■ » Pari. Hist. iii. 114, 276. * IT). 174, 257 ; Eusiiworth, ii. 3, 760. 
 
 * The seven confederate counties of tlie east, Essex, Suifolk, Norfollc, 
 Hertford, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, and Ely, were taxed at 8445^. 
 a week for the ihaintenauce of Manchester's army. The four counties in 
 tbe south, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, paid 2638/. a week for 
 the maintenance of Waller's army. Essex's army cost the puhlio treasury 
 30,504/. a month ; the Scottish army, 31,000/. alnonth. (Bushworth, ij. 
 8,621.) I cannot ascertain the exact cost of Fail-fax's army; everything 
 shows it was more irregularly paid than the others, and perhaps in part by 
 local contributions, and in part by parliament. Fairfax, Memoirs, passim. 
 
 « The Scottish army was 21,000 strong; that of Essex 10,500; tha^of 
 ■WaUer 5100; that ttf Manchester 14,000; that of Faiitfax 5000 to 6000; 
 in all about 56,000. Bushworth, ii. 3, 603, 621, 634; Foii-fax, passim. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLCTION. 231 
 
 Ifotwithstanding the presumption which reigned at Oxford, 
 great anxiety was soon manifested there; the court was 
 astonished at no longer receiving from London any exact in- 
 formation, and at the designs of parliament being kept so 
 secret; all ^the people at Oxford could learn was that it was 
 making great preparations, that power was becoming concenr 
 trated in the hands of the boldest leaders, who talked of 
 decisive measures, and, in a word, that everything wore a 
 very sinister aspect for them. AU at once a report spread 
 thai Essex and Waller were on their march to besiege Oxford, 
 The queen, seven months gone with child, at once declared 
 that she would depart; in vain did a few members of the 
 council venture to point out the ill effect of such a resolution; 
 in vain did Charles himself express a wish that she should 
 change her determination; the very idea of being shut up in 
 a besieged town was, she said, insupportable, and she should 
 die if she were not allowed to retire towards the west, to 
 some place where she might be confined, far from the seat of 
 war, and whence she could embark for France in case of 
 urgent danger. Furious at the suggestion of an objection, 
 she raved, entreated, wept; all at last gave way. Exeter 
 was chosen as the place. of her retreat; and towards the end 
 of April she quitted her husband, who never saw her again.' 
 
 The news which had caused her so much terror was well- 
 founded; Essex and Waller were indeed advancing to blockade 
 Oxford. In another direction Fairfax, Manchester, and the 
 Scots, were to meet under the walls of York, and together lay 
 siege to it. The two great royalist cities and the two great 
 royalist armies, the king and 'lord Newcastle, were thus at- 
 tacked at once by all the forces of parliament. Such was 
 the simple and daring plan that the committee of the two 
 kingdoms had just adopted. 
 
 Towards the end of May, Oxford was almost entirely in- 
 vested; the king's troops, sucqessfully driven from every post 
 they occupied in the neighbourhood, had been obliged to fall 
 back, some into the town, the rest to a fortified point, the only 
 one open to theni' outside the walls, north of the city;. no help 
 could arrive in time; prince Rupert was in the depths of Liinca 
 shire, prince Maurice besieging the port of Lyme, in Dorset- 
 
 1 Clarendon, ii., 764. f 
 
232 HISTOEY OP THE 
 
 eliire, lord Hopton at Bristol, occupied in securing that place 
 from the enemy, who had managed to effect a correspondence 
 ■with some of the principal inhabitants. A reinforcement ol 
 eight thousand men of the London militia enabled Essex to 
 complete the blockade. The peril seemed so urgent, that 
 one of the king's most faithful councillors advised him to 
 give himself tip to the earl. " It is possible," replied Charles, 
 ■with indignation, " that I may be found in the hands of the 
 earl of Essex, but it will be dead." A report, meantime, cir- 
 culated in London, that, not knowing how to escape, the 
 ting was forming the resolution, of either coming unex- 
 pectedly into the city, or putting himself under the protection 
 of the lord-general. The alarm of the commons was as great 
 as the king's indignation had been. They immediiately wrote 
 to Essex, " My lord, there being here a general report of his 
 majesty coming to London, we, by command of the house, 
 desire your lordship to use your best endeavours to find the 
 grounds of it; and if at any time you shall understand that 
 his majesty intends to repair hither, or to your army, that 
 you presently acquaint the houses, and do nothing therein 
 Without their advice." Essex comprehended the distrust 
 ■which lurked beneath these words. He answered : " My 
 lord, how the general report is come of his majesty's. coming 
 to London is all unknown to me. I shall not fail, with my 
 best endeavours, to find the grounds of it; but London is the 
 likeliest place to know it, here being no speech of it in this 
 grmy. As soon as I shall have any notice of his intention 
 of repairing to the parliament or the army, I shall not fail to 
 give notice of it; I cannot conceive there is any ground for it; 
 but however, I believe I shall be the last that shall hear of it."' 
 A very different report, and much more certain, next 
 came by surprise upon the parliament and the army; the 
 king had escaped from them. , On the 3rd of June, at nine 
 o'clock in the evening, followed by the prince of "Wales, and 
 leaving the duke of York and all the court in the place, he 
 had left Oxford, had passed between the two hostile camps, 
 and joining a body of light troops who awaited him north of 
 the town, speedily put himself beyond reach.* 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. iii. 266; the letter of the house to Essex ia daftd May 15th, 
 lOBi, and his answer is of the 17th of May. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 786 j Hush-worth, ii. 3, 671. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 233 
 
 The astonishment was great, and the necessity of an im- 
 mediate resolution evident. The siege of Oxford was now a 
 matter of no object; the two armies had before them nothing 
 which required their joint efforts; the king, at liberty, would 
 soon become formidable; it was above all important to pre- 
 vent his rejoining prince Rupert. 
 
 Essex assembled a great council of war, and proposed that 
 Waller, less encumbered with heavy artillery and baggage, 
 should pursue the king, while he himself should march to- 
 wards the west to raise the siege of Lyme, and reduce that 
 part of the country to the power of parliament. Waller op- 
 posed this plan; this, he said, was not the destination which 
 the committee of the two kingdoms had assigned the two 
 armies, in the event of their separating; it was upon him the 
 command in the west was to devolve. The coimcil of war 
 concurred with the lord-general; Essex haughtily demanded 
 isubmission; Waller obeyed, and began his march, but not 
 without having addressed bitter complaints to the committee, 
 of the contempt with which the earl had treated its instruc- 
 tions.' 
 
 Highly indignant, the committee at once brought the matter 
 before the house; and after a debate of which there remains no 
 record, an order was dispatched to Essex to retrace his steps, 
 to go in pursuit of the king, and to leave Waller to advance 
 alone into the west, as he should have done in the first instance.^ 
 
 The earl had entered upon the campaign in no very 
 ^reeable mood; intimidated for awhile by their perUs and 
 his victories, his enemies had, during the winter, recom- 
 menced assailing him with their suspicions, and creating for 
 him a thousand annoyances. Just before his departure, a 
 popular petition had demanded the reformation of his army, 
 which the commons had received vdthout any manifestation 
 of displeasure;' that of Waller was always better provided 
 for, and paid with more regularity;* it was evidently against 
 him, and to replace him in case of need, that lord Manchester 
 was forming a fresh army; at London and in his camp, his 
 friends were indignant that from Westminster-hall, men 
 ignorant of warfare should pretend to direct its operations 
 and prescribe to generals how to act.* He answered the 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 733. ' Bushworth, ii. 3, 672. 
 
 » Whitelocke, 80. * Bushworth , ii. 3, 683 ; Holies, 22. » Whitelocke, 79. 
 
234 HISTOKT OF THE 
 
 committee: " Your orders are contrary to military discipline 
 and to reason; if I should now return, it would be a great 
 encouragement to the enemy in all places. Your innocent, 
 though suspected servant, Essex;" and continued his march.' 
 The amazed committee suspended thequarrel andtheiranger; 
 Essex's enemies did not feel themselves strong enough to ruin 
 him, nor even to do without him; they contented themselves 
 for the present with inserting, in the answer they sent him, a 
 few words of reprimand for the tone he had assumed;^ and 
 he received orders to proceed with the expedition which the 
 preceding message had enjoined him to abandon..^ 
 
 The news received from Waller's army had much to do 
 with this cautious procedure. After having vainly pursued 
 the king, this favourite of the committee was in his turn 
 menaced with impending danger. As soon as Charles learnt 
 that the two parhamentary generals had separated, and that 
 he should have but one to grapple with, he stopped, wrote tO' 
 prince Eupert to march without an instant's delay to the 
 succour of York,* and, by a bold resolution retracing the road 
 he had followed in his flight from Oxford, re-entered that 
 city seventeen days after he had quitted it, put himself at the 
 head of his troops, and resumed the offensive, while Waller 
 was seeking him in Worcestershire. At the first report of 
 his movements. Waller returned by forced marches, for he 
 alone was left to cover the road to London; and soon after, 
 having received a few reinforcements, he advanced with his 
 wonted confidence to offer, or, at least, accept battle. Charles 
 and his men, filled with that ardour which unexpected success 
 after great peril inspires, were still more eager. The action 
 took place on the 29th of June, at Cropredy -bridge in Buck- 
 inghamshire, and, notwithstanding a brilliant resistance, 
 Waller was beaten, even more completely than the con^ 
 querors themselves at first supposed.* 
 
 Good fortune appeared to give Charles a daring, and even 
 a skill he had not hitherto manifested. At ease with refer- ' 
 
 > Eushworth, ii. 3, 683; Clarendon, ii. 733. 
 
 2 Eushworth, ibid. ' Eushworth, ibid. 
 
 * His letter is dated June 14, 1644, from Tickenhall, near Bewdley, in 
 Worcestershire. It was published for the first time in 1819, in air Joha 
 Evelyn's Memoirs, ii. 87. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 744 ; Eushworth, ii. 3, 075. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 235- 
 
 ence to Waller, he at once resolved to march towards the 
 ■west, to fall with his whole disposahle force upon Essex, and 
 thus, in two Mows, destroy the two armies which had lately 
 kept him almost a prisoner. Essex, moreover, had appeared 
 under the walls of Exeter, and the queen, who resided there, 
 and who had been confined only a few days,' and was as yet 
 ignorant of her husband's success, would again be assailed 
 by all her fears.^ Charles departed two days after his victory, 
 having first, to conciliate the people rather than from any 
 sincere wish for peace, sent from Evesham a message to both 
 houses (dated July 4, 1644), in which, without giving them the 
 name of parliament, he was profuse of pacific protestations, 
 and oflFered once moi'e to open negotiations.^ 
 
 But just after his departure from Oxford, and before his 
 message reached London, all the fears of parliament were 
 dispelled; the face of afikirs had changed; Waller's defeat 
 was now only regarded as an unimportant accident: parlia- 
 ment had just learned that its generals had obtained near 
 York a most brHhant victory, that the town must speedily 
 surrender, that, in a word, in the north the royalist party was 
 all but annihilated. 
 
 In factj on the 2nd of July, at Marston Moor, between 
 seven and ten in the evening, the most decisive battle that 
 had yet taken place, had brought about these great results. 
 Three days before, at the approach of prince Eupert, who was 
 advancing towards York with twenty thousand men, the par- 
 liamentary generals had resolved to raise the siege, hoping 
 that they should at least be able to prevent the prince 
 throwing succours into the besieged city ; but Kupert de- 
 feated their manoeuvres, and entered York without a battle. 
 Newcastle strongly larged him to remain satisfied with this 
 success; discord, he said, was working in the camp of the 
 enemy; the Scots were on bad terms with the EngKsh, the 
 independents with the presbyterians, lieutenant-general Crom-r 
 well with major-general Crawford; if he must fight, let him 
 at least wait for a reinforcement of three thousand men, 
 which would shortly arrive. Eupert scarcely listened to 
 what he said, bluntly replying that he had orders from the 
 
 ' .Tune IB, 1644, of tlie princess Henrietta, afterwards ductess of Orleans. 
 = Clarendon, ii. 751 ; Rushworth, ii. 3, 080. 
 » Kushworih, ii. 3, 68T. 
 
236 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 king,' and ordered the troops to march upon the enemy why» 
 were retreating. They soon came up with their rear; botS 
 parties stopped, called in their outposts, and prepared for 
 battle. Almost within musket-shot of each other, separated 
 bnly by some ditches, the two armies passed two hour? 
 motionless and in profound silence, each waiting for the other 
 to commence the attack. " What office does your highness 
 destine me ?" asked lord Newcastle of the prince. " I do 
 not propose' to begin the action before to-morrow," replied 
 Eupert, "you can repose till then." Newcastle went and 
 shut himself up in his carriage. He had scarcely sat down, 
 when a volley of musquetry informed him that the battle 
 was beginning ; he immediately proceeded to the scene 
 of action, without assuming any command, at the head of 
 a few gentlemen, offended like himself with the prince, and 
 like him acting as volunteew. In a few moments the 
 moor was the scene of utter disorder; the two armies met, 
 dashed into each other's ranks, got mixed up together in 
 mere confusion; parliamentarians and royalists, cavalry and 
 infantry, officers and soldiers, wandered about over the 
 field of battle alone or in bands, asking for orders, seek- 
 ing their division, fighting when they met an enemy, but 
 all without general design or result. First of all, the right 
 wing of the parliamentarians was routed; next, broken and 
 panic-struck by a vigorous charge of the royalists, the Scot- 
 tish cavalry dispersed; Fairfax vainly endeavoured to keep 
 them together; they fled in all directions, crying, " Bad luck 
 to us! we are undone!" and they spread the news of their 
 defeat so rapidly through the country, that from Newark a 
 messenger carried it to Oxford, where, for some hours, bon- 
 fires were burning to celebrate the supposed triumph* But 
 
 • These orders were contained in the letter above mentioned, and which 
 directed him to go to the assistance of York. It has been matter of great 
 discussion whether it expressly enjoined prince Bupert to give battle, or 
 whether he was left at liberty to avoid it ; a puerile question ; for, assuredly, 
 if Rupert hod thought with Newcastle, that a battle ought not to be risked, 
 ie would have been wi'ong in obeying orders given at a distance and on 
 mere speculation. Besides, notwithstanding what Mr. Brodie and Mr. 
 /jingard have recently said on this subject, (Hist, of the British Empire, iii, 
 447 ; Hist, of England, x. 292), it is by no means probable that the king's 
 fetter contained a positive order : it Is evidently written in the conviction 
 ihat the siege of York could not be raised without a battle, and it is in that 
 eense that it speaks of a victory as indispensable. 
 
EifOlilSH ItEVOLUTlON". 237 
 
 on returning from the pursuit, the royalists, to their great 
 surprise, found the ground they had previously occupied in 
 the possession of a victorious enemy; while tha Scottish 
 cavalry were flying before them, their right wing, although 
 commanded by Rupert himself, had undergone the same fate; 
 after a violent struggle, they had yielded before the invincible 
 determination of Cromwell and his squadrons; Manchester's 
 infantry completed their defeat; and satisfied with having 
 dispersed the prince's horse, Cromwell, skilful in rallying his 
 men, had returned immediately to the field, to make sure of 
 the victory ere he thought of celebrating it. After a moment's 
 hesitation, the two armies resumed the conflict, and at ten 
 o'clock not a royalist remained on the field, except thi-ee > 
 thousand slain and sixteen hundred prisoners.' 
 
 Rupert and Newcastle re-entered York in the middle of 
 the night, vdthout speaking to, without seeing one another; 
 lis soon as they arrived, they exchanged messages: the 
 IJrince sent word to the earl : " I have resolved to de- 
 part this morning with my horse and as many foot as are 
 left;'' " I am going forthwith to the sea-side," replied New- 
 castle, " to depart for the continent." Each kept his word ; 
 Newcastle embarked at Scarborough, Rupert marched to- 
 wards Chester, with the wreck of his army, and York capi- 
 tulated in a fortnight (July 16).^ 
 
 The independent party were in an ecstasy of joy and hope; it 
 was to their chiefs, to their soldiers this brilliant success was 
 due; Cromwell's ability had decided the victory; for the first 
 time the parliamentary squadrons had broken the royalist 
 squadrons, and it was the saints of the cavaliers of Cromwell 
 who had done this. They and their general had, on the very field 
 of battle, received the surname of Ironsides. Prince Rupert's 
 own standard, publicly exhibited at Westminster, attested 
 their triumph;* and they might have sent to parliament more 
 
 > Bushworth, ii. 3, 631—640; Clarendon, ii. 753; Ludlow, S3; Fairfax, 
 84, &c. ; Hutchinson, Memoirs (1808), 305 ; Carte's Letters, i. 56 ; 
 Baillie's Letters, ii. 36, 40. 
 
 ' Clai'endon, ii. 755. 
 
 ' In the middle 'of this standard was a lion couchant, and behind liim a 
 mastiff hiting at him ; from the mastifiTs mouth came a streamer, on which 
 •was to be read, Kivibolton ; at its feet were several Uttle dogs, beneath whose 
 jaws was written, JPym, Pym, Pym; from the lion's own jaws proceeded 
 these words; qiiousiive tandem dbutere patientid nostm.^ -^Bushworth, 
 ii. 3, 635. 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 than a hundred flags taken from the enemy, if, in their en- 
 thusiasm, they liad not torn them in pieces to decorate their 
 hehnets and arms.' Essex, indeed, had conquered twice, 
 but as if by constraint, to save the parliament from impend- 
 ing destruction, and with no other effect; the saints sought 
 the battle, and were not afraid of victory. Were the Scots, 
 who had shown such cowardice on this great day, thenceforth 
 to pretend to subject them to their presbyteriat. tyranny? 
 Would peace be any longer spoken of as necessary? Vic- 
 tory and liberty alone were necessary; it was essential to 
 achieve "these, at whatever price, and carry out to its full 
 extent that blessed reform so often endangered by interested 
 or timid men, so often saved by the arm of the Lord. Every- 
 where was this language heard; everywhere did independ- 
 ents, freethinkers, or fanatics, citizens, preachers or soldiers, 
 give emphatic utterance to their excitement and their 
 wishes; and everywhere was heard the name of CromweU, 
 himself beyond all others vehement in his expressions, while, 
 at the same time, he passed for the most skilful in the con- 
 trivance of deep designs. " My lord," said he one day to 
 Manchester, in whom the party still reposed confidence, " be 
 wholly one of us; talk no more of holding ourselves open to 
 peace, of keeping on terms with the lords, of fearing the 
 refusal of parliament; what have we to do with peace and 
 the lords? Nothing will goon right till you call yourself plain 
 Mr Montague; if you bind yourself to honest folk, you will 
 soon be at the head of an army that will give laws to king 
 and parliament too."^ 
 
 With all the audacity of his hopes, Cromwell himself had 
 no idea how near the triumph of his party was, nor how 
 hard a fate was shortly to befal that adversary whom he most 
 dreaded. 
 
 Essex had advanced further and further into the west, 
 encouraged by easy victories, and ignorant of the dangers 
 gathering behind him. In three weeks he had raised the 
 siege of Lyme, taken Weymouth, Barnstaple, Tiverton, 
 Taunton, and dispersed, almost without a blow, the roy- 
 alist troops who attempted to stop him. As he approached 
 Exeter, the queen sent to request a safe-conduct to go to 
 
 > finBliwortli, ji. 3, 635. ' Holies, Memoirs, 18 ; Clarendon, ii. 841, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTIOM. 239 
 
 Bath or Bristolj for the purpose of regaining her strength 
 after her confinement. " If your majesty," he re'plied, 
 ". pleases, I will not only give you a safe-conduct, but will 
 wait upon you myself, to London, where you may have the 
 best advice and means for restoring your health; but as for 
 either of the other places, I cannot obey your majesty's de- 
 sire without directions from the parliament."' Seized with 
 fear, the queen fled to Falmouth, where she embarked for 
 France (July 14), and Essex continued his march. He was 
 still in sight of Exeter when he heard that the king, having 
 defeated Waller, was rapidly advancing against him, collect- 
 ing on the way all the forces he could command. A council 
 of war being immediately called, it was put to the question 
 whether they should go on and entrench themselves in Corn- 
 wall, or return, seek the king, and offer him battle. Essex 
 was of the latter opinion, but several of the officers, among 
 others lord Roberts, the friend of sir Harry Vane, possessed 
 in Cornwall large estates, of which the rents were long in 
 arrear, and they had relied upon this expedition to obtain 
 payment from their tenants; they therefore opposed any idea 
 of going back, maintaining that the people of Cornwall, 
 oppressed by the royalists, would rise at the approach of the 
 army, and that Essex would thus have the honour to dispos- 
 sess the king of this county, hitherto his firmest support.^ 
 Essex allowed himself to be persuaded, and, having sent to 
 London for reinforcements, ent red the defiles of Cornwall. 
 The people did not rise in his favour, provisions were scarce, 
 and lie Icing was already close upon him. He wrote again 
 to London, to say that his situation was becoming perilous, 
 that it was essential for Waller or some one else, by 
 making a diversion on the rear of the king's army, to give 
 his an opportunity of escape. The committee of the two 
 kingdoms made a great clamour about his misfortune, and 
 seemed filled with vast zeal to aid him; public prayers were 
 directed (Aug. 13);^ orders to meet his wishes were given to 
 Waller, Middleton, even to Manchester, who had returned 
 from the north witli a portion of his army; these in their 
 turn manifested the utmost ardour; " Let money and men be 
 
 > Bushworth, ii. 3, 684 ; Whitelooke, 93. 
 » Clarendon, ii. 7C7 ; Kushworth, ii. 3, 090. ' Eushivortli, ii. 3, 607 
 
240 HisTonr op tHS 
 
 sent to me," wrote "Waller, " God is witness, 'tis not m} 
 fault I do not advance more quickly; may infamy and tm 
 blood that is spilt rest on the heads of those who lay obstruct 
 tions in my way. If money cannot be had, I will march 
 without it." But he did not march. Middleton held the 
 same language, put himself in motion, and stopped at the first 
 obstacle. No corps at all was detached from Manchester's 
 army.i Reassured by the victory of Marston Moor, the in- 
 dependent leaders. Vane, St. John, Ireton, Cromwell, were 
 delighted to purchase by a signal check the ruin, of < their 
 enemy, 
 
 They did not imagine that at that very moment, and iii 
 his utter distress, Essex held, perhaps, their fate in his 
 hands. On the 6th of August, a letter from the king was 
 delivered to him at his head-quarters at Lestwithiel, fuU ot 
 expressions of esteem and promises, urging him to give 
 peace to his country. Lord Beauchamp, the earl's nephew, 
 was the bearer of the message; several colonels in his 
 army seemed favourable to it.* " I shall give no answer," 
 _said Essex. " I have only one advice to give the king; it 
 is, to return to his parliament." Charles did not persist; 
 perhaps even, , notwithstanding the disaster at Marston 
 Moor, he did not altogether desire the intervention of such 
 a mediator; but peace, in those about him, had more earnest 
 partisans ; the spirit of independence and examination 
 gained upon the royalists ; the royal name no longer ex- 
 ercised its former empire over them, and in their meeting^ 
 many officers freely discussed public affairs and the king'* 
 conduct. Persuaded that Essex had only rejected the pro- 
 posed negotiation because the king's promises seemed to him, 
 without adequate guarantee, they resolved to offer him their 
 own, and to invite him to an interview with them. Lord 
 "Wilmot and lord Percy, commanders of the cavalry and artil* 
 leiy, were at the head of this design; the one daring, intel- 
 lectual, an inveterate drinker, and beloved by the army -for 
 the jovial affability of his temper; the other cold and 
 haughty, but bold in speech, and keeping a good table, wMcb 
 
 ■ Ludlow, Memoirs, 55; Wiitelocke, 101. 
 ' Among others, colonel Weare and colonel Butler; Kush-vrorth, u. 3, 710 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 241 
 
 many of the officers shared. Informed of their proceed- 
 ings, and of a letter which was circulating in their name, 
 Charles was exceedingly angry; but the intention pleased 
 even those men who blamed the means. The king, not 
 daring to forbid, made up his mind to approve of it; the 
 letter became an official act, authorized by him and signed by 
 prince Maurice and the earl of Brentford, general-in-chief of 
 the army, as well as by its first authors; a trumpeter con- 
 veyed it to the enemy's camp (Aug. 9). " My lords," replied 
 Essex, " in the beginning of your letter you express by 
 what authority you send it; I having no authority from the 
 parliament, who have employed me, to treat, cannot give way 
 to it without breach of trust. My lords, I am your humble 
 servant, Essex." So dry a refusal .greatly piqued the 
 royalists; all idea of negotiation was abandoned; Wilmot and 
 Percy were deprived of their commands, and hostilities took 
 their course.' 
 
 Essex soon found himself in a desperate position; he fought 
 every day, but only to fall every day into greater danger; his 
 soldiers were getting weary of the contest, conspiracies were 
 forming in their ranks ;^ the king drew his lines closer and 
 closer around him, and erected redoubts on every side; already 
 the earl's cavalry had not space enough to collect forage; 
 there scarcely remained to him any free communication with 
 the sea, the only means by which he could obtain provisions; 
 in short, at the latter end of August, he was surrounded so 
 closely that from the neighbouring heights the royalists could 
 see all that passed in his camp. In this extremity, he gave 
 orders to the cavalry, commanded by sir William Balfour, to 
 make their way, as they might, through the enemy's posts, 
 and set out himself with the infantry for Fowey harbour. 
 Favoured by night and a fog, the cavalry succeeded in passing 
 between two royalist divisions; but the infantry, straggling 
 along harrow and miry roads, pursued by the whole of the 
 ' king's army, compelled to abandon at every step cannon and 
 baggage, at last lost all hope of safety; there was a general 
 desire expressed to capitulate. Dejected, perplexed, anxious 
 
 ■' Euahworth, ii. 3, 691—697; Clmendon, ii. 777. 
 
 - Eiisliworth, ii. 3, 698, 
 
 R 
 
2^ mSTOEY OF THE 
 
 to avoid so deep a. humiliation, Essex, without coBsultiag 
 SfDj one, attended only by two officers,^ suddenly quitted 
 the campi gained the coast, and embairked in a vessel which 
 set sail for Plymouth, leaving his army under the command of 
 major-general Skippon.^ 
 
 As soon as his departure was known, Skippon called a 
 council of war: "Gentlemen," said he, " you see our general 
 and some chief offleera have thought fit to leave us, and our 
 horse are got away;, we are left alone upon our defence. 
 That which I propound to you is this, that we having the 
 same courage as ouar horse had, and the same God to assist 
 us, may make the same trial of our fortunes, and endeavour 
 to make our way through our enemies, as they have done, 
 and account it better to die with honour and faithfulness, 
 than to live dishonourable." But Skippon did not commu- 
 nicate his own heroism to the council; many officers, brave 
 and faithful soldiers, but presbyterians, moderate men like 
 Essex, werej like him, sorrowful and dispirited. The king 
 proposed io him a capitulation on unhoped-for terms; he only 
 required the surrender of the artillery, ammunition and arms; 
 all the troops, officers,, aaid soldiers were to retain their 
 liberty, and were even to he conducted in safety to. the next 
 parliamentary quarters. These conditions were accepted 
 (Sept. 1); and, under the escort of some royalist horse, the 
 parliamentarian baittalions ts-aversed, without a general, with- 
 out arms, the counties, which they had just maasckei through 
 as conquerors.* 
 
 Meantime, Essex landed at Plymouth, and sent an account 
 to parliament of his disaster. " It is the greatest blow," he 
 wrote, " that ever befel our party; I desire nothing more 
 than to come to the trial; sucla losses, as these must not be 
 smothered up."* A week after, he received from London this 
 reply:— 
 
 " My lord, the committee of both kingdoms having ac- 
 quainted the houses of parliament with your lordship's letter 
 from Plymouth, they have commanded us to let you know 
 
 • Sir John Merrick, who commsmded the ailillery, and lord Eoberts him- 
 self, who had induced Essex to enter Cornwall. 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 3, 705 ; Clai-endon, ii.' 787 ; Whiteloclie, 98. 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 3, 704. — 709 ; Clai-endon, vt sup. 
 
 < Essex's letter td sir Philip Stapleton, in Eushworth, ii. 3, 703 
 
ENGLISH REVOmTlON. 243 
 
 tliat as they apprehend the misfortune of that accident, and 
 submit to God's pleasure therein, so their good aff«tions to 
 your lor(fehip, and their opinion of ytrnr fidelity and merit in 
 the public service is, not at aU less^aed. And they are re- 
 solved not to be wanting in their best endeavours for repair- 
 ing of this loss, and drawing- together such a strength under 
 your* command as may, with the blessing^ of God, restore our 
 affairs to- a better condition than they are now in, for which 
 purpose they have written to the earl of Manchester to march 
 with all possible speed towards Dorchester, with all the forces 
 he can of horse and foot. Sir William Waller is likewise 
 ordered to march speedily unto Dorchester, with all his horse 
 and foot. The houses have appointed six thousand foot-arms, 
 five hundred pairs of pistols, and six thousand suits of clothes, 
 shirts, &c., to meet your lordship at Portsmouth, for the arm- 
 ing and encouragement of your forces. And they are confi- 
 dent your Icffdship'a presence in these parts for bringing the 
 forces together into a body, and disposing of them, will very 
 much conduce to the publie advantage." 
 
 The surprise of the earl was extreme; he expected im- 
 peachment, or at least bitter reproaches; but his fidelity, so 
 recently proved, the very extent of the disaster, the necessily 
 of producing an effect on the enemy, induced the wavering 
 to rally round his partisans on this occasion, and his adver- 
 saries had resolved to abstain from a/ttackisg him. Essex, 
 embarrassed by his misfortune and his fault, no longer seemed 
 to them dangeroas; they knew him weE, and fbresawthat ere 
 long, to save his dignity such violent shocks as these, he would 
 withdraw from public life. Till then, by treating him with 
 honour, they obtained credit for themselves; they escaped 
 an inquiry, which they might have found disagreeable, 
 into the real causes of his defeat; and, lastly, the {avmtrera 
 of peace would now be necessitated to make a new effort for 
 war. Skilful as earnest, the independent leaders remained 
 silent, and the parliament appeared unanimous in sustaining 
 this great reverse with dignity. 
 
 Its activity and the firmness of its attitude at first slack- 
 ened the king's movements; he addressed a pacific message 
 
 ' In Eushworth, (ii. 3, 708,) we read : " under their command," but in 
 the Parliamentary History the text is, " under your command," and I hme 
 adopted thia as bv far the most probable. The letter is dated Sept. 7, 1044, 
 
 e2 
 
244 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 to the houses, and for three weeks contented himself with 
 appearing before a few places, Plymouth, Lyme, Portsmouth, 
 which did not surrender. But towards the end of September 
 he learnt that Montrose, who had long since promised him 
 civil war in Scotland, had at last succeeded, and was already 
 obtaining one triumph after another. After the battle of 
 Marston Moor, disguised as a servant and followed only by 
 two companions, Montrose had crossed on foot the borders of 
 Scotland, and proceeded to Strathern, the house of his cousin, 
 Patrick Graham of Inchbrachie, at the entrance into the 
 HighTands, to await there the landing of the Irish auxiliaries 
 whom Antrim was to send him. By day he hid himself; at 
 night he traversed the surrounding mountains, collecting in 
 person, from place, to place information from his adherents. 
 The news soon reached him that the Irish troops had landed 
 (July 8), and were advancing into the country, pillaging 
 and ravaging, but not knowing whither to proceed, and 
 seeking the general who ,had been promised them. They 
 were on the confines of Athol, when Montrose, with a single 
 attendant, suddenly appeared in their camp, dressed as a High- 
 lander. They at once acknowledged him their chief. At 
 the news of his arrival several clans joined him; without 
 losing a moment, he led them to battle, requiring everything 
 from their courage, giving up everything to their licentious 
 rapacity;, and in a fortnight he had gained two battles (at 
 Tippermuir, Sept. 1, and at Dee bridge, Sept. 12), occupied 
 Perth, taken Aberdeen by storm, raised most of the northern 
 clans, and spread fear to the very gates of Edinburgh. 
 
 On hearing this news, Charles flattered himself that the 
 disaster of Marston Moor was repaired, that parliament would 
 soon find in the north a powerful adversary, and that he him- 
 8elf might without fear proceed to follow up his successes in 
 the south. He resolved to march upon London, and to give 
 his expedition a popular and decisive appearance, at the mo- 
 ment of his departure, a proclamation, Sent forth in every 
 direction, invited all his subjects of the south and east to rise 
 in arms, choose officers for themselves, and joining him on his 
 way, march with him to summon the parliament at length to 
 accept peace.' 
 
 ' The proclamntion is dated from Cliord, September 30th, 1644 ; KriBh- 
 woi'th, ii. 3, 715. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 245 
 
 But parliament had taken its measures: already the com- 
 bined troops of Manchester, "Waller, and Essex covered London 
 on the west; never had parliament possessed, upon one point, 
 so great an army; and at the first report of the king's ap- 
 proach, it was augmented by five regiments of the London 
 militia, under the command of Sir James Harrington. At 
 the same time, new taxes were imposed; the commons ordered 
 that the king's plate, till then preserved in the Tower, should 
 be melted down for the public service. "When at last it was 
 known that the two armies were in presence of each other, 
 the shops were closed, the people rushed to the churches, an^ 
 a solemn fast was ordained, to conciliate the blessing of the 
 Lord oh the coming battle.' 
 
 In the camp as in the city, it was daily expected: Essex 
 alone, iU, despondent, remained inactive in London, though 
 invested with the command of the army. loformed of hi§ 
 non-departure, parliament charged a joint committee to wait 
 on him and renew the assurance of its trusting affection. 
 Essex thanked the committee, but did not join his army.? 
 The battle was fought without him, on the 2'7th of October, 
 at Newbury, almost on the same ground on which, the year 
 before, on his return from Gloucester, he had so gloriously 
 conquered. Lord Manchester commanded in his absence. 
 The action was long and desperate; Essex's soldiers in par- 
 ticular performed prodigies; at the sight of the cannon, they 
 had recently lost in Cornwall, they rushed fiercely on the 
 royal batteries, recovered their artillery, and brought it back 
 to their own lines, embracing the guns in the transport of 
 their joy. On the other hand, some of Manchester's regi- 
 ments suflfered a severe check. For awhile, both parties 
 claimed the victory; but, next morning, the k'ing, renouncing 
 his project against London, commenced his retreat, and pro- 
 ceeded to Oxford to take up his winter quarters.' 
 
 Meantime parliament said very little about its triumph; no 
 public thanks were offered up, and the day after the news of 
 the battle reached London, the monthly fast observed by both 
 houses took place as usual (Nov. 30, 1644), as if there were 
 
 « Eushworth, ii. 3, 719—720; Pari. Hist., iii. 294, 295, 308. 
 " Whitelocke, 108 ; Pari. Hist., iii. 295. 
 
 » Whitelocke, 109 ; Clarendon, ii. 827 ; Pari. Hist., iii. 296 ; BushworOi, 
 H. 3, 721—730 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 no snbject for rejoicing. The public were astonished at so 
 much coUness. Disagreeable rumours began to circulate; 
 the victory, it was said, might have been far more decisive; 
 but discord reigned among the generals; they had suffered' 
 the Mng to retreat without imjtediment, almost in the very 
 face of the army, in a bright moonlight, when the least move- 
 ment Blight have prevented it. It was much worse when the 
 news came that the king had just reappeared in the ndgh- 
 bourhood of Newbury, that he had, without interruption, 
 removed his artiUery from Donnington castle (Nov. 9)', and 
 even offered to renew the battle, without the pai'liamentary 
 army quitting its inaction. The clamour became geneml; 
 the house of commons ordered an inquiry; Cromwell only 
 waited for this opportunity to break out : " It is to the earl 
 of Manchester," he said, " all the blame is to be imputed; 
 ever since the battle of Marston Moor, he is afraid to conquer, 
 afraid of a great and decisive success; but now, when the 
 king was last near Newbury, nothing would have been raore 
 easy than entirely to destroy Ms army; I went to the general, 
 I showed him evidently how this could be done, I desired his 
 leave to make the attack with my own brigade; other officers 
 urged this with me, but he obstinately refused; saying only, 
 that if we were entirely to overthrow the king's army, the 
 king would still be king, and always have another army to 
 keep up the war; while we, if we were beaten, should no 
 longer be anything but rebels and traitors, executed and 
 forfeited by the law." These last words greatly moved 
 parliament, which could not endure that any one should sug- 
 gest a doubt as to the legality of its resistance. Next daj--, in 
 tlie upper house, Manchester answered this attack, explained 
 his conduct, his words, and in his turn accused Cromwell of 
 insubordination, of falsehood, nay, of treachery; for on the 
 day of the battle, he said, neither he nor his regiment ap- 
 peared at the post assigned to them. Cromwell did not reply 
 to this charge, but only renewed his own accusations more vio- 
 lently than before.^ 
 
 The presbyterians were greatly excited; for a long time 
 past, Cromwell had given rise to much alarm in their minds. 
 
 ' EushwOTth, ii. 3, 729 — 733 ; ClarendoB, ut sup. 
 4 Bushwortli, ii. 3, 732—736 ; Pai'l. Hist. iii. 297 ; Luillow, 63 ; Clareudon,. 
 ii. 8iO; Holies, Memoii-a, 19. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 247 
 
 They had seen him at first supple and fawning with Man- 
 chester, exalting him on all occasions at the expense of Essex, 
 and acquiring, by degrees, over his army more power than 
 he himself had. He had made it the refuge of the inde- 
 pendents, of sectaries of every class, enemies of the covenant 
 as of the king; under his protection a fanatical licence reigned 
 there; each man talked, prayed, and even preached according 
 to his own fancy and his own will. In vain, to countervail 
 Cromwell's influence, had they appointed colonel Skeldon 
 Crawford, a Scotchman and rigid presbyterian, major- 
 general; all that Crawford had done, as yet, was to make 
 an absurd charge of cowardice against Cromwell, while 
 Cromwell, constantly occupied in detecting his adversary's 
 faults, in depreciating him in the opinion of the soldiers, in 
 denouncing him to parliament and to the people, soon ren- 
 dered him incapable of doing any harm.' Emboldened by 
 this success, and by the visible progress 'of his party, he had 
 openly declared himself the protector of liberty of conscience, 
 and had even obtained from parliament, with the aid of the 
 freethinkers and philosophers, the formation of a committee 
 (Sept. 13)^ charged to inquire how best they might satisfy the 
 ■ dissenters, or at least leave them in peace. Now he attacked 
 Manchester himself, never mentioned the Soots but with 
 insult, spoke largely of triumphing without them, and even 
 of driving them out of England, if they attempted to oppress 
 it in their turn; in a word, carried his daring so far, as tp 
 bring into question the throne itself, the lords, the whole 
 ancient and legal order of the country.^ Alarmed and 
 indignant, the leaders of the presbyterian and moderate 
 political parties, and the Scottish commissioners, HoUes, Sta- 
 pleton, Merrick, Grlynn, &c., met at Essex's house to devise 
 means for defe:'.ting so dangerous an enemy. After a long 
 conference, they resolved to consult Whitelocke and Maynard, 
 both eminent lawyers and both highly respected by the house, 
 and whom they had reason to believe favourable to their 
 cause. They were sent for in the name of the lord-general, 
 nearly in the middle of the night, without their bdng told for 
 what purpose. They arrived somewhat alaxmed at the hour 
 
 • Bajllie's Letters, ii. 40. ' lb. 57; Journals, Commons, Sept. 13. 
 
 * 'Whitelocke, 116; Journals, Lords, Nov. 28, 1644; Clarendon, ui sap. 
 
248 
 
 HISIOKX OF THE 
 
 •and the circumstances. After a few compliments: "Gen- 
 tlemen," said lord Lowden, the Scottish chancellor, "you 
 know very well that lieutenant-general CromweU is no friend 
 of ours, and since the advance of our army into England, he 
 hath used all underhand and cunning means to take off from 
 our honour and merit of this kingdom; he is also no well- 
 willer to his excellency, whom you and we all have cause to 
 love and honour; you know very well the accord betwixt the 
 two kingdoms, and the union by the solemn league and cove- 
 nant, and if amy be an incendiary between the two nations, 
 how is he to be proceeded against? By our law in Scotland, 
 we call, him an incendiary who kindleth coals of contention 
 and causeth differences, in the state, to the public damage, 
 and he is tamquam publicus hostis patries. "Whether your 
 law be the same or not, and whether lieutenant-general 
 Cromwell be not such an incendiary as is meant by our term, 
 and in which way would be best to take to proceed against 
 him, if he be such an incendiary, you know best." 
 
 The two lawyers looked at each other; all were waiting 
 for their answer. After a few moments' silence, Whitelocke 
 rose, and said: "I see none of this honourable company is 
 pleased to discourse further on these points, and I shall 
 therefore, with submission to his excellency, declare humbly 
 and freely my opinion upon those particulars which have 
 been so clearly proposed and opened by my lord chancellor. . 
 The sense of the word ' incendiary* is the same with us as his 
 lordship hath expressed it to be by the law of Scotland; 
 whether lieutenant-general Cromwell is such an incendiary 
 cannot be known but by proofs of his particular words or 
 actions, tending to the kindling of this fire of contention be- 
 twixt the two nations, and raising of differences between us. 
 I take for a. ground that my lord-general and my lords the 
 commissioners of Scotland, being persons of so great honour 
 and authority as you are, must not appear in any business, 
 "specially of an accusation, but such as you shall see before- • 
 .land will be clearly made out, and be brought to the effect 
 intended. I take lieutenant-general Cromwell to be a gentle- 
 man of quick and subtle parts, and who hath, especially of 
 late, gained no small interest in the house of commons, nor is 
 Le wanting of friends in the house of peers, nor of abilities 
 in himself to manage his own part or defence to the best ad- 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 249 
 
 "imtage. I have not yet heard any particulars mentioned by 
 "flis excellency, nor by my lord-chanceUor or any other, nor 
 fio I know any in my private observations, which will amount 
 to a clear proof of such matters as will satisfy the house of 
 commons that lieutenant-general Cromwell is an incendiary, 
 and to be punished accordingly. I apprehend it to be doubt? 
 ful, and therefore cannot advise that at this time he should 
 fee accused for an incendiary; but rather that direction may 
 be given to collect such particular passages relating to him, 
 and that this being done, we may again wait on your excel- 
 lency, if you please, and upon view of those proofs we shall 
 be the better able to advise and your lordships to judge what 
 will be fit to be done in this matter." 
 
 Maynard concurred with Whitelocke, adding, that the 
 word "incendiary" was little used in English law, and would 
 give rise to great uncertainty. HoUes, Stapleton, and Mer- 
 rick, strongly urged their views, saying, that Cromwell had 
 not so much influence in the house, that they would readily 
 take it upon themselves to accuse him, and they mentioned 
 facts and words which they said clearly proved his designs. 
 But the Scottish commissioners refused to engage in the 
 struggle. Towards two in the morning, Maynard and White- 
 locke retired, and the conference had no other result than to 
 excite Cromwell to quicken his steps ; for " some false 
 brother," says Whitelocke, probably Whitelocke himself, 
 " informed him of what had passed."' 
 
 Essex and his friends sought another sort of remedy for the 
 evil which threatened them ; all their thoughts were directed 
 towards peace. The subject had never been wholly withdrawn 
 from the consideration of parliament: on one occasion a formal 
 motion had produced a debate and a division favourable to 
 peace, in which very few votes, that, indeed, of the speaker 
 alone, decided the fate of the country (March 29);^? and once 
 again, the ambassadors of Prance and Holland, who were 
 continually going backwards and forwards between London 
 and Oxford and Oxford and London, offered their mediation, 
 
 ' Whitelocke, ] 1 7 ; Wood, Athenos Oxoniensis, ii. 546. 
 ^ On the motion to appoint a committee to examine the oifer of medJatioD 
 made by the ambassador of Holland, the house of commons divided, sixty- 
 four to sixty-four; the speaker gave a casting vote in the negative; FaiL 
 Hist. ii. 833. 
 
250 HISTOKTC OF THE 
 
 mely sincere, and always eluded, though with some embar- 
 srassment, on both sides.' So many persons desired peace, 
 that no one would have dared to show himself openly op- 
 posed to* it; and for the last six months, a committee of mem- 
 bers of both houses, amd of Scotch commissioners, had been 
 engaged in framing proposals on the subject. 
 
 All at once the presbyterian party pressed forward the 
 work; in a few days the proposals were presented to both 
 houses, debated, and adopted (Nov, Zj-? and on the 20th of 
 November nine commissioners departed to carry them to the 
 king. They thought he was atWallingford, and presented them- 
 selves before that place; after waiting two hours, while their 
 mission, their safe conduct, their retinue, were successively 
 tnade the subjects of quibbliiig discussion, the governor, colonel 
 Blake, at last received them, to tell them that the Mng was 
 gone, and that they would probably find him at Oxforc(. , 
 They wished to sleep at WaUingford, but the conversation 
 between Blake and lord Denbigh, president of the committee\, 
 soon became so warm, Blake's language so rude, and the 
 attitude of his garrison so menacing, that they judged it pru- 
 dent to retire without delay. The next day, on arriving near 
 Oxford, they stopped on a little hiE at a short distance from 
 the city, and announced themselves to the governor by a 
 trumpeter. Some hours passed, and no answer was returned. 
 The king, walking in his garden, perceived on the hill the 
 group formed by the commissioners and their suite, in- 
 quired who those people were, and on being informed, imme- 
 diately sent Mr. Killigrew with orders to introduce them into the 
 'city, provide lodgings for them, and express his regret they 
 should have been kept waiting so long. As they passed 
 through the streets of Oxford, under the escort of a few 
 cavaliers, the populace collected together, loaded them with 
 abuse, and even pelted them with stones and mud. Taken to 
 a miserable inn, they had scarcely established themselveSj 
 when a violent tumult arose near their apartment; Holies 
 
 ' The ambassadors of Holland offered the mediation of the states- 
 
 feneral on the 20th of March, the 12th of July, and the 7th of November, 
 644; the count d'Haroourt, ambassador of France, who anived in London' 
 in July, 1644, had an audience with liarlia,m&nt on the 14th of August, and 
 left England in Febi-uary, 1845; Pari. Hist. iii. 2fl2, 253, 278, 2«5, 293, 
 298, 314; Clarendon, u. 602. « Poi-l. Hist. iu.209. 
 
ENGLISH KETOLUTION. 251 
 
 and Whiteloclce immediately went out; some royalist officers 
 liad entered the great room, and were quarrelUng with, the 
 commissioners' people, calling them and their masters 
 "wretches," "traitors," "rebels," and not suffering them 
 to come near the fire. HoUes seized one of the officers by 
 the collar, and roughly shaking him, pushed him out of the 
 room, reproaching him for his conduct: Whitelocke did the 
 same; the doors of the inn were closed, and the governor 
 placed a guard there. In the evening several members of 
 the council, Hyde among others, came to see the commis- 
 sioners, apologized for the disturbance which had taken plac^, 
 manifested an extreme desire to co-operate with them ija ob- 
 taining peace, and the king sent word that he would receive 
 them next day (Nov. 2).' 
 
 The audience was brief: lord Denbigh read the proposals 
 of parliament alolid, in presence of the council and the court: 
 they were such as the king did not think himself reduced 
 to accept; they required him to surrender his power to the 
 distrust of parliament, his party to its vengeance. More than 
 once a murmur of anger broke forth from among those pre- 
 sent; at one time particularly, when lord Denbigh named 
 prince Rupert and prince Maurice, who were stan^ng by, as 
 excluded'from any amnesty, a roar of laughter was on the 
 lips of the courtiers; but the king, turning round with a 
 severe look, imposed silence on all, and continued to listen 
 patiently and gravely. The reading over : " Have you 
 power to treat?" asked he of lord Denbigh. " No, sir; we 
 had in charge to bring these propositions to -you, and desire 
 your answer in writing." " Well," replied the king, " I 
 will give it you as soon as I can;" and the commissioners re- 
 turned to their inn.^ 
 
 The same evening, with the consent of their colleagues^ 
 HoUes and Whitelocke paid a visit to lord Lindsey, a gentle- 
 man of the chamber, and an old friend, whose wounds had 
 prevented him from coming to them. They had scarcely 
 been with him a quarter of an hour when the king came in, 
 and advancing towards them with an air of kindness, said, " I 
 am sorry, gentlemen, that you can bring me no better propo- 
 sitions for peace, nor more reasonable than these are." " Sir," 
 
 > WMtelocke, 112; Pari. Hist. iii. 310. ^ Pari. Hist. iii. 310. 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 replied Holies, " they are such as the parliament thought fit 
 to agree on, and I hope a good issue may be had out of them." 
 The king: "I know you could bring no other than what 
 they would send, but I confess I do not a little wonder at 
 some of them, particularly at the qualifications; surely you 
 yourselves cannot think them to be reasonable or honourable 
 for me to grant." Holies: " Truly, sir, I could have wished 
 that some of them had been otherwise than they are, but 
 your majesty knows that these things are all carried by the 
 major vote." The king: " I know they are, and am confident 
 yoa who are here and your friends (I must not say your 
 party) in the house, endeavoured to have had them other- 
 wise; for I know you are well-wiUers to peace." White- 
 locke: " I have had the honour to attend your majesty often 
 here before upon this errand, and am sorry it was not to better 
 effect." The king: " I wish, Mr. "Whitelocke, that others 
 had been of your judgment and Mr. Holles's judgment, and 
 then, I believe, we had a happy end to our differences before 
 now; for my part, I do earnestly desire peace; and in order 
 to it, and out of the confidence I have of you two that are here 
 with me, I ask your opinion and advice what answer wiU be 
 best for me to give at this time to your proposition, which 
 may probably further such a peace as all good men desire." 
 HoUes: " Your majesty will pardon us if we are not capable, 
 in our present condition, to advise your majesty." White- 
 locke: " "We now by accident have the honour to be in your 
 . majesty's presence; but our present employment disables us 
 from advising your lAajesty, if we were otherwise worthy, in 
 this particular." The king: "For your abilities I am able to 
 "judge, and I now look not on you in your employments from 
 the parliament, but as friends and my private subjects, I re- 
 quire your advice." Holies: " To speak in a private capacity, 
 your majesty sees that we have been very free; and touching 
 your answer, I shall say further, that I think the best answer 
 would be your own coming amongst us." The king: " How 
 can I come thither with safety?" Holies: " I am confident 
 there would be no danger to your person to come away di- 
 rectly to your parliament." The king: " That may be a 
 question; but I suppose your principals who sent you hither 
 will expect a present answer to your message." Whitelocke: 
 " The best present and most satisfactory answer, I humbly 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION, 253 
 
 believe, -would be your majesty's presence with your parlia- 
 ment/' The king: " Let us pass by that; and let me desire 
 you two, Mr. Holies and Mr. Whitelocke, to go into the next 
 room, and a little confer together, and to set down somewhat 
 in writing, which you apprehend may be fit for me to return as 
 an answer to your message, and that, in your judgment, may 
 facilitate and promote this good work of peace." Holies: 
 " We shall obey your majesty's command." 
 
 They both went into another room; and, after some hesi- 
 tation, Whitelocke, carefully disguising his handwriting, 
 drew up the opinion the king had requested of them; then, 
 leaving the paper on the table, they rejoined his majesty. 
 The king went by himself into the room they had quitted, 
 took the paper, came back with it, and then, after some con- 
 versation, very gracious on his part, withdrew. The com- 
 missioners directly returned to their inn, and maintained, 
 with their colleagues, a profound silence as to what had 
 passed.' 
 
 , Three days after (Nov. 27),' the king sent for the com- 
 mittee, and, delivering to lord Denbigh a sealed paper, with- 
 out superscription, said: " This is my answer; take it to 
 those who sent you." Surprised at this unusu£il form, and 
 at finding the king so obstinate in refusing to give the name 
 of parliament to the houses at Westminster, the earl begged 
 leave to retire for a moment with liis colleagues to deliberate 
 on what they should do. "Why should you deliberate?" 
 said the king; " you have no power to treat; you told me so 
 yourself when you arrived, and I know you have had no 
 post since." Lord Denbigh insisted, alleging that the com- 
 mittee might perhaps have some observations to ofi'er to his 
 majesty. " Gentlemen," said the king, warmly, " I will 
 hear anjrthing you have to deliver from London, but none of 
 the fancies and chimeras taken up at Oxford; by your favour, 
 you shall put no tricks on me." " Sir," replied the earl, 
 " we are not persons to put tricks upon any one, much less 
 upon your majesty." "T mean it not to you." " WiU your 
 majesty at least allow us to inquire to whom this paper is 
 addressed?" " It is my answer; you must take it, if it were 
 a ballad, or a song of Robin Hood." " The business which 
 
 » Whitelocke. 113; Holies, Memoirs, 38. 
 
254 . HISTORY OF THE 
 
 brought us here, sire. Is gI" somewhait more importance thatt 
 a ballad." " I know it; but I repeat, you told me you had 
 no power to treat; my memory is as good as yours; you were 
 only charged to deliYer these proposals to me; an homesife 
 postillion would have done as well." " I hope your majesty 
 does not take us for postillions." " I do not say that; but^ 
 once more, this is my answer; you must take it; I am not 
 bound to anything more." The conversation became warmer 
 every moment. HoUes and Pierpoint endeavoured in vain 
 to get the king to say, that he addressed his message to the 
 two chambers. The commissioners at last agreed to receive it. 
 in its existing form, and quitted the presence. In the evening, 
 Mr. Ashburnham, the king's valet-de-chambre,. came t& 
 them. " His majesty," he said, " is sensible some worda may 
 have fallen from him in his passion that might give discon- 
 tent; it was not so intended by him> and he desires the best, 
 construction may be put upon it." The commissioners made 
 protestations of their respectful deference to the king's 
 words, and set out for Londcm, accompanied by a trumpeter, 
 authorized to receive the answer of parUament to- the sealedt 
 paper of which they were the bearers. "^ 
 
 It only contained the request of a safe-conduct for the duke 
 of Bichmond and the; earl of Southampton, by whom the 
 king promised to send, in a few days, an express and detailed 
 answer. The safe-conduct was at once granted; and imme- 
 diately upon their arrival (Dec. 14), the two lords had an 
 audience (Dec. 16). Even they did not bring any answer; 
 their, official mission was limited to a, request that conferences 
 should be opened, and negotiators named on both sides to 
 treat of peace. But, after delivering this message, they 
 remained in London; the report spread that, a crowd of 
 suspected persons were arriving; several members of the two 
 houses had frequent interviews with the two lords. The 
 common council, in which the independents prevailed,, mani- 
 fested great uneasiness. The two lords were requested, to 
 
 » Eusliworth, u. 3, 843 ; Pari. Hist., iii. 309—313 ; Wliiteloclie, 114. 
 Lord Denbigh's report and Whitelock's narrative, tUougla both eye-ivitnesses, 
 present several importantpoints of difference here, but they may be ex- 
 plained by the oMcial character of the first of these documents, evideatly 
 arranged among the commissioners, so that it would suit patUament arid 
 the occasion. ~ 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 255 
 
 d^axt; they still lingered under frivolous pretexts. The 
 agitation increased; the passions of the people threatened 
 to break out before party intrigues could he accomplished. 
 At last, urged even by the friends of peace, the two lords- 
 returned to Oxford (Dec. 24), and three weeks after their 
 departure, it was agreed that forty commissioners, twenty- 
 three from the parliaimenta of the two kingdoms, and seven-, 
 teen from the king, should' meet at Uxbridge, to discuss 
 regularly the comditioos of a treaty.' 
 
 But while the presbyterians were negotiating peace, the 
 independents were preparing war. On the 9th of De- 
 cember, the commons had assembled to take into considera- 
 tion the sufferings of the kingdom, and to devise some remedy 
 for them. No one rose to speak; all seemed expecting some 
 decisive measure, of which every one wished to avoid the 
 responsibility. After a long s^ence, Cromwell addressed the 
 house: "Now is the time to speak, or for ever hold the' 
 tongue. The important occasion is no less than to save a 
 nation, out of the bleeding, nay almost dying condition, the 
 long continuance of the war hath already reduced it to. If 
 we do not prosecute this war in a more speedy, vigorous, and 
 effectual manner, casting off all lingering proceedings, like 
 soldiers of fortune beyond sea, to spin out a war, we shall 
 make the kingdom weary of us, and hate the name of a par- 
 liament. For what do the enemy say, nay, what do many 
 say that were friends, at the beginning of the parliament? 
 Even this, that the members of both houses have got great 
 places and commands, and the sword into their hands, and 
 what by interest in parHament, and what by power in the 
 army, will perpetually continue themselves in grandeur, and 
 not permit the war speedily to end, lest their own power 
 should determine with it. This I speak here to our own 
 faces is but what others do utter abroad behind our backs. 
 I am far from reflecting on any; I know the worth of those 
 commanders, members of both houses, who are yet in power; 
 but if I may speak my conscience, without reflection on any, 
 I do conceive, if the army be not put into another method, 
 and the war more vigorously prosecuted, the people can bear 
 
 > EusliTVOrtb, ii. 3, 844—846 ; Pail. Hist., iii. 310—320; Ciarecdon, 
 ii. 860. 
 
256 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 thft war no longer, and will enforce you to a dishonourable 
 peace. But tlus I would recommend to your prudence, not 
 to insist upon any complaint or oversight of any commander- 
 in-chief upon any occasion whatsoever; for as I must acknow- 
 ledge myself guilty of oversights, so I know they can rarely 
 be avoided in military affairs; therefore, waiving a strict in- 
 quiry into the causes of these things, let us apply ourselves 
 to the retnedy which is most necessary; and I hope we 
 have each true English hearts and zealous affections towards 
 the general weal of our mother country, so as no members of 
 either house will scruple to deny themsielves of their own 
 private interests for the public good ; nor account it to be a dis- 
 honour done to them, whatever the parliament shall resolve 
 upon in this weighty matter." 
 
 Another member went on: "whatever is the matter, two 
 summers are passed over, and we are not saved. Our vic- 
 tories (the price of blood invaluable) so gallantly gotten, 
 and, which is more, so graciously bestowed, seem to have 
 been put into a bag with holes; for what we win at one 
 time, we lose at another. A summer's victory has proved 
 but a winter's story: the game has shut up with autumn, 
 to be new played again next spring, as if the blood that has 
 been shed were only to manure the field of war, for a more 
 plentiful crop of contention; I determine nothing; but this 
 I would say, it is apparent that the forces being under several 
 great commanders, want of good correspondency amongst the 
 chieftains, has. oftentimes hindered the public service." 
 " There is but one means of ending so many evils," said 
 Zouch Tate, an obscure fanatic, and whom the importance of 
 his proposal did not draw from his obscurity; "which is that 
 every one of us should freely renounce himself. I move, that 
 no member of either house shall during this war, enjoy or 
 execute any ofiice or command, civil or military, and that an 
 ordinance be brought in accordingly. "^ 
 
 This proposal was not absolutely new ; already, the year before 
 (Dec. 12, 1643), a similar idea had been expressed, in the upper 
 house, though casually and without result;^ and recently (Nov. 
 14, 1644), the commons, doubtless to appease public clamour, 
 
 ' Knsliwovtli, i. 4, 3—5 ; Pai-1. Hist. iii. 326 ; Clmendou, ii. 848 ; whos* 
 Account is evidently inexact, 2 pari. Hist. iii. 187. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 257 
 
 had ordered an inquiry' into the number and value of the offices 
 of all kiijds held by members of parliament. Either by de- 
 sign or from embarrassment, the presbyterians hesitated at 
 first to oppose Tate's motion, and it passed almost without 
 objection. But two days after, when it was again brought 
 forward in the form of a distinct resolution, the debate was 
 long and violent, and was renewed four times in the course of 
 a week (Dec. 11, 14, 17, 19). It was clear that it was in- 
 tended to take from the moderate politicians, from the pres- 
 byterians, from the first leaders of the revolution, the execu- 
 tive power, to confine them to Westminster Hall, and to form 
 an army independent of parliament. The opposition was re- 
 newed at each sitting, every time with more warmth. Even 
 some who were in the habit of keeping fair with the inde- 
 pendents, spoke against the measure. " You know," said 
 Whitelocke, " that among the Greeks and Romans the- 
 greatest offices, both of war and peace, were conferred upon 
 their senators: and their reasons were, because they, having 
 greater interests than others, were the more capable to do 
 them the greatest service. And having the same interest 
 with the senate, and present at their debates, they understood 
 their business the better, and were less apt to break.that trust 
 which so nearly concerned their private interests, which were 
 involved with the public. I humbly submit the application 
 to your judgment; your ancestors did this; they thought the 
 members of parliament fittest to be employed in the greatest 
 offices; I hope you will be of the same judgment, and not at 
 this time pass this ordinance, and thereby discom-age your 
 faithful servants."^ 
 
 Others went still further, and openly denounced the secret 
 ambition of their rivals. " You talk of self-renouncing," said 
 they; " it will be only the triumph of envy and self-ends."^ 
 But the public had little faith in these predictions; the pres- 
 byterian party was worn out and in discredit ; all who 
 did not belong to it, saw it fall without regret. Though 
 the independents were far from being in a majority in 
 the house, their proposition passed triumphantly through all 
 its stages: in vain, as a last endeavour, did the friends of 
 
 • Journals, Commons. ' Wliitelocke, 120. • lb, 
 
 S 
 
258 . HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Essex reqTOre that lie should be excepted from the prohibition» 
 their amendment was rejected; and, on the 21st of Deoember, 
 the ordinance was definitivelj adopted,' and' transmitted to 
 the house of lords. 
 
 The presbyterians rested' aU their hopes in that house; thet 
 peers had an imperative interest in rejecting the bill; almost 
 all of them were affected by it; by it they would lose every 
 vestige of power. But then, herein, as regarded public 
 opinion, was precisely a source of discredit and weaknessi 
 To diminish the effect «f this, to free themselves from all 
 suspicion of connivance with the court at Oxford, to dis- 
 courage the royalist plots, always ready to break out, above 
 all, to gratify the passions of the presbytwian party, the leaders 
 of that party, while they sought to check the progress of re- 
 volution, offered it concessions and victims. Four prosecu- 
 tions, begun long ago, but which had been left in abeyance, 
 were resumed and energetically pushed forward; that of lord 
 Macgmre, for taking part in the Irish ' rebellion; of the two 
 Hothams, father and son, for having agreed to surrender 
 Hull to the king ; of Sir Alexander Carew for a similar offence 
 in the isle of St. Nicholas, of which he was governor; finally, 
 of Laud, already more than once begun, laid aside, and re- 
 sumed. Macguire, the Hothams, and Carew, were guilty 
 of recent crimes, legally proved, and which might have 
 imitators ; but Laud, four years a prisoner, agedj infirm, 
 had only to answer for his co-operation in a tyranny, now 
 four years since put an end to. As in the trial of Straf- 
 ford, it was impossible to prove high treason against him by 
 law. To condemn him, like Strafford, by a biU of attainder, 
 the king's consent was necessary; but theological hatred is as 
 subtle as implacable. At the head Of the prosecution was that 
 same Prynne whom Laud had formerly caused to be so odiously 
 mutilated, and who was now eager in his turn to humiliate 
 and crush his enemy. After a long trial, in which the arch- 
 bishop showed more talent and prudence than might have 
 been expected, a simple ordinance of parliament, voted by 
 seven lords only, and illegal, even according to the traditions 
 ef parliamentary tyranny, pronounced his. condemnation, Hci 
 died with pious courage, full of contempt for his adversaries, 
 
 ' Dec. 17, by 100 to 03. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 259 
 
 and of fear for tbe future fate of the king.' The other trials 
 had the same result ; a,nd in six weeks, the scaffold -was 
 erected five times on Tower-hill,^ oftener than liad occurred 
 since the commencement of the revolution.* The measures 
 of general government were directed in the same spirit. 
 A week before Laud's execution (Jan. 3), the liturgy of the 
 Anglican church, hitherto tolerated, was definitively abolisliedj 
 and on the proposal of the assembly of divines, a book en- 
 titled 'Directions for Public Worship' received in its stead 
 the sanction of 'parliament.'' The party leaders were quite 
 aware that this innovation would meet with great oppo" 
 sition, and cared little for its success; but to retain the power 
 about to escape them, they needed aUthe support of the fana- 
 tical presbyterians, and refused them nothing. The inde- 
 pendents, on their side, used every effort to get the upper 
 house to adopt the decisive ordinance; petitions recommenced, 
 some of them even threatening, demanding that the lords and 
 commons should sit together in one assembly.^ A solenus 
 fast was ordained (Dec. 18), in order to call down, upon sc 
 grave a deliberation, some light from the Lord; the two house-' 
 only were present at the sermons preached that day in West- 
 minster, doubtless to leave the preachers a fuller career, and 
 Vane and Cromwell had taken care to select their men.^ At 
 last, after repeated messages and conferences, the conunons 
 went in a body to the upper house to demand the adoption of 
 the ordinance (Jan. 13)', but the lords had taken their reso- 
 lution, and on the very day of this marked step, the ordinance 
 was rejected. v. 
 
 ' Aocprdiog to tlie Journals of the House of Lords, twenty peers sat on 
 the day on which Laud was condemned ; but probably several went out be- 
 fore the Tote was token ; for it is shown, by unquestionable documents, 
 that the majority who condemned him consisted only of the earls of Kent, 
 Pembroke, Salisbury, Bolingbroke, and the lords North, Grey of Walk, and 
 Bruce (Somers' Tracts, ii. 287). Lord Bruce afterwards denied that bfi had 
 voted. 
 
 ' Sir Alexander Carew was executed Deo. 23, 1644; John Hotham, the 
 younger, Jan. 1, 1645 ; Sir John Hotham, Jan. 2 ; Laud, Jan. 10 ; and lord 
 Macgiiire, Feb. 20. 
 
 " State Trials, iv. 315, &o.; Pail. Hist. iii. 315, 320, 322. 
 
 * Neal, Hist, of the Puritans, iii. 127. 
 
 5 Eushworth, i. 4, 5 ; Lingard, Hist, of England, x. 282.' 
 
 •■ Clarendon, li.' 845 ; Whitelocke, 119. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. iii. 333—337; Eushworth, i. 4, 7; -Wtitelocke, i'i3. 
 s2 
 
260 . HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 I ' The victory* seemed great and the moment propitious' for 
 making use of it. The negotiations at Uxbridge were drawing 
 near. On the urgent entreaties of the fugitive members who 
 had obscurely opened at Oxford their second session, Charles 
 had at last consented (towards the end of December, 1644) to 
 give the name of parliament to the houses at "Westminster: 
 ;^' If there had been in the council," he wrote to the queen, 
 " but two persons of my mind, I would never have given 
 way."' He had at the same time named his commissioners,'^ 
 who were nearly all friends of peace; and among the parliament 
 commissioners,* Vane, St. John, and Prideaux, . alone enter- 
 tained other views. On the 29th of January the negptiators 
 arrived at Uxbridge, full of good intentions and hope. 
 
 They met with mutual earnestness and courtesy. They 
 had all long known each other; many, before these sad dis- 
 sensions, had been united, by ties of friendship. On the very 
 evening of their arrival, Hyde, Colepepper, Palmer, White-; 
 locke. Holies, Pierpoint, exchanged visits, congratulating each 
 other, on working together to procure peace for the country. 
 More embarrassment and reserve, however, was observable 
 in the commissioners from "Westminster, who bore the yoke 
 of rougher and more mistrustful masters. The negotiations 
 were to last twenty days; the subjects for especial considera- 
 tion were religion, the- militia, and Ireland. It was agreed 
 that each of these questions should be discussed for three 
 days, taken as might be arranged, consecutively or alter- 
 nately. So long as these preliminaries were the only busi-* 
 ness in hand, everything went on very smoothly; there was 
 
 1 Memoirs of Ludlow, 
 
 - The duke of Eiohmond, the marquis of Hertford, the earls of South.» 
 ampton, Eingston, and Chichester; the lords Capel, Seymour, Hatton, and 
 Colepepper ; the secretary of state Nicholas, sir Edward Hyde, sir Edwai-d 
 Lane, sir Orlando Bridgeman, sir Thomas Gai'diner, Mr. John Ashbunihamj 
 Mr. Geoffrey Palmer, Dr, Stewai't, and their suite, in all one hundred and 
 eight persons. 
 
 ' The earls of Nojthnmherland, Pemhroke, Salishury, and Denbigh; lord 
 Wenman, Messrs. Denzil Holies, William Pierpoint, Oliver St. John, Whitest 
 locke, John Carew, Edmund Prideaux, and sir Harry Vane, for the ]3ng]isli 
 pailiament; the eai-1 of Lowden, the marquis.of Argyle, the lords Maitland 
 and Balmerinoi sir Archibald Johnston, sir Charles Erskine, sir J'ohn Smith, 
 Messrs. George Dundas, liugh Kennedy, Robert Berkley, and Alexander 
 Henderson, for the Scottish parliament, with their snite; in all, one hun- 
 ired and light persons, " 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION 261 
 
 entire confidence on both sides, perfect politeness. But when, 
 at length, the real discussion began (Jan. 30), around the 
 table at which the negotiators were seated, all the difficulties 
 reappeared. Each of the parliamentary factions had its fun- 
 damental point, of which it would not bate a jot; the presby- 
 terians, the privileged estabhshment of their church; tha 
 politicians, the command of the mihtia ; the independents, 
 liberty of conscience; and the king, obliged to concede to aU, 
 only obtained from each such sacrifices as the others abso- 
 lutely refused. Each party, moreover, kept constantly in 
 view the question whether, peace being concluded, power 
 would be in its hands, for neither would treat except on this 
 condition. The subject of religion being taken first, the discus- 
 sion soon assumed the character of a theological controversy; 
 they argued, instead of negotiating; they were more anxious 
 to make out a case than to make peace. By degrees, acrir 
 mony pervaded the intercouse late so amicable ; it even 
 made its, way into those private conversations in which some 
 of the negotiators at times sought to remove the obstacles 
 which impeded their public discussions. Among the com- 
 missioners from Oxford, Hyde, more especially, was courted 
 by those of Westminster, who linew him to be a man of 
 superior judgment, and in great credit with the king. Lord 
 Lowden, chancellor of Scotland, and the earls of Pembroke 
 and Denbigh, had long and frank interviews with him 
 on the dangers of the future, on the sinister designs which 
 were fermenting in pai'liament, on the necessity that the king 
 should give up a great deal to save the whole. Hyde readily 
 entered into these communications; but the susceptibility of 
 his self-love, the unbending haughtiness of his intellect, his dry 
 and sarcastic tone, his scornful honesty, nearly always offended 
 and repelled those who sought his society. The least inci- 
 dent revealed all these perplexities, all the futility of the 
 peaceful wishes of the negotiators. On a market day, in 
 ihe church of TJxbridge, a man of the name of Love, a 
 fanatic preacher from London, inveighed, in the presence 
 of a large congregation, against the royalists and the treaty, 
 with the most outrageous virulence. " No good can come 
 of it," said he; " those people are here from Oxford witlt 
 hearts full of blood; they only want to amuse the people till 
 they can do them some notable injury; this treaty is as far 
 
Se^. HISTORY OF THE 
 
 from peace as heaven from hell." The king's commissioners 
 required that the man should be punished for his insolence^ 
 but the parliamentarians dared do no more than send him 
 from Uxbridge.' Unfavourable reports circulated as to the 
 king's real intentions ; it was said that though he had 
 yieldfed so far to the wishes of his council he had no wish 
 for peace, had promised the queen to conclude nothing with- 
 out her consent, and was far more intent upon fomenting the 
 internal dissensions of parliament, than on coming to a genuine 
 understanding with it. He was even suspected of being' 
 secretly in treaty with the papists of Ireland to raise an army 
 among them; and the most solemn protestations of his com- 
 missioners did not succeed in dispelling the distrust of the 
 city on this subject. 
 
 Meanwhile the assigned period for terminating the nego- 
 tiations approached, and the parliament showed very Httle in- 
 chnation to prolong them. Desperate at seeing the negotiators 
 about to separate without result, the friends of peacCj towards 
 the middle of February, concerted a final effort. It seemed 
 to them that some concession on the part of the king with 
 reference to' the militia, the offer, for instance, of giving up 
 the command of it for some years to leaders, half of whom 
 should be named by parliament, would not be without its 
 effect. Lord Southampton proceeded in all haste to Oxford 
 to obtain this concession from the king. Charles at first re- 
 fused; the earl entreated; other noblemen joined him, on 
 their knees, in supphcating the king, for the sake of his crown 
 and his people, not to reject this chance of favourable negoti- 
 ation. Charles at last yielded; and the desire for peace was 
 so fervent in the minds of his councillors, that in their joy, at 
 this Success, all difficulties seemed well nigh at an end. Fairfax 
 and Cromwell were among those to whom the king was him- 
 self to propose that the command of the militia should be 
 entrusted. At supper, gaiety reigned round the royal table. 
 The king complained that his wine was not good; " I hope," 
 said one of the company, laughingly, " that, in a few days, 
 your majesty will drink better at Guildhall with the lord 
 mayor." Next morning, lord Southampton, about to return 
 to Uxbridge, waited on the king to receive, in writing, the- 
 
 • Clarendon, ii. 367 ; Eushworth, ii. 3, 848; Whitelooke, 127 
 
ENGLISH KEYOLUXION. 263 
 
 instructions agreed upon j but, to his extreme astonishment, 
 Charles withdrew his promise, and definitively refused the 
 concession.^ 
 
 A letter from Montrose, received during the night from 
 the other end of Scotland, with a rapidity almost unexampled, 
 had induced this sudden change. A fortnight before, at 
 Inverlochy, in Argyleshire, Montrose had gained a brilliant 
 victory over the Scottish troops commanded by Argyle him- 
 self (Feb. 2).^ After giving an account of it to the king, he 
 went on to express his utter aversion to all treaties with the 
 rebel parliament in England. " Greatly," he wrote — " greatly 
 as the success of your majesty's arms in Scotland had exhi- 
 larated my heart, this news from England has more than 
 counterbalanced that joy. The last time I had the honour of 
 seeing your majesty, I fuUy explained to you what I know so 
 well to be the designs of your rebellious subjects in bbth king:- 
 doms; and your majesty may, perhaps, remember how much you 
 were then convinced that I was in the right. I am sure that 
 since then nothing can have happened which can have changed 
 your majesty's opinion on the subject. The more you grant, 
 the more wiU be demanded of you; and I have but too many 
 reasons to be certain that they wiU not be content till they 
 have rendered your majesty a mere king of straw. Pardon 
 me, then, august and sacred sovereign, if I venture to say 
 that, in my humble opinion, it is unworthy of a king to treat 
 with rebel subjects while they retain the sword in hand. 
 God forbid that I should seek to repress the mercy of your 
 majesty! but I shudder with horror when I think of a treaty 
 being in hand while your majesty and those people are in the 
 field, with two armies. Permit me, in all humility, to assure 
 your majesty that, with the blessing of God, I am in the right 
 way to make this kingdom submit again to your power; and 
 if the measures I have concerted with your other faithful 
 subjects do not feil, which is hardly to be supposed, before 
 the end of this summer, I shall be in a position to come to 
 tlie assistance of your majesty, with a gallant army; and, sus- 
 tained by the Justice of your cause, you will inflict on these 
 rebels, in England g.nd in Scotland, the just chastisement of 
 
 ' Wellwood'a Memoirs (1718), 62 ; Banks, A Critical Eeriew of th* 
 Life of Oliver Cromwell (1769), 108. ' WMlelocke, 133 
 
«264 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 ■their rebellion. When I have submitted this kingdom to 
 ■yonr power, and have conquered from Dan to Beer-sheba, 
 as I doubt not I shall very quickly, I hope I may have then 
 to say, as David's general said to his master: ' Cojne thou, lest 
 this country be called by my name ;' for in all my actions I 
 have nothing in view but the glory and interest of your ma- 
 jesty."' This letter had restored to the king his utmost hopes ; 
 though less confident, lord Southampton did not insist; and 
 -he brought the refusal to Uxbridge, without explaining the 
 cause of it. The conferences were broken off, and the pres- 
 byterian chiefs returned to Westminster, almost brok^- 
 hearted at a discomfiture, which threw them back once more 
 into all the dangers of their situation.^ 
 
 In their absence, that situation had grown still more perilous. 
 Compelled to abandon, for awhile at least, the self-denying 
 ordinance, the independents had directed their most ardent 
 efforts to the measure which was to accompany it, the re- 
 organization of the army. In a few days, everything had been 
 prepared, concerted, settled; the plan, the form, the expense, 
 the means of providing for it.^ Only one army was for the 
 future to be kept on foot, composed of twenty-one thousalnd 
 men, and commanded by one general, who was even to be in- 
 vested with the right of naming all the officers, subject to the 
 approbation of parliament. This general was Fairfax. For 
 a long time past, his distinguished valour, the frankness of 
 his character, the success of his expeditions, the warhke en- 
 thusiasm with which his presence inspired the troops, had 
 fixed public attention upon him; and Cromwell had answCTed, 
 publicly in the house, privately to his party for the fitness of 
 this choice. Essex retained his rank. Waller and Manchester 
 their commissions, but without even a shadow of power. On 
 the 28th of January, the ordinance which was to regulate the 
 execution of this measure was sent to the lords. They en- 
 deavoured at least to retard its adoption, by proposing various 
 amendments, and protracting the debate on each. But in this 
 instance resistance was difficult, for the ordinance had the 
 sanction of the people, who were convinced that the multi- 
 
 ' Wellwood, ut sup. » Whitelocke, 134. 
 
 " The new anay was to cost 56,139/. a month ; to be raised in nineteen 
 counties; Eushworth, i. 4, 8 — 13 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 265 
 
 plicity of armies and their chiefs was the true cause of the 
 prolongation and inefficacy of the war. Strong in this sup- 
 port, the commons urged the measure forward; the lords at 
 • last yielded (Feb. 15); and on the 19th of February, two 
 days before the rupture of the negotiations at Uxbridge, 
 Fairfax, introduced into the house, received with a simple 
 and modest air, standing by the chair which had been pre- 
 pared for him, the official compliments of the speaker.' 
 
 On their return to Westminster, the presbyterian leaders 
 endeavoured to redeem this defeat. The upper house com- 
 plained bitterly of the injurious and even threatening language 
 which had been lately used in reference to them, and of the 
 report everjTvhere in circulation that the commons meditated 
 the abolition of the peerage. The commons answered by a 
 solemn declaration of their profound respect for the rights of the 
 lords and their firm resolution to uphold them(March24).^ The 
 Scottish commissioners addressed to both houses (March 3), in 
 the name of the covenant, a remonstrance at once sharp and 
 timid.'' The commons, without noticing it, transmitted to the 
 lords another ordinance, still further enlarging Fairfax's powers, 
 and striking out from his commission the injunction hitherto 
 repeated in all similar documents, " to watch over the safety 
 of the king's person." The lords voted that it should be re- 
 Stored ; the commons refused (March 29): "this phrase," 
 they said, "would dishearten their soldiers, and encourage 
 the king to adventure his person to come at the head of Ms 
 iarmy into any danger." The lords insisted, and in three suc- 
 .cessive debates, notwithstanding the active efforts of the 
 commons, the votes were equally divided in the upper house 
 on this question.'' Everything remained in suspense: the 
 commons declared that, for their part, having now done every- 
 thing in their power, if the delay caused any misfortune, the 
 lords alone must answer for it to the country (March 31).* 
 The latter began to grow weary of a resistance of which they 
 foresaw not only the futility, but the approaching end. While 
 this was going on, the marquis of Argyle arrived from Scot' 
 land: a presbyterian ia religion, he inclined in politics to the 
 bolder class of thinkers ; and the independents. Vane and 
 
 > WTiitelocke, 131 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 340 ; Eushworth, i. 3, 7 ; Holies, 34. 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 348. = lb. 346. * lb. 350. ' Jb. 
 
