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LIBRARY

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WILLIAM LYON PHELPS
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CLARENDON'S
HISTORY OF THE REBELLION AND
CIVIL WARS IN ENGLAND.
MAC RAY.

VOL. III.

Marxian
HENRY FROWDE

Oxford UKiversity Press Warehouse
Amen Corner, E.C.

THE
HISTORY OF THE REBELLION
AND
CIVIL WARS IN ENGLAND
BEGUN IN THE YEAR 1641,
BY
EDWARD, EAKL OF CLARENDON.
BE-EDITED PROM
A PBESH COLLATION OP THE ORIGINAL MS. IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY,
WITH MARGINAL DATES AND OCCASIONAL NOTES,
BY
W. DUNN MACKAY, M.A, F.S.A.
In Six Volumes.
VOL. III.
{Books VII and VIII.)
Oxford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
M DCCC LXXXVIII

A TRUE HISTORICAL NARRATION
or THE
REBELLION AND CIVIL WARS IN
ENGLAND.

BOOK VII1.
1. When the treaty was first consented to by the two Houses, 1643
they ordered that it should be upon the first proposition made Feh- 28-
by his majesty and the first proposition made by themselves,
and that those should be first concluded on before they pro
ceeded to treat upon any of the other propositions. So that
the committee, in the first place, applied themselves to his
majesty upon his own first proposition, which was, Feb. 3-
2. 'That his own revenue, magazines, towns, forts, and ships, which had
been taken or kept from him by force, should be forthwith restored to him.'
3. To which the committee answered, March 26.
' That the two Houses had made use of his majesty's own revenue but in
a very small proportion, which in a good part had been employed in the
maintenance of his children, according to the allowance established by
himself. And the Houses would satisfy what should remain due to his
majesty of those sums which they had received, and would leave the same
to him for the time to come. And they desired likewise, that his majesty
would restore what had been taken for his use upon any of the bills assigned
to other purposes by several Acts of Parliament, or out of the provision
made for the war of Ireland. That all the arms and ammunition taken out
of his magazines should be delivered into his stores, and whatsoever should
be wanting they would supply in kind, according to the proportions they
had received : but they proposed, the persons to whose charge those public
magazines should be committed, being nominated by his majesty, might be
such as the two Houses of Parliament might confide in, and that his
majesty would restore all such arms and ammunition as had been taken for
his use from the several counties, cities, and towns.
4. ' That the two Houses would remove the garrisons out of all towns March 27.
and forts in their hands wherein there were no garrisons before "these
troubles, and slight all fortifications made since that time, and those towns
1 [Hist., p. 427. Dated, ' Jarsy, Cast. Elizab., 18 8ber, 1647.']
VOL. III. B

2 Demands on loth sides upon [vn. 4.
1643 and forts to continue in the same condition they were in before; and that
those garrisons should not be renewed, or the fortifications repaired, without
consent of his majesty and both Houses of Parliament. That the towns
and forts which were within the jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports should be
delivered into the hands of such a noble person as the King should appoint
to be Warden of the Cinque Ports, being such a one as they should confide
in. That Portsmouth should be reduced to the number of the garrison as
was at that time when the Lords and Commons undertook the custody of
it ; and that all other forts, castles, and towns, in which garrisons had been
kept, and had been since the beginning of these troubles taken into their
care and custody,, should be reduced to the same establishments they had in
the year 1636, and should be so continued; and that all those towns, forts,
and castles should be delivered up into the hands of such persons of quality
and trust, to be likewise nominated by his majesty, as the two Houses
should confide in. That the Warden of the Cinque Ports, and all governors
and commanders of towns, castles, and forts, should keep the same towns,
castles, and forts, respectively, for the service of his majesty and the safety
of the kingdom ; and that they should not admit into them any foreign
forces, or any other forces raised without his majesty's authority and
consent of the two Houses of Parliament ; and they should use their utmost
endeavours to suppress all forces whatsoever raised without such authority
and consent ; and they should seize all arms and ammunition provided for
any such forces.
5. 'They likewise proposed to the King, that he would remove the
garrison out of Newcastle, and all other towns, castles, and forts, where
any garrisons had been placed by him since these troubles ; and that the
fortifications might be likewise slighted, and the towns and forts left in
such state as they were in the year 1636 ; and that all other towns and
castles in his hands, wherein there had been formerly garrisons, might be
committed to such persons nominated by him as the Houses should confide
in, and under such instructions as were formerly mentioned ; and that the
new garrisons Bhould not be renewed, or the fortifications repaired, without
the consent of the King and both Houses of Parliament. That the ships
should be delivered into the charge of such a noble person as the King
should nominate to be Lord High Admiral of England and the two Houses
confide in ; who should receive that office by letters patents, quam din se
bene gesserit, and should have power to nominate and appoint all subor
dinate commanders and officers, and have all other powers appertaining to
the office of High Admiral ; which ships he should employ for the defence
of the kingdom against all foreign forces whatsoever, and for the safeguard
of merchants, securing of trade, and the guarding of Ireland, and the inter
cepting of all supplies to be carried to the rebels; and should use his utmost
endeavour to suppress all forces which should be raised by any person
without his majesty's authority and consent of the Lords and Commons in
Parliament, and should seize all arms and ammunition provided for supply
of any such forces.'
6. To this answer, by which they required at least to go whole
March 26. sharers with him in his sovereignty, the King replied, that

vii. 7] the first articles of the treaty.

' He knew not what proportion of his revenue had been made use of by 1643
his two Houses, but he had reason to believe, if much of it had not been
used, very much remained still in their hands ; his whole revenue being so
stopped and seized on by the order of one or both Houses, even to the
taking away of his money out of his Exchequer and Mint, and bonds
(forced from his cofferer's clerk) for the provisions of his household, that
very little had come to his use for his own support ; but he would be well
contented to allow whatsoever had been employed in the maintenance of his
children, and to receive the arrears due to himself, and to be sure of his
own for the future. He was likewise willing to restore all monies taken for
his use, by any authority for * him, upon any bills assigned to other pur
poses, being assured he had received very little or nothing that way : and
he expected likewise, that satisfaction should be made by them for all
those several vast sums received, and diverted to other purposes, which
ought to have been paid by the Act of Pacification to his subjects of
Scotland, or employed for the discharge of the debts of the kingdom, or, by
other Acts of Parliament, for the relief of his poor Protestant subjects in
Ireland. For what concerned his magazines, he was content that all the
arms and ammunition taken out of his magazines, which did remain in the
hands of both Houses, or of persons employed by them, should be, as soon
as the treaty was concluded, delivered into the Tower of London 2 ; and that
whatsoever should be wanting of the proportions taken by them should be
supplied by them, with all convenient speed, in kind ; which,' he said,
' should be committed to, and continued in, the custody of the sworn officers
to whose places the same belonged : and if any of those officers had already
forfeited, or hereafter should forfeit, that trust by any misdemeanours, his
majesty would by no means defend them from the justice of the law. That
he always intended to restore such arms and ammunition which he had
been compelled to take from any persons and places when his own had
been taken from him, and would make them recompense as soon as his own
stores were restored to him.'
7. To whatsoever they proposed for the slighting all fortifi- March 28
cations, and reducing all garrisons, which had been made since
the beginning of the troubles, and leaving them in the state
they were before, the King fully and absolutely consented ;
and that the old castles and garrisons should be reduced to
their ancient proportion and establishment : but for the
governors and commanders of them, he said, that
'The Cinque Ports were already in the custody of a noble person3 against
whom he knew no just exceptions, and who had such a legal interest
therein that he could not with justice remove him from it until some
sufficient cause were made appear to him : but he was very willing, if he
1 ['from,' Lords' Journals, V. 688.]
3 [' into such of his stores as his majesty shall appoint,' ii. 689. The
Tower was specified in a subsequent message of March 29.]
3 [The duke of Richmond.] B 2

4 Demands on loth sides upon [vil. 7.
1643 should at any time be found guilty of any thing that might make him
unworthy of that trust, that he might be proceeded against according to the
rules of justice. That the government of the town of Portsmouth, and all
other forts, castles, and towns, as were formerly kept by garrisons, should
be put into the hands of such persons against whom no just exceptions
could be made ; all of them being before these troubles by letters patents
granted to several persons against any of whom he knew not any excep
tions, who should be removed if just cause should be given for the same.
The Warden of the Cinque Ports, and all other governors and commanders
of the towns and castles, should keep their charges as by the law they ought
to do, and for the King's service and safety of the kingdom ; and they
should not admit into any of them foreign forces, or other forces raised and
brought into them contrary to the law, but should use their utmost endea
vours to suppress such forces, and should seize all arms and ammunition
which by the laws and statutes of the kingdom they ought to seize.'
March 28. 8. To that part which concerned the ships, the King told
them, that
' He expected his own ships should be delivered to him, as by the law
they ought to be ; and that when he should think fit to nominate a Lord
High Admiral of England, it should be such a person against whom no just
exception could be made ; and if any should be, he would always leave him
to his due trial and examination ; and he would grant his office to him by
such letters patents as had been used. In the mean time he would govern
the Admiralty by commission, as had been in all times accustomed ; and
whatever ships should be set out by him, or his authority, should be em
ployed for the defence of the kingdom against all foreign forces whatsoever,
for the safeguard of merchants, securing of trade, guarding of Ireland, and
the intercepting of all supplies to be carried to the rebels ; and they should
use their utmost endeavours to suppress all forces which should be raised, by
any person whatsoever, against the laws and statutes of the kingdom, and to
seize all arms and ammunition provided for the supply of any such forces.'
9. It is evident to all men where the difference now lay be
tween them, being, whether the King -would reserve the dis
posal of those offices and places of trust to himself which all
kings had enjoyed, and was indeed a part of his regality, or
whether he would be content with such a nomination, as, being
to pass and depend upon their approbation, no man should ever
be admitted to them who was nominated by him.
March 29. io. The committee, upon his answer, desired to know,
'if he did intend that both Houses should express their confidence of the
persons to whose trust those places were to be committed ; for that they
were directed by their instructions, that, if his majesty was pleased to
assent thereunto, and to nominate persons of quality to receive the charge
of them, that they should certify both Houses of Parliament, that thereupon
they might express their confidence in those persons, or humbly desire his

vn. il.] the first articles of the treaty. 5
majesty to name others ; none of which persons to be removed during three 1643
years next ensuing, without just cause to be approved by both Houses ;
and if any should be so removed, or die within that space, the persons to be
put in their places to be such as the two Houses should confide in.'
The King answered, that April 5.
' He did not intend that the Houses Bhould express their confidence of the
persons to whose trusts those places should be committed, but only that
they should have liberty upon any just exceptions to proceed against any
such persons according to law; his majesty being resolved not to protect
them against the public justice. When any of the places should be void,
, he well knew the nomination and free election of those who should succeed
to be a right belonging to, and inherent in, his majesty ; and having been
enjoyed by all his royal progenitors, he could not believe his well affected
subjects desired to limit him in that right ; ' and desired they would be April 14.
satisfied with this answer, or give him any reasons to alter his resolution,
and he would comply with them.
11. They told him, April 14.
' There could be no good and firm peace hoped for if there were not a
cure found out for their fears and jealousies ; and they knew none sure but
this which they had proposed.'
The King replied, April 15.
' That he rather expected reasons grounded upon law, to have shewed
him that by the law he had not that right he pretended, or that they had a
right superior to his, in what was now in question, or that they would have
shewed him some legal reason why the persons trusted by him were
incapable of such a trust, than that they would only have insisted upon
fears and jealousies, of which as he knew no ground, so he must be ignorant
of the cure. That the argument they used might extend to the depriving
him of, or at least sharing with him in, all his just regal power ; since
power, as well as forces, might be the object of fears and jealousies, and
there would be always a power left to hurt whilst there was any left to
protect and defend.' He told them, ' If he had as much inclination, as he
had more right, to fears and jealousies, he might with more reason have
insisted upon an addition of power, as a security to enable him to keep his
forts when he had them, since it appeared it was not so great but that they
had been able to take them from him, than they to make any difficulty to
restore them to him in the same case they were before. But,' he said, ' as
he was himself content with, so, he took God to witness, his greatest desire
was to observe always and maintain, the law of the land ; and expected
the same from his subjects ; and believed the mutual observance of that rule,
and neither of them to fear what the law feared not, to be, on both parts,
a better cure for that dangerous disease of fears and jealousies, and a better
means to establish a happy and perpetual peace, than for him to divest him
self of those trusts which the law of the land had settled in the Crown alone,
to preserve the power and dignity of the prince, for the better protection of
the subject and of the law, and to avoid those dangerous distractions which
the interest of any sharers with him would have infallibly produced.'

6 Demands on loth sides upon [vil. 12.
1643 12. The committee neither offered to answer his majesty's
reasons, or to oppose other reasons to weigh against them, but
April 10. only said that
' They were commanded by their instructions to insist upon the desires of
both Houses formerly expressed.'
April 5. To which the King made no other answer than that
' He conceived it all the justice in the world for him to insist that what
was by law his own, and had been contrary to law taken from him, should
be fully restored to him, without conditioning to impose any new limitation[s]
upon him or his ministers which were not formerly required from them by
the law ; and he thought it most unreasonable to be pressed to diminish
his own just rights himself because others had violated and usurped them.
This was the sum of what passed in the treaty upon that
proposition. 13. To the first proposition of the two Houses,
' That his majesty would be pleased to disband his armies, as they
likewise would be ready to disband all their forces which they had raised,
and that he would be pleased to return to his Parliament ; '
March 28. the King answered,
' That he was as ready and willing that all armies should be disbanded
as any person whatsoever; and conceived the best way to it would be a
happy and a speedy conclusion of the present treaty, which, if both Houses
would contribute as much as he would do to it, would be suddenly effected.
And as he desired nothing more than to be with his two Houses, so he
would repair thither as soon as he could possibly do it with his honour and
safety.'
March 29. 14. The committee asked him
' If by a happy and speedy conclusion of the present treaty he intended a
conclusion upon the two first propositions, or a conclusion of the treaty in
all the propositions of both parts ? '
The King, who well knew it would be very ungracious to
deny the disbanding the armies till all the propositions were
April 5. agreed, some whereof would require much time, answered,
' That he intended such a conclusion of or in the treaty, as there might
be a clear evidence to himself and his subjects of * future peace, and no
ground left for the continuance or growth of those bloody dissensions' ; which,
he doubted not, might be obtained, if bo,th Houses would consent that the
treaty should proceed without farther interruption, or limitation of day3.'
April 6. They asked him,
'What he intended should be a clear evidence to him and his good
subjects of a future peace, and no ground left for the continuance and
growth of those bloody dissensions ? '

vil. 14.] the first articles of the treaty. 7
His majesty told them, , 1643
' If the conclusion of the present treaty upon his first proposition and April 7.
the first proposition of both Houses should be so full and perfectly made,
that the law of tbe land might have a full, free, and uninterrupted course,
for the defence and preservation of the rights of his majesty, and of them
selves, and the rest of his subjects, there would be thence a clear evidence to
him and all men of a future peace ; and it would be such a conclusion as
he intended, never meaning that both armies should remain undisbanded
until the propositions on both sides were fully concluded.'
To the other clause of their own proposition concerning the April 6.
King's return to the Parliament, they said, ' they had no in
structions to treat upon it,' which the King much wondered at ;
and finding that they had no other authority to treat or debate
what was necessary to be done in order to disbanding, but only
to press him to appoint a day for the actual disbanding, and
that the forces in the north, where he had a great army and
they had none, might be first disbanded, he endeavoured to
draw them to some propositions upon his return to the Parlia
ment ; from whence expedients would naturally result, if they
pursued that heartily, which would conclude a general peace.
And it seemed very strange that, after so many discourses of
the King's absence from the Houses, from whence they had
taught the people to believe that most of the present evils
flowed and proceeded, when a treaty was now entered upon,
and that was a part of their own first proposition, that their
committee should have no instructions or authority to treat
upon it. In the end, they received new instructions, ' to de
clare to his majesty the desire of both Houses for his coming to April 10.
his Parliament ; ' which,' they said, ' they had often expressed
with full offers of security to his royal person, agreeable to their
duty and allegiance, and they knew no cause why he might
not repair thither with honour and safety.' "When the King
found he could not engage them in that argument to make any
particular overture or invitation to him, and that the com
mittee, who expressed willingness enough, had not in truth the
least power to promote or contribute to an accommodation;
lest they should make the people believe that he had a desire to
continue the war, because he consented not to their proposition
of disbanding the armies, he sent this message by an express of

8 The King's message of April 12, [VII. 14-
1643 his own to the two Houses, after he had first communicated it
Apr. 12. t0 their committee : —
15. ' Oxford, April 12th, 1643.
' To shew to the whole world how earnestly his majesty longs for peace,
and that no success shall make him desire the continuance of his army to
any other end, or for any longer time, than that, and until, things may be
so settled, as that the law may have a full, free, and uninterrupted course,
for the defence and preservation of the rights of his majesty, both Houses,
and his good subjects :
16. 1. 'As soon as his majesty is satisfied in his first proposition
concerning his own revenue, magazines, ships, and forts, in which he
desires nothing but that the just, known legal rights of his majesty,
(devolved to him from his progenitors,) and of the persons trusted by him,
which have violently been taken from both, be restored unto him and unto
them, unless any just and legal exceptions against any of the persons
trusted by him (which are yet unknown to his majesty) can be made appear
to him :
17. 2. ' As soon as all the members of both Houses shall be restored
to the same capacity of sitting and voting in Parliament as they had
upon the first of January 1641 ; the same, of, right, belonging unto them
by their birthrights and the free election of those that sent them, and
having been voted from them for adhering to his majesty in these distrac
tions ; his majesty not intending that this should extend either to the
bishops, whose votes have been taken away by bill, or to such in whose
places upon new writs new elections have been made :
18. 3. ' As soon as his majesty and both Houses may be secured from
such tumultuous assemblies as, to the great breach of the privileges and
the high dishonour of Parliaments, have formerly assembled about both
Houses, and awed the members of the same, and occasioned two several
complaints from the Lords' House, and two several desires of that House
to the House of Commons, to join in a declaration against them ; the com
plying with which desire might have prevented all these miserable distrac
tions which have ensued; which security, his majesty conceives, can be
only settled by adjourning the Parliament to some other place at the least
twenty miles from London, the choice of which his majesty leaves to both
Houses :
19. 'His majesty will most cheerfully and readily consent that both
armies be immediately disbanded, and give a present meeting to both his
Houses of Parliament at the time and place at and to which the Parliament
shall be agreed to be adjourned : his majesty being most confident that the
law will then recover the due credit and estimation ; and that upon a free
debate, in a full and peaceable convention of Parliament, such provisions
will be made against seditious preaching and printing against his majesty
and the established laws, which hath been one of the chief causes of the
present distractions, and such care will be taken concerning the legal and
known rights of his majesty, and the property and liberty of his subjects,
that whatsoever hath been published, or done, in or by colour of any illegal
declaration, ordinance, or order of one or both Houses, or any committee

vn. 21.] to the two Houses. 9
of either of them, and particularly the power to raise arms without his 1643
majesty's consent, will be in such manner recalled, disclaimed, and provided
against, that no seed will remain for the like to spring out of for the future,
to disturb the peace of the kingdom, and to endanger the very being of it.
And in such a convention his majesty is resolved, by his readiness to consent
to whatsoever shall be proposed to him, by bill, for the real good of his
subjects, (and particularly for the better discovery and speedier conviction
of recusants, for the education of the children of Papists by Protestants in
the Protestant religion, for the prevention of practices of Papists against
the State, and the due execution of the laws and true levying of the
penalties against them,) to make known to all the world, how causeless
those fears and jealousies have been which have been raised against him,
and by that so distracted this miserable kingdom. And if this offer of his
majesty be not consented to, (in which he asks nothing for which there is
not apparent justice on his side, and in which he defers many things highly
concerning both himself and people, till a full and peaceable convention of
Parliament, which in justice he might now require,) his majesty is confident
that it will then appear to all the world, not only who is most desirous of
peace, and whose fault it is that both armies are not now disbanded, but
who have been the true and first cause that this peace was ever interrupted
or these armies raised ; and the beginning or continuance of the war, and
the destruction and desolation of this poor kingdom (which is too likely to
ensue) will not, by the most interessed, passionate, or prej udicate person,
be imputed to his majesty.'
20. To this message they returned no answer to the King,
but required the committee to return to Westminster (having April 14.
been in Oxford with his majesty just twenty days) with such
positive circumstances, that the House of Commons enjoined
their members to begin their journey the same day ; which April 15.
they obeyed, though it was so late, that they were forced to
very inconvenient accommodations ; and at their return, were
looked upon with great jealousy, as persons engaged by the
King and disinclined to the Parliament ; and this jealousy
prevailed so far, that Mr. Martin opened a letter from the earl
of Northumberland to his wife, presuming he should therein
have discovered some combination ; and this insolence was not
disliked. 21. Many were of opinion that the King was too severe in
this treaty, and insisted too much upon what is his own by
right and law ; and that if he would have distributed offices
and places liberally to particular men, which had been a con
descension in policy to be submitted to, he might have been
repossessed of his own power; and I have heard this alleged

io Possibility that the King might [vii. 21.
1643 by many who at that time were extremely violent against all
such artifices. The committee themselves (who at that time
perfectly abhorred the proceedings of the Parliament, or rather
the power and superiority of the earl of Essex) seemed exceed
ingly desirous of such an accommodation as all good men de
sired, and to believe that if the King would have condescended
so far as to nominate the earl of Northumberland to be Lord
High Admiral, that it would have made so great a division in
the Houses, that the treaty would have been continued, and his
majesty been satisfied in all the other propositions. ' And the
earl of Northumberland to private friends did make as full pro
fessions of future service to his majesty, and as ample recog
nitions of past errors and mistakes, as could reasonably be
expected from a wary nature, before he could be sure what
reception such professions and vows would find. But the King
thought the power and interest of that committee would be
able to do little, if it could not prevail for the enlarging the
time of the treaty, in which they seemed heartily to engage
themselves. And he was resolved to have at least a probable
assurance of the conclusion, before he would offer such conces
sions as, taking no effect, might prove prejudicial to him : as,
the nominating the earl of Northumberland to be Admiral
(though he would willingly have done it, as the price and
pledge of an honourable peace) would have discontented all who
had, how unreasonably soever, promised themselves that prefer
ment ; and many would have imputed it to an unseasonable
easiness, (from which imputation it concerned the King at that
time as much to purge himself as of unmercifulness and revenge,)
upon promises and hopes to have readmitted a man to a charge
and trust he had so fatally betrayed and broken, against
more solemn promises and obligations than he could now enter
into ; and therefore it concerned the King to be sure of some
advantage in lieu of this visible hazard.
22. I am one of those who do believe that this obligation at
this time laid upon the earl of Northumberland, with such other
circumstances of kindness as would have been fit to accompany
it, would have met real gratitude and faithfulness in him, (for

vii. 22.] have regained the earl of Northumberland. 1 1
as originally he had, I am persuaded, no evil purposes against 1643
the King, so he had now sufficient disdain and indignation
against those who got him to tread their ways when he had not
their ends,) and that it would have made some rent and division
in the two Houses, (which could not but have produced some
benefit to the King,) and that it might probably have procured
some few days' addition for the continuance of the treaty, (the
avowed ground of denying it being, because the King had not
in the least degree consented to any one thing proposed by them :)
but I confess I cannot entertain any imagination that it would
have produced a peace, or given the King any advantage or
benefit in the war : what inconvenience it might have produced
hath been touched before. For, — besides that the stirring and
active party, who carried on the war, were neither gracious to
the earl of Northumberland, nor he to them, their favourite at
sea being then the earl of Warwick, who had the possession of
the fleet, and whom alone they believed fit to be trusted with
the navy — whoever calls to mind what was done in the Houses
during the time of the treaty and by their directions ; that by
their own authority they directed all the lands of bishops, deans, March 27.
and chapters to be sequestered, and inhibited the tenants to
pay any rent to them ; that under pretence of searching for
arms, and taking away superstitious pictures, they caused the March 30.
Queen's chapel at Somerset House (where she was to exercise
her devotions, if they ever meant she should return again to
London) to be most licentiously rifled, in which license with
impunity her lodgings were plundered, and all her furniture
and goods of value taken away and embezzled ; that there was
an order made in the House of Commons, when they sent their April 10.
messengers every day to Oxford without any formality or con
trol, ' that whatsoever person should come from Oxford or any
part of the King's army to London, or the parts adjacent, with
out the warrant of both Houses of Parliament, or of the lord
general the earl of Essex, he should be apprehended as a spy
and intelligencer, and be proceeded against according to the
rules and grounds of war : ' by virtue of which order of the
House of Commons only, and without any communication that

13 Little hope of peace from Parliament. [vii. 22.
1643 notice might be taken of it, a servant of the King's, for dis
charging the duty of his place, was executed ; which shall be
§ 51. remembered in its place ; all which (except the execution
of that man) was transacted during the time of the treaty at
Oxford : —
23 \ Whosoever remembers the other propositions upon
which the treaty was founded, and the bills then presented to
the King for his royal assent ; that there was no unreasonable
thing demanded in the nineteen propositions which was not
comprehended in these fourteen, and many additions made that
were not in the former ; that they demanded the total abolition
and extirpation of archbishops, bishops, deans, and chapters,
and the whole frame of the government of the Church ; and
another bill for the calling an Assembly of Divines, nominated
by themselves, (which was a presumption as contrary to the
policy and government of the kingdom as the most extravagant
act they had done,) and consisting of persons the most deeply
engaged in the most unwarrantable acts that had been done ;
and yet his majesty was required to promise to pass such other
bills for settling Church-government as upon consultation with
that Assembly of Divines should be resolved on by both Houses
of Parliament : that all the other bills then presented to the
King for his royal assent, and insisted on by their fourth pro
position, though they had specious and popular titles, contained
many clauses in them contrary to common equity and the right
of the subject, and introduced proceedings very different from
the known justice of the kingdom, and therefore, besides the
time and circumstances of the passing those Acts, (when the
nation was in blood,) not like to meet with his majesty's appro
bation ; I say, whosoever remembers and considers all this, (to
say nothing of the limitations by which their committee were
bound, without any power of debating, or other capacity than
to deliver the resolutions of the two Houses, and to receive the
King's answer, which might as effectually [have] been done by
any one single ordinary messenger,) cannot, I conceive, believe
' [Clarendon himself makes a break here in the middle of the paragraph,
and marks the commencement of a new section in his MS.]

vii. 24.] The earl of Essex marches to Beading. 13
that the King's consenting to make any one person amongst them 1643
High Admiral of England would have been a means to have
restored the kingdom to a present peace, and the King to his
just authority and rights. And if all these considerations be
not sufficient to render that supposition improbable, that which
follows next in order of story will abundantly confute it.
24. On Saturday the 15th of April, which was the very day
on which the treaty expired at Oxford, being the last of the
twenty days which were first assigned, and to which no im
portunity of the King's could procure an addition, the earl of
Essex marched with his whole army from Windsor and sat down April 15.
before Reading ; which preparation would not have been so
exactly made, and the resolution so punctually taken, if they had
meant any reasonable concessions from the King should have
frustrated that vast charge, and determined all farther conten
tions. The earl had never before been in the head of so gallant
an army, which consisted of about sixteen thousand foot and
above three thousand horse, in as good an equipage, and supplied
with all things necessary for a siege, as could be expected from
an enemy which knew no wants, and had the command of the
Tower of London and all other stores of the kingdom. In the
town was above three thousand foot, and a regiment of horse
consisting of near three hundred ; the fortifications were very
mean to endure a formed siege, being made only to secure a
winter quarter, and never intended for a standing garrison.
And it is very true, that it was resolved at a council of war at
Oxford that before the end of April, (before which time it was
conceived the enemy would not adventure to take the field,) sir
Arthur Aston should slight those works, and draw off his
garrison to the King. And that which made it less able to bear
a siege than the weakness of their works, was their want of
ammunition ; for they had not forty barrels of powder ; which
would not have held a brisk and a daring enemy four hours.
And as this defect proceeded not from want of foresight, so it
was not capable of being supplied, at least in that proportion
as was worthy the name of a supply ; for the King had no port
to friend, by which he could bring ammunition to Oxford,

14 The earl of Essex before Beading [vii. 24.
1643 neither had he been yet able to set up any manufacture for any
considerable supply. So that what he brought up with him
after the battle of Edgehill, which was the remainder of the
four hundred barrels brought by the ship called the Providence
before the setting up of his standard, had served for all his ex
peditions, being distributed into the several garrisons, and was
still to furnish all his growing occasions; and that magazine
now at Reading (which was no greater than is before men
tioned) was yet double to what was in any other place, Oxford
only excepted ; wherein, at this time, there was not above one
hundred barrels of powder, and in no one place match propor
tionable to that little powder. And this defect is wholly to be;
imputed to the lowness and straitness of the King's condition }
for there was no want of industry, but all imaginable care and
pains taken to prevent and supply it.
25. Notwithstanding all these ¦ difficulties, the town looked
upon the enemy with courage and contempt enough; and, to
say the truth, both officers and soldiers were as good as in the
infancy of a war could be expected ; and they had no apprehen
sion of want of victual, with which they were abundantly
stored. The soldiers without were for the most part newly
levied, and few of their officers acquainted with the way and
order of assaulting towns ; and this was the first siege that
happened in England. Upon the first sitting down before it,
after they had taken a full view of the ground, their general
advised with his council of war in what manner he should pro
ceed, whether by assault or approach ; in which there was great
diversity of opinions. ' The works were weak ; the number of
the assailants sufficient ; all materials in readiness ; the soldiers
in the town full of apprehensions, and a very considerable party
of the inhabitants disaffected to the garrison, who in the time
of a storm would be able to beget a great distraction. That
they might be able to storm it in so many places at once, that
the number of the soldiers within would not be able to defend
all ; and if they prevailed in any one, their whole body of horse
might enter, and be immediately masters of the town : if they
prevailed this way, their army would have that reputation,

vii. 26.] consults on the best mode of attack. 15
and carry that terror with it, that no power of the King would la43
hereafter be able to abide it, but they might march over the
kingdom, and subdue every part of it : whereas if they delayed
their work, and proceeded by way of approach, those in the town
would recover heart, and, after they had digested the present
fears and apprehensions, contemn their danger ; and their
own soldiers, who were yet fresh and vigorous, would every
day abate in courage, and their numbers in a few weeks
lessen as much by sickness and duty as they should probably do
by an assault.' On the other hand it was objected, that ' the
army consisted most of new levies,' (and in truth there were not
of all that gallant army that was at Edgehill, among the foot,
three thousand men,) ' who would be hardly brought to begin
upon so desperate service; that it was the only army the Parlia
ment had, upon which all their hopes and welfare depended ;
and if in the spring it should receive an eminent foil, they
would not recover their courage again all the summer. That
they were not only to look upon the taking of Reading, but,
pursuing that in a reasonable' way, to keep themselves in a pos
ture and condition to end the war by a battle with all the King's
forces,, which would no doubt apply themselves to their relief;
and no place under heaven could be so commodious for them to
try their fortune in as that. Whereas if they should hastily
engage themselves upon an onslaught 1, and receive a repulse,
and should be afterwards forced to rise to fight with the King,
they should never make their men stand ; and then their cause
was lost.' For the danger of sickness amongst the soldiers, who
were not acquainted with hardness, [it was urged] ' that
though it were earlier in the year than the armies usually marched
into the field, yet they had much better accommodation and
provision than armies use to have ; ' their horse (to whom that
time of the year is commonly most formidable, through the want
of forage) being plentifully provided for with hay and oats by
the benefit of the river, and all supplies being sent for the foot
out of London.
26. And in truth it is hardly credible what vast quantities
1 ['onslatt,'MS.]

1 6 Siege of Reading commenced. [vii. 26.
1643 (besides the provisions made in a very regular way by the com
missioners) of excellent victual ready dressed were every day
sent in waggons and carts from London to the army, upon the
voluntary contributions from private families, according to their
affections to the good work in hand ; the common people being
persuaded that the taking of Reading would destroy all the
King's hopes of an army, and that it would be taken in very
few days. Upon these arguments and debates, (in which all the
reasons were considered on both sides,) the major part of the
council inclined, and with that the general complied, to pursue
the business by approach. It was reported that the officers of
horse in the council were all for a storm, and the foot ofiicers
for approaching. The chief care and oversight of the approaches
was committed to Philip Skippon, a man often mentioned in the
first part of this history, who had been an old officer, and of good
experience in the Low Countries, and was now made sergeant-
major-general of the army by the absolute power of the two
Houses, and without the cheerful concurrence of the earl of
Essex ; though sir John Merrick, who had executed that place
by his choice from the beginning, was preferred to be general of
the ordnance.
27. The approaches advanced very fast, the ground being in
all places as fit for that work as could be, and the town lying so
low that they had many batteries from whence they shot their
cannon into the town and upon their line at a near distance, but
without any considerable execution ; there being fewer lost by
that service than will be believed, and but one man of note,
lieutenant colonel D'Ews, a young man of notable courage and
vivacity, who had his leg shot off by a cannon bullet, of which
he speedily and very cheerfully died. From the town there
were frequent sallies, with good success, and very many soldiers
and some officers of the enemy were killed, more hurt ; who
were sent to hospitals near London ; and those that were sent
to London, (as many cart-loads were,) were brought in the night,
and disposed with great secrecy, that the citizens might take no
notice of it. The stratagems of this kind are too ridiculous to
be particularly set down, though pursued then with great

vii. 29.] Sir A. Aston, the governor, wounded. 17
industry, insomuch as some were punished for reporting that 1648
there were very many soldiers killed and hurt before Reading ;
and it was a mark of malignity to believe those reports * ; so
unfit the people were to be trusted with all truths.
28. Within a week after the beginning of the siege, sir
Arthur Aston, the governor, being in a court of guard near the
line which was nearest to the enemy's approaches, a cannon
shot accidentally lighted upon the top of it, which was covered
with brick-tile, a piece whereof, the shot going through, hit
un the governor in the head, and made that impression upon him
that his senses shortly failed him, so that he was not only
disabled afterwards from executing in his own person, but in
competent for counsel or direction ; so that the chief command
was devolved to colonel Richard Feilding, who was the eldest
colonel of the garrison. This accident was then thought of
great misfortune to the King, for there was not in his army an
officer of greater reputation, and of whom the enemy had a
greater dread. The next night after this accident, but before
it was known at Oxford, a party from thence under the com
mand of Mr. Wilmott, the lieutenant-general of the horse,
without any signal opposition put in a supply of powder and a Apr. is
regiment of five hundred foot into the town, but received adver
tisement from thence of the governor's hurt, and that they must
expect to be relieved within a week, beyond which time they
should not be able to bold out. How ill the King was provided
for such an expedition, will best appear by remembering how
his forces were then scattered, and the present posture he was
then in at Oxford.
29. The nimble and successful marches of sir William Waller,
whom we left triumphing in Wales after his strange surprise of
the lord Harbert's forces near Gloster, caused the King to send
prince Morrice with a strong party of horse and dragoons to
attend him, who moved from place to place With as great
success as speed, after his success at Hynam ; and to make the
shame of those officers the less, with the spirit of victory doubled
upon him, he came before Hereford, a town very well affected,
1 [See Commons' Journals, III, 54, under dale of April 21.]
VOL. III.* * C

1 8 Waller repulsed lefore Worcester. [vii. 29.
1643 and reasonably well fortified, having a strong stone wall about
it, and some cannon, and there being in it some soldiers of good
reputation, and many gentlemen of honour and quality, and
three or four hundred soldiers, besides the inhabitants well
armed ; yet, without the loss of one man on either side, to the
admiration of all who then heard it or have ever since heard of
April 25. it, he persuaded them fairly to give up the town, and yield
themselves prisoners upon quarter ; which they did, and were
presently by him sent for their better security to Bristol.
May 29. 30. From thence he marched to Worcester, where his con
quests met some stop ; for though the town was not so strong,
nor the garrison so great, (I mean of soldiers ; for the inhabi
tants were more,) as Hereford, nor one officer in it of more
experience than he had gotten this unhappy war, the inhabi
tants had the courage to resolve not to admit any summons or
messenger from him ; and when his drum, against all signs made
to him from the walls not to approach, did notwithstanding
refuse to return without delivering his message, they shot at
him and killed him ; and when sir William Waller himself, to
revenge that affront, marched with his whole body towards
them, (there being only an old gate, without bridge or work
before it, to hinder his entrance into the town,) they enter
tained him so roughly, that he was forced to retire with the
loss of some officers and about twenty common men ; after
which, his men having not been accustomed to such usage, he
got over the Severn again, and, with quick night marches, so
avoided prince Morrice, (who took no less pains to meet with
him,) that with some few light skirmishes, in which he received
small loss, he carried his party safe, and full of reputation,
through Gloster to the earl of Essex's army before Reading;
himself being sent for to London, upon a design that must be
hereafter mentioned.
31. The great want at Oxford (if any one particular might
deserve that style where all necessary things were wanted) was
ammunition ; and the only hope of supply was from the north ;
yet the passage from thence [was] so dangerous that a party
little inferior in strength to an army was necessary to convey

vii. 31.] Prince Rupert marches to Birmingham. 19
it ; for though the earl of Newcastle at that time was master of 1643
the field in Yorkshire, yet the enemy was much superior in all
the counties between that county and Oxford, and had planted
many garrisons so near all the roads that the most private
messengers travelled with great hazard, three being intercepted
for one that escaped. To clear these obstructions, and not
without the design of guarding and waiting on the Queen to
Oxford, if her majesty were ready for that journey, at least to
secure a necessary supply of powder, prince Rupert resolved in
person to march towards the north ; and about the beginning of
April (the treaty being then at Oxford, and hope that it would
have produced a good effect, at least that the earl of Essex
would not have taken the field till May) his highness, with a
party of twelve hundred horse and dragoons and six or seven
hundred foot, marched towards Litchfield ; which if he could
reduce, and settle there a garrison for the King, lay most con
venient for that northern communication, and would with it
dissolve other little adjacent holds of the enemy, which con
tributed much to the interruption. In his way thither, he was
to march through Bromigeham [Birmingham], a town in
Warwickshire before mentioned, and of as great fame for hearty,
wilful, affected disloyalty to the King, as any place in England.
It is before remembered1 that the King in his march from
Shrewsbury, notwithstanding the eminent malignity of that
people, had shewed as eminent compassion to them, not giving
way that they should suffer by the undistinguishing license of
the soldier, or by the severity of his own justice ; which
clemency of his found so unequal a return, that the next day
after his remove thence the inhabitants of that place seized on
his carriages, wherein were his own plate and furniture, and
conveyed them to Warwick castle, and had from that time, with
unusual industry and vigilance, apprehended all messengers who
were employed, or suspected to be so, in the King's service ;
and though it was never made a garrison by direction of the
Parliament, being built in such a form as was indeed hardly
capable of being fortified, yet they had so great a desire to
1 [Book vi, § 83.]
C 2

20 The earl of Denbigh hilled at Birmingham, [vii. 31.
1643 distinguish themselves from the King's good subjects that they
cast up little slight works at both ends of the town, and
barricadoed the rest, and voluntarily engaged themselves not to
admit any intercourse with the King's forces.
April 3. 32. In this posture prince Rupert now found them, having
in the town with them at that time a troop of horse belonging
to the garrison of Litchfield, which was grown to that strength
that it infested those parts exceedingly, and Would in a short
time have extended itself to a powerful jurisdiction. His
highness, hardly believing it possible that when they should
discover his power they would offer to make resistance, and
being unwilling to receive interruption in his more important
design, sent his quarter-masters thither to take up his lodging,
and to assure them that if they behaved themselves peaceably
they should not suffer for what was past : but they had not
consciences good enough to believe him, and absolutely refused
to let him quarter in the town ; and from their little works,
with mettle equal to their malice, they discharged their shot
upon him ; but they were quickly overpowered, and some parts
of the town being fired, they Were not able to contend with both
enemies, and, distracted between both, suffered the assailant to
enter without much loss ; who took not that vengeance upon
them they deserved, but made them expiate their transgressions
with paying a less mulct than might have been expected from
their wealth if their wickedness had been less.
33. In the entrance of this town, and in the too eager pursuit
of that loose troop of horse that was in it, the earl of Denbigh
(who from the beginning of the war, with unwearied pains an€
exact submission to discipline and order, had been a volunteer
in prince Rupert's troop, and been engaged with singular
courage in all enterprises of danger) was unfortunately wounded
with many hurts on the head and body with swords and pole-
April 8. axes ; of which within two or three days he died 1. And but
for which accident, (and to remember the dismal inequality of
1 [' — having been overthrown in bis coach by a careless coachman, his
wounds brake out again so sorely that he died shortly after.' Mereurius
Aulicus, p. 192.]

vii. 34.] Prince Rupert marches to Lichfield. %i
this contention, in which always some earl, or person of great 1643
honour or fortune, fell, when, after the most signal victory over
the other side, there was seldom lost a man of any known
family, or of other reputation than of passion for the cause in
which he fell,) I should not have wasted so much paper in men
tioning an action of so little moment as was this of Bromige-
ham : which I shall yet enlarge with the remembrance of a
clergyman, who was here killed at the entering of the town,
after he had not only refused quarter but provoked the soldier
by the most odious revilings and reproaches of the person and
honour of the King that can be imagined, and renouncing all
allegiance to him ; in whose pockets were found several papers
of memorials of his own obscene and scurrilous behaviour with
several women, in such loose expressions as modest ears cannot
endure ; and this man was the principal governor and incendiary
of the rude people of that ill place against their sovereign 1. So
full a qualification was a heightened measure of malice and dis
loyalty for this service, that it weighed down the infamy of any
other lewd and vicious behaviour.
34. From Bromigeham, the prince, without longer stay than
to remove two or three slight garrisons in the way, which made
very little resistance, marched to Litchfield, and easily possessed
himself of the town, which lay open to all comers ; but the
Close (which contained the cathedral church and all the clergy
houses) was strongly fortified, and resolved against him. The
wall, about which there was a broad and deep moat, was so
thick and strong that no battery the prince could raise would
make any impression ; the governor one colonel Rouswell, very
resolute ; and the garrison of such men as were most trans
ported with superstition to the cause in which they were
engaged, and in numbers equal to the ground they were to
keep ; their provisions ample, for a longer time than it was fit
the prince should stay before it. So that it was believed, when
his highness had in vain endeavoured to procure it by treaty,
1 [His name was Whitehall, and he is described in A true relation of the
cruelties exercised by the cavaliers at Birmingham as having been confined
in Bedlam for many years as a lunatic, and as being mistaken by the
royalists for the minister of the parish, one Roberts.]

22 Prince Bupert lakes Lichfield. [vii. 34-
1643 he would not have engaged before it ; for his strength con
sisted, upon the matter, wholly in horse ; his foot and dragoons
being an inconsiderable force for such an attempt. But whether
the difficulties were not throughly discerned and weighed at
first, or whether the importance of the place was thought so
great that it was worth an equal hazard and adventure, he
resolved not to move till he had tried the uttermost ; and to
that purpose drew what addition of force he could out of the
country, to strengthen his handful of foot; and persuaded
many officers and volunteers of the horse to alight, and bear
their parts in the duty, with which they cheerfully and gallantly
complied ; and in less than ten days he had drawn the moat
dry, and prepared two bridges for the graff. The besieged
omitted nothing that could be performed by vigilant and bold
men, and killed and wounded many of the besiegers, and dis
appointed and spoiled one mine they had prepared. In the end,
early in the morning, the prince having prepared all things in
readiness for the assault, he sprung another mine, which
succeeded according to wish, and made a breach of twenty foot
in the wall, in a place least suspected by those within ; yet they
defended it with all possible courage and resolution, and killed
and hurt very many ; whereof some, officers of prime quality,
whereof the lord Digby, colonel Gerard, colonel Wagstaffe, and
major Legg, were the chief of the wounded ; and when they had
entered the breach, they continued the dispute so fiercely within,
(the narrowness of the breach, and the ascent, not suffering many
to enter together, and no horse being able to get over,) that,
after they had killed colonel Usher and some other good officers,
and taken others prisoners, (for both colonel Wagstaffe and
April 21. William Legg were in their hands,) they compelled the prince
to consent to very honourable conditions ; which he readily
yielded to, as thinking himself a gainer by the bargain. And
so the garrison marched out with fair respect, and a princely
testimony of having made a courageous defence ; his highness
being very glad of his conquest, though the purchase had
shrewdly shaken his troops, and robbed him of many officers
and soldiers he much valued. At this time, either the day

vii. 35.] The King marches to relieve Beading. %o)
before or the day after this action, prince Rupert received a 1643
positive order from the King to make all possible haste, with all
the strength he had and all he could draw together from those
parts, to the relief of Reading : which was in the danger we
but now left it. Upon which his highness, committing the
government of Litchfield to colonel Baggott, a son of a good and
powerful family in that county, and appointing his troops to
make what haste was possible after him, himself with a few
servants came to Oxford to attend the King, whom he found
gone towards Reading.
35. The importunity from that garrison for relief was so
peremptory, and the concernment so great in their preservation,
that the King found it would not bear the necessary delay of
prince Rupert's returning with his forces; and therefore his
majesty in person, with those horse and foot which he could
speedily draw together, leaving very few behind him in Oxford
or in any other garrison, advanced towards Reading ; hoping April 24.
(and that was the utmost of his hope) that he might with the
assistance of the garrison be able to force one quarter, and so
draw out his men, and, by the advantage of those rivers which
divided the enemy and the passes, to be able to retire to
Oxford ; for, being joined, he would not have near one half of the
enemy's army. When he drew near the town, the day being
passed whereon they had been promised, or had promised them
selves, relief, he was encountered by a party of the enemy, April 25.
which defended their post, and being quickly seconded by
supplies of horse and foot from all their quarters, after a very
sharp conflict, in which many fell on both sides, the King's
party, commanded by the earl of Forth himself, the general,
consisting of near one thousand musketeers, was forced to retire
to their body ; which they did the sooner, because those of the
town made no semblance of endeavouring to join with them ;
which was that they principally relied upon. The reason of
that was, the garrison, not seeing their relief coming, sent for a
parley to the enemy, which was agreed to, with a truce for so
many hours, upon which hostages were delivered, and a treaty
begun, when the King came to relieve it. Upon the view of

24 Reading surrendered. [vti. 35.
1643 the enemy's strength and intrenchment, all were of opinion that
the small forces of the King would not be able to raise the
siege, or to join with those in the town ; and in this melancholic
conclusion his majesty retired for the present, resolving to make
any other reasonable attempt the next day. In the mean time,
some soldiers found means to escape out of the town, and
colonel Feilding himself in the night came to the King, and told
him the state they were in, and that they were in treaty, and
he believed might have very good conditions, and liberty to
march away with all their arms and baggage ; which was so
welcome news, that the King bade him, (prince Rupert being
then present,) that if he could procure such conditions he should
accept them : for indeed the men and the arms were all that the
King desired, and the loss of either of which was like to prove
fatal to him. The King continued still at Nettlebedd, a village
seven or eight miles 1 distant from Reading, to attend the success
of the treaty ; resolving, if it succeeded not, to try the utmost
again for their redemption ; but all men heartily praying for
liberty to march off upon the treaty. The next day these
April 27. articles were agreed on :
36. 1. ' That the governor, commanders, and soldiers, both horse and
foot, might march out with flying colours, arms, and four pieces of ord
nance, ammunition, bag and baggage, light match, bullet in mouth, drums
beating, and trumpets sounding.
2. ' That they might have free passage to his majesty's city of Oxford,
without interruption of any of the forces under the command of his excel
lency the earl of Essex ; provided the said governor, commanders, and
soldiers use no hostility until they come to Oxford.
3. ' That what persons were accidentally come to the town, and shut up by
the siege, might have liberty to pass without interruption ; such persons
only excepted as had run away from the army under the command of the
earl of Essex.
i. ' That they should have fifty carriages for baggage, sick, and hurt men.
5. 'That the inhabitants of the town of Beading should not be pre
judiced in their estates or persons, either by plundering or imprisonment ;
and that they who would leave the town might have free leave and passage
safely to go to what place they would, with their goods, within the space
of six weeks after the surrender of the town.
6. ' That the garrison should quit the town by twelve of the clock the
next morning ; and that the earl of Essex should provide a guard for the
security of the garrison soldiers when they began to march.'
1 [About twelve miles.]

VII. 38.} Beading surrendered. 25
37. Upon these articles, signed by the earl of Essex, the 1643
town was delivered on the 2 7th day of April, (being within a
fortnight after the siege began,) and the garrison marched to
the King, who stayed for them, and with him to Oxford. But
at their coming out of the town, and passing through the
enemy's guards, the soldiers were not only reviled and reproach
fully used, but many of them disarmed, and most of the
waggons plundered, in the presence of the earl of Essex him
self and the chief officers, who seemed to be offended at it, and
not to be able to prevent it ; the unruliness of their common
men being so great. And as this breach of the articles was
very notorious and inexcusable, so it was made the rise, found
ation, and excuse for barbarous injustice of the same kind
throughout the greatest part of the war ; insomuch as the King's
soldiers afterwards, when it was their part to be precise in the
observations of agreements, mutinously remembered the viola^
tion at Reading, and thereupon exercised the same license ; and
from thence, either side having somewhat to object to the other,
that requisite honesty and justice of observing conditions was
mutually, as it were by agreement, for a long time after violated.
38 1. There had been, in the secret committee for the carry
ing on the war, forming those designs, and administering to
the expenses thereof, a long debate, with great difference of
opinion, whether they should not march directly with their
army to besiege Oxford, where the King and the Court was,
rather than Reading ; and if they had taken that resolution, as
Mr. Hambden, and all they who desired still to strike at the
root, very earnestly insisted upon, without doubt they had put
the King's affairs into great confusion. For, besides that the
town was not tolerably fortified, nor the garrison well provided
for, the Court, and multitude of nobility and ladies and gentry
with which it was inhabited, bore any kind of alarum very ill.
But others, who did not yet think their army well enough com
posed to resist all temptations, nor enough subdued in their
inclinations to loyalty and reverence towards the person of the
King, had no mind it should besiege the very place where the
1 [This section is taken from the Life, p. 223.]

26 The King returns to Oxford. [vii. 38.
1643 King himself was ; and the earl of Essex himself, who was yet
the soul of the army, had no mind to that enterprise : and so
the army marched, as hath been said, directly to Reading, with
the success that is mentioned1.
39. Though, at the instant, the Parliament was highly
pleased with the getting the town, and the King as well con
tented when he saw his entire garrison safely joined to the rest
of his army, (for it cannot be denied the joy was universal
through the King's quarters, upon the assurance that they had
recovered full four thousand good men, whom they had given for
lost,) yet, according to the vicissitude in war when accounts are
cast up, either party grew quickly unsatisfied with its success.
The King was no sooner returned to Oxford but upon confer
ence between the officers and soldiers there grew a whisper
that there had not been fair carriage, and that Reading had
been betrayed, and from thence made a noise through Oxford ;
and the very next day, and at the same time, colonel Feilding,
1 [The last six words are interlined, and the following passage is here struck
out in the MS. — ' where sir Arthur Aston (a man of a much greater reputa
tion in war than he deserved) was governor, with three thousand good foot
and a regiment of horse ; and if that body of foot (which should have been
drawn out within less than a month, which was as soon as it was imagined
that the enemy would take the field) had been cut off, the King would have
been deprived of the best part of his infantry ; which was well enough known
to the enemy, and was the principal cause of their engagement. The works
were rather a trench cast up to secure a winter quarter than any fortifica
tion to endure a siege, the purpose having been always to throw in aE the
works in the spring, and to leave the town open, his majesty having not
men enough to supply garrisons, and retaining stiE the old unhappy
opinion that another action in the field would determine the contest.
However, the earl of Essex, thinking it to be stronger than it was, or
willing that others should think it so, quartered his army round about it,
to keep it from supply, and disposed all things for a formal siege. The
several transactions within and without the town during that siege ; the
hurt of the governor, whether real or pretended; the treaty about the
surrender, and the King's endeavour to relieve it during that treaty and
after it was begun, and the garrison's refusing to draw out because of the
treaty ; the surrender of the town thereupon, and the secure march of the
garrison to Oxford ; the disorders and jealousies which happened there
about that surrender; the earl of Essex his march towards Oxford, and
drawing up his whole army in sight thereof, and the consternation there,
and his making his headquarter at Thame, are all fitter subjects for the
history of that time than for this narration,' {namely, the author's Life).]

vii. 40.] Trial of colonel Feilding. 27
upon whom the discourses reflected, came to the King to desire 1643
that an account might be taken of the whole business at a
council of war, for his vindication, and the common soldiers, in
a disorderly manner, to require justice against him for betray
ing and delivering up the town to the rebels; which they
avowed with so much confidence, with the mention of some
particulars, as, having frequent intercourse with the earl of
Essex, and hindering and forbidding the soldiers to issue out of
the town to join with the King when he came to relieve them,
albeit their officers had drawn them up to that purpose and
were ready to lead them, and the like, with some rash and
passionate words disrespective to his majesty ; [so] that he gave
present order for his commitment and trial at a court of war ;
the King himself being marvellously incensed against him for
that clause in the third article, which gave liberty to all who
were accidentally come to the town and shut up by the siege to
pass without interruption, [whereby] there was an exception of
such persons who had run away from the earl of Essex his army ;
and by virtue of that exception some soldiers of that kind were
taken after the rendering of the town, and were executed.
And though the colonel excused himself as being no more con
cerned to answer for the articles than every member of the
council of war by which they were agreed, yet it was alleged
that the council of war had been induced to consent to those
articles upon the colonel's averment that the King had seen
them and approved of them ; whereas his majesty had never
seen any articles in writing, but only consented that they
should march away with their arms and baggage, if the enemy
agreed to those conditions. I have not known the King more
afflicted than he was with that clause, which he called no less
than giving up those poor men, who, out of their conscience of
their rebellion, had betaken themselves to his protection, to be
massacred and murdered by the rebels whom they had deserted ;
and, for the vindication of himself therein, he immediately pub- May 12.
lished a proclamation in which he took notice of that clause,
and declared to all the world,
40. ' That he was not privy to, or in the least degree consenting to, that

a8 Trial of colonel Feilding [vii. 40.
1643 exception, but held the same most prejudicial to his service, and derogatory
from his honour ; and that he would always choose to run any hazard or
danger the violence or treason of his enemies could threaten, or bring upon
him, rather than he would withdraw or deny his protection to any who,
being convinced in their conscience of their disloyalty, should return to
their duty, and betake themselves to his service. And as he had referred
to a court of war the fuE examination of aU the particular proceedings in the
delivery of that town, that so justice might be done accordingly, so he did
declare that he would always proceed with all severity against such as
should by the like dishonourable conditions expose his subjects, and
bereave them of his protection that had returned to their obedience to
him.' 41. At the trial, it was objected against the colonel, that the
town might have been longer defended, there being want of no
necessary provision, and as much powder at the giving it up as
there was when the enemy came first before it ; for, besides the
first supply, sixteen barrels [were1] put in during the skirmish
when the King came to relieve it : that several colonels pressed
very earnestly to sally when the King's forces were engaged,
and that they were expressly hindered and forbidden by him :
that he frequently gave his pass to a woman to go out of the
town, who went into the earl of Essex's army and returned
again : that he persuaded the council of war to consent to the
articles by protesting that the King had well approved them,
and reproached those officers who were of another opinion ;
with some other particulars of license and passion, which
reflected more upon his discretion than his honesty or con
duct. 42. He justified himself to have done nothing towards the
delivery of the place but upon full consideration, advice, and
approbation of the council of war : that he was in his own
conscience and judgment satisfied that the substance of the
articles were advantageous for his majesty's service ; and
though it was true, by that last supply of ammunition, their
store was near as much as when the siege began, yet it was in
all but thirty-two barrels, which would have lasted but few
hours if the enemy, who had approached within little more
than pistol-shot of some parts of their works, should attack
them in that manner as they had reason to expect ; and if they
1 [' was,' MS.]

vii. 42.] for his surrender of Beading. 29
had held out longer, when it had appeared that the King was 1643
not strong enough to relieve them they should not have been
admitted to euch conditions : and therefore that he believed a
hazard of so great a concernment was not to be run, when he
well knew his majesty's former resolution of slighting the garri
son, and that it would not be now done above a fortnight sooner
than was intended. That he had no knowledge of his majesty's
approach till the forces were engaged, when a truce was con
cluded and their hostages in the enemy's hands ; and therefore,
that he conceived it against the law of arms to make any
attempt from the town; and before they could sufficiently de
liberate it in council, his [majesty's] forces retired. That the
woman to whom he gave a pass was one he often employed as a
spy with very good effect, and he did believe the advantage he
received by it was greater than she could carry to the enemy
by any information she could give. That he did persuade the
council of war to consent to the conditions, because he believed
them very profitable to his majesty, and he averred only his
majesty's approbation of the general substance of the articles,
never applied it to the clause of the third article, which he
much desired to have altered, but could not obtain the consent
of the enemy. If he had been intemperate or passionate to
any who were of another opinion, or had used any passionate
expressions in the debate, it proceeded only from his zeal to the
service, and his apprehension of the loss of so many good men,
upon whom he well knew the King much depended. That he
might have committed many indiscretions, for which he desired
pardon, but had not failed in point of fidelity. That, by the
unfortunate hurt of the governor, the command was devolved upon
him by his right of seniority, not any ambitious desire of his
own : that he had from time to time acquainted sir Arthur
Aston with the state and condition they were in, and though his
indisposition of health was such that he would not give positive
orders, he seemed to approve of all that was done ; and though
for the former reason he refused to sign the articles, yet they
were read to him, and he expressed no dislike of them. The
truth of it is, sir Arthur Aston was believed by many not to be

30 Col. Feilding is condemned, but pardoned, [vii.

42.

1643 in so incompetent a condition to command as he pretended ; and
that albeit his head was so much swoln that he might not m
person venture upon any execution, yet that his understanding
or senses were not much distempered or discomposed, and that
he only positively waived meddling out of dislike of the con
dition they were in. And it is true that when he came to
Oxford he could speak as reasonably of any matter as ever I
knew him before or after.
43. Notwithstanding all the defence the colonel could make
for himself, and that there was not indeed any colour of proof
that he had acted any thing treacherously, he was, upon an
article of not obeying orders, (for in this agitation he had re
ceived some such which he had not precisely observed,) sen-
May 5. tenced to lose his head; which judgment, after long and great
intercession, was in the end remitted by the King, but his
regiment disposed to another, and he never restored to that
command. And though he had been always before of an un
blemished reputation for honesty and courage, and had heartily
been engaged from the beginning of the troubles, and been hurt
in the service, and he appeared afterwards as a volunteer with
the same courage in the most perilous actions, and obtained a
principal command in another of the King's armies, he never
recovered the misfortune and blemish of this imputation. And
yet I must profess for my part, being no stranger to what was
then alleged and proved on either party, I do believe him to
have been free from any base compliance with the enemy, or any
cowardly declension of what was reasonably to be attempted.
So fatal are all misfortunes, and so difficult a thing it is to
play an after-game of reputation, in that nice and jealous pro
fession. 44. The inconveniences and mischieves that resulted to the
King from this accident were greater than were at that time
taken notice of ; for from this, the factions in Court, army, and
city (which afterwards grew very troublesome to the King) were
dated, and took their original ; great animosities grew between
the officers of the army, some being thought to have been too
passionate and solicitous in the prosecution of the colonel, and

vii. 45.] Various opinions concerning col. Feilding. 31
too much to have countenanced the rage and fury of common 1643
soldiers in demanding [justice on] their officer ; for from such a
kind of clamour it began. Others again were as much con
demned for a palpable avowed protection of him, thereby to
shew their power, that a person they favoured should not suffer.
And of both these, some were more violent than they should
have been ; which several inclinations equally possessed the
Court, some believing that he was really guilty of treachery,
though not so clearly proved, and therefore that, being within
the mercy of the law upon another article, no mercy ought to be
shewed to him ; others as really supposing him innocent, and
therefore thinking it great pity severely to take the forfeiture,
upon such a point as few officers of the army did not know
themselves guilty in : these supposing the former too full of
rigour and uncharitableness, and they again accusing the other
of too much lenity and indulgence ; whilst many gentlemen of
honour and quality, whose fortunes were embarked with the
King, grew extremely jealous that the Parliament had corrupted
some of the King's officers with rewards, and that others had
power to protect them from punishment and discovery; and the
soldier[s] again as much incensed, that their lives must be sacri
ficed, upon casual and accidental trespasses, to the animosity
and jealousy of those who run not the same dangers with them.
45. But these indispositions and distempers were the effects
of the exigents of that time, (I wish the humours had [been] im
paired when the times mended,) and very many who saw the
King's condition very low in an instant, and believed the rebels
to be most flourishing, would look no farther for a reason than
the loss of Reading ; though they had all still but the town,
which was never intended to be kept. It is most certain that
the King himself was so far from believing the condition he was
in to be tolerable, that, upon the news of the earl of Essex
his advance towards Oxford within four or five days after the
loss of Reading, he once resolved, (and that by the advice of the
chief officers of his army,) to march away towards the north, to
join with the earl of Newcastle. And if the earl of Essex had
at that time but made any show of moving with his whole body

32 State of the earl of Essex's army. [Vii. 45.
1643 that way, I do verily persuade myself Oxford itself and all the
other garrisons of those parts had been quitted to them. But
those fears were quickly composed by an assurance of the earl's
stay at Reading, and that he was not in a posture for a present
march, and that his numbers had been shrewdly lessened by the
siege : whereupon the King resolved to abide him, and give him
battle about Oxford, if he advanced ; and, in the mean time, en
camped his foot upon the down about a mile from Abbington,
which was the head quarter for his horse.
46 *. When the season of the year grew ripe for taking the
1 [§§ 46-8 are from the Life, pp. 224-6. The Sist. (p. 438) continues
as foEows : —
' The earl of Essex had as little joy of his conquests ; the city murmured,
and thought they were betrayed ; they expected the reducing of Beading
by taking or destroying the garrison that was in it, which they were
assured comprised above one half of the King's army, so, that being defeated,
the war would be at an end : whereas by giving them leave to march to the
King with their arms they had enabled him to fight a battle with them,
which he could not otherwise have done : all that vast expense of money
about the siege had been to no purpose, and had only recovered a town
which would have been left to them within one fortnight without any loss
of men or money. They were now very angry that he had not marched to
Oxford when he first sat down before Beading, which if he had taken, (as
with the same expense he might have done,) Beading must have yielded
without a blow : and indeed there had been consultation at Windsor, before
the expedition began, whether they should besiege Oxford or Beading first;
and the earl himself inclined to Oxford, but was advised to the other, for
the conveniency of being supplied with provisions from London, and ont of
an apprehension that if the whole army should go before Oxford, and leave
so strong a garrison as Beading behind them, they might not only be much
infested from thence in their siege, but more frequent alarums would come
from that place to the Houses and the city than they would weE bear :
which without doubt was as great an oversight as any they committed;
for if they had at that time, with that full army they were then masters of,
marched to Oxford, prince Bupert being, as is before remembered, at
Litchfield, they had found the place every way worse provided for a
siege than Beading, the fortifications being very slight and unfinished,
and no public magazines of victual in store ; so that, though it may
be the King himself might with his horse have escaped before they could
have environed the town, the place, having a very thin garrison of
soldiers, and a great company of lords and ladies and persons of quaUty not
easy to be governed and commanded, could not probably have long held
out, and then Reading mus have been at their devotion ; and in tbe mean
time they had horse enough belonging to the city and their garrison at
Windsor to secure them from those excursions. But tliat which troubled

vii. 47.] The earl of Essex reproaches Parliament. 33
field, the earl of Essex found that his too early march had nothing 1643
advanced his affairs ; the soldiers having performed so strict
duty, and lodging upon the ground in frost and rain before
Reading, had produced great sickness and diseases in his army,
which had wasted abundance of his men ; so that he wanted
rather another winter quarter to recover and recruit his men,
than an opportunity to engage them in action ; which he found
would be too often administered. He sent daily importunities
to the Parliament for supplies of all kinds, which they were not
enough furnished with to satisfy him. New divisions and ani
mosities arose there to perplex their counsels; their triumph
upon the taking of Reading, which they had celebrated with
loud festivity, and made the city believe that all those benefits
would attend it which they knew would be most grateful to
them, appeared now without any fruit ; the King had all his forces
and army entire, and had only lost a town that he never meant
to keep, and which they knew not what to do with, and was
now ready to come into the field, when theirs was destitute of
health and all those accommodations which must enable them to
march : and their general every day reiterated his complaints,
and reproached them with the unskilful orders they had sent him,
by which, against all the advice and arguments he had given
them, he was reduced to that extremity.
47. The absurd and uncivil breaking off of the treaty with the
King was urged by their commissioners, who thought them
selves disobliged by it, and published the King's gracious dis
position and the temper of the Council in Oxford to be different
from what the Parliament desired it should be believed. They
complained of jealousies which had been entertained of their
integrity ; and the earl of Northumberland, having discovered
that Harry Martin had opened a letter which he had writ from
Oxford to his wife, to know what was included in it, took him
aside, after a conference in the Painted Chamber between the April 18
the earl of Essex more than these discourses was the ill condition his army
was in ; they had, contracted in this short siege so great a sickness, and
such an indisposition to action, and so many were killed and run away, that
he was in no posture to pursue his advantage ; so that after all those moun
tains of promises,' &c. as in § 48, line 12.]
VOL. III. D

34 Excise-duty proposed by Parliament. [vii. 47.
1643 two Houses, and questioned him upon it ; and the other giving
him some rude answers in justification of it, the earl cudgelled
him in that presence, upon which many swords were drawn, to
the great reproach and scandal of the Parliament.
48. These and the like instances of distraction and confusion
brought the reputation of that party low, and made it looked
upon as like to destroy itself without an enemy; whilst the
King's party, at that distance, seemed to be more united, and to
have recovered their spirits, of which they received frequent evi
dence, by the news of some of their quarters being beat up, and
many of their men being lost, by the unexpected incursions of
the King's horse ; whereof some parties, by" night marches and
unusual lanes, went often near London, and took many prisoners,
who thought themselves secure in their houses and in journeys
they made, and who were put to ransom themselves with good
sums of money. So l that, after all those mountains of promises
and undertakings, the wants were greater, and the city more
importuned for money, and the Parliament visibly more neces
sitated for want of it, than they had been before ; and instead of
dispersing the King's army, and bringing the King back to bis
March 7. Parliament, a sudden direction was given, and a vigorous exe
cution of that direction was begun, to draw a line about the
city of London and Westminster, and to fortify it, lest the
King's forces might break in upon them; which made them
suspect the state of their affairs to be worse than in truth it was.
And so far were they yet from any thoughts of peace and accom
modation, that the House of Commons raged more furiously than
ever, and every day engaged themselves in conclusions more
monstrous than they had yet entered upon. For the supply of
June 5, 15. the charge of the war, they proposed settling and imposing an
excise upon such commodities as might best bear it ; which was
a burden the people of England had hitherto reproached other
nations with, as a mark of slavery, and as never feared by them
selves ; and for the exercise of their sovereign power, they
June 13. resolved it fit to make a new Great Seal, to be always resident
with the Houses. But the Lords were not yet arrived at
1 [The text is here taken up again from the History, p. 439.]

vii. 50.] The King's message of May 19 to Parliament. 35
that presumption, but plainly refused to concur with them in 1643
either \
49. WTnlst both armies lay quiet, the one about Reading, the
other about Abbington and Oxford, without attempting one
upon the other, or any action save some small enterprises by
parties, in which the King got advantage ; (as the young earl of
Northampton fortunately encountered a party of horse and foot May 6.
from Northampton, which thought themselves strong enough to
attempt upon Banbury, and, having routed their horse, killed
above two hundred of their foot, and took as many more
prisoners, most whereof were shrewdly hurt, the young earl that
day sacrificing to the memory of his father,) the King received
from the earl of Newcastle, by a strong party of horse, a good
and ample supply of ammunition ; the want whereof all men
looked upon with great horror. As soon as this was arrived,
and the King heard that his armies both in the north and west
began to flourish, and thought himself well provided to en
counter the earl of Essex if he desired it, his majesty resolved .
once more to try whether the two Houses would incline to a
reasonable peace ; and to that purpose sent a message to them May 19.
by an express servant of his own, in these words :
50. 'Since his majesty's message of the 12th of April (in which he
conceived he had made such an overture for the immediate disbanding of
aE armies, and composure of these miserable and present distractions, by a
full and free convention of Parliament, that a perfect and settled peace
would have ensued) hath in aE this time, above a fuE month, procured no
answer from both Houses, his majesty might well believe himself absolved,
both before God and man, from the least possible charge of not having used
his uttermost endeavours for peace ; yet, when he considers that the scene
of all this calamity is in the bowels of his own kingdom, that aE the blood
which is spilt is of his own subjects, and that what victory soever it shall
please God to give him must be over those who ought not to have lifted up
their hands against him ; when he considers that these desperate civil dissen
sions may encourage and invite a foreign enemy, to make a prey of the whole
nation ; that Ireland is in present danger to be totally lost ; that the heavy
judgments of God, plague, pestilence, and famine, will be the inevitable
1 [The Lords refused on June 14 to concur in the vote for making a Great
Seal, but on Oct. 12 they agreed to another vote of July 5. They did
not actuaUy refuse consent to the ordinance for the excise, but after several
conferences with the Commons, agreed on Sept. 8 to a, new ordinance
proposed by the Commons on Sept. 6.] D 2

36 The King's message of May 19 to Parliament, [vii. 50.
1643 attendants of this unnatural contention ; and that in a short time there will
be so general a habit of uncharitableness and cruelty contracted through the
whole kingdom, that even peace itself will not restore his people to their
old temper and security ; his majesty cannot but again call for an answer
to that his gracious message, which gives so fair a rise to end these
unnatural distractions. And his majesty doth this with the more earnest
ness, because he doubts not the condition of his armies in several parts, the
strength of horse, foot, artillery, his plenty of ammunition, (when some men
lately might conceive he wanted,) is so well known and understood, that it
must be confessed nothing but the tenderness and love to his people, and
those Christian impressions which always [have '] and he hopes alway shall
dwell in his heart, could move him once more to hazard a refusal. And he
requires them, as they will answer to God, to himself, and all the world,
that they will no longer suffer their fellow-subjects to welter in each other's
blood ; that they would remember by whose authority, and to what end,
they met in that council, and send such an answer to his majesty as may
open a door to let in a firm peace and security to the whole kingdom. If
his majesty shall again be disappointed of his intentions therein, the blood,
rapine, and destruction, which may follow in England and Ireland, will be
cast upon the account of those who are deaf to the [motion 2] of peace and
accommodation.'
May 22. 51. This message was received hy the House of Peers (to
whom it was directed) with all demonstration of respect and
duty, and the messenger very civilly entreated by them : but
when they communicated it with the House of Commons, and
desired their concurrence in preparing an address to the King
suitable to his gracious invitation, that House was so far from
concurring with them that they gave immediate order (which
was executed accordingly) for the apprehension and commit
ment of the gentleman who brought the message 3, and declared
that they would proceed against him at a council of war ; upon
22. the order formerly mentioned, made by them when the treaty
was at Oxford, that any person coming from Oxford without
their general's pass, or one from the Houses, should be punished
as a spy ; to which order as the Peers never consented, so the
King had never, till this commitment, notice of it, and them
selves, after the making it, had sent several messengers to the
King without any formality of pass or trumpet.
52. The Lords did what they could, publicly and privately,
to dissuade this course, but they could not prevail, the House
1 [Lords' Journals, VI. 57; 'live,' MS.]
» [lb. ; ' motive," MS.] 3 [Alexander Hampden.]

vii. 53.] Two citizens of Bristol executed for a plot. 37
of Commons finding that the very imagination that a peace 1643
might be concluded infinitely retarded their carrying on the
war, and made not only those who were yet free not easy to be
drawn in, but many who were engaged, remiss, and willing to
retire ; and therefore they resolved to proceed with that
vigour and resolution, that no reasonable man should believe
it possible for the King to gain a peace but by subduing them,
which seemed at least equally impossible. To this purpose,
instead of returning any answer to the King's message, within
three days after the receiving it they impeached the Queen of May 23.
high treason, for assisting the King her husband with arms and
ammunition, and in the prosecution of the war against them ;
an attempt as unheard of amongst all the acts of their prede
cessors, and as unimagined, as any thing they had yet ventured
upon. Their clergy sounded their trumpets louder to war than
ever, if it was possible ; and that Assembly of Divines, to which
they had at the treaty urged the King's consent, they resolved May 13.
should now meet by an ordinance of their own, with an addition
of some members of either House to that number.
53. There had been some months before a design of prince
Rupert upon the city of Bristol, by correspondence with some of
the chief inhabitants of the city, who were weary of the tyranny
of the Parliament ; but it had been so unskilfully or unhappily
carried, that, when the prince was near the town, with such a March 7.
party of horse and foot as he made choice of, it was discovered,
and many principal citizens apprehended by Nathaniel Fynes,
son to the lord Say, and then governor of that city for the
Parliament. At this time special direction and order was sent March 14.
thither that he should with all severity and expedition proceed
against those conspirators, (as they called them ;) and there
upon, by a sentence and judgment of a council of war, alderman
Yeomans, who had been high shrief of the city, and of great
reputation in it, and George Bourchier, another citizen of
principal account, were (against all interposition his majesty
could make) both hanged : and all other imaginary acts done, May 30.
to let all the world see that there was no way to peace but by
the sword.

38 Edmund Waller's plot in London [vii. 54.
1643 54. There fell out now an accident at London which gave
great advantage to them in the fierce prosecution of the war ;
a discovery of a plot, which produced a public thanksgiving to
God for their deliverance, a wonderful animosity against the
King, and a covenant and union among themselves and
throughout the city, a prejudice to all moderate men who
promoted an accommodation, and a brand upon all overtures of
accommodation and peace as stratagems upon the city and the
Parliament. Of this plot, there being never such a formed
relation made by those who niade great use of it that men can
collect what the design was, or that it was laid with any prob
able circumstances by which a success might be expected, I
shall briefly and faithfully set down all that I know, have
heard, or can reasonably conjecture, to be in it ; and it was
thought by many, and averred by others who I believe did not
think so, that I knew as much of it as most men.
55. There was of the House of Commons one Mr. Waller, a
gentleman of a very good fortune and estate, and of admirable
parts and faculties of wit and eloquence, and of an intimate
conversation and familiarity with those who had that reputation.
He had from the beginning of the Parliament been looked upon
by all men as a person of very entire affections to the King's
service, and to the established government of Church and State,
and by having no manner of relation to the Court had the more
credit and interest to promote the rights of it. When the
ruptures grew so great between the King and the two Houses
that very many of the members withdrew from those councils,
he, amongst the rest, with equal dislike absented himself; but
at the time the standard was set up, having intimacy and
friendship with some persons now of nearness about the King,
with the King's approbation he returned again to London,
where he spake upon all occasions with great sharpness and
freedom ; which (now there were so few there that used it, and
there was no danger of being overvoted) was not restrained, and
therefore used as an argument against those who were gone
upon pretence that they were not suffered to declare their
opinions freely in the House ; which could not be believed when

yn. 56.] in favour of the King. 39
all men knew what liberty Mr. Waller took, and spake every 1643
day with impunity against the sense and proceedings of the
House. This won him a great reputation with all people who
wished well to the King, and he was looked upon as the
boldest champion the Crown had in both Houses ; so that such
Lords and Commons who really desired to prevent the ruin of
the kingdom willingly complied in a great familiarity with him,
as a man resolute in their ends, and best able to promote them.
And it may be they believed his reputation at Court so good,
that he would be no ill evidence there for other men's zeal and
affection ; and so all men spake their minds freely to him, both
of the general distemper, and of the passions and ambition of
particular persons : all men knowing him to be of too good a
fortune, and too wary a nature, to engage himself in designs of
danger or hazard.
56. Mr. Waller had a brother-in-law, one Mr. Tomkins, who
had married his sister, and was clerk of the Queen's council, of
very good fame for honesty and ability. This gentleman had
good interest and reputation in the city, and conversed much
with those who disliked the proceedings of the Parliament, and
wished to live under the same government they were born; and
from those citizens received information of the temper of the
people upon accidents in the public affairs. And Mr. Waller
and he, with that confidence that uses to be between brethren
of the same good affections, frequently imparted their observa
tions and opinions to each other ; the one relating how many
in both Houses inclined to peace, and the other making the
same judgment upon the correspondence he had, and intelli
gence he received from the most substantial men of London ;
and both of them again communicated what he received from
the other to the company he used to converse with ; Mr.
Waller imparting the wishes and power of the well affected
party in the city to the lords and gentlemen whom he knew to
be of the same mind, and Mr. Tomkins acquainting those he
durst trust of the city that such and such lords and gentlemen
who were of special note were weary of the distractions, and
would heartily and confidently contribute to such an honourable

40 Edmund Waller's plot in London [vii. 56.
1643 and honest peace as all men knew would be most acceptable to
the King. And from hence they came reasonably to a con
clusion, that, if some means were found out to raise a confi
dence in those who wished well that they should not be
oppressed by the extravagant power of the desperate party, but
that they would so far assist one another as to declare their
opinions to be the same, they should be able to prevent or
suppress those tumults which seemed to countenance the
distractions, and the Houses would be induced to terms of
moderation. 57. In this time the lord Conway, being returned from
Ireland, incensed against the Scots, and discontented with the
Parliament here, finding Mr. Waller in good esteem with the
earl of Northumberland, and of great friendship with the earl
of Portland, he entered into the same familiarity ; and, being
more of a soldier, in the discourses administered questions
and considerations necessary to be understood by men that
either meant to use force or to resist it, and wished that
they who had interest and acquaintance in the city would
endeavour by a mutual correspondence to inform themselves of
the distinct affections of their neighbours, that, upon any
exigent, men might foresee whom they might trust ; and these
discourses being again derived by Mr. Waller to Mr. Tomkins,
he, upon occasion and conference with his companions, insisted
on the same arguments ; and they again, conversing with their
friends and acquaintance, (for of all this business there were
not above three who ever spake together,) agreed that some
well affected persons in every parish and ward about London
should make a list of all the inhabitants, and thereupon to make
a reasonable guess of their several affections, (which at that
time was no hard thing for observing men to do,) and thence a
computation of the strength and power of that party which was
notoriously violent against any accommodation.
58. I am persuaded the utmost project in this design was (I
speak not what particular men might intend or wish upon their
own fancies) to beget such a combination amongst the party
well affected, that they would refuse to conform to those ordin-

vii. 59.] in favour of the King. 41
ances of the twentieth part, and other taxes, for the support of 1643
the war ; and thereby, or by joint petitioning for peace and
discountenancing the other who petitioned against it, to prevail
with the Parliament to incline to a determination of the war.
And it may be some men might think of making advantage of
any casual commotion, or preventing any mischieve by it ; and
thereupon that inquiry where the magazines lay, and discourse
of wearing some distinguishing tokens, had been rather men
tioned than proposed. For it is certain very many who were
conscious to themselves of loyal purposes to the King, and of
hearty dislike of the Parliament's proceedings, and observed the
violent, revengeful, and ruinating prosecution of all men by
those of the engaged party, were not without sad apprehensions .
that, upon some jealousy and quarrel picked, even a general
massacre might be attempted of all the King's friends ; and
thereupon, in several discourses, might touch upon such expedi
ents as might in those seasons be most beneficial to their safety.
But that there was ever any formed design, either of letting
in the King's army into London, which was most impossible to
be contrived, or of raising an army there and surprising the
Parliament, or any one person of it, or of using any violence in
or upon the city, I could never yet see cause to believe ; and if
there had, they would have published such a relation of it,
after Mr. Waller had confessed to them all he knew, had heard,
or fancied to himself, as might have constituted some reasonable
understanding of it, and not [have] contented themselves with
making conclusions from questions that had been asked, and
answers made, by persons unknown, and forcing expressions
used by one to relate to actions of another between whom there
had been never the least acquaintance or correspondence, and
joining what was said at London to somewhat done at Oxford
at another time and to another purpose : for, before I finish this
discourse, it will be necessary to speak of another action, which,
how distinct soever from this that is related, was woven to
gether to make one plot.
59. From the King's coming to Oxford, many citizens of
good quality, who were prosecuted or jealously looked upon in

42 Edmund Waller's plot in London [Vii. 59.
1643 London, had resorted to the King, and hoping, if the winter
produced not a peace, that the summer would carry the King
before it with an army, they had entertained some discourse of
raising, upon their own stocks of money and credit, some regi
ments of foot and horse, and joining with some gentlemen of
Kent, who were likewise inclined to such an undertaking.
Amongst these was sir Nicholas Crispe, a citizen of good wealth,
great trade, and an active-spirited man, who had been lately
Jan. prosecuted with much severity by the House of Commons, and
had thereupon fled from London, for appearing too great a
stickler in a petition for peace from the city 1- This gentleman
industriously preserved a correspondence still there, by which
he gave the King often very useful intelligence, and assured him
of a very considerable party which would appear there for him
whenever his own power should be so near as to give them any
countenance. In the end, whether invited by his correspondents
there, or trusting his own sprightly inclinations and resolutions
too much, and concluding that all who were equally honest
would be equally bold, he desired his majesty to grant a com
mission to such persons whom he would nominate of the city of
London, under the Great Seal of England, in the nature of a
commission of array, by virtue whereof, when the season should
come, his party there would appear in discipline and order;
and that this was desired by those who best knew what counten
ance and authority was requisite ; and being trusted to them
would not be executed at all, or [else] at such a time as his
majesty should receive ample fruit by it ; provided it were
done with secrecy equal to the hazard they should run who were
employed in it.
60. The King had no exception to it but the improbability
that it could do good, and that was the less, because the failing
could do no hurt but to the undertakers. The promoter was a
very popular man in the city, where he had been a commander
of the train-bands till the ordinance of the militia removed
him, which rather improved than lessened his credit ; he was
very confident it would produce a notable advantage to the
1 [See book vi, § 208.]

vii. 61.] in favour of the King. 43
King : however, they desired it who were there, and would not 1643
appear without it ; and therefore the King consented to it,
referring the nomination of all persons to be named in the
commission to him, who he verily believed had proceeded by
the instruction and advice of those who were nearest the con
cernment ; and for the secrecy of it the King referred the
preparing and despatch of the commission to sir Nicholas Crispe
himself, who should acquaint no more with it than he found
requisite. So, without the privity or advice of any one coun
cillor or minister of state, he procured such a commission as he
desired (being no other than the commission of array in English)
to be signed by the King and sealed with the Great Seal. March 16.
61. This being done and remaining still in his custody, the
lady Aubigny, (by a pass, and with the consent of the Houses,)
came to Oxford to transact the affairs of her own fortune with
the King upon the death of her husband, who was killed at
Edgehill ; and having in few days despatched her business
there, and being ready to return, sir Nicholas Crispe came to
the King, and besought him to desire that lady (who had a pass,
and so could promise herself safety in her journey) to carry a
small box (in which that commission should be) with her, and
to keep it in her own custody until a gentleman should call to
her ladyship for it by such a token : that token, he said, he
would send to one of the persons trusted, who should keep it by
him till the opportunity came in which it might be executed.
The King accordingly wished the lady Aubigny to carry it with
great care and secrecy, telling her it much concerned his
majesty's service, and to deliver it in such manner and upon
such assurance as is before mentioned : which she did, and,
within few days after her return to London, delivered it to a
person who was appointed to call for it. How this commission
was discovered, I could never learn : for though Mr. Waller
had the honour to be admitted often to that lady, and was
believed by her to be a gentleman of most entire affections to
the King's service, and consequently might be fitly trusted with
what she knew, yet her ladyship herself, not knowing what it was
she carried, could not inform any body else.

4^. JJtsvwtzry VJ rr uvt>oi o jjuvv. L.*-.w-.
1643 62. But about this time a servant of Mr. Tomkins, who had
often cursorily overheard his master and Mr. Waller discourse
of the argument we are now upon, placed himself behind a
hanging at a time they were together, and there, whilst either
of them discoursed the language and opinion of the company
they kept, overheard enough to make him believe his informa
tion and discovery would make him welcome to those whom he
thought concerned, and so went to Mr. Pimm, and acquainted
him with all he had heard, or probably imagined. The time
when Mr. Pimm was made acquainted with it is not known, but
the circumstances of the publishing it were such as filled all men
May 31. with apprehensions. It was on Wednesday the 31st of May,
their solemn fast-day, when being all at their sermon in St.
Margaret's church in Westminster, according to their custom, a
letter or message is brought privately to Mr. Pimm, who there
upon with some of the most active members rise from their
seats, and after a little whispering together remove out of the
church : this could not but exceedingly affect those who stayed
behind : immediately they send guards to all the prisons, as
Lambeth-house, Ely-house, and such places where their malig-
nants were in custody, with directions to search the prisoners ;
and some other places which they thought fit should be sus
pected. After the sermons were ended, the Houses met, and
were only told that letters were intercepted going to the King
and the Court at Oxford that expressed some notable conspiracy
in hand, to deliver up the Parliament and the city into the
hands of the cavaliers, and that the time for the execution of
it drew very near. Hereupon a committee was appointed to
examine all persons they thought fit, and to apprehend some
nominated at that time. And the same night this committee
apprehended Mr. Waller and Mr. Tomkins, and the next day
such others as they thought fit.
63. Mr. Waller was so confounded with fear and apprehen
sion that he confessed whatsoever he had said, heard, thought,
or seen, all that he knew of himself, and all that he suspected
of others, without concealing any person, of what degree or
quality soever, or any discourse that he had ever upon any

VII. 64.] Discovery of Waller s plot. 45
occasion entertained with them : what such and such ladies of 1643
great honour, to whom upon the credit of his great parts and
very good reputation he had been admitted, had spoke to him
in their chambers of the proceedings of the Houses, and how
they had encouraged him to oppose them ; what correspondence
and intercourse they had with some ministers of state at Oxford,
and how they derived all intelligence thither. He informed
them that the earl of Portland and the lord Conway had been
particular in all the agitations which had been with the citizens,
and had given frequent advice and directions how they should
demean themselves, and that the earl of Northumberland had
expressed very good wishes to any attempt that might give a
stop to the violent actions and proceedings of the Houses and
produce a good understanding with the King.
64. When the committee were thus furnished, they took the
examinations of Mr. Tomkins and such other as they thought.
necessary, and having at the same time, by some other means,
discovered (or concealed it till this time) that commission which
is before discoursed [of], and gotten the very original into their
hands, they kneaded both into one plot and conspiracy ; and,
acquainting the Houses with so much as they thought yet June 6.
seasonable to publish, they declared, (without naming any lords
or other persons to be interessed in the design, save those only
who were imprisoned, amongst whom the lady Aubigny was
one; and without communicating any of the examinations,
which they pretended were not to be common till the con
spirators were brought to trial,) that the original of this
conspiracy was from the late London petition for peace, which
was spoken of about Christmas last, in the book precedent ' ;
and that, under pretence of peace and moderation, a party was
to be formed, which should be able to suppress all opponents,
and to awe the Parliament : that to this purpose some of those
who were the principal movers and fomenters of that petition
did continue in the nature of a committee, still to carry on the
design : that they held intelligence in both armies, Court, and
Parliament ; took a general survey of the numbers and affections
1 [Book vi, § 208.]

46 Beport of the committee of Parliament [vii. 64.
1643 of the several inhabitants throughout the wards and parishes of
the city, and places adjacent, and distinguished all under the
titles of men affected or averse to the King, or indifferent and
neutral persons, carried only by the success and power of the
prevailers : that they were well instructed in the number and
inclinations of the train-bands of London, the places where the
magazines were kept, where the commanders for the Parliament
dwelt ; had thought of places for rendezvous and retreat upon
any occasion, and of colours and marks of distinction between
the different parties.
65. That Mr. Waller and Mr. Tomkins were the principal
persons employed and trusted to give advertisement to and
correspond with the King's ministers at Oxford, and receive
advertisements and command from thence, for the completing
the work ; that they two held constant intelligence and inter
course with the lord Falkland, then principal secretary to the
King, and that from him they received the signification of the
King's pleasure ; and that those directions, counsels, and en
couragements had been principally sent by those messengers
which had been employed by his majesty to the Parliament
under the pretence of peace, and especially by Mr. [Alexander]
Hambden, who came with the last message, and was a cousin-
german to Mr. Waller. That the lady Aubigny, (who had been
lately at Oxford,) had brought thence a commission to them from
the King, by force of arms to destroy, kill, and slay the forces
raised by the Parliament, and their adherents, as traitors and
rebels ; and that they had lately sent a message to Oxford by
one Hazell, a servant of the King's, to acquaint the lord Falkland
that the design was come to good perfection ; unto which answer
was returned, that they should hasten it with all speed.
66. That the particulars of the design appeared to be:
1. To seize into their custody the King's children : 2. To seize
several members of both Houses, the Lord Mayor, and com
mittee of the militia, under pretence of bringing them to a
legal trial : 3. To seize upon the outworks, forts, Tower of
London, magazines, gates, and other places of importance in
the city : 4. To let in the King's forces to surprise the city,

VII. 67.] after receiving Waller's confession. 47
and to destroy all those who should oppose them by authority 1643
of the Parliament : 5. By force of arms to resist all payments
imposed by authority of Parliament, raised for the support of
the armies employed for their just defence, &c. ; to suspend, if not
alter, the whole government of the city, and, with assistance of
the King's force, to awe and master the Parliament.
67. When both Houses were awakened and startled with
this report, the first thing agreed on was a day of thanksgiving
to God for this wonderful delivery ; which shut out any future
doubts, and disquisitions whether there had been any such
delivery, and, consequently, whether their plot was in truth, or
had been, so framed. Then it was said that, as the design was
the most desperate, so the carriage was the most subtle, and
amongst persons of reputation and not suspected ; and that there
was reason to suspect many members of both Houses were
privy to it ; and therefore there ought to be all possible care
taken to make the discovery perfect, and to unite themselves
for the public defence, that if any part were left undiscovered
it might not prove fatal to the commonwealth. This finding a full
consent, it was propounded that a protestation might be drawn
up, by which every member of the two Houses might purge
himself from any guilt or privity in that conspiracy, and like
wise oblige himself to resist and oppose any such combination.
They who were under the character of moderate men, and
usually advanced all motions of peace and accommodation, durst
not oppose the expedient, lest they should be concluded guilty ;
most of them having had familiarity with Mr. Waller, and, no
doubt, upon sundry occasions, spoken with that freedom to him
as might very well incur a severe interpretation, if, upon this
occasion, what they had said should be scanned. And so,
before the rising, there was framed by the House of Commons June 6.
a vow and covenant to be taken by the members of both
Houses, and afterwards by the city and their army ; for
their jealousy was now spread over all their own quarters.
Which covenant, for the rareness of it both in title and style, I
think necessary here to insert in the very terms ; which were
these : —

1643

48 Vow taken by both Houses. [VII. eg.
!. A sacred row and covenant taken by the Lords and Commons
assembled in Parliament upon the discovery of the late horrid and
treacherous design for the destruction of this Parliament and the
kingdom.
' Whereas there hath been, and now is, in this kingdom, a Popish and
traitorous plot for the subversion of the true Protestant reformed religion
and the liberty of the subject ; and in pursuance thereof a Popish army
hath been raised, and is now on foot, in divers parts of this kingdom ; and
whereas there hath been a treacherous and horrid design, lately discovered
by the great blessing and especial providence of God, of divers persons,
to join themselves with the armies raised by the King, and to destroy the
forces raised by the Lords and Commons in Parliament, to surprise the
cities of London and Westminster, with the suburbs, by arms to force the
Parliament ; and finding by constant experience that many ways of force
and treachery are continually attempted, to bring to utter ruin and
destruction the Parliament and kingdom, and that which is dearest, the
true Protestant religion ; and that, for the preventing and withstanding
the same, it is fit that all who are true hearted and lovers of their country
should bind themselves each to other in a sacred vow and covenant :
69. 'I A. B., in humEity, and reverence of the Divine Majesty, declare
my [hearty '] sorrow for my own sins and the sins of this nation, which
have deserved the calamities and judgments that now lie upon it ; and my
true intention is, by God's grace, to endeavour the amendment of my own
ways. And I do further, in the presence of Almighty God, declare, vow,
and covenant, that, in order to the security and preservation of the true
reformed Protestant religion and liberty of the subject, I wiU not consent
to the laying down of arms, so long as the Papists now in open war against
the Parliament shall by force of arms be protected from the justice thereof:
and that I do abhor and detest the wicked and treacherous design lately
discovered ; and that I never gave nor will give my assent to the
execution thereof, but will, according to my power and vocation, oppose
and resist the same, and aE other of the like nature. And in case any
other like design shall hereafter come to my knowledge, I will make such
timely discovery as I shall conceive may best conduce to the preventing
thereof. And, whereas I do in my conscience believe that the forces'
raised by the two Houses of Parliament are raised and continued for their
just defence, and for the defence of the true Protestant religion and
Uberty of the subject, against the forces raised by the King, that I
wiE, according to my power and vocation, assist the forces raised and
continued by both Houses of Parliament against the forces raised by the
King without their consent : and wUl likewise assist all other persona
that shaE take this oath in what they shall do in pursuance thereof; and
will not, directly or indirectly, adhere unto, nor shall wiEingly assist,
the forces raised by the King without the consent of both Houses [of
Parliament1]. And this vow and covenant I make in the presence of
Almighty God, the Searcher of all hearts, with a true intention to perform
1 [Omitted in the MS.]

vii. 71.] Execution of Tomkins and Chaloner. 49
the same, as I shall answer at the great day, when the secrets of all hearts 1643
shall be disclosed.'
70. Though many1 were much startled at this covenant,
and took time to consider of it, there being in the preamble
and positive part much which very few believed, and in
the promissory part a more direct denouncing war against
the King than had been in plain terms before avowed by them,
and an absolute protestation against peace till the King were
at their mercy ; yet the fear of being concluded guilty of the
plot made them swallow all the rest ; and the example of
one prevailing with many, there was not a member of either
House that took it not : and being thus fettered and entangled
themselves, they sent their committee into the city to acquaint
them with their happy discovery, and how miraculously God
had preserved them, and to engage them in the same sacred
vow and covenant; which was readily submitted to, and, by
the industry of their clergy, sooner than can be imagined,
taken throughout that people. Then it was with equal diligence
and solemnity transmitted to the army, that their fears of
inconvenience from thence might be likewise purged ; and
thence it grew the mark of distinction to know their friends
and enemies by ; and whosoever refused to take that covenant
neede[d] no other charge to be concluded and prosecuted as
the highest malignant.
71. Being this way secure from any future clamours for
peace, they proceeded to try Mr. Tomkins, Mr. Challoner (a June 30.
citizen of good wealth and credit, and most intimate with
Tomkins), Mr. Hambden, who brought the last message from
the King, one Hazell, a messenger of the King's, (who passed
often between London and Oxford, and sometimes carried
letters and messages to the lord Falkland), and some citizens
whose names were in the commission sent from Oxford, by a
council of war; by whom Mr. Tomkins and Mr. Challoner
were condemned to be hanged ; and were both, with all
circumstances of severity and cruelty, executed, the one on a July 52.
1 [seven; Commons' Journals, III. 118.]
2 [July 4, Merc. Aulicns ; July 5, Bushworth, and Dugdale's Diary, (in
his Life, 1827,) p. 53 ; July 8, Heath's Chronicles.']
VOL. IH. E

50 Bemarks on the plot. [vii. 71.
1643 gibbet by his own house in Holborn, where he had long lived
with singular estimation, and the other by his house in Corn-
hill, near the Old Exchange. Hazell, the messenger, saved
[June 29 ?] them farther trouble, and died in prison the night before his
trial : and there being no evidence against Mr. Hambden but
what Mr. Waller himself gave, they gave no judgment against
him, but kept him in prison long after, till he died: neither
proceeded they capitally against those citizens whose names
were in the commission, it not appearing that their names
were used with their consent and privity; though the brand
of being malignants served the turn for their undoing, for
all their estates were seized, as theirs were who had been
executed. 72. And there is nothing clearer than that the commission
sent from Oxford by the lady Aubigny had not any relation to
the discourses passed between Mr. Waller, Tomkins, and those
citizens, or that they who knew of one had not any privity
with the other : which if they had had, and intended such an
insurrection as was alleged, Mr. Waller, or Mr. Tomkins, or
some one of those lords who were supposed to combine with
them, would have been in the commission. Or if the King's
ministers had been engaged in the consultation, and hoped to
have raised a party which should suddenly seize upon the city
and the Parliament, they would never have thought a com
mission granted to some gentlemen at Oxford, (for the major
part of the commissioners were there,) and a few unknown
private citizens, would have served for that work. I am very
confident, (and I have very much reason for that confidence,)
that there was no more known or thought of at Oxford con
cerning the matter of the commission than I have before set
forth ; nor of the other, than that Mr. Tomkins sometimes writ
to the lord Falkland, (for Mr. Waller, out of the cautelousness
of his own nature, never writ word,) and by messengers
signified to him, that the number of those who desired peace,
and abhorred the proceedings of the Houses, was very con
siderable, and that they resolved, by refusing to contribute to
the war and to submit to their ordinances, to declare and

vii. 73.] Pusillanimous conduct of Waller. 51
manifest themselves in that manner that the violent party 1643
in the city should not have credit enough to hinder an
accommodation. And the lord Falkland always returned answer
that they should expedite those expedients as soon as may be,
for that delays made the war more difficult to be restrained.
And if I could find evidence or reason to induce me to believe
that there was any farther design in the thing itself, or that
the King gave farther countenance to it, I should not at all
conceal it; no man imagining that if the King could have
entertained any probable hope of reducing London, which was
the fomenter, supporter, and indeed the life of the war, or could
have found any expedient from whence he could reasonably
propose to dissolve, scatter, and disperse those who, under the
name of a Parliament, had kindled a war against him, but he
would have given his utmost assistance and countenance there
unto, either by public force or private contrivance.
73. There was very great endeavour used to have proceeded
with equal severity against the earl of Portland and lord
Conway, (for the accusation of the earl of Northumberland, it
was proceeded tenderly in ; for though the violent party was
heartily incensed against him, as a man weary of them, yet his
reputation was still very great,) who were both close prisoners ;
and to that purpose their lordships and Mr. Waller were '
confronted before the committee ; where they as peremptorily July 1.
denying as he charging them, and there being no other witness
but he against them, the prosecution was rather let alone than
declined, till, after a long restraint, they procured enlargement July 31.
upon bail. Mr. Waller himself, (though confessedly the most
guilty, and by his unhappy demeanour in this time of his
affliction he had raised as many enemies as he had formerly
friends, and almost the same,) after he had, with incredible
dissimulation, acted such a remorse of conscience, as his trial
was put off, out of Christian compassion, till he might recover
his understanding, (and that was not till the heat and fury of
the prosecutors was reasonably abated with the sacrifices they
had made,) and, by drawing visitants to him of the most
powerful ministers of all factions, had, by his liberality and

52 Pusillanimous conduct of Waller. [vii. 73.
1643 penitence, his preces and his lacrimm, his receiving vulgar
and vile sayings from them with humility and reverence as
clearer convictions and informations than in his life he had
[ever had], and [by distributing *] great sums to them for their
prayers and ghostly counsel, so2 satisfied them that they
July 4. satisfied others ; he was, at his suit, brought to the House of
Commons' bar ; where (being a man in truth very powerful in
language, and who, by what he spoke and in the manner of
speaking it, exceedingly captivated the good-will and bene
volence of his hearers ; which is the highest part of an
orator) with such flattery as was most exactly calculated to
that meridian, with such a submission as their vulgar pride
took delight in, and such dejection of mind and spirit as was
like to cozen the major part and be thought serious, he laid
before them their own danger and concernment if they should
suffer one of their own body, how unworthy and monstrous
soever, to be tried by the soldiers, who might thereby grow to
that power hereafter that they would both try those they
would not be willing should be tried, and for things which
they would account no crimes ; the inconvenience and in
supportable mischieve whereof all wise commonwealths had
foreseen and prevented, by exempting their own members from
all judgments but their own. And 3 he prevailed, not to he
put off to a council of war, and thereby preserved his dear-
bought life 4 ; so that, in truth, he does as much owe the
keeping his head to that oration as Catiline did the loss of his
to those of Tully ; and by having done ill very well, he by
degrees drew that respect to his parts, which always carries
1644 some compassion to the person, that he got them to compound
Sept. 23 5. for his transgression, and to accept of ten thousand pounds
(which their affairs wanted) for his liberty; and so he had
1 [' distributed,' MS.] » [' and so,' MS.]
3 [The word ' and ' has been erroneously struck out in the MS.]
4 [' — being left to the council of war, he was condemned to dye.
But had a reprieve from general Essex.' Bushworth, III. ii. 330.]
5 [On this day the House of Commons acceded to a petition from him
on the terms mentioned in the text, and his release was ordered by the
Lords on Nov. 4, after payment of the fine.]

vii. 74.] The earl of Essex marches to Thame. $$
leave to recollect himself in another country (for his liberty 1643
was to be in banishment) how miserable he had made himself
to have leave to live out of his own. And there cannot be a
greater evidence of the inestimable value of his parts, than
that he lived after this in the good affection and esteem of
many, the pity of most, and the reproach and scorn of none x.
74. These high proceedings at London and in the Houses
were not seconded with any notable success abroad ; but it
appeared plainly, by the slow coming in of moneys and more
slow coming in of men, that the hearts of the people were
generally more devoted to peace than to the continuance of those
distractions ; and the earl of Essex, by the great decay and sick
ness of his army a, was not in near six weeks able to remove from
Reading ; by which many men concluded, (which could not be
reasonably foreseen,) that if Reading had held out many days
longer, he would have been compelled to raise his siege ; and that
was the reason the earl gave for granting so good conditions :
for if he could have stayed longer before it, he well knew they
must have yielded on worse terms, neither feared he the King
would be able to relieve it. In the end, there being no other
way to quiet the city of London, he marched towards Oxford,
but, in truth, rather to secure Buckinghamshire, which was now
infested by the King's horse, than to disquiet that place. And
to that purpose he fixed his head quarter at Thame, ten miles
from Oxford, and upon the very edge of the other county 3.
• 1 [For a short account from the Life of this plot, see note to § 85.]
2 [This line is substituted in the MS. for the fbEowing : — ' the earl of
Essex found that he paid dear for the time he had gotten in the spring,
that little lying in the field during the siege at Beading having so much
weakened his army, and his soldiers having contracted by it so many
diseases and such a general sickness, that very many of them died ; and,
with all the suppUes of money and recruits of men he could get, he was
not ' &c]
3 [The Life is here resumed at p. 224, for §§ 75-9 ; whUe the MS. of the
Hist, continues as follows : —
'At the same time when the earl of Essex began his march from Beading,
colonel Hurry, a Scotchman, who had served in that army from the
beginning with great reputation, (as he was an exceEent commander of
horse,) till the difference that is before spoken of between the English and
Scotch officers, (after which he laid down his commission, though, out of

54 Colonel Vrry comes over [vii. 75.
1643 75. In the beginning of the war, the army in Scotland having
been lately disbanded, many officers of that nation who had
respect to the earl of Essex, he stayed some time after with him as a
volunteer, and now,) came to the King to Oxford, having before given
notice to the earl of Brainford that he meant to do so. He came no sooner
thither, than, to give proof that he brought his whole heart with him,
he proposed to prince Bupert to wait on him to visit the enemy's quarters,
and, being weE acquainted with their manner of lying and keeping their
guards, undertook to be his guide to a quarter where they were least
expected : and the prince, wiEingly consenting to the proposition, drew out
a strong party of one thousand horse and dragoons, which he commanded
himself, and marched with colonel Hurry to a town four or five miles
beyond the head quarter, where were a regiment of horse and a regiment of
dragoons, and about daybreak feE upon them, and with little resistance,
and no loss of his own men, he kiEed and took the whole party, except
some few, who hid themselves in holes or escaped by dark and untrodden
paths. From thence, in his way back, according to purpose, he feE upon
another viEage, where some horse and a regiment of foot were quartered,
where he had the same success, and killed and took and dispersed them all.
So he having fortunately performed all he hoped, his highness hastened his
retreat as fast as he could to Oxford, having appointed a regiment of foot
to attend him at » pass in the way for his security. But the alarum
had passed throughout all the enemy's quarters ; so that before the prince
could reach the pass where his foot expected him, he found the enemy's
whole army was drawn out, and a strong party of their horse, almost equal
to his own in number, so hard pressed him that, being then to enter a
lane, they would disorder his rear before he could join with his foot, which
were a nule before. He had very little time to deliberate, being even
at the entrance into the lane. If he could have hoped to have retired in
safety, he had no reason to venture to fight with a fresh party, excellently
armed, and in number equal, his own being harassed and tired with near
twenty miles' march, and loaden with spoil and prisoners, scarce a soldier
without a led horse : but the necessity obliged him to stay ; and after
a short consideration of the manner of doing it, directing as small a convoy
as was possible to guard the prisoners, and to hasten with aE the un
necessary baggage and led horses, he resolved to keep the ground he had
in the plain field, and after as short a pause, to charge the party that
advanced, lest the body might come up to them. And they came on amain,
leaving it only in his election, by meeting them to have the reputation of
charging them, or by standing still to be charged by them. Hereupon
they were quickly engaged in a sharp encounter, the best, fiercest, and
longest maintained that hath been by the horse during the war ; for the
party of the Pariiament consisted not of the bare regiments and troops
which usuaEy marched together, but of prime gentlemen and officers of all
their regiments, horse and foot, who, being met at the head quarter, upon
the alarum, and conceiving it easy to get between prince Bupert and
Oxford, and not having their own charges ready to move, joined themselveB
as volunteers to those who were ready, till their own regiments should

vii. 75.] from the Parliament to the King. 55
served in Germany and in France betook themselves to the ser- 1643
vice of the Parliament, whereof many were men of good conduct
and courage, though there were more as bad as the cause in
which they engaged. Of the former sort colonel Hurry was a
man of name and reputation, and an excellent officer of horse,
and had commanded those horse at Edgehill under Balfore
which had preserved their army there ; and finding himself after
wards not so well regarded as he thought he had deserved, (as it
was no easy thing to value that people at the rate they did set
upon themselves,) and being without any other affection for their
service than their pay inclined him to, he resolved to quit them
and to go to the King ; in order to which, he had kept some
correspondence with the earl of Brainford, the King's general,
under whose command he had formerly served in Germany.
Whilst the earl of Essex remained at Thame, and his army
quartered thereabout, Hurry came to Oxford, in the equipage June 10.
that became a colonel of horse who had received good pay ; and
the very next day after he came, having been very graciously
received by the King, to give proof that he brought his whole
heart with him, he went to prince Rupert, acquainted him
where the Parliament horse lay, and how loose they were in
their quarters ; and, to give a testimony of his fidelity to the
King, he desired to march, a volunteer, with a good party, to
make an attempt upon the enemy ; and the prince assigning a
come up ; and so, the first ranks of horse consisting of such men, the
conflict was maintained some time with equal confidence. In the end,
many falling and being hurt on both sides, the prince prevailed, the rebels
being totally routed, and pursued tiE the gross of the army was discovered ;
and then his highness, with the new prisoners he had taken, retired orderly
to the pass where his foot and former purchase expected him ; and thence
sending colonel Hurry to acquaint the King with the success, who
knighted the messenger for his good service, returned, with near 200
prisoners, and seven cornets of horse and four ensigns of foot, to Oxford.
On the King's part in this action were lost, besides few common men,
no officers of note, but some hurt : on the enemy's side, many of their best
officers, more than in any battle they fought, and amongst them (which
made the names of the rest less inquired after by the one and less
lamented by the other) colonel Hambden, who was shot into the shoulder
with a brace of pistol buUets, of which wound, with very sharp pain,
he died within ten days, to as great a consternation of aE that party as if
their whole army had been defeated and cut off.']

56 Prince Bupert attacks outposts near Oxford. [Vii. 75.
1643 strong party for the service, he accompanied and conducted them
out of the common road, till they came to a town where a regi
ment of the Parliament horse was quartered ; and they beat up
and killed or took most of the officers and soldiers, and then
fell upon those other quarters by which they had passed before, ,
with the like success ; and so returned to Oxford with many
prisoners, and with notable damage to the enemy.
76. And as soon as he returned, he made another proposition
to the prince for the attacking the quarters near Thame, through
which he had passed when he came to Oxford, and so was well
acquainted with the posture in which they were ; and assured
the prince that, if he went about it time enough, before there
should be an alteration in their quarters, which he believed the
general would quickly make, the enterprise would be worthy of
it. And the prince was so well satisfied with what he had
already done, that he resolved to conduct the next adventure
himself, which he did very fortunately. They went out of the
June 17. ports of Oxford in the evening upon Saturday, and marched be
yond all the quarters as far as Wickham, and fell in there at the
farther end of the town towards London, from whence they ex
pected no enemy, and so kept no guards there. A regiment of
horse and of foot were lodged there, which were cut off, or taken
prisoners, and all the horses and a good booty brought away.
And from thence they marched backward to another quarter \
within less than two miles of the general's own quarter ; where
they lodged with the same security they had done at Wickham,
not expecting any enemy that way ; and so met with the same fate
[the others2] had done ; and were all killed or made prisoners.
And having performed at least as much as they had proposed to
do, and being laden with prisoners and booty, and the sun being
now rising, the prince thought it time to retire to Oxford, and so
gave orders to march accordingly with all convenient speed till
they came to a bridge which was yet two miles from them, where
he had appointed a guard to attend to favour their retreat.
77. But the alarum had been brought to the earl of Essex
1 [At Chinnor. The first quarter was at Postcombe. TJrry's attack on
West- Wycombe was on June 25, and is antedated in the preceding section.]
2 ['they,' MS.]

vii. 77.] The fight at Chalgrove. 57
from all the quarters, who quickly gathered those troops together 1643
which were nearest, and directed those to follow the prince, and
to entertain him in skirmishes, till himself should come up with
the foot and some other troops, which he made all possible haste
to do. So that when the prince had almost passed a fair plain,
or field, called Chalgrove field, from whence he was to enter in
a lane which continued to the bridge, the enemy's horse were
discovered marching after them with speed ; and as they might
easily overtake them in the lane, so they must as easily have
put them into great disorder. Therefore the prince resolved to
expect and stand them upon the open field, though his horse
were all tired, and the sun was grown very hot, it being about
eight of the clock in the morning in [June] \ And so he June 18.
directed, that the guard of the prisoners should make what
haste they could to the bridge, but that all the rest should re
turn (for some were entered the lane) ; and so he placed himself
and his troops as he thought fit in that field, to receive the
enemy, which made more haste and with less order than they
should have done ; and being more in number than the prince,
and consisting of many of the principal officers, who, having
been present with the earl of Essex when the alarum came,
stayed not for their own troops, but joined with those who were
ready in the pursuit, as they thought, of a flying enemy, or such
as would easily be arrested in their hasty retreat, and having
now overtaken them, meant to take revenge themselves for the
damage they had received that night and morning, before the
general could come up to have a share in the victory, though
his troops were even in view. But the prince entertained them
so roughly, that, though their fronts charged very bravely and
obstinately, consisting of many of their best officers of which
many of the chiefest falling, the rest shewed less vigour, and in
a short time broke and fled, and were pursued till they came
near the earl of Essex' body ; which being at near a mile's dis
tance, and making a stand to receive their flying troops, and to
be informed of their disaster, the prince with his troops hast
ened his retreat, and passed the lane, and came safe to the
1 ['May,' MS.]

