Full text of "The history of England, from the invasion of Julius Cæser to the revolution in 1688"

TBL

THE

HISTORY OF ENGLAND

VOL V.

THE

HISTORY OF ENGLAND

FROM THE

INVASION OF JULIUS CJBSAR

THE REVOLUTION I If 1688

DAVID HUME, ESQ.

A NEW EDITION,

WITH THE AUTHOR'S LAST CORRECTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

TO WHICH 13 PREFIXED
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

IN SIX V GLUMES.
VOL. V.

BOSTON:

LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY,
1854.

CAMBRIDGE:
ALLEN AND F A R N II A M , PRINTERS,

REMINGTON STREET.
STONE AND SMART, STEREOTTPER8.

CONTENTS

VOL. V.

CHAPTER LIV.

CHARLES I.

Meeting of the Long Parliament. Stratford and Laud impeached.
Finch and Windebank fly. Great Authority of the Commons.
The Bishops attacked. Tonnage and Poundage. Triennial
Bill. Stafford's Trial. Bill of Attainder. Execution of Straf-
ford. High Commission and Star-chamber abolished. King's
Journey to Scotland . Page 1

CHAPTER LV.

Settlement of Scotland. Conspiracy in Ireland. Insurrection and
Massacre. Meeting of the English Parliament. The Remon-
strance. Reasons on both Sides. Impeachment of the Bishops.
Accusation of the Five Members. Tumults. King leaves Lon-
don. Arrives in York. Preparations for Civil War ... 52

CHAPTER LVI.

Commencement of the Civil War. State of Parties. Battle of
Edge-hill. Negotiation at Oxford. Victories of the Royalists
in the West. Battle of Stratton of Lansdown of Roundway
Down. Death of Hambden. Bristol taken. Siege of Glou-
cester. Battle of Newbury. Actions in the North of England.
Solemn League and Covenant. Arming of the Scots. State of
Ireland 109

CHAPTER LVIL

Invasion of the Scots. Battle of Marston Moor. Battle of Crop-
redy Bridge. Essex's Forces disarmed. Second Battle of New-

i CONTENTS.

bury. Rise and Character of the Independents. Self-denying
Ordinance. Fairfax, Cromwell. Treaty of Uxbridge. Execu-
tion of Laud Page 153

CHAPTER LVIII.

Montrose's Victories. The new Model of the Army. Battle of
Naseby. Surrender of Bristol. The West conquered by Fairfax.
Defeat of Montrose. Ecclesiastical affairs. King goes to the
Scots at Newark. End of the War. King delivered up by the
Scots . . . 187

CHAPTER LIX.

Mutiny of the Army. The King seized by Joyce. The Army
march against the Parliament. The Army subdue the Parlia-
ment. The King flies to the Isle of Wight. Second Civil War.
Invasion from Scotland. The Treaty of Newport. The Civil
War and Invasion repressed. The King seized again by the
Army. The House purged. The King's Trial and Execution
and Character . 219

CHAPTER LX.

THE COMMONWEALTH.

State of England of Scotland of Ireland. Levellers suppressed.

Siege of Dublin raised. Tredah stormed. Covenanters.
Montrose taken Prisoner Executed. Covenanters. Battle of
Dunbar of Worcester. King's Escape. The Commonwealth.

Dutch War. Dissolution of the Parliament 280

CHAPTER LXI.

Cromwell's Birth and private Life. Barebone's Parliament.
Cromwell made Protector. Peace with Holland. A new Par-
liament. Insurrection of the Royalists. State of Europe. War
with Spain. Jamaica conquered. Success and Death of Admiral
Blake. Domestic Administration of Cromwell. Humble Peti-
tion and Advice. Dunkirk taken. Sickness of the Protector.
His Death and Character . . 335

CHAPTER LXII.

Richard acknowledged Protector. A Parliament. Cabal of Wal-
lingford House. Richard deposed. Long Parliament or Rump
restored. Conspiracy of the Royalists. Insurrection Sup-

CONTENTS. v ii

pressed. Parliament expelled. Committee of Safety. Foreign
Affairs. General Monk. Monk declares for the Parliament.
Parliament restored. Monk enters London, and declares for a
free Parliament. Secluded Members restored. Long Parliament
dissolved! New Parliament. The Restoration. Manners and
Arts Page 394

CHAPTER LXIII.

CHARLES II.

New Ministry. Act of Indemnity. Settlement of the Revenue.
Trial and Execution of the Regicides. Dissolution of the Con-
vention Parliament. Prelacy restored. Insurrection of the Mil-
lenarians. Affairs of Scotland. Conference at the Savoy.
Arguments for and against a Comprehension. A new Parlia
ment. Bishops' Seats restored. Corporation Act. Act of
Uniformity. King's Marriage. Trial of Vane, and Execution.
Presbyterian Clergy ejected. Dunkirk sold to the French. De-
claration of Indulgence. Decline of Clarendon's Credit . 442

CHAPTER LXIV.

A new Session. Rupture with Holland. A new Session. Victory
of the English. Rupture with France. Rupture with Denmark.

New Session. Sea Fight of four Days. Victory of the English.

Fire of London. Advances towards Peace. Disgrace at Chat-
ham. Peace of Breda. Clarendon's Fall, and Banishment.
State of France. Character of Lewis XIV. French Invasion of
the Low Countries. Negotiations. Triple League. Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle. Affairs of Scotland and of Ireland . . 480

THE

HISTORY

ENGLAND.

CHAPTER LIV.

MEETING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT. STRAFFORD AND LAUD IMPEACHED.

FlNCH AND WlNDEBANK FLY. GREAT AUTHORITY OF THE COMMONS. THE

BlSHOPS ATTACKED. TONNAGE AND POUNDAGE. TRIENNIAL BlLL.

STRAFFORD'S TRIAL. BILL OF ATTAINDER. EXECUTION OF STRAFFORD.
HIGH COMMISSION AND STAR-CHAMBER ABOLISHED. KING'S JOURNEY TO
SCOTLAND.

THE causes of disgust which, for above thirty years, had CHAP.

been daily multiplying in England, were now come to . J^

fall maturity, and threatened the kingdom with some 1640.
great revolution or convulsion. The uncertain and un-
defined limits of prerogative and privilege had been
eagerly disputed during that whole period ; and in every
controversy between prince and people, the question,
however doubtful, had always been decided by each party
in favour of its own pretensions. Too lightly, perhaps,
moved by the appearance of necessity, the king had
even assumed powers incompatible with the principles
of limited government, and had rendered it impossible
for his most zealous partisans entirely to justify his con-
duct, except by topics so unpopular, that they were more
fitted, in the present disposition of men's minds, to in-
flame than appease the general discontent. Those great
supports of public authority, law and religion, had like-
wise, by the unbounded compliance of judges and pre-
lates, lost much of their influence over the people ; or
rather, had in a great measure gone over to the side of
faction, and authorized the spirit of opposition and re-
bellion. The nobility, also, whom the king had no means

VOL. v. 1

I HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, of retaining by offices and preferments suitable to their
J" v '_,rank, had been seized with the general discontent, and
1640 unwarily threw themselves into the scale wilich already
began too much to preponderate. Sensible of some en-
croachments which had been made by royal authority,
men entertained no jealousy of the Commons, whose
enterprises for the acquisition of power had ever been
covered with the appearance of public good, and had
hitherto gone no farther than some disappointed efforts
and endeavours. The progress of the Scottish malecon-
tents reduced the crown to an entire dependence for
supply : their union with the popular party in England
brought great accession of authority to the latter : the
near prospect of success roused all latent murmurs and
pretensions, which had hitherto been held in such violent
constraint : and the torrent of general inclination and
opinion ran so strongly against the court, that the king
was in no situation to refuse any reasonable demands of
the popular leaders, either for defining or limiting the
powers of his prerogative. Even many exorbitant claims,
in his present situation, would probably be made, and
must necessarily be complied with.

The triumph of the malecontents over the church was
not yet so immediate or certain. Though the political
and religious puritans mutually lent assistance to each
other, there were many who joined the former, yet de-
clined all connexion with the latter. The hierarchy had
been established in England ever since the reformation :
the Romish church, in all ages, had carefully maintained
that form of ecclesiastical government : the ancient fa-
thers, too, bore testimony to episcopal jurisdiction : and
though parity may seem at first to have had place among
Christian pastors, the period during which it prevailed
was so short, that few undisputed traces of it remained
in history. The bishops, and their more zealous par-
tisans, inferred thence the divine indefeasible right of
prelacy : others regarded that institution as venerable
and useful : and if the love of novelty led some to adopt
the new rites and discipline of the puritans, the rever-
ence to antiquity retained many in their attachment to
the liturgy and government of the church ; it behoved,
therefore, the zealous innovators in Parliament to pro-

1G40

CHARLES I.

ceed with some caution and reserve. By promoting all CHAP.
measures which reduced the powers of the crown, they, LIV
hoped to disarm the king, whom they justly regarded,
from principle, inclination, and policy, to be the deter-
mined patron of the hierarchy. By declaiming against
the supposed encroachments and tyranny of the prelates,
they endeavoured to carry the nation from a hatred of
their persons, to an opposition against their office and
character. And when men were enlisted in party, it
would not be difficult, they thought, to lead them, by
degrees, into many measures, for which they formerly
entertained the greatest aversion. Though the new
sectaries composed not, at first, the majority of the
nation, they were inflamed, as is usual among innova-
tors, with extreme zeal for their opinions. Their un-
surmountable passion, disguised to themselves, as well as
to others, under the appearance of holy fervours, was
well qualified to make proselytes, and to seize the minds
of the ignorant multitude. And one furious enthusiast
was able, by his active industry, to surmount the indolent
efforts of many sober and reasonable antagonists.

When the nation, therefore, was so generally discon-
tented, and little suspicion was entertained of any design
to subvert the church and monarchy ; no wonder that
almost all elections ran in favour of those who, by their
high pretensions to piety and patriotism, had encouraged
the national prejudices. It is a usual compliment to
regard the king's inclination in the choice of a speaker ;
and Charles had intended to advance Gardiner, recorder
of London, to that important trust ; but so little interest
did the crown at that time possess in the nation, that
Gardiner was disappointed of his election, not only in
London, but in every other place where it was attempted :
and the king was obliged to make the choice of speaker
fall on Lenthall, a lawyer of some character, but not suf-
ficiently qualified for so high and difficult an office a .

The eager expectations of men with regard to a Par- Meeting
liament summoned at so critical a juncture, and during
such general discontents ; a Parliament which, from the
situation of public affairs, could not be abruptly dissolved,
and which was to execute every thing left unfinished by

a Clarendon, vol. i. p. 169.

[ HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, former Parliaments ; these motives, so important and in^
teresting, engaged the attendance of all the members ;

1640. an ^ the House of Commons was never observed to be,
from the beginning, so full and numerous. Without
any interval, therefore, they entered upon business, and,
by unanimous consent, they immediately struck a blow
which may in a manner be regarded as decisive.

The Earl of Strafford was considered as chief minister,
both on account of the credit which he possessed with
his master, and of his own great and uncommon vigour
and capacity. By a concurrence of accidents, this man
laboured under the severe hatred of all the three nations
which composed the British monarchy. The Scots, whose
authority now ran extremely high, looked on him as the
capital enemy of their country, and one w T hose counsels
and influence they had most reason to apprehend. He
had engaged the Parliament of Ireland to advance large
subsidies, in order to support a war against them : he
had levied an army of nine thousand men, with which
he had menaced all their western coast : he had obliged
the Scots who lived under his government to renounce
the covenant, their national idol: he had, in Ireland,
proclaimed the Scottish covenanters rebels and traitors,
even before the king had issued any such declaration
against them in England : and he had ever dissuaded his
master against the late treaty and suspension of arms,
which he regarded as dangerous and dishonourable. So
avowed and violent were the Scots in their resentment
of all these measures, that they had refused to send com-
missioners to treat at York, as was at first proposed ;
because, they said, the Lieutenant of Ireland, their c/ipital
enemy, being general of the king's forces, had there the
chief command and authority.

Strafford, first as deputy, then as lord lieutenant, had
governed Ireland during eight years with great vigilance,
activity, and prudence, but with very little popularity.
In a nation so averse to the English government and
religion, these very virtues were sufficient to draw on
him the public hatred. The manners too and character
of this great man, though to all full of courtesy, and to
his friends full of affection, were at bottom haughty.
rigid, and severe. His authority and influence, during

CHARLES I.

the time of his government, had been unlimited ; but CHAP.
no sooner did adversity seize him, than the concealed ^J^ l J'^_
aversion of the nation blazed up at once, and the Irish 1640
Parliament used every expedient to aggravate the charge
against him.

The universal discontent which prevailed in England
against the court was all pointed towards the Earl of
Straffbrd ; though without any particular reason, but
because he Avas the minister of state whom the king
most favoured and most trusted. His extraction was
honourable, his paternal fortune considerable : yet envy
attended his sudden and great elevation. And his former
associates in popular councils, finding that he owed his
advancement to the desertion of their cause, represented
him as the great apostate of the commonwealth, whom it
behoved them to sacrifice as a victim to public justice.

Strafford, sensible of the load of popular prejudices
under which he laboured, would gladly have declined
attendance in Parliament ; and he begged the king's per-
mission to withdraw himself to his government of Ire-
land, at least to remain at the head of the army in York-
shire ; where many opportunities, he hoped, would offer,
by reason of his distance, to elude the attacks of his
enemies. But Charles, who had entire confidence in
the earl's capacity, thought that his counsels would be
extremely useful during the critical session w r hich ap-
proached. And when StrafFord still insisted on the dan-
ger of his appearing amidst so many enraged enemies,
the king, little apprehensive that his own authority was
so suddenly to expire, promised him protection, and
assured him that not a hair of his head should be touched
by the Parliament b .

No sooner was Straffbrd's arrival known, than a con- nth Nov.
certed attack was made upon him in the House of Com-
mons. Pym, in a long, studied discourse, divided into
many heads after his manner, enumerated all the griev-
ances under which the nation laboured ; and, from a
complication of such oppressions, inferred, that a deli-
berate plan had been formed of changing entirely the
frame of government, and subverting the ancient laws
and liberties of the kingdom . Could any thing, he

b Whitlocke, p. 36. c M. ibid.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, increase our indignation against so enormous and crimi-
a project, it would be to find, that during the reign
of the best of princes, the constitution had been endan-
gered by the worst of ministers, and that the virtues of
the king had been seduced by wicked and pernicious
counsel. "We must inquire, added he, from what foun-
tain these waters of bitterness flow ; and though doubt-
less many evil counsellors will be found to have contri-
buted their endeavours, yet is there one who challenges
the infamous pre-eminence, and who, by his courage, en-
terprise, and capacity, is entitled to the first place among
these betrayers of their country. He is the Earl of
Strafford, Lieutenant of Ireland, and president of the
council of York, who in both places, and in all other
provinces where he has been intrusted with authority,
has raised ample monuments of tyranny ; and will appear,
from a survey of his actions, to be the chief promoter of
every arbitrary counsel. Some instances of imperious
expressions, as well as actions, were given by Pym ; who
afterwards entered into a more personal attack of that
minister, and endeavoured to expose his whole character
and manners. The austere genius of Strafford, occupied
in the pursuits of ambition, had not rendered his breast
altogether inaccessible to the tender passions, or secured
him from the dominion of the fair ; and in that sullen
age, when the irregularities of pleasure were more re-
proachful than the most odious crimes, these weaknesses
were thought worthy of being mentioned, together with
his treasons, before so great an assembly. And upon the
whole, the orator concluded, that it belonged to the
House to provide a remedy proportionable to the disease,
and to prevent the farther mischiefs, justly to be appre-
hended from the influence which this man had acquired
over the measures and counsels of their sovereign d .

Sir John Clotworthy, an Irish gentleman, Sir John
Hotham, of Yorkshire, and many others, entered into
the same topics ; and after several hours spent in bitter
invective, when the doors were locked in order to prevent
all discovery of their purpose ; it was moved, in conse-
quence of the resolution secretly taken, that Strafford
should immediately be impeached of high treason. This

d Clarendon, vol. i. p. 172.

CHARLES I.

motion was received with universal approbation; nor CHAP.
was there, in all the debate, one person that offered to
stop the torrent by any testimony in favour of the earl's
conduct. Lord Falkland alone, though known to be his
enemy, modestly desired the House to consider, whether .
it would not better suit the gravity of their proceedings,
first to digest by a committee many of those particulars
which had been mentioned, before they sent up an accu-
sation against him. It was ingenuouvsly answered by Pym,
that such a delay might probably blast all their hopes,
and put it out of their power to proceed any farther in
the prosecution : that when Strafford should learn, that
so many of his enormities were discovered, his conscience
would dictate his condemnation ; and so great was his
power and credit, he would immediately procure the
dissolution of the Parliament, or attempt some other
desperate measure for his own preservation: that the
Commons were only accusers, not judges; and it was the
province of the Peers to determine whether such a com-
plication of enormous crimes, in one person, did not
amount to the highest crime known by the law 6 . With-
out farther debate, the impeachment was voted : Pym
was chosen to carry it up to the Lords : most of the
House accompanied him on so agreeable an errand: and
Strafford, who had just entered the House of Peers, and
who little expected so speedy a prosecution, was imme-
diately, upon this general charge, ordered into custody,
with several symptoms of violent prejudice in his judges,
as well as in his prosecutors.

In the inquiry concerning grievances, and in the cen-^audim-
sure of past measures. Laud could not long escape the pea
severe scrutiny of the Commons; who were led, too, in
their accusation of that prelate, as well by their pre-
judices against his whole order, as by the extreme anti-
pathy which his intemperate zeal had drawn upon him.
After a deliberation, which scarcely lasted half an hour,
an impeachment of high treason was voted against this
subject, the first both in rank and in favour, throughout
the kingdom. Though this incident, considering the ex-
" ample of Strafford's impeachment, and the present dis-
position of the nation and Parliament, needed be no

e Clarendon, vol. i. p. 174.

8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, surprise to him ; yet was he betrayed into some passion,
LIY - when the accusation was presented. The Commons them-
^~^wT setves, he said, though his accusers, did not believe him
guilty of the crimes tvith which they charged him : an in-
discretion which, next day, upon more mature delibera-
tion, he desired leave to retract ; but so little favourable
were the Peers, that they refused him this advantage or
indulgence. Laud also was immediately, upon this gene-
ral charge, sequestered from Parliament, and committed
to custody f .

The capital article insisted on against these two great
men was the design which the Commons supposed to have
been formed, of subverting the laws and constitution of
England, and introducing arbitrary and unlimited autho-
rity into the kingdom. Of all the king's ministers, no
one was so obnoxious in this respect as the lord-keeper
Finch. He it was, who, being speaker in the king's third
Parliament, had left the chair, and refused to put the
question, when ordered by the House. The extra-judi-
cial opinion of the judges in the case of ship-money had
been procured by his intrigues, persuasions, and even
menaces. In all unpopular and illegal measures, he was
ever most active ; and he was even believed to have de-
clared publicly, that while he was keeper, an order of
council should always, with him, be equivalent to a law.
To appease the rising displeasure of the Commons, he
desired to be heard at their bar. He prostrated himself
with all humility before them; but this submission
availed him nothing. An impeachment was resolved on ;
and in order to escape their fury, he thought proper
keeper secretly to withdraw and retire into Holland. As he was
rinch flies, not esteemed equal to Strafford, or even to Laud, either
in capacity or in fidelity to his master, it was generally
believed that his escape had been connived at by the
popular leaders 8 . His impeachment, however, in his ab-
sence, was carried up to the House of Peers.

Sir Francis Windebank, the secretary, was a creature
of Laud's; a sufficient reason for his being extremely
obnoxious to the Commons. He was secretly suspected
too of the crime of popery ; and it was known that, from

f Clarendon, vol. i. p. 177. Whitloeke, p. 38. Rushworth, vol. iii. p. 1365.
K Clarendon, vol. i. p. 177. Whitloeke, p. 38. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 129. 136.

CHARLES I. 9

complaisance to the queen, and indeed in compliance CHAP.
with the king's maxims of government, he had granted ._ LIV '_;
many indulgences to Catholics, and had signed warrants 1640
for the pardon of priests, and their delivery from con-
finement. Grimstone, a popular member, called him, in
the House, the very pander and broker to the whore of
Babylon h . Finding that the scrutiny of the Commons Secretary
was pointed towards him, and being sensible that Eng- bank Sies.
land was no longer a place of safety for men of his cha-
racter, he suddenly made his escape into France 1 .

Thus, in a few weeks, this House of Commons, not
opposed, or rather seconded, by the Peers, had produced
such a revolution in the government, that the two most
powerful and most favoured ministers of the king were
thrown into the Tower, and daily expected to be tried
for their life : two other ministers had, by flight alone,
saved themselves from a like fate : all the king's servants
saw that no protection could be given them by their
master: a new jurisdiction was erected in the nation;
and before that tribunal all those trembled, who had
before exulted most in their credit and authority.

What rendered the power of the Commons more for- Great au-
midable was, the extreme prudence with which it was !he r com- f
conducted. Not content with the authority which they mons -
had acquired by attacking these great ministers, they
were resolved to render the most considerable bodies of
the nation obnoxious to them. Though the idol of the_
people, they determined to fortify themselves likewise
with terrors, and to overawe those who might still be
inclined to support the falling ruins of monarchy.

During the late military operations several powers had
been exercised by the lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants
of counties : and these powers, though necessary for the
defence of the nation, and even warranted by all former
precedent, yet not being authorized by statute, were
now voted to be illegal, and the persons who had assumed
them declared delinquents. This term was newly come
into vogue, and expressed a degree or species of guilt
not exactly known or ascertained. In consequence of
that determination, many of the nobility and prime

fc Rushworth, vol. v. p. 122. i Cl&rendon, vol. i. p. 178. Whitlocke, p. 37.

10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, gentry of the nation, while only exerting, as they justly
thought, the legal powers of magistracy, unexpectedly
found themselves involved in the crime of delinquency.
And the Commons reaped this multiplied advantage by
their vote : they disarmed the crown ; they established
the maxims of rigid law and liberty ; and they spread
the terror of their own authority 11 .

The writs for ship-money had been directed to the
sheriffs, who were required, and even obliged, under severe
penalties, to assess the sums upon individuals, and to
levy them by their authority. Yet were all the sheriffs,
and all those who had been employed in that illegal ser-
vice, voted, by a very rigorous sentence, to be delinquents.
The king, by the maxims of law, could do no wrong ;
his ministers and servants, of whatever degree, in case of
any violation of the constitution, were alone culpable 1 .

All the farmers and officers of the customs, who had
been employed during so many years in levying tonnage
and poundage, and the new impositions, were likewise
declared criminals, and were afterwards glad to com-
pound for a pardon by paying a fine of one hundred and
fifty thousand pounds.

Every discretionary or arbitrary sentence of the star-
chamber and high commission, courts which, from their
very constitution, were arbitrary, underwent a severe
scrutiny ; and all those who had concurred in such sen-
tences were voted to be liable to the penalties of law m .
No minister of the king, no member of the council, but
found himself exposed by this decision.

The judges who had given their vote against Hamb-
den, in the trial of ship-money, were accused before the
Peers, and obliged to find surety for their appearance.
Berkeley, a judge of the king's bench, was seized by
order of the House, even when sitting in his tribunal ;
and all men saw with astonishment the irresistible autho-
rity of their jurisdiction 11 .

The sanction of the Lords and Commons, as well as
that of the king, was declared necessary for the confirm-
ation of ecclesiastical canons . And this judgment, it

k Clarendon, vol. i. p. 176. 1 Ibid.

^ Id. ibid. p. 177. n Wliitlocke, p. 39. o Nalson, vol. i. p. 678.

CHARLES I. 11

must be confessed, however reasonable, at least useful, CHAP.
it would have been difficult to justify by any precedent 5 , ^j ^
But the present was no time for question or dispute. 1640
That decision which abolished all legislative power, ex-
cept that of Parliament, was requisite for completing the
new plan of liberty, and rendering it quite uniform and
systematical. Almost all the bench of bishops, and the
most considerable of the inferior clergy, who had voted in
the late convocation, found themselves exposed by these
new principles to the imputation of delinquency q .

The most unpopular of all Charles's measures, and the
least justifiable, was the revival of monopolies, so solemnly
abolished, after reiterated endeavours, by a recent act of
Parliament. Sensible of this unhappy measure, the king
had of himself recalled, during the time of his first ex-
pedition against Scotland, many of these oppressive pa-
tents : and the rest w r ere now annulled by authority of
Parliament, and every one who was concerned in them
declared delinquents. The Commons carried so far their
detestation of this odious measure, that they assumed a
power which had formerly been seldom practised 1 ", and
they expelled all their members who were monopolists
or projectors : an artifice, by which, besides increasing
their own privileges, they weakened still farther the very
small party which the king secretly retained in the House.
Mildmay, a notorious monopolist, yet having associated
himself with the ruling party, was still allowed to keep
his seat. In all questions, indeed, of elections, no steady
rule of decision was observed ; and nothing farther was
regarded than the affections and attachments of the
parties 8 . Men's passions were too much heated to be
shocked with any instance of injustice, which served ends
so popular as those which were pursued by this House of
Commons.

P An act of Parliament, 25 Hen. VIII. cap. 19, allowed the convocation, with
the king's consent, to make canons. By the famous act of submission to that
prince, the clergy bound themselves to enact no canons without the king's con-
sent. The Parliament was never mentioned nor thought of. Such pretensions as
the Commons advanced at present would, in any former age, have been deemed
strange usurpations.

<i Clarendon, vol. i. p. 206. Whitlocke, p. 37. Kushw. vol. v. p. 235. 359.
Nalson,.vol. i. p. 807.

r Lord Clarendon says it was entirely new ; but there are instances of it in the
reign of Elizabeth. D'Ewes, p. 296. 352. There are also instances in the reign
of James.

8 Clarendon, vol. i. p. 176.

12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAR The whole sovereign power being thus in a manner
^ J L * V ;_, transferred to the Commons, and the government, with-
1640 out any seeming violence or disorder, being changed in
a moment from a monarchy almost absolute to a pure
democracy ; the popular leaders seemed willing for some
time to suspend their active vigour, and to consolidate
their authority, ere they proceeded to any violent exer-
cise of it. Every day produced some new harangue on
past grievances. The detestation of former usurpations
was farther enlivened ; the jealousy of liberty roused ;
and agreeably to the spirit of free government, no less
indignation was excited by the view of a violated con-
stitution, than by the ravages of the most enormous
tyranny.

This was the time when genius and capacity of all
kinds, freed from the restraint of authority, and nou-
rished by unbounded hopes and projects, began to exert
themselves, and be distinguished by the public. Then
was celebrated the sagacity of Pym, more fitted for use
than ornament ; matured, not chilled, by his advanced
age and long experience : then was displayed the mighty
ambition of Hambden, taught disguise, not moderation,
from former constraint ; supported by courage, conducted
by prudence, embellished by modesty ; but whether
founded in a love of power or zeal for liberty, is still,
from his untimely end, left doubtful and uncertain : then
too were known the dark, ardent, and dangerous charac-
ter of St. John ; the impetuous spirit of Hollis, violent
and sincere, open and entire in his enmities and in his
friendships ; the enthusiastic genius of young Vane, ex-
travagant in the ends which he pursued, sagacious and
profound in the means which he employed ; incited by
the appearances of religion, negligent of the duties of
morality.

So little apology would be received for past measures,
so contagious the general spirit of discontent, that even
men of the most moderate tempers, and the most at-
tached to the church and monarchy, exerted themselves
with the utmost vigour in the redress of grievances, and
in prosecuting the authors of them. The lively and
animated Digby displayed his eloquence on this occasion,
the firm and undaunted Capel, the modest and candid

CHARLES I. 13

Palmer. In this list too of patriot royalists are found CHAP.
the virtuous names of Hyde and Falkland. Though in v _ LIV '_ y
their ultimate views and intentions these men differed 1640
widely from the former, in their present actions and
discourses an entire concurrence and unanimity was
observed.

By the daily harangues and invectives against illegal
usurpations, not only the House of Commons inflamed
themselves with the highest animosity against the court;
the nation caught new fire from the popular leaders, and
seemed now to have made the first discovery of the
many supposed disorders in the government. While the
law in several instances seemed to be violated, they went
no farther than some secret and calm murmurs; but
mounted up into rage and fury, as soon as the consti-
tution was thought to be restored to its former integrity
and vigour. The capital especially, being the seat of Par-
liament, was highly animated with the spirit of mutiny
and disaffection. Tumults were daily raised; seditious
assemblies encouraged; and every man, neglecting his
own business, was wholly intent on the defence of liberty
and religion. By stronger contagion, the popular affec-
tions were communicated from breast to breast, in this
place of general rendezvous and society.

The harangues of members, now first published and dis-
persed, kept alive the discontents against the king's ad-
ministration. The pulpits, delivered over to puritanical
preachers and lecturers, whom the Commons arbitrarily
settled in all the considerable churches, resounded
with faction and fanaticism. Vengeance was fully
taken for the long silence and constraint in which, by
the authority of Laud and the high commission, these
preachers had been retained. The press, freed from all
fear or reserve, swarmed with productions dangerous by
their seditious zeal and calumny more than by any art
or eloquence of composition. Noise and fury, cant and
hypocrisy, formed the sole rhetoric which, during this
tumult of various prejudices and passions, could be heard
or attended to.

The sentence which had been executed against Prynne,
Bastwic, and Burton, now suffered a revisal from Parlia-
ment. These libellers, far from being tamed by the

VOL. v. 2

14 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, rigorous punishments which they had undergone, showed
^J?^> Stall a disposition of repeating their offence; and the
1640 ministers w^ere afraid lest new satires should issue from
their prisons, and still farther inflame the prevailing dis-
contents. By an order, therefore, of council, they had
been carried to remote prisons ; Bastwic to Scilly, Prynne
to Jersey, Burton to Guernsey ; all access to them was
denied ; and the use of books, and of pen, ink, and paper,
was refused them. The sentence for these additional
punishments was immediately reversed in an arbitrary
manner by the Commons : even the first sentence, upon
examination, was declared illegal : and the judges who
passed it were ordered to make reparation to the sufferers*.
When the prisoners landed in England, they were re-
ceived and entertained with the highest demonstrations
of affection, were attended by a mighty confluence of
company, their charges were borne with great magnifi-
cence, and liberal presents bestowed on them. On their
approach to any town, all the inhabitants crowded to re-
ceive them, and welcomed their reception with shouts and
acclamations. Their train still increased, as they drew
nigh to London. Some miles from the city, the zealots
of their party met them in great multitudes, and attended
their triumphant entrance : boughs were carried in this
tumultuous procession : the roads were strewed with
flowers, and amidst the highest exultations of joy were
intermingled loud and virulent invectives against the
prelates, who had so cruelly persecuted such godly per-
sonages u . The more ignoble these men were, the more
sensible was the insult upon royal authority, and the
more dangerous was the spirit of disaffection and mutiny
which it discovered among the people.

Lilburne, Leighton, and every one that had been
punished for seditious libels during the preceding admi-
nistration, now recovered their liberty, and were decreed
damages from the judges and ministers of justice w .

Not only the present disposition of the nation ensured
impunity to all libellers : a new method of framing and
dispersing libels was invented by the leaders of popular

t Nalson, vol. i. p. 783. May, p. 79.

Clarendon, vol. i. p. 199, 200, &c. Nalson, vol. i. p. 570. May, p. 80.

Ruslnv. vol. v. p. 228. Nalson, vol. i. p. 800.

CHARLES I. 15

discontent. Petitions to Parliament were drawn, craving CHAP.
redress against particular grievances ; and when a suffi- L1V
cient number of subscriptions were procured, the peti- 1640
tions were presented to the Commons, and immediately
published. These petitions became secret bonds of asso-
ciation among the subscribers, and seemed to give un-
doubted sanction and authority to the complaints which
they contained.

It is pretended by historians favourable to the royal
cause x , and is even asserted by the king himself in a
declaration 7 , that a most disingenuous or rather criminal
practice prevailed, in conducting many of these addresses.
A petition was first framed moderate, reasonable, such
as men of character willingly subscribed. The names
were afterwards torn off and affixed to another petition,
which served better the purposes of the popular faction.
We may judge of the wild fury which prevailed through-
out the nation, when so scandalous an imposture, which
affected such numbers of people, could be openly prac-
tised, without drawing infamy and ruin upon the
managers.

So many grievances were offered, both by the mem-
bers, and by petitions without doors, that the House was
divided into above forty committees, charged each of
them with the examination of some particular violation
of law and liberty, which had been complained of. Be-
sides the general committees of religion, trade, privileges,
laws ; many subdivisions of these were framed, and a
strict scrutiny was everywhere carried on. It is to be
remarked, that, before the beginning of this century,
when the Commons assumed less influence and autho-
rity, complaints of grievances were usually presented to
the House by any members who had had particular op-
portunity of observing them. These general committees,
which were a kind of inquisitorial courts, had not then
been established ; and we find that the king, in a former
declaration z , complains loudly of this innovation, so little
favourable to royal authority. But never was so much
multiplied as at present the use of these committees ;
and the Commons, though themselves the greatest inno-

x Dugclale. Clarendon, vol. i. p. 203. y Husb. Col. p. 536.

2 Published on dissolving the third Parliament. See Parl. Hist. vol. viii. p. 347.

(3 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, vators, employed the usual artifice of complaining against
L1V _, innovations, and pretending to recover the ancient and
1640. established government.

From the reports of their committees, the House daily
passed votes, which mortified and astonished the court,
and inflamed and animated the nation. Ship-money
was declared illegal and arbitrary ; the sentence against
Hambden cancelled ; the court of York abolished ; com-
positions for knighthood stigmatized ; the enlargement
of the forests condemned ; patents for monopolies an-
nulled ; and every late measure of administration treated
with reproach and obloquy. To-day, a sentence of the
star-chamber was exclaimed against : to-morrow, a de-
cree of the high commission. Every discretionary act of
council was represented as arbitrary and tyrannical ; and
the general inference was still inculcated, that a formed
design had been laid to subvert the laws and constitution
of the kingdom.

From necessity, the king remained entirely passive
during all these violent operations. The few servants,
who continued faithful to him, were seized with astonish-
ment at the rapid progress made by the Commons in
power and popularity, and were glad, by their unactive
and inoffensive behaviour, to compound for impunity.
The torrent rising to so dreadful and unexpected a height,
despair seized all those who, from interest or habit, were
most attached to monarchy. And as for those who main-
tained their duty to the king, merely from their regard
to the constitution, they seemed by their concurrence to
swell that inundation which 'began already to deluge
every thing. " You have taken the whole machine of
government in pieces," said Charles in a discourse to the
Parliament ; a practice frequent with skilful artists,
when they desire to clear the wheels from any rust
which may have grown upon them. The engine," con-
tinued he, " may again be restored to its former use and
motions, provided it be put up entire ; so as not a pin of
it be wanting." But this was far from the intention of
the Commons. The machine, they thought, with some
reason, was encumbered with many wheels and springs,
which retarded and crossed its operations, and destroyed
its utility. Happy ! had they proceeded with modera-

CHARLES I. 17

tion, and been contented, in their present plenitude of CHAP.
power, to remove such parts only as might justly be^*J_,
deemed superfluous and incongruous. 1G40

In order to maintain that high authority which they
had acquired, the Commons, besides confounding and
overawing their opponents, judged it requisite to inspire
courage into their friends and adherents; particularly into
the Scots, and the religious puritans, to whose assistance
and good offices they were already so much beholden.

No sooner were the Scots masters of the northern
counties, than they laid aside their first professions,
which they had not indeed means to support, of paying
for every thing ; and in order to prevent the destructive
expedient of plunder and free quarters, the country con-
sented to give them a regular contribution of eight hun-
dred and fifty pounds a day, in full of their subsistence*.
The Parliament, that they might relieve the northern
counties from so grievous a burden, agreed to remit pay
to the Scottish, as well as to the English army ; and
because subsidies would be levied too slowly for so urgent
an occasion, money was borrowed from the citizens upon
the security of particular members. Two subsidies, a very
small sum b , were at first voted; and as the intention of
this supply was to indemnify the members who, by their
private, had supported public credit, this pretence was
immediately laid hold ofj and the money was ordered to
be paid, not into the treasury, but to commissioners ap-
pointed by Parliament : a practice which, as it diminished
the authority of the crown, was willingly embraced, and
was afterwards continued by the Commons, with regard
to every branch of revenue which they granted to the
king. The invasion of the Scots had evidently been the
cause of assembling the Parliament ; the presence of their
army reduced the king to that total subjection in which
he was now held ; the Commons, for this reason, openly
professed their intention of retaining these invaders, till
all their own enemies should be suppressed, and all their
purposes effected. We cannot yet spare the Scots, said
Strode plainly in the House, the sons of Zendah are still
too strong for ns c : an allusion to a passage of Scripture,

a Rushworth, vol. iii. p. 1295.

b It appears that a subsidy was now fallen to fifty thousand pounds.

c Dugdalc, p. 71.

18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, according to the mode of that age. Eighty thousand
pounds a month were requisite for the subsistence of the

1640 two ar mies; a sum much greater than the subject had
ever been accustomed, in any former period, to pay to
the public. And though several subsidies, together with
a poll tax, were from time to time voted to answer the
charge ; the Commons still took care to be in debt, in
order to render the continuance of the session the more
necessary.

The Scots being such useful allies to the malecontent
party in England, no wonder they were courted with the
most unlimited complaisance and the most important
services. The king having, in his first speech, called
them rebels, observed that he had given great offence to
the Parliament; and he was immediately obliged to soften,
and even retract the expression. The Scottish commis-
sioners, of whom the most considerable were the Earl of
Rothes and Lord Loudon, found every advantage in con-
ducting their treaty ; yet made no haste in bringing it
to an issue. They were lodged in the city, and kept an
intimate correspondence, as well with the magistrates,
who were extremely disaffected, as with the popular
leaders in both Houses. St. Antholine's church was as-
signed them for their devotions; and their chaplains,
here, began openly to practise the presbyterian form of
worship, which, except in foreign languages, had never
hitherto been allowed any indulgence or toleration. So
violent was the general propensity towards this new reli-
gion, that multitudes of all ranks crowded to the church.
Those, who were so happy as to find access early in the
morning, kept their places the whole day : those who
were excluded, clung to the doors or windows, in hopes
of catching, at least, some distant murmur or broken
phrases of the holy rhetoric d . All the eloquence of
Parliament, now well refined from pedantry, animated
with the spirit of liberty, and employed in the most im-
portant interests, was not attended to with such insatiable
avidity as were these lectures, delivered with ridiculous
cant, and a provincial accent, full of barbarism and of
ignorance.

The most effectual expedient for paying court to the

d Clarendon, vol. i. p. 189.

CHARLES T. 19

zealous Scots was to promote the presbyterian discipline CHAP.
and worship throughout England, and to this innovation, i_ L * y '__;
the popular leaders among the Commons, as well as their ^^to
more devoted partisans, were, of themselves, sufficiently
inclined. The puritanical party, whose progress, though
secret, had hitherto been gradual in the kingdom, taking
advantage of the present disorders, began openly to pro-
fess their tenets, and to make furious attacks on the
established religion. The prevalence of that sect in the
Parliament discovered itself, from the beginning, by in-
sensible but decisive symptoms. Marshall and Burgess,
two puritanical clergymen, were chosen to preach before
them, and entertained them with discourses seven hours
in length e . It being the custom of the House always to
take the sacrament before they enter upon business, they
ordered, as a necessary preliminary, that the communion-
table should be removed from the east end of St. Mar-
garet's into the middle of the area f . The name of the
spiritual lords was commonly left out in Acts of Parlia-
ment ; and the laws ran in the name of King, Lords, and
Commons. The clerk of the Upper House, in reading
bills, turned his back on the bench of bishops ; nor was
his insolence ever taken notice of. On a day appointed
for a solemn fast and humiliation, all the orders of tem-
poral peers, contrary to former practice, in going to
church, took place of the spiritual ; and Lord Spencer
remarked that the humiliation, that day, seemed con-
fined alone to the prelates.

Every meeting of the Commons produced some vehe- The
ment harangue against the usurpations of the bishops, attacked.
against the high commission, against the late convoca-
tion, against the new canons. So disgusted were all
lovers of civil liberty at the doctrines promoted by the
clergy, that these invectives were received without con-
trol ; and no distinction, at first, appeared between such
as desired only to repress the exorbitances of the hie-
rarchy, and such as pretended totally to annihilate epis-
copal jurisdiction. Encouraged by these favourable ap-
pearances, petitions against the church were framed
in different parts of the kingdom. The epithet of the
ignorant and vicious priesthood was commonly applied

e STalson, vol. i. p. 530. 533. t Idem, ibid. p. 537.

20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, to all churchmen, addicted to the established discipline
LIV- and worship ; though the episcopal clergy in England,
^?^" / during that age, seem to have been, as they are at pre-
sent, sufficiently learned and exemplary. An address
against episcopacy was presented by twelve clergymen
to the committee of religion, and pretended to be signed
by many hundreds of the puritanical persuasion. But
what made most noise was, the city petition for a total
alteration of church government; a petition to which
fifteen thousand subscriptions were annexed, and which
was presented by Alderman Pennington, the city mem-
ber^ It is remarkable that, among the many ecclesias-
tical abuses there complained of, an allowance, given by
the licensers of books, to publish a translation of Ovid's
Art of Love, is not forgotten by these rustic censors h .

Notwithstanding the favourable disposition of the peo-
ple, the leaders in the House resolved to proceed with
caution. They introduced a bill for prohibiting all clergy-
men the exercise of any civil office. As a consequence,
the bishops were to be deprived of their seats in the
House of Peers; a measure not unacceptable to the
zealous friends of liberty, who observed with regret the
devoted attachment of that order to the will of the
monarch. But when this bill was presented to the Peers,
it was rejected by a great majority 1 : the first check
which the Commons had received in their popular career,
and a prognostic of what they might afterwards expect
from the Upper House, whose inclinations and interests
could never be totally separated from the throne. But
to show how little they were discouraged, the puritans
immediately brought in another bill for the total aboli-
tion of episcopacy ; though they thought proper to let
the bill sleep at present, in expectation of a more favour-
able opportunity of reviving it k .

Among other acts of regal executive power, which the
Commons were every day assuming, they issued orders
for demolishing all images, altars, crucifixes. The zealous
Sir Robert Harley, to whom the execution of these orders
was committed, removed all crosses even out of streets
and markets ; and from his abhorrence of that supersti-

g Clarendon, vol. i. p. 203. Whitlocke, p. 37. Nalson, vol. i. p. 666.

k Rushw. vol. v. p. 171. i Clarendon, vol. i. p. 237. k Idem, ibid.

CHARLES I. 21

tious figure, would not anywhere allow one piece of wood CHAP.
or stone to lie over another at right angles 1 . ^J^L^

The Bishop of Ely and other clergymen were attacked 1640
on account of innovations 111 . Cozens, who had long been
obnoxious, was exposed to new censures. This clergy-
man, who was Dean of Peterborough, was extremely
zealous for ecclesiastical ceremonies : and so far from
permitting the communicants to break the sacramental
bread with their fingers, a privilege on which the puri-
tans strenuously insisted, he would not so much as allow
it to be cut with an ordinary household instrument. A
consecrated knife must perform that sacred office, and
must never afterwards be profaned by any vulgar service 11 .

Cozens likewise was accused of having said, The Jdng
has no more authority in ecclesiastical matters than the boy who
rubs my horse's heels . The expression was violent ; but
it is certain, that all those high churchmen, who were so
industrious in reducing the laity to submission, were ex-
tremely fond of their own privileges and independency,
and were desirous of exempting the mitre from all sub-
jection to the crown.

A committee was elected by the Lower House, as a
court of inquisition upon the clergy, and was commonly
denominated the committee of scandalous ministers. The
politicians among the Commons were apprized of the
great importance of the pulpit for guiding the people ;
the bigots were enraged against the prelatical clergy ;
and both of them knew that no established government
could be overthrown by strictly observing the principles
of justice, equity, or clemency. The proceedings, there-
fore, of this famous committee, which continued for
several years, were cruel and arbitrary, and made great
havoc both on the church and the universities. They
began with harassing, imprisoning, and molesting the
clergy; and ended with sequestrating and ejecting them.
In order to join contumely to cruelty, they gave the suf-
ferers the epithet of scandalous, and endeavoured to ren-
der them as odious as they were miserable p . The greatest
vices, however, which they could reproach to a great part

i Whitlocke, p. 45. m Ruslnv. vol. v. p. 351. ^ Ibid. p. 203.

o Parl. Hist. vol. vii. p. 282. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 209.

P Clarendon, vol. i. p. 199. Whitlocke, p. 122. May, p. 81.

22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, of them, were, bowing at the name of Jesus, placing the
^_^^ communion-table in the east, reading the king's orders
1640 for sports on Sunday, and other practices which the esta-
blished government, both in church and state, had strictly
enjoined them.

It may be worth observing, that all historians, who
lived near that age, or what perhaps is more decisive, all
authors who have casually made mention of those public
transactions, still represent the civil disorders and convul-
sions as proceeding from religious controversy, and con-
sider the political disputes about power and liberty as
entirely subordinate to the other. It is true, had the
king been able to support government, and at the same
time to abstain from all invasion of national privileges,
it seems not probable that the puritans ever could have
acquired such authority as to overturn the whole consti-
tution : yet so entire was the subjection into which
Charles was now Mien, that had not the wound been
poisoned by the infusion of theological hatred, it must
have admitted of an easy remedy. Disuse of Parliaments,
imprisonments and prosecution of members, ship-money,
an arbitrary administration ; these were loudly com-
plained of: but the grievances which tended chiefly
to inflame the Parliament and nation, especially the
latter, were the surplice, the rails placed about the altar,
the bows exacted on approaching it, the liturgy, the
breach of the sabbath, embroidered copes, lawn sleeves,
the use of the ring in marriage, and of the cross in bap-
tism. On account of these, were the popular leaders
content to throw the government into such violent con-
vulsions ; and, to the disgrace of that age and of this
island, it must be acknowledged that the disorders in
Scotland entirely, and those in England mostly, pro-
ceeded from so mean and contemptible an origin q .

Some persons, partial to the patriots of this age, have
ventured to put them in balance with the most illustri-
ous characters of antiquity ; and mentioned the names

4 Lord Clarendon, vol. i. p. 233, says, that the parliamentary party were not
agreed about the entire abolition of episcopacy : they were only the root and branch
men, as they were called, who insisted on that measure. But those who were will-
ing to retain bishops, insisted on reducing their authority to a low ebb ; as well as
on abolishing the ceremonies of worship, and vestments of the clergy. The contro-
versy, therefore, between the parties was almost wholly theological, and that of the
most frivolous and ridiculous kind.

CHARLES I. 23

of Pym, Hambden, Vane, as a just parallel to those of CHAP.
Cato, Brutus, Cassius. Profound capacity, indeed,
daunted courage, extensive enterprise ; in these particu-
lars, perhaps, the Roman do not much surpass the Eng-
lish worthies : but what a difference, when the discourse,
conduct, conversation, and private as well as public be-
haviour of both are inspected ! Compare only one cir-
cumstance, and consider its consequences. The leisure
of those noble ancients was totally employed in the study
of Grecian eloquence and philosophy ; in the cultivation
of polite letters and civilized society : the whole dis-
course and language of the moderns were polluted with
mysterious jargon, and full of the lowest and most vul-
gar hypocrisy.

The laws, as they stood at present, protected the
church, but they exposed the Catholics to the utmost
rage of the puritans ; and these unhappy religionists, so
obnoxious to the prevailing sect, could not hope to re-
main long unmolested. The voluntary contribution which
they had made, in order to assist the king in his war
against the Scottish covenanters, was inquired into, and
represented as the greatest enormity r . By an address
from the Commons, all officers of that religion were re-
moved from the army, and application was made to the
king for seizing two-thirds of the lands of recusants ; a
proportion to which, by law, he was entitled, but which
he had always allowed them to possess upon easy com-
positions. The execution of the severe and bloody laws
against priests was insisted on ; and one Goodman, a
Jesuit, who was found in prison, was condemned to a
capital punishment. Charles, however, agreeably to his
principles, scrupled to sign the warrant for his execution ;
and the Commons expressed great resentment on the
occasion 8 . There remains a singular petition of Good-
man, begging to be hanged, rather than prove a source
of contention between the king and his people*. He
escaped with his life ; but it seems more probable that
he was overlooked amidst affairs of greater consequence,
than that such unrelenting hatred would be softened by
any consideration of his courage and generosity.

r Rushworth, vol. v. p. 160.

Idem, ibid. p. 158, 159. Nalson, vol. i. p. 739.

* Kushwoith, vol. v. p. 166. Nalson, vol. i. p. 749.

24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. For some years, Con, a Scotchman, afterwards, Kosetti,

,_ LIV ^ an Italian, had openly resided at London, and frequented

1640 the court, as vested with a commission from the pope.

The queen's zeal, and her authority with her husband,

had been the cause of this imprudence, so offensive to

the nation". But the spirit of bigotry now rose too

high to permit any longer such indulgences w .

Hay ward, a justice of peace, having been wounded,
when employed in the exercise of his office, by one James,
a Catholic madman, this enormity was ascribed to the
popery, not to the frenzy, of the assassin ; and great
alarms seized the nation and Parliament x . An universal
conspiracy of the Papists was supposed to have taken

Elace ; and every man, for some days, imagined that he
ad a sword at his throat. Though some persons of
family and distinction were still attached to the Catholic
superstition, it is certain that the numbers of that sect
did not amount to the fortieth part of the nation : and
the frequent panics to which men, during this period,
were so subject on account of the Catholics, were less the
effects of fear, than of extreme rage and aversion enter-
tained against them.

The queen-mother of France, having been forced into
banishment by some court intrigues, had retired into
England ; and expected shelter, amidst her present dis-
tresses, in the dominions of her daughter and son-in-law.
But though she behaved in the most inoffensive manner,
she was insulted by the populace on account of her reli-
gion ; and was even threatened with worse treatment.
The Earl of Holland, lieutenant of Middlesex, had
ordered a hundred musqueteers to guard her ; but find-
ing that they had imbibed the same prejudices with the
rest of their countrymen, and were unwillingly employed
in such a service, he laid the case before the House of
Peers ; for the king's authority was now entirely anni-
hilated. He represented the indignity of the action, that

u It is now known from the Clarendon papers, that the king had also an autho-
rized agent who resided at Rome. His name was Bret, and his chief business
was to negotiate with the pope concerning indulgences to the Catholics, and to
engage the Catholics in return to be good and loyal subjects. But this whole
matter, though very innocent, was most carefully kept secret. The king says, that
he believed Bret to be as much his as any Papist could be. See p. 348. 354.

w Puishworth, vol. v. p. 301.

* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 249. Eushworth, vol. y. p. 57.

so great a princess, mother to the King of France, and CHAP.
to the Queens of Spain and England, should be affronted y_ LIV ^_>
by the multitude. He observed the indelible reproach 1640
which would fall upon the nation, if that unfortunate
queen should suffer any violence from the misguided
zeal of the people. He urged the sacred rights of hos-
pitality due to every one, much more to a person in dis-
tress, of so high a rank, with whom the nation was so
nearly connected. The Peers thought proper to com-
municate the matter to the Commons, whose authority
over the people was absolute. The Commons agreed to
the necessity of protecting the queen-mother ; but at the
same time prayed that she might be desired to depart the
kingdom : "for the quieting those jealousies in the hearts
of his majesty's well affected subjects, occasioned by some
ill instruments about the queen's person, by the flowing
of priests and Papists to her house, and by the use and
practice of the idolatry of the mass, and exercise of other
superstitious services of the Romish church, to the great
scandal of true religion 7 ."

Charles, in the former part of his reign, had endea-
voured to overcome the intractable and encroaching spirit
of the Commons, by a perseverance in his own measures,
by a stately dignity of behaviour, and by maintaining at
their utmost height, and even perhaps stretching beyond
former precedent, the rights of his prerogative. Finding,
by experience, how unsuccessful those measures had
proved, and observing the low condition to which he was
now reduced, he resolved to alter his whole conduct, and
to regain the confidence of his people, by pliableness,
by concessions, and by a total conformity to their incli-
nations and prejudices. It may safely be averred, that
this new extreme into which the king, for want of proper
counsel or support, was fallen, became no less dangerous
to the constitution, and pernicious to public peace, than
the other in which he had so long and so unfortunately
persevered.

The pretensions with regard to tonnage and poundage Tonnage
were revived, and with certain assurance of success, by
the Commons z . The levying of these duties, as formerly,

y Rushworth, vol. v. p. 267.

z It appears not that the Commons, though now entirely masters, abolished
VOL. V. 3

26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, without consent of Parliament, and even increasing them
LIV ' at pleasure, was such an incongruity in a free constitution,
1640 where the people, by their fundamental privileges, cannot
be taxed but by their own consent, as could no longer be
endured by these jealous patrons of liberty. In the pre-
amble therefore to the bill, by which the Commons
granted these duties to the king, they took care, in the
strongest and most positive terms, to assert their own
right of bestowing this gift, and to divest the crown of
all independent title of assuming it. And that they
might increase, or rather finally fix, the entire depen-
dence and subjection of the king, they voted these duties
only for two months, and afterwards, from time to time,
renewed their grants for very short periods a . Charles, in
order to show that he entertained no intention ever again
to separate himself from his Parliament, passed this im-
portant bill without any scruple or hesitation b .
Triennial With regard to the bill for triennial Parliaments, he
made a little difficulty. By an old statute, passed during
the reign of Edward III., it had been enacted, that Par-
liaments should be held once every year, or more fre-
quently, if necessary : but as no provision had been made
in case of failure, and no precise method pointed out for
execution, this statute had been considered merely as a
general declaration, and was dispensed with at pleasure.
The defect was supplied by those vigilant patriots who
now assumed the reins of government. It was enacted,
that if the chancellor, who was first bound under severe
penalties, failed to issue writs by the third of September
in every third year, any twelve or more of the Peers
should be empowered to exert this authority : in default
of the Peers, that the sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, &c. should
summon the voters : and in their default, that the voters
themselves should meet and proceed to the election of
members, in the same manner as if writs had been regu-

the new impositions of James, against which they had formerly so loudly com-
plained : a certain proof that the rates of customs, settled by that prince, were in
most instances just, and proportioned to the new price of commodities. They seem,
rather to have been low. See Journ. 10th Aug. 1625.

a It was an instruction given by the House to the committee which framed one
of these bills, to take care that the rates upon exportation may be as light as possi-
ble j and upon importation, as heavy as trade will bear : a proof that the nature of
commerce began now to be understood. Journ. 1st June, 1641.

b Clarendon, vol. i. p. 208.

CHARLES I. 27

larly issued from the crown. Nor could the Parliament, CHAP.
after it was assembled, be adjourned, prorogued, or dis-,
solved, without their own consent, during the space of
fifty days. By this bill, some of the noblest and most
valuable prerogatives of the crown were retrenched ; but
at the same time nothing could be more necessary than
such a statute for completing a regular plan of law and
liberty. A great reluctance to assemble Parliaments,
must be expected in the king ; where these assemblies,
as of late, established it as a maxim to carry their scrutiny
into every part of government. During long intermis-
sions of Parliament, grievances and abuses, as was found
by recent experience, would naturally creep in ; and it
would even become necessary for the king and council
to exert a great discretionary authority, and by acts of
state to supply, in every emergence, the legislative power,
whose meeting was so uncertain and precarious. Charles,
finding that nothing less would satisfy his Parliament
and people, at last gave his assent to this bill, which pro-
duced so great an innovation in the constitution . Solemn
thanks were presented him by both Houses : great re-
joicings were expressed both in the city and throughout
the nation : and mighty professions were everywhere
made of gratitude and mutual returns of supply and con-
fidence. This concession of the king, it must be owned,
was not entirely voluntary : it was of a nature too im-
portant to be voluntary. The sole inference which his
partisans were entitled to draw from the submissions so
frankly made to present necessity, was, that he had cer-
tainly adopted a new plan of government, and for the
future was resolved, by every indulgence, to acquire the
confidence and affections of his people.

Charles thought, that what concessions were made to
the public were of little consequence, if no gratifications
were bestowed on individuals, who had acquired the
direction of public counsels and determinations. A change
of ministers as well as of measures was therefore resolved
on. In one day several new privy-counsellors were sworn,
the Earls of Hertford, Bedford, Essex, Bristol ; the Lords
Say, Saville, Kimbolton : within a few days after was ad-

c Clarendon, vol. i. p. 209. Whitlocke, p. 39. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 189.

28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, mitted the Earl of Warwick d . All these noblemen were
v_ L * V ^_ J , of the popular party, and some of them afterwards, when
1640 matters were pushed to extremities by the Commons,
proved the greatest support of monarchy.

Juxon, .Bishop of London, who had never desired the
treasurer's staff, now earnestly solicited for leave to resign
it, and retire to the care of that turbulent diocese com-
mitted to him. The king gave his consent ; and it is
remarkable that during all the severe inquiries carried on
against the conduct of ministers and prelates, the mild
and prudent virtues of this man, who bore both these
invidious characters, remained unmolested 6 . It was in-
tended that Bedford, a popular man of great authority as
well as wisdom and moderation, should succeed Juxon :
but that nobleman, unfortunately both for king and
people, died about this very time. By some promotions,
place was made for St. John, who was created solicitor-
general. Hollis was to be made secretary of state, in the
room of Windebank, who had fled ; Pym, chancellor of
the exchequer, in the room of Lord Cottington, who had
resigned ; Lord Say, master of the wards, in the room of
the same nobleman ; the Earl of Essex, governor ; and
Hambden, tutor to the prince f .

What retarded the execution of these projected changes
was the difficulty of satisfying all those who, from their
activity and authority in Parliament, had pretensions for
offices, and who still had it in their power to embarrass
and distress the public measures. Their associates too in
popularity, whom the king intended to distinguish by his
favour, were unwilling to undergo the reproach of having
driven a separate bargain, and of sacrificing to their own
ambitious views the cause of the nation. And as they
were sensible, that they must owe their preferment
entirely to their weight and consideration in Parliament,
they were most of them resolved still to adhere to that
assembly, and both to promote its authority, and to pre-
serve their own credit in it. On all occasions, they had
no other advice to give the king, than to allow himself to
be directed by his great council ; or, in other words, to
resign himself passively to their guidance and government.

d Clarendon, vol. i. p. 195. e Warwick p. 95.

t Clarendon, vol. i. p. 210, 211.

CHARLES I. 29

And Charles found that, instead of acquiring friends by CHAP.
the honours and offices which he should bestow, he should
only arm his enemies with more power to hurt him. 1640

The end on which the king was most intent in chang-
ing ministers was, to save the life of the Earl of Strafford,
and to mollify, by these indulgences, the rage of his most
furious prosecutors. But so high was that nobleman's
reputation for experience and capacity, that all the new
counsellors and intended ministers plainly saw, that if he
escaped their vengeance, he must return into favour and
authority ; and they regarded his death as the only se-
curity which they could have, both for the establishment
of their present power, and for success in their future
enterprises. His impeachment, therefore, was pushed on
with the utmost vigour ; and after long and solemn pre-
parations was brought to a final issue.

Immediately after StrafFord was sequestered from Par- Stafford's
liament, and confined in the Tower, a committee of thir-
teen was chosen by the Lower House, and intrusted with
the office of preparing a charge against him. These, joined
to a small committee of Lords, were vested with authority
to examine all witnesses, to call for every paper, and to use
any means of scrutiny, with regard to any part of the
earl's behaviour and conducts After so general and un-
bounded an inquisition, exercised by such powerful and
implacable enemies, a man must have been very cautious
or very innocent, not to afford, during the whole course
of his life, some matter of accusation against him.

This committee, by direction from both Houses, took
an oath of secrecy ; a practice very unusual, and which
gave them the appearance of conspirators, more than
ministers of justice h . But the intention of this strictness,
was to render it more difficult for the earl to elude their
search, or prepare for his justification.

Application was made to the king, that he would allow
this committee to examine privy-counsellors with regard
to opinions delivered at the board : a concession which
Charles unwarily made, and which thenceforth banished
all mutual confidence from the deliberations of council :
where every man is supposed to have entire freedom with-
out fear of future punishment or inquiry, of proposing

Clarendon, vol. i. p. 192. h Whitlocke, p. 37.

30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, any expedient, questioning any opinion, or supporting

y argument 1 .

Sir George Ratcliffe, the earl's intimate friend and
confidant, was accused of high treason, sent for from Ire-
land, and committed to close custody. As no charge ever
appeared, or was prosecuted against him, it is impossible
to give a more charitable interpretation to this measure,
than that the Commons thereby intended to deprive
StrafFord, in his present distress, of the assistance of his
best friend, who was most enabled, by his testimony,
to justify the innocence of his patron's conduct and
behaviour k .

When intelligence arrived in Ireland of the plans laid
for Stafford's ruin, the Irish House of Commons, though
they had very lately bestowed ample praises on his ad-
ministration, entered into all the violent counsels against
him, and prepared a representation of the miserable state
into which, by his misconduct, they supposed the king-
dom to be fallen. They sent over a committee to London,
to assist in the prosecution of their unfortunate governor :
and by intimations from this committee, who entered into
close confederacy with the popular leaders in England,,
was every measure of the Irish Parliament governed and
directed. Impeachments, which were never prosecuted,
were carried up against Sir Richard Bolton, the chan-
cellor, Sir Gerard Louther, chief justice, and Bramhall,
Bishop of Derry 1 . This step, which was an exact coun-
terpart to the proceedings in England, served also the
same purposes: it deprived the king of the ministers
whom he most trusted ; it discouraged and terrified all
the other ministers ; and it prevented those persons who
were best acquainted with Strafford's counsels from giving
evidence in his favour before the English Parliament.

The bishops being forbidden by the ancient canons to
assist in trials for life, and being unwilling, by any oppo-
sition, to irritate the Commons, who were already much
prejudiced against them, thought proper, of themselves,
to withdraw m '. The Commons also voted that the new
created peers ought to have no voice in this trial; because
the accusation being agreed to while they were com-

Clarendon, vol. i. p. 193. k Idem, vol. i. p. 214.

1 Rushworth, vol. i. p. 214. m Clarendon, vol. i. p. 216.

CHARLES I. 31

moners, their consent to it was implied with that of all CHAP.
the Commons of England. Notwithstanding this decision,^ LIV '_,
which was meant only to deprive Straiford of so many 1640
friends, Lord Seymour, and some others, still continued
to keep their seat ; nor was their right to it any farther
questioned 11 .

To bestow the greater solemnity on this important trial,
scaffolds were erected in Westminster-hall ; where both
Houses sat, the one as accusers, the other as judges.
Besides the chair of state, a close gallery was prepared
for the king and queen, who attended during the whole
trial .

An accusation carried on by the united effort of three
kingdoms against one man, unprotected by power, un-
assisted by counsel, discountenanced by authority, was
likely to prove a very unequal contest : yet such were
the capacity, genius, presence of mind, displayed by this
magnanimous statesman, that while argument, and reason,
and law, had any place, he obtained an undisputed vic-
tory. And he perished at last, overwhelmed and still
unsubdued, by the open violence of his fierce and unre-
lenting antagonists.

The articles of impeachment against Strafford are ,, 164 J

, . , . March 22,

twenty-eight in number : and regard his conduct, as pre-
sident of the council of York, as deputy or lieutenant
of Ireland, and as counsellor or commander in England.
But though four months were employed by the managers
in framing the accusation, and all Strafford's answers
were extemporary, it appears from comparison, not only
that he was free from the crime of treason, of which
there is not the leaSt appearance, but that his conduct,
making allowance for human infirmities, exposed to such
severe scrutiny, was innocent, and even laudable.

The powers of the northern council, while he was pre-
sident, had been extended by the king's instructions be-
yond what formerly had been practised : but that court
being at first instituted by a stretch of royal prerogative,
it had been usual for the prince to vary his instructions ;
and the largest authority committed to it was altogether
as legal as the most moderate and most limited. Nor

n Clarendon, vol. i. p. 216.

Whitlocke, p. 40. Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 41. May, p. 90.

32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, was it reasonable to conclude that Strafford had used any
LIY ' art to procure those extensive powers ; since he never
1641 once sat as president, or exercised one act of jurisdiction,
after he was invested with the authority so much com-
plained of p .

In the government of Ireland, his administration had
been equally promotive of his master's interest, and that
of the subjects committed to his care. A large debt he
had paid off: he had left a considerable sum in the ex-
chequer ; the revenue, which never before answered the
charges of government, was now raised to be equal to
them q ; a small standing army, formerly kept in no order,
was augmented, and was governed by exact discipline ;
and a great force was there raised and paid, for the sup-
port of the king's authority against the Scottish cove-
nanters.

Industry, and all the arts of peace, were introduced
among that rude people ; the shipping of the kingdom
augmented a hundred-fold r ; the customs tripled upon
the same rates 8 ; the exports double in value to the im-
ports ; manufactures, particularly that of linen, introduced
and promoted*: agriculture, by means of the English and
Scottish plantations, gradually advancing; the Protestant
religion encouraged, without the persecution or discon-
tent of the Catholics.

The springs of authority he had enforced without over-
straining them. Discretionary acts of jurisdiction, indeed,
he had often exerted, by holding courts-martial, billeting
soldiers, deciding causes upon paper-petitions before the
council, issuing proclamations, and punishing their in-
fraction. But discretionary authority, during that age,
was usually exercised even in England. In Ireland, it
was still more requisite, among a rude people, not yet
thoroughly subdued, averse to the religion and manners
of their conquerors, ready on all occasions to relapse into
rebellion and disorder. While the managers of the Com-
mons demanded, every moment, that the deputy's conduct
should be examined by the line of rigid law and severe
principles, he appealed still to the practice of all former

P Eushworth, vol. iv. p. 145. q Ibid. p. 120. 247. Warwick, p. 115.

* Nalson, vol. ii. p. 45. s Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 124. * Warwick, p. 115.

CHARLES I. 33

deputies, and to the uncontrollable necessity of his CHAP.
situation. ^^-^^

So great was his art of managing elections and ba- 1641
lancing parties, that he had engaged the Irish Parliament
to vote whatever was necessary, both for the payment of
former debts, and for support of the new-levied army ;
nor had he ever been reduced to the illegal expedients
practised in England, for the supply of public necessities.
No imputation of rapacity could justly lie against his
administration. Some instances of imperious expressions,
and even actions, may be met with. The case of Lord
Mountnorris, of all those which were collected with so
much industry, is the most flagrant and the least ex-
cusable.

It had been reported at the table of Lord Chancellor
Loftus, that Annesley, one of the deputy's attendants, in
moving a stool, had sorely hurt his master's foot, who
was at that time afflicted with the gout. Perhaps, said
Mountnorris, who was present at table, it was done in
revenge of that public affront, tvhich my lord deputy for-
merly put upon Urn : BUT HE HAS A BROTHER WHO WOULD NOT
HAVE TAKEN SUCH A REVENGE. This casual, and seemingly
innocent, at least ambiguous, expression, was reported to
Strafford, who, on pretence that such a suggestion might
prompt Annesley to avenge himself in another manner,
ordered Mountnorris, who was an officer, to be tried by
a court-martial for mutiny and sedition against his gene-
ral. The court, which consisted of the chief officers of
the army, found the crime to be capital, and condemned
that nobleman to lose his head u .

In vain did StrafFord plead, in his own defence, against
this article of impeachment, that the sentence of Mount-
norris was the deed, and that too unanimous, of the court,
not the act of the deputy ; that he spake not to a mem-
ber of the court, nor voted in the cause, but sat uncovered
as a party, and then immediately withdrew, to leave them
to their freedom ; that, sensible of the iniquity of the
sentence, he procured his majesty's free pardon to Mount-
norris ; and that he did not even keep that nobleman a
moment in suspense with regard to his fate, but instantly
told him, that he himself would sooner lose his right

u Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 187.

34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, hand than execute such a sentence, nor was his lordship's
LIV- life in any danger. In vain did Stafford's friends add,
s ^^"' as a further apology, that Mountnorris was a man of an
infamous character, who paid court, by the lowest adu-
lation, to all deputies while present ; and blackened their
character, by the vilest calumnies, when recalled : and
that Strafford, expecting like treatment, had used this
expedient for no other purpose than to subdue the petu-
lant spirit of the man. These excuses alleviate the guilt ;
but there still remains enough to prove, that the mind of
the deputy, though great and firm, had been not a little
debauched by the riot of absolute power and uncontrolled
authority.

When Strafford was called over to England, he found
every thing fallen into such confusion, by the open re-
bellion of the Scots, and the secret discontents of the
English, that, if he had counselled or executed any vio-
lent measure, he might perhaps have been able to apolo-
gize for his conduct from the great law of necessity, which
admits not, while the necessity is extreme, of any scruple,
ceremony, or delay w . But, in fact, no illegal advice or
action was proved against him ; and the whole amount
of his guilt, during this period, was some peevish, or, at
most, imperious expressions, which, amidst such desperate
extremities, and during a bad state of health, had un-
happily fallen from him.

If Strafford's apology was, in the main, so satisfactory
when he pleaded to each particular article of the charge,
his victory was still more decisive when he brought the
whole together and repelled the imputation of treason ;
the crime which the Commons would infer from the full
view of his conduct and behaviour. Of all species of
guilt, the law of England had, with the most scrupulous
exactness, defined that of treason ; because on that side
it was found most necessary to protect the subject against
the violence of the king and of his ministers. In the
famous statute of Edward III. all the kinds of treason are
enumerated, and every other crime, besides such as are
there expressly mentioned, is carefully excluded from
that appellation. But with regard to this guilt, an en-
deavour to subvert the fundamental laivs, the statute of

w Buslrworth, vol. iv. p. 559.

CHARLES I.

1641.

treasons is totally silent ; , and arbitrarily to introduce it CHAP.
into the fatal catalogue is itself a subversion of all
and, under colour of defending liberty, reverses a statute
the best calculated for the security of liberty that had
ever been enacted by an English Parliament.

As this species of treason, discovered by the Commons,
is entirely new and unknown to the laws, so is the spe-
cies of proof by which they pretend to fix that guilt
upon the prisoner. They have invented a kind of accu-
mulative, or constructive evidence, by which many actions,
either totally innocent in themselves, or criminal in a
much inferior degree, shall, when united, amount to
treason, and subject the person to the highest penalties
inflicted by the law. A hasty and unguarded word, a
rash and passionate action, assisted by the malevolent
fancy of the accuser, and tortured by doubtful construc-
tions, is transmuted into the deepest guilt ; and the lives
and fortunes of the whole nation, no longer protected by
justice, are subjected to arbitrary will and pleasure.

"Where has this species of guilt lain so long con-
cealed? "said Strafford in conclusion: "where has this
fire been so long buried, during so many centuries, that
no smoke should appear till it burst out at once, to con-
sume me and my children ? Better it were to live under
no law at all, and, by the maxim of cautious prudence,
to conform ourselves, the best we can, to the arbitrary
will of a master, than fancy we have a law on which we
can rely, and find at last that this law shall inflict a
punishment precedent to the promulgation, and try us
by maxims unheard of till the very moment of the pro-
secution. If I sail on the Thames, and split my vessel on
an anchor ; in case there be no buoy to give warning,
the party shall pay me damages ; but if the anchor be
marked out, then is the striking on it at my own peril.
Where is the mark set upon this crime ? where the token
by which I should discover it ? It has lain concealed
under water ; and no human prudence, no human inno-
cence, could save me from the destruction with which
I am at present threatened.

"It is now full two hundred and forty years since
treasons were defined ; and so long has it been since any
man was touched to this extent upon this crime, before

36 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, myself. We have lived, my lords, happily to ourselves
<J^^, at home ; we have lived gloriously abroad to the world :
1641 let us be content with what our fathers have left us ; let
not our ambition carry us to be more learned than they
were, in these killing and destructive arts. Great wisdom
it will be in your lordships, and just providence, for your-
selves, for your posterities, for the whole kingdom, to
cast from you, into the fire, these bloody and mysterious
volumes of arbitrary and constructive treasons, as the
primitive Christians did their books of curious arts, and
betake yourselves to the plain letter of the statute, which
tells you where the crime is, and points out to you the
path by which you may avoid it.

"Let us not, to our own destruction, awake those
sleeping lions, by rattling up a company of old records,
which have lain for so many ages, by the wall, forgotten
and neglected. To all my afflictions, add not this, my
lords, the most severe of any ; that I for my other sins,
not for my treasons, be the means of introducing a pre-
cedent so pernicious to the laws and liberties of my
native country.

" However, these gentlemen at the bar say they speak
for the commonwealth, and they believe so ; yet, under
favour, it is I who, in this particular, speak for the com-
monwealth. Precedents, like those which are endea-
voured to be established against me, must draw along
such inconveniences and miseries, that, in a few years,
the kingdom will be .in the condition expressed in a
statute of Henry IV., and no man shall know by what
rule to govern his words and actions.

" Impose not, my lords, difficulties insurmountable
upon ministers of state, nor disable them from serving
with cheerfulness their king and country. If you ex-
amine them, and under such severe penalties, by every
grain, by every little weight, the scrutiny will be intole-
rable. The public affairs of the kingdom must be left
waste ; and no wise man, who has any honour or fortune
to lose, will ever engage himself in such dreadful, such
unknown perils.

" My lords, I have now troubled your lordships a great
deal ^ longer than I should have done. Were it not for
the interest of these pledges, which a saint in heaven

CHARLES I. 37

left me, I should be loth " Here he pointed to his chil- CHAP.
dren, and his weeping stopped him "What I forfeit for LIV-
myself, it is nothing: but I confess, that my indiscretion ^^7*"
should forfeit for them, it wounds me very deeply. You
will be pleased to pardon my infirmity : something I
should have said ; but I see I shall not be able, and there-
fore I shall leave it.

" And now, my lords, I thank God, I have been, by
his blessing, sufficiently instructed in the extreme vanity
of all temporary enjoyments, compared to the import-
ance of our eternal duration. And so, my lords, even
so, with all humility, and with all tranquillity of mind, I
submit, clearly and freely, to your judgments : and whether
that righteous doom shall be to life or death, I shall re-
pose myself, full of gratitude and confidence, in the arms
of the great Author of my existence x ."

Certainly, says Whitlocke 7 , with his usual candour,
never any man acted such a part, on such a theatre, ivith
more ivisdom, constancy, and eloquence, ivith greater reason,
judgment, and temper, and with a letter grace in all his
ivords and actions, than did this great and excellent per-
son ; and he moved the hearts of all his auditors, some few
excepted, to remorse and pity. It is remarkable, that the
historian, who expresses himself in these terms, was him-
self chairman of that committee which conducted the
impeachment against this unfortunate statesman. The
accusation and defence lasted eighteen days. The mana-
gers divided the several articles among them, and at-
tacked the prisoner with all the weight of authority,
with all the vehemence of rhetoric, with all the accuracy
of long preparation. Strafford was obliged to speak with
deference and reserve towards his most inveterate ene-
mies, the Commons, the Scottish nation, and the Irish
Parliament. He took only a very short time, on each
article, to recollect himself: yet he alone, without assist-
ance, mixing modesty and humility with firmness and
vigour, made such a defence, that the Commons saw it
impossible, by a legal prosecution, ever to obtain a sen-
tence against him.

But the death of Strafford was too important a stroke
of party to be left unattempted by any expedient, how-

* Eushworth, vol. iv. p. 659, &c. y Page 41.

VOL. V. 4

38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, ever extraordinary. Besides the great genius and autlio-
LIV- rity of that minister, he had threatened some of the
^"^^7^ popular leaders with an impeachment ; and had he not,
himself, been suddenly prevented by the impeachment
of the Commons, he had, that very day, it was thought,
charged Pym, Hambden, and others, with treason, for
having invited the Scots to invade England. A bill of
attainder was therefore brought into the Lower House
immediately after finishing these pleadings : and prepa-
ratory to it, a new proof of the earl's guilt was produced,
in order to remove such scruples as might be entertained
with regard to a method of proceeding so unusual and
irregular.

Sir Henry Vane, secretary, had taken some notes of a
debate in council after the dissolution of the last Par-
liament ; and being at a distance, he had sent the keys
of his cabinet, as was pretended, to his son, Sir Henry,
in order to search for some papers, which were necessary
for completing a marriage settlement. Young Yane, fall-
ing upon this paper of notes, deemed the matter of the
utmost importance : and immediately communicated it
to Pym, who now produced the paper before the House
of Commons. The question before the council was, offen-
sive or defensive ivar with the Scots. The king proposes
this difficulty, " But how can I undertake offensive war,
if I have no more money?" The answer ascribed to
Strafford was in these words : " Borrow of the city a
hundred thousand pounds : go on vigorously to levy ship-
money. Your majesty having tried the affections of your
people, you are absolved and loose from all rules of
government, and may do what power will admit. Your
majesty, having tried all ways, shall be acquitted before
God and man. And you have an army in Ireland, which
you may employ to reduce THIS kingdom to obedience ;
for I am confident the Scots cannot hold out five months."
There followed some counsels of Laud and Cottington,
equally violent, with regard to the king's being absolved
from all rules of government 2 .

This paper, with all the circumstances of its discovery
and communication, was pretended to be equivalent to
two witnesses, and to be an unanswerable proof of those

z Clarendon, vol. i. p. 223. 229, 230, &c. Whitlocke, p. 41. May, p. 93.

CHARLES I. 39

pernicious counsels of Strafford, which tended to the CHAP.
subversion of the laws and constitution. It was replied, __ L *J'_;
by Strafford and his friends, that old Vane was his most 1641
inveterate and declared enemy; and if the secretary
himself, as was by far most probable, had willingly deli-
vered to his son this paper of notes, to be communicated .
to Pym, this implied such a breach of oaths and of trust
as rendered him totally unworthy of all credit : that the
secretary's deposition was at first exceedingly dubious :
upon two examinations, he could not remember any
such words ; even the third time, his testimony was not
positive, but imported only that Strafford had spoken
such or such-like words : and words may be very like in
sound, and differ much in sense ; nor ought the lives of
men to depend upon grammatical criticisms of any ex-
pressions, much less of those which had been delivered
by the speaker without premeditation, and committed
by the hearer for any time, however short, to the uncer-
tain record of memory. That in the present case, chang-
ing this kingdom into that kingdom, a very slight altera-
tion ! the earl's discourse could regard nothing but Scot-
land, and implies no advice unworthy of an English
counsellor. That even retaining the expression, this Icing-
dom, the words may fairly be understood of Scotland,
which alone was the kingdom that the debate regarded,
and which alone had thrown off allegiance, and could be
reduced to obedience. That it could be proved, as well
by the evidence of all the king's ministers, as by the
known disposition of the forces, that the intention never
was to land the Irish army in England but in Scotland.
That of six other counsellors present, Laud and Winde-
bank could give no evidence ; Northumberland, Hamilton,
Cottington, and Juxon, could recollect no such expres-
sion ; and the advice was too remarkable to be easily
forgotten. That it was nowise probable such a despe-
rate counsel would be openly delivered at the board, and
before Northumberland, a person of that high rank, and
whose attachments to the court were so much weaker
than his connexions with the country. That though
Northumberland, and he alone, had recollected some
such expression as that of being absolved from rides of
government, yet in such desperate extremities as those into

40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, which the king and kingdom were then fallen, a maxim
_J^^ of that nature, allowing it to be delivered by Stafford,
^J^'' may be defended upon principles the most favourable to
law and liberty. And that nothing could be more ini-
quitous, than to extract an accusation of treason from an
opinion simply proposed at the council-table, where all
freedom of debate ought to be permitted, and where it
was not unusual for the members, in order to draw forth
the sentiments of others, to propose counsels very remote
from their own secret advice and judgment a .

Bin of The evidence of Secretary Vane, though exposed to
r ' such insurmountable objections, was the real cause of
Stafford's unhappy fate ; and made the bill of attainder
pass the Commons with no greater opposition than that
of fifty-nine dissenting votes. But there remained two
other branches of the legislature, the King and the Lords,
whose assent was requisite ; and these, if left to their
free judgment, it w r as easily foreseen, would reject the
bill without scruple or deliberation. To overcome this
difficulty, the popular leaders employed expedients, for
which they were beholden partly to their own industry,
partly to the indiscretion of their adversaries.

Next Sunday after the bill passed the Commons, the
puritanical pulpits resounded with declamations concern-
ing the necessity of executing justice upon great delin-
quents b . The populace took the alarm. About six thou-
sand men, armed with swords and cudgels, flocked, from
the city, and surrounded the Houses of Parliament .
The names of the fifty-nine Commoners who had voted
against the bill of attainder were posted up under the
title of jStrq/'ordians, and betrayers of their country. These
were exposed to all the insults of the ungovernable mul-
titude. When any of the Lords passed, the cry for jus-
tice against Strafford resounded in their ears ; and such
as were suspected of friendship to that obnoxious minis-
ter were sure to meet with menaces not unaccompanied
with symptoms of the most desperate resolutions in the
furious populace d .

Complaints in the House of Commons being made
against these violences, as the most flagrant breach of

a Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 560. b Whitlocke, p. 43. c Idem, ibid,

a Clarendon, vol. i. p. 232. 256. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 248. 1279.

CHARLES I. 41

privilege, the ruling members, by their affected coolness CHAP.
and indifference, showed plainly that the popular tumults LIV> ,
were not disagreeable to them 6 . But a new discovery, ^""^7"
made about this time, served to throw every thing into
still greater flame and combustion.

Some principal officers, Piercy, Jermyn, O'Neale,
Goring, Wilmot, Pollard, Ashburnham, partly attached
to the court, partly disgusted with the Parliament, had
formed a plan of engaging into the king's service the
English army, whom they observed to be displeased at
some marks of preference given by the Commons to the
Scots. For this purpose, they entered into an association,
took an oath of secrecy, and kept a close correspondence
with some of the king's servants. The .form of a peti-
tion to the king and Parliament was concerted ; and it
was intended to get this petition subscribed by the army.
The petitioners there represent the great and unexam-
pled concessions made by the king for the security of
public peace and liberty ; the endless demands of certain
insatiable and turbulent spirits, whom nothing less will
content than a total subversion of the ancient constitu-
tion ; the frequent tumults which these factious male-
contents had excited, and which endangered the liberty
of Parliament. To prevent these mischiefs, the army
offered to come up and guard that assembly. " So shall
the nation," as they express themselves in the conclu-
sion, a not only be vindicated from preceding innovations,
but be secured from the future, which are threatened,
and which are likely to produce more dangerous effects
than the former f ." The draught of this petition being
conveyed to the king, he was prevailed on somewhat im-
prudently to countersign it himself, as a mark of his ap-
probation. But as several difficulties occurred, the pro-
ject was laid aside two months before any public discovery
was made of it.

It was Goring who betrayed the secret to the popular
leaders. The alarm may easily be imagined which this
intelligence conveyed. Petitions from the military to the
civil power are always looked on as disguised, or rather
undisguised commands ; and are of a nature widely dif-
ferent from petitions presented by any other rank of men.

e Whitlocke, ut supra. f Clarendon, vol. i. p. 247. Whitlocke, p. 43.

42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. Pym opened the matter in the House g . On the first
intimation of a discovery, Piercy concealed himself, and
Jermyn withdrew beyond sea. This farther confirmed the
suspicion of a dangerous conspiracy. Goring delivered
his evidence before the House : Piercy wrote a letter to
his brother Northumberland, confessing most of the par-
ticulars h . Both their testimonies agree with regard to the
oath of secrecy ; and as this circumstance had been denied
by Pollard, Ashburnham, and Wilmot, in all their ex-
aminations, it was regarded as a new proof of some des-
perate resolutions which had been taken.

To convey more quickly the terror and indignation at
this plot, the Commons voted that a protestation should
be signed by all the members. It was sent up to the
Lords, and signed by all of them, except Southampton
and Robarts. Orders were given by the Commons alone,
without other authority, that it should be subscribed by
the whole nation. The protestation was in itself very
inoffensive, even insignificant, and contained nothing but
general declarations, that the subscribers would defend
their religion and liberties 1 ; but it tended to increase the
popular panic, and intimated, what was more expressly
declared in the preamble, that these blessings were now
exposed to the utmost peril.

Alarms were every day given of new conspiracies 11 :
in Lancashire, great multitudes of Papists were assem-
bling : secret meetings were held by them in caves and
underground, in Surrey : they had entered into a plot to
blow up the river with gunpowder, in order to drown the
city 1 : provisions of arms were making beyond sea : some-
times France, sometimes Denmark, was forming designs
against the kingdom ; and the populace, who are always
terrified with present, and enraged with distant dangers,
were still farther animated in their demands of justice
against the unfortunate Strafford.

The king came to the House of Lords ; and though he
expressed his resolution, for which he offered them any
security, never again to employ StrafFord in any branch
of public business, he professed himself totally dissatisfied

E Rushworlh, vol. v. p. 240. h Idem, ibid. p. 255.

i Clarendon, vol. i. p. 252. Rushw. vol. v. p. 241. Warwick, p. 180.

* Dugdal. p. 69. Franklyn, p. 901. 1 Sir Edward Walker, p. 349.

CHARLES I. 43

with regard to the circumstance of treason, and on that CHAP.
account declared his difficulty in giving his assent to the v _J J ' V 'j i _ j>
bill of attainder. The Commons took fire, and voted it 1641
a breach of privilege for the king to take notice of any
bill depending before the Houses. Charles did not per-
ceive that his attachment to Strafford was the chief
motive for the bill ; and that the greater proofs he gave
of anxious concern for this minister, the more inevitable
did he render his destruction.

About eighty peers had constantly attended Strafford's
trial ; but such apprehensions were entertained on account
of the popular tumults, that only forty-five were present
when the bill of attainder was brought into the House :
yet, of these, nineteen had the courage to vote against
it n ; a certain proof that if entire freedom had been
allowed, the bill had been rejected by a great majority.

In carrying up the bill to the Lords, St. John, the
solicitor-general, advanced two topics, well suited to the
fury of the times ; that though the testimony against
Strafford were not clear, yet, in this way of bill, private
satisfaction to each man's conscience was sufficient, even
should no evidence at all be produced ; and that the earl
had no title to plead law, because he had broken the law.
It is true, added he, we give law to hares and deer ; for
they are beasts of chase. But it was never accounted
either cruel or unfair to destroy foxes or wolves wher-
ever they can be found, for they are beasts of prey .

After popular violence had prevailed over the Lords, the
same battery was next applied to force the king's assent.
The populace flocked about Whitehall, and accompanied
their demand of justice with the loudest clamours and
most open menaces. Rumours of conspiracies against the
Parliament were anew spread abroad ; invasions and insur-
rections talked of; and the whole nation was raised into
such a ferment as threatened some great and imminent
convulsion. On whichever side the king cast his eyes, he
saw no resource or security. All his servants, consulting
their own safety, rather than their master's honour, de-
clined interposing with their advice between him and his
Parliament. The queen, terrified with the appearance of

m Rushworth, vol. v. p. 239. n Whitlocke, p. 43.

Clarendon, vol. i. p. 232.

44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, so mighty a danger, and bearing formerly no good- will to
Strafford, was in tears, and pressed him to satisfy his
people in this demand, which, it was hoped, would finally
content them. Juxon alone, whose courage was not
inferior to his other virtues, ventured to advise him, if in
his conscience he did not approve of the bill, by no
means to assent to it p .

StrafFord, hearing of Charles's irresolution and anxiety,
took a very extraordinary step : he wrote a letter, in
which he entreated the king, for the sake of public peace,
to put an end to his unfortunate, however innocent, life,
and to quiet the tumultuous people by granting them
the request for which they were so importunate q . " In
this," added he, "my consent will more acquit you to God
than all the world can do besides. To a willing man
there is no injury. And as, by God's grace, I forgive all
the world with a calmness and meekness of infinite con-
tentment to my dislodging soul ; so, sir, to you I can re-
sign the life of this world with all imaginable cheerful-
ness, in the just acknowledgment of your exceeding
favours." Perhaps Strafford hoped that this unusual
instance of generosity would engage the king still more
strenuously to protect him ; perhaps he gave his life for
lost ; and finding himself in the hands of his enemies, and
observing that Balfour, the lieutenant of the Tower, was
devoted to the popular party 1 , he absolutely despaired of
ever escaping the multiplied dangers with which he was
every way environed. We might ascribe this step to a
noble effort of disinterestedness, not unworthy the great
mind of Strafford, if the measure which he advised had
not been, in the event, as pernicious to his master as it
was immediately fatal to himself 8 .

After the most violent anxiety and doubt, Charles at
last granted a commission to four noblemen to give the
royal assent, in his name, to the bill ; flattering himself,
probably, in this extremity of distress, that as neither his
will consented to the deed, nor was his hand immediately
engaged in it, he was the more free from all the guilt
w r hich attended it. These commissioners he empowered,

P Clarendon, vol. i. p. 257. Warwick, p. 160.
q Clarendon, vol. i. p. 258. Rushw. vol. v. p. 251.
r Whitlocke, p. 44. Franklyn, p. 896.
6 See note [A], at the end of the volume.

CHARLES I.

at the same time, to give his assent to the bill which ren- CHAP.
dered the Parliament perpetual.

The Commons, from policy, rather than necessity, had
embraced the expedient of paying the two armies by
borrowing money from the city ; and these loans they
had repaid afterwards by taxes levied upon the people.
The citizens, either of themselves or by suggestion,
began to start difficulties with regard to a farther loan
that was demanded. We make no scruple of trusting
the Parliament, said they,were we certain that the Par-
liament were to continue till our repayment. But in the
present precarious situation of affairs, what security can
be given us for our money ? In pretence of obviating
this objection, a bill was suddenly brought into the House,
and passed with great unanimity and rapidity, that the
Parliament should not be dissolved, prorogued, or ad-
journed, without their own consent. It was hurried in
like manner through the House of Peers, and was in-
stantly carried to the king for his assent. Charles, in the
agony of grief, shame, and remorse, for Strafford's doom,
perceived not that this other bill was of still more fatal
consequence to his authority, and rendered the power of
his enemies perpetual, as it was already uncontrollable*.
In comparison of the bill of attainder, by which he
deemed himself an accomplice in his friend's murder,
this concession made no figure in his eyes u : a circum-
stance which, if it lessen our idea of his resolution or
penetration, serves to prove the integrity of his heart,
and the goodness of his disposition. It is indeed certain,
that strong compunction for his consent to Strafford's ex-
ecution attended this unfortunate prince during the re-
mainder of his life : and even at his own fatal end, the
memory of this guilt, with great sorrow and remorse,
recurred upon him. All men were so sensible of the
extreme violence which was done him, that he suffered
the less both in character and interest from this unhappy
measure ; and though he abandoned his best friend, yet
was he still able to preserve, in some degree, the attach-
ment of all his adherents.

Secretary Carleton was sent by the king to inform

* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 261, 262. Rushwoi'th, vol. v. p. 264.
u See note [B], at the end of the volume.

46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. Stratford of the final resolution which necessity had ex-
iJ^J'^ torted from him. The earl seemed surprised, and start-
i64i. i n g U P> exclaimed, in the words of scripture, Put not your
trust in princes, nor in the sons of men ; for in them there is
no salvation. He was soon able, however, to collect his
courage ; and he prepared himself to suffer the fatal
sentence. Only three days' interval was allowed him.
The king, who made a new effort in his behalf, and sent,
by the hands of the young prince, a letter addressed to the
Peers, in which he entreated them to confer with the Com-
mons about a mitigation of Strafford's sentence, and
begged at least for some delay, was refused in both requests x .
of X straf? n Strafford, in passing from his apartment to Tower-hill,
ford. where the scaffold was erected, stopped under Laud's
windows, with whom he had long lived in intimate friend-
ship ; and entreated the assistance of his prayers, in those
awful moments which were approaching : the aged pri-
mate dissolved in tears ; and having pronounced, with a
broken voice, a tender blessing on his departing friend,
sunk into the arms of his attendants 7 . Strafford, still
superior to his fate, moved on with an elated coun-
tenance, and with an air even of greater dignity than
what usually attended him. He wanted that consolation
which commonly supports those who perish by the stroke
of injustice and oppression: he was not buoyed up
by glory, nor by the affectionate compassion of the
spectators. Yet his mind, erect and undaunted, found
resources within itself, and maintained its unbroken re-
solution, amidst the terrors of death, and the triumphant
exultations of his misguided enemies. His discourse on
the scaffold was full of decency and courage. " He feared,"
he said, " that the omen was bad for the intended refor-
mation of the state, that it commenced with the shedding
of innocent blood." Having bid a last adieu to his brother
and friends who attended him, and having sent a blessing
to his nearer relations who were absent; "And now,"
said he, " I have nigh done ! One stroke will make my
wife a widow, my dear children fatherless, deprive my
poor servants of their indulgent master, and separate me
from my affectionate brother and all my friends ! But
let God be to you and them all in all ! " Going to dis-

w Wliitlocke, p. 44. * Kushw. vol. v. p. 265. y Nalson, vol. ii. p. 198.

CHARLES I.

robe, and prepare himself for the block, " I thank God," CHAP.
said he, " that I am nowise afraid of death, nor am daunted ,_ LIV '_
with any terrors ; but do as cheerfully lay down my head 1641
at this time, as ever I did when going to repose ! " With
one blow was a period put to his life by the executioner 2 .

Thus perished, in the forty-ninth year of his age, the
Earl of StrafFord, one of the most eminent personages
that has appeared in England. Though his death was
loudly demanded as a satisfaction to justice, and an atone-
ment for the many violations of the constitution, it may
safely be affirmed, that the sentence by which he fell was
an enormity greater than the worst of those which his
implacable enemies prosecuted with so much cruel in-
dustry. The people in their rage had totally mistaken
the proper object of their resentment. All the necessities,
or more properly speaking, the difficulties, by which the
king had been induced to use violent expedients for
raising supply, were the result of measures previous to
StrafFord's favour ; and if they arose from ill conduct, he,
at least, was entirely innocent. Even those violent ex-
pedients themselves, which occasioned the complaint that
the constitution was subverted, had been, all of them,
conducted, so far as appeared, without his counsel or as-
sistance. And whatever his private advice might be a ,
this salutary maxim he failed not, often and publicly, to
inculcate in the king's presence, that if any inevitable
necessity ever obliged the sovereign to violate the laws,
this licence ought to be practised with extreme reserve,
and, as soon as possible, a just atonement be made to the
constitution, for any injury which it might sustain from
such dangerous precedents 15 . The first Parliament after
the restoration reversed the bill of attainder ; and even
a few weeks after StrafFord's execution, this very Parlia-
ment remitted to his children the more severe conse-
quences of his sentence, as if conscious of the violence
with which the prosecution had been conducted.

In vain did Charles expect, as a return for so many
instances of unbounded compliance, that the Parliament

* Eushworth, vol. v. p. 267.

a That Straftbrcl was secretly no enemy to arbitrary counsels, appears from some
of his letters and despatches, particularly vol. ii. p. 60, where he seems to wish tha<;
a standing army were established.

1> Kushworth, vol. iv. p. 567, 568, 569, 570.