266 
 
 ilTSTOUr OSr TUB 
 
 Cromwell in particular, soon contracted an intimacy with Mm.. 
 Argyle, besides, had recent injuries to avenge: a man of 
 supple and profound intellect, with great activity of mind, 
 but firmer in the council than in the field, he .had gone no 
 nearer the battle, in which the Scots were defeated at In- 
 verlochy by Montrose, than the middle of the lake, and 
 had taken to flight the instant he saw his soldiers dis- 
 perse.' From that day, both in England and in Scotland, the 
 cavaliers never mentioned his name without insult, and their 
 complete faU could alone satisfy his vengeance. He em|)loye4 
 his influence to dissuade the Scottish commissioners and some 
 of the presbyterian leaders from further opposition, not only 
 to the reorganization of the army, but to the self-denpng or- 
 dinance itself; an opposition^ he said, from which everything 
 suffered, and which sooner or later the necessity of the case 
 must inevitably overcome,^ Essex saw the resolution of hia 
 friends daily more and more wavering. Determined to anti- 
 cipate their weakness, he announced that he would resign his 
 commission; and on the 1st of April, rising in his place in the 
 upper house, with a paper in his hand, to which he constantly 
 referred, for he was altogether unskiRed in the art of speaking, 
 he said: " My lords, having received this great charge in obe;-, 
 dience to the commands of both houses, and taken their swordj 
 into my hand, I can with confidence say that I have for these 
 now almost three years, faithfully served you, and I hope, 
 without loss of honour to myself or prejudice to the public. 
 I see, by the now coming up of these ordinances, that it is 
 the desire of the house of commons that my commission may 
 be vacated; and it hath been no particular respect to myself 
 (whatever is whispered to the contrary) that hath made mq 
 thus long omit to declare my readiness thereto, it being not 
 unknown to divers men of honour, that I had resolved it after 
 the action of Gloucester, but that some importunities (pressed 
 on me with Arguments of public advantagOj and that by those 
 of unquestionable affection) overruled me therein. I now do 
 it, and return my commission into those hands that gave it 
 me; wishing it may prove as good an expedient to the present 
 distempers, as some wiU have it believed. I think it not im- 
 
 ' Malcolm Laing.Hist. of Scotland, &o., iii. 294. 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 910. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 267 
 
 modest, that I entreat both houses that those officers of mine 
 which are now laid by, might have their debentures audited, 
 some considerable part of' their arrears paid them for their 
 support, and the remainder secured them by the public faith. 
 My lords, I know that jealousies cannot be avoided in the 
 unhappy condition of our present affairs, yet wisdom and 
 charity should put such restraint thereto, as not to allow it to 
 become destructive. I hope that this advice from me is not 
 unseasonable, wishing myself and friends may, among others, 
 participate the benefit thereof; this proceeding from my affec- 
 tion to the parliament, the prosperity whereof I shaU ever 
 wish from my heart, what return soever it bring myself — I 
 being no single example, in that kind, of that fortune I now 
 undergo."' 
 
 This speech seemed to the upper house quite a providential 
 deliverance. They hastened to inform the commons that 
 they adopted the ordinance for the reorganization of the army, 
 without amendment (April 3). At the same time, the earls 
 of Denbigh and Manchester also gave in their resignation. 
 The house voted them, for this patriotic sacrifice, thanks and 
 promises, which the commons fully sanctioned. The next 
 day, a self-denjang ordinance, somewhat differing from the 
 first, but tending to just the same results, passed without ob- 
 stacle in the upper house ;^ and men congratulated them- 
 selves on seeing at last terminated a contest which had caused 
 them so much anxiety. 
 
 > Pail. Hist. iu. 352. 
 ' Pari. Hist. iii. 3S3 — 355. See the self-denying ordinance, in the Par- 
 Uuuentary History, iii. 353. 
 
268 HISTORY OF Ta 
 
 BOOK THE SIXTH. 
 1645—1646. 
 
 Fonnation of the army of the independents — Cromwell retaiiis his commaad 
 — Campaign of 164S-^-Al!mns of parliamenl^Battle of Naseby — The par- 
 liament seizes and publishes the king's private correspondence — Decline 
 of the royalist party in the west — Flight and anxiety of the lung — Mon- 
 trose's victory in Scotland — The Mng attempts to join him, but without 
 success — ^Defeat of Montrose — The lung's stay at Newai'k — He retiuns 
 to Oxford and seeks to renew negotiations vrith the parliament-'Thp 
 ■parliament rejects the overture — New elections — The king treats with 
 
 ' the insurgent Irish — The treaty discovered — Defeat of the last royalist 
 troops— -The king escapes from Oxford and seeks refuge in tjie Scottish 
 camp. 
 
 No sooner had Essex and Manchester given in their resigna- 
 tion, than Fairfax quitted London (April 3), and fixing his 
 head-quarters at Windsor, set himself .assiduously to work tp 
 form, out of their two armies, the new force he was to com- 
 mand. It had been predicted that this process would meet 
 with violent resistance; and Cromwell, to whom, as wellag 
 to Essex and Manchester, the self-denying ordinance ex- 
 tended, had repelled aU such fears, protesting, that as far as 
 he was concerned, " his soldiers had been taught to march 
 or remain, to fight or to lay down their arms, according to 
 the commands of parliament." Some seditions, however, 
 broke out, particularly at Reading, where there were five 
 regiments of Essex's infantry, and in Hertfordshire, where 
 ■eight squadrons of his cavalry were quartered, under the 
 command of colonel Dalbier. The presence of Skippon, who 
 had been named major-general of the new army, and his 
 rough but eflfective eloquence, sufficed to appease the regi- 
 ments at Beading (April 6). Those of Dalbier were not so 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 269 
 
 readily tranquillized; it was even reported in London that 
 they were about to join the king at Oxford; and St. John, 
 ever violent and disposed to severity, wrote to the leaders in 
 Hertfordshire, to faU suddenly, and sword in hand, on the 
 factious. But through the influence of some of the cashiered 
 officers and of Essex himself, Dalbier at last submitted, and 
 proceeded to head-quarters. In truth, the discontent among 
 the soldiers was of no very marked character, and they re- 
 signed themselves without difficulty to their new leaders. 
 The parliament gave them a fortnight's pay, and ordered that 
 the confiscated estates of some of the delinquents should be 
 sold to satisfy the most pressing demands. Cromwell's sol- 
 diers also mutinied, ' notwithstanding his guarantee to~ the 
 contrary, declaring they would serve under no other leader; 
 and Cromwell alone had power enough over them to make 
 them return to their duty. At the first intimation of their 
 insubordination, he set off to render, as he said, this last 
 service to parliament before he quitted his command. To- 
 wards the 20th of April, the work was almost accomplished; 
 all the new corps were organized without difficulty; in Lon- 
 don alone, the excitement was prolonged by the crowds of 
 Cashiered officers who all flocked thither, either to solicit the 
 payment of their arrears, or to watch the progress of events.' 
 At Oxford the king and court were full of hope. After 
 the rupture of the negotiations at Uxbridge, and notwith- 
 standing the brilliant news from Scotland, Charles had felt 
 some uneasiness. Though by no means eager for peace, it 
 was his interest that the pacific party should predominate at 
 Westminster, and their defeat alarmed him for the moment. 
 He resolved to separate from his son Charles, prince of Wales, 
 who was now approaching his fifteenth year, and to send 
 him, with the title of generalissimo, into the western counties, 
 both to give to those faithful districts a chief capable still of 
 animating their devotion, and to divide the perils which 
 might threaten royalty* Hyde and lords Capel and Cole- 
 pepper, were ordered to accompany the prince and direct 
 everything in his name. Such was, at this period, the de- 
 spondency of the king's thoughts, that he conversed several 
 times with Hyde on what would happen if he himself were 
 
 ' HoUss, Memoirs, 3], et passim; Eusliworth, i. 4, 17. 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 to fall into the hands of the rebels, and indirectly sounded 
 him, by means of lord Digby, as to whether in case of need 
 and without orders, and even contrary to ostensible orders, 
 he would decide to take the prince out of England, and con- 
 vey him to the continent. " Such questions," answered 
 Hyde, " cannot be resolved until the time of need;" and on 
 the 4th of March the prince and his councillors took leave o£ 
 the king, whom they never saw agadn.^ But a month after, 
 when it was known at Oxford what obstacles impeded the 
 reorganization of the parliamentary army, when the regi-' 
 ments were seen in insurrection, and the most illustrious 
 officers put aside, confidence and gaiety reappeared among 
 the cavaliers. Soon they only spoke with derision of this 
 mob of peasants and preaching mechanics, idiots enough 
 to drive from them generals whose names and ability had 
 constituted their sole strength, and to raise to the command 
 officers as obscure, as utter novices as their soldiers. Songs,, 
 jests, puns, were daily sent forth against the parliament and 
 its defenders; and the king, in spite of his grave tempera- 
 ment, allowed himself to be persuaded by these convenient 
 arguments. He had, besides, secret hopes, arising from in- 
 trigues of which even his most intimate confidants' were 
 ignorant. 
 
 Towards the end of April, Fairfax announcea that m a 
 few days he should open the campaign. CromweU went to 
 Windsor, to kiss, as he said, the general's hand, and take 
 him his resignation. On seeing him enter the room, Fairfax 
 said,, " I have just received from the committee of the two 
 kingdoms an order which has reference to you; it directs you 
 to proceed directly with some horse, to the road betweeri 
 Oxford and "Worcester, to intercept communications between 
 prince Rupert and the king.* The same evening CromweU 
 departed on his mission, and in five days, before any other 
 corps of the new army had put itself in motion, he had beaten 
 the royalists in three encounters (April 24, at Islip-bridge; 
 26, at Witney; 27, at Bampton Bush), taken Bletching- 
 ton (April 24), and sent to the house a full report of his 
 success.' "Who wiU bring me this CromweU, dead or 
 
 ^ Claxendon, Mem. i. 230. 
 
 * Sprigg, Anglia Eediviva (London, 1047), 10; Eusnwortli, i. 4, 28. 
 
 ' Poi-l. Hist. iii. 339 ; Bustavorth, i, i, 24. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 271 
 
 aiive!"' cried the king; while in London all were rejoicing 
 that he had not yet given in his resignation. 
 
 A week had scarcely passed, and the parliament had already 
 made up its mind that he should not r-jsign. The campaign 
 . had commenced (April 30. ) The king, quitting Oxford (May 7)j 
 Itad rejoined prince Rupcxt, and was' proceeding towards the 
 north, either to raise the siege of Chester, or to give battle 
 to the Scottish army, and regain on that side his former ad- 
 vantages ; if he succeeded, he would be in a position to 
 threaten, as he pleased, the east or the south; and Fairfax, 
 then on his way to the west, to deliver the important town of 
 Taunton, closely invested by the prince of Wales, could not 
 oppose his progress. Fairfax was recalled (May 5) ; but, mean- 
 time, Cromwell alone was in a condition to watch the king's 
 movements. Notwithstanding the ordinance, he received 
 orders to continue his service forty days (May 10.)^ Sir 
 WiUiam Brereton, sir Thomas Middleton, and sir John Price, 
 distinguished officers, and members of the commons, received 
 similar orders,^ either from similar motives, or that Cromwell 
 might not seem the only exception. 
 
 Fairfax hastened his return; the king. had continued his 
 march towards the north; in London, without its being alto- 
 gether known why, the alarm was somewhat appeased; no 
 royalist army any longer covered Oxford, the focus of war in 
 the centre of the kingdom; the parliament behoved it had 
 assured friends in the place; Fairfax received orders to 
 invest it (May l?.)* If he took it, it would be an immense 
 success; if the siege was prolonged, he could proceed thence 
 without obstacle, to any point which the king might threaten. 
 Cromwell joined him before Oxford. 
 
 They had scarcely met when alarm once more spread 
 throughout London, more intense than ever. Every day 
 unfavourable. news came from the north; the Scottish army, 
 instead of marching to meet the king and give him battle, 
 had fallen back towards the border; from necessity, according 
 to some, in order to be in a position to oppose the growing 
 progress of Montrose in that kingdom; from ill humour, ac- 
 cording to others, because parhament had refused to submit 
 
 > Bank's Critical Ee-riew.&o., 23. = Poi-l. Hist. iii. 361; Whttelodre, 14S. 
 s Whitelocke, 146. ' The siege began on tlie SSnd ; Eushworth, 
 i. 4, 33 ; Pai-l. Hist. iii. 364 ; Joiu-nals, Lords. v 
 
272 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 to the yoke of Presbyterians and strangers.' However this 
 may have been, favoured by their retreat, the king had only 
 to approach the walls of Chester to raise the siege; and, easy 
 as to this place, his mudium Of communication with Ireland, 
 he directed his march towards the confederate counties of the 
 east, hitherto the bulwark of parliament. At aU hazards, it 
 was essential to secure them from this invasion. No one 
 could eiFect this object so well as Cromwell, for in that 
 quarter, more especially, his influence prevailed; there had 
 commenced his military levies, his military triumphs. He 
 received orders to move directly upon Cambridge, and takes 
 in hand the defence of the confederation.^ 
 
 A more pressing danger soon occasioned his recal. A week 
 after his departure came the news that the king had taken 
 the rich town of Leicester by storm (June 1, 1645), and that, 
 in the west, Taunton, of late relieved by a detachment of 
 Fairfax's army, was again closely besieged.' Utter consterna- 
 tion prevailed; the presbyterians triumphed : " There," said 
 they, " is the fruit of your boasted re-organization ! since; 
 it has been effected, what has been seen? Vague speculation 
 and defeats. The king takes one of our best places in a day, 
 while your general remains motionless before Oxford, doubt^; 
 less waiting for the women of the court to get frightened, and 
 open the gates to him."'' The only answer to this was a 
 petition from the common council, presented to the upper 
 house,^ on the 5th of June, in which all the miscMef was 
 attributed to the inactivity of the Scots, to the delays which 
 still impeded the recruiting of the army, to the pretensioa 
 kept up by parliament to regulate at a distance the operations 
 of the war; the petitioners demanded that more discretioa 
 should be given to the general, a more decisive intimation 
 to the Scots, to Cromwell his former command. At the same 
 time, Fairfax received orders (June 5) to leave the siege of 
 Oxford, to go in search of the king, and fight at any rate; 
 Before he set out he sent to parliament an application, signed 
 by himself and sixteen colonels, for Cromwell to join him, an 
 officer, he said, indispensably needed to command the cavalry.^ 
 
 » Old Pari. Hist. xiii. 474— 488. 
 s Busliworth, i. 4, 35 ; May, A Breviary of the History of the Parliament 
 (1655), lae ; Holies, 35. 
 « Whitolocke, 149, « Clnrendon, ii. 980. » Pari. Hist. iii. 305. 
 » « Pari. Hist. iii. 308. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 275^ 
 
 The lords deferred their answer, but the authorization of the 
 commons was prompt, and accepted as sufficient. Fairfax 
 immediately sent word to Cromwell (June 11);' all the regi- 
 ments hastened their march; and on the 12th of June, a little 
 to the west of Northampton, some of the parliamentary- 
 cavalry, sent to reconnoitre, unexpectedly came upon a de- 
 tachment of the king's army. 
 
 He was far from expecting their approach; informed of 
 tho blockade of Oxford, and yielding to the fears of the 
 besieged court, who entreated him to return,^ he had given 
 up his expedition into the northern and eastern counties, and 
 marched to reUeve his head-quarters. But his confidence 
 was not shaken; on the contrary, another victory by Mon- 
 trose had just still more highly elated his spirits.^ " Never 
 since the beginning of the rebellion," ^e wrote to the queen, 
 " have my affairs been in so good a position" (June 9.)'' Hfe 
 accordingly continued his march leisurely, stopping in such 
 places as pleased his eye, spending whole days in hunting, and 
 permitting to his cavaliers, who were still more confident 
 than he, as much liberty as himself.* On the first intimation 
 of the near approach of the parliamentary army, he fell back 
 towards Leicester, to rally his troops, and await those which 
 were to reach him shortly from Wales or from the western 
 counties. The next day (June 13), at supper time, liis con- 
 fidence was still unimpaired, and he had no thought of giving 
 battle." But he was informed that some of the parliamenta- 
 rian squadrons were harassing his rear-guard. Cromwell had 
 been with the army for several hours.' A council of war 
 was immediately called ; and towards midnight, notwith- 
 standing the opposition of several officers, who entreated that 
 the reinforcements should be waited for, prince Rupert caused 
 it to be decided that they should instantly turn and advance 
 upon the enemy. 
 
 The meeting took place the next morning (Jtine 14), at 
 
 ' EusUworth, i. 4, 39. ' Memoirs of James II. 
 
 ' Gained at Auldeain, in the county of Nairn, in the north of Scotland, 
 the 4th of May, 1C45. 
 
 * Ludlow, Mem. ^ Kushworth, i. 4, 40 ; Clai-endon, ii. 985. 
 
 • Evelyn, Memoirs, ii. App. 97, in a letter from the king to the secretaiT 
 of state, Nicholas, dated the 13th of June. 
 
 ' Bushworth, i. 4, 41 ; May, Breviary, 127. 
 T 
 
274- HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Naseby, to the nortli-west of Northampton. At dawn of day- 
 the king's army formed on a slight eminence, in an advan- 
 tageous position. The scouts, sent to reconnoitre the parlia- 
 inentary army, returned in two hours, and reported that they 
 saw nothing of it. Eupert, losing patience, went himaelf on' 
 the look-out, with a few squadi-ons; it was agreed that the 
 army should remain stationary till he returned. Ha had' 
 scarcely gone a mile and a half before the advanced guard 
 of the enemy appeared, in full march towards the cavaMers. 
 In his excitement, the prince imagined they were re- 
 treating, and pushed on, sending word to the king to come 
 and join him with all speed, lest the enemy should escape. 
 Towards ten o'clock the royalist army came up, somewhati 
 disordered by the precipitation of their advance; and Rupert,! 
 at the head of the right wing of the cavahy, immediately 
 dashed down upon the left wing of the parliamentarians, com- 
 manded by Ireton, who soon after became Cromwell's son-in-: 
 law (Jan 15, 1647). Nearly at the same moment, Qromwell,! 
 whose squadrons occuJ)ied the right wing, attacked the left 
 wing of the king, composed of the cavaliers of the northern! 
 counties, under the command of sir Marmaduke Langdale^ 
 and immediately after, the two bodies of infantry, posted in 
 the centre — the one under Fairfax and Skippon, the other- 
 Commanded by the king in person, also came to action. No 
 battle as yet had been so rapidly general or so fiercely con- 
 tested. The two armies were nearly of equal strength; the 
 royalists, intoxicated with insolent confidence, sent forth as 
 their war-cry Queen Mary ; the parliamentarians, firm in 
 their faith, marched forward singing, God is with us ! Prince 
 Eupert made his first attack with his accustomed success; 
 after a warm conflict, Ireton's squadrons were broken; Ireton 
 himself, wounded in the shoulder, and his thigh pierced 
 by a pike, fell for awhile into the hands of the cavaliers. 
 But while Eupert, always carried oMay by the same fault, 
 pursued the enemy up to the baggage, well defended by artil- 
 lery, and lost time in attacking that post in the hope oC 
 booty, Cromwell, on his side, master of himself and of his 
 men as at Marston Moor, drove in Langdale's squadrons, and 
 leaving two of his officers to prevent their rallying, hastened 
 back to the field of battle, where the infantry were engaged. 
 The conflict was here rnqre violent and deadly than anywhere 
 
ENGLISH HEVOLUTION. "27^ 
 
 felse. The parliamentarians, cliarged by the king in persoE^ 
 had been at first thrown into great disorder; Skippon was 
 severely wounded; Fairfax urged. him to retire; " No," said 
 he, " as long as one man will stand, I wont stir;" and he 
 ordered his reserve to advance. A blow from a sword beat o^ 
 Fairfax's helmet; Charles Doyley, the colonel of his guards, 
 seeing him ride about the field bareheaded, offered him his. 
 "It is well enough, Charles," said Fairfax, and refused it. 
 Then pointing out to him a division of the royal infantry, 
 which had as yet resisted every assault, " Can't those people 
 be got at," said he; " have you charged them?" — " Twice, 
 general, but I could not break them." — " Well, take them in 
 front, I will take them in the rear, and we will meet in the 
 middle;" and they did, indeed, meet in the midst of the dis- 
 persed ranks, Fairfax killed with his own hand the ensign, 
 and delivered the colours into the hands of one of his men; 
 the latter boasted of this as an exploit of his own: Doyley, who 
 overheard the man, grew angry : " I have honour enough," 
 said Fairfax, who happened to pass at the time; " let him take 
 that to himself." The royalists were, in their turn, giving way 
 in every direction when Cromwell returned with his victorious 
 squadrons. Desperate at this sight, Charles put himself at the 
 head of his regiment of life-guards, the only one he had left in 
 reserve, to attack this new enemy. The order was already 
 given and the troops in motion, when the earl of Carnewarth, 
 a Scotchman, who was galloping by the side of the king, 
 suddenly caught hold of his bridle, and exclaiming, with an 
 oath, " Do you want to get killed?" turned him suddenly to 
 the right. The cavaliers who were nearest the king turned 
 also, without understanding why; the others followed, and in 
 an instant the whole regiment had their backs to the enemy. 
 The surprise of the army became terror; all dispersed over 
 the plain, some to escape, others to stay the fugitives. Charles, 
 amidst a group of ofiicers, in vain cried — " Stop! stop!" The 
 dispersion went on unchecked, till prince Rupert returned to 
 the field of battle with his squadrons. A numerous body 
 then formed round the king, but disordered, weary, per- 
 plexed, despondent. Charles, sword in hand, his eyes glar- 
 ing, despair in every feature, twice dashed forward, vehe- 
 mently exclaiming, " Grentlemen, one charge more, and we 
 recover the day." But no one followed him; the infantry, 
 
 t2 
 
276 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 broken in every direction, were in full flight, or already pri- 
 soners; retreat was the only course left open; and the king, 
 with about two thousand horse, galloped off in the direction 
 of Leicester, leaving his artillery, ammunition, baggage, more 
 than one hundred flags, his own standard, five thousand men, 
 and aU his cabinet papers in the possession of parliament.' 
 
 This victory surpassed the most daring hopes. Fairfax 
 hastened to inform the parliament of it in a calm, simple 
 tone, without any pohtical allusion or advice. Cromwell 
 wrote also, but only to the commons, as holding his commis- 
 sion from them alone; his letter concluded with these words: 
 " This is none other but the hand of God, and to him alone 
 belongs the glory, wherein none are to share with him. The 
 general served you with all faithfulness and honour; and the 
 best commendations I can give him is, that I dare say he at- 
 tributes all to God, and would rather perish than assume to 
 himself, which is an honest and a thriving way; and yet as 
 touch for bravery may be given him in this action as to a man. 
 Honest men/' (by these he meant the fanatical independents) 
 " served you faithfully 'in this action, sir; they are trusty; I 
 beseech you, in the name of God, not to discourage them. I 
 wish this action may beget thankfulness and humility in all 
 that are concerned in it. He that ventures his life for the 
 liberty of his country, I wish he trust God for the liberty of 
 , his conscience, and you for the liberty he fights for."'' 
 
 Some were offended at seeing a subordinate officer, a ser- 
 vant of parliament; as they said, distribute advice and praise 
 in such a tone; but their displeasure had little effect amidst 
 the public exultation; and the day on which Cromwell's letter 
 reached London, the lords themselves voted that his com- 
 mand should be extended to three months longer (June 16).f 
 
 They voted, at the same time, that advantage ought to he 
 taken of this victory to address to the king reasonable pro- 
 posals (June 20),'' and the Scottishr commissioners expressed 
 the same feeling (July 28).° But the conquerors were very 
 fai- from any such idea, Instead of answering, the commons 
 requested (June 30) that the whole body of citizens should 
 
 > Eushworth, i. i, 42-44; Clarendon, ii. 985, &(;. ; Whitelocke, 101; 
 "May, Hreviai'v, 128. 
 
 ' Eushivorth, i. 4, 45, 40. ' Pari. Hist, iii, 374, 
 
 « lb, 375. ' lb. 380. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 277 
 
 oe invited to assemble at Guildhall to hear read the papeis 
 found among the king's baggage, particularly his letters to 
 the queen, that they might judge for themselves what trust- 
 could thenceforward be placed in negotiation. Fairfax had 
 hesitated to open these papers, but Cromwell and Ireton had 
 combated his scruples, and the house had not shared them. 
 The reading took place (July 3) in the midst of an immense 
 concourse of people,' and had a prodigious effect. It was 
 clear that the king had never desired peace; that in his eyes 
 no concession was definitive, no promise obligatory; that, in 
 reality, he relied only on force, and still aimed at absolute 
 power; finally that, despite protestations a thousand times re- 
 peated, he was negotiating with the king of France, the 
 duke of Lorraine, with all the princes of the continent, to 
 have foreign soldiers sent into England for his purposes. 
 Even the name of parliament, which just before, to obtain 
 the conference at tJxbridge, he had seemed to give the houses ' 
 at Westminster, was bi^t a deception on his part, for, in. 
 giving it, he had privately protested against his official pro- 
 ceeding, and caused his protest to be inscribed on the minutes 
 of the council at Oxford.' Every citizen was allowed to 
 convince himself, with his own eyes, that these letters were 
 really in the king's own handwriting;^ and after the meeting 
 at Guildhall, the parliament had them published.^ 
 
 Anger became universal; the friends of peace were reduced 
 to silence. Some attempted, but in vain, to prevent this pub- 
 lication, a gross violation, they said, of domestic secrets. 
 The asked how far their authenticity could be relied on, 
 whether it was not probable that several had been mutilated 
 and others altogether omitted;* they insinuated that in par- 
 
 » Par). Hist. iii. 377 ; May, Breyiaiy, 129. 
 
 ' Letters from the Jd^g to the queen, of the 3nd and 9th of January, ISth 
 and 19th of Febraary; 8th, 13th, and 30th of March; Xudlow's Mem.; 
 Evelyn's Mem. App. ii. 90 ; App. xiii. 
 
 ' May, ut sup. 
 
 * Under the title of " The King^s Cabinet opened, or certain packets of 
 secret letters and papers, written by the king's hand, and taken from bis 
 portfolio on the field of battle of Naseby, the 14th of June, 1645, by the 
 victorious sir Thomas Fairfax, in which are revealed many mysteries of 
 state, which fully justify the cause for which sir Thomas Fairfax gave battle 
 on that memorable day; with notes." 
 
 ' The king never denied the authenticity of these letters ; he even expressly 
 acknowledges it in a letter written to sir Edward Nicholas, on the 4th of 
 
278' HisTOEr OF the 
 
 Kament, also, there were certain men who had negotiated 
 with no greater sincferity, and were equally determined 
 against peace; but no explanation, no excuse is received by a 
 people when it has once discovered that an attempt has been 
 made to deceive it. Besides, admitting all this, the king's 
 bad faith remained evident, and, to secure peace, it was to 
 Mm they must look. War alone was now spoken of; the 
 levies of troops were hurried on, taxes energetically collected, 
 the estates of delinquents sold, all the troops received their pay, 
 all the- more important towns were thoroughly supplied with 
 ammunition.' The Scots, at last, consented to advance into 
 the interior of the kingdom (July 2);^ and Fairfax, finding 
 no longer even fugitives to pursue, had resumed his march 
 (June 20), for the purpose of carrying out in the western 
 counties the object which the siege erf Oxford had obliged him 
 to suspend. 
 
 EveiTthing was changed in these counties, hitherto the bul- 
 wark of the royal cause; not that the opinion of the people 
 Lad become more favourable to parliament, but that it was 
 alienated from the king. He still, indeed, possessed there 
 several regiments, and almost all the towns; but the war was 
 no longer carried on there as in the outset, by steady, re- 
 spected, popular men — the marquis of Hertford, sir Bevil 
 Greenville, lord Hopton, Trevannion, Slanning, disinterested 
 friends of the crown; some of these were dead, others dis- 
 gusted, estranged by court intrigues, and sacrificed by the 
 king's weakness. Li their stead, two intriguers, lord Goring 
 and sir Richard Greenville, commanded there — one' the most 
 debauched, the other the most rapacious of the cavaliers; no 
 principle, no affection attached them to the royal cause, but 
 by making war in its name, they obtained the opportunity of 
 gratifying their own passions, of oppressing their enemies, 
 of revenging, enjoying, enpching themselves. Goring was 
 brave, beloved by his men, and not deficient either in skill 
 or energy on the field of battle; but nothing could equal his 
 recklessness and the insolent intemperance of his conduct and 
 
 Augffist, 1646, wMoli was a few weeks after the publication (Sir John Eve- 
 lyn's Memoirs, Appendix, ii. 101) ; and the text published by parliament is 
 exactly the same &3 that inserted in the ' Works of Chailes I.,' publishei' 
 ia London, 1660. • 
 
 1 Pul. Hist., iii. 377. 2 jd. it, 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 279 
 
 his language even. Nor was his loyalty to be relied upon ; he 
 had already betrayed, first the king,' then the paiiiament,^ and 
 seemed always on the point of some new treason.' Sir Richard 
 Greenville, less disorderly and more influential with the 
 nobility of the country, was stern and insatiable, and his 
 courage, if not dubious, at all events not very eager. He 
 passed his time in levying contributions fbr troops which he 
 did not collect, or for expeditions which he did not even 
 take the trouble to begin. The army was changed as well 
 as its leaders; it was no longer a party risen in defence of its 
 affections and its interests — frivolous, indeed, but Sincere, 
 licentious but devoted; it was a rabble of vagabonds, utterly 
 indifferent to the cause, committing day and night the most 
 intolerable excesses, and disgusting, by their vices, a country 
 ruined by their extortions. The prince of Wales, or rather 
 his council, reduced to make use of such men, wore themselves 
 out in fruitless efforts by turns to satisfy or to control 
 them; sometimes to protect the people against them, at 
 others to induce the people to take their place.* 
 
 The people, however, no longer responded to the appeal; 
 they ere long went further. Thousands of peasants met, 
 and, under the the name of " clubmen," went in arms about 
 the country. They had no party views, they did not declare 
 for the parliament; all they wished was, to keep the ravages 
 of war from their villages and fields, and they set upon 
 whomsoever they had reason to apprehend these ravages 
 from, without asking under what name they carried on their 
 spoliations. Already, the year before, some bands had 
 assembled in the same manner in Worcestershire and Dorset- 
 shire, provoked by the violence of prince Rupert. In the 
 month of March, 1645, the clubmen became, in the western 
 counties, a permanent, regular, organized force, even com- 
 manded by gentlemen, of whom some had served in the 
 king's army, and constantly engaged in the defence of pro- 
 perty and persons, and in asserting of der and peace. They- 
 treated with the troops and garrisons of both parties, under- 
 taking to supply them with provisions, on condition that 
 
 » In' 1641, at the time the, army first conspired against the parliament. 
 
 2 In August, 1642, at the beginning of the ciYil war, by giving up Ports- 
 month to the king, of which place parliament had appointed Wm the go- 
 '»emor. J Clarendon, ii. passim, * Id. ib. 
 
280 HISTOUT OF THE 
 
 they ■would not seize any with violence, even sometimes pre- 
 vented them from coming to blows, and they had inscribecl 
 on their rustic colours these words; 
 
 " If you offer to plunder our cnttle, 
 Be assured we will gi>e you battle."' 
 
 So long as ths royalists prevailed in the west, it was against 
 them the clubmen assembled, and it was with the parlia- 
 mentarians that they seemed disposed to combine. Now 
 they threatened to bum the houses of whomsoever refused 
 to join them in exterminating the cavaliers,^ and in- 
 vited Massey, who commanded in the name of the parha- 
 ment in Worcestershire, to come with them and besiege 
 Hfereford, whence the cavaliers infested the country.^ On 
 the 2nd of June, at "Wells, six thousand of them addressed a, 
 petition to the prince of Wales, complaining of Goring, 
 and notwithstanding the prince's orders, refused to separate.*, 
 In the beginning of July, Fairfax arrived as a conqueror in 
 the west; the cavaliers were intimidated and ceased to de- 
 vastate the country. The clubmen immediately turned 
 against Fairfax and his soldiers.* But Fairfax had a good 
 army, well paid, well provisioned, in which enthusiasm and 
 discipline lent each other a mutual support. He dealt 
 gently with the clubmen, negotiated with them, personally 
 attended some of their meetings, and promised them peace 
 while vigorously prosecuting war. In a few days the cam- 
 paign was at an end. Goring, surprised and beaten at Lang- 
 port, in Somersetshire (July 10), left the remnant of his 
 troops to disperse whither they liked; sir Eichard Green- 
 ville sent his commission of field-marshal to the prince of 
 Wales, impudently complaining that he had been made ta 
 carry on the war at his own expense;" and three weeks after 
 the arrival of Fairfax, the cavaliers, who had lately traversed 
 the west of England as masters, were almost all shut up in 
 the towns which Fairfax next prepared to besiege. 
 
 Meantime, in every direction, people were asking one 
 
 ' Clarendon, ii. 997; Letter from Fairfax to the committee of the 
 two kingdoms, July 3, 1645 ; Pari. Hist., iii. 380 ; Whitelooke, passtwi ; 
 Neia, iii. 90. « Whiteloke, 136 = Jb., passim. 
 
 * Clarendon, ut sup. » Pari. Hist., iii. 380—386. 
 
 • Clarendon, ii. 1008. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 281, 
 
 another what the king was doing — nay, where he was, for- 
 scarcely any one knew. After the disaster of Naseby he had 
 fled from town to town, scarcely giving himself any repose, 
 and taking sometimes the road to the north, sometimes that 
 to the west, to join Montrose or Goring, according to the rpo- 
 Ijility of his fears and projects. On arriving at Hereford, he 
 resolved to go into Wales, where he hoped to recruit his in- 
 fantry, sent prince Rupert to Bristol, and proceeded himself 
 to Ragland castle, the seat of the marquis of Worcester, the 
 chief of the catholic party, and the richest nobleman in 
 England. Secret projects, in which the catholics alone could 
 aid him, regulated this determination. Besides, for three 
 years the marquis had given the king proofs of inexhaustible 
 devotion; he had lent him 100,000/., had levied at his own ex- 
 pense two regiments, under the command of his son, lord Her- 
 bert, earl of Glamorgan, and notwithstanding his age and in- 
 firmities, personally superintended a strong garrison in his 
 own castle. He received the king with respectful pomp, 
 assembled the nobility of the neighbourhood, and surrounded 
 him with the festivities, the sports, the homage, the pleasures 
 of a court. The fugitive Charles breathed freely for awhile, 
 as if restored to his natural position; and for more than a 
 fortnight, forgetting his misfortunes, his perils, his kingdom, 
 only thought of enjoying his renewed royalty.' 
 
 The news of the disasters in the west, drew him at last 
 from this illusive apathy. At the same time, he learned that 
 in the north the Scots had taken Carlisle (June 28), and 
 were marching towards the south, meditating the siege of 
 Hereford. He left Ragland to go to the assistance of Goring, 
 but had scarcely reached the banks of the Severn, before the 
 ill condition of the new levies, the dissensions among the 
 oificers, and a thousand unforeseen difficulties discouraged 
 him, and he returned into Wales. He was at Cardiff, not 
 knowing upon what to resolve, when a letter was delivered 
 to him, written by prince Rupert to the duke of Richmond, 
 to be shown to the king. The prince considered that all was 
 lost, and counselled peace, on whatever terms. As soon as 
 his honour seemed in danger, Charles regained an energy 
 which he never had when his mere personal safety was in- 
 
 » Walker's Discourses, 132. 
 
282 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 •rolved. He at once replied to his neptew thus (Aug. 3) 
 " If I had any other quarrel but the defence of my religion, 
 crown, and friends, you had fuU reason for your advice. For 
 1 confess, that speaking either as tQ mere soldier or statesman, 
 1 must say there is no probability but of my ruin; but as to 
 Christian, I must tell you, that God will not suffer rebels to 
 prosper, or his cause to be overthrown: and whatever per- 
 sonal punishment it shall please hinj to inflict upon me must 
 not make me repine, much less to give over this quarrel. I 
 must avow to all my friends, that he that will stay with me 
 at this time, must expect and resolve either to die for a good 
 cause. Or which is worse, to live as miserable in the main- 
 taining it as the violence of insulting rebels can make him. — ■ 
 For Grod's sake, let us not flatter ourselves with these con- 
 ceits; and believe me, the very imagination that you are de- 
 sirous of a treaty, will lose me so much the sooner;"' and, to 
 raUy his dejected adherents, recalling himself all his courage, 
 he at once quitted Wales, passed, without being observed, the 
 quarters of the Scottish army already encamped under the 
 walls of Hereford, rapidly traversed Sluropshire, Staffordshire, 
 Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, and, arriving . safely in 
 Yorkshire, summoned all his faithful cavaliers in the north to 
 go with him to join Montrose, like them Mthful, and stiU 
 victorious.^ 
 
 The cavaliers hastened to obey the summons; the presence 
 of the king,who had so long lived among them, excited a warm 
 enthusiasm throughout the country; at the first mention of 
 levying a regiment of infantry, large bodies of men, among the 
 rest, the late garrisons of Pontefract and Scarborough, which 
 had been obliged to surrender for want of provisions, and 
 were now at liberty, came forward, and in three days nearly 
 three thousand men had offered their services to the king, pro- 
 inising to be ready, within twenty-fdur hours, to march at a mo- 
 ment's notice. They now only waited for a letter from Mon- 
 trose, to know whether they should go and join him in Scotland 
 or meet him in England, All at once, they learned that David 
 Lesley, at the head of the Scottish cavairy, had quitted the 
 Siege of Hereford,- and was already at Eotherham, ten miles 
 from Doncaster, seeking everywhere for the king. The 
 
 Clnrendon, ii. 301 9. 2 Walker, lU, 186. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 283 
 
 tlisaster of Naseby had given an eifectual blow to the iniagi- 
 ilation of the royalists; their confidence was no longer proof 
 against the approach of danger. Many quitted Dcncaster, 
 and no others took their place: in the opinion of even the 
 bravest, it was too late to attempt a junction with Montrose; 
 the king's safety was now the sole point to be attended to. 
 He departed, followed by about fifteen hundred horse, tra- 
 versed without obstacle the centre of the kingdom, even de- 
 feated on the road a few parliamentary detachments, and re- 
 entered Oxford on the 29th of August, not knowing what to 
 do with the handful of troops which now remained to him.' 
 
 He had been there "two days, when the news reached him 
 of the recent and prodigious success of Montrose in Scotland; 
 it was no longer merely in the extreme north of the kingdom, 
 among the highlanders, that the royal cause was triumphant; 
 Montrose had advanced towards the south, into the lowlands; 
 and on the 15th of August, at Kilsyth, not far from the ruins 
 of the Roman wall, had obtained over the covenanters, com- 
 manded by Baillie, the seventh and most splendid of his vic- 
 tories. The hostile army was destroyed; all the neighbouring 
 towns, Bothwell, Glasgow, even E(Knbnrgh, had opened theic 
 gates to the conqueror; all the royalists whom the Scottish 
 parliament had detained in prison, were released; all the timid, 
 who had waited for some decided success to declare themselves, 
 the marquis of Douglas, the earls of Annandale and Linlith- 
 gow, the lords Seaton, Drummond, Erskine, Carnegie, &c., 
 now disputed which should be first to offer his services 
 to the king, fearing to be too late. The parliamentarian 
 leaders were flying in every direction, some to England, 
 others to Ireland.^ Finally, the cavalry of the Scottish army, 
 who were besieging Hereford, were recalled in all haste to 
 defend their own country. Some even said, that when of 
 late Lesley appeared in the neighbourhood of Dbncaster, far 
 from seeking to encounter the king, he was on his march to- 
 wards Scotland, and that the royalists had been utterly mis- 
 taken in their feaxs.^ 
 
 1 Walker, 135, 136; Eushwortb, i. 4, 116. 
 
 = Bushworth, i. 4, 230 ; GiitBrie, Meifloirs, &c., 189. 
 
 3 Eushworth, i. 4, 231. Lesley had left the siege of Hereford in the first 
 days of August, and the Ijattle of Kilsyth did not take place till the 15thj It 
 is therefore evident that he detached hitoself from the Scottish army to fol- 
 low the king, and could not have heen at that time recalled to the assistance 
 of his country. 
 
284 , HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 / 
 
 At this glorious intelligence, Charles's courage revivedj. 
 and he immediately departed from Oxford (Aug. 31), to 
 mar6h against the Scottish army^ take advantage of its re- 
 duced state, and compel it at least to raise the siege of Here- 
 ford. On his way, as he passed Eagland, he was informedl 
 that Fairi^ax had just invested Bristol, the most important of, 
 his possessions in the west; but the place was strong, and 
 prince Eupert, who defended it with a good garrison, promised 
 to hold out four months, at least: the king therefore felt no 
 anxiety respecting it. When he was yet a day's journey 
 from Hereford, he learned that the Scots, at the news of his 
 approach, had raised the siege, and were precipitately retreat- 
 ing towards the north. He was urged to pursue them; they| 
 were disconcerted, fatigued, in disorder, and were traversing 
 a country iU-disposed towards them; to harass them would 
 perhaps suffice to destroy them. But Charles was fatigued 
 himself by an activity which surpassed his strength; he must, 
 he'said, go to the succour of Bristol; and pending the arrival 
 of some troops recalled from the west for this purpose, he 
 returned to Ragland castle, attracted by the charms of that 
 place, or to discuss with the marquis of Worcester the great 
 and mysterious affair which they were arranging together.' 
 
 He had scarcely arrived when he received the most unex- 
 pected news, prince Rupert had surrendered Bristol (Sept. 11)^ 
 at the first attack, almost without resistance, though he wanted 
 nothing, ramparts, provisions,' nor soldiers. Charles was in 
 utter consternation; it was the entire ruin of his affairs in 
 the west. He wrote to the prince ;' " Nephew, — though the 
 loss of Bristol be a great blow to me, yet your surrendering 
 it as you did, is of so much affliction to me, that it makes 
 me not only forget the consideration of that place, but is 
 likewise the greatest trial of my constancy that hath yet 
 befallen me; For what is to be done, after one that is so 
 near me as you are, both in blood and friendship, submits 
 himself to an action so mean (I give it the easiest term), 
 
 an action so 1 have so much to say, that I will say no 
 
 more of it; only, least rashness of judgment be laid to my 
 charge, I must remember you of your letter of the 12th of 
 
 > Clareucloii, ii. 3041; Walker, 136; Pushworth, i. i, 121. 
 
 » Bushvorth, i. 4, 65. , » rrom Hereford, lith of September 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 285 
 
 August, wliereiii you assured me that if no 'mutiny happened, 
 you would keep Bristol for four months. Did you keep it 
 four days ? "Was there anything like a mutiny ? More ques- 
 tipns might be asked, but now, I confess, to little purpose; 
 my conclusion is to desire you to seek your subsistence, until 
 it shall please God to determine of my condition, somewhere 
 beyond seas; to which end I send you herewith a pass. And 
 I pray God to make yoii sensible of your present condition, 
 and give you means to redeem what you have lost; for I shall 
 have no greater joy in a victory than a juSt occasion, without 
 blushing, to assure you of my being your loving uncle and 
 most faithful friend, Charles E."1 
 
 He wrote the same day to Oxford,' whither the prince had 
 retired, to order the lords of the council to demand the prince's 
 commissions, watch his proceedings, dismiss colonel William 
 Legge, an intimate friend of Rupert, from his post as governor 
 of Oxford, and to arrest the colonel, and even the prince, if 
 any disturbance was excited; and his letter concluded with 
 this postscript : " Tell my son I would rather hear of his 
 death, than of his doing so cowardly an act as this surrender 
 ofBristol."^ 
 
 One resource was left to the ■^1^ g, the same which he had 
 already attempted in vain — to join Montrose. It was, more- 
 over, necessary for him to march towards the north, to relieve 
 Chester, again besieged, and which, now Bristol was lost, 
 was the only port where succours from Ireland, his sole re- 
 maining hope, could land. After a week spent at Hereford 
 in deep despondency, he set off over the "Welsh mountains, 
 the only road by wHch he could escape a body of parliament- 
 arians, who, under the command of major-general Poyntz, 
 were watching all his motions. He was still accompanied by 
 about five thousand men, Welch infantry and northern horse. 
 He was already within sight of Chester, when the parUament- 
 arians, who had started later, but had found a more direct and 
 better road, came upon his rear-guard (at Rounton Heath, 
 Sept. 24.)'' Sir Marmaduke Langdale, who commanded it^ 
 
 ' Claxendon, ii. ] 012. 
 
 ' To the secretary of state, sir Edward Nicholas. 
 
 ' Clarendon, ut sup. ; Evelyn, Memoirs, ii. App. 107— lOS. 
 
 * Kushworth, i. 4, 117; Clarendon, ii. 106S. 
 
286 HISTORY OP THE r 
 
 charged the enemy with so much vigour, that he forced them 
 to fall hack in ^sorder. But colonel J^nes, who directed 
 the siege, detached a body of troops under his own orders and 
 appeared suddenly in the royalist rear. Poyntz rallied his 
 men. The king, placed between two fires, saw his best 
 officers fall around him, and, soon put to flight himself, 
 returned utterly desperate into Wales, once more driven back, 
 as by an insurmountable barrier, from the camp of Montrose, 
 his last hope. 
 
 This hope itself was now only a delusion; for the last ten 
 days Montrose, like the king, was a fugitive, seeking an 
 asylum and soldiers. On the 13th of September, at Philip- 
 Haugh, in J^ttrick forpst, near the border, Lesley, whose 
 approach he was quite unconscious of, surprised him, weak 
 and ill-guarded. Despite all his efforts, the highlanders had 
 left him to return home, and so secure their plunder. Some 
 lords, the earl of Aboyne among others, jealous of his glory, 
 had also quitted him with their vassals; others, such as lords 
 Traquair, Hume, Roxburgh, mistrusting his fortune, notwith- 
 standing their promises,' had not joined him. Bold, brilliant 
 in his designs, in mean hearts he excited envy, and inspired 
 no security in the tipud. There was, moreover, a love of 
 display, and somewhat of the braggadocio in his character, 
 which was injurious to his influence : his officers served him 
 with earnest devotion, his soldiers with enthusiasm, but he 
 did not produce the same effect upon his equals.. His power, 
 besides, had no other foundation than his victories, and prudent 
 men, daily an increasing class, looked upon him with surprise, 
 as a meteor which nothing checks, but which has only a 
 certain course to run. One reverse of fortune sufficed to 
 dissipate all his eclat; and the day after his defeat, the con* 
 queror of Scotland was nothing but an audacious outlaw. 
 
 On hearing of this blow, Charles cast, his eyes around him 
 ' with terror, utterly at a loss where to place hig hope. He 
 was deficient even in councillors. The wisest of them, lord 
 Capel, Colepepper, and Hyde, he had placed with his son; 
 lord Digby was almost the only one remaining, adventurous, 
 confident as ever, always ready to oppose projects to defeats; 
 and, notwithstanding the sincerity of his zeal, intent above 
 
 * Eushworth, i. 4, 231 ; Guthrie, Memoirs, 198. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 287 
 
 all things on retaining his influence. At one time, the king en- 
 tertained the idea of retiring to spend the winter in Anglesey^ 
 an island on the coast of Wales, within easy reach of Ireland, 
 and susceptible of a stout defence. He was easily dissuaded 
 from thus forsaking his kingdom, where he still possessed 
 strong places, such as Worcester, Hereford, Chester, Oxford, 
 and Newark. Every one else inclined to Worcester, but 
 nothing could be less palatable to lord Digby's views. The 
 declared enemy of prince Rupert, it was he who, after the 
 surrender of Bristol, had fomiented the king's anger, and urged, 
 it was said, the severity he had exercised towards his nephew. 
 He well knew that Rupert, whose fury had not yet subsided, 
 was determined to see the king, to justify himself, and take 
 his revenge. Now at Worcester, he could easily accomplish 
 this, for prince Maurice, his brother, was governor of that 
 town. Of all the places to which the king could retire, 
 Newark was that where prince Rupert would have the 
 greatest difficulty in obtaining an audience. To the great 
 surprise of all around him, the king decided upon going to 
 Newark.' 
 
 The prince was soon informed of this; and, notwithstanding 
 Ms prohibition, immediately set out for Newark to see the 
 king. Charles repeated that he would not receive him; but 
 lord Digby, for all that, grew uneasy. Whether by chance 
 or by design, a report all at once circulated that Montrose 
 had retrieved his defeat, had beaten Lesley, and was just on 
 the borders. Without waiting for further information, the 
 king set out with lord Digby and two thousand horse, to 
 make a third attempt to join him. The error under 
 which he was acting was speedily dissipated; after two days* 
 march, they had certain intelligence that Montrose, without 
 any soldiers at all, was still wandering in the highlands. 
 The king could do nothing but return to Newark, as Digby 
 himself admitted. But fuUy resolved not to return there at 
 the risk of encountering prince Rupert, he persuaded the king 
 that, at whatever cost, aid must be sent to Montrose, and he 
 undertook to convey it. They parted; Digby, with fifteen 
 hundred horse, nearly aU. the king had left, continued his 
 route towards the north; and Charles returned to Newark 
 
 > Clarendon, ii. 1073. 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 with three or four hundred horse as his entire army, and 
 John Ashburnham, his valet de chambre, as his council.' 
 
 On his arrival, he heard that Rupert was at BelvOir castle, 
 nine miles off, with his brother Maurice, and an escort of one 
 hundred and twenty officers. He sent him word to remain 
 there until, further orders, already angry that he had come so 
 near without his consent. But the prince still advanced, and 
 many officers of the garrison of Newark, even the governor, 
 sir Richard Willis, went to meet him. He arrived, and withoiifc 
 being announced, presented himself, with aU his suite, before the 
 king. " Sire," he said, " I am come to render an account of the 
 loss of Bristol, and to clear myself from the imputations which 
 have been cast on me." Charles, as perplexed as irritated,: 
 scarcely answered him. It was supper time; the prince's 
 escort withdrew; the royal party sat down to table; the king 
 talked with Maurice without ' addressing a word to Rupert, 
 and, supper over, retired to his room. Rupert went and 
 took up his abode with the governor. The next day, how'^ 
 ever, the king consented to the calling of a council of war, 
 and after a few hours' sitting, a declaration was given, 
 stating that the prince had not been deficient either in 
 courage or fidelity. . No solicitation could Obtain more than 
 this from the king. 
 
 It was too little to satisfy the prince and his partisans. 
 They remained at Newark, giving unrestrained .vent to their 
 anger. The king, on his side, undertook to put an end to the 
 growing excesses of the garrison. For two tho.usan,d men, there 
 were twenty-four officers, generals or colonels, whose mainte* 
 nance absorbed nearly all the contributions of the county.^ 
 The gentlemen of the neighbourhood, even those of the most 
 devoted loyalty, bitterly complained of the governor. Charles 
 resolved to remove him, but, out of consideration for appear- 
 ances, to give him some office about his person. He there- 
 fore informed him that he was appointed colonel of his horse 
 guards. Sir Richard : refused, saying, that people would 
 regard this promotion as a disgrace; that he was too poor for 
 the court : ",I will see to that," said; the king, dismissing 
 Mm. The very same day, at dinner time, when Charles was 
 at table, sir Richard 'Willis, the two princes, lord Gerrard» 
 
 » Clarendon, ii,,1078. "III. 1079. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 289 
 
 and' twenty oflScers of the garrison abruptly eitered: " What 
 your majesty said to me this morning in private," said Willis, 
 " is now the public talk of the town, and very much to my 
 dishonour." « It is not for any fault," added Eupert, " that 
 sir Richard loses his government, but because he is my 
 friend." " All this," said lord Gerrard, " is a plot of lord 
 Digby's, who is himself a traitor, and I will prove it." 
 
 Astonished and perplexed, Charles rose from the table, 
 and moving a few steps towards his private apartment, 
 ordered Willis to follow him: " No, sire," replied Willis; " T 
 received a public injury, and I expect a public satisfaction." 
 At this, Charles, losing all self-command, pale with anger, 
 sprang towards them, and with a loud voice and threatening- 
 gesture, said: "Quit my presence, and come no more near 
 me." Agitated in their turn, they all hastily went out, re- 
 turned to the governor's house, sounded to horse, and left the 
 town, to the number of two hundred cavaliers. 
 
 All the garrison, all the inhabitants hastened to oflfer the 
 king the expression of their devotion and respect. In the^ 
 evening, the malcontents sent to him for passports, begging 
 him not to consider this as a mutiny: "I shall not now 
 christen it," said the king; "but it looks very like one. As- 
 for passports, let them have as many as they please."' He' 
 was still full of agitation at this scene, when he received the 
 intelligence that lord Digby, in his march towards Scotland, 
 had been overtaken and beaten at Sherborne by a detachment 
 of parliamentarians (towards the middle of October, 1645);* 
 that his cavaliers^ were dispersed, and he himself gone none 
 knew whither. So there remained in the direction of the 
 north neither soldiers nor hope. Even Newark was no longer 
 safe : Poyntz's troops had approached, taking possession sue-' 
 cessively of all the neighbouring places, drawing their lines 
 every day closer and closer round it, so that it was already* 
 a question whether the king could pass. On the 3rd of 
 November, at eleven o'clcck at night, four or five hundred 
 cavaliers, the wreck of several regiments, were assembled in' 
 the market-place: the king appeared, took the command of a 
 squadron, and left Newark by the Oxford road. He had had 
 his beard shaved off; two small royalist garrisons, situated 
 
 > Clarendon, ii. 1083. « lb. 1077 J Bushwortli, i. i, 128. 
 
290 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 on Ms way, had received notice of his designj he travelled 
 day and night, mth difficulty avoiding the enemy, and thought, 
 himself saved wheai he re-entered Oxford (Nov. 6, 1645); for 
 there- he found once more his council, his court, his ordinary 
 mode of Ufe, and somewhat of rest.' 
 
 He soon found misery also: while he had been wandering 
 from county to county, from town to town, Fairfax and 
 Cromwell, having nothing to fear from him, and certain that 
 the troops of Poyntz would suffice to harass him, had pursued 
 tiie course of tiieir successes in the west. In less than five 
 months, fifteen places of importance, Bridgewater (July 23, 
 1645), Bath (July 29_), Sherborne (Aug. 15), Devizes (Sept. 
 23), Winchester (Sept. 28), Basing-Honse (Oct. 14), Tiverton 
 (Oct. 19), Monmouth (Oct. 22), &c., had fallen into- their 
 hands. To such garrisons as shewed themselves disposed to 
 listen to their overtures, they unhesitatingly granted honour- 
 able conditions; where a less compliant answer was given, 
 they immediately proceeded to storm.^ For a moment the 
 clubmen gave them some uneasiness. After having dis- 
 persed them several times by fair words, Cromwell at last 
 found himself obliged to attack them. He did so suddenly 
 and fiercely, sHlfulin passing all at once, according to circum- 
 stances, from gentleness to severity, from severity to gentle- 
 ness. By his advice, parliament denounced as high treason 
 all associations of the Mnd (Aug.23)>;^ someof the leaders were 
 arrested; the strict discipline of the armyTeassured the people; 
 the clubmen soon disappeared; and when the king re-entered 
 Oxford, the situation of his party in the west was so desperate, 
 that next morning (Nov. 7) he wrote to the prince of Wales 
 directing him to hold himself ready to pass over to the 
 continent.'' 
 
 , J'pr himself, he had no plan — no idea what to do; now a 
 prey to passionate anguish, now seeking to forget in repose 
 tj^ feeling of his utter po^erlessness. Pe invited, however, 
 tiie council to pqiat put some expedient to him, some method 
 
 of proceeding from which a favourable result might be looked 
 for. There was nO- choice left; the council proposed a message 
 
 - ■» ClarendoB, ii, 1085 ; Walker, 146 ; Evelyn, Mem. ii. App. 109. 
 , » Busliwortli, i. 4, 89, •» Pari. Hist. iii. 390 ; 'WMtelooke, 1 67. 
 
 « Cloi-endon, ii. 1063. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 291 
 
 40 parliament, and the request of a safe conduct for four nego- 
 ■tiators. The king consented -without a single objection.^ 
 
 Never had parliament been less inclined for peace. One 
 hundred and thirty members had just entered the house of 
 commons, in place of those who had left it to follow the king. 
 Long postponed, first from caution, then from the difficulty of 
 its execution, afterwards by design, this measure had at last 
 been adopted at the demand of the independents, eager to 
 take advantage of their successes on the field of battle to 
 strengthen their party at Westminster.^ They set every 
 engine to work to carry the new elections, appointing them 
 separately one after another, even having them ddayed 
 or put forward, according to the chances in their favour; 
 employing both deceit and violence, as is the wont of con- 
 querors still in a minority. Several men, soon afterwards 
 famous in the party, now entered parhament — Fairfax, Ludlow, 
 teton, Blake, Sidney, Hutchinson, Fleetwood. Still the 
 elections had not everywhere the same result: many coun- 
 ties sent to Westminster men, who, though opposed to the 
 court, were strangers to faction, and Mends to legal order 
 and peace. But they were without experience, without com* 
 bination, without leaders, and little disposed to rally round 
 their old presbyterian chiefs, who had, most of them at all events, 
 lost their reputation respectively of uprightness, or energy, 
 or abiUty. They made Uttle sensation, exercised little influ- 
 ence; and the first efiect of this filKng up of the house was to 
 give to the independents greater daring and power.^ The acts 
 of parliament thenceforward assumed a sterner character. It 
 had been ascertained that, during their stay in London, the 
 king's commissioners were intriguing to form plots and stir 
 
 1 Clarendon, ii. 1116 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 405. Xhe message was dated Sth 
 of December, 1645. 
 
 ' It was on tlie 13th of September, 1644, that it was first proposed in the 
 house of commons to fill up the vacant places. The proposal had no result 
 till August, 1645. On the 21st of that month, upon a petition from the 
 borough of Southwavt, the house voted, by a majority of only three, that 
 five of the absent members should be replaced ; namely, the members for 
 Southwarlc, Biuy St. Edmund's, and Hythe. One hundred and forty-six new 
 members were elected in the five last months of 1645. Out of fifty-eight 
 signatures to the order for the execution of Charles I., seventeen were those 
 of membera elected at this epoch. In 1646, there were eighty-nine new 
 elections. — Journals, Commons. 
 
 • Holies, Memoirs, 48 ; Ludlow, passim ; Whitelocke, 166, and pi'^sim, 
 V2 
 
292 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 up the people; it was decided (Aug. 11)' that no more com- 
 missioners should be received, that there should he no more; 
 Hegotiations, that the house should draw up their proposals 
 in the form of bills, and that the king should be called upon 
 simply to adopt or reject them, as if he were at WhitehaU 
 and proceeding according to the regular practice. The prince 
 of Wales (Sept. 20)'' offered to mediate between the king and 
 the people, and Fairfax transmitted his letter to the house; 
 " Thinking it a duty," he said, " not to hinder the hopeful 
 blossom of your young peacemaker." He did not even receive 
 an answer. The term of Cromwell's command was nearly ex- 
 pired; it was prolonged another four months without any reason 
 being assigned (Aug. 12.)' The rigour against the royalists 
 redoubled: a late ordinance had granted to the wives and chils^ , 
 dren of delinquents one-fifth of the revenue of sequestered 
 estates ; it was repealed (Sept. 8.)* Another act, for a long time 
 resisted by the lords, directed the sale of a considerable portion 
 of the possessions of bishops and delinquents (Sept. 13.)^ In 
 the camp, in the warfare, the same revolution took place. It 
 was forbidden to give any quarter to the Irish taken in 
 England bearing arms (Oct. 24);^ they were shot by hundreds,' 
 or tied back to back, and thrown into the sea. Even among 
 the English, there was no longer exhibited that mutual for- 
 bearance and courtesy which characterized the first campaigns, 
 revealing, in the two parties, a condition well nigh equal,' 
 the same education and manners, the habit and desire of 
 peace, even amidst war. In the parliamentarian ranks, 
 Fairfax almost alone retained this refined humanity; round 
 him, ofiicers and soldiers, brave and skilful parvenus, but of 
 rough manners, or fanatics of a dark and violent temperament, 
 who had no thought but of victory, no idea of the cavaliers 
 but as enemies to be got rid of. The cavaliers, on their 
 side, irritated at being defeated by such vulgar antagonists, 
 Bought consolation or revenge in ridicule, epigrams, and songs, 
 daily more and more insulting.* Thus the war assumed a 
 
 ' Pnil. Hist. iii. 390. ' lb. 392. = lb. 390. 
 
 ♦ Rusbworth, i. 4, 209. » Pari. Hist. iii. 391 ; Wliitelocke, 178. 
 
 • Bushwoith, ii. 3, 783. ' Baillie, Letters, ii. ] 04 ; Kusbwortli, i. 4, 231. 
 ' The most remaikable of these songs are those which wer.i composed 
 
 Jlgoiost David Lesley and his Scots, when he left the siege of Hereford to 
 go to the assistance of Scotland, almost entirely subjugated by Montrose, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 295 
 
 Stern, at times even a cruel character, as between men whose 
 only feeling was mutual scorn and hate. At the same time, 
 the misunderstanding, hitherto kept in check, between the 
 Scots and the parliament, broke out unrestrainedly; the former 
 complained that their army was not paid; the latter, that an 
 army of allies should pillage and devastate, as though they 
 were a hostile force, the counties which they occupied.' Ija 
 every quarter, in short, excitement more ardent than ever, 
 hatred more profound, measures harsher and more decisive, 
 left but little chance of peace being allowed to put a stop 
 to, or even a truce to suspend the already so rapid course of 
 events. 
 
 The king's overtures were rejected, and a safe-conduct de- 
 nied to his negotiators. He urged the point by two other 
 messages, still without success; he was told that the past in- 
 trigues of his courtiers in the city rendered it impossible they 
 should be allowed to return there (Dec. 26).^ He offered him- 
 self to come to Westminster to treat in person with the parlia- 
 ment (Dec. 26 and 30);' notwithstanding the entreaties of the 
 Scots, this proposal met with as ill a reception as the others 
 (Jan. 13).* He renewed his entreaties (Jan. 15),'' less from 
 any hope of success, than to discredit the parliament in the 
 opinion of the people who wished for peace. But his ene- 
 mies had lately acquired a still surer means of discrediting 
 the king himself; they solemnly proclaimed that they at last 
 possessed the proof of his duplicity; that he had just con- 
 cluded with the Irish, not merely a suspension of arms, but 
 a treaty of alliance; that ten thousand of these rebels, under 
 the command of the earl of Glamorgan, were soon to land at 
 Chester; that the price of this odious aid was the complete 
 abolition of the penal laws against the catholics, full liberty 
 for their worship, the acknowledgment of their right to the 
 churches and lands which they had taken possession of; in 
 other words, the triumph of popery in Ireland and the ruin 
 
 whom he defeated on the 13th of September, 1645, at the battle of Fhilip- 
 "hatigh. No defeat had yet snatched from the cavaliei-s such brilliant hopes, 
 and their anger vented itself with energy, in a vein of poetical animation 
 which was then very extraordinary. For one of the most spirited of these 
 SiongSi see Appendix No. XIV. 
 
 ',Parl. Hist. iii. 393, 394, 398, 408. " lb. 414. » lb. 415— 41T 
 
 « lb. 418—421. ' lb. 421. 
 
294 HISTOET OF THE 
 
 of the protestants. A copy of the treaty, and several letters- 
 relating to it, had been found in the carriage of the arch- 
 bishop of Tuam, one of the rebel leaders killed by chance in 
 ii skirmish under the walls of Sligo (Oct. 17, 1645). The 
 committee of the two kingdoms, who for three months had 
 kept these documents in reserve for some important occasion, 
 now laid them before parliament, which immediately ordered 
 them to be published.' 
 
 The king was utterly disconcerted; the facts were realj 
 nay, parliament did not know all. For nearly two years,* 
 Charles had been carrying on this negotiation in person, un- 
 known to his party, his council, even making some points 
 a secret from the marquis of Ormond, his lieutenant in 
 Ireland, though he did not doubt his zeal, and could not stir 
 without his assistance; a Eomaii catholic, lord Herbert^ eldest 
 son of the marquis of Worcester, and himself Recently c^'eated 
 earl of Glamorgan, alone possessed, in this affair, the king's 
 entire confidence. Brave, generous, reckless, passionately 
 devoted to his master in peril and to his religion oppressed,, 
 it was Glamorgan who went backwards and' forwards inces- 
 santly between England and Ireland, or between Dublin and 
 Kilkenny, undertaking what Ormond refused to do, and 
 alone knowing how far the king's concessions would extend- 
 It was he who conducted the correspondence of "Charles with, 
 Einuccini, the pope's nuncio, who had lately arrived in Ire- 
 land (Oct. 22, 1645), and with the pope himself. In short, 
 the king had formally authorized him, by' an act signed with 
 his own hand (dated March 12, 1645), and known to them- 
 selves alone, to grant the Irish all he should judge necessary 
 to obtain from them efficacious help, undertaldng to approve- 
 all, to ratify all, however illegal the concessions might be, 
 desiring only that nothing should transpire till the day when 
 he could with effect avow the whole. The treaty had been 
 concluded the preceding 20th of August, and Glamorgan, 
 who was stiU in Ireland, earnestly pressed forward its exe- 
 cution. This was the secret of those frequent visits, those 
 long sojourns of the king at Ragland castle, the residence of 
 
 ' Pari. Histi, iii. 438 ; Eushworth, i. i, 238, et seq. 
 ' Th3 first eommission of the king -to Glamorgan was dated April 1,1614> 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 295 
 
 the marquis of Worcester, and of those mysterious hopes 
 which he sometimes gave half-utterance to amidst his re- 
 verses.' 
 
 They heard ahnost at the same time, at Oxford and at 
 Dublin, that the treaty was known in London. Ormond at 
 once comprehended how severe a blow it would inflict upon 
 the king's cause with his own party. Whether he himself 
 was, as he affirmed, really ignorant that Charles had autho- 
 rized such concessions, or whether, rather, he wished to give 
 him an opportunity of disaVovfing them, he instantly caused 
 Glamorgan to be arrested (Jan. 4, 1646), as having exceeded 
 his powers, and seriously compromised the king, by granting 
 to the rebels what all the laws denied them. Steadfast in 
 his devotion, Grlamorgan remained silent, did not produce the 
 secret instructions signed " Charles," which he had in his 
 possession, and even said that the king was not bound to ratify 
 what he had thought fit to promise in his name. Charles, 
 on his side, hastened to disown him, in a proclamation he 
 addressed to parUament (Jan. 21),^ and in his official letters 
 to the council in Dublin (Jan. 31).' According to him, 
 Glamorgan had no other commission than to raise soldiers 
 and second the effiarts of the lord-lieutenant; but, on both 
 sides, falsehood was now merely an old and useless habit; 
 none, not even the people, were any longer deceived by it. 
 In a few days (Feb. 1), Glamorgan was released, and 
 resumed his negotiations for the transmission, on the same 
 terms as before, of an Irish army into England. The parha- 
 ment voted that the king's justification was not sufficient 
 (Jan. 31).'' Cromwell, for the last time, was continued in 
 his command (Jan. 27),* and Charles found himself obliged 
 to seek once more his preservation in war, as though ho 
 were able to carry it on. 
 
 Only two bodies of troops remained to him: one in Corn- 
 wall, under the command of lord Hopton; the other on the 
 fifontiers of Wales, under lord Astley. Towards the middle 
 
 '1 Mr. Lingard has collected, tmd clearly stated, all the facts connected 
 with this negotiation, of which he possesses the principal original docoments. 
 —History of England, 1825, fi. 837—54:1 ; 665—664. 
 
 ' Pail. Hist. iii. 435. ^ Carte's Life of Ormond, iii. 445—447. 
 
 * Pari. Hist. iii. 438. s lb. 428. 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of January, the prince of Wales, still governor of the west, 
 Tjut forsaken by his late generals Goring and Greenvillp, had 
 sent for lord Hopton, who had formerly for a long time com- 
 manded in that quarter, to conjure him to resume the com- 
 mand of what remained of the army. " My lord," answered 
 Hopton, " it is now a custom, when men are not willing to 
 submit to what they are enjoined, to say that it is against 
 their honour; that' their honour will not suffer them to do 
 this or that; for my part, I cannot at this time obey your 
 highness without resolving to lose my honour; but since your 
 highness has thought fit to command me, I am ready to obey, 
 even with the loss of my honour;" and he took the command 
 of seven or eight thousand men.' But he was soon as odious 
 to them as their excesses were to him; even the really brave 
 sunong them could not endure his discipline and vigilance, ac- 
 customed as they had been, under Goring, to a less trouble- 
 some and more profitable warfare. Fairfax, still occupied in 
 subduing the west, marched before long against them; and 
 on the 16th of February, Hopton underwent, at Torrington, 
 on the borders of Cornwall, a defeat rather disastrous than 
 "bloody. He vainly endeavoured, as he retired from town to 
 town, to recruit his party; he was destitute alike of ofiicers 
 and of soldiers: "From the hour I undertook this charge," 
 said he, " to the hour of their dissolving, scarce a party or 
 guard appeared with half the number appointed, or within 
 two hours of the time."^ Fairfax every day pressed more 
 closely upon him. At the head of the.smaU corps which still 
 remained faithful, Hopton soon foimd himself driven to the 
 Xiand's-end. At Truro, he was informed that, weary of the 
 war, the people of the country meditated putting an end to it 
 Tby seizing the prince of Wales, and giving him up to parlia- 
 ment. The necessity had arrived; the prince embarked, 
 with his council, but only to retire to Scilly, on English land, 
 almost in sight of the coast. Relieved from this anxiety, 
 Hopton wished lo try the effect of another battle; but lus 
 troops loudly called upon him to capitulate. Fairfax offered 
 him honourable conditions ^he still evaded them: his officers 
 declared that if he did not consent, they would treat without 
 
 ' " Fellows," observes Clarendon, " whom only their friends feared and 
 their enemies laughed at, being only terrible in plunder and resolute in 
 running away," — Clarendon, ii. 1089. ' Clarendon, ii. 1097. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 297 
 
 Km. " Treat, then," said he, " but not for me;" aiid neither 
 he nor lord Capel would be included in the capitulation. The 
 articles signed and the army broken up, these noblemen em- 
 barked to join the prince at Scilly; and the king now pos- 
 sessed in the west only a few insignificant garrisons.' 
 
 Lord Astley met with no better fortune: he was at Wor- 
 cester with three thousand men; the king ordered him to join 
 him at Oxford, and set out himself with fifteen hundred horse 
 to meet him. He wished to assemble round him a sufficient 
 corps to wait for the succours from Ireland, which he still 
 expected; but before they met (March 22), sir William Bre- 
 reton and colonel Morgan, at the head of a body of parlia- 
 mentarians, overtook Astley, whose movements they had been 
 watching for the last month, at Stow, in Gloucestershire. 
 The defeat of the cavaliers was complete; eighteen hundred 
 of them were killed or taken; the others dispersed. Astley 
 himself, after a desperate resistance, fell into the hands of the 
 enemy; he was old, fatigued by the conflict, and walked with 
 difficulty; the soldiers, touched by his grey hairs and his 
 
 > courage, brought him a drum to rest upon: he sat down upon 
 it, and, addressing Brereton's officers: " Gentlemen," said 
 he, " you have done your work, and may now go to play, 
 unless you prefer to fall out among yourselves."^ 
 
 This, indeed, was the only hope Charles himself had left; 
 he hastened to try and promote it. Already, at the very time 
 he was loading some of the presbyterian leaders with com- 
 promising attentions, he had long kept up a secret corre- 
 spondence with the independents, particularly with Vane, not 
 less active in intrigue than passionate in enthusiasm. Joist 
 liefore the affair at Stow, the secretary of state Nicholas had 
 written (March 2) to Vane, soliciting him to contrive that 
 the king might be enabled to come to London and treat in 
 person with the parliament, promising that if it required the 
 triumph of presbyterian discipline, the royalists would com- 
 bine with the independents " to extirpate from the kingdom 
 this tyrannical domin^ion, and secure each other's liberty."* 
 It is not known what reply Vane sent to this letter; but after 
 
 " Astley's defeat the king himself wrote to him: "Be very 
 
 > Clarendon, ii. 1103; Bushworth, i. i, 99—115. 
 » Bushworth, i. 4, 139—141. » Evelyn, Memoirs, ii. App. 115. 
 
298 HISTOKT OF THE 
 
 confident," he said, " that all things shall be periormed ac- 
 cording to my promise. By all that is good, I conjure you 
 to dispatch that courtesy for me with all speed, or it wiU be 
 too late; I shall perish before I receive the fruits of it. I 
 may not tell you my necessities; but if it were necessary so 
 to do, I am sure you would lay all other considerations aside 
 amd fuM my desires. This is all; trust me, I will repay the 
 favour to the fuU. I have done; if I have no answer within 
 four days after the receipt of this, I shall be necessitated to 
 find Some other expedient. God direct you! I have dis- 
 charged my duty."* At thfe same time, he addressed a mes- 
 sage to parliament, oiFering to disband all his troops, to open 
 all his garrisons, and to come and resume his residence at 
 Whitehall (March 23).* 
 
 At this proposal, and on the report that, without waiting 
 for an answer, the king was likdy to arrive, the greatest 
 alarm prevailed in Westminster; politicians or fanatics, pres- 
 byterians or independents, all knew that, the king once at 
 Whitehall, it would no longer be against him that the riots 
 of the city would be directed ; all were alike resolved not to 
 subject themselves to his mercy. They at once took, to avert 
 so great a danger, the most violent measures: it was forbidden 
 to receive the king, or to go near him if he came to London, 
 or to give to any one whatever the means of approaching 
 him. The committee of the militia received orders to prevent 
 any public meeting, to arrest any one that should come with 
 the king, to prevent the people from flocking to meet him; 
 even, if necessary, to secure his own person "from all 
 danger," as they put it. Papists, delinquents, cashiered 
 officers, soldiers of fortune, whoever had taken any part 
 against parliament, received orders to quit London within 
 three days (March 3 1 — April 3).' Ultimately a court-martial 
 was established (April 3),^ and the punishment of death de- 
 creed against any person who should hold direct or indirect 
 intercourse with the king, or who should come without a 
 pass from any camp or town occupied by the king, or who 
 •should receive or conceal any man who had carried arms 
 
 1 Evelyn, ii. App. 116 ; Clarendon, State Papera'(1773), li. 227. 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 451. ' lb. 452—453 ; Eushworth, i. 4, 249. 
 
 KuBhwortli, i. 4, 252. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 29& 
 
 against the parliament, or who should ■wilfully aUow a pri- 
 soner of war to escape, &c. Never had act of the parlia- 
 ment borne the impress of such terror. 
 
 Vane, on his part, left the king's letter without answer, or 
 at least without effect. 
 
 Meantime, Fairfax's troops were advancing by forced 
 marches to besiege Oxford. Already Colonel Eainsborough's 
 and two other regiments were encamped in sight of the 
 place. The king offered to give himself up to Rainsborough, 
 if he would pledge his word to conduct >irm immediately to 
 parliament. Eainsborough refused. In a few days, the 
 blockade could not fail to be complete, and, whatever its 
 duration, the result was infallible; the king must fall as a 
 prisoner of war into the hands of his enemies. 
 
 One only refuge remained possible, the Scottish camp. 
 For the last two months, M. de Montreuil, the French mi- 
 nister, touched by Charles's distress rather than to obey the 
 instructions of Mazarin, had been endeavouring to secure 
 for him this last asylum. Rebuffed in the first instance by 
 the Scottish commissioners residing in London, convinced by 
 a journey to Edinburgh that there was nothing to hope from 
 the Scottish parliament, he at last addressed himself to some 
 of the leaders of the army besieging Newark; and their dis- 
 position had appeared to him so favourable, that he thought 
 himself warranted in promising the king (April 1), in the 
 name and under the guarantee of the king of France, that 
 the Scots would receive him as their legitimate sovereign, 
 would shelter him and his from aU danger, and would even 
 co-operate with him to the utmost of their power in the re- 
 establishment of peace. But ^ the hesitations and retracta- 
 tions of the Scottish officers, who were willing to save the 
 king, but not to quarrel with the parliament, soon showed 
 Montreuil that he had gone too far, and he hastened to 
 send word of his error to Oxford. But necessity, daily 
 more urgent, rendered Charles and Montreuil himself less 
 scrupulous; the queen, who from Paris maintained a corre- 
 spondence with the agents in the Scottish army, exhorted 
 her husband to trust to it. In later conferences, the officers 
 made some promises to Mbntreml. He informed the king of 
 them, repeating, however, that the step was hazardous, and 
 
303 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 any other reflige preferable, but adding, that if hefcould find 
 no other asylum, he would find, for his person, at least, full 
 safety among the Scots.' 
 
 At aU events, Charles could wait no longer where he was; 
 Fairfax had already reached Newbury, and the blockade 
 would within three days be complete. On the 27th of April, 
 at midnight, followed only by Ashburnham and an eccle- 
 siastic (Dr. Hudson) who was well acquainted with the roads, 
 'the king left Oxford on horseback, disguised as Ashburn- 
 Kam's servant, with their common portmanteau behind him; 
 and, at the same time, to mislead aU watchers, ' three men 
 went out at each gate of the town. The king took the road 
 to London. On arriving at Harrow Hill, in sight of his ca- 
 pital, he stopped for awhile, and anxiously deliberated, whether 
 he should go to London, re-enter Whitehall, appear all at 
 once in the city, where men's thoughts had for some time 
 past been disposed favourably towards him. But nothing less 
 suited him than any singular or daring resolution, for he was 
 deficient in presence of mind, and, above all things, dreaded 
 any chance of compromising Ids royal dignity. After a few 
 hours' hesitation, he turned from London and proceeded to- 
 wards the north, but slowly, almost at random, as a man 
 still yet undetermined. Montreuil had promised to come and 
 meet him at Harborough, in Leicestershire, but he was not 
 there. The king, uneasy at this, sent Hudson to seek him, 
 and turned towards the eastern counties, wandering from 
 town to town, from castle to castle, especially along the coast, 
 continually changing his disguise; and inquiring everywhere 
 for news of Montrose, whom he earnestly desired to join. 
 But this, also, 'was too tedious and troublesome an enterprise 
 for him. Hudson returned; no change had taken place: 
 Montreuil still promised, if not an agreeable, at least a safe 
 retreat in the Scottish camp. Charles at last made up his 
 mind, as much from weariness as choice; and on the 5th of 
 May, nine days after his departure from Oxford, Montreuil 
 introduced him early in the morning into Kelham, the head- 
 quarters of the Scots.' 
 
 > In bis letters of the 15th, 16th, and 30th April; Cloiendon, State 
 Papers, ii. 811—216. 
 ' Bushworth, i. i, 267; Clarendon, State Papers, ii. 288, 
 
ENGLISH KRVOLUTION. 301 
 
 On seeing the king, the earl of Leven and his oEBcers 
 affected extreme surprise; information of his arrival was 
 immediately given to the parliamentary commissioners; ex- 
 presses were dispatched to announce it in Edinburgh and 
 London. Oificers and soldiers treated the king with pro- 
 found respect; but, in the evening, under the pretext of ren- 
 dering him due honour, a strong guard was placed at his 
 door; and when, to discover what was his situation, he 
 attempted to give out the watchword for the night, " Pardon 
 me, sire," said Leven, " I am the oldest soldier here; your 
 majesty will permit me to undertake that duty."' 
 
 Malcolm Laiu^, Hist, of Scotland, ill. 352, r.ote 7. 
 
W2 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 BOOK THE SEVENTH. 
 
 1646—1647. 
 
 Anxiety and intrigues of the independents — ^The king's stay at Newcastle — 
 He rejects the proposals of parliament — The parliament negotiates with 
 the Soots, to induce them to give up the king and retire from the king- 
 dom — They consent — The king is conducted to Holmby — Discord 
 hreaks out hetween the parliament and the army — Conduct of Cromwell 
 — He causes the king to he taken from Hohnhy — The army marches 
 upon London, and impeaches elcTen preshyterian leaders — They retire 
 from pai-liament — Stay of the king at Hampton Court — ^Negotiations of 
 the army with him — Rising in the city in favour of peace — A. great 
 many members of hoth houses retire to the army — They are brought by 
 the army back to London — Defeat, of the presbyterians — ^Bepublicans 
 and levellers — Cromwell becomes suspected by the soldiers — They 
 mutiny against the officers — Cromwell's able conduct — ^Alarm of the 
 king — He escapes to the Isle of Wight. 
 