58 Col. Urry is knighted: his character. [vil.77.
1643 bridge before any of the earl's forces came up ; which found it
then to no purpose to go farther, there being a good guard of
foot, which had likewise lined both sides of the hedges a good
way in the lane. And so the prince about noon, or shortly after,
entered Oxford, with near two hundred prisoners, and seven
cornets of horse, and four ensigns of foot, with most of the men
he carried from thence, some few excepted who had been killed
in the action, whereof some [none 1 p. 55] were of name.
78. And the prince presented colonel Hurry to the King
with a great testimony of the courage he had shewed in the
action, as well as of his counsel and conduct in the whole;
which was indeed very dexterous, and could have been per
formed by no man who had not been very conversant with the
nature and humour of those he destroyed. Upon which, the
June 18. King honoured him with knighthood and a regiment of horse
as soon as it could be raised; and every body magnified and
extolled him, as they usually do a man who hath good luck,
and the more because he was a Scotchman, and professed
repentance for having been in rebellion against the King.
And he deserves this testimony and vindication to be given
him, against the calumnies which were raised against him as
if he had broken his trust, and deserted the service of the
Parliament, and betrayed them to the King, which is not true.
He had owned and published his discontents long before, and
demanded redress and justice in some particulars from the
Parliament, in which the earl of Essex thought he had reason,
and wished he might receive satisfaction. But the man was in
his nature proud and imperious, and had raised many enemies,
and was besides of license, and committed many disorders of
that kind ; and had little other virtue than being a very good
officer in the field, and regular and vigilant in marching and in
his quarters, which the Parliament thought other men would
attain to who had fewer vices, and therefore granted nothing
that he desired ; upon which he declared he would serve
them no longer, and delivered up his commission to the earl of
Essex ; and being then pressed to promise that he would not
serve the King, he positively refused to give any such engage-

vii. 80.] Hampden is mortally wounded. 59
ment ; and after he had stayed in London about a month after, 1643
and had received encouragement from some friends in Oxford,
he came thither in the manner set down before.
79. The prince his success in this last march was very
seasonable, and raised the spirits at Oxford very much, and for
some time allayed the jealousies and animosities which too
often broke out in several factions to the disquiet of the King.
It was visibly great in the number of the prisoners, whereof
many were of condition ; and the names of many officers were
known who were left dead upon the field, as colonel Gunter,
who was looked upon as the best officer of horse they had, and
a man of known malice to the government of the Church ; which
had drawn some severe censure upon him before the troubles, and
for which he had still meditated revenge. And one of the prisoners
who had been taken in the action said that he was confident
Mr. Hambden was hurt, for he saw him ride off the field before
the action was done, which he never used to do, and with his
head hanging down, and resting his hands upon the neck of his
horse ; by which he concluded he was hurt. But the news the
next day made the victory much more important than it was
thought to have been. There was full information brought of
the great loss the enemy had sustained in their quarters, by
which three or four regiments were utterly broken and lost:
the names of many officers, of the best account, were known,
who were either killed upon the place, or so hurt as there
remained little hope of their recovery.
80 1. Among the prisoners, there were taken colonel Sheffeild,
1 [The Hist, is here resumed, at p. 446, the Life continuing thus : —
' — of which Mr. Hambden was one ; who would not stay that morning
till his own regiment came up, but put himself a volunteer in the head
of those troops who were upon their march, and was the principal cause of
their precipitation, contrary to his natural temper, which, though fuE of
courage, was usually very wary ; but now, carried on by his fate, he
would by no means expect the general's coming up ; and he was of that
universal authority that no officer paused in obeying him. And so in
the first charge he received a pistol shot in his shoulder, which broke
the bone and put him to great torture : and after he had endured it about
three weeks, or less time, he died, to the most universal grief of the
Parliament that they could have received from any accident : and it
equally increased the joy for the success, at Oxford ; and very reasonably,

60 Two prisoners break their parole. [vii. so.
1643 a younger son of the earl of Mulgrave, and one colonel Berkely,
a Scotchman ; who, being both visibly wounded, acted their hurts
so well, and pretended to be so ready to expire, that, upon their
paroles neither to endeavour or endure a rescue, they were
suffered. to rest at a private house in the way, within a mile of
the field, till their wounds should be dressed, and they recover
so much strength as to be able to render themselves prisoners
at Oxford. But the King's forces were no sooner gone, than
they found means to send to their comrades, and were the next
for the loss of a man which would have been thought a full recompense for
a considerable defeat, could not but be looked upon as a glorious crown of
a victory. Mr. Hambden hath been mentioned before as a very extraordinary
person, and being now brought to his grave before he had finished any part
of the great model which he had framed, and there being hereafter no
occasion to enlarge upon him, it is pity to leave him here without some
testimony. He was, as hath been said, of an ancient family, and a fair
estate in the county of Buckingham, where he was esteemed very much,
which his carriage and behaviour towards aE men deserved very well.
But there was scarce a gentleman in England, of so good a fortune, (for he
was owner of above £1500 land yearly,) less known out of the county
in which he lived than he was, untU he appeared in the Exchequer
chamber to support the right of the people in the case of ship-money, and,
to avoid the payment of twenty shillings, which was required of him,
engaged himself in a very great charge to make the illegality of it appear,
against the King and the current of the Court at that time, when it seldom
met with a barefaced opposition in any counsel they [thought] fit to under
take and pursue. Yet the King, who had reason to beEeve his title
to be good, from the counsel that advised it, who was his attorney-general
Noy, a man of the most famed knowledge in the law, gave the direction to
have his right defended, without the least discountenance or reproach
to the person who contended with him. This contradiction of the King's
power made him presently the most generaEy known and the most
universally esteemed throughout the whole nation that any private man at
that time could be. In the beginning of the Parliament he was not
without ambition to be of power in the Court, but not finding that
satisfaction quickly, he changed it into another ambition of reigning over
the Court, and was deepest in aE the designs to destroy it, yet dissembled
that design so weE that he had too much credit with men most moderate
and sober in aE their purposes. Erat illi consilium ad f acinus opium ;
consilio autem neque lingua neaue manus deerat. No man seemed to
have more modesty and more humEity, and more to resign himself to those
he conferred with, but always led them into his resolutions. In a word,
he had a head to contrive, and a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute,
any mischieve, and his death appeared to be a great deliverance to the
nation.']

vii. 82.] Death of Hampden. 61
day strong enough to suffer themselves to be removed to 1643
Thame, by a strong party sent from the earl of Essex ; and,
between denying that they had promised and saying that they
would perform it, they never submitted themselves to be
prisoners, as much against the law of arms as their taking
arms was against their allegiance. But that which would
have been looked upon as a considerable recompense for a
defeat, could not but be thought a glorious crown of a victory,
which was the death of Mr. Hambden; who, being shot into
the shoulder with a brace of bullets, which brake the bone,
within three weeks after died with extraordinary pain ; to as June 24.
great a consternation of all that party as if their whole army
had been defeated or cut off.
81. Many men observed (as upon signal turns of great
affairs, as this wasp such observations are frequently made)
that the field in which the late skirmish was, and upon which
Mr. Hambden received his death's wound, Chalgrove field, was
the same place in which he had first executed the ordinance of
the militia, and engaged that county, in which his reputation
was very great, in this rebellion : and it was confessed by the
prisoners that were taken that day, and acknowledged by all,
that upon the alarm that morning, after their quarters were
beaten up, he was exceedingly solicitous to draw forces together
to pursue the enemy, and, being himself a colonel of foot, put
himself amongst those horse, as a volunteer, who were first
ready ; and that when the prince made a stand, all the officers
were of opinion to stay till their body came up, and he alone
(being second to none but the general himself in the observance
and application of all men) persuaded and prevailed with them
to advance ; so violently did his fate carry him to pay the mulct
in the place where he had committed the transgression about a
year before.
82. He was a gentleman of a good family in Buckingham
shire, and born to a fair fortune, and of a most civil and affable
deportment. In his entrance into the world he indulged to
himself all the license in sports and exercises and company
which was used by men of the most jolly conversation. After-

62, Character of Hampden. [vii. 82.
1643 wards he retired to a more reserved and melancholic society,
yet preserving his own natural cheerfulness and vivacity, and,
above all, a flowing courtesy to all men. Though they who
conversed nearly with him found him growing into a dislike of
the ecclesiastical government of the Church, yet most believed
it rather a dislike of some churchmen, and of some introducements
of theirs which he apprehended might disquiet the public
peace. He was rather of reputation in his own country than of
public discourse or fame in the kingdom before the business of
ship-money : but then he grew the argument of all tongues,
every man inquiring who and what he was that durst at his
own charge support the liberty and property of the kingdom,
and rescue his country from being made a prey to the Court.
His carriage throughout that agitation was with that rare
temper and modesty that they who watched him narrowly to
find some advantage against his person, to make him less reso
lute in his cause, were compelled to give him a just testimony.
And the judgment that was given against him infinitely more
advanced him than the service for which it was given. When
this Parliament began, (being returned knight of the shire for
the county where he lived,) the eyes of all men were fixed on
him as their Patrice pater, and the pilot that must steer their
vessel through the tempests and rocks which threatened it.
And I am persuaded his power and interest at that time was
greater to do good or hurt than any man's in the kingdom, or
than any man of his rank hath had in any time : for his reputa
tion of honesty was universal, and his affections seemed so
publicly guided that no corrupt or private ends could bias
them. 83. He was of that rare affability and temper in debate, and
of that seeming humility and submission of judgment, as if he
brought no opinions with him, but a desire of information and
instruction ; yet he had so subtle a way of interrogating, and
under the notion of doubts insinuating his objections, that he
left his opinions with those from whom he pretended to learn
and receive them. And even with them who were able to pre
serve themselves from his infusions, and discerned those opinions

vii. 84.] Character of Hampden. 63
to be fixed in him with which they could not comply, he always left 1643
the character of an ingenious and conscientious person. He was
indeed a very wise man, and of great parts, and possessed with ^
the most absolute spirit of popularity, that is, the most absolute
faculties to govern the people, of any man I ever knew. For the
first year of the Parliament he seemed rather to moderate and soften
the violent and distempered humours than to inflame them. But
wise and dispassioned men plainly discerned that that modera
tion proceeded [rather] from prudence, and observation that
the season was not ripe, than that he approved of the modera
tion ; and that he begat many opinions and motions, the
education whereof he committed to other men, so far disguising
his own designs that he seemed seldom to wish more than was
concluded ; and in many gross conclusions, which would here
after contribute to designs not yet set on foot, when he found
them sufficiently backed by majority of voices, he would with
draw himself before the question, that he might seem not to
consent to so much visible unreasonableness ; which produced as
great a doubt in some as it did approbation in others of his
integrity. What combination soever had been originally with
the Scots for the invasion of England, and what farther was
entered into afterwards in favour of them, and to advance any
alteration in Parliament, no man doubts was at least with the
privity of this gentleman.
84. After he was amongst those members accused by the
King of high treason, he was much altered, his nature and
carriage seeming much fiercer than it did before. And without
question, when he first drew his sword he threw away the
scabbard ; for he passionately opposed the overture made by the
King for a treaty from Nottingham, and, as eminently, any ex
pedients that might have produced an accommodation in this
that was at Oxford ; and was principally relied on to prevent
any infusions which might be made into the earl of Essex
towards peace, or to render them ineffectual if they were made ;
and was indeed much more relied on by that party than the general
himself. In the first entrance into the troubles, he undertook
the command of a regiment of foot, and performed the duty of a

6a. The earl of Essex marches to London. [vii. 84.
1643 colonel on all occasions most punctually. He was very temperate
in diet, and a supreme governor over all his passions and affec
tions, and had thereby a great power over other men's. He
was of an industry and vigilance not to be tired out or wearied
by the most laborious, and of parts not to be imposed upon by the
most subtle or sharp ; and of a personal courage equal to his
best parts ; so that he was an enemy not to be wished when
ever he might have been made a friend, and as much to he
apprehended where he was so as any man could deserve to be.
And therefore his death was no less congratulated on the one
party than it was condoled on the other. In a word, what was
said of Cinna * might well be applied to him ; Erat illi consilium
ad f acinus aptwm ; consilio autem neque lingua neque manu\f\
deerat ; he had a head to contrive, and a tongue to persuade, and
a hand to execute, any mischieve. His death therefore seemed
to be a great deliverance to the nation 2.
85 3. The earl of Essex his army was so weakened by these
defeats, and more by the sickness that had wasted it, that it was
not thought safe to remain longer so near his unquiet and rest
less enemies : and the factions and animosities at London re
quired his presence there, and he thought the army would be
sooner recruited there than at so great a distance ; so that
May ii. about the beginning of May, or soon after, he marched from
T[h]ame to London, where he found jealousy and contention
enough ; leaving his army quartered about St. Alban's 4. Whilst
the affairs of the Parliament were in this distraction, the King's
1 [Bead ' Catiline.' The quotation is from Cicero, Orat. III. in Cati-
linam, § vii.]
2 [' In a word — deliverance to the nation.' These words are substituted
in place of the following in the MS. : —
' — being an irrecoverable blow to the Parliament army, of which the King
had so little dread before that fortunate encounter, that, hearing prepara
tions were made at London to send sir William WaUer into the west, his
majesty had sent his nephew prince Morice and the marquis of Hartford to
join with his victorious forces there ; of whom 'tis now time to give an
account.'] 3 [This one section is from the Life, p. 227.]
4 [The MS. of the Life continues here as foEows : —
' There was newly discovered a design amongst some citizens of name, with
the privity of members of both Houses of the best rank, to compel the
Parliament by force to make peace with the King, the correspondence

vii. 85.] The King's affairs in the West. 65
recovered great reputation ; and the season of the year being fit 1643
for action, all discontents and factious murmurings were ad
journed to the next winter '.
between the persons of honour and the citizens being managed by Mr.
Waller, who, upon a light discovery made by a false servant who had over
heard some discourses, very frankly confessed all he knew, named lords and
ladies and gentlemen and merchants, whereof some were condemned and
executed, and others of all sorts imprisoned. The relation of that whole
affair, and his miserable behaviour in it, deserves to be the part of a more
formal discourse. It was not thought prudent to examine that business to
the bottom, in which they found very considerable persons engaged or privy ;
but having taken the lives of some with all the circumstances of terror,
causing them to be executed in the streets before their own doors, in the
sight of their neighbours, whereof one was a gentleman of good reputation,
who had married the sister of Mr. Waller, and had been very assistant to
him in his education, whom he sacrificed now without the least or [sic]
reluctancy, they thought it best to take the words of all the members of
both Houses for their own indemnity, by their severally pronouncing a
solemn protestation and vow that they had no hand or privity in that
design and plot, and in which they promised always to adhere to the
Parliament, and to assist the forces raised by the Parliament against the
army raised by the King, which was an expression never before heard of;
and so all jealousies were extinguished, no man refusing or pausing to take
it, choosing rather to run the hazard of that than to be made a spectacle as
their other friends are ; though as soon as they had secured themselves by
that sacred vow, they made what haste they could to the King for better
security, and where they might procure God's pardon as well as the King's,
without incurring any danger for asking it. Mr. Waller would have been
glad to have got his own liberty at the same price, or of any other oath or
vow; but he was kept in prison, and continually threatened with death,
which he feared and abhorred, tiEatlast [he] redeemed himself at a ransom
of ten thousand [pounds], to supply the affairs of the Parliament, and as
much more spent upon divines and other intercessors, besides marrying a
wife 2 whose friends had contributed to his absolution, and besides, the dis
posing them to accept all this by a speech pronounced by him at the bar of
the House of Commons, of the greatest flattery and the greatest falsehood :
such a meanness and lo wness of spirit that life itself was no recompense for it.']
1 [The Hist, is here resumed at p. 448 of the MS. The Life proceeds thus : —
'Sir Balph Hopton, and that handful of gentlemen which in the beginning
of the troubles had been forced to seek refuge in Cornwall, had, with the
countenance and assistance of some faithful persons there, so good success,
that they had mastered aE unquiet spirits in that county, and had sent to
the King, that, if his majesty would supply them with some troops of horse,
and ammunition (of which they stood in great need,) they would march into
Somersetshire, and there wait his majesty's farther commands. The Queen
soon after her landing, and before she could be ready for her own march,
2 [Mary, daughter of — Bracy, or Bressy, of Thame, Oxon.]
VOL. HE. F

66 The King's affairs in the West. [vn.86.
1643 86. The end of the treaty in which we left the chief com
manders of the Cornish forces, with commissioners of the other
sent a good supply of arms and ammunition to Oxford, where there was so
great want of it that if the earl had come before Oxford there was not
powder enough for the action of four hours, nor a hundred spare arms in
the magazine. This seasonable Bupply being now come, the King thought
it necessary to give such a countenance to his Cornish troops (for the whole
body was raised in Cornwall) as might reduce aE the western counties to
his devotion, where though the Parliament had in every county, Cornwall
now excepted, some garrisons upon the sea-coast, yet they consisted only
of the inhabitants and men drawn out of the adjacent viEages, and tbey
could not all together [have] sent out a party of horse and foot strong
enough to give any trouble to the Ettle Cornish army, or to interrupt their
march. The principal gentry of Somersetshire were now in Oxford, and were all
joint suitors to the King to send the marquis of Hartford again into the
west ; and both the King and the marquis consented to it ; and the King
appointed them aE to meet every day at the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
lodging, whom he commanded to assist them in adjusting aE that was to
be done in order to a, present march, the King declaring what troops he
would spare for that service, and what ammunition should be ready ; the
rest they were to advance by their own industry and with their own
money, for it was no secret that the King had none. The marquis himself
was content to come to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's lodging to confer
with the gentlemen, and every man subscribed what he would provide
before he went out of the town, and what he would undertake to have
ready in the several counties where his interest lay, and some brought in
money towards carrying on the work ; so that in few days a great advance
seemed to be made. But now the fame of new successes in the west, and
the general good inclinations of the several coimties, and the visible
distractions at London, raised new thoughts ; and whereas before nothing
was thought of but how to convoy this body of Cornish foot, which had
performed so many brave actions, after the petty garrisons in the country
should be suppressed, which could not take up much time, to increase the
body of the King's army, that it might march near London, if it should
appear counseEable, it being hoped that those western gentlemen would be
presently able to raise strength enough in their several counties to keep
these in peace and quiet, it was now thought necessary, upon the stock and
credit of those forces and the good conjuncture, to raise a new army, which
should never join with the King's, but, after subduing the lesser garrisons,
might take Portsmouth, and so visit Sussex and those parts even to Surrey
and Kent, where there were likewise some undertakers to be ready to
expect and assist them. And now, not only those officers who had under
taken to raise troops and regiments to bring into the King's army, for
which they had received commissions, and found they could not perform,
desired to be a part of the new army, but many others, who were weary of
their superior officers in the army, or hoped to be superiors, were all con
triving how to carry away the troops they had into this army, where they

vii. 86.] The King's affairs in the West. 67
western counties, was like that in other places ; for notwith- 1643
standing those extraordinary obligations of oaths and receiving
expected to find more benefit and preferment ; and the marquis was willing
to hearken to any of those propositions as the best way to increase his own
strength, and so consented to the making general officers for a royal army,
without thinking upon his old friends who had raised that body in
• CornwaE, and were of quaEty and abilities for command superior to most
of this new model, and could never submit to be commanded by them.
Prince Bupert, who had always looked upon the interest and credit of
the marquis of Hartford as somewhat that eclipsed him, and seeing him
like now to be in the head of a royal army, which was to be increased with
troops drawn from his command, used all the means he could by himself
and those few others who were trusted by him that the King might be
persuaded that his brother prince Morrice (who had only a regiment in the
army) would be fit to be made general of this army. The King, [who]
always loved his family immoderately, and with notable partiality, and was
wiEing to believe that their high quality could not be without all those
qualities and qualifications which were equal to it, if they had an oppor
tunity to manifest those endowments, easily entertained that overture, and
believed the marquis himself would easily resign his pretences, and be con^
tented to serve under a grandson of King James and the King's nephew.
He made choice of the ChanceEor of the Exchequer to dispose the marquis
to this condescension ; but he did not only excuse himself from undertaking
the office, but used all the means and endeavours he could to dissuade the
King from his design, telling him that he thought it easy to dissuade the mar
quis from undertaking the enterprise], which nothing but affection to his
majesty's service could dispose him to, the marquis loving his ease and
abhorring any fatigue, and having no military quality but courage, in which
he abounded, but if his majesty would have him engaged in the enterprise,
he would not find that he would take any inferior command ; which his
majesty upon further endeavour found to be true, and, judging that the
presence of the marquis was absolutely necessary for the disposing and
reconciling all those western counties to his service, (his fortune, which was
very great, lying in many of them,) he appointed his nephew prince
Morrice to be Uentenant general under the marquis, which nobody believed
would produce any good effect, there being no two men of more contrary
natures and dispositions. The prince had never sacrificed to the Graces,
nor conversed amongst men of quality, but had most used the company of
ordinary and inferior men, with whom he loved to be very famiEar. He
was not quaUfied with parts of nature, and less with any acquired ; and
towards men of the best condition, with whom he might very weE have
justified a familiarity, he maintained at least the fuE state of his birth, and
understood very little more of the war than to fight very stoutly when there
was occasion. The marquis was of a very civil and affable nature, and
knew well what respect to pay to the other if he were fairly encouraged to
it ; but he was withal very great hearted, and where more was expected he
would give less than was due ; nor was there any third person of quaEty
and discretion, who had interest enough in either of them, to prevent mis-
F 2

68 The King's affairs in the West. [vii. 86.
1643 the Sacrament, (circumstances in no other treaty,) the Parlia-
March 8. ment n0 s00ner sent their votes and declarations to them, (the
same which are before mentioned upon the treaties in Yorkshire
and Cheshire,) and some members of their own to overlook and
perplex them, but all peaceable inclinations were laid aside ; so
that (having in the mean time industriously levied money
throughout Somerset and Devon upon friends and enemies, and
a good body of men) the night before the expiration of the
treaty and cessation, James Chudleigh, the major general of the
rebels, brought a strong party of horse and foot within two miles
March 25. of Lanson, the head quarter of the Cornish, and the very next
morning, the cessation not being determined till after twelve of
the clock in the night, marched upon the town, where they were
not sufficiently provided for them. For though the commanders
of the Cornish had employed their time as usefully as they could
during the cessation, in preparing the gentry of that county and
all the inhabitants to submit to a weekly tax for the support of
that power which defended [them], over and above which, the
gentlemen and persons of quality freely brought in all their
plate to be disposed of to the public, and though they foresaw,
after the committee of Parliament came into the country, that
the treaty would conclude without fruit, and therefore sir Ralph
Hopton and sir Bevil Greenvill repaired to Lanson the day
before the expiration of the treaty to meet any attempt should
be made upon them, yet, being to feed and pay their small forces
out of one small county, they had been compelled to quarter their
men at a great distance, that no one part might be more op
pressed than was necessary: so that all that was done the first
day was, by the advantage of passes and lining of hedges, to keep
the enemy in action till the other forces came up, which they
seasonably did towards the evening ; and then the enemy, who
received good loss in that day's action, grew so heartless that in
the night they retired to Okington, [Okehampton] fifteen miles
from the place of their skirmish. After which many small skir-
understandings, which there were too many industrious enough to foment;
so that at their leaving Oxford, (which was about the middle of May,) it
was not hard to divine that that subordination would not last long nor
produce any good effects.']

vii. 87.] The earl of Stamford marches into Cornwall. 69
mishes ensued for many days, with various success ; sometimes 1643
the Cornish advancing in Devon, and then retiring again ; for
it appeared now that a formed army was marching against them,
so far superior in number that there was no reasonable hope of
resistance. 87. Towards the middle of May, the earl of Stamford marched
into Cornwall, by the north part, with a body of fourteen
hundred horse and dragoons, and five thousand four hundred
foot by the poll, with a train of thirteen brass ordnance and a
mortar-piece, and a very plentiful magazine of victual and am
munition, and every way in as good an equipage as could be
provided by men who wanted no money ; whilst the King's
small forces, being not half the number, and unsupplied with
every useful thing, [were *] at Lanson ; of whom the enemy had
so full a contempt, though they knew they were marching to
them, within six or seven miles, that they considered only how
to take them after they were dispersed, and to prevent their
running into Pendennis castle, to give them farther trouble.
To which purpose, having encamped themselves upon the flat
top of a very high hill, to which the ascents were very steep
every way, near Stratton, being the only part of Cornwall
eminently disaffected to the King's service, they sent a party of
twelve hundred horse and dragoons, under the command of sir
George Chudleigh, father to their major general, to Bodmin, to
surprise the high shrief and principal gentlemen of the country,
and thereby not only to prevent the coming up of any more
strength to the King's party, but, under the awe of such a
power of horse, to make the whole country rise for them. This
design, which was not in itself unreasonable, proved fortunate to
the King. For his forces, which marched from Lanson with a
resolution to fight with the enemy upon any disadvantage of place
or number, (which, how hazardous soever, carried less danger
with it than retiring into the county, or any thing else that
was in their power,) easily now resolved to assault the camp in
the absence of their horse. And with this resolution they
marched on Monday the fifteenth of May within a mile of the May 15.
1 ['was,' MS.]

yo Victory of the King's Cornish army at Stratton. [VII. 87.
1643 enemy, being so destitute of all provisions that the best officer
had but a biscuit a man a day, for two days, the enemy looking
upon them as their own.
May 16. 88. On Tuesday the sixteenth of May, about five of the clock
in the morning, they disposed themselves to their work, having
stood in their arms all the night. The number of the foot was
about two thousand four hundred, which they divided into four
parts, and agreed on their several provinces. The first was com
manded by the lord Mohun and sir Ralph Hopton, who under
took to assault the camp on the south side. Next them, on the
left hand, sir John Berkely and sir Bevil Greenvill were to
force their way. Sir Nicholas Slan[n]ing and colonel Tre-
van[n]ion were to assault the north side ; and on their left hand,
colonel Thomas Bassett, who was major general of their foot,
and colonel William Godolphin were to advance with their
party ; each party having two pieces of cannon to dispose as
they found necessary: colonel John Digby commanding the
horse and dragoons, being about five hundred, and stood upon a
sandy common which had a way to the camp, to take any advan
tage he could on the enemy, if they charged ; otherwise, to be
firm as a reserve.
89. In this manner the fight began, the King's forces pressing
with their utmost vigour those four ways up the hill, and the
enemy's as obstinately defending their ground. The fight con
tinued with very doubtful success till towards three of the clock
in the afternoon, when word was brought to the chief officers of
the Cornish that their ammunition was spent to less than
four barrels of powder ; which (concealing the defect from the
soldiers) they resolved could be only supplied with courage :
and therefore, by messengers to one another, they agreed to
advance with their full bodies, without making any more shot,
till they reached the top of the hill, and so might be upon even
ground with the enemy ; wherein the officers' courage and reso
lution was so well seconded by the soldier that they began to get
ground in all places, and the enemy, in wonder of the men who
outfaced their shot with their swords, to quit their post.
Major general Chudleigh, who ordered the battle, failed in no

vii. so.] Battle of Stratton. >ji
part of a soldier ; and when he saw his men recoil from less 1643
numbers, and the enemy in all places gaining the hill upon him,
himself advanced, with a good stand of pikes, upon that party
which was led by sir John Berkely and sir Bevil Greenvill, and
charged them so smartly that he put them into disorder ; sir
Bevil Greenvill in the shock being borne to the ground but
quickly relieved by his companion, they so reinforced the charge
that, having killed most of the assailants and dispersed the rest,
they took the major general prisoner, after he had behaved him
self with as much courage as a man could do. Then the enemy
gave ground apace, insomuch as the four parties, growing nearer
and nearer as they ascended the hill, between three and four of
the clock they all met together upon one ground near the top of
the hill, where they embraced with unspeakable joy, each con
gratulating the other's success, and all acknowledging the
wonderful blessing of God ; and being there possessed of some
of the enemy's cannon, they turned them upon the camp, and
advanced together to perfect their victory. But the enemy no
sooner understood the loss of their major general but their
hearts failed them ; and being so resolutely pressed, and their
ground lost, upon the security and advantage whereof they
wholly depended, some of them threw down their arms and others
fled, dispersing themselves, and every man shifting for himself,
their general, the earl of Stamford, giving the example, who, (hav
ing stood at a safe distance all the time of the battle, environed
with all the horse, which in small parties, though it is true their
whole number was not above six or seven score, might have done
great mischieve to the several parties of foot, who with so much
difficulty scaled the steep hill,) as soon as he saw the day lost,
and some said sooner, made all imaginable haste to Exciter, to
prepare them for the condition they were shortly to expect.
90. The conquerors, as soon as they had gained the camp and
dispersed the enemy, and after public prayers upon the place and
a solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God for their deliverance and
victory, sent a small party of horse to pursue the enemy for a mile
or two ; not thinking fit to pursue farther, or with their whole
body of horse, lest sir George should return from Bodmin with

7a Battle of Stratton. [vii. 90.
1643 his strong body of horse and dragoons, and find them in dis
order, but contenting themselves with the victory they had
obtained upon the place, which, in substance as well as circum
stance, was as signal a one as hath happened to either party
since the unhappy distraction ; for on the King's party were
not lost in all above fourscore men, whereof few were officers,
and none above the degree of a captain ; and though many more
were hurt, not above ten men died afterwards of their wounds.
On the Parliament side, notwithstanding their advantage of
ground and that the other were the assailants, above three
hundred were slain on the place, and seventeen hundred taken
prisoners, with their major general and above thirty other
officers. They took likewise all their baggage and tents, all
their cannon, (being, as was said before, thirteen pieces of brass
ordnance and a brass mortar-piece,) all their ammunition,
being seventy barrels of powder and all other sorts of ammuni
tion proportionable, and a very great magazine of biscuit and
other excellent provisions of victual, which was as seasonable a
blessing as the victory to those who for three or four days before
had suffered great want of food as well as sleep, and were
equally tired with duty and hunger. The army rested that
night and the next day at Stratton, all care being taken by
express messengers to disperse the news of their success to all
parts of the country, and to guard the passes upon the river
Tamar, whereby to hinder the return of the enemy's horse and
dragoons. But sir George Chudleigh had no sooner with great
triumph dispersed the high shrief and gentlemen, who intended
to have called the posse comitatus, according to their good
custom, for the assistance of the King's party, and with little
resistance entered Bodmin, but he received the fatal news of
the loss of their camp and army at Stratton. Upon which,
with as much haste and disorder as so great a consternation
could produce amongst a people not acquainted with the
accidents of war, leaving many of his men and horses a prey to
the country people, himself, with as many as he could get and
keep together, got into Plimmoth, and thence without interrup
tion or hazard into Exciter.

vii 92.] Oen. Chudleigh returns to his allegiance. 73
91. The earl of Stamford, to make his own conduct and 1643
misfortune the less censured, industriously spread abroad in
all places, and confidently sent the same information to the
Parliament, that he had been betrayed by James Chudleigh,
and that in the heat of the battle, when the hope of the day
stood fair, he had voluntarily with a party run over to the
enemy, and immediately charged the Parliament forces, which
begot in all men a general apprehension of treachery, the
soldiers fearing their officers' and the officers the soldiers'
revolt ; and thereupon the rout ensued. Whereas the truth is,
as he was a young man of excellent parts and courage, he per
formed the part of a right good commander, both in his orders
and his person, and was taken prisoner in the body of his
enemy, whither he had charged with undaunted courage, when
there was no other expedient in reason left. But this scandal,
so without colour cast on him and entertained with more credit
than his services had merited, (for from the time of his engage
ment to the Parliament he had served not only with full
ability but with notable success, and was the only man that
had given any interruption to the prosperity of the Cornish
army, and in a night-skirmish, at Bradock Down near Ocking-
ton, struck a greater terror into them, and disordered them
more, than they were at any other time,) wrought so far upon
the young man, together with the kind usage and reception he
found as a prisoner among the chief officers, who loved him as a
gallant enemy and one like to do the King good service if he
were recovered to his loyalty, that after he had been prisoner
about ten days he freely declared that he was convinced in his
conscience and judgment of the errors he had committed, and,
upon promise made to him of the King's pardon, frankly offered
to join with them in his service ; and so gave some countenance
to the reproach that was first most injuriously cast on him.
92. The truth is, he was of too good an understanding, and
too much generosity in his nature, to be affected to the cause
which he served, or to comply with those arts which he saw
practised to carry it on ; and having a command in Ireland
when this war first brake out, he came thence into England

74 Gen. Chudleigh returns to his allegiance, [vii. 92.
1643 with a purpose to serve the King, and to that purpose, shortly
after his majesty's coming to Oxford, he came thither to tender
his service : but he found the eyes of most men fixed on him
with prejudice and jealousy there, both for his family sake,
which was notoriously disaffected to the King, and for some
errors of his own in that plot that was so much spoken of to
bring up the northern army to awe the Parliament. In which
business, being then a very young man, and of a stirring spirit,
and desirous of a name, he had expressed much zeal to the
King's service, and been busy in inclining the army to engage
in such petitions and undertakings as were not gracious to the
Parliament ; but when that discovery was made by Mr. Goring,
(as is before remembered,) and a committee appointed to
examine the combination, this gentleman, wrought upon by
hopes or fears in his examination, said much that was dis
advantageous to the Court. And therefore, bringing no other
testimony with him to Oxford but of his own conscience, he re
ceived nothing like countenance there ; whereupon he returned
to London sufficiently incensed that he was neglected, and was
quickly entertained for their western employment, where his
nearest friends were throughly engaged. But after this defeat,
his former passion being allayed, and his observation and
experience convincing him that the designs of the Parliament
were not such as were pretended, he resigned himself to those
who first conquered him with force and then with reason and
civility, and no doubt was much wrought upon by the discipline
and integrity of the forces by whom he had been subdued, and
with the piety, temper, and sobriety of the chief commanders,
which indeed was most exemplar and worthy the cause for
which they were engaged ; the reputation and confession
whereof had alone carried them through the difficulties and
straits with which they were to contend.
93. The army, willing to relieve their friends of Cornwall
from the burden which they sustained so patiently, hastened
their march into Devonshire, not throughly resolved whether
to attack Plimmoth or Exciter, or both, when advertisement
came to them, by an express from Oxford, that the King had

VII. 94.] The Cornish army marches into Devonshire. 75
sent prince Morrice and the marquis of Hartford with a very 1643
good body of horse to join with them, and that they were
advanced towards them as far as Somersetshire, and that sir
William Waller was designed by the Parliament to visit the
west with a new army, which would receive a good recruit
from those who escaped from the battle of Stratton : so that it
was necessary for all the King's forces in those parts to be
united in a body as soon as might be. Hereupon it was quickly
resolved to leave such a party at Salt-Ash and Milbrook as
might defend faithful Cornwall from any incursions of Plimmoth,
and with their army to march eastward ; their numbers increas
ing daily upon the reputation of their new wonderful victory,
many volunteers coming to them out of Devonshire, and very
many of their prisoners professing they had been seduced, and
freely offering to serve the King against those who had wronged
both, who, being entertained under some of their own con
verted officers, behaved themselves afterwards with great
honesty and courage. And so, making no longer stay by the
way than was necessary for the refreshing of their troops, the
Cornish army, (for that was the style it now carried,) marched
by Exciter, where the earl of Stamford with a sufficient
garrison then was ; and staying only two or three days to fix
small garrisons, whereby that town (full of fear and appre
hension,) might be kept from having too great an influence
upon so populous a county, advanced to Tiverton, where a
regiment of foot of the Parliament, under colonel Ware, a
gentleman of that country, had fixed themselves, hoping sir
William Waller would be as soon with them for their relief as
the Cornish would be to force them ; which being easily dis
persed, they stayed there to expect new orders from the
marquis of Hartford.
94. When the loss of Reading was well digested, and the
King understood the declining condition of the earl of Essex's
army, and that he would either not be able to advance or not
in such a manner as would give him much trouble at Oxford, and
hearing in what prosperous state his hopeful party in Cornwall
stood, whither the Parliament was making all haste to send sir

76 The marq. of Hertford is sent with prince Maurice [vii. 94.
1643 William Waller, to check their good success, his majesty resolved
to send the marquis of Hartford into those parts, the rather
because there were many of the prime gentlemen of Wiltshire,
Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire who confidently undertook, if
the marquis went through those counties with such a strength
as they supposed the King would spare to him, they would in a
very short time raise so considerable a power as to oppose any
force the Parliament should be able to send. When the marquis
was ready for his journey, news arrived of the great victory at
Stratton, so that there was no danger of the marquis's being
able to join with that little Cornish army; and then there
appeared indeed a visible body worthy the name of an army.
This put some persons upon desiring that prince Morrice (who
was yet in no other quality of command than of a private
colonel of horse, but had always behaved himself with great
courage and vigilance) might be likewise disposed into a com
mand of that army. Hereupon the King assigned him, and Mb
highness willingly accepted, to be lieutenant general under the
marquis, who for many reasons, (besides that he was actually
possessed of it,) was thought only fit to have the superior
power over those western counties where his fortune lay, and
the estimation and reverence of the people to him was notorious.
So the prince and marquis, with prince Morrice's and the earl of
Carnarvon's and colonel Thomas Howard's regiments of horse,
(the earl being general of the cavalry,) advanced into the
west ; and staying only some few days at Salisbury, and after
in Dorsetshire, whilst some new regiments of horse and foot,
which were levying by the gentlemen in those parts, came up
to them, made all convenient haste into Somersetshire, being
desirous to join with the Cornish as soon as might be, presuming
they should be then best able to perfect their new levies when
they were out of apprehension of being disturbed by a more
powerful force. For sir William Waller was already marched
out of London, and used not to stay longer by the way than was
unavoidably necessary.
95. In the marquis's first entrance into the west he had an
unspeakable loss, and the King's service a far greater, by the

vii. 96.] to join the Cornish army in Somerset. 77
death of Mr. Rogers, a gentleman of a rare temper and excellent 1643
understanding ; who, besides that he had a great interest in the
marquis, being his cousin-german, and so out of that private
relation, as well as zeal to the public, passionately inclined to
advance the service, had a wonderful great influence upon the
county of Dorset, for which he served as one of the knights in
Parliament, and had so well designed all things there, that
Poole and Lyme, two port towns in that county, which gave
the King afterwards much trouble, if he had lived had been
undoubtedly reduced ; but by his death all those hopes were
cancelled, the surviving gentry of that shire being (how well
affected soever) so unactive that the progress that was that
year made there to the King's advantage owed little to their
assistance. 96. About the middle of June1, prince Morrice and the marquis,
with sixteen or seventeen hundred horse, and about one thousand
new levied foot, and seven or eight field-pieces, came to Chard,
a fair town in Somersetshire, nearest the edge of Devonshire,
where, according to order, they were met by the Cornish army ;
which consisted of above three thousand excellent foot, five
hundred horse, and three hundred dragoons, with four or five
field-pieces; so that, officers and all, being joined, they might
well pass for an army of seven thousand men, with an excellent
train of artillery, and a very fair proportion of ammunition of
all sorts, and so good a reputation that they might well
promise themselves a quick increase of their numbers. Yet
if the extraordinary temper and virtue of the chief officers of
the Cornish had not been much superior to that of their
common soldiers, who valued themselves high as the men whose
courage had alone vindicated the King's cause in the west,
there might have been greater disorder at their first joining
than could easily have been composed. For how small soever
the marquis's party was in numbers, it was supplied with all
the general officers of a royal army, a general, lieutenant
general, general of the horse, general of the ordnance, a major
general of horse, and another of foot, without keeping suitable
1 [June 4; Merc. Aulicus, p. 303.]

78 Taunton, Bridgewater, and Dunster taken, [vii. 96.
1643 commands for those who had done all that was past, and were
to be principally relied on for what was to come ; so that the
chief officers of the Cornish army, by joining with a much less
party than themselves, were at best in the condition of private
colonels. Yet the same public thoughts still so absolutely
prevailed with them, that they quieted all murmurings and
emulations amongst inferior officers and common soldiers, and
were with equal candour and estimation valued by the prince
and marquis, who bethought themselves of all expedients which
might prevent any misunderstanding.
97. Taunton was the first place they resolved to visit, being
the fairest, largest, and richest town in Somersetshire, but
withal as eminently affected to the Parliament, where they had
now a garrison ; but they had not yet the same courage they
June 5. recovered afterwards : for the army was no sooner drawn near
the town, the head quarters being at Orchard, a house of
baronet Portman's, two miles from the town, but the town sent
two of their substantial inhabitants to treat ; which, though
nothing was concluded, struck that terror into the garrison,
(the prisoners in the castle, whereof many were men of good
fortunes, imprisoned there as malignants, at the same time
raising some commotion there,) that the garrison fled out of the
town to Bridgewater, being a less town but of a much stronger
June 6. situation, and with the same panic fear the next day from
thence. So that the marquis was possessed in three days of
Taunton, Bridgewater, and Dunstar castle, so much stronger
than both the other that it could not have been forced, yet by
the dexterity of Francis Windham, who wrought upon the fears
of the owner and master of it, Mr. Luttrel, was, with as little
June •}. blood as the other, delivered up to the King ; into which
the marquis put him that took it as governor, as he well de
served. 98. The government of Taunton he committed to sir John
Stowell, a gentleman of a very great estate in those parts, and
who from the beginning had heartily and personally engaged
himself and his children for the King, and was in the first form
of those who had made themselves obnoxious to the Parliament.

vii. 98.] Good discipline of the Cornish army. 79
The other government, of Bridgewater, was conferred upon 1643
Edmund Windham, high shrief of the county, being a gentle
man of a fortune near the place, and of good personal courage
and unquestionable affection to the cause. The army stayed
about Taunton seven or eight days, for the settling those garri
sons, and to receive advertisements of the motion or station of
the enemy ; in which time they lost much of the credit and
reputation they had with the country. For whereas the chief
commanders of the Cornish army had restrained their soldiers
from all manner of license, obliging them to solemn and frequent
actions of devotion, insomuch as the fame of their religion and
discipline was no less than of their courage, and thereupon sir
Ralph Hopton(who was generally considered as the general of that
army, though it was governed by such a commission as is before
remembered) was greedily expected in his own country, where
his reputation was second to no man's ; the horse that came
now with the marquis, having lived under a looser discipline,
and coming now into plentiful quarters, unvisited by any army,
and yielding some excuse to this by the eminency of their dis
affection, were disorderly enough to give the enemy credit in
laying more to their charge than they deserved, and by their
license hindered those orderly levies which should have brought
in a supply of money for the regular payment of the army.
And this extravagancy produced another mischieve, some jea
lousy, or shadow of it, between the lord marquis and prince
Morrice ; the first, as being better versed in the policy of peace
than in the mysteries of war, desiring to regulate the soldier
and to restrain him from using any license upon the country ;
and the prince being thought so wholly to incline to the soldier
that he neglected . any consideration of the country, and not
without some design of drawing the sole dependence of the
soldier upon himself. But here were the seeds rather sown of
dislike than any visible disinclination produced ; for after they
had settled the garrisons before mentioned they advanced with
unity and alacrity eastward to find out the enemy, which was
gathered together in a considerable body within less than twenty
miles of them.

80 The Parliament send Sir W. Waller [Vll.99.
1643 99 '. Whilst so much time was spent at Oxford to prepare
the supplies for the west, and in settling the manner of sending
them, which might have been done much sooner and with less
noise, the Parliament foresaw that if all the west were recovered
from them their quarters would by degrees be so straitened that
their other friends would quickly grow weary of them. They
had still all the western ports at their devotion, those in Corn
wall only excepted ; and their fleets had always great benefit
by it. And though most of the gentry were engaged against
them, as they were in truth throughout the kingdom, yet the
common people, especially in the clothing parts of Somerset
shire, were generally too much inclined to them, so that they
could not want men, if they sent a body of horse and some arms
to countenance them ; with the last of which they had stored
the sea-towns which were in their hands sufficiently. And
therefore they resolved that, though they could not easily re
cruit their army, they would send some troops of horse and
dragoons into the west, to keep up the spirits of their friends
there. And for the conduct of this service they made choice
of sir William Waller, a member of the House of Commons,
and a gentleman of a family in Kent.
100. Sir William Waller had been well bred, [and,] having
spent some years abroad, and some time in the armies there,
returned with a good reputation home ; and shortly after, hav
ing married a young lady who was to inherit a good fortune in
the west 2, he had a quarrel with a gentleman of the same family,
who had the honour to be a menial servant to the King in a
place near his person, which in that time was attended with
privilege and respect from all men. These two gentlemen dis
coursing with some warmth together, sir William Waller received
such provocation from the other that he struck him a blow over
the face, so near the gate of Westminster Hall that he got wit
nesses to swear that it was in the hall itself, the courts being
then sitting ; which, according to the rigour of law, makes it
1 [§§ 99, 100 are from the Life, p. 229.]
2 [Jane, daughter of Sir Bich. Beynell, of Ford House, Woolboroughj
Devon.]

vii. ioo.] into the West with an army. 81
very penal ; and the credit the other had in the Court made 1643
the prosecution to be very severe, insomuch as he was at last
compelled to redeem himself at a dear ransom, the benefit
whereof was conferred on his adversary, which made the sense
of it the more grievous. And this produced in him so eager a
spirit against the Court that he was very open to any tempta
tion that might engage him against it ; and so, concurring in
the House of Commons with all those counsels which were most
violent, he was employed in their first military action for the
reducing of Portsmouth, which he effected with great ease, as
is remembered before \ And when the earl of Essex had put the
army into winter quarters, he had with some troops made a
cavalcade or two into the west, so fortunately, that he had mot
only beat up some loose quarters but had surprised a fixed and
fortified quarter, made by the lord Harbert of Ragland near
Gloster, in which he took above twelve hundred prisoners, with
all the officers, being a number very little inferior to his own
party ; which is likewise particularly remembered before *. So
that he got great reputation with the Parliament and the city,
and was called William the Conqueror. And it is very true
that they who looked upon the earl of Essex as a man that
would not keep them company to the end of their journey, had
their eyes upon sir William Waller as a man more for their
turn, and were desirous to extol him the more that he might
eclipse the other. And therefore they prepared all things for
his march with so great expedition and secrecy, that the mar
quis of Hartford was no sooner joined to the Cornish troops,
(in which time Bridgewater and Dunstar, and some other places,
were reduced from the Parliament,) before he was informed
that sir William Waller was within two days' march of him, and
was more like to draw supplies to him from Bristol and the parts
adjacent, which were all under the Parliament, than the mar
quis could from the open country ; and therefore if was held most
counsellable to advance, and engage him whilst he was not yet
too strong ; and by this means they should continue still their
march towards Oxford, which they were now inclined to do.
1 [Book VI. § 32, note.] a [Book VI. § 292.]
VOL. HI. G

83 The two armies meet at Wells. [Vll.ioi.
1643 101 \ Though sir William Waller himself continued still at
Bath, yet the remainder of those horse and dragoons that es-
1 [The text is here resumed from the Hist., p. 451, the Life giving (at
pp. 230-2) the fbEowing account of the battles of Lansdowne and Bound-
way Down : —
' For six or seven days there was continual skirmishes, Waller retiring
with great order and little loss, and the marquis advancing with some little
advantage, till they came near Bath ; and then Wallei-, having drawn a
regiment or two of foot from the garrison of Bristol, and others out of the
country, by the credit and countenance of Hungerford and Popham,
appeared near Lansdowne, an open plain within two miles of Bath, where
both sides drew up in good order, having room enough. The action was
performed on both sides with courage and resolution, tiE the night parted
them, when Waller drew to the lower ground, to the shelter of a hedge
and waU. Many officers and gentlemen of quality fell on both sides, and
if the Cornish foot had not stood very firm when the horse was shaken, it
would have proved a sad day ; but sir Bevil Greenevill, in the head of his
pikes, bore the shock of Waller's horse, and broke them, and forced them to
retire, though himself lost his life in the service, to the universal grief of
the army, and, indeed, of all who knew him. He was a gaEant and a
sprightly gentleman, of the greatest reputation and interest in Cornwall,
and had most contributed to all the service that had been done there, and
to the leading the army out of the country, and by the gentleness of his
spirit, accompanied with courage and authority, had restrained much of the
licence, and suppressed the murmur and mutiny, to which that people were
too much inclined, especially after they were joined to the marquis's troops
and made subject to the command of new officers. AE men exceedingly
lamented his loss at the time he fell, and had cause to renew the lamenta
tion very often afterwards. Though the day had proved sad and melan-
choEc enough, the evening was by much the more tragical ; for when the
forces were content to breathe on both sides, some of the officers repairing i
to the artiEery, to see in what state it was, and to give order to send
ammunition to those places where it was wanted, by what accident was
never known, a waggon of powder was blown up, which blew up and killed
all the persons about it, whereof some were of name. Col. Thomas Sheldon,
who commanded prince Morrice's regiment of horse, was at some distance
from it, yet his horse was killed under him, and himself so hurt from head
to foot that he died with [in] two days, a gentleman of great courage, and
generally beloved ; and (which made up the tragedy) sir Balph Hopton,
whose name had been much and deservedly magnified in aE the western
service, being yet farther from the waggon, was by the blast of the powder.
thrown from his horse, which was killed, and so hurt that he was looked
upon as dead for many days, though, by the diligence of his servants, with
God's blessing, he recovered afterwards, to give signal marks of his fidelity'
to the King; but the marks of that ill accident were never worn out, and
deprived him of that gracefulness and lustre in his person and countenance
which he formerly had.
In the morning after this battle, it appeared that WaUer had drawn off -

vii. ioi.] The two armies meet at Wells. 83
caped out of Cornwall after the battle of Stratton, and such 1643
other as were sent out of Exciter for their ease when they appre-
aE his men in the night, leaving lighted matches in the wall and hedge to
amuse the enemy ; which raised their spirits very muoh, and was an evident
sign that the victory remained on the marquis's part, and gave them cause
to believe that the loss was very great on that side, and that they should
be troubled no more with him ; so that after a day's repose in the neighbour
villages, which was in many respects necessary, the marquis continued his
march towards Oxford by the way of Chippenham ; but quickly found that
WaEer, with the same repose, and the fresh supplies he received every day
from the country, attended upon his rear very near, so that both horse and
foot were engaged every day ; and they now found the loss of the waggon
of powder which was blown up at Lansdowne, for they had not enough left
to make a stand, or to line the hedges to secure their rear and [keep] l the
enemy back. So that when they came to the Devizes, an open market-
town in Wiltshire, of receipt enough for the men, they found it necessary
that all the foot, their cannon, and their sick and wounded men, which had
necessarily made their march slow, should remain there, whilst the horse
went away, as they easily might, to Oxford ; from whence they doubted
not to send fresh succour to the rest before they should be overpressed or
overpowered by WaEer, who was not yet come out, and found difficulties
enough in his pursuit. When they came into the Devizes, they found they
had not match enough to keep their guards, so that both the marquis and
prince Morrice in the night thought fit likewise to leave them, and so made
haste to Oxford, where the old jealousies between the prince and the
marquis were presently revived ; the friends of either making all the disad
vantageous reports they could of the other, whilst most men thought neither
of them had done honourably in abandoning the army, and coming them
selves to call for help. In the mean time the small army in the Devizes
was 2, upon the matter, left without command for the forces which had been
brought or raised by the marquis, and were much less in number than the
Cornish, who would only obey the officers they had known, and the lord
[Hopton] remained so ill, and so obliged not to come into the air, that he
would not assume the command, whom aE would obey. Notwithstanding
all which, and though Waller was now come before the town, and sum
moned them, the officers agreed so well, and took [such] pains by beating
all the bed-cords in the town into matches and barricadoing the avenues,
that Waller durst not assault them ; so that they relied upon succour iu
time, and expected it accordingly, and without any other impatience than
by giving account to Oxford of the truth of their condition.
This sudden unexpected news, (for the last account had brought the
issue of the battle at Lansdowne, where the victory was understood to be
on the King's side, or at least the enemy to be dismayed,) raised such a
damp at Oxford, (as the ebbs and floods of fortune made always great im
pressions there,) that all men [were] dispirited, and the arrival of the
prince and the marquis in the break of the day spread the rumour through
the town that that army was totally lost. The Queen was now come from
1 [•keeping;,' MS.] • 2 ['which was,' MS.]
G 2

84 The two armies meet at Wells. [vii.ioi.
1643 hended a siege, and those soldiers who fled out of Taunton and
Bridgewater, and other regiments of the country, were by Alex,
York and upon her march towards Oxford, and the King had sent to her
that he would not fail to meet her such a day at a place a good day's
journey from Oxford, and that appointment must of necessity hold, and
good troops attend the King, who was to march very near the garrison of
Warwick belonging to the Parliament. However, it was evident that if the
Devizes was not instantly relieved that gallant party must be lost. It was
therefore quickly resolved that Wilmott, lieutenant general of the horse,
should march away with a good party of about 1200 horse and some
dragoons, there being sent before a. regiment of horse under the command
of the earl of Cra[w]ford, with a supply of as much powder and match as
could well be carried by the troopers on their horses, which was lost, and
that regiment disordered by the enemy, which had blocked up aE the
passages to the town. Waller had not so soon notice of the approach of the
King's horse as his' vigilance might have expected, and he received it first
by the interception of a messenger, who was sent to inform those in the
town of it, that they might be ready to draw out as soon as the enemy could
be obliged to draw off; and upon this advertisement, and fearing to be
enclosed between the horse which were coming and the foot of the town,
which he knew to be superior in courage to his, and having great confidence
in his horse, he drew off his horse, foot, and cannon to an open plain piece of
ground upon the top of a steep hill from the town, and about a mile's (lis.
tance from thence, called Bound way Hill, where the enemy was to pass, and
there he put his men in order, and expected them. WUmott, finding them
in this posture, with horse, foot, and cannon much superior to him in
number, and hearing nothing of the foot from the town, though he had
made all signs to them from another part of the hill, according to what he
had appointed them to expect by his messenger, that body of foot being the
strength upon which he relied, knew not what to do ; but calling his
officers together, amongst whom there was the earl of Carnarvon, who was
general of the horse under the marquis of Hartford in the west, and had
been engaged in all the actions with Waller, and so knew his manner of
fighting, who came now only as a volunteer in the regiment of sir John
Byron, they all found it necessary to fight, since they could not expect the
foot longer than the enemy would give them leave ; and observing that
AValler had placed all his horse in several small bodieB at some distance
each from other, and all between them and his foot and cannon, Carnarvon
said that the regiment of cuirassiers1, who were all covered with armour,
and commanded by sir Arthur Haslerigge, and which stood nearest to
them, were the men upon whom Waller principally depended, and therefore
desired Wilmott that their whole body might charge them ; and if they
could rout them, it was probable it might have a good effect upon their
whole army. Which advice being followed, had the effect desired; for ,'
that body being charged by all the King's horse, though they stood well,
and longer than was expected, could not bear that shock ; and when they
were broken, they feE upon their own next body of horse, and disordered
1 ['curaceers,' MS.]

vii. 101.] The two armies meet at Wells. 85
ander Popham, Strowde, and the other deputy-lieutenants of 1643
the militia for Somerset, rallied, and with the train-bands and
volunteer regiments of the country drawn together, with that
confidence that, when the marquis had taken up his head quar
ters at Somerton, the enemy before break of day fell upon a June 10.
regiment of dragoons quartered a mile eastward from that town,
and gave so brisk an alarum to the army that it was immediately
drawn out, and advanced upon the enemy, (being the first they
had seen make any stand before them since the battle of Strat
ton,) who, making stands upon places of advantage, and main
taining little skirmishes in the rear, retired in no ill order to
Wells ; and the King's forces still pursuing, they chose to quit
that city likewise, and drew their whole body, (appearing in
number as considerable as their pursuers,) to the top of a hill
called Mendip Hill, overlooking the city of Wells which they
had left. The day being far spent, and the march having been
long, the marquis, with all the foot and train, stayed at Wells ;
but prince Morrice and the earl of Carnarvon, with sir Ralph
them, and all their horse feE upon and into their body of foot, and routed
them more than the enemy could have done ; and thereupon Waller him
self, Haslerigge, sir Edward Hungerford, and such other ofiicers as were
best horsed, without making farther resistance, fled the nearest way, in all
the confusion imaginable ; many running their horses down the steep of the
hiE, and so falEng, were either kiUed with the fall, or so hurt that they
became prisoners. By this time the body of the foot in the Devizes was
come up, without having received any other advertisement, till after they
came out of the town, than the seeing the enemy in some disorder drawing
themselves together from their several quarters, which at first they believed
to be upon design, but soon after, by their march towards the plain, they
concluded that the relief was come from Oxford ; and so they quickly got
their men together who were in health, (for sir Balph Hopton and many
other sick and wounded men were still left behind in the town ;) and when
they were drawn out, they received another direction from Wilmot which
way they were to march ; and so they came to the top of the ground when
the enemy was in that confusion, and lost no time in falEng upon the foot,
to revenge what they had suffered, and sacrificed too many to the memory
of their beloved GreeneviE. In this total general defeat many were slain,
without the loss of any officer of name on the King's side, and about twelve
hundred men taken prisoners, whereof many of their considerable officers,
aE their baggage and cannon, and a rich booty to the soldiers, who upon
this good fortune had leisure to repose themselves in the quarters they were
before weary of, and to expect new orders from the King. ']

86 Waller's forces defeated at Chewton [vil.ioi.
1643 Hopton and sir John Berkely, and two regiments of horse, re
solved to look upon the enemy on the top of the hill ; who suf
fered them without interruption to gain the top- of the hill level
with them, and then, in a very orderly manner, facing with a
large front of their horse, to give their foot and baggage leisure
and security, retired together as the prince advanced. This,
and the natural contempt the King's horse yet had of the enemy,
which in all skirmishes and charges had been hitherto beaten
by them, made the prince judge this to be but a more graceful
running away, and therefore followed them over those large
hills faster than before, till the enemy, who were anon to pass
through a lane and a village called Chewton, were compelled
before their entrance into the lane to leave their reserve, which
faced about much thinner than it was' over the hill : which
opportunity and advantage was no sooner discerned, as it had
been foreseen, but the earl of Carnarvon (who always charged
home) with incomparable gallantry charged the enemy, and
pressed them so hard that he entered the lane with them, and
routed the whole body of their horse, and followed the execution
of them above two miles.
102. But this was like to have been a dear success; for sir
William Waller, who lay with his new army at Bath, and had
drawn to him a good supply out of the garrison at Bristol, had
directed this body which was in Somerset to retire before the
King's forces till they should join with him, who had sent a
fresh strong party of horse and dragoons to assist their retreat,
which, by the advantage of a fog, had marched without being
discovered : so that the earl of Carnarvon, being a stranger in
the country and the ways, pursued the flying enemy in[to] sir
William Waller's quarters, and till himself was pressed by a
fresh body of horse and dragoons ; when he was necessitated to
retire in as good order as he could, and sent the prince, who
followed him, word of the danger which attended them. His
highness hereupon, with what haste he could, drew back through
the village ; choosing rather, with very good reason, to attend
the enemy in the plain heath than to be engaged in a narrow
passage : thither the earl of Carnarvon with his regiment came

vii. 103.] by prince Maurice and the earl of Carnarvon. 87
to him, broken and chased by the enemy ; who immediately 1643
drew up a large front of horse and dragoons, much stronger
than the prince's party, who had only his own and the earl of
Carnarvon's regiments, with some gentlemen volunteers. The
strait and necessity he was in was very great ; for as he might
seem much too weak to charge them, so the danger might pro
bably be much greater to retire over those fair hills, being pur
sued with a fresh party much superior in number. Therefore
he took a gallant resolution to give the enemy a brisk charge
with his own regiment upon their advance, whilst the earl
rallied his, and prepared to second him as there should be
occasion. This was as soon and fortunately executed as re-
Bolved ; the prince in the head of his regiment charging so
vigorously, that he utterly broke and routed that part of the
front that received the impression. But almost half the enemy's
horse, that, being extended larger than his front, were not
charged, wheeled about and charged the prince in the rear ;
and at the same time the earl of Carnarvon with his rallied
regiment charged their rear ; and all this so throughly per
formed, that they were mingled pell mell one amongst the other,
and the good sword [was] to decide the controversy, their pistols
being spent in the close. The prince himself received two
shrewd hurts in his head, and was beaten off his horse ; but
he was presently relieved, and carried off, and the enemy totally
routed, and pursued again by the earl of Carnarvon, who had a
fair execution upon them as long as the light countenanced his
chase, and then he returned to the head quarters at Wells ;
there having been in those skirmishes threescore or fourscore
men lost on the prince's party, and three times that number
by the enemy ; the action being too quick to take many pri
soners. 103. At Wells the army rested many days, as well to recover
the prince's wounds, being only cuts with swords, as to consult
what was next to be done ; for they were now within distance
of an enemy that they knew would fight with them. For sir
William Waller was at Bath with his whole army, much in
creased by those who were chased out of the west ; and resolved

88 The royal forces rest at Wells ; [vii. 103:
1643 not to advance, having all advantages of provisions and passes,
till a new supply he every day expected from London were ar
rived with him. On the other side, the marquis was not only
to provide to meet with so vigilant an enemy, but to secure
himself at his rear, that the disaffection of the people behind
him, who were only subdued, not converted, upon the advance
of sir William Waller might not take fresh courage. Though
Cornwall was reasonably secured to keep off any impression
upon itself from Plimmoth, yet Devonshire was left in a very
unsafe posture ; there being only a small party at Columb-John,
a house of sir John Ackland's, three miles off Exciter, to con
trol the power of that city, where the earl of Stamford was, and
to dispute not only with any commotion that might happen in
the country but with any power that might arrive by sea.
Upon these considerations, and the intelligence that the Par
liament had sent directions to the earl of Warwick, their ad
miral, to attend the Devonshire coast with his fleet and take
any advantage he could, the marquis, by the advice of the
council of war, sent sir John Berkely back into Devonshire,
with colonel Howard's regiment of horse, to command the forces
which were then there, and to raise what numbers more he
could possibly for the blocking up that city and reducing the
county ; and upon his arrival there, to send up to the army sir
James Hambleton's regiment of horse and dragoons, which had
been left in Devonshire, and by the license they took weakened
the King's party ; so that by sending this relief thither he did
not lessen at all his own numbers, yet gave great strength to the
reducing those parts, as appeared afterwards by the success.
104. After this disposition, and eight or ten days' rest at
Wells, the army generally expressing a handsome impatience to
meet with the enemy, of which at that time they had a greater
contempt than in reason they should have, the prince and mar
quis advanced to Frome, and thence to Bradford, within four1
miles of Bath. And now no day passed without action, and
very sharp skirmishes ; sir William Waller having received
from London a fresh regiment of five hundred horse, under the
1 [Seven.]

vii. 105.] from whtnce they advance towards Bath. 89
command of sir Arthur Haslerigge, which were so prodigiously 1643
armed that they were called by the other side the regiment of
lobsters, because of their bright iron shells with which they were
covered, being perfect cuirassiers ' ; and were the first seen so
armed on either side, and the first that made any impression
upon the King's horse, who, being unarmed, were not able to
bear a shock with them ; besides that they were secure from
hurts of the sword, which were almost the only weapons the
other were furnished with.
105. The contention was hitherto with parties, in which the
successes were various, and almost with equal losses : for as sir
William Waller, upon the first advance from Wells, beat up a
regiment of horse and dragoons of sir James Hambleton's, and
dispersed them, so within two days the King's forces beat a
party of his from a pass near Bath, where the enemy lost two July 3.
field-pieces and near an hundred men. But sir William Waller
bad the advantage in his ground, having a good city, well fur
nished with provisions, to quarter his army together in ; and so
in his choice not to fight but upon extraordinary advantage.
Whereas the King's forces must either disperse themselves, and
so give the enemy advantage upon their quarters, or, keeping
near together, lodge in the field, and endure great distress of
provision ; the country being so disaffected that only force could
bring in any supply or relief. Hereupon, after several attempts
to engage the enemy to a battle upon equal terms, which, hav
ing the advantage, he wisely avoided, the marquis and prince
Morrice advanced with their whole body to Mars[h]field,five miles
beyond Bath towards Oxford ; presuming that by this means
they should draw the enemy from the place of advantage, their
chief business being to hinder them from joining with the King.
And if they had been able to preserve that temper, and neg
lected the enemy till they had quitted their advantages, it is
probable they might have fought upon as good terms as they
desired. But the unreasonable contempt they had of the enemy,
and confidence they should prevail in any ground, with the
straits they endured for want of provisions, and their waste of
1 [' curasseers,' MS., here and in the next section.]

90 Battle of Lansdowne. [vii. 106.
1643 ammunition, which was spent as much in the daily hedge-skir
mishes and upon their guards, being so near, as could have been
in battle, would not admit that patience ; for sir William
Waller, who was not to suffer that body to join with the King,
no sooner drew out his whole army to Lansdowne, which looked
towards Mars[h]field, but they suffered themselves to be engaged
upon great disadvantage.
July 5. 106. It was upon the fifth of July when sir William Waller,
as soon as it was light, possessed himself of that hill ; and after
he had, upon the brow of the hill over the high way, raised
breast-works with fagots and earth, and planted cannon there, he
sent a strong party of horse towards Mars[h]field, which quickly
alarumed the other army, and was shortly driven back to their
body. As great a mind as the King's forces had to cope with
the enemy, when they had drawn into battalia and found the
enemy fixed on the top of the hill they resolved not to attack
them upon so great disadvantage, and so retired again towards
their old quarters : which sir William Waller perceiving, sent
his whole body of horse and dragoons down the hill, to charge
the rear and flank of the King's forces; which they did
throughly, the regiment of cuirassiers so amating ' the horse they
charged that they totally routed them, and, standing firm and
unshaken themselves, gave so great terror to the King's horse,
who had never before turned from an enemy, that no example
of their ofiicers, who did their parts with invincible courage,
could make them charge with the same confidence and in the
same manner they had done. However, in the end, after sir
Nicholas Slan[n]ing, with three hundred musketeers, had fallen
upon and beaten their reserve of dragooners, prince Morrice and
the earl of Carnarvon, rallying their horse and winging them
with the Cornish musketeers, charged the enemy's horse again
and totally routed them, and in the same manner received two
bodies more, and routed and chased them to the hill; where
they stood in a place almost inaccessible. On the brow of the
hill there were breast-works, on which were pretty bodies of
1 ['Amazing' in previous editions. To amate = to terrify. The word
occurs again in the note to § 264.]

vii. 107.] Battle of Lansdowne. 91
small shot and some cannon ; on either flank grew a pretty thick 1643
wood towards the declining of the hill, in which strong parties
of musketeers were placed ; at the rear was a very fair plain,
where the reserves of horse and foot stood ranged ; yet the
Cornish foot were so far from being appalled at this disadvan
tage that they desired to fall on, and cried out, ' that they might
have leave to fetch off those cannon.' In the end, order was
given to attempt the hill with horse and foot. Two strong
parties of musketeers were sent into the woods which flanked
the enemy; and the horse and musketeers up the road way,
which were charged by the enemy's horse and routed ; then sir
Bevil Greenevill advanced, with a party of horse on his right
hand, that ground being best for them, and his musketeers on
the left, himself leading up his pikes in the middle, and in the
face of their cannon and small-shot from their breast-works,
gained the brow of the hill, having sustained two full charges
of the enemy's horse ; but in their third charge, his horse failing
and giving ground, he received, after other wounds, a blow on
the head with a poleaxe, with which he fell, and many of his
officers about him ; yet the musketeers fired so fast upon the
horse that they quit their ground, and the two wings who were
sent to clear the woods having done their work and gained those
parts of the hill, at the same time they beat off their foot, and
became possessed of their breast-works, and so made way for
their whole body of horse, foot, and cannon to ascend the hill ;
which they quickly did, and planted themselves on the ground
which they had won ; the enemy retiring about demi-culverin
shot behind a stone wall upon the same level, and standing in
reasonable good order.
107. Either party was sufficiently tired and battered to be
contented to stand still. The King's horse were so shaken,
that of two thousand which were upon the field in the morning
there were not above six hundred on the top of the hill. The
enemy was exceedingly scattered too, and had no mind to ven
ture on plain ground with those who had beaten them from the
hill ; so that, exchanging only some shot from their ordnance,
they looked one at another till the night interposed. About

9a Death of sir Bevil Greenvil. [vn. 107.
1643 twelve of the clock, it being very dark, the enemy made a show
of moving towards the ground they had lost ; but giving a smart
volley of small-shot, and finding themselves answered with the
like, they made no more noise : which the prince observing, he
sent a common soldier to hearken as near the place where they
were as he could, who brought word that the enemy had left
light[ed] matches in the wall behind which they had lain, and
were drawn off the field ; which was true ; so that as soon as
it was day the King's army found themselves possessed entirely
of the field, and the dead, and all other ensigns of victory : sir
William Waller being marched to Bath, in so much disorder
and apprehension, that he left a great store of arms and ten
barrels of powder behind him ; which was a very seasonable
supply to the other side, who had spent in that day's service
no less than fourscore barrels, and had not a safe proportion
left. 108. In this battle, on the King's part, there were more offi
cers and gentlemen of quality slain than common men, and more
hurt than slain. That which would have clouded any victory,
and made the loss of others the less spoken of, was the death of
sir Bevil Greenevill ; who was indeed an excellent person,
whose activity, interest, and reputation was the foundation of
what had been done in Cornwall, and his temper and affec
tions so public, that no accidents which happened could make
any impression in him ; and his example kept others from
taking any thing ill, or at least seeming to do so. In a word,
a brighter courage and a gentler disposition were never mar
ried together to make the most cheerful and innocent conver
sation. 109. Very many officers and persons of quality were hurt;
as the lord Arundel of Warder, shot in the thigh with a brace
of pistol bullets, sir Ralph Hopton, shot through the arm with
a musket, sir George Vaughan and many others hurt in the
head of their troops with swords and poleaxes ; of which none
of name died. But the morning added much to the melancholy
of their victory, when the field was entirely their own. For
sir Ralph Hopton riding up and down the field to visit the hurt

vii. 110.] Sir R. Hopton is severely hurt. 93
men, and to put the soldiers in an order and readiness for 1643
motion, sitting on his horse, with other officers and soldiers
about him, near a waggon of ammunition, in which were eight
barrels of powder, (whether by treachery or mere accident is
uncertain,) the powder was blown up, and many who stood
nearest killed, and many more maimed ; amongst which sir
Ralph Hopton and sergeant major Sheldon were miserably
hurt ; of which major Sheldon, who was thought to be in less
danger than the other, died the next day, to the general grief
of the army, where he was wonderfully beloved, as a man of
an undaunted courage and as great gentleness of nature. Sir
Ralph Hopton, having hardly so much life as not to be num
bered with the dead, was put into a litter, and then the army
marched to their old quarters to Mars[h]field, exceedingly cast
down with their morning's misfortune, (sir Ralph Hopton being
indeed the soldiers' darling;) where they reposed themselves
the next day, principally in care of sir Ralph Hopton, who,
though there were hope of his recovery, was not fit for travel.
In this time many of the horse which had been routed in the
morning, before the hill was won, found the way to Oxford, and,
according to the custom of those who run away, reported all to
be lost, with many particular accidents, which they fancied very
like to happen when they left the field ; but the next day
brought a punctual advertisement from the marquis, but, withal,
a desire of a regiment or two of fresh horse, and a supply of
ammunition ; whereupon the earl of Cra[w]ford, with his regi
ment of horse, consisting of near five hundred, was directed to
advance that way, with such a proportion of ammunition as was
desired. 110. After a day's rest at Mars[h]field, it being understood
that sir William Waller was still at Bath, (his army having been
rather surprised and discomforted with the incredible boldness
of the Cornish foot, than much weakened by the numbers slain,
which was not greater than on the King's part,) and that he
had sent for fresh supply from Bristol, it was concluded rather
to march to Oxford, and so to join with the King's army, than
to stay and attend the enemy, which was so near his supplies :

94 The King's forces march to Chippenham [VII. no.
1643 and so they marched towards Chippenham. But when sir
July 1- William Waller had intelligence of the blowing up of the
powder, of which he well knew there was scarcity enough
before, and of the hurt it had done, he infused new spirit into
his men, and verily believed that they had no ammunition, and
that the loss of sir Ralph Hopton (whom the people took to be
the soul of that army, the other names being not so much
spoken of or so well known, and at this time believed to he
dead) would be found in the spirits of the soldiers ; and having
gotten some fresh men from Bristol, and more from the inclina
tions of the three counties of Wilts, Gloster, and Somerset,
which joined about Bath in the most absolute disaffected parts
of all three, he followed the marquis towards Chippenham;
to which he was as near from Bath as the other from Mars[h]«
field.
July 8. 111. The next day, early in the morning, upon notice that
the enemy was in distance, the prince and the marquis drew
back the army through Chippenham, and presented themselves
in battalia to the enemy ; being very well contented to fight in
such a place, where the success was to depend more on their
foot, who were unquestionably excellent, than on their horse,
which were at best weary, though their ofiicers were, to envy,
forward and resolute. But sir William Waller, who was a
right good chooser of advantages, liked not that ground ; rely
ing as much upon his horse, who had gotten credit and courage,
and as little upon his foot, who were only well armed and well
bodied, very vulgarly spirited and officered : so that having
stood all night in battalia, and the enemy not coming on, the
prince and marquis the next day advanced towards the Devizes,
sir Nicholas Sla[n]ning, with great spirit and prudence, securing
the rear with strong parties of mukseteers ; with which he gave
the enemy, who pressed upon them very smartly, so much in
terruption, that sir William Waller, despairing of overtaking*
sent a trumpet to the marquis, with a letter, offering a pitched
field at a place of his own choosing, out of the way. The which
being easily understood to be only a stratagem to beget a delay
in the march, the marquis carried the trumpet three or four

vii. 113.] and thence to Devizes. 95
miles with him, and then sent him back with such an answer 1643
as was fit. There were all this day perpetual and sharp skir
mishes in the rear; the enemy pressing very hard, and being
always with loss repulsed, till the army safely reached the July 9.
Devizes. 112. Then the case was altered for their retreat to Oxford,
the enemy being upon them with improvement of courage and
improvement of numbers ; sir William Waller having dispersed
his warrants over the country, signifying that he had beaten the
marquis, and requiring the people to rise in all places for the
apprehension of his scattered and dispersed troops ; which
confidence men conceived could not proceed from less than a
manifest victory, and so men flocked to him as the master
of the field. The foot were no more now to make the re
treat, the situation of the place they were now in being such as
they could move no way towards Oxford but over a campania
of many miles, where the stronger in horse must needs prevail.
113. Hereupon it was unanimously advised, and consented
to, that the lord marquis and prince Morrice should that night July 10.
break through with all the horse to Oxford ; and that sir Ralph
Hopton (who by this was supposed past danger of death, and
could hear and speak well enough, though he could not see or
stir) with the earl of Marlborough, who was general of the ar
tillery, the lord Mohun, and the other good officers of foot, should
stay there with their foot and cannon, where it was hoped they
might defend themselves for a few days till the generals might
return with relief from Oxford, which was not above thirty1
miles off. This resolution was pursued; and the same night
all the horse got safe away into the King's quarters, and the
prince and marquis in the morning came to Oxford ; by which July 1 1 .
time sir William Waller had drawn all his forces about the De
vizes. The town was open, without the least fortification or
defence but small ditches and hedges, upon which the foot were
placed, and some pieces of cannon conveniently planted. The
avenues, which were many, were quickly barricadoed, to hinder
the entrance of the horse, which were principally apprehended.
1 [About fifty.]

96 Waller summons them to surrender at Devizes, [vii. 113.
1643 Sir William Waller had soon notice of the remove of the horse,
and therefore, intending that pursuit no farther, he brought hia
whole force close to the town, and beleaguered it round; and
having raised a battery upon a hill near the town, he poured in
his shot upon it without intermission, and attempted to enter
in several other places with horse, foot, and cannon, but was in
all places more resolutely resisted and repulsed. At the same
time, having intelligence (as his intelligence was always most
exact in whatsoever concerned him) of the earl of Cra[w]ford's,
marching with a supply of powder, according to the order, after
the first notice of the battle of Lansdowne, he sent a strong
party of horse and dragoons to intercept him ; who, before he
knew of the alterations which had happened, and of the remove
of the horse towards Oxford, was so far engaged, that he hardly
escaped with the loss of his ammunition and a troop or two of
his horse.
114. Upon this improvement of his success sir William Waller
reckoned his victory out of question ; and thereupon sent a
trumpet into the town to summon the besieged, to let them
know that he had cut off their relief, and that their state was
now desperate, and therefore advised them to submit themselves
to the Parliament, with whom he would mediate on their be-
halfs. They in the town were not sorry for the overture ; not
that they apprehended it would produce any conditions they
should accept, but that they might gain some time of rest hy
it : for the straits they were in were too great for any minds
not prepared to preserve their honour at any rates. When the
enemy came first before the town, and the guards were supplied
with ammunition for their duty, there was but one hundred
and fifty weight of match left in the store ; whereupon diligent
officers were directed to search every house in the town, and to
take all the bed-cords they could find, and to cause them to he
speedily beaten and boiled. By this sudden expedient, there
was by the next morning provided fifteen hundred weight of
such serviceable match as very well endured that sharp service.
Then the compass of the ground they were to keep was so large,
and the enemy pressed so hard upon all places, that their whole

vii. 115.] but is refused. 97
body were upon perpetual duty together, neither officer or sol- 1643
dier having any time for rest ; and the activity of the chief
officers was most necessary to keep up the courage of the com
mon men, who well enough understood the danger they were in ;
and therefore they were very glad of this message, and returned
that they would send an officer to treat if a cessation were
agreed to during the time of the treaty ; which was consented
to, if it were suddenly expedited.
115. On the party of the besieged were proposed such terms
as might take up most time in the debate, and might imply
courage and resolution to hold out. Sir William Waller, on
the other hand, offered only quarter and civil usage to the
officers, and leave to the common soldiers to return to their
houses without their arms, except they would voluntarily choose
to serve the Parliament. These being terms many of the officers
would not have submitted to in the latest extreme, the treaty
ended, after those in the town had gained what they only looked
for, seven or eight hours' sleep, and so long time sparing of am
munition. The truth is, sir William Waller was so confident
that they were at his mercy, that he had written to the Parlia
ment that their work was done, and that by the next post he
would send the number and quality of his prisoners ; neither
did he imagine it possible that any relief could have been sent
from Oxford, the earl of Essex, to whom he had signified his
success and the posture he was in, lying with his whole army
at T[h]ame, within ten ] miles of it. But the importance was
too well understood by the King to omit any thing that might,
with the utmost hazard, be attempted for the redeeming those
men who had wrought such wonders for him. And therefore,
as soon as the marquis and prince arrived at Oxford, with the
sad and unexpected news and relations of the distress of their
friends, though the Queen was then on her march towards Ox
ford, and the King had appointed to meet her two days' journey
for her security, his majesty resolved to take only his own
guards of horse and prince Rupert's regiment for that expedi
tion, and sent the lord Wilmott with all the rest of the horse to
1 [within thirteen.]
VOL. III. H

98 Reinforcements sent from Oxford to Devizes. [VII. 115.
1643 march that very day in which the advertisement came to him
towards the Devizes ; so that the marquis and the prince
coming to Oxford on the Monday morning, the lord Wilmott
that night moved towards the work1, and, prince Maurice re
turning with him as a volunteer but the lord Wilmott com-
Thurs- manding in chief, appeared on the Wednesday about noon upon
Julv iT *^e plain within two miles of the town.
116. The lord Wilmott had with him fifteen hundred horse,
and no more, and two small field-pieces, which he shot off to
give the town notice of his coming; having it in his hopes,
that, it being a fair campania about the town, when the enemy
should rise from before it, he * should be able in spite of them
to join with the foot, and so to have a fair field for it ; which
would be still disadvantageous enough, the enemy being superior
by much in horse, very few of those who had broken away
from the Devizes (except the prince himself, the earl of Car
narvon, and some other officers) being come up with them,
partly because they were tired and dispersed, and partly be
cause it was not desired to have many of those who might have
their old terror still upon them. The enemy, careful to prevent
the joining of this party of horse with the foot, and fully adver
tised of their coming, drew off on all parts from the town,
and put themselves in battalia on the top of a fair hill called
Roundway-down, over which the King's forces were necessarily
to march, being full two miles off the town. They within con
ceived it hardly possible that the relief they expected from Ox
ford could so soon arrive, all the messengers who were sent to
give notice of it having miscarried by the closeness of the siege,
and therefore suspected the s warning pieces from the plain, and
the drawing off the town by the enemy, to be a stratagem to
cozen the foot from those posts they defended into the open
field, and so, very reasonably, being in readiness to march,
waited a surer evidence that their friends were at hand ; which
1 [The marquis of Hertford and prince Maurice arrived at Oxford on
Tuesday, July 11, and the prince went back with the cavalry on the foEom-
ing morning. Merc. Aulicus, p. 367.]
a [' that he,' MS.] " s [• that the,' MS.]

vii. lis.] Waller's army is routed at Roundway-Down. 99
shortly arrived, and assured them that the prince was by, and 1643
expected them.
117. It will be easily conceived with what alacrity they
advanced ; but sir William Waller had purposely chose that
ground to hinder that conjunction, and advanced eo fast on the
lord Wilmott that without such shifts and traverses as might
give his men some apprehension 'he could not expect the foot
from the town ; and therefore he put his troops in order upon
that ground to expect the enemy's charge, who were somewhat
more than musket-shot off, in order of battle.
118. Here sir William Waller, out of pure gaiety, departed
from an advantage he could not again recover ; for, being in
excellent order of battle, with strong wings of horse to his foot,
and a good reserve placed, and his cannon usefully planted,
apprehending still the conjuncture between the horse and the
foot in the town, and gratifying his enemy with the same con
tempt which had so often brought inconveniences upon them,
and discerning their number inferior to that he had before (as
he thought) mastered, he marched with his whole body of horse,
from his foot, to charge the enemy, appointing sir Arthur Hasle
rigge with his cuirassiers apart to make the first impression,
who was encountered by sir John Byron, in whose regiment the
earl of Carnarvon charged as a volunteer ; and after a sharp
conflict, in which sir Arthur Haslerigge received many wounds,
that impenetrable regiment was routed, and in a full career
were chased upon their other horse. And at the same time the
lord Wilmott charging them from division to division, as they
were ranged, in half an hour, (so dismal alterations the acci
dents of war introduce,) the whole entire body of the triumphant
horse were so totally routed and dispersed that there was riot
one of them to be seen upon that large spacious down ; every
man shifting for himself with greater danger, by the precipices
Of that hill, than he could have undergone by opposing his pur
suer. But as it was an unhappy ground to fly, so it was as ill
for the pursuer ; and after the rout, more perished by falls and
bruises from their horses, down the precipices, than by the
swoid. The foot stood still firm, making show of a gallant
h 2

ioo Battle of Roundway-Down. [vii. us.
1643 resistance ; but the lord Wilmott quickly seized their cannon,
and turned them upon them, at the same time that the Cornish
foot, (who were by this come from the town,) were ready like
wise to charge them ; upon which their hearts failed ; and so
they were charged on all sides, and either killed or taken pri
soners, very few escaping, the Cornish retaining too fresh a
memory of their late distresses, and revenging themselves of
those who had contributed the least thereunto. Sir William
Waller himself, with a small train, fled into Bristol, which had
sacrificed a great part of their garrison in his defeat, and so
were even ready to expire at his entry into the town, himself
bringing the first news of his disaster.
119. This glorious day, for it was a day of triumph, re
deemed the King's whole affairs, that all clouds that shadowed
[them a] seemed to be dispelled, and a bright light of success to
shine over the whole kingdom. There were in this battle slain
on the enemy's part above six hundred on the place ; nine hun
dred prisoners taken, besides two or three hundred retaken
and redeemed whom they had gathered up in their skirmishes
and pursuit ; with all their cannon, being eight pieces of brass
ordnance, all their arms, ammunition, waggons, baggage, and
victual ; eight and twenty foot ensigns, and nine cornets ; and
all this by a party of fifteen hundred horse, with two small
field-pieces, (for the victory was perfect, upon the matter, before
the Cornish came up ; though the foot were suffered to stand
in a body uncharged, out of ceremony, till they came, that they
might be refreshed with a share in the conquest,) against a body
of full two thousand horse, five hundred dragoons, and near
three thousand foot, with an excellent train of artillery. So
that the Cornish had great reason to think their deliverance
and victory at Roundway more signal and wonderful than the
other at Stratton, save that the first might be thought the
parent of the later ; and the loss on the King's party was less ;
for in this there were slain very few, and of name none hut
Dudley Smith, an honest and valiant young gentleman, who
1 [' it,* MS.]

vii. 121.] Battle of Boundway-Down. 101
was always a volunteer with the lord Wilmott, and amongst 1643
the first upon any action of danger.
120. Besides the present fruit of this victory, the King re
ceived an advantage from the jealousy that from thence grew
amongst the officers of the Parliament armies. For sir William
Waller believed himself to be absolutely betrayed and sacrificed
by the earl of Essex, out of envy at the great things he had
done, which seemed to eclipse his glories ; and complained that
he, lying with his whole army within ten miles of Oxford,
should suffer the whole strength of that place to march thirty
miles to destroy him, without so much as sending out a party
to follow them, or to alarum Oxford, by which they would have
been probably recalled. On the other hand, the earl, disdaining
to be thought his rival, reproached the other with unsoldierly
neglects, and want of courage, to be beaten by a handful of
men, and to have deserted his foot and cannon without engaging
his own person in one charge against the enemy. Wherever
the fault was, it was never forgiven, but from the enmity that
proceeded from thence the King often afterwards reaped very
notable and seasonable advantages ; which will be remembered
in their places.
121 *. This blessed defeat happened to be upon the same day,
and about the same time of the day, when the King met the
1 [The text is here taken up for this single section from the Life, p. 232.
The Hist, is continued (at pp. 456-7) in the following unfinished pas-

' This thirteenth of July was a day of perfect joy to the King ; for at the
same time and in the very hour that the lord Wilmott vanquished that army
at Eoundway-down, the King met and received his royal consort the
Queen, to his unspeakable satisfaction, in that ground under Edgehill upon
which the year before he had fought his first battle, her majesty having left
the earl of Newcastle in a great likelihood of being entirely master of the
north ; whose actions there were so prosperous, and so full of notable acci
dents, that they deserve a history apart ; and therefore I shall only insert
such of them in this place [as] were most signal, and which had the greatest
influence upon the series of the greatest affairs.
' Upon the Queen's arrival, (which is before set forth at large,) and the
conversion of sir Hugh Cholmeley which ensued thereupon, the King's
affairs in the north, which were in good growth and improvement before,
flourished with notable vigour ; and yet it must be confessed, the enemy in
those parts, with whom the earl of Newcastle was to contend, in courage,

102 The King meets the Queen near Keinton. [VII. 121
1643 Queen upon the field near [Keinton 1] under Edgehill, where
the battle had been fought in October before ; and before their
majesties came to Oxford they received the happy news of it.
It is easy to imagine the joy with which it was received, all
men raising their fallen spirits to a height too proportionable,
as though they should now go through all the work without
farther opposition ; and this transportation to either extremes
was too natural upon all the vicissitudes of the war ; and it
was some allay to the welcome news of the victory to some
men, that it had been obtained under the command and con
duct of Wilmott, who was very much in prince Rupert's dis-
esteem, and not in any notable degree of favour with the King,
but much beloved in all the good fellowship of the army, which
was too great a body. It was now time for the King's army,
victorious in so many encounters, to take the field ; upon what
enterprise, was the question. This overthrow of Waller had
infinitely surprised, and increased the distractions at London.
They had seen the copy of his warrants which his vanity had
caused to be dispersed after the action at Lansdowne (in which
he declared that he had routed the marquis his army, and was
in pursuit of them, and therefore commanded the justices of peace
and constables to give order for the apprehension of them, as
they fled dispersed), and expected every day that the marquis
would be sent up prisoner : and now to hear that his whole
invincible army was defeated, and himself fled, upon the matter,
alone, (for ill news is for the most part made worse, as the best
is reported to be better than it is,) brought them to their wits'
end ; [so] that they could little advance the recruiting the earl
vigilance, and insuperable industry, was not inferior to any who disquieted
his majesty in any part of his dominions, and who pursued any advantage
he got farther, and recovered any loss he underwent sooner, than any other
in the kingdom : so that there were more sharp skirmishes and more
notable battles in that one county of York than in all the kingdom besides,
and less alteration upon them than could be expected; the lord Fairfax and
his son with incredible activity reducing towns when they had an array, and
when they were defeated in the field out of small towns recovering new
armies. About ' — Here the narrative breaks off, the rest of p. 457 w>d $e
whole of p. 458 being left blank, for matter which was never added.]
1 [' Kempton,' MS.]

VII. 121.] Dissatisfaction of the earl of Essex. 103
of Essex his army ; who in his person likewise grew more 1643
sullen towards them, and resented their little regard of him,
and grew every day more conversant with the earls of North
umberland and Holland, and the other who were most weary of
the war and would be glad of peace upon easy terms1.
1 [The Hist, is here resumed, at p. 459 ; the Life continuing as
foEows : —
' There had been the winter before an unhappy design for the surprise of
Bristol, upon inteEigence with some citizens not maturely ripened, which
being discovered, an alderman, and another citizen of good account, had
been tried before a council of war, and executed in the streets, and many
others had fled out of the city ; which, though it disappointed the design,
had exceedingly enraged a great part of the city, which longed to be freed
from the yoke of servitude they were under. And now the strength of that
garrison had been drawn out, and lost under Waller at Roundway, very few
of them returning to Bristol ; so that it seemed very counsellable to the
King to make his first enterprise upon Bristol, where the little reputation
the governor, Nathaniel Fynes, had in war, and the general prejudice the
city and country had against him, made the attempt appear the more
hopeful ; and it was thereupon resolved accordingly. The marquis of
Hartford, with prince Morrice, was to return to his western troops, who
remained about the Devizes still, and with them to march to that side of
Bristol which lay next to Somersetshire, and to quarter as near the city as
conveniently they could, that nothing might go in or out. And prince
Rupert was with the horse and foot of the King's army to march and
quarter upon that side of the city that lies next Glostershire, to straiten
it Ekewise as close as on the other side ; and a day was agreed upon,
that they might compute both armies might by that time be come to
their several quarters, and then the generals on both parts might consult
and conclude what was farther to be done for the attacking the town ; and
they did all meet accordingly.
. ' Upon a full conference, it was agreed that the next morning they would
assault the city in several places at once, the marquis with his forces on
that side on which he was quartered, and the prince on the other ; the
works on the Somersetshire side being much higher and stronger and
the graff deeper than they were on the Glostershire side, where prince
Rupert lay ; and the very place assigned for the marquis his assault was
much harder than many other places upon that line, which might with less
danger and as much benefit have been entered ; which made the Cornish
(who use to say what they think) murmur loudly, that they were carried
thither to be paid for the service they had done. On the western side,
after a continued assault of near three hours, they were beaten off, and upon
the matter quite gave over the assault, with a very great loss of common
men and inferior officers of very good reputation. There fell likewise sir
Nicholas Slan[n]ing and colonel Trevan[n]ion, the heads of the Cornish
with sir Bevil Greenevill, and sir Brutus Bucke, colonel of the marquis his
own regiment. Sir Nicholas Slan[n]ing was brought off the field, his thigh

104 Beinforcements brought [VII. 122.
1643 122. The King's army received a fair addition by the con
juncture with those forces which attended the Queen ; for her
broken with a musket bullet, of which he died a fortnight after, when the
King was in Bristol. He was a young gentleman of about 25 years of age,
of a smaE stature, but very handsome and of a lovely countenance, of
excellent parts and invincible courage. He was master of a fair estate in
I035- land, and had the government of Pendennis castle, and was vice-admiral of
Apr. 1 7. Castle 1; both which offices and commands in so dexterous and active a hand
were of infinite benefit to the King's service, he being a man well loved and
obeyed, and there being an entire friendship between him, GreenviE, and
Trevan[n]ion, with a firm conjunction with John ArrundeE of Trerice, and
his two sons John and Richard, both very active men and in command.
CornwaE was quickly disposed to serve the King as soon as sir Ralph
Hopton and the other gentlemen named before came into that county. He
was of a very acceptable presence, great wit, and spake very well, and with
notable vivacity, and was weE believed by the people. He was in all the
actions, and in aE parties where there was action, in signal command, and
never received hurt or wound tEl this last fatal assault. He told the
ChanceEor of the Exchequer, who visited him after the King came to
Bristol, that he had always despised bullets, having been so used to them,
and almost thought they could not hit him. He professed great joy and
satisfaction in the losing his Efe in the King's service, to whom he had
always dedicated it, and desired the ChanceEor (with whom he had always
friendship) to recommend his wife and his son (who was born the very day
upon which he received his wound, at Pendennis castle) to the King's
favour, and died the next day, to the great grief of aE who knew him,
Trevan [n]ion was about [the] same age, of 24 or 25 years, the eldest, if not
the onlj', son of his father, sir Charles Trevan [n]ion, and newly married to
the daughter of ArrundeE of Trerice. He was a steady young man, of a
good understanding, great courage, but of few words, yet what he said was
always to the purpose. Both he and Slan[n]ing were members of the
House of Commons, and the more abhorred the rebellion by having been
present and observed by what foul artifices it had been promoted ; and as
they always gave what opposition they could to those practices whilst they
remained there, so they were amongst the first who drew their swords to
suppress them. Brutus Bucke was an old soldier, having been an officer of
very good esteem in the voyage to RocheEe, and in the action at the Isle,
and ever after lived in a command the King had given him in the Isle of
Wight, with the reputation of a civil and a stout gentleman. He was
kEled in the head of his regiment with a musket bullet in the forehead,
when he was getting upon the wall, and fell dead in the graff. He was a
man generally beloved, and had no enemies.
' On prince Rupert's side, where the line indeed was very weak and low,
(but there were two or three high castles of earth, upon which store of
cannon was planted with many musketeers, all which infested those who
assaulted the line, which was otherwise slenderly guarded, but there was
within the line a great space of meadow ground, upon which two or three
1 [s.'c ; qu. Cornwall ?J

vii. 122.] by the Queen from the North. 105
majesty brought with her above two thousand foot, well armed, 1643
and one thousand horse, with six pieces of cannon and two
regiments of horse might be drawn up, who might quickly have broken
such foot as should enter the Ene,) the attack here was more prosperous and
successful, though with the loss of many, and some very excellent persons.
The line was entered in the weakest place, and where it was least guarded ;
and they who entered it easily made way for some horse to follow them,
who quickly made the few horse which were placed within to give ground,
and retire into the town, which raised confusion there ; and some more of
the horse and foot of the prince's likewise entered the line, and leaving
those castles behind them, marched directly into the suburbs, where, the
streets being narrow, many soldiers and officers were kiEed from the win
dows and tops of houses, which stopped their advance ; and no doubt, if the
governor had understood his business well, that party which was entered
might very weE have been driven back before any other could have come
to their assistance. But the confusion within the town was very great, and
the apprehension that the army was already entered, and that they should
be aE made a prey to the soldiers, if there were no articles made and con
ditions obtained for them, made the people so clamorous, that the governor
yielded to their importunities, and sent a trumpet to the prince to treat
upon surrender; which overture was easily accepted, and, upon hostages
sent, colonel Gerard, a haughty young man, of a very different temper from
col. Fynes, was sent to treat with him ; he, talking loud to the people of
firing the town if they did not forbear shooting l out of the windows, which
they stiE continued to do, hectored the governor himself to such a temper
that he forthwith gave orders to forbear all acts of hostility in all places,
which the captains in the castles hardly obeyed, but still continued to shoot1
and do much mischieve ; and then concluded, upon the ordinary conditions,
to march out of the town the next day with his troops, and to surrender the
city to the King ; which was done accordingly, to the no small joy of the
commanders. ' Of the prince's side there fell that day many good officers, amongst
which were colonel Harry Lunsford, and his lieutenant colonel Nathaniel
Moyle, both officers of the first rank in their reputation of courage and
conduct, and were both killed out of a window when they had entered the
suburbs, the former dead upon the place, the other lived near a month and
then died. Colonel John Bellasis had a hurt of a very strange nature, and
worth the mentioning, being a gallant gentleman, of much honour and
courage, as he was marching in the head of his regiment of foot, with his
sword drawn in his hand ; upon which a musket bullet struck the flat of
the blade with such force that it bowed like a bow, and remaining stiE in
his hand was driven upon his forehead, that he fell to the ground, but rose
presently of himself without help, and seeing no blood he believed the hurt
not considerable, and continued in his business. But he found it necessary
within less than an hour to be carried off, his head with the contusion for
many days swelling to that prodigious proportion that when the King came
to Bristol and the ChanceEor of the Exchequer went to see him, he knew
1 [' suting,' ' sute,' MS.]

106 The earl of Essex retires to Uxbridge. [VII. 123.
1643 mortars, and about one hundred waggons. So that as soon as
their majesties came to Oxford, the earl of Essex, (who had
spent his time about T[h]ame and Aylesbury, without any
action after that skirmish in which Mr. Hambden was slain,
save by small parties, of which there was none of name or note,
July 2. but one handsome smart conflict1 between a party of five hun-
not who he was, there being no appearance of eyes or nose ; so that it was
thought trepanning would be the only way to preserve him, and that not a
certain one ; but he, having his senses very perfect, would not endure so
rude a remedy ; and after the swelling was at the height, it declined and
sunk as fast ; and when the army removed from Bristol, was well enough,
and attended his charge in it, without any mark or blemish. The lord
viscount Grandison was then likewise wounded with a musket-shot in the
leg, of which, though he was carried to Oxford and thought past danger, he
died two months after 2. He was a very beautiful person, of great virtue and
eminent courage, and of manners not to be corrupted. He was a very
great loss, when the age stood in need of such examples, and was particu
larly lamented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with very vehement
passion, there being a most entire friendship between them for many years
without any intermission.
' The town being thus happily taken, (though the price that was paid for
it was grievous,) the old embers of jealousy and discontent, which had been
lightly raked up and covered, between the two princes and the marquis of
Hartford, broke out now into a flame. The town was within the marquis
his commission, and so he concluded that the government was in his dis
posal, and designed it to sir Ralph Hopton, who by this time was past all
danger, and in all respects was preferable to any man that could be named.
On the other side, prince Rupert believed the right of conferring it to he in
him, since it was taken by the forces under his command when those under
the marquis were beaten off, and he had a purpose to confer it upon sir
Arthur Aston, who had been governor of Reading, and lost much reputa
tion there in respect of his nature and manners, not of his soldiery, which
stood as it did before. But when the prince had thought better of his own
power, and weighed the difference between sir Ralph Hopton and sir
Arthur Aston in the eyes of the world, he changed his purpose, and both
the prince and the marquis sending expresses to give the King notice of the
success, the prince made it his humble suit to the King that his majesty
would bestow the government of Bristol upon his highness; and the
marquis, after he had given an account of the taking the town, in which
he gave all the attributes to the prince which were due to him, he told the
King that he had conferred the government upon sir Ralph Hopton, which
he knew his majesty would approve, since no man could be so fit for it, nor
had deserved better from his majesty.' — The remainder of this relation,
containing an account of the King's visit to Bristol, is inserted in the
printed editions of the Life.]
1 [At Padbury, near Buckingham.]
2 [See note on p. 114.]

vii. 124.] Bristol besieged ly prince Bupert. 107
dred horse and dragoons, commanded by colonel Middleton, a 1643
Scotchman, on the Parliament party, and a regiment of horse,
commanded by sir Charles Lucas, on the King's ; where, after
very soldierly contests, and more blood drawn than was usual
upon such actions, the King's party prevailed, returning with
some prisoners of name, and the slaughter of one hundred of
their enemy, not without good loss of their own :) retired with
his army broken, and disheartened, to Uxbridge, giving over
any thought of fighting with the King till he should be re
cruited with horse, men, and money ; and suffering no less in
the talk of the people, (who began to assume a great freedom
in discourse,) for not interposing to hinder the Queen's march
to Oxford and joining with the King, than for sitting still so
near Oxford, whilst the lord Wilmott went from thence to the
ruin of sir William Waller.
123. After which defeat, the lord Wilmott retired to Oxford
to attend his majesty ; and the Cornish army (for that name it
deservedly kept still, though it received so good an increase by
the marquis and prince's joining with them) drew back, and
possessed themselves of Bath, which was quitted upon the over
throw of Waller, that garrison being withdrawn to reinforce
Bristol. At Bath they rested and refreshed themselves, till
they might receive new orders from the King ; who, upon full
advice, and consideration of the state he was in, and the broken
condition of the enemy, resolved to make an attempt upon the
city of Bristol ; to which prince Rupert was most inclined, for
being disappointed in a former design ; and where there were
many well affected to the King's service from the beginning,
and more since the execution of those two eminent citizens.
And the disesteem generally of the courage of Nathaniel Fynes,
the governor, made the design to be thought the more reasonable.
And so the marquis and prince Morrice returned to Bath, upon
agreement to appear on such a day with their whole strength
before Bristol, on the Somersetshire side, when prince Rupert with
the Oxford forces would appear before it on the Glostershire side.
124. On the four and twentieth of July both armies sat July 24.
down before it, quartering their horse in that manner that

io8 It is resolved to attack [vii. 124.
1643 none could go out or in to the city without great hazard of
being taken, and the same day, with the assistance of some
seamen who were prepared before, seized all the ships that
were in King-road ; which were not only laden with things of
great value, as plate, money, and the best sort of all commodi
ties, which those who suspected the worst had sent aboard, but
with many persons of quality, who, being unwilling to run the
hazard of a siege, thought that way to have secured themselves,
and to have escaped to London ; who were all taken prisoners.
July 25. The next day prince Rupert came to his brother and the mar
quis, and a general council of all the principal officers of both
armies being assembled, it was debated in what manner they
should proceed, by assault or approach.
125. There were in the town five and twenty hundred foot,
and a regiment of horse and dragoons. The line about the town
was finished, yet in some places the graff was wider and deeper
than in other. Then the castle within the town was very well
repaired, and supplied with great store of provisions to endure
a siege. The opinions were several. The officers of the Cor
nish were of opinion that it was best to proceed by way of ap
proach; because, the ground being very good, it would in a
very short time be done ; and since there was no army of the
enemy in a possibility to relieve it, the securest way would be
the best ; whereas the works were so good, that they must ex
pect to lose very many men, and if they were beaten off all their
summer hopes would be destroyed ; it not being easy again to
make up the spirit of the army for a new action. Besides, they
alleged the well affected party in the city, which was believed
to be very great, would, after they had been closely besieged
three or four days, have a greater influence upon the soldier,
and be able to do more towards the surrender than they could
upon a storm, when they would be equally sensible of the dis
order of the soldier, and their own damage by plunder, as
the other ; and the two late examples of the executed citizens
would keep men from offering at any insurrection in the city.
126. On the other hand, prince Rupert, and all the officers of
his army, very earnestly desired to assault it ; alleged the work

VII. 127.] Bristol by storm. 109
to be easy, and the soldiers fitter for any brisk attempt than a 1643
dull patient design, and that the army would be more weakened
by the latter than the former : that the city, not having yet re
covered the consternation of sir William Waller's defeat, was so
full of horror that it would make a very weak defence : that
there was no soldier of experience in the town, and the governor
himself not like to endure the terror of a storm : whereas, if
they gave them time to consider, and to look long upon them
with a wall between, they would grow confirmed and resolute,
and courage would supply the place of skill ; and having plenty
of all kinds of provisions within the town, they would grow
strong and peremptory, whilst the besiegers grew less vigorous
and disheartened. These reasons, and the prince's importunity,
with some insinuations of knowing more than was fit to be
spoken, as if somewhat would be done within the town that
must not be mentioned, and a glorious contempt of danger,
prevailed so far, that it was consented to on all parts to assault
the town the next morning, at three places on the Somerset
shire side, and at three places on the Glostershire side, at the
break of day. The truth is, both opinions, without any circum
stances, were in themselves reasonable. For the Glostershire
side, where prince Rupert was, might be stormed, the graff
being shallow, and the wall in some places low and weak,
which could not be easily approached, by reason the ground
was rocky, and the redoubts high and very strong, which over
looked the ground. On the other side the ground was very
easy to approach, and as inconvenient and dangerous to storm,
by reason of a plain level before the line, and a broad and
deep graff, and the line throughout better Hankered than the
other. 127. The next morning, with no other provisions fit for such July 26.
a work but the courage of the assailants, both armies fell on.
On the west side, where the Cornish were, they assaulted the
line in three places ; one division led by sir Nicholas Slan[n]ing,
assisted with colonel John Trevan[n]ion, lieutenant colonel
Slingsby, and three more field ofiicers ; too great a number of
such officers to conduct so small a party as five hundred men, if

no Storming of Bristol. [vii. 127.
1643 there had not been an immoderate disdain of danger and
appetite of glory. Another division, on the right hand, was
led by colonel Bucke, assisted by colonel Wagstaffe, colonel
Bernard Ashley, who commanded the regiment of the lord
marquis Hartford, with other ofiicers of the field : and the
third division, on the left hand, led by sir Thomas Basset, who
was major general of the Cornish. These three divisions fell on
together, with that courage and resolution as nothing but death
could control ; and though the middle division got into the
graff, and so near filled it that some mounted the wall, yet by
the prodigious disadvantage of the ground, and the full defence
the besieged made within, they were driven back with a great
slaughter ; the common soldiers, after their chief ofiicers were
killed or desperately wounded, finding it a bootless attempt.
128. On prince Rupert's side, it was assaulted with equal
courage, and almost equal loss, but with better success ; for
though that division, led on by the lord Grandison, colonel
general of the foot, was beaten off, the lord Grandison himself
being hurt, and the other, led by colonel Bellasis, likewise had
no better fortune, yet colonel Washington, with a less party,
finding a place in the curtain, between the places assaulted hy
the other two, weaker than the rest, entered, and quickly made
room for the horse to follow. The enemy, as soon as they saw
their line entered in one place, either out of fear, or by com
mand of their officers, quit their posts ; so that the prince
entered with his foot and horse into the suburbs, sending for
one thousand of the Cornish foot, which were presently sent to
second him, and marched up to Froomegate, losing many men,
and some very good officers, by shot from the walls and windows ;
insomuch as all men were much cast down to see so little gotten
with so great a loss ; for they had a more difficult entrance into
the town than they had yet passed, and where their horse could
be of no use to them ; when, to the exceeding comfort of
generals and soldiers, the city beat a parley ; which the prince
willingly embracing, and getting their hostages into his hands,
sent colonel Gerard and another officer to the governor to
treat. The treaty began about two of the clock in the after-

vii. 130.] Articles of surrender. in
noon, and before ten at night these articles were agreed on, and 1643
signed by all parties :
129. I.1 ' That the governor, Nathaniel Fiennes, together with all the offi
cers both of horse and foot now within and about the city of Bristol, castle,
and forts, may march out to-morrow morning by nine of the clock, with their
full arms, bag and baggage, provided it be their own goods : and that the
common foot soldiers march out without arms, and the troopers with their
horses and swords, leaving their other arms behind them, with a safe convoy
to Warmi[n]ster ; and after, not to be molested in their march by any of
the King's forces for the space of three days.
2. ' That there may be carriages allowed and provided to carry away
their bag and baggage, and sick and hurt soldiers.
3. ' That the King's forces march not into the town tiE the ParEament
forces are marched out ; which is [to be] at nine of the clock.
i. ' That aE prisoners in the city be delivered up ; and that captain
Eyres and captain Cookin, who were taken at the Devizes, be released.
5. 'That sir John Horner, sir John Seymour, Mr. Edward Stevens, and
aE other knights, gentlemen, citizens, and other persons, that are now in
the city, may, if they please, with their goods, wives, and families, bag and
baggage, have free liberty to return to their own homes, or elsewhere, and
there to rest in safety, or ride and travel with the governor and forces : and
such of them and their families as shall be left behind, by reason of sickness
or other cause, may have liberty, so soon as they can conveniently, to depart
this town with safety ; provided that aE the gentlemen and other persons
shaE have three days' liberty to reside here, or depart with their goods,
which they please.
6. ' That aE the inhabitants of the city shall be secured in their persons,
families, and estates, free from plundering and aE other violence or wrong
whatsoever. 7. ' That the charters and liberties of this city may be preserved ; and
that the ancient government thereof, and present governors and officers,
may remain and continue in their former condition, according to his
majesty's charters and pleasure.
8. ' That, for avoiding inconveniences and distractions, the quartering of
soldiers be referred or left to the mayor and governor of the same city for
the time being.
9. ' That aE such as have carried any goods into the castle may have free
liberty to carry the same forth.
10. ' That the forces that are to march out are to leave behind them all
cannon and ammunition, with their colours, and such arms as ib before
expressed.' 130. The next morning, if not before, (for the truth is, from July 27.
the time that the treaty was first offered they in the town kept
no guards, nor observed any order, but their soldiers ran away
1 [These articles are not in Clarendon's handwriting. Hence the varia
tion in the speEing of the name Of Fiennes from the form used by him.]

na The King's troops violate the articles. [vii. 130.
1643 to the prince, and many of his soldiers went into the town,) his
highness was possessed of Bristol, the enemy then marching
away. Here the ill example at Reading, in the breach of the
articles, was remembered, and unhappily followed ; for all that
garrison was now here ; so that they, with some colour of right
or retaliation, and the rest by their example, used great license
to the soldiers who should have been safely conducted ; which
reflected much upon the prince, though he used his utmost
power to suppress it, and charged colonel Fynes to be accessary
to his own wrong, by marching out of the town an hour before
his appointment, and thereby his convoy was not ready, and at
another gate than was appointed and agreed upon. And as the
articles were thus unhappily violated to those who went away,
so they were not enough observed to those who stayed, and to
the city itself : for many of colonel Fynes' soldiers taking con
ditions, and entering with the King's army, instructed their
new friends who were most disaffected ; so that one whole street
upon the bridge, the inhabitants whereof lay under some brand
of malignity, though no doubt there were many honest men
amongst them, was almost totally plundered ; which, because
there was but little justice done upon the transgressors, was
believed to be done by connivance from the officers, and more
discredited the King's forces and his cause than was then taken
notice of or discovered. It was a noble attribute given to the
brave Fabricius, qui aliquod esse crederet et[iarnj in hostem nefasK
I wish I could excuse those swervings from justice and right,
which were too frequently practised against contracts, under
the notion that they with whom they were made were rebels,
and could not be too ill used ; when, as the cause deserved, so
it needed, all the ingenuity and integrity in the propugners of
it to keep despair from the guilty, who were by much too
numerous for the innocent.
131. This reduction of Bristol was a full tide of prosperity
to the King, and made him master of the second city of his
kingdom, and gave him the undisturbed possession of one of the
richest counties of the kingdom, (for the rebels had now no
1 [Seneca, Epist. CXX. ' aliquid,' MS.]

vii. 132.] Principal officers killed or wounded. 113
standing garrison, or the least visible influence upon any part 1643.
of Somersetshire,) and rendered Wales (which was before well
affected, except some towns in Pembrokeshire) more useful to
him, being freed of the fear of Bristol, and consequently of the
charge that always attends those fears, and restored to the trade
with Bristol, which was the greatest support of those parts.
Yet the King might very well have said what king Pyrrhus
heretofore did, after his second battle by the city of Asculum
with the Romans, where he won the victory ; ' If we win an
other at the price, we are utterly undone1.' And truly his ma
jesty's loss before this town was inestimable, and very hard to
be repaired. I am persuaded there were slain, upon the several
assaults, of common men, (but such as were tried and incom
parable foot,) about five hundred, and abundance of excellent
officers, whereof many were of prime command and quality.
132. On the Cornish side fell, besides major Kendall, and
many other inferior officers, excellent in their degree, colonel
Bucke, a modest and a stout commander, and of good experience
in war, who, having got over the graff and even to the top of
the wall, was knocked down with a halbert, and perished in the
graff; sir Nicholas Slan[n]ing, and colonel John Trevan[n]ion
the life and soul of the Cornish regiments, whose memories can
never be enough celebrated ; who, being led by no impulsion
but of conscience, and their own observation of the ill practices
and designs of the great conductors, (for they both were of the
House of Commons,) engaged themselves with the first in the
opposition, and as soon as sir Ralph Hopton and those other
gentlemen came into Cornwall joined with them ; and being
both of singular reputation and good fortunes there, the one in
possession, the other in reversion after his father, they engaged
their persons and estates in the service, rather doing great things
than affecting that it should be taken notice of to be done by
them ; applying themselves to all infirmities, and descending to
all capacities, for removing all obstructions which accidentally
arose amongst those who could only prosper by being of one
mind. Sir Nicholas Slan[n]ing was governor of Pendennis
1 [Plutarch in Vit. Pyrrhi.]
vol. in. 1

114 ' Principal officers killed or wounded [vii. 132.
1643 castle, upon the credit and security whereof the King's party
in that county first depended, and, by the command it had of
the harbour of Falmouth, was, or might be, supplied with all
that was necessary. He was indeed a young man of admirable
parts, a sharp and discerning wit, a staid and solid judgment, a
gentle and most obliging behaviour, and a courage so clear and
keen that, even without the other ornaments, would have ren
dered him very considerable. They were both very young,
neither of them above eight and twenty, of entire friendship to
one another and to sir Bevil Greenevill, whose body was not yet
buried ; they were both hurt almost in the same minute and in
the same place ; both shot in the thigh with a musket bullet,
their bones broken, the one dying presently, the other some few
days after ; and both had the royal sacrifice of their sovereign's
very particular sorrow, and the concurrence of all good men's ;
and, (that which is a greater solemnity to their memories,) as
it fares with most great and virtuous men whose loss is better
understood long afterwards, they were as often lamented as the
accidents in the public affairs made the courage and fidelity of
the Cornish of greatest signification to the cause.
133. On the north side, of prince Rupert's army, fell very
many good officers, the chief of whom was colonel Harry Luns-
ford, an officer of extraordinary sobriety, industry, and courage ;
by whom his excellent lieutenant colonel Moyle was likewise
hurt, and died within few days ; both shot out of a window
after they had entered the suburbs. There were hurt, the lord
viscount Grandison, nephew to the great duke of Buckingham,
who was colonel general of the King's foot ; colonel John Bel
lasis, (since lord Bellasis ;) colonel Bernard Ashley ; colonel sir
John Owen ; and many other officers of name ; of whom none
of quality died of their wounds but the lord Grandison \ whose
loss can never be enough lamented. He was a young man of
so virtuous a habit of mind that no temptation or provocation
could corrupt him ; so great a lover of justice and integrity
1 ['Sept. 29. The Lord Grandison dyed in Oxford at Jesus coEedge of
the fever.' Dugdale's Diary, 1827, p. 55. 'Sub finem Aug.;' epitaph in
Ch. Ch. cathedral, put up after 1670.]

vii. 135.] in the taking of Bristol. 115
that no example, necessity, or even the barbarity of this war, 1643
could make him swerve from the most precise rules of it ; and
of that rare piety and devotion that the court or camp could
not shew a more faultless person, or to whose example young
men might more reasonably conform themselves. His personal
valour, and courage of all kinds, (for he had sometimes indulged
so much to the corrupt opinion of honour as to venture himself
in duels,) was very eminent, insomuch as he was accused of
being too prodigal of his person. His affection and zeal and
obedience to the King was such as became a branch of that
family ; and he was wont to say, ' that, if he had not under
standing enough to know the uprightness of the cause, nor
loyalty enough to inform him of the duty of a subject, the *
very obligations of gratitude to the King, on the behalf of his
house, were such as his life was but a due sacrifice : ' and there
fore he no sooner saw the war unavoidable than he engaged all
his brethren as well as himself in the service, and there were
then three more of them in command in the army when he was
so unfortunately cut off.
134. As soon as the news of the taking of Bristol came to
the King at Oxford, after a solemn thanksgiving to God for the
success, which was immediately and publicly performed, his
majesty assembled his Privy-Council, to consider how this great
blessing in war might be applied to the procuring a happy
peace, and that this might be the last town he should purchase
at the price of blood. It was evident that as this last victory
added great lustre and beauty to the whole face of his affairs,
so it would produce an equal paleness and be an ominous pre
sage to the Parliament ; where the jealousies and apprehen
sions between themselves still grew higher, and new remedies
still proposed, which were generally thought worse than the
disease. 135. Upon news of the lord Fairfax's being defeated in the
north 2, they resolved presently to send a committee of the two July 5.
Houses into Scotland, to desire their brethren of that kingdom
presently to advance with an army for their relief; which was
1 [' that the,' MS.] 2 [At Athertou Moor, June 30.]
I 2

116 The two Houses send to Scotland for help. [vii. 135.
1643 thought so desperate a cure, that, the Lords naming the earl of
July 11. Rutland and lord Grey of Warke for that ambassy, the earl
July 19. upon indisposition of health procured a release, and the other,
who had never declined any employment they would confer on
July 17. him, so peremptorily refused to meddle in it that he was com
mitted to the Tower ; and in the end they were compelled to
depute only commoners to that service : and so sir William
Armyn, young sir Harry Vane, and two more, assisted with
July 12. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Nye, two of their powerful clergy, were
July 20. embarked in that negociation ; upon which they who sent them
were so far from being confident, and so little satisfied that they
should be driven to bring in foreign forces, with the purpose
whereof they had so long traduced the King, that there was,
(some few desperate persons only excepted,) even a universal
desire of peace ; and the earl of Essex himself, writing to the
Speaker of the House of Commons of the defects in his army,
and of his wants of horse, men, and money, advised that they
July 9. would think of sending some reasonable propositions to the
King for the procuring a safe peace ; which being the first
intimation he had ever given to that purpose, together with
his familiarity and correspondence with those lords who were
known passionately to desire an accommodation, gave them sad
July 28. apprehensions ; which were increased by some severe messages
they received from him, for a vindication from the foul asper
sions and calumnies which were generally and publicly laid on
him for his unactivity after the winning of Reading, whilst the
Queen marched securely to Oxford and sir William Waller was
destroyed ; as if he would think of some way of righting him
self, if they were not sensible on his behalf.
136. How to work upon these discomposed humours, and to
reduce them to such temper that they might consent to the
kingdom's peace, was the argument of the King's consultations :
but by what expedient to promote this, was the difficulty.
After the breach of the last treaty, and when the King had
in vain laboured to revive it, and could not procure any answer
from them to his last messages, but instead thereof his mes
senger imprisoned, tried before a council of war for his life, and

vii. 137.] The King consults how to deal with Parliament. 117
still in custody, and a declaration that whosoever should be 1643
employed by his majesty on any message to them without their
leave should be proceeded against as a spy, (so that though
they pretended to be his Great Council, they, upon the matter,
now protested against any relation to his majesty,) he advised
with his Council what might be fit for him to do to lessen the
reverence and reputation of them with the people : for the
superstition towards the name of a Parliament was so general,
that the King had wisely forborne to charge the two Houses
with the treason and rebellion that was raised, but imputed it
to particular persons, who were most visibly and actually en
gaged in it. Some were of opinion that all the members who
stayed there, and sat in either House, being guilty of so many
treasonable acts, that thereby the Parliament was actually dis
solved, by the same reason as a corporation by great misde
meanour and crime might forfeit their charter ; and therefore
that the King should by his proclamation declare the dissolution
of it, and then consider whether it were fit to call another. But
this opinion was generally disliked ; both because it was con
ceived not to be just, for the treason of those who were present
could not forfeit the right of those who were away, neither was
it evident that all present consented to the ill that was done ;
and the King's declaring a Parliament to be dissolved contrary
to an Act of Parliament was believed would prove an act so un
gracious to the people for the consequences of it, that the King
would be an exceeding loser by such an attempt, and that many,
in such a case, would return thither who out of conscience had
withdrawn from that assembly.
137. In conclusion, the advice was unanimous that his ma
jesty should declare the orders and proceedings of one or both
Houses to be void, by reason the members did not enjoy the
freedom and liberty of Parliament, and therefore require his
good subjects no longer to be misled by them : and to that pur
pose the King had issued his proclamation six weeks before this June 20.
happy turn in his affairs ; so that he could not now send a mes
sage to them as to two Houses of Parliament, lest he might seem
to retract his former judgment of them, which was concluded

1 1 8 The King's Declaration [VII.137.
1643 to be both regular and just. Upon the whole matter, lest his
majesty might be understood to be so much elated with his
good successes and the increase of his strength that he aimed
at no less than a perfect victory, and the ruin of those who had
incensed him, (by which insinuations they who could not for
give themselves endeavoured to make all others desperate,) he
was resolved to publish such a Declaration to the whole kingdom
that both Houses and army could not but take notice of, and
might, if they were inclined to it, thence take a rise to make
any overtures to him towards an atonement. And to that pur-
July 30. pose, the next day after he received the assurance of the taking
of Bristol, his majesty published this ensuing Declaration ; which
being short, I shall enter in his own words.
138. His majesty's Declaration to all his loving subjects, after his victories
over the lord Fairfax in the north, sir William Waller in the west,
and the taking of Bristol by his majesty's forces.
' As the grievances and losses of no particular persons, since these
miserable bloody distempers have disquieted this poor kingdom, can be
compared to the loss and damage we ourself have sustained, there having
been no victory obtained but in the blood of our own subjects, nor no rapine
or violence committed but to the impoverishment and ruin of our own
people ; so, a blessed and happy peace cannot be so acceptable and welcome
to any man as to us. Almighty God, to whom aE the secrets of our heart
are open, who hath so often and so miraculously preserved us, and to
whose power alone we must attribute the goodness of our present condition,
(how unhappy soever it is with reference to the public calamities,) knows
with what unwiEingness, with what anguish of soul, we submitted ourself
to the necessity of taking up defensive arms. And the world knows with.
what justice and bounty we had repaired our subjects, for all the pressures
and inconveniences they had borne, by such exceEent laws as would for
ever have prevented the like ; and with what earnestness and importunity
we desired to add any thing for the establishment of the religion, laws, and
liberty of the kingdom. How all these have been disturbed, invaded, and
almost destroyed, by faction, sedition, and treason, by those who have
neither reverence to God or affection to men, but have sacrificed both to
their own ends and ambition, is now so evident, that we hope, as God hath
wonderfuEy manifested his care of us and his defence of his and our most
just cause, so he hath so . far touched the hearts of our people, that their1
eyes are at last opened to see how miserably they have been seduced, and
to abhor those persons whose malice and subtlety have seduced them, to
dishonour him, to rebel against us, and to bring much misery and calamity
upon their native country.
139. ' We weE remember the protestation voluntarily made by us in the
head of that small army we were master of in September last, to defend and

vii. 141.] after the taking of Bristol. 1 1 9
maintain the true reformed Protestant reUgion, and if it should please God, 1643
by his blessing upon that army, to preserve us from this rebellion, that we
would maintain the just privileges and freedom of Parliament, and govern
by the known laws of the land ; for whose defence, in truth, that army was
only raised, and hath been since kept. And there cannot be a more season
able time to renew that protestation than now, when God hath vouchsafed
us so many victories and successes, and hath rendered the power of those
who seek to destroy us less formidable than it hath been, (so that we shall
probably not fall under the scandalous imputation which hath usuaEy
attended our messages of peace, that they proceed from the weakness of our
power, not love of our people,) and when there is more freedom in many
counties for our good subjects to receive true information of their own and
our condition ; the knowledge whereof hath been, with equal industry and
injustice, kept from them, as other acts of cruelty have been imposed on
them. 140. ' We do therefore declare to all the world, in the presence of Almighty
God, to whom we must give a strict account of all our professions and pro
testations, that we are so far from intending any alteration of the reEgion
established, (as hath been often falsely, scandalously, and against the con
science of the contrivers themselves of that rumour, suggested to our
people,) or from the least thought of invading the liberty and property of
the subject, or violating the just privEeges of Parliament, that we call that
God to witness who hath covered our head in the day of battle that we
desire from our soul, and shall always use our utmost endeavour, to preserve
and advance the true reformed Protestant religion established in the Church
of England, in which we were born, have faithfully lived, and, by the
grace of God, shaE resolutely die : that the preservation of the liberty and
property of the subject, in the due observation of the known laws of the
land, shall be equally our care as the maintenance of our own rights ; we
desiring to govern only by those good laws which, till they were oppressed
by this odious rebellion, preserved this nation happy. And we do acknow
ledge the just privEeges of Pariiament to be an essential part of those laws,
and shall therefore most solemnly defend and observe them. So that, in
truth, if either religion, law, or Uberty, be precious to our people, they wiE,
by their submission to us, join with us in the defence of them, and
thereby estabEsh that peace by which only they can flourish and be enjoyed.
141. ' Whether these men that be professed enemies to the established
ecclesiastical government, who reproach and persecute the learned orthodox
ministers of the Church, and into their places put ignorant, seditious, and
schismatical preachers, who vilify the Book of Common Prayer, and
impiously profane God's worship with their scurrilous and seditious de
meanour, are Eke to advance that religion ; whether those men who boldly,
and without the least shadow or colour of law, impose insupportable taxes
and odious excises upon their fellow subjects, imprison, torment, and
murder them, are like to preserve the Uberty and property of the subject :
and whether those men who seize and possess themselves of our own
unquestionable revenue and our just rights, have denied us our negative
voice, have by force and violence awed and terrified the members of both
Houses, and, lastly, have, as far as in them lies, dissolved the present Par-

120 The King's Declaration after successes, [vii. Hi.
1643 Uament, by driving away and imprisoning the members, and resolvmg the
whole power thereof, and more, into a committee of a few men, contrary to
aE law, custom, or president, are like to vindicate and uphold the pri
vileges of Parliament, all the world may judge.
142. ' We do therefore once more conjure our good subjects, by their memory
of that excellent peace and firm happiness with which it pleased God to
reward their duty and loyalty in time past ; by their oaths of allegiance
and supremacy, which no vow or covenant contrived and administered to
and by themselves can cancel or evade ; by whatsoever is dear and precious
unto them in this life, or hoped or prayed for in the life to come ; that they
wEl remember their duty and consider their interest, and no longer suffer.
themselves to be misled, their prince dishonoured, and their country wasted
and undone, by the malice and cunning of these state impostors, who, under
pretence of reformation, would introduce whatsoever is monstrous and
unnatural both to religion and policy : hut that they rather choose quietly
to enjoy their religion, property, and Uberty, founded and provided for by
the wisdom and industry of former times, and secured and enlarged by the
blessings upon the present age, than to spend their lives and fortunes to
purchase confusion, and to make themselves liable to the most intolerable
kind of slavery, that is, to be slaves to their fellow subjects ; who, by their
prodigious unheard of acts of oppression and tyranny, have given them suf
ficient evidence what they are to expect at their hands.
143. 'And let not our good people, who have been misled, or, through want
of understanding or want of courage, submitted themselves to unwarrantable
and disloyal actions, be taught by these seducers that their safety now
consists in despair, and that they can only secure themselves for the Els
they have done by a resolute and peremptory disobedience. Revenge and
blood-thirstiness have never been imputed to us by those who have left
neither our government or nature unexamined with the greatest boldness
and maUce. And aU those who, since those bloody distractions, out of
conscience have returned from their evil ways to us, have found that it
was not so easy for them to repent as to us to forgive. And whosoever
hath been misled by those whose hearts from the beginning have designed
aE this mischief, and shall redeem their past crimes by their present service
and loyalty in the apprehending or opposing such who shaE continue to
bear arms against us, and shaE use their utmost endeavours to reduce those
men to their due obedience, and to restore this kingdom to its wonted
peace, shall have cause to magnify our mercy, and to repent the trespasses
committed against so just and gracious a sovereign. Lastly, we desire aU
our good subjects who have really assisted, or reaEy wished us weE, now
God hath done such wonderful things for us, vigorously to endeavour to
put an end to aE these miseries, by bringing in men, money, plate, horses,
or arms, to our aid ; that so we, being not wanting to ourselves, may with
confidence expect the continuance of God's favour, to restore us all to that
blessed harmony of affections which may estabUsh a firm peace; without
the speedy obtaining of which, this poor kingdom wiE be utterly undone,
though not absolutely lost.'
144. What effect this proclamation produced, at least what

vii. 144.] Dispute about the government of Bristol. 131
accident fell out shortly after the publishing it, we shall have 1643
occasion anon to remember, when we have first remembered
some unfortunate passages which accompanied this prosperity
on the King's part ; for the sunshine of his conquest was
somewhat clouded, not only by the number and quality of
the slain, but by the jealousies and misunderstandings of
those who were alive. There was not from the beginning that
conformity of humour and inclinations between the two princes
and the marquis of Hartford, as had been to be wished between
all persons of honour who were engaged in a quarrel that could
never prosper but by the union of the undertakers. Prince
Morrice, and, on his behalf, (or rather the other by his
impulsion,) prince Rupert, taking to heart, that a nephew of
the King's should be lieutenant general to the marquis, who
had neither been exercised in the profession of a soldier, nor
even now punctually studied the office of a general : on the
other hand, the marquis, who was of the most gentle nature to
the gentle, and as rough and resolute to the imperious, it may
be, liked not the prince's assuming to himself more than
became a lieutenant general, and sometimes crossing acts of his
with relation to the governing and disposing the affairs of the
country, in which he knew himself better versed than the
prince ; and when Bristol was taken, where the marquis took
himself to command in chief, being a town particularly within
his commission, and of which he was besides lord lieutenant,
he thought himself not regardfully enough used that prince
Rupert had not only entered into the treaty without his
advice, but concluded the articles without so much as naming
him, or taking notice that he was there. And therefore with
as little ceremony to his highness, or so much as communicating
it to either of the princes, the marquis declared that he would
give the government of that city to sir Ralph Hopton. Prince
Rupert, on the other hand, conceived the town won by him,
being entered on that side in which he commanded absolutely,
and the Cornish on the other part absolutely repulsed ; and
therefore that the disposition of the command and government
of it wholly belonged' to him. But when he heard the

iaa Dispute about the appointment [vii. 144.
1643 resolution of the marquis concerning sir Ralph Hopton, who
was not to be put into the scale with any private man, he gave
over the design of conferring it upon any of the pretenders,
and by the same messenger by whom he advertised his majesty
of the good success, he desired that he would bestow the
government of that city, reduced by him, upon himself; the
which the King readily consented to, not suspecting any
dispute to be about it. And shortly after an express arrived
likewise from the marquis, with an account of all particulars,
and that bis lordship had designed sir Ralph Hopton to be
governor of the new-got city.
145. Then, and not before, the King understood what strait
he was in, and was exceedingly perplexed to find an expedient
to compose the difference that he saw would arise. He had
passed his word to his nephew, of whom he was very tender,
and did in truth believe that his title to dispose the govern
ment was very just : so he had a very just esteem of the
marquis, who had served him with all fidelity, and who clearly
declared himself for him when the doing otherwise would have
been most prejudicial to his majesty : and it could not be
denied, no subject's affection and loyalty gave a greater lustre
to the King's cause than that of the marquis ; and that which
was a circumstance of infinite moment was the nominating
sir Ralph Hopton, who, as he was a person of high merit from
the King, so he was the most gracious and popular to that city
and the country adjacent ; and after so great service, and
, suffering in the service, to expose him to a refusal, was both
against the kindness and goodness of the King's nature, and his
politic foresight into his affairs. And, as a presage how various
the interpretation would be abroad of whatsoever he should
determine, he found the minds and affections of his own Court
and Council with more passion than ordinary ready to deliver
their opinions. The marquis was generally loved, and where
he was not enough known to be so, his interest and reputation
in the kingdom was thought a wonderful consideration in the
King's business : and many were very much troubled to see
prince Rupert, whose activity and courage in the field they

vii. 146.] of the governor of Bristol. 123
thought very instrumental, incline to get the possession of the 1643
second city of the kingdom into his hands, or to engage himself
so much in the civil government as such a command soberly
executed must necessarily comprehend, and this, as it were, in
contempt of one of the prime noblemen of the kingdom, to
which order the prince had not expressed himself very de
bonair. And these thought the King was, by counsel and
precept, to reform and soften the prince's understanding and
humour, and to persuade him, in compliance with his service,
to decline the contest, and suffer the marquis to proceed in his
disposition, which on all parts was acknowledged to be most
fitly designed.
146. Others again were of opinion, that the right of dis
posing the command to whomsoever he thought fit entirely
belonged to prince Rupert, and therefore (besides that the
King had by the same messenger who brought the suit
returned his consent) that he could not be reasonably refused
when he desired it for himself; which would take away all
possible imagination of disrespect from sir Ralph Hopton, who
could not take it ill that the prince himself had taken a
command that was designed to him : that the eyes of the army
were upon his highness, whose name was grown a terror to the
enemy, as his courage and conduct had been very prosperous to
the King ; and if, after so happy and glorious an achievement,
he should now receive a repulse in so reasonable a pretence,
though it would not lessen his own duty or alacrity in the
service, it might have an unhappy influence upon his reputation
and interest in the army, which could receive no diminution
without apparent damage to his majesty : and therefore that
some means should be used to the marquis to waive his title,
and to consent that the prince should enjoy his desires. So
that they who were only fit to be employed to persuade and
alter either, seemed, and indeed were, passionately engaged
against the thing they were to persuade. So that the King
discerned that all depended upon his own royal wisdom ; and
therefore resolved to take a journey in his own person to
Bristol, and there to give such a rule as he should find most

124 The King goes to Bristol, [vii. 146.
1643 necessary, to which he presumed both persons would conform
themselves, as well cordially as obediently.
147. That which the King proposed to himself was, to
gratify his nephew with the name, and the marquis by making
sir Ralph Hopton enjoy the thing, upon obliging whom the
King's care was very particular. For though he knew his
nature, (as in truth it was,) most exactly free from interrupting
the least public service by private ends or thoughts, other men
would be apt to conceive and publish a disrespect to be done
to him which himself apprehended not ; and therefore that he
was not only in his own princely mind to retain a very
gracious sense of his service, but to give evidence to all men
Aug. 2. that he did so. And so after he had made a1 joyful entrance
into Bristol, which was performed with all decent solemnity,
and used all kind and obliging expressions to the marquis, and
in private desired him to consent that he might perform his
promise to his nephew, which he had passed before he had
any imagination that his lordship otherwise had determined of
it, without speaking at all of any other title he had to it but
by his majesty's promise, he established prince Rupert in the
government of Bristol, who immediately sent a commission to
sir Ralph Hopton, (who was now so well recovered that he
walked into the air,) to be his lieutenant governor ; signifying
likewise to him, by a confidant who passed between them,
that though he was now engaged for some time, (which should
not be long,) to keep the superior title himself, he would not
at all meddle in the government, but that he should be as abso
lute in it as if the original commission had been granted to him.
148. Sir Ralph Hopton, who was exceedingly sorry that his
name was at all used and exposed as an argument of difference
and misunderstanding between persons of such eminent in
fluence upon the public, quickly discerned that this expedient,
though it seemed plausibly to lessen the noise of the debate,
did in truth object him to the full envy of one party. For the
marquis (who by the King's persuasions was rather quieted
than satisfied) might, and he foresaw would, be persuaded to
1 ['very,' struck out in the MS.]

vii. 148.] and appoints prince Bupert governor. 1 25
expect that he would refuse the commission from prince 1643
Rupert, both as he might be thought to comply in an injury
done to the marquis, to whom his devotion had been ancient,
fast, and unshaken, and as the command now given him was
inferior to what the marquis, who had the power of disposal,
had conferred on him ; and so that he should vindicate that
title which the King himself was loath to give a judgment
upon. And he was the more troubled, because he found that by
submitting to this charge he should by some be thought to
have deserted the marquis, out of a kind of revenge for his
having defeated the enterprise when he chose, the last year,
rather to go into Wales than Cornwall, and deserting him
again now, when he brought all new officers to command the
army over their heads who had raised it and made the way for
the new to come to them. Whereas the first, (as is before
remembered,) was done by his own advice as well as his full
consent ; and the latter he well knew was rather to be imputed
to prince Morrice than to his lordship, whose kindness and
esteem had been ever very real to him. On the other hand,
he saw plainly, that if he refused to receive this commission,
with what specious circumstances of duty and submission
soever, it might produce (as without doubt unavoidably it
would) notable disturbances and interruptions in the King's
affairs, and that the marquis, to common understanding, had,
to obey the King, declined the contestation, and therefore that
the reviving it, and the mischieve that attended, would be
imputed to his particular account. Besides that he had always
borne an avowed and declared reverence to the Queen of
Bohemia and her children, whom he had personally and
actively served in their wars whilst they maintained any, and
for whose honour and restitution he had been a zealous and
known champion. And therefore he had no inclination to
disoblige a hopeful prince of that house, upon whom our own
hopes seemed so much to depend. So that he resolved, (accord
ing to his rare temper throughout this war,) to let him whom
he professed to serve choose * in what kind he would be served
1 ['to choose,' MS.]