48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

would at last show him some indulgence, and would
.cordially fall into that unanimity, to which, at the ex-
1641 pense of his own power, and of his friend's life, he so
earnestly courted them. All his concessions were poi-
soned by their suspicion of his want of cordiality ; and
the supposed attempt to engage the army against them
served with many as a confirmation of this jealousy. It
was natural for the king to seek some resource, while all
the world seemed to desert him, or combine against him ;
and this probably was the utmost of that embryo scheme
which was formed with regard to the army. But the
popular leaders still insisted, that a desperate plot was
laid to bring up the forces immediately, and offer vio-
lence to the Parliament : a design of which Piercy's
evidence acquits the king, and which the near neighbour-
hood of the Scottish army seems to render absolutely im-
practicable c . By means, however, of these suspicions, was
the same implacable spirit still kept alive ; and the Com-
mons, without giving the king any satisfaction in the set-
tlement of his revenue, proceeded to carry their inroads
with great vigour into his now defenceless prerogative d .
High com- The two ruling passions of this Parliament were zeal
anTstar- for liberty, and an aversion to the church ; and to both
c t a ??ker o f these nothing could appear more exceptionable than

abolished. , PI- i r ,-., i j

the court of high commission, whose institution rendered
it entirely arbitrary, and assigned to it the defence of
the ecclesiastical establishment. The star-chamber also
was a court which exerted high discretionary powers ;
and had no precise rule or limit, either with regard to
the causes which came under its jurisdiction, or the
decisions which it formed. A bill unanimously passed
the Houses to abolish these two courts ; and in them to
annihilate the principal and most dangerous articles of
the king's prerogative. By the same bill, the jurisdiction
of the council was regulated, and its authority abridged 6 .

was pro-
who were in

c The project of bringing up the army to London, according to Piercy,
posed to the king ; but he rejected it as foolish : because the Scots, win
arms, and lying in their neighbourhood, must be at London as soon as the English
army. This reason is so solid and convincing, that it leaves no room to doubt of
the veracity of Piercy's evidence ; and consequently acquits the king of this terrible
plot of bringing up the army, which made such a noise at the time, and was a pre-
tence for so many violences.

d Clarendon, vol. i. p. 266.

Idem, ibid. p. 283, 284. Whitlocke, p. 47. Rush-worth, vol. iii. p. 1383, 1384.

CHARLES I. 49

Charles hesitated before he gave his assent. But finding CHAP.
that he had gone too far to retreat, and that he possessed, _ L ^J'_v
no resource in case of a rupture, he at last affixed the 1G41
royal sanction to this excellent bill. But to show the
Parliament that he was sufficiently apprized of the im-
portance of his grant, he observed to them, that this
statute altered in a great measure the fundamental laws,
ecclesiastical and civil, which many of his predecessors
had established f .

By removing the star-chamber, the king's power of
binding the people by his proclamations was indirectly
abolished ; and that important branch of prerogative, the
strong symbol of arbitrary power, and unintelligible in
a limited constitution, being at last removed, left the
system of government more consistent and uniform.
The star-chamber alone was accustomed to punish in-
fractions of the king's edicts : but as no courts of judi-
cature now remained, except those in Westminster-hall,
which take cognizance only of common and statute law,
the king may thenceforth issue proclamations, but no man
is bound to obey them. It must, however, be confessed,
that the experiment here made by the Parliament was
not a little rash and adventurous. No government at
that time appeared in the world, nor is perhaps to be
found in the records of any history, which subsisted with-
out the mixture of some arbitrary authority, committed
to some magistrate ; and it might, reasonably, before-
hand, appear doubtful, whether human society could
ever reach that state of perfection as to support itself
with no other control than the general and rigid maxims
of law and equity. But the Parliament justly thought,
that the king was too eminent a magistrate to be trusted
with discretionary power, which he might so easily turn
to the destruction of liberty. And in the event it has
hitherto been found, that though some sensible incon-
veniences arise from the maxim of adhering strictly to
law, yet the advantages overbalance them, and should
render the English grateful to the memory of their an-
cestors, who, after repeated contests, at last established
that noble though dangerous principle.

At the request of the Parliament, Charles, instead of

f Rushworth, vol. y. p. 307.
VOL. V. 5

50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the patents during pleasure, gave all the judges patents

LIV - during their good behaviour g : a circumstance of the

^^^ greatest moment towards securing their independency,

and barring the entrance of arbitrary power into the

ordinary courts of judicature.

The marshal's court, which took cognizance of offen-
sive words, and was not thought sufficiently limited by
law, was also, for that reason, abolished h . The stannary
courts, which exercised jurisdiction over the miners,
being liable to a like objection, underwent a like fate.
The abolition of the council of the North and the council
of Wales followed from the same principles. The autho-
rity of the clerk of the market, who had a general in-
spection over the weights and measures throughout the
kingdom, was transferred to the mayors, sheriffs, and
ordinary magistrates.

In short, if we take a survey of the transactions of
this memorable Parliament, during the first period of its
operations, we shall find that, excepting Stafford's at-
tainder, which was a complication of cruel iniquity, their
merits in other respects so much outweigh their mistakes,
as to entitle them to praise from all lovers of liberty.
Not only were former abuses remedied, and griev-
ances redressed : great provision, for the future, was
made by law against the return of like complaints. And
if the means by which they obtained such advantages
savour often of artifice, sometimes of violence, it is to be
considered, that revolutions of government cannot be
effected by the mere force of argument and reasoning ;
and that factions being once excited, men can neither so
firmly regulate the tempers of others, nor their own, as
to ensure themselves against all exorbitances.

The Parliament now came to a pause. The king had
promised his Scottish subjects that he would this summer
pay them a visit, in order to settle their government ;
anc ^ though the English Parliament was very importu-
nate with him, that he should lay aside that journey,
they could not prevail with him so much as to delay it.
As he must necessarily in his journey have passed through
the troops of both nations, the Commons seem to have
entertained great jealousy on that account, and to have

g May, p. 107. h Nalson, vol. i. p. 778.

CHARLES I. 51

now hurried on, as much as they formerly delayed, the CHAP.
disbanding of the armies. The arrears therefore of the LIV>
Scots were fully paid them, and those of the English in ^J^^
part. The Scots returned home, and the English were
separated into their several counties, and dismissed.

After this the Parliament adjourned to the 20th of 9th Sept.
October ; and a committee of both Houses, a thing un-
precedented, was appointed to sit during the recess with
very ample powers 1 . Pym was elected chairman of the
committee of the Lower House. Farther attempts were
made by the Parliament, while it sat, and even by the
Commons alone, for assuming sovereign executive powers,
and publishing their ordinances, as they called them,
instead of laws. The committee too, on their part, was
ready to imitate the example.

A small committee of both Houses was appointed to
attend the king into Scotland, in order, as was pretended,
to see that the articles of pacification were executed but
really to be spies upon him, and extend still farther the
ideas of parliamentary authority, as well as eclipse the >
majesty of the king. The Earl of Bedford, Lord Howard,
Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Armyne, Fiennes, and
Hambden, were the persons chosen k .

Endeavours were used, before Charles's departure, to
have a protector of the kingdom appointed, with a power
to pass laws without having recourse to the king. So
little regard was now paid to royal authority, or to the
established constitution of the kingdom.

Amidst the great variety of affairs which occurred
during this busy period, we have almost overlooked the
marriage of the Princess Mary with William, Prince of
Orange. The king concluded not this alliance without
communicating his intentions to the Parliament, who
received the proposal with satisfaction 1 . This was the
commencement of the connexions with the family of
Orange : connexions which were afterwards attended
with the most important consequences, both to the king-
dom and to the house of Stuart.

i Eushworth, vol. v. p. 387 k Jbicl. p. 376.

1 Whitlocke, p. 38.

52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER LY.

SETTLEMENT OF SCOTLAND. CONSPIRACY IN IRELAND. INSURRECTION AND
MASSACRE. MEETING or THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT. THE REMON-
STRANCE. REASONS ON BOTH SIDES. IMPEACHMENT OF THE BISHOPS.
ACCUSATION OF THE FIVE MEMBERS. TUJIULTS. KING LEAVES LONDON.
ARRIVES IN YORK. PREPARATIONS FOR CIVIL WAR.

CHAP. rp HE g co ^ s? ^Q "began these fatal commotions, thought
v^-v-^ that they had finished a very perilous undertaking, much
i64i. to their profit and reputation. Besides the large pay
voted them for lying in good quarters during a twelve-
month, the English Parliament had conferred on them
a present of three hundred thousand pounds for their
brotherly assistance a . In the articles of pacification,
they were declared to have ever been good subjects ; and
their military expeditions were approved of, as enterprises
calculated and intended for his majesty's honour and ad-
vantage. To carry farther their triumph over their sove-
reign, these terms, so ignominious to him, were ordered,
by a vote of Parliament, to be read in all churches, upon
a day of thanksgiving, appointed for the national pacifi-
cation 13 : all their claims for the restriction of prerogative
were agreed to be ratified : and what they more valued
than all these advantages, they had a near prospect of
spreading the presbyterian discipline in England and
Ireland, from the seeds which they had scattered of their
religious principles. Never did refined Athens so exult
in diffusing the sciences and liberal arts over a savage
world ; never did generous Rome so please herself in the
view of law and order established by her victorious arms ;
as the Scots now rejoiced in communicating their barba-
rous zeal and theological fervour to the neighbouring
nations.

sttd<Mt Charles, despoiled in England of a considerable part

of Scot- of his authority, and dreading still farther encroachments

upon him, arrived in Scotland, with an intention of ab-

a Nalson, vol. i. p. 747. May, p. 104.

& Rushworth, vol. v. p. 365. " Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 293.

CHARLES I. 53

dicating almost entirely the small share of power which CHAP.
there remained to him, and of giving full satisfaction, if ^^*' _j
possible, to his restless subjects in that kingdom. 1641

The lords of articles were an ancient institution in the
Scottish Parliament. They were constituted after this
manner. The temporal lords chose eight bishops : the
bishops elected eight temporal lords : these sixteen named
eight commissioners of counties, and eight burgesses : and
without the previous consent of the thirty-two who were
denominated lords of articles, no motion could be made
in Parliament. As the bishops were entirely devoted to
the court, it is evident that all the lords of articles, by
necessary consequence, depended on the king's nomina-
tion ; and the prince, besides one negative after the bills
had passed through Parliament, possessed indirectly an-
other before their introduction ; a prerogative of much
greater consequence than the former. The bench of
bishops being now abolished, the Parliament laid hold
of the opportunity, and totally set aside the lords of
articles : and, till this important point was obtained, the
nation, properly speaking, could not be said to enjoy any
regular freedom .

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding this institution,
to which there was no parallel in England, the royal au-
thority was always deemed much lower in Scotland than
in the former kingdom. Bacon represents it as one ad-
vantage to be expected from the union, that the too ex-
tensive prerogative of England would be abridged by the
example of Scotland, and the too narrow prerogative of
Scotland be enlarged from the imitation of England.
The English were, at that time, a civilized people, and
obedient to the laws: but among the Scots, it was of little
consequence how the laws were framed, or by whom voted,
while the exorbitant aristocracy had it so much in their
power to prevent their regular execution.

The Peers and Commons formed only one House in
the Scottish Parliament; and as it had been the prac-
tice of James, continued by Charles, to grace English
fentlemen with Scottish titles, all the determinations of
arliament, it was to be feared, would in time depend
upon the prince, by means of these votes of foreigners,

c Bui-net, Mem.

54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, who had no interest or property in the nation. It was

x ^J'_> therefore a law deserving approbation, that no man should

1WL be created a Scotch peer, who possessed not ten thousand
marks (above five hundred pounds) of annual rent in the
kingdom d .

A law for triennial Parliaments was likewise passed ;
and it was ordained, that the last act of every Parliament
should be to appoint the time and place for holding the
Parliament next ensuing 6 .

The king was deprived of that power formerly exer-
cised, of issuing proclamations, which enjoined obedience
under the penalty of treason : a prerogative which in-
vested him with the whole legislative authority, even in
matters of the highest importance f .

So far was laudable : but the most fatal blow given to
royal authority, and what in a manner dethroned the
prince, was the article, that no member of the privy
council, in whose hands, during the king's absence, the
whole administration lay, no officer of state, none of the
judges, should be appointed, but by advice and approba-
tion of Parliament. Charles even agreed to deprive of
their seats four judges who had adhered to his interests ;
and their place was supplied by others more agreeable to
the ruling party : several of the covenanters were also
sworn of the privy council : and all the ministers of state,
counsellors, and judges, were, by law, to hold their places
during life or good behaviour 8 .

The long, while in Scotland, conformed himself en-
tirely to the established church ; and assisted with great
gravity at the long prayers and longer sermons with which
the presbyterians endeavoured to regale him. He be-
stowed pensions and preferments on Henderson, Gillespy,
and other popular preachers ; and practised every art to
soften, if not to gain, his greatest enemies. The Earl of
Argyle was created a marquis, Lord London an earl,
Lesley was dignified with the title of Earl of Leven h .
His friends he was obliged, for the present, to neglect
and overlook : some of them were disgusted ; and his
enemies were not reconciled, but ascribed all his caresses
and favours to artifice and necessity.

a Burnet, Mem. e idem, ibid. f Idem, ibid.

s Idem, ibid. k Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 309.

CHARLES I. 55

Argyle and Hamilton, being seized with an apprehen- CHAP.
sion, real or pretended, that the Earl of Crawford and LV '
others meant to assassinate them, left the Parliament ^^^
suddenly, and retired into the country ; but, upon invi-
tation and assurances, returned in a few days. This event,
which had neither cause nor effect that was visible, nor
purpose, nor consequence, was commonly denominated
the incident. But though the incident had no effect in
Scotland ; what was not expected, it was attended with
consequences in England. The English Parliament, 20th Oct -
which was now assembled, being willing to awaken the
people's tenderness by exciting their fears, immediately
took the alarm ; as if the malignants, so they called the
king's party, had laid a plot at once to murder them,
and all the godly in both kingdoms. They applied, there-
fore, to Essex, whom the king had left general in the
south of England, and he ordered a guard to attend
them 1 .

But while the king was employed in pacifying the
commotions in Scotland, and was preparing to return to
England, in order to apply himself to the same salutary
work in that kingdom, he received intelligence of a dan-
gerous rebellion broken out in Ireland, with circumstances
of the utmost horror, bloodshed, and devastation. On
every side, this unfortunate prince was pursued with
murmurs, discontent, faction, and civil wars ; and the fire
from all quarters, even by the most independent accidents,
at once blazed up about him.

The great plan of James, in the administration of Ire-
land, continued by Charles, was, by justice and peace, to
reconcile that turbulent people to the authority of laws,
and, introducing art and industry among them, to cure
them of that sloth and barbarism to which they had ever
been subject. In order to serve both these purposes, and
at the same time secure the dominion of Ireland to the
English crown, great colonies of British had been carried
over, and, being intermixed with the Irish, had every-
where introduced a new face of things into that country.
During a peace of near forty years, the inveterate quar-
rels between the nations seemed, in a great measure, to

1 Whitlocke, p. 40. Dugdale, p. 72. Bumet's Memoirs of the House of Hamil-
ton, p. 184, 185. Clarendon, p. 299.

56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, be obliterated ; and though much of the landed property,
t ^ L J-_ 7 forfeited by rebellion, had been conferred on the new
i64i planters, a more than equal return had been made by
their instructing the natives in tillage, building, manu-
factures, and all the civilized arts of life k . This had
been the course of things during the successive adminis-
trations of Chichester, Grandison, Falkland, and, above
all, of Strafford. Under the government of this latter
nobleman, the pacific plans, now come to greater matu-
rity, and forwarded by his vigour and industry, seemed
to have operated with full success, and to have bestowed,
at last, on that savage country the face of an European
settlement.

After Strafford fell a victim to popular rage, the
humours excited in Ireland by that great event could not
be suddenly composed, but continued to produce the
greatest innovations in the government.

The British Protestants, transplanted into Ireland,
having every moment before their eyes all the horrors of
popery, had naturally been carried into the opposite ex-
treme, and had universally adopted the highest principles
1 and practices of the puritans. Monarchy, as well as the
hierarchy, was become odious to them ; and every method
of limiting the authority of the crown, and detaching them-
selves from the King of England, was greedily adopted
and pursued. They considered not, that as they scarcely
formed the sixth part of the people, and were secretly
obnoxious to the ancient inhabitants, their only method
of supporting themselves was by maintaining royal autho-
rity, and preserving a great dependence on their mother
country. The English Commons, likewise, in their furious
prosecution of Strafford, had overlooked the most obvious
consequences ; and while they imputed to him as a crime,
every discretionary act of authority, they despoiled all
succeeding governors of that power, by which alone the
Irish could be retained in subjection. And so strong was
the current for popular government in all the three king-
doms, that the most established maxims of policy were
everywhere abandoned, in order to gratify this ruling
passion.

Charles, unable to resist, had been obliged to yield to

k Sir John Temple's Irish Rebellion, p. 12.

CHARLES I.

the Irish, as to the Scottish and English Parliaments; CHAP.
and found, too, that their encroachments still rose in pro-,_ LV "
portion to his concessions. Those subsidies which them- 1641
selves had voted, they reduced, by a subsequent vote, to
a fourth part : the court of high commission was deter-
mined to be a grievance ; martial law abolished ; the
jurisdiction of the council annihilated ; proclamations
and acts of state declared of no authority ; every order or
institution, which depended on monarchy, was invaded ;
and the prince was despoiled of all his prerogative, with-
out the least pretext of any violence or illegality in his
administration.

The standing army of Ireland was usually about three
thousand men ; but in order to assist the king in sup-
pressing the Scottish covenanters, StrafFord had raised
eight thousand more ; and had incorporated with them a
thousand men, drawn from the old army ; a necessary
expedient for bestowing order and discipline on the new
levied soldiers. The private men in this army were all
Catholics ; but the officers, both commission and non-
commission, were Protestants, and could entirely be de-
pended on by Charles. The English Commons enter-
tained the greatest apprehensions on account of this army;
and never ceased soliciting the king, till he agreed to
break it : nor would they consent to any proposal for
augmenting the standing army to five thousand men ; a
number which the king deemed necessary for retaining
Ireland in obedience.

Charles, thinking it dangerous that eight thousand men
accustomed to idleness, and trained to the use of arms,
should be dispersed among a nation so turbulent and un-
settled, agreed with the Spanish ambassador to have them
transported into Flanders, and enlisted in his master's
service. The English Commons, pretending apprehensions,
lest regular bodies of troops, disciplined in the Low Coun-
tries, should prove still more dangerous, showed some
aversion to this expedient; and the king reduced his
allowance to four thousand men. But when the Spaniards
had hired ships for transporting these troops, and the men
were ready to embark, the Commons, willing to show
their power, and not displeased with an opportunity of
curbing and affronting the king, prohibited everyone from

58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, furnishing vessels for that service ; and thus the project
._ L J^ formed by Charles, of freeing the country from these
1641 men, was unfortunately disappointed 1 .

The old Irish remarked all these false steps of the
English, and resolved to take advantage of them. Though
their animosity against that nation, for want of an occasion
to exert itself, seemed to be extinguished, it was only
composed into a temporary and deceitful tranquillity 111 .
Their interests both with regard to property and religion,
secretly stimulated them to a revolt. No individual of
any sept, according to the ancient customs, had the
property of any particular estate ; but as the whole sept
had a title to a whole territory, they ignorantly preferred
this barbarous community before the more secure and
narrower possessions assigned them by the English. An
indulgence, amounting almost to a toleration, had been
given to the Catholic religion ; but so long as the
churches and the ecclesiastical revenues were kept from
the priests, and they were obliged to endure the neigh-
bourhood of profane heretics; being themselves discon-
tented, they continually endeavoured to retard any cordial
reconciliation between the English and the Irish nations.
Conspira- There was a gentleman called Roger More, who, though

cymlre- ~ j j ' A j. T i.

land. of a narrow fortune, was descended from an ancient Irish
family, and was much celebrated among his countrymen
for valour and capacity. This man first formed the
project of expelling the English, and asserting the inde-
pendency of his native country 11 . He secretly went from
chieftain to chieftain, and roused up every latent principle
of discontent. He maintained a close correspondence with
Lord Maguire and Sir Phelim O'Neale, the most power-
ful of the old Irish. By conversation, by letters, by his
emissaries, he represented to his countrymen the motives
of a revolt. He observed to them, that by the rebellion
of the Scots, and factions of the English, the king's autho-
rity in Britain was reduced to so low a condition, that he
never could exert himself with any vigour in maintaining
the English dominion over Ireland ; that the Catholics
in the Irish House of Commons, assisted by the Protest-

1 Clarendon, vol. i. p. 281. Ruslvworth, vol. v. p. 381. Dugdale, p. 75. May,
book 2. p. 3.
m Temple, p. 14. n Nalson, vol. ii. p. 543.

CHARLES I.

1641.

ants, had so diminished the royal prerogative, and the CHAP.
power of the lieutenant, as would much facilitate the ,_ i _ LV ^
conducting, to its desired effect, any conspiracy or com-
bination which could be formed ; that the Scots having
so successfully thrown off dependence on the crown of
England, and assumed the government into their own
hands, had set an example to the Irish, who had so much
greater oppressions to complain of; that the English
planters, who had expelled them their possessions, sup-
pressed their religion, and bereaved them of their liberties,
were but a handful in comparison of the natives ; that
they lived in the most supine security, interspersed with
their numerous enemies, trusting to the protection of a
small army, which was itself scattered in inconsiderable
divisions throughout the whole kingdom ; that a great
body of men, disciplined by the government, were now
thrown loose, and were ready for any daring or desperate
enterprise ; that though the Catholics had hitherto enjoyed,
in some tolerable measure, the exercise of their religion,
from the moderation of their indulgent prince, they must
henceforth expect, that the government will be conducted
by other maxims and other principles; that the puritanical
Parliament, having at length subdued their sovereign,
would, no doubt, as soon as they had consolidated their
authority, extend their ambitious enterprises to Ireland,
and make the Catholics in that kingdom feel the same
furious persecution to which their brethren in England
were at present exposed ; and that a revolt in the Irish,
tending only to vindicate their native liberty against the
violence of foreign invaders, could never, at any time, be
deemed rebellion; much less during the present con-
fusions, when their prince was, in a manner, a prisoner,
and obedience must be paid not to him, but to those who
had traitorously usurped his lawful authority .

By these considerations, More engaged all the heads
of the native Irish into the conspiracy. The English of
the pale, as they were called, or the Old English planters,
being all Catholics, it was hoped, would afterwards join
the party, which restored their religion to its ancient
splendour and authority. The intention was, that Sir
Phelim O'Neale, and the other conspirators, should begin

o Temple, p. 72, 73. 78. Dugdale, p. 73.

60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, an insurrection on one day throughout the provinces,
,_ L J'_ y and should attack all the English settlements ; and that,
1641 on the same day, Lord Maguire, and Roger More,
should surprise the castle of Dublin. The commencement
of the revolt was fixed on the approach of winter, that
there might be more difficulty in transporting forces from
England. Succours to themselves, and supplies of arms,
they expected from France, in consequence of a promise
made them by Cardinal Richelieu; and many Irish officers,
who served in the Spanish troops, had engaged to join
them, as soon as they saw an insurrection entered upon
by their Catholic brethren. News, which every day arrived
from England, of the fury expressed by the Commons
against all Papists, struck fresh terror into the Irish nation,
and both stimulated the conspirators to execute their
fatal purpose, and gave them assured hopes of the con-
currence of all their countrymen 1 *.

Such propensity to a revolt was discovered in all the
Irish, that it was deemed unnecessary, as it was dangerous,
to intrust the secret to many hands ; and the appointed
day drew nigh, nor had any discovery been yet made to
the government. The king, indeed, had received infor-
mation from his ambassadors, that something was in agi-
tation among the Irish in foreign parts ; but though he
gave warning to the administration in Ireland, the intel-
ligence was entirely neglected q . Secret rumours likewise
were heard of some approaching conspiracy j but no at-
tention was paid to them. The Earl of Leicester, whom
the king had appointed lieutenant, remained in London.
The two justices, Sir William Parsons and Sir John
Borlace, were men of small abilities ; and by an incon-
venience common to all factious times, owed their ad-
vancement to nothing but their zeal for the party by whom
every thing was now governed. Tranquil from their ig-
norance and inexperience, these men indulged themselves
in the most profound repose, on the very brink of de-
struction.

But they were awakened from their security, on the
very day before that which was appointed for the com-
mencement of hostilities. The castle of Dublin, by which
the capital was commanded, contained arms for ten thou-

P Dugdale, p. 74. 4 Kushworth, vol. v. p. 408. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 565.

CHARLES I. 61

sand men, with thirty-five pieces of cannon, and a pro- CHAP.
portionable quantity of ammunition : yet was this im- ^J^J^,
portant place guarded, and that too without any care, by ^^"
no greater force than fifty men. Maguire and More were
already in town with a numerous band of their partisans ;
others were expected that night ; and, next morning, they
were to enter upon, what they esteemed the easiest of all
enterprises, the surprisal of the castle. O'Conolly, an
Irishman, but a Protestant, betrayed the conspiracy to
Parsons 1 . The justices and council fled immediately for
safety into the castle and reinforced the guards. The
alarm was conveyed to the city, and all the Protestants
prepared for defence. More escaped; Maguire was
taken ; and Mahone, one of the conspirators, being like-
wise seized, first discovered to the justices the project of
a general insurrection, and redoubled the apprehensions
which already were universally diffused throughout
Dublin 8 .

But though O'Conolly's discovery saved the castle from lrish ir }-
a surprise, the confession extorted from Mahone came and mas- 11
too late to prevent the intended insurrection. O'Neale sacre -
and his confederates had already taken arms in Ulster.
The Irish, everywhere intermingled with the English,
needed but a hint from their leaders and priests to begin
hostilities against a people, whom they hated on account
of their religion, and envied for their riches and pros-
perity*. The houses, cattle, goods, of the unwary English,
were first seized. Those who heard of the commotions
in their neighbourhood, instead of deserting their habi-
tations, and assembling for mutual protection, remained
at home, in hopes of defending their property, and fell
thus separately into the hands of their enemies". After
rapacity had fully exerted itself, cruelty, and the most
barbarous that ever, in any nation, was known or heard
of, began its operations. An universal massacre com-
menced of the English, now defenceless, and passively
resigned to their inhuman foes. No age, no sex, no con-
dition, was spared. The wife weeping for her butchered
husband, and embracing her helpless children, was pierced

r Eushworth, vol. v. p. 399. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 520. May, book 2. p. 6.

8 Temple, p. 17, 18, 19, 20. Eushworth, vol. v. p. 400.

* Temple, p. 39, 40. 79. u Idem, p. 42.

VOL. V. 6

62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, with them, and perished by the same stroke w . The old,
the young, the vigorous, the infirm, underwent a like fate,
and were confounded in one common ruin. In vain did
flight save from the first assault : destruction was every-
where let loose, and met the hunted victims at every
turn. In vain was recourse had to relations, to compan-
ions, to friends : all connexions were dissolved, and death
was dealt by that hand from which protection was im-
plored and expected. Without provocation, without
opposition, the astonished English, living in profound
peace and full security, were massacred by their nearest
neighbours, with whom they had long upheld a continual
intercourse of kindness and good offices x .

But death was the slightest punishment inflicted by
those rebels : all the tortures which wanton cruelty could
devise, all the lingering pains of body, the anguish of
mind, the agonies of despair, could not satiate revenge
excited without injury, and cruelty derived from no cause.
To enter into particulars would shock the least delicate
humanity. Such enormities, though attested by undoubted
evidence, appear almost incredible. Depraved nature,
even perverted religion, encouraged by the utmost licence,
reach not to such a pitch of ferocity ; unless the pity in-
herent in human breasts be destroyed by that contagion
of example, which transports men beyond all the usual
motives of conduct and behaviour.

The weaker sex themselves, naturally tender to their
own sufferings, and compassionate to those of others,
here emulated their more robust companions in the prac-
tice of every cruelty 7 . Even children, taught by the ex-
ample, and encouraged by the exhortation of their parents,
essayed their feeble blows on the dead carcases or de-
fenceless children of the English z . The very avarice of
the Irish was not a sufficient restraint to their cruelty.
Such was their frenzy, that the cattle which they had
seized, and by rapine made their own, yet, because they
bore the name of English, were wantonly slaughtered, or,
when covered with wounds, turned loose into the woods
and deserts' 1 .

The stately buildings or commodious habitations of the

^ Temple, p. 40. * Idem, p. 39, 40. y Idem, p. 96. 101. Kushw. vol. v. p. 415.
z Temple, p. 100. a idem, p. 84.

CHARLES I. 63

planters, as if upbraiding the sloth and ignorance of the CHAP.
natives, were consumed with fire, or laid level with the LV -
ground. And where the miserable owners, shut up
their houses, and preparing for defence, perished in the
flames, together with their wives and children, a double
triumph was afforded to their insulting foes b .

If anywhere a number assembled together, and, as-
suming courage from despair, were resolved to sweeten
death by revenge on their assassins, they were disarmed
by capitulations, and promises of safety, confirmed by
the most solemn oaths. But no sooner had they sur-
rendered, than the rebels, with perfidy equal to their
cruelty, made them share the fate of their unhappy
countrymen .

Others, more ingenious still in their barbarity, tempted
their prisoners, by the fond love of life, to imbrue their
hands in the blood of friends, brothers, parents and
having thus rendered them accomplices in guilt, gave them
that death, which they sought to shun by deserving it d .

Amidst all these enormities, the sacred name of EELI-
GION resounded on every side ; riot to stop the hands of
these murderers, but to enforce their blows, and to steel
their hearts against every movement of human or social
sympathy. The English, as heretics, abhorred of God,
and detestable to all holy men, were marked out by the
priests for slaughter ; and, of all actions, to rid the world
of these declared enemies to Catholic faith and piety
was represented as the most meritorious 6 . Nature, which
in that rude people was sufficiently inclined to atrocious
deeds, was farther stimulated by precept ; and national
prejudices empoisoned by those aversions, more deadly
and incurable, which arose from an enraged superstition.
While death finished the sufferings of each victim, the
bigoted assassins, with joy and exultation, still echoed in
his expiring ears, that these agonies were but the com-
mencement of torments infinite and eternal f .

Such were the barbarities by which Sir Phelim
O'Neale and the Irish in Ulster signalized their rebellion ;
an event memorable in the annals of human kind, and

t> Temple, p. 29. 106. Eushw. vol. v. p. 414.

c Whitlocke, p. 47. Eushw. vol. v. p. 416.

a Temple, p. 100. e Hem, p. 85. 106.

f Idem, p. 94. 107, 108. Eushworth, vol. v. p. 407.

G4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, worthy to be held in perpetual detestation and abhor-
nce. The generous nature of More was shocked at
the recital of such enormous cruelties. He flew to
O'Neale's camp ; but found that his authority, which was
sufficient to excite the Irish to an insurrection, was too
feeble to restrain their inhumanity. Soon after, he
abandoned a cause polluted by so many crimes ; and he
retired into Flanders. Sir Phelim, recommended by
the greatness of his family, and perhaps, too, by the un-
restrained brutality of his nature, though without any
courage or capacity, acquired the entire ascendant over
the northern rebels g . The English colonies were totally
annihilated in the open country of Ulster : the Scots, at
first, met with more favourable treatment. In order to
engage them to a passive neutrality, the Irish pretended
to distinguish between the British nations ; and claim-
ing friendship and consanguinity with the Scots, extended
not over them the fury of their massacres. Many of
them found an opportunity to fly the country : others
retired into places of security, and prepared themselves
for defence ; and by this means, the Scottish planters,
most of them at least, escaped with their lives h .

From Ulster, the flames of rebellion diffused them-
selves in an instant over the other three provinces of
Ireland. In all places death and slaughter were not
uncommon ; though the Irish, in these other provinces,
pretended to act with moderation and humanity. But
cruel and barbarous was their humanity ! Not content
with expelling the English their houses, with despoiling
them of their goodly manors, with wasting their culti-
vated fields ; they stripped them of their very clothes,
and turned them out, naked and defenceless, to all the
severities of the season 1 . The heavens themselves, as
if conspiring against that unhappy people, were armed
with cold and tempest unusual to the climate, and exe-
cuted what the merciless sword had left unfinished b .
The roads were covered with crowds of naked English,
hastening towards Dublin and the other cities, which
yet remained in the hands of their countrymen. The
feeble age of children, the tender sex of women, soon

e Temple, p. 44. h Mem, p. 41. Eushw. vol. i. p. 416.

i Temple, p. 42. k id em , p. 64.

CHARLES I. (35

sunk under the multiplied rigours of cold and hunger. CHAP.
Here, the husband, bidding a final adieu to his expiring ^ LV '
family, envied them that fate which he himself expected 1641
so soon to share : there, the son, having long supported
his aged parent, with reluctance obeyed his last com-
mands, and abandoning him in this uttermost distress,
reserved himself to the hopes of avenging that death
which all his efforts could not prevent or delay. The
astonishing greatness of the calamity deprived the suf-
ferers of any relief from the view of companions in afflic-
tion. With silent tears, or lamentable cries, they hur-
ried on through the hostile territories ; and found every
heart which was not steeled by native barbarity, guarded
by the more implacable furies of mistaken piety and re-
ligion \

The saving of Dublin preserved in Ireland the re-
mains of the English name. The gates of that city,
though timorously opened, received the wretched suppli-
cants, and presented to the view T a scene of human misery
beyond what any eye had ever before beheld m . Com-
passion seized the amazed inhabitants, aggravated with
the fear of like calamities ; while they observed the nu-
merous foes without and within, which everywhere en-
vironed them, and reflected on the weak resources by
which they were themselves supported. The more vigo-
rous of the unhappy fugitives, to the number of three
thousand, were enlisted into three regiments : the rest
were distributed into the houses ; and all care was taken,
by diet and warmth, to recruit their feeble and torpid
limbs. Diseases of unknown name and species, derived
from these multiplied distresses, seized many of them,
and put a speedy period to their lives : others having
now leisure to reflect on their mighty loss of friends and
fortune, cursed that being which they had saved. Aban-
doning themselves to despair, refusing all succour, they
expired ; without other consolation than that of receiving
among their countrymen the honours of a grave, which,
to their slaughtered companions, had been denied by the
inhuman barbarians n .

By some computations, those who perished by all these
cruelties are supposed to be a hundred and fifty or two

1 Temple, p. 88. m Idem, p. 62. n Mem, p. 43. 62.

66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, hundred thousand : by the most moderate, and probably
the most reasonable account, they are made to amount
to forty thousand if this estimation itself be not, as is
usual in such cases, somewhat exaggerated.

The justices ordered to Dublin all the bodies of the
army which were not surrounded by the rebels ; and they
assembled a force of fifteen hundred veterans. They
soon enlisted, and armed from the magazines, above four
thousand men more. They despatched a body of six
hundred men to throw relief into Tredah, besieged by the
Irish. But these troops, attacked by the enemy, were
seized with a panic, and were most of them put to the
sword. Their arms falling into the hands of the Irish,
supplied them with what they most wanted . The jus-
tices, willing to foment the rebellion, in a view of profit-
ing by the multiplied forfeitures, henceforth thought of
nothing more than providing for their own present
security, and that of the capital. The Earl of Ormond,
their general, remonstrated against such timid, not to
say base and interested counsels, but was obliged to sub-
mit to authority.

The English of the pale, who probably were not at
first in the secret, pretended to blame the insurrection,
and to detest the barbarity with which it was accompa-
nied p . By their protestations and declarations, they en-
gaged the justices to supply them with arms, which they
promised to employ in defence of the government* 1 . But,
in a little time, the interests of religion were found more
prevalent over them, than regard and duty to their mother
country. They chose Lord Gormanstone their leader ;
and joining the old Irish, rivalled them in every act of
violence towards the English Protestants. Besides many
smaller bodies dispersed over the kingdom, the principal
army of the rebels amounted to twenty thousand men,
and threatened Dublin with an immediate siege r .

Both the English and Irish rebels conspired in one
imposture, with which they seduced many of their deluded
countrymen : they pretended authority from the king
and queen, but chiefly from the latter, for their insur-
rection ; and they affirmed, that the cause of their taking

Nalson, vol. ii. p. 905. P Temple, p. 33. Kushworth, vol. v. p. 402.

1 Temple, p. 60. Borlace, Hist. p. 28. r Whitlocke, p. 49.

CHARLES I. 67

arms was to vindicate royal prerogative, now invaded by CHAP.
the puritanical Parliament 8 . Sir Phelim O'Neale, having <L _ L J'_ J
found a royal patent in Lord Caulfield's house, whom he 1641
had murdered, tore off the seal, and affixed it to a com-
mission which he had forged for himself*.

The king received an account of this insurrection by
a messenger despatched from the north of Ireland. He
immediately communicated his intelligence to the Scot-
tish Parliament. He expected that the mighty zeal ex-
pressed by the Scots for the Protestant religion would
immediately engage them to fly to its defence, where it
was so violently invaded: he hoped that their horror
against popery, a religion which now appeared in its most
horrible aspect, would second all his exhortations: he
had observed with what alacrity they had twice run to
arms, and assembled troops in opposition to the rights of
their sovereign : he saw with how much greater facility
they could now collect forces, which had been very
lately disbanded, and which had been so long inured to
military discipline; The cries of their affrighted and
distressed brethren in Ireland, he promised himself, would
powerfully incite them to send over succours, which
could arrive so quickly, and aid them with such promp-
titude in this uttermost distress. But the zeal of the
Scots, as is usual among religious sects, was very feeble,
when not stimulated either by faction or by interest.
They now considered themselves entirely as a republic,
and made no account of the authority of their prince,
which they had utterly annihilated. Conceiving hopes
from the present distresses of Ireland, they resolved to
make an advantageous bargain for the succours with
which they should supply their neighbouring nation ;
and they cast their eye towards the English Parliament,
with whom they were already so closely connected, and
who could alone fulfil any articles which might be agreed
on. Except despatching a small body to support the
Scottish colonies in Ulster, they would, therefore, go no
farther at present, than sending commissioners to Lon-
don, in order to treat with that power, to whom the sove-
reign authority was now in reality transferred".

8 Rushworth, vol. v. p. 400, 401. t Idem, ibid. p. 402.

u Rushworth, vol. v. p. 407.

68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. The king too, sensible of his utter inability to subdue
t _ L J'^ J the Irish rebels, found himself obliged, in this exigency,
1641 to have recourse to the English Parliament, and depend
on their assistance for supply. After communicating to
them the intelligence which he had received, he informed
them, that the insurrection was not, in his opinion, the
result of any rash enterprise, but of a formed conspiracy
against the crown of England. To their care and wis-
dom, therefore, he said, he committed the conduct and
prosecution of the war, which, in a cause so important
to national and religious interests, must of necessity be
immediately entered upon, and vigorously pursued w .
Meeting The English Parliament was now assembled ; and dis-
EngiTsh covered, in every vote, the same dispositions in which they
Pariia- j ia( j separated. The exalting of their own authority, the
diminishing of the king's, were still the objects pursued
by the majority. Every attempt which had been made
to gain the popular leaders, and by offices to attach them
to the crown, had failed of success, either for want of
skill in conducting it, or by reason of the slender prefer-
ments which it was then in the king's power to confer.
The ambitious and enterprising patriots disdained to ac-
cept, in detail, of a precarious power ; while they deemed
it so easy, by one bold and vigorous assault, to possess
themselves for ever of the entire sovereignty. Sensible
that the measures which they had hitherto pursued ren-
dered them extremely obnoxious to the king ; were many
of them in themselves exceptionable; some of them,
strictly speaking, illegal ; they resolved to seek their own
security, as well as greatness, by enlarging popular autho-
rity in England. The great necessities to which the king
was reduced; the violent prejudices which generally,
throughout the nation, prevailed against him ; his facility,
in making the most important concessions ; the example
of the Scots, whose encroachments had totally subverted
monarchy : all these circumstances farther instigated the
Commons in their invasion of royal prerogative ; and the
danger to which the constitution seemed to have been so
lately exposed, persuaded many that it never could be
sufficiently secured, but by the entire abolition of that
authority which had invaded it.

w Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 301.

CHARLES I. 69

But this project, it had not been in the power, scarcely CHAP.
in the intention, of the popular leaders to execute, had LV '
it not been for the passion which seized the nation for^j^""
presbyterian discipline, and for the wild enthusiasm which
at that time accompanied it. The licence which the Par-
liament had bestowed on this spirit by checking eccle-
siastical authority, the countenance and encouragement
with which they had honoured it, had already diffused
its influence to a wonderful degree ; and all orders of
men had drunk deep of the intoxicating poison. In
every discourse or conversation, this mode of religion
entered : in all business it had a share ; every elegant
pleasure or amusement it utterly annihilated ; many vices
or corruptions of mind it promoted ; even diseases and
bodily distempers were not totally exempted from it;
and it became requisite, we are told, for all physicians to
be expert in the spiritual profession, and, by theological
considerations, to allay those religious terrors with which
their patients were so generally haunted. Learning
itself, which tends so much to enlarge the mind and
humanize the temper, rather served on this occasion to
exalt that epidemical frenzy which prevailed. Kude as
yet, and imperfect, it supplied the dismal fanaticism with
a variety of views, founded it on some coherency of sys-
tem, enriched it with different figures of elocution ; ad-
vantages with which a people, totally ignorant and bar-
barous, had been happily unacquainted.

From policy, at first, and inclination, now from neces-
sity, the king attached himself extremely to the hierarchy :
for like reasons, his enemies were determined, by one and
the same effort, to overpower the church and monarchy.

While the Commons were in this disposition, the Irish
rebellion was the event which tended most to promote
the views in which all their measures terminated. A
horror against the Papists, however innocent, they had
constantly encouraged ; a terror from the conspiracies of
that sect, however improbable, they had at all times en-
deavoured to excite. Here was broken out a rebellion,
dreadful and unexpected; accompanied with circum-
stances the most detestable, of which there ever was any
record; and what was the peculiar guilt of the Irish
Catholics, it was no difficult matter, in the present dis-

70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, position of men's minds, to attribute to that whole sect,
^^'_; who were already so much the object of general abhor-
1641 rence. Accustomed, in all invectives, to join the prelati-
cal party with the Papists, the people immediately sup-
posed this insurrection to be the result of their united
counsels ; and when they heard that the Irish rebels
pleaded the king's commission for all their acts of vio-
lence, bigotry, ever credulous and malignant, assented
without scruple to that gross imposture, and loaded the
unhappy prince with the whole enormity of a contrivance
so barbarous and inhuman x .

By the difficulties and distresses of the crown, the
Commons, who possessed alone the power of supply,
had aggrandized themselves ; and it seemed a peculiar
happiness, that the Irish rebellion had succeeded, at so
critical a juncture, to the pacification of Scotland. That
expression of the king's by which he committed to them
the care of Ireland, they immediately laid hold of, and
interpreted in the most unlimited sense. They had, on
other occasions, been gradually encroaching on the exe-
cutive power of the crown, which forms its principal and
most natural branch of authority ; but, with regard to
Ireland, they at once assumed it, fully and entirely, as if
delivered over to them by a regular gift or assignment :
and to this usurpation the king was obliged passively to
submit ; both because of his inability to resist, and lest
he should still more expose himself to the reproach of
favouring the progress of that odious rebellion.

The project of introducing farther innovations in
England being once formed by the leaders among the
Commons, it became a necessary consequence, that their
operations with regard to Ireland should, all of them,
be considered as subordinate to the former, on whose
success, when once undertaken, their own grandeur,
security, and even being, must entirely depend. While
they pretended the utmost zeal against the Irish insur-
rection, they took no steps towards its suppression, but
such as likewise tended to give them the superiority in
those commotions which they foresaw must so soon be
excited in England 7 . The extreme contempt entertained

x See note [C], at the end of the volume.

y Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 435. Sir Edw. Walker, p. 6.

CHARLES I. 71

for the natives in Ireland made the popular leaders be- CHAP.
lieve, that it would be easy at any time to suppress their ^J'^,
rebellion, and recover that kingdom : nor were they will- 1641
ing to lose, by too hasty success, the advantage which
that rebellion would afford them in their projected en-
croachments on the prerogative. By assuming the total
management of the war, they acquired the" courtship and
dependence of every one who had any connexion with
Ireland, or who was desirous of enlisting in these military
enterprises: they levied money under pretence of the
Irish expedition ; but reserved it for purposes which
concerned them more nearly : they took arms from the
king's magazines; but still kept them with a secret in-
tention of employing them against himself: whatever
law they deemed necessary for aggrandizing themselves
was voted, under colour of enabling them to recover
Ireland ; and if Charles withheld the royal assent, his
refusal was imputed to those pernicious counsels which
had at first excited the popish rebellion, and which still
threatened total destruction to the Protestant interest
throughout all his dominions 2 : and though no forces
were for a long time sent over to Ireland, and very little
money remitted during the extreme distress of that
kingdom, so strong was the people's attachment to the
Commons, that the fault was never imputed to those
pious zealots, whose votes breathed nothing but death
and destruction to the Irish rebels.

To make the attack on royal authority by regular ap-
proaches, it was thought proper to frame a general re-
monstrance of the state of the nation ; and, accordingly,
the committee, which, at the first meeting of Parliament,
had been chosen for that purpose, and which had hitherto
made no progress in their work, received fresh injunc-
tions to finish that undertaking.

The committee brought into the House that remon-The
strance, which has become so memorable, and which wj
soon afterwards attended with such important conse-
quences. It was not addressed to the king, but was
openly declared to be an appeal to the people. The
harshness of the matter was equalled by the severity of

z Nalson, vol. ii. p. 618. Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 590.

72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the language. It consists of many gross falsehoods,
intermingled with some evident truths: malignant insi-
nuations are joined to open invectives : loud complaints
of the past, accompanied with jealous prognostications of
the future. Whatever unfortunate, whatever invidious,
whatever suspicious measure had been embraced by the
king, from the commencement of his reign, is insisted
on and aggravated with merciless rhetoric : the unsuc-
cessful expeditions to Cadiz, and the Isle of Rhe, are
mentioned : the sending of ships to France for the sup-
pression of the Hugonots : the forced loans : the illegal
confinement of men for not obeying illegal commands :
the violent dissolution of four Parliaments : the arbitrary

fovernment which always succeeded : the questioning,
ning, and imprisoning of members for their conduct in
the House : the levying of taxes without consent of the
Commons : the introducing of superstitious innovations
into the church, without authority of law : in short, every
thing which, either with or without reason, had given
offence, during the course of fifteen years, from the ac-
cession of the king to the calling of the present Parlia-
ment. And though all these grievances had been already
redressed, and even laws enacted for future security
against their return, the praise of these advantages was
ascribed, not to the king, but to the Parliament who had
extorted his consent to such salutary statutes. Their own
merits too, they asserted, towards the king, were no less
eminent than towards the people. Though they had
seized his whole revenue, rendered it totally precarious,
and made even their temporary supplies be paid to their
own commissioners, who were independent of him, they
pretended that they had liberally supported him in his
necessities. By an insult still more egregious, the very
giving of money to the Scots, for levying war against
their sovereign, they represented as an instance of their
duty towards him. And all their grievances, they said,
which amounted to no less than a total subversion of the
constitution, proceeded entirely from the formed com-
bination of a popish faction, who had ever swayed the
king's counsels, who had endeavoured, by an uninter-
rupted effort, to introduce their superstition into Eng-

CHARLES I. 73

land and Scotland, and who had now, at last, excited an CHAP.
open and bloody rebellion in Ireland a . ^ L J'_ y

This remonstrance, so full of acrimony and violence, 1641
was a plain signal for some farther attacks intended on
royal prerogative, and a declaration, that the concessions
already made, however important, were not to be regarded ,
as satisfactory. What pretensions would be advanced,
how unprecedented, how unlimited, were easily imagined ;
and nothing less was foreseen, whatever ancient names
might be preserved, than an abolition, almost total, of

the monarchical government of England. The opposi-
tion, therefore, which the remonstrance met with in the
House of Commons, was great. For above fourteen
hours, the debate was warmly managed ; and from the
weariness of the king's party, which probably consisted
chiefly of the elderly people, and men of cool spirits, the
vote was at last carried by a small majority of eleven b .
Some time after, the remonstrance was ordered to be 22nd:Nov -
printed and published, without being carried up to the
House of Peers for their assent arid concurrence.

When this remonstrance was dispersed, it excited Reasons on
everywhere the same violent controversy, which at-
tended it when introduced into the House of Commons.
This Parliament, said the partisans of that assembly,
have at length profited by the fatal example of their
predecessors ; and are resolved that the fabric, which
they have generously undertaken to rear for the protec-
tion of liberty, shall not be left to future ages insecure
and imperfect. At the time when the petition of right,
that requisite vindication of a violated constitution, was
extorted from the unwilling prince, who but imagined
that liberty was at last secured, and that the laws would
thenceforth maintain themselves in opposition to arbi-
trary authority ? But what was the event ? a right was
indeed acquired to the people, or rather their ancient
right was more exactly defined : but as the paiver of in-
vading it still remained in the prince, no sooner did an
opportunity offer than he totally disregarded all laws and
preceding engagements, and made his will and pleasure
the sole rule of government. Those lofty ideas of mo-

a Rushworth, vol. v. p. 438. Nalson, vol. i. p. 694.
b Whitlocke, p. 49. Dugdale, p. 71. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 668.
VOL. V. 7

74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, narchical authority, which he has derived from his early
education, which are united in his mind with the irre-
sistible illusions of self-love, which are corroborated by
his mistaken principles of religion, it is in vain to hope
that, in his more advanced age, he will sincerely renounce,
from any subsequent reflection or experience. Such con-
versions, if ever they happen, are extremely rare ; but to
expect that they will be derived from necessity, from the
jealousy and resentment of antagonists, from blame, from
reproach, from opposition, must be the result of the fondest
and most blind credulity. These violences, however ne-
cessary, are sure to irritate a prince against limitations so
cruelly imposed upon him ; and each concession, which
he is constrained to make, is regarded as a temporary
tribute paid to faction and sedition, and is secretly at-
tended with a resolution of seizing every favourable op-
portunity to retract it. Nor should we imagine that
opportunities of that kind will not offer in the course of
human affairs. Governments, especially those of a mixed
kind, are in continual fluctuation : the humours of the
people change perpetually from one extreme to another :
and no resolution can be more wise, as well as more just,
than that of employing the present advantages against
the king, who had formerly pushed much less tempting
ones to the utmost extremities against his people and his
Parliament. It is to be feared, that, if the religious rage
which has seized the multitude be allowed to evaporate,
they will quickly return to the ancient ecclesiastical
establishment ; and with it, embrace those principles of
slavery, which it inculcates with such zeal on its submis-
sive proselytes. Those patriots, who are now the public
idols, may then become the objects of general detesta-
tion ; and equal shouts of joy attend their ignominious
execution, with those which second their present advan-
tages and triumphs. Nor ought the apprehension of such
an event to be regarded in them as a selfish considera-
tion : in their safety is involved the security of the laws :
the patrons of the constitution cannot suffer without a
fatal blow to the constitution : and it is but justice in
the public to protect, at any hazard, those who have so
generously exposed themselves to the utmost hazard for
the public interest. What though monarchy, the ancient

CHARLES I. 75

government of England, be impaired, during these con- CHAP.

tests, in many of its former prerogatives : the laws will v ^_,

flourish the more by its decay ; and it is happy,, allowing 1G41
that matters are really carried beyond the bounds of mo-
deration, that the current at least runs towards liberty,
and that the error is on that side which is safest for the
general interest of mankind and society.

The best arguments of the royalists against a farther
attack on the prerogative were founded more on oppo-
site ideas, which they had formed of the past events of
this reign, than on opposite principles of government.
Some invasions, they said, and those too of moment, had
undoubtedly been made on national privileges : but were
we to look for the cause of these violences, we should
never find it to consist in the wanton tyranny and injus-
tice of the prince, not even in his ambition or immode-
rate appetite for authority. The hostilities with Spain,
in which the king, on his accession, found himself en-
gaged, however imprudent and unnecessary, had pro-
ceeded from the advice, and even importunity, of the
Parliament, who deserted him immediately after they
had embarked him in those warlike measures. A young
prince, jealous of honour, was naturally afraid of being
foiled in his first enterprise, and had not as yet attained
such maturity of counsel, as to perceive that his greatest
honour lay in preserving the laws inviolate, and gaining
the full confidence of his people. The rigour of the
subsequent Parliaments had been extreme with regard
to many articles, particularly tonnage and poundage ; and
had reduced the king to an absolute necessity, if he
would preserve entire the royal prerogative, of levying
those duties by his own authority, and of breaking through
the forms, in order to maintain the spirit, of the consti-
tution. Having once made so perilous a step, he was
naturally induced to continue, and to consult the public
interest, by imposing ship-money, and other moderate,
though irregular, burdens and taxations. A sure proof
that he had formed no system for enslaving his people
is, that the chief object of his government has been to
raise a naval, not a military force ; a project useful,
honourable, nay indispensably requisite, and, in spite of
his great necessities, brought almost to a happy conclu-

76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. sion. It is now full time to free him from all these ne-
LV> cessities, and to apply cordials and lenitives, after those
^^^ severities, which have already had their full course against
him. Never was sovereign blessed with more modera-
tion of temper, with more justice, more humanity, more
honour, or a more gentle disposition. What pity that
such a prince should so long have been harassed with
rigours, suspicions, calumnies, complaints, encroachments;
and been forced from that path in which the rectitude
of his principles would have inclined him to have con-
stantly trod ! If some few instances are found of viola-
tions made on the petition of right, which he himself had
granted, there is an easier and more natural way for pre-
venting the return of like inconveniences, than by a total
abolition of royal authority. Let the revenue be settled,
suitably to the ancient dignity and splendour of the
crown j let the public necessities be fully supplied ; let
the remaining articles of prerogative be left untouched ;
and the king, as he has already lost the power, will lay
aside the will, of invading the constitution. From what
quarter can jealousies now arise ? What farther security
can be desired or expected ? The king's preceding con-
cessions, so far from being insufficient for public security,
have rather erred on the other extreme ; and, by depriv-
ing him of all power of self-defence, are the real cause
why the Commons are emboldened to raise pretensions
hitherto unheard of in the kingdom, and to subvert the
whole system of the constitution. But would they be
content with moderate advantages, is it not evident that,
besides other important concessions, the present Parlia-
ment may be continued, till the government be accus-
tomed to the new track, and every part be restored to
full harmony and concord ? By the triennial act a per-
petual succession of Parliaments is established, as ever-
lasting guardians to the laws, while the king possesses
no independent power or military force, by which he can
be supported in his invasion of them. No danger re-
mains, but what is inseparable from all free constitutions,
and what forms the very essence of their freedom : the
danger of a change in the people's disposition, and of
general disgust, contracted against popular privileges. To
prevent such an evil, no expedient is more proper than

CHARLES I. 77

to contain ourselves within the bounds of moderation, CHAP.
and to consider that all extremes, naturally and infallibly, V _ L J'_,
beget each other. In the same manner as the past usur- 1G41
pations of the crown, however excusable on account of
the necessity or provocations whence they arose, have
excited an immeasurable appetite for liberty; let us
beware, lest our encroachments, by introducing anarchy,
make the people seek shelter under the peaceable and
despotic rule of a monarch. Authority, as well as liberty,
is requisite to government ; and is even requisite to the
support of liberty itself, by maintaining the laws, which
can alone regulate and protect it. What madness, while
every thing is so happily settled under ancient forms
and institutions, now more exactly poised and adjusted,
to try the hazardous experiment of a new constitution,
and renounce the mature wisdom of our ancestors for
the crude whimsies of turbulent innovators ! Besides
the certain and inconceivable mischiefs of civil war, are
not the perils apparent, wliich the delicate frame of
liberty must inevitably sustain amidst the furious shock
of arms? Whichever side prevails, she can scarcely hope
to remain inviolate, and may suffer no less, or rather
greater, injuries from the boundless pretensions of forces
engaged in her cause, than from the invasion of enraged
troops, enlisted on the side of monarchy.

The king, upon his return from Scotland, was received Nov - 25 -
in London with the shouts and acclamations of the people,
and with every demonstration of regard and affection 6 .
Sir Richard Gourney, lord mayor, a man of moderation
and authority, had promoted these favourable dispositions,
and had engaged the populace, who so lately insulted
the king, and who so soon after made furious war upon
him, to give him these marks of their dutiful attachment.
But all the pleasure which Charles reaped from this joyous
reception was soon damped by the remonstrance of the
Commons which was presented him, together with a peti-
tion of a like strain. The bad counsels which he followed
are there complained of; his concurrence in the Irish re-
bellion plainly insinuated ; the scheme laid for the intro-
duction of popery and superstition inveighed against;
and, as a remedy for all the seevils, he is desired to intrust

c Kushworth. vol. v. p. 429.

78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, every office and command to persons in whom his Par-
^_ L J*_,liament should have cause to confide d . By this phrase,
^JI^ which is so often repeated in all the memorials and ad-
dresses of that time, the Commons meant themselves and
their adherents.

As soon as the remonstrance of the Commons was
published, the king dispersed an answer to it. In this
contest he lay under great disadvantages. Not only the
ears of the people were extremely prejudiced against
him; the best topics upon which he could justify, at
least apologize for, his former conduct, were such as it
was not safe or prudent for him at this time to employ.
So high was the national idolatry towards Parliaments,
that to blame the past conduct of these assemblies would
have been very ill received by the generality of the
people. So loud were the complaints against regal usur-
pations, that had the king asserted the prerogative of
supplying, by his own authority, the deficiencies in go-
vernment, arising from the obstinacy of the Commons,
he would have increased the clamours with which the
whole nation already resounded. Charles, therefore, con-
tented himself with observing in general, that even during
that period so much complained of, the people enjoyed
a great measure of happiness, not only comparatively, in
respect of their neighbours, but even in respect of those
times which were justly accounted the most fortunate.
He made warm protestations of sincerity in the reformed
religion ; he promised indulgence to tender consciences
with regard to the ceremonies of the church ; he men-
tioned his great concessions to national liberty ; he blamed
the infamous libels everywhere dispersed against his per-
son and the national religion ; he complained of the
general reproaches thrown out in the remonstrance with
regard to ill counsels, though he had protected no minis-
ter from parliamentary justice, retained no unpopular
servant, and conferred offices on no one who enjoyed not
a high character and estimation in the public. " If, not-
withstanding this," he adds, " any malignant party shall
take heart, and be willing to sacrifice the peace and hap-
piness of their country to their own sinister ends and
ambition, under whatever pretence of religion and con-

d Kushworth, vol. v. p. 437. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 692.

CHARLES I. 79

science ; if they shall endeavour to lessen my reputation CHAP.

and interest, and to weaken my lawful power and autho-, jV '_^

rity ; if they shall attempt, by discountenancing the pre- 164L
sent laws, to loosen the bands of government, that all
disorder and confusion may break in upon us ; I doubt
not but God in his good time will discover them to me,
and that the wisdom and courage of my high court of
Parliament will join with me in their suppression and
punishment 6 ." Nothing shows more evidently the hard
situation in which Charles was placed, than to observe,
that he was obliged to confine himself within the limits
of civility towards subjects who had transgressed all
bounds of regard, and even of good manners, in the
treatment of their sovereign.

The first instance of those parliamentary encroach-
ments which Charles was now to look for, was the bill
for pressing soldiers to the service of Ireland. This bill
quickly passed the Lower House. In the preamble, the
king's power of pressing, a power exercised during all
former times, was declared illegal, and contrary to the
liberty of the subject. By a necessary consequence, the
prerogative which the crown had ever assumed of oblig-
ing men to accept of any branch of public service was
abolished and annihilated : a prerogative, it must be
owned, not very compatible with a limited monarchy.
In order to elude this law, the king offered to raise ten
thousand volunteers for the Irish service ; but the Com-
mons were afraid lest such an army should be too much
at his devotion. Charles, still unwilling to submit to so
considerable a diminution of power, came to the House
of Peers, and offered to pass the law without the pre-
amble ; by which means, he said, that ill-timed question
with regard to the prerogative would for the present be
avoided, and the pretensions of each party be left entire.
Both Houses took fire at this measure, which, from a
similar instance while the bill of attainder against Straf-
ford was in dependence, Charles might foresee would be
received with resentment. The Lords, as well as Com-
mons, passed a vote, declaring it to be a high breach of
privilege for the king to take notice of any bill which
was in agitation in either of the Houses, or to express

* Nalson, vol. ii. p. 748.

80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, his sentiments with regard to it, before it be presented

._ L J'_. to him for his assent in a parliamentary manner. The

1641 king was obliged to compose all matters by an apology*'.

The general question, we may observe, with regard to
privileges of Parliament, has always been, and still con-
tinues, one of the greatest mysteries in the English con-
stitution ; and in some respects, notwithstanding the
accurate genius of that government, these privileges are
at present as undetermined as were formerly the pre-
rogatives of the crown. Such privileges as are founded
on long precedent cannot be controverted : but though
it were certain that former kings had not, in any instance,
taken notice of bills lying before the Houses, (which yet
appears to have been very common,) it follows not, merely
from their never exerting such a power, that they had
renounced it, or never were possessed of it. Such privi-
leges also as are essential to all free assemblies which
deliberate, they may be allowed to assume, whatever
precedents may prevail : but though the king's inter-
position, by an offer of advice, does in some degree over-
awe or restrain liberty, it may be doubted whether it
imposes such evident violence as to entitle the Parlia-
ment, without any other authority or concession, to claim
the privilege of excluding it. But this was the favour-
able time for extending privileges ; and had none more
exorbitant or unreasonable been challenged, few bad
consequences had followed. The establishment of this
rule, it is certain, contributes to the order and regularity,
as well as freedom of parliamentary proceedings.

The interposition of peers in the election of com-
moners was likewise about this time declared a breach
of privilege ; and continues ever since to be condemned
by votes of the Commons, and universally practised
throughout the nation.

Every measure pursued by the Commons, and, still
more, every attempt made by their partisans, were full
of the most inveterate hatred against the hierarchy, and
showed a determined resolution of subverting the whole
ecclesiastical establishment. Besides numberless vexa-
tions and persecutions which the clergy underwent from

* Rushworth, vol. v. p. 457, 458, c. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 327. Nalson, vol. ii.
p. 738. 750, 751, &c.

CHARLES I. 81

the arbitrary power of the Lower House, the Peers, while CHAP.

the king was in Scotland, having passed an order for the v _,

observance of the laws with regard to public worship, the 1641
Commons assumed such authority, that, by a vote alone
of their House, they suspended those laws, though enacted
by the whole legislature ; and they particularly forbade
bowing at the name of Jesus ; a practice which gave them
the highest scandal, and which was one of their capital
objections against the established religion- 5 . They com-
plained of the king's filling five vacant sees, and con-
sidered it as an insult upon them, that he should complete
and strengthen an order which they intended soon en-
tirely to abolish h . They had accused thirteen bishops
of high treason, for enacting canons without consent
of Parliament 1 , though, from the foundation of the
monarchy, no other method had ever been practised : and
they now insisted that the Peers, upon this general ac-
cusation, should sequester those bishops from their seats
in Parliament, and commit them to prison. Their bill
for taking away the bishops' votes had last winter been
rejected by the Peers : but they again introduced the
same bill, though no prorogation had intervened ; and
they endeavoured, by some minute alterations, to elude
that rule of Parliament which opposed them : and when
they sent up this bill to the Lords, they made a demand,
the most absurd in the world, that the bishops, being all
of them parties, should be refused a vote with regard to
that question k . After the resolution was once formed
by the Commons, of invading the established govern-
ment of church and state, it could not be expected that
their proceedings, in such a violent attempt, would
thenceforth be altogether regular and equitable : but it
must be confessed, that, in their attack on the hierarchy,
they still more openly passed all bounds of moderation,
as supposing, no doubt, that the sacredness of the cause
would sufficiently atone for employing means the most
irregular and unprecedented. This principle, which pre-
vails so much among zealots, never displayed itself so
openly as during the transactions of this whole period.

8 Rushworth, vol. v. p. 385, 386. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 482.

h Nalson, vol. ii. p. 511. i Rushw. vol. v. p. 359.

k Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 304.

82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. But notwithstanding these efforts of the Commons,
LVl they could not expect the concurrence of the Upper
^J^P^ House, either to this law, or to any other which they
should introduce for the farther limitation of royal au-
thority. The majority of the peers adhered to the king,
and plainly foresaw the depression of nobility, as a neces-
sary consequence of popular usurpations on the crown. The
insolence, indeed, of the Commons, and their haughty treat-
ment of the Lords, had already risen to a great height,
and gave sufficient warning of their future attempts upon
that order. They muttered somewhat of their regret
that they should be obliged to save the kingdom alone,
and that the House of Peers would have no part in the
honour. Nay, they went so far as openly to tell the
Lords, " That they themselves were the representative
body of the whole kingdom, and that the peers were
nothing but individuals, who held their seats in a parti-
cular capacity : and therefore if their lordships will not
consent to the ^passing of acts necessary for the preser-
vation of the people, the Commons, together with such
of the Lords as are more sensible of the danger, must
join together, and represent the matter to his majesty 1 ."
So violent was the dernocratical, enthusiastic spirit dif-
fused throughout the nation, that a total confusion of
all rank and order was justly to be apprehended ; and
the wonder was not that the majority of the nobles should
seek shelter under the throne, but that any of them
should venture to desert it. But the tide of popularity
seized many, and carried them wide of the most esta-
blished maxims of civil policy. Among the opponents
of the king are ranked the Earl of Northumberland, lord
admiral, a man of the first family and fortune, and en-
dowed with that dignified pride which so well became
his rank and station ; the Earl of Essex, who inherited
all his father's popularity, and having, from his early
youth, sought renown in arms, united to a middling ca-
pacity that rigid inflexibility of honour which forms the
proper ornament of a nobleman and a soldier ; Lord Kim-
bolton, soon after Earl of Manchester, a person dis-
tinguished by humanity, generosity, affability, and every
amiable virtue. These men, finding that their credit

1 Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 415.

CHARLES I. 83

ran high with the nation, ventured to encourage those CHAP.
popular disorders which they vainly imagined they pos- ^ ^ L J'_,
sessed authority sufficient to regulate and control. 1641

In order to obtain a majority in the Upper House, the
Commons had recourse to the populace, who on other
occasions had done them such important service. Amidst
the greatest security, they affected continual fears of de-
struction to themselves and the nation, and seemed to
quake at every breath or rumour of danger. They again
excited the people by never-ceasing inquiries after con-
spiracies, by reports of insurrections, by feigned intelli-
gence of invasions from abroad, by discoveries of dan-
gerous combinations at home among Papists and their
adherents. When Charles dismissed the guard which
they had ordered during his absence, they complained ;
and upon his promising them a new guard, under the
command of the Earl of Lindesey, they absolutely refused
the offer, and were well pleased to insinuate, by this
instance of jealousy, that their danger chiefly arose from
the king himself m . They ordered halberts to be brought
into the hall where they assembled, and thus armed
themselves against those conspiracies with which, they
pretended, they were hourly threatened. All stories of
plots, however ridiculous, were willingly attended to, and
were dispersed among the multitude, to whose capacity
they were well adapted. Beale, a tailor, informed the
Commons, that, walking in the fields, he had hearkened
to the discourse of certain persons unknown to him, and
had heard them talk of a most dangerous conspiracy. A
hundred and eight ruffians, as he learned, had been ap-
pointed to murder a hundred and eight lords and com-
moners, and were promised rewards for these assas-
sinations, ten pounds for each lord, forty shillings for each
commoner. Upon this notable intelligence, orders were
issued for seizing priests and Jesuits, a conference was
desired with the Lords, and the deputy-lieutenants of
some suspected counties were ordered to put the people
in a posture of defence 11 .

The pulpits likewise were called in aid, and resounded
with the dangers which threatened religion, from the

m Journ. 30th Nov. 1641. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 688.

n Nalson, vol. ii. p. 646. Journ. 16th Nov. 1641. Dugdale, p. 77.

84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, desperate attempts of Papists and malignants. Multitudes
._. L J'_. flocked towards Westminster, and insulted the prelates
1641 and such of the lords as adhered to the crown. The
Peers voted a declaration against those tumults, and sent
it to the Lower House ; but these refused their concur-
rence . Some seditious apprentices, being seized and
committed to prison, immediately received their liberty,
by an order of the Commons p . The sheriffs and justices
having appointed constables with strong watches to guard
the Parliament, the Commons sent for the constables, and
required them to discharge the watches, convened the
justices, voted their orders a breach of privilege, and sent
one of them to the Tower q . Encouraged by these inti-
mations of their pleasure, the populace crowded about
Whitehall, and threw out insolent menaces against
Charles himself. Several reduced officers and young
gentlemen of the inns of court, during this time of dis-
order and danger, offered their service to the king. Be-
tween them and the populace there passed frequent skir-
mishes, which ended not without bloodshed. By way of
reproach, these gentlemen gave the rabble the appellation
of ROUNDHEADS, on account of the short cropt hair which
they wore ; these called the others CAVALIERS : and thus
the nation, which was before sufficiently provided with
religious as well as civil causes of quarrel, was also sup-
plied with party-names, under which the factions might
rendezvous and signalize their mutual hatred r .

Meanwhile the tumults still continued, and even in-
creased about Westminster and Whitehall. The cry in-
cessantly resounded against bishops and rotten-hearted
lords*. The former especially, being distinguishable by
their habit, and being the object of violent hatred to all
the sectaries, were exposed to the most dangerous in-
sults *. Williams, now created Archbishop of York, having
been abused by the populace, hastily called a meeting of
Dec. 27. his brethren. By his advice a protestation was drawn
and addressed to the king and the House of Lords. The
bishops there set forth, that though they had an un-
doubted right to sit and vote in Parliament, yet, in

o Rush-worth, part 3. vol. i. p. 710. p Nalson, vol. ii. p. 784. 792.

<i Ibid. p. 792. Journ. 27th, 28th, and 29th of December, 1641.

r Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 339. * Idem, ibid. p. 336. * Dugdale, p. 78.

CHARLES I. 85

coming thither, they had been menaced, assaulted, CHAP.
affronted, by the unruly multitude, and could no longer ^_ 1 L J'_>
with safety attend their duty in the House. For this 1641
reason they protested against all laws, votes, and resolu-
tions as null and invalid, which should pass during
the time of their constrained absence. This protestation,
which, though just and legal, was certainly ill-timed, was
signed by twelve bishops, and communicated to the king,
who hastily approved of it. As soon as it was presented
to the Lords, that House desired a conference with the
Commons, whom they informed of this unexpected pro-
testation. The opportunity was seized with joy and
triumph. An impeachment of high treason was imme- impeach-
diately sent up against the bishops, as endeavouring to JJSshops the
subvert the fundamental laws, and to invalidate the
authority of the legislature u . They were, on the first
demand, sequestered from Parliament, and committed to
custody. No man, in either House, ventured to speak a
word in their vindication ; so much displeased was every
one at the egregious imprudence of which they had been
guilty. One person alone said, that he did not believe
them guilty of high treason but that they were stark
mad, and therefore desired they might be sent to Bedlam w .

A few days after, the king was betrayed into another 1642 -
indiscretion, much more fatal : an indiscretion, to which
all the ensuing disorders and civil wars ought immedi-
ately and directly to be ascribed. This was the impeach-
ment of Lord Kimbolton and the five members.

When the Commons employed, in their remonstrance,
language so severe and indecent, they had not been ac-
tuated entirely by insolence and passion : their views
were more solid and profound. They considered, that
in a violent attempt, such as an invasion of the ancient
constitution, the more leisure was afforded the people to
reflect, the less would they be inclined to second that
rash and dangerous enterprise that the Peers would
certainly refuse their concurrence, nor were there any
hopes of prevailing on them, but by instigating the po-
pulace to tumult and disorder ; that the employing of
such odious means for so invidious an end would, at long

u Whitlocke, p. 51. Eushworth, vol. v. p. 466. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 794.
w Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 355.
VOL. V. 8

86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, run, lose them all their popularity, and turn the tide of
favour to the contrary party ; and that, if the king only
remained in tranquillity, and cautiously eluded the first
violence of the tempest, he would, in the end, certainly
prevail, and be able at least to preserve the ancient laws
and constitution. They were therefore resolved, if pos-
sible, to excite him to some violent passion ; in hopes
that he would commit indiscretions, of which they might
make advantage.

It was not long before they succeeded beyond their
fondest wishes. Charles was enraged to find that all his
concessions but increased their demands ; that the people,
who were returning to a sense of duty towards him, were
again roused to sedition and tumults ; that the blackest
calumnies were propagated against him, and even the
Irish massacre ascribed to his counsels and machinations ;
and that a method of address was adopted, not only un-
suitable towards so great a prince, but which no private
gentleman could bear without resentment. When he con-
sidered all these increasing acts of insolence in the Com-
mons, he was apt to ascribe them, in a great measure, to
his own indolence and facility. The queen and the ladies
of the court farther stimulated his passion, and repre-
sented that, if he exerted the vigour, and displayed the
majesty of a monarch, the daring usurpations of his sub-
jects would shrink before him. Lord Digby, a man of
fine parts, but full of levity, and hurried on by preci-
pitate passions, suggested like counsels ; and Charles,
who, though commonly moderate in his temper, was ever
disposed to hasty resolutions, gave way to the fatal im-
portunity of his friends and servants*.
Accusation Herbert, attorney-general, appeared in the House of

of the five -^ ' . , . J *? ,

members. Peers, and, in his majesty s name, entered an accusation
of high treason against Lord Kimbolton and five com-
moners, Hollis, Sir Arthur Hazlerig, Hambden, Pym,
and Strode. The articles were, That they had traitorously
endeavoured to subvert the fundamental laws and go-
vernment of the kingdom, to deprive the king of his regal
power, and to impose on his subjects an arbitrary and
tyrannical authority ; that they had endeavoured, by
man v foul aspersions on his majesty and his government, to

x Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 360.

CHARLES I. 87

alienate the affections of his people, and make him odious CHAP.
to them ; that they had attempted to draw his late army,^ L J'_ y
to disobedience of his royal commands, and to side with 1642-
them in their traitorous designs ; that they had invited
and encouraged a foreign power to invade the kingdom ;
that they had aimed at subverting the rights and very
being of Parliament; that, in order to complete their
traitorous designs, they had endeavoured, as far as in
them lay, by force and terror, to compel the Parliament
to join with them, and to that end had actually raised
and countenanced tumults against the king and Parlia-
ment ; and that they had traitorously conspired to levy,
and actually had levied, war against the king 7 .

The whole world stood amazed at this important ac-
cusation, so suddenly entered upon, without concert,
deliberation, or reflection. Some of these articles of ac-
cusation, men said, to judge by appearance, seem to be
common between the impeached members and the Par-
liament ; nor did these persons appear any farther active
in the enterprises of which they were accused, than so
far as they concurred with the majority in their votes
and speeches. Though proofs might, perhaps, be pro-
duced, of their privately inviting the Scots to invade
England, how could such an attempt be considered as
treason, after the act of oblivion which had passed, and
after that both Houses, with the king's concurrence, had
voted that nation three hundred thousand pounds for
their brotherly assistance ? While the House of Peers
are scarcely able to maintain their independency, or to
reject the bills sent them by the Commons, will they
ever be permitted by the populace, supposing them in-
clined, to pass a sentence, which must totally subdue the
Lower House, and put an end to their ambitious under-
takings ? These five members, at least Pym, Hambden,
and Hollis, are the very heads of the popular party ; and
if these be taken off, what fate must be expected by
their followers, who are many of them accomplices in the
same treason ? The punishment of leaders is ever the
last triumph over a broken and routed party ; but surely
was never before attempted, in opposition to a faction,
during the full tide of its power and success.

y Whitlocke, p. 50. Kushw. vol. v. p. 473. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 811. Franklyn, p. 906.

88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. But men had not leisure to wonder at the indiscretion
^J^'^, of this measure : their astonishment was excited by new
1G42 attempts, still more precipitate and imprudent. A ser-
geant at arms, in the king's name, demanded of the
House the five members, and was sent back without any
positive answer. Messengers were employed to search
for them and arrest them. Their trunks, chambers, and
studies, were sealed and locked. The House voted all
these acts of violence to be breaches of privilege, and
commanded every one to defend the liberty of the mem-
bers 2 . The king, irritated by all this opposition, resolved
next day to come in person to the House, with an inten-*
tion to demand, perhaps seize, in their presence, the per-
sons whom he had accused.

This resolution was discovered to the Countess of
Carlisle, sister to Northumberland, a lady of spirit, wit,
and intrigue a . She privately sent intelligence to the
five members ; and they had time to withdraw, a moment
before the king entered. He was accompanied by his
ordinary retinue, to the number of above two hundred,
armed as usual, some with halberts, some with walking
swords. The king left them at the door, and he himself
advanced alone through the hall, wiiile all the members
rose to receive him. The speaker withdrew from his
chair, and the king took possession of it. The speech
which he made was as follows : " Gentlemen, I am sorry
for this occasion of coming to you. Yesterday, I sent a
sergeant at arms, to demand some, who, by my order,
were accused of high treason. Instead of obedience, I
received a message. I must here declare to you, that
though no king that ever was in England could be more
careful of your privileges than I shall be, yet in cases of
treason no person has privilege. Therefore am I come
to tell you, that I must have these men wheresoever I
can find them. Well, since I see all the birds are flown,
I do expect that you will send them to me as soon as
they return. But I assure you, on the word of a king,
I never did intend any force, but shall proceed against
them in a fair and legal way, for I never meant any
other,; and now, since I see I cannot do what I came

z Whitlocke, p. 50. Rushworth, vol. v. p
Whitlocke, p. 51. Warwick, p. 204.

i. 474, 475.

for, I think this is no unfit occasion to repeat what I have CHAP.
said formerly, that whatever I have done in favour and v_ L J'_>
to the good of my subjects, I do intend to maintain it b ." 1G49

When the king was looking around for the accused
members, he asked the speaker, who stood below, whether
any of these persons were in the House ? The speaker,
falling on his knee, prudently replied : " I have, sir,
neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place,
but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant
I am. And I humbly ask pardon, that I cannot give
any other answer to w r hat your majesty is pleased to de-
mand of me c ."

The Commons were in the utmost disorder ; and when
the king was departing, some members cried aloud so as
he might hear them, Privilege ! Privilege ! and the House
immediately adjourned till next day d .

That evening, the accused members, to show the greater
apprehension, removed into the city, which was their
fortress. The citizens were the whole night in arms.
Some people, who were appointed for that purpose, or
perhaps actuated by their own terrors, ran from gate to
gate, crying out, that the cavaliers were coming to burn
the city, and that the king himself was at their head.

Next morning Charles sent to the mayor, and ordered
him to call a common-council immediately. About ten
o'clock, he himself, attended only by three or four lords,
went to Guildhall. He told the common-council, that he
was sorry to hear of the apprehensions entertained of him;
that he was come to them without any guard, in order
to show how much he relied on their affections ; and that
he had accused certain men of high treason, against whom
he would proceed in a legal way, and therefore presumed
that they would not meet with protection in the city.
After many other gracious expressions, he told one of the
sheriffs, who of the two was thought the least inclined
to his service, that he would dine with him. Pie de-
parted the hall without receiving the applause which he
expected. In passing through the streets, he heard
the cry, Privilege of Parliament ! privilege of Parliament !
resounding from all quarters. One of the populace,

b Whitlocke, p. 50. c Ibid. May, book 2. p. 20.

a Whitlocke, p 51.

90 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, more insolent than the rest, drew nigh to his coach, and

^^^^ called out with a loud voice. To your tents, Israel!

1642 the words employed by the mutinous Israelites when

they abandoned Rehoboam, their rash and ill-counselled

sovereign 6 .

When the House of Commons met, they affected the
greatest dismay; and adjourning themselves for some
days, ordered a committee to sit in Merchant-Tailors'
hall in the city. The committee made an exact inquiry
into all circumstances attending the king's entry into the
House ; every passionate speech, every menacing gesture
of any, even the meanest of his attendants, was recorded
and aggravated : an intention of offering violence to the
Parliament, of seizing the accused members in the very
House, and of murdering all who should make resistance,
was inferred ; and that unparalleled breach of privilege,
so it was called, was still ascribed to the counsel of Pa-
pists and their adherents. This expression, which then
recurred every moment in speeches and memorials, and
which at present is so apt to excite laughter in the reader,
begat at that time the deepest and most real consterna-
tion throughout the kingdom.

A letter was pretended to be intercepted, and was
communicated to the committee, who pretended to lay
great stress upon it. One Catholic there congratulates
another on the accusation of the members; and repre-
sents that incident as a branch of the same pious contri-
vance which had excited the Irish insurrection, and by
which the profane heretics would soon be exterminated
in England f .

The House again met, and after confirming the votes
of their committee, instantly adjourned, as if exposed to
the most imminent perils from the violence of their ene-
mies. This practice they continued for some time.
When the people, by these affected panics, were wrought
up to a sufficient degree of rage and terror, it was
thought proper, that the accused members should, with
a triumphant and military procession, take their seats in
the House. The river was covered with boats, and other
vessels, laden with small pieces of ordnance, and prepared

e Rushworth, vol. v. p. 479. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 361.
f Nalson, vol. ii. p. 836.

CHARLES I.

for fight. Skippon, whom the Parliament had appointed, CHAP.
by their own authority, major-general of the city mili- LV *
tia g , conducted the members, at the head of this tumul-^"^^""
tuary army, to Westminster-hall. And when the popu- Tumults.
lace, by land and by water, passed Whitehall, they still
asked, with insulting shouts, What has become of the king
and his cavaliers ? And ivhither are they fled^ ?

The king, apprehensive of danger from the enraged King
multitude, had retired to Hampton-court, deserted by London.
all the world, and overwhelmed with grief, shame, and
remorse for the fatal measures into which he had been
hurried. His distressed situation he could no longer
ascribe to the rigours of destiny, or the malignity of ene-
mies : his own precipitancy and indiscretion must bear
the blame of whatever disasters should henceforth befall
him. The most faithful of his adherents, between sor-
row and indignation, were confounded with reflections on
what had happened, and what was likely to follow. See-
ing every prospect blasted, faction triumphant, the dis-
contented populace inflamed to a degree of fury, they
utterly despaired of success in a cause to whose ruin
friends and enemies seemed equally to conspire.

The prudence of the king in his conduct of this affair
nobody pretended to justify. The legality of his proceed-
ings met with many and just apologies, though generally
offered to unwilling ears. No maxim of law, it was said,
is more established or more universally allowed, than
that privilege of Parliament extends not to treason,
felony, or breach of peace ; nor has either House, during
former ages, ever pretended in any of those cases to in-
terpose in behalf of its members. Though some incon-
veniences should result from the observance of this
maxim, that would not be sufficient, without other autho-
rity, to abolish a principle established by uninterrupted
precedent, and founded on the tacit consent of the whole
legislature. But what are the inconveniences so much
dreaded ? The king, on pretence of treason, may seize
any members of the opposite faction, and for a time, gain
to his partisans the majority of voices. But if he seize
only a few, will he not lose more friends by such a gross

g Nalson, vol. ii. p. 833.

h Whitlocke, p. 52. Dugdale, p. 82. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 380.

92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, artifice than he confines enemies? If he seize a great
LV> number, is not this expedient force, open and barefaced ?
^^^ And what remedy at all times against such force, but to
oppose to it a force which is superior ? Even allowing
that the king intended to employ violence, not authority,
for seizing the members ; though at that time, and ever
afterwards, he positively asserted the contrary ; yet will
his conduct admit of excuse. That the hall, where the
Parliament assembles, is an inviolable sanctuary, was
never yet pretended. And if the Commons complain of
the affront offered them, by an attempt to arrest their
members in their very presence ; the blame must lie en-
tirely on themselves, who had formerly refused compli-
ance with the king's message, when he peaceably de-
manded these members. The sovereign is the great
executor of the laws ; and his presence was here legally
employed, both in order to prevent opposition, and to
protect the House against those insults which their diso-
bedience had so well merited.

Charles knew to how little purpose he should urge
these reasons against the present fury of the Commons.
He proposed, therefore, by a message, that they would
agree upon a legal method, by which he might carry on
his prosecution against the members, lest farther misun-
derstandings happen with regard to privilege. They
desired him to lay the grounds of accusation before the
House ; and pretended that they must first judge whether
it were proper to give up their members to a legal trial.
The king then informed them, that he would waive for
the present all prosecution : by successive messages, he
afterwards offered a pardon to the members ; offered to
concur in any law that should acquit or secure them ;
offered any reparation to the House for the breach of
privilege, of which, he acknowledged, they had reason to
complain 1 . They were resolved to accept of no satisfac-
tion, unless he would discover his advisers in that illegal
measure : a condition to which they knew that, without
rendering himself for ever vile and contemptible, he could
not possibly submit. Meanwhile they continued to
thunder against the violation of parliamentary privileges,
and by their violent outcries to inflame the whole nation.

i Dugdale, p. 84, Rushworth, vol. v. p. 484. 488. 492, &c.

CHARLES I. 93

The secret reason of their displeasure, however obvious, CHAP.
they carefully concealed. In the king's accusation of LV>
the members, they plainly saw his judgment of the ^^
parliamentary proceedings ; and every adherent of the
ruling faction dreaded the same fate, should royal autho-
rity be re-established in its ancient lustre. By the most
unhappy conduct, Charles, while he extremely augmented
in his opponents the will, had also increased the ability
of hurting him.

The more to excite the people, whose dispositions were
already very seditious, the expedient of petitioning was
renewed. A petition from the county of Buckingham
was presented to the House by six thousand subscribers,
who promised to live and die in defence of the privileges
of Parliament k . The city of London, the county of
Essex, that of Hertford, Surrey, Berks, imitated the ex-
ample. A petition from the apprentices was graciously
received 1 . Nay, one was encouraged from the porters,
whose numbers amounted, as they said, to fifteen thou-
sand. The address of that great body contained the
same articles with all the others, the privileges of Parlia-
ment, the danger of religion, the rebellion of Ireland, the
decay of trade. The porters farther desired, that justice
might be done upon offenders, as the atrociousness of
their crimes had deserved. And they added, That if such
remedies ^vere any longer suspended, they should be forced to
extremities not Jit to be named, and ma/ce good the saying,
"That necessity has no law n ."

Another petition was presented by several poor people,
or beggars, in the name of many thousands more ; in
which the petitioners proposed as a remedy for the public
miseries, That those noble ivorthies of the House of Peers,
ivho concur ivith the happy votes of the Commons, may separate
themselves from the rest, and sit- and vote as one entire body.
The Commons gave thanks for this petition .

The very women were seized with the same rage. A
brewer's wife, followed by many thousands of her sex,
brought a petition to the House ; in which the petitioners
expressed their terror of the Papists and prelates, and
their dread of like massacres, rapes, and outrages, with

k Rushworth, vol. v. p. 487. l Idem, ibid. p. 462.

m Dugdale, p. 87. n Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 412. o Idem, ibid. p. 413.

94 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, those which had been committed upon their sex in Ire-
LV> land. They had been necessitated, they said, to imitate
""^2^ "the example of the woman of Tekoah : and they claimed
equal right with the men, of declaring, by petition, their
sense of the public cause ; because Christ had purchased
them at as dear a rate, and in the free enjoyment of Christ
consists equally the happiness of both sexes. Pym came
to the door of the House ; and having told the female
zealots that their petition was thankfully accepted, and
was presented in a seasonable time, he begged that their
prayers for the success of the Commons might follow their
petition. Such low arts of popularity were affected ! and
by such illiberal cant were the unhappy people incited
to civil discord and convulsions !

In the mean time, not only all petitions which favoured
the church or monarchy, from whatever hand they came,
were discouraged ; but the petitioners were sent for, im-
prisoned, and prosecuted as delinquents : and this une-
qual conduct was openly avowed and justified. Whoever
desire a change, it was said, must express their sentiments ;
for how, otherwise, shall they be known ? But those who
favour the established government in church or state
should not petition, because they already enjoy what
they wish for p .

The king had possessed a great party in the Lower
House, as appeared in the vote for the remonstrance ;
and this party, had every new cause of disgust been care-
fully avoided, would soon have become the majority, from
the odium attending the violent measures embraced by
the popular leaders. A great majority he always pos-
sessed in the House of Peers, even after the bishops were
confined or chased away ; and this majority could not
have been overcome, but by outrages which, in the end,
would have drawn disgrace and ruin on those who incited
them. By the present fury of the people, as by an in-
undation, were all these obstacles swept away, and every
rampart of royal authority laid level with the ground.
The victory was pursued with impetuosity by the saga-
cious Commons, who knew the importance of a favour-
able moment in all popular commotions. The terror of
their authority they extended over the whole nation;

P Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 449,

CHAELES I. 95

and all opposition, and even all blame, vented in private CHAP.
conversation, were treated as the most atrocious crimes v _ L '_,
by these severe inquisitors. Scarcely was it permitted 1642
to find fault with the conduct of any particular member,
if he made a figure in the House ; and reflections thrown
out on Pym were at this time treated as breaches of
privilege. The populace without doors were ready to
execute, from the least hint, the will of their leaders ;
nor was it safe for any member to approach either House,
who pretended to control or oppose the general torrent.
After so undisguised a manner was this violence con-
ducted, that Hollis, in a speech to the Peers, desired to
know the names of such members as should vote con-
trary to the sentiments of the Commons' 1 . And Pym
said, in the Lower House, that the people must not be
restrained in the expressions of their just desires r .

By the flight, or terror, or despondency of the king's
party, an undisputed majority remained everywhere to
their opponents ; and the bills sent up by the Commons,
which had hitherto stopped with the Peers, and would
certainly have been rejected, now passed, and were pre-
sented for the royal assent. These were, the pressing
bill with its preamble, and the bill against the votes of
the bishops in Parliament. The king's authority was at
this time reduced to the lowest ebb. The queen too,
being secretly threatened with an impeachment, and
finding no resource in her husband's protection, was pre-
paring to retire into Holland. The rage of the people
was, on account of her religion, as well as her spirit and.
activity, universally levelled against her. Usage, the
most contumelious, she had hitherto borne with silent
indignation. The Commons, in their fury against priests,
had seized her very confessor ; nor would they release
him upon her repeated applications. Even a visit of the
prince to his mother had been openly complained of, and
remonstrances against it had been presented to her 8 .
Apprehensive of attacks still more violent, she was de-
sirous of facilitating her escape ; and she prevailed with
the king to pass these bills, in hopes of appeasing for a
time the rage of the multitude *.

<i King's Declar. of the 12th of August, 1642. * ibid.

6 Nalson, vol. ii. p. 512. t Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 428.

96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. These new concessions, however important, the king
^ L J"^v immediately found to have no other effect, than all the
1642 preceding ones : they were made the foundation of de-
mands still more exorbitant. From the facility of his
disposition, from the weakness of his situation, the Com-
mons believed that he could now refuse them nothing.
And they regarded the least moment of relaxation, in
their invasion of royal authority, as highly impolitic,
during the uninterrupted torrent of their successes. The
very moment they were informed of these last acqui-
sitions, they affronted the queen, by opening some inter-
cepted letters, written to her by Lord Digby : they carried
up an impeachment against Herbert, attorney-general,
for obeying his master's commands in accusing their
members 11 . And they prosecuted with fresh vigour their
plan of the militia, on which they rested all future hopes
of an uncontrolled authority.

The Commons were sensible that monarchical govern-
ment, which, during so many ages, had been established
in England, would soon regain some degree of its former
dignity, after the present tempest was overblown ; nor
would all their new-invented limitations be able totally
to suppress an authority to which the nation had ever
been accustomed. The sword alone, to which all human
ordinances must submit, could guard their acquired power,
and fully ensure to them personal safety against the rising
indignation of their sovereign. This point, therefore,
became the chief object of their aims. A large magazine
of arms being placed in the town of Hull, they despatched
thither Sir John Hotham, a gentleman of considerable
fortune in the neighbourhood, and of an ancient family ;
and they gave him the authority of governor. They sent
orders to Goring, governor of Portsmouth, to obey no
commands but such as he should receive from the Par-
liament. Not content with having obliged the king to
displace Lunsford, whom he had appointed governor of
the Tower w , they never ceased soliciting him till he had
also displaced Sir John Biron, a man of unexceptionable
character, and had bestowed that command on Sir John
Conyers, in whom alone they said they could repose con-

11 Rushworth, vol. v. p. 489. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 385.
w Rushworth, vol. v. p. 459.

CHARLES I.

this kingdom

1642.

fidence. After making a fruitless attempt, in which the CHAP.
Peers refused their concurrence, to give public warning,, LV<
that the people should put themselves in a posture of
defence against the enterprises of Papists and other ill-
affected persons*, they now resolved, by a bold and de-
cisive stroke, to seize at once the whole power of the
sword, and to confer it entirely on their own creatures
and adherents.

The severe votes passed in the beginning of this Par-
liament against lieutenants and their deputies, for exer-
cising powers assumed by all their predecessors, had
totally disarmed the crown, and had not left in any
magistrate military authority sufficient for the defence
and security of the nation. To remedy this inconveni-
ence now appeared necessary. A bill was introduced
and passed the two Houses, which restored to lieutenants
and deputies the same powers of which the votes of the
Commons had bereaved them ; but at the same time the
names of all the lieutenants were inserted in the bill ;
and these consisted entirely of men in whom the Parlia-
ment could confide. And for their conduct, they were
accountable, by the express terms of the bill, not to the
king, but to the Parliament.

The policy pursued by the Commons, and which had
hitherto succeeded to admiration, was, to astonish the
king by the boldness of their enterprises, to intermingle
no sweetness with their severity, to employ expressions
no less violent than their pretensions, and to make him
sensible in what little estimation they held both his
person and his dignity. To a bill so destructive of royal
authority, they prefixed, with an insolence seemingly
wanton, a preamble equally dishonourable to the per-
sonal character of the king. These are the words:
" Whereas there has been of late a most dangerous and
desperate design upon the House of Commons, which
we have just cause to believe an effect of the bloody
counsels of Papists and other ill-affected persons, who
have already raised a rebellion in the kingdom of Ire-
land : and whereas, by reason of many discoveries, we
cannot but fear they will proceed, not only to stir up
the like rebellions and insurrections in

VOL. v.

Nalson, vol. ii. p. 850.

98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, of England ; but also to back them with forces from
abroad y ," &c.

Here Charles first ventured to put a stop to his con-
cessions ; and that not by a refusal, but a delay. When
this demand was made ; a demand which, if granted, the
Commons justly regarded as the last they should ever
have occasion to make ; he was at Dover, attending the
queen and the Princess of Orange in their embarkation.
He replied, that he had not now leisure to consider a
matter of so great importance, and must therefore re-
spite his answer till his return 2 . The Parliament in-
Feb. 22. stantly despatched another message to him, with solicita-
tions still more importunate. They expressed their great
grief on account of his majesty's answer to their just and
necessary petition. They represented, that any delay,
during dangers and distractions so great and pressing,
was not less unsatisfactory and destructive than an abso-
lute denial. They insisted, that it was their duty to see
put in execution a measure so necessary for public safety.
Feb. 28. And they affirmed, that the people, in many counties,
had applied to them for that purpose, and in some places
were, of themselves, and by their own authority, provid-
ing against those urgent dangers with which they were
threatened*.