 It was known in London (May 2) that tlie king had left 
 Oxford, but nothing indicated where, he was or whither 
 he was going. There was a report that he was concealed in 
 the city, and whoever should receive him was again menaced 
 with death without mercy. Fairfax sent Word that he had 
 proceeded towards the east, and two officers of assured 
 devotion, colonels Eussel and Wharton, were immediately 
 despatched in that direction, with orders to seek him every- 
 where, and at any rate.' Parliamentarians and royalists, hoth 
 plunged in the same uncertainty, bore with equal patience, 
 the former their fears, the latter their hopes. 
 
 On the eyening of the 6th of May, the news at length 
 arrived that the king was in the Scottish camp. Next 
 day the commons voted that parliament alone had the right 
 
 » EusUworth, i. i, 267 j WMtelocke, 203, 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 303 
 
 ■jto dispose of his person, and that he should be conducted 
 without delay to Warwick castle. The lords refused to 
 sanction this vote; but they approved of Poyntz, who was 
 quartered near Newark, reeeivimg orders to watch the more- 
 ments of the Scottish army; and Fairfax was directed to hold 
 himself ready to march in case of need.' 
 
 The Scots, on their part, desirous of getting away, ob- 
 tained an order from the king, on the very day of his arrival, 
 for lord BeUasis, the governor of Newark, to open its gates 
 to them; they gave up the town to Poyntz, and a few hours 
 afterwards, placing the king in their advanced guard, marched 
 towards Newcastle, on the frontiers of their own country.^ 
 
 The independents were full of anxiety and anger. For a 
 year past everything had prospered with them; masters of 
 the army, they had been everywhere conquerors, and had 
 made, by their victories, a deep impression on the imagination 
 of the people; under their banners, ranged themselves aU the 
 bold spirits of the time, the men of energetic, ambitious, 
 exalted hopes, whoever had his fortune to make, or had 
 formed rash wishes, or meditated some great design. Genius* 
 itself could only find a place and liberty among them. Milton, 
 BtiQ young, but already remarkable for the elegance and ex- 
 tent of his knowledge, had just claimed, in nobler language 
 than had yet been heard, liberty of conscience, liberty of the 
 press, the right of divorce;^ and the presbyterian clergy, in- 
 censed at his boldness, having without effect reported him 
 to parliament, placed among its sins the toleration of such 
 writings. Another extraordinary man, abeady known by 
 his passionate resistance to tyranny, John Lilburne, was be- 
 ginning his indefatigable war against lords, judges, lawyers; 
 and already the most loud-tongued popularity was attached 
 to his name. The number and confidence of the dissenting 
 congregations,^ all allied with the independents, daily in- 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. iii. 465, 466. = lb. 467; Eushworth, i..4, 269—271. 
 
 ' In five pompblets, against episcopal government and on the leform of 
 the church, published in 1641 and 1642. in a pamphlet entitled, ' The Doc- 
 trine and Discipline of Divorce,' published in 1644 ; and in a pamphlet en- 
 titled, ' Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing,' published also in 1644. 
 
 * 'The number of anabaptist meetings, for instance, was already fifty-four 
 in 1644. Thoma-s Edwards, a presbyterian minister, published in 1645, 
 under the title of ' Gangrsena,' a catalogue of those sects, to call down the 
 rigour of parliament upon them ; he reckoned sixteen principal ones, and 
 tad omitted several. — Neal, iii. 310. 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE ■ 
 
 creased: it was in vain that the presbyterians had, at lengtil 
 obtained from parliament the exclusive and official establish* 
 ment of their church;' with the aid of the lawyers and free-' 
 thinkers, the independents had succeeded in maintaining the 
 supremacy of parliament in religious aifairs;* and the pres- 
 byterian measui-e, thus weakened, was but slowly executed.* 
 Meantime, the personal fortunes of the leaders of the party, 
 that of Cromwell in particular, progressed rapidly: when they 
 came from the army tO' Westminster, parliament received 
 them with solemn homage;* when they returned to the army, 
 gifts of money and land, gratuities and offices, lavished on 
 their creatures, attested and extended their influence.^ Every- 
 where, in short, in London as in the counties, and whether 
 as regarded politics or religion, interests or ideas, it was in 
 favour of this party that the social movement had more and 
 more decidedly- pronounced itself. In the midst of so much 
 prosperity, just as power was within their reach, they found 
 themselves menaced with the loss of aU; for they would in- 
 deed lose all if the king and the presbyterians aUied against 
 them. 
 
 They used every effi)rt to ward off this blow: had they 
 been free to follow their own impulse, they would perhaps 
 have sent the army immediately against the Scots, and taken 
 the king by main force; but notwithstanding their success in 
 the new elections, they were obliged to act with more reserve; 
 with a minority in the upper house, in the lower they only pes'- 
 sessed a precarious ascendancy, derived rather from the inex- 
 perience of the members recently elected than from their real 
 sentiments. They had recourse to indirect measures; they 
 
 ' By seTerol ordinances or Totea of the 23rd of August, 30th of October, 
 and 8th of November, 1645, and the 20th of February and 14th of March, 
 1646.— Kushworth, i. 4, 205, Si 0,, 224. 
 
 ' Neal, iii. 231; Journals, Conimons, Sept. 25, Oct. 10, 1645; March S 
 and 23, April 22, 1646 ; Baillie, Letters, ii. 194 ; Pari. Hist., iii. 459. 
 
 • The Presbyterian church was never completely established anywhere but 
 in London and Lancashire. — Lalng, iii. 347. 
 
 * Pari. Hist. iii. 463, 529. 
 
 ' The parliament gave, 1, to Cromwell, (February 7, 1646,) landed pro- 
 perty to the value of 2,500/., part of the estates of the marquis of Worcester, 
 (Pari. Hist., iii. 439); 2, to Fairfax, a few months after, an income of 5000/. 
 (,Whitelocke, 228, 239); 3, to sir Wiliiam Breretou, in October, 1646, a 
 gratuity of 5000/. ; 4, to Sir Peter Killigrew, in December, 1646, a gra- 
 tuity of 2000/.— (lb. 228, 836, &c.) 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 305 
 
 sought by all kinds of means, daring or crafty, secret or open, 
 to oflfend the Scots or irritate the people against them, in the 
 hope of bringing about a rupture; the Scottish messengers 
 were stopped and their despatches intercepted, at the very 
 gates of London, by subalterns against whom they claimed 
 justice in vain (May 9);' petitions flocked in against them 
 from the northern counties, relating their exactions, their ex- 
 cesses, and the sufferings the people endured at their hands.^, 
 Alderman Foot presented one petition, in the name of the 
 city, in their favour (May 26),^ and requiring, on the other, 
 hand, the repression of the new sectaries, as authors of the 
 troubles in church and state; the lords thanked the common 
 Council, but the commons scarcely vouchsafed a brief, dry 
 answer. There were still a few regiments left, the remnant 
 of Essex's army, in which presbyterian sentiments prevailed j 
 among others, a brigade quartered in Wiltshire, under the 
 command of major-general Massey, the valiant defender of 
 Gloucester; complaints of all kinds were got up against tliis 
 body,'* and ultimately it was disbanded. In parliament, in 
 the newspapers, in all pubUc places, particularly in the army,, 
 the independents only spoke of the Scots with insult, now 
 pointing out to public indignation their rapacity, now ridi^ 
 culing their parsimony, addressing themselves, by a clumsy 
 but efficacious trick, to national prejudices, to popular distrust/ 
 skilful to lose no opportunity of exciting anger and contempt 
 against their enemies.' At last, the commons voted that the 
 Scottish army was no longer required, and that on a hundred 
 thousand pounds being given it on account, and a statement 
 demanded of what more was due, it should be requested to 
 return home (June ll)." 
 
 These measures had not the effect anticipated; the Scots 
 showed neither vexation nor anger; but their conduct was 
 hesitating, which suited their enemies still better. The per- - 
 plexity of ihe leaders inclined to serve the king was extreme. 
 Incurable in his duplicity, because he held himself bound to 
 no engagement with rebellious subjects, Charles meditated 
 their ruin while he was imploring their aid. "I do not 
 despair," he wrote to lord Digby, a few days before he left 
 
 > Pai-l. Hist. iu. 469; Whitelocke, 205-' 
 ' Wliitelockc, 207, et seq. * Pari. Hist. iii. 474 — 4S0. 
 
 • WMtelocke, 209, ef seq. ' Holies, Memoirs, 45. « Pari. Hist. iii. 484. 
 X 
 
306 - HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 Oxford, " of inducing the presbyterians or the independents tO' 
 join with me in exterminating one the other; and then I shall 
 be king again" (March 26).' On their side, the presbytesrians, 
 Scots or English, ruled by their ministers, passionately bent 
 upon securing the covenant and the triumph of their church, 
 would not hear of any accommodation with, any assistance to, 
 the king, unless at that price; so that the most moderate, 
 those most anxious for the future, could neither trust in him, 
 nor abate with Vn'm any of their claims. In this perplexity, 
 assailed at once by the accusations of their adversaries and 
 the necessities of their party, their words contradicted, their 
 actions neutralized each other; they wished for peace, pro- 
 mised it to the king, were constantly talking with their friends- 
 of the dread they had of the independents; and yet never had 
 their declarations of zeal for the covenant, of firm attachment 
 to parliament, of inviolable union with their brethren the 
 English, been more multiplied, more emphatic;^ never had 
 they shown themselves so distrmstful, so inflexible in reference 
 to the king and the cavaliers. Six of the most illustrious 
 companions of Montrose, taken at the battle of Philip-Ha,ugh, 
 were condemned and executed; a severity for wluch there 
 was no motive but revenge, and of which, in England, the 
 civil war had presented no example.* Charles, before quitting 
 Oxford, had written to the marquis of Ormond that he was 
 only proceeding to the Scottish camp on the strength of their 
 promise of supporting him and his just rights if need were 
 (April S);* and though in all probabiUty their language had 
 not been so explicit as this, it can hardly be doubted that they 
 had in fact given him reason to hope for their support. Or- 
 mond published the king's letter (May 21); the Scots at once 
 contradicted it, broadly characterizing it as " a most damnable 
 ontruth (June 8)."^ More rigour than ever was displayed about 
 the king's person; aU who had carried arms in his defence were 
 forbidden to approach him; his letters were in almost every 
 instance intercepted.^ At length, to give a signal mark of 
 their fidehty to the cause of the covenant, the Scottish leaders 
 eaUed upon the king to allow himself to be instructed in th© 
 
 • Carte, Life -of Onnond, iii. 452. 
 a Pari. Hist. vi. 471, 473, 488. » LaJng, iii. 334. 
 
 * Carte, Life of Ormond, iii. 455. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 480. , 
 
ENGLISH EEVOtUTION. 307 
 
 true- doctrine of Chiristj and Henderson, the moat celebrated 
 preacher of the party, went to Newcastle to undertake officially 
 the conversion.' of the captive monarch.' 
 
 Charles maintained the controversy mth address and dig^ 
 nity, inflexible in his adherence to the Anglican church, but 
 arguing -mthout acrimony against his adversary, who was 
 himself temperate and respectful. During the discussion, the 
 king wrote to the royalist governors who stiU. held out, order- 
 ing them to surrender their towns (Jume 10);^ to the parlia- 
 ment, to hasten the transmie&ion of their proposals (June 10) j^ 
 to Ormond, to continue Ms negotiations with the Irish, though 
 at the same tune he ofirciaily commanded him to break them 
 off;* to Grlamorgan, still the only, person entrusted with his 
 secret designs, " If you can procure me a large sum of money, 
 by engaging my kingdoms as security, I shall be glad, and as 
 soon' as I shall have recovered possession of them, I wiU fuHy 
 repay the debt. Tell the nuncio that if I can by any means 
 place myself in his and your hands,. I shall certainly no* fail 
 to do so, for I see that all the rest contemn me" (July 20).* 
 
 The proposals of paarliament at last arrived (July 23); the 
 earls of Pembroke and Suffolk, and four members of the 
 commons, were charged to present them. One of them, Mr. 
 Goodwin, began to read them: " I beg your pardon," said 
 the king, interrupting him, " have you amy power to 
 treat?" " No, sir." " In that case, but for the honour of it, 
 a good, honest trumpeter might have done as much as you." 
 Goodwin finished reading the proposaJs. "I, imagine," said 
 the king, "you do not expect a present answer from me in a 
 business of this consequence." " Sir," replied lord Pembroke, 
 " we have orders to stay no longer than ten days." " Very 
 well," replied Charles, " I will give you an answer in proper 
 time."8 
 
 Several days passed and the commissioners heard nothing 
 further. The Mng meanwhile read sadly, and re-read, again 
 and again, these proposals> still more humiliating, still harder 
 
 ' The oomttoTersy began on the 29th of May, and lasted till the 16th of 
 July. AU the notes which passed between the Mng and Henderson have been 
 coUected in 'The Works of King Charles the Martyi^ (1662), 155—187. 
 « Pari. Hist. iii. 487. » lb. 486. 
 
 * lb. 487 : Lingard, yi. 561. 
 Birch, Inquiry into Glamorgim's Transactions, &c., 245. 
 • Pari. Hist. iii. 513. 
 
 r " x2 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 than those he had constantly rejected. He was called upon 
 to adopt the covenant, to abolish completely the episcopal 
 church, to surrender to parliament, for twenty years, the 
 command of the army, navy, and militia; and, finally, to con- 
 sent that his most faithful friends, to the number of seventy- 
 one, excluded by name from any amnesty, that all his party, 
 that whoever had taken arms for him, should be debarred 
 all public employment during the pleasure of parliament.' 
 Yet every one persuaded him to accept these terms: M. de 
 Bellievre, the French ambassador, who had arrived at New- 
 castle the same day with the parliamentary commissioners, 
 counselled him, in the name of his own court, to do so.^ Mon- 
 treuil brought him letters from the queen, ardently urging 
 compliance;' on the suggestion of Bellievre, she even dis- 
 patched from Paris a gentleman of her household, sir "William 
 Davenant, with orders to tell the king that his resistance was 
 •disapproved of by all his friends. "What friends?" said 
 Charles, pettishly^ " By lord Jermyn, sir." " Jermyn does 
 not understand anj^thing about the church." "Lord Cole- 
 pepper is of the same mind." " Colepepper has no religion; 
 is Hyde of this mind?" " We do not know, sir; the chan- 
 cellor is not at Paris; he has forsaken the prince, and has 
 «hosen to remain in Jersey, instead of accompanying the 
 prince to the queen; her majesty is very much offended by 
 Lis behaviour." " The chancellor is an honest man, who will 
 never forsake me, nor the prince, nor the church; I am sorry 
 he is not with my son; but my wife is mistaken." Davenant 
 urged the point with the vivacity of a poet and the levity of 
 ■a court gallant; the king grew angry, and drove him roughly 
 from his presence.^ On the part of the presbyterians, the 
 entreaties were no less urgent; several towns in Scotland, 
 Edinburgh among others, addressed amicable petitions to the 
 •king^ on the subject; the city of London wished to do the 
 same, but a formal prohibition from the commons prevented 
 them.8 At last, threats were joined to entreaties; the general 
 assembly of the church of Scotland demanded that if "the 
 king refused the covenant, he should not be permitted to 
 enter Scotland;'' and in a solemn audience, in presence of the 
 
 > Paxl. Hist. iii. i99— 512. '^ lb. 512 ; Clarenclon, iii. 47. 
 
 * Whitelocke, 316. < Clarenclon, iii. 48. » Whitelocke, ut sup. 
 
 « Ludlow, 79. ' Claiendon, iii. 64. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION, 309 
 
 Scottish commissioners, the chancellor, lord Lowden, declaxe<l 
 to him, that if he persisted in his refusal, entrance into Scot- 
 land would, in point of fact, be forbidden him, and that in 
 England it was very likely they would depose him, and insti- 
 tute another form of government.' 
 
 The king's pride, his religious scruples, and also some 
 secret hope with which he was stiU buoyed up by credulous 
 or intriguing friends,^ were proof against these presentations. 
 After having from day to day delayed his answer, he, on the 
 1st of August, sent for the commissioners, and deUvered to 
 them a written message, in which, without absolutely reject- 
 ing the proposals, he again requested to be received in LoQ? 
 don to treat personally with parliament.' 
 
 The independents could not restrain their joy. On the re- 
 turn of the commissioners, a vote of thanks to them was as 
 usual proposed: " It is the king we should thank," cried a 
 member. " What will become of us now he has refused our 
 proposals?" anxiously inquired a presbyterian. " What 
 would have become of us if he had accepted them?" replied 
 an independent.'' A message came from the Scottish commis- 
 sioners offering to surrender all the places they occupied, and 
 to withdraw their army from England (Aug. 10.)^ The lords 
 voted that their brethren the Scots had deserved well of the 
 country; the commons did not join in this vote, but passed a 
 resolution by which it was forbidden to speak ill of the Scots 
 or to print anything against them (Aug. 14).^ For a mo- 
 ment, both parties, the one disheartened, the other reassured 
 by the king's refusal, seemed solely engaged in regulating in 
 eoncert their interests and their discussions. 
 
 But truces proclaimed by prudence or spite between ad- 
 verse passions are of short duration. The offer of the Scots 
 gave rise to two questions: how the arrears which were due 
 to them and which they had been long claiming, were to be 
 settled? and who was to have the disposal of the king's 
 person ? These questions once started, both parties renewed 
 the conflict. 
 
 On the first point, the presbyterians easily gained the 
 
 I Eushworth, i. 4, 319. ^ Ludlow, 79. » Pail. Hist. iii. 513—516. 
 * Burnet, Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 283. » Par!. Hist. iii. 516. 
 ' lb. This ordinance only passed the commons by a majority of 130 
 to 103 
 
310 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 advantage: the demands ai llie Scots, it is true, were exorbi- 
 tant; after giving parliament credit for Tvihat it iad alreadj 
 paid,fhey still claimednearly 700,000/., "without mentioning," 
 they said, " the enormous losses which Scotland had suffered 
 in consequence of her alliance with England, and of which 
 they left the valuation to the equity of paidiament." The 
 independents railed with bitter irony against so expensive a 
 fraitemity; in their turn, they opposed to the claims of the 
 Scots a detailed account of the sums which had been levied 
 by them, and of their exactions in the north of the kingdom, 
 an acconnt, according to which, Scotland, so far from having 
 anything due to her, was more than 4O0,000Z. in debt to 
 England.^ But these recriminations could not be admitted or 
 even seriously debated by sensible men; the retirement of the 
 Scots was evidently necessary; the northern counties loudly 
 called for it; to obtain it they must be paid, for a war would 
 be much dearer and far more perilous to paxharaent. The 
 shuffling pertinacity of the independents seemed merely blind 
 passion or factious manoeuvring; the presbyterians, on the 
 contrary, promised to bring the Scots to more moderate 
 terms: all the wavering, distrustful, or reserved, who ranked 
 under the banner of no party, and who several times, from 
 dislike of presbyterian despotism, hadgiven the independents 
 a majority, took on tins occasion the side«f their adversaries: 
 400,000£ were voted as the maximum concession^ the Scots 
 could hope for, payable, one half on their departure from 
 England, the other half at the expiration of two years. They 
 accepted the bargain, and a loan, on mortgage of church 
 property, was immediately opened in the city, to provide the 
 means of payment (Oct. 13).'' 
 
 But when the question turned on the disposal of the king's 
 person, the position of the presbyterians beeanie very embar- 
 rassing. Had they wished him to remain in the hands of 
 the Scots, they could not even have suggested such an idea, 
 for the national pride absolutely repelled it; it was the 
 honour and right, was the universal cry, of the English 
 people alone to dispose of their sovereign; to what jurisdic- 
 
 > Pari. Hist, ut sup. a lb. '' 
 
 » InfouTTotes of 100,000?. eacli; the IStli, 2l8t, and 37th of August, 
 and 1st of September. — iParl. Hist., ut sup. 
 
 * Bushworth, i. i, 376 ; Holies, Memoirs, 66. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. (Jil 
 
 tion could the Scots lay claim on English groumd? They 
 were nothing there but auxiliaries, paid auxiliaries, who, it 
 was quite obvious, thought of nothing but their pay; let 
 them take their money, then, and return to their own country; 
 England neither wanted nor feared them. The Scots, on 
 their side, however great their desire to avoid a rupture, 
 could not endure patiently all this contumely. Charles, they 
 said, was their king as well as king of England; they had 
 equally with the English, the right to watch over his per- 
 son and fortunes; the covenant imposed this upon them as a 
 duty. The quarrel became very animated; conferences, 
 pamphlets, declarations, reciprocal accusations multiplied, 
 and grew more vehement day after day; day after day the 
 people, without distinction of party, denounced more and 
 more loudly the pretensions of the Scots, who had altogether 
 fallen in popular opinion; national prejudices and antipathies 
 had reappeared; and the rapacity of the Scots, their narrow- 
 minded, prudence, their theological pedantry, daily became 
 more distasteful to the freer, more enlarged, and more libe- 
 ral minds, the more extended and bolder fanaticirai of their 
 allies. The political leaders of the presbyterian party, 
 HoUes, Stapleton, Glynn, weary of a struggle in which they 
 found themselves straitened and subordinate, impatiently 
 sought the means of putting an end to it. They persuaded 
 themselves, that if the Scots gave the king into the hands of 
 parliament, it would be easy to disband that fatal army, the 
 only strength of the independents, the true enemy of the par- 
 liament and of the king. They therefore counselled the Scots 
 to yield, for the interest of their own cause; and, at the same 
 time, the lords, probably determined by the same influence, 
 at length agreed (Sept. 24) to this resolution of the commons 
 •which had been five months in suspense: " That to the par- 
 liament alone belongs the right of disposing of the king's 
 person."' 
 
 The Scottish presbyterians, most of them at least, were 
 quite willing to believe in the wisdom of this counsel, and to 
 follow it, embarrassed as they were by their own resistance, 
 and not knowing how to maintain it nor how to give it up. 
 
 > Enshworth, i. i, 329—878; Holies, Memoirs, 68; Baillie, ii. 337 ; 
 ■liEung, ui. 369. 
 
312 HISTOXtt OP -rHl! 
 
 But tlie Mng's friends among the party had lately acquired 
 rather more boldness and power. The duke of Hamilton 
 was at their head, after an imprisonment of three years at 
 St. Michael's Mount, in Cornwall, whither he had been sent 
 in consequence of the distrust which his wavering conduct 
 iad inspired at the court of Oxford, and in the mind of 
 the king himself. He had quitted the place when it fell into 
 the hands of the parliament, and after passing a few days in 
 London, and paying cordial visits to the members of both 
 iouses, he had proceeded to Newcastle, where Charles had 
 just arrived with the Scottish army, had soon regained his 
 former favour with the king, and on his return to Edinburgh 
 had made the most earnest efforts for his safety.' Around 
 him immediately rallied nearly all the higher nobility of the 
 kingdom, the citizens, the moderate presbyterians; the pru- 
 /dent, who were disgusted with the blind fanaticism of the 
 multitude and the insolent domination of its ministers; the 
 honest and timid, who were willing to make any sacrifice to 
 obtain a little rest. These effected the appointment of a new 
 and solenm deputation, who went to Newcastle, and conjured 
 the king, on their knees, to accept the proposals of parliament. 
 The passionate entreaties of these deputies, all of them his 
 fellow-coutrymen, nearly all of them the, companions of his 
 youth, shook Charles's resolution: " Upon my word," he said 
 to them, " all the dangers and inconveniences laid before 
 me do not so much trouble me, as that I should not give fuU 
 satisfaction to the desires of my native country, especially 
 being so earnestly pressed upon me. I desire to be rightly 
 understood: I am far from giving you a negative — ^nay, I 
 protest against it, my only wish being to be heard, and hope 
 you wiU press those at London to hear reason. If a king 
 were to refuse this to any of his subjects, he would be thought 
 a tyrant. "^ The next day, possibly after fresh solicitations, 
 he offered to limit the establishment of the episcopal church 
 to five dioceses,* allowing the presbyterian system to prevafl 
 in the rest of the kingdom, claiming only for himself and his 
 friends of the same persuasion, the free exercise of their own 
 
 > Clarendon, iii. 152 ; Eushworth, i. 4, 9ii7. 
 
 ' Eushworth, i. i, 327. 
 
 • Tliose of Oxford, Winchester, Bristol, Bath and "Wells, and Exeter. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 313 
 
 conscience and worship, until, in conjunction with the parlia- 
 ment, he should put an end to all their differences. But no 
 partial concession satisfied the presbyterians; and the higher 
 offers the king made, the more they doubted his sincerity. 
 His proposal was scarcely listened to. Hamilton, discouraged, 
 talked of retiring to the continent; a report al the same time 
 was spread, that the Scottish army was about to enter Scot- 
 land. The king immediately wrote to the duke (Sept. 26): 
 " Hamilton, I have so much to write, and so little time for it, 
 that this letter will be suitable to the times, without method 
 
 or reason. -Those at London think to get me into their 
 
 hands by telling our countrymen that they do not intend to 
 make me a prisoner. O no, by no means! — but only to give 
 me an honourable guard forsooth, to attend me continually, 
 for the security of my person. Wherefore I must then tell 
 you (and 'tis so far from a secret that I desire every one 
 should know it), that I will not be left in England when this 
 army retires, unless clearly, and according to the old way of 
 understanding, I may remain a free man, and that no attendant 
 be forced upon me Upon any pretence whatsoever. By going, 
 you take away from me the means of showing myself;" and 
 he finished his letter with these words: "Your most assured, 
 real, faithful, constant friend."' Hamilton remained; the 
 Scottish parliament met (November): its first sittings seemed 
 to announce a firm and active good-wiU towards the king. 
 It declared (Dec. 16) that it would maintain monarchical 
 government in the person and descendants of his majesty, as 
 well as his just right to the crown of England; and that 
 secret instructions should be sent to the Scottish commis- 
 sioners in London, to negotiate that the king might go 
 thither with honour, safety, and liberty. But next day the 
 permanent committee of the general assembly of the presby- 
 terian church addressed a public remonstrance to the Scottish 
 parliament, accusing it of listening to perfidious counsels, 
 and complaining that it put the union of the two kingdoms, 
 the only hope of the faithful, in peril, merely to serve a 
 prince obstinate in rejecting the covenant of Christ.* Against 
 such intervention, Hamilton and his friends were power- 
 less. The docile parliament retracted its vote of the pre- 
 
 ' Eushworth, i. 4, 327_329 « lb. 390 ; Lamg, iii. 364— 368>. 
 
314 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ceding day; and the moderate men could effect nothing 
 beyond a fresh message to the king, entreating him to accept 
 *he proposals. Charles only answered by another message, 
 requesting to treat in person with parliament.' 
 
 At the very moment that, for the fifth time, he was ex- 
 pressing this unavailing wish, parliament was signing the treaty 
 T^ulating the retirement of the Scottish army, and the mode 
 of paying it (Dec. 23).^ The loan opened in the city had 
 been immediately filled ; on the 16th of December, the 
 200,000/. which the Scots were to receive previous to their 
 departure, enclosed in two hundred cases, sealed with the 
 seal of the two nations, and conveyed in thirty-six carts,^ left 
 London, escorted by a body of infantry; and Skippon, who 
 commanded it, issued an order of the day that any officer or 
 soldier who by word or deed or otherwise, should give any 
 Scottish officer or soldier subject of complaint, should forth- 
 with be severely punished.* The convoy entered York on 
 the 1st of January, 1647, the cannon of the town celebrating 
 its arrival;^ and three weeks after, the Scots received, their 
 first payment at Northallerton. The king's name was not 
 mentioned in the course of this negotia,tion; but ,a week after 
 the treaty had been signed (Dec. 31),^ the two houses voted 
 that he should be conveyed to Hohnby Castle in Northamp-- 
 tonshire; and he so undoubtedly formed part of the bargain, 
 that the commons discussed the question whether commis- 
 sioners should be sent to Newcastle to receive him solemnly 
 from the Scots, or whether they should merely require him 
 to be given up without any ceremony to Skippon, with the 
 keys of the place and the receipt for the money. The inde- 
 pendents strongly insisted upon the last mode, delighted with 
 the idea of insulting at the same time the king and their rivals. 
 But thepresbyteiians succeeded in rejecting it (Jan. 6, 1647);'' 
 and on the 12th of January, nine commissioners, three lords 
 and six members of the coBmjons,^ left London with a nu- 
 
 ' Eushworth, i. 4, 393. « Pari. Hist. iii. 532—536. 
 
 » Enshwortli, i. i, 389; Pari. Hist. iii. 583. * WMtelocke, 230. 
 
 5 Pari. Hist, utmp.; Draike, History of York (1736), 27]. 
 
 « Pail. Hist. 538. ' lb. 
 
 • The eails of Pembroke and Denbigh, lord Montague, sir John Coke, 
 
 sir Walter Eail, sir John Holland, sir James Harrington, Mr. Carew, and 
 
 major-general Broim. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLTJTION. 315 
 
 merous suite, to, go and respectfully take possession oP tteir 
 sovemgn.* 
 
 Charles was playing at chess when he received the first 
 intimation of the vote of parliamrait and of his approaching 
 removal to Hohnby Castle; he quietly finished his game, and 
 merely observed that on the arrival of the commissioners he 
 Tpould acquaint them with his will (Jan. 15).^ Those about 
 bim manifested more anxiety; his Mends and servants looked 
 around on aU sides for some aid, some refuge, now meditating 
 another flight, now attempting in some corner of the kingdonsi 
 to excite a fresh rising of the royalists in his favour.* . Even 
 the people begaai to show themselves touched by his fate. A 
 Scottish minister, preaching before him at Newcastle, gave 
 out the 52st Psahn, beginning with these words: 
 
 " Why dost tliau, tyrant, boast thyself 
 Thy wicked yrotks to praise ?" • 
 
 The king arose, and instead of this, began the 56th Psalm: 
 
 ' " Have mercy, Lord, on me I pray. 
 For men would me devour :" 
 
 and with a common impulse, the whole assembly joined with 
 him:'* but the pity of a people is tardy, and remains long 
 without efiect. 
 
 The commissioners arrived at Newcastle (Jan. ^2); the 
 Scottish parliament had officially consented to surrender the 
 king (Jan. 16).* " I am sold and bought," said he, when he 
 heard of it. Yet he received the commissioners well, talked 
 cheerfully with them, congratulated lord Pembroke upoa 
 having been able at his age, and in so severe a season, to 
 make so long a journey without fatigue, inquired the state of 
 the roads, appeared, in short, anxious for them to think him 
 glad to return to the parliament.^ . Before quitting him, the 
 Scottish cpffiimissioners, lord Lauderdale in particular, the 
 most clear-sighted of all, made a last attempt with him in. 
 favour of the covenant: " If he would but adopt it," they 
 said, " instead of giving him up to the Enghsh, we will take 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Herbert, Memoirs (1702), 7. 
 ^ Burnet's Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 307. 
 ? Pari. Hist, ut sup. « ■Whitelocke, 230. 
 
 s Pari. Hist. iu. 641. « Herbert, 8. 
 
316 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Tiim to Berwick, and obtain reasonable conditions for him,'* 
 They even offered Montreuil, who still served as a mediator 
 between them, a large sum of money if he could only obtain 
 a promise from the king.' Charles persisted in his refusal, but 
 Without complaining of the conduct of the Scots towards him, 
 treating the commissioners of both nations with equal civility, 
 evidently anxious to avoid exhibiting either distrust or anger,* 
 The Scots, wearied out, at length took their departure; New* 
 castle was given up to the English troops (Jan. 30); and the 
 king left it on the 9th of February, escorted by a regiment of 
 horse. He travelled slowly; all theway an eager crowd flocked 
 to meet him ; persons afflicted with the kjifg's evil were brought 
 to him and placed round his carriage, or at the door of the 
 house which he occupied, that he might touch them as he 
 passed. The commissioners were alarmed, and forbade this 
 concourse,' but to little purpose, for no one was yet accus- 
 tomed to oppress or to fear, and the soldiers themselves dared 
 not drive back the people too roughly.'' Approaching Not- 
 tingham, Fairfax, whose head-quarters were there, came out 
 to meet the king, alighted as soon as he saw him, kissed his 
 hand, and mounting his horse again, went through the town 
 by his side in respectful conversation. " The general is a 
 man of honour," said the king, when he left him, " he has 
 kept his word with me;"^ and two days after (Feb. 16) when 
 he entered Hohnby, where a great many gentlemen and others 
 of the neighbourhood had met to celebrate his arrival, he 
 highly congratulated himself on the reception he had received 
 from his subjects.^ 
 
 At "Westminster even, the presbyterians conceived some 
 disquietude at all this, but it soon gave way to the joy of 
 finding themselves masters of the king, and free at length 
 boldly to attack their enemies. Charles arrived at Hohnby 
 on the 16th of February; and on the 19th the commons had 
 already voted that the army should be disbanded, excepting 
 
 • Tliurioe, State Papers, i. fl7 ; Letter of M. de Montreuil to M. de 
 Brionne, Febniary 2, 1647. J lb. 
 
 » By a declaration published at Leeds, February 9, 1647 ; Pari. Hist, 
 iii. 549. * Herbert, 10. 
 
 » Whitelocke, 238. It is not known to what promise Charles alluded ; 
 perhaps to that of receiving him and talking with him as Fairfax did. 
 • Herbert, 10, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 317 
 
 sucli part of it as might be required for the Irish war, the 
 service of the garrisons and the pohce of the kingdom.' 
 Fairfax himself was near being deprived of the command of 
 the troops retained;^ and, though he was left in possession of 
 it, it was decreed, that no member of the house could serve 
 with him, that he should have under his command no officer 
 above the rank of colonel, and that they should all be boimd 
 to conform to the presbyterian church, and to adopt the cove- 
 nant.^ On their side, the lords, to relieve, as they said, the 
 counties round London, the most devoted of all to the public 
 cause, required that the army^ pending its dismissal, should 
 take up its quarters at a greater distance from the metropolis 
 (March 24.)'' A loan of 200,000Z., was opened in the city to 
 pay the disbanded troops a portion of their arrears.^ Finally, 
 a special committee, on which sat nearly all the presbyterian 
 leaders. Holies, Stapleton, Glynn, Maynard, Waller, was 
 ordered to superintend the execution of these measures, and 
 in particular to hasten the departure of those succours which 
 the unfortunate Irish protestants had so long been expecting.^ 
 The attack was not unforeseen: for the last two months the 
 independents had felt their influence decline in the house, for 
 most of the new members, who at first had acted with them, 
 from a dread of presbyterian despotism, were beginning to 
 turn against them.^ " What misery," said CromweU one day 
 to Ludlow, " to serve a parliament! let a man be ever so true, 
 if a lawyer caluroniate him he can never recover it; whereas, 
 in serving under a general, one is as useful, and there is 
 neither blame nor envy to dread; if thy father were alive he 
 would soon let some of them hear what they deserve."* A 
 sincere republican, and as yet a stranger to the intrigues of 
 his party, though he fully shared their passions, Ludlow did 
 not understand his friend's meaning, and did not meet his 
 advances; but others were more easily deceived and seduced. 
 CromweU had already, in the army, several able accomplices 
 and blind instruments; Ireton, who shortly after became his 
 son-in-law, a man bred to the law, but now commissary- 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 558. This motion was adopted by 159 to 147. 
 - The motion was rejected by a majority of only 12, 159 to 147. — Pari. 
 Hist, vt sup. ' This motion was adopted by 136 to 108. — Id. ib. 
 
 <Id. ib- 'Bushworth, i.4,449. » Holies, Mem. 75 ; Eushworth, «t swp. 
 ' Id. ib. ' Ludlow, 79. 
 
318 ■ HISTORY OF THE 
 
 general of the caviaby, of a firm, obstinate, and subtle spirit, 
 capable of carrying on silently, and with deep cunning, 
 the boldest designs, veiled under an appearance of rough 
 honesty; Lambert, one of the most brilliant officers of the 
 army, ambitious, vaia, and who, like Ireton, brought up to 
 the law, had retained of his studies a power of insinuation, a 
 readiness of speech, which he liked to make use of with the 
 soldiers ; Harrison, Hammond, Pride, Eich, Kainsboroi^^ 
 aU of them colonel? of tried valour, popular, and personaHj 
 attached to him: Harrison, beeaiase in pious meetings they 
 had sought the Lord together; HamiaoBd, because he ^as 
 indebted to him for his marriages with a daughter of Hampden;' 
 the others, because they felt the. ascendancy of his genius, or 
 expected their rise with his, or simply obeyed him as soldiersi 
 By their means, Cromwel, though, the war being over, he had 
 resumed his' seat at Westminster, maintained all Ms influence in 
 the army, and from a distance exercised there his indefatigable 
 activity. As soon as the disbanding of the troops was talked 
 of, these men in partioular were loud in their murmurs; it 
 was to them that, from London, news, insinuations, sugges- 
 tions were sent, which they immediately circulated underhand 
 throughout the army, exhorting the soldiers to insist upon the 
 payment of the whole of their arrears, to refuse to serve in 
 Ireland, to avoid disunion among themselves. Cromwell, 
 meanwhile, to disarm suspicion apparently inactive, was 
 constantly deploring from his place in the house the dis- 
 content of the army, and pouring forth protestations of his 
 devotion to parliament.^ 
 
 First came a petition signed only by fourteen officers 
 (March 2o),3 written in a humble and conciliatory tone. 
 They promised to go to Ireland at the first orders, and con- 
 tented themselves for the present with offering aaodest 
 counsel as to the payment of arrears and the guarantees 
 that the troops had a right to expect. The house thanked 
 them, but haughtily, intimating that it became none to direct 
 parliament what to do.* As soon as this answer reached the 
 army, another petition was instantly prepared, far more 
 firm and definite than the first. It demanded that the 
 arreai-s should be strictly liquidated; that no one should be 
 
 » ClarendoB, iii. 118. ' HoUes, Memoirs, 84. 
 
 a Pfffl. Hist. iii. 880 4 lb. iii. 602. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 31^ 
 
 obligecl to go to Ireland against his will; that disabled soldiers 
 and the widows and children of soldiers should receive 
 pensions; that prompt payments on account might relieve 
 the troops from becoming a burden on the people among 
 whom they were quartered. It was no longer by a few indi- 
 viduals, but in the name of the whole body of officers and 
 soldiers, that the petition was drawn up; and it was ad- 
 dressed,, not to parliament, but to Fairfax, the natural repre-: 
 sentative of the army and guardian of its rights. It was read 
 at the head of each regiment, and such officers as refused to 
 sign it were threatened.' 
 
 Upon the first intelligence of these proceedings, parliament 
 commanded Fairfax to prohibit them, declaring that whoever 
 should persist in them would be considered an enemy of the 
 state and distuirber of the public peace; it further required 
 certain of the officers to attend the house and explain their 
 conduct.^ 
 
 Fairfax promised obedience: Hammond, Pride, Lilburne, 
 and Grrimes went to "Westminster (April 1), and loudly re- 
 pelled the charges brought against them: "It is not true," 
 said PridCj " that the petition was read at the head of each 
 regiment;'' it was at the head of each company that it had 
 been read; the house did not press the matter further — it was 
 sufficient, they said, that the petition was abandoned and 
 disavowed.^ 
 
 The preparations for disbanding the army were resumed: 
 tiie loan opened in the city went on slowly, and was not 
 enough; a general tax of 60,000Z. a-month was imposed to 
 make up the amount.* Above all, the formation of the corps 
 destined for Ireland was hastened; great advantages were 
 promised to those who would enlist in them; and Skippon 
 and Massey were appointed to command them.^ Five com- 
 missioners, aH of the presbyterian party, proceeded to head- 
 quarters to make these resolutions fcuown. 
 
 > Pail, Hist. iii. 562— 567; Wliitelocke, 241. 
 
 * This declaration was made on the 30th of March, 1647 ; Pail. Hist, 
 ui. 567. 
 
 ' Kushworth, i. 4, 444. 
 
 * The ordinance, proposed in the beginning of April, was not definitiTely 
 adopted till the 23id of June following. (Bushwertb, 1. 4, 582.) The tax 
 was voted for one year. 
 
 ' Hushwortii, i. 4, 403. 
 
320 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 On the day of their arrival (April 15), two hundred officers, 
 assembled in the house of Fairfax, entered into conference 
 with them: " "Who will command us in Ireland?" asked 
 Lambert. " Major-general Skippon and major-general Mas- 
 sey are appointed." " The great , part of the army," replied 
 Hammond, " wiU readily follow major-general SkippoUj 
 which otherwise they would not; they know the worth and 
 valour of that great soldier; but they must also have th© 
 general officers of whom they have had such experience." 
 " Yes, yes," cried the officers; "give us Fairfax and Cronir^ 
 well, and we will go." The commissioners, quite discoh-: 
 eerted, left the room, requesting that all the weU-disposed 
 would come to them at their lodgings. Scarcely more than 
 twelve or fifteen accepted the invitation.' 
 
 A few days after (April 27),^ a hundred and forty-one^ 
 officers addressed a solemn justification of their conduct to 
 parliament: "We hope, by being soldiers," they said, "w& 
 have not lost the capacity of subjects, nor divested ourselves 
 thereby of our interests in the commonwealth; that in pur- 
 chasing the freedom of our brethren, we have not lost our 
 own. For our liberty of petitioning, we hope the house will 
 never deny it to us, as it has not denied it to its enemies, but 
 justified and commended it, and received misrepresentations 
 of us. The false suggestions of some men have informed you 
 that the army intended to enslave the kingdom: we earnestly: 
 implore your justice to vindicate us, and that our hardly- 
 eame^ wages may be cared for, according to our great neces- 
 sities, more especially those of the soldiers." 
 
 The house had scarcely finished reading this letter 
 (April 30), when Skippon rose, and delivered another, which 
 had been brought to him the day before by three private 
 soldiers. In it eight regiments of horse expressly refused to 
 serve in Ireland. It was, they said, a perfidious design upon 
 them and many of the godly party, a pretext to separate the 
 soldiers from the officers they loved, and to conceal the am- 
 bition of a few men who had long been servants, but who 
 having lately tasted of sovereign power, were now, in order 
 to remain masters, degenerating into tyrants. At this per- 
 
 « Kusliwortli, i. 4, 457 ; Wliitelocke, 244. 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. iii. 568; Eushworth, 1. 4i 469— 472, 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION 321 
 
 Eonal attack, the presbyterian leaders, alike astonished and 
 irritated, demanded that the house, laying aside aU other 
 business, should summon before it and question the three 
 soldiers. They came; their demeanour was firm, their de- 
 portment unembarrassed.' " Where was this letter got up?" 
 inquired the speaker. " At a meeting of the regiments." 
 "Who wrote it?" "A council of delegates appointed by 
 each regiment." " Did your officers approve of it?" "Very 
 few of them know anything about it." " Do you know that 
 none but royalists could have suggested such a proceeding? 
 You yourselves, were you ever cavaliers?" " We entered 
 the service of parliament before the battle of Edge-hill, and 
 have remained in it ever since." One of the three stepped 
 forward: "I received, on one occasion, five wounds; I had 
 fallen; major-general Skippon saw me on the ground; he 
 gave me five shillings to get relief; the major-general can 
 contradict me if I lie." " It is true," said Skippon, looking 
 with interest at the soldier. " But what means this sentence 
 in which you speak about sovereign power?" " We are only 
 the agents of our regiments; if the house will give us its 
 questions in writing, we will take them to the regiments and 
 bring back the answers."^ 
 
 A violent tumult arose in the house; the presbyterians 
 broke out into threats. Cromwell, leaning towards Ludlow, 
 who was sitting next to him, said, " These men will never 
 leave, till the army pull them out by the ears."^ 
 
 Anger soon gave way to uneasiness; the discovery jus% 
 made was an alarming one; it was no longer discontented 
 soldiers whom they had to repress; the whole army was 
 banded together, was erecting itself into an independent, 
 perhaps rival power, had ah-eady its own government. Two 
 councils, composed the one of officers, the other of delegates 
 or agitators, named by the soldiers, regulated all its proceed- 
 ings, and were preparing to negotiate in its name. Every 
 precaution had been taken to keep up this growing organiza- 
 tion; every squadron, every company named two agitators; 
 ■whenever it was necessary for them to meet, every soldier 
 gave fourpence to defray the e3;jpenses, and the two councils 
 
 ' Their names were Edward Sexby, William Allen, and Thomas Sheppard. 
 » Bushworth, i. 4, 474; Holies, Memoirs, 89; Whitelocke, 249. 
 » Lwdlow, 81. 
 
 V 
 
322 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 were never to act but in common.' At the same time, a re- 
 port was spread, and not without foundation, that proposals 
 had reached the king from the army? it was said that it 
 offered to re-estabHsh him in his just rights,^ if he would 
 place himself at its head and under its care. In parliament 
 itself, at the manifestation of this new power, and dreading 
 its immediate Strength still more than its triumph, the more 
 ' cautious members became timid; some left London; others, 
 like Whitelocke, sought the favour of the generals, of Crom- 
 well in particular, who eagerly met their advances.^ It was 
 resolved to try the effect of compliance, and to treat with the 
 Atmj through its own leaders. Two months' pay, instead of 
 six weeks', as first voted, was promised to the troops who 
 were to be disbanded (May 14);'' an ordinance was drawn 
 up for a general amnesty for all disorders 'and illegal acts 
 committed during the war;' and funds were assigned to 
 assist the widows and children of soldiers.^ Finally, Crom- 
 well, Ireton, Skippon, Fleetwood, all the generals who were 
 members of the commons, and who were acceptable to the 
 army, were charged to re-establish harmony between it and 
 the parliament.'' 
 
 A fortnight passed without their presence at head-quarters 
 aj)pearing to produce any effect. They wrote often, but 
 their letters contained nothing: sometimes the council of 
 officers had refused to answer without the concurrence of 
 the agitators; sometimes the agitators themselves had re- 
 quested time to consult the soldiers.' Every day, and under 
 the eyes of the commissioners of parliament, this hostile 
 government acquired more consistency and power. Yet 
 Cromwell ceased not to write that he was exhausting him- 
 self in futile efforts to appease the army, that his own influ- 
 ence was greatly suffering in consequence, and that he him-i 
 
 1 Bushwortb, i. i, 485 ; Fdirfax, 106 ; Holies, vt sup. ; Ludlow, ut swp."' 
 
 ^ Proposals of this nature had in fact been made to the Mng by some 
 officers in the beginning of April ; Charles rejected them. — Clarendon, State 
 Papers, ii. 365. 
 
 ' Whitelocke, 248. * Eush-worth, i. 4, 484. 
 
 ' lb. The ordinance was definitively adopted on the 31st of May — 
 Ibid. 489. ■ . « Holies, 91. 
 
 ' They went to the head-quarters at Saffron Walden, in Essex, on the 
 rth of May, 1047. 
 
 » Bushwortb, i. 4, 480, 485, 487; Huntingdon, Memoirs (1703), 153. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 323 
 
 iself should soon become an object of suspicion and odiiim to 
 ■the soldiers.' Some of the commissioners at length returned 
 to London, bringing from the army the same proposals on 
 the one hand, the same refusals on the other.^ 
 
 The presbyterian leaders had eSpeCited this; and profiting 
 by the disposition of the hoUse, which had hoped for better 
 things, obtained in a few hours the adoption of more decided 
 resolutions. On a motion of HoUes, it Was voted that the 
 troops which would not enlist for Ireland, should be instantly 
 disbanded; all the details of this measure were arranged, the 
 ^iay, the place, the means. The corps were to be dissolved 
 •suddenly, separately, each in its quarters, almost at the same 
 time. Or at very short intervals, so that they might neither 
 concert nor assemble together. The money necessary to carry 
 t)ut the first acts of the operation was forwarded to different 
 points, and commissioners, all of them presbyterians, were 
 sent to superintend its execution.' 
 
 They found the army in the most violent confusion: in- 
 formed of the blow which threatened them, most of the regi- 
 ments had mutinied; some, expelling such officers as they 
 distrusted, had of their own authority put themselves in mo- 
 tion, with colours flying, to join their comrades; others had 
 entrenched themselves, armed and equipped, in churches, de- 
 claring that they would not disperse; some had seized the 
 money destined to pay the disbanded troops; all clamour- 
 ously demanded a general meeting, in which the whole army 
 might be heard; and a letter was immediately addressed to 
 Fairfax (May 29) in the name of the soldiers, saying, that if 
 their officers refused to lead them, they well knew how to 
 meet without them and defend their own rights. Fairfax 
 disconcerted, afflicted, exhorted the officers, hearkened to the 
 soldiers, wrote to parliament, alike sincere and alike uninflu- 
 ential with aU parties, equally incapable of resigning popu- 
 larity or exercising power. At last he called a council of 
 war (May 26), and the officers, with only six exceptions, voted 
 that the resolutions of parliament were not satisfactory, that 
 the army could not disperse without better securities, that ife 
 
 » Glarendon, iii. 357, &c. ' Eushworth, i. i, 491. 
 
 » Eushworth, i. i, 493, 494, 496 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 583 ; Holies, Memoire, 
 126. These resolutions were adopted by the house of lords on May 32, 1647. 
 
 Tr2 
 
324 mSTOEY OF THE 
 
 should draw hs quarters nearer together; that a general 
 meeting should take place to calm the fears of the soldiers j 
 and that a humble representation from the council should 
 inform the parliament of all that had taken place.' 
 
 No illusion was longer possible; its authority thus braved, 
 parliament could no longer suffice to itself; it required against 
 such enemies some other strength than its name, some other 
 support than the law. This could only be given it by the 
 king, on one hand, or by the city, still altogether presby- 
 terian, and very near becoming royalist, on the other. Some 
 measures had already been taken with this view; by the 
 consent of the common council, the command of the mihtia 
 had been taken from the independents and transferred to a 
 committee of presbyterians;^ a more numerous guard had 
 been placed round the doors of parliament;' 12,000A addi- 
 tional had been assigned for their maintenance; crowds of the 
 cashiered officers, the faithful remnant of Essex's army, so- 
 journed freely in the city. To the great regret of the party, 
 Essex himself was no more; he had died almost suddenly, at 
 the latter end of the preceding year (Sept. 14), on his return 
 from a hunting party, just at the time when it was said he 
 was preparing to make a signal effort in favour of peace; and 
 his death had seemed to the presbyterians so terrible a blow 
 that a rumour was spread of his having been poisoned by his 
 enemies. But Waller, Poyntz, Massejr were full of zeal, 
 and aU ready to declare themselves. As to the king, par- 
 liament might very well fear that he did not entertain 
 towards them a feeling much more favourable than before : 
 twice, with the hard bigotry of theological hatred, they had 
 refused him the attendance of his chaplains '(Feb. 19 and 
 March 8); and two presbyterian ministers, Messrs. Marshall 
 and Caryll, solemnly celebrated their own form of worsliip, 
 at Holmby, though Charles constantly refused to attend;'' his 
 most trusty servants had been removed from him;^ every 
 attempt to correspond with his wife, his children, or his 
 friends, was strictly prevented;^ it was with great difficulty 
 
 » Bu^worth, i. i, 496 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 585 ; Holies, 126. 
 
 ' By on ordinance of the 4tli of Jlay, 1647; Eushworth, i. 4, 472, 478. 
 
 « lb. 496. * Pari. Hist. iii. S57— 559 ; Herbert, 11. » lb. 18. 
 
 • Kushwortli, i. 4, 453, 483. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 325 
 
 that one of the commissioners of the Scottish parliament, lord 
 Dumferline, obtained permission to converse with him 
 (May 13);' finally, he had (May 12)^ addressed to parhament 
 a detailed answer on the proposal he had received at New- 
 castle, and more than a fortnight had elapsed without any 
 disposition being manifested to take it into consideration. 
 After so much and such vexatious rigour, a reconciliation 
 seemed difficult. Yet the necessity of the case was urgent; 
 if the king had reason to complain of the presbyterians, he 
 stiU Icnew that they did not desire his utter ruin. Even at 
 Holmby, though so strictly watched, the usual honours of royalty 
 •were observed towards himi his household was maintained 
 with splendour, the ceremonies of the court exactly adhered 
 to; on the part of the resident commissioners, who were all 
 presbyterians, nothing in their deportment was wanting in 
 etiquette and respect, and they accordingly lived upon very 
 good terms together; sometimes the king invited them to 
 accompany him in his walks, sometimes he played at chess 
 or at bowls with them, always treating them with marked 
 attention, and seeking their society.^ Assuredly, they thought, 
 he could not be .ignorant that the enemies of parliament were 
 also his own, nor refuse the only means of safety that was 
 now offered him. The lords voted (May 20)'' that his ma- 
 jesty should be invited to reside near London, in Oatlands 
 Castle; the commons, without joining in the vote, manifested 
 the same wish; the correspondence with the resident com- 
 missioners, particularly with colonel Greaves, the commandant 
 of the garrison, became active and mysterious: already at 
 Westminster and in the city, every one was indulging in the 
 hope that the king would soon unite with his parliament^ 
 when, on the 4th of June, the news arrived that the day be- 
 fore the king had been taken from Holmby by a detaeluuent 
 «f seven hundred men, and was now in the hands of the 
 army. 
 
 And so it was, on the 2nd of June, as the king was playing 
 at bowls, after dinner, on Althorpe Down, two miles from. 
 Holmby, the commissioners who accompanied him remarked 
 with astonishment, among those standing by, a stranger ia 
 the uniform of Fairfax's regiment of guards. ColoneL 
 
 » Bushworth, i. 4, 483. = Pari Hist. iii. 677—581. 
 
 » Herbert, 12. * Paxl. Hist. iii. 581. 
 
326 HISTORY OF THP 
 
 Greaves asked him who he was, whence he came, what was= 
 talked of in the army; the man answered somewhat .abruptly 
 and haughtily, as if conscious of his own importance, yet 
 without impertiaence. Soon afterwards, a report circulated 
 round the lung that a numerous body of horse was approach- 
 ing Hohnby: " Did you hear of them?" said Greaves to the 
 stranger. " I did more than hear, I saw them yesterday not 
 thirty miles off." This caused great alarm; aU immediately 
 returned to Holmby; some preparations were made to resist 
 an attack; the garrison promised to remain faithful to the 
 parliament. Towards midnight, a body of horse arrived 
 under the walls of the castle, and demanded entrance. " Wlio, 
 is your commander?" inquired the commissioners. " We all 
 command," was the reply. One of them came forward, the 
 same who had been seen a feW/ hours before on Althorpe 
 Pown: " My name is Joyce," said he; " I am a cornet in th^ 
 general's guaxd; I want to speak to the king," "From 
 whom?" " From myself." The commissioners laughed. 
 " It's no laughing matter," said Joyce; " I come not hither 
 to be advised by you; I have no business with the commis- 
 sioners; my errand is to the king,, and speak with him I must 
 and will presently." Greaves and major-general B^-own, one 
 of the commissioners, ordered the garrison to hold themselves 
 in readiness to &e; but the soldiers had taitfiid with the new 
 comers, the portcullis was lowered, the gates opened, and 
 Joyce's men were already in the castle-yard, alighting froflj. 
 tlieir horses, shaking hands with their comrades, saying they 
 were come by order of the army to place the king in safety,, 
 as there was a plot to carry lum off, take him to London^ 
 raise other troops, and begin a second civil war; and colonel 
 Greaves, commandaijt of the garrispn, they added, had en- 
 gaged to accomplish the treachery. On hearing this, th© 
 soldiers exclaimed that they would not forsake the army| 
 Greaves disappeared, and made his escape in all haste. After 
 a lew hours' conference, the commissioners saw that all hope 
 erf resistance must be given up. It was noon; Joyce toofc, 
 possession of the castle, posted sentinel? about it, and then, 
 yetired tiU evening to give his men some repose. 
 
 He returned at ten, and requested to be taken to the 
 king. " The king is in bed," was the answer. " I don't 
 care," said he, "I have waited long enough; I must see' 
 
ENGLISH EEVOL0TION. 327 
 
 lum;" and, with a cocked pistol in Lis hand, he caused hiin<- 
 self to be conducted to the apartment occupied by Charles. 
 "I am sorry," said he, to the gentlemen in attendance, "to 
 disturb the rest of his majesty; but I cannot help it; I must 
 needs speak with him, and that at once." He was asked 
 whether he was authorized by the commissioners. " No; I 
 have put guards at their doors, and my orders come from men 
 who do not fear them." They urged him to lay aside his 
 arms, but he absolutely refused. Some hesitati(gi was shown 
 to open the door; he grew angry. The king, awakened by 
 the quarrel, rang, and gave orders that he shpuld be admit- 
 ted. Joyce entered, uncovered, but his pistol stUl in his 
 hand, and with a determined though not insulting air. The 
 king, in the presence of the commissioners, whom he sent for, 
 had a long conference with him, and then dismissed him, say- 
 ing: " Good night, Mr. Joyce; I wiU readily go with you, if 
 your soldiers confirm all you have promised me." 
 
 Next morning, at six, Joyce's men were drawn up on horse- 
 back in the castle yard. The king appeared at the top of 
 the stairs, followed by the commissioners and his servants. 
 Joyce came forward.' " Mr. Joyce," said the king, " I must 
 ask you, by what authority you pretend to seize me and take 
 me from this place?" " Sir, I am sent by authority of the 
 army, to prevent the designs of its enemies, who would once 
 more plunge the kingdom in blood." " Thi^ is no legal au- 
 thority; I acknowledge no other in England than my own, an4' 
 after mine, that of the parliament. Have you a written warrant 
 from sir Thomas Fairfax?" " I have orders from the army, 
 . and the genjeral is comprised in the army." " That is nO 
 answer; the general is at the head of the army; have you a 
 written warrant?" " I beg that your majesty will question 
 me no further; I have akeady said enough." " Gome, Mr. 
 Joyce, be frank with me; teUme where is your commission?" 
 " There it is, sir." " Where?" " There." " But where?" 
 " There, behind me;" and he pointed to his soldiers. " Believe 
 me," said the king, smiling, " your instructions are written 
 in very legible characters; 'tis truly a fair commission; you 
 have a company of as handsome, proper gentlemen as I have 
 seen a great wlule. But you must know that, to take me 
 hence, you must employ force, if you do not promise I shall 
 be treated with respect, and that nothing shall be required of 
 
828 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 I 
 
 me against my conscience or my honour." " Nothing! no- 
 thing!" exclaimed all the soldiers. " We should be most 
 unwilling," said Joyce, " to force men to act against their 
 conscience, much less your majesty." " Now, gentlemen, for 
 the place you intend to have me to?" " To Oxford, sir, if 
 you please." " No, the air is not good." " Then to Cam- 
 bridge." " No, I would rather go to Newmarket; it is an 
 air that always agreed with me." " As you please, sir." As 
 the king waa,retiring, the commissioners advanced a few steps 
 towards the troop: " Gentlemen," said lord Montague, " we 
 are here in trust from both houses, and desire to'know whether 
 you all agree to what Mr. Joyce has said?" " All, all!" " Let 
 t^iose," said major-general Brown, " who wish the king 
 Should remain with us, say so." "None, none!" was the 
 reply. Their powerlessness thus manifested, the commis- 
 sioners submitted; three of them got into the carriage with 
 the king, the others mounted their horses, and Joyce gave 
 the word to march.' 
 
 A messenger was dispatched at the same moment to 
 London, bearing a letter in which Joyce announced to Crom- 
 well that all had succeeded. If he did not find CromweU. in 
 London, the messenger was to deliver the letter to sir Arthur 
 Haslerig, and, in his absence, to colonel Fleetwood. It was 
 Fleetwood who received it;^ Cromwell was at head-quarters, 
 with Fairfax, who was greatly troubled when he heard what 
 had taken place. " I do not like it," he said to L-eton; " who 
 gave such orders?" " I ordered," replied Ireton, " that the 
 king should be secured at Holmby, but not that he should 
 be carried away." " It was quite necessary," said CromweU, 
 who at that moment arrived from London, " or the king 
 would have been taken, and had back to parliament." 
 Fairfax at once sent colonel • WhaUey with two regiments 
 of horse to meet the king, and take lum back to Holmby; 
 Charles refused to return, protesting against the violence to 
 ■which he had been subjected, but, in reality, well pleased to 
 change his prison, and that 'discord prevailed among his 
 enemies. Two days after, Fairfax hiipself, and all his staff, 
 Cromwell, Ireton, Skippon, Hammond, Lambert, and Rich, 
 
 ' Kushworth, L 4, 802, 513 — 517 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 688—601 ; Herbert, 
 ir— 34; Ludlow, 82. 
 
 » Holies, Memoirs, 97 } Huutiiigdos, Memoirs, 818. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 329 
 
 presented themselves to him (June 7) at Childersley, near 
 Cambridge. Most of them, Fairfax being the first, respect- 
 fully kissed his hand; Cromwell and Ireton alone kept apart. 
 Fairfax protested to the king that he had known nothing 
 about his removal. " I will not believe it," said Charles, 
 " unless you have Joyce forthwith hanged."' Joyce was 
 summoned: " I told the kmg," said he, " that I had no war- 
 rant from the general; I acted by order of the army; let the 
 army be assembled; if three parts of them do not approve of 
 tvhat Lhave done, I consent to, be hanged at the head of my 
 regiment." Fairfax talked of having him tried by a court- 
 martial, but to no purpose. " Sir," said the king to him, 
 •when he left him, " I have as good interest in the army as 
 you;" and he desired to be taken back to Newmarket. 
 Colonel WhaUey here took up his quarters with him; Fair- 
 fax returned to head-quarters, and Cromwell to Westminster, 
 where, for the last four days, all had been wondering at his 
 absence.^ 
 
 He found both houses a prey to sudden alternations of 
 anger and fear, decision and weakness. The first news that 
 the king was carried off caused general dismay; Skippon, 
 whom the presbyterians persisted in regarding as one of their 
 party, moved, in a lamentable tone, that a solemn fa^ should 
 be ordained, to obtain from the Lord the restoration of har- 
 mony between the parliament and the army; and meanwhile 
 it was voted, on the one hand, that a considerable sum on 
 account of arrears should be advanced forthwith, and, on the 
 other, that the declaration which had treated the first peti- 
 tion from the oflScers as seditious, should be rescinded and 
 erased from the Journals (June 5).' Fm-tLer information, 
 however, by exciting indignation, restorcid some degree of 
 courage to the parliament; they received from the commis- 
 sioners details of what had taJien place at Holmby; they 
 became acquainted with the letter from Joyce to CromweU; 
 they even thought they knew exactly on what day, at head- 
 quarters, in a conference between some officers and the 
 principal agitators, this audacious coup-de-main'' had been 
 
 • Huntingdon, Memoirs, 153. 
 2 Eushworth, i. 4, 545, 549 ; Herbert, 25 ; Warwick (1701), 299 ; 
 Fairiax, 116. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 592, 597 ; Holies, Memoirs, 132. 
 
 ♦ According to Holies, 96, it was on the 30tli of May. 
 
330 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 planned and decided upon at Cromwell's instigation. When 
 the lieutenant-general reappeared in the house, their suspi- 
 cions were given utterance to; he repelled them with veher 
 mence, calling God, angels, men to witness, that up to that 
 day Joyce was as unknown to him as the light of the sun to the 
 unborn child. ' None the less for that, the conviction of Holies, 
 Glynn, and Grimstone, remained unshaken, and they sought 
 everywhere for proofs, resolved to take the first opportunity of 
 moving his arrest. One morning, a little before the housa 
 met, two officers waited upon Grimstone. " Not long since," 
 said they, " was disctissed, in an assembly of officers, whether 
 it would not be well to purge the army, so as to hava 
 there only men in whom confidence could be placed; ' I am 
 sure of the army,' Cromwell said, on the occasion, ^ but there 
 is another body which it is far more- urgent to purge, 
 the house of commons — and the army alone can do this.' " 
 " WiU you repeat these words to the house?" asked Grim-i 
 stone. " We are ready to do so," answered the officers; and 
 they accompanied him to Westminster. The house was 
 sitting; a debate was begun: "Mr. Speaker," said Grimstone, 
 as soon as he entered, "I move that this debate be adjourned; 
 I have a much more urgent matter to put to it, a far graver 
 question, a question affecting our liberty, our very existence;" 
 and he forthwith charged Cromwell, who was present, with, 
 intending to employ the army against the parliament. " My 
 witnesses are here," he said; " I move that they be admits 
 ted." The two officers came, and repeated their statement. 
 They were no sooner withdrawn than Cromwell arose, and, 
 falling on his knees, after a passion of tears, with a veie-' 
 mence of sobs, words, and gestures that filled thfe whole 
 assembly with emotion or astonishment, poured forth in- 
 vocations and fervent prayers, invoking upon his head 
 every curse of God, if any man in the kingdom was more 
 faithful than he to the house. Then, rising, he spoke for 
 more than two hours of the king, the army, of his enemies, 
 of his friends, of Mmself; touching upon and mixing up aU 
 things; humble and audacious, verbose and impassioned,' 
 earnestly repeating, again and again, that he was unjustly 
 assailed, compromised without reason; that, with the excep- 
 
 • Harris, Life of Cromwell, 97, in the note. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLTITION. 33 J 
 
 tion of a few men wtose eyes were turned towards the land of 
 ■^gyP*-! oflElcers and soldiers, all were devoted to Mm, and 
 easy to keep under his command. In a word, such was his 
 success, that when he sat down, the ascendancy had alto- 
 gether gone over to his party, and, " if he had pleased," as 
 Grimstone himself said, thirty years afterwards, " the house 
 would have sent us to the Tower, me and my officers, as 
 calumniators."^ 
 
 But Cromwell was too wise to be eager for revenge, too 
 clear-sighted to deceive himself respecting the real value of 
 his triumph. He immediately saw that such scenes could not 
 be repeated, and the very same evening secretly left London, 
 joined the army assembled at Triploe Heath (June 10),^ near 
 Cambridge; and laying aside towards the presbyterians and 
 the house that disguise which he felt could no longer be 
 maintained, even vnth his hypocrisy, placed himself openly 
 at the head of the independents and the soldiers. 
 
 A few days after his arrival, the army was on its march 
 to London ; a solemn engagement to maintain their cause to the 
 last had been subscribed by all the regiments; under the title 
 of an humhle representation, they had addressed to parliament 
 (June 14), no longer merely the picture of their own griev- 
 ances, but the haughty expression of their views as to public 
 affairs, the constitution of parliament, the elections, the right 
 of petition, the general reform of the state.^ Finally, to these 
 unprecedented demands was joined a project of impeachment 
 against eleven members of the commons. Holies, Stapleton, 
 Maynard, &c.,,* the enemies of the army, as they said, and the 
 sole cause of the fatal mistakes into which parliament had 
 fallen respecting it. 
 
 The presbyterians had foreseen the blow, and sought be-, 
 forehand to shield themselves against it. For the last fort- 
 night they had been using every effort to excite in their 
 favour the people of the city: complaints had been made of 
 the taxes on salt and meat: they were abolished (June 11 
 and 25);^ the apprentices had protested against the suppres- 
 
 ' Burnet, i. 77. 2 Holies, 99. ' Eushworth, i. 4, 564. 
 
 * Denzil Holies, sir Philip Stapleton, sir WiUiam Lewis, sir John Clot- 
 worthy, sir Williarti Waller, sii: John Maynard, Glynn, Anthony Nichols, 
 major-general Massey, and colonels Walter Long and Barley (ib. 570). 
 » Whitelocke, 253 ; Eushworth, i. 4, 693. 
 
332 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sion of religious festivals, particularly that of Christmas, 
 hitherto always a period of merriment all over England: 
 dajTS ol public recreation were appointed to take their place 
 (June 8);' there was still a general clamour against the ra- 
 pacity of a crowd of members, the accumulation of offices, 
 indemnities, profits on sequestrations; the commons voted 
 that no member should henceforth accept any lucrative office, 
 or gift, or assigneeship of the estates of delinquents, and even 
 that they should return into the public treasury the sums they 
 had already received, and that: their lands should be subjected 
 to the common law for the payment of their debts (June 10);" 
 lastly, the committee which had been appointed to receive the 
 complaints of citizens, had fallen into disuse; it was reinstated 
 on a more vigorous footing (June 3).^ 
 
 But the day was come in which concessions were no longer 
 a proof of anything but distress, and in which parties only 
 acknowledged their faults to expiate them. The city de- 
 tested the independents, but feared them; towards the pres- 
 lyterian chiefs it felt a devotion devoid of respect or 
 confidence, as towards decried and vanquished masters. For 
 awhile these measures seemed to produce some effect: the 
 common council declared their firm design to support parlia- 
 ment (June 10);'' a few squadrons of citizens were formed; 
 the militia was recruited; the disbanded officers came in 
 crowds to inscribe their names at Massey's, Waller's, and 
 HoUes's; preparations for defence were made round London;^ 
 parliament voted (June 11) that the army should be called 
 upon to retire, surrender the king to its commissioners, 
 and that his majesty should be requested to reside at Kich- 
 mond under the protection of parliament alone (June 15).^ 
 But the army continued to advance. Fairfax wrote in its name 
 to the common council (June 1 1 and 14),' complaining of their 
 .allowing men to be recruited against it. The council sent 
 an unmeaning reply, assigning its fear as an excuse, and pro- 
 testing that if the army would retire, and consent to remaiu 
 quartered forty miles from London, all dissensions would soon 
 
 » Piu-l. Hist. iii. SOi; WMtelocke, 251—254; Eusliwortli, i. i, 460, 548. 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 603 ; WMtelocke, 255. > Eushwoith, i. 4, 500. 
 
 *• Pari. Hist. iii. 600 ; Whitelooke, 251. 
 
 » Kushworth, i. 4, 582, &c. ; Pari. Hist. iii. 614. 
 
 • Pail. Hist. m. 614, ' lb, 608—628. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 333. 
 
 cease (June 12 and 15).> Fairfax answered, that this letter 
 came too late ; that his head-quarters were already at St. 
 Albans, and that a month's pay was absolutely necessary.* 
 Parliament voted the pay, and insisted upon a retrograde 
 movement (June 15 and 21).3 The army required that the 
 eleven members, its enemies, should first be expelled from par- 
 liament (June 23).'' The commons could not resolve to deal 
 themselves, with their own hands, so heavy a blow; the point 
 had already been several times brought under discussion, but 
 the majority had always answered that a vague accusation, 
 without facts to support accusations, without proofs to make 
 out the facts, could not deprive members 'of parliament of their 
 rights.^ " The first accusation against lord Strafford," urged 
 the army, "was also vague and entirely general; as you did 
 then, we will do now, furnish our proofs afterwards;"'' and it 
 still advanced. On the 26th of June its head-quarters wei-e 
 at TJxbridge. The city dispatched commissioners to it, but 
 with no effect. The alarm increased every day; already the 
 shops were kept shut, and the eleven members were bitterly 
 animadverted upon for an obstinacy so deeply compromising 
 for parliament and the city. They readily understood this 
 language; and offered themselves to retire. Their devotion 
 was accepted with eager gratitude (June 26);' and the very 
 day of their retirement, the commons voted that they adopted 
 all the proceedings of the army, would provide for its sup- 
 port, that commissioners should be appointed to regulate 
 in concert with those of the army the affairs of the kingdom; 
 that in the meantime the king should be requested not 
 to come to Eichmond as it had lately been desired, and that 
 in any case he should not reside nearer London than the 
 head-quarters of the army.* On these conditions Fairfax 
 drew back a few miles, and appointed ten commissioners to 
 treat with those of parliament (June 30 and July 1).^ ■»> 
 
 1 Eusliworth, i. 4, 557 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 630. 
 
 2 Eushworth, i. i, 560; Pari. Hist. iii. 613. 
 
 3 Pnil. Hist. iii. 631—639. * lb. 640—650. 
 
 5 Holies, 110, &c. ; Pari. Hist. iii. 653. « Eushworth, i. 4, 594. 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 654; Holies, 124; Clarendon, State Papers, ii. App. 
 sxxviii. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 656. 
 
 » Eushworth, i. 4, 596 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 661. The commissioners ap- ' 
 pointed by the army were, Cromwell, Ireton, Fleetwood, EMnsborongh, 
 Harrison, sir Hardress Wsdlei; Eich, Hammond, Lambert, and Desborough. 
 
334 HISTOHY OP THE 
 
 When the Mug heard of these resolutions, he was prepar- 
 ing to set out for Eichmond, according to the desire of par- 
 liament, or at least to attempt to do so, for since that wish 
 had been expressed, he had been the object of the closest 
 surveillance, had been dragged, as it were, from town to town 
 after the army, and at every halting-place found a number of 
 guards placed round his lodgings. He had manifested great 
 indignation at this: " Since my parliament," he said, " asks 
 me to go to Richmond, if any one offers to prevent me, it 
 must be by force and by seizing my bridle-rein; and for him 
 that may daxe attempt this, it shall not be my fault if it be 
 not the last action of his life."' When he learned that the 
 parliament itself opposed his departure, that it had conceded 
 everything to the army, and was negotiating with it as with 
 a conqueror, he smiled contemptuously at this humiliation of 
 his first adversaries, and hastened to give another direction 
 to his intrigues. Save the measures taken to prevent ' his 
 escape, he had no matter of complaint against the army; the 
 officers were as respectful towards him and far more com- 
 'plaisant than the commissioners of parliament. Two of his 
 chaplains, doctors Sheldon and Hammond, had been allowed 
 to live with him, and freely to do spiritual duty according to 
 the rites of the episcopal church; his old servants, even the 
 cavaliers who had been lately in arms, were no longer indis- 
 criminately forbidden access to him; the duke of Richmond, 
 the earl of Southampton, the marquis of Hertford, obtained 
 leave to visit Mm; the leaders of the army seemed to take 
 great pleasure in showing the royalist noblemen that they were- 
 Capable of tempering power with generosity; and even in the 
 inferior ranks, the military spirit repelled those minute pre- 
 cautions, those petty rigours, from which, at Newcastle and' 
 Holmby, the king had so often been a sufferer.^ Since the 
 surrender of Oxford, his youngest children, the duke of York, 
 the princess Elizabeth, and the duke of Grloucester, had re- 
 sided either at St. James's Palace or Sion House, near 
 London, imder the charge of the earl of Northumberland, to 
 whom parliament had entrusted them. Charles expressed a 
 wish to see them, and Fairfax at once urged the request 
 officially upon parliament. " Who, if he can imagine it to 
 
 1 Huntingdon, Memoirs. ' HerbeH, passim. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 335 
 
 be his own case," he said, " cannot but be sorry if his 
 majesty's natural affection to his children, in so smaU a thing, 
 should not be complied with?"* The interview took place 
 (July 15) at Maidenhead, amidst a large concourse of people, 
 ■who strewed with evergreens and flowers the roads by which 
 the royal family came to meet each other; and far from con- 
 ceiving any anger or distrust at this, officers and sol(iiers, 
 touched, in common with the people, by the happiness of the 
 father at the sight of his children, permitted him to take them 
 with him to Caversham, where he then resided, and keep 
 them for two days.^ Some of them, moreover, Cromwell tod 
 Ireton in particular, too clear-sighted to flatter themselves 
 that their struggle With the presbyterians was at an end and 
 their victory secure, felt, on calculating all the chances, 
 uneasy respecting the future, and considering the various 
 aspects which the approaching crisis might assume, put it 
 to one another whether the favour of the king restored to 
 authority by their hands, would not be the best security for 
 their party, the surest means of fortune and power for them- 
 selves.' 
 
 The rumour of this disposition of things, of the attentions 
 paid by the army to the king, of the advances made to him 
 by some of its leaders, soon spread throughout the kingdom. 
 The conditions offered him were even stated, and pamphlets 
 were circulated, some praising, others blaming the army. 
 The leaders thought it necessary officiaJly to contradict these 
 reports, and even to demand, in a tone of anger, the punish- 
 ment of their authors (July 1).'' But the negotiations with 
 the king were none the less continued. The officers were 
 respectful, courteous, assiduous in their attentions; familiar, 
 almost friendly intercourse was established between them 
 and the cavaliers, as between men who, having honourably 
 fought each other, now only desired to hve in peace. The 
 king himself wrote to the queen on the subject with some 
 confidence, and the n?w hopes soon became the sole topic of 
 conversation with the few emigrants who had followed her to 
 Paris, or had sought refuge in Normandy, at Kouen, Caen, 
 or Dieppe. Two men in particular, occupied themselves in 
 
 > Hia letter -was of the 8tli of July; Pari. JKst. iii. 679, 
 
 - Eushworth, i. 4, 625 ; Clai-endon, iii. 86. 
 
 » Huntingdon, Memoirs, 155. ' * Pari. Hist, utsup. 
 
336 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 sp]?eading the intelligence abroad, carefully making it appear 
 that they knew more about the matter than they thought fit to 
 explain, and that no one could render in this affair such im- 
 portant services to the king as themselves. One of them, sir 
 John Berkley, had vaUaintly defended himself in Exeter, and 
 had not surrendered the place tiU three weeks before the 
 king fled to the Scottish camp; the other, Ashbumham, had 
 only quitted the king at Newcastle, to escape the effects of 
 the animosity borne him by parliament; both vain, boasting 
 intriguers, Berkley with most courage, Ashbumham more 
 crafty, and possessing more influence over the king. Berkley, 
 by chance, Ashbumham, by order of Charles himself, had had 
 some correspondence with a few of the principal ofiicers, 
 enough, in their opinion, to boast of and profit by. The queen 
 received all their assurances without hesitation; and by her 
 orders, in the beginning of July, they both set out, a few 
 days after each other, to present themselves to the king and 
 the army as negotiators.^ Berkley was no sooner landed, 
 than a cavalier of his acquaintance, sir Allen Apsley,^ came 
 to meet him, sent by Cromwell, Lambert, and some others, to 
 assure him that they had not forgotten their conversation 
 with him after the taking of Exeter, nor his excellent coun- 
 sels, and that they were ready to benefit by them, and pressed 
 him to hasten. On receiving this message, proud to find him* 
 self of more importance than even he himself had imagined, 
 Berkley, stopping but a moment in London, pressed on to head* 
 quarters, at this time at Heading. He had only been there 
 three hours, when Cromwell sent to apologize for not being 
 able to visit him at once; and the same day, at ten in the 
 evening, Berkley heard Cromwell, Kainsborough, and sir 
 Hardress "Waller announced. All three made protestations of 
 their good intentions towards the king, Eainsborough drily, 
 Cromwell with expressions of deep feeling: " I have just wit- 
 nessed," said he, " the most touching spectacle, the interview 
 of the king with his children; no one has been more deceived 
 than I about his majesty; he is, I am now sure of it^ the 
 best man in the three kingdoms; for our parts, we are infi- 
 nitely indebted to him; we had been ruined, utterly undone, \ 
 had he accepted tl»e proposals of the Scots at Newcastle. May 
 
 • Clarendon, iii. 8l„ ' Mrs. HutcMnson's,l)rotlior. 
 
