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BOSTOISI PUBLIC UBRARY

i

•v^.;

■^ •'■^1?^-,

•-. •

THE

HISTORY

O F

E N G L A N

FROM THE

INVASION OF JULIUS CESAR T o

The REVOLUTION in i68S, In EIGHT VOLUMES, illuflrated with Plates.

By D A V ID HUME, Efq.

A NEW EDITION, with the Author's laft Corrections and Improvements.

To which is prefixed, A fhort ACCOUNT of his LIFE, written by Himfelf.

VOL. VII.

LONDON:

Printed for T. Cadell:

And fold by T. Cadell jun. and W. Davi£s,

(Succeffors to Mr. Cadell,) in the Strand, and T. N. Longman, Paternoftcr-Row.

MDCCXCVII.

j^. ' _ Y ^f

T ,^

CONTENTS

O F T H E

SEVENTH VOLUME.

CHAP. LVIL

favafion of the Scots Battle of Marfton-moor

Battle of Cropredy-bridge Eflex*s forces dlfarmed

Second battle of Newbury Rife and charafter

of the Independents Self-denying ordinance Fair- fax, Cromwel Treaty of Uxbridge Execution ol

Laud. Page t

' CHAP. LVIIL

Montrofe's vi£lories The new model of the army — — =■

Battle of Nafeby Surrender of Briftol The Weft

conquered by Fairfax Defeat of Montrofe Eccle-

Caftical affairs King goes to the Scots at Newark

•>— — End of the war-—— King delivered up by the Scots^

43

CHAP,

CONTENTS.

CHAP. LIX.

Mutiny of the army- The king feized by Joyce— —The

army march againft the parliament The army fubdue

the parhament — ■ — The king flies to the Ifle of Wight — Second civil war — Invafion from Scotland — The treaty

of Newport The civil war and invafion reprefled-

The king feized again by the army The houfe purged

*- The king's trial — And execution — And charafter.

_, Page 82

THE COMMONWEALTH.

C H A P. LX/'"^""

State of England— — Of Scotland Of Ireland — Level- lers fupprefTed Siege of Dublin raifed Tredah

ftormed Covenanters Montrofe taken prifoner—

Executed Covenanters — — Battle of Dunbar— — Of

Worcefter King's efcape The Commonwealth

-Dutch war DifTolution of the parliament. 155

C H A P. LXL

Gromwel's birth and private life Barebone's parliament

— Cromwel made proteftor— Peace with Holland -A

new parliament Infurreflion of the royalifts State

^ of Europe War with Spain Jamaica conquered

Succefs and death of admiral Blake— —Domellic

adminiftration of Cromwel Humble Petition and

Advice Dunkirk taken — — 3;ckQefs Qf ,the |)r^|te^or

—His death — And charafter. /> , : tvIti , -^21

CHAP.

m-:

CONTENTS.

CHAP. LXIL

Richard acknowledged protedor A parllament-

bal of Wallingford Houfe Richard depofed-

-parliament or Rump reftored Confpiracy of the roy-

allils Infurreftion Supprefled Parliament ex- pelled Committee of fafety Foreign affairs .

General Monk Monk declares for the parliament

Parliament reftored Monk enters London, declares

for a free parliament Secluded members reftored

Long parliament diflblved New parliament The

Reftoratlon— — Manners and arts. Page 292

CHARLES IL

CHAP. LXIIL

New miniftry — — A61: of indemnity Settlement of the

revenue Trial and execution of the regicides Dif-

folution of the convention Parliament Prelacy re- ftored Infurreflion of the millenarians Affairs of

Scotland Conference at the Savoy Arguments for

and againft a comprehenfion A new parliament .

Bifhops' feats reftored Corporation aft Aft of

uniformity King's marriage Trial of Vane —

and execution Prefbyterian clergy ejedled Dun- kirk fold to the French Declaration of indulgence

Decline of Clarendon's credit. 249

CHAP. LXIV.

A new feffion Rupture with Holland A new feflion

Viftory of the Englifh-^ Rupture with France

, Rupture with Denmark New feflion Sea-fight of

four

CONTENTS.

four days- Vi£lory of theEnglifli Fire of London

— Advances towards peace Difgrace at Chatham

■ Peace of Breda Clarendon's fall — and baniOl-

ment State of France Charafter of Louis XIV.

. French invafion of the Low Countries Nego- tiations Triple league ^^Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

Affairs of Scotland — and of Ireland. Page 395

CHAP. LXV.

A parliament The cabal Their chara£lers- — r-Their

councils Alliance with France A parliament

Coventry a£l Blood's crimes Duke declares him-

felf Catholic Exchequer fliut Declaration of in- dulgence Attack of the Smyrna fleet War declar- ed with Holland- Weaknefs of the States Battle

of Solebay Sandwich killed Progrefs of the French

Confternation of the Dutch Prince of Orange

Stadtholder Maffacre of the De Wits Good con-

duft of the Prince A parliament Declaration of

indulgence recalled Sea-fight Another fea-fight

Another fea-fight Congrefs of Cologne A

parliament Peace with Holli).Hd. 450

THE

THE

H I S

O F

GREAT

C H A P. LVII.

Jnvq/ion of ihe Scots- Battle of Marflon-moor

' Battle of Cropredy-bridge— EJJcx's forces

dif armed" Second battle of Ne-zvbwy Rfe

and character of the Independeni s Self denying

ordinance Fairfax^ Cromwel Treaty 6f

Uxbridge Execution of Laud,

:HE king had hitherto, during the courfe chap.

of the war, obtained many advantages over LVII.

the patliament, and had raifed himfelf from ^""^^^7^ that low condition into which he had at firft fallen, to be nearly upon an equal footing with his ad- verfarles, Yorkfliire, and all the northern counties, were reduced by the marquis of Newcaftle ; and, excepting Hull, the parliament was mailer of no . garrifon in thele quarters. In the weft, Plymouth alone, having been in vain bcfieged by prince Maurice, refilled the king's authority : And had it not been for the dillippointmeut in the enterprife Vol. VII. B of

a HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

C HA P. of Gloncefter, the royal garrifons had reached, with- i-Vii. ^ ^,jj. interruption, from one end of the kingdom to J644, the other ; and had occjpied a greater extent of ground than thofe of the parhament. Many of the royahfts flattered themfelveSj that the fame vigor- ous fpirit, which had elevated tllem to the prefent height of power, would ftill iavour their progrefs, and obtain them a final viclory over their enemies : But thofe who judged more foundly, obferved, that, befides the acceffion of the whole Scottifn nation to the fide of the parliament, the very principle on which the royal fucceffes had been founded was every day acquired, more and more, by the oppo- fite party. The king's troops, full of gentry and nobility, had exercifed a valour fuperior to their ene- mies, and had hitherto been fuccefsful in almo^l every rencounter : But, in proportion as the whole nation became warlike, by the continuance of civil diicords, this advantage was more equally fnared ; and iuperior numbers, it was expected, muft at length obtain the victory. The king's troops alfa^ ill paid, and deflitute of every neceflary, could not poilibly be retained in equahclifcipline with the par- liamentary forces, to whom all fupplies were fur- nilhed from unexhauded (lores and treafures^. The feverity of manners, fo much atFetled by thefe zealous religionift s, affifted their military initi- tutions ; and the rigid inflejiibiiity of character by which the aufiere reformers of church and (late were diftinguidied, enabled the parliamentary chiefs to reftrain their foldiers within ftrl£ter rules and more exaft order. And while the king's officers indulged themfelves even in greater Hcences than thofe to Vhich, during times of peace, they had been ac- Cuflomed, they were apt, both to hegle£t their mi* litary duty, and to fet a pernicious example of dif- order to the foldiers under their command.

& Rufljworthj vol. vi. p. 560*

At

€Ii A R L E S I, 3

. At the commencement of the civil war, all c tt .\ P. ^ngJiflimen, who ferved abroad, were invited over, L\H. and treated with extraordinary refpecl : And moft ^5^^. of them, being defcended of good families, and, by reafon of their abfence, unacquainted with the ne\v principles which deprefled the dignity of the crown, had inlifced under the royal flandard. But it is ob- fervable that, though the military profeffion re- quires great genius, and long experience, in the principal commanders, all its fubordinate duties may be difcharged by ordinary talents, and from iliperficial practice. Citizens . and country-gentle- men foon became excellent officers, and the gene- rals of greateft fame and capacity happened, all of them, to fpring up on the fide of the parliament, , The courtiers and great nobility, in the other party, checked the growth of any extraordinary genius among the fubordinate officers ; and every man there, as in a regular eftabliffied government,, was confined to the Itation in which his birth had placed him.

, The king, that' he might make preparations, during winter, for the enfuing campaign, fummoned to Oxford all the members of either houfe, who ad- hered to his interefts ; and endeavoured to avail himfelf of the name of parliament, fo paffionately cherifhed by the Englifh nation ^ The houfe of peers was pretty full ; and, befides the nobility em- :ployed in different parts of the kingdom, it con- tained twice as many members as commonly voted at Weftminfler. The houfe of commons confifted of about 140 ; which amounted not to above half of the other houfe of commons ^

So extremely light had government hitherto Iain ypon the people, that the very name of excife was unknown to them ; and, among other evils arifing from thefe domeitic wars, was the introdudion of

b Ruft. vol. vi. p, 559, c Idem, p. 556. 574, 575.

B 2 that

4 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITx^IN,

c H A p, that impoft into England. The parliament at Weft-

^^^^^- minder having voted an excife on beer, wine, and

'"^ other commodities ; thofe at Oxford imitated the

example, and conferred that revenue on the king.

And, in order to enable him the better to recruit

his army, they granted him the fum of 100,000

pounds, to be levied by way of loan upon the fub-

jed:. The king, circulated privy-feals, counter-

figned by the fpeakers of both houfes, requiring the

loan of particular fums from fuch perfons as lived

' within his quarters \ Neither party had as yet got

above the pedantry of reproaching their antagoniits

with thefe illegal meafures.

The Weftminfter parliament paffed a whimfical ordinance, commanding all the inhabitants of Lon- don and the neighbourhood to retrench a meal a week ; and to pay the value of it for the fupport of the public caufe ^ It is eafily imagined, that, pro- vided the money were paid, they troubled them^ felves but Httle about the execution of their ordi- nance.

Such was the king's fituation, that, in order to reflore peace to the nation, he had no occafion to demand any other terms than the refloring of the laws and conftitution ; the replacing him in the fame rights which had ever been enjoyed by his predeceilbrs ; and the re-eflablifliing, on its ancient bafis, the v/hole frame of government, civil as well as ecclefiallical. And, that he might facilitate an end feemingly fo defirable, he offered to employ means equally popular, an univerfal ad: of oblivion, and a toleration or indulgence to tender confciences. Nothing therefore could contribute more to his interells than every difcourfe of peace, and every, difcuffion of the conditions upon which that bleffmr; could be obtained. For this reafon, he folicited a treaty, on all occafions, and defired a conference and mutual examination of preten-

<i Ruflu vol. vi. p. 590. *^ Dugdale, p. 119. Rufhvol. vi. p. 748.

V 3 fions.

C H A R L E S I. :

fions, even when he entertained no hopes that any CHAP conclufion could pofTibiy refult from it. \J^'^'

For like reafons, the parliament prudently at^oid- 164^. ed, as much as pofiible, all advances towards ne- gotiation, and were cautious not to expofe too e^fily to cenfure thofe high terms, v/hich their apprehen- iions or their ambition made them previoufly de- mand of the king. Though their partifans were blinded with the thickefl veil of religious prejudices, they dreaded to bring their prcteniions to the tell, or lay them open before the whole nation. In op- J)ofition to the facred authority of the laws, to the venerable precedents of many ages, the popular leaders were afliamed to plead iiothing but fears and jealoufies, which were not avowed by the confti- tution, and for which neither the pcrfonal charadler of Charles, fo full of virtue, nor his fituation, fo deprived of all independent authority, feemed to afford any reafonable foundation. Grievances which had been fully redrefi'ed ; powers, either legal or illegal, which had been entirely renounced ; it feemed unpopular and invidious, and ungrateful, any farther to infifl: on.

The king, that he might abate the univerfal ve- neration paid to the name of parliament, had ilTued a declaration, in which he fet forth all the tumults by v/hich himfelf and his partifans in both houfes had been driven from London ; and he thence inferred that the aflembly at V/eftminiLer was no longer a free parliament, and, till its liberty were reftored, was entitled to no authority. As this declaration was an obflacle to all treaty, fome contrivance feemed requifite, in order to elude it.

A LETTER was Written in the foregoing fpring, to the earl of Eflex, and fubfcribed by the prince, the duke of York, and forty -three noblemen ^. They there exhort him to be an inflrument of re-

f Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 443. Rufh. vol. vi. p. ^66. Whit- locke, p. 77.

B 3 ftoring

6 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c H A P. iloriiig peace, and to promote that happy end with ^^^^- thofe by whom he was employed. Effex, though j(^^^. much difgufted with the parliament, though ap- prehenfive of the extremities to which they were driving, though defirous of any reafonable accom- modation ; yet was ftill more refolute to preferve an honourable fi'dehty to the truft repofed in him. He replied, that as the paper fent him neither con* tained any addrefs to the two houfes of parliament, nor any acknowledgment of their authority, he could not communicate it to them. Like propofals had been reiterated by the king, during the enfuing campaign, and flill met with a like anfwer from EiTex '.

In order to make a new trial for a treaty, the |s.ing, this fpring, fent another letter, direded to the lords and commons of parliament affembled at Weftminfler : But as he alfo mentioned, in the letter, the lords and commons of parliament af- fembled at Oxford, and declared that his fcope and intention was to make provifion that all the memr bers of both houfes might fecurely meet in a full and free ailembly ; the parliament, perceiving the conclufion implied, refufed all treaty upon fuch terms ''. And the king, who knew what fmall hopes there were of accommodation, would not abandon the pretenfions which he had aiTumed ; nor acknow- ledge the two houfes, more exprefsly, for a free parliament.