Even after this insolence, the king durst not venture
upon a flat denial. Besides excepting to the preamble,
which threw such dishonour upon him, and protesting
the innocence of his intentions when he entered the
House of Commons; he only desired that the military
authority, if it were defective, should first be conferred
upon the crown; and he promised to bestow commis-
sions, but such as should be revocable at pleasure, on
the same persons whom the Parliament had named in
the bilP. By a former message he had expressed his
wishes that they would lay before him, in one view, all
the concessions which they deemed requisite for the set-
tlement of the nation. They pretended, that they were
exposed to perils so dreadful and imminent, that they
had not leisure for such a work . The expedient pro-
posed by the king seemed a sufficient remedy during

y Rushworth, vol. v. p. 519. z Idem, ibid. p. 521. a Idem, ibid,

b Idem, vol. v. p. 521. c Idem, ibid. p. 516, 517.

CHARLES I. 99

this emergence ; and yet maintained the prerogatives of CHAP.
the crown entire and unbroken.

But the intentions of the Commons were wide of this v ^^^'
purpose,, and their panics could be cured by one remedy 1st March,
alone. They instantly replied, that the dangers and dis-
tempers of the nation were such as could endure no
longer delay ; and unless the king speedily complied
with their demands, they should be constrained, for the
safety of prince and people, to dispose of the militia by
the authority of both Houses, and were resolved to do it
accordingly. They asserted, that those parts of the king-
dom which had, from their own authority, put themselves
in a posture of defence during these prevailing fears and
jealousies, had acted suitably to the declarations and
directions of both Houses, and conformably to the laws
of the kingdom. And while they thus menaced the
king with their power, they invited him to fix his resi-
dence at London, where they knew he would be entirely
at mercy d .

" I am so much amazed at this message," said the king
in his prompt reply, " that I know not what to answer.
You speak of jealousies and fears ! Lay your hands on
your hearts, and ask yourselves whether I may not like-
wise be disturbed with fears and jealousies : and if so, I
assure you that this message has nothing lessened them.

"As to the militia, I thought so much of it before
I gave that answer, and am so much assured that the
answer is agreeable to what in justice or reason you can
ask, or I in honour grant, that I shall not alter it in any
point.

" For my residence near you, I wish it might be safe
and honourable, and that I had no cause to absent myself
from Whitehall : ask yourselves whether I have not 6 .

" What would you have ? Have I violated your laws ?
Have I denied to pass any bill for the ease and security of
my subjects ? I do not ask what you have done for me.

t( Have any of my people been transported with fears
and apprehensions ? I offer as free and general a pardon
as yourselves can devise. All this considered, there is a
judgment of heaven upon this nation, if these distractions
continue.

d Rushworth, part 3. vol. i. chap. 4. p. 523. c Idem, vol. v. p. 524.

100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. " God so deal with me and mine as all my thoughts
L ^^ and intentions are upright for the maintenance of the

""^Ttrue Protestant profession, and for the observance and
preservation of the laws ; and I hope God will bless and
assist those laws for my preservation f ."

No sooner did the Commons despair of obtaining the
king's consent to their bill, than they instantly voted,
that those who advised his majesty's answer were ene-
mies to the state, and mischievous projectors against the
safety of the nation ; that this denial is of such danger-
ous consequence, that if his majesty persist in it, it will
hazard the peace and tranquillity of all his kingdoms,
unless some speedy remedy be applied by the wisdom
and authority of both Houses ; and that such of the sub-
jects as have put themselves in a posture of defence against
the common danger, have done nothing but what is justi-
fiable, and approved by the House g .

Lest the people might be averse to the seconding of
all these usurpations, they were plied anew with rumours
of danger, with the terrors of invasion, with the dread of
English and Irish Papists ; and the most unaccountable
panics were spread throughout the nation. Lord Digby
having entered Kingston in a coach and six, attended by
a few livery servants, the intelligence was conveyed to
London ; and it was immediately voted, that he had ap-
peared in a hostile manner, to the terror and affright of
his majesty's subjects, and had levied war against the
king and kingdom h . Petitions from all quarters loudly
demanded of the Parliament to put the nation in a pos-
ture of defence ; and the county of Stafford, in parti-
cular, expressed such dread of an insurrection among
the Papists, that every man, they said, was constrained
to stand upon his guard, not even daring to go to church
unarmed 1 .

That the same violence by which he had so long been
oppressed might not still reach him, and extort his con-
sent to the militia bill, Charles had resolved to remove
farther from London ; and accordingly, taking the Prince
of Wales and the Duke of York along with him, he

Kin ff arrived, by slow journeys, at York, which he determined

arrives at

t Rushworth, vol. v. p. 532. g Ibid, part 3. vol. i. chap. 4. p. 524.

h Clarendon. Rushw. part 3. vol. i. chap. 2. p. 495. i Dugdale, p. 89.

CHARLES I. 101

for some time to make the place of his residence. The CHAP.
distant parts of the kingdom, being removed from that ,_ L J' ^
furious vortex of new principles and opinions which had 1G42
transported the capital, still retained a sincere regard for
the church and monarchy; and the king here found
marks of attachment beyond what he had before ex-
pected 11 . From all quarters of England, the prime nobi-
lity and gentry, either personally, or by messages and
letters, expressed their duty towards him ; and exhorted
him to save himself and them from that ignominious
slavery with which they were threatened. The small
interval of time which had passed since the fatal accusa-
tion of the members, had been sufficient to open -the eyes
of many, and to recover them from the astonishment
with which at first they had been seized. One rash and
passionate attempt of the king's seemed but a small
counterbalance to so many acts of deliberate violence,
which had been offered to him and every branch of the
legislature : and however sweet the sound of liberty,
many resolved to adhere to that moderate freedom trans-
mitted them from their ancestors, and now better secured
by such important concessions ; rather than, by engaging
in a giddy search after more independence, run manifest
risk either of incurring a cruel subjection, or abandoning
all law and order.

Charles, finding himself supported by a considerable
party in the kingdom, began to speak in a firmer tone,
and to retort the accusations of the Commons with a
vigour which he had not before exerted. Notwithstand-
ing their remonstrances, and menaces, and insults, he
still persisted in refusing their bill ; and they proceeded
to frame an ordinance, in which, by the authority of the
two Houses, without the king's consent, they named lieu-
tenants for all the counties, and conferred on them the
command of the whole military force, of all the guards,
garrisons, and forts of the kingdom. He issued procla-
mations agajnst this manifest usurpation; and, as he
professed a resolution strictly to observe the law him-
self, so was he determined, he said, to oblige every other
person to pay it a like obedience. The name of the king
was essential to all laws, and so familiar in all acts of

k Warwick, p. 203.
9*

102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, executive authority, that the Parliament was afraid, had
LV> they totally omitted it, that the innovation would be too
"^2^ sensible to the people. In all commands, therefore,
which they conferred, they bound the persons to obey
the orders of his majesty, signified by both Houses of
Parliament; and, inventing a distinction, hitherto un-
heard of, between the office and the person of the king,
those very forces which they employed against him, they
levied in his name and by his authority 1 .

It is remarkable how much the topics of argument
were now reversed between the parties. The king, while
he acknowledged his former error, of employing a plea
of necessity, in order to infringe the laws and constitu-
tion, warned the Parliament not to imitate an example
on which they threw such violent blame ; and the Par-
liament, while they clothed their personal fears or ambi-
tion under the appearance of national and imminent
danger, made unknowingly an apology for the most ex-
ceptionable part of the king's conduct. That the liber-
ties of the people were no longer exposed to any peril
from royal authority, so narrowly circumscribed, so ex-
actly defined, so much unsupported by revenue and by
military power, might be maintained upon very plausible
topics : but that the danger, allowing it to have any ex-
istence, was not of that kind ; great, urgent, inevitable ;
which dissolves all law, and levels all limitations ; seems
apparent from the simplest view of these transactions.
So obvious indeed was the king's present inability to in-
vade the constitution, that the fears and jealousies which
operated on the people, and pushed them so furiously to
arms, were undoubtedly not of a civil, but of a religious
nature. The distempered imaginations of men were
agitated with a continual dread of popery, with a horror
against prelacy, with an antipathy to ceremonies and the
liturgy, and with a violent affection for whatever was
most opposite to these objects of aversion. The fanatical
spirit let loose, confounded all regard to ease, safety, in-
terest; and dissolved every moral and civil obligation 01 .
Each party was now willing to throw on its antagonist
the odium of commencing a civil war ; but both of them

1 Rusliworth, vol. v. p. 526.

m See note [D], at the end of the volume.

CHARLES I. 1Q3

prepared for an event which they deemed inevitable. To CHAP.
gain the people's favour and good opinion was the chief , ^'_j
point on both sides. Never was there a people less cor- 1642
rupted by vice, and more actuated by principle, than the
English during that period : never were there individuals
who possessed more capacity, more courage, more public
spirit, more disinterested zeal. The infusion of one in-
gredient, in too large a proportion, had corrupted all these
noble principles, and converted them into the most viru-
lent poison. To determine his choice in the approaching
contests, every man hearkened with avidity to the rea-
sons proposed on both sides. The war of the pen pre-
ceded that of the sword, and daily sharpened the humours
of the opposite parties. Besides private adventurers
without number, the king and Parliament themselves
carried on the controversy, by messages, remonstrances,
and declarations ; where the nation was really the party
to whom all arguments were addressed. Charles had
here a double advantage. Not only his cause was more
favourable, as supporting the ancient government in
church and state against the most illegal pretensions : it
was also defended with more art and eloquence. Lord
Falkland had accepted the office of secretary : a man who
adorned the purest virtue with the richest gifts of nature,
and the most valuable acquisitions of learning. By him,
assisted by the king himself, were the memorials of the
royal party chiefly composed. So sensible was Charles
of his superiority in this particular, that he took care to
disperse everywhere the papers of the Parliament toge-
ther with his own, that the people might be the more
enabled, by comparison, to form a judgment between
them : the Parliament, while they distributed copies of
their own, were anxious to suppress all the king's com-
positions 11 .

To clear up the principles of the constitution, to mark
the boundaries of the powers intrusted by law to the
several members, to show what great improvements the
whole political system had received from the king's late
concessions, to demonstrate his entire confidence in his
people, and his reliance on their affections, to point out
the ungrateful returns which had been made him, and the

n Rushworth, vol. v. p. 751.

104 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, enormous encroachments, insults, and indignities, to

'which he had been exposed; these were the topics

^1642]^ which, with so much justness of reasoning and propriety

of expression, were insisted on in the king's declarations

and remonstrances .

Though these writings were of consequence, and tended
much to reconcile the nation to Charles, it was evident
that they would not be decisive, and that keener weapons
must determine the controversy. To the ordinance of
the Parliament concerning the militia, the king opposed
his commissions of array. The counties obeyed the one
or the other, according as they stood affected. And in
many counties, where the people were divided, mobbish*
combats and skirmishes ensued p . The Parliament, on
this occasion, went so far as to vote, " That when the
Lords and Commons in Parliament, which is the supreme
court of judicature, shall declare what the law of the
land is, to have this not only questioned, but contra-
dicted, is a high breach of their privileges V This was
a plain assuming of the whole legislative authority, and
exerting it in the most material article, the government
of the militia. Upon the same principles, they pretended,
by a verbal criticism on the tense of a Latin verb, to
ravish from the king his negative voice in the legis-
lature 1 .

The magazine of Hull contained the arms of all the
forces levied against the Scots ; and Sir John Hotham,
the governor, though he had accepted of a commission
from the Parliament, was not thought to be much dis-
affected to the church and monarchy. Charles, there-
fore, entertained hopes that, if he presented himself at
Hull before the commencement of hostilities, Hotham,
overawed by his presence, would admit him with his re-
tinae ; after which he might easily render himself master
of the place. But the governor was on his guard. He
shut the gates, and refused to receive, the king, who de-
sired leave to enter with twenty persons only. Charles

Sec note [E], at the end of the volume.

P May, book 2. p. 99. <i Rush-worth, vol. v. p. 534.

r The king, by his coronation oath, promises that he would maintain the laws
and customs which the people had chosen, quas vulgus elegerit: the Parliament pre-
tended that elegerit meant shall choose; and consequently, that the king had no
right to refuse any bills which should be presented him. See Rushworth, vol. v.
p. 580.

CHARLES I. 105

immediately proclaimed him traitor, and complained to CHAP.
the Parliament of his disobedience. The Parliament ,_ ^^ _j
avowed and justified the action 8 . 1642

The county of York levied a guard for the king of six Prepara-
hundred men : for the kings of England had hitherto t10
lived among their subjects like fathers among their chil-
dren, and had derived all their security from the dignity
of their character, and from the protection of the laws.
The two Houses, though they had already levied a guard
for themselves, had attempted to seize all the military
power, all the navy, and all the forts of the kingdom ;
and had openly employed their authority in every kind
of warlike preparations ; yet immediately voted, " That
the king, seduced by wicked counsel, intended to make
war against his Parliament, who, in all their consulta-
tions and actions, had proposed no other end but the
care of his kingdoms, and the performance of all duty
and loyalty to his person ; that this attempt was a breach
of the trust reposed in him by his people, contrary to his
oath, and tending to a dissolution of the government ;
and that whoever should assist him in such a war were
traitors by the fundamental laws of the kingdom*."

The armies, which had been everywhere raised on
pretence of the service in Ireland, were henceforth more
openly enlisted by the Parliament for their own pur-
poses, and the command of them was given to the Earl
of Essex. In London, no less than four thousand men
enlisted in one day u . And the Parliament voted a de-
claration, which they required every member to subscribe,
that they would live and die with their general.

They issued orders for bringing in loans of money and loth June,
plate, in order to maintain forces which should defend
the king and both Houses of Parliament : for this style
they still preserved. Within ten days, vast quantities 01
plate were brought to their treasurers. Hardly were
there men enough to receive it, or room sufficient to stow
it : and many, with regret, were obliged to carry back
their offerings, and wait till the treasurers could find
leisure to receive them. Such zeal animated the pious

8 Whitlocke, p. 55. Rushw. vol. v. p. 565, &c. May, book 2. p. 51.
4 Whitlocke, p. 57. Rushworth, vol. v. p. 717. Dugdale, p. 93. May, book 2.
p. 54.

u Vicar's God in the Mount.

106 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

partisans of the Parliament, especially in the city ! The
women gave up all the plate and ornaments of their
1G42 houses, and even their silver thimbles and bodkins, in
order to support the good cause against the malignants w .

Meanwhile the splendour of the nobility, with which
the king was environed, much eclipsed the appearance at
Westminster. Lord-keeper Littleton, after sending the
great seal before him, had fled to York. Above forty
peers of the first rank attended the king x ; while the
House of Lords seldom consisted of more than sixteen
members. Near the moiety too of the Lower House
absented themselves from counsels which they deemed
so full of danger. The Commons sent up an impeach-
ment against nine peers, for deserting their duty in Par-
liament. Their own members, also, who should return to
them, they voted not to admit, till satisfied concerning the
reason of their absence.

Charles made a declaration to the peers who attended
him, that he expected from them no obedience to any
commands which were not warranted by the laws of the
land. The peers answered this declaration by a protest,
in which they declared their resolution to obey no com-
mands but such as were warranted by that authority 7 .
By these deliberate engagements, so worthy of an English
prince and English nobility, they meant to confound the
furious and tumultuary resolutions taken by the Parlia-
ment.

The queen, disposing of the crown-jewels in Holland,
had been enabled to purchase a cargo of arms and am-
munition. Part of these, after escaping many perils,
arrived safely to the king. His preparations w r ere not
near so forward as those of the Parliament. In order to
remove all jealousy, he had resolved, that their usurpa-
tions and illegal pretensions should be apparent to the
whole world, and thought that to recover the confidence
of the people was a point much more material to his
interest than the collecting of any magazines, stores, or
armies, which might breed apprehensions of violent or
illegal counsels. But the urgent necessity of his situation
no longer admitted of delay. He now prepared himself

* Whitlocke, p. 58. Dugdale, p. 96. 99. * May, book 2. p. 59.

y Kushworth, vol. v. p. 626, 627. May, book 2. p. 86. Warwick, p. 210.

CHARLES I. 107

for defence. With a spirit, activity, and address, which CHAP.
neither the one party apprehended, nor the other expected, ,_ L J'_ y
he employed all the advantages which remained to him, 1642
and roused up his adherents to arms. The resources of
this prince's genius increased in proportion to his dif-
ficulties ; and he never appeared greater than when
plunged into the deepest perils and distresses. From the
mixed character, indeed, of Charles, arose in part the
misfortunes in which England was at this time involved.
His political errors, or rather weaknesses, had raised him
inveterate enemies : his eminent moral virtues had pro-
cured him zealous partisans : and between the hatred of
the one, and the affections of the other, was the nation
agitated with the most violent convulsions.

That the king might despair of all composition, the
Parliament sent him the conditions on which they were
willing to come to an agreement. Their demands, con-
tained in nineteen propositions, amounted to a total
abolition of monarchical authority. They required, that
no man should remain in the council, who was not agree-
able to Parliament; that no deed of the king's should have
validity, unless it passed the council, and was attested
under their hand ; that all the officers of state and prin-
cipal judges should be chosen with consent of Parliament,
and enjoy their offices for life ; that none of the royal
family should marry without consent of Parliament or
council; that the laws should be executed against
Catholics ; that the votes of popish lords should be ex-
cluded ; that the reformation of the liturgy and church-
government should have place according to advice of Par-
liament ; that the ordinance, with regard to the militia,
be submitted to ; that the justice of Parliament pass upon
all delinquents ; that a general pardon be granted, with
such exceptions as should be advised by Parliament ; that
the forts and castles be disposed of by consent of Parlia-
ment ; and that no peer be made but with consent of
both Houses z .

" Should I grant these demands," said the king in reply,
" I may be waited on bareheaded ; I may have my hand
kissed ; the title of majesty may be continued to me ;
and The king's authority, signified by loth Houses, may

z Kuslnvorth, vol. v. p. 722. May, book 2. p. 54.

108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, still be the style of your commands ; I may have swords
v_ L J'_, and maces carried before me, and please myself with the
1642. sight of a crown and sceptre (though even these twigs
would not long flourish, when the stock upon which they
grew was dead) : but as to true and real power, I should
remain but the outside, but the picture, but the sign of
a king a ." War on any terms was esteemed, by the king
and all his counsellors, preferable to so ignominious a
peace. Charles accordingly resolved to support his autho-
rity by arms. " His towns," he said, " were taken from
him, his ships, his arms, his money; but there still re-
mained to him a good cause, and the hearts of his loyal
subjects, which, with God's blessing, he doubted not,
would recover all the rest." Collecting, therefore, some
25th Aug. forces, he advanced southwards ; and, at Nottingham, he
erected his royal standard, the open signal of discord and
civil war throughout the kingdom.

a Kushworth, vol. v. p. 728. Warwick, p. 189.

CHARLES I. 109

CHAPTER LVI.

>MMENCEMENT OF THE ClVID WAR. STATE OF PARTIES. BATTLE OF EDGE-
HILL. NEGOTIATION AT OXFORD. VICTORIES OF THE KOYALISTS IN THE
WEST. BATTLE OF STRATTON OF LANSDOWN OF ROUNDWAY DOWN.
DEATH OF HAMBDEN. BRISTOL TAKEN. SIEGE OF GLOUCESTER. BATTLE
OF NEWBURY. ACTIONS IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. SOLEMN LEAGUE
AND COVENANT. ARMING OF THE SCOTS. STATE OF IRELAND.

WHEN two names, so sacred in the English constitution CHAP.
as those of KING and PARLIAMENT, were placed in QPPQ-.J^ 1 '^
sition, no wonder the people were divided in their choice, 1640
and were agitated with the most violent animosities and Com-
factions. ^Strf

The nobility, and more considerable gentry, dreading the civil
a total confusion of rank from the fury of the populace,^ 8
enlisted themselves in defence of the monarch, from whom
they received, and to whom they communicated, their
lustre. Animated with the spirit of loyalty, derived from State of
their ancestors, they adhered to the ancient principles of par
the constitution, and valued themselves on exerting the
maxims, as well as inheriting the possessions, of the old
English families : and while they passed their time mostly
at their country-seats, they were surprised to hear of
opinions prevailing, with which they had ever been un-
acquainted, and which implied not a limitation, but an
abolition, almost total, of monarchical authority.

The city of London, on the other hand, and most of
the great corporations, took part with the Parliament,
and adopted with zeal those democratical principles on
which the pretensions of that assembly were founded.
The government of cities, which even under absolute
monarchies is commonly republican, inclined them to this
party : the small hereditary influence, which can be re-
tained over the industrious inhabitants of towns ; the
natural independence of citizens ; and the force of popular
currents over those more numerous associations of man-
kind ; all these causes gave, there, authority to the new
principles propagated throughout the nation. Many fa-

VOL. v. 10

110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, milies, too, which had lately been enriched by commerce,
saw with indignation, that, notwithstanding their opulence,
they could not raise themselves to a level with the ancient
gentry ; they therefore adhered to a power, by whose
success they hoped to acquire rank and consideration a :
and the new splendour and glory of the Dutch common-
wealth, where liberty so happily supported industry,
made the commercial part of the nation desire to see a
like form of government established in England.

The genius of the two religions, so closely at this time
interwoven with politics, corresponded exactly to these
divisions. The presbyterian religion was new, republican,
and suited to the genius of the populace : the other had
an air of greater show and ornament, was established on
ancient authority, and bore an affinity to the kingly and
aristocratical parts of the constitution. The devotees of
presbytery became of course zealous partisans of the Par-
liament : the friends of the episcopal church valued them-
selves on defending the rights of monarchy.

Some men also there were of liberal education, who,
being either careless or ignorant of those disputes ban-
died about by the clergy on both sides, aspired to nothing
but an easy enjoyment of life, amidst the jovial enter-
tainment and social intercourse of their companions. All
these flocked to the king's standard, where they breathed
a freer air, and were exempted from that rigid preciseness
and melancholy austerity which reigned among the par-
liamentary party.

Never was a quarrel more unequal than seemed at
first that between the contending parties : almost every
advantage lay against the royal cause. The king's revenue
had been seized, from the beginning, by the Parliament,
who issued out to him, from time to time, smalls sums for
his present subsistence : and as soon as he withdrew to
York, they totally stopped all payments. London and
all the sea-ports, except Newcastle, being in their hands,
the customs yielded them a certain and considerable
supply of money ; and all contributions, loans, and im-
positions, were more easily raised from the cities which
possessed the ready money, and where men lived under
their inspection, than they could be levied by the king

a Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 4.

CHARLES I.

Ill

1642.

in those open countries which after some time declared CHAP.
for him. ^ v ^

The seamen naturally followed the disposition of the
sea-ports to which they belonged : and the Earl of North-
umberland, lord admiral, having embraced the party of
the Parliament, had appointed, at their desire, the Earl
of Warwick to be his lieutenant, who at once established
his authority in the fleet, and kept the entire dominion
of the sea in the hands of that assembly.

All the magazines of arms and ammunition were from
the first seized by the Parliament ; and their fleet inter-
cepted the greater part of those which were sent by the
queen from Holland. The king was obliged, in order to
arm his followers, to borrow the weapons of the trained
bands, under promise of restoring them as soon as peace
should be settled in the kingdom.

The veneration for Parliaments was at this time ex-
treme throughout the nation b . The custom of reviling
those assemblies for corruption, as it had no pretence, so
was it unknown, during all former ages. Few or no in-
stances of their encroaching ambition or selfish claims
had hitherto been observed. Men considered the House
of Commons in no other light than as the representatives
of the nation, whose interest was the same with that of
the public, who were the eternal guardians of law and
liberty, and whom no motive, but the necessary defence
of the people, could ever engage in an opposition to the
crown. The torrent, therefore, of general affection ran
to the Parliament. What is the great advantage of
popularity, the privilege of affixing epithets, fell of course
to that party. The king's adherents were the Wicked
and the MaMgnavd : their adversaries were the Godly and
the Well-affected. And as the force of the cities was
more united than that of the country, and at once gave
shelter and protection to the parliamentary party, who
could easily suppress the royalists in their neighbourhood,
almost the whole kingdom, at the commencement of the
war, seemed to be in the hands of the Parliament .

What alone gave the king some compensation for all
the advantages possessed by his adversaries, was the nature
and qualities of his adherents. More bravery and activity

Walker, p. 336.

Warwick, p. 318.

112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, were hoped for, from the generous spirit of the nobles
i_ L ^ I '__, and gentry, than from the base disposition of the multi-
1640 tilde ; and as the men of estates, at their own expense,
levied and armed their tenants, besides an attachment to
their masters, greater force and courage were to be ex-
pected in these rustic troops, than in the vicious and
enervated populace of cities.

The neighbouring states of Europe, being engaged in
violent wars, little interested themselves in these civil
commotions and this island enjoyed the singular advan-
tage (for such it surely was) of fighting out its own
quarrels without the interposition of foreigners. France,
from policy, had fomented the first disorders in Scotland ;
had sent over arms to the Irish rebels ; and continued to
give countenance to the English Parliament : Spain, from
bigotry, furnished the Irish with some supplies of money
and arms. The Prince of Orange, closely allied to the
crown, encouraged English officers, who served in the
Low Countries, to enlist in the king's army : the Scottish
officers, who had been formed in Germany, and in the
late commotions, chiefly took part with the Parliament.

The contempt entertained by the Parliament for the
king's party was so great, that it was the chief cause of
pushing matters to such extremities against him; and
many believed that he never would attempt resistance,
but must soon yield to the pretensions, however enormous,
of the two Houses. Even after his standard was erected,
men could not be brought to apprehend the danger of a
civil war ; nor was it imagined that he would have the
imprudence to enrage his implacable enemies, and render
his own condition more desperate, by opposing a force
which was so much superior. The low condition in which
he appeared at Nottingham confirmed all these hopes.
His artillery, though far from numerous, had been left
at York, for want of horses to transport it. Besides the
trained bands of the country, raised by Sir John Digby,
the sheriff, he had not gotten together above three hun-
dred infantry. His cavalry, in which consisted his chief
strength, exceeded not eight hundred, and were very ill
provided with arms. The forces of the Parliament lay
at Northampton, within a few days' march of him ; and
consisted of above six thousand men, well armed and

CHARLES I.

113

1642.

well appointed. Had these troops advanced upon him, CHAP.
they must soon have dissipated the small force which he, LVL
had assembled. By pursuing him in his retreat, they
had so discredited his cause, and discouraged his ad-
herents, as to have for ever prevented his collecting an.
army able to make head against them. But the Earl of

I Essex, the parliamentary general, had not yet received
any orders from his masters d . What rendered them so
backward, after such precipitate steps as they had for-
merly taken, is not easily explained. It is probable, that
in the extreme distress of his party consisted the present
safety of the king. The Parliament hoped, that the
royalists, sensible of their feeble condition, and convinced
of their slender resources, would disperse of themselves,
and leave their adversaries a victory, so much the more
complete and secure, as it would be gained without the
appearance of force, and without bloodshed. Perhaps
too, when it became necessary to make the concluding
step, and offer barefaced violence to their sovereign, their
scruples and apprehensions, though not sufficient to over-
come their resolutions, were able to retard the execution
of them 6 .

Sir Jacob Astley, whom the king had appointed major-
general of his intended army, told him, that he could
not give him assurance but he might be taken out of his
bed, if the rebels should make a brisk attempt to that pur-
pose. All the king's attendants were full of well-grounded
apprehensions. Some of the lords having desired that a
message might be sent to the Parliament with overtures
to a treaty, Charles, who well knew that an accommoda-
tion, in his present condition, meant notching but a total
submission, hastily broke up the council, lest this pro-
posal should be farther insisted on. Bat next day, the
Earl of Southampton, whom no one could suspect of
base or timid sentiments, having offered the same advice
in council, it was hearkened to with more coolness and
deliberation. He urged, that though such a step would
probably increase the insolence of the Parliament, this
was so far from being an objection, that such dispositions
must, necessarily turn to the advantage of the royal cause :
that if they refused to treat, which was more probable,

d Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 1, 2. e Idem, ibid. p. 18.

10*

114 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the very sound of peace was so popular, that nothing
v^ L y L _> could more disgust the nation than such haughty
1642. severity : that if they admitted of a treaty, their pro-
posals, considering their present situation, would be so
exorbitant as to open the eyes of their most partial ad-
herents, and turn the general favour to the king's party :
and that, at worst, time might be gained by this expe-
dient, and a delay of the imminent danger with which
the king was at present threatened f .

Charles, on assembling the council, had declared
against all advances towards an accommodation ; and had
said, that, having nothing now left him but his honour, this
last possession he was resolved steadily to preserve, and
rather to perish than yield any farther to the pretensions
of his enemies g . But, by the unanimous desire of the
counsellors, he was prevailed on to embrace Southamp-
ton's advice. That nobleman, therefore, with Sir John
Colepeper and Sir William Uvedale, was despatched to
London, with offers of a treaty h . The manner in which
they were received gave little hopes of success. South-
ampton was not allowed by the Peers to take his seat ;
but was ordered to deliver his message to the usher, and
immediately to depart the city : the Commons showed
little better disposition towards Colepeper and Uvedale 1 .
Both Houses replied, that they could admit of no treaty
with the king, till he took down his standard, and re-
called his proclamations, in which the Parliament sup-
posed themselves to be declared traitors. The king, by
a second message, denied any such intention against the
two Houses; birt offered to recall these proclamations,
provided the Parliament agreed to recall theirs, in which
his adherents were declared traitors. They desired him,
in return, to dismiss his forces, to reside with his Parlia-
ment, and to give up delinquents to their justice ; that
is, abandon himself and his friends to the mercy of his
enemies 11 . Both parties flattered themselves, that, by
these messages and replies, they had gained the ends
which they proposed 1 . The king believed that the people
were made sufficiently sensible of the Parliament's inso-

f Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 7. g Idem, ibid.

' h Rushworth, vol. v. p. 784. 1 Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 10.

k Rushworth, vol. v. p. 786. Dugdale, p. 102. 1 Whitlocke, p. 59.

CHARLES I.

lence and aversion to peace : the parliament intended, CHAP
by this vigour in their resolutions, to support the vigour LVL
of their military operations. 1642

The courage of the Parliament was increased, besides
their great superiority of force, by two recent events,

I which had happened in their favour. Goring was go-
vernor of Portsmouth, the best fortified town in the
kingdom, and by its situation of great importance. This
man seemed to have rendered himself an implacable
enemy to the king, by betraying, probably magnifying,
the secret cabals of the army; and the Parliament thought
that his fidelity to them might, on that account, be en-
tirely depended on. But the same levity of mind still
attended him, and the same disregard to engagements
and professions. He took underhand his measures with
the court, and declared against the Parliament. But
though he had been sufficiently supplied with money,
and long before knew his danger, so small was his fore-
sight, that he had left the place entirely destitute of
provisions, and in a few days he was obliged to surrender
to the parliamentary forces.

The Marquis of Hertford was a nobleman of the
greatest quality and character in the kingdom, and,
equally with the king, descended, by a female, from
Henry VII. During the reign of James he had at-
tempted, without having obtained the consent of that
monarch, to marry Arabella Stuart, a lady nearly related
to the crown ; and, upon discovery of his intentions, had
been obliged, for some time, to fly the kingdom. Ever
after, he was looked on with an evil eye at court, from
which, in a great measure, he withdrew ; and living in
an independent manner, he addicted himself entirely to
literary occupations and /amusements. In proportion as
the king declined in popularity, Hertford's character
flourished with the people ; and when this Parliament
assembled, no nobleman possessed more general favour
and authority. By his sagacity, he soon perceived that
the Commons, not content with correcting the abuses of
government, were carried, by the natural current of power
and popularity, into the opposite extreme, and were com-
mitting violations, no less dangerous than the former,

m Kushworth, vol. v. p. 683. Whitlockc, p. 60. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 19.

116 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, upon the English constitution. Immediately he devoted
v _ L y L _, himself to the support of the king's falling authority, and
1642. was prevailed with to be governor to the young prince,
and reside at court, to which, in the eyes of all men, he
gave, by his presence, a new lustre and authority. So
high was his character for mildness and humanity, that
he still preserved, by means of these popular virtues,
the public favour; and every one was sensible of the
true motive of his change. Notwithstanding his habits
of ease and study, he^ now exerted himself in raising an
army for the king; and being named general of the
western counties, where his interest chiefly lay, he began
to assemble forces in Somersetshire. By the assistance
of Lord Seymour, Lord Paulet, John Digby, son of the
Earl of Bristol, Sir Francis Hawley, and others, he had
drawn together some appearance of an army ; when the
Parliament, apprehensive of the danger, sent the Earl of
Bedford with a considerable force against him. On his
approach, Hertford was obliged to retire into Sherborne
castle ; and finding that place untenable, he himself
passed over into Wales, leaving Sir Ealph Hopton, Sir
John Berkeley, Digby, and other officers, with their horse,
consisting of about a hundred and twenty, to march into
Cornwall, in hopes of finding that county better pre-
pared for their reception 11 .

All the dispersed bodies of the parliamentary army
were now ordered to march to Northampton ; and the
Earl of Essex, who had joined them, found the whole
amount to fifteen thousand men . The king, though his
camp had been gradually reinforced from all quarters,
was sensible that he had no army which could cope with
so formidable a force : and he thought it prudent, by slow
marches, to retire to Derby, thence to Shrewsbury, in
order to countenance the levies which his friends were
making in those parts. At Wellington, a day's march
from Shrewsbury, he made a rendezvous of all his forces,
and caused his military orders to be read at the head of
every regiment. That he might bind himself by re-
ciprocal ties, he solemnly made the following declaration
before his whole army :

" I do promise, in the presence of Almighty God, and

n Clarendon, vol. vi. p. 2, 3, &c. o Whitlocke, p. 60.

CHARLES I.

as I hope for his blessing and protection, that I will, to CHAP.
the utmost of my power, defend and maintain the true LVL
reformed Protestant religion, established in the church 1WJt -
of England, and, by the grace of God, in the same will
live and die.

" I desire that the laws may ever be the measure of
my government, and that the liberty and property of
the subject may be preserved by them with the same
care as my own just rights. And if it please God, by
his blessing on this army, raised for my necessary de-
fence, to preserve me from the present rebellion, I do
solemnly and faithfully promise, in the sight of God, to
maintain the just privileges and freedom of Parliament,
and to govern to the utmost of my power, by the known
statutes and customs of the kingdom ; and particularly
to observe inviolably the laws to which I have given my
consent this Parliament. Meanwhile, if this emergence,
and the great necessity to which I am driven, beget any
violation of law, I hope it shall be imputed by God and
man to the authors of this war ; not to me, who have so
earnestly laboured to preserve the peace of the kingdom.

" When I willingly fail in these particulars, I shall
expect no aid or relief from man, nor any protection from
above ; but in this resolution I hope for the cheerful
assistance of all good men, and am confident of the bless-
ing of heaven p ."

Though the concurrence of the church undoubtedly
increased the king's adherents, it may safely be affirmed,
that the high monarchical doctrines, so much inculcated
by the clergy, had never done him any real service.
The bulk of that generous train of nobility and gentry
who now attended the king in his distresses, breathed the
spirit of liberty, as well as of loyalty ; and in the hopes
alone of his submitting to a legal and limited govern-
ment, were they willing, in his defence, to sacrifice their
lives and fortunes.

While the king's army lay at Shrewsbury, and he was
employing himself in collecting money, which he received,
though in no great quantities, by voluntary contributions,
and by the plate of the universities, which was sent him,

P Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 16, 17. Dugclale, p. 104.

118 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the news arrived of an action, the first which had hap-
,^ L y L _,pened in these wars, and where he was successful.
^J^T" On the appearance of commotions in England, the
Princes Rupert and Maurice, sons of the unfortunate
Palatine, had offered their service to the king ; and the
former, at that time, commanded a body of horse, which
had been sent to Worcester, in order to watch the motions
of Essex, who was marching towards that city. No
sooner had the prince arrived, than he saw some cavalry
of the enemy approaching the gates. Without delay,
he briskly attacked them, as they were defiling from a
lane, and forming themselves. Colonel Sandys, who
led them, and who fought with valour, being mortally
wounded, fell from his horse. The whole party was
routed, and was pursued above a mile. The prince,
hearing of Essex's approach, returned to the main body q .
This rencounter, though in itself of small importance,
mightily raised the reputation of the royalists, and ac-
quired to Prince Rupert the character of promptitude
and courage ; qualities which he eminently displayed
during the whole course of the war.

The king, on mustering his army, found it amount to
ten thousand men. The Earl of Lindesey, who in his
youth had sought experience of military service in the
Low Countries 1 , was general : Prince Rupert commanded
the horse : Sir Jacob Astley, the foot ; Sir Arthur Aston,
the dragoons ; Sir John Heydon, the artillery. Lord
Bernard Stuart was at the head of a troop of guards.
The estates and revenue of this single troop, according
to Lord Clarendon's computation, were at least equal to
those of all the members, who, at the commencement of
war, voted in both Houses. Their servants, under the
command of Sir William Killigrew, made another troop,
and always marched with their masters 8 .

12th Oct. With this army the king left Shrewsbury, resolving to
give battle as soon as possible to the army of the Par-
liament, which, he heard, was continually augmenting by
supplies from London. In order to bring on an action,
he directed his march towards the capital, which he knew

1 Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 25. May, book 3. p. 10.
r He was then Lord Willouhb

Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 41. Warwick, p. 231.

CHARLES I.

119

1642

the enemy would not abandon to him. Essex had now CHAP.
received his instructions. The import of them was, to
present a most humble petition to the king, and to rescue
him and the royal family from those desperate malignants
who had seized their persons*. Two days after the de-
parture of the royalists from Shrewsbury, he left Wor-
cester. Though it be commonly easy in civil wars to get
intelligence, the armies were within six miles of each
other, ere either. of the generals was acquainted with the
approach of his enemy. Shrewsbury and Worcester, the
places from which they set out, are not above twenty
miles distant ; yet had the two armies marched ten days
in this mutual ignorance. So much had military skill,
during a long peace, decayed in England".

The royal army lay near Banbury; that of the Parlia-
ment at Keinton, in the county of Warwick. Prince 23cfoct.
Kupert sent intelligence of the enemy's approach. Though
the day was far advanced, the king resolved upon the
attack : Essex drew up his men to receive" him. Sir Faith-
ful Fortescue,who had levied a troop for the Irish wars, had
been obliged to serve in the parliamentary army, and was
now posted on the left wing, commanded by Ramsay, a
Scotchman. No sooner did the king's army approach,
than Fortescue, ordering his troops to discharge their
pistols in the ground, put himself under the command of
Prince Rupert. Partly from this incident, partly from the
furious shock made upon them by the prince, that whole
wing of cavalry immediately fled, and were pursued for
two miles. The right wing of the Parliament's army had
no better success. Chased from their ground by Wil-
mot and Sir Arthur Aston, they also took to flight. The
king's body of reserve, commanded by Sir John Biron,
judging, like raw soldiers, that all was over, and im-
patient to have some share in the action, heedlessly fol-
lowed the chase which their left wing had precipitately
led them. Sir William Balfour, who commanded Essex's
reserve, perceived the advantage ; he wheeled about upon
the king's infantry, now quite unfurnished of horse, and
he made great havoc among them. Lindesey, the general,
was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. His son,

t Whitlocke, p. 59. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 27, 28, &c.
u Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 44.

120 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, endeavouring his rescue, fell likewise into the enemy's
L J^ 1 '^ hands. Sir Edmund Verney, who carried the king's
1642. standard, was killed, and the standard taken ; but it was
afterwards recovered. In this situation, Prince Rupert,
on his return, found affairs. Every thing bore the appear-
ance of a defeat instead of a victory, with which he had
hastily flattered himself. Some advised the king to leave
the field : but that prince rejected such pusillanimous
counsel. The two armies faced each other for some time,
and neither of them retained courage sufficient for a new
attack. All night they lay under arms, and next morning
found themselves in sight of each other. General, as well
as soldier, on both sides, seemed averse to renew the battle.
Essex first drew off, and retired to Warwick. The king
returned to his former quarters. Five thousand men are
said to have been found dead on the field of battle ; and
the loss of the two armies, as far as we can judge by the
opposite accounts, was nearly equal. Such was the event
of this first battle, fought at Keinton, or Edge-hill w .

Some of Essex's horse, who had been driven off the
field in the beginning of the action, flying to a great
distance, carried news of a total defeat, and struck a
mighty terror into the city and Parliament. After a few
days, a more just account arrived ; and then the Parlia-
ment pretended to a complete victory x . The king also,
on his part, was not wanting to display his advantages ;
though, except the taking of Banbury, a few days after,
he had few marks of victory to boast of. He continued
his march, and took possession of Oxford, the only town
in his dominions which was altogether at his devotion.

After the royal army was recruited and refreshed, as
the weather still continued favourable, it was again put
in motion. A party of horse approached to Reading, of
which Martin was appointed governor by the Parliament.
Both governor and garrison were seized with a panic, and
fled with precipitation to London. The king, hoping
that every thing would yield before him, advanced with
his whole army to Reading. The Parliament, who,
instead of their fond expectations, that Charles would
never be able to collect an army, had now the prospect

v Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 44, c. May, book 3. p. 16, &c.
^ Whitlocke, p. 61. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 59.

CHARLES I. 121

of a civil war, bloody and of uncertain event, were farther CHAP.
alarmed at the near approach of the royal army, while LVL
their own forces lay at a distance. They voted an address ^~~^ 2
for a treaty. The king's nearer approach to Colebroke
quickened their advances for a peace. Northumberland
and Pembroke, with three commoners, presented the
address of both Houses ; in which they besought his
majesty to appoint some convenient place where he might
reside till committees could attend him with proposals.
The king named Windsor, and desired that their garrison
might be removed, and his own troops admitted into that
castle 7 .

Meanwhile Essex, advancing by hasty marches, had
arrived at London. But neither the presence of his army,
nor the precarious hope of a treaty, retarded the king's
approaches. Charles attacked, at Brentford, two regiments 30th Nov -
quartered there, and after a sharp action beat them from
that village, and took about five hundred prisoners. The
Parliament had sent orders to forbear all hostilities, and
had expected the same from the king ; though no stipu-
lation to that purpose had been mentioned by their com-
missioners. Loud complaints were raised against this
attack, as if it had been the most apparent perfidy, and
breach of treaty 2 . Inflamed with resentment, as well as
anxious for its own safety, the city marched its trained
bands in excellent order, and joined the army under Essex.
The parliamentary army now amounted to above twenty-
four thousand men, and was much superior to that of the
king a . After both armies had faced each other for some
time, Charles drew off and retired to Reading, thence to
Oxford.

While the principal armies on both sides were kept in
inaction by the winter season, the king and Parliament
were employed in real preparations for war, and in seem-
ing advances towards peace. By means of contributions
or assessments, levied by the horse, Charles maintained
his cavalry : by loans and voluntary presents, sent him
from all parts of the kingdom, he supported his infantry :
but the supplies were still very unequal to the necessities
under which he laboured b . The Parliament had much

y Whitlocke, p. 62. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 73.

2 Whitlocke, p. 62. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 75. a Whitlocke, p. 62.

& Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 87.

VOL. V. 11

122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, greater resources for money ; and had, by consequence,
,_ L ^ I ^_ J every military preparation in much greater order and
1642 abundance. Besides an imposition levied in London,
amounting to the five-and-twentieth part of every one's
substance, they established on that city a weekly assess-
ment of ten thousand pounds, and another of twenty-
three thousand five hundred and eighteen on the rest of
the kingdom ; and as their authority was at present esta-
blished in most counties, they levied these taxes with
regularity, though they amounted to sums much greater
than the nation had formerly paid to the public.
Nei-otfa- ^e king and Parliament sent reciprocally their de-
tum at mands ; and a treaty commenced, but without any ces-
Oxford - gation of hostilities, as had at first been proposed. The
Earl of Northumberland, and four members of the Lower
House, came to Oxford as commissioners' 1 . In this
treaty, the king perpetually insisted on the re-establish-
ment of the crown in its legal powers, and on the resto-
ration of his constitutional prerogative e : the Parliament
still required new concessions, and a farther abridgment
of regal authority, as a more effectual remedy to their
fears and jealousies. Finding the king supported by
more forces and a greater party than they had ever looked
for, they seemingly abated somewhat of those extrava-
gant conditions which they had formerly claimed ; but
their demands were still too high for an equal treaty.
Besides other articles, to which a complete victory alone
could entitle them, they required the king in express
terms utterly to abolish episcopacy ; a demand which
before they had only insinuated : and they required,
that all other ecclesiastical controversies should be de-
termined by their assembly of divines ; that is, in the
manner most repugnant to the inclinations of the king
and all his partisans. They insisted, that he should sub-
mit to the punishment of his most faithful adherents.
And they desired him to acquiesce in their settlement of
the militia, and to confer on their adherents the entire
power of the sword. In answer to the king's proposal,
that his magazines, towns, forts, and ships, should be re-
stored to him, the Parliament required, that they should

c Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 171. d Whitlocke, p. 64.

e Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 202.

CHARLES I. 123

be put into such hands as they could confide in. f The CHAP.
nineteen propositions, which they formerly sent to the LVL
king, showed their inclination to abolish monarchy: they""^?^"
only asked, at present, the po'tver of doing it. And hav-
ing now, in the eye of the law, been guilty of treason,
by levying war against their sovereign ; it is evident that
their fears and jealousies must, on that account, have
multiplied extremely, and have rendered their personal
safety, which they interwove with the safety of the na-
tion, still more incompatible with the authority of the
monarch. Though the gentleness and lenity of the king's
temper might have ensured them against schemes of
future vengeance ; they preferred, as is, no doubt, natural,
an independent security, accompanied, too, with sovereign
power, to the station of subjects, and that not entirely
guarded from all apprehensions of danger. g

The conferences went no farther than the first demand
on each side. The Parliament, finding that there was
no likelihood of coming to any agreement, suddenly
recalled their commissioners.

A military enterprise, which they had concerted early
in the spring, was immediately undertaken. Heading,
the garrison of the king's which lay nearest to London,
was esteemed a place of considerable strength in that
age, when the art of attacking towns was not well under-
stood in Europe, and was totally unknown in England.
The Earl of Essex sat down before this place with an isth April.
army of eighteen thousand men ; and carried on the
siege by regular approaches. Sir Arthur Aston, the
governor, tieing wounded, Colonel Fielding succeeded to
the command. In a little time the town was found
to be no longer in a condition of defence ; and though
the king approached, with an intention of obliging Essex
to raise the siege, the disposition of the parliamentary
army w r as so strong, as rendered the design impracticable.
Fielding, therefore, was contented to yield the town, on 27th April,
condition that he should bring off all the garrison with
the honours of war, and deliver up deserters. This last
article was thought so ignominious and so prejudicial to
the king's interests, that the governor 'was tried by a

f Rush-worth, vol. vi. p. 166. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 119.

s See note [F], at the end of the volume.

124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, council of war, and condemned to lose his life for con-
senting to it. His sentence was afterwards remitted by

1643. thc kin g h -

Essex's army had been fully supplied with all neces-
saries from London ; even many superfluities and luxu-
ries were sent them by the care of the zealous citizens :
yet the hardships which they suffered from the siege,
during so early a season, had weakened them to such a
degree, that they were no longer fit for any new enter-
prise. And the two armies, for some time, encamped
in the neighbourhood of each other, without attempting,
on either side, any action of moment.

Besides the military operations between the principal
armies, which lay in the centre of England ; each county,
each town, each family almost, was divided within itself;
and the most violent convulsions shook the whole king-
dom. Throughout the winter, continual efforts had every-
where been made by each party to surmount its antago-
nist ; and the English, roused from the lethargy of peace,
with eager though unskilful hands, employed against
their fellow-citizens their long-neglected weapons. The
furious zeal for liberty and presbyterian discipline, which
had hitherto run uncontrolled throughout the nation,
now at last excited an equal ardour for monarchy and
episcopacy, when the intention of abolishing these ancient
modes of government was openly avowed by the Parlia-
ment. Conventions for neutrality, though in several
counties they had been entered into, and confirmed by
the most solemn oaths, yet being voted illegal by the
two Houses, were immediately broken 1 ; and the fire of
discord was spread into every quarter. The altercation
of discourse, the controversies of the pen, but, above all,
the declamations of the pulpit, indisposed the minds of
men towards each other, and propagated the blind rage
of party k . Fierce, however, and inflamed as were the dis-
positions of the English, by a war both civil and religious,
that great destroyer of humanity ; all the events of this
period are less distinguished by atrocious deeds, either of
treachery or cruelty, than were ever any intestine dis-
cords which had so long a continuance : a circumstance

t Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 265, &c. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 237, 238, &c.
i Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 137. 139. k Dugdale, p. 95.

CHARLES I. 125

which will be found to reflect great praise on the na- CHAP.
tional character of that people, now so unhappily roused v j^ L _,
to arms. 1643

In the north, Lord Fairfax commanded for the Par-
liament, the Earl of Newcastle for the king. The latter
nobleman began those associations which were after-
wards so much practised in other parts of the kingdom.
He united in a league for the king the counties of
Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the
Bishopric, and engaged, some time after, other counties
in the same association. Finding that Fairfax, assisted
by Hothatn, and the garrison of Hull, was making pro-
gress in the southern parts of Yorkshire; he advanced
with a body of four thousand men, and took possession
of York. At Tadcaster, he attacked the forces of the
Parliament, and dislodged them ; but his victory was not
decisive. In other rencounters he obtained some incon-
siderable advantages. But the chief benefit which re-
sulted from his enterprises was, the establishing of the
king's authority in all the northern provinces.

In another part of the kingdom, Lord Broke was killed
by a shot, while he was taking possession of Lichfield for
the Parliament 1 . After a short combat, near Stafford,
between the Earl 'of Northampton and Sir John Gell,
the former, who commanded the king's forces, was killed,
while he fought with great valour; and his forces, dis-
couraged by his death, though they had obtained the
advantage in the action, retreated into the town of
Stafford" 1 .

Sir William Waller began to distinguish himself among
the generals of the Parliament. Active and indefatiga-
ble in his operations, rapid and enterprising, he was fitted
by his genius to the nature of the war ; which, being
managed by raw troops, conducted by unexperienced
commanders, afforded success to every bold and sudden
undertaking. After taking Winchester and Chichester,

1 He had taken possession of Lichfield, and was viewing from a window St.
Chad's Cathedral, in which a party of the royalists had fortified themselves. He
was cased in complete armour, but was shot through the eye by a random ball.
Lord Broke was a zealous puritan; and had formerly said, that^he hoped to see
with his eyes the ruin of all the cathedrals of England. It was a superstitious re-
mark of the royalists, that he was killed on St. Chad's day by a shot from St.
Chad's cathedral, which pierced that very eye by which he hoped to see the ruin
of all cathedrals. Dugdale, p. 118. Clarendon, &c.

m Whitlocke, p. 66. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 152. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 151.

126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, he advanced towards Gloucester, which was in a manner
, J^J 1 '^ blockaded by Lord Herbert, who had levied consider-
1643 able forces in Wales for the royal party 11 . While he
attacked the Welsh on one side, a sally from Gloucester
made impression on the other. Herbert was defeated ;
five hundred of his men killed on the spot ; a thousand
taken prisoners ; and he himself escaped with some diffi-
culty to Oxford. Hereford, esteemed a strong town,
defended by a considerable garrison, was surrendered to
Waller, from the cowardice of Colonel Price, the go-
vernor. Tewkesbury underwent the same fate. Worces-
ter refused him admittance ; and Waller, without placing
any garrisons in his new conquests, retired to Gloucester,
and he thence joined the army under the Earl of Essex ,
victories fj u t the most remarkable actions of valour, during this
royalists in winter season, were performed in the west. When Sir
the west. Ralph Hopton, with his small troop, retired into Corn-
wall before the Earl of Bedford, that nobleman, despising
so inconsiderable a force, abandoned the pursuit, and
committed the care of suppressing the royal party to the
sheriffs of the county. But the affections of Cornwall
were much inclined to the king's service. While Sir
Richard Buller and Sir Alexander Carew lay at Laun-
ceston, and employed themselves in executing the Par-
liament's ordinance for the militia, a meeting of the
county was assembled at Truro ; and after Hopton pro-
duced his commission from the Earl of Hertford, the
king's general, it was agreed to execute the laws, and to
expel these invaders of the county. The train-bands were
accordingly levied, Launceston taken, and all Cornwall
reduced to peace and to obedience under the king.

It had been usual for the royal party, on the com-
mencement of these disorders, to claim, on all occasions,
the strict execution of the laws, which they knew were
favourable to them; and the Parliament, rather than
have recourse to the plea of necessity, and avow the
transgression of any statute, had also been accustomed
to warp the laws, and by forced constructions to inter-
pret them in their own favour p . But though the king
was naturally the gainer by such a method of conducting

n Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 92. 100. o Mem, ibid. p. 263.

P Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 130.

CHARLES I. 127

war, and it was by favour of law that the train-bands CHAP.
were raised in Cornwall ; it appeared that those maxims v _ L ^ L _ y
were now prejudicial to the royal party. These troops 1643
could not legally, without their own consent, be carried
out of the county ; and consequently, it was impossible
to push into Devonshire the advantage which they had
obtained. The Cornish royalists, therefore, bethought
themselves of levying a force which might be more ser-
viceable. Sir Bevil Granville, the most beloved man of
that country, Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir Nicholas Slanning,
Arundel, and Trevannion, undertook, at their own charges,
to raise an army for the king ; and their grdat interest in
Cornwall soon enabled them to effect their purpose. The
Parliament, alarmed at this appearance of the royalists,
gave commission to Ruthven, a Scotchman, governor of
Plymouth, to march with all the forces of Dorset, Somerset,
and Devon, and make an entire conquest of Cornwall.
The Earl of Stamford followed him at some distance with
a considerable supply. Ruthven, having entered Cornwall
by bridges thrown over the Tamar, hastened to an action,
lest Stamford should join him, and obtain the honour of
that victory which he looked for with assurance. The
royalists, in like manner, were impatient to bring the
affair to a decision before Ruthven's army should receive
so considerable a reinforcement. The battle was fought
on Bradoc Down ; and the king's forces, though inferior
in number, gave a total defeat to their enemies. Ruth-
ven, with a few broken troops, fled to Saltash ; and when
that town was taken, he escaped with some difficulty, and
almost alone, into Plymouth. Stamford retired, and dis-
tributed his forces into Plymouth and Exeter.

Notwithstanding these advantages, the extreme want
both of money and ammunition under which the Cornish
royalists laboured, obliged them to enter into a conven-
tion of neutrality with the parliamentary party in Devon-
shire ; and this neutrality held all the winter season.
In the spring it was broken by the authority of the two
Houses ; and war recommenced with great appearance of
disadvantage to the king's party. Stamford having as-
sembled a strong body of near seven thousand men, well
supplied with money, provisions, and ammunition, ad-
vanced upon the royalists, who were not half his number,

128 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and were oppressed by every kind of necessity. Despair,
joined to the natural gallantry of these troops, com-
manded by the prime gentry of the county, made them
resolve, by one vigorous effort, to overcome all these ad-
vantages. Stamford being encamped on the top of a high
hill near Stratton, they attacked him in four divisions,
at five in the morning, having lain all night under arms.
One division was commanded by Lord Mohun and Sir
Ralph Hopton, another by Sir Bevil Granville and Sir
John Berkeley, a third by Slanning and Trevannion, a
fourth by Basset and Godolphin. In this manner the
action began ; the king's forces pressing with vigour those
four ways up the hill, and their enemies obstinately de-
fending themselves. The fight continued with doubtful
success, till word was brought to the chief officers of the
Cornish, that their ammunition was spent to less than
four barrels of powder. This defect, which they con-
cealed from the soldiers, they resolved to supply by their
valour. They agreed to advance without firing till they
should reach the top of the hill, and could be on equal
ground with the enemy. The courage of the officers
was so well seconded by the soldiers, that the royalists
began on all sides to gain ground. Major-General Child-
ley, who commanded the parliamentary army, (for Stam-
ford kept at a distance,) foiled not in his duty ; and when
he saw his men recoil, he himself advanced with a good
stand of pikes, and piercing into the thickest of the
enemy, was at last overpowered by numbers, and taken
prisoner. His army, upon this disaster, gave ground
apace ; insomuch that the four parties of the royalists,
growing nearer and nearer as they ascended, at last met
together upon the plain at the top ; where they embraced
with great joy, and signalized their victory with loud
shouts and mutual congratulations^

After this success, the attention both of king and Par-
liament was turned towards the west, as to a very im-
portant scene of action. The king sent thither the
Marquis of Hertford and Prince Maurice, with a rein-
forcement of cavalry ; who having joined the Cornish
army, soon overran the county of Devon ; and advancing
into that of Somerset, began to reduce it to obedience.

<i Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 267. 273. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 269. 279.

CHARLES I. 129

On the other hand, the Parliament having supplied Sir CHAP.
William Waller, in whom they much trusted, with a v _ L ^ L ,
complete army, despatched him westwards, in order to 1643
check the progress of the royalists. After some skir- Battle of

. -, . i . -T- i T> J.T Lansclown.

mishes, the two armies met at Lansdown, near Bath, 5t h j u i y .
and fought a pitched battle, with great loss on both
sides, but without any decisive event 1 . The gallant
Granville was there killed ; and Hopton, by the blowing
up of some powder, was dangerously hurt. The royalists
next attempted to march eastwards, and to join their
forces to the king's at Oxford : but Waller hung on
their rear, and infested their march till they reached the
Devizes. Reinforced by additional troops, which flocked
to him from all quarters, he so much surpassed the royal-
ists in number, that they durst no longer continue their
march, or expose themselves to the hazard of an action.
It was resolved, that Hertford and Prince Maurice should
proceed with the cavalry ; and having procured a rein-
forcement from the king, should hasten back to the re-
lief of their friends. Waller was so confident of taking
this body of infantry, now abandoned by the horse, that
he wrote to the Parliament that their work was done, and
that by the next post he would inform them of the num-
ber and quality of their prisoners. But the king, even
before Hertford's arrival, hearing of the great difficulties
to which his western army was reduced, had prepared a
considerable body of cavalry, which he immediately de-
spatched to their succour under the command of Lord
Wilmot. Waller drew up on Round way-down, about two Battle of
miles from the Devizes; and advancing with his cavalry ^ay-down.
to fight Wilmot, and prevent his conjunction with the 13th Jul 7-
Cornish infantry, was received with equal valour by the
royalists. After a sharp action he was totally routed,
and flying with a few horse, escaped to Bristol. Wilmot,
seizing the enemy's cannon, and having joined his friends,
whom he came to relieve, attacked Waller's infantry with
redoubled courage, drove them off the field, and routed
and dispersed the whole army 8 .

This important victory following so quick after many
other successes, struck great dismay into the Parliament,

1 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 284. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 282.
8 Ktisliworth, vol. vi. p. 285. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 291.

130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and gave an alarm to their principal army commanded
.j^ 1 ^, by Essex. Waller exclaimed loudly against that general,
1643 for allowing Wilmot to pass him, and proceed without
any interruption to the succour of "the distressed infantry
at the Devizes. But Essex, finding that his army fell
continually to decay after the siege of Reading, was re-
solved to remain upon the defensive ; and the weakness
of the king, and his want of all military stores, had also
restrained the activity of the royal army. No action
had happened in that part of England, except one skir-
mish, which of itself was of no great consequence, and
was rendered memorable by the death alone of the famous
Hambden.

Colonel Urrey, a Scotsman, who served in the parlia-
mentary army, having received some disgust, came to
Oxford, and offered his services to the king. In order
to prove the sincerity of his conversion, he informed
Prince Rupert of the loose disposition of the enemy's
quarters, and exhorted him to form some attempt upon
them. The prince, who was entirely fitted for that kind
of service, falling suddenly upon the dispersed bodies of
Essex's army, routed two regiments of cavalry and one
of infantry, and carried his ravages within two miles of
the general's quarters. The alarm being given, every
one mounted on horseback, in order to pursue the
prince, to recover the prisoners, and to repair the dis-
grace which the army had sustained. Among the rest,
Hambden, who had a regiment of infantry that lay at a
distance, joined the horse as a volunteer ; and overtaking
the royalists on Chalgrave field, entered into the thickest
of the battle. By the bravery and activity of Rupert, the
king's troops were brought off; and a great booty, toge-
ther with two hundred prisoners, was conveyed to Oxford.
But what most pleased the royalists was, the expectation
that some disaster had happened to Hambden, their capi-
tal and much dreaded enemy. One of the prisoners taken
in the action said, that he was confident Mr. Hambden
was hurt ; for he saw him, contrary to his usual custom,
ride off the field, before the action was finished ; his head
hanging down, and his hands leaning upon his horse's
neck. Next day, the news arrived that he was shot in
the shoulder with a brace of bullets, and the bone broken.

CHARLES I. 131

Some days after, lie died, in exquisite pain, of his wound ; CHAP.
nor could his whole party, had their army met with a v L y^ y
total overthrow, have been thrown into greater conster- 1643
nation. The king himself so highly valued him, that, Death of
either from generosity or policy, he intended to have 11 '
sent him his own surgeon to assist at his cure*.

Many were the virtues and talents of this eminent
personage ; and his valour, during the war, had shone out
with a lustre equal to that of the other accomplishments
by which he had ever been distinguished. Affability in
conversation ; temper, art, and eloquence in debate ;
penetration and discernment in counsel ; industry, vigi-
lance, and enterprise in action ; all these praises are
unanimously ascribed to him by historians of the most
opposite parties. His virtues too, and integrity, in all
the duties of private life, are allowed to have been be-
yond exception : we must only be cautious, notwith-
standing his generous zeal for liberty, not hastily to
ascribe to him the praises of a good citizen. Through
all the horrors of civil war, he sought the abolition of
monarchy, and subversion of the constitution ; an end
which, had it been attainable by peaceful measures, ought
carefully to have been avoided by every lover of his
country. But whether, in the pursuit of this violent enter-
prise, he was actuated by private ambition, or by honest
prejudices, derived from the former exorbitant powers of
royalty, it belongs not to an historian of this age, scarcely
even to an intimate friend, positively to determined

Essex, discouraged by this event, dismayed by the total
rout of Waller, was farther informed, that the queen,
who landed in Burlington-bay, had arrived at Oxford,
and had brought from the north a reinforcement of three
thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse. Dislodging
from Thame and Aylesbury, where he had hitherto lain,
he thought proper to retreat nearer to London ; and he
showed to his friends his broken and disheartened forces,
which a few months before he had led into the field in so
nourishing a condition. The king, freed from this enemy,
sent his army westward under Prince Rupert, and, by their
conjunction with the Cornish troops, a formidable force,

* Warwick's Memoirs, p. 241. Clarendon, vol. i. p. 264.
u See note [G], at the end of the volume.

132 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, for numbers as well as reputation and valour, was com-
posed. That an enterprise correspondent to men's ex-
might be undertaken, the prince resolved to
ay siege to Bristol, the second town for riches and great-
ness in the kingdom. Nathaniel Fiennes, son of Lord
Say, he himself; as well as his father, a great parlia-
mentary leader, was governor, and commanded a garrison
of two thousand five hundred foot, and two regiments,
one of horse, another of dragoons. The fortifications
not being complete or regular, it was resolved by Prince
Eupert to storm the city ; and next morning, with little
other provisions suitable to such a work, besides the
courage of the troops, the assault began. The Cornish,
in three divisions, attacked the west side, with a resolu-
tion which nothing could control : but though the mid-
dle division had already mounted the wall, so great was
the disadvantage of the ground, and so brave the defence
of the garrison, that in the end the assailants were re-
pulsed with a considerable loss both of officers and sol-
diers. On the prince's side, the assault was conducted
with equal courage, and almost with equal loss, but with
better success. One party, led by Lord Grandison, was
indeed beaten off, and the commander himself mortally
wounded. Another, conducted by Colonel Bellasis, met
with a like fate : but Washington, with a less party, find-
ing a place in the curtain weaker than the rest, broke in,
and quickly made room for the horse to follow. By this
irruption, however, nothing but the suburbs was yet
gained : the entrance into the town was still more diffi-
cult : and by the loss already sustained, as well as by the
prospect of farther danger, every one was extremely dis-
Bristoi couraged : when, to the great joy of the army, the city
25th n juiy. beat a parley. The garrison was allowed to march out
with their arms and baggage, leaving their cannon, am-
munition, and colours. For this instance of cowardice,
Fiennes was afterwards tried by a court-martial, and
condemned to lose his head ; but the sentence was re-
mitted by the general w .

Great complaints were made of violences exercised on
the garrison, contrary to the capitulation. An apology
was made by the royalists, as if these were a retaliation

* Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 284. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 293, 294, c.

CHARLES I. 133

for some violence committed on their friends at the CHAP.
surrender of Reading. And under pretence of like re-,_ L ^ L _ y
taliations, but really from the extreme animosity of the 1643
parties, were such irregularities continued during the
whole course of the war*.

The loss sustained by the royalists in the assault of
Bristol was considerable. Five hundred excellent soldiers
perished. Among those of condition were Grandison,
Slanning, Trevannion, and Moyle ; Bellasis, Ashley, and
Sir John Owen, were wounded. Yet was the success,
upon the whole, so considerable, as mightily raised the
courage of the one party, and depressed that of the
other. The king, to show that he was not intoxicated
with good fortune, nor aspired to a total victory over the
Parliament, published a manifesto ; in which he renewed
the protestation, formerly taken, with great solemnity,
at the head of his army, and expressed his firm intention
of making peace upon the re-establishment of the con-
stitution. Having joined the camp at Bristol, and sent
Prince Maurice with a detachment into Devonshire, he
deliberated how to employ the remaining forces in an
enterprise of moment. Some proposed, and seemingly
with reason, to march directly to London ; where every
thing was in confusion, where the army of the Parliament
was baffled, weakened, and dismayed, and where, it was
hoped, either by an insurrection of the citizens, by vic-
tory, or by treaty, a speedy end might be put to the civil
disorders. But this undertaking, by reason of the great
number and force of the London militia, was thought
by many to be attended with considerable difficulties.
Gloucester, lying within twenty miles, presented an easier,
yet a very important conquest. It was the only remain-
ing garrison possessed by the Parliament in those parts.
Could that city be reduced, the king held the whole
course of the Severn under his command ; the rich and
malecontent counties of the west, having lost all protec-
tion from their friends, might be forced to pay high con-
tributions as an atonement for their disaffection ; an
open communication could be preserved between Wales
and these new conquests; and half of the kingdom,
being entirely freed from the enemy, and thus united

x Clarendon, ubi supra, p. 297.
VOL. V. 12

134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, into one firm body, might be employed in re-establishing
LVI. ^ ie k m g' g authority throughout the remainder. These
1643. were the reasons for embracing that resolution, fatal as

it was ever esteemed to the royal party y .

siege of ^he governor of Gloucester was one Massey, a soldier
coster. of fortune, who, before he engaged w r ith the Parliament,
had offered his service to the king ; and as he was free
from the fumes of enthusiasm, by which most of the
officers on that side were intoxicated, he would lend an
ear, it was presumed, to proposals for accommodation : but
Massey was resolute to preserve an entire fidelity to his
masters ; and though no enthusiast himself, he well knew
how to employ to advantage that enthusiastic spirit so
ioth Aug. prevalent in his city and garrison. The summons to sur-
render allowed two hours for an answer : but before that
time expired, there appeared before the king two
citizens, with lean, pale, sharp, and dismal visages ; faces,
so strange and uncouth, according to Lord Clarendon;
figures, so habited and accoutred, as at once moved the
most severe countenance to mirth, and the most cheer-
ful heart to sadness. It seemed impossible that such
messengers could bring less than a defiance. The men,
without any circumstance of duty or good manners,
in a pert, shrill, undismayed accent, said, that they
brought an answer from the godly city of Gloucester ;
and extremely ready were they, according to the his-
torian, to give insolent and seditious replies to any ques-
tion ; as if their business were chiefly, by provoking the
king, to make him violate his own safe conduct. The
answer from the city was in these words : " We, the in-
habitants, magistrates, officers, and soldiers, within the
garrison of Gloucester, unto his majesty's gracious mes-
sage 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 of his royal posterity ; and
do accordingly conceive ourselves wholly bound to obey
the commands of his majesty, signified by both Houses
of Parliament ; and are resolved, by God's help, to keep
this city accordingly 55 ." After these preliminaries the

y Whitlocke, p. 69. May, book 3. p. 91.

z Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 287. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 315. May, book 3,
p. 96.

CHARLES I. 135

siege was resolutely undertaken by the army, and as CHAP.
resolutely sustained by the citizens and garrison. ^J^L^

When intelligence of the siege of Gloucester arrived 1643
in London, the consternation among the inhabitants was
as great as if the enemy were already at their gates. The
rapid progress of the royalists threatened the Parliament
with immediate subjection : the factions and discontents
among themselves in the city, and throughout the neigh-
bouring counties, prognosticated some dangerous division
or insurrection. Those parliamentary leaders, it must be
owned, who had introduced such mighty innovations into
the English constitution, and who had projected so much
greater, had not engaged in an enterprise which ex-
ceeded their courage and capacity. Great vigour from
the beginning, as well as wisdom, they had displayed in
all their counsels ; and a furious, headstrong body, broken
loose from the restraint of law, had hitherto been re-
tained in subjection under their authority, and firmly
united by zeal and passion, as by the most legal and
established government. A small committee, on whom
the two Houses devolved their power, had directed all
their military operations, and had preserved a secrecy in
deliberation, and a promptitude in execution, beyond
what the king, notwithstanding the advantages possessed
by a single leader, had ever been able to attain. Sen-
sible that no jealousy was by their partisans entertained
against them, they had on all occasions exerted an autho-
rity much more despotic than the royalists, even during
the pressing exigencies of war, could with patience en-
dure in their sovereign. Whoever incurred their dis-
pleasure, or was exposed to their suspicions, was com-
mitted to prison, and prosecuted under the notion of de-
linquency. After all the old jails were full, many new
ones were erected; and even the ships were crowded
with the royalists, both gentry and clergy, who languished
below decks, and perished in those unhealthy confine-
ments. They imposed taxes, the heaviest, and of the
most unusual nature, by an ordinance of the two Houses :
they voted a commission for sequestrations; and they
seized, wherever they had power, the revenues of all the
king's party a : and knowing that themselves and all their

a The king afterwards copied from this example ; but, as the far greater pai't

136 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, adherents were, by resisting the prince, exposed to the
penalties of law, they resolved, by a severe administra-
^^^ tion, to overcome these terrors, and to retain the people
in obedience, by penalties of a more immediate execu-
tion. In the beginning of this summer, a combination,
formed against them in London, had obliged them to
exert the plenitude of their authority.

Edmund Waller, the first refiner of English versifi-
cation, was a member of the Lower House ; a man of
considerable fortune, and not more distinguished by his
poetical genius than by his parliamentary talents, and by
the politeness and elegance of his manners. As full of
keen satire and invective in his eloquence, as of tender-
ness and panegyric in his poetry, he caught the attention
of his hearers, and exerted the utmost boldness in
blaming those violent counsels, by which the Commons
were governed. Finding all opposition within doors to
be fruitless, he endeavoured to form a party without,
which might oblige the Parliament to accept of reasonable
conditions, and restore peace to the nation. The charms of
his conversation, joined to his character of courage and in-
tegrity, had procured him the entire confidence of North-
umberland, Conway, and every eminent person of either
sex who resided in London. They opened their breasts
to him without reserve, and expressed their disappro-
bation of the furious measures pursued by the Commons,
and their wishes that some expedient could be found for
stopping so impetuous a career. Tomkins, Waller's
brother-in-law, and Chaloner, the intimate friend of
Tomkins, had entertained like sentiments: and as the
connexions of these two gentlemen lay chiefly in the city,
they informed Waller, that the same abhorrence of war
prevailed there among all men of reason and moderation.
Upon reflection it seemed not impracticable that a com-
bination might be formed between the lords and citizens ;
and, by mutual concert, the illegal taxes be refused, which
the Parliament, without the royal assent, imposed on the
people. While this affair was in agitation, and lists were
making of such as they conceived to be well affected to
their design, a servant of Tomkins, who had overheard

of the nobility and landed gentry were his friends, he reaped much less profit
from this measure,

CHARLES I. 13'

their discourse, immediately carried intelligence to Pym. CHAP
Waller, Tomkins, and Chaloner were seized, and tried, _ LVL
by a court-martial b . They were all three condemned, ^J^""
and the two latter executed on gibbets erected before
their own doors. A covenant, as a test, was taken by
the Lords and Commons, and imposed on their army,
and on all who lived within their quarters. Besides re-
solving to amend and reform their lives, the covenanters
there vow, that they will never lay down their arms so
long as the Papists, now in open war against the Parlia-
ment, shall, by force of arms, be protected from justice ;
they express their abhorrence of the late conspiracy ; and
they promise to assist to the utmost the forces raised by
both Houses against the forces levied by the king d .

Waller, as soon as imprisoned, sensible of the great
danger into which he had fallen, was so seized with the
dread of death, that all his former spirit deserted him :
and he confessed whatever he knew, without sparing his
most intimate friends, without regard to the confidence
reposed in him, without distinguishing between the neg-
ligence of familiar conversation and the schemes of a
regular conspiracy. With the most profound dissimu-
lation, he counterfeited such remorse of conscience, that
his execution was put off, out of mere Christian compas-
sion, till he might recover the use of his understanding.
He invited visits from the ruling clergy of all sects ; and
while he expressed his own penitence, he received their
devout exhortations with humility and reverence, as con-
veying clearer conviction and information than in his life
he had ever before attained. Presents too, of which, as
well as of flattery, these holy men were not insensible,
were distributed among them ; as a small retribution for
their prayers and ghostly counsel. And by all these ar-
tifices, more than from any regard to the beauty of his
genius, of which, during that time of furious cant and
faction, small account would be made, he prevailed so far
as to have his life spared, and a fine of ten thousand
pounds accepted in lieu of it e .

The severity exercised against the conspiracy, or rather

b Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 326. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 249, 250, &c.
c 6th of June. a Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 325. Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 255.

Whitlocke, p. 66. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 330. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 253,
254, &c.

12*

138 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, project, of Waller, increased the authority of the Par-
liament, and seemed to ensure them against like attempts
1643. f r the future. But by the progress of the king's arms,
the defeat of Sir William Waller, the taking of Bristol,
the siege of Gloucester, a cry for peace was renewed,
and with more violence than ever. Crowds of women,
with a petition for that purpose, flocked about the House,
and were so clamorous and importunate, that orders were
given for dispersing them ; and some of the females were
killed in the fray f . Bedford, Holland, and Conway, had
deserted the Parliament, and had gone to Oxford Clare
and Lovelace had followed them g . Northumberland had
retired to his country-seat : Essex himself showed extreme
dissatisfaction, and exhorted the Parliament to make
peace h . The Upper House sent down terms of accom-
modation more moderate than had hitherto been insisted
on. It even passed, by a majority among the Commons,
that these proposals should be transmitted to the king.
The zealots took the alarm. A petition against peace
was framed in the city, and presented by Pennington,
the factious mayor. Multitudes attended him, and re-
newed all the former menaces against the moderate
party 1 . The pulpits thundered, and rumours were spread
of twenty thousand Irish, who had landed, and were to
cut the throat of every Protestant k . The majority was
again turned to the other side ; and all thoughts of pa-
cification being dropped, every preparation was made for
resistance, and for the immediate relief of Gloucester, on
which the Parliament was sensible all their hopes of
success in the war did so much depend.

Massey, resolute to make a vigorous defence, and
having under his command a city and garrison ambitious
of the crown of martyrdom, had hitherto maintained the
siege with courage and abilities, and had much retarded
the advances of the king's army. By continual sallies
he infested them in their trenches, and gained sudden
advantages over them : by disputing every inch of ground,
he repressed the vigour and alacrity of their courage,
elated by former successes. His garrison, however, was

f Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 357. g Whitlockc, p. 67.

h Rushw. vol. vi, p. 290. i Idem, ibid. p. 356.

k Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 320. Rushw. vol. vi. p. 588.

CHARLES I. 139

reduced to the last extremity ; and he failed not, from CHAP.
time to time, to inform the Parliament, that, unless^j^ 1 '^
speedily relieved, he should be necessitated, from the 1643
extreme want of provisions and ammunition, to open his
gates to the enemy.

The Parliament, in order to repair their broken con-
dition, and put themselves in a posture of defence, now
exerted to the utmost their power and authority. They
voted that an army should be levied under Sir William
Waller, whom, notwithstanding his misfortunes, they
loaded with extraordinary caresses. Having associated
in their cause the counties of Hertford, Essex, Cambridge,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincoln, and Huntingdon, they gave
the Earl of Manchester a commission to be general of
the association, and appointed an army to be levied under
his command. But, above all, they were intent that
Essex's army, on which their whole fortune depended,
should be put in a condition of marching against the
king. They excited afresh their preachers to furious
declamations against the royal cause. They even em-
ployed the expedient of pressing, though abolished by a
late law, for which they had strenuously contended 1 .
And they engaged the city to send four regiments of its
militia to the relief of Gloucester. All shops, meanwhile,
were ordered to be shut ; and every man expected, with
the utmost anxiety, the event of that important enter-
prise m .

Essex, carrying with him a well-appointed army of four-
teen thousand men, took the road of Bedford and Lei-
cester ; and though inferior in cavalry, yet by the mere
force of conduct and discipline, he passed over those open
champaign countries, and defended himself from the
enemy's horse, who had advanced to meet him, and who
infested him during his whole march. As he approached
to Gloucester, the king was obliged to raise the siege,
and open the way for Essex to enter that city. The
necessities of the garrison were extreme. One barrel of
powder was their whole stock of ammunition remaining ;
and their other provisions were in the same proportion.
Essex had brought with him military stores ; and the
neighbouring country abundantly supplied him with

i Bushw. vol. vi. p, 292. m Idem, ibid.

140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, victuals of every kind. The inhabitants had carefully
concealed all provisions from the king's army, and pre-

^^^ tending to be quite exhausted, had reserved their stores
for that cause which they so much favoured n .

The chief difficulty still remained. Essex dreaded a
battle with the king's army, on account of its great
superiority in cavalry ; and he resolved to return, if pos-
sible, without running that hazard. He lay five days at
Tewkesbury, which was his first stage after leaving
Gloucester ; and he feigned, by some preparations, to
point towards Worcester. By a forced march during the
night, he reached Cirencester, and obtained the double
advantage of passing unmolested an open country, and of
surprising a convoy of provisions which lay in that town .
Without delay he proceeded towards London ; but when
he reached Newbury, he was surprised to find that the
king, by hasty marches, had arrived before him, and was
already possessed of the place.

Battle^' ^ n ac ti n was now unavoidable ; and Essex prepared

Newbury. for it with presence of mind, and not without military
conduct. On both sides the battle was fought with
desperate valour and a steady bravery. Essex's horse were
several times broken by the king's, but his infantry main-
tained themselves in firm array ; and besides giving a
continued fire, they presented an invincible rampart of
pikes against the furious shock of Prince Eupert, and
those gallant troops of gentry of which the royal cavalry
was chiefly composed. The militia of London especially,
though utterly unacquainted with action, though drawn
but a few days before from their ordinary occupations,
yet having learned all military exercises, and being
animated with unconquerable zeal for the cause in which
they were engaged, equalled, on this occasion, what could
be expected from the most veteran forces. While the
armies were engaged with the utmost ardour, night put
an end to the action, and left the victory undecided.
Next morning, Essex proceeded on his march ; and
though his rear was once put in some disorder by an in-
cursion of the king's horse, he reached London in safety,
and received applause for his conduct and success in the
whole enterprise. The king followed him on his march ;

n Clarendon, YO!. iii. p. 344. o Rushw. vol. vi. p. 292.

CHARLES I. 141

and having taken possession of Heading, after the earl CHAP.
left it, he there established a garrison ; and straitened, LVL
by that means, London, and the quarters of the enemy p . s- ^^

In the battle of Newbury, on the part of the king, be-
sides the Earls of Sunderland and Carnarvon, two noble-
men of promising hopes, was unfortunately slain, to the
regret of every lover of ingenuity and virtue throughout
the kingdom, Lucius Gary, Viscount Falkland, secretary
of state. Before assembling the present Parliament, this
man, devoted to the pursuits of learning, and to the
society of all the polite and elegant, had enjoyed himself
in every pleasure, which a fine genius, a generous dis-
position, and an opulent fortune could afford. Called
into public life, he stood foremost in all attacks on the
high prerogatives of the crown : and displayed that mas-
culine eloquence, and undaunted love of liberty, which,
from his intimate acquaintance with the sublime spirits
of antiquity, he had greedily imbibed. When civil con-
vulsions proceeded to extremities, and it became requisite
for him to choose his side, he tempered the ardour of his
zeal, and embraced the defence of those limited powers
which remained to monarchy, and which he deemed
necessary for the support of the English constitution.
Still anxious, however, for his country, he seems to have
dreaded the too prosperous success of his own party as
much as of the enemy ; and among his intimate friends,
often, after a deep silence and frequent sighs, he would,
with a sad accent, reiterate the word Peace. In excuse
for the too free exposing of his person, which seemed un-
suitable in a secretary of state, he alleged that it be-
came him to be more active than other men in all hazard-
ous enterprises, lest his impatience for peace might bear
the imputation of cowardice or pusillanimity. From the
commencement of the war, his natural cheerfulness and
vivacity became clouded ; and even his usual attention
to dress, required by his birth and station, gave way to a
negligence which was easily observable. On the morning
of the battle in which he fell, he had shown some care of
adorning his person ; and gave for a reason, that the
enemy should not find his body in any slovenly indecent
situation. " I am weary," subjoined he, " of the times,

P Rushw. vol. vi. p. 293. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 347.

142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and foresee much misery to my country ; but believe,
JJ^J^that I shall be out of it ere night' 1 ." This excellent
1643. person was but thirty-four years of age when a period was
thus put to his life.

The loss sustained on both sides in the battle of New-
bury, and the advanced season, obliged the armies to re-
tire into winter quarters.

Actions in I n the north, during the summer, the great interest
and popularity of the Earl, now created Marquis, of New-
castle had raised a considerable force for the king ; and
great hopes of success were entertained from that quarter.
There appeared, however, in opposition to him, two men,
on whom the event of the war finally depended, and who
began about this time to be remarked for their valour and
military conduct. These were Sir Thomas Fairfax, son
of the lord of that name, and Oliver Cromwell. The
former gained a considerable advantage at "Wakefield*
over a detachment of royalists, and took General Goring
prisoner; the latter obtained a victory at Gainsborough 8
over a party commanded by the gallant Cavendish, who
perished in the action. But both these defeats of the
royalists were more than sufficiently compensated by the
total rout of Lord Fairfax at Atherton Moor*, and the dis-
persion of his army. After this victory, Newcastle, with an
army of fifteen thousand men, sat down before Hull.
Hotham was no longer governor of this place. That gentle-
man and his son,^partly from a jealousy entertained of Lord
Fairfax, partly repenting of their engagements against
the king, had entered into a correspondence with New-
castle, and had expressed an intention of delivering Hull
into his hands. But their conspiracy being detected,
they were arrested and sent prisoners to London ; where,
without any regard to their former services, they fell, both
of them, victims to the severity of the Parliament 11 .

Newcastle, having carried on the attack of Hull for
some time, was beat off by a sally of the garrison w , and
suffered so much, that he thought proper to raise the
siege. About the same time, Manchester, who advanced
from the eastern associated counties, having joined Crom-

<i Whitlocke, p. 70. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 350, 351, &c.

r 21st of May. s 31st of July. t soth of June.

u Rushw. vol. vi. p. 275. w i2th of October.

CHARLES I. 143

well and young Fairfax, obtained a considerable victory CHAP.
over the royalists at Horncastle; where the two officers V _ L ^ L _,
last mentioned gained renown by their conduct and 1643
gallantry. And though fortune had thus balanced her
favours, the king's party still remained much superior in
those parts of England; and had it not been for the
garrison at Hull, which kept Yorkshire in awe, a con-
junction of the northern forces with the army in the
south might have been made, and had probably enabled
the king, instead of entering on the unfortunate, perhaps
imprudent, enterprise of Gloucester, to march directly to
London, and put an end to the war x .

While the military enterprises were carried on with
vigour in England, and the event became every day more
doubtful, both parties cast their eye towards the neigh-
bouring kingdoms, and sought assistance for the finishing
of that enterprise, in which their own forces experienced
such furious opposition. The Parliament had recourse
to Scotland ; the king to Ireland.

When the Scottish covenanters obtained that end, for
which they so earnestly contended, the establishment of
presbyterian discipline in their own country, they were
not satisfied, but indulged still an ardent passion for
propagating, by all methods, that mode of religion in the
neighbouring kingdoms. Having flattered themselves, in
the fervour of their zeal, that, by supernatural assistances,
they should be enabled to carry their triumphant cove-
nant to the gates of Rome itself, it behoved them first
to render it prevalent in England, which already showed
so great a disposition to receive it. Even in the articles
of pacification, they expressed a desire of uniformity in
worship with England ; and the king, employing general
expressions, had approved of this inclination, as pious
and laudable. No sooner was there an appearance of a
rupture, than the English Parliament, in order to allure
that nation into a close confederacy, openly declared
their wishes of ecclesiastical reformation, and of imitating
the example of their northern brethren 7 . When war
was actually commenced, the same artifices were used ;
and the Scots beheld, with the utmost impatience, a

* Warwick, p. 261. Walker, p. 278.

y Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 390. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 68.

144 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, scene of action, of which they could not deem them-
LVL selves indifferent spectators. Should the king, they said,
^""^ be able, by force of arms, to prevail over the Parliament
of England, and re-establish his authority in that power-
ful kingdom, he will undoubtedly retract all those con-
cessions which, with so many circumstances of violence
and indignity, the Scots have extorted from him. Be-
sides a sense of his own interest, and a regard to royal
power, which has been entirely annihilated in this country;
his very passion for prelacy and for religious ceremonies
must lead him to invade a church which he has ever been
taught to regard as antichristian and unlawful. Let us
but consider who the persons are that compose the fac-
tions now so furiously engaged in arms. Does not the
Parliament consist of those very men who have ever op-
posed all war with Scotland, who have punished the
authors of our oppressions, who have obtained us the re-
dress of every grievance, and who, with many honour-
able expressions, have conferred on us an ample reward
for our brotherly assistance ? And is not the court full
of Papists, prelates, malignants ; all of them zealous ene-
mies to our religious model, and resolute to sacrifice their
lives for their idolatrous establishments ? Not to men-
tion our own necessary security ; can we better express
our gratitude to Heaven for that pure light with which
we are, above all nations, so eminently distinguished,
than by conveying the same divine knowledge to our
unhappy neighbours, who are wading through a sea of
blood, in order to attain it ? These were, in Scotland,
the topics of every conversation : with these doctrines
the pulpits echoed : and the famous curse of Meroz, that
curse so solemnly denounced and reiterated against neu-
trality and moderation, resounded from all quarters z .

The Parliament of England had ever invited the Scots,
from the commencement of the civil dissensions, to inter-
pose their mediation, which, they knew, would be so
little favourable to the king ; and the king, for that very
reason, had ever endeavoured, with the least offensive
expressions, to decline it a . Early this spring, the Earl

z Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord ; curse ye bitterly the inhabitants
thereof: because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord
against the mighty. Judges, chap. 5. v. 23.

a llushworth, vol. vi. p. 398.

CHAELES I. 145

of London, the chancellor, with other commissioners, CHAP.
and attended by Henderson, a popular and intriguing ^J^V,
preacher, was sent to the king at Oxford, and renewed 1643
the offer of mediation; bnt with the same success as
before. The commissioners were also empowered to
press the king on the article of religion, and to recom-
mend to him the Scottish model of ecclesiastical worship
and discipline. This was touching Charles in a very
tender point : his honour, his conscience, as w r ell as his
interest, he believed to be intimately concerned in
supporting prelacy and the liturgy b . He begged the
commissioners, therefore, to remain satisfied with the
concessions which he had made to Scotland ; and having
modelled their own church according to their own
principles, to leave their neighbours in the like liberty,
and not to intermeddle with affairs of which they could
not be supposed competent judges .

The divines of Oxford, secure, as they imagined, of a
victory, by means of their authorities from church history,
their quotations from the fathers, and their spiritual
arguments, desired a conference with Henderson, and
undertook, by dint of reasoning, to convert that great
apostle of the north : but Henderson, who had ever re-
garded as impious the least doubt with regard to his own
principles, and who knew of a much better way to reduce
opponents than by employing any theological topics, ab-
solutely refused all disputation or controversy. The
English divines went away full of admiration at the blind
assurance and bigoted prejudices of the man : he, on his
part, was moved with equal wonder at their obstinate
attachment to such palpable errors and delusions.

By the concessions which the king had granted to
Scotland, it became necessary for him to summon a Par-
liament once in three years ; and in June of the subse-
quent year was fixed the period for the meeting of that
assembly. Before that time elapsed, Charles nattered
himself that he should be able, by some decisive ad-
vantage, to reduce the English Parliament to a reasonable
submission, and might then expect, with security, the
meeting of a Scottish Parliament. Though earnestly
solicited by London to summon presently that great

l> See note [H], at the end of the volume. c Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 462.

VOL. V. 13

146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, council of the nation, he absolutely refused to give au-
v ^ L ^ L ^ y thority to men who had already excited such dangerous
1643 commotions, and who showed still the same disposition
to resist and invade his authority. The commissioners,
therefore, not being able to prevail in any of their de-
mands, desired the king's passport for London, where
they purposed to confer with the English Parliament d ;
and being likewise denied this request, they returned
with extreme dissatisfaction to Edinburgh.

The office of conservators of the peace was newly
erected in Scotland, in order to maintain the confederacy
between the two kingdoms ; and these, instigated by the
clergy, were resolved, since they could not obtain the
king's consent, to summon, in his name, but by their own
authority, a convention of states ; and to bereave their
sovereign of this article, the only one which remained of
his prerogative. Under colour of providing for national
peace, endangered by the neighbourhood of English
armies, was a convention called 6 ; an assembly which,
though it meets with less solemnity, has the same autho-
rity as a Parliament, in raising money and levying forces.
Hamilton, and his brother the Earl of Laneric, who had
been sent into Scotland in order to oppose these measures,
wanted either authority or sincerity ; and passively
yielded to the torrent. The general assembly of the
church met at the same time with the convention, and
exercising an authority almost absolute over the whole
civil power, made every political consideration yield to
their theological zeal and prejudices.

The English Parliament was, at that time, fallen into
great distress, by the progress of the royal arms; and
they gladly sent to Edinburgh commissioners, with ample
powers, to treat of a nearer union and confederacy with
the Scottish nation. The persons employed were the
Earl of Rutland, Sir William Armyne, Sir Henry Vane
the younger, Thomas Hatcher, and Henry Darley, at-
tended by Marshal and Nye, two clergymen of signal
authority f . In this negotiation, the man chiefly trusted
w r as Vane, who, in eloquence, address, capacity, as well
as in art and dissimulation, was not surpassed by any one,

d Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 406. e 22d of June.

f Whitlocke, p. 73. liushw. vol. vi. p. 466. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 300.

CHARLES I. 147

even during that age, so famous for active talent. By CHAP.
his persuasion was framed at Edinburgh, that SOLEMN, J^ 1 ' .
LEAGUE AND COVENANT, which effaced all former protesta- 1643
tions and vows taken in both kingdoms, and long main- Solemn
tained its credit and authority. In this covenant, the
subscribers, besides engaging mutually to defend each
other against all opponents, bound themselves to en-
deavour, without respect of persons, the extirpation of
popery and prelacy, superstition, heresy, schism, and pro-
faneness ; to maintain^ the rights and privileges of Par-
liaments, together with the king's authority ; and to dis-
cover and bring to justice all incendiaries and malig-
narits g .

The subscribers of the covenant vowed also to preserve
the reformed religion established in the church of Scot-
land ; but, by the artifice of Vane, no declaration more
explicit was made with regard to England and Ireland,
than that these kingdoms should be reformed, according
to the word of God, and the example of the purest
churches. The Scottish zealots, when prelacy was ab-
jured, deemed this expression quite free from ambiguity,
and regarded their own model as the only one which
corresponded, in any degree, to such a description : but
that able politician had other views, and while he em-
ployed his great talents in overreaching the presby terians,
and secretly laughed at their simplicity, he had blindly
devoted himself to the maintenance of systems still more
absurd and more dangerous.

In the English Parliament there remained some mem-
bers, who, though they had been induced, either by pri-
vate ambition, or by zeal for civil liberty, to concur with
the majority, still retained an attachment to the hierar-
chy, and to the ancient modes of worship. But, in the
present danger which threatened their cause, all scruples
were laid aside ; and the covenant, by whose means
alone they could expect to obtain so considerable a rein-
forcement as the accession of the Scottish nation, was
received without opposition. The Parliament, there- Sept. 1 7.
fore, having first subscribed it themselves, ordered it to
be received by all who lived under their authority.

Great were the rejoicings among the Scots, that they

s Kuslnvorth, vol. vi. p. 478. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 373.

148 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, should be the happy instruments of extending their mode
of religion, and dissipating that profound darkness in
which the neighbouring nations were involved. The
general assembly applauded this glorious imitation of the
piety displayed by their ancestors, who, they said, in
three different applications, during the reign of Eliza-
beth, had endeavoured to engage the English, by per-
suasion, to lay aside the use of the surplice, tippet, and
corner-cap h . The convention, too, in the height of their
zeal, ordered every one to swear to this covenant, under
the penalty of confiscation ; besides what farther punish-
ment it should please the ensuing Parliament to inflict
on the refusers, as enemies to God, to the king, and to
the kingdom. And being determined that the sword
should carry conviction to all refractory minds, they
prepared themselves, with great vigilance and activity,

Arming of for their military enterprises. By means of a hundred
'' thousand pounds which they received from England ;
by the hopes of good pay and warm quarters ; not to
mention men's favourable disposition towards the cause,
they soon completed their levies. And, having added,
to their other forces, the troops which they had recalled
from Ireland, they were ready, about the end of the
year, to enter England, under the command of their old
general, the Earl of Leven, with an army of above twenty
thousand men \

The king, foreseeing this tempest which was gathering
upon him, endeavoured to secure himself by every ex-
pedient ; and he cast his eye towards Ireland, in hopes
that this kingdom, from which his cause had already re-
ceived so much prejudice, might at length contribute
somewhat towards his protection and security.

Ireland* After the commencement of the Irish insurrection,
the English Parliament, though they undertook the sup-
pression of it, had ever been too much engaged, either
in military projects, or expeditions at home, to take any
effectual step towards finishing that enterprise. They
had entered, indeed, into a contract with the Scots, for
sending over an army of ten thousand men into Ireland ;
and, in order to engage that nation in this undertaking,
beside giving a promise of pay, they agreed to put Car-

h Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 388. i Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 383.