ENGLlsg KEVOLUTION. 33T 
 
 God deal out Ms goodness to me according to the sincerity of 
 my heart towards his majesty!" According to him, the 
 officers were all convinced that if the king did not resume 
 possession of his just rights, no man in England could enjoy 
 in security his life and property; and a decisive step on their 
 part would soon leave no doubts on his majesty's mind of 
 their true sentiments. Berkley, perfectly delighted, procured 
 next morning an audience of the king, and gave him an ac- 
 count of this interview. Charles received it coldly, as one 
 who had often received similar overtures, and put no trust 
 in them, or wished, at all events, by his reserve, to have his 
 belief purchased at a valuable rate. Berkley retired con- 
 founded, but thinking, not without some resentment, that the 
 king, who knew him but little, perhaps entertained some pre- 
 judice against him, and that Ashburnham, who would shortly 
 arrive, would be more successful. Meanwhile, he continued 
 his negotiations with the army; the officers crowded around 
 him, and even the common agitators, some the friends and 
 creatures of Cromwell, others who mistrusted him and advised 
 Berkley to be on his guard against him — " For," said they, 
 "he is a man on whom no one can rely, and who changes 
 his conduct arid language every day to every person, wholly 
 absorbed with the desire of being at all events, let what may 
 occur, the leader of the successful party." Ireton, however, 
 Cromwell's most intimate confidant, seemed to Berkley to 
 act with perfect fairness and candour; he communicated to 
 him the proposals that the general councU of officers was 
 preparing, and even adopted some alterations that he sug- 
 gested. Nothing so moderate had hitherto been oifered to 
 the king: they required that he should give up for ten years 
 the command of the militia and the nomination to the great 
 offices of state; that seven of his councillors should remain 
 banished from the kingdom; that all civil and coercive power 
 should be withdrawn from the presbyterian bishops and 
 ministers; that no peer created since the outbreak of the 
 war should be allowed to take his seat in the house; that no 
 cavalier should be admitted a member of the next parliament. 
 " It is necessary," said Ireton, " that some difference should 
 exist and appear between the conquered and the conquerors." 
 But to these conditions, much less exacting than those of par- 
 liament, was not added the obligation of abolishing the epis- 
 
 z 
 
338 , HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Copal church, nor that of ruining the majority of the royalists^ 
 by enormous fines, nor the legal interdiction, so to speak, of 
 the king and liis party during the pleasure of the parliament. 
 On the other hand, the army, it is true, required reforms not 
 previously demanded, and, in reality, of a stiU graver character: 
 a more equal distribution of electoral rights and of public tax- 
 ation ; a change in the civil procedure, the abolition, of a crowd 
 of political, judicial, and commercial privileges; in a word, the 
 introduction into the social system, and into law, of priajciplcs 
 of equality hitherto unknown. But even in the thoughts of the 
 proposers, it was not against the king, his dignity or power,, 
 that these demands were directed; none deemed prerogative 
 interested in the maintenance of rotten boroughs, the scan- 
 dalous profits of the lawyers, or the frauds of a few debtors. 
 Berkley, accordingly, looked upon these conditions as cha- 
 racterized by unhoped for lenity; never, in his opinion, had a 
 crown so nearly lost been recovered at so cheap a rate. He- 
 solicited and obtained leave to communicate them privately 
 to the king (about July 25), before they were officially pre- 
 sented by the army. His astonishment was still greater thaa 
 at their first interview; Charles considered the conditipas 
 very hard, and spoke of them indignantly: "If they really 
 vyished to come to terms with me," he said, "they would 
 make propositions that I could accept." Berkley ventured 
 to make a few observations, and to urge the danger of a re- 
 fusal: " No," said the king, abruptly breaking off the con- 
 versation, " without me these people cannot extricate them- 
 selves; you wUl soon see them too happy to accept more 
 equitable conditions."' 
 
 Berkley was endeavouring in vain to find out the grounds 
 for such confidence, when the news reached head-quartera 
 that the most violent insurrectionary excitement prevailed in 
 the city, that bands of citizens and apprentices were con- 
 stantly besieging Westminster-haU, that it was expected every 
 hour parhament would be obliged to vote the return of the 
 king and the re-admission of the eleven members, resolutions 
 most fatal to the army and its party. For tlje last fortnight, 
 especially since a leave of absence for six months (July 20)* 
 sent to the eleven members had deprived their party of all 
 
 ' Berkley, Memoirs. 
 ' Pml. Hist. iii. 712 ; Busliworth, 1.4, 62&. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 339 
 
 immediate hope, symptoms more and more threatening, mobs, 
 petitions, tumultuous cries, gave announcement of this ex- 
 plosion; a measure which was regarded on both sides as 
 decisive, caused it to burst forth. The presbyterian com- 
 mittee, intrusted for the last two months with the direction 
 of the London militia, was dissolved, and the independents 
 regained possession of that important position (July 25). 
 The city could not resign itself to be thus represented and 
 commanded by its enemies; in a few hours the excitement 
 became general; a paper posted up in Skinner's-hall, con- 
 taining an engagement to use every effort to accomplish the 
 king's return in honour and liberty to London, was instantly 
 covered with an immense number of signatures; upon the 
 departure of the courier for head-quarters, copies of it were 
 dispatched all over England; a petition was drawn up de- 
 majading for it the sanction of parliament; the disbanded 
 officers united with the people; everything announced a move- 
 ment as general as energetic' 
 
 The army immediately marched towards London (July 23); 
 Fairfax wrote threatening letters in its name; in parliament, 
 the independents, strengthened by this support, declared aU 
 persons whq should subscribe the engagement of the city to be 
 traitors (July 24). But these threats came too late .to repress 
 public excitement: on the second day after this declaration, 
 early in the morning, numerous groups of apprentices, dis- 
 banded officers, and watermen, pressed around the doors of 
 Westminster-hall; noisy, abusive, and evidently come with 
 some daring design. On taking their seats (July 26), the 
 alarmed commons ordered the doors to be closed, and that no 
 member should leave without permission. A petition was 
 then presented from the common council> in moderate and 
 respectful terms, requesting that the command of the militia 
 should be restored to the leaders from whom it had just been 
 withdrawn, and informing parliament of the impatience of 
 the people, but without any appearance of a desire to intitni- 
 date. WhUe the house was discussing this petition, the 
 speaker received notice that the multitude outside had another 
 to present; two members went out to receive it; it was read 
 immediately. It expressed the same feelings as that of the 
 
 • Pail. Hist. iii. 713 ; Eushworth, i. 4, 635 ; Holies, 144, &c. 
 Z2 
 
340 HISTOET OF THE ; 
 
 commcin council, in language much more temperate than had 
 been anticipated. But the debate continued, and no answer 
 was returned; the day was drawing to a close; the multitude, 
 instead of growing tired, became irritated; it took possession 
 ■of all the avenues to the house; already the tumult of feet 
 and voices rang through the hall; cries of " Let us go in! 
 let us go in!" were heard, and violent blows shook the door. 
 Several members drew their swords, and for a moment drove 
 back the assailants. The house of peers was equally 
 menaced; some apprentices climbed up to the windows, 
 and hurled stones through them, quite ready to proceed to 
 greater extremities if they were not heard. The members 
 in either house resisted for & while: at last, the door of the 
 commons was broken open; the most furious cf the rioters, 
 to the number of forty or fifty, rushed in, and with their hats 
 on, and the most menacing gestures, supported by the crowd 
 pressing behind them, exclaimed: "Vote, vote!" Parliament 
 gave way; the declaration of the preceding day was revoked^ 
 and the miUtia again placed under the direction of the pres- 
 byterian committee. The tumult seemed at an end; the 
 members rose to depart, the speaker had left the chair; the 
 mob seized him, and made him resume it. " What do you 
 require further?" asked he. " Thatthe king be desired to come 
 to London forthwith." The proposition was immediately 
 put to the vote and adopted; Ludlow alone opposed.it by a 
 firm and loud " No."' 
 
 At this news, an excitement nearly as great arose in the 
 army, particularly in the lower ranks, among the agitators 
 and soldiers; on aU sides, the king was charged with perfidy, 
 with being an accompUce in what had talien place. Lord 
 Lauderdale, who had come from London to confer with him 
 on the part of the Scottish commissioners, gave rise to so much 
 distrust, that one morning before he was up a party of soldiers 
 abruptly entered his bed-room and obUged him to depart im- 
 mediately, without again seeing the king.^ Ashburnham, who 
 had arrived three days before,- increased their displeasure and 
 suspicions by his scornful insolence; he refused all intercourse 
 with the agitators: "I have always Uved in the best com- 
 pany," said he to Berkley; " I cannot converse with such 
 fellows as these: if we could gain the officers sure to the 
 
 >,Parl. Hist. iii. 717, &c.; Eushwarth, i. 4, 640—644; Ludlow; 88. 
 2 Bushworth, ii. i, 737. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. .341 
 
 king, through them we shall have the whole army; and I 
 shall therefore apply myseK wholly to them."' Even among 
 those officers who had made advances to the king, several 
 now began to hold themselves apart: "Sir," said Ireton, 
 "you assume to be arbiter between the parliainent and us; it 
 is we who will be arbiters between you and the parhament."^ 
 Yet, still uneasy as to what was passing in London, they re- 
 solved formally to present their proposals to him (Aug. 1). 
 Ashburnham and Berkley were present at the conference. 
 Charles was cold and haughty, listened with an ironical 
 smile to the reading of the proposals, rejected almost all of 
 them in few words and a bitter tone, asif sureof his strength, 
 and well-pleased to manifest his displeasure. Ireton roughly 
 supported them, saying that the army would make no further 
 concessions. Charles interrupted him abruptly: " You can- 
 not be without me: you wiU fall to ruin if I do not sustain 
 yoii." The officers looked at Ashburnham and Berkley with 
 astonishment, as if to inquire the meaning of such a recep- 
 tion; Berkley, in his turn, sought by his anxious looks to 
 warn the king of his imprudence, but without success. At 
 last, approaching him, he whispered in his ear: " Your ma- 
 jesty speaks as if you had some secret strength and power 
 that I do not know of; and since your majesty hath concealed 
 it from me, I wish you had concealed it from these men too." 
 Charles perceived he had said too much, and hastened to 
 soften his language; but the officers, most of them, at least, 
 had already taken their resolution; Rainsborough, indeed, 
 the most opposed of them all to any accommodation, had 
 silently left the room, to inform the army that it was impos- 
 sible to trust the king; and the conference ended in a dry, 
 listless manner, as between persons who could no longer 
 agree, nor longer deceive one another.' 
 
 The officers had scarcely returned to head-quarters when 
 several carriages arrived from: London; and to the great 
 astonishment of the crowd, more than sixty members of both 
 houses alighted from them,* having at their head their two 
 
 > Berkley, 34. « lb. » lb. 35. 
 
 * The number is very uncertain ; HoUes positively mentions eight lords, 
 
 tmd iifty-eight members of the commons ; Eushworth (ii. 4, 750), speaks o( 
 
 fourteen lords and about one hundred members of the commons ; this is 
 
 also the statement of Whitelocke (363.) The caU of the house made in 
 
342 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 speakers, lord Manchester and Mr. Lenthall, who explained 
 that they had just escaped from the fury of the mob, and had 
 come to the army for safety and freedom. The joy of the 
 army was equal to its surprise: it had dreaded a violent 
 rupture with parUament, but now it was the parliament itself, 
 with its legal chiefs, its faithful members, which sought its 
 protection. Officers and soldiers surrounded the fugitives, 
 listened with indignation to the recital of the dangers and 
 insults they had been subjected to, were profuse in thanks, 
 in expressions of devoted respect, and praised the Lord for 
 inspiring them with so patriotic a resolution. With Cromwell 
 arid his friends all this surprise was feigned; for the last five 
 days, by agents in London, particularly by the intervention 
 of St. John, Vane, Haslerig, and Ludlow, ihey had been 
 labouring to produce this secession.^ 
 
 Berkley hastened to communicate this melancholy news to 
 the king, conjuring him on the instant to address a letter to 
 the leaders of the army which should give them hopes of a 
 better reception for their proposals, or which should at least 
 disarm suspicion, and lessen the iU effect of the late interview. 
 This, he said, was the advice of Cromwell and Ireton, who, 
 on this condition, stiU answered for the disposition of the 
 army. But Charles had also received news from London: 
 the riot had taken place by his contrivance and consent, and 
 he now learned that on the very day the fugitive members 
 departed, the members who remained, a large majority, had 
 elected two new speakers; the commons, Mr. Pelham, the 
 peers, lord WiUoughby of Parham ; that the eleven proscribed 
 members had resumed their seats, that parliament thus re- 
 organized had immediately sent orders for the army to stop 
 where it was, had directed the city to prepare every means 
 of defence, and Massey, Brown, Waller, and Poyntz to raise 
 regiments with all speed. The zeal of the people in London, 
 it 'was said, was very great: at a meeting of the common 
 council, thousands of apprentices presented themselves, and 
 sWore to do their utmost for the crown, against whatever 
 danger, against whatever enemies. The inhabitants of South- 
 ward alone had manifested opposite sentiments; but as they were 
 
 the upper house, on the 30th of July, indicates the al^sence of twenty lords. 
 —Pari. Hist. iii. 727. All the fugitives did not leave Loudon together. 
 • Pari. JHist. iii. 723—731 ; Eushworth, i. 4, 646 ; Ludlov?, Mem. 88, &e. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 343 
 
 bringing up their petition to Guildhall, Poyntz, followed by 
 a few officers, drove them back so roughly, that assuredly 
 they would not venture to make another attempt. Money 
 was levied, cannon placed on the ramparts. Finally, the king 
 was formally invited to return to London; and this vote, pro- 
 «laimed by sound of tnmipet in every street, was to reach 
 him within a few hours, or at latest the next day.' 
 
 " I shall wait," said the king to Berkley; " there will be 
 time enough to write this letter." Meantime, a messenger 
 arrived from head-quarters; fresh fugitives from Westminster 
 had come to join their colleagues; others had written that 
 they should retire into the country, and disavow this pre- 
 tended parliament. Even in London, the independents, few 
 in number bxit determined, lost neither time nor courage; 
 they thwarted, delayed, and weakened every measure they 
 could not absolutely prevent; the money collected was but 
 slowly employed; Massey's recruits were without arms; a few 
 preslrjfterian preachers, Mr. Marshall among others, gained 
 ■over by the army, exerted themselves with the people to 
 arouse their fears and to inspire them with a desire for recon- 
 ciliation; worthy members of parliament and of the councilj 
 already listened to them, flattered by the idea of having the 
 honour to re-establish peace. In a word, Cromwell sent word 
 to Ashburnham that within two days the city would be in 
 their power.^ 
 
 Charles still hesitated; he assembled his most confidential 
 Bervants; the letter was composed, debated, thrown aside, 
 resumed; at length he signed it (Aug. 4).' Ashburnham and 
 Berkley set off with it to head-quarters; they met on the 
 road a second messenger, dispatched by two ofiScers, friends 
 of theirs, to urge its transmission with the least possible delay; 
 they arrived. The submission of the city had arrived before 
 them. The fugitive members had just reviewed the army on 
 Hounslow Heath (Aug. 3), amidst immense acclamations; it 
 was marching with them at its head towards London, certain 
 of entering it without obstacle. The king's letter and alliance 
 were no longer of any value to conquerors.^ 
 
 On the second day after, the 6th of August, a brilliant and 
 
 » .Eushwortli, i. 4, 652—656 ; Pail. Hist. iu. 728. 
 
 « Berkley, 38 ; Ludlow, 90. ' Enshworth, ii. 4, 758. 
 
 * Berkeley, 39; Eushworth, ii. 4, 750. , 
 
344 - HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 formidable procession set out from Kensington for Westinin- 
 ster; three regiments composed the vanguard, a fourth the 
 rear; between them rode Fairfax and his staff on horseback, 
 the fugitive members in their carriages, and behind them a 
 multitude of their partisans, eager to share their triumph. A 
 double rank of soldiers lined the road, all with branches of 
 laurel in their hats, and shouting, "Long live the parliament! 
 the free parliament!" At Hyde park they found the lord 
 • mayor and aldermen come to compliment the, general on the 
 Te-establishment of peace between the army and the city; 
 Fairfax scarcely answered them as he passed. Further on, 
 at Charing-cross, the common council in a body presented 
 themselves in like manner, and had an equally unfavourable 
 reception. Arrived at Westminster, it was discovered that 
 most of the presbyterian leaders were flown, or had concealed 
 themselves; Fairfax re-established the friends of the army in 
 their seats, listened with an air of modesty to their pompous 
 thanks, heard a month's pay voted for his troops, and then 
 went to take possession of the Tower, of which he had just 
 been appointed governor.' 
 
 Two days after, Skippon in the centre and Cromwell in the 
 rear, the whole army marched through London, grave, silent, 
 in the strictest order; no excesses were committed, not one 
 citizen received the slightest insult;^ the leaders desired at 
 once to reassure and to awe the city. They did not fail in this 
 object: at the sight of those armed men, so disciplined though so 
 haughty in their mien, so obedient yet so threatening, the pres- 
 byterians shut themselves up in their houses, the independents, 
 everywhere resumed possession of power, the timid crowded, 
 with eager confidence, round the conquerors. The common coun- 
 cil solicited Fairfax and his officers to accept a public dinner. 
 He refused; they only the more hastened the chasing of a 
 golden ewer to be offered to him.' There was even a certain 
 number of apprentices who came to offer him their congratu- 
 lations, and he received them in a formal audience, delighted' 
 to make it appear that, among these dreaded youths also, the 
 army had its partisans.^ On their part, both houses, the 
 lords more especially, made a servile parade of their gratitude, 
 
 1 Bushworth, ii. 4, 756 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 736, &c. ; Holies, 160. 
 « Ludlow, 90. 3 Bushworth, ii. 4, 761—764; Holies, 320. 
 
 ■• Bushworth, ii. 4, 778. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 345 
 
 and voted that all that had been done during the absence of 
 the members who had sought a refuge with the ai-my, was, 
 of itself, null and void, without any special repeal (Aug. 6).' 
 This vote disquieted the commons; they were ready to pro- 
 secute the authors of the riot which had caused the secession; 
 but most of the members who had remained at Westminster 
 had taken a part in those acts which they were now called 
 upon to declare absolutely void; three times they refused to 
 yield this point (Aug. 10 and 19).^ Next day (Aug. 20), a 
 troop of horse encamped in Hyde park; troops were stationed 
 round the house, at every avenue to it; within, Cromwell and 
 Ireton supported with menaces the resolution of the lords;' 
 it was at length adopted; and nothing was now wanting to 
 the triumph of the army, for even those who had been sub- 
 jected by it, proclaimed its legitimacy. 
 
 After this great and facile success, the revolutionary move- 
 ment, hitherto restrained or regulated, even among the inde- 
 pendents, by the necessities of the strug^e, soared freely; 
 each man's passions, hopes, and dreams became bold, and 
 openly declared themselves. In the higher ranks of the 
 party, in the house of commons, in the general council of 
 officers, republican projects came forth plain and positive: 
 already, for some time past. Vane, Ludlow, Haslerig, Martyn, 
 Scott, and Hutchinson, had scarcely answered when any one 
 accused them of hostility to monarchy; they now openly spoke 
 of it with contempt; the principle of the sovereignty of the 
 people, and, in the name of the people, one sole assembly 
 appointed by the people, now guided all their actions and 
 words; in their conversations, any idea of accommodation 
 vnth the king, no matter upon what terms^ was treated as 
 treason. In the ranks below them, among the people as well 
 as in the army, the excitement of men's minds was as general 
 as it was intense ; in everything, reforms tiU then unheard of 
 were demanded, on all sides reformers rose up; to their wild 
 desires no law imposed respect, no fact seemed an obstacle; 
 all the more confident and imperious, in proportion to the 
 profoundness of their ignorance and obscurity, their petitions, 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 745. 
 
 « The proposition was rejected by 96 to 93, 85 to 83, and 87 to 84; 
 PoTl. Hist. iii. 766— 773. 
 » Holies, Memoirs, 172; Pari. Hist. iii. 758—773. 
 
346 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 their pamphlets every day poured forth, hurled menace in 
 all directions. Summoned before the j udges, they brought the 
 judges themselves in question, and ordered them to leave 
 seats they had usurped; attacked in the churches by the 
 presbyterian ministers, they rushed to the pulpits, dragged 
 from it the preachers, and preached in their place, sincere 
 in the very ravings they made use of to serve their passions. 
 No powerful and entire theory, no precise and general 
 plan presided over this movement; . all of them repub- 
 Ucans, these popular champions carried their thoughts and 
 wishes far beyond a revolution in the government; they 
 aimed at changing society itself, the relations, manners, and 
 feelings of the community; but in all this their views were 
 narrow and confused; some spent their daring in merely 
 prosecuting some important but partial innovation, such 
 as the abolition of the, privileges of the lords or the lawyers; 
 others were content with some pious dream, such as expect- 
 ing the approaching reign of the Lord; others, under the 
 name of rationalists, claimed absolute sovereignty for each 
 man's reason;' others talked of introducing a strict equality 
 of rights and property, iand these, their enemies nick- 
 named levellers. But neither this decried name, which they 
 always vehemently I'ejected, nor any other,, was appropriate 
 to them; for they neither formed a sect devoted to a 
 systematic belief, nor a faction eager to advance towards a 
 definite end. Citizens or soldiers, visionaries or demagogues, 
 felt a desire of innovation, earnest but without any plan; vague 
 instincts of equaUty, above all, a rude spirit of independence: 
 such were their common characteristics; and inspired by an- 
 ambition short-sighted but pure, perfectly intractable by aU 
 whom they deemed weak or self-interested, they constituted 
 in turn the strength and the terror of the different parties, 
 all successively compelled to make use of and to deceive 
 them. 
 
 No one had succeeded so. weU in doing the one and the 
 other as CromweU; no one enjoyed as he did the confiding 
 intimacy of these obscure but powerful enthusiasts. Every- 
 thing in him had found favour in their eyes; the irregular 
 
 ' Clarendon, State Papers, ii., Appendix .11. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLIJTIOK. 347 
 
 outbursts of his imagination, Ms eagerness to make himself 
 the equal and the companion of the rough and boorish, his 
 language at once mystic and familiar, his manners hj turns 
 commonplace and exalted, giving him at one time the air of 
 an inspired preacher, and at others that of a plain peasant, 
 even that free and supple genius which seemed to place at the 
 service of a holy cause all the- resources of mundane ability. 
 He had sought and found among them his most useful agents, 
 Ayres, Evanson, Berry, Sexby, Sheppard, Wildman, all 
 leading members of the councU of agitators, aU ever ready 
 at a word from the lieutenant-general to stir up the aj^ny 
 against king or parliament. Lilburne himself, the most un- , 
 manageable and least credulous of these men, who had quitted 
 his regiment because he could not obey, had the greatest 
 confidence in CromweU: " I have looked upon you," he wrote 
 to him, " as among the powerful ones of England, as a man 
 with heart perfectly pure, perfectly free from all personal 
 views;"' and Gromwell more than once had made use of Lil- 
 burne's courage against the presbyterians. But when the 
 ruin of the latter seemed accomplished, when the independents 
 held in their power the king, the parliament, and the city, 
 when all the revolutionary passions' and desires burst forth, 
 insatiable, blind, ungovernable, the situation of the leaders of 
 the party, that of Cromwell in particular, already the object 
 to whom all men's attention was turned, became affected. 
 In their turn, they incurred distrust and felt fear. Many of 
 their own party had viewed with disapprobation the nego- 
 tiations entered into with the king; necessity alone, the 
 danger of falling within the power of the presbyterians, had 
 dominated disgust and kept suspicions under constraint. 
 Now all this necessity had disappeared; the Lord had given into 
 the hands of his servants all his enemies. Yet instead of se- 
 curing and perfecting the triumph of His cause, the conqueror 
 continued to live in friendship with, to treat with the delin- 
 quents. The first, the most culpable of all, the one on whose 
 head a few of the faithful had already, for two years,^ been 
 invoking public vengeance, and who lately, in his insane pride, 
 
 1 Letter of March 25th, 1647. 
 * As early as May, 1646, a few independents had demanded the punish- 
 ment of the ting, as the greatest delintiuent. — Baillie, ii. 209. 
 
348 , HISTORY OF THE 
 
 had rejeoted proposals which ought perhaps never to have been 
 made to him, the king, far from losing anything by the late 
 events, had almost regained by them his power and splendour. 
 "With the consent of the generals, he had returned to his 
 palace of Hampton Court (Aug. 24), and resided there amid 
 idolatrous pomp, surrounded by a court more arrogant than 
 ever. His former councillors, Richmond, Hertford, Capel, 
 Southampton, had hastened to rejoin him, as if he were about 
 to reassume the exercise of sovereign power.' Ormond him- 
 self, the most dangerous leader of the royalists in Ireland, he 
 who had so lately kept up the struggle in that kingdom 
 against the parliament, and only had at last, with the greatest 
 difficulty been induced to sm-render Dujblin, Ormond, upon 
 his return to England, had been received bythe general, the 
 lieutenant-general, by almost all the leading personages of 
 the army, with eager complaisance,^ and had free access to the 
 king, doubtless meditating with him another insurrection in 
 Ireland. At the same time, the most active confidants of the 
 king, Berkley, Ashbumham, Ford, and Apsley, were con- 
 stantly going to and fro between the court and head-quarters; 
 the doors of Cromwell and Ireton were always open to them, 
 while a number of the well-afiected could gain no admittance 
 there. Cromwell and Ireton themselves, either in person or 
 by their messengers, maintained an assiduous intercourse 
 with the king; they had been seen walking alone with him in 
 the park, were known to be often closeted with him. Even 
 their wives, Mrs. CrornweU, Mrs. Ireton, Mrs. Whalley, 
 bad been presented at Hampton Court, and the king had 
 received them with great honours.' So much familiarity 
 was scandalous; such repeated conference must needs mean 
 treachery. Every day, among the republicans and enthu- 
 siasts, particularly in the meetings of the soldiers, this lan- 
 guage was held. Even from the dungeon of the Tower, 
 where the lords had imprisoned him, to repress if possible 
 his harangues and his pamphlets, Lilbume addressed to 
 Cromwell violent reproaches, and his letter finished with 
 these words: " If you despise, as hitherto, my warnings, be 
 
 • Herbert, 33 ; Hutchiason; 276. ' Whitelocke, 207. 
 
 > Clarendon, State Papers, ii., Appendix II. 
 
KNGLISH REVOLUTION. 349 
 
 sure I will use against you all the power and influence I 
 have, and so as to produce in your fortune changes that shall 
 little please you."' 
 
 Cromwell had' small respect for Lilbume's advice, and 
 cared not for his threats, standing alone, but it was different 
 when they were backed by the anger of so many of his hereto- 
 fore devoted adherents. Eeady to throw himself, when neces- 
 sary, even with temerity, into the vortex of intrigue and daring 
 hopes, he had still a keen sense of dangers and obstacles, and 
 whatever his aim or passion, looked around him on every 
 side, found out all that was going on, and directed his course 
 accordingly. He begged Berkley and Ashburnham not to 
 visit him so often, and the king to permit him to observe ■ 
 more caution in their intercourse. " If I am an honest man," 
 he said, " I have done enough to convince his majesty of the 
 sincerity of my intentions; if not, nothing will suffice.^ 
 At the same time, he went to the Tower, paid LUburne a 
 long visit, held forth in earnest and pathetic language touch- 
 ing his zeal for their common cause, urged with vehemence 
 the danger of the slightest disunion, asked him what he meant 
 to do upon regaining his liberty, and promised, upon taking 
 leave, to use evdry effort ^vith the committee to whom the 
 subject was referred, to hasten his release.* 
 
 Lilburne was not set at liberty; the committee, of which 
 Henry Martyn was chairman, even postponed their report;* 
 and the intercourse of Cromwell with the king, though less 
 open, was not less active. A stranger to the blind pre- 
 sumption of his party, devoured by ambition and doubt, the 
 most contrary combinations and anticipations agitated hi^ 
 mind, and he was unwilling to break faith or to pledge himself 
 to any of them irremediably. The success of the republicans 
 seemed to him questionable, the desires of the enthusiasts 
 chimerical; the casuistical and passionate insubordination of 
 the soldiers threatened his own power; the • quality of his 
 mind rendered him intolerant of disorder, even while foment- 
 ing it; the king's name was stiU a power, his alliance a 
 means, his re-establishment a chance; he kept it in reserve 
 like many others, ready to abandon it for a better, pushing 
 
 « This letter bears date 13th August, 16i7. ' Berkley, 42. 
 
 ' Biographia Britaniiica, Article Lilburne, v. 2950. * lb. 
 
350 HISTOEY OP THE 
 
 his own fortune by every path which promised the greatest or 
 readiest success. The king, on his side, well informed of the 
 disposition of minds in parliament and the army, gave another 
 turn to his negotiations; they were now addressed less to the 
 party than to its leaders, and indicated individual favours 
 rather than public concessions. To Ireton was offered the 
 government of Ireland; to Cromwell the office of commander- 
 in-chief, the colonelcy of the king's guards, the title of earl of 
 Essex, and the garter; similar advantages were mentioned 
 with reference to their principal friends. Meantime, two 
 royalists, judge Jenkins and a cavalier, sir Lewis Dewes, 
 prisoners in the Tower with Lilburne, were continually 
 talking with him of the treaty already concluded, they said, 
 between the generals and the court, mentioned its 'conditions, 
 stirred up his suspicions, and> urged him to propagate them. 
 Merely suspected, such a bargain threw the party into con- 
 fusion; accepted, it would assure the king the support of the 
 leaders, or leave themselves without support.' 
 
 The two generals could not be ignorant as to these ma- 
 noeuvres; they had surrounded the king with theit spies; 
 colonel "Whalley, whose regiment had charge of him, was the 
 cousin and creature of Cromwell; the least incident in the 
 king's life, his walks, his conversations, the visits and the 
 proceedings of his councillors, the indiscretions of his ser- 
 vants, were minutely reported to them;!^ and more than once 
 they complained that reports from Hampton Court, spread 
 abroad as if by design, by destroying their cjjedit with the 
 army, rendered them incapable of serving the king in that 
 quarter. Ireton, in particular, of more unbending mind, and 
 less tolerant of deceit, was so much displeased, that he was on 
 the point of breaking off the negotiations. They, however, 
 continued; and soon even the pubUe conduct of the generals 
 seemed to confirm the suspicions of the soldiers. At the en- 
 treaties of the Scots, and to give some satisfaction to the 
 friends of peace (Aug. 27),' parliament had decided that the 
 proposals made at Newcastle should once more be presented 
 to the king; the earls of Lauderdale and Lanark, lately 
 
 ' ' BerMey, 40. 
 * Sec, in Eusliworth, ii. 4, 795, a letter, in which Whalley gives an ac- 
 oonnt of the manner in which the king spends his time, and of eTerything 
 which happelis at Hampton Court. _. » Pari. Hist., iii, 774. , 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 351 
 
 arrived at Hampton Court, once more conjured him to accept 
 them and join the presbyterians, who alone were sincere in 
 the wish to save him.' Alarmed at this danger, Cromwell and 
 Ireton redoubled their protestations and promises to the king, 
 advised him to reject the proposals, to require that those of 
 the army, far more moderate, should be made the basis of a 
 new negotiation, and promised to support the demand with 
 their utmost influence. " We are determined," Ireton sent 
 him word, " to purge the house, and purge it again, and 
 purge it still, until it shall be disposed to arrange amicably 
 your majesty's afiairs; for my part, rather than fail in what 1 
 have promised the king, I would ally myself with the French, 
 the Spaniards, the cavaliers, with any who would assist me 
 in accomplishing it."^ Charles followed the. advice of the 
 generals, and on receiving his answer,* a violent debate arose 
 in the commons; the irritated presbyterians would not deviate 
 from their proposals; the fanatics demanded that none at all 
 should be received or offered. As they had promised, Crom- 
 well and Ireton urged the fulfilment of the long's desire, and 
 that a treaty should be opened between him and the parlia- 
 ment, on the conditions offered by the army; a step, on their 
 part, the more marked from its being altogether without 
 result, the presbyterians and the fanatics having united to 
 defeat it (Sept. 22).'' 
 
 The distrust and anger of the soldiers assumed a menacing 
 form; at every station societies were formed, someof them open 
 and tumultuous, others secret; everywhere the words " ambi- 
 tion, treachery, deceit," were re-echoed, always in connexion 
 with the name of Cromwell ; every expression whichhad escaped 
 from him in the heat of discourse was brought to mind and 
 angrily commented upon: he had, for instance, talked of the 
 necessity of ceasing the persecution of the cavaliers; he had 
 said: " Now that I have the king in my hand, I have the 
 parliament in my pocket:"^ at another time: " Since Holies- 
 and Stapleton have had so much authority, I do not see why 
 I should not govern the kingdom as well as they. And 
 again, it was he who in the committee charged with the affair 
 
 ' Ludlow, 92. ' Huntingdon, 155. 
 
 ». Tho imswer was dated September 9, 1647.— Pari. Hist. iii. 777—779. 
 * Berkley, 44 ; Ludlow, ut sup. ; Huntingdon, 331. 
 ' Banks, A Critical Eeview, &o. 83. 
 
352 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 of Lilburne, had brought forward a thousand little incidents, 
 tending to have him still kept in prison.' LUbume formally 
 denounced him to the -agitators, enumerating all the oiEces 
 held by him and his adherents.^ The agitators in their turn 
 demanded of parUament the release of Lilburne,^ of Fairfax 
 that of four soldiers, confined, as they said, merely for a few 
 oflfensive and threatening words against the king.* It was 
 even proposed among Lilburne, Wildman, and some others, 
 to get rid of Cromwell by assassination.* No such attempt, 
 however, was made; but whether on this occasion, or from 
 some other cause, even the council of agitators became sus- 
 pected by iha soldiers; the lieutenant-general, they said, had 
 spies among them who informed him of everything. To 
 avoid this danger, several regiments appointed, under the 
 name of new agents, purer agitators, charged to watch the 
 traitors and serve the good cause in whatever place, at what- 
 ever price. A few superior officers, and some members of 
 the eominons, iRainsborough, Ewers, Harrison, Eobert LU- 
 burne,^ and Scott, placed themselves at the head of tliis 
 movement; and the most violent faction, thus separated from 
 the general council of officers and parliament, began openly 
 to proclaim its maxims and designs. 
 
 CromweU grew uneasy: he saw the army disunited, the 
 royalists and the presbyterians watching the moment to 
 profit by its discords, himself attacked by men of inexorable 
 win, hitherto his most faithful allies, his most useful instru- 
 ments. From day to day the king's intentions became more 
 and more suspected: "I shall play my game as well as I 
 can," said Charles to Ireton, who pressed him to join them 
 openly;^ and lords Lauderdale and Lanark, stiU assiduous 
 in their attendance, promised him the support of a Scottish 
 army if he would accept of their alliance. Already, it was 
 said, the preliminaries of a treaty were agreed upon; .it was 
 even added that in Scotland, where Hamilton's creit prevailed. 
 over that of Argyle, troops were marching towards the bor- 
 
 > Biographia Britanuica, ai-t. 'Lilburne.' 2 n,. ,3 EushwortU, ii.4:, 790.. 
 
 * lb. 808. » Holies; 185. 
 
 ' The brother of John Lilburne, and colonel of a regiment of infantry 
 '^ Beginning of October. — Ludlow, 91 ; Journals, Lords, Nov. 16, 17, 1647. 
 , • Hutchinson, 277. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 3S3' 
 
 dcrs.' On their side, the English cavaliers, Capel, Langdale; ' 
 and Musgrave, were secretly getting up an insurrection. 
 " Be assured," the king had said to Capel, " the two nations 
 will soon be at war; the Scotch promise themselves the co- 
 operation of all the presbyterians in England; let our friends, 
 then, hold themselves ready and in arms; for otherwise, which- 
 ever party is victorious, we shall get very little by it."^ 
 Meantime, the situation of the army quartered near London 
 became critical; the city paid no attention to the demands 
 made for money to pay the men, and the officers knew 
 not how to govern troops whom they could not pay.^ In 
 all directions the most daring pamphlets were circulated ; 
 some setting forth the designs of the soldiers against the 
 Jiing, others the king's negotiations with the generals. In 
 vain had Fairfax demanded and obtained, readily enough 
 so far, the establishment of a rigorous censorship;* in vain 
 had Cromwell himself represented to the city the necessities 
 of the army; in vain had he displayed all the resources of 
 reason and craft, to persuade the fanatics that they must re- 
 strain their fanaticism if they though^ to be paid by the 
 moderate, the moderate that, to keep the fanatics in check, 
 they must pay them ;^ in vain had he succeeded in get- 
 ting some of his confidants elected among the new agents 
 of the soldiers. His efforts were without result; even his" 
 very prudence turned against him ; he had kept up a corres- 
 pondence, had secured, as he imagined, means of action with 
 all parties ; and now everywhere a wild, indomitable excitemen t 
 threatened to countervail his schemes, to ruin his influenoe. 
 The end of so much ability, so, much exertion, had only been 
 to burden his situation with greater difficulty and danger. 
 
 Amid this perplexity, one of the spies he had at Hamptoii 
 Court, in the very chamber of the king, sent him wore 
 that on that day, a letter addressed, to the queen would 
 be dispatched ftoni the castle, containing Charles's real 
 designs towards the army and its leaders. The letter, sewn 
 up in a saddle, carried on his head by a man, not in the 
 secret, would reach, about ten o'clock that night, the Blue 
 
 » Enshworth, ii. 4, 786-,810. . " Clai-endon, iii. 106. 
 
 3 Eushworth, ii. 4, 804, &c. 
 * By an ordinance of September 30, 1647; Pari. Hist. iii. 779— 781 j 
 Eushworth, ii. 4, 799. ' Eushworth, ii. 4, 863, 884. 
 
 A A 
 
354 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 Boar in Holborn; a horse was ready waiting there to take; 
 the bearer to Dover, whence the packet would sail for France. 
 Cromwell and Ireton at once formed their resolution. Dis- 
 guised as private soldiers, and followed by a single trooper, 
 they left Windsor to go to the appointed place. On their 
 arrival, they placed their attendant on the watch at the door, 
 and entering the tavern, sat down at a table and had some 
 beer. Towards ten, the messenger appeared, the saddle on 
 his head: receiving immediate notice of this, they went out, 
 sword in hand, seized the saddle under the pretext that they 
 had orders to search everything, carried it into the inn, ripped 
 it open, found the letter, carefully closed up the saddle again, 
 and then returned it, to the terrified messenger, saying, with 
 an air of good humour, that he was an honest fellow, and 
 might continue his journey. 
 
 Their informant had not deceived them: Charles,, indeed, 
 wrote to the queen that he was courted alike by both fac- 
 tions, that he should join the one whose conditions should be 
 most for his advantage, and that he thought he should rather 
 treat with the Scottish presbyterians than with the army: 
 " For the rest," he added, " I alone understand my position; 
 be quite easy as to the concessions which I may grant; when 
 the time comes, I shall very weU know how to treat these 
 rogues, and instead of a silken garter, I will fit them with a 
 hempen halter." The two generals looked at each other, and 
 all their suspicions thus confirmed, returned to Windsor, 
 henceforward as free from uncertainty respecting their de- 
 signs upon the king as respecting his towards them.' 
 
 It was full time their conduct should cease to be wavering 
 and undecided: the wrath of the fanatics broke forth, and 
 threw the army into the greatest confusion. On the 9th of 
 October, in the name of five regiments of horse, among which 
 O'romwell's own regiment figured, the new agitators drew 
 up, under the title of " The Case of the Army," a long decla- 
 ration of their suspicions, their principles, and their wishes. 
 On the 18th, they presented it officially to the general; and 
 on 'the 1st of November a second pamphlet, entitled, ." An 
 Agreement of the People for a firm and present Peace on the 
 ground of common right," addressed to the whole nation in 
 
 ' This occurred in the course of October; Clarendon, State Papers, ii. 
 Appendix, xxxriii. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 355 
 
 the name of sixteen regiments. In both, the soldiers accused 
 the officers of treachery, the parliament of malversation, ex- 
 horted their comrades to join them, and demanded that the 
 present parliament should be speedily dissolved; that for the 
 future no person or body should share sovereign power with 
 , the house of conunons; that parliament should be triennial; 
 that the suffrage should be equally distributed over the 
 country according to population and taxation; that no mem- 
 ber should be capable of being elected to two successive parlia- 
 ments, no citizen imprisoned for debt, or compelled to serve 
 in the 0mj or navy, or excluded from any office merely on 
 account of his religion ; that the provinces should appoint 
 all their own magistrates ; that the civil law, equal for all, 
 should be reformed and recast in a single code; finally, that 
 certain rights, above all, liberty of conscience, should be de- 
 clared inviolable, and superior to all human power.' 
 
 At this declaration of popular ideas and hopes, the uneasi- 
 ness of the leaders was, extreme; many of them, and these 
 the more intelligent, though enemies to the court and to the 
 presbyterians, regarded royalty and the upper house as so 
 potent, so deeply rooted in the traditions, laws, and manners 
 of the people, that a republic, now at length seen near at 
 hand, close impending, had the effect of a perilous chimera. 
 Among the republicans themselves, the majority, though 
 sincere and daring, were far from participating in all the 
 views of the soldiers; some, with influence in the elections 
 for their town or county, feared that a new system would de- 
 prive them of their preponderance; others, who had got pos- 
 session of church property, heard with terror the people ex- 
 press their indignation that this property should have been 
 sold at so low a price, and demand that all such sales should 
 be annulled; the lawyers were anxious to retain their influ- 
 ence and their profits ; all these classes and others vehe- 
 mently opposed the idea of the house being dissolved, and 
 their cause being left to the chances of a new election. Their 
 common sense, moreover, revolted at the little social import- 
 ance, the insane mysticism, the haughty insubordination of 
 the reforming soldiers. How establish a government, in the 
 face of the royalists and presbyterians, with an ungovernable 
 
 Eushwortli, ii. 4, 845, 859 ; Godwin, ii. 445. 
 
 ■A. A. 2 
 
356 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 faction, senseless enough, to put in jeopardy, day after day, 
 the union with the army, its only support? How assail, 
 for the sake of the reveries of obscure sectarians, all the 
 traditions, aU the ancient and respected rights of England? 
 Yet these same reveries were exciting in the minds of the 
 lower I classes, in almost every part of the kingdom, a fer- 
 mentation, altogether unprecedented; those vague, glowing 
 notions of absolute justice, those impassioned desires for equa,I 
 happiness, wliich, often suppressed; are never extinguished in 
 the heart of manj burst forth in aU directions, with a blind 
 and furious confidence ; arid the leaders themselves, who 
 would not listen to, knew not how to answer them, for, at 
 bottom, they shared the principles in whose name these wishes 
 were proclaimed. 
 
 Their first proceedings were consequently feeble and flue- * 
 tuating. Parliament voted that the two pamphlets were a crime 
 against the government of the kingdom, and that it would pro- 
 secute their authors; but at the same time, to please the repub- 
 licans, it declared that the king was bound to adopt whatever 
 should be proposed to him by parliament (Nov. 6). ' The general 
 council of officers assembled at Putney (Oct. 22),^ invited 
 the principal agitators to join them, and a committee, in which 
 several of them sat, received orders to draw up, without de- 
 lay, a statement of their deniands. In a short time, accord- 
 ingly, the committee presented to parliament a report, em- 
 bodying most of these demands; but the name and essential 
 prerogatives of the king were equally set forth in it .(Nov. 2).' 
 The agitators protested against this; they were promised that 
 in an early council, the question whether monarchy was any 
 longer to exist should be freely discussed. But when thevday 
 came, Ireton abruptly quitted the council, protesting that he 
 ■would never re-enter it if such a question was even touched 
 upon. The debate was adjourned till the following Monday, 
 November 6th; and whether once more to evade it, or whether 
 morecompHancewashopedfor from the soldiers inabody, it was 
 agreed that the army should be summoned to a general meeting, 
 at which it might give expression to its common sentiments.'' 
 
 ' Journals, &c. November 5tli and 6tli; Pwl. Hist. iii. 785. 
 2 Eushworth, ii. 4, 849 » lb. 861, &o. 
 
 ♦ Clarendon, State Papers, ii. App. xli. ; Letter of se-yeral agitators to tLcir 
 lespective regiments ; Godwin, ii. 451. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 35T 
 
 But Cromwell, who had proposed, easily discerned the 
 danger of this remedy. Each fresh debate excited fresh dis- 
 union in the army; 'the more they were consulted, the more 
 they shook off the government of their leaders and fell into 
 anarchy.' To save, to make it of use, it was essential with- 
 out delay to restore in it discipline, to regain over it com- 
 mand. Very determined steps were necessary to effect this. 
 It was clear that the soldiers, at least the most active among 
 them, the leaders and fanatics, were resolved to get rid of the 
 king, that they would forsake, nay attack whomsoever should 
 appear favourable to him; that he alone would command 
 their obedience and their strength, who should in this adopt 
 their common will, and execute it. Cromwell formed his re- 
 Bolutiont When the day of the council came, all debate was 
 forbidden; the superior officers declared, that to re-establish 
 harmony in the army it was necessary that all, officers and 
 agitators,' should return to their regiments; that instead of a 
 general meeting, there should be three special meetings in the 
 quarters of the principal divisions; and that, meanwhile, the 
 council should suspend its sittings, and leave the general and 
 the parliament to act.^ The king's situation at Hampton 
 Court was suddenly changed: his councillors, Richmond, 
 Southampton, and Ormond, received orders to depart; his 
 most trusty servants, Berkley an d Ashburnham among others, 
 ■were withdrawn from him; his guards were doubled; he no 
 longer enjoyed the same liberty in his walks. From all sides 
 dark liints reached him; it was said that the soldiers intended 
 to seize his person and to take him from the officers as these 
 had taken him from the parliament. CromweU himself wrote 
 on the subject, with uneasiness, to colonel "Whalley, whether 
 he really feared some attempt of the kind, or that he merely 
 wished to alarm the king, or rather that, careful as ever to 
 be prepared against all chances, he vsrished still to deceive him 
 respecting his intentions and retain the appearance of a desire 
 to serve him.^ 
 
 These changes, these reports, so many new restrictions, a 
 thousand rumours of treachery, of unprecedented designs, 
 even of murder, threw the unhappy Charles into a state of 
 anxiety each day more painful; his imagination, susceptible 
 
 1 Clarendon, vt sup. ' Eusliworth, ii. i, 866. ' lb. ii. i, 842 ; Holies, 187, 
 
358 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and vivid, ttougli grave, was disturbed; a bad day's sport, a 
 painful dream, the going out of his lamp in the night, ' every- 
 thing seemed to him an ominous presage; everything seemed 
 to him possible at the hands of such enemies, though his 
 pride refused to believe they would dare proceed to extremi- 
 ties. Flight was suggested to him; he was tempted to adopt 
 the suggestion ; but whither fly ? how ? with what aid ? 
 The Scottish commissioners offered to favour his escape. One 
 day, while he was hunting, Lauderdale had it intimated to 
 him that they were close by with fifty horse, and that if he 
 would join them, they would depart at fuU speed for the 
 north.2 But sudden resolutions confused the king; besides, 
 what asylum was he to look for in Scotland, which had 
 already given him up, where he had no longer aay means 
 whatever of resisting the presbytferian yoke and the cove- 
 nant? He refused. By another party he was ?.dvised to em- 
 bark and retire to the isle of Jersey, where the facility of 
 passing over to the continent would compel all parties to keep 
 fair with him. But he still relied on the strength of their 
 continued promises, on the good will of the officers; he flat- 
 tered himself their '. coldness was only forced and counterfeit, 
 that at the next meeting of the army they would get the 
 better of the agitators, re-establish discipline, and renew 
 their negotiations with hin . He did not wish to leave 
 England before this last trial.* Yet the idea of flight became 
 more and more familiar to him, more and more urgent; he 
 was told that a German prophet had presented himself to the' 
 council of agitators, announcing that he was charged to re- ' 
 veal the will of heaven; but at the bare mention of reconci- 
 liation with the king, they had refused to hear him. In 
 every possible way, Cromwell had it insinuated to him that 
 flight was necessary. Some one, it is not known who, spoke to 
 the king of the Isle of Wight as a convenient and safe asylum; 
 it was near the mainland, its population was royalist; only 
 just before, colonel Hammond, nephew of one of the king's 
 most faithful chaplains, had been appointed its governor. 
 Charles listened with more attention to this suggestion than 
 to any other, collected information, and even made some pre- 
 
 1 Herbert, 88. ' Burnet, Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 824. ' 
 
 ' Berldey, 47, &c. ; Warwick, 307 ; Burnet, Memoirs of the Homiltona^ 
 326 ; Ludlow, 92. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 359 
 
 parations.' Yet he still hesitated, and sought on all sides 
 something to decide him. An astrologer, William Lilly, was 
 at this time in high repute in London; inclined to the popular 
 party, but refusing no one his predictions and advice. The 
 king commissioned a woman, Mrs. Whorewood, to consult 
 him in his name as to the place to which he had best retire; 
 and out of a thousand pounds which had just been sent him 
 ty alderman Adams, a devoted royalist, Mrs. "Whorewood 
 received five hundred for her mission. The stars having 
 been solemnly interrogated, Lilly answered, that the king 
 shoidd retire to the east, into Essex, twenty miles from 
 London, and Mrs. Whorewood hastened back with this 
 answer to Hampton Court,^ Charles, however, had not 
 waited for it; on the 9th of November, an anonymous letter, 
 written as it would seem by a sincere friend, warned liim 
 that the danger was pressing; that within a few hours past, 
 • the agitators had resolved, in a nocturnal meeting, to make 
 away with him, and that everything was to be dreaded if he 
 did not immediately place himself out of their reach.* 
 Another letter warned him to beware of the. guard which 
 should 'be placed in charge of the castle* on the next day but 
 two. Strucik with dismay, Charles took his resolution; on 
 the 1 1th of November, at nine in the evening, leaving several 
 letters on a table, and followed by a single valet-de-chambre, 
 William Legge, he proceeded by a back staircase to a door 
 which opened into the park on the side of the forest, where 
 Ashburnham and Berkley, informed of his design, were in 
 attendance with horses. They directed their course to the 
 south-west; the night was dark and stormy; the king, who 
 
 1 This is what evidently results from am accoxmt of the kiug's residence 
 in the Isle of Wight, addressed, after the Bestoration, to Charles II., by sir 
 John Bowring, a man otherwise, obscure, but who was at that time employed 
 in the secret manoeuvres of Charles I. I wonder this little work, though 
 disfigured by many errors, and evidently written by a man solely intent upon 
 making the most of himself, but jphich yet contains oharaoteristio and 
 curious details, should have escaped the attention of the English historians ; 
 Mr. Godwin is, as far as I know, the only writer who has mentioned it; 
 it was taken from lord Halifax's papers, and is to be found in a 13mo 
 volume, entitled. Miscellanies, Historical and Philological, (London, 1703.) 
 See also Eushworth, ii. 4, 951 ; Berkley, ut siip. 
 
 ' 2 William LiUy, History of his Life and Times, (1715), 60 ; Biographia 
 Britannica, article Lilly. 
 
 « Clarendon, State Papers, ii., Appendix, xli. * Berkley, 50. 
 
360 HISTORY OF TIIE 
 
 alone was acquainted with the forest, ser\'ed as a guide to his 
 companions; they lost their way, and did not reach till day- 
 break the little town of Sutton, in Hampshire, where, by, the 
 care of Ashburnham, a relay of horses was prepared for 
 them. At the very inn where he awaited them, a com- 
 mittee of parliamentarians was assembled, deliberating on the 
 affairs of the county. The party set off again immediately, 
 and proceeded towards Southampton, but without the king's 
 having expressly declared to what place he would go. On 
 the descent of an eminence near the town: " Let us alight," 
 said Charles, "and consult on what is best to be done." 
 First, it is said, they talked of a vessel which Ashburnham 
 was to have secured, and of which they had no news; then of 
 turning into the western counties, where Berkley guaranteed 
 the devoted support of many friends; at last of the Isle of 
 Wight, a more convenient resolution than any other which 
 presented itself at the time, removing the immediate per- 
 plexities of their situation, and evidently from the road they 
 had taken, that which the king had proposed to himself when 
 he came away. But the governor was not apprised: could 
 he be trusted without security? It was arranged that Ash- 
 burnham and Berkley should proceed to the island, and 
 after sounding Hammond, acquaint him with the mark of 
 confidence he was on the point of receiving, and that the 
 king should await their return a few miles distant, at Tichfleld, 
 a mansion occupied by lord Southampton's mother. They 
 separated, and next morning the two cavaliers, landing in the 
 island, went direct to Carisbrook Castle, the residence of the 
 governor. Hammond was not there, but at Newport, the 
 chief town of the place, whence, however, he was expected to 
 return that day. Ashburnham and Berkley took the road to 
 the town, and meeting Hammond, informed him, without 
 preamble, of the purport of their coming. Hammond turned 
 pale, the reins fell from his hands, his whole body trembled: 
 " Oh, gentlemen," said he, " yoVi have undone me by bring- 
 ing the king into this island; if he is not yet landed, pray let 
 him not come; for what between my duty to his majesty and 
 my gratitude for this fresh obligation of confidence, and my 
 observing my trust to the army, I shall be confounded." 
 They endeavoured to calm him, enlarging upon the immense 
 service he would render the kinSi and the engagements which 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 361 
 
 the army itself had contracted with his majesty, but inti- 
 mating that if he did not coincide with them, the king was 
 very far from desiring to force himself upon him. Hammond 
 continued his lamentations. But when the two cavaliers, 
 in their turn, appeared distrustful and about to withdraw 
 their proposal, he exhibited less indecision, inquired where 
 the king was, if he was not in danger, and even expressed 
 some regret that he had not at once entirely trusted himself 
 to him. The conversation was carried on for a long time, on 
 either side with anxious caution, both parties almost equally 
 afraid to break it off or to commit themselves. At length 
 JHammond seemed to yield: " The king," he said, " shall not 
 have to complain of me; it shall not be said I disappointed 
 his expectations; I will act as a man of honour; let us go 
 together, and tell him so." Berkley, still suspicious, would 
 have evaded this proposal; but Ashburnham accepted it, and 
 they immediately set out together, Hammond being accom- 
 panied only by one of his" officers, named Basket. A boat con- 
 veyed them in a few hours to Tichfield, and on their arrival 
 Ashburnham alone went up to the king, leaving Berkley, Ham- 
 mond, and Basket in the court-yard of the castle. On hearing 
 his story: "Oh, John! John!" exclaimed Charles, "thou 
 hast undone me by bringing this governor here; dost thou 
 not perceive that I can now not stir a foot without him?" In . 
 vain Ashburnham urged Hammond's promises, the godd 
 feeling he had displayed, his hesitation, a proof of lus sin- 
 cerity. The king, in despair, walked rapidly up and down 
 the apartment, now with his arms folded, now raising hands 
 and eyes to heaven with an expression of the deepest anguish; 
 at length, Ashburnham, moved in his turn, said: " Sire, 
 colonel Hammond is here with only another man; nothing 'is 
 so easy as to make sure of him." " What,'' replied the king, 
 " would you kill him? Would you have it said that he hazarded 
 his life for me, and that I unworthily deprived him of it ? 
 No, no, it is too late to take any other course ; we must 
 trust to God." Meantime, Hammond and Basket, growing 
 impatient, Berkley went to the king, and was directed to 
 bring them up. Charles received them with an open and 
 confiding air; Hammond renewed his promises, more ex- 
 tended even, though still vague and embarrassed. The day 
 was declining; they embarked for the island. The report 
 
362 HISTORY Off THE 
 
 that the king was at hand had abeady spread there; many of 
 the inhabitants came to meet him; as he passed through the 
 streets of Newport, a young woman advanced towards him 
 and presented him with a red rose in full blow, notwith-r 
 standing the severity of the season, praying aloud for his 
 ' deliverance. He was assured that the whole population was 
 devoted to him, that even at Carisbrook Castle the entire 
 garrison consisted of twelve veterans, all well disposed to 
 him, and that he might at any time he pleased easUy escape. 
 Charles's terrors were gradually appeased; and next morning, 
 when, on rising, he contemplated from the windows of the 
 castle the charming view which the sea and land pre-, 
 sent from that spot, when he had breathed the morning air, 
 when he saw in Hammond every demonstration of respect,- 
 when he received full permission to ride about the island at 
 will, to retain his servants, to receive whom he pleased, 
 his long troubled spirit once more felt a sense of security: 
 " After all," he said to Ashburnham, "this governor is a 
 gentleman; I am here out of reach of the agitators; I am in 
 hopes I shall have to congratulate myself on the resolution 
 I have adopted."' , , 
 
 Berldey, 57, &c. ; Herbert, 88; Ludlow, 94; Clarendon, iii. 118 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 363 
 
 BOOK THE EIGHTH. 
 
 1647—1649. 
 
 The rendezvons at Ware — Cromwell suppresses the agitators, and afterwards 
 reconciles himself with them — The parliament sends to the Mng in four 
 bills the preliminary conditions of peace — The king rejects them, and 
 secretly treats with the Scots — The parliament resolves that it will have 
 no further communications with the king — General discontent and re- 
 action in favour of the king — Embarrassment of Cromwell and the inde- 
 pendents — Breaking out of the second civil war — Fairfax's campaign in 
 the east and round London, Cromwell's in the west, Lambert's in the 
 'north — Siege of Colchester — The Scots enter England — Cromwell 
 marches against them — Battles of Preston, Wigan, and Warrington — 
 CromweU in Scotland — The presbyterians regain the ascendancy in 
 London — The parliament again opens a treaty with the king — Negotia- 
 tions at Newport — Changes in the situation of parties — jThe army carries 
 off the king from the Isle of Wight — He is removed to Hurst castle — 
 Then to Windsor — Last efforts of the presbyterians in his favour — Trial 
 and death of the king — Monarchy abolished. 
 
 The parliamentary commissioners and the officers of the 
 garrison at Hampton Court waited for the king to appear at 
 the supper table at the accustomed time; astonished at not 
 seeing him, they at length went to his room, and there found 
 only three letters in his own hand writing, addressed, one to 
 lord Montagu, president of this committee, one to colonel 
 Whalley, the third to the speaker of the house of lords. To 
 the latter the king g-ave as' the reason for his flight the plots 
 of the agitators and his right to live free and in safety like 
 any other citizen. The two other letters were merely to 
 express to Montague and WhaUey his thanks for their atten- 
 tions, and to direct them what to do with his horses, dogs, 
 pictures, and the minor articles of furnitiu'e in his apartments. 
 
364' HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 No indication was given as to the road he meant to take, nor 
 the place of hjs retreat.' 
 
 Great was the consternation in "Westminster Hall, and all 
 the greater that, concurrently with the news from Hampton 
 Court, came a letter from head-quarters at Windsor, written 
 at -midnight by CromweU, who had hastened, he said, to 
 communicate the intelligence to parliament. He, then, had 
 been the first to know of it, before parliament, perhaps before 
 the king's departure; for a report became current that pre- 
 cisely on the 1 1th, the previously strict watch of the garrison 
 at Hampton Coxu:t had been Yelaxed, that sentinels had even 
 been withdrawn from the posts they usually guarded.' Letters 
 soon came (Nov. 13) from Hammond, informing the house of 
 the king's arrival,* protesting entire devotion to their serviise, 
 and requesting their instructions. Yet men's fears were not 
 dispelled; CromweU also had received letters from Hammond, 
 as ijf all the servants of parliament thought themselves bound 
 to give him information and consult him on every occasion; 
 and he reported the letters and their contents to the house 
 with an exhilaration of manner which astonished the least 
 suspicious,* and appeared to them even, an alarming symptom 
 of some success, of the fulfilment of some hope, the nature 
 of which they ia vain attempted to discover. 
 
 Two days had scarcely elapsed before he inspired his 
 enemies with other and still greater alarm. It was on Nov. 
 15th, that the first of the three appointed meetings of the 
 army, which were to put an end to its dissensions, was to 
 take place at Ware, in Hertfordshire. Cromwell proceeded 
 thither with Fairfax, surrounded by the oflicers of whom 
 he was sure. Only seven regiments were .summoned, those 
 which had shown the least excitement, and with whom it 
 seemed most easy to re-establish discipline. Cromwell relied 
 upon their subjection to intimidate, or upon their example 
 to calm the more furious. But when they arrived on the 
 common at Ware, the generals found nine regiments instead 
 of seven; Harrison's regiment of cavalry, and Eobert Lil- 
 burne's of infantry had come without orders, and in a state 
 of the fiercest excitement. The latter had'expelled all their 
 officers above the rank of lieutenant, except captain Bray, 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 780, &o. « Eushwortli, ii. i, 871. a Ludlow, 95. 
 * Purl. Hist. iii. 789. » Clarendon, iii. 130. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLBTIWH. 365 
 
 ■who was now in command of them ; every soldisr •^ove on 
 his hat a copy of IVie Agreement of the People, with this in- 
 scription: " Liberty for England, their rights for the soldiers." 
 From time to time, as if seized with a common impulse, their 
 shouts re-echoed over the plain: Eainsborough, Ewers, Scott, 
 John Lilburne himself, lately permitted by the commons to 
 leave the Tower every morning for the benefit of his health, 
 galloped over the common, riding from troop to troop, encou- 
 raging the more animated, calling the moderate cowards, 
 repeating everywhere that since the sword was in their hands, 
 they were in conscience bound to use it, to secure fully and 
 for ever the liberty of their country. Amidst this tumult, 
 Fairfax, Cromwell, and their staff, advanced towards the 
 peaceable regiments, and read to them, in the name of the 
 general council of officers, a calm and firm remonstrance, 
 reproaching the new agitators with their seditious proceed- 
 ings and the dangers they brought upon the army; remind- 
 ing them of the proofs of affection and fidelity their chiefs 
 had given them, the triumphs they had obtained under their 
 command, and promising to support the just demands of the 
 soldiers in parliament, whether for themselves or their country, 
 if, in their turn, they would sign an engagement to return 
 under the laws of discipline, and henceforward respect the 
 orders of their officers. Seven regiments received this 
 address with joyful acclamations. Fairfax advanced towards 
 that of Harrison. The troopers no sooner heard him repeat 
 these promises, than they tore the copy of the agreement from 
 their hats, and exclaimed that they had been deceived, and 
 would live and die with their general. Lilburne's regiment 
 still remained rebellious and violently excited; it even began 
 to answer Fairfax by seditious shouts; Cromwell advanced: 
 " Take that paper from your hats!" he cried to the soldiers; 
 they refused; he suddenly entered among their ranks, and 
 pointed out and cai^sed to be arrested fourteen of the most 
 mutinous: a court-martial was assembled on the spot, and 
 three soldiers condemned to death. " Let them draw lots,"- 
 the council ordered, " and let him upon whom it falls be shot 
 instantly." It fell upon Richard ArneU, a wild agitator; the 
 execution took place forthwith, in front of his regiment; the 
 other two condemned men, with their eleven companions, 
 were marched away. Major Scott and captain Bray were 
 
366 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 put under arrest; deep silence prevailed; all the divisions re- 
 turned to their quarters; the two other meetings passed over 
 without the slightest murmur, and the whole army seemed 
 once more under the full command of its leaders.' 
 
 Cromwell, however, did not deceive himself respecting the 
 uncertainty, the danger even, of such a triumph: when he 
 announced it to the commons (Nov. 19),^ amidst the thanks 
 voted him by the majority, deUghted at the defeat of the 
 agitators, the presbyterian leaders did not conceal their cold- 
 ness, nor the republicans their anger: to the first, any suc- 
 cess of CromweU's was matter of suspicion, whatever its 
 apparent effect; the latter regarded his conduct at the meet- 
 ing at Ware as another proof of treachery. Ludlow opposed 
 the vote of thanks;' the preacher, Saltmarsh, came up from 
 the country, as hfe said, by an express command of God, to 
 teU the generals that the Lord had forsaken them, since they 
 had imprisoned his saints;* in short, after the first stupor 
 was over, a crowd of subaltern and noncommissioned officers, 
 •soldiers, nearly all the revolutionary agents of the regi- 
 ments, declared to Cromwell and L-eton, that no severity, no 
 temporary check should turn them from their designs; that 
 they were resolved to get rid of the king, and establish a 
 republic; that at the risk of losing aU, they would divide the 
 army, take with them at least two-thirds of it, and prosecute 
 the enterprise alone rather than be thus put down. Crom- 
 well had no desire to reduce them to this extremity; he had 
 intended, by a signal example, to cut short the progress of 
 anarchy in the army; but he knew the power of the fanatics, 
 and was quite disposed to a reconciliation with them. With- 
 out declaring for a republic, he spoke ill to them of the king, 
 acknowledged they were in the right to hope nothing from 
 him, owned that for himself the vanities of this world had 
 dazzled him for a moment, that he had not been able to dis- 
 cern clearly the work of the Lord, nor trust wholly to his 
 saints, humbled himself before them, and implored the aid of 
 •their prayers to obtain his pardon from Heaven. The most 
 popular preachers, among others Hugh Peters, an intriguing 
 <^ 
 
 1 EnslLworth, ii. 4, 8/5 ; Poi-1. Hist. iii. 791 ; Clarenclon, iii. 132 ; llazeres, 
 Select Tracts, part 1, preface 33 — 73 ; Godwin, ii. 462. 
 
 '.^Fhitelocke, 279. ^ Ludlow, 96. » Wliitelocke, 283. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLTJTION. 367 
 
 and prating enthusiast, undertook to spread abroad his pro- 
 ' testations and admissions. Cromwell even sent comforting 
 promises to the soldiers in prison. All he insisted upon, and 
 this he did in the firmest tone, was the necessity of maintain- 
 , ing union and discipline in the army, as the only means of 
 success or even of safety.' Many believed his words, ever 
 ■ impassioned and powerful; others, not so blind, felt how 
 : much thoy needed his talents, and even while doubting 
 his repentance, could not make up their minds to reject it. 
 Most of them, besides, confessed that the agitators had been 
 too hasty, had gone too far, and that the soldiers owed to 
 their officers more submission and respect. Eainsborough, 
 Scott, and Ewers, admitted themselves in the wrong, and pro- 
 mised more prudence for the future. A great meeting took 
 place at last at head-quarters (Dec. 22); officers, agitators, 
 and preachers, passed ten hours together in conversation and . 
 prayer; the common interest prevailed over, without alto- 
 gether dissipating, their mutual rancour and distrust; it was 
 decided that the prisoners should be set at liberty, that cap- 
 tain Bray should return to his regiment, and that parliament 
 should be requested to restore to Rainsborough the office of 
 vice-admiral, which it had taken from him.^ This recon- 
 ciliation, of which the king's ruin was the condition, was 
 celebrated by a solemn feast (Jan. 9, 1648).^ 
 
 At this point of time, there arrived at head-quarters sir 
 John Berkley, whom Charles, informed of the result of the 
 meeting at Ware, had hastened to send to the generals, 
 to congratulate them on their victory and to remind them 
 of their promises (in the latter end of November). Though 
 the bearer of letters not only from the king, but from 
 Hammond to Fairfax, Ireton, and Cromwell, Berkley was 
 not without uneasiness; he had met, on his road, with 
 cornet Joyce, who had expressed astonishment at his teme- 
 rityi and told him that the agitators, so far from fearing any- 
 thing, had drawn over the generals to their views, and were 
 preparing to bring the king to trial. When he arrived at 
 Windsor, the council of officers was assembled; he presented 
 
 1 Berkley, 75. 
 ' Eushwdrth, ii. 4, 943 ; Clarendon, State Papers, ii. ; Appendjc, xUt ; 
 ■Whitelocke, 28fi. ' Eushworth, ii. 4, 959. 
 
368 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 himself, arid lianded his letters to the general. He \fa3 
 ordered to withdraw. Recalled in half an hour, Fairfax 
 sternly addressed him: " We are the parliament's army; we 
 have no answer to give to the proposals of his majesty; our 
 employer^ alone must judge of them." Berkley looked at 
 Ireton, then at Cromwell; they scarcely bowed, and that with 
 a smile of contempt. He withdrew quite astounded: the 
 day passed without his being able to obtain an explana- 
 tion or any intelligence; at length, towards the evening, the 
 commandant Watson, the oificer with whom he had been 
 most intimate, sent him word to be at midnight in a certain 
 paddock behind the Garter Inn, where he would meet him. 
 From him, Berkley learned what had taken place, and with 
 what ardour the army was transported: " It is such," he 
 said, " that I hazard my life in coming here;, for even this 
 very afternoon, Ireton made two proposals; one to send you 
 prisoner to London, the other to forbid any one to speak to 
 you under pain of death. If the king can escape, let him do 
 it, as he loves his life." " Do you advise me," said Berkley, 
 " to send to Cromwell and Ireton the letters which the king 
 has given me for them?" " By all means ; otherwise they 
 would distrust I had revealed their designs to you."' 
 
 As Watson had foreseen, Berkley from the two generals 
 obtained neither interview nor answer. " I will do my best 
 to serve the king," Cromwell alone sent word; " but he 
 must not expect I shall ruin myself for his sake." Sir 
 John hastened to send this melancholy news to the king, 
 conjuring him to get away without losing an instant. Charles, 
 perhaps, might have done so; for a vessel, sent by the queen, 
 had, it is said, been cruising about the island for several days 
 past.^ But a fresh intrigue had reanimated the king's hopes. 
 After a warm debate in the commons,^ the house had just 
 voted (Dec. 14) that four propositions should be presented to 
 him in the form of bills; and that if he accepted them, he 
 should be allowed, as he had several times requested, to treat 
 in person with the parliament. , They were — first, that the 
 command of the sea and land forces should appertain, for' 
 
 1 Berkeley, 73. ^ i^. 76. 
 
 ' The motion took place in the house of lords on the 26th of NoYember, 
 and the commons adopted it on the 37th, by 115 to 106. — Piu-1. Hist« 
 u. 803. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 369 
 
 twenty years to parliament, with power of continuation 
 thereafter, if the safety of the kingdom should seem to 
 require it; 2, that the king should revoke all his declarations, 
 proclamations, and other acts published against the house, 
 imputing to it illegality and rebellion ; 3, that he should annul 
 all the patents of peerage he had granted since he left Lon- 
 don; 4, that Parliament should be empowered to adjourn for 
 whatever time, and to whatever place, it should think proper 
 Charles, notwithstanding his distress, had no idea of sanc- 
 tioning these bills, and thus acknowledging the legitimacy of 
 the war which had brought him to this extremity; but he 
 knew that the Scottish commissioners had strongly opposed 
 them, that they had exhibited a bitter resentment of the con- 
 tempt with which parliament had received their remon- 
 strances:' he had received from them, concurrently with 
 Berkley's letter, secret advice to reject propositions so offen- 
 sive, and a promise that they would themselves come to the 
 Isle of Wight and treat with him, in the name of Scotland, 
 on far better conditions. " I must wait," he said to Berk- 
 ley on his return ; " I will settle with the Scots before I 
 leave the kingdom; if they once saw me out of the hands of 
 the army they would double, their demands. "^ 
 
 Lords Lauderdale, Lowden, and Lanark, accordingly 
 arrived at Carisbrook Castle, nearly at the same time (Dec. 
 23, 1647) with lord Denbigh and his five colleagues,^ the 
 commissioners from Westminster. The negotiations already 
 opened at Hampton Court were now- reneved between them 
 and the king with great mystery; for, they said, they had 
 only to protest to him personally against the proposals of par- 
 liament. Li two days the treaty was concluded, draw;n up, 
 signed (Dec. 26), and hidden in a garden in the island until 
 it could be taken away in safety. It promised the Idng the 
 intervention of a Scottish army to re-establish him in his 
 just rights, on condition that he would confirm the pres- 
 byterian establishment for three years in England, himself 
 and his friends not being i-equired to conform to it; and that, 
 at the end of that term, the assembly of divines should be 
 •consulted, and he should definitively settle, in concert with 
 parliament, the constitution of the church. Several stipula- 
 
 ■> Pai-1. Hist. iii. 825. = Berkley, 80. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 8;Ji. 
 
 B B 
 
370 mSTOEY OF THE 
 
 tions to the advantage of Scotland, and which would havQ. 
 been highly offensive to the hqnour of England, accompanied 
 this general concession. It was also agreed that to aid the 
 Scottish army, the cavaliers all over the kingdom should take 
 arms; that Ormond should go and reassume the command of 
 the royalist party in Ireland, and that the king himself, as 
 soon as he should have rejected the four propositions, should, 
 escape from the island and proceed to the borders of Scot- 
 land, to Berwick, or some other place, and wait in liberty for 
 the moment of action.' 
 
 Everything thus settled, Charles sent word to the parlia- 
 mentary commissioners that he was ready to give them his 
 answer (Dec. 27). He had resolved, three years before, in 
 the negotiations at Oxford, to deliver it .to them in a sealed 
 envelope, fearing that, once aware of his refusal, perhapa 
 even of his projects, they might take measures that would 
 imdo the whole. But lord Denbigh obstinately refused to 
 receive the king's message in this form. " Parliament," he 
 said, " has charged us to bring back, not anything it may 
 please your majesty to give us, but the adoption or rejection 
 of the four biUs." Charles was obliged to comply, and read 
 the message aloud: it absolutely rejected the propositions, and 
 requested to treat in person, without being pledged to accept 
 anything beforehand. The commissioners withdrew, held a 
 short conference with Hammond, and returned to West- 
 minster, and a few hours after their departure, while the 
 king was discussing with Ashburnham and Berkley the means 
 of escape prepared for the following night, the gates of the 
 castle were closed, entrance forbidden to aU strangers, the 
 guards everywhere doubled, and almost aU the king's servants, 
 Asliburnham and Berkley the first, received orders to quit 
 the island forthwith.^ , 
 
 Full of anger and painful uneasiness, Charles sent for 
 Hammond: " Why," said he, " do you use me thus? Where 
 are your orders for it? Was at the spirit that moved you to 
 it?" Hammond, who had no formal orders, was silent, and 
 t^esitated; at last, he spoke of the answer his majesty had just^ 
 made to the proposals of parliament. " Did you not engage 
 your honour," said the king, " you would take no advantage 
 
 ' Clniendon, iii. 151 ; Burnet, Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 325 — 334. 
 ' Berldey, 88 j Pari. Hist. iii. 838—830; Bowling, 92— 94 ; ClaiendoB 
 iii. 134, 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 571 
 
 against me in any case ?" Hammond : " I said nothing." 
 The king: " You are an equivocating gentleman. Will you 
 allow me any chaplain? You pretend for liberty of conscience; 
 shall I have none?" Hammond: " I cannot allow you any 
 chaplain." The king: " You use me neither like a gentleman 
 nor a christian." Hammond: " I will speak with you when 
 you are in a better temper." The king: " I have slept well 
 to-night." Hammond: " I have used you very civilly." The 
 king: " Why do you not so now then?" Hanmiond: " Sir, 
 you are 'too high. " The king : " My shoemaker's fault, 
 then; and yet my shoes are of the same last." This he re- 
 peated several times as he walked the room, then turning to- 
 wards Hammond, he said: " ShaU I have liberty to go aboiit 
 to take the air?" Hammond: " No, I cannot grant it." 
 The king: You cannot grant it! is this the faith you owe me? 
 is this your allegiance? Answer." Hammond hastily left 
 the room, agitated and with tears La his eyes; but he in no 
 respect altered his late arrangements.* 
 
 Meantime, the parliamentary conmiissioners arrived at 
 Westminster: they had no sooner given an account of their 
 journey and its results, than a member, till then unnoticed in 
 the house, sir Thomas Wroth, rose (Jan. 3, 1648): "Mr. 
 Speaker," said he, " Bedlam was appointed for madmen, and 
 Tophet^ for kings; but our kings of late have carried them-, 
 
 1 Clarenilon, State Papers, ii., Appendix, 44 ; Bushworth, ii. 4, 959, 960 ; 
 ■Whitelooke, 286. 
 
 i* That is to say, " Hell." Topheth is a Helrew word, -which, in its general 
 acceptation, means an abominable thing, a thing worthy of execration (the 
 radical word signifies, " to spit with disgust,") and as a proper name, it desig- 
 nates a place in the valley of Ben Hinnom, " the valley of the sons of lamen- 
 tation," where sacrifices had long been offered to Moloch, and where the 
 statues of the false gods were thrown when their altars were demolished on 
 the heights of Jerusalem, and which afterwards became a sort of receptacle 
 for all the filth and impuiaties of the town, and where the bodies of executed 
 criminals wereri)ui'nt. It is in this sense that the prophet Isaiah, menacing 
 with utter ruin Sennacherib and his army, says, (chap. xxx. 33,) "For 
 Topliet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared," Ifc. Yet some 
 ancient divines, among others St. Jerome and the Chaldean paraphi-ast, 
 simply understood by Topheth, " Hell," " Gehenna ;" and after them, Calvin 
 and the theologians of the Reformation, have given no other acceptation to 
 this word. It is in this sense that it is employed in the EngUsh version of 
 the Bible, that it is used by Milton (Par. Lost, book i. lines 392, 493—495), 
 and the writers of his time ; and sir Thomas Wroth alluded to this passage 
 in Isaiah, which was at that time, as well as all other Scripture texts, present 
 to the memory of most of his auditors. 
 
 bb2 
 
372 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 selves as if they were fit for no place but Bedlam; I propose 
 we lay the king by, and settle the kingdom without him. I 
 care not what form of government you set up, so it be not by- 
 kings or devils." Ireton immediately supported the motijn. 
 " The king," he said, " has denied safety and protection to 
 his people by denying the four bills; subjection to him is only 
 in exchange of his protection to his people; this being denied 
 by him, we may as well deny any more subjection to him, and 
 settle the kingdom without him." Astounded at so rough an 
 attack, irritated themselves by the king's refusal, the presby- 
 terians appeared for awhile perplexed and timid; several 
 members, however, spoke against the proposition: "To adopt 
 it," said Maynard, " is, as far a:s in us lays, to dissolve the 
 parliament; when kings have refused to receive our petitions, 
 or admit our addresses, this has always been held the highest 
 breach of our privileges, because it tended to our dissolution 
 without dissolving us; and if we now, on our parts, determine 
 we will receive no more messages from him, nor make any 
 more addresses to him, we declare we are no longer a parlia- 
 ment." The discussion was prolonged and grew warm; the 
 Presbyterians regained confidence; the house, at first indif- 
 ferently disposed towards them, seemed wavering; Cromwell 
 rose: " Mr. Speaker," said he, "the king is a man of great 
 sense, of great talents, but so full of dissimulation, so false, 
 that there is no possibility of trusting him. While he is pro- 
 testing his love for peace, he is treating underhand with ihe 
 Scottish commissioners, to plunge the nation into another war. 
 It is now expected the parliament should govern and defend 
 the kingdom by their own power and resolution, and not 
 teach the people any longer to expect safety and government 
 from an obstinate man, whose heart God hath hardened; the 
 men who, at the expense of their blood, defended you from 
 so many perils, will again defend you, with the same courage 
 and fidehty, against all opposition. Teach them not, by neg- 
 lecting your own and the kingdom's safety, in which their 
 own is involved, to think themselves be;trayed, and left here- 
 after to the rage and malice of an irreconcilable enemy whom 
 they have subdued for your sake, lest despair teach them to 
 seek their safety by some other means than adhering to you, 
 who will not stick to yourselves. And how destructive such 
 ft resolution in them will be to you all, I tremble to think. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 373 
 
 and leave you to judge;" and he sat down with his hand on 
 his sword hilt. No one spoke after him; the motion, imme- 
 diately adopted (by 141 to 92), was sent the next day to the 
 upper house (Jan. 4). At first, the lords appeared to hesitate; 
 the debate was twice adjourned (from Jan. 4 to 8; then from 
 8 to 11): two declarations came from the army ;i one ad- 
 dressed to the commons, full of congratulations, and threats 
 against their enemies ; the other to the lords, mildj conciUatory, 
 contradicting the reports spread abroad as to'danger threat- 
 ening the peerage, and promising to support it in all its 
 rights. The cowardly portion of the house could as they 
 pleased appear alarmed or reassured; the discussion was 
 brought to a close, and when the motion was put (Jan. 15), 
 lords Warwick and Manchester alone opposed it.^ 
 
 On the other hand, energetic and formidable protests were 
 sent forth from all parts of the kingdom. " Now at last," 
 cried the cavaliers, " are fulfilled those accusations and predic- 
 tions so often treated as chimeras or calumnies;" and on all 
 sides, crowds of voices hitherto wavering, joined them in de- 
 nouncing this execrable treason. Before there was time for 
 the king to answer the declarations of parliament, several 
 answers appeared, emanating from the spontaneous zeal of 
 private citizens.^ Never had so many reports of royalist 
 plots, never had so many and such violent pamphlets besieged 
 Westminster.'' In the Isle of Wight itself, captain Burley, 
 a half-pay naval officer, had the drum beat through the 
 streets of Newport, and, collecting a body of labourers, chil- 
 dren, and women, put himself at their head to go and release 
 the king from prison. The attempt was immediately frus- 
 trated, and Burley hanged as guilty of having made war 
 against the king in his parliament.^ ^ Similar feelings and 
 desires agitated those counties which, just before, had been 
 opposed to the royal cause; even at the very doors of parlia- 
 ment, some of Essex's disbanded soldiers tumultuously assem- 
 
 January 11th ; they are dated the 9th. 
 
 = Pari. HiSt. iii. 830—837 ; Clement Walker, History of Independency, . 
 (1648), 72 ; Clarendon, iii. 142. > Clarendon, iii. 144. 
 
 * Rushworth, 4, 929, 974, 1002 ; two pamphlets, more particularly, entitled 
 " The Parliament's Ten Commandments," and " The New Testament of 
 our Lords and Saviours the House of Commons sitting at Westminster," 
 caused great excitement. ' Clarendon, iii. 137. 
 