This winter the famous Pym died ; a man as much hated by one party, as refpeded by the other. At London, he was confidered as the victim to national liberty, who had abridged his life by in- (pefiant labours for the interefts of his country ' : Ac 'Oxford he was believed to have been ftruck with an uncommon difeafe, and to have been confumed

S Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 444. Riifli. vol. vi. p, 569. 570. Whit.. lod<e, p. 94. ^ Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 4+9- Whitlocke,

1>. 79' ■'■ Ibicl. p. 66.-

C H A R L E S I. f

with vermin ; as a mark of divine vengeance, for c il A p, his multiplied crimes and treafons. He had been ^^ ■• fo little iLudioiis of improving his private fortune ,644, In thofe civil wars of which he had been one prin- cipal author, that the parliament thought themfelves obliged, from gratitude, to pay the debts which he had contracted ". We nov^^ return to the military- operations, vi^hich, , during the winter, were carried on with vigour in feveral places, notwithilanding the feverity of the feafpn.

The forces brojight from Ireland were landed at Moftyne, in North Wales ; and being put under the command of lord Biron, they befieged and took the caftles of Havv^arden, Beefton, AQ:on, and Deddington-houfe '. No place in Chefhire or the neighbourhood now adhered to the parliament, ex- cept Nantwich : And to this town Biron laid fiege -during the depth of winter. Sir Thomas Fairfax, alarmed at fo confiderable a progrefs of the royalilts, affembled an army of 4000 men in Yorkfhire, and having joined fir William Brereton, was approach- ing to the camp of the enemy. Biron and his foldiers, elated with fucceffes obtained in Ireland, had entertained the mod profound contempt for the parliamentary forces ; a difpofition which, if con- fined to the army, may be regarded as a good prefage of vidory ; but if it exend to the general, is the mofl probable forerunner of a defeat. Fairfax fiiddenly attacked the camp of the royaliits. The 25th Jan; fwelling of the river by a thaw divided one part of the army from the other. That part expofed to Fairfax, being beaten from their poft, retired into the church of Afton, and were all taken pi ifoners : The other retreated with precipitation '~\ And thus was diffipatedj or rendered ufelefs, that body of

H Jourfl. 13th of February 1643. l Rufli. ycl. vi. p. 199,

Sf Ibid. p. 301.

*s >

B 4 fprcgs

^ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

^ Lvfr ^" ^'^^^^^ which had been drawn from Ireland ; and the* ^..^-^^-^^ parliamentary party revived in thole north-weft

1644, counties of England. invnfinn The invafion from Scotland was attended with

|?omScot- confequences of much greater importance. The Scots, having fummoned in vain the town of New- eaflle, which was fortified by the vigilance of fir stdFeb. Thomas Glenbam, paffed the Tyne ; and faced the marquis of Newcaftie, who lay at Durham with an army of 14,000 men". After fome military ope- rations, in which that nobleman reduced the enemy to difficulties for forage and provifions, he received intelligence of a great difafter which had befallen his forces in Yorkilnre. Colonel Beliafis, whom he had left with a confiderable body of troops, wai jtithAprll. totally routed at Selby by fir Thomas Fairfax, who had returned from Chefliire with his victorious' forces °. Afraid of being inclofed between tvsro armies, Newcaftle retreated ; and Leven having joined lord Fairfax, they fat down before York, to which the army of the royaliils had retired. But as the parliamentary and Scottiih forces were not nu- merous enough to invefl fo large a town, divided by a river, they contented themfelves v»'ith incom- moding it by a loofe blockade j and affairs re- mained, for fome time, in fufpenfe between thefe oppofite armies ^

During this winter and fpring, other parts of the kingdom had alfo been infefted with war. Hopton, having afl'embled an army of 14,000 men, endeavoured to break into Sulfex, Kent, and the fouthern allbciation, which feemed well difpofed to receive him. Waller fell upon him at Chering- ton, and gave him a defeat % of confiderable im- portance. In another quarter, fiege being laid

n Rnfli. vol. vi. p. 615. " Idem, ibid. p. Cil

» Idcia, ibid. p. '610. « 29th of March.

to

CHARLES I. t)

to Newark, by the parliamentary forces, prince Ru- ^ ^^ -^ ^■ pert prepared himfelf for relieving a town of fvich con- v_,^,,-^ fequence, which alone preferved the communication 1644, open between the king's fouthern and northern quar- ters ^ With a fmall force, but that animated by his adive courage, he broke through the enemy, re- lieved the town, and totally difTipated that army of the parHament '.

But though fortune feemed to have divided her favours between the parties, the king found himfelf, in the main, a confiderable lofer by this winter- campaign ; and he prognofticated a fliil werfe event from the enfuing fummer. The preparations of the parliament were great, and much exceeded the ilen- der refources of which he was poiTeffed. In the ealf- ern affociation, they levied fourteen thoufand men, under the earl of Manchefter, feconded by Crora- wel^ An army of ten thoufand men, under EiTex, another of nearly the fame force under ViTalier. were alfembled in the neighbourhood of London. The former was deftined to oppofe the king: The latter was appointed to march into the wefc, vt^here prince Maurice, with a fmall army which went continually to decay, was fpending his time in vain before Lyme, an inconfiderable town upon the fea-coaft. The ur- moft efforts of the king could not raife above ten thoufand men at Oxford ; and on their fword chiefly, during the campaign, were thefe to depend for fub- fiftence.

The queen, terrified with the dangers which every way environed her, and afraid of being en- clofed in Oxford, in the middle of the kingdom, fled to Exeter, where flie hoped to be delivered unmolefled of the child with which ihe was now pregnant, and whence flie had the means of an eafy efcape into France, if preffed by the forces of the enemy. She knew the implacable hatred

"■ Rufh. vol. vi. p. 306. s 2ift 0." March.

* Rufli. vol. vi, p. 62.1.

which

j644.

lo HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, which the parliament, on account of her reiigio^ LVii and her credit with the king, had all along borne her. Lafl fummer the commons had fent up to the peers an impeachment of high treafon againft her ; becaufe, in his utmofl diftreifes, fhe had af- fiiled her hufband with arms and ammunition, which file had bought in Holland ". And had fhe fallen into their hands, neither her fex, fhe knew, nor high flation, could proteft her againft infults at leaft, if not danger, from thofe haughty republicans, who fe little affeded to condud themfelves by the maxims of gallantry and politenefs.

From the beginning of thefe difTenfions, the par- liament, it is remarkable, had, in all things, af- fumed an extreme afcendant over their fovereign, and had difplayed a violence, and arrogated an au- thority, which, on his fide, would not have been, compatible either with hi:j temper or his fituation. While he fpoke perpetually of pardoning all rebels ; they talked of nothing but the punilhment oi de- linquents and malignants : While he offered a tole- ration and indulgence to tender confciences ; they threatened the utter extirpation of prelacy : To his profefTions of lenity, they oppofed declarations of rigour : And the more the ancient tenor of the iavv's inculcated a refpectful fubordination to the crown, the more careful were they, by their lofty pretenlions, to cover that defect under which they laboured.

Their great advantages In the north feemed to fecond their ambition, and finally to promife them fuccefs in their unwarrantable enterprifes. Man- chefler, having taken Lincoln, had united his army to that of Leven and Fairfax ; and York was now clofely befieged by their combined forces. That town, though vigoroufly defended by Newcaftle, was reduced to extremity j and the parliamentary

».Rufb. vol. vi. p» 331,.

generals

CHARLES I. Jl

generals, after enduring great loiTes and fatigues, c h a p flattered themfelves that all their labours would at ,^^^,,..^^^1,^ laft be crowned by this important conqueft. On a 1644, fudden, they were alarmed by the approach of prince Rupert. This gallant commander, having vigoroufly exerted himfelt in Lancafbire and Chefliire, had col-^ lefted a confiderablearmy; and, joining fir Charles Lucas, who com,manded Newcaftie's horfej hailened to the rehef of York, with an army of 20,000 men. The Scottiih and parliamentary generals raifed th-e liege, and, drawing up on Marllon-moor, purpofed to give battle to the royalifts. Prince Rupert ap- proached the town by another quarter, and, inter- pofing the river Oufe between him and the enemy, fafely joined his forces to thofe of Newcaftle. The marquis endeavoured to perfuade him, that, hav- ing fo fuccefsfully effected his purpofe, he ought to : be content with the prefenc advantages, and leave f. the enemy, now much diminifhed by their loffes, "-" and difcouraged by their ill fuccefs, to diffolve, by thofe mutual diffenfions which had begun to take place among them ^''. The prince, whofe martial difpofition was not fufficlently tempered with pru- dence, nor foftened by complaifance, pretending po- fitlve orders from the king, without deigning to adjulr, confultwith Newcaftle, whofe merits and fervices defeived better treatment, immediately ilfued orders for battle, and led out the army to Mariton-moor \ ]p?"',f '^' This adion w^as obftinately difputed between the mod numerous armies that were engaged during the courfe of thefe wars ; nor were the forces on each fide much different in number. Fifty thou- fand Britiih troops were led to mutual flaughter ; and the vidory feemed long undecided between them'. Prince Rupert, who commanded the right wing of the royalifts, was oppofed toCromwel-,

w Life of the Duke of Newcaftle, p. 40.

'^ Clarendon, vol. v. p. 506. ^ Rufli. part iii. vqj. ii. p. 633.

•: ,; ; 7 wb©

Marllor*. moor.

12 HISTORt OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, who conduced the choice troops of the parliament* .^_^_!.'^_^ enured to danger under that determined leader, ani- 4644. mated by zeal, and confirmed by the mofl rigid difcipline. After a ihort combat, the cavalry of the royalifts gave way ; and fuch of the infantry as flood next them were likewife borne down, and put to flight. Nevvcaftls's regiment alone, refolute to conquer or to perifh, obllinately kept their ground, and maintained, by their dead bodies, the fame or- der in which they had at firft been ranged. In the other wing, fir Thomas Fairfax and colonel Lam- bert, with fome troops, broke through the royalifls; and, tranfported by the ardour of purfuit, foon reached their viftorious friends, engaged alfo in purfuit of the enemy. But after that tempeft was pad, Lucas, who commanded the royalifts in this wing, refioring order to his broken forces, made a furious attack; on the parliamentary cavalry, threw them into diforder, puflied them upon their own infantry, and put that v/hole wing to rout. When ready to feize on their carriages and bag- gage, he perceixTd Cromwel, who was now returned from purfuic of the other wing. Both fides were not a little furprifed to fmd that they mull again renew the com.bat 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 which had been pOiTelfed by the enemy at the beginning of the day. This fecond battle was equally furious and defpe- rate with the firft : But after the utmofl efforts of courage by both parties, victory wholly turned to the fide of the parliament. The prince's train of ar- tillery was taken ; and his whole army pufhed off , the field of battle ^.

This event was in itfelf a mighty blow to the king J but proved more fatal in its confequences,

* Rufh. vol. vi, p. 633. Wiiitlocke, p. S^,

The

CHARLES I.

n

The marquis of Newcallle was entirely lofl to the chap. royal caufe. That nobleman, the ornament of the Lvn. court and of his order, had been engaged, contrary ^^^ to the natural bent of his dilpofitionj into thefe mi- litary operations, merely by a high fenfe of honour, and a perfonal regard to his mailer. The dangers of war were difregarded by his valour ; but its fa- tigues were opprefTive to his natural indolence. Munificent and generous in his expence; polite and elegant in his tafte ; courteous and humane in his behaviour; he brought. a great acceffion of friends and of credit to the party which he embraced. But amidft all the hurry of adion, his inclinations were fecretly drawn to the foft arts of peace, in which he took delight ; and the charms of poetry, mufic, and converfation, often dole him from his rougher occu- pations. He chofe fir William Davenant,.an in- genious poet, for his lieutenant-general : The other perfons, in whom he placed confidence, were more the inftruments of his refined pleafures, than qua- lified for the bulinefs which they undertook : And the feverity and application requifite to the fupport of difcipline, were qualities in which he was entirely wanting '.

When prince Rupert, contrary to his advice, tefolved on this battle, and iiTued all orders, with- out communicating his intentions to him, he took the field, but, he laid, merely as a volunteer; and, except by his perfonal courage, which (hone out with luftre, he had no fliare in the aftion. Enraged fo find that all his fuccefsful labours were rendered abortive by one ad of fatal temerity, terrified with the profpe£t of renewing his pains and fatigue, he refolved no longer to maintain the few refources which remained to a defperate caufe, and thought that the fame regard to honour, which had at lirft (:alled him to arms, now required him to abandon a

* Clarendon, vol, v- p. 507, 508, See Warvvic.

party.

14 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c H A P. party, x^'bere he met with fuch unworthy treatment* LVil. Next morning early he fent word to the prince that 2644. ^^^ ^'^'^^ inftantly to leave the kingdom; and, without delay, he went to Scarborough, where he found a. veffel, which carried him beyond fea. During the enfuing years, till the reftoration, he lived abroad in great neceffity, and law, with indifference, his opulent fortune fequeflered by thofe who affumed the government of England. He difdained, by fub- miffion or compoiition, to fnow obeifance to their ufurped authority ; and the ieaft favourable cenfors ot his merit allowed, that the fidelity and fervices of a whole life had fuinciently atoned for one rafli aclion into which his paffion had betrayed him ^.

Prince Rupert, with equal precipitation, drew ' off the remains of his army, and retired into Lan- caihire. Glenham, in a few days, was obliged to sothjuly. furrender York ; and he marched out his garrifon with all the honours of war \ Lord Fairfax, re- maining in the city, eftabliOied his government ir that whole county, and fent a thoufand horfe into l.ancalhire, to join with the parliamentary forces in that quarter, and attend the motions of prince Ru- pert ; The Scottifh army marched northwards, in. order to join, the eari of Calender, who was advanc- ing with ten. thoufand additional forces ^; and to re- duce the town of Newcaftle, which they took by if orm : The earl of Mancheiter, with Cromwel, to whom the fame of this great viftory-was chiefly afcribed, and who was wounded in the aftion, re- turned to the eaftern alTociation, in order to recruit his army ^ While thefe events palTed in the north, the king's . affairs in the fouth were conducted with more fuccefs and greater abilities. Ruthven, a Scotchman, who

b Clarendon, vol. v. p.jii. ' Rufh. vol. vi. p. 63S.