CHARLES I. 149

ricfergus into their hands, and to invest their general CHAP.

with an authority quite independent of the English
vernment. These troops, so long as they were allowed IG43
to remain, were useful, by diverting the force of the
Irish rebels, and protecting in the north the small rem-
nants of the British planters. But, except this contract
with the Scottish nation, all the other measures of the
Parliament either were hitherto absolutely insignificant,
or tended rather to the prejudice of the Protestant cause
in Ireland. By continuing their violent persecution, and
still more violent menaces, against priests and Papists,
they confirmed the Irish Catholics in their rebellion, and
cut off all hopes of indulgence and toleration. By dis-
posing beforehand of all the Irish forfeitures to subscri-
bers or adventurers, they rendered all men of property
desperate, and seemed to threaten a total extirpation of
the natives k . And while they thus infused zeal and ani-
mosity into the enemy, no measure was pursued which
could tend to support and encourage the Protestants,
now reduced to the last extremities.

So great is the ascendant which, from a long course of
successes, the English has acquired over the Irish nation,
that though the latter, when they receive military disci-
pline among foreigners, are not surpassed by any troops,
they had never, in their own country, been able to make
any vigorous effort for the defence or recovery of their
liberties. In many rencounters, the English under Lord
More, Sir William St. Leger, Sir Frederic Hamilton,
and others, had, though under great disadvantages of
situation and numbers, put the Irish to rout, and returned
in triumph to Dublin. The rebels raised the siege of
Tredah, after an obstinate defence made by the garrison 1 .
Ormond had obtained two complete victories at Kilrush
and Boss ; and had brought relief to all the forts which
were besieged or blockaded in different parts of the king-
dom" 1 . But notwithstanding these successes, even the
most common necessaries of life were wanting to the
victorious armies. The Irish, in their wild rage against
the British planters, had laid waste the whole kingdom,

k A thousand acres in Ulster were given to every one that subscribed two hun-
dred pounds, in Connaught to the subscribers of three hundred and fifty, in Mun-
Bter for four hundred and fifty, in Leinster for six hundred.

1 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 506. m Idem, ibid. p. 512.

13*

150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and were themselves totally unfit, from their habitual
^ L VL _, sloth and ignorance, to raise any convenience of human
1643 life. During the course of six months no supplies had
come from England, except the fourth part of one small
vessel's lading. Dublin, to save itself from starving,
had been obliged to send the greater part of its inhabi-
tants to England. The army had little ammunition,
scarcely exceeding forty barrels of gunpowder ; not even
shoes or clothes ; and for want of food the soldiers had
been obliged to eat their own horses. And though the
distress of the Irish was not much inferior 11 ; besides
that they were more hardened against such extremities,
it was but a melancholy reflection, that the two nations,
while they continued their furious animosities, should
make desolate that fertile island, which might serve to
the subsistence and happiness of both.

The justices and council of Ireland had been engaged,
chiefly by the interest and authority of Ormond, to fall
into an entire dependence on the king. Parsons, Tem-
ple, Loftus, and Meredith, who favoured the opposite
party, had been removed ; and Charles had supplied their
place by others better affected to his service. A commit-
tee of the English House of Commons, which had been
sent over to Ireland, in order to conduct the affairs of
that kingdom, had been excluded the council, in obedi-
ence to orders transmitted from the king . And these
were reasons sufficient, besides the great difficulties under
which they themselves laboured, why the Parliament was
unwilling to send supplies to an army which, though en-
gaged in a cause much favoured by them, was commanded
by their declared enemies. They even intercepted some
small succours sent thither by the king.

The king, as he had neither money, arms, ammunition,
nor provisions, to spare from his own urgent wants, re-
solved to embrace an expedient, which might at once
relieve the necessities of the Irish Protestants, and con-
tribute to the advancement of his affairs in England.
A truce with the rebels, he thought, would enable his
subjects in Ireland to provide for their own support, and
would procure him the assistance of the army against the

n Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 555.

Idem, ibid. p. 530. Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 167.

CHARLES I. 151

English Parliament. But as a treaty with a people so CHAP.
odious for their barbarities, and still more for their ^3^
religion, might be represented in invidious colours, and^^ts^
renew all those calumnies with which he had been loaded,
it was necessary to proceed with great caution in con-
ducting that measure. A remonstrance from the army
was made to the Irish council, representing their intoler-
able necessities, and craving permission to leave the king-
dom: and if that were refused, We must have recourse,
they said, to that first and primary taiv, ivith which God
has endowed all men; we mean the laiv of nature, which
teaches every creature to preserve itself ^. Memorials both
to the king and Parliament were transmitted by the jus-
tices and council, in which their wants and dangers are
strongly set forth*; and though the general expressions
in these memorials might perhaps be suspected of ex-
aggeration, yet, from the particular facts mentioned, from
the confession of the English Parliament itself r , and from
the very nature of things, it is apparent that the Irish
Protestants were reduced to great extremities 8 ; and it
became prudent in the king, if not absolutely necessary,
to embrace some expedient, which might secure them,
for a time, from the ruin and misery with which they
were threatened.

Accordingly, the king gave orders* to Ormond and
the justices to conclude, for a year, a cessation of arms
with the council of Kilkenny, by whom the Irish were
governed, and to leave both sides in possession of their
present advantages. The Parliament, whose business it
was to find fault with every measure adopted by the
opposite party, and who would not lose so fair an op-
portunity of reproaching the king with his favour to the
Irish Papists, exclaimed loudly against this cessation.
Among other reasons, they insisted upon the Divine
vengeance, which England might justly dread, for tole-
rating antichristian idolatry, on pretence of civil contracts

P Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 537. 1 Idem, ibid. p. 538.

r Idem, ibid. p. 540.

* See farther, Carte's Ormond, vol. iii. No. 113. 127, 128, 129. 134. 136. 141. 144.
149. 158, 159. All these papers put it past doubt, that the necessities of the Eng-
lish army in Ireland were extreme. See farther, Rushw. vol. vi. p. 537 ; and Dug-
dale, p. 853, 854.

* 7th September. See Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 537. 544. 547.

152 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and political agreements". Keligion, though every day
employed as the engine of their own ambitious purposes,
^^^ was supposed too sacred to be yielded up to the tempo-
ral interests or safety of kingdoms.

After the cessation, there was little necessity, as well
as no means, of subsisting the army in Ireland. The
king ordered Ormond, who was entirely devoted to
him, to send over considerable bodies of it to England.
Most of them continued in his service ; but a small part,
having imbibed in Ireland a strong animosity against
the Catholics, and hearing the king's party universally
reproached with popery, soon after deserted to the Par-
liament.

Some Irish Catholics came over with these troops, and
joined the royal army, where they continued the same
cruelties and disorders to which they had been accus-
tomed w . The Parliament voted that no quarter, in any
action, should ever be given them : but Prince Rupert,
by making some reprisals, soon repressed this inhumanity x .

* Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 557. * Whitlocke, p. 78. 103.

x Eushworth, vol. vi. p. 680. 783.

CHARLES I.

153

CHAPTER LVII.

OF THE SCOTS. BATTLE OF MARSTON-MOOR. BATTLE OF CRO-
PREDYBRIDGE. ESSEX'S FORCES DISARMED. SECOND BATTLE OF NEW-
BURY. KlSE AND CHARACTER OF THE INDEPENDENTS. SELF-DENYING
ORDINANCE. FAIRFAX, CROMWELL. TREATY OF UXBRIDGE. EXECU-
TION OF LAUD.

1644.

THE king had hitherto, during the course of the war, CHAP.
obtained many advantages over the Parliament, and had s
raised himself from that low condition into which he had
at first fallen, to be nearly upon an equal footing with his
adversaries. Yorkshire, and all the northern counties,
were reduced by the Marquis of Newcastle ; and, except-
ing Hull, the Parliament was master of no garrison in
these quarters. In the west, Plymouth alone, having
been in vain besieged by Prince Maurice, resisted the
king's authority : and had it not been for the disappoint-
ment in the enterprise on Gloucester, the royal garrisons
had reached, without interruption, from one end of the
kingdom to the other ; and had occupied a greater ex-
tent of ground than those of the Parliament. Many of
the royalists flattered themselves that the same vigorous
spirit which had elevated them to the present height of
power would still favour their progress, and obtain them
a final victory over their enemies : but those who judged
more soundly observed, that besides the accession of the
whole Scottish nation to the side of the Parliament, the
very principle on which the royal successes had been
founded, was every day acquired, more and more, by the
opposite party. The king's troops, full of gentry and
nobility, had exerted a valour superior to their enemies,
and had hitherto been successful in almost every ren-
counter : but in proportion as the whole nation became
warlike by the continuance of civil discords, this advan-
tage was more equally shared ; and superior numbers,
it was expected, must at length obtain the victory. The
king's troops, also, ill paid, and destitute of every neces-
sary, could not possibly be retained in equal discipline

154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, with the parliamentary forces, to whom all supplies were
furnished from unexhausted stores and treasures a . The
severity of manners, so much affected by these zealous
religionists, assisted their military institutions ; and the
rigid inflexibility of character by which the austere re-
formers of church and state were distinguished, enabled
the parliamentary chiefs to restrain their soldiers within
stricter rules and more exact order. And while the
king's officers indulged themselves even in greater
licences than those to which, during times of peace, they
had been accustomed, they were apt both to neglect their
military duty, and to set a pernicious example of dis-
order to the soldiers under their command.

At the commencement of the civil war, all English-
men who served abroad were invited over, and treated
with extraordinary respect : and most of them, being
descended of good families, and, by reason of their
absence, unacquainted with the new principles which
depressed the dignity of the crown, had enlisted under
the royal standard. But it is observable that, though
the military profession requires great genius and long
experience in the principal commanders, all its subordi-
nate duties may be discharged by ordinary talents, and
from superficial practice. Citizens and country gentle-
men soon became excellent officers, and the generals of
greatest fame and capacity happened, all of them, to
spring up on the side of the Parliament. The courtiers
and great nobility, in the other party, checked the growth
of any extraordinary genius among the subordinate offi-
cers ; and every man there, as in a regular established
government, was confined to the station in which his
birth had placed him.

The king, that he might make preparations, during
winter, for the ensuing campaign, summoned to Oxford
all the members of either House who adhered to his
interests ; and endeavoured to avail himself of the name
of Parliament, so passionately cherished by the English
nation b . The House of Peers was pretty full ; and be-
sides the nobility employed in different parts of the king-
dom, it contained twice as many members as commonly
voted at Westminster. The House of Commons con-

a Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 560. b Idem, ibid. p. 559.

CHARLES I. 155

sisted of about one hundred and forty ; which amounted CHAR
not to above half of the other House of Commons . ,_ L ^ II ^ >

So extremely light had government hitherto lain upon 1644
the people, that the very name of excise was unknown
to them ; and among other evils arising from these do-
mestic wars, was the introduction of that impost into
England. The Parliament at Westminster, having voted
an excise on beer, wine, and other commodities ; those
at Oxford imitated the example, and conferred that re-
venue on the king. And, in order to enable him the
better to recruit his army, they granted him the sum of
one hundred thousand pounds, to be levied by way of
loan upon the subject. The king circulated privy-seals,
countersigned by the speakers of both Houses, requiring
the loan of particular sums from such persons as lived
within his quarters' 1 . Neither party had as yet got
above the pedantry of reproaching their antagonists with
these illegal measures.

The Westminster Parliament passed a whimsical ordi-
nance, commanding all the inhabitants of London and
the neighbourhood to retrench a meal a week ; and to
pay the value of it for the support of the public cause 6 .
It is easily imagined that, provided the money were paid,
they troubled themselves but little about the execution
of their ordinance.

Such was the king's situation, that, in order to restore
peace to the nation, he had no occasion to demand any
other terms than the restoring of the laws and constitu-
tion ; the replacing him in the same rights which had
ever been enjoyed by his predecessors ; and the re-esta-
blishing, on its ancient basis, the whole frame of govern-
ment, civil as well as ecclesiastical. And, that he might
facilitate an end seemingly so desirable, he offered to
employ means equally popular, an universal act of ob-
livion, and a toleration or indulgence to tender con-
sciences. Nothing, therefore, could contribute more to
his interests than every discourse of peace, and every
discussion of the conditions upon which that blessing
could be obtained. For this reason, he solicited a treaty
on all occasions, and desired a conference and mutual ex-

c Rush-worth, vol. vi. p. 566. 574, 575. a Idem, ibid. p. 590.

e Dugdale, p. 119. Rush-worth, vol. vi. p. 748.

156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, animation of pretensions, even when he entertained no
LVIL } 10 p es that any conclusion could possibly result from it.
v ^^' For like reasons, the Parliament prudently avoided,
as much as possible, all advances towards negotiation,
and were cautious not to expose too easily to censure
those high terms, which their apprehensions or their
ambition made them previously demand of the king.
Though their partisans were blinded with the thickest
veil of religious prejudices, they dreaded to bring their
pretensions to the test, or lay them open before the whole
nation. In opposition to the sacred authority of the laws,
to the venerable precedents of many ages, the popular
leaders were ashamed to plead nothing but fears and
jealousies, which were not avowed by the constitution,
and for which neither the personal character of Charles,
so full of virtue, nor his situation, so deprived of all in-
dependent authority, seemed to afford any reasonable
foundation. Grievances which had been fully redressed ;
powers, either legal or illegal, which had been entirely
renounced ; it seemed unpopular, and invidious, and un-
grateful, any farther to insist on.

The king, that he might abate the universal vene-
ration paid to the name of Parliament, had issued a
declaration, in which he set forth all the tumults by
which himself and his partisans in both Houses had been
driven from London ; and he thence inferred that the
assembly at Westminster was no longer a free Parlia-
ment, and, till its liberty were restored, was entitled to
no authority. As this declaration was an obstacle to all
treaty, some contrivance seemed requisite, in order to
elude it.

A letter was written, in the foregoing spring, to the
Earl of Essex, and subscribed by the prince, the Duke of
York, arid forty-three noblemen f . They there exhort him
to be an instrument of restoring peace, and to promote
that happy end with those by whom he was employed.
Essex, though much disgusted with the Parliament,
though apprehensive of the extremities to which they
were driving, though desirous of any reasonable accom-
modation; yet was still more resolute to preserve an
honourable fidelity to the trust reposed in him. He re-

f Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 442. Bushworth, vol. vi. p. 566. WMtlocke, p. 77.

CHARLES I. 157

plied, that as the paper sent him neither contained any CHAP.
address to the two Houses of Parliament, nor any ac- v ^^ IL ^,
knowledgment of their authority, he could not commu- 1644
nicate it to them. Like proposals had been reiterated
by the king, during the ensuing campaign, and still met
with a like answer from Essex 8 .

In order to make a new trial for a treaty, the king,
this spring, sent another letter, directed to the Lords
and Commons of Parliament assembled at Westminster,
but as he also mentioned, in the letter, the Lords and
Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford, and de-
clared that his scope and intention was to make provi-
sion that all the members of both Houses might securely
meet in a full and free assembly ; the Parliament, per-
ceiving the conclusion implied, refused all treaty upon
such terms h . And the king, who knew what small hopes
there were of accommodation, would not abandon the
pretensions which he had assumed ; nor acknowledge the
two Houses, more expressly, for a free Parliament.

This winter the famous Pyin died ; a man as much
hated by one party, as respected by the other. At Lon-
don, he was considered as the victim to national liberty,
who had abridged his life by incessant labours for the
interests of his country 1 : at Oxford, he was believed to
have been struck with an uncommon disease, and to have
been consumed with vermin ; as a mark of divine ven-
geance, for his multiplied crimes and treasons. He had
been so little studious of improving his private fortune
in those civil wars of which he had been one principal
author, that the Parliament thought themselves obliged,
from gratitude, to pay the debts which he had con-
tracted 1 ". We now return to the military operations,
which, during the winter, were carried on with vigour in
several places, notwithstanding the severity of the season.

The forces brought from Ireland were landed at Mos-
tyne, in North Wales; and being put under the com-
mand of Lord Biron, they besieged and took the castles
of Hawarden, Beeston, Acton, and Deddington-house \
No place in Cheshire, or the neighbourhood, now adhered

s Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 444. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 569. 570. Whitlocke,
p. 94.

* Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 449. Whitlocke, p. 79. i Ibid. p. 66.

fc Journ. 13th of February, 1643. l Rush-worth, vol. vi. p. 299.

VOL. V. 14

158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, to the Parliament, except Nantwich ; and to this town

,J L ^ II ^ j Biron laid siege during the depth of winter. Sir Thomas
1644 Fairfax, alarmed at so considerable a progress of the
royalists, assembled an army of four thousand men in
Yorkshire, and having joined Sir William Brereton, was
approaching to the camp of the enemy. Biron and his
soldiers, elated with successes obtained in Ireland, had
entertained the most profound contempt for the parlia-
mentary forces; a disposition which, if confined to the
army, may be regarded as a good presage of victory ;
but, if it extend to the general, is the most probable
forerunner of a defeat. Fairfax suddenly attacked the

ssth Jan. camp of the royalists. The swelling of the river, by a
thaw, divided one part of the army from the other. That
part exposed to Fairfax, being beaten from their post,
retired into the church of Acton, and were all taken pri-
soners: the other retreated with precipitation 111 . And
thus was dissipated, or rendered useless, that body of
forces which had been drawn from Ireland ; and the par-
liamentary party revived in those north-west counties of
England.

e i nvas i n f rom Scotland was attended with conse-
quences of much greater importance. The Scots, having
summoned in vain the town of Newcastle, which was

22d Feb. fortified by the vigilance of Sir Thomas Glenham, passed
the Tyne, and faced the Marquis of Newcastle, who lay
at Durham, with an army of fourteen thousand men n .
After some military operations, in which that nobleman
reduced the enemy to difficulties for forage and provi-
sions, he received intelligence of a great disaster, which
had befallen his forces in Yorkshire. Colonel Bellasis,

April 11. wnO ni he had left with a considerable body of troops, w r as
totally routed at Selby by Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had
returned from Cheshire, with his victorious forces .
Afraid of being enclosed between two armies, Newcastle
retreated ; and Leven having joined Lord Fairfax, they
sat down before York, to which the army of the royalists
had retired. But as the Parliamentary and Scottish
forces were not numerous enough to invest so large a
town, divided by a river, they contented themselves with

m Ruslrvvorth, vol. vi. p. 301. n Idem, ibid. p. 615.

o Idem, ibid. p. 618.

CHARLES I. 159

incommoding it by a loose blockade ; and affairs re- CHAP.
mained for some time in suspense between these opposite ,_ L ^ n ^
armies p . ]644 .

During this winter and spring, other parts of the king-
dom had also been infested with war. Hopton, having
assembled an army of fourteen thousand men, endea-
voured to break into Sussex, Kent, and the southern
association, which seemed well disposed to receive him.
Waller fell upon him at Cherington, and gave him a
defeat* 1 of considerable importance. In another quarter,
siege being laid to Newark by the parliamentary forces,
Prince Rupert prepared himself for relieving a town of
such consequence, which alone preserved the communica-
tion open between the king's southern and northern quar-
ters 1 . With a small force, but that animated by his
active courage, he broke through the enemy, relieved the
town, and totally dissipated that army of the Parliament 3 .

But though fortune seemed to have divided her favours
between the parties, the king found himself, in the main,
a considerable loser by this winter campaign ; and he
prognosticated a still worse event from the ensuing sum-
mer. The preparations of the Parliament were great ;
and much exceeded the slender resources of which he
was possessed. In the eastern association, they levied
fourteen thousand men, under the Earl of Manchester,
seconded by Cromwell fc . An army of ten thousand men,
under Essex, another of nearly the same force under
Waller, were assembled in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don. The former was destined to oppose the king;
the latter w r as appointed to march into the west, where
Prince Maurice, with a small army which went conti-
nually to decay, was spending his time in vain before
Lyme, an inconsiderable town upon the sea-coast. The
utmost efforts of the king could not raise above ten thou-
sand men at Oxford ; and on their sword chiefly, during
the campaign, were these to depend for subsistence.

The queen, terrified with the dangers which every way
environed her, and afraid of being enclosed in Oxford,
in the middle of the kingdom, fled to Exeter, where she

P Eushworth, vol. vi. p. 620. q 29th of March,

r Eushworth, vol. vi. p. 306. * 21st of March,

t Eushworth, vol. vi. p. 621.

160 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, hoped to be delivered unmolested of the child with
V J L ^ II ^ J which she was now pregnant, and whence she had the
1644 means of an easy escape into France, if pressed by the
forces of the enemy. She knew the implacable hatred
which the Parliament, on account of her religion, and
her credit with the king, had all along borne her. Last
summer the Commons had sent up to the Peers an im-
peachment of high treason against her ; because, in his
utmost distresses, she had assisted her husband with arms
and ammunition, which she had bought in Holland".
And had she fallen into their hands, neither her sex,
she knew, nor high station, could protect her against
insults at least, if not danger, from those haughty re-
publicans, who so little affected to conduct themselves
by the maxims of gallantry and politeness.

From the beginning of these dissensions, the Parlia-
ment, it is remarkable, had, in all things, assumed an
extreme ascendant over their sovereign, and had displayed
a violence, and arrogated an authority, which, on his side,
would not have been compatible, either with his temper
or his situation. While he spoke perpetually of pardon-
ing all rebels, they talked of nothing but the punishment
of delinquents and malignants : while he offered a tolera-
tion and indulgence to tender consciences, they threatened
the utter extirpation of prelacy : to his professions of
lenity, they opposed declarations of rigour : and the more
the ancient tenor of the laws inculcated a respectful sub-
ordination to the crown, the more careful were they, by
their lofty pretensions, to cover that defect under which
they laboured.

Their great advantages in the north seemed to second
their ambition, and finally to promise them success in their
unwarrantable enterprises. Manchester, having taken
Lincoln, had united his army to that of Leven and Fair-
fax; and York was now closely besieged by their combined
forces. That town, though vigorously defended by New-
castle, was reduced to extremity ; and the parliamentary
generals, after enduring great losses and fatigues, flattered
themselves that all their labours would at last be crowned
by this important conquest. On a sudden, they were
alarmed by the approach of Prince Rupert. This gallant

u Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 321.

CHARLES I. 161

commander, having vigorously exerted himself in Lan- CHAP.
cashire and Cheshire, had collected a considerable army ; .J^ 11 ^
and joining Sir Charles Lucas, who commanded New* 164i ^
castle's horse, hastened to the relief of York, with an
army of twenty thousand men. The Scottish and par-
liamentary generals raised the siege, and, drawing up on
Marston-moor, purposed to give battle to the royalists.
Prince Kupert approached the town by another quarter,
and interposing the river Ouse between him and the
enemy, safely joined his forces to those of Newcastle.
The marquis endeavoured to persuade him, that, having
so successfully effected his purpose, he ought to be con-
tent with the present advantages, and leave the enemy,
now much diminished by their losses, and discouraged by
their ill success, to dissolve by those mutual dissensions
which had begun to take place among them w . The
prince, whose martial disposition was not sufficiently
tempered with prudence, nor softened by complaisance,
pretending positive orders from the king, without deign- 2d July,
ing to consult with Newcastle, whose merits and services
deserved better treatment, immediately issued orders for
battle, and led out the army to Marston-moor x . This
action was obstinately disputed between the most nu-
merous armies that were engaged during the course of
these wars ; nor were the forces on each side much dif-
ferent in number. Fifty thousand British troops were led Battle of
to mutual slaughter; and the victory seemed long unde-moon U
cided between them. Prince Rupert, who commanded
the right wing of the royalists, was opposed to Cromwell y ,
who conducted the choice troops of the Parliament,
inured to danger under that determined leader, animated
by zeal, and confirmed by the most rigid discipline. After
a sharp combat, the cavalry of the royalists gave way ; and
such of the infantry as stood next them were likewise
borne down and put to flight. Newcastle's regiment alone,
resolute to conquer or to perish, obstinately kept their
ground, and maintained, by their dead bodies, the same
order in which they had at first been ranged. In the other
wing, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and Colonel Lambert, with some
troops, broke through the royalists; and, transported by the

^ Life of the Duke of Newcastle, p. 40. * Clarendon, vol. v. p. 506.

y Ilushworth, part 3. vol. ii. p. 633.

14*

162 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, ardour of pursuit, soon reached their victorious friends, en-
^ ^ gaged also in pursuit of the enemy. But after that attempt
1644 was P as t ? Lucas, who commanded the royalists in this
wing, restoring order to his broken forces, made a furious
attack on the parliamentary cavalry, threw them into dis-
order, pushed them upon their own infantry, and put that
whole wing to rout. When ready to seize on their
carriages and baggage, he perceived Cromwell, who was
now returned from pursuit of the other wing. Both sides
were not a little surprised to find that they must again
renew the combat for that victory which each of them
thought they had already obtained. The front of the
battle was now exactly counterchanged ; and each army
occupied the ground whiuli had been possessed by the
enemy at the beginning of the day. This second battle
was equally furious and desperate with the first ; but after
the utmost efforts of courage by both parties, victory
wholly turned to the side of the Parliament. The prince's
train of artillery was taken, and his whole army pushed
off the field of battle 2 .

This event was in itself a mighty blow to the king ;
but proved more fatal in its consequences. The Mar-
quis of Newcastle was entirely lost to the royal cause.
That nobleman, the ornament of the court and of his
order, had been engaged, contrary to the natural bent of
his disposition, into these military operations, merely by
a high sense of honour, and a personal regard to his mas-
ter. The dangers of war were disregarded by his valour ;
but its fatigues were oppressive to his natural indolence.
Munificent and generous in his expense ; polite and ele-
gant in his taste ; courteous and humane in his beha-
viour ; he brought a great accession of friends and of
credit to the party which he embraced. But amidst all
the hurry of action, his inclinations were secretly drawn
to the soft arts of peace, in which he took delight ; and
the charms of poetry, music, and conversation, often
stole him from his rougher occupations. He chose Sir
William Davenant, an ingenious poet, for his lieutenant-
general ; the other persons, in whom he placed confidence,
were more the instruments of his refined pleasures, than
qualified for the business which they undertook : and the

z Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 632. Whitlocke, p. 89.

CHARLES I. 163

severity and application requisite to the support of disci- CHAP.
pline were qualities in which he was entirely wanting*.

When Prince Rupert, contrary to his advice, resolved

1644.

on this battle, and issued all orders, without communi-
cating his intentions to him, he took the field, but he
said, merely as a volunteer ; and except by his personal
courage, which shone out with lustre, he had no share in
the action. Enraged to find that all his successful labours
were rendered abortive by one act of fatal temerity, ter-
rified with the prospect of renewing his pains and fatigue,
he resolved no longer to maintain the few resources
which remained to a desperate cause, and thought that
the same regard to honour, which had at first called him
to arms, now required him to abandon a party where he
met with such unworthy treatment. Next morning early
he sent word to the prince that he was instantly to leave
the kingdom ; and, without delay, he went to Scar-
borough, where he found a vessel, which carried him
beyond sea. During the ensuing years, till the resto-
ration, he lived abroad in great necessity, and saw, with
indifference, his opulent fortune sequestered by those
who assumed the government of England. He disdained,
by submission or composition, to show obeisance to their
usurped authority ; and the least favourable censors of
his merit allowed, that the fidelity and services of a whole
life had sufficiently atoned for one rash action into which
his passion had betrayed him b .

Prince Rupert, with equal precipitation, drew off the
remains of his army, and retired into Lancashire. Glen-
harn, in a few clays, was obliged to surrender York ; and July ie.
he marched out his garrison with all the honours of war .
Lord Fairfax, remaining in the city, established his go-
vernment in that whole county, and sent a thousand horse
into Lancashire, to join with the parliamentary forces in
that quarter, and attend the motions of Prince Rupert :
the Scottish army marched northwards, in order to join
the Earl of Calender, who was advancing with ten thou-
sand additional forces d ; and to reduce the town of New-
castle, which they took by storm : the Earl of Manchester,

a Clarendon, vol. v. p. 507, 508. See Warwick.

b Clarendon, vol. v. p. 511. c Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 638.

a Whitlocke, p. 88.

164 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, with Cromwell, to whom the fame of this great victory
vj^^was cbie.tly ascribed, and who was wounded in the action,
1644 returned to the eastern association, in order to recruit his
army 6 .

While these events passed in the north, the king's
affairs in the south were conducted with more success and
greater abilities. Euthven, a Scotchman, who had been
created Earl of Brentford, acted under the king as
general.

The Parliament soon completed their tAVO armies com-
manded by Essex and Waller. The great zeal of the
city facilitated this undertaking. Many speeches were
made to the citizens by the parliamentary leaders, in order
to excite their ardour. Hollis, in particular, exhorted
them not to spare, on this important occasion, either their
purses, their persons, or their prayers f ; and, in general, it
must be confessed, they were sufficiently liberal in all
these contributions. The two generals had orders to
march with their combined armies towards Oxford, and,
if the king retired into that city, to lay siege to it, and
by one enterprise put a period to the war. The king,
leaving a numerous garrison in Oxford, passed with dex-
terity between the two armies, which had taken Abing-
don, and had enclosed him on both sides g . He marched
towards Worcester ; and Waller received orders from
Essex to follow him and watch his motions ; while he
himself marched into the west in quest of Prince Maurice.
Waller had approached within two miles of the royal
camp, and was only separated from it by the Severn,
when he received intelligence that the king was advanced
to Bewdley, and had directed his course towards Shrews-
bury. In order to prevent him, Waller presently dis-
lodged, and hastened by quick marches to that town ;
while the king, suddenly returning upon his own foot-
steps, reached Oxford ; and having reinforced his army
from that garrison, now in his turn marched out in quest
of Waller. The two armies faced each other at Cropredy-
B ro t !rcd f Bridge, near Banbury; but the Charwell ran between
bddge? J " them. Next day the king decamped, and marched to-
June29. W ards Daveiitry. Waller ordered a considerable de-
tachment to pass the bridge, with an intention of falling

c Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 641. * Idem, ibid. p. 662. s 3d of June.

CHARLES I. 165

on the rear of the royalists. He was repulsed, routed, CHAP.
and pursued with considerable loss h . Stunned and dis- Lvn *
heartened with this blow, his army decayed and melted ^^~
away by desertion ; and the king thought he might safely
leave it, and march westward against Essex. That general,
having obliged Prince Maurice to raise the siege of Lyme,
having taken Weymouth and Taunton, advanced still in
his conquests, and met with no equal opposition. The
king followed him, and having reinforced his army from
all quarters, appeared in the field with an army superior
to the enemy. Essex, retreating into Cornwall, informed
the Parliament of his danger, and desired them to send
an army which might fall on the king's rear. General
Middleton received a commission to execute that service ;
but came too late. Essex's army, cooped up in a narrow
corner at Lestithiel, deprived of all forage and provisions,
and seeing no prospect of succour, was reduced to the
last extremity. The king pressed them on one side;
Prince Maurice on another ; Sir Richard Granville on a
third. Essex, Robarts, and some of the principal officers,
escaped in a boat to Plymouth : Balfour with his horse 1st Sept.
passed the king's outposts, in a thick mist, and got safely
to the garrisons of his own party. The foot under Skip-
pon were obliged to surrender their arms, artillery, bag-
gage, and ammunition ; and being conducted to the Par-
liament's quarters, were dismissed. By this advantage, Essex's
which was much boasted of, the king, besides the honour disarmed.
of the enterprise, obtained what he stood extremely in
need of: the Parliament, having preserved the men, lost
what they could easily repair 1 .

No sooner did this intelligence reach London, than the
committee of the two kingdoms voted thanks to Essex
for his fidelity, courage, and conduct ; and this method
of proceeding, no less politic than magnanimous, was
preserved by the Parliament throughout the whole
course of the war. Equally indulgent to their friends
and rigorous to their enemies, they employed, with suc-
cess, these two powerful engines of reward and punish-
ment, in confirmation of their authority.

h Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 676. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 497. Sir Ed. Walker, p. 31.
i Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 699, &c. Whitlocke, p. 98. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 524,
525. Sir Ed. Walker, p. 69, 70, &c.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

That the king might have less reason to exult in the
advantages which he had obtained in the west, the Par-
1644 liament opposed to him very numerous forces. Having
armed anew Essex's subdued, but not disheartened
troops, they ordered Manchester and Cromwell to march
with their recruited forces from the eastern association ;
and, joining their armies to those of Waller and Mid-
dleton, as well as of Essex, offer battle to the king.

battieof Charles cnose his P os t a ^ Newbury, where the parlia-

Newbury. mentary armies, under the Earl of Manchester, attacked
him with great vigour; and that town was a second
time the scene of the bloody animosities of the English.

27th Oct. Essex's soldiers, exhorting one another to repair their
broken honour, and revenge the disgrace of Lestithiel,
made an impetuous assault on the royalists ; and having
recovered some of their cannon, lost in Cornwall, could not
forbear embracing them with tears of joy. Though the
king's troops defended themselves with valour, they were
overpowered by numbers ; and the night came very sea-
sonably to their relief, and prevented a total overthrow.
Charles, leaving his baggage and cannon in Dennington-
castle, near Newbury, forthwith retreated to Walling-
ford, and thence to Oxford. There Prince Eupert and
the Earl of Northampton joined him, with considerable
bodies of cavalry. Strengthened by this reinforcement,
he ventured to advance towards the enemy, now em-
ployed before Dennington-castle k . Essex, detained by
sickness, had not joined the army since his misfortune in
Cornwall. Manchester, who commanded, though his
forces were much superior to those of the king, declined
an engagement, and rejected Cromwell's advice, who
earnestly pressed him not to neglect so favourable an

9th Nov. opportunity of finishing the war. The king's army, by
bringing off their cannon from Dennington-castle, in the
face of the enemy, seemed to have sufficiently repaired
the honour which they had lost at Newbury ; and Charles,
having the satisfaction to excite between Manchester and
Cromwell, equal animosities with those which formerly
took place between Essex and Waller 1 , distributed his
army into winter-quarters.

23d NOV. Those contests among the parliamentary generals,

k Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 721. l Idem, vol. vii. p. 1.

CHARLES I.

167

1G44

which had disturbed their military operations, were re- CHAP.
newed in London during the winter season: and each
being supported by his own faction, their mutual re-
proaches and accusations agitated the whole city and
Parliament. There had long prevailed, in that party, a
secret distinction, which, though the dread of the king's
power had hitherto suppressed it, yet, in proportion as
the hopes of success became nearer and more immediate,
began to discover itself with high contest and animosity.
The INDEPENDENTS, who had, at first, taken shelter and
concealed themselves under the wings of the PRESBY-
TERIANS, now evidently appeared a distinct party, and
betrayed very different views and pretensions. We must
here endeavour to explain the genius of this party, and
of its leaders, who henceforth occupy the scene of action.

During those times when the enthusiastic spirit met Riseand
with such honour and encouragement, and was the im- $ thehS
mediate means of distinction and preferment, it was im- pendents.
possible to set bounds to these holy fervours, or confine,
within any natural limits, what was directed towards
an infinite and a supernatural object. Every man, as
prompted by the warmth of his temper, excited by emu-
lation, or supported by his habits of hypocrisy, endea-
voured to distinguish himself beyond his fellows, and to
arrive at a higher pitch of saintship and perfection. In
proportion to its degree of fanaticism, each sect became
dangerous and destructive ; and as the independents went
a note higher than the presbyterians, they could less be
restrained within any bounds of temper and moderation.
From this distinction, as from a first principle, were de-
rived, by a necessary consequence, all the other differ-
ences of these two sects.

The independents rejected all ecclesiastical establish-
ments, and would admit of no spiritual courts, no govern-
ment among pastors, no interposition of the magistrate
in religious concerns, no fixed encouragement annexed
to any system of doctrines or opinions. According to
their principles, each congregation, united voluntarily
and by spiritual ties, composed, within itself, a separate
church, and exercised a jurisdiction, but one destitute of
temporal sanctions, over its own pastor and its own
members. The election alone of the congregation was

168 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, sufficient to bestow the sacerdotal character ; and as all
essential distinction was denied between the laity and
^I^^the clergy, no ceremony, no institution, no vocation, no
imposition of hands, was, as in all other churches, sup-
posed requisite to convey a right to holy orders. The
enthusiasm of the presbyterians led them to reject the
authority of prelates, to throw off the restraint of litur-
gies, to retrench ceremonies, to limit the riches and
authority of the priestly office ; the fanaticism of the
independents, exalted to a higher pitch, abolished eccle-
siastical government, disdained creeds and systems, neg-
lected every ceremony, and confounded all ranks and
orders. The soldier, the merchant, the mechanic, in-
dulging the fervours of zeal, and guided by the illapses
of the Spirit, resigned himself to an inward and superior
direction, and was consecrated, in a manner, by an imme-
diate intercourse and communication with Heaven.

The Catholics, pretending to an infallible guide, had
justified, upon that principle, their doctrine and practice
of persecution : the presbyterians, imagining that such
clear and certain tenets as they themselves adopted,
could be rejected only from a criminal and pertinacious
obstinacy, had hitherto gratified, to the full, their bigoted
zeal, in a like doctrine and practice : the independents,
from the extremity of the same zeal, were led into the
milder principles of toleration. Their mind, set afloat in
the wide sea of inspiration, could confine itself within no
certain limits ; and the same variations, in which an en-
thusiast indulged himself, he was apt, by a natural train
of thinking, to permit in others. Of all Christian sects,
this was the first which, during its prosperity as well as
its adversity, always adopted the principle of toleration ;
and it is remarkable that so reasonable a doctrine owed
its origin, not to reasoning, but to the height of extra-
vagance and fanaticism.

Popery and prelacy alone, whose genius seemed to tend
towards superstition, were treated by the independents
with rigour. The doctrines too of fate or destiny were
deemed by them essential to all religion. In these rigid
opinions, the whole sectaries, amidst all their other
differences, unanimously concurred.

The political system of the independents kept pace

CHARLES I. 169

with their religious. Not content with confining to very CHAP.
narrow limits the power of the crown, and reducing the ^^_,
king to the rank of first magistrate, which was the pro- 1G44
ject of the presbyterians ; this sect, more ardent in the
pursuit of liberty, aspired to a total abolition of the
monarchy, and even of the aristocracy ; and projected an
entire equality of rank and order in a republic, quite free
and independent. In consequence of this scheme, they
were declared enemies to all proposals for peace, except
on such terms as, they knew, it was impossible to ob-
tain ; and they adhered to that maxim, which is, in the
main, prudent and political, that whoever draws the
sword against his sovereign should throw away the scab-
bard. By terrifying others with the fear of vengeance
from the offended prince, they had engaged greater num-
bers into the opposition against peace, than had adopted
their other principles with regard to government and
religion. And the great success which had already at-
tended the arms of the Parliament, and the greater,
which was soon expected, confirmed them still farther
in this obstinacy.

Sir Harry Vane, Oliver Cromwell, Nathaniel Fiennes,
and Oliver St. John, the solicitor-general, were regarded
as the leaders of the independents. The Earl of Essex,
disgusted with a war, of which he began to foresee the
pernicious consequences, adhered to the presbyterians,
and promoted every reasonable plan of accommodation.
The Earl of Northumberland, fond of his rank and
dignity, regarded with horror a scheme which, if it took
place, would confound himself and his family with the
lowest in the kingdom. The Earls of Warwick and
Denbigh, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Waller, Hol-
lis, Massey, Whitlocke, Maynard, Glyn, had embraced
the same sentiments. In the Parliament, a considerable
majority, and a much greater in the nation, were at-
tached to the presbyterian party ; and it was only by
cunning and deceit at first, and afterwards by military
violence, that the independents could entertain any hopes
of success.

The Earl of Manchester, provoked at the impeach-
ment which the king had lodged against him, had long
forwarded the war with alacrity : but being a man of

VOL. v. 15

170 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, humanity and good principles, the view of public cala-
^ Amities, and the prospect of a total subversion of govern-
1644 ment, began to moderate his ardour, and inclined him to
promote peace on any safe or honourable terms. He
was even suspected, in the field, not to have pushed to
the utmost against the king the advantages obtained by
the arms of the Parliament ; and Cromwell, in the public
debates, revived the accusation, that this nobleman had
wilfully neglected, at Dennington-castle, a favourable
opportunity of finishing the war by a total defeat of the
royalists. " I showed him evidently," said Cromwell,
" how this success might be obtained ; and only desired
leave, with my own brigade of horse, to charge the king's
army in their retreat : leaving it in the earl's choice, if
he thought proper, to remain neuter with the rest of his
forces: but, notwithstanding my importunity, he positively
refused his consent ; and gave no other reason, but that, if
we met with a defeat, there was an end of our pretensions :
we should all be rebels and traitors, and be executed and
forfeited by law m ."

Manchester, by way of recrimination, informed the
Parliament that, at another time, Cromwell having pro-
posed some scheme, to which it seemed improbable the
Parliament would agree, he insisted and said, MI/ lord,
if you ivill stick Jinn to honest men, you shall find your-
self at the head of an army, ivhich shall give law loth to
Idng and Parliament. " This discourse," continued Man-"
Chester, " made the greater impression on me, because
I knew the lieutenant-general to be a man of very deep
designs ; and he has even ventured to tell me, that it
never would be well with England, till I were Mr.
Montague, and there were ne'er a lord or peer in the
kingdom 11 ." So full was Cromwell of these republican
projects, that, notwithstanding his habits of profound
dissimulation, he could not so carefully guard his expres-
sions, but that sometimes his favourite notions would
escape him.

These violent dissensions brought matters to extremity,
and pushed the independents to the execution of their
designs. The present generals, they thought, were more
desirous of protracting than finishing the war ; and having

m Clarendon, vol. v. p. 561. a Idem, ibid. p. 562.

CHARLES I. 171

entertained a scheme for preserving still some balance in CHAP.
the constitution, they were afraid of entirely subduing i_^ IL _;
the king, and reducing him to a condition where he should 1644
not be entitled to ask any concessions. A new model
alone of the army could bring complete victory to the
Parliament, and free the nation from those calamities
under which it laboured. But how to effect this project
was the difficulty. The authority, as well as merits, of
Essex was very great with the Parliament. Not only he
had served them all along with the most exact and scru-
pulous honour : it was, in some measure, owing to his
popularity, that they had ever been enabled to levy an
army, or make head against the royal cause. Manchester,
Warwick, and the other commanders, had likewise great
credit with the public; nor were there any hopes of pre-
vailing over them, but by laying the plan of an oblique
and artificial attack, which would conceal the real purpose
of their antagonists. The Scots and Scottish commis-
sioners, jealous of the progress of the independents, were
a new obstacle ; which without the utmost art and
subtilty, it would be difficult to surmount . The methods
by which this intrigue was conducted are so singular, and
show so fully the genius of the age, that we shall give a
detail of them, as they are delivered by Lord Clarendon p .
A fast, on the last Wednesday of every month, had been
ordered by the Parliament, at the beginning of these
commotions : and their preachers on that day were careful
to keep alive, by their vehement declamations, the popular
prejudices entertained against the king, against prelacy,
and against popery. The king, that he might combat the
Parliament with their own weapons, appointed likewise
a monthly fast, when the people should be instructed in
the duties of loyalty and of submission to the higher
powers ; and he chose the second Friday of every month
for the devotion of the royalists q . It was now proposed
and carried in Parliament, by the independents, that a
new and more solemn fast should be voted, when they
should implore the Divine assistance for extricating them
from those perplexities in which they were at present
involved. On that day the preachers, after many political

Clarendon, vol. v. p. 562. P Idem, ibid. p. 565.

1 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 364.

172 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, prayers, took care to treat of the reigning divisions in the
-_ L ^ II l> Parliament,, and ascribed them entirely to the selfish ends
1644. pursued by the members. In the hands of those members,
they said, are lodged all the considerable commands of the
army, all the lucrative offices in the civil administration :
and while the nation is falling every day into poverty,
and groans under an insupportable load of taxes, these
men multiply possession on possession, and will in a little
time be masters of all the wealth of the kingdom. That
such persons who fatten on the calamities of their country,
will ever embrace any effectual measure for bringing them
to a period, or ensuring final success to the war, cannot
reasonably be expected. Lingering expedients alone will
be pursued : and operations in the field concurring, in the
same pernicious end, with deliberations in the cabinet,
civil commotions will for ever be perpetuated in the
nation. After exaggerating these disorders, the ministers
returned to their prayers ; and besought the Lord, that
he would take his own work into his own hand, and if
the instruments, whom he had hitherto employed, were
not worthy to bring to a conclusion so glorious a design,
that he would inspire others more fit, who might perfect
what was begun, and, by establishing true religion, put a
speedy period to the public miseries.

On the day subsequent to these devout animadversions,
when the Parliament met, a new spirit appeared in the
looks of many. Sir Henry Vane told the Commons, that
if ever God appeared to them, it was in the ordinances of
yesterday : that, as he was credibly informed by many,
who had been present in different congregations, the same
lamentations and discourses, which the godly preachers
had made before them, had been heard in other churches :
that so remarkable a concurrence could proceed only from
the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit : that he there-
fore entreated them, in vindication of their own honour,
in consideration of their duty to God and their country,
to lay aside all private ends, and renounce every office
attended with profit or advantage : that the absence of
so many members, occupied in different employments, had
rendered the House extremely thin, and diminished the
authority of their determinations : and that he could not
forbear, for his own part, accusing himself as one who

CHARLES I. 173

enjoyed a gainful office, that of treasurer of the navy ; CHAP.
and though he was possessed of it before the civil com- v _ L ^ I[ '_,
motions, and owed it not to the favour of the Parliament, 1644
yet was he ready to resign it, and to sacrifice, to the
welfare of his country, every consideration of private
interest and advantage.

Cromwell next acted his part, and commended the
preachers for having dealt with them plainly and im-
partially, and told them of their errors, of which they
were so unwilling to be informed. Though they dwelt
on many things, he said, on which he had never before
reflected ; yet, upon revolving them, he could not but
confess, that till there were a perfect reformation in these
particulars, nothing which they undertook could possibly
prosper. The Parliament, no doubt, continued he, had
idone wisely on the commencement of the war, in engaging
several of its members in the most dangerous parts of it,
and thereby satisfying the nation that they intended to
share all hazards with the meanest of the people. But
affairs are now changed. During the progress of military
operations, there have arisen in the parliamentary armies
many excellent officers who are qualified for higher com-
mands than they are now possessed of. And though it
becomes not men engaged in such a cause to put trust in
the arm of flesh, yet he could assure them, that their troops
contained generals fit to command in any enterprise in
Christendom. The army, indeed, he was sorry to say it,
did not correspond, by its discipline, to the merit of the
officers ; nor were there any hopes, till the present vices
and disorders, which prevail among the soldiers, were
repressed by a new model, that their forces would ever
be attended with signal success in any undertaking.

In opposition to this reasoning of the independents,
many of the presbyterians showed the inconvenience and
danger of the projected alteration. Whitlocke, in par-
ticular, a man of honour, who loved his country, though
in every change of government he always adhered to the
ruling power, said, that besides the ingratitude of dis-
carding, and that by fraud and artifice, so many noble
persons, to whom the Parliament had hitherto owed its
chief support, they would find it extremely difficult to
supply the place of men, now formed by experience to

15*

174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, command and authority : that the rank alone, possessed
^ ^ by such as were members of either House, prevented envy,
1644 retained the army in obedience, and gave weight to
military orders ; that greater confidence might safely be
reposed in men of family and fortune, than in mere ad-
venturers, who would be apt to entertain separate views
from those which were embraced by the persons who
employed them : that no maxim of policy was more un-
disputed, than the necessity of preserving an inseparable
connexion between the civil and military powers, and of
retaining the latter in strict subordination to the former :
that the Greeks and Komans, the wisest and most pas-
sionate lovers of liberty, had ever intrusted to their
senators the command of armies, and had maintained an
unconquerable jealousy of all mercenary forces: and that
such men alone, whose interests were involved in those
of the public, and who possessed a vote in the civil
deliberations, would sufficiently respect the authority of
Parliament, and never could be tempted to turn the
sword against those by whom it was committed to them r .
Self- Notwithstanding these reasonings, a committee was

ordinance, chosen to frame what was called the self-denying ordi-
nance, by which the members of both Houses were ex-
cluded from all civil and military employments, except
a few offices which were specified. This ordinance was
the subject of great debate, and, for a long time, rent the
Parliament and city into factions. But at last, by the
prevalence of envy with some ; with others, of false
modesty ; with a great many, of the republican and in-
dependent views ; it passed the House of Commons, and
was sent to the Upper House. The Peers, though the
scheme was, in part, levelled against their order ; though
all of them were, at bottom, extremely averse to it 5
though they even ventured once to reject it; yet pos-
sessed so little authority, that they durst not persevere
in opposing the resolution of the Commons; and they
thought it better policy, by an unlimited compliance, to
ward off that ruin which they saw approaching 6 . The
ordinance, therefore, having passed both Houses, Essex,
Warwick, Manchester, Denbigh, Waller, Brereton, and

r Whitlooke, p. 114, 115. Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 6.
8 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 8. 15.

CHARLES I. 175

many others, resigned their commands, and received the CHAP.
thanks of Parliament for their good services. A pension Lvn
of ten thousand pounds a year was settled on Essex. 1645

It was agreed to recruit the army to twenty-two
thousand men ; and Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed
general*. It is remarkable, that his commission did not
run, like that of Essex, in the name of the king and
Parliament, but in that of the Parliament alone : and the
article concerning the safety of the king's person was
omitted. So much had animosities increased between
the parties". Cromwell, being a member of the Lower
House, should have been discarded with the others ; but
this impartiality would have disappointed all the views
of those who had introduced the self-denying ordinance.
He was saved by a subtilty, and by that political craft,
in which he was so eminent. At the time when the
other officers resigned their commissions, care was taken
that he should be sent, with a body of horse, to relieve
Taunton, besieged by the royalists. His absence being
remarked, orders were despatched for his immediate at-
tendance in Parliament ; and the new general was directed
to employ some other officer in that service. A ready
compliance was feigned; and the very day was named,
on which it was averred he would take his place in the
House. But Fairfax, having appointed a rendezvous of
the army, wrote to the Parliament, and desired leave to
retain, for some days, Lieutenant-general Cromwell, whose
advice, he said, would be useful in supplying the place
of those officers who had resigned. Shortly after, he
begged with much earnestness, that they would allow
Cromwell to serve that campaign w . And thus the inde-
pendents, though the minority, prevailed by art and cun-
ning over the presbyterians, and bestowed the whole
military authority, in appearance, upon Fairfax ; in reality
upon Cromwell.

Fairfax was a person equally eminent for courage and FairfaX *
for humanity ; and though strongly infected with preju-
dices, or principles, derived from religious and party zeal,
he seems never, in the course of his public conduct, to
have been diverted, by private interest or ambition, from

* Whitlocke, p. 118. . Rush-worth, vol. vii. p. 7. u Whitlocke, p. 133.

w Clarendon, vol. v. p. 629, 630. Whitlocke, p. 141.

176 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, adhering strictly to these principles. Sincere in his pro-
fessions ; disinterested in his views ; open in his conduct ;

"^J7 4 7^he had formed one of the most shining characters of the
age : had not the extreme narrowness of his genius,, in
every thing but in war, and his embarrassed and confused
elocution on every occasion, but when he gave orders,
diminished the lustre of his merit, and rendered the part
which he acted, even when vested with the supreme
command, but secondary and subordinate.

Cromwell. Cromwell, by whose sagacity and insinuation Fairfax
was entirely governed, is one of the most eminent and
most singular personages that occurs in history. The
strokes of his character are as open and strongly marked,
as the schemes of his conduct were during the time dark
and impenetrable. His extensive capacity enabled him
to form the most enlarged projects: his enterprising genius
was not dismayed with the boldest and most dangerous.
Carried by his natural temper to magnanimity, to gran-
deur, and to an imperious and domineering policy ; he
yet knew, w r hen necessary, to employ the most profound
dissimulation, the most obliqne and refined artifice, the
semblance of the greatest moderation and simplicity. A
'friend to justice, though his public conduct was one con-
tinued violation of it ; devoted to religion, though he
perpetually employed it as the instrument of his ambi-
tion ; he was engaged in crimes from the prospect of
sovereign power, a temptation which is, in general, irre-
sistible to human nature. And by using well that au-
thority which he had attained by fraud and violence, he
has lessened, if not overpowered, our detestation of his
enormities, by our admiration of his success and of his
genius.

Treaty of During this important transaction of the self-denying

Uxbndgc. ,. -o ,, L . ,. ... J .

ordinance, the negotiations for peace were likewise carried
on, though with small hopes of success. The king hav-
ing sent two messages, one from Evesham x , another from
Tavistoke y , desiring a treaty, the Parliament despatched
commissioners to Oxford, with proposals as high as if
they had obtained a complete victory 2 . The advantages
gained during the campaign, and the great distresses of

* 4th of July, 1644. y 8th of Sept. 1644.

z Dugdale, p. 737. Rush worth, vol. vi. p. 850.

CHARLES I. 177

the royalists, had much elevated their hopes ; and they CHAP.
were resolved to repose no trust in men inflamed with ._ L ^ 11 ^
the highest animosity against them, and who, were they 1645
possessed of power, were fully authorized by law to punish
all their opponents as rebels and traitors.

The king, when he considered the proposals and the
disposition of the Parliament, could not expect any ac-
commodation, and had no prospect but of Avar, or of total
submission and subjection : yet, in order to satisfy his
own party, who were impatient for peace, he agreed to
send the Duke of Kichmond, and Earl of Southampton,
with an answer to the proposals of the Parliament, and
at the same time to desire a treaty upon their mutual
demands and pretensions a . It now became necessary
for him to retract his former declaration, that the two
Houses at Westminster were not a free Parliament ; and
accordingly he was induced, though with great reluctance,
to give them, in his answer, the appellation of the Par-
liament of England b . But it appeared afterwards, by a
letter which he wrote to the queen, and of which a copy
was taken at Naseby, that he secretly entered an ex-
planatory protest in his council-book ; and he pretended
that, though he had called them the Parliament, he had
not thereby acknowledged them for such c . This subtilty,
which has been frequently objected to Charles, is the
most noted of those very few instances, from which the
enemies of this prince have endeavoured to load him with
the imputation of insincerity ; and have inferred, that
the Parliament could repose no confidence in his profes-
sions and declarations, not even in his laws and statutes.
There is, however, it must be confessed, a difference
universally avowed between simply giving to men the
appellation which they assume, and the formal acknow-
ledgment of their title to it ; nor is any thing more com-
mon and familiar in all public transactions.

The time and place of treaty being settled, sixteen soth Jan.

a Whitlocke, p. 110. b Ibid. p. 111. Dugdale, p. 748.

c His words are : " As for my calling those at London a Parliament, I shall refer
thee to Digby for particular satisfaction ; this in general : If there had been but two
besides myself of my opinion, I had not done it ; and the argument that prevailed
with me was, that the calling did no ways acknowledge them to be a Parliament;
upon which condition and construction I did it, and no otherwise, and accordingly
it is registered in the council-books, with the council's unanimous approbation."
The King's Cabinet Opened. Kushworth, vol. iv. p. 943.

178 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, commissioners from the king met at Uxb ridge, with.
ij 1 ^ 11 ^ twelve authorized by the Parliament, attended by the
1645. Scottish commissioners. It was agreed, that the Scot-
tish and parliamentary commissioners should give in their
demands, with regard to three important articles, religion,
the militia, and Ireland ; and that these should be suc-
cessively discussed in conference with the king's com-
missioners d . It was soon found impracticable to come
to any agreement with regard to any of these articles.

In the summer, 1643, while the negotiations were
carried on with Scotland, the Parliament had summoned
an assembly at Westminster, consisting of one hundred
and twenty-one divines and thirty laymen, celebrated in
their party for piety and learning. By their advice,
alterations were made in the thirty-nine articles, or in
the metaphysical doctrines of the church ; and, what
was of greater importance, the liturgy was entirely abo-
lished, and in its stead a new directory for worship was
established, by which, suitably to the spirit of the puri-
tans, the utmost liberty, both in praying and preaching,
was indulged to the public teachers. By the solemn
league and covenant, episcopacy was abjured, as destruc-
tive of all true piety : and a national engagement, at-
tended with every circumstance that could render a pro-
mise sacred and obligatory, was entered into with the
Scots, never to suffer its readmission. All these measures
showed little spirit of accommodation in the Parliament ;
and the king's commissioners were not surprised to find
the establishment of presbytery and the directory posi-
tively demanded, together with the subscription of the
covenant, both by the king and kingdom 6 .

a Whitlocke, p. 121. Dugdale, p. 758.

e Such love of contradiction prevailed in the Parliament, that they had converted
Christmas, which with the churchmen was a great festival, into a solemn fast and
humiliation : " In order," as they said, " that it might call to remembrance our
sins and the sins of our forefathers, who, pretending to celebrate the memory of
Christ, have turned this feast into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving
liberty to carnal and sensual delights." Paishworth, vol. vi. p. 817. It is remark-
able that as the Parliament abolished all holidays, and severely prohibited all
amusement on the sabbath ; and even burned, by the hands of the hangman, the
king's book of sports ; the nation found that there was no time left for relaxation
or diversion. Upon application, therefore, of the servants and apprentices, the
Parliament appointed the second Tuesday of every month for play and recreation.
Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 460. Whitlocke, p. 247. But these institutions they found
great difficulty to execute ; and the people were resolved to be merry when they
themselves pleased, not when the Parliament should prescribe it to them. The
keeping of Christmas holidays was long a great mark of malignancy, and very

CHARLES I. 179

Had Charles been of a disposition to neglect all theo- CHAP.
logical controversy, he yet had been obliged, in good v J^ IL _,
policy, to adhere to episcopal jurisdiction, not only be- 1645
cause it was favourable to monarchy, but because all his
adherents were passionately devoted to it ; and to aban-
don them, in what they regarded as so important an
article, was for ever to relinquish their friendship and
assistance. But Charles had never attained such enlarged
principles. He deemed bishops essential to the very being
of a Christian church ; and he thought himself bound by
more sacred ties than those of policy, or even of honour,
to the support of that order. His concessions, therefore,
on this head, he judged sufficient when he agreed that an
indulgence should be given to tender consciences with
regard to ceremonies; that the bishops should exercise
no act of jurisdiction or ordination without the consent
and counsel of such presbyters as should be chosen by
the clergy of each diocese ; that they should reside con-
stantly in their diocese, and be bound to preach every
Sunday; that pluralities be abolished; that abuses in
ecclesiastical courts be redressed; and that a hundred
thousand pounds be levied on the bishops' estates and
the chapter lands, for payment of debts contracted by
the Parliament f . These concessions, though consider-
able, gave no satisfaction to the parliamentary commis-
sioners ; and without abating any thing of their rigour
on this head, they proceeded to their demands with re-
gard to the militia.

The king's partisans had all along maintained that the

severely censured by the Commons. Whitlocke, p. 286. Even minced pies, which
custom had made a Christmas dish among the churchmen, was regarded, during
that season, as a profane and superstitious viand by the sectaries ; though at other
times it agreed very well with their stomachs. In the parliamentary ordinance
too, for the observance of the sabbath, they inserted a clause for the taking down
of may-poles, which they called a heathenish vanity. Since we are upon this sub-
ject, it may not be amiss to mention, that beside setting apart Sunday for the
ordinances, as they called them, the godly had regular meetings on the Thursdays
for resolving cases of conscience, and conferring about their progress in grace.
What they were chiefly anxious about was, the fixing the precise moment of their
conversion or new birth, and whoever could not ascertain so difficult a point of
calculation, could not pretend to any title to saintship. The profane scholars at
Oxford, after the Parliament became masters of that town, gave to the house in
which the zealots assembled, the denomination of Scruple Shop : the zealots, in
their turn, insulted the scholars and professors ; and, intruding into the place of
lectures, declaimed against human learning, and challenged the most knowing of
them to prove that their calling was from Christ. See Wood's Fasti Oxonicnses,
p. 740.

f Dugdale, p. 779, 780.

180 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, fears and jealousies of the Parliament, after the securi-
ties so early and easily given to public liberty, were
either feigned or groundless; and that no human insti-
tution could be better poised and adjusted than was now
the government of England. By the abolition of the
star-chamber and court of high commission, the preroga-
tive, they said, has lost all that coercive power by which it
had formerly suppressed or endangered liberty : by the
establishment of triennial Parliaments, it can have no
leisure to acquire new powers, or guard itself, during
any time, from the inspection of that vigilant assembly :
by the slender revenue of the crown, no king can ever
attain such influence as to procure a repeal of these
salutary statutes: and while the prince commands no
military force, he will in vain, by violence, attempt an
infringement of laws, so clearly defined by means of late
disputes, and so passionately cherished by all his subjects.
In this situation, surely, the nation, governed by so vir-
tuous a monarch, may, for the present, remain in tran-
quillity, and try whether it be not possible, by peaceful
arts, to elude that danger with which, it is pretended, its
liberties are still threatened.

But though the royalists insisted on these plausible
topics before the commencement of war, they were
obliged to own, that the progress of civil commotions
had somewhat abated the force and evidence of this rea-
soning. If the power of the militia, said the opposite
party, be intrusted to the king, it would not now be
difficult for him to abuse that authority. By the rage
of intestine discord, his partisans are inflamed into an
extreme hatred against their antagonists ; and have con-
tracted, no doubt, some prejudices against popular privi-
leges, which, in their apprehension, have been the source
of so much disorder. Were the arms of the state, there-
fore, put entirely into such hands, what public security,
it may be demanded, can be given to liberty, or what
private security to those who, in opposition to the letter
of the law, have so generously ventured their lives in its
defence ? In compliance with this apprehension, Charles
offered, that the arms of the state should be intrusted,
during three years, to twenty commissioners, who should
be named, either by common agreement between him

CHARLES I. 181

and the Parliament, or one-half by him, the other by the CHAP.
Parliament. And after the expiration of that term, he.j 1 ^ 11 ^
insisted that his constitutional authority over the militia 1645
should again return to him g .

The parliamentary commissioners at first demanded,
that the power of the sword should for ever be intrusted
to such persons as the Parliament alone should appoint 11 :
but afterwards they relaxed so far as to require that
authority only for seven years ; after which it was not
to return to the king, but to be settled by bill, or by
common agreement, between him and his Parliament 1 .
The king's commissioners asked, Whether jealousies and
fears were all on one side ; and whether the prince, from
such violent attempts and pretensions as he had expe-
rienced, had not, at least, as good reason to entertain
apprehensions for his authority, as they for their liberty ?
Whether there were any equity in securing only one
party, and leaving the other, during the space of seven
years, entirely at the mercy of their enemies ? Whether,
if unlimited power were intrusted to the Parliament
during so long a period, it would not be easy for them
to frame the subsequent bill in the manner most agree-
able to themselves, and keep for ever possession of the
sword, as well as of every article of civil power and
jurisdiction 15 .

The truth is, after the commencement of war, it was
very difficult, if not impossible, to find security for both
parties, especially for that of the Parliament. Amidst
such violent animosities, power alone could ensure safety;
and the power of one side was necessarily attended with
danger to the other. Few or no instances occur in history
of an equal, peaceful, and durable accommodation, that
has been concluded between two factions which had been
inflamed into civil war.

With regard to Ireland, there were no greater hopes
of agreement between the parties. The Parliament
demanded, that the truce with the rebels should be de-
clared null ; that the management of the war should be
given over entirely to the Parliament; and that, after
the conquest of Ireland, the nomination of the lord-
lieutenant and of the judges, or, in other words, the

g Dugdale, p. 798. * Ibid. p. 791. i Ibid. p. 820. k Ibid. p. 877.

VOL. V. 16

182 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, sovereignty of that kingdom, should likewise remain in
their hands 1 .

What rendered an accommodation more desperate
was, that the demands on these three heads, however
exorbitant, were acknowledged, by the parliamentary
commissioners, to be nothing but preliminaries. After
all these were granted, it would be necessary to proceed
to the discussion of those other demands, still more ex-
orbitant, which a little before had been transmitted to
the king at Oxford. Such ignominious terms were there
insisted on, that worse could scarcely be demanded, were
Charles totally vanquished, a prisoner, and in chains.
The king was required to attaint, and except from a gene-
ral pardon, forty of the most considerable of his English
subjects, and nineteen of his Scottish, together with all
popish recusants in both kingdoms, who had borne arms
for him. It was insisted that forty-eight more, with all
the members who had sitten in either house at Oxford,
all lawyers and divines who had embraced the king's
party, should be rendered incapable of any office, be
forbidden the exercise of their profession, be prohibited
from coming within the verge of the court, and forfeit
the third of their estates to the Parliament. It was
required, that whoever had borne arms for the king
should forfeit the tenth of their estates, or if that did
not suffice, the sixth, for the payment of public debts.
As if royal authority were not sufficiently annihilated by
such terms, it was demanded that the court of wards
should be abolished ; that all the considerable officers of
the crown, and all the judges, should be appointed by
Parliament ; and that the right of peace and war should
not be exercised without the consent of that assembly 111 .
The presbyterians, it must be confessed, after insisting
on such conditions, differed only in words from the inde-
pendents, who required the establishment of a pure re-
public. When the debates had been carried on to no
purpose during twenty days among the commissioners,
they separated, and returned ; those of the king, to Ox-
ford, those of the Parliament, to London.

A little before the commencement of this fruitless
treaty, a deed was executed by the Parliament, which

i Dugdale, p. 826, 827. m Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 850. Dugdale, p. 737.

CHARLES I. 133

proved their determined resolution to yield nothing, but CHAP.
to proceed in the same violent and imperious manner LVIL
with which they had at first entered on these dangerous ^JJ^T""
enterprises. Archbishop Laud, the most favourite mi- Execution
nister of the king, was brought to the scaffold; and m ofLautl -
this instance the public might see that popular assem-
blies, as, by their very number, they are, in a great mea-
sure, exempt from the restraint of shame, so, when they
also overleap the bounds of law, naturally break out into
acts of the greatest tyranny and injustice.

From the time that Laud had been committed, the
House of Commons, engaged in enterprises of greater
moment, had found no leisure to finish his impeachment ;
and he had patiently endured so long an imprisonment
without being brought to any trial. After the union
with Scotland, the bigoted prejudices of that nation re-
vived the like spirit in England ; and the sectaries
resolved to gratify their vengeance in the punishment of
this prelate, who had so long, by his authority, and by
the execution of penal laws, kept their zealous spirit
under confinement. He was accused of high treason in
endeavouring to subvert the fundamental laws, and of
other high crimes and misdemeanors. The same illegality
of an accumulative crime and a constructive evidence,
which appeared in the case of Strafford ; the same violence
and iniquity in conducting the trial ; are conspicuous
throughout the whole course of this prosecution. The
groundless charge of popery, though belied by his
whole life and conduct, was continually urged against
the prisoner; and every error rendered unpardonable by
this imputation, which was supposed to imply the height
of all enormities. " This man, my lords," said Serjeant
Wilde, concluding his long speech against him, " is like
Naaman the Syrian ; a great man, but a leper V

We shall not enter into a detail of this matter, which,
at present, seems to admit of little controversy. It suf-
fices to say, that, after a long trial, and the examination
of above a hundred and fifty witnesses, the Commons
found so little likelihood of obtaining a judicial sentence
against Laud, that they were obliged to have recourse
to their legislative authority, and to pass an -ordinance

a Eushworth, vol. vi. p. 830.

184 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, for taking away the life of this aged prelate. Notwith-
v_ L ^ IL _, standing the low condition into which the House of Peers
1645. was fallen, there appeared some intention of rejecting
this ordinance ; and the popular leaders were again
obliged to apply to the multitude, and to extinguish, by
threats of new tumults, the small remains of liberty pos-
sessed by the Upper House. Seven peers alone voted in
this important question. The rest, either from shame or
fear, took care to absent themselves .

Laud, who had behaved during his trial with spirit
and vigour of genius, sunk not under the horrors of his
execution ; but though he had usually professed himself
apprehensive of a violent death, he found all his fears to
be dissipated before that superior courage by which he
was animated. " No one," said he, " can be more will-
ing to send me out of life, than I am desirous to go."
Even upon the scaffold, and during the intervals of his
prayers, he was harassed and molested by Sir John Clot-
worthy, a zealot of the reigning sect, and a great leader
in the Lower House : this was the time he chose for ex-
amining the principles of the dying prelate, and trepan-
ning him into a confession that he trusted for his salva-
tion to the merits of good works, not to the death of
the Kedeemer p . Having extricated himself from these
theological toils, the archbishop laid his head on the
block ; and it was severed from his body at one blow q .
Those religious opinions, for which he suffered, contri-
buted, no doubt, to the courage and constancy of his
end. Sincere he undoubtedly was, and, however mis-
guided, actuated by pious motives in all his pursuits ; and
it is to be regretted that a man of such spirit, who con-
ducted his enterprises with so much warmth and in-
dustry, had not entertained more enlarged views, and
embraced principles more favourable to the general hap-
piness of society.

The great and important advantage which the party
gained by Strafford's death may, in some degree, palliate
the iniquity of the sentence pronounced against him.
But the execution of this old infirm prelate, who had so
long remained an inoffensive prisoner, can be ascribed to

o Warwick, p. 169. P Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 838, 839.

a 12th of July, 1644.

CHARLES I. 185

nothing but vengeance and bigotry in those severe reli- CHAP.
gionists, by whom the Parliament was entirely governed. ^^] ^
That he deserved a better fate was not questioned by any 1645
reasonable man : the degree of his merit, in other respects,
was disputed. Some accused him of recommending sla-
vish doctrines, of promoting persecution, and of encourag-
ing superstition ; while others thought that his conduct,
in these three particulars, would admit of apology and
extenuation.

That the letter of the law, as much as the most flaming
court-sermon, inculcates passive obedience, is apparent.
And though the spirit of a limited government seems to
require, in extraordinary cases, some mitigation of so
rigorous a doctrine ; it must be confessed that the pre-
ceding genius of the English constitution had rendered
a mistake in this particular very natural and excusable.
To inflict death, at least, on those who depart from the
exact line of truth in these nice questions, so far from
being favourable to national liberty, savours strongly of
the spirit of tyranny and proscription.

Toleration had hitherto been so little the principle of
any Christian sect, that even the Catholics, the remnant
of the religion professed by their forefathers, could not
obtain from the English the least indulgence. This very
House of Commons, in their famous remonstrance, took
care to justify themselves, as from the highest imputa-
tion, from any intention to relax the golden reins of dis-
cipline, as they called them, or to grant any toleration r :
and the enemies of the church were so fair from the be-
ginning, as not to lay claim to liberty of conscience,
which they called a toleration for soul murder. They
openly challenged the superiority, and even menaced the
established church with that persecution which they
afterwards exercised against her with such severity. And
if the question be considered in the view of policy;
though a sect, already formed and advanced, may. with
good reason, demand a toleration; what title had the
puritans to this indulgence, who were just on the point
of separation from the church, and whom, it might be
hoped, some wholesome and legal severities would still
retain in obedience 8 ?

r Nalson, vol. ii. p. 705. B See note [I], at the end of the volume.

16*

186 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. Whatever ridicule, to a philosophical mind, may be
^ .^thrown on pious ceremonies, it must be confessed that,
1645 during a very religious age, no institutions can be more
advantageous to the rude multitude, and tend more to
mollify that fierce and gloomy spirit of devotion to which
they are subject. Even the English church, though it
had retained a share of popish ceremonies, may justly be
thought too naked and unadorned, and still to approach
too near the abstract and spiritual religion of the puritans.
Laud and his associates, by reviving a few primitive insti-
tutions of this nature, corrected the error of the first re-
formers, and presented to the affrightened and astonished
mind, some sensible, exterior observances, which might
occupy it during its religious exercises, and abate the
violence of its disappointed efforts. The thought, no
longer bent on that divine and mysterious essence so
superior to the narrow capacities of mankind, was able,
by means of the new model of devotion, to relax itself in
the contemplation of pictures, postures, vestments, build-
ings; and all the fine arts which minister to religion
thereby received additional encouragement. The primate,
it is true, conducted this scheme, not with the enlarged
sentiments and cool reflection of a legislator, but with
the intemperate zeal of a sectary ; and, by overlooking
the circumstances of the times, served rather to inflame
that religious fury which he meant to repress. But this
blemish is more to be regarded as a general imputation
on the whole age, than any particular failing of Laud's ;
and it is sufficient for his vindication to observe, that his
errors were the most excusable of all those which pre-
vailed during that zealous period.

CHARLES I. 187

CHAPTER LVIII.

NTROSE'S VICTORIES. THE NEW MODEL or THE ARMY. BATTLE OF NASE-
BY. SURRENDER OF BRISTOL. THE WEST CONQUERED BY FAIRFAX.
DEFEAT OF MONTROSE. ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. KING- GOES TO THE
SCOTS AT NEWARK. END OF THE WAR. KING DELIVERED UP BY THE SCOTS.

WHILE the king's affairs declined in England, some
events happened in Scotland which seemed to promise
him a more prosperous issue of the quarrel.

Before the commencement of these civil disorders,
Earl of Montrose, a young nobleman of a distinguished
family, returning from his travels, had been introduced to
the king, and had made an offer of his services ; but by
the insinuations of the Marquis, afterwards Duke of
Hamilton, who possessed much of Charles's confidence,
he had not been received with that distinction to which
he thought himself justly entitled a . Disgusted with this
treatment, he had forwarded all the violence of the cove-
nanters; and, agreeably to the natural ardour of his
genius, he had employed himself, during the first Scottish
insurrection, with great zeal as well as success, in levying
and conducting their armies. Being commissioned by the
Tables to wait upon the king, while the royal army lay
at Berwick, he was so gained by the civilities and caresses
of that monarch, that he thenceforth devoted himself
entirely, though secretly, to his service, and entered into
a close correspondence with him. In the second insur-
rection, a great military command was intrusted to him
by the covenanters : and he was the first that passed the
Tweed, at the head of their troops, in the invasion of
England. He found means, however, soon after, to
convey a letter to the king ; and by the infidelity of some
about that prince, (Hamilton, as was suspected,) a copy of
this letter was sent to Leven, the Scottish general. Being
accused of treachery, and a correspondence with the
enemy, Montrose openly avowed the letter, and asked
the generals if they dared to call their sovereign an.

a Nalson, Intr. p. 63.

158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, enemy; and by his bold and magnanimous behaviour.

LVIII. | ie esca p e( j the danger of an immediate prosecution. As
~' was now fully known to be of the royal party, he no
longer concealed his principles ; and he endeavoured to
draw those who had entertained like sentiments, into a
bond of association for his master's service. Though
thrown into prison for this enterprise 1 *, and detained some
time, he was not discouraged ; but still continued, by his
countenance and protection, to infuse spirit into the dis-
tressed royalists. Among other persons of distinction,
who united themselves to him, was Lord Napier of Mer-
chiston, son of the famous inventor of the logarithms,
the person to whom the title of GREAT MAN is more justly
due, than to any other whom his country ever produced.
There was in Scotland another party, who professing
equal attachment to the king's service, pretended only to
differ with Montrose about the means of attaining the
same end ; and of that party, Duke Hamilton was the
leader. This nobleman had cause to be extremely de-
voted to the king, not only by reason of the connexion
of blood, which united him to the royal family ; but on
account of the great confidence and favour with which
he had ever been honoured by his master. Being accused
by Lord Rae, not without some appearance of probability,
of a conspiracy against the king ; Charles was so far from
harbouring suspicion against him, that the very first time
Hamilton came to court, he received him into his bed-
chamber, and passed alone the night with him c . But
such was the duke's unhappy fate or conduct, that he
escaped not the imputation of treachery to his friend and
sovereign ; and though he at last sacrificed his life in the
king's service, his integrity and sincerity have not been
thought by historians entirely free from blemish. Per-
haps (and this is the more probable opinion) the sub til ties
and refinements of his conduct and his temporizing
maxims, though accompanied with good intentions, have
been the chief cause of a suspicion which has never yet
been either fully proved or refuted. As much as the

b It is not improper to take notice of a mistake committed by Clarendon, much
to the disadvantage of this gallant nobleman ; that he offered the king, when his
majesty was in Scotland, to assassinate Argyle. All the time the king was in
Scotland, Montrose was confined to pi'ison. llushworth, vok vi. p. 980.

c Nalson, vol. ii. p. 683.

CHARLES I. 189

bold and vivid spirit of Montrose prompted him to enter- CHAP.
prising measures, as much was the cautious temper of ^ LVIIL
Hamilton inclined to such as were moderate and dilatory. ^^
While the former foretold that the Scottish covenanters
were secretly forming an union with the English Parlia-
ment, and inculcated the necessity of preventing them by
some vigorous undertaking ; the latter still insisted that
every such attempt would precipitate them into measures
to which, otherwise, they were not, perhaps, inclined.
After the Scottish convention was summoned without
the king's authority, the former exclaimed that their in-
tentions were now visible, and that, if some unexpected
blow were not struck to dissipate them, they would arm
the whole nation against the king ; the latter maintained
the possibility of outvoting the disaffected party, and
securing, by peaceful means, the allegiance of the king-
dom d . Unhappily for the royal cause, Hamilton's repre-
sentations met with more credit from the king and queen
than those of Montrose; and the covenanters were al-
lowed, without interruption, to proceed in all their hostile
measures. Montrose then hastened to Oxford ; where
his invectives against Hamilton's treachery, concurring
with the general prepossession, and supported by the un-
fortunate event of his counsels, were entertained with
universal approbation. Influenced by the clamour of his
party, more than his own suspicions, Charles, as soon as
Hamilton appeared, sent him prisoner to Pendennis castle,
in Cornwall. His brother, Laneric, who was also put
under confinement, found means to make his escape, and
to fly into Scotland.

The king's ears were now opened to Montrose's coun-
sels, who proposed none but the boldest and most daring,
agreeably to the desperate state of the royal cause in
Scotland. Though the whole nation was subjected by
the covenanters, though great armies were kept on foot
by them, and every place guarded by a vigilant admi-
nistration ; he undertook, by his own credit, and that of
the few friends who remained to the king, to raise such
commotions, as would soon oblige the malecontents to
recall those forces which had so sensibly thrown the

<* Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 380, 381, Rusliwortli, vol. vi. p. 980. Wishart, cap. 2.

190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, balance in favour of the Parliament 6 . Not discouraged
^ vni ^ with the defeat at Marston-moor, which rendered it hu-
ms, possible for him to draw any succour from England ; he
was content to stipulate with the Earl of Antrim, a
nobleman of Ireland, for some supply of men from that
country. And he himself, changing his disguises, and
passing through many dangers, arrived in Scotland;
where he lay concealed in the borders of the highlands,
and secretly prepared the minds of his partisans for at-
tempting some great enterprise f .

No sooner were the Irish landed, though not exceed-
ing eleven hundred foot, very ill armed, than Montrose
declared himself, and entered upon that scene of action,
which has rendered his name so celebrated. About
eight hundred of the men of Athole flocked to his
standard. Five hundred men more, who had been levied
by the covenanters, were persuaded to embrace the royal
cause : and with this combined force he hastened to at-
tack Lord Elcho, who lay at Perth, with an army of six
thousand men, assembled upon the first news of the Irish
invasion. Montrose, inferior in number, totally unpro-
vided with horse, ill supplied with arms and ammunition,
had nothing to depend on but the courage which he him-
self, by his own example, and the rapidity of his enter-
prises, should inspire into his raw soldiers. Having re-
ceived the fire of the enemy, which was answered chiefly
by a volley of stones, he rushed amidst them with his
sword drawn, threw them into confusion, pushed his ad-
vantage, and obtained a complete victory, with the
slaughter of two thousand of the covenanters g .

This victory, though it augmented the renown of
Montrose, increased not his power or numbers. The
far greater part of the kingdom was extremely attached
to the covenant ; and such as bore an affection to the
royal cause were terrified by the established authority
of the opposite party. Dreading the superior power of
Argyle, who, having joined his vassals to a force levied
by the public, was approaching with a considerable army ;
Montrose hastened northwards, in order to rouse again

e Wishart, cap. 3.

f Clarendon, vol. v. p. 618. Rush-worth, vol. vi. p. 982. "Wishart, cap. 4.

1st of Sept, 1644. Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 983. Wishart, cap. 5.

CHARLES I. 191

the Marquis of Huntley and the Gordons, who, having CHAP.
before hastily taken arms, had been instantly suppressed ^ ^
by the covenanters. He was joined on his march by the 1643
Earl of Airly, with his two younger sons, Sir Thomas
and Sir David Ogilvy : the eldest was at that time
prisoner with the enemy. He attacked at Aberdeen
the Lord Burley, who commanded a force of two thou-
sand five hundred men. After a sharp combat, by his
undaunted courage, which, in his situation, was true
policy, and was also not unaccompanied with military
skill, he put the enemy to flight, and in the pursuit did
great execution upon them h .

But by this second advantage he obtained not the end
which he expected. The envious nature of Huntley,
jealous of Montrose's glory, rendered him averse to join
an army where he himself must be so much eclipsed by
the superior merit of the general. Argyle, reinforced
by the Earl of Lothian, was behind him with a great
army: the militia of the northern counties, Murray,
Ross, Caithness, to the number of five thousand men,
opposed him in front, and guarded the banks of the
Spey, a deep and rapid river. In order to elude these
numerous armies, he turned aside into the hills, and
saved his weak but active troops in Badenoch. After
some inarches and countermarches, Argyle came up with
him at Faivy castle. This nobleman's character, though
celebrated for political courage and conduct, was very
low for military prowess ; and after some skirmishes, in
which he was worsted, he here allowed Montrose to es-
cape him. By quick marches through these inaccessible
mountains, that general freed himself from the superior
forces of the covenanters.

Such was the situation of Montrose, that very good
or very ill fortune was equally destructive to him, and
diminished his army. After every victory, his soldiers,
greedy of spoil, but deeming the smallest acquisition to
be unexhausted riches, deserted in great numbers, and
went home to secure the treasures which they had ac-
quired. Tired, too, and spent with hasty and long
marches, in the depth of winter, through snowy moun-
tains, unprovided with every necessary, they fell off, and

h llth of Sept. 1644. Kustovorth, vol. vi. p. 983. Wishart, cap. 7.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

left their general almost alone with the Irish, who, hav-
U1 o no pl ace to which they could retire, still adhered to

1645 him in every fortune.

With these, and some reinforcements of the Athole
men and Macdonalcls whom he had recalled, Montrose
fell suddenly upon Argyle's country, and let loose upon
it all the rage of war ; carrying off the cattle, burning
the houses, and putting the inhabitants to the sword.
This severity, by which Montrose sullied his victories,
was the result of private animosity against the chieftain,
as much as of zeal for the public cause. Argyle, collect-
ing three thousand men, inarched in quest of the enemy,
who had retired with their plunder ; and he lay at Inner-
lochy, supposing himself still at a considerable distance
from them. The Earl of Seaforth, at the head of the
garrison of Inverness, who were veteran soldiers, joined
to five thousand new levied troops of the northern coun-
ties, pressed the royalists on the other side, and threatened
them with inevitable destruction. By a quick and un-
expected inarch, Montrose hastened to Innerlochy, and
presented himself in order of battle before the surprised,
but not affrightened, covenanters. Argyle alone, seized
with a panic, deserted his army, who still maintained
their ground, and gave battle to the royalists. After a
vigorous resistance, they were defeated, and pursued

2dFeb. with great slaughter 1 . And the power of the Campbells
(that is, Argyle's name) being thus broken, the High-
landers, who were in general well affected to the royal
cause, began to join Montrose's camp in great numbers.
Seaforth's army dispersed of itself, at the very terror of
his name. And Lord Gordon, eldest son of Huntley,
having escaped from his uncle Argyle, who had hitherto
detained him, now joined Montrose, with no contempti-
ble number of his followers, attended by his brother, the
Earl of Aboine.

The council at Edinburgh, alarmed at Montrose's
progress, began to think of a more regular plan of de-
fence against an enemy whose repeated victories had
rendered him extremely formidable. They sent for
Baillie, an officer of reputation, from England ; and join-
ing him in command with Urrey, who had again enlisted

i Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 985. Wishart, cap. 8.

CHARLES I. 193

himself among the king's enemies, they sent them to the CHAP.
field with a considerable army against the royalists. Mon-,^* 11 ^
trose, with a detachment of eight hundred men, had 1645
attacked Dundee, a town extremely zealous for the
covenant, and having carried it by assault, had delivered
it up to be plundered by his soldiers ; when Baillie and
Urrey, with their whole force, were unexpectedly upon
him k . His conduct and presence of mind, in this
emergence, appeared conspicuous. Instantly he called
off his soldiers from plunder, put them in order, secured
his retreat by the most skilful measures; and having
marched sixty miles in the face of an enemy much
superior, without stopping, or allowing his soldiers the
least sleep or refreshment, he at last secured himself in
the mountains.

Baillie and Urrey now divided their troops, in order
the better to conduct the war against an enemy who
surprised them as much by the rapidity of his marches as
by the boldness of his enterprises. Urrey, at the head of
four thousand men, met him at Alderne, near Inverness ;
and encouraged by the superiority of number, (for the
covenanters were double the royalists,) attacked him in
the post which he had chosen. Montrose, having placed
his right wing in strong ground, drew the best of his
forces to the other, and left no main body between them ;
a defect which he artfully concealed, by showing a few
men through the trees and bushes, with which that
ground was covered. That Urrey might have no leisure
to perceive the stratagem, he instantly led his left wing
to the charge ; and making a furious impression upon
the covenanters, drove them off the field, and gained a
complete victory 1 . In this battle, the valour of young
Napier, son to the lord of that name, shone out with
signal lustre.

Baillie now advanced, in order to revenge Urrey's dis-
comfiture; but at Alford he met, himself, with a like fate m .
Montrose, weak in cavalry, here lined his troops of horse
with infantry ; and after putting the enemy's horse to
rout, fell with united force upon their foot, who were
entirely cut in pieces, though with the loss of the gallant

k Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 228. Wishart, cap. 9.

1 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 229. Wishart, cap. 10. m 2d of July.

VOL. V. 17

194 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. Lord Gordon on the part of the royalists n . And having
J^^ thus prevailed in so many battles, which his vigour ever
1645 rendered as decisive as they were successful, he summoned
together all his friends and partisans, and prepared him-
self for marching into the southern provinces, in order to
put a final period to the power of the covenanters, and
dissipate the Parliament which, with great pomp and
solemnity, they had summoned to meet at St. Johnstone's.
While the fire was thus kindled in the north of the
island, it blazed out with no less fury in the south : the
parliamentary and royal armies, as soon as the season
would permit, prepared to take the field,in hopes of bring-
ing their important quarrel to a quick decision. The
passing of the self-denying ordinance had been protracted
by so many debates and intrigues, that the spring was far
advanced before it received the sanction of both Houses ;
and it was thought dangerous by many to introduce, so
near the time of action, such great innovations into the
army. Had not the punctilious principles of Essex
engaged him amidst all the disgusts which he received,
to pay implicit obedience to the Parliament, this altera-
tion had not been effected without some fatal accident ;
since, notwithstanding his prompt resignation of the com-
mand, a mutiny was generally apprehended . Fairfax,
or, more properly speaking, Cromwell, under his name,
introduced at last, the new model into the army, and threw
the troops into a different shape. From the same men,
new regiments and new companies were formed, different
officers appointed, and the whole military force put into
such hands as the independents could rely on. Besides
members of Parliament who were excluded, many officers,
unwilling to serve under the new generals, threw up their
commissions; and unwarily facilitated the project of
putting the army entirely into the hands of that faction.
Though the discipline of the former parliamentary army
was not contemptible, a more exact plan was introduced,
and rigorously executed, by these new commanders.
Valour indeed was very generally diffused over the one
party as well as the other during this period; discipline also
was attained by the forces of the Parliament : but the per-
fection of the military art in concerting the general plans of

n Kushw. vol. vii. p. 229. Wishart, cap. 11. o Rushw. vol. vii. p. 126, 127.

CHARLES I. 195

action, and the operations of the field, seems still, on both CHAP.

sides, to have been in a great measure wanting.
torians, at least, perhaps from their own ignorance and 1645
inexperience, have not remarked any thing but a head-
long impetuous conduct ; each party hurrying to a battle,
where valour and fortune chiefly determined the success.
The great ornament of history during th^se reigns are the
civil, not the military transactions.

Never surely was a more singular army assembled than New model
that which was now set on foot by the Parliament. To
the greater number of the regiments chaplains were not
appointed. The officers assumed the spiritual duty, and
united it with their military functions. During the in-
tervals of action, they occupied themselves in sermons,
prayers, exhortations ; and the same emulation there
attended them, which in the field is so necessary to sup-
port the honour of that profession. Rapturous ecstacies
supplied the place of study and reflection ; and while the
zealous devotees poured out their thoughts in unpre-
meditated harangues, they mistook that eloquence which,
to their own surprise, as well as that of others, flowed in
upon them, for divine illuminations, and for illapses of the
Holy Spirit. Wherever they were quartered, they ex-
cluded the minister from his pulpit ; and, usurping his
place, conveyed their sentiments to the audience, with all
the authority which followed their power, their valour,
and their military exploits, united to their appearing zeal
and fervour. The private soldiers, seized with the same
spirit, employed their vacant hours in prayer, in perusing
the Holy Scriptures, in ghostly conferences, where they
compared the progress of their souls in grace, and
mutually stimulated each other to farther advances in the
great work of their salvation. When they were march-
ing to battle, the whole field resounded, as well with
psalms and spiritual songs adapted to the occasion, as
with the instruments of military music p ; and every man
endeavoured to drown the sense of present danger in the
prospect of that crown of glory which was set before him.
In so holy a cause, wounds were esteemed meritorious ;
death, martyrdom ; and the hurry and dangers of action,

P Dugdale, p. 7. Kushw. vol. vi. p. 281.

196 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, instead of banishing their pious visions, rather served to

IIL impress their minds more strongly with them.
^^^ The royalists were desirous of throwing a ridicule on
this fanaticism of the parliamentary armies, without being
sensible how much reason they had to apprehend its
dangerous consequences. The forces assembled by the
king at Oxford, in the west, and in other places, were
equal, if not superior, in number, to their adversaries ;
but actuated by a very different spirit. That licence,
which had been introduced by want of pay, had risen to
a great height among them, and rendered them more
formidable to their friends than to their enemies. Prince
Kupert, negligent of the people, fond of the soldiery, had
indulged the troops in unwarrantable liberties : Wilmot,
a man of dissolute manners, had promoted the same spirit
of disorder : and the licentious Goring, Gerrard, Sir
Richard Granville, now carried it to a great pitch of
enormity. In the west especially, where Goring com-
manded, universal spoil and havoc were committed ; and
the whole country was laid waste by the rapine of the
army. All distinction of parties being in a manner
dropped, the most devoted friends of the church and
monarchy wished there for such success to the parlia-
mentary forces as might put an end to these oppres-
sions. The country people, despoiled of their substance,
flocked together in several places, armed with clubs and
staves ; and though they professed an enmity to the sol-
diers of both parties, their hatred was, in most places,
levelled chiefly against the royalists, from whom they had
met with the worst treatment. Many thousands of these
tumultuary peasants were assembled in different parts of
England ; who destroyed all such straggling soldiers as
they met with, and much infested the armies q .

The disposition of the forces on both sides was as fol-
lows : part of the Scottish army was employed in taking
Pomfret, and other towns in Yorkshire : part of it
besieged Carlisle, valiantly defended by Sir Thomas
Glenham. Chester, where Biron commanded, had long
been blockaded by Sir William Brereton ; and was re-
duced to great difficulties. The king, being joined by

<i Eushw. vol. vii. p. 52. 61, 62. Whitlocke, p. 130, 131. 133. 135. Clarendon,
vol. v. p. 665.

CHARLES I. 197

the Princes Rupert and Maurice, lay at Oxford, with a CHAP.
considerable army, about fifteen thousand men. Fairfax
and Cromwell were posted at Windsor, with the
modelled army, about twenty-two thousand men. Taun-
ton, in the county of Somerset, defended by Blake, suf-
fered a long siege from Sir Richard Granville, who com-
manded an army of about eight thousand men; and
though the defence had been obstinate, the garrison was
now reduced to the last extremity. Goring commanded,
in the west, an army of nearly the same number 1 ".

On opening the campaign, the king formed the project
of relieving Chester ; Fairfax, that of relieving Taunton.
The king was first in motion. When he advanced to
Dralton in Shropshire, Biron met him, and brought in-
telligence that his approach had raised the siege, and
that the parliamentary army had withdrawn. Fairfax,
having reached Salisbury in his road westward, received
orders from the committee of both kingdoms, appointed
for the management of the war, to return and lay siege
to Oxford, now exposed by the king's absence. He
obeyed, after sending Colonel Weldon to the west, with
a detachment of four thousand men. On Weldon's ap-
proach, Granville, who imagined that Fairfax with his
whole army was upon him, raised the siege, and allowed
this pertinacious town, now half taken and half burned,
to receive relief: but the royalists, being reinforced with
three thousand horse under Goring, again advanced to
Taunton, and shut up Weldon, with his small army, in
that ruinous place 8 .

The king, having effected his purpose with regard to
Chester, returned southwards ; and in his way, sat down
before Leicester, a garrison of the Parliament's. Having
made a breach in the wall, he stormed the town on all
sides ; and after a furious assault, the soldiers entered
sword in hand, and committed all those disorders to
which their natural violence, especially when inflamed
by resistance, is so much addicted*. A great booty was
taken and distributed among them: fifteen hundred
prisoners fell into the king's hands. This success, which

1 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 18, 19, &c. s Hem, ibid. p. 28.

* Clarendon, vol. v. p. 652.

17*

198 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, struck a great terror into the parliamentary party, deter-
J^^ mined Fairfax to leave Oxford, which he was beginning
1645. to approach ; and he marched towards the king, with an
intention of offering him battle.* The king was advanc-
ing towards Oxford, in order to raise the siege, w r hich he
apprehended was now begun ; and both armies, ere they
were aware, had advanced within six miles of each other.
A council of war was called by the king, in order to
deliberate concerning the measures which he should now
pursue. On the one hand, it seemed more prudent to
delay the combat : because Gerrard, who lay in Wales
with three thousand men, might be enabled, in a little
time, to join the army; and Goring, it was hoped, would
soon be master of Taunton ; and having put the west in
full security, would then unite his forces to those of the
king, and give him an incontestable superiority over the
enemy. On the other hand, Prince Rupert, whose boil-
ing ardour still pushed him on to battle, excited the im-
patient humour of the nobility and gentry, of which the
army was full ; and urged the many difficulties under
which the royalists laboured, and from which nothing
but a victory could relieve them : the resolution, was
taken to give battle to Fairfax; and the royal army im-
mediately advanced upon him.