374 HISTOKY OP THE 
 
 bled, crying: " God save the king!" stopping the coaches and 
 making those within join them in drinking his health.'. 
 TJie republicans were incensed at finding themselves thus 
 disturbed in their victory: in vain they obtained addresses 
 of congratulation^ from a few counties; in vain the commons 
 proclaimed their design of reforming the law, and of ren- 
 dering the attainment of justice less expensive; in vain did 
 they even suspend their own privileges in reference to pro- 
 secutions and debts (Jan. 4).^ These important ameliora- 
 tions were only desired and appreciated by the party itself, 
 or a few superior minds; some of them shocked the preju- 
 dices of the people, others were not understood by their 
 ignorance; with all, the interested motive which seemed to 
 dictate them destroyed their eifect. This want of popularity 
 must be made up for 'by tyranny. The proceedings already 
 (commenced against such members of parliament and city 
 magistrates as were considered authors or fomenters of pres- 
 byterian or royalist riots, were urged forward;* whoever had 
 borne arms against parliament received orders to leave 
 London, and were forbidden to reside withiii twenty miles of 
 its walls (Dec. 17, 1647);° a general revision of the justices 
 of the peace throughout the kingdom was directed, with the 
 view of getting' rid of all whose principles should be sus- 
 pected;" it was enacted- that no delinquent, no person who 
 had taken any part or was accused of having taken a part in 
 any plot against the parliament, might be elected a lord 
 mayor, alderman, or member of the common council of the 
 city, or even vote at the election of these magistrates 
 (Dec. 17);' the same disqualification was shortly after ap- 
 plied to the functions of jurymen and to the election of mem- 
 bers of parliament.* The committee appointed to suppress 
 the licentiousness of the press received orders to sit every 
 day, and a sum was put at their disposal (Jan. 6, 1648),' to 
 reward those who should discover and seize the presses of 
 the malignants. Finally, the army once more marched 
 through London with all the paaraphernalia of war, and three 
 
 1 PmI. Hist. iii. 804. 2 Eiishworth, ii. 4, 973. 
 
 3 Pari. Hist. iii. 830 ;' Husliwortli, ii. 4, 985. 
 
 ♦ Rushworth, ii. 4, 922 ; Pni-l. Hist. iii. 838—843. 
 
 » Eushworth, ii. 4, 033. « lb. 920. ' lb. 984. 
 
 3 lb. 1253. 9 lb. 957. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 37S 
 
 thousand men were detacted from it and quartered, half at 
 Whitehall half at the Tower.i 
 
 The fanatics, the men of stern, narrow mind, the popu- 
 lace of the party, congratulated themselves on these mea- 
 sures as signal proofs of their strength, and redoubled their 
 ardour. Cromwell alone, though co-operating in, felt uneasy 
 about them, not from any scruple, nor that he hesitated at 
 anything tending to success ; but, despite his resolutions 
 against the king, -the hopes and pretensions of the repub- 
 licans and enthusiasts appeared to him insane. Throughout 
 the country he saw the principal freeholders, the rich citizens, 
 almost every person of any note, retiring from public aifairs, 
 forsaking the committees of management and local magis- 
 tracies, and power passing into the hands of people of an 
 inferior condition, eager to seize it, capable of exercising it 
 with vigour, but iU-fltted to retain it. He could not believe 
 that England would long consent to be thus governed, or that 
 anything at all permanent could be founded on the legal op- 
 pression of so many and such considerable citizens, nor that 
 the discord and anarchy daily increasing in parhament and 
 under its sway, could end otherwise than iu the destruction 
 of the conquerors. His indefatigable imagination was set to 
 work to find out some means of putting an end to this state 
 of things, or at least to discover* in this dark chaos his own 
 quickest and safest road to greatness. He assembled, one 
 day at dinner at his house, the principal independents and 
 presbyterians, clerical and lay, and earnestly expatiated on 
 the necessity of conciliation, or at least of suspending their 
 quai^rels, in order to face together the new dangers it was 
 easy to see were impending. But the humour of the presby- 
 terians was too unbending, and their theological pretensions 
 too exclusive to admit of such combinations. The conference 
 was without result. Cromwell got up another of some poli- 
 tical leaders, most of them general officers like himself and 
 the republicans. It was necessary, he said, that they should 
 in concert investigate what government best suited England, 
 as it was now their part to regulate it; but, in reality, he 
 aimed at discovering which among them was likely to hold 
 out, and what he had to expect or fear from them. Ludlow, 
 
 ' Journals of tlie House of Commons, January 27, 1648 ; Walkei;, 72, 79. 
 
376 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 \ 
 
 Vane, Hutchinson, Sidney, and Haslerig, loudly declare^ 
 their feelings, rejecting aU idea of a monarchy as condemned 
 hy the Bible, by reason, and by experience. The generals 
 were more reserved; according to them, a republic was de- 
 sirable, but its success doubtful; it was better to come to no 
 sudden determination, but to watch the progress of things, 
 the necessities of the times, and obey from day to day the 
 directions of Providence. The republicans insisted upon an 
 unequivocal declaration. The discussion grew warm; Lud- 
 low, among others, pressed Cromwell hard to declare himself, 
 for they were resolved, he said, to know who were their 
 friends. Cromwell evaded the point for awhile, till, at last, 
 urged more and more, he suddenly rose, and, with a forced 
 jest, hastily quitted the room, flinging as he went out a 
 cushion at Ludlow's head, who sent another after him, 
 " which," says Ludlow, " made him hasten down stairs faster 
 than he desired."' 
 
 Meantime, the danger drew nigh; the number and bold- 
 ness of the malcontents increased every day: not only in the 
 west and north, but around London, in Middlesex, Essex, 
 Surrey, and Kent, at the table of some rich gentleman, at the 
 assizes, at the markets, in every place where the cavaliers could 
 concert or mix with thei people, royalist petitions, plans, and 
 insurrections, were got up and openly announced. At Can- 
 terbury, on Christmas day, as the mayor was endeavouring 
 to enforce the ordinance which suppressed that festival, a 
 violent tumult arose, amid the cry: " God, king Charles, 
 and the county of Kent!" The city arsenal was broken open, 
 several houses of parliamentarians attacked, the municipal 
 officers very roughly handled, and, but for the prompt arrival 
 of some troops, the peasants of the neighbourhood would have 
 joined the movement and carried it out.^ In London, one 
 Sunday in church time, some apprentices were playing at 
 bowls in Moorfields (April 9, 1648); a guard of militia 
 ordered them to disperse, they resisted, and beat off the 
 militia; routed in their turn by a detachment ctf cavaby, they 
 spread all over the city, calling to their aid their companions 
 and the Thames watermen; numerous bands assembled in 
 every direction; they met in the night, took two of the gates 
 
 • Ludlow, 103, ' Eusliwoith, ii. i, '948. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLTITION. 377 
 
 of the city by surprise, stretched chains across the streets, 
 and with drums beating and shouts of " God and king Charles," 
 attacked the Mansion-house, got possession of a cannon, then 
 of a magazine of arms, and at daybreak seemed masters of the 
 city. A council of war had sat all night; they hesitated to attack 
 the rebels ; they questioned whether the two regiments 
 quartered in London would be sufficient, whether it would 
 not be best to await reinforcements. Fairfax and Cromwell 
 decided for an immediate attack: it was as immediately suc- 
 cessful; in two hours nothing was to be heard in the streets 
 but the regular step of the troops returning to their quarters.' 
 But though they had fled, the people were not conquered; 
 every day some unaxpected event happened to augment their 
 anger and raise their courage; the presbyterian members and 
 city aldermen, when brought by the commons before the 
 upper house, obstinately refused to acknowledge its jurisdic- 
 tion, to kneel at the bar, or even to take off their hats and 
 listen to the reading of the charges; and every time they ap- 
 peared at Westminster, the multitude, as they came forth, 
 hailed them with transport.^ Public meetings were forbidden; 
 the Committee of management of each county was empowered 
 to arrest and commit to prison all the disaffected — nay, all the 
 suspected (April 18) ;^ but public excitement made more 
 :;apid progress than tyranny: at Norwich, Bury Sit. Edmunds, 
 Thetford, Stowmarket, and a multitude of other places, upon 
 the slightest pretext, the drum beat, the inhabitants flew to 
 arms, and the troops did not always flnd a mere menacing display 
 answer the purpose of repression.'* They had soon,' moreover, 
 other things to dread than mere riots, mere citizen mobs. 
 In Pembrokeshire, South Wales, captains Poyer and Powel 
 and major-general Langhorn, distinguished officers, who had 
 made their way in the parliamentary army, forsook it (towards 
 the end of Feb.),^ raised the royal standard, and supported by 
 the cavaliers of the district, saw the whole country in a few 
 days in their power. At about the same time, the Scottish 
 parliament met (March 2). Hamilton and the royalists, 
 
 1 Kushworth, ii. 4, 1031 ; 'Wliitelocke, 290 ; Ptul. Hist. iii. 8T5. 
 
 2 Pari. Hist. iii. 844, 874, 8T7, 880, 881. 
 » Eushworth, ii. 4, 1062. 
 
 ■* Kashworth, ii. 4, 1071, 1119; Joiini.als, Lords, Mny 19th ; Journals, 
 Conunons, June IZtb. 
 5 Eushwortli, ii. 4, 1010. 
 
878 mSTOEY OF THE 
 
 masked by an alliaace of the moderate presbyterians, had pre- 
 vailed in the elections ; in vain had Argyle and the more 
 violent of the clergy endeavoured to thwart them; as vainly 
 had commissioners from London lavishly distributed money 
 and threats in Edinburgh ; circumspect, eVen humble in its 
 language to the fanatics, but in reality favourable to the 
 king, the parliament immediately voted (May 3) the forma" 
 tion of a committee of danger invested with the executive 
 power, and the levy of an army of forty thousand men, 
 charged to defend, against the republicans and sectaries, the 
 covenant and royalty. ' The cavaliers in the north of England 
 only awaited this signal to break out. For more than a month 
 past their principal leaders, Langdale, G-lenham, and Musgrave, 
 had been living in Edinburgh, sometimes openly and some- 
 times in secret, concerting with Hamilton their plan of insur- 
 rection. In Ireland, lord Inchiquin, lord-lieutenant of the 
 province of Munster, and hitherto the surest support of par- 
 liament against the insurgents, also went over to the king's 
 standard.'^ Finally, when aU this news came to London^ the 
 ■ presbyterians, both in parliament and in the city, raised their 
 heads : and to cover their hopes, made a loud outcry about their 
 fears. A man named John Everard, came and made oath to 
 the common council (April 23) that, two nights before, being 
 in bed at the Garter inn at Windsor, he had heard in the 
 adjoining room, several officers, among others quarter-master- 
 general Grosvenor and colonel Ewers, promise each other 
 that the moment the Scots set foot in the kingdom the army 
 should enter the city, disarm aU the citizens, exact from them 
 a million sterling under pain of pillage, and send, more- 
 over, at the city expense, aU the well-disposed they could 
 collect, to the various regiments. According to Everard, 
 Ireton was acquainted with this design,' Hereupon a petition 
 was forthwith drawn up and presented to the house (April 27); 
 in it the common council required that the city should again 
 be put in possession of its chains, which had been taken from 
 it after the late riots, that the army should remove its head- 
 quarters to a greater distance, and that aU the forces in London 
 
 1 Baillie, Letters, ii, 381 ; Eushworth, li. 4, 1040 ; Laing, iii. 394 — 400. 
 
 2 Eushworth, ii. 4, 1060, 1063 ; Carte, Life of Ormond,ii. 23; Clarendon, 
 iii. 150. 
 
 ' Paxl. Hist. iii. 881. 
 
ENO»^»k)u iiavoLcrios. 379 
 
 and the suburbs sliouW be placed under the command of 
 Skippon. These demands were immediately granted; and 
 the next day, the 28th of April, after a debate of which no 
 record exists, the commons voted: 1, that they would not 
 change the fundamental government of the kingdom by king, 
 lords, and commons; 2, that the proposals made to the iing 
 at Hampton Court should be made the basis of the measures 
 it was es^sential to adopt to re-establish public peace; 3, that, 
 notwithstanding the vote of the preceding 3rd of January, 
 forbidding any further address to the king, eve'ry member 
 should be at liberty to propose what he should think requi- 
 site for the good of the country.' 
 
 For three weeks Cromwell had foreseen and endeavoured 
 to prevent this reverse: in the name of the leaders of the 
 army and of the party, he had caused an oifer to be made to 
 the common council (April 18), that the command of its 
 militia and of the Tower should be restored to the city, and 
 that the accused aldermen should be set at liberty, if it pledged 
 itself to take no part in aid of the Scots in their approaching 
 invasion; but his offers had been rejected.^ Compelled to 
 resign all hopes of conciliation, when he saw the presbyterians 
 regaining courage in the city and credit in the parliament, 
 he was filled with a passionate desire to risk a decisive blow. 
 He went to head-quarters, assembled the council of officers, 
 and proposed that the army should march upon London, expel 
 all their adversaries from parliament, and in a word, take fuU 
 possession of power in the name of the well affected and of 
 the public safety. In the first instance, the council was about 
 to adopt the proposal, but so violent an attack on the rights 
 of a parliameiit, long the idol and master of the country, 
 stiU alarmed the boldest; they hesitated.. Fairfax, who 
 " began to be uneasy at what he was doing, took advantage 
 of this, and resisted the entreaties of the lieutenant-general,i 
 who wished to give orders for the movement at once; the, 
 project was abandoned.^ Discomfited by this second failure,, 
 suspected by somie for his endeavours at accommodation, by 
 others for the violence of his designs, Cromwell, unable to 
 endure such inaction, such embarrassment, resolved at once 
 to leave London, to march and fight the insurgents in the 
 
 1 Pari. Hist. iii. 8S2, 888. = Walker, 83. ' Fairfax, 110. 
 
380 HISTORY OF yHE 
 
 west, and regain by war the ascendancy he felt he was losing. 
 He easily obtained this mission from the parliament. While 
 the troops which were to accompany him were making their 
 •preparations for departure, he one day complained to Ludlow 
 of his situation, went over all he had done for the common 
 cause, what perils, what enmity he had braved, and exclaimed 
 against the ingratitude of his party. LudlowJistened to his 
 complaints, and reminded him, in his turn, of the grounds 
 he had given for distrust, pressed him to renounce intrigue 
 and ambition, and upon this condition promised him the 
 cordial support of the republicans, and was delighted with 
 the docUe attention his exhortations had obtained.' A few 
 days after, at the head of five regiments, Cromwell took his 
 departure for Wales, and almost at the gates of London, at a 
 meeting previously arranged, some presbyterian ministers 
 had a conference with him, from which they retired' equally 
 satisfied.^ i 
 
 He was no sooner gone, than the war he went to seek 
 broke out on all sides round parliament: the cavaliers had,, 
 indeed, agreed among themselves to attempt nothing till the 
 Scots had entered the country; but every day, in one place 
 or other, the popular impulse, a favourable opportunity, 
 soi&e unexpected and apparently imperative circumstance, 
 precipitated the insurrection. Some inhabitants of Essex 
 had petitioned that negotiations should be re-opened with the 
 king, and the army disbanded, after the payment of arrears 
 (May 4).^ Following their example, seven or eight hun- 
 dred gentlemen, freeholders, and farmers of Surrey, repaired 
 to London (May 13), bearing a similar petition; but its 
 tone was far more haughty; it required that the king, re- 
 pealled to Whitehall, should be replaced on his throne with 
 the splendour of his ancestors; and when they arrived at 
 Westminster, as they were passing through the ante-rooms, 
 some of them, addressing the soldiers, said : "Why stand you 
 there to guard a company of rogues?" The soldiers warmly 
 resented this affront; a quarrel arose, the soldiers were dis- 
 armed and one of them killed. A reinforcement of troops 
 arrived; and the petitioners, charged in their turn, pursued 
 from passage to passage, from hall to hall, from street to 
 
 • Ludlow, 105. ^ Hutchinson, 288. ' Eushworth, ii. 4, UOl. 
 
ENGLISH HEVOLUTION. 381 
 
 Street, did not; however, fly till after a vigorous resistance, 
 leaving five or six of their number dead at the doors of parlia- 
 ment.' Op. hearing this, the royalists of Kent, who were also 
 preparing a petition, formed themselves into divisions of foot 
 and horse, chose officers, appointed places of rendezvous, made 
 Goring, earl of Norwich, their general, took possession of 
 Sandwich, Dover, and several forts, and assembled at Ro- 
 chester (May 29), to the number of more than seven thou- 
 sand, mutually engaged to march together and in arms to 
 present their petition to parliament.^ As soon as the banner 
 of revolt was raised upon this pretext, others openly unfurled 
 it, without taking the trouble of drawing up, in the form of 
 petition or otherwise, their grievances and their wishes. Sir 
 Charles Lucas in Essex, lord Capel in Hertfordshire, sir 
 Gilbert Byron in the neighbourhood of Nottingham, openly 
 raised troops for the king's service. Parliament heard that, in 
 the north, in order to open the way for the Scots in^o the 
 kingdom, Langdale and Musgrave had surprised, and now 
 occupied, the one Berwick, the other Carlisle. ^ Some 
 symptoms of excitement also appeared in the fleet stationed 
 in the Downs; Eainsborough, who was vice-admiral, set off 
 immediately to repress it; but the sailors refused to receive 
 him (May 27), put all their officers in a boat, sent them on 
 shore, declared for the king, and without any leader above 
 the degree of boatswain, sailed for Holland, where the duke 
 of York, who had lately succeeded in making his escape from 
 St. James's, and soon after the prince of Wales himself, took 
 the command of them.^ Even in London, men were pri- 
 vately enlisted, royalist oaths circulated, and armed bands 
 passed through the city to join the insurgents ;' the houses 
 of the earl HoUand and of the young duke of Buckingham 
 were at all hours filled with malcontents, who came to inquire 
 on what day, at what place, they were to assemble in arms.^ 
 In every direction, in short, the insurrection, like an un- 
 
 1 Eushworth, ii. 4, 1116 ; Pai-1. Hist. iii. 886 ; Whitelocke, 306 ; Lud- 
 low, 103. = Eushworth, ii. 4, 1130. 
 
 ' Eushworth, ii. 4, 1099,' 1105. 
 
 * Clai-endon, iii. 204 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 896, 899, 906 ; Godwin, Hist, of 
 the Commonwealth, ii. 531 — 533, 551 — 556. 
 
 5 Eushworth, ii. 4, 1117, 1174; Pai-1. Hist. iii. 892—893. 
 
 « "Vyhitelocke, 317; Clarendon, iii. 264. 
 
382 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 quenchable conflagration, raged and extended, still more and • 
 more closely pressing upon Westminster; aU the efforts of the 
 committee of Derby House, where the independents prevailed, 
 all the skill of Vane and St. John, in finding out informers 
 and unravelling plots,' did not prevent the cry of " God and 
 king Charles!" from sounding constantly in the ear of parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 The presbyterians themselves took alarm; the Scots, their 
 firmest support, did not arrive; they found themselves on the 
 point of falling into the hands of the cavaliers, the sole 
 masters of this new movement, and who having no better liking 
 for presbyterian doctHnes and intentions than for any others, 
 .indiscriminately denounced the whole parliament, demanded 
 the laws and the king of old England, insultingly defied the 
 austere rigors of the new form of worship, openly practised 
 forbidden games, celebrated ;suppressed festivals, and raised 
 once more the maypoles.^ Hammond sent word that the king 
 had been on the point of effecting his escape (May 31);^ and 
 the most moderate shuddered with fear at the thought of his 
 appearing all at once at the gates of London at the head of 
 these thousands of insurgents: party hatreds, the desire for 
 peace, alarm for the future, all gave way before this great 
 danger. To deprive the rebellion of its most specious pre- 
 texts, negotiations with the king were again voted (May 8 
 and 24);* the aldermen of the city were fully acquitted (May 
 23);'' Skippon took the command of the militia, colonel West 
 that of the Tower, from which he had been removed by 
 Fairfax (May 18);^ and an ordinance against heresy and 
 swearing, which authorized even the' infliction of death in 
 certain cases, attestted the return of presbyterian ascendancy;'' 
 But, at the same time, all idea of concession or forbearance 
 towards the cavaliers was sternly rejected; a fresh order was 
 issued, banishing from London, under stiU more severe penal- 
 ties than before (May 23),^ all papists and malignants; the 
 property of djelinquents was appropriated to paying the debts 
 due to the Mends of the good cause (May 11);' the sale of 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 887—892. « Whitelocke, 305. 
 
 » Poil. Hist. iii. 899—909, 981—938 ; Clarendon, iii. 383. 
 * Pari. Hist. iii. 885—892. » lb. 891. 
 
 " Bushworth, ii. 4, 1118. ' Jouinds, Lords. 
 
 « Bushwortli, li. i. 1124. <• lb. 1110. 
 
ENGLISH KKVOIiUTION. 383 
 
 churoli lands was hastened;' reinforcements were sent to the 
 garrison of Carisbrook (towards the end of May);^ the com- 
 mon council, after having received communications which 
 were to it, it said, " as a beam of light piercing through 
 dark clouds," solemnly protested that it was resolved to 
 live and die with the parliament (May 20).^ Finally, Fair- 
 fax received orders immediately to open a campaign against 
 the bands who infested the neighbourhood of London; 
 Lambert to march to the north, to repress, at all events, 
 the insurrection that Langdale and Musgrave had raised 
 while waiting for the arrival of the Scots; and by a violence 
 tiU then unheard of, doubtless to prove the sincerity of their 
 rigorous proceedings, the commons voted that the king's pre- 
 sence no longer affording an excuse for the rebels, no quarter 
 should be given them (May ll).* 
 
 Three days after his departure from "Windsor (June 1), 
 Fairfax had come up to and beaten, at Maidstone, the prin- 
 cipal body of the insurgents; in vain had they sought to 
 avoid so sudden an encounter; in vain, when obliged to fight, 
 had they maintained, in the streets of the town, a long and 
 bloody* conflict. StOl animated by the most ardent fana- 
 ticism, inured to war, detesting the cavaliers, and despising 
 their new recruits, Fairfax's soldiers passionately pressed for- 
 ward a war the danger of which seemed almost an insult. 
 They traversed by forced marches the county of Kent, daily 
 dispersing some gathering or retaking some place, rough in 
 their demeanour towards the country, but exact in their dis- 
 cipline, and allowing the royalists neither refuge nor repose. 
 Goring, nevertheless, succeeded in again assembling three or 
 four thousand men, and appeared at their head on Black- 
 
 • Harris, Life of Cromwell, 306. — In the course of the years 1C47, 1648, 
 1649, 1630, and 1651, there was sold property belonging — 
 
 To the see ofYork, to the amount of £65,786 7 If 
 
 — the see of Durham 68,121 13 9 
 
 — the see of Carlisle 6,449 11 2 
 
 — the see of Chester 1,129 18 4 
 
 Total . . jE141,487 12 4| 
 
 2 Eushworth, ii. 4, 1130. 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 890. ' Journals, Commons. 
 
 • EushjTorth, ii. 4, 1137; Pari. Hist., iii. 902; Ludlow, 107. 
 
384 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 heath (June 3), abnost at the gates of London, incited ly the 
 hope that an insurrection would break out at his approach, or 
 that at least he should receive some secret assistance. He 
 even wrote to the common council, requesting leave to pass 
 through the city in order to proceed quietly with his men 
 into Essex. But the council, so far from sending him an 
 answer, forwarded, without opening it, his letter to the com- 
 mons, prepared, it sent word, to regulate its conduct in 
 all things according to their wishes.' Upon hearing this the 
 cavaliers grew dispirited, and disorder spread among them; 
 they deserted in troops, and Goring had great difficulty in 
 collecting a sufficient number of boats for them to cross the 
 Thames at Greenwich with seven or eight hundred men, 
 who followed him into Essex. There he found the insur- 
 rection, under the direction of sir Charles Lucas, still 
 powerful and confident. Lord Capel joined them with a 
 troop of cavaliers from Hertfordshire; they marched toge- 
 -ther to Colchester (June 12), with somewhat raised spirits, 
 intending to rest there for a day or two and then overrun 
 together Suffolk and Norfolk, raise the royaUsts as they 
 went, and march upon London through Cambridge at the 
 head of a numerous army. But they had scarcely entered 
 the town, when Fairfax appeared under the walls and 
 closely invested it (June 13). A fortnight's campaign had 
 thus sufficed to enclose in one town, almost without means 
 ■of defence, the wreck of the insurrection which had so 
 lately surrounded London- on all sides. The insurgents en- 
 deavoured to rally at several points, in the counties of Eut- 
 land, Northampton, Lincoln, and Sussex.^ In the city itself, 
 under the eyes of parliament, lords Holland, Peterborough,, 
 and Buckingham, took arms; and, followed by about a thou-, 
 sand cavaliers, marched out of London (July 5), proclaiming, 
 that they had no design of sacrificing public liberty to the 
 king, and only desired to restore to him his legal rights. But 
 while they were still in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, 
 sir Michael Livesey, who had been sent from head-quarters 
 against them, suddenly attacked them (July 7), killed several' 
 of their officers, among others the young sir Francis Villiers, 
 brother to the duke of Buckingham, and reinforced next day 
 
 ' ' Eushworth, ii. 4, 1 130 ; Whiteloclte, 309 ; Ludlow, nt sup. 
 2 Bushworth, ii. 4, 1135, 1145, 1140, 1150, 1169; Ludlow, i. 300. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 38S 
 
 by colonel Scrope's iregiment, pursued them without respite 
 into Huntingdonshire, where, weary of this constant retreat- 
 ing, they dispersed in all drections, leaving lord Holland 
 wounded in the hands of the enemy (July 10).' In the east 
 and south, similar attempts had no better result. Letters 
 were received from Cromwell (June 16), promising that in a 
 fortnight Pembroke Castle, the bulwark of the insurgents in 
 the west, would be in his power.^ In the north, Lambert, 
 though with inferior forces, valiantly maintained the honour 
 and authority of parliament against Langdale's cavaliers.* 
 Finally, Colchester, notwithstanding the indomitable resist- 
 ance of the besieged, alike unmoved by offers and by attacks, 
 was assailed by famine, and could not hold out long against 
 Fairfax, who had nothing else to attend to.'' 
 
 Freed from their first anxietyj sure of not falling a prey to 
 the cavaliers, the presbyterians again began to feel uneasy 
 about the independents and the army, and to meditate 
 peace. The petitions in favour of it, still numerous though 
 less imperious, were now better received.^ The proscription 
 of the eleven members was revoked, and they were invited to 
 resume their seats (June 8).^ New proposals to the king, 
 less rigorous than the former, were talked of; a disposition 
 was shown to resume negotiations with him, if he would con- 
 sent — 1, to repeal all his proclamations against the parlia- 
 ment; 2, to give up to it for ten years the disposal of the sea 
 and land forces; 3, to establish throughout the kingdom the 
 presbyterian church for three years (June 6).' A special 
 committee (June 26)* was appointed to consider the best 
 mode of attaining the desired object, and at what time, in 
 what place, and in what form it would be proper to treat. 
 One member even inquired whether it would not be desirable 
 for the king immediately to return to Windsor;^ and upon a 
 petition to that effect from the city, (June 27), the lords 
 voted that the conferences should be held at London.'" 
 
 > Eushworth, ii. 4, 1178, 1180, 1182, 1187; Pari. Hist. hi. 92o— 927; 
 Ludlow, 110 ; Clarendon, iii. 266. 
 
 a Kushworth, ii. 4, 1159. ' lb. 1157 ; Clarendon, iii. 228. 
 
 * Kushworth, ii. 4, 1204 ; Whitelocke, passim. 
 
 5 Pari. Hist. iu. 921. « II). 907. ' lb. 904. 
 
 • Eushworth, ii. 4, 1164. » lb. 1162. >» Journals, Lords. 
 
 C C 
 
386 HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 Finally, on the 30th of June, the vote forbidding any further 
 address to the king was rescinded ;i, and three days after^ a 
 motion was made in the house of commons that another 
 treaty should be offered to the king without delay. 
 
 But the independents had also regained confidence; proud 
 of the success of their soldiers, they violently opposed this 
 motion: " No time," said Thomas Scott, " can be seasonable 
 for such a treaty, or for a peace with so perfidious and im- 
 placable a prince; it will always be too soon or too late. Jle 
 that draws his sword upon the king must throw his scabbard 
 into the fire; aU peace with him would prove the spoil of the 
 godly." The presbyterians did not undertake to defend tlie 
 king, but they declaimed against the pseudo-godly, who advo- 
 cated war because war was conducive to their private fortunes : 
 «' The people," they said, " have been despoiled by war, and 
 wiU no longer be made fuel to that fire wherein these sala- 
 manders live, nor any longer feed those horse-leeches, the 
 aiTny, tlieir engaged party and servantSj with their own blood 
 and marrow." It was then asked where the negotiations 
 v/ere to be opened: the presbyterians contended for London 
 or some place in the neighbourhood, the independents for 
 tlie Isle of Wight, where Charles was in their power. " If 
 you treat with this enraged king in London," said Scott, 
 " who can secure the parliament that the city will not make 
 their peace with him by delivering up your heads to him for 
 a sacrifice, as the men of Samaria did the heads of the 
 .seventy sons of Ahab?" It was further. said by colonel 
 Harvey, " if the king promised to reside in one of his houses 
 3iot nearer London than ten miles, what security would 
 liis word be that he would remain there till the treaty was 
 concluded? the king's promise hath been broken over and 
 over again: put no trust in princes." Several members spoke 
 in support of this view, and among others Vane. Sir Sy- 
 monds d'Ewes said: "I am quite of a contrary opinion j the 
 house not only ought, but must trust the king; Mr. Speaker, 
 if you know not in what condition you are, give me leave, in 
 a word, to tell you it: your silver is clipped, your gold ship-; 
 ped, your ships are revolted, yourselves contemned; your 
 Scots friends enraged against you, and the affection of the 
 
 ' Pari. Hist. iii. 021. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 387 
 
 city and kingdom quite alienated from you. Judge, then, 
 whether you are not in a low condition, and also if it be not 
 high time to endeavour a speedy settlement and reconcilement 
 with his majesty?"! The independents vehemently protested 
 against this address; but many members, strangers to faction 
 and in the habit of supporting either party, according to cir- 
 cumstances, silently approved of what sir Symonds had said; 
 parliament resolved that it was necessary to treat; but the 
 house, contrary to the wish of the lords, persisted^ (by eighty 
 to seventy-two) in requiring from the king the adoption, in 
 the first instance, of the three bills, and nothing was decided 
 as to the place where negotiations should be opened. 
 
 Parliament and the common council were discussing the 
 feasibility of their taking place in London, without danger ta 
 the king or parliament,* when news arrived that the Scots 
 had entered the kingdom (July S),* and that Lambert was 
 retreating before them. Notwithstanding the intrigues of 
 Argyle and the furious preaching of a part of the clergy^ 
 Hamilton had at last succeeded in raising and putting in 
 motion an army. It did not correspond, it is true, to th^ 
 first resolution of parliament; instead of forty thousand, it 
 scarcely reckoned fourteen thousand men; the court of France 
 had promised arms and ammunition: none had been received; 
 the prince of "Wales was to have crossed over to Scotland and 
 taken the command: he still remained in Holland; even Lang- 
 dale and Mus^ave's cavaliers had not joined them, for they 
 refused to take the covenant, and Hamilton could not plac^ 
 such misbelievers by the side of his soldiers, without ruining 
 himself with his own party: they accordingly formed a sepa- 
 rate body, which seemed to act only on its own account, and 
 always at a distance from the Scots. Li short, Hamilton's 
 preparations, thwarted by so many obstacles, were not com- 
 pleted, nor his regiments fuUj nor liis artillery in order, 
 when the premature breaking out of the royalist insurrections 
 in England obliged hiTn to hasten his departure; and he left 
 Scotland iU-providedj and pursued by the invectives of a 
 multitude of fanatics, who prophesied the ruin of an army 
 
 I Walier, 108—110 ; Pml. Hist. iii. 922 924. ' Pari. Hist. iii. 924. 
 
 » Bushworth, ii. 4, 1185. * ParL Hist. iii. 93J ; EushwortB, ii. 4, 1188. 
 
 cc2 
 
388 HisTonY OF the 
 
 •employed, they said, to restore the king to his rights before 
 "Christ was put in possession of his.' 
 
 Tlie news of the invasion none the less agitated aU England; 
 there seemed no means of resisting it; Fairfax was still kept 
 before Colchester, Cromwell before Pembroke; insurrectionl 
 scarcely repressed, might any hour break out again in al, 
 directions. The embarrassment of the presbyterians was ex- 
 treme; the people, even those well disposed towards them> 
 were as inveterate as ever against the Scots, only spoke of 
 them with insult, recalled to one another how they had lately 
 sold the king they now pretended to deliver, and demanded 
 -that, before anything else was done, these rapacious and lying 
 foreigners should be driven from the kingdomi - A motion 
 was made in the house of commons (July 14)^ declaring them 
 public enemies, and all wJio had taken part in inviting them 
 traitors; ninety members voted against the motion, but hesir 
 tatingly and without success; it was rejected, however, in the 
 upper house (July 18).^ The lords resolved that the nego- 
 tiations with the king should be hastened,* and in the lower 
 house the presbyterians (July 28, by 71 to 64,/ carried a 
 motion no longer to insist upon the three bills previously made 
 the preliminary condition of any treaty. But without troubling 
 itself about these vicissitudes in the daily position of parties, 
 the Derby-house committee, still under the influence of the 
 independents, sent money and reinforcements to Lambert, 
 ordered Cromwell to forward what troops he fcould spare to the 
 north, and to march thither liimself as soon as he should be 
 at liberty; and the republican leaders themselves, humbling 
 their distrust before his genius, wrote to him privately to 
 fear nothing, but to act with vigour, and rely upon thein, 
 regardless of any opposition he might heretofore have met 
 with at their hands.^ 
 
 Cromwell had waited for neither orders nor promises;: 
 already a month since, well informed, perhaps by Argylei 
 himself, of the condition and movements of the Scottish army, 
 he had sent word to Lambert to fall back as soon as it ap- 
 
 > Eushworth, ii. 4, 1196—1198; Olarendon, lii. 223; Ludlow, 108; 
 Xaing, Hist, of Scotland, iu. 394. 
 
 2 Pari. Hist. iii. 934. » lb. 936.- « Eusliworth, ii. 4, 3188. ' 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 956. 
 Ludlow, iii.; Godwin, Hist, of tlie Commonwealth, ii. 691, 
 
ENGLISH- REVOLUTION. 389 
 
 peared, to avoid an engagement, and that he would soon be 
 ready to support him. And so it happened; Pembroke castle 
 capitulated three days after the invasion (July 11); and two 
 days after, Cromwell set out, at the head of five or six thou- 
 sand men, ill shod, iU clad, but proud of their glory, irritated 
 by their perils, full of confidence in their leader, of contempt 
 for their enemies, eager to fight and certain of victory: " Send 
 me some shoes for my poor tired soldiers," Cromwell wrote 
 to Derby-house; "they have a long march to take."' And 
 he traversed nearly all England, first from west to east, then 
 from south to north, with a rapidity till then without example,^ 
 lavish, on his way, of protestations, of pious ebullitions, in- 
 tent on dispelling suspicions, on gaining the hearts of the 
 blindest fanatics, of enlisting the sympathies of his soldiers.* 
 Thirteen days after his departure, his cavalry, which had 
 been sent in advance, had united with that of Lambert (July 
 27), and he rejoined it himself the 7th of August, at Knares- 
 borough ip. Yorkshire, the two corps forming together nine 
 or ten thousand men. Meantime, the Scots had advanced 
 by the western road through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and 
 Lancashire, but they were full of indecision, made long 
 halts, were scattered over a line of fifteen or twenty miles, 
 were internally agitated by religious, political, and military 
 dissensions, and in complete ignorance of the enemy's move- 
 ments. Suddenly, Langdale, who with the English insur- 
 gents was some way in advance of the main body, to the left, 
 gent word to Hamilton that Cromwell was approaching, that 
 he had certain information of it, and that everything an-: 
 nounced on his part an intention of giving battle. " Impos- 
 sible," replied the duke, " they have not had time to come; 
 if Cromwell is so near, it is assuredly only with a very few 
 men, and he will take good care not to attack us;" and he re- 
 moved his head-quarters to Preston. Another message 
 (Aug. 17) soon reached him; Langdale's cavalry was already 
 engaged with Cromwell's; Langdale promised to hold out; 
 his position was good, his men in spirits; he only wanted 
 some reinforcements, a thousand men at least, and he would. 
 
 > Eushworth, ii. 4, 1206. 
 « He took his road from Pembroke to Yorkshire, through Gloucester, 
 Warwick, Nottingham, and Doncoster. 
 
 3 Hutchinson, 288. 
 
S90 aiSTOKY OF THE 
 
 give tite wliole army time to rally and crusli the enemy, • 
 Hamilton promised reinforcements; Langdale fougM for four 
 horn's; by his own admission, Cromwell had never met with 
 so desperate a resistance. But no assistance came, and the 
 gallant ^cavalier was obliged to yield. Leaving the defeated 
 English to an undisturbed retreat, Cromwell marched straight 
 upon the Scots, who were hurrying across the Eibtale to 
 place this obstacle between him and them; most of the regi- 
 ments were already on the other side; only two brigades of 
 infantry and Hamilton himself with a few squadrons remained 
 on the right bank to cover their retreat; Cromwell at once 
 dispersed them, and, passing the river with them, and giving 
 his troops but a short repose, continued next morning' 
 (Aug. 18) at daybreak his pursuit of them, still marching 
 towards the south, and continuing, even in flight, their invad- 
 ing movement. He overtook them the same day at Wigan^ 
 fifteen miles from Preston, and cut their rearguard to pieces. 
 The pride of two victories, the hope of a decisive triumph, the 
 very impatience of fatigue, hourly augmented the courage of 
 Ms soldiers; the pursuit was recommenced the next day 
 (Aug. 19), and vsdth even greater rapidity and determination, 
 irritated in their turn at being thus pressed upon by an inferior 
 number, artS meeting with an advantageous defile near War-i 
 rington, the Scots suddenly turned and faced them, and a 
 third battle took place, longer and more bloody than the pre- 
 vious two, but with the same result. The English carried 
 the defile, and afterwards, also at "Warrington, a bridge over 
 the Mersey, which the Scots were about to break down, in 
 order to give themselves breathing time. Vociferous dis- 
 may now manifested itself in the Scottish army; a council of 
 war declared that the infantry, being without ammunition, 
 could no longer resist; it surrendered in a body. Hamiltoiij 
 at the head of the cavalry, went off towards Wales, to 
 revive the royalist insurrection there; but, suddenly changing 
 his mind, he proceeded to the north'cast, in the hope of 
 being able to reach Scotland; but everywhere, as he passed, 
 the peasantiy rose in arms, and the magistrates summoned 
 him to surrender; at Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, on hearing 
 ^.rumour that he purposed to escape with a few officers 
 Lis own cavalry mutinied; at this moment, Lambert and 
 lord Grey of Groby, who had been sent in pursuit of 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 391; 
 
 him, were close at hand; too faint-hearted to struggle 
 against so adverse a fate, he (Aug. 25) leff his men to sur- 
 render or disband at their pleasure, accepted himself ihe con- 
 ditions proposed by Lambert, was sent prisoner to Notting- 
 ham, and after a fortnight's campaign, Cromwell, finding no 
 trace of the Scottish army on EngUst ground, marched to- 
 wafjis Scotland to invade it in his turn, and thus wrest from 
 the royalist presbyterians all means of action and of safety.' 
 
 But in extreme peril, parties, so far from giving way, often 
 become invigorated, and deal out their hardest blows. Even 
 before thi^ important intelligence reached "Westminster, as 
 soon as they saw Cromwell in movement against the Scots, 
 the presbyterians clearly comprehended that his triumph 
 would be their ruin, and that his downfal, or an immediate 
 peace, could alone save them. They at once directed their 
 most energetic eflfbrts to secure both the one and the other 
 of these, objects. Holies, who, notwithstanding the recal of 
 the eleven members, had hitherto continued to reside in 
 Prance, on the coast of Normandy, came and resumed his 
 seat in the house of commons (Aug 1 4).* Huntingdon, lately 
 a major in Cromwell's own regiment, publicly denounced, in 
 a memorial addressed to the upper house, the intrigues of the 
 lieutenant-general, his promises first, and then his perfidy 
 to the king, the audacity of his ambition, his contempt 
 of parliament, of the laws, of the common duties and rights 
 of men, the pernicious principles, the threatening designs 
 which sometimes pierced through his hypocrisy, and broke 
 but in his familiar conversations. The lords ordered the 
 memorial to be read, and Huntingdon made oath of its 
 truth (Aug. 8). He purposed likewise to present it to the 
 commons, but so great was the terror already inspired by the 
 name of Cromweir, that no member would take charge of it. 
 He sent it in an envelope to the speaker; Lenthall did not 
 mention it to the house; he attempted to give it to the sergeant - 
 at-arms, but he refused to take it; the lords transmitted it 
 "ofRcially to the commons; lord Wharton, one of Cromwell's 
 most intimate confidants, followed the messengers out, sent 
 
 1 Eushworth, ii. 4, 1237 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 937—1000 ; Laing, iii. 400— 
 403 ; Godwin, ii. 563 — 572 ; Baker, A Ctoonicle of the Eings of pnglaud^ 
 &c. (1665), 606. ... 
 
 2 Bushworth, ii. 4, 1226. 
 
392 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 word to the speaker what they were coming with, and tjiey 
 were not admitted.' The independents vehemently de- 
 nounced all these attempts against their general; they de- 
 nounced it as base cowardice thus to attack an absent man, who 
 was, perhaps at that very hour, delivering his country from 
 foreign invasion, and many of the presbyterians themselves 
 were intimidated by this argument. The idea of destroying 
 the lieutenant-general in this direct manner was given up, 
 and Huntingdon contented himself with having his memorial 
 printed. The steps taken for the establishment of peace had 
 more success: in vain did the independent leaders, particu- 
 larly Vane and St. John, exhaust every stratagem to prolong 
 the debates; in vain did their less refined colleagues, Scott, 
 Venn, Harvey, and Weaver, give way to the fiercest language 
 against their adversaries; this very violence, the daily in- 
 creasing anarchy, the arrogance of the soldiers, the imperious 
 tone of even the most pacific pamphlets and petitions, every- 
 thing manifested to the house its own decline, everything led 
 those who were not too deeply engaged in faction to de- 
 sire peace. "Mr, Speaker," said Eudyard, one day, "we 
 have sat thus long, and have come to a fine pass, for the 
 whole kingdom is now become parliament all over; the army 
 bath taught us a good while what to do, and would still teach 
 us what we shajl do; the city, the country, and reformadoes, 
 teach us what we should do: and all because we ourselves 
 know not what to do;"^ and the majority thinking with him 
 that peace alone could relieve them from its discreditable em- 
 barrassments, at last took their resolution, voted that fresh 
 negotiations should be immediately opened with the king, 
 agreed (July 29),' to silence the independents, that they 
 should take place in the Isle of Wight, and (August 2)* 
 charged three commissioners to proceed thither with a formal 
 proposal to the king, requesting to know in what part of the 
 island he would like to reside during the treaty, and which 
 of his councillors he wished to have with him. 
 
 The independent leaders did not deceive themselves; this 
 was a dear defeat. Finding the crisis approach, and more 
 fearful of their triumph than of their threats, the majority had 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 965 ; 'Whitelocke, 327. ' lb. 957. 
 
 » Fail. Hist. iii. 986. * Pari. Hist. iii. 964, 96S. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLTTTION. 393, 
 
 manifestly passed over to their opponents. Ludlow directly 
 proceeded to head-quarters, still before Colchester: " They 
 are plotting," he said to Fairfax " to betray the cause for 
 ■which so much blood has been shed; they will have peace at 
 any price; the king, being a prisoner, wUl not think himself 
 bound by his promises; even those who most urge jiegotia^ 
 tions care little about making him fulfil them; to employ his 
 name and authority to destroy the army is their only aim; 
 the army has achieved power; it must make use of it to pre- 
 vent its own ruin and that of the nation." Fairfax admitted 
 this, protested that, in case of need, he would be ready to 
 employ the force he had at his disposal for the safety of the 
 public cause: "But," said he, "I must be clearly and posi- 
 tively called upon to do so; and for the present, I must pro^ 
 secute this wearisome siege, which has already lasted so long, 
 despite all our efforts." Ludlow went to Ireton, whom 
 Cromwell had taken care to leave with the general, and from 
 whonl he expected more zeal. " The moment is not yet 
 come," said Ireton; " we must let the negotiations go on, and 
 the peril become evident."' The republicans, in default of 
 the army, got up threatening petitions to parliament, one, 
 among the rest, drawn up by Henry Martyn (Sept. 11),'' 
 which, setting forth all the principles of the party, summoned 
 the commons to declare themselves the sovereign power, and 
 at length to answer the expectations of the people by giving 
 them the reforms they had anticipated when they took up 
 arms for the parliament. The commons made no reply; two 
 days after, a second petition came, complaining bitterly of such 
 contempt; and this time the petitioners waited in a body at the 
 door, angrily crying: " We know no use of a king or lords 
 any longer! these distinctions were the devices of men; God 
 made us all equal; there are many thousands wiU spend 
 their blood in maintenance of these principles; forty thousand 
 of us have signed this petition, but we hold five thousand 
 horse would do more good in it." Even some of the mem- 
 bers, Scott, Blackiston, and Weaver, went out, mingled 
 familiarly with the crowd, and encouraged them. The house 
 persisted in its silence; but the firmer it showed itself, the 
 
 ' Ludlow, 113. 
 2 Pari. Hist. iii. 1005 — lOli; Eusliworth.ii.i, 1257. 
 
394' . HISTOUT OF THIS 
 
 more violently did the party hurry on towards its most ex- 
 treme designs, and five days after this scene (Sept 18),' 
 Henry Martyn suddenly departed for Scotland, which Crom- 
 well had just entered. 
 
 At the same time (Sept. 13), fifteen commissioners pro- 
 ceeded to the Isle of Wight, five lords and ten members of 
 the commons,^ all, excepting Vame, and perhaps lord Say, 
 favourable to peace. Never had negotiation excited such 
 anxious expectation; it was to last forty days; the king had 
 eagerly accepted it, giving his word that during that period 
 and for twenty days after, he would make no attempt to 
 escape. Twenty of his oldest servants, lords, divines, lawyers, 
 had been permitted to advise with him; he had even requested 
 and obtained that part of his household, domestics, pageS} 
 secretaries, chamberlains, grooms of the chamber and so on, 
 should be restored to him on this occasion.^ Accordingly, 
 when the commissioners arrived in the little town of Newport 
 (Sept. 15), the throng was so great that three days passed 
 before aU the new-comers could procure lodgings. Mean- 
 time, the commissioners waited upoh the king every morning, 
 profoundly respectful but very reserved, and no one of thenj 
 venturing to converse with him in private. But on the other 
 hand, most of them held familiar communication with hip 
 councillors, and through them conveyed to him their advice, 
 exhorting him above all things to accept at once and without 
 discussion the proposals of parliament; for, said they, aU 
 would be lost if the negotiation was not concluded and the 
 king returned to London before the army and CromweU 
 should arrive there.* Charles seemed to believe in the sin- 
 cerity of their counsels and inclined to adopt them; but in his 
 heart he nourished a far different hope : Ormond, who for 
 the last six months had found refuge in Paris, was about 
 to reappear in Ireland, provided with the money and ammu- 
 nition which the court of France had promised him; he was 
 upon his arrival, and in concert with lord IncJiiquin, to con- 
 
 > Whitelocke, 337. 
 
 ^ The lords Northiimbeiland, Pem^oke, Salisbury, Middlesex, and Sly, 
 
 Wenman ; Messieurs Holies, Pierpoint, Vane, Giiinstone, sir Jobn Polls, 
 
 John Carew, Samuel Brown, John Glynn, and John Bulkley. 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 1001; Journals, Lords, Aug. 24. 
 
 * Clarendon, iii. 316, &d ; Herbert, Memoirs, 72. 
 
ElSfGLISH HEVOLUTIOH. 395 
 
 elude a peace with the catholics, and enter upon a vigorous 
 war against the parliament; so that the king, who was then 
 to make his escape, might have a kingdom and soldiers:' 
 " This new negotiation," he wrote (August) to sir Wilham 
 Hopkins,^ who was charged to arrange his flight, " will he 
 derisive, hke the rest; there is no change in my designs." 
 The conference was officially opened on the 18th of Septem- 
 her; the king sat under a canopy at the upper end of the hall^ 
 a little before him were the commissioners from "Westminster 
 seated round a table; behind his chair stood his own councillors, 
 perfectly silent; for it was with the king in person that the 
 parliament desired to treat; any mediator would have seemed 
 to lower its dignity; and in their punctual submission, the 
 commissioners were scarcely prevailed upon to permit the 
 presence of any witnesses whatever. Charles, accordingly, 
 maintained the discussion alone; only, when he thought fit, 
 "he might retire into an adjoining room, to take the advice of 
 his councillors.^ At the sight of their king thus solitary, 
 thus thrown upon his own resources, an inward emotion 
 thrilled the hearts of all present. Charles's hair had turned 
 grey; an expression of habitual sadness had blended with the 
 haughtiness of his glance; his deportment, his voice, his 
 every feature revealed a proud but yet subdued soul, alike 
 iticapable of struggUng against its destiny, or of yielding to 
 it; a touching and singular mixture of grandeur without 
 power, of presumption without hope. The proposals of par- 
 liament, still the same, except a few unimportant modifica- 
 tions, were successively read and examined. Charles entered 
 with a good grace into the discussion, calm, ready to answer 
 any questions, taking no offence at objections, and skilfully 
 making the most of the good points of his case; astonishing, 
 in short, his most prejudiced adversaries by the firmness of 
 his mind, his gentleness, and his knowledge of the affairs and 
 laws of the kingdom. " The king," said the earl of Salisbury 
 one day to sir Philip Warwick, " has made marvellous pro- 
 gress." " No, my lord," replied Warwick, " the king was 
 always what he is now, but your lordship perceives it too 
 
 • Carte, Life of Ormond, ii. 20—38. 
 ' The Mng's letters to sir William Hopkins were published in tlie third 
 edition of Wagstaffs work, " Vindication of the Eoyal Martyr.", •• 
 
 3 Herbert, 73 f Watwiok, 323 ; Clarendon, ut sup. , 
 
396 HISTOEY' OF THE 
 
 late." Buckley, one of the commissioners from the commons, 
 urged him to accept the whole, assuring him that " the treaty 
 once ended, the devil himself would not be able to break it." 
 " Sir," said Charles, " if you call this a treaty, consider 
 whether it be not like the fray in the comedy where the man 
 comes out and says, ' There has been a fray and no fray;' and 
 being asked how that could be, ' why,' says he, * there hath 
 been three blows given, and I had them all.' Look whether 
 this be not a parallel case: I have granted, absolutely, most of 
 your propositions, and with great moderation limited only 
 some few of them; and you make me no concessions."' He 
 had, indeed, consented to the demands of parliament, as to 
 the command of the sea and land forces, the nomination to 
 the great offices of state, as to Ireland, even as to the legiti- 
 macy of the resistance which had brought on the civil war; 
 but instead of giving up at once and without hesitation, he 
 disputed every foot of the ground he could no longer defend; 
 sometimes himself addressing different proposals to the house, 
 sometimes seeking to elude his own concessions, pertinacious 
 in asserting his right at the very moment he was giving it 
 up, inexhaustible in subtleties and reticences, daily giving 
 his adversaries some new reason to think that the hardest 
 necessity was their only securiljy against him. Moreover, he 
 persisted, as much from conscientious motives as with a view 
 to the interest of his prerogative, in opposing the abolition of 
 episcopacy and the severities which they desired to inflict on 
 his principal supporters. Finally, after having solemnly 
 promised that all hostilities in Ireland should cease,^ he 
 secretly wrote to Ormond (Oct. 10):^ "Obey my wife's 
 orders, not mine, until I shall let you know I am free from 
 all restraint; nor trouble yourself about, my concessions as 
 to Ireland; they will not lead to anything;" and the day on 
 which he had consented to transfer to parliament for twenty 
 years the command of the army (Oct. 9),* he wrote to sir 
 William Hopkins : "To tell you the truth, my great concession 
 this morning was made only with a view to facilitate my ap- 
 proaching escape; v/ithout that hope, I should never have 
 yielded in this manner. If I had refused, I could, without 
 
 1 Warwick, 323. * Journals, Lords, Dec. 1. 
 
 ' Carte, Life of Ormond, 11. Appendix, No. 31, 33, p. 17. 
 
 « Pari. Hist. iii. 1048 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 397 
 
 mucti sorrow, have returned to my prison; but as it is, I own 
 it would break my heart, for I have done that which my 
 escape alone can justify."' 
 
 The parliament, though without any exact information, 
 suspected all this perfidy; even the friends of peace, the men 
 most affected by the king's condition, and most earnest to 
 save him, replied but hesitatingly to the charges of the inde- 
 pendents. At the same time, the presbyterian devotees, 
 though moderate in their political views, were invincible in 
 their hatred of episcopacy, and would admit of no compromise, 
 no delay, in reference to the triumph of the covenant. This 
 idea, moreover, had fixed itself in men's minds, that after so 
 inany evils brought upon the country by war, it was neces- 
 sary that the conquered party should legally undergo its re- 
 sponsibility, and that to satisfy divine justice, manifested in 
 the Holy Scriptures by so striking examples, the crime of 
 the real culprits should be expiated by their punishment. 
 The number of these was discussed: the popular fanatics de- 
 manded a multitude of exceptions to the amnesty which was 
 to be proclaimed upon the restoration of peace; the presby- 
 terians only demanded seven,^ but this with insurmountable 
 determination, for they would have thought they accepted 
 their own condemnation in giving up one of them. Narrow 
 prejudices and feelings of hatred thus impeded even among 
 the peace-party the success of the negotiations. Five times 
 (Oct. 2, 11, and 27; Nov. 2, and 24), during their continua- 
 tion, the king's offers or concessions were voted insuffi- 
 cient. Meantime, the period appointed for the duration of 
 the conferences expired ; their term was thrice extended 
 (Nov. 2, 18, and 24); it was decided (Oct. 20) that Sundays 
 and holidays should not be reckoned,^ but all this without 
 any further concession, without giving the negotiators any 
 fresh instructions or the sUghtest discretion. The king, on 
 his part, declaiied, upon his hbnour and faith, that he would 
 go no further: "I will be like that captain," he said, "that 
 had defended a place well, and his superiors not being able to 
 relieve him, he had leave to surrender it; but," he replied, 
 
 ' Wagstaff, Vindication of the Eoyal Martyr, &c., Appendix, 161. 
 2 Lords Newcastle and Bigby, sir Marmaduko Langdate, sir Bichard 
 Greenville, David Jenkins, sir Francis Boddington, and sir John Byron. 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. 1058. 
 
398 HISTOKY OF THB ' 
 
 " tiiougK they cannot relieve me in the time I demand it, let 
 them relieve me when they can; else I will hold it out till I 
 make some stone in it my tombstone. And so wiU I do by 
 the church of England;"^ and the negotiation remained mo- 
 tionless and futile, serving no puipose but to display the im- 
 potent anxiety of the two parties, both obstinately blinding- 
 themselves to the necessity of the case.^ 
 
 Yet around them all things were hastening onward^ and 
 daily assuming a more threatening aspect. After two months 
 of the most desperate resistance, Colchester, conquered by 
 famine and sedition, at last surrendered (Aug. 27);' and the 
 next day a court-martial condemned to death three of its 
 bravest defenders, sir Charles Lucas, sir George Lisle, and 
 sir Bernard Gascoign, as an example, it was said, to future 
 rebels who might be tempted to imitate them. In vain did 
 the other prisoners, lord Capel at their head, entreat Fairfax 
 to suspend the execution of the sentence, or at least that they 
 should all undergo it, since sdl were alike guUty of the oifence 
 of these three. Eairfax, excited by the long struggle, or rather 
 intimidated by L-eton, made no answer, and the condemned 
 officers were ordered to be shot on the spot. Sir Charles 
 Lucas was the first executed; as he fell, Lisle ran and kissed 
 him, and immediately standing up: " Soldiers," he exclaimed, 
 " come nearer; you are too far off." " Rest assured," they 
 replied, " well hit you." " Comradfis," answered Lisle, 
 smiling, " I have been nearer, and you missed me;" and he 
 fell by the side of his friend. Gascoign was taking off his 
 coat, when a reprieve arrived for him from the general.* 
 Colchester being taken; there was no longer, in the eastern 
 counties, any rallying point for insurrection. In the north, 
 CromweU, having conquered Hamilton, entered Scotland 
 without obstacle (Sept. 20); the peasants of the western 
 counties rose in a body' at the first rumour of his victory; 
 and each parish, led by it's minister, marched towards Edin- 
 burgh to drive the royalists thence ;5 six miles from Berwick, 
 
 » Warmok, 337. 
 
 2 Clarendon, State Papers, ii. 232—361; Pari. Hist. iii. 1002— 1129; 
 "Warwick, ut sup. 
 
 « Euahwortli, ii. 4, 1241—1249. * Clarendon, iii. 268. 
 
 ' .This expedition was called in Scotlimd tlie insurrection of the ' wliig-- 
 amores,' from the ,word ' whigagm,' used by the peasants in driving their 
 
ENGUSH REVOLUTION. 399 
 
 at lord Mordington's seat, Argyle, who had come to meet 
 him, had (Sept. 22)' a long conference with him; both as 
 clear-sighted as daring, success did not blind them to the 
 danger before them; the Scottish royalists, powerful not- 
 withstanding their defeat, and still in arms in many places, 
 manifested a determination not to subject theinselves unresist* 
 ingly to a bloody reaction; a treaty forthwith concluded 
 (Sept. 26)^ secured to them fuU tranquiUily and the enjoy- 
 ment of their property, on condition of disbanding their 
 ' troops, abjuring any engagement in favour of the king, and 
 renewing the oath "to the holy league which ought never to 
 have ceased to exist between the two kingdoms." Thus re- 
 established in the possession of government, Argyle and his 
 party received Cromwell at Edinburgh with great pomp; the 
 committee of the states, the municipal body* which had been 
 thoroughly purged, the fanatic ministers and people, over- 
 whelmed him with daily visits, speeches, sermons, and ban- 
 quets; but urged by the reports from Henry Martyn, and 
 leaving with them Lambert and two regiments to" maintain 
 their power, he retraced with all speed the road to England 
 (Oct. II).' He had scarcely entered Yorkshire, where he 
 seemed solely engaged in completing the suppression of the 
 insurrection, than numerous petitions were sent from that 
 county, addressed to the commons only, demanding prompt 
 justice upon the delinquents, whatever their rank or name. 
 At the same time, the same demand was expressed by other 
 counties, and always presented or supported by the friends 
 of Cromwell (Oct. 10 and Nov. 6). The presbyterians 
 opposed it in the name of the great charter, and of the 
 laws of the kingdom : " We have had, Mr. Speaker," 
 said Denis Bond, an obscure republican, " many doc- 
 trines preached here by several gentlemen, against the 
 power of this house; such as that we cannot try my lord of 
 Norwich but by his peers, because it is against Magna 
 Charta; but I trust ere long to see the day when we may 
 have power to hang the greatest lord of them all, if he 
 deserves it, without trial by his peers; and I doubt not we 
 
 1 
 
 horses. Thence the name of Whigs, afterwards given to the party opposed 
 to court, as the representative and successor of the most zealous Scottish 
 covenanters. Burnet, i. 74. ' fiushworth, ii. 4, 1282. 
 
 = Burnet, Memoirs of the Hamiltons. 367, -368 ; Laing, iii. 405. 
 » Eusbworth, ii. 4- 1295' J 206 
 
400 
 
 HISTORY OF THK 
 
 sliall have honest, resolute judges to do it, notwithstanding. 
 Magna Charta."' The house rejected these petitions, but 
 others immediately followed, far more explicit and formidable,,' 
 for they came from the regiments of Ireton, Ingoldsby, JFleet-, 
 wood, "Whalley, and Overton, and explicitly, demanded, of 
 the commons that justice should be done upon the king, o^ 
 Fairfax the re-establishment of the general council of the 
 army, " the only remedy," they said, " against the disasters 
 wliich threaten us, either by its representations to the house 
 or by other means (Oct. 18 and 30)."^ The council accord- 
 ingly resumed its sittings, and, on the 20th of November, 
 the speaker informed the house that certain officers were at 
 the door, with colonel Ewers at their head, who were come, 
 in the name of the general and of the army to present a paper 
 to them; it was a long remonstrance, similar to that which, 
 seven years before (Nov. 21) 1641),^ on the same day, and in 
 order effectually to break off with him, the commons had 
 themselves addressed to the king. Adopting their example,, 
 • the army enumerated in their petitions all the evils, all the 
 fears of England, imputing them to the want of energy in 
 the parliament, to its neglect of public interests, to its nego- 
 tiations with the king 5 it called upon it to bring him solemnly 
 to trial, to proclaim the sovereignty of the people, to decree 
 that henceforward the king should be elected by its repre* 
 sentatives, to put an end to the present session, but to pro- 
 vide before separating for the equal distribution of the suf- 
 frage, for the regular meeting of future parliaments, for all the 
 reforms desired by the well-affected, and threatening, finally, 
 though in guarded expressions, that the army itself would 
 proceed to save the country, if it remained any longer cbm- 
 promised by the negligence or weakness of men whoj after 
 all, were only, like the soldiers, the delegates and servants 
 of their fellow-citizens.* 
 
 On hearing this read, a complete storm arose in the house; 
 the independents, Scott, Holland, and Wentworth, loudly 
 demanded that the army should forthwith receive the thank? 
 of the house for these frank and courageous counsels; the 
 presbyterians, some with indignation, others in terms flatter- 
 
 ' Pari. Hist., iii. 1042 ; Riishworth, ii. 4, 1318 ; Whitelocke, 346. 
 2 Piul. Hist., iii. 1056, 1077 ; Eushworth, ii. 4, 1297, 1311 ; White- 
 locke, 343, 1641. » Seep. 110 of this work. 
 ' Purl. Hist., iii. 1077—1128; WMtelocke, 30a. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 401 
 
 ing to the officers, urged the house to lay aside the remon- 
 Btrance, and, by way of marking their displeasure, return no 
 answer to it.' This expedient suited the timid as well as the 
 bold; it was adopted after two days' debate (Nov. 20 and 29), 
 by a great majority (125 to 53), But the day^had, come 
 when victories served only to hasten the final defeat: out of 
 doors, as well as within, excitement and confusion were at their 
 height," already there was talk of Croftiwell's approaching re- 
 turn;^ already the army announced the design of marching 
 upon London.* The royalists, losing all hope, now only thought 
 of getting rid of, or avenging themselves on, their enemies, no 
 matter by what means: several republican members were in- 
 sulted and attacked in the streets;* hints reached Fairfax, 
 even from France, that two cavaliers had resolved to assas- 
 sinate him at St. Albans;^ at Doncaster, a party of twenty 
 men carried off Eainsborough, who commanded there, and 
 three of them poniarded him at the moment he was endea- 
 vouring to escape from them (Oct. 29);^ there was even a 
 xeport that a plot was forming to murder eighty of the most 
 influential members as they left the house.' At last, amidst 
 this anarchical fury, the news came, one upon the other, that 
 in two days (Dec. 2) Cromwell would be at head-quarters; 
 that, in the Isle of Wight, the governor, Hammond, suspected 
 of too great consideration for the king and the parliament, 
 had received orders from Fairfax (Nov, 25) to resign his 
 post, to return to the army, and transfer the charge of the 
 Mng to colonel Ewers;^that on hearing this, Charles, seized 
 with fear, had extended his concessions, closed the conferences 
 at Newport, and that, on the same day (Nov. 28), tlie com- 
 missioners had set off with his definitive -offers to parliament. 
 They arrived the next day, most of them deeply affected 
 by the peril in which they had left the king, and by his last 
 farewell: "My lords," he said to them, "you come to take 
 leave of me, and I can scarcely believe we shaU ever meet 
 again; but the will of God be done! I give him thanks, I have 
 made my peace with him, and I shall without fear suffer all it 
 
 ' Merourius Pragmaticus, No. 35. " Rushwortli, ii. 4, 1320. 
 
 ' WMtelocke, 358 ; Pari. Hist. iii. 1137—1141* 
 
 * Eushworth, ii. 4, i. 379. ' ' lb. 1280. 
 
 ' Clarendon, iii. 287 ; Whitelocke, 341 ; Bushworth, ii. 4, 13^5. 
 
 ' BusiiTvorth, ii. i, 1279. » Pari. Hist. iii. 1133—1137. 
 
 D D 
 
402 • HISTORY OP THE 
 
 shall please men to do unto me. My lords, you cannot b© 
 ignorant that in my ruin you may already perceive your own, 
 and that near at hand. I pray God that he may send you better 
 friends than I have found'. I am not ignorant of the plot 
 contrived against me and mine; but nothing afflicts me so 
 touch s the spectacle of the sufferings of 'my people and the 
 presentiment of the evils prepared for them by men who, 
 always talking of the public good, only seek to gratify their 
 own ambition."' As soon as the commissioners had 'made 
 their report (Dec. 1), though the king's new concessions dif' 
 , fered but little from those they had so many times rejected, 
 the presbyterians proposed to the commons to declare them 
 isatisfactory and iit to serve as the basis of peace. The motion 
 was even supported by Nathaniel Fiennes, son of lord Say, 
 and lately one of the most violent of the independent leaders. 
 The debate had already lasted several hours, when information 
 was received of a letter from Fairfax to the common council, 
 in which he announced that the army was marching upon 
 London: "Question! question!" immediately shouted the in- 
 dependents, eager to make the most of this alarm. But, con- 
 trary to their expectations, and notwithstanding all their 
 efforts, the debate was adjourned till the next day.^ It 
 was then resumed more fiercely than ever, amid the move- 
 ment of the troops who were pouring in on all sides, and 
 taking up their quarters at St. James's, at York House, 
 throughout Westminster and the city. 'The independents 
 still looked to fear to give them the victory: " By this de- 
 bate," said Vane, " we shall soon guess who axe our friends 
 and who our enemies; or, to speak more plainly, we shall 
 understand by the carriage of this business, who are the 
 king's party in the house, and who for the people." " Mr. 
 Speaker," quickly followed another member whose name is 
 ifot known, " since this gentleman has had the presumption 
 to divide this house into two parts, I hope it is as lawful for 
 me to take the same liberty, and Kkewise to divide the house 
 into two parts upon this debate. Mr. Speaker, yon will find 
 some that are desirous of a peace and settlement, and those 
 are such as have lost by the war; others you will find that 
 
 » The Worts of King Cluules the Martyr, London, 1663, 424. 
 ' Pari. Hist, iii, 1143— 1U9, 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 40S 
 
 are against peace, and these are such as have gained by the 
 war. My humble motion, therefore, is this, that the gainers 
 may contribute to the losers, that we may all be brought to 
 an equal degree; for till then the balance of the common- 
 wealth will never stand right toward a settlement." The 
 independents opposed this, but with some embarrassment, for 
 in both parties personal interest exercised a power which 
 they themselves scarcely ventured to deny. Eudyard, Ste- 
 phens, Grimstone, Walker, Prideaux, Wroth, Scott, Corbet, 
 and many others successively supported and opposed the 
 motion without the debate appearing to draw to a conclusion. 
 Day declined; several members had already retired; one of 
 the independents proposed to call for lights: "Mr. (Speaker," 
 said a presbyterian, " I perceive very well that the drift of 
 some gentlemen is to take advantage not only of the terror 
 now brought on us by the present approach of the army, but 
 also to spin out the debate of this business to an unseasonable 
 time of night, by which means the more ancient members of 
 the house (whom they look upon as most inclined to peace) 
 will be tired out and forced to depart before we can come to a 
 resolution ; and therefore I hope the house will not agree to 
 this last proposal;" and, notwithstanding the clamours of the 
 independents, the debate was again adjoumed.i 
 
 Two days after,^ when they met, a dark rumour agitated 
 the house; the king, it was said on all sides, had been car- 
 ried away from the Isle of Wight in the night, despite his 
 resistance, and taken to Hujrst Castle, a sort of prison, stand- 
 ing on the coast opposite the island, at the extremity of a bar- 
 ren, deserted, and unhealthy promontory. Vehemently called 
 upon for an explanation, the independent leaders remained 
 silent; but the speaker read letters from Newport, addressed 
 to the house by major Ralph, who commanded in the absence 
 of Hammond. The rumour was well founded, and aU com- 
 munication between the king and the parliament hencefor- 
 ward impossible, except with the consent of the army.^ 
 
 On the 29th of November, towards evening, a few hours 
 after the conference at Newport was over, and the commis- 
 
 > Ptu-l. Hist. iii. 1145—1147 ; Ludlow, 117. 
 ' December 4tli ; the debate had been adjourned till that day, because the 
 3rd \ras a Sunday. 
 
 » Pad. Hist. iii. 1147, 1148 
 D D 2 
 
404 HISTOJIY OF THE 
 
 sioners departed, a man in disguise said to one of the king's 
 people. " Troops have just landed in the island; tell the 
 king he will be carried away to-night." Charles immediately 
 sent for the duke of Richmond, the, earl of Lindsay, and 
 colonel Edward Cook, an officer who possessed his confidence, 
 and asked how they could ascertain whether the report was 
 true. It was useless to question major Ralph: nothing but 
 short, vague answers were to be got from him: " The king 
 may sleep quietly to-night; upon my life, no one will distarb 
 him to-night." Cook offered to mount his horse, ride round 
 the coast, and in particular go to Carisbrook, where it was 
 said the troops had arrived, personally to ascertain what was 
 going on. The night was dark, it rained heavily, the service 
 Was a dangerous one; the king hesitated to accept it, but 
 Cook insisted, and went offi He found the garrison of Caius- 
 brook reinforced; there were ten or twelve fresh officers, by 
 Vhom captain Bowerman, who commanded there, was almost 
 openly watched; there was altogether an air of mysterious 
 agitation. He returned in all haste to bring the king this 
 information, when, on reaching Newport, towards midnight, 
 he found the house the king occupied surrounded with guards; 
 there were some under every window, even inside the house, 
 at the very door of the king's chamber, into which the smoke 
 of their pipes penetrated. There was now no room for 
 doubt; the two lords conjured the king to attempt an escape 
 that very hour, at all risks. This counsel was not agreeable 
 to the timid sedateness of Charles; he alleged the difficulty, the 
 irritation it would cause in the army: " If they do take me," 
 said he, " they must preserve me for their dwn sakes, for 
 neither party can secure its own interests without joining 
 mine with them." « Take heed, sir," said Lindsey, " least 
 your majesty fall into such hands as will not steer by such 
 rules of policy. Remember, Hampton Court." " Colonel," 
 said Richmond to Cook, "how did you pass?" Cook: "I 
 have the word." Richmond: " Could you enable me to pass, 
 too?" Cook: " I have no doubt of it J" Richmond put on a 
 trooper's cloak; they went out, passed through aU the stations, 
 and returned without any interruption. Standing with the 
 king near a window, the two lords passionately renewed their 
 entreaties; the colonel, drenched with rain, stood alone before 
 the fire': " Ned Cook," said the king, suddenly turning to- 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLtTTION. 40S 
 
 wards him, " what do you advise in this case?" Cook hesi- 
 tated to answer: " Your majesty," he said, "has here your 
 privy councillors." " Ned, I command you to give me your 
 advice." Cook: " Well, then, wiU your majesty allow me to 
 address you a question?" The king: " Speak." Cook: " Sup- 
 pose I should not only tell your majesty, but prove to you 
 that the army intend forthwith to seize your person; if I 
 add, that I have the word, horses ready at hand, a vessel at- 
 tending me, hourly expecting me, that I am ready and de- 
 sirous to attend you, that this dark night seems made on 
 purpose, that I see no difficulty in the thing, what would 
 your majesty do?" Charles remained silent for a moment; 
 then, shaking his head, he said: " No, they promised me and 
 I promised them ; I will not break iirst." Cook: " But, sir, 
 I presume that by 'they' and 'them' your majesty means 
 the parliament; if so, the scene is changed; it is the army 
 who want to throw your majesty into prison." The king: 
 "No matter; I wiU not break my word: good night, Ned; 
 good night, Lindsey ; I am going to rest as long as I can." 
 Cook: " I fear it wiU not be long." The king: " As it please 
 God." It was one o'clock; they withdrew, and Charles went 
 to bed, Richmond alone remaining with him. 
 
 At break of day there was a knocking at the door; " Who 
 are you? what do you want?" asked Richmond. " Officers 
 of the army, who want to speak with the king." Richmond 
 did not open the door, waiting for the king to be dressed; the 
 knocks were repeated, and with violence: " Open the door," 
 said Charles to the duke; and before he was out of bed, 
 several officers, with Ueutenant-colonel Cohbett at their head, 
 rushed into the room. " Sir," said Cobbett, " we have orders 
 to remove you." The king: " Orders, from whom?" Cobbett: 
 " From the army." The king. "Whither am I to be removed?" 
 Cobbett: " To the castle." The king: " What castle?" Cob- 
 bett: " To the castle." The king: " The castle is no castle; 
 I am ready to follow you to any castle, but name it." Cobbett 
 consulted his companions, and at last answered, " To Hurst 
 castle." The king turned towards Richmond, and said ; 
 " They could not name a worse;" and then addressing Cob- 
 bett, he said: " Can I have none of my servants with me?'* 
 Cobbett: " Only those absolutely indispensable." Charles 
 named his two valets-de-chambre, Harrington and Herbert, 
 
40t» HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and llildmay his esquire-carver. Riclimond went out to 
 order breakfast, but before it was ready the horses were 
 brouglit up. " Sir," said Cobbett, " we must go." The king 
 got into the carriage without uttering a word, Harrington, 
 Herbert, and Mildmay with him; Cobbett came forward to 
 get in, but Charles barred the way with his foot, and lad the 
 door immediately closed. They drove off under the escort of 
 a detachment of cavalry ; a little vessel was waiting at 
 Yarmouth; the king embarked in it, and, three hours after, 
 was shut up in Hurst castle, having no communication from 
 without, in a room so dark that at mid-day flambeaux were 
 necessary, and under the guard of colonel Ewer, a far 
 rougher and more dangerous jailer than Cobbett had been.' 
 
 At this intelligence the presbyterians gave free course to 
 their indignation: " The house," they cried, "guaranteed the 
 king, during his stay at Newport, respect, security, and liberty; 
 they are dishonoured, undone, if they do not give marked resist- 
 ance to this insolent rebellion." They voted accordingly that 
 the king had been taken away without the knowledge or consent 
 of the house; and the debate relative to peace was resumed 
 with redoubled earnestness. It had abeady lasted more than 
 twelve hours ; the night was far advanced ; though the 
 assembly was still numerous, fatigue began to surmount the 
 ?ieal of the more feeble and aged ; a man rose, famous among the 
 martyrs of public liberty, but who had only sat in the house 
 three weeks — the same Prynne, who, twelve years before, 
 had sustained so hard a struggle against the tyranny of Laud 
 and of the court: "Mr. Speaker," said he, "first, I would 
 remove two seeming prejudices, which else may enervate the 
 strength of what I am about to say: some members, firstly, 
 have aspersed me, that I am a Royal Favourite, alluding 
 to the title of one of my works. AU the royal favour I ever 
 yet received from Ms majesty or his party, was the cutting off 
 of my ears, at two several times, one after another, in a most 
 barbarous manner; the setting me upon three several pillories, 
 in a disgraceful manner, for two hours at a time; the burning 
 of my licensed books before my face by the hand of the 
 hangman ; the imposing of two fines upon me of 5000/. 
 a-piece; expulsion from the house, and court, and university 
 
 ' ' Colonel Cook's narrative in Eushworth, ii. 4, 1344 — 1348 ; Herbert, 83 ;' 
 Pari. Hist. 1149— J151 ; Clmendon, iii. 359. 
 
ENGLISH REVOIrDTION. 407 
 
 of Oxford; the loss of my eaUing, almost nine years' space; 
 above eight years imprisonment, without pens, ink, paper, or 
 books, except my Bible, and without access of friends, or any 
 allowance of diet for my support. If any member envy me 
 for such royal favours, I only wish him the same badges of 
 favour, and then he wiU no more causelessly asperse me for a 
 Koyal Favourite, or apostate from the public cause." Ha 
 spoke for several hours after this, minutely discussing all the 
 king's proposals, aU the pretensions of the army; considering 
 in turn in their different aspects, the state of parliament and of 
 the country, grave without pedantry, earnest without anger, 
 evidently elevated by the energy and disinterestedness of his 
 conscience above the passions of his sect, the faults of his own 
 character, and the usual extent of his own talent. " Mr. 
 Speaker," he said, before he concluded, " they further object 
 thatj if we discontent the army, we are undone; they will all 
 lay down their arms, as one commander of eminence hath here 
 openly told you he must do, and serve us no longer; and 
 then, what will become of us and aU our faithful friends? If 
 the army do so, I shall not much value the protection of 
 such inconstant, mutinous, and unreasonable servants; and I 
 doubt not, if they forsake us on so shght a ground, God him- 
 self and the whole kingdom wiU stand by us; and if the king 
 and we shall happily conclude this treaty, I hope we shall have 
 no great need of their future service. However, ^a^jwij^M, 
 ruat ccdum ; let us do our duty, and leave the issue to God." 
 The house had listened to this speech with attention, with 
 profound' emotion; it was nine o'clock in the morning*; the 
 house had sat twenty-four hours; there were stUl present two 
 hundred and forty-four members; they at length went to a 
 division; and it was resolved by one hundred and forty against 
 one hundred and four, that the king's reply was an adequate 
 basis of peace.' " " 
 
 ' Power was escaping from the independents; they had ex- 
 hausted even fear ; all those members who could be in- 
 fluenced by it had given way or retired. In vain did Ludlow, 
 Hutchinson, and a few others, in order to throw the house 
 into confusion, demand leave to enter a protest a,g,ainst the 
 decision ; their wish was rejected, as contrary to the 
 
 » Pari. Hist. iii. U5]— 1240. 
 