** WhitlockCj p. S8. « Riifii. vol. vi. p. 64I. '

' ' had

CHARLES !. 15

had been created earl of Brentford, afted, under the CHAP

king, as general. , , , . . J^-V-'-^

The parliament £bon completed their two armies 1644. commanded by Effex and Waller. The great zeal of the city facilitated this undertaking. Many fpeeches were made to the citizens by the parlia- mentary leaders, in order to excite their ardour, Hollis, in particular, exhorted them not to fpare, on this important occafion, either their purfes, their per- fons, or their prayers ^ ; and, in general, it mull be confeffed, they were fufFiciently liberal in ail thefe contributions. The two generals had orders to march with their combined armies towards Oxford ; and, if the king retired into that city, to lay fiege to it, and by one ente'i-prife put a period to the war. The king, leaving a numerous garrifon in Oxford, pafTed with dexterity between the two armies, which had taken Abingdon and had inclofed him on both fides ^, He marched towards Worcefter ; and "Waller received orders from ElTex to follow him and watch his motions ; while he himfelf marched into the weft in queft of prince Maurice. Waller had approached within two miles of the royal camp, and was only feparated from it by the Severn, when he received intelligence that the king was advanced to Bewdley, and had directed his courfe towards Shrewihury. In order to prevent •him. Waller prefently dillodged, and haftened by quick marches to that town ; while the king, fud- denly returning upon his own. footfteps, reached Oxford ; and having reinforced his army from that garrifon, now in his turn marched out in queft of Waller. The two armies faced each other at Cro- Battle of predy-bridge near Banbury ; but the Charwell ran briXe?'^" between them. Next day the king decamped, and 29th June, marched towards Daventry. Waller ordered a con* fiderable detachment to pafs the bridge, with an

f Rufh. vol. vi, p. 663. s 3d of June.

intention

»M4<

16 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c H A P. intention of falling on the rear of the royalills. He ^'"^^' was repulfed, routed, and purfued with confiderable iofs ''. Stunned and difneartened with this blow, his army decayed and melted away by defertion ; and the king thought he might fafely leave it, and inarch AATeftward againft Effex. That general, hav- ing obliged prince Maurice to raife the iiege of Lyme, having taken Weyinouth and Taunton, ad- vanced Hill in his conquelt?, and met with no equal oppofition. The king follow^ed him, and having reinforced his army from all quarters, appeared in the field with an ^army fuperior to' the enemy. Eflex retreating into Cornwal, informed the parha- ment of his danger, and defared them to fend an armv, which might fall on the king's rear. Ge- neral Middleton received a commiffion to execute that fervice ; but came too late. Eifex's army, cooped up in a narrow corner at Leftithiel, deprived of all forage and provifions, and feeing no profpeft of fuccour, was reduced to the lail extremity. The king preifed them on one fide ; prince Maurice on another ; fir Richard Granville on a third. Eflex, Robarts, and fome of the principal officers, efcaped in a boat to Plymouth : Balfour with his horfe paffed the king's out-pofts, in a thick mift, and got aft Sept, fafely to the garrifons of his own party. The foot under Skippon were obliged to furrender their arms, artillery, baggage, and ammunition ; and being con- ducted to the parliament's quarters, were difmilTed. Effex's By this advantage, which was much boafted of, the forces dif- king, befides the honour of the enterprife, obtained v/hat he flood extremely in need of : The parlia- ment, having preferved the men, loft what they could eafily repair '.

No fooner did this intelligence reach London, than the committee of the two kingdoms voted

** Kufh. vol. vl. p. 676. Cl'.rendon, vol. v. p. 497. Sir Ed. Wallcer, p. 31. i Rnlh v^l. vi. p. 699, &c. Whitlocke, p. 9S. Ciarendorij vu!. v. p 524, [,-5- Sir Edw.Walicer, p. 69, 70, &c.

thanks

^rmed.

C H A R L E S t. 17

thanks to Eflex for his fidelity, courage, and con- ^^^n^' du£t; and this method of proceeding, no lefs politic u— v---* than magnaAimoiis, was preferved by the parliament 164^. throughout the whole courfe of the war. Equally indulgent to their friends and rigorous to their ene- mies, they employed, with fuccefs, thefe two power- ful engines of reward and punifhment, in confirma- tion of their authority.

That the king might have lefs reafon to exult in the advantages which he had obtained in the weft, the parliament oppofed to him very numerous forces. Having armed anew Effex's fubdued, but not dif- heartened troops, they ordered Manchefter and Cromwel to march with their recruited forces from the eaftern aflbciation; and joining their armies to thofe of Waller and Middleton, as well as of Eflex, offer battle to the king. Charles chofe his poft at Second Newbury, where the parliamentary armies, under the ^^^^uf earl of Manchefter, attacked him with great vigour; and that town was a fecond time the fcene of the bloody animofities of the Englifti. Eifex*s foldiers, 27th OdV, exhorting one another to repair their broken honour^ and revenge the difgrace of Leftithiel, made an im- petuous aflault on the royalifts ; and having recovered fome of their cannon, loft in Cornwal, could not for- bear embracing them with tears of joy. Though the king's troops defended themfelves with valour, they Were overpowered by numbers j and the night came Very feafonably to their relief, and prevented a total overthrov/. Charles, leaving his baggage and can- non in Dennington-caftle, near Newbury, forthwith retreated to Wallingford, and thence to Oxford. There prince Rupert and the earl of Northampton joined him, with confiderable bodies of cavalry. Strengthened by this reinforcement, he ventured to advance towards the enemy, now employed before Dennington-caftle''. Eflex, detained by ficknefs,

* Rufh vol. vi. p. 721, SiC.

Vol. VII. C had

iS HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

LVir. ' ^^'^ ^^^ joined the army fmce his misfortune ir^ ^^,.~v^»^ Cornwal. Manchefter, who commanded, though his. 1644-. forces were much fuperior to thofe of the king, de- clined an engagement, and rejected Cromwel's ad- 9th Nov. vice who earnellly prefied him not to negleft fo fa- vourable an opportunity of finiihing the war. The king's army by bringing oiF their cannon from Den- nington-caftle, in the face of the enemy, feemed to have fufficiently repaired the honour which they had loft at Newbury; and Charles, having the fatisfiidion to excite, between Manchefter and Cromwel, equal animofities with thofe which formerly took place be- tween Eifex and Waller ', diftributed his army into winter-quarters. ^2dNov. Those contefts among i\\e parliamentary gene- rals, which had difturbed their military operations, were renewed in London during the winter feafon; and each being fupported by his own faflion, their mutual reproaches and accufations agitated the whole city and parliament. There had long prevailed, in that party, a fecret diftinftion, which, though the dread of the king's power had hitherto fupprefled it, yet, in proportion as the hopes of fuccefs became nearer and more immediate, began to difcover it- felf, with high conteft and animofity. The Inde- pendents, who had, at firft, taken flielter and con- cealed themfelves under the wings of the Presbyte- ^ RiANs, now evidently appeared a diftincl party, and betrayed very different views and pretenfions. We iTJuft here endeavour to explain the genius of this party, and of its leaders, who henceforth occupy the I'cene of action. Rife and DuRiNG thofe times, when the enthufiaftic fpirit of the in- i^^et with fuch houour and encouragement, and was depend- the immediate means of diftindion and preferment; it was impofTible to fet bounds to thefe holy fervours, or confine, within any natural limits, what was direfted

1 Rufti. vol. vii. p. I.

towards

ents

C H A R L E S I. f^

Rewards an infinite and a fupernatural pbjecl:. Every CHAP. man, as prompted by the warmth of his temper, t^'^^'\\ excited by emulation, or fupported by his habits of 1(^4^. " hypocrify, endeavoured to diflinguifh himfelf beyond his fellows, and to arrive at a higher pitch of faintfhip and perfev3:ion. In proportion to its degree of fanati- cifm, each kd: became dangerous and deftrudive ; and as the independents went a note higher than the prefbyterians, they could lefs be retrained within any bounds of temper and moderation. From this dif- tinftlon, as from a firfi: principle, were derived, by g. neceffary confequence, all the other differences of thefe two feds.

The independents rejeded all ecclefiaflicai efta^.- • blifliments, and would admit of no fpiritual courts, no government among pallors, no interpofition of the magiftrafe in religious concerns, no fixed en- couragement annexed to any fyftem of dodrines or opinions. According to their principles, each con- gregatioji, united voluntarily and by fpiritual ties, compofed, within itfelf, a feparate church, and exer- ' cifed a jurifdidion, but one deftitijte of temporal fandions, over its own paftor and its own memberso The eledion alone of the congregation was fufficient to beftow the facerdotal charader j and as all eflftntial diftindion was denied between thelaity andthe clergy, no ceremony, no inftitution, no vocation, no impo- fition of hands, was, as in all other churches, fup- pofed requifite to convey a right to holy orders. The enthufiafm of the prefbyterians led them to rejed the authority of prelates, to throw off the reftraint of liturgies, to retrench ceremonies, to limit the riches and authority of the prieflly office : The fanaticifm of the independents, exalted to a higher pitch, abo- liftied ecclefiaflicai government, difdained creeds an4 fyflems, negleded every ceremony, and confounded all ranks ai>d orders. The foldier, the merchant, the KiQchamc, ijidulging the fervours of zeal, and gulde4 C z bv

aa HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c HAP. by the illapfes of the fpirit, refigned himfelf to an m- , _ '^ ward and fuperior diredion, and was confecrated, 1644.. ^^ ^ manner, by an immediate intercourfe and com- munication with heaven.

The catholics, pretending to an infallible guide, had juftified, upon that principle, their doctrine and pradice of perfecution: The prefbyterians, imagin- ing that fuch clear and certain tenets, as they them- l^elves adopted, could berejefted only from a crimi- nal and pertinacious obfliinacy, had hitherto gratified, to the full, their bigoted zeal, in a like doftrine and pradice: The independents, from the extremity of the fame zeal, were led into the milder principles of toleration. Their mind, fet afloat in the wide fea of infpiration, could confine itfelf within no certain li- mits ; and the fame variations, in which an enthu- fiaft indulged himfelf, he was apt, by a natural tram of thinking, to permit in others. Of all chriftian fefts this was the firft, which, during its profperity as well as its adverfity, always adopted the principle of toleration ; and it is remarkable that fo reafon- able a doctrine owed its origin, not to reafoning, but to the height of extravagance and fanaticifm.

Popery and prelacy alone, whofe genius feemed to tend towards fuperftition, v/ere treated by the in- dependents with rigour. The dodrines too of fate or defliny, were deemed by them efl'ential to all re- ligion. In thefe rigid opinions, the whole fe6taries, amidfl all their other differences, unanimoafly con- curred.

The political fyftem of the independents kept pace with their religious. Not content with confining to very narrow limits the power of the crov/n, and re- ducing the king to the rank of firft magiftrate, which was the project of the prefbyterians; this feet, more ardent in the purfuit of liberty, afpired to a total abo- lition of the monarchy, and even of the ariftocracy; and projeded an entire equality of rank and order

in

C H A R L E S I. 21

m a republic, quite free and independent. In con- chap. fequence of this fcheme, they were declared enemies ^ " to all propofals for peace, except on fuch terms as, 1644 they knew, it was impofllble to obtain; and they adhered to that maxim, which is, in the main, pru- dent and political, that, whoever draws the fword againfl his fovereign, fliouid throw away the fcab- bard. By terrifying others with the fear of venge- ance from the offended prince, they had engaged greater numbers into the oppofition againfl peace, than had adopted their other principles with regard to government and religion. And the great fuc- cefs, which had already attended the arms of the parliament, and the greater, which was foon expecl- ed, confirmed them flill further in this obftinacy.

Sir Harry Vane, Oliver Cromwel, Nathaniel Fiennes, and Oliver St. John, the foHcitor-general, were regarded as the leaders of the independents. The earl of EfTex, difgufted with a war, of which he began to forefee the pernicious confeqnences, ad- hered to the prefbyterians, and promoted every rea- fonable plan of accommodation. The earl of Nor- thumberland, fond of his rank and dignity, regarded with horror a fcheme, which, if it took place, would confound himfelf and his family with the lowefl in the kingdom. The earls of Warwic and Denbigh, fir Philip Stapleton, fir William Waller, Hollis, MafTey, Whitlocke, Maynard, Glyn, had embraced the fame fentiments. In the parHament, a confider- able majority, and a much greater in the nation, were attached to the prefbyterian party ; and it was only by cunning and deceit at firll, and afterwards by mi- litary violence, that the independents could entertain jiny hopes of fuccefs.

The earl of Manchefter, provoked at the impeach*

ment which the kinfi had lod^j^ed againfl him, had

long forwarded the war with alacrity ; but, beii^g-a

man of humanity and good principles, the view of

C 3 public

'ii HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

^ ^Vn ^' P^^^^^ calamities, and the profpeft of a total fub- V^,-^ ,'_f verfion of government, began to moderate his ar= 2644. dour, and inclined him to promote peace on any fafe or honourable terms. He was even fufpeded, in the field, not to have pufhed to the utmofl againft the king, the advantages obtained by the arms of the parliament ; and Cromwel, in the public de- bates, revived the accufation, that this noLleman had wilfully neglefted at Dennington-caftle a fa- vourable opportunity of iini&ing the war by a total defeat of the royalifts. " I fnowed him evidently," faid Cromwel, '' how this fuccefs might be obtain- *' ed ; and only^defired leave, with my own brigade " of horfe, to charge the king's army in their re- " treat ; leaving it in the earl's choice, if he thought " proper, to remain neuter with the reil of his " forces : But, notwithftanding my importunity, " he pofitively refufed his confent ; and gave no " other reafon but that, if we met with a defeat, " there was an end of out pretenfions : We fliould " all be rebels and traitors, and be executed and '' forfeited by law '"."

Manchester, by way of recrimination, in- formed the parliament, that, at another time, Cromwel having propofed fome fcheme, to which it feemed improbable the parliament would agree, he infilled and faid. My lord, if you will fiick firm to honejl men, ycAifdallfind yourfelf at the head of an army, which fhall give law both to king and par Ua- ment. « This difcourfe," continued Manchefler, " made the greater impreffion on me, becaufe I . *^ knew the lieutenant-general to be a man of very

*^ deep defigns ; 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 "*" So full was

*^ GIArendon) vol. v. p. 561. *> Idem, ibid, p. 562.