Battle of At Naseby was fought, with forces nearly equal, this
=e y ' decisive and well disputed action between the king and
Parliament. The main body of the royalists was com-
manded by the king himself; the right wing by Prince
Rupert ; the left by Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Fair-
fax, seconded by Skippon, placed himself in the main
body of the opposite army ; Cromwell in the right wing ;
Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law, in the left. The charge
was begun, with his usual celerity and usual success, by
Prince Rupert. Though Ireton made stout resistance,
and, even after he was run through the thigh with a
pike, still maintained the combat, till he was taken pri-
soner ; yet was that whole wing broken, and pursued
with precipitate fury by Rupert : he was even so incon-
siderate as to lose time in summoning and attacking the
artillery of the enemy, which had been left with a good
guard of infantry. The king led on his main body, and

CHARLES I. 199

displayed, in this action, all the conduct of a prudent CHAP.
general, and all the valour of a stout soldier u . Fairfax .J^* 11 ^
and Skippon encountered him, and well supported that 1645
reputation which they had acquired. Skippon being
dangerously wounded, was desired by Fairfax to leave
the field ; but he declared that he would remain there
as long as one man maintained his ground w . The in-
fantry of the Parliament was broken, and pressed upon
by the king ; till Fairfax, with great presence of mind,

t brought up the reserve and renewed the combat. Mean-
while Cromwell, having led on his troops to the attack
of Langdale, overbore the force of the royalists, and by
his prudence improved that advantage which he had
gained by his valour. Having pursued the enemy about
a quarter of a mile, and detached some troops to prevent
their rallying, he turned back upon the king's infantry,
and threw them into the utmost confusion. One regi-
ment alone preserved its order unbroken, though twice
desperately assailed by Fairfax : and that general, ex-
cited by so steady a resistance, ordered Doyley, the cap-
tain of his lifeguard, to give them a third charge in front,
while he himself attacked them in rear. The regiment
was broken. Fairfax, with his own hands, killed an
ensign, and having seized the colours, gave them to a
soldier to keep for him. The soldier afterwards boasting
that he had won this trophy, was reproved by Doyley,
who had seen the action : Let him retain that honour, said
Fairfax, / have to-day acquired enough beside*.

Prince Rupert, sensible too late of his error, left the
fruitless attack on the enemy's artillery, and joined the
king, whose infantry was now totally discomfited.
Charles exhorted this body of cavalry not to despair, and
cried aloud to them, One charge more and ive recover
the da?/ y . But the disadvantages under which they
laboured were too evident; and they could by no means
be induced to renew the combat. Charles was obliged
to quit the field, and leave the victory to the enemy z .
The slain on the side of the Parliament exceeded those
on the side of the king : they lost a thousand men ;

u Whitlocke, p. 146 * Kushw. vol. vii. p. 43. Whitlocke, p. 145.

x Whitlocke, p. 145. y Kushworth, vol. vii. p. 44.

* Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 656, 657. Walker, p. 130, 131.

200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, he not above eight hundred : but Fairfax made five hun-

J^^ dred officers prisoners, and four thousand private men ;

"^^ took all the king's artillery and ammunition ; and totally

dissipated his infantry : so that scarce any victory could

be more complete than that which he obtained.

Among the other spoils was seized the king's cabinet,
with the copies of his letters to the queen, which the
Parliament afterwards ordered to be published 21 . They
chose, no doubt, such of them as they thought would re*
fleet dishonour on him : yet, upon the whole, the letters
are written with delicacy and tenderness, and give an
advantageous idea both of the king's genius and morals.
A mighty fondness, it is true, and attachment, he ex-
presses to his consort, and often professes that he never
would embrace any measures which she disapproved :
but such declarations of civility and confidence are not
always to be taken in a full literal sense. And so legi-
timate an affection, avowed by the laws of God and man,
ma}r, perhaps, be excusable towards a woman of beauty
and spirit, even though she was a Papist b .

The Athenians having intercepted a letter written by
their enemy, Philip of Macedon, to his wife Olympia,
so far from being moved by a curiosity of prying into the
secrets of that relation, immediately sent the letter to
the queen unopened. Philip was not their sovereign,
nor were they inflamed with that violent animosity
against him, which attends all civil commotions.

After the battle the king retreated with that body of
horse which remained entire, first to Hereford, then to
Abergavenny ; and remained some time in Wales, from
the vain hope of raising a body of infantry in those ha-
nth June. ra ssed and exhausted quarters. Fairfax, having first
retaken Leicester, which was surrendered upon articles,
began to deliberate concerning his future enterprises.

a Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 658.

b Hcarnc has published the following extract from a manuscript work of Sir
Simon D'Ewes, who was no mean man in the parliamentary party. " On Thurs-
day, the 30th and last day of this instant, June, 1625, I went to Whitehall, pur-
posely to see the queen, which I did fully all the time she sat at dinner. I pei'-
ceiv'd her to be a most absolute delicate lady, after I had exactly survey'd all the
features of her face, much enlivened by her radiant and sparkling black eyes.
Besides, her deportment among her women was so sweet and humble, and her
speech and looks to her other servants so mild and gracious, as I could not ab-
stain from divers deep-fetched sighs, to consider that she wanted the knowledge
of the true religion." See Preface to the Chronicle of Dunstable, p. 64.

CHARLES I.

201

1645.

A letter was brought him written by Goring to the king, CHAP.
and unfortunately intrusted to a spy of Fairfax's. Go-^ LVIIL
ring there informed the king, that in three weeks he
hoped to be master of Taunton ; after which he would
join his majesty with all the forces in the west ; and
entreated him, in the meanwhile, to avoid coming to
any general action. This letter, which, had it been safely
delivered, had probably prevented the battle of Naseby,
served now to direct the operations of Fairfax . After
leaving a body of three thousand men to Pointz and Ros-
siter, with orders to attend the king's motions, he
marched immediately to the west, with a view of saving
Taunton, and suppressing the only considerable force
which now remained to the royalists.

In the beginning of the campaign, Charles, apprehensive
of the event, had sent the Prince of Wales, then fifteen
years of age, to the west, with the title of general, and
had given orders, if he were pressed by the enemy, that
he should make his escape into a foreign country, and save
one part of the royal family from the violence of the
Parliament. Prince Eupert had thrown himself into
Bristol, with an intention of defending that important
city. Goring commanded the army before Taunton.

On Fairfax's approach, the siege of Taunton was raised ; soth July.
and the royalists retired to Lamport, an open town in the
county of Somerset. Fairfax attacked them in that post,
beat them from it, killed about three hundred men, and
took one thousand four hundred prisoners' 1 . After this
advantage, he sat down before Bridgewater, a town es-
teemed strong, and of great consequence in that country.
When he had entered the outer town by storm, Wynd-
ham, the governor, who had retired into the inner, imme-
diately capitulated, and delivered up the place to Fairfax. 23rd July.
The garrison, to the number of two thousand six hundred
men, were made prisoners of war.

Fairfax, having next taken Bath and Sherborne, re-
solved to lay siege to Bristol, and made great preparations
for an enterprise which, from the strength of the gar-
rison, and the reputation of Prince Rupert the governor,
was deemed of the last importance. But so precarious,
in most men, is this quality of military courage ! a poorer

c Kushworth, vol. vii. p. 49. a Idem, ibid. p. 55.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

defence was not made by any town during the whole
war ; and the general expectations were here extremely
1645 disappointed. No sooner had the parliamentary forces
entered the lines by storm than the prince capitulated,
nth Sept. and surrendered the city to Fairfax 6 . A few days before,
oBristoL ne had written a letter to the king, in which he under-
took to defend the place for four months, if no mutiny
obliged him to surrender it. Charles, who was forming
schemes, and collecting forces, for the relief of Bristol,
was astonished at so unexpected an event, which was
little less fatal to his cause than the defeat at Naseby f .
Full of indignation, he instantly recalled all Prince
Rupert's commissions, and sent him a pass to go beyond
sea g .

The king's affairs now went fast to ruin in all quarters.
The .Scots, having made themselves masters of Carlisle h ,
after an obstinate siege, marched southwards, and laid
siege to Hereford, but were obliged to raise it on the
king's approach ; and this was the last glimpse of success
which attended his arms. Having marched to the relief
of Chester, which was anew besieged by the parlia-
mentary forces under Colonel Jones; Pointz attacked
24th Sept. his rear, and forced him to give battle. While the fight
was continued with great obstinacy, and victory seemed to
incline to the royalists, Jones fell upon them from the
other side, and put them to rout, with the loss of six
hundred slain, and one thousand prisoners 1 . The king,
with the remains of his broken army, fled to Newark, and
thence escaped to Oxford, where he shut himself up
during the winter season.

The news which he received from every quarter was
no less fatal than those events which passed where he
himself was present. Fairfax and Cromwell, after the
surrender of Bristol, having divided their forces, the for-
mer marched westwards, in order to complete the con-
quest of Devonshire and Cornwall ; the latter attacked
the king's garrisons which lay to the east of Bristol.
The Devizes were surrendered to Cromwell : Berkley-
castle was taken by storm ; Winchester capitulated ;
Basing-house was entered sword in hand ; and all these

e Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 83. f Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 690. Walker, p. 137.

e Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 695. fc 28th June. 1 Rushw. vol. vii. p. 117.

CHARLES I. 203

middle counties of England were, in a little time, reduced CHAP.
to obedience under the Parliament. Jll^L^

The same rapid and uninterrupted success attended 1G46
Fairfax. The parliamentary forces, elated by past vie- The west

* ..-.-,. .,. ' , ..-. conquered

tones, governed by the most rigid discipline, met with i )y Fair-
no equal opposition from troops dismayed by repeated fax -
defeats, and corrupted by licentious manners. After
beating up the quarters of the royalists at Bovey-Tracey, 18th Jan -
Fairfax sat down before Dartmouth, and in a few days
entered it by storm. Poudram-castle being taken by
him, and Exeter blockaded on all sides ; Hopton, a man
of merit, who now commanded the royalists, having ad-
vanced to the relief of that town, with an army of eight
thousand men, met with the parliamentary army at Tor- 19tllFeb -
rington ; where he was defeated, all his foot dispersed,
and he himself, with his horse, obliged to retire into
Cornwall. Fairfax followed him, and vigorously pursued
the victory. Having enclosed the royalists at Truro, he
forced the whole army, consisting of five thousand men,
chiefly cavalry, to surrender upon terms. The soldiers,
delivering up their horses and arms, were allowed to dis-
band, and received twenty shillings apiece, to carry them
to their respective abodes. Such of the officers as desired
it had passes to retire beyond sea ; the others, having
promised never more to bear arms, paid compositions to
the Parliament 11 , and procured their pardon 1 . And thus
Fairfax, after taking Exeter, which completed the con-
quest of the west, marched with his victorious army to
the centre of the kingdom, and fixed his camp at New-
bury. The Prince of Wales, in pursuance of the king's
orders, retired to Scilly, thence to Jersey ; whence he
went to Paris ; where he joined the queen, who had fled
thither from Exeter at the time the Earl of Essex con-
ducted the parliamentary army to the west.

In the other parts of England, Hereford was taken by
surprise : Chester surrendered : Lord Digby, who had at-
tempted with one thousand two hundred horse to break
into Scotland, and join Mont rose, was defeated at Slier-
burn, in Yorkshire, by Colonel Copley : his whole force

k These compositions were different, according to the demerits of the person :
but by a vote of the House they could not be under two years' rent of the delin-
quent's estate. Journ. llth of August, 1648. Whitlocke, p. 160.

1 Kusliw. vol. vii. p. 108.

204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, was dispersed ; and he himself was obliged to fly. first to

^ ^ the Isle of Man, thence to Ireland. News too arrived

1646 that Montrose himself, after some more successes, was

at last routed ; and this only remaining hope of the royal

party finally extinguished.

When Montrose descended into the southern counties,
the covenanters, assembling their whole force, met him
with a numerous army, and gave him battle, but without
success, at Kilsyth m . This was the most complete victory
that Montrose ever obtained. The royalists put to the
sword six thousand of their enemies, and left the cove-
nanters no remains of any army in Scotland. The whole
kingdom was shaken with these repeated successes of
Montrose ; and many noblemen, who secretly favoured
the royal cause, now declared openly for it, when they
saw a force able to support them. The Marquis of
Douglas, the Earls of Annandale and Hartfield, the Lords
Fleming, Seton, Maderty, Carnegy, with many others,
flocked to the royal standard. Edinburgh opened its
gates, and gave liberty to all the prisoners there detained
by the covenanters. Among the rest was Lord Ogilvy,
son of Airly, whose family had contributed extremely to
the victory gained at Kilsyth n .

David Lesley was detached from the army in Eng-
land, and marched to the relief of his distressed party in
Scotland. Montrose advanced still farther to the south,
allured by vain hopes, both of rousing to arms the Earls
of Hume, Traquaire, and Roxburgh, who had promised
to join him ; and of obtaining from England some sup-
ply of cavalry, in which he was deficient. By the negli-
gence of his scouts, Lesley, at Philiphaugh in the Forest,
surprised his army, much diminished in numbers, from
the desertion of the Highlanders, who had retired to the
hills, according to custom, in order to secure their plun-
der. After a sharp conflict, where Montrose exerted
great valour, his forces were routed by Lesley's cavalry ;
and he himself was obliged to fly with his broken forces
into the mountains; where he again prepared himself
for new battles and new enterprises p .

The covenanters used the victory with vigour. Their

m 15th August, 1645.

Eushw. vol. vii. p. 230, 231. Wishart, cap. 13.

13th of Sept. 1645. p Rushw. vol. vii. p. 231.

CHARLES I. 205

prisoners, Sir Eobert Spotiswood, secretary of state, and CHAP.
son to the late primate, Sir Philip Nisbet, Sir William
Kollo, Colonel Nathaniel Gordon, Andrew Guthry, son of
the Bishop of Murray, William Murray, son of the Earl
of Tullibardine, were condemned and executed. The
sole crime imputed to the secretary was his delivering to
Montrose the king's commission to be captain-general of
Scotland. Lord Ogilvy, who was again taken prisoner,
would have undergone the same fate, had not his sister
found means to procure his escape by changing clothes
with him. For this instance of courage and dexterity
she met with harsh usage. The clergy solicited the Par-
liament that more royalists might be executed ; but could
not obtain their request q .

After all these repeated disasters, which everywhere
befel the royal party, there remained only one body of
troops, on which fortune could exercise her rigour. Lord 22d Mar -
Astley, with a small army of three thousand men, chiefly
cavalry, marching to Oxford, in order to join the king,
was met at Stowe by Colonel Morgan, and entirely de-
feated ; himself being taken prisoner. " You have done
your work," said Astley to the Parliamentary officers,
u and may now go to play, unless you choose to fall out
among yourselves 1 ."

The condition of the king, during this whole winter,
was to the last degree disastrous and melancholy. As
the dread of ills is commonly more oppressive than their
real presence, perhaps in no period of his life was he
more justly the object of compassion. His vigour of
mind, which, though it sometimes failed him in acting,
never deserted him in his sufferings, was what alone
supported him ; and he was determined, as he wrote to
Lord Digby, if he could not live as a king, to die like a
gentleman ; nor should any of his friends, he said, ever
have reason to blush for the prince whom they had so
unfortunately served 8 . The murmurs of discontented
officers, on the one hand, harassed their unhappy sove-

1 Guthry's Memoirs. Rushw. vol. vii. p. 232.

r Rushw. vol. vii. p. 141. It was the same Astley who, before he charged at the
battle of Edge-hill, made this short prayer : Lord ! thou knowest how busy I must be
this day. If I forget thee, do not thou forget me. And with that, rose up, and cried,
March on, boys ! Warwick, p. 229. There were certainly much longer prayers said
in the parliamentary anny ; but I doubt if there were so good a one.

8 Carte's Ormond, vol. iii. No. 433.
VOL. V. 18

206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, reign ; while they overrated those services and sufferings
i^^ which, they now saw, must for ever go unrewarded*.
1646< The affectionate duty, on the other hand, of his more
generous friends, who respected his misfortunes and his
virtues as much as his dignity, wrung his heart with a
new sorrow ; when he reflected that such disinterested
attachment would so soon be exposed to the rigour of
his implacable enemies. Repeated attempts, which he
made for a peaceful and equitable accommodation with
the Parliament, served to no purpose but to convince
them that the victory was entirely in their hands. They
deigned not to make the least reply to several of his
messages, in which he desired a passport for commis-
sioners 11 . At last, after reproaching him with the blood
spilt during the war, they told him that they were pre-
paring bills for him ; and his passing them would be the
best pledge of his inclination towards peace : in other
words, he must yield at discretion w . He desired a per-
sonal treaty, and offered to come to London, upon re-
ceiving a safe-conduct for himself and his attendants:
they absolutely refused him admittance, and issued orders
for the guarding, that is, the seizing, of his person in
case he should attempt to visit them x . A new incident
which happened in Ireland served to inflame the minds
of men, and to increase those calumnies with which his
enemies had so much loaded him, and which he ever re-
garded as the most grievous part of his misfortunes.

After the cessation with the Irish rebels, the king was
desirous of concluding a final peace with them, and ob-
taining their assistance in England : and he gave autho-
rity to Ormond, lord-lieutenant, to promise them an ab-
rogation of all the penal laws enacted against Catholics ;
together with the suspension of Poining's statute with
regard to some particular bills which should be agreed
on. Lord Herbert, created Earl of Glamorgan, (though
his patent had not yet passed the seals,) having occasion
for his private affairs to go to Ireland, the king consi-
dered that this nobleman, being a Catholic, and allied to
the best Irish families, might be of service : he also fore-

* Walker, p. 147. u Ruslnvorth, vol. vii. p. 215, &c.

* Idem, ibid. p. 217. 219. Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 744.

x Kushworth, vol. vii. p. 249. Clai-endon, vol. iv. p. 741.

CHARLES I. 207

saw that farther concessions with regard to religion might CHAP.
probably be demanded by the bigoted Irish ; and that, LVn
as these concessions, however necessary, would give great "^^
scandal to the Protestant zealots in his three kingdoms,
it would be requisite both to conceal them during some
time, and to preserve Ormond's character, by giving
private orders to Glamorgan to conclude and sign these
articles. But as he had a better opinion of Glamorgan's
zeal and affection for his service than of his capacity, he
enjoined him to communicate all his measures to Or-
moncl ; and though the final conclusion of the treaty
must be executed only in Glamorgan's own name, he
was required to be directed, in the steps towards it, by
the opinion of the lord-lieutenant. Glamorgan, bigoted
to his religion, and passionate for the king's service, but
guided in these pursuits by no manner of judgment or
discretion, secretly, of himself, without any communica-
tion with Ormond, concluded a peace with the council
of Kilkenny, and agreed, in the king's name, that the
Irish should enjoy all the churches of which they had
ever been in possession since the commencement of their
insurrection on condition that they should assist the
king in England with a body of ten thousand men.
This transaction was discovered by accident. The titular
Archbishop of Tuam being killed by a sally of the garrison
of Sligo, the articles of the treaty were found among his
baggage, and were immediately published everywhere,
and copies of them sent over to the English Parliament 7 .
The lord-lieutenant and Lord Digby, foreseeing the
clamour which would be raised against the king, com-
mitted Glamorgan to prison, charged him with treason
for his temerity, and maintained that he had acted alto-
gether without any authority from his master. The Eng-
lish Parliament, however, neglected not so favourable an
opportunity of reviving the whole clamour with regard to
the king's favour of popery, and accused him of deliver-
ing over, in a manner, the whole kingdom of Ireland to
that hated sect. The king told them " that the Earl of
Glamorgan, having made an offer to raise forces in the
kingdom of Ireland, and to conduct them into England
for his majesty's service, had a commission to that pur-

y Kushworth, vol. vii. p. 239.

208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, pose, and to that purpose only, and that he had no com-
vj^ 1 ^, mission at all to treat of any thing else, without the
1646 privity and direction of the lord-lieutenant, much less
to capitulate any thing concerning religion, or any pro-
perty belonging either to church or laity V Though
this declaration seems agreeable to truth, it gave no
satisfaction to the Parliament ; and some historians, even
at present, when the ancient bigotry is somewhat abated,
are desirous of representing this very innocent transac-
tion, in which the king was engaged by the most violent
necessity, as a stain on the memory of that unfortunate
prince a .

Having lost all hope of prevailing over the rigour of
the Parliament, either by arms or by treaty, the only re-
source which remained to the king was derived from the
intestine dissensions, which ran very high among his
enemies. Presbyterians and Independents, even before
their victory was fully completed, fell into contests about
the division of the spoil, and their religious as well as
civil disputes agitated the whole kingdom.

Ecciesiasti- The Parliament, though they had early abolished epis-
s ' copal authority, had not, during so long a time, substi-
tuted any other spiritual government in its place ; and
their committees of religion had hitherto assumed the
whole ecclesiastical jurisdiction : but they now esta-
blished, by an ordinance, the presbyterian model in all its
forms of congregational, classical, provincial., and national
assemblies. All the inhabitants of each parish were
ordered to meet and choose elders, on whom, together
with the minister, was bestowed the entire direction of
all spiritual concerns within the congregation. A num-
ber of neighbouring parishes, commonly between twelve
and twenty, formed a classis ; and the court, which go-
verned this division, was composed of all the ministers,
together with two, three, or four elders chosen from each
parish. The provincial assembly retained an inspection
over several neighbouring classes, and was composed en-
tirely of clergymen : the national assembly was consti-
tuted in the same manner ; and its authority extended
over the whole kingdom. It is probable that the tyranny
exercised by the Scottish clergy had given warning not

2 Birch, p. 119. a See note [KJ, at the end of the volume.

CHARLES I.

209

1646.

to allow laymen a place in the provincial or national as- CHAP.
semblies ; lest the nobility and more considerable gentry, ( LVIIL
soliciting a seat in these great ecclesiastical courts, should
bestow a consideration upon them, and render them in
the eyes of the multitude a rival to the Parliament. In
the inferior courts, the mixture of the laity might serve
rather to temper the usual zeal of the clergy b .

But though the presbyterians, by the establishment of
parity among the ecclesiastics, were so far gratified, they
were denied satisfaction in several other points on which
they were extremely intent. The assembly of divines
had voted presbytery to be of divine right. The Parlia-
ment refused their assent to that decision . Selden,
Whitlocke, and other political reasoners, assisted by the
independents, had prevailed in this important delibera-
tion. They thought that, had the bigoted religionists
been able to get their heavenly charter recognized, the
presbyters would soon become more dangerous to the ma-
gistrate than had ever been the prelatical clergy. These
latter, while they claimed to themselves a divine right,
admitted of a like origin to civil authority : the former,
challenging to their own order a celestial pedigree, de-
rived the legislative power from a source no more digni-
fied than the voluntary association of the people.

Under colour of keeping the sacraments from profana-
tion, the clergy of all Christian sects had assumed what
they call the power of the keys, or the right of fulmi-
nating excommunication. The example of Scotland was
a sufficient lesson for the Parliament to use precaution in
guarding against so severe a tyranny. They determined,
by a general ordinance, all the cases in which excommu-
nication could be used. They allowed of appeals to
Parliament from all ecclesiastical courts. And they ap-
pointed commissioners in every province to judge of such
cases as fell not within their general ordinance d . So much
civil authority, intermixed with the ecclesiastical, gave
disgust to all the zealots.

But nothing was attended with more universal scandal
than the propensity of many in the Parliament towards

b Ruslnvorth, vol. vii. p. 224,

c Whitlocke, p. 106. Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 260, 261.

d Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 210.

18*

210 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, a toleration of the Protestant sectaries. The presbyte-
v j^ ]_j rians exclaimed, that this indulgence made the church of
1646 Christ resemble Noah's ark, and rendered it a receptacle
for all unclean beasts. They insisted, that the least of
Christ's truths was superior to all political considera-
tions 6 . They maintained the eternal obligation imposed
by the covenant to extirpate heresy and schism. And
they menaced all their opponents with the same rigid
persecution under which they themselves had groaned,
when held in subjection by the hierarchy.

So great prudence and reserve, in such material points,
does great honour to the Parliament ; and proves that,
notwithstanding the prevalence of bigotry and fanaticism,
there were many members who had more enlarged views,
and paid regard to the civil interests of society. These
men, uniting themselves to the enthusiasts, whose genius
is naturally averse to clerical usurpations, exercised so
jealous an authority over the assembly of divines, that
they allowed them nothing but the liberty of tendering
advice, and would not intrust them even with the power
of electing their own chairman or his substitute, or of
supplying the vacancies of their own members.

While these disputes were canvassed by theologians,
who engaged in their spiritual contests every order of
the state ; the king, though he entertained hopes of reap-
ing advantage from those divisions, was much at a loss
which side it would be most for his interest to comply
with. The presbyterians were, by their principles, the
least averse to regal authority ; but were rigidly bent on
the extirpation of prelacy : the independents were reso-
lute to lay the foundation of a republican government ;
but as they pretended not to erect themselves into a na-
tional church, it might be hoped that, if gratified with a
toleration, they would admit the re-establishment of the
hierarchy. So great attachment had the king to epis-
copal jurisdiction, that he was ever inclined to put it in
balance even with his own power and kingly office.

But whatever advantage he might hope to reap from
the divisions in the parliamentary party, he was appre-
hensive lest it should come too late to save him from the
destruction with which he was instantly threatened.

e Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 308.

CHARLES I. 211

Fairfax was approaching with a powerful and victorious CHAP.
army, and was taking the proper measures for laying siege LV1IL
to Oxford, which must infallibly fall into his hands. To ^J^"
be taken captive and led in triumph by his insolent
enemies was what Charles justly abhorred ; and every
insult, if not violence, was to be dreaded from that enthu-
siastic soldiery, who hated his person and despised his
dignity. In this desperate extremity, he embraced a
measure which, in any other situation, might lie under
the imputation of imprudence and indiscretion.

Montreville, the French minister, interested for the
king more by the natural sentiments of humanity than
any instructions from his court, which seemed rather to
favour the Parliament, had solicited the Scottish generals
and commissioners to give protection to their distressed
sovereign ; and having received many general professions
and promises, he had always transmitted these, perhaps
with some exaggeration, to the king. From his sugges-
tions, Charles began to entertain thoughts of leaving
Oxford, and flying to the Scottish army, which at that
time lay before Newark f . He considered that the Scot-
tish nation had been fully gratified in all their demands ;
and having already, in their own country, annihilated
both episcopacy and regal authority, had no farther con-
cessions to exact from him. In all disputes which had
passed about settling the terms of peace, the Scots, he
heard, had still adhered to the milder side, and had en-
deavoured to soften the rigour of the English Parliament.
Great disgusts also, on other accounts, had taken place
between the nations; and the Scots found that, in pro-
portion as their assistance became less necessary, less value
was put upon them. The progress of the independents
gave them great alarm ; and they were scandalized to
hear their beloved covenant spoken of, every day, with
less regard and reverence. The refusal of a divine right
to presbytery, and the infringing of ecclesiastical disci-
pline from political considerations, were, to them, the
subject of much offence ; and the king hoped that, in
their present disposition, the sight of their native prince
flying to them in this extremity of distress would rouse

f Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 750 ; vol. v, p. 16.

212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, every spark of generosity in their bosom, and procure
^_ * IT \ him their favour and protection.

1646 That he might the better conceal his intentions, orders

were given at every gate in Oxford for allowing three

persons to pass ; and in the night the king, accompanied

by none but Dr. Hudson and Mr. Ashburnham, went out

at that gate which leads to London. He rode before a

portmanteau, and called himself Ashburnham's servant.

He passed through Henley, St. Alban's, and came so near

to London as Harrow-on-the-hill. He once entertained

thoughts of entering into that city, and of throwing him-

Kin^Yes se ^ on ^ ie merc y f *ke Parliament. But at last, after

toTife S s passing through many cross roads, he arrived at the

Scotch Scottish camp before Newark g . The Parliament, hearing

camp at f\ f J ' J ' J

Newark, of his escape from Oxford, issued rigorous orders, and
threatened with instant death whoever should harbour
or conceal him h .

The Scottish generals and commissioners affected great
surprise on the appearance of the king ; and though they
paid him all the exterior respect due to his dignity, they
instantly set a guard upon him, under colour of protec-
tion, and made him in reality a prisoner. They informed
the English Parliament of this unexpected incident, and
assured them that they had entered into no private treaty
with the king. They applied to him for orders to Bel-
lasis, governor of Newark, to surrender that town, now
reduced to extremity, and the orders were instantly
obeyed. And hearing that the Parliament laid claim to
the entire disposal of. the king's person, and that the
English army was making some motions towards them,
they thought proper to retire northwards, and to fix
their camp at Newcastle 1 .

This measure was very grateful to the king ; and he
began to entertain hopes of protection from the Scots.
He was particularly attentive to the behaviour of their
preachers, on whom all depended. It was the mode of
that age to make the pulpit the scene of news ; and on
every great event, the whole Scripture was ransacked by
the clergy for passages applicable to the present occasion.
The first minister who preached before the king chose

8 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 267. h Whitlocke, p. 209.

1 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 271. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 23.

CHARLES I. 213

these words for his text : " And, behold, all the men of CHAP.
Israel came to the king, and said unto him, Why have LVIIL
our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and^^"
have brought the king, and his household, and all David's
men with him, over Jordan ? Arid all the men of Judah
answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of
kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this matter ?
have we eaten at all of the king's cost ? or hath he given
us any gift ? And the men of Israel answered the men
of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and
we have also more right in David than ye : why then did
ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in
bringing back our king ? And the words of the men of
Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel k ."
But the king soon found that the happiness chiefly of the
allusion had tempted the preacher to employ this text,
and that the covenanting zealots were nowise pacified
towards him. Another preacher, after reproaching him
to his face with his misgovernment, ordered this psalm
to be sung :

Why dost thou, tyrant, loast thyself.
Thy ivicked deeds to praise ?

The king stood up, and called for that psalm which begins
with these words,

Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray ;
For men would me devour.

The good-natured audience, in pity to fallen majesty,
showed, for once, greater deference to the king than to
the minister, and sung the psalm which the former had
called for 1 .

Charles had very little reason to be pleased with his
situation. He not only found himself a prisoner very
strictly guarded : all his friends were kept at a distance ;
and no intercourse, either by letters or conversation, was
allowed him, with any one on whom he could depend,
or who was suspected of any attachment towards him.
The Scottish generals would enter into no confidence
with him ; and still treated him with distant ceremony

k 2 Sam. chap. xix. verses 41, 42, and 43. See Clarendon, vol. v. p. 23, 24.
1 Whitlocke, p. 234.

214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and feigned respect. And every proposal which they
^^ IIL made him tended farther to his abasement and to his
1646. ruin m .

They required him to issue orders to Oxford, and all
his other garrisons, commanding their surrender to the
Parliament : and the king, sensible that their resistance
was to very little purpose, willingly complied. The terms
given to most of them were honourable ; and Fairfax, as
far as lay in his power, was very exact in observing them.
Far from allowing violence, he would not even permit
insults, or triumph over the unfortunate royalists ; and
by his generous humanity, so cruel a civil war was ended,
in appearance, very calmly, between the parties.

Ormond, having received like orders, delivered Dublin,
and other forts, into the hands of the parliamentary offi-
cers. Montrose also, after having experienced still more
variety of good and bad fortune, threw down his arms
and retired out of the kingdom.

The Marquis of Worcester, a man past eighty-four,
was the last in England that submitted to the authority
of the Parliament. He defended Raglan castle to
extremity ; and opened not its gates till the middle of
August. Four years, a few days excepted, were now
elapsed, since the king first erected his standard at Not-
tingham n . So long had the British nations, by civil and
religious quarrels, been occupied in shedding their own
blood, and laying waste their native country.

The Parliament and the Scots laid their proposals
before the king. They were such as a captive, entirely
at mercy, could expect from the most inexorable victor ;
yet they were little worse than what were insisted on
before the battle of Naseby. The power of the sword,
instead of ten, which the king now offered, was demanded
for twenty years, together with a right to levy whatever
money the Parliament should think proper for the sup-
port of their armies. The other conditions were, in the
main, the same with those which had formerly been
offered to the king .

Charles said, that proposals which introduced such im-
portant innovations in the constitution demanded time

m Clarendon, vol. v. p. 30. n Kushworth, vol. vi. p. 293.

Idem, ibid. p. 309.

fV-v-n r\ ol i

CHARLES I.

215

1G4G

for deliberation : the commissioners replied, that he must CHAP.
give his answer in ten days p . He desired to reason about y * ll '
the meaning and import of some terms : they informed
him that they had no power of debate ; and peremptorily
required his consent or refusal. He requested a personal
treaty with the Parliament : they threatened, that if he
delayed compliance, the Parliament would, by their own
authority, settle the nation.

What the Parliament was most intent upon was, not
their treaty with the king, to whom they paid little re-
gard, but that with the Scots. Two important points
remained to be settled with that nation ; their delivery
of the king, and the estimation of their arrears.

The Scots might pretend, that, as Charles was king
of Scotland as well as of England, they were entitled to
an equal vote in the disposal of his person ; and that, in
such a case, where the titles are equal, and the subject
indivisible, the preference was due to the present pos-
sessor. The English maintained, that the king, being in
England, was comprehended within the jurisdiction of
that kingdom, and could not be disposed of by any foreign
nation. A delicate question this, and what surely could
not be decided by precedent, since such a situation is not,
anywhere, to be found in history q .

As the Scots concurred with the English in imposing
such severe conditions on the king, that, notwithstand-
ing his unfortunate situation, he still refused to accept
of them ; it is certain that they did not desire his free-
dom : nor could they ever intend to join lenity and rigour
together, in so inconsistent a manner. Before the set-
tlement of terms, the administration must be possessed
entirely by the Parliaments of both kingdoms ; and how
incompatible that scheme with the liberty of the king is
easily imagined. To carry him a prisoner into Scotland,
where fe'w forces could be supported to guard him, was a
measure so full of inconvenience and danger, that, even if
the English had consented to it, it must have appeared to
the Scots themselves altogether ineligible : and how could
such a plan be supported in opposition to England, pos-
sessed of such numerous and victorious armies, which
were, at that time, at least seemed to be, in entire union

P Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 319.

Idem, ibid. p. 339.

216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAR with the Parliament ? The only expedient, it is obvious,
^ V ^ II \ which the Scots could embrace, if they scrupled wholly
1646. to abandon the king, was immediately to return, fully
and cordially, to their allegiance : and uniting themselves
with the royalists in both kingdoms, endeavour, by force
of arms, to reduce the English Parliament to more mode-
rate conditions : but, besides that this measure was full
of extreme hazard, what was it but instantly to combine
with their old enemies against their old friends, and, in a
fit of romantic generosity, overturn what, with so much
expense of blood and treasure, they had, during the course
of so many years, been so carefully erecting ?

But, though all these reflections occurred to the
Scottish commissioners, they resolved to prolong the dis-
pute, and to keep the king as a pledge for those arrears
which they claimed from England, and which they were
not likely, in the present disposition of that nation, to
obtain by any other expedient. The sum, by their ac-
count, amounted to near two millions : for they had re-
ceived little regular pay since they had entered England.
And though the contributions which they had levied, as
well as the price of their living at free quarters, must be
deducted ; yet still the sum which they insisted on was
very considerable. After many discussions, it was at
last agreed, that, in lieu of all demands, they should
accept of four hundred thousand pounds, one half to be
paid instantly, another in two subsequent payments 1 .

Great pains were taken by the Scots (and the English
complied with their pretended delicacy) to make this es-
timation and payment of arrears appear a quite different
transaction from that for the delivery of the king's person ;
but common sense requires that they should be regarded
as one and the same. The English, it is evident, had
they not been previously assured of receiving the king,
would never have parted with so considerable a sum ;
and while they weakened themselves by the same mea-
sure, have strengthened a people with whom they must
afterwards have so material an interest to discuss.

Thus the Scottish nation underwent, and still undergo,
(for such grievous stains are not easily wiped off,) the re-
proach of selling their king, and betraying their prince

i Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 326. Parl. Hist. vol. xv. p. 236.

CHARLES I. 217

for money. In vain did they maintain, that this money CHAP.
was on account of former services, undoubtedly their, j^* 13 ^
due ; that in their present situation, no other measure, 1646
without the utmost indiscretion, or even their apparent
ruin, could be embraced ; and that, though they delivered
their king into the hands of his open enemies, they were
themselves as much his open enemies as those to whom
they surrendered him, and their common hatred against
him had long united the two parties in strict alliance
with each other. They were still answered, that they
made use of this scandalous expedient for obtaining their
wages ; and that after taking arms, without any provo-
cation, against their sovereign, who had ever loved and
cherished them, they had deservedly fallen into a situa-
tion, from which they could not extricate themselves,
without either infamy or imprudence.

The infamy of this bargain had such an influence on
the Scottish Parliament, that they once voted, that the
king should be protected, and his liberty insisted on.
But the general assembly interposed, and pronounced
that as he had refused to take the covenant, which was
pressed on him, it became not the godly to concern them-
selves about his fortunes. After this declaration, it be-
hoved the Parliament to retract their vote s .

Intelligence concerning the final resolution of the
Scottish nation to surrender him was brought to the
king ; and he happened, at that very time, to be playing
at chess*. Such command of temper did he possess, that
he continued his game without interruption ; and none
of the bystanders could perceive, that the letter, which
he perused, had brought him news of any consequence.
The English commissioners, who, some days after, came
to take him under their custody, were admitted to kiss
his hands ; and he received them with the same grace
and cheerfulness, as if they had travelled on no other
errand than to pay court to him. The old Earl of Pem-
broke, in particular, who was one of them, he congratulated
on his strength and vigour, that he was still able, during
such a season, to perform so long a journey in company
with so many young people.

The king, being delivered over by the Scots to the 1647

s Parl. Hist. vol. xv. p. 243, 244. t Burnet's Memoirs of the Hamiltons.

VOL. V. 19

218 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. English commissioners, was conducted under a guard to
^Holdenby, in the county of Northampton. On his jour-
1647 ney, the whole country flocked to behold him, moved
King deli- partly by curiosity, partly by compassion and affection.
If any still retained rancour against him, in his present
condition, they passed in silence ; while his well-wishers,
more generous than prudent, accompanied his march with
tears, with acclamations, and with prayers for his safety .
That ancient superstition likewise of desiring the king's
touch in scrofulous distempers, seemed to acquire fresh
credit among the people, from the general tenderness
which began to prevail for this virtuous and unhappy
monarch.

The commissioners rendered his confinement at Hol-
denby very rigorous; dismissing his ancient servants,
debarring him from visits, and cutting off all communica-
tion with his friends or family. The Parliament, though
earnestly applied to by the king, refused to allow his
chaplains to attend him, because they had not taken the
covenant. The king refused to assist at the service
exercised according to the directory ; because he had not
as yet given his consent to that mode of worship w . Such
religious zeal prevailed on both sides ! and such was the
unhappy and distracted condition to which it had reduced
king and people !

During the time that the king remained in the Scottish
army at Newcastle, died the Earl of Essex, the discarded,
but still powerful and popular, general of the Parliament.
His death, in this conjuncture, was a public misfortune.
Fully sensible of the excesses to which affairs had been
carried, and of the worse consequences which were still
to be apprehended, he had resolved to conclude a peace,
and to remedy, as far as possible, all those ills to which,
from mistake rather than any bad intentions, he had
himself so much contributed. The presbyterian, or the
moderate, party among the Commons, found themselves
considerably weakened by his death; and the small
remains of authority which still adhered to the House of
Peers were in a manner wholly extinguished x .

Ludlow. Herbert. w Clarendon, vol. v. p. 39. Warwick, p. 298,

* Clarendon, vol. v. p. 43,

CHARLES I. 219

CHAPTER LIX.

MUTINY or THE ARMY. THE KING SEIZED BY JOYCE. THE ARMY MARCH

AGAINST THE PARLIAMENT. TlIE ARMY SUBDUE THE PARLIAMENT. THE

KlNG FLIES TO THE ISLE OF WlGHT. SECOND ClVIL WAR. INVASION
FROM SCOTLAND. THE TREATY OF NEWPORT. THE CIVIL WAR AND IN-
VASION REPRESSED. TlIE KlNG SEIZED AGAIN BY THE ARMY. TlIE HOUSE

PURGED. THE KING'S TRIAL, AND EXECUTION, AND CHARACTER.

THE dominion of the Parliament was of short duration. CHAP.

No sooner had they subdued their sovereign, than their i '

own servants rose against them, and tumbled them from 1547.
their slippery throne. The sacred boundaries of the
laws being once violated, nothing remained to confine
the wild projects of zeal and ambition. And every suc-
cessive revolution became a precedent for that which
followed it.

In proportion as the terror of the king's power dimi-
nished, the division between independents and presby-
terians became every day more apparent; and the neuters
found it at last requisite to seek shelter in one or the
other faction. Many new writs were issued for elections,
in the room of members who had died, or were disqualified
by adhering to the king ; yet still the presby terians re-
tained the superiority among the Commons : and all the
Peers, except Lord Say, were esteemed of that party.
The independents, to whom the inferior sectaries adhered,
predominated in the army : and the troops of the new
model were universally infected with that enthusiastic
spirit. To their assistance did the independent party
among the Commons chiefly trust, in their projects for
acquiring the ascendant over their antagonists.

Soon after the retreat of the Scots, the presbyterians,
seeing every thing reduced to obedience, began to talk
of diminishing the army : and, on pretence of easing the
public burdens, they levelled a deadly blow at the oppo-
site faction. They purposed to embark a strong detach-
ment under Skippon and Massey, for the service of Ire-
land : they openly declared their intention of making a

220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, great reduction of the remainder a . It was even imagined,
^J l *'_j that another new model of the army was projected, in
1647 order to regain to the presbyterians that superiority which
they had so imprudently lost by the former b .

The army had small inclination to the service of Ire-
land ; a country barbarous, uncultivated, and laid waste
by massacres and civil commotions ; they had less incli-
nation to disband, and to renounce that pay, which having
earned it through fatigues and dangers, they now pur-
posed to enjoy in ease and tranquillity. And most of the
officers having risen from the dregs of the people, had no
other prospect, if deprived of their commission, than that
of returning to languish in their native poverty and
obscurity.

These motives of interest acquired additional influence,
and became more dangerous to the Parliament, from the
religious spirit by which the army was universally actuated.
Among the generality of men, educated in regular
civilized societies, the sentiments of shame, duty, honour,
have considerable authority, and serve to counterbalance
and direct the motives derived from private advantage :
but, by the predominancy of enthusiasm among the par-
liamentary forces, these salutary principles lost their
credit, and were regarded as mere human inventions, yea,
moral institutions, fitter for heathens than for Christians .
The saint, resigned over to superior guidance, was at full
liberty to gratify all his appetites, disguised under the
appearance of pious zeal. And, besides the strange cor-
ruptions engendered by this spirit, it eluded and loosened
all the ties of morality, and gave entire scope, and even
sanction, to the selfishness and ambition which naturally
adhere to the human mind.

The military confessors were farther encouraged in
disobedience to superiors, by that spiritual pride to which
a mistaken piety is so subject. They were not, they said,
mere janisaries, mercenary troops enlisted for hire, and
to be disposed of at the will of their pay-masters' 1 . Ke-
ligion and liberty were the motives which had excited
them to arms ; and they had a superior right to see those

n Fourteen thousand men Avere only intended to be kept up ; six thousand

horse, six thousand foot, and two thousand dragoons. Bates.

b Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 564. c Idem, vol. vi. p. 134.
d Idem, vol. vii. p. 565.

CHARLES I. 221

blessings which they had purchased with their blood en- CHAP.
sured to future generations. By the same title that the ,_ L ^ X '_^
presbyterians, in contradistinction to the royalists, had 1G47
appropriated to themselves the epithet of godly, or the
well-affected* ; the independents did now, in contradis-
tinction to the presbyterians, assume this magnificent
appellation, and arrogate all the ascendant which natu-
rally belongs to it.

Hearing of parties in the House of Commons, and
being informed that the minority were friends to the
army, the majority enemies; the troops naturally inte-
rested themselves in that dangerous distinction, and were
eager to give the superiority to their partisans. What-
ever hardships they underwent, though perhaps derived
from inevitable necessity, were ascribed to a settled de-
sign of oppressing them,- and resented as an effect of the
animosity and malice of their adversaries.

Notwithstanding the great revenue which accrued
from taxes, assessments, sequestrations, and composi-
tions, considerable .arrears were due to the army; and
many of the private men, as well as officers, had near a
twelvemonth's pay still owing them. The army sus-
pected, that this deficiency was purposely contrived, in
order to oblige them to live at free quarters ; and by
rendering them odious to the country, serve as a pre-
tence for disbanding them. When they saw such mem-
bers as were employed in committees and civil offices
accumulate fortunes, they accused them of rapine and
public plunder. And, as no plan was pointed out by the
Commons for the payment of arrears, the soldiers dreaded,
that, after they should be disbanded or embarked for
Ireland, their enemies, who predominated in the two
Houses, would entirely defraud them of their right, and
oppress them with impunity.

On this ground or pretence did the first commotions Mutm^ of
begin in the army. A petition, addressed to Fairfax,
the general, was handed about ; craving an indemnity,
and that ratified by the king, for any illegal actions, of
which, during the course of the war, the soldiers might
have been guilty ; together with satisfaction in arrears,
freedom from pressing, relief of widows, and maimed

e Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 474.

19*

222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, soldiers, and pay till disbanded f . The Commons, aware
^J^/of what combustible materials the army was composed,
1647. were alarmed at this intelligence. Such a combination,
they knew, if not checked in its first appearance, must
be attended with the most dangerous consequences, and
must soon exalt the military above the civil authority.
March so. Besides summoning some officers to answer for this at-
tempt, they immediately voted that the petition tended
to introduce mutiny, to put conditions upon the Parlia-
ment, and to obstruct the relief of Ireland; and they
threatened to proceed against the promoters of it, as
enemies to the state, and disturbers of public peace g .
This declaration, which may be deemed violent, especially
as the army had some ground for complaint, produced
fatal effects. The soldiers lamented that they were de-
prived of the privileges of Englishmen ; that they were
not allowed so much as to represent their grievances ;
that, while petitions from Essex and other places were
openly encouraged against the army, their mouths were
stopped ; and that they, who were the authors of liberty
to the nation, were reduced, by a faction in Parliament,
to the most grievous servitude.

In this disposition was the army found by Warwick,
Dacres, Massey, and other commissioners, who were sent
to make them proposals for entering into the service of
Ireland h . Instead of enlisting, the generality objected
to the terms ; demanded an indemnity ; were clamorous
for their arrears : and, though they expressed no dissatis-
faction against Skippon, who was appointed commander,
they discovered much stronger inclination to serve under
Fairfax and Cromwell 1 . Some officers who were of the
presbyterian party, having entered into engagements for
this service, could prevail on very few of the soldiers to
enlist under them. And, as these officers lay all under
the grievous reproach of deserting the army, and betray-
ing the interests of their companions, the rest were far-
. ther confirmed in that confederacy which they had secretly
formed k .

To petition and remonstrate being the most cautious

* ParL Hist. vol. xv. p. 342. g Idem, ibid. p. 344.

Ruslnvorth, vol. vii. p. 457. i Idem, ibid. p. 458.

, ibid. p. 461. 556.

CHARLES I. 223

thod of conducting a confederacy, an application to CHAP.
^rliament was signed by near two hundred officers ; in^ LI - x ^ v
which they made their apology with a very imperious air, 1647
asserted their right of petitioning, and complained of
that imputation thrown upon them by the former decla-
ration of the Lower House 1 . The private men likewise
of some regiments sent a letter to Skippon ; in which,
together with insisting on the same topics, they lament
that designs were formed against them and many of the
godly party in the kingdom ; and declare that they could
not engage for Ireland, till they were satisfied in their
expectations, and had their just desires granted m . The
army, in a word, felt their power, and resolved to be
masters.

The Parliament, too, resolved, if possible, to preserve
their dominion ; but being destitute of power, and not
retaining much authority, it was not easy for them to
employ any expedient which could contribute to their
purpose. The expedient which they now made use of
was the worst imaginable. They sent Skippon, Crom-
well, Ireton, and Fleetwood, to the head-quarters at
Saffron Waldon in Essex ; and empowered them to make
offers to the army, and inquire into the cause of its dis-
tempers. These very generals, at least the three last, 7th May.
were secretly the authors of all the discontents ; and
failed not to foment those disorders which they pretended
to appease. By their suggestion, a measure was em-
braced, which at once brought matters to extremity, and
rendered the mutiny incurable.

In opposition to the Parliament at Westminster, a
military Parliament was formed. Together with a coun-
cil of the principal officers, which was appointed after
the model of the House of Peers ; a more free represen-
tative of the army was composed, by the election of two
private men or inferior officers, under the title of agita-
tors, from each troop or company 11 . By this means, both
the general humour of that time was gratified, intent on
plans of imaginary republics ; and an easy method con-
trived for conducting underhand, and propagating, the
sedition of the army.

I Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 468, m Idem, ibid. p. 474.

II Idem, ibid. p. 485. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 43,

224 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. This terrible court, when assembled, having first de-
,_ L * x ;_ y clared that they found no distempers in the army, but
1647 many grievances under which it laboured, immediately
voted the offers of the Parliament unsatisfactory. Eight
weeks' pay alone, they said, was promised ; a small part
of fifty-six weeks, which they claimed as their due. No
visible security was given for the remainder : and having
been declared public enemies by the Commons, they
might hereafter be prosecuted as such, unless the decla-
ration were recalled . Before matters came to this
height, Cromwell had posted up to London, on pretence
of laying before the Parliament the rising discontents of
the army.

The Parliament made one vigorous effort more to try
the force of their authority : they voted that all the troops
which did not engage for Ireland should instantly be
disbanded in their quarters 1 *. At the same time, the
council of the army ordered a general rendezvous of
all the regiments, in order to provide for their common
interests. And while they thus prepared themselves
for opposition to the Parliament, they struck a blow,
which at once decided the victory in their favour.
3d June. A party of five hundred horse appeared at Holdenby,
SecTbf conducted by one Joyce, who had once been a tailor by
Joyce. profession ; but was now advanced to the rank of cornet,
and was an active agitator in the army. Without being
opposed by the guard, whose affections were all on their
side, Joyce came into the king's presence, armed with
pistols, and told him, that he must immediately go along
with him. Whither ? said the king. To the army,
replied Joyce. By ivhat ivarrant ? asked the king.
Joyce pointed to the soldiers, whom he brought along,
tall, handsome, and well accoutred. Your warrant, said
Charles, smiling, is written in fair characters, legible with-
out spelling*. The parliamentary commissioners came
into the room. They asked Joyce, whether he had any
orders from the Parliament. He said, No. From the
general ? No. By what authority he came ? He made
the same reply as to the king : They would write, they
said, to the Parliament, to know their pleasure. You

Kushw. vol. vii. p. 497. 505. Whitlocke, p. 250. P Rushw. vol. vii. p. 487.
QL Whitlocke, p. 254. Warwick, p. 299.

CHARLES I. 225

may do so, replied Joyce, hit in the mean time the Idng CHAP.
must immediately go with me. Kesistance was vain. The^^,
king, after protracting the time as long as he could, 1647
went into his coach ; and was safely conducted to the
army, who were hastening to their rendezvous at Triplo-
Heath, near Cambridge. The Parliament, informed of
this event by their commissioners, were thrown into the
utmost consternation 1 .

Fairfax himself was no less surprised at the king's
arrival. That bold measure executed by Joyce, had
never been communicated to the general. The orders
were entirely verbal ; and nobody avowed them. And
while every one affected astonishment at the enterprise,
Cromwell, by whose counsel it had been directed, arrived
from London, and put an end to their deliberations.

This artful and audacious conspirator had conducted
himself in the Parliament with such profound dissimu-
lation, with such refined hypocrisy, that he had long
deceived those who, being themselves very dexterous
practitioners in the same arts, should naturally have en-
tertained the more suspicion against others. At every
intelligence of disorders in the army, he was moved to
the highest pitch of grief and of anger. He wept bit-
terly : he lamented the misfortunes of his country : he
advised every violent measure for suppressing the mu-
tiny ; and by these precipitate counsels, at once seemed
to evince his own sincerity, and inflamed those discon-
tents, of which he intended to make advantage. He
obtested heaven and earth, that his devoted attachment
to the Parliament had rendered him so odious in the
army, that his life, while among them, was in the utmost
danger ; and he had very narrowly escaped a conspiracy
formed to assassinate him. But information being
brought that the most active officers and agitators were
entirely his creatures, the parliamentary leaders secretly
resolved, that, next day, when he should come to the
House, an accusation should be entered against him,
and he should be sent to the Tower 8 . Cromwell, who
in the conduct of his desperate enterprises frequently
approached to the very brink of destruction, knew how

* Eushw. vol. vii. p. 514, 515. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 47.
8 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 46.

226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, to make the requisite turn with proper dexterity and

^J^ boldness. Being informed of this design, he hastened

1647 to the camp ; where he was received with acclamations,

and was instantly invested with the supreme command,

both of general and army.

Fairfax, having neither talents himself for cabal, nor
penetration to discover the cabals of others, had given
his entire confidence to Cromwell, who, by the best co-
loured pretences, and by the appearance of an open sin-
cerity and a scrupulous conscience, imposed on the easy
nature of this brave and virtuous man. The council of
officers and the agitators were moved altogether by
Cromwell's direction, and conveyed his will to the whole
army. By his profound and artful conduct, he had now
attained a situation, where he could cover his enterprises
from public view ; and seeming either to obey the com-
mands of his superior officer, or yield to the movements
of the soldiers, could secretly pave the way for his future
greatness. While the disorders of the army were yet in
their infancy, he kept at a distance, lest his counterfeit
aversion might throw a damp upon them, or his secret
encouragement beget suspicion in the Parliament. As
soon as they came to maturity, he openly joined the
troops : and in the critical moment struck that important
blow of seizing the king's person, and depriving the Par-
liament of any resource of an accommodation with him.
Though one visor fell of another still remained to cover
his natural countenance. Where delay was requisite,
he would employ the most indefatigable patience : where
celerity was necessary, he flew to a decision. And by
thus uniting in his person the most opposite talents, he
was enabled to combine the most contrary interests in a
subserviency to his secret purposes.

march 7 ^ ne Parliament, though at present defenceless, was
against the possessed of many resources; and time might easily
enable them to resist that violence with which they
were threatened. Without farther deliberation, there-
fore, Cromwell advanced the army upon them, and ar-
rived in a few days at St. Alban's.

Nothing could be more popular than this hostility
which the army commenced against the Parliament. As
much as that assembly was once the idol of the nation,

CHARLES I. 227

was it now become the object of general hatred CHAP.
and aversion. ^_^"_->

The self-denying ordinance had no longer been put in^^T""
execution, than till Essex, Manchester, Waller, and the
other officers of that party, had resigned their commis-
sion : immediately after, it was laid aside by tacit con-
sent ; and the members, sharing all offices of power and
profit among them, proceeded with impunity in exercis-
ing acts of oppression on the helpless nation. Though
the necessity of their situation might serve as an apology
for many of their measures, the people, not accustomed
to such a species of government, were not disposed to
make the requisite allowances.

A small supply of one hundred thousand pounds a
year could never be obtained by former kings from the
jealous humour of Parliaments ; and the English, of all
nations in Europe, were the least accustomed to taxes :
but this Parliament, from the commencement of the war,
according to some computations, had levied, in five years,
above forty millions * ; yet were loaded with debts and
encumbrances, which, during that age, were regarded as
prodigious. If these computations should be thought
much exaggerated, as they probably are u , the taxes and
impositions were certainly far higher than in any former
state of the English government ; and such popular ex-
aggerations are, at least, a proof of popular discontents.

But the disposal of this money was no less the object
of general complaint against the Parliament than the
levying of it. The sum of three hundred thousand
pounds they openly took, it is affirmed w , and divided
among their own members. The committees, to whom
the management of the different branches of revenue
was intrusted, never brought in their accounts, and had
unlimited power of secreting whatever sums they pleased
from the public treasure x . These branches were need-

* Clement Walker's History of the Two Juntos, prefixed to his History of Inde-
pendency, p. 8. This is an author of spirit and ingenuity; and being a zealous
parliamentarian, his authority is very considerable, notwithstanding the air of satire
which prevails in his writings. This computation, however, seems much too large ;
especially as the sequestrations, during the time of war, could not be so considera-
ble as afterwards.

u Yet the same sum precisely is assigned in another book, called Royal Treasury
of England, p. 297.

w Clement Walker's History of Independency, p. 3. 166,

x Idem, ibid. p. 8.

228 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, lessly multiplied, in order to render the revenue more
v_ L * X '^ intricate, to share the advantages among greater num-
1647 bers, and to conceal the frauds of which they were uni-
versally suspected 7 .

The method of keeping accounts practised in the ex-
chequer was confessedly the exactest, the most ancient,
the best known, and the least liable to fraud. The ex-
chequer was, for that reason, abolished, and the revenue
put under the management of a committee, who were
subject to no control z .

The excise was an odious tax, formerly unknown to
the nation ; and was now extended over provisions, and
the common necessaries of life. Near one half of the
goods and chattels, and at least one half of the lands,
rents, and revenues of the kingdom had been sequestered.
To great numbers of royalists all redress from these se-
questrations was refused : to the rest, the remedy could
be obtained only by paying large compositions and sub-
scribing the covenant, which they abhorred. Besides
pitying the ruin and desolation of so many ancient and
honourable families, indifferent spectators could not but
blame the hardship of punishing, with such severity,
actions which the law, in its usual and most undisputed
interpretation, strictly required of every subject.

The severities, too, exercised against the episcopal
clergy naturally affected the royalists, and even all men
of candour, in a sensible manner. By the most moderate
computation a , it appears, that above one half of the esta-
blished clergy had been turned out to beggary and want,
for no other crime than their adhering to the civil and
religious principles in which they had been educated, and
for their attachment to those laws under whose counte-
nance they had at first embraced that profession. To
renounce episcopacy and the liturgy, and to subscribe the
covenant, were the only terms which could save them
from so rigorous a fate ; and if the least mark of malig-
nancy, as it was called, or affection to the king, who so
entirely loved them, had ever escaped their lips, even this

y Clement Walker's History of Independency, p. 8. * Idem, ibid.

a See John Walker's Attempt towards recovering an account of the Numbers
and Sufferings of the Clergy. The Parliament pretended to leave the sequestered
clergy a fifth of their revenue ; but this author makes it sufficiently appear, that
this provision, small as it is, was never regularly paid the ejected clergy.

CHARLES I.

229

164;

lard choice was not permitted. The sacred character, CHAP.
which gives the priesthood such authority over mankind, v L1X>
becoming more venerable from the sufferings endured for
the sake of principle by these distressed royalists, aggra-
vated the general indignation against their persecutors.

But what excited the most universal complaint was,
the unlimited tyranny and despotic rule of the country
committees. During the war, the discretionary power
of these courts was excused from the plea of necessity ;
but the nation was reduced to despair, when it saw nei-
ther end put to their duration, nor bounds to their autho-
rity. These could sequester, fine, imprison, and corporally
punish, without law or remedy. They interposed in ques-
tions of private property. Under colour of malignancy,
they exercised vengeance against their private enemies.
To the obnoxious, and sometimes to the innocent, they
sold their protection. And instead of one star-chamber
which had been abolished, a great number were anew
erected, fortified with better pretences, and armed with
more unlimited authority b .

Could any thing have increased the indignation against
that slavery, into which the nation, from the too eager
pursuit of liberty, had fallen, it must have been the re-
flection on the pretences by which the people had so
long been deluded. The sanctified hypocrites, who called
their oppressions the spoiling of the Egyptians, and their
rigid severity the dominion of the elect, interlarded all
their iniquities with long and fervent prayers, saved them-
selves from blushing by their pious grimaces, and exer-
cised, in the name of the Lord, all their cruelty on men.
An undisguised violence could be forgiven : but such
a mockery of the understanding, such an abuse of reli-
gion, were, with men of penetration, objects of peculiar
resentment.

The Parliament, conscious of their decay in popularity,
seeing a formidable armed force advance upon them, were
reduced to despair, and found all their resources much

b Clement Walker's History of Independency, p. 5. Hollis gives the same
representation as Walker, of the plundering, oppressions, and tyranny of the Par-
liament : only, instead of laying the fault on both parties, as Walker does, he
ascribes- it solely to the independent faction. The presbyterians, indeed, being
commonly denominated the moderate party, would probably be more inoffensive.
See Kuslrvv. vol. vii. p. 598, and Parl. Hist. vol. xv. p. 230.
VOL. V. 20

230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, inferior to their present necessity. London still retained
a strong attachment to presbyterianism ; and its militia,
1647 which was numerous, and had acquired reputation in
wars, had by a late ordinance been put into hands in
whom the Parliament could entirely confide. This
militia was now called out, and ordered to guard the
lines which had been drawn round the city, in order to
secure it against the king. A body of horse was ordered
to be instantly levied. Many officers, who had been
cashiered by the new model of the army, offered their
service to the Parliament. An army of five thousand
men lay in the north under the command of General
Pointz, who was of the presby terian faction ; but these
were too distant to be employed in so urgent a necessity.
The forces destined for Ireland were quartered in the
west; and though deemed faithful to the Parliament,
they also lay at a distance. Many inland garrisons were
commanded by officers of the same party; but their
troops, being so much dispersed, could at present be of
no manner of service. The Scots were faithful friends,
and zealous for presbytery and the covenant ; but a long
time was required ere they could collect their forces, and
march to the assistance of the Parliament.

In this situation, it was thought more prudent to sub-
mit, and by compliance to stop the fury of the enraged
army. The declaration, by which the military petitioners
had been voted public enemies, was recalled and erased
sth June, from the journal book c . This was the first symptom
which the Parliament gave of submission ; and the army,
hoping by terror alone to effect all their purposes, stopped
at St. Alban's, and entered into negotiation with their
masters.

Here commenced the encroachments of the military
upon the civil authority. The army, in their usurpations
on the Parliament, copied exactly the model which the
Parliament itself had set them, in their recent usurpations
on the crown.

Every day they rose in their demands. If one claim
was granted, they had another ready, still more enormous
and exorbitant ; and were determined never to be satis-
fied. At first they pretended only to petition for what

c Rushw. vol. vii. p. 503. 547. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 45.

CHARLES I. 231

concerned themselves as soldiers : next, they must have CHAP.
a vindication of their character: then it was necessary ^^^
that their enemies be punished d : at last they claimed a"^^"
right of modelling the whole government, and settling the
nation 6 .

They preserved in words all deference and respect to
the Parliament ; but, in reality, insulted them and tyran-
nized over them. That assembly they pretended not to
accuse : it was only evil counsellors, who seduced and
betrayed it.

They proceeded so far as to name eleven members, ieth June.
whom, in general terms, they charged with high treason,
as enemies to the army and evil counsellors to the Par-
liament. Their names were, Hollis, Sir Philip Staple ton,
Sir William Lewis, Sir John Clotworthy, Sir William
Waller, Sir John Maynard, Massey, Glyn, Long, Harley,
and Nicholas f . These were the very leaders of the pres-
byterian party.

They insisted that these members should immediately
be sequestered from Parliament, and be thrown into
prison g . The Commons replied, that they could not, upon
a general charge, proceed so far h . The army observed to
them, that the cases of Strafford and Laud were direct
precedents for that purpose \ At last, the eleven mem-
bers themselves, not to give occasion for discord, begged
leave to retire from the House : and the army, for the
present, seemed satisfied with this mark of submission k .

Pretending that the Parliament intended to levy war
upon them, and to involve the nation again in blood and
confusion, they required that all new levies should be
stopped. The Parliament complied with this demand 1 .

There being no signs of resistance, the army, in order
to save appearances, removed, at the desire of the Parlia-
ment, to a greater distance from London, and fixed their
head-quarters at Heading. They carried the king along
with them in all their marches.

That prince now found himself in a better situation
than at Holdenby, and had attained some greater degree
of freedom, as well as of consideration with both parties.

d Rush-worth, vol. vii. p. 509. e Ibid. vol. vii. p. 567. 633 ; vol. viii. p. 731.

f Ibid. vol. vii. p. 570. s Idem, vol. vii. p. 572.

h Ibid. vol. vii. p. 592. i Ibid. vol. vii. p. 594. Whitlocke, p. 259.

k Rushw. vol. vii. p. 593, 594. l Ibid. vol. vii. p. 572. 574.

232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. All his friends had access to his presence : his corre-
^J^_^ spondence with the queen was not interrupted : his chap-
1647 lains were restored to him, and he was allowed the use
of the liturgy: his children were once allowed to visit
him, and they passed a few days at Caversham, where
he then resided m . He had not seen the Duke of Glou-
cester, his youngest son, and the Princess Elizabeth,
since he left London, at the commencement of the civil
disorders 11 ; nor the Duke of York, since he went to the
Scottish army before Newark. No private man, unac-
quainted with the pleasures of a court and the tumult
of a camp, more passionately loved his family, than did
this good prince ; and such an instance of indulgence in
the army was extremely grateful to him. Cromwell, who
was witness to the meeting of the royal family, con-
fessed that he never had been present at so tender a
scene ; and he extremely applauded the benignity which
displayed itself in the whole disposition and behaviour of
Charles.

That artful politician, as well as the leaders of all
parties, paid court to the king; and fortune, notwith-
standing all his calamities, seemed again to smile upon
him. The Parliament, afraid of his forming some ac-
commodation with the army, addressed him in a more
respectful style than formerly ; and invited him to reside
at Richmond, and contribute his assistance to the settle-
ment of the nation. The chief officers treated him with
regard, and spake on all occasions of restoring him to his
just powers and prerogatives. In the public declarations
of the army, the settlement of his revenue and authority
was insisted on . The royalists, everywhere, entertained
hopes of the restoration of monarchy; and the favour
which they universally bore to the army, contributed
very much to discourage the Parliament, and to forward
their submission.

The king began to feel of what consequence he was.
The more the national confusions increased, the more was
he confident that all parties would, at length, have re-

m Clarendon, vol. i. p. 51, 52. 57.

n When the king applied to have his children, the Parliament always told him,
that they could take as much care at London, both of their bodies and souls, as could
be done at Oxford. Pad. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 127.

llushworth, vol. vii. p. 590.

CHARLES I. 233

course to his lawful authority, as the only remedy for CHAP.
the public disorders. You cannot be without me, said he,, LIX ' y
on several occasions : You cannot settle the nation but by my 16 ^~~~
assistance. A people without government and without
liberty, a Parliament without authority, an army without
a legal master : distractions everywhere, terrors, oppres-
sions, convulsions : from this scene of confusion, which
could not long continue, all men, he hoped, would be
brought to reflect on that ancient government, under
which they and their ancestors had so long enjoyed hap-
piness and tranquillity.

Though Charles kept his ears open to all proposals,
and expected to hold the balance between the opposite
parties, he entertained more hopes of accommodation with
the army. He had experienced the extreme rigour of
the Parliament. They pretended totally to annihilate his
authority : they had confined his person. In both these
particulars the army jshowed more indulgence 5 . He had
a free intercourse with his friends. And in the propo-
sals, which the council of officers sent for the settle-
ment of the nation, they insisted neither on the abolition
of episcopacy, nor on the punishment of the royalists ;
the two points to which the king had the most extreme
reluctance. And they demanded that a period should
be put to the present Parliament ; the event for which
he most ardently longed.

His conjunction too seemed more natural with the
generals than with that usurping assembly who had so
long assumed the entire sovereignty of the state, and
who had declared their resolution still to continue
masters. By gratifying a few persons with titles and
preferments, he might draw over, he hoped, the whole
military power, and, in an instant, reinstate himself in
his civil authority. To Ireton he offered the lieutenancy
of Ireland : to Cromwell, the garter, the title of Earl of
Essex, and the command of the army. Negotiations to
this purpose were secretly conducted. Cromwell pre-
tended to hearken to them ; and was well pleased to
keep the door open for an accommodation, if the course
of events should, at any time, render it necessary. And
the king, who had no suspicion that one born a private

P Warwick, p. 303. Parl. Hist. vol. xvi. p. 40. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 50.

20*

234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, gentleman could entertain the daring ambition of seiz-

^^^ ing the sceptre transmitted through a long line of mo-

1647 narchs, indulged hopes that he would, at last, embrace a

measure which, by all the motives of duty, interest, and

safety, seemed to be recommended to him.

While Cromwell allured the king by these expecta-
tions, he still continued his scheme of reducing the Par-
liament to subjection, and depriving them of all means
of resistance. To gratify the army, the Parliament in-
vested Fairfax with the title of general in chief of all the
forces in England and Ireland ; and intrusted the whole
military authority to a person who, though well inclined
to their service, was no longer at his own disposal.

They voted that the troops which, in obedience to
them, had enlisted for Ireland, and deserted the re-
bellious army, should be disbanded, or, in other words,
be punished for their fidelity. The forces in the north,
under Pointz, had already mutinied against their general,
and had entered into an association with that body of
the army which was so successfully employed in exalt-
ing the military above the civil authority q .

That no resource might remain to the Parliament,
it was demanded that the militia of London should be
changed, the presbyterian commissioners displaced, and
the command restored to those who, during the course
of the war, had constantly exercised it. The Parliament
even complied with so violent a demand, and passed a
vote in obedience to the army r .

By this unlimited patience they proposed to tempo-
rize under their present difficulties, and they hoped to
find a more favourable opportunity for recovering their
authority and influence : but the impatience of the city lost
them all the advantage of their cautious measures. A
soth July, petition against the alteration of the militia was carried
to Westminster, attended by the apprentices and sedi-
tious multitude, who besieged the door of the House of
Commons; and, by their clamour, noise, and violence,
obliged them to reverse that vote, which they had passed
so lately. When gratified in this pretension, they im-
mediately dispersed, and left the Parliament at liberty 8 .

<i Rushw. vol. vii. p. 620. r ibid. vol. vii. p. 629. 632.

Ibid. vol. vii. p. 641. 643. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 61. Whitlocke, p. 269. Cl.
Walker, p. 38.

CHARLES I. 235

No sooner was intelligence of this tumult conveyed CHAP.
to Reading, than the army was put in motion. The two ^^^
Houses being under restraint, they were resolved, they 1647>
said, to vindicate, against the seditious citizens, the in-
vaded privileges of Parliament, and restore that assembly
to its just freedom of debate and counsel. In their way
to London, they were drawn up on Hounslow-heath ; a
formidable body, twenty thousand strong, and deter-
mined, without regard to laws or libert}^, to pursue
whatever measures their generals should dictate to them.
Here the most favourable event happened, to quicken
and encourage their advance. The speakers of the two
Houses, Manchester and Lenthal, attended by eight
peers, and about sixty commoners, having secretly re-
tired from the city, presented themselves with their
maces, and all the ensigns of their dignity ; and, com-
plaining of the violence put upon them, applied to the
army for defence and protection. They were received
with shouts and acclamations ; respect was paid to them
as to the Parliament of England ; and the army, being
provided with so plausible a pretence, which in all public
transactions is of great consequence, advanced to chas-
tise the rebellious city, and to reinstate the violated
Parliament*.

Neither Lenthal nor Manchester were esteemed in-
dependents ; and such a step in them was unexpected.
But they probably foresaw that the army must, in the
end, prevail; and they were willing to pay court in
time to that authority which began to predominate in
the nation.

The Parliament, forced from their temporizing mea-
sures, and obliged to resign at once, or combat for their
liberty and power, prepared themselves with vigour for
defence, and determined to resist the violence of the
army. The two Houses immediately chose new speakers,
Lord Hunsdon, and Henry Pelham : they renewed their
former orders for enlisting troops : they appointed Mas-
sey to be commander : they ordered the train-bands to
man the lines ; and the whole city was in a ferment,
and resounded with military preparations".

* Rush-worth, vol. vii. p. 750. Clarendon, vol. v. p, 63.
u Kuslrw. vol. vii. p. 646.

236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. When any intelligence arrived, that the army stopped
LIX _^ or re treated, the shout of one and all, ran with alacrity

""Tel;, from street to street, among the citizens; when news
came of their advancing, the cry of treat and capitulate
was no less loud and vehement w . The terror of an uni-
versal pillage, and even massacre, had seized the timid
inhabitants.

As the army approached, Bainsborow, being sent by
the general over the river, presented himself before
Southwark, and was gladly received by some soldiers,
who were quartered there for its defence, and who were
resolved not to separate their interests from those of the
army. It behoved then the Parliament to submit. The
army marched in triumph through the city, but preserved
the greatest order, decency, and appearance of humility.
They conducted to Westminster the two speakers, who
took their seats as if nothing had happened. The eleven
impeached members, being accused as authors of the
tumult, were expelled ; and most of them retired beyond
sea: seven peers were impeached: the mayor, one
sheriff, and three aldermen sent to the Tower: several
citizens and officers of the militia committed to prison :
every deed of the Parliament annulled, from the day of
the tumult till the return of the speakers: the lines
about the city levelled : the militia restored to the inde-
pendents: regiments quartered in Whitehall and the

The army Mews : and the Parliament being reduced to a regular

the Par- formed servitude, a day was appointed of solemn thanks-

liament. giving for the restoration of its liberty x .

The independent party among the Commons exulted
in their victory. The whole authority of the nation, they
imagined, was now lodged in their hands ; and they had
a near prospect of moulding the government into that
imaginary republic which had long been the object of their
wishes. They had secretly concurred in all encroachments
of the military upon the civil power ; and they expected,
by the terror of the sword, to impose a more perfect system
of liberty on the reluctant nation. All parties, the king, the
church, the Parliament, the presbyterians, had been guilty
of errors since the commencement of these disorders:
but it must be confessed that this delusion of the inde-

Whitlocke, p. 265. * Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 797, 798, &c.

CHARLES I. 237

pendents and republicans was, of all others, the most CHAP.
contrary to common sense and the established maxims of ^^^
policy. Yet were the leaders of that party, Vane, Fiennes, ^^'
St. John, Martin, the men in England the most celebrated
for profound thought and deep contrivance ; and by their
well-coloured pretences and professions, they had over-
reached the whole nation. To deceive such men would
argue a superlative capacity in Cromwell ; were it not
that, besides the great difference there is between dark,
crooked counsels and true wisdom, an exorbitant passion
for rule and authority will make the most prudent over-
look the dangerous consequences of such measures as
seem to tend, in any degree, to their own advancement.

The leaders of the army, having established their do-
minion over the Parliament and city, ventured to bring
the king to Hampton-court, and he lived, for some time,
in that palace with an appearance of dignity and freedom.
Such equability of temper did he possess, that, during all
the variety of fortune which he underwent, no difference
was perceived in his countenance or behaviour ; and though
a prisoner, in the hands of his most inveterate enemies,
he supported, to wards all who approached him, the majesty
of a monarch and that neither with less nor greater state
than he had been accustomed to maintain. His manner,
which was not in itself popular nor gracious, now appeared
amiable, from its great meekness and equality.

The Parliament renewed their applications to him, and
presented him with the same conditions which they had
offered at Newcastle. The king declined accepting them,
and desired the Parliament to take the proposals of the
army into consideration, and make them the foundation
of the public settlement 7 . He still entertained hopes that
his negotiations with the generals would be crowned with
success j though every thing, in that particular, daily bore
a worse aspect. Most historians have thought that Crom-
well never was sincere in his professions ; and that, having
by force rendered himself master of the king's person,
and, by fair pretences, acquired the countenance of the
royalists, he had employed these advantages to the
enslaving of the Parliament ; and afterwards thought of
nothing but the establishment of his own unlimited

y Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 810.

238 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, authority, with which he esteemed the restoration, and
V J L * X - ; even life, of the king altogether incompatible. This
"""TelT opinion, so much warranted by the boundless ambition
and profound dissimulation of his character, meets with
ready belief; though it is more agreeable to the narrow-
ness of human views, and the darkness of futurity, to
suppose that this daring usurper was guided by events,
and did not as yet foresee, with any assurance, that un-
paralleled greatness which he afterwards attained. Many
writers of that age have asserted z that he really intended
to make a private bargain with the king; a measure which
carried the most plausible appearance both for his safety
and advancement; but that he found insuperable diffi-
culties in reconciling to it the wild humours of the army.
The horror and antipathy of these fanatics had, for many
years, been artfully fomented against Charles; and though
their principles were on all occasions easily warped and
eluded by private interest, yet was some colouring requi-
site, and a flat contradiction to all former professions and
tenets could not safely be proposed to them. It is certain,
at least, that Cromwell made use of this reason, why
he admitted rarely of visits from the king's friends, and
showed less favour than formerly to the royal cause. The
agitators, he said, had rendered him odious to the army,
and had represented him as a traitor who, for the sake
of private interest, was ready to betray the cause of God
to the great enemy of piety and religion. Desperate
projects, too, he asserted to be secretly formed, for the
murder of the king ; and he pretended much to dread
lest all his authority, and that of the commanding officers,
would not be able to restrain these enthusiasts from their
bloody purposes a .

Intelligence being daily brought to the king of menaces
thrown out by the agitators, he began to think of retiring
from Hampton-court, and of putting himself in some place
of safety. The guards were doubled upon him : the pro-
miscuous concourse of people restrained : a more jealous
care exerted in attending his person : all under colour of
protecting him from danger ; but really with a view of
making him uneasy in his present situation. These artifices

z See note [L], at the end of the volume. a Clarendon, vol. v. p. 76.

CHARLES I. 239

soon produced the intended effect. Charles, who was CHAP.
naturally apt to be swayed by counsel, and who had not v L ^ x '_,
then access to any good counsel, took suddenly a resolu- 1647
tion of withdrawing himself, though without any con-
certed, at least any rational scheme for the future disposal
of his person. Attended only by Sir John Berkeley, Ash- nth NOV.
burnham, and Leg, he privately left Hampton-court ; and
his escape was not discovered till near an hour after;
when those who entered his chamber found on the table,
some letters directed to the Parliament, to the general,
and to the officer who had attended him b . All night he
travelled through the forest, and arrived next day at
Titchfield, a seat of the Earl of Southampton's, where
the countess dowager resided, a woman of honour, to
whom the king knew he might safely intrust his person.

Before he arrived at this place he had gone to the sea-
coast ; and expressed great anxiety that a ship which he
seemed to look for had not arrived : and thence Berkeley
and Leg, who were not in the secret, conjectured that his
intention was to transport himself beyond sea.

The king could not hope to remain long concealed a t^ t ^"g
Titchfield : what measure should next be embraced was isle of
the question. In the neighbourhood lay the Isle of Wl s ht -
Wight, of which Hammond was governor. This man
was entirely dependent on Cromwell. At his recom-
mendation he had married a daughter of the famous
Hambden, who, during his lifetime, had been an intimate
friend of Cromwell's, and whose memory was ever respected
by him. These circumstances were very unfavourable :
yet, because the governor was nephew to Dr. Hammond,
the king's favourite chaplain, and had acquired a good
character in the army, it was thought proper to have re-
course to him in the present exigence, when no other
rational expedient could be thought of. Ashburnham
and Berkeley were despatched to the island. They had
orders not to inform Hammond of the place where the
king was concealed, till they had first obtained a promise
from him not to deliver up his majesty, though the Par-
liament and the army should require him ; but to restore
him to his liberty, if he could not protect him. This
promise, it is evident, would have been a very slender

b Ruslnvorth, vol. viii. p. 871.

240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, security ; yet even without' exacting it, Ashburnham im-
i_ L * X '-^ Prudently, if not treacherously, brought Hammond to
1647 Titchfield ; and the king was obliged to put himself into
his hands, and to attend him to Carisbroke-castle, in the
Isle of Wight, where, though received with great demon-
strations of respect and duty, he was in reality a prisoner.

Lord Clarendon 6 is positive that the king, when he
fled from Hampton-court, had no intention of going to
this island ; and indeed all the circumstances of that his-
torian's narrative, which we have here followed, strongly
favour this opinion. But there remains a letter of
Charles's to the Earl of Laneric, secretary of Scotland,
in which he plainly intimates that that measure was vo-
luntarily embraced ; and even insinuates that, if he had
thought proper, he might have been in Jersey, or any
other place of safety d . Perhaps he still confided in the
promises of the generals ; and flattered himself that, if
he were removed from the fury of the agitators, by which
his life was immediately threatened, they would execute
what they had so often promised in his favour.

Whatever may be the truth in this matter, for it is
impossible fully to ascertain the truth, Charles never
took a weaker step, nor one more agreeable to Cromwell
and all his enemies. He was now lodged in a place, re-
moved from his partisans, at the disposal of the army,
whence it would be very difficult to deliver him, either
by force or artifice. And though it was always in the
power of Cromwell, whenever he pleased, to have sent
him thither ; yet such a measure, without the king's con-
sent, would have been very invidious, if not attended with
some danger. That the king should voluntarily throw
himself into the snare, and thereby gratify his implaca-
ble persecutors, was to them an incident peculiarly fortu-
nate, and proved in the issue very fatal to him.

Cromwell, being now entirely master of the Parlia-
ment, and free from all anxiety with regard to the custody
of the king's person, applied himself seriously to quell
those disorders in the army, which he himself had so art-
fully raised, and so successfully employed against both
king and Parliament. In order to engage the troops
into a rebellion against their masters, he had encouraged

c P. 79, 80, &c. a gee note [M], at the end of the volume.

CHARLES I. 241

an arrogant spirit among the inferior officers and private CHAP.
men ; and the camp, in many respects, carried more the ^_ LL *"_,
appearance of civil liberty than of military obedience. 1647
The troops themselves were formed into a kind of re-
public ; and the plans of imaginary republics, for the
settlement of the state, were every day the topics of con-
versation among these armed legislators. Koyalty it was
agreed to abolish : nobility must be set aside : even all
ranks of men be levelled ; and an universal equality of
property, as well as of power, be introduced among the
citizens. The saints, they said, were the salt of the
earth : an entire parity had place among the elect : and
by the same rule that the apostles were exalted from the
most ignoble professions, the meanest sentinel, if en-
lightened by the Spirit, was entitled to equal regard with
the greatest commander. In order to wean the soldiers
from these licentious maxims, Cromwell had issued orders
for discontinuing the meetings of the agitators ; and he
pretended to pay entire obedience to the Parliament,
whom, being now fully reduced to subjection, he purposed
to make, for the future, the instruments of his authority.
But the Levellers, for so that party in the army was called,
having experienced the sweets of dominion, would not
so easily be deprived of it. They secretly continued
their meetings : they asserted, that their officers, as much
as any part of the church or state, needed reformation :
several regiments joined in seditious remonstrances and
petitions 6 : separate rendezvous were concerted; and
every thing tended to anarchy and confusion. But this
distemper was soon cured by the rough but dexterous
hand of Cromwell. He chose the opportunity of a review,
that he might display the greater boldness and spread
the terror the wider. He seized the ringleaders before
their companions, held in the field a council of war, shot
one mutineer instantly, and struck such dread into the
rest, that they presently threw down the symbols of
sedition which they had displayed, and thenceforth re-
turned to their wonted discipline and obedience f .

Cromwell had great deference for the counsels of
Ireton a man who, having grafted the soldier on the

e Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 845. 859.
f Idem, ibid. p. 875. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 87.
VOL. V. 21

J42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, lawyer, the statesman on the saint, had adopted such prin-
_I_/ciples as were fitted to introduce the severest tyranny,
1647. while they seemed to encourage the most unbounded
licence in human society. Fierce in his nature, though
probably sincere in his intentions, he purposed by arbi-
trary power to establish liberty, and in prosecution of his
imagined religious purposes, he thought himself dispensed
from all the ordinary rules of morality by which inferior
mortals must allow themselves to be governed. From
his suggestion, Cromwell secretly called, at Windsor, a
council of the chief officers, in order to deliberate con-
cerning the settlement of the nation, and the future dis-
posal of the king's person g . In this conference, which
commenced with devout prayers, poured forth by Crom-
well himself, and other inspired persons, (for the officers
of this army received inspiration with their commission,)
was first opened the daring and unheard-of counsel, of
bringing the king to justice, and of punishing, by judicial
sentence, their sovereign, for his pretended tyranny and
maladministration. While Charles lived, even though
restrained to the closest prison, conspiracies, they knew,
and insurrections, would never be wanting in favour of
a prince who was so extremely revered and beloved by
his own party, and whom the nation in general began to
regard with great affection and compassion. To murder
him privately was exposed to the imputation of injustice
and cruelty, aggravated by the baseness of such a crime ;
and every odious epithet of traitor and assassin would,
by the general voice of mankind, be indisputably ascribed
to the actors in such a villany. Some unexpected pro-
cedure must be attempted, which would astonish the
world by its novelty, would bear the semblance of justice,
and would cover its barbarity by the audaciousness of the
enterprise. Striking in with the fanatical notions of the
entire equality of mankind, it would ensure the devoted
obedience of the army, and serve as a general engage-
ment against the royal family, whom, by their open and
united deed, they would so heinously affront and injure h .

g Clarendon, vol. v. p. 92.

h The following was a favourite text among the enthusiasts of that age : " Let
the high praises of God be in the mouths of his saints, and a two-edged sword in
their hand ; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the
people ; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron ; to

CHARLES I. 243

This measure, therefore, being secretly resolved on, it CHAP.
was requisite, by degrees, to make the Parliament adopt LIX>
it, and to conduct them from violence to violence, till v ^J^^
this last act of atrocious iniquity should seem in a man-
ner wholly inevitable. The king, in order to remove
those fears and jealousies which were perpetually pleaded
as reasons for every invasion of the constitution, had
offered, by a message sent from Carisbroke-castle, to
resign, during his own life, the power of the militia and
the nomination to all the great offices; provided that,
after his demise, these prerogatives should revert to the
crown 1 . But the Parliament acted entirely as victors
and enemies ; and, in all their transactions with him,
paid no longer any regard to equity or reason. At the
instigation of the independents and army, they neglected
this offer, and framed four proposals, which they sent
him as preliminaries ; and before they would deign to
treat, they demanded his positive assent to all of them.
By one he was required to invest the Parliament with
the military power for twenty years, together with an
authority to levy whatever money should be necessary
for exercising it : and even after the twenty years should
be elapsed, they reserved a right of resuming the same
authority, whenever they should declare the safety of the
kingdom to require it. By the second, he was to recall
all his proclamations and declarations against the Parlia-
ment, and acknowledge that assembly to have taken
arms in their just and necessary defence. By the third,
he was to annul all the acts, and void all the patents of
peerage which had passed the great seal, since it had
been carried from London by Lord-keeper Littleton;
and at the same time, renounce for the future the power
of making peers without consent of Parliament. By the
fourth, he gave the two Houses power to adjourn as
they thought proper : a demand seemingly of no great
importance; but contrived by the independents, that
they might be able to remove the Parliament to places
where it should remain in perpetual subjection to the
army k .

execute upon them the judgment written ; this honour have all his saints." Psalm
cxlix. ver. 6, 7, 8, 9. Hugh Peters, the mad chaplain of Cromwell, preached
frequently upon this text.

i Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 880. k Clarendon, vol. v. p. 88.

244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. The king regarded the pretension as unusual and ex-
^J ^_, orbitant that he should make such concessions, while
1648 not secure of any settlement ; and should blindly trust his
enemies for the conditions which they were afterwards
to grant him. He required, therefore, a personal treaty
with the Parliament, and desired that all the terms on
both sides should be adjusted, before any concession on
either side should be insisted on. The republican party
in the House pretended to take fire at this answer ; and
openly inveighed, in violent terms, against the person
and government of the king ; whose name hitherto had
commonly in all debates been mentioned with some de-
gree of reverence. Ireton, seeming to speak the sense
of the army, under the appellation of many thousand
godly men, who had ventured their lives in defence of
the Parliament, said that the king, by denying the four
bills, had refused safety and protection to his people ;
that their obedience to him was but a reciprocal duty
for his protection of them ; and that, as he had failed on
his part, they were freed from all obligations to allegi-
ance, and must settle the nation without consulting any
longer so misguided a prince 1 . Cromwell, after giving
an ample character of the valour, good affections, and
godliness of the army, subjoined, that it was expected
the Parliament should guide and defend the kingdom
by their own power and resolutions, and not accustom
the people any longer to expect safety and government
from an obstinate man, whose heart God had hardened ;
that those who, at the expense of their blood, had hitherto
defended the Parliament from so many dangers, would
still continue, with fidelity and courage, to protect them
against all opposition in this vigorous measure. " Teach
them not," added he, " by your neglecting your own safety
and that of the kingdom, (in which theirs too is involved,)
to imagine themselves betrayed, and their interests aban-
doned to the rage and malice of an irreconcilable enemy,
whom, for your sake, they have dared to provoke. Beware,
(and at these ivords he laid his hand on his sivord,) beware,
lest despair cause them to seek safety by some other
means than by adhering to you, who know not how to
consult your own safety 111 ." Such arguments prevailed,

i Cl. Walker, p. 70. m Id. ibid.

CHARLES I. 245

though ninety-one members had still the courage to op- CHAP.
pose. It was voted that no more addresses be made to ^J ^
the king, nor any letters or messages be received from ^^
him ; and that it be treason for any one, without leave isth Jan.
of the two Houses, to have any intercourse with him.
The Lords concurred in the same ordinance n .

By this vote of non-addresses, (so it was called,) the
king was in reality dethroned, and the whole consti-
tution formally overthrown. So violent a measure was
supported by a declaration of the Commons no less vio-
lent. The blackest calumnies were there thrown upon
the king; such as, even in their famous remonstrance,
they thought proper to omit, as incredible and extrava-
gant : the poisoning of his father, the betraying of Ko-
chelle, the contriving of the Irish massacre . By blast-
ing his fame, had that injury been in their power, they
formed a very proper prelude to the executing of violence
on his person.

No sooner had the king refused his assent to the four
bills, than Hammond, by orders from the army, removed
all his servants, cut off his correspondence with his friends,
and shut him up in close confinement. The king after-
wards showed to Sir Philip Warwick a decrepit old man,
who, he said, was employed to kindle his fire, and was
the best company he enjoyed, during several months
that this rigorous confinement lasted. 5 No amusement
was allowed him, nor society, which might relieve his
anxious thoughts. To be speedily poisoned or assassinated
was the only prospect which he had every moment be-
fore his eyes : for he entertained no apprehension of a
judicial sentence and execution; an event which no
history hitherto furnished an example. Meanwhile, the
Parliament was very industrious in publishing, from time
to time, the intelligence which they received from Ham-
mond ; how cheerful the king was, how pleased with every
one that approached him, how satisfied in his present
condition q : as if the view of such benignity and con-
stancy had not been more proper to inflame than allay
the general compassion of the people. The great source

n Kushworth, vol. viii. p. 965. 967.

o Idem, ibid. p. 998. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 93. P Warwick, p. 329.

4 Kushworth, vol. viii. p. 989.

21*

246 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, whence the king derived consolation, amidst all his
,_ LI ^'_, calamities, was undoubtedly religion ; a principle which
1648 in him seems to have contained nothing fierce or gloomy,
nothing which enraged him against his adversaries, or
terrified him with the dismal prospect of futurity. While
every thing around him bore a hostile aspect; while
friends, family relations, whom he passionately loved,
were placed at a distance, and unable to serve him ; he
reposed himself with confidence in the arms of that Being
who penetrates and sustains all nature, and whose severi-
ties, if received with piety and resignation, he regarded
as the surest pledges of unexhausted favour.
Second T4ie Parliament and army, meanwhile, enjoyed not in
tranquillity that power which they had obtained with so
much violence and injustice. Combinations and conspi-
racies, they were sensible, were everywhere forming
around them; and Scotland, whence the king's cause
had received the first fatal disaster, seemed now to pro-
mise its support and assistance.

Before the surrender of the king's person at New-
castle, and much more since that event, the subjects of
discontent had been daily multiplying between the two
kingdoms. The independents, who began to prevail,
took all occasions of mortifying the Scots, whom the
presbyterians looked on with the greatest affection and
veneration. When the Scottish commissioners, who,
joined to a committee of English Lords and Commons,
had managed the war, were ready to depart, it was pro-
posed in Parliament to give them thanks for their civili-
ties and good offices. The independents insisted that
the words good offices should be struck out ; and thus the
whole brotherly friendship and intimate alliance with the
Scots resolved itself into an acknowledgment of their
being well-bred gentlemen.

The advance of the army to London, the subjection
of the Parliament, the seizing of the king at Holdenby,
his confinement in Carisbroke-castle, were so many blows
sensibly felt by that nation, as threatening the final over-
throw of presbytery, to which they were so passionately
devoted. The covenant was profanely called, in the
House of Commons, an almanack out of date r , and that

* Cl. Walker, p. 80.

CHARLES I. 247

impiety, though complained of, had passed uncensured. CHAP.
Instead of being able to determine and establish ortho- ._ L ^'_^
doxy by the sword and by penal statutes, they saw the ^^"
sectarian army, who were absolute masters, claim an un-
bounded liberty of conscience, which the presbyterians
regarded with the utmost abhorrence. All the violences
put on the king they loudly blamed, as repugnant to the
covenant, by which they stood engaged to defend his
royal person. And those very actions of which they
themselves had been guilty, they denominated treason
and rebellion, when executed by an opposite party.

The Earls of Loudon, Lauderdale, and Laneric, who
were sent to London, protested against the four bills,
as containing too great a diminution of the king's civil
power, and providing no security for religion. , They
complained that, notwithstanding this protestation, the
bills were still insisted on ; contrary to the solemn league,
and to the treaty between the two nations. And when
they accompanied the English commissioners to the Isle
of Wight, they secretly formed a treaty with the king
for arming Scotland in his favour s .

Three parties at that time prevailed in Scotland : The invasion
royalists, who insisted upon the restoration of the king's
authority, without any regard to religious sects or tenets :
of these Montrose, though absent, was regarded as the
head. The rigid presbyterians, who hated the king even
more than they abhorred toleration ; and who determined
to give him no assistance till he should subscribe the
covenant ; these were governed by Argyle. The mode-
rate presbyterians, who endeavoured to reconcile the in-
terests of religion and of the crown, and hoped, by sup-
porting the presbyterian party in England, to suppress
the sectarian army, and to reinstate the Parliament as
well as the king in their just freedom and authority : the
two brothers, Hamilton and Laneric, were leaders of this
party.

When Pendennis-castle was surrendered to the par-
liamentary army, Hamilton, who then obtained his liberty,
returned into Scotland, and being generously determined
to remember ancient favours more than recent injuries,
he immediately embraced, with zeal and success, the pro-

a Clarendon, vol. v. p. 101.

248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, tection of the royal cause. He obtained a vote from the

J^^ Scottish Parliament to arm forty thousand men in support

^^^ of the king's authority, and to call over a considerable

body under Monro, who commanded the Scottish forces

in Ulster. And though he openly protested that the

covenant was the foundation of all his measures, he

secretly entered into correspondence with the English

royalists, Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Sir Philip Mus-

grave, who had levied considerable forces in the north

of England.

The general assembly, who sat at the same time, and
was guided by Argyle, dreaded the consequence of these
measures, and foresaw that the opposite party, if success-
ful, would effect the restoration of monarchy, without
the establishment of presbytery, in England. To join
the king before he had subscribed the covenant was, in
their eyes, to restore him to his honour before Christ
had obtained his* ; and they thundered out anathemas
against every one who paid obedience to the Parliament.
Two supreme independent judicatures were erected in
the kingdom ; one threatening the people with damna-
tion and eternal torments ; the other with imprisonment,
banishment, and military execution. The people were
distracted in their choice ; and the armament of Hamil-
ton's party, though seconded by all the civil power, went
on but slowly. The royalists he would not as yet allow
to join him, lest he might give offence to the ecclesias-
tical party ; though he secretly promised them trust and
preferment as soon as his army should advance into
England.

While the Scots were making preparations for the
invasion of England, every part of that kingdom was
agitated with tumults, insurrections, conspiracies, dis-
contents. It is seldom that the people gain any thing
by revolutions in government ; because the new settle-
ment, jealous and insecure, must commonly be supported
with more expense and severity than the old : but on
no occasion was the truth of this maxim more sensibly-
felt than in the present situation of England. Com-
plaints against the oppression of ship-money, against the
tyranny of the star-chamber, had roused the people to

* Whitlocke, p. 305.