126 Consultation about the [vn. 148.
1643 by him, and cheerfully received the commission from prince
Rupert ; upon which all discourse or debate of difference was
for the present determined, what whisperings or murmurings
soever remained.
149. The King found it now high time to resolve to what
action next to dispose his armies, and that their lying still so
long there (for these agitations had kept the main work from
going forward ten or twelve days, a time in that season un
fortunately lost) had more weakened than refreshed them,
having not lost more men by storming the city than were
afterwards by plundering it ; those shoulders which had warmed
themselves with the burden of pillage never quickly again
submitting to the carriage of their arms.
150. The question was first, whether both armies should be
united, and march in one upon the next design ? And then,
what that design should be? Against the first there were
many allegations.
151. 1. The condition of the west : Dorsetshire and Devon
shire were entirely possessed by the enemy ; for though sir
John Barkely with a daring party kept Exciter, and colonel
John Digby the north part (which was notoriously disaffected),
from joining with Plimmoth, which would else quickly have
grown into an army strong enough to infest Cornwall, yet they
had no place to retire to upon distress ; and all the ports upon
the western coasts were garrisoned by them, which, upon the
fame of the approach of the King's forces, and the loss of Bristol,
might probably be without much resistance reduced.
152. 2. The Cornish army was greater in reputation than
numbers, having lost many at Lansdowne and the assault of
Bristol, and by the death of their chief officers very many were
run away since ; besides, they pretended some promise made to
their country, which they conceived not to be enough secured
against Plimmoth, of returning speedily for the reduction of
that town ; so that if they were compelled to march eastwards,
to which they were not inclined, it was to be doubted they
would moulder so fast away that there would be little addition
of strength by it. Whereas if they marched westward, it

vii. 155.] movements of the King's armies. 127
would be no hard matter to gather up those who were returned, 1643
and to be strong enough in a very short time by new levies for
any enterprise should be thought reasonable to be undertaken.
To which was added, that, having lost those officers whom they
loved and feared, and whose reverence restrained their natural
distempers, they were too much inclined to mutiny, and had
expressed a peremptory aversion to the joining and marching
with the King's army. And the truth is, their humours were
not very gentle and agreeable, and apt to think that their
prowess was not enough recompensed or valued. For though
the King affected to make all possible demonstrations to them
of an extraordinary high esteem he had of their wonderful
fidelity and courage, yet he was able to procure very little
money for them; and they had then, by the discipline under
which they had been trained, (which was most regular, and full
of that sobriety which promised good fortune,) and an honest
pride in their own natures, a great disdain of plundering, or
supplying themselves by those vile arts which they grew after
wards less tender to avoid.
153. 3. The great number of the King's horse; which was
so glorious a body, that when that part of it which was joined
to the Cornish was away, he should march with at least six
thousand horse, which were as many as would be able to live on
any country within a due distance of quartering.
154. 4. Lastly, some correspondence with the chief gen
tlemen of Dorsetshire, who were ready to join with any con
siderable party for the King, and had some probable hopes that
the small garrisons upon the coast would not make a tedious
resistance. 155. There was another reason, which was not given; that,
if both armies had been kneaded into one, prince Morrice could
have been but a private colonel. But there were enough
besides to satisfy the King to keep them divided ; and so he
gave order to the earl of Carnarvon to advance towards
Dorchester (the chief town in that county, and the most
malignant in England, where the rebels had a garrison) with
the horse and dragoons, and the next day to prince Morrice to

128 The marq. of Hertford is kept with the King. [vii. 155.
1643 march after with the foot and cannon ; his majesty keeping
with him the marquis of Hartford to attend his own person.
For though he well saw he should undergo some inconveniences
by withdrawing the marquis from that employment, the opinion
of the soundness of his religion and integrity of his justice
rendering him by much the most popular man in those parts,
and was exceedingly tender of giving the least umbrage and
distaste to his lordship, upon whose honour and affection he
relied entirely, and would as soon have trusted his crown upon
his fidelity as upon any man's in his three kingdoms, yet he
discerned plainly that the prince and the marquis would never
agree together, and that there were persons about them who
would foment their indispositions to each other with any hazard
to his service ; and concluded, that he should sooner reduce his
people by the power of his army than by the persuasions of his
Council, and that the roughness of the one's nature might
prevail more than the lenity and condescension of the other :
and therefore he sent the prince on that employment, using all
imaginable means to remove any trouble, or jealousy of his
favour, from the marquis's mind ; his majesty freely and clearly
communicating to him all his counsels, and the true grounds of
his resolution, and declaring to him that he would make him
a gentleman of his bedchamber and groom of his stool, and that
he would always have his company and advice about him.
With which the marquis was satisfied, rather because he re
solved not to disobey him than that he was well pleased with
the price of the obligations.
156. And truly many wise and honest men were sorry for
the King's election ; and though the marquis's years, and a long
indulgence to his ease, had superinduced a kind of laziness and
inactivity upon his nature, that was neither agreeable to hia
primitive constitution nor the great endowments of his mind,
(for he was a good scholar, and had a good judgment,) and less
to the temper of this time and the office of a general, insomuch
as he often resigned an excellent understanding to those who
had a very indifferent one, and followed the advice, and con
cluded upon the information, of those who had narrower and

VII

157.] Employing the royal forces. 129

more vulgar thoughts than suited with his honour, and were 1643
not worthy of such a trust ; yet they thought the prince's full
inexperience of the customs and manners of England, and an
aversion from considering them, must subject him to the in
formation and advice of worse counsellors than the other, and
which would not be so easily controlled. And I am of opinion,
that if the prince had waited on his majesty in that army, and
never interposed in any command not purely martial, and the
marquis been sent with those forces into the west with the lord
Hopton, (who was now to be left at Bristol to intend his health,
and to form that new garrison, which was to be a magazine for
men, arms, ammunition, and all that was wanted,) and some
other steady persons, who might have been assigned to special
provinces, a greater tide of good fortune had attended that
expedition. 157. The next resolution to be taken was concerning the
King's own motion with that army. There was not a man who
did not think the reducing of Gloster, a city within little
more than twenty miles of Bristol, of mighty importance to the
King, if it might be done without a great expense of time and
loss of men. It was the only garrison the rebels had between
Bristol and Lancashire on the north part of England ; and if it
could be recovered, he would have the river of Severn entirely
within his command, whereby his garrisons of Worcester and
Shrewsbury, and all those parts, might be supplied from
Bristol, and the trade of that city thereby so advanced that the
customs and duties might bring a notable revenue to the King,
and, the wealth of the city increasing, it might bear the greater
burden for the war : a rich and populous county, which hitherto
rather yielded conveniences of quarter than a settled contribu
tion, (that strong garrison holding not only the whole forest
division, which is a fourth part of the county of Gloster, abso
lutely in obedience, but so alarumed all other parts that none
of the gentry, who for the most part were well affected, durst
stay at their own houses,) might be wholly the King's quarters ;
and by how much it had offended ,and disquieted the King
more than other counties, by so much the more money might be.
vol. in. K

130 The King is advised to attempt [vii. 157.
1643 raised upon them besides the general weekly contributions, the
yeomanry, who had been most forward and seditious, being very
wealthy, and able to redeem their delinquency at a high price.
And these arguments were fully pressed by the well affected
gentry of the county, who had carried themselves honestly, and
suffered very much by doing so, and [who] undertook great
levies of men if this work were first done. There was another
argument of no less, if not greater, moment than all the rest :
if Gloster were reduced, there would need no forces to be left in
Wales, and all those soldiers might be then drawn to the
marching army, and the contributions and other taxes assigned
to the payment of it. Indeed, the King would have had a
glorious and entire part of his kingdom, to have contended with
the rest.
158. Yet all these motives were not thought worth the en
gaging his army in a doubtful siege, whilst the Parliament
might both recover the fear that was upon them, and conse
quently allay and compose the distempers, (which, if they did
not wholly proceed [from,] were very much strengthened by,
those fears,) and recruit their armies ; and therefore that it was
better to march into some of those counties which were most
oppressed by the enemy, and there wait such advantages as the
distraction in and about London would administer, except there
could be some probable hope that Gloster might be got without
much delay. And to that purpose there had been some secret
agitation, the effect whereof was hourly expected. The governor
of that garrison was one colonel Massy, a soldier of fortune,
who had in the late northern expeditions prepared by the King
against Scotland been an officer in the King's army, under the
command of William Legge, and in the beginning of these
troubles had been at York with inclination to serve the King ;
but finding himself not enough known there, and that there
would be little gotten but the comfort of a good conscience, he
went to London, where there was more money and fewer
officers, and was easily made lieutenant colonel to the earl of
Stamford ; and being quickly found to be a diligent and a stout
officer, and of no ill parts of conversation to render himself

vii. 159.] the taking of Gloucester. 131
acceptable among the common people, was by his lordship, 1643
when he went into the west, left governor of that city, where he
had behaved himself actively and successfully. There was no
reason to despair that this man (not intoxicated with any of
those fumes which made men rave and frantic in the cause)
might not be wrought upon ; and Will. Legge, (who had the
good opinion of most men, and the particular kindness of
prince Rupert,) had sent a messenger, who was like to pass
without suspicion, to Gloster, with such a letter of kindness
and overture to Massy as was proper in such a case from one
friend to another. This messenger returned when the King's
and army's motion was under debate, and brought an answer
from the governor in a very high style, and seeming to take it
much unkindly that he should endeavour to corrupt him in his
honesty and fidelity, and to persuade him to break a trust,
which to save his life he would never do ; with much discourse
of his honour and reputation, which would be always dear to
him. But the messenger said withal, that, after the governor
had given him this letter, and some sharp reproaches before
company, he was brought again, a back way, to a place where he
was by himself ; and then he told him, that it was most necessary
he should write such an answer as he had done, which was
communicated to those who else would have been jealous what
such a messenger should come to him about ; but that he should
tell Will. Legge, that he was the same man he had ever been,
his servant, and that he wished the King well ; that he heard
prince Rupert meant to bring the army before that town ; if he
did, he would defend it as well as he could, and his highness
would find another work than he had at Bristol ; but if the
King himself came with his army, and summoned it, he would
not hold it against him, for it would not stand with his con
science to fight against the person of the King ; besides, that in
such a case he should be able to persuade those of the town
which otherwise he could not do.
159. This message turned the scale; for though it might be
without purpose of being honest, yet there was no great ob
jection against the King's marching that way with his army,
K 2

133 Gloucester is summoned by the King. [vii. 159.
1643 since it would be still in his power to pursue any other
counsel, without engaging before it. And it was to some a
sign that he meant well, because he had not hanged, or at
least imprisoned, the messenger who came to him on such an
errand. Hereupon the King resolved for Gloster, but not to
be engaged in a siege ; and so sent his army that way ; and
the next day (having first sent sir Ralph Hopton a warrant
to create him baron Hopton of Stratton 1, in memory of the
happy battle fought there) with the remainder of his forces
marched towards it.
Aug. 10. 160. On Wednesday the tenth of August the King ranged
his whole army upon a fair hill, in the clear view of the city,
and within less than two miles of it ; and then, being about
two of the clock in the afternoon, he sent a trumpet with this
summons to the town :
' Out of our tender compassion to our city of Gloster, and that it may not
receive prejudice by our army, which we cannot prevent if we be com-
peEed to assault it, we are personally come before it to require the same ;
and are graciously pleased to let all the inhabitants of, and all other
persons within, that city, as well soldiers as others, know, that if they shall
immediately submit themselves, and deliver this our city to us, we are con
tented freely and absolutely to pardon every one of them without ex
ception ; and do assure them, in the word of a king, that they, nor any of
them, shaE receive the least damage or prejudice by our army in their
persons or estates; but that we will appoint such a governor and a
moderate garrison to reside there, as shaE be both for the ease and
security of that city and that whole county. But if they shall neglect
this proffer of grace and favour, and compel us by the power of our army
to reduce that place, (which, by the help of God, we doubt not we shall
be easily and shortly able to do,) they must thank themselves for aU the
calamities and miseries must befaE them. To this message we expect a
clear and positive answer within two hours after the pubUshing hereof; and
by these presents do give leave to any persons safely to repair to and
return from us, whom that city shall desire to employ unto us in that
business : and do require all the officers and soldiers of our army quietly to
suffer them to pass accordingly.'
161. Within less than the time prescribed, together with
the trumpeter returned two citizens from the town, with lean,
pale, sharp, and bald visages, indeed faces so strange and
unusual, and in such a garb and posture, that at once made
the most severe countenance merry, and the most cheerful
1 [The letters patent are dated 4 Sept.]

vii. 163.] The citizens return a most defiant answer. 133
heart sad ; for it was impossible such ambassadors could 1643
bring less than a defiance. The men, without any circum
stances of duty or good manners, in a pert, shrill, undismayed
accent, said, they had brought an answer from the godly city
of Gloster to the King; and were so ready to give insolent
and seditious answers to any question as if their business were
chiefly to provoke the King to violate his own safe conduct.
The answer they brought was in writing, in these very words :
'Aug. 10th, 1643.
162. 'We, the inhabitants, magistrates, officers, and soldiers, within this
garrison of Gloster, unto his majesty's gracious message return this humble
answer : That we do keep this city, according to our oaths and allegiance,
to and for the use of his majesty and his royal posterity : and do accord
ingly conceive ourselves wholly bound to obey the commands of his majesty
signified by both Houses of ParEament : and are resolved, by God's help, to
keep this city accordingly.'
163. This paper was subscribed by Wise, the mayor, and
Massy, the governor, with thirteen of the aldermen and most
substantial citizens, and eleven officers of the garrison. And
as soon as their messengers returned, who were quickly dis
missed, without attending to see what the King resolved, all
the suburbs of the city, in which were very large and fair
buildings, well inhabited, were set on fire ; so that there
was no doubt the King was to expect nothing there but what
could not be kept from him. Now was the time for new
debates and new resolutions, to which men came not so un
biassed or unswayed as they had been at Bristol. This in
dignity and affront to the King prompted thoughts of revenge ;
and some thought the King so far engaged, that in honour he
could not do less than sit down before the town, and force it :
and these inclinations gave countenance and credit to all those
plausible informations, of small provisions in the town either
of victual or ammunition, that where the town was strongest
there was nothing but an old stone wall, which would fall
upon an easy battery, that there were many well affected
people in the town, who, with those who were incensed by the
burning of the suburbs and the great losses they must sustain
thereby, would make such a party that, as soon as they were

134 The King resolves to besiege Gloucester. [vii. 163.
1643 distressed, the seditious party would be forced to yield. It
was alleged that the enemy had no army, nor, by all intelli
gence, was like to form any soon enough to be able to relieve
it ; and if they had an army, that it were much better for his
majesty to force them to that distance from London, and to
fight there, where he could be supplied with whatsoever he
wanted, could choose his own ground, where his brave body
of horse would be able to defeat any army they could raise,
than to seek them in their own quarters.
164. Above all, the confidence of the soldiers of the best
experience moved his majesty, who, upon riding about the
town and taking a near view of it, were clear of opinion that
they should be able in less than ten days by approach (for all
thought of storming was laid aside upon the loss [at *] Bristol)
to win it. This produced a resolution in his majesty, not one
man in the council of war dissuading it. And so the King
presently sent to Oxford for his general the earl of Braynfbrd2
to come to him with all the foot that could be spared out of
that garrison and his pieces of battery, and to govern that
action : prince Rupert wisely declining that province, and re
tiring himself into his generalship of the horse, that he might
not be thought accountable for any accidents which should
attend that service. At the same instant, orders were de
spatched to sir William Vavasour, who commanded all the
forces in South Wales, (the lord Harbert having been per
suaded so far to comply with the indisposition of that people
as to decline that command, or at least for a time to dissemble
it,) to draw all his men to the forest side of the town ; where
the bridges being broken down, a small strength would keep
them in, and any from going to them ; which within two days
was done. And so the King was engaged before Gloster, and
thereby gave respite to the distracted spirits at London to
breathe and compose themselves, and, more methodically than
they had hoped to have done, to prepare for their preservation
and accomplishing their own ends ; which at that time seemed
almost desperate and incurable.
1 [' of,' MS.] 2 [' Forth,' struck out in the MS.]

vii. 165.] Dismay of Parliament at the loss of Bristol. 135
165. The direful news of the surrender of Bristol, which 1643
was brought to the two Houses on the 31st of July, struck
them to the heart, and came upon them as a sentence of death,
after a vast consumption of money and confident promises of
destroying all the King's forces by a day, every tax and im
position being declared to be the last ; and for finishing the
work, the earl of Essex was at the same time returned to
Kingston, within eight miles of them, with his broken and
dismayed troops, which himself would not endure should have
the title of an army. So that the war seemed to be even at
an end in a sense very contrary to what they had undertaken ;
their general talking more, and pressing, for reparation and
vindication of his honour from imputations and aspersions,
than for a recruit of forces or providing an army to defend them.
Every man reproached his neighbour with his disinclination
to peace when good conditions might be had, and magnified
his own wisdom for having feared it would come to this. The
King's last Declaration had been read by all men, and was
magnified as a most gracious and undeniable instance of his
clemency and justice, that he was so far from being elated
with his good successes, and power almost to have what he
would, that he renewed all those promises and protestations,
for the religion, laws, and liberties of the kingdom, and privi
leges of Parliament, which had been out of their perverseness
discredited before as proceeding from the low condition he
was in ; and whereas they had been frighted with their repre
sentation of their own guilt, and the implacableness of the
King's nature, as if he meant an utter conquest of them, his
majesty had now offered all that could be honestly desired, and
had expressed himself a prince not delighted with blood and
revenge, but an indulgent father to the most disobedient
children. In this reformation of understanding, the Lords in
their House debated nothing but expedients for peace : there
were not of that body above five at the most who had any
inclination to continue the war; and the earl of Essex had
sufficiently declared that he was weary of it, and held closest
and strictest correspondence with those who most passionately

136 Propositions for peace by the House of Lords, [vii. 165.
1643 pressed an accommodation. So that on the fifth of August
Aug. 5. fjjgy (Jegjfed a conference with the Commons, and declared to
them that they were resolved to send propositions to the
King, and they hoped they would concur in them. The par
ticulars proposed by them were,
166. 1. 'That both armies might be presently disbanded, and'his majesty
be entreated to return to his Parliament upon such security as should give
him satisfaction.
2. ' That reUgion might be settled with the advice of a synod of divines,
in such a manner as his majesty, with the consent of both Houses of Par
liament, should appoint.
3. ' That the militia, both by sea and land, might be settled by a biU ;
and the militia, forts, and ships of the kingdom put into such hands as the
King should appoint with the approbation of both Houses of ParUament :
and his majesty's revenues to be absolutely and wholly restored unto him,
only deducting such part as had been of necessity expended for the main
tenance of his chEdren, and not otherwise.
4. ' That aU the members of both Houses who had been expelled only for
absenting themselves, or mere compliance with his majesty, and no other
matter of fact against them, might be restored to their places.
5. 'That all delinquents, from before the tenth day of January, 1641,
should be delivered up to the justice of ParUament, and a general pardon
for aU others on both sides.'
6. And lastly, ' That there might be an Act of oblivion for aE by-gone
deeds and acts of hostEity.'
167. When this conference was reported in the House of
Commons, it begat a wonderful long and a hot debate, which
lasted till ten of the clock that night, and continued a day
or two more. The violent party (for there were yet many
amongst them of more moderate constitutions, who did and
ever had heartily abhorred their proceedings, though, out of
fear, and indisposition of health, or not knowing else well
what to do, they continued there) inveighed furiously against
the design itself, of sending to the King at all, and therefore
would not have the particular propositions so much as con
sidered. They had received much prejudice by the last treaty
at Oxford, and therefore must undergo much more now their
condition was much lower : the King had since that, upon the
matter, declared them to be no Parliament, for if they were
not free, they could not be a Parliament; so that till that
point were vindicated they could not treat in any safe

vii. 168.] Debate thereon in the House of Commons. 137
capacity, but would be looked upon under the notion of rebels, 1643
as his majesty had declared them. They had sent members
into Scotland to require assistance, which that kingdom was
preparing with all brotherly affection and forwardness; and,
after such a discovery, to treat for a peace without their
privity was to betray them, and to forfeit all hopes hereafter
of relief from thence, what necessities soever they might be
reduced to. That the city of London had expressed all
imaginable readiness to raise forces for sir William Waller ;
and the counties near London were ready to rise as one man,
whereby the earl of Essex would be speedily enabled to march,
with a better army than ever he had to give the King battle,
except this discourse of peace did extinguish the zeal that was
then flaming in the hearts of the people.
168. But notwithstanding these reasons, and the passion in
the delivery, the terror of the King's successes suggested
answers enough. They had been punished for breaking off the
treaty of Oxford, when they might have had better terms than
now they could expect, and if they omitted this opportunity
they should fare much worse ; that they were not sure of aid
from Scotland, neither was it almost possible it should come
time enough to preserve them from the ruin at hand. And
for the city of London, though the common and meaner sort of
people, (who might promise themselves advantage by it,) de
sired the continuance of the distractions, yet it was evident
the most substantial and rich men desired peace, by their
refusal to supply money for the carrying on the war ; and if
they should judge of the common people by their forwardness
to engage their own persons, they had reason to believe they
had no mind to the war neither ; for their general was forced
to retire even under their own walls for want of men to
recruit his army. However, the sending reasonable proposi
tions to the King would either procure a peace, and so they
should have no more need of an army, or, being refused, would
raise more men and money than all their ordinances without it.
These reasons and arguments prevailed ; and after the debate Saturday,
had lasted till ten of the clock at night, it was resolved upon -Au&• 5-

138 The propositions rejected through [vii. 168.
1643 the question, and carried by nine and twenty voices ', that they
should insist upon the propositions, and send to his majesty.
169. And without doubt, if they had then sent, (as, if the
power had been in the two Houses of Parliament, they had
done,) a firm peace had immediately ensued : for, besides that
if a treaty and cessation had been in that conjuncture entered
upon, no extravagant demand would have been pressed, only
a security for those who had been faulty, which the King
would gladly have granted and most religiously observed, the
fourth proposition, and consent to restore all members to their
places in Parliament, would have prevented the kindling any
more fire in those Houses. But this was too well known to
be suffered to pass; and therefore the next day, being Sunday,
the seditious preachers filled all the pulpits with alarums of
ruin and destruction to the city if a peace were now offered
to the King ; and printed papers were scattered through the
streets, and fixed upon gates, posts, and the most public places
in the city and suburbs, requiring all persons well affected to
rise as one man, and to come to the House of Commons next
morning, for that twenty thousand Irish rebels were landed;
which information was likewise that day given in many pulpits
by their preachers ; and in other papers likewise set up, it was
declared that the malignant party had overvoted the good, and,
if not prevented, there would be peace.
170. When the minds of the people were thus prepared,
Aug. 6. Pennington, their own lord mayor, though [on] Sunday, (on
which they before complained the King used to sit in Council,)
called a Common Council ; where a petition was framed to the
House of Commons, taking notice of propositions passed by the
House of Peers for peace, which, if consented to and allowed,
would be destructive to religion, laws, and liberties; and
therefore desired that House to pass an ordinance, according
to the tenor of an act of their Common Council, (which they
appointed to be annexed to their petition,) which was for the
1 [' That the propositions from the Lords be taken into further considera
tion; yeas, 94; noes, 65.' Commons' Journals, III. 196. See also Fifth
Report of Hist. MSS. Commission, 1876, pp. 98-100.]

vii. 171.] the violent opposition of the city. 139
vigorous prosecuting the war, and declining all thoughts of 1643'
accommodation. With this petition, and such an attendance
as those preparatives were like to bring, the lord mayor him
self, who from the time of his mayoralty had forborne sitting Aug. 7.
in the House as a member, came to the House of Commons
and delivered it, with such farther insinuations of the temper
of the city as were fit for the purpose ; the people at the door
behaving themselves as imperiously, and telling the members
of both Houses, as they passed by them, that if they had not
a good answer they would be there the next day with double
the number. The Lords complained of the tumults, and sent
to the Commons to join with them in the suppression ; instead
whereof the Commons (many of their body withdrawing for
fear, and other by fear converted, or, it may be, by hope of
prevailing) gave the city thanks for their petition, advice, and
courage, and rejected the propositions for peace1.
171. This raised a new contest in the city, which was not
willing to lie under the perpetual brand of resisting and op
posing peace, as they did of first raising the war. And there
fore the wise and sober part of it would gladly have discovered
how averse they were from the late act of the Common Council.
But the late execution of Tomkins and Challoner2, and the
advantage which was presently taken against any man who
was moderately inclined, frighted all men from appearing in
person to desire those things upon which their hearts were
most set. In the end, the women expressed greater courage
than the men ; and, having a precedent 3 of a rabble of that sex
appearing in the beginning of these distractions with a peti
tion to the House of Commons, to foment the divisions, with
acceptance and approbation, a great multitude of the wives of Aug. 9.
substantial citizens came to the House of Commons with a
petition for peace. Thereupon a troop of horse, under the
command of one Harvey, a decayed silkman, who from the
beginning had been one most confided in, were sent for, who
behaved themselves with such inhumanity that they charged
among the silly women as an enemy worthy of their courages,
1 [Yeas, 81; noes, 88] a [' Challinour,' MS.] 3 [' president,' MS.]

T40 Parliament prepares to raise fresh armies, [vii. 171.
1643 and killed and wounded many of them, and easily dispersed
the rest. When they were by this means secured from farther
vexation of this kind, special notice was taken of those mem
bers who seemed most importunate and desirous of peace, that
some advantage might be taken against them. Whereupon,
they well discerning the danger they were in, many both of
the Peers and the Commons first absented themselves from the
Houses, and then removed into those quarters where, they
might enjoy the protection of the King, and some of them came-
directly to Oxford.
172. Having diverted this torrent, which would have brought
peace upon them before they were aware, they considered their
strength, and applied themselves to the recovery of the spirits
of their general, whose indisposition troubled them more than
any other distress they were in. To this cure they applied re
medies of contrary natures, which would yet work to the same
July 27. end. First they caressed sir William Waller with wonderful
July 25. kindness and esteem ; and as he was met upon his return to.
London, after the most total defeat that could almost be ima
gined, (for though few of his horse were killed upon the place,
they were so ruinously dispersed that of above two thousand
there were not three hundred gotten together again for their
service,) with all the trained bands and militia of London, and
received as if he had brought the King prisoner with him, so
July 29 l. he was immediately chosen governor and commander in chief
of the forces and militia of London, for the defence of the city ;
Aug. 8. and it was now declared that they would forthwith supply him
with a good body of horse and foot, to take the field again, and
relieve their distressed friends in the west. Then another or-
Aug. 9. dinance .was passed to raise a vast army, under the command
of the earl of Manchester, (who had been always steady to his
first principles, and never a friend to any overture of accom
modation,) in order to opposing the earl of Newcastle, and to
take charge of all the associated counties, which were Essex,
1 [In pursuance of a resolution passed this day, as recommended from a
committee on July 27, WaUer's commission was sent to him by Essex on
Aug. 6. Lords' Journals, VI. 172.]

vii. 173.] The fidelity of the earl of Essex assured. 141
Hartford, Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Huntington, and, by a 1643
new addition, Lincoln. And for the speedy raising men to join
to those who would voluntarily list themselves under those two
beloved generals, there was an ordinance passed both Houses Aug. 10.
for the pressing of men ; which seemed somewhat to discredit
their cause, that, after so much pretence to the hearts of the
people, they should be now compelled to fight, whether they
•would or no ; and was the more wondered at because they had
themselves procured the King's consent to an Act this Parlia
ment, that declared it to be unlawful to press or compel any of
the freeborn subjects to march out of the county in which they
lived if he were not willing so to do 1 ; and direction was given
by other ordinances to press great numbers of men, to serve Aug. 16,
both under the earl of Manchester and sir William Waller. * '
And having thus provided for the worst, and let the earl of
Essex discern that they had another earl to trust to, and more
generals than one at their devotion, they sent a formal com- Aug. 19.
mittee of both Houses to him, to use all imaginable art and
application to him, to recover him to his former vigour and
zeal in their cause. They told him the high value the Houses
had of the service he had done, and the hazards, dangers, and
losses he had for their sakes undergone : that he should receive
as ample a vindication for the calumnies and aspersions raised
on him as he could desire, from the full testimony and confidence
of the two Houses, and if the infamous authors of them could
be found their punishment should be as notorious as their
libels : that no other forces should be recruited till his were
made up ; and that all his soldiers' arrears should be paid, and
clothes presently sent for his foot.
173. Whether these reasons, with the jealousy of the earl of
Manchester, upon whom he plainly saw the violent party wholly
depended, or the infusions poured into him by the lord Say and
Mr. Pimm of the desperateness of his own condition, with an
opinion, by the conclusions upon the differences between the
two princes and the marquis of Hartford, that the marquis's
services were not enough valued by the King, (which many
1 [See Book IV. § 88.]

142 Several of the lords go to the King's quarters, [vil.173.
1643 desired should be thought to have then some influence upon the
earl,) or whether he had not courage enough to engage in so
hazardous an enterprise, he grew insensibly altered from his
moderate inclinations and desire of peace ; for it is most cer
tain, that as the confidence in him gave many lords the spirit
to appear champions for peace who had been before as solicitous
against it, so the design was then the same which hath been
since prosecuted with effect to a worse purpose, [that is,] for
the members of both Houses who were of one mind, upon that
signal riot and compelling the House of Commons to renounce
their former resolution of propositions to the King, to have
gone to the earl of Essex, and there, under the security of their
own army, to have protested against the violence which was
offered, the breach of their privileges by the Common Council's
taking notice of their counsels and overruling their conclusions,
and to have declared their want of freedom : by means whereof
they made no doubt to have drawn the Houses to consent to
such an agreement as the King would well have approved of,
or to have entered upon such a treaty themselves with the
King as all the moderate part of the kingdom would have been
glad to be comprehended under.
174. But this staggering in their general frustrated that
design, and put them to other resolutions ; and so, having ren
dered themselves very ungracious in the Houses, and possibly
suspecting the earl of Essex might discover some of their over
tures, many of the lords left the town, and went either directly
to Oxford or into the King's quarters ; the earl of Portland and
the lord Lovelace (of whose good affections to his service the
King had always assurance, and who had only stayed there as
a place where they might do him more service than any where
else) directly to Oxford, and the lord Conway shortly after
Aug. 12. them ; the earl of Clare into Worcestershire, and from thence,
by the King's free acceptation, to Oxford, there being no other
objection against his lordship than his staying so long amongst
them ; but his total differing with them in all their extrava
gances, [he] having no manner of relation to the Court, rendered
him to his majesty's opinion under a very good character. The

VII

176.] Efforts to stir the counties against the King. 143

earls of Bedford and Holland, not without some difficulty, (their 1643
purpose being discovered or suspected,) got into the King's
garrison at Wallingford, from whence the governor gave adver- Aug. 14.
tisement of their arrival. The earl of Northumberland, with
the leave of the House, retired for his health to his house, to Aug. 1.
Petworth in Sussex ; which though it was in a county entirely
then at the Parliament's devotion, yet it was near enough to be
infested from some of the King's quarters, if he had not some
assurance of being safe there.
175. The violent party carried now all before them, and were
well contented with the absence of those who used to give them
some trouble and vexation.. For the better strengthening
themselves with the people, they ordered the divines of the
Assembly to repair into the country to their cures, especially
in the counties of the association under the earl of Manchester,
to stir up the people, with all their eloquence, to rise as one
man against their sovereign ; and omitted nothing within their
power which might contribute to the raising men or money;
being not a little joyed when they understood the King had
given them more time than they expected, to compose all dis
orders and divisions amongst themselves, by his staying with
his army before Gloster, which was the greater blessing and
preservation to them because at the same time there were sudden
insurrections in Kent against their ordinances and jurisdiction, July.
in defence of the known laws, and especially of the Book of
Common Prayer ; which, if the King's army had been at any
distance to have countenanced, they would never have been able
to suppress.
1 76 l. The fame of all these distractions and disorders at
London exceedingly disposed men in all places to reproach his
majesty's stay before Gloster ; his friends at London desiring
that his majesty should march directly thither, to take the ad
vantage of those distractions ; and the lords of the Council at
Oxford, upon the intelligence and advice from thence, were very
solicitous that the King would take that resolution, to which
he was himself enough inclined. But his condition was believed
1 [This and the foEowing section are taken from the Life, p. 237.]

144 State of the King's armies. [VII. 176.
1643 to be in both places better than it was, and that he had now a
victorious army, without an enemy to restrain his motion ;
whereas, in truth, it was a miserable army, lessened exceedingly
by the losses it sustained before Bristol ; and when that part of
it that was marched with prince Morrice into the west, and
which would not have marched any other way, [was gone,] the
King had not much above six thousand foot to march with,
though he left none at Bristol, but obliged the lord Hopton to
garrison it as he could, which he shortly did ; and that would
have appeared a very small army to have marched towards
London, though it is true the horse was a noble body, and
superior in number to that of the foot l.
1 [The following passages are here struck out in the MS. of the Life : —
' On the other side, the Parliament had a garrison in Gloster, the only
place possessed by them on the Severn, (for the taking of Bristol had
reduced Chepstow, and secured for the most part all South Wales ;) and if
that were recovered to the King's obedience, his majesty's quarters would
extend from Bristol to Chester, and bring all the countries between into
contribution and subjection, which was a noble quantity of ground ; Wales
would be entire at the King's devotion, and his army would receive a very
great addition by a body of three thousand inen, horse and foot, which were
commanded by Vavysour, under the lord Herbert on the Welsh side, to
block up Gloster from annoying that country, and would aE march with
the King if that place were recovered ; whereas they could not be drawn
from thence whilst that garrison remained, and which as soon as the King
was marched from Bristol would be a thorn in the sides of Glostershire and
Wales, and would hinder all levies and contributions in those countries, and
much hinder the settlement of Bristol itself. Gloster was at that time
under the government of colonel Massy, a soldier of fortune, and a very
active and a vigilant officer. He had been sometimes an officer under the
command of WiE. Legg, who was then major to prince Kupert, and of near
trust about him. After the taking of Bristol he had, with the King's
privity, written a letter to him, and received such an answer that was inter
preted to give encouragement to the King's army to march thither, and aB
if the King's presence would have opened the ports of the town ; though it
appeared afterwards that it was craftily and maUciously written to amuse
the King. However, the town itself was no otherwise fortified than by an
old high stone waU and a dry ditch, there being likewise a fair and well
built suburbs without the town. There did not appear, when the King
consulted it at Bristol, any difference of opinion against the King's marching
thither with his army ; and it was resolved that if he found when he came
there that a summons would not put the town into his hands, he might
march on towards any other design.
' There was likewise another circumstance that favoured this resolution,
which was some good success the earl of Newcastle had obtained in York-

vii. 177.] State of the King's armies. 145
177. There was likewise another circumstance, that few men 1643
were then acquainted with. Upon the first news of the taking
of Bristol, his majesty, before he left Oxford, had sent an ex
press to the earl of Newcastle, who was then engaged before
Hull, that if he found the business of Hull to be more difficult
than he expected, he should leave it blocked up at a distance,
which might restrain excursions into the country, and march
with his army into the associated counties, which comprehended
Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Essex, which had asso
ciated themselves, by some agreement, to serve the Parliament ;
though the better part of all those counties, especially of the
two greater, were most affected to the King, and wished for an
opportunity to express it ; and if the earl would bring his army
through those counties towards London, his majesty would then
resolve, with his own, to march towards it on the other side.
And in the very time that his majesty came before Gloster, and
before he took the resolution to sit down before it, that express
returned from the earl of Newcastle, who informed him that it
was impossible for him to comply with his commands in march
ing with his army into the associated counties, for that the
gentlemen of the country who had the best regiments, and were
amongst the best officers, utterly refused to march except Hull
were first taken ; and that he had not strength enough to march
and to leave Hull securely blocked up : which advertisement,
with the consideration before mentioned of the enlarging his
quarters by the taking of Gloster, and the concurrence of all
the officers that it would speedily be taken, produced that re
solution of attempting it ; notwithstanding that the Queen
herself writ so importunately against it that his majesty thought
it necessary to make a journey himself to Oxford to convince
her majesty, and to compose some distempers which were risen
amongst his Council there, upon the news of the arrival of
some of the lords mentioned before in those quarters 1.
shire, which had broken all the Parliament forces and driven them into
Hull, and much increased his own, with which he made little doubt in a
short time to be master of that important place.']
1 [The paragraph, 'And in the very time — quarters,' is substituted in
VOL. III. L

146 Debate about the reception at Oxford [vii. 178.
1643 178. The King was newly set down before Gloster when the
governor of Wallingford sent notice to Oxford of the arrival of
those two earls ; to whom the lords of the Council returned
direction, that they should stay there till the King's pleasure
was understood ; to whom the Secretary had sent the informa
tion, and desired his majesty's will concerning their reception.
The King well knew any order he should give in it would be
liable to many objections, and he had not so good an inclination
to either of them as to run any inconvenience for their sakes ;
the earl of Bedford having served in person against him as the
general of the rebels' horse, and the earl of Holland, in the
King's opinion, having done worse. And therefore his majesty
commanded that his Privy Council should debate the matter
amongst themselves, and present their opinion and advice to
him, and he would then determine what kind of entertainment
they should have. The opinions at the Board were several.
Some thought that his majesty should receive them very gra
ciously, and with all outward expressions of his acceptance of
their return to his service ; and that the demeanour of all
others to them should be such as might make them think
themselves very welcome, without the least taking notice of any
thing formerly done amiss by them ; which would be a great
encouragement to others to come away too, so that the number
the MS. for the foUowing, which has hitherto been omitted in the edi
tions : —
' And he expected the return of his express with[in] few days, by which
the resolution would be much easier to be taken. And all things being thus
balanced, the King gave orders for his march towards Gloster, having not
stayed in Bristol above a fortnight, where he had despatched much business.
And the night before he went he prevailed with himself to deal freely with
the marquis of Hartford, and he told him that he would not any more have
him absent from his person, but resolved to make him the first gentleman
of his bedchamber, and to give him the office of groom of the stool, a place
that had remained void since the key had been taken from the earl of
Holland, and therefore desired him, as soon as he had settled his own
private affairs and some disputes of the country, he would make haste to
him to Oxford ; with which he found the marquis was in no degree satisfied,
and therefore he left the Chancellor of the Exchequer behind to sweeten
the marquis, and to help in the composure of those personal differences
which, being raised between Coventry and Stowell, drew the whole country
into factions, and much disturbed the pubUc service.']

vii. 179.] of the earls of Bedford and Holland. 147
and quality of those who stayed behind would probably in a 1843
short time be so small that they would have no reputation in ¦
the kingdom to continue the war.
179. Many differed diametrically from this, and were so far
from thinking this advice agreeable to the dignity or security
of the King, that they thought it not fit to admit them presently
to the King's or Queen's presence, till by their good carriage
and demeanour they should give some testimony of their affec
tions : they had both taken the late Covenant, of which one
clause was, to assist the forces raised by the Parliament against
the army raised by the King, with many reproaches and known
scandals upon that army. If they had felt a true remorse of
conscience for the ill they had done, they would have left that
party when that Covenant was to be imposed upon them ;
which since they did not, that they came now was to be imputed
rather to the King's success, and the weakness of that power
which they had hitherto served, than to any reformation of
their understandings or improvement of their allegiance : and
that it was great reason, that they who had given such argu
ments of just jealousy and suspicion of themselves should raise
a confidence in their loyalty and affection by some act equal
to the other ; and therefore that none who had taken that
Covenant should be admitted to the presence of the King,
Queen, or Prince," before he had taken some other oath or
covenant, declaring an equal hatred and abhorring of the
rebellious arms which were taken up against his majesty and
the counsels by which they were taken up. It was said, that
the good or ill reception of these lords could have no influence
upon the actions or deliberations at Westminster or London,
or any considerable persons there ; that they were but single
men, without any considerable dependence upon them. Whilst
they had reputation and interest enough to do good or hurt,
and the King's condition needed their attendance, they chose
to be engaged against him ; but now, when they were able to do
him no more harm, they came to receive benefit and advantage
from him : that it was a common argument men used to allege
to themselves for their compliance with and submission to the
1 2

148 The King goes from Gloucester to Oxford, [vii. 179.
1643: commands of the Parliament, that, if they did otherwise, their
severity and rigour was so great that they and their families
were sure to be ruined; but if the King prevailed, he was
gracious and merciful, and would remit their offences when
soever they cast themselves at his feet ; which presumption if
they should see confirmed in this example, it would make the
observation of conscience and loyalty of no price, and encourage
those who were risen against him, and exceedingly dishearten
those who had been honest and faithful from the beginning:
that there could ensue no inconvenience from any reservedness
and coldness towards them, for they durst not return to London,
having now made themselves odious to that party, and had no
hope but from the acceptance of his majesty, which they should
merit before they found.
180. There was a third opinion between these extremes, that
they should be neither courted nor neglected, but be admitted
to kiss the King's and Queen's hands, and to dispose them
selves as they thought fit; and so to leave the rest to their
future demeanour. And to resolve which of these opinions to
follow was another motive for his majesty's sudden journey to
Oxford1.
Aug. 16. 181 2. The King found greater alterations in the minds and
spirits at Oxford than he expected after so much great success
as had befallen him ; and that success was it that had made the
alteration, it being the unlucky temper of that place and that
company to be the soonest and the most desperately cast down
upon any misfortune or loss, and to be again upon any victory
1 [ The sentence, ' And to resolve — Oxford,' is substituted in the MS. for
the following: —
'The King followed the last opinion; and so they came to Oxford, and
were admitted to kiss the Queen's hands, and shortly after went to the
leaguer before Gloster, and were in the same manner received by the
King. AU which I have remembered the more particularly, that it may
appear whatsoever was done in that point to have been deliberated; yet
truly I conceive it was one of the greatest if not the only omission on the
King's part of any expedient during the whole distractions which might
reasonably have been depended on to promote or contribute towards a fair
accommodation ; upon which we Bhall have occasion anon to say more.']
2 [The text is here taken up from the Life, pp. 240-243, for sections
181-190.]

vii. 183.] The Queen opposes the besieging Gloucester. 149
the most elated, and the most [apt] to undervalue any diffi- 1643
culties which remained. The taking Bristol had so possessed
them with joy that they thought the war even at an end, and
that there was nothing left to be done but to take possession
of London, which they were assured would be delivered to
them upon demand. Many members of both Houses were come
to Oxford, which assured them the violent people there were
even in despair, and after the news came of the surrender of
Bristol that they had only kept up their spirits [by the hope]
that the King would engage his army in the siege of Gloster,
which some of them had seemed to promise their friends
would be the case : from whence they would infer that the
King was betrayed, and that they who had persuaded him to
undertake that design were corrupted by the Parliament.
And the envy and jealousy of all this fell upon sir John
Culpeper, who was indeed of the opinion for the siege, but,
without doubt, how much soever he suffered at that time and
afterwards under that reproach, he believed there was very
good reason for that engagement, and was most free from any
corrupt end, and of most sincere fidelity.
182. This discourse and imagination had made a wonderful
impression upon the Queen, who was inflamed with a jealousy
that there was a design to lessen her interest in the King, and
that prince Bupert was chief in that conspiracy, and meant to
bring it to pass by keeping the King still in the army and by
hindering his coming to Oxford : and out of this apprehension
the Queen had written so warmly and concernedly to the King,
who was the most incapable of any such apprehensions, and
had her majesty in so perfect an adoration, that as soon as he
received that letter without delay he came to Oxford, and
quickly composed those mistakes ; though the being engaged
before Gloster was still very grievous, and the reproaches
publicly cast upon those who gave the advice.
183. But that which took up most of the time of that one
day that the King stayed at Oxford was concerning the two
lords who were retained at Wallingford, which had been
agitated in the Council with great passion before the King's

150 Benewed debate at the Council [vii. 183.
1643 coming. The King caused the Council to meet the next
morning, and asked their advice, whether the earls of Bedford
and of Holland should be admitted to come into Oxford, or
obliged to return from whence they came 1 or if admitted, how
they should be received or countenanced by their majesties]
And it cannot be enough wondered at that there should be any
difference of opinion in that matter; but it cannot be expressed
with how much earnestness and unreasonableness the whole
was debated, and how warmly even they who in all other
debates still expressed all moderation and temper did now
oppose the receiving these lords with any grace, with more
passion, and other reasons, than had been offered in their
former conferences ; so that there was scarce known such an
union in opinion at that Board in any thing where disunion
was very inconvenient.
184. All exaggerated the carriage and foul ingratitude of
the earl of Holland from the beginning of the Parliament, and
the earl of Bedford's being general of the horse in the earl of
Essex his army ; and now when the Parliament was low, and
they had lost their credit and interest there, they were come to
the King, whom they had so much offended, and expected to be
as much, it may be more, made of, than they who had borne
the heat of the day ; which would so much reflect upon the
King's honour that men would be exceedingly discouraged to
serve him. Some moved that they might be detained, and
kept prisoners of war, since they came into the King's quarters
without any pass ; others as plainly and more vehemently
pressed that they might not be suffered to come to Oxford, or
where the King or Queen should be, but permitted to live in
some other place within the King's quarters, until they should
manifest their affections by some service. They who thought
this too severe and unpolitic, proposed that they might be
suffered to come to Oxford, that thereby they might be kept
from returning to the Parliament, (which appeared to most to
be liable to many exceptions,) but that, being at Oxford, they
should not come to the Court, nor that any privy councillor
should visit them.

vii. 186.] about the earls of Bedford and Holland. 131
185. In this whole debate the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1643
who seldom spake without some earnestness, was the only man
(except another, who brought no credit to the opinion, the
lord Savill) who advised confidently that they might be very
graciously received by both their majesties, and civilly be
visited and treated by every body ; that other men might, by
the entertainment they received, be encouraged to desert the
Parliament too. He said, it would be too great a disadvantage
to the King and to his cause that, whilst the Parliament used
all the industry and artifices to corrupt the duty and affection
of the subjects, and had their arms open to receive and embrace
all who would come to them, his majesty should admit none to
return to him who had been faulty, or not come so soon as they
ought to have done ; that if the King had a mind to gratify
and oblige the Parliament, he could not do it more to their
hearts' desire than by rejecting the application of these lords,
or suffering it to pass unregarded. There was one argument
against their admission urged very loudly, that it would
disturb the peace of the place ; the earl of Bedford had com
manded that part of the army which infested the marquis of
Hartford at his being in Sherborne, when the marquis had sent
Harry Seymour, as mentioned before1, with a challenge to the
earl to, fight with him, which the earl reasonably declined at
that time, and said, he would be ready when the business of
the Parliament should be over to wait upon the marquis when
he should require it. And some men, who were near enough
to the marquis his counsels, undertook to know, that if the earl
of Bedford should be in Oxford, the marquis, who was every
day expected, would exact the performance of his promise;
which sure he was too wise to do.
186. The King during the whole debate did not express
any thing of his own sense, save that he seemed well pleased
with any sharpness that was expressed towards the earl of
Holland. He said that he was bound to his good behaviour,
by being under the common reproach of inclining too much
to those who had used him worst ; of which he would not be
1 [Book VI. § 33.]

152 Intentions of the earls of Bedford, [vii. 186.
1643 guilty : however, he did not think, at this time, that it would
be good to make any persons desperate; and therefore gave
order that the governor of Wallingford should permit them to
continue their journey to Oxford, where all men might use
what civilities they pleased to them ; and that himself and the
Queen would do that towards them which, upon their appli
cation and address, they should think fit. And though this
determination was given without the least discovery of grace
towards the persons of those lords, and not without some
reflections of prejudice towards them, it was not grateful to the
Table, which was evident enough by their countenance. And
Aug. 18. the next morning the King returned to the army.
187. There had been, as is said, very great divisions in the
counsels at Westminster, from the time of the treaty and the
very abrupt breaking it ; and the earl of Northumberland's
resenting the affront done to him by Martin had increased
those divisions ; and the ill successes afterwards, in the defeat
of Waller and the taking of Bristol, had given every man
courage to say what they would. And then the proceeding
upon Mr. Waller's discovery, and obliging all men to take a
desperate engagement, which they durst not refuse for fear of
being declared guilty of the plot, as many of them were, in
censed very many : but above all, the prosperity of tfhe King's
affairs made every body wish to come into his quarters. A
great number of the House of Commons, who were known
always to wish well, came to Oxford : and of the peers, the
earl of Portland, who was always very faithful to the King,
and had stayed in the House of Peers by his majesty's leave,
and had been accused by Mr. Waller to be privy to that design,
upon which he had endured a long imprisonment, came at this
time to Oxford, together with the lord Conway and the lord
Lovelace; the former of which had been likewise questioned
and imprisoned, and the latter had been as knowing of the
matter, and of constant duty to the King ; and all three had
gotten liberty and opportunity to come away by swallowing
that vow and oath which could only set them free, and which
they made haste to unswear to the King. The return of the

vii. 188.] Holland and Clare. 153
earl of Essex to London in ill humour gave opportunity to the 1643
earl of Holland, and the rest, who were weary of the work in
hand, to inflame him to a resentment of the neglects which had
been put upon him, and the jealousies which were entertained
of him. The earl of Bedford had given up his commission of
general of the horse, and quitted the service, and never had
any affection to their ways in his judgment, which was not
great. The earl of Clare had been with the King at York, and
had his leave to return to London to intend his own particular
affairs; and during his stay had never concurred in any
malicious counsel against the King, but was looked upon as
a man not only firm to the principles of monarchy but of duty
to the person of the King. He was a man of honour and of
courage, and would have been an excellent person if his heart
had not been set too much upon the keeping and improving his
estate ; he was weary of the company he kept, and easily
hearkened to the earl of Holland in any consultation how to
recover the King's authority, and to put an end to the war.
The earl of Essex was, as is said before, enough provoked and
incensed, and willingly heard all the lords and others who
inveighed against the violent proceedings of those who swayed
the Parliament, and differed not with them in his judgment of
the men and the matter : so that they believed that he would
as readily be disposed to agree upon the remedy as he did upon
the disease.
188. Their end and design was, if they could draw him to
a concurrence, that they, and all the rest of those who were
accounted moderate men, that is, who desired a peace, and to
return to their duty to the King, (which was much the major
part of both Houses that remained at Westminster after so
many of both were gone to the King,) might all go to the army,
and thereupon the general and they to write to the Parliament
together, and to send such propositions to them as the Parlia
ment should transmit to the King as the conditions of peace.
If the King should refuse to consent to them, it would be
an infallible way to' unite all people to compel him to it : but
if the Parliament would refuse to transmit those propositions

1 54 Intentions of the earls of Bedford, [vii. 188-
1643 to the King, or to consent to a peace upon those conditions,
they would then declare against them for not adhering to the
grounds upon which the war was first begun, and would join
themselves to the King to force them to it. If this had been
done in that conjuncture, when the authority and credit of the
earl of Essex was not yet eclipsed, and before an independent
army was raised, which was shortly after done, it could not
probably have failed of the success desired. But the earl was
too scrupulous and too punctual to that which he called a
trust, and this was too barefaced a separation for him to
engage in : besides that he did believe that he should be able
to suppress that violent party by the Parliament itself, and he
thought that would bring all about which he desired ; and so
he did not only reject what was proposed to him, but expressed
such a dislike of the earl of Holland for proposing it that he
thought it high time to get himself out of his reach. The earl
of Holland, who always considered himself in the first place,
had, from the time of the Queen's landing, privately made offer
of his service to the Queen, and renewed his old confidence
and friendship with Mr. Jermin, and, knowing well to enhance
the value of his own service, made great promises of notable
service ; and Mr. Jermin easily persuaded her majesty that it
was much better for her to restore an old servant whom she
knew so well to her confidence, (though he had stepped out of
the way,) than to rely upon the fidelity of any of those who
were now about the King, and who were all, upon the matter,
strangers to her, at least not enough known by her ; and then,
that by laying hold upon this opportunity she would at her
first coming to the King ' carry his restoration with her, possess
herself of the whole frame of his business, because all other
designs would be laid aside ; and so all the good which would
redound to the King and kingdom from this new negociation
must, by the consent of all the world, be attributed to her
majesty's wisdom and conduct. And this appearing hopeful to
her majesty, and all that had any thing of hope was by the
other always looked upon as certain, the correspondence was
embraced ; and the earl assured not only to be restored to his

vii. 189.] Holland and Clare. 155
former station in all respects, but to a title to new interest. 1643
And upon this encouragement and obligation, when he found
he could not prevail with the earl of Essex, that the King's
affairs prospered, and that Bristol was now taken, and the
Queen come to Oxford, he resolved himself to go thither, and
prevailed with the earls of Bedford and Clare to do the like ;
he assuring them that they should be very well received. The
earl of Clare made his journey by himself out of the common
road, and came without any interruption into Oxford at the
time appointed : the earls of Bedford and Holland came to
gether to Wallingford, as is mentioned. The earl of Northum
berland, who was naturally suspicious, went to his own house at
Petworth in Sussex ; by which he thought he shewed aversion
enough to the counsels at Westminster, and would keep it in
his own power to return if he found that the reception of the
other lords at Oxford was not answerable to their expectation ;
besides that he would expect the result of the lord Conway's
negociation, who was more trusted by him than any other.
189. The leave for the two earls to come from Wallingford
to Oxford was declared but the night before the King returned
to the army, and was not sent thither till the next day. So
that the lords came not to Oxford till two days after, much
mortified with the time they had been forced to spend at
Wallingford, and with the disputation they heard had been
held concerning them ; of which they had received so par
ticular information that the earl of Holland writ a very civil
letter to the Chancellor [of the Exchequer] before he came to
Oxford, taking notice of the affection he had shewed to him in
his advice to the King. Both of them had friends enough
there to provide for their accommodation in convenient lodg
ings : so that the one 1 had a lodging at Magdalen college in
Oxford, of which house he had formerly been a member ; the
other lay in Balliol college, where he had a daughter who
spared him part of her lodgings. But for any application to
them by the lords, or persons in authority there, they had no
reason to think themselves very welcome. They went in the
1 [The earl of Bedford.]

156 The three earls join the King at Gloucester, [vii. 189.
1643 first place to do their duties to the Queen ; who received them
coldly enough, not out of disinclination, or willingness to shew
any, but pure compliance with the ill humour of the town,
which she detested : nor did Mr. Jermin, who still valued him
self upon the impossible faculty to please all and displease
none, think fit to deal clearly with them in that point, (having,
no doubt, said more in his letters of correspondence and advice
than he had authority to do ; it being his custom to write and
speak what is most grateful to the persons ;) so that the earl
of Holland, (with whom alone the correspondence had been,)
began to think himself betrayed, and invited to Oxford only to
be exposed to contempt. He came one morning to visit the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, when there were the lord Cot-
tington and two or three other privy councillors with him,
who all went presently away, without so much as saluting
him : which offended the Chancellor as much as it did him,
and in truth obliged him to more ceremony and civility than
it may be he would otherwise have exercised ; and he did visit
him, and make all professions and offers of kindness and service
to him, which he did very heartily ; and complied therein not
only with his own inclinations but with his judgment, as very
important to the King's service; and did all he could to in
duce others to be of the same opinion, in which he had not
great success.
190. The intelligence from London brought every day the
resolution of the Parliament to relieve Gloster, and that, if their
levies did not supply them with men soon enough, the train
bands of the city would march out with the general for that
service; whereupon the three earls, Bedford, Holland, and
Clare, after some days' stay in Oxford, thought it necessary to
offer their service to the King in the army, and to bear their
part in any danger that might happen by an engagement be
tween the armies, and so went together to Gloster; where the
King received them without any disrespect, and spake with them
as they gave him occasion.
191 \ Whilst the King continued before Gloster, his forces
1 [Sections 191-198 are from the Hist., pp. 472-4.]

vii. 191.] The King's affairs in Dorset. 157
in the west moved with a full gale and tide of success. The 1643
earl of Carnarvon marched with the horse and dragoons, being
near two thousand, into Dorsetshire, two days before prince
Morrice moved with the foot and cannon from Bristol, and had
made a fair [entrance1] upon the reduction of that whole county
before his highness overtook him ; and it was thought then,
that, if the prince had marched more slowly, he had perfected
that work. Upon the surrender of Bristol, many of the gen
tlemen and others of that county who were engaged in that
city for the Parliament, had visited their houses and friends in
their journey to London, whither by their safe conduct they
went, and had made such prodigious discourses of the fierceness
and courage of the cavaliers, (as most men who run away, or
are beaten, extol the power of the enemy which had been too
hard for them,) that resisting them began to be thought a matter
impossible. One Mr. Strode, a man much relied on in those
parts and of a good fortune, after he had visited his house, took
Dorchester in his way to London, and being desired by the
magistrates to view their works and fortifications, and to give
his judgment of them, after he had walked about them, he told
them that those works might keep out the cavaliers about half
an hour ; and then told them strange stories of the manner of
assaulting Bristol, and that the King's soldiers made nothing
of running up walls twenty foot high, and that no works could
keep them out ; which he said not out of any purpose to betray
them, (for no man wished the King's army worse success,) but
had really so much horror and consternation about him, and the
dreadful image of the storm of Bristol imprinted in his mind,
that he did truly believe they had scaled all those forts and
places which were delivered to them. And he propagated this
fear and trepidation so fruitfully where he came, that the earl
of Carnarvon came no sooner near Dorchester with his horse Aug. 2.
and dragoons, (which, it may be, was understood to be the van
of the victorious army which had taken Bristol,) but the town
sent commissioners to him to treat, and, upon articles of
1 [The word in the MS. appears to he this, but is very obscure and has
been altered.]

158 Portland surrenders to the King's forces. [vii. 101.
1643 indemnity, that they should not be plundered and not suffer for the
ill they had done, delivered up the town, (which was strongly
situated, and might very well have been defended by the spirits
of those people, if they had courage equal to their malice ; for
a place more entirely disaffected to the King England had not,)
with all their arms, ammunition, and ordnance. The fame of
the earl's coming had before frighted sir Walter Earle, who
had for a long time besieged Corfe castle, (the house of the
lord chief justice Banks, defended by his lady with her servants,
and some few gentlemen and tenants, who betook themselves
thither for her assistance and their own security,) from that
Aug. 4. siege ; and he making more haste to convey himself to London
than generals use to do who have the care and charge of others,
his forces were presently dispersed. And now the surrender of
Dorchester (the magazine from whence the other places were
supplied with principles of rebellion) infused the same spirit
into Waymoth, a very convenient harbour and haven : and that
Aug. 5. example again prevailed on the island and castle of Portland,
(a place not enough understood, but of wonderful importance,)
to all which the earl granted fair conditions, and received them
into his majesty's protection.
192. Hither prince Morrice came now up with his foot and
cannon, and, neglecting to follow the train of the enemy's fears
to Lyme and Poole, the two only garrisons then left in their
possession, stayed with his army about Dorchester and Way-
moth some days, under the notion of settling and disposing the
government of those garrisons. Here the soldiers, (taking ad
vantage of the famous malignity of those places,) used great
license, neither was there care taken to observe those articles
which had been made upon the surrender of the towns ; which
the earl of Carnarvon, (who was full of honour and justice upon
all contracts,) took so ill that he quitted the command he had
with those forces, and returned to the King before Gloster ;
which published the injustice with the more scandal. Whether
this license, which was much spoken of, and no doubt given out
to be greater than it was, aliened the affections of those parts ;
or whether the absence of the marquis of Hartford from the

vii. 193.] Prince Maurice comes before Exeter. 159
army, which was not till then taken notice of, begot an appre- X643
hension that there would not be much lenity used towards those
who had been high and pertinacious offenders ; or whether this
army, when it was together, seemed less formidable than it was
before conceived to be ; or that the terror which had possessed
and seized upon their spirits was so violent that it could not
continue, and so men grew less amazed ; I know not : but those
two small towns, whereof Lyme was believed inconsiderable,
returned so peremptory a refusal to the prince's summons, that
his highness resolved not to attack them ; and so he marched
to Exciter, where he found all things in better order, and that
city more distressed than he had reason to expect, by the dili
gence and dexterity of sir John Berkely, who being sent from
Wells by the marquis of Hartford, (as is before remembered1,)
to govern the affairs of Devonshire, with one regiment of horse,
and another of new levied and half-armed foot, had so increased
his numbers by the concurrence of the gentlemen of that county,
that he fixed strong quarters within less than a mile of the
city, and kept his guards even to the gates, when the earl of
Stamford was within, with a strength at least equal in number
to the besiegers.
193. The Parliament commended the relief of this place, by
special instructions, to their admiral, the earl of Warwick ; who
after be had made show of landing men in several places upon
the coast, and thereby compelled sir John Berkely to make quick
and wearisome marches with horse and dragoons from place to
place, the wind coming fair, the fleet left those who attended
their landing about Totness, turned about, and with a fresh gale July 21.
made towards [Topsham 2] the river that leads to the walls of
Exciter ; and having the command of both sides of the river,
upon a flat, by their cannon, the earl presumed that way he
should be able to send relief into the city : but the admirable
diligence and providence of sir John Berkely had fortunately
cast up some slight works upon the advantageous nooks of the
river, in which his men might be in some security from the
cannon of the ships, and made great haste with his horse to
1 [Book VI. § 337.] a [' Apsam,' MS.]

t6o The earl of Warwick fails to relieve Exeter, [vii. 193.
1643 hinder their landing ; and so this attempt was not only without
success, but so unfortunate that it discouraged the seamen from
endeavouring the like again. For after three or four hours
pouring their great shot from their ships upon the land forces,
the tide falling, the earl of Warwick fell off with his fleet,
leaving three ships behind him, of which one was burnt, and
the other two taken from the land, in view of his whole fleet ;
which no more looked after the relief of Exciter that way.
194. But whilst all the King's forces were employed in the
blocking up the town, and attending the coast to wait upon the
earl of Warwick, the garrison of Plimmoth increased very fast, into
which the fleet disburdened themselves of all they could spare ;
and the north parts of Devonshire gathered apace into a head
for the Parliament, Bar[n] stable and Biddiford being garrisoned
by them, which, having an uninterrupted line of communication
with Plimmoth, resolved to join their whole strength, and so to
compel the enemy to draw off from the walls of Exciter, which
had been very easy to have been done if they in the city had
been as active for their own preservation. Sir John Berkely,
having notice of this preparation and resolution, sent colonel
John Digby (who had from their first entrance into Cornwall
commanded the horse) with his own regiment of horse, and
some loose troops of dragoons, into the north of Devon, to
hinder the joining of the rebels' forces. He chose Torrington
for his quarter, and within few days drew to him a troop of
new-raised horse, and a regiment of foot raised by his old
friends in Corfrwall ; so that he had with him above three
hundred horse, and six or seven hundred foot. Those of Biddi
ford and Bar[n]stable, being superior in number, and appre
hending that the King's successes eastward might increase his
strength and power there, and weaken theirs, resolved to try
their fortune ; and joining themselves together, to the number
of above twelve hundred foot and three hundred horse, under
the command of colonel Bennett, hoped to surprise colonel Digby
at Torrington; and he was, upon the matter, surprised: for
albeit he had notice in the night from Bar[n] stable, that the
forces drew out thence to Biddiford in the night, and that they

Vii. 195.] Col. Digby defeats the rebels at Torrington. 161
intended to fall on his quarters early in the morning, and 1643
thereupon he put himself into a posture to receive them, and
drew up all his forces together out of the town upon such a
piece of ground as in that enclosed country could be most ad
vantageous for his horse, having through all the little enclosures
cut gaps through which his horse might enter ; yet, after he
had attended their coming till noon, and heard no more of them, Aug. 19.
and his small parties which were sent out to inquire returned
with assurance that there was no appearance of an enemy, he
believed they had given over their design ; and so dismissed his
horse to their several quarters, reserving only one hundred and
fifty upon their guard, and returned himself into the town with
the foot.
195. And within less than an hour, he received the alarum
that the enemy was within half a mile of the town. The con
fusion was very great, so that he resolved not to draw the foot
out of the town ; but having placed them in the best manner
he could upon the avenues, himself went to the horse out of
the town, resolving to wait upon the rear of the enemy, who
were drawn up on the same piece of ground on which he had
expected them all the morning. The colonel, whose courage
and vivacity upon action was very eminent, and commonly very
fortunate, intended rather to look upon them, than to engage
with them, before his other troops came up ; but having divided
his small party of horse, (the whole consisting but of one hun
dred and fifty,) into several parties, and distributed them into
the several little closes out of which there were gaps into the
larger ground upon which the enemy stood, a forlorn hope of
fifty musketeers advanced towards that ground where himself
was ; and if they [had] recovered the hedge, they would easily
have driven him thence. And therefore, as the only expedient
left, himself, taking four or five officers into the front with him,
charged that forlorn hope, which immediately threw down their
arms, and ran upon their body, and carried so infectious a fear
with them, that, without making a stand or their horse offering
once to charge, the whole body routed themselves, and fled ;
colonel Digby following the execution with his horse, till their
VOL. III. M

1 62 Col. Digby s success at Torrington. [vii. 195.
1643 swords were blunted with slaughter, and his numbers overbur
dened with prisoners ; though the foot out of the town hastened
to the chase, as soon as they saw what terror had possessed their
enemies. 196. In this action (for it cannot be called a battle, hardly
a skirmish, where no resistance was made) there were near two
hundred killed, and above two hundred taken prisoners ; and
those that fled contributed more to the victory than the pri
soners or the slain, for they were scattered and dispersed over
all the country, and scarce a man without a cut over the face
and head, or some other hurt ; that wrought more upon the
neighbours towards their conversion than any sermon could be
preached to them. Some of the principal officers, and of their
horse, got into Biddiford and Bar[n]stable ; and, not considering
the inconvenience of acknowledging that God was extraordinarily
propitious to the cavaliers, told strange stories of the horror and
fear that seized upon them, and that nobody saw above six of
the enemy that charged them ; which proved a greater dismay
to their friends than their defeat.
197. At this time came prince Morrice to Exciter, the fame
of whose arrival brought a new terror, so that the fort at Ap-
pledore, which commanded the river to Bar[n]stable and Biddi-
Aug. 28, ford, being delivered to colonel Digby, within two or three days
after his victory, those two towns shortly after submitted to his
majesty upon promise of pardon, and such other articles as were
of course ; which colonel Digby saw precisely observed, as far
as concerned the towns in point of plunder or violence towards
the inhabitants. And this success so wrought upon the spirits
and temper of that people, that all the persons of eminent dis
affection withdrawing themselves, according to their liberty by
the articles, colonel Digby within very few days increased his
small party to the number of three thousand foot and eight
hundred horse ; with which he was by prince Morrice ordered
to march to Plimmoth, and to block up that place from making
incursions into the country.
198. The loss of all their garrisons on the north coast, and
1 [Dugdale's Diary, p. £4 : see also Merc. A%1„ pp. 484, 485.]

vii. 199.] Barnstaple, Bideford, and Exeter surrender. 163
despair of succour or relief from any other place, prevailed with 1643
the earl of Stamford, and that committee in Exciter, (to whom the
earl was not superior,) to treat with the prince ; and thereupon
articles were agreed to, and that rich and pleasant city was deli- Sept. 4.
vered on the fourth of September, which was within fourteen or
sixteen days after prince Morrice came thither, into the King's pro
tection, after it had suffered no other distress, or impression from
the besiegers, than the being kept from taking the air without their
own walls, and from being supplied from the country markets.
199 1. There was an accident fell out a little before this time
that gave new argument of trouble to the King, upon a differ
ence between prince Morrice and the marquis. The earl of
Carnarvon, who was general of the horse of the western army,
had marched from Bristol the day before the prince, and had
taken Dorchester and Waymoth before his highness came up to Aug. 2-5 "
the army, both considerable places, and the seats of great malig
nity. The former was not thought necessary to be made a gar
rison ; but the latter was the best port town of that country,
and to be kept with great care. The marquis had made some
promise of the government thereof when it should be taken, (of
which they made no doubt,) to sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, a
young gentleman of that country, of a fair and plentiful fortune,
and one who, in the opinion of most men, was like to advance
the place by being governor of it, and to raise men for the de
fence of it without lessening the army ; and had, in expectation
of it, made some provision of officers and soldiers, when it should
be time to call them together. Prince Morrice, on the other
side, had some other person in his view, upon whom he intended
to confer that charge when it should fall. In the moment that
the town was taken, and before the prince came thither, sir
Anthony, hearing that the marquis came not with the army but
remained for some time at Bristol, made all the haste he could
to him, and came thither the same day the King left it, and
applied himself to the marquis, who remembered his promise,
and thought himself obliged to make it good, and that it was in
1 [This section and the next are from the Life, pp. 238-9.]
2 [Dugdale's Troubles, p. 187. Aug. 4, Dugdale's Diary, p. 54.]
M 3

164 Difference between the marquis [vii. 199.
1643 his power so to do, since it appeared that the town was taken
before the King had declared to him that he should not go to
the army ; till when he ought to be looked upon as general of it.
He conferred with the Chancellor [of the Exchequer] upon it,
as a matter in which his honour was concerned, and on which
his heart was set. And sir Anthony came likewise to him, who
was of his acquaintance, and desired his assistance, that, after
so much charge he had been put to in the expectation of it and
to prepare for it, he might not be exposed to the mirth and
contempt of the country. It was evident that if he returned
with the commission from the marquis, (which he was most
inclined to give him,) both he and the commission would be
affronted, and the town would not be suffered to submit to him.
Therefore the Chancellor was of opinion that there was no way
but to appeal to the King, and desire his favour, as well as his
justice, in giving his commission to the person designed by the
marquis ; which would remove that part of the exception which
would most trouble the prince ; and he offered to write himself
very earnestly to the King. And besides his desire to gratify
the marquis, be did in truth believe it of great importance to
his majesty's service to engage a person of such a fortune and
interest so throughly in his quarrel as he then believed such
an obligation must needs do ; the flexibility and instability of
that gentleman's nature not being then understood or suspected.
200. He did write with all the skill and importunity he
could use to the King, and wrote to the lord Falkland to take
sir J. Culpeper with him, if he found any aversion in the King,
that they might together discourse, and prevail with him. But
his majesty positively and obstinately refused to grant it, and
said he would not, to please the marquis in an unjust pretence,
put a public disobligation and affront upon his nephew. So the
express returned without effect, and the marquis was as sensibly
touched as could be imagined, and said ' that he was fallen from
any degree of credit with the King, and was made incapable of
doing him farther service ; that his fidelity should never be les
sened towards him,' (as in truth he was incapable of a disloyal
thought,) ' but since he was become so totally useless to the King

VII. 201.] of Hertford and prince Maurice. 165
and to his friends, he hoped his majesty would give him leave 1643
to retire to his own house, where he doubted not he should be
suffered to live privately, and quietly to pray for the King.'
The Chancellor knew well the nature of the marquis, which
would never give him leave to pursue any resolution which he
found might prove inconvenient to his majesty, for whom he
had all possible duty ; yet he knew too that the mischieve was
not small, from the observation that the marquis thought him
self ill used, and that there were too many who would take the
opportunity to foment those jealousies and discontents ; and
therefore resolved (having despatched all things which were
incumbent to him at Bristol, and used all freedom to the mar
quis for the dispelling all troublesome imaginations) to go him
self to the King, and to represent that affair to him, and the
probable consequences of it, with new instances. And at last,
with very great difficulty, he did so far prevail with his majesty,
that he gave a commission to sir Anthony Ashley Cooper to be Aug. 10.
governor of Waymoth ; which he was the more easily persuaded
to, out of some prejudice he had to the person who he under
stood was designed to that government. However, the marquis
received it as a seasonable act of favour to himself, and, in a
short time after, came from Bristol to Oxford, to attend upon
his majesty according to his command.
201 \ At Gloster the business proceeded very slowly : for
¦ [The text is here resumed from the Hist., pp. 474-481, for §§ 201-236,
the MS. of the Life continuing thus : —
' The King left Bristol in the resolution and expectation formerly men
tioned ; and when he came near Gloster, he sent a summons to the gover
nor, and drew up his army in the view of the town from a reasonable
ascent 2 ; and after he had expected an answer some hours, one of the citi
zens of the town, of a very ill aspect and rude behaviour, came to the King
with the answer from the mayor and aldermen as weE as from the governor,
and signed by them all, which the messenger would read in a loud unman
nerly voice. It did not only contain a refusal to deliver the place, and a
declaration that they did and would keep [it] for the Parliament, but had
such reproachful expressions in it, that, together with the sauciness of the
messenger, as exceedingly incensed the King ; and the messenger was no
sooner returned, but they gave another evidence of their resolution, by
setting all the suburbs, in which there was a fair street and many good
houses, on a fire together. Though the King had resolved before not to
2 1' assent,' MS.]

1 66 Prosecution of the siege of Gloucester. [VII. 201.
1643 though the army increased wonderfully there by the access of
forces from all quarters, yet the King had neither money nor
be engaged in the siege of this city, and he received new instances from the
Queen, and intelligence from London of the extraordinary distractions there,
to confirm him in that resolution, and many members of both Houses had
left the Parliament, whereof some came to Oxford, (who shall be mentioned
anon,) and all sent word that if the King now marched towards London
the city itself would compel the Parliament to make a peace, [yet *] these
unmannerly and insolent provocations from the town persuaded him that
he was bound in honour speedily to chastise it. Upon the drawing up his
army, he found it much weaker than he thought it to have been. The
gentlemen of the Glostershire and of the Welsh side of the Severn came to
him, and made great professions how soon they would recruit his army if
he would remain some time there ; that the town would be taken in few
days, and whilst he was taking it his army should be increased every day,
whereas, if he marched presently away, besides the dishonour of it, he
would not be able to carry away with him one man more than he had
brought thither, which would appear a very smaU body to shew to the city
of London for their encouragement to join with him. But that which made
most impression was, that the express was now returned from the earl of
Newcastle, who informed his majesty that it was impossible for him to
comply with his commands and expectation in marching with his army into
the associated counties, for that the gentlemen of the country who had the
best regiments and were amongst the best officers utterly refused to march
except HuE were first taken, and that he had not strength enough to march
with any considerable body and to leave Hull securely blocked up ; which
resolution made it in the judgment of the King and of most of the officers
necessary for the King to engage in the siege of that town ; and thereupon
he sent for the general, who remained yet at Oxford, to attend him at
Gloster, with his greatest cannon, and such foot as could be spared out of
Oxford. And thereupon he committed the care of one approach which
was resolved upon to the general, and another, which Ukewise was thought
necessary, to another part of the town to sir Jacob Ashly, the major general
of the foot, who best understood that kind of service, and so disposed the
whole army formaUy to the siege, his majesty himself quartering in a village
about two miles distant from the city. And in this posture that affair
stood when the ChanceEor came to the King from Bristol. And at last, &c.
{as in par. 200, to the end of the section, where the MS. thus proceeds).
The King told the ChanceEor that it was necessary he should make
haste to Oxford, where he would find the lords in great disorder for his
having engaged the army before Gloste*, but more upon the news of the
earl of HoEand and the earl of Bedford being coming to Oxford ; that they
were already come to WalUngford, where the governor, col. Blague, had
civEly detained them till he might understand the King's pleasure, who
seemed to be in some trouble and irresolution in what manner to receive
them. The ChanceEor stayed not above two hours with the King, but,
though it was late, went to a gentleman's house five or six miles from
» f.'but,' MS.]

vii. 202.] Prosecution of the siege of Gloucester. 167
materials requisite for a siege, and they in the town behaved 1643
themselves with great courage and resolution, and made many
sharp and bold sallies upon the King's forces, and did more
hurt commonly than they received, and many officers of name,
besides common soldiers, were slain in the trenches and ap
proaches ; the governor leaving nothing unperformed that be
came a vigilant commander. Sometimes, upon the sallies, the
horse got between the town and them, so that many prisoners
were taken, who were always drunk ; and after they were re
covered, they confessed that the governor always gave the party
that made the sally as much wine and strong water as they
desired to drink : so that it seems their mettle was not purely
natural ; yet it is very observable, that in all the time the King
lay there with a very glorious army, and after the taking of a
city of a much greater name, there was no one officer ran from
the town to him, nor above three common soldiers, which is a
great argument the discipline within was very good. Besides
the loss of men before the town, both from the walls and by
sickness, (which was not greater than was to be reasonably ex
pected,) a very great license broke into the army, both amongst
officers and soldiers ; the malignity of those parts being thought
excuse for the exercise of any rapine or severity amongst the
inhabitants ; insomuch as it is hardly to be credited how many
thousand sheep were in a few days destroyed, besides what were
brought in by the commissaries for a regular provision ; and
many countrymen imprisoned by officers without warrant, or
the least knowledge of the King's, till they had paid good sums
of money for their delinquency ; all which brought great clamour
upon the discipline of the army and justice of the officers, and made
them likewise less prepared for the service they were to expect.
202. In the mean time nothing was left at London unat-
tempted that might advance the preparations for relief of Gloster.
thence, and, after some hours sleep, made haste the next morning to Ox
ford ; where before night the King likewise arrived, of which he had no
thought when the ChanceEor came away, but received that night some
letter from the Queen which made him believe that journey necessary,
bringing a small train with him ; and after one day's stay he returned to
the siege, where his presence was in many respects very necessary.']

168 The Tower of London is committed to Pennington, [vii. 202.
1643 All overtures of peace were suppressed, and the city purely
at the devotion of those who were most violent, who had put
one compliment upon them at this time that is not to be passed
over. It is remembered before \ that at the beginning of these
distractions, before the King's going into the north, his majesty
had, upon the reiterated importunity of the two Houses, made
sir John Conyers lieutenant of the Tower of London, who was a
soldier of very good estimation, and had been the lieutenant
general of his horse in that last preparation against the Scots,
and governor of Berwick. The Parliament thought by this
obligation to have made him their own creature, and desired to
have engaged him in some active command in their armies,
having the reputation of one of the best officers of horse of that
time. But he warily declined that engagement, and contained
himself within the limits of that place, which, by the multitude
of prisoners sent to the Tower by the two Houses, and the
excessive fees they paid, yielded him a vast profit ; in the ad
ministration whereof he was so impartial that those prisoners
who suffered most for his majesty found no more favour or in
dulgence from him than the rest. About this time, either dis
cerning that they grew to confide less in him than they had
done, and that he must engage himself in their service or should
shortly lose the benefit of their good opinion, or really abhorring
to be so near those actions he saw every day committed, and to
lie under the scandal of keeping his majesty's only fort which
July 17. he could not apply to his service, he desired leave from the
Houses to go into Holland, where his education had been and
his fortune was, without obliging himself to a time of return.
The proposition was not unwelcome to the Houses ; and there
upon they immediately committed that charge, the custody of
July 2 2, 29. the Tower of London, to the lord mayor Pennington ; that the
city might see they were trusted to hold their own reins, and
had a jurisdiction committed to them which had always justled
with their own. And this compliment served to a double pur
pose ; for thereby, as they made the city believe they had put
themselves under their protection, so they were sure they had
1 [Book IV, § 284.]

vii. 204.] Earlof Essex undertakes the relief of Gloucester. 169
put the city under the power, or under the apprehension of the 1643
power, of him who would never forsake them out of an appetite
to peace.
203. The earl of Essex now declared that he would himself
undertake the relief of Gloster, whereas before sir William Waller
was designed to it ; and, whencesoever it proceeded, was returned
to his old full alacrity against the King, and recovered those
officers and soldiers again to him who had absented by his con
nivance or upon an opinion that he would march no more ; yet
his numbers increased not so fast as the occasion required : for
colonel Massy found means to send many messengers out of the
town to advertise the straits he was in, and the time that he
should be able to hold out. Their ordinance of pressing, though
executed with unusual rigour, insomuch as persons of good for
tunes who had retired to London that they might be the less
taken notice of were seized on, and detained in custody till they
paid so much money, or procured an able man to go in their
places, brought not in such a supply as they expected ; and such
as were brought in and delivered to the officers, declared such
an averseness to the work to which they were designed, and
such a peremptory resolution not to fight, that they only in
creased their numbers, not their strength, and ran away upon
the first opportunity. In the end, they had no other resort for
men but to those who had so constantly supplied them with
money, and prevailed with their true friends, the city, which
they still alarumed with the King's irreconcilableness to them,
to send three or four of their train-band regiments, or auxilia
ries, to fight with the enemy at that distance, rather than to
expect him at their own walls, where they must be assured to
see him as soon as Gloster should be reduced ; and then they
would be as much perplexed with the malignants within as with
the enemy without their city.
204. Upon such arguments, and the power of the earl of
Essex, so many regiments of horse and foot as he desired were
assigned to march with him ; and so, towards the end of August,
he marched out of London ; and having appointed a rendezvous Aug. 26.
near Alesbury, where he was met by the lord Grey and other

1 70 The siege of Gloucester is raised. [vii. 204.
1643 forces of the associated counties, from thence he marched by
easy journeys towards Gloster, with an army of about eight
thousand foot and four thousand horse. It would not at first
be credited at the leaguer that the earl of Essex could be in a
condition to attempt such a work ; and therefore they were too
negligent upon the intelligence, and suspected rather that he
would give some alarum to Oxford, where the Queen was, and
thereby hope to draw the army from Gloster, than that in truth
he would venture upon so tedious a march, where he must
march over a campania near thirty miles in length, where half
the King's body of horse would distress, if not destroy, his whole
army, and through a country eaten bare, where he could find
neither provision for man or horse ; and if he should without
interruption be suffered to go into Gloster, he could neither stay
there, nor possibly retire to London, without being destroyed in
the rear by the King's army, which should nevertheless not en
gage itself in the hazard of a battle. Upon these conclusions
they proceeded in their works before Gloster, their galleries
being near finished, and visibly a great want of ammunition in
the town ; yet the lord Wilmott was appointed with a good
party of horse to wait about Banbury, and to retire before the
enemy, if he should advance, towards Gloster, and to give such
impediments to their march as in such a country might be easy
to do; prince Rupert himself staying with the body of horse
upon the hills above Gloster, to join, if the earl of Essex should
be so hardy as to venture.
Sept. 1. 205. The earl came to Brackley, and having there taken in
from Leicester and Bedford the last recruits upon which he de
pended, he marched steadily over all that campania, which they
thought he feared, towards Gloster ; and though the King's
horse were often within view, and entertained him with light
skirmishes, he pursued his direct way ; the King's horse still
retiring before them, till the foot was compelled to raise their
siege, in more disorder and distraction than might have been
expected ; and so, with less loss and easier skirmishes than can
' Friday, be imagined, the earl with his army and train marched to
ep ' ' Gloster ; where he found them reduced to one single barrel of

vii. 206.] The earl of Essex seizes Cirencester. 171
powder ; and all other provisions answerable. And it must be 1643
confessed, that governor gave a stop to the career of the King's
good success, and from his pertinacious defence of that place
the Parliament had time to recover their broken forces and
more broken spirits, and may acknowledge to this rise the
greatness to which they afterwards aspired.
206. The earl of Essex stayed in that joyful town (where he
was received with all possible demonstrations of honour) three '
days ; and in that time, (which was as wonderful as any part of
the story,) caused all necessary provisions to be brought in to
them out of those very quarters in which the King's army had
been sustained, and which they conceived to be entirely spent :
so solicitous were the people to conceal what they had, and to
reserve it for them; which without a connivance from the
King's commissaries could not have been done. All this time the
King lay at Sudeley castle," the house of the lord Chandos, Sept. 7-10.
within eight miles of Gloster, watching when that army would
return, which they conceived stayed rather out of despair than
election in those eaten quarters ; and to open them a way for
their retreat, his majesty removed to E[ve] sham, hoping the earl Sept. 11.
would choose to go back the same way he came ; which for
many reasons was to be desired ; and thereupon the earl Sunday,
marched to Tewkesbury, as if he had no other purpose. The p IO"
King's horse, though bold and vigorous upon action and execu
tion, were always less patient of duty and ill accommodation
than they should be, and at this time, partly with weariness
and partly with the indisposition that possessed the whole army
upon this relief of the town, were less vigilant towards the
motion of the enemy : so that the earl of Essex was marched
with his whole army and train from Tewkesbury four and
twenty hours before the King heard which way he was gone :
for he took the advantage of a dark night, and, having sure
guides, reached Ciciter before the breaking of the day, where Saturday,
he found two regiments of the King's horse quartered securely ; eP • J ¦
all which, by the negligence of the officers, (a common and fatal
crime throughout the war on the King's part,) he surprised, to
1 [two.]

173 Prince Rupert routs the [vii. 206.
1643 the number of above three hundred ; and, which was of much
greater value, he found there a great quantity of provisions;
prepared by the King's commissaries for the army before Glos
ter, and which they neglected to remove after the siege was
raised, and so most sottishly left it for the relief of the enemy, far
more apprehensive of hunger than of the sword. And indeed this
wonderful supply strangely exalted their spirits, as sent by the
^ special care and extraordinary hand of Providence, even when
they were ready to faint.
207. From hence the earl, having no farther apprehension of
the King's horse, which he had no mind to encounter upon the
open campania, and being at the least twenty miles before him,
by easy marches, that his sick and wearied soldiers might
overtake him, moved through that deep and enclosed country of
North Wiltshire, his direct way to London. As soon as the
King had sure notice which way the enemy was gone, he en
deavoured by expedition and diligence to recover the advantage
which the supine negligence of those he trusted had robbed
him of; and himself with matchless industry taking care to
lead up the foot, prince Rupert with near five thousand horse
marched day and night over the hills to get between London
and the enemy, before they should be able to get out of those
enclosed deep countries, in which they were engaged between
narrow lanes, and to entertain them with skirmishes till the
whole army should come up. This design, pursued and exe
cuted with indefatigable pains, succeeded to his wish ; for when
the van of the enemy's army had almost marched over Awborne
Sept. 18. Chase, intending that night to have reached Newbery, prince
Rupert, besides their fear or expectation, appeared with a strong
body of horse so near them, that before they could put them
selves in order to receive him he charged their rear, and routed
them with good execution ; and though the enemy performed
the parts of good men, and applied themselves more dexterously
to the relief of each other than on so sudden and unlooked for
an occasion was expected, yet, with some difficulty and the loss
of many men, they were glad to shorten their journey, and, the
night coming on, took up their quarters at Hungerford.

VII. 210.] enemy at Auburn Chase. 173
208. In this conflict, which was very sharp for an hour or 1643
two, many fell of the enemy, and of the King's party none of
name but the marquis of Vieu Ville, a gallant gentleman of the
French nation, who had attended the Queen out of Holland, and
put himself as a volunteer upon this action into the lord
Jermin's regiment. There were hurt many officers, and amongst
those the lord Jermin received a shot in his arm with a pistol,
owing the preservation of his life from other shots to the excel
lent temper of his arms ; and the lord Digby a strange hurt in
the face, a pistol being discharged at so near a distance upon
him that the powder fetched much blood from his face, and for
the present blinded him, without farther mischieve, by which it
was concluded that the bullet had dropped out before the pistol
was discharged ; and may be reckoned amongst one of those
escapes of which that gallant person hath passed a greater
number in the course of his life than any man I know.
209. By this expedition of prince Rupert the enemy was
forced to such delay that the King came up with his foot and
train, though his numbers, by his exceeding long and quick
marches, and the license which many officers and soldiers took
whilst the King lay, at E[ve]sham ', were much lessened, being
above two thousand fewer than when he raised his siege from
Gloster. And when the earl the next day advanced from Hun- Sept. 19.
gerford, hoping to recover Newbery, which prince Rupert with
his horse would not be able to hinder him from, when he came
within two miles of the town he found the King possessed of
it, for his majesty with his whole army was come thither two
hours before. This put him to a necessity of staying upon
the field that night ; it being now the seventeenth 2 day of Sep
tember. 210. It was now thought by many that the King had re
covered whatsoever had been lost by former oversights, omis
sions, or neglects, and that by the destroying the army which
1 [He was at Evesham and Pershore ('Parshall') from Sept. n to Sept.
15. Sir E. Walker's Iter Carolimm in Gutch's Collectanea Curiosa,
ii. 431.]
2 [the nineteenth.]

174 The first battle of Newbury. [vii. 2io.
1643 had relieved Gloster, he should be fully recompensed for being
disappointed of that purchase. He seemed to be possessed
of all advantages to be desired, a good town to refresh his
men in, whilst the enemy lodged in the field, his own quarters
to friend, and his garrison of Wallingford at hand, and Oxford
itself within distance for supply of whatsoever should be want
ing ; when the enemy was equally tired with long marches, and
from the time that the prince had attacked them the day before
had stood in their arms, in a country where they could not find
victual. So that it was conceived that it was in the King's
power whether he would fight or no, and therefore that he
might compel them to notable disadvantages who must make
their way through or starve ; and this was so fully understood,
that it was resolved over night not to engage in battle but
upon such grounds as should give an assurance of victory.
Sept. 20. But contrary to this resolution, when the earl of Essex had
with excellent conduct drawn out his army in battalia upon a
bill called Bigg's Hill, within less than a mile of the town, and
ordered his men in all places to the best advantage, by the pre
cipitate courage of some young officers, who had good commands,
and who unhappily always undervalued the courage of the
enemy, strong parties became successively so far engaged that
the King was compelled to put the whole to the hazard of a
battle, and to give the enemy at least an equal game to play.
211. It was disputed on all parts with great fierceness and
courage ; the enemy preserving good order, and standing rather
to keep the ground they were upon than to get more, by which
they did not expose themselves to those advantages which any
motion would have offered to the assailants. The King's horse,
with a kind of contempt of the enemy, charged with wonderful
boldness upon all grounds of inequality, and were so far too
hard for the troops of the other side that they routed them in
most places, till they had left the greatest part of their foot
without any guard at all of horse. But then the foot behaved
themselves admirably on the enemy's part, and gave their scat
tered horse time to rally, and were ready to assist and secure
them upon all occasions. The London train-bands, and auxiliary

VII. 212.] The first battle of Newbury. 1 75
regiments, (of whose inexperience of danger, or any kind of 1643
service beyond the easy practice of their postures in the Artil
lery Garden, men had till then too cheap an estimation,) be
haved themselves to wonder, and were in truth the preservation
of that army that day ; for they stood as a bulwark and ram-
pire to defend the rest, and, when their wings of horse were
scattered and dispersed, kept their ground so steadily that,
though prince Rupert himself led up the choice horse to charge
them, and endured their storm of small shot, he could make no
impression upon their stand of pikes, but was forced to wheel
about. Of so sovereign benefit and use is that readiness, order,
and dexterity in the use of their arms, which hath been so much
neglected. 212. It was fought all that day without any such notable
turn as that either party could think they had much the better.
For though the King's horse made the enemy's often give
ground, yet the foot were so immoveable that little was gotten
by the other; and the first entrance into the battle was so
sudden, and without order, that during the whole day no use
was made of the King's cannon, though that of the enemy was
placed so unhappily that it did very great execution upon the
King's party, both horse and foot. The night parted them
when nothing else could; and each party had then time to
revolve the oversights of the day. The enemy had fared at
least as well as they hoped for; and therefore in the morning, Sept. 21.
early, they put themselves in order of marching, having an obli
gation in necessity to gain some place in which they might eat
and sleep. On the King's side there was that caution which
should have been the day before; and though the number of
their slain was not so great as in so hot a day might have been
looked for, yet very many officers and gentlemen were hurt, so
that they rather chose to take advantage of the enemy's motion,
than to charge them again upon the old ground ; from whence
they had been by order called off the night before, when they
had recovered a post the keeping of which would much have
prejudiced the adversary. The earl of Essex, finding his way
open, pursued his main design of returning to London, and

176 The earl of Essex marches to London, [vn. 212.
1643 took that way by Newbery which led towards Reading ; which
prince Rupert observing, suffered him, without interruption or
disturbance, to pass, till his whole army was entered into the
narrow lanes, and then with a strong party of horse and one
thousand musketeers followed his rear, with so good effect that
he put them into great disorder, and killed many, and took
many prisoners. However, the earl with the gross of his army
and_all his cannon got safe into Reading, and, after a night or
two spent there to refresh and rest his men, he moved in a slow
and orderly march to London, leaving Reading to the King's
forces ; which was presently possessed by sir Jacob Ashly, with
three thousand foot and five hundred horse, and made again a
garrison for the King : his majesty and prince Rupert, with the
remainder of the army, retiring to Oxford, and leaving a gar
rison under the command of colonel Boys in Donnington castle
(a house of John Packer's, but more famous for having been the
seat of Geoffrey Chaucer,) within a mile of Newbery, to com
mand the great road through which the western trade was
driven to London.
213. At this time sir William Waller was at Windsor with
above two thousand horse and as many foot, as unconcerned for
what might befall the earl of Essex as he had formerly been on
his behalf at Roundway hill ; otherwise, if he had advanced
upon the King to Newbery (which was not above twenty miles)
when the earl was on the other side, the King had been in
great danger of an utter defeat ; and the apprehension of this
was the reason, or was afterwards pretended to be, for the
hasty engagement in battle.
Sept. 26. 214. The earl of Essex was received at London with all
imaginable demonstrations of affection and reverence; public
Sept. 24. and solemn thanksgiving was appointed for his victory, for such
they made no scruple to declare it. Without doubt, the action was
performed by him with incomparable conduct and courage, in
every part whereof very much was to be imputed to his own
personal virtue, and it may be well reckoned amongst the most
soldierly actions of this unhappy war. For he did the business
he undertook, and after the relief of Gloster his next care was

vii. 216.] Death of earls of Sunderland and Carnarvon. 177
to retire with his army to London ; which, considering the 1643
length of the way and the difficulties he was to contend with,
he did with less loss than could be expected. On the other
side, the King was not without some signs of a victory. He
had followed, and compelled the enemy to fight, by overtaking
him, when he desired to avoid it ; he had the spoil of the field,
and pursued the enemy the next day after the battle, and had
a good execution upon them without receiving any loss ; and,
(which seemed to crown the work,) fixed a garrison again at
Reading, and thereby straitened their quarters as much as
[they were1] in the beginning of the year, his own being
enlarged by the almost entire conquest of the west, and his
army much stronger in horse and foot than when he first took
the field. On which side soever the marks and public ensigns
of victory appeared most conspicuous, certain it is, that, accord
ing to the unequal fate that attended all skirmishes and con
flicts with such an adversary, the loss on the King's side was in
weight much more considerable and penetrating ; for whilst some
obscure, unheard of, colonel or officer was missing on the enemy's
side, as some citizen's wife bewailed the loss of her husband,
there were above twenty officers of the field and persons of
honour and public name slain upon the place, and more of the
same quality hurt.
215. Here fell the earl of Sunderland, a lord of a great for
tune, tender years, (being not above three and twenty years of
age,) and an early judgment ; who, having no command in the
army, attended upon the King's person under the obligation of
honour ; and putting himself that day into the King's troop a
volunteer, before they came to charge was taken away by a
cannon bullet.
216. This day fell the earl of Carnarvon, who, after he had
charged and routed a body of the enemy's horse, coming care
lessly back by some of the scattered troopers, was by one of
them, who knew him, run through the body with a sword, of
which he died within an hour. He was a person with whose
great parts and virtue the world was not enough acquainted.
1 ['it was,' MS.]
vol. in. N

178 Character of the earl of Carnarvon, [vii. 2ie.
1643 Before the war, though his education was adorned by travel,
and an exact observation of the manners of more nations than
our common travellers used to visit, (for he had, after the view
of Spain, France, and most parts of Italy, spent some time in
Turkey and those eastern countries,) he seemed to be wholly
delighted with those looser exercises of pleasure, hunting, hawk
ing, and the like ; in which the nobility of that time too much
delighted to excel. After the troubles began, having the com
mand of the first or second regiment of horse that was raised
for the King's service, he wholly gave himself up to the office
and duty of a soldier, no man more diligently obeying or more
dexterously commanding ; for he was not only of a very keen
courage in the exposing his person, but an excellent discerner
and pursuer of advantage upon his enemy, and had a mind and
understanding very present in the article of danger, which is a
rare benefit in that profession. Those infirmities and that
license which he had formerly indulged to himself he put off
with severity, when others thought them excusable under the
notion of a soldier. He was a great lover of justice, and prac
tised it then most deliberately when he had power to do wrong ;
and so strict in the observation of his word and promise as a
commander, that he could not be persuaded to stay in the west
when he found it not in his power to perform the agreement he
had made with Dorchester and Waymoth. If he had lived,
he would have proved a great ornament to that profession and
an excellent soldier, and by his death the King found a sensible
weakness in his army.
217. But I must here take leave a little longer to discon
tinue this narration; and if the celebrating the memory of
eminent and extraordinary persons, and transmitting their
great virtues for the imitation of posterity, be one of the prin
cipal ends and duties of history, it will not be thought imper
tinent in this place to remember a loss which no time will
suffer to be forgotten, and no success or good fortune could
repair. In this unhappy battle was slain the lord viscount
Falkland : a person of such prodigious parts of learning and
knowledge, of that inimitable sweetness and delight in conver-

vii. 219.] Death and character of lord Falkland. 1 79
sation, of so flowing and obliging a humanity and goodness to 1643
mankind, and of that primitive simplicity and integrity of life,
that if there were no other brand upon this odious and accursed
civil war than that single loss, it must be most infamous and
execrable to all posterity.
Turpe mori, post te, solo non posse dolore.
218. Before this Parliament his condition of life was so
happy that it was hardly capable of improvement. Before he
came to twenty years of age he was master of a noble fortune,
which descended to him by the gift of a grandfather \ without
passing through his father or mother, who were then both alive,
and not well enough contented to find themselves passed by in
the descent. His education for some years had been in Ire
land, where his father was Lord Deputy; so that when he
returned into England to the possession of his fortune, he was
unentangled with any acquaintance or friends, which usually
grow up by the custom of conversation, and therefore was to
make a pure election of his company, which he chose by other
rules than were prescribed to the young nobility of that time.
And it cannot be denied, though he admitted some few to his
friendship for the agreeableness of their natures and their un
doubted affection to him, that his familiarity and friendship for
the most part was with men of the most eminent and sublime
parts, and of untouched reputation in point of integrity ; and
such men had a title to his bosom.
219. He was a great cheriaher of wit and fancy and good
parts in any man, and, if he found them clouded with poverty
or want, a most liberal and bountiful patron towards them,
even above his fortune ; of which in those administrations he
was such a dispenser as if he had been trusted with it to such
uses, and if there had been the least of vice iu his expense he
might have been thought too prodigal. He was constant and
pertinacious in whatsoever he resolved to do, and not to be
wearied by any pains that were necessary to that end. And
therefore, having once resolved not to see London (which he
1 [Sir Laurence Tanfield, Chief Baron of the Exchequer.]
N 2

180 Character of lord Falkland. [vii. 219.
1643 loved above all places) till he had perfectly learned the Greek
tongue, he went to his own house in the country, and pursued
it with that indefatigable industry that it will not be believed
in how short a time he was master of it, and accurately read all
the Greek historians.
220. In this time, his house being within ten miles of
Oxford 1, he contracted familiarity and friendship with the
most polite and accurate men of that university ; who found
such an immenseness of wit and such a solidity of judgment in
him, so infinite a fancy bound in by a most logical ratiocination,
such a vast knowledge that he was not ignorant in any thing,
yet such an excessive humility as if he had known nothing, that
they frequently resorted and dwelt with him, as in a college
situated in a purer air ; so that his house was a university
bound in a lesser volume, whither they came not so much for
repose as study, and to examine and refine those grosser pro
positions which laziness and consent made current in vulgar
conversation. 221. Many attempts were made upon him by the instigation
of his mother (who was a lady of another persuasion in religion,
and of a most masculine understanding, allayed with the pas
sion and infirmities of her own sex) to pervert him in his piety
to the Church of England, and to reconcile him to that of Rome ;
which they prosecuted with the more confidence, because he
declined no opportunity or occasion of conference with those of
that religion, whether priests or laics, having diligently studied
the controversies, and exactly read all or the choicest of the
Greek and Latin Fathers, and having a memory so stupendous
that he remembered on all occasions whatsoever he read. And
he was so great an enemy to that passion and uncharitableness
which he saw produced by difference of opinion in matters of
religion, that in all those disputations with priests and others
of the Roman Church he affected to manifest all possible civility
to their persons, and estimation of their parts ; which made
them retain still some hope of his reduction, even when they
had given over offering farther reasons to him to that purpose.
1 [At Great Tew, sixteen mEes from Oxford.]

vii. 222.] Character of lord Falkland. 181
But this charity towards them was much lessened, and any cor- 1643
respondence with them quite declined, when by sinister arts
they had corrupted his two younger brothers, being both chil
dren, and stolen them from his house and transported them
beyond seas, and perverted his sisters : upon which occasion
he writ two large discourses against the principal positions
of that religion, with that sharpness of style and full weight of
reason that the Church is deprived of great jewels in the
concealment of them, and that they are not published to the
world \
222. He was superior to all those passions and affections
which attend vulgar minds, and was guilty of no other am
bition than of knowledge, and to be reputed a lover of all good
men ; and that made him too much a contemner of those arts,
which must be indulged in the transactions of human affairs.
In the last short Parliament he was a burgess in the House of
Commons 2 ; and from the debates, which were then managed
with all imaginable gravity and sobriety, he contracted such a
reverence to parliaments that he thought it really impossible
that they could ever produce mischieve or inconvenience to the
kingdom, or that the kingdom could be tolerably happy in the
intermission of them. And from the unhappy and unseasonable
dissolution of that convention, he harboured, it may be, some
jealousy and prejudice of the Court, towards which he was not
before immoderately inclined ; his father having wasted a full
fortune there in those offices and employments by which other
men use to obtain a greater. He was chosen again this Parlia
ment to serve in the same place, and in the beginning of it de
clared himself very sharply and severely against those exorbit
ances which had been most grievous to the State ; for he was
so rigid an observer of established laws and rules that he could
not endure the least breach or deviation from them, and thought
no mischieve so intolerable as the presumption of ministers of
1 [If one of these was the Discourse of infallibility, it had already been
two years in print when Hyde wrote this passage, having been published
in 1645. The other may be the answer to a Beply, which was first printed
in 1651.]
1 [For Newport in the Isle of Wight.]

18a Character of lord Falkland. [vii. 222.
1643 state to break positive rules for reason of state, or judges to
transgress known laws upon the title of conveniency or neces
sity ; which made him so severe against the earl of Strafford
and the lord Finch, contrary to his natural gentleness and
temper : insomuch as they who did not know his composition
to be as free from revenge as it was from pride, thought that
the sharpness to the former might proceed from the memory of
some unkindnesses, not without a mixture of injustice, from him
towards his father. But without doubt he was free from those
temptations, and was only misled by the authority of those who
he believed understood the laws perfectly, of which himself was
utterly ignorant ; and if the assumption, which was scarce con
troverted, had been true, that an endeavour to overthrow the
fundamental laws of the kingdom had been treason, a strict
understanding might make reasonable conclusions, to satisfy
his own judgment, from the exorbitant parts of their several
charges. 223. The great opinion he had of the uprightness and in
tegrity of those persons who appeared most active, especially of
Mr. Hambden, kept him longer from suspecting any design
against the peace of the kingdom ; and though he differed com
monly from them in conclusions, he believed long their purposes
were honest. When he grew better informed what was law,
and discerned a desire to control that law by a vote of one or
both Houses, no man more opposed those attempts, and gave
the adverse party more trouble, by reason and argumentation ;
insomuch as he was, by degrees, looked upon as an advocate for
the Court, to which he contributed so little, that he declined
those addresses, and even those invitations, which he was
obliged almost by civility to entertain. And he was so jealous
of the least imagination that he should incline to preferment,
that he affected even a morosity to the Court and to the cour
tiers ; and left nothing undone which might prevent and divert
the King's or Queen's favour towards him, but the deserving
it. For when the King sent for him once or twice to speak
with him, and to give him thanks for his excellent comportment
in those councils, which his majesty graciously termed doing

VII. 224.] Character of lord Falkland. 183
him service, his answers were more negligent and less satis- 1643
factory than might be expected ; as if he cared only that his
actions should be just, not that they should be acceptable, and
that his majesty should think that they proceeded only from
the impulsion of conscience, without any sympathy in his affec
tions ; which from a stoical and sullen nature might not have
been misinterpreted, yet from a person of so perfect a habit of
generous and obsequious compliance with all good men might
very well have been interpreted by the King as more than an
ordinary averseness to his service : so that he took more pains,
and more forced his nature to actions unagreeable and un
pleasant to it, that he might not be thought to incline to the
Court, than any man hath done to procure an office there.
And if anything but not doing his duty could have kept him
from receiving a testimony of the King's grace and trust at that
time, he had not been called to his Council ; not that he was in
truth averse to the Court or from receiving public employment ;
for he had a great devotion to the King's person, and had before
used some small endeavour to be recommended to him for
a foreign negociation, and had once a desire to be sent am
bassador into France; but he abhorred an imagination or
doubt should sink into the thoughts of any man that, in the
discharge of his trust and duty in Parliament, he had any bias
to the Court, or that the King himself should apprehend that
he looked for a reward for being honest.
224. For this reason, when he heard it first whispered that
the King had a purpose to make him a councillor, for which in
the beginning there was no other ground but because he was
known sufficient, (haud semper erratfama, aliquando et elegit1,)
he resolved to decline it, and at last suffered himself only to be
overruled by the advice and persuasions of his friends to submit
to it. Afterwards, when he found that the King intended to
make him his Secretary of State, he was positive to refuse it ;
declaring to his friends that he was most unfit for it, and that
he must either do that which would be great disquiet to his
own nature, or leave that undone which was most necessary to
1 [Tacitus, Vit. Agric. cap. 9. ' eligit,' MS.]

184 Character of lord Falkland. [vii. 224.
1643 be done by one that was honoured with that place, for that the
most just and honest men did every day that which he could
not give himself leave to do. And indeed he was so exact and
strict an observer of justice and truth, ad amussim, that he be
lieved those necessary condescensions and applications to the
weakness of other men, and those arts and insinuations which
are necessary for discoveries and prevention of ill, would be in
him a declension from the rule which he acknowledged fit
and absolutely necessary to be practised in those employments ;
and was so precise in the practick principles he prescribed to
himself, (to all others he was as indulgent,) as if he had lived
in republica Platonis, non in fceee Romuii 1.
225. Two reasons prevailed with him to receive the seals,
and but for those he had resolutely avoided them. The first,
the consideration that it [sc. his avoiding them] might bring
some blemish upon the King's affairs, and that men would have
believed that he had refused so great an honour and trust be
cause he must have been with it obliged to do somewhat else
not justifiable. And this he made matter of conscience, since
he knew the King made choice of him before other men especi
ally because he thought him more honest than other men. The
other was, lest he might be thought to avoid it out of fear to
do an ungracious thing to the House of Commons, who were
sorely troubled at the displacing sir Harry Vane, whom they
looked upon as removed for having done them those offices
they stood in need of ; and the disdain of so popular an incum
brance wrought upon him next to the other. For as he had a
full appetite of fame by just and generous actions, so he had an
equal contempt of it by any servile expedients: and he so
much the more consented to and approved the justice upon sir
Harry Vane, in his own private judgment, by how much he
surpassed most men in the religious observation of a trust, the
violation whereof he would not admit of any excuse for.
226. For these reasons, he submitted to the King's command,
and became his Secretary, with as humble and devout an
acknowledgment of the greatness of the obligation as could be
1 [Oic, Epistt. ad Atticum, u. i.]

vii. 227.] Character of lord Falkland. 185
expressed, and as true a sense of it in his heart. Yet two 1643
things he could never bring himself to whilst he continued in
that office, that was, to his death ; for which he was contented
to be reproached, as for omissions in a most necessary part of
his place. The one, employing of spies, or giving any counten
ance or entertainment to them ; I do not mean such emissaries as
with danger would venture to view the enemy's camp, and bring
intelligence of their number or quartering, or such generals as
such an observation can comprehend, but those who by commu
nication of guilt or dissimulation of manners wound themselves
into such trusts and secrets as enabled them to make discoveries
for the benefit of the State. The other, the liberty of open
ing letters upon a suspicion that they might contain matter of
dangerous consequence. For the first, he would say, such
instruments must be void of all ingenuity and common honesty
before they could be of use, and afterwards they could never be
fit to be credited ; and that no single preservation could be
worth so general a wound and corruption of human society as
the cherishing such persons would carry with it. The last, he
thought such a violation of the law of nature that no qualifica
tion by office could justify a single person in the trespass ; and
though he was convinced by the necessity and iniquity of the
time that those advantages of information were not to be de
clined, and were necessarily to be practised, he found means to
shift it from himself, when he confessed he needed excuse and
pardon for the omission : so unwilling he was to resign any
thing in his nature to an obligation in his office. In all other
particulars he filled his place plentifully, being sufficiently
versed in languages to understand any that is used in busi
ness and to make himself again understood. To speak of his
integrity, and his high disdain of any bait that might seem
to look towards corruption, in tanto viro injuria virtutum
fuerit 1-
227. Some sharp expressions he used against the archbishop
of Canterbury, and his concurring in the first bill to take away
the votes of bishops in the House of Peers, gave occasion to
1 [Tacitus, Vit. Agric. c. 9.]

1 86 Character of lord Falkland. [VII. 227.
1643 some to believe, and opportunity to others to conclude and
publish, that he was no friend to the Church and the established
government of it, and troubled his very friends much, who were
more confident of the contrary than prepared to answer the
allegations. 228. The truth is, he had unhappily contracted some pre
judice to the archbishop ; and having only known him enough
to observe his passion, when it may be multiplicity of business
or other indisposition had possessed him, did wish him less en
tangled and engaged in the business of the Court or State,
though, (I speak it knowingly,) he had a singular estimation and
reverence of his great learning and confessed integrity, and
really thought his letting himself to those expressions which
implied a disesteem of him, or at least an acknowledgment of
his infirmities, would enable him to shelter him from part of
the storm he saw raised for his destruction ; which he abomin
ated with his soul.
229. The giving his consent to the first bill for the displacing
the bishops did proceed from two grounds : the first, his not
understanding the original of their right and suffrage there ; the
other, an opinion that the combination against the whole
government of the Church by bishops was so violent and furious,
that a less composition than the dispensing with their inter
meddling in secular affairs would not preserve the order. And
he was persuaded to this by the profession of many persons of
honour, who declared they did desire the one and would then
not press the other ; which in that particular misled many men.
But when his observation and experience made him discern
more of their intentions than he before suspected, with great
frankness he opposed the second bill that was preferred for that
purpose ; and had, without scruple, the order itself in perfect
reverence, and thought too great encouragement could not pos
sibly be given to learning, nor too great rewards to learned
men ; and was never in the least degree swayed or moved by
the objections which were made against that government, hold
ing them most ridiculous, or affected to the other which those
men fancied to themselves.

vii. 231.] Character of lord Falkland. 187
230. He had a courage of the most clear and keen temper, 1643
and so far from fear that he was not without appetite of danger;
and therefore upon any occasion of action he always engaged
his person in those troops which he thought, by the forward
ness of the commanders, to be most like to be farthest engaged ;
and in all such encounters he had about him a strange cheerful
ness and companiableness, without at all affecting the execution
that was then principally to be attended, in which he took no
delight, but took pains to prevent it where it was not, by resist
ance, necessary : insomuch that at Edgehill, when the enemy
was routed, he was like to have incurred great peril by inter
posing to save those who had thrown away their arms, and
against whom it may be others were more fierce for their hav
ing thrown them away : insomuch as a man might think he
came into the field only out of curiosity to see the, face of danger,
and charity to prevent the shedding of blood. Yet in his
natural inclination he acknowledged he was addicted to the
profession of a soldier ; and shortly after he came to his fortune,
and before he came to age, he went into the Low Countries
with a resolution of procuring command and to give himself up
to it, from which he was converted by the complete inactivity
of that summer : and so he returned into England, and shortly
after entered upon that vehement course of study we mentioned
before," till the first alarum from the north ; and then again he
made ready for the field, and though he received some repulse
in the command of a troop of horse, of which he had a promise,
he went a volunteer with the earl of Essex.
231. From the entrance into this unnatural war, his natural
cheerfulness and vivacity grew clouded, and a kind of sadness
and dejection of spirit stole upon him which he had never been
used to ; yet being one of those who believed that one battle
would end all differences, and that there would be so great a
victory on one side that the other would be compelled to sub
mit to any conditions from the victor, (which supposition and
conclusion, generally sunk into the minds of most men, prevented
the looking after many advantages which might then have been
laid hold of,) he resisted those indispositions, et in luctu helium

188 Character of lord Falkland. [vii. 231.
1643 inter remedia erat1. But after the King's return from Brainford,
and the furious resolution of the two Houses not to admit any
treaty for peace, those indispositions which had before touched
him grew into a perfect habit of uncheerfulness ; and he, who
had been so exactly unreserved and affable to all men that his
face and countenance was always present and vacant to his com
pany, and held any cloudiness and less pleasantness of the visage
a kind of rudeness or incivility, became on a sudden less com
municable, and thence very sad, pale, and exceedingly affected
with the spleen. In his clothes and habit, which he had
intended before always with more neatness and industry and
expense than is usual to so great a mind, he was not now only
incurious but too negligent; and in his reception of suitors, and
the necessary or casual addresses to his place, so quick and
sharp and severe, that there wanted not some men (who were
strangers to his nature and disposition) who believed him proud
and imperious, from which no mortal man was ever more free.
232. The truth is, as he was of a most incomparable gentle
ness, application, and even a demissness and submission to good
and worthy and entire men, so he was naturally (which could
not but be more evident in his place, which objected him to
another conversation and intermixture than his own election
had done) adversus malos injucundus 2, and was so ill a dissem
bler of his dislike and disinclination to ill men that it was not
possible for such not to discern it. There was once in the
House of Commons such a declared acceptation of the good
service an eminent member had done to them, and, as they said,
to the whole kingdom, that it was moved, he being present, that
the Speaker might in the name of the whole House give him
thanks, and then that every member might, as a testimony of
his particular acknowledgment, stir or move his hat towards
him ; the which (though not ordered) when very many did, the
lord Falkland, (who believed the service itself not to be of that
moment, and that an honourable and generous person could not
have stooped to it for any recompense,) instead of moving his
hat, stretched both his arms out and clasped his hands together
1 [Tacitus, Vit. Ayric. c. 29.] 2 [Tacitus, Vit. Agric. c. 22.]

vii. 234.] Character of lord Falkland. 189
upon the crown of his hat, and held it close down to his head ; 1643
that all men might see how odious that flattery was to him, and
the very approbation of the person, though at that time most
popular. 233. When there was any overture or hope of peace he
would be more erect and vigorous, and exceedingly solicitous
to press any thing which he thought might promote it ; and
sitting amongst his friends, often, after a deep silence and fre
quent sighs, would, with a shrill and sad accent, ingeminate the
word Peace, Peace, and would passionately profess that the very
agony of the war, and the view of the calamities and desolation
the kingdom did and must endure, took his sleep from him, and
would shortly break his heart. This made some think, or pre
tend to think, that he was so much enamoured on peace that
he would have been glad the King should have bought it at
any price ; which was a most unreasonable calumny ; as if a
man that was himself the most punctual and precise in every
circumstance that might reflect upon conscience or honour could
have wished the King to have committed a trespass against
either. And yet this senseless scandal made some impression
upon him, or at least he used it for an excuse of the daringness
of his spirit; for at the leaguer before Gloster, when his friends
passionately reprehended him for exposing his person unneces
sarily to danger, (as he delighted to visit the trenches and
nearest approaches, and to discover what the enemy did,) as
being so much beside the duty of his place that it might be
understood against it, he would say merrily, that his office could
not take away the privileges of his age, and that a Secretary in
war might be present at the greatest secret of danger ; but
withal alleged seriously that it concerned him to be more active
in enterprises of hazard than other men, that all might see that
his impatiency for peace proceeded not from pusillanimity or
fear to adventure his own person.
234. In the morning before the battle, as always upon action,
he was very cheerful, and put himself into the first rank of the
lord Byron's regiment, who was then advancing upon the enemy,
who had lined the hedges on both sides with musketeers ; from

190 The earl of Essex is thanked by Parliament, [vii. 234.
1643 whence he was shot with a musket on the lower part of the
belly, and in the instant falling from his horse, his body was
not found till the next morning, till when there was some
hope he might have been a prisoner ; though his nearest
friends, who knew his temper, received small comfort from
that imagination. Thus fell that incomparable young man,
in the four and thirtieth year of his age, having so much de
spatched the business of life that the oldest rarely attain to that
immense knowledge, and the youngest enter not into the world
with more innocence : and whosoever leads such a life need not
care upon how short warning it be taken from him.
Sept. 25. 235. The earl of Essex entered into London on the 25th day
of September, (a day we shall have occasion to remember upon
Sept. 26. another solemnity,) and was the next day visited at Essex
house by the Speaker and whole House of Commons, who de
clared to him that they came to congratulate his notable success,
and to render the thanks of the kingdom to him for his incom
parable conduct and courage, and that they had caused their
Sept. 23. acknowledgment to be entered in their journal book, as a monu
ment and record of his virtue and their gratitude. A day or
Sept. 28. two after, solemn thanks were rendered to those members of
both Houses who had command in the army, and some extra
ordinary signification of respect derived to the superior officers
throughout the army. A gaudy letter of kindness and value
Sej-t. 15. was sent to colonel Massy, and (which made the letter of more
value,) a thousand pounds was sent him as a gratuity or present
for his service, over [and] above what was due to him for his
pay, and some largess to all the inferior officers, and a month's
pay, over and above their arrears, to the soldiers of that gar
rison. 236. Lest the discourse and apprehension of the jealousy
between the earl of Essex and sir William Waller might ad
minister hope or suspicion that some division might grow
amongst themselves, and from thence that the King might re
ceive any advantage, great care was taken to make, and greater
to publish, a reconciliation between them ; in which sir William
was all submission and humility, and his excellence full of

vii. 238.] Reconciliation between Essex and Waller. 191
grace and courtesy. The passion and animosity which differ- 1843
ence of opinion had produced between any members was totally
laid aside and forgotten, and no artifice omitted to make the
world believe that they were a people newly incorporated, and
as firmly united to one and the same end as their brethren the
Scots ; of whose concurrence and assistance they were now
assured, and satisfied that it would come soon enough for their
preservation, of which they had not before a full confidence.
237 \ Though the King's army had all the trophies of victory
in and after this battle, (it kept the field, and had the spoil of
it ; it took some pieces of the enemy's cannon, who marched off
in the night, and was pursued with some considerable los3
beyond Reading, where a garrison was again placed for his
majesty, under the command of sir Jacob Ashly, major
general of the army, and an excellent officer ; so that the
Parliament was in so much a worse state than they were in the
spring as the loss of Bristol and most of the west amounted to,
for by this time Exeter was likewise reduced by prince Maurice ;)
yet notwithstanding all this the earl of Essex, as is said before,
was received at London with all imaginable gratulation and
triumph ; he had done all that was expected from him, with
many circumstances of great soldiery and notable courage, and
the heart and spirit of the Parliament was visibly much exalted,
and their impatience for peace quite abated.
238. On the contrary, upon the King's return to Oxford,
there appeared nothing but dejection of mind, discontent, and
secret mutiny; in the army, anger and jealousy amongst the
officers, every one accusing another of want of courage and con
duct in the actions of the field ; and they who were not of the
army, blaming them all for their several failings and gross over
sights. The siege of Gloster was not believed to have been well
conducted, and that it might have been taken in half the time
they were before it if it had been skilfully gone about. The not
engaging the earl of Essex in all the march over so open a country
was thought unexcusable, and was imputed to the want of
courage in Wilmott, whom the prince did in no degree favour :
1 [The text is here taken up from the Life, pp. 245-8, for sections 237-248.]

192 Discontent in the army at Oxford, [vii. 238.
1643 nor was the prince himself without some reproaches, for suffer
ing the earl of Essex, after all the horse was joined, to march
down a long steep hill into the vale of Gloster without any dis
turbance ; and that the whole army, when it was found neces
sary to quit the siege, had not been brought to fight in that
vale, and at some distance from the town, when the King's men
were fresh, and the other side tired with so long a march.
239. But then all men renewed their execrations against
those who advised the engagement before Gloster ; the officers,
who had been present and consenting to all the counsels,
disclaiming as much as any the whole design ; and all con
spired to lay the whole reproach upon the Master of the
Rolls, who spake most in those debates, and was not at all
gracious to the soldiers ; and this clamour against that engage
ment was so popular and universal that no man took upon
himself to speak in defence of it ; though, besides the reasons
which have been formerly alleged for it, this last action might
well seem to justify it ; for since it appeared that the city was
so much united to the Parliament that it supplied their army
with such a body of their train-bands, (without which it could
never have marched,) with what success could his majesty [have]
approached London, after the taking of Bristol, with his miser
able army 1 And would not the whole body of the train-bands
have defended that, when so considerable a part of them could
be persuaded to undertake a march of two hundred miles ? for
less they did not march from the time they went out to that in
which they returned. But no reason could ever convert those
who looked upon that undertaking at Gloster as the ruin of the
King's affairs.
240. The temper of the Court was no better than that of
the army ; and the King was so much troubled with both that
he did not enjoy the quiet his condition required. They who
had forborne to be importunate for honours or offices because
they knew they should not be able to obtain their desires from
the King, made their modesty an argument of their merit to
the Queen, and assured her that they had forborne to ask any
thing in her absence because they had always resolved never to

vii. 241.] State of the Court at Oxford. 193
receive any thing but by her bounty. Many pretended former 1643
promises and engagements for creations of honours, as soon as
any thing should be done of that kind. And it is true enough
that both their majesties had given themselves ease from pre
sent importunities, by making promises with reference to a
time which they imagined, and at that time resolved, should
not be soon : and now there was no sooner mention of con
ferring honour upon one or two, whom they had a mind to
gratify, but the rest who had that promise were very impor
tunate and clamorous for the same justice. And by this means
they were, upon the matter, compelled to gratify some men to
whom they bore no good-will ; and so they who received the
favours were no more pleased than they were who conferred
them ; and they who were without ambition before, when they
saw honours and offices conferred upon men who they thought
did not merit them better than themselves, all men thought
their service undervalued if they did not receive the same
reward. And it was a usual prologue to suits of that kind,
that they did not desire it out of their own ambition but purely
to satisfy their friends, who withdrew their kindness from them
out of an opinion that they had offended the King, who would
not otherwise put so great a difference between them and other
men. Princes should not confer public rewards in a season
when they can only gratify few, and when so many stand upon
the same level in pretences, and are apt to feel the preferring
of one as an affront and disobligation to the rest.
241. There was no particular that gave the King more un-
quietness than the presence of my lord of Holland. The three
earls had attended the King before he rose from Gloster, and
had waited upon him throughout that march, and had charged
the enemy, in the King's regiment of horse, at the battle of
Newbery very bravely, and had behaved themselves throughout
very well, and returned to Oxford with his majesty; and now
expected to be well looked upon. And the other two had no
cause to complain; the King upon all occasions spake very
graciously to them, and sent the Chancellor of the Exchequer
to the earl of Clare, that he had liberty, and might be present
vol. ni. 0

194 The earl of Holland at Oxford. [vii. 241.
1643 at the councils of war, where the peers usually were ; where the
general matters of contribution, and such things as concerned
the country, were usually debated. But the earl of Holland
was not pleased; he thought nothing of former miscarriages
ought to be remembered ; that all those were cancelled by the
merit of coming to the King now, and bringing such consider
able persons with him, and disposing others to follow; and
expected, upon his first appearance, to have had his key re
stored to him, to have been in the same condition he was, in the
bed-chamber and in the Council, and in the King's grace and
countenance ; of all which he had assurance, before he came,
from the Queen, at least from Mr. Jermin, who, no doubt, did
exceed his commission. And the very deferring of this was
grievous to him, and the more because he found the same
disrespect from all others as he had done when he came first to
Oxford. 242. He came frequently in the afternoon to Merton college,
where the Queen lay, and where the King was for the most
part at that time of the day, and both their majesties looked
well upon him, and spake to him in public as occasion was
administered. Sometimes the King went aside with him to the
window in the same room, where they spake a quarter or half
an hour together, out of the hearing of any body ; which the
Queen did oftener, in the same manner ; and Mr. Jermin, (who
Sept. 8. was about this time made a baron,) was very frequently with
him. The King was always upon his guard towards him, and
did not, in truth, abate any thing of his former rigour or pre
judice, and continued firm to his former resolutions. But the
Queen, whether from her inclination, or promise, or dislike of
most other people, who were not so good courtiers, (as sure
none was equal to him in that function and mystery,) did in
truth heartily desire that he might receive satisfaction in all
things according to his own desire, and would have trusted
him herself as much as formerly : yet she complied so far with
the King's aversion that she yet forbore to press it, or to own
the encouragement she had given him ; nor had she a willing- .
ness to oppose so great a torrent of malice and prejudice as she

vii. 243.] The earl of Holland at Oxford. 195
saw evidently run against him ; so that she appeared not to 1643
wish what without doubt she would have been very glad of.
However, the marquis of Hartford was now come to Oxford,
and expected the performance of the King's promise to him,
and to be admitted into the office of groom of the stool; of
which the King took not the least notice to him since his
return ; which made it the more suspected that the intention
was to re-admit the old officer ; and this apprehension was con
firmed by the Queen's looking less graciously upon the marquis
than she had used to do. And it is true (though it may be
she did not intend to make any such discovery by her looks,)
she was not pleased that any such promise was made, both
because it was without her consent and as it crossed what she
designed, and much desired that the marquis could have been
persuaded to have released it ; towards which the lord Jermin,
with some passion, spake to the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
how unreasonable a thing it was for the marquis, who was
master of so great a fortune, to affect such a low preferment,
and how generous a thing it would be to quit his pretence :
but he quickly discovered him not to be willing to engage in
any such proposition. All this wonderfully indisposed the
lords and the persons of quality in the town, who did not wish
to see the Court as it had been, or the Queen herself (upon
whose person they looked with duty and reverence) possessed
of so absolute a power as she had been formerly.
243. The earl of Holland did not act his own part with that
art and dexterity which might have been expected from hip
wisdom and experience, nor had ever made the least apology to
the King for any thing he had formerly done; nor appeared
to have the least sense that he had committed any error, as
his majesty himself declared to those who he knew were his
friends 1, and said that he behaved himself with the same
confidence and assurance as he had done when he was most
in his favour, and that he retained still the old artifice of
Court, to be seen to whisper in the King's and Queen's ear, by
1 [The words ' declared — friends ' are substituted in the MS. for, ' told
the Chancellor, who he knew was his friend ']
0 2

196 The earl of Holland at Oxford. [vii. 243.
1643 which people thought there was some secret, when the matter
of those whispers was nothing but what might be said in the
market. So his majesty protested that the earl of Holland had
several times seemed to desire to say somewhat in private to
him, upon which he had withdrawn from the company to the
end or corner of the room, and at first expected and appre
hended that he would say somewhat in his own excuse; but
that he had never said then one word but what he might have
spoke in the circle; with which he said he was the better
pleased ; and that he believed he had not been more particular
•with his wife, save that he used to entertain her with dis
courses of the wisdom and power of the Parliament, and what
great things they would be able to do, and how much they
were respected in foreign parts; which, his majesty said, was
a strange discourse for a man to make who had so lately left
them because he thought the King's condition to be the better
of the two.
244. He had a friend1 who did heartily desire to do him all
the offices and service that would consist with the King's
honour, and always apprehended the ill consequence of dis
couraging such revolutions, and who spake often to the earl
of his own affairs. And when he complained of his usage, and
repeated what promises and encouragement he had received to
come to the King, and of what importance his good reception
would have been ; that there were many of considerable reputa
tion and interest in the House of Commons, (whom he named,)
who intended to have followed, and that the earl of North
umberland only expected his advice ; his friend asked him,
whether he had done all things since he came to the King
which might reasonably be expected from him? He said, he
had he thought done all could be expected from him in bring
ing himself to the King, and, since his coming to him, in
venturing his life for him; and in lieu thereof he had not
received thanks, or one gracious word ; and now, after his
office had been kept unbestowed near two years, and a pro-
1 ['The Chancellor,' struck out in the MS., as also twice below at the
words, 'his friend.']

vii. 245.] The earl of Holland at Oxford. 197
mise made to him that he should be restored to it, it was to be 1643
bestowed upon another, to make his disgrace the more noto
rious ; which he thought would not prove for his majesty's
honour or advantage.
245. His friend asked him, whether he had asked it of the
King, or informed him of the promise that was made to him 1
He said, he had done neither, nor ever would ; he expected
it of the King's grace, and would not extort it by a promise,
which it might be his majesty was not privy to. The other
replied very plainly to him, that if he thought he had never
committed any fault against the King, he had no reason to
acknowledge it, or make excuse for it; but if he were guilty
of any such, how unwarily soever it had been done, or how
unmaliciously soever it had been intended, he ought to make
some confession and apology to his majesty; nor could his
majesty with the safety of his honour avow the receiving him
into any trust without it, nor was he capable of receiving any
offices from his friends, or the Queen's own declared inter
position on his behalf, till he had performed that necessary
introduction. He told him, if he would follow his advice he
believed he might receive some effect of it ; which was, that he
should send to desire a private audience of his majesty in some
room where nobody might be present, which would not be
refused him, and then he should (with all the excuses upon the
terror the Parliament gave to all men who had exceeded the
common rules in their administration of the trust they had
from his majesty, as he could not deny he had done in many
particulars for the advancement of his majesty's service) con
fess, that he had not been hardy enough to contemn that power,
but had been so much in awe of it that he chose rather to
presume upon his majesty's goodness than to provoke their
jealousy and displeasure, and so had complied with them more
than in his duty and gratitude to his majesty he ought to have
done, for which he begged his pardon upon his knees ; and if
he might obtain it, he made no doubt he should wipe out the
memory of past offences by some new services which should be
beneficial to his majesty. And he told him, that he would do

198 The earl of Holland [vii. 245.
1643 very well if he would sue out his pardon, as the earl of Bedford
had done, who had asked it of the King when he first kissed
his hand, and had since wisely taken it out under the Great
Seal of England.
246. The earl of Holland seemed not at all pleased with this
advice ; said, he did not think, though he would not justify all
that he had done, his transgressions were of that magnitude
that they required such a formality of asking pardon ; that his
case was very different from that of the earl of Bedford, who
had been in arms, and a general officer in the field against the
King ; whereas he had only sat in the Parliament, as lawfully
he might do ; and if he had failed in his attendance upon his
majesty, and otherwise deserved his displeasure, he had received
so many marks of it before he deserved it that might well
transport a very faithful servant into a discontent that would
not become him ; that as soon as he found himself restored to
any proportion of his majesty's grace and confidence, his own
inclination would carry him to as humble apologies and as deep
acknowledgments of all bis transgressions as could be expected
from him, and such as he believed would reconcile the King's
goodness to him ; but to make the first advance by such a kind
of submission, he did not think he could prevail over himself to
do it. However, he took his advice very kindly, and spake
often with him after upon the same subject, being, upon con
ference with some other friends, especially by his daughter,
(whom he loved and esteemed exceedingly,) advised the same,
so that he seemed resolved to do it.
247. But whether he thought worse of the King's affairs, or
liked the Court the less because he saw the poverty of it, and
that whatever place or favour he might obtain he could not
expect a support from it to defray his expenses, nor could he
draw it from any other place, he delayed it till the King found
it reasonable to confer the office he had so long promised upon
the marquis of Hartford; and then withdrawing himself, for
his convenience, to a neighbour village, where he had a private
lodging, after few days, with the help of a dark night and a
Nov. 6. good guide, he got himself into the enemy's quarters, and laid

vii. 248.] returns to the Parliament. 199
himself at the feet of the Parliament ; which, after a short 1643
imprisonment, gave him leave to live in his own house, without Nov. 25.
farther considering him, as a man able to do little good or
harm. And yet he did endeavour to render himself as grateful
to them as he could, by an act very unsuitable to his honour
or his own generous nature ; for he published a declaration in
print of the cause of his going to and returning from Oxford ;
in which he endeavoured to make it believed that his com
passion and love to his country had only prevailed with him to
go to the King, in hope to have been able, upon the long
knowledge his majesty had of his fidelity, to persuade him to
make a peace with his Parliament, which from the time of his
coming thither he had laboured to do ; but that he found the
Court so indisposed to peace, and that the Papists had so great
a power there 1, (using many expressions dishonourable towards
the King and his Council,) that he resolved to make what haste
he could back to the Parliament, and to spend the remainder
of his life in their service. Which action, so contrary to his
own natural discretion and generosity, lost him' the affection of
those few who had preserved some kindness for him, and got
him credit with nobody; and may teach all men how dangerous
it is to step aside out of the path of innocence and virtue upon
any presumption to be able to get into it again ; since they
usually satisfy themselves in doing any thing to mend the
present exigent they are in, rather than think of returning to
that condition of innocence from whence they departed with a
purpose of returning.
248. However, this unhappy ill carriage of the earl doth not
absolve the King's Council from oversight in treating him no
better ; which was a great error, and made the King, and all
those about him, looked upon as implacable ; and so diverted all
men from farther thoughts of returning to their duty by such
application, and made those who abhorred the war, and the
1 [These expressions are not found totidem verbis in the earl's declaration,
but are Hyde's paraphrase. The paper is entitled, A declaration made
to the kingdome by Henry, earl of Holland : Lond., printed for Mathew
Walbancke, 1643.]