Cromwei

CHARLES- !.

23

Cromwel of thefe republican projeQs, that, not- chap. withftanding his habits of profound diffimulation, he LVii. i ■could not lo carefully guard his expreffions, but ^"^'T*^ that fometimes his favourite notions would efcape him. -

These violent diflenfions brought matters to ex- tremity, and pufiied the independents to the execu- tion of their defigns. The prefent generals, they thought, were more defirous of protracting than finifhing the war ; and having entertained a fcheme for preferving dill fome balance in the conilitution, , they were afraid of entirely fubduing the king, and reducine: him to a condition where he fhould not be entitled to afk any concelTions. A new model alone of the army could bring complete victory to the parliament, and free the nation from thofe calamities under which it laboured. But how to eiFe(l this project was the difficulty. The authority, as well as merits, of EiTex va^as very great with the parliament. Not only he had ferved them all along with the mod exact and fcrupulous honour : It was, in fome meafure, owing to his popularity, that they had ever been enabled to levy an army, or make head againfl the royal caufe. Manchefter, Warwic, •and the other commanders, had Hkewife great credit with the pubhc ; 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 purpofe of their antagonids. The Scots and Scottifli commiflioners, jealous of the progrefs of the independents, were a new obftacle ; -which, without the utmoll art and fubtlety, it would be difficult to furmount ". The methods by which this intrigue was conduced are fo fmgular, and ihow fo fully the genius of the age, that we fliall give a detail of them, as they are delivered by lord Clarendon v.

.'" Clarendon, vol. v. p. 561. f Idem, ibid, p. s'^S-

C 4 A FAST,

ft^ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

G H AP. A FAST, on the lad Wednefday of every month, ^^^^' had been ordered by the parliament at the begin- ning of thefe commotions ; and their preachers, on that day, were careful to keep alive, by their ve- hement declamations, the popular prejudices enter- tained againft the king, againfl prelacy, and againft popery. The king, that he might combat the parliament with their own weapons, appointed likewife a monthly fail, when the people fliould be inflrufted in the duties of loyalty and of fub- milTion to the higher powers ; and he chofe the fecond Friday of every month for the devotion of the rovaliils"^. It was now propofed and carried in parliament, by the independents, that a new and more folemn faft fhould ht voted ; when they Ihould implore the divine affiflance for extricating them from thofe perplexities in which they were at prefent involved. On that day, the preachers, after many political prayers, took care to treat of the reigning divifions in the parliament, and afcribed them entirely to the fejfifh ends purfued by the members. In the hands of thofe members, they faid, are lodged all the confiderable commands of the army, all the lucrative offices in the civil ad- miniftration : And while the nation is falling every day into poverty, and groans under an infupport-* able load of taxes, thefe men multiply pofleflion on pofleflion, and will, in a httle time, be maflers of all the wealth of the kingdom. That fuch perfons, who fatten on the calamities of their country, will ever embrace any effectual meafure for bringing them to a period, or enfuring final fuccefs to the war, cannot rcafonably be expected. Lingering expedients alone will be purfued : And operations in the field concurring, in the fame pernicious end, with deliberations in the cabi- net, civil commotions will for ever be perpetuated

1 Rufliworth, vol. vi. p. 364.

3 i"

C H A R L E S ^ I.

2$

in the nation. After exaggerating thefe diforders, ^ j^ ^ P» the mini Hers returned to their prayers ; and be- v,,^-,^,^ fought the Lord, that he would take his own work »644. into his own hand ; and if the inftrumeuts, whom he had hitherto employed, were not worthy to bring to a conclufion fo glorious a defign, that he would infpire others more fit, who might perfe6l what wae begun, and by eflablifhing true religion, put a fpeedy period to the public miferies.

On the day fubfequent to thefe devout animad- verfions, when the parliament met, a new fpirit ap- peared in the looks of many. Sir Henry Vane told the commons, that if ever God appeared to them, it was m the ordinances of yefterday : That, as he was credibly informed by many, who had been prefent in different congregations, the fame la- mentations and difcourfes, which the godly preach- ers had made before them, had been heard in other churches : That fo remarkable a concurrence could proceed only from the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit : That he therefore intreated them, in vindication of their own honour, in confideration of their duty to God and their country, to lay afide all private ends, and renounce every office attended with profit or advantage : That the abfence of fo many members, occupied in different employments, had rendered the houfe extremely thin, and dimi- , nifhed the authority of their determinations : And that he could not forbear, for his own part, ac- cufing himfelf as one who enjoyed a gainful ofHce, . that of treafurer of the navy ; and though he was poffeffed of it before the civil commotions, and owed it not to the favour of the parliament, yet was he ready to refign it, and to facrifice, to the welfare of his country, every confideration of private interefl and advantage.

Cromwel, next afted his part, and commended the preachers for having dealt with them plainly and impartially, and told them of their errors, of which

they

1044'

,6 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

-• H A ■?• ^^^y were fo unwilling to be informed. Though LVII- they dwelt on many things, he faid, on which he had never before refleded ; yet, upon revolving them, he could not but confefs, that, till there were a perfect reformation in thefe particulars, nothing which they undertook could poffibly profper. The parliament, no doubt, continued he, had done wiiely on the commencement of the war, in en- gaging feveral of its members in the mod- dangerous parts of it, and thereby fatisfying the nation, that they intended to (hare all hazards with the meaneft of the people. But alTairs are now changed. During the progrefs of military operations, there have arifen, in the parliamentary armies, many excellent officers, who are qualified for higher commands than they are now poffefied of. -And though it becomes not men engaged in fuch a caufe to put iriift in the arm of fiejh^ yet he could alTure them, that their troops contained generals fit to command in any enterprife in Chriflendom. The army indeed, he was forry to fay it, did not correfpond, by its difcipline, to the merit of the officers ; nor were there any hopes, till the prefent vices and diforders, which prevail among the foldiers, were repreifed by a new model, that their forces would ever be attended with fignal fuccefs in any undertaking.

In oppofition to this reafoning of the independ- ents, many of the prefbyterians fhewed the in'- convenience and danger of the projedled alteration. Whitlocke, in particular, a man of honour, who loved his country, though in every change of go^ vernment he always adhered to the ruling power, faid, that befides the ingratitude of difcarding, and that by fraud and artifice, fo many noble perfons, to whom the parliament had hitherto owed its chief fupport ; they would find it extremely difficult to fupply the place of men, now formed by experience to command and authority : That the rank alone, poifeifed by fuch as were members of either houfe, 7 P^e-

C H A R L E S L 27

jirevented envy, retained the army in obedience, chap. and gave weight to military orders : That greater ^^^'' confidence might fafely berepofed in men of family 16^4, and fortune, than in mere adventurers, who would be apt to entertain feparate views from thofe Vv'hich were embraced by the perfons who employed them : That no maxim of policy w^as more undifputed, than the neceffity of preferving an infeparable con- nexion between the civil and military powers, and of retaining the latter in Uriel fubordination to the former : That the Greeks and Romans, the wifert and moft palTionate lovers of liberty, had ever entrufted to their fenators the command of armies, and had maintained an unconquerable jealoufy of all mer- cenary forces : And that fuch men alone, whofe interefts were involved in thofe of the public, and who poifeffed a vote in the civil deliberations, would fufficiently refped the authority of parlia- ment, and never could be tempted to turn the fword againil thofe by whom it was committed to them ■".

Notwithstanding thefe reafonings, a com- self-deny* mittee was choien to frame what was called the i"g ofdi- .felf denying ordinance, by which the members of "^'^" both houfes were excluded from all civil and mi- litary employments, except a few offices which were fpecified. This ordinance was the fubjed: of great debate, and, for a long time, rent the parliament ■and city into factions. But, at laft, by the preva- lence of envy with fome ; with others of falfe mo- defty ; with a great many, of the republican and independent views ; it palfed the houfe of com- mons, and was fent to the upper houfe. The peers, though the fcheme was, in part, levelled againil their order ; though all of them were, at bottom, extremely averfe to it ; though they even ventured once to rejed it j yet polTefled fo little authority, that they durft not perfevere in oppofmg the refo-

* Whitlocke, p. i!4, 315. Rufh, vol. vii. p. 6.

lution

28 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, lutlon of the commons ; and they thought it better y^^j^' . policy, by an unlimited compliance, to ward off 1644.. ^^^^ ^^^^ which they faw approaching \ The or- dinance, therefore, having paffed both houfes, Eflex, Warwic, Manchefter, Denbigh, Waller, Brereton, and many others, refigned their commands, and re- ceived the thanks of parliament for their good fer- vices. A penlion of ten thoufand pounds a year was fettled on Eflex. 1645. It was agreed to recruit the army to 22,000 rhen ;

and fir Thomas Fairfax was appointed general \ It is remarkable that his commiflion did not run, like that of Eflex, in the name of the king and parliament, but in that of the parliament alone : And the article concerning the fafety of the king*s perfon was omitted. So much had animofities en- creafed between the parties ". Cromwel, being a member of the lower houfe, fhould have been dif- carded with the others ; but this impartiality would have difappointed all the views of thofe who had in- troduced the felf-denying ordinance. He was faved by a fubtilty, and by that political craft, in which he was fo eminent. At the time when the other oflicers refigned their commifllons, care was taken that he fliould be fent with a body of horfc, to re- lieve Taunton, befieged by the royalifls. His ab- fence being remarked, orders were difpatched for his imtnediate attendance in parliament ; and the new general was direfted to employ fome other ofiicer in that fervice. A ready compliance was feigned ; and the very day was named, on which, it was averred, he would take his place in the houfe. !]^ut Fairfax, having appointed a rendezvous of the army, wrote to the parliament, and defired leave to retain, for fome days, lieutenant-general Cromwel, whofe advice, he faid, would be ufeful in fupply-

* Rufh. vol. vli. p. 2. 15. * Whitlocke, p. 118. Rufli, vol. vH, p, 7. " Whitlocke, p. 113.

CHARLES!. 29

ing the place of thofe officers who had refigned* c H A p. Shortly after, he begged, with much earneftnefs, v^,^^,^ that they would allow Cromwel to ferve that cam- 1645, paign ^. And thus the independents, though the minority, prevailed by art and cunning over the prefbyterians, and bellowed the whole military au- thority, in appearance, upon Fairfax ; in reality, upon Cromwel.

Fairfax was a perfon equally eminent for cou- Fairfax. rage and for humanity; and though ftrongly in- feded with prejudices, or principles derived fron\ religious and party zeal, he feems never, in the courfe of his public condu6t, to have been divert- ed, by private intereft or ambition, from adhering ftriftly to thefe principles. Sincere in his profef* fions ; difinterefted in his views ; open in his con- duct ; he had formed one of the moft fhining cha- radters of the age ; had not the extreme narrow- nefs of his genius, in every thing but in war, and his embarraifed and confufed elocution on every occafion, but when he gave orders, diminilhed the Juflre of his merit, and rendered the part which he adled, even when veiled with the fupreme command, but fecondary and fubordinate.

Cromwel, by whofe fagacity and infinuation Cromwei. Fairfax was entirely governed, is one of the molt eminent and moft fmgular perfonages that occurs ■in hiftory : The ftrokes of his character are as open and ftrongly marked, as the fchemes of his con- dud were, during the time, dark and impenetrable. His extenftve capacity enabled him to form the moft enlarged projects : His enterprifmg genius was not difmayed with the boldeft and moft dangerous. Carried by his natural temper to magnanimity, to grandeur, and to an imperious and domineering policy J he yet knew, when necelTary, to employ the moft profound diihmulation, the moft oblique

** Clarendon, toI. y. p. 629, 630. VVhitlockc, p. 141,

and

%®

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

and refined artifice, the femblance of the greatell moderation and fimplicity. A friend to juftice, ■^'"^ though his public conduft was one continued vio- lation of it ; devoted to religion, though he per- petually employed it as the iniirument of his am- iDltion ; he was engaged in crimes from the profpect of fovereign power, a temptation which is, in ge- neral, irrefiftible to human nature. And by ufing ' . well that authority which he had attained by fraud and violence, he has leffened, if not overpowered, our deteftation of his enormities, by our admiration of his fuccefs and of his genius. Treaty of DuRiNG this important tranfa£lion of the felf- Uxbridge. denying ordinance, the negotiations for peace were likewife carried on, though with fmall hopes of fuccefs. The king having fent two melfages, one from Evefliam % another from >Tavi(loke y, defir- ing a treaty, the parliament difpatched commiffion- ers to Oxford, with propofals as high as if they had obtained a complete vidory ''. The advantages gained during the campaign, and the great diflreffes of the royalifts, had much elevated their hopes ; and they were refolved to repofe no truft in men in- flamed with the higheil animofity againft them, and who, were they poifefled of power, were fully au- thorifed by law to puniih all their opponents as re^ bels and traitors.

The king, when he confidered the propofals and the difpofition of the parliament, could not exped any accommodation, and had no profpeft but of war, or of total fubmiffion and fubjedion : Yet, in order to fatisfy his own party, who were impatient for peace, he agreed to fend the duke of Richmond and earl of Southampton, with an anfwer to the propofals of the parliament, and at the fame time to defire a treaty upon their mutual demands and pretenfions ^ It now became neceflary foy

X 4th of July 1644. y 8th of Sept, 1644. ^ Dugdale^

p. 737. Rufh. vol. vi. p. 8jjo. *■ WhitlocUe, p. no.

CHARLES I.

3*

him to retract his former declaration, that the two chap, houfes at Weftminfler were not a free parliament ; i !l^l^j and accordingly he was induced, though with great ,645. reludtance, to give them, in his anfwer, the appel- lation of the parliament of England ^ But it ap- peared afterwards, by a letter which he wrote to the queen, and of which a copy was taken at Nafeby, that he fecretly entered an explanatory proteft in his council book ; and he pretended that, though he had called them the parliament, he had not there- by acknowledged them for fuch ". This fubtlety, which has been frequently objefted to Charles, is the moft noted of thofe very few inflances, from which the enemies of this prince have endeavoured to load him with the imputation of infincerity ; and have inferred, that the parliament could repofe no confidence in his profeffions and declarations, not even in his laws and ftatutes. There is, however, it muft be confeffed, a difference univerfally avowed between hmply giving to men the appellation which they aflume, and the formal acknowledgment of their title to it ; nor is any thing more common and familiar in ail public tranfaftions.