CHARLES I. 249

arms; and having gained a complete victory over the CHAP.
crown, they found themselves loaded with a multiplicity^ ' _j
of taxes, formerly unknown ; and scarcely an appearance 1648<
of law and liberty remained in the administration. The
presbyterians, who had chiefly supported the war, were
enraged to find the prize, just when it seemed within
their reach, snatched by violence from them. The royal-
ists, disappointed in their expectations, by the cruel treat-
ment which the king now received from the army, were
strongly animated to restore him to liberty, and to re-
cover the advantages which they had unfortunately lost.
All orders of men were inflamed with indignation at
seeing the military prevail over the civil power, and king
and Parliament at once reduced to subjection by a mer-
cenary army. Many persons of family and distinction
had, from the beginning of the war, adhered to the Par-
liament : but all these were, by the new party, deprived
of authority ; and every office was intrusted to the most
ignoble part of the nation. A base populace exalted
above their superiors ; hypocrites exercising iniquity
under the visor of religion: these circumstances pro-
mised not much liberty or lenity to the people, and these
were now found united in the same usurped and illegal
administration.

Though the whole nation seemed to combine in their
hatred of military tyranny, the ends which the several
parties pursued were so different that little concert was
observed in their insurrections. Langhorne, Poyer, and
Powel, presbyterian officers, who commanded bodies of
troops in Wales, were the first that declared themselves ;
and they drew together a considerable army in those
parts, which were extremely devoted to the royal cause.
An. insurrection was raised in Kent by young Hales,
and the Earl of Norwich. Lord Capel, Sir Charles
Lucas, Sir George Lisle, excited commotions in Essex.
The Earl of Holland, who had several times changed
sides since the commencement of the civil wars, endea-
voured to assemble forces in Surrey. Pomfret-castle in
Yorkshire was surprised by Maurice. Langdale and
Musgrave were in arms, and masters of Berwick and
Carlisle in the north.

250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. What seemed the most dangerous circumstance, the

^_ r l * '__j general spirit of discontent had seized the fleet. Seven-

1648. teen ships, lying in the mouth of the river, declared for

the king ; and putting Kainsborow, their admiral, ashore,

sailed over to Holland, where the Prince of Wales took

the command of them u .

The English royalists exclaimed loudly against Hamil-
ton's delays, which they attributed to a refined policy in
the Scots ; as if their intentions were, that all the king's
party should first be suppressed, and the victory remain
solely to the presbyterians. Hamilton, with better reason,
complained of the precipitate humour of the English
royalists, w T ho, by their ill-timed insurrections, forced him
to march his army before his levies were completed, or
his preparations in any forwardness.

No commotions beyond a tumult of the apprentices,
which was soon suppressed, were raised in London : the
terror of the army kept the citizens in subjection. The
Parliament was so overawed, that they declared the Scots
to be enemies, and all who joined them traitors. Ninety
members, however, of the Lower House, had the courage
to dissent from this vote.

Cromwell and the military council prepared themselves
with vigour and conduct for defence. The establishment
of the army was at this time twenty-six thousand men ;
but by enlisting supernumeraries, the regiments were
greatly augmented, and commonly consisted of more than
double their stated complement w . Colonel Horton first
attacked the revolted troops in Wales, and gave them a
considerable defeat. The remnants of the vanquished
threw themselves into Pembroke, and were there closely
besieged, and soon after taken by Cromwell. Lambert
was opposed to Langdale and Musgrave in the north, and
gained advantages over them. Sir Michael Livesey de-
feated the Earl of Holland at Kingston, and, pursuing his
victory, took him prisoner at St. Neot's. Fairfax, having
routed the Kentish royalists at Maidstone, followed the
broken army ; and when they joined the royalists of Essex,
and threw themselves into Colchester, he laid siege to that
place, which defended itself to the last extremity. A

u Clarendon, vol. v. p. 137. w Whitlocke, p. 284.

CHARLES I.

251

CHAP.
L * x '

1648 .

new fleet was manned and sent out under the command
of Warwick, to oppose the revolted ships of which the
prince had taken the command.

While the forces were employed in all quarters, the
Parliament regained its liberty, and began to act with its
wonted courage and spirit. The members who had with-
drawn, from terror of the army, returned ; arid, infusing
boldness into their companions, restored to the presby-
terian party the ascendant which it had formerly lost. The
eleven impeached members were recalled, and the vote, by
which they were expelled, was reversed. The vote too of
non-addresses was repealed; and commissioners, five peers
and ten commoners, were sent to Newport in the Isle of
Wight, in order to treat with the king x . He was allowed
to summon several of his friends and old counsellors,
that he might have their advice in this important trans-
action 7 . The theologians on both sides, armed with their
syllogisms and quotations, attended as auxiliaries 2 . By
them the flame had first been raised ; and their appear-
ance was but a bad prognostic of its extinction. Any
other instruments seemed better adapted for a treaty of
pacification.

When the king presented himself to this company, a

-, ., , V ,. J .-u- j. Treaty of

great and sensible alteration was remarked in his aspect, Newport.
from what it appeared the year before, when he resided
at Hampton-court. The moment his servants had been
removed, he had laid aside all care of his person, and had
allowed his beard and hair to grow, and to hang dishevelled
and neglected. His hair was become almost entirely gray,
either from the decline of years, or from that load of
sorrows under which he laboured, and which, though borne
with constancy, preyed inwardly on his sensible and tender
mind. His friends beheld with compassion, and perhaps
even his enemies, that gray and discrozvned head, as he
himself terms it, in a copy of verses, which the truth of
the sentiment, rather than any elegance of expression,
renders very pathetic*. Having in vain endeavoured by
courage to defend his throne from his armed adversaries,
it now behoved him, by reasoning and persuasion, to save

x Clarendon, vol. v. p. 180. Sir Edward Walker's Perfect Copies, p. 6.
y Ibid. p. 8. z Ibid. p. 8. 38.

a Burnet's Memoirs of Hamilton.

252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, some fragments of it from these peaceful, and no less im-
placable, negotiators.

^^~ The vigour of the king's mind, notwithstanding the
seeming decline of his body, here appeared unbroken and
undecayed. The parliamentary commissioners would allow
none of his counsel to be present, and refused to enter
into reasoning with any but himself. He alone, during
the transactions of two months, was obliged to maintain
the argument against fifteen men of the greatest parts
and capacity in both Houses ; and no advantage was ever
obtained over him b . This was the scene, above all others,
in which he was qualified to excel. A quick conception,
a cultivated understanding, a chaste elocution, a dignified
manner ; by these accomplishments he triumphed in all
discussions of cool and temperate reasoning. The Idng
is much changed, said the Earl of Salisbury to Sir Philip
Warwick ; he is extremely improved of Me. No, replied
Sir Philip ; he tvas alivays so : hit you are notv at last
sensible of it". Sir Henry Yane, discoursing with his
fellow commissioners, drew an argument from the king's
uncommon abilities why the terms of pacification must
be rendered more strict and rigid d . But Charles's capa-
city shone not equally in action as in reasoning.

The first point insisted on by the parliamentary com-
missioners was the king's recalling all his proclamations
and declarations against the Parliament, and the acknow-
ledging that they had taken arms in their own defence.
He frankly offered the former concession; but long
scrupled the latter. The falsehood, as well as indignity,
of that acknowledgment, begat in his breast an extreme
reluctance against it. The king had, no doubt, in some
particulars of moment, invaded, from a seeming necessity,
the privileges of his people : but having renounced all
claim to these usurped powers, having confessed his errors,
and having repaired every breach in the constitution, and
even erected new ramparts in order to secure it ; he could
no longer, at the commencement of the war, be repre-
sented as the aggressor. However it might be pretended
that the former display of his arbitrary inclinations, or
rather his monarchical principles, rendered an offensive or

b Herbert's Memoirs, p. 72. c Warwick, p. 324.

a Clarendon. Sir Edward Walker, p. 319.

CHARLES I. 253

preventive war in the Parliament prudent and reasonable ; CHAP.
it could never in any propriety of speech, make it be .__ L ^_,
termed a defensive one. But the Parliament, sensible 1648
that the letter of the law condemned them as rebels and
traitors, deemed this point absolutely necessary for their
future security ; and the king, finding that peace could
be obtained on no other terms, at last yielded to it. He
only entered a protest, which was admitted, that no con-
cession made by him should be valid, unless the whole
treaty of pacification were concluded 6 .

He agreed that the Parliament should retain, during
the term of twenty years, the power over the militia and
army, and that of levying what money they pleased for
their support. He even yielded to them the right of re-
suming, at any time afterwards, this authority, whenever
they should declare such a resumption necessary for
public safety. In effect, the important power of the sword
was for ever ravished from him and his successors f .

He agreed, that all the great offices, during twenty
years, should be filled by both Houses of Parliament 8 .
He relinquished to them the entire government of Ire-
land, and the conduct of the war there h . He renounced
the power of the wards, and accepted of one hundred
thousand pounds a year in lieu of it 1 . He acknowledged
the validity of their great seal, and gave up his own k .
He abandoned the power of creating peers without the
consent of Parliament ; and he agreed that all the debts,
contracted in order to support the war against him, should
be paid by the people.

So great were the alterations made on the English
constitution by this treaty, that the king said, not with-
out reason, that he had been more an enemy to his
people by these concessions, could he have prevented
them, than by any other action of his life.

Of all the demands of the Parliament, Charles refused
only two. Though he relinquished almost every power
of the crown, he would neither give up his friends to
punishment, nor desert what he esteemed his religious
duty. The severe repentance which he had undergone
for abandoning Strafford had, no doubt, confirmed him

Walker, p. 11, 12. 24. f Ibid. p. 51. e Ibid. p. 78.

h Ibid. p. 45. 1 Ibid. p. 69. 77. * Ibid. p. 56. 68.

VOL. V. 22

254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, in the resolution never again to be guilty of a like error.

v _ L ^"'_ y His long solitude and severe afflictions had contributed

1648. t rivet him the more in those religious principles, which

had ever a considerable influence over him. His desire,

however, of finishing an accommodation induced him to

go as far in both these particulars as he thought anywise

consistent with his duty.

The estates of the royalists being, at that time, almost
entirely under sequestration, Charles, who could give
them no protection, consented that they should pay such
compositions as they and the Parliament could agree
on, and only begged that they might be made as mode-
rate as possible. He had not the disposal of offices ; and
it seemed but a small sacrifice to consent that a certain
number of his friends should be rendered incapable of
public employments 1 . But when the Parliament de-
manded a bill of attainder and banishment against seven
persons, the Marquis of Newcastle, Lord Digby, Lord
Biron, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, Sir Richard Granville,
Sir Francis Doddington, and Judge Jenkins, the king
absolutely refused compliance : their banishment for a
limited time he was willing to agree to m .

Religion was the fatal point about which the differ-
ences had arisen ; and of all others it was the least sus-
ceptible of composition or moderation between the con-
tending parties. The Parliament insisted on the esta-
blishment of presbytery, the sale of the chapter lands,
the abolition of all forms of prayer, and strict laws
against Catholics. The king offered to retrench every
thing which he did not esteem of apostolical institution :
he was willing to abolish archbishops, deans, prebends,
canons : he offered that the chapter lands should be let
at low leases during ninety-nine years : he consented
that the present church government should continue
during three years n . After that time, he required not
that any thing should be restored to bishops but the
power of ordination, and even that power to be exer-
cised by advice of the presbyters . If the Parliament,
upon the expiration of that period, still insisted on their
demand, all other branches of episcopal jurisdiction were

1 Walker, p. 61. m ibid. p. 61, 93.

* Ibid. p. 29. 35. 49, o Ibid. p. 65.

CHARLES 1. 255

abolished, and a new form of church government must, CHAP.
by common consent, be established. The book of com-,_ L ^ x ' _ J
inon prayer he was willing to renounce, but required 1648
the liberty of using some other liturgy in his own cha-
pel p : a demand which, though seemingly reasonable,
was positively refused by the Parliament.

In the dispute on these articles, one is not surprised
that two of the parliamentary theologians should tell
the king, That if he did not consent to the utter abolition
of episcopacy , lie ivould be damned. But it is not with-
out some indignation that we read the following vote of
the Lords and Commons : " The Houses, out of their
detestation to that abominable idolatry used in the mass,
do declare that they cannot admit of, or consent unto,
any such indulgence in any law, as is desired by his ma-
jesty, for exempting the queen and her family from the
penalties to be enacted against the exercise of the mass q ."
The treaty of marriage, the regard to the queen's sex
and high station, even common humanity ; all consider-
ations were undervalued, in comparison of their bigoted
prejudices".

It was evidently the interest both of king and Parlia-
ment to finish their treaty with all expedition ; and en-
deavour, by their combined force, to resist, if possible,
the usurping fury of the army. It seemed even the in-
terest of the Parliament to leave in the king's hand a
considerable share of authority, by which he might be
enabled to protect them and himself from so dangerous
an enemy. But the terms on which they insisted were
so rigorous, that the king, fearing no worse from the
most implacable enemies, was in no haste to come to a
conclusion. And so great was the bigotry on both sides,
that they were willing to sacrifice the greatest civil in-
terests, rather than relinquish the most minute of their
theological contentions. From these causes, assisted by
the artifice of the independents, the treaty was spun out
to such a length, that the invasions and insurrections
were everywhere subdued ; and the army had leisure to
execute their violent and sanguinary purposes.

Hamilton, having entered England with a numerous,

P Walker, p. 75. 82. Kushw. vol. viii. p. 1323. a Walker, p. 71.

r See note [N], at the end of the volume.

256 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, though undisciplined army, durst not unite his forces
with those of Langdale ; because the English royalists had
refused to take the covenant ; and the Scottish presby-
terians, though engaged for the king, refused to join them
on any other terms. The two armies marched together,
though at some distance ; nor could even the approach
of the parliamentary army, under Cromwell, oblige the
covenanters to consult their own safety, by a close union
with the royalists. When principles are so absurd, and
so destructive of human society, it may safely be averred,
that the more sincere and the more disinterested they
are, they only become the more ridiculous and the more
odious.

Cromwell feared not to oppose eight thousand men to
the numerous armies of twenty thousand, commanded by
Hamilton and Langdale. He attacked the latter by
surprise near Preston in Lancashire 8 ; and though the
royalists made a brave resistance, yet, not being succoured
in time by their confederates, they were almost entirely
cut in pieces. Hamilton was next attacked, put to rout,
and pursued to Utoxeter, where he surrendered himself
prisoner. Cromwell followed his advantage ; and, march-
ing into Scotland with a considerable body, joined
Argyle, who was also in arms; and having suppressed
Laneric, Monro, and other moderate presbyterians, he
placed the power entirely in the hands of the violent
party. The ecclesiastical authority, exalted above the
civil, exercised the severest vengeance on all who had
a share in Hamilton's engagement, as it was called ;
nor could any of that party recover trust, or even live in
safety, but by doing solemn-and public penance for taking
arms, by authority of Parliament, in defence of their
lawful sovereign.

The Chancellor London, who had at first countenanced
Hamilton's enterprise, being terrified with the menaces
of the clergy, had some time before gone over to the
other party ; and he now openly in the church, though
invested with the highest civil character in the kingdom,
did penance for his obedience to the Parliament, which
he termed a carnal self-seeking. He accompanied his
penance with so many tears, and such pathetical addresses

8 17th of August.

CHARLES I. 257

to the people for their prayers in this his uttermost CHAP.
sorrow and distress, that an universal weeping and^
lamentation took place among the deluded audience*. '""Tels

The loan of great sums of money, often to the ruin of
families, was exacted from all such as lay under any sus-
picion of favouring the king's party, though their conduct
had been ever so inoffensive. This was a device fallen
upon by the ruling party, in order, as they said, to reach
heart malignants*. Never, in this island, was known a
more severe and arbitrary government than was generally
exercised by the patrons of 'liberty in both kingdoms.

The siege of Colchester terminated in a manner no
less unfortunate than Hamilton's engagement, for the
royal cause. After suffering the utmost extremities of
famine, after feeding on the vilest aliments ; the garrison
desired, at last, to capitulate. Fairfax required them to
surrender at discretion ; and he gave such an explanation
to these terms as to reserve to himself power, if he pleased,
to put them all instantly to the sword. The officers en-
deavoured, though in vain, to persuade the soldiers, by
making a vigorous sally, to break through, at least to sell
their lives as dear as possible. They were obliged w to
accept of the conditions offered ; and Fairfax, instigated
by Ireton, to whom Cromwell, in his absence, had con-
signed over the government of the passive general, seized
Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, and resolved to
make them instant sacrifices to military justice. This
unusual severity was loudly exclaimed against by all the
prisoners. Lord Capel, fearless of danger, reproached
Ireton with it: and challenged him, as they were all
engaged in the same honourable cause, to exercise the
same impartial vengeance on all of them. Lucas was
first shot, and he himself gave orders to fire, with the
same alacrity as if he had commanded a platoon of his
own soldiers. Lisle instantly ran and kissed the dead
body, then cheerfully presented himself to a like fate.
Thinking that the soldiers, destined for his execution,
stood at too great a distance, he called to them to come
nearer : one of them replied, Til warrant you, sir, ive'tt
hit you : he answered smiling, Friends, I have been nearer
you when you have missed me. Thus perished this gene-

* Whitlocke, p. 360. * Guthry. w isth of August.

22*

258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, rous spirit, not less beloved for his modesty and humanity,
v _ L * x ;_ y than esteemed for his courage and military conduct.
^^" Soon after, a gentleman appearing in the king's pre-
sence clothed in mourning for Sir Charles Lucas, that
humane prince, suddenly recollecting the hard fate of his
friends, paid them a tribute, which none of his own un-
paralleled misfortunes ever extorted from him : he dis-
solved into a flood of tears x .

By these multiplied successes of the army, they had
subdued all their enemies; and none remained but the
helpless king and Parliament, to oppose their violent
measures. From Cromwell's suggestion, a remonstrance
was drawn by the council of general officers, and sent to
the Parliament. They there complain of the treaty with
the king; demand his punishment for the blood spilt
during the war; require a dissolution of the present
Parliament, and a more equal representation for the
future ; and assert that, though servants, they are entitled
to represent these important points to their masters, who
are themselves no better than servants and trustees of
the people. At the same time, they advanced with the
army to Windsor, and sent Colonel Eure to seize the
king's person at Newport, and convey him to Hurst-
castle in the neighbourhood, where he was detained in
strict confinement.

Secf ng This measure being foreseen some time before, the
again by king was exhorted to make his escape, which was con-
thc army. ce i ve( j to be very easy : but having given his word to
the Parliament not to attempt the recovery of his liberty
during the treaty, and three weeks after, he would not,
by any persuasion, be induced to hazard the reproach of
violating that promise. In vain was it urged that a pro-
mise given to the Parliament could no longer be binding ;
since they could no longer afford him protection from
violence threatened him by other persons, to whom he
was bound by no tie or engagement. The king would
indulge no refinements of casuistry, however plausible,
in such delicate subjects; and was resolved, that what
depredations- soever fortune should commit upon him.
she never should bereave him of his honour 7 .

x Whitlocke.

y Col. Cooke's Memoirs, p. 174. Rushw. vol. viii. p. 1347.

CHARLES I. 259

The Parliament lost not courage, notwithstanding the CHAR
danger with which they were so nearly menaced. Though V _ L ^'_,
without any plan for resisting military usurpations, they 1648
resolved to withstand them to the uttermost ; and rather
to bring on a violent and visible subversion of govern-
ment, than lend their authority to those illegal and san-
guinary measures which were projected. They set aside
the remonstrance of the army, without deigning to answer
it; they voted the seizing of the king's person to be
without their consent, and sent a message to the general,
to know by what authority that enterprise had been ex-
ecuted; and they issued orders that the army should
advance no nearer to London.

Hollis, the present leader of the presbyterians, was a
man of unconquerable intrepidity ; and many others of
that party seconded his magnanimous spirit. It was pro-
posed by them, that the generals and principal officers
should, for their disobedience and usurpations, be pro-
claimed traitors by the Parliament.

But the Parliament was dealing with men who would
not be frightened by words, nor retarded by any scrupu-
lous delicacy. The generals, under the name of Fairfax,
(for he still allowed them to employ his name,) marched
the army to London, and placing guards in Whitehall,
the Mews, St. James's, Durham-house, Covent-garden,
and Palace-yard, surrounded the Parliament with their
hostile armaments.

The Parliament, destitute of all hopes of prevailing,
retained, however, courage to resist. They attempted,
in the face of the army, to close their treaty with the
king ; and though they had formerly voted his conces-
sions with regard to the church and delinquents to be
unsatisfactory, they now took into consideration the final
resolution with regard to the whole. After a violent
debate of three days, it was carried, by a majority of one
hundred and twenty-nine against eighty-three, in the
House of Commons, that the king's concessions were a
foundation for the Houses to proceed upon in the settle-
ment of the kingdom.

Next day, when the Commons were to meet, Colonel p^. e.
Pride, formerly a drayman, had environed the House with purged
two regiments ; and, directed by Lord Grey of Groby,

260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, he seized in the passage forty-one members of the pres-
*_ Ll *" i _ J by terian party, and sent them to a low room, which
1648 passed by the appellation of hell ; whence they were
afterwards carried to several inns. Above one hundred
and sixty members more were excluded ; and none were
allowed to enter but the most furious and the most de-
termined of the independents ; and these exceeded not
the number of fifty or sixty. This invasion of the Par-
liament commonly passed under the name of Colonel
Pride's purge ; so much disposed was the nation to make
merry with the dethroning of those members, who had
violently arrogated the whole authority of government,
and deprived the king of his legal prerogatives.

The subsequent proceedings of the Parliament, if this
diminutive assembly deserve that honourable name, re-
tain not the least appearance of law, equity, or freedom.
They instantly reversed the former vote, and declared
the king's concessions unsatisfactory. They determined
that no member, absent at this last vote, should be re-
ceived, till he subscribed it as agreeable to his judgment.
They renewed their former vote of non-addresses. And
they committed to prison Sir William Waller, Sir John
Clotworthy, the generals Massey, Brown, Copley, and
other leaders of the presbyterians. These men, by their
credit and authority, which was then very high, had, at
the commencement of the war, supported the Parlia-
ment ; and thereby prepared the way for the greatness
of the' present leaders, who, at that time, were of small
account in the nation.

The secluded members having published a paper, con-
taining a narrative of the violence which had been ex-
ercised upon them, and a protestation, that all acts were
void, which from that time had been transacted in the
House of Commons: the remaining members encoun-
tered it with a declaration, in which they pronounced it
false, scandalous, seditious, and tending to the destruc-
tion of the visible and fundamental government of the
kingdom.

These sudden and violent revolutions held the whole
nation in terror and astonishment. Every man dreaded
to be trampled under foot, in the contention between
those mighty powers which disputed for the sovereignty

CHARLES I. 261

of the state. Many began to withdraw their effects beyond CHAP.
sea : foreigners scrupled to give any credit to a people so LIX-
torn by domestic faction, and oppressed by military ^^^
usurpation : even the internal commerce of the kingdom
began to stagnate. And in order to remedy these grow-
ing evils, the generals, in the name of the army, pub-
lished a declaration, in which they expressed their reso-
lution of supporting law and justice 2 .

The more to quiet the minds of men, the council of
officers took into consideration a scheme, called The
agreement of the people ; being the plan of a republic to
be substituted in the place of that government which they
had so violently pulled in pieces. Many parts of this
scheme for correcting the inequalities of the represen-
tative are plausible, had the nation been disposed to re-
ceive it, or had the army intended to impose it. Other
parts are too perfect for human nature, and savour
strongly of that fanatical spirit so prevalent throughout
the kingdom.

The height of all iniquity and fanatical extravagance
yet remained the public trial and execution of their so-
vereign. To this period was every measure precipitated by
the zealous independents. The parliamentary leaders of
that party had intended that the army, themselves, should
execute that daring enterprise ; and they deemed so
irregular and lawless a deed best fitted to such irregular
and lawless instruments a . But the generals were too
wise to load themselves singly with the infamy which,
they knew, must attend an action so shocking to the
general sentiments of mankind. The Parliament, they
were resolved, should share with them the reproach of a
measure which was thought requisite for the advance-
ment of their common ends of safety and ambition. In
the House of Commons, therefore, a committee was ap-
pointed to bring in a charge against the king. On their
report a vote passed, declaring it treason in a king to
levy war against his Parliament, and appointing a HIGH
COURT OF JUSTICE, to try Charles for this new invented
treason. This vote was sent up to the House of Peers.

The House of Peers, during the civil wars, had, all

z Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 1364. a Whitlocke.

262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, along, been of small account ; but it had lately, since the
king's fall, become totally contemptible ; and very few
members would submit to the mortification of attending
it. It happened that day to be fuller than usual, and
they were assembled, to the number of sixteen. Without
one dissenting voice, and almost without deliberation,
they instantly rejected the vote of the Lower House, and
adjourned themselves for ten days : hoping that this delay
would be able to retard the furious career of the Com-
mons.

1649. The Commons were not to be stopped by so small an
obstacle. Having first established a principle, which is
noble in itself, and seems specious, but is belied by all
history and experience, That the people are the origin of
all just power ! they next declared, that the Commons of
England, assembled in Parliament, being chosen by the
people, and representing them, are the supreme authority
of the nation, and that whatever is enacted and declared
to be law by the Commons hath the force of law, with-
4th Jan. out the consent of King or House of Peers. The ordi-
nance for the trial of Charles Stuart, King of England,
so they called him, was again read, and unanimously as-
sented to.

In proportion to the enormity of the violences and
usurpations were augmented the pretences of sanctity
among those regicides. " Should any one have volun-
tarily proposed," said Cromwell in the House, " to bring
the king to punishment, I should have regarded him as
the greatest traitor ; but, since Providence and necessity
have cast us upon it, I will pray to God for a blessing on
your counsels ; though I am not prepared to give you
any advice on this important occasion. Even I myself,"
subjoined he, " when I was lately offering up petitions
for his majesty's restoration, felt my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth, and considered this preternatural move-
ment as the answer which Heaven, having rejected the
king, had sent to my supplications."

A woman of Hertfordshire, illuminated by prophetical
visions, desired admittance into the military council, and
communicated to the officers a revelation, which assured
them that their measures were consecrated from above,
and ratified by a heavenly sanction. This intelligence

CHARLES I. 263

gave them great comfort, and much confirmed them in CHAP.
their present resolutions b .

Colonel Harrison, the son of a butcher, and the
furious enthusiast in the army, was sent with a strong
party to conduct the king to London. At Windsor,
Hamilton, who was there detained a prisoner, was ad-
mitted into the king's presence ; and falling on his knees,
passionately exclaimed, My dear master ! / have indeed
been so to you, replied Charles, embracing him. No farther
intercourse was allowed between them. The king was
instantly hurried away. Hamilton long followed him
with his eyes, all suffused in tears, and prognosticated,
that in this short salutation, he had given the last adieu
to his sovereign and his friend.

Charles himself was assured, that the period of his
life was now approaching but notwithstanding all the
preparations which were making, and the intelligence
which he received, he could not, even yet, believe that
his enemies really meant to conclude their violences by
a public trial and execution. A private assassination he
every moment looked for ; and though Harrison assured
him, that his apprehensions were entirely groundless, it
was by that catastrophe, so frequent with dethroned
princes, that he expected to terminate his life. In ap-
pearance, as' well as in reality, the king was now de-
throned. All the exterior symbols of sovereignty were
withdrawn, and his attendants had orders to serve him
without ceremony. At first he was shocked with in-
stances of rudeness and familiarity, to w r hich he had been
so little accustomed. Nothing so contemptible as a despised
prince! was the reflection which they suggested to him.
But he soon reconciled his mind to this, as he had done
to his other calamities.

All the circumstances of the trial were now adjusted ;
and the high court of justice fully constituted. It con-
sisted of one hundred and thirty-three persons as named
by the Commons; but there scarcely ever sat above
seventy : so difficult was it, notwithstanding the blind-
ness of prejudice and the allurements of interest, to
engage men of any name or character in that criminal
measure. Cromwell, Ireton, Harrison, and the chief

b Whitlocke, p. 360.

264 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, officers of the army, most of them of mean birth, were
mem k ers > together with some of the Lower House, and
some citizens of London. The twelve judges were at
first appointed in the number : but as they had affirmed,
that it was contrary to all the ideas of English law to
try the king for treason, by whose authority all accusa-
tions for treason must necessarily be conducted ; their
names, as well as those of some peers, were afterwards
struck out. Bradshaw, a lawyer, was chosen president,
Coke was appointed solicitor for the people of England.
Dorislaus, Steele, and Aske, were named assistants.
The court sat in Westminster-hall.

It is remarkable, that, in calling over the court, when
the crier pronounced the name of Fairfax, which had
been inserted in the number, a voice came from one of
the spectators, and cried, He has more ivit than to be here.
When the charge was read against the king, In the name
of the people of England ; the same voice exclaimed, Not
a tenth part of them. Axtel, the officer who guarded the
court, giving orders to fire into the box whence these
insolent speeches came ; it was discovered that Lady
Fairfax was there, and that it was she who had had the
courage to utter them. She was a person of noble ex-
traction, daughter of Horace, Lord Vere of Tilbury ; but
being seduced by the violence of the times, she had long
seconded her husband's zeal against the royal cause, and
was now, as well as he, struck with abhorrence at the
fatal and unexpected consequence of all his boasted
victories.

The king's The pomp, the dignity, the ceremony of this trans-
action corresponded to the greatest conception that is
suggested in the annals of human kind ; the delegates of
a great people sitting in judgment upon their supreme
magistrate, and trying him for his misgovermnent and
breach of trust. The solicitor, in the name of the Com-
mons, represented, that Charles Stuart, being admitted
King of England, and intrusted with a limited power;
yet nevertheless, from a wicked design to erect an un-
limited and tyrannical government, had traitorously and
maliciously levied war against the present Parliament,
and the people whom they represented, and was there-
fore impeached as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and a pub-

CHARLES I. 265

lie and implacable enemy to the commonwealth. After CHAP.
the charge was finished, the president directed his dis-
course to the king, and told him that the court expected ^049^
his answer.

The king, though long detained a prisoner, and now
produced as a criminal, sustained, by his magnanimous
courage, the majesty of a monarch. With great temper
and dignity, he declined the authority of the court, and
refused to submit himself to their jurisdiction. He re-
presented, that having been engaged in treaty with his
two Houses of Parliament, and having finished almost
every article, he had expected to be brought to his
capital in another manner, and ere this time to have
been restored to his power, dignity, revenue, as well as
to his personal liberty : that he could not now perceive
any appearance of the Upper House, so essential a mem-
ber of the constitution ; and had learned, that even the
Commons, whose authority was pretended, were subdued
by lawless force, and were bereaved of their liberty : that
he himself was their NATIVE HEREDITARY KING ; nor was
the whole authority of the state, though free and united,
entitled to try him, who derived his dignity from the
Supreme Majesty of Heaven : that, admitting those ex-
travagant principles which levelled all orders of men, the
court could plead no power delegated by the people, un-
less the consent of every individual, down to the meanest
and most ignorant peasant, had been previously asked
and obtained : that he acknowledged, without scruple,
that he had a trust committed to him, and one most
sacred and inviolable ; he was intrusted with the liber-
ties of his people, and would not now betray them, by
recognizing a power founded on the most atrocious vio-
lence and usurpation : that having taken arms, and fre-
quently exposed his life in defence of public liberty, of
the constitution, of the fundamental laws of the king-
dom, he was as willing, in this last and most solemn
scene, to seal with his blood those precious rights for
which, though in vain, he had so long contended : that
those who arrogated a title to sit as his judges were born
his subjects, and born subjects to those laws which de-
termined that the king can do no tvrong : that he was not
reduced to the necessity of sheltering himself under this

VOL. v. 23

266 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, general maxim, which guards every English monarch,
, _ L ^_j even the least deserving; but was able, by the most
1649. satisfactory reasons, to justify those measures in which
he had been engaged : that to the whole world, and even
to them, his pretended judges, he was desirous, if called
upon in another manner, to prove the integrity of his
conduct, and assert the justice of those defensive arms,
to which, unwillingly and unfortunately, he had had re-
course ; but that, in order to preserve a uniformity of
conduct, he must at present forego the apology of his
innocence; lest by ratifying an authority, no better
founded than that of robbers and pirates, he be justly
branded as the betrayer, instead of being applauded as
the martyr of the constitution.

The president, in order to support the majesty of the
people, and maintain trie superiority of his court above
the prisoner, still inculcated, that he must not decline
the authority of his judges ; that they overruled his ob-
jections; that they were delegated by the people, the
only source of every lawful power ; and that kings them-
selves acted but in trust from that community which had
invested this high court of justice with its jurisdiction.
Even according to those principles, which in his present
situation he was perhaps obliged to adopt, his behaviour
in general will appear not a little harsh and barbarous ;
but when we consider him as a subject, and one too of
no high character, addressing himself to his unfortunate
sovereign, his style will be esteemed, to the last degree,
audacious and insolent.

Three times was Charles produced before the court,
and as often declined their jurisdiction. On the fourth,
the judges having examined some witnesses, by whom it
was proved that the king had appeared in arms against
the forces commissioned by the Parliament; they pro-
nounced sentence against him. He seemed very anxi-
ous, at this time, to be admitted to a conference with the
two Houses ; and it was supposed, that he intended to
resign the crown to his son : but the court refused coni-
27th Jan. pliance, and considered that request as nothing but a
delay of justice.

It is confessed, that the king's behaviour, during this
last scene of his life, does honour to his memory ; and

CHARLES I.

267

1649.

that in all appearances before his judges he never forgot CHAP.
his part either as a prince or as a man. Firm and in- ^ LIX *
trepid, he maintained in each reply the utmost per-
spicuity and justness both of thought and expression :
mild and equable, he rose into no passion at that unusual
authority which was assumed over him. His soul, with-
out effort or affectation, seemed only to remain in the
situation familiar to it, and to look down with contempt
on all the efforts of human malice and iniquity. The sol-
diers, instigated by their superiors, were brought, though
with difficulty, to cry aloud for justice : Poor souls ! said
the king to one of his attendants : for a We money they
ivould do as much against their commanders c . Some of
them were permitted to go the utmost length of brutal
insolence, and to spit in his face, as he was conducted
along the passage to the court. To excite a sentiment
of pity was the only effect which this inhuman insult
was able to produce upon him.

The people, though under the rod of lawless unlimited
power, could not forbear, with the most ardent prayers,
pouring forth their wishes for his preservation ; and in
his present distress, they avowed Mm, by their generous
tears, for their monarch, whom, in their misguided fury,
they had before so violently rejected. The king was
softened at this moving scheme, and expressed his
gratitude for their dutiful affection. One soldier, too,
seized by contagious sympathy, demanded from Heaven
a blessing on oppressed and fallen majesty : his officer,
overhearing the prayer, beat him to the ground in the
king's presence. The punishment, methinks, exceeds the
offence : this was the reflection which Charles formed on
that occasion 1 .

As soon as the intention of trying the king was known
in foreign countries, so enormous an action was exclaimed
against by the general voice of reason and humanity ;
and all men, under whatever form of government they
were born, rejected this example, as the utmost effort
of undisguised usurpation, and the most heinous insult
on law and justice. The French ambassador, by orders
from his court, interposed in the king's behalf: the Dutch
employed their good offices: the Scots exclaimed and

Rush-worth, vol. viii. p. 1425.

Warwick, p. 339.

268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, protested against the violence : the queen, the prince,
wrote pathetic letters to the Parliament. All solicitations
1649. were found fruitless with men whose resolutions were
fixed and irrevocable.

Four of Charles's friends, persons of virtue and dignity,
Richmond, Hertford, Southampton, Lindesey, applied to
the Commons. They represented that they were the
king's counsellors, and had concurred, by their advice, in
all those measures which were now imputed as crimes
to their royal master : that in the eye of the law, and
according to the dictates of common reason, they alone
were guilty, and were alone exposed to censure for every
blamable action of the prince : and that they now pre-
sented themselves, in order to save, by their own punish-
ment, that precious life, which it became the Commons
themselves, and every subject, with the utmost hazard,
to protect and defend 6 . Such a generous effort tended
to their honour; but contributed nothing towards the
king's safety.

The people remained in that silence and astonishment
which all great passions, when they have not an oppor-
tunity of exerting themselves, naturally produce in the
human mind. The soldiers being incessantly plied with
prayers, sermons, and exhortations, were wrought up to
a degree of fury, and imagined, that in the acts of the
most extreme disloyalty towards their prince, consisted
their greatest merit in the eye of Heaven f .

Three days were allowed the king between his sen-
tence and his execution. This interval he passed with
great tranquillity, chiefly in reading and devotion. All
his family that remained in England were allowed access
to him. It consisted only of the Princess Elizabeth and
the Duke of Gloucester; for the Duke of York had
made his escape. Gloucester was little more than an
infant ; the princess, notwithstanding her tender years,
showed an advanced judgment; and the calamities of
her family had made a deep impression upon her. After
many pious consolations and advices, the king gave her
in charge to tell the queen, that, during the whole course
of his life, he had never once, even in thought, failed in

Pcrinchcf, p. 85. Lloyde, p. 319.
f Burnct's History of his own Times.

CHARLES I. 269

his fidelity towards her ; and that his conjugal tender- CHAP.
ness and his life should have an equal duration. i_ L *f'_'

To the young duke, too, he could not forbear giving 1649
some advice, in order to season his mind with early prin-
ciples of loyalty and obedience towards his brother, who
was so soon to be his sovereign. Holding him on his
knee, he said, " Now they will cut off thy father's head."
At these words the child looked very stedfastly upon
him. " Mark, child ! what I say : they will cut off my
head ! and perhaps make thee a king ; but mark what I
say, thou must not be a king as long as thy brothers
Charles and James are alive. They will cut off thy bro-
thers' heads, when they can catch them ! And thy head
too they will cut off at last ! Therefore, I charge thee,
do not be made a king by them !" The duke, sighing,
replied, " I will be torn in pieces first ! " So determined
an answer, from one of such tender years, filled the king's
eyes with tears of joy and admiration.

Every night, during this interval, the king slept sound
as usual ; though the noise of workmen employed in
framing the scaffold, and other preparations for his exe-
cution, continually resounded in his ears 8 . The morning
of the fatal day he rose early ; and calling Herbert, one
of his attendants, he bade him employ more than usual
care in dressing him, and preparing him for so great and
joyful a solemnity. Bishop Juxon, a man endowed with 30th Jan -
the same mild and steady virtues by which the king
himself was so much distinguished, assisted him in his
devotions, and paid the last melancholy duties to his
friend and sovereign.

The street before Whitehall was the place destined
for the execution : for it was intended, by choosing that
very place, in sight of his own palace, to display more
evidently the. triumph of popular justice over royal ma-
jesty. When the king came upon the scaffold, he found
it so surrounded with soldiers, that he could not expect
to be heard by any of the people : he addressed there-
fore his discourse to the few persons who were about
him ; particularly Colonel Tomlinson, to whose care he
had lately been committed, and upon whom, as upon

e Clement Walker's History of Independency.

23*

270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, many others, his amiable deportment had wrought an
entire conversion. He justified his own innocence in
"^T^the late fatal wars, and observed that he had not taken
arms till after the Parliament had enlisted forces ; nor
had he any other object in his warlike operations, than
to preserve that authority entire which his predecessors
had transmitted to him. He threw not, however, the
blame upon the Parliament ; but was more inclined to
think that ill instruments had interposed, and raised in
them fears and jealousies with regard to his intentions.
Though innocent towards his people, he acknowledged
the equity of his execution in the eyes of his Maker ;
and observed, that an unjust sentence, which he had
suffered to take effect, was now punished by an unjust
sentence upon himself. He forgave all his enemies,
even the chief instruments of his death ; but exhorted
them and the whole nation to return to the ways of
peace, by paying obedience to their lawful sovereign, his
son and successor. When he was preparing himself for
the block, Bishop Juxon called to him : " There is, sir,
but one stage more, which, though turbulent and trouble-
some, is yet a very short one. Consider, it will soon
carry you a great way ; it will carry you from earth to
heaven ; and there you shall find, to your great joy, the
prize to which you hasten, a crown of glory." " I go,"
replied the king, " from a corruptible to an incorruptible
crown ; where no disturbance can have place." At one
blow was his head severed from his body. A man in a
visor performed the office of executioner : another in a
like disguise held up to the spectators the head stream-
ing with blood, and cried aloud, This is the head of a
traitor !

It is impossible to describe the grief, indignation, and
astonishment, which took place, not only among the
spectators, who were overwhelmed with a flood of sor-
row, but throughout the whole nation, as soon as the
report of this fatal execution was conveyed to them.
Never monarch, in the full triumph of success and
victory, was more dear to his people, than his misfor-
tunes and magnanimity, his patience and piety, had
rendered this unhappy prince. In proportion to their
former delusions, which had animated them against him,

CHARLES I. 271

was the violence of their return to duty and affection ; CHAP.
while each reproached himself, either with active dis- v _ LIX '_ >
loyalty towards him, or with too indolent defence of his 1649
oppressed cause. On weaker minds, the effect of these
complicated passions was prodigious. Women are said
to have cast forth the untimely fruit of their womb :
others fell into convulsions, or sunk into such a melan-
choly as attended them to their grave : nay some, un-
mindful of themselves, as though they could not or would
not survive their beloved prince, it is reported, suddenly
fell down dead. The very pulpits were bedewed with
unsuborned tears; those pulpits, which had formerly
thundered out the most violent imprecations and ana-
themas against him. And all men united in their detes-
tation of those hypocritical parricides, who, by sanctified
pretences, had so long disguised their treasons, and in
this last act of iniquity had thrown an indelible stain
upon the nation.

A fresh instance of hypocrisy was displayed the very
day of the king's death. The generous Fairfax, not
content with being absent from the trial, had used all
the interest which he yet retained, to prevent the exe-
cution of the fatal sentence ; and had even employed
persuasion with his own regiment, though none else would
follow him, to rescue the king from his disloyal mur-
derers. Cromwell and Ireton, informed of this intention,
endeavoured to convince him that the Lord had rejected
the king ; and they exhorted him to seek by prayer some
direction from Heaven on this important occasion : but
they concealed from him that they had already signed
the warrant for the execution. Harrison was the person
appointed to join in prayer with the unwary general.
By agreement, he prolonged his doleful cant till intel-
ligence arrived that the fatal blow was struck. He then
rose from his knees, and insisted with Fairfax, that this
event was a miraculous and providential answer, which
Heaven had sent to their devout supplications h .

It being remarked, that the king, the moment before
he stretched out his neck to the executioner had said to
Juxon, with a very earnest accent, the single word RE-
MEMBER ; great mysteries were supposed to be concealed

k Herbert, p. 135.

272 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, under that expression ; and the generals vehemently in-
with the prelate, that he should inform them of
the king's meaning. Juxon told them, that the king,
having frequently charged him to inculcate on his son
the forgiveness of his murderers, had taken this oppor-
tunity, in the last moment of his life, when his commands,
he supposed, would be regarded as sacred and inviolable,
to reiterate that desire : and that his mild spirit thus ter-
minated its present course, by an act of benevolence to-
wards his greatest enemies.

The character of this prince, as that of most men, if
not of all men, was mixed ; but his virtues predominated
extremely above his vices, or more properly speaking, his
imperfections : for scarce any of his faults rose to that
pitch as to merit the appellation of vices. To consider
him in the most favourable light, it may be affirmed that
his dignity was free from pride, his humanity from weak-
ness, his bravery from rashness, his temperance from aus-
terity, his frugality from avarice : all these virtues, in
him, maintained their proper bounds, and merited unre-
served praise. To speak the most harshly of him, we
may affirm, that many of his good qualities were attended
with some latent frailty, which, though seemingly incon-
siderable, was able, when seconded by the extreme male-
volence of his fortune, to disappoint them of all their in-
fluence : his beneficent disposition was clouded by a
manner not very gracious ; his virtue was tinctured with
superstition ; his good sense was disfigured by a deference
to persons of a capacity inferior to his own ; and his mo-
derate temper exempted him not from hasty and pre-
cipitate resolutions. He deserves the epithet of a good,
rather than of a great man ; and was more fitted to rule
in a regular established government, than either to give
way to the encroachments of a popular assembly, or
finally to subdue their pretensions. He wanted supple-
ness and dexterity sufficient for the first measure : he
was not endowed with the vigour requisite for the second.
Had he been born an absolute prince, his humanity and
good sense had rendered his reign happy, and his memory
precious : had the limitations on prerogative been in his
time quite fixed and certain, his integrity had made him
regard as sacred the boundaries of the constitution. Un-

CHARLES I. 273

happily, his fate threw him into a period when the pre- CHAP.
cedents of many former reigns savoured strongly of ar- LIX
bitrary power, and the genius of the people ran violently 1G49

H towards liberty. And if his political prudence was not
sufficient to extricate him from so perilous a situation,
he may be excused ; since even after the event, when it
is commonly easy to correct all errors, one is at a loss to
determine what conduct, in his circumstances, could have
maintained the authority of the crown, and preserved
the peace of the nation. Exposed, without revenue,
without arms, to the assault of furious, implacable, and
bigoted factions, it was never permitted him, but with
the most fatal consequences, to commit the smallest
mistake ; a condition too rigorous to be imposed on the
greatest human capacity.

Some historians have rashly questioned the good faith
of this prince : but for this reproach, the most malignant
scrutiny of his conduct, which in every circumstance is
now thoroughly known, affords not any reasonable foun-
dation. On the contrary, if we consider the extreme
difficulties to which he was so frequently reduced, and
compare the sincerity of his professions and declarations ;
we shall avow, that probity and honour ought justly to
be numbered among his most shining qualities. In every
treaty, those concessions which he thought he could not
in conscience maintain, he never could, by any motive or
persuasion, be induced to make. And though some
violations of the petition of right may perhaps be imputed
to him ; these - are more to be ascribed to the necessity
of his situation, and to the lofty ideas of royal prero-
gative, which, from former established precedents, he
had imbibed, than to any failure in -the integrity of his
principles 1 .

This prince was of a comely presence ; of a sweet but
melancholy aspect. His face was regular, handsome,
and well-complexioned ; his body strong, healthy, and
justly proportioned; and being of a middle stature, he
was capable of enduring the greatest fatigues. He ex-
celled in horsemanship and other exercises ; and he pos-
sessed all the exterior, as well as many of the essential
qualities, which form an accomplished prince.

See note [OJ, at the end of the volume.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

The tragical death of Charles begat a question, whether
the people, in any case, were entitled to judge and to
punish their sovereign ; and most men, regarding chiefly
the atrocious usurpation of the pretended judges, and the
merit of the virtuous prince who suffered, were inclined
to condemn the republican principle as highly seditious
and extravagant : but there were still a few who, abstract-
ing from the particular circumstances of this case, were
able to consider the question in general, and were inclined
to moderate, not contradict, the prevailing sentiment.
Such might have been their reasoning. If ever, on any
occasion, it were laudable to conceal truth from the popu-
lace, it must be confessed, that the doctrine of resistance
affords such an example, and that all speculative reasoners
ought to observe, with regard to this principle, the same
cautious silence, which the laws in every species of govern-
ment have ever prescribed to themselves. Government
is instituted in order to restrain the fury and injustice of
the people, and being always founded on opinion, not on
force, it is dangerous to weaken, by these speculations,
the reverence which the multitude owe to authority, and
to instruct them beforehand, that the case can ever happen
when they may be freed from their duty of allegiance.
Or should it be found impossible to restrain the licence
of human disquisitions, it must be acknowledged, that
the doctrine of obedience ought alone to be inculcated,
and that the exceptions, which are rare, ought seldom or
never to be mentioned in popular reasonings and dis-
courses. Nor is there any danger, that mankind, by this
prudent reserve, should universally degenerate into a state
of abject servitude. When the exception really occurs,
even though it be not previously expected and descanted
on, it must, from its very nature, be so obvious and un-
disputed, as to remove all doubt, and overpower the
restraint, however great, imposed by teaching the general
doctrine of obedience. But between resisting a prince
and dethroning him, there is a wide interval, and the
abuses of power, which can warrant the latter violence,
are greater and more enormous than those which will
justify the former. History, however, supplies us with
examples even of this kind ; and the reality of the sup-
position, though for the future it ought ever to be little

CHARLES I. 275

looked for, must by all candid inquirers be acknowledged CHAP.
in the past. But between dethroning a prince and punish- ,^ L ^'_ y
ing him, there is another very wide interval ; and it were 1649
not strange, if men even of the most enlarged thought
should question, whether human nature could ever in any
monarch reach that height of depravity, as to warrant, in
revolted subjects, this last act of extraordinary jurisdiction.
That illusion, if it be an illusion, which teaches us to pay
a sacred regard to the persons of princes, is so salutary,
that to dissipate it by the formal trial and punishment
of a sovereign, will have more pernicious effects upon the
people, than the example of justice can be supposed to
have a beneficial influence upon princes, by checking their
career of tyranny. It is dangerous, also, by these ex-
amples, to reduce princes to despair, or bring matters to
such extremities against persons endowed wdth great
power, as to leave them no resource, but in the most
violent and most sanguinary counsels. This general
position being established, it must however be observed,
that no reader, almost of any party or principle, was ever
shocked, when he read in ancient history, that the Roman
senate voted Nero, their absolute sovereign, to be a
public enemy, and, even without trial, condemned him to
the severest and most ignominious punishment; a punish-
ment from which the meanest Roman citizen was by the
laws exempted. The crimes of that bloody tyrant are so
enormous that they break through all rules, and extort a
confession, that such a dethroned prince is no longer
superior to his people, and can no longer plead, in his
own defence, laws which were established for conducting
the ordinary course of administration. But when we pass
from the case of Nero to that of Charles, the great dis-
proportion, or rather total contrariety, of character imme-
diately strikes us ; and we stand astonished that, among
a civilized people, so much virtue could ever meet with
so fatal a catastrophe. History, the great mistress of
wisdom, furnishes examples of all kinds ; and every pru-
dential, as well as moral precept, may be authorized by
those events which her enlarged mirror is able to present
to us. From the memof able revolutions which passed in
England during this period, we may naturally deduce the
same useful lesson which Charles himself in his later

276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, years inferred, that it is dangerous for princes, even from
the appearance of necessity, to assume more authority
1649 than the laws have allowed them. But it must be con-
fessed that these events furnish us with another instruc-
tion, no less natural, and no less useful, concerning the
madness of the people, the furies of fanaticism, and the
danger of mercenary armies.

In order to close this part of the British history, it is
also necessary to relate the dissolution of {he monarchy
in England : that event soon followed upon the death of

eth Feb. the monarch. When the Peers met, on the day appointed
in their adjournment, they entered upon business, and
sent down some votes to the Commons, of which the
latter deigned not to take the least notice. In a few
days the Lower House passed a vote that they would
make no more addresses to the House of Peers, nor receive
any from them ; and that that House was useless and dan-
gerous, and was therefore to be abolished. A like vote
passed with regard to the monarchy ; and it is remark-
able, that Martin, a zealous republican, in the debate on
this question, confessed that if they desired a king, the last
was as proper as any gentleman in England k . The
Commons ordered a new great seal to be engraved, on
which that assembly was represented, with this legend,

ON THE FIRST YEAR OF FREEDOM, BY GOD'S BLESSING, RE-
STORED, 1648. The forms of all public business were
changed from the king's name, to that of the keepers of
the liberties of England 1 ; and it was declared high
treason to proclaim, or any otherwise acknowledge,
Charles Stuart, commonly called Prince of Wales.

The Commons intended, it is said, to bind the Princess
Elizabeth apprentice to a button-maker: the Duke of
Gloucester was to be taught some other mechanical em-
ployment. But the former soon died, of grief, as is
supposed, for her father's tragical end; the latter was,
by Cromwell, sent beyond sea.

The king's statue, in the Exchange, was thrown down ;
and on the pedestal these words were inscribed : EXIT

k Walker's History of Independency, part 2.

1 The Court of King's Bench was called the Court of Public Bench. So cautious
on this head were some of the republicans, that it is pretended, in reciting the
Lord's Prayer, they would not say thy kingdom oome, but always thy commonwealth
come.

CHARLES I. 277

TYRANNUS, REGUM ULTiMUS ; The tyrant is (/one, the last of the CHAP.
Kings. J^L,

Duke Hamilton was tried by a new high court of jus- 1649
tice, as Earl of Cambridge in England, and condemned
for treason. This sentence, which was certainly hard,
but which ought to save his memory from all imputa-
tions of treachery to his master, was executed on a scaf-
fold erected before Westminster-hall. Lord Capel un-
derwent the same fate. Both these noblemen had es-
caped from prison, but were afterwards discovered and
taken. To all the solicitations of their friends for pardon,
the generals and parliamentary leaders still replied, that
it was certainly the intention of Providence that they
should suffer, since it had permitted them to fall into
the hands of their enemies after they had once recovered
their liberty.

The Earl of Holland lost his life by a like sentence.
Though of a polite and courtly behaviour, he died lamented
by no party. His ingratitude to the king, and his fre-
quent changing of sides, were regarded as great stains on
his memory. The Earl of Norwich, and Sir John Owen,
being condemned by the same court, were pardoned by
the Commons.

The king left six children ; three males, Charles, born
in 1630, James, Duke of York, born in 1633, Henry,
Duke of Gloucester, born in 1641 ; and three females,
Mary, Princess of Orange, born 1631, Elizabeth, born
1635, and Henrietta, afterwards Duchess of Orleans, born
at Exeter, 1644.

The Archbishops of Canterbury in this reign were
Abbot and Laud ; the lord-keepers, Williams, Bishop of
Lincoln, Lord Coventry, Lord Finch, Lord Littleton,
and Sir Richard Lane ; the high-admirals, the Duke of
Buckingham, and the Earl of Northumberland ; the
treasurers, the Earl of Marlborough, the Earl of Port-
land, Juxon, Bishop of London, and Lord Cottington ;
the secretaries of state, Lord Conway, Sir Albertus More-
ton, Coke, Sir Henry Vane, Lord Falkland, Lord Digby,
and Sir Edward Nicholas.

It may be expected that we should here mention the
Icon Basitike, a work published in the king's name a few
days after his execution. It seems almost impossible, in

VOL. v. 24

278 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the controverted parts of history, to say any thing which
vj! ^ will satisfy the zealots of both parties : but with regard
1649 to the genuineness of that production, it is not easy for
an historian to fix any opinion which will be entirely to
his own satisfaction. The proofs brought to evince that
this work is or is not the king's are so convincing, that
if an impartial reader peruse any one side apart m , he will
think it impossible that arguments could be produced
sufficient to counterbalance so strong an evidence ; and
when he compares both sides, he will be some time at a
loss to fix any determination. Should an absolute sus-
pense of judgment be found difficult or disagreeable in
so interesting a question, I must confess that I much
incline to give the preference to the arguments of the
royalists. The testimonies which prove that perform-
ance to be the king's, are more numerous, certain, and
direct, than those on the other side. This is the case,
even if we consider the external evidence ; but when we
weigh the internal, derived from the style and composi-
tion, there is no manner of comparison. These medita-
tions resemble, in elegance, purity, neatness, and simpli-
city, the genius of those performances which we know
with certainty to have flowed from the royal pen ; but
are so unlike the bombast, perplexed, rhetorical, and cor-
rupt style of Dr. Gauden, to whom they are ascribed,
that no human testimony seems sufficient to convince us
that he was the author. Yet all the evidences which
would rob the king of that honour, tend to prove that
Dr. Gauden had the merit of writing so fine a perform-
ance, and the infamy of imposing it on the world for the
king's.

It is not easy to conceive the general compassion ex-
cited towards the king, by the publishing, at so critical a
juncture, a work so full of piety, meekness, and humanity.
Many have not scrupled to ascribe to that book the sub-
sequent restoration of the royal family. Milton com-
pares its effects to those which were wrought on the

m See, on the one hand, Toland's Amyntor, and, on the other, Wagstaffe's Vin-
dication of the Royal Martyr, with Young's addition. We may remark, that Lord
Clarendon's total silence with regard to this subject, in so full a history, composed
in vindication of the king's measures and character, forms a presumption "on Toland's
side, and a presumption of which that author was ignorant, the works of the noble
historian not being then published. Bishop Burnet's testimony, too, must be al-
lowed of some weight against the Icon.

CHARLES I.

279

1649.

tumultuous Eomans by Anthony's reading to them the CHAP.
will of Caesar. The Icon passed through fifty editions in ^^ IX ^
a twelvemonth ; and independent of the great interest
taken in it by the nation, as the supposed production of
their murdered sovereign, it must be acknowledged the
best prose composition, which, at the time of its publica-
tion, was to be found in the English language.

280 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER LX.
THE COMMONWEALTH.

STATE OF ENGLAND OF SCOTLAND or IRELAND. LEVELLERS SUPPRESS-
ED. SIEGE OF DUBLIN RAISED. TREDAH STORMED. COVENANTERS.

MONTROSE TAKEN PRISONER EXECUTED. COVENANTERS. BATTLE OF

DUNBAR OF WORCESTER. KING'S ESCAPE. THE COMMONWEALTH.
DUTCH WAR. DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT.

CHAP. THE confusions which overspread England after the

v^. *'_j murder of Charles I. proceeded as well from the spirit

1649. of refinement and innovation which agitated the ruling

state of p ar ty as from the dissolution of all that authority, both

England. r m J> . . JJ

civil and ecclesiastical, by which the nation had ever
been accustomed to be governed. Every man had
framed the model of. a republic ; and however new it
was, or fantastical, he was eager in recommending it to
his fellow-citizens, or even imposing it by force upon
them. Every man had adjusted a system of religion,
which, being derived from no traditional authority, was
peculiar to himself; and being founded on supposed in-
spiration, not on any principles of human reason, had no
means, besides cant and low rhetoric, by which it could
recommend itself to others. The levellers insisted on an
equal distribution of power and property, and disclaimed
all dependence and subordination. The millenarians or
fifth monarchy men required, that 'government itself
should be abolished, and all human powers be laid in
the dust, in order to pave the way for the dominion of
Christ, whose second coming they suddenly expected.
The Antinomians even insisted, that the obligations of
morality and natural law were suspended, and that the
elect, guided by an internal principle more perfect and
divine, were superior to the beggarly elements of justice
and humanity. A considerable party declaimed against
tithes and hireling priesthood, and were resolved that the
magistrate should not support by power or revenue any
ecclesiastical establishment. Another party inveighed

THE COMMONWEALTH. 281

against the law and its professors ; and on pretence of CHAP.

rendering more simple the distribution of justice, were v ^' _,

desirous of abolishing the whole system of English juris- 1649
prudence, which seemed interwoven with monarchical
government. Even those among the republicans who
adopted not such extravagances were so intoxicated with
their saintly character, that they supposed themselves
possessed of peculiar privileges; and all professions,
oaths, laws, and engagements, had, in a great measure,
lost their influence over them. The bands of society
were everywhere loosened; and the irregular passions
of men were encouraged by speculative principles still
more unsocial and irregular.

The royalists, consisting of the nobles and more con-
siderable gentry, being degraded from their authority,
and plundered of their property, were inflamed with the
highest resentment and indignation against those ignoble
adversaries who had reduced them to subjection. The
presbyterians, w^hose credit had first supported the arms
of the Parliament, were enraged to find that, by the trea-
chery or superior cunning of their associates, the fruits
of all their successful labours were ravished from them.
The former party, from inclination and principle, zea-
lously attached themselves to the son of their unfortu-
nate monarch, whose memory they respected, and whose
tragical death they deplored. The latter cast their eye
towards the same object ; but they had still many pre-
judices to overcome, many fears and jealousies to be
allayed, ere they could cordially entertain thoughts of re-
storing the family which they had so grievously offended,
and whose principles they regarded with such violent
abhorrence.

The only solid support of the republican independent
faction, which, though it formed so small a part of the
nation, had violently usurped the government of the
whole, was a numerous army of near fifty thousand men.
But this army, formidable from its discipline and courage,
as well as its numbers, was actuated by a spirit that ren-
dered it dangerous to the assembly which had assumed
the command over it. Accustomed to indulge every
chimera in politics, every frenzy in religion, the soldiers
knew little of the subordination of citizens, and had

24*

282 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, only learned, from apparent necessity, some maxims of

J^^ military obedience : and while they still maintained, that

^^^ all those enormous violations of law and equity, of which

they had been guilty, were justified by the success with

which Providence had blessed them, they were ready to

break out into any new disorder, wherever they had the

prospect of a like sanction and authority.

What alone gave some stability to all these unsettled
humours was, the great influence, both civil and military,
acquired by Oliver Cromwell. This man, suited to the
age in which he lived, and to that alone, was equally
qualified to gain the affection and confidence of men by
what was mean, vulgar, and ridiculous in his character, as
to command their obedience by what was great, daring,
and enterprising. Familiar even to buffoonery with the
meanest sentinel, he never lost his authority; transported
to a degree of madness with religious ecstacies, he never
forgot the political purposes to which they might serve.
Hating monarchy, while a subject; despising liberty,
while a citizen ; though he retained for a time all orders
of men under a seeming obedience to the Parliament,
he was secretly paving the way, by artifice and courage,
to his own unlimited authority.

The Parliament, for so we must henceforth call a small
and inconsiderable part of the House of Commons, having
murdered their sovereign with so many appearing cir-
cumstances of solemnity and justice, and so much real
violence and even fury, began to assume more the air of
a civil legal power, and to enlarge a little the narrow
bottom upon which they stood. They admitted a few
of the excluded and absent members, such as were liable
to least exception ; but on condition that these members
should sign an approbation of whatever had been done
in their absence with regard to the king's trial; and
some of them were willing to acquire a share of power
on such terms : the greater part disdained to lend their
authority to such apparent usurpations. They issued some
writs for new elections in places where they hoped to
have interest enough to bring in their own friends and
dependents. They named a council of state, thirty-eight
in number, to whom all addresses were made, who gave
orders to all generals and admirals, who executed the

THE COMMONWEALTH. 283

laws, and who digested all business before it was intro- CHAP.

duced into Parliament a . They pretended to employ, ;^_,

themselves entirely in adjusting the laws, forms, and 1G49
plan of a new representative; and as soon as they
should have settled the nation, they professed their in-
tention of restoring the power to the people, from whom
they acknowledged they had entirely derived it.

The commonwealth found every thing in England com-
posed into a seeming tranquillity by the terror of their
arms. Foreign powers, occupied in wars among them-
selves, had no leisure or inclination to interpose in the
domestic dissensions of this island. The young king, poor
and neglected, living sometimes in Holland, sometimes
in France, sometimes in Jersey, comforted himself amidst
his present distresses with the hopes of better fortune.
The situation alone of Scotland and Ireland gave any im-
mediate inquietude to the new republic.

After the successive defeats of Montrose and Hamil- Of Scot-
ton, and the ruin of their parties, the whole authority ai
in Scotland fell into the hands of Argyle and the rigid
churchmen, that party which was most averse to the in-
terests of the royal family. Their enmity, however, against
the independents, who had prevented the settlement of
presbyterian discipline in England, carried them to em-
brace opposite maxims in their political conduct. Though
invited by the English Parliament to model their govern-
ment into a republican form, they resolved still to ad-
here to monarchy, which had ever prevailed in their
country, and which, by the express terms of their cove-
nant, they had engaged to defend. They considered
besides, that as the property of the kingdom lay mostly
in the hands of great families, it would be difficult to
establish a commonwealth, or without some chief magis-
trate invested with royal authority, to preserve peace or
justice in the community. The execution, therefore, of
the king, against which they had always protested, having
occasioned a vacancy of the throne, they immediately

a Their names were, the Earls of Denbigh, Mulgravc, Pembroke, Salisbury,
Lords Grey and Fairfax, Lisie, Rolles, St. John, Wilde, Bradshaw, Cromwell,
Skippon, Pickering, Massam, Haselrig, Harrington, Vane jun., Danvers, Armine,
Mildmay, Constable, Pennington, Wilson, Whitlocke, Martin, Ludlow, Stapleton,
Hevingham, Wallop, Hutchinson, Bond, Popham, Valentine, Walton, Scott,
Purefoy, Jones.

284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, proclaimed his son and successor, Charles II. ; but upon
,_ r _ L ^_^ condition " of his good behaviour and strict observance
^^ of the covenant, and his entertaining no other persons
about him but such as were godly men and faithful to
that obligation." These unusual clauses, inserted in the
very first acknowledgment of their prince, sufficiently
showed their intention of limiting extremely his autho-
rity : and the English commonwealth, having no pretence
to interpose in the affairs of that kingdom, allowed the
Scots for the present to take their own measures in
settling their government.

of ire- The dominion which England claimed over Ireland
demanded more immediately their efforts for subduing
that country. In order to convey a just notion of Irish
affairs, it will be necessary to look backwards some years,
and to relate briefly those transactions which had passed
during the memorable revolutions in England. When
the late king agreed to that cessation of arms with the
popish rebels 15 , which was become so requisite, as well
for the security of the Irish Protestants as for promoting
his interests in England, the Parliament, in order to
blacken his conduct, reproached him with favouring that
odious rebellion, and exclaimed loudly against the terms
of the cessation. They even went so far as to declare
it entirely null and invalid, because finished without
their consent; and to this declaration the Scots in
Ulster, and the Earl of Inchiquin, a nobleman of great
authority in Munster, professed to adhere. By their
means the war was still kept alive ; but as the dangerous
distractions in England, hindered the Parliament from
sending any considerable assistance to their allies in Ire-
land, the Marquis of Ormond, lord-lieutenant, being a
native of Ireland, and a person endowed with great pru-
dence and virtue, formed a scheme for composing the
disorders of his country, and for engaging the rebel Irish
to support the cause of his royal master. There were
many circumstances which strongly invited the natives
of Ireland to embrace the king's party. The maxims of
that prince had always led him to give a reasonable in-
dulgence to the Catholics throughout all his dominions;
and one principal ground of that enmity which the

b 1643.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 285

puritans professed against him was this tacit toleration. CHAP.
The Parliament, on the contrary, even when unprovoked, LX>
had ever menaced the Papists with the most rigid re-^"^^"
straint, if not a total extirpation ; and immediately after
the commencement of the Irish rebellion, they put to
sale all the estates of the rebels, and had engaged the
public faith for transferring them to the adventurers,
who had already advanced money upon that security.
The success, therefore, which the arms of the Parliament
met with at Naseby, struck a just terror into the Irish ;
and engaged the council of Kilkenny, composed of depu-
ties from all the Catholic counties and cities, to conclude
a peace with the Marquis of Ormond . They professed
to return to their duty and allegiance, engaged to fur-
nish ten thousand men for the support of the king's au-
thority in England, and were content with stipulating, in
return, indemnity for their rebellion and toleration of
their religion.

Ormond, not doubting but a peace, so advantageous
and even necessary to the Irish, would be strictly ob-
served, advanced with a small body of troops to Kil-
kenny, in order to concert measures for common defence
with his new allies. The pope had sent over to Ireland
a nuncio, Kinuccini, an Italian ; and this man, whose
commission empowered him to direct the spiritual con-
cerns of the Irish, was imboldened, by their ignorance
and bigotry, to assume the chief authority in the civil
government. Foreseeing that a general submission to
the lord-lieutenant would put an end to his own influ-
ence, he conspired with Owen O'Neal, who commanded
the native Irish in Ulster, and who bore a great jealousy
to Preston, the general chiefly trusted by the council of
Kilkenny. By concert, these two malecontents secretly
drew forces together, and were ready to fall on Ormond,
who remained in security, trusting to the pacification so
lately concluded with the rebels. He received intelli-
gence of their treachery, made his retreat with celerity
and conduct, and sheltered his small army in Dublin and
the other fortified towns, which still remained in the
hands of the Protestants.

The nuncio, full of arrogance, levity, and ambition,

c 1646.

>86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, was not contented with this violation of treaty. He
LX> summoned an assembly of the clergy at Waterford, and

~"7^ engaged them to declare against that pacification which
the civil council had concluded with their sovereign. He
even thundered out a sentence of excommunication
against all who should adhere to a peace so prejudicial,
as he pretended, to the Catholic religion ; and the de-
luded Irish, terrified with his spiritual menaces, ranged
themselves everywhere on his side, and submitted to his
authority. Without scruple, he carried on war against
the lord-lieutenant, and threatened with a siege the
Protestant garrisons, which were, all of them, very ill
provided for defence.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate king was necessitated to
take shelter in the Scottish army; and being there re-
duced to close confinement, and secluded from all com-
merce with his friends, despaired that his authority, or
even his liberty, would ever be restored to him. He
sent orders to Ormond, if he could not defend himself,
rather to submit to the English than to the Irish rebels ;
and accordingly the lord-lieutenant, being reduced to
extremities, delivered up Dublin, Tredah, Dundalk, and
other garrisons, to Colonel Michael Jones, who took pos-
session of them in the name of the English Parliament.
Ormond himself went over to England, was admitted
into the king's presence, received a grateful acknowledg-
ment for his past services, and during some time lived
in tranquillity near London. But being banished, w r ith
the other royalists, to a distance from that city, and see-
ing every event turn out unfortunately for his royal
master, and threaten him with a catastrophe still more
direful, he thought proper to retire into France, where
he joined the queen and the Prince of Wales.

In Ireland, during these transactions, the authority
of the nuncio prevailed without control among all the
Catholics ; and that prelate, by his indiscretion and inso-
lence, soon made them repent of the power with which
they had intrusted him. Prudent men likewise were
sensible of the total destruction which was hanging over
the nation from the English Parliament, and saw no
resource or safety but in giving support to the declining
authority of the king. The Earl of Clanricarde, a noble-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 287

man of an ancient family, a person too of merit, who had CHAP.
ever preserved his loyalty, was sensible of the ruin which, _ L ^'_,
threatened his countrymen, and was resolved, if possible, 1G49
to prevent it. He secretly formed a combination among
the Catholics ; he entered into a correspondence with
Inchiquin, who preserved great authority over the Pro-
testants in Minister ; he attacked the nuncio, whom he
chased out of the island ; and he sent to Paris a deputa-
tion, inviting the lord-lieutenant to return and take pos-
session of his government.

Ormond, on his arrival in Ireland, found the kingdom
divided into many factions, among which either open war
or secret enmity prevailed. The authority of the English
Parliament was established in Dublin and the other towns,
which he himself had delivered into their hands. O'Neal
maintained his credit in Ulster ; and having entered into
a secret correspondence with the parliamentary generals,
was more intent on schemes for his own personal safety,
than anxious for the preservation of his country or religion.
The other Irish, divided between their clergy, who were
averse to Ormond, and their nobility, who were attached
to him, were very uncertain in their motions and feeble
in their measures. The Scots in the north, enraged, as
well as their other countrymen, against the usurpations
of the sectarian army, professed their adherence to the
king, but were still hindered by many prejudices from
entering into a cordial union with his lieutenant. All
these distracted counsels and contrary humours checked
the progress of Ormond, and enabled the parliamentary
forces in Ireland to maintain their ground against him.
The republican faction, meanwhile, in England, employed
in subduing the revolted royalists, in reducing the Par-
liament to subjection, in the trial, condemnation, and
execution of their sovereign, totally neglected the sup-
plying of Ireland, and allowed Jones, and the forces in
Dublin, to remain in the utmost weakness and necessity.
The lord-lieutenant, though surrounded with difficulties,
neglected not the favourable opportunity of promoting
the royal cause. Having at last assembled an army
of sixteen thousand men, he advanced upon the par-
liamentary garrisons. Dundalk, where Monk com-
manded, was delivered up by the troops, who mutinied

288 HISTORY* OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, against their governor. Treclah, Newry, and other forts,

LX - were taken. Dublin was threatened with a siege ; and

"^^the affairs of the lieutenant appeared in so prosperous a

condition, that the young king entertained thoughts of

coming in person into Ireland.

When the English commonwealth was brought to some
tolerable settlement, men began to cast their eyes towards
the neighbouring island. During the contest of the two
parties, the government of Ireland had remained a great
object of intrigue ; and the presbyterians endeavoured to
obtain the lieutenancy for Waller, the independents for
Lambert. After the execution of the king, Cromwell
himself began to aspire to a command where so much
glory, he saw, might be won, and so much authority
March 15. acquired. In his absence, he took care to have his name
proposed to the council of state, and both friends and
enemies concurred immediately to vote him into that
important office : the former suspected that the matter
had not been proposed merely by chance, without his
own concurrence ; the latter desired to remove him to a
distance, and hoped, during his absence, to gain the
ascendant over Fairfax, whom he had so long blinded by
his hypocritical professions. Cromwell himself, when in-
formed of his election, feigned surprise, and pretended,
at first, to hesitate with regard to the acceptance of the
command ; and Lambert, either deceived by his dissimula-
tion, or in his turn feigning to be deceived, still continued,
notwithstanding this disappointment, his friendship and
connexions with Cromwell.

The new lieutenant immediately applied himself with
his wonted vigilance to make preparations for his expe-
dition. Many disorders in England it behoved him pre-
viously to compose. All places were full of danger and
inquietude. Though men, astonished with the successes
of the army, remained in seeming tranquillity, symptoms
of the greatest discontent everywhere appeared. The
English, long accustomed to a mild administration, and
unacquainted with dissimulation, could not conform their
speech and countenance to the present necessity, or pre-
tend attachment to a form of government which they
generally regarded with such violent abhorrence. It was
requisite to change the magistracy of London, and to de-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 289

grade, as well as punish, the mayor and some of the alder- CHAP.
men, before the proclamation for the abolition of monarchy , _^'._j
could be published in the city. An engagement being 1649
framed to support the commonwealth without King or
House of Peers, the army was with some difficulty brought
to subscribe it ; but though it was imposed upon the rest
of the nation, under severe penalties, no less than putting
all who refused 'out of the protection of law, such obstinate
reluctance was observed in the people, that even the
imperious Parliament was obliged to desist from it. The
spirit of fanaticism, by which that assembly had at first
been strongly supported, was now turned in a great
measure against them. The pulpits being chiefly filled
with presbyterians or disguised royalists, and having long
been the scene of news and politics, could by no penalties
be restrained from declarations unfavourable to the esta-
blished government. Numberless were the extravagances
which broke out among the people. Everard, a disbanded
soldier, having preached that the time was now come
when the community of goods would be renewed among
Christians, led out his followers to take possession of the
land ; and being carried before the general, he refused
to salute him, because he was but his fellow-creature d .
What seemed more dangerous, the army itself was in-
fected with like humours 6 . Though the levellers had
for a time been suppressed by the audacious spirit of
Cromwell, they still continued to propagate their doctrines
among the private men and inferior officers, who pre-
tended a right to be consulted, as before, in the administra-
tion of the commonwealth. They now practised against
their officers the same lesson which they had been taught
against the Parliament. They framed a remonstrance,
and sent five agitators to present it to the general and
council of war : these were cashiered with ignominy by
sentence of a court-martial. One Lockier, having carried
his sedition farther, was sentenced to death; but this
punishment was so far from quelling the mutinous spirit,
that above a thousand of his companions showed their
adherence to him by attending his funeral, and wearing
in their hats black and sea-green ribbons byway of favours.

d Whitlockc. e gee note [P], at the end of the volume.

VOL. v. 25

290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. About four thousand assembled at Burford, under the
command of Thomson, a man formerly condemned for
sedition by a court-martial, but pardoned by the general.
Colonel Keynolds, and afterwards Fairfax and Cromwell,
suppres se. ^ U p On them while unprepared for defence, and seduced
by the appearance of a treaty. Four hundred were taken
prisoners; some of them capitally punished, the rest
pardoned; and this tumultuous spirit, though it still
lurked in the army, and broke out from time to time,
seemed for the present to be suppressed.

Petitions, framed in the same spirit of opposition,
were presented to the Parliament by Lieutenan1>colonel
Lilburn, the person who, for dispersing seditious libels,
had formerly been treated with such severity by the star-
chamber. His liberty was at this time as ill relished by
the Parliament, and he was thrown into prison as a pro-
moter of sedition and disorder in the commonwealth.
The women applied by petition for his release, but were
now desired to mind their household affairs, and leave
the government of the state to the men. From all
quarters, the Parliament was harassed with petitions of
a very free nature, which strongly spoke the sense of the
nation, and proved how ardently all men longed for the
restoration of their laws and liberties. Even in a feast
which the city gave to the Parliament and council of
state, it was deemed a requisite precaution, if we may
credit Walker and Dugdale, to swear all the cooks, that
they w r ould serve nothing but wholesome food to them.
The Parliament judged it necessary to enlarge the
laws of high-treason beyond those narrow bounds, within
which they had been confined during the monarchy.
They even comprehended verbal offences, nay intentions,
though they had never appeared in any overt act against
the state. To affirm the present government to be an
usurpation, to assert that the Parliament or council of
state were tyrannical or illegal, to endeavour subverting
their authority, or stirring up sedition against them;
these offences were declared to be high-treason. The
power of imprisonment, of which the petition of right
had bereaved the king, it was now found necessary to
restore to the council of state ; and all the jails in Eng-
land were filled with men whom the jealousies and fears

THE COMMONWEALTH. 291

of the ruling party had represented as dangerous f . The CHAP.
taxes continued by the new government, and which, being ^^^
unusual, were esteemed heavy, increased the general ill- v ^^'
will under which it laboured. Besides the customs and
excise, ninety thousand pounds a month were levied on
land for the subsistence of the army. The sequestrations
and compositions of the royalists, the sale of the crown
lands, and of the dean and chapter lands, though they
yielded great sums, were not sufficient to support the vast
expenses, and, as was suspected, the great depredations,
of the Parliament and of their creatures g .

Amidst all these difficulties and disturbances, the
steady mind of Cromwell, without confusion or embar-
rassment, still pursued its purpose. While he was col-
lecting an army of twelve thousand men in the west
of England, he sent to Ireland, under Reynolds and
Venables, a reinforcement of four thousand horse and
foot, in order to strengthen Jones, and enable him to
defend himself against the Marquis of Ormond, who lay
at Finglass, and was making preparations for the attack
of Dublin. Inchiquin, who had now made a treaty
with the king's lieutenant, having, with a separate body
taken Tredah and Dundalk, gave a defeat to OfFarrell,
who served under O'Neal, and to young Coot, who com-
manded some parliamentary forces. After he had joined
his troops to the main army, with whom, for some, time,
he remained united, Ormond passed the river Liny, and
took post at Rathmines, two miles from Dublin, with a
view of commencing the siege of that city. In order to
cut off all farther supply from Jones, he had begun the
reparation of an old fort which lay at the gates of Dub-
lin, and being exhausted with continual fatigue for some
days, he had retired to rest, after leaving orders to keep
his forces under arms. He was suddenly awaked with 2nd Au -
the noise of firing ; and, starting from his bed, saw every
thing already in tumult and confusion. Jones, an excel-
lent officer, formerly a lawyer, had sallied out with the
reinforcement newly arrived ; and attacking the party
employed in repairing the fort, he totally routed them,
pursued the advantage, and fell in with the army, which
had neglected Ormond's orders. These he soon threw

f History of Independency, part ii. g Parl. Hist. vol. xix. p. 136. 176.

292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, into disorder; put them to flight, in spite of all the

^*'^_; efforts of the lord-lieutenant ; chased them off the field ;

1G49 seized all their tents, baggage, ammunition ; and returned

siege of victorious to Dublin, after killing a thousand men, and

raised! 1 taking above two thousand prisoners 11 .

This loss, which threw some blemish on the military
character of Ormond, was irreparable to the royal cause.
That numerous army which, with so much pains and
difficulty, the lord-lieutenant had been collecting for
Aug. 15. m0 re than a year, was dispersed in a moment. Crom-
well soon after arrived in Dublin, where he was welcomed
with shouts and rejoicings. He hastened to Tredah.
That town was well fortified : Ormond had thrown into
it a good garrison of three thousand men, under Sir
Arthur Aston, an officer of reputation. He expected
that Tredah, lying in the neighbourhood of Dublin,
would first be attempted by Cromwell, and he was de-
sirous to employ the enemy some time in that siege,
while he himself should repair his broken forces. But
Cromwell knew the importance of despatch. Having
| e r P^ ber -made a breach, he ordered a general assault. Though
stormed, twice repulsed with loss, he renewed the attack, and
himself, along with Ireton, led on his men. All opposi-
tion was overborne by the furious valour of the troops.
The town was taken sword in hand, and orders being
issued to give no quarter, a cruel slaughter was made of
the garrison. Even a few, who were saved by the soldiers
satiated with blood, were next day miserably butchered
by orders from the general. One person alone of the
garrison escaped, to be a messenger of this universal
havoc and destruction.

Cromwell pretended to retaliate by this severe execu-
tion the cruelty of the Irish massacre : but he well
knew that almost the whole garrison was English ; and
his justice was only a barbarous policy in order to terrify
all other garrisons from resistance. His policy, however,
had the desired effect. Having led the army without
delay to Wexford, he began to batter the town. The
garrison, after a slight defence, offered to capitulate ;
but before they obtained a cessation, they imprudently
neglected their guards, and the English army rushed in

fc Parl. Hist. vol. xix. p. 165.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 293

upon them. The same severity was exercised as at CHAP.
Tredah. J^

Every town before which Cromwell presented himself 1649
now opened its gates without resistance. Koss, though
strongly garrisoned, was surrendered by Lord Taffe.
Having taken Estionage, Cromwell threw a bridge over October.
the Barrow, and made himself master of Passage and
Carrie. The English had no farther difficulties to en-
counter than what arose from fatigue and the advanced
season. Fluxes and contagious distempers crept in
among the soldiers, who perished in great numbers.
Jones himself, the brave governor of Dublin, died at
Wexford. And Cromwell had so far advanced with
his decayed army, that he began to find it difficult, either
to subsist in the enemy's country, or retreat to his own
garrisons. But while he was in these straits, Corke, November.
Kinsale, and all the English garrisons in Minister, de-
serted to him, and, opening their gates, resolved to share
the fortunes of their victorious countrymen.

This desertion of the English put an end to Ormond's
authority, which was already much diminished by the
misfortunes at Dublin, Tredah, and Wexford. The Irish,
actuated by national and religious prejudices, could no
longer be kept in obedience by a Protestant governor,
who was so unsuccessful in all his enterprises. The clergy
renewed their excommunications against him and his
adherents, and added the terrors of superstition to those
which arose from a victorious enemy. Cromwell, having
received a reinforcement from England, again took the
field early in the spring. He made himself master of
Kilkenny and Clonmel, the only places where he met
with any vigorous resistance. The whole frame of the
Irish union being in a manner dissolved, Ormond soon
after left the island, and delegated his authority to Clan-
ricarde, who found affairs so desperate as to admit of no
remedy. The Irish were glad to embrace banishment
as a refuge. Above forty thousand men passed into
foreign service ; and Cromwell, well pleased to free the
island from enemies who never could be cordially re-
conciled to the English, gave them full liberty and lei-
sure for their embarkation.

While Cromwell proceeded with such uninterrupted

25*

294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, success in Ireland, which in the space of nine months he
v L ^_ y had almost entirely subdued, fortune was preparing for
1649 him a new scene of victory and triumph in Scotland.
Charles was at the Hague when Sir Joseph Douglas
brought him intelligence that he was proclaimed king
by the Scottish Parliament. At the same time, Douglas
informed him of the hard conditions annexed to the pro-
clamation, and extremely damped that joy which might
arise from his being recognized sovereign in one of his
kingdoms. Charles too considered, that those who pre-
tended to acknowledge his title were at that very time
in actual rebellion against his family, and would be sure
to intrust very little authority in his hands, and scarcely
would afford him personal liberty and security. As the
prospect of affairs in Ireland was at that time not un-
promising, he intended rather to try his fortune in that
kingdom, from which he expected more dutiful submis-
sion and obedience.

Meanwhile, he found it expedient to depart from
Holland. The people in the United Provinces were
much attached to his interests. Besides his connexion
with the family of Orange, which was extremely beloved
by the populace, all men regarded with compassion his
helpless condition, and expressed the greatest abhor-
rence against the murder of his father : a deed to which
nothing, they thought, but the rage of fanaticism and fac-
tion could have impelled the Parliament. But though
the public in general bore great favour to the king, the
states were uneasy at his presence. They dreaded the
Parliament, so formidable by their power, and so pros-
perous in all their enterprises. They apprehended the
most precipitate resolutions from men of such violent
and haughty dispositions. And after the murder of
Dorislaus, they found it still more necessary to satisfy
the English commonwealth, by removing the king to a
distance from them.

1650. Dorislaus, though a native of Holland, had lived long
in England; and being employed as assistant to the
high court of justice which condemned the late king,
he had risen to great credit and favour with the ruling
party. They sent him envoy to Holland ; but no sooner
had he arrived at the Hague, than he was set upon by

THE COMMONWEALTH. 295

some royalists, chiefly retainers to Montrose. They CHAP.
rushed into the room, where he was sitting with some LX>
company- dragged him from the table; put him to""^^
death as the first victim to their murdered sovereign ;
very leisurely and peaceably separated themselves ; and
though orders were issued by the magistrates to arrest
them, these were executed with such slowness and re-
luctance, that the criminals had all of them the oppor-
tunity of making their escape.

Charles, having passed some time at Paris, where no
assistance was given him, and even few civilities were
paid him, made his retreat into Jersey, where his autho-
rity was still acknowledged. Here Winram, Laird of
Liberton, came to him as deputy from the committee of
estates in Scotland, and informed him of the conditions
to which he must necessarily submit before he could be
admitted to the exercise of his authority. Conditions
more severe were never imposed by subjects upon their
sovereign ; but as the affairs of Ireland began to decline,
and the king found it no longer safe to venture himself
in that island, he gave a civil answer to Winram, and
desired the commissioners to meet him at Breda, in order
to enter into a treaty with regard to these conditions.

The Earls of Cassilis and Lothian, Lord Burleigh, the
Laird of Liberton, and other commissioners, arrived at
Breda, but without any power of treating : the king must
submit, without reserve, to the terms imposed upon him.
The terms were, that he should issue a proclamation,
banishing from court all excommunicated persons, that
is, all those who, either under Hamilton or Montrose, had
ventured their lives for his family ; that no English sub-
ject, who had served against the Parliament, should be
allowed to approach him ; that he should bind himself by
his royal promise to take the covenant ; that he should
ratify all acts of Parliament, by which presbyterian
government, the directory of worship, the confession of
faith, and the catechism, were established ; and that in
civil affairs he should entirely conform himself to the
direction of Parliament, and in ecclesiastical to that of
the assembly. . These proposals, the commissioners, after
passing some time in sermons and prayers, in order to
express the more determined resolution, very solemnly
delivered to the king.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

The king's friends were divided with regard to the
part which he should act in this critical conjuncture.
1650 Most of his English counsellors dissuaded him from ac-
cepting conditions so disadvantageous and dishonourable.
They said that the men who now governed Scotland
were the most furious and bigoted of that party, which,
notwithstanding his gentle government, had first excited
a rebellion against the late king ; after the most unlimited
concessions, had renewed their rebellion, and stopped the
progress of his victories in England ; and, after he had
intrusted his person to them in his uttermost distress,
had basely sold him, together with their own honour, to
his barbarous enemies ; that they had as yet shown no
marks of repentance, and even in the terms which they
now proposed, displayed the same antimonarchical prin-
ciples, and the same jealousy of their sovereign, by which
they had ever been actuated : that nothing could be
more dishonourable than that the king, in his first enter-
prise, should sacrifice, merely for the empty name of
royalty, those principles for which his father had died a
martyr, and in which he himself had been strictly edu-
cated : that by this hypocrisy he might lose the royalists,
who alone were sincerely attached to him: but never
would gain the presbyterians, who were averse to his
family and his cause, and would ascribe his compliance
merely to policy and necessity : that the Scots had re-
fused to give him any assurances of their intending to
restore him to the throne of England ; and could they
even be brought to make such an attempt, it had suffi-
ciently appeared, by the event of Hamilton's engagement,
how unequal their force was to so great an enterprise :
that on the first check which they should receive, Argyle
and his partisans would lay hold of the quickest expe-
dient for reconciling themselves to the English Parlia-
ment, and would betray the king, as they had done his
father, into the hands of his enemies : and that, however
desperate the royal cause, it must still be regarded as
highly imprudent in the king to make a sacrifice of his
honour; where the sole purchase was to endanger his
life or liberty.

The Earl of Laneric, now Duke of Hamilton, the Earl
of Lauderdale, and others of that party, who had been
banished their country for the late engagement, were

THE COMMONWEALTH. 297

then with the king ; and being desirous of returning CHAP.
home in his retinue, they joined the opinion of the young
Duke of Buckingham, and earnestly pressed him to
mit to the conditions required of him. It was urged that
nothing would more gratify the king's enemies than to
see him fall into the snare laid for him, and by so scru-
pulous a nicety leave the possession of his dominions to
those who desired but a pretence for excluding him : that
Argyle, not daring so far to oppose the bent of the nation
as to throw off all allegiance to his sovereign, had em-
braced this .expedient, by which he hoped to make Charles
dethrone himself, and refuse a kingdom which was offered
him : that it was not to be doubted but the same national
spirit, assisted by Hamilton and his party, would rise still
higher in favour of their prince after he had intrusted
himself to their fidelity, and would much abate the rigour
of the conditions now imposed upon him ; that whatever
might be the present intentions of the ruling party, they
must unavoidably be engaged in a war with England,
and must accept the assistance of the king's friends of all
parties, in order to support themselves against a power
so much superior : that how much soever a steady, uni-
form conduct might have been suitable to the advanced
age and strict engagements of the late king, no one
would throw any blame on a young prince for complying
with conditions which necessity had extorted from him :
that even the rigour of those principles professed by his
father, though with some it had exalted his character,
had been extremely prejudicial to his interests ; nor could
any thing be more serviceable to the royal cause, than
to give all parties room to hope for more equal and more
indulgent maxims of government : and that, where affairs
were reduced to so desperate a situation, dangers ought
little to be regarded ; and the king's honour lay rather in
showing some early symptoms of courage and activity,
than in choosing strictly a party among theological con-
troversies, with which, it might be supposed, he was as
yet very little acquainted.

These arguments, seconded by the advice of the queen-
mother, and of the Prince of Orange, the king's brother-
in-law, who both of them thought it ridiculous to refuse
a kingdom merely from regard to episcopacy, had great

298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, influence on Charles. But what chiefly determined him
^^^ to comply, was the account brought him of the fate of
1650 Montrose, who, with all the circumstances of rage and
contumely, had been put to death by his zealous coun-
trymen. Though in this instance the king saw, more
evidently, the furious spirit by which the Scots were ac-
tuated, he had now no farther resource, and was obliged
to grant whatever was demanded of him.

Montrose, having laid down his arms at the command
of the late king, had retired into France, and, contrary
to his natural disposition, had lived for some time in-
active at Paris. He there became acquainted with the
famous Cardinal de Eetz ; and that penetrating judge
celebrates him in his memoirs as one of those heroes of
whom there are no longer any remains in the world, and
who are only to be met with in Plutarch. Desirous of
improving his martial genius, he took a journey to Ger-
many, was caressed by the emperor, received the rank of
mareschal, and proposed to levy a regiment for the im-
perial service. While employed for that purpose in the
Low Countries, he heard of the tragical death of the
king; and at the same time received from his young
master a renewal of his commission as captain-general
in Scotland *. His ardent and daring spirit needed but
this authority to put him in action. He gathered followers
in Holland and the north of Germany, whom his great
reputation allured to him. The king of Denmark and
Duke of Holstein sent him some small supply of money ;
the Queen of Sweden furnished him with arms ; the
Prince of Orange with ships ; and Montrose, hastening
his enterprise, lest the king's agreement with the Scots
should make him revoke his commission, set out for the
Orkneys with about five hundred men, most of them
Germans. These were all the preparations which he
could make against a kingdom, settled in domestic peace,
supported by a disciplined army, fully apprized of his
enterprise, and prepared against him. Some of his re-
tainers having told him of a prophecy, that to him and
him alone it tvas reserved to restore the king's authority in
all his dominions ; he lent a willing ear to suggestions

* Burnet. Clarendon.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 299

which, however ill-grounded or improbable, were so con- CHAP.
formable to his own daring character. V ^ L ' X '_,

He armed several of the inhabitants of the Orkneys, 1650
though an unwarlike people, and carried them over with
him to Caithness ; hoping that the general affection to
the king's service, and the fame of his former exploits,
would make the Highlanders flock to his standard. But
all men were now harassed and fatigued with wars and
disorders. Many of those who formerly adhered to him
had been severely punished by the covenanters, and no
prospect of success was entertained in opposition to so
great a force as was drawn together against him. But
however weak Montrose's army, the memory of past
events struck a great terror into the committee of estates.
They immediately ordered Lesley and Holborne to march
against him with an army of four thousand men. Strahan
was sent before, with a body of cavalry, to check his
progress. He fell unexpectedly on Montrose, who had
no horse to bring him intelligence. The royalists were Montrose
put to flight; all of them either killed or taken pri- S oner. pn
soners; and Montrose himself, having put on the dis-
guise of a peasant, was perfidiously delivered into the
hands of his enemies, by a friend to whom he had in-
trusted his person.

All the insolence which success can produce in unge-
nerous minds was exercised by the covenanters against
Montrose, whom they so much hated and so much
dreaded. Theological antipathy farther increased their
indignities towards a person whom they regarded as im-
pious, on account of the excommunication which had
been pronounced against him. Lesley led him about for
several days in the same low habit under which he had
disguised himself. The vulgar, wherever he passed, were
instigated to reproach and vilify him. When he came
to Edinburgh, every circumstance of elaborate rage and
insult was put in practice by order of the Parliament.
At the gate of the city he was met by the magistrates,
and put into a new cart, purposely made with a high chair
or bench, where he was placed that the people might
have a full view of him. He was bound with a cord,
drawn over his breast and shoulders, and fastened
through holes made in the cart. The hangman then

300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, took off the hat of the noble prisoner, and rode himself
,_^__, before the cart in his livery, and with his bonnet on ; the
1650 other officers, who were taken prisoners with the marquis,
walking two and two before them.

The populace, more generous and humane, when they
saw so mighty a change of fortune in this great man, so
lately their dread and terror, into whose hands the magis-
trates, a few years before, had delivered on their knees
the keys of the city, were struck with compassion, and
viewed him with silent tears and admiration. The
preachers, next Sunday, exclaimed against this move-
ment of rebel nature, as they termed it ; and reproached
the people with their profane tenderness towards the
capital enemy of piety and religion.