200 Earls of Bedford, Clare, and Northumberland, [vii. 248.
1643 violent counsels in the carrying it on, choose rather to acquiesce,
and expect a conjuncture when a universal peace might be
made, than to expose themselves by unseasonable and unwelcome
addresses. The earl of Northumberland, who was gone to Pet-
§ 188. worth, (as is said before,) with a purpose of going to the King
if, by the lord Conway's negociation and the earl of Holland's
reception, he found encouragement, returned to the Parliament,
where he was received with great respect, all men concluding
that he had never intended to do what he had not done. And
the other members, who had entertained the same resolutions,
changed their minds with him, and returned to their former
stations : and the two earls who yet remained at Oxford, shortly
after found means to make their peace, and returned again to
their own habitations in London, without farther mark of dis
pleasure than a restraint from coming to the House of Peers or
being trusted in their counsels.
249 1. The committee from the two Houses of Parliament
which was sent into Scotland in July before, in the distraction
of their affairs, when sir William Waller was defeated and the
§ 135. earl of Essex's army unserviceable, (as is remembered,) found
that kingdom in so good and ready a posture for their reception,
May io. that they had called an Assembly of their Kirk and a Conven
tion of the Estates a, (which is their Parliament,) without, and
expressly against, the King's consent, and without any colour
of law ; for the time when by their late Act of Parliament they
might of right challenge those meetings was not come by almost
a year, and the King had refused to convene them sooner. The
kingdom was at unity and peace amongst themselves, and so at
the more leisure to help their neighbours ; and the government
of all affairs in their hands who were to be confided in, and
they, again, ruled and disposed by a few who were throughly
engaged in the counsels and discomposures in England; for
all those who were visibly affected to the King's service, or
1 [The Hist, is here resumed, at pp. 481-486, for §§ 249-264.]
2 [Tire Convention was summoned for June 22, and the General Assembly
for Aug. 2, to which the King sent sir Thomas Hope as his commissioner
by letter dated July 22.]

vii. 250.] Committee of Parliament in Scotland. zoi
disaffected eminently to the persons in authority there, were 1643
fled the kingdom: and they who stayed behind, either had, or
pretended to have, the same affections, of which a full declared
zeal and good- will to the Parliament of England was a common
evidence. 250. So that the committee found as good a welcome as they
could wish, and all men disposed to gain a good opinion with
them. A committee was appointed, both out of the Convention Aug. 9, 15.
of Estates and the Assembly, to treat with them, and to make
such conclusions as might be thought necessary to advance the
peace and happiness of both kingdoms. These men complied
with them in their full sense of the sad condition of the affairs
of England, and in their own concernment in the misfortunes
which should befall them : they said they well understood how
much the fate of Scotland was involved in what should befall
the Parliament in England, and that if the King prevailed by
force, and by the power of his army oppressed those friends who
had expressed a tenderness formerly towards them, they had
reason to expect the same army should be applied to the revenge
of those indignities they would easily persuade his majesty he
had suffered from that his native kingdom : and therefore there
needed no arguments to persuade them to commiserate the
estate of their brethren of England, or to convince them that
their case was their own, and their mutual safety bound up to
gether : but that those politic arguments and considerations
would have no influence upon the people, who had such a
natural affection and loyalty to their sovereign, as no earthly
consideration would be able to prevail with them to lessen their
obedience towards his majesty ; and that, albeit there was no
visible party and faction that appeared in the kingdom for the
King, yet that there were many well-wishers to him, and
maligners in their hearts of the present reformation, who, as soon
as there should be any preparation for an army to march into
England, would be ready, upon the specious arguments of duty to
his majesty and of peace to their country, and might be able, to
give great disturbance to the expedition, or to disquiet the
realm, when the most eminently affected were marched towards

aoa The Covenant against prelacy proposed [vii. 250.
1643 the relief of their distressed neighbours ; except some obliga
tion of conscience were laid upon the people ; who only preferred
their piety to God before their inclinations to their prince, and
the setting up the kingdom of Jesus Christ before the vindica
tion of his temporal jurisdiction.
251. For such an expedient, therefore, they proposed that a
Covenant might be agreed upon between the two kingdoms for
the utter extirpation of prelacy, which that kingdom was satis
fied to be a great obstruction to the reformation of religion ; and
the two Houses of Parliament had discovered a sufficient aver
sion from that government by having passed a bill for their utter
abolition ; and in the place thereof to erect such a government
as should be most agreeable to God's word, which they doubted
not would be their own presbytery; and the people being
cemented together by such an obligation, would never be severed
and disjoined by any temptation.
252. There was an easy consent from the committee of the
English to any expedient that might throughly engage the
other nation ; and so a form of words was quickly agreed on
between them for a perfect combination and marriage between
the Parliament and the Scots, in all such particulars as were
most like to be unacceptable to the King ; and this form being
presently communicated to the Convention of Estates and the
Aug. 17. Assembly, as soon found an approbation and concurrence there,
with as much solemnity as was necessary to shew their temper
and resolution and to provoke the consent of the two Houses at
Westminster; whither it was despatched with all imaginable
celerity, and a signification that that people were in such a
forwardness to advance that they would be in England as soon
as they could be reasonably expected. And it was indeed
apparent enough, that, upon the discipline of the late commo
tions, and the wise presage and foresight of that people, there L
was nothing requisite to their march but the calling them to
gether. 253. Many were of opinion, that this engagement was pro
posed rather to decline being engaged in the quarrel than out
1 [' that there,' MS.]

vii. 254.] by the Scots for the two kingdoms. 303
of hope or imagination that the two Houses would concur with 1643
them ; for though there had been a bill passed, before the last
treaty with the King, to that purpose, yet they well knew that
most of the peers, and persons of quality and interest in the
other House, were willing to depart from that overture ; besides
that amongst those who raged jointly against episcopacy there
were so many opinions, that it would be no less difficult to esta
blish their presbytery than to root out the other government,
and to which they intended by their Covenant equally to oblige
them : so that upon this proposition, which was according to
the known temper of that nation, they should preserve them
selves plausibly, and without seeming to desert their confeder
ates, from bearing any part in the present troubles. However,
it would visibly take up so much time, that, if there were no
ebb in the King's prosperity and successes, he might well finish
his work, and this interposition be interpreted for a politic
stratagem to amuse them. But if this was their stratagem,
they met with people too frank-hearted and unscrupulous to
contribute towards it : for the draught of the Covenant no
sooner came to Westminster but they shewed a marvellous in
clination to it. Yet, as well because it was not yet known what
success the earl of Essex would have in the relief of Gloster, which
was like to have a shrewd influence upon men's affections and
conscience, as that they might seem to use all necessary deliber
ation and caution, for the information of their judgments, in a
new case that concerned the religion and ecclesiastical fabric of
the kingdom, they transmitted it to their Assembly of Divines, Sept. 14.
to return their opinion of the lawfulness of taking it in point of
conscience. 254. The Assembly, besides that it was constituted of mem
bers who had all renounced their obedience to their King and
submission to the Church of England by their appearance and
presence in that convention, had been lately taught how
dangerous it was to dissent from the current opinion of the
House of Commons : for Dr. Featley, (upon whose reputation in
learning 1 they had raised great advantage to themselves,) having
1 [' and levity of understanding ' ; struck out in the MS.]

204 Dr. Featley imprisoned. [vii. 254.
1643 made many speeches in the Assembly in the behalf of the order
of bishops and their function, and against the alienation of
church-lands as sacrilege, and especially inveighed against the
liberty that was taken in matter of religion, by which so many
sects were grown up to the scandal and reproach of the Protes
tant doctrine, if not of Christianity itself, had so far incurred
their displeasure, and provoked their jealousy, that an ordinary
fellow (so well confirmed in spirit that they doubted not his
failing, or conversion) was directed to make application to him
in cases of conscience, and after he had gotten sufficient credit
with him, (which was no hard matter,) to intimate to him that
he had a sure and unquestionable conveyance to Oxford, or that
he was to go thither himself, and if he had any occasions to use
his service thither he would faithfully execute his commands.
The doctor, believing the messenger to be sincere, and the
King's affairs standing then prosperous, gave him letters for the
archbishop of Armagh, primate of Ireland, who waited on his
majesty ; and by this artifice the same instrument received two
or three letters from him, pretending they were still sent by in
fallible hands, and brought them always to those persons by
whom he was intrusted in the work of his imposture.
255. The letters contained many apologies for himself, for
being engaged in such a congregation, to which he submitted
purely out of conscience, and for the service of the King and
Church, in hope that he might be able to prevent many extrava
gancies, and to contain those unruly spirits within some bounds
of regularity and moderation ; of his endeavours that way he
gave many instances, and sent copies of what he had said in
justification of episcopacy, the liturgy, and the established
government, and concluded with a desire to his grace to procure
a good opinion from the King towards him, and some bishopric
or deanery for his recompense. About the time that this agita
tion was in Scotland, and very little before this Covenant was
transmitted, these letters were produced, and a charge against
that doctor for betraying the trust reposed in him and adhering
Sept. 30. to the enemy ; and thereupon the poor man was expelled the
Assembly of Divines, both his livings (for he had two within a

vii. 257.] Parliament and the Assembly take the Covenant. 205
very small distance of London 1) sequestered, his study of books 1643
and estates seized, and himself committed to a common gaol,
where he continued to his death ; which befell him the sooner I(>45-
through the extreme wants he underwent ; so solicitous was that
party to remove any impediment that troubled them, and so
implacable to any who were weary of their journey, though they
had accompanied them very far in their way.
256. This fresh example the Assembly of godly and learned
Divines had before their eyes when this Covenant was sent to
them for their consideration and speedy resolution ; and accord
ing to the haste it required, that clergy returned within two sept. 15.
days their full approbation of it, there having been but two
ministers who made any pause or scruple of it, and they again
soon confessing they had received satisfaction to their doubts in
the debate, and that they were fully convinced of the lawfulness
and piety of it.
257. Having received so absolute an approbation and con
currence, and the battle of Newbery being in that time likewise
over, (which cleared and removed more doubts than the Assembly
had done,) it stuck very few hours with both Houses ; but being gept jg
at once judged convenient and lawful, the Lords and Commons
and their Assembly of Divines met together at the church, with Sept. 25.
great solemnity, to take it, on the five and twentieth day of
September ; a double holy-day, by the earl of Essex his trium
phant return to London, and this religious exercise. There,
two or three of their divines went up into the pulpit successively,
not to preach but to pray ; others, according to their several
gifts, to make orations upon the work of the day. They were
by them told,
That this oath was such, and in the matter and consequence of it of such
concernment, as it was truly worthy of them, yea of all these kingdoms, yea
of all the kingdoms of the world : that it 'could be no other but the result
and answer of such prayers and tears, of such sincerity and sufferings, that
three kingdoms should be thus born, or rather new born, in a day : that
they were entering upon a work of tbe greatest moment, and concernment
to themselves and to their posterities after them, that ever was undertaken
by any of them, or any of their forefathers before them ; that it was a duty
of the first commandment, and therefore of the highest and noblest order
1 [Lambeth and Acton.]

206 The Solemn League [vii. 257.
1643 and rank of duties; therefore must come forth attended with choicest
graces, fear, humility, and in the greatest simplicity and plainness of spirit,
in respect of those with whom they covenanted ; that it was to advance the
kingdom of Christ here upon earth, and make Jerusalem once more the
praise of the whole earth, notwithstanding aE the contradictions of men ;
with many such high expressions, which can hardly be con
ceived without the view of the records and registry that is kept
of them.
258. It will be here most necessary, that posterity may be
informed of the rare conclusion in which two nations with such
wonderful unanimity did agree, and which was calculated for the
meridian of a third kingdom, for Ireland is likewise compre
hended in it, to insert this League and Covenant in the precise
terms in which it was received and entered into ; which was in
these words : —
259. A solemn League and Covenant for reformation and defence of reli
gion, the honour and happiness of the King, and the peace and safety
of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
' "We, noblemen, barons, knights, gentlemen, citizens, burgesses, ministers
of the gospel, and commons of all sorts, in the kingdoms of England, Scot
land, and Ireland, by the providence of God living under one King, and
being of one reformed reUgion, having before our eyes the glory of God
and the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
the honour and happiness of the King's majesty and his posterity, and the
true public Uberty, safety, and peace of the kingdoms, wherein every one's
private condition is included ; and calling to mind the treacherous and
bloody plots, conspiracies, attempts, and practices of the enemies of God,
against the true religion, and professors thereof in all places, especially in
these three kingdoms, ever since the reformation of religion, and how much
their rage, power, and presumption are of late, and at this time, increased
and exercised, whereof the deplorable estate of the Church and kingdom of
Ireland, the distressed estate of the Church and kingdom of England, and
the dangerous estate of the Church and kingdom of Scotland, are present
and public testimonies ; we have now at last, (after other means of suppH-
cation, remonstrance, protestations, and sufferings, ) for the preservation of
ourselves and our religion from utter ruin and destruction, according
to the commendable practice of these kingdoms in former times, and the
example of God's people in other nations, after mature deliberation, resolved
and determined to enter into a mutual and solemn league and covenant,
wherein we all subscribe, and each one of us for himself, with our hands
Ufted up to the most high God, do swear,
1. ' That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through the grace of
God, endeavour, in our Several places and callings, the preservation of the
reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline,

vii. 259.] and Covenant. 207
and government, against our common enemies ; the reformation of religion 1643
in the kingdoms of England and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government, according to the word of God, and the example of the best
reformed churches ; and shall endeavour to bring the churches of God in the
three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, con
fession of faith, form of church-government, directory for worship and
catechising ; that we, and our posterity after us, may, as brethren, Uve in
faith and love, and the Lord may deUght to dwell in the midst of us.
2. ' That we shall in Uke manner, without respect of persons, endeavour
the extirpation of popery, prelacy, (that is, church-government by arch
bishops, bishops, their chanceUors and commissaries, deans, deans and
chapters, archdeacons, and aE other ecclesiastical officers depending on that
hierarchy,) superstition, heresy, schism, profaneness, and whatsoever shall
be found to be contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness, lest
we partake in other men's sins, and thereby be in danger to receive of
their plagues, and that the Lord may be one, and his name one in the three
kingdoms. 3. 'We shaE with the same sincerity, reality, and constancy, in our
several vocations, endeavour, with our estates and lives, mutuaEy to pre
serve the rights and privileges of the Parliaments and the liberties of the
kingdoms, and to preserve and defend the King's majesty's person and
authority, in the preservation and defence of the true religion and Uberties
of the kingdoms ; that the world may bear witness, with our consciences, of
our loyalty, and that we have no thoughts or intentions to diminish his
majesty's just power and greatness.
4. ' We shall also with all faithfulness endeavour the discovery of aU such
as have been or shaE be incendiaries, malignants, or evil instruments, by
hindering the reformation of reUgion, dividing the King from his people, or
one of the kingdoms from another, [or] making any faction or parties
amongst the people, contrary to this league and covenant ; that they may be
brought to public trial, and receive condign punishment, as the degree of
their offences shaE require or deserve, or the supreme judicatories of both
kingdoms respectively, or others having power from them for that effect,
shaE judge convenient.
5. ' And whereas the happiness of a blessed peace between these king
doms, denied in former times to our progenitors, is by the good providence
of God granted unto us, and hath been lately concluded and settled by both
Parliaments, we shaU, each one of us, according to our place and interest,
endeavour, that they may remain conjoined in a firm peace and union to all
posterity, and that justice may be done upon the wilful opposers thereof, in
manner expressed in the precedent articles.
6. ' We shaU also, according to our places and callings, in this common
cause of religion, liberty, and peace of the kingdoms, assist and defend aU
those that enter [into] this league and covenant, in the maintaining and
pursuing thereof; and shaU not suffer ourselves, directly or indirectly, by
whatsoever combination, persuasion, or terror, to be divided, and withdrawn
from this blessed union and conjunction, whether to make defection to the
contrary part, or to give ourselves to a detestable indifference or neutrality
in this cause, which so much concerneth the glory of God, the good of the

208 The Solemn League and Covenant. [VII. 259.
1643 kingdoms, and the honour of the King ; but shall aE the days of our lives
zealously and constantly continue therein, against all opposition, and pro
mote the same according to our power, against aE lets and impediments
whatsoever. And what we are not able ourselves to suppress or overcome,
we shaE reveal and make it known, that it may be timely prevented or
removed. All which we shall do as in the sight of God.
' And because these kingdoms are guilty of many sins and provocations
against God and his Son Jesus Christ, as is too manifest by our present dis
tresses and dangers, the fruits thereof, we profess and declare, before God
and the world, our unfeigned desire to be humbled for our [own] sins, and
for the sins of these kingdoms ; especiaEy that we have not as we ought
valued the inestimable benefit of the gospel, that we have not laboured for
the purity and power thereof, and that we have not endeavoured to receive
Christ in our hearts, nor to walk worthy of him in our lives, which are the
causes of other sins and transgressions so much abounding amongst us : and
our true and unfeigned purpose, desire, and endeavour for ourselves, and aE
others under our power and charge, both in public and in private, in aU
duties we owe to God and man, to amend our Uves, and each one to go
before another in the example of a real reformation ; that the Lord may turn
away his wrath and heavy indignation, and establish these churches and
kingdoms in truth and peace. And this covenant we make in the presence
of Almighty God, the searcher of all hearts, with a true intention to perform
the same, as we shall answer at that great day when the secrets of aE hearts
shall be disclosed ; most humbly beseeching the Lord to strengthen us by
his holy Spirit for this end, and to bless our desires and proceedings with
such success as may be deUverance and safety to his people, and encourage
ment to other Christian churches groaning under, or in danger of, the yoke
of antichristian tyranny, to join in the same or Uke association and cove
nant, to the glory of God, the enlargement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ,
and the peace and tranquillity of Christian kingdoms and commonwealths.'
260. As soon as this solemnity was over, (which was con
cluded by Mr. Henderson, the sole ecclesiastical commissioner
from the kingdom of Scotland, who magnified what they had
done, and assured them of great success after it by the ex
perience of that nation, who from their union in their first
covenant found nothing hard they proposed to themselves, and
told them that were that covenant now painted upon the wall
within the Pope's palace it would doubtless put him into
Belshazzar's quaking condition,) the Speaker and Commons
(having first set their hands to the Covenant, after they had
taken it) returned to their House ; and observing that many of
their members were that day absent, the cause whereof was
easy to be guessed, they ordered that as soon as they came into
the House the Covenant should be tendered to them, and who-

Vii. 282.] The Covenant is ordered to le taken ly the city. 209
soever refused to take it should be proceeded against as a dis- 1643
affected person, in such manner as the House should think fit.
261. And they farther made a special order, that all the Sept. 25.
ministers of the parish-churches within London and West
minster, the suburbs, and the whole line of communication,
should read and explain the Covenant to their several con
gregations, and stir them up, the next fast day, to the cheerful
taking of it : and particular care was taken that all the students
of the Inns of Court should be persuaded to receive it. But
over and above these general directions, there was a particular
ceremony and application to recommend this Covenant to the
city and corporation of London, and another use to be made
of it. The Covenant was not only to bring but to keep men
together, and the taking it had only inclined the Scots to
march to their assistance ; they were to have one hundred
thousand pounds advanced to them, and paid at Edinborough,
before they would stir ; and how to advance this great sum
was not easy to resolve. All their ordinances for levying
money were spent ; their issues and disbursements so vast that
no income was sufficient ; their exchequer was exhausted, and
even their public faith bankrupt : such anticipations upon all
kind of receipts, for monies borrowed and already spent, that
they had no capital for future security.
262. The judicature of the House of Peers (though their
number was but ten, for there was no more at the sentence
of justice Barkly) had helped them all they could. Justice
Barkly, who had been committed by them to the Tower shortly lf>41
after the beginning of the Parliament upon a charge of high
treason, and since the beginning of the war permitted by them
to sit as sole judge in the King's Bench one whole term, was
now brought to judgment, and by their lordships fined the sum Sept. 12.
of twenty thousand pounds, and made incapable of any place of
judicature ; and upon an abatement of half, and his liberty,
[he] paid the other ten thousand pounds together to those
persons they appointed to receive it ; which, since all fines are
due to the King alone and cannot be disposed but by him,
many thought a greater crime than that for which he was
VOL. III. P

210 A hundred thousand pounds lent [vii. 262.
1643 sentenced. Baron Trevour, who was fined for the same offence,
Oct. 19. an)j guffered still to continue the same office in which he had
committed his misdemeanour, yielded them as much more *.
But these petty sums were disposed before they were received,
and were but small drops to quench the great drowth they
sustained. So that the reputation and security of this Cove
nant was, amongst other uses, to bring in money too.
263. And to that purpose, a committee of Lords and Com
mons, with some of their divines of the Assembly, was sent to
the Guild-hall, where the mayor had called a Common Council
for their reception, to recommend to them the wonderful ad
vantage and strength their party should gain by taking, and
being united in, this Covenant, and the desperate condition
they were like to be in without it. If the Scots came not to
their assistance, which without this obligation they could not
do, they were in danger to be overwhelmed by the enemy, or at
least to make a disadvantageous and dishonourable peace with
them, which yet they could not tell how it would be observed
and kept. On the other hand, by this famous accession of
strength of a whole nation, they should undoubtedly be able to
master the war, and to make those who had been the causers
of it defray the charge; and so, all the public debts being
discharged out of the estates of delinquents and malignants, the
kingdom would not be at all impoverished; and the peace
which should hereafter be made with the King would be sure
to be inviolably observed by the strength of this union, and
therefore that it could not be purchased at too dear a rate.
264. It was, they said, neither covetousness, nor want of
affection and zeal to their relief, that the Scots, who took their
cause to heart as their own, desired an advance of money before
they drew their army into England, but pure necessity, and
the poverty of that kingdom, already exhausted by their late
expeditions, and keeping their soldiers together for the good of
this. And if there had been money enough in that country to
have been procured upon the public stock and revenue, or the
mortgage of private estates, to which all men were forward for
1 [£6,ooo.]

vii. 264.] by the city of London for the Scots. 211
the public good, their love to their brethren here was such that 1643
they would neither have asked nor received money for their
assistance after it had proved effectual ; much less, before the
yielding it. For evidence of which frank and brotherly in
clination, they freely offered the engagement of their own
estates for the repayment of the money that should be ad
vanced : which was the first time that ever land in Scotland
had been offered for security of money in the city of London.
In the end, they very devoutly extolled the Covenant ; mag
nified the Scotch nation with all imaginable attributes of
esteem and reverence, a nation that had engaged itself to God
in a higher way, in a more extraordinary way, than any nation
this day upon the face of the earth had done, a nation that had
reformed their lives for so small a time more than ever any
people that they knew of in the world had done, a nation that
God had honoured by giving as glorious success unto as ever
he did unto any: — and very earnestly desired the loan of a
hundred thousand pounds. The rhetoric and the zeal pre
vailed ; a hundred thousand pounds was promised, and shortly
provided, and sent to Edinborough ; and the assurance of the
Scots coming so full, that they were looked upon as masters
of Newcastle already; with such an alacrity all things were
transacted 1.
1 [The Hist, is continued as foUows, at pp. 486-7,' the Life being taken
up, at p. 248, for §§ 265, 267-75, 266 being again from the Hist. : —
1. ' There was not the same union and concurrence in the King's quarters.
As soon as the King came to Oxford, instead of any man's contributing his
advice and assistance for what was next to be done, every man took great
freedom in censuring what was past. Many cried out upon the sitting down
before Gloster, not only as a very unskilful act, but perfidiously designed
by those who wished not that the King's affairs should prosper and were
corrupted by the Parliament ; and this clamour was improved by the dis
courses of those who had left them after the loss of Bristol, and reported
that the prime leaders and governors in both Houses then declared that all
their hope was that the King would be persuaded to engage before Glos
ter, which if he should not do, and marched direetly towards London, they
were undone ; and that out of the apprehension of such a resolution in the
King many 2of the principal and most obnoxious members and citizens, who
had been most active, had shipped their estates for Holland, and kept
vessels ready for their own transportation. But as the first was a calumny
a ['that many,' MS.]
P 2

212 Plans of the violent [vii. 265.
1643 265. That violent party in the parliament which never in
tended any peace with the King, and had more desperate
without the least ground and colour, there being then no person of credit
with the King in his counsels who was not of unblemished integrity to his
cause, so the other fancy of marching towards London was much more
unreasonable than the course which was taken. For besides that the King's
army was exceeding small (I speak of the body of his foot) when he marched
from Bristol, though it increased wonderfuEy before Gloster, it cannot be
imagined, if the earl of Essex was able to draw out the train-bands and
auxiliaries of London (which was the strength of his army) to march as far
as Gloster, he would [not] have engaged a far greater body of them to have
met the King nearer London. Indeed, if after the taking of Bristol the
King had marched into Hampshire, and so advanced through Sussex (which
stood generally weE inclined to his service) into Kent, where there were
about that time some commotions and insurrections of the people, which
being seconded and formed might have grown very terrible to the Parlia
ment, and without any countenance from the King gave them some ti-ouble,
and were not dispersed without blood ; and at the same time, if the marquis
Oct. 2J-. of Newcastle, (for the King had now conferred that dignity upon him,) who
June 30. l"a<l then totaUy defeated the lord Fayrfax and driven him into HuU, which
was the only shelter the enemy had in that large, rich, populous county,
had advanced with his fuE power into the associated counties, through
Lincolnshire into Norfolk, where the people had suffered long and grievously
under the Parliament, and had now taken so much courage that the town of
Lynn, a port and harbour strongly situated, by the virtue of the inhabitants
especially, and encouragement of some gentlemen of the county retired
thither, shut their gates against the earl of Manchester, and endured near a
month's siege l, it might very much have troubled the ParUament to have
divided their strength into two armies ; and the distempers within the city
of London would probably have produced some confusion, when it should have
been manifest that that city was to provide out of itself two armies to send
out, and power enough for its own security and defence. But since the
unhappy temper of the north was such that it was rather thought to carry
that victorious and flourishing army before the walls of Hull than to make
a progress southward, where probably it would not have met a resistance it
could not remove, I am still of the opinion that the King's sitting down
before Gloster (however it succeeded) was the next best, and in reason to
be preferred far before marching towards London, or going nearer London
upon its single confidence. And no doubt, according to the fate in war,
where whatsoever proves unfortunate in the execution is concluded to be
improvident in the counsel, if the enterprise upon Bristol (which was in
reason more Ukely to have miscarried than the other afterwards was upon
Gloster) had not succeeded, that counsel (which upon the event was
generally applauded) would have been as severely censured, and it would
have been then thought, (and it may be upon as much reason,) that upon
the defeat of Waller, when the body of Cornish foot was unfoiled, and the
King's forces received so great an addition by the access of that guard
1 [It was surrendered on Sept. 16.]

Vii. 265.] party in Parliament. 213
mutations in their purposes than they avowed, even amongst 1643
those who ooncurred with them in all they desired, did not
which attended the Queen out of the north, was the time to have found out
the earl of Essex's broken and dismayed army, and to have followed them
to the walls of London, with messages of grace and favour to the city and
overtures of pardon to the Houses, and that the winning of Bristol was not
to be put into the scale against the other opportunity.
2. 'Others, who approved, or at least thought the engaging before
Gloster was not uncounseEable, were as censorious of the conduct after
wards ; that a body of seven thousand horse (for at that time the King s
army consisted of no less) should suffer the earl of Essex to march four days
together over the fairest campania in England without disturbance, and
that the whole army should not give him battle before he descended the
hiE into Gloster ; that it had been easy, by the advantage of the situation,
and so many horse as might have been spared for that purpose, to have kept
the besieged within their walls, and to have fought upon great advantage
even before the town ; that after the city was relieved, the earl's marching
twenty mEes on his journey towards London before it was known what was
become of him, argued most supine negligence in some officers ; and that
after the enemy were overtaken, and prevented at Newbery upon so great
advantage, the beginning the battle without order, and against the resolu
tion in council, (for which no man was ever afterwards called in question,)
was never heard of before in a regular army. And there wanted not some
who accused even eminent commanders of want of courage as well as con
duct in that day's service, and that by such lashity 1 an opportunity or two
was lost, which being pursued had made the day very glorious to the King,
with a great, if not fuE, defeat of the enemy. Which aspersions may be
presumed to proceed from the melancholic of the loss, and the licence that
aU men take to censure after such misfortunes, imagining the liberty of dis
course to be a kind of justice where the damage and mischieve is universal.
Yet it cannot be denied that the spirit and mettle and courage of gaUant
men is not still the same, many being much more daring and cheerful at
some times in enterprises of great hazard and apparent danger, than at other
times in matters of less difficulty though of equal concernment ; and we
often see men very sprightly and vigorously enter upon sharp encounters,
and when they find more resistance and opposition than they expected, they
grow suddenly weary, and even dismayed because the enemy is not. Our
experience has showed us many examples of those who have had extra
ordinary fame of courage in duels, and have gone with a kind of delight
always upon such contentions, and yet have been so fearful to walk amongst
buEets or within the danger of them, that they have avoided it with great
reproach and scandal when their duty obliged them not to retire or to be
absent. On the contrary, others who would enter a breach, or stand in one
with a disdain of aU shot, have been very hardly drawn (not by any reluc-
tation of conscience) to an emulous contestation with a sword, and when
they have entered into it have behaved themselves marvellous untowardly
1 [Sluggishness ; laclieU. See book v. 448, where a more correct form, ' lashty,' is
used.]

214 The violent party send [vii. 265.
1643 think themselves secure in the affection of the people nor in
those who had the greatest trust in their affairs. They had
by the strength and power of their fear. Again, we have known many very
worthy men, (and it may be in the first form of gaEantry,) who on a sudden
surprise of danger unexpected have confessed great confusion in their coun
tenance and whole demeanour, but upon second thoughts and recollection,
or upon a foresight of peril, have composed themselves to a steadiness of
temper and resolution which no disadvantage hath been able to amate or
disturb ; and, on the other side, many who have been quick and undaunted
upon exigents and sudden violent alarums, and upon the prospect and con
tinuance of the hazard have shrunk below a manly boldness. Lastly, there
want not examples of many, who, beyond that degree of their age in which
the blood is warmest and most inclined to adventures, have lain under the
just imputation of not daring, even to an irresistance of injuries, and yet,
being once engaged, and acquainted with the face and custom of danger,
have proved hardy and forward to wonder, and, like butchers in a fence-
school, with their rude fury have discountenanced and discomposed the
cunning, skEl, and resolution of any adversary ; and we have been told of
others, who, having been nursed up in war, and eaten the bread only of
purchase and adventures for the first part of their Uves, before their meri
dian have declined to so duU an appetite of danger as if they had not the
same souls. Which may persuade us rather that courage is not the
thing we take it to be than that there are several species and kinds
of it, and that aE bold actions and incursions into danger proceed not
from that excellent habit and fearlessness of the mind which is truly
and properly called courage, but from a want of science and compre
hension of the danger a man seems to despise. He that is ready at all
hours, and upon aE unnecessary occasions, to enter the field in a duel, it
may be wholly depends upon his own skill and the unskilfulness of his
adversary, and, though he hath subdued his conscience to a carelessness of
shedding of blood and committing a murder, hath not the least apprehension
of losing his own [life], or of danger in the enterprise ; and where there is
no apprehension of danger there is no present exercise of courage. And it
may be, many who stoutly advance upon a breach may not have a sense of
the hazard they undergo, but, keeping their old motion they are used to,
consider that there are so many more to be hit besides themselves that there
is reason enough to believe they may escape ; or, possibly, there may be
visibly more danger in running away than in doing one's duty, and then
there goes not much courage to the election. And if these and such like
fancies and imaginations, and other vain passions and affections, had not a
great place and force in our most hazardous and desperate undertakings, but
that it was a real contempt of death (which true courage presupposes) that
carried us on, it were not possible that the approach or threatening of that
death which we seem to invite, in a hurt or a wound, possibly a very easy
slight one, the sight of our own blood, could so much confound the present
faculties of the mind that we are more afraid of death that we were before
of disgrace. I speak not of the discomfort and agony and compunction
which the weakness upon wounds, and effusion of blood and spirits, and the

VII. 265.] a committee to Scotland. 215
seen the great change in the Houses, in the city, and in the 1643
country, upon their late ill successes, the defeat of Waller and
the loss of Bristol : and though the earl of Essex still adhered
to them, yet they saw he was not pleased, nor favoured one of
those men upon whom they most depended, but, on the con
trary, all who were countenanced by him, or in his confidence,
were men of no principles which they liked, nor desired any
other alteration in the government than of persons who acted
in it. Therefore they had taken an opportunity, in the greatest
dejection of spirit, and when looked upon themselves as swal
lowed up by the King's power, to move that they might send
into Scotland to their brethren there, to join with them, and
to assist them with an army, that so they might, by such a
conjunction, have an appui that might make them so consider
able as to be treated with, and to receive conditions which
might preserve them from ruin : which proposition, being for
so common an interest and benefit, received a general con
currence ; and so that committee of both Houses were presently July 20.
influence of conscience, and sober, pious, and recollected thoughts, may bring
upon a man with the sense of the ill he hath done, but of those (as many
such there are) who, in the instant of a hurt, in their full vigour, before the
blood or spirits have made any other impression upon their strength than
the feeling they are hurt, have lost the delight in what they had done, and
the will to do more, and have been full of those fears afterwards which they
appeared to have been so much without before. Neither could that man,
who without remorse had slain so many men, probably so many friends, in
duels, if he had ever seriously thought of meeting death there, with such
abominable paleness and trepidation entertain it when he is presented to it
by the hand of justice as a malefactor ; for the results of conscience and
repentance settle and confirm the courage to suffer bravely what is either
just or unavoidable, not distract and enfeeble it ; but all that ugly terror
proceeds from the presence of death, which he always feared, and could not
now avoid. That courage therefore is the best which is most opposite to
fear ; and as fear is nothing else (if you will believe Solomon ') but
a betraying of the succours which reason offers, so courage is nothing else
but such a temper and healthy constitution of mind as keeps the supplies of
reason always ready, and does all things without fear, and leaves nothing
undone for fear which reason dictates to be his duty ; and he that fears to
meet death where he should not be, and dares do his duty against any
hazards, will give the best argument of courage, and meet death in a better
posture than they who pretend to seek him in a noise and vapour of bold
and unnecessary undertakings.'] 1 [Wisdom xvii. 12.]

216 Character of sir H. fane, the younger, [vii. 265.
1643 sent into Scotland, to put them in mind of their joint concern-
July 20. ment, and how impossible it would be for them long to enjoy
the great concessions they had obtained from the King when
the Parliament of England, by whose friendship, power, and
authority they had obtained them, should be oppressed, and
forced to yield to such conditions for their particular pre
servations as the King would think fit to give them1. But
they were no less startled, when they found this message had
obliged them to a present expense of a hundred thousand
pounds before there was any visible relief given them, and saw
themselves involved in new obligations of guilt and to purposes
they abhorred.
266. There hath been scarce any thing more wonderful
throughout the progress of these distractions than that this
Covenant did with such extraordinary expedition pass the two
Houses, when all the leading persons in those councils were at
the same time known to be as great enemies to presbytery,
(the establishment whereof was the sole end of this Covenant,)
as they were to the King or the Church ; and he who con
tributed most to it, and who, in truth, was the principal
contriver of it, and the man by whom the committee in Scot
land was entirely and stupidly governed, sir Harry Vane, the
younger, was not afterwards known to abhor the Covenant and
the presbyterians [more] than he was at that very time known
to do, and laughed at them then as much as ever he did after
wards. 267. He was indeed a man of extraordinary parts, a pleasant
wit, a great understanding, which pierced into and discerned
1 [The following sentences are here struck out in the MS. : — ' and as they
may merit by accepting ; and therefore that the Parliament expected and de
sired that they would forthwith give them such an assistance as might be suffi
cient to preserve them both, which could be no other way than by immediately
sending a good army into England, which would countenance and support
their friends in the north, and keep the earl of Newcastle from being able
to march towards London on that side, whEst the King encompassed them
on the other ; which was the present design. Sir Harry Vane the younger
was one-of the commissioners, and therefore the other need not be named,
since he was aU in any business where others were joined with him.' The
next sentence in the text above (' But they,' &c.) is inserted in the margin
after the words ' give them,' and is not in Clarendon's own hand.]

vii. 268.] Character, of sir H. Vane, the younger. 217
the purposes of other men with wonderful sagacity, whilst he 1643
had himself vultum clausum, that no man could make a guess
of what he intended. He was of a temper not to be moved,
and of rare dissimulation, and could comply when it was not
seasonable to contradict without losing ground by the con
descension ; and if he were not superior to Mr. Hambden, he
was inferior to no other man in all mysterious artifices. There
need no more be said of his ability than that he was chosen to
cozen and deceive a whole nation which excelled in craft and
dissembling : which he did with notable pregnancy and dex
terity, and prevailed with a people, which could not be other
wise prevailed upon than by advancing their idol presbytery,
to sacrifice their peace, their interest, and their faith, to the
erecting a power and authority that resolved to persecute
presbytery to an extirpation, and very near brought their
purpose to pass.
268. The nation of Scotland, in general, had been so fully
satisfied in all that they could pretend to desire, that they
were very well disposed to be spectators of what was done in
England, without engaging themselves in the quarrel ; and
though there were some powerful men amongst them whose
guilt would not suffer them to believe that they could be other
wise secure than by the King's want of power to call them to
justice, yet their number was not thought so great as to be
able to corrupt the people into a barefaced act of rebellion,
nor had they any such face of authority as to invite them to it.
Without a Parliament, they could not propose it; the King
had absolutely refused to call a Parliament, and it was yet
above a year to come before a Parliament could be assembled
without the King's consent ; and in that time the King might
have the better of his enemies. The commissioners of the
Parliament had not been long at Edinborough before they pre
vailed with the Council to call a Parliament ; which duke
Hambleton, and others who pretended great devotion to the
King and were of the Council, had promised the King to
oppose, and said they were powerful enough to prevent. When
it came to the point, duke Hambleton, (being one way or other

21 8 A Parliament is summoned in Scotland [vii. 268.
1643 persuaded himself,) persuaded others that the absolute refusal
to suffer a Parliament to be called would not quiet the debate
nor secure the King, but more inflame those who desired it;
who would take some other time, when many of them who
opposed it should be absent, to propose it, and so would carry
it : and therefore that they were better be absent at first,
whereby they [the others] might without opposition send out
their summons for a Parliament to assemble at the day they
thought fit ; and then, as they who would serve the King
would not be there, so they should prevail with as many others
as they could not to be there likewise ; whereby the number
which appeared would be so inconsiderable that they would
not dare to sit, but presently disperse; and this disappoint
ment would for ever quash that design, and render those who
advised it odious to the people, as men who desired illegally to
engage the nation in unjustifiable ways to disturb the public peace.
| 249. 269. A summons was [accordingly] sent out to call a Par
liament, to meet at a day appointed; before which time those
of the nobility and gentry who did really desire to serve the
King applied themselves to duke Hambleton, (whose advice
and orders the King himself had required them to observe,
unhappily still believing him to be faithful,) to know what
they should do : many of the principal of them declaring their
opinions to him, that they should take an opportunity to meet
together, and bring their friends with them, whereby they
might make a good body of horse, and so, with their arms in
their hands, they would declare against the legality of that
Parliament and the meeting in it ; and named a fit opportunity
to him for such a meeting, at the funeral of a lady which was
to be within some days, and when, according to the custom of
that people, great numbers of persons of quality use to assemble,
to do honour to the dead in the last obsequies. He told them
he believed it must come shortly to that remedy, but he con
ceived it not yet time, and that such a meeting would fright
the people, and increase the number in Parliament, and make
many resort to them for their directions. And he said that he
had likewise changed his former opinion concerning their own

vii. 271.] without the King's authority. I 219
being absent at that time of the meeting of the Parliament, 1643
since their mere absence would not be discountenance enough, and
that they who sat would carry the reputation of a Parliament,
and the people would be guided by them if there were not* ing
but their absence to work upon their inclinations and affections.
270. He proposed therefore to them that they might all
resolve to be present, and take their places ; and that when the
House should be sat, and any man should stand up to propose
the taking any business into consideration, he (the duke) would
first make his protestation against proceeding in so illegal a
convention, and then they should all make the same protesta
tion ; and he did hope that the number of the protesters would
be great enough to dissolve the meeting, and they should put
the best end to the matter that could be desired: but if it
should succeed otherwise, then would be the time to withdraw
and put themselves in arms, towards which he would make the
best preparation he could, and desired them to do the like.
The earl of Kynoole [Kinnoull] and some others made objections
against this expedient, and pressed the former meeting at the
funeral, till the duke told them the King liked the other way
better, and pulled out a letter out of his pocket which he had
received from his majesty, and read them so much of it as
contained his approbation that they should meet in the Parlia
ment ; with which determination they could not but acquiesce,
though they thought at the same time that his majesty was
betrayed. 271. The Parliament met at the day ; and duke Hambleton, June 22.
according to his promise, took an opportunity to say somewhat
that seemed to imply a protestation against the meeting : upon
whieh many of the lords who had always been most engaged
against the King were very warm, and demanded that he
should declare himself clearly, whether he did protest against
the Parliament ; whereupon his brother the earl of Lanrick,
who was Secretary of State to the King, stood up, and said
that he hoped that noble lord's affection to his country was
better known than that any man could imagine he would
protest against the Parliament of the kingdom ; and then the

220 Negotiations for a treaty [VII. 271.
1643 duke Mmself explained, and excused himself, and said he meant
no such thing : and so they declared that they would treat
with/ the commissioners who were sent from the Parliament of
England, and appointed commissioners for that purpose.
272. Some are of opinion that even at this time they did not
intend to engage in the war against the King ; but that as a
few men cozened the Parliament at Westminster, by persuading
that they desired only a safe peace, till by multiplication of
indignities they made it impossible to make a peace that would
appear safe, so that there were as small a number in Scotland
that over-reached the Parliament there, by persuading that
they never intended to do any thing against the King, but that
it would be too ingrateful a thing, and render them very odious
to the whole English nation, if, after they had received so many
obligations from the Parliament, to whose protection they owed
their religion and all that they enjoyed, they should refuse
so much as to treat with them, and to assist them by their
interposition to procure a good peace for them with the King ;
which would be a great honour to them, and would be as great
an obligation to his majesty as to the Parliament ; that this
was all that was in their thoughts, and that they would
avoid any engagement in a war, not by rejecting the propo
sition, but by making such demands as they knew well would
never be accepted by the Parliament. Thereupon they told
the commissioners from the Parliament, that it would be
impossible to engage that nation in a joint concurrence with
them against the King but by the influence and authority of
their Kirk ; and that it would be as impossible to procure the
consent of their Kirk, except by making it evident to them
that the government of the Church in England should be
reduced to the same model with theirs in Scotland, and that
episcopacy should be totally extirpated, and that all deans and
chapters should be utterly abolished, without which they said
they could never think their own government securely estab
lished ; but if such a promise might be solemnly made, their
Kirk would be throughly engaged, and the nation to a man
would enter into the quarrel.

vii. 275.] with the Scots. %%x
273. Sir H. Vane was not surprised with the propositlqn, 1643
which he had long foreseen, and came resolved to pay their owh
price for their friendship. Thereupon the Covenant was pre
pared, and other propositions made for the present furnishing
a great sum of money, to enable them to begin their levies ;
and many extravagant conditions proposed, for the payment of
the army and other vast expenses, that they did not believe the
commissioners would yield, or that the Parliament could perform
if they were yielded unto. Nothing of money or honour was
insisted upon, and they came provided with some letters of
credit, that as little time might be lost as was possible in
making all necessary preparations. The Covenant was the
matter of- difficulty ; they knowing well that many of their
greatest friends, both in the Parliament and the army, had
|_not] any mind to change the government of the Church, to
which the people generally were not disaffected.
274. Sir Ha[rry] Vane therefore (who equally hated epis
copacy and presbytery, save that he wished the one abolished
with much impatience, believing it much easier to keep the
other from being established, whatever they promised, than to
be rid of that which was settled in the kingdom) carefully con
sidered the Covenant, and after he altered and changed many
expressions in it, and made them doubtful enough to bear many
interpretations, he and his fellow commissioners signed the Aug. 17.
whole treaty ; whereby it was provided that the Covenant
should be taken throughout all his majesty's dominions ; that
a committee of the Scots should always sit with the close
committee at Westminster, for the carrying on of the war with
equal authority ; that there should be no treaty of peace with
the King without the joint consent of the Parliaments of both
kingdoms ; and many other particulars very derogatory to the
honour of the English nation ; and with all possible expedition
sent it to the close committee at Westminster, in the time of
their consternation, and before the relief of Gloster ; which
transmitted it presently back to them, allowed and confirmed. Sept. 18.
275. And thereupon the Parliament at Edinburgh resolved Aug. 26.
to raise a great army, and to invade England ; and their old

222 The Scots raise an army. [vii. 275.
1643 general Lashly, who had so solemnly promised the King not
Only never to bear arms against him but to serve him, let the
cause be what it would, without any hesitation undertook the
command of it. All this time duke Hambleton looked on, and
sometimes sat with them ; and when the first proclamation was
Aug. 18. prepared, in the King's name, for a general rendezvous ' of all
men, from such an age to such an age2, at such a time and place,
that so their army might be presently formed, the earl of
Lanrick put the King's signet, with the keeping whereof he
was trusted, to the said proclamation : and all this being done,
both the brothers left Scotland, to give the King an account at
Oxford of all the proceedings : many of the nobility of that
kingdom, who did heartily wish well to the King, having come
away from thence after the first day's meeting of their Parlia
ment, and when the duke had broken his promise to them, and
informed his majesty at large of that which they thought foul
infidelity. 276 s. The discomposures, jealousies, and disgusts, which
reigned at Oxford, produced great inconveniences ; and as,
many times, men in a scuffle lose their weapons, and light
upon those which belonged to their adversaries, who again arm
themselves with those which belonged to the others, such, one
would have thought, had been the fortune of the King's armies
in the encounters with the enemy : for those under the King's
commanders grew insensibly into all the license, disorder, and
impiety, with which they had reproached the rebels ; and they,
again, into great discipline, diligence, and sobriety, which begat
courage and resolution in them, and notable dexterity in
achievements and enterprises. Insomuch as one side seemed
to fight for monarchy with the weapons of confusion, and the
other to destroy the King and government with all the prin
ciples and regularity of monarchy.
277. In the beginning of the troubles, the King had very
prudently resolved with himself to confer no honours, or bestow
1 [Wherever this word occurs, Clarendon writes it ' randevooze.']
2 [Between 60 and 16.]
3 [The History is here resumed, at p. 487.]

vii. 278.] Jealousies at Oxford. 223
any offices or preferments upon any, till the end and conclusion 1643
of the service ; and if that resolution had continued he would
have found much ease by it, and his service great advantage.
The necessity and exigents of the war shortly after made some
breach into this seasonable resolution, and, for ready money to
carry on the war, his majesty was compelled, against his nature,
to dispense some favours, which he would not willingly have
suffered to be purchased but by virtue and high merit. Then
all men thought money and money-worth to be all one, and
that whosoever by his service had deserved a reward of money
had deserved any thing that might be had for money. And
when it was apparent that the war was like to prove a business
of time, it was thought unreasonable that the King would not
confer rewards on some, which he was able to do, because he
could not do it on all, which was confessedly out of his power.
And so, by importunity, and upon the title of old promises, and
some conveniences of his service, he bestowed honours upon
some principal officers of his army, and offices upon others;
[to] which though in the particulars no just exceptions could
be taken, yet many were angry to see some preferred ; and, not
so much extolling their own merit and services [as 1] making it
equal to those whom they saw advanced, every man thought him
self neglected and slighted in that another was better esteemed.
278. And this poison of envy wrought upon many natures
which had skill enough not to confess it. The soldiers, albeit
they were emulous amongst themselves, and very unsatisfied
with one another, (there being unhappy animosities amongst
the principal officers,) yet they were too well united and recon
ciled against any other body of men ; and, thinking the King's
crown depended wholly on the fortune of their swords, believed
no other persons to be considerable, and no councils fit to be
consulted with but the martial; and thence proceeded a fatal
disrespect and irreverence to the Council of State, to which, by
the wholesome constitution of the kingdom, the militia, garrisons,
and all martial power, is purely and naturally subordinate, and
by the authority and prudence whereof provision could be only
1 ['and,' MS.]

224 Character of Prince Bupert. [vii. 278.
1643 reasonably expected for the countenance and support of the
army. 279. The general and prince Rupert were both strangers to
the government and manners of the kingdom, and utterly unac
quainted with the nobility, and public ministers, or with their
rights : and the prince's heart was so wholly set upon actions
of war, that he not only neglected but too much contemned the
peaceable and civil arts which were most necessary even to the
carrying on of the other. And, certainly, somewhat like that
which Plutarch says of soothsaying L, that Octavius lost his life
by trusting to it and that Marius prospered the better because
he did not altogether despise it, may be said of popularity:
though he that too immoderately and importunately affects it
(which was the case of the earl of Essex) will hardly continue
innocent, yet he who too affectedly despises or neglects what
is said of him, or what is generally thought of persons or things,
and too stoically contemns the affections of men, even of the
vulgar, (be his other abilities and virtues what can be imagined,)
will in some conjuncture of time find himself very unfortunate.
And it may be, a better reason cannot be assigned for the mis
fortunes that hopeful young prince (who had great parts of
mind as well as vigour of body, and incomparable personal
courage) underwent, and the kingdom by it, than that rough
ness and unpolishedness of his nature which rendered him less
patient to hear, and consequently less skilful to judge of those
things which should have guided him in the discharge of his
important trust : and thence making an unskilful judgment of
the unusefulness of the Councils by his observation of the
infirmities and weakness of the particular councillors, he grew
to a full disesteem of the acts of that board, which must be
accounted venerable as long as the regal power is exercised in
England. 280. And I cannot but on this occasion continue this digres
sion thus much farther, to observe, that they who avoid public
debates in Council, or think them of less moment, upon the
undervaluing the persons of the councillors, and from the
1 [in Vit. C. Marii.]

vii. 281.] Varieties of understanding in counsellors. 225
particular infirmities of men, the heaviness of this man, the 1643
levity of that, the weakness and simplicity of a third, conclude
that their advice and opinions are not requisite to any great
design, are exceedingly deceived, and will perniciously deceive
others who are misled by those conclusions. For it is in wisdom
as it is in beauty. A face that, being taken in pieces, affords
scarce one exact feature, an eye, or a nose, or a tooth, or a brow,
or a mouth, against which a visible just exception cannot be
taken, yet altogether, by a gracefulness and vivacity in the
whole, may constitute an excellent beauty, and be more catching
than another whose symmetry is more faultless. So there are
many men, who in this particular argument may be unskilful,
in that affected, who may seem to have levity, or vanity, or
formality, in ordinary and cursory conversation, (a very crooked
rule to measure any man's abilities, and gives a better evidence
of the nature than of the understanding,) and yet in formed
counsels, deliberations, and transactions, are men of great insight
and wisdom, and from whom excellent assistance is contributed.
281. And, no question, all great enterprises and designs that
are to be executed have many parts, even in the projection, fit
for the survey and disquisition of several faculties and abilities,
and equally for the decision of sharper and more phlegmatic
understandings. And we often hear in debates of great moment
animadversions of more weight and consequence from those
whose ordinary conversation is not so delightful, than from
men of more sublime parts. Certainly Solomon very well
understood himself when he said, In the multitude of counsellors
there is safety1. And though it were confessed that reason
would be better stated and discovered, and conclusions easier
made, by a few than a greater number, yet when the execution
depends on many, and the general interpretation so much
depends upon the success, and the success upon the inter
pretation, we see those counsels most prosperous whereof the
considerations and deliberations have been measured by that
standard which is most publicly received and acknowledged.
And he hath had but small experience in the managing affairs,
1 [Prov. xi. 14]
VOL. III. Q

226 Jealousies in the Court against [VII. 281.
1643 who is not able experimentally to name to himself some very
good and useful conclusions which have therefore only succeeded
amiss because not communicated to those who had reason to
believe themselves competent parties to any secret. For there
was never yet that public-heartedness sunk into the breasts of
men, that they were long willing to be left out in those trans
actions to the privacy whereof they had a right ; and therefore
they have been willing enough any single advice should miscarry,
(of what general concernment soever,) rather than to contribute
to the fame of one man who hath thought their approbation not
worth the providing for. And though the objection of secrecy
and despatch seems to favour a small number and a reservation
of communicating, yet (except in those few cases which in their
nature are to be consulted and acted together, and the full
execution whereof may be by a few) I am not sure that the
inconvenience will be greater by a necessary delay, or even such
a discovery as can be supposed to proceed from the levity of a
counsellor, ( — futile and malicious natures ought not to be sup
posed to be admitted into that rank of men, — ) than by wanting
the approbation and concurrence of those (admitting there could
be no benefit from their information) who will unavoidably know
it soon enough to add to or take from the success, at least the
reputation. And from this root much of the negligence and
disrespect towards the civil councils proceeded. For as all
corporations, tribes, and fraternities suffer most by the malignity
of some of their own members, so the jealousy and indisposition
of some councillors contributed much to the disregard which
fell upon the order, and, in them, upon the King.
282. Amongst those who were nearest the King's trust, and
to whom he communicated the greatest secrets in his affairs,
there were some who from private (though very good) conditions
of life, without such an application to Court as usually ushered
those promotions, were ascended to that preferment, and believed
to have an equal interest with any in their master's estimation.
And these were sure to find no more charity from the Court
than from the army ; and, having had lately so many equals, it
was thought no presumption freely to censure all that they did

vii. 283.] newly -promoted courtiers. 227
or spake, what effect soever such freedom had upon the public 1643
policy and transactions. It were to be wished that persons of
the greatest birth, honour, and fortune would take that care of
themselves by education, industry, literature, and a love of virtue,
to surpass all other men in knowledge and all other qualifica
tions necessary for great actions, as far as they do in quality
and titles, that princes out of them might always choose men fit
for all employments and high trusts; which would exceedingly
advance their service, when the reputation and respect of the
person carries somewhat with it that facilitates the business.
And it cannot easily be expressed, nor comprehended by any
who have not felt the weight and burden of the envy which
naturally attends upon those promotions which seem to be per
saltv/m, how great straits and difficulties such ministers are
forced to wrestle with, and by which the charges with which
they are intrusted must proportionably suffer, let the integrity
and wisdom of the men be what it can be supposed to be.
Neither is the patience, temper, and dexterity, to carry a man
through those straits, easily attained ; it being very hard in the
morning of preferment to keep an even temper of mind, between
the care to preserve the dignity of the place [which] is committed
to him, (without which he shall expose himself to a thousand
unchaste attempts, and dishonour the judgment that promoted
him, by appearing too vile for such a trust,) and the caution
that his nature be not really exalted to an overweening pride
and folly upon the privilege of his place ; which will expose him
to much more contempt than the former, and therefore to be,
with a more exact guard upon a man's self, avoided : the errors
of gentleness and civility being much more easily reformed, as
well as endured, than the other of arrogance and ostentation.
283. The best provision that such men can make for their
voyage, besides a stock of innocence that cannot be impaired,
and a firm confidence in God Almighty that he will never suffer
that innocence to be utterly oppressed or notoriously infamed,
is, an expectation of those gusts and storms of rumour, detrac
tion, and envy ; and a resolution not to be over sensible of all
calumnies, unkindness, or injustice, but to believe that, by being
Q 2

228 Jealousies in the Court and army. [vii. 283.
1643 preferred before other men, they have an obligation upon them
to suffer more than other men would do, and that the best way
to convince scandals and misreports is, by neglecting them,
to appear not to have deserved them. And there is not a more
troublesome inconvenient passion, or that often draws more in
conveniences with it, than that whieh proceeds from the indig
nation of being unjustly calumniated, and from the pride of an
upright conscience, when men cannot endure to be spoken ill of
when they have not deserved it : in which distemper, though
they free themselves from the errors or infirmities with which
they were traduced, they commonly discover others of which they
had been never suspected. In a word, let no man think, that is
once entered into this list, that he can by any skill or comportment
prevent these conflicts and assaults, or by any stubborn or impe
tuous humour that he can suppress and prevail over them : but let
him look upon it as a purgatory he is unavoidably to pass through,
and depend upon Providence and time for a vindication ; and hy
performing all the duties of his place to the end, with justice, in
tegrity, and uprightness, give all men cause to believe that he was
worthy of it the first hour ; which is a triumph very lawful to be
affected. 284. As these distempers and indispositions and infirmities of
particular men had a great influence upon the public affairs, and
disturbed and weakened the whole frame and fabric of the King's
designs, so no particular man was more disquieted by them than
the King himself, who, in his person as well as in his business,
suffered all the vexation of the rude and petulant and discon
tented humours of Court and army. His majesty now paid
interest for all the benefit and advantage he had received in
the beginning of the war by his gentleness and princely affability
to all men, and by descending somewhat from the forms of
majesty, which he had in his life before observed with all
punctuality. He vouchsafed then himself to receive any ad
dresses and overtures for his service, and to hold discourse with
all men who brought devotion to him; and he must be now
troubled with the complaints and murmurs and humours of all,
and, how frivolous and unreasonable soever the cause was, his

vii. 285.] Jealousies in the Court and army. 229
majesty was put both to inform and temper their understand- 1643
ings. No man would receive an answer but from himself, and
expected a better from him than he must have been contented
to have received from any body else. Every man magnified the
services he had done, and his ability and interest to do greater,
and proposed honour and reward equal to both in his own sense ;
and if he received not an answer to his mind, he grew sullen,
complained he was neglected, and resolved, (or pretended so,) to
quit the service, and to travel into some foreign kingdom. He
is deceived that believes the ordinary carriage and state of a
king to be matters of indifferency, and of no relation to his
greatness. They are the outworks, which preserve majesty
itself from approaches and surprisal. We find that the queen
of Sheba was amazed at the meat of Solomon's table, and the
sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and
their apparel, and his cup-bearers, &c. as so great instances of
Solomon's wisdom that there was no more spirit in her 1. And,
no doubt, whosoever inconsiderately departs from those forms
and trappings, and ornaments of his dignity and pre-eminence,
will hardly at some time be able to preserve the body itself of
majesty from intrusion, invasion, and violation.
285. And let no man think that the King had now no hard
task to master these troubles, and that a short and sharp blast
of royal severity would easily have dispersed these clouds. . The
disease was too violent and catching, and the contagion too
universal, to be cured by that remedy ; neither were the symp
toms or effects the same in all constitutions. It cannot be
imagined into how many several shapes men's indispositions were
put, and the many artifices which were used to get honours,
offices, preferments, and the waywardness and perverseness
which attended the being disappointed of their own hopes.
One man had been named for such a place, that is, himself and
his friends had given it out that he should have it, when, it
may be, he was too modest to pretend to it ; and upon this vogue
he had a title ; and if it should be conferred upon another it
would be a mark of the King's disfavour to him, and thereby
1 [2 Chron. ix. 4.]

230 Jealousies in the Court and army. [VII. 285.
1643 he should lose the ability and credit without which he could
do no farther service. Another suggested that his friends and
companions in consort had all received some obligation, and
if he alone should remain without some testimony of favour it
would be a brand upon him of some signal unworthiness. No
man was so hard-hearted to himself as not to be able to give a
reason for any thing he desired ; and he commonly had best
success who prosecuted his own wishes with most boldness and
importunity, neither was there a better or another reason for
some men's preferment than that they had set their hearts upon
it, and would have it. And it was a great temptation to modest
natures to find forward men had so good fortune that the want
of success began to be imputed to want of wit.
286. I remember, once, a person of good quality, and of a
good name in action, came to me very pensive, and told me how
conscientiously he had served the King, without any private
designs, or other thoughts than the discharge of his own duty
and rendering the performance of that duty acceptable to his
majesty ; yet that, to his unspeakable discomfort, he found that
he had been misrepresented to the King, and that his majesty
had entertained a sinister opinion of him ; and desired me to
learn what the ground of the prejudice was, and by my good
testimony to endeavour to remove it. I had a very good opinion
of the person, and believed the King had so, and therefore per
suaded him that the jealousy was groundless, and pressed to
know from whence he received those impressions ; he excused
himself in the particular, and assured me that he had his
advertisements from a sure hand, which was to be concealed,
not doubted ; and that upon my inquiry I would find it true,
though he could not imagine the cause. I promised him I
would press the King very heartily in it, and if there were
anything that stuck with him, I presumed his majesty would he
so gracious [as] to let me know it. And accordingly, having
shortly after an opportunity to wait on his majesty, I told him
the true narrative of what had passed, with my observation of
the general comportment of that gentleman, and besought his
majesty, if any ill offices had been done to him, or that any

vii. 286.] Jealousies in the Court and army. 231
prejudice towards him was lodged in his royal breast, that he 1643
would graciously vouchsafe to tell me what it was, and that he
would allow him an access to clear himself from any imputa
tions. The King very cheerfully assured me that he had not
only a very good opinion of that gentleman, but that he was
most assured he had no real suspicion to the contrary; and
therefore bad me proceed to the other part of my business. I
told him I had no more, and that I was sure I should make a
very happy man by satisfying him [of] what I found. ' Then,'
said the King, ' you are not throughly instructed, for the
other half of this business must be a suit.' I replied, if that
were so I was yet more ignorant than I suspected myself. The
gentleman shortly after came to me, in pain, as I thought, with
the jealousy of being in umbrage ; and when I gave him preg
nant assurance to the contrary, with the mention of some ex
pressions the King had used, which were indeed very gracious,
he seemed to receive it with such a countenance and gusto that
I verily believed he had had his heart's desire. But the next
morning he came to me again, and told me that I had made him
abundantly happy, and that he doubted not there was no just
ground for the other reports, but only the malice of those who
wished them true ; yet that they had lessened his credit abroad,
even with his friends, and that he found there was no way to
keep up his reputation and interest in the world, whereby he
might be able to do the King service, which was all he looked
after, but the receiving some testimony of the King's good
opinion, which would be a public evidence that the other dis
courses were false. I was surprised, and as much out of coun
tenance as he should have been, and advised him to patience,
and to expect the King's own time and method, rather than to
quicken him by any importunity, which would give an ill relish
to any obligation. He would not understand that philosophy,
but shortly after found some other means to press the King very
roundly for a place, upon the title of that good opinion he had
declared to me to hold of him, not without some implication
that without some such earnest of his majesty's goodness he
should not be able to continue in his service ; which probably

232 The King's army in Bedfordshire. [vii. 286.
1643 was one of the modestest addresses which were made to him at
that time. And it cannot be denied this way the King's trouble
was so great, that he many times suffered more vexation and
trouble from the indisposition and humours of his own people
than from the enemy, or the apprehension of their counsels :
which hath made me enlarge this digression so much ; conceiv
ing it to be no less a part of history, and more useful to posterity,
to leave a character of the times than of the persons, or the
narrative of matters of fact, which cannot be so well understood as
by knowing the genius that prevailed when they were transacted.
287. The best expedient his majesty could find to dispel
these fumes was motion and action ; and therefore, though the
season of the year was too far spent, and too many officers hurt,
for the taking the field again, besides that many regiments
were returned to their old posts, (as the Welsh, to defend their
own country from the incursions from Gloster, and to reduce
some towns in Pembrokeshire, which, lying on the sea, by the help
of the Parliament-ships, began to fortify and gather strength,)
yet he resolved his forces about Oxford should not lie still.
288. In the beginning of October, prince Bupert, with a
strong party of horse, foot, and dragoons, marched into Bedford
shire, and took the town of Bedford, and in it a party of the
enemy, who used it only as a strong quarter. This expedition
was principally to countenance sir Lewis Dyves, whilst he
Oct. 6. fortified Newport Pannell, where he hoped to fix a garrison ;
which would have made a more direct line of communication
with the northern parts, and restrained the commerce between
London and their associated counties ; which they well under
stood, and therefore upon the first news of it the earl of Essex
removed his head-quarters from Windsor to St. Alban's, and the
train-bands of London and their auxiliary regiments marched
again to him for his recruit ; upon the advancement whereof,
and a mistake of orders from Oxford, sir Lewis Dyves drew off
Nov. his forces from Newport Pannell, and the enemy presently pos
sessed themselves of it, and made it a very useful garrison.
Upon which, prince Bupert fortified Tossiter, [Towcester] a
town in Northamptonshire, and left a strong garrison there,

vii. 290.] The King's army in Devonshire. 233
which, though it infested the enemy somewhat, and took great 1643
revenge upon those counties which had expressed a violent affec
tion to the Parliament, in truth added little strength to the
King ; for he lost many horse by the labour of duty, the greatest
part of the body of his horse being forced to quarter near that
place, for the security of the foot, till the works about the town
were in such a forwardness that they needed not fear their
neighbours at St. Alban's.
289. In the mean time the power of the Parliament was least
manifest in the west, where their party was reduced to a low-
ness, and confined within narrow limits. After the taking of
Exciter, the gentlemen of that county having been generally
well devoted to the King's service, though never able safely to
declare it, at least to appear in a posture of opposing the vio
lence of the other party, Prince Maurice found a general con
currence to advance the great work, by levies of money, men,
and all offices that could be expected ; insomuch as within very
few days after the surrender of that town his army of foot, by
the new levies, contained no fewer than seven thousand men,
(which was a body the west had not before seen,) besides a body
of horse at least proportionable to the other ; and all in excel
lent equipage for action. And at the same time colonel John
Digby was before Plimmoth, with above three thousand foot
and six hundred horse, and had taken a work from the enemy
of great importance, called Mount-Stamford in honour of that Nov. 4.
earl during the time of his abode there, within half a mile of
the town, and which commanded some part of the river ; the
loss whereof gave the town a marvellous discouragement.
290. The first error the prince committed after the reducing
Exciter was staying so long there before he advanced, for vic
torious armies carry great terror with them whilst the memory
and fame of the victory is fresh. The next, that he moved not
directly towards Plimmoth when he did move ; which in all
probability would have yielded upon his approach, for the town
was full of distraction and jealousy amongst themselves, as
well as unprovided for the reception of an enemy. It was
a rich and populous corporation, being in time of peace the

234 Condition of Plymouth. [vii. 290.
1643 greatest port for trade in the west, and, except Bristol, greater
than all the rest. There was in it a castle very strong to
wards the sea, with good platforms and ordnance ; and little
more than musket-shot from the town was an island with a fort
in it, much stronger than the castle ; both which were before
the troubles under the command of a captain, with a garrison
of about fifty men at the most, and only intended for a security
and defence of the town against a foreign invasion ; the castle
and the island together having a good command of the entrance
into the harbour, but towards the land there was very little
strength. This command was in the hands of sir Jacob Ashly,
and as unprovided to expect or resist an enemy as the other castles
and forts of the kingdom; there being only ordnance and ammuni
tion, without any other provisions for the support of the soldiers
within the walls, less for the receiving a recruit, and the garri
son itself being, by time, marriage, and trade, incorporated into
the town, and rather citizens than soldiers ; so that, sir Jacob
Ashly being sent for to the King before his setting up his stan
dard, as soon as there was any apprehension of a party for the
King in Cornwall after the appearing of sir Balph Hopton and
those other gentlemen there, the mayor and corporation of Plim
moth quickly got both the castle and island into their own power.
291. It will be wondered at by many hereafter that those
and the like places of strength in England, being under the
command of persons entirely of his majesty's nomination, were
not put into a good posture of defence when it grew first
evident that there would be shortly occasion to use them; for
according to the old story in jElian \ that when in one of the
states of Greece Nicippus his sheep brought forth a lion, it was
generally and justly concluded that that portended a tyranny,
and change of the state from a peaceable to a bloody govern
ment, so when the two Houses of Parliament first produced a
sovereign power to make and alter and suspend laws, before
they raised an army or made a general or declared war, when
that mild and innocent sheep, that legal regular convention of
a sober and modest council, had once brought forth that lion
1 [Var. Hist. I. 29.]

vii. 294.] Condition of Plymouth. 235
which sought whom he might devour, it might be easily and 1643
naturally concluded by all wise and sober men that the blessed
calm, and temperate state of government, by which every man
eat the fruit of his own vine, was at an end, and rapine, blood,
and desolation, to succeed ; and therefore that those holds
should in reason have been then provided for.
292. But I shall say here once for all, that, from the time
that there was any reasonable jealousy of a war, it was never
in the King's power to mend the condition of either of those
places ; and if he had attempted it, with what caution or
secrecy soever, the inconvenience he must have sustained by it,
besides the failing of his end, would have been much greater
than the advantage which could have accrued if he had done
what he desired. I have very ill described the times we have
passed through if that be not apparent, and that it was rather
an error of the former times that those places needed any sup
ply than that it was not applied to them in the succeeding.
293. The Parliament was very glad Plimmoth was thus se
cured, and, as well to put an obligation upon all corporations,
by shewing they thought them capable of the greatest trusts,
as because they could not in truth more reasonably confide
in any other, they committed the government thereof to that
mayor, who was well enough instructed what respect to pay to
their committee, which was appointed to reside there for his
assistance and to conduct the affairs in those parts. Of that
committee sir Alexander Carew was one, a gentleman of a
good fortune in Cornwall, who served in Parliament as a knight
for that county, and had from the beginning of the Parliament
concurred in all conclusions with the most violent, with as full
a testimony of that zeal and fury to which their confidence was
applied as any man. To him the custody and government of
that fort and island, which was looked upon as the security of
the town, was committed, and a sufficient garrison put into it.
The mayor commanded the castle and the town, about which a
line was cast up of earth, weak and irregular.
294. After the battle of Stratton, and that the King's forces
prevailed so far over the west that Bristol was taken by them

236 Sir A. Carew proposes to surrender Plymouth [vii. 294.
1643 and Exciter closely besieged, sir Alexander Carew began to
think his island and fort would hardly secure his estate in
Cornwall, and understood the law so well (for he had had a
good education) to know, that the side he had chosen would be
no longer the better than it should continue the stronger ; and,
having originally followed no other motives than of popularity
and interests, resolved now to redeem his errors, and found
means to correspond with some of his old friends and neigh
bours in Cornwall, and by them to make a direct overture to
surrender that fort and island to the King, upon an assurance
of his majesty's pardon and a full remission of his offences.
Sir John Barkely, who then lay before Exciter, was the next
supreme officer qualified to entertain such a treaty; and he
instantly, by the same conveyance,, returned him as ample
assurance of his own conditions as could be, with advice that
he should not upon any defect of forms, (which, upon his
engagement, should be supplied with all possible expedition to
his own satisfaction,) defer the consummating the work, which
hereafter possibly might not be in his power to effect : designs
of that nature being to be consulted and executed together, for
in those cases, according to Mutianus in Tacitus \ qui deliberant,
deseiverunt, and the greatest danger attends the not going on.
But he was so sottishly and dangerously wary of his own secu
rity, (having neither courage enough to obey his conscience,
nor wickedness enough to be prosperous against it,) that he
would not proceed till he was sufficiently assured that his
pardon was passed the Great Seal of England; before which.
time (though all imaginable haste was made,) by the treachery
of a servant whom he trusted, his treaty and design was dis
covered to the mayor and the rest of the committee, and, accord
ing to the diligence used in cases of such concernment, he was
Aug. 29. suddenly, and without resistance, surprised in his fort, and carried
prisoner into Plimmoth, and from thence by sea sent to London ;
where what became of him will be remembered in its place.
295. Shortly after this accident colonel Digby came before
the town ; and though the great damage was by this means
1 [Hist. lib. II. c. 78.]

VII. 296.] to the King, but his plot is discovered. 237
prevented, yet it cannot be imagined but the people were in 1643
great distraction with the apprehension of the danger they had
escaped ; and those discoveries bring always that melanchol[y] 1
with them, that men are not quickly again brought to a con
fidence in one another. For no man had, to common under
standing, better deserved to be trusted, or given less argument
for suspicion : and upon such a defection, who could hope to
stand free from jealousy 1 Besides, he could not but have had
much familiarity with many in the town, which must object
them to some suspicion, or at least make them suspect that
they were suspected ; and, without doubt, it awakened many
to apprehend the immediate hand of God in the judgment, that
he would not suffer a man to recover the security and comfort
of his allegiance who had so signally departed from it against
the light of his own conscience, and that a man who had been
before precipitate against all reason should perish by consider
ing too much when precipitation was only reasonable.
296. The fame of the winning of Exciter, by which a vic
torious army was at liberty to visit them, and then the loss of
Mount-Stamford, which was their only considerable fortification
to the land, with those other discomposures, wrought a wonder
ful consternation amongst them, and made them consider that
if they could hold out and defend their town, the country being
all lost, they must lose all their trade, and so from merchants
become only soldiers ; which was not the condition they con
tended for ; insomuch as the mayor himself was not without
a propensity to send for a treaty, upon which the town might
be delivered to the King. And it was by many then believed,
that if prince Morrice had then marched from Exciter before it,
that treaty would infallibly have ensued. But when I say it was
an error that he did not, I intend it rather as a misfortune than
a fault, for his highness was an utter stranger in those parts,
and therefore was, not without great appearance of reason, per
suaded first to bend his course to Dartmoth ; which was looked
upon as an easy work, and a harbour which, being got, would
draw a very good trade : and that short work being performed,
1 ['melanchoUque,' MS.]

238 Dartmouth taken by prince Maurice, [vii. 296.
1643 Plimmoth would have the less courage to make resistance ; and
if it should, it were much fitter for the winter^ which was now
drawing on, (for it was more than the middle of September,) than
the other, by reason of the conveniency of good accommodation for
the soldier near about it, which could not be had about Dartmoth.
297. Upon these reasons he marched directly to Dartmoth,
which, how unfit soever to make a defence against such an
army, by the disadvantage of situation and the absence of all
those helps which use to contract a confidence, he found in no
temper and disposition to yield ; so that he sat down before it.
And shortly after, there came so violent a season of rain and
foul weather, that very many of his men, with lying on the
ground, fell sick and died, and more ran away. Yet, after near
a month's siege, and the loss of many good men, (whereof the
same colonel Chudleigh of whom we spake before was one, a
gallant young gentleman, who received a shot with a musket
in the body, of which he died within few days, and was a
wonderful loss to the King's service,) it was given up on fair
Oct. 6. conditions ; and then the prince, having placed a garrison there
under the command of colonel Seymour, a gentleman of prin
cipal account and interest in Devonshire, lost no more time,
but with all convenient expedition marched to Plimmoth ; which
was not now in the state it had been ; for the Parliament,
being quickly informed how terrible an impression the loss of
almost all other parts of the west had made upon the spirits of
that people, had before this time sent a recruit of five hundred
men, and a Scotch officer 1 to be governor ; who eased the mayor
of that unequal charge, and quickly made it evident that
nothing but a peremptory defence was thought of. So the
prince sat down before it with an army much inferior, (after he
had joined with colonel Digby,) to that with which he had
marched from Exciter to Dartmoth, yet with much confidence
to reduce that town before the winter should be over.
298. Though the King's success and good fortune had met
with a check in the relief of Gloster and the battle of Newbery,
yet his condition seemed mightily improved by the whole
1 [Col. James Wardlaw, who arrived at Plymouth, Sept. 30.]

vii. 298.] Prosperous aspect of the King's affairs. 239
summer's service. For, whereas he seemed before confined, 1843
upon the matter, within Oxfordshire and half Barkshire, (which
half too was lost upon the loss of Reading in the spring,) and
the parties which appeared for him in other counties seemed
rather sufficient to hinder a general union against him than
that they were like to reduce them to his devotion, he was
now, upon the matter, master of the whole west ; Cornwall was
his own without a rival ; Plimmoth was the only place in all
Devonshire unreduced, and those forces shut within their own
walls: the large rich county of Somerset, with Bristol, the
second county of the kingdom, entirely his : in Dorsetshire, the
enemy had only two little fisher-towns, Pole and Lyme, all the
rest was declared for the King. And in every of these counties
he had plenty of harbours and ports, to supply him with
ammunition and the country with trade. In Wiltshire the
enemy had not the least footing ; and rather a town or two in
Hampshire than any possession of the county, that people being
generally undevoted to them. The whole principality of Wales,
(except a sea-town or two in Pembrokeshire,) was at his de
votion; and that unfortunate obstinate town of Gloster only
kept him from commanding the whole Severn. The parliament
was nothing stronger in Shropshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire,
than they were in the beginning of the year. And albeit the
marquis of Newcastle had been forced to rise as unfortunately
from Hull as the King had been from Gloster, yet he had still
a full power over Yorkshire, and a greater in Nottinghamshire
and Lincolnshire than the Parliament had. So that he might
be thought to be now strong enough to make war; the con
trary opinion whereof had been one of the greatest reasons that
there was no peace. And therefore many believed that, what
appearance soever there was of obstinacy, the winter would
produce some overtures of accommodation ; and that all the
noise of preparation from Scotland was only to incline the
King to the greater condescensions ; and that, in truth, they
who had pretended the concurrent desire of the people as the
best reason for whatsoever they had proposed, and traduced
the King with a purpose of bringing in foreign forces to awe

240 Change in the temper of the Court of France, [vii. 298.
1643 and impose upon his own subjects, would not now have the
hardiness to bring in a stranger nation to invade their country,
and to compel that people by whose affections they would ba
thought to be guided to submit to changes they had no mind
to receive. And the arrival of the count of Harcourt, as
extraordinary ambassador from the Crown of France, was
looked upon as an expedient to usher in some treaty, and to
remove those ceremonies and preliminary propositions which,
by reason of the mutual declarations and protestations against
each other, might be thought of greater difficulty than any real
differences between them.
299. The King himself was not without expectation of notable
effects from this embassy ; for the state of France seemed to
be much altered from what it was at the beginning of these
1642 troubles. Cardinal Eichelieu, who the King well knew had
Dec. 4. more than fomented the troubles both in England and Scotland,
1643 was now dead, and the King of France himself likewise ; and
May 14. those old ministers of state who had been long in the Bastile,
or banished, were now set at liberty, or recalled, and in favour ;
the Queen mother made regent, who professed great personal
kindness to the Queen of England, and so great a sense of the
indignities the King and she suffered that she seemed sensible
that France had contributed too much to them, and to think
that the interest as well as honour of that Crown was concerned
to buoy 1 up the monarchy of England ; with intimations that
the King himself should direct what way he would be served
by that Crown. The first evidence they gave of meaning as
1642 they said was the revocation of monsieur Le Fert6 Senneterre,
the ambassador then resident in England ; who had contracted
a wonderful familiarity with the fiercest managers of the Par
liament, and done the King all imaginable disservice; insomuch
as he had industriously persuaded some English priests and
Jesuits to engage those of the Romish persuasion by no means
to assist the King, with a full assurance that the Parliament
would allow them liberty of conscience. This minister his
majesty desired might be recalled ; which was not only suddenly
1 ['bw'y,'MS.]

vii. 300.] Count d'Harcourt, ambassador from France. 241
done, but a private intimation likewise [given] to the Queen 1643
that she should nominate what person should be employed in
his place, who should wholly guide himself by her instructions.
And her majesty was led to make choice .of monsieur le count
of Harcourt, one of the principal persons of that kingdom,
being a prince of the house of Lorraine, and so allied to the
King, and grand escuyer of France ; and had been their late
fortunate general in Catalonia, where he had given the Spaniard
the greatest defeat they had received 1 ; which was not thought
an unseasonable qualification in an ambassador whose business
was to mediate a peace.
300. His reception at London was with much solemnity, Oct. 7.
that he might not find there was any absence of ceremony or
state by the absence of the King ; yet when he had a safe
conduct for Oxford, his carriages were stopped at the going Oct. 16
out of London, and his own coach, as well as all other places,
searched with great and unusual rudeness, upon suspicion that
he carried letters ; and though he expostulated the affront, as
a high violation of his honour and privilege 2, he received no
manner of reparation, or the officer that did it any repre
hension ; which 3 made many believe that he would have been
very keen in the resentment. The King expected that by this
ambassador the Crown of France would have made a brisk
declaration on his majesty's behalf, and if the Parliament should
not return to their regular obedience that they should have
found no correspondence or reception in that kingdom, and
that they would really assist his majesty in such manner as
he should propose ; which declaration he thought would prove
of moment with the city of London, in respect of their trade,
but more with the Scots, who were understood to have an
especial dependence upon France.
1 [In Piedmont, Apr. 29, 1640.]
2 [The affront for which he complained was not his own stoppage, so far
as appears from the Journals of Parliament, but that of a messenger sent
by him from Oxford to France, about which his remonstrance was read on
Nov. 1 1 . An order that his couriers should not be searched, but if sus
pected should be brought before the Parliament, was made on Nov. 22.]
3 [' shewed that all government was not in the hands of a few, and ' :
struck out in the MS.]
VOL. III. E

243 Count d'Harcourt offers mediation. [vii. 301.
1643 301. When the ambassador returned from his audience at
Nov. 11. Oxford, where he stayed not many days, he sent a paper to the
earl of Northumberland, by which he desired his lordship to
impart to the messieurs of Parliament that he had made known
to their majesties the affectionate desire the King his master
and the Queen his mistress had to contribute all good offices in
the procurement of peace and tranquillity in this kingdom, to
which he found the desires of their majesties well disposed; and
therefore he desired to know if his lordship thought the two
Houses did correspond in the same intention : if they did, after
they should make him understand the subject that had obliged
them to take up arms, he would interpose to pacify the differences,
by such expedients as should be most conformable to the ancient
laws and customs of the realm.
302. After the earl of Northumberland had informed the
House of Peers of this representation, it was at a conference
imparted to the House of Commons, and an answer was framed
Nov. 22. by joint agreement, to be returned by the earl of Northumber
land to the ambassador. In the form of it, they gave him the
title of prince of Harcourt, and grand escuyer of France, but
omitted that of extraordinary ambassador in England, because
it did not appear to the Parliament, by letters of credence, or
the sight of his instructions from the King or Queen regent of
France, that he was by them employed extraordinary ambassador
into England.
303. The answer itself was, That the Lords and Commons in
Parliament did with all due respects accept of the affectionate
desires of the King and Queen regent of France to contribute
good offices towards the procuring a happy peace ; and that
when the said monsieur le prince d'Harcourt should make any
such propositions to the Parliament by authority from their
majesties of France, they would give then such an answer to
the same as might stand with the interest of both kingdoms and
their late solemn League and Covenant. The Lords proposed
that there might be a committee appointed to treat with the
ambassador, but the Commons would by no means consent to it
till he should make it manifest that he had authority from his

vii. 305.] Reply of Parliament. 243
master to treat with the Parliament ; and withal they declared 1643
that if he had at any time any thing farther to offer to them, they Dec. 4, 11.
would not receive it from any particular member of either
House, but that he should apply himself by writing, or otherwise,
to the Speaker of either or both Houses of Parliament ; other
wise, they would hold no correspondence with him. The ground
of this resolution was, that they might draw from the ambassador
(which they presumed could not be without the privity and
approbation of the King) an address, and acknowledgment
that they were a Parliament, against the freedom whereof, and
consequently the present being, his majesty had by his late
proclamation declared. So the ambassador, after a journey or
two to Oxford and some perfunctory addresses to the Houses,
returned to France re infecta, and without the least expression Feb.
of dislike on his master's behalf of their proceedings.
304. They who were scrupulous in believing that France
really intended to repair the mischieve it had done, and observed
that though there were some plausible compliances, in point of
ceremony, with particular persons after the death of the former
cardinal, yet that the main counsels were carried on upon the
rules and directions he had left, and that the cardinal Mazaryn,
a person of the highest trust with the other, wholly now pre
sided over those counsels ; and considered how much France
might imagine it would conduce to their interest that the King
of England should not have all his subjects in their perfect
obedience, lest he might offer to be an arbiter of their great
differences : I say, these men believed comte Harcourt's instruc
tions privately were no other than the last ambassador's, whom
the King had caused to be recalled ; and it cannot be denied
that they who were inclined to that jealousy had arguments
enough to increase it.
305. When this extraordinary ambassador was appointed to
come for England, Mr. Mountague was in the Court of France,
very much trusted by both their majesties ; and by his quality,
and near relation to so great a trust, his long conversation in
that Court, and a singular dexterity in his nature, adorned
with excellent parts, was thought to have a very good place in
it 2

244 Apparently insincere proceedings [vn. 305.
1643 the favour and particular estimation of that Queen regent, and
in the opinion of the cardinal, to whom he had been useful.
With this gentleman most of the conclusions had been transacted
which were preparatory to the ambassador's journey ; and it
was thought fit that he should at the same time come into
England, and, in such a disguise as might easily conceal a man
better known in France than in his own country, in the
ambassador's train find a safe passage to Oxford ; which was
carried with so much secrecy, that, besides to the ambassador
himself, he was known to very few of his retinue. The count
of Harcourt was not landed four and twenty hours, but in his
journey towards London a messenger from the Parliament
apprehended Mr. Mountague, and carried him a prisoner to the
Houses, by whom he was committed to the Tower ; and though
Oct. 7, 1 8. the ambassador made a great show of resenting it, he never
claimed him in such a manner as to procure his enlargement ;
which made men believe the cardinal liked well his confinement,
and desired not that he should be either at Oxford or at Paris.
306. At the ambassador's first coming to Oxford, after
Oct. 181. general overtures, and declarations of the resolution of that
Crown to give his majesty all possible assistance for his
re-establishment, he proposed a league offensive and defensive
with the King. His majesty, that knew well such an offer was
not to be rejected, lest they should from thence take an occasion
to refuse those things he should propose, appointed a committee
of his Council (according to the usual course) to treat with the
ambassador upon all necessary articles which should attend
such a treaty, declaring an inclination to enter into such a
league as was proposed ; and thereupon desired a present loan
of money, and a supply of a good proportion of arms and
ammunition ; and likewise, that the Crown of France would
declare against his subjects of England and Scotland who. would
persist in rebellion ; according to an article ratified in the last
treaty of the league now in force.
307. The ambassador, who, it seems, expected that there
1 [The day of his arrival at Oxford. He had his audience on Friday,
Oct. 20 (Dugdale's Diary, p. 55), or Saturday, Oct. 21 {Merc. Aul., p. 5°6)0

VII. 308.] of the French ambassador. 245
should have been more pauses in the overture of the league 1643
offensive and defensive, for the present declined the treating
with the committee ; alleging that he was, upon the matter,
a minister of both their majesties, and was to receive commands
from them, and wholly to attend their service, and therefore
that he desired wholly to communicate with their majesties
themselves : and shortly after waived any farther mention of
the league, with a French compliment, that it would not appear
a generous thing to press the King to any act in this his distress
which he had made scruple of consenting to heretofore, when
the fortune of both Crowms [was1] equally prosperous : but that
his master and mistress would frankly contribute all that could
reasonably be expected from them towards his majesty's restor
ation and establishment, and afterwards expect such a return
of affection from his majesty as the greatness of the obligation
should merit in his princely estimation. And at the same time the
Queen regent and cardinal positively denied to the lord Goring,
ambassador extraordinary then from his majesty in France, that
ever the count of Harcourt had any instruction to mention a
league offensive and defensive. These particular carriages, and
his not resenting the indignities offered to him by the Parliament,
made many men believe that this ambassador (notwithstanding
all the specious professions) was sent rather to foment than
extinguish the fire that was kindled. Certain it is, during his
stay in England he did not in the least degree advance the
King's service, and at his return left the Parliament more
united amongst themselves against the King, and the Scots
more advanced towards their coming in, than he found them ;
there being at the same time likewise a French agent in Scot
land 2, who produced no alteration in the affections of that people
to the King's advantage.
308. The return of the three earls to London in the winter,
who so solemnly applied themselves to the King in the spring,
contributed exceedingly to the union of the two Houses at
Westminster. The other two stayed longer, and retired with
1 [' were,' MS.]
2 [P. de Boysivon, accredited 24 Sept. Lords' Journals, VI. 322.]

246 Return of the earl of Holland to the Parliament. [VII. 308.
1643 much more decency, if not with a tacit permission ; but the
earl of Holland1, when he saw his place in the bedchamber
conferred upon the marquis of Hartford, in much discontent
found 2 an opportunity, (which was not difficult,) to remove out
of the King's quarters ; and before he was missed at Oxford,
Nov. 6. intelligence was brought that he had rendered himself to the
Parliament at London. And to make his return the more con
scientious, he declared that the ground of his deserting them
formerly, and going to the King, was a hope to incline his
majesty to a treaty of peace; but that he found he was mistaken
in the temper of the Oxford counsels, and that the King had
still about him some counsellors who would never consent to a
safe and well-grounded peace ; and that he heard they had
persuaded the King to make a cessation with the rebels in
Ireland, which affected his conscience so much, that, though he
had been sure to have lost his life by it, he would return to the
Parliament, professing exemplary fidelity to them if they would
again receive him into their favour.
309. It may be his discourse of Ireland or the King's averse-
ness to peace wrought upon very few ; but the evidence of the
King's aversion so far to forgive and forget former trespasses as
to receive them into favour and trust again, made a deep^
impression upon many. For it is undoubtedly true that many
1 [The lines ' The return — Holland ' are substituted in the margin of the
MS. for the foEowing lines, which are struck out : —
' I must not here forget one accident, which no doubt (how much soever
neglected then) contributed exceedingly to the union at London ; the return
of the earl of HoUand to the ParUament. After his first coming to Oxford,
when he had kissed the King and Queen's hands, he and the other two lords
who came together, the earl of Bedford and the earl of Clare, attended the
King in the army, and at the battle of Newbery charged with Prince
Eupert in his troop. When the King retired to Oxford, the earl of Holland
applied himself to both their majesties, and had a fair reception and admis
sion to speak with the King in private when he desired. Whether he had
received any private invitation, and promise of being restored to the place
he formerly had in their majesties' favours and his old condition in Court,
I know not ; but after a short stay in and about Oxford, and when he found
the eyes of the Court moved not towards him as they had done, though the
Queen was gracious to him, and the King always content to hear what he
would say — '.]
2 [' he found,' MS.]

vii. 310.] Ill impression of the King thereby given. 247
of the principal and governing members of both Houses, that 1643
is, of them who had governed and done as much mischieve as
any, either out of apprehension that the King would prevail, or
that they should not prevail soon enough, or the animosity
against those who had outgrown their government and followed
new leaders of their own, and to other ends than had been
originally proposed, or out of some motions of conscience, were
quite weary of the Parliament, and desirous to obtain a fair
admission to the King, and looked only upon the footing which
those doves who went first out of the ark should find. And
surely, if that expedient had been dexterously managed, it had
been the most probable way to have drawn the Parliament into
such contempt that it must have fallen of itself: and it is a
way that in no civil war, which is arrived to any vigour and
power of contending, ought to be declined. For a body that is
not formed by policy, with any avowed and fixed principles of
government, but by the distempered affections, ambition, and
discontent of particular persons, who rather agree against a
common adversary than are united to one just interest, cannot
so easily be dissolved as by tampering with particular persons,
and rending those branches from the trunk, whose beauty and
advantage consists only in the spreading.
310. And the reasons were unanswerable which the old
consul Fabius in Livy, (lib. 241,) gave in the case of Cassius
Altinius, who, after the defeat of Cannte, deserted the Romans,
and fled to Hannibal, by which he got the city of Arpos ; and
when the condition of the Romans was again recovered and
flourishing, came again to the Roman army, and offered to
betray that city into their hands. Many were of opinion that
he should be looked upon as a common enemy ; and bound,
and sent to Hannibal, as a perfidious person, who knew neither
how to be a friend or an enemy. Fabius reprehended the un
seasonable severity of those who considered and judged in medio
ardore belli tanquam in pace libera, and told them that their
principal care must be, that none of their friends and allies
might forsake them ; the next, that they who had forsaken them
1 [0. 4S-]

248 The earl of Holland does not [vii. 310.
1643 might return again into their obedience and protection : for, si
abire a Homanis liceat, redire ad eos non liceat, it could not be
but the state of Rome, from whom in the late misfortunes
many had revolted, must become very desperate.
311. Such was the King's condition; the number of the
guilty being so much superior to the innocent, that the latter
could reasonably expect only to be preserved by the conversion
and reduction of the former. Neither did the King not foresee,
or abhor this expedient ; but the temper and spirit of the time
was so averse from the stratagem, that it was evident his present
loss would be as great by practising it as his future advantage
was like to prove by it. And whatever damage his majesty
sustained, that unfortunate earl received no acknowledgment
or encouragement from the other party who had a benefit by
his return ; but as his estate was sequestered as soon as he left
Nov. 6. them, so he was now committed to prison, and that sequestra-
I044 tion continued ; neither was it in a long time after taken off,
y : ' ' nor himself ever admitted to his place in their council, notwith
standing all the intercession of very powerful friends, or to any
reputation of doing farther good or hurt.
312. And verily there may be thought to be some dislike in
the very primary law of nature of such tergiversation and in
constancy ; since we scarce find, in any story, a deserter of a
trust or party he once adhered to, to be prosperous, or in any
eminent estimation with those to whom he resorts, though in
the change there may appear evident arguments of reason and
justice ; neither hath it been in the power or prerogative of
any authority to preserve such men from the reproach and
jealousy and scandal that naturally attend upon any defection.
I have not found evil in thee, since the day of thy coming unto
me unto this day ; nevertheless, the lords favour thee not, 1 Sam.
xxix., was the profession of king Achish, when he dismissed
David himself from marching with the army of the Philistines ;
and that expostulation of those lords, Wherewith should he
reconcile himself unto his master i should it not be with the heads
of these men ? will be always an argumentation to raise a dis
trust of those who have eminently quitted their party. And

vii. 313.] regain favour with the Parliament. 249
the judgment of Fabius himself, which we touched before, of 1643
Cassius Altinius, was not much in their favour ; for though he
reprehended the proposition of sending him to Hannibal, yet he
concluded that he would have no trust reposed in him, but that
he should be kept in safe custody, with liberty to do any thing
but go away, till the war was ended, and turn consultandum,
utrum defectio prior plus merita sit pcence an hie reditus venice.
And as it fares in civil affairs, and the breach of moral obliga
tions, so it happens in spiritual defections and alterations in
religion. For, as among the Jews the proselytes were civilly
and charitably treated, without upbraidings or reproaches, yet
it was provided that no proselyte should be eligible into the
court of their Sanhedrim, and in their very conversation they
had a caution of them, ( Vel ad decimam usque generationem a
proselytis cave, was an aphorism against them)1, so our observa
tion and experience can give us few examples of men who have
changed their religion, and not fallen into some jealousy and
distrust, or disreputation, even with those [with] whom they
side, that have made their future life less pleasant and delight
some ; which, it may be, is only because we have rare instances
of men of extraordinary parts, or great minds, who have enter
tained those conversions.
3 1 3 2. The Lords and Commons were all now of a mind, and
no other contention amongst them than who should most ad
vance the power which was to suppress the King's. New and
stricter orders were made for the general taking the Covenant, x"44
and an ordinance that no man should be in any office or trust in
their armies or kingdom, or of the Common Council of London,
or should have a voice in the election of those officers, but such
1 [The injunction is, not to speak againBt a heathen before a proselyte to
the tenth generation. Talmud Babylon., Sanhedrim, fol. 94 a.]
2 [The foUowing lines are struck out in the MS. at the beginning of this
section : —
' The earl of Northumberland was now returned to London from his
house at Petworth in Sussex, (where he had resided from the time the other
lords left the House tiU after the battle of Newbery, in expectation of over
tures from Oxford,) and incorporated again into their counsels ; and they
who had before been very solicitous for peace laid aside aU thoughts
towards it.']

250 A new Great Seal made by the Parliament [vii. 313,
1643 who had taken the Covenant ; nor even they who had taken the
Covenant if they had been formerly imprisoned or sequestered
for suspicion of malignancy, or adhering to the King. And thai
they might as well provide for their sovereign jurisdiction in
civil matters as their security in martial, they again resumed
the consideration of the Great Seal of England. The Commons
had often pressed the House of Peers to concur with them in
the making a new Great Seal, as the proper remedy against
those mischieves which, by the absence of it, had befallen the
commonwealth ; declaring that the Great Seal of England of
right ought to attend upon the Parliament ; in which the Peers
as often refused to join with them, being startled at the statute
of the 2 5th year of King Edward III, by which the counterfeit
ing the Great Seal of England is in express terms declared to
be high treason ; and it had been in all times before understood
to be the seal properly of the King and not of the kingdom,
and absolutely in the King's own disposal where it should be
kept, or where it should attend.
314. This dissent of the Lords hindered not the business;
July 5. the Commons frankly voted that a Seal should be provided, and
July 1 1, 19. accordingly took order that one was engraven, and brought into
their House, according to the same, size, effigies, [sic] and nothing
differing from that which the King used at Oxford. Being in
this readiness, and observing the Lords to be less scrupulous
Oct. 30. than they had been, about the middle of November they sent
again to them, to let them know they had a Great Seal ready,
which should be put into the custody of such persons as the
two Houses should appoint ; and if they would name some peers,
a proportionable number of the other body should join in the
executing that trust. All objections were now answered, and
Nov. 10. without any hesitation their lordships not only concurred with
them to have a Seal in their own disposal, but in a declaration
and ordinance, by which they declared all letters patents and
grants made by the King, and passed the Great Seal of England,
after the two-and-twentieth day of May in the year 1642, (which
was the day the Lord Keeper left the House, and went with the
Great Seal to York to the King,) to be invalid, and void in law;

vii. 316.] which is delivered to six commissioners. 251
and henceforward that their own Great Seal should be of the 1643
like force, power, and validity, to all intents and purposes, as
any Great Seal of England had been or ought to be ; and that
whosoever, after the publication of that ordinance, should pass
any thing under any other Great Seal, or should claim any thing
thereby, should be held and adjudged a public enemy to the
State. 315. At the same time, the earls of Rutland and Bulling-
brooke, of the Peers, Mr. St. John, (whom they still entitled the
King's Solicitor General, though his majesty had revoked his
patent, and conferred that office upon sir Thomas Gardyner,
who had served him faithfully, and been put out of his recorder's
place of London for having so done,) sergeant Wilde, (who,
being a sergeant-at-law, had with most confidence averred their
legal power to make a Seal,) Mr. Browne and Mr. Prideaux,
(two private practisers of the law,) were nominated to have the
keeping, ordering, and disposing of it, and all such, and the
like, power and authority as any Lord Chancellor, or Lord
Keeper, or commissioner of the Great Seal for the time being,
had had, used, or ought to have. The earl of Rutland was so
modest as to think himself not sufficiently qualified for such a
trust, and therefore excused himself in point of conscience1 :
whereupon they nominated in his room the earl of Kent, (a man Nov. 28.
of far meaner parts,) who readily accepted the place.
316. The Seal then was delivered in the House of Commons
to their Speaker ; and by him, with much solemnity, the House
attending him, to the Speaker of the Peers, at the bar in that Nov. 30.
House. The six commissioners were then, in the presence of
both Houses, solemnly sworn to execute the office of Keepers of
the Great Seal of England in all things, according to the orders
and directions of both Houses of Parliament. And thereupon
the Seal was delivered by the two Speakers to them, who
carried it, (according to order,) to the house of the clerk of the
Parliament in the old palace, where it was kept locked up in a
chest, which could not be opened but in the presence of three
of them, and with three several keys. This work being over,
1 ['in regard of his El health' ; Lords' Journals, VI. 315.]

252 Messengers from the King are treated [vii. 316.
1643 they appointed, for the first exercise of this kind of sovereignty,
Dec. 6. a patent to be sealed to the earl of Warwick of Lord High
Admiral of England, which was done accordingly ; by which
many concluded that the earl of Northumberland, who had been
put out of that great office for their sakes, was not restored to
their full confidence ; others, that he desired not to wear their
livery. 317. About the same time, to shew that they would be
absolute, and not joint-sharers in the sovereign power, they gave
an instance of boldness mingled with cruelty that made them
appear very terrible. The King had published several pro
clamations for the adjournment of the term from London to
Oxford, which had been hitherto fruitless, for want of the
necessary legal form of having the writs read in court ; so that
the judges who were ready to perform their duty could not
regularly keep the courts at Oxford, which else they would do,
April 18. notwithstanding the order and declarations published by the
two Houses to the contrary ; they who were learned in the law
believing that assumption to be unquestionably out of their
jurisdiction. These writs of adjournment had never yet been
delivered seasonably to be read in eourt, or into the hands of
either of the sworn judges who yet attended at Westminster ;
of which there were three in number, justice Bacon in the
King's Bench, justice Reeve in the Common Pleas, and baron
Trevour in the Exchequer ; who, (how timorous soever, and
apprehensive of the power and severity of the Parliament,)
knowing the law and their duties, men believed would not have '
barefaced declined the execution of those commands they were
sworn to observe. Several messengers were therefore sent from
Oxford with those writs ; and appointed, on or before such a
day, (for that circumstance was penal,) to find an opportunity
to deliver the writs into the hands of the several judges. Two
of them performed their charges, and delivered the writs to
justice Reeve and baron Trevour; who immediately caused the
messengers to be apprehended.
Oct. 13, 318. And the Houses, being informed of it, gave direction,
2' that they should be tried by a council of war, as spies; which

vii. 319.] by the Parliament with extreme severity. 253
was done at Essex House. The messengers alleged that they were 1643
sworn servants to his majesty for the transaction of those services
for which they were now accused, and that they had been legally
punishable if they had refused to do their duties ; the term
being to be adjourned by no other way. Notwithstanding all
which, they were both condemned to be hanged as spies ; and
that such a sentence might not be thought to be only in terrorem,
the two poor men were within few days after carried to the
Old Exchange, where a gallows was purposely set up ; and there
one of them, one Daniel Knyveton, was without any mercy
executed ; dying with another kind of courage than could be Nov. 27.
expected from a man of such a condition and education, did
not the conscience of being innocent beget a marvellous satis
faction in any condition. The other, after he had stood some
time upon or under the gallows, looking for the same conclusion,
was reprieved, and sent to Bridewell ; where he was kept long
after, till he made an escape, and returned again to Oxford.
This example begot great terror in all the well affected about
London, and so much the more, because about the same time an Oct. 18.
ordinance was made that whosoever went to Oxford, or into
any of the King's quarters, without leave from one of the
Houses or a pass from their general, or whosoever held any
correspondence with any person in the King's quarters by writ
ing letters or receiving letters from thence, should be proceeded
against as a person disaffected to the State, and his person com
mitted and his estate sequestered, and should be liable, accord
ing to the circumstances, (of which themselves would be only
judges,) to be tried as spies.
319. As this made them exceeding terrible to those who
loved them not, so about the same time they gave another in
stance of severity, which rendered their government no less
reverend amongst their friends and associates. The brave de
fence of Gloster, and the great success that attended it, made
the loss of Bristol the more felt, and, consequently, the delivery
and yielding it up the more liberally spoken of and censured.
The which colonel Fynes having not patience to bear, he desired,
being a member of the House of Commons, and of a swaying

254 Fiennes is condemned for surrendering Bristol, [vii. 3io.
1643 interest there, that he might be put to give an account of it at
Sept. 23. a court of war, which was the proper judicature upon trespasses
of that nature ; and, in the mean time, was powerful enough,
upon some collateral and circumstantial passages, to procure some
of the chief who inveighed against him to be imprisoned and
reprehended \ This begat greater passion and animosity in
the persons that thought they suffered unjustly, and only by
the authority and interest of the colonel and his father ; and,
by degrees, brought faction into the House of Commons and
the army, according to the several affections and tempers of
men.
Nov. 15. 320. There were but two prosecutors appeared, one Mr.
Walker, a gentleman of Somersetshire, of a good fortune, and by
the loss of that the more provoked, who had been in the town
when it was lost, and had strictly observed all that was done or
said ; and the famous Mr. Prinn, who had at first let himself into
the disquisition out of the activity and restlessness of his nature,
and was afterwards sharpened by contempt. These two, under
pretence of zeal to the kingdom, and that such an irreparable
damage to it might not pass away without due punishment,
undertook the prosecution ; and boldly charged the colonel with
cowardice and treachery, and gave several instances of great
and high professions, and performances faint and not answerable,
with some mixtures of pride and love of money, throughout the
course of his government. Colonel Fynes, besides the credit
and reputation of his father, had a very good stock of estima
tion in the House of Commons upon his own score ; for truly
he had very good parts of learning and nature, and was privy
to, and a great manager in, the most secret designs from the
beginning ; and if he had not incumbered himself with command
in the army, to which men thought his nature not so well dis
posed, he had sure been second to none after Mr. Hambden's
death in those councils. This made him too much despise those
who appeared his adversaries, and others whom he knew to
be such, though they appeared not, (for he looked upon sir
1 [Clement Walker was sentenced by the House of Lords, on Oct. 2, to be
fined and imprisoned for a libel on Lord Say and Sele.]

vii. 321.] but pardoned ly the general. 255
William Waller as an enemy, [who, his *] misfortune at Round- 1643
way Down having brought that storm upon Bristol, was indus
trious to make the second loss to be apprehended only as the
effect of the other's want of courage and conduct,) and being
sure that he was very free from wishing well to the King, he
thought no defect would be farther imputed to him than might
well be answered by the having done his best, and that the
eminency of his perfect zeal against his majesty would weigh
down all objections of disservice to the Parliament.
321. But notwithstanding all this, after a long and solemn
hearing before the court of war at St. Alban's, where the earl
of Essex then lay, which took up many days, he was condemned Dec. 28
to lose his head, for not having defended Bristol so well and so
long as he ought to have done. And though he had afterwards
a pardon for his life, granted to him by the prerogative of the
general, under his hand and seal, yet the infamy of the judg
ment could not be taken off, by which he became unfit to con
tinue an officer of the army ; and the shame of it persuaded him
to quit the kingdom ; so that he went for some time into foreign
parts, retaining still the same full disaffection to the govern
ment of the Church and State, and only grieved that he had a
less capacity left to do hurt to either. Many looked upon this
example as a foundation of great awe and reverence in the
army, that the officers might see that no titles or relation
should be able to break through the strict discipline of war.
For this gentleman was a person of singular merit and fidelity
to the party that he served, and of extraordinary use to them
in those counsels that required the best understandings. Others
thought it an act of unadvised severity, to expose so eminent a
person, (who knew all their intrigues,) upon the importunity of
useless and inconsiderable persons, to infamy; whilst others
considered it as a judgment of Heaven upon a man who had
been so forward in promoting the public calamities : and no
doubt, it increased much the factions and animosities both in
the Parliament and the army, and might have done them farther
mischieve, if it had not fallen on a man so throughly engaged
1 ['whose,' MS.]

256 The Scottish army enters England. [VII. 321.
1643 that no provocations could make him less of their party or less
concerned in their confederacy.
322 1. Nothing troubled the King so much as the intelligence
he received from Scotland that they had already formed their
army, and resolved to enter England in the winter season.
All his confidence, which he had founded there upon the faith
and most solemn professions of particular men without whom
the nation could not have been corrupted, had deceived him to
a man ; and he found the same men most engaged against him
who had with most solemnity vowed all obedience to him.
And the circumstance of the time made the danger of the
invasion the more formidable ; for the earl of Newcastle, (who
Oct. 27. was lately created a marquis,) his army had been compelled, as
much by the murmurs and indisposition of the officers as by the
Oct. 12. season of the year, to quit his design upon Hull and to retire
to York ; and the garrison at Hull had many strong infalls
into the country, and defeated some of his troops 2 ; so that the
Scots were like to find a strong party in that large county.
However, the marquis sent a good body of horse towards the
borders to wait their motion, and no sooner heard of their
Jan. 19. march, which began in January, in a great frost and snow, than
himself marched into the bishopric of Durham to attend them.
The particulars of all that affair, and the whole transaction of
the northern parts, where the writer of this history was never
present, nor had any part in those counsels, are fit for a relation
apart ; which a more proper person will employ himself in s-
323. In these straits, the King considered two expedients
which were proposed to him, and which his majesty directed
should be both consulted 4 in the Council. The one was, that
all the peers who were then in Oxford, or in the King's service,
1 [§§ 322-328 are from the Life, pp. 252-4.]
2 [At Winceby, near Horncastle, Oct. II.]
3 [The Unes ' where the writer — himself in ' are substituted in the MS. for
the following : ' where the ChanceEor of the Exchequer was never present,
nor had any part in those counsels, are fit for another kind of account, and
are foreign to this discourse.']
4 [' the King — consulted ' : originally thus, ' the ChanceEor of the
Exchequer proposed two expedients to the King, which the King Eked well,
and wished they might both be consulted.']

Vii. 324.] Address from Oxford to the Council in Scotland. 257
might subscribe a letter to the Council of State in Scotland ; 1643
whereby it would appear by the subscription that above five
parts of six of the whole nobility and House of Peers were in
the King's service, and disavowed all those actions which were
done against him by the pretended authority of the two Houses ;
which possibly might make some impression upon the nation of
Scotland, though it was well enough known to the seducers.
A letter was prepared accordingly i, expressing the foulness of
the rebellion in England under the reputation of the Houses
of Parliament, and the carrying on the same, when they had
driven away by force much the major part of the members of
both, and expressly against all the laws of the land : it put
them in mind of their obligation to the King, and pathetically
concluded with conjuring them to desist from their unjust and
unwarrantable purpose, since they could have no excuse for
prosecuting the same from the authority of Parliament2. The
letter was perused and debated in the Council, and afterwards
in the presence of all the peers ; and being generally approved
without any dissenting voice, it was ordered to be engrossed,
and signed by all those peers and privy-councillors who were
then in Oxford, and to be sent to those who were absent in any
of the armies or in the King's quarters, and to be then sent
to the marquis of Newcastle ; who, after he had signed it with
those peers who were in those parts, wass to transmit it into
Scotland by a trumpet ; all which was done accordingly.
324. Of all the peers who followed the King, there was only
one who refused to sign this letter4, the earl of Leicester.
1 [These words are substituted for the following : ' The Chancellor was
appointed to prepare the letter, which he did.' See note to § 369, pp. 286-7.]
2 [The words ' since — Parliament ' are substituted for the following : ' in
such a manner and in those words as are contained in the letter that was
then printed and remains in many hands.']
3 [' he was,' MS.]
4 [The fbEowing passage is here struck out in the MS. : —
' The earl of Leicester was in Oxford, and had been once in CouncE when
the letter was consulted; and when the clerk of the Council carried it
(according to his office) to him to be signed, he wished him to leave it there
for his perusal, and he would consider of it ; and the next day calling to him
again, he gave the same answer, that he would farther consider of it. Where
upon it was whispered in the Court that he would not put his hand to it,
YOL. HI. S

258 The Prince is committed to the [VII.324.
1643 Both their majesties, in their secret purpose, had designed,
upon the remove of the marquis of Hartford from the govern
ment of the Prince to attend his majesty, that the earl of
Leicester should have been governor of the Prince, having
taken away that of Ireland from him, if he had not at that
time wilfully refused to sign [this x] letter to the Scots which all
the other lords of the Council and peers had signed ; but upon
this so affected a discovery of a nature and mind liable to no
kind of compliance, the King could not prosecute his purpose ;
and so the government of that hopeful and excellent prince was
which they who loved him not (which were very many of the lords) were glad
of, and the more because the King had it in his purpose to give him some
preferment in lieu of the Lieutenantship of Ireland, which he thought fit at
that time to take from him, and had conferred it upon the marquis of
Nov. 13. Ormonde, who had the command of the army in that kingdom. The Chan-
ceUor of the Exchequer had much kindness for the earl of Leicester, and
went to him, and took notice of what was reported about the Court, and
desired him not to give those who had an evil eye towards him so great an
advantage to do him hurt as his refusal to sign this letter, and so declaring
himself to be of a different judgment, if not different affection, from all the
councillors and all the peers who foUowed the King, would do ; that he had
some reason to beUeve that both the King and the Queen had at present
some gracious intentions towards him, which he would make himself incap
able of by such an unseasonable contradiction. The reasons he gave why he
had forborne to sign it (for he had not yet refused) were not equal to his
own reason, which, when uncorrupted by his passion, was very good : that
he had been only once present when the design of that letter was consulted,
but had not been present when the letter itself was brought to the Board,
(which he might and ought to have been,) nor had ever seen it till it was
brought to him to be signed ; that there were some matters of fact men
tioned in it, which, though he' believed, he did not know to be true ; and
some such other exceptions as were too weak to puzzle his understanding ;
so that the Chancellor did beUeve what he wished, that he would have
signed it ; but, after many pauses and delays, whether he had not yet
digested his late deposal from the lieutenancy of Ireland, to which the mar
quis of Ormonde was deputed, and thought the disobUgation of it not
capable of a reparation, or whether he thought the King's fortune desperate,
and resolved not to sacrifice himself to any popular displeasure, and not to
provoke the Parliament farther than by not concurring with them; or
whether he had it then in his purpose to be found in their quarters, aa
shortly after he was ; he did in the end positively refuse to subscribe the
letter ; and thereby was the occasion of a mischieve he did not intend.
[For] both their majesties, in their secret purpose, had designed him to
succeed the marquis of Hartford in the government of the Prince ; for which
he would have been very proper.'] l ['a,' MS.]

vii. 326.] care of the earl of Berkshire. 259
committed to the earl of Barkshire, for no other reason but 1643
because he had a mind to it, and his importunity was very
troublesome : a man, of any who bore the name of a gentleman,
the most unfit for that province, or any other that required
any proportion of wisdom and understanding for the discharge
of it.
325. But it was the unhappy temper of the Court at that
time to think that it was no matter who was employed in that
office ; for the King nor Queen were not at all deceived, nor
was the earl less fit than they thought him to be ; but they
thought his want of parts (his fidelity there was no cause to
suspect) to be of little importance : and a councillor much
trusted 1 spealdng at that time with the lord Jermin, ' how
astonishing a thing it was to all the nation to see the Prince
committed to such a governor,' he smiled, according to his
custom when he could not answer, and said, ' it was of no
moment who had the name and style of governor, since the
King and Queen meant to be his governor, and firmly resolved
that he should never be out of their presence or of one of
them : ' when within little more than a year after the King
found it necessary to sever the Prince from him, and lived not
to see him again : and he then found and lamented that he had
deputed such a governor over him.
326. The other expedient proposed2 was, that since the
whole kingdom was misled by the reverence they had to Par
liaments, and believed that the laws and liberties of the people
could not be otherwise preserved than by their authority, and
that it appeared to be to no purpose to persuade them that
what they did was against law when they were persuaded that
their very doing it made it lawful, it would be therefore
necessary, and could be only effectual, to convince them that
they who did those monstrous things were not the Parliament
but a handful of desperate persons, who, by the help of the
tumults raised in the city of London, had driven away the
1 [The words ' a councillor much trusted ' are substituted for ' the Chan
ceEor.'] 2 [The words ' by the Chancellor ' are here struck out in the MS.]
S 3

%6a Members of Parliament are summoned [VII. 326.
1643 major part of the Parliament, and called themselves the Par
liament, who were in truth much the less and the least con
siderable part of it ; which would appear manifestly, if the
King would issue out a proclamation to require all the mem
bers who had left the Parliament at Westminster to repair to
Oxford by such a day, where his majesty would be willing to
advise with them in matters of the greatest importance, con
cerning the peace and distractions of the kingdom : and by this
means he might in many things serve himself by their assist
ance, and it would evidently appear by the number of both
Houses, whose names would be quickly known and published,
how few remained at Westminster who carried on the devouring
war, so grievous to the whole kingdom.
327. The King was at first in some apprehension that such
a conflux of persons together of the Parliament, who would
look to enjoy the privileges of it in their debates, might, instead
of doing him service, do many things contrary to it, and ex
ceedingly apprehended that they would immediately enter upon
some treaty of peace which would have no effect, yet, whilst it
was in suspense, would hinder his preparations for the war;
and though nobody more desired peace, yet he had no mind
that a multitude should be consulted upon the conditions of it,
imagining that things of the greatest importance, as the giving
up persons, and other particulars of honour, would not seem
to them of moment enough to continue a war in the kingdom ;
which would have been true, if, (as hath been said before,) the
governors of the Parliament had not themselves been too fearful
of a peace to trust any to make politic propositions, which upon
refusal might have done good, but being consented to had
undone them, and frustrated all their designs.
328. The Council seemed much inclined to the expedient,
and many conveniences were in view ; and it might be reason
ably hoped and presumed, that persons who had that duty to
obey his majesty's summons in coming thither, which would be
none but such who had already absented themselves from West
minster, and thereby incensed those who remained there, would
[not] bring ill and troublesome humours with them, to disturb

vii. 32e.] to attend the King at Oxford. 261
that service which could only preserve them, but, on the con- 1643
trary, would unite, and conspire together to make the King
superior to his and their enemies. And as to the advancing
any propositions of peace, which there could be no doubt but
they would be inclined to, nor would it be fit for his majesty to
oppose, there could be no inconvenience ; since their appearing
in it would but draw reproach from those at Westminster, who
would never give them any answer, or look upon them under
any notion but as private persons and deserters of the Par
liament, without any qualification to treat or be treated with :
which would more provoke those at Oxford, and, by degrees,
stir up more animosities between them. And the King dis
covered more of hope than fear from such a convention ; and
so, with a very unanimous consent and approbation, a pro
clamation was issued out 1, containing the true grounds and Dec. 24.
motives, and mentioning the league with Scotland to invade
the kingdom, which was the most .universally odious and
detestable, and summoned all the members of both Houses of
Parliament, except only such who, having command in his
majesty's armies in the North and in the West, could not be
dispensed with to be absent from their charges, to attend upon
his majesty in Oxford, upon a day fixed in January next. Jan. 22.
329 2- The King was not all this while without a due sense
of the dangers that threatened him in the growth and improve
ment of the power and strength of the enemy, and how impos
sible it would be for him without some more extraordinary
assistance to resist that torrent which he foresaw by the next
spring would be ready to overwhelm him, if he made not
provision accordingly. When he saw therefore that it was not
in his power to compose the distractions of England, or to
prevent those in Scotland, and ^abhorring the thought of in
troducing a foreign nation to subdue his own subjects, he
began to think of any expedients which might allay the dis
tempers in Ireland ; that so, having one of his kingdoms in
peace, he might apply the power of that towards the procuring
1 [' prepared by the ChanceEor ' ; struck out in the MS.]
2 [§§ 329-393 (excepting § 369) are from the Hist., pp. 497-525-]

262 Proceedings of the marq. of Ormonde in Ireland, [vii. 329.
1643 it in his other dominions. He was not ignorant how tender an
argument that business of Ireland was, and how prepared men
were to pervert whatsoever he said or did in it ; and therefore
he resolved to proceed with that caution, that whatsoever was
done in it should be by the Council of that State, who were
understood to be most skilful in those affairs.
1642 330. The Lords Justices and Council had sent a short peti-
July and tion to his majesty, which was presented to them, in the name
0 ' of his Catholic subjects then in arms against him ; by which
they only desired, with full expressions of duty and submission
to his majesty, that he would appoint some persons to hear what
they could say for themselves, and to present the same to his
1643 majesty. Hereupon the King authorized by his commission
Jan. 11. j.jje jor(j marqUis 0f Ormonde and some others to receive what
they were ready to offer, but without the least authority to
conclude any thing with them upon it. And after the receipt
of this commission, the marquis, finding that the petition was
prosecuted with less ingenuity than it seemed to have been
presented, was so far from being indulgent to them under that
notion, that he even then advanced against them with his
army, and gave them a very signal defeat 1 ; which reformed
their application, and made it more submiss.
331. In the mean time (though in all actions and counsels
the Lords Justices and Council there had yielded punctual
obedience to all directions from the Parliament) the affairs
of that kingdom suffered exceedingly for want of provisions,
money, and ammunition, out of England ; which the two
Houses of Parliament were obliged, and were to that purpose
enabled by his majesty, to send. Insomuch as that Board, by
AprE 4. their letters of the fourth of April this present year, advertised
the Speaker of the House of Commons, that
'they had been compeUed, for the preservation of the army, to take
money from all who had it, and to wrest their commodities from the poor
merchants, whom they had now, by the law of necessity, utterly undone,
and disabled from being hereafter helpful to them in bringing them in
victuals, or other needful commodities : and that there were few of them
selves, or others, that had not felt their parts in the enforced rigour of their
1 [At Ross, March 18, 1643.]

vii. 333.] State of the Protestants there. 263
proceedings, so as, what with such hard dealing, no less grievous to them to 1643
do than it was heavy to others to suffer, and by their descending, (against
their hearts,) far below the honour and dignity of that power they repre
sented under his royal majesty, they had, with unspeakable difficulty, pre
vailed so as to be able to find bread for the soldiers for the space of one
month : that they were then expelling thence all strangers, and must
instantly send away for England thousands of poor despoiled English, whose
very eating was now insupportable to that place ; and therefore,' they said,
' they did again earnestly and finally desire (for their confusions would not
now admit the writing of many more letters, if any) some supplies of victual
and munition might, in present, be hastened thither, to keep life until the
rest might fojlow, there being no victuals in store, nor one hundred barrels
of powder ; which, according to the usual necessary expenses, besides extra
ordinary accidents, would not last above a month.'
332. A copy of this letter they likewise sent to Mr. Secretary
Nicholas, that his majesty might be informed of the sadness of
their condition, and, with it, a copy of a paper that morning
presented to the Board (which was likewise sent in their letter April 4.
to the Speaker) from the officers of the army ; who, after sharp
expressions of the miseries they sustained and expostulations
thereupon, concluded, that if their lordships would take them
into their timely consideration, before their urgent wants made
them desperate, they would serve them readily and faithfully ;
but if their lordships would not find a way for their preserva
tions there, they humbly desired they might have leave to go
where they might have a better being ; and if they refused to
grant that, they must then take leave to have their recourse
to that first and primary law which God had endued all men
with, the law of nature, which taught all men to preserve
themselves. 333. The King was exceedingly perplexed at the receipt of
this advertisement, apprehending the state of his Protestant
subjects in that kingdom to be almost desperate, the rebels
receiving daily encouragement and assistance from foreign
parts, and thereupon growing strong and bold ; yet he forbore
to interpose his own sovereign power, hoping1 this last clear
representation would have made so deep an impression in the
two Houses of Parliament, that they would have sent such a
full supply that at least the rebels might make no farther
1 [' and hoping,' MS.]

264 Address of the Lords Justices and [vii. 333.
1643 progress in victory against his Protestant subjects. About the
end of May, the Lords Justices and Council, (having received
May 11. no probable hope of assistance from the Parliament,) sent an
address immediately to his majesty, that himself might conclude
in that exigent what was to be done for preservation of one of
his three kingdoms. This letter, subscribed by the Lords
Justices and every member of the Council-board, being the
ground and foundation of the resolutions which his majesty
afterwards took, I think necessary in this place to insert in the
terms of which it consisted ; which were these :
334. ' May it please your most exceEent majesty :
' As soon as we your majesty's Justices entered into the charge of this
government, we took into our consideration at this Board the state of the
army here ; which we find suffering under unspeakable extremities of want
of all things necessary to the support of their persons or maintenance of the
war, here being no victuals, clothes, or other provisions requisite towards
their sustenance ; no money to provide them of any thing they want ; no
arms in your majesty's stores to supply their many defective arms ; not
above forty barrels of powder in your stores ; no strength of serviceable
horses being now left here, and those few that are, their arms for the most
part lost, or unserviceable ; no ships arrived here to guard the coast, and
consequently no security rendered to any that might, (on their private-
adventures,) bring in provisions of victuals, or other necessaries, towards our
subsistence ; and, finally, no visible means, by sea or land, of being able to
preserve for you this your kingdom, and to render deliverance from utter
destruction to the remnant of your good subjects left here.
335. ' We find that your majesty's late Justices and this Board have often
and fully, by very many letters, advertised the Parliament in England of
the extremities of affairs here, and besought relief with all possible impor
tunity ; which also have been fully represented to your majesty, and
to the Lord Lieutenant, and Mr. Secretary Nicholas, to be made known to
your majesty : and although the winds have of late for many days, (and
often formerly,) stood very fair for accessions of supply forth of England
hither, and that we have stiE, with longing expectations, hoped to find
provisions arrive here in some degree answerable to the necessities of your
affairs, yet now, (to our unexpressible grief, ) after full six months waiting,
and much longer patience and longsuffering, we find aE our great expecta
tions answered in a mean and inconsiderable quantity of provisions, viz.
threescore and fifteen barrels of butter, and fourteen ton of cheese; being
but the fourth part of a small vessel's loading, which was sent from London,
and arrived here the fifth day of this month, which is not above seven or
eight days' provision for that part of the army which lies in Dublin and the
out-garrisons thereof; no money or victuals (other than that inconsiderable
proportion of victual) having arrived in this place, as sent from the ParhV
ment of England, or any other forth of England, for the use of the army,
since the beginning of November last.

vii. 337.] Council in Ireland to the King. 26$
336. ' We have, by the blessing of God, been hitherto prosperous and 1643
successful in your majesty's affairs here, and should be still hopeful, by the
mercy of God, under the royal directions of your sacred majesty, to vindi
cate your majesty's honour, and recover your rights here, and take due
vengeance on those traitors for the innocent blood they have spilled, if we
might be strengthened or supported therein by needful supplies forth of
England ; but these suppUes being hitherto expected to come from the Par
liament of England, (on which if your majesty had not relied, we are
assured you would, in your high wisdom, have found out some other means
to preserve this your kingdom,) and so great and apparent a failure having
happened therein, and all the former and late long continuing easternly
winds bringing us no other provisions than those few cheeses and butter,
and no advertisements being brought us of any future supply to be so much
as in the way hither, whereby there might be any likelihood that consider
able means of support for your majesty's army might arrive here in
any reasonable time, before we be totaUy swallowed up by the rebels, and
your kingdom by them wrested from you : we find ourselves so disappointed
of our hopes from the ParUament as must needs trench to the utter loss of
the kingdom, if your majesty, in your high wisdom, ordain not some present
means of preservation for us. And considering that if now, by occasion of
that unhappy and unexpected faiUng of support from thence, we shall be
less successful in your services here against the rebels than hitherto (whilst
we were enabled with some means to serve you) we have been, the shame
and dishonour may, in common construction of those that know not the
inwards of the cause, be imputed to us, and not to the failings that disabled
us : and considering principaUy and above all things the high and eminent
trust of your affairs here, deposited with us by your sacred majesty ; we
may not forbear, in discharge of our duty, thus freely and plainly to declare
our humble apprehensions, to the end your majesty, thus truly understand
ing the terribleness of our condition, may find out some such means of sup
port, to preserve to your majesty and your royal posterity this your ancient
and rightful crown and kingdom, and derive deliverance and safety to the
remnant of your good subjects yet left here, as in your excellent judgment you
shall find to be most for your honour and advantage. And so praying [to] the
King of kings to guide and direct you for the best in this high and important
cause, and in aE other your counsels and actions, we humbly remain.
From your majesty's castle of Dublin,
the nth day of May, 1643.'
337. There was no sober man in Ireland or England who be
lieved it to be in the King's power to enable this people to
carry on the war; for all men too well knew that he had
neither money, victuals, ammunition, or shipping, to supply
them : and therefore his majesty could not but conclude, that,
by this application of that State to him, they hoped he would
endeavour to extinguish that war which he could not maintain.
And it is very true that at the same time with this letter he

266 The King authorizes commissioners [vii. 337.
1643 received advice and information from some of his prime ministers
of that kingdom, who were well known and acknowledged per
fectly to abhor the rebellion, that there was no reasonable hope
of preserving his Protestant subjects and his own interest in that
kingdom but by treating with the rebels, and making a peace
or truce with them. The King well foresaw to what reproaches
he should object himself by entering into any treaty with those
rebels, and that they who had persuaded many to believe that
he had given countenance to, if not fomented, that rebellion,
against all the human evidence that can be imagined, would
more easily gain credit when they should be able to say that he
had made a peace with them : besides, that he had bound him
self not to make a peace with the rebels in Ireland without the
consent of his two Houses of Parliament in England. On the
other side, nothing was more demonstrable than that his
Protestant subjects there could not defend the little they had
left without extraordinary aid and assistance out of England;
that it was impossible for him to send any to them, and as
visible that the Parliament would not or could not ; so that it
seemed only in his election whether he would preserve the re
mainder of his Protestant subjects there, and that whole king
dom, in dependence upon his Crown, with the inconvenience of
some perverse and unreasonable scandal, or suffer them to be
rooted out, and undergo the perpetual obloquy of having lost a
kingdom when it was in his own power to have retained it
within his subjection. And whatever he had obliged himself to
in those Acts of Parliament which he had passed for relief of
Ireland, before any rebellion in England, was not that there
might never be a peace in Ireland, but that the two Houses
might co-operate with him, whereby the rebels might be reduced
to those straits that they might be compelled to submit to the per
formance of their duties : and that, instead of any such co-oper
ation, the two Houses refused to concur with him in any thing,
and had employed those monies which had been raised by those
very Acts for the relief of Ireland in the maintenance of the
armies which had given his majesty battle in England, expressly
contrary to the words of those Acts ; and therefore that his

vii. 339.] to treat with the rebels in Ireland. 267
majesty might be reasonably disobliged from those covenants 1643
on his part.
338. Upon these considerations, after two months' delay, to
see whether yet the Parliament would take care of them, and
having received fresh importunities and advices from thence,
about the end of July the King writ to the Lords Justices in July 31.
Ireland that they should issue out a commission under the Great Aug. 31.
Seal of Ireland to the lord marquis of Ormonde, to treat and
conclude a cessation of arms with the rebels upon such articles
and conditions as he should judge most reasonable, and, during
that cessation, that such agents as they should make choice of
should have access to his royal person, to present their own
propositions for peace : so careful was the King not to infringe
that Act of Parliament, which many understood to be dissolved
by themselves, there being no colourable clause in it by which
it was not in his majesty's own power to make a cessation ; and
the peace itself he respited in such a manner that he might re
ceive advice and concurrence from the Parliament, if they would
not decline any farther consideration or care of that kingdom.
339. Hereupon the lord marquis of Ormonde, being then
only general of the horse there ', entered upon a treaty with Aug. 26.
commissioners authorized by the council at Kilkenny, to whose June 20 i.
jurisdiction the rebels had committed the whole government of
their affairs ; and articles of cessation being prepared for a year,
and perused and approved by the Lords Justices and Council,
without whose advice the marquis would not proceed, and all
the principal officers of the army having given it under their
hands, (being present likewise at the treaty,) that it was most
necessary for the preservation of that kingdom that a cessation
should be made for a year upon those articles and conditions ;
and the rebels undertaking to pay to his majesty's use
thirty thousand and eight hundred pounds sterling within a
short time, whereof fifteen thousand eight hundred pounds in
ready money, and the other fifteen thousand pounds one half in
money and the other half in good beefs at thirty pounds the
1 [Altered from ' being the lieutenant general of the King's army there.']
2 [Bushworth, III. ii. 545.]