The time and place of treaty being fettled, fix- 30th Jan, teen commiffioners from the king met at Uxbridge, with twelve authorifed by the parliament, attended by the Scottifh commiffioners. It was agreed, that the Scottifh and parliamentary commiffioners fhould give in their demands, with regard to three im^

b Whitlo'"):e, p. iii. Dugdale, p. 74S. c His words are 5

^? As for iny calling thofe a^ Loudon a pailiam^nt, I Ihall refer thee " to Dig')y for paiticular fatisfaiftipn ; this in general : If there had " been but two befides myfelf 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 conftruCtiv)n I did it, and no otherwife, and ac- <' cordingly it is regiftered in the council books, with the council's ',' unanimous approbation." The K'lng'i cabvist opined. Rufli. vol.

portant

J^

HISTORY OF GREAT BRtTAli

c H A p. portant articles, religion, the militia, and Ireland; and

LVII. jjj^j. |-{^efe fhould be fucceffively difcuffed in confe-

1645. rence with the king*s commiffioners ^ It was foon

found impracticable to come to any agreement with

regard to any of thefe articles.

In the fummer 1643, while the negotiations were carried on with Scotland, the parliament had fum- moned an alTembly at Wellminfter, confiding of 121 divines and 30 laymen, celebrated in their party for piety and learning. By their advicej al^ terations were made in the thirty-nine articles, or in the metaphyfical do6trines of the church j and, what was of greater importance, the liturgy was entirely aboliflied, and, in its ftead, a new direc- tory for worlhip was eftablifhed ; by which, fuitably to the fpirit of the puritans, the utmoft libertyj both in praying and preaching, was indulged to the public teachers. By the folemn league and co- venant, epifcopacy was abjured, as deftrudive of all true piety ; and a national engagement, attended with every circumftance that could render a pro^ mife facred and obligatory, was entered into with the Scots, never to fuifer its re-admiflion. Al! thefe meafures fhewed little fpirit of accommoda- tion in the parliament ; and the king's commiffioners , were not furprifed to find the eftablilliment of pref- bytery and the directory pofitively demanded, toge- ther with the fubfcription of the covenant, both by the king and kingdom %

Had

d Whitlocke, p. ttt. Dugdale, p- 758- * Such love of contra- diftion prevailed in the parliament, that they had converted Chrift- iTias, which, with the churchmen, viras a great feftival, into a folemn faft and humiliation ; " In order," as they faid, «' that it might call *• to remembrance our fins and the fins of our forefathers, who, pfc- ** tending to celebrate the memory of Chrift, have tnrned this feaft *' into an extreme forgetfulnefs of him, by giving liberty to carnal *' and fenfual delights.'* Rufh. vol. vi. p. 817. It is remarkable that* as the parliament abolifhed all holy days, and fevcrely prohibited all amufement on the febbath ; and even burned, by the Lands of the

liAog»an,

C H A R L E S I. 33

Had Charles been of a difpofitlon to ne^le^l all chap. theological controverfy, he yet had been obliged, in ^^"'^ good policy, to adhere to epifcopal jurifdiftion, not j64|, only becaufe it was favourable to monarchy, but becaufe all his adherents were paflionately devoted to it ; and to abandon them, in whai they regarded as fo important an article, was for ever to relinquifh their friendfliip and affillance. But Charles had never attained fuch enlarged principles. He deerr.ed bi- Ihops elTential to the very being of a chriftian church j and he thought himfelf bound, by more facred ties than thofe of policy, or even of honour, to the fup- port of that order. His conceffions, therefore, on, this head, he judged fufficient, when he agreed that an indulgence Ihould be given to tender confciences •with regard to ceremonies j that the biihops fhould

hangman, the king's book of fports ; the nation found that there was no time left for relaxation or diverfion. Upon application therefore, ; of the fervants and apprentice , the parliament appointed the fecond ^Tuefday of every month for play and recreation. RufI}. vol. vii p. 460. Whitljcke, p. 247. Butthefe inttitutions they found great diffi nlty to execute ; and the people were rs-folved to be merry when they them- fclve's plealVd, not when the parliament fhould prefcnbe it to them. The keeping of hriltmas holy-days was long a great mark of ma- lignancy, and very feverely cenfured by the commons. Whit-rtcke^ p- aS6. Even mineed pyes, which cuftom had made a Chriitmas difli among the churchmen, was regarded, during that feafon, as a profane and fuperftitious v. and by the fedarics ; though at other times it agreed very well with their ftomschs. In the parliamentary ordinance too, for the obfervance of the fabbath, they inferted a claufe forthe taking down of may-poles, which they called a heathenifh vanity. Since we are upon this fubjecSt, it may not be amifs to mention, that, befide fetting apart Sunday ibrthe ordinances, as they calledthem,thegodly had regular meetings on the Thurfdays for refolving cafes of con- fcience, and conferring about their progrefs in grace. What they were chiefly anxious about, was the fi :ing the precife moment of their converfion or new birth ; and whoever could not afcertain fo dif- ficult apoint of calculation, could not pretend toanytitletofaintfliip. '1 he pi'oane fcholars at Oxford, after the parliament became matters of that town, gave to the houfe in which the zealots airembled the denomination oi Scruple Shop: The zealots, in their turn, infulted the fcholars and profelTors ; and, intruding into the place of lec- tures, declaimed againft human learning, and challenged the moft knowing of them to prove that their calling was from Chrift. Sec Wood's Fafti Oxonienfis, p. 740. ,

Vol. VII. D exer-

34 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, exercife no acl of jurifdlQion or ordination, with- ^^^'_^; out the confent and counfel of fuch prefbyters as 16+5. fliould be chofen b}' the clergy of each diocefe; that they iliould refide conflantly in their diocefe, and be bound to preach every Sunday ; that pluralities be aboliihed ; that abufes in ecclefiaflical courts be redreit'd ; and that a hundred thoufand pounds be levied on the bifhops' eftates and the chapter lands, for payment of debts contracted by the parliament ^ Thefe conceffions^ though confiderable, gave no fa- tisfaftion to the parliamentary commiffioners j and, without abating any thing of their rigour on this head, they proceeded to their demands with regard to the militia.

The king's partifans had all along maintained, that the fears and jealoufies of the parliament, after the fecurities fo early and eafiiy given to public liberty, were .either feigned or groundlefs; and that no human inftitution could be better poifed and adjufled, than was now the government of England. By the abolition of the ftar-chamber and court of hikh commiffion, the prerogative, they faid, has loft alf that coercive power by which it had formerly fupprelTed or endangered liberty : By the eftablilh- nient of triennial parliaments, it can have no leifure to acquire new powers, or guard itfelf, during any time, from the infpedion of that vigilant affembly : Bv the flender revenue of the crown, no king can ever attain fuch influence as to procure a repeal of thefe falutary ftatutes : And while the prince com- mands no military force, he will in vain, by vio- lence, attempt an infringement of laws, fo clearly defined by means of late difputes, and io pafTionately cheriflied by all his fubjeOis. In this fituation, furely, the nation, governed by fo virtuous a monarch, may, for the preient, remain in tranquillity, and try

f Dugdale, p. 779, 780.

whether

CHARLES I. ZB

whether it be not poffible, by peaceful arts, to elnde chap. that danger with which, it is pretended, its liberties ^"^^L* are ftill threatened. ,64^.

But though the royalifls infifled on thefe plaufible topics before the commencement of war, rhey were obliged to own, that the progrefs of civil commo- tions had fomewhat abated the force and evidence of this reafonlng. If the power of the militia, faid the oppofite party, be entrufted to the king, it would not now be difficult for him to abufe that authority. By the rage of intefline difcord, his partifans are inflamed into an extreme hatred againft their antagonifts ; and have contracted, no doubt, fome prejudices againft popular privileges, which, in their apprehenfion, have been the fource of fo much diforder. Were the arms of the ft ate, therefore, put entirely into fuch hands, what public fecurity, it may be demanded, can be given to liberty, or what private fecurity to thofe who, in oppofition to the letter of the law, have fo generoufly ventured their lives in its defence ? In compliance with this ap- prehenfion, Charles offered, that the arms of the ftate fhould be entrufted, during three years, to twenty commiilioners, who fhould be named, either by common agreement between him and the parliament, or one half by him, the other by the parliament. And after the expiration of that term, he infifted that his conftitutional authority over the militia fliould again return to him'

The parHamentary commiflioners at firft de- manded, that the power of the fword fliould for ever be entrufted to fuch perfons as the parliament alone fhould appoint ^ : But, afterwards, they re- laxed io far as to require that authority only for feven years ; after which it was not to return to the king, but to be fettled by bill, or by common agree- ment between him and his parliament '. The

« Dugdale, p. 798, l» Ibid. p. 791, i Ibid. p. 8ao.

D 2 king's

36 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, king's commiffioners alked. Whether iealonfies and _ • fears were all on one fide, and whether the prince, 164J. from fuch violent attempts and pretenfions as he had experienced-, had not, at leaft, as great reafon to entertain apprehenfions for his authority, as they for their liberty ? Whether there were any equity in fecuring only one party, and leaving the other, during the fpace of feven years, entirely at the mercy of their enemies ? Whether, if unlimited power were entrutted to the parliament during fo long a period, it would not be eafy for them to frame the fubfequent bill in the manner moft agree- able to themfelves, and keep for ever polfeffion of the fword, as well as of every article of civil power and jurifdidion^'?

The truth is, after the commencement of war, it was very difficult, if not impoilible, to find fe- curity for both parties, efpecially for that of the parliament. Amidft fuch violent animofities, power alone could enfure fatety ; and the power of one fide was neceiTarily attended with danger to the other, ' Few or no inftances occur in hiftory of an equal, peaceful, and durable accommodation, that has been concluded between two factions which had been en- tlamed into civil war.

With regard to Ireland, there were no greater • hopes of agreement between the parties. The par- liament demanded, that the truce with the rebels ~ ihould be declared null; that the management of ^' the war fliould'be given over entirely to the parlia- ment, and that, after the conquefl of Ireland, the - 'nomination of the lord lieutenant and of the judges, ^- or, in other words, the fovereignty of that kingdom, 'iliould likewife remain in their hands'.

What rendered an accommodation more defpe-s- rate v/as, that the demands on thefe three heads, however exorbitant, were acknowledged, by the parliamentary commiffioners, to be nothing but

■ " J' Diigdak, p, ??7. < Ibid. p. 8;6, 837.

preli-

C ,H A R L E S L '37

preliminaries. After all thefe were granted, It would chap. be neceffary to proceed to the difcullion of thofe , ^^"- other demands, (till more exorbitant, which a little ,^4;. before had been tranfmitted to the king at Oxford. Such ignominious terms were there infilled on, thac worfe could fcarcely be demanded, were Charles totally vanquiihed, a prifoner, and in chains. The king was required to attaint and except from a ge- neral pardon, forty of the mod confiderable of his Engliih fubjeds, and nineteen of his Scottifh, to- gether with all popifh recufants in both kingdoms who had borne arms for him. It was infilled, that forty -eight more, with all the members who had fitten in either houfe at Oxford, all lawyers and di- vines who had embraced the king's party, {hould be rendered incapable of any office, be forbidden the exercife of their profeffion, be prohibited from coming within the verge of the couit, and forfeit the third of their eftates to the parhament. It was required, that whoever had borne arms for the king, fliould forfeit the tenth of their eftates, or if that did not fuffice, the fixth, for the payment of public debts. As if royal authority were not fufficiently annihilated by fuch terms, it was demanded, that the court of wards fhould be aboliflied ; that all the confiderable officers of the crown, and all the judges, fhould be appointed by parliament; and that the right of peace and war fhould not beexereifed with^ out the confent of that alTembly "". The preibyte- rians, it muft be confefled, after infifting on fuch conditions, differed only in words from the inde- pendents, who required the eftablifhment of a pure republic. When the debates had been carried on to no purpofe during twenty days among the com- miffioners, they feparated, and returned; thofe of the King, to Oxford, thofe of the parliament, to London.

™ Rulh, vol. vi. p. 850, Dugdak, p. 737.

D 3 A LITTiS

3§ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP. A LITTLE before the commencement of this fruit" Lvn. jgfg treaty, a deed was executed by the parliament*

iC43. which proved their determined refolution to yield nothing, but to proceed in the fame violent and im- perious manner vi^ith which they had at firft entered Execution on thefe dangerous enterprifes. Archbifhop Laud, or Laud, ^-j^^ j-^-^q(|- favourite minifter of the king-, was brought to the fcaff Id; and in this inftance the public might fee, that popular afiemblies, as, by their very num- ber, they are, in a great meafure, exempt from the reftraint of Ihame, lo, when they alio overleap the bounds of law, naturally break out into a6ts of the greateft tyranny and injuflice.

From the time that Laud had been committed, the houfe of commons, engaged in enterprifes of * greater moment, had found no leifure to finiih his

impeachment ; and he had patiently endured fo long an imprifonment without being brought to any trial. After the union v/ith Scotland, the bigotted pre- judices of that nation revived the like fpirit in England ; and the fsclarles refolved to gratify their vengeance in the punifliment of this prelate, who had fo long, by his authority, and by the execution of penal laws, kept their zealous fpirit under con- finement. He was accufed of high treafon in en- deavouring to fubvert the fundamental laws, and of other high crimes and mifdemeanors. The fame illegality of an accumulative crime and a conflruftive evidence, v/Jnich appeared in the cafe of Strafford ; the fame violence and iniquity in conducing the trial ; are confpicuous throughout the whole courfe of this profecution. The groundlefs charge of popery, though belied by his whole life and con- duel, was continually urged againll the prifoner ; and every error rendered unpardonable by this im- putation, which was fuppofed to imply the height of all enormities. " This man, my lords," faid ferjeant V/ildej concluding his long fpeech againft him,

*< is

c

CHARLES!. 39

«* is like Naaman the Syrian ; a great man, but a c H A P. *' leper"/' ^ ^ ^ Jl^^

We fhall not enter into a detail of ihis matter, 1O45. which, at prefent, feems to admit of little contfoverfy. It fuffices to fay, that, after a lonj^ trial, and the ex- amination of above a hundred and fifty witnefles, the commons found fo little likelihood of obtaining a , judicial fentence againft Laud, that they were obliged to have recourfe to their legiflative authority, and to pafs an ordinance for taking away the life of this aged prelate. Notwithftanding the low condition into which the houfe of peers was fallen, there appeared fome intention of rejeding this ordinance ; and the popular leaders were again obliged to apply to the multitude, and to extinguiili, by threats of new tu- mults, the fmall remains of liberty poffeffed by the upper-houfe. Seven peers alone voted in this im- portant queftlon. The reft, either from fliame or fear, took care to abfent themfelves °.