When he was carried before the Parliament, which
was then sitting, London, the chancellor, in a violent
declamation, reproached him with the breach of the na-
tional covenant, which he had subscribed ; his rebellion
against God, the king, and the kingdom ; and the many
horrible murders, treasons, and impieties, for which he
was now to be brought to condign punishment. Mon-
trose, in his answer, maintained the same superiority
above his enemies, to which, by his fame and great
actions, as well as by the consciousness of a good cause,
he was justly entitled. He told the Parliament, that
since the king, as he was informed, had so far avowed
their authority, as to enter into a treaty with them, he
now appeared uncovered before their tribunal ; a respect
which, while they stood in open defiance to their sove-
reign, they would in vain have required of him. That
he acknowledged, with infinite shame and remorse, the
errors of his early conduct, when their plausible pre-
tences had seduced him to tread with them the paths of
rebellion, and bear arms against his prince and country.
That his following services, he hoped, had sufficiently
testified his repentance ; and his death would now atone
for that guilt, the only one with which he could justly
reproach himself. That in all his warlike enterprises he
was warranted by that commission, which he had received
from his and their master, against whose lawful authority
they had erected their standard. That to venture his
life for his sovereign was the least part of his merit : he

THE COMMONWEALTH. 301

had even thrown down his arms in obedience to the sacred
commands of the king ; and had resigned to them the
victory, which, in defiance of all their efforts, he was still 1650
enabled to dispute with them. That no blood had ever
been shed by him but in the field of battle : and many
persons were now in his eye, many who now dared to pro-
nounce sentence of death upon him, whose life, forfeited
by the laws of w r ar, he had formerly saved from the fury
of the soldiers. That he was sorry to find no better tes-
timony of their return to allegiance than the murder of
so faithful a subject, in whose death the king's commis-
sion must be, at once, so highly injured and affronted.
That as to himself, they had in vain endeavoured to vilify
and degrade him by all their studied indignities : the
justice of his cause, he knew, would ennoble any for-
tune ;. nor had he other affliction than to see the autho-
rity of his prince, with which he was invested, treated
with so much ignominy. And that he now joyfully fol-
lowed, by a like unjust sentence, his late sovereign ; and
should be happy if, in his future destiny, he could follow
him to the same blissful mansions, where his piety and
humane virtues had already, without doubt, secured him
an eternal recompense.

Montrose's sentence was next pronounced against him,
" That he, James Graham, (for that was the only name
they vouchsafed to give him,) should next day be carried
to Edinburgh cross, and there be hanged on a gibbet,
thirty feet high, for the space of three hours : then be
taken down, his head be cut off upon a scaffold, and
affixed to the prison : his legs and arms be stuck upon the
four chief towns of the kingdom : his body be buried in
the place appropriated for common malefactors ; except
the church, upon his repentance, should take off his ex-
communication."

The clergy, hoping that the terrors of immediate death
had now given them an advantage over their enemy,
flocked about him, and insulted over his fallen fortunes.
They pronounced his damnation, and assured him, that
the judgment, which he was so soon to suffer, would
prove but an easy prologue to that which he must un-
dergo hereafter. They next offered to pray with him :
but he was too well acquainted with those forms of im-

VOL. v. 26

302 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, precation which they called prayers. " Lord, vouchsafe

v ,yet to touch the obdurate heart of this proud incorrigible

1650 sinner ; this wicked, perjured, traitorous, and profane per-
son, who refuses to hearken to the voice of thy church."
Such were the petitions which he expected they would,
according to custom, offer up for him. He told them
that they were a miserably deluded and deluding people,
and would shortly bring their country under the most
insupportable servitude to which any nation had ever
been reduced. " For my part," added he, " I am much
prouder to have my head affixed to the place where it is
sentenced to stand, than to have my picture hang in the
king's bedchamber. So far from being sorry that my
quarters are to be sent to four cities of the kingdom ; I
wish I had limbs enow to be dispersed into all the cities
of Christendom, there to remain as testimonies in favour
of the cause for which I suffer." This sentiment, that
very evening, while in prison, he threw into verse. The
poem remains ; a signal monument of his heroic spirit,
and no despicable proof of his poetical genius.
2ist May. N OW was } e( j f or th, amidst the insults of his enemies
and the tears of the people, this man, of illustrious birth,
and of the greatest renown in the nation, to suffer, for
his adhering to the laws of his country and the rights of
his sovereign, the ignominious death destined to the
meanest malefactor. Every attempt which the insolence
of the governing party had made to subdue his spirit had
hitherto proved fruitless : they made yet one effort more,
in this last and melancholy scene, when all enmity, arising
from motives merely human, is commonly softened and
disarmed. The executioner brought that book which
had been published in elegant Latin, of his great military
actions, and tied it by a cord about his neck. Montrose
smiled at this new instance of their malice. He thanked
them, however, for their officious zeal ; and said, that he
bore this testimony of his bravery and loyalty with more
Executed, pride than he had ever worn the garter. Having asked,
whether they had any more indignities to put upon him,
and renewing some devout ejaculations, he patiently en-
dured the last act of the executioner.

Thus perished, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, the
gallant Marquis of Montrose ; the man whose military

THE COMMONWEALTH. 303

genius, both by valour and conduct, had shone forth CHAP.
beyond any which, during these civil disorders, had ap-,_ L ^'_,
peared in the three kingdoms. The finer arts, too, he 1650
had in his youth successfully cultivated ; and whatever
was sublime, elegant, or noble, touched his great soul.
Nor was he insensible to the pleasures either of society
or of love. Something, however, of the vast and un-
bounded characterized his actions and deportment ; and
it was merely by an heroic effort of duty, that he brought
his mind, impatient of superiority, and even of equality,
to pay such unlimited submission to the will of his sove-
reign.

The vengeance of the covenanters was not satisfied
with Montrose's execution. Urrey, whose inconstancy
now led him to take part with the king, suffered about
the same time : Spotiswood of Daersie, a youth of eigh-
teen, Sir Francis Hay of Dalgetie, and Colonel Sibbald,
all of them of birth and character, underwent a like fate.
These were taken prisoners with Montrose. The Mar-
quis of Huntley, about a year before, had also fallen a
victim to the severity of the covenanters.

The past scene displays in a full light the barbarity of
this theological faction : the sequel will sufficiently display
their absurdity.

The king, in consequence of his agreement with the 23rd Jun ?-
commissioners of Scotland, set sail for that country ; and
being escorted by seven Dutch ships of war, who were
sent to guard the herring fishery, he arrived in the frith
of Cromarty. Before he was permitted to land, he was
required to sign the covenant ; and many sermons and
lectures were made him, exhorting him to persevere in
that holy confederacy 11 . Hamilton, Lauderdale, Dum-Cove-
fermling, and other noblemen of that party whom they na
called Engagers, were immediately separated from him,
and obliged to retire to their houses, where they lived in
a private manner without trust or authority. None of
his English friends, who had served his father, were
allowed to remain in the kingdom. The king himself
found that he was considered as a mere pageant of state,
and that the few remains of royalty which he possessed
served only to draw on him the greater indignities. One

k Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 159.

304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, of the quarters of Montrose, his faithful servant, who had
LXt borne his commission, had been sent to Aberdeen, and

^"Teso was still allowed to hang over the gates when he passed
by that place 1 . The general assembly, and afterwards
the committee of estates and the army, who were en-
tirely governed by the assembly, set forth a public de-
claration, in which they protested, " that they did not es-
pouse any malignant quarrel or party, but fought merely
on their former grounds or principles: that they dis-
claimed all the sins and guilt of the king, and of his house ;
nor would they own him or his interest, otherwise than
with a subordination to God, and so far as he owned and
prosecuted the cause of God, and acknowledged the sins
of his house, and of his former ways m ."

The king, lying entirely at mercy, and having no
assurance of life or liberty, farther than was agreeable
to the fancy of these austere zealots, was constrained to
embrace a measure which nothing but the necessity of
his affairs, and his great youth and inexperience, could

i6th Aug. excuse. He issued a declaration, such as they required
of him n . He there gave thanks for the merciful dis-
pensations of Providence, by which he was recovered
from the snare of evil counsel, had attained a full per-
suasion of the righteousness of the covenant, and was
induced to cast himself and his interests wholly upon
God. He desired to be deeply humbled and afflicted in
spirit, because of his father's following wicked measures,
opposing the covenant and the work of reformation, and
shedding the blood of God's people throughout all his
dominions. He lamented the idolatry of his mother, and
the toleration of it in his father's house ; a matter of
great offence, he said, to all the Protestant churches, and
a great provocation to him who is a jealous God, visiting
the sins of the father upon the children. He professed
that he would have no enemies but the enemies of the
covenant ; and that he detested all popery, superstition,
prelacy, heresy, schism, and profaneness; and was re-
solved not to tolerate, much less to countenance, any of
them in any of his dominions. He declared that he
should never love or favour those who had so little con-

1 Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 160.
m Ibid. p. 166, 167. n ibid. p. 170.

THE COMMONWEALTH.

305

1650.

science as to follow his interests, in preference to the CHAP.
gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And he ex- ^^
pressed his hope, that whatever ill success his former
guilt might have drawn upon his cause, yet now, having
obtained mercy to be on God's side, and to acknowledge
his own cause subordinate to that of God, divine Provi-
dence would crown his arms with victory.

Still the covenanters and the clergy were diffident of
the king's sincerity. The facility which he discovered in
yielding whatever was required of him, made them sus-
pect, that he regarded his concessions merely as ridiculous
farces, to which he must of necessity submit. They had
another trial prepared for him. Instead of the solemnity
of his coronation, which was delayed, they were resolved
that he should pass through a public humiliation, and do
penance before the whole people. They sent him twelve
articles of repentance, which he was to acknowledge ;
and the king had agreed that he would submit to this
indignity. The various transgressions of his father and
grandfather, together with the idolatry of his mother,
are again enumerated and aggravated in these articles ;
and farther declarations were insisted on, that he sought
the restoration of his rights for the sole advancement of
religion, and in subordination to the kingdom of Christ ,
In short, having exalted the altar above the throne, and
brought royalty under their feet, the clergy were resolved
to trample on it, and vilify it, by every instance of con-
tumely which their present influence enabled them to
impose upon their unhappy prince.

Charles in the mean time found his authority entirely
annihilated, as well as his character degraded. He was
consulted in no public measure. He was not called to
assist at any councils. His favour was sufficient to dis-
credit any pretender to office or advancement. All
efforts which he made to unite the opposite parties in-
creased the suspicion which the covenanters had enter-
tained of him, as if he were not entirely their own.
Argyle, who by subtilties and compliances was partly led,
and partly governed, by this wild faction, still turned a
deaf ear to all advances which the king made to enter
into confidence with him. Malignants and engagers con-

o Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses, p. 178.

26*

306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, tinued to be the objects of general hatred and persecu-
tion ; and whoever was obnoxious to the clergy failed
not to have one or other of these epithets affixed to him.
The fanaticism which prevailed, being so full of sour and
angry principles, and so overcharged with various anti-
pathies, had acquired a new object of abhorrence : these
were the sorcerers. So prevalent was the opinion of
witchcraft, that great numbers accused of that crime
were burnt, by sentence of the magistrates, throughout
all parts of Scotland. In a village near Berwick, which
contained only fourteen houses, fourteen persons were
punished by fire p ; and it became a science, everywhere
much studied and cultivated, to distinguish a true witch
by proper trials and symptoms' 1 .

The advance of the English army under Cromwell
was not able to appease or soften the animosities among
the parties in Scotland. The clergy were still resolute
to exclude all but their most zealous adherents. As
soon as the English Parliament found that the treaty
between the king and the Scots would probably termi-
nate in an accommodation, they made preparations for a
^war, which, they saw, would in the end prove inevitable.
Cromwell, having broken the force and courage of the
Irish, was sent for ; and he left the command of Ireland
to Ireton, who governed that kingdom in the character
of deputy, and with vigilance and industry persevered in
the work of subduing and expelling the natives.

It was expected that Fairfax, who still retained the
name of general, would continue to act against Scotland,
and appear at the head of the forces ; a station for which
he was well qualified, and where alone he made any
figure. But Fairfax, though he had allowed the army
to make use of his name in murdering their sovereign
and offering violence to the Parliament, had entertained
insurmountable scruples against invading the Scots, whom
he considered as zealous presbyterians, and united to
England by the sacred bands of the covenant. He was
farther disgusted at the extremities into which he had
already been hurried ; and was confirmed in his repug-
nance by the exhortations of his wife, who had great in-
fluence over him, and was herself much governed by the

P Whitlocke, p. 404. 408. q Ibid. p. 396. 418.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 307

presbyterian clergy. A committee of Parliament was CHAP.
sent to reason with him, and Cromwell was of the num- v _ L ^'_ J
ber. In vain did they urge that the Scots had first 1650
broken the covenant by their invasion of England under
Hamilton ; and that they would surely renew their hos-
tile attempts, if not prevented by the vigorous measures
of the commonwealth. Cromwell, who knew the rigid
inflexibility of Fairfax in every thing which he regarded
as matter of principle, ventured to solicit him with the
utmost earnestness, and went so far as to shed tears of
grief and vexation on the occasion. No one could sus-
pect any ambition in the man who laboured so zealously
to retain his general in that high office which, he knew,
he himself was alone entitled to fill. The same warmth
of temper which made Cromwell a frantic enthusiast,
rendered him the most dangerous of hypocrites ; and it
was to this turn of mind, as much as to his courage and
capacity, that he owed all his wonderful successes. By
the contagious ferment of his zeal he engaged every one
to co-operate with him in his measures; and entering
easily and affectionately into every part which he was
disposed to act, he was enabled, even after multiplied
deceits, to cover, under a tempest of passion, all his
crooked schemes and profound artifices.

Fairfax having resigned his commission, it was be-
stowed on Cromwell, who was declared captain-general
of all the forces in England. This command, in a com-
monwealth which stood entirely by arms, was of the ut-
most importance, and was the chief step which this ambi-
tious politician had yet made towards sovereign power.
He immediately marched his forces, and entered Scot-
land with an army of sixteen thousand men.

The command of the Scottish army was given to
Lesley, an experienced officer, who formed a very proper
plan of defence. He intrenched himself in a fortified
camp between Edinburgh and Leith, and took care to
remove from the counties of Merse and, the Lothians
every thing which could serve to the subsistence of the
English army. Cromwell advanced to the Scotch camp,
and endeavoured by every expedient to bring Lesley to
a battle ; the prudent Scotchman knew that, though su-
perior in numbers, his army was, much inferior in disci-

308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, pline to the English, and he carefully kept himself within
i_ L ^'^ his intrenchments. By skirmishes and small rencounters
16504 he tried to confirm the spirits of his soldiers, and he was
successful in these enterprises. His army daily increased
both in numbers and courage. The king came to the
camp, and having exerted himself in an action, gajned
on the affections of the soldiery, who were more desirous
of serving under a young prince of spirit and vivacity, than
under a committee of talking gown-men. The clergy were
alarmed. They ordered Charles immediately to leave
the camp. They also purged it carefully of about four
thousand moMgnanfa and engagers, whose zeal had led
them to attend the king, and who were the soldiers of
chief credit and experience in the nation 1 . They then
concluded, that they had an army composed entirely of
saints, and could not be beaten. They murmured ex-
tremely not only against their prudent general, but also
against the Lord, on account of his delays in giving them
deliverance 8 ; and they plainly told him, that if he would
not save them from the English sectaries, he should no
longer be their God*. An advantage having offered
itself on a Sunday, they hindered the general from
making use of it, lest he should involve the nation in the
guilt of sabbath-breaking.

Cromwell found himself in a very bad situation. He
had no provisions but what he received by sea. He had
not had the precaution to bring these in sufficient quan-
tities, and his army was reduced to difficulties. He re-
tired to D unbar. Lesley followed him, and he encamped
on the heights of Lammermure, which overlook that
town. There lay many difficult passes between Dunbar
and Berwick, and of these Lesley had taken possession.
The English general was reduced to extremities. He
had even embraced a resolution of sending by sea all his
foot and artillery to England, and of breaking through,
at all hazards, with his cavalry. The madness of the
Scottish ecclesiastics saved him from this loss and dis-
honour.

Night and day the ministers had been wrestling with
the Lord in prayer, as they term it ; and they fancied

* Sir Edw. Walker, p. 165. s Idem, p. 168.

* Whitlocke, p. 449.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 309

that they had at last obtained the victory. Revelations,
they said, were made them, that the sectarian and here-,
tical army, together with Agag, meaning Cromwell, was
delivered into their hands. Upon the faith of these
visions, they forced their general, in spite of his remon-
strances, to descend into the plain, with a view of at-
tacking the English in their retreat. Cromwell, looking Battle of
through a glass, saw the enemy's camp in motion, and
foretold, without the help of revelations, that the Lord
had delivered them into his hands. He gave orders im-
mediately for an attack. In this battle it was easily ob- 3d Se P fc
served that nothing, in military actions, can supply the
place of discipline and experience ; and that, in the pre-
sence of real danger, where men are not accustomed to
it, the fumes of enthusiasm presently dissipate, and lose
their influence. The Scots, though double in number
to the English, were soon put to flight, and pursued with
great slaughter. The chief, if not only, resistance was
made by one regiment of Highlanders, that part of the
army which was the least infected with fanaticism. No
victory could be more complete than this which was
obtained by Cromwell. About three thousand of the
enemy were slain, and nine thousand taken prisoners.
Cromwell pursued his advantage, and took possession of
Edinburgh and Leith. The remnant of the Scottish
army fled to Stirling. The approach of the winter sea-
son, and an ague which seized Cromwell, kept him from
pushing the victory any farther.

The clergy made great lamentations, and told the
Lord that to them it was little to sacrifice their lives
and estates, but to him it was a great loss to suffer his
elect to be destroyed 11 . They published a declaration,
containing the cause of their late misfortunes. These
visitations they ascribed to the manifold provocations of
the king's house, of which they feared he had not yet
thoroughly repented ; the secret intrusion of malignants
into the king's family, and even into the camp ; the leav-
ing of a most malignant and profane guard of horse, who,
being sent for to be purged, came two days before the
defeat, and were allowed to fight with the army ; the
owning of the king's quarrel by many without subordi-

Sir Edward Walker.

310 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, nation to religion and liberty ; and the carnal self-seek-
LX< ing of some, together with the neglect of family prayers
iGso. by others.

Cromwell, having been so successful in the war of the
sword, took up the pen against the Scottish ecclesiastics.
He wrote them some polemical letters, in which he main-
tained the chief points of the independent theology. He
took care likewise to retort on them their .favourite
argument of providence, and asked them, Whether the
Lord had not declared against them ? But the ministers
thought that the same events which tq their enemies
were judgments, to them were trials ; and they replied,
that the Lord had only hid his face for a time from Jacob.
But Cromwell insisted that the appeal had been made to
God in the most express and solemn manner, and that,
in the fields of Dunbar, an irrevocable decision had been
awarded in favour of the English army w .
i65i. The defeat of the Scots was regarded by the king as a
fortunate event. The armies which fought on both sides
were almost equally his enemies ; and the vanquished
were now obliged to give him some more authority, and
apply to him for support. The Parliament was summoned
to meet at St. Johnstone's. Hamilton, Lauderdale, and
all the engagers were admitted into court and camp, on
condition of doing public penance, and expressing repent-
ance for their late transgressions. Some malignants also
crept in under various pretences. The intended humilia-
tion or penance of the king was changed into the ceremony
1st Jan. o f hi s coronation, which was performed at Scone with
great pomp and solemnity. But amidst all this appear-

w This is the best of Cromwell's wretched compositions that remains, and we
shall here extract a passage out of it. " You say you have not so learned Christ as
to hang the equity of your cause upon events. We could wish that blindness had
not been upon your eyes to all those marvellous dispensations which God had
wrought lately in England. But did not you solemnly appeal and pray 1 ? Did
not we do so too ? And ought not we and you to think, with fear and trembling,
of the hand of the great God, in this mighty and strange appearance of his, but
can slightly call it an event ? Were not both your and our expectations renewed
from time to time, while we waited on God, to see which way he would manifest
himself upon our appeals ? And shall we, after all these our prayers, fastings,
tears, expectations, and solemn appeals, call these mere events ? The Lord pity
you ! Surely we fear, because it has been a merciful and a gracious deliverance
to us.

" I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, search after the mind of the Lord in it
towards you, and we shall help you by our prayers that you may find it. For yet,
if we know our heart at all, our bowels do in Christ yearn after the godly in Scot-
land." Thurloe, vol. i. p. 158.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 311

ance of respect, Charles remained in the hands of the CHAP.
most rigid covenanters ; and though treated with civility LX<
and courtesy by Argyle, a man of parts and address, he ^^^"
was little better than a prisoner, and was still exposed to
all the rudeness and pedantry of the ecclesiastics.

This young prince was in a situation which very ill-
suited his temper and disposition. All those good qualities
which he possessed, his affability, his wit, his gaiety, his
gentleman-like, disengaged behaviour, were here so many
vices ; and his love of ease, liberty, and pleasure, was
regarded as the highest enormity. Though artful in the
practice of courtly dissimulation, the sanctified style was
utterly unknown to him, and he never could mould his
deportment into that starched grimace, which the cove-
nanters required as an infallible mark of conversion. The
Duke of Buckingham was the only English courtier
allowed to attend him ; and by his ingenious talent for
ridicule, he had rendered himself extremely agreeable to
his master. While so many objects of derision surrounded
them, it was difficult to be altogether insensible to the
temptation, and wholly to suppress the laugh. Obliged
to attend from morning to- night at prayers and sermons,
they betrayed evident symptoms of weariness or contempt.
The clergy never could esteem the king sufficiently re-
generated ; and by continual exhortations, remonstrances, /
and reprimands, they still endeavoured to bring him to a
juster sense of his spiritual duty.

The king's passion for the fair could not altogether be
restrained. He had once been observed using some fami-
liarities with a young woman ; and a committee of ministers
was appointed to reprove him for a behaviour so unbecom-
ing a covenanted monarch. The spokesman of the com-
mittee, one Douglas, began with a severe aspect, informed
the king that great scandal had been given to the godly,
enlarged on the heinous nature of sin, and concluded with
exhorting his majesty, whenever he was disposed to
amuse himself, to be more careful, for the future, in shut-
ting the windows. This delicacy, so unusual to the place,
and to the character of the man, was remarked by the
king, and he never forgot the obligation.

The king, shocked at all the indignities, and perhaps
still more tired with all the formalities, to which he was

312 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, obliged to submit, made an attempt to regain his liberty.
General Middleton, at the head of some royalists, being
proscribed by the covenanters, kept in the mountains,
expecting some opportunity of serving his master. The
king resolved to join this body. He secretly made his
escape from Argyle, and fled towards the Highlands.
Colonel Montgomery, with a troop of horse, was sent in
pursuit of him. He overtook the king, and persuaded
him to return. The royalists being too weak to support
him, Charles was the more easily induced to comply.
This incident procured him afterwards better treatment
and more authority, the covenanters being afraid of
driving him by their rigours to some desperate resolution.
Argyle renewed his courtship to the king, and the king,
with equal dissimulation, pretended to repose great con-
fidence in Argyle. He even went so far to to drop hints
of his intention to marry that nobleman's daughter ; but
he had to do with a man too wise to be seduced by such
gross artifices.

As soon as the season would permit, the Scottish army
was assembled under Hamilton and Lesley, and the king
was allowed to join the camp. The forces of the western
counties, notwithstanding the imminent danger which
threatened their country, were resolute not to unite
their cause with that of an army which admitted any
engagers or malignants among them ; and they kept in
a body apart under Ker. They called themselves the
protesters; and their frantic clergy declaimed equally
against the king and against Cromwell. The other
party were denominated resolutioners ; and these dis-
tinctions continued long after to divide and agitate the
kingdom.

Charles encamped at the Torwood; and his generals
resolved to conduct themselves by the same cautious
maxims, which, so long as they were embraced, had been
successful during the former campaign. The town of
Stirling lay at his back, and the whole north supplied
him with provisions. Stong intrenchments defended
his front, and it was in vain that Cromwell made every
attempt to bring him to an engagement. After losing
much time, the English general sent Lambert over the
frith into Fife, with an intention of cutting off the pro-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 313

visions of the enemy. Lambert fell upon Holborne and CHAP.
Brown, who commanded a party of the Scots, and put^ 1 ^'^
them to rout with great slaughter. Cromwell also passed 1651
over with his whole army, and lying at the back of the
king, made it impossible for him to keep his post any
longer.

Charles, reduced to despair, embraced a resolution
worthy of a young prince contending for empire. Hav-
ing the way open, he resolved immediately to march into
England, where he expected that all his friends, and all
those who were discontented with the present govern-
ment, would flock to his standard. He persuaded the
generals to enter into the same views, and with one con-
sent the army, to the number of fourteen thousand men,
rose from their camp, and advanced by great journeys
towards the south.

Cromwell was surprised at this movement of the royal
army. Wholly intent on offending his enemy, he had
exposed his friends to imminent danger, and saw the
king with numerous forces marching into England, where
his presence, from the general hatred which prevailed
against the Parliament, was capable of producing some
great revolution. But if this conduct was an oversight
in Cromwell, he quickly repaired it by his vigilance
and activity. He despatched letters to the Parliament,
exhorting them not to be dismayed at the approach of
the Scots; he sent orders everywhere for assembling
forces to oppose the king ; he ordered Lambert with a
body of cavalry to hang upon the rear of the royal army, ,
and infest their march ; and he himself, leaving Monk
with seven thousand men to complete the reduction of
Scotland, followed the king with all the expedition pos-
sible.

Charles found himself disappointed in his expectations
of increasing his army. The Scots, terrified at the pros-
pect of so hazardous an enterprise, fell off in great num-
bers. The English presbyterians, having no warning
given them of the king's approach, were not prepared to
join him. To the royalists, this measure was equally
unexpected ; and they were farther deterred from joining
the Scottish army, by the orders which the committee of
ministers had issued, not to admit any, even in this des-

VOL. v. 27

314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, perate extremity, who would not subscribe the covenant.

v _ L ^,The Earl of Derby leaving the Isle of Man, where he
1651 had hitherto maintained his independence, was employed
in levying forces in Cheshire and Lancashire, but was
soon suppressed by a party of the parliamentary army :
and the king, when he arrived at Worcester, found that
his forces, extremely harassed by a hasty and fatiguing
march, were not more numerous than when he rose from
his camp in the Torwood.

Such is the influence of established government, that
the commonwealth, though founded in usurpation the
most unjust and unpopular, had authority sufficient to
raise everywhere the militia of the counties ; and these,
united with the regular forces, bent all their efforts

3d Sept. against the king. With an army of about thirty thou-
sand men, Cromwell fell upon Worcester, and attacking

Battle of it on all sides, and meeting with little resistance, except
er 'from Duke Hamilton and General Middleton, broke in
upon the disordered royalists. The streets of the city
were strewed with dead. Hamilton, a nobleman of
bravery and honour, was mortally wounded ; Massey
wounded and taken prisoner ; the king himself, having
given many proofs of personal valour, was obliged to fly.
The whole Scottish army was either killed or taken
prisoners. The country people, inflamed with national
antipathy, put to death the few that escaped from the
field of battle.

^^ e k m S l 6 ^ Worcester at six o'clock in the after-
noon, and, without halting, travelled about twenty-six
miles, in company with fifty or sixty of his friends. To
provide for his safety, he thought it best to separate him-
self from his companions, and he left them without com-
municating his intentions to any of them. By the Earl
of Derby's directions he went to Boscobel, a lone house
in the borders of Staffordshire, inhabited by one Penderell,
a farmer. To this man Charles intrusted himself. The
man had dignity of sentiments much above his condi-
tion ; and though death was denounced against all who
concealed the king, and a great reward promised to any
one who should betray him, he professed and maintained
unshaken fidelity. He took the assistance of his four
brothers, equally honourable with himself; and having

THE COMMONWEALTH. 315

clothed the king in a garb like their own, they led him CHAP.
into the neighbouring wood, put a bill into his hand,^ L ^'_,
and pretended to employ themselves in cutting faggots. 1651
Some nights he lay upon straw in the house, and fed on
such homely fare as it afforded. For a better conceal-
ment he mounted upon an oak, where he sheltered him-
self among the leaves and branches for twenty-four hours.
He saw several soldiers pass by. All of them were in-
tent in search of the king, and some expressed, in his
hearing, their earnest wishes of seizing him. This tree
was afterwards denominated the royal oak, and for many
years was regarded by the neighbourhood with great
veneration.

Charles was in the middle of the kingdom, and could
neither stay in his retreat, nor stir a step from it, with-
out the most imminent danger. Fear, hopes, and party
zeal, interested multitudes to discover him; and even
the smallest indiscretion of his friends might prove fatal.
Having joined Lord Wilmot, who was skulking in the
neighbourhood, they agreed to put themselves into the
hands of Colonel Lane, a zealous royalist, who lived at
Bentley, not many miles distant. The king's feet were
so hurt by walking about in heavy boots or countrymen's
shoes which did not fit him, that he was obliged to mount
on horseback ; and he travelled in this situation to Bent-
ley, attended by the Penderells, who had been so faith-
ful to him. Lane formed a scheme for his journey to
Bristol, where, it was hoped, he would find a ship, in
which he might transport himself. He had a near kins-
woman, Mrs. Norton, who lived within three miles of
that city, and was with child, very near the time of her
delivery. He obtained a pass (for during those times of
confusion this precaution was requisite) for his sister,
Jane Lane, and a servant, to travel towards Bristol, under
pretence of visiting and attending her relation. The
king rode before the lady, and personated the servant.

When they arrived at Norton's, Mrs. Lane pretended
that she had brought along, as her servant, a poor lad,
a neighbouring farmer's son, who was ill of an ague ;
and she begged a private room for him, where he might
be quiet. Though Charles kept himself retired in this
chamber, the butler, one Pope, soon knew him. The

316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, king was alarmed, but made the butler promise that he
i_ L ^'^ would keep the secret from every mortal, even from his
1651 master ; and he was faithful to his engagement.

No ship, it was found, would for a month set sail
from Bristol, either for France or Spain ; and the king
was obliged to go elsewhere for a passage. He in-
trusted himself to Colonel Windham, of Dorsetshire,
an affectionate partisan of the royal family. The natu-
ral effect of the long civil wars, and of the furious rage
to which all men were wrought up in their different fac-
tions, was, that every one's inclinations and affections
were thoroughly known, and even the courage and fide-
lity of most men, by the variety of incidents, had been
put to trial. The royalists, too, had, many of them, been
obliged to make concealments in their houses for them-
selves, their friends, or more valuable effects ; and the
arts of eluding the enemy had been frequently practised.
All these circumstances proved favourable to the king
in the present exigency. As he often passed through
the hands of Catholics, the priest's hole, as they called
it, the place where they were obliged to conceal their
persecuted priests, was sometimes employed for shelter-
ing their distressed sovereign.

Windham, before he received the king, asked leave
to intrust the important secret to his mother, his wife,
and four servants, on whose fidelity he could rely. Of
all these, no one proved wanting either in honour or
discretion. The venerable old matron, on the reception
of her royal guest, expressed the utmost joy, that having
lost, without regret, three sons and one grandchild in
defence of his father, she was now reserved, in her de-
clining years, to be instrumental in the preservation of
himself. Windham told the king, that Sir Thomas, his
father, in the year 1636, a few days before his death,
called to him his five sons : " My children," said he, " we
have hitherto seen serene and quiet times under our
three last sovereigns, but I must now warn you to pre-
pare for clouds and storms. Factions arise on every
side, and threaten the tranquillity of your native coun-
try. But, whatever happen, do you faithfully honour
and obey your prince, and adhere to the crown. I charge
you never to forsake the crown, though it should hang

THE COMMONWEALTH. 317

upon a bush." " These last words/' added Windham, CHAP.
"made such impressions on all our breasts, that the many,_ L ^'_ J
afflictions of these sad times could never efface their in- 1651
delible characters." From innumerable instances it ap-
pears, how deep-rooted in the minds of the English
gentry of that age was the principle of loyalty to their
sovereign; that noble and generous principle, inferior
only in excellence to the more enlarged and more en-
lightened affection towards a legal constitution. But
during those times of military usurpation, these passions
were the same.

The king continued several days in Windham's house ;
and all his friends in Britain, and in every part of Eu-
rope, remained in the most anxious suspense with regard
to his fortunes. No one could conjecture whether he
were dead or alive ; and the report of his death being
generally believed, happily relaxed the vigilant search of
his enemies. Trials were made to procure a vessel for
his escape, but he still met with disappointments. Hav-
ing left Windham's house, he was obliged again to return
to it. He passed through many other adventures, as-
sumed different disguises, in every step was exposed to
imminent perils, and received daily proofs of uncorrupted
fidelity and attachment. The sagacity of a smith, who
remarked that his horse's shoes had been made in the
north, and not in the west, as he pretended, once de-
tected him, and he narrowly escaped. At Shorehain,
in Sussex, a vessel was at last found, in which he em-
barked. He had been known to so many, that if he had
not set sail in that critical moment, it had been impossi-
ble for him to escape. After one and forty days' con-
cealment, he arrived safely at Fescamp in Normandy.
No less than forty men and women had, at different
times, been privy to his concealment and escape x .

The battle of Worcester afforded Cromwell what he
called his croivning mercy 7 . So elated was he, that he
intended to have knighted, in the field, two of his
generals, Lambert and Fleetwood, but was dissuaded
by his friends from exerting this act of regal authority.
His power and ambition were too great to brook sub-
mission to the empty name of a republic, which stood

x Heathe's Chronicle, p. 301. y Parl. Hist. vol. xx. p. 47.

27*

318 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, chiefly by his influence, and was supported by his victo
v L ^--_ y ries. How early he entertained thoughts of taking into
1651 his hand the reins of government is uncertain. We
are only assured that he now discovered to his intimate
friends these aspiring views, and even expressed a de-
sire of assuming the rank of king, which he had con-
tributed, with such seeming zeal, to abolish 2 .
The com- The little popularity and credit acquired by the repub-
weSth. licans farther stimulated the ambition of this enterprising
politician. These men had not that large thought, nor
those comprehensive views, which might qualify them for
acting the part of legislators: selfish aims and bigotry
chiefly engrossed their attention. They carried their
rigid austerity so far as to enact a law, declaring fornica-
tion, after the first act, to 'be felony, without benefit of
clergy a . They made small progress in that important
work which they professed to have so much at heart, the
settling of a new model of representation, and fixing a
plan of government. The nation began to apprehend
that they intended to establish themselves as a perpetual
legislature, and to confine the whole power to sixty or
seventy persons, who called themselves the Parliament
of the commonwealth of England. And while they pre-
tended to bestow new liberties upon the nation, they
found themselves obliged to infringe even the most valu-
able of those which, through time immemorial, had been
transmitted from their ancestors. Not daring to intrust
the trials of treason to juries, who, being chosen indiffer-
ently from among the people, would have been little
favourable to the commonwealth, and would have formed
their verdict upon the ancient laws, they eluded that noble
institution, by which the government of this island has
ever been so much distinguished. They had evidently
seen in the trial of Lilburn what they could expect from
juries. This man, the most turbulent, but the most up-
right and courageous, of human kind, was tried for a
transgression of the new statute of treasons ; but though
he was plainly guilty, he was acquitted, to the great joy
of the people. Westminster-hall, nay the whole city,

* Whitlocke, p. 523.

a Scobel, p. 121. A bill was introduced into the House against painting,
patches, and other immodest dress of women ; but it did not pass. Paii. Hist,
vol. xix. p. 263.

THE COMMONWEALTH.

319

rang with shouts and acclamations. Never did any esta- CHAP.
Wished power receive so strong a declaration of its usur- < ._J^1
pation and invalidity; and from no institution, besides 1651
the admirable one of juries, could be expected this mag-
nanimous effort.

That they might not for the future be exposed to
affronts which so much lessened their authority, the Par-
liament erected a high court of justice, which was to
receive indictments from the council of state. This court
was composed of men devoted to the ruling party, with-
out name or character, determined to sacrifice every thing
to their own safety or ambition. Colonel Eusebius An-
drews and Colonel Walter Slingsby' were tried by this
court for conspiracies, and condemned to death. They
were royalists, and refused to plead before so illegal a
jurisdiction. Love, Gibbons, and other presbyterians,
having entered into a plot against the republic, were also
tried, condemned, and executed. The Earl of Derby,
Sir Timothy Featherstone, Bemboe, being taken pri-
soners after the battle of Worcester, were put to death
by sentence of a court-martial ; a method of proceed-
ing declared illegal by that very petition of right, for
which a former Parliament had so strenuously contended,
and which, after great efforts, they had extorted from the
king.

Excepting their principles of toleration, the maxims
by which the republicans regulated ecclesiastical affairs
no more prognosticated any durable settlement, than
those by which they conducted their civil concerns. The
presbyterian model of congregation, classes, and assem-
blies, was not allowed to be finished : it seemed even the
intention of many leaders in the Parliament to admit of
no established church, and to leave every one, without
any guidance of the magistrate, to embrace whatever
sect, and to support whatever clergy, were most agree-
able to him.

The Parliament went so far as to make some ap-
proaches, in one province, to their independent model.
Almost all the clergy of Wales being ejected as malig-
nants, itinerant preachers with small salaries were settled,
not above four or five in each county ; and these being
furnished with horses at the public expense, hurried from

320 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, place to place, and carried, as they expressed themselves,
the glad tidings of the gospel b . They were all of them
14fti men of the lowest birth and education, who had deserted
mechanical trades, in order to follow this new profession ;
and in this particular, as well as in their wandering life,
they pretended to be more truly apostolical.

The republicans, both by the turn of their disposition,
and by the nature of the instruments which they em-
ployed, were better qualified for acts of force and vigour,
than for the slow and deliberate work of legislation.
Notwithstanding the late wars and bloodshed, and the
present factions, the power of England had never, in any
period, appeared so formidable to the neighbouring king-
doms as it did at this time, in the hands of the common-
wealth. A numerous army served equally to retain every
one in implicit subjection to established authority, and
to strike a terror into foreign nations. The power of
peace and war was lodged in the same hands with that
of imposing taxes; and no difference of views, among
the several members of the legislature, could any longer
be apprehended. The present impositions, though much
superior to what had ever formerly been experienced,
were in reality moderate, and what a nation so opulent
could easily bear. The military genius of the people
had, by the civil contests, been roused from its former
lethargy ; and excellent officers were formed in every
branch of service. The confusion into which all things
had been thrown, had given opportunity to men of low
stations to break through their obscurity, and to raise
themselves by their courage to commands which they
were well qualified to exercise, but to which their birth
could never have entitled them ; and while so great a
power was lodged in such active hands, no wonder the
republic was successful in all its enterprises.

Blake, a man of great courage and a generous dis-
position, the same person who had defended Lyme and
Taunton with such unshaken obstinacy against the late
king, was made an admiral ; and though he had hitherto
been accustomed only to land service, into which too
he had not entered till past fifty years of age, he soon
raised the naval glory of the nation to a greater height

b Dr. John Walker's Attempt, p. 147, et seq.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 321

than it had ever attained in any former period. A fleet CHAP.
was put under his command, and he received orders to ^^^
pursue Prince Rupert, to whom the king had intrusted 165L
that squadron which had deserted to him. Eupert took
shelter in Kinsale ; and escaping thence, fled towards
the coast of Portugal. Blake pursued and chased him
into the Tagus, where he intended to make an attack
upon him. But the King of Portugal, moved by the
favour which, throughout all Europe, attended the royal
cause, refused Blake admittance, and aided Prince Rupert
in making his escape. To be revenged of this partiality,
the English admiral made prize of twenty Portuguese
ships richly laden : and he threatened still farther venge-
ance. The King of Portugal, dreading so dangerous a
foe to his newly-acquired dominion, and sensible of the
unequal contest in which he was engaged, made all pos-
sible submissions to the haughty republic, and was at last
admitted to negotiate the renewal of his alliance with
England. Prince Rupert, having lost a great part of his
squadron on the coast of Spain, made sail towards the
West Indies. His brother, Prince Maurice, was there
shipwrecked in a hurricane. Everywhere this squadron
subsisted by privateering, sometimes on English, some-
times on Spanish vessels. And Rupert at last returned
to France, where he disposed of the remnants of his fleet,
together with his prizes.

All the settlements in America, except New England,
which had been planted entirely by the puritans, adhered
to the royal party, even after the settlement of the re-
public ; and Sir George Ayscue was sent with a squadron
to reduce them. Bermudas, Antigua, and Virginia, were
soon subdued. Barbadoes, commanded by Lord Wil-
loughby of Parham, made some resistance, but was at last
obliged to submit.

With equal ease were Jersey, Guernsey, Scilly, and
the Isle of Man, brought under subjection to the re-
public ; and the sea, which had been much infested by
privateers from these islands, was rendered safe to the
English commerce. The Countess of Derby defended
the Isle of Man, and with great reluctance yielded to the
necessity of surrendering to the enemy. This lady, a
daughter of the illustrious house of Trimoille, in France,

322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, had during the civil war displayed a manly courage, by
^ Ij *"_j her obstinate defence of Latham house against the par-
1651 liamentary forces ; and she retained the glory of being the
last person in the three kingdoms, and in all their de-
pendent dominions, who submitted to the victorious com-
monwealth c .

Ireland and Scotland were now entirely subjected and
reduced to tranquillity. Ireton, the new deputy of Ire-
land, at the head of a numerous army, thirty thousand
strong, prosecuted the work of subduing the revolted
Irish ; and he defeated them in many rencounters, which,
though of themselves of no great moment, proved fatal
to their declining cause. He punished without mercy
all the prisoners who had any hand in the massacres.
Sir Phelim O'Neale, among the rest, was, some time
after, brought to the gibbet, and suffered an ignominious
death, which he had so well merited by his inhuman
cruelties. Limerick, a considerable town, still remained
in the hands of the Irish ; and Ireton, after a vigorous
siege, made himself master of it. He was here infected
with the plague, and shortly after died ; a memorable
personage, much celebrated for his vigilance, industry,
capacity, even for the strict execution of justice in that
unlimited command which he possessed in Ireland. He
was observed to be inflexible in all his purposes ; and it
was believed by many, that he was animated with a
sincere and passionate love of liberty, and never could
have been induced by any motive to submit to the
smallest appearance of regal government. Cromwell
appeared to be much affected by his death; and the
republicans, who reposed great confidence in him, were
inconsolable. To show their regard for his merit and
services, they bestowed an estate of two thousand pounds
a year on his family, and honoured him with a magnificent
funeral at the public charge. Though the established
government was but the mere shadow of a common-
wealth, yet was it beginning, by proper arts, to encourage
that public spirit which no other species of civil polity is
ever able fully to inspire.

The command of the army in Ireland devolved on
Lieutenant-General Ludlow. The civil government of

See note [Q], at the end of the volume.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 323

the island was intrusted to commissioners. Ludlow con- CHAP.
tinued to push the advantages against the Irish, aiid^^;^
everywhere obtained an easy victory. That unhappy ^^~
people, disgusted with the king on account of those
violent declarations against them and their religion,
which had been extorted by the Scots, applied to the
King of Spain, to the Duke of Lorraine, and found as-
sistance nowhere. Clanricarde, unable to resist the pre-
vailing power, made submissions to the Parliament, and
retired into England, where he soon after died. He was
a steady Catholic, but a man much respected by all
parties.

The successes which attended Monk in Scotland were
no less decisive. That able general laid siege to Stirling-
castle ; and, though it was well provided for defence, it
was soon surrendered to him. He there became master
of all the records of the kingdom ; and he sent them to
England. The Earl of Leven, the Earl of Crawford,
Lord Ogilvy, and other noblemen, having met near Perth,
in order to concert measures for raising a new army, were
suddenly set upon by Colonel Alured, and most of them
taken prisoners. Sir Philip Musgrave, with some Scots,
being engaged at Dumfries in a like enterprise, met with
a like fate. Dundee was a town well fortified, supplied
with a good garrison under Lumisden, and full of all the
rich furniture, the plate, and money of the kingdom,
which had been sent thither as to a place of safety.
Monk appeared before it ; and having made a breach,
gave a general assault. He carried the town; and fol-
lowing the example and instructions of Cromwell, put all
the inhabitants to the sword, in order to strike a general
terror into the kingdom. Warned by this example,
Aberdeen, St. Andrew's, Inverness, and other towns and
forts, yielded, of their own accord, to the enemy. Argyle
made his submissions to the English commonwealth ; and
excepting a few royalists, who remained some time in
the mountains, under the Earl of Glencairn, Lord Bal-
carras, and General Middleton, that kingdom, which had
hitherto, through all ages, by means of its situation,
poverty, and valour, maintained its independence, was
reduced to total subjection.

The English Parliament sent Sir Harry Vane, St.

324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. John, and other commissioners, to settle Scotland. These

v ,men, who possessed little of the true spirit of liberty,

1651 knew how to maintain the appearance of it; and they
required the voluntary consent of all the counties and
towns of this conquered kingdom, before they would
unite them into the same commonwealth with England.
The clergy protested ; because, they said, this incorpo-
rating union would draw along with it a subordination of
the church to the state in the things of Christ d . English
judges, joined to some Scottish, were appointed to deter-
mine all causes ; justice was strictly administered ; order
and peace maintained; and the Scots, freed from the
tyranny of the ecclesiastics, were not much dissatisfied
with the present government e . The prudent conduct of
Monk, a man who possessed a capacity for the arts both
of peace and war, served much to reconcile the minds of
men, and to allay their prejudices.

Dutchwar "^7 ^ e total reduction and pacification of the British
' dominions, the Parliament had leisure to look abroad,
and to exert their vigour in foreign enterprises. The
Dutch were the first that felt the weight of their arms.

During the life of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange,
the Dutch republic had maintained a neutrality in the
civil wars of England, and had never interposed, except
by her good offices, between the contending parties.
When William, who had married an English princess,
succeeded to his father's commands and authority 1 , the
states, both before and after the execution of the late
king, were accused of taking steps more favourable to
the royal cause, and of betraying a great prejudice against
that of the Parliament. It was long before the envoy
of the English commonwealth could obtain an audience
of the states-general. The murderers of Dorislaus were
not pursued with such rigour as the Parliament expected.
And much regard had been paid to the king, and many
good offices performed to him, both by the public, and
by men of all ranks in the United Provinces.

After the death of William, Prince of Orange g , which
was attended with the depression of his party and the

a Whitlocke, p. 496. Heathe's Chronicle, p. 307.

e See note [R], at the end pf the volume.

f 1647. g On October 17, 1650.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 325

triumph of the Dutch republicans, the Parliament thought CHAP.
that the time was now favourable for cementing a closer V ^ L ^'_ >
confederacy with the states. St. John, chief justice, who 1652
was sent over to the Hague, had entertained the idea
of forming a kind of coalition between the two re-
publics, which would have rendered their interests totally
inseparable; but fearing that so extraordinary a pro-
ject would not be relished, he contented himself with
B dropping some hints of it, and openly went no farther
than to propose a strict defensive alliance between
England and the United Provinces, such as has now, for
near seventy years, taken place between these friendly
powers h . But the states, who were unwilling to form a
nearer confederacy with a government whose measures
were so obnoxious, and whose situation seemed so pre-
carious, offered only to renew the former alliances with
England ; and the haughty St. John, disgusted with this
disappointment, as well as incensed at many affronts
which had been offered him, with impunity, by the re-
tainers of the Palatine and Orange families, and indeed
by the populace in general, returned into England, and
endeavoured to foment a quarrel between the republics.
The movements of great states are often directed by
as slender springs as those of individuals. Though war
with so considerable a naval power as the Dutch, who
were in peace with all their other neighbours, might
seem dangerous to the yet unsettled commonwealth,
there were several motives which at this time induced
the English Parliament to embrace hostile measures.
Many of the members thought that a foreign war would
serve as a pretence for continuing the same Parliament,
and delaying the new model of a representative, with
which the nation had so long been flattered. Others
hoped that the war would furnish a reason for maintain-
ing some time longer that numerous standing army
which was so much complained of 1 . On the other hand,
some who dreaded the increasing power of Cromwell, ex-
pected that the great expense of naval armaments would
prove a motive for diminishing the military establish-

k Thurloe, vol. i. p. 182.

1 We are told in the Life of Sir Harry Vane, that that famous republican
opposed the Dutch war, and that it was the military gentlemen chiefly who sup-
ported that measure.

VOL. v. 28

326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. ment. To divert the attention of the public from domes-
LX< tic quarrels towards foreign transactions, seemed, in the
p resent disposition of men's minds, to be good policy.
The superior power of the English commonwealth, to-
gether with its advantages of situation, promised suc-
cess j and the parliamentary leaders hoped to gain many
rich prizes from the Dutch, to distress and sink their
flourishing commerce, and by victories to throw a lustre
on their own establishment, which was so new and un-
popular. All these views, enforced by the violent spirit
of St. John, who had great influence over Cromwell, de-
termined the Parliament to change the purposed alliance
into a furious war against the United Provinces.

To cover these hostile intentions, the Parliament, under
pretence of providing for the interests of commerce, em-
braced such measures as they knew would give disgust
to the states. They framed the famous act of navigation,
which prohibited all nations from importing into Eng-
land in their bottoms any commodity which was not the
growth and manufacture of their own country. By
this law, though the terms in which it was conceived
were general, the Dutch were principally affected ; be-
cause their country produces few commodities, and they
subsist chiefly by being the general carriers and factors
of Europe. Letters of reprisal were granted to several
merchants, who complained of injuries which, they pre-
tended, they had received from the states ; and above
eighty Dutch ships fell into their hands, and were made
prizes. The cruelties committed on the English at Am-
boyna, which were certainly enormous, but which seemed
to be buried in oblivion by a thirty years' silence, were
again made the ground of complaint ; and the allowing
the murderers of Dorislaus to escape, and the conniving
at the insults to which St. John had been exposed, were
represented as symptoms of an unfriendly, if not a hos-
tile, disposition in the states.

The states, alarmed at all these steps, sent orders to
their ambassadors to endeavour the renewal of the treaty
of alliance, which had been broken off by the abrupt
departure of St. John. Not to be unprepared, they
equipped a fleet of a hundred and fifty sail, and took care,
by their ministers at London, to inform the council of

THE COMMONWEALTH. 327

state of that armament. This intelligence, instead of CHAP.
striking terror into the English republic, was considered V _ L ^'_ J
as a menace, and farther confirmed the Parliament in 1652
their hostile resolutions. The minds of men in both states
were every day more irritated against each other ; and
it was not long before these humours broke forth into
action.

Tromp, an admiral of great renown, received from the
states the command of a fleet of forty-two sail, in order
to protect the Dutch navigation against the privateers of
the English. He was forced by stress of weather, as he
alleged, to take shelter in the road of Dover, where he
met with Blake, who commanded an English fleet much
inferior in number. Who was the aggressor in the action
which ensued between these two admirals, both of them
men of such prompt and fiery dispositions, it is not easy
to determine ; since each of them sent to his own state
a relation totally opposite in all its circumstances to that
of the other, and yet supported by the testimony of every
captain in his fleet. Blake pretended that, having given
a signal to the Dutch admiral to strike, Tromp, instead
of complying, fired a broadside at him. Tromp asserted
that he was preparing to strike, and that the English
admiral, nevertheless, began hostilities. It is certain that
the admiralty of Holland, who are distinct from the
council of state, had given Tromp no orders to strike,
but had left him to his own discretion with regard to
that vain but much contested ceremonial. They seemed
willing to introduce the claim of an equality with the
new commonwealth, and to interpret the former respect
paid the English flag as a deference due only to the mo-
narchy. This circumstance forms a strong presumption
against the narrative of the Dutch admiral. The whole
Orange party, it must be remarked, to which Tromp was
suspected to adhere, were desirous of a war with England.

Blake, though his squadron consisted only of fifteen
vessels, reinforced, after the battle began, by eight under
Captain Bourne, maintained the fight with bravery for
five hours, and sunk one ship of the enemy, and took
another. Night parted the combatants, and the Dutch
fleet retired towards the coast of Holland. The populace
of London were enraged, and would have insulted the

328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. Dutch ambassadors, who lived at Chelsea, had not the
council of state sent guards to protect them.

^l^" When the states heard of this action, of which the con-
sequences were easily foreseen, they were in the utmost
consternation. They immediately despatched Paw, pen-
sionary of Holland, as their ambassador extraordinary
to London, and ordered him to lay before the Parliament
the narrative which Tromp had sent of the late rencounter.
They entreated them, by all the bands of their common
religion and common liberties, not to precipitate them-
selves into hostile measures, but to appoint commissioners,
who should examine every circumstance of the action,
and clear up the truth, which lay in obscurity ; and they
pretended that they had given no orders to their admiral
to offer any violence to the English, but would severely
punish him, if they found, upon inquiry, that he had been
guilty of an action which they so much disapproved. The
imperious Parliament would hearken to none of these
reasons or remonstrances. Elated by the numerous suc-
cesses which they had obtained over their domestic ene-
mies, they thought that every thing must yield to their
fortunate arms ; and they gladly seized the opportunity
which they sought, of making war upon the states. They
demanded that, without any farther delay or inquiry,
reparation should be made for all the damages which the
English had sustained ; and when this demand was not
complied with, they despatched orders for commencing
war against the United Provinces.

Blake sailed northwards with a numerous fleet, and fell
upon the herring busses, which were escorted by twelve
men of war. All these he either took or dispersed.
Tromp followed him with a fleet of above a hundred sail.
When these two admirals were within sight of each other,
and preparing for battle, a furious storm attacked them.
Blake took shelter in the English harbours. The Dutch
fleet was dispersed, and received great damage.

Aug. 16. Si r George Ayscue, though he commanded only forty
ships, according to the English accounts, engaged, near
Plymouth, the famous De Kuiter, who had under him
fifty ships of war,w T ith thirty merchantmen. The Dutch
ships were indeed of inferior force to the English. De
Kuiter, the only admiral in Europe who has attained a

THE COMMONWEALTH. 329

renown equal to that of the greatest general, defended CHAP.
himself so well, that Ayscue gained no advantage over LX -
him. Night parted them in the greatest heat of
action. De Euiter next day sailed off with his convoy.
The English fleet had been so shattered in the fight, that
it was not able to pursue.

Near the coast of Kent, Blake, seconded by Bourne Oct - 28 -
and Pen, met a Dutch squadron nearly equal in numbers,
commanded by De Witte and De Ruiter. A battle was
fought much to the disadvantage of the Dutch. Their
rear-admiral was boarded and taken. Two other vessels
were sunk, and one blown up. The Dutch next day
made sail towards Holland.

The English were not so successful in the Mediter-
ranean. Van Galen, with much superior force, attacked
Captain Badily, and defeated him. He bought, however,
his victory with the loss of his life.

Sea-fights are seldom so decisive as to disable the Nov< 29 -
vanquished from making head in a little time against the
victors. Tromp, seconded by De Ruiter, met, near the
Goodwins, with Blake, whose fleet was inferior to the
Dutch, but who resolved not to decline the combat. A
furious battle commenced, where the admirals on both
sides, as well as the inferior officers and seamen, exerted
great bravery. In this action the Dutch had the advan-
tage. Blake himself was wounded. The Garland and
Bonaventure were taken. Two ships were burned, and
one sunk : and night came opportunely to save the Eng-
lish fleet. After this victory, Tromp, in a bravado, fixed
a broom to his main-mast, as if he were resolved to sweep
the sea entirely of all English vessels.

Great preparations were made in England, in order to 1653 -
wipe off this disgrace. A gallant fleet of eighty sail was
fitted out. Blake commanded, and Dean under him,
together with Monk, who had been sent for from Scot-
land. When the English lay off Portland, they descried, Feb - 18 -
near break of day, a Dutch fleet of seventy-six vessels
sailing up the channel, along with a convoy of three
hundred merchantmen, who had received orders to wait
at the Isle of Rhe till the fleet should arrive to escort
them. Tromp, and under him De Ruiter, commanded
the Dutch. This battle was the most furious that had

28*

330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, yet been fought between these warlike and rival nations.

V _ L ^'._; Three days was the combat continued with the utmost
1653. ra & e an d obstinacy ; and Blake, who was victor, gained
not more honour than Tromp, who was vanquished. The
Dutch admiral made a skilful retreat, and saved all the
merchant-ships except thirty. He lost, however, eleven
ships of war, had two thousand men slain, and near one
thousand five hundred taken prisoners. The English,
though many of their ships were extremely shattered,
had but one sunk. Their slain were not much inferior
in number to those of the enemy.

All these successes of the English were chiefly owing
to the superior size of their vessels, an advantage which
all the skill and bravery of the Dutch admirals could not
compensate. By means of ship-money, an imposition
which had been so much complained of, and in some
respects with reason, the late king had put the navy into
a situation which it had never attained in any former
reign ; and he ventured to build ships of a size which was
then unusual. But the misfortunes which the Dutch met
with in battle were small in comparison of those which
their trade sustained from the English. Their whole
commerce by the channel was cut off; even that to the
Baltic was much infested by English privateers. Their
fisheries were totally suspended. A great number of
their ships, above one thousand six hundred, had fallen
into the hands of the enemy. And all this distress they
suffered, not for any national interests or necessity, but
from vain points of honour and personal resentments, of
which it was difficult to give a satisfactory account to the
public. They resolved, therefore, to gratify the pride of
the Parliament, and to make some advances towards peace.
They met not, however, with a favourable reception ; and
it was not without pleasure that they learned the dis-
solution of that haughty assembly by the violence of
Cromwell, an event from which they expected a more
prosperous turn to their affairs.

Dissoiu- The zealous republicans in the Parliament had not

tion of the 1 , , . p "

Pariia- been the chiel or first promoters of the war ; but when
it was once entered upon, they endeavoured to draw from
it every possible advantage. On all occasions they set
up the fleet in opposition to the army, and celebrated the

THE COMMONWEALTH.

glory and successes of their naval armaments. They in-
sisted on the intolerable expense to which the nation
was subjected, and urged the necessity of diminishing it,
by a reduction of the land forces. They had ordered some
regiments to serve on board the fleet in the quality of
marines. And Cromwell, by the whole train of their
proceedings, evidently saw that they had entertained a
jealousy of his power and ambition, and were resolved to
bring him to a subordination under their authority. With-
out scruple or delay he resolved to prevent them.

On such firm foundations was built the credit of this
extraordinary man, that though a great master of fraud
and dissimulation, he judged it superfluous to employ
any disguise in conducting this bold enterprise. He
summoned a general council of officers, and immediately
found that they were disposed to receive whatever im-
pressions he was pleased to give them. Most of them
were his creatures, had owed their advancement to his
favour, and relied entirely upon him for their future pre-
ferment. The breach being already made between the
military and civil powers, when the late king was seized
at Holdenby, the general officers regarded the Parlia-
ment as at once their creature and their rival; and
thought that they themselves were entitled to share
among them those offices and riches, of which its mem-
bers had so long kept possession. Harrison, Eich,
Overton, and a few others who retained some principle,
were guided by notions so extravagant, that they were
easily deluded into measures the most violent and most
criminal ; and the whole army had already been guilty
of such illegal and atrocious actions, that they could en-
tertain no farther scruple with regard to any enterprise
which might serve their selfish or fanatical purposes.

In the council of officers it was presently voted to
frame a remonstrance to the Parliament. After com-
plaining of the arrears due to the army, they there de-
sired the Parliament to reflect how many years they had
sitten, and what professions they had formerly made of
their intentions to new-model the representative, and
establish successive Parliaments, who might bear the
burden of national affairs, from which they themselves
would gladly, after so much danger and fatigue, be at

331

CHAP.
LX.

1653

332 HISTORY OP ENGLAND.

CHAP, last relieved. They confessed that the Parliament had
J;^^ achieved great enterprises, and had surmounted mighty

^^ difficulties ; yet was it an injury, they said, to the rest
of the nation, to be excluded from bearing any part in
the service of their country. It was now full time for
them to give place to others; and they therefore de-
sired them, after settling a council who might execute
the laws during the interval, to summon a new Parlia-
ment, and establish that free and equal government
which they had so long promised to the people.

The Parliament took this remonstrance in ill part,
and made a sharp reply to the council of officers. The
officers insisted on their advice ; and by mutual alterca-
tion and opposition the breach became still wider between

April 10. the army and the commonwealth. Cromwell, finding
matters ripe for his purpose, called a council of officers,
in order to come to a determination with regard to the
public settlement. As he had here many friends, so
had he also some opponents. Harrison having assured
the council that the general sought only to pave the
way for the government of Jesus and his saints, Major
Streater briskly replied, that Jesus ought then to come
quickly; for if he delayed it till after Christmas, he
would come too late ; he would find his place occupied.
While the officers were in debate, Colonel Ingoldsby
informed Cromwell that the Parliament was sitting, and
had come to a resolution not to dissolve themselves, but
to fill up the House by new elections, and was at that
very time engaged in deliberations with regard to this
expedient. Cromwell, in a rage, immediately hastened
to the House, and carried a body of three hundred sol-
diers along with him. Some of them he placed at the
door, some in the lobby, some on the stairs. He first
addressed himself to his friend St. John, and told him,
that he had come with a purpose of doing what grieved
him to the very soul, and what he had earnestly with
tears besought the Lord not to impose upon him : but
there was a necessity, in order to the glory of God and
good of the nation. He sat down for some time, and
heard the debate. He beckoned Harrison, and told him,
that he now judged the Parliament ripe for a dissolu-
tion. " Sir," said Harrison, " the work is very great and

THE COMMONWEALTH. 333

dangerous ; I desire you seriously to consider, before you CHAP.
engage in it." "You say well," replied the general;^ 1 ^'^
and thereupon sat still about a quarter of an hour. When 1653
the question was ready to be put, he said again to Har-
rison, " This is the time : I must do it." And suddenly
starting up, he loaded the Parliament with the vilest
reproaches, for their tyranny, ambition, oppression, and
robbery of the public. Then stamping with his foot,
which was a signal for the soldiers to enter, u For shame,"
said he to the Parliament, " get you gone ; give place to
honester men, to those who will more faithfully dis-
charge their trust. You are no longer a Parliament : I
tell you, you are no longer a Parliament. The Lord has
done with you: he has chosen other instruments for
carrying on his work." Sir Harry Yane exclaiming
against this proceeding, he cried with a loud voice, "
Sir Harry Yane ! Sir Harry Yane ! The Lord deliver
me from Sir Harry Yane ! " Taking hold of Martin by
the cloak, " Thou art a whoremaster," said he. To an-
other, " Thou art an adulterer." To a third, " Thou art a
drunkard and a glutton." " And thou an extortioner,"
to a fourth. He commanded a soldier to seize the mace.
" What shall we do with this bauble ? Here, take it
away. It is you," said he, addressing himself to the
House, rt that have forced me upon this. I have sought
the Lord night and day, that he would rather slay me
than put me upon this work." Having commanded the
soldiers to clear the hall, he himself went out the last,
and ordering the doors to be locked, departed to his
lodgings in Whitehall.

In this furious manner, which so well denotes his
genuine character, did Cromwell, without the least oppo-
sition, or even murmur, annihilate that famous assembly
which had filled all Europe with the renown of its
actions, and with astonishment at its crimes, and whose
commencement was not more ardently desired by the
people than was its final dissolution. All parties now
reaped successively the melancholy pleasure of seeing
the injuries which they had suffered revenged on their
enemies, and that too by the same arts which had been
practised against them. The king had, in some instances,
stretched his prerogative beyond its just bounds ; and,

334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, aided by the church, had well nigh put an end to all the
L _ LXt liberties and privileges of the nation. The presbyterians
^^/ checked the progress of the court and clergy, and excited
by cant and hypocrisy the populace, first to tumults,
then to war, against the king, the peers, and all the
royalists. No sooner had they reached the pinnacle of
grandeur, than the independents, under the appearance
of still greater sanctity, instigated the army against them,
and reduced them to subjection. The independents,
amidst their empty dreams of liberty, or rather of do-
minion, were oppressed by the rebellion of their own
servants, and found themselves at once exposed to the
insults of power and hatred of the people. By recenf,
as well as all ancient, example, it was become evident,
that illegal violence, with whatever pretences it may be
covered, and whatever object it may pursue, must in-
evitably end at last in the arbitrary and despotic govern-
ment of a single person.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 335

CHAPTER LXI

CROMWELL'S BIRTH AND PRIVATE LIFE. BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT. CROM-
WELL MADE PROTECTOR. PEACE WITH HOLLAND. A NEW PARLIAMENT
INSURRECTION OF THE ROYALISTS. STATE OF EUROPE. WAR WITH
SPAIN. JAMAICA CONQUERED. SUCCESS AND DEATH OF ADMIRAL
BLAKE. DOMESTIC ADMINISTRATION OF CROMWELL. HUMBLE PETITION
AND ADVICE. DUNKIRK TAKEN. SICKNESS OF THE PROTECTOR. His
DEATH AND CHARACTER.

OLIVER CROMWELL, in whose hands the dissolution of the CHAP.
Parliament had left the whole power, civil and military, , LXL y
of three kingdoms, was born at Huntingdon, the last 1653
year of the former century, of a good family ; though he Cromwell's
himself, being the son of a second brother, inherited but
a small estate from his father. In the course of his edu-
cation he had been sent to the university, but his genius
was found little fitted for the calm and elegant occupations
of learning, and he made small proficiencies in his studies.
He even threw himself into a dissolute and disorderly
course of life; and he consumed in gaming, drinking,
debauchery, and country riots, the more early years of
his youth, and dissipated part of his patrimony. All of
a sudden the spirit of reformation seized him ; he married,
affected a grave and composed behaviour, entered into
all the zeal and rigour of the puritanical party, and offered
to restore to every one whatever sums he had formerly
gained by gaming. The same vehemence of temper
which had transported him into the extremes of pleasure
now distinguished his religious habits. His house was
the resort of all the zealous clergy of the party ; and his
hospitality, as well as his liberalities to the silenced and
deprived ministers, proved as chargeable as his former de-
baucheries. Though he had acquired a tolerable fortune
by a maternal uncle, he found his affairs so injured by
his expenses, that he was obliged to take a farm at St.
Ives, and apply himself for some years to agriculture as
a profession. But this expedient served rather to involve
him in farther debts and difficulties. The long prayers
which he said to his family in the morning, and again in

336 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the afternoon, consumed his own time and that of his
, ploughmen ; and he reserved no leisure for the care of
his temporal affairs. His active mind, superior to the
low occupations to which he was condemned, preyed
upon itself; and he indulged his imagination in visions,
illuminations, revelations, the great nourishment of that
hypochondriacal temper to which he was ever subject.
Urged by his wants and his piety, he had made a party
with Hambden, his near kinsman, who was pressed only
by the latter motive, to transport himself into New
England, now become the retreat of the more zealous
among the puritanical party ; and it was an order of
council which obliged them to disembark and remain in
England. The Earl of Bedford, who possessed a large
estate in the Fen country, near the Isle of Ely, having
undertaken to drain these morasses, was obliged to apply
to the king ; and by the powers of the prerogative he
got commissioners appointed, who conducted that work,
and divided the new acquired land among the several
proprietors. He met with opposition from many, among
whom Cromwell distinguished himself; and this was the
first public opportunity which he had met with of dis-
covering the factious zeal and obstinacy of his character.
From accident and intrigue he was chosen by the town
of Cambridge member of the Long Parliament. His
domestic affairs were then in great disorder; and he
seemed not to possess any talents which could qualify
him to rise in that public sphere into which he was now
at last entered. His person was ungraceful, his dress
slovenly, his voice untuneable, his elocution homely,
tedious, obscure, and embarrassed. The fervour of his
spirit frequently prompted him to rise in the House, but
he was not heard with attention ; his name, for above
two years, is not to be found oftener than twice in any
.committee; and those committees into which he was
admitted were chosen for affairs which would more inte-
rest the zealots than the men of business. In comparison
of the eloquent speakers and fine gentlemen of the House
he was entirely overlooked ; and his friend Hambden
alone was acquainted with the depth of his genius, and
foretold that, if a civil war should ensue, he would soon
rise to eminence and distinction.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 337

Cromwell himself seems to have been conscious where CHAP.
his strength lay ; and partly from that motive, partly LXL
from the uncontrollable fury of his zeal, he always joined ^^*~
that party which pushed every thing to extremities
against the king. He was active in promoting the famous
remonstrance, which was the signal for all the ensuing
commotions ; and when, after a long debate, it was carried
by a small majority, he told Lord Falkland that, if the
question had been lost, he was resolved next flay to have
converted into ready money the remains of his fortune,
and immediately to have left the kingdom. Nor was this
resolution, he said, peculiar to himself; many others of
his party he knew to be equally determined.

He was no less than forty-three years of age when he
first embraced the military profession ; and, by force of
genius, without any master, he soon became an excellent
officer, though perhaps he never reached the fame of a
consummate commander. He raised a troop of horse,
fixed his quarters in Cambridge, exerted great severity
towards that university, which zealously adhered to the
royal party, and showed himself a man who would go all
lengths in favour of that cause which he had espoused.
He would not allow his soldiers to perplex their heads
with those subtleties of fighting by the king's authority
against his person, and of obeying his majesty's commands
signified by both Houses of Parliament : he plainly told
them that, if he met the king in battle, he would fire a
pistol in his face as readily as against any other man.
His troop of horse he soon augmented to a regiment ;
and he first instituted that discipline and inspired that
spirit, which rendered the parliamentary armies in the
end victorious. " Your troops," said he to Hambden,
according to his own account a , " are most of them old
decayed serving men and tapsters, and such kind of
fellows ; the king's forces are composed of gentlemen's
younger sons and persons of good quality. And do you
think that the mean spirits of such base and low fellows
as ours will ever be able to encounter gentlemen that
have honour and courage and resolution in them ? You
must get men of spirit, and take it not ill that I say, of
a spirit that is likely to go as far as gentlemen will go,

a Conference held at Whitehall.

VOL. v. 29

338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND

CHAP, or else I am sure you will still be beaten, as you have
v_^_, hitherto been in every encounter." He did as he pro-

\o^ posed. He enlisted the sons of freeholders and farmers.
He carefully invited into his regiment all the zealous
fanatics throughout England. When they were collected
in a body, their enthusiastic spirit still rose to a higher
pitch. Their colonel, from his own natural character, as
well as from policy, was sufficiently inclined to increase
the flame. * He preached, he prayed, he fought, he
punished, he rewarded. The wild enthusiasm, together
with valour and discipline, still propagated itself; and
all men cast their eyes on so pious and so successful a
leader. From low commands he rose with great rapidity
to be really the first, though in appearance only the
second in the army. By fraud and violence he soon
rendered himself the first in the state. In proportion to
the increase of his authority his talents always seemed
to expand themselves ; and he displayed every day new
abilities, which had lain dormant till the very emergence
by which they were called forth into action. All Europe
stood astonished to see a nation so turbulent and unruly,
who, for some doubtful encroachments on their privileges,
had dethroned and murdered an excellent prince, de-
scended from a long line of monarchs, now at last sub-
dued and reduced to slavery by one, who, a few years
before, was no better than a private gentleman, whose
name was not known in the nation, and who was little
regarded even in that low sphere to which he had always
been confined.

The indignation entertained by the people against an
authority founded on such manifest usurpation was not
so violent as might naturally be expected. Congratu-
latory addresses, the first of the kind, were made to
Cromwell by the fleet, by the army, even by many of
the chief corporations and counties of England, but
especially by the several congregations of saints dispersed
throughout the kingdom b . The royalists, though they
could not love the man who had imbrued his hands in
the blood of their sovereign, expected more lenity from
him, than from the jealous and imperious republicans who
had hitherto governed. The presbyterians were pleased

b See Milton's State Papers.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 339

to see those men, by whom they had been outwitted and CHAP.
expelled, now in their turn expelled and outwitted by.J^,
their own servant ; and they applauded him for this last 1653
act of violence upon the Parliament. These two parties
composed the bulk of the ration, and kept the people in
some tolerable temper. All men, likewise, harassed with
wars and factions, were glad to see any prospect of set-
tlement ; and they deemed it less ignominious to submit
to a person of such admirable talents and capacity, than
to a few ignoble enthusiastic hypocrites, who, under
the name of a republic, had reduced them to a cruel
subjection.

The republicans, being dethroned by Cromwell, were
the party whose resentment he had the greatest reason
to apprehend. That party, besides the independents,
contained two sets of men, who are seemingly of the
most opposite principles, but who were then united by
a similitude of genius and of character. The first and
most numerous were the millenarians, or fifth monarchy
men, who insisted that, dominion being founded in grace,
all distinction in magistracy must be abolished, except
what arose from piety and holiness ; who expected sud-
denly the second coming of Christ upon earth ; and who
pretended that the saints in the mean while, that is,
themselves, were alone entitled to govern. The second
were the deists, who had no other object than political
liberty, who denied entirely the truth of revelation, and
insinuated that all the various sects, so heated against
each other, were alike founded in folly and in error.
Men of such daring geniuses were not contented with
the ancient and legal forms of civil government, but
challenged a degree of freedom beyond what they ex-
pected ever to enjoy under any monarchy. Martin,
Challoner, Harrington, Sidney, Wildman, Nevil, were
esteemed the heads of this small division.

The deists were perfectly hated by Cromwell, because
he had no hold of enthusiasm by which he could govern
or overreach them ; he therefore treated them with great
rigour and disdain, and usually denominated them the
heathens. As the millenarians had a great interest in
the army, it was much more important for him to gain
their confidence ; and their size of understanding afforded

340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, him great facility in deceiving them. Of late years it
i_ LXL _^h. a cl been so usual a topic of conversation to discourse of
1653 Parliaments and councils and senates, and -the soldiers
themselves had been so much accustomed to enter into
that spirit, that Cromwell thought it requisite to establish
something which might bear the face of a commonwealth.
He supposed that God, in his providence, had thrown the
whole right, as well as power, of government into his
hands ; and without any more ceremony, by the advice
of his council of officers, he sent summons to a hundred
and twenty-eight persons of different towns and counties
of England, to five of Scotland, to six of Ireland. He
pretended, by his sole act and deed, to devolve upon
parS ne s tnese tne wn l e authority of the state. This legislative
meat power they were to exercise during fifteen months, and
they were afterwards to choose the same number of per-
sons, who might s-ucceed them in that high and important
office.

There were great numbers at that time who made it
a principle always to adhere to any power which was
uppermost, and to support the established government.
This maxim is not peculiar to the people of that age ;
but what may be esteemed peculiar to them is, that there
prevailed a hypocritical phrase for expressing so pruden-
tial a conduct : it was called a waiting upon Providence.
When Providence, therefore, was so kind as to bestow
on these men, now assembled together, the supreme
authority, they must have been very ungrateful, if, in
their turn, they had been wanting in complaisance to-
4th July, wards her. They immediately voted themselves a Parlia-
ment ; and having their own consent, as well as that of
Oliver Cromwell, for their legislative authority, they now
proceeded very gravely to the exercise of it.

In this notable assembly were some persons of the rank
of gentlemen ; but the far greater part were low me-
chanics; fifth monarchy men, anabaptists, antinomians,
independents; the very dregs of the fanatics. They
began with seeking God by prayer. This office was
performed by eight or ten gifted men of the assembly ;
and with so much success that, according to the confes-
sion of all, they had never before, in any of their devo-
tional exercises, enjoyed so much of the Holy Spirit as

THE COMMONWEALTH. 341

was then communicated to them . Their hearts were, CHAP.
no doubt, dilated when they considered the high dignity ,_ L ^ I- _ y
to which they supposed themselves exalted. They had 1653
been told by Cromwell, in his first discourse, that he
never looked to see such a day, when Christ should be
so owned d . They thought it, therefore, their duty to
proceed to a thorough reformation, and to pave the way
for the reign of the Eedeemer, and for that great work,
which it was expected the Lord was to bring forth among
them. All fanatics, being consecrated by their own fond
imaginations, naturally bear an antipathy to the eccle-
siastics, who claim a peculiar sanctity, derived merely
from their office and priestly character. This Parliament
took into consideration the abolition of the clerical func-
tion, as savouring of popery ; and the taking away of
tithes, which they called a relic of Judaism. Learning,
also, and the universities, were deemed heathenish and
unnecessary ; the common law was denominated a badge
of the conquest and of Norman slavery ; and they threat-
ened the lawyers with a total abrogation of their pro-
fession. Some steps were even taken towards an aboli-
tion of the chancery 6 , the highest court of judicature in
the kingdom ; and the Mosaical law was intended to be
established as the sole system of English jurisprudence^
Of all the extraordinary schemes adopted by these
legislators, they had not leisure to finish any, except
that which established the legal solemnization of mar-
riage by the civil magistrate alone, without the interpo-

c Parl. Hist. vol. xx. p. 182.

d These are his expressions : " Indeed I have but one word more to say to you,
though in that perhaps I shall show my weakness : it is by way of encouragement
to you in this work ; give me leave to begin thus ; I confess I never looked to
have seen such a day as this, it may be nor you neither, when Jesus Christ should
be so owned as he is at this day and in this work. Jesus Christ is owned this day
by your call, and you own him by your willingness to appear for him, and you
manifest this (as far as poor creatures can do) to be a day of the power of Christ.
I know you will remember that scripture, lie makes his people willing in the day of
his power. God manifests it to be the day of the power of Christ, having through
so much blood and so much trial as has been upon this nation, he makes this one
of the greatest mercies, next to his own Son, to have his people called to the
supreme authority. God hath owned his Son, and hath owned you, and hath
made you to own him. I confess, I never looked to have seen such a day ; I did
not." I suppose at this passage he cried, for he was very much given to weeping,
and could at any time shed abundance of tears. The rest of the speech may be
seen among Milton's State Papers, p. 106. It is very curious, and full of the same
obscurity, confusion, embarrassment, and absurdity, which appear in almost all
Oliver's productions.

e Whitlocke, p. 543. 548. f Conference held at Whitehall.

29*

342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, sition of the clergy. They found themselves exposed to
ij^-^the derision of the public. Among the fanatics of the
1653 House, there was an active member, much noted for his
long prayers, sermons, and harangues. He was a leather-
seller in London ; his name, Praise-God Barebone. This
ridiculous name, which seems to have been chosen by
some poet or allegorist to suit so ridiculous a personage,
struck the fancy of the people ; and they commonly
affixed to this assembly the appellation of Barebone's
Parliament*.

The Dutch ambassadors endeavoured to enter into
negotiation with this Parliament; but though Protest-
ants, and even presbyterians, they met with a bad recep-
tion from those who pretended to a sanctity so much su-
perior. The Hollanders were regarded as worldly-minded
men, intent only on commerce and industry, whom it was
fitting the saints should first extirpate, ere they under-
took that great work, to which they believed themselves
destined by Providence, of subduing Antichrist, the man
of sin, and extending to the uttermost bounds of the earth,
the kingdom of the Eedeemer h . The ambassadors find-
ing themselves proscribed, not as enemies of England,
but of Christ, remained in astonishment, and knew not
which was most to be admired, the implacable spirit or
egregious folly of these pretended saints.

8 It was usual for the pretended saints at that time to change their names from
Henry, Edward, Anthony, William, which they regarded as heathenish, into
others more sanctified and godly : even the New Testament names, James, Andrew,
John, Peter, were not held in such regard as those which were borrowed from the
Old Testament, Hezekiah, Habakkuk, Joshua, Zerubbabel. Sometimes a whole
godly sentence was adopted as a name. Here are the names of a jury, said to be
enclosed in the county of Sussex about that time.

Accepted, Trevor of Norsham.
Bedeemed, Compton of Battle.
Faint not, Hewit of Heathfield.
Make Peace, Heaton of Hare.
God Beward, Smart of Fivehurst.
Standfast on High, Stringer of Cow-
hurst.

Earth, Adams of Warbleton.
Called, Lower of the same.
Kill Sin, Pimple of Witham.

Return, S.

Be faithful, Joiner of Britling.

Fly Debate, Boberts of the same.

Fight the good Fight of Faith, White of

Emer.

More Fruit, Fowler of East Halley.
Hope for, Bending of the same.
Graceful, Harding of Lewes.
Weep not, Billing of the same.
Meek, Brewer of Okeham.

See Brome's Travels into England, p. 279. " Cromwell," says Cleveland, " hath
beat up his drums clean through the Old Testament. You may learn the gene-
alogy of our Saviour by the names of his regiment. The muster-master has no
other list than the first chapter of St. MattheAv." The brother of this Praise-God
Barebone had for name, If Christ had not died for you, you had been damned, Barebone.
But the people, tired of this long name, retained only the last word, and commonly
gave him the appellation of Damned Barebone.
k Thurloe, vol. i. p. 273. 591. Also Stubbe, p. 91, 92.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 343

Cromwell began to be ashamed of his legislature. If CHAP.
he ever had any design in summoning so preposterous v _ "* a '_ J
an assembly, beyond amusing the populace and the army, 1653
he had intended to alarm the clergy and lawyers ; and
he had so far succeeded as to make them desire any
other government, which might secure their professions,
now brought into danger by these desperate fanatics.
Cromwell himself was dissatisfied that the Parliament,
though they had derived all their authority from him,
began to pretend power from the Lord 1 , and to insist
already on their divine commission. He had been careful
to summon in his writs several persons entirely devoted
to him. By concert, these met early ; and it was men-
tioned by some among them, that the sitting of this Par-
liament any longer would be of no service to the nation.
They hastened, therefore, to Cromwell, along with Rouse, 12th Dec>
their speaker ; and by a formal deed, or assignment, re-
stored into his hands that supreme authority which they
had so lately received from him. General Harrison and
about twenty more remained in the House ; and that
they might prevent the reign of the saints from coming
to an untimely end, they placed one Moyer in the chair,
and began to draw up protests. They were soon inter-
rupted by Colonel White with a party of soldiers. He
asked them what they did there ? " We are seeking the
Lord," said they. " Then you may go elsewhere," replied
he ; " for to my certain knowledge he has not been here
these many years."

The military being now in appearance, as well as in
reality, the sole power which prevailed in the nation,
Cromwell thought fit to indulge in a new fancy : for he
seems not to have had any deliberate plan in all these
alterations. Lambert, his creature, who, under the appear-
ance of obsequiousness to him, indulged in unbounded
ambition, proposed in a council of officers to adopt another
scheme of government, and to temper the liberty of a
commonwealth by the authority of a single person, who
should be known by the appellation of protector. With-
out delay, he prepared what was called the instrument of tector.
government, containing the plan of this new legislature ;
and as it was supposed to be agreeable to the general, it

l Thurloe, vol. i. p. 393.

344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, was immediately voted by the council of officers. Crom-
^^well was declared protector, and with great solemnity
j 653> installed in that high office.

So little were these men endowed with the spirit of
legislation, that they confessed, or rather boasted, that
they had employed only four days in drawing this instru-
ment, by which the whole government of three kingdoms
was pretended to be regulated and adjusted to all suc-
ceeding generations. There appears no difficulty in be-
lieving them, when it is considered how crude and undi-
gested a system of civil polity they endeavoured to es-
tablish. The chief articles of the instrument are these :
a council was appointed, which was not to exceed twenty-
one, nor be less than thirteen, persons. These were to
enjoy their office during life or good behaviour ; and in
case of a vacancy, the remaining members named three,
of whom the protector chose one. The protector was
appointed supreme magistrate of the commonwealth ; in
his name was all justice to be administered ; from him
were all magistracy and honours derived; he had the
power of pardoning all crimes, excepting murder and
treason; to him the benefit of all forfeitures devolved.
The right of peace, war, and alliance, rested in him ; but
in these particulars he was to act by the advice and with
the consent of his council. The power of the sword was
vested in the protector jointly with the Parliament, while
it was sitting, or with the council of state in the inter-
vals. He was obliged to summon a Parliament every
three years, and allow them to sit five months, without
adjournment, prorogation, or dissolution. The bills which
they passed were to be presented to the protector for his
assent ; but if within twenty days it were not obtained,
they were to become laws by the authority alone of Par-
liament. A standing army for Great Britain and Ire-
land was established, of twenty thousand foot and ten
thousand horse ; and funds were assigned for their
support. These were not to be diminished without the
consent of the protector, and in this article alone he
assumed a negative. During the intervals of Parliament,
the protector and council had the power of enacting
laws, which were to be valid till the next meeting of
Parliament. The chancellor, treasurer, admiral, chief

THE COMMONWEALTH. 345

governors of Ireland and Scotland, and the chief justices CHAP.
of both the benches, must be chosen with the approba-,J'_ y
tion of Parliament ; and in the intervals, with the ap- 1653
probation of the council, to be afterwards ratified by
Parliament. The protector was to enjoy his office during
life, and on his death the place was immediately to be
supplied by the council. This was the instrument of
government enacted by the council of officers, and so-

Ilemnly sworn to by Oliver Cromwell. The council of
state, named by the instrument, were fifteen men entirely
devoted to the protector, and, by reason of the opposi-
tion among themselves in party and principles, not likely
ever to combine against him.

Cromwell said that he accepted the dignity of protec-
tor, merely that he might exert the duty of a constable,
and preserve peace in the nation. Affairs indeed were
brought to that pass by the furious animosities of the
several factions, that the extensive authority, and even
arbitrary power, of some first magistrate was become a
necessary evil, in order to keep the people from relapsing
into blood and confusion. The independents were too
small a party ever to establish a popular government, or
intrust the nation, where they had so little interest, with
the free choice of its representatives. The presbyterians
had adopted the violent maxims of persecution, incom-
patible at all times with the peace of society, much more
with the wild zeal of those numerous sects which pre-
vailed among the people. The royalists were so much
enraged by the injuries which they had suffered, that the
other prevailing parties would never submit to them,
who, they knew, were enabled, merely by the execution
of the ancient laws, to take severe vengeance upon them.
Had Cromwell been guilty of no crime but this tempo-
rary usurpation, the plea of necessity and public good,
which he alleged, might be allowed, in every view, a
reasonable excuse for his conduct.

During the variety of ridiculous and distracted scenes,
which the civil government exhibited in England, the
military force was exerted with vigour, conduct, and
unanimity ; and never did the kingdom appear more
formidable to all foreign nations. The English fleet,
consisting of a hundred sail, and commanded by Monk

346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and Dean, and under them by Pen and Lawson, met,
near ^ e coast f Flanders, with the Dutch fleet, equally
numerous, and commanded by Tromp. The two repub-
lics were not inflamed by any national antipathy, and
their interests very little interfered ; yet few battles
have been disputed with more fierce and obstinate
courage than were those many naval combats which were
fought during this short but violent war. The desire of
remaining sole lords of the ocean, animated these states
to an honourable emulation against each other. After
a battle of two days, in the first of which Dean was
killed, the Dutch, inferior in the size of their ships,
were obliged, with great loss, to retire into their har-
bours. Blake, towards the end of the fight, joined his
countrymen with eighteen sail. The English fleet lay
off the coast of Holland, and totally interrupted the
commerce of that republic.

The ambassadors whom the Dutch had sent over to
England gave them hopes of peace. But as they could
obtain no cessation of hostilities, the states, unwilling to
suffer any longer the loss and dishonour of being block-
aded by the enemy, made the utmost efforts to recover
their injured honour. Never on any occasion did the
power and vigour of that republic appear in a more con-
spicuous light. In a few weeks they had repaired and
manned their fleet ; and they equipped some ships of a
larger size than any which they had hitherto sent to sea.
Tromp issued out, determined again to fight the victors,
and to die rather than to yield the contest. He met with
the enemy, commanded by Monk, and both sides imme-

Juiy 29. diately rushed into the combat. Tromp, gallantly ani-
mating his men, with his sword drawn, was shot through
the heart with a musket ball. This event alone decided
the battle in favour of the English. Though near thirty
ships of the Dutch were sunk and taken, they little
regarded this loss compared with that of their brave
admiral.

Meanwhile the negotiations for peace were continu-
ally advancing. The states, overwhelmed with the ex-
pense of the war, terrified by their losses, and mortified
by their defeats, were extremely desirous of an accom-
modation with an enemy whom they found, by experi-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 34

ence, too powerful for them. The king having shown CHAP.
an inclination to serve on board their fleet, though they.j 1 ^ 1 ^
expressed their sense of the honour intended them, they 1653
declined an offer which might inflame the quarrel with
the English commonwealth. The great obstacle to the
peace was found, not to be any animosity on the part of
the English, but, on the contrary, a desire, too earnest,
of union and confederacy. Cromwell had revived the
chimerical scheme of a coalition with the United Pro-
vinces; a total conjunction of government, privileges,
interests, and counsels. This project appeared so wild 1654.
to the states, that they wondered any man of sense could
ever entertain it; and they refused to enter into con- isth April.
ferences with regard to a proposal, which could serve
only to delay any practicable scheme of accommodation.
The peace was at last signed by Cromwell, now invested Pcacewith

.,1 -Si j- -t. e P x j -x - xi Holland.

with the dignity of protector ; and it proves sufficiently
that the war had been impolitic, since, after the most
signal victories, no terms more advantageous could be
obtained. A defensive league was made between the
two republics. They agreed each of them to banish the
enemies of the other ; those who had been concerned in
the massacre of Amboyna were to be punished, if any
remained alive ; the honour of the flag was yielded to
the English ; eighty-five thousand pounds were stipulated
to be paid by the Dutch East India Company for losses
which the English Company had sustained; and the
island of Polerone in the East Indies was promised to
be ceded to the latter.

Cromwell, jealous of the connexions between the
royal family and that of Orange, insisted on a separate
article, that neither the young prince nor any of his
family should ever be invested with the dignity of stadt-
holder. The province of Holland, strongly prejudiced
against that office, which they esteemed dangerous to
liberty, secretly ratified this article. The protector,
knowing that the other provinces would not be in-
duced to make such a concession, was satisfied with this

security.

The Dutch war being successful, and the peace rea-
sonable, brought credit to Cromwell's administration.
An act of justice, which he exercised at home, gave

348 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, likewise satisfaction to the people ; though the regularity
,j'_ y of it may, perhaps, appear somewhat doubtful. Don
1654 Pantaleon Sa, brother to the Portuguese ambassador,
and joined with him in the same commission k , fancying
himself to be insulted, came upon the exchange, armed
and attended by several servants. By mistake, he fell
on a gentleman whom he took for the person that had
given him the offence ; and having butchered him with
many wounds, he and all his attendants took shelter in
the house of the Portuguese ambassador, who had con-
nived at this base enterprise 1 . The populace surrounded
the house, and threatened to set fire to it. Cromwell
sent a guard, who seized all the criminals. They were
brought to trial : and notwithstanding the opposition of
the ambassador, who pleaded the privileges of his office,
Don Pantaleon was executed on Tower-hill. The laws
of nations were here plainly violated : but the crime
committed by the Portuguese gentleman was, to the last
degree, atrocious : and the vigorous chastisement of it,
suiting so well to the undaunted character of Cromwell,
was universally approved of at home, and admired among
foreign nations. The situation of Portugal obliged that
court to acquiesce ; and the ambassador soon after signed
with the protector a treaty of peace and alliance, which
was very advantageous to the English commerce.

Another act of severity, but necessary in his situation,
was at the very same time exercised by the protector,
in the capital punishment of Gerard and Vowel, two
royalists, who were accused of conspiring against his
life. He had erected a high court of justice for their
trial ; an infringement of the ancient laws, which at this
time was become familiar, but one to which no custom
or precedent could reconcile the nation. Juries were
found altogether unmanageable. The restless Lilburn,
for new offences, had been brought to a new trial ; and
had been acquitted with new triumph and exultation.
If no other method of conviction had been devised dur-
ing this illegal and unpopular government, all its enemies
were assured of entire impunity.

AnewPar ^ ie P rotector nac ^ occasion to observe the prejudices
liament. entertained against his government by the disposition of

fc Thuiioe, vol. ii. p. 429. 1 Ibid. vol. i. p. 616.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 349

the Parliament, which he summoned on the third of CHAP.
September, that day of the year on which he gained his LXL
two great victories of Dunbar and Worcester, and which S ^^7"~
he always regarded as fortunate for him. It must be
confessed that, if we are left to gather Cromwell's inten-
tions from his instrument of government, it is such a
motley piece, that we cannot easily conjecture whether
he seriously meant to establish a tyranny or a republic.
On one hand, a first magistrate, in so extensive a go-
vernment, seemed necessary both for the dignity and
tranquillity of the state ; and the authority which he as-
sumed as protector, was, in some respects, inferior to the
prerogatives, which the laws intrusted and still intrust
to the king. On the other hand, the legislative power
which he reserved to himself and council, together with
so great an army, independent of the Parliament, were
bad prognostics of his intention to submit to a civil and
legal constitution. But if this were not his intention,
the method in which he distributed and conducted the
elections, being so favourable to liberty, forms an incon-
sistency which is not easily accounted for. He deprived
of their right of election all the small boroughs, places
the most exposed to influence and corruption. Of four
hundred members, which represented England, two hun-
dren and seventy were chosen by the counties. The rest
were elected by London, and the more considerable cor-
porations. The lower populace too, so easily guided or
deceived, were excluded from the elections: an estate
of two hundred pounds value was necessary to entitle
any one to a vote. The elections of this Parliament were
conducted with perfect freedom; and excepting that
such of the royalists as had borne arms against the Par-
liament and all their sons were excluded, a more fair re-
presentation of the people could not be desired or ex-
pected. Thirty members were returned from Scotland ;
as many from Ireland.

The protector seems to have been disappointed, when
he found that all these precautions, which were probably
nothing but covers to his ambition, had not procured
him the confidence of the public. Though Cromwell's
administration was less odious to every party, than that
of any other party, yet was it entirely acceptable to

VOL. v. 30

350 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. none. The royalists had been instructed by the king to
^J ^remain quiet, and to cover themselves under the appear-
1654 ance of republicans ; and they found in this latter fac-
tion such inveterate hatred against the protector, that
they could not wish for more zealous adversaries to his
authority. It was maintained by them, that the pretence
of liberty and a popular election was but a new artifice
of this great deceiver, in" order to lay asleep the deluded
nation, and give himself leisure to rivet their chains
more securely upon them: that in the instrument of
government he openly declared his intention of still re-
taining the same mercenary army, by whose assistance
he had subdued the ancient established government, and
who would with less scruple obey him in overturning,
whenever he should please to order them, that new sys-
tem, w r hich he himself had been pleased to model : that
being sensible of the danger and uncertainty of all military
government, he endeavoured to intermix some appear-
ance, and but an appearance, of civil administration, and
to balance the army by a seeming consent of the people.
That the absurd trial, which he had made, of a Parlia-
ment elected by himself, appointed perpetually to elect
their successors, plainly proved, that he aimed at nothing
but temporary expedients, was totally averse to a free
republican government, and possessed not that mature
and deliberate reflection, which could qualify him to act
the part of a legislator: that his imperious character,
which had betrayed itself in so many incidents, could
never seriously submit to legal limitations ; nor would
the very image of popular government be longer upheld
than while conformable to his arbitrary will and pleasure :
and that the best policy was to oblige him to take off
the mask at once ; and either submit entirely to that
Parliament which he had summoned, or, by totally re*
jecting its authority, leave himself no resource but in his
seditious and enthusiastic army.

In prosecution of these views, the Parliament, having
heard the protector's speech, three hours long m , and
having chosen Lenthal for their speaker, immediately
entered into a discussion of the pretended instrument
of government, and of that authority which Cromwell,

m Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 588.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 351

>y the title of protector, had assumed over the nation. CHAP.
The greatest liberty was used in arraigning this ^ew v j L ^ I '_ J
dignity; and even the personal character and conduct 1654
of Cromwell escaped not without censure. The utmost
that could be obtained by the officers and by the court
party, for so they were called, was to protract the debate
by arguments and long speeches, and prevent the decision
of a question, which, they were sensible, would be car-
ried against them by a great majority. The protector,
surprised and enraged at this refractory spirit in the Par-
liament, which however he had so much reason to expect,
sent for them to the painted chamber, and with an air
of great authority inveighed against their conduct. He
told them, that nothing could be more absurd than for
them to dispute his title ; since the same instrument of
government which made them a Parliament, had invested
him with the protectorship ; that some points in the new
constitution were supposed to be fundamentals, and were
not, on any pretence, to be altered or disputed ; that
among these were the government of the nation by a
single person and a Parliament, their joint authority
over the army and militia, the succession of new Parlia-
ments, and liberty of conscience ; and that, with regard
to these particulars, there was reserved to him a negative
voice, to which, in the other circumstances of govern-
ment, he confessed himself nowise entitled.