268 A cessation of arms in Ireland. [vii. 339.
1643 score ; a cessation of arms was concluded by the marquis, and
Sept. 15. published with the articles and conditions by the Lords Justices
and Council of Ireland, to begin on the fifteenth day of Sep
tember, and to continue for the space of a whole year.
340. This cessation was no sooner known in England but
Sept. 30. the two Houses declared against it, with all the sharp glosses
upon it to his majesty's dishonour that can be imagined, per
suading the people that the rebels were now brought to their
last gasp, and reduced to so terrible a famine that, like cannibals,
they eat one another, and must have been destroyed immedi
ately and utterly rooted out, if, by the popish counsels at Court,
the King had not been persuaded to consent to this cessation.
It is one of the instances of the strange, fatal misunderstand
ings which possessed this time, that, notwithstanding all the
caution the King used in meddling at all with the business of
that kingdom from the time of the rebellion, and the clear dis
covery of all particular reasons, grounds, and counsels, when he
found it necessary to interpose in it, the calumnies and slanders
raised to his majesty's disservice and dishonour made a more
than ordinary impression upon the minds of men, and not only
of vulgar-spirited people, but of those who resisted all other in
fusions and infection. And posterity, no question, will inquire
from what rise or spring this disadvantage flowed ; to which in
quiry I can apply no other satisfaction, (besides the disease of
the time, which imputed all designs to designs upon religion,
and whatsoever was done by Papists to the zeal of the Queen
on the behalf of her own religion,) than that the chief managers
and conductors of their counsels found it necessary to aver
many things of fact upon their own knowledge, (by which they
found the understanding of men liable to be captivated,) which
in truth were not so : as I found by some sober men, at such times
as there was occasion of intercourse and conference with them,
that they did upon such assurance believe that the King had
done somewhat in that business of Ireland, (some having avowed
that they had seen his hand to such and such letters and in
structions,) which, upon as much knowledge as any man can
morally have of a negative, I am sure he never did.

vii. 342.] Remonstrance of Parliament thereon. 269
341. I shall here insert, as the most natural and proper 1643
evidence of the state of Ireland at the time of the cessation,
and of the unanswerable motives which prevailed with the King
to consent to it, two letters ; the one, of expostulation from July 4.
the two Houses to the Lords Justices and Council, which was
received by them after the cessation [was] agreed on, though
seeming to be sent before ; and the answer of that Board there
unto; with the contents whereof the King, nor any of his
Council attending on him, was not at all acquainted till long
after their delivery. The letters were in these words : —
342. ' To our very good lords, the Lords Justices and Council for the
kingdom of Ireland.
' Our very good lords,
' The Lords and Commons in ParUament have commanded us to let you
know they have seen your letter of the tenth of June, directed to the
Speaker of the House of Commons, accompanied with an Act of State, in
the preamble whereof is an expression to this effect ; that your present diffi
culties are occasioned through the failure of the Houses of Parliament in
England, who undertook the charge of this war. This letter and Act of
Council were sent by his majesty from Oxford, to whom they believe you
have sent copies of both, and have just cause to suspect that there is an im
pious design now on foot to sell for nought the crying blood of many
hundred thousands of British Protestants, by a dishonourable, insufferable
peace with the rebels, and then to lay the blame and shame of this upon the
Parliament ; a plot suitable to those counsels that have both projected and
fomented this unparalleled rebellion : for those who contrived the Powder
treason intended to lay it on the Puritans. And although they cannot
think your lordships intended to further this design by this expression, yet
they have cause to believe you have forgotten the present condition of this
kingdom ; the supplies they have sent thither of all sorts, even in the midst
of their own wants : what relief going thither hath been taken away both
by sea and land, and by whom ; and what discouragements have been
given them in return : so that as your lordships do truly observe the Pro
testant party in that city desirous to contribute in aU things towards pre
servation of that kingdom, and that all the opposition therein is from those
of the Popish party, so ought -you justly to conclude that the Protestant
party in this kingdom have contributed, and are still endeavouring to con
tribute, moneys, ammunition, victuals, and other necessaries, for the saving
of that kingdom, and that the Popish and malignant party here, now in arras
against the Parliament and kingdom, have not assisted in the least measure
this pious work, but ou the contrary do hinder and oppose the same.
Neither should your lordships conceive that only the charge of that war was
referred to, and undertaken by, the ParUament, as if their part were to be
your bankers, only to provide moneys for you to spend, and were not to
advise and direct the managing of the war, although an Act of Parliament

270 The Lords Justices' answer to [vii. 342.
1643 hath invested them with that power ; which they must assume and vindi
cate as the means to save that kingdom, and shaE bring to condign punish
ment those there who in this conjuncture of affairs have advised the
commission to hear what the rebels can say or propound for their own
advantage ; the letters to divest their committee of an authority given them
by both Houses ; and that advised the late alteration of government there ;
as enemies to the weal of both kingdoms, and fautors of that rebellion. In
the last place, we are forbidden to tell you what supplies of money, victuals,
ammunition, and other necessaries, are in good forwardness to be sent over,
for the support of the officers and soldiers there, and by whose incessant
care, lest they should seem to answer that scandal by excuse, which deserves
an high resentment. This being aU we have in command for the present,
we bid your lordships farewell, and remain
Your lordships' friends to serve you,
Grey of Warke,
Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore ;
William Lenthall,
Speaker of the Commons' House in Parliament.
343. ' The Lords and Commons wiU examine the demeanour of the ships
appointed to guard those coasts; and might have expected a copy of
Mountroe's letter to colonel Crawford, which came to your hands before the
tenth of June, and [haply l] would discover the treasons of the rebels sent
by your enemies to destroy you, as well as a complaint of those sea-captains
sent by your friends to defend you ; whose neglect and misdeeds are not
withstanding to be punished, according as their demerits shall appear.
Westminster, the 4th of July, 1643.'
344. ' To our very good lord, the lord Speaker of the right honourable
the Lords' House of Parliament in the kingdom of England ; and to
our very loving friend, William Lenthall, esq. Speaker of the honourable
Commons' House in Parliament in the said kingdom.
' Our very good lord, and Mr. Speaker of the Commons' House inParUament,
' Your joint letters of the fourth of July last, directed to us, were so long
in coming as they came not to our hands untE the sixth of October. By
those your letters you signify, that the Lords and Commons in Parliament
have commanded you to let us know that they have seen our letters of the
tenth of June, directed to the Speaker of the House of Commons, accom
panied with an Act of State, in the preamble whereof there is an expression
to this effect ; that our present difficulties are occasioned through the
failure of the Houses of Parliament in England, who undertook the charge
of this war : to which expression, it seems, exception is taken, and inter;
pretations made thereof far otherwise, we are sure, than was intended by us,
and, as we conceive, otherwise than the true sense of those words can bear.
It is true that when we were necessitated to set on foot the new imposition
raised here, in nature of an excise, towards keeping this army from perish
ing by famine, it became necessary to express, (in the Act of Council
whereby we ordered it,) the reasons inducing us to set on foot here a thing
1 [' haply,' Lords' Journals, VI. 120. 'happily,' MS.]

Vii. 846.] the letter from Parliament. 271
so unknown to his majesty's laws and gracious government, and the difficul- 1643
ties wherewith we contended which did necessitate that resolution ; and in
expressing those difficulties we used that expression, to shew whence our
difficulties were occasioned ; and that we have therein declared the truth,
we crave leave to mind you of some particulars.
345. ' If we should look so far back as to repeat the substance of many
despatches sent from this Board since the beginning of this rebellion ; some
to our very good lord, the Lord Lieutenant of this kingdom ; some to the
lords and others, members of both Houses, his majesty's commissioners for
the affairs of this kingdom ; and some to the Speaker of the Commons'
House of Parliament there ; it would prove a voluminous work ; and there
fore we forbear to look farther back into those despatches than to the time
when the committee, sent thence hither, were here ; who, at their arrival
here in the end of October 1642, brought with them some money and pro
visions, but far short of that which the necessities of this army required,
and indeed so inconsiderable in respect of those necessities, as even before
that committee departed they saw the money they had brought wholly
issued, and the high and unavoidable necessity of a further speedy and
plentiful supply of money and other provisions. By letters from this Board
of the twentieth of January 1642, and directed to the Speaker of the Com
mons' House of ParUament there, it was signified thither, that the provisions
of victuals here were then at the very bottom ; that that committee then
here had certified thither those wants ; that if a personal supply of victual
arrived not here very speedily, the army could not subsist, but must have
been constrained to disband, to the loss of this kingdom, and utter destruc
tion of the few subjects here : that the want of treasure here to pay the
army enforced this Board to issue victual to the common soldier, and others,
towards their pay, which did the sooner exhaust the magazines of victual ;
that the captains and other officers, not having relief that way, were reduced
to great extremities, as had been formerly often represented thither ; and
therefore this Board, by the said letters, then moved, that treasure might be
sent us speedily, so to redeem the officers from the calamities they suffered,
and this Board from their unsupportable clamours, and to enable the pay
ment, in some part, in money to the common soldier; so to make the
victual we then expected to hold out the longer.
346. ' It was also by those letters then advertised thither, that the ex
tremities of the officers of the army had begotten so much discontent 1642
amongst them, as divers colonels and others of them presented at this Dec. 17.
Board a Bemonstrance, whereof a copy was then sent enclosed in the said
letters ; which Bemonstrance did exceedingly trouble and perplex us, lest it
might beget such distractions amongst us as might give too much advantage
to the rebels. But after full debate thereof at this Board, it was here
directed, that, in present to render some subsistence to the officers untE Jan. 5.
treasure arrived forth of England, every man in this city should bring
in half of his plate, to be paid for it when treasure arrived ; whereupon
some plate was brought in, and applied towards the army. This Board did
also signify by those letters, that without some speedy relief forth of Eng
land the burden here was become too heavy to be borne ; and therefore, in
discharge of our duty to God, to our gracious sovereign, to that kingdom and

272 The Lords Justices' answer to [vii. 346.
1643 to this, we held ourselves bound clearly to make known, that, unless we
were speedEy supplied from thence with money, arms, and victuals, it would
be impossible for us any farther to prosecute this war, or to preserve from
sudden confusion this state and government : so highly did the discontent
of the officers and the disorder of the soldier threaten us, that it might be
easily apprehended what, (in all human probability,) must become of us,
when it was then evident that here was no money, nor any possibEity of
procuring any in this city, when our victuals were spent, when a great
part of the army had no arms ; which we doubted, and feared, (for the
reasons in those letters expressed,) that the soldiers would make prey of us
and this city at last ; and when we saw that the destruction then threatened
against us must then go further, even to the loss of this crown and kingdom,
and to the highly endangering of that kingdom also ; which,, for the honour
of his majesty and the EngUsh nation, we by our said letters desired might,
(by the wisdom of that honourable House,) be speedily prevented, by
hastening away, with all possible speed, supply of money, aims, and
victuals. 347. ' By other letters of this Board, directed to Mr. Speaker, and dated
the said 20th of January 1642, it was advertised thither, that it was become
of absolute necessity that there should be sent us from thence speedily six
hundred able light geldings for recruits, to be defalked out of the entertain
ments' of those that should receive them. By other letters from this Board
of the same date, directed to Mr. Speaker, it was signified thither, that we
had contracted an agreement here with Theodore Schout and Jacob Ablin,
merchants, that Anthony Tirenes, in London, or Daniel Wibrant, in
Amsterdam, should receive seven thousand eight hundred fourscore and
thirteen pounds three shilUngs, for which the said Theodore and Jacob
had undertaken, by their agreement with us, to buy in HoUand, and to
transport from thence hither, at their own charge and adventure, several
proportions of arms mentioned in a docquet then sent enclosed in our
said letters ; and they undertook so to secure it by insurance, and
to provide such a ship of force, as we might be assured to have all those
arms arrive here by the tenth of March now last past. And we by
our said letters earnestly besought that the said sum of seven thousand
eight hundred fourscore and thirteen pounds three shiUings might, by order
of that honourable House, be speedily paid to the said Tirenes or Wibrant,
that those provisions might arrive here by the tenth of March, that we might
not lose the advantage of the then next spring for recovery of such of the
seaports, and other places of importance, as the rebels had gotten, and for
proceeding effectually in this war. Those letters also moved for other pro
vision of war, which we conceived might be had in England in reasonable
time ; and we then sent a, docquet of those also, desiring earnestly they
might be sent us speedily. And although there was an agent sent from
hence in November 1641, to solicit the despatches sent from hence, who
attended at London when those our letters were sent hence, yet of so
great importance was that despatch, requiring instant and speedy answer
and supply from thence, as we adjudged it necessary to give special instruc
tions to the lord Conway, and others, (besides that agent then there attend
ing,) to move his majesty and solicit the Houses of Parliament to hasten

vii. 349.] the letter from Parliament. 273
unto us, with all possible speed, the provisions in those three letters con- 1643
tained. And that there might nothing be omitted that by solicitation could
be obtained, there were agents also sent thither from the army to solicit for
them. By letters from this Board of the twentieth of February 1642, directed
to Mr. Speaker, we again desired, with aU possible earnestness, that the
provisions of aU sorts expressed in those three letters of the twentieth of
January, and in the docquets therewith sent, might be hastened to us, and
that the said seven thousand eight hundred fourscore and thirteen pounds
three shiEings, for arms to be provided in Holland, might be speedily paid.
And in those last letters we again signified our miserable and unspeakable
want of victuals, arms, munition, money, shoes, and other necessaries, and that
if the suppUes we moved for came not speedily we were unavoidably in danger
to be as much devoured by our own wants as by the sword of the rebels ;
and that our want of corn was so much the more in regard that, (in confi
dence to be plentifully supplied forth of England,) we caused great destruc
tion to be made of corn ; there being indeed nothing conducing more to the
destruction of the rebels than the burning of all corn. We also then signi
fied the necessity of sending a farther supply of powder and match ; and
we declared that no words could sufficiently express the greatness of the
danger we should incur if our supplies came not speedEy : that the plate
brought in amounted not to one thousand two hundred pounds, a sum very
inconsiderable towards reUef of the officers.
348. 'By letters of this Board of the twenty-fifth of February 1642,
directed to Mr. Speaker, we signified, that, when our means from thence
failed and our credits could hold out no longer, we were constrained towards
relief of the army to force from the Protestant merchants here, aB well
EngUsh as strangers, not only the commodities they had brought hither but
the native commodities also, undertaking to them that they should receive
payment at London ; which failing, that those that would supply us were
disheartened, and durst not come hither with commodities. Wherefore we
again, by those letters, besought speedy supply from thence, declaring that
otherwise the army and we must perish ; and so far were we transported with
grief in the consideration of the high extremities of this kingdom and army,
as we did, by those letters, lament for the shame and dishonour which we
then foresaw would reflect upon the EngUsh nation, if then, after so long
and often forewarnings given by us to that honourable House, this kingdom
were lost, and that for want of supplies from thence ; wherein we then
declared that all the comfort left us was that we had done our parts, and
discharged our duties to God, to his majesty, and to aE his kingdoms, who
must have borne their parts with us in so heavy a loss.
349. ' By letters from this Board dated the twenty-third of March 1642,
directed to Mr. Speaker, we signified, that our wantB enforced us to distri
bute the soldiers for their victuals in and throughout this city and suburbs ;
which we signified could not long hold, considering the poverty of this place;
and therefore, to avoid utter confusion, we did again and again beseech most
earnestly that, above all things, victuals and munition might be sent us
speedily, and that money, arms, clothes, shoes, and other provisions might
also be sent ; declaring that if they yet came speedily, the kingdom, and his
majesty's forces here, might be thereby redeemed out of part of their
VOL. III. T

274 The Lords Justices' answer to [vil.349.
.1643 distresses, and we enabled, (by the blessing of God,) to give his majesty such
an account of this kingdom as would be for the glory of the King our
master and the honour of the English nation, in the subduing this horrid
rebellion ; which, by reason of our wants, and in no other respect, was then
grown very terrible : and we did again caE for the provisions moved for by
our several former letters of the twentieth of January and twentieth of
February, and for the payment of the seven thousand eight hundred four
score and thirteen pounds three shilUngs, for arms to be provided in
Holland, and those also which we expect from London; declaring that
unless those suppUes came, we should be disabled from doing service on the
rebels the then next spring or the then succeeding summer, and must
undoubtedly put the rebels into a condition of prevaEing against us, which
we weU believed the kingdom of England would never have permitted
against so faithful servants and vaUant soldiers as his majesty yet had here.
By those letters also we signified, that it was necessary that there should be
here, at this harbour of DubUn, by the middle of AprE at least two ships of
good strength, and that the ships designed for guarding the other parts of
the coasts of this kingdom should be hastened away with all possible speed.
350. ' By letters from this Board directed to Mr. Speaker, dated the 4th
of AprE 1643, we represented again the unspeakable miseries of the officers
and soldiers, for want of aE things ; and all those made the more unsupport
able, in the want of food ; and that this city was then apparently found to
be unable to help us as it had formerly done ; and repeated again, (in as
Uvely terms as we could,) the high extremities faUen and increasing upon
us ; declaring that we were enforced to see who had any thing yet left him,
not taken from him to help us ; and that although there were but few such,
and some poor merchants, whom we had formerly by the law of necessity
utterly undone, yet that we were forced to wrest their commodities from
them : that there were few here, of ourselves or others, that had not felt
their parts in the enforced rigour of our proceedings towards preserving the
army ; and we earnestly desired that his majesty and the EngUsh nation
- might not suffer so great, if not irrecoverable, prejudice and dishonour, as
must unavoidably be the consequence of our not being reEeved suddenly,
but that yet, (although it were then even almost at the point to be too late,)
supplies of victuals and munition in present might be hastened hither, to
keep life until the rest might follow: declaring also that there was no
victual in the store, and that there would not be an hundred barrels of
powder left when the out-garrisons, (as they must then instantly have been,)
were suppUed ; and that the residue of our provisions must also come
speedily after, or otherwise that England could not hope to secure Ireland,
or secure themselves against Leland, but,' in the loss of it, must look for
such enemies from hence as would perpetuaUy disturb the peace of his
majesty and his kingdom of England, and annoy them by sea and land, as
we had often formerly represented thither ; which mischiefs we signified
might yet be prevented, if we were but then forthwith enabled, from thence,
with means to overcome this rebellion.
351. ' We then also again renewed our requests for the provisions men
tioned in our letters of the twentieth of January, and for the payment of
the seven thousand eight hundred fourscore and thirteen pounds three

vii. 352.] the letter from Parliament. 275
shiEings, for arms to be provided in Holland, besides those we expected 1643
from London. We then also sent, enclosed in our letters to Mr. Speaker, a
copy of a writing signed by sundry officers of the army, which was in
a style threatening much danger ; whereby appeared the high necessity of
hastening treasure hither to pay them and the rest of the officers, and pro
vide victual for the soldier. On the tenth of April 1643 we received letters
from Mr. Speaker of the seventeenth of March, in answer of our letters of
the twentieth and twenty-fifth of February. Those letters from Mr.
Speaker advised free trade and truck to be given to merchants, by taking
our native commodities, that cannot be manufactured here, for their corn
and other victuals, and carrying them into England, or other places not
prohibited. And by our letters directed to Mr. Speaker, dated the twenty-
second day of AprE, in answer to his said letters of the seventeenth of
March, we made it appear that that design could not hold to derive benefit
to this army. By those our letters we signified also, that the necessities of
the army stiE pressed us by degrees to break the merchants here, by wrest
ing their commodities from them upon promise of satisfaction in England :
that the faiUng of that satisfaction in England, as it had undone them, so
had it infinitely prejudiced the service here : that we engaged the word of
this State, to procure payment to many others, out of the next treasure that
shall arrive forth of England, which courses, though very hard, did help us
for a time ; that when those failed, we began at ourselves, then at others,
then at aU fraternities and corporations, as bakers, brewers, butchers,
vintners, and the like, then at all particular persons observed to have any
visible substance, not being able to spare poor men who (to gain a poor
living) made profession, some of selUng hot waters, and some of cutting
tobacco : that, in the end, aU other means failing, we had recourse to the
only native commodity, hides ; seizing on all that could be found, either on
ship-board, ready to be exported hence, (with purpose in some of the owners
of them to return victuals hither, which we were not able to wait for,) or
on shore, prepared for ship-board ; and made use of them to get the army in
a few days' bread, still hoping provision of victuals might come to keep them
aUve ; which did draw upon us infinite clamour.
352. ' And by the, said letters we earnestly besought, that, before we
should be utterlyswaUowed up in the confusion of affairs wherewith we were
beset, the destruction of this State and army and kingdom being then no
less feared to arise from the army, (though sent hither for their preserva
tion,) than from the fury of the rebels, if that honourable House would not
look back into aE our several letters sent thither, which we then declared
should for ever acquit us before God and the world as having discharged
our duties to God, to his majesty, and to this his kingdom, infully and timely
and often representing thither the evfls then ready to seize upon this State,
the army and kingdom, and the means of preventing them, yet at, least they
would be pleased to review our said several letters of the 20th and 25th of
February, of the 20th of January, 23rd of March, and 4th of April. We
then also signified, that the soldiers, (pressed through wants,) attempted
tumults and mutiny, plundered divers of the inhabitants of this city, as well
EngUsh and Protestants as others : that we apprehended those disorders but
beginnings of what we doubted would then shortly ensue, even the ransack
T 2

276 The Lords Justices' answer to [vii. 352.
1643 of this city, if by suppUes forth of England it were not prevented : that then
there would be no refuge left, either for the army or other English here :
that we were not able to send out the soldiers, for want of money to furnish
ordinary necessities and of ammunition. Wherefore we then again earnestly
moved, that some means might be found for complying with our desires in
those our several letters expressed ; certifying that the state of affairs here
could not possibly admit the least deferring, and that no help was to he ex
pected from hence, as we had often and fully in former letters signified
thither : that if it were not immediately suppUed forth of England with
powder, we should not be able to defend ourselves or offend the rebels ; and
that, above aE things, munition, money, and victuals, were of necessity to
be sent in the first place, and the other provisions to be sent after ; which
also we certified most needful to be done with aE possible speed.
353. ' By our letters of the 6th of May 1643, directed to Mr. Speaker, we
signified how necessary it was that the intended establishment should be
considered there, and put into such a way as to be made perfect, and
(receiving his majesty's gracious approbation,) might be sent hither; which
we desired to be hastened, that the officers who daily labour in the public
services might the better know what they are to have ; of which establish
ment we have not yet had any return. By our letters to Mr. Speaker of
the nth of May 1643, we signified, that, although by letters from Mr,
Speaker, dated the 1 7th of March, it was advertised hither that six weeks'
provision of victuals for each province was in preparing, yet that it was not
come, or if it were come, that it was a supply far below that which was
necessary to be then sent hither. And we then again repeated the miser
able condition of this army, through want of aU things, especiaEy money,
victuals, clothes, arms, and munition : that there was not above forty barrels
of powder in the store, (a mean and inconsiderable quantity for this army,
on whom depends the preservation of the kingdom,) and we again desired,
in a case of so high and imminent danger, and that with all possible impor
tunity, that a course might be then instantly taken for hastening away
powder with aE speed, and that the other provisions also of aE sorts, men
tioned in our former several letters of the 20th of January, 20th and 25th
of February, the 23rd of March, and the 4th and 22nd of AprE, might be
also hastened away ; and that the seven thousand eight hundred fourscore •
and thirteen pounds three shiEings, for arms to be provided in Holland,
besides those we expected from London, might be paid.
354. ' By those letters also we signified, that we could not but lament
our misfortune, and the dishonour reflecting on the English nation, that
the season of the year should be so far entered into, and yet (notwith
standing all the representations often and timely enough made thither of
affairs here) no means put into our power to make use thereof in »
vigorous prosecution of the war ; but instead thereof, (notwithstanding
all the endeavour and industry here used to prevent it,) we then beheld
ourselves sunk deeply into a gulf of confusion and distress of affairs, being
equally in danger to be devoured through our wants, or to be destroyed by
the rebels, for want of needful abilliments of war to enable our defence, as
had been formerly often and fuUy declared thither; and therefore we
again pressed to be redeemed from the terribleness of our condition, by

vii. 357.] the letter from Parliament. 277
such timely accessions of suppUes forth of England as were contained in 1643
our said former despatches.
855. ' By our letters to Mr. Speaker, dated the i6th of May 1643, we
desired that 320Z. might be paid there, as we had formerly desired, for
sundry particulars necessary for the chirurgions of this army ; there being
great want thereof for the cures of wounded men. And then we sent and
employed sir Thomas Wharton, knight, a member of this army, purposely
to soUcit the means of our reUef, that so we might omit nothing that
we conceived might conduce to the hastening of our expected suppUes.
And by our letters of the 16th of May, then sent to Mr. Speaker, we
signified that the kingdom was then in more danger than ever to be
forced out of our bands, for want of timely supplies out of England ; and
we desired most earnestly that his despatch might be hastened for our
preservation, that, if it were possible, the King and kingdom of England
might yet then be preserved from that irrecoverable prejudice and dishonour
which must necessarily accompany and follow the loss of this kingdom.
356. 'And here we may not omit to mention that we prevaUed with
divers persons to advance provisions to us, at several times, to answer the
crying necessities of this army ; and to some we gave our bills, in nature .
of bills of exchange, and to others our own bonds, undertaking repayment
at London by the ParUament there ; which we did in confidence to find
ready payment there accordingly : and we do not yet hear that those bills
of exchange or bonds are yet paid there ; but we find some of the parties
ready to sue and implead us here for those debts, though contracted only
for the public service.
357. ' Which proceeding of this Board, from time to time, we thus at
large deduce, that so it may appear fully that we have discharged those
duties which we owe to his majesty and to the trust of his majesty's affairs
here, in representing thither fuUy and timely and often the wants and
extremities to which this kingdom and army were reduced, and the means
requisite to be sent for the reUef and preservation of both ; and yet in aU
that time, namely, from the said 20th day of January 1642 to the loth
of June 1 643, which is the day of the date of our letters to which yours of
the 4th of July is an answer, or from that time to this, there arrived here
as sent from the Parliament of England towards the relief of this army,
and for maintenance of this war, but the particulars following, viz. forty-
nine thousand two hundred forty-eight pounds of butter ; forty-nine
thousand six hundred forty-nine pounds of cheese ; four hundred forty-
seven barrels and a half of wheat and rye ; three hundred threescore and
seven barrels of pease ; and three hundred fifty-six barrels of oats ; also
five hundred suits of clothes, one thousand cassocks, two thousand eight
hundred and eighteen caps ; also eight and twenty hundred three quarters
and one pound of match, thirty-eight hundred two quarters and nine
pound of shot, and three hundred threescore and fourteen barrels of
powder ; of which provisions of munition, there were three hundred and
one and forty barrels of powder, and five hundred fifty-five pounds two
quarters and four and twenty pounds of match, which was the munition we
had contracted for here, and in the way, coming from Holland, was inter
cepted at sea, and carried to Callis, and afterwards set free there by the

278 The Lords Justices' answer to [vii. 357.
1643 mediation of his majesty and the Houses of Parliament in England, but
the price thereof stands charged on the said Houses of Parliament.
358. ' This was not above a week's provision of victuals, or thereabouts,
for the army in Leinster, being fifteen regiments of foot, twenty-two
troops of horse, and four troops of dragoons, besides train of artiEery and
four hundred firelocks ; so as certainly there was a failure in supplying us,
and that failure was not occasioned through any neglect on our parts, in
not representing thither the wants and extremities endured by this army ;
and the means of their supply is, as we conceive, very clear by those
several despatches sent from us to Mr. Speaker. And seeing that the
charge of this war was referred to, and undertaken by, the Houses of
ParUament of England, and that by those despatches they fully under
stood the condition of affairs here, we offer it to any man's consideration
whether or no we had not just cause to conceive, and accordingly to express
in that Act of CouncU, that our difficulties, (which were necessary to be
mentioned in that Act,) were occasioned through the failure of the Houses
of ParUament in England.
359. 'And whereas you write, that the Lords and Commons in Parlia-
• ment do beUeve we have sent copies of our said letters and Act of Council
to his majesty, it is true that we have so done ; and therein acquitted our
selves towards that duty which we owe him ; and had faUed in our duties
if we had done otherwise. But how from that, as we conceive, necessary
and true expression of ours in the said Act of CouncE, or from our sending
a copy thereof and of our said letters to his majesty, there can be any just
cause to suspect (as your letters seem to infer) there is such an impious
design now on foot as your letters mention, we confess we do not under
stand, or any design at all other than the needful settling here of the
imposition in nature of an excise in those our letters and Act of CouncU
mentioned; without which this army could not have subsisted to this
time ; and was pressed by the committee from the ParUament here, but
then avoided, our hopes being then more, and our necessities not so great
as they were when we laid it. And as we find by your letters that the
Lords and Commons in Parliament there have done us the right, by your
said letters, to signify that they cannot think we intended by that expression
to farther the design in your letters mentioned, so we hold it necessary to
declare that we neither have forgotten nor can forget the present condition
of that kingdom ; but we have a long time beheld, and stiE behold and
lament, with bleeding hearts the woful condition of that kingdom, and how
God's hand is stiE stretched out against us in those heavy distractions
there ; yet we comfort ourselves with hope that God, (in mercy to his
majesty and to all his kingdoms and people,) wiE at length, in his own
good time, answer the prayers and tears of us his majesty's servants, and
many thousands of others his good subjects there and here, continually
poured out for his majesty and his kingdom, in removing that heavy judg
ment, and settling peace and tranquiUity there, to the glory of God, the
honour of his majesty, and the joint happiness of all his subjects in aU his
kingdoms and dominions.
360. ' Nor have we forgotten the supplies of all sorts sent hither hy the
ParUament, but do very weE remember them. But we confess we know

VII. 361.] the letter from Parliament, 279
not what relief coming hither hath been taken away, either by sea or land, 1643
or by whom, or what discouragement hath been given them in return :
only we have heard, that the shipping employed by the rebels at Wexford
did give them some interruption at sea ; and that was occasioned by neglect
of duty in those who commanded the ships designed for the guard of the
coasts of this kingdom : and the said ship bound hither from Holland with
munition, which we had contracted for here, was intercepted at sea, and
carried to CaEis, and afterwards set free there by the mediation of his
majesty and the Houses of ParUament in England. And we find that
some ships sent hither, it seems, at first with provisions from London, and
other ships bound hither with provisions on private men's adventures, were
taken away even from this harbour, a few days before the cessation of arms
here, as they were coining in, and carried to Leverpool, by one captain
Dausk, a person employed by the two Houses of Parliament there in the
command of a ship ; and that ship commanded by Dausk, and other ships
employed at Leverpool, do now, and have a long time stayed on that side,
laden with provision of victuals, coals, and other necessary relief, bound
from thence hither to be sold ; which, if they had arrived here, would have
brought great reUef to this army and the inhabitants in this city, though
on the adventure of the bringers ; which we hold necessary to represent
thither, to the end that their uncharitableness towards those poor men that
would adventure hither to reUeve us, and their inhumanity towards this
distressed army and city and many of his majesty's Protestant subjects
therein, [may, being found true, receive due punishment there 2] so as
they, or others, may not hereafter presume to offend in that kind.
361. 'And whereas you write, that we should not conceive that only the
charge of this war was referred to and undertaken by the Parliament, as if
their part were to be our bankers, only to provide monies for us to spend,
and were not to advise and direct the managing of the war ; we confess we
neither did nor do conceive the ParUament there to be bankers for us, but
did esteem them as those to whom the King our master referred the charge
of this war, and to .whom, as so intrusted by his majesty, this Board from
time to time made application ; and if any advice had come from them
concerning the managing of the war, we should have endeavoured to have
made the best use thereof for the furtherance of his majesty's service here.
And here we hold it necessary (jo declare, that when we understood that
his majesty, at the humble desire of the Lords and Commons of ParUament
in England, had in AprE 1642 granted a commission to some members of
both Houses, for ordering and disposing aE matters there for the defence,
reUef, and recovery of this kingdom ; and that his majesty commanded aU
his officers, ministers, and subjects of his kingdoms of England and Ireland
to be obedient, aiding, and assisting to the said commissioners in the
due execution of the said commission ; and that by his majesty's instruc
tions annexed to the said commission, his majesty gave it in charge to
those commissioners to advertise his Lieutenant of Ireland, the Council,
and other governors and commanders here, what they conceived to be
needful for the prosecution of the war in the best manner, for the defence
of this his kingdom, and ease of the great charges and expenses which, by
1 [The words in brackets are omitted in the MS.]

280 The Lords Justices' answer to [vii. 361.
1643 occasion of this rebellion lay upon his loving subjects of his kingdom
of England : we therefore, by our letters of the 7th of June 1642, directed
to those his majesty's commissioners, besought, amongst other things,
present and particular direction for the prosecution of the war; which
yet we have not received : only we had advice from thence to send some
forces into Connaught, which was done ; and for sending some forces into
Munster, which, by our letters of the 13th of September 1642 to the
commissioners there, we signified was not possible for us to do, unless we
were plentifuUy supplied of those things whereof the wants then certified
thither did then disenable us.
362. ' Concerning the commission in your letters mentioned, it was not
to hear what the rebels could say or propound for their own advantage, as
your letters mention ; but his majesty having received an humble petition,
in the name of the recusants of Ireland, desiring to be heard, his majesty
thought it not unjust, or inconvenient for him, to receive from them what
they could say unto him ; to whom they insinuated that they would yet
yield due obedience. And therefore his majesty, by his commission under
his Great Seal of England, (wherein he declared his extreme detestation of
the odious rebeUion which the recusants of Ireland have, without any
ground or colour, raised against him, his crown, and dignity,) authorized
some of his ministers here to hear at large what the petitioners should say
or propound ; which his majesty, by the said commission, directed that the
petitioners, or the principal of them, authorized by the rest, should set
down in writing under their hands ; and the commissioners to send the
same to his majesty; whereupon his majesty by the said commission
declared, he would take such farther consideration as should be just,
honourable, and fit for his majesty: and that that course gave not the
least interruption to the proceeding of the war appears by this, that on the
18th of March (being in the time the commissioners authorized by his
majesty gave meeting to those of the other side, upon that commission)
the lord marquis of Ormond, though one of those commissioners, in his
return from Ross, with about two thousand five hundred foot and five
hundred horse of his majesty's army, fought with the army of the rebels,
consisting of about six thousand foot and six hundred and fifty horse, and
obtained a happy and glorious victory against them ; and the rebels' army
being defeated and wholly routed, and their baggage and munition seized
on, his majesty's forces lodged that night where they had gained the
victory, as by former letters of this Board, of the 4th of April 1643,
directed to Mr. Speaker, we formerly signified thither : which we thus
repeat, to manifest that that commission, or the meeting thereupon, gave
not any manner of interruption to the proceeding of the war.
363. ' Concerning the letters you mention to divest the committee of both
Houses there of an authority given them by both Houses, we remember
that his majesty, by his letters of the third of February 1642, understand
ing that the then Justices and Council had admitted, without his order or
knowledge, to sit in CouncE with them in this his kingdom Mr. Bobert
Goodwin and Mr. Reynolds, and that thereby they were become so bold as
to take upon them to hear and debate of matters treated of in Council, his
majesty by his said letters signified his express command that they should

VII. see.] the letter from Parliament. 281
not be permitted to sit or be present any more at his majesty's Council-table 1643
here ; but if they had any business, his majesty willed that they should
attend as others of their quaUty : which his majesty's pleasure was humbly
obeyed by his said Justices and Council, with that duty and submission
which was due from them to his royal commands. And as his majesty by
his said letters required that if those persons had any business they should
attend as others of their quality, so, if they had afterwards offered any
business at this Board, they should have been heard therein ; which was
also signified to them before their departure hence. And now, upon this
occasion, we having perused the copies they deUvered at this Board of the
order of both Houses dated the sixth of October 1642, and of their instruc
tions, do find indeed that, by the said order, the said Robert Reynolds and
Robert Goodwin were to have the credence, power, and esteem of a com
mittee sent hither by the advice and authority of both Houses of Parlia
ment ; and that, by the said instructions, they were to be admitted to be
present and vote at aU consultations concerning the war; yet there is
nothing in the said order or instructions for admitting them to sit or be
present at his majesty's Council-table; which is that which his majesty by
his said letters required should not be permitted ; which cannot be conceived
to be a divesting them of any authority given them by both Houses.
364. ' And as to the late alteration of government here expressed in
your letters, although his majesty in his high wisdom adjudged it fit to
alter one of those governors which he had placed here, which was no more
than he and his royal predecessors had usuaUy done in all ages as often
as they thought fit, yet that made no alteration in the government ; but
it in all times continued, and still continues, the same, though in other
persons. 365. ' That part of your letters which declares that you are forbidden to
teE us what supplies of money, victual, ammunition, and other necessaries,
were then in a good forwardness to be Bent hither for the support of the
officers and soldiers here, requires no answer on our parts other than this
truth, that they are not yet arrived here. Concerning Monroe's letters to
colonel Crawford, we know of no treason to be discovered thereby ; but for
the sea-captains in your letters mentioned, it is certain that their neglects
and misdeeds deserve punishment, which we desire they may find rather to
their correction than to their ruin.
366. ' Thus we have given answer to those parts of your letters which we
conceived concerned us ; whereby we hope both Houses of ParUament there
will now remain satisfied, as in the necessity and justice of our actions, so
in the truth and candour of our intentions, in those particulars to which
your said letters seem to take exception. And so we remain, from his
majesty's castle of Dublin, 28 Oct. 1643,
Your lordships' very loving friends,
Jo. Borlase. Hen. Tichborne.
Rich. Bolton, Cane. La. Dublin. Ormond. Roscommon. Ant. Midensis.
Edw.Brabazon. Cha.Lambert. Qe.Shurley. Oer.Lowther. Tho.Botherham.
Fr. Willoughby. Tho. Lucas. Ja. Ware. G. Wentworth.'

282 The King sends for [VII. 367.
1643 367. The distractions in Ireland being by this means in some
degree allayed, and both parties having time to breathe, the
King in the next place considered how he might apply that
cessation to the advancement of his affairs in England. One of
the principal motives that induced that cessation was the miser
able state of the army there, ready, through extreme wants, to
disband ; so that there being now less use of them there, and
an impossibility to keep them, his majesty had it only in his
election, whether he should suffer them there to disband, and
dispose of themselves as they thought fit, which could not be
without infinite disorder, and might probably prove as much to
his particular disservice ; or whether he should draw over such
a number as might be safely spared to his own assistance in
England, to which he was assured that the devotion and affec
tion of most of the principal or considerable officers there cheer
fully inclined ; and of this latter he made little scruple to make
choice, when he was not only informed of the preparations and
readiness in Scotland to invade this kingdom, but that they had
called over their old general, the earl of Leven, who commanded
the Scotch forces in Ireland, and many other officers and soldiers
out of that kingdom, to form and conduct their army into this,
and that there was likewise arts and industry used by some
agents for the Parliament to persuade the English officers like
wise to bring over their men for their service.
368. So that [the King ]] directed the marquis of Ormonde to
make choice of such regiments and troops as were necessary for
the defence of the several garrisons, or as could be provided for
and supported in that kingdom, and that the rest should be
sent for England. To which purpose shipping was sent; with
direction that those from and about Dublin should be shipped
for Chester, to be joined to those forces under the command of
the lord Capell, whereby he might be able to resist the growing
power of sir William Bruerton, who, by an addition of forces
from London, and with the assistance of sir Thomas Middleton
and sir John Gell, was grown very strong, being backed by
Lancashire, which, upon the matter, was wholly reduced to the
1 ['having,' MS.]

vii. 369.] forces from Ireland. 283
obedience of the Parliament : and that the other forces out of 1643
Munster should be landed at Bristol, to be disposed of by the
lord Hopton, who was forming a new army to oppose sir William
Waller, who threatened an inroad into the west, or rather to
seek him out by visiting Hampshire and Sussex, if the other
were not ready to advance.
369 1. The Court [at Oxford] was much increased by the
1 [§ 369 is from the Life, p. 256. The Hist., which is resumed at § 370,
continues in the interval at pp. 51 1-5 16, as foUows : —
1. ' These conclusions being made with reference to Ireland, the King's
first care was (if possible) to prevent the storm from Scotland, presuming,
that if the Parliament were disappointed of that aid, they would consent to
such a peace as might be honourable and safe for him. There were many
persons of honour of that kingdom who professed entire submission and
devotion to his majesty, and who I believe really were not inclined
to that faction which his majesty apprehended. AE these were directed
privately to be advised and disposed by the marquis of Hambleton,
(whom the King had newly raised to the dignity of a duke,) who had April 12.
solemnly promised his majesty either by his interest in the councEs to pre
vent the resolution to invade England, or by his power and the assistance
of his party there to resist it ; and therefore all those lords and persons of
honour whom the King relied upon were directed to be entirely guided by
him, all that the King desired from his subjects of that his native kingdom
being that they would not rebel. It is very true many did then wonder
that the King would repose so great a trust in the duke, who had at that
time the misfortune not to be heartily confided in by his party of either
kingdom ; for he had had that rare dexterity, from a person the most
avowedly odious to Scotland, and the most undoubtedly obnoxious to the
justice of England, not only to wind himself out of those labyrinths in which
he was thought to be entangled, but into the good opinion and favour of the
ParUament, and into the fuU confidence of his own nation ; which unusual
fortune always is attended by suspicion and jealousy. Notwithstanding all
which, the King could not reasonably avoid the giving him at that time
this credit. He was by much, in alliance and dependance, the most power
ful man in that kingdom, and so, if he were wilUng, was unquestionably
able to give life and head to any party that should stoutly declare for the
King, which no other man in Scotland, how well affected soever, was able
to do : for though wary and reserved men might live there, and enjoy their
liberty and estates, yet all persons who expressed a public dislike of what
they did found no safety amongst them ; and therefore the earl of Mountrose
and some other noblemen had been forced to fly out of the kingdom, and
were now in the King's armies ; for which, before any public declaration in
Scotland against the King, they were there proclaimed traitors, and all their
estates seized on and confiscated. Besides, the King did reaUy believe that
all the artifice the duke had used had been only for his own preservation,
without diminution of his affection and duty to him, and that when he

284 A messenger from the King to London [vii. 369.
1643 Queen's presence, and the necessities were increased with the
expense. All correspondence was absolutely broken with London,
could no longer be free from engagement in the war, he would sooner be en
gaged for him than against him. However, as was said before, there was
no other man competent for that trust, and it was much better to obUge
him by a confidence than to incense him by prejudice ; and himself was
very cheerful in undertaking to stop any such enterprise, and continued the
same assurance by his frequent letters to his majesty.
2. ' When the Convention of Estates was summoned, being their Parlia
ment, expressly against the King's consent, and without any colour of
warrant from their own laws, the lords who depended upon his direction
came to him to resolve what was to be done by them, alleging they thought
it not justifiable in themselves, and very dishonourable to the King, that
they should be present at that meeting, which, being convened against order,
they might easily conclude would proceed as irregularly. The duke told
them it was the King's pleasure that he and they should be aE present at
the Convention, and that it was possible they might be there able to divert
the violence that was feared; if they could not, he would make such a
declaration, if they would join with him, that should manifest what their
opinions were. And by this means they were aU, contrary to their own
judgments, drawn to sit with, and consequently to countenance, those who
were already declared against the King. It is very true that the King had
May 29. given his consent that they should all go to the Convention ; for the duke
writ him word that it was their unanimous opinion that it would very much
conduce to his service that they should aE appear there ; that they believed
they should be able to make so strong a party as to cross any solemn act
that should reflect upon the public peace, his majesty's honour or interest :
if they could not, having so much reason and justice on their side, then
would be the time to enter their protestation against what they could not
remedy, and from thence would be the proper rise to engage a party in the
kingdom. Upon this instance, the King returned his approbation that they
should not absent themselves.
June 22. 3. ' After the Convention was begun, it was quickly evident, by their high
speeches against the King, and their declared resolutions to invade England,
what was to be expected ; so that the rest looked when the duke would pro-
June 26. test. In a dispute one day, the duke was so sharp in his expressions, as if
he would protest, that some of the lords of the other party caUed upon him
in an angry manner to explain himself, whether he meant to protest against
their protestings '. Whereupon the earl of Lanrick, brother to the duke,
and Secretary of Estate of that kingdom, upon whose judgment and fidelity
the King no less relied than upon the duke, stood up, and said, " that noble
lord (the duke) understood himself too well, and the high jurisdiction of that
court where they were, to protest against the wisdom of the whole kingdom,
and besought their lordships to have a more favourable opinion of him ; to
which the duke by his silence consented : and so there [were "] no more
repUes upon the matter. Upon which the other lords, seeing what they
looked for, and was promised, not only not done, but, upon the matter, a
1 {Sic : read 'proceedings ' P] > [' was,' MS.]

vii. 369.] taken and executed as a spy. 285
insomuch as a sworn messenger of the chamber, sent to London 1643
with a writ and proclamation for the adjournment of the term to
judgment declared by them J upon whom the King reUed that it was not to
be done, by degrees withdrew to their houses ; and, shortly after, a pro
clamation was issued out in the King's own name, relating the great danger Aug. 18.
his person was in by the power of the popish and prelatical party in Eng
land, and requiring all his subjects of that his native kingdom from the age ¦
of threescore to sixteen to appear at a day appointed, with their arms, when
they should be disposed in such manner as was necessary for his reUef and
rescue (which is the way used in that kingdom suddenly to form an army).
And to this declaration and proclamation the earl of Lanrick affixed his
majesty's own signet, so that no question very many men of the inferior
condition (which may justly remove the brand of infidelity and defection
from the nation) did really believe they were summoned by the King him
self for his defence and redemption out of distress.
4. ' Shortly after, the Covenant was returned out of England with a full
approbation, both Houses having taken it and enjoined it through the king
dom. Thereupon the lords of the Secret CouncE, and those committees
which were appointed to manage the affairs, ordered that whosoever refused Oct. 2 2,
to take the Covenant should be proceeded against as an enemy to both
kingdoms, and his estate be sequestered, and disposed to the use of the
public ; the Assembly likewise of their Kirk pronouncing solemn excom
munications against them. Then the duke Hambleton, earl of Lanrick,
and all the other lords and persons of quality who would be thought to be
of the King's party, made haste out of Scotland, and not one of them being
stayed, though they came with their fuU equipage, they repaired to the
King at Oxford. AE discharged themselves of blame, by having no autho
rity of themselves without being directed by the duke, who was so far from
quickening them to appear, that, when they offered and pressed him that
they might draw together, and some of them offered to bring with them one
hundred horse, and that they might take the opportunity of a solemn
funeral which was to be solemnized in that kingdom for an honourable lady 2,
at which times great resort uses to be of all the friends and alUes of that
family, his grace utterly dissuaded them and absolutely refused to join with
them. This, and other instances of his wariness, was alleged with great
temper and sobriety by those who desired only to appear innocent them
selves, not to charge the duke with failing in his duty. But there were
others, to wit, the earls of Crawford and Mountrose, the lords Awboyne,
Ogleby, Needsdale, and Makey, who barefaced, and in plain English, ac
cused the duke of treason and disloyalty to the King from the beginning ;
that he had in the first stirs within that kingdom betrayed the trust
reposed in him by his majesty, combined with those who invaded the
kingdom; and pretended ever since to be for his majesty, and made
those late great promises and undertakings, only that he might engross his
majesty's confidence to himself, and thereby keep it out of the power of any
other persons to do that service, and to hinder the pernicious designs which
were against the King and kingdom. Many charges they gave in against
1 [Altered in the MS. from ' him.'] 2 [Jane, countess of Roxburgh, in October.]

286 A Great Seal made [vii. 369.
1643 Oxford, was apprehended as a spy, (as hath been said before,) and
§ 318- executed by martial law ; and the two Houses caused a Great
him in writing, of words spoken and things done, some of ancient date,
others of a later, in great derogation of his majesty's honour and service ;
and they made oath of the truth of their suggestions, which were indeed of
a high nature, and against which the best that could be said was, that they
were all his avowed enemies. That which appeared to his majesty to be
capable of no excuse was, the betraying him in the case of going to the Con
vention, under pretence that it was the unanimous advice of the lords, when
they were in truth unanimously against it ; and the earl of Lanriek's setting
the signet to that proclamation ; which he denied not, alleging that he was
required so to do by the major part of the Council, to which he was to sub
mit ; and that if he had refused it the signet would have been taken from
him, together with his Uberty, so that the same mischieve would have ac
crued to the King, and he should not have been able to escape to do hi™
service. It may be it wrought somewhat upon his majesty, that the earl of
Mountrose, and those lords whose fortunes were most desperate in Scotland
for adhering to him, undertook yet to give some turn to the torrent of that
kingdom, and, if they could not be diverted from invading England, to
kindle the beacons in their own country, by which they should be recalled to
quench the fire in their own houses, provided that it might not be in duke
Hambleton's power to frustrate their designs. Upon the whole matter, as
Dec. 1 6. soon as the duke and his brother came to Oxford, the King sent them word
that they should keep their chambers, and shortly after sent the duke with
a guard of horse to Bristol, and from thence to Pendennis castle in Cornwall,
to be there detained in custody as a close prisoner, with aU fit and necessary
accommodation. The earl of Lanrick, within few days after the removal of
his brother, found means, by the assistance of another Scotchman, a sworn
servant to the King, to make an escape, and so he got to London, where he
was received with such acceptation and joy, as if he had not fled from Scot
land out of any notable animosity to their party.
5. ' The King directed the lords of his Council to consider what was fit to
be farther done by him in order to the stopping this inundation, which he
was now satisfied was breaking in from Scotland, though the season of the
year (the winter being now approached) was thought to be of force enough
to keep them for some time from putting their purposes in execution. The
lords, albeit they were not forward to conclude that that people always
obeyed the dictates of reason and justice and conscience, thought the dis
course of an invasion from thence was so distant from aE the rules of policy
and prudence, and even those obligations in the late treaty ratified in this
present Parliament, by which they had so many concessions, that they would
not cancel what was due to them by making a forfeiture of their part ; and
that they might have no excuse to beUeve the two Houses of Parliament on
the behalf of the kingdom were wiUing to receive them, they desired his
majesty to give all his peers leave to write a letter to the lords of the Secret
CouncE and the Conservators of the peace between the two kingdoms, to dis
avow and protest against any such desire, that so, when they considered
that there were not above twenty peers privy to their counsels at Westuun-

vii. 369.] by the Houses of Parliament. 287
Seal to be made, with the King's image and inscription, and 1643
put the same into the hands of commissioners ; and so the courts
ster, or engaged in their party, (for there were only the earls of North
umberland, Pembroke, Essex, Kent, Lincoln, Rutland, Salisbury, Suffolk,
Warwick, Manchester, Mowgrave, Denbigh, Stamford, Bullingbrooke, the
lords Say, Dacres, Wharton, Grey of Werke, Willoughby of Parham,
Howard of Escrigge, Eochfbrd, and Roberts, who were present, or had
proxies there,) and saw the number and names of those who abominated
those combinations, they might easily conclude how unacceptable their
, company would be to the kingdom. The King wElingly approved of their
advice, and so, about the end of November, they caused this letter to be sent
by an express into Scotland, thus directed :
6. ' " To the Lords of the Privy Council, and the Conservators of the peace,
of the kingdom of Scotland.
' " Our very good lords, If for no other reason, yet that posterity may
know we have done our duties, and not sat stEl while our brethren of
Scotland were transported with a dangerous and fatal misunderstanding
that the resolution now taken amongst them for an expedition into
England is agreeable to their obligation by the late treaty, and to the
wishes and desires of this kingdom, expressed by the two Houses of
ParUament, we have thought it necessary to let your lordships know that
if we had dissented from that Act it could never have been made a law;
and when you have examined and considered the names of us who subscribe
this letter, (who we hope are too weE known to your lordships, and to both
kingdoms, to be suspected to want affection to religion, or to the laws and
liberties of our country, for the defence and maintenance of which we shaU
always hold our Uves a cheap sacrifice,) and when you are informed that the
earls of Arundel and Thanet, and the lords Stafford, Stanhope, Coventry,
Goring, and Craven, are in the parts beyond the seas, and the earl of
Chesterfield, Westmoreland, and the lord Mountague of Boughton, under
restraint at London for their loyalty and duty to his majesty and the king
dom, your lordships wEl easily conclude how very few now make up the
peers at Westminster, there being in truth not above twenty-five lords
present or privy to those counsels, or, being absent, consenting or concurring
with them : whereas the House of Peers consists of above one hundred,
besides minors and recusant lords, neither of which keep us company in this
address to your lordships. How we and the major part of the House of
Commons come to be absent from thence is so notorious to all the world
that we beUeve your lordships cannot be strangers to it ; how, several times
during our sitting there, multitudes of the meanest sort [of '] people, with
weapons not agreeing with their condition or custom, in a manner very
contrary and destructive to the privilege of ParUament, filled up the way
between both Houses, offering injuries both by words and actions too, and
laying violent hands upon several members, crying out many hours together
against the established laws in a most tumultuous and menacing way ; how
no remedy would be submitted to for preventing those tumults; after
which, and other unlawful and unparliamentary actions, many things
i [' or,' MS.]

288

The courts of law

[VII. 369.

1643 were continued in Westminster-hall for the despatch of justice,
(as they called it,) as had been formerly, notwithstanding the
rejected and settled upon solemn debate in the House of Peers were again,
after many threats and menaces, resumed, altered, and determined, contrary
to the custom and laws of parUaments ; and so, many of us withdrew our
selves from thence, where we could not sit, speak, and vote with honour,
freedom, and safety, and are now kept from thence for our duty and loyalty
to our sovereign. And we must therefore protest against any invitation
which hath been made to our brethren of Scotland to enter this kingdom
with an army, the same being as much against their desires as against the
duty of the Lords and Commons of England. And we do conjure your
lordships, by our common allegiance and subjection under our gracious
sovereign, by the amity and affection between the two nations, by the
treaty of Pacification, which by any such act is absolutely dissolved, and by
aU obligations both divine and human which can preserve peace upon earth,
to use your uttermost endeavours to prevent the effusion of so much
Christian blood, and the confusion and desolation which must follow the
unjust invasion of this kingdom, which we, and we are confident all true
Englishmen, must interpret as a design of conquest, and to impose new laws
upon us. And therefore your lordships may be assured we shall not so far
forget our own interests, and the honour of our nation, as not to expose our
Eves and fortunes in the just and necessary defence of the kingdom. But if
your lordships in truth have any doubts or apprehensions that there now is,
or hereafter may be, a purpose to infringe your laws or liberties from any
attempt of this kingdom, we do engage our honour to your lordships to be
ourselves most religious observers of the Act of Pacification ; and if the
breach and violation do not first begin within that kingdom, we are most
confident you shaU never have cause to complain of this. And having thus
far expressed ourselves to your lordships, we hope to receive such an answer
from you as may be a means to preserve a right understanding between the
two nations, and lay an obligation upon us to continue
' " Your lordships' most affectionate humble servants,

' Ed. Littleton, C. S.
L. Cottington.
D. Richmond.
M. Hertford.
M. Newcastle.
E. Huntingdon.
E. Bathon.
E. Southampton.
E. Dorset.
E. Northampton.
E. Devonshire.
E. Bristol.
E. Berkshire.
E. Cleveland.
E. Marlburgh.
E. Rivers.
E. Lin[d]Bey.
E. Dover.

E. Peterburgh.
E. Kingston.
E. Newport.
E. Portland.
E. Carbery.
V. Conway.
V. Fauconbridge.
V. Wilmot.
V. Savile.
L. Mowbray and Mal-
travers.
L. Darcy and Coniers.
L. Wentworth.
L. CromweE.
L. Rich.
L. Paget.
L. Digby.
L. Howard of Charleton.

L. Deincourt.
L. Lovelace.
L. Poulet.
L. Mohun.
L. Dunsmore.
L. Seymour.
L. Herbert.
L. Cobham.
L. CapeU.
L. Percy.
L. Leigh.
L. Hatton.
L. Hopton.
L. Jermyn.
L. Loughborough.
L. Byron.
L. Withrington.'"

vii. 369.] are continued at Westminster. 289
King's proclamation. The money, which the particular persons 1643
of all conditions had been very plentifully supplied with in the
7. ' Whether this clear demonstration would make any impression upon the
Scotch nation and counsels or no, the King and aU men believed it would
have a very useful influence upon the affections and hearts of the people of
England, and that they would awake out of those dreams and jealousies
which had perplexed their understandings, and, in the behalf of the honour
and interest of their country, be united against the invasion of a foreign
power ; and in this respect many were of opinion, who too abstractly con
sidered rather what should be than what was like to be, that not only the
fame of, but the real marching of, the Scots would much impair the strength
and reputation of the Parliament. To inculcate this sense throughout the
kingdom, the King very prudently resolved of another useful expedient.
Though all inquisitive and discerning men well understood the number and
the quality of those few who remained in both Houses of Parliament at West
minster, by the reverence to whose authority all the contest was made and
supported against the King, yet the common people generally believed they
had the full numbers, and that there was unity and consent in that body to
defend the just liberties and rights of the public; at least the number and
condition of those who were absent, or their affections, were not evident
enough to be taken notice of ; therefore the King thought it worthy of his
care to draw all those who were the true and regular members of Parliament
together to Oxford, and to make use of their advice and counsel, since he
could neither receive it, nor they give it, in the place whither they were at
first summoned by his writ; presuming that when the kingdom should
know that four parts of five of the House of Peers, and above a major part
of the House of Commons, were at Oxford with the King, they would not
look upon those at Westminster as the true and full representative body of
the whole ; and to that purpose he issued out his royal proclamation,
declaring the preparations made in Scotland to enter and invade the king
dom, and that they had already actually invaded it, by possessing themselves
by force of arms of his town of Berwick, (for thither they sent a garrison as Nov. 29.
soon as the Covenant was agreed,) upon pretence that they were invited
thereunto by the desires of both Houses of Parliament ; " the which, as he
doubted not aU his good subjects of the kingdom would look upon as the
most insolent act of ingratitude and disloyalty, and to the apparent breach
of the late Act of Pacification so solemnly made between the kingdoms, and
was indeed no other than a design of conquest, and to impose new laws
upon this nation, they not so much as pretending the least provocation or
violation from this kingdom, so his majesty was most assured that the major
part of both Houses of Parliament did from their souls abhor the least
thought of introducing that foreign power, to increase and make desperate
the miseries of their unhappy country. And therefore, that it might appear
to all the world how far the major part of both Houses was from such
actions of treason and disloyalty, and how grossly those few members
remaining at Westminster had and did impose upon his people, his majesty
required such of the members of both Houses, as well those who had
been by the faction of the malignant- party expelled for performing their
VOL. III. U

290 Want of money [vii. 359.
1643 beginning of the war, [was] now near spent, and the stopping
the intercourse with London had shut the door against further
duty to his majesty, and into whose rooms no persons had been since
chosen by their country, as the rest who had been driven thence, and all
those who, being conscious of their want of freedom, should be now wiEinor
to withdraw from that rebellious city, to assemble themselves together at
Oxford on Monday the two and twentieth day of January ; and aU his
subjects should see how willing he was to receive advice for the preservation
of the religion, laws, and safety of the kingdom, and, as far as lay in his
majesty, to restore it to its former peace and security, from those whom
they had trusted. And for the better encouragement of those members of
either House to resort to him, who might be justly conscious to themselves
of having incurred his displeasure by submitting to or concurring in unlaw
ful actions, and that all the world might see how willing and desirous he
was to forget the injuries and indignities offered to his majesty, and, by an
union of English hearts, to prevent the lasting miseries which this foreign
invasion must bring upon the kingdom, his majesty offered a free and
general pardon to aU the members of either House who should at or before
the said twenty-second day of January appear at Oxford, and desire the
same, without exceptions ; which, considering the manifest treasons com
mitted against his majesty, and the condition he was now in, improved, by
God's wonderful blessing, to a better degree than he had enjoyed at any
time since these distractions, was the greatest instance of princely and
fatherly care of his people that could be expressed, and which malice itself
could not suggest to proceed from any other ground. And therefore," he
said, " he hoped and was confident that aU such who, upon this his gracious
invitation, would not return to their duty and allegiance, should be no
more thought promoters of the religion, laws, and liberty of the kingdom,
(which this way might be, no doubt, settled and secured,) but persons
engaged from the beginning, out of their own pride, malice, and ambition,
to bring confusion and desolation upon their country ; and to that purpose,
having long since contrived the design, had invited and joined with a
foreign nation to ruin and extinguish their own."
'What the good fruit was, which was produced by this counsel and pro
clamation, wiE be shortly set forth.
8. ' There was about the same time another act of Council, which (how im
pertinent soever it may seem to some men to be remembered) was in itself
of great weight, and very gravely deliberated. It seemed very repugnant to
the rules of poUey, that, when all overtures of peace were rejected, and all
intercourse from the city of London inhibited and interdicted to his
majesty's quarters, there should be any permission that that city should be
supplied by the commodities and stock of the counties within the Kings
obedience, which kept up the trade of that rebelUous place, and gave it the
pride to contest almost with the whole kingdom : and therefore it was
propounded, that his majesty would inhibit and forbid by his proclamation
all manner of trade with London throughout his quarters; and that all
good3 and merchandise going to or from that place, without the Kings
express license, should be seized on, and forfeited to his own use. The

vii. 369.] in the Court at Oxford. 291
supply ; so that all men were weary of the condition they were 1643
in, and expressed it, as weary men used to do, in murmurs and
matter was not lightly weighed and concluded, but several days debated
before tbe lords of the Council, there being diversity of opinion between
many persons of great experience and understanding in the mystery and
course of trade, and in the constitution of the counties whence trade was
especiaUy driven with London. Many were of opinion that his majesty
should by no means prohibit it or interrupt it ; that the continuance and
improvement of it would be of great profit and advantage to the King ;
besides, that the restraint would appear a very ungracious thing to the
people, whereas now that whole odium lay upon the ParUament ; that
those who were fled from London, out of their duty and loyalty, had no
other means to draw a subsistence and liveUhood to them out of the
fortunes they had left there but by commodities sent from London into the
King's quarters, for which they received money there, and that by that
means many well affected persons still remaining there sometimes sent
supplies to his majesty, which otherwise they would not be able to do ;
that it supplied the King's quarters with money, whereby the people were
enabled to pay their contributions, which otherwise they could not do ;
and if trade were restrained, the manufactures would immediately be
determined, and thereupon the people in all parts, for want of work, would
be in danger to starve, the consequence of which extremity might produce
a general insurrection, which would be very perilous to the King ; at best,
that the manufactures would be transported into foreign parts, a mischieve
not to be repaired again by peace itself. On the other side it was pressed
with much vehemence, that such an inhibition of trade was absolutely
necessary ; that the King could lose nothing by it, and would receive
notable benefit ; that the rebellion was continued, as it had been raised,
by the wealth and submission only of the city of London, and any thing
that could impair that wealth would remove that submission ; that they
alone hitherto felt not the miseries of the war, having the same ease and
the same plenty which they had formerly enjoyed, which reconcEed them
and united them more to the Parliament than any inclination of their
affections ; whereas, if the trade from thence into foreign parts was sup
pressed, or to a degree diminished, by not suffering them to receive those
commodities from the counties by which they carried on their trade, they
would immediately find themselves impoverished ; and the rich men
giving over, the poor would not be able to live, and so their patience
would quickly leave them, and would easily discover the way to their
redemption. In the mean time the manufactures would receive no dis
couragement, nor the counties feel any want of money ; for the same trade
which was by those commodities carried to London, should be driven in
those parts, under the King's obedience, of Bristol, Waymoth, Exciter,
Dartmoth, and the good harbours of Cornwall, whither as well those well
affected merchants who were driven from London as strangers would
resort, whereby they would be replenished with money, and all other
commodities of what kind soever ; for an evidence whereof many mer
chants present, of great estates and reputation, undertook before the King
U 2

293 By summons from the King, the loyal [vii. 369.
1643 complaints. And now all the hope was in the convention of
the members of Parliament ; which, being a new thing, adminis-
that they would within a month take off aE the manufacture of wool
which should be brought to any of the western ports, whither the clothiers
might as easily send them as to London. By this means shipping would
much increase, and seamen be maintained in the King's quarters, from
whence extraordinary benefit would accrue to his service. The reasons
were very weighty upon both sides ; and though these later seemed the
stronger, yet it was plain that they were principally grounded upon sup
position. For if it should fall out that there was not stock enough to take
off the commodities in the King's quarters, as men reasonably conceived
there would not be, at least not in time, the mischieves which were offered
in the first debate would be in view. But there were two things which
prevailed over the King's judgment, and truly reconciled most differences
in opinion. The first, a matter of fact : Some clothiers of Beading com
plained that they had received invitations from their old customers in
London to continue their trade thither, assuring them they should receive
the same fair correspondence they had formerly; upon which, with the
King's leave, they had sent great quantities of cloth thither, which, in
respect of the situation of that town, and the benefit of the river, they
could not conveniently send to any other place. The effect was, they sold
their cloths at Leaden HaE as they used, and at good prices ; the which
was no sooner done, but the money due to aE such of whose affections to
the King's service they had any intimation was seized, as the estates of
delinquents and malignants, for the use of the Parliament, and they
only who were favoured by them, as inclined to their party, were suffered
to receive the proceed of their commodities. Upon which that town
desired other provision might be made to take off their cloths, and that
there might be no trade to London. The other consideration was, that
if any inconvenience should be hereafter discovered by the restraint, it
might be removed by the giving licences to trade, by which his majesty
might be able to settle and regulate trade in such a manner that it might
be profitable to him, and that he might receive such duties upon it as
might be some supply to him, as it paid excise and customs at London,
whereby the merchants there should not be able to underseU those who
traded in the west, who for their transportation and insurance were at
July 17 a much greater charge than the other. Upon these reasons the King
and published bis express and absolute pleasure against all trade with London,
Oct. 17. which, if it had been as weU executed as it was deliberated, would without
question have proved of singular benefit and advantage to his affairs ; but
the disorder of the soldier was such, and so great a contempt of aU acts of
state, that it had not the effect designed, and in the end produced no other
advantage than great gains to some particular governors, who, having
garrisons near great roads, received large toll for their safe conducts and
protection, and sometimes very great seizures of such goods as thought to
have escaped their notice, aE which was converted to their own emolument.
9. 'These were the civil preparations and conclusions of councE on both
sides. In the mean time, both the King's army and the earl of Essex

vii. 370.] members of loth Houses meet at Oxford. 293
tered some expectation, (which suspended the present indisposi- 1643
tion,) what they, who came from all quarters of the kingdom,
would do.
370 \ According to the Bang's proclamation, the members of
were contented to refresh themselves in their winter quarters, without
any notable engagement, both preparing the best they could for the
spring, and to be early ready for the field; yet the winter passed not
without action.'
1 [The Life gives, at p. 256, the following account of the meeting of the
ParUament at Oxford : —
1. ' The King received them very graciously and formaUy in Christ Church
hall, made them a speech, and told them he would be glad to receive any
advice from them for the good of the kingdom, and restoring it to peace ;
and wished them to consult together in those rooms which he had caused
to be provided for them to sit in in the Schools ; whither both the Peers and
the Commons presently went, and the Commons chose sergeant Euers to be
their Speaker, one of the King's sergeants at law, and in all respects superior
to him who kept the chair at Westminster. There were very near three
hundred of the House of Commons appeared, when there were not above one
hundred remained at Westminster, and very seldom so many ; and of the
whole House of Peers there were seldom above ten or a dozen at Westminster,
when there were above threescore at Oxford.
2. 'There were amongst the Commons only two privy-counciEors, the
Master of the RoEs (sir John Culpeper) and the ChanceEor of the Exchequer,
whose business it was to dispose the rest to think of the best expedient to
provide present money, without which the army would not be able to march
in the spring, which began to draw on, and to prevent the running into
any excesses of discourse, which so great assemblies can very hardly be kept
from ; and till somewhat was begun amongst the Commons, the Peers had
little to do. Though they aE seemed very sensible of the straits the King
was in, and resolved to do aU that should be in their power to mend it, yet
they had a great desire to try what could be done towards peace, that what
they did else in order to carrying on the war might find the more credit
with the people ; and nobody endeavoured to divert them from prosecuting
their desire. So that it was quickly agreed that they should prosecute both
designs, to get money and to get peace, together ; at least that one might
be the business of one day, and the other of the next. They were long con
sidering in what method to put their desires of peace ; they knew not how
to move the King to make any offer ; nor would that way have satisfied
them, except they might stand in such a place with his majesty that the
motion might appear to proceed from them, and that they might be
engaged in the treaty ; which the King would have been hardly induced
to consent [to]. It was wished that the two Houses at Oxford
could dispose those at Westminster that they might concur together
to be suitors to the King, that they might enter upon a treaty and
frame some propositions to be offered to him. But that quickly
appeared unpracticable ; for they above had already, by an ordinance, (as

294 Meeting of the loyal members [vii. 370.
1644 both Houses of Parliament, who had withdrawn out of conscience
and duty from those at Westminster, appeared at Oxford at the
Jan. 22. day appointed, (except such who could not reasonably be absent
from their commands in the counties where the armies were,)
who were graciously and solemnly welcomed by his majesty,
with that ceremony which is used at the opening of a Parlia
ment; when his majesty told them that
' He had called them to be witnesses of bis actions and privy
to his intentions; and that he desired to receive any advice
from them which they thought would be suitable to the miser
able and distracted condition of the kingdom ; in presenting
whereof, they should use all that parliamentary freedom which
would be due to them if they were with him at Westminster,
and which with all their other privileges they should enjoy at
Oxford, though they could not in the other place ; ' with many
expressions of grace towards them and confidence in them.
371. As soon as they had withdrawn to those places which
were assigned to their councils, both Lords and Commons
entered upon the deliberation of all possible expedients in order
they termed it,) declared against that meeting of the members at Oxford
with many terms of reproach and menaces ; so that it was evident enough
that no correspondence or commerce could possibly grow between them. In
the end, it was proposed and agreed that a letter should be prepared and
signed by every member present of the Peers and of the Commons, and
directed to the earl of Essex, informing him of their meeting at Oxford upon
his majesty's command; that they found the King very desirous of a just
and an honourable peace, that the kingdom might be restored to happiness ;
and that they therefore desired him to use his credit and interest with the
Parliament, that they might be disposed to the same inclinations, upon
which a treaty might be entered upon ; with those expressions as carried a
confidence of his concurrence with them. When this letter was framed,
they deUvered it at a conference to the Lords, and desired their concurrence,
and that they would move the King that the general might send this letter,
when it was signed, with a trumpet to the earl of Essex, according to the
custom observed between them. The Lords concurred, the King was con-
Jan. 29. tent, the letter was signed as aforesaid, and sent by the general with a
trumpet to the earl of Essex ; who sent the general word, that he had sent
it to the Parliament, who laid it aside with scorn, and made no answer to
it, as was foreseen, at least by discerning men : whereupon they at Oxford
published a, declaration to the people, with sharpness against those at
Westminster, as not only the beginners of the war, but those who rejected
all overtures of peace and accommodation.']

vii. 371.] of both Houses at Oxford. 295
to peace ; most men believing (according to the reason and con- 1644
science of their own hearts) that the difficulty was greater to
dispose those at London to the honesty and confidence of a
treaty, than in that treaty to agree on such conclusions which
might be satisfactory to all parties; judging it impossible that
men could desire to bring ruin and desolation upon their
country, if they were once persuaded that it might be prevented
with their own preservation. But how to advance to any for
mality which probably might produce a disposition to intercourse
appeared very hard. When they thought of advising the King
to send a gracious message and overture to the two Houses, they
presently remembered and considered what his majesty had
already done that way, and how ill returns of reverence and
duty he had received from them : that to the two last messages
he had sent (it being not possible now to send any more gracious
and obliging) they had never returned answer, and that they
still detained his last messenger in strict durance, after having
exposed him to a trial for his life at a court of war : that they
had prohibited any kind of address to be made to them from his
majesty except through the hands of the earl of Essex their
general. From thence they entered upon the disquisition how
they might engage his lordship to the same thoughts and desires
with them, to the which they easily believed his experience,
observation, and interest would engage him. They persuaded
themselves that the principal ground which had hitherto frus
trated all overtures from his majesty towards peace, was the
conscience [those at Westminster had] of their own guilt, and
the jealousy that proceeded from thence that no peace could
secure them whilst there was power left in his majesty; but
that they could not possibly suspect the performance and exact
observation of any agreement which should be concluded upon
the intercession of all the King's party, which must be security
for the accomplishment of it. And from the reasonableness of
this assertion they entertained an assurance that the earl of
Essex would as greedily embrace the opportunity, and concur
with them in promoting the overture, which was all they
desired : [for] that would remove those forms which, as so many

296 The members of Parliament at Oxford [vii. 371.
1644 rocks, were in the way. Hereupon the Lords and Commons,
the members of both Houses, resolved to write a letter to the
earl of Essex, in their own names, which, with the King's con-
Jan. 27. sent, was by trumpet sent to him within four days after their
meeting. The letter was in these very terms : — ¦
372. ' My lord,
' His majesty having, by his proclamation of the 22nd of December, (upon
the occasion of the invasion threatened, and in part begun, by some of his
subjects of Scotland,) summoned all the members of both Houses of Parlia
ment to attend him here at Oxford, we whose names are underwritten are
here met and assembled, in obedience to those his majesty's commands.
His majesty was pleased to invite us, in the said proclamation, by these
gracious expressions, " that his subjects should see how willing he was to
receive advice for the preservation of the religion, laws, and safety of the
kingdom, and, as far as in him lay, to restore it to its former peace and
security (his chief and only end) from those whom they had trusted;
though he could not receive it in the place where he appointed." This most
gracious invitation hath not only been made good unto us, but seconded and
heightened by such unquestionable demonstrations of the deep and princely
sense which possesses his royal heart of the miseries and calamities of his
poor subjects in this unnatural war, and of his most entire and passionate
affections to redeem them from that sad and deplorable condition, by all
ways possible, consistent either with his honour or with the future safety of
the kingdom, that, as it were impiety to question the sincerity of them, so
were it great want of duty and faithfulness in us, (his majesty having
vouchsafed to declare that he did caU us to be witnesses of his actions and
privy to his intentions,) should we not testify, and witness to aE the world,
the assurance we have of the piety and sincerity of both. We being most
entirely satisfied of this truth, we cannot but confess that, amidst our
highest afflictions, in the deep and piercing sense of the present miseries
and desolations of our country, and those farther dangers threatened from
Scotland, we are at length erected to some cheerful and comfortable thoughts,
that possibly we may yet (by God's mercy, if his justice have not determined
this nation, for its sins, to total ruin and desolation) hope to be happy in
struments of our country's redemption from the miseries of war, and re
stitution to the blessing of peace.
373. 'And we being desirous to beUeve your lordship, (however en
gaged,) a person likely to be sensibly touched with these considerations,
have thought fit to invite you to that part in this blessed work, which is
only capable to repair all our misfortunes, and to buoy up the kingdom
from ruin ; that is, by conjuring you by all the obligations that have
power upon honour, conscience, or pubU'c piety, that, laying to heart, as we
do, the inward bleeding condition of your country, and the outward more
menacing destruction by a foreign nation, upon the very point of invading
it, you will co-operate .with us to its preservation, by truly representing to,
and faithfully and industriously promoting with, those by whom you are
trusted, this following most sincere and most earnest desire of ours ; That,

vii. 376.] send a letter to the earl of Essex. 297
they joining with us in a right sense of the past, present, and more threat- 1644
ening, calamities of this deplorable kingdom, some persons be appointed on
either part, and a place agreed on, to treat of such a peace as may yet re
deem it from the brink of desolation.
374. 'This address we should not have made, but that his majesty's sum
mons, by which we are met, most graciously proclaiming pardon to all without
exception, is evidence enough that his mercy and clemency can transcend
all former provocations ; and that he hath not only made us witnesses of his
princely intentions, but honoured us also with the name of being security
for them. God Almighty direct your lordship, and those to whom you
shall present these our most real desires, in such a course as may produce
that happy peace, and settlement of the present distractions, which is so
heartily desired and prayed for by us, and which may make us
' Your &c.'
'From Orford [271] January, 1643.'
375. This letter was subscribed by his highness the Prince,
the duke of York, and three and forty dukes, marquises, earls,
viscounts, and barons of the House of Peers, and one hundred
and eighteen members of the House of Commons ; there being
such expedition used in the despatch that it was not thought
fit to be deferred for a greater subscription, albeit it was known
that many lords and commoners were upon the way, who came
within few days ; and there were at that time near twenty
peers absent with his majesty's leave, and employed in his
affairs and armies in the kingdom, and ten at the same time in
the parts beyond the seas. So that the numbers at London
were very thin ; for there were not above two and twenty peers
who either sat in the Parliament or were engaged in their
party, (that is to say, the earls of Northumberland, Pembroke,
Essex, Kent, Lincoln, Kutland, Salisbury, Suffolk, Warwick,
Manchester, Mougrave, Denbigh, Stamford, Bullingbrooke, the
lords Say, Dacres, Wharton, Grey of Werke, Willoughby of
Parham, Howard of Escrigg, Bochfort, and Boberts,) who were
present, or had proxies there.
376. The trumpeter found the earl of Essex at his house in
London ; where he was detained three or four days ; during
which time, the committee of both Houses, that committee
which they called the committee of safety for the two king
doms, (the Scots' commissioners being a part of it,) resorted to
1 [' 29,' MS.]

298 The reply of the earl of Essex. [vn. 376.
1644 him for his advice : and in the end he returned with this short
Jan. 30 *. letter to the earl of Forth, the king's general :
377. ' My lord,
' I received this day a letter of the twenty-ninth of this instant from your
lordship, and a parchment subscribed by the Prince, duke of York, and
divers other lords and gentlemen ; but it neither having address to the
two Houses of Parliament, nor therein there being any acknowledgment of
them, I could not communicate it to them. My lord, the maintenance of
the Parliament of England, and of the privileges thereof, is that for which
we are all resolved to spend our blood ; as being the foundation whereupon
all our laws and Uberties are built. I send your lordship herewith a
¦ National Covenant, solemnly entered into by both the kingdoms of Eng
land and Scotland, and a Declaration passed by them both together, with
another Declaration of the kingdom of Scotland. I rest
' Your lordship's &c.'
378. What the Covenant was, (being the same particularly
set down before,) I need not mention ; and the Declarations are
as public, and would be thought too large to be in this place
inserted, to the interruption of the thread of this discourse;
yet it cannot be amiss to make a short extract of some particular
heads or conclusions of them ; that the world may see what
kind of reasoning this time had introduced, and that they were
as bold with God as with the King.
379. That Declaration of the kingdom of Scotland alone, was
to justify their present expedition into England ; in which they
said, ' It was most necessary that every one, against all doubt
ing, should be persuaded in his mind of the lawfulness of his
undertaking, and of the goodness of the cause maintained by.
him ; which,' they said, ' was no other, than the good of
religion in England, and the deliverance of their brethren out
of the depths of affliction, the preservation of their own re
ligion, and of themselves from the extremity of misery, and the
safety of their native King and his kingdoms from destruction
and desolation. Any one of which,' they said, ' by all law
divine and human, was too just cause of taking of arms; how
much more, when all of them [were 2] joined in one 1 ' And
therefore they wished any man who did withdraw, and hide
1 [Approved by the Lords on I Feb. Journals, VI. 404.]
2 ['was,' MS.]

vii. 381.] Declaration of the kingdom of Scotland. 299
himself in such a debate and controversy, to ' consider, whether 1644
he were not a hater of his brethren, against Christian and
common charity ; a hater of himself and his posterity, against
the law and light of nature ; a hater of the King and his king
doms, against loyalty and common duty ; and a hater of God,
against all religion and peace.'
380. They said, ' the question was not, nor needed they dis
pute, whether they might propagate their religion by arms ; but
whether according to their power they ought to assist their
brethren in England, who were calling for their help, and were
shedding their blood in defence of that power without which
religion could be neither defended nor reformed, nor unity of
religion with them and other reformed kirks be attained.' So
that, they said, ' the question was no sooner rightly stated but
it was as soon resolved ; ' and concluded ' that the Lord would
save them from the curse of Meroz, ivho came not to help the
Lord against the mighty.' They said, ' the question could not
be, as their enemies would make it, whether they should enter
into England and lift arms against their own King, who had
promised and done as much as might secure them in their own
religion and liberties ; but, whether against the popish, pre-
latical, and malignant party their adherents, prevailing in
England and Ireland, they were not bound to provide for their
own preservation. That they might well have known, from
their continual experience ever since the time of their first re
formation, especially after the two kingdoms were united under
one head and monarch, and from the principles of their own
declarations in the time of their late troubles and dangers, that
they could not long, like Goshen, enjoy their light if darkness
should cover the face of other reformed kirks : that Judah could
not long continue in liberty if Israel were led away in cap
tivity ; and that the condition of the one kirk and kingdom,
whether in religion or peace, must be common to both.'
381. They said, 'the question was not, whether they should
presume to be arbitrators in the matter now debated by fire
and sword, betwixt his majesty and the Houses of Parliament,
which might seem to be foreign and extrinsecal to that nation,

300 United declaration of the [vii. 381.
1644 and wherein they might be conceived to have no interest; but
whether, their mediation and intercession being rejected by the
one side, upon hope of victory, or, suppose, by both sides, upon
confidence of their own strength and several successes, it were
not their duty, it being in their power, to stop or prevent the
effusion of Christian blood ; or whether they ought not to en
deavour to rescue their native King, his crown, and posterity,
out of the middest of so many dangers, and to preserve his
people and kingdom from ruin and destruction? If every
private man were bound in duty to interpose himself as a recon
ciler and sequestrator between his neighbours, armed to their
mutual destruction ; if the son ought to hazard his own life for
the preservation of his father and brother, at variance one
against the other ; should a kingdom sit still, and suffer their
King and neighbouring kingdom to perish in an unnatural
war 1 In the time of animosity and appetite of revenge, such
an interposing might be an irritation ; but afterwards, when
the eyes of the mind, no more blood-run with passion, did
discern things aright, it would be no grief or offence of heart,
but matter of thanksgiving to God, and to the instruments
which had kept from shedding of blood and from revenge.'
382. With this kind of divinity, and this kind of logic, to
shew that they had a clear prospect of whatsoever could be said
against them, they resolved to invade their neighbour nation,
and to interpose themselves as reconcilers, by joining, against
their native and natural King, with his rebellious subjects, in
all the acts of animosity and blood which have been ever •
practised in the most raging and furious civil war.
383. The other Declaration, mentioned in the earl's letter,
Jan. 30. was a declaration passed and published in the name of both
kingdoms, England and Scotland, after their marriage by their
new League and Covenant, and about the very time that this
overture for peace came from Oxford. They were now both
equally inspired with the Scotch dialect and spirit ; talked how
' clearly the light of the gospel shined amongst them ; that they
placed not their confidence in their own counsels and strength,
but their confidence was in God Almighty, the Lord of Hosts,

vii. 386.] kingdoms of England and Scotland. 301
who would not leave nor forsake his people. It was his own 1644
truth and cause, which they maintained against the heresy,
superstition, and tyranny of Antichrist : the glory of his own
name, the exaltation of the kingdom of his Son, and the preser
vation of his Church, was their aim, and the end which they
had before their eyes. It was his covenant which they had
solemnly in both nations sworn and subscribed ; which he
would not have put in their hearts to do if he had been minded
to destroy them. Upon these and the like grounds and consider
ations, being confident that this war, wherein both nations
were so firmly united and deeply engaged, was of God, they
resolve, with courage and constancy to the end, to do their
part ; and the Lord, who had stirred up their spirits, displayed
his banner before them, and given the alarum, do that which
seemeth him good.
384. They gave ' now public warning to all men to rest no
longer upon their neutrality, or to please themselves with the
naughty and slothful pretext of indifferency ; but that they
address themselves speedily to take the Covenant, and join with
all their power in the defence of this cause against the common
enemy, and by their zeal and forwardness hereafter to make up
what had been wanting through their lukewarmness ; this they
would find to be their greatest wisdom and safety ; otherwise
they did declare them to be public enemies to their religion
and country, and that they were to be censured and punished
as professed adversaries and malignants.'
385. Then they proclaimed a pardon to all those who would
before such a day 1 desert the King, and adhere to them and
take the Covenant. And concluded, that ' they made not that
declaration from any presumption or vain glorying in the
strength of their armies and forces, but from the sense of their
duty which was required, and expected from the high places
and public relations wherein they stood, and from the assurance
they had of the assistance of God, by whose providence the
trust and safety of those kingdoms was put into their hands at
this time ; having, after long and grave consultation, resolved
1 [March I.]

302 The Declarations of England and Scotland, [vii. 385.
1644 and decreed never to lay down arms till truth and peace, by the
blessing of God, be settled in this island upon a firm founda
tion for the present and future generations ; which,' they said,
' should be esteemed of them an abundant reward of all that they
could do or suffer in that cause.'
386. These were the Declarations which the earl of Essex,
together with the Covenant, sent as an answer to that letter
from the Prince of Wales and those lords and gentlemen which
might have been the foundation of an honest and an honourable
peace to all the King's dominions. And I cannot but observe,
that after this time that the earl declined this opportunity of
declaring himself, he never did gallant or prosperous act in his
life ; but whereas before he had throughout the course of his
command, how unwarrantably soever undertaken, behaved him
self with very signal courage and conduct, and at this time was
adorned with the testimony of friends and enemies of a right
good general upon the conclusion of the business of Gloster, he
never after his taking the Covenant and writing this letter did
one brave thing, but proved unfortunate in all he went about,
even to his death ; of which we shall say more in its place.
387. And we the rather extracted these short clauses of
those two Declarations, that posterity may observe the divine
hand of Almighty God upon the people of these miserable king
doms; that after they had broken loose from that excellent
form and practice of religion which their ancestors and them
selves had observed and enjoyed, with a greater measure of
happiness than almost any nation lived under so long a time,
and after they had cancelled and thrown off those admirable
and incomparable laws of government, which was compounded
of so much exact reason that all possible mischieves were fore
seen and provided against, they should be now captivated by a
profane and presumptuous entitling themselves to God's favour,
and using his holy name in that manner that all sober
Christians stand scandaled and amazed at, and be deluded by
such a kind of reasoning and debate as can only impose upon
men unnurtured, and unacquainted with any knowledge or

vii. 390.] The King desires safe conduct for messengers. 303
388. There wanted not a just indignation at the return of 1644
this trumpet ; and yet the answer being so much out of that
popular road of saying something plausibly to the people, it
was thought fit again to make an attempt, that at least the
world might see that they did in plain English refuse to
admit of any peace. So the earl of Forth was again advised to
write to the other general for a safe conduct for two gentlemen
then named \ against whom no imaginable exception could be
taken, to and from Westminster, to be sent by his majesty con
cerning a treaty of peace. To this the earl of Essex returned
answer, that ' whensoever he should receive any directions to Feb. 19.
those who had intrusted him, he should use his best endeavours ;
and when a safe conduct should be desired for those gentlemen,
mentioned in his letter, from his majesty to the Houses of
Parliament, his lordship would, with all cheerfulness, shew his
willingness to further any way that might produce that happi
ness which all honest men prayed for, which is, a true under
standing between his majesty and his faithful and only council,
the Parliament.'
389. This expression of his resolution of interposing, if he
had a letter from his majesty to the Houses of Parliament,
(together with some intimations in letters from London, which
at these seasons never wanted,) persuaded many that the earl
wanted only an opportunity to possess the Houses with the
overture ; and if it were once within the walls, there were so
many well affected to peace that the proposition would not be
rejected, though no particular person or combination of men
had the courage of themselves to propose it. And therefore, at
the same time making all possible preparations for the field
as the scene where the differences were like to be decided, his
majesty was prevailed with, though he concluded it would be
rejected, to send this ensuing message, which was enclosed to March 3.
the earl of Essex to be by him managed :—
390. 'Out of our most tender and pious sense of the sad and bleeding
condition of this our kingdom, and our unwearied desires to apply aU
remedies which, by the blessing of Almighty God, may recover it from an
1 [Eichard Fanshaw and Thomas Offley.]

304 The King sends a message to Parliament, [vii. 390.
1644 utter ruin ; by the advice of the Lords and Commons of Parliament as
sembled at Oxford, we do propound and desire, That a convenient number
of fit persons may be appointed and authorized by you, to meet, with all
convenient speed, at such place as you shaU nominate, with an equal
number of fit persons whom we shall appoint and authorize, to treat of the
ways and means to settle the present distractions of this our kingdom, and
to procure a happy peace : and particularly, how all the members of both
Houses may securely meet in a full and free convention of1 ParUament,
there to treat, consult, and agree, upon such things as may conduce to the
maintenance and defence of the true reformed Protestant religion, with due
consideration to all just and reasonable ease of tender consciences; to the
settling and maintaining of our just rights and privEeges, of the rights and
privileges of ParUament, the laws of the land, the liberty and property of
the subject, and aU other expedients that may conduce to that blessed end
of a firm and lasting peace both in Church and State, and a perfect under
standing betwixt us and our people ; wherein no endeavours or concurrency
of ours shaE be wanting. And God direct your hearts in the ways of
peace. ' Given at our court at Oxford, 3c? March 1643.'
391. This message, being signed by his majesty, was super
scribed ' To the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled
at Westminster ; ' which, though it was a style they could not
reasonably except against, was yet no other than the Lords and
Commons at Oxford took upon themselves, as they well might.
After two or three days' debate in the Houses, and with the
Scots' commissioners, without whose concurrence nothing was
March 9. transacted, this answer was returned to his majesty ; which put
a period to all men's hopes, who imagined that there might be
any disposition in those councils to any possible and honest
accommodation : —
392. ' May it please your majesty :
' We, the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England,
taking into our consideration a letter sent from your majesty, dated the 3d of
March instant, and directed to the Lords and Commons of Parliament
assembled at Westminster, (which, by the contents of a letter from the earl
of Forth unto the lord general the earl of Essex, we conceive was intended
to ourselves,) have resolved, with the concurrent advice and consent of the
commissioners of the kingdom of Scotland, to represent to your majesty, in
all humility and plainness, as followeth :
' That as we have used all means for a just and a safe peace, so will we
never be wanting to do our utmost for the procuring thereof. But when we
consider the expressions in that letter of your majesty's, we have more sad
and despairing thoughts of attaining the same than ever, because thereby
1 ['free,' MS.]

vii. 394.] The reply of Parliament to the King. 305
those persons now assembled at Oxford, who, contrary to their duty, have 1644
deserted your Parliament, are put into an equal condition with it. And
this present Parliament, convened according to the known and funda
mental laws of the kingdom, (the continuance whereof is established by a
law consented unto by your majesty,) is in effect denied to be a Parliament ;
the scope and intention of that letter being, to make provision how all the
members (as is pretended) of both Houses may securely meet in a full and
free convention of Parliament ; whereof no other conclusion can be made
but that this present Parliament is not a full nor free convention ; and that
to make it a full and free convention of Parliament, the presence of those is
necessary, who, notwithstanding that they have deserted that great trust
and do levy war against the ParUament, are pretended to be members of the
two Houses of Parliament.
393. ' And hereupon we think ourselves bound to let your majesty know,
that, seeing the continuance of this Parliament is settled by a law, which
(as all other laws of your kingdom) your majesty hath sworn to maintain,
as we are sworn to our allegiance to your majesty, (these obligations being
reciprocal,) 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 ; and do beseech your majesty to be assured, that your majesty's
royal and hearty concurrence with us herein wEl be the most effectual and
ready means of procuring a firm and lasting peace in all your majesty's
dominions, and of begetting a perfect understanding between your majesty
and your people : without which your majesty's most earnest professions,
and our most real intentions, concerning the same, must necessarily be frus
trated. And in case your majesty's three kingdoms should, by reason
thereof; remain in this sad and bleeding condition, tending, by the continu
ance of this unnatural war, to their ruin, your majesty cannot be the least
nor the last sufferer. God in his goodness incline your royal breast, out of
pity and compassion to those deep sufferings of your innocent people, to put
a speedy and happy issue to these desperate evEs, by the joint advice of
both your kingdoms, now happily united in this cause by their late solemn
League and Covenant ; which as it will prove the surest remedy, so is it
the earnest prayer of your majesty's loyal subjects, the Lords and Commons
assembled in the Parliament of England. Grey of Warke,
Speaker of the House of Peers in Parliament pro tempore :
William Lenthall,
Speaker of the House of Commons in Parliament.
'Westminster, the 9 of March, 1643.'
394 1. The hope of peace by this kind of interposition did not
in any degree make the counsels remiss for providing of money
to supply the army : upon which they had more hope than from
a treaty. But the expedients for money were not easily thought
upon. Though there was a considerable part of the kingdom
1 [The text for §§ 394-5 is from the Life, pp. 257-8.]
VOL. III. X

306 Money raised at Oxford by assessment, [vii. 394.
1644 within the King's quarters, the inhabitants were frequently
robbed and plundered by the incursions of the enemy, and not
very well secured against the royal troops, who began to prac
tise all the license of war. The nobility and gentry who were
not officers of the army lived for the most part in Oxford, and
all that they could draw from their estates was but enough for
their own subsistence ; they durst not enter upon charging the
people in general, lest they should be thought to take upon them
to be a Parliament ; and their care was, that the common
people might be preserved from burdens ; and they were as
careful not to expose the King's honour or name to affronts and
refusals, but were willing that the envy and the clamour, if
there should be any, should fall upon themselves.
395. They appointed all the members of the Commons to
bring in the names of all the gentlemen of estate, and other per
sons who were reputed to be rich, within their several precincts,
and what sum of money every body might be well able to supply
the King with, in this exigent of the public state. And then a
form of a letter was conceived, which should be sent to every
one of them for such a sum ; the letter to be subscribed, by the
two Speakers of the Houses, to the end that the people might
know that it was by the advice of the members of Parliament
assembled there ; which was as much the advice of Parliament
as could be delivered at that time in the kingdom. When the
Feb. 14. way and method of this was approved by the Lords, and his
majesty likewise consented to it, they began, the better to en
courage others, with themselves ; and caused letters to be signed
and delivered to the several members of both Houses for such
sums as they were well disposed to furnish, which were to that
proportion as gave good encouragement to others ; and the like
letters to all persons of condition who were in the town. And
by this means there was a sum raised in ready money and
credit that did supply many necessary occasions, near the sum
of one hundred thousand pounds, whereof some came in every
day, to enable the King to provide for the next campania;
which, the spring coming on, was to be expected early ; the
Parliament having raised vast sums of money, and being like to

vii. 397.] The Parliament raises money by excise. 307
bring many armies into the field. All who were to furnish 1644
money upon those letters had liberty to bring or send it in
plate, if that was for their convenience ; the King having called
the officers and workmen of his Mint to Oxford, who coined
such plate as was brought in. His majesty likewise made a
grant of some forests, parks, and other lands, to certain persons
in trust, for the securing of such money as should be borrowed,
or those persons who should be bound for the payment of such
money ; and by this means likewise many considerable sums of
money were procured, and cloth and shoes and shirts were pro
vided for the army.
396. The two Houses at Westminster, who called themselves,
and they are often called in this discourse, the Parliament, had
at this time by an ordinance, that is, an order of both Houses, 1643
laid an imposition, which they called an excise, upon wine, beer, y 2
ale, and many other commodities, to be paid in the manner very
punctually and methodically set down by them, for the carrying
on the war. And this was the first time that the name of pay
ment of excise was ever heard of or practised in England ; laid
on by those who pretended to be most jealous of any exaction
upon the people : and this pattern being then printed and pub
lished at London, was thought by the members at Oxford as a
good expedient to be followed by the King ; and thereupon it
was settled, and to be governed and regulated by commissioners, 1644
in the same method it was done at London. And in Oxford, pu
Bristol, and other garrisons, it did yield a reasonable supply,
for the provision of arms and ammunition, which for the most
part it was assigned to ; both sides making ample declarations,
with bitter reproaches upon the necessity that drew on this im
position, that it should be continued no longer than to the end
of the war, and then laid down and utterly abolished ; which few
wise men believed it would ever be.
3971- The high and insolent proceedings at Westminster made '
no impression at Oxford towards the shaking the allegiance and
courage of those whom his majesty had called to advise him.
But when they found the temper of the other so much above
1 [The text is here resumed from the Hist., p. 525.]
X 2

308 Declaration of the Lords and Commons at Oxford, [vn.397.
1644 belief averse to peace, and intending utter ruin to the King, the
Church, and all who should continue true Englishmen and sub
jects, they resolved as frankly to declare their resolutions, that
the people might see the issue they were at ; and therefore they
March 19. published a Declaration of the grounds and motives which had
forced them to leave the Parliament at Westminster; in which
they mentioned all the indirect passages and the acts of violence
by which they had been driven thence, and the obligations upon
them in conscience and law to adhere to his majesty, and the
misery which the other party had already brought upon the
kingdom, and the desolation which must inevitably follow those
conclusions : and with a greater unanimity and consent than
was ever known in so great a council, where there were so
many persons of honour, and judges and others learned in the
law, (amongst whom there was scarce one dissenting voice,) they
declared, 398. 1. ' That all sueh subjects of Scotland as had consented to the
Jan. 26. Declaration, entitled the Declaration of the kingdom of Scotland concerning
the present expedition into England, had thereby denounced war against
the kingdom of England, and broke the Act of Pacification.
2. ' That all his majesty's subjects of the kingdom of England and
dominion of Wales are, both by their aEegiance and the Act of Pacification,
bound to resist and repress aE those of Scotland as had or should enter upon
any part of his majesty's realm and dominions, as traitors and enemies to
the State ; and that whosoever should abet, aid, or assist, the Scots in their
invasion should be deemed as traitors and enemies to the State.
3. ' That the Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster that had
March 1 2. given their votes or consent to the raising of forces under the command of ¦
the earl of Essex, or had been abetting, aiding, or assisting thereunto, had
levied and raised war against the King, and were therein guilty of high
treason. 4. ' That those Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster that had
given their votes and consents for the making and using a new Great Seal,
had thereby counterfeited the King's Great Seal, and therein committed high
treason. 5. 'That the Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster who had
given their consents to the present coming in of the Scots in a warlike
manner, had therein committed high treason : and that in these three last
crimes they had broken the trust reposed in them by their country, and
ought to be proceeded against as traitors to the King and kingdom.'
399. [Over and above these sharp and high conclusions, in a
diameter contrary to all the proceedings of Parliament, they

vii. 400.] Preparations to resist the Scots. 309
entered upon a way of raising a present sum of one hundred 1644
thousand pounds for the putting his majesty's armies into an
equipage to take the field early in the spring ;] 1 so that the en
gagements seemed fuller of animosity on both sides than ever ;
and the King exceedingly strengthened by the Lords and Com
mons having more positively and concernedly wedded his cause
than they were before understood to have done ; and in truth,
in the civil counsels nothing was left undone to give it all
imaginable advancement.
400. It had been very happy for the King if the winter had
been spent only in those counsels which might have provided
money, and facilitated the making his army ready to take the
field in the spring, when he was sure to have occasion enough to
use it, and to be in great distress if it should not be then in a
condition to march : but the invasion which the Scots made in
the depth of winter, and the courage the enemy took from
thence, deprived his majesty even of any rest in that season.
Upon the Scots' unexpected march into England in January, in
a most violent frost and snow, hoping to reach Newcastle before
it could be fortified, and persuading their common soldiers that
it would be delivered to them as soon as required, thither the
vigilant sir Thomas Glemham had been before sent to attend
their coming; and the marquis of Newcastle with his army,
upon the fame of their invasion, marched thither, with a resolu
tion to fight with them before they should be able to join with
the English rebels ; leaving in the mean time the command
of York, and the forces for the guard of that county, to colonel
John Bellasis, son to the lord Falconbridge, a person of great
interest in the country, and of exemplar industry and courage.
But by this means, and the remove of the marquis with his
army so far north, the enemy grew to a great strength in those
parts ; and not only able to disquiet Yorkshire, but, drawing a
great body of horse and foot out of Darbyshire, Staffordshire,
and Lincolnshire, sat down before his majesty's garrison of March 2.
Newark upon Trent with a full confidence to take it, and so
1 [The lines in brackets are struck out in the MS., as they repeat what
has been more fuUy related in § 395.]

310 Fairfax defeats colonel Bellasis at Selby. [vii. 400.
1644 to cut off all correspondence between his majesty and the mar
quis of Newcastle 1. And sir Thomas Fayrefax, in the head of
a strong party from Hull, had fallen upon a quarter not far from
AprE n. York, commanded by colonel John Bellasis, at Selby, and had
totally defeated it, taken the cannon, and many officers pri
soners, and amongst those the colonel himself. And this was
the first action sir Thomas Fayrefax was taken notice for, who
in a short time grew the supreme general under the Parliament.
This defeat, which was great in itself, was made much greater
by the terrible apprehension the city of York had upon it ; inso
much that the marquis of Newcastle, who till then had kept the
Scots at a bay, found it necessary to draw his army, and with a
part of it to make haste into York, to prevent any farther mis
chief2 there ; by which means the Scots were at liberty to ad
vance as they pleased ; and Fayrefax improved his reputation by
a speedy and unlooked for march into Cheshire.
401 s. Upon the cessation in Ireland, the King made the
1 [The Life is again taken up here, at p. 258 ; the connection of the
passage with the conclusion of § 396 being made by the foUowing cancelled
lines : —
' The winter being spent in this manner at Oxford, in these deliberations
and provisions, many melancholic presages appeared in the spring. Under
the countenance of the Scots entering into England, the rebels grew strong
in all the northern parts, the garrison of HuU tyrannized over all the
adjacent parts, and sir Thomas Fayrefax,' &c]
2 [For the first time this speEing of the word is here used by Clarendon.]
3 [Hist, resumed at p. 524 ; the Life continuing as foEows, in passages
of which much of the contents is given at the commencement of book
viii : —
1. ' As soon as the King was assured that the Scots did resolve to invade
England, he thought it necessary, if it were possible, to extinguish the fire
in one of his dominions, and so considered Ireland as the most like to
be capable of that blessing. Though the English had hitherto in all en
counters beaten the Irish, so that they came to no action with them but
they presently fled to their bogs, yet the indiscretion of the Lords Justices,
who observed very willingly the most rigorous directions from the Parlia
ment, had driven and united the whole Irish nation, and almost all the
Catholics of Ireland, into rebeEion, so that their numbers even covered the
whole kingdom. The ParUament gave over sending suppUes thither, having
applied many of the men they had raised for that service with the King s
approbation, and very much of the money, against the King, in carrying
on the war in England, and had, upon the matter, given up the province of
Ulster to the Scots, who were with a numerous army there, independent

VII. 401.] Ormonde made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 311
marquis of Ormonde his Lieutenant of that kingdom ; and ap- 1644
pointed him to make use of the winter season (when the Parlia- lfM3
Nov. 13.
upon the King's authority, and were grown to be more apprehended by the
English than the Irish themselves. The Lords Justices and Council in
Ireland had sent commissioners to the King and to the ParUament to
desire supplies of men and money and arms and ammunition, without
which they professed that Ireland must be lost, and fall into the hands of
the Irish ; and one of the commissioners, sir Hardress WaUer, came to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and, making a large discourse of the state of
Ireland, and of the jealousies and divisions amongst the Irish themselves,
told him that there was no way to preserve that kingdom, since he saw
evidently the King should not send supplies thither, but to make a peace
there, by which he would in a short time be able to suppress the rebellion
in England. And sure the man was at that time of that opinion ; and it
is as true, many professions had been made by the Irish of their loyalty and
devotion to the King's service; and there [were1] many differences and
jealousies grown between them. Those within the Pale, who were aE of
old English families planted there many ages before, and now become Irish
in their language and manners, had purposes very different from those of
the old Irish families, who for the most part were of Ulster, who looked
upon the other as original intruders, and thought of making some foreign
dependence, and never more to return to their obedience of the Crown of
England. And yet Owen O'Neale, who was the general of that party, had
writ to the King, and made large offers of his service ; but his majesty had
hearkened to no motions of that kind, nor had any man the inclination or
the hardiness to make any proposition to him in favour of the Irish. But
when his majesty from all hands understood the desperate or hopeless con
dition of that kingdom, and that the Scots were ready to enter, he resolved
to try what might be done, and to put his own authority there into the
hands of one he might entirely trust ; and had thereupon made the marquis 1643
of Ormonde his Lieutenant of Ireland, and gave him authority to treat with Nov. 13.
the Irish ; and if he could bring them to consent to a cessation of arms,
and to send over persons to treat with him at Oxford for a peace, he might
then draw over some of his own English troops to reinforce his army against
the time of taking the field. And that design having succeeded according
to his wish, and a cessation being made, the marquis of Ormonde had in the
winter sent him two or three regiments of foot, and two or three troops of
horse, out of Munster to Bristol, and a much greater body of foot, being
between three and four thousand, from Dublin to Chester, all men brave
and hardy, and weE disciplined, under as good officers of all kinds as the
nation had : all which arrived in season, and would have been a noble
recruit to the King's army, upon which his majesty depended.
2. ' The lord Byron, a gallant gentleman of courage, but of no long experi
ence in the war, was then governor of Chester and Shropshire when those
regiments landed ; and, finding both the men as well as their officers willing
to be engaged in present service, having not been used to the ease of winter
quarters, he had a great desire to make some attempt with them. All
1 ['was,' MS.]

312 Irish troops brought to England. [vn.401,
1644 ment ships could not attend that coast) to transport those
regiments of foot as might be well spared during the cessation,
Shropshire and Cheshire was at that time, upon the point, under the King's
obedience, only the town of Nantwich in Cheshire, and upon the confines
of the other county, was in rebeEion, and garrisoned by the Parliament, the
defence and strength of it consisting more in the malice of the inhabitants
than in the security of their fortifications, which were not good any where,
and in some parts none at all, but defended by the winter, and the deep
ness of the ways, through which cannon could not then march. The lord
Byron had some inteUigence in the town, and believed the condition of it to
be so ill that he might quickly become master of it ; and therefore he had
written to Oxford, upon the landing of the troops from Ireland, that if the
King would give him leave to use those troops, he should be able in very
few days to reduce Nantwich, which would be scarce out of their way to
Oxford, and would remove a pestilent obstruction in that Une of communica
tion. The King made little pause in the matter ; and so in the very hard
Jan. io. frost the lord Byron brought all his troops before it, drawing out of Chester
and Shrewsbury as many of the garrisons as could be spared, with a good
body of horse. He found the town not so weak as he thought it to be, and
stayed longer before it than he ought to have done, until sir Thomas
Fayrefax, fleshed by his victory [at1] Selby, and recruited with new troops
out of Hull, came to its relief with a less number of men than he was to expect
to encounter ; but by the marching of the garrison out of the town, and by
beating the body of horse, which were placed too far from the foot, and
made no stand but was presently routed, the whole body of foot betook
Jan. 25. themselves to a neighbour church, which they defended only to make con
ditions ; and so became all, officers and soldiers, prisoners of war ; which,
as it was a new rung to the ladder which sir Thomas Fayrefax ascended to
the height of his honour, so it was the most sensible blow to the King he
had yet sustained, and almost nipped all hopes of getting an army into the
field to encounter the enemy, which sailed with a full gale.
3. ' The King had no better success in another winter enterprise about the
same time ; and the experience the Parliament had, to their cost, of carry
ing their army into the field too soon to the siege of Eeading, the damage
whereof they had scarce yet recovered, might have prepared their enemies
to better husbandry of their men. It was thought counsellable, after all
armies were retired into their winter quarters, to send a good party of horse
and foot into Hampshire, to possess Winchester castle, and to fix another
quarter in Sussex, to the end that the well affected there and in Kent
might have a communication, and be ready in the spring to appear in a
body on that side of London ; [for] which the loyal party in Kent had some
impatience, as having undergone great pressures and indignities from the
Parliament. This work was committed to the lord Hopton, who had a very
great reputation in all places, and deserved it, being a man of great honour,
integrity, and piety, of great courage and industry, and an excellent officer
in an army for any command but the supreme, to which he was not equal.
1 [' and,' MS.]

vii. 401.] Irish troops brought to England. 313
and which could not be supported there, to Chester ; from 1644
whence his majesty could easily draw them in the spring to
Oxford ; and were, in truth, the principal recruit upon which
he depended to enable him to take the field. The lord Byron
He had raised a good body of horse and foot about Bristol, and sir John
Berkely brought a good addition of foot to him from Exciter ; with which,
and those regiments which arrived there from Ireland about the beginning
of December *, he marched to Winchester ; sir William Ogle having pos
sessed himself of that castle for the King before he came thither. And to
enable him to make a farther progress to the ends aforesaid, and upon intel
ligence that the Parliament had sent out sir WiEiam Waller with a strong
party of their army to stop tbe lord Hopton's march into those counties, his
majesty sent two regiments of horse of his own army, under the command
of the lord John Steward, another brother of the duke of Eichmond, and
two or three regiments of foot ; with which the lord Hopton had too much
desire to engage with his old friend sir William WaEer, and in order there
unto advanced to Farnham, where he was, and had some light skirmishes Nov. 2S.
with his troops, and beat them into that castle, which was a strong place,
and where sir William resolved to stay till he could receive some supply of
men, which he daily expected. Whereupon the lord Hopton entered into
Sussex, and very prosperously possessed hiu.self of Arundel castle, a place Dec. 9.
very strongly situated upon the sea, and in aU respects so convenient to
make a strong quarter that a better could not be desired ; where he left a
good garrison under the command of sir Edward Ford, who was a gentleman
of that county, and had a regiment of horse in the army. But when he re
turned from thence towards Winche[ste]r, where he meant to have sat quiet
tiE the spring, he found sir William Waller ready to attend his motion ;
and so in a field near Alton both bodies met, and after a sharp engagement, Dec. 13.
and great loss on both sides, the lord Hopton was forced to retire in dis
order to Winchester, and from thence he came to Oxford, whilst Waller
marched to Arundel ; and after seven or eight days, the new garrison being Dec. 19.
disunited amongst themselves, and having not supplied the place with pro
vision for a long siege, which they might have done, compelled them to render Jan. 6,
to mercy : where, amongst the rest, poor Mr. Chillingworth was taken, and
so barbarously used that he died within few days ; but his book will live,
and declare him to be a man of rare and admirable parts to aE posterity.
Besides many other officers of good account who were lost in that battle
of Al[re]sford, the lord John Steward, though he was brought off, died of
his wounds within three days, to the great grief of the King and all good
men2. He was the second brother of this noble family who lost his life in
this fatal war, and was a man of great courage, and, with a different rough
ness in his nature from all the rest of the race, had proposed to himself the
profession of a soldier, in which he could not but have made a glorious pro
gress if he had not been so untimely cut off.
4. 'There was another result of council at Oxford,' &c, as in sect. 404.]
1 [In November.]
2 [Died April 3, and was buried in Christ Church cathedral, Oxford, AprE 5, 1644.]

314 Success of troops from Ireland in Cheshire, [vn. 401.
1644 then commanded Chester and that county, and was appointed
to take care for the reception and accommodation of those
troops ; which was a right good body of foot, and, being excel
lent men, both officers and soldiers, carried great terror with
them from the time of their landing, and quickly freed North
Wales from the enemy, who at that time began to have great
power there. It was towards the end of November when they
landed ; but being a people who had been used to little ease in
Ireland, the King having given the lord Byron leave to employ
them in such services as might secure that country, the season
of the year made little impression on them ; they were always
ready and desirous for action, and in the space of a month
reduced by assault and storm many places of notable importance,
Dec. 4, 131, as Ha warden Castle, Beeston Castle, Crew House, and other
' places of great strength ; and, encountering the whole body of
Dec. 26. the rebels at Middlewich in Cheshire, broke and defeated them
with a great slaughter ; and drove all that survived and were at
liberty into Nantwich, the single garrison they had then left in
Cheshire, and into which the whole party was retired, and which
had been fortified and garrisoned from the beginning of the
troubles, as the only refuge for the disaffected of that county
and the counties adjacent. The pride of the late success, and
the terror the soldiers believed their names carried with them,
carried them at this most unseasonable time of the year thither ;
for it was about the first week in January when the lord Byron
Jan. 10. came with his army before the town, and summoned it. It can
not be denied the reducing of that place at that time would have
been of unspeakable importance to the King's affairs, there
being between that and Carlisle no one town of moment (Man
chester only excepted) which declared against the King; and
those two populous counties of Chester and Lancaster, if they
had been united against the Parliament, would have been a
strong bulwark against the Scots.
402. These considerations, and an opinion that the town
would yield as soon as summoned, brought the army first
1 [Hall's Hist, of Nantwich, 1883, p. 158. Dugdale {Hist, of Troubles,
p. 187) assigns the capture of Beeston Castle to Dec. 12.]

vii. 403.] Siege of Nantwich. 3 15
thither; and then a passionate fancy of honour, contempt of 1644
the enemy within, and of any other who could attempt their
relief, engaged them to a farther attempt ; and so they raised
batteries, and undertook a formal siege against the town. The
seventeenth day of January they made a general assault upon five Jan. 18 *.
several quarters of the town, somewhat before day-break, but
were with equal courage opposed from within, and near three
hundred men lost and spoiled in the service ; which should
have prevailed with them to have quitted their design. But
those repulses sharpen rather than abate the edge and appetite
to danger, and the assailants no less than the besieged desiring
an army would come for their relief, both with equal impatience
longed for the same thing ; the Irish (for under that name, for
distinction sake, we call that body of foot, though there was not
an Irishman amongst them) supposing themselves superior to
any that would encounter them in the field, and the horse being
such as might as reasonably undervalue those who were to op
pose them.
403. In this confidence, supply came too soon to the town,
and confusion to the King's forces : for sir Thomas Fayrefax,
upon his victory at Selby, out of Yorkshire brought a good body
of horse to Manchester ; and out of that place and the neighbour
places drew near three thousand foot, with which joining with
sir William Brereton, and some other scattered forces from
Staffordshire and Darby, who had been routed at Middlewich, he
advanced near Nantwich before he was looked for ; the Irish Jan. 25.
being so over-confident that he would not presume to attack
them, that, though they had advertisement of his motion, they
still believed that his utmost design was by alarums to force
them to rise from the town, and then to retire without fighting
with them. This made them keep their posts too long ; and when
they found it necessary to draw off, a little river, which divided
their forces, on a sudden thaw so much swelled above its banks
that the lord Byron, with the greatest part of the horse, and the
foot which lay on one side of the town, were severed from the
rest, and compelled to march four or five miles before he could
1 [Malbon's narrative in HaE's Hist, of Nantwich, p. 163.]