Laud, who had behaved during his trial with fpirit and vigour of genius, funk not under the horrors of his execution ; but though he had ufually profeflTed himfelf apprehenfive of a violent death, he found all his fears to be diffipated before that fuperior courage by which he was animated. '^ No one," faid he, " can be more willing to fend me out of life;, than I " am defirous to go.'* Even upon the fcaffold, and during the intervals of his prayers, he was haraffed and molefted by fir John Clotworthy, a zealot of the - reigning fed;, and a great leader in the lower houfe : This was the time he chofe for examining the prin- ciples of the dying primate, and trepanning him into a confeffion, that he trufted for his falvation to the merits of good works,' not to the death of the Re- deemer p. Having extricated himfelf from thefe theological toils, the archbifliop laid his head on the block; and it was fevered from the body at one

-n Rufli. vol. vi. p. 830. 0 Warwic/ p. iOs>

P llufli, vol. vi. p. 838, 8^9.

D 4 blow.

4® HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, blow <?. Thofe relicious oolnions, for which he fuf- , _ j, . fered, contributed, no doubt, to the courage and con- 364J. ftancv of his end. Sincere hs undoubtedly was, and however mifguided, actuated by pious motive? in all his purfuits ; and it is to be regretted, that a man of fuch fpirit, who conducted his enterprizes with fo much warmth and induflry, had not entertained more enlarged views, and embraced principles more favou- rable to the general happinefs of fcciety.

The great and important advantage which the party gained by Strafford's death may, in fome de- gree, paUiate the iniquity of the fentence pronounced againfl him : But the execution of this old infirni prelate, who had fo long remained an inoffenfive pri- foner, can be afcribed to nothing but vengeance and bigotry in thofe fevere religionifls, by whom the par- liament was entirely governed. That he deferved a. better fate was not quedioned by any reafonable man : The degree of his merit, in other refpeds, was dif- puted. Some accufed him of recommending flavilh dodrines, of promoting perfecution, and of encou- raging fuperftition ; while others thought that his conduft, in thefe three particulars, would admit of apology and extenuation.

That the letter of the law, as much as the mod ilaming court-fermon, inculcates paffive obedience, is apparent: And though they///-// of a hmited govern- ment feems to require, in extraordinary cafes, fome mitigation of fo rigorous a doctrine ; it mud be con- feffed, that the preceding genius of the Englifh con- ftitution had rendered a miflake in this particular ^ ' ■ ■ very natural and excufable. To infiid; death, at

lealt on thofe who depart from the exadl line of truth in thefe nice queftions, fo far from being favourable to national liberty, favours flrongly of the fpirit of tyranny and profcription.

^ lath of July 1644.

TOLERA*

CHARLES I. 41

Toleration had hitherto been fo little the prin- chap. ciple of any Chriftian feet, that even the catholics, »i^'^^" the remnant of the religion profeffed by their fore- i^^. fathers, could not obtain from the Englifli the lead indulgence. This very houfe of commons, in their famous remonftrance, took care to juHify therafelves, as from the higheft imputation, from any intention to relax the golden reins of difcipline, as they called them, or to grant any toleration ' : And the enemies of the church were fo fair from the beginning, as not to lay claim to liberty of confcience, which they called a toleration for foul-murder. They openly challenged the fuperiority, and even menaced the eftablifhed church with that perfecution which they afterwards exercifed againll her with fuch feverity. And if the queflion be confidered in the view of policy ; though a fed, already formed and advanced, may, with good reafon, demand a toleration ; what title had the puritans to this indulgence, v/ho were jufl on the point of feparation from the church, and whom, it might be hoped, fome wholefome and legal feverities would flill retain in obedience ' ?

Whatever ridicule, to a philofophical mind, may be thrown on pious ceremonies, it mull be confeiTed, that, during a very religious age, no inftitutions can be more advantageous to the rudemultitude,and tend more to mollify that fierce and gloomy fpirit of de- votion, to which they are fubjedl. Even the EngliHi church, though it had retained a fhare of popifh ceremonies, may juftly be thought too naked and unadorned, and ftill to approach too near the abitrad and fpiritual religion of the puritans. Laud and his aflbciates, by reviving a few primitive inftitutions of this nature, corrected the error of the firft reformers, and prefented to the aflrightened andaftonifhed mind, fome fenfible, exterior obfervances, which might oc- cupy it during its religious exercifes, and abate the

' Nalfon, vo\ ii. p, 705.

« See note [A] at the end of the volume,

violence

42 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

C H A P. violence of its difappointed efforts. The thought, LVii- jjQ longer bent on that divine and myfterious ef- ^g fence, fo fuperior to the narrow capacities of man-

kind, was able, by means of the new model of devotion, to relax itfelf in the contemplation of pidures, poftures, veftments, buildings ; and all the fine arts, which minlfter to religion, thereby receiv- ed additional encouragement. The primate, it is true, conducted this fcheme, not with the enlarged fentiments and cool reflexion of a legiflator, but with the intemperate zeal of a fedlary j and by over- looking the circumftances of the times, ferved rather to inflame that religious fury which he meant to re- prefs. But this blemifli is more to be regarded as a general imputation on the whole age, than any par- ticular failing of Laud's ; and it is fufficient for his vindication to obferve, that his errors were the moft excufable of all thofe which prevailed during that zealous period.

CHARLES I.

CHAP. LVIl]

43

Montr of e's vldories The new model of the army

Battle of Nafeby Surrender of Brifiol

The Weft conquered by Fairfax Defeat of

Montrofe Ecclefiajlical affairs-— King goes

to the Scois at Newark End of the war

King delivered up by the Scots. *

lilLE the king's affairs declined in Eng- chap land, fome events happened in Scotland, J^.^!1l^ which feemed to promife him a more profperous 164;. iiTue of the quarrel.

Before the commencement of thefe civil difor- Men- ders, the earl of Montrofe, a ^^oung nobleman of a trofe'svic- diftinguiihed family, returning from his travels, had been introduced to the king, and had made an offer of his fervices ; but by the infmuations of the mar- quefs, afterwards duke of Hamilton, who pofieffed much of Charles's confidence, he had not been received with that diilinftion to which he thought himfelf juflly entitled'. Difguiled with this treat- ment, he had forwarded all the violence of the cove- nanters J and, agreeably to the natural ardour of his genius, he had employed himfelf, during the firffc Scottifh infurreftion, with great zeal, as well as fuc- cefs, in levying and conduding their armies. Beino- commiflioned by the Tables to wait upon the king, while the royal army lay at Berwic, he was fo gained by the civilities and careiTes of that monarch, that he thenceforth devoted himfelf entirely, though fecretly, to his fervice, and entered into a dole correfpondence

t Nalibn, Intr. p. 6j.

with

44 HISTORY OF GRfiAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, -vvkh hLm. In the fecond infurreftion, a great military command was entrufted to him by the covenanters; j(^ r and he was the firfl; that pafled the Tweed, at the head of their troops^ in the invafion of England. He fomid means, however, foon after to convey a letter to the king : And by the infidelity of fomc about that prince; liamilton, as was fufpeded ; a copy of this letter was fent to Leven, the Scottifh general. Be- ing accufed of treachery, and a correfpondence with the enemy ; Montrofe openly avowed the letter, and alked the generals, if they dared to call their fove-

. . reign an enemy : And by this bold and magnanimous

behaviour, he efcapcd the danger of an immediate profecution. As he was now fully known to be of the royal party, he no longer concealed his princi- ples ; and he endeavoured to draw thofe who had entertained like fentiments, into a bond of aflociation for his mailer's fervice. Though thrown into prifon for this enterpriie", and detained fome nme, he was not difcouraged ; but ftill continued, by his counte- nance and proteclion, toinfufe fpiritinto the diitrelTed royalifts. Among other perlons of diftinclion, who united themfelves to him, was lord Napier of Mer- chiilon, fon of the famous inventor of the logarithms, the perfon to whom the title of great man is more juftly duCj than to any other whom his country ever produced.

There was in Scotland another party, who, pro- feiling equal attachment to the king's fervice, pre- tended only to differ with Montrofe about the means of attaining the fame end ; and of that party, duke Hamilton was the leader. This nobleman had caufe to be extremely devoted to the king, not only by leaibn of the connexion of blood, which united him

" It is not improper to take notice of a miflake committed by Clavcudon, much to tlic difadvantagt of this pall.int noblciTJUi ; th.it he offered the kinjr, when his majcHy was in KcoMand, toafiafliiiate Arj;yle. All the time llic kirjg was in-,$cotland, Montrofe was con- ^i»td to prifon, RiiHi, \oL vi, p. y<5o.

to

CHARLES I. 45

to the royal family ; but on account of the great C Ti a p. confidence and favour with which he had ever been v,^-^^,.,^ honoured by his mafter. Being accufed by lord 1645. Rae, not without fome appearance of probability, of a confpiracy againil the king ; Charles was fo far from harbouring fufpicion againft him, that, the very firft time Hamilton came to court, he re- ceived him into his bed-chamber, and puffed alone the night with him ^. But fuch was the duke*s unhappy fate or conduct, that he elcaped not the imputation of treachery to his friend and fovereign ; and though he at laft facrificed his life in the king's fervice, his integrity and fincerity have not been thought by hiftorians entirely free from blemifh. Perhaps (and this is the more probable opinion) the fubtiltics and refinements of his conduct and his tempoiizing maxims, though accompanied with good intentions, have been the chief caufe of a fufpicion, which has never yet been either fully proved or re- futed. As much as the bold and vivid fpirit of Montrofe prompted him to enterprizing meafures, as much was the cautious temper of Hamilton in- clined to fuch as were moderate and dilatory, . While the former foretold that the Scottifli cove- nanters were fecretly forming an union with the Englifii parliament, and inculcated the necefllty of preventing them by fome vigorous undertaking ; - the latter Itill infifted, that every fuch attempt would precipitate them into meafiares, to which, other- ,wife, they were not, perhaps, inclined. After the Scottifh convention was fummoned without the king's authority, the former exclaimed, that their intentions were now vifible, and that, if fome unex- pected blow were not (truck, to diflipate them, they would arm the whole nation againfl the king ; the latter maintained the poffibllity of outvoting the dif- affefted party, and fecuring, by peaceful means, the allegiance of the kingdom". Unhappily for the

** Nalfon, vol.ii. p. 683. ^ Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 380, 381.

Kuih. vol. vi. p, 9S0. Wifliart, cap. i.^

royal

46 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c HAP. royal caufe, Hamilton's reprefentations met with- LVIII. niore credit from the king and queen, than thofe of J 645. Montr ofe ; and the covenanters were allowed, with- out interruption, to proceed in all their hoflile mea- fures. Montrofe then haftened to Oxford ; where his inveftives againjfl Hamilton's treachery, con- curring with the general prepoffeffion, and fupported by the unfortunate event of his counfels, were enter- tained with univ^erfal approbation. Influenced by the clamour of his party, more than his own fufpi- cions, Charles, as foon as Hamilton appeared, fent him prifoner to Pendennis caflle in Cornwal. His brother, Laneric, who was alfo put under confine- ment, found means to make his efcape, and to fly into Scotland.

The king's ears were now opened to Montrofe's counfels, who propofed none but the boldeft and moft daring, agreeably to the defperate ftate of the Toyal caufe in Scotland. Though the whole'nation was fubjefted by the covenanters, though great ar- mies were kept on foot by them, and every place guarded by a vigilant adminiftration ; he undertook, by his own credit, and that of the few friends who remained to the king, to raife fuch commotions, as would foon oblige the malcontents. to recal thofe forces, which had fo fenfibly thrown the balance in favour of the parliament ^. Not difcouraged with the defeat at Marfl:on-moor, which rendered it im- pofllble for him to draw any fuccour from England ; he was content to fliipulate wich the earl of Antrim, a nobleman of Ireland, for fome fupply of men from that country. And he himfelf, changing his dif- guifes, andpafllng through many dangers, arrived in Scotland ; where he lay concealed in the borders of the Highlands, and fecretly prepared the minds of his partifans for attempting fome great enterprize ^.

y Wjfhart, cap. 3. z Chrendon, vol. v. p. 618.

Ru(h. vol. vi, p. 98X. Wifhart, cap, 4.

No

CHARLES!. 47

No fooner were the Irlfh landed, though not ex- C h a p. ceeding eleven hundred foot, very ill armed, than ^J^^J^J^ Montrofe declared himfelf, and entered upon that j^^ fcene of aftion which has rendered his name fo celebrated. About eight hundred of the men of Athole flocked to his ftandard. Five hundred men more, who had been levied by the covenanters, were perfuaded to embrace the royal caufe : And with this combined force, he haftened to attack lord Elcho, who lay at Perth with an army of fix thoufand men, aflembled upon the firft news of the Iriih invafion. Montrofe, inferior in number, totally unprovided with horfe, ill fupplied with arms and ammunition, had nothing to depend on, but the courage, which he himfelf, by his own example, and the rapidity of his enterprifes, fhould infpire into his raw foldiers. Having received the fire of the enemy, which was anfwered chiefly by a volley of fl:ones, he ruflied amidfl: them with his fword drawn, threw them into confufion, puflied his advantage, and obtained a complete victory, with the flaughter of two thoufand of the covenanters \ ,

This viftory, though it augmented the renown of Montrofe, encreafed not his power or numbers. The far greater part of the kingdom was extremely attached to the covenant ; and fuch as bore an affec- tion to the royal caufe, were terrified by the efla- bliflied authority of the oppofite party. Dreading the fuperior power of Argyle, who, having joined his vaflals to a force levied by the public, was approaching with a confiderable army; Montrofe hafliened northwards, in order to roufe again the marquefs of Huntley and the Gordons, who, having before hafl:ily taken arms, had been infliantly fup- pr^flTed by the covenanters. He was joined on his march by the earl of Airly, with his two younger fons, fir Thomas and fir David Ogilvy : The elded

* ill of Sept. 1644. Rufli. vol. vi, p. 9S3. WiHiart, cap. 5.