The protector now found the necessity of exacting a
security which, had he foreseen the spirit of the House,
he would with better grace have required at their first
meeting 11 . He obliged the members to sign a recogni-
tion of his authority, and an engagement not to propose
or consent to any alteration in the government, as it
was settled in a single person and a Parliament ; and he
placed guards at the door of the House, who allowed
none but subscribers to enter. Most of the members,
after some hesitation, submitted to this condition ; but
retained the same refractory spirit which they had dis-
covered in their first debates. The instrument of go-
vernment was taken in pieces, and examined, article by
article, with the most scrupulous accuracy : very free
topics were advanced with the general approbation of

* Thurloe, vol. ii. p. 620.

352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, the House : and during the whole course of their pro-
i_ LXI _^ ceedings, they neither sent up one bill to the protector,
1654 nor took any notice of him. Being informed that con-
spiracies were entered into between the members and
some malecontent officers, he hastened to the dissolution
less. O f go dangerous an assembly. By the instrument of go-

22d Jan. 1-iiiT T T 11

vernment, to which he had sworn, no Parliament could
be dissolved till it had sitten five months ; but Cromwell
pretended that a month contained only twenty-eight days,
according to the method of computation practised in pay-
ing the fleet and army. The full time, therefore, accord-
ing to this reckoning, being elapsed, the Parliament was
ordered to attend the protector, who made them a tedi-
ous, confused, angry harangue, and dismissed them. Were
we to judge of Cromwell's capacity by this, and indeed by
all his other compositions, we should be apt to entertain
no very favourable idea of it. But in the great variety
of human geniuses, there are some which, though they
see their object clearly and distinctly in general, yet,
when they come to unfold its parts by discourse or writ-
ing, lose that luminous conception which they had before
attained. All accounts agree in ascribing to Cromwell a
tiresome, dark, unintelligible elocution, even when he
had no intention to disguise his meaning : yet no man's
actions were ever, in such a variety of difficult incidents,
more decisive and judicious.

The electing of a discontented Parliament is a proof
of a discontented nation : the angry and abrupt dissolu-
tion of that Parliament is always sure to increase the
general discontent. The members of this assembly, re-
turning to their counties, propagated that spirit of mutiny
which they had exerted in the House. Sir Harry Yane
and the old republicans, who maintained the indissoluble
authority of the Long Parliament, encouraged the mur-
murs against the present usurpation ; though they acted
so cautiously as to give the protector no handle against
them. Wildman and some others of that party carried
still farther their conspiracies against the protector's au-
thority. The royalists, observing this general ill-will
towards the establishment, could no longer be retained
in subjection ; but fancied that every one who was dis-
satified like them, had also embraced the same views

THE COMMONWEALTH. 353

and inclinations. They did not consider that the old CHAP.
parliamentary party, though many of them were dis-,_ L ^ L _ y
pleased with Cromwell, who had dispossessed them of 1655
their power, were still more apprehensive of any success
to the royal cause ; whence, besides a certain prospect of
the same consequence, they had so much reason to dread
the severest vengeance for their past transgressions.

In concert with the king, a conspiracy was entered ^^ ie
into by the royalists throughout England, and a day of royalists.
general rising appointed. Information of this design
was conveyed to Cromwell. The protector's administra-
tion was extremely vigilant. Thurloe, his secretary, had
spies everywhere. Manning, who had access to the
king's family, kept a regular correspondence with him.
And it was not difficult to obtain intelligence of a con-
federacy, so generally diffused among a party who valued
themselves more on zeal and courage than on secrecy
and sobriety. Many of the royalists were thrown into
prison. Others, on the approach of the day, were ter-
rified with the danger of the undertaking, and remained
at home. In one place alone the conspiracy broke into
action. Penruddoc, Groves, Jones, and other gentlemen nth Mar.
of the west, entered Salisbury with about two hundred
horse, at the very time when the sheriff and judges were
holding the assizes. These they made prisoners, and they
proclaimed the king. Contrary to their expectations,
they received no accession of force so prevalent was the
terror of the established government. Having in vain
wandered about for some time, they were totally dis-
couraged and one troop of horse was able at last -to
suppress them. The leaders of the conspiracy, being
taken prisoners, were capitally punished. The rest were
sold for slaves, and transported to Barbadoes.

The easy subduing of this insurrection, which, by the
boldness of the undertaking, struck at -first a great terror
into the nation, was a singular felicity to the protector,
who could not, without danger, have brought together
any considerable body of his mutinous army, in order to
suppress it. The very insurrection itself he regarded as
a fortunate event ; since it proved the reality of those
conspiracies which his enemies, on every occasion, re-
presented as mere fictions, invented to colour his tyran-

30*

354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, nical severities. He resolved to keep no longer any
LXL terms with the royalists, who, though they were not
S "~^55 perhaps the most implacable of his enemies, were those
whom he could oppress under the most plausible pre-
tences, and who met with least countenance and protec-
tion from his adherents. He issued an edict, with the
consent of his council, for exacting the tenth penny from
that whole party ; in order, as he pretended, to make
them pay the expenses to which their mutinous disposi-
tion continually exposed the public. Without regard to
compositions, articles of capitulation, or acts of indemnity,
all the royalists, however harassed with former oppres-
sions, were obliged anew to redeem themselves by great
sums of money ; and many of them were reduced by
these multiplied disasters to extreme poverty. Whoever
was known to be disaffected, or even lay under any
suspicion, though no guilt could be proved against him,
was exposed to the new exaction.

In order to raise this imposition, which commonly
passed by the name of decimation, the protector instituted
twelve major-generals, and divided the whole kingdom
of England into so many military jurisdictions . These
men, assisted by commissioners, had power to subject
whom they pleased to decimation, to levy all the taxes
imposed by the protector and his council, and to imprison
any person who should be exposed to their jealousy or
suspicion ; nor was there any appeal from them but to
the protector himself and his council. Under colour of
these powers, which were sufficiently exorbitant, the
major-generals exercised an authority still more arbitrary,
and acted as if absolute masters of the property and
person of every subject. All reasonable men now con-
cluded that the very mask of liberty was thrown aside,
and that the nation was for ever subjected to military and
despotic government, exercised not in the legal manner
of European nations, but according to the maxims of
eastern tyranny. Not only the supreme magistrate owed
his authority to illegal force and usurpation ; he had
parcelled out the people into so many subdivisions of
slavery, and had delegated to his inferior ministers the

o Parl. Hist. vol. xx. p. 433.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 355

same unlimited authority which he himself had so violently CHAP.
assumed. ^^^^

A government totally military and despotic is almost 1655
sure, after some time, to fall into impotence and languor :
but when it immediately succeeds a legal constitution,, it
may, at first, to foreign nations, appear very vigorous and
active, and may exert with more unanimity that power,
spirit, and riches, which had been acquired under a better
form. It seems now proper, after so long an interval,
to look abroad to the general state of Europe, and to
consider the measures which England at this time em-
braced in its negotiations with the neighbouring princes.
The moderate temper and unwarlike genius of the two
last princes, the extreme difficulties under which they
laboured at home, and the great security which they
enjoyed from foreign enemies, had rendered them negli-
gent of the transactions on the continent ; and England,
during their reigns, had been in a manner overlooked in
the general system of Europe. The bold and restless
genius of the protector led him to extend his alliances
and enterprises to every part of Christendom ; and partly
from the ascendant of his magnanimous spirit, partly from
the situation of foreign kingdoms, the weight of England,
even under its most legal and bravest princes, was never
more sensibly felt than during this unjust and violent
usurpation.

A war of thirty years, the most signal and most de-
structive that had appeared in modern annals, was at last
finished in Germany p and by the treaty of Westphalia
were composed those fatal quarrels which had been ex-
cited by the Palatine's precipitate acceptance of the crown
of Bohemia. The young Palatine was restored to part
of his dignities and of his dominions' 1 . The rights,
privileges, and authority of the several members of the
Germanic body were fixed and ascertained : sovereign
princes and free states were in some degree reduced to
obedience under laws : and by the valour of the heroic
Gustavus, the enterprises of the active Eichelieu, the
intrigues of the artful Mazarine, was in part effected,

P In 1648.

i This prince, during the civil wars, had much neglected his uncle, and paid court
to the Parliament. He accepted of a pension of eight thousand pounds a year from
them, and took a place in their assembly of divines.

356 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, after an infinite expense of blood and treasure, what had
fondly expected and loudly demanded from the
feeble efforts of the pacific James, seconded by the scanty
supplies of his jealous Parliaments.

Sweden, which had acquired by conquest large do-
minions in the North of Germany, w r as engaged in enter-
prises which promised her, from her success and valour,
still more extensive acquisitions on the side both of Poland
and of Denmark. Charles X.,who had mounted the throne
of that kingdom after the voluntary resignation of Chris-
tina, being stimulated by the fame of Gustavus, as well
as by his own martial disposition, carried his conquering
arms to the south of the Baltic, and gained the celebrated
battle of Warsaw, which had been obstinately disputed
during the space of three days. The protector, at the
time his alliance was courted by every power in Europe,
anxiously courted the alliance of Sweden ; arid he was
fond of forming a confederacy with a Protestant power
of such renown, even though it threatened the whole
North with conquest and subjection.

The transactions of the Parliament and protector with
France had been various and complicated. The emissaries
of Richelieu had furnished fuel to the flame of rebellion,
when it first broke out in Scotland ; but after the con-
flagration had diffused itself, the French court observing
the materials to be of themselves sufficiently combustible,
found it unnecessary any longer to animate the British
malecontents to an opposition of their sovereign. On
the contrary, they offered their mediation for composing
these intestine disorders; and their ambassadors, from
decency, pretended to act in concert with the court of
England, and to receive directions from a prince with
whom their master was connected by so near an affinity.
Meanwhile, Richelieu died ; and soon after him the French
king, Louis XIII., leaving his son, an infant four years
old, and his widow, Anne of Austria, regent of the king-
dom. Cardinal Mazarine succeeded Richelieu in the
ministry; and the same plans of general policy, though by
men of such opposite characters, was still continued in the
French councils. The establishment of royal authority,
the reduction of the Austrian family, were pursued with
ardour and success ; and every year brought an accession

THE COMMONWEALTH. 357

of force and grandeur to the French monarchy. Not CHAP.
only battles were won, towns and fortresses taken ; the ^ LXL
genius too of the nation seemed gradually to improve, 1655
and to compose itself to the spirit of dutiful obedience
and of steady enterprise. A Conde, a Turenne, were
formed ; and the troops animated by their valour, and
guided by their discipline, acquired every day a greater
ascendant over the Spaniards. All of a sudden, from
some intrigues of the court, and some discontents in the
courts of judicature, intestine commotions were excited,
and every thing relapsed into confusion. But these re-
bellions of the French, neither ennobled by the spirit of
liberty, nor disgraced by the fanatical extravagances
which distinguished the British civil wars, were conducted
with little bloodshed, and made but a small impression on
the minds of the people. Though seconded by the force
of Spain, and conducted by the Prince of Conde, the
malecontents, in a little time, w r ere either expelled or
subdued ; and the French monarchy, having lost a few of
its conquests, returned with fresh vigour to the acquisi-
tion of new dominion.

The Queen of England and her son Charles, during
these commotions, passed most of their time at Paris;
and, notwithstanding their near connexion of blood, re-
ceived but few civilities, and still less support, from the
French court. Had the queen-regent been ever so much
inclined to assist the English prince, the disorders of her
own affairs would for a long time have rendered such in-
tentions impracticable. The banished queen had a mode-
rate pension assigned her ; but it was so ill paid, and her
credit ran so low, that one morning, when the Cardinal
de Retz waited on her, she informed him that her
daughter, the Princess Henrietta, was obliged to lie a-bed,
for want of a fire to warm her. To such a condition
was reduced, in the midst of Paris, a queen of England,
and daughter of Henry IY. of France !

The English Parliament, however, having assumed
the sovereignty of the state, resented the countenance,
cold as it was, which the French court gave to the
unfortunate monarch. On pretence of injuries, of which
the English merchants complained, they issued letters
of reprisal upon the French ; and Blake went so far as

358 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, to attack and seize the whole squadron of ships, which
,_ L ^ ] ^_, were carrying supplies to Dunkirk, then closely besieged
less, by the Spaniards. That town, disappointed of these
supplies, fell into the hands of the enemy. The French
ministry soon found it necessary to change their measures.
They treated Charles with such affected indifference, that
he thought it more decent to withdraw, and prevent the
indignity of being desired to leave the kingdom. He
went first to Spaw, thence he retired to Cologne ; where
he lived two years on a small pension, about six thou-
sand pounds a year, paid him by the court of France,
and on some contributions sent him by his friends in
England. In the management of his family, he disco-
vered a disposition to order and economy ; and his tem-
per, cheerful, careless, and sociable, was more than a suffi-
cient compensation for that empire of which his enemies
had bereaved him. Sir Edward Hyde, created lord chan-
cellor, and the Marquis of Ormond, were his chief friends
and confidants.

If the French ministry had thought it prudent to bend
under the English Parliament, they deemed it still more
necessary to pay deference to the protector, when he
assumed the reins of government. Cardinal Mazarine,
by whom all the councils of France were directed, was
artful and vigilant, supple and patient, false and intri-
guing ; desirous rather to prevail by dexterity than vio-
lence, and placing his honour more in the final success
of his measures, than in the splendour and magnanimity
of the means which he employed. Cromwell, by his
imperious character, rather than by the advantage of his
situation, acquired an ascendant over this man; and
every proposal made by the protector, however unrea-
sonable in itself, and urged with whatever insolence,
met with a ready compliance from the politic and timid
cardinal. Bourdeaux was sent over to England as
minister ; and all circumstances of respect were paid to
the daring usurper, who had imbrued his hands in the
blood of his sovereign, a prince so nearly related to the
royal family of France. With indefatigable patience
did Bourdeaux conduct this negotiation, which Crom-
well seemed entirely to neglect ; and though privateers,
with English commissions, committed daily depreda-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 359

tions on the French commerce. Mazarine was content, CHAP.
in hopes of a fortunate issue, still to submit to these in-,_ L ^ I _^
dignities". 1655-

The court of Spain, less connected with the unfor-
tunate royal family, and reduced to greater distress than
the French monarchy, had been still more forward in her
advances to the prosperous Parliament and protector.
Don Alonzo de Cardenas, the Spanish envoy, was the
first public minister who recognized the authority of the
new republic ; and in return for this civility, Ascham was
sent envoy into Spain by the Parliament. No sooner
had this minister arrived at Madrid, than some of the
banished royalists, inflamed by that inveterate hatred
which animated the English factions, broke into his
chamber, and murdered him, together with his secretary.
Immediately they took sanctuary in the churches ; and,
assisted by the general favour which everywhere attended
the royal cause, were enabled, most of them, to make
their escape. Only one of the criminals suffered death ;
and the Parliament seemed to rest satisfied with this
atonement.

Spain at this time, assailed everywhere by vigorous
enemies from without, and labouring under many inter-
nal disorders, retained nothing of her former grandeur,
except the haughty pride of her counsels, and the hatred
and jealousy of her neighbours. Portugal had rebelled,
and established her monarchy in the house of Braganza :
Catalonia, complaining of violated privileges, had re-
volted to France : Naples was shaken with popular con-
vulsions : the Low Countries were invaded with superior
forces, and seemed ready to change their master : the
Spanish infantry, anciently so formidable, had been anni-
hilated by Conde in the fields of Kocroy : and though
the same prince, banished France, sustained, by his ac-
tivity and valour, the falling fortunes of Spain, he could
only hope to protract, not prevent, the ruin with which
that monarchy was visibly threatened.

Had Cromwell understood and regarded the interests
of his country, he would have supported the declining

r Thurloe, vol. iii. p. 103. 619. 653. In the treaty, which was signed after
long negotiation, the protector's name was inserted before the French king's in
that copy which remained in England. Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 116. See farther, vol.
vii. p. 178.

360 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, condition of Spain against the dangerous ambition of
^ ^ France, and preserved that balance of power, on which
less. the greatness and security of England so much depend.
Had he studied only his own interests, he would have
maintained an exact neutrality between those great mo-
narchies ; nor would he have hazarded his ill-acquired
and unsettled power, by provoking foreign enemies, who
might lend assistance to domestic faction, and overturn
his tottering throne. But his magnanimity undervalued
danger : his active disposition, and avidity of extensive
glory, made him incapable of repose : and as the policy
of men is continually warped by their temper, no sooner
was peace made with Holland, than he began to delibe-
rate what new enemy he should invade with his victo-
rious arms.

^ ie ex ^ ens i ve empire and yet extreme weakness of
Spain in the West Indies; the vigorous courage and
great naval power of England ; were circumstances
which, when compared, excited the ambition of the en-
terprising protector, and made him hope that he might,
by some gainful conquest, render for ever illustrious
that dominion which he had assumed over his country.
Should he fail in these durable acquisitions, the Indian
treasures, which must every year cross the ocean to reach
Spain, were, he thought, a sure prey to the English navy,
and would support his military force without his laying
new burdens on the discontented people. From France
a vigorous resistance must be expected : no plunder, no
conquests, could be hoped for ; the progress of his arms,
even if attended with success, must there be slow and
gradual : and the advantages acquired, however real,
would be less striking to the multitude, whom it was
his interest to allure. The royal family, so closely con-
nected with the French monarch, might receive great
assistance from that neighbouring kingdom ; and an army
of French Protestants, landed in England, would be able,
he dreaded, to unite the most opposite factions against
the present usurpation 8 .

These motives of policy were probably seconded by
his bigoted prejudices ; as no human mind ever contained

8 See the account of the negotiations with France and Spain, by Thuiioe. vol. i.
p. 759.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 361

so strange a mixture of sagacity and absurdity, as that CHAP.
of this extraordinary personage. The Swedish alliance, LXI
though much contrary to the interests of England, he ^^^
had contracted merely from his zeal for Protestantism * ;
and Sweden being closely connected with France, he
could not hope to maintain that confederacy, in which
he so much prided himself, should a rupture ensue be-
tween England and this latter kingdom u . The Hugonots,
he expected, would meet with better treatment, while
he engaged in a close union with their sovereign w . And
as the Spaniards were much more Papists than the French,
were much more exposed to the old puritanical hatred x ,
and had even erected the bloody tribunal of the inqui-
sition, whose rigours they had re fused to mitigate on Crom-
well's solicitation y ; he hoped that a holy and merito-
rious war with such idolaters could not fail of protection
from Heaven 2 . A preacher likewise, inspired, as was
supposed, by a prophetic spirit, bid him go and prosper :
calling him a stone cut out of the mountains without hands,
that would Ireak the pride of the Spaniard, crush Anti-
christ, and make way for the purity of the Gospel over the
whole world*.

Actuated equally by these bigoted, these ambitious,
and these interested motives, the protector equipped two
considerable squadrons ; and while he was making those
preparations, the neighbouring states, ignorant of his in-
tentions, remained in suspense, and looked with anxious
expectation on Avhat side the storm should discharge
itself. One of these squadrons, consisting of thirty capital
ships, was sent into the Mediterranean under Blake, whose
fame was now spread over Europe. No English fleet,
except during the Crusades, had ever before sailed in
those seas ; and from one extremity to the other, there
was no naval force, Christian or Mahometan, able to
resist them. The Koman pontiff, whose weakness and

* He proposed to Sweden a general league and confederacy of all the Protes-
tants. Whitlocke, p. 620. Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 1. In order to judge of the
maxims by which he conducted his foreign politics, see farther, Thurloe, vol. iv. p.
295. 343. 443; vol. vii. p. 174.

u Thurloe, vol. i. p. 759. w Id. ibid. * Id. ibid.

y Id. ibid. Don Alonzo said, that the Indian trade and the inquisition were
his master's two eyes, and the protector insisted upon the putting out both of them
at once.

z Carrington, p. 191. a Bates.

VOL. V. 31

362 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, whose pride equally provoked attacks, dreaded invasion
^J ^ from a power which professed the most inveterate enmity
less against him, and which so little regulated its movements
by the usual motives of interest and prudence. Blake,
casting anchor before Leghorn, demanded and obtained
from the Duke of Tuscany reparation for some losses
which the English commerce had formerly sustained
from him. He next sailed to Algiers, and compelled the
dey to make peace, and to restrain his piratical subjects
from farther violences on the English. He presented
himself before Tunis; and having there made the same
demands, the dey of that republic bade him look to the
castles of Porto Farino and Goletta, and do his utmost.
Blake needed not to be roused by such a bravado : he
drew his ships close up to the castles, and tore them in
pieces with his artillery. He sent a numerous detach-
ment of sailors in their long-boats into the harbour, and
burned every ship which lay there. This bold action,
which its very temerity, perhaps, rendered safe, was exe-
cuted with little loss, and filled all that part of the world
with the renown of English valour.

Jamaica The other squadron was not equally successful. It
'was commanded by Pen, and carried on board four thou-
sand men, under the command of Yenables. About five
thousand more joined them from Barbadoes and St.
Christopher's. Both these officers were inclined to the
king's service b ; and it is pretended that Cromwell was
obliged to hurry the soldiers on board, in order to prevent
the execution of a conspiracy w r hich had been formed
among them, in favour of the exiled family c . The ill
success of this enterprise may justly be ascribed, as much
to the injudicious schemes of the protector, who planned
it, as to the bad execution of the officers by whom it was
conducted. The soldiers were the refuse of the whole,
army : the forces enlisted in the West Indies were the
most profligate of mankind : Pen and Yenables were of
incompatible tempers : the troops were not furnished
with arms fit for such an expedition : their provisions
were defective both in quantity and quality : all hopes
of pillage, the best incentive to valour among such men,
were refused the soldiers and seamen : no directions or

i> Clarendon. c yi ta D. Benvici, p. 124.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 353

intelligence were given to conduct the officers in their CHAP.

T ATT

enterprise : and at the same time they were tied down ,_ "~ _,
to follow the advice of commissioners who disconcerted 1655
them in all their projects' 1 .

It was agreed by the admiral and general to attempt April is.
St. Domingo, the only place of strength in the island of
Hispaniola. On the approach of the English, the Span-
iards, in a fright, deserted their houses, and fled into the
woods. Contrary to the opinion of Venables, the sol-
diers were disembarked, without guides, ten leagues dis-
tant from the town. They wandered four days through
the woods without provisions, and, what was still more
intolerable in that sultry climate, without water. The
Spaniards recovered spirit, and attacked them. The
English, discouraged with the bad conduct of their offi-
cers, and scarcely alive from hunger, thirst, and fatigue,
were unable to resist. An inconsiderable number of the
enemy put the whole army to rout, killed six hundred of
them, and chased the rest on board their vessels.

The English commanders, in order to atone as much
as possible for this unprosperous attempt, bent their
course to Jamaica, which was surrendered to them with-
out a blow. Pen and Yenables returned to England, and
were both of them sent to the Tower by the protector,
who, though commonly master of his fiery temper, was
thrown into a violent passion at this disappointment.
He had made a conquest of greater importance than he
was himself at that time aware of; yet was it much in-
ferior to the vast projects which he had formed. He gave
orders, however, to support it by men and money ; and
that island has ever since remained in the hands of the
English; the chief acquisition which they owe to the
enterprising spirit of Cromwell.

As soon as the news of this expedition, which was an 1656.
unwarrantable violation of treaty, arrived in Europe, the
Spaniards declared war against England, and seized all
the ships and goods of English merchants, of which they
could make themselves masters. The commerce with
Spain, so profitable to the English, was cut off; and near

a Burchet's Naval History. See also Carte's Collection, vol. ii. p. 46, 47.
Tkurloe, vol. iii. p. 505.

364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, fifteen hundred vessels, it is computed e , fell, in a few years,
^J ^_,into the hands of the enemy. Blake, to whom Montague
less. was now joined in command, after receiving new orders,
prepared himself for hostilities against the Spaniards.

Several sea officers, having entertained scruples of con-
science with regard to the justice of the Spanish war,
threw up their commissions and retired f . No commands,
they thought, of their superiors, could justify a war,
which was contrary to the principles of natural equity,
and which the civil magistrate had no right to order.
Individuals, they maintained, in resigning to the public
their natural liberty, could bestow on it only what they
themselves were possessed of, a right of performing
lawful actions, and could invest it with no authority of
commanding what is contrary to the decrees of heaven.
Such maxims, though they seem reasonable, are perhaps
too perfect for human nature ; and must be regarded as
one effect, though of the most innocent and even honour-
able kind, of that spirit, partly fanatical, partly republi-
can, which predominated in England.

Success, Blake lay some time off Cadiz, in expectation of inter-
cepting the Plate fleet, but was at last obliged, for want
of water, to make sail towards Portugal. Captain Stay-
ner, whom he had left on the coast, with a squadron of
Septem- seven vessels, came in sight of the galleons, and imme-
diately set sail to pursue them. The Spanish admiral
ran his ship ashore : two others followed his example :
the English took two ships valued at near two millions
of pieces of eight. Two galleons were set on fire ; and
the Marquis of Badajox, viceroy of Peru, with his wife,
and his daughter betrothed to the young Duke of Medina
Celi, were destroyed in them. The marquis himself might
have escaped, but seeing these unfortunate women, asto-
nished with the danger, fall in a swoon, and perish in
the flames, he rather chose to die with them, than drag
out a life imbittered with the remembrance of such
dismal scenes 8 . When the treasures gained by this en-
terprise arrived at Portsmouth, the protector, from a

e Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 135. World's Mistake in Oliver Cromwell, in the Harl.
Miscel. vol. i.
*' Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 570. 589. g Ibid. vol. v. p. 443.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 365

spirit of ostentation, ordered them to be transported by CHAP.
land to London. ,_ L ^ L _ y

The next action against the Spaniards was more hon- 1656
ourable, though less profitable to the nation. Blake,
having heard that a Spanish fleet of sixteen ships, much
richer than the former, had taken shelter in the Canaries,
immediately made sail towards them. He found them in
the bay of Santa Cruz, disposed in a formidable posture.
The bay was secured with a strong castle, well provided
with cannon, besides seven forts in several parts of it,
all united by a line of communication, manned with
musqueteers. Don Diego Diagues, the Spanish admiral,
ordered all his smaller vessels to moor close to the shore,
and posted the large galleons farther off, at anchor, with
their broadsides to the sea.

Blake was rather animated than daunted with this ap-
pearance. The wind seconded his courage, and, blowing
full into the bay, in a moment brought him among the
thickest of his enemies. After a resistance of four hours,
the Spaniards yielded to English valour, and abandoned
their ships, which were set on fire, and consumed with
all their treasure. The greatest danger still remained
to the English. They lay under the fire of the castles
and all the forts, which must in a little time have torn
them in pieces. But the wind suddenly shifting, carried
them out of the bay ; where they left the Spaniards in
astonishment at the happy temerity of their audacious
victors.

This was the last and greatest action of the gallant and death

TM i TT 1 -xi J J J of Admiral

Blake. He was consumed with a dropsy and scurvy, and Blake.
hastened home, that he might yield up his breath in his
native country, which he had so much adorned by his
valour. As he came within sight of land, he expired h .
Never man, so zealous for a faction, was so much re-
spected and esteemed even by the opposite factions. He
was by principle an inflexible republican ; and the late
usurpations, amidst all the trusts and caresses which he
received from the ruling powers, were thought to be
very little grateful to him. It is still our duty, he said to
the seamen, to fight for our country r , into ivhat hands soever
the government may fall. Disinterested, generous, liberal,

* 20th of April, 1657.

31*

366 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, ambitious only of true glory, dreadful only to his avowed
enemies : he forms one of the most perfect characters of
1656 the age, and the least stained with those errors and vio-
lences which were then so predominant. The protector
ordered him a pompous funeral at the public charge ;
but the tears of his countrymen were the most honour-
able panegyric on his memory.

The conduct of the protector in foreign affairs, though
imprudent and impolitic, was full of vigour and enter-
prise, and drew a consideration to his country, which,
since the reign of Elizabeth, it seemed to have totally
lost. The great mind of this successful usurper was in-
tent on spreading the renown of the English nation;
and while he struck mankind with astonishment at his
extraordinary fortune, he seemed to ennoble, instead of
debasing, that people whom he had reduced to subjec-
tion. It was his boast, that he would render the name
of an Englishman as much feared and revered as ever
was that of a Roman ; and as his countrymen found some
reality in these pretensions, their national vanity being
gratified, made them bear with more patience all the in-
dignities and calamities under which they laboured.
ffin C ^ mus t a ^ so b e acknowledged, that the protector, in
tmtion of his civil and domestic administration, displayed as great
Cromwell. re g ar( j both to justice and clemency, as his usurped au-
thority, derived from no law, and founded only on the
sword, could possibly permit. All the chief offices in
the courts of judicature were filled with men of integ-
rity ; amidst the virulence of faction, the decrees of the
judges were upright and impartial ; and to every man
but himself, and to himself except where necessity re-
quired the contrary, the law was the great rule of con-
duct and behaviour. Vane and Lilburn, whose credit
with the republicans and levellers he dreaded, were in-
deed for some time confined to prison : Cony, who re-
fused to pay illegal taxes, was obliged by menaces to
depart from his obstinacy : high courts of justice were
erected to try those who had engaged in conspiracies
and insurrections against the protector's authority, and
whom he could not safely commit to the verdicts of
juries. But these irregularities were deemed inevitable
consequences of his illegal authority. And though often

THE COMMONWEALTH. 367

urged by his officers, as is pretended \ to attempt a general CHAP.
massacre of the royalists, he always with horror rejected ^^^
such sanguinary counsels. 1656t

In the army was laid the sole basis of the protector's
power, and in managing it consisted the chief art and
delicacy of his government. The soldiers were held in
-exact discipline ; a policy which both accustomed them
to obedience, and made them less hateful and burden-
some to the people. He augmented their pay, though
the public necessities sometimes obliged him to run in
arrears to them. Their interests, they were sensible,
were closely connected with those of their general and
protector. And he entirely commanded their affec-
tionate regard, by his abilities and success in almost
every enterprise which he had hitherto undertaken.
But all military government is precarious ; much more
where it stands in opposition to civil establishments;
and still more where it encounters religious prejudices.
By the wild fanaticism which he had nourished in the
soldiers, he had seduced them into measures, for which,
if openly proposed to them, they would have entertained
the utmost aversion. But this same spirit rendered them
more difficult to be governed, and made their caprices
terrible even to that hand which directed their move-
ments. So often taught that the office of king was an
usurpation upon Christ, they were apt to suspect a pro-
tector not to be altogether compatible with that divine
authority. Harrison, though raised to the highest dignity,
and possessed of Cromwell's confidence, became his most
inveterate enemy as soon as the authority of a single
person was established, against w r hich that usurper had
always made such violent protestations. Overton, Rich,
Okey, officers of rank in the army, were actuated with
like principles, and Cromwell was obliged to deprive them
of their commissions. Their influence, which was before
thought unbounded among the troops, seemed from that
moment to be totally annihilated.

The more effectually to curb the enthusiastic and sedi-
tious spirit of the troops, Cromwell established a kind
of militia in the several counties. Companies of infantry
and cavalry were enlisted under proper officers, regular

1 Clarendon, Life of Dr. Berwick.

368 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, pay distributed among them, and a resource by that

i - L * 1 - j means provided both against the insurrections of the
1656. royalists and mutiny of the army.

Keligion can never be deemed a point of small conse-
quence in civil government ; but during this period, it
may be regarded as the great spring of men's actions and
determinations. Though transported himself, with the
most frantic whimsies, Cromwell had adopted a scheme
for regulating this principle in others, which was saga-
cious and political. Being resolved to maintain a national
church, yet determined neither to admit episcopacy nor
presbytery, he established a number of commissioners,
under the name of tryers, partly laymen, partly eccle-
siastics, some presbyterians, some independents. These
presented to all livings, which were formerly in the gift
of the crown ; they examined and admitted such persons
as received holy orders ; and they inspected the lives,
doctrine, and behaviour of the clergy. Instead of sup-
porting that union between learning and theology, which
has so long been attempted in Europe, these tryers em-
braced the latter principle in its full purity, and made it
the sole object of their examination. The candidates
were no more perplexed with questions concerning their
progress in Greek and Koman erudition, concerning their
talent for profane arts and sciences : the chief object of
scrutiny regarded their advances in grace, and fixing the
critical moment of their conversion.

With the pretended saints of all denominations Crom-
well w r as familiar and easy. Laying aside the state of
protector, which, on other occasions, he well knew how
to maintain, he insinuated to them, that nothing but
necessity could ever oblige him to invest himself with
it. He talked spiritually to them ; he sighed, he wept,
he canted, he prayed. He even entered with them into
an emulation of ghostly gifts ; and these men, instead
of grieving to be outdone in their own way, were proud
that his highness, by his princely example, had digni-
fied those practices in which they themselves were daily
occupied k .

k Cromwell followed, though but in part, the advice which he received from
General Harrison at the time when the intimacy and endearment most strongly
subsisted betwixt them. " Let the waiting upon Jehovah," said that military

THE COMMONWEALTH. 359

If Cromwell might be said to adhere to any particular CHAR
form of religion, they were the independents who could ^J _,
chiefly boast of his favour ; and it may be affirmed, that 1656>
such pastors of that sect as were not passionately ad-
dicted to civil liberty, were all of them devoted to him.

The presbyterian clergy also, saved from the ravages
of the anabaptists and millenarians, and enjoying their
establishments and tithes, were not averse to his govern-
ment, though he still entertained a great jealousy of that
ambitious and restless spirit by which they were actuated.
He granted an unbounded liberty of conscience to all
but Catholics and prelatists ; and by that means he both
attached the wild sectaries to his person, and employed
them in curbing the domineering spirit of the presbyte-
rians. " I am the only man," he was often heard to say,
" who has known how to subdue that insolent sect, which
can suffer none but itself."

The Protestant zeal which possessed the prebyterians
and independents was highly gratified by the haughty
manner in which the protector so successfully supported
the persecuted Protestants throughout all Europe. Even
the Duke of Savoy, so remote a power, and so little ex-
posed to the naval force of England, was obliged, by the
authority of France, to comply with his mediation, and
to tolerate the Protestants of the valleys, against whom
that prince had commenced a furious persecution. France
itself was constrained to bear not only with the religion,
but even, in some instances, with the seditious insolence,
of the Hugonots ; and when the French court applied
for a reciprocal toleration of the Catholic religion in
England, the protector, who arrogated in every thing the
superiority, would hearken to no such proposal. He had
entertained a project of instituting a college, in imitation
of that at Rome, for the propagation of the faith ; and
his apostles in zeal, though not in unanimity, had cer-
tainly been a full match for the Catholics.

Cromwell retained the church of England in constraint,

saint, " be the greatest and most considerable business you have every day : reckon
it so, more than to eat, sleep, and counsel together. Run aside sometimes from
your company, and get a word with the Lord. Why should not you have three or
four precious souls always standing at your elbow, with whom you might now and
then turn into a corner ? I have found refreshment and mercy in such a way."
Milton's State Papers, p. 12.

370 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, though he permitted its clergy a little more liberty than
^J_,the republican Parliament had formerly allowed. He
1656 was pl ease d that the superior lenity of his administration
should in every thing be remarked. He bridled the
royalists, both by the army which he retained, and by
those secret spies which he found means to intermix in
all their counsels. Manning being detected and punished
with death, he corrupted Sir Richard Willis, who was
much trusted by Chancellor Hyde and all the royalists ;
and by means of this man he was let into every design
and conspiracy of the party. He could disconcert any
project, by confining the persons who were to be the
actors in it ; and as he restored them afterwards to liberty,
his severity passed only for the result of general jealousy
and suspicion. The secret source of his intelligence re-
mained still unknown and unsuspected.

Conspiracies for an assassination he was chiefly afraid
of; these being designs which no prudence or vigilance
could evade. Colonel Titus, under the name of Allen,
had written a spirited discourse, exhorting every one to
embrace this method of vengeance ; and Cromwell knew
that the inflamed minds of the royal party were suffi-
ciently disposed to put the doctrine in practice against
him. He openly told them, that assassinations were
base and odious, and he never would commence hosti-
lities by so shameful an expedient ; but if the first attempt
or provocation came from them, he would retaliate to the
uttermost. He had instruments, he said, whom he could
employ ; and he never would desist till he had totally
exterminated the royal family. This menace, more than
all his guards, contributed to the security of his person 1 .

There was no point about which the protector was
more solicitous than to procure intelligence. This article
alone, it is said, cost him sixty thousand pounds a year.
Postmasters, both at home and abroad, were in his pay ;
carriers were searched or bribed ; secretaries and clerks
were corrupted ; the greatest zealots in all parties were
often those who conveyed private information to him ;
and nothing could escape his vigilant inquiry. Such at
least is the representation made by historians of Crom-
well's administration. But it must be confessed, that if

i See note [S], at the end of the volume.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 371

we may judge by those volumes of Thurloe's papers CHAP.

which have been lately published, this affair, like many LXL

others, has been greatly magnified. We scarcely

by that collection, that any secret counsels of foreign

states, except those of Holland, which are not expected

to be concealed, were known to the protector.

The general behaviour and deportment of this man,
who had been raised from a very private station, who
had passed most of his youth in the country, and who
was still constrained so much to frequent bad company,
was such as might befit the greatest monarch. He
maintained a dignity without either affectation or osten-
tation, and supported with all strangers that high idea
with which his great exploits and prodigious fortune had
impressed them. Among his ancient friends he could
relax himself; and by trifling and amusement, jesting
and making verses, he feared not exposing himself to
their most familiar approaches." 1 With others he some-
times pushed matters to the length of rustic buffoonery ;
and he would amuse himself by putting burning coals
into the boots and hose of the officers who attended him. n
Before the king's trial, a meeting was agreed on between
the chiefs of the republican party and the general offi-
cers, in order to concert the model of that free govern-
ment which they were to substitute in the room of the
monarchical constitution now totally subverted. After
debates on this subject, the most important that could
fall under the discussion of human creatures, Ludlow
tells us, that Cromwell, by way of frolic, threw a cushion
at his head ; and when Ludlow took up another cushion
in order to return the compliment, the general ran down
stairs, and had almost fallen in the hurry. When the
high court of justice was signing the warrant for the exe-
cution of the king, a matter, if possible, still more serious,
Cromwell, taking the pen in his hand, before he sub-
scribed his name, bedaubed with ink the face of Martin,
who sat next him ; and the pen being delivered to Mar-
tin, he practised the same frolic upon Cromwell. He
frequently gave feasts to his inferior officers ; and when
the meat was set upon the table, a signal was given, the
soldiers rushed in upon them, and with much noise,

m Whitlocke, p. 647. n Bates. o Trial of the Regicides.

372 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, tumult, and confusion, ran away with all the dishes, and
^ L ^ L _ y disappointed the guests of their expected meal. p
1656 That vein of frolic and pleasantry which made a part,
however inconsistent, of Cromwell's character, was apt
sometimes to betray him into other inconsistencies, and
to discover itself even where religion might seem to be
a little concerned. It is a tradition, that one day, sitting
at table, the protector had a bottle of wine brought him,
of a kind which he valued so highly, that he must needs
open the bottle himself; but in attempting it, the cork-
screw dropped from his hand. Immediately his cour-
tiers and generals flung themselves on the floor to
recover it. Cromwell burst out a laughing. Should any
fool, said he, put in his head at the door, he would fancy , from
your posture, that you were seeking the Lord ; and you are
only seeking a corJcscreiv.

Amidst all the unguarded play and buffoonery of this
singular personage, he took the opportunity of remarking
the characters, designs, and weaknesses of men ; and he
would sometimes push them, by an indulgence in wine,
to open to him the most secret recesses of their bosom.
Great regularity, however, and even austerity of manners,
were always maintained in his court ; and he was care-
ful never, by any liberties, to give offence to the most
rigid of the godly. Some state was upheld, but with
little expense, and without any splendour. The nobility,
though courted by him, kept at a distance, and disdained
to intermix with those mean persons who were the in-
struments of his government. Without departing from
economy, he was generous to those who served him ; and
he knew how to find out and engage in his interests
every man possessed of those talents which any particular
employment demanded. His generals, his admirals, his
judges, his ambassadors, were persons who contributed,
all of them in their several spheres, to the security of the
protector, and to the honour and interest of the nation.
Under pretence of uniting Scotland and Ireland in one
commonwealth with England, Cromwell had reduced
those kingdoms to a total subjection ; and he treated
them entirely as conquered provinces. The civil admi-
nistration of Scotland was placed in a council, consisting

P Bates.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 373

mostly of English, of which Lord Broghil was president. CHAP.
Justice was administered by seven judges, four of whom LXI
were English. In order to curb the tyrannical nobility, 1656
he both abolished all vassalage q , and revived the office of
justice of peace, which King James had introduced, but
was not able to support r . A long line of forts and
garrisons was maintained throughout the kingdom. An
army of ten thousand men 8 kept every thing in peace
and obedience ; and neither the banditti of the moun-
tains, nor the bigots of the Low Countries, could indulge
their inclination to turbulence and disorder. He courted
the presbyterian clergy, though he nourished that in-
testine enmity which prevailed between the resolutioners
and protesters ; and he found that very little policy was
requisite to foment quarrels among theologians : he per-
mitted no church assemblies, being sensible that from
thence had proceeded many of the past disorders : and,
in the main, the Scots were obliged to acknowledge, that
never before, while they enjoyed their irregular factious
liberty, had they attained so much happiness as at present,
when reduced to subjection under a foreign nation.

The protector's administration of Ireland was more
severe and violent. The government of that island was
first intrusted to Fleetwood, a notorious fanatic, who had
married Ireton's widow ; then to Henry Cromwell, second
son of the protector, a young man of an amiable, mild
disposition, and not destitute of vigour and capacity.
Above five millions of acres, forfeited either by the popish
rebels or by the adherents of the king, were divided,
partly, among the adventurers, who had advanced money
to the Parliament, partly among the English soldiers,
who had arrears due to them. Examples of a more
sudden and violent change of property are scarcely to be
found in any history. An order was even issued to con-
fine all the native Irish to the province of Connaught,
where they would be shut up by rivers, lakes, and moun-
tains, and could not, it was hoped, be any longer danger-
ous to the English government ; but this barbarous and
absurd policy, which from an impatience of attaining
immediate security, must have depopulated all the other

<i Whitlocke, p. 570. r Thurloe, vol. iv. p. 57. " Idem, vol. vi. p. 557.
VOL. V. 32

374 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, provinces, and rendered the English estates of no value,

v^J I_^ was soon abandoned as impracticable.

^J^"" Cromwell began to hope that by his administration,

New Par- attended with so much lustre and success abroad, so much
3nt ' order and tranquillity at home, he had now acquired such
authority as would enable him to meet the repre-
sentatives of the nation, and would assure him of their
dutiful compliance with his government. He summoned
a Parliament ; but, not trusting altogether to the good-
will of the people, he used every art, which his new model
of representation allowed him to employ, in order to in-
fluence the elections, and fill the House with his own
creatures. Ireland, being entirely in the hands of the
army, chose few but such officers as were most acceptable
to him. Scotland showed a like compliance ; and as the
nobility and gentry of that kingdom regarded their attend-
ance on English Parliaments as an ignominious badge of
slavery, it was, on that account, more easy for the officers

i7th Sept. to prevail in the elections. Notwithstanding all these
precautions, the protector still found that the majority
would not be favourable to him. He set guards there-
fore on the door, who permitted none to enter but such
as produced a warrant from his council ; and the council
rejected about a hundred, who either refused a recogni-
tion of the protector's government, or were on other
accounts obnoxious to him. These protested against so
egregious a violence, subversive of all liberty ; but every
application for redress was neglected both by the council
and the Parliament.

The majority of the Parliament, by means of these
arts and violences, was now at last either friendly to the
protector, or resolved by their compliance to adjust, if
possible, this military government to their laws and
liberties. They voted a renunciation of all title in Charles
Stuart, or any of his family ; and this was the first act
dignified with the appearance of national consent, which
had ever had that tendency. Colonel Jephson, in order to
sound the inclinations of the House, ventured to move,
that the Parliament should bestow the crown on Crom-
well ; and no surprise or reluctance was discovered on the
occasion. When Cromwell afterwards asked Jephson
what induced him to make such a motion ; " As long,"

THE COMMONWEALTH. 375

said Jephson, " as I have the honour to sit in Parliament, CHAP.
I must follow the dictates of my own conscience, what-^^
ever offence I may be so unfortunate as to give you." 1656
" Get thee gone/' said Cromwell, giving him a gentle
blow on the shoulder, " get thee gone, for a mad fellow
as thoti art."

In order to pave the way to this advancement, for
which he so ardently longed, Cromwell resolved to
sacrifice his major-generals, whom he knew to be ex-
tremely odious to the nation. That measure was also
become necessary for his own security. All government,
purely military, fluctuates perpetually between a despotic
monarchy and a despotic aristocracy, according as the
authority of the chief commander prevails, or that of the
officers next him in rank and dignity. The major-generals,
being possessed of so much distinct jurisdiction, began
to establish a separate title to power, and had rendered
themselves formidable to the protector himself; and for
this inconvenience, though he had not foreseen it, he
well knew, before it was too late, to provide a proper
remedy. Claypole, his son-in-law, who possessed his con-
fidence, abandoned them to the pleasure of the House ;
and though the name was still retained, it w r as agreed to
abridge, or rather entirely annihilate, the power of the
major-generals.

At length, a motion in form was made by Alderman
Pack, one of the city members, for investing the protector
with the dignity of king. This motion, at first, excited
great disorder, and divided the whole House into parties.
The chief opposition came from the usual adherents of
the protector, the major-generals, and such officers as de-
pended on them. Lambert, a man of deep intrigue, and of
great interest in the army, had long entertained the am-
bition of succeeding Cromwell in the protectorship ; and
he foresaw, that if the monarchy were restored, hereditary
right would also be established, and the crown be trans-
mitted to the posterity of the prince first elected. He
pleaded, therefore, conscience ; and rousing all those civil
and religious jealousies against kingly government, which
had been so industriously encouraged among the soldiers,
and which served them as a pretence for so many violences,

876 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, he raised a numerous, and still more formidable, party
i_ L ^._; against the motion.

1656 On the other hand, the motion was supported by every
one who was more particularly devoted to the protector,
and who hoped, by so acceptable a measure, to pay court
to the prevailing authority. Many persons also, attached
to their country, despaired of ever being able to subvert
the present illegal establishment ; and were desirous, by
fixing it on ancient foundations, to induce the protector,
from views of his own safety, to pay a regard to the
ancient laws and liberties of the kingdom. Even the
royalists imprudently joined in the measure, and hoped
that, when the question regarded only persons, not forms
of government, no one would any longer balance between
the ancient royal family and an ignoble usurper, who, by
blood, treason, and perfidy, had made his way to the
] 657. throne. The bill was voted by a considerable majority ;
offered to and a committee was appointed to reason with the pro-
Si T V rii L tector ? an d to overcome those scruples which he pretended
' against accepting so liberal an offer.

The conference lasted for several days. The committee
urged, that all the statutes and customs of England were
founded on the supposition of regal authority, and could
not, without extreme violence, be adjusted to any other
form of government ; that a protector, except during the
minority of a king, was a name utterly unknown to the
laws, and no man was acquainted with the extent or
limits of his authority ; that if it were attempted to de-
fine every part of his jurisdiction, many years, if not ages,
would be required for the execution of so complicated a
work ; if the whole power of the king were at once trans-
ferred to him, the question was plainly about a name,
and the preference was indisputably due to the ancient
title : that the English constitution was more anxious
concerning the form of government than concerning the
birthright of the first magistrate, and had provided, by
an express law of Henry VII., for the security of those
who act in defence of the king in being, by whatever
means he might have acquired possession : that it was
extremely the interest of all his highness's friends to seek
the shelter of this statute ; and even the people in general

THE COMMONWEALTH. 377

were desirous of such a settlement, and in all juries were CHAP.
with great difficulty induced to give their verdict in LXL
favour of a protector ; that the great source of all the 16 C
late commotions had been the jealousy of liberty ; and
that a republic, together with a protector, had been
established, in order to provide farther securities for the
freedom of the constitution ; but that by experience the
remedy had been found insufficient, even dangerous and
pernicious; since every undeterminate power, such as
that of a protector, must be arbitrary, and the more
arbitrary, as it was contrary to the genius and inclination
of the people.

The difficulty consisted not in persuading Cromwell.
He was sufficiently convinced of the solidity of these
reasons; and his inclination as well as judgment was
entirely on the side of the committee. But how to
bring over the soldiers to the same way of thinking was
the question. The office of king had been painted to
them in such horrible colours, that there were no hopes
of reconciling them suddenly to it, even though bestowed
upon their general, to whom they were so much devoted.
A contradiction, open and direct, to all past professions,
would make them pass, in the eyes of the whole nation,
for the most shameless hypocrites, enlisted by no other
than mercenary motives in the cause of the most per-
fidious traitor. Principles, such as they were, had been
encouraged in them by every consideration, human and
divine ; and though it was easy, where interest concurred,
to deceive them by the thinnest disguises, it might be
found dangerous at once to pull oft* the mask, and to
show them, in a full light, the whole crime and defor-
mity of their conduct. Suspended between these fears,
and his own most ardent desires, Cromwell protracted
the time, and seemed still to oppose the reasonings of
the committee, in hopes that by artifice he might be
able to reconcile the refractory minds of the soldiers to
his new dignity.

While the protector argued so much in contradiction
both to his judgment and inclination, it is no wonder
that his elocution, always confused, embarrassed, and
unintelligible, should be involved in tenfold darkness,
and discover no glimmering of common sense or reason.

378 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. An exact account of this conference remains, and may
J^^ be regarded as a great curiosity. The members of the
^^^ committee,, in their reasonings, discover judgment, know-
ledge, elocution ; Lord Broghil, in particular, exerts
himself on this memorable occasion. But what a con-
trast, when we pass to the protector's replies ! After so
singular a manner does nature distribute her talents,
that in a nation abounding with sense and learning, a
man who, by superior personal merit alone, had made
his way to supreme dignity, and had even obliged the
Parliament to make him a tender of the crown, was yet
incapable of expressing himself on this occasion, but in
a manner which a peasant of the most ordinary capacity
would justly be ashamed of*.

The opposition which Cromwell dreaded was not that
which came from Lambert and his adherents, whom he
now regarded as capital enemies, and whom he was re-
solved, on the first occasion, to deprive of all power and
authority ; it was that which he met with in his own
family, and from men who by interest, as well as incli-
nation, were the most devoted to him. Fleetwood had
married his daughter, Desborow his sister; yet these

* We shall produce any passage at random, for his discourse is all of a piece.
" I confess, for it behoves me to deal plainly with you, I must confess, I would say,
I hope, I may be understood in this ; for indeed I must be tender what I say to
such an audience as this ; I say I would be understood, that in this argument I
do not make parallel betwixt men of a different mind and a Parliament, which
shall have their desires. I know there is no comparison, nor can it be urged upon
me, that my words have the least colour that way, because the Parliament seems
to give liberty to me to say any thing to you ; as that, that is a tender of my hum-
ble reasons and judgment and opinion to them; and if I think they are such, and
will be such to them, and are faithful servants, and will be so to the supreme
authority, and the legislative, wheresoever it is : if, I say, I should not tell you;
knowing their minds to be so, I should not be faithful, if I should not tell you so,
to the end you may report it to the Parliament. I shall say something for my-
self, for my own mind, I do profess it, I am not a man scrupulous about words or
names of such things I have not : but as I have the word of God, and I hope I
shall ever have it, for the rule of my conscience, for my informations ; so truly
men that have been led in dark paths, through the providence and dispensation
of God: why, surely, it is not to be objected to a man ; for who can love to walk
in the dark 1 But providence does so dispose. And though a man may impute
his own folly and blindness to Providence sinfully, yet it must be at my peril ;
the case may be that it is the providence of God that doth lead men in darkness ;
I must needs say, that I have had a great deal of experience of Providence, and
though it is no rule without or against the word, yet it is a very good expositor of
the word in many cases." Conference at Whitehall. The great defect in Oliver's
speeches consists, not in his want of elocution, but in his want of ideas. The
sagacity of his actions, and the absurdity of his discourse, form the most pro-
digious contrast that ever was known. The collection of all his speeches, letters,
sermons, (for he also wrote sermons,) would make a great curiosity, and, with a
few exceptions, might justly pass for one of the most nonsensical books in the
world .

THE COMMONWEALTH. 379

men, actuated by principle alone, could by no persuasion, CHAP.
artifice, or entreaty, be induced to consent that their v _ L ^ I ' y
friend and patron should be invested with regal dignity. 1657
They told him that, if he accepted of the crown, they would
instantly throw up their commissions, and never afterwards
should have it in their power to serve him u . Colonel
Pride procured a petition against the office of king, signed
by the majority of the officers who were in London and
the neighbourhood. Several persons, it is said, had en-
tered into an engagement to murder the protector with-
in a few hours after he should have accepted the offer of
the Parliament. Some sudden mutiny in the army was
justly dreaded. And upon the whole, Cromwell, after He rejects
the agony and perplexity of long doubt, was at last 1 '
obliged to refuse that crown which the representatives
of the nation, in the most solemn manner, had tendered
to him. Most historians are inclined to blame his choice,
but he must be allowed the best judge of his own situ-
ation. And in such complicated subjects, the alteration
of a very minute circumstance, unknown to the spec-
tator, will often be sufficient to cast the balance, and
render a determination, which, in itself, may be uneli-
gible, very prudent, or even absolutely necessary to the
actor.

A dream or prophecy, Lord Clarendon mentions,
which he affirms (and he must have known the truth)
was universally talked of, almost from the beginning of
the civil wars, and long before Cromwell was so con-
siderable a person as to bestow upon it any degree of
probability. In this prophecy it was foretold that Crom-
well should be the greatest man in England, and would
nearly, but never would fully, mount the throne. Such
a prepossession probably arose from the heated imagina-
tion either of himself or of his followers ; and as it might
be one cause of the great progress which he had already
made, it is not an unlikely reason which may be assigned
for his refusing, at this time, any farther elevation.

The Parliament, when the regal dignity was rejected
by Cromwell, found themselves obliged to retain the
name of a commonwealth and protector ; and as the
government was hitherto a manifest usurpation, it was

u Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 261.

380 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, thought proper to sanctify it by a seeming choice of the
^ '^ L _y people and their representatives. Instead of the instru-
1657 ment of government, which was the work of the general
Humble officers alone, an humble petition and advice was framed,
andadvice. and offered to the protector by the Parliament. This
was represented as the great basis of the republican esta-
blishment, regulating and limiting the powers of each
member of the constitution, and securing the liberty of
the people to the most remote posterity. By this deed,
the authority of protector was, in some particulars, en-
larged; in others it was considerably diminished. He
had the power of nominating his successor ; he had a
perpetual revenue assigned him, a million a year for the
pay of the fleet and army, three hundred thousand pounds
for the support of civil government : and he had autho-
rity to name another House, who should enjoy their seats
during life, and exercise some functions of the former
House of Peers. But he abandoned the power assumed
in the intervals of Parliament, of framing laws with the
consent of his council ; and he agreed that no members
of either House should be excluded but by the consent
of that House of which they were members. The other
articles were, in the main, the same as in the instrument
of government. The instrument of government Crom-
well had formerly extolled, as the most perfect work of
human invention: he now represented it as a rotten
plank, upon which no man could trust himself without
sinking. Even the humble petition and advice, which
he extdlled in its turn, appeared so lame and imperfect,
that it was found requisite, this very session, to mend it
by a supplement ; and, after all, it may be regarded as a
crude and undigested model of government. It was,
however, accepted for the voluntary deed of the whole
people in the three united nations ; and Cromwell, as if
his power had just commenced from this popular con-
sent, was anew inaugurated in Westminster-hall, after
the most solemn and most pompous manner.
26th June. The Parliament having adjourned itself, the protector
deprived Lambert of all his commissions; but still
allowed him a considerable pension of two thousand
pounds a year, as a bribe for his future peaceable de-
portment. Lambert's authority in the army, to the sur-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 381

prise of everybody, was found immediately to expire CHAP.
with, the loss of his commission. Packer and some other V _ L ^ L _,
officers, whom Cromwell suspected, were also displaced. 1657

Richard, eldest son of the protector, was brought to
court, introduced into public business, and thenceforth
regarded by many as his heir in the protectorship, though
Cromwell sometimes employed the gross artifice of flat-
tering others with hopes of the succession. Richard was
a person possessed of the most peaceable, inoffensive,
unambitious character, and had hitherto lived contentedly
in the country on a small estate which his wife had
brought him. All the activity which he discovered,
and which never was great, was however exerted to
beneficent purposes ; at the time of the king's trial, he
had fallen on his knees before his father, and had con-
jured him, by every tie of duty and humanity, to spare
the life of that monarch. Cromwell had two daughters
unmarried : one of them he now gave in marriage to the
grandson and heir of his great friend, the Earl of War-
wick, with whom he had, in every fortune, preserved an
uninterrupted intimacy and good correspondence. The
other he married to the Yiscount Fauconberg, of a family
formerly devoted to the royal party. He was ambitious
of forming connexions with the nobility ; and it was one
chief motive for his desiring the title of king, that he
might replace every thing in its natural order, and re-
store to the ancient families the trust and honour of
which he now found ,himself obliged, for his own safety,
to deprive them.

The Parliament was again assembled ; consisting, as in IGSS.
the times of monarchy, of two Houses, the Commons 20
and the other House. Cromwell, during the interval,
had sent writs to his House of Peers, which consisted of
sixty members. They were composed of five or six an-
cient peers, of several gentlemen of fortune and distinc-
tion, and of some officers, who had risen from the mean-
est stations. None of the ancient peers, however, though
summoned by writ, would deign to accept of a seat, which
they must share with such companions as were assigned
them. The protector endeavoured, at first, to maintain
the appearance of a legal magistrate. He placed no
guard at the door of either House ; but soon found how

382 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, incompatible liberty is with military usurpations. By
^^^ bringing so great a number of his friends and adherents
1658 into the other House, he had lost the majority among
the national representatives. In consequence of a clause
in the humble petition and advice, the Commons assumed
a power of readmitting those members whom the coun-
cil had formerly excluded. Sir Arthur Hazelrig and
some others, whom Cromwell had created lords, rather
chose to take their seats with the Commons. An incon-
testable majority now declared themselves against the
protector : and they refused to acknowledge the juris-
diction of that other House which he had established.
Even the validity of the humble petition and advice was
questioned ; as being voted by a Parliament which lay
under force, and which was deprived, by military violence,
of a considerable number of its members. The protector,
dreading combinations between the Parliament and the
malecontents in the army, resolved to allow no leisure
4th Feb. f or forming any conspiracy against him ; and with ex-
pressions of great displeasure, he dissolved the Parlia-
ment. When urged by Fleetwood, and others of his
friends, not to precipitate himself into this rash measure,
he swore, by the living God, that they should not sit a
moment longer.

These distractions at home were not able to take off
the protector's attention from foreign affairs ; and in all
his measures he proceeded with the same vigour and en-
terprise, as if secure of the duty and attachment of the
three kingdoms. His alliance with Sweden he still sup-
ported ; and he endeavoured to assist that crown in its
successful enterprises, for reducing all its neighbours to
subjection, and rendering itself absolute master of the
Baltic. As soon as Spain declared war against him, he
concluded a peace and an alliance with France, and
united himself in ah 1 his counsels with that potent and
ambitious kingdom. Spain having long courted, in vain,
the friendship of the successful usurper, was reduced at
last to apply to the unfortunate prince. Charles formed
a league with Philip, removed his small court to Bruges
in the Low Countries, and raised four regiments of his
own subjects, whom he employed in the Spanish service.
The Duke of York, who had, with applause, served some

THE COMMONWEALTH. 38;

campaigns in the French army, and who had merited the CHAP.
particular esteem of Marshal Turenne, now joined his v _^ LXI "
brother, and continued to seek military experience under 1658
Don John of Austria and the Prince of Conde.

The scheme of foreign politics adopted by the protec-
tor was highly imprudent, but was suitable to that mag-
nanimity and enterprise with which he was so signally
endowed. He was particularly desirous of conquest and
dominion on the continent w ; and he sent over into
Flanders six thousand men under Reynolds, who joined
the French army commanded by Turenne. In the former
campaign, Mardyke was taken, and put into the hands
of the English. Early this campaign, siege was laid to
Dunkirk; and when the Spanish army advanced to re-
lieve it, the combined armies of France and England
marched out of their trenches, and fought the battle of
the Dunes, where the Spaniards were totally defeated x .
The valour of the English was much remarked on
occasion. Dunkirk, being soon after surrendered, was a
by agreement delivered to Cromwell. He committed
the government of that important place to Lockhart,
a Scotchman of abilities, who had married his niece, and
was his ambassador at the court of France.

This acquisition was regarded by the protector as the
means only of obtaining farther advantages. He was re-
solved to concert measures with the French court for the
final conquest and partition of the Low Countries 7 . Had
he lived much longer, and maintained his authority in

w He aspired to get possession of Elsinore and the passage of the Sound. See
World's Mistake in Oliver Cromwell. He also endeavoured to get possession of Bre-
men. Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 478.

x It was remarked by the saints of that time, that the battle was fought on a day
which was held for a fast in London, so that as Fleetwood said, (Thurloe, vol. vii.
p. 159,) while we were praying, they were fighting, and the Lord hath given a
signal answer. The Lord has not only owned us in our work there, but in our
waiting upon him in a way of prayer, which is indeed our old experienced ap-
proved way in all straits and difficulties. Cromwell's Letter to Blake and Mon-
tague, his brave admirals, is remarkable for the same spirit. Thurloe, vol. iv.
p. 744. You have, says he, as I verily believe and am persuaded, a plentiful stock
of prayers going for you daily, sent up by the soberest and most approved ministers
and Christians in this nation, and notwithstanding some discouragements, very
much wrestling of faith for you, which are to us, and I trust will be to you, matter
of great encouragement. But notwithstanding all this, it will be good for you and
us to deliver up ourselves and all our affairs to the disposition of our all-wise" Father,
who not only Qut of prerogative, but because of his goodness, wisdom, and truth,
ought to be resigned unto by his creatures, especially those who are children of his
begetting through the Spirit, &c.

y Thurloe, vol. i. p. 762.

384 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP. England, so chimerical, or rather so dangerous a project,
V _ L ^_; would certainly have been carried into execution. And
1658 this first and principal step towards more extensive con-
quest, which France, during a whole century, has never
yet been able, by an infinite expense of blood and trea-
sure, fully to attain, had at once been accomplished by
the enterprising, though unskilful, politics of Cromwell.

During these transactions, great demonstrations of mu-
tual friendship and regard passed between the French
king and the protector. Lord Fauconberg, Cromwell's
son-in-law, was despatched to Louis, then in the camp
before Dunkirk ; and was received with the regard usually
paid to foreign princes by the French court 2 . Mazarine
sent to London his nephew Mancini, along with the
Duke of Crequi ; and expressed his regret, that his
urgent affairs should deprive him of the honour which
he had long wished for, of paying, in person, his respects
to the greatest man in the Avorld a .

The protector reaped little satisfaction from the suc-
cess of his arms abroad : the situation in which he stood
at home kept him in perpetual uneasiness and inquietude.
His administration, so expensive both by military enter-
prises and secret intelligence, had exhausted his revenue,
and involved him in a considerable debt. The royalists,
he heard, had renewed their conspiracies for a general
insurrection ; and Ormond was secretly come over w r ith
a view of concerting measures for the execution of this
project. Lord Fairfax, Sir William Waller, and many
heads of the presbyterians, had secretly entered into the
engagement. Even the army was infected with the
general spirit of discontent ; and some sudden and dan-
gerous eruption was. every moment to be dreaded from it.
No hopes remained, after his violent breach with the
last Parliament, that he should ever be able to establish,
with general consent, a legal settlement, or temper the
military with any mixture of civil authority. All his arts
and policy were exhausted ; and having so often, by fraud
and false pretences, deceived every party, and almost

z Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 151. 158.

a In reality the cardinal had not entertained so high an idea of Cromwell. He
used to say, that he was a fortunate madman. Vie de Cromwell par Raguenet.
See also Carte's Collection, vol. ii. p. 81. Gamble's Life of Monk, p. 93. World's
Mistake in O. Cromwell.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 385

every individual,, he could no longer hope, by repeating CHAP.
the same professions, to meet with equal confidence and ^ XL _ >
regard. 1658>

However zealous the royalists, their conspiracy took
not effect : Willis discovered the whole to the protector.
Ormond was obliged to fly, and he deemed himself for-
tunate to have escaped so vigilant an administration.
Great numbers were thrown into prison. A high court
of justice was anew erected for the trial of those criminals
whose guilt was most apparent. Notwithstanding the
recognition of his authority by the last Parliament, the
protector could not as yet trust to an unbiassed jury.
Sir Henry Slingsby, and Dr. Huet, were condemned and
beheaded. Mordaunt, brother to the Earl of Peterbo-
rough, narrowly escaped. The numbers for his condem-
nation and his acquittal were equal ; and just as the sen-
tence was pronounced in his favour, Colonel Pride, who
was resolved to condemn him, came into court. Ashton,
Storey, and Bestley, were hanged in different streets of
the city.

The conspiracy of the millenarians in the army struck
Cromwell with still greater apprehensions. Harrison and
the other discarded officers of that party could not re-
main at rest. Stimulated equally by revenge, by ambi-
tion, and by conscience, they still harboured in their
breast some desperate project; and there wanted not
officers in the army, who, from like motives, were dis-
posed to second all their undertakings. The levellers
and agitators had been encouraged by Cromwell to in-
terpose with their advice in all political deliberations ;
and he had even pretended to honour many of them with
his intimate friendship, while he conducted his daring
enterprises against the king and the Parliament. It was
a usual practice with him, in order to familiarize himself
the more with the agitators, who were commonly corpo-
rals or Serjeants, to take them to bed with him, and
there, after prayers and exhortations, to discuss together
their projects and principles, political as well as religious.
Having assumed the dignity of protector, he excluded
them from all his councils, and had neither leisure nor
inclination to indulge them any farther in their wonted
familiarities. Among those who were enraged at this

VOL. v. 33

386 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, treatment was Sexby, an active agitator, who now
employed against him all that restless industry which
1658 had formerly been exerted in his favour. He even went
so far as to enter into a correspondence with Spain ; and
Cromwell, who knew the distempers of the army, was
justly afraid of some mutiny, to which a day, an hour,
an instant, might provide leaders.

Of assassination likewise he was apprehensive, from
the zealous spirits which actuated the soldiers. Sinder-
come had undertaken to murder him ; and by the most
unaccountable accidents, had often been prevented from
executing his bloody purpose. His design was discovered ;
but the protector could never find the bottom of the en-
terprise, nor detect any of his accomplices. He was tried
by a jury; and notwithstanding the general odium at-
tending that crime, notwithstanding the clear and full
proof of his guilt, so little conviction prevailed of the
protector's right to the supreme government, it was with
the utmost difficulty b that this conspirator was con-
demned. When every thing was prepared for his exe-
cution, he was found dead ; from poison, as is supposed,
which he had voluntarily taken.

The protector might better have supported those fears
and apprehensions which the public distempers occa-
sioned, had he enjoyed any domestic satisfaction, or pos-
sessed any cordial friend of his own family, in whose
bosom he could safely have unloaded his anxious and
corroding cares. But Fleetwood, his son-in-law, actuated
by the wildest zeal, began to estrange himself from him;
and was enraged to discover that Cromwell, in all his
enterprises, had entertained views of promoting his own
grandeur, more than of encouraging piety and religion,
of which he made such fervent professions. His eldest
daughter, married to Fleetwood, had adopted republican
principles so vehement, that she could not with patience
behold power lodged in a single person, even in her in-
dulgent father. His other daughters were no less pre-
judiced in favour of the royal cause, and regretted the
violences and iniquities into which they thought their
family had so unhappily been transported. Above all,
the sickness of Mrs. Claypole, his peculiar favourite, a

b Thurloe, vol. vi. p. 53.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 387

lady endued with, many humane virtues and amiable ac- CHAP.
complishments, depressed his anxious mind, and poisoned ^_ L *' L _ J
all his enjoyments. She had entertained a high regard 1658
for Dr. Huet, lately executed ; and being refused his
pardon, the melancholy of her temper, increased by her
distempered body, had prompted her to lament to her
father all his sanguinary measures, and urge him to com-
punction for those heinous crimes into which his fatal
ambition had betrayed him. Her death, which followed
soon after, gave new edge to every word which she had
uttered.

All composure of mind was now for ever fled from the
protector : he felt that the grandeur which he had attained
with so much guilt and courage could not ensure him
that tranquillity which it belongs to virtue alone, and
moderation, fully to ascertain. Overwhelmed with the
load of public affairs, dreading perpetually some fatal ac-
cident in his distempered government, seeing nothing
around him but treacherous friends or enraged enemies,
possessing the confidence of no party, resting his title on
no principle, civil or religious, he found his power to
depend on so delicate a poise of factions and interests,
as the smallest event was able, without any preparation,
in a moment to overturn. Death too, which with such
signal intrepidity he had braved in the field, being in-
cessantly threatened by the poniards of fanatical or in-
terested assassins, was ever present to his terrified appre-
hension, and haunted him in every scene of business or
repose. Each action of his life betrayed the terrors under
which he laboured. The aspect of strangers was uneasy
to him : with a piercing and anxious eye he surveyed
every face to which he was not daily accustomed. He
never moved a step without strong guards attending
him ; he wore armour under his clothes, and farther
secured himself by offensive weapons, a sword, falchion,
and pistols, which he always carried about him. He re-
turned from no place by the direct road, or by the same
way which he went. Every journey he performed with
hurry and precipitation. Seldom he slept above three
nights together in the same chamber : and he never let
it be known beforehand what chamber he intended to
choose, nor intrusted himself in any which was not pro-

388 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, vided with back doors, at which sentinels were carefully

LXL placed. Society terrified him, while he reflected on his

1658 numerous, unknown, and implacable enemies: solitude

astonished him, by withdrawing that protection which he

found so necessary for his security.

sickness of His body, also, from the contagion of his anxious mind,
tcctor began to be affected ; and his health seemed sensibly to
decline. He was seized with a slow fever, which changed
into a tertian ague. For the space of a week, no danger-
ous symptoms appeared ; and in the intervals of the fits he
was able to walk abroad. At length the fever increased,
and he himself began to entertain some thoughts of death,
and to cast his eye towards that future existence, whose
idea had once been intimately present to him ; though
since, in the hurry of affairs, and in the shock of wars
and factions, it had, no doubt, been considerably oblite-
rated. He asked Goodwin, one of his preachers, if the
doctrine were true, that the elect could never fall or
suffer a final reprobation. " Nothing more certain," re-
plied the preacher. " Then I am safe," said the protec-
tor : " for I am sure that once I was in a state of grace."
His physicians were sensible of the perilous condition
to which his distemper had reduced him : but his chap-
lains, by their prayers, visions, and revelations, so buoyed
up his hopes, that he began to believe his life out of all
danger. A favourable answer, it was pretended, had been
returned by Heaven to the petitions of all the godly ;
and he relied on their asseverations, much more than on
the opinion of the most experienced physicians. " I tell
you," he cried with confidence to the latter, " I tell you,
I shall not die of this distemper : I am well assured of
my recovery. It is promised by the Lord, not only to
my supplications, but to those of men who hold a stricter
commerce and more intimate correspondence with him.
Ye may have skill in your profession ; but nature can do
more than all the physicians in the world, and God is
far above nature c ." Nay, to such a degree of madness
did their enthusiastic assurances amount, that upon a fast
day, which was observed on his account both at Hampton-
court and at Whitehall, they did not so much pray for

c Bates ; see also Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 355. 416.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 389

his health, as give thanks for the undoubted pledges which CHAP.
they had received of his recovery. He himself was over- LXL
heard offering up his addresses to heaven ; and so far
the illusions of fanaticism prevailed over the plainest
dictates of natural morality, that he assumed more the
character of a mediator, interceding for his people, than
that of a criminal, whose atrocious violation of social duty
had, from every tribunal, human and divine, merited the
severest vengeance.

Meanwhile all the symptoms began to wear a more
fatal aspect; and the physicians were obliged to break
silence, and to declare that the protector could no't sur-
vive the next fit with which he was threatened. The
council was alarmed. A deputation was sent to know
his will with regard to his successor. His senses were
gone, and he could not now express his intentions. They
asked him whether he did not mean that his eldest son,
Kichard, should succeed him in the protectorship. A
simple affirmative was, or seemed to be, extorted from
him. Soon after, on the 3d of September, that very day His death,
which he had always considered as the most fortunate
for him, he expired. A violent tempest, which imme-
diately succeeded his death, served as a subject of dis-
course to the vulgar. His partisans, as well as his ene-
mies, were fond of remarking this event ; and each of
them endeavoured, by forced inferences, to interpret it
as a confirmation of their particular prejudices.

The writers attached to the memory of this wonderful and cha -
person make his character, with regard to abilities, bear
the air of the most extravagant panegyric : his enemies
form such a representation of his moral qualities, as re-
sembles the most virulent invective. Both of them, it
must be confessed, are supported by such striking cir-
cumstances in his conduct and fortune, as bestow on their
representation a great air of probability. " What can be
more extraordinary," it is said d , "than that a person of
private birth and education, no fortune, no eminent qua-
lities of body, which have sometimes, nor shining talents
of mind, which have often, raised men to the highest

d Cowley's Discourses : this passage is altered in some particulars from the
original.

33*

390 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, dignities, should have the courage to attempt, and the
ij^ abilities to execute, so great a design as the subverting
1658 one of the most ancient and best established monarchies
in the world ? That he should have the power and bold-
ness to put his prince and master to an open and in-
famous death ? Should banish that numerous and strongly
allied family ? Cover all these temerities under a seeming
obedience to a Parliament, in whose service he pretended
to be retained ? Trample too upon that Parliament in
their turn, and scornfully expel them as soon as they
gave him ground of dissatisfaction ? Erect in their place
the dominion of the saints, and give reality to the most
visionary idea which the heated imagination of any fanatic
was ever able to entertain ? Suppress again that monster
in its infancy, and openly set up himself above all things
that ever were called sovereign in England ? Overcome
first all his enemies by arms, and all his friends afterwards
by artifice ? Serve all parties patiently for a while, and
command them victoriously at last ? Overrun each corner
of the three nations, and subdue, with equal facility, both
the riches of the south, and the poverty of the north ?
Be feared and courted by all foreign princes, and be
adopted a brother to the gods of the earth? Call to-
gether Parliaments with a word of his pen, and scatter
them again with the breath of his mouth ? Keduce to
subjection a warlike and discontented nation, by means
of a mutinous army ? Command a mutinous army by
means of seditious and factious officers ? Be humbly and
daily petitioned, that he would be pleased, at the rate of
millions a year, to be hired as master of those who had
hired him before to be their servant ? Have the estates
and lives of three nations as much at his disposal as was
once the little inheritance of his father, and be as noble
and liberal in the spending of them ? And lastly, (for
there is no end of enumerating every particular of his
glory,) with one word bequeath all this power and splen-
dour to his posterity ? Die possessed of peace at home,
and triumph abroad ? Be buried among kings, and with
more than regal solemnity; and leave a name behind
him not to be extinguished but with the whole world ;
which as it was too little for his praise, so might it have

THE COMMONWEALTH. 391

been for his conquests, if the short line of his mortal life CHAP.
could have stretched out to the extent of his immortal, _ L ^ L _,
designs." 1658 .

My intention is not to disfigure this picture drawn by
so masterly a hand: I shall only endeavour to remove
from it somewhat of the marvellous; a circumstance
which, on all occasions, gives much ground for doubt and
suspicion. It seems to me, that the circumstance of
Cromwell's life, in which his abilities are principally dis-
covered, is his rising from a private station, in opposition
to so many rivals, so much advanced before him, to a high
command and authority in the army. His great courage,
his signal military talents, his eminent dexterity and
address, were all requisite for this important acquisition.
Yet will not this promotion appear the effect of super-
natural abilities, when we consider that Fairfax himself,
a private gentleman, who had not the advantage of a seat
in Parliament, had, through the same steps, attained even
a superior rank, and, if endued with common capacity
and penetration, had been able to retain it. To incite
such an army to rebellion against the Parliament required
no uncommon art or industry ; to have kept them in obe-
dience had been the more difficult enterprise. When the
breach was once formed between the military and civil
powers, a supreme and absolute authority, from that
moment, is devolved on the general : and if he be after-
wards pleased to employ artifice or policy, it may be re-
garded on most occasions as great condescension, if not
as superfluous caution. That Cromwell was ever able
really to blind or overreach either the king or the repub-
licans, does not appear ; as they possessed no means of re-
sisting the force under his command, they were glad to
temporize with him, and by seeming to be deceived, wait
for opportunities of freeing themselves from his dominion.
If he seduced the military fanatics, it is to be considered
that their interests and his evidently concurred, that their
ignorance and low education exposed them to the
grossest imposition, and that he himself was at bottom
as frantic an enthusiast as the worst of them, and, in
order to obtain their confidence, needed but to display
those vulgar and ridiculous habits which he had early
acquired, and on which he set so high a value. An

392 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, army is so forcible, and at the same time so coarse a
^5^ weapon, that any hand which wields it may, without
^^^ much dexterity, perform any operation, and attain any
ascendant in human society.

The domestic administration of Cromwell, though it
discovers great abilities, was conducted without any plan
either of liberty or arbitrary power : perhaps, his difficult
situation admitted of neither. His foreign enterprises,
though full of intrepidity, were pernicious to national
interest, and seem more the result of impetuous fury or
narrow prejudices, than of cool foresight and deliberation.
An eminent personage, however, he was in many respects,
and even a superior genius ; but unequal and irregular in
his operations. And though not defective in any talent,
except that of elocution, the abilities which in him were
most admirable, and which most contributed to his mar-
vellous success, were the magnanimous resolution of his
enterprises, and his peculiar dexterity in discovering the
characters, and practising on the weaknesses, of mankind.
If we survey the moral character of Cromwell with
that indulgence which is due to the blindness and in-
firmities of the human species, we shall not be inclined
to load his memory with such violent reproaches as those
which his enemies usually throw upon it. Amidst the
passions and prejudices of that period, that he should
prefer the parliamentary to the royal cause, will not appear
extraordinary ; since even at present, some men of sense
and knowledge are disposed to think that the question,
with regard to the justice of the quarrel, may be regarded
as doubtful and uncertain. The murder of the king, the
most atrocious of all his actions, was to him covered
under a mighty cloud of republican and fanatical illusions;
and it is not impossible but he might believe it, as many
others did, the most meritorious action that he could
perform. His subsequent usurpation was the effect of
necessity, as well as of ambition ; nor is it easy to see how
the various factions could at that time have been re-
strained, without a mixture of military and arbitrary
authority. The private deportment of Cromwell, as a
son, a husband, a father, a friend, is exposed to no con-
siderable censure, if it does not rather merit praise. And,
upon the whole, his character does not appear more ex- 1

THE COMMONWEALTH.

393

1658.

traordinary and unusual by the mixture of so much CHAP.
absurdity with so much penetration, than by his temper- , ]
ing such violent ambition and such enraged fanaticism
with so much regard to justice and humanity.

Cromwell was in the fifty-ninth year of his age when
he died. He was of a robust frame of body, and of a
manly, though not of an agreeable aspect. He left only
two sons, Kichard and Henry ; and three daughters, one
married to General Fleetwood, another to Lord Faucon-
berg, a third to Lord Eich. His father died when he
was very young. His mother lived till after he was pro-
tector ; and contrary to her orders, he buried her with
great pomp in Westminster Abbey. She could not be
persuaded that his power or person was ever in safety.
At every noise which she heard, she exclaimed that her
son was murdered ; and was never satisfied that he was
alive, if she did not receive frequent visits from him.
She was a decent woman, and, by her frugality and in-
dustry, had raised and educated a numerous family upon
a small fortune. She had even been obliged to set up a
brewery at Huntingdon, which she managed to good ad-
vantage. Hence Cromwell, in the invectives of that age,
is often stigmatized with the name of the brewer. Ludlow,
by way of insult, mentions the great accession which he
would receive to his royal revenues upon his mother's
death, who possessed a jointure of sixty pounds a year
upon his estate. She was of a good family, of the name
of Stuart; remotely allied, as is by some supposed, to
the royal family.

394 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER LXII.

RICHARD ACKNOWLEDGED PROTECTOR. - A PARLIAMENT. - CABAL OF WAL-
LINGFORD-HOUSE. - RlCHARD DEPOSED. - LONG PARLIAMENT OR RUMP

RESTORED. CONSPIRACY OF THE ROYALISTS. INSURRECTION. SuP-
PRESSED. PARLIAMENT EXPELLED. COMMITTEE OF SAFETY. FOREIGN
AFFAIRS. GENERAL MONK. MONK DECLARES FOR THE PARLIAMENT.
PARLIAMENT RESTORED. MONK ENTERS LONDON, DECLARES FOR A FREE
PARLIAMENT. SECLUDED MEMBERS RESTORED. LONG PARLIAMENT DIS-
SOLVED. NEW PARLIAMENT. THE RESTORATION. MANNERS AND ARTS.

ar ^ s f Cromwell's policy had been so often
practised, that they began to lose their effect : and his
1658. power, instead of being confirmed by time and success,
seemed every day to become more uncertain and preca-
rious. His friends the most closely connected with him,
and his counsellors the most trusted, were entering into
cabals against his authority ; and with all his penetration
into the characters of men, he could not find any minis-
ters on whom he could rely. Men of probity and honour,
he knew, would not -submit to be the instruments of an
usurpation violent and illegal : those who were free from
the restraint of principle might betray, from interest, that
cause in which, from no better motives, they had enlisted
themselves. Even those on whom he conferred any
favour never deemed the recompense an equivalent for
the sacrifices which they made to obtain it : whoever was
refused any demand, justified his anger by the specious
colours of conscience and of duty. Such difficulties sur-
rounded the protector, that his dying at so critical a time
is esteemed by many the most fortunate circumstance
that ever attended him ; and it was thought that all his
courage and dexterity could not much longer have ex-
tended his usurped administration.

But when that potent hand was removed which con-
ducted the government, every one expected a sudden
dissolution of the unwieldy and ill-jointed fabric. Richard,
a young man of no experience, educated in the country,
accustomed to a retired life, unacquainted with the offi-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 395

cers, and unknown to them, recommended by no military CHAP.
exploits, endeared by no familiarities, could not long, it LXIL
was thought, maintain that authority which his father 1658
had acquired by so many valorous achievements, and
such signal successes. And when it was observed that
he possessed only the virtues of private life, which in
his situation w r ere so many vices ; that indolence, inca-
pacity, irresolution, attended his facility and good na-
ture ; the various hopes of men were excited by the ex-
pectation of some great event or revolution. For some
time, however, the public was disappointed in this
opinion. The council recognized the succession of
Richard : Fleetwood, in whose favour it was supposed Richard
Cromwell had formerly made a will, renounced all claim f^dgST'
or pretension to the protectorship : Henry, Richard's P rotector -
brother, who governed Ireland with popularity, ensured
him the obedience of that kingdom : Monk, whose au-
thority was well established in Scotland, being much
attached to the family of Cromwell, immediately pro-
claimed the new protector : the army everywhere, the
fleet, acknowledged his title : above ninety addresses,
from the counties and most considerable corporations,
congratulated him on his accession, in all the terms of
dutiful allegiance : foreign ministers were forward in
paying him the usual compliments : and Richard, whose
moderate, unambitious character never w r ould have led
him to contend for empire, was tempted to accept of so
rich an inheritance, which seemed to be tendered to him
by the consent of. all mankind.

It was found necessary to call a Parliament, in order A Pariia-
to furnish supplies, both for the ordinary administration, m(
and for fulfilling those engagements with foreign princes,
particularly Sweden, into which the late protector had
entered. In hopes of obtaining greater influence in
elections, the ancient right was restored to all the small
boroughs ; and the counties were allowed no more than
their usual members. The House of Peers, or the other
House, consisted of the same persons that had been ap-
pointed by Oliver.

All the Commons at first signed, without hesitation,
an engagement not to alter the present government.
They next proceeded to examine the /tumble petition and

396 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, advice ; and after great opposition and many vehement
,_ L ^, debates, it was at length, with much difficulty, carried
1659. by the court-party to confirm it. An acknowledgment
too of the authority of the other House was extorted
from them; though it was resolved not to treat this
House of Peers with any greater respect than they should
return to the Commons. A declaration was also made,
that the establishment of the other House should nowise
prejudice the right of such of the ancient peers as had,
from the beginning of the war, adhered to the Parlia-
ment. But in all these proceedings, the opposition
among the Commons was so considerable, and the de-
bates were so much prolonged, that all business was re-
tarded, and great alarm given to the partisans of the
young protector.

But there was another quarter from which greater
dangers were justly apprehended. The most consider-
able officers of the army, and even Fleetwood, brother-
in-law to the protector, were entering into cabals against
him. No character in human society is more dangerous
than that of the fanatic ; because if attended with weak
judgment, he is exposed to the suggestions of others ; if
supported by more discernment, he is entirely governed
by his own illusions, which sanctify his most selfish views
and passions. Fleetwood was of the former species;
and as he was extremely addicted to a republic, and even
to the fifth monarchy or dominion of the saints, it was
easy for those, who had insinuated themselves into his
confidence, to instil disgusts against the dignity of pro-
tector. The whole republican party in the army, which
was still considerable, Fitz, Mason, Moss, Farley, united
themselves to that general. The officers too of the same
party, whom Cromwell had discarded, Overton, Ludlow,
Kich, Okey, Alured, began to appear, and to recover that
authority which had been only for a time suspended.
A party likewise, who found themselves eclipsed in
Richard's favour, Sydenham, Kelsey, Berry, Haines,
joined the cabal of the others. Even Desborow, the
protector's uncle, lent his authority to that faction. But
above all, the intrigues of Lambert, who was now roused
from his retreat, inflamed all those dangerous humours,
and threatened the nation with some great convulsion.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 397

The discontented officers established their meetings in CHAP.
Fleetwood's apartments; and because he dwelt in WaK_ L '^ IL _ j
lingford-house, the party received a denomination from 1659

that place. Waitin^

Kichard, who possessed neither resolution nor pene- ford-house.
tration, was prevailed on to give an unguarded consent
for calling a general council of officers, who might make
him proposals, as they pretended, for the good of the
army. No sooner were they assembled than they voted
a remonstrance. They there lamented that the good old
cause, as they termed it, that is, the cause for which
they had engaged against the late king, was entirely
neglected; and they proposed, as a remedy, that the
whole military power should be intrusted to some per-
son in whom they might all confide. The city militia,
influenced by two aldermen, Titchburn and Ireton, ex-
pressed the same resolution of adhering to the good old
cause.

The protector was justly alarmed at those movements
among the officers. The persons in whom he chiefly
confided were, all of them, excepting Broghil, men of
civil characters and professions ; Fiennes, Thurloe, Whit-
locke, Wolsey; who could only assist him with their
advice and opinion. He possessed none of those arts
which were proper to gain an enthusiastic army. Mur-
murs being thrown out against some promotions which
he had made, Would you have me, said he, prefer none
hit the godly? Here is Dick Ingolsby, continued he,
who can neither pray nor preach ? yet ivill I trust him be-
fore ye all*. This imprudence gave great offence to the
pretended saints. The other qualities of the protector
were correspondent to these sentiments : he was of a
gentle, humane, and generous disposition. Some of his
party offering to put an end to those intrigues by the
death of Lambert, he declared that he would not pur-
chase power or dominion by such sanguinary measures.
The Parliament was no less alarmed at the military
cabals. They voted that there should be no meeting or
general-council of officers, except with the protector's
consent, or by his orders. This vote brought affairs im-
mediately to a rupture. The officers hastened to Kichard,.

a Ludlow.

VOL. v. 34

398 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, and demanded of him the dissolution of the Parliament.
[_ Desborow, a man of a clownish and brutal nature, threat-
\fa ened him, if he should refuse compliance. The pro-
tector wanted the resolution to deny, and possessed little
ability to resist. The Parliament was dissolved ; and
by the same act the protector was, by every one, con-
sidered as effectually dethroned. Soon after he signed
his demission in form.

April 22. Henry, the deputy of Ireland, was endowed with the
deposed, same moderate disposition as Richard; but as he pos-
sessed more vigour and capacity, it was apprehended
that he might make resistance. His popularity in Ire-
land was great ; and even his personal authority, not-
withstanding his youth, was considerable. Had his am-
bition been very eager, he had no doubt been able to
create disturbance : but being threatened by Sir Hardress
Waller, Colonel John Jones, and other officers, he very
quietly resigned his command, and retired to England.
He had once entertained thoughts, which he had not re-
solution to execute, of proclaiming the king in Dublin b .
Thus fell suddenly, and from an enormous height, but
by a rare fortune without any hurt or injury, the family
of the Cromwells. Richard continued to possess an
estate which was moderate, and burdened too with a
large debt, which he had contracted for the interment
of his father. After the restoration, though he remained
unmolested, he thought proper to travel for some years ;
and at Pezenas in Languedoc he was introduced, under a
borrowed name, to the Prince of Conti. That prince,
talking of English affairs, broke out into admiration of
Cromwell's courage and capacity. " But as for that
poor pitiful fellow, Richard," said he, li what has become
of him ? How could he be such a blockhead as to reap
no greater benefit from all his father's crimes and suc-
cesses?" Richard extended his peaceful and quiet life
to an extreme old age, and died not till the latter end
of Queen Anne's reign. His social virtues, more valuable
than the greatest capacity, met with a recompense more
precious than noisy fame, and more suitable, contentment
and tranquillity.

The council of officers, now possessed of supreme autho-

b Carte's Collections, vol. ii. p. 243.

THE COMMONWEALTH. 399

rity, deliberated what form of government they should CHAP.
establish. Many of them seemed inclined to exercise ,_ L ^.
the power of the sword in the most open manner ; but 1659>
as it was apprehended that the people would with great
difficulty be induced to pay taxes levied by arbitrary
will and pleasure, it was agreed to preserve the shadow
of civil administration, and to revive the Long Parlia-
ment, which had been expelled by Cromwell. That
assembly could not be dissolved, it was asserted, but by
their own consent ; and violence had interrupted, but
was not able to destroy, their right to government. The
officers also expected that, as these members had suffi-
ciently felt their own weakness, they would be contented
to act in subordination to the military commanders, and
would thenceforth allow all the authority to remain
where the power was so visibly vested.

The officers applied to Lenthal, the speaker, and pro-
posed to him that the Parliament should resume their
seats. Lenthal was of a low, timid spirit; and, being-
uncertain what issue might attend these measures, was
desirous of evading the proposal. He replied, that he
could by no means comply with the desire of the officers ;
being engaged in /a business of far greater importance to
himself, which he could not omit on any account, because
it concerned the salvation of his own soul. The officers
pressed him to tell what it might be. He was prepar-
ing, he said, to participate of the Lord's Supper, which
he resolved to take next Sabbath. They insisted, that
mercy was preferable to sacrifice, and that he could not
better prepare himself for that great duty, than by con-
tributing to the public service. All their remonstrances
had no effect. However, on the appointed day, the
speaker being informed that a quorum of the House was
likely to meet, thought proper, notwithstanding the sal-
vation of his soul, as Ludlow observes, to join them ; and
the House immediately proceeded upon business. The
secluded members attempted, but in vain, to resume
their seats among them.

The numbers of this Parliament were small, li ttle J^f n f ar "
exceeding seventy members; their authority in the or Rump,
nation, ever since they had been purged by the army, 168
was extremely diminished, and after their expulsion, had

400 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAP, been totally annihilated : but being all of them men of
^ ' IL _, violent ambition ; some of them men of experience and
1659. capacity; they were resolved, since they enjoyed the
title of the supreme authority, and observed that some
appearance of a Parliament was requisite for the pur-
poses of the army, not to act a subordinate part to those
who acknowledged themselves their servants. They
chose a council, in which they took care that the offi-
cers of Wallingford-house should not be the majority :
they appointed Fleetwood lieutenant-general, but in-
serted in his commission that it should only continue
during the pleasure of the House : they chose seven
persons who should nominate to such commands as be-
came vacant : and they voted that all commissions should
be received from the speaker, and be assigned by him in
the name of the House. These precautions, the tendency
of which was visible, gave great disgust to the general
officers; and their discontent wxmld immediately have
broken out into some resolution fatal to the Parliament,
had it not been checked by the apprehensions of danger
from the common enemy.

The bulk of the nation consisted of royalists and pres-
byterians ; and to both these parties the dominion of the
pretended Parliament had ever been to the last degree
odious. When that assembly was expelled by Cromwell,
contempt had succeeded to hatred ; and no reserve had
been used in expressing the utmost derision against the
impotent ambition of these usurpers. Seeing them re-
instated in authority, all orders of men felt the highest
indignation, together with apprehensions, lest such tyran-
nical rulers should exert their power by taking vengeance
upon their enemies, who had so openly insulted them.
A secret reconciliation, therefore, was made between the
rival parties, and it was agreed that, burying former
enmities in oblivion, all efforts should be used for the
overthrow of the Kump ; so they called the Parliament,
in allusion to that part of the animal body. The presby-
terians, sensible from experience that their passion for
liberty, however laudable, had carried them into unwar-
rantable excesses, were willing to lay aside ancient jea-
lousies, and at all hazards to restore the royal family ;
the nobility, the gentry, bent their passionate endea-

THE COMMONWEALTH. 401

vours to the same enterprise, by which alone they could CHAP.
be redeemed from slavery ; and no man was so remote LXI
from party, so indifferent to public good, as not to feel 1G59
the most ardent wishes for the dissolution of that tyranny
which, whether the civil or the military part of it were
considered, appeared equally oppressive and ruinous to
the nation.

Mordaunt, who had so narrowly escaped on his trial Conspira-
before the high court of justice, seemed rather animated royalists,
than daunted with past danger ; and having, by his re-
solute behaviour, obtained the highest confidence of the
royal party, he was now become the centre of all their
conspiracies. In many counties, a resolution was taken
to rise in arms. Lord Willoughby of Parham, and Sir
Horatio Townshend, undertook to secure Lynn ; General
Massey engaged to seize Gloucester ; Lord Newport,
Littleton, and other gentlemen, conspired to take pos-
session of Shrewsbury ; Sir George Booth, of Chester ;
Sir Thomas Middleton, of North Wales ; Arundel, Pol-
lar, Granville, Trelawney, of Plymouth and Exeter. A
day was appointed for the execution of all these enter-
prises ; and the king, attended by the Duke of York,
had secretly arrived at Calais, with a resolution of putting
himself at the head of his loyal subjectuisite oe
conumaneen ddfrom
th
dai hasr ^ s f C