316 Fairfax routs the Irish army at Nantwich. [vii. 403.
1644 join with the other ; before which time the other part, being
charged by sir Thomas Fayrefax on the one side and from the
town on the other, were broken, and all the chief officers forced
to retire to a church called Acton church, where they were
caught as in a trap, and the horse, by reason of the deep ways
with the sudden thaw, and narrow lanes and great hedges, not
being able to relieve them, were compelled to yield themselves
prisoners to those whom they so much despised two hours
before. There were taken, (besides all the chief and considerable
officers of foot,) near fifteen hundred common soldiers, and all
their cannon and carriages : the lord Byron with his horse and
the rest of the foot retiring to Chester. There cannot be given
a better, or it may be another, reason for this defeat, besides the
providence of God, (which was the effect of the other,) than the
extreme contempt and disdain this body had of the enemy, and
the presumption in their own strength, courage, and conduct ;
which made them not enough think and rely upon Him who
alone disposes of the event of battles : though it must be ac
knowledged, most of the officers were persons of signal virtue and
sobriety, and, in their own natures, of great modesty and piety;
so hard it is to suppress those motions, which success, valour,
and even the conscience of the cause, is apt to produce in men
not overmuch inclined to presumption 1-
404. There was another result of council at Oxford, in this
winter season, which deserves to be mentioned ; and the rather,
because all the inducements thereunto were not generally under
stood, nor known to many, and therefore grew afterwards to be
the more censured. When the Scots were visibly armed, and
upon their march into England, which the King was the last ,
man in believing, and when there was no way to stop or divert
them, his majesty was the better inclined to hearken to some
1 [The following lines are here struck out in the MS. : —
' To give fresh life to those counties, according to a resolution formerly
April 3. taken, prince Kupert was sent general into those parts, the lord Byron
being his lieutenant general ; his highness having a desire to command a
body apart from the King's army, upon some private differences and dis
likes, which grew up in most places, to the disturbance of the public affairs.
And the Life is then resumed, at p. 260, for §§ 404--8.]

vii. 405.] The earl of 'Montrose offers his service to the King. 317
men of that nation, who had been long proposing a way to give 1644
them so much trouble at home that they should not be at leisure
to infest or trouble their neighbours ; to which propositions less
ear had been given out of too much confidence in persons upon
whose integrity or interest there had been too great a depend
ence. The earl of Mountrose, a young man of a great spirit and
of the most ancient nobility, had been one of the most principal
and active covenanters in the beginning of the troubles ;. but
soon after, upon his observation of the unwarrantable prosecu
tion of it, he gave over that party and his command in that
army ; and at the King's being in Scotland, after the Pacifica
tion, made full tender of his service to his majesty ; and was so
much in the jealousy and detestation of the violent party,
whereof the earl of Arguyle was the head, that there was no
cause or room left to doubt his sincerity to the King.
405. Upon the beginning of the Parliament at Edenborough,
and the manifestation that the duke Hambleton would give
no opposition to the proceedings thereof, (as hath been -men- §271.
tioned before,) he privately withdrew out of Scotland, and came
to the King, few days before the siege was raised from Gloster,
and gave his majesty the first clear information of the carriage
and behaviour of duke Hambleton, and of the posture that
kingdom would speedily be in, and of the resolutions that
would be there taken ; and made some smart propositions to the
King for the remedy, which there was not then time enough to
consult : but as soon as the King retired to Oxford, after the
battle of Newbery, and had fuller intelligence, by the resort of
others of that nobility who deserved to be trusted, how the
affairs stood in Scotland, and heard that duke Hambleton and
his brother the earl of Lanrick were upon their way as far as
York towards Oxford, his majesty was very willing to hearken
to the earl of Mountrose and the rest, what could be done to
prevent that mischieve that was like to ensue. But they all
unanimously declared that they durst make no propositions for
the advancement of the King's service, except they might be
first assured that no part of it should be communicated to duke
Hambleton, nor he suffered to have any part or share in any

31 8 The earl of Montrose and others inform the King [vn.-4.05.
1644 action that should depend upon it ; for that they were most as
sured that he had always betrayed his majesty, and that it had
been absolutely in his power to have prevented this new com
bination if he would resolutely have opposed it ; but if they
might be secure in that particular, they would make some
attempt under his majesty's commission in their own country, as
might possibly make some disturbance there. His majesty
thought he had much less reason to be confident of the duke
than formerly, for he had expressly failed of doing somewhat
which he had promised to do; yet he thought he had not
ground enough to withdraw all kind of trust from him, except
he did at the same time secure him from being able to do him
farther mischieve, towards which kind of severity he did not
think he had evidence enough. Besides, he had a very good
opinion of the earl of Lanrick, as a man of much more plainness
and sincerity than his brother ; as in truth he was. That he
might bring himself to a full resolution in this important affair,
his majesty appointed the Lord Keeper, his two Secretaries, the
Master of the Bolls, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to
examine the earl of Mountrose, the earl of Kynoole, the lord
Ogleby, and some others, upon oath, of all things they could
accuse duke Hambleton or his brother Lanrick of, and to take
their examinations in writing ; that so his majesty might dis
cover whether their errors proceeded from infidelity, and con
sider the better what course to observe in his proceedings with
them ; and this was carried with as much secrecy as an affair of
that nature could be, wherein so many were trusted.
406. Upon their examination there appeared too much cause
to conclude that the duke had not behaved himself with that
loyalty as he ought to have done. The earl of Mountrose,
whilst he had been of that party, had been privy to much of
his correspondence and intelligence. But most of the particulars
related to the time when he commanded the fleet' in the Frith,
and when he had many conferences with his mother, who was a
woman most passionate in those contrivances, and with others
of that party, and when he did nothing to hurt or incommodate
the enemy; all which was expressly pardoned by the Act of

vii. 407.] of the duke of Hamilton's disloyalty. 319
Oblivion, which had been passed with all formality and solemnity 1644
by the King in the Parliaments of both kingdoms : and so much
as to question what was so forgot might raise a greater fire than
that which they desired to quench ; though the knowing so
many particulars might be a good and proper caution. In the
late transactions of Scotland it was manifest that the duke had
absolutely opposed all overtures of force, and for seizing those
persons who could only be able to raise new troubles ; which
had been very easy to have done ; and that he had betrayed the
King, and all the Lords, in consenting to the meeting of the
Parliament, called and summoned against the King's express
pleasure and command, and without any pretence of law. And
to this the King's approbation and consent had been shewed to
them by the duke under the King's own hand ; which they durst
not disobey, though they foresaw this mischieve.
407. The case was this : The duke had given the King an
account, after he had himself promised the King that the Par
liament should never be assembled, (which his majesty abhorred,)
that though some few hot and passionate men desired to put
themselves in arms to stop both election of the members and
any meeting together in Parliament, yet that all the sober men,
who could bear any considerable part in the action, were clearly
of the opinion to take as much pains as they could to cause good
elections to be made, and then to appear themselves ; and that »
they had hope to have such a major part that they might more
advantageously dissolve the meeting as soon as they came
together than prevent it ; however, that then would be the fit
time to protest against it, and immediately to . put themselves
into arms, for which they would be well provided at the same
time ; and to this state he desired the King's positive direction.
And his majesty, in answer to it, had said, ' since it was the
opinion of all his friends, he would not command them to do
that which was against their judgment, but would attend the
success ; and was content that they should all appear in the
Parliament at its first meeting : ' and the duke had shewed the
lords those words in the King's letter, with which they acqui
esced, without knowing any thing of the ground of such his

320 Proceedings against Hamilton and Lanerick. [vii. 407.
1644 permission : whereas, in truth, there was no one person who
was of that opinion or had given that counsel, but had still de
tested that expedient when proposed.
408. Then the duke's carriage in the Parliament, and his
brother's, at their first coming together, appeared to be as is set
down before, by the testimony of those who were present ; and
the earl of Lanrick's applying the signet to the proclamation
for that rendezvous where the army was to be compounded, was
not thought capable of any excuse. And so the clear state of
the evidence, upon the depositions of the persons examined, was
presented to the King for his own determination. His majesty
had some thoughts of sending to the marquis of Newcastle to
stop the duke and his brother at York, and not suffer them to
come nearer; but whilst that was in deliberation, they both
Dec. 16. came to Oxford, and meant the same night to have kissed their
majesties' hands ; but as soon as they arrived, they received a
command from the King to keep their chambers, and had a
guard attended them. The King resolved to consult the whole
affair then with the Council-board, whereas hitherto the exami
nations had been taken by a committee, to the end that he
might resolve what way to proceed ; and to that end directed
that a transcript might be prepared of all the examinations at
large, and that the witnesses might be ready to appear before
» the board, if it should be thought necessary ; his majesty at that
time inclining to have both the lords present, and the deposi
tions read, and the witnesses confronted before them. But
Jan. 17. whilst this was preparing, the second morning after their com
ing to the town1, the earl of Lanrick, either having corrupted or
deluded the guard, found a means to escape, and by the assist
ance of one Cunningham (a gentleman of the Privy-chamber,
and of that nation) had horses ready, with which the earl and
his friend fled, and went directly to London, where he was
very well received. Hereupon the King informed the board of
the whole affair ; and because one of them was escaped, and the
matters against the other having been transacted in Scotland, _
and so, in many respects, it was not a season to proceed judic-
1 [A month afterwards.]

vii. 410.] Death of Pym : his character. 331
ially against him, it was thought enough for the present to 1644
prevent his doing farther mischieve by putting him under a
secure restraint : and so he was sent in custody to the castle at Jan. 3.
Bristol, and from thence to Exciter, and so to the castle at Pen
dennis in Cornwall ; where we shall leave him.
409 3. About this time the councils at Westminster lost a
principal supporter by the death of John Pimm, who died, with Dec. 8.
great torment and agony, of a disease unusual, and therefore the
more spoken of, morbus pediculosus, which rendered him an
object very loathsome to those who had been most delighted
with him. No man had more to answer for the miseries of the
kingdom, or had his hand or head deeper in their contrivance ;
and yet I believe they grew much higher even in his life than he
designed. He was a man of a private quality and condition of
life ; his education in the office of the Exchequer, where he had
been a clerk ; and his parts rather acquired by industry than
supplied by nature or adorned by art. He had been well
known in former Parliaments, and was one of those few who had
sat in many 2, the long intermission of Parliaments having worn
out most of those who had been acquainted with the rules and
orders observed in those conventions ; and this gave him some
reputation and reverence amongst those who were but now
introduced. 410. He had been most taken notice of for being concerned
and passionate in the jealousies of religion, and much troubled
with the countenance which had been given to those opinions
which had been imputed to Arminius ; and this give him great
authority and interest with those who were not pleased with
the government of the Church or the growing power of the
clergy ; yet himself industriously took care to be believed, and
he professed to be, very entire to the doctrine and discipline of
the Church of England. In the short Parliament before this he
spake much, and appeared to be the most leading man ; for, be
sides the exact knowledge of the forms and orders of that
council, which few men had, he had a very comely and grave
1 [§§ 409-14 from the Hist, pp. 525-7.]
2 [For Tavistock, from 1624.]
VOL. ni. T

32a Account and character of ' Pym. [vii. 410.
1644 way of expressing himself, with great volubility of words, natu
ral and proper ; and understood the temper and affections of the
kingdom as well as any man, and had observed the errors and
mistakes in government, and knew well how to make them ap
pear greater than they were. After the unhappy dissolution of
that Parliament he continued for the most part about London,
in conversation and great repute amongst those lords who were
most strangers, and believed most averse, from the Court, in
whom he improved all imaginable jealousies and discontents
towards the State ; and as soon as this Parliament was resolved
to be summoned, he was as diligent to procure such persons to
be elected as he knew to be most inclined to the way he meant
to take.
411. At the first opening of this Parliament he appeared
passionate and prepared against the earl of Strafford; and
though in private designing he was much governed by Mr.
Hambden and Mr. St. John, yet he seemed to all men to have
the greatest influence upon the House of Commons of any man ;
and, in truth, I think he was at that time, and for some months
after, the most popular man, and the most able to do hurt, that
hath lived in any time. Upon the first design of softening and
obliging the powerful persons in both Houses, when it was
resolved to make the earl of Bedford Lord High Treasurer of
England, the King likewise intended to make Mr. Pimm
Chancellor of the Exchequer; for which he received his
majesty's promise, and made a return of a suitable profession of
his service and devotion ; and thereupon, the other being no
secret, somewhat declined from that sharpness in the House
which was more popular than any man's person, and made
some overtures to provide for the glory and splendour of the
Crown ; in which he had so ill success that his interest and
reputation there visibly abated, and he found that he was much
better able to do hurt than good ; which wrought very much
upon him to melancholique, and complaint of the violence and
discomposure of the people's affections and inclinations. In the
end, whether upon the death of the earl of Bedford he despaired
of that preferment, or whether he was guilty of any thing which

vii. 418.] Account and character of Pym. 323
upon his conversion to the Court he thought might be discovered 1644
to his damage, or for pure want of courage, he suffered himself
to be carried by those who would not follow him, and so con
tinued in the head of those who made the most desperate
propositions. 412. In the prosecution of the earl of Strafford his carriage
and language was such that expressed much personal animosity,
and he was accused of having practised some arts in it not
worthy a good man ; as an Irishman of very mean and low con
dition afterwards acknowledged that, being brought to him as
an evidence of one part of the charge against the Lord Lieutenant,
in a particular of which a person of so vile quality would not be
reasonably thought a competent informer, Mr. Pimm gave him
money to buy him a satin suit and cloak, in which equipage he
appeared at the trial, and gave his evidence ; which, if true,
may make many other things which were confidently reported
afterwards of him to be believed. As, that he received a great
sum of money from the French ambassador, to hinder the trans
portation of those regiments of Ireland into Flanders, upon the
disbanding that army there, which had been prepared by the
earl of Strafford for the business of Scotland ; in which if his
majesty's directions and commands had not been diverted and
contradicted by the Houses, many do believe the rebellion in
Ireland had not happened.
413. Certain it is, that his power of doing shrewd turns was
extraordinary, and no less in doing good offices for particular
persons, and that he did preserve many from censure who were
under the severe displeasure of the Houses, and looked upon as
eminent delinquents ; and the quality of many of them made it
believed that he had sold that protection for valuable considei-
tion. From the time of his being accused of high treason by
the King, with the lord Kimbolton and the other members, he
never entertained thoughts of moderation, but always opposed
all overtures of peace and accommodation ; and when the earl
of Essex was disposed the last summer by those lords to an in
clination towards a treaty, as is before remembered, Mr. Pimm's
power and dexterity wholly changed him. and wrought him to
t 2

324 The Elector Palatine goes to London, [vii. 413.
1644 that temper which he afterwards swerved not from. He was
wonderfully solicitous for the Scots coming in to their assistance,
though his indisposition of body was so great that it might well
have made another impression upon his mind. During his sick
ness he was a very sad spectacle ; but none being admitted to
him who had not concurred with him, it is not known what his
Dec. 8. ]ast thoughts and considerations were. He died towards the
Dec. 13. end of December, before the Scots entered, and was buried with
wonderful pomp and magnificence in that place where the bones
of our English kings and princes are committed to their rest.
414. The arrival of the Prince Elector at London was no less
the discourse of all tongues than the death of Mr. Pymm. He
had been in England before the troubles, and received and
cherished by the King with great demonstration of grace and
kindness, and supplied with a pension of twelve thousand pounds
sterling yearly. When the King left London he attended his
majesty to York, and resided there with him till the differences
grew so high that his majesty found it necessary to resolve to
raise an army for his defence. Then, on the sudden, without
giving the King many days' notice of his resolution, the Prince
Elector left the Court, and, taking the opportunity of an
ordinary vessel, embarked himself for Holland, to the wonder of
all men, who thought it an unseasonable declaration of his fear
at least of the Parliament, and his desire of being well esteemed
by them when it was evident they esteemed not the King as
they should. And this was the more spoken of when it was after:
wards known that the Parliament expressed a good sense of his
having deserted the King, and imputed it to his conscience, that
he knew of some such designs of his majesty as he could not
comply with. At this time, after many loud discourses of his
coming, (which were derived to Oxford, as somewhat that might
have an influence upon his majesty's counsels, there being then
several whispers of some high proceedings they intended against
Aug. 30. the King,) he arrived at London, and was received with cere-
' ^164^ mory' l^ged in Whitehall, and order taken for the payment
Oct. 8. of that pension which had been formerly assigned to him by his
Oct! 24! majesty ; and a particular direction by both Houses, that he

VII. 416.] Besults of the defeats at Selby and Nantwich. 325
should be admitted to sit in the Assembly of Divines, where, 1944
after he had taken the Covenant, he was contented to be often
present : of all which the King took no other notice than some
times to express that he was sorry on his nephew's behalf that
he thought fit to declare such a compliance.
415 l- The defeat of colonel John Bellasis at Selby by sir
Thomas Fayrefax, and the destruction of all the Irish regiments
under the lord Byron, together with the terror of the Scots'
army, had so let loose all the King's enemies in the northern
parts, which were lately at the King's devotion, that his friends
were in great distress in all places before the season was ripe
to take the field. The earl of Derby, who had kept Lancashire
in reasonable subjection, and enclosed all the enemies of that
county within the town of Manchester, was no longer able to
continue that restraint, but forced to place himself at a greater
distance from them ; which was like in a short time to increase
the number of the rebels there. Newark, a very necessary
garrison in the county of Nottingham, [which] had not only
subjected that little county, the town of Nottingham only
excepted, (which was, upon the matter, confined within its own
walls,) but kept a great part of the large county of Lincoln under
contribution, was now reduced to so great straits by the forces
of that country, under the command of Heldrum a Scotchman,
with addition of others from Hull, that they were compelled to
beg relief from the King at Oxford ; whilst the marquis of
Newcastle had enough to do to keep the Scots at a bay, and to
put York in a condition to endure a siege if he should be forced
to continue within those walls.
416. In these straits, though it was yet the depth of winter,
and to provide the better for the security of Shrewsbury and
Chester and North Wales, all which were terrified with the
defeat of the lord Byron, the King found it necessary to send
prince Bupert, with a good body of chosen horse and dragoons,
and some foot, with direction, after he had visited Shrewsbury
and Chester, and used all possible endeavours to make new
levies, that he should attempt the relief of Newark : which
1 [§ 115 and part of § 416 are from the Life, p. 262.]

325 Newark is besieged, [vii. 416.
1644 being lost, would cut off all possible communication between
Oxford and York 1. In Newark, the garrison consisted most of
the gentry of the county and the inhabitants, ill supplied with
any thing requisite to a siege but courage and excellent affec
tions. The enemy intrenched themselves before the town, and
proceeded by approach ; conceiving they had time enough, and
not apprehending it possible to be disturbed : and indeed it was
not easy for the King to find a way for their relief. To send a
body from Oxford was very hazardous, and the enemy so strong,
as they would quickly follow ; so that there was no hope but
from Shrewsbury and Chester, where prince Bupert had given
so much life to those parts, and drawn so handsome a body
together, that the enemy found little advantage by their late
victory in the enlargement of their quarters. So that his high
ness resolved to try what he could do for Newark, and under-:
took it before he was ready for it, and thereby performed it.
For the enemy, who had always excellent intelligence, was so
confident that he had not a strength to attempt that work, that
1 [The Life continues thus : —
'And the prince had so good success in that attempt, and marched with
so great secrecy from Shrewsbury, that he was even upon the trenches of
the enemy before they had notice of his approach, which put them into so
great confusion ; and his horse charged them in that confusion before his
foot were within some miles of the place ; which was an action that
might very reasonably have disappointed and broken the whole design:
but the consternation was so great, which was increased by some dis
union amongst the officers of the, other side, that though they remained
still in possession of some strong redoubts, from whence they could not
have been beaten off, and from whence they could still continue the
siege, they treated, and agreed to rise and depart before the prince's body
was in view, that, when it appeared, did not make half the number of the
enemy : so great success doth often attend bold and resolute attempts,
though without reason or advice, which would never have approved this
enterprise.' The remainder of the section above is from the Hist., p. 527, where the
following cancelled lines preceded the passage : —
'The year ended with an action very prosperous to the King. It is
remembered that upon the marquis of Newcastle's advancing towards the
Scots, and the success of sir Thomas Fayrefax before Nantwitch, the enemy
increased very much their strength in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and those
counties, insomuch as sir John Meldrum, with a good body of horse and
foot out of Lincolnshire and the associated counties, sat down before
Newark, where the garrison,' &c]

vii. 416.] but relieved by Prince Rupert. 327
he was within six miles of them before they believed he thought 1644
of them ; and charging and routing some of their horse, pur
sued them with that expedition that he besieged them in their
own intrenchment with his horse before his foot came within
four miles. And in that consternation, they, concluding that he
must have a vast power and strength to bring them into those
straits, with a number inferior to the enemy, and utterly unac
commodated for an action of time, he brought them to accept of
leave to depart, that is to disband, without their arms or any
carriage or baggage. And so he relieved Newark, and took March 22.
above four thousand arms, eleven pieces of brass cannon, two
mortar pieces, and above fifty barrels of powder ; which was a
victory as prodigious as any happened throughout the war.
And with this prosperous action, which was performed on the
22 nd of March, we shall conclude the transactions of this
year '. 1 [Dated, 'Castle Elizabeth, 8 of March, 1647.']

THE END OF THE SEVENTH BOOK.

BOOK VIII.
1644 1 . As the winter had been very unprosperons and unsuccessful
to the King, in the diminution and loss of those forces upon
which he chiefly depended to sustain the power of the enemy
the year ensuing, so the spring entered with no better presage.
After both armies had entered into their winter quarters, to
refresh themselves after so much fatigue \ the great preparation
that was made at London, and the fame of sending sir William
Waller into the west, put the King upon the resolution of
having such a body in his way as might give him interruption,
without prince Morrice's being disturbed in his siege of Plim
moth ; which was not thought to be able to make long resist
ance. To this purpose the lord Hopton was appointed to
command an army apart, to be levied out of his garrison of
Bristol and those western counties adjacent newly reduced, and
where his reputation and interest was very great, and by which
he had in a short time raised a pretty body of foot and horse ;
the which receiving an addition of two very good regiments
(though not many in number) out of Munster, under the
command of sir Charles Vavasour and sir John Paulett 2, and a
good troop of horse under the command of captain Bridges, all
which had been transported, according to former orders, out of
Ireland to Bristol since the cessation, the lord Hopton advanced
to -Salisbury, and shortly after to Winchester; whither sir
John Berkely brought him two regiments more of foot, raised
by him in Devonshire ; so that he had in all s, at the least,
1 [Two pages are here inserted which were originally in book vii, but
were there marked for transposition ; Hist., pp. 517-8.]
2 [This name is substituted in the MS. for ' Sir WiE. St. Leger.']
3 [Clarendon has here written in the margin, ' Conclude this when the
lord Hopton's papers arryve,' and what follows is written with darker
ink. No. 1738, art. 6 among the Clarendon MSS. contains an account of
Hopton's proceedings in Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex up to the battle of
Alresford, but unfortunately no dates are given. There is no mention
there of Salisbury, but Hopton goes to Winchester from a rendezvous at
Amesbury.]

Lord Hopton occupies Winchester. 329
three thousand foot, and about fifteen hundred horse ; which, in 1844
so good a post as Winchester was, would in a short time have
grown to a pretty army, and was at present strong enough to
have stopped or attended Waller in his western expedition ;
nor did he expect to have found such an obstruction in his
way, and therefore, when he was upon his march, and was
informed of the lord Hopton's being at Winchester with such a
strength, he retired to Farnham, and quartered there till he
gave his masters an account that he wanted other supplies.
2. It was a general misfortune and miscomputation of that time,
that the party in all places which wished well to the King,
which consisted of most of the gentry in most counties, and for
the present were awed and kept under by the militia and other
committees of Parliament, had so good an opinion of their own
reputation and interest that they believed they were able, upon
the assistance of few troops, to suppress their neighbours who
were of the other party, and who, upon the advantage of the
power they were possessed of, exercised their authority over
them with great rigour and insolence. And so the lord
Hopton was no sooner possessed of Winchester, where sir
William Ogle had likewise seized upon the castle for the King Oct.
and put it into a tenable condition, than the gentlemen of
Sussex and of the adjacent parts of Hampshire sent privately to
him, that, if he would advance into their country, they would
undertake in a short time to make great levies of men for the
recruit of his army, and likewise to possess themselves of such
places as they would be well able to defend, and thereby keep
that part of the country in the King's obedience.
3. Sir Edward Ford, a gentleman of a good family and fair
fortune in Sussex, had then a regiment of horse in the lord
Hopton's troops ; and the King had made him high shrief of
Sussex that year, to the end that, if there were occasion, he
might the better make impression upon that county. He had
with him in his regiment many of the gentlemen of that country
of good quality : and they all besought the lord Hopton, that
he would, since Waller was not like to advance, at least send
some troops into those parts, to give a little countenance to the

330 Hopton is invited into Sussex, [vm. 3.
1644 levies they would be well able to make ; assuring him, that
they would, in the first place, seize upon Arrundell castle,
which, standing upon the sea, would yield great advantage to
the King's service, and keep that rich corner of the country at
his majesty's devotion. These, and many other, specious under
takings disposed the lord Hopton, who had an extraordinary
appetite to engage Waller in a battle upon old accounts, to wish
himself at liberty to comply with those gentlemen's desires : of
all which he gave such an account to the King as made it
appear that he liked the design, and thought it practicable if
he had an addition of a regiment or two of foot under good
officers ; for that quarter of Sussex which he meant to visit was
a fast and enclosed country, and Arrundell castle had a garrison
in it, though not numerous or well provided, as being without
apprehension of an enemy.
4. It was about Christmas, and the King had no farther
design for the winter than to keep Waller from visiting and
disturbing the west, and to recruit his army to such a degree
as to be able to take the field early, which he knew the rebels
resolved to do : yet the good post the lord Hopton was already
possessed of at Winchester, and these positive undertakings
from Sussex, wrought upon many to think that this oppor
tunity should not be lost. The King had great assurance of
the general good affections of the county of Kent, insomuch as
the people had with difficulty been restrained from making
some attempt upon the confidence of their own strength ; and if
there could be now such a foundation laid that there might be
a conjunction between that and Sussex, it might produce an
association little inferior to that of the southern counties under
the earl of Manchester, and might by the spring be argument of
that distraction to the Parliament that they might not well
know to what part to dispose their armies, and the King might
apply his own to that part and purpose as should seem most
reasonable to him.
5. These and other reasons prevailed, and the King gave the
lord Hopton order to prosecute his design upon Sussex in such
manner as he thought fit, provided that he was well assured

vm. e.] where he besieges Arundel castle. 331
that Waller should not make advantage upon that enterprise to 1644
find the way open to him to march into the west. And that he
might be the better able to prosecute the one, and to provide
for the other, sir Jacob Ashly was likewise sent to him from
Beading, with a thousand commanded men of that garrison,
Wallingford, and of Oxford : which supply no sooner arrived at
Winchester but the lord Hopton resolved to visit Waller's
quarters, if it were possible to engage him ; however, that he
might judge by the posture he was in, whether he were like to
pursue his purpose for the west. Waller was then quartered
at Farnham and the villages adjacent, from whence he drew out
his men, and faced the enemy as if he intended to fight, but,
after some light skirmishes for a day or two, in which he
always received loss, he retired himself into the castle of
Farnham, a place of great strength, and drew his army into the
town ; and within three or four days went himself to London,
more effectually to solicit recruits than his letters had been
able to do.
6. When the lord Hopton saw that he could attempt no
farther upon the troops, and was fully assured that sir William
Waller was himself gone to London, he concluded that it was a
good time to comply with the importunity of the gentlemen of
Sussex, and marched thither with such a body of horse and foot
as he thought competent for the service. And the exceeding
hard frost made his march more easy through those deep dirty
ways than better weather would have done ; and he came to Dec. 6.
Arrundell before they had any imagination that he had that
place in his prospect. The place in its situation was very
strong, and though the fortifications were npt regular but of the
old fashion, yet the walls were very strong, and the graff broad
and deep ; and though the garrison was not numerous enough
to have defended all the large circuit against a powerful army,
yet it was strong enough in all respects to have defied all
assaults, and might, without putting themselves to any trouble,
[have] been very secure against all the attempts of those
without. But the provisions of victual or ammunition [were] 1
1 [' was,' MS.]

332 Arundel castle is taken and garrisoned, [vm. e.
1644 not sufficient to have endured any long, restraint : and the
officer who commanded had not been accustomed to the pros
pect of an enemy. And so upon an easy and short summons,
that threatened his obstinacy with a very rigorous chastisement
if he should defer the giving it up, either from the effect of his
own fear and want of courage or from the good inclinations of
Dec. 9. some of the soldiers the castle was surrendered the third day;
and appeared to be a place more worth the keeping, and
capable in a short time to be made secure against a good army.
7. The lord Hopton, after he had stayed there five or six
days, and caused provisions of all kinds to be brought in, com
mitted the command and government thereof to sir Edward
Ford, high shrief of the county, with a garrison of above two
hundred men, besides many good officers who desired or were
very willing to stay, as a place very favourable for the making
levies of men, which they all intended. And it may be the
more remained there out of the weariness and fatigue of their
late marches, and that they might spend the remainder of the
winter with better accommodation.
8. The news of sir William Waller's return to Farnham, with
strong recruits of horse and foot, made it necessary to the lord
Hopton to leave Arrundell castle before he had put it into the
good posture he intended, and without well considering the
mixture of the men he left there, whereof many were of insolent
and pragmatical natures, not like to conform themselves to those
strict rules as the condition of the place required, or to use that
industry as the exigence they were like to be in made necessary.
The principal thing he recommended and enjoined to them was,
in the first place and setting all other things aside, to draw in
store of provision of all kinds, both for the numbers they were
already and for such as would probably in a short time be added to
them ; all which, from the great plenty that country then abounded
in, was very easy to have been done ; and if it had been done,
that place would have remained long such a thorn in the side of
the Parliament as would have rendered their state very un
easy to them, at least have interrupted the current of their
prosperity.

vm. 9.] Strong reinforcements sent from London to Waller. 333
9. Waller's journey to London answered his expectation, and 1644
his presence had an extraordinary operation to procure any pe0. 2.
thing desired. He reported the lord Hopton's forces to be Dec. 3.
much greater than they were, that his own might be made pro
portionable to encounter them ; and the quick progress he had
made in Sussex, and his taking Arrundell castle, made them
thought to be greater than he reported them to be. His so
easily possessing himself of a place of that strength, which they
supposed to have been impregnable, and in a county where the
King had before no footing, awakened all their jealousies and
apprehensions of the affections of Kent and all other places, and
looked like a land-flood, that might roll they knew not how far;
so that there needed no importunate solicitation to provide a
remedy against this growing evil. The ordinary method they
used for recruiting their armies by levies of volunteers, and
persuading the prentices of the city to become soldiers, upon the
privilege they gave them for their freedom for the time they
fought for them, as if they had remained in their masters'
service, was now too dull and lazy an expedient to resist this
torrent ; they therefore resort to their inexhaustible magazine of
men, their devoted city, to whose affections the person of sir
William Waller was most acceptable, and persuaded them
immediately to cause two of their strongest regiments of Dec. 4, 5.
auxiliaries to march out of the line to Farnham ; which they
consented to. And then they appointed the earl of Essex to
give his orders to sir William Balfore, with one thousand of
the horse of his army, likewise to observe Waller's commands ;
who with this great addition of forces made haste to his other
troops at Farnham, where he scarce rested, but, after he had
informed himself how the lord Hopton's army lay quartered,
which was at too great a distance from each other, he marched,
according to his custom in those occasions, (as beating up of
quarters was his master-piece,) all the night, and by the break
of day encompassed a great village called Alton, where a troop Dec. 13.
or two of horse and a regiment of foot of the King's lay in too
much security. However, the horse took the alarum quickly,
and for the most part made their escape to Winchester, the

334 Waller retakes Arundel castle, [vm. 8.
1644 head quarter, whither the lord Hopton was returned but the
night before from Arrundell. Colonel Boles, who commanded
his own regiment of foot there, consisting of about five hundred
men, which had been drawn out of the garrison of Wallingford,
when he found himself encompassed by the enemy's army of
horse and foot, saw he could not defend himself or make other
resistance than by retiring with his men into the church, which
he hoped to maintain for so many hours that relief might be
sent to him, but he had not time to barricado the doors ; so
that the enemy entered almost as soon, and after a short resist
ance, in which many were killed, the soldiers, overpowered,
threw down their arms and asked quarter ; which was likewise
offered to the colonel, who refused it, and valiantly defended
him[self,] till, with the death of two or three of the assailants.
he was killed in the place ; his enemies giving him a testimony
of great courage and resolution.
10. Waller knew well the impression the loss of this very
good regiment would make upon the lord Hopton's forces, and
that the report which the troops of horse which had escaped
would make, would add nothing of courage to their fellows ; so
that there was no probability that they would make haste to
advance ; and therefore, with wonderful celerity, the hard frost
Dec. 19. continuing, he marched with all his army to Arrundell castle,
where he found that garrison as unprovided as he could wish,
and, instead of increasing their magazine of victual by supplies
from the country, they had spent much of that store which the
lord Hopton had provided for. The governor was a man of
honesty and courage, but unacquainted with that affair, having
no other experience in war than what he had learned since these
troubles. The officers were many, without command, amongst
whom one colonel Bamford, an Irishman, though he called him
self Bamfeild, was one ; who, being a man of wit and parts,
applied all his faculties to improve the faction to which they
were all naturally inclined, with a hope to make himself
governor. In this distraction Waller found them, and, by some
of the soldiers running out to him, he found means to send in
again to them; and so increased their faction and animosity

vm. ia.] where Chillingworth is taken prisoner. 335
against one another, that, after he had kept them waking with 1644
continual alarums three or four days, near half the men being
sick and unable to do duty, rather than they would trust each
other longer they gave the place and themselves up as prisoners Jan. 6.
of war upon quarter ; the place being able to have defended
itself against all that power for a much longer time. Here
the learned and eminent Mr. Chillingworth was taken prisoner,
who, out of kindness and respect to the lord Hopton, had
accompanied him in that march, and, being indisposed by the
terrible coldness of the season, chose to repose himself in that
garrison till the weather should mend. As soon as his person
was known, which would have drawn reverence from any noble
enemy, the clergy that attended that army prosecuted him with
all the inhumanity imaginable, so that, by their barbarous
usage, he died within few days 1 ; to the grief of all who knew
him, and of many who knew him not but by his book and the
reputation he had with learned men.
11. The lord Hopton sustained the loss of this regiment
with extraordinary trouble of mind, and as a wound that would
bleed inward ; and therefore was the more inflamed with desire
of a battle with Waller, to make even all accounts, and made
what haste he could, upon the first advertisement, to have
redeemed that misfortune ; and hoped to have time enough to
have relieved Arrundell castle, which he never suspected would
so tamely have given themselves Up ; but that hope quickly
vanished upon the undoubted intelligence of that surrender,
and the news that Waller was returned with a full resolution
to prosecute his design upon the west : to which, besides the
encouragements of his two late victories, (with which he was
marvellously elated,) he was in some degree necessitated, out
of apprehension that the horse, which belonged to the earl of
Essex' army, might be speedily recalled, and the time would be
quickly expired that he had promised his auxiliary regiments of
London that he would dismiss them.
12. Upon the news the King received of the great supply
1 [In the bishop's palace at Chichester, and was buried in the cathedral-
cloisters 25 Jan.]

33^ The earl of Brentford joims Hopton at Winchester, [vin.12.
1644 the Parliament had so suddenly sent to Waller, both from the
earl of Essex his army and from the city, he thought it neces
sary to send such an addition of foot as he could draw out of
Oxford and the neighbour garrisons. And the earl of Brayn-
ford, general of the army, who had a fast friendship with the
lord Hopton, expressing a good inclination to make him a visit
rather than to sit still in his winter quarters, his majesty was
very glad, and cherished the disposition, and was desirous
that so great an officer might be present in an army upon which
so much of his hopes depended, and which did not abound with
officers of great experience. And so the general, with such
volunteers as were ready to accompany him, went to Win
chester ; where he found the lord Hopton in agony for the loss
of the regiment of foot at Alton, and confounded with the unex
pected assurance of the giving up of Arrundell castle. He was
exceedingly revived with the presence of the general, and desired
to receive his orders, and that he would take upon him the
absolute command of the troops ; which he as positively refused
to do, only offered to keep him company in all expeditions, and
to give him the best assistance he was able ; which the lord
Hopton was compelled to be contented with : nor could there
be a greater union and consent between two friends, the general
being ready to give his advice upon all particulars, and the
other doing nothing without communication with him, and then
conforming to his opinion and giving orders accordingly.
1 3. As soon as they were informed that Waller had drawn
all his troops together about Farnham, and meant to march
towards them, they cheerfully embraced the occasion, and went
March 29. to meet him; and about Al[re]sford, near the midway between
Winchester and Farnham, they came to know how near they
were to each other ; and being in view, chose the ground upon
which they meant the battle should be fought ; of which Waller,
being first there, got the advantage for the drawing up his
horse. The King's army consisted of about five thousand foot
and three thousand horse ; and Waller, with sir William Bal-
fore, exceeded in horse, but were upon the matter equal in foot,
with this only advantage, that both horse and foot were, as

vm. is.] The battle of Alresford. $$>]
they were always, much better armed, no man wanting any 1644
weapon offensive or defensive that was proper for him; and
sir Arthur Haslerigg's regiment of cuirassiers called the Lobsters,
were so formidable, that the King's naked and unarmed troops
(amongst which few were better armed than with swords) could
not bear their impression.
14. The King's horse never behaved themselves so ill as that
day. For the main body of them, after they had sustained one
fierce charge, wheeled about to an unreasonable distance, and left
their principal officers to shift for themselves. The foot behaved
themselves very gallantly, and had not only the better of the
other foot, but bore two or three charges from the horse with
notable courage and without being broken : whilst those horse
which stood upon the field, and should have assisted, them,
could be persuaded but to stand. When the evening drew near,
for the approach whereof neither party was sorry, the lord
Hopton thought it necessary to leave the field ; and drawing
off his men, and carrying with him many of the wounded, he
retired with all his cannon and ammunition, (whereof he lost
none,) that night to Reading : the enemy being so shattered
that they had no mind to pursue ; only Waller himself made
haste to Winchester, where he thought upon this success to have
been immediately admitted into that castle, which was his own
inheritance ' ; but he found that too well defended, and so re
turned with taking revenge upon the city, by plundering it
with all the insolence and rapine imaginable.
15. There could not then be any other estimate made of the
loss Waller sustained than by the not pursuing the visible
advantage he had, and by the utter refusal of the auxiliary
regiments of London and Kent to march farther ; and within
three or four days they left him and returned to their habi
tations, with great lamentation of their friends who were miss
ing. On the King's side, besides common men and many good
officers, there fell that day the lord John Steward, brother to
the duke of Richmond, and general of the horse of that army a,
1 [It had been granted to him May 23, 1638. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1637-8,
p. 447.] 2 [See note, p. 313.]
VOL. Ill, Z

338 Lord J. Stewart and Sir J. Smith are killed. [Vlil.15.
1644 and sir John Smith, brother to the lord Carrington, and com
missary general of the horse. They were both brought off the
field by the few horse who stayed with them and did their duty,
and carried to Beading, and the next day to Abington, that they
might be nearer to the assistance of the best remedies by phy
sicians and surgeons ; but they lived only to the second dressing
of their wounds, which were very many upon either of them.
16. The former was a young man of extraordinary hope,
little more than one and twenty years of age ; who, being of a
more choleric and rough nature than the other branches of that
illustrious and princely family, was not delighted with the
softnesses of the Court, but had dedicated himself to the profes
sion of arms when he did not think the scene should have been
in his own country. His courage was so signal that day that
too much could not be expected from it if he had outlived it,
and he was so generally beloved that he could not but be very
generally lamented. The other, sir John Smith, had been
trained up from his youth in the war of Flanders, being of an
ancient Catholic family ; and had long the reputation of one
of the best officers of horse. As soon as the first troubles
appeared in Scotland he betook himself to the service of his
own prince, and, from the beginning of the war to his own end
performed many signal actions of courage. And the death of
these two eminent officers made the names of many who perished
that day the less inquired into and mentioned.
17. This battle was fought the 29th day of March; which
was a very doleful entering into the beginning of the year
1644, and broke all the measures, and altered the whole scheme
of the King's counsels : for whereas before he hoped to have
entered the field early, and to have acted an offensive part, he
now discerned he was wholly to be • upon the defensive part ;
and that was like to be a very hard part too. For he found
within very few days after that he was not only deprived of the
men he had lost at Al[re]sford, but that he was not to expect
any recruit of his army by a conjunction with prince Bupert ;
who he believed would have returned in time, with a strong
body, after his great success at Newark, both of horse and foot,

VIII. 18.] Bad prospect of the King's affairs. 339
from Shropshire, Cheshire, and North Wales : all which hopes 1644
were soon blasted. For 1 the prince had scarce put the garrison
of Newark in order, and provided it to endure another attack,
which they might have reasonably expected upon his highness's
departure, (though indeed the shame of the defeat, and the
rage amongst the officers and soldiers when they saw by what a
handful of men they had been terrified and subdued, broke and
dissolved that whole body within few days,) when he received
great instance from the earl of Darby to come into Lancashire
to relieve him, who was already besieged in his own strong
house at Latham by a strong body, with whom he was not able to
contend. And to dispose the prince the more willingly to under
take bis relief, the earl made ample promises that, within so
many days after the siege should be raised with any defeat
to the enemy, he would advance his highness's levies with two
thousand men, and supply him with a considerable sum of
money. And the earl had likewise, by an express, made the
same instance to the King at Oxford, from whence his majesty
sent his permission and approbation to the prince before his
departure from Newark, hoping still that his highness would
be able to despatch that service in Lancashire, and with
the more notable recruits of men in those parts be able to
return to Oxford by the time that it would be necessary for his
majesty to take the field. But within a short time he was dis
appointed of that expectation ; for before the prince could finish
his expedition into Lancashire, (which he did with wonderful
gallantry, raised the siege at Latham with a great execution May 27.
upon the enemy, and took two or three of their garrisons obsti
nately defended, and therefore with the greater slaughter,) the
marquis of Newcastle was compelled to retire with his whole April 19.
army within the walls of York. He had been well able to
have defended himself against the numerous army of the Scots,
and would have' been glad to have been engaged with them ;
but he found he had a worse enemy to deal with.
18. From the time that the ruling party of the Parliament
discerned that their general the earl of Essex would never
1 [The text is here taken up from the Life, p. 262.]
Z 2

340 Association of the eastern counties. [vm. is.
1644 serve their turn or comply with all their desires, they resolved
to have another army apart, that should be more at their devo
tion ; and in the forming whereof they would be sure to choose
such officers as would probably not only observe their orders but
have the same inclinations with them. Their pretence was,
that there were so many disaffected persons of the nobility
and principal gentry in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk,
that, if great care was not taken to prevent it, there might
a body start up there for the King, which, upon the success
of the marquis of Newcastle, whose arms then reached into Lin
colnshire, might grow very formidable. For prevention whereof
July 3. they had formed an association between Essex, (a county, upon
the influence of the earl of Warwick and the power of his clergy,
they most confided in,) Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedford,
and Huntington ; in all which they had many persons of whose
entire affections they were well assured, and, in most of them there
were few considerable persons who wished them ill. Of this asso- '
Aug. 10. ciation they had made the earl of Manchester general, to be
subject only to their own commands, and independent upon the
earl of Essex. And under him they chose Oliver Cromwell to
command their horse ; and many other officers who never intended
to be subject again to the King, and avowed other principles in
conscience and religion than had been before publicly declared.
19. And to this general they gave order to reside within that
association, and to make levies of men sufficient to keep those
counties in obedience : for at first they pretended no more. But
in the secret treaty made by sir- H. Vane with the Scots, they
were bound, as soon as the Scots should enter into Yorkshire
with their army, that a body of English horse, foot, and cannon,
should be ready to assist them, commanded by their own
officers, as a body apart : the Scots not then trusting their own
great numbers as equal to fight with the English. And from
that time they were much more careful to raise, and liberally
supply and provide for, that army under the earl of Manchester
than for the other under the earl of Essex. And now, according
to their agreement, upon the Scots' first entrance into York
shire, the earl of Manchester had likewise order to march with

vm. 21.] The marquis of Newcastle retires to York. 341
his whole body thither ; having, for the most part, a committee 1644
of the Parliament, (whereof sir Harry Vane was one,) with
him, as there was another committee of the Scots' Parliament
always in that army ; there being now the committees of both
kingdoms residing at London for the carrying on the war.
20. The marquis of Newcastle, being thus pressed on both sides,
was necessitated to draw all his army of foot and cannon into
York, with some troops of horse ; and sent the body of his
horse, under the command of general Goring, to remain in those
places he should find most convenient, and from whence he
might best infest the enemy ; and then sent an express to the -
King to inform him of the condition he was in, and to let him
know that he doubted not to defend himself in that post for the
term of six weeks or two months, in which time he hoped his
majesty would find some Way to relieve him. And upon receipt
of this letter the King sent orders to prince Rupert that, as
soon as he had relieved the lord Darby and recruited and
refreshed his army, he should march with what expedition he
could to relieve York, where being joined with the marquis of
Newcastle's army there was hope they might fight the enemy :
and his majesty would put himself into as good a posture as he
could to take the field, without expecting the prince.
21. All these ill accidents falling out successively in the
winter, the King's condition appeared very sad, and which was
in the more disorder by the Queen's being now with child,
which wrought upon her majesty's mind very much, and dis
posed her to so many fears and apprehensions of her safety that
she was very uneasy to herself. She heard every day of the
great forces raised, and in readiness, by the Parliament, much
greater than they yet ever had, (which was very true,) and that
they resolved as soon as the season was ripe, which was at
hand, to march all to Oxford. She could not endure to think of
being besieged there, and, in conclusion, resolved not to stay
there but to go into the west ; from whenoe, in any distress, she
might be able to embark for France. Though there seemed
reasons enough to dissuade her from that inclination, and his
majesty heartily wished that she could be diverted, yet the per-

342 The Queen goes from Oxford to Exeter, [vm. 21.

1644 plexity of her mind was so great, and her fears so vehement,
both improved by her indisposition of health, that all civility
and reason obliged every body to submit. So about the begin-
ril 27. ning of April she began her. journey from Oxford to the west,
and by moderate journeys came well to Exciter, where she
intended to stay till she was disburdened ; for she was within
little more than one month then of her time ; and being in a
place out of the reach of any alarum, she recovered her spirits
to a reasonable convalescence.
22 \ It was now about the middle of April, when it con
cerned the King with all possible sagacity to foresee what
probably the Parliament meant to attempt with those vast
numbers of men which they every day levied ; and thereupon
to conclude what it would be possible for his majesty to do
in those exigencies to which he was like to be reduced. The
intelligence that Waller was still designed for the western
expedition made the King appoint his whole army to be drawn
together to a rendezvous at Marlborough ; where himself was
ril 10. present, and, to his great satisfaction, found the body to consist,
after all the losses and misadventures, of no less than six
thousand foot and above four thousand horse. There that body
remained for some weeks, to watch and intend Waller's motion,
and to fight with him as soon as was possible. Many things
were there consulted for the future, and the quitting Reading and
some other garrisons proposed, for the increasing the field forces ;
yet nothing was positively resolved, but to expect clearer evidence
what the Parliament armies would dispose themselves to do.
:E 11. 23. So the King returned to Oxford, where, upon the desire
of the members of Parliament who had been called thither, and
1 [From this point twenty-four pages of the original MS. are lost. The
MS. of the Hist, is for the remainder of the whole work in smaE discon
nected portions, with separate pagination for each book, and the existing
portion of book vm begins on a page numbered 25, at the initial words of
§ 134, ' Since there will be often occasion,' &c The intervening text is
chiefly taken from the transcript made for the first printed edition, and
consequently it is impossible to say what verbal variations there may be
from the original in the part thus taken ; but occasional passages are found
to be extracted from the MS. of the Life. The lost portions are marked
by the line in the margin.]

vm. 26.] The parliament at Oxford is prorogued.

343

done all the service they could for the King, they were for the
present dismissed, that they might, in their several counties,
satisfy the people of the King's importunate desire of peace,
but how insolently it had been rejected by the Parliament, and
thereupon induce them to contribute all they could to his
majesty's assistance. They were to meet there again in the
month of October following.
24. Then, that his majesty might draw most of the soldiers
of that garrison with him out of Oxford when he should take
the field, that city was persuaded to complete the regiment they
had begun to form, under the command of a colonel whom the
King had recommended to them ; which they did raise to the
number of a thousand men. There were likewise two other
regiments raised of gentlemen and their servants, and of the
scholars of the several colleges and halls of the university ; all
which regiments did duty there punctually, from the time that
the King went into the field till he returned again to Oxford ;
and all the lords declared that upon any emergent occasion
they would mount their servants upon their horses, to make a
good troop for a sudden service ; which they made good ; and
thereby, that summer, performed two or three very considerable
and important actions.
25. By this time there was reason to believe, by all the intel
ligence that could be procured, and by the change of his quarters,
that Waller had laid aside his western march, at least that it
was suspended ; and that, on the contrary, all endeavours were
used to recruit both his and the earl of Essex's army with all
possible expedition ; and that neither of them should move
upon any action till they should be both complete in greater
numbers than either of them had yet marched with. Hereupon,
the King's army removed from Marlborough to Newbery ;
where they remained near a month, that they might be in
a readiness to attend the motion of the enemy, and to assist the
garrisons of Reading or Wallingford ; or to draw out either, as
there should be occasion.
26. There had been several deliberations in the council of
war, and always very different opinions, what should be done

344

Opinions about the royal garrisons. [vm. 26.

with the garrisons when the King should take the field ; and
the King himself was irresolute npon those debates what to do.
He communicated the several reasons to prince Rupert by letters,
requiring his advice ; who, after he had returned answers and
received replies, made a hasty journey to Oxford from Chester,
to wait upon his majesty. And it was then positively re
solved that the garrisons of Oxford, Wallingford, Abington,
Reading, and Banbury, should be reinforced and strengthened
with all the foot; that a good body of horse should remain
about Oxford, and the rest should be sent into the west to
prince Morrice. If this counsel had been pursued steadily and
resolutely, it might probably have been attended with good
success. Both armies of the enemy would have been puzzled
what to have done, and either of them would have been un
willing to have engaged in a siege against any place so well
provided and resolved ; and it would have been equally un-
counsellable to have marched to any distance, and have left such
an enemy at their backs, that could so easily and quiekly have
united, and incommoded any march they could have made.
27. But as it was even impossible to have administered such
advice to the King, in the strait he was in, which being pur
sued might not have proved inconvenient, so it was the unhappy
temper of those who were called to those councils that resolu
tions taken upon full debate were seldom prosecuted with equal
resolution and steadiness, but changed upon new shorter debates,
and upon objections which had been answered before : some
men being in their natures irresolute and inconstant, and full
of objections, even after all was determined according to their
own proposals ; others being positive, and not to be altered
from what they had once declared, how unreasonable 1 soever,
or what alterations soever there were in the affairs. And the
King himself frequently considered more the person who spoke,
as he was in his grace or his prejudice, than the counsel itself
that was given ; and always suspected, at least trusted less to,
his own judgment, than he ought to have done; which rarely
deceived him so much as that of other men.
1 [Altered in the transcript to ' unreasonably.*]

vm. 30.] The King's counsellors in martial affairs. 345
28. The persons with whom he only consulted in his martial
affairs, and how to carry on the war, were (besides prince
Rupert, who was at this time absent) the general, who was
made earl of Brentford ; the lord Wilmott, who was general of the
horse ; the lord Hopton, who usually commanded an army apart,
and was not often with the King's army, but now present ;
sir Jacob Ashly l, who was major-general of the army ; the
lord Digby, who was Secretary of State ; and sir John Cul-
peper, Master of the Rolls ; for none of the Privy Council,
those two only excepted, were called to those consultations ;
though some of them were still advised with, for the better
execution or prosecution of what was then and there resolved.
29. The general, though, he had been without doubt a very
good officer, and had great experience, and was still a man of
unquestionable courage and integrity, yet he was now much
decayed in his parts, and, with the long continued custom of
immoderate drinking, dozed in his understanding, which had
been never quick and vigorous ; he having been always illite
rate to the greatest degree that can be imagined. He was
now become very deaf, yet often pretended not to have heard
what he did not then contradict, and thought fit afterwards to
disclaim. He was a man of few words, and of great compli
ance, and usually delivered that as his opinion which he foresaw
would be grateful to the King.
30. Wilmott was a man of a Tiaughty and ambitious nature,
of a pleasant wit, and an ill understanding, as never consider
ing above one thing at once ; but he considered that one thing
so impatiently that he would not admit any thing else to be
worth any consideration. He had from the beginning of the
war been very averse to any advice of the Privy Council, and
thought fit that the King's affairs (which depended upon the
success of the war) should entirely be governed and conducted
by the soldiers and men of war, and that no other counsellors
should have any credit with his majesty. Whilst prince Rupert
was present, his exceeding great prejudice, or rather personal
animosity, against him, made any thing that Wilmott said or
1 [Altered in the transcript here and elsewhere to ' Astley.']

346 Characters of lord Wilmot, lord Hopton, [vm. 30.
proposed enough slighted and contradicted : and the King him
self, upon some former account and observation, was far from
any indulgence to his person or esteem of his parts. But now,
by the prince's absence, and his being the second man in the
army, and the contempt he had of the old general, who was
there the only officer above him, he grew marvellously elated,
and looked upon himself as one whose advice ought to be fol
lowed and submitted to in all things. He had by his excessive
good fellowship (in every part whereof he excelled, and was
grateful to all the company,) made himself so popular with all
the officers of the army, especially of the horse, that he had in
truth a very great interest ; which he desired might appear to
the King, that he might have the more interest in him. He
was positive in all his advices in council, and bore contra
diction very impatiently ; and because he was most contradicted
by the two privy-councillors, the Secretary and the Master of the
Rolls, who he saw had the greatest influence upon the King, he
used all the artifices he could to render them unacceptable and
suspected to the officers of the army, by telling them what they
bad said in council, which he thought would render them the
more ungrateful ; and, in the times of jollity, persuaded the old
general to believe that they invaded his prerogative, and med
dled more in the business of the war than they ought to do,
and thereby made him the less disposed to concur with them in
advice, how rational and seasonable soever it was ; which often
put the King to the trouble of converting him.
31. The lord Hopton was a man superior to any temptation,
and abhorred enough the license and the levities with which he
saw too many corrupted. He had a good understanding, a clear
courage, an industry not to be tired, and a generosity that
was not to be exhausted, (a virtue that none of the rest had) :
but in the debates concerning the war was longer in resolv
ing, and more apt to change his mind after he had resolved, than
is agreeable to the office of a commander in chief; which ren
dered him rather fit for the second than for the supreme
command in an army.
32. Sir Jacob Ashly was an honest, brave, plain man, and

VIII. 34.]

and sir Jacob Astley.

347

as fit for the office he exercised of major general of the foot as
Christendom yielded, and was so generally esteemed ; very
discerning and prompt in giving orders, as the occasions re
quired, and most cheerful and present in any action. In council
he used few but very pertinent words, and was not at all
pleased with the long speeches usually made there, and which
rather confounded than informed his understanding : so that he
rather collected the ends of the debates, and what he was him
self to do, than enlarged them by his own discourses ; though
he forbore not to deliver his own mind.
33. The two privy- councillors, though they were of the most
different natures and constitutions that can be imagined,
always agreed in their opinions; and, being in their parts
much superior to the other, usually prevailed upon the King's
judgment to like what they approved : yet one of them, who
had in those cases the ascendant over the other, had that excess
of fancy that he too often, upon his own recollecting and re
volving the grounds of the resolutions which had been taken,
or upon the suggestions of other men, changed his own mind ;
and thereupon caused orders to be altered, which produced,
or were thought to produce, many inconveniences.
34. This unsteadiness in counsels, and in matters resolved
upon, made the former determination concerning the garrisons
to be little considered. The King's army had lain above three
weeks at and about Newbery; in which time their numbers
were nothing improved beyond what they had been upon their
muster near Marlborough, when the King was present. When
it was known that both the Parliament armies were marched
out of London, that under Essex to Windsor, and that of
Waller to the parts between Hartfordbridge and Basing, with
out any purpose of going farther west, the King's army marched
to Reading ; and in three days, his majesty being present, they
slighted and demolished all the works of that garrison : and
then, which was about the middle of May, with the addition of
those soldiers, which increased the army five and twenty hun
dred old soldiers more, very well officered, the army retired to
the quarters about Oxford, with an opinion that it would be in

May 1 6-i

1644
May 18.

348 The Beading garrison brought to Oxford. [VIII. 34,
their power to fight with one of the enemy's armies ; which
they longed exceedingly to do.
35. The King returned to Oxford, and resolved to stay there
till he could have better information what the enemy intended1;
which was not now so easy as it had formerly been. For since
the conjunction with the Scottish commissioners in one council
for the carrying on the war, little business was brought to be
consulted in either of the Houses ; and there was much greater
secrecy than before, none being admitted into any kind of trust
but they whose affections were known to concur to the most
desperate counsels. So that the designs were still entirely
formed before any part of them were communicated to the
earl of Essex, nor was more communicated at a time than
was necessary for the present execution; of which he was
sensible enough, but could not help it. Tie intention was that
the two armies, which marched out together, should always be
distinct, and should only not sever till it appeared what course
the King meant to take ; and if he stayed in Oxford, it would
be fit for both to be in the siege; the circumvallation being
very great, and to be divided in many places by the river,
which would keep both armies still asunder under their several
officers. But if the King marched out, which they might
reasonably presume he would, then the purpose was that the
earl of Essex should follow the King, whither ever he went,
which they imagined would be northward; and that Waller
should march into the west, and subdue that. So that, having
so substantially provided for the north by the Scots and the
earl of Manchester, and having an army under the earl of
Essex much superior in number to any the King could be
attended with, and the third under Waller at liberty for the
west, they promised themselves, and too reasonably, that they
should make an end of the war that summer.
1 36. It was about the tenth of May that the earl of Essex2
I and sir William Waller marched out of London with both their
1 [The remainder of this section is from the Life, p. 264.]
2 [Essex left London on May 14 and Waller the next day. Eushworth,
III. ii. 668,670.]

vm. 38.] Reading is re-occupied by Essex. 349
armies ; and the very next day after the King's army had
quitted Beading, the earl of Essex, from Windsor, sent forces to
possess it, and recommended it to the city of London to provide
both men and all other things necessary for the keeping it;
which the memory of what they had suffered for the two past
years by being without it easily disposed them to do. By this
means the earl had the opportunity to join with Waller's army
when he should think fit ; which before they could not do with
convenience or security. Nor did they ever after join in one
body, but kept at a fit distance, to be able, if there were
occasion, to help each other.
37. The earl of Essex his1 army consisted of all his old
troops, which had wintered about St. Alban's and in Bedford
shire ; and being now increased with four regiments of the
trained bands, and auxiliaries within the city of London, did
not amount to less than ten thousand horse and foot. Waller
had likewise received a large recruit from London, Kent, and
Sussex; and was little inferior in numbers to Essex, and in
reputation above him. When the King's army retired from
Reading, the horse quartered about Wantage and Farrington,
and all the foot were put into Abington, with a resolution to
quit or defend that town, according to the manner of the
enemy's advance towards it ; that is, if they came upon the east
side, where, besides some indifferent fortifications, they had the
advantage of the river, they would maintain and defend it ; if
they came on the west side, from Wantage and Farrington,
they would draw out and fight, if the enemy were not by much
superior in number ; and, in that case, they would retire with
the whole army to Oxford.
38. Being satisfied with this resolution, they lay in that
quiet posture, without making the least impression upon the
enemy by beating up his quarters, which might easily have
been done, or restraining them from making incursions where
they had a mind ; all which was imputed to the ill humour and
negligence of Wilmott, The earl of Essex advanced with
bis army towards Abington, and upon the east part of the
1 [Altered in the transcript to ' Essex's.']

35°

Perilous condition of

[VIII. 38.

town ; which was that which they had hoped for, in order
to their defending it. But they were no sooner advertised of
it but the general early the next morning marched with all the
foot out of Abington, the horse being come thither in the night
to make good the retreat : and all this was done before his
majesty had the least notice or suspicion of it. As soon as his
majesty was informed of it by sir Charles Blunt, the scout
master-general, whom the general had sent to acquaint the
King with the resolution, he sent sir Charles Blunt back to
the general to let him know the great dislike he had of their
purpose to quit the town, and to command him to stay, and
not to advance till his majesty came to him ; which he made all
possible haste to do. But before the messenger could return,
the army was within sight of Oxford ; and so the foot was
drawn through the city, and the horse quartered in the villages
about the town.
39. Abington was in this manner, and to the King's infinite
trouble, quitted, whither a party of Essex's army came the same
night ; and the next day himself with all his foot entered the
town, his horse being quartered about it. He then called
Waller to bring up his army near him, that they might resolve
in what manner to proceed ; and he had his head quarter at
Wantage : and so, without the striking one blow, they got the
possession of Beading [and] Abington, and were masters of all
Berkshire ; and forced the King to draw his whole army of horse
and foot on the north side of Oxford, where they were to feed on
his own quarters, and to consider how to keep Oxford itself
from being besieged and the King from being enclosed in it.
40. This was the deplorable condition to which the King
was reduced before the end of the month of May ; insomuch
that it was generally reported at London that Oxford was
taken and the King a prisoner; and others more confidently
gave it out that his majesty resolved to come to London: of
which the Parliament was not without some apprehension,
though not so much as of the King's putting himself into the
hands of the earl of Essex and into his protection, which they
could not endure to think of; and this troubled them so much,

VIII. 44.] the King at Oxford. 351
that the committee of both kingdoms who conducted the war
writ this letter to their general :
41. 'Mylord,
'We are credibly informed that his majesty intends to come for London.
We desire you that you wiE do your endeavour to inform yourself of the
same ; and if you think that his majesty intends at all to come to the armies,
that you acquaint us with the same, and do nothing therein until the
Houses shall give direction.'
42. So much jealousy they had of the earl, and the more
because they saw not else what the King could do ; who could
not entertain any reasonable expectation of increase or addition
of force from the north or from the west ; prince Rupert being
then in his march into Lancashire for the relief of the earl of
Darby, (besieged in his castle of Latham,) and prince Morrice
being still engaged in the unfortunate siege of Lyme in
Dorsetshire, a little fisher-town, which, after he had lain before
it a month, was much more ' like to hold out than it was the
first day 1 he came before it. In this perplexity the King sent
the lord Hopton to Bristol, to provide better for the security
of that important city, where he knew Waller had many
friends ; and himself resolved yet to stay at Oxford, till he saw
how the two armies would dispose themselves, that, when they
were so divided that they could not presently join, he might
fight with one of them ; which was the greatest hope he had
now left.
43. It was very happy that the two armies lay so long quiet
near each other, without pressing the advantages they had, or
improving the confusion and distraction which the King's
forces were at that time too much inclined to. Orders were
given so to quarter the King's army that it might keep the
rebels from passing over either of the rivers Charwell or Isis,
which run on the east and west sides of the city; the foot
being, for the most part, quartered towards the Charwell, and
the horse, with some, dragoons, near the Isis.
44. In this posture all the armies lay quiet, and without
action, for the space of a day ; which somewhat composed the
minds of those within Oxford, and of the troops without ; which
1 [Apr. 20.]

352 Oxford is surrounded by Essex and Waller, [vm. 44.

had not yet recovered their dislike of their having quitted
Abington, and thereby of being so straitened in their quarters.
Some of Waller's forces attempted to pass the Isis at New
bridge, but were repulsed by the King's dragoons. But the
next day Essex, with his whole army, got over the Thames at
San[d]ford ferry, and marched to Islip, where he made his
quarters ; and, in his way, made a halt upon Bullin[g]ton-
green, that the city might take a full view of his army, and he
of it. In order to which, himself, with a small party of horse,
came within cannon shot, and little parties of horse came very
near the ports, and had light skirmishes with some of the King's
horse, without any great hurt on either side.
45. The next morning, a strong party of the earl's army
endeavoured to pass over the Charwell, at Gosworth-bridge,
but were repulsed by the musketeers with very considerable
loss, and so retired to their body. And now the earl being
engaged with his whole army on the east side of the river Char
well, whereby he was disabled to give or receive any speedy
assistance to or from Waller, the King resolved to attempt the
repossessing himself of Abington, and to take the opportunity
to fight with Waller singly, before he could be relieved from
the other army. In order to this, all the foot were in the even
ing drawn off from the guard of the passes, and marched
through Oxford in the night towards Abington ; and the earl of
Cleaveland, a man of signal courage, and an excellent officer upon
any bold enterprise, advanced, with a party of one hundred and
fifty horse, to the town itself, where there were a thousand foot
and four hundred horse of Waller's army, and entered the same,
and killed many, and took some prisoners : but upon the alarm
he was so overpowered that his prisoners escaped, though he
killed the chief commander, and made his retreat good, with the
loss only of two officers and as many common soldiers ; and so
both the attempt upon Abington was given over, and the design
of fighting Waller laid aside ; and the army returned again to
their old post, on the north side of Oxford.
46. Sir Jacob Ashly undertook the command himself at
Gosworth-bridge, where he perceived the earl intended to force

vm. 48.] The King resolves to leave Oxford. 353
his passage ; and presently cast up breast-works, and made
a redoubt for the defence of his men, and repulsed the enemy
the second time, very much to their damage and loss ; who re
newed their assault two or three days together, and planted
cannon to facilitate their passage, which did little hurt ; but
they still lost many men in the attempt. On the other side,
Waller's forces from Abington did not find the New-bridge so
well defended, but, overpowering those guards, and having got
boats in which they put over their men, both above and below,
they got that passage over the river Isis : by which they might
have brought over all their army, and fallen upon the King's
rear, whilst he was defending the other side.
47. It was now high time for the King to provide for his
own security, and to escape the danger he was in of being shut
up in Oxford. Waller lost no time, but the next day passed
over five thousand horse and foot by New-bridge, the van
whereof quartered at Ens[h]am ; and, the King's foot being
drawn off from Gosworth-bridge, Essex immediately brought
his men over the Charwell, and quartered that night at
Bletchington, many of his horse advancing to Woodstock ; so that
the King seemed to them to be perfectly shut in between them ;
and to his own people his condition seemed so desperate, that
one of those with whom he used to advise in his most secret
affairs, and whose fidelity was never suspected, proposed to him
to render himself, upon conditions, to the earl of Essex ; which
his majesty rejected with great indignation, yet had the good
ness to conceal the name of the proposer ; and said that
' possibly he might be found in the hands of the earl of Essex,
but he would be dead first.' Word was given, for all the horse
to be together, at such an hour, to expect orders; and a good
body of foot, with cannon, marched through the town towards
Abington ; by which it was concluded, that both armies would
be amused, and Waller induced to draw back over New-bridge :
and, as soon as it was evening, the foot and cannon returned to
their old post on the north side.
48. The King resolved, for the encouragement of the lords of
the Council and the persons of quality who were in Oxford, to
VOL. in. A a

354 The King's night-march from Oxford [vm. 48.
leave his son the duke of York there ; and promised, if they
should be besieged, to do all he could to relieve them before
they should be reduced to extremity. He appointed, then, that
two thousand and five hundred choice musketeers should be
drawn out of the whole foot, under the command of Sir Jacob
Ashly and four experienced colonels ; all which should, without
colours, repair to the place where the horse attended to receive
orders, and that the rest of the foot should remain together on
the north side, and so be applied to the defence of Oxford, if it
should be besieged.
49. All things being in this order, on Monday the third of
June, about nine of the clock at night, the King, with the Prince
and those lords and others who were appointed to attend him,
and many others of quality who were not appointed and only
thought themselves less secure if they should stay behind,
marched out of the north port, attended by his own troop, to
the place where the horse and commanded foot waited to receive
them ; and from thence, without any halt, marched between the
two armies, and by daybreak were at Han[d]borough, some
miles beyond all their quarters. But the King rested not till
the afternoon, when he found himself at Burford ; and then
concluded that he was in no danger to be overtaken by any
army that was to follow with baggage and a train of artillery ;
so that he was content to refresh his men there, and supped
himself ; yet was not without apprehension that he might be
followed by a body of the enemy's horse ; and therefore, about
nine of the clock, he continued his march from Burford over the
Cotswold, and by midnight reached B[o]urton-upon-the-water ;
where he gave himself and his wearied troops more rest and
refreshment. 50. The morning after the King left Oxford, the foot marched
again through Oxford, as if they meant to go to Abington,
to continue that amusement which the day before had
prevailed with Waller to send many of his men back, and
to delay his own advance ; and likewise, that quarters might
be provided for them against their return ; which they did by
noon. The earl of Essex had that morning from Bletchington

vm. 51.] to Bourton-on-the- Water. 355
sent some horse to take a view of Oxford, and to learn what was
doing there. And they seeing the colours standing, as they had
done two days before, made him conclude that the King was
still there, and as much in his power as ever. Waller had
earlier intelligence of his majesty's motion, and sent a good body
of horse to follow him, and to retard his march, till he could
come up : and his horse made such haste that they found in
Burford some of the straggling soldiers, who, out of weariness
or for love of drink, had stayed behind their fellows. The earl
of Essex followed likewise with his army, and quartered at
Chippen-Norton ; and Waller's horse were as far as Broadway
when the King had reached Evesham ; where he intended to
rest, as in a secure place ; though his garrison at Tewkesbury
had been the night before surprised by a strong party from
Gloucester, the chief officers being killed, and the rest taken
prisoners, most of the common soldiers making their escape and
coming to Evesham. But, upon intelligence that both armies
followed by strong marches, and it being possible that they
might get over the river Avon about Stratford, or some other
place, and so get between the King and Worcester, his majesty
changed his purpose of staying at Evesham, and presently
marched to Worcester, having given order for the breaking of
the bridge at Parshore ; which was, unwarily, so near done
before all the troops were passed, that, by the sudden falling of
an arch, major Bridges, of the Prince's regiment, a man of good
courage and conduct, with two or three other officers of horse,
and about twenty common men, fell unfortunately into the
Avon, and were drowned.
51. The earl of Essex, when he saw the King was got full
two days' march before him, and that it was impossible so to
overtake him as to bring him into their power, resolved to
pursue him no farther, but to consult what was else to be done,
and to that purpose called a council of all the principal officers
of both armies to attend him at Burford ; where it was resolved
that Waller, who had the lighter ordnance and the less
carriages, should have such an addition of forces as Massey, the
governor of Gloucester, should be able to furnish him with, and
A a 2

1644

June 5.
June 4.

June 6.

June 5.

356

Essex resolves to march to the west, [vm. 51.

so should pursue and follow the King wheresoever he should
go ; and that the earl of Essex, who had the greater ordnance
and the heavier carriages, should prosecute the other design of
relieving Lyme, and reducing the west to the obedience of the
Parliament. 52. Waller opposed this resolution all he could, and urged
some order and determination of the committee of both king
doms in the point, and, that the west was assigned to him as
his province, when the two armies should think fit to sever
from each other. However, Essex gave him positive orders, as
his general, to march according to the advice of the council of
war ; which he durst not disobey, but sent grievous complaints to
the Parliament of the usage he was forced to submit to. And
they at Westminster were so incensed against tbe earl of Essex,
that they writ a very angry and imperious letter to him, in
which they reproached him for not submitting to the directions
which they had given ; and required him to follow their former
directions, and to suffer Waller to attend the service of the
west. Which letter was brought to him before he had marched
above two days westward. But the earl chose rather to answer
their letter than to obey their order ; and writ to them that
their directions had been contrary to the discipline of war and
to reason, and that if he should now return it would be a great
encouragement to the enemy in all places ; and subscribed his
letter, Your innocent, though suspected, servant, Essex ; and then
prosecuted his resolution, and continued his march for the west.
53. When Waller found there was no remedy, he obeyed his
orders with much diligence and vigour, and prosecuted his
march towards Worcester, where his majesty then was; and,
in his way, persuaded rather than forced the garrison of Sudely
Castle, the strong house of the lord Chandois, to deliver up
that place to him. The lord of that castle was a young man of
spirit and courage, and had for two years served the King very
bravely in the head of a regiment of horse, which himself had
raised at his own charge ; but had lately, out of pure weariness
of the fatigue, and having spent most of his money, and without
any diminution of his affection, left the King, under pretence

VIII. 54.]

while Waller pursues the King.

357

of travel ; but making London his way, he gave himself up to
the pleasures of that place, which he enjoyed without consider
ing the issue of the war, or shewing any inclination to the
Parliament ; nor did he in any degree contribute to the delivery
of his house, which was at first imagined, because it was so ill,
or not at all, defended. It was under the government of sir
William Morton, a gentleman of the long robe ; who in the
beginning of the war cast off his gown, as many other gallant
men of that profession of the law did, and served as lieutenant
colonel in the regiment of horse under the lord Chandois, and
had given so frequent testimony of signal courage in several
actions, in which he had received many wounds, both by the
pistol and the sword, that his mettle was never suspected, and
his fidelity as little questioned : and after many years of im
prisonment, sustained with great firmness and constancy, he
lived to receive the reward of his merit, after the return of
the King, who made him first a sergeant at law, and after
wards a judge of the King's Bench, where he sat many years,
and discharged the office with much gravity and learning, and
was very terrible to those who chose to live by robbing on the
highway. He was unfortunate, though without fault, in the
giving up that castle in so unseasonable a conjuncture ; which
was done by the faction and artifice of an officer within, who
had found means to go out to Waller, and to acquaint him with
the great wants of the garrison, which indeed had not plenty
of any thing : and so, by the mutiny of the soldiers, it was
given up, and the governor made prisoner, and sent to the
Tower ; where he remained some years after the end of the
war. From hence Waller, with great expedition, marched to
Evesham, where the evil inhabitants received him willingly;
and had, as soon as the King left them, repaired their bridge
over the Avon, to facilitate his coming to them ; which he
could not else so soon have done.
54. The King rested some days at Worcester, whereby he
very much refreshed his troops, which were there spared from
doing duty; and likewise, by the loyalty of that good town,
and the affection of the gentry of that county, who retired

358 The King goes from Worcester to Bewdley. [vm.54.

thither for their security, he procured both shoes and stockings
and money for his soldiers : and then, upon good information
that Waller was marched out of Evesham with his whole army
towards Worcester, which he would probably besiege, the King
resolved not to be found there 1 ; and therefore, having left
that city well provided and in good heart, his majesty removed
with his little army to Bewdley, that he might keep the river
Severn between him and the enemy ; the foot being quartered
together at Bewdley, and the horse by the side of the river
towards Bridgenorth. The posture in which the King was
made Waller conclude that his majesty intended his course to
Shrewsbury and to the more northern parts. And it is true,
that, without any such resolution, orders were sent to Shrews
bury, Bridgenorth, Ludlow, and other garrisons, that they
should make all possible provisions of corn and other victual,
which they should cause, in great quantities, to be brought
thither ; which confirmed Waller in his former conjecture, and
made him advance with his army beyond the King, that he
might be nearer Shrewsbury than he. But, God knows, the
King was without any other design than to avoid the enemy ;
with whom he could not, with such a handful of foot and with
out cannon, propose reasonably to fight a battle : and he had
too many good reasons against going to either of those places,
or to those parts, which Waller conceived him inclined to ; and
his majesty might well assume the complaint; and expression
of king David, that he was hunted as a partridge upon the
mountains 2, and knew not whither to resort, or to what place
to repair for rest.
55. In this perplexity, it looked like the bounty of Pro
vidence that Waller was advanced so far : upon which, the
King took a sudden resolution to return with all expedition to
Worcester, and to make haste to Evesham ; where having broke
the bridge, and so left the river of Avon at his back, he might
be able by quick marches to join with that part of his army
1 [Altered in the transcript from ' to be no more found there,' and two
words following have been erased.]
2 [1 Sam. xxvi. 20.]

vm. 57.] The King marches back towards Oxford. 359
which he had left at Oxford, and might thereby be in a con
dition to fight with Waller, and to prosecute any other design.
Upon this good resolution, care was taken for all the boats to
come both from Bridgenorth and Worcester, that the foot might
with the more speed and ease be carried thither; all which
succeeded to wish. Insomuch that the next day, being em
barked early in the morning, the foot arrived so soon at Wor
cester that they might very well have marched that night to
Evesham, but that many of the horse, which were quartered
beyond Bewdley towards Bridgenorth, could not possibly march
at that rate nor come up soon enough ; so that it was necessary
that both horse and foot should remain that night together at
Worcester ; which they did accordingly.
56. The next morning the King found no cause to alter any
thing in his former resolution, and received good intelligence
that Waller, without knowing any thing of his motion, re
mained still in his old quarters ; whereupon he marched very
fast to Evesham ; nor would he stay there, but gave order for
the horse and foot without delay to march through it, after he
had provided for the breaking down the bridge, and made the
inhabitants of the town pay two hundred pounds for their
alacrity in the reception of Waller, and likewise compelled
them to deliver a thousand pair of shoes for the use of the
soldiers; which, without any long pause, was submitted to,
and performed. Then the army marched that night to Broad
way, where they quartered, and very early the next morning
they mounted the hills near Camden ; and there they had time
to breathe, and to look with pleasure on the places they had
passed through ; having now left Waller, and the ill ways he
must pass, (for even in that season of the year the ways in that
vale were very deep) far enough behind 1.
57. Now the King sent colonel Fielding, and, lest he might
miscarry, (for both from Gloucester, Tewkesbury, and Sudely
Castle, the enemy had many scouts abroad,) two or three other
messengers, to the lords of the Council at Oxford, to let them
' [The three last words have been transposed in the transcript from this
their, apparently, original place.]

360 The King is met by his foot from Oxford, [vm. 57-

know of his happy return, and that he meant to quarter that
night at Burford, and the next at Witney, where he did expect
that all his foot, with their colours and cannon, would meet him;
which, with unspeakable joy, they did. So that on Thursday
the twentieth of June, which was within seventeen days after
he had left Oxford in that disconsolate condition, the King
found himself in the head of his army, from which he had been
so severed, after so many accidents and melancholic per
plexities, to which majesty has been seldom exposed. Nor can
all the circumstances of that three weeks' 2 peregrination be too
particularly and punctually set down. For as they admin
istered much delight after they were passed, and gave them
great argument of acknowledging God's good providence in the
preservation of the King, and, in a manner, snatching him as a
brand out of the fire, and redeeming him even out of the hands
of the rebels, more burning and devouring than the most raging
fire s, so it cannot be ungrateful, or without some pleasure,
to posterity to see the most exact relation of an action so full of
danger in all respects, and of an escape so remarkable. And
now the King thought himself in a posture not only to abide
Waller, if he approached towards him, but to follow and find
him out, if he had a mind, or did endeavour, to decline fighting
with his majesty.
58. In the short time the King had been absent, the garrison
at Oxford was not idle. When the King in the spring had
prepared for the field, and in order thereunto had drawn out
the garrison at Reading, it was thought to no purpose to keep
lesser garrisons at a less distance from Oxford : and thereupon
the garrison at Bo[r]stal House, reputed a strong place, upon
the edge of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, was appointed
to demolish the works and fortifications, and to retire, and join
with the army: which was no sooner done but the garrison at
Aylesbury, that Jiad felt the effects of the other's ill neighbour-

1 [The complete rendezvous of the King's forces was at Woodstock on
Friday, June 21, and on that night the King quartered at Blechingdou.]
2 [These two words have been erased in the transcript.]
3 [ ' more — fire : ' these words have been also struck out.]

vm. 58.] Colonel Gage takes Borstall House. 361
hood, possessed the place, and put a garrison into it, which,
after the King had left Oxford, and both the armies of Essex
and Waller were gone from before it, gave little less trouble to
that city, and obstructed the provisions which should come
thither almost as much as one of the armies had done. This
brought great complaints and clamour from the country and
from the town to the Lords of the Council, and was ever made
an excuse for their not complying with the commands they sent
out for labourers to work upon the fortifications, which was the
principal work in hand, or for any other service of the town.
When both armies were drawn off to such a distance in follow
ing the King that there seemed for the present no reasonable
apprehension of being besieged, the lords considered of a
remedy to apply to this evil from Bo[r]stal House ; and
receiving encouragement from colonel Gage, (of whom they had
a great esteem, and of whom we shall speak shortly more
at large,) who offered to undertake the reducing it, they
appointed a party of commanded men of the foot which the
King had left there, with three pieces of cannon and a troop of
horse of the town, to obey his orders, who, by the break of day,
appeared before the place, and in a short time, with little
resistance, got possession of the church and the outhouses, and
then battered the house itself with his cannon ; which they
within would not long endure, but desired a parley. Upon
which the house was rendered, with the ammunition, one piece
of ordnance, which was all they had, and much good provision
of victual, whereof they had plenty for horse and man, and had
liberty given them to go away with their arms and horses ;
very easy conditions for so strong a post ; which was obtained
with the loss of one inferior officer and two or three common
men. Here the colonel left a garrison, that did not only
defend Oxford from those mischievous incursions, but did very
near support itself by the contribution it drew from Bucking
hamshire, besides the prey it frequently took from the very
neighbourhood 1 of Aylesbury.
1 [The words ' very neighbourhood ' are substituted in the transcript for
a single word erased.]

36»

The earl of Essex enters Dorsetshire. [vm. 59.

59. The earl of Essex, by slow and easy marches, and without
any opposition or trouble, entered into Dorsetshire ; and by his
great civility and affability towards all men and the very good
discipline in his army, wrought very much upon the people,
insomuch that his forces rather increased than diminished ;
which had, during his being before Oxford, been much lessened,
not only 'by the numbers which were killed and hurt, but by
the running away of many, whilst the sharp encounters con
tinued at Gosworth-bridge. It can hardly be imagined how
great a difference there was in the humour, disposition, and
manner of the army under Essex and the other under Waller,
in their behaviour and humanity towards the people, and,
consequently, in the reception they found among them ; the
demeanour and carriage of those under Waller being much more
ungentlemanly and barbarous than that of the other : besides
that the people, in all places, were not without some affection,
and even reverence, towards the earl, who, as well upon his
own account as the memory of his father, had been always
universally popular.
60. When he came to Blandford, he had a great mind to
make himself master of Weymouth, if he could compass it with
out engaging his army before it ; which he resolved not to do ;
however, it was little out of his way to pass near it. Colonel
Ashburnham was then governor of Weymouth ; made choice of
for that command, upon the opinion of his courage and
dexterity ; and to make way for him, sir Anthony Ashley
Cooper had been the year before removed from that charge ;
and was thereby so much disobliged that he quitted the King's
party, and gave himself up, body and soul, to the service of the
Parliament, with an implacable animosity against the royal
interest. The colonel had been intent upon other things, and
not enough solicitous to finish the fortifications, which were not
strong enough to defy an army, yet too strong to be delivered
upon the approach of one. I shall say the less of this matter,
because the governor afterwards pressed to have the whole
examined before a council of war, where he produced a warrant
under the hand of prince Morrice, that, the town being unten-

vm. 61.] Weymouth is given up to the earl of Essex. 363
able, he should, upon the advance of the earl of Essex, put a
sufficient strength into Portland Castle, and retire thither ;
which he had done; and was by the council of war absolved
from any crime. Yet, the truth is, however absolved, he lost
reputation by it, and was thought to have left the town too
soon, though he meant to have returned again, after he had
visited Portland. But in the mean time the townsmen mu
tinied, and sent to the earl of Essex when he was near the
town ; upon which he came thither, which he would not other
wise have done, and gave the garrison leave to march with
their arms to prince Morrice, and so became master of Wey
mouth ; and, leaving men enough out of the country to defend
it, without any delay he prosecuted his march to Lyme ; from
whence prince Morrice, upon the news of the loss of Weymouth,
had retired with haste enough towards Exeter, with a body of
full five and twenty hundred foot and eighteen hundred horse,
after he had put a garrison of five hundred men into Wareham,
and with some loss of reputation, for having lain so long with
such a strength before so vile and untenable a place without
reducing it.
61. As soon as the King had joined his army at Witney,
which now consisted of full five thousand and five hundred foot,
and very near four thousand horse, with a convenient train of
artillery, he resolved no longer to live upon his own quarters,
which had been too much wasted by friends and enemies, but
to visit the enemy's country ; and so the next day he marched
towards Buckingham, where he would stay and expect Waller,
(of whose motion he yet heard nothing,) and from whence, if he
appeared not, his majesty might enter into the associated
counties, and so proceed northward, if upon intelligence from
thence he found it reasonable. Whilst the King • stayed at
Buckingham, and thought himself now in a good condition to
fight with the enemy, (his troops every day bringing in store
of provisions, and, being now in a country where they were not
expected, met with many cart-loads of wine, grocery, and
tobacco, which were passing, as in secure roads, from London
to Coventry and Warwick; all which were very welcome to

364 Wilmot proposes an advance towards London, [vm. ei.

Buckingham,) a new and unexpected trouble fell upon him by
the ill humour and faction in his own army. Wilmott con
tinued still sullen and perverse, and every day grew more
insolent, and had contracted such an animosity against the
lord Digby and the Master of the Rolls, that he persuaded
many officers of the army, especially of the horse where
he was most entirely obeyed, to join in a petition to the
King, that those two councillors might be excluded, and
be no more present in councils of war : which they promised
to do.
62. Waller remained still in Worcestershire ; upon which it
was again consulted what the King was to do. Some proposed
the marching presently into the associated counties ; others, to
lose no time in endeavouring to join with prince Rupert.
Wilmott, without ever communicating it with the King, posit
ively advised that they might presently march towards London,
and, now both their generals and their armies were far from
them, make trial what the true affection of the city was ; and
that, when the army was marched as far as St. Alban's, the
King should send such a gracious message both to the Parlia
ment and city as was most like to prevail upon them ; and
concluded as if he knew that this way of proceeding would be
very much approved of by the army. This extravagant1 motion,
with all the circumstances of it, troubled the King very much ;
yet he thought it not fit absolutely to reject it, lest it might
promote that petition which he knew was framing among the
officers ; but wished them, that such a message should be pre
pared, and then that he would communicate both that and what
concerned his march towards London to the lords of the
Council at Oxford; that in so weighty an affair he might
receive their counsel. To that purpose the lord Digby and tbe
Master of the Bolls were sent to Oxford ; who, after two days,
returned without any approbation of the march or the message
by the lords. But all that intrigue fell of itself, upon the sure
intelligence, that Waller had left Worcestershire, and marched
1 [The word ' extravagant ' is substituted in the transcript for a word
erased.]

VIII. 64 ]

Waller marches to Banbury.

3^5

out with what speed he could, to find his majesty ; which gave
new argument of debate.
63. When the King had so dexterously deceived and eluded
him by his quick march to and from Worcester, Waller, who
had not timely information of it, and less suspected it, thought
it not to the purpose to tire his army with long marches in
hope to overtake him ; but first shewed it at all the walls of
Worcester, to terrify that city, which had contemned his power
a year before, when it was not so well able to resist it. But he
quickly discerned he could do no good there : then he marched
towards Gloster, having sent to colonel Massy to send him some
men out of Gloster ; which he, being a creature of Essex's,
refused to do. Upon this denial he marched into Warwickshire ;
and appointed his rendezvous in Keinton field, the place where
the first battle was fought. There he received an addition of
seven troops of horse and about six hundred foot from Warwick
and from Coventry, with eleven pieces of ordnance. And with
this recruit he marched confidently towards the King; of
which his majesty being informed, that he might the sooner
meet him, he marched with his army to Brackley when Waller
was near Banbury ; and the armies coming shortly in view of
each other, upon a fair sunshine in the afternoon, after a very
wet morning, both endeavoured to possess a piece of ground
they well knew to be of advantage ; which being nearer to
Waller, and the King passing his whole army through the town
of Banbury before he could come to it, Waller had first his men
upon it in good order of battle before the King could reach
thither : so that the King lay that night in the field, half a
mile east of Banbury, the river of Charwell being between the
two armies.
64. The King resolved to make Waller draw off from that
advantage ground, where he had stood two days ; and in order
thereunto marched away, as if he would enter further into
Northamptonshire : and he no sooner moved but Waller like
wise drew off from his ground, and coasted on the other side of
the river, but at such a distance that it was thought he had no
mind to be engaged. The van of the King's army was led by

366

The battle of Cropredy.

[VIII. 64.

1644

the general and Wilmott : in the body was the King and the
Prince, and the rear consisted of one thousand commanded foot,
under colonel Thelwell, with the earl of Northampton's and the
earl of Cleaveland's brigades of horse. And, that the enemy
might not be able to take any advantage, a party of dragoons
was sent to keep Cropredy-bridge until the army was passed
beyond it. The army marching in this order, intelligence was
brought to the King that there was a body of three hundred
horse within less than two miles of the van of the army, that
marched to join with Waller, and that they might be easily cut
off, if the army mended their pace. Whereupon, orders were
sent to the foremost horse that they should move faster, the van
and the middle having the same directions, without any notice
given to the rear. Waller quickly discerned the great distance
that was suddenly grown between the King's body and his
rear, and presently advanced with fifteen hundred horse, one
thousand foot, and eleven pieces of cannon, to Cropredy-bridge,
which were quickly too strong for the dragoons that were left
to keep it, and which made a very faint resistance : so that this
party advanced above half a mile, pursuing their design of
cutting off the King's rear before they should be able to get up
to the body of the army. To facilitate this execution, he had
sent one thousand horse more, to pass over at a ford a mile
below Cropredy-bridge, and to fall upon the rear of all. Timely
notice being given of this to the earl of Cleaveland, who was in
the van of that division, and of the enemy's having passed at
Cropredy, (which was confirmed by the running of the horse
and scattered foot,) and that there stood two bodies of horse
without moving, and faced the army, thereupon the earl
presently drew up his brigade to a rising ground that faced
that pass, where he discerned a great body of the rebels' horse
drawn up, and ready to have fallen upon his rear. It was no
time to expect orders ; but the earl, led by his own great spirit,
charged presently that body with great fury, which sustained it
not with equal courage, losing a cornet and many prisoners.
65. This alarm had quickly reached the King, who sent to
the van to return, and himself drew up those about him, to a

vm. 66.] The battle of Cropredy. 367
little hill beyond the bridge; where he saw the enemy pre
paring for a second charge upon the earl of Cleaveland. The
King commanded the lord Bernard Steward, a valiant young
gentleman, who commanded his own guards, to make haste to
the assistance of the rear, and in his way to charge those two
bodies of horse which faced his majesty. He, with above a
hundred of gallant and stout gentlemen, returned instantly
over the bridge, and made haste towards those two bodies of
horse ; who, seeing their fellows routed by the earl of Cleave
land, were then advancing to charge him in the flank, as he was
following the execution. But the presence of this troop made
them change their mind, and, after a very little stay, accom
pany their fellows in their flight ; which very much facilitated
the defeat that quickly ensued.
66. The earl of Cleaveland, after this short encounter, made
a stand under a great ash, (where the King had but half an hour
before stayed and dined,) not understanding what the enemy
could mean by advancing so fast, and then flying so soon ;
when he perceived a body of their horse of sixteen cornets, and
as many colours of foot, placed within the hedges, and all
within musket-shot of him, and advancing upon him : which he
likewise did upon them with notable vigour ; and having stood
their musket and carabine shot, he charged them so furiously,
being resolutely seconded by all the officers of his brigade, that
he routed both horse and foot, and chased them with good
execution beyond their cannon : all which, being eleven pieces,
were taken, with two barricadoes of wood, which were drawn
upon wheels, and in each seven small brass and leather guns,
charged with case-shot : most of their cannoneers were killed,
and the general of their ordnance taken prisoner. This man,
one Weemes, a Scotchman, had been as much obliged by
the King as a man of his condition could be, and in a manner
very unpopular : for he was made master-gunner of England ;
with a pension of three hundred pounds per annum for his life,
which was looked upon as some disrespect x to the English
nation ; and having never done the King the least service, he
1 [This word is substituted in the transcript for one partly erased.]

368 The battle of Cropredy. [vm. 66.
took the first opportunity to disserve him; and having been
engaged against him from the beginning of the rebellion, he
was now preferred by them, for his eminent disloyalty, to be
general of the ordnance in the army of sir William Waller, who
was very much advised by him in all matters of importance.
Besides Weemes, there was taken prisoner lieutenant colonel
Baker, lieutenant colonel to sir William Waller's own regiment,
and five or six lieutenant colonels and captains, of as good
names as were amongst them, with many lieutenants, ensigns
and cornets, quartermasters, and above one hundred common
soldiers ; many more being slain in the charge. The earl pur
sued them as far as the bridge, over which he forced them to
retire, in spite of their dragoons, which was placed there to
make good their retreat : all which fled with them, or before.
And so the earl, having cleared that side of the river, and not
knowing how far he was from the army, retired, as he had
good reason to do; having lost in this notable action two
colonels, sir William Boteler and sir William Clarke, both
gentlemen of Kent, of fair fortunes, who had raised and armed
their regiments at their own charge, who were both killed dead
upon the place, with one captain more of another regiment,
and not above fourteen common soldiers.
67. At the same time, the earl of Northampton discovered
that party of the enemy's horse which had found a passage over
the river a mile below, to follow him in the rear ; and presently
faced about with those regiments of his brigade. Upon which,
without enduring the charge, the whole body betook them
selves to flight, and got over the pass they had so. newly been
acquainted with, with little loss, because they prevented the
danger ; though many of them, when they were got over, con
tinued their flight so far, as if they were still pursued, that they
never returned again to their army. The lord Bernard, with
the King's troop, seeing there was no enemy left on that side,
drew up in a large field opposite to the bridge, where he stood,
whilst the cannon on the other side played upon him, until his
majesty and the rest of the army passed by them, and drew into
a body upon the fields near Wilscot. Waller instantly quitted

vm. 69.] The battle of Cropredy. 369
Cropredy, and drew up his whole army upon the high grounds,
which are between Cropredy and Hanwell, opposite to the
King's quarters about a mile ; the river of Charwell and some
low grounds being between both armies, which had a full view
of each other.
68. It was now about three of the clock in the afternoon,
the weather very fair and very warm, (it being the 29th day of
June ;) and the King's army being now together, his majesty
resolved to prosecute his good fortune, and to go to the enemy,
since they would not come to him : and to that purpose sent
two good parties to make way for him to pass both at Cropredy-
bridge and the other pass a mile below, over which the enemy
had so newly passed : both which places were strongly guarded
by them. To Cropredy they sent such strong bodies of foot to
relieve each other as they should be pressed, that those sent by
the King thither could make no impression upon them, but
were repulsed, till the night came and severed them ; all parties
being tired with the duty of the day. But they who were sent
to the other pass a mile below, after a short resistance, gained
it and a mill adjoining, where, after they had killed some, they
took the rest prisoners ; and from thence did not only defend
themselves that and the next day, but did the enemy much
hurt ; expecting still that their fellows should master the other
pass, that so they might advance together.
69. Here the King was prevailed with to make trial of
another expedient. Some men, from the conference they had
with the prisoners, others from other intelligence, made no
doubt but that if a message were now sent of grace and pardon
to all the officers and soldiers of that army, they would forth
with lay down their arms : and it was very notorious that
multitudes ran every day from thence. How this message
should be sent, so that it might be effectually delivered, was
the only question that remained: and it was agreed that sir
Edward Walker (who was both Garter King-at-arms and secre
tary to the council of war) should be sent to publish that his
majesty's grace. But he wisely desired that a trumpet might
be first sent for a pass : the barbarity of that people being
vol. in. b b

37° The two armies retire from each other, [vm. 69.
1644 1 notorious, that they regarded not the laws of arms or of
nations. Whereupon a trumpet was sent to sir William Waller,
to desire a safe conduct for a gentleman, who should deliver a
gracious message from his majesty. After two hours' con
sideration, he returned answer, that he had no power to receive
any message of grace or favour from his majesty, without the
consent of the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster, to
whom his majesty, if he pleased, might make his addresses.
And as soon as the trumpet was gone, as an evidence of his
resolution, he caused above twenty shot of his greatest cannon
to be made at the King's army, and as near the place as they
could where his majesty used to be.
70. When both armies had stood upon the same ground and
in the same posture for the space of two days, they both drew
July i. off to a greater distance from each other; and from that time
never saw each other. It then quickly appeared by Waller's
still keeping more aloof from the King, and his marching up
and down from Buckingham, sometimes towards Northampton
and sometimes towards Warwick, that he was without other
design than of recruiting his army, and that the defeat of that
day at Cropredy was much greater than it then appeared to be,
and that it even broke the heart of his army. And it is very
probable that if the King, after he had rested and refreshed his
men three or four days, which was very necessary, in regard
they were exceedingly tired with continual duty, (besides that
the provisions would not hold longer in the same quarters,) had
followed Waller, when it was evident he would not follow
the King, he might have destroyed that army without fight
ing : for it -appeared afterwards, without its being pursued,
that within fourteen days after that action at Cropredy,
[Waller's] army, that before consisted of eight thousand, was
so much wasted that there remained not with him half that
number. 71. But the truth is, from the time that the King dis
covered that mutinous spirit in the officers governed by
Wilmott at Buckingham, he was unsatisfied with the temper
of his own army, and did not desire a thorough engagement,

vm. 73.] The King marches towards the west.

37i

till he had a little time to reform some whom he resolved never
more heartily to trust, and to undeceive others who, he knew,
were misled without any malice or evil intention. But when
he now found himself so much ] at liberty from two great
armies which had so straitly encompassed him, within little
more than a month, and that he had, upon the matter, defeated
one of them, and reduced it to a state in which it could for the
present do him little harm, his heart was at no ease with
apprehension of the terrible fright the Queen would be in, (who
was newly delivered of a daughter, that was afterwards married
to the duke of Orleans 2,) when she saw the earl of Essex before
the walls of Exciter, and should be at the same time informed
that Waller was with another army in pursuit of himself. His
majesty resolved therefore, with all possible expedition, to
follow the earl of Essex, in hopes that he should be able to
fight a battle with him before Waller should be able to be 3 in
a condition to follow him : and his own strength would be
much improved by a conjunction with prince Morrice, who,
though he retired before Essex, would be well able, by the
north of Devonshire, to meet the King, when he should know
that he marched that way.
72. His majesty had no sooner taken this resolution than he
gave notice of it to the lords of the Council at Oxford, and sent
an express into the west to inform the Queen of it ; who, by
the way, carried, orders to the lord Hopton to draw what men
he could out of Monmouthshire and South Wales into Bristol,
that himself might meet his majesty with as many as he could
possibly draw out of that garrison. So, without any delay, the
whole army, with what expedition was possible, marched towards
the west over the Cotswold to Ciciter, and so to Bath, where he
arrived on the 15th day of July, and stayed there one whole j
day to refresh his army, which stood enough in need of it.
73 4. The King had scarce marched two days westward when
1 [Substituted in the transcript for a longer word erased.]
2 [March 31, 1661.]
3 [The three last words are erased in the transcript.]
4 [The text is here found in the MS. of the Life at p. 267. And the
foEowing account of the battle of Cropredy, and of the King's movements
B b 2

37s The battle of Marston-moor. [vm. 73.
1644 he was surprised with terrible news from the north ; for after
he had by an express from Oxford received intelligence that
immediately afterwards, is taken from that MS. at p. 264, where it
foEows upon § 35.
' When they came near Oxford, and divided the armies on both
sides, WaEer to Abbington, and the earl of Essex to the other side of
the town, the King thought it time to withdraw from thence ; and,
taking all the horse with him, and putting aE the foot into the town,
in the night he marched to Woodstock; and the next day, finding that
the earl of [Essex] declined the town, and seemed to follow him, his
majesty went forward to E[ve]s[h]am, intending to have continued his
march to Worcester, where he could stay tEl he saw clearly what the
two armies would do. But the earl of Essex, when he saw the King
was at that distance, turned with his whole army towards the west, and
commanded Waller with his body to follow the King, by which both he
and his friends in the Parliament were disappointed ; yet he could not
but obey his orders : and with what speed he could he drew his army
from the other side of the town, and marohed after the King, who had got
the benefit of two or three days' rest for his troops ; and having speedy
intelligence that the two armies were parted, and that Waller only attended
his motion, his majesty turned back towards Oxford on the Glostershire
side, and sent present orders for the general, who had stayed with the foot
and cannon in Oxford, to march out with them to a place appointed, where
his majesty and the whole body of horse met them, and being joined were
not unwEUng to see WaEer, who was superior in foot by much and equal
in horse. They looked upon each other a day or two, there being a Uttle
river between them, when WaEer, having a mind to be at a greater dis
tance, made his army march in no very good order, leaving a good party of
horse in the rear. Upon which the van of the King's horse, at a place
called Cropredy bridge, about fourteen l miles from Oxford, the water being
low, by the long dry and hot weather, it being towards the end of June,
crossed the river, and charged the enemy's horse, which received them well,
and stood the shock so weE that the King's horse gave ground, Wilmott
the lieutenant-general being taken prisoner. But the earl of Cleaveland,
with some troops who were weE officered, charged them again so rudely
that he freed the lieutenant-general within few minutes after he was taken,
and routed all the horse, who, running away, disordered and routed their
own foot ; so that the King's troops pursuing them with a sharp appetite,
they made a good execution both of the horse and foot, took eight pieces
of cannon, with many officers of name, and amongst them, Wemms, the
general of the ordnance and the second officer of the army, a Scotchman,
whom the King had made master-gunner of England few years before, to the
great and sensible discontent of aE the English who understood that ser
vice. All this was done by four or five troops of the King's horse, who had
marched faster than they ought to have done, the body of the army being
a mile behind, as sir WiE. WaUer's van was above two miles before, when
1 [twenty-seven.]

vm. 73.] The battle of Marston-moor. 373
prince Rupert had not only relieved York but totally defeated 1644
the Scots, with many particulars to confirm it, (all which was
so much believed there that they had made public fires of joy July 5.
for the victory,) he now received quite contrary information,
this blow befeE their feEows. The King march[ed] with his whole army
to overtake the rest, and continued in pursuit, and often in sight of them,
two days, but they would not be brought to engagement ; and it appeared
quickly after, that this small defeat (in which there did not appear to be
a thousand men killed and taken prisoners) had so totally broken all
that army that it was never brought to fight after, and he himself, after
a Uttle rest about Dunstable and those parts, returned to London, making,
grievous complaints against the earl of Essex, as if he had purposely ex
posed him to be affronted : all which was hearkened to very wilUngly, and
his person received and treated as if he had returned victorious : which
was a method very contrary to what was practised in the King's quarters.
2. The King being thus wonderfully left at liberty, and having with so
little loss, upon the matter, defeated one whole army, his heart was at no
ease, with the apprehension of the terrible fright the Queen would be in,
who was newly delivered of a daughter, (who was. afterwards married to
the duke of Orleance,) when she saw the earl of Essex with his army before
the walls of Exciter, and heard that Waller with another army was in pur
suit of his majesty; and therefore he resolved with all possible expedition
to foUow the earl of Essex. And so returning to Oxford, he stayed only
two nights there, to refresh his army, which had had very little rest in
eight or ten days, and then began his march towards the west, taking with
him all the garrison that could possibly be drawn from thence, though he left
his son the duke of York there ; so that the lords of the Council were glad
immediately to cause all their servants to be listed, and put in troops and.
companies under good officers ; by which they disposed the town to raise
a good regiment of foot, and the scholars likewise to raise several com
panies of themselves, and under their own officers ; by all which, with the
few soldiers who were left, sufficient guards were kept for the safety of the
place, and the fortifications were more diligently repaired and prosecuted
than they had been in any time : in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer
was so solicitous, by drawing in the country to work, and by coUecting
money to pay the workmen, that much was imputed to his extraordinary
diEgence and industry. At Oxford, (though every ill accident always
changed the humours there, the town being full of lords and many persons-
of the best quaEty, besides those of the Council, with very many ladies,
who were not easily pleased and kept, others from being so, and they had
hardly yet recovered the discomposure they had been in when the King
went from thence towards the west, and when he took away aE the strength
of the garrison with him, which made them think themselves abandoned,
and of other places to retire to, which was the reason that the King.
thought it necessary to leave the duke of York there, to compose their
minds the better), when they had no more apprehension of a siege,' &c. ; as
at the end of § 121.]

374 The battle of Marston-moor. [vm. 73.
1644 and was too surely convinced that his whole army was de
feated. It was very true that, after many great and noble
May 27. actions performed by [prince Rupert] in the relief of Latham,
May 28. and the reduction of Bolton, and all other places in that large
county, (Manchester only excepted,) in which the rebels lost
very many, much blood having been shed in taking places by
assault which were too obstinately defended, the prince had
marched out of Lancashire with so good reputation, and had
given his orders so effectually to Goring, who lay in Lincoln
shire with that body of horse that belonged to the marquis of
Newcastle's army, that they happily joined the prince, and
marched together towards York with that expedition that the
June 30. enemy was so surprised that they found it necessary to raise
the siege in confusion enough, and, leaving one whole side of
the town free, drew to the other side in great disorder and
consternation ; there being irreconcilable differences and
jealousies between the officers, and indeed between the nations:
the English resolving to join no more with the Scots, and they,
on the other side, as weary of their company and discipline ;
so that the prince had done his work, and if he had sat still
the other great army would have mouldered to nothing, and
been exposed to any advantage his highness would take of
them. 74. But the dismal fate of the kingdom would not permit so
much sobriety [of counsel1]. One side of the town was no
sooner free, by which there was an entire communication with
those in the town, and all provision out of the country brought
in abundantly, but the prince, without consulting with the
marquis of Newcastle or any of the officers within the town,
sent for all the soldiers to draw out, and put the whole army
in battalia on that side where the enemy was drawn up ; who
July 2. had no other hope to preserve them but a present battle, to
prevent the reproaches and mutinies which distracted them.
And though that party of the King's horse which charged the
Scots so totally defeated and routed their whole army, that
they fled all ways for many miles together, and were knocked
1 [InterUned in the transcript.]

vm. 75.] The battle of Marston-moor. 375
on the head and taken prisoners by the country, and Lashly 1644
their general fled ten miles, and was taken prisoner by a
constable, (from whence the news of the victory was speedily
brought to Newark, and thence sent by an express to Oxford,
and so received and spread as aforesaid,) yet the English
horse, commanded by Fayrefax and Cromwell, charged those
on that side so well, and in such excellent order, being
no sooner broken than they rallied again and charged as
briskly, that, though both Fayrefax and Cromwell were hurt,
and both above the shoulders, and many good officers killed,
they prevailed over that body of horse which opposed
them, and totally routed and beat them off the field, so that
almost the whole body of the marquis of Newcastle's foot were
cut off.
75. The marquis himself, and his brave brother, sir
Ch[arles] Cavendish, (who was a man of the noblest and
largest mind, though the least and most inconvenient body
that lived,) charged in the head of a troop of gentlemen who
came out of the town with him, with as much gallantry and
courage as men could do. But it was so late in the evening
before the battle began that the night quickly fell upon them,
and the generals returned into the town, not enough knowing
their own loss, and performing very few compliments each to
other. They who most exactly describe that unfortunate
battle, and more unfortunate abandoning that whole country,
(when there might have been means found to have drawn a
good army together,) by prince Bupert's hasty departure with
all his troops, and the marquis of Newcastle's as hasty de
parture to the sea-side, and taking ship and transporting
himself out of the kingdom, and all the ill consequences
thereupon, give so ill an account of any conduct, courage, or
discretion, in the managery of that affair, that, as I can
take no pleasure in the draught of it, so posterity would re
ceive little pleasure or benefit in the most particular relation
of it \
1 [The words ' give — of it ' are substituted in the MS. for the foEowing : —
' are worthy of a full relation by some impartial person who was then

1644

376 Inexcusable conduct of prince Rupert [vm. 76.
76. This may be said of it, that the like was never done or
heard or read of before ; that two great generals, whereof one
had still a good army left, his horse, by their not having per
formed their duty, remaining, upon the matter, entire, and
much the greater part of his foot having retired into the town,
the great execution having fallen upon the northern foot ; and
present, and who hath communicated with the officers of both sides, whilst
there are yet many knowing and ingenious men stiE aUve.' The sections
which foEow to the end of 88 are only found in the transcript, but the
reference to the lost original is given thus, ' v. p. 13. x 2.'
The foEowing more 'particular relation' is found in a paper of notes by
Clarendon on the affairs of the north, preserved among his MSS.
' The prince lay out of the towne, and came not to Yorke ; only sent to
my lord Newcastle to draw out his foote as soone as might be, &c.
' The next morninge the marquisse went out of tbe citty to attende the
prince, and found him upon his march, the enimy havinge placed themselves
upon a hiE. When the marq. overtooke the prince, they both alighted, and
after salutations went asyde to horse, &c. The prince sayd, " My lord,
I hope wee shaU have a glorious day," &c. The earle asked whether he meant
to putt it to a day, and urged many reasons against it. The prince replyed,
" Nothinge venture, nothinge have," &c. SeveraE persons had that morn
inge reported that the prince had an absolute commissyon to commande all
those partes, and that the marquisses power was at an end, &c.
' When It. generaE Kinge came up, prince Ruperte shewed the marq. and
the earle {sic) a paper which he sayd was the draught of the battell as he
meant to fight it, and asked them what they thought off it. Kinge answered,
" By God, sir, it is very fyne in the paper, but ther is no such thinge in the
ffeilds." The prince replyed not, &c. The marq. asked the prince what he
would do ? His highness answer'd, " Wee wiE charge them to-morrow
morninge." My lord asked him whether he were sure the enimy would not
faE on them sooner ? He answered, " No ; " and the marquisse thereupon
going to his coach hard by, and caEinge for a pype of tobacco, before he
could take it the enimy charged, and instantly all the prince's horse were
rowted, &c. Goringe beate the other winge, &c. On the Kinge's syde, of the
prince's and the marq. of Newcastle's the army was not much lesse than
18000. The enimy at the least 26000. Coll. Claveringe within 2 dayes'
march with 4000 men, of which he had advertised pr. Ruperte by letter ;
so that if the prince had stay'd, and forborne fightinge, the businesse had
bene done.
' 4 or 5000 kiEed upon the place. 6 of the clocke at night when the
batteE begann. The prince went that night out of Yorke, without so
much as givinge notice to the earle of Newcastle, who, accidentally hearinge
of it, rose out of his bedd, and went out of towne, and told him that he
would goe beyonde seas ; and the same day went to Scarborough, whence
he imbarked for Hamborough ; and the prince went with the horse back
into Lancashyre,' &c]

vm. 77.] and the marquis of Newcastle. 377
the other, having the absolute commission over the northern
counties, and very many considerable places in them still
remaining under his obedience, should both agree in nothing
else but in leaving that good city and the whole country as a
prey to the enemy ; who had not yet the courage to believe
that they had the victory, the Scots having been so totally
routed, (as hath been said before,) their general made prisoner
by a constable and detained in custody, till most part of the
next day was passed ; and most of the officers and army
having marched or run above ten miles northward, before they
had news that they might securely return. And though the
horse under Fayrefax and Cromwell had won the day, yet they
were both much wounded, and many others of the best officers
killed, or so maimed that they could not in any short time
have done more hurt : so that if there had been any agreement
to have concealed their loss, which might have been done to a
good degree, (for the enemy was not possessed of the field, but
was drawn off at a distance, not knowing what the horse,
which had done so little, might do the next day,) there might
probably many advantages have appeared which were not at
the instant in view ; however, they might both have done that
as securely afterwards, as they did then unseasonably.
77. But neither of them were friends to such deliberation ;
but, as soon as they were refreshed with a little sleep, they
both sent a messenger to each other, almost at the same time ;
the one, that he was resolved that morning to march away
with his horse, and as many foot as he had left ; and the
other, that he would in that instant repair to the seaside, and
transport himself beyond the seas; both which they immediately
performed; the marquis making haste to Scarborough, there
embarked in a poor vessel, and arrived at Hamborough : the
prince, with his army, begun his march the same morning
towards Chester. And so York was left to the discretion of
sir Thomas Glemham, the governor thereof, to do with it as he
thought fit : being in a condition only to deliver it up with
more decency, not to defend it against an enemy that would
require it.

378 York surrenders to the Parliament forces. [VIII. 78.

78. Whereas, if prince Rupert had stayed with the army he
marched away with, at any reasonable distance, it would have
been long before the jealousies and breaches which were
between the English and Scotch armies would have been
enough composed to have agreed upon the renewing the
siege ; such great quantities of provision being already brought
into the town : and the Scots talked of nothing but returning
into their own country, where the marquis of Montrose had
kindled already a fire which the parliament of Edenborough
could not quench. But the certain intelligence that the prince
was marched away without thought of returning, and that the
marquis had embarked himself, reconciled them so far, (and
nothing else could,) that after two days they returned to the
posts they had before had in the siege ; and so straitened the
town that the governor, when he had no hope of relief, within
a fortnight was compelled to deliver it up, upon as good
articles for the town, and the gentry that were in it, and for
himself and the few soldiers he had left, as he could propose :
and so he marched with all his troops to Carlisle; which he
afterwards defended with [very remarkable x] circumstances of
courage, industry, and patience.
79. The times afterwards grew so bad, and the King's affairs
succeeded so ill, that there was no opportunity to call either of
those two great persons to account for what they had done or
what they had left undone. Nor did either of them ever think
fit to make any particular relation of the grounds of their
proceeding, or the causes of their misadventures, by way of
excuse to the King, or for their own vindication. Prince
Rupert only, to his friends, and after the murder of the King,
produced a letter in the King's own hand, which he received
when he was upon his march from Lancashire towards York ;
in which his majesty said, that his affairs were in so very ill a
state, that it would not be enough, though his highness raised
the siege from York, if he had not likewise beaten the Scotch
army; which he understood to amount to no less than a
peremptory order to fight, upon what disadvantage soever:
1 [These words are substituted in the transcript for others erased.]

vm. 80.] Conduct of pr. Rupert and marq. oj "Newcastle. 379
and added, that the disadvantage was so great, the enemy being
so much superior in number, that it was no wonder that he
lost the day. But as the King's letter would not bear that
sense, so the greatest cause of the misfortune was the pre
cipitate entering upon the battle as soon as the enemy drew
off, and without consulting at all with the marquis of Newcastle
and his officers, who must needs know more of the enemy, and
consequently how they were best to be dealt with, than his
highness could do. For he saw not the marquis till, upon his
summons, he came into the field, in the head of a troop of
gentlemen, as a private captain, when the battle was ranged,
and which, after a very short salutation, immediately begun ;
those of the marquis's army who came out of the town being
placed upon the ground left by the prince, and assigned to
them ; which much indisposed both officers and soldiers to the
work in hand, and towards those with whom they were to
join in it.
80. Then it was too late in the day to begin the fight, if all
the other ill circumstances had been away ; for it was past
three in the afternoon: whereas, if it had been deferred till
next morning, in which time a full consultation might have
been had, and the officers and soldiers grown a little acquainted
with each other, better success might have been reasonably
expected ; nor would the confusion and consternation the other
armies were then in, which was the only excuse for the present
engagement, have been the less, but, on the contrary, very
much improved by the delay ; for the bitterness and animosity
between the chief commanders was such, that a great part of the
army was marched six miles, when it appeared by the prince's
manner of drawing his army together to that ground that his
resolution was to fight: the speedy intelligence whereof pre
vailed, (and nothing else could,) with those who were gone so
far, to return, and with the rest to unite and concur in an
action that, in human reason, could only preserve them ; and if
that opportunity had not then been so unhappily offered, it was
generally believed that the Scots would the next morning have
continued their march northward, and the earl of Manchester

380 Conduct of 'pr. Rupert and marq. of 'Newcastle, [vm. 80.
would have been necessitated to have made his retreat, as well
as he could, into his associated counties ; and it would have
been in the prince's power to have chosen which of them he
would have destroyed.
81. But then, of all the rest, his going away the next
morning with all his troops, in that manner, was most unex
cusable, because most prejudicial and most ruinous to the
King's affairs in those parts. Nor did those troops ever after
bring any considerable advantage to the King's service, but
mouldered away by degrees, and the officers, (whereof many
were gentlemen of quality and great merit,) were killed upon
beating up of quarters, and little actions not worth their
presence. The truth is, the prince had some secret intimation
of the marquis's purpose of immediately leaving the town, and
embarking himself for the parts beyond the seas, before the-
marquis himself sent him word of it ; upon which, in great
passion and rage, he sent him notice of his resolution presently
to be gone, that he who had the command of all those parts,
and thereby an obligation not to desert his charge, might be
without any imagination that the prince would take such a
distracted government upon him, and leave him any excuse for
his departure r^ and if in this joint distemper with which they
were both transported any persons of discretion and honour
had interposed, they might in all probability have prevailed
with both for a good understanding between them, or at least
for the suspension of their present resolutions, and considering
what might best be done. But they both resolved so soon, and
so soon executed what they resolved, that very few had the
least suspicion of their intentions, till they were both out of
distance to have their conversion attempted.
82. All that can be said for the marquis is, that he was so
utterly tired with a condition and employment so contrary to
his humour, nature, and education, that he did not at all
consider the means or the way that would let him out of it, and
free him for ever from having more to do with it. And it was
a greater wonder that he sustained the Vexation and fatigue of
it so long, than that he broke from it with so little circum-

vm. 83.] Character of the marquis of Newcastle. 381
spection. He was a very fine gentleman, active and full of
courage, and most accomplished in those qualities of horseman
ship, dancing, and fencing, which accompany a good breeding ;
in which his delight was. Besides that, he was amorous in
poetry and music, to which he indulged the greatest part of
his time ; and nothing could have tempted him out of those
paths of pleasure which he enjoyed in a full and ample
fortune, but honour, and ambition to serve the King when he
saw him in distress, and abandoned by most of those who were
in the highest degree obliged to him and by him. He loved
monarchy, as it was the foundation and support of his own
greatness ; and the Church, as it was well constituted for
the splendour and security of the Crown ; and religion, as it
cherished and maintained that order and obedience that was
necessary to both ; without any other passion for the particular
opinions which were grown up in it and distinguished it into
parties, than as he detested whatsoever was like to disturb the
public peace.
83. He had a particular reverence for the person of the
King, and the more extraordinary devotion for that of the
Prince as he had had the honour to be trusted with his
education as his governor; for which office, as he excelled in
some, so he wanted other, qualifications. Though he had
retired from his great trust, and from the Court, to decline
the insupportable envy which the powerful faction had con
tracted against him, yet the King was no sooner necessitated
to possess himself of some place of strength, and to raise some
force for his defence, but the earl of Newcastle (for he was
made marquis afterwards) obeyed his first call, and with great
expedition and dexterity seized upon that town, when till then
there was not one port town in England that avowed their
obedience to the King : and he then presently raised such
regiments of horse and foot as were necessary for the present
state of affairs ; all which was done purely by his own interest,
and the concurrence of his numerous allies in those northern
parts, who with all alacrity obeyed his commands, without any
charge to the King, which he was not able to supply.

38a Character of the marquis of Newcastle. [VIII. 84.
84. And after the battle of Edgehill, when the rebels grew
so strong in Yorkshire, by the influence their garrison of Hull
had upon both the East and West Biding there, that it
behoved the King presently to make a general who might unite
all those northern counties in his service, he could not choose
any man so fit for it as the earl of Newcastle, who was not only
possessed of a present force and of that important town, but
had a greater reputation and interest in Yorkshire itself than
at that present any other man had : the earl of Cumberland
being at that time (though of entire affection to the King) much
decayed in the vigour of his body and his mind, and unfit for
that activity which the season required. And it cannot be
denied that the earl of Newcastle, by his quick march with his
troops as soon as he had received his commission to be general,
and in the depth of winter, redeemed or rescued the city
of York from the rebels, when they looked upon it as their
own, and had it even within their grasp : and as soon as he
was master of it, he raised men apace, and drew an army
together with which he fought many battles, in which he had
always (this last only excepted), success and victory.
85. He liked the pomp and absolute authority of a general
well, and preserved the dignity of it to the full ; and for the
discharge of the outward state and circumstances of it, in acts
of courtesy, affability, bounty, and generosity, he abounded;
which in the infancy of a war became him, and made him for
some time very acceptable to men of all conditions. But the
substantial part, and fatigue of a general, he did not in any
degree understand, (being utterly unacquainted with war,)
nor could submit to, but referred all matters of that nature to
the discretion of his lieutenant general ¦ King, who, no doubt,
was an officer of great experience and ability, yet, being a
Scotsman, was in that conjuncture upon more disadvantage
than he would have been if the general himself had been more
intent upon his command. In all actions of the field he was
still present, and never absent in any battle ; in all which he
gave instances of an invincible courage and fearlessness in
danger ; in which the exposing himself notoriously did some-

vm. 86.] Character of the marquis of Newcastle. 383
times change the fortune of the day when his troops begun to
give ground. Such articles of action were no sooner over than
he retired to his delightful company, music, or his softer
pleasures, to all which he was so indulgent, and to his ease,
that he would not be interrupted upon what occasion soever ;
insomuch as he sometimes denied admission to the chiefest
officers of the army, even to general King himself, for two
days together ; from whence many inconveniences fell out.
86. From the beginning, he was without any reverence or
regard for the Privy Council, with few of whom he had any
acquaintance ; but was of the other soldiers' mind, that all the
business ought to be done by councils of war, and was always
angry when there were any overtures of a treaty ; and there
fore, (especially after the Queen had landed in Yorkshire and
stayed so long there,) he considered any orders he received from
Oxford, though from the King himself, more negligently than
he ought to have done ; and when he thought himself sure of
Hull, and was sure that he should be then master entirely of
all the north, he had no mind to march nearer the King, (as he
had then orders to march into the associated counties, when,
upon the taking of Bristol, his majesty had a purpose to have
marched towards London on the other side,) out of apprehen
sion that he should be eclipsed by the Court, and his authority
overshadowed by the superiority of prince Bupert, from whom
he desired to be at distance. Yet when he found himself in
distress, and necessitated to draw his army within the walls of
York, and saw no way to be relieved but by prince Bupert,
who had then done great feats of arms in the relief of Newark,
and afterwards in his expedition into Lancashire, where he was
at that time, he writ to the King to Oxford, either upon the
knowledge that the absoluteness and illimitedness of his com
mission was generally much spoken of, or out of the conscience
of some discourse of his own to that purpose, which might
have been reported, that he ' hoped his majesty did believe that
he would never make the least scruple to obey the grandchild
of King James : ' and assuredly, if the prince had cultivated
the good inclinations the marquis had towards him, with any

384 Marq.of Newcastle and gen. King leave England, [vin. 86.
civil and gracious condescensions, he would have found him
full of duty and regard to his service and interest.
87. But the strange manner of the prince's coming, and
undeliberated throwing himself, and all the King's hopes,
into that sudden and unnecessary engagement, by which all
the force the marquis had raised and with so many difficulties
preserved was in a moment cast away and destroyed, so
transported him with passion and despair, that he could not
compose himself to think of beginning the work again, and
involving himself in the same undelightful condition of life,
from which he might now be free. He hoped his past meri
torious actions might outweigh his present abandoning the
thought of future action ; and so, without farther consideration,
as hath been said, he transported himself out of the kingdom,
and took with him general King ; upon whom they who were
content to spare the marquis poured out all the reproaches of
infidelity, treason, and conjunction with his countrymen, which,
without doubt, was the effect of the universal discontent, and
the miserable condition to which the people of those northern
parts were on the sudden reduced, without the least foundation
or ground for any such reproach : and as he had throughout
the whole course of his life been generally reputed a man of
honour, and had exercised the highest commands under the
King of Sweden with extraordinary ability and success, so he
had been prosecuted by some of his countrymen with the
highest malice from his very coming into the King's service ;
and the same malice pursued him after he had left the
kingdom, even to his death.
88. The loss of England came so soon to be lamented, that
the loss of York or the too soon deserting the northern parts
were comparatively no more spoken of; and the constant and
noble behaviour of the marquis in the change of his fortune,
and his cheerful submission to all the straits, necessities, and
discomforts, which are inseparable from banishment, without
the least application to the usurpers, who were possessed of
his whole estate, and upon which they committed all imaginable
and irreparable waste, in destroying all his woods of very

vm. 90.] The Queen retires into France. 385
great value, and who were still equally abhorred and despised
by him, with his readiness and alacrity again to have embarked
himself in the King's quarrel upon the first reasonable occa
sion, so perfectly reconciled all good men to him, that they
rather observed what he had done and suffered for the King
and for his country, without farther inquiring what he had
omitted to do or been overseen in doing.
89 1. This fatal blow, which so much changed the King's
condition that till then was very hopeful, made not such an
impression upon his majesty but that it made him pursue his
former resolution, to follow the earl of Essex, with the more
impatience ; having now in truth nothing else to do. But
being informed that the earl of Essex had not made any long
marches, and that the Queen, upon the first news of the earl's
drawing near, though she had been little more than a fortnight
delivered, had left Exciter, and was removed into Cornwall,
from whence in a short time her majesty embarked for France,
(the prince of Aurange having sent some Dutch ships of war
to attend the Queen's commands in the harbour of Falmoth,
and from thence her majesty transported herself,) his majesty
marched more slowly, that he might increase his army from
Bristol and other places, and making no doubt but that he
should be able to engage the army of the earl of Essex, who
was already near Exciter, before he should be able to return to
London 2.
90. The earl of Essex's good fortune now began to decline :
and he had not proceeded with his accustomed wariness and
skill, but run into labyrinth[s] from whence he could not
disentangle himself. When he had marched to the length of
Exciter, which he had some thought of besieging, without any
imagination that he could find an enemy to contend with him,
1 [From this point the text is resumed in the MS. of the Life at pp. 267,
266-269.] 2 [The following Unes are here struck out in the MS. : ' And prince
Morrice, who had waited near two years without taking Lyme or PUmoth, the
former of which was a little vile fishing town, defended by a small dry
ditch, was already withdrawn into CornwaU, having lost much reputation
in those parts by his unsuccessful attempts.']
von. ni. c c

1644

386 Lord Robartes induces the earl of Essex [vm. 90.
1644 having left the King in so ill a condition and sir William
Waller with so good an army waiting upon him, he received
the news of the defeat sir William Waller received, and that
the King was come with his whole army into the west in
pursuit of him, without being followed by Waller, or any
troops to disquiet or retard his march ; which exceedingly
surprised him, and made him suspect that the Parliament
itself had betrayed him and conspired his ruin.
91. And the jealousies were now indeed grown very great
between them ; the Parliament looking upon his march into the
west, and leaving Waller, (to whom they intended the other
province,) to follow the King, but as a declaration that he
would no more fight against the person of the King;, and the
earl, on the other side, had well observed the difference betwixt
the care and affection the Parliament expressed for and towards
his army and the other under the command of the earl of
Manchester ; which they set so great a price upon, that he
thought they would not care what became of his ; otherwise, it
could not be possible that, upon so little a brush as Waller had
sustained, he could not be able to follow and disturb the King
in a country so enclosed as he must pass through. In this
unexpected strait, upon the first reception of the news he
resolved to return back, and meet and fight with the King,
either before he entered Devonshire or else in Somersetshire ;
in either of which places he could not be straitened in room or
provisions, nor be compelled to fight in a place disadvan
tageous, or when he had no mind to it ; and if he had pursued
this resolution, he had done prudently. But the lord Roberts,
who was a general officer in his army, of an unsociable nature
and an impetuous disposition, full of contradiction in his
nature, and of parts so much superior to any in the company
that he could too well maintain and justify all those contra
dictions, positively opposed the return of the army, but
pressed, with his confidence, that the army should continue its
march to Cornwall ; where he undertook to have so great
interest, that he made no question but the presence of the earl
of Essex with his army would so unite that whole county to

vm. 93.] to march into Cornwall. 387
the Parliament's service, that it would be easy to defend the 1644
passes into the whole county (which are not many) in such a
manner, that the King's army should never be able to enter
into Cornwall, nor to retire out of Devonshire without great
loss, nor before the Parliament would send more forces upon
their backs.
92. The lord Boberts, though inferior in the army, had much
greater credit in the Parliament than the earl of Essex ; and
the earl did not think him very kind to him, he being then in
great conjunction with sir H. Vane, whom of all men the earl
hated and looked upon as an enemy. He had never been in
Cornwall, and so knew not the situation of the country : and
some of the officers, and many others of that country, (as there
were four or five gentlemen of that country of interest,)
concurred fully with the lord Boberts, and promised great
matters if the army marched thither : whereupon the earl
departed from his own understanding, and complied with their
advice ; and so marched the direct way with all his army, horse,
foot, and cannon, into that narrow county, and pursued prince
Morrice and those forces, which easily retired westward, until
he found himself in straits ; where we shall leave him for the
present. 93. After the King had made a small stay at Exciter, where
he found his young daughter, of whom the Queen had been so
lately delivered, under the care and government of the lady
Dalkith, (shortly after countess of Mourton, by the death of her l(>48
Aug. 7.
husband's father,) who had been long before designed by both
their majesties to that charge, and having a little refreshed
and accommodated his troops, he marched directly to Corn
wall ; where he found the earl of Essex in such a part of the
country on the sea-side, that he quickly, by the general
conflux and concurrence of the whole people, upon which the
earl had been persuaded so much to depend, found means, with
very little fighting, so to straiten his quarters that there seemed
little appearance that he could possibly march away with his
army, or compel the King to fight. He was, upon the matter,
enclosed in and about Foy, whilst the King lay encamped
C c 2

3 88 Of the earl of Brentford. [vm.93.
1644 about Liskard ; and no day passed without some skirmishes, in
which the earl was more distressed, and many of his consider
able officers taken prisoners. And here there happened an
accident that might very well have turned the King's fortune,
and deprived him of all the advantages which were in view.
The King being always in the army himself, all matters were
still debated before him in the presence of those councillors
who were about him ; who, being men of better understandings
and better expressions [than the officers1] commonly disposed
his majesty to their opinions, at least kept him from concurring
in every thing which [was 2] proposed by the officers. The
councillors, as hath been said before, were the lord Digby,
Secretary of State, and sir John Culpeper, Master of the Rolls,
of whose judgment the King had more esteem, even with
reference to the war, than of most of the officers of the army ;
which raised an implacable animosity in the whole army against
them.
May 27. 94. General Buthen, who by this time was created earl of
Braynford, was general of the army ; but, as hath been said,
both by reason of his age and his extreme deafness, was not a
man of counsel or of words ; hardly conceived what was
proposed, and as confusedly and obscurely delivered his opinion,
and could indeed better judge by his eye than his ear, and in
the field well knew what was to be done. Wilmott 3 was
lieutenant general of the horse, and at this time the second
officer of the army, and had much more credit and authority in
it than any man, which he had not employed to the King's
advantage, as his majesty believed. He was a man proud
and ambitious, and incapable of being contented ; an orderly
officer in marches and governing his troops. He drank hard,
and had a great power over all who did so, which was a great
people. He had a more companionable wit even than hia
1 [Inserted in the transcript.]
2 ['were,' MS.]
* [The foEowing Une is here struck out in the MS. : — ' who had been
likewise created a baron during the time of the Queen's late being at
Oxford.' He was created baron Wilmot of Adderbury, June 29, 1643.]

vm. 95.] Character of lord Wilmot. 389
rival Goring, and swayed more among the good fellows 1, and 1644
could by no means endure that the lord Digby and sir John
Culpeper should have so much credit with the King in councils
of war. 95. The King had no kindness for him upon an old account,
as remembering the part he had acted against the earl of
Strafford: however, he had been induced, upon the accidents
which happened afterwards, to repose trust in him ; and this
he knew well enough, and foresaw that he should be quickly
overshadowed in the war, and therefore desired to get out of it
by a seasonable peace ; and so in all his discourses urged the
necessity of it, as he had begun at Buckingham, and that the
King ought to send propositions to the Parliament in order to
obtaining it; and in this march had prosecuted his former
design by several cabals * among the officers, and disposed
them to petition the King to send to the Parliament again an
offer of peace, and that the lord Digby and sir John Culpeper
might not be permitted to be present in councils of war;
implying that if this might not be granted, they would think
of some other way. Which petition, though by the wisdom of
some officers [it] was kept from being delivered, yet so pro
voked the King that he resolved to take the first opportunity
to free himself from his impetuous humour ; in which good
disposition the lord Digby ceased not to confirm his majesty,
and as soon as the news came of the northern defeat, and that
the marquis of Newcastle had left the kingdom, he prevailed
that Goring might be sent for to attend his majesty ; who then
proposed to himself to make his nephew prinee Rupert general
of the army, and Goring general of the horse ; which Wilmott
could not avowedly have excepted against, the other having
1 [The following line is here struck out : — ' from the time of prince
Rupert's departure, with whom he could have no contestable carried himself
imperiously in all debates.*]
2 [The words ' and in — cabals' are substituted in the MS. for the follow
ing : — « and during that time that the King marched out of Oxford to avoid
being besieged, when both Essex and Waller encompassed the towne, and
afterwards, when the King turned upon WaEer and defeated and pursued
him, Wilmott had made several cabals.']

390 Lord Wilmot arrested. [vm. 95.
1644 been always superior to him in command, and yet would be
such a mortification to him as he would never have been able
to digest.
96. Whether his apprehension of this, as his jealous nature
had much of sagacity in it, or his restless and mutinous humour,
transported him, but he gave not the King time to prosecute
that gracious method, but even forced him to a quicker and a
rougher remedy : for during the whole march he discoursed in
all places that the King must send to the «arl of Essex to
invite him to a conjunction with him, that so the Parliament
might be obliged to consent to a peace; and pretended that he
had so good inteUigence in that army, as to know that such an
invitation would prove effectual, and be acceptable to the earl,
who, he knew, was unsatisfied with the Parliament's behaviour
towards him : and was so indiscreet as to desire a gentleman,
with whom he had no intimacy, and who had a pass to go
beyond the seas and must go through the earl's quarters, that
he would remember his service to the earl of Essex, and assure
him that the army so much desired peace that it should not
be in the power of any of those persons about the King to
hinder it, if his lordship would treat upon any reasonable
propositions. All which kind of carriage and discourses were
quickly represented in the full magnitude to the King by the
lord Digby ; and his majesty's own aversion kindled any spark
into a formed distrust. So that after the King came into
Cornwall, and had his whole army drawn up on the top of the
hill, in view of the earl of Essex, who was in the bottom, and a
battle expected every day, upon some new discourse Wilmott
made, out of pride and vanity (for there was not in all the
former the least formed act of sedition in his heart,) the knight
Aug. 8 1. marshal, with the assistance of Tom EUyott, who acted the
part, arrested him in the King's name of high treason, and
dismounted him from his horse in the head of all the troops,
and, putting a guard upon him, he was presently sent prisoner
to Exciter; without any other ill effect, which might very
1 [Walker's Hist. Disc, 1705, p. 57. Symonds' Diary, Camd. Soe,
p. 49.]

vm. 96.] Lord Wihnot arrested. 391
reasonably have been apprehended in such a conjuncture, when 1644
he was indeed generally well beloved, and none of them for
whose sakes he was thought to be sacrificed were at all
esteemed, yet, I say, there were no other ill effects of it than a
little murmur, which vapoured away *.
1 [The transcript is again the only source of §§ 97-119, and 122-132 ;
while the MS. of the Life continues thus, at p. 269 : —
1. ' It is possible this execution was the sooner done upon the news that
Goring was upon the way ; for within two or three days after, he arrived,
and the command of the horse was committed to him. There was another
reformation likewise made at the same time by the removal of the lord
Percy (who had led the van in that creation of peers which had been made
at Oxford) from the offioe of general of the ordnance, which had been
without much deEberation conferred upon him a Uttle before ; which was
very reasonably bestowed upon the lord Hopton, whose promotion was
universaUy approved; the one having no friend, and the other generally:
beloved. 2. ' When the King found himself upon the advantage ground, and that
the earl of Essex would in a short time be reduced into great straits, or must
fight upon notable disadvantage, his majesty was not without apprehension
that be might quickly find the sad effects of the northern victory by some
new army being sent into the west ; and WaEer with some troops was
ready to come out of London ; and therefore infinitely desired to work upon
the earl, and made some overture to him ; which he received no otherwise
than with saying, that he had no authority to treat, but would inform the
Parliament of what had been proposed : upon which aU other thoughts
were given over but those of fighting. The earl clearly discerned that he
could not undertake that engagement with any reasonable hope of success :
his army was in distress of all things, which would quickly increase by the
manifest aversion the whole country seemed to have, so that they could get
no provisions from it ; and a party was no sooner sent out upon any occasion
than the King's forces had notice of it from the people, so that they were
usually kEled or taken prisoners, In the end the earl found it necessary to
send all his horse away in the night, with hope they might make their way
through, and then to put himself and some officers on board some vessel
which might land them at Plimoth, where there were, or would quickly
be, ships to waft them to London ; and then that the foot might make the
best condition they could. This consultation was not so secret but that the
King had seasonable notice of it, and had as carefuUy transmitted it to
Goring, who lay then quartered at Liskard, and had, or might have had, all
his horse in such a readiness, and caused the narrow lanes to have been so
barricadoed and stopped, that it could not have been possible that any
number of them could have escaped. But the notice and orders came when
he was in one of his usual deboshes, which he could in no case master or
moderate, but used to entertain them with mirth, and slighting those who
sent them as men who took alarums too warmly ; and so he continued his
delight tEl aU the body of the enemy's horse under Balfore were passed

393

Lord Percy dismissed.