7 wa?;,

48 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, was, at that time, a prifoner with the enemy. He ^^^^^ attacked at Aberdeen the lord Burley, who com- J645. manded a force of 2500 men. After a iharp com- bat, by his undaunted courage, which, in his lituation, was true policy, and was alfo not unaccompanied with military fkill, he put the enemy to flight, and in the purfuit did great execution upon them ^

But by this fecond advantage he obtained not the end which he expeded. The envious nature of Huntley, jealous of Montrofe's glory, rendered him averfe to join an army, where he hirafelf mull be fo much eclipfed by the fuperior merit of the general. Argyle, reinforced by the earl of Lothian, was be- hind him with a great army : The militia of the northern counties, Murray, Rofs, Calthnefs, to the number of 5000 men, oppofed him in front, and guarded the banks of the Spey, a deep and rapid river. In order to elude thefe numerous armies, he turned afide into the hills, and faved his weak, but adive troops, in Badenoch. After fome marches and counter-marches, Argyle came up with him at Faivy-caftle. This nobleman's charafter, though celebrated for political courage and condud, was very low for military prowefs ; and after fome Ikir- mifhes, in which he was worded, he here allowed Montrofe to efcape him. By quick marches through thefe inacceffible mountains, that general freed him- felf from the fuperior forces of the covenanters.

Such was the fituation of Montrofe, that very p-Qod or very ill fortune was equally deflruftive to him, and diminillied his army. After every viftory, his foldiers, greedy of fpoil, but deeming the fmallefl acquifition to be unexhaufled riches, deferted in great numbers, and went home to fecure the ^^'•eafures which they had acquired. Tired too, and Ipent with hafly and long marches, in the depth of winter, through fnowy mountains unprovided with

b nth of Sept, 1644. Rufli. vol. vi. p. 9S3. Wilhart, cap. 7.

I every

GHARLESI. 4g

^¥ery neceffary, they fell off, and left their ge- C HA p. jieral almofl alone with the Iriih, who, having no ^^^^^^J^Tj place to which they could retire, flill adhered to j^^^, him in every fortune.

With thefe, and fome reinforcements of the Atholemen, and Macdonalds whom he had recalled, Montrofe fell fuddenly upon Argyle's country, and let loofe upon it all the rage of v/ar ; carrying off the cattle, burning the houles, and putting the in- habitants to the fword. This feverity, by which Montrofe fullied his vitlories, was the refult of pri- vate animofity againft the chieftain, as much as of zeal for the public caufe. Argyle, colleding three thoufand men, marched in quelt of the enemy, who had retired with their plunder ; and he lay at Inner- lochy, fuppcfing himfelf flill at a confiderable dif- jtance from them. The earl of Seaforth, at the head of the garrifon of Invernefs, who were veteran ■foldiers, joined to 5000 new-levied troops of the northern counties, preffed the royalilfs on the other fide, and threatened them with inevitable deftr ac- tion. By a quick and unexpefted march, Mont- rofe haftened to Innerlochy, and prefented himfelf in order of battle before the furprifed, but not af- frightened, covenanters. Argyle alone, fcized with a panic, deferted his army, who ftill maintained their ground, and gave battle tq the royahfts. After -a vigorous rehftance they were defeated, and pur- id Feb. fued with great flaughter ^. And the power of the Campbells (that is Argyle's name) being thus broken ; the Highlanders, who were in general well affected to the royal caufe, began to join Montrofe's camp in great numbers. Seaforth's army difperfed of itfelf, at the very terror of his name. And lord Gordon, eldeil fon of Huntley, having efcaped from his uncle Argyle, who had hitherto detained him, now joined Montrofe with no contemptible uumr

<= Rufii, vol. yi. p. 985. Wifii.irt; cap. 2,

5© HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

c n A.V. ber of his followers, attended by his brother, the earl LViir. of Aboine.

j(y^^. The couneil at Edinburgh, alarmed at Mont-

rofc's progrefs, began to think of a more regular plan of defence, againll an enemy, whole repeated victories had rendered him extremely formidable. They fent tor Baillie, an officer of reputation, from England ; and joining him in command with Urrey, who had aoain enlifted himfeif anion? the kinjr's enemies, they fent them to the held, with a conli- derable army, againft the royalifts. Montrofe, with a detachment of 800 men, had attacked Dundee, a town extremely zealous for the covenant : And having carried it by affault, had delivered it up to be plundered by his foldiers ; when Baillie and Urrey, with their whole force, were unexpededly upon him ''. His conduct and prefence of mind, in this emergence, appeared ccnfpicuous. Inftantly he called olF his foldiers from plunder, put them in order, fecured his retreat by the moil fl^ilful mea- fures ; and having marched lixty miles in the face of an enemy much fupcrior, without flopping, or al- lowing his foldiers the leafi: fleep or refrelhment, he at lall fecured himfeif in the mountains.

Baillie and Urrey now divided their troops, In order the better to conduct the war againit an enemy, who furprifed them, as much by the rapidity of his marches, as by the boldnefs of his enterprifes. Urrey, at the head of 4000 men, met him at Al- derne, near Invernefs ; and, encouraged by the fuperiority of number (for the covenanters were double the royaliils), attacked him in the poft which he had chofen. Montrofe, having placed his, right wing in ftrong ground, drew the belt of his forces to the other, and left no main body between them ; a defect which he artfully concealed, by fliow- ing a few men through the trees and bulhes, with

-' Rufh, vol. vii. p, jiS, Wifliart, cap, 9.

which

CHARLES!, ^i

Vi'hich that ground was covered. That Urrey might chap, have no leifure to perceive the ftratagem, he inftantly LViil. Jed his left wing to the charge ; and making a '"TT'""^ furious impreffion upon the covenanters, drove them ofF the field, and gained a complete victory % In this battle, the valour of young Napier, fon to the lord of that name, flione out with fignal luilre,

Baillie now advanced, in order to revenga Urrey's difcomfiture ; but, at Alford, he met, him- felf, with a like fate ^ Montrofe, v/eak in cavalry, here lined his troops of horfe with infantry ; and after putting the enemy's horfe to rout, fell with united force upon their foot, who were entirely cut in pieces, though with the lofs of the gallant lord Gordon on the part of the royalifts ^. And having thus prevailed in fo many battles, which his vigour ever rendered as decifive as they were fuccefsful, he fummoned together all his friends and partllans, and preparedhimfelf for marching into the fouthern pro- vinces, in order to put a final period to the power of the covenanters, and diflipate the parliament, which, with great pomp and folemnity, they had fummoned to meet at St. Johnflone*s.

While the fire was thus kindled in the north of the ifland, it blazed out with no lefs fury in the fouth : The parliamentary and royal armies, as foon as the feafon would permit, prepared to take the field, in hopes of bringing their important quarrel to a quick declfion. The paffing of the ielf-denying ordinance had been protracted by fo many debates and intrigues, that the fpring was far advanced be- fore it received the fanftion of both houfes ; and it was thought dangerous by many to introduce, fo near the time of action, fuch great innovations into the army. Had not the pundilious principles of EiTex

^ Rufh. vol. vii. p. 229. Wiflnrt, cap. lo. f zdofjuly.

8 Rufti. vol. vii, p, >29. Wiflxart, c.ip. ii.

E 2 engaged

52 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, engaged him, amidfl: all the difgufts which he ic>%

^ ceived, to pay implicit obedience to the parliament ;

1645. this alteration had not been'efFecled without Ibme fatal accident : Since, notwithftanding his prompt refignation of the command, a mutiny was ge- nerally apprehended \ Fairfax, or more pro- perly fpeaking, Cromwel, under his name, intro- duced, at lafl, the ?iew 7mdel into the army, and threw the troops into a different ihape. From the fame men, new regiments and new companies were formed, different officers appointed, and the whole military force put into fuch hands, as the independ- ents could rely on. Befides members of parliament who were excluded, many officers, unwilling to ferve under the new generals, threw up their commiffions ; and unwarily facilitated the project of putting the army entirely into the hands of that faction.

Though thedifciplineof the former parliamentary

army was not contemptible, a more exact plan was

introduced, and rigoroufly executed, by thefe new

commanders. Valour indeed was very generally

diffufed over the one party as well as the other,

during this period : Difcipline alfo w^as attained by

the forces of the parliament : But the perfection of

the military art in concerting the general plans of

action, and the operations of the field, feems fl:ill>

on both fides, to have been, in a great meafure,

wanting. Hilforians at leaft, perhaps from their

own ignorance and inexperience, have not remarked

any thing but a headlong impetuous conduct ; each

party hurrying to a battle, where valour and fortune

chiefly determined the fuccefs. The great ornament

of hiftory, during thefe reigns, are the civil, not the

■ ..military tranfactions.

New mo- Never furely was a more fingular army affembled,

del of the xhTkn that which was now fet on foot by the parlia-

''^^* ment. To the greater number of the regiments,

' ■ ■^ . i Riifti. vol. vii, p. ia6; 137.

chaplains

CHARLES I. 53

iciiaplains were not appointed . The officers affumed C H A p. the iplritual duty, and united it with their military ,_' '^^ funclions. During the intervals of action, they oc- jo^j. cupied themielves in fermons, prayers, exhortations; and the fame emulation, there, attended them, which, in the field, is fo neccifary to fupport the honour of that profeliion. Rapturous ecllacies fup- plied the place of Itudy and refieClion ; and while the zealous devotees poured out their thoughts in unDremcditated harangrues, thev miftook that elo- ciuence, which, to their own furprife, as well as that of others, flowed in upon them, for divine illumina- nations, and for illapfes of the Holy Spirit. Wher- ever they were quartered, they excluded the minifter from his pulpit ; and, ufurping his place, conveyed ■their fentiments to the audience, with all the autho- rity which followed their power, their valour, and their military exploits, united to their appearing zeal and fervour. The private foldiers, feized with the fame fpirit, employed their vacant hours in prayer, in perufing the Holy Scriptures, in ghoftly conferences, where they compared the progrefs of their fouls in grace, and mutually llimulated each other to farther advances in the great work of their lalvation. When they were marching to battle, the whole field refounded, as well with pfalms and fpi- titual fongs adapted to the occafion, as with the in- .Itruments of military mufic ^ ; and every man endea- voured to drown the fenfe of prefent danger, in the profpect of that crown of glory which was fet before him. In fo holy a caufe, wounds were efteemed me- ritorious; death, martyrdom, and the hurry and dangers of aclion, inflead of banifhing their pious vifions, rather ferved to imprefs their minds more llrongly with them.

The royalifls were defirous of throwing a ridicule on this fanaticifm of the parliamenta,ry armies, with-

i JDugdak, p. 7. Riilh. vol. vi. p. aSi,

E 3 ■ out

54 HISTORY GF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, out being fenfible how much reafon they had to Lviii. apprehend its dangerous confequences. The forces 1645.' ~ affembled by the king at Oxford, in the weft, and in other places, were equal, if not fuperior, in num- ber, to their adverfaries ; but aftuated by a very diiierent fplrit. That licence, which had been intro- duced by want of pay, had rifen to a great height among them, and rendered them more formidable to their friends than to their enemies. Prince Ru- pert, negligent of the people, fond of the foldiery, had indulged the troops in unwarrantable liberties ; Wilmot, a man of diffolute manners, had promoted the fame fpirit of diforder : And the licentious Goring, Gerrard, fir Richard Granville, now car- ried it to a great pitch of enormity. In the weft efpe- cially, where Goring commanded, univerfal fpoil and havoc were committed ; and the whole coun- try was laid wafte by the rapine of the army. All diftindion of parties being in a manner dropped ; the moft devoted friends of the church and mo- narchy wiftied there for fuch fuccefs to the parlia- mentary forces, as might put an end to thefe oppref- fions. The country people, defpoiled of their fub- ftance, flocked together in feveral places, armed with clubs and ftaves ; and though they profefTed an enmity to the foldiers of both parties, their hatred was in moft places levelled chiefly againft the royahfts, from whom they had met with the worft treatment. Many thoufands of thefe tumultuary peafants were afl'embled in different parts of England ; who de- ftroyed all fuch ftraggling foldiers as they met with, and much infefted the armies ^,

The difpofition of the forces on both fides was as follows : Part of the Scottifli army was employed in taking Pomfret, and other towns in Yorkfhire : P^rt of it befieged Carlifle, valiantly defended by fir

fc Rufh. vqI. vii. p.52. 61, 6a. Whitlockej p. 13C5, 131. 133' 13 J« Clarendon, vjl. v. p. 665.

CHARLES I.

55-

Thomas Glenham. Chefrer, where Blron com- C HAP. inanded, had long been blockaded by fir V7i!!iam J^l^^,|^ Brereton ; and was reduced to great difficulties. ^645. The king, being joined by the princes Rupert and Maurice, lay at Oxford, with a confiderable armv, about 15,000 men. Fairfax and Croniwel we^e pofled at Windfor, with the new-modelled army, about 22,000 men. Taunton, in the county of Somerfet, defended by Blake, fuffered a long fiege from fir Richard Granville, who commanded an army of about 8000 men; and though the defence had been obitinate, the garrifon was now reduced to the laft extremity. Goring commanded, in the weft, an army of nearly the fame number K

On opening the campaign, the king formed the proje<Sl of reheving Cheftcr ; FaivfaXj-that of reliev- ing Taunton. The king was firft in motion. When he advanced to Draiton in Shropfliire, Biron met him, and brought intelligence, that his approach had raifed the fiege, and that the parliamencary army had withdrawn. Fairfax, having reached SaliflDury in his road weftward, received orders from the com- mittee of both kingdoms, appointed for the manage- ment of the v/ar, to return and lay fiege to Oxford, now expofed by the king's abfence. He obeyed, after fending colonel Weldon to the weft, with a detachment of 40CO men. On Weldon's approach, <jranville, who imagined that Fairfax wdth his whole army was upon him, raifed the fiege, and allowed this pertinacious town, now half taken and half burned, to receive relief : But the royalifts, being reinforced with 3000 horfe under Goring, again ad- vanced to Taunton, and ihut up Weldon, with his fmall army, in that ruinous place"'.