408 HlSTORr OP THE 
 
 usages of the house, and no notice taken of it In the Vay they 
 desired.' After the rising of the house, the independent 
 leaders assembled; a great number of officers, arrived that 
 morning from head-quarters, joined them: the peril was im- 
 minent; but, masters of the army^ they had that at command 
 with which to resist it; sincere fanatics or ambitious free- 
 thinkers, no institution, no law, no custom, had any longer 
 importance in their eyes; with the former, it was held to bo 
 a duty to save the good cause; the others were impelled by 
 necessity. It was agreed that the day was come for action, 
 and six of those present, three members of the house and 
 three officers, were charged to take immediate steps to ensure 
 success. They passed several hours together, a list of the 
 commons before them on the table, examining one by one the 
 conduct and principles of each member, exchanging informa- 
 tion, and sending orders to their confidants. Next day, the 
 6th of December, at seven in the morning, under the direction 
 of Ireton, and before Fairfax knew anything of the matter, 
 troops were in motion. With Skippon's consent, the parties 
 of militia, who guarded parliament, had been withdrawn; 
 two regiments, that of colonel Pride, infantry, and that of 
 colonel Eich, cavalry, occupied Palace Yard, Westminster 
 hall, the stairs, vestibule, and every access to the house; at 
 the door of the commons stood Pride, with the list of pro- 
 scribed members in his hand, and near him lord Grey of 
 Groby and an usher, who pointed them out to him as they 
 arrived: " You must not go in," said Pride to each; and 
 he had had some of the most suspected seized and taken 
 away. A violent tumult soon arose all round the house; the 
 excluded members tried every access, asserted their rights, 
 and called upon the soldiers to vindicate them; the soldiers 
 laughed and jeered. Some, Prynne amongst others, resisted 
 strenuously; " I will not stir of my own accord," said he; 
 and some officers pushed him insultingly down the stairs, de- 
 lighted to make use of their party's power for the purposes of 
 individual tyranny. Forty-one members were arrested in 
 this manner, and Shut up for the time in two adjoining rooms; 
 many others ■v^ere excluded without being arrested. Two 
 only, of those comprised in Pride's list, Stephens and colonel 
 
 > Ludlow, 117; Hutclunson, 301. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLBTION. 409 
 
 Birch, had succeeded in getting into the house; they ivere 
 drawn to the door under some pretext and inunediately 
 seized by the soldiers. " Mr. Speaker," cried Birch, endea- 
 vouring to force his way back into the house, " will the house 
 suffer their members to be pulled out thus violently before 
 their faces, and yet sit still?" The house sent their sergeant- 
 at-arms to order the members who were outside to come and 
 take their seats; Pride would not allow them to go; the 
 sergeant was sent a second time, but could not get to them. 
 The house resolved that they would not proceed to business 
 until their members were admitted, and appointed a committee 
 to go to the general and demand their release. The com- 
 mittee had scarcely gone, when a message arrived from the 
 army, presented by lieutenant -colonel Axtell, and some 
 officers; they demanded the official exclusion of the arrested 
 members, and of all those who had voted for peace. The 
 house returned no answer, waiting the result of the pro- 
 ceedings of their committee. The committee brought back 
 word that the general in his turn refused to reply, untU the 
 house had come to some decision on the message of the army. 
 Meantime, the excluded members had been taken away 
 from Westminster, and led from one quarter of London to an- 
 other, from tavern to tavern, sometimes crowded into coaches, 
 sometimes hurried along on foot through the mud, sur- 
 rounded by soldiers demanding their arrears. The preacher 
 Hugh Peters, chaplain to Fairfax, came solemnly, sword on 
 thigh, by the general's orders, to take down their names; 
 called upon by several of them to say by what right they 
 were arrested — " By the right of the sword," said he. They 
 sent to entreat Pride to hear them; "I have no time," 
 was the answer; " Pve something else to do." Fairfax 
 and his council, who were sitting at Whitehall, at last pro- 
 mised them an audience: they went thither; but after wait- 
 ing several hours, three officers came out and announced that 
 the general was so busy, he could not receive them. Some 
 embarrassment was visible under this contempt; it was clear 
 that the dominant party wished to avoid an interview with 
 these men, lest their invincible pertinacity should necessitate 
 too much rigour. Notwithstanding the audacity of their 
 designs and of their acts, the conquerors still retained in the 
 bottom' of their hearts, without suspecting it themselves, a 
 
410 . HISTORY OP THE 
 
 secret respect for ancient and legal order; in drawiilg flp their 
 proscription list, they had confined themselves within the 
 liniits of what they deemed the necessity of the case, hoping 
 that a qualified purification of parliament would suffice to secure 
 their triumph. They saw with anxiety the house obstinately 
 elaiming their members, and their adversaries still retaining 
 a powerful party, perhaps even the majority. But hesitation 
 was impossible: they resolved to begin again. Next day (the 7th") 
 the troops once more closed up every avenue to the house, the 
 same scene was renewed; forty more members were excluded; 
 several others were arrested in their own houses. They wrote 
 to the house to be released; but this time the defeat of the 
 presbytefians was completed ; instead of answering them 
 favourably, the house adopted, by fifty votes to twenty-eight, 
 a motion for taking the proposals of the army into considera- 
 tion. This minority retired of their own accord, protesting 
 that they would not return to the house until justice should 
 be done to their colleagues; and after the expulsion of one 
 hundred and forty -three members, who, for the most part, 
 were not arrested or silently quitted their confinement after a 
 few hours, the republicans and the army at length found 
 themselves, at Westminster, as well as elsewhere, in full 
 possession of power. ' 
 
 Thenceforward everything gave way before them ; there 
 was no resistance; not a single opposing voice disturbed 
 the party in the intoxication of their victory ; they alone 
 spoke, they alone acted in the kingdom, and might antici- 
 pate ;the universal submission or consent of the country- 
 The enthusiasm of the fanatics was at its height — " Like 
 Moses," said Hugh Peters to the generals, in a sermon before 
 the remnant of the two houses^" like Moses, you are destined 
 to take the people out of the bondage of Egypt: how will this 
 be accomplished?! that is what has not yet been revealed?" 
 He put his hands before his eyes, laid his head on the cushion, 
 and, rising thence suddenly, exclaimed. " Now I have it, by 
 revelation! Now I ■shall -tell you ! This army must root up 
 monarchy,- not only here, but in France, and other kingdoms 
 round about; this is to bring you out of Egypt. This army 
 
 > Pari. Hist, iii, 1240—1249 ; Bushworth, ii. 4, 1353—1356 ; Ludlow, 
 118 ; Hutchinson, 301 ; Walker, Hist, of Independency, ii. 29, &o.- 
 
ENGLISH KEVOL0TION. 411 
 
 is that corner-stone, cat out of &e mountain, -wMcli must 
 dash the powers of the earth to pieces. 'Tis objected, th« 
 way we walk in is without precedent: what think you of the 
 Virgin Mary? was there ever any precedent before that a 
 woman should conceive without holdmg the company of man? 
 This is an age to make examples and precedents in;"' 
 and the mob of the party gave way with transport to this 
 mystical pride. Amidst all this exultation; on the very day 
 when the last of the presbyterians retired from the commons 
 (Dec. 7), Cromwell came and resumed his seat: " God is my 
 witness," he repeated everywhere, " that I know nothing ■ of 
 what has been doing in this house, but the work is in hand, I 
 am glad of it, and now we must carry it through."^ The house 
 received'him with the most marked demonstrations of gratitude. 
 The speaker addressed to him official thanks for his campaign 
 in Scotland; and on leaving the house, he took up his lodgings 
 at Whitehall, in the king's own apartments.' Next day, the 
 army took possession of the cash-ehests of the various com- 
 mittees, being forced, they said, to provide for their own wants, 
 in order no longer to be a burden to the country.'' Three days 
 after (Dec. 11) they sent to Fairfax, under the title of " A new 
 Agreement of the People," a plan of a republican government, 
 drawn up, it is said, by Ireton, and requested him to submit 
 it for discussion to the general council of officers, who would 
 afterwards present it to parliament.* Meantime, and without 
 taking the trouble of asking the consent of -the lords, the 
 commons repealed all the acts, all the votes lately adopted in 
 favour of peace and which would have placed obstacles in the 
 way of the revolution (Dec. 12 and 13).® At last, petitions 
 reappeared that the king, who alone, they said, was guilty of 
 so much bloodshed,' should be brought to trial; and a detach- 
 ment was sent from head-quarters, with orders to bring him 
 from Hurst castle to Windsor. 
 
 On the 17th, in the middle of the night, Charles was 
 awakened by the noise of the drawbridge being lowered, and 
 of a troop of horse entering the castie yard. In a few moments 
 all was again silent; but Charles was anxious; before day- 
 
 » Wolker, u. 50; Pari. Hist. iii. 1252. ' Ludlow, 117. 
 
 ».ParL Hist. iii. 1240 ; Whitelocke, 357. * Eustwortlj, ii. 4, 1356. 
 ' Kiishworth, ii. i, 1358, 1365.' « Pari. Hist. iii. 1247—1848. ' 
 
 ■ ' T Eushwoith, ii. 4, 1372. 
 
412 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 break, lie rang for Herbert, who slept in the adjoining room: 
 " Did you hear the noise about midnight?" he inquired. " I 
 heard the drawbridge lowered," said Herbert; " but I dared 
 not, without your majesty's orders, go out of my room at so 
 unseasonable an hour." " Go and inquire what is the mat-» 
 ter." Herbert went, and soon returning, said major Harri- 
 son had arrived. A sudden agitation appeared on the king's 
 countenance; " Are you sure," hp said, " it is major Harri« 
 son?" Herbert: "Captain Reynolds told me so." The 
 king: " Then I believe it; but did you see the major?" Her- 
 bert: " No, sir." The king: " Did Reynolds teU you what 
 the major's business is?" Herbert: "I did all I could to 
 learn, but the only answer I could get was, that the occasion 
 of his coming would soon be known." The king sent Her- 
 bert away, and then recalled him in about an hour after. He 
 found the king so deeply agitated, that he wept. "Why 
 weep you?" apked Charles. " Because I perceive your ma- 
 jesty so much troubled and concerned at this news." " I am 
 not afraid," said Charles; " but do not you know that this is 
 the man who intended to assassinate me, as by letter I was 
 informed, during the late treaty. To my knowledge I never 
 saw the major, or did him an injury. I would not be taken 
 by surprise; this is a place fit for such a purpose. Herbert, I 
 trust to your care; go again and make further inquiry into 
 his business." Herbert, this time more fortunate, learnt that 
 the major was come to take the king to Windsor, in three 
 days at latest; and he hastened to inform Charles of it. 
 " Well and good," he answered, his eyes brightening with 
 joy; " what, do they at last become less obdurate? Windsor 
 is a place I ever delighted in; it wiU make amends for what 
 I have suffered here." 
 
 Two days after, in fact, lieutenant-colonel Cobbett came 
 to tell the king that he had orders to take bim immediately to 
 Windsor, whither Harrison had already returned. Charles, 
 far from objecting, hastened the departure himself.. Three 
 miles from Hurst he found a body of horse, charged to escort 
 him to Winchester. Everywhere on his road a crowd of gen- 
 tlemen, citizens, peasants, came round him; some of them, mere 
 sight-seekers, who retired after they had seen him pass, with- 
 out any particular observation; others deeply interested and 
 praying aloud for his liberty. As he approached Winchester^ 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 413 
 
 the mayor and aldermen came to meet him, and presenting, 
 him, according to custom, the mace and keys of the city, ad- 
 dressed to him a speech full of affection. But Cobbett, 
 rudely pushing his way towards them, asked if they had for- 
 gotten that the house had declared all who should address the 
 ting traitors; whereupon, seized with terror, the functionaries 
 poured forth humble excuses, protesting they were ignorant 
 of the will of the house, and conjuring Cobbett to obtain their 
 pardon. The next day the king resumed his, journey. Be- 
 tween Alresford and Farnham another corps of cavalry was 
 drawn up, waiting to relieve the party which had escorted 
 him thus far; the officer in command was good-looking, 
 richly equipped, wearing a velvet Montero cap, a new buff 
 coat, and a fringed scarf of Tcrimson silk. Charles, sti-uck 
 with his countenance, passed slowly by him, and received a 
 respectful military salute. Rejoining Herbert : " Who," 
 asked the king, " is that officer?" " Major Harrison, sir." 
 The king immediately turned round, and looked at him so 
 long and so attentively that the major, confused, retired be- 
 hind the troops to avoid his scrutiny. " That man," said 
 Charles, " looks like a true soldier; I have some judgment 
 on faces, and feel I have harboured wroiig thoughts of him." 
 In the evening, at Farnham, where they stopped to sleep, 
 Charles saw the major in a corner of the room; he beckoned 
 him to approach; Harrison obeyed with deference and em- 
 barrassment, with an air at once fearless and timid: the king 
 took him by the arm, led him into the embrasure of a win- 
 dow, and conversed for nearly an hour with him, and even 
 spoke of the information he had received concerning him: 
 " Nothing can be more false," said Hai-rison; "this is what 
 I said, and I can repeat it: it is, ' that the law was equally 
 obligatory to great and small, and that justice had no respect 
 to persons;'" and he dwelt upon the last words with marked 
 emphasis. The king broke off the discourse, sat down to 
 table, and did not again address Harrison, though he did not 
 appear to attach to what he had said any meaning which 
 alarmed him. 
 
 He was to reach Windsor the next day; on leaving Farn- 
 ham, however, he declared that he would stop at Bagshot, 
 and dine in the forest, at lord Newburgh's, one of his most 
 faithful cavaliers. Harrison dared not refuse,; though so much 
 
414 HISTORY OP THE 
 
 eagerness inspired him. with some suspicions. They were 
 Well founded; lord Newburgh, a great amateur of horses, had 
 one which was considered the fleetest in all England; for a 
 long time past, in secret correspondence with the king^ he 
 had persuaded, him to lame the horse he rode, promising him 
 one with which it would be easy for him to escape suddenly 
 from his escort and baffle all pursuit through the bye-paths of 
 the forest, with which the king was well acquainted. Ac- 
 cordingly, from Farnham to Bagshot, Charles was constantly 
 complaining of his horse, saying that he would change it; 
 but on arriving at lord NewBurgh's, he found that the one he 
 had relied upon had been sO severely kicked in the stable, 
 that it was altogether unavailable. Lord Newburgh, greatly 
 concerned, offered others to the king, which he said were ex- 
 cellent, and would answer every pTirpose. But even with 
 the fleetest the attempt would have been perilous; for the 
 troopers kept close to the king, and each carried a cocked 
 pistol in his hand. Charles readily abandoned the idea of 
 running such risks; and in the evening, on arriving at 
 Windsor, deBghted to re-enter one of his own palaces, to occupy 
 one of his own chambers, to find all things prepared to re- 
 ceive him nearly the same as heretofore when he came with 
 his court to spend some holidays in that beautiful palace, far 
 from being tormented by any sinister presages, he seemed 
 almost to have forgotten that he was a prisoner.' 
 
 The same day (Dec. 23y almost at the sanae moment, the 
 commons voted that he should be brought to trial, and ap^ 
 pointed a committee to draw up his impeachment. Notwith- 
 standing the small number of members present, several voices 
 rose against the measure. Some demanded that they should 
 limit themselves to deposing him, as their predecessors had 
 done with some of his; others, without expressing it, would 
 have wished him to be got rid of privately, so as to profit by 
 his death without having to answer for it. But the daring free- 
 thinkers, the sincere fanatics, the rigid republicans, insisted 
 upon a solemn ptibiic trial, which should prove their power 
 and proclaim their right.^ Cromwell alone, in reality more 
 eager for it than any other person, still hypocritically affected 
 
 • Herbert, 93, &c. ; ClijreDdon, iii. 377; Eushworth, iJ. 4, 1375 ; White- 
 locke, 363. 
 » Pari Hist, iii 12S3. ' Wlutclooke, lit sup ; Clarendon, iid. 380. 
 
ENGLISH EKVOLTJTION. 415 
 
 moderation. " If any one," he said,' " had moved this upon 
 design, I should think him the greatest traitor in the world; 
 but since Providence and necessity have cast us upon it, I 
 pray God to bless our counsels, though I am not prepared on 
 the sudden to give my advice." By one of those strange 
 but invincible scruples, in which, imquity betrays itself while 
 seeking a disguise, in order not to bring the king to trial 
 without a law in the name of which he could be condemned, 
 the house voted (Jan. 2)^ as a principle, that he had been 
 guilty of treason in making war against the parliament; and 
 on the motion of Scott,' an ordinance was forthwith adopted, 
 instituting a high court* to try him. One hundi-ed and fifty 
 commissioners were to compose it : six peers, three high 
 judges, eleven baronets, ten knights, six aldermen of London, 
 all the important men of the party, in the army, the com- 
 mons, in the city, except St. John and Vane, who formally 
 declared that they disapproved of the act, and would not 
 take any part in it. When the ordinance was presented for 
 the sanction of the upper house (Jan. 2), some pride seemed 
 to revive in that assembly, hitherto so servile that they 
 seemed to have fuUy admitted their own nothingness: 
 " There is no parliament without the king," taaintained lord 
 Manchester, "therefore the king cannot commit treason 
 against parliament." "It has pleased the commons," said 
 lord Denbigh, "to put my name to their ordinance; but I 
 would be torn to pieces rather than take part in so infamous 
 a business." " I do not like, said the earl of Pembroke, " to 
 meddle with affairs of life and death; I shall neither speak 
 against the ordinance nor consent to it;" and the lords pre- 
 sent, twelve in number, unanimously rejected it.^ Next 
 day, receiving no message from the lords, the commons ap- 
 pointed two of their members to go to the upper house, to 
 have its journals laid . before them, and to ascertain what 
 resolution it had come to.^ On their report (Jan. 4), they 
 immediately voted that the opposition of the lord& should not 
 constitute an obstacle; that the people being, after God, the 
 source of all legitimate power, the commons of England, 
 elected by and representing the people^ possessed the sove- 
 reign power; and by a fresh ordinance (Jan 6),' the high 
 
 » Walker, 2, 54. « Pai-l. Hist. iii. 1233. ' Walker, 2, 55. 
 « Pari. Hist., iii. 125i, » lb. 1256. « lb. ' lb. 1257. 
 
416 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 court of justice, instituted in the name of fhe commons only, 
 and reduced to one hundred and thirty-five members,' re- 
 ceived orders to meet without delay to arrange the prelimi- 
 naries. 
 
 They met accordingly for this purpose in private, on the 
 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, I7th, 18th, and 19th of January, 
 John Bradshaw, a cousin of Milton, and an eminent advocate, 
 presiding — a man grave and gentle in his manners but of a 
 narrow, austere mind, a sincere fanatic and yet ambitious, 
 inclined to avarice though ready to lay down his life for 
 his opinions. Such was the state of public feeling, that in- 
 surmountable dissension prevailed even in this court; no 
 summons, no effort succeeded in collecting at these prepara- 
 tory meetings more than fiftyeight members: Fairfax at- 
 tended the first meeting, but no other. Even among those 
 who did attend, several only came to declare their opposition: 
 this was the course pursued, among others, by Algernon Sid- 
 ney, still young, but already influential in the republican 
 party. Eetired for some time to Penshurst castle, the seat of 
 his father lord Leicester, when he heard of his nomination 
 on the high court, he immediately went to London, and in 
 the sittings of the 13th, 15th, and 19th of January, though 
 the question appeared decided, warmly opposed the triaL 
 He above all things dreaded the people's conceiving an aver- 
 sion for a repubhc, perhaps a sudden insurrection, which 
 would save the king and lose the commonwealth beyond 
 recal: " No one will stir," cried Cromwell, annoyed at these 
 suggestions; " I tell you, we will cut his head off with the 
 crown upon it." " Do what you please," answered Sidney; 
 " I cannot hinder you ; but I certainly will have nothing to 
 do with this affair;" and he went out, and never returned.^ 
 At length, consisting only of members who readily accepted 
 their mission, the court entirely occupied itself with arranging 
 
 > The omission of six peers and the three chief justices, reduced the original 
 number of commissioners to one hundred and forty-one ; two lawyers, Brad- 
 shaw and Nicholas, were added, -which made it one hundred and forty-thi'ee. 
 Yet the second ordinance contains only one hundred and thirty-fiTe names ; 
 there were doubtless other omissions which they did not take the trouble 
 to explain. Alderman Eoland Wilson, for instance, refused to participate 
 in the trial, and his name is not found in the second list. — White- 
 locke, 366. 
 
 ' Leicester's Journal, April; Godwiii,Hist. of the Commonwealth, ii. 669. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLtJTICw. 417 
 
 the form of the trial. John Cook, a counsellor of some 
 reputation and the intimate friend of Milton, was appointed 
 iittorney-general, and as such was charged to take the lead in 
 drawing up the act of accusation, and in supporting it on the 
 trial. Elsynge, who had heen clerk of the Commons up to 
 this period, having retired under pretext of illness, Henry 
 Scohell was selected to take his place. They carefuUy dis- 
 cussed what regiments and how many should he on service 
 during the trial ; where sentinels should be stationed ■ — 
 some were placed even on the leads, and at every window 
 which looked upon the hall — ^what harriers should he erected 
 to keep the people apart, not only from the tribunal, but also 
 from the soldiers. The 20th of January was appointed for 
 the king to appeal* before the court at Westminster hall; arid 
 so early as the 17th, as if his condemnation had already been 
 pronounced, the commons had charged a committee to visit 
 the palaces, castles, and residences of the king, and to draw 
 up an exact inventory of his furniture, henceforth the property 
 of parliament.* 
 
 When colonel Whychcott, governor of Windsor, told the 
 king that in a few days he would be transferred, to London* 
 " God is everywhere," answered Charles, " aUke in wisdom, 
 power, and goodness."^ Yet the news inspired him with 
 great and unexpected uneasiness; he had Hved for the last 
 three weeks in the most unwonted feeling of security, rarely 
 and incorrectly informed of the resolutions of the house, com- 
 forting himself with some reports from Ireland which promised 
 him speedy assistance, and more confident, gayer evep, than 
 his servants had for a long time seen him: " In six months," 
 he said, " peace will be re-established in England; if not, I 
 shall receive from Ireland, Denmark, and other kingdoms, 
 the means of righting me;"^ and another day he said: "I 
 have three more cards to play, the worst of which may give 
 me back everything."'* And yet one circumstance had lately 
 disturbed him; until almost the close of his stay at Windsor 
 he had been treated and served with all the etiquette of 
 court; he dined in public, in the hall of state, under a canopy; 
 the chamberlain, esquire-carver, maitre-d'hotel, and cup- 
 
 > Pari. Hist. iii. 1359; State Trials, iv. 1045—1067. 
 ' Herbert, 105. • Wliitelocke, .^66. 
 
 « Leicester's Journal; Godwin, History of the Commonwealth, 6fiO. 
 E E 
 
418 HISTOKY OP THE 
 
 bearer performed their accustonled. offices in the accustomed 
 manner; the cup was presented to him kneeling, the dishes 
 were brought in covered, were tasted, and he enjoyed with 
 tranquil gravity these solemn manifestations of respect. All at 
 once, on the reception of a letter from head-quarters, there was 
 a total change ; the dishes were brought in uncovered by 
 soldiers, were no longer tasted, none knelt to him, the habitual 
 etiquette of the canopy completely ceased. Charles bitterly 
 grieved at this: " The, respect and honour denied me," said 
 he, " no sovereign prince ever wanted, nor even subjects of 
 high degree, according to ancient practice; is there anything 
 more contemptible than a despised prince?" and to avoid this 
 insult he took his repasts in his own room, almost alone, 
 himself selecting two or three dishes from the list presented 
 to him.i 
 
 On Friday, the 19th of January, a troop Of horse appeared 
 at Windsor, with Harrison at its head, appointed to remove 
 the king; a coach and six waited in the yard of the cattle; 
 Charles entered it, and a few hours after once more re- 
 entered London aiid St. James's palace, surrounded on all 
 sides by guards, with two sentinels at the very door of his 
 chamber, and Herbert, who slept by his bed- side, alone to 
 serve him.^ 
 
 Next day, the 20th, towards noon, the high court, assembled 
 in a secret sitting in the painted chamber, arranged the final 
 details of their task; they had scarcely finished prayers, when 
 it was announced that the king, carried in a sedan between 
 two ranks of soldiers, was at hand; CromweU ran to the 
 window, and turning round, pale, yet very animated: " My 
 ihasters, he is come— he is come!" he cried; "and now we 
 are doing that great work that the whole nation will be full of; 
 therefore, I desire you to let us resolve here what answer we 
 shall give the king, when he comes before us; for the first 
 question he will ask us will be, by what authority and com- 
 mission we do try him." No one for awhile answered; at 
 last Henry Martyn' said: " In the name of the commons and 
 parliament assembled, and of all the good people of England." 
 
 1 Herbert, 109. 
 
 2 Herbert, 110; Kushworth, ii. 4, 1395; State Trials, v. 1019'; Nutley's 
 e-vidence in HaiTison's trial. 
 
 ' State Trittls.'v. 1201; sir Purbeck Temple's eYidenoe in the trial 'of 
 Hemy Martyn. 
 
ENGLISH HEVOLITTION. 419 
 
 No objection was made, and tlie court proceeded in solemn 
 order to Westminster hall, the lord'president, Bradshaw, at 
 their head, with the sword and mace before him, preceded by 
 sixteen officers armed with partisans. The president toob 
 his seat in a chair of crimson velvet; below him was the clerk 
 of the house, at a table with a rich Turkey cover on whicb 
 were placed the mace and sword; to the right and left, on 
 seats of scarlet cloth, sat the members of the court; at the 
 two extremities were men-at-arms, who stood somewhat in 
 advance of the tribunal. The court having taken their seats, 
 the doors were opened and the crowd rushed' in;, silence 
 being Restored, and the act of the comlnons read which au- 
 thorized the court, the names were' called over; there were 
 sixty-nine members present. " Mr. sergeant," said Bradshaw, 
 " bring in the prisoner."' 
 
 The king appeared, under the guard of colonel Hacker and 
 thirty -two officers; a chair of crimson velvet was prepared 
 for him at the bar: he advanced, cast a long and severe look 
 on the tribunal, sat down in the chair without removing his 
 hat, suddenly rose again, looked behind him at the guard placed 
 at the left, and the crowded spectators at the right of the hall, 
 once more turned his eyes towards the judges, and then sat 
 down amidst universal silence. 
 
 Bradshaw rose immediately: " Charles . Stuart, king of 
 England," said he, " the commons of England, assembled in 
 parliament, taking notice of the effusion of blood in the landy 
 which is fixed on you as the author of it, and whereof you 
 are guilty, have resolved to bring you to a trial and judg- 
 ment, and for this cause the tribunal is erected. The charges 
 will now be read by the solicitor-general." 
 
 The attorney-general, Cook, then rose to speak; " Silence!" 
 said the king, touching him with his cane on his shoulder. 
 Cook turned round, surprised and irritated; the head of the 
 king's cane fell 6ff; a short but violent emotion appeared in 
 his features; none of his servants were near enough to pick 
 up the head of the cane for him; he stooped, took it up him- 
 self, sat down, and Cook read the act of accusation, which, 
 imputing to the king all the evils arising, first from his 
 
 ' Most of the facts of the king's trial ore taken from two cotemporai'y 
 accounts inserted in the State Trials, iv. 989 — 1154, to which the reader is 
 referred once for all. . . 
 
 E E 2 
 
420 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 tyranny, then from the war, demanded that he should be 
 l)ound to answer the charges brought against him, and that 
 justice should be done upon him as a tyrant, traitor, and 
 murderer. 
 
 While this was reading, the king, still seated, looked tran- 
 quilly, sometimes on the judges, sometimes on the public; 
 once; for a moment, he rose, turned his back to the tribunal 
 to look behind him, and sat down again with an air at once 
 of curiosity and indifference. He smiled at the words 
 " Charles Stuart, tyrant, traitor, and murderer," but said 
 nothing. 
 
 When Cook had finished: "Sir," said Bradshaw to the 
 king, "you have heard the charge; the court awaits your 
 answer." 
 
 The Idng: "I do wonder for what cause you convene me 
 here. But lately I was in the Isle of Wight, and there I was 
 treated with by divers honourable persons, lords and commons, 
 as to a treaty of peace^ and the treaty was nigh perfection. I 
 desire to know by what authority I was hurried thence hither; 
 I mean lawful authority, for there are many unlawful 
 powers, such as that of highwaymen. I desire to know this, 
 I say, before I answer your charge. 
 
 Bradshaw: " If you had pleased to pay attention to what, 
 the court said to you on your arrival, you would know what 
 that authority is. They desire you, in the name of the Eng- 
 lish people, of whom you were ^elected king, to answer." 
 
 The king: " No, sir; this I deny." 
 
 Bradshaw: " 1£ you demur to the jurisdiction of the court, 
 I must let you know the court overrules your demurrer. You 
 must plead, or the court will take-the charge pro corifesso." 
 
 The king: " I tell you, England never was an elective 
 kingdom; that it has been for more than a thousand years an . 
 hereditary kingdom. Let me, then, know really by what 
 authority I am summoned here. There is lieutenant-colonel 
 Cobbett; ask him whether it was not by force he brought me 
 from the Isle of Wight. I will uphold, as much as any here, 
 the just privileges of the house of commons. But I see no 
 lords here: where are the lords that should go to make up a. 
 parliament?' A king, also, is essential. Is this what you 
 call bringing the king to his parliament?" 
 
 ' State Trials, v. 1081 ; in Cook's trial, evidence given by Nutloy. 
 
ENGLISH KEVOLUTION. 421 
 
 Bradshaw: " Sir, the court awaits, from you a definitive 
 answer. If what we tell you of our authority is not sufficient 
 for you, it is sufficient for us; we know it is founded on 
 the authority of God and of the kingdom." 
 
 The king: " It is neither my opinion nor yours that is to 
 decide." 
 
 Bradshaw: " The court have heard you; you will be dis- 
 posed of according to their orders. Take away the prisoner. 
 The court adjourns to Monday next." 
 
 The court retired; the king departed with the same escort 
 that brought him. As he got up, he looked at the sword 
 placed upon the table: " I do not fear that," said he, point- 
 ing to it with his cane. As he went down stairs, a few voices 
 were heard to cry — " Justice' justice!" but a far greater num- 
 ber shouted — " God save the king! God save your majesty!" 
 
 On the Monday, at the sitting of the court sixty two 
 members being present, the court commanded that entire 
 silence should be observed, under pain of imprisonment ; but, 
 nevertheless, when the king arrived he was hailed with loud 
 acclamations. The same discussion was renewed on both 
 sides with equal pertinacity. " Sir/' Bradshaw at length 
 said, " neither you nor any one else will be allowed to disr 
 pute the jurisdiction of this court; they sit here by the 
 supreme authority of the nation, the commons assembled in ' 
 parliament to whom your ancestors ever wei'e, and to whom 
 you are, accountable." 
 
 The king: " By your favour, show me one precedent." 
 
 Bradshaw rose angrily, and said: " Sir, we sit not here to 
 answer your questions. Plead to the charge; guUty, or not 
 guilty?"' 
 
 The king: " You have not heard my reasons." 
 
 Brsidshaw: " Sir, you have no reasons to give against the 
 highest of all jurisdictions." 
 
 The king: " Then show me tliis jurisdiction, in jfhich 
 reason is not heard." 
 
 Bradshaw: " Sir, iwe show it to you here; it is the com- 
 mons of England. Sergeant, take away the prisoner!" 
 
 The king turned suddenly round towards the people, and 
 
 ' State Trials, t. 1086, in the trial of tlie regicides, nnd particularly in that 
 cf Cook ; John Herne's evidence. 
 
422 . HISTORY OP THE 
 
 said: " Remember that the king of England suffers, being 
 not permitted to give Ms reasons for tlie liberty of the 
 people!" and an aLmost general cry arose: " God save the 
 king!"i 
 
 The next sitting, on the 23rd of January, exhibited the 
 same scenes; the sympathy of the people for the king became 
 daily more earnest ; in vain did the irritated officers and 
 sol(Hers shout the menacing cry of "Justice! Execution!" 
 the intimidated crowd were silent for a moment; but, upon 
 some fresh incident, forgot their alarjn, and " God save 
 the king!" echoed on all sides. It was even heard among thfe 
 troops: on the 23rd, as the king was leaving after the rising of 
 the court, a soldier of the guard cried aloud, " Sire, God bless 
 you!" An officer struck him with his cane. " Sir," said the king, 
 " the punishment exceeds the offence."^ At the same time 
 representations were sent from abroad, and proceedings 
 taken, not very formidable, it is true, and most of them 
 not very urgent, but stiU fanning the flame of pubHo indigna- 
 tion. The French minister delivered to the commons (Jan. 3) 
 a letter from the queen, Henrietta-Maria, soliciting permission 
 to come and join her husband, either to persuade him to yield 
 to their wishes or to give him the consolations of affection.^ 
 The prince of Wales wrote to Fairfax and to the council of 
 officers, in the hope of awakening in their breasts some feel- 
 ing of loyalty.^ The Scottish commissioners officially pro- 
 tested in the name of that kingdom, against all that was going 
 on (Jan. 6 and 22).^ The early arrival of an extraordinary 
 embassy from the States, sent .to interpose in the king's 
 favour, was announced; already John Cromwell, an officer 
 in the service of the Dutch, and cousin to Oliver, was in 
 London, besetting the lieutenant-general with almost threat- 
 ening reproaches.^ The printing of a manuscript entitled 
 Royal Siffhs, the production, it was said, of the king himself, 
 and of a nature to excite an insurrection for his deliverance, 
 was discovered and its publication stopped.' On all sides, in 
 
 « State Trials, v. 1086. » Herbert, 114 « Clarendon, iii. 368. 
 
 ♦ lb. 296. » Pari. Hist. iii. 1377, &o. 
 
 ' Banis, Critioal Eeview, &o., 103 ; Mark Noble, Memoirs of the Protea- 
 toral House, &c., i. SO. 
 
 ' Tlie famous ElkHv Boo-iXik^. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOXiUTioN. 433 
 
 a word, if not great obstacles, at least new causes of fermenta- 
 tion pose, which would assuredly disappear, the republi- 
 cans promised themselves, as soon as- the question should 
 be put to an end ; but which, so long as it remained in 
 suspense, rendered every day's delay more embarrassing and 
 perilous. 
 
 They resolved to relieve themselves at once from this 
 situation, to cut short any further debate, and that the Ifing 
 should only appear again to receive his sentence. Whether 
 from a lingering respect for legal forms, or to produce, if re- 
 quired, new proofs of Charles's bad faith in the negotiations, 
 the court employed the 24th and 25th in collecting evidence 
 from thirty-two witnesses. On the 25th, at the dose of their 
 sitting, and almost without any discussion, they voted the 
 king's condemnation as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and enemy 
 to the country. Scqtt, Martyn, Harrison, Lisle, Say, Ireton, 
 and Love, were charged to draw up the sentence. There 
 were only forty-six members present that day. On the 26th, 
 sixty-two members being assembled with closed doors, the 
 form of the sentence was determined upon after some discus- 
 sion. The court adjourned to the following day, then to pro- 
 nounce it. On the 27th, at noon, after two hours' conference 
 in the painted chamber, the sitting began, according to cus- 
 tom, by calling over the names; when Fairfax's was called. 
 " He has too much wit to be here!" exclaimed the voice of a 
 woman from the gallery. After a moment's surprise and 
 hesitation, the clerk proceeded: sixty-seven members were 
 present. When the king entered the hall,, a violent cry of 
 "Execution! Justice! Execution!" was raised. The soldiers 
 were very excited, Axtell, who commanded them, animating 
 iheir shouts; a few groups scattered here and there about the 
 •hall joined in these clamours; but the crowd was silent and 
 in consternation. 
 
 "Sir," said the Idng to Bradshaw, before he sat down, 
 " I shall ask to speak a word; I hope I shall not give you 
 occasion to interrupt me." 
 
 Bradshaw: "You shall answer in your turn; first listen to 
 the court." 
 
 The king: " Sir, by your favour, I desire to be heard. It 
 is but a' word. An immediate judgment " 
 
424 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Bradshaw: " Sir, you shall be heard in fit time; you must 
 ■first hear the court." 
 
 The king: " Sir, I desire .... what I have to say is con- 
 cerning that which the court is, I think, about to pronounce; 
 and it is not easy, sir, to recall a precipitate judgment." 
 
 Bradshaw: " You will be heard, sir, before judgment is 
 passed. Till then you must abstain from speaking." 
 
 On hearing this promise some serenity re-appeared on the 
 king's countenance; he sat down: Bradshaw went on: 
 
 " Gentlemen, it is well known to you all that the prisoner 
 here at the bar has several times been brought before the 
 court to answer a charge of high treason and other great 
 crimes, brought against him in the name of the people of 
 England—" 
 
 " It's a lie! Not one half of them,'' cried the same voice 
 which had answered at the name of Fairfax: " Where are 
 they or their consents? Oliver Cromwell is a traitor!" 
 
 The whole assembly was startled: all eyes were turned 
 towards the gallery. " Down with the w — ,^' cried Axtell; 
 ■" shoot them !" The speaker was soon found to be lady 
 Fairfax.' 
 
 A general excitement arose: the soldiers, though numer- 
 ously interspersed with the crowd, and using little ceremony, 
 had much difficulty in repressing it: order being at length 
 ■somewhat re-established, Bradshaw recited the king's obsti- 
 nate refusal to answer to the charge, the notoriety of the 
 crimes imputed to him, and then declared that the court were 
 ■agreed as to the sentence, but consented, before pronouncing 
 it, to hear the prisoner's defence, provided he would desist 
 ■from denying their jurisdiction. 
 
 " I ask," said the king, " to be heard in the painted cham- 
 ber, by the lords and commons, on a proposal which is of far 
 greater importance to the peace of the kingdom and the 
 liberty of my subjects than to my own preservation." 
 
 Deep agitation pervaded the court and the assembly: 
 friends and enemies all endeavoured to imagine -with what 
 intention the king requested this conference with the two 
 houses, and what he could have to propose to them; a thou- 
 sand different suggestions went about; the majority seemed 
 
 ' State Trials, 1150 ; Evidence of sir Purbeck Temple. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 425 
 
 -to think that he wished to abdicate the crown in favour of his 
 eon. But whatever it might be that he intended, the per- 
 plexity of the court was extreme; the party, notwithstanding 
 their triumph, did not feel itself in a position either to lose 
 time or to run fresh hazards; among the judges themselves, 
 some indecision was perceptible. To escape the peril, Brad- 
 shaw maintained that th^ king's request was only a trick still 
 -to escape the jurisdiction of the court; a long and close debate 
 took place between them on this subject. Charles again and 
 again insisted, n^pre and more urgently, on being heard; but 
 on each occasion the soldiers round him became more and 
 more noisy and abusive; some lit their pipes and blew the 
 smoke towards him; others murmured in coarse terms at 
 the slowness of the trial; AxteU laughed and joked aloud. 
 In vain did the king several times turn towards them, and 
 sometimes by gesture, sometimes by words seek to obtain a 
 few moments of attention or at least of silence; he was an- 
 swered by the cries: "Justice! Execution!" At length, 
 deeply agitated, almost beside himself: " Hear me! hear me!" 
 he cried, in passionate accents ; the same shouts were re- 
 newed:' suddenly an unexpected movement exhibited itself 
 among the judges. Colonel Downs, one of the members of 
 the court, became violently agitated and sought to rise from 
 his chair; in vain did the colleague on each side, Cawley and 
 colonel Wanton, seek to keep him down, and compose him: 
 " Have we hearts of stone?" he said; "are we men?" "You 
 will ruin us and yourself," said Cawley. " No matter," re- 
 plied Downs, " if I die for it, I must do it." On hearing this, 
 Cromwell, who sat beneath him, suddenly turned round: 
 " Colonel," said he, " are you yourself? What mean you? 
 Can't you be quiet?" " Sir," answered Downs; " no, I can- 
 not be quiet;" and immediately rising, he said to the presi- 
 dent: " My lord, I am not satisfied to give my consent to this 
 sentence, and have reasons to offer to you against it, and I 
 desire the court may adjourn to hear me, and deliberate." 
 " If any one of the court," gravely answered Bradshaw, " be 
 u\isatisfled, the court must adjourn;" and they all imme- 
 diately passed into an adjoining room. 
 
 They were no sooner there than CromweU roughly assailed 
 
 » State Trials, v. 1150, 1151 ; in AxteU's Trial. 
 
426 HisToat OF thB 
 
 the colonel, upbraiding him for the difficulty and confusion 
 in which he was involving the court. Downs defended him- 
 self with agitation, alleging that perhaps the king's proposals 
 would be satisfactory, that, after all, what they had sought, 
 w;hat they stiU sought, were good and solid guarantees; that 
 they ought not to refuse, without knowing what they were, 
 those which the king wished to offer; that they owed it to him 
 at least to hear him, and to respect, in his person, the ordi- 
 nary rules of common justice. Cromwell heard him with 
 rude impatience, moving round and round him, and inter- 
 rupting him at every word: " At last," said he, " we see 
 what great reason the gentleman had to put such a trouble 
 and disturbance upon us; sure, he doth not know that he hath 
 to do with the hardest hearted man that lives upon the earth. 
 However, it is not fit that the court should be hindered from 
 their duty by one peevish man. The bottom of all this is 
 known; he would fain' save his old master; let us, without 
 more add, go back and do our duty."' In vain did colonel 
 Harvey and some others support the opinion' of Do'wns; the 
 discussion was speedily repressed; in half an hour, the court 
 returned to the hall, and Bradshaw declared to the king that 
 they rejected his proposition.' 
 
 Charles seemed quite overcome, and renewed the applica- 
 tion but hesitatingly; " If you have nothing more to say," 
 said Bradshaw, " we shall proceed to sentence." " Sir, I 
 have nothing more to say," replied the king; "butlshaU 
 desire that what I have said may be entered." Bradshaw, 
 without answering, told him he was about to , hear his sen- 
 tence; but before having it read, he addressed to the king a 
 long speech, a solemn apology for the conduct of parliament, 
 in which all the king's faults were set forth, and all the evils 
 of the civil war cast upon him alone, since his tyranny 
 had made resistance a duty as weU as a necessity. His lan- 
 guage was stern, bitter, but grave, godly, free from insult, 
 the result of a conviction e'ddently profound, though blended 
 'witt somewhat of vindictive emotion. , The king listened 
 ■without interrupting him, grave as himself. Yet, as the 
 speech drew near its- conclusion, a visible agitation took 
 
 • State Trials, T. 1197, 1205, 12] 1, 1218; in the trials of HaiTey, 
 Bobert LUlburne, Dowries, aad 'Wayte, and from the niUTii1,ive of the ac- 
 cused themselves. " - ^ 
 
ENGLISH RJSVOLUTJON. 427 
 
 possession of him; as soon as Bradshaw' stopped, he attempted 
 to speak. Bradshaw opposed it, and gave orders to the clerk 
 to read the sentence; when he had done: " The sentence now 
 read and published," he said, " is the act, sentence, judgment, 
 and resolution of the whole court;" and the whole court stood, 
 up in sign of assent. " Sir," suddenly exclaimed the king, 
 " YKiU you hear me a word?" 
 
 Bradshaw : " Sir, you are not to be heard after the sen- 
 tence." 
 
 The king: « No, sir?" 
 
 Bradshaw: " No, sir, by your favour. Guards, withdraw 
 the prisoner!" 
 
 The king: " I may speak after sentence, by your favour, 
 sir; I may speak after my sentence, ever. By your favour.'' 
 (" Hold!" said Bradshaw.) "■ The sentence, sir,-— — I say, sir, 
 
 I do 1 am not suffered to speak: expect what justice other 
 
 people will have!" 
 
 The soldiers here surrouiided him, and removing him from 
 the bar, carried him with violence to the place where bis 
 sedan waited for him; as he went down the stairs, he had to 
 endure the grossest insults; some threw their lighted pipes in 
 his way; others blew the smoke of their tobacco in his face; 
 all cried close to him, " Justice! execution!"' Yet the people 
 still mixed up with these cries, the shout, " God save your 
 majesty! God deliver your majesty from the hands of your 
 enemies!" and till hethad seated himself in the sedan, the 
 bearers stood with their hats off, notwithstanding Axtell's 
 orders to the contrary, who even struck them for their dis- 
 obedience. They set out for Whitehall; the troops lined each 
 side of the road ; before the shops, at every door, every 
 window, there was a crowd of people, most of them siient, 
 some weeping, others praying aloud for the king. Every few 
 minutes, the soldiers, to celebrate their triumph, renewed the 
 cry, "Justice! Justice! Execution!" But Charles had re- 
 gained his accustomed serenity; and, too proud to beheve in 
 
 ^ State Triajs, V. 1151, in Axtell's trial. A 'witness deposed, on the trial 
 of Augastin Garland, one of the judges, that he had seen him at the foot of 
 the stairs spit in the king's face. Garland absolutely denied it, and the 
 judges, did not insist. Herbert, who accompanied the king, does not 
 mention it either. I have not, therefore, thought proper to mention it as 
 authentic, though Warwick, who had almost all the details inserted in hjis 
 memoirs from bishop Juxouj expressly affirms it. 
 
428 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the sincerity of their hatred, said, as he came out of the chair: 
 "Poor souls, for a piece of money they would do so for their 
 commanders!"' 
 
 As soon as he arrived at Whitehall; "Hark ye!" said he 
 to Herbert, " my nephew, the prince elector, and some other 
 lords that love me, will endeavour to see me, which I would 
 take in good part, but my time is short and precious, and I 
 am desirous to improve it the best I may; I wish to employ 
 it in preparation; I hope they will not take it ill, that none 
 have access to me but my children. The best office they 
 i'an now do me is to pray for me." He asked to see his 
 younger children, the princess «Elizabeth and the duke of 
 Gloucester, who had remained in charge of parliament, and 
 Juxon, bishop of London, of whom he had already, through 
 the intervention of Hugh Peters, obtained religious assistance. 
 Both requests were granted. Next day, the 28th, the bishop 
 went to St. James's, whither Charles had been transferred; 
 when he saw the king, he burst into an agony of grief: 
 "Leave off this, my lord," said Charles; " we have not tim^ 
 for it; let us think of our great work, and prepare to meet 
 that great God, to whom, ere long, I am to give an account 
 of myself. I hope I shall do it with peace, and that you will 
 assist me therein. We will not talk of these rogues, in whose 
 hands I am; they thirst after my blood, and they will have 
 it, and God's will be done! I thank God, I heartily forgive 
 them; and I will talk of them no more." He passed the rest 
 of the day in pious conference with the bishop; it was with 
 great difficulty he obtained permission to be left alone in his 
 room, where, at first, colonel Hacker had posted two soldiers; 
 and, as it was, all the while Juxon was with him, the door 
 was opened every few minutes by the sentinel on duty, to 
 make sure that the king was there. As he had anticipated,^ 
 his nephew the prince-elector, the duke of Richmond, the 
 marquis of Hertford, the earls of Southampton and Lindsey, 
 and other old servants, came to see him; but he did not 
 receive them. Mr. Seymour, a gentleman in the service of the 
 prince of Wales, arrived the saihe day from the Hague,* 
 
 > State Trials, iv. 1330 ; Herbert, Memoirs, 114. 
 
 " According to Tomlinson's evidence (State Trials, v. 1179), it was on 
 the day of liis death, and at Whitehall, that the king received Mr. Seymour ; 
 I have followed Herbert's account — Memoirs, vt sup. 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION 429 
 
 bearer of a letter from the prince; the king ordered him to be 
 admitted, read the letter, threw it into the' fire, gave kis 
 answer to the messenger, and sent him away immediately. 
 Next day, the 29th, almost at dawn of day, the bishop 
 returned to St. James's. Morning prayer over, the king pro- 
 duced a box, containing broken crosses of the order of St; 
 George and of the garter: " You see," he said to Juxoh, " all 
 tlie wealth now in my power to give my two children." The 
 children were then brought to him; on seeing her father, the 
 princess Elizabeth, twelve years old, burst into tears; the 
 duke of Gloucester, who was only eight, wept also when 
 he Saw his sister weeping; Charles took them upon his knees, 
 divided his jewels between them, consoled his daughter, 
 gave her advice as to the books she was to read to streligthen 
 herself against popery, charged her to tell her brothers that he 
 had forgiven his enemies, her mother that in thought he had 
 ever been with her, and that to the last hour he loved her as 
 dearly as on their marriage day; then turning towards the 
 little duke: " My dear heart," he said, " they will soon cut 
 off thy father's head." The child looked at him fixedly and 
 earnestly: " Mark, child, what I say; they will cut off my 
 head, and perhaps make thee king; but mark what I say, 
 thou must not be king so long as thy brothers Charles and 
 James live, but they wiU cut off thy brothers' heads if they 
 can catch them; and thine, too, they will cut off at last! 
 Therefore, I charge thee, do not be made a king by them." 
 " I will be torn in pieces first!" replied the chiFd, with great 
 emotion. Charles fervently kissed him, put him down, kissed 
 his daughter, blessed them both, and called upon God to 
 bless them; then suddenly rising: " Have them taken away," 
 he said to Juxon; the children sobbed aloud; the king, stand- 
 ing with his head pressed against the window, tried to sup- 
 press his tears; the door opened, the children were going 
 out, Charles ran from the window, took them again in his 
 arms, blessed them once more, and at last teariflg himself 
 from their caresses, fell upon his knees and began to pray 
 with the bishop and Herbert, the only witnesses of this 
 deeply painful scene.' 
 
 On the same morning the high court had met, and ap- 
 
 ' Bu3liwortli, ii. d, 1398 • JoumolSi Commons, Jim. 20. 
 
430 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 pointed the execution to take place next day, January 30, 
 between ten and five o'clock; but wben it became necessary 
 to sign the fatEil order, it was with great difficulty the com- 
 missioners could be got together; in vain two or three of the 
 most determined stood outside the door, stopped such of their, 
 colleagues as were passing by towards the house of commons, 
 and called upon them to come and affix their names.' Several 
 even of those who had voted for the condemnation kept out of 
 the way, or expressly refused to sign. Cromwell himself, gay, 
 noisy, daring as ever, gave way to his usual coarse buffi)onery ; 
 after having signed himself — he was ikp third to do so — he 
 smeared with ink Henry Martyn's face who sat by him, and 
 who inmiediately did the same, to him. Colonel Ingoldsby, 
 his cousin, who had been appointed a member of the court, 
 but had never taken his seat, accidentally came into the hall: 
 " This time," said Cromwell, " he shaU not escape;" and, 
 laughing aloud, he seized Ingoldsby, and with the assistance 
 of a few other members, put the pen betwefen his fingers, 
 and guiding his hand, obliged Mm to sign .^ Fifty-nine sig- 
 natures were at last collected; many, either from agitation 
 or design, such mere scrawls that it was almost imJ)ossible to 
 make them out. The order wa^ addressed to colonel Hacker, 
 colonel Huncks, and lieutenant Phayre, who were charged to 
 see to the execution. Hitherto the ambassadors extraordi- 
 nary from the States, Albert Joachim and Adrien Pauw, 
 who had been five days in London, had vainly solicited an 
 audience of J)arliament; neither their official request, nor 
 their private applications to Fairfax, Cromwell, aind some 
 other officers, had obtained it for them. They were sud- 
 denly informed, about one o'clock, that they would be re- 
 ceived at two by the lords, at three by the commons. They 
 went immediately, and delivered their message; an answer 
 "^vas promised them, and as they returned- to their lodgings 
 they saw commencing, in front of Whitehall, the preparations 
 for the execution. ' They had received visits from the French 
 and Spanish ambassadors, but neither would join in their pro- 
 ceedings; the first satisfied himself with protesting, that for a 
 
 1 State Tj-ials, V. 1219 ; Thomas Way te's trial, 
 * Harris, Life of Cromwell, 801 ; Mark Noble's Memoirs of tlie Proteo • 
 toral House, i. 118. 
 
ENGUSH REVOLUTION. A'd\ 
 
 long time past he had foreseen this deplorable event and 
 done all in his power to avert it; the other said he had not 
 yet received orders from his court to interfere in the matter, 
 though he every hour expected them. Next day, the 30th, 
 about twelve, a second interview with Fairfax, in the house 
 of his secretary, gave the Dutch ambassadors a gleam of hope; 
 the general had been moved by their representations, and, 
 seeming at length resolved to rouse himself from his inaction, 
 promised to go immediately to Westminster, to solicit at least 
 a reprieve. But as they left him, before the very house in 
 which they had conversed with him, they met a body of 
 cavalry, clearing the way; all the avenues to Whitehall, aU 
 the adjacent streets, were equally fiUed with them; on aU 
 sides they heard it said that everything was ready, and that 
 the king would soon arrive.' 
 
 And so it was: early in the morning, in a room at White- 
 Ball, beside the bed from which Ireton and Harrison had not 
 yet risen, Cromwell, Hacker, Huncks, Axtell, and Phayre 
 had assembled to draw up the last act of this fearful 
 protfeeding, the order to the executioner . " Colonel," said 
 Cromwell to Huncks, " it is you who must write and 
 sign it." Huncks obstinately refused: " What a stubborn 
 grumbler!" said Cromwell. " Colonel Huncks," said Axtell, 
 " I am ashamed of you; the ship is now coming into the har- 
 bour, and wiU you strike sail before we come to anchor?" 
 Huncks persisted in his refusal; Cromwell, muttering between 
 his teeth, sat down, wrote the order himself and presented it to 
 colonel Hacker, who signed it without objection.^ 
 
 Nearly at the same moment, after four hours' profound 
 sleep, Charles left his bed: " I have a great work to do this 
 day," he said to Herbert; " I must get up immediately;" and 
 he sat down at his dressing-table. Herbert, in his agitation, 
 combed his hair with less care than usual: "I pray you," 
 
 ' ' These details are taken from the correspondence of the ambassadors 
 themselves with the States, of which a translation is appended to the present 
 volume. They prove how doubtful, notwithstanding Herbert's narrative, 
 Whom in other respects Mr. Godwin is wrong in disbelieving, is the anec- 
 dote after which almost all the historians have related that Ireton and 
 Harrison had passed the time in prayers with Fairfax to conceal from hirn 
 wliat was going on. 
 
 2 State Trials, v. 1148—1180; Axtell and Hacker's trial. 
 
HISTORY or Tnr 
 
 said the king, " though my head be not long to remain' 
 on my shoulders, take the same pains with it as usual; 
 let me be as trim to-day as may be; this is my second 
 marriage day; for before night I hope to be espoused 
 to my blessed Jesus." As he was dressing, he asked tO: 
 have a shirt on more than ordinary: "The season is 
 SO sharp," he said, " as may make me shake, which some 
 observers will imagine proceeds from fear. I would have no 
 such imputation; I fear not death; death is not terrible to 
 me. I bless my God I am prepared." At daybreak the 
 bishop arrived and commenced the holy service; as he- 
 was reading, in the 27th chsiptet of the gospel according, 
 to St. Matthew, the passion of Jesus Christ, the king^ asked 
 him : " My lord, did you choose this chapter as being : 
 applicable to my present condition?" "May it please your, 
 majesty," said the bishop, "it is, the proper lesson for the 
 day, as the calendar indicates." The king appeared deeply 
 affected, and contiijued his prayers with even greater fervour. 
 Towards ten, a gentle knock was heard at the door; Herbert 
 did not stir; a second knock was heard, rather louder, but 
 still gentle: " Go and see who is there," said the king: it 
 was colonel Hacker: "Let him come in," said the king. 
 " Sir," said the colonel, with a low and half-trembling voice, 
 "it is time to go to Whitehall; but you will have some 
 further time to rest there." " I will go dirpctly," answered 
 Charles; "leave me." Hacker went out: the king occupied 
 a few moments more in mental prayer; then, taking the 
 bishop by the hand: "Come," said he, "let us go; Herbert,, 
 open the door. Hacker is knocking again;" and he went 
 down into the park, through which he was to proceed to 
 Whitehall. 
 
 Several companies of infantry were drawn up there, form- 
 ing a double Une on each side of his way; a detachment of, 
 halberdiers marched on before, with banners flying; the 
 drums beat; not a voice could be heard for the noise. On the 
 right of the king was the bishop; on 'the left, uncovered, 
 colonel Tomlinson, the qfficer in command of the guard, 
 whom Charles, touched by his attentions, had requested not 
 to leave him till the last moment. He talked with him, on 
 the way, of his funeral, of the persons to whom he wished th& 
 care of it to be entrusted, his countenance serene, his eye 
 
ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 435 
 
 beaming, his step finn, walking even faster than the troops, 
 and blaming their slowness. One of the oflScers on ser- 
 vice, doubtless thinking to agitate him, asked him whether 
 he had not concurred with the late duke of Buckingham in the 
 death of the king his father: "Friend," answered Charles, 
 with gentle contempt, " if I had no other sin, I speak it with, 
 reverence to God's majesty, I assure thee I should never ask 
 him pardon."' Arrived at Whitehall he ascended the stairs 
 with a light step, passed through the great gallery into his 
 bed-room, where he was left alone with the bishop, who was 
 preparing to administer the sacrament. Some independent 
 ministers, Nye and Goodwin among others, came and knocked 
 at the door, saying that they wished to offer their services to 
 the king: "The king is at prayers," answered Juxon: they 
 still insisted. "Well, then," said Charles to the bishop, 
 " thank them from me for the tender of themselves, but tell 
 them plainly, that they that so often causelessly prayed 
 against me, shall not pray with me in this agony. They 
 may, if they please, I'U thank them for it, pray for me." 
 They retired; the king knelt, received the communion from 
 the hands of the bishop, then rising with cheerfulness: " Now," 
 said he, "let the rogues come; I have heartily forgiven 
 them, and am prepared for all I am to undergo." His dinner 
 had been prepared; he declined taking any: "Sire," said 
 Juxon, "your majesty has long been fasting; it is cold; per- 
 haps on the scaffold some faintness ." ^" You are right," 
 
 said the king, and he took a piece of bread and a glass of 
 wine. It was now one o'clock: Hacker knocked at the door; 
 Juxon and Herbert fell on their knees: " Else, my old friend," 
 said Charles, holding out his hand to the bishop. Hacker 
 knocked again; Charles ordered the door to be opened; " Go 
 on," said he, "I follow you." He advanced through the 
 banqueting hall, stiU between a double rank of soldiers; a 
 multitude of men and women, who had rushed in at the peril 
 of their lives, stood motionless behind the guard, praying for 
 the king as he passed, uninterrupted by the soldiers, them- 
 selves quite silent. At the extremity of the hall an opening 
 made in the wall led straight upon the scaffold, which was 
 hung with black; two men, dressed as sailors and masked, stood. 
 
 > Warwick, 342. ' 
 F F 
 
434 , HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Tjy the axe. The- king stepped out, Ms head erect, and look- 
 ing around for the people, to address them; but the troops 
 occupied the whole space, so that none could approach: he 
 turned towards Juxon and Tomlinson: "I cannot be he^rd 
 by many but yourselves," he said, " therefore to you I will 
 address a few words;" and he delivered to them a short 
 speech which he had prepared, grave and calm, even to 
 coldness, its sole purport being to show that he had acted 
 right, that contempt of the rights of the sovereign was 
 the true cause of the people's misfortunes, that the people 
 ought to have no share in the government, that upon this 
 condition alone would the country regain peace and its 
 liberties. While he was speaking, some one touched the 
 axe; he turned round hastily, saying: "Do not spoil the axe, 
 it would hurt me more;" and again, as he was abrfut to con- 
 clude his address, some one else again approaching it: " Take 
 care of the axe, take care!" he repeated^ in an agitated tone. 
 The most profound silence prevailed: he put a silk cap upon 
 his head, and addressing the executioner, said: "Is my hair in 
 the way?" " I beg your majesty to put it under your cap," 
 replied the man, bowing. The king, with the help of the 
 bishop, did so. " I have on my side a good cause and a mer- 
 ciful God!" he said to his venerable servant. Juxon: "Yes, 
 sire, there is but one stage more: it is full of trouble and 
 anguish, but it is a very short one; and consider, it wiU carry 
 you a "great way; it wUl carry you from earth to heaven!" 
 The king: " I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible 
 crown, where I shall have no trouble to fear !" and, turning 
 towards the executioner: " Is my hair right?" He took off 
 his cloak and George, and gave the George to Juxon,«aying: 
 " Eemember."! He then took off his coat, put on his cloaJt 
 again, and looking at the block, said to the executioner: 
 " Place it so it may be jSrm." " It is firm, sir." The king: 
 " I will say a short prayer, and when I hold out my hands, 
 
 then " 
 
 He stood in meditation, murmured a few words to himself, 
 raised his eyes to heaven, knelt down, and laid his head upon 
 the block; the executioner touched his hair to put it still 
 further under his cap; the king thought he was going ta 
 
 » It WHS never known to what the king alluded. 
 
ENGLISH EEVOLUyiON, 4o6 
 
 Strike; " "Wait for the signal," he said. " I shall wait- for it,, 
 sir, with the good pleasure of your majesty." In a minute 
 the king held out his hands; the executioner struck; the 
 head fell at a hlow: " This is the head of a traitor!" cried' 
 he, holding it up to the people; a long deep groan arose from 
 the multitude; many persons rushed to the scaffold to dip 
 their handkerchiefs in the king's blood. Two troops of 
 horse advancing in different directions, slowly dispersed 
 the crowd. The scaffold being cleared, the body was taken 
 away: it was already enclosed in the coflin when Cromwell 
 desired to see it; he looked at it attentively, and, raising the 
 head, as if to make sure that it was indeed severed from the 
 body; " This," he said, " was a well-constituted frame, and 
 which promised a long life."' 
 
 The coffin remained exposed for seven days at Whitehall; 
 an immense concourse pressed round the door, but few ob- 
 tained leave to go in. On the 6th of February, by order of 
 the commons, it was delivered to Herbert and Mildmay, with 
 authority to bury it in Windsor castle, in St. George's chapel, 
 where Henry the Eighth lies. The procession was decent, 
 though without pomp; six horses covered with black cloth 
 drew the hearse; four coaches followed, two of which, also 
 hung with black cloth, conveyed the king's latest servants, 
 those who had followed him to the Isle of Wight, Next 
 day, the 8th, with the consent of the commons, the duke of 
 Eichaond, the marquis of Hertford, the earls of Southampton 
 and Lindsey, and bishop Juxon, arrived at Windsor, to assist 
 at the funeral; they had engraved on the coffin these words 
 only: — 
 
 CHARLES, EEX, 
 1648.2 
 
 As they were removing the body from the interior of the castle 
 to the chapel, the weather, hitherto clear and serene, changed 
 all at once: snow fell in abundance; it entirely covered the 
 black velvet pall, and the king's servants, with a melancholy 
 satisfaction, viewed in this sudden whiteness of their unhappy 
 
 1 Noble, i. 118. 
 2 Old Style. The English year, notbeiug as yet regulated by the Grego- 
 rian Calendar, then began on the 24th of March; January 30th, 1648, the 
 day of Charles's death, corresponds Tvith "'ir flth of February, 1649. 
 F F 2 
 
436 HISTORT OF THE ENGLISH EEVOLUTION. 
 
 master's coffin, a symbol of his innocence. On the arrival of 
 the procession at the place selected for sepulture, bishop 
 Juxon was preparing to ofS.ciate according to the rites of the 
 English church, but Whychcott, the governor of the castle, 
 would not permit this: " The liturgy decreed by parliament," 
 he said, " is obligatory for the king as for all." They sub- 
 mitted; no religious ceremony took place, and the coffin being 
 lowered into the vault, all left the chapel, and the governor 
 closed the door. The house of commons called for an account 
 of the expense of the obsequies, and allowed five hundred 
 ^pounds to pay for them. On the day of the king's death, 
 l)efore any express had left London, they published an ordi- 
 nance, declaring whomsoever should proclaim in his stead 
 and as his successor " Charles Stuart his son, commonly 
 called prince of Wales, or any other person whatsoever, a 
 traitor."' On the 6th February, after a long discussion, 
 and notwithstanding a division of twenty-nine to forty- 
 ■four, the house of lords was solemnly abolished.^ Finally, 
 the next day, the 7th, a decree was adopted, running thus: 
 ■" It hath been found by experience, and this house doth de- 
 clare, that the office of a king, in this nation, and to have the 
 power thereof in any single person, is unnecessary, burthen- 
 some, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public interest 
 <of the people of this nation, and therefore ought to be abo- 
 lished;"^ and a new great seal was engraved,* bearing on 
 one side a map of England and Ireland, with the arms of the 
 two countries; and on the reverse, a representation of the 
 liouse of commons sitting, with this inscription, suggested by 
 Henry Martyn: " The first year of liberty restored by the 
 blessing of God, 1648." 
 
 1 Pail. Hist. iii. 1281. « lb. 1284. a j],. iggs. 
 
 ' The order was given as early as the 9th of February ; Pail, Hist. iii. 
 1288. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS & HISTOEICAL DOCUMENTS^ 
 
CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX. 
 
 I. Symptoms of the spirit of opposition and liberty in the reign of 
 
 Elizabeth. , i 
 
 II. Writing found in the hat of Felton, the assassin of the Duke of 
 
 Buckingham. 
 III. Character of the administration of Strafford in Ireland. 
 ,IV. Fines imposed for the benefit of the crown, from 1629 to 1640. 
 V. Instructions from the king to the marquis of Hamilton respecting 
 the synod of Glasgow, in 1638. 
 VI. Oompositionof the army raised by the parliament in 1643. 
 VII. Employment of catholics in the royal army. 
 VIll. Petition against peace from the common council to the house of com- 
 mons, presented August 7, 1643. 
 TX. Petition in favour of peace, from the women of London, presented 
 
 A,ngust 9, 1643. 
 X. Declaration and justification of John Pym. 
 . XI. Letter from the king to prince Eupert, ordering him to relieve York. 
 
 XII. The self-denying ordinance, adopted April 3, 1643. 
 XIII. Extract from the minutes of the council held at Oxford, Dec. 5, 1644. 
 
 XIV. Cavalier songs against David Lesley and the Scottish troops recalled 
 
 from England to the assistajice of the Scottish presbyterians, who 
 had been defeated by Montrose. 
 
 XV. Inedited documents and despatches relative to the extraordinary em- 
 
 bassy sent to London, January, 1649, from the States-general of 
 the United Provinces, to intercede with the pai'liament in favoui; of 
 Charles the First. (Taken from the archives of the Hague.) ~ 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 ELUCIDATIONS & HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Symjotoms of the Spirit of Opposition and Liberty in the reign 
 of Elizabeth. 
 
 In tlie monti of November, 1S75, Mr. Peter Wentworth, a member of the 
 'house of commons, having made a speech in defence of the privileges of the 
 house, and especiaJly that of liberty of speech, was arrested by order of the 
 <iueen, and underwent before a committee of the house, on which sat several 
 privy councillors, the following examination, a curious record of the spiiit 
 of independence which began to manifest itself at this time, and of the ap- 
 probation which the very men entrusted with the taslc of repressing it, felt 
 themselves compelled to accord it. 
 
 " Committee. Where is your late speech you promised to deliver in 
 writing ? \ 
 
 ■Wentwobth. Here it ia, and I deliver it upon two conditions : first, that 
 Jou shall peruse it all, and if you can find any want of good wiU to my 
 prince and state in any part thereof, let me answer all as if I had uttered all. 
 The second is, that you shall deliver it unto the queen's majesty ; if lier 
 majesty, or you of her privy council, can find any want of love to her ma- 
 jesty or the state therein, also let me answer it. 
 
 Committee. We wiU deal with ro more than you uttered in the house. 
 
 Wektwobth. Your honours ca:. lot refuse to deliver it to her majesty; 
 for I do send it to her majesty as my heart and mind, knowing it will do 
 her majesty good ; it will hui-t no mtiu but myself. 
 
 Committee. Seeing your desire is to have us deliver it to her majesty, 
 we will deliver it. 
 
 Wentwoeth. 1 humbly require your honours to do so. 
 
 [Then, the speech being read, they went on:] 
 
 Committee. Here you have uttered certain rumours of the queen's mar 
 jesty : where and when heard you them ? 
 
 Wentwobth. If your honoius ast me as councillors to her majesty, 
 you shall pardon me — I will maie you no answer. I will do no such injury 
 
440 APPENDIX. 
 
 to the place from whence I came, for I am now no private persoK, I am a 
 public, and a councillor to the whole state in that place, where it is lawful 
 for me to speak my mind freely ; and not for you, as councillors, to call me 
 to account for anything that I do speak in the house ; and therefore if you 
 ask me as councillors to her majesty, you shall paxdon me, 1 will make no 
 answer ; but if you ask me as committees Irora the house, I will make you 
 the best answer I can. 
 
 Committee. We ask you as committees from the house. 
 
 Wentwoeth. I will then answer you ; and the willinger for that mine 
 answer will be in some part so imperfect, as of necessity it must be. Your 
 question consisteth of these two points : where and of whom I heard these 
 rumours. The place where 1 heard them was the parliament house ; but 
 of whom, I assure you, I cannot tell. 
 
 Committee. This is no answer, to say you cannot tell of whom, neither 
 •will we take it for any. 
 
 Wentwobth. Truly your honburs must needs take it for an answer, 
 •when I can make you no better. 
 
 Committee. Belike you have heai'd some speeches, in the town, of her 
 majesty's misliking of religion and succession ; you are loth to utter of 
 whom, and did use speeches thereupon. 
 
 Wektwobth. I can assure your honours, I can show you that speech at 
 my own house, written •with my hand two or three years ago. So that you 
 may thereby judge, tliat I did not speak it of anything that I heard since I 
 came to town. 
 
 Committee. You have answered that, but where heard you it, then? 
 
 Wentwobth. If your honours do think I speak for excuse' sake, let this 
 satisfy you : I protest before the living God, I cannot tell of whom I heard 
 these rumours ; yet I do verily think that I heard them of a hundred or two 
 in the house. 
 
 Committee. Then of so many you can name some? 
 
 Wentwobth. No, surely, because it was so general a speech, I marked 
 none ; neither do men mark speakers commonly when they he general ; 
 and I assure you, if I could tell, I would not. For I will never utter any- 
 thing told me, to the hurt of any man, when I am not enforced thereunto, 
 a.s in this case I may choose. Yet I would deal plainly with you, for I would 
 tell your honours so, and if your honours do not credit me, I will volun- 
 tarily take an oath, if you oifer me a book, that I cannot tell of whom I 
 heard those rumours. But if you oifer me an oath of your authorities, I will 
 refuse it ; because I will do nothing to infringe the liberties of the house. 
 But what need I to use these speeches ? I will give you an instance, where- 
 upon I heaid these rumours to your satisfying, even such a one as, if you 
 •will speak the truth, you shall confess you heard the same as well as I. 
 Committee. In so doing, we will be satisfied : what is that? 
 Wentwobth. The last parliament [ISth Eliz.], he that is now speaker 
 [Kobert Bell, Esq.], and who was also speaker in the first session of the 
 present pai'liament [14th Eliz.], uttered a very good speech for the calling 
 in of certain licences granted to four courtiers to the utter undoing of 6000 
 or 8000 of the queen's subjects. This speech was so disliked by some of 
 the council, that he was sent for ; and so hardly dealt •vrith, that he came 
 into the house with such an amazed countenance, that it daunted all the 
 louse in such sort that for ten', twelve, or sixteen days, there was nbt one 
 
APPEKDIX. 441 
 
 in the house that durst deal in any matter of importance. Aud in those 
 simple matters that they dealt iu, they spent more words and time in their 
 preamble, requiring that they might not he mistalten, than they did in the 
 matter they spake unto. This inconvenience grew unto the house by the 
 council's hard handling of the same good member, whereon this i-umour 
 grew in the house : ' Sirs, you may not speak against licences, the queen's 
 majesty will be angiy, the privy council, too, will be angry ;' and this rumour 
 I suppose there is not one of you here, but heaid it as well as I. I be- 
 seech your honours discharge your consciences herein as I do. 
 
 Committee. We heard it, we confess, and you have satisfied us in 
 this; but how say you to the hard interpretation you made of the message 
 that was sent into the house. [The words were recited.] We assure you 
 we never heard a harder interpretation of a message. 
 
 Wentwobth. I beseech your honours first, was there not such a mes - 
 sage sent into the house? 
 
 Committee. We grant that there was. 
 
 Wentwokth. Then I trust you will bear me record that I made it 
 not ; and I answer for tliat, so hard a message could not have too hard 
 an interpretation made by the wisest man in England. For can there, 
 by any possible means, he sent a harder message to a council gathered 
 together to serve God, than to say: "You shall' not seek to advance the 
 glory of God !" I am of this opinion ; that there cannot be a more wicked 
 message than it was. 
 
 Committee. You may not speak against messages, for none sendeth 
 them but the queen's majesty. 
 
 Wentwosth. If the message be against the glory of God, against the 
 prince's safety, or against the liberty of this parliament house, whereby the 
 state is maintained, I neither may nor will hold my peace. I cannot, in 
 so doing, discharge my conscience, whosoever doth send it. Aud 1 say, that 
 I heartily repent me, for that I have hitherto held my peace in these causes : 
 and I do promise you all, if God forsake me not, that I will never, during 
 life, hold my tongue if any message is sent wherein God is dishonoured, 
 the prince reviled, or the liberties of the parliament impeached ; and every 
 one of you here present ought to repent you of these faults, and to amend 
 them. 
 
 Committee. It is no new precedent to have the prince to send messages. 
 [There were two or three messages recited sent by two or three princes.] 
 
 Wektworth. Sirs, I say yon do very ill to allege precedents in this 
 order. You ought to allege good precedents, to comfort and emboldeni 
 men in good doings, and not evil precedents to discourage and terrify men 
 to do evil. 
 
 Committee. But what meant you to make so hard interpretation of 
 messages ? 
 
 Wentwobth. Surely, I marvel what you mean by asking this question. 
 Have I not said, so hard a message could not have too hard on interpreta- 
 tion ? And have I not set down the reason that moved me in my speech — 
 that is to say, that for the receiving and accepting that message, God has 
 passed so great indignation upon as, that he put into the queen's heart to 
 refuse good and wholesome laws for her own preservation, which caused 
 many loving and faithful hearts for grief to burst out with sorrowful tears j 
 and moved all papists, traitors to God, to her majesty, and to every good 
 
442 -APPENDIX. 
 
 Christian government, in tlieir sleeves to laugh the whole parliament'hoUSB 
 to scorn. Have I not thus said, and do not your honours think it so? 
 
 Committee. Yes, truly. But how durst you say, that the jueen had 
 unkindly abused herself against the nobility and people ? 
 
 Wentwoeth. I beseech your honours, tell me how far you can stretch 
 these words, of her unkindly abusing and opposing herself against her 
 majesty's nobility and people ? Can you apply them any further than I have 
 applied them — that is to say, in that her majesty called the parliament on 
 pui'pose to prevent traitorous perils to her person, and for no other cause ; 
 and in that her miyesty did send unto us two bills, willing us to take om 
 choice of that wc liked best for her majesty's safety, and thereof to make a 
 law, promising her royal consent thereunto ; and did we not first choose 
 the one, and her majesty refused it ? Yet did not we, nevertheless, receive 
 the other ? and agreeing to make a law thereof, did not her majesty in the 
 end refuse all our travails ? And did not the lord keeper, in her majesty's: 
 presence, in the beginning of the parliament, show this to be the occasion 
 that we were called together ? And did not her majesty in the end of the 
 pai-liament, refuse all our travails ? Is not this known to all here present, 
 and to all the parliament house also ? I beseech your honoms discharge 
 yoiu* consciences herein, and utter your knowledge simply as I do ; for, 
 in truth, herein did her majesty abuse her nobility and subjects, and did 
 oppose herself against them by the way of advice. 
 ■ Committee. Surely, we cannot deny H ; you say the truth. 
 ■ Wentwobth. Then, I beseech your honours, show me if it were not 
 a dangerous doing to her majesty in these two respects : first, in weaken- 
 ing, wounding, and discouraging the hearts of her majesty's loving and faith- 
 ful subjects, thereby to make theni the less able, or the more fearful and 
 unwilling, to serve her majesty another time ? On the other side, was it not 
 a raising up and encouraging the hearts of her majesty's hateful enemies 
 to adventure any desperate enterprise to her majesty's peril and danger. 
 
 Committee. We cannot deny but that it was very dangerous to her 
 majesty in these respects. 
 
 ■WestwokTh. Then, why do your honours ask, how I dare tell a truth, 
 to give the queen warning to avoid her danger ? I answer you thus : I do 
 thank the Lord my God that I never found fear in myself to give the 
 queen's majesty warning to avoid her danger ; be you all afraid thereof, if 
 you will, for I praise God I am not, and I hope never to live to see tia^ 
 day ; and yet I will assure your honours, that twenty times and more, 
 when I walked in my grounds, revolving this speech, to prepai'e against 
 this day, my own fearful conceit did say unto me, that this speech would 
 carry me to the place whither I shall now go, and fear Would have moved 
 me to put it out; when I Weighed, whether in good conscience, and the 
 duty of a faithful subject, I might keep myself out of prison and not 
 warn my prince of walking in a dangerous course, my conscience said unto 
 me, that I could not be a faithful subject if I had more respect to avoid 
 fey own danger than my prince's danger. Therewithal I was made bold, 
 and went foi-ward, as your honours heard ; yet when I uttered, those words 
 in the house, that there was none vrithout fault, no, not our noble queen, 
 I paused, and beheld all your countenances, and saw plainly that those 
 words did amaze you all ; then I was afraid with you for oompojiy, and 
 fear bade me to put out those words that foEowed, for your countenance^ 
 
APPENDIX, 443 
 
 did assure me, tiiat not one of you -would stay me of my jomney; yet the 
 consideration of a good conscience, and of a faithful subject, did malce me 
 bold to utter it in such sort as your honoui's heard. With this heart and 
 mind I spake it ; and I praise God for it ; and if it were to do again, I would 
 with the same mind, spealc it again. 
 
 Committee. Yea, but you might have uttered it in better terms : why 
 did you not so 1 
 
 Wentworth. Would you have me to have done fsa you of her majesty's 
 council do, to utter a weighty matter in such teims as she should not have 
 understood. To have made a fault then, it would have done her majesty no 
 good, and my interest was to do her good. 
 
 Committee. You have answered us. 
 
 Wentwoeth. Then 1 praise God for it. 
 
 And he bdwed. 
 
 Mb. Seckfoed. Mr. Wentworth will never acknowledge himself to maJce 
 a fiiiilt, nor say that he is sorry for anything he doth speak. You shall 
 hear none of these things come out of his mouth. 
 
 Westwobth. Mr. Seckford, I will never acknowledge that to be a fault 
 to love the queen's majesty while I live ; neither will I be sorry for giving 
 her majesty warning to avoid danger, while the breath is in my body. If 
 you do think it a fault to love her majesty, or to be sorry that her majesty 
 should have warning to avoid her danger, say so, for I cannot ; speak for 
 yourself, Mr. Seckford. — ^Parl. Hist. i. 794 — 7. 
 
 n. 
 
 iPwper found in the hat of Felton, the murderer of the 
 Duke of BucMnglmm. 
 
 The original writing still exists ; and Mr. Lingnid published it verbatim 
 ia. his History. It is as follows : — 
 
 ' " That man is Cowardly base, and deserveth not the name of a gentle- 
 man or Souldier that is notwillinge to sacrifice his life for the honor of his 
 God, his King, and his Countrie. Lett noe man commend me for doeinge' 
 of it, but rather discommend themselves as the cause of it ; for if God had 
 not taken ovr harts for ovr sinnes, he w^ not have gone so long yn- 
 punished." 
 
 "Jo. Feltoh." 
 — ^Lingard's History of England, ix. 394. 
 
 III. 
 
 Character of Lord Strafford's Administration in Ireland. 
 
 The letter, from which the following extract is taken, addressed by Straf- 
 ford to his intimate fiiend, sir Christopher Wandesford, master of the rolls 
 
444 APPENDIX. 
 
 ill Irelaud, gives an account of the manner in which he had answered to the 
 Mng and council the charges which had been brought against him : — 
 
 " I then craved admission to justify myself in some particulars wherein I 
 had been very undeservedly and bloodily traduced. 
 
 " So I related to them all that had passed betwixt myself, earl of St. 
 Albans, Wilmot, Mountnorris, Piers Crosby, and the jury of Galway, that 
 hereupon touching and rubbing in the course of my decree upon their 
 pai'ticulars, themselves and friends have endeavoured to possess the world I 
 was a severe and on austere, hard- conditioned man — ^rather, indeed, a bashaw 
 of Buda than the minister of a pious and Christian king. Howbeit, if I , 
 were not much mistaken in myself, it was quite the"contrary f no man could 
 show wherein I had expressed it in my nature, rio friend I had would charge 
 me with it in my private conversation, no creature had found it in the ma- 
 naging of my own private affairs, so as if 1 stood clear in all these respects, 
 it was to be confessed hy any equal mind, that it was not anything within, 
 but the necessity of his majesty's service, which enforced me into a seeming 
 strictness outwardly. And that was the reason, indeed ; for where I found a 
 Crown., a Church, and a people spoiled, I could not imagine to redeem 
 them from under the pressure with gracious smiles and gentlfe looks ; it 
 would cost warmer water than so. True It was, that where a dominion 
 was once gotten and sealed, it might he stayed and kept where it was by 
 soft and moderate counsels ; but where a sovereignty (be it spoken with 
 reverence) was going down the hill, the nature of a man did so easily slide 
 into the paths of an uncontrolled liberty, as it would not be brought back 
 without strength, nor be forced up the hill again but by vigour and force. 
 And true it was indeed, I knew no other rule to govern by, but by reward 
 and punishment; and I must profess, that where I found a person well and 
 entirely set for the service of my master, I should lay my hand under his 
 foot, and add to his respect and power all I might ; and that where I found 
 the contrary ; I should not dandle him in my arms, or soothe him in his 
 untoward humour, but if he came in my reach, so far as honour and justice 
 would warrant me, I must knock him soundly over tlie knuckles ; but no 
 sooner he become a new man, apply himself as he ought. to the government, 
 but I also change my temper, and express myself to him, as to that other, 
 by all the good ofSces I could do him. If this be sharpness, and this be 
 severity, I desired to be better instructed by his majesty and their lordships, 
 for, in truth, it did not seem so to me ; however, if I were once told that 
 his majesty liked hot to be thus served, I would readily conform myself, 
 and follow the bent and current of my own disposition, which is to be 
 quiet, not to have debates and disputes with scaj. < 
 
 " Here his majesty intemipted me, and said, that was severity ; wished 
 me to go on in that way, for if I served him otherwise, I should not serve 
 him as he expected from me." — Strafford's Letters and Despatches, ii. 20 . 
 