[VIII. 97.

1644
Aug. 14 !.

1643
June 28.

97. The same day that Wilmott was arrested, the King re
moved another general officer of his army, the lord Percy, who
had been made general of the ordnance upon very partial and
not enough deliberated considerations, and put into that office
the lord Hopton, whose promotion was universally approved ;
the one having no friend, and the other being universally
beloved. Besides, the lord Percy (who was the first that had
been created a baron at Oxford upon the Queen's intercession ;
which obliged the King to bestow the same honour on more
men) had been as much inclined to mutiny as the lord Wilmott,
and was a bolder speaker, and had none of those faculties,
which the other had, of reconciling men to him. Yet even his
removal added to the ill humour of the army, too much dis
posed to discontent and. censuring all that was done: for
through his quarters, nor did then pursue them in any time ; so that aU
but suoh as by the tiring of their horse were forced to stay behind, and so
became prisoners, made a secure retreat to London, to the infinite reproach
of the King's army and aE the garrisons in the way ; nor was any body
punished or called in question for the supine neglect, and the superior
officer being inexcusable prevented any severe inquisition into the rest.
The horse being thus gone, and the earl of Essex embarked, the foot, being
a body of near six thousand, under the command of their major general
Skippon, who was a good and a punctual officer, he sent to the King's
general, the earl of Braynford, to treat, and to offer conditions. It was
wondered at by many that the King would then grant them any conditions,
and not rather compel them to become prisoners of war ; but they who took
upon them to be most censorious in that point did not know the true state
of the King's army, which was in itself very small, inferior to the number
of the enemy, poor and naked, and not contented ; the country which had
come in, and made the show with their trained bands, were weary, and
many were already gone to their harvest, which called for the rest. So that
the King was contented that, delivering up their arms and cannon and
ammunition, they should have liberty to return by slow marches to London,
with so much baggage as they carried upon their backs ; for preservation
whereof they had a guard of horse to conduct them to a place appointed.
And upon these terms and in this manner the remainder of that army
returned alive to London, where they found their general arrived before
them, who had only visited Plimoth for two or three days, whither he had
before sent as many soldiers as the place required, and given such directions
as he thought fit for the defence of it ; and so, in a ship of the royal navy
which attended his commands, he was safely delivered at London, and was
there received without any abatement of the respect they had constantly
paid him.']
1 [Symonds' Diary, p. 54.]

vm. 98.] Col. Goring made general of the horse. 393

though he was generally unloved, as a proud and supercilious
person, yet he had always three or four persons of good credit
and reputation, who were esteemed by him, with whom he
lived very well ; and though he did not draw the good fellows
to him by drinking, yet he eat well; which, in the general
scarcity of that time, drew many votaries to him, who bore
very ill the want of his table, and so were not without some
inclination to murmur even on his behalf.
98. The very next day after these removals colonel Goring
appeared ; who had waited upon the King the night before at
his quarters with letters from prince Rupert ; and then, the
army being drawn up, his majesty, attended by the principal
officers of the army, rode to every division of the horse, and
there declared, that, at the request of his nephew prince
Rupert, and upon his resignation, he made Mr. Goring general
of the horse, and commanded them all to obey him ; and for
the lord Wilmott, although he had, for very good reasons, justly
restrained him for the present,, yet he had not taken away
from him his command in the army ; which declaration visibly
raised the countenance of the body of horse more than the
King was pleased to observe2. And the very next day the
greatest part of the officers delivered a petition * that ' his
majesty would give them so much light of the lord Wilmott's
crimes, that they might see that themselves were not suspected,
who had so long obeyed and executed his orders ; ' which is
manifestation enough of the ill disposition the army was in,
when they were even in view of the enemy, and of which the
King had so much apprehension, in respect of the present pos
ture he was in, that he was too easily persuaded to give them
a draught of the articles by which he was charged : which
though they contained so many indiscretions, vanities, and inso-
lencies, that wise and dispassionate men thought he had been
proceeded with very justly, yet generally they seemed not to
make him so very black as he had been represented to be : and
1 [Walker's Hist. Disc, p. 65. Symonds' Diary, p. 49.]
2 [Altered in another hand to ' with observing.']
3 [See Symonds' Diary, p. 106.]
4 [22 Aug. Rushworth III. ii. 694.]

394 The earl of Essex declines to [vm. 98<
when the articles were sent to him, he returned so specious an
answer to them *, that made many men think he had been pro
secuted with severity enough. Yet Wilmott himself, when he
saw his old mortal enemy Goring put in the command over
him, thought himself incapable of reparation, or a full vindica
tion, and therefore desired leave to retire into France ; and had
presently a pass sent to him to that purpose, of which he made
use as soon as he received it, and so transported himself out of
the kingdom ; which opened the mouths of many, and made it
believed that he had been sacrificed to some faction and intrigue
of the Court, without any such misdemeanour as deserved it.
99. The King had some days before this found an oppor
tunity to make a trial whether the earl of Essex, from the
notorious indignities which he received from the Parliament,
and which were visible to all the world, or from the present ill
condition which he and his army were reduced to, might be
induced to make a conjunction with his majesty. The lord
Beauchamp, eldest son to the marquis of Hertford, desired, for
the recovery of his health, not then good, to transport himself
into France ; and to that purpose had a pass from his uncle,
the earl of Essex, for himself, monsieur Bichaute, a Frenchman
who had been his governor, and two servants, to embark at
Plymouth ; and being now with the King, it was necessary to
pass through the earl's quarters.
100. By him the King vouchsafed to write a letter with his
own hand to the earl, in which he told him ' how much it was
in his power to restore that peace to the kingdom which he had
professed always to desire, and upon such conditions as did
fully comply with all those ends for which the Parliament had
first taken up arms ; for his majesty was still ready to satisfy
all those ends ; but that since the invasion of the kingdom by
the Scots all his overtures of peace had been rejected ; which
must prove the destruction of the kingdom, if he did not, with
his authority and power, dispose those at Westminster to accept
of a peace that might preserve it ; ' with all those arguments
that might most reasonably persuade to a conjunction with his
1 [Symonds, p. 109.]

vm. 102.] receive overtures from the King. 395
majesty, and such gracious expressions of the sense he would
always retain of the service and merit as were most likely to
invite him to it. The King desired that a pass might be pro
cured for Mr. Harding, one of the grooms of the bedchamber to
the Prince, a gentleman who had been before of much conver
sation with the earl, and much loved by him ; and the procuring
this pass was recommended to monsieur Richaute.
101. The earl received his nephew very kindly; who de
livered the King's letter to him, which he received and read ;
and being then told by the lord Beauchamp that monsieur
Richaute, who was very well known to him, had somewhat to
say to him from the King, the <earl called him to his chamber,
in the presence only of the lord Beauchamp, and asked him if
he had anything to say to him. Bichaute told him that his
principal business was to desire his permission and pass that
Mr. Harding might come to him, who had many things to offer,
which, he presumed, would not be unacceptable to him. The
earl answered in short, that he would not permit Mr. Harding
to come to him, nor would he have any treaty with the King,
having received no warrant for it from the Parliament ; upon
which, Richaute enlarged himself upon some particulars which
Mr. Harding was to have urged, of the King's desire of peace,
of the concurrence of all the lords, as well those at Oxford as
in the army, in the same desire of preserving the kingdom from
a conquest by the Scots, and other discourse to that purpose,
and of the King's readiness to give him any security for the
performance of all he had promised. To all which the earl
answered sullenly, that, ' according to the commission he had
received, he would defend the King's person and posterity, and
that the best counsel he could give him was to go to his
Parliament.' 102. As soon as the King received this account of his letter,
and saw there was nothing to be expected by those addresses,
he resolved to push it on the other way, and to fight with the
enemy as soon as was possible ; and so the next day drew up
all his army in sight of the enemy, and had many skirmishes
between the horse of both armies, till the enemy quitted that

396 The officers of the King's army invite [vm. 102.
part of a large heath upon which they stood, and retired to a
hill near the park of the lord Mohun at Boconnocke ; they
having the possession of his house, where they quartered con
veniently. That night both armies, after they had well viewed
each other, lay in the field ; and many are of opinion, that if
the King had that day vigorously advanced upon the enemy, to
which his army was well inclined, though upon some disadvan
tage of ground, they would have been easily defeated : for the
King's army was in good heart, and willing to engage ; on the
contrary, the earl's seemed much surprised, and in confusion, to
see the other army so near them. But such censures always
attend such conjunctures, and find fault for what is not done as
well as with that which is done.
103. The next morning the King ealled a council, to consider
whether they should that day compel the enemy to fight ; which
was concluded not to be reasonable, and that it was better to
expect the arrival of sir Richard Greenevill, who was yet in the
west of Cornwall, and had a body of eight thousand horse and
foot, as was reported, though they were not near that number.
It was hereupon ordered, that all the foot should be presently
drawn into the enclosures between Boconnocke and the heath ;
all the fences to the grounds of that country being very good
breastworks against the enemy. The King's head-quarter was
made at the lord Mohun's house, which the earl of Essex had
kindly quitted when the King's army advanced the day before.
The horse were quartered for the most part between Liskard
and the sea ; and every day compeUed the earl's forces to retire,
and to lodge close together ; and in this posture both armies
lay within view of each other for three or four days. In this
time that inconvenient spirit that had possessed so many of the
horse officers appeared again ; and some of them, who had con
ferred with the prisoners who were every day taken, and some
of them officers of as good quality as any they had, were per
suaded by them, that all the obstinacy in Essex in refusing to
treat with the King proceeded only from his jealousy that when
the King had got him into his hands he would take revenge
upon him for all the mischief he had sustained by him ; and ,

vm. 105.] the earl of Essex to treat for peace. 397
that if he had any assurance that what was promised would be
complied with, he would be quickly induced to treat.
104. Upon this excellent evidence, these politic contrivers
presumed to prepare a letter, that should be subscribed by the
general and all the superior officers of the army; the beginning
of which letter was, that ' they had obtained leave of the King
to send that letter to him V There they proposed, that he,
with six officers whom he should choose, would the next morn
ing meet with their general, and six other officers, as should be
appointed to attend him ; and if he would not himself be pre
sent, that then six officers of the King's army should meet with
six such as he should appoint, at any place that should be
thought fit ; and that they, and every of them who subscribed
the letter, would, upon the honour and reputation of gentlemen
and soldiers, with their lives maintain that whatsoever his ma
jesty should promise should be performed, and that it should
not be in the power of any private person whatsoever to inter
rupt or hinder the execution thereof. When they had framed
this letter between themselves, and shewed it to many others,
whose approbation they received, they resolved to present it to
the King, and humbly to desire his permission that it might be
sent to the earl of Essex.
105. How unpardonable soever the presumption and inso
lence in contriving and framing this letter was, and how penal
soever it might justly have been to them, yet, when it was pre
sented to his majesty, many who liked not the manner of it were
persuaded, by what they were told, that it might do good ; and
in the end they prevailed with the King to consent that the
officers should sign it, and that the general should send a trum
pet with it ; his majesty at the same time concluding that it
would find no better reception than his own letter had done,
and likewise believing that the rejecting of it would purge that
unruly spirit out of his army, and that he should never more
be troubled with those vexatious addresses, and that it might
add some spirit and animosity to the officers and soldiers when
they should see with how much neglect and contempt the earl
1 [Walker's Hist. Disc. p. 59.]

398

Refusal of the earl of Essex to treat. [VIII. 105

1644

Aug. 9.

Aug. 10.

Aug. 11.

received their application. And so prince Morrice, genera]
Goring, and all the superior officers of the army, signed the
letter, which a trumpet delivered to the earl of Essex ; who the
next day returned his answer to them in these words :
106. ' My lords, in the beginning of your letter you express by wha(
authority you send it ; I having no authority from the ParUament, whc
have employed me, to treat, cannot give way to it without breach of trust.
My lords, I am your humble servant, Essex. Listithiel, Aug. 10, 1644.'
107. This short surly answer produced the effect the King
wished and expected ; they who had been so over active in
contriving the address were most ashamed of their folly, and
the whole army seemed well composed to obtain that by their
swords which they could not by their pen.
108. Sir Bichard Greenevill was now come up to the post
where he should be, and, at Bodmin, in his march, had fallen
upon a party of the earl's horse, and killed many, and taken
others prisoners ; and presented himself to the King at Bocon
nocke, giving his majesty an account of his proceedings, and a
particular of his forces ; which, after all the high discourses,
amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot, and six hundred
horse, above one hundred of which were of the Queen's troop,
(left behind when her majesty embarked for France,) under the
command of captain Edward Brett ; who had done very good
service in the western parts of that county from the time of the
Queen's departure, and much confirmed the train-bands of those
parts. This treop was presently added to the King's guards
under the lord Bernard Stewart, and captain Brett was made
major of that regiment.
109. Though the earl of Essex had but strait and narrow
room for his quarters for so great an army of horse and foot,
yet he had the good town of Foy and the sea to friend ; by
which he might reasonably assure himself of store of provisions,
the Parliament ships having all the jurisdiction there ; and so,
if he preserved his post, which was so situated that he qonld
not be compelled to fight without giving him great advantage,
he might well conclude that Waller, or some other force sent
from the Parliament, would be shortly upon the King's back,

vm. no.] The King's forces draw closely round Essex. 399

as his majesty was upon his : and no question this rational con
fidence was a great motive to him to neglect all overtures made
to him by the King ; besides the punctuality and stubbornness
of his own nature, which whosoever was well acquainted with
might easily have foreseen what effect all those applications
would have produced. It was therefore now resolved to make
his quarters yet straiter, and to cut off even his provisions by
sea, or a good part thereof. To which purpose sir Richard
Greenevill drew his men from Bodmin, and possessed himself
of Lanhetherick, a strong house of the lord Boberts, two miles
west of Boconnocke, and over the river that runs to Listithiel
and thence to Fby, and likewise to B'eprime [Beprin] Bridge ;
by which the enemy was not only deprived of that useful outlet,
but a safe communication made between him and the King's
army, which was before interrupted. And on the other side,
which was of more importance, sir Jacob Ashly, with a good
party of horse and foot, made himself master of View Hall, an
other house of the lord Mohun's, over against Foy, and of Pernon
Fort, a mile below it, at the mouth of the haven ; both which
places he found so tenable, that he put captain Page into one
and captain Garraway into the other, with two hundred com
manded men, and two or three pieces of ordnance ; which these
two captains made good, and defended so well, that they made
Foy utterly useless to Essex, save for the quartering his men ;
not suffering any provisions to be brought in to him from the
sea that way. And it was exceedingly wondered at by all men,
that he, being so long possessed of Foy, did not put strong guards
into those places ; by which he might have prevented his army's
being brought into those extreme necessities they shortly after
fell into, which might easily be foreseen, and as easily, that way,
have been prevented.
110. Now the King had leisure to sit still, and warily to ex
pect what invention or stratagem the earl would make use of,
to make some attempt upon his army or to make his own escape.
In this posture both armies lay still, without any notable action,
for the space of eight or ten days ; when the King, seeing no
better fruit from all that was hitherto done, resolved to draw

400 The King 's forces press closely on Essex.' [vm. 11c

1644

Aug. 21.

his whole army together, and to make his own quarters ye
much nearer, and either to force Essex to fight or to be uneas;
even in his quarters. And it was high time to do so ; for i
was now certain that either Waller himself or some other force)
were already upon their march towards the west. With thii
resolution the whole army advanced in such a manner that the
enemy was compelled still to retire before them, and to qui!
their quarters, and, among the rest, a rising ground called
Beacon Hill ; which they no sooner quitted than the King
possessed, and immediately caused a square work to be there
raised, and a battery made, upon which some pieces of cannon
were planted, that shot into their quarters and did them great
hurt ; when their cannon, though they returned twenty shot
for one, did very little or no harm.
111. And now the King's forces had a full prospect over all
the others' quarters ; saw how all their foot and horse were
disposed, and from whence they received all their forage and
provisions : which when clearly viewed and observed, Goring
was sent, with the greatest part of the horse and fifteen hun
dred foot, a little westward to St. Blase, to drive the enemy yet
closer together, and to cut off the provisions they received from
thence; which was so well executed, that they did not only
possess themselves of St. Austell, and the westerly part of St.
Blase, (so that the enemy's horse was reduced to that small
extent of earth that is between the river of Foy and that at
Blase, which is not above two miles in breadth, and little more
in length ; in which they had for the most part fed since they
came to Listithiel, and therefore it could not now long supply
them,) but likewise were masters of the Parr, near St. Blase ;
whereby they deprived them of the chief place of landing the
provisions which came by sea. And now the earl began to be
very sensible of the ill condition he was in, and discerned that
he should not be able long to remain in that posture ; besides,
he had received advertisement that the party which was sent for
his relief from London had received some brush in Somersetshire,
which would much retard their march ; and therefore it behoved
him to enter upon new counsels, and to take new resolutions.

vm. 114.] Middleton repulsed at Donnington Castle. 401
112. It is very true the defeat at Cropredy (in which there
did not appear to be one thousand men killed or taken prisoners)
had so totally broken Waller's army that it could never be
brought to fight after : but when he had marched at a distance
from the King, to recover the broken spirits of his men, and
heard that his majesty was marched directly towards the west,
observing likewise that every night very many of his men run
from him, he thought it necessary to go himself to London,
where he made grievous complaints against the earl of Essex,
as if he had purposely exposed him to be affronted ; all which
was greedily hearkened to, and his person received and treated
as if he had returned victorious after having defeated the King's
army : which was a method very contrary to what was used
in the King's quarters, where all accidental misfortunes, how
inevitable soever, were still attended with very apparent dis
countenance. 113. But when he went himself to London, or presently upon
it, he sent his lieutenant general Middleton (a person of whom
we shall say much hereafter, and who lived to wipe out the
memory of the ill footsteps of his youth ; for he was but eigh
teen years of age when he was first led into rebellion) with a
body of three thousand horse and dragoons, to follow the King
into the west, and to wait upon his rear, with orders to reduce
in his way Donnington Castle, the house of a private gentleman
near Newbery, in which there were a company or two of foot
of the King's, and which they believed would be delivered up
as soon as demanded, being a place, as they thought, of little
strength. But Middleton found it so well defended by colonel
Bois, who was governor of it, that, after he had lost at least
three hundred officers and soldiers in attempting to take it 1,
he was compelled to recommend it to the governor of Abington,
to send an officer and some troops to block it up from infesting
that great road into the west, and himself prosecuted his march
to follow the King.
114. In Somersetshire he heard of great magazines of all
provisions, made for the supply of the King's army, and which
1 [Mere. Aulicus, p. 1130.]
vol. in. d d

a.o% Middleton s forces defeated near Bridgewater. [vm. 114.

were sent every day by strong convoys to Exeter, there to wait
farther orders. To surprise these provisions he sent major
Carr, with five hundred horse ; who fell into the village where
the convoy was, and was very like to have mastered them, when
sir Francis Doddington, with a troop of horse, and some foot
from Bridgewater, came seasonably to their relief, and after a
very sharp conflict, in whieh two or three good officers of the
King's were killed, (and among them major Killigrew, a very
hopeful young man, the son of a gallant and most deserving
father,) he totally routed the enemy, killed thirty or forty upon
the place, and had the pursuit of them two or three miles ; in
which major Carr, who commanded the party, and many other
officers were taken, and many others desperately wounded ; and
recovered all that they had taken : which sharp encounters;
where always many more 1 are lost than are killed or taken
prisoners, put such a stop to Middleton's march, that he was
glad to retire back to Sherborne, that he might refresh the
weariness and recover the spirits of his men. This was the
defeat, or obstruction, which the earl of Essex had intelligence
that the forces had met with coming to his relief, and which
made him despair of any succour that way.
115. When the earl found himself in this condition, and that
within very few days he must be without any provisions for his
army, he resolved that sir William Balfore should use his ut
most endeavour to break through with his whole body of horse,
and to save them the best he could ; and then that he himself
would embark his foot at Foy, and with them escape by sea.
And two foot soldiers of the army, whereof one was a French
man, came over from them, and assured the King that they in
tended that night to break through with their horse, which were
all then drawn on that side the river and town of Listithiel,
and that the foot were to march to Foy, where they should be
embarked. This intelligence agreed with what they otherwise
received, and was believed as it ought to be ; and thereupon
order was given that both armies (for that under prince Morrice
was looked upon as distinct, and always so quartered) should
1 [' men,' interlined in the transcript.]

vm. ne.] Essex's cavalry allowed by Goring to escape. 403
stand to their arms all that night, and if the horse attempted
an escape, fall on them from both quarters ; the passage be
tween them, through which they must go, being but a musket-
shot over ; and they could not avoid going very near a very
little cottage that was well fortified, in which fifty musketeers
were placed. Advertisement was sent to Goring and all the
horse ; and the orders renewed, which had formerly been given,
for the breaking down the bridges, and cutting down the trees
near the highway, to obstruct their passage.
116. The effect of all this providence was not such as was
reasonably to be expected. The night grew dark and misty, as
the enemy could wish; and about three in the morning the
whole body of the horse passed with great silence between the
armies, and within pistol-shot of the cottage, without so much
as one musket discharged at them. At the break of day the
horse were discovered marching over the heath, beyond the
reach of the foot; and there was only at hand the earl of
Cleaveland's brigade, the body of the King's horse being at a
greater distance. That brigade, to which some other troops
which had taken the alarm joined, followed them in the rear,
and killed some, and took more prisoners : but strong ' parties
of the enemy frequently turning upon them, and the whole
body often making a stand, they were often compelled to re
tire ; yet followed in that manner that they killed and took
about a hundred, which was the greatest damage they sustained
in their whole march. The notice and orders came to Goring
when he was in one of his jovial exercises ; which he received
with mirth, and slighting those who sent them, as men who
took alarms too warmly ; and he continued his delights till all
the enemy's horse were passed through his quarters, nor did
then pursue them in any time. So that, excepting such who
by the tiring of their horses became prisoners, Balfore continued
his march even to London, with less loss or trouble than can
be imagined, to the infinite reproach of the King's army and
of all his garrisons in the way. Nor was any man called in
question for this supine neglect ; it being not thought fit to
1 [Altered in the transcript to ' stronger.']
D d 2

404 Essex himself escapes by sea to Plymouth, [vm. ne.
make severe inquisition into the behaviour of the rest, when it
was so notoriously known how the superior officer had failed in
his duty.
117. The next morning1, after the horse were gone, the earl
drew all his foot together, and quitted Listithiel, and marched
towards Foy, having left order for the breaking down that
bridge. And his majesty himself from his new fort discerned
it, and sent a company of musketeers, who quickly beat those
that were left, and thereby preserved the bridge ; over which
the King presently marched to overtake the rear of the army,
which marched so fast, yet in good order, that they left two
demi-culverins and two other very good guns, and some am
munition, to be disposed of by the King. That day was spent
in smart skirmishes, in which many fell ; and if the King's
horse had been more, (whereof he had only two troops of his
guards, which did good service,) it would have proved a bloody
day to the enemy. The night coming on, the King lay in the
field, his own quarters beiDg so near the enemy that they dis
charged many cannon-shot, which fell within few yards of him
when he was at supper. Sunday being the next day, and the
first day of September, in the morning, Butler, lieutenant colonel
to the earl of Essex, who had been taken prisoner at Boconnocke,
and was exchanged for an officer of the King's, came from the
earl to desire a parley. As soon as he was sent away, the earl
embarked himself, with the lord Boberts, and such other officers
as he had most kindness for, in a vessel at Foy, and so escaped
into Plimmoth ; leaving all his army of foot, cannon, and am
munition, to the care of major general Skippon, who was to
make as good conditions for them as he could ; and after a very
short stay in Plimmoth, he went on board a ship of the royal
navy that attended there, and was within few days delivered
at London ; where he was received without any abatement of
the respect they had constantly paid him, nor was it less than
they could have shewed to him, if he had not only brought back
his own army but the King himself likewise with him.
118. The King consented to the parley; upon which a cessa-
1 [The same morning ; Symonds' Diary, p. 63.]

vm. 120.] Essex's army surrenders. 405
tion was concluded, and hostages interchangeably delivered ;
and then the enemy sent propositions, such as upon delivery of
a strong fortified town, after a handsome defence, are usually
granted. But they quickly found they were not looked upon
as men in that condition ; and so, in the end, they were con
tented to deliver up all their cannon, (which, with the four 1
taken two or three days before, were eight and thirty pieces
of cannon,) a hundred barrels of powder, with match and bullets
proportionable, and about six thousand arms ; which being
done, the officers were to have liberty to wear their swords,
and to pass with their own money and proper goods ; and, to
secure them from plunder, they were to have a convoy to Poole
or Southampton ; all their sick and wounded might stay in
Foy till they were recovered, and then have passes to Plim
moth. 119. This agreement was executed accordingly, on Monday
the second of September ; and though it was near the evening
before all was finished, they would march away that night ;
and though all care was taken to preserve them from violence,
yet first at Listithiel, where they had been long quartered, and
in other towns through which they had formerly passed, the
inhabitants, especially the women, who pretended to see their
own clothes and goods about them which they had been plun
dered of, treated them very rudely, even to stripping of some
of the soldiers, and more of their wives, who had before be
haved themselves with great insolence in the march. That
night there came about one hundred of them to the King's
army, and of the six thousand, for so many marched out of Foy,
there did not a third part come to Southampton, where the
King's convoy left them ; to which Skippon gave a large testi
mony under his hand, that they had carried themselves with
great civility towards them, and fully complied with their obli
gation. 120 2. Whilst the King was in the west, though he had left
1 [Two words are here erased in the transcript.]
2 [The text is here taken up from the Life, p. 271 and p. 265, for this and
the foEowing section.]

406 State of affairs at Oxford. [vm. 120.
1644 Oxford in a very ill state in respect of provisions and fortifica
tions and soldiers, and of the different humours of those who
remained there, the town being full of lords, (besides those of
the Council,) and of persons of the best quality, with very many
ladies, who when not pleased themselves kept others from being
so, yet in his absence they who were solicitous to carry on bis
service concurred and agreed so well together, that they pre
vailed with the rest to do every thing that was necessary. They
caused provisions of corn to be laid in, in great proportions,
assigning the public schools to that purpose, and committing
the custody of it to the owners of the corn. They had raised
so many volunteers that their guards were well kept; and
there was need they should be so ; for when both the Parlia
ment armies were before the town, major general Brown, a
citizen of London, of good reputation, and a stout man, had
been left in Abington with a strong garrison, from whence,
being superior in power, he infested Oxford very much ; which
gave them the more reason to prosecute the fortification, which
in the most important places they brought to a good perfection ;
and when they had no more apprehension of a siege, Waller
being at a distance, and not able to follow the King, and less
able to sit down before Oxford, they resolved to do somewhat
to be talked of.
121. The King had before his departure found they were riot
satisfied with their governor, and very apprehensive of his rude-
1643 ness and incomplacency. Upon the death of sir William Penny-
Aug. 21- man, who had been governor of Oxford to the great satisfaction
of all men, being a very brave and generous person, and who
performed all manner of civilities to all sorts of people, as
having had a very good education, and well understanding the
manners of the Court, (the Queen being then in Oxford,) her
majesty, (who thought herself the safer for being under the
charge and care of a Roman Catholic,) prevailed with the King
Aug. 23. to confer that charge upon sir Arthur Aston, who had been at
Reading, and had the fortune to be very much esteemed where
he was not known, and very much detested where he was ; and
he was by this time too well known at Oxford to be beloved by

vm. 122.] Character of Colonel Gage. 407
any, which the King well understood, and waB the more troubled 1644
because he saw the prejudice was universal, and with too much
reason ; and therefore he had given an extraordinary commission
to the lords of his Council, to whose authority he [sir A. Aston]
was to submit ; which obliged him to live with a little more
respect towards them than he desired to do, being a man of a
rough nature, and so given up to an immoderate love of money
that he cared not by what unrighteous ways he exacted it.
There were likewise some officers of name, who, having then
no charge in the army, stayed in the town ; and those, by the
King's direction, the lords disposed to assist the governor, and
particularly, to take care of the several quarters of the town,
one whereof was assigned to each of them. And amongst them,
colonel Gage was one, who, having the English regiment in
Flanders, had got leave there to make offer of his service to
the King, and to that purpose was newly come from thence to
Oxford, and was indeed a man of extraordinary parts, both as
a soldier and a wise man ; of whom there will be hereafter more
occasion to enlarge.
122. He was in truth a very extraordinary man, of a large
and very graceful person, of an honourable extraction, his grand
father 1 having been Knight of the Garter. Besides his great
experience and abilities as a soldier, which were very eminent,
he had very great parts of breeding, being a very good scholar
in the polite parts of learning, a great master in the Spanish
and Italian tongues, besides the French and the Dutch, which
he spoke in great perfection, having scarce been in England in
twenty years before. He was likewise very conversant in Courts,
having for many years been much esteemed in that of the arch
duke and duchess Albert and Isabella, at Brussels, which was a
great and very regular Court at that time ; so that he deserved
to be looked upon as a wise and accomplished person. Of this
gentleman the lords of the Council had a singular esteem, and
consulted frequently with him whilst they looked to be besieged,
and thought Oxford to be the more secure for his being in it ;
which rendered him so ungrateful to the governor, sir Arthur,
1 [Sir John Gage, who died April 18, 1556.]

1644

408 Siege of Basing House. [VIII. 122.
that he crossed him in any thing he proposed, and hated him
perfectly ; as they were of natures and manners as different as
men can be.
123 1. The garrison of Basing House, the seat of the marquis
1 [The foEowing account of the relief of Basing House is struck out in
the MS. of the Life, at pp. 271-2, and has not hitherto been printed :—
' The garrison of Basing, which was governed by the marquis of Winches
ter, it being his own house in Hampshire, had been from the time that the
King's army had been in the west besieged by colonel Norton, a gentleman
of the best rank and estate in that country, and a stout and diligent officer,
who had a body of horse and foot equal to the service ; towards which the
animosity the country generaUy had against Papists, of which profession
the marquis was one, contributed all that was desired of them ; and it was
now so straitened that their provisions were near an end, and if they were
not relieved within twenty days they must be compeUed to surrender it.
And they had no place to address their complaint to but to Oxford, where
the King's Privy CouncE remained ; and thither the marquis and the prin
cipal officers sent the state and condition they were in, very particularly set
down ; and the lady marquis of Winchester, wife to the marquis, had some
months before brought herself into Oxford, for her more quiet accommoda
tion and to avoid the distresses of a siege, and she was very solicitous to
procure relief for her [husband], who was in respect of his religion sure to
be iU-treated if he feE into the enemy's hands. The place was of great
importance, and was the only garrison the King had in the parts, and
every body desired to contribute the utmost they could for the preservation
of it. But the succouring and preserving it seemed to be impossible ; it was
at so great a distance from Oxford, nearer fifty than forty miles, that if the
business could be done the forces which did it could not return to Oxford,
by reason of the strength the enemy had very little out of the way ; the
enemy before it was very strong, and if they had notice of any party sent to
reUeve it (which they could not be without, since it would require three
days from Oxford) they would be much stronger, by drawing in aU the
militia of the country, which was at the Parliament's devotion. The prin
cipal part of the work was to be done by horse, whereof there were very few
at Oxford ; and, in the last place, if it were possible to send a competent
party so far, the governor of Abington was a very vigilant officer, and would
have present notice of it, and follow them with a greater, or be sure to cut
them off in their retreat. So that when the lords brought the matter to be
consulted with the governor and the other officers, which they were bound
for their own indemnity to do, it seemed to be an attempt of such a nature
that in many respects it ought to be despaired of, and, as such, laid aside.
Shortly after, colonel Gage came to the Chancellor, who he knew wished
very weE to the design, and discoursed very reasonably of it, as a thing easy
to be brought to pass, and the more easily because it would not be
suspected ; that the distance was not much to be considered, since the
march need not be made through any towns but by bye and unfrequented
ways, and that there were woods in which they might lodge the first night,

vm. 123.] Siege of Basing House. 409
of Winchester, in which himself was and commanded, had been
now straitly besieged for the space of above three months by a
and afterwards might march as the ParUament troops, and so be upon the
enemy before they were suspected ; that it would be an easy matter for the
lords and persons of quaUty who lived in the town to supply one hundred
and fifty horse of their own, with riders of their own servants ; and con
cluded, that he would himself undertake the service if he might have such
a supply, and five hundred foot which the governor might well aEow ; and
then, if the ports were kept shut but on morning, he would fear no incon
venience from the governor of Abington in his march or his retreat. The
Chancellor, who had a great esteem and kindness for Gage, imparted the
discourse to the lord Cottington and Secretary Nicholas, with whom he
conferred in aE things, and they resolved to impart it to the lords, and to
pursue the design ; though they foresaw they should have great opposition
from the governor, Sir Arthur Aston, who was not pleased with the esteem
he found aU men had for Gage, and crossed all things which were proposed
by him. The lords generally approved all that was proposed, and promised
to advance the design aE they could by sending as many of their servants
as they had horses for, and to persuade as many of the gentlemen about the
town as they had interest in to do the like. The governor, as they had
foreseen, opposed it passionately ; declared it was not an enterprise to be
undertaken by a man who understood the profession, and that he would not
venture one man of his garrison in it. The lords were as positive as he, and
made an order by which he was required, at his peril, to appoint 500 of his
garrison to march and to be commanded by colonel Gage ; which order,
when he could not dissuade, he thought fit to obey. And so, there being
such a number of horse provided, and put under the command of colonel
Webb, an excellent officer, they marched out of the town in the evening at
the shutting of the ports, and, having good guides, they passed with so
great secrecy that the second day after they were within less than a mile
of Basing before the enemy had any notice of them. Colonel Norton drew
up his men with very good order, and expected them, and in his own person
charged with great gaUantry and resolution, and his men bore the first
shock well, but soon after retired in haste ; so that the garrison, which was
strong, making a sally at the same time, and beating the foot out of their
trenches, they found themselves quickly at liberty. There were not of the
King's men above ten or twelve men lost, whereof one was a servant of the
Chancellor's, who waited on him in his chamber, and was much loved by
him ; the rest were gentlemen ; but they lost more horses. Of the enemy
there were many more killed, and of both sides more hurt. Colonel Gage
gave the enemy no time to rally, but, sending out the horse a pretty dis
tance about the place, went himself with the foot and guides of the garrison
to Basingstoke, a good market-town within less than a mile of the garrison ;
and in the same day, the action with the enemy being in the morning, they
got a great quantity of all kind of provision into the castle, so that it was
left victuaEed very well for six weeks. And the night following he marched
back with the same care into an adjacent wood, and rested all that day,
and then, declining the way he had formerly gone, he returned safely to

1644

410 Siege of Basing House. [vm. 123.
conjunction of the Parliament troops of Hampshire and Sussex,
under the command of Norton, Onslow, Jarvis, Whitehead, and
Morley, all colonels of regiments, and now united in this service
under the command of Norton, a man of spirit, and of the
greatest fortune of all the rest. It was so closely begirt before
the King's march into the west, and was looked upon as a place
of such importance, that when the King sent notice to Oxford
of his resolution to march into the west the Council humbly
desired his majesty that he would make Basing his way, and
thereby relieve it, which his majesty found would have retarded
his march too much, and might have invited Waller the sooner
to follow him ; and therefore declined it. From that time the
marquis, by frequent expresses, importuned the lords of the
Council to provide in some manner for his relief, and not to
suffer his person, and a place from whence the rebels received
so much prejudice, to fall into their hands. The lady mar
chioness, his wife, was then in Oxford, and solicited very
diligently the timely preservation of her husband ; which made
every body desire to gratify her, being a lady of great honour
and alliance, as sister to the earl of Essex and to the lady mar
chioness of Hertford ; who was likewise in the town, and en
gaged her husband to take this business to heart : and all the
Roman Catholics, who were numerous in the town, looked upon
themselves as concerned to contribute all they could to the good
work, and so offered to list themselves and their servants in the
service. 124. The Council, both upon public and private motives,
was very heartily disposed to effect it, and had several confer
ences together, and with the officers ; in all which the governor
too reasonably opposed the design, as full of more difficulties,
and liable to greater damages, than any soldier who understood
command would expose himself and the King's service to ; and
protested that he would not suffer any of the small garrison
Oxford, before the week was expired, and with no other loss than is men
tioned ; to the great satisfaction of the lords, and the universal joy of all
the people there, which they expressed all the ways they could, and more
in the celebration of Gage's conduct than the governor was pleased with.']

vm. 126.] Col. Gage undertakes to relieve Basing House. 41 1
that was under his charge to be hazarded in the attempt. It
was very true Basing was near forty miles from Oxford, and, in
the way between them, the enemy had a strong garrison of horse
and foot at Abington, and as strong at Beading, whose horse
every day visited all the highways near, besides a body of horse
and dragoons quartered at Newbery; so that it appeared to
most men hardly possible to send a party to Basing, and im
possible for that party to return to Oxford if they should be
able to get to Basing : yet new importunities from the marquis,
with a positive declaration that he could not defend it above
ten days, and must then submit to the worst conditions the
rebels were like to grant to his person and to his religion, and
new instances from his lady, prevailed with the lords to enter
upon a new consultation ; in which the governor persisted in
his old resolution, as seeing no cause to change it.
125. In this debate colonel Gage declared, that, though he
thought the service full of hazard, especially for the return, yet
if the lords would, by listing their own servants, persuade the
gentlemen in the town to do the like, and engage their own
persons, whereby a good troop or two of horse might be raised,
(upon which the principal dependence must be,) he would wil
lingly, if there were nobody else thought fitter for it, undertake
the conduct of them himself; and hoped he should give a good
account of it : which being offered with great cheerfulness by a
person of whose prudence as well as courage they had a full
confidence, they all resolved to do the utmost that was in their
power to make it effectual.
126. There was about this time, by the surrender of Green
land House, (which could not possibly be longer defended, the
whole structure being beaten down by the cannon,) the regi
ment of colonel Hawkins marched into Oxford, amounting to
near three hundred ; to which as many others joined as made
it up four hundred men. The lords mounted their servants
upon their own horses ; and they, with the volunteers who
frankly listed themselves, amounted to a body of two hundred
and fifty very good horse, all put under the command of colonel
William Webb, an excellent officer, bred up in Flanders in some

412

Col. Gage's march to Basingstoke, [vm. 126

emulation with colonel Gage, and who, upon the Catholic in
terest, was at this time contented to serve under him. With
this small party for so great an action, Gage marched out ol
Oxford in the beginning of the night, and by the morning
reached the place * where he intended to refresh himself and his
troops, which was a wood near Wallingford ; from whence he
despatched an express to sir William Ogle, governor of Win
chester, who had made a promise to the lords of the Council
that, whensoever they would endeavour the raising of the siege
before Basing, he would send one hundred horse and three
hundred foot out of his garrison for their assistance; and a
presumption upon this aid was the principal motive for the
undertaking : and so he was directed at what hour in the
morning his party should fall into Basing park, in the rear of
the rebels' quarters, whilst Gage himself would fall on the other
side ; the marquis being desired at the same time to make fre
quent sallies from the house.
127. After some hours of refreshment in the morning and
sending this express to Winchester, the troops marched through
by-lanes to Aldermaston, a village out of any great road, where
they intended to take more rest that night. They had marched
from the time they left Oxford with orange-tawny scarfs and
ribbons, that they might be taken for the Parliament soldiers ;
and hoped by that artifice to have passed undiscovered even to>
the approach upon the besiegers. But the party of horse which
was sent before to Aldermaston found there some of the Parlia
ment horse, and, forgetting their orange-tawny scarfs, fell upon
them, and killed some, and took six or seven prisoners ; whereby
the secret was discovered, and notice quickly sent to Basing of
the approaching danger ; which accident made their stay shorter
at that village than was intended and than the weariness of the
soldiers required. About eleven of the clock they begun their
march again, which they continued all that night ; the horse
men often alighting that the foot might ride, and others taking
many of them behind them ; however, they could not but be
extremely weary and surbated.
1 [Cholsey ; Walker's Hist. Disc, p. 90.]

vm. 129.] and relief of Basing House. 413
128. Between four and five of the clock on Wednesday
morning, it having been Monday night that they left Oxford,
they arrived within a mile of Basing ; where an officer, sent
from sir William Ogle, came to them, to let them know that
he durst not send his troops so far, in regard many of the
enemy's horse lay between Winchester and Basing. This broke
all the colonel's measures ; and, since there was no receding,
made him change the whole method of his proceedings ; and,
instead of dividing his forces, and falling on in several places,
as he meant to have done if the Winchester forces had complied
with their obligation or if his march had been undiscovered, he
resolved now to fall on jointly with all his body in one place ;
in order to which he commanded the men to be ranged in bat
talions, and rid to every squadron, giving them such words as
were proper to the occasion ; which no man could more perti
nently deliver, or with a better grace : he commanded every
man to tie a white tape ribbon, or handkerchief, above the elbow
of their right arm, and gave them the word St. George ; which
was the sign and the word that he had sent before to the mar
quis, lest in his sallies their men, for want of distinction, might
fall foul of each other.
129. Thus they marched towards the house, colonel Webb
leading the right wing, and lieutenant colonel Bunkly the left
of the horse, and Gage himself the foot. They had not marched
far, when at the upper end of a large campaign field, upon a
little rising of an hill, they discerned a body of five cornets of
horse very full, standing in very good order to receive them.
But before any impression could be made upon them, the colonel
must pass between two hedges lined very thick with musketeers ;
from whom the horse very courageously bore a smart volley, and
then charged the enemy's horse so gallantly that, after a shorter
resistance than was expected from the known courage of Norton,
though many of his men fell, they gave ground, and at last
plainly run to a safe place, beyond which they could not be
pursued. The foot disputed the business much better, and,
being beaten from hedge to hedge, retired into their quarters
and works, which they did not abandon in less than two hours ;

414 Gage supplies Basing House with provisions, [vm. 129.

and then a free entrance into the house was gained on that side,
where the colonel only stayed to salute the marquis, and to put
in the ammunition he had brought with him ; which was only
twelve barrels of powder and twelve hundred weight of match ;
and immediately marched with his horse and foot to Basing
stoke, a good market-town two miles from the house, leaving
one hundred foot to be led by some officers of the garrison to
the town of Basing, a village but a mile distant. In Basing
stoke they found store of wheat, malt, oats, salt, bacon, cheese,
and butter ; as much of which was all that day sent to the
house as they could find carts or horses to transport, together
with fourteen barrels of powder and some muskets, and forty or
fifty head of cattle, with above one hundred sheep : whilst the
other party, that went to Basing town, beat the enemy that was
quartered there ; after having killed forty or fifty of them, some
fled into the church, where they were quickly taken prisoners ;
and, among them, two captains, Jarvise and Jephson, the two
eldest sons of two of the greatest rebels of that country, and
both heirs to good fortunes, who were carried prisoners to
Basing House ; the rest, who besieged that side, being fled into
a strong fort which they had raised in the park. The colonel
spent that and the next day in sending all manner of provisions
into the house, and then, reasonably computing that the garri
son was well provided for two months, he thought of his retreat
to Oxford : which it was time to do ; for, besides that Norton
had drawn all his men together who had been dismayed, with
all the troops which lay quartered within any distance, and
appeared within sight of the house more numerous and gay
than before, as if he meant to be revenged before they parted,
he was likewise well informed by the persons he had employed
that the enemy from Abington had lodged themselves at Alder
maston, and those from Beading and Newbery in two other
villages upon the river Kennet, over which he was to pass.
130. Hereupon, that he might take away the apprehension
that he meant suddenly to depart, he sent out orders, which he
was sure would come into the enemy's hands, to two or three
villages next the house, that they should, by the next day

vm. 131.] and returns safely to Oxford.

4L5

noon, send such proportions of corn into Basing House as were
mentioned in the warrants ; upon pain, if they failed by the
time, to have a thousand horse and dragoons sent to fire the
towns. This being done, and all his men drawn together about
eleven of the clock at night, Thursday, the second night after
he came thither, the marquis giving him two or three guides
who knew the country exactly, he marched from Basing with
out sound of drum or trumpet, and passed the Kennet, undis
covered, by a ford near a bridge which the enemy had broke
down, and thereby thought they had secured that passage ; the
horse taking the foot en croupe ; and then, marching by-ways,
in the morning they likewise passed over the Thames, at a ford
little more than a mile from Reading 1 ; and so escaped the
enemy, and got before night to Wallingford ; where he securely
rested, and refreshed his men that night, and the next day ar
rived safe at Oxford ; having lost only two captains and two or
three other gentlemen and common men, in all to the number of
eleven ; and forty or fifty wounded, but not dangerously. What
number the enemy lost could not be known, but believed to be
many, besides above one hundred prisoners that were taken ; and
it was confessed by enemies as well as friends that it was as sol
dierly an action as had been performed in the war on either side,
and redounded very much to the reputation of the commander.
131. The next day after the army of Essex was gone and
dissolved, the King returned to his quarters at Boconnocke,
and stayed there only a day to refresh his men ; having sent,
the day before, Greenevill, with the Cornish horse and foot,
towards Plimmoth, to join with Goring in the pursuit of Bal-
fore, and that body of horse ; which, by passing over the bridge
near Salt-Ash, they might easily have done. But he slackened
his march that he might possess Salt-Ash, which the enemy had
quitted and left therein eleven pieces of cannon, with some arms
and ammunition ; which, together with the town, was not worth
his unwarrantable stay. This kept him from joining with
Goring ; who thereby, and for want of those foot, excused his
not fighting with Balfore when he was within distance, but
1 [At Pangbourne, (Walker's Hist. Disc, p. 95) six miles from Beading.]

4i 6 Unsuccessful pursuit of Essex's cavalry, [vm. 131.
contented himself with sending a commanded party to follow his
rear ; and in that too eager a pursuit, captain Samuel Wenman,
a young man of extraordinary parts and expectation, the son
of a very wise and eminent father \ was lost, to the irreparable
damage of a noble family. Thus Balfore, by an orderly and
well governed march, passed above one hundred miles in the
King's quarters, as hath been said before, without any consider
able loss, to a place of safety within their own precincts.
132. The fear and apprehension of the enemy was no sooner
over, than the murmur began, that the King had been persuaded
to grant too good conditions to that body of foot ; and that he
might well have forced them to have submitted to his mercy
as well as to have laid down their arms, and so have made both
officers and soldiers to become prisoners of war : by which the
enemy would not have been able so soon to have raised another
army. But they who undertook to censure that action, how
great a number soever they were, did not at all understand the
present temper and constitution of the King's army ; which
then was not near so strong as it was reputed to be. Whatever
it might have done by a brisk and vigorous attempt, when it
first entered Cornwall, which was in the beginning of August,
and when a party of his majesty's horse surprised and seized
the earl of Essex's own lieutenant colonel, and many other
officers of name at Boconnocke, before his majesty was sus
pected to be in any near distance : I say, whatever might have
been then done, in that consternation the enemy was then in,
the case was very much altered in the beginning of September,
when the articles were made, and when the number of the foot
who laid down their arms was in truth superior to the King's,
(as it will appear anon,) when his army marched out of Corn
wall. The oversight, which was a great one, was on the other
side, when their horse broke through. If they had then known,
and it was hardly possible they should not know it, that all the
King's horse, his guard only excepted, were at that time quar
tered behind them, about St. Blase, their foot might very well
have marched away with their horse, their cannon only 1
1 [Sir Francis Wenman.]

vm. 133.] The King again sends an offer of peace. 41 7
left behind, and having got but four or five hours before, which 1644
they might easily and as undiscerned have done, the King's
army, in the condition and state it was in, naked and unshod,
would, through those enclosed parts, narrow lanes, and deep
ditches, in Devon and Somerset, have been able to have done
them little harm. Besides, the King very well knew at the
time the articles were made, that Middleton, notwithstanding
all his affronts, was then come to Tiverton ; and therefore there
can be no doubt that his majesty, in those condescensions, pro
ceeded with no less prudence than clemency.
133 *. After this victory, the King thought fit to renew his
offer of peace, and sent a message to the two Houses of Parlia
ment to desire that there might be a treaty to that purpose ;
which message was sent by a trumpet to the earl of Essex, after Sept. 8.
his repair to London, to be delivered by him, of which there
was no consideration taken in three months after the receipt of
it. This done, the King was persuaded that he would in his
way (as it was not much out of it) look upon Plimmoth ; for
so far it might be presumed that the Cornish troops, how im
patient soever they were to be at their harvest 2, would attend
him : and if he could by appearing before it become master of
it, which was not thought improbable, he would return to Ox
ford in great triumph, and leave the west throughly reduced ;
for then Lyme could not hold out, and he might be sure to carry
an army with him strongly recruited ; but if it proved not a
work of ease and expedition, he might proceed in his march
without farther stay; and he quickly found it necessary to do Sept. 11.
so, having sent a summons to the town, and received a rude Sept. 12.
answer to it. For the earl of Essex had left the lord Boberts
governor in that town ; a man of a sour and a surly nature, a
great opiniastre, and one who must be overcome before he would
believe that he could be so. The King, finding no good could
be done with him, and that the reducing the town would require
some time, pursued his former resolution, and marched away ;
having committed the blocking up of Plimmoth to sir Richard Sept. 14.
1 [This section is from the Life, p. 269.]
2 ['it being now about the middle of August,' struck out.]
VOL. III. E e

41 8 Plymouth blockaded by sir R< Greenville, [vm. 133.
1644 Greenevill, a man who had been bred a soldier, and of great
expectation, but of greater promises ; having with all manner
of assurance undertaken to take the town by Christmas if such
conditions might be performed to him, all which were punctu
ally complied with ; whilst he made his quarters as far as ever
they had been formerly from the town ; beginning his war first
upon his wife, who had been long in possession of her own for
tune by virtue of a decree in Chancery many years before the
troubles ; and seizing upon all she had, and then making him
self master of all their estates who were in the service of the
Parliament, without doing any thing of importance upon the
town ; only upon the first message between the lord Roberts
and him there arose so mortal a misunderstanding, that there
was never civility or quarter observed between them ; but such
as were taken of either side between them were put to the
sword, or, which was worse, to the halter.
134 1. Since there will be often occasion to mention this gen
tleman, sir Richard Greenevill, in the ensuing discourse, and
because many men believed that he was hardly dealt with in
the next year, where all the proceedings will be set down at
large, it will not be unfit in this place to say somewhat of him,
and of the manner and merit of his entering into the King's
service some months before the time we are now upon. He
was of a very ancient and worthy family in Cornwall, which
had, in several ages, produced men of great courage, and very
signal in their fidelity to, and service of, the Crown ; and was
himself younger brother (though in his nature or humour not of
kin to him) to the brave sir Bevil Greenevill, who so courage
ously lost his life in the battle of Lansdowne. Being a younger
brother, and a very young man, he went into the Low Countries,
to learn the profession of a soldier, to which he had dedicated
himself, under the greatest general of that age, prince Morrice,
and in the regiment of the lord Vere, who was general of all the
English. In that service he was looked upon as a man of cou
rage, and a diligent officer, in the quality of a captain, to which
he attained after few years' service. About this time, in the
1 [The MS. of the Hist, is here resumed for §§ 134-166.]

vm. 135.] Account of sir R. Greenville. 419
end of the reign of king James, the war broke out between 1644
England and Spain ; and in the expedition to Cales this gen
tleman served as major to a regiment of foot, and continued in
the same command in the war that soon after followed against
France ; and at the Isle of Ree insinuated himself into the very
good grace of the duke of Buckingham, who was the general in
that invasion ; and after the unfortunate retreat from thence
was made colonel of a regiment, with a general approbation,
and as an officer that well deserved it.
135. His credit every day increased with the duke, who, out
of the generosity of his nature, (as a most generous person he
was,) resolved to raise his fortune ; towards the beginning
whereof, by his countenance and solicitation, he prevailed with
a rich widow * to marry him, who had been a lady of extraordi
nary beauty, which she had not yet outlived ; and though she
had no great dowry by her husband, a younger brother of the
earl of Suffolk, yet she inherited a fair fortune of her own near
Plimmoth, and was besides very rich in a personal estate, and
was looked upon as the richest marriage of the West. This
lady, by the duke's credit, sir Bichard Greenevill (for he was
now made a knight and baronet 2) obtained ; and was thereby
possessed of a plentiful estate upon the borders of his own
country, and where his own family had great credit and autho
rity. The war being shortly at an end, and he deprived of his
great patron, [he] had nothing now to depend upon but the
fortune of his wife ; which, though ample enough to have sup
ported the expense a person of his quality ought to have made,
was not large enough to satisfy his vanity and ambition, nor so
great as he upon common reports had promised himself by her.
By not being enough pleased with her fortune, he grew less
pleased with his wife ; who, being a woman of a haughty and
1 [Mary, daughter and heiress of sir John Fitz, of Fitzfbrd, Devon, widow
of Bir Charles Howard, son of Thomas, first earl of Suffolk, who died in
1622 ; she married sir K. GreenvEle, as her fourth husband, in Oct. 1629, and
had issue a son and daughter, but was divorced about the beginning of 1632.
Cal. ofDom. S.P. 1633-4, P- x58 >' I^38-9, p. 286 ; 1639-40, pp. 414-5.]
2 [Knighted 21 June, 1627, at Portsmouth, when about to sail with the
duke of Buckingham. Dugdale MS. (in the Bodl. Libr.) R., p. 234.]
B e 2

420 Account of sir R. Greenville. [vm. 135.
1644 imperious nature, and of a wit superior to his, quickly resented
the disrespect she received from him, and in no degree studied
to make herself easy to him. After some years spent together
in these domestic unsociable contestations, in which he possessed
himself of all her estate as the sole master of it, without allowing
her out of her own any competency for herself, and indulged to
himself all those licenses in her own house which to women are
most grievous, she found means to withdraw herself from him,
and was with all kindness received into that family in which
she had before been married, and was always very much re
spected. 136. Her absence was not ingrateful to him, till the tenants
refused to pay him any more rent, and he found himself on a
sudden deprived of her whole estate, which was all he had to
live upon. For it appeared now, that she had before her mar
riage with him settled her entire fortune so absolutely upon the
earl of Suffolk, that the present right was in him, and he re
quired the rents to be paid to him. This begat a suit in the
Chancery between sir Bichard Greenevill and the then earl of
Suffolk, before the lord Coventry, who found the conveyances in
law to be so firm, that he could not only not relieve sir E.
Greenevill in equity, but that in justice he must decree the
land to the earl ; which he did. This very sensible mortifica
tion transported him so much, that, being a man who used to
speak very bitterly of those he did not love, after all endeavours
to have engaged the earl in a personal conflict, he revenged
himself upon him in such opprobrious language as the govern
ment and justice of that time would not permit to pass un
punished ; and the earl appealed for reparation to the court of
Star Chamber, where sir Richard was decreed to pay three
thousand pounds for damages to him, and was likewise fined
the sum of three thousand 1 pounds to the King, who gave the
fine likewise to the earl 2 : so that sir Richard was committed
to the prison of the Fleet in execution for the whole six
thousand pounds ; which at that time was thought by all men
1 [£4000, in Candlemas term, 1632. Cal. Dom. S. P., 1633-4, P^ J58'l
% [fial. Dom. S. P., 1631-33, p. 242.]

vm. 138.] Account of sir R. Greenville. \%\
to be a very severe and rigorous decree, and drew a general 1644
compassion towards the unhappy gentleman.
137. After he had endured many years of strict imprison
ment, a little before the beginning of the late troubles he made
his escape out of the prison \ and, transporting himself beyond
the seas, remained there till the Parliament was called that
produced so many miseries to the kingdom ; and when he heard
that many decrees which had been made in that time by the
court of Star Chamber were repealed, and the persons grieved
absolved from those penalties, he likewise returned and petitioned
to have his cause heard ; for which a committee was appointed ; 1640
but before it could be brought to any conclusion, the rebellion ec'
brake out in Ireland. Amongst the first troops which were
raised and transported for the suppression thereof by the Par
liament, (to whom the King had unhappily committed the
prosecution thereof,) sir Richard Greenevill, upon the fame of
being a good officer, was sent over with a very good troop of
horse, and was major of the earl of Leicester's own regiment
of horse, and was very much esteemed by him, and the more
by the Parliament, for the signal acts of cruelty he did every
day commit upon the Irish ; which were of so many kinds,
upon both sexes, young and old, hanging old men who were
bedrid, because they would not discover where their money was
that he believed they had, and old women, some of quality, after
he had plundered them and found less than he expected, that
can hardly be believed, though notoriously known to be true.
138. After the cessation was made in Ireland, he pretended
that his conscience would not give him leave to stay there, and
was much the more welcome to the Parliament for declaring so
heartily against that cessation ; and sir William Waller being
in the beginning of this year to make his expedition into the
west, after the battle of Al[re]sford, sir Richard Greenevill was
either commended to, or invited by, him, to command the horse
under him z ; which he cheerfully accepted, not without many
1 [Cal. Dom. S. P., 1639-40, p. 73.]
2 [It was resolved by the Commons on 20 Dec. 1643 that a regiment of
500 horse be raised to be -commanded by Greenville under WaEer.]

42a Account of sir R. Greenville. [vm. 138
1644 insinuations how mueh his interest in Devonshire and Cornwall
would advance theirs. He received from the Parliament a
great sum of money for the making his equipage, in which he
always affected more than ordinary lustre ; and sir William
Waller communicated to him all his designs, with the ground
and foundation of them, as to an entire friend, and an officer
of that eminence from whose advice he meant to govern his
own conduct.
139. His first and principal design was to surprise Basing
House by a correspondence with the lord Edward Pawlett,
brother to the marquis of Winchester, and then with him as
unsuspected as a brother ought to be. And for the better
execution of this, sir Richard Greenevill was sent before with
the body of the horse, that all things might be well disposed
and prepared against the time Waller himself should come to
him. He appointed a rendezvous for the horse at Baggshott,
and the same day marched out of London only with his
equipage, which was very noble, a coach and six horses, a
waggon and six horses, many led horses, and many servants:
and with those, when he came to Stanes, he left the Baggshott
March 2. road, and marched directly to Reading, where the King's
garrison then was, and thence without delay to Oxford, where
March 8. he was very graciously received by the King, and the more,
that he was not expected. He communicated then to the King
the whole design for the surprise of Basing ; upon which the
King sent an express immediately to the marquis, with all the
particular informations, who thereupon seized upon his brother
and the other conspirators ; who confessed all, with all the
circumstances of the correspondence and the combination. The
marquis prevailed with the King that he might only turn his
brother out of the garrison, after justice was done upon his
complices. This very happy and seasonable discovery preserved
that important place, which without it had been infallibly lost
within few days, and therefore could not but much endear the
person of the discoverer ; upon whom the Parliamant thundered
out all those reproaches which his deserting them in such a
manner was liable to, and denounced all those judgments upon

vm. 142.] Account of sir R. Greenville. 40,3
him of attainder, confiscation, and incapacity of pardon, which 1644
they used to do against those who they thought had done them
most mischieve, or against whom they were most incensed :
which was all the excuse he could make for his proceeding
against those of their party who fell into his hands afterwards
where he commanded.
140. From Oxford he went quickly into the west, before he
had any command there, declaring that he would assist colonel
Digby ; who, upon prince Morrice his departure from thence
with his army, was left to block up Plimmoth, which he did
with much courage and soldierly ability. And to him he had
letters from the King, that he should put sir Richard Greenevill
into the possession of his wife's estate that lay within his
quarters, and which were justly liable to a sequestration by
her living in London, and being too zealously of that party;
which the colonel punctually did. And so he came after so
many years to be again possessed of all that estate, which was
what he most set his heart upon.
141. One day he made a visit from his house, which he called
his own, to the colonel, and dined with him ; and the colonel
civilly sent half a dozen troopers to wait upon him home, lest
any of the garrison, in their usual excursions, might meet with
him. And in his return home he saw four or five fellows
coming out of a neighbour wood, with burdens of wood upon
their backs, which they had stolen. He bid the troopers fetch
those fellows to him ; and finding that they were soldiers of the
garrison, he made one of them hang all the rest, which, to save
his own life, he was contented to do : so strong his appetite was
to those executions which he had been accustomed to in Ireland,
without any kind of commission or pretence of authority.
142. Shortly after, upon a sally made with horse and foot
from the town, colonel Digby, (who, besides the keenness of his
courage, had a more composed understanding, and less liable to
fumes, than those of his family who had sharper parts,) charging
them with such vigour that routed and drave them back, re
ceived himself in the close an unhappy wound with a rapier in
the eye, which pierced near his brain ; so that, though he was

424 The King desires to winter at Oxford, [vm. 142.
1644 brought off by his soldiers, it was very long before he recovered
enough to endure the air, and never did the effects of the
wound. And upon this accident sir Richard Greenevill was
placed in that command, which he executed for some months ;
until, upon the advance of the earl of Essex, he was compelled
to retire into Cornwall, where we found him at the King's
coming thither.
143. This so large excursion upon so private a person may
seem very extravagant, and to carry in it too much animosity
against the memory of a man who did some things well, and
was not without some merit in the King's service : but they
who know the occurrences of the next year, which will be faith
fully related, and consider the severity that he compelled the
Prince to use towards him, of which he made a great noise
afterwards in the world, and prevailed with some good men
to believe that the proceeding against him was too rigorous,
and [that] the council then about the Prince had some personal
disrespect towards him, may reasonably believe that this en
largement was in some degree necessary, that such a man's
original, nature, manners, and disposition, should be manifest
and clearly understood.
144. The King was now most intent to return into hia
winter quarters at Oxford, which was all he could propose to
himself, and in which he expected to meet with all the ob
structions and difficulties his enraged enemies could lay in his
way. He knew well that Waller was even ready to come out
of London, and that Middleton was retired from Tiverton to
join with him ; that they had sent for the earl of Manchester
to march towards the west with his victorious army : so that,
if he long deferred his march, he must look to fight another
battle before he could reach Oxford. Notwithstanding all
which, his army, that had been upon hard duty, and had made
long marches, above six months together, required some rest
and refreshment : the foot were without clothes and shoes ; and
the horse in such ill humour, that without money they would
be more discontented. To provide the best remedy that could
be applied to these evils, the next day after the King marched

vm. 146.] Condition of the King's army. 425
from Plimmoth, himself, attended only by his own troop and 1644
the principal officers of the Court, went to Exciter, appointing Sept. 1 7.
the army by slow marches to follow, and to be quartered at
Tiverton and the other towns adjacent; where they arrived on Sept. 21.
the one and twentieth of September.
1 45. His majesty now quickly discerned how continual hard
duty, with little fighting, had lessened and diminished, his army.
His own body of foot, which when he entered Cornwall were
above four thousand, was at this time much fewer ; and prince
Morrice's, which consisted of full four thousand and five hundred
when the King first viewed them at Kirton [Crediton], was not
now half the number. Of all the forces under Greenevill,
which had made so much noise, and had been thought worthy
of the name of an army, there were only five hundred foot and
three hundred horse left with him for the blocking of Plim
moth ; the rest were dwindled away ; except, (which was his
usual artifice,) he had encouraged them to stay for some time in
Cornwall, and then to repair to him ; as many of them did, for
his forces suddenly increased; and the truth is, few of the
Cornish marched outward with the King. The horse [s] were
harassed, and many dead in the marches, which contributed
to the discontent of the riders ; so that great provisions were
to be made before they could begin a new march. By the
diligence and activity of the commissioners appointed in Devon
shire for those affairs, his majesty w>s in few days supplied
with two thousand pounds in money, which was presently dis
tributed amongst the horse, and three thousand suits of clothes,
with good proportions of shoes and stockings, which were like
wise delivered to the foot. What remained yet wanting for
the horse and foot was promised to meet them upon their first
entrance into Somersetshire, where the commissioners of that
county had undertaken they should be ready.
146. There was another thing of equal importance to be
provided for before the King left Exciter; which was, the
blocking up the troops of Lyme, which were grown more in
solent by the success they had had, and made incursions some
times even to the walls of Exciter ; and to restrain a stronger

426 The King's forces in the West. [Vm. 146.
1644 garrison in Taunton. For when prince Morrice raised his siege
June 15. from Lyme, he had very unhappily drawn out the garrison of
Taunton, which consisted of eight hundred men, under the
command of sir John Stowell, a person of that notorious courage
and fidelity that he would never have given it up, and left only
fourscore men in the caBtle, to be kept by a lieutenant, who
July 8. basely gave it up as soon as Essex in his passage demanded it;
for which he afterwards deservedly suffered death. And it was
now, by the garrison [the earl1] put into it, and the extreme
malignity and pride of the inhabitants, (in both which they
excelled,) become a sharp thorn in the sides of all that populous
county. 147. To remedy the first of these, some troops which de
pended upon the garrison of Exciter were assigned, which were
to receive orders from sir John Berkely, governor thereof ; who
Sept. 17. was the more vacant for that service by the reduction of Barn
stable, which was done during the King's stay at Exciter. The
other, of Taunton, was more unhappily committed to colonel
Windham, the governor of Bridgewater, who, though a gentle
man of known courage and unquestionable fidelity, by the
divisions and factions in the country was not equal to the work.
To despatch all this the King stayed not a full week at Exciter,
Sept. 23. but hastened his march to Chard in Somersetshire, where he
stayed longer ; for which he paid dear after ; for he might
otherwise have reached. Oxford before the enemy was in a
conjunction strong enough to stop him : yet even that stay
could not be prevented except he would have left the money
and clothes which the commissioners of Somersetshire promised,
and did deliver there at last, behind him; which would not
have been grateful to the army, which had not had much rest.
Sept. 30. 1 48. It was the last of September that the King marched
from Chard, and quartered that night at a house of the lord
Oct. 1. Pawlett's, where prince Rupert met him, and gave him an
account of the unhappy affairs of the north, and that he had
left about two thousand horse, under the command of sir
Marmaduke Langdale, which he might as well have brought
1 ['he,' MS.]

vm. 149.] The King marches f torn Chard towards Oxford. 427
with him, and then the King would have had a glorious end 1644
of his western expedition. Prince Rupert presently returned
to Bristol, with orders as soon as was possible to march with
those northern horse under sir Marmaduke Langdale, and two
thousand foot which were in Wales under colonel Charles
Gerard, into Glostershire; by which the enemy might be
obliged to divide their force, which if they should still keep
united, the prince from thence would be able to join with the
King : but these orders were not executed in time. The
King's army at this time consisted in the whole but of five
thousand five hundred foot and about four thousand horse ; and
Waller was already come with his horse to Blandford; but
some of his troops being beaten up by those of the King's,
he retired to Shaftsbury and those parts of Wiltshire which are
adjacent. It concerned the King very much before he left
those parts to relieve Portland Castle, which had been now
besieged from the time of the earl of Essex his march that
way. And to that purpose he marched to Sherborne ; where Oct. 2.
he stayed six days too long, though in that time he raised the
siege before Portland Castle, if he had not hoped by that delay
that his nephew prince Rupert would have been well advanced
in his march. Sir Lewis Dyves was left with his own regiment
of one hundred and fifty old soldiers, and some horse in Sher
borne Castle, and made commander in chief of Dorsetshire, in
hope that he would be able shortly by his activity, and the very
good affection of that county, to raise men enough to recover
Waymoth : and he did perform all that could reasonably be
expected from him. His majesty had a great desire, in his
march to Oxford, to relieve Donnington Castle by Newbery,
and Basing, which was again besieged by almost their whole
army ; and then to send a good party to relieve Banbury, which
had been close besieged by colonel John Fynes, (another son of
the lord Say,) with all the forces of Northamptonshire, War
wick, and Coventry, and bravely defended by sir William
Compton full three months, but by this time reduced to the
utmost extremity.
149. In order to perform all this, the King came to Salisbury Oct. 15.

42 8 The King marches to Salisbury and Andover. [vm. 149.
1644 upon the 15th of October ; where he understood that Waller lay
at Andover with his troops ; that Manchester was advanced as
far as Reading, with five thousand horse and foot [and] four
and twenty pieces of ordnance, and that four regiments of the
train-bands of London were beginning their march to him ;
and that three thousand of the horse and foot of the earl of
Essex's army were near Portsmouth, expecting orders to join
with the rest. This might very well have disposed his majesty
to have hastened his march to Oxford, which would have made
a fair conclusion of the campania; and this was the more
reasonable, because here the King received letters from prince
Rupert, in which he declared that it was not possible for him
to bring up his troops so soon as his majesty expected, and
indcod as his present condition required : and if this had been
resolved, both Donnington Castle and Banbury might have been
seasonably set at liberty ; but a great gaiety possessed Goring,
that he earnestly advised the King to march, with secrecy and
expedition, to beat Waller, who lay at Andover, a good distance
froni the rest, with three thousand horse and dragoons ; which
the King, upon the unanimous consent of the council, con
sented to.
150. He had left aU the cannon that he had taken from
Essex in Exciter; and now he sent all his great cannon to a
garrison he had within two miles of Salisbury, at Langford, a
house of the lord Gorges, where was a garrison of one hundred
men, commanded by a good officer. The rest of the cannon and
carriages were left at Wilton, the house of the earl of Pem
broke, with a regiment of foot to guard them ; and the King
appointed the rendezvous for the army to be the next morning,
by seven of the clock, near Clarendon Park ; and good guards
were set at aU the avenues of the city, to keep all people from
gvung out, that Waller might not have any notice of his
purpose. And if the hour of the rendezvous had been observed,
as it rarely was, ^though, bis majesty was himself the most
punctual, and never absent s.: the precise time,) that design had
succeeded to wish. For themi. the foot under prince Morrice
ca:uc net i:y till eleven of tie cLxk, so that the army did not

vm. 151.] Siege of Donnington Castle by col. Horton. 429
begin its march till twelve, yet they came within four miles of 1644
Andover before Waller had any notice of their motion ; when
he drew out his whole body towards them, as if he meant to
fight; but upon view of their strength, and the good order
they were in, he changed his mind, and drew back into the
town, leaving a strong party of horse and dragoons to make
good his retreat. But the King's van charged, and routed
them with good execution, and pursued them through the town,
and slew many of them in the rear, until the darkness of the
night secured them, and hindered the others from following
farther. But they were all scattered, and came not quickly
together again ; and the King quartered that night at Andover. Oct. 18.
And the scattering this great body under Waller in this
manner, and the little resistance they made, so raised the
spirits of the King's army, that they desired nothing more than
to have a battle with the whole army of the enemy ; which the
King meant not to seek out, nor to decline fighting with them
if they put themselves in his way, and so resolved to raise the
siege of Donnington Castle, which was little out of his way to
Oxford ; and to that purpose sent orders for the cannon which
had been left at Langford and Wilton to make all haste to a
place appointed between Andover and Newbery, where he
stayed with his army till they came up to him, and then
marched together to Newbery, within a mile of Donnington.
151. Donnington Castle had been, when Middleton from
thence pursued his march into the west, left to the care of § 113.
colonel Horton, who for some time was contented to block it
up ; but then, finding his summons neglected, and that they
had store of provisions within, and having an addition of forces
from Abington and Beading, he resolved to besiege it ; which
he began to do upon the 29th of September, and made his Sept. 29.
approaches, and raised a battery on the foot of the hill next
Newbery, and plied it so with his great cannon that, after
twelve days' continual shooting, he beat down three towers and
a part of the wall ; which he believed had so humbled the
governor and the garrison, that they would be no longer so
stubborn as they had been ; and therefore he sent them another Oct. 7.

43° The governor of Donnington is knighted, [vm. 151.
1644 summons, in which he magnified his own clemency, that pre
vailed with him, now they were even at his mercy, to offer
them quarter for their lives, if they gave up the castle before
Oct. 9. Wednesday at ten of the clock in the morning ; but that if his
favour was not accepted, he declared, in the presence of God,
that there should no man amongst them have his life spared.
The governor made himself merry with his high and threaten
ing language, [and] sent him word he would keep the place,
and would neither give nor receive quarter. At this time the
earl of Manchester himself with his forces came to Newbery;
and receiving no better answer to his own summons than
Horton had done before, he resolved to storm it the next day.
But his soldiers, being well informed of the resolution of those
within, declined that hot service, and plied it with their artillery
until the next night ; and then removed their battery to the
other side of the castle, and began their approaches by saps;
when the governor made a strong sally, and beat them out of
their trenches, and killed a lieutenant colonel, who commanded
in chief, with many soldiers, shot their chief cannoneer through
the head, brought away their cannon baskets and many arms,
and retired with very little loss : yet the next night they
finished their battery, and continued some days their great
shot, till they heard of the approach of the King's army, and
Oct. 19. thereupon they drew off their ordnance ; and their train-bands
of London being not yet come to them, the earl thought fit to
march away to a greater distance; there having been in
nineteen days above one thousand great shot spent upon the
walls, without any other damage to the garrison than the beat
ing down some old parts thereof.
Oct. 22. 152. When the King came to Newbery, the governor of
Donnington 1 attended him, and was knighted for his very good
behaviour ; and there was then so little apprehension or dread
of the enemy, that his majesty thought not of prosecuting his
journey towards Oxford before he should relieve both Basing
and Banbury. And now importunities being sent from the
last, which was even upon the point of rendering for want
1 [Col. John Boys.]

vm. 152.] Banbury relieved by the earl of Northampton. 431
of victuals, they having already eaten most of their horses, his 1644
majesty was well content that the earl of Northampton, who
had the supreme government of that garrison, where he had
left his brave brother his lieutenant, should, with three regi
ments of horse, attempt the relieving it ; letters being sent to
Oxford that colonel Gage with some horse and foot from thence
should meet him, which they did punctually, and came time
enough to Banbury, before they were expected : yet they found Oct. 25.
the rebels' horse (superior in number by much to theirs) drawn
up in five bodies on the south side of the town, near their
sconce, as if upon the advantage of that ground they meant to
fight. But two or three shots, made at them by a couple of
drakes brought from Oxford by colonel Gage, made them
stagger, and retire from their ground very disorderly. Their
cannon and baggage had been sent out of the town the night
before ; and their foot, being above seven hundred, ran out of
Banbury upon the first advance of the King's troops. Colonel
Gage with the foot went directly to the castle, that they might
be at liberty ; whilst the earl of Northampton followed the
horse so closely that they found it best to make a stand,
where he furiously charged and routed them, and, notwith
standing they had lined some hedges with musketeers, pursued
them till they were scattered and totally dispersed, their
general, young Fynes, continuing his flight till he came to
Coventry, without staying. The foot for the most part, by
dispersing themselves, escaped by the enclosures before colonel
Gage could come up. But there were taken in the chase one
field-piece and three waggons of arms and ammunition ; many
slain ; and two officers of horse, with near one hundred
other prisoners, four cornets of horse, and two hundred horses,
were taken ; and all this with the loss of one captain and nine
troopers; some officers and others being wounded, but not
mortally. Thus the siege was raised from Banbury; and it
had continued full thirteen weeks L ; so notably defended, that,
though they had but two horses left uneaten, they had never
suffered a summons to be sent to them ; and it was now
1 [It was begun July 19.]

432 Col. Urry deserts the King. [vm. 152.
1644 relieved the very day of the month upon which both town and
castle had been rendered to the King two years before, being
the 26th of October '-
153. Though the relief of Banbury succeeded to wish, yet
the King paid dear for it soon after. The very day after that
service was performed, colonel Hurry, a Scotchman, who had
formerly served the Parliament, and is well mentioned in the
transactions of the last year for having quitted them and
performed some signal service to the King, had in the west,
about the time the King entered into Cornwall, in a dis
contented humour, (which was very natural to him,) desired a
pass to go beyond the seas ; and so quitted the service, and,
instead of embarking himself, made haste to London ; and put
himself now into the earl of Manchester's army, and made a
discovery of all he knew of the King's army, and a description
of the persons and customs of those who principally com
manded. So that as they well knew the constitution and
weakness of the King's army, so they had advertisement of the
earl of Northampton's being gone with three regiments of horse
to the relief of Banbury. Whereupon, within two days after,
all those forces which had been under Essex and Waller being
united with Manchester, with whom likewise the train-bands of
London were now joined, (all which made up a body of
above eight thousand foot ; the number of their horse being not
inferior,) advanced towards the King, who had not half the
number before the departure of the earl of Northampton, and ;
stayed still at Newbery with a resolution to expect the return
of that earl, that he might likewise do somewhat for Basing;
not believing that the enemy could be so soon united.
154. It was now too late to hope to make a safe retreat to
Oxford when the whole body of the enemy's army, which had
received positive orders to fight the King as soon as was possible,
appeared as near as Thacham ; so that his majesty, not at all
dismayed, resolved to stand upon the defensive only, hoping
. that, upon the advantage of the town of Newbery and the
L [The surrender was on 27 Oct. 1642 ; the siege was now raised on
25 Oct.]

vm. 155.] Second battle of Newbury. 433
river, the enemy would not speedily advance, and that in the 1644
mean time, by being compelled to lodge in the field, which grew
now to be very cold, whilst his army was under cover, they
might be forced to retire. The King quartered in the town of
Newbery, and placed strong guards on the south of the town :
but the greatest part of the army was placed towards the
enemy's quarters, in a good house belonging to Mr. Doleman at
Shaw, and in a village near it, defended by the river, that runs
under Donnington Castle, and in a house between that village
and Newbery, about which a work was cast up, and at a mill
upon the river Kynet ; all which lay almost east from the town.
Directly north from thence were two open fields, where most of
the horse stood with the train of artillery, and about half a mile
west was the village of Speen, and beyond it a small heath. In
this village lay all prince Morrice's foot, and some horse ; and
at the entrance of the heath a work was cast up which cleared
the heath. And in this posture they had many skirmishes
with the enemy for two days without losing any ground, and
the enemy was still beaten off with loss.
155. On Sunday morning, the 27th of October, by the break Oct. 27.
of day, one thousand of the earl of Manchester's army, with the
train-bands of London, came down the hill ; and passed the
river that was by Shaw, and, undiscovered, forced that guard
which should have kept the pass that was near the house that
was intrenched, where sir Bernard Ashly lay, and who in
stantly, with a good body of musketeers, fell upon the enemy,
and not only routed them but compelled them to rout two other
bodies of their own men, and who were coming, to second them.
In this pursuit very many of the enemy were slain, and many
drowned in the river, and above two hundred arms taken.
There continued all that day very warm skirmishes in several
parts, the enemy's army having almost encompassed the King's,
and with much more- loss to them than to the King ; till about
three of the clock in the afternoon Waller, with his own and
the forces which had been under Essex, fell upon the quarter at
Speen, and passed the river, which was not well defended by
the officer who was appointed to guard it with horse and foot,
vol. in, r f

434 Second battle of Newbury. [vm. 155.
1644 very many of them being gone off from their guard, as never
imagining that they would at that time of day have attempted a
quarter that was thought the strongest of all. But having thus
got the river, they marched in good order, with very great
bodies of foot winged with horse, towards the heath, from
whence the horse which were left there, with too little resist
ance, retired ; being in truth much overpowered, by reason the
major part of them, upon confidence of the security of the pass,
were gone to provide forage for their horse.
156. By this means the enemy possessed themselves of the
ordnance which had been planted there, and of the village of
Speen ; the foot which were there retired to the hedge next the
large field between Speen and Newbery, which they made good.
At the same time, the right wing of the enemy's horse advanced
under the hill of Speen, with one hundred musketeers in their
van, and came into the open field, where a good body of the
King's horse stood, and which at first received them in some
disorder ; but the Queen's regiment of horse, commanded by sir
John Cansfeild, charged them with so much gallantry that he
routed that great body, which then fled, and he had the execu
tion of them near half a mile, wherein most of the musketeers
were slain and very many of the horse; insomuch that that
whole wing rallied not again that night. The King was at that
time with the prince, and many of the lords and other his
servants, in the middle of that field, and could not by his own
presence restrain those horse, which at the first approach of the
enemy were in that disorder, from shamefully giving ground.
So that if sir John Cansfeild had not in that article of time
given them that brisk charge, by which other troops were
ready to charge them in the flank, the King himself had been
in very great danger.
157. At the same time the left wing of the enemy's horse
advanced towards the north side of the great field ; but before
they got thither Goring, with the earl of Cleaveland's brigade,
charged them so vigorously that he forced them back in great
confusion over a hedge ; and, following them over that hedge,
was charged by another fresh body, which he defeated like-

vm. 158.] Second lattle of Newbury. 435
wise, and slew very many of the enemy upon the place, 1644
having 1 not only routed and beaten them off their ground, but
endured the shot of three bodies of their foot in their pursuit
and in their retreat, with no considerable damage, save that
the earl of Cleaveland's horse falling under him, he was taken
prisoner; which was an extraordinary loss. Whilst this was
doing on that side, twelve hundred horse and three thousand
foot of those under the earl of Manchester, advanced with great
resolution upon Shaw house and the field adjacent; which
quarter was defended by sir Jacob Ashly and colonel George
Lysle, and the house by lieut. col. Page. They came singing of
psalms ; and at first drove forty musketeers from a hedge, who
were placed there to stop them ; but they were presently
charged by sir John Browne, with the prince his regiment of
horse, who did good execution upon them, till he saw another
body of their horse ready to charge him, which made him
retire to the foot in Mr. Doleman's garden, which flanked that
field, and gave fire upon those horse, whereof very many fell ;
and the horse thereupon wheeling about, sir John Browne fell
upon their rear, and killed many, and kept that ground all the
day ; when the reserve of foot, commanded by colonel Thel-
well, galled their foot with several volleys, and then fell on
them with the but-ends of their muskets, till they had not only
beaten them from the hedges but quite out of the field ; leaving
two drakes, some colours, and many dead bodies, behind them.
At this time a great body of their foot attempted Mr. Dole-
man's house, but were so well entertained by lieut. col. Page,
that, after they had made their first effort, they were forced to
retire in such confusion that he pursued them from the house
with a notable execution, insomuch that they left five hundred
dead upon a little spot of ground ; and they drew off the two
drakes out of the field to the house, the enemy being beaten off,
and retired from all that quarter.
158. It was now night; for which neither party was sorry;
and the King, who had been on that side where the enemy only
had prevailed, thought that his army had suffered likewise in all
1 [' and having,' MS.]
F f 2

436 Second battle of Newbury. [vm. 158.
1644 other places. He saw they were entirely possessed of Speen,
and had taken all the ordnance which had been left there ;
whereby it would be easy for them before the next morning to
have encompassed him round ; towards which they might have
gone far if they had found themselves in a condition to have
pursued their fortune.
159. Hereupon, as soon as it was night, his majesty, with the
prince and those lords who had been about him all the day and
his regiment of guards, retired into the field under Donnington
Castle, and resolved to prosecute the resolution that was taken
in the morning, when they saw the huge advantage the enemy
had in numbers, with which he was like to be encompassed, if
his forces were beaten from either of the posts. That resolution
was, to march away in the night towards Wallingford ; and to
that purpose all the carriages and great ordnance had been that
morning drawn under Donnington Castle ; and so he sent
orders to all the officers to draw off their men to the same
place ; and, receiving intelligence at that time that prince
Bupert was come or would be that night at Bath, that he might
make no stay there but presently be able to join with his army,
Oct. 28. his majesty himself, with the prince and about three hundred
horse, made haste thither, and found prince Rupert there, and
thence made what haste they could back towards Oxford. The
Nov. 1. truth is, the King's army was not in so ill a condition as the
King conceived it to have been ; that party which were in the
field near Speen kept their ground very resolutely, and, although
it was a fair moon-shine night, the enemy, that was very near
them and much superior in number, thought not fit to assault or
disturb them. That part of the enemy that had been so roughly
treated at Shaw, having received succour of a strong body of
horse, resolved once more to make an attempt upon the foot
there, but they were beaten off as before ; though they stood
not well enough to receive an equal loss, but retired to their
hill, where they stood still. And this was the last action
between the armies. For about ten of the clock at night, all
the army, horse, foot, and cannon, upon the King's orders, drew
forth their several guards to the heath about Donnington

vm. 160.] Second battle of Newbury. 437
Castle ; in which they left most of their wounded men, with all 1644
their ordnance, ammunition, and carriages ; and then prince
Morrice and the other officers marched in good order away to
Wallingford, committing the bringing up the rear to sir Hum
phrey Bennett (who had behaved himself very signally that
day,) who with his brigade of horse marched behind, and
received not the least disturbance from the enemy, who in so
light a night could not but know of the retreat, and were well
enough pleased to be rid of an enemy that had handled them so
ill. By the morning, all the army, foot as well as horse,
arrived at Wallingford ; where having refreshed a little, they
marched to Oxford, without seeing any party of the enemy that
looked after them.
160. Many made a question which party had the better of
the day ; and either was well enough with their success. There
could be no question there were very many more killed of the
enemy than of the King's army ; whereof were missing only sir
William St. Leger, lieut. col. to the duke's regiment of foot,
lieut. col. Topping, and lieut. col. Leake, both officers of horse,
who were all three slain, with not above one hundred common
soldiers, in all places. The earl of Braynford, general of the
army, was wounded on the head ; sir John Cansfeild, sir John
Greenevill, and lieut. col. Page, were wounded ; but all re
covered. The officers of the enemy's side were never talked of, /
being for the most part of no better families than their common (
soldiers. But it was reasonably computed by those who saw
the action in all places that there could not be so few as one
thousand who were dead upon the place: but because the
King's army quitted the field, and marched away in the night,
the other side thought themselves masters, and the Parliament
celebrated their victory with their usual triumphs; though
within few days after they discerned that they had little reason
for it. They came to know, by [what1] accident was not
imagined, that the earl of Braynford remained that night in the
castle by reason of the hurt in his head, and so sent colonel
Hurry to him to persuade him to give up the castle, and to
1 [' one,' MS.]

438 Brave defence of Donnington Castle, [vm. ieo.
1644 make him other large offers ; all which the general rejected
with the indignation that became [him]. And no more shall
be said of the colonel, because, after all his tergiversations, he
chose at last to lose his life for, and in, the King's service,
which ought to expiate for all his transgressions, and preserve
his memory from all unkind reflections.
161. The next day, when they knew that the King's army
was retired, and not till then, they made haste to possess them
selves of Newbery ; and then drew up their whole army before
Oct. 30. Donnington Castle, and summoned the governor to deliver it to
them, or else they would not leave one stone upon another ; to
which the governor made no other reply than that he was not
bound to repair it, but however he would, by God's help, keep
Oct. 31. the ground. Afterwards, seeing his obstinacy, they offered him
to march away with their arms and all things belonging to the
Nov. 1. garrison ; and, when that moved not, that he should carry all
the cannon and ammunition with him: to all which he answered,
that he wondered they would not be satisfied with so many
answers that he had sent, and desired them to be assured that
he would not go out of the castle till the King sent him order
so to do. Offended with these high answers, they resolved to
assault it ; but the officer who commanded the party being killed,
with some few of the soldiers, they retired, and never after
made any attempt upon it, but remained quietly at Newbery,
in great faction amongst them[selves,] every man taking upon
himself to find fault, and censure what had been done and had
been left undone in the whole day's service.
162. The King met prince Bupert, as he expected, with
colonel Gerard and sir Marmaduke Langdale, and made all the
haste he could to join those forces with his own army, so that
he might march back to Newbery, and disengage his cannon
and carriages. By the way he met the earl of Northampton,
and those regiments which had relieved Banbury ; and having
with marvellous expedition caused a new train of artillery to
be formed, he brought his army again to a rendezvous on
Nov. 6. Bowlington Green, where, with the addition of those forces, and
some foot which he drew out of Oxford under the command of

vm. 163.] The King offers battle again at Newbury. 439
colonel Gage, it appeared to be full six thousand foot and five 1644
thousand horse ; with which he marched to Wallingford, and Nov.
within a day more than a week after he had left Donnington
Castle found himself there again, in so good a posture that he
resolved not to decline fighting with the enemy, but would first
be possessed of his cannon, and put some provision into the
castle ; which he accomplished without any opposition.
163. The enemy's army lay still at Newbery, perplexed with
the divisions and factions amongst their own officers, without
any notice of the King's advance, till a quarter of their horse
was beaten up. The next morning the King put his army in Nov. 9.
battalia ; prince Rupert, (who was now declared general,) led
the van,' and got possession of the heath on the back-side of the
castle ; from which a small party might have kept him, the
entrance into it being very steep and the way narrow. On
that heath the army was drawn up about noon, every one being
prepared to fight; and none of the enemy appearing, [they]
marched by the castle over the river by a mill, and two fords
below it, without any opposition, and thence drew into the large
field between Speen and Newbery, which was thought a good
place to expect the enemy ; who in the mean time had drawn a
great body of their horse and foot into the other field towards
Shaw, and had made breastworks and batteries on the back-side
of Newbery; which town they resolved to keep, and stand
upon the defensive, as the King had done before ; presuming
that they now having the warmer lodging might better attack
the King after his men had lain a night or two in the fields ;
it being now the ninth of November, but fair for that season.
Some light skirmishes passed between the horse ; but when the
King saw upon what disadvantages he must force them to
fight, he called his council together, who were unanimous in
opinion that, since he had relieved the castle and put sufficient
provisions into it, and that it was in his power to draw off his
ordnance and ammunition from thence, he had done his
business ; and if any honour had been lost the other day, it was
regained now, by his having passed his army over the river in
the face of theirs, and offered them battle, which they durst not

440 Basing House is again relieved. [vm. 163.
1644 accept. Upon which the King resolved to attempt them no
farther, but gave orders to retire in their view, with drums
beating and trumpets sounding, the same way he came over
the river. And so the King lay that night in Donnington
Castle, and all the army about him.
164. The King had not yet done all he meant to do before
he took up his winter quarters, and was willing that the
enemy should have an opportunity to fight with him if they
desired it : and therefore on the Sunday morning the tenth of
Nov. io. November his majesty marched with all his cannon and am
munition over the heath from Donnington, over a fair campania,
to Lamborne ; in which march some of the enemy's horse
attempted his rear, but were repulsed with loss, many being
slain and some taken prisoners. There the King quartered that
night and the next day, to refresh his men for the ill lodging
they had endured at Donnington, having sent some persons of,
great reputation and interest to Marlborough, to make large
provisions for him and his army. And then, since he heard the
Nov. 12. enemy lay still at Newbery, he marched to Marlborough, where
he found all things to his wish. His heart was set upon the
relief of Basing, which was now again distressed ; the enemy
having, as is said before, begirt it closely from the time that
Gage had relieved it. And he had a great mind to do it with
his whole army, that thereby he might draw the enemy to a
battle : but upon full debate it was concluded that the safest
way would be to do it by a strong party ; that one thousand
horse should be drawn out, every one of which should carry
before him a bag of corn or other provisions, and to march so
as to be at Basing House the next morning after they parted
from the army, and then every trooper to cast down his bag,
and then to make their retreat as well as they might : and
colonel Gage, (who had so good success before,) was appointed
to command this party, which he cheerfully undertook to do.
And the better to effect it, Hungerford was thought the fitter
place to quarter with the army, and from thence to despatch
Nov. 17. that party: and so his majesty marched back to Hungerford,
which was half way to Newbery. The enemy was in the mean

vm. 165.] The King returns to Oxford. 441
time marched from thence to Basing, which they thought 1644
would upon the sight of their whole army presently have ,
yielded; but finding the marquis still obstinate to defend it,
they were weary of the winter war, and so retired all their force Nov. 13.
from thence, and quitted the siege the very day before Gage Nov. 14.
came thither; so that he easily delivered his provisions, and I
retired to the King without any inconvenience. His majesty .
then marched to Farringdon, with some hope to have surprised Nov. 22.
Abington in his way, but he found it too well provided ; and so,
after he had considered where to quarter his horse, which had
hitherto had their head quarter at Abington and those places
which were now under the power of that governor, he returned
to Oxford ; where he arrived, to the universal joy, on the three Nov. 23.
and twentieth of November ; a season of the year fit for all the
troops to be in their winter quarters.
165. 1 The King was exceedingly pleased to find how much
the fortifications there had been advanced by the care and
diligence of the lords, and was very gracious in his acknowledg
ment of it to them. And the governor, sir Arthur Aston,
1 [The following passage, hitherto omitted, corresponding to this section,
occurs in the MS. of the Life, p. 272, after the account of the reHef of
Basing, as given above, pp. 408-10, n. ' This, and some other actions, the
lords performed in the absence of the King, who was very much pleased at
his return to find the fortifications so much advanced, and every thing well
done, much whereof he was graciously pleased to impute to the ChanceEor,
of whose particular diligence many of the lords made very kind reports to
his majesty. And the governor, Sir Arthur Aston, having, some short
time before the King's return, in the managing his horse before some ladies
in the fields, caused him to faE, and [having] thereby broken his leg, which
he was shortly after compelled to cut off, and so was confined to his bed
with Ettle hope of being able to perform any service in the field, his
majesty 2, being well informed how ingrateful his manners and behaviour
had been towards the lords in his absence, was resolved to remove him from
that government ; and thereupon, with all the circumstances of grace and
regard, and sending him a warrant for a pension of £1000 per an. for his
life, he removed him from that employment, and, to the general satisfaction
of aE men, he made Sir Harry Gage (whom he had knighted) governor of
Oxford ; who Eved little afterward, but going with a party to take a view
of Abbington, which thorn he had a great mind to remove, he was shot by
a musket bullet at random through the heart, and feE down dead, to the
great grief of all who knew him.']
2 [' and his majesty,' MS.]

44a Sir Henry Gage is killed at Culham. [vm. 165.
1644 having some months before in the managing his horse in the
fields caused him to fall, [and having] 1 in the fall broken his
Dec. 7. leg, and shortly after been compelled to cut it off, so that, if he
recovered at all, (which was very doubtful,) he could not be fit
for any active service, his majesty resolved to confer that
Dec. 25. government upon another. Of which resolution, with all the
circumstances of grace and favour, and sending him a warrant
1645. for one thousand pound[s] a year pension for his life, he gave
April 3. kjm notice j an(j then, to the most general satisfaction of all
men, he conferred that government upon colonel Gage, whom
Nov. 1. he had before knighted. Sir Arthur Aston was so much dis
pleased with his successor that he besought the King to confer
that charge upon any other person; and when he found that
his majesty would not change his purpose, he sent to some lords
to come to him, who he thought were most zealous in religion,
and desired them to tell the King from him, that, though he
was himself a Roman Catholic, he had been very careful to give
no scandal to his majesty's Protestant subjects, and could not but
inform him that Gage was the most Jesuited Papist alive, that
he had a Jesuit who lived with him, and that he was present at
all the sermons amongst the Catholics ; which he believed
would be very much to his majesty's disservice, so much his
passion and animosity overruled his conscience.
166. The King liked the choice he had made, and only
advised the new governor, by one of his friends, to have so
much discretion in his carriage that there might be no notice
taken of the exercise of his religion : to which animadversion
he answered, that he never had nor ever would dissemble his
religion, but that he had been so wary in the exercise of it that
he knew there could be no witness produced who had ever seen
him at mass in Oxford, though he heard mass every day ; and
that he had never been but once at a sermon, which was at the
lodging of sir Arthur's daughter, to which he had been invited
with great importunity, and believed now that it was to entrap
him. But the poor gentleman enjoyed the office very little
time ; for within a month, or thereabout, making an attempt to
1 ['had,' MS.]

vm. 168.] Dissensions in the King's army. 443
break down Culham-bridge near Abington, where he intended 1644
to erect a royal fort, that should have kept that garrison from
that side of the country, he was shot through the heart with a jan. n.
musket bullet. Prince Bupert was present at the action,
having approved and been much pleased with the design, which
was never pursued after his death ; and in truth the King
sustained a wonderful loss in his death, he being a man of great
wisdom and temper, and amongst the very few soldiers who
made himself to be universally loved and esteemed.
167 1. Though the King's condition was now much better
than in the beginning of the summer he had reason to expect,
[since] he had absolutely broken and defeated two armies of the
Parliament, and returned into his winter quarter with triumph,
and rather with an increase than diminution of his forces, yet
his necessities were still the same, and the fountains dried up
from whence he might expect relief, his quarters shortened and
lessened, by the loss of the whole North : for after the battle of
York the Scots returned to reduce Newcastle, which they had Oct. 29.
already done, and all other garrisons which had held out for the
King ; and when that work should be throughly and suffici
ently done, it must be expected that army should again move
southward, and take such other places as the Parliament should
not be at leisure to look after themselves.
168. The army was less united than ever ; the old general
was set aside, and prince Rupert put into the command, which |- \
was no popular change : for the other was known to be an
officer of great experience, and had committed no oversights in
his conduct ; was willing to hear every thing debated, and
always concurred with the most reasonable opinion; and though
he was not of many words, and was not quick in hearing, yet
upon any action he was sprightly, and commanded well. The
prince was rough and passionate, and loved not debate ; liked
what was proposed as he liked the persons who proposed it ;
and was so great an enemy to Digby and Culpeper, who were
only present in debates of the war with the officers, that he
crossed all they proposed. The truth is, all the army had been
1 [The text is here taken up from the Life, p. 273.]

444 The vices of Goring and Wilmot compared, [vm. ies.
1644 disposed from the first raising it to a neglect and contempt of
the Council, and the King himself had not been solicitous
enough to preserve the respect due to it, in which he lost of his
own dignity.
169. Goring, who was now general of the horse, was no more
gracious to prince Rupert than Wilmott had been ; and had all
the other's faults, and wanted his regularity and preserving his
respect with the officers. Wilmott loved debauchery, but shut
it out from his business ; and never neglected that, and rarely
miscarried in it. Goring had much a better understanding and
a sharper wit, (except in the very exercise of debauchery, and
then the other was inspired,) a much keener courage, and
presentness of mind in danger : Wilmott discerned it farther
off, and because he could not behave himself so well in it,
commonly prevented or warily declined it, and never drank
when he was within distance of an enemy : Goring was not
able to resist the temptation when he was in the middle of
them, nor would decline it to obtain a victory, and in one
of those fits had suffered the horse to escape out of Cornwall;
and the most signal misfortunes of his life in war had their rise
from that uncontrollable license. Neither of them valued their
promises, professions, or friendships, according to any rules of
honour or integrity; but Wilmott violated them the less
willingly, and never but for some great benefit or convenience
to himself : Goring without scruple, out of humour, or for wit
j sake, and loved no man so well but that he would cozen him,
and then expose him to public mirth for having been cozened ;
1 and therefore he had always fewer friends than the other, but
more company, for no man had a wit that pleased the company
better. The ambitions of both were unlimited, and so equally
incapable of being contented ; and both unrestrained by any
respect to good-nature or justice from pursuing the satisfaction
thereof: yet Wilmott had more scruples from religion to startle
him, and would not have attained his end by any gross or foul
act of wickedness : Goring could have passed through those
pleasantly, and would without hesitation have broken any trust,
or done any act of treachery, to have satisfied an ordinaiy

vm. 171.] Jealousies in the Court. 445
passion or appetite ; and, in truth, wanted nothing but 1644
industry (for he had wit and courage and understanding and
ambition, uncontrolled by any fear of God or man) to have
been as eminent and successful in the highest attempt in
wickedness of any man in the age he lived in or before. And
of all his qualifications dissimulation was his master-piece ; in
which he so much excelled, that men were not ordinarily ashamed,
or out of countenance, with being deceived but twice by him.
170. The Court was not much better disposed than the
army : they who had no preferment were angry with those who
had, and thought they had not deserved so well as themselves ;
and they who were envied found no satisfaction or delight in
what they were envied for, being poor and necessitous, and the
more sensible of their being so by the titles they had received
upon their violent importunity. So that the King was without
any joy in the favours he had conferred, and yet was not the
less solicited to grant more to others of the same kind, who he
foresaw would be no better pleased than the rest : and the
pleasing one man this way displeased one hundred ; as his
creating the lord Culpeper at this time, and making him a Oct. 21.
baron, (who, in truth, had served him with great abilities, and,
though he did imprudently in desiring it, did deserve it,) did
much dissatisfy both the Court and the army, to neither of
which he was in any degree gracious, by his having no
ornament of education to make men the more propitious to his
parts of nature ; and disposed many others to be very im
portunate to receive the same obligation.
171. There had been another counsel entered upon and
concluded with great deliberation and wisdom, which turned at
this time to his majesty's disadvantage ; which was, the
cessation in Ireland ; entered into, as hath been said before,
with all the reason imaginable, and in hope to have made a
good peace there, and so to have had the power of that united
kingdom to have assisted to the suppressing the rebellion in this.
But now, as all the supplies he had received from thence upon
the cessation had been already destroyed, without any benefit
to the King, so his majesty found that he should not be able to

1
1

446 Propositions to the King from Ireland, [vm. 171.
1644 make a peace there ; and then the government there would be
in the worse condition, by being deprived of so many good
officers and soldiers upon the conclusion of the cessation.
There had been commissioners from that time sent over to the
King from the Confederate Catholics to treat a peace; the
Lord Lieutenant and Council had sent likewise commissioners
to inform the King of all things necessary to be considered in
the treaty ; and the Parliament which was then sitting in
Ireland had sent likewise commissioners, in the name of the
Protestants in that kingdom, to prevent the making any peace,
and with a petition to dissolve the cessation that had been made1.
172. The commissioners from the Confederate Catholics de
manded the abrogation and repeal of all those laws which were
in force against the exercise of the Romish religion ; that the
Lieutenant, or chief governor, should be a Roman Catholic ;
and that there should be no distinction made whereby those of
that religion should not be capable of any preferment in the
kingdom as well as the Protestants ; together with the repeal of
several laws which that nation thought to have been made in
their prejudice.
173. The commissioners from the State, whereof some were
of the Privy Council, professed that they desired a peace might
be made, but proposed, in order, (as they said) to the security
of the kingdom, that all the Irish might be disarmed, and such
amongst them as had been most signal and barbarous in the
massacres in the beginning of the rebellion might be excepted
from pardon, and prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the
law ; that the laws might be put in execution against all
Roman Catholics, and especially against all Jesuits, priests, and
friars ; and that they might be obliged to pay all the damages
which had been sustained by the war.
174. The commissioners from the Protestants demanded that
the cessation might be dissolved, and the war carried on with
the utmost rigour, according to the Act of Parliament that had
1 [The commissioners from the Protestants arrived at Oxford, April 17,
1644, and those from the Roman Catholics on March 24. Eushworth, III-
ii- 953 ; Carte's Life of Ormonde, ITI. 265.]

vm. 176.] Propositions to the King from Ireland. 447
been made in the beginning of the rebellion, and that no peace 1644
might be made on any conditions.
175. The King demanded of the Irish, whether they believed
it could be in his power, if it were agreeable to his conscience,
to grant them their demands, and whether he must not thereby
purchase Ireland with the loss of England and Scotland ?
There were amongst them some sober men who confessed, that,
as his majesty's affairs then stood, they believed he could not
grant it ; and they hoped that their General Assembly would,
when they should be informed of the truth of his majesty's
condition, which was not known to them, be persuaded to
depart from some of their demands ; but that for the present
they had not authority to recede from any one proposition.
176. The King then asked the commissioners who had been
sent over by the marquis of Ormond, Lieutenant of the kingdom,
which forces they thought to be the stronger, the King's army,
or that of the rebels 1 They confessed the rebels to be much
superior in power, and that they were possessed of more than
three parts of the kingdom. The King then asked them,
whether they thought it probable, now they found themselves
to be the stronger, that they would be persuaded to yield to so
disadvantageous terms as they proposed, and to be so wholly at
the mercy of those whom they had so much provoked ? and if
they could be so disposed, whether they believed that they were
able, though they should be willing to sell all they have in
Ireland, to pay the damages which had been sustained by the
war 1 The commissioners acknowledged that they thought the
last impossible, and that there might be a mitigation in that
particular; but for the former, they durst not advise his
majesty to recede at all ; for that there could be no other
security for the Protestants in that kingdom but by leaving the
Irish without any capacity or ability to trouble them, for their
perfidiousness was such that they could not be trusted; and
therefore they must either be put into such a condition by
being totally disarmed that they should not be able to do any
mischieve, or that all the Protestants must leave the kingdom
to the entire possession of the Irish ; and whether that would

448 None of the Irish propositions acceptable, [vm. 173.
1644 be for his majesty's service and security they must refer to his
own wisdom.
177. The King then sent for the commissioners from the
Parliament on the behalf of the Protestants, and asked them
whether they were ready, if the cessation were expired, to renew
the war, and to prosecute it hopefully to the reduction or sup
pression of the Irish? They answered very clearly, that, in
the state they were in, they could not carry on the war, or defend
themselves against the Irish, who were much superior to them
in power ; but if his majesty would recruit his army, and send
over money and arms and ammunition, with shipping, they made
no doubt but, with God's blessing, they should be shortly able to
reduce them, and drive them out of the kingdom. The King then
asked them, whether they did in truth think that his majesty was
able to send them such supplies as they stood in need of? or
whether they did not in their consciences know that he was not
able to send them any part of it, and stood in want of all for
his own support % They answered, that they hoped he would
make a peace with the Parliament, and would then be able to
send over such assistance to Ireland as would quickly settle that
kingdom. 178. But after all these discourses, his majesty prevailed not
with either of them to depart from the most unreasonable of all
their demands ; whereupon he dismissed them, and told the
Irish it had been in their power so far to have obliged him that
he might hereafter have thought himself bound to have
gratified them in some particulars which were not now season
able to have been done, but they would repent this their
senseless perverseness when it would be too late, and when
they found themselves under a power that would destroy them
and make them cease to be a nation. And so they all left
Oxford 1 ; and his majesty notwithstanding all this resolution
not to depart from any thing that might in any degree be pre
judicial to the Protestant interest in that kingdom, found that
he suffered under no reproach more in England than by having
1 [The Roman Catholic agents left towards the end of May, and the
Protestant took leave of the King on May 30.]

vm. 179.] The King consults about the Prince of Wales. 449
made that cessation : so wonderfully unreasonable was the 1644
nation then, under the absurd imputation of his majesty's
favouring the Irish.
179. The straits in which the King now was brought him to
some reflections which he had never made before ; and the
consideration of what might probably be the event of the next
summer disposed him to inclinations which were very contrary
to what he had ever before entertained. His three younger
children were taken from the governess in whose hands he had
put them, and were not only in the Parliament quarters but
expressly by their order put into the custody of one in whom
the King could have the less confidence, because it was one in
whom the Parliament confided so much1. He had with him
the Prince and the duke of York, both young ; and he had no
resolution more fixed in him, than that the Prince should never
be absent from him ; which, as hath been touched before, made
him less consider what governor or servants he put about him,
resolving to form his manners by his own model. But now he
began to say that himself and the Prince were too much to
venture in one bottom, and that it was now time to unboy him,
by putting him into some action and acquaintance with
business, out of his own sight ; but communicated these
thoughts only with the lord Digby, the lord Culpeper, and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was thought to confer more
with the lord Culpeper upon the subject than with either of
the other; but had some particular thoughts upon which he
conferred with nobody. There was but one province in which
the Prince could reside after he was severed from the King,
and that was the west; which was yet in a worse condition
than it had been, by the rebels being possessed of Taunton, the
chief town in Somersetshire; and though it was an open and
unfortified place, it was very strong against the King in the
natural disaffection of the inhabitants, which were very
numerous, and all the places adjacent of the same ill principles ;
and Waller had already sent some troops thither to confirm
1 [The earl and countess of Northumberland, by order of both Houses
of March 18, 1644-5.]
VOL. in. G g

450 A council is settled Vm. 179,
1644 them in their rebellious inclinations, and had himself a
resolution speedily to go thither, with a body sufficient to form
an army for the reduction of the west ; nor was the design
improbable to succeed, for the reputation of the Scots' army,
upon the recovery of all the north, had shaken and terrified all
the kingdom ; and the King's army was the last enemy the
west had been acquainted with, and had left no good name
behind it.
180. To prevent this mischieve, Goring (who had now made
a fast friendship with the lord Digby, either of them believing
he could deceive the other, and so with equal passion embracing
the engagement) was sent with some troops to Salisbury, from
whence he might easily prevent any motion of Waller ; without
which, Taunton would be in a short time reduced by the
garrisons the King had in the country ; so that this alteration
rather confirmed than diverted his majesty in his thoughts of
sending the Prince thither : so that he began to publish his
purpose, and named councillors to be with his highness, and
by whose advice all things should be done ; his majesty's pur
pose being, in truth, only at that time that the Prince should
go no farther west than Bristol; and that there might no
jealousies arise from this action, (which every body knew was so
far from the King's former purposes, and it might be imagined
that his highness would be sent to the Queen his mother into
France, which many unreasonably apprehended,) the King
declared what council he intended should be about his son ; the
reputation of whom he thought would allay all jealousies of
that kind. He named the duke of Bichmond, the earl of
Southampton, the lord Capell, the lord Hopton, the lord Cul
peper, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and appointed
them to meet frequently at the Prince his lodging, to consider
with his highness what preparations should be made for his
journey, and in what manner his family should be established.
There was one person more who of necessity was to wait on the
person of the Prince, which was the earl of Barkshire, his
governor ; and then his majesty found what false measures ne
had taken in the conferring that province, and lamented his

vm. 182.] for the Prince of Wales. 451
own error to those he trusted 1, and knew not how to prevent 1644
the inconveniences that might ensue but by applying two
remedies, which were not natural, and might have been pro
ductive of as great inconveniences. The one was, to lessen the
Prince his reverence and esteem for his governor, which was
very sufficiently provided for : the other, to leave the governor
without any more authority than every one of the council had,
and so much less, as the prince had a better esteem of every one
of them than he had of him : and so left him without a gover
nor, which would have been a little better if he had been
without the earl of Barkshire too.
181. When the King was in this melancholic posture, it was
a great refreshment and some advantage to him to hear that the
disorder the Parliament was in was superior to his. The cause
of all the distractions in his Court or army proceeded from the
extreme poverty and necessity his majesty was in, and a very
moderate supply of money would in a moment have extinguished
all those distempers. But all the wealth of the kingdom, (for
they were possessed of all,) could not prevent the same, and
greater, distractions and emulations from breaking into the
whole government of the Parliament : and all the personal
animosities imaginable brake out in their councils and in
their armies ; and the House of Peers found themselves, upon
the matter, excluded from all power or credit when they did not
concur in all the demands which were made by the Commons.
182. That violent party, which had first cozened the rest into
the war, and afterwards obstructed all the approaches towards
- peace, found now that they had finished as much of their work
as the tools which they had wrought with could be applied to,
and what remained to be done must be despatched by new
workmen. They had been long unsatisfied with the earl of
Essex, and he as mueh with them ; both being more solicitous
to suppress the other than to destroy the King. And they
bore the loss and dishonour he had sustained in Cornwall very .
well, and would have been glad that both he and his army had
1 [The words ' those he trusted ' are substituted in the MS. for ' the
Chancellor of the Exchequer.']
Gg 2

452 Breach between the earl [vm. 182.
1644 been quite cut off, instead of being dissolved ; for all his officers
and soldiers were corrupted in their affections towards them,
and desired nothing but peace : so that they resolved never
more to trust or employ any of them. But that which troubled
more, was, that their beloved earl of Manchester, upon whom
they depended as a fast friend, by whom they might insensibly
have divested the earl of Essex of all inconvenient authority in
the army, appeared now as unapplicable to their purposes as
the other, and there was a breach fallen out between him and
Oliver Cromwell which was irreconciliable [sic], and which.had
brought some counsels upon the stage before they were ripe.
Nov. 25. 183. Cromwell accused the earl of Manchester of having
betrayed the Parliament out of cowardice, for that he might at
the King's last being at Newbery, when he drew off his cannon,
very easily have defeated his whole army, if he would have per
mitted it to have been engaged : that he went to him, and
shewed him evidently how it might be done, and desired him
that he would give him leave with his own brigade of horse to
charge the King's army in their retreat ; and the earl, with the
rest of his army, might look on, and do as he should think fit :
but that the earl had, notwithstanding all importunity used by
him and other officers, positively and obstinately refused to
permit him, giving no other reason but that, he said, if they did
engage and overthrow the King's army, the King would always
have another army to keep up the war ; but if that army which
I he commanded should be overthrown before the other under the
1 earl of Essex should be reinforced, there would be an end of
j their pretences, and they should be all rebels and traitors, and
I executed and forfeited by the law.
184. This pronunciation what the law would do against them
was very heavily taken by the Parliament, as if the earl believed
the law to be against them, after so many declarations made by
them that the law was on their side, and that the King's arms
Nov. 28. were taken up against the law. The earl confessed he had
used words to that effect, that they should be treated as traitors
if their army was defeated, when he did not approve the advice .
that was given by the lieutenant general, which would have

vm. 186.] of Manchester and Cromwell. 453
exposed the army to greater hazard than he thought seasonable 1644
in that conjuncture, in the middle of the winter, to expose it
to. He then recriminated Cromwell, that at another time
Cromwell discoursing freely with him of the state of the king
dom, and proposing somewhat to be done, the earl had answered
that the Parliament would never approve it : to which Cromwell
presently replied, ' My lord, if you will stick firm to honest men,
you shall find yourself in the head of an army that shall give
the law to King and Parliament : 'which discourse he said made
great impression in him, for he knew the lieutenant general to
be a man of very deep designs ; and therefore he was the more
careful to preserve an army which he yet thought was very
faithful to the Parliament.
185. This discourse startled those who had always an aversion
to Cromwell, and had observed the fierceness of his nature, and
the language he commonly used when there was any mention of
peace; so that they desired that this matter might be throughly
examined and brought to judgment. But the other side put all
obstructions in the way, and rather chose to lose the advantage
they had against the earl of Manchester than to have the other
matter examined, which would unavoidably have made some
discoveries which they were not yet ready to produce. However,
the animosities increased, and the parties appeared barefaced
against each other, which increased the distractions, and
divided the city as well as the Parliament ; and new opinions \
started up in religion, which made more subdivisions, and new
terms and distinctions were brought into discourse, and fanatics
were now first brought into appellation ; which kind of confu
sion exceedingly disposed men of any sober understanding to
wish for peace, though none knew how to bring the mention of
it into the Parliament.
186. The Scots' commissioners were as jealous and as un
satisfied as any other party, and found since the battle of York
neither their army nor themselves so much considered as before,
nor any conditions performed towards them with any punctu
ality. They had long had jealousy of Cromwell and sir H. Vane
and all that party ; which they saw increased every day, and

454 Divisions between parties [VIII. 186.
1644- grew powerful in the Parliament, in the council, and in the
 city. Their sacred vow and covenant was mentioned with less
reverence and respect, and the Independents, which compre-
) hended many sects in religion, spake publicly against it, of
which party Cromwell and Vane were the leaders, with very
many clergymen, who were the most popular preachers, and
who in the Assembly of Divines had great authority. So that
the Scots plainly perceived that, though they had gone as far
towards the destruction of the Church of England as they
desired, they should never be able to establish their Presby
terian government ; without which they should lose all their
credit in their own country and all their interest in England.
They discerned likewise that there was a purpose, if that party
prevailed, to change the whole frame of the government, as well
I civil as ecclesiastical, and to reduce the monarchy to a republic;
—~ / which was as far from the end and purpose of that nation as to
restore episcopacy. So that they saw no way to prevent the
mischieve and confusion that would fall out but by a peace;
which they began heartily to wish, and to conspire with those
of that party which most desired to bring it to pass ; but how
to set a treaty on foot they knew not.
187. The House of Peers, three or four men excepted, wished
it, but had no power to compass it. In the House of Commons
there were enough who would have been very glad of it, but
had not the courage to propose it. They who had an inward
aversion from it, and were resolved to prevent it by all possible
; means, wrought upon many of the other to believe that they
would accept of a proposition for a treaty if the King desired
it, but that it would be dishonourable, and of very pernicious
consequence to the nation if the Parliament first proposed it.
So that it seemed evident, that if any of the party which did in
truth desire peace should propose it to the Parliament, it would
be rejected, and rejected upon the point of honour by many of
those who in their hearts prayed for it.
188. They tried their old friends of the city, who had served
their turns so often, and set some of them to get hands to a
petition by which the Parliament should be moved to send to?

vm. 190.] in Parliament and in the city. 455
the King to treat of peace. But that design was no sooner 1644
known but others of an opposite party were appointed to set
a counter petition on foot, by which they should disclaim any
consent [to], or approbation of, the other petition ; not that
they did not desire peace as much as their neighbours, (nobody
was yet arrived at the impudenee to profess against peace,) but
that they would not presume to move the Parliament in it,
because they knew their wisdom knew best the way to obtain
it, and would do what was necessary and fit towards it; to
which they wholly left it. And this petition found more f,
countenance amongst the magistrates, the mayor, and alder- ';¦
men ; sir Henry Vane having diligently provided that men of f.
his own principles and inclinations should be brought into the-
government of the city, of which he saw they should always have
great need, even in order to keep the Parliament well disposed.
189. So that they who did in truth desire any reasonable
peace found the way to it so difficult, and that it was im
possible to prevail with the two Houses to propose it to the
King, that they resolved it could only rise from his majesty,
and to that purpose they should all labour with their several
friends at Oxford to incline the King to send a message to the
Parliament, to offer a treaty of peace in any place where they
should appoint ; and then they would all run the utmost hazard
before it should be rejected.
190. The Independent party, (for under that style and ap-\v
pellation they now acted, and owned themselves,) which feared
and abhorred all motions towards peace, were in as great straits
as the other how to carry on their designs. They were resolved
to have no more to do with either of their generals but how to
lay them aside ; especially the earl of Essex, who had been so
entirely their founder that they owed not more to the power
and reputation of Parliament than to his sole name and credit :
the being able to raise an army, and conducting it to fight
against the King, was purely due to him, and the effect of his 1
power. And now to put such an affront upon him, and to
think of another general, must appear the highest ingratitude,
and might provoke the army itself, where he was still exceedingly

456 A fast-day is appointed ly Parliament ; [vin.190.
1644 beloved ; and to continue him in that trust was to betray
their own designs, and to render them unpracticable. There
fore, till they could find some expedient to explicate and dis
entangle themselves out of this labyrinth, they made no advance
towards the recruiting or supplying their armies, nor to provide
for any winter expedition ; only they sent Waller out with such
troops towards the west as they cared not for, and resolved to
use their service no more.
191. They knew not how to propose the great alterations
they intended to the Parliament ; and of all men, the Scots'
commissioners were not to be trusted. In the end, they
1 resolved to pursue the method in which they had been hitherto
so successful, and to prepare and ripen things in the Church,
that they might afterwards in due time grow to maturity in
Dec. 13. the Parliament. They agreed therefore in the Houses, (and in
those combinations they were always unanimous,) that they
would have a solemn fast-day, in which they would seek God,
(which was the new phrase they brought from Scotland with
their Covenant,) and desire his assistance, to lead them out of
the perplexities they were in : and they did as readily agree
in the nomination of the preachers who were to perform that
exercise, and who were more trusted in the deepest designs than
most of those who named them were : for there was now a
schism among their clergy as well as the laity, and the Inde-
— LL_!^ pendents were the bolder and more political men.
Dec. 18. 192. When the fast-day came, which was observed for eight
or ten hours together in the churches, the preachers prayed the
Parliament might be inspired with those thoughts as might
contribute to their honour and reputation, and that they might
preserve that opinion the nation had of their honesty and
integrity, and be without any selfish ends, or seeking their own
benefit and advantage. And after this preparation by their
prayers, the preachers, let their texts be what they would, told
them very plainly, that it was no wonder that there was such
division amongst them in their counsels when there was no
union in their hearts : that the Parliament lay under many
reproaches, not only amongst their enemies but with their best

vm. 193.] and inflammatory sermons preached. 457
friends, who were the more out of countenance because they 1644
found that the aspersions and imputations which their enemies
had laid upon them were so well grounded that they could not
wipe them off: that there was as great pride, as great am
bition, as many private ends, and as little zeal and affection for
the public, as they had ever imputed to the Court : that whilst
they pretended, at the public cost and out of the purses of the
poor people, to make a general reformation, they took great
care to grow great and rich themselves ; and that both the city I—
and kingdom took notice, with great anxiety of mind, that all
the offices of the army, and all the profitable offices of the
kingdom, were in the hands of the members of the two Houses
of Parliament, who, whilst the nation grew poor, as it must
needs do under such insupportable taxes, grew very rich, and
would in a short time get all the money of the kingdom into
their hands ; and that it could not reasonably be expected that
such men, who got so much and enriched themselves to that
degree by the continuance of the war, would heartily pursue
those ways which would put an end to it, the end whereof must
put an end to their exorbitant profit. And when they had
exaggerated these reproaches as pathetically as they could, and
the sense the people generally had of the corruption of it, even
to a despair of ever seeing an end of the calamities they sus
tained, or having any prospect of that reformation in Church
and State which they had so often and so solemnly promised to
effect, they fell again to their prayers that God would take his
own work into his hand, and if the instruments he had already
employed were not worthy to bring so glorious a design to a
conclusion, that he would inspire others more fit, who might
perfect what was begun, and bring the troubles of the nation to
a godly period.
193. When the two Houses met together the next day after Dec. 19.
these devout animadversions, there was another spirit appeared
in the looks of many of them. Sir H. Vane told them, if ever
God had appeared to them it was in the exercise of yesterday;
and that it appeared it proceeded from God, because (as he was
credibly informed by many who had been auditors in other

458 After the fast-day, Vane and Cfomwell [vm. 193.
1644 congregations) the same lamentations and discourses had been
made in all other churches as the godly preachers had made
before them ; which could therefore proceed only from the
•x immediate Spirit of God. He repeated some things which had
been said, upon which he was best prepared to enlarge, and
besought them to remember their obligations to God and to
their country, and that they would free themselves from those
just reproaches, which they could do no otherwise than by
divesting themselves of all offices and charges which might
bring in the least advantage and profit to themselves ; and by
which they could only make it appear that they were public-
hearted men, and as they paid all taxes and impositions with
the rest of the nation, so they gave up all their time to their
country's service without any reward or gratuity.
194. He told them, that the reflections of yesterday, none
of which had ever entered upon his spirit before, had raised
another reflection in him than had been mentioned; which was,
that it had been often taken notice of, and objected by the
King himself, that the numbers of the members of Parliament
who sat in either House were too few to give reputation to acts
of so great moment as were transacted in their councils ; which,
though it was no fault of theirs, who kept their proper stations,
but of those who had deserted their places and their trusts by
v being absent from the Parliament, yet that in truth there were
"* too many absent, though in the service of the House and by
their appointment ; and if all the members were obliged to
attend the service of the Parliament in the Parliament, it would
bring great reputation to their numbers, and the people would
pay more reverence and yield a fuller obedience to their com
mands : and then concluded, that he was ready to accuse him
self for one of those who gained by an office he had, and though
he was possessed of it before the beginning of the troubles, and
owed it not to the favour of the Parliament, (for he had been
joined with sir William Russel in the treasurership of the navy
by the King's grant,) yet he was ready to lay it down, to be
disposed of by the Parliament; and wished that the profits
thereof might be applied towards the support of the war.

vm. 196.] propose the Self-denying Ordinance. 459
195. When the ice was thus broke, Oliver Cromwell, who 1644
had not yet arrived at the faculty of speaking with decency
and temper, commended the preachers for having dealt plainly
and impartially, and told them of their faults, which they had
been so unwilling to hear of: that there were many things
upon which he had never reflected before, yet, upon revolving
what had been said, he could not but confess that all was very
true, and till there were a perfect reformation in those par
ticulars which had been recommended to them, nothing would
prosper that they took in hand : that the Parliament had done
very wisely in the entrance into this war to engage many f
members of their own in the most dangerous parts of it, that
the nation might see that they did not intend to embark them
in perils of war whilst themselves sat securely at home out of
gunshot, but would march with them where the danger most'
threatened ; and those honourable persons who had exposed
themselves this way had merited so much of their country that
their memories should be held in perpetual veneration, and
whatsoever should be well done after them should be always
imputed to their example : but that God had so blessed their
amiies, that there had grown up with it and under it very
many excellent officers, who were fit for much greater charges
than they were now possessed of; and desired them not to be
terrified with an imagination that if the highest offices were
vacant they would not be able to put as fit men , into them ;
for, besides that it was not good to put so much trust in any
arm of flesh as to think such a cause as theirs depended upon
any one man, he did take upon him to assure them, that they
had officers in their armies who were fit to be generals in any
enterprise in Christendom.
196. He said, he thought nothing so necessary as to purge
and vindicate the Parliament from the partiality towards their
own members ; and made a proffer to lay down his commission
of command in the army ; and desired that an ordinance might
be prepared, by which it might be made unlawful for any
member of either House of Parliament to hold any office or
command in the army, or any place or employment of profit in

460 The Self-denying Ordinance. [vin.196.
1644 the State ; and so concluded, with an enlargement upon the
vices and corruptions which were gotten into the army, the
profaneness and impiety and absence of all religion, the drinking
and gaming, and all manner of license and laziness^ and said
plainly, that, till the whole army were new modelled and
governed under a stricter discipline, they must not expect any
notable success in any thing they went about.
Dee. 91. 197. And this debate ended in appointing a committee to
prepare an ordinance for the exclusion of all members from the
trust aforesaid ; which took up much debate, and depended
April 3. very long before it was brought to a conclusion, and in the end
was called the Self-denying Ordinance ; the driving on of which
exceedingly increased the inclination of the other party to
peace, which they did now foresee would only prevent their own
ruins in that of the kingdom.
198. Advice came from so many several hands to Oxford that
the King would send a message to the Houses for peace, with
an assurance that it should not be rejected, that his majesty
(who still apprehended as great a division amongst his own
friends upon the conditions of peace, out of the universal
weariness of the war, as he discerned there was amongst his
enemies upon the emulation in command or differences in re
ligion) entered upon the consideration how to bring it to pass.
The members of Parliament were still sitting at Oxford : but
they at London who 'were most desirous of peace had given
warning to avoid that rock, and that their names should never
be mentioned ; which would have procured an union between
the most irreconciliable parties in throwing out such overtures.
On the other side, the sending a bare message by a trumpet
was not probably like to produce any other effect than an
insolent answer in the same way, or no answer at all, as his
two or three last messages had done.
199. In conclusion, the King resolved that there should be
a short message drawn, in which the continuance of the war
1 [Clarendon appears to confuse the debate which took place on Dec. 9
\ when the vote for the Self-denying ordinance passed the Commons, and one
which occurred on Dec. 19, the day after the fast.]