APPENDIX. 445 
 
 rv. 
 
 Fines imposed for tlie profit of the Crown from 1629 to ISiO. 
 
 1. Eicliard Chambers, for having refused to pay custom duties 
 
 not voted by parliament, fined £2,000 
 
 2. Hillyai-d, for having sold saltpetre ..... 5,000 
 
 3. Goodenougli, for the same cause 1,000 
 
 4. Sir James MaleVerer, for not having compounded with the 
 
 king's commissioners for the title of knighthood . . 3,000 
 
 - 6. The earl of Salisbury, for encroachments on the royal forests, 20,000 
 
 ■ 6. The eavl of Westmoreland, idem 19,000 
 
 7. Lord Newport, idem. ... . : . . . 3,000 
 
 8. Sir Christopher Hatton, idem / . . 12,000 
 
 9. Sir Lewis Watson, idem 4,000 
 
 1,0. Sir Anthony Cooper, for having changed arable into grass 
 
 land 4,000 
 
 11. Alexander Leighton, for a libel 10,000 
 
 12. Hemy Sherfleld for having broken some panes of stained gloss 
 
 in Salisbury Cathedral 500 
 
 13. John Overman, and several other soap makers, for not having 
 
 followed the king's orders in the fabrication and sale of soap, 13,000 
 
 14. John Eea ... 2,000 
 
 15. Peter Hern, and several others, for having exported gold . 8,100 
 
 16. Sir David Foulis and his son, for having spoken disrespect- 
 
 fully of the northern court 5,500 
 
 17. Prynne, for a libel 5,000 
 
 18. Buckner, censor, for having allowed Prynne's book to be pub- 
 
 lished .... .... 50 
 
 19. Michael Spaikes, printer, for having printed the said book . 500 
 
 20. Allison and Bobins, for having spoken ill of aichbishop Laud . 2,000 
 
 21. Bastwick, for a libel . . . , . . 1,000 
 
 22. PrjTine, Burton, and Bastwick, for libels .... 15,000 
 
 23. Piynne's servant, for the same cause 1,000 
 
 24. Bowyer, for having spoken against Laud . . , . 3,000 
 23. Yeomans and Wright, for dying silks improperly . . . 5,000 
 ,26. Savage, Weldon, and Burton, for having spoken ill of lord 
 
 Falkland, lord-Iieuteuant of Leland 3,500 
 
 27. Grenville, for speaking ill of the earl of SufiTolk . . 4,000 
 
 28. Favers, idem. . 1,000 
 
 29. Morley, for having abused and struck sir George Theobald, 
 
 within the precinct of the court 10,000 
 
 30. Williams, bishop of Lincoln, for having spoken ill of Laud . 10,000 
 
 31. Bernard, for having preached against the use of the crucifix . 1,000 
 33. Smart, for having preached against the ecclesiastical innovations 
 
 ' of Dr. Cozens, &c. . 500 
 
 jE 173,650 
 
 This list is far from being complete ; you may find a multitude of other 
 cases, amounting to a considerable sum, in Rushworth, vols. i. and ii. 
 
446 ' APPENDIX. 
 
 V. 
 
 Instructions sent by the King to the Marquis of Samilton,for the holding 
 of the Synod at Glasgow, in 1638. , . 
 
 "And OS for.tMs general assembly, though I can expect no good from it, 
 yet I hope yon may hinder much of the ill ; first, hy putting divisions among 
 them, concerning the legality of their elections, then by protestations against 
 their tumnltuovis proceedings." 
 
 And elsewhere : 
 
 "As for the. opinions of the' clergy to prorogue this assembly, I utterly 
 dislike them, for I skould, more hurt my reputation by not keeping it, than 
 their mad acts can prejudice my sei-rice; •wherefore I command you hold 
 year day : but, as you write, if you can break them by proving nullities in 
 their proceedings, nothing better." — Burnet, Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 
 (1677) 82, 88. ; ■ ■ 
 
 VI. 
 
 ■Composition of the Army rpised. hy Parliament in 1642.* 
 
 Generol-in-chief : Bobert Devereux, eail of Essex. 
 Major-general, (or, as that office was then called, Seijeant major-general), 
 sir John Merrick. 
 
 General of artillery : John Mordaiint, earl of Peterborough.' 
 
 Colonels oflnfantty Segiments. 
 
 The earl of Essex. 
 The earl of Peterborough. 
 Henry Grey,- eail of Stamford. 
 William Fiennes, viscount Say. 
 Edward Montague, viscount Man- 
 
 deville.' 
 John Carey, viscount Eochford.'' 
 Oliver St. John, viscount St. John. 
 Eobert Greville, lord Brook. 
 John Eoberts, lord Eoberts. 
 Philip AVharton, lord Wharton. 
 
 John Hampden, 
 Denzil Holies, 
 Sir- John Merrick, 
 Sir Henry Cholmomdley. 
 Sir William Constable, 
 Sir WilUam Fairfax, ' 
 Chaiies Essex. 
 Thomas Grantham. 
 Thomas Ballai-d. 
 William Bampfield. 
 
 ' From a pamphlet published in London in 1642, and entitled, " The List 
 of the Army raised under the command of his excellency Eobert earl of 
 Essex.". . , . , . 
 
 ' On the death of the earl of Peterborough, sir John Merrick became 
 general of the artillery, and Philip Skippon Was appointed major-general. 
 
 ' Lord Manchester, known also by the name of baron Kimbolton. 
 
 * Also called lord Hunsdon. 
 
 » A cousin of the celebrated sir Thomas Foixlas. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 447 
 
 Colonels of Troops of Horse.^ 
 
 The earl of Blssex. 
 
 The earl of Bedford. 
 
 The eaal of Peterboi'ougi. 
 
 The earl of Stamford. 
 
 Viscount Say. 
 
 Viscount St. John. 
 
 Basil Fielding, viscount Fielding.^ 
 
 Lord Brook. 
 
 Lord Wharton. 
 
 William Willoughby, lord Wil- 
 
 loughby of Parham. 
 Ferdinand Hastings, lord Hastings. 
 Thomas Grey, lord Grey of Groby, 
 Sir Wmiam Balfour. 
 Sir William Waller. 
 Sir Arthur Haslerig. , 
 
 Sir Walter Eai-1. 
 Sir Faithful Fortescue. 
 Nathaniel Fiennes. 
 Francis Fiennes. 
 John Fiennes. 
 Oliyer Cromwell. 
 Valentine Whaiton. 
 Heniy Ireton. 
 Arthur Goodwin. 
 John Palbier. 
 Adrian Scrope. 
 Thomas Hatcher. 
 John Hotham. 
 Edward Beny. 
 Sir Eobert Pye. 
 Sir William Wray. 
 Sir John Saunders. 
 John Alured. 
 Edwin Sandys. 
 John Hammond. 
 Thomas Hammond. 
 Alexander Pym. 
 
 Anthony Mildmay, 
 Hemy Mildmay. 
 James Temple. 
 Thomas Temple. 
 Ai'thur Evelyn. 
 Eobert Vivers. 
 Hercules Langrish. 
 William Pretty. 
 William Pretty. 
 James Sheffield. 
 John Guuter. 
 Eobert Burrel. 
 Francis Dowet. 
 John Bird. 
 Matthew Drapper. 
 Matthew Dimock. 
 Horace Carey. 
 John Neal. 
 Edward Ayscough. 
 George Thompson. 
 Francis Thompson. 
 Edward Keightly. 
 Alexander Douglas. 
 Thomas Lidcot. 
 John Fleming. 
 Eichard Grenville. 
 Thomas TeriH. 
 John Hale. 
 William Balfour. 
 George Austin. 
 Edward Wingate. 
 Edwaa-d Baynton. 
 Charles Chichester. 
 Walter Long. 
 Edmund West. 
 William Anselm. 
 Eobert Kirle. 
 Simon Eudgeley. 
 
 • In the writlugs of the period they are often called captains. 
 
 * Sometjices also called lord Newnham ; he was son of tlie eail of 
 Denbigh, and, on his death (April, 1643) assumed the title. 
 
443 APPENDIX. 
 
 vn. 
 
 Employment of Catholics in the King's Armies, 
 
 So early as Sept. 23, 1642 — that ia to say, at the very moment of the hreak- 
 jng out of the civil war, and hefore the battle of EdgehiH, the Mng wrote in 
 the following tenns to the earl of Newcastle : — 
 
 " Newcastle, this is to tell you that this rebellion has grown to that 
 height, that I must not locke what opinion men ar who, at this tyme, ar 
 willing to serve me. Therefore, I do not only permit, hut command you, to 
 .make use of all my loving subjects, vrithout examining their ooncienses, 
 (more than their loyalty to me,) as you shall finde most to conduce to the 
 iiphoulding of my just regal rights." — Brodie, Hist, of the British Empire, 
 iii. 488, note. 
 
 ■ VIII. 
 
 Petition against Peace presented to the House of Commons, August 7, 1 013, 
 from the Common Council of London, 
 
 " SnowETn that your petitioners, having heard that such propositions and 
 offers have been lately sent from the house of peers to this honourable 
 house, which (as we greatly fear), if yielded unto, would be destructive to 
 our religion, laws, and liberties ; and finding already, by experience, that 
 the spirits of all the well-affected party in the city and counties adjacent, 
 _that are willing to assist the parliament, both in person and purse, are much 
 dejected thereat ; and the brotherly assistance from Scotland, as well as the 
 raising and maintaining of forces ourselves, thereby likely to be retarded 
 (all which the petitioners refer to your serious consideration); and consider- 
 ing our present sad condition lies upon us in a special maimer, through the 
 incensed patience of the Almighty, by delay and want of execution of jus- 
 tice upon traitors and deliQ5[uents, and having an opportunity yet to speak, 
 our desires ai'e : 
 
 " That you would be pleased so to persist in your former resolutions, 
 whereupon the people have so much depended, and wherein you liave so 
 deeply engaged yourselves (though you should perish in the work), that 
 justice may be done lipon offenders and delinquents. And that since we 
 are as willing as ever to expose what we are and have for the crowning of 
 so good a cause, you will be pleased, by speedy passing the ordinance 
 hereto annext, or one to this effect, to put us into a probable way for our 
 and your defence, wherein your petitioners will, by the blessing <xf God, 
 never be wanting.' " 
 
 There was annexed to this petition the draught of an ordinance for era- 
 powering a committee to enlist men and receive subscriptions from such as 
 should offer them. — Kushworth, ii. 3, 306. 
 
APPENDIX. 449 
 
 rx. 
 
 Petition in favour of Peace presented to the House of Commons, 
 August 9, 1643, hy the Women of London. 
 
 ' Showeth that your poor petitioners (though of the wealer sex) do too sen- 
 sibly perceive the ensuing desolation of this kingdom, unless by some timely 
 means your honours provide for the speedy recovery hereof. Your honours 
 are the physicians that can, by G-od's special and miraculous blessing 
 (which we humbly implore), restore this languishing nation, and our bleed- 
 ing sister, the kingdom of Ireland, which hath now almost breathed her 
 last gasp. 
 
 "We need not dictate to your eagle-eyed judgment the "way; our only 
 desire is, that God's glory in the true reformed protestaat religion may be 
 preserved, the just prerogatives and privileges of king and parliament maid- 
 tained, the ti'ue liberties and properties of the subjects, aceoirdiiig' to the 
 known laws of the land, restored, and all honourable ways and means for 
 ' a speedy peace endeavoured. 
 
 " May it therefore please your honours, that some speedy course may be 
 talceu for the settlement of the true reformed protestant religion, for the 
 gloiy of God and the renovation' of trade, for the benefit of the subjects, they 
 being the soul and body of the kingdom. 
 
 ' " And your petitioners, with many millions of afflicted sbuls, groaning 
 under the burden of these times of distress, shall ever pray." 
 
 A Declaration and Viniicaiion of John Pym, Esq. 
 
 " It is not unknown to all the world (especially to all the inhabitants iii 
 and about London) with what desperate and fame-wounding aspersions my 
 reputation, and the integrity: of my intentions to God,-my king, and niy 
 country, hath been invaded by the moJioe ;aQdfury of molignants, and ill- 
 affected persons to the good of the commonwealth. Some charging ine 
 with being a promoter and patronizer of all the InnbvationS which have been 
 obtruded upon the ecclesiastical government of the church of Eiigland. 
 Others, of more spiteful and exorbitant spirits, alleging that I have beeii 
 the man, who have bfegot and :fostered all the so lamented distractidiis, which 
 aie now rife in the kingdom; and though' such Calumnies are ever more 
 hannful to the authorSjthainito those whom they stiive to wound with them, 
 whenthey arrive only to the censure of judicious persons, who can distin- 
 guish forms, and see the difference betwixt truth and falsehood: yet, because 
 the scandals inflicted upon my innocence have been obvious to people of all 
 conditions, many of 'which' may entertain a belief of those reproachfill 
 reports, though, in my own soul, I am far above those ignomiiiie3,and so was 
 once resolved to have waved them, as unworthy of my notice : yet, at liist, for 
 the assertion of my integrity, I concluded to declare myself in this matter, 
 
450 APPENDIX. 
 
 that all the ■world, but such as will not be convinced, either hy reason or 
 truth, may bear testimony of my junocency. To pass by, therefore, the 
 earl of Stro&brd's business, in wluch.some have been so impudent as to 
 charge me of too much partiality and malice ; I shall declai'e myself fully 
 concerning the rest of their aspersions ; n^ely, that I have promoted and 
 fomented the differences now abounditig in the English church. 
 
 " How unlikely this is and improbable, shall to every indiJSerent man 
 . 1)6 quickly rendered perspicuous : For that I am, and ever was, and so will 
 die, a faithful son of die protestaut religion, without haviujg the least relation 
 in my belief to those great errors of Anabaptism, Brownism, and the like, 
 every man that hath any acduaintaoce with my conversation, can beax me 
 . righteous witness. . These bdug bat aspersions cast upon me by some of 
 the discontented clergy, and their factors and abettors, because theymigkt 
 perhaps concave that I had been a main instrument in extenuating the 
 haughty power and ambitious pride of the bishops and prelates. As I only 
 delivered my opinions as a member of the house of commons, that attempt 
 or action of mine had been justifiable, both to God and a good conscience ; 
 and iiad.no way cojicliided me guilty of a revolt from the orthodox doctrine 
 of the church of England, because I sought a reformation qf some gross 
 , ohiises crept into thft government by the cunning and perverseness of the 
 l)ishops and their substitutes ; for was it not high time to seek to regulate 
 their power, when, instead of looking to the cure of men's souls (which is 
 theu' genuine office), they inflicted punishment on men's bodies, banishing 
 .them to remote and desolate places.; after stigmatizing their faces, only for 
 'the testimony of a gpoi eonsoienoe, when, not contented with those insiiffer- 
 able insolences, they sought to bring in unheard of canons into the church, 
 Arminian or papistical ceremonies (whether you please to term them, there 
 is not much difference), imposing b'urden3~iipon men's consciences, which 
 they were not able to, bear, and introducing the old abolished superstition of 
 bowing to the altar ; and if it savoured either of Brownism or Anabaptism, 
 to endeavour to suppress the growth of those Eomish errors, I appeal to 
 any equal minded protestant, either for my judge or witness ; nay, had the 
 attempts of the bishops desisted here, tolerable they had been, and their 
 .jjower not so much questioned, as since it hath? for when they saw" the 
 honourable the high court of parliament began to. loc^'into their eaiujrmities 
 and abuses, beholding how they wrested religion like a waxen nose, to tte 
 .furtherance of their ambitious purposes, them Troy was token im, then they 
 began to despair of holding any longer their Hsuirped authority ; anil there- 
 fore, as much as in them lay, bo.th by public declarations . and private 
 councils, they laboured to foment the civil differences between his Majesty 
 .and his parliament, abetting the proceedings of the maUgnaats with large 
 supplies of men and money, and stirring up the people to tumults by their 
 .seditious sermons. Surely, tlien, no man can account me an ill son of the 
 commonwealth, if I delivered my opinion, and passed my vole freely for their 
 .abolishment; which may by the same equity be put in practice by this par- 
 , liament ; as the dissolution of monasteries and their lazy inhaibitajits, mon]s;s 
 and friars, was in Henry the Eighth's time; for without dispute, they 
 carried as much reputation in the Idngdom then, as bishops have done in it 
 , ^ince ; and yet a parliament then had power to put them down ; why, then, 
 should not a parliament have the power to do the like to these, every way 
 guilty of as many offences against the state as the foi-mer ? For my oam 
 
APPENDIX. 451 
 
 part, I attest God Almightj, the knower of all hearts, that neither envy, or 
 any private grudge to all or any of the bishops, hath made me averse to 
 their function, but merely my zeal to religion and God's cause, which I 
 perceived to be trampled under foot by the too extended authority of the 
 prelates ; who, according to the purity of their institution, should have been 
 men of upright heai'ts, and humble minds, shearing their flocks, and not 
 flaying them, when it is evident they were the quite contxary. 
 
 " Aid whereas some will allege, it is no good ai-gumeut to dissolve the 
 function of bishops, because some bishops are vicious : to that answer, 
 since the vice of these bishops was derivative from the authority of thek 
 function, it is very fitting the function, which ia the cause thereof, 
 be corrected, and its authority divested of its borrowed feathers ; other- 
 'wise, it is impossible but the same power which made these present 
 bishops (should the episcopal and prelatical dignity continue in ite 
 ancient height and vigour) so proud and arrogant, would infuse the same 
 vices into their successors. 
 
 " But this is but a molehill to that mountain of scandalous reports that 
 have been inflicted on my integrity to his saxsred majesty ; seme boldly 
 averring me for the author of the present distraction between his majesty 
 and his parliament, when I take God, and oil that know my proceedings, to 
 be my vouchers, that I neither directly nor indirectly ever had a thought 
 tending to the least disobedience ' or disloyalty to his majesty, whom I 
 acknowledge my lawful king and sovereign, and would expend my blood as 
 soon in his service as any subject he hath. 'Tis true, when I perceived my 
 life aimed at, and heard myself proscribed a traitor, merely for my entire- 
 ness of heart to the service of my country, was informed that I, with 
 some other honourable and worthy members of parliament, were against the 
 privileges thereof demanded, even in the parliament house, by his majesty, 
 attended by a multitude of men at ' arms and malignants, who, I verily 
 believe, had for some ill ends of their own persuaded his majesty to that 
 excess of rigour against us ; when, for my own part (my conscience is to 
 me a thousand witnesses in that behalf), I never harboured a thought 
 which tended to any disservice to his majesty, nor ever hod an intention 
 prejudicial to the state ; when, I say, notwithstanding my own innocence, 
 I saw myself in such apparent danger, no man will think me blameworthy 
 in that I took care of my own safety, and fled for refuge to the protection 
 of the parliament, which, making my cose their own, not only purged me 
 and the rest of the giuilt of high treason, but also secured our lives &om 
 the storm that was ready to bui'st out upon us. 
 
 " And if this hath been the occasion that hath withdrawn his majesty 
 from the parliament, surely the fault can in no way be imputed to me, or 
 any proceeding of mine ;- which never went further, either since his 
 majesty's departure nor before, than so far as they were warranted by the 
 known laws of the land and authorized by the indisputable and undeniable 
 power of the parliament ; and so long as I am secure in my own conscience 
 that this ia truth, I account myself above all their calumnies and falsehoods, 
 which shall return upon themselves, and not wound my reputation in good' 
 and impartial men's opinions. 
 
 " But in that deviHsh conspiracy of Cataline, against the state and senate 
 of Eome, none among the senators was so obnoxious to the envy of the 
 -conspirators, or liable to their traducements, as that orator and patriot pf 
 
 o o 3 
 
'432 APPENDIX. 
 
 hia cotintry, Cicero, because by bis council and zeal to the commonwealtb, 
 their plot for the ruin thereof was discovered and prevented ; though I -wili 
 not be so arrogant to parallel myself -with that worthy, yet my case (if we may 
 eompai'e lesser things with great) has to his a very near resemblance : the 
 cause that I am so jnuch maligned and reproached by ill-affected persons, 
 being because I have been forward in advancing the affairs of the kingdom, 
 and have been taken notice of for that forwoi-dness, they, out of thMr 
 malice, converting that ,to a vice which, without boast be it spoken, I 
 esteem as my principal virtue, my cai-e to the public utility. And since it 
 is for that cause that I suffer these scandals, I shall endure them witlt 
 patience, hoping that God in his great mercy will at last reconcile his 
 majesty to his high court of paa'liament ; and then I doubt not to give his 
 royal self (though he be much incensed against me) a sufficient account of 
 my integrity. In the interim, I hope the world will believe that I am not 
 the first innocent man that hath been injured, and so will suspend their 
 further censures of me." — Kushworth, ii. 3, 370. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Letter from the Kmg to Prince Biipert, ordering htm to go and 
 relieve York. 
 
 Xicknell (Tickenhall), 14 June, 16M. 
 "Nephew, 
 
 " First I must congratulate with you for your good successes, assuring 
 you that the things' themselves are no more welcome to me than that 
 you are the means. I know the importance of supplying you with 
 powder, for which I have taken all possible ways, having sent both to Ire- 
 land and Bristol. As from Oxford, this beai-er is well satisfied that it is 
 impossible to have at present, but if he tell you that I may spare them from 
 hence, I leave you to judge, having but thirty-six left ; but what I can get 
 from Bristol, (of which there is not much certainty, it being tlu'eatened to 
 be besieged) you shall have. 
 
 " But now I must give you the true state of my afiairs, which if their 
 condition be such as enforces me to give you more peremptory commands 
 than I would willingly do, you must not talte it ill. If York be lost, I shall 
 esteem my crown little less, unless supported by your sudden march to me, 
 and a miraculous conquest in the South, before the effects of the northern 
 power can be found here : but if York be relieved, and you beat the rebels' 
 armies of both kingdoms which aa'e before it, then, but otherwise not, 1 may 
 possibly make a shift (upon the defensive) to spin out time, until you come 
 to assist me. Wherefore, I command and conjure you, by the duty and 
 affection which I know you bear me, that (all new enterprises laid aside) 
 you immediately march (according to your first intention) with all yout 
 force to the relief of York ; but if that be either lost, or have freed themselveS 
 from the besiegers, or that for want of powder, you cannot undertake that 
 "work, that you immediately march with your whole strength to Worcester, 
 to assist me and my aimy, without wliich, or your having relieved York, bjr 
 Seating the Soots, all the successes you can afterwards have, most infallibly 
 
APPENDIX. 45ft. 
 
 will be useless unto me ; you may believe that nothing but an extreme ne- 
 eessity could make me write thus unto you, wherefore, in this case, I can 
 no ways doubt of your punctual compliance with 
 
 Your loving uncle and most faithful friend, 
 
 " Charles E." 
 " I commanded this bearer to speak to you concerning Vavasour "— 
 Evelyn, Mem., ii. Append. 87. 
 
 xn. 
 
 Ttie Self-denying Ordinance, adopted by tlie House of Commons, 
 Srd April, 1645. 
 
 " Be it ordained by the lords and commons assembled in parliament, that 
 all and every of the members of either house of parliament shall be and by 
 the authority of this ordinance are discharged at the end of forty days after 
 the passing of this ordinance, of and fi:om all and every office or command, 
 military or civil, granted or conferred by both or either of the said houses 
 of this present pai'liament, or by any authority derived from both or either 
 of them, since the 20th November, 1640. And be it further ordained, that 
 all governors and commanders of any island, town, castle, or fort, and all 
 other colonels and officers inferior to colonels in the several armies,, not 
 being members of either of the said houses of parliament, shall, according- 
 to their respective commissions, continue in their several places and com- 
 mand wherein they were employed and entrusted, the 20th Maixh, 1644, as 
 if this ordinance had not been made. And that the vice-admiral, reai'-ad- 
 miral, and all other captains and other inferior officers in the fleet, shall, 
 according to their several and respective commissions, continue in their 
 several places and commands, wherein they were employed and entrusted, 
 the said 20th March, 1644, as if this ordinance had not been made. Pro- 
 vided always, and it is further ordained and declared, that during tliis war 
 the benefit of all offices, being neither military nor judicial, hereafter to be 
 granted, or any way to be appointed to any person or persons, by both or 
 either house of parliament, or by authority derived from thence, shall go and 
 enure to such public uses as both houses of parliament shall appoint ; and 
 the gi-antees and persons executing all such offices shall be accountable to 
 the parliament for all the profits and perquisites thereof, and shall have no 
 profit out of any such office, other than a competent salary for the eKecution 
 of the same, in such manner as both houses of parliament shall order and 
 ordain. Provided, that tliis ordinance shall not extend to take away the 
 power and authority of any lieutenancy or deputy lieutenancy in the several 
 counties, cities, or places, or of any custos-rotulorum, or of any commissioner 
 for justice of peace, or sewers, or any commission of Oyer and Terminer, or 
 gaol delivery. Provided always, and it is hereby declared, that those mem- 
 bers of either house who had offices by grant from his majesty before this 
 parliament, and were by his majesty displaced sitting this parliament, and 
 have since by authority of both houses been restored, shall not by this ordi- 
 nance be discharged from their said offices or profits thereof, but shall enjoy 
 the same; anything in this ordinance to the contraiy thereof notwidi- 
 Btanding." — Pari. Hist. iii. 355. 
 
454 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 xin. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes of the Council held it Oxford, Dec. 5, 1G44. 
 
 "pbesent: 
 
 The King's Most ExoeUent Majesty, 
 
 Prince Rupert, 
 
 Prince Maurice, 
 
 Lord Keeper, 
 
 lord Treasnrer, 
 
 Lord Duke of Eichmond, 
 
 liOrd Mtvqmis of Hertford,. 
 
 Lord Great Chamberlain, 
 
 Earl of Southampton, 
 
 Lord Chamberlain, 
 
 Earl of Berkshire, 
 
 Eai'I of Sussex, 
 
 Eai'l of Chichester; 
 
 Lord Digby, 
 
 Lord Seymour, 
 
 Lord Colepepper, 
 
 Mr. Secretary Nicholas. 
 
 Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 " A lettei) was read, written by the earl of Essex to his highness prince 
 Eupert, general of his majesty's armies, in these words : — 
 
 'Sir, 
 
 ' There being a message sent il'om his majesty by the committees of 
 both kingdoms, that were lately at Oxford, concerning a safe conduct for 
 the duke of Eichmond and earl of Southampton, without any direetiom, 
 I am commanded, by both houses of parliament, tO' give your highness 
 notice, that if the king be pleased to desire a safe conduct for the duke of ■ 
 Eichmond and the earl of Southampton, with their attendants, from the 
 lords and commons assembled in the parliament of England, at Westminster, 
 to bring to the lords and commons assembled in the parliament of England, 
 and the commissioners of the kingdom of Scotland, now at London, an an- 
 swer to the propositions presented to his majesty for a safe and well- 
 grounded peace, it shall be granted. This is all I have at present to 
 trouble your highness, being 
 
 ' Your highness's humble servant, 
 
 ' Dec. 3, 1644." , 'Essex. 
 
 " This letter and the expressions therdn being fully considered and de- 
 bated, it was by the whole council imanimously resolved, that his majesty's 
 desire of a safe conduct, in tlTe terms expressed in that letter, would not be 
 any acknowledgment or concession of the members of tlie two houses sit- 
 ting at Westminster to be a parliament, nor any ways prejudice his majesty's 
 cause. 
 
 " Whereupon his majesty declaring openly at the board, that since such 
 was their lordships" opinion, that he did therefore and ee animo consent 
 thereto, and accordingly his majesty desired his highness, prince Eupert, as 
 his majesty's general,, to return this answer : — 
 
 ' My Lord, 
 
 ' I am commanded by his majesty to desire of your lordship a safe con- 
 duct for the dulie of Eichmond and the earl of Southampton, with theil 
 
APPENDIX. 455 
 
 attendants, coaches and horses, and other accommodations for tlieir journey 
 in their coming to London, during their stay, and in their return, when 
 they shall think fit, from the lords and commons assembled in the parlia- 
 ment of England', in Westminster, to bring to the lords and commons assem- 
 bled in the parliament of England, and the commissioners of the parliament 
 of Scotland, now at London, an answer to the propositions presented to his 
 majestyfor a safe and well-grounded peace. Besting, ^ 
 
 ' Toiu: lordsMp's servant, 
 ' Oxon, 5 Dec, 1644.' ' Kdpert. 
 
 " Which answer was accordingly sent to London by a trumpeter. 
 
 " Edw. Nicholas." 
 
 (The following %s m the handyrriting of sir Edward Niclmlas.) 
 
 " Memorandum : — That tlie king and myself of all the council board were 
 the only persons that concurred not in opinion that it was fit to call those 
 sitting at Westminster a parliament. Prince Bnpert, though he was present, 
 did not vote, because he was to execute what should be resolved on by this 
 council ; but, by the order and practice of the council board, if the major 
 part agree to any act, or order, all the councillors that are present at the de- 
 bate, albeit they dissent, are involved, and are to be named as if they con- 
 sented. 
 
 Evelyn Mem. ii. Appendix, 90. "E. N." 
 
 XIV. 
 
 March of David Lesley. 
 1. 
 
 March, march, pinks of election ! 
 Why the devil don't you march onward in order ? 
 
 Mai'ch, mai'ch, dogs of redemption : 
 Ere the blue bonnets come over the border. 
 
 You shall preach, you shall pray, 
 
 You shall teach night and day ; 
 You shall prevail o'er the kirk gone a whoring ; 
 
 Dance in blood to the knees. 
 
 Blood of God's enemies ! 
 The daughters of Scotland shall sing you to SDoring. 
 
 n. 
 
 March, moi-ch, dregs of all wickedness !, 
 Glory that lower you can't be debased ; 
 
 March, march, dunghills of blessedness ! 
 March and rejoice for you shall be raised 
 
 Not to board, not to rope, 
 
 But to faith and to hope ; 
 
456 AEPENDIX. 
 
 Scotland's athirst for the truth to be taught her 
 
 Her chosen Virgin race, 
 
 How they will grow in grace, , 
 
 Bound as a ueep, like calves for the slaughter ! 
 
 III. 
 
 March, march, scourges of heresy ! 
 Down with the kirk and its whilieballeery ! 
 
 March, march ! down with supremacy 
 And the kist to.' o' whistles, that maks sic a cleaiy ; 
 
 Fife men and pipers braw, 
 
 Merry deils, take them a'. 
 Gown, lace and livery, lickpot and ladle ; 
 • Jockey shall wear the hood, 
 
 Jenny the sark of God, 
 For codpiece and petticoat, dishclout and daidle. 
 
 IV. 
 
 March, march, blest ragamuf&ns ! 
 Sing, as ye go, the hymns of rejoicing ! 
 
 March, mai'ch, justified ruffians ! 
 Chosen of heaven ! to glory you' re risiup; 
 
 Bagged and treacherous. 
 
 Lousy and lecherous. 
 Objects of misery, scorning and laughter ; 
 
 Never, O happy race ! 
 
 Magnified so was grace ; 
 Host of the righteous ! rush to the slaughter! 
 
 — Hogg, Jacobite BeUcs of Scotland, i. 5, 163. 
 
 XV. 
 
 I GIVE here the unpublished documents and dispatches relative to the in- 
 tervention of the States General of the United Provinces in favour of 
 Charles I. The first of these is in French, the others are in Dutch ; I have 
 had them completely and literally translated from certified copies of the 
 originals, which M. de JoUge, keeper of the records of the Netherlands, had 
 ti'anscribed, and sent to me &om the Hague : 
 
 " I. A Summary ofwluit his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales caused to 
 ie represented on Ids part and in his presence to their Sigh Migh- 
 tinesses tlie States^'Oeneral of the United Provinces oftlie Nether- 
 lands, by tlie resident of tite King of Great Britain, §•<;., 
 Jan. 23, 1649. 
 
 " His royal higbness the prince of Wales has for a long time had the in- 
 tention of requesting a personal audience, to acknowledge the honours and 
 great courtesies he has received from their lordships since his aii'ival in 
 
APPENDIX, 457 
 
 these countries ; and now lie desires it witli peculiar earnestness, on an 
 occojsion of the greatest importance in die ^rorld to his royal highness^ and 
 in which he presumes their lordships will fiiUy sympathize. Their lord- 
 ships cannot be ignorant of the great danger in which the life of the king, 
 his father, now stands ; how, after a personal treaty with his two houses ot. 
 parliament, there wossuch progress made towards peace by tlie concessions 
 of his majesty that the said houses declared themselves resolved to proceed 
 on them to the establishment of the pedce of the kingdom ; which would 
 indubitably have taken place had not the army seized his majesty's person, 
 and committed to prison several members of parliament who had shown 
 themselves the most disposed for the said treaty of peace. 
 
 " Such is, then, the state of that truly miserable kingdom ; the king so 
 closely confined that a gentleman, sent expressly by his royal highness only 
 to see his majesty, was not admitted to his presence ; the parliament so 
 broken up and dispersed that there only remain there about fifty out of more 
 than five hundred members in the house of commons ; and the house of 
 lords, who have unanimously refused their concurrence in these violent 
 proceedings, practically annihilated, by a declaration of these few commons 
 that aU sovereign power in that kingdom belongs to thelh without king or 
 lords. So that the members of parliament do not meet, except those who 
 agree and submit to the orders of a court-martial, constituted to govern the 
 kingdom ; having to this end published a remonstrance containing the plan 
 of a new government, which they desire to establish to the ruin of the par- 
 liament OS well as of the king, subverting the fabric and constitution of tlie 
 kingdom, and of all its laws, and exposing the protestant religion to the in- 
 vasion of more heresies and schisms than ever in any century infested the 
 Christian church. 
 
 " Not contented with this confusion, they have passed a resolution and 
 appointed commissioners, for a trial against the person of Ms majesty, ap- 
 parently to depose him and take away his life ; which his royal highness 
 cannot mention without hon'or, and which he is certain their lordships can- 
 not hear without equal detestation. 
 
 " Wliat influence these unprecedented proceedings may have on the in- 
 terest and repose of all kings, princes, and states, and how much the extra- 
 vagant power which these people have usurped may affect the tranquillity of 
 the neighbouring countries, and how far the reformed religion may suffer by 
 these scandalous acts of those who profess it, it is needless for his royal 
 highness to urge their lordships to consider ; but he contents himself with 
 having given this sad recital of the condition and misery in which the king 
 and the crown of England are at present ; convinced that their lordships 
 will act thereupon according to the esteem and respect they have ever shown 
 towards so good a friend and ally. His i oyal highness therefore promises 
 himself, from, the friendship and wisdom of their lordships, as soon as pos- 
 sible, such assistance &om their councils and otherwise, as the present ex- 
 treme necessity of the king his father and of his royal highness require, 
 who by this will ever be really and for ever feel obliged to contribute all in 
 their power to the support and advancement of the interest, grandeur, and 
 felicity of their lordships." 
 
45S APPENDIX. 
 
 After these representations of tie prince of Wales, the States resolved to 
 send to London, as extraordinary ambassadors, Messieurs Albert Joachim 
 and Adrien de Patnv, witlt tie following instructions : — 
 
 " II. Instructions for Messieurs the Amhq,asadors of their High Mightinesses 
 sent to London im the year 1649. 
 
 " Tbe ambassadors will represent to the parliament of England, that the 
 consequences of the king's imprisonment will turn to the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of the Mngdom of England, according to the moderation or seve- 
 rity that shall henceforth be shown towards his person ; for all neutrals are 
 of opinion that the misfortune in which he is at present, has come upon 
 him because he was of a contrary opinion to that which has prevailed, as 
 to the means to be employed to remedy the evils which exist in the Mng- 
 dom of Great Britain. As it is yet time to find remedies for these evils, 
 the parliament is requested not to tolerate that all sorts of pretexts should 
 be seized upon to aggravate the grievances already charged upon the pri- 
 soner, and thus render him more unhappy than he is at present. Sup- 
 posing that the jarty who has been defeated had gained the day, it is pos- 
 sible he might have judged with rigour the^ conduct of his adversaries, 
 and refused them all means of defence; but the States-general ai-e per- 
 suaded that the good faith of all those who shall hear the propositions of 
 MM. the Ambassadors, will make them answer within themselves that this 
 would not have been equitable, and that they vrill approve the axiom : 
 Foliticmn in civilibus dissensionibus, quamvis sape per eas statns ItedatuTf 
 non tamen in exitium statHs contenrUtur, proinde qui in alterulras partes 
 descendunt Iwstium vice non hahendi. 
 
 " MM. the States-general know that your excellencies have appointed comr 
 missioners-^xtraordiuary to examine the king's situation ; they rely as 
 much in the choice of your excellenoics as in the sincerity and good faith 
 with which the said commissioners vrill give, in the case in question, a 
 judgment which may be submitted to the examination of the whole world, 
 and be one day approved by the supreme Judge to whom they will be re- 
 sponsible. All weU- disposed persons expe<S, that in an affair of such im- 
 portance, a wise and Christian course will be pursued. 
 
 " The experience of all times has shown, that distrust easily introduces 
 itself into governments ; that in those which are composed of several bodies 
 it is usually a powerful incitement ; that, in sliort, there is neither shame 
 nor dishouour to be feared, when the safety of the state is concerned, which 
 renders all fears legitimate and commendable. Yet nothing can be more 
 lamentable than to give way to extravagant suspicions,, which interpret; 
 everything in an HI sense. 
 
 " If your excellencies have thought that some calamity threatened the 
 kingdom of England, in preventing it you have attained your object. Every 
 one knows that it happens to the wisest of those who govern the commonr 
 wealth, to mix up with public affairs somewhat of their private affections ; 
 anfd that never to fail in the management of great concerns, is a perfection 
 above human nature, and the failing in which may well be excused. 
 
 " This is what the States-general beg your excellencies to take into con- 
 sideration, persuaded that you will do it with the greatest wisdom. Not- 
 withstanding the distrust your excellencies have conceived respecting so 
 great a personage, you should take iuto account so long au imprisonment, 
 (which, in itself, is already, according to the common law, a gi-eat punish- 
 
APPENDIX. • 459 
 
 ment,) and the great and notable serrices rendered to the kingdom of Eng- 
 land by him and his predecessors, kings and queens. Your excellencies 
 will have compassion upon him, and remember : Ut eximatur j^ericulo qui 
 est inter vos celebri fama ne ipsis opprobrio multi magis ac magls 
 alienentur. 
 
 " It is of great Importance to the welfare of the kingdom of England, that 
 your excellencies should proceed accordingly, and follow the counsel of that 
 Roman who advised, the better to assure the measures of Pompey's consot- 
 ship, not to annul anything that had been done under preceding govern- 
 ments, but only to be prudent for the time to come. One may with reason 
 apply to the present circumstances, that excellent precaution which one 
 took to secure his own statue, by preTeating from being overthrown that of 
 his enemy, whom he had completely subdued. It is thus your excellencies 
 ai'e requested to act in an afiadr of such high importance, which may be the 
 source of so many troubles, and to show your goodness towards this great 
 personage, in preserving him from shame andv ignominy ; for it is not 
 spoi'ing men to allow them to be dishonoured. The pai'liament is, then, 
 entreated to restore the king to liberty. 
 
 '' The ambassadors are also, according to circumstftoces, mutatis Tnu- 
 tandis, to lay the above considerations before general Fairfax and the 
 council of the anny, adding, that their distingnished merit has given them 
 great authority in the kingdom of England, and that all these things 
 depend principally on them, and will turn upon their intentions. On which 
 account the States-general recommend this affai? to then* great wisdom, so 
 that they may be to England (whose greatest hopes are now placed in 
 them), not only a shield and a sword in time of w(£r, but also a help to 
 the king in his unhappy situation, by directing public discussions towards 
 a good and moderate end, by which the kingdom will profit, and which will 
 bring on themselves an immortal glory. By their magnanimity, tliey will 
 caase most of their fellow-citizens to shed tears of joy, who are at this mo- 
 ment on the point of weeping with sorrow. Of eld, it was said that the 
 Syracnsans were but the body and the limbs, and that Archimedes was the 
 soul which gave motion to all ; the same thing may be said at present, with 
 far more reason, of the kingdom of England, and of his excellency and the 
 council of the army : this- body and these limbs will not act, in the present 
 affair, under any other direction than that which his excellency and the 
 council of the army shall give them according to their wise reflections. 
 While thus setting forth their own eminent qualities in, fresh gloiy and 
 grandeui', the benefit will be felt by every inhabitant of the kingdom. The 
 ambassadors vriU moreover add, that thei'e was a great captain and wise 
 statesman who gloried in having never caused any one of his countrymen 
 to shed a tear, regarding as the sweetest fruit of his victories that he could 
 every day dare to meet all his fellow-citizens, following the proverb : " That 
 clemency makes beloved and reverenced all those who practise it, and that 
 severity, far from removing obstacles and difficulties, usually augments 
 and multiplies them. 
 
 " Prudent physicians, also, fear to employ too powerful remedies, because 
 these often drive the disease and the life from the body at the same time, 
 and for- the greater safety's sake, they prefer the use of gentler means. 
 
 " If his excellency and the council of the ai'my act thus, the hearts of the 
 well-disposed subjects of England will unite in recimocal friendship, better 
 
460 APPENDIX. 
 
 aud more powerful to consolidate a state than the heaviest chains of 
 iron. 
 
 " The States-general think that the kingdom of England will be invin- 
 cible, if his exoellency, as well as the council of the oi-my, will proceed on 
 foundations so equitable to the world and , so agreeable to God, and which 
 oi'e besides so conformable to the character of the English nation, and to 
 the situation of its affairs. Finally, the States-general entreat Ms excel- 
 lency and the council of the army to embrace and employ the said means, 
 so that the king may be enlarged from his prison and restored to liberty." 
 
 III. First Despatch from Messieurs the Ambassadors-Extraordinary in 
 England to the States-General, 
 
 " High and mighty Lords : 
 " On arriving here on the 5th* instant, towards evening, we were received 
 by the master of the ceremonies of parliament with many , excuses, and we 
 immediately requested and insisted upon an audience for the next day. On 
 the 6th, eoi'ly in the morning, we requested, through our secretaries and 
 the master of the 'ceremonies, to be presented to both houses of pai'Iiament. 
 In reply, the speaker of the upper house sent word to us, that the said 
 house had adjourned to Monday, and the speaker of the house of com- 
 mons intimated that, notwithstanding some particular obstacles, he would 
 present our request, and cndeavBur to obtain assent to it. Our secretoiies 
 having waited for the answer, the speaker let us know in the afternoon that 
 the house had not been able to sit in the morning, because all the judges, 
 who form part of it, had had to atte'nd the high court of justice, and that 
 for this reason the lower house also had been obliged to adjourn to Monday 
 next. Learning afterwards, .that on the same day the said court of justice 
 liad pronounced sentence of death against the Iring, in his own presence, 
 we succeeded, on Sunday the 7th instant (although all occupations that do 
 not relate to religious worship are set aside on this day), after much 
 trouble, in obtaining in the morning, first, a private audience of the speaker 
 of the lower house, then, one of that of the upper house ; and, at last, in 
 the afternoon (but not without great difficulty), we were admitted to the 
 presence of general Fau'fax, lieutenant-general Cromwell, and the principal 
 of&cers of the anny, who were at the same time assembled at the general's 
 house. We made all possible representations to the sold speakers, general, 
 and lieutenant-general, as well in private as when assembled together ; we 
 supported our solicitations with the most powerful arguments we could 
 devise, to obtain a reprieve of the king's execution, (which, it was said, 
 was fixed for Monday,) until we should have been heard by the pai-liament; 
 but we only received different answers, dictated by the disposition or the 
 temper of each of them. 
 
 " On Monday the 8th, eai'ly in the morning, we sent again to the speakers 
 of both houses, to urge them to obtain an audience for us ; and after our 
 secretaiies, together with the master of the ceremonies, had been kept waiting 
 at Westminster till the afternoon, we were all at once informed, scoi'cely ten 
 minutes before the time, that the two houses would receive us before tliey 
 went to dinner, and that we were to go at two o'clock to the upper house, 
 and at three to the house of commons. We acted according to this in- 
 
 ' New Rtvle. 
 
AITENDIX. 451 
 
 timation, and -went to the upper honse, where there were very few peers, as 
 well as to the house of commons, where sat about eighty members. After 
 having; Terbally stated and delivered in writing the substance of our instruc- 
 tions, tending principally to have the king's execution postponed until we 
 should, in a second audience, or in conferences, have had opportunities to 
 . state more powerful grounds to induce them to grant him his life, or at least 
 not to proceed precipitately to execute the sentence of death, we were 
 answered by the two speakers that our proposal should be taken into consi- 
 deration. 
 
 " The members of the upper house voted, that conferences on this subject, 
 between the two houses should immediately take place ; but as the day was 
 already far advanced, and as the members of the house of commons, as soon 
 as our audience was over, rose to depai-t, even before we had left the ante- 
 room, into which we had been conducted on our way out, we with all speed 
 had our proposal translated into English, and delivered to the speaker of 
 the lower house, and aftenvards to the speaker of the upper house. 
 
 " Yet, having seen yesterday, as we passed by Whitehall, that preparations 
 were making, which were said to be for the execution, and having confeiTed 
 for a long time this morning with the commissioners of the crown of Scot- 
 land, to save, if possible, the king's life, we still continued to request of 
 parliament, through our secretaries, either an answer or another audience ; 
 and endeavoured, by the intervention of the Scottish commissioners, to 
 speak once more to the general, and met him about noon at his secretiUT's 
 house, at 'Whitehall. The general was at length touched by our animated 
 and pressing entreaties, and declared that he would go du'ectly to West- 
 minster, and recommend to parliament to grant the answer and the reprieve 
 we requested, and that he would take a few officers of note with him to 
 support the application. 
 
 " But we found, in front of the house in which we had just spoken with 
 the general, about two hundred horsemen ; and we learned, as well on our 
 way as on reaching home, that all the streets, passages, and squares of London 
 were occupied by troops, so that no one could pass, and that the approaches 
 of the city were covered with cavalry, so as to prevent any one from coming 
 in or going out. We could not, and we knew not in consequence, what 
 further to do. Two days before, as well previous to as after our audience, 
 we had, by trustworthy persons been assured that no proceeding or interces- 
 sion in the world could succeed, and that God alone could prevent the exe- 
 cution 'resolved upon ; and so the Scottish commissioners, with gi'eat pains, 
 had also told us. And so it proved ; for, the same day, between two and 
 three o'clock, the king was taken to a scaffold covered with black, erected 
 before Whitehall. His majesty, accompanied by the bishop of London 
 who, it is said, had that morning, at six o'clock, administered to him the 
 holy sacrament and consolations of religion, after having said a few words, 
 gave up the garter, the blue riband and his cloak, took his coat off himself 
 and showed a great deal of firmness in all his conduct. The king, having, 
 laid himself down, his head was cut off, and held up to the gaze oi the 
 assembled crowd. 
 
 " This is what, to our great regret, we are obliged to announce to your 
 high mightinesses ; and we declare that we have employed all possible- 
 diligence, without intermission and with all our power, to acquit ourselves 
 of your high mightinesses' commission, in seeking to prevent the execution- 
 
462 APPENDIX, 
 
 of this so fatal sentence. Meantime, as in this country all kinds of reports 
 are put forth, for and against, according to every one's fancy, and as they 
 are often misinteiTreted and embellished or exaggerated, particularly mow 
 oil minds ai'e so excited, we pray your high mightinesses, in case you should 
 receive reports contrary to or more alarming than the present, to place no 
 faith in them ; and to believe us, who came hither at the peril of our lives, 
 and have neglected none of the duties with which we were charged. 
 
 " We dare not send your high mightinesses the further porticujars that we 
 learn in many quarters, confidential or public, on tliis event, as the passage 
 is wry difficult, all the sea^ports being closed. We will only oAi that it is 
 fiaid the king, on the scaffold, recommended that religion should be strength 
 ened by taking the advice of Eoman-oatholio divines, and that the rights of 
 the prince his son should be respected ; adding, that he thought himself in 
 conscience innocent of the blood which had been shed, except of that of the 
 earl of Strafford. Immediately after the king's death, it was announced 
 and proclaimed throughout the city by sound of trumpet. 
 
 " We beg the Almighty to grant a long prosperity to your high nughti- 
 uesses, dnd to your high and mighty government. 
 
 Signed, " Aib. Joachim 
 
 " London, February 9th, 1649." 
 
 IV. Second Sapateh. 
 
 " High and Mighty Lords ; 
 
 " By our first dispatch of the 9th instant, we minutely informed your high 
 mightinesses of all the proceedings we had taken with the principal func- 
 tionaries and other eminent personages in this countiy, as well as of the 
 solicitations we addressed to them, and the proposals we transmitted 
 publicly and in writing to the two houses of parliament (of which we herein 
 insert a copy, not having had time to append it to our preceding despatch, 
 which was sent by an unexpected opportunity), proposals which were left 
 unanswered, as was our req^uest to be admitted to a second audience, and 
 which were followed by the immediate execution of the king, and the prohi- 
 bition to any one whomsoever, under pain of high treason, to take upon 
 himself any authority in the name of monarchical power, or to acknowledge 
 and favour the government of the prince of Wales, or any other pretender to 
 the royal succession. 
 
 " Already, before this event, we apprehended, and our fears have since been 
 realized, that it had been resolved among the authorities here to abolish 
 enth'cly the monarchical government, and to establish one of a quite dif- 
 ferent nature ; for it is publicly said here that the descendants of the late 
 king will be, without any exception, excluded for ever from any sovereignty 
 in this country, though it is not ascertained what sort of government is to 
 replace that which is Abolished. 
 
 " We have also just heard that already commissioners are appointed by par- 
 liament to go vrith all speed to Scotland, where they presume and announce 
 being able to direct affairs according to the system adopted in England. It is 
 also said, publicly as well as in private, that the members of the upper house 
 show themselves displeased at the king's execution, and do not at all agree 
 with the house of commons on the changes to be introduced in the government; 
 on the other hand, it is thought that Scotland wishes to remain foitbful to 
 
APPENDIX. 463 
 
 mouiU'cMcal government, tmd to its old institntions. It is difficult to foresee 
 yrhai, will be the issue of all these combinations and changes in the two 
 countries ; and though public tranquillity is nowise disturbed in tliis capital, 
 in consequence of the strict watch iept by the numerous military posts, we 
 are ignorajit what, iu this respect, is the situation of the provinces 
 
 " Yesterday, we received a visit flom the Ueutenaitt-general Cromwell, who 
 «pote to us with infinite respect of the government of your high mighti- 
 nesses ; among other subjects, he introduced that-of religion, giving us to 
 understand that, with lie concurrence of your high Tnighlaneeses, it would 
 be as possible as necessai'y to re-establish it here upon a better system, and 
 to give it a better organization. 
 
 " The eail of Denbigh, who came also yesterday to see us, spoke at 
 great length on different questions relating to the government, past and to 
 come ; whence we concluded that there ai*e still many affairs to arrange, 
 and that the measures they pui'pose to take' do not afford any probable con- 
 jecture as to their issue and success. As the unhappy event of the king's 
 execution puts an end to the negotiation with which our extraordinary 
 embassy wus charged, we will jointly use our endeavours that the affairs 
 of our mission may suffer, as little as possible, and may continue to be 
 ti'eated accurdingjo the interests and to the entire satisfaction of your high 
 mightinesses. ' 
 
 " The high court of justice having terminated its functions, other extra- 
 ordinary tribunals have been instituted, to try the peers and other illustrious 
 state prisoners, such as the duke of Hamilton, the earl of Holland, lord 
 Goring, &c. Those of a lower rank wiU be tried by the ordinary tribunals, 
 and the prisoners of war by a court-martial. 
 
 " Among other matters that are at present treated of in pailiament, it is 
 proposed that our people should eiijoy here all the rights of navigation, 
 commerce, manufacture, trades, and market, equally and in common with 
 the English nation. We were not ignorant of these dispositions, and 
 moreover were given to understand that tliey would be disposed to make 
 more full and minute proposals to us on this subject. We tliink we hereby 
 give your high mightinesses an evident proof that people here are occupying 
 themselves with questions quite out of the ordinary track of affaiis. 
 
 " We implore the Almighty to keep in long prosperity the government of 
 your high mightinesses. 
 
 Signed, " Alb. Joacb im, 
 
 " A. Pauw 
 
 " London, Febraary 12th, 1649." 
 
 V. Third Despatch. 
 
 " High and Mighty Lords : 
 " After the bloody catastrophe which put an end to the king's life, an event 
 of which our despatches of the 9th and 12th instant informed your hi h 
 mightinesses, we resolved to keep within our lodgings, after the example of 
 other ambassadors, and of the Scottish commissioners. The French ambas- 
 sador and the Scottish commissioners, however, having paid us a visit before 
 this event, and the Spanish ambassador having repeatedly done us the same 
 honour before and after, we could do no otherwise than return these acts of 
 Iginduess ; we accordingly acquitted ourselves of this duty on the 13th, 
 
464 APPENDIX. 
 
 aud we remoi-ked tliftt theii' excellencies were deeply affected by this great 
 event, tliougli tte French ambassador had assured us beforehand of his per- 
 fect knowledge of the events which would take place. 
 
 " The anjbassador of Spain, Don Alfonso de Cardenas, told us that the day 
 after this fatal event he had received orders from the king his master to 
 intervene in the affairs of this country ; hut at present he is of opinion, as 
 well as the French ambassador, that by the unexpected d^ath of the king of 
 England, their diplomatic functions and character having ceased, th^y 
 cannot act any longer in their high office, nor interfere in any respect until 
 they have received fresh orders from theii' court. The Scottish commis- 
 sioners have sent two despatches to their constituents, that is, to the Scot- 
 tish parliament at present assembled ; they expect an answer to their first 
 despatch in. the course of the week, and will not act till they are duly 
 authorized. 
 
 "The general opinion is that the government will undergo an entire change; 
 that the royal family will be set aside, and another form of government 
 introduced ; that perhaps they will imitate that of the commonwealth of 
 Venice, of the United Provinces, or some other republican government. We 
 are informed that, in fact, nine members of the house of peers and eighteen 
 of that of the house of commons are to meet in commission to draw up 
 conjointly the basis of a fresh constitution. ; The 13th of this month was 
 the day appointed for the meeting of the king's judges, in a court of justice 
 at Westminster -hall ; but we have just been informed that the meeting did 
 not take place, the judges having alleged that they were not sufficiently 
 qualified for this, their functions having expired at the king's death, and 
 that they cannot resolve to accept so suddenly their new nominations made 
 by parliament, nor change the ' title of their acts of procedure and other 
 necessary formalities, such as those adopted 'by parliament on the ^9th of 
 January, 1.648, and which we transmitted to your high mightinesses by our 
 despatch of the 9th instant. We continue in the most complete uncer- 
 tainty as to the issue of the events which, from the diversity of opinions 
 and other fortuitous occurrences, may still undergo vicissitudes that it is 
 impossible to submit to any probable conjecture ; vra shall therefore merely 
 remaik, that hitherto public tranquillity has not been in any way disturbed ; 
 and we pray your high mightinesses to attach no other value to our informa- 
 tion than ^that which may be merited by our efforts to discover truth in 
 this maze of true and false reports which we receive on all sides, and which 
 only leave us the satisfaction of confidentially informing your high mighti- 
 nesses of what we have been able to collect in our zeal for your service. 
 Signed, " Adeien Pauw, 
 
 " London, February l-5th, 1649." 
 
 ' Alb. Joachim. 
 
 VI. Fmtrth IHspatcf 
 
 " High and Mighty Lords : i < 
 
 " The information contained in our last dispatch, of the 15th of this month, 
 
 having appeared sufficiently important to us, we took care to forward it to 
 
 your high mightinesses by a safe aud speedy opportunity ; yet the wind 
 
 liBving since that time been vei^ contrary, we fear it did not reach it» 
 
APPENDIX. 465 
 
 destination so speedily as we had hoped. Since that, we have witnessed 
 eTents of still greater importance. On the ICth of this mouth, the housa 
 of commons, notwithstanding the expectation and the wish of the commis- 
 sioners of both houses, sitting in committee, and which requested to be 
 consulted on all the measures to be taken, decreed that the house of lords 
 should from that period cease its functions, and be no longer consulted or 
 looked upon as a deliberative body, or as constituting an authoiity in any- 
 thing concerning the afl'airs of the kingdom; so that, notwithstanding that 
 the lords and princes still retain their titles and dignities, and are qualified 
 to occupy apy office whatever, there will in future be only one sole house of 
 commons as the English parliament ; and the peers will no longer he ad- 
 mitted ill it but as deputies elected by the counties. Next day, the 17th, the 
 house of commons by a decree abolished for ever the office of king in Eng, 
 land. We are informed, moreover, that the pai-liament thus reduced to one 
 house of commons alone, will meet once eveiy two years for a limited time ; 
 and that permanent executive power will be vested in a council of thirty or 
 forty members, of whom about twelve may be peers. The council thus 
 organized will represent, during the recess of pai'Uameut, the sovereign 
 power of the kingdom. This last measure is not, however, so definitively 
 resolved as the two above-mentioned. The house of commons is becoming 
 by degrees complete by the return of several members who resume their 
 seats on signing an expurgatory act, by which they declai'e that they 
 renounce the opinions which heretofore placed them in opposition to their 
 colleagues. It is also said that at an early day new judges for the higher 
 courts will be elected, and new justices of peace. 
 
 " TheearlofDenbigli, speaker of the house of lords, not having been able 
 to send us a message on the 17th, came to pay us a visit on the 18th, to 
 inform us in what manner had been cai'ried into effect the dissolution of 
 this assembly, and to deliver the last commands he had received from their 
 lordships, in transmitting to us their answer to our proposals. After having 
 read them to us, he gave us the co{iy, wliich' we enclose in the present dis- 
 patch, retaining himself the original manuscript as his personal quittance, 
 Adding, that it was, at the same time, the last deliberative act of the 
 upper house, which had not wished to dissolve until it had given this mark 
 of respect to your high mightinesses. 
 
 " The house of commons also sent to ask us, by its own messenger, when 
 it would suit us to present ourselves to them to receive their answer to our 
 proposals. To which we replied, that as soon as the house would acquaint 
 us with the time appointed for this audience, we would attend. 
 
 " Since the unhappy event of the king's death, we had not insisted upon an 
 answer; and though we had heard no more about it, we learn at this mo- 
 ment that an outline of this answer has been published in the Gazette, 
 without any official communication of it having been sent us. A report haC 
 previously been spread, and even printed, that we had requested that our 
 proposals should not be made public. Nothing can be more false than this 
 assertion ; without having in any way interfered in the matter, or having 
 even mentioned a word on the subject, we left it entirely to the discretion 
 of the two houses, to each of which ouv proposals were separately addressed 
 in writing, with the necessary form. We have remai'ked, besides, that the 
 reply made by us to the speaker of the house of commons when our pro- 
 {losals were delivered, has not been inserted in the Gazette in its real tenour, 
 
 a H 
 
466 APPENDIX. 
 
 and it lias been hitlierto impossible for us to discover whether such publico^ 
 tions appear with or without the sanction of the superior authorities. 
 
 " On the 16th of this month, some troops of infantry and cavalry marched 
 hence to Bristol ; and there is a report that in that town, as well as at 
 Gloucester, some indignation baa been expressed against the proceedings of 
 parliament. Here, however, and in the neighbourhood, all is quiet. 
 
 " To-day, being the day appointed for the appearance of the impeached 
 lords, before the newly-created high court at Westminster-hall, Goring, 
 Capei, Hamilton, Holland, and sir John Owen, these lords, with the ex- 
 ception of the eail of Holland, who is ill, appeared before that court, and 
 after having heard each in his turn, the charges brought against him, and 
 given in answers to them, were sent back to prison to await another sum- 
 mons for the continuation of their trial. 
 
 Signed, "Adeieu PADWf 
 
 " Alb. Joachim. 
 
 VII. Fifth Dispatch. 
 
 " High ahd Mighty Lords : 
 " The commissioners of the kingdom of Scotland, having received dis- 
 patches from their parliament, sent word of their contents to us last evening at 
 a somewhat irregular hour, and forwarded to us the proclamation, the decree; 
 and the letter, copies of which accompany this dispatch. Your high mighti- 
 nesses will learn by their contents, that the prince of Wales has just been 
 proclaimed by the Scottish parliament, king of Great Britain, France, and 
 Ireland. The commissioners besides informed us, that a gentleman had 
 been immediately sent abroad with copies of these decrees ; that the pro- 
 clamation of them had been made in eveiy direction, and that they were 
 preparing forthwith to send an envoy, furnished with' the largest instructions 
 to his majesty. It is rumoured here, that the parliament is much displeased 
 at this measure ; and particulaily becaifse the Scots did not content them- 
 selves with proclaiming/ him king of Scotland only, but had added to his 
 titles " king of Great Britain and Ireland." Levies of troops are going on 
 here in secret, and are constantly dispatched towards Scotland and other 
 places, which makes it to be presumed that in the latter engagements many 
 men were killed. The capital yet Continues to' enjoy perfect tranquillity, 
 and exhibits no appearance of sedition ; the complements of the men-of-wfif 
 ai'e being made up one after another, and we should not be surprised if in a 
 very short time there were neaily thirty vessels perfectly equipped and 
 ready for sea ; this number, it is confidently said, will hereafter be increased 
 to seventy, and it is added that three commissioners of pai'Iiament will take 
 the command or superintendence of this fleet ; as to ttiat, there seems no 
 longer any mention made of the earl of Warwick as commander. Last 
 Monday, the 22nd instant, the gentleman-usher came to inform us that on 
 the Wednesday or Thursday following, we should be requested to go to 
 parliament to receive, before the whole house, an answer to our proposals. 
 On Wednesday he informed us that the audience would take place on Thurs- 
 day evening ; and accordingly on that day we were conducted in state to 
 Westminster-hall. Having been immediately introduced into the house of 
 commons, we sat down on the chairs placed for us, and the speaker having 
 read to ue the answer of the house, gave us a copy of it. Whereupon, we 
 
APPENDIX. 467 
 
 answered, in a few words, that when we hiid read it, we would ourselTes 
 transmit it to our government, whom it was our intention, with the least 
 possible delay, to rejoin, and that we availed ourselves of the present oppor- 
 tunity to take leave of parliament in our quality of ambassadors-extraordi- 
 nary. The house that day was much fuller than at our first audience, on 
 account of the return of several of their absentmembers, and the restoration 
 of many dissentient members who had successively come to resume their 
 seats under the expurgatory act. The nomination of a greater number of 
 members has been one of the first cares of the new house ; after which they 
 proceeded to elect the thirty-eight members of whom the state-council of 
 the kingdom is to be composed, and whose names and qualities your high^ 
 mightinesses will read in the enclosed Gazette. The judges of the iungdom ' 
 also resumed their sittings last week, and held theii usual term. 
 
 " The day before our last audience, and consequently after the notification 
 we had received of it, we received the letters of your high mightinesses of the 
 23nd instant ; and having already made preparations for our departure, we 
 shall efiect it as soon as possible, wishing to return as soon as we can to 
 your high mightinesses, to communicate the answer we have received, and 
 render a detailed account of our mission, which has been accompanied and 
 followed by a multitude of incidents and circumstances, which in the pre- " 
 sent preoariBUs state of affairs, we do not think proper to trust to paper. 
 Contrary winds and severe frosts having impeded the navigation of the 
 Thames, we cannot fix the day of our departure ; but we will seize thcflrst' 
 opportunity to return, either dii'ectly or by way of Dover and Calais, not- 
 withstanding the inconveniences which this last passage is said to present. '. 
 
 " The state prisoners, viz. the duke of Hamilton, loM Goring, lord Capel, 
 and sir John Owen, have already appeared several times before the high • 
 court of justice. The first put in a bill of exceptions, but it was rejected, 
 and he was ordered to prepare his defence, and counsel were assigned to 
 him ; the three others have confined themselves within the terms of their 
 defence, particularly lord Capel, against whom, as to the capitulation and 
 the quarter granted, general Fairfax and commissary-general Ireton were 
 heard as witnesses, appealing for this specially before the court All, these 
 circumstances make one entertain fears as to the fate of these noble per- 
 sonages, who aie considered to be in imminent danger. We think it proper ■ 
 to inform your high mightinesses, that the present is the sixth dispatch we 
 have sent yon, the two preceding ones being of the 18th, and 19th instant ; 
 the delays occasioned by contrai-y winds and the frost give ns reason to fear 
 that all may not have reached your high mightinesses. 
 
 Signed, "AniiiAjf Pauw, 
 
 " Alb. Joachim, 
 " London, February 26th, 1649." 
 
 hh2 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbot, Geo., Archbp. of Canterbury, 
 Buspen<Kd, 19. 
 
 Absolution, its position on the Continent 
 at the accession of Charles I., 2 ; its 
 position in England at and preceding 
 the same period, 3, 4, 5; its position' 
 in England imder Strafford, 43; at- 
 tempts made by the Idng to extend 
 it, 47 ; its powerlessness in 1641, 88. 
 
 Agitators, or delegates, appointed by the 
 common soldiers of the army to re- 
 present their views, 321 ; draw up 
 "the case of the army," 354. 
 
 " Agreement of the people," a plan for 
 a republic drawn up by Ireton, 411. 
 
 Alford, Mr., his speech on the amended 
 .bill of rights, 26. 
 
 Ambassadors of England insulted in 
 foreign courts, 44. 
 
 Annandale, Earl of, declares for the 
 king, 283. 
 
 Antrim, Earl of, arrested by the par- 
 liamentary forces in Ireland, and 
 discovery of his plot against the par- 
 liament, 219. 
 
 Arbitrary tribunals abolished, 110. 
 
 A^gyle, Earl of, embraces the cause of 
 4he covenant, 73; retires to Kinneil 
 Castle to avoid being arrested by the 
 lung, 113 ; explanation of the af- 
 fair, 114; is created duke of Ar- 
 gyle, ib. ; arrives in London to 
 co-operate with the independents, 266; 
 characterized, ib. ; concludes a treaty 
 with the Scottish royalists, 399. 
 
 Aristocracy, its condition on the Conti- 
 nent at the accession of Charles I., 2 ; 
 its condition in England at and pre- 
 ceding the same period, 3 ; courted by 
 the king in his difficulties, 48 ; a por- 
 tion of it sides with the people, 49 ; 
 takes alarm at the progress of the 
 church, 55. 
 
 Army, parliamentary, formation of, de- 
 creed, 160; marches from Loudon to 
 attack the liicg, 1C3; reviewed on 
 
 Tumhara-green, 170; another army 
 raised for parliament, 193 ; reviewed 
 on Hounslow-heath by Essex, 199; 
 its composition in 1644, 230; capitu- 
 lates to that of the king in Cornwall, 
 242; characterized, 202 ; petitions par- 
 liament, 318 ; several of its ofiicers 
 summoned to the bar of the house of 
 commons, 319; demands the restora- 
 tion of Cromwell to command, 320 ; 
 petitions parliament for redress, ib,; 
 its increasing power, 321 ;^opens com- 
 munications with the king, 323 ; seve- 
 ral re^ments mutiny, 323 ; under the 
 direction of Cromwell, marches to- 
 wardsLondon, 331 ; draws Tipvilivmble 
 remonstrance to parliament, ib. ; de- 
 mands the expulsion of Holies and 
 other' members, ib.; its conciliatory 
 treatment of the king, 334 ; makes 
 proposals to the king, 337 ; marches 
 towards London, 339; coolness be- 
 tween it and the king, 341 ; reviewed 
 on Hounslow Heath, 343 ; marches 
 upon London, ib. ; societies formed in, 
 against the king and Cromwell and 
 other ofScers, who appeared to favour 
 him, 351 ; appoints new agents to sup- 
 -port its particular views, 362 ; its de- 
 mands in Nov. 1647, 355; meeting of 
 aportion of, at "Ware, 364 ; meeting of 
 the officers and agitators at head- 
 quarters, 367 ; marches through Lon- ' 
 don, 374 ; is quartered in various parts 
 of London, 875 ; petition from, calling 
 for the punishment of the king, 400 ; 
 is put in motion against the Pres- 
 byterians, 408; its violent proceed- 
 ings against the presbyterian mem- 
 bers of parliament, 410. 
 
 Arnell, Kiohard, shot for mutiny, 365. 
 
 Arundel, Earl of, released from the Tower 
 on demand of the lords, 17 ; again 
 arrested by the king, 18. 
 
 Ashburnham, Mr., accompanies the king 
 in his flight from Oxford, 300; charac- 
 
INDEX 
 
 469^ 
 
 terized, 336 ; his insolent demeanour 
 towards the parliamentary ofiBcers, 
 840 ; accompanies the king in his flight 
 tVom Hampton Goui*t, 359 ; his preli- 
 minary interview witli Hammond, 
 3 GO; is' ordered to quit the Isle of 
 Wight, 371. 
 
 Astley, Lord, defeated at Stow by the 
 parliamentary forces, 2D7. 
 
 Atherton Moor, battle of, 190. 
 
 Aubigny, Lady, her connexion with "Wal- 
 ler's plot, 180, 
 
 Axtell, Col., his violent conduct at the 
 king's trial, 423 et leq. 
 
 Balfodr, Sir Wm., tampered with by 
 the king, 104 ; dismissed from the go- 
 vernment of the Tower, 127. 
 Bampton Bush, battle of, 270. 
 Bancroft, Bp. of Oxford, his death, 8S. 
 Bancroft, Dr., maintains the supremacy 
 of the church, 49 ; is created Arch- 
 of Canterbury, 50. 
 Barbary pirates, make descents on the 
 
 English and Irish coasts, 44. 
 Barnstaple surrehders to the royal troops, 
 
 191. 
 Base money, coining of, proposed by the 
 
 king's government, 81. 
 Basing-House, taken by the parlia- 
 mentary forces, 290. 
 Bastwick, John, brought before the star- 
 chamber, 63 ; his trial, ib. ; his sen'- 
 tcnce, 64; its execution, ib. ; his con- 
 demnation voted illegal by the house 
 of commons, 92; his triumphant re- 
 turn to London, 93. 
 Bath, surrenders to the royal troops, 191 
 taken by the parhamentary forces; 
 290 
 Batten, Admiral, cannonades Burlington, 
 
 176. 
 Bedford, Earl of, his death, 104. 
 Bellasis, Sir H., imprisoned by the king 
 
 for his liberty of speech, 8 1. 
 Bellievre, M. de, urges the king to accept 
 
 the propositions of parliament, 308. 
 Benyon, Geo., addresses a petition to par- 
 liament on behalf of the king, 149. 
 Berkley, Sir John, characterized, 336 ; 
 joins the king by order of Henrietta- 
 Maria, ib.; his interview with Cromwell 
 and othe:>aders of the army, at Bead- 
 ing, ib. ; his first interview %vith the 
 king, 337 ; his negotiations with the 
 army, ib. ; accompanies the king in 
 his flight &om Hampton Court, 359 ; 
 
 his preliminary interview with Ham- 
 mond, 360; waits on Fairfax and the 
 other generals at Windsor, 367; his 
 interview with Commandant Watson, 
 ib. ; is ordered to guard the Isle of 
 Wight, 371. 
 Berwick, taken by Langdalc, 381, : 
 
 Birch, Col., arrested by Col. Pride, 409. 
 Bishoprics and deaneries, bill for abro.. 
 gating them introduced into the house 
 of commons, 95. 
 Bishops, bill for excluding them from 
 parliament passed by the commons, 
 95 ; rejected by the lords, ib. ; further 
 proceedings respecting the measure, 
 126; some of them draw up a protest 
 declaring null and void all proceed- 
 ings in parliament during their ab- 
 sence from it, 127; are impeached and 
 sent to the Tower, 128. 
 Blake, Col., his reception of the parlia- 
 mentary commissioners at Walling- 
 ford, 260. 
 Blechington, taken by Cromwell, 270. 
 Bond, Denis, his speech in favour of re. 
 
 publicauism, 399. 
 Bradshaw, Johi^, characterized, 416 ; 
 chosen president of the high court of 
 commission, ib. ; his altercations with 
 the king, ib. et seq. 
 Bray, Captain, deprived of his command 
 for mutiny, 365 ; restored to his com- 
 mand, 367. 
 Brentford, battle of, 169. 
 Brereton, Sir Wm., continued in his 
 command by parliament, notwith- 
 standing the self-denying ordinance, 
 271. 
 Bridgewater surrenders to the royal 
 troops, 191 ; taken by the parliament- 
 ary forces, 290. 
 Bristol surrenders to the royal troops, 
 191 ; surrenders to the parliamentary 
 fbrces, 284. 
 Bristol, Earl of, not summoned by Charles 
 to his second parhament, 14 ; appeals 
 to the peers and has his claim ad- 
 mitted, 16 ; is impeached by the king, 
 ib. ; impeaches Buckingham, ib. ; is 
 arrested by the king, 18. 
 Brownists, sect of, their rise, CO ; their 
 
 emigrations, ib. 
 Brook, Lord, his speech at Ouildhall, 168. 
 Buckingham, Villiers, Duke of, his visit 
 to Madrid with Prince Charles, 4; 
 impeached by the commons, 15 ; cha- 
 racterized, ib. ; his answer to the 
 
470 
 
 charges^gainst him, 16 ; impeached 
 by Lord Bristo1,ib. ; fails in his attempt 
 upon the Isle of B^, 20 ; diSiculties of 
 his position, 21; his speech on the oc- 
 casion of A subsidy being roted, 23 ; 
 assassinated, 30. 
 
 Buckingham,' 0ake of, takes up arms in 
 support of the king, 3 84. 
 
 Burleigh, Lord, his advice to Queen Uli- 
 
 ■! aabeth, 21. 
 
 Burley, Capt., hanged at Newport for 
 
 f a'movement in favour ofthe king, 873. 
 
 Burton, Wm., brought before the star- 
 chamber, 63 ; his trial, ib. ; his sen- 
 tence, 64 ; its execution, ib. ; his con- 
 demnation voted illegal by the house 
 of commons, 82 ; the public honom's 
 paid him<on his return to London, 93. 
 
 Burlington cannonaded by Admiral Bat- 
 ten, 176. 
 
 Byron, Sir Gilbert, raises troops for the 
 
 -, king, in Nottinghamshire, 381 
 
 Byron, Sir John, appointed governor of 
 the Tower, 129. 
 
 Cadiz, expedition against, dispatched ty 
 . the king, 14; its failure, ib. ' 
 
 Caernarvon, Lord, his death and charac- 
 1 ter, 204. 
 
 Cambridge university, sends part of its 
 ' plate to the king, 157. 
 Canterbury, royalist disturbances at, 876. 
 Capel, Lord, appointed to attend Prince 
 
 Charles into the west of England, 
 ' 269 ; raises troops for the king in 
 
 Hertfordshire, 381. 
 Garew, Mr., sent t« the Tower by the 
 
 king, 81. 
 Carew, Sir Alexander, his trial and exe- 
 ' cution, 259. 
 
 Carlisle, taken by the Scots, 281 ; 
 . taken by the royalist troops^ 381. 
 " Case of the army," a declaration drawn 
 
 up by the discontented troops, 354. 
 Gathohcs, Roman, join the army of 
 - Newcastle, 176. 
 
 Catholicism, its progress under Laud, 63. 
 Censorship of a rigorous character esta- 
 > bhshed, 363. 
 
 Challoncr, Mr., executed ' for a plot 
 ■ against the parliament, 187. 
 Chai-Ies L, his accession to the throne of 
 
 England, 1 ; assembles a parliament, 
 
 ib. ; his personal character, 2;" the 
 • circumstances which placed hira in 
 
 antagonism with liis people, ib. ; his 
 
 visit to Spain previous to his acces- 
 sion, 4 ; his reception at Madrid, ib. ; 
 hie marriage with Henrietta Maria, 
 ib. ; influence of tlie union upon his 
 mind, S ; his position with regard to 
 parliament on his accession to the 
 throne, 11 ; his resentment iof the 
 freedom of speech indulged in by the 
 house of commons, 12 ; demands sub- 
 sidies, engaging to redress real griev- 
 ances, ib. ; indignant at the refusal of 
 Subsidies, dissolves parliament, 13; 
 his position with reference to his 
 people at, this juncture, ib.; intimates 
 his intention to govern by himself, ib. ; 
 orders a loan to be raised, ib. ; directs 
 severe measures against the Koman 
 catholics, 14, but sells them dispensa^ 
 tions and pardons, ib..; calls a second 
 parliament, ib. ; the character of his 
 despotism at this period, ib. ; takes 
 measures for keeping the more popidar 
 orators out of parliament, ib. ; his 
 speech to the commons on theoccar 
 sion of Buckingham's impeaohment, 
 16 ; forbids the judges to answer the 
 questions put by the lords, in the Earl 
 of Bristol's case, 17 ; sends Sir Dudley 
 Digges and Sir John ' Eliot to the 
 Tower, ib. ; llnds himself necessitated 
 to release them, as well as Lord 
 Arundel, ib.; dissolves his second par* 
 liament, 18 ; and places Bristol amd 
 Arundel under an-est, ib. ; nature of 
 ■the difSculties in which he now found 
 himself involved, ib. ; orders a fresh 
 loan to be raised, ib. ; calls a third 
 parliament, 21 ; his address to it, ib.; 
 the infatjiation of the principles ou 
 which he proceeded, 22 ; his addresft 
 to the council on the occasion of a 
 subsidy being announced, 23 ; takes 
 umbrage at the commons insisting in 
 the first instance upon a redress of 
 grievances, 26 ; assures parliament of 
 his determination to maintain all the 
 national rights, but not to be inter- 
 fered with in his own, ib. ; retmTis an 
 evasive answer to ' the petition of 
 rights, 27 ; forbids the house of com- 
 mons to meddle in afl'airs of state, ib.; 
 modifies this intimation, 28 ; sanctions 
 the bill of rights, 29 ; prorogues par- 
 liament, 30 ; effect which the murder 
 of the Duke of Buckingham produced 
 upon him, ib. ; adopts measures of the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 471 
 
 most despotic character, ib. ; his po- 
 sition at this juncture, ib. ; his at- 
 tempts to obtain the concesBion of the 
 tonnage and poundage dues, 31 ; his 
 diiferences with the commons in con- 
 sequence, 32 ; dissolves his third par- 
 liament, 83 ; his proclamation on the 
 occasion, ib. ; perilous character of the 
 career in which he was now embarked, 
 34; the nature of his views at this 
 tlme,ib.; concludes peace with France, 
 36 ; and with Spain, ib. ; effect of his 
 particular class of despotism upon the 
 nation at large, at this period, ib. ; his 
 position with reference to his wife's fa- 
 vourites, 37; his subjection to Henrietta 
 Maria, ib. ; his domestic character, ib 
 bis councillors at this period, 38 \ Xiis 
 attachment to them, 11 ; his exalted 
 idea of the rights of royalty, 42 ; his 
 moderation towards the Eoman ca- 
 tholics, 43; the inflexibility of his 
 pride, 44; becomes involved in pe- 
 cuniary difficulties, ib. ; forbids Strafi 
 ford to call the Irish parliament, 45 ; 
 character and effects of his tyranny, 
 ib. ; resorts to all sorts of illegal and 
 oppressive methods for raising money, 
 46 ; reintroduces long since abandoned 
 monopolies, ib. ; extends the royal 
 forests, 47 ; attempts to conciliate the 
 aristocracy, 48 ; imposes heavy fines 
 for slights exhibited towards the no- 
 bility, and shares the produce with 
 the offended party, ib. ; resorts for 
 support to the Anglican clergy, 49 ; 
 encourages the most arrogant preten- 
 sions on the part of the bishops, 54 ; 
 intci-poses to prevent the emigration 
 of sectaries, GO ; succeeds in defeating 
 Hampden in the court of law, 67 ; his 
 endeavours to establish episcopacy 
 in Scotland, 68 ; orders the introduc- 
 tion there of an Anglican liturgy, 70 ; 
 is determinately resisted in the at- 
 tempt, ib. ; sends the Marquis of 
 Hamilton to Edinburgh to carry out 
 his purposes, 72; prepares for, war 
 with Scotland, 73 ; despatches an 
 army towards Edinburgh, 74; pro- 
 ceeds himself to York, ib. ; concludes 
 
 . ii pacification with the Scots, 75 ; 
 levies another army against Scotland, 
 76 ; sends for Strafford, ib. ; summons 
 a new parliament in England, 77 ; 
 
 lays the letter of the Scots to the 
 
 King of France before it, and an- 
 nounces his determination of renewing 
 the war, 78; demands subsidies, ib.; 
 has warm disputes with his new house 
 of commons, 79 ; offers, on certain 
 conditions, to give up all future de- 
 mands for ship money, ib. ; dissolves 
 ^ the parhament, 80 ; after futile re- 
 ' grets for taking this step, returns to 
 despotism, ib. ; has resort to oppres- 
 sive and illegal means of raising 
 money, ta^d renews his persecution 
 of popular members of parliament, 
 81 ; departs with Strafford for the 
 army assembled on the Border, 82 ; 
 asseiables at York, the great council 
 of the peers of the kingdom, 84 ; as- 
 sembles his fifth parliament, 85 ; na- 
 ture of his address to it, 86 ; summons 
 Strafford to attend him, 89 ; bis ad- 
 dress to parliament on the occasion of 
 the proposed triennial bill, 93 ; opens 
 negotiations with the Earl of Bedford 
 and his friends, 97; forms a new 
 privy council, ib. ; has interviews with 
 some of the malcontents of the army, 
 ,99; signs a petition of a threaten- 
 ing nature to parliament prepared 
 by them, ib. ; his attempts to save 
 Strafford, 104; he announces tl^at 
 he will never consent to the earl's 
 death, 105 ; his interview with Holies 
 on the subject, X06; he consents 
 to the bill condemning Strafford, 
 107 ; takes his departure for Scot- 
 land, 112 ; his attempts to gain over 
 the army, 113; his arrival in Jidin- 
 burgh, ib. ; his concessions to the 
 Scottish parliament and church, ib. ; - 
 his affair with Hamilton and Argyle, 
 ib. ; his real design in visiting Spot- 
 land and plans in concert with Mon- 
 trose, 114 ; leaves the responsibility of 
 quelGng the Irish rebellion to parlia- 
 ment, 117; his expectations from 
 that rebelhon, ib. ; returns to London, 
 121 ; his reception on his way and on 
 his arrival, ib. ; entertains the corpo- 
 ration of London at dinner, ib.j with- 
 draws from parliament the guard as- 
 Signed it by Essex, ib. ; his efforts to 
 rally a party around him, 123; en- 
 gages Hyde, Colepepper, and Lord 
 Falkland in his immediate service, ib.. ; 
 his indignation and fear at the popu- 
 lar excitement which now arose, 127 ; 
 
472 
 
 attempts to intimidate parliament, ib. ; 
 adopts the declaration of the twelve 
 bishops, nullifying the proceedings in 
 parliament during their absence, 128 ; 
 affects to give way to the parliament, 
 129 ; rejects tbe application of the 
 house of commons for a guard, ib. ; 
 bas Lord Kimbolton and five mem- 
 bers of the commons impeached for 
 higli treason, ib. ; sends a seijeant-at- 
 anns to arrest the latter, 131 ; pro- 
 ceeds to the house to take the accused 
 into custody bimselfi 132 ; his speech 
 on the occasion, ib. ; bis affliction at 
 the failure of this attempt, 134; de- 
 mands tbe accused at the hands of the 
 city authorities without effect, 1S5; 
 his position at this juncture, 13G ; re- 
 tires to Hampton Court, 137; pre- 
 pares for war, 138 ; proceeds to 
 . Windsor, ib. ; his negotiations with 
 the parliament *for the purpose of 
 gaining time, 139; authorizes the bill 
 for excluding the bishops from parlia- 
 metit, 142 ; proceeds to Dover, ib. ; 
 has several interviews there, at Can- 
 terbury, at Theobalds, and at New- 
 market, with commissioners from the 
 commons, 143, 144; details, of these 
 conferences, ib. ; proceeds to York, 
 145 ( his appeals to the people, 149 ; 
 their effect, ib. ; he gains ground, 
 150; his attempt upon Hull, 151; 
 orders,without effect, the Westminster 
 assizes to be held at York, 153 ; his 
 unsuccessful attempt to dismiss the 
 parliamentary commissioners deputed 
 to observe his proceedings, 153 ; pro- 
 ceeds to levy a guard, ib. ; is defeated 
 in the attempt, 154; his differences 
 with the royalist refugees from par- 
 liament, 155; the difficulties in which 
 he now found himself involved, ib. ; 
 commissions the principal royalists to 
 raise troops in his name, ib, ; the in- 
 decision of his proceedings, ib. ; essays 
 ta jaise money by voluntary contri- 
 bution, but with little effect, 157; 
 breaks off a commenced negotiation 
 with the parliament, 158 ; takes active 
 measures for caiTying on the impend- 
 ing war, 161 ; makes aprogress through 
 Yorkshire and other counties, 162 ; 
 erects the royal standard at Notting* 
 ham, ib. ; establishes his head-quar- 
 ters at Shrewsbury, 163 j advances 
 
 towards London, 164; is defcnterl by 
 Bssex at Bdgehill, 1G6; cstabliislicd 
 his head-quarters at Oxford, 167 ; 
 obtains possession of Banbury and 
 other places, ib. ; receives commis- 
 sioners from the parliament at Coin- 
 brook, 168 ; defeats Holies' regiment, 
 169 ; occupies Brentford, ib. ; retreats 
 to Keading, and then to Oxford, 170 ; 
 receives a deputation from the com-, 
 mon council, 171 ; receives commis- 
 sioners from the parliament at Ox- 
 fbrd, 178; his rejection of their pro- 
 posals, 179 ; sends a message to 
 Hampden, 188 ; is rejoined by Hen- 
 rietta-SIaria, 192 ; declares the two 
 houses at Westminster not to be a 
 true parliament, and forbids his Bub- 
 jects to obey their orders, 193; pub- 
 lishes a more modified proclamation* 
 194; the plan be bad formed for 
 marching upon London, 199 ; sends 
 to Lord Newcastle on the subject, ib. ; 
 relinquishes the enterprise, 200; be- 
 sieges Gloucester, ib. ; his interview 
 with deputies from that city, 201 ; 
 sends a messenger to Essex with pro- 
 posals of peace, 202 ; raises tbe siege, 
 ib. ; engages Essex at Newbury, 203 ; 
 retires to Oxford, ib. ; his reception 
 of the lords who had withdrawn from 
 parhament, 218; excites unpopularity 
 among the nobility by taking part 
 against their claims with Prince Ru- 
 pert, ib. ; receives intelligence that 
 the Scots are preparing to make war 
 upon him, 219; sends the Duke of 
 Hamilton to Edinburgh with large 
 offers, ib. ; his intrigues with the 
 Irish discovered, 220 ; progress of his 
 affairs in Ii'eland, 221 ; signs a year'a 
 truce with the Irish rebels, and recals 
 the English troops sent to repi'ess 
 them, 222 ; indignation of all dasses 
 at his conduct on this occasion, ib. ; 
 his interview with Hyde respecting 
 the parliament at Westminster, 223 ; 
 desires a proclamation to be drawn 
 up dissolving it, ib. j abandons the 
 project, 224 ; his objection to calling 
 a parliament at Oxford, ib. ; but as- 
 sents to the proposition, 225 ; his feel- 
 ing with regard to war, 227; is in- 
 duced to write to the parliament at 
 Westminster, to propose negotiations.. 
 228 ; adjourns the assembly at Ox- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 473 
 
 ford, 229 ; hi3 feeling towards it, ib. ; 
 quits Oxford and makes his way un- 
 perceived between the two camps be- 
 sieging the city, 232 ; resumes the 
 offensive, 234 ; defeats Waller at Cro- 
 predy Bridge, ib. ; advances into the 
 west to attack Fairfax, ib. ; but sends 
 at the same time a letter to parlia- 
 ment, offering to treat, ib, ; writes to 
 Essex, 240 ; sanctions a second letter 
 to Essex from Lord Wilmot and 
 others, 241; compels Essex to quit 
 his army, and the ai-my itself to capi- 
 tulate, 242 ; addresses another pacific 
 message to the house, 244 ; resolves 
 to march upon London, ib. ; issues a 
 proclamation, calling upon his suliuects 
 to rise in his favour, ib. ; is defeated 
 by Lord Manchester at Newbmy, 245 ; 
 receives commissioners at Oxford from 
 the parliament, 250 ; his first public 
 interview with them, 251 ; his private 
 interview with Holies and White- 
 locke; ib. ; his second public interview 
 with the commissioners, 253 ; sends a 
 message to parliament, 254; agrees 
 to a conference at Uxbridge, 255 ; 
 restores the name of parliament to 
 the houses at Westminster, 260 ; 
 gives audience to Lord Southampton 
 at Oxford, 262 ; sends Prince Charles 
 into the west of England with the 
 title of generalissimo, 269 ; his de- 
 spondency at this period, ib. ; quits 
 Oxford for the north of England, 271 ; 
 takes Leicester, 272; is defeated by 
 Fairfax at Naseby, 273 ; his private 
 coiTespondence read to the citizens' 
 of London in Guildhall, 277 ; pro- 
 ceeds to Kagland Castle, 381 1 his 
 letter to Prince Bupert, 282; takes 
 up his head-quarters at York, ib, ; re- 
 turns to Oxford, 283 ; marches against 
 the Scots, 284; returns to Kagland 
 Castle, ib.? his letter to Prince Rupert 
 respecting the surrender of Bristol, 
 ib. ; deprives the prince and Colonel 
 Legge of their commissions, '285; is 
 defeated by the parliamentarians at 
 Bounton Heath, 286 ; proceeds to New- 
 ark, 287 ; his interview with Prince 
 Kupert, 288; dissensions between him 
 and Sir Richard Willis and other 
 royalists, ib. ; escapes to Oxford, 290 ; 
 desperation of his affairs, ib. ; makes 
 overturesof peace, 291 ; renews them, | 
 
 294 ; his secret negotiations with the 
 L:ish Roman catholics discovered, ib. ; 
 their nature, ib. j disavows his agents 
 in those negotiations,but without effect, 
 
 295 ; his position at this time, ib. ; 
 his endeavours to sow dissensions 
 among his opponents, 297 ; his corre- 
 spondence with Vane, ib. ; proceeds to 
 the Scottish camp, 300 ; his reception, 
 301 ; his secret plans with Lord Digby, 
 306 ; writes to Lord Ormond, ib. ; his 
 controversy on religion with Hender- 
 son, 307 ; writes to Lord Glamorgan, 
 to raise money for him by pawning 
 the kingdom, ib. ; continues bis nego- 
 tiations with the Irish Roman Ca- 
 tholics, ib. ; receives commissioners 
 fi'om the parliament, ib.; his inter- 
 views with de Montreuil and Dave- 
 nant, 308 ; declines the parliamentary 
 propositions, 309; receives a deputa- 
 tion from Edinburgh, S12; his letter 
 to Hamilton respecting his position, 
 313 ; increasing sympathy of the 
 people for bim, 315 ; is given up by 
 the Scots and conveyed to Holmby 
 Castle, 316; his reception by the 
 people on his way, and on his arrival, 
 ib. ; his treatment by the parlia- 
 mentary commissioners, 325 ; is re- 
 moved by the army to Newmarket, 
 ib; details of the affair, 326; receives 
 Fairfax and his staff at Childersley, 
 329 ; his treatment by the army, 334 ; 
 his interview with l^s youngest chil- 
 dren at Maidenhead, 335 ; his friendly 
 intercourse with the leaders of the 
 ai*my, ib. ; his first interview with Sir 
 John Berkley, 337; differences between 
 him and the officers,, 341 ; addresses 
 proposals to them, ib. ; removes to 
 Hampton Court, 348 ; his renewed in- 
 tercourse with Cromwell and other 
 leaders of the army, ib. ; rejects pro- 
 posals made by parliament, 351 ; his 
 secret correspondence with the royal- 
 ists, 352 ; a letter from him to the 
 queen discovered by Cromwell, 353 ; 
 rigorous measures adopted towards 
 him by the army. 357 ; consults Wil- 
 liam Lilly as to a place of retreat, 
 359 ; escapes from Hampton Court to 
 the Isle of Wight, ib. ; attempts to 
 renew his negotiations with the army, 
 367; his secret hopes, 368; receives 
 commissioners from the parliaments of 
 
474 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Scotland and Englfuid, at Cai*isbrooIc, 
 369 ; , concludes a treaty with the for- 
 mer, ib.; r^ects the propositions of 
 the latter, 370; his interriew witli 
 , Col. Hammond respecting the rigorous 
 treatment applied to him, 370 ; mani- 
 festations in his favour throughout the 
 country, 876 et aeg.j receives com- 
 . missiouers from the pai-ljament at 
 Newport, 394; his douhle-dealing on 
 the occasion, 396; his firmness with 
 reference to the church of England, 
 . 398 ; his touching fai'ewell to the par- 
 liamentary commissioners, 401 ; is re- 
 moved to Hurst Castle, 403; and 
 thence to "Windsor, 411 ; hisconversa- 
 tion on the way with Major Harrison, 
 413 ; dines at Lord Newburgh's, 414 ; 
 arrival at Windsor, ib. ; his treatment 
 there, ib. ; is removed to liondon, 418 ; 
 appears before the high court of 
 comnoission, 419; particulars of the 
 first day's trial, ib. ; of the second, 
 421 ; of the third, 422; steps taken ii; 
 his behalf, ib. ; his foiui;h appearance 
 before the court, 423 ; is condemned 
 to death, 426; his demeanour after 
 sentence, ib.; his interview next day 
 with Juxon, 428; and with his two 
 yoimgest children, 429; his conduct 
 on the day of his execution, 431; his 
 ^ speech oi^ the scafTold, 434; his death 
 . and funeral, 435. ) 
 
 Charles, Prince of Wales, appointed by 
 his father generalissimo of the west, 
 2G9; offers to mediate between the 
 Idng and the parliament, 292 ; retires 
 to Scilly, 296 ; assumes the command 
 of the mutinied parliamentary navy, 
 381. 
 Chester, siege of, raised by the king, 
 
 272. 
 Chohiiondeley, Sir H., negatiates with 
 
 the queen, 177. 
 Church of England, its position immedi- 
 ately afterthe Reformation, 8 ; circum- 
 stances connecting it with despotism, 
 9 ; its position in the latter part of the 
 reign of Elizabeth, and under James 
 and Charles, 49 ; its independence 
 asserted by Dr. Bancroft, ib.; its sup- 
 port of absolutism, 50 ; its assertion of 
 divine right for its bishops, S4; its 
 enoroachmonts upon civil affiiirs, 55 ; 
 the feeling of the country towards it, 
 58; its clergy take an oath against 
 
 alterations in its government, 81; de« 
 cline of its influence, 110. 
 Church property, act passed authorizinjf 
 
 the sale of. 292. 
 Chiarch, reformation in, actively set on 
 
 foot by the presbyterians, 208. 
 Clarke, Mr. Edward, his speech in favour 
 of prerogative censured by the house 
 of commons, 12. 
 " Clubmen," origin of this body, 2t9 ; 
 their views and progress, ib. ; treated 
 with by Fairfax, 280 ; broken up by 
 Cromwell, 290. 
 Cobbett, Col.j removes the king to Hurst 
 
 Castle, 412. 
 Coke, Sir Edward, prevented from at- 
 tending the king's second parli^m^t, 
 14; characterized, 22. 
 Colchester invested by Fauiiax, 384; 
 
 surrenders, 398. 
 Colepepper, Sir J., named chancellor of 
 the exchequer, 124 ; appointed to at- 
 tend Prince Charles into the west, 
 269. 
 Commerce, its rise in England, 6 ; jm- 
 pededby France, 20; benefit it derived 
 from Laud, 40. 
 Connnissioners from parliament wait on 
 the king at Dover, 142 ; Canterbury, 
 ib. ; Theobalds, 143; Newmarket, 144; 
 York, 153; Colnbrook, 168; Oxford, 
 178 ; sent to Scotland, 194 ; wait on 
 the king at Oxford, 250; their -re- 
 ception by the people there, ib. ; pro- 
 ceed to Newcastle to receive the king 
 from the Scots, 315 ; wait on the king 
 at Newport, 394; particulars of the 
 conference, ib. 
 Commissioners from the king levy oppres- 
 sive exactions over the country, 47, 
 Comniittee of grievances draw up a 
 
 report, 118. 
 Committee of safety appointed, IGO; of 
 
 the two kingdoms appointed, 230. 
 Common council present a petition in 
 favour of war, 195 ; presenta petition 
 for the more vigorous prosecution of 
 the war, 272 ; present a petition 
 against the army, 378; refuse p^mis- 
 sion to Goring to pass through the 
 city with royalist succours, 384. 
 Commons, 'house of, composition of, in 
 the 14th century, 6; wealth of, in 
 1628, 7 ; their great advances in 
 freedom under James I., 11 ; their 
 attitude in the fii'st parli^anent of 
 
INDEX. 
 
 47S 
 
 Charles T., 12; vote the customs for 
 only one year, 13; their attitude on 
 being nssembled, Ifit Charles I., 15; 
 impeach the Buke of Buckingham, ib. ; 
 vote public rumour a sufficient gnouud 
 on which to proceed, 16 ; appoint com- 
 missioners to conduct the impeach- 
 ment, 17 ; two of. their members «ent 
 to tlie Tower by the king, ib. ; their 
 projected remonstrance burnt by the 
 hangman, 18; character and views of 
 ttie house, (Srd of Chas. I.) 22; have 
 a conference with the lords as to the 
 rights of the subject, 24; insist upon a 
 redress of grievances, 25 ; draw up the 
 petition of rights, ib.; thdr proceed- 
 ings in the matter,' 27; are forbidden 
 by the king to meddle in aifairs of state, 
 28; present a remonstrance against 
 Buckingham and ag^nst illegal coUec- 
 
 ' tion of tonnage and poundage, 29 ; are 
 prorogued, 30 ; proceedings on being 
 re-assembled, 81 ; their resistance 
 to the king's levying tonnage and 
 
 ^poundage, 82; their position in the es- 
 timation of the public, 57 ; their com- 
 position, 4th parliament of Charles I.» 
 78 ; their proceedings, ib. ; vote against 
 the lords interfering in money mat- 
 ters, 79 ; refuse subsidies, 80 ; their 
 attitude on the opening of the king's 
 5th parliament, 8G ; practically as- 
 sume the govemment, 91 ; raise 
 money in their own name, ib. ; vote an 
 indemnity to the Scots, 92 ; negotiate 
 for peace with Scotland, ib. ; their 
 powerful attitude, ib. ; feeling of the 
 majority in the 5th parliament of 
 Charles, 95 ; send commissioners into 
 the provinces to remove the Crucifixes, 
 images, &c., from the churches, 96 ; 
 attend in a body the trial of Strafford, 
 100; press on the proceedings, 101; 
 their plan for effecting the destruotioh 
 of the earl, 102 ; rumour of the house 
 being about to be blown up, 105 ; tlieir 
 position after Strafford's execution, 
 109 ; prorogue themselves, 112 ; send 
 a committee to watch the king's 
 movement-s in Scotland, ib, ; alarm 
 of the opposition at the king's pro- 
 ceedings against the covenanters in 
 Scotland, 115; authorize the ser- 
 vants Of members to come ai'med 
 to the house for their protection, 
 126 ; apply to the king for a guard. 
 
 129 ; their proceedings on the de- 
 mand beuag rejected, ib. ; steps takeu 
 by them on account of the impeach- 
 ment of the five members, 130 ; con- 
 ference with the lords, 131 ; their re- 
 ception of the king on his coming to 
 arrest the five members, 182; their 
 siiha^quent proceedings, 135 ; resolve 
 i^ .. ^e kingdom shall be put in a 
 ataiteof deience, 138 ; their proceedings 
 on the king's withdrawing from Lon- 
 don, 139 ; send commissioners to the 
 king respecting the mihtia bill, 142 ; 
 prohibit freedom of discussion, 150; 
 reject a proposition for disbanding the 
 army, 178; sendcommissioners to wait 
 on the king at Oxford, ib. ; reject the 
 pacific measures proposed by the lords, 
 196 ; make a declaration of their at- 
 tachment to the house of lords, 265 ; 
 propose to omit from Fairfax's com- 
 mission the insti-uction " to watch over 
 the safety of the king's person," 265; 
 their violent measures to prevent the 
 king from coming to London, 298; 
 vote £100,000 on account of the Scots, 
 305 ; vote that the army be disbanded, 
 316; their reception of the delegates 
 from the army, 321 ; their attempts to 
 conciliate the army. 33^3, 333 ; pass a 
 resolution against any member holding 
 a place of profit, 333 ; vote new pro- 
 positions to the king, 368; pass a 
 resolution to set the king by, 373 : 
 pass a resolution in favour of consti- 
 tutional monarchy ajid of peace, 379 j 
 pass a resolution in favour of Ireeh 
 negotiations with the king, 382 ; vote 
 new propositions to the king, 386 ; 
 their debate respecting the king's 
 concessions at Newport, 402 ; vote 
 them to be satisfactory, 407 ; certain 
 members of, arrested by Colonel Pride 
 by order of the army, 408 ; their 
 treatment, 409; further proceedings 
 against presbyterian members, 410; 
 repeal all the proceedings in favour of 
 peace, 411 ; resolve that the king 
 shall be brought to trial, 414 ; declare 
 him guilty bf treason, and institute a 
 high court of commission to try him, 
 415; resolve to proceed with the 
 trial of the king, notwithstanding the 
 refusal of the lords to concur in it, 
 ib. ; direct an inventory to be taken. 
 of the contents of al/ the royal p&r 
 
476 
 
 laces, 417 ; abolish the office of king 
 in England, 436 ; allow 5001. for tlo 
 expenses of the king's luneral, ib. ; 
 declare traitors any who declare a 
 successor to him, ib. 
 Confederation of counties for canying 
 
 on the war, 173. 
 Conyers, Sir J., appointed governor of 
 
 the Tower, 142, 
 Cook, Colonel Edw., consulted by the 
 
 king at Newport, 402. 
 Cook, Mr. John, appointed attorney- 
 general to conduct the king's trial, 417 . 
 Cooke, Mr. Secretary, gives offence to 
 the house of commons, 24 ; his speech 
 urging subsidies, 25. 
 Comwall. the men of, their bravery and 
 loyalty, 190 ; letter of thanks to them 
 from tlie king, ib. (note) ; peculiarity 
 in the landed property of, ib. 
 Cottington, Lord, his subtlety, 48. 
 Cotton, Sir Kobert, his speech in favour 
 of a redress of public grievances, 12 ; 
 summoned to aid the king with his 
 councils, 21. 
 Council, great, of peers, called at; York, 
 
 84. 
 Council, privy, of a popular character 
 
 formed, 97. 
 Country gentry are ordered to keep on 
 their estates, 48 ; characterized, 124 ; 
 their feelings towards the presbyterian 
 party, ib. ; resort to London to sup- 
 port the king, ib. 
 Court, the, its hatred of parliament, 35 ; 
 its intrigues, 37; its animosity to 
 Strafford and Laud, 41 ; its alarm at 
 the proceedings of the commons, 88. 
 Court, Iforthern, abolished, 94. 
 Covenant, solemn league and, drawn up, 
 71 ; its purport, ib. ; its immediate ac- 
 ceptation, ib. ; agreed to by the par- 
 liament of England, 205 ; its recep- 
 tion in London, 206, 
 Credit, public, its origin, 91. 
 Cromwell, Mrs., received with great 
 honours by the king at Hampton 
 Court, 348. 
 Cromwell, John, his eflTorts in favour of 
 
 the king, 422. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, his first public appear- 
 ance in parliament, 31; prevented 
 frOm emigrating by an order in coun- 
 cil, 61; his early menaces against 
 royalty, 94; nature of his part in the 
 work ot'opposition in the earlier stage of 
 
 his political career, 150 ; prevents the 
 transmission of supplies to the king 
 from Cambridge, 157 ; rise of his re- 
 putation, 181 ; his opinion of the par- 
 liamentary and royai cav^ry, 183; 
 raises troops in the eastern counties, 
 ib. ; his address to liis recruits, ib. ; 
 his rigid discipline, ib. ; his intimation 
 to Lord Falkland on occasion ol 
 the grievance remonstrance, 120 ; 
 his endeavours to gain over Lord 
 Manchester, 238 ; his attack on 
 Lord Manchester in the house of 
 commons, 246 ; rising distrust of him 
 on the part of the presbyterians, ib. ; 
 progress of his influence with the army, 
 247 ; his contempt for the Scots, ib.; 
 his speech in favour of prosecuting the 
 war, 255 ; his power over the -troops, 
 268 ; quells a mutiny in his own regi* 
 ment, 269 ; is continued in command, 
 notwithstanding the self-denying ordi- 
 nance, 270 ; defeats the royalists at 
 Islip Bridge and other places, ib. ; con- 
 tinued in command, 271 ; again con- 
 tinued in command, 273 ; disperses the 
 clubmen, 290 ; continued in command 
 for four months, 292 ; is again con- 
 tinued in command,295; tampers wit^ 
 Ludlow, 317; liis influence with the 
 army, ib. ; encourages discontent in 
 the army, 318; his tamperings with 
 Ludlow, 321; meets the advances of 
 Whitelocke and other members of the 
 commons, 322 ; solicited by the parlia- 
 ment to re-establish harmony between 
 it and the army, ib. ; his solemn denial 
 of any concurrence in the removal of 
 the king from Holmby, 330 ; allega- 
 gations against him on the part of two 
 ofiScers, ib. ; his protestations of fidelity 
 to the commons, ib. ; repairs to the 
 camp at Triploe Heath, and openly 
 places himself at the head of the army 
 party, 381; his reasons for keeping 
 fair at first with the king, 385 ; his in* 
 terview with Sir John Berkley at 
 Keading, 836 ; characterized by some 
 of -the army leaders, 337 ; his machin- 
 ations to create dissensions in the par- 
 liament, 342; source of his influence 
 with the republicans, 34G; circum- 
 stances which involved him in distrust 
 with the army republicans, 347 ; hia 
 assiduous intercourse with the king at 
 Hampton Com't, 343 ; seeks to cunci- 
 
477 
 
 liate Lilbume, 349; nature of his feel- i 
 Jngs at this period, ib. ; offers made ' 
 him by the king, 350 ; sentiments to- 
 wards him on the part oi the army, 
 351 ; difficulties of his position in Oct. 
 1647, 350; discovers a letter from 
 Charles to the queen, explaining his 
 real intentions, ib. ; denounced byXil- 
 burne, 351 ; project to assassinate him, 
 252; his satisfaction at the king's 
 escaping from Hampton Court, 364 ; 
 his energetic proceedings towards the 
 insui'rectionary troops at "Wat'C, 365 ; 
 his subsequent reception in the house 
 of commons, 366; hi3 speech against 
 Ihe king, 372 ; endeavours to recon- 
 cile the contending parties in parlia- 
 ment, 375 ; is close pressed by Ludlow, 
 376 ; suppresses a royalist insurrection 
 in London, 377; seeks to concihate 
 the citizens of London, 37i) ; proceeds 
 to head-quarters to take decisive mea- 
 sures against parliament, ib. ; is de- 
 feated in his immediate object by Fair- 
 fax, ib. ; his conversation with Ludlow, 
 on his position, 380 ; has an interview 
 with some presbyterian ministers, ib. ; 
 takes Pembroke castle, 389, and 
 marches against the Scots, jb. ; de- 
 feats them at Wigan and Warrington, 
 300 ; is denounced in a pamphlet by 
 Major Huntingdon, 391 ; enters Scot- 
 land, 398 ; has an interview with Ar- 
 
 . gyle, 399 ; concludes a treaty with 
 the Scottish royalists, ib. ; is received 
 at Edinburgh in triumph, ib. ; returns 
 to England, ib. ; resumes his seat in 
 the house of commons, 411 ; his 
 speech on the motion for bringing the 
 king to trial, 415 ; his excitement on 
 the king's approaching to take his 
 trial, 418 ; resists Colonel Down's in- 
 terposition in favour of Charles, 425 ; 
 Ilia conduct on occasion of signing the 
 king's sentence, 430, and on that of 
 signing the warrant for his execution, 
 431 ; visits the body of the king in his 
 coffin, 435. 
 
 Crppredy Bridge, battle of, 234. 
 
 Crown lands, sale of, by Elizabeth, 7. 
 
 DALBiER,ColoneI,mutinyofhis regiment, 
 
 268. 
 Darnel, Sir John, his case, and that of 
 
 his colleagues, 19. 
 Davenant, Sir ■VVilliam, his attempt to 
 
 induce the king to accept the offer of 
 parliament, 308. 
 
 Delinquents, public, denounced by the 
 commons, 88. 
 
 Denbigh, Lord, and other commissioners 
 from the parliament wait on the king 
 at Oxford, 251; resigns his commis- 
 sion, 267 ; waits on the king, with 
 other parliamentary commissioners, at 
 Carisbrook, 371. 
 
 Devizes taken by the parliamentarians, 
 290. 
 
 Devon and Cornwall, people of, form a 
 treaty of mutual neutrality, 173. 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, anecdote of his 
 daughter,on her conversion to Romap.- 
 catholicism, 54. 
 
 D'Ewes, Sir Symonds, supports a mo- 
 tion for peace, 387. 
 
 Digby, his speech against the bill of at* 
 tainder of Strafford condemned by the 
 house of commons, 109 ;'his share in 
 the impeachment of lord Kimbolton 
 and the five members, 130 ; his en- 
 mity to Prince Rupert, 287 ; defeated 
 by the parliamentarians at Sherborne, 
 289. 
 
 Digges, Sir Dudley, sent to the Tower by 
 the king, 17 ; released, ib. ; his speech 
 on the occasion of the king's forbid- 
 ding the house to meddle in affairs of 
 state, 28. 
 
 *' Directions for public worship," substi- 
 tuted for the Anglican liturgy, 259.. 
 
 Dissent, its progress, 60^ 61, 303. 
 
 Divines, assembly of, convoked, 184. 
 
 Dorchester suri'enders to the royal 
 troops, 191. 
 
 Douglas, Marquis of, declares for the 
 king, 283. 
 
 Downs, Col., his attempt in favour of 
 the king, 425. 
 
 Ecclesiastics, bill introduced to ex- 
 clude them from civil functions, 95 ; 
 different views respecting the measure 
 96. 
 
 Edgehill, battle of, 165. 
 
 eIkSiu BaaiXix^ published, 422. 
 
 Elizabeth, Princess, her interview with 
 her father at Maidenhead, 335; her 
 last interview with her father, 429. 
 
 Eliot, Sir John, sent to the Tower by ' 
 the king, 17 ; released, ib. ; his speech 
 against Buckingham, 24 ; his speech 
 on the king's forbidding the commons 
 
478 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ' to meddle in affairs of state, 27 ; pro- 
 poses a new remonstrance against ton- 
 nage and poundage, 32 ; his deatb, 36. 
 
 Elizabetli, Queen, her policy witli refer- 
 ence to the nobility, 3 ; her resistance 
 to the principles of civil liberty, 11; 
 asserts her supremacy over the 
 church, 49. 
 
 Elsynge, Mr., resigns his offtce of 
 clerk to the house of commons, 41?. 
 
 England, the crisis in which she was in 
 1643, 216. 
 
 Episcopacy, petition from London for' 
 the abolition of, 95. 
 
 Este:^, inhabitants of, present a petition 
 in &rour of the king, 380. 
 
 Essex, Earl of, sent vrith an army 
 
 .- against the Scottish insurgents, 74 ; 
 withdraws from the court in disgust, 
 ■ 76; is appointed captain-general South 
 of Trent, 112; grants the house of 
 commons a guard, 115; appointed 
 generalissimo of the parliamentary 
 forces, 160 ; marches out of London 
 at the head of the army, 163 ; defeats 
 the royalist army at Edgehill, 165'; be- 
 sieges Heading, 180 ; his innate anti- 
 pathy to the war, 181 ; decline of 
 his influence, ib.; circumstanceswhich 
 retained him in command, l!j2 ; diffi- 
 culties of *is position, ib. ; rejects pro- 
 posals to open negotiations with the 
 king, 197; relieves Gloucester, 202; 
 defeats the king at Newbury, 203; 
 enters London in triumph, 205 ; ten- 
 ders his resignation, 206 ; withdraws 
 It, 207 ; receives a message from the 
 parliament at Oxford, 227 ; returns 
 it, ib. ; receives a second letter, and 
 replies to it, ib. ; besieges Oxford, 231 ; 
 refuses to obey the order of parlia- 
 ment to resign his command in the 
 West to Waller, 233 ; his successes in 
 She west, 238 ; retreats into Corn- 
 wall, 239 ; difficulties of his posi- 
 tion, ib. ; receives a pacific letterfrom 
 the king, 240 ; and a letter from some 
 of the royalist lords, 241 ; rejects 
 their overtures, ib. ; sails from Fowey 
 to Plymouth, and thence writes to 
 parliament an account of his disas- 
 ters, 242 ; the reply of parhament, ib. ; 
 his resignation, 266; his death, 324. 
 
 Evelyn, Sir John, proclaimed a traitor 
 by the king, 163. 
 
 Everard, John, his deposition against 
 tiie army, 373. 
 
 Ewers, Colonel, appointed governor of 
 the Isle of Wight, 401. 
 
 Eaihfax, Sir Thomas, his early appear- 
 ance in the cause of liberty, 1.53 ; his 
 spirited conduct at Heyworth Hoor, 
 154; his successes in the north, ISl; 
 defeated at Atherton Moor, 190 ; ap- 
 pointed governor of Hull, 194; de- 
 feats the royalists at Nantwich and 
 Selby, 229; appointed generalissimo 
 of the parliamentary army, 264; 
 takes up his head-quarters at Wind- 
 sor, 268; formation of his army, ib.; 
 invests Oxford,. 271; defeats the king 
 at Naseby, 274 ; invests Bristol, 284; 
 defeats Lord Hopton at Torrington, 
 296; blockades Newbury, 300; meets 
 the king at Nottingham, 316 ; decline 
 of his influence vrith the army, 328; 
 calls a general council of officers, ib. ; 
 his anger at the removal of the king 
 
 ' from Holmby, 328 ; waits on the 
 king at Childersley, 329; addresess 
 a threatening - letter to the cfty 
 of London, 833; appoints commis- 
 sioners to treat with parliament, ib. ; 
 interposes to procure the king an in- 
 terview with his children, 335 ; his re- 
 ception of the city authorities, 344; 
 appeases the mutinous troops at Ware, 
 365; his reception of Sir John Berk- 
 ley, at Windsor, 368; resists Crom- 
 well's project of marching the army 
 on London, 379; beats the royalists 
 at Maidstone, S83 ; obtains possession 
 of Colchester, 398 ; reception of mem- 
 bers of the commons on occasion of 
 Col. Piide's proceedings, 409; with- 
 draws from the liigh court of commis- 
 sion, 416. 
 
 Fairfax, Lady, her interruption of the 
 proceedings ontheking'strial, 423,424. 
 
 Falkland, Lord, his early devotion to 
 literature, 56 ; his interposition on 
 behalf of Strafford, 89; characterized, 
 123; appointed secretary of state, 1 2 4 ; 
 characterized, 204 ; his death, 205. 
 
 Felton, John, assassinates the Duke of 
 Buckingham. 30; his execution, ib. ; 
 copy of the paper found in his hat. 
 Appendix ii. 
 
 Fienncs, Nathaniel, liis cOT\^ardice at 
 Bristol, 191. 
 
 Finch, Lord Keeper, Us insulting treat.* 
 ment of Prynne, 64; impeached, 90; 
 is permitted to escape, 91. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 479 
 
 fleet, parliamentary, mutinies, 3S1 
 
 ForeBts, royal, unduly extended, 47. 
 
 IFortescue, Sir Faithful, goes over to the 
 royal army at Edgehill, 166. 
 
 France, ambassador from, refuses to in- 
 terfere in tlie ting's favour, 430. 
 
 Free inquiry, its progress, 9, 60. 
 
 Oaiies, popular, prohibited, 209. 
 
 Gascoigne, Sir Bernard, condemned by 
 Fairfax to be shot, but reprieved, 898. 
 
 German troops levied by Buckingham,2 8. 
 
 Giles, Di'., sent by the king to Hamp- 
 den, 188. 
 
 Glamorgan, Lord, characterized, 294 ; 
 confidence reposed in him by the 
 Idng, ib. ; his negotiations with the 
 Irish Boman catholics, ib. ; is arrested, 
 295 ; on his release, continues his ne- 
 gotiations, 307. 
 
 Gloucester besieged by the king, 200. 
 
 Goodman, Rev. Mr., a Koman-cathclic 
 priest, pardoned by the house of com- 
 mons, 92. 
 
 Goodwin, Rev. Mr., offers his services to 
 the king, 433. 
 
 Goring, Lord, discloses the plot of the 
 army to Lord Bedfordr 99; declares 
 for the king,161; defeated at Langport, 
 280; heads a royalist rising in Kent, 
 301; assembles a royalist army on 
 Blackheath; 383; retreats into Essex, 
 384. 
 
 Goumey.Lord Mayor, impeached and dis- 
 missed his office by the commons, 156. 
 Great seal, transmitted by the lord 
 chancellor to the king at York, 152 ; 
 replaced by the commons, 192 ; a new 
 one made, 436, 
 Grenvillc, Mr., fined for speaking ill of 
 
 Lord Suffolk, 48, (note.) 
 Grey of "Wark, Lord, refusing to act as 
 commissioner from the parliament of 
 Scotland, is sent to the Tower, 194. 
 rievances, report on, presented by the 
 Presbyterians, 118; debate on, 119. 
 imstone, Major, his attack on Crom- 
 well in the commons, 330. 
 
 Hacker, Col., signs the king's death 
 warrant, 431. 
 
 Hall, Bishop, his treatise on the divine 
 right of bishops, 54. 
 
 Hamilton, Marquis of, opens negotiations 
 With the political leaders, 97 ; aflair 
 between him aJid the king at Edin- 
 burgh, 113; iscreatedduke, 114; sent 
 
 by the king to prevent a union be- 
 tween the parliaments of Scotland and 
 England, 219; released from prison, 
 312; regains the king's favour, ib. ; 
 his exertions for the king, ib. ; leads 
 a royalist army against the parUa- 
 mentaiy forces, 387 ; is defeated, 390 ; 
 retreats into Wales, ib. ; surrenders to 
 Lambert, 391. 
 Hammond, Col., appointed governor of 
 the Isle of Wight, 358 ; his interview 
 with Berkley and Ashbumham, 360; 
 waits on the king at Tichfleld, 361 ; 
 escorts him to Carisbrook Castle, 362 ; 
 reports his arrival to parliaihent, 364 j 
 his angry interview with the king, 
 370 ; deprived of his command, 401. 
 Hampden, John, prevented from emi- 
 grating by an order in council, 61 ; 
 characterised, ib. ; refuses to pay ship- 
 money, ib. ; brings the question before 
 the judges, ib. ; loses the trial, 67 ; 
 his popularity, ib. ; his views with re- 
 ference to episcopacy, 97 ; moves that 
 the remonstrance on grievances be 
 preselited, 121; impeached by the 
 king, 129 ; wounded in a skirmish, 
 188 ; his death, 189 ; remarks upon, ib, 
 Harrison, Major, escorts the king to 
 Windsor, 413 ; his conversation on the 
 way vrith Charles, ib. 
 Haslerlg, Sir A., prevented from emi- 
 grating by an order of council, 61; 
 moves the bill of attainder against 
 Strafford, 102; impeached by the 
 Wng, 129. 
 Henderson, Alex., draws up the solemn 
 league and covenant, 71 ; his contro- 
 versy with the king, 307. 
 Henrietta-Maria, Queen, her marriage, 
 4 ; her feelings towards England, 37 ; 
 her ascendancy over her husband, ib. ; 
 characterized, ib. ; her favourites, 38 ; 
 her animosity toStrafford and Laud, 41; 
 her conferences \yith the discontented 
 officers, 98; returns from the continent 
 with supplies, 175 ; her narrow escape 
 at Burlington, 176 ; takes up her re- 
 sidence at York, ib. ; enters into ne- 
 gotiations with some parliamenatry 
 leaders, 177; impeached by *he com- 
 mons, 1 S4 ; joins the king at Oxford, 
 192 ; proceeas to Exeter, 231; em- 
 barks at Falmouth for France, 239 j 
 solicits permission to visit her hus- 
 band, 422.. 
 Henry VIII., his policy with reference 
 
480 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 to the nobility, 3, 7 ; liis persecuting 
 character, S. 
 
 Hertford, Marquis of, liis disgust with 
 the court, 190. 
 
 Herbert, Sir Edward, attorney-general, 
 impeaches L3rd Kimbolton, Hampden, 
 and others, 129. 
 
 Herbert, Mr., liis conversation with 
 the king previous to his removal to 
 Windsor, 412 ; instructions given him 
 by the king after his sentence, 42S; 
 his last offices for the king. 431. 
 
 Heyworth Moor, meeting at, called by 
 the king, 154. 
 
 High court of commission, instituted for 
 the trial of the king, 415 ; its prelimi- 
 nary meetings, 41G; opens its pro- 
 ceedings, 419 ; votes the king's con- 
 demnation, 423. 
 
 High commission, ecclesiastical court of, 
 abolished, 94. 
 
 Holborne, Mr., acts as counsel to 
 Hampden, in the ship-money case, 66 ; 
 opposes the bill of attainder against 
 Strafford, 102. 
 
 Holland, ambs^ssadors fi*om, interpose in 
 favour of the king, 4S0, andAppendix. 
 
 Holland, Lord, his anxiety respecting 
 the king's intrigues with the arjny, 
 113; deprived of his office at court, 
 152 ; his attempts to regain the king's 
 favour, 218 ; returns to London, 222 ; 
 rises in favour of the king, 384; taken 
 prisoner by the parliament, 3S5. 
 
 Holies, Denzil, characterized, 22 ; his in- 
 terview withthekingrespecting Straf- 
 ford, 106 ; attempts to save the earl, 
 107 ; impeached by the king; 129 ; his 
 triumphant return to the parliament, 
 137 ; his interview with the king at 
 Oxford, 251 ; proposes Strict mea- 
 sures against the discontented sol- 
 diery, a-iS, 
 
 Hopton, Lord, characterized, 191; ac- 
 cepts the commission of commander of 
 the king's forces in the west, 296 ; 
 difficulties of his position, ib. ■, defeated 
 by Fairfax at Torrington, ib. ; retires 
 to the Land's End and thence to 
 Scilly, 297. 
 
 liotham. Sir John, sent to the Tower by 
 the king, 81 ; appointed governor of 
 Hull, 133; refuses to Uliver it up to 
 the king, 151 ; arreste^y parliament, 
 193 ; his trial and execution, 259. 
 
 Hotham, Johh, jun., executed, 250. 
 
 Household, royal, expenses of, the^r in- 
 
 crease under James t. and Charles X., 
 
 44 [note]. ' 
 
 Howard, Lord, arrested by Strafford, 88. 
 
 Hudson, Dr., accompanies the king in 
 his flight from Oxford, 800. 
 
 Hull, summoned by the king, 162. 
 
 Huncks, Colonel, his refusal to write the 
 king's death warrant, 431. 
 
 Huntingdon, Major, denounces Crom- 
 well, 391. 
 
 Hyde, Edward, his dissatisfaction at the 
 king's dissolving his 4th parliament, 
 80 ; characterized, 3.23 ; enters the 
 king's council, 124 ; prepares an 
 answer to the general remonstrance, 
 127; draws up replies to the pariia- 
 mentftry publications, 149 ; joins the 
 king at York, 152 ; opposes the king's 
 proposal to annul the parliament at 
 Westminster, 223 ; appointed to attend 
 priuce Charles into the West, 269. 
 
 Impressment, house of commons pass a 
 resolution against, 122. 
 
 Inchiquin, Lord, goes over to the king, 
 378. 
 
 Independents, sect of, theirrisc and perse- 
 cution, ^0. 
 
 Independents, party of, their rise, 2.1 3 ; 
 their principles, ib. ; their triumphant 
 position after the battle of I^Iarston 
 Moor, 237 ; their progress, 264 ; 
 their arrangements for securing the 
 army, ib. ; their anxiety to get the 
 king from out of the hands of tlie 
 Scots, 303 ; eminent men enrolled 
 beneath their banners, ib.; their at- 
 tempts to excite the people against 
 the Scots, 305; their indignation at 
 the Scottish demands, SIO; temporary 
 decline of their influence, 317; their 
 efforts to relieve their position, 343; 
 gain over some of the presbyterian 
 members, ib. ; their restoration to 
 power, 344 ; difl3culties of their posi- 
 tion, 355; their leaders meet and re^ 
 solve upon strong measures against the 
 Rfesbyterians, 408. 
 
 Industry, its progress under Chas. I., S6, 
 
 Infanta of Spain, mention of her pro- 
 jected marriage with Charles I., 4. 
 
 Ingoldsby, Col., compelled by Cromwell 
 and others to sign the king's sentence, 
 430. 
 
 Innovation, political and religious, its 
 marked advance towards the end of 
 1643, 214. 
 
JNDEX. 
 
 481 
 
 Ireland, its progress under Strafford, 40 ; 
 breaking out of the Koman-catliolic 
 insurrection, 115; its progress* 220. 
 
 Ireland, parliament of, votes subsidies to 
 the king, 81. 
 
 Irish Roman catholics, treaty between 
 them and the king discovered, 293; 
 conditions of the treaty, ib. 
 risli Roman catholic insurgents, their 
 negotiations with the king, 220 ; make 
 a truce with him, 222 ; the hostility of 
 the people of England towards them, 
 ib. ; enlist in the king's army, 223 ; 
 women found among them, ib. 
 
 Irish royalists in England, rigoun exer- 
 cised towards them by the parliament, 
 292. 
 
 Ireton, H., characterized, 318 ; keeps on 
 terms with the Idng, 3 3 5 ; his assiduous 
 intercourse with the king at Hampton 
 Court, 348; is offered by the king the 
 government of Ireland, 350 ; his 
 speech against the king, 372. 
 
 Ijeton, Mra., received with great honour 
 by the king at Hampton Court, 348, 
 
 Islip Bridge, battle of, 270. 
 
 James I., his policy characterized, 2, 3 ; 
 
 his resistance to civil liberty, 10 ; his 
 
 policy with reference to the church, 
 
 60. 
 Jermyn, Henry, his intrigues with the 
 
 discontented officers, 98. 
 Jenkins, Mr. Justice, his dealings with 
 
 Lilbume in the Tower, 350. 
 Jewels, crown, sold by the queen, 155. 
 Joyce, Comet, removes the king from 
 
 Holmby, 325 ; vindicates himself to 
 
 Fairfax, 329. 
 Judges, their subserviency to the court, 
 
 17, 19, 47 ; declare Strafford guilty of 
 
 high treason, 106. 
 Juries, their .subserviency under Henry 
 
 VIII. and his immediate successors. 
 ' Juxon, Bishop of London, appointed high 
 
 treasurer, '41 ; advises the king to save 
 
 Strafford, 107 ; attends the king after 
 
 Ins sentence, 428 ; and previous to his 
 
 execution, 431 et-seq. 
 
 'Kent, petition from, in favour of the 
 king and church, 149 ; royalist move-" 
 mentsin, 381. 
 
 Kilkenny, insurrectionaiy council of, 2 2 i . 
 
 Kii-',5rew, Sir H., his answer to the pro- 
 posal for raising money among the 
 
 members of parliament to carry on 
 
 the war, 166. 
 Kilsyth, battle of, 283. 
 Kingston, attempt upon, by the royalists, 
 
 138. , 
 
 Kimholton, Lord, impeached, 129. 
 Kirton, Mr., takes part in the debate oil 
 
 the king's forbidding the house to 
 
 meddle in affairs of stati^, 28, 
 
 Lajubert, John, characterized, 318, 
 Langdale M., surprises Berwick, 381 ; de- 
 feated by Cromwell, 390, 
 Langhom, Major-Gen., raises the king's 
 
 standard in Wales, 377. 
 Lansdowne, battle of, 190. 
 Laud, appointed bishop of London, 80 ; 
 characterized, 39 ; his administration, 
 40 ; his moderation towards the ca- 
 tholics, 43 ; is offered a cardinal's hat, 
 ib. ; his efforts in favour of the church. 
 51 ; impeached, 90 ; his interview with 
 Strafford on the earl's way to the 
 scaffold, 108; executed, 25S. 
 Lauderdale, Earl of, his offers to the kidg 
 at Newcastle, 3 15 ; proposes a mode of 
 escape to the king, 358 ; enters into a 
 ^treaty vnth the king in the Isle of 
 Wight, 369. 
 Legge, Col. W., deprived of the governor- 
 ship of Oxford by the king, 285 ; ac- 
 companies the king in his flight from 
 Hampton Court, 359. 
 Leicester taken by the king, 272. 
 Leighton, A., his condemnation voted by 
 the commons illegal, 92; his tri- 
 umphant return to London, 93. 
 Levellers, described, 346. 
 Leven, Lesley, Earl of, his reception of 
 
 the king at Kelham, 301. 
 Liberty, civil, its progress in England in 
 the centuries immediately preceding 
 Charles I., 5, 7, 8 ; circumstances 
 which had previously retarded its 
 assertion, 9 ; its progress in the first 
 half of the seventeenth century, 60; 
 circumstances promoting its progress, 
 67, 61. 
 Liberty, reh'gious, its connexion with 
 
 civil liberty, 9. 
 Lilbume, John, execution of his sen- 
 tence, 65; his condemnation voted 
 by the commons illegal, 92 ; his tri- 
 umphant return to London, 93$ his 
 indomitable character, 303 \ his high 
 opinion of Cromwell, 347; his re- 
 iz 
 
482 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 proaclies ^o Cromwell on i^strasting 
 his intentions, 348; is visited by 
 Cromwell, 349; encourages the muti- 
 
 , tinons troops at Ware, 365. 
 
 Lilbume, Bobert, mutinous conduct of 
 his regimMit at Ware, 865. 
 
 JAUy, Wm., consulted by the king, 339. 
 
 Lindsey, Earl of, mortdly wounded, 16G. 
 
 Lindsey, General, recalled to defend 
 ScotlEuid against the royalists, 283. 
 
 Lisle, SirGroorge, shot at Golcliiester. 398. 
 
 Literature, progress of the taste for in 
 England, 56. 
 
 Littleton, Lord-chancellor, sends the 
 great seal to the king, and joins his 
 mi^jesty at York, 152. 
 
 Liturgy, Anglican, attempt to introduce 
 it into Scotland, 68; aboUshed, 259, 
 
 Liresey, Sir M., defeats the royalist 
 forces near London, 384. 
 
 Loan on the king's own account ordered 
 to be raised, 13 ; its failure, 14 ; ano- 
 ther ordered, 18 ; resisted hy the peo- 
 ple, 19. 
 
 Lords, house of, refUse to sanction a 
 vote of the commons respecting the 
 customs' duties, 13 ; admit Lord Bris- 
 tol's claim to his seat, 16 ; address 
 the king not to dissolve parliament, 
 18 ; have a conference with "Hie com- 
 mons on the rights of the subject, 
 
 25 ; m-ge the commons to modify 
 their views, ib. ; their conduct with 
 reference to the petition of right, 
 
 26 ; advocate the views of the king 
 on the opening of bis ^^urth par- 
 liament, 79 ; reject the bill for ex- 
 cluding the bishops from parliament, 
 95; have the independent sectaries 
 to their bar and reprove them, 96 ; 
 Bend commissioners to Scotland to 
 watch the king's movements, 112; con- 
 tention with the commons on the sub- 
 ject of the bishops, 126 ; menaced in 
 popular petitions, 141 ; impeach some 
 of their colleagues for absenting them- 
 selvee from the house, 152; adopt 
 peaceful measures, 194; several mem- 
 bers of, join the king at Oxford, 197 ; 
 rg'ect the self-denying ordinance, 259; 
 complain to the other house of the 
 usurious language used towards them, 
 265; pass a vote of thanks to the 
 Scots, 809 ; resolve to invite the king 
 to Oatlands, 325 ; vote to set the king 
 bf, 373; T(>*je a conference with the 
 
 king in London, 385 ; refuse tlieir con- 
 currence in the ordinance for trying 
 the king, 415 ; abolished, 436. 
 
 XfOndon, citizens of,' riotous proceedings 
 of, on occasion of the war vrith Scot- 
 land, 82 ; present a petition against 
 episcopacy, 95 ; manifestations of, in 
 support of parliament, 125 ; their re- 
 ception of the kin^ after the arrest of 
 the five members, 133 ; present a peti- 
 tion for redress of grievances, 137 ; 
 public meeting of, after the battle of 
 Beading, 168 ; their energy in defence 
 of parliament, 194; royalist negotia- 
 tions with, 225; their feelings towards 
 the parliament, 332; royalist movement 
 of, 338 i royalist declaration of, in fa- 
 vour of the king, 342 ; give way to 
 the independents, 343 ; their sympathy 
 with the king on his trial, 42 1 et sag. 
 
 London, common council of, send a de- 
 putation to the king in favour of 
 peace, 171. 
 
 London, corporation of, called upon by 
 the Kng to furnish twenty vessels for 
 his service, 19; their reply, ib.; pre- 
 sent a petition for the calling of a par- 
 liament, 84; invite the commons to ^ 
 banquet, 226. 
 
 liondon, women of, present a petition in 
 favour of peace, which gives rise to a 
 riot, 196-7. 
 
 Love, Kev. Mr,, his f^atic oration at 
 TJxbridge, 261. 
 
 Lovelace, Earl of, opens a correspond- 
 ence with the independents, 217. 
 
 Lowdeu, Earl of, his conference with 
 Whitelocke and llaynard, 248; his 
 intimation to the king respecting the 
 covenant, 309. 
 
 Lucas, Sir Cliarles, raises troops for the 
 king, 381 ; is shot at Colchester, 398. 
 
 Ludlow, Edward, characterized, 317; 
 tampered with by Cromwell, ib. ; Ms 
 conversation with Cromwell, as to the 
 position of the latter, 380; endeavours 
 to put the army in motion against the 
 parliament, 393. 
 
 Lunsford, Sir T., appointed governor of 
 the Tower, 127; dismissed the office, 
 129 ; makes an attempt upon Kin^ 
 Bton, 138. 
 
 Kacguisi:. Lord, executed, 259. 
 Kainwaring, Dr., promoted, 30. 
 Manchester, Earl of, rise of his reputa* 
 
-rSTDEX. 
 
 483 
 
 Hon, ISl; appointed conunander of 
 the new parliamentary army, 103; 
 defeats the king at Newbury, 245; 
 is attacked by Cromwell in parlia- 
 ment, 246 ; resigns his command, 267 ; 
 protests against the king's trial, 415. 
 Marston Moor, battle of, 235. 
 Martyn, Henry, his cowardice at Read- 
 ing, 167; 18 caned by the Earl of 
 Nortliumberland, 180; his violent 
 speech againstthe king, 198; expelled 
 the house, 199. 
 ilassey, Major-Gen., his regiment dis- 
 banded, 305 ; appointed to command 
 the troops destined for Ireland, 319. 
 IMaynaxd, Mr., Jiis interview with Lord 
 Lowclen, 248; his speech in favour 
 of the king's rights, 372. 
 Maypoles thrown down throughout the 
 
 kingdom, 209. 
 Medici, Mary de, ordered by the com- 
 
 mons to quit England, 92. 
 !Rleeting-houses, their increase, 303. 
 Militia, London, organized for the ser- 
 vice of parliament, 152 ; a body of, 
 join tlie parliamentary army, 169. 
 Militia bill, passed by the commons, 
 
 141, by the lords, 142. 
 Miiton, John, reference to, 303. 
 Ministers, two thousand, cgected from 
 their livings by the presbyterians, 209. 
 Monopolies enforced, 46 ; a list of them, 
 
 ib. (note.) 
 Monopolists declared by the commons 
 incapable of holding a seat in parlia- 
 ment, 88. 
 Montague, Dr., complaints against, by 
 the commons, 80 ; appointed Bishop 
 of Chichester, ib. ; professes Koman- 
 catholic views, 64. 
 Montreui], M. de, his correspondence 
 with the Scots in favour of the king, 
 299. 
 Montrose, Marquis of, his intrigues with 
 the king against the covenanters, 114 ; 
 assumes the command of the Irish 
 royaUst auxiliaries in Scotland, 244 ; 
 gains the battles of Tippermuir and 
 Bee Bridge, ib. ; defeats Argyle at 
 Inverlochy, 263 ; his letter to the 
 king against making peace, ib. ; de- 
 feats the covenanters at Kilsyth, 283 ; 
 his reverses, 286 ; characterized, ib. 
 Mountstuart, Lord, condemned to death 
 by Straffcvd, 48 ; his property confis- 
 cated by the earl, ib. 
 
 Naseet, battle of, 274. 
 
 Navy, state of the English, nnder 
 
 Charles I., 11. 
 Neu! agenU appointed by the common 
 
 soldiers, 352. 
 Newburgh, Lord, his plan for the king's 
 
 escape, 413. 
 Newbury, battle of, 203 ; second battle 
 
 of, 245 ; blockaded by Fairfax, 300. 
 Newcastle surrendered to the jtarlia- 
 
 mentaiy forces, 316. 
 Newcastle, Earl of, escorts the queen to 
 
 York, 176; refuses to march with the 
 
 king upon London, 200 ; departs for 
 
 the continent, 237. 
 Nonconformists, their persecution by 
 
 Laud, 51 ; their progress, 60, 61, 68. 
 Northern court, put into effect, 46 ; its 
 
 nature described, ib. (note); aboUshed, 
 
 110. 
 Northnmberland, Earl of, with other 
 
 com.niissioners fVom parliament, waits 
 
 on the king at Oxford, 178 ; chastises 
 
 Henry Martyn, 180. 
 Nye, Eev. Mr., offers his services to the 
 
 king, 433. 
 
 Officebs, general council of, their pro- 
 ceedings at Putney, 3.56. 
 
 Ormond, Earl of, characterized, 221; 
 his efforts for the king, ib.; arrests 
 Lord Glamorgan, 295 ; joins the 
 king at Hampton Court, 348. 
 
 O'Neil, Sir Phehm, produces an alleged 
 commission from the king, 117. 
 
 Oxford blockaded by the parliamen- 
 tary troops, 231 ; invested by Fair- 
 fax, 271. 
 
 Oxford, university of, sends its plate to 
 the king, 157. 
 
 FAnuAMENT at Westminster, its sub- 
 serviency to power in early times, 
 8; 1st Charles I., convoked, 1; dis- 
 solved, 13; 2nd, convoked, 14; dis- 
 solved, 18 ; 3rd, convoked, 21 ; cha- 
 racter of its intercourse with the king, 
 23 ; prorogued, 30 ; dissolved, 33 ; 
 4th, convoked, 77; dissolved, 80; 
 5th, convoked, 85 ; circumstance con- 
 nected with the day on which it as- 
 sembled, ib. ; dissension in, 95 ; takes 
 an oath of union in defence of reli- 
 gious andcivilliberty, 106 ;declaresit- 
 self a permanent body till dissolved by 
 
484. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 its own consent, ib. ; its false moral 
 position at the commencement of the 
 struggle, 148; members of, declared 
 traitors Ijy the king, ib. ; its declaration 
 to the king, after the affair at Hull, 151 ; 
 its position after the commencement of 
 the struggle, 155 ; sends proposals to 
 the king, at York, 157 ; dispatches 
 Essex to attack the king, 163 ; its 
 proceedings on learning the king's ap- 
 proach to London, 164; requests a 
 safeguard from the king for six nego- 
 tiators, 16S ; sends an embassy to the 
 States of Holland to require their neu- 
 trality, 175 ; internal dissensions, 184 ; 
 annulled by the king, 183; invokes 
 the co-operation of the parliament of 
 Scotland against the king, ib. ; its 
 position in Oct. 1643, 212; progress 
 of the diss^ensions in, 215 ; sends com- 
 missioners to Ireland, who are ordered 
 by Ormond to return home, 221 ; num- 
 ber of members present at, in Jan. 
 1644, 226 ; its reply to the king's mes- 
 sage, 228 ; its energetic proceedings, 
 230 ; its letter to Essex respecting the 
 king, 232 ; Its conduct towards Essex, 
 240; its letter to Essex, after the 
 Cornwall disaster, 243 ; publishes the 
 king's correi^o^anca tflkPTi at Na^e- 
 by, 277 ; resolves agamsc any rnrtner 
 negotiations with the king, 292 ; 
 passes an act for the sale of church 
 property, ib. ; orders that no quarter 
 be given to the Irish royalists, ib. ; 
 passes a resolution that it alone has 
 the right to dispose of the king's 
 person, 311; its reception of the in- 
 telhgence of the king's removal to 
 Holmby, 329 ; assailed by the popu- 
 lace of London, 340 ; votes the return 
 of the king, ib. ; many of its members 
 take refuge with the army, 342 ; its 
 proceedings after this secession, ib. ; 
 its proceedings after the return of the 
 fugitive members, 845 ; makes fresh 
 propositions to the king, 350 ; its at- 
 tempts against the army agitators, 
 356 ; its consternation on hearing of 
 the king's escape from Hampton 
 Court, 364 ; sends commissioners to 
 treat with the king, in the Isle of 
 Wight, 368. 
 Parliament at Oxford, assembled, 225 ; 
 tends a pacific message to Essex, 
 237 ; is ac[)oiimed, 229. 
 
 Faroes, state of, at the commencement 
 of the struggle, 119. 
 
 Passive obedience preached up by the 
 clergy, 19. 
 
 Pembroke Castle surrendered to Crom- 
 well, 389. 
 
 Pembroke, Earl of, and other commis-, 
 siouers from parliament, wait on th^ 
 king at the Scottish head-quarters, 
 307; receive the king from the Scots, 
 315, 
 
 Pennington,Aldermau,made lord-mayor 
 on the dismissal of Alderman Goui-r 
 ney, 156. 
 
 Pensions, state, their increase under 
 James I, and Charles I. 44, (note). 
 
 People of the Continent, their position 
 at the time of Charles I.'s acces- 
 sion, 2, 
 
 People of England, their rejoicings at 
 the accession of Charles I., 1 ; cir- 
 cumstances which placed them in an- 
 tagonism with Charles I. from the 
 outset, 2 ; their position and views in 
 the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries, 6, 
 6 ; their rapid progress in liberty, 10 ; . 
 then: feeling towards Charles I. after 
 the dissolution of his first parliament, 
 13 ; their anger at the failure of thfr 
 expedition against Cadiz, and hatre(f 
 ot Buckingham, 15 ; their resistance to 
 a forced loan, 1 9 ; progress of theu: di9« 
 content, ib. ; their anger at the failure 
 of the expedition against Kochelle, 21; 
 their feeling on the dissolution of 
 Charles's third parliament, 35; the 
 part they took with Elizabeth against 
 the church, 50 ; their feeling towards 
 the church and Homan Catholicism, 
 58 ; their reception of the result of 
 Hampden's trial, 67 ; their feeling 
 on the assembling of a new parlia- 
 ment, 78 ; their sympathy with the 
 Scottish insurgente, 82 ; their feeling 
 at the death of Strafford, 109 ; that 
 fury at the outbreak of the Irish in- 
 surrection, 117 ; their feeling on the 
 affair of the five members, 137 ; their 
 various views at the <^ommenccme'nt 
 of the struggle, 146 ; a large propor- 
 tion 'of, take the side of parliament, 
 156 ; open a subscription in its sup- 
 port, 157; their sympathy with the 
 lung, 315, 
 Percy, Lord, has an interview with the 
 king, 99. 
 
485 
 
 Peters, Ker. Hugh, his proceedings in 
 the interest of Cromwell, 367 ; his 
 extraordinary address to Fairfax and 
 .. the officers, 410. 
 liiliphaugh, battle of, 286. 
 hilips, Sir B., excluded froiq parlia- 
 ment by the ting, 14. 
 ortland, Earl of, protests against war, 
 160. 
 
 owell, Oapt., raises royalist succours in. 
 Wales, 377. 
 Foyer, Capt., raises royalist succours in 
 
 Wales, 377. 
 Poyntz, Major-General, defeats the roy- 
 alists at Rountbn Heath, 2B5 ; sent to 
 watch the movements of the Scots,303. 
 Petition of rights, drawn up by the 
 commons, 25 ; an amendment on the, 
 proposed by the lords, 26 ; rejected by 
 the commons, ib. ; bill of, adopted by 
 the lords, 27 ; passed, 29 ; ordered to 
 be published, ib. 
 ■pettiger, Mr., fined for speaking ill of 
 
 Lord Kingston, 48 (note). 
 Presbyterian party, propose abill for the 
 total destruction of bishoprics and 
 deaneries, 95 ; deference paid to their 
 party in Edinburgh by the king, lis ; 
 their triumphant position in 1643, 208; 
 origin of their decline, 210 ; theirrising 
 distrust of Cromwell, 246; consult 
 Whitelocke and Maynard on the sub- 
 ject, 247; r^ect accommodation on 
 other terms than the supremacy of 
 their church, 306 ; their difficulties 
 respecting the disposal of the king, 
 310 ; their attempts to rally against the 
 independents, 391 ; their treatment by 
 Colonel Pride. 408. 
 Presbyterian politics, characterized, 31CU 
 Presbyterian religious system, character- 
 ized, 210. 
 Press, liberty of the, abolished by parlia- 
 ment, 214; futility of the ordinance, 
 ib. ; violent proceedings of the repub- 
 licans against, 374. 
 Pride, Colonel, appears at the bar of 
 the commons, respecting the army 
 petition, 319 ; his treatment of the 
 presbyterian members, 408. 
 Property, its subdivision in the centuries 
 
 immediately preceding Charles, 6. 
 Protestants in Ireland, their persecution 
 
 by the catholics, 116. 
 Prynne, William, brought before the Star- 
 cbamber,63; his trial, his sentence, and 
 
 its execution, 63, 64; his condemna- 
 tion voted illegal, 92 ? "his triump.bant 
 return to London, 93; his speech on 
 occasion of the king being removed to 
 Hurst Castle, 406; his treatment at 
 the hands of Colonel Fride, 408. 
 Publications, periodical, their great cir- 
 culation at the commencement of^the 
 struggle, 147, 
 Public opinion, its rising influence, 146. 
 Pudsey, Sergeant-Major, waits on the 
 
 king before Grloucestei', 200. 
 Puritans, their first assumption of a dis- 
 
 tinctive garb and manner, 62. 
 Pym, John, characterized, 22 ; his speech 
 on the amended bill of rights, 26 ; 
 his intimation to Strafford on the de- 
 sertion of the latter, 30 ; prevented 
 irom emigrating by an order in coun- 
 cil, 61; impeaches Strafford, 89; his 
 views with reference to episcopacy, 97; 
 collects intelligence of the army plptg, 
 09 ; conducts the prosecution of Straf- 
 ford, 100 ; his measures to withdraw 
 the king's support from the earl, 105 ; 
 royalist attacks upon him, 150 ; his 
 position with the independents, 212 ; 
 his death and character, 225 ; honoiu's 
 paid to his memory by parliament, 326. 
 
 Kainsborough, Capt., sent on an expe- 
 dition against Morocco, 44; put in 
 command of the fleet, 367 i assassi- 
 nated at Doncaster, 401. 
 
 Eationalists, described, 346, 
 
 R6, Isle of, failure of the attempt upon, 
 20. 
 
 Keading surrendered to the king, 167 ; 
 to the parhament, 180. 
 
 Becreation, public days of, instituted in 
 lieu of Christmas and other holidays^ 
 332. 
 
 Keformadoes, characterized, 125. 
 
 Beform, political, its progress, 94 ; it.^ 
 position in IG43, 211; religious, :ts 
 position in 1643, ib. 
 
 Eeformation, its early charactGTp 85 
 difference between the reformation 
 intended by Henry VIII. and that 
 aimed at by the people, ib. ; anta- 
 gonism of the two, ib. 
 Bemonstrance, grievance, presented io 
 
 the king, 121. 
 Bepublicans, the various classes o:?^ de- 
 scribed, 346 ; their violent proceed- 
 ings in the commons against the 
 
486 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 royalists, 874; against the presby- 
 teriaus, 893. 
 
 Kevenue, public, seized by parliament 
 for its own use, ICO. 
 
 BeTolution, tendency to, in England, 
 previous to Charles I., 5 ; commence- 
 ment of the actual struggle, 145 ; 
 characterized, 146; progress of, 345. 
 
 Pich, Sir Nathaniel, a speech of his 
 quoted, 28. 
 
 Eicheliei^, Cardinal, his correspondence 
 with the Scots, 77. 
 
 Binuccini, the pope's nuncio, arrives in 
 Ireland, 294. 
 
 Bochelle, expedition to succour, 18 ; its 
 failure, 20. 
 
 Bocldngham, royal forest of, greatly ex- 
 tended by Charles I., 47. 
 
 Eoimdwfey Down, battle of, 192. 
 
 Boyal standard first raised against the 
 parliament at Nottingham, 162. 
 
 Hudyard, Sir Benjamin, his speech on 
 the opening of Charles I.'s first par- 
 liament, 1 ; his speech at the opening 
 of Charles t.'s third parliament, 23 ; 
 his speech against war, 159; speaks 
 in favour of peace, 177 ; withdraws 
 for a time from public life, 211 ; his 
 speech in vindication of the rights of 
 parliament, 392. 
 
 Kupert, Prince, arrives in England and 
 takes the command of the royal ca- 
 valry, 164; disgusts the public by 
 liis severities, 175; his impracticable 
 character, 218 ; defeated by the par- 
 liamentary forces at Marston Moor^ 
 237; writes to the king, counselling 
 peace, 281 ; surrenders Bristol, 284 ; 
 letter to him from the king on the 
 occasion, ib. ; is deprived of his com- 
 < mission, 285; his interview with the 
 king at Newark, 288. 
 
 Bussell, Col., sent in search of the king, 
 302. 
 
 St. John, Mr.i appointed attorney-ge- 
 neral, 98: his position with the inde- 
 pendents at their origin, 212 ; pvotests 
 against the king's trial, 416. ' 
 
 Salt and meat, taxes on, abolished, 331. 
 
 ^ Saltmarsh, Rev. J., his pamphlet against 
 
 negotiating with the king, 198 ; 
 
 vindicates" the insubordinate troops, 
 
 306. 
 
 iSaville, Lord, hia intrigues with the 
 Scots, 82. > , 
 
 Scobell, Henry> appointed clerk to tiie 
 parliament, 417. 
 
 Scotland, church of, attempts made to 
 overthrow it, 6 S ; distinctive character 
 of the reformation in, ib. ; independent 
 spirit of its clergy, 69; general assem- 
 bly of, meets at Glasgow, 73 ; its re- 
 monstrance with the Scottish parlia- 
 ment for favouring the king, 313. 
 
 Scotland, parliament of, its measures in 
 behalf of the king, 378. 
 
 Scots break out into insurrection at 
 Edinbm-gh, 68 ; progress of the insur- 
 rection, 70; the insurgent-s have all 
 their demands complied with, 72 ; pre- 
 pare for war, 78; address a pacific 
 declaration to the people of England, 
 ib.; open conferences with the king, 
 75 ; are admitted to a pacification, ib. ; 
 resume hostilities, 82; beat the Eng- 
 lish at Newbum, ib. 
 
 Scott, Major, arrested at Ware for mu- 
 tiny, 365. 
 
 Scott, Ml*. T., opposes further severities 
 towards the king, 3S6. 
 
 Scottish army contract alliance with the 
 English malcontents, 82 ; enter Eng- 
 land, 83 ; their pacific condupt towards 
 the population, 84 ; negotiated with, 
 S5; the favour shown them by the 
 commons in .\G41, 92 ; indemnity of 
 JE300,000 voted to them, ib.; receive 
 the king at Kelham, 300 ; their exor- 
 bitant demands, 310; their resent- 
 ment of their contumelious treatment 
 by the English, 311 ; their negotiations 
 with the king at the Isle of Wight, 
 869; enter England, in support of the 
 king, 887 ; difiicuHies of their plDsition, 
 388; their infantiy capitulates, 390. 
 
 Scottish eommissioners wait on the kiilg 
 at Oxford, 179 ; theu: dissensions with 
 the English parliament, 298; protest 
 against the trial of the king, 422. 
 
 Scudamore, Lord, the English ambassa- 
 dor "at Paris, forbidden to attend the 
 reformed service there, 43. 
 
 Sectarianism, its rise and progress, 213« 
 
 Selden, John, characterized, 56. 
 
 Self-denying ordinance, proposed by' 
 Zouoh Tate, 256 ; its contents, ap- 
 pendix No. xn. ; passed by the com 
 mons, 267. 
 
 Seymom*, Mr., brings a message irovx 
 the Hague to the king, 428. 
 
 Sherborne taken by the parliament, 290, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 487 
 
 Ship money, its first imposition, 19. 
 
 Sidney;, Algernon, refuses to talce part 
 in ^he trial of the king, 41 G. 
 
 Skippon, Major, characterized 137; ap- 
 pointed to the command of the city 
 militia, ib. ; his speech to the Lon- 
 don militia, 169 ; his address to the 
 troops after the departure of Essex, 
 242 ; appointed major-general in Fair- 
 iiax's army, 26S i directed to convey 
 the money destined for the Scots to 
 Tork, 314; appointed to command 
 the succours raised for Ireland, 319; 
 presents a petition from some cavalry 
 regiments, 320 ; restored to the com- 
 ^mand of the militia, 382. 
 
 Southwark, inhabitants of, bring a peti- 
 tion to the house in favour of the army, 
 but are not allowed to present it, 343. 
 
 Stagg, Ann, heads a deputation of 
 women with a petition, to the house, 
 140. 
 
 Star-chamber abohshed, 110. 
 
 Strafford, Wentworth, Earl of, charac- 
 terized, {Sj); his speech on the lords' 
 amendment on the bill of,fight,'^; 
 made a privy councillo^T^^'J ^^s clTa- 
 racter, 38 ; »nd ihe character of his 
 administration, ib. ; appointed viceroy 
 Of Ireland, 40 ; difficulties of his posi- 
 tion with the king, 42 ; his eiTorts to 
 counteract the effects of the king's 
 vacillation, 45 ; assembles the Irish 
 parliament, ib. ; is forbidden to con- 
 voke it again, ib. ; condemns Lord 
 Jlonntstuart to death, 47 ; gives GOOO/. 
 to buy off the king's displeasure ib. ; 
 sent for by the Idng to act against the 
 Scots, 7C ; his difficulties, ib. ; returns 
 to Ireland to levy troops, &c., 77 ; re- 
 turns from Ireland, 8 1 ; raises funds, ib. ; 
 his arrogance, ib. ; departs with the 
 king to the army, 82 ; returns to Tork, 
 on the dispersion of the army, 83 ; his 
 subsequent proceedings, ib. ; has Lords 
 ■Wharton and Howard arrested, ib. ; 
 his message to the king. ib. ; attacks 
 the Scots, 84; is censured for this 
 proceeding, ib. ; comes to London to 
 attend pai-llament, 89 ; is impeached 
 by the house of commons, ib. ; is com- 
 mitted to the Tower, 90; his trial 
 begins, 100 ; his deportment, ib. ; pro- 
 gress of the trial, 101; is attainted 
 of high treason by a ' bill intro- 
 duced in the lower house, 102 ; his 
 
 speech in his defence, ib. ; the bill 3f 
 his attainder passes the house of com- 
 mons, 104 ; efforts made by the king 
 to save his life, ib. ; the bill of his at- 
 tainder passes the house of lords, 106 ; 
 his letter to the king, 107 ; the king 
 consents to his death, ib. ; his de- 
 meanour previous to ' his execution, 
 108 ; bis death, 109. 
 
 Strickland, Mr., sent as envoy-extra- 
 ordinary to the states of Holland, 
 175. 
 
 Strode. Mr., his opinion of the royalist 
 troops, 191. 
 
 Stuarts, family of, its absolute ten- 
 dencies, 3. 
 
 Sunderland, Lord, death and character 
 of, 204. 
 
 Surrey, petitioners tVom^ have a conflict 
 with the parliamentary troops, 380. 
 
 Tate, Zouch, proposes the self-denying 
 ordinance, 256. 
 
 Taunton surrenders to the royal troops, 
 191. 
 
 Taxes, new, imposed by parliament, 
 230. 
 
 Taylor, Mr., sent to the Tower by the 
 commons, 109. 
 
 Theatres ordered to be closed, 209. 
 
 Tippermuir, battle of, 244. 
 
 Tomlinson, Col., his respectful treatment 
 of the king, 432. 
 
 Tompkins, Mr., executed for a plot 
 against parliament, 187. 
 
 Tonnage and poundage duties, a re- 
 monstrance of the commons against 
 their irregular collection, 29 ; debate 
 on the sutyect, 32 ; the levying of the 
 duties declared by the house of com- 
 mons illegal, ib. 
 
 Torrington, battle of, 296. 
 
 Tribunals, arbitrary, abohshed, 94. 
 
 Triennial bill proposed, 93. 
 
 Tuam, Archbishop of, killed, 294. 
 
 Tyrone, Earl of, anecdote of, 200. 
 
 TTXBRIDGE, negotiations at, 2C0. 
 
 Vane, Sir Harry, made secretary of 
 state, 76 ; negotiates a treaty of alli- 
 ance with the Scots, 205 ; his secret 
 correspondence with the king, 297 ; 
 protests against the king's trial, 415. 
 
 Villiers, Sir F., killed by the parlia- 
 mentarian forces, 384. 
 
488 
 
 INDEatt 
 
 WalleU, Edmund, bis , plot against; 
 the. parliament, IS 5 ; gives evidence 
 against his accomplices, ib, ; is cou- 
 demned, but pardoned, 1S7. 
 
 "Waller, Sir "William, obtains the appel- 
 lation of William the Conqueror, 181 ; 
 defeated at Lansdo\Tn and Bound- 
 way Down, 190; returns to London, 
 192 ; receives the thanks of parha- 
 tnent, 193; resigns his commission, 
 206 ; dispute between him and Essex, 
 233 ; defeated by the king at Cropredy 
 Bridge, 234. 
 
 "War, breaking out of the 161 ; progress 
 of, in the provinces, 172 ; character Of 
 the, m 1642, 174. 
 
 "Ware, rendezvous of the anny at, 364. 
 
 Warwick, Earl of, royalist attacks upon 
 him, 150 ; assumes the command of 
 the fleet, 156. 
 
 "Warwick, Sir Phihp, sent by the king to 
 Lord Newcastle, 199. 
 
 "West, €o1., appointed to the command 
 ofthe Tower, 882. 
 
 Weymouth surrenders to the royal 
 troops, 191. 
 
 \Thancy, Col., acts as a spy upon the 
 king, 350. 
 
 Whalley, Mrs., received with great 
 honour by the king, 348. 
 
 Wharton, Lord, arrested by order of 
 Sti-aflbrd, 83. 
 
 Wliitelocke, Mr., is consulted by the 
 presbyterian leaders, 248; his inter- 
 view with the king at Oxford, 201; 
 his speech on the self-denying ordi- 
 nance, 257 ; seeks the favour of Crom- 
 well, 322. 
 
 Whorewood, Mrs., consults Lilly on the 
 pei-il ofthe king, 359. 
 
 Williams, Abp., assailed by the mob, 
 
 Willis, Sir K., his dispute with thekiug, 
 288. 
 
 Wilson, Jtoland, equips a regiment for 
 support of parliament, 209. 
 
 Winchester taken by the parliament, 29. 
 
 Windebank, Mr. Secretary, impeached, 
 90; absconds, ib. 
 
 Worcester, Marquis of, his devoted loy- 
 alty, 281 i receives the long at Hag- 
 land Castle, ib. 
 
 Workman, Kev. Mr., his persecution attd. 
 death, 51. 
 
 Wroth, Sir T., his speech against the 
 king, 372. 
 
 Wychcott, Governor, refuses permission 
 to have the Anglican service per- 
 formed over the body of the king, 436. 
 
 YCRS, the king assembles a court at, 
 74 \ great council called at, S4 ; meet- 
 ing at, in favour of parliament, 153. 
 
 Torkshire and Cheshire, treaty of mutual 
 iueutrality between, 173, 
 
 I'HE EKD-