Vlll.aoo.] The King desires a pass, to treat for peace. 461
and the mischieves it brought upon the kingdom should be 1644
lamented, and therefore his desire [expressed] that some reason
able conditions of peace might be thought upon ; assuring them
that his majesty would be willing to consent to any thing that
could consist with his conscience and honour. And lie resolved
that he would send this message by some persons of condition,
who might, upon conference with their friends, be able to make
some impression, at least to discover what might reasonably be
expected ; and if the Parliament should refuse to grant a safe
conduct for such messengers, it might well be presumed what
reception the message itself was like to find. The persons he
resolved to send were the duke of Richmond and the earl of
Southampton; both of unblemished honour, and of general
reputation in the kingdom. And so a trumpet was sent to the Dec. 5.
earl of Essex for a safe guard or pass to those two lords, to the
end they might deliver a message from the King to the two
Houses concerning a treaty of peace. To which the earl of
Essex only answered, that he would acquaint the Houses with
it and return their answer, and so dismissed the trumpet.
200. The King had now done his part; and the rest was to
be perfected there. They who were resolved never to admit a
peace, though they could not still prevent a treaty, thought
they had advantage enough to object this unusual message : if ,
the message itself had been sent, they might have judged ',
whether it had been like to be attended with good success, and \
so might have accepted a treaty if they had approved of it ; but \
this sending of messengers before they knew what they would- 1
bring, was an invention to begin a treaty before they admitted 1
it, and to send enemies into their quarters with authority to j
scatter their poison abroad: and therefore with great passion ;
[they] pressed that no such pass should be sent. On the other j
hand, it was with equal passion alleged, that the refusal of the j
safe conduct was a total rejection of peace before they under
stood upon what terms it would be offered, which the people
would take very ill from them, and conclude that the war must
continue for ever ; and therefore they wished that a safe guard
might be sent without delay, and that they would have a better

462 The Parliament reluctantly grant a pass, [vm.200.
1644 opinion of their friends than to imagine that the presence or
power of two men, how considerable soever, would be able to
corrupt or pervert their affections from the Parliament.
201. And in this opinion the Scots' commissioners likewise
concurred ; so that the other party found it necessary to con-
Dec. 10. sent, and the safe conduct, after many debates, was sent accord
ingly. But that they might not seem to their friends abroad
to be overpowered, they revenged themselves in pursuing the
despatch of their Self-denying Ordinance with great vehemence;
and because the effect of that was manifestly that they should
be without a general, it was already proposed that sir Thomas
Fayrefax (who had behaved himself so signally in their service
in the defeat of colonel Bellasis, and taking him prisoner, which
gave them their first footing in Yorkshire from their being shut
up and besieged in Hull ; in the overthrow of the lord Byron,
and taking all the Irish regiments ; and lastly in the late battle
at York, where he had turned the fortune of the day, when the
Scots' army was routed and their general fled) might now be
made their general; for which Oliver Cromwell assured them
he was very equal. And in the discourses upon this subject,
(which found all opposition,) as the service of the earl of Essex
was much magnified, and his merit extolled, by those who
desired to have no other general, so it was undervalued and
depressed with some bitterness and contumely by those who
¦ believed that all they could do would be to no purpose if he
' were not totally excluded from any power.
Dec. 14. 202. Shortly after the beginning of December, the duke of
Richmond and the earl of Southampton, upon their pass, went
from Oxford to London; where they were advised not to go
much abroad lest the people should be apt to do them injury,
and very few had the courage to come to them except with
great privacy; only the Scots' commissioners, as men in sove
reign authority and independent upon the Parliament, made no
scruple of visiting them and being visited by them. The
Houses did not presently agree upon the manner of their
reception, how they should deliver their message ; in which
there had been before no difficulty, whilst the war was carried

vm. 203.] The King's message to treat for peace. 463
on only by the authority of the Parliament. Then, the message 1844
being delivered to either House, it was quickly communicated
to the other ; but now, the Scots' commissioners made a third
[e]state, and the message was directed to them as well as to the
Houses. In the end it was resolved that there should be a con- Dec. 16.
ference between the two Houses in the Painted Chamber, at
which the Scots' commissioners should be present and sit on
one side of the table ; and that the upper end of it should be
kept for the King's messengers, where there was a seat provided
for them ; all the rest being bare, and expecting that they would
be so too, for though the Lords used to be covered whilst the
Commons were bare, yet the Commons would not be bare before
the Scots' commissioners ; and so none were covered. But as
soon as the two lords came thither, they covered, to the trouble
of the other ; but, being presently to speak, they were quickly
freed from that eyesore.
203. The lords used very few words in letting them know Dec. 17.
the King's great inclinations to peace, and delivered and read
their message to that purpose ; which was received by the
Lords without any other expression than that they should
report it to the Houses ; and so the meeting brake up : and
then many of the Lords, and some of the Commons, passed some
compliments and ceremony to the two lords, according to the
acquaintance they had with them, and found opportunities to
see them in private, or to send confident persons to them.
They found there were great divisions amongst them, and upon
points that would admit no reconciliation : and therefore they
believed that there would be a treaty of peace ; but they could
not make any such guess of the moderation of the conditions of
the peace as to conclude that it would be with effect. For they
that most desired the peace, and would have been glad to have
had it upon any terms, durst not own that they wished it but
upon the highest terms of honour and security for the Par
liament ; which could neither be secure or honourable for the
King. They discovered that they who did heartily wish the
peace did intend to promote a treaty between persons named
by the King and persons named by the Parliament, to meet at

464 The trial of the [vm. 203.
1644 some third place, and not that they should send commissioners
to Oxford to treat with the King himself; which they had
already found to be ineffectual, and not like to produce a better
end : whereas they did or seemed to believe that, how unreason
able soever the propositions should be upon which they treated,
they would, by yielding to some things when they refused
others, sooner prevail with the Houses to mollify their demands
than at first to reform them.
204. The method was not ingrateful to the lords, who had
the same conceptions, that, if sober men were named for com
missioners, somewhat would result from the freedom of their
communication. And the duke of Richmond sent his secretary
Webb expressly to Oxford 1, to know the King's pleasure,
whether, if a third place were proposed for commissioners on
both sides to meet, they should consent to it ; which his
majesty (though he had no mind to trust others but where
himself was present) was persuaded to approve. But all this
was but discourse and private wishes, for it was never brought
into debate ; and it was told them very plainly, that as long as
they stayed in the town the Houses would never so much as
confer upon the subject of their message ; because they found it
would be matter of great debate, and spend much time, during
which they did not desire their company, nor to be troubled
with their infusions. And therefore, as soon as they had
received the King's message, they proceeded upon their tiial
of the archbishop of Canterbury before both Houses of Parlia
ment, upon an impeachment of high treason, resolving likewise
to give that evidence to the people of what resolution they had
to make a peace with the King. The lords observing this
affected delay in the business they were sent about, and being
advised by their friends not to stay longer but to expect the
determination to be sent to Oxford, they returned to the King,
with some confidence that a treaty would be consented to, and
that it would be at some third place, and neither at Oxford and
less at London, and by commissioners which should be agreed
1 [' to the ChanceEor of the Exchequer, with whom only they corre
sponded ' ; struck out in the MS.]

vm. 206.] archbishop of Canterbury. 465
on by both sides. But they brought an express desire, and 1644
even a condition, to the King, from all those with whom they
had conferred, and who were the chief persons who advanced
the treaty, that if that which they laboured for should be
yielded to by the Parliament, his majesty should not name a
person (whom they mentioned to the King) x for one of his
commissioners; for that he was so odious that they would
absolutely decline the treaty before they would admit him to
be one of the treaters.
205. It was, as is said before, a very sad omen to the treaty,
that after they had received the King's message by those noble
lords, and before they returned any answer to it, they proceeded
to trial of the archbishop of Canterbury, who had lain prisoner
in the Tower from the beginning of the Parliament, full four
years, without any prosecution till this time 2, when they
brought him to the bar of both Houses, charging him with
several articles of high treason, which, if all that was alleged Dec. 17.
against him had been true, could not have made him guilty of
treason. They accused him of a design to bring in Popery, and
of having correspondence with the Pope, and such like par
ticulars as the consciences of his greatest enemies absolved him
from. No man a greater or an abler enemy to Popery ; no
man a more resolute and devout son of the Church of England.
He was prosecuted by lawyers, assigned to that purpose, of
those who, from their own antipathy to the Church and bishops,
or from some disobligations received from him, were sure to
bring passion, animosity, and malice enough of their own, what
evidence soever they had from others. And they did treat him
with all the rudeness, reproach, and barbarity imaginable ;
with which his judges were not displeased.
206. He defended himself with great and undaunted courage,
1 [The words 'a person — king' are substituted in the MS. for 'the lord.
Digby.'] 2 [His trial commenced on March 12, 1644, and was continued at in
tervals until Oct. 11. But on Dec. 17 he was voted guilty on three
charges in the House of Lords, when 14 lords were present, according to the
archbishop's own account in his History of his trial ; the Lords' Journals,
vii. 102, give the names of 21.]
VOL. in. H h

466 Trial of archbishop Laud. [vm. 206.
1644 and less passion than was expected from his constitution ;
answered all their objections with clearness and irresistible
reason ; and convinced all men of his integrity and his detest
ation of all treasonable intentions. So that though few excel
lent men have ever had fewer friends to [their persons,] ' yet
all men absolved him from any foul crime that the law could
take notice of and punish. However, when they had said all
they could against him, and he all for himself that need to be
said, and no such crime appearing as the Lords, as the supreme
court of judicatory, would take upon them to judge him to be
worthy of death, they resorted to their legislative power, and
Jan. 4. by ordinance of Parliament, as they called it, that is, by a
determination of those members who sat in the Houses, (whereof
in the House of Peers there were not above twelve2,) they
appointed him to be put to death as guilty of high treason j
the first time that two Houses of Parliament had ever assumed
that jurisdiction, or that ever ordinance had been made to such
a purpose ; nor could any rebellion be more against the law
than that murderous act.
207. When the first mention was made of their monstrous
purpose of bringing the archbishop to a trial for his life, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had always a great reverence
and affection for him, had spoken to the King of it, and pro
posed to him, that, in all events, there might be a pardon pre
pared and sent to him under the Great Seal of England, to the
end, if they proceeded against him in any form of law, he might
plead the King's pardon, which must be allowed by all who
pretended to be governed by the law ; but if they proceeded in
a martial, or any other extraordinary, way, without any form
of law, his majesty should declare his justice and affection to
an old faithful servant, whom he much esteemed, in having
done all towards his preservation that was in his power to do.
The King was wonderfully pleased with the proposition, and
took from thence occasion to commend the piety and virtue of
the archbishop with extraordinary affection ; and commanded
1 [' his person,' MS.]
* [nineteen. Lords' Journals, vu. 124.]

VIII. 208.] Archbishop Laud is beheaded. 467
him to cause the pardon to be drawn, and his majesty would 1644
sign and seal it with all possible secrecy ; which at that time
was necessary. Whereupon the Chancellor sent for sir Thomas
Gardiner, the King's Solicitor, and told him the King's pleasure;
upon which he presently prepared the pardon, and it was 1644
signed and sealed with the Great Seal of England, and care- APril I2-
fully sent and delivered into the archbishop's own hand before
he was brought to his trial ; who received it with great joy, as it
was a testimony of the King's gracious affection to him and care
of him, without any opinion that they who endeavoured to take
away the King's life would preserve his by his majesty's authority.
208. When his counsel had perused the pardon, and con
sidered that all possible exceptions would be taken to it, though
they should not reject it, they found that the impeachment was
not so distinctly set down in the pardon as it ought to be ;
which could not be helped at Oxford, because they had no copy
of it, and therefore had supplied it with all those general
expressions as in any court of law would make the pardon valid
against any exceptions the King's own counsel could make
against it. Hereupon the archbishop had by the same mes
senger returned the pardon again to the Chancellor with such
directions and copies as were necessary ; and it was perfected
accordingly, and delivered safely aga^n to him, and was in his
hands during the whole time of his trial. So when his trial
was over, and the ordinance passed for the cutting off his head,
and he called and asked, according to custom in criminal pro
ceedings, what he could say more why he should not suffer
death ; he told them that he had the King's gracious pardon,
which he pleaded, and tendered to them, and desired that it
might be allowed. Whereupon he was sent to tbe Tower, and Jan. 7.
the pardon read in both Houses ; where, without any long
debate, it was declared to be of no effect, and that the King
could not pardon a judgment of Parliament. And so, without
troubling themselves farther, they gave order for his execution ;
which he underwent with all Christian courage and magnan- Jan. 10.
imity, to the admiration of the beholders and confusion of his
enemies. Much hath been said of the person of this great
H h 2

468 The, two Houses agree to a treaty, [vm. 208.
1644 prelate before, of his great endowments and natural infirmities ;
to which shall be added no more in this place, (his memory de
serving a particular celebration,) than that his learning and piety
and virtue have been attained by very few, and the greatest of
his infirmities are common to all, even to the best men.
209. When they had despatched this important work, and
thereby received a new instance of the good affection and
courage of their friends, and involved the two Houses in fresh
guilt and obloquy, (for too many concurred in it without con
sidering the heinousness of it, and only to keep their credits
clear and entire, whereby they might with the more authority
advance the peace that was desired,) they now enter upon the
debate what answer they should send the King concerning a
treaty for peace. They who desired to advance it hoped
, thereby to put an end to all the designs of new modelling
/ the army, and to prevent the increase of those factions in
religion which every day brake out amongst them, to the
notorious scandal of Christianity. And they who had no mind
to a treaty, because they had minds averse from all thoughts
I of peace, discerned plainly that they should not be able to
finish their design upon the army, and set many other devices
on foot which would contribute to their convenience, until this
j longed-for treaty were at an end ; and therefore they all agreed
[ to give some conclusion to it, and resolved that there should be
a treaty, and upon the method that should be observed in the
conducting it, from which they who should be employed by
them should not recede or be diverted.
Jan. 3. 210. And then they nominated sixteen commissioners for the
two Houses and four for the Parliament of Scotland1, and
named Uxbridge for the place where the treaty should be;
which treaty should be limited to be finished within twenty
days from the time when it should begin.
Jan. 17. 211. Upon this conclusion, they sent their answer to the
message they had received from the King by a trumpet, in a
1 [Twenty-two in all; four for the House of Peers, eight for the House
of Commons, and ten nominated as commissioners for Scotland by a"
ordinance of the Scottish ParEament of July 16, 1644. Sixteen was the
number of the King's commissioners.]

vm. 212.] Appointment of commissioners. 469
letter from their general to the King's general ; in which they 1645
informed his majesty, that, out of their passionate desire of
peace, they had agreed to his proposition for a treaty, and that
they had assigned Uxbridge for the place where it should be ;
and had appointed the earl of Northumberland, the earl of
Pembroke, the earl of Salisbury, and the earl of Denbigh, of the
House of Peers, and of the Commoners, the lord Wenman, Mr.
Purpoint, Mr. Hollis, Mr. St. John, (whom they called the
King's Solicitor General,) sir Henry Vane the younger, Mr.
Whitlock, Mr. Crew, and Mr. Prideaux, and for the kingdom of
Scotland, the lord Lowdon, Chancellor of Scotland, the lord /
Maitland, (who by the death of his father became earl of Jan. 18'.
Latherdale by the time of the treaty,) sir Charles Erskin, and
one Mr. Berkely, to be their commissioners, together with Mr. ',
Alexander Henderson in matters only which relate to the""
Church ; to treat upon the particulars they had intrusted them
with, with such persons as his majesty should please to nomi
nate, for all whom a safe conduct should be sent as soon as his
majesty had named them, as they desired his majesty's safe
conduct for the persons named by them : to none of which the
King took any exception, but signed their pass ; and sent word Jan. 21.
to the Houses that he accepted the treaty and the place, and
that he had nominated as commissioners for him, the duke of
Richmond, the marquis of Hartford, the earl of Southampton,
the earl of Kingston, the earl of Chichester, the lord Capell, the
lord Seymour, the lord Hatton, Controller of the King's House
hold, the lord Culpeper, Master of the Rolls, sir Edward Hyde,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, sir Edward Nicholas, principal
Secretary of State, sir Richard Lane, Lord Chief Baron of his
court of Exchequer, sir Thomas Gardiner, his majesty's So
licitor General, sir Orlando Bridgeman, Attorney of his court of
Wards, Mr. John Ashburnham, and Mr. Geoflfry Palmer; and
desired that a safe conduct might be sent for them, as his
majesty had sent for the other ; and they should then be ready,
at the day that was set down, at Uxbridge.
212. When this was returned to Westminster, there arose
1 [Sir Tho. Hope's Diary (Bannatyne Club, 1843), p. 211.]

470 Objections to titles conferred by the King. [vm. 212.
1645 new disputes upon the persons named by the King, or rather
against the additions and appellations of title which were made
to their names ; for they did not except against the persons of
either of them, though many of them were most ungracious to
them. 213. When the Lord Keeper Littleton had fled from West
minster, upon his majesty's commands to attend him at York,
1643 the two Houses had in their fury declared that nothing which
Nov. 10 l. should from that time pass under the Great Seal should be good
and valid, but void and null ; which they did to discredit any
commission which they foresaw might issue out for their con
viction, trial, and attainder. And in some time after they had
caused a Great Seal to be made with the King's image, for the
despatch of the necessary process in law and proceedings in
courts of justice ; which seal was committed by them to some of
their members who had sat in the Chancery and transacted the
business of that court, and applied the seal to all those uses
and purposes it had been accustomed unto. They found this
declaration and ordinance of theirs invaded in this message
they had now received from the King. The lord Dunsmore was
created earl of Chichester ; sir Christopher Hatton, lord Hatton ;
sir John Culpeper, Lord Culpeper, with the addition of Master
of the Bolls, which office they had bestowed upon Lenthall their
Speaker, who was in possession of it ; sir Edward Hyde was
declared Chancellor of the Exchequer, which, though it was an
office they had not meddled with bestowing, yet it had passed
the Great Seal after it had come into the King's hands ; Sir
Thomas Gardiner was made the King's Solicitor, and the patent
formerly granted to their beloved St. John stood revoked, which
they would not endure, having, as is said, annexed that title to
his name when they mentioned him as a commissioner for their
treaty. They had the same exception to the Chief Baron and to
the Attorney of the Wards ; both which offices were in the
possession of men more in their favour.
1 [The order for the making a new seal was passed on io Nov. 1643, and
included the declaration of the invalidity of aE the acts which had passed
under the Great Seal since May 22, 1642.]

vm. 215.] The commissioners meet at Uxbridge. 47 1
214. After long debate, they were contented to insert their 1645
names in their safe conduct, without their honours or offices ; Jan. 25.
and they were so angry with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
that they had no mind that he should' be styled a knight, because
he was not so when he left the Parliament, but the Scots' commis
sioners prevailed in that point, since they had not yet pretended
to take away the use of the King's sword from him, and so they
allowed him by a majority of votes to be a knight ; and so sent
their safe conduct in the manner as is mentioned to Oxford :
upon which the King, upon the desire of the persons concerned,
forbore to insist, but, giving them still in his own pass, and in
his commission whereby they were authorized to treat with
them, the style and appellation which belonged to them and
which must be allowed by [the others] 1 before they began to
treat, the style of their pass was not thought worthy any reply;
and because there was animadversion given at the same time
that they would not, when they met at the treaty, consider any
authority that qualified them to treat but only what should be
under the King's sign-manual, though they would not take that
for a sufficient warrant for themselves to treat with the King's
enemies, they were contented, together with a commission under
the Great Seal of England, to take another likewise with
them in that form and only under the sign-manual, as was
desired. 215. About the end of January, or the beginning of Febru- Jan. 29.
ary, the commissioners on both sides met at Uxbridge ; which
being within the enemy's quarters, the King's commissioners
were to have such accommodations as the other thought fit to
leave to them ; who had been very civil in the distribution, and
left one entire side of the town to the King's commissioners, one
house only excepted, which was given to the lord of Pembroke ;
so that they had no cause to complain of their accommodation,
which was as good as the town would yield, and as good as the
others had. There was a fair house at the end of the town
which was provided for the treaty, where was a fair room in
the middle of the house, which was handsomely dressed up for
1 ['them,' MS.]

473 The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 215.
1645 the commissioners to sit in ; a large square table being placed
in the middle, with handsome seats for the commissioners to
sit, one side being sufficient for those of either party, and a rail
for others who should be thought necessary to be present, which
went round. And there were many other rooms on either side
of this great room, for the commissioners on either side to retire
to, when they thought fit to consult together, and to return
again to the public debate; and there being good stairs at
either end of the house, they never went through each other's
quarters, nor met but in the great room.
216. As soon as the King's commissioners came to the town,
all those of the Parliament came to visit and to welcome them,
and within an hour those of the King returned their visits with
ordinary civilities ; each professing great desire and hope that
the treaty would produce a good peace. The visits were all
together, and in one room, the Scots being in the same room
with the English ; either party eating always together, there
being two great inns which served very well to that purpose, and
the duke of Kichmond, being Steward of his majesty's house,
kept his table there for all the commissioners. Nor was there
any restraint from giving and receiving visits apart, as their
acquaintance and inclinations disposed them ; in which those of
the King's party used their accustomed freedom as heretofore ;
but on the other side there was great wariness and reservation,
and so great a jealousy of each other that they had no mind to
give or receive visits from their old friends whom they loved
better than their new, nor would any of them be seen alone with
1 any of the King's commissioners, but had always one of their
1 companions with them, and sometimes one whom they least
trusted. And it was observed by the town and the people that
flocked thither that the King's commissioners looked as if they
were at home and governed the town, and the other as if they
were not in their own quarters : and the truth is, they had not
that alacrity and serenity of mind as men use to have who do
not believe themselves to be in a fault.
217. The King's commissioners would willingly have per
formed their devotions in the church,nor was there any restraint

vm. 218.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 473
upon them from doing so, that is, by inhibition from the Parlia- 1645
ment, otherwise than that by the Parliament's ordinance (as
they called it) the Book of Common Prayer was not permitted
to be read, nor the vestures nor ceremonies of the Church to be
used. So that the days of devotion were observed in their great
room of the inn ; whither many of the country, and of the train
of the commissioners, and other persons who came every day
from London, usually resorted.
218. When the commissioners on both sides met first together Jan. 30.
in the room appointed for the treaty, and had taken their seats,
it being left to the King's commissioners which side of the table
they would take, the earl of Northumberland, who always
delivered any thing that was agreed between them, and read all
the papers, after the powers of both sides were examined and
perused, proposed sonre rules to be observed in the treaty; of
having nothing binding except all were agreed upon, and such
like ; to which there was no objection ; [and] proposed, as a
direction they had received from the Parliament, that they
should first enter upon the matter of religion, and treat four
entire days upon that subject, without entering upon any other ;
and if all differences in that particular were not adjusted within
those days, they should then proceed to the next point, which
was the militia, and observe the same method in that ; and from
thence pass to the business of Ireland ; which three points being
well settled, they believed the other differences would be with
more ease composed : and after those twelve days were passed,
they were to go round again upon the several subjects as long as
the time limited would continue ; his majesty being left at
liberty to propose what he thought fit at his own time, and to
break the method proposed. And it was declared that the
twenty days limited for the treaty were to be reckoned of the
days which should be spent in the treaty, and not the days of
coming or returning, or the days spent in devotion; there
falling out three Sundays and one fast-day in those first twenty
days. The method was willingly consented to ; the King's com
missioners conceiving that it would be to no purpose to propose
any thing on the King's behalf till they discerned what agree-

474 The treaty at Uxbridge ; [vm. 218.
1645 ment was like to be made in any one particular, by which they
might take their measures ; and they could propose any thing of
moment under one of the three heads which are mentioned before.
219. There happened a very odd accident the very first morn
ing they met at the house to agree upon their method to be
observed in the treaty. It was a market-day, when they used
always to have a sermon, and many of the persons who came
from Oxford in the commissioners' train went to the church to
observe the new forms. There was one Love, a young man that
came from London with the commissioners, who preached, and
told his auditory, which consisted of all the people of the town
and of those who came to the market, the church being very
full, that they were not to expect any good from that treaty;'
for that they were men of blood who were employed in it from
Oxford, who intended only to amuse the people with the
expectation of peace till they were able to do some notable
mischieve to them ; and inveighed so seditiously against all
cavaliers, that is, against all who followed the King, and against1
the persons of the commissioners, that he could be understood1
to intend nothing else but to stir up the people to mutiny, and'
in it to do some act of violence upon the commissioners ; who
were no sooner advertised of it by several persons who had
been present in the church, and who gave very particular
information of the very words which had been spoken, than they
informed the other commissioners of it, gave them a charge
in writing against the preacher, and demanded public justice.
They seemed troubled at it, and promised to examine it, and
cause some severe punishment to be inflicted upon the man;
but afterwards confessed that they had no authority to punish
him, but that they had caused him to be sharply reprehended and
to be sent out of the town : and this was all that could be
obtained 1 ; so unwilling they were to discountenance any man
who was willing to serve them. And this is the same Love who
some years after, by Cromwell's particular prosecution, had his
l6 head cut off upon Tower Hill for being against the army.
Aug. 22. 220. It is not the purpose of this discourse to set down
1 [See Thurloe's State Papers, I. 65J

vm. 221.] first, of religion. 475
the particular transactions of this treaty, which were published 1645
by the King's order shortly after the conclusion of it, and all
the papers which had been delivered by the commissioners on,
either side exposed to the view of the kingdom, in the method
and manner in which they were delivered. Only such par
ticulars as fell out in that time and were never communicated,
and many of them known to very few, shall be shortly men
tioned, that they who hereafter may have the perusal of this
may know how impossible it was that this treaty could pro
duce such a peace as both sides would have been glad of,
and that they who governed the Parliament then had at that
time the resolution to act those monstrous things which they
brought afterwards to pass.
221. The first business to be entered upon being that of Jan. 31.
religion, the divines of both sides were admitted to be present,
in places appointed for them, opposite to each other ; and
Dr. Steward, Clerk of the closet to the King, was a com
missioner, as Mr. Henderson was on the other side ; and they
both sat covered without the bar, at the backs of the com
missioners. On the Parliament part it was proposed that all
the bishops, deans, and chapters, might be immediately taken
away and abolished, and, in the room thereof, that there
might be such another government erected as should be most
agreeable to God's word and the practice of the best churches :
that the Book of Common Prayer might be taken away and
totally suppressed, and that, instead thereof, a Directory might
be used, in which there was likewise set down as much of the
government which they meant to erect for the future as was
necessary to be provided for the present, and which supplied
all the use of Articles or Canons which they had likewise
abolished ; and that the King himself would take the Covenant,
and consent to an act of Parliament whereby all persons of the
kingdom should be likewise obliged to take it. And the
copies of the Covenant and the Directory were delivered at
the same time to the King's commissioners ; which were very
long, and necessary to be read over before they could make
any answer. And so they took that afternoon to peruse them

476 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vm. 221.
1645 together, and adjourned their treaty till the next morning ;
and though they entered upon the reading them before dinner,
the Directory was so very long that they spent all that after
noon and some part of the night, before they had finished the
reading of them. And then, there being many new terms in
I the Directory, as congregational, classical, provincial, and
synodieal, which were not known in practice, and some ex-
l pressions in the Covenant which were ambiguous, and, they
well knew, were left so because the persons who framed them
were not all of one mind, nor had the same intentions in
some of the other terms mentioned before, the commissioners
caused many questions to be prepared in writing, to be offered
Feb. 1. at the next meeting, wherein they desired to be informed what
their meaning was in such and such expressions, in which
they knew well they had several meanings and would hardly
concur in one and the same answer : the preparing which
papers was, throughout the treaty, always committed to the
Chancellor. 222. Within a day or two after the beginning of the treaty,
or rather the day before it did begin, the earl of Lowdon,
Chancellor of Scotland, visited the duke of Richmond privately
in his chamber, and either proposed, or was very willing, to
have private conference there with the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer; upon which the duke, who knew well the other
would not decline it, sent to him, and he presently went to
the duke's chamber, where he found them both; and, after
some short compliments, the earl told him how stoutly he had
defended his knighthood, which the Parliament had resolved
to have denied if he had not convinced them. From thence
he discoursed of the great prejudice the Parliament had
against him, as a man who more industriously opposed peace
than any other of the King's Council : that he had now a good
opportunity to wipe off all those jealousies by being a good
instrument in making this peace, and by persuading his
majesty to comply with the desires and supplications of his
Parliament, which he hoped he would be.
223. The Chancellor told him, that the King did so much.

VIII. 224.] first, of religion. 477
desire a peace that no man need advise him, or could divert 1645
him, if fair and honourable conditions of peace were offered to
him ; but if a peace could not be had but upon such conditions
as his majesty judged inconsistent with his honour or his con
science, no man would have credit enough to persuade him to
accept it ; and that for his own part, without reflecting upon
the good or ill opinion the Parliament might have of him, he
would dissuade him from consenting to it. The other seemed
disappointed in his so positive answer : yet with great freedom
entered upon discourse of the whole matter, and, after some
kind of apology that Scotland was so far engaged in the f
quarrel, contrary to their former intentions and professions, 1
he did as good as conclude that if the King would satisfy
them in the business of the Church, they would not concern
t themselves in any of the other demands. In which proposition
nnding no kind of compliance from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, but sharp protestations against the demand, as
inconsistent with conscience, justice, or religion, the conference
brake off, without inclination in either of them to renew it.
But from that time there was more contradiction and quick
repartees between them two throughout the treaty, than be
tween any other of the body of the commissioners, And it
was manifest enough, by the private conferences with other of
the commissioners, that the Parliament took none of the points J j
in controversy less to heart, or were less united in, than inW
what concerned the Church.
224. When upon the next meeting of the commissioners the Feb. 1.
questions which are mentioned before were read and delivered
by the duke of Richmond, who always performed that part on
the behalf of the King's commissioners, as the earl of North
umberland did on the Parliament's, there was a visible disorder
in their countenances ; some of them, smiling, said we ' looked
into their game'; but without offering at any answer, they
rose, and went to their room of consultation, where they re- I
mained in great passion and wrangling many hours ; so that /
the other commissioners, finding that they were not like sud
denly to agree, adjourned till the afternoon, and departed to

478 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vm. 224.
1645 dinner. As soon as they came together in the afternoon, and
were sat, the earl of Northumberland said that they wondered
there should appear any difficulty in any expressions upon
which those questions had been administered in the morning,
which to them seemed very clear and plain; however, to give
their lordships satisfaction, that they had appointed another
noble lord there present, who was well acquainted with the
signification of all those words, to explain what the common
sense and meaning of them was. Thereupon the earl of
YLauderdale^1 made a discourse upon the several questions, and
/what acceptation those expressions and words had ; and,
being a young man, not accustomed to an orderly and decent
way of speaking, and having no gracious pronunciation, and
full of passion, he made everything much more difficult than
it was before : so that the commissioners desired that they
might receive an answer in writing; since it was declared
upon the entrance of the treaty, that though in debate any
man might say what he thought necessary, yet nothing should
be understood to be the sense of either side but what was de
livered in writing ; and therefore they desired that what that
noble lord had said, which they presumed was the sense of all
the rest, because they had referred to him, and seemed satisfied
with what he had delivered, might be given to them in
writing ; without which they knew not how to proceed, or give
an answer to what was proposed to them. This demand,
founded upon a rule of their own, which they knew not how
v to decline, put the Scots' commissioners into great passion:
^ for all the English sat still without speaking word, as if they
were not concerned. The lord Latherdale1 repeated what he
bad said before, a little more distinctly; and the Chancellor
of Scotland said that the things were so plain that every man
could not choose but understand and remember what was
spoken, and that the pressing to put it in writing was only to
spend time, which would be quickly out, half the four days
assigned for the business of religion being already to expire
that night ; and therefore passionately desired them that they
1 [sic]

vm. 226.] first, of religion. 479
would rest satisfied with what had been spoken, and proceed 1645
upon the matter.
225. It was replied, that they could not trust their memories
so far as to prepare an answer to their demand concerning the
Covenant or the Directory, except they were sure that they
understood the full and declared meaning of their demand;
which they had less reason now to believe they did than
before, since there was so much difficulty made to satisfy them
in writing ; and therefore they must insist upon receiving an
answer to the papers they had given. And two or three of
the King's commissioners withdrew, and prepared another
paper, in which they set down the reasons which obliged them
not to be satisfied with the discourse which had been made,
and why they must insist upon the having it in writing ;
which being communicated to the rest as they sat, was likewise
delivered to them, who could not refuse to receive it, though
it was plain enough they never intended to give any answer in L-
writing, nor the others to desist from demanding it. But
they declared that as they presumed they should in the end
receive their answer in writing, which they should not depart
from, so it was their resolution not to defer their further pro
ceeding upon the matter, but [they] were ready to prosecute
that in the method they would desire ; and so it was resolved
the next morning to hear the divines, who were of either party,
what they would say against or for episcopacy, and the govern
ment and lands of the Church, which were equally concerned
in the debate.
226. On the King's part, besides Dr. Steward, who was a
commissioner in matters relating to the Church, there were
Dr. Sheldon, (who was afterwards archbishop of Canterbury)
Dr. Lany, (who was afterwards bishop of Ely',) Dr. Feme, (who
was afterwards bishop of Chester,) Dr. Potter, (then dean of
Worcester and provost of Queen's college in Oxford,) and
Dr. Hammond ; all who, being the King's chaplains, were sent
by him to attend the commissioners for their devotions, and
for the other service of the Church, as the management of the
treaty required, which could not be foreseen. On the Parlia-

480 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vm. 225.
1645 ment side, besides Mr. Alexander Henderson, who wa3 the
commissioner, Mr. Marshall, a country parson in Essex, and
-  an eminent preacher of that party, who was the chief chaplain
in the army, Mr. Vynes, a parson likewise in Warwickshire,
and a scholar, (both of them of the Assembly of Divines, and
so, very conversant in those points relating to the Church
which had been so often disputed there,) Mr. [Cheynell '], one
who had been fellow of [Merton] 2 college in Oxford, and two
or three others, who, bearing no part in the disputes, had not
their names remembered.
Feb. 3. 227. Mr. Henderson began rather with rhetoric than logic,
of the necessity to change the government of the Church for
the preservation of the State, which was so much in danger
that it could be preserved no other way, and therefore that in
conscience it ought to be consented to ; that the question was
not about the preservation of both, which by the wisdom of
the Parliaments of both nations was found to be impossible,
but, since there could but one stand, whether they should be
1 both sacrificed, or the Church given up that the State might he
preserved : nor was the question now whether episcopacy was
lawful, and the government by bishops consistent with religion,
but, whether it was so necessary that religion could not be
preserved without it; which was to condemn all the reformed
Churches of Europe, where there were no bishops, England only
excepted. It ought therefore to suffice, that the Parliament,
which best understood what was good for the nation, had found
it to be a very unnecessary, inconvenient, and corrupt govern
ment, that had been productive of great mischief3 to the
kingdom from the very time of the Reformation ; that the
bishops had always favoured Popery, and preserved and con
tinued many of the rites and customs thereof in their govern
ment and practice, and had of late introduced many innovations
into the Church, by the example and pattern of the Church of
Rome, and to the great scandal of the Protestant Churches of
Germany, France, Scotland, and Holland ; that they had been
1 ['Channell.'MS.] 2 [' Martin,' MS.]
3 [Thus written by Clarendon himself in this instance.]

VIII. 228.] first, of religion. 481
the occasion of the war between the two nations of Scotland 1645
and England, and then of the rebellion in Ireland, and now of
the civil war in England ; and thereupon, that the Parliament,
in order to uniting all the Protestant Churches, which was the
only way to extinguish Popery, had resolved to change this
inconvenient, mischievous government, and erect another in the
place of it which should advance piety and true religion ; and
that he hoped the King would concur in so godly an action,
which would prove so much for his glory. He took notice of
an old answer formerly made by 1 a King of England, when the
alteration of some laws had been desired of him, Nolumus leges
Anglim mutare ; which, he said, must be a mistake in the
impression : that it was impossible for any king to lay it down
as a rule that he will not change the laws, for most kings had
changed them often for their own and their subjects' benefit :
but the meaning must be, Nolumus leges Anglim mutari, 'We
will change them as often as there shall be occasion, but we
will not suffer them mutari, to be changed by the presumption
of others, without [our 2] consent.' He said, they did not
presume to think of compelling the King to change the govern
ment of the Church, but they hoped he would willingly do it,
upon the humble petition of both kingdoms, and for his own
and their benefit : that he should say no more, till he should
hear the reasons from the divines on the other side why his
majesty should not consent to the advice of his Parliament,
since he conceived nothing of conscience could be alleged
against it, because it appeared by what his majesty had con
sented to in Scotland for the utter abolishing of bishops, that
he did not believe in his conscience that episcopacy was abso
lutely necessary for the support of Christian religion.
228. Dr. Steward, with a much better countenance, told the
commissioners, that he hoped and knew that their lordships
were too well acquainted with the constitution of the Church of
England, and the foundation upon which it subsisted, to believe
it could be shaken by any of those arguments which had been
made against it. He said, that though he did believe it was
1 [Said to King John, not by him.] * [' Ms/ MS.]
VOL. III. ! i

482 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vm. 228.
1645 impossible to prove that a government, settled and continued
without intermission from the time when Christianity was first
planted in England, and under which the Christian religion
had so much flourished, was an unlawful and antichristian
government, yet that he expected that they who had sworn to
abolish it, and came now to persuade their lordships to concur
with them in pressing the King to join in the same obligation,
would not urge a less argument for such their engagement than
the unlawfulness and wickedness of that government which
conscience obliged them to remove. But Mr. Henderson had
wisely declined that argument, though in their common ser
mons, and other discourses in print, they gave it no better style
than antichristian; and had urged only the inconveniences
which had fallen out from it, and the benefit which would
result by the change, of which no judgment could be made, till
it might be known what government they did intend to erect
in the place ; and since the union with the foreign Protestant
Churches seemed to be their greatest reason for the prodigious
alteration they proposed, he wished that they would set down
which foreign Church it is to which they meant to conform and
make their new government by ; for that he was assured that
the model which they seem affected to in their Directory was
not like to any of the foreign reformed Churches now in the.
world. He said, though he would not take upon him to cen
sure the foreign Churches, yet it was enough known that the
most learned men of those Churches had lamented that their,
reformation was not so perfect as it ought to be for want of:
episcopacy, which they could not be suffered to have : and they;
had always paid that reverence to the Church of England >
which they conceived due to it as the Church to which God
had vouchsafed the most perfect reformation, because it retains
all that was innocent and venerable in antiquity. He then
enlarged upon the original institution of episcopacy ; using all
those arguments which are still used by the most learned men
in those disputes, to prove that without bishops there could be
no ordination of ministers, and consequently no administration
of sacraments, or performance of the ministerial functions. He

vm. 230.] first, of religion. 483
said, he would not presume to say any thing of his majesty's 1645
having consented to the abrogation of episcopacy in Scotland,
though he knew what his majesty himself thinks of it, only that
he had an obligation upon him in conscience in this kingdom,
which he had not in that, which was his coronation oath, by
which he was bound to defend the rights of the Church ; which
alone would make it unlawful for his majesty to consent to what
was proposed, both in the point of episcopacy, and the aliena
tion of the lands of the Church, which would be direct
sacrilege. 229. And upon these several points, and what resulted from
thence, the divines on both sides spent all that day, morning
and afternoon, till it was very late in the night, and most part
of the next day ; only the commissioners on either side, at the
first coming together, mornings and afternoons, presented such
papers as they thought fit upon what had passed upon debate :
as the King's commissioners desired to know in writing,
whether the Parliament commissioners did believe that the
government of the Church by bishops was unlawful % to which'
they could never obtain a categorical answer.
230. When the last of the four first days was past, for it was
near twelve of the clock at night, and the Scots' commissioners
observed that nothing was consented to which they looked for,
the Chancellor of Scotland entered into a long discourse with
much passion against bishops, of the mischieve they had done
in all ages, and of their being the sole causes of the late troubles
in Scotland and of the present troubles in England : remem
bered that the archbishop of Canterbury had pursued the -intro
duction of the Liturgy and the Canons into Scotland with so
great vehemence, that, when it was desired that the publishing
them might be suspended for one month that the people might
be the better prepared to submit to what they had not been
before acquainted with, he would by no means consent to that
delay, but caused it to be entered upon the next Sunday,
against the advice of many of the bishops themselves, which
put the people into such a fury that they could not be appeased.
He lamented and complained that four days had been now

\

484 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vill.230.
1645 spent in fruitless debates, and that though their divines had
learnedly made it appear that episcopacy had no foundation in
Scripture, and that it might lawfully be taken away, and that
notwithstanding it was evident that it had been the cause of
great mischieve, and the wisdom of Parliament had thought the
utter taking it away to be absolutely necessary for the preser
vation of the kingdom, their lordships were still unmoved, and
had yielded in no one particular of importance to give them
satisfaction ; from which they could not but conclude, that they
did not bring that hearty inclination to peace which they hoped
they would have done ; and so concluded with some expressions
more rude and insolent than were expected.
231. Whereupon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not with
out some commotion, said, that he did not wonder that their
lordships who had for some years been accustomed to such
discourses, and the more inclined to suppose all that was con
fidently said to be reasonably proved, and so having not been
nsed to converse with any persons of a contrary opinion, had
been brought to consent and approve those alterations which
they had proposed ; but that it seemed very admirable to him,
that their lordships could expect, or imagine it possible, that
they who never had heard such things said before, nor could
understand in so little time what had been now said, should
depart from a faith and a form of worship in which they had
been educated from their cradle, and which, upon so long
observation and experience, they looked upon with all possible
approbation and reverence, upon only hearing it inveighed
against four days ; which would have been much too little time
to have warranted a conversion from much less important
opinions which they had so long entertained, though their
arguments had had as much weight as they wanted. He said,
they were of opinion that all those mischieves and inconveniences
which they had mentioned had in truth proceeded from an over
vehement desire to overthrow episcopacy, not from the zeal to
support it : that if the archbishop of Canterbury had been too
precipitate in pressing the reception of that which he thought a
reformation, he paid dearly for it ; which made him the more

vm. 232.] first, of religion. 485
wonder, that they should blame them for not submitting to 1645
much greater alterations than were at that time proposed, in
four days, when they reproached him for not having given them
a whole month to consider of. He said, he might assure their
lordships, with great sincerity, that they were come thither with
all imaginable passion and desire that the treaty might conclude
in a happy and blessed peace ; as he still hoped it would : but
if it should be otherwise, that they would still believe that their
lordships brought with them the same honourable and pioua
inclinations, though the instructions and commands from those
who trusted them restrained them from consenting to what in
their own judgments seemed reasonable. And so, without any
manner of reply, both sides rose and departed, it being near
midnight. 232. There happened a pleasant accident on one of those
days which were assigned for the matter of religion. The
commissioners of both sides, either before their sitting or after
their rising, entertaining themselves together by the fire-side,
as they sometimes did, it being extremely cold, in general and
casual discourses, one of the King's commissioners asking one
of the other, with whom he had familiarity, in a low voice, why 1
there was not in their whole Directory any mention of the /
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, or the Ten Commandments, (as indeed
there is not,) the earl of Pembroke, overhearing the discourse,
answered aloud, and with his usual passion, that he and many-
others were very sorry that they had been left out; that the
putting them in had taken up many hours' debate in the House
of Commons, and that at last the leaving them out had been
carried by eight or nine voices, and so they did not think fit to
insist upon the addition of them in the House of Peers ; but
many were afterwards troubled at it, and he verily believed, if
it were to do again, they should carry it for the inserting all
three. Which made many smile, to hear that the Lord's
Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, had been put
to the question, and rejected : and many of the other were
troubled and out of countenance with the reason the good lord
had given for the exclusion.

486 The treaty at Uxbridge; secondly, of [vm. 233.
1645 233. The next subject of the treaty was the' business of the
Feb. 4. militia ; which the commissioners positively required to be
entirely vested in the Parliament, and in such persons as they
thought fit to be confided in. And this they said was more
necessary than ever, for the securing the people from their
fears and jealousies, which were now much increased, and were
capable of being assuaged by no other means : and delivered a
large paper to that purpose, which contained no more than had
been often said in their declarations, and as often answered in
those which had been published by the King. And when the com
missioners of the King, whereof there were four very eminent
in the knowledge of the law, Lane, Gardiner, Bridgeman, and
Palmer, made the demand appear to be without any pretence of
law or justice, and asserted it to be vested in the King by the
law, they never offered to allege any other argument than the
determination of the Parliament, which had declared the right
of the militia to be in them, from which they could not recede.
So that the conferences were very short upon those days, but
the papers very long which were mutually delivered, the
preparing whereof took up the time; they of that side (even
J } they who most desired the peace) both publicly and privately
insisting upon having the whole command of the militia by sea
and land, and all the forts and ships of the kingdom at their
disposal ; without which they looked upon themselves as lost
and at the King's mercy, without considering that he must be
at theirs if such a jurisdiction was committed to them. But in
this particular, he who was most reasonable amongst them
thought it very unreasonable to deny them that necessary
, security ; and believed it could proceed from nothing else but a
resolution to take the highest vengeance upon their rebellion.
Feb. 7. 234. Then they entered upon the business of Ireland; in
which they thought they had the King at very great advantage,
and that his commissioners would not be able to answer the
charges they should make upon that particular. And many of
the commissioners on the King's part who had not been well
acquainted with those transactions thought it would be a hard
matter to justify all that the King had been necessitated to do ;

VIII. 234.] the militia ; and thirdly, of Ireland. 487
and any thing of grace towards the Irish rebels was as un- ie45
gracious at Oxford as it was at London, because they knew the
whole kingdom had a great detestation of them. They ripped up
all that had been done from the beginning of that rebellion ;
how the King had voluntarily committed the carrying on that
war to the two Houses of Parliament ; that they had levied
great sums of money upon the kingdom for that service ; but
finding that it was like to bring a greater burden upon the
kingdom than it could bear, that his majesty had consented to
an Act of Parliament for the encouragement of adventurers to
bring in money, upon assurance of having land assigned to
them in that kingdom, out of the forfeitures of the rebels, as
soon as the rebellion should be suppressed, and had likewise by
the same Act put it out of his power to make any peace or
cessation with those rebels, or to grant pardon to any of them,
without consent of Parliament ; and thereupon many of his :
majesty's subjects had brought in very considerable sums of
money, by which they had been able to manage that war
without putting this kingdom to farther charge ; and God had
so blessed the Protestant forces there that they had subdued
and vanquished the rebels in all encounters ; and probably by
that time the whole rebellion had been extinguished, if the
King had not, contrary to his promise and obligation by that
Act of Parliament, made a cessation with those execrable
rebels, when they were not able to continue the war, and had
called over many of those regiments which the Parliament had
sent over against the Irish, to return hither to fight against the
Parliament : by means whereof his Protestant subjects of that
kingdom were in great danger to be destroyed, and the
kingdom to be entirely possessed by the Papists ; enlarging
themselves upon this subject, with all envious insinuations they
could devise to make the people believe that the King was
inclined to and favoured that rebellion. They demanded that
the King would forthwith declare that cessation to be void, and
that he would prosecute the war against those rebels with the
utmost fury, and that the Act of Parliament for their reduction
might be executed as it ought to be.

488 The treaty at Uxbridge; [vm. 235.
1645 235. The commissioners of the King prepared and delivered
a very full answer in writing to all their demands ; at the
delivery whereof they appointed the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer to enlarge upon any of those particulars which made
the counsels which had been taken just and necessary; which
he did so particularly and convincingly, that those of the
Parliament were in much confusion, and the King's com
missioners much pleased, He put them in mind of their
bringing those very troops which were levied by the King's
authority for the suppression of the rebellion in Ireland, to
fight against the King at Edgehill, under the command of the
earl of Essex : of their having given over the prosecution of
that war, or sending any supply of arms, money, -or ammunition
thither, having employed those magazines which were provided
for that service against his majesty; insomuch as the Privy
Council of that kingdom had sent to his majesty that he would
provide some other way for the preservation of that kingdom,
since they could not be able to support the war any longer
against the united power of the rebels : that all overtures which
his majesty had made towards peace and been rejected by the
Parliament, and one hundred thousand pounds brought in by
Ithe adventurers for Ireland had been sent in one entire sum
into Scotland, to prepare and dispose that kingdom to send an
t army to invade this, which they had done ; and till then his
majesty had not in the least degree swerved from the ob
servation of that Act of Parliament : but when he saw that the
Parliament, instead of prosecuting the end and intention of that
•statute, [applied '] it wholly to the carrying on the war against
him, he thought himself absolved before God and man if he did
all he could to rescue and defend himself against their violence
by making a cessation ' with the rebels in Ireland, and by
drawing over some regiments of his own army from thence to
assist him in England : which cessation had hitherto preserved
the Protestants of that kingdom, who were not able without
supplies to preserve themselves from the strength and power of
the rebels; which supplies his majesty could not, and the
1 ['apply,' MS.]

vm. 237.] thirdly, of Ireland. 489
Parliament would not, send ; and therefore, if the Protestants I6*5
there should hereafter be oppressed by the rebels, who every day
procured assistance from abroad, and so were like to be more
powerful, all the mischieves and misery that must attend them
would, before God and man, be put to the account of the Parlia
ment, which had defrauded them of those supplies which by his
majesty's care had been raised and provided for them, and not to
his majesty, who had done nothing but what he was obliged to
do for his own preservation ; and if he had not sent for those
soldiers from Ireland, they could not have stayed there without I
a supply of money, clothes, and provisions, which the Parlia- ^
ment had not yet sent to that part of the army which remained I
there, and which could by no other way have subsisted but by \
the benefit and security of the cessation.
236. He told them that all this unjustifiable way of pro
ceeding, though it had compelled the King to yield to a ces
sation, yet could not prevail with him to make a peace with the
Irish rebels; from whom he had admitted commissioners to
attend him with propositions to that purpose ; but that, when he
found those propositions and demands so unreasonable that he
could not consent to them in conscience, and that they were
inconsistent with the security of his Protestant subjects there,
he had totally rejected them, and dismissed their commissioners
with severe and sharp animadversions : yet that he had given
his Lieutenant and Council there authority to continue the
cessation longer, in hope that the rebels there might be reduced
to better temper, or that his majesty might be enabled by a
happy peace here, which he hoped this treaty would produce, to
chastise their odious and obstinate rebellion : and if the
Parliament would yet give his majesty sufficient caution that
the war shall be vigorously prosecuted there against the Irish,
by sending over strong supplies of men and money, he would
put an end to that cessation, without declaring it to be void,
which he could not in justice do, and the doing whereof would
be to no purpose.
237. The commissioners, visibly out of countenance and
angry, made no other reply but that they were sorry to find

49° The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 237.
1645 that odious and detestable rebellion had received so much grace
as that commissioners from it had been admitted into ¦ the
King's presence, and that they wondered there should be any
scruple made of declaring that cessation void that was entered
into expressly against the letter of an Act of Parliament. And
this reply they gave in writing, with many pathetical expressions
against the murders and cruelty that had been used in the
beginning of that rebellion ; which obliged the King's com
missioners to a little more sharpness in their returns than they
were inclined to, and to tell them that they wished it were in
the King's power to punish all rebellion with that severity that
\ was due to it; but since it was not so, he must condescend
to treaties, and to all other expedients which are necessary to
reduce his subjects who are in rebellion to return to their duty
and obedience.
238. The twelve first days were now spent upon the three
great heads, in which there was little advance made towards
giving satisfaction to either party ; for though in the matter of
religion, the King's commissioners had made such condescen
sions as would oblige bishops to be more diligent in preaching,
and to be themselves present in the administration of the most
important parts of their jurisdiction, yet no such reformation
was considerable to those who cared for nothing without
extirpation ; and in neither of the other particulars any ground
had been gotten ; and they were sensible that in the matter of
Ireland the King's defence would weigh down their clamour
and calumny.
239. There happened some accidents in this time of the
treaty which made impression on either party. The first was
found in the looks of the Parliament commissioners, upon the
advertisement they received that sir Lewis Dyves, who was
governor of a small garrison in Sherborne in Dorsetshire, had
Feb. 10, 11. from thence, in a night, upon intelligence with the King's
governor of Portland Castle, surprised Waymoth, a seaport
possessed by the Parliament; which was like to be attended
with great benefit to the King. But whilst the King's com
missioners entertained some hope that this loss might have

vm. 240.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 491
the more disposed the Parliament to a just peace, they received 1645
advertisement of a much greater loss sustained by the King,
and which was more like to exalt the other side. Colonel
Laughorne and Mitton, two very active officers in the Parliament
service about Shropshire and North Wales, by correspondence
with some townsmen and some soldiers in the garrison of
Shrewsbury, from whence too many of that garrison were un
happily drawn out two or three days before upon some expe
dition, seized upon that town in the night, and by the same Feb. 22.
treachery likewise entered the castle, where sir Michael Earnly,
the governor, had been long sick, and, rising upon the alarum
out of his bed, was killed in his shirt, whilst he behaved him
self as well as was possible, and refused quarter ; which did
not shorten his life many days, being even at the point of '
death by a consumption, which kept him from performing all
those offices of vigilance which he was accustomed to, being a
gallant gentleman, who understood the office and duty of a
soldier by long experience and diligent observation. The loss
of Shrewsbury was a great blow to the King, and straitened
his quarters exceedingly, and broke the secure line of com
munication with Chester, and exposed all North Wales, Here
ford, and Worcester to the daily inroads of the enemy : and
the news of this recovered the dejected spirits of the Parliament
commissioners at Uxbridge.
240. Yet there had been an odd accident which accom
panied the enterprise upon Waymoth, which gave them after
wards more trouble. Sir Lewis Dyves had, in his march
from Sherborne, intercepted a packet of letters sent out of
Somersetshire to the Parliament; and amongst those there
was a letter from John Pyne, a gentleman well known, and of
a fair estate in that country, to colonel Edward Popham, a
principal officer of the Parliament in their fleets at sea, and of
a passionate and virulent temper, of the Independent party.
The subject of the letter was a bitter invective against the earl
of Essex and all those who advanced the treaty of peace, and
a great detestation of the peace, with very indecent expressions
against the King himself and all who adhered to him. This

493 The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 240.
1645 letter had been sent by sir Lewis Dyves to one of the secre
taries at Oxford, and from him to the commissioners at Ux
bridge ; who, as soon as they received it, communicated it to
some of those commissioners who they knew desired a peace
and were very great friends to the earl of Essex. The Scots
were likewise as much inveighed against as any body else.
They with whom this letter was communicated durst not
undertake to appear to know any thing of it ; but advised that
the marquis of Hartford might send a copy of it to his brother,
the earl of Essex, with such reflections as he thought fit:
which being done accordingly, the earl of Essex, who was yet
general, took it so much to heart, that he desired the marquis
of Hartford would send him the original ; which was presently
y done, hoping that it would have given some advantage to the
earl of Essex, towards whom the Parliament yet behaved itself
with all imaginable decency and respect.
241. The conversation that this letter occasioned between
some of the commissioners of both sides, who in private used
their old freedom, made a great discovery of the faction that
was in the Parliament : that there were many who desired to
have peace, without any alteration in the government, so they
might be sure of indemnity and security for what was past ;
that the Scots would insist upon the whole government of the
Church, and in all other matters would defer to the King;
but that there was another party that would have no peace
upon what conditions soever, who did resolve to change the
| whole frame of the government in State as well as Church,
j which made a great party in the army : and all those of the
I Parliament who desired to remove the earl of Essex from being .
; general of the army, and to make another general, were of that
; party. There was likewise amongst the commissioners them-
*¦ selves very little trust and communication, sir Harry Vane,
St. John, and Prydeaux, being, upon the matter, but spies
upon the rest ; and though most of the rest did heartily desire
a peace, even upon any terms, yet none of them had the
courage to avow the receding from the most extravagant
demand. And there was reason enough to believe that if the

VIII. 242.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 493
King had yielded to all that was then proposed, they would 1645
likewise have insisted upon all which they had formerly de
manded, and upon the delivery up of all those persons who had
faithfully served the King, and who had been by them always
excepted as persons never to be pardoned.
242 1. For though they had assigned those three general
heads, of the Church, of the militia, and of Ireland, to be first
treated upon, which were all popular and plausible arguments,
and in which they who most desired peace would insist at
least upon many condescensions, yet they had [not] in the least
degree declined any other of their propositions ; as, the exemp
tion of many of the greatest quality, or of the most declared
affections to the King, in the three nations of England, Scot
land, and Ireland, from pardon, and the making the estates of
the rest, under the name of delinquents, liable to pay the
charges of the war ; in which, [or 2] any of the other very un
reasonable demands, they had not in their instructions given
their commissioners authority in the least particle to recede :
they who desired peace being satisfied that they had prevailed
to have a treaty, which they imagined would do all the rest,
and that these lesser demands would fall off of themselves
when satisfaction should be given in those important particulars
which more concerned the public ; and, on the other side, they
who resolved the treaty should be ineffectual were well con
tent that their commissioners should be instructed only to
insist upon those three generals, without power to depart from
any one expression in the propositions concerning those par
ticulars ; being satisfied that in the particular which con
cerned the Church the Scots would never depart from a tittle,
and as sure that the King would never yield to it ; and that
in the militia they who most desired peace would adhere to
that which most concerned their own security ; and in the
business of Ireland, besides the opportunity to asperse the
King upon an argument in which the people generally con
curred with them, they were safe enough, except the King
should absolutely retract and recant all that he had done, and
l[flM*.,p. 34-] 2 ['nor,' MS.]

494 The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 242.
1645 by declaring the cessation void expose all those who had a hand
in it to their censure and judgment, and so dissolve all the
authority he had in that' kingdom for the future ; which they
knew he would never do. So that they were safe enough in
those three heads for their treaty, without bringing any of)
"their other demands into debate; which would have spent
/much time, and raised great difference in opinion amongst
[ them ; yet they had those still in reserve, and might reasonably
conclude that if the King satisfied them in the terms of those
three propositions, he would never insist upon any of the rest,
which could not relate so much to his conscience or his honour
as the other. Besides, they knew well that, if by the King's
condescensions they had full satisfaction in the former three,
they who had most passion for peace would, for their own
shares in the particular revenge upon those men with whom
they were angry enough, and in the preferments which would
be then in their disposal, never divide from them in any thing
that remained to be demanded.
243 1. One night, late, the earl of Pembroke came to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's lodging to return him a visit,
and sat with him some hours ; all his discourse being to per- .
suade him to think it reasonable to consent to all that the
Parliament had demanded. He told him that there was never
f such a pack of knaves and villains as they who now governed
in the Parliament, who would so far prevail if this treaty were.
broke as io remove the earl of Essex, and then they would
constitute such an army as should force the Parliament, as
well as the King, to consent to whatsoever they demanded;,
which would end in the change of the government into that of
a commonwealth. The Chancellor told him, if he believed :
that, it was high time for the Lords to look about them, who
would be then no less concerned than the King. He con
fessed it, and that they were now sensible that they had
brought this mischieve upon themselves, and did heartily re
pent it, though too late, and when they were in no degree able >
to prevent the general destruction which they foresaw : but if.
1 [Life, p. 293.]

vm. 245.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 495
the King would be so gracious to them, as to preserve them 1645
by consenting to those unreasonable propositions which were
made by the Parliament, the other wicked persons would be
disappointed by such his concessions ; the earl of Essex would
still keep his power ; and they should be able, in a short time
after the peace concluded, by adhering to the King, whom they
would never forsake hereafter, to recover all for him that he
now parted with, and to drive those wicked men who would
destroy monarchy out of the kingdom, and then his majesty
would be greater than ever. How extravagant soever this
discourse seems to be, the matter of it was the same which
the wisest of the rest (and there were men of very good parts
amongst them) did seriously urge to other of the King's com
missioners, with whom they had the same confidence : so
broken they were in their spirits, and so corrupted in their
understanding, even when they had their own ruin in their
view. 244 '- The earl of Northumberland, who was the proudest
man alive, could not look upon the destruction of monarchy,
and the contempt the nobility was already reduced to, and
[which] must be then improved, with any pleasure : yet the
repulse he had formerly received at Oxford upon his addresses
thither, and the fair escape he had made afterwards from the
jealousy of the Parliament, had wrought so far upon him, that
he resolved no more to depend upon the one or to provoke the
other, and was willing to see the King's, power and authority
so much restrained that he might not be able to do him any /
harm. 245. The earls of Pembroke and Salisbury were so totally
without credit or interest in the Parliament or country, that
it was no matter which way their inclinations or affections
disposed them ; and their fear of the faction that prevailed was
so much greater than their hatred towards them, that, though ,
they wished they might rather be destroyed than the King,
they had rather the King and his posterity should be destroyed
than that Wilton should be taken from the one of them or
1 [§§ 211-248 from the Hist., pp. 34-5.]

496 The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 245.
1645 Hatfield from the other ; the preservation of both which from
any danger they both believed to be the highest point of
prudence and politic circumspection.
246. The earl of Denbigh had much greater parts, and saw
further before him into the desperate designs of that party that
had then the power, than either of the other three, and detested
those designs as much as any of them ; yet the pride of his
nature, not inferior to the proudest, and the conscience of his
ingratitude to the King, in some respects superior to theirs who
had been most obliged, kept him from being willing to quit
their company with whom he had conversed too long, though he
had received from them most signal affronts and indignities,
and well knew he should never more be employed by them;
yet he thought the King's condition to be utterly desperate
and that he would be at last compelled to yield to worse con
ditions than were now offered to him. He conferred with so
much freedom with one of the King's commissioners, and spent
so much time with him in the vacant hours, there having been
formerly a great friendship between them, that he drew some
jealousy upon himself from some of his companions. With
him he lamented his own condition, and acknowledged his
disloyalty to the King with expressions of great compunction,
and protested that he would most willingly redeem his trans
gressions by any attempt that might serve the King signally,
though he were sure to lose his life in it ; but that to lose him
self without any benefit to the King would expose him to all
misery, which he would decline by not separating from his
party. He informed him more fully of the wicked purposes of
those who then governed the Parliament than others appre
hended or imagined, and had a full prospect of the vile condition
himself and all the nobility should be reduced to ; yet thought
it impossible to prevent it by any activity of their own; and
concluded, that if any conjuncture fell out in which by losing
his life he might preserve the King, he would embrace the
occasion ; otherwise, he would shift the best he could for
himself. 247. Of the commissioners of the House of Commons, though,

vm. 248.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 497
the three named before being excepted, the rest did in their 1645
hearts desire a peace, and upon much honester conditions than
they durst own, yet there were not two of them who had entire
confidence in each other, or who durst communicate their
thoughts together: so that, though they would speak their
minds freely enough, severally, to those commissioners of the
King's side with whom they had former friendship, they would
not in the presence of any of their own companions use that
freedom. The debate that had been in the House upon the
Self-denying Ordinance had raised so many jealousies, and dis
composed the confidence that had formerly been between many
of them, that they knew not what any man intended to do; many
who had from the beginning of the troubles professed to have
most devotion for the earl of Essex, and to abhor all his enemies,
had lately seemed to concur in that ordinance, which was con
trived principally for his dishonour and destruction ; and others
who seemed still to adhere to him, did it with so many cautions
that there could be no confidence of their perseverance.
248. Hollis, who was the frankest amongst them in owning
his animosity and indignation against all the Independent
party, and was no otherwise affected to the Presbyterians than
as they constituted a party upon which he depended to oppose
the other, did foresee that many of those who appear[ed] most
resolute to concur with him would by degrees fall from him
purely for want of courage, in which he abounded. Whitlocke,
who from the beginning had concurred with them without any
inclination to their persons or principles, had the same reason
still not to separate from them : all his estate was in their
quarters, and he had a nature that could not bear or submit to
be undone : yet to his friends who were commissioners for the
King he used his old openness, and professed his detestation of
all their proceedings, yet could not leave them. Purpoint and
Crew, who were both men of great fortunes, and had always
been of the greatest moderation in their counsels, and most
solicitous upon all opportunities for peace, appeared now to
have contracted more bitterness and sourness than formerly,
and were more reserved towards the King's commissioners than
VOL. in. K k

498 The treaty at Uxbridge. [vm. 248.
1645 was expected, and in all conferences insisted peremptorily that
the King must yield to whatsoever was demanded in the three
demands wliich had been debated. They all valued themselves
upon having induced the Parliament, against all opposition, to
consent to a treaty; which producing no effect, they should here
after have no more credit; and it plainly appeared, that they had
persuaded themselves that in the treaty they should be able to
persuade the King's commissioners to concur with them, and that
the King would yield upon the very same argument and expec
tation that the earl of Pembroke had offered to the Chancellor.
249 1. Some of them, who knew how impossible it was to
prevail with the commissioners, or, if they could be corrupted
so far in their judgments, how much more impossible it would
be to persuade the King to consent to what was so diametrically
against his conscience and his honour, and, in truth, against
his security, did wish that in order to get the time of the treaty
prolonged some concessions might be made in the point of the
militia, in order to their security; which being provided for
might probably take off many persons who, out of that con
sideration principally, adhered to those who they thought were
most jealous of it and most solicitous for it. And this seemed
such an expedient to those to whom they proposed it, that they
thought fit to make a debate amongst all the commissioners;
and if it did produce no other effect than the getting more days
to the treaty, and [making] 2 more divisions in the Parliament,
both which they might naturally expect from it, the benefit was
not small that would attend it ; for as long as the treaty lasted
there could be no advance made towards new modelling the
army, the delay whereof would give the King likewise more
time to make his preparations for the field, towards which he
was in no forwardness. And this consideration prevailed with
the commissioners to send their opinion to the King that he
should give them leave to propose, when the next day came for
the debate of the point of the militia, that the whole militia of
the kingdom should be settled in such a number of persons, for
seven or eight years, who should be all sworn to the observation
1 [§§ 249-254 from the Life, pp. 293-4.] a ['make,' MS.]

vm. 250.] The treaty at Uxbridge. 499
of all the articles which should be agreed upon in the treaty ; 1645
after the expiration of which time, which would be sufficient to
extinguish all jealousies, it should be restored to the King.
And they sent the King a list of such names as they wished
might be inserted in the proposition, of persons in credit with
the Parliament, to which his majesty might add the like
number of such of whose fidelity he was most assured.
250. The earls of Essex, Northumberland, Warwick, and
Manchester, with Fayrfax and Cromwell, were amongst those
they recommended to be named by the King. And with this
message they sent two of their own body1, who added other
reasons, which they conceived might prevail with him ; and his
majesty was with great difficulty prevailed with to consent that
such an overture should be made ; and, being unwilling to dissent
from his commissioners' judgment, and especially in confidence
that it would be rejected, and in hope that it would gain time
by lengthening the treaty, his majesty was contented that the
commissioners should make such an offer as is mentioned, and
name the persons they had proposed of the Parliament party.
But then he sent a list of such persons as himself thought fit to
trust in that affair, and in whom, together with the other, he
would have the power of the militia to be vested2. But by
this time, the term assigned for the treaty drawing towards an
end, they who had first advised this expedient had not the
same opinion of the success, and had plainly discovered that the
Parliament would not consent to add one day more to the
treaty ; [and so] the farther prosecution of the overture in that
manner was laid aside a. For the King's commissioners con-
1 [The foEowing lines are here struck out in the MS. : — ' whereof they
much desired the ChanceEor of the Exchequer would be one ; but he
excused himself, having in the debate changed his mind, and, upon some
what that was foreseen like to fall out, was against the making any propo
sition at aE.']
2 [The following lines are here struck out in the MS. : — ' and in that list
he named the ChanceEor of the Exchequer, who was very much troubled
at the honour, and writ very earnestly to the King to exempt him from the
envy of such a trust by leaving out his name, and putting in another of a
higher qualification.']
3 [The remainder of this section is taken from the Hist., p. 35.]
K k 2

500 The treaty at Uxbridge ends without effect, [vm. 250.
1645 eluded, that at this time to offer any particular names from the
King to be trusted with the militia were but to expose those
persons to reproach, as some of them were very ungracious and
unpopular, and to give the other side an excuse for rejecting
the offer upon exception to their persons. However, that they
might see a greater condescension from the King in that point
than he had ever yet been induced to, they offered that the
militia should be so settled for the space of seven years as they
had desired, in such a number of persons as should be agreed
upon, a moiety of which persons should be nominated by the
King, and the other moiety by the Parliament : which was
rejected by them with their usual neglect.
251. From this time the commissioners on both sides grew
more reserved and colder towards each other ; insomuch as in
the last conferences the answers and replies upon one another
were more sharp and reflecting than they had formerly been :
and in their conference upon the last day, which held most part
of the night, it was evident either side laboured most to make
the other seem to be most in fault. And the King's commis
sioners delivered a paper which contained a sum of all that had
been done in the treaty, and observed that, after a war of so
many years, entered into, as was pretended, for the defence and
vindication of the laws of the land and the liberty of the sub
ject, in a treaty of twenty days they had not demanded any one
thing that by the law of the land they had the least title to
demand, but insisted only on such particulars as were against
law and the established government of the kingdom ; and that
much more had been offered to them for the obtaining of peace
than they could with justice or reason require : with which
they were so offended that they for some time refused to receive
the paper, upon pretence that the time for the treaty was
expired, because it was then after twelve of the clock of the
night of the twentieth day : but at last they were contented to
receive it, finding that it would not be less public, and would
Feb. 22. more reflect upon them, if they rejected it : and so they parted
a little before the break of day.
Feb. 23. 252. And the next day, being Sunday, they rested in the

vm. 253.] The King is much depressed. 501
town, that they might in the afternoon decently take their leave 1645
of each other ; though Monday, according to the letter of their
pass, was the last day of their freedom, and at that season of
the year their journey to Oxford might require two days, and
they had spent two days in coming thither ; and the commis
sioners for the Parliament had given them a paper in which
they declared that they might safely make use of another day
for their return, of which no advantage should be taken. But
they having on Sunday performed their mutual visits to each
other, they parted with such a dryness towards each other as if
they scarce hoped to meet again ; and the King's commissioners
were so unwilling to run any hazard, or to depend upon their
words, that they were on the Monday morning so early in Feb. 24.
their coaches that they came to Oxford that night, and kissed
the King's hand ; who received them very graciously, and
thanked them for the pains they had taken. And surely the
pains they had taken, with how little success soever, was very
great ; and they who had been most inured to business had not
in their lives ever undergone so great fatigue for twenty days
together as at that treaty ; the commissioners seldom parting
during that whole time till one or two of the clock in the
morning, and they being obliged to sit up long after who were
to prepare such papers as were directed for the next day, and to
write letters to Oxford ; so that if the treaty had continued
longer it is very probable many of the commissioners would
have fallen sick for want of sleep ; which some of them were
not satisfied with in three or four days after their return to
Oxford1- And thus ended the treaty of Uxbridge, the par
ticulars whereof were by the King's command shortly after
published in print, and never contradicted by the Parliament.
253. After the treaty of Uxbridge the King spake to those
he trusted most2 at that time with much more melancholique of
1 This last sentence was originally in the MS. written with reference
only to Clarendon himself, as being ' wont to say that in his Efe he never
underwent so great fatigue * * * he being commonly obliged to sit up long
after to prepare such papers * * * want of sleep, which the Chancellor was
not satisfied with in three or four days after his return to Oxford.']
2 [' those — most ' substituted in the MS. for ' him,' i. e. the ChanceEor of
the Exchequer.]

502 Preparations are made for the [vm. 253-
1645 his own condition and the state of his affairs than he had used
to do. The loss of Shrewsbury was attended with many ill con
sequences ; and that which had seemed to bring some kind of
recompense for it, which was the surprise of Waymoth, proved
but a dream ; for the enemy had lost but one part of the town,
which they in a short time after recovered again, by the usual
negligence of the King's governors. So that his majesty told
them he found it absolutely necessary to pursue his former
resolution of separating the Prince his son from himself, that
the enemy might not, upon any success, find them together,
which, he said, would be ruin to them both; whereas, though
he should fall into their hands, whilst his son was at liberty
they would not dare to do him harm. He seemed to have
very reasonable apprehensions that upon the loss of a battle he
might become a prisoner ; but he never imagined that it could
enter into their thoughts to take away his life ; not that he
believed they could be restrained from that impious act by any
remorse of conscience, or that they had not wickedness enough
to design and execute it, but he believed it against their
interest ; and would often in discourse say, of what moment the
preservation of his life was to the rebels, and how much they
were concerned to preserve it, in regard that if his majesty
were dead the Parliament stood dissolved, so that there would
be an end of their government : which, though it were true in
I law, would have little shaken their government, of which they
were too long possessed to part with easily.
254. But this was a speculation of that nature that nobody
had reason to endeavour to change the King's opinion in that
particular1; and his majesty thought of nothing so much as
1 [The following lines are here struck out in the MS., being inserted in
the Life as printed, but may weE be retained here in connection with the
text : — ' The Chancellor had a great desire to excuse himself from attending
upon the Prince in that journey, and represented to his majesty that his
office made it more proper for him to be near his majesty's person, and
therefore renewed his suit again to him that his service might be spared in
that employment ; which he was the less inclined to because he had dis
covered that neither the duke of Richmond or the earl of Southampton did
intend to wait upon his highness in that expedition. But the King told
him positively, and with some warmth, that if he would not go, he would

VIII. 255.] Prince of Wales' journey to Bristol. 503
hastening the Prince his journey ; and to that purpose com- 1645
manded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready
by a short day, and resolved that his highness should make his
journey directly to Bristol, and continue his residence there till
some emergent alteration should make his remove from thence
necessary. For whatever discourse was made of raising an
army in the west, the King had no purpose to put the Prince
into the head of any such army ; and though Goring had
prevailed to be sent, with a strong party of horse and some
foot, into Hampshire, upon pretence of securing the west from
Waller's incursion, and upon some other design, yet the King had
not the least purpose that he should be where the Prince was ;
though he was not himself without that design at that present, as
shall be made out anon, and meant by that device to withdraw
himself from the command of prince Bupert, which the King
did not apprehend. But having no more in his purpose than is
said before, he sent the lord Hopton to Bristol to provide a
house for bis highness, and to put that city into as good a posture
of security for the Prince his residence as was necessary; nor
was there any other strength designed to attend about his
highness's person than one regiment of horse and one regiment
of foot, for his guards, and both under the command of the lord
Capell, who was likewise to raise them upon his own credit and
interest : there being at that time not one man raised of horse
or foot, nor any means in view for the payment of them when
they should be raised, nor, indeed, for the support of the
Prince's family or his person. In so great scarcity and poverty
was the King himself and his Court at Oxford.
255 \ There happened an accident at this time that recon
ciled the minds of many to this journey of the Prince into the
west, and looked like a good omen that it would produce good
effects ; though it proved afterwards an occasion of much
trouble and inconvenience. When the King returned through 1644
Somersetshire, after the defeat of the earl of Essex in Cornwall, 0ct- 9-
not send his son; whereupon he submitted to do anything which his
majesty should judge fit for his service.']
1 [§§ 255-8 from the Hist, p. 36.]

504 Proposal that the four western counties [vm. 255.
1645 there had been a petition delivered to him in the name of the
gentry, clergy, freeholders, and others his majesty's Protestant
subjects of the county of Somerset, in which they desired that
his majesty would give them leave to petition the Parliament
that there might be a treaty for peace, and that they might
have liberty to wait upon his majesty in person in his march,
and that when they came to a "nearer distance they might then go
before, and deliver their petition ; and if they should not obtain
their so just request, they would then assist his majesty to get
that by the sword which could be effected no other way. And
to that purpose they desired leave to put themselves in arms to
attend his majesty in the journey. This petition, how in
digested and unpracticable soever in the manner and way
proposed, was contrived by some persons of unquestionable
fidelity to the King, who thought that under this specious title
of petitioners for peace they might draw even that whole
populous county to appear for the King ; and therefore the
King gave them a gracious reception, and liberty to do all that
they desired, believing it possible that he might even from
thence recruit his foot, which he most desired. But the King's
speedy march away left that design to be better weighed and
digested 1.
256. Upon the first fame of the Prince his being to visit the
west and to keep his court there, some gentlemen of the best
quality in the west came. to Oxford, as intrusted by the rest,
to inform his majesty that they had now formed the design
they had formerly presented to him much better than it was ;
and that the four western counties, Dorset, Somerset, Devon,
and Cornwall, had resolved to enter into an association, and to
be joint petitioners to the Parliament for peace; which petition
should be sent by very many thousands of the most substantial
freeholders of the several counties, all who should have money
enough in their purses to defray their charges, going and
returning ; and whosoever refused to join in the petition should
be looked upon as enemies to peace and their country, and
treated as such : so that their address could not but have great
1 ['disgested,' MS.]

vm. 257.] form an association for the King. 5*5
influence upon the Parliament, being under .the style of One and 1645
All, and could not but be looked upon as such. They desired
the King that the Prince might be made general of this
association ; in order to which they would provide for his
support according to his dignity, and in the first place take
care for the raising a good guard of horse and foot for the
safety of his royal person.
257. Though this design in the notions thereof was as wild
and unpracticable as the former, yet his majesty thought not
fit to discountenance and reject [it.] It was very vehemently
pressed by many persons of quality, in the name [of] the four
western counties, and amongst those who took it most to heart
sir John Stowell was the chief; a gentleman of one of the
largest estates that any man possessed in the west, and who
had from the beginning of the Parliament shewed very great
affection to the person of the King, and to that government
that was settled both in Church and State; and from the
beginning of the war had engaged both his own person and his
two sons in the most active part of it with singular courage,
and had rendered himself as odious to the Parliament as any
man of that condition had done. This gentleman, with the
assistance and counsel of Mr. Fountayne, a lawyer of eminency,
and who had been imprisoned, and banished London, for his
declared affection to the Crown, had entertained and formed this
project in their own thoughts, and then, upon the communication
of it with some gentlemen and more of the substantial farmers and
freeholders of the country, found such a general concurrence
from them, that they concluded it could not but have good
success, and would bring the Parliament to be glad of peace.
They were both very tenacious of what they had once resolved,
and believed all who objected against their undertaking to be
averse from peace ; so that the King concluded that he would
so far comply with them as to make the Prince general of their
association, which he was sure could do no harm; and they
were so much delighted with the condescension that they
promised speedily to make provision for the Prince's support,
and for the raising his guards of horse and foot ; and to that

506 Dissensions in the Parliament. [vm. 257.
1645 purpose made haste to Bristol, that all things might be ready
against the Prince came thither.
Feb. 14. 258. Upon these reasons, the Prince had two commissions
granted to him; this, to be general of the association, and
1644 another, to be general of all the King's forces in England. For
Nov. 7. when the King declared his nephew prince Bupert to be general,
in the place of the earl of Brayneford, his highness desired that
there might be no general in England but the Prince of Wales,
and that he might receive his commission from him ; which his
majesty took well ; and so that commission of generalissimo was
likewise given to the Prince, when in truth it was resolved that
he should act no part in either, but remain quiet in Bristol, till
the fate of all armies could be better discerned.
2591. The indisposition and melancholique which possessed the
Court at Oxford and all the King's party was preserved from
despair only by the wonderful discontents and animosities in
the Parliament ; which kept them from pursuing the advantages
they had by any united counsels. As soon as the commissioners
were returned from Uxbridge, and that a treaty could be now
I no farther urged, the Independent party (for so they were
now contented to be called, in opposition to the other, which
was styled Presbyterians) appeared barefaced, and vigorously
pressed on their Self-denying Ordinance, that so they might
proceed towards modelling their new army by putting out the
old officers ; during the suspension whereof, there was no care
for providing for the troops they had, or making recruit, or
preparing any of those provisions which would be necessary for
the taking the field. And they were now entered into the
month of March, which was used as a strong argument by both
parties ; the one urging from the season of the year the neces
sity of expediting their resolution for the passing the ordinance2,
that the army might be put into a posture of marching; and
1 [§§ 259-279 from the Life, pp. 298-306.]
2 [The debates to which reference is here made were those in the con
ferences between the Lords and Commons, in which the latter pressed the
acceptance of the ordinance which they had already passed ; not, as repre
sented by Clarendon, the debates in the Commons on the ordinance itself,
which were in Dec. 1644.]

vm. 260.] The Self-denying Ordinance passes the Commons. 507
the other pressing, that so great an alteration ought not to be j.645
affected when there was so short a time to make it in ; that i
tliere would be apparent danger that the enemy would find them /
without any army at all fit to take the field ; and therefore
desired that all things might stand as they were till the end of
the next campania, when, if they saw cause, they might resume
this expedient. The other party were loud against the delay,
and said, that was the way to make the war last ; for, managed
as it had been, they should be found at the end of the next
campania in the same posture they were now; whereas they
made no doubt but if this ordinance was passed they should
proceed so vigorously, that the next campania should put an
end to the war.
260. The debate continued many days in the House of Com
mons, with much passion and sharp reflections upon things and
persons ; whilst the House of Peers looked on, and attended the
resolution below. Of the Presbyterian party, which passionately
opposed the ordinance, the chief were Hollis, Stapleton, Glinn,
Waller, Longe, and others, who believed their party much
superior in number: as the Independent party was led by
Nathaniel Fynes, Vane, Cromwell, Haslerigg, Martin, and
others, who spake more and better than they that opposed
them. Of the House of Peers there was none thought to be of
their party but the lord Say ; all the rest were believed to be of
the earl of Essex's party ; and so, that it was impossible that the
ordinance would ever pass in the House of Peers, though it
should be carried by the Commons. But they were in this, as
in many other things, disappointed; for many, who had sat
silent, and been thought to be of one party, appeared to be of
the other. They who thought they could never be secure in
any peace except the King were first at their mercy, and so
obliged to accept the conditions they would give him, were
willing to change the hand in carrying on the war ; and many
who thought the earl of Essex behaved himself too imperiously
were willing to have the command in one who was more their
equal; and many were willing he should be angered and
humbled, that himself might be more concerned to advance a

508 Account of the earl of Montrose's [vm. 260.
1645 peace, which he had not been forward enough to do whilst he
held the supreme command.
261. When the debate grew ripe, St. John and Perpoint and
Whitlocke and Crew, who had been thought to be of the party
of the earl of Essex, appeared for the passing the ordinance, as
the only way to unite their counsels and to resist the common
enemy, whereas they discovered by what they heard abroad,
and by tbe spirit that governed in the city, that there would
be a general dissatisfaction in the people if this ordinance
was not passed. Then they fell into a high admiration of the
earl of Essex, and extolling his great merit, and seemed to fear
that the war would never be carried on so happily as it had
been under him, or if it were, that the good success must still
be imputed to his conduct and courage, which had formed their
armies and taught them to fight. And by this kind of oratory,
and professing to decline their own inclinations and wishes,
purely for peace and unity, they so far prevailed over those who
were still surprised and led by some craft that the ordinance was
Dec. 19. passed in the House of Commons, and transmitted to. the Peers
for their consent ; where nobody imagined it would ever pass.
262. After the battle at York, and the earl of Manc[h]ester
was required to march with his army against the King upon the
defeat of the earl of Essex in Cornwall, the Scots' army marched
northwards, to reduce the little garrisons which still remained
Aug. 13. in those parts, which was easily done. And thereupon they
marched to Newcastle, which, being defended only by the
Oct. 22. townsmen, and in no degree fortified for a siege, was given up
to them, after as good a resistance as could be made in such a
place and by such people. So that having no more to do in
those parts, the Parliament thought not fit yet to dismiss them
that they might return into their own country, not knowing yet
how far their new modelled army would be able to carry on all
their designs ; and therefore the Scots' army was again advanced
as far as York, and was to be applied as there should be occasion.
263. Hereupon the King resumed the consideration how he
might give such a disturbance to Scotland as might oblige that
army to return, to quench the fire in their own country; for all

vm. 264.] expedition into Scotland. 509
the advance which had been made towards that, in the con- 1645
ferences with the earl of Mountrose and in the commitment of
the duke Hambleton, had been discontinued from that time by
the King's not being able to give any troops to that earl, by the
protection whereof the loyal party of that kingdom might come
to his assistance and discover their affection to his majesty.
And though this conjuncture was not more favourable by any
power his majesty had to contribute troops or any other assist
ance towards such an enterprise, yet the vigorous spirit of the
earl of Mountrose stirred him up to make some attempt, whether
he had any help or no. The person whom he most hated and
contemned was the marquis of Arguyle, who had then the chief
government of Scotland ; and though he was a man endued with
all the faculties of craft and dissimulation that were necessary /
to bring great designs to effect, and had in respect of his estate'
and authority a very great interest in that kingdom, yet he had
no martial qualities, nor the reputation of more courage than
insolent and imperious persons who meet with no opposition are
never without.
264. And the earl of Mountrose believed that his getting
safely into Scotland was much more difficult than it would be to
Taise men enough there to control the authority of Arguyle.
There was at that time in Oxford the earl of Antrim, notorious
for nothing but for having married the dowager of the great April.
duke of Buckingham within few years after the death of that
favourite ; and by the possession of her ample fortune [he] had
lived in the Court in great expense and some lustre, until his
riot had contracted so great a debt that he was necessitated to
leave the kingdom, and to retire to his own fortune in Ireland,
(which was very fair,) together with his wife, who gave him
great reputation, being a lady (besides her own great extraction
and fortune, as heir to the house of Butland and wife and
mother to the duke[s] of Buckingham,) of a very great wit and
spirit, who made the littleness of her present husband (who was
a handsome man too) well received in all places : so that they
had lived in Ireland in great splendour, as they might well do,
till that rebellion drave the lady again from thence, to find

5 1 o Proposal of the earls of Montrose and Antrim [vm. 264.
1645 a livelihood out of her own estate in England. And so she had
upon the Queen's first coming to Oxford likewise brought her
self thither, where she found great respect from all. The earl of
Antrim, who was a man of excessive pride and vanity, and of a
marvellous weak and narrow understanding, was no sooner
1642 without the company and counsel of his wife than he betook
April, himself to the rebels, with an imagination that his quality and
fortune would give him the supreme power over them ; which,
certainly, he never intended to employ to the prejudice of the
King, but desired to appear so considerable that he might be
looked upon as a greater man than the marquis of Ormonde;
which was so uneasy and torturing an ambition to him, that it
led him into several faults and follies. The rebels were glad of
his presence, and to have his name known to be amongst them,
but had no confidence in his abilities to advise or command them,
but relied much more upon his brother, Alexander MackdonnelL
who was fast to their party, and in their most secret counsels.
265. The earl, according to his natural unsteadiness, did not
like his station there, but, by disguise, got himself into the Pro-
^.n testant quarters, and from thence into England, and so to
Dec. 16. Oxford, where his wife then was, and made his presence not
unacceptable, the King not having then notice of his having
ever been amongst the Irish rebels ; but he pretended to have
great credit and power in Ireland to serve the King, and to
dispose the Irish to a peace, if he had any countenance from the
King; which his majesty knew him too well to think him
capable of. Whether the earl of Antrim had his original
extraction in Scotland, or the marquis of Arguyle his in Ireland,
fmust be left to the determination of the bards of the family of
i Mackdonnells, to the superiority whereof they both pretend, and
the earl of Antrim to much of those lands in the Highlands of
Scotland which were possessed by Arguyle : and the greatest
part of his estate in Ireland was in that part of Ulster that
lies next Scotland, and his dependents of the same language and
manner of living with the Highlanders of Scotland. The know-r
ledge of this disposed the earl of Mountrose to make a great
acquaintance with him as soon as he came to Oxford, and to

vm. 266.] for transporting Irish troops into Scotland. 5 1 1
consult with him whether it might not be possible to draw a [1644]
body of men out of Ireland, to be such a foundation for
raising forces in Scotland as might advance the enterprise
he had so long in his heart 'r it being notorious enough that the
Highlanders in Scotland had very good affections for the King,
and desired nothing more than to free themselves from the hard
slavery they had long endured under the tyranny of Arguyle.
The passage over the sea in those parts between Ireland and
Scotland is so narrow that the people often make their markets
in one and the other in the space of few hours; and the
hardiness of both people is such, that they have no delight in
the superfluity of diet, or clothing, or the great commodity of
lodging ; and were very fit to constitute an army that was not
to depend upon any supplies of money,, or arms, or victual, but
what they could easily provide for themselves by the dexterity
that is universally practised in those parts.
266. The earl of Antrim, who was naturally a great under
taker, and desired nothing so much as that the King should
believe him to be a man of interest and power in Ireland, was
infinitely exalted when he discovered, by the earl of Mountrose,
that he had indeed credit enough in that part of Ireland to per
form a service for the King, which he never before entertained
a thought of. So that he presently undertook to the earl of
Mountrose that, if the King would grant him a commission, he
would raise an army in Ireland, and transport it into Scotland,
and would himself be in the head of it ; by means whereof he
believed all the clan of the Mackdonnells in the Highlands of
Scotland might be persuaded to follow him. When the earl of
Mountrose had formed such a reasonable undertaking as he
believed the earl of Antrim might in truth be able to comply
with, he acquainted the lord Digby with it, who was a friend to
all difficult designs, and desired him to propose it to the King,
and to let his majesty know that he was so confident of the earl
of Antrim's performance of what should be necessary, (for he
would be very well content if he could send over a body but of
two thousand men into the islands1, which he well knew he
1 [This word is doubtful in the MS., having been altered. It is ap,-

513 Proposed co-operation of the [VIII. 266.
[1644] could easily do,) that he would himself be in the Highlands to
receive them, and run his fortune with them, if his majesty
would give him leave to gather up such a number of his coun
trymen about Oxford as would be willing to accompany him, and
with those he would make his way thither; and that, if no
time were lost in prosecuting this design, he did hope, that by
the time the Scots' army in England should be ready to take
the field, they should receive such an alarum from their own
country as should hinder their advance.
267. Upon this overture the King conferred with the two
earls together ; and finding the earl of Antrim forward to
undertake the raising as many men as should be desired if he
might have the King's commission to that purpose, and knowing
well that he had in that part of the kingdom interest enough
to do it ; and the earl of Mountrose as confidently assuring his
majesty, that with two thousand men landed in the Highlands
he would quickly raise an army, with which he would disquiet
that kingdom; and the design being more probable than any
other that could be proposed to the same purpose ; his majesty
resolved to encourage it all he could, that is, to give it any
countenance, for he had neither money nor arms nor ammuni
tion to contribute to it in any degree. The great objection
that appeared at the first entrance into it was, that, though the
j earl of Antrim had power in Ulster and amongst the Koman
! Catholics, he was very odious to the Protestants, and obnoxious
i to the State at Dublin, many things being discovered against
him of his correspondence with the rebels, which were not
known when he came into England. But that which gave
most umbrage, (for nobody suspected his conjunction with the
rebels,) was his declared malice to the Lord Lieutenant, the
marquis of Ormonde, and the contempt the marquis had of
him ; and so he [the marquis would] undervalue any proposi
tion should be made by him, who was of so notable a levity and
inconstancy that he did not use to intend the same thing long.
There could be no trusting him with any commission iudepend-
parently ' Isands ' ; was printed as ' Scotland,' taking the preceding ' the
as part of the word, in the first edition, and as ' Highlands ' in the last.]

vm. 269.] earls of Montrose and Antrim. 513
ent upon the marquis of Ormonde, or to do any thing in Ireland [1644]
without his privity, and such a limitation would by no means
be grateful to the other. Besides the benefit that Scotland
would receive by the carrying away any body of men out of
Ulster, it would be a great lessening and abatement of the
strength of the Irish rebels, who had the command over those
parts; but then if the earl of Antrim, under any authority
from the King, should indiscreetly behave himself, (as no> man
who loved him best had any confidence in his discretion,) all
the reproaches cast upon his majesty of his countenancing those
rebels would receive the greatest confirmation imaginable.
268. The foresight of these difficulties gave life to an intrigue
in the Court which for some time had been eclipsed. Daniel
O'Neale, (who was in subtlety and understanding much superior
to the whole nation of the old Irish,) had long laboured to be
of the bedchamber to the King. He was very well known in
the Court, having spent many years between that and the Low
Countries, the winter seasons in the one, and the summer always
in the army in the other; which was as good an education
towards advancement in the world as that age knew any : and
he had a fair reputation in both climates, having a competent
fortune of his own to support himself without dependence or
beholdingness, and a natural insinuation and address which
made him acceptable in the best company. And he was a great
observer and discerner of men's natures and humours, and was
very dexterous in compliance where he found it useful. As
soon as the first troubles began in Scotland, he had, with the
first, the command of a troop of horse ; to which he was by
all men held very equal, having had good experience in the
most active armies of that time, and a courage very notorious.
And though his inclinations were naturally to ease and luxury,
his industry was indefatigable when his honour required it, or
his particular interest, which he was never without and to
which he was very indulgent, made it necessary or convenient.
269. In the second troubles in Scotland he had a greater
command, and some part in most of the intrigues of the Court,
and was in great confidence with those who most designed the
VOL. III. 1 1

514 Of Daniel O'Neale. [vm. 260.
[1(344] destruction of the earl of Strafford, against whom he had con
tracted some prejudice in the behalf of his nation: yet when
the Parliament grew too imperious, he entered into those new-
intrigues very frankly which were contrived at Court with less
circumspection than both the season and the weight of the
affair required \ Amongst those to whom the Queen had
promised preferment in the beginning of the troubles, ONeale
was one whom her majesty had promised to moke groom of the
King's bedchamber, and Percy and Wilmott being now made
lords by virtue of that promise that had been maile at the same
time, he had pressed likewise to be admitted into that attend
ance ; and the Queen had been very solicitous with the King
on his behalf, being conscious to herself that he had been en
couraged to hope it. But the Kiug could by no means be
prevailed with to receive him, having contracted a prejudice
against him with reference to the earl of Stratford, or upon
some other reason, which could not be removed by all his
1 [The following passage is here struck out in the MS. : • And in this
combination, in which men wore most oonoernod for themselves, and to
receive good recompense for the adventures they made, he had either been
promised, or at least encouraged by the Queen to hope, to bo made groom
of the bedchamber when a vacancy should appear. When the civil war
, > began, he '-', being then in the Low Countries, having mado an esoapa
ji. . j" out of the Tower, where he stood committed by the Parliament upon a
charge of high treason 3, chose rather to be lieutenant colonel of horse to
prince Rupert than the name of a greater officer, which he might well have
pretended to, presuming that by his dexterity he should havo suoh an
interest in that young- prinoo as might make his relation superior to these
who had greater titles. And he bad the misfortune at the first coming of
the prince to have credit with him to make some impressions and pre
judices, which lie would have been glad afterwards to have removed, when
he saw others had credit likewise to build upon those foundations which
lie hoped to have had the solo authority to havo supervised ami directed.
When be saw some of his fraternity promoted to offices and honours, who
bad ventured or suffered no more than he, (for he had been committed to
the Tower by the Parliament, and if he had not made his escape from
thence very dexterously in a lady's dress, lie had been in danger of his ,
life,) and whose pretences were no better founded than upon the promises
made at the same time when he had promised himself to be of the bed
chamber, he had pressed likewise to be admitted into that attendance;' &o,]
'-' ['and ho,' MS.]
3 [He was committed to tho Gatehouse Doc 18, 1041, and roinovod thonoo to tlio
Tower by order of Jau. 20, 1642,]

vm. 271.] Digby advises sending O'Neale to Ireland. 515
friends or the Queen herself ; who bade him expect a better [1644]
conjuncture; which Mr. O'Neale took very heavily, and the
more because his condition in the army was less pleasant to
him, by prince Eupert's withdrawing his graces from him.
270. This design of uniting the earls of Mountrose and
Antrim, which was yet wholly managed with the King by the
lord Digby, who was likewise of most intimate friendship with
Mr. O'Neale, gave him opportunity to set this pretence again
on foot. It was universally known that Mr. O'Neale, whether
by alliance or friendship or long acquaintance, had more power
with the earl of Antrim than any man, and that by the ascend
ant he had in his understanding, and the dexterity of his
nature, (in which he was superior to most men,) he could
persuade him very much ; and it was as notorious that the
marquis of Ormonde loved Mr. O'Neale very well, and had
much esteem for him. Upon this ground the lord Digby told
the King, that he had thought of an expedient, which he did
believe might relieve him in the perplexities he sustained
concerning the conduct of the earl of Antrim ; and then pro
posed the sending O'Neale with him, who should first dissuade
him to affect to have any commission himself to act any thing
in Ireland, but to depend upon the assistance and authority of
the marquis of Ormonde ; who should be required by the King
to contribute all he could for the making those levies of men,
and for the impressing of ships and other vessels for their
transportation into the Highlands ; and then that he should
go over himself with the earl, and stay with him during his
abode in Dublin ; by which he would preserve a good intelli
gence between him and the marquis of Ormonde, and dispose
the marquis of Ormonde to gratify him in all things that might
concern so important a service ; which, besides the letters he
should carry with him from the King, his own credit with the
marquis, and his singular address, would easily bring to pass.
271. This proposition was very agreeable to the King, who
knew O'Neale was very equal to this function ; and the lord
Digby did not in the least insinuate any design for O'Neale's
advantage in the service, which would have diverted the nego-
iil 2

516 The King is advised by lord Digby [vm. 271.
[1644] tiation : and thereupon his majesty himself spake to him of
the whole design, the lord Digby desiring he would do so, pre
tending that he had not communicated any part of it to him,
being not sure of his majesty's approbation. And he received
it as a thing he had never thought of; and when the King
asked him whether he thought the earl had interest enough in
those parts of Ireland to levy and transport a body of men into
the Highlands, he answered readily, that he knew well that
there were so many there where the earl's estate lay who
depended absolutely upon him, that there would be men enough
ready to go whither, or do what, he required them, and that
the men were hardy and stout for any service : but the drawing
a body of them together, and transporting them, would require,
he doubted, more power than the earl himself had or was
master of. He said, there were two objections in view, and
a third that he was not willing for many reasons to make.
The first was, that nothing of that nature could be done with
out the authority and power of the marquis of Ormonde, which,
no doubt, would be applied to any purpose his majesty should
direct ; yet that the earl of Antrim had behaved himself so
indiscreetly towards the marquis, and so unhandsomely dis
obliged him, that it could not but be the severest command his
majesty could lay upon him to enter into any kind of con
junction or conversation with him [the earl]. The second was,
that, though the earl's interest could make as many men as he
desired to enter into any action or engagement he would pre
scribe, he much doubted the Irish commander in chief, who had
the military power of those parts, would hardly permit a body
of those men, which they reckoned their best soldiers, to be
transported, and thereby their own strength to be lessened;
which was an objection of weight, and not mentioned before to
the King, nor considered by him. He said he was unwilling
to make another objection, which reflected upon a person so
dear to him, and for whom he would at any time lay down his
life ; which was, that he much feared the earl of Antrim had
not steadiness of mind enough to go through such an under
taking, which otherwise would be as easy as honourable.

vm. 273.] to send O'Neale into Ireland. 517
272. The King, well satisfied with the discourse he made, [1644]
told him, that he was not himself without the same apprehen
sions he had, and knew but one way to secure it, which was, if
he would undertake the journey with him, by which all his
fears would be composed; his counsel would govern the earl
in all things, and his credit with the marquis of Ormonde,
which should be improved by his majesty's recommendation,
would prevent any prejudice in him towards the earl. The
King added, that the service itself was of so vast importance,
that it might preserve his crown, and therefore his conducting
it, (without which he saw little hope of success,) would be a
matter of great merit, and could not be unrewarded. O'Neale
seemed wonderfully surprised with the proposition, and, in
some disorder (which he could handsomely put on when he
would), said, that he would never disobey any command his
majesty would positively lay upon him, but that he should look
upon it as the greatest misfortune that could befall him to
receive such a command as would deprive him of attending
upon his majesty in the next campania, when he was sure there
must be a battle ; when he would rather lose his life than be
absent. Then he said, though the earl of Antrim was his kins
man and his friend, and one who, he thought, loved him better
than he did any other man, yet he was the last man in England
with whom he would be willing to join in any enterprise ; men
tioning bis pride and levity and weakness and many infirmities :
which made it appear more requisite that a wiser man should
have the application of his interest, which he knew must be
himself. The King renewed his desire to him to undertake the
service, as the greatest he could perform for him ; and com
manded him to confer with lord Digby, who should inform him
of all particulars, and should find the best way to make the
earl of Antrim to communicate the affair to him, and to wish
his assistance ; which was easily brought to pass ; nor was there
any thing relating to it that the lord Digby had not before
imparted to him, though the King suspected it not.
273. The lord Digby had now brought the business to the
state he wished ; and within two or three days told the King

518 Conduct of lord Digby in the matter [vm. 273.
[1644] how glad the earl of Antrim was that he had leave to com
municate the matter with O'Neale, and desired nothing more
than that his majesty would command him to go over with
him ; which was an excellent point gained, wherein he had
himself chosen the person who was only fit to be with him,
whereas he might have been jealous if he had been first recom
mended to him. The earl had, upon the first mention of him,
taken notice of the difficulty he might find to draw his men out
of the Irish quarters, by the opposition of those who com
manded there in chief : but, he said, if the King would make
O'Neale go with him, all that difficulty would be removed ; for
Owen O'Neale, who was uncle to Daniel, was the general of all
the Irish in Ulster, and incomparably the best soldier and the
wisest man that was amongst the Irish rebels, having long
served the King of Spain in Flanders in very eminent com
mand ; and the earl said, that he was sure Daniel had that
credit with his uncle that he would not refuse, at his request,
to connive at what was necessary for the earl to do ; which was
all he desired.
274. The lord Digby left not this circumstance, (which he
pretended never to have thought of before,) unobserved, to
advance the counsel he had given for employing O'Neale ; whom
he took occasion then to magnify again, and told the King that
he had already convinced the earl of Antrim of the folly of
desiring any other commission than what the marquis of Or
monde should find necessary to give him, and how impossible
[it was] for him to have any success in that design without the
cheerful concurrence and friendship of the marquis of Ormonde ;
which the earl was now brought to confess, and solemnly pro
mised to do all he should be advised to compass it. But after
all this, he lamented his obstinate aversion to undertake the
journey for many reasons ; and had obliged him, under all the
obligations of the friendship that was between them, that he
would prevail with his majesty that he might not be absent
from his charge in the army in a season when there must be so
much action, and when his majesty's person, whom he so dearly
loved, must be in so great danger; that he had told him freely,

vm. 275.] of O'Neale' s being sent to Ireland. 519
that he could not honestly move his majesty to that purpose, [1644]
whom he knew to be so possessed of the necessity of his going
into Ireland with the earl that he would despair of the whole
enterprise, which was the most hopeful he had in his view, if
he did not cheerfully submit to act his part towards it : but
that notwithstanding all he had said, by which he had shut out
all farther importunity towards himself, his majesty must expect
to be very much struggled with, and that O'Neale would lay
himself at his feet, and get all his friends to join with him in a
supplication for his majesty's pardon; and that there was no
more to be done but that his majesty, with some warmth,
should command him to desist from farther importunity, and
to comply with what he would expect from him ; which, he said,
he knew would silence all further opposition : for that Mr.
O'Neale had that entire resignation to his majesty's pleasure
that he would rather die than offend him. Upon wliich, and
to cut off all farther mediation and interposition, the King
presently sent for him, and graciously conjured him, with as
much passion as he could shew, to give over all hope of excuse,
and to provide for his journey within three or four days, the
season of the year requiring all imaginable expedition ; this
conclusion being made during the treaty of Uxbridge \ when it
was easy enough to discern what the issue of it would be, or, if
it should be as good as could be wished, no inconvenience could
result from this preparation.
275. All things being thus disposed, and the King expecting
every day that the earl and Mr. O'Neale would take their
leaves, the lord Digby came to him, and said, Mr. O'Neale had
an humble suit to his majesty at parting ; which to him did not
'seem unreasonable, and therefore he hoped his majesty would
raise the spirits of the poor man, since he did believe in his
conscience that he desired it more for the advancement of his
service than to satisfy his own ambition. He put him in mind
of the long pretence he had to be groom of his bedchamber, for
the which he could not choose but say that he had the Queen's
1 [Clarendon places the whole of this negotiation a year too late ; it took
place in Jan. 1644, or at the end of Dec. 1643.]

520 Lord Digby persuades the King [vm. 275.
[1644] promise at the same time when Percy and Wilmott had the
like for their honours, which they had since received the
accomplishment of: that his majesty had not yet rejected the
suit, but only deferred the granting it, not without giving him
leave in due time to hope it : that there could not be so proper
a season for his majesty to confer this grace ; that Mr. O'Neale
was without a rival, and in the eyes of all men equal to his
pretence, and so no man could be offended at the success : that
he was now upon an employment of great trust, chosen by his
majesty as the only person who could bring an enterprise of
that vast expectation to a good end by his conduct and dex
terity : that it must be a journey of great expense, besides the
danger or hazard of it, yet he asked no money, because he knew
there was none to be had ; he begged only that he might depart
with such a character and testimony of his majesty's favour and
good opinion, that he might be the better qualified to perform
the trust that was reposed in him : that the conferring this
honour upon him at this time would increase the credit he had
with the earl of Antrim, at least confirm his inconstant nature
in an absolute confidence in him : it would make him more con
siderable to the marquis of Ormonde and the Council there,
with whom he might have occasion often to confer about his
majesty's service ; but, above all, it would give him that
authority over his countrymen, and would be such an obligation
upon the whole Irish nation, (there having never yet been any
Irishman admitted to so near a place to the person of the King,)
that it might produce unexpected effects, and could not fail of
disposing Owen O'Neale, the general, to hearken to any thing
his nephew should ask of him.
276. How much reason soever this discourse carried with it,
with all the insinuation a very powerful speaker could add to
it in the delivery, the lord Digby found an aversion and weari
ness in the King all the time he was speaking ; and therefore,
as his last effort, and with a countenance as if he thought his
majesty much in the wrong, he concluded, that he much doubted
his majesty would too late repent his aversion in this particular,
and that men ought not to be sent upon such errands with the

vm. 277.] to make O'Neale groom of the bedchamber. 521
sharp sense of any disobligation : that if his majesty pleased, he [1644]
might settle this affair in such a manner as Mr. O'Neale might
go away very well pleased, and his majesty enjoy the greatest
part of his resolution that Mr. O'Neale should not be yet in so
near an attendance about his person : that the employment was
full of hazard, however would require a very great expense of
time : that he was a man of that nature as would not leave a
business half done, and would be ashamed to see his majesty's
face before there were some very considerable effect of his
activity and industry; considering what was to be done in
Ireland, and the posture of affairs in England, it might be a
very long time before Mr. O'Neale might find himself again
in the King's presence, to enter upon his office in the bed
chamber; and therefore proposed, that the hour he was to leave
Oxford he might be sworn groom of the bedchamber ; by
which he should depart only with a title, the effect whereof
he should not be possessed of before he had very well deserved
it, and returned again to his majesty's presence; which must
take up much time, and possibly might require more than the
other had to live. This last prevailed more than all the rest;
and [in] the imagination that the other might be well satisfied
with a place he should never enjoy, his majesty consented that
in the last article of time he should be sworn before his de- Jan. 21.
parture ; with which the other was well contented, making
little doubt but that he should be able to despatch that part of
the business to which he was incumbent in so short a time as
he might return to his attendance in the bedchamber (where he
longed to be) sooner than the King expected ; which fell out
accordingly, for he was again with his majesty before the battle
of Naseby in the summer following.
277. Whilst this intrigue was carrying on for Mr. O'Neale,
there was another as unacceptable set on foot on tbe behalf of
the earl of Antrim, for whose person the King had as little
regard or kindness as for any man of his rank. The duchess of
Buckingham, his wife, was now in Oxford, whom the King
always heard with favour; his majesty retaining a most gracious
memory of her former husband, whom he thought she had forgot

52a The earl of Antrim created a marquis, [vm. 277.
[1644] too soon. This lady, being of a great wit and spirit, when she
found that the King now thought her husband good for some
what, which he had never before done, was resolved he should
carry with him some testimony of the King's esteem ; which
she thought would be at last some justification of the affection
she had manifested for him. She told the King that her
husband was so eclipsed in Ireland by the no-countenance his
majesty had ever shewed towards him, and by his preferring
some who were his equals to degrees and trusts above him, and
by raising others who were in all respects much inferior to him
to the same title with him and to authority above him, that she
believed he had not credit and interest enough to do the service
he desired to do : that in that country the lords and greatest
men had reputation over their tenants and vassals as they were
known to have grace from the King ; and when they were
known to be without that, they had no more power than to
exact their own just services. She lamented the misfortune of
her husband, which she had the more reason to do because it
proceeded from her ; and that, whereas he had reason to have
expected that by his marriage with her he might have been
advanced in the Court and in his majesty's favour, he had found
so little benefit from thence that he might well believe, as she
did, that he suffered for it; otherwise, it would not have been
possible for a person of the earl of Antrim's estate and interest,
and so well qualified, as she had reason to believe him to be, in
all respects, after the expense of so much money as he had
spent in attendance upon the Court, to be without any mark
or evidence of his majesty's favour; and to return now again in
the same forlorn condition into Ireland would but give his
enemies more encouragement to insult over him, and to cross
any designs he had to advance his majesty!s service. In con
clusion, she desired that the King would make her husband a
marquis ; without which she did as good as declare that he
should not undertake that employment. And though his
majesty was neither pleased with the matter or the manner, he
did not discern so great an inconvenience in the gratifying him
as might weigh down the benefit he expected with reference to

vm. 278.] The earl of Montrose goes to Scotland. 523
Scotland ; which the earl of Mountrose every day, with great [1644]
earnestness, put him in mind of. And thereupon J he gave order 1645 a
for a warrant to make the earl of Antrim a marquis. "^an- 2^-
278. And so he and Mr. O'Neale, being well pleased, began
their journey for Ireland; and at the same time the earl of 1644
Mountrose took his leave of the King with several gentlemen, as Feb. 23 2-
if they meant to make their way together into Scotland, which
was looked upon as a very desperate attempt, the King's
quarters extending at that time no farther northward than
Worcester, all between that and Scotland being possessed by the
Parliament and the Scots' army. But the earl of Mountrose,
after he had continued his journey two or three days in that
equipage which he knew could be no secret, and that it would
draw the enemy's troops together for the guard of all passes to
meet with him, was3 found missing one morning by his company ;
who, after some stay and inquiry, returned back to Oxford,
whilst that noble person, with incredible address and fatigue,
had not only quitted his company and his servants but his
horse also, [and] found a safe passage, for the most part on foot,
through all the enemy's quarters, till he came to the very
borders : from whence, by the assistance of friends whom he
trusted, he found himself secure in the Highlands, where he lay
quiet, without undertaking any action, until the earl of Antrim,
by the countenance and assistance of the marquis of Ormonde,
did make good so much of his undertaking that he sent over his
kinsman Alexander Mackdonnell, a stout and an active officer,
(whom they called, by an Irish appellation, Calkito 4,) with a 1644
regiment of fifteen hundred soldiers ; who landed in the High- July "¦
lands in Scotland at or near the place that had been agreed ou,
and where the earl of Mountrose was ready to receive them ;
which he did with great joy, and quickly published his commis-
1 [Antrim's Instructions from the King are dated Jan. 20, 164I. Clar.
State Papers, ii. 165. And Carte says he left Oxford about Jan. 21. Life
of Ormonde, i. 479. And his creation as marquis followed in Jan. of the
next year, 1645, as the reward (as stated in the patent) for hia expedition
into Scotland.] 2 [Dugdale's Diary, p. 62.] 3 [' he was,' MS.]
4 [Mac Cholla-chiotach, son of Coll the left-handed. Napier's Life of
Montrose, 1840, p. 329.]

524 Some advise the removal of the [vm. 278.
[1644] sion 1 of being general for the King over all that kingdom. And
with this handful of men, brought together with those circum
stances remembered, he brought in so many of his own country
men to join with him as were strong enough to arm themselves
at the charge of their enemies whom they first defeated ; and
every day increasing in power, till he fought and prevailed in
so many several battles that he made himself, upon the matter,
master of that kingdom, and did all those stupendous acts which
deservedly are the subject of a history by itself, excellently
written in Latin by a learned prelate of that nation 2. The pre
amble to it was not improper for this relation, being made up
of many secret passages which were not known to many, and in
which the artifices of Court were very notable, and as mysteri
ous as the motions in that sphere use to be. And there will
be hereafter occasion, before the conclusion of this discourse, to
mention that noble lord again, and his zeal for the Crown, be
fore he came to his sad catastrophe.
1645 279. The King found, that, notwithstanding all the divisions
in the Parliament and the factions in the city, there would be
an army ready to march against him before he could put him
self into a posture ready to receive it ; and was therefore the
March 4. more impatient that the Prince should leave Oxford and begin
his journey to Bristol ; which he did within a fortnight after the
expiration of the treaty at Uxbridge s. And since the King did
at that time within himself (for publicly he was contented that
it should be otherwise believed) resolve that the Prince should
only keep his court in the west that they might be separated
from each other, without engaging himself in any martial
action, or being as much as present in any army, it had been
very happy, and to discerning men seemed then a thing desir
able, if he had removed his Court into the west too, either to
Bristol, or, which it may be had been better, to Exciter. For
since Beading and Abbington were both possessed by the Parlia-
1 [Dated at Oxford, Feb. i,'i644. Napier's Life of Montrose, 1840, p. 248.]
2 [George Wishart, bishop of Edinburgh in 1662. His book was first
published at Amsterdam in 1648.]
3 [The text is here taken from the Hist, pp. 37-9, to the end of § 283.]

vm. 280.] Court from Oxford to Bristol or Exeter. 525
ment, and thereby Oxford become the head quarter, it was not 1645
so fit that the Court should remain there ; which, by the
multitude of ladies and persons of quality who resided there,
would not probably endure such an attack of the enemy as the
situation of the place and the good fortifications which enclosed
it might very well bear. Nor would the enemy have sat down
before it till they had done their business in all other places, if
they had not presumed that the inhabitants within would not
be willing to submit to any notable distress. And if at this
time a good garrison had only been left there, and all the Court
and persons of quality removed into the west with the Prince, it
would probably have been a means speedily to have reduced
those small garrisons which stood out to the King's obedience ;
and the King himself might by the spring have been able to
have carried a good recruit of men to his army, and might like
wise have made Oxford the place of rendezvous at the time
when it should be fit for him to take the field. But the truth
is, not only the ladies, who were very powerful in such consulta
tions of state, but very few of the rest, of what degree or quality
soever, who had excellent accommodations in the colleges, which
they could not have found any where else, would, without
extreme murmuring, [have] been content to have changed their
quarters. Besides, the King had that royal affection for the uni
versity, that he thought it well deserved the honour of his own
presence, and always resolved that it should never be so exposed
to the extremity of war as to fall into those barbarous hands,
without making all necessary conditions for the preservation of
so venerable a place from rapine, sacrilege, and destruction.
280. And so that consideration of removing the Court from
thence was only secretly entered upon, and laid aside, without
making it the subject of any public debate. And since the
other could not have been effected, it had been well if the whole
council which was assigned to attend the Prince had been
obliged to have performed that service. But both the duke of
Bichmond and the earl of Southampton, who were men of great
reputation and authority, excused themselves to the King for
not submitting to that his command, and for desiring to con-

526 Sir John Hotham and his son [vin. 280.
1645 tinue still about his person ; the one thinking it some diminu
tion to his greatness to be at any distance from his majesty, to
whom he had adhered with that signal fidelity and affection
when so many had deserted him; the other being newly married1,
and engaged in a family, which he could not without infinite
inconveniences have left behind him, nor without more have
carried with him. Nor was the King difficult in admitting
their excuse, having named them at first rather to obviate some
jealousies which were like to be entertained upon the first dis
course of sending the Prince into the west, than that he be
lieved they would be willing to be engaged in the service.
However, it was easy to be foreseen that upon any ill accidents,
which were like enough to fall out, they who were obliged to
that duty would not have reputation enough to extort that
general submission and obedience which ought to be paid to the
commands of the Prince ; and of which there was shortly after
too manifest evidence.
281. There was an act of divine justice about this time
executed by those at Westminster, which ought not to be
forgotten in the relation of the acts of this year ; and which
ought to have caused very useful reflections to be made by many
who were equally engaged, and some of whom afterwards did
undergo the same fate. There hath been often mention before
of sir John Hotham, who shut the gates of Hull against the
King, and refused to give him entrance into that town, when
he came thither attended only by his own servants, 'before the
beginning of the war ; and was, in truth, the immediate cause
of the war. It was the more wonderful, that a person of a full
and ample fortune, who was not disturbed by any fancies in re- \
ligion, had unquestioned duty to the Crown, and reverence for \!
the government both of Church and State, should so foolishly
expose himself and his family, of great antiquity, to comply with
the humours of those men whose persons he did not much
esteem, and whose designs he perfectly detested. But as his
particular animosity against the earl of Strafford first engaged
him in that company, so his vanity and ambition, and the con-
1 [To his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Leigh, lordDunsmore.]

vm. 2S2.] are imprisoned by the Parliament. 527
cessions the King had made to their unreasonable demands, 1645
made him concur farther with them than his own judgment dis
posed him to. And he had taken upon him the government of
Hull without any apprehension or imagination that it would
ever make [him] an accessory to rebellion ; but believed that,
when the King and Parliament should be reconciled, the emi
nence of that charge would promote him to some of those re
wards and honours which that party resolved to divide amongst
themselves. When he found himself more dangerously and
desperately embarked than he ever intended to be, he bethought
himself of all possible ways to disentangle himself, and to wind
himself out of the labyrinth he was in. His comportment to
wards the lord Digby and Ashburnham, and his inclinations at
that time, have been mentioned before at large * ; and from that
time, the entire confidence the Parliament had in his son, and
the vigilance and jealousy that he was known to have towards
his father, was that alone that preserved him longer in the
government, besides that they had so constituted the garrison
that they knew it could never be in the father's power to do
them hurt. But, after this, when they discovered some alteration
in the son's behaviour, and that the pride and stubbornness of
his nature would not suffer him to submit to the command of the
lord Fayrefax and that superiority over both his father and him
with which the Parliament had invested him, and had some ink
ling of secret messages between the marquis of Newcastle and
him, they caused both father and son to be suddenly seized upon 2,
and sent up prisoners to the Parliament, which immediately
committed them to the Tower upon a charge of high treason.
282. Though they had evidence enough against them, yet
they had so many friends in both Houses of Parliament, and
some of that interest in the army, that they were preserved
from farther prosecution, and remained prisoners in the Tower
for above the space of a year, without being brought to any
1 [Book V. §§. 432-435.]
2 [Sir John was seized June 29, 1643, and his son the day before : the
former was committed to the Tower by order of the House of Commons on
Sept. 6, and the latter on Oct. 3.]

528 Sir John Hotham and his son [vm. 282.
1645 trial ; so that they believed their punishment to be at the
highest. But when that party prevailed that resolved to new
model the army, and to make as many examples of their rigour
and severity as might terrify all men from falling from them,
they called importunately that the two Hothams might be tried
by a court of war for their treachery and treason ; and they who
had hitherto preserved them had now lost their interest ; so that
they were both brought to their trial * about the time of the treaty
of Uxbridge, and both condemned to lose their heads ; the
principal charge against the father being, his having dismissed
the lord Digby ; and a letter being produced, by the treachery
of a servant, that the son had sent to the marquis of Newcastle.
The vile artifices which were used both before and after their
trial were so barbarous and inhuman as have been rarely prac
tised amongst Christians. It was declared to them, or at least
insinuated by Hugh Peters, who was the chaplain sent to them
to prepare them to die, that there was no purpose to take both
their lives, but that the death of one of them should suffice ;
which put either of them to use all the inventions and devices
he could to save himself; and so the father aggravated the faults of
the son, and the son as carefully inveighed against the father as
a man that hated the Parliament and all their proceedings ; and
either of them furnished Mr. Peters (upon whose credit and medi
ation they both depended) with arguments against the other.
283. The father was first condemned to suffer upon a day
appointed, and the son afterwards to be executed in like manner
the day following. The night before or the very morning that
Dec. 31. sir John Hotham was to die, a reprieve was sent from the
House of Peers to suspend his execution for three days. The
Commons were highly incensed at this presumption in the
Lords ; and, to prevent the like mischieve for the future, they
Jan. 1. made an order to all mayors, shrieves, bailiffs, and other minis
ters of justice, that no reprieve should be granted or allowed for
any person against whom the sentence of death was pronounced,
except the same had passed and had the consent of both Houses
1 [The father on Nov. 30, and the son on Dec. 9. The former was
condemned on Dec. 7, the latter on Dec. 24.]

vm. 284.] are condemned and beheaded. 529
of Parliament, and that if it passed only by the House of Peers 1645
it should be looked upon as invalid and void, and execution
should not be thereupon forborne or suspended. By this acci
dent the son was brought to his execution before his father, Jan. 1.
upon the day on which he was sentenced to suffer ; who died
with courage, and, reproaching the ingratitude of the Parlia
ment and their continuing of the war, concluded, that as to
them he was very innocent, and had never been guilty of
treason. The father was brought to the scaffold the next day :
for the House of Commons, to shew their prerogative over the
Lords, sent an order to the lieutenant of the Tower that he Jan. 2.
should cause him to be executed that very day, which was two
days before the reprieve granted by the House of Peers was
expired. Whether he had yet some promise from Peters that he
should only be shewed to the people, and so returned again safe
to the Tower, which was then generally reported and believed,
or whether he was broken with despair, (which is the more
probable,) when he saw that his enemies prevailed so far that he
could not be permitted to live those two days which the Peers
had granted him, certain it is that the poor man appeared so
dispirited that he scarce spake one word after he came upon the
scaffold, and suffered his ungodly confessor Peters to tell the
people that he had revealed himself to him, and confessed his
offences against the Parliament ; and so he committed his head
to the block. This was the woful tragedy of those two unhappy
gentlemen ; in which there were so many circumstances of an
unusual nature, that the immediate band of Almighty God
could not but appear to all men who knew their natures,
humours, and transactions.
284 1. Since the last office of a general, with reference to the
King's quarters, which the earl of Essex performed before he
found it necessary to surrender his commission to the Parlia
ment, was done before the end of this year, it will be proper in
this place to mention it, both in respect of the nature of the
thino- itself, and the circumstances with which it was conducted,
it being a letter signed by the earl of Essex, and sent by April 4.
1 [§§ 284-6 from the Life, pp. 309 and 308.]
VOL. III. M m

530 The earl of Essex expostulates [vm. 284.
1645 a trumpet to prince Rupert, but penned by a committee of Par
liament, and perused by both Houses before it was signed by
their general, who used in all despatches made by himself to
observe all decency in the forms. It was a very insolent letter,
and upon a very insolent occasion. The Parliament had some
Oct. 24. months before made an ordinance against giving quarter to any
of the Irish nation which should be taken prisoners either at sea
or land ; which was not taken notice of, or indeed known to the
King, till long after; though the earl of Warwick, and the
officers under him at sea, had, as often as he met with any of the
Irish frigates at sea, or such freebooters as sailed under their
commission, [taken]1 all the seamen who became prisoners to
them of that nation, and bound them back to back, and [thrown] x
them overboard into the sea, without distinction of their con
dition, if they were Irish. And in this barbarous manner very
many poor men perished daily ; of which when it was generally
known the King said nothing, because none of those persons
were in his majesty's service; and how barbarous soever the
proceedings were, his majesty could not complain of it without
undergoing the reproach of being concerned on the behalf, and
in favour, of the rebels of Ireland.
285. But there had been lately in some service at land some
prisoners taken of the King's troops, and, upon pretence that
they were Irishmen, as many as they thought to be of that
nation were all hanged, to the number of ten or a dozen'-'.
Whereupon prince Bupert, having about the time when he heard
of that barbarity taken an equal number of the Parliament
soldiers, had caused them likewise to be hanged upon the next
tree ; which the Parliament declared to be an act of great
injustice and cruelty, and appointed the earl of Essex to expos
tulate with prince Bupert, in the letter they had caused to be
penned for him, very rudely, and to send a copy of their ordi
nance enclosed in the said letter, with expressions full of
reproach for his presumption in making an ordinance of theirs
the argument to justify an action of so much inhumanity ; which
1 [' took— threw,' MS.]
2 [Thirteen, at Shrewsbury, in March 1645. Lords' Journals,yu. 305, 329.]

vm. 286.] with prince Bupert for retaliation. 531
was the first knowledge the King had of any such declaration 1645
with reference to the war in England, nor had there been from
the beginning of it any such example made. Prince Bupert
returned such an answer as was reasonable, and with a sharpness April 1 5.
equal to the provocation1, and sent it to the earl of Essex; who
the day before he received it had given up his commission, but sent
it immediately to the two Houses, who were exceedingly enraged April 22,
at it ; some of them saying that they wondered it was so long
on the way, for that certainly it had been prepared at Uxbridge.
286. It was upon the fourth of March that the Prince parted
from the King his father, and about a week after came to
Bristol2. And he had not been there above two or three days,
when letters were intercepted that discovered a design of
Waller's, who had passed by the lord Goring and put relief into May 11.
Taunton, and hoped to have surprised Bristol in his return ;
whereupon two or three of his correspondents fled out of the
city, and the rest were so exasperated with the discovery th at
they readily consented to any thing that was proposed. And so
the lord Hopton put all things into so good a posture, that there
was no farther cause to apprehend Waller ; and he himself was
required to return to London, to deliver up his commission upon
the Self-denying Ordinance.
And so the year 1644 ended, which shall conclude this part.
1 [The commencement of this sentence originally stood thus in the MS. :
—'Prince Kupert brought that letter to the Chancellor, and desired him to
prepare such an answer as he thought fit for him to return ; which he did,
with a sharpness equal to the provocation, in which he was not usual (sic)
too reserved, and presented it to the consideration of his royal highness
prince Kupert and the lords of the council, and it being approved by them
prince Rupert signed it.']
2 [The following passage is here struck out in the MS. together with
another draft of the remainder of the section : — ' Where he was now to
act a part by himself, as the affairs should require, or rather where he was
to sit still without acting any thing; the end being, as was said before,
only that the King and Prince might not be exposed at the same time to
the same danger ; without any purpose that he should raise more strength
than was necessary to the security of his own person, or that indeed he
should move farther westward than that city.']
THE END OE THE EIGHTH BOOK.