The king, having effefted his purpofe with regard to Chefter, returned fouthwards ; and, in his way, iat down before Leiccfter, a garrifon of the parlia-

' Rufh. vol. vii. p'. 18, 19, &c. ™ Ibid. p. cS.

E 4 ment's*

56 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

C H A t*. nient's. Having made a breach in the wall, ht L\III. ft-ormed the town on all fides j and, after a furious jg aflault, the foldiers entered fword in hand, and com-

initted all thole dilbrders to which their natural violence, efpecially when eniiamed by rehfiance, is fo much addifted *'. A great booty was taken and diflributed among them : Fifteen hundred prifon- ers fell into the king's hands. This fuccefs, which ftruck a great terror into the parliamentary party^ determined Fairfax to leave Oxford, which he was beginning to approach ; and he marched towards the king;, with an intention of offerinp- him battle. The king was advancing towards Oxford, in order to raife the fiege, which, he apprehended, was now begun ; and both armies, ere they were aware, had advanced within fix miles of each other. A council of war was called bv the kimr, in order to deliberate concerning the meafures which he fnould now purfue. On the one hand, it feemed more prudent to delay the combat ; becaufe Gerrard, who lay in , Wales with 3000 men, might be enabled, in a little time, to join the army ; and Goring, It was hoped, would foon be mailer of Taunton ; and having put the weft in full fecurity, would then unite his forces to thofe of the king, and give them an inconteftable fuperiority over the enemy. On the other hand, prince Rupert, whofe boiling ar- dour ftill pufhed him on to battle, excited the impatient humour of the nobility and gentry, of which the army was full ; and urged the many dif- ficulties under which the royaliils laboured, and from which nothing but a vidory could relieve them : The refolution was taken to give battle to Fairfax ; and the royal army immediately advanced upon him. ^^Ia °^ ^^^ Nafeby was fought, with forces nearly equal, ^ ^* this decifive and well-difputed aclion, between the

A Clarendon, vol, v. p. 65;},

king

CHARLES!. 57

king and parliament. The main body of the c ft A v. royalifls was commanded by the king himlelf : The ^^^^^l/^i,^ right wing by prince Rupert ; the left by fir Mar- 1645. maduke Langdale. Fairfax, feconded by Skippon, placed himfelf in the main body of the oppofite army : Cromwel in the right wing : Ireton, Crom- welM fon- in-law, in the left. • The charge was be- gun, with his ulual celerity and ufual fuccefs, by prince Pvupert. Though Ireton made ftout refill- ance, and even after he was run through the thigh with a pike, flill maintained the combat, till he was taken prlfoner ; yet was that whole wing bro- ken, and purfued with precipitate fury by Rupert : He was even fo inconfiderate as to lofe time in fummoning 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 difplayed, in this adion, all the conduct of a prudent general, and, all the valour of a flout foldier °. Fairfax and Skippon encountered him, and vv-ell fupported that teputation which they had acquired. Skippon, be- ing dangeroufly wounded, was defired by Fairfax to leave the tield ; but he declared that he would remain there as long as one man maintained his ground p. The infantry of the parliament was broken, and preiTed upon by the king ; till Fairfax, with great prefence of mind, brought up the referve, and renewed the combat. Meanwhile Cromwel, having led on his troops to the attack of Langdale,, over- bore the force of the royalifts, and by his prudence improved that advantage which he had gained by his valour. Having purfued the enemy about a quarter of a mile, and detached fome troops to prevent their rallying, he turned back upon the king's infantry, and threw them into the utmoft confufion. One regiment alone preferved its order unbroken, though twice defperately allailed by Fair-

? Whitlockc, p. 146. p Rufli, vol, vii. p. 43, Whitlocke, p. 145.

7 fax I

58 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

C H A P- fax : And that general, excited by fo fteady a refiil^ LVni. ance, ordered Doyley, the captam of his life-guard, 164?. ^^ §*^'^ them a third charge in front, while he him- felf attacked them ir rear. The regiment was broken. Fairfax, with his own hands, killed an enfign, and, having feized the colours, gave them to a foldier to keep for him. The foldier afterwards boa fling that he had won this trophy, was reproved by Doyley, who had feen the aftion ; Let him retain that honour i faid Fairfax, I have to-day acquired enough befide •.

Prince Rupert, fenfible too late of his error, left the fruitlefs attack on the enemy's artillery, and joined the king, whofe infantry was now totally dif- comhted. Charles exhorted this body of cavalry not to defpair, and cried aloud to them, one charge more^ and we recover the day \ But the difadvan- tages 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 vidory to the enemy '. The llain, on the fide of the parliament, exceeded thofe on the fide of the king : They loft a thoufand men; he not above eight hundred. But Fairfax made 500 ofncers pri- foners, and 4000 private men ; took all the king's artillery and ammunition ; and totally difTipated his infantry; So that fcarce any victory could be more complete than that which he obtained.

Among the other fpoils was feized the king's cabinet, with the copies of his letters to the queen, which the parliament afterwards ordered to be pub- lifhed \ They chofe, no doubt, fuch of them as they thought would refleft diflionour on him : Yet, upon the whole, the letters are written with delicacy and tendernefs, and give an advantageous idea both of the king's genius and morals. A mighty fond-

s Whitiocke, p. 145. ^ Rufh. vo\ vii. p, 44.

' Clarendon, vol.iv. p. 656, 657. Walker, p. 130, 131. ? Clarendon, vol. iv. p. 658.

nefs.

C H A R L E S I. 59

jiefs, it is true, and attachment, he exprefTes to his CHAP, confort, and often profelT'es that he never would em- ^^'^^^'- . brace any meafures which Ihe difapproved : But fuch ^^4j. declarations of civility and confidence are not always to be taken in a full literal fenfe. And fo legitimate an affeftion, avowed by the laws of God and man, may, perhaps, be excufable towards a woman of beauty and fpirit, even though (he was a papifl ".

The Athenians, having intercepted a letter written by their enemy, Philip of Macedon, to his wife, Olympia ; fo far from being moved by a curiofity of prying into the fecrets of that relation, immediately lent the letter to the queen unopened. Philip was not their fovereign ; nor were they inflamed with that violent animofity againft him, which attends all -civil commotions.

After the battle, the king retreated with that body of horfe which remained entire, firft to Here- ford, then to Abergavenny ; and remained fome time in Wales, from the vain hope of raifmg a body of Infantry in thofe haraffed and exhauited quarters. Fairfax, having firfl retaken Leicefter, which was ^7th JtmCr Xurrendered upon articles, began to deliberate con- cerning his future enterprifes. A letter was brought him written by Goring to the king, and unfortu- nately entrufled to a fpy of Fairfax's. Goring there informed the king, that in three weeks he hoped to be mafter of Taunton ; after which he would join his majefhy with all the forces in the weft ; and entreated

" Hearne has publifhed the followmg extraft from a manufciipt work of fir Simon D'Ewes, who was no mean man in the parliaraent- any party. " On Thmfday, the 30th and laft day of this inftant June " 16x5, 1 went to Whitehall, purpofcly to fee the queen, which I did •* fully all the time fhe fat at dinner. I perceived her to be a mofc ♦• abfolute delicate lady, after I had exaftly furveyd all the features *' of her face, much enliven'd by her radiant and fpaikling blac'c " eyes. Befides, her deportment among her women was fo fwett *' and humble, and her fpeech and looks to her other fervants fo niild " and gracious, as I could not abftain from divers deep fclrhcd ** fighs, to conlider, that fhe wanted the knowledge of the true *^ religion." See preface to the Chronicle of Dunltable, p. 64-

him,

^o HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c II A P. him. In the mean while, to avoid coming to any ge- LViii neral aclion. This letter, which, had it been lately j^^^,^ delivered, had probably pevented the battle of Nafeby, I'erved now to direct the operations of Fair- fax ^^'. After leaving a body of 3000 men to Pointz and RolTiter, with orders to attend the king's mo- tions, he marched immediatsly to the weft, with a view of faving Taunton, and fuppreifnig the only confiderable force which now remained to the royaliils.

In the beginning of the campaign, Charles, ap- prehenfive of the event, had fent the prince of Wales, then fifteen years of age, to the weft, with the title of general, and had given orders, if he were preffed by the enemy, that he fti-ould make his efcape into a foreign country, and fave one part of the royal family from the violence of the parliament. Prince Rupert had thrown himfelf into Briftol, with an in- tention of defending that important city. Goring commanded the army before T'aunton.

,^othJu]v. On Fairfax's approach, the fiege of Taunton was raifed ; and the royalifts retired to Lamport, an open, town in the county of Somerfet. Fairfax attacked them in that poft, beat them from it, killed about yeomen, and took 140© prifoners ''. After this advantage, he fat down before Bridgewater, a tow^n efteemed ftrong and of great confequence in that country. When he had entered the outer town by ftorm, Windham the governor, who had retired into the inner, immediately capitulated, and deli- vered up the place to Fairfax. The garrifon, to the

ft3djuly. number of 2600 men, were made prifoners of war. Fairfax, having next taken Bath and Sherborne, refolved to lay fiege to Briftol, and made great pre- parations for an enterpriie, which, from the ftrength of the garrifon, and the refutation of prince Rupert the governor, was deemed of the laft importance.

w Ru(b. vol, vii, p. 4Q. * Ibid. vol. vii. p. SS'

Butj

CHARLES I. ti

But, fo precarious In mod men is this quality of c H A p. military courage ! a poorer defence was not made ^^i-^^- by any town during the whole w^ar : And the general j^^.. expectations were here extremely difappointed. No fooner had the parliamentary forces entered the lines by ftorm, than the prince capitulated, and furren- dered the city to Fairfax y. A few days before, he "t'^ Sept. had written a letter to the king, in which he under- otBiifto^L took to defend the place for four months, if no mutiny obliged him to furrender it. Charles, who was forming fchemes, and colleding forces, for the relief of Briftol, was aftonifhed at fo unexpefted an event, which was little lefs fatal to his caufe than the defeat at Nafeby ^. Full of indignation, he inflantly recalled all prince Rupert's commiflions, and fent him a pafs to go beyond fea \

The king's aifairs now went fafl to ruin in all quarters. The Scots, having made themfelves mafters of Carlifle ^ after an obfrinate fiesfe, marcli- ed fouthwards, and laid fiege to Hereford ; but were obliged to raife it on the king's approach: And this was the laft glimpfe of fuccefs which attended his arms. Having marched to the relief of Chefter, which was anew befieged by the parliamentary forces under colonel Jones ; Pointz attacked his rear, and forced him to give battle. While the 34th Sept, fight was continued with great obftinacy, and vic- tory feemed to incline to the royalifts; Jones fell upon them from the other fide, and put them to rout with the lofs of 600 {lain, and 1000 prifon- ers'^. The king, with the remains of his broker^ army, fled to Newark, and thence efcaped to Ox- ford, where he Ihut himfelf up during the winter feafon,

y RuHi. vol. vii. p. 83. 2 Clarendon, vol. iv. p 69c.

Walker, p. 137. » Clarendon, vol, iv. p. 695, b 18th of

June. c Runi. vol. vii. p-ii;,

Ths

62 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAI^T,

Chap, The news Avhich he received from every quar^ Lvni. (.gj.^ were no iefs fatal than thofe events which 1645. palTed where he himfelf was prefent, Fairfax and Cromwel, after the furrender of Briftol, having divided their forces, the former marched weflwards, in order to complete the conqueft of Devonfhire and Cornwal ; the latter attacked the king's garri- fons which lay to the eall of Briftol. The De- vizes were furrender ed to Cromwel ; Berkeley caftle was taken by ilorm; Winchefter capitu- lated J Bafmg-houfe was entered fword in hand : And all thefe middle counties of England were, in a little time, reduced to obedience under the par- liament. 164S. Xhe fame rapid and uninterrupted fuccefs attend-

Theweft , ^ . ,. „^. i- ' r 1 . j l

conquered ed Fairrax. ihe parliamentary torces, elated by

by Fair- p^ft yiftories, governed by the mofl rigid difci- pline, met with no equal oppofition from troops, difmayed by repeated defeats, and corrupted by licentious manners. After beating up the quarters

isthjan. of the royalifts at Bovey-Tracey, Fairfax fat down before Dartmouth, and in a few days entered it by florm. Poudram-caille being taken by him, and Exeter blockaded on all fides ; Hopton, a man of merit, who now commanded the royalifts, hav- mg advanced to the relief of that town with an army of 8000 men, met with the parliamentary

j^thFeb. army at Torrington ; where he was defeated, all his foot difperfed, and he himfelf, with his horfe, obliged to retire into Cornwal. Fairfax followed him, and vigoroully purfued the viulory. Having inciofed the royalifts at Truro, he forced the whole army, confifting of 5000 men, chiefly cavalry, to furrender upon terms. The foldiers, delivering up their horfes and arms, were allowed to diflDand, and received twenty ftiillings a-piece, to carry them to their refpedive abodes. Such of the officers as defired it, had paffes to retire beyond fea: The 2 others.

CHARLES I. fj

others, having promifed never more to bear arms, e l-l A P. payed compofitions to the parliament % and pro- ^vm. cured their pardon % And thus Fairfax, after tak- 16^6. ing Exeter, which completed the conqueit of the weft, marched with his victorious army to the centre of the kingdom, and fixed his camp at New- bury. The prince of Wales, in purfuance of the king's orders, retired to Scilly, thence to Jerfey ; whence he went to Paris ; where he joined the queen, who had fled thither from Exeter, at the time the earl of Effex conduced the parliamentary army to the weft.

In the other parts of England, Hereford was takem by furprife : Chefter furrendered: Lord Digby, who had attempted with 1200 horfe, to break into Scot- land and join Montrofe, was defeated at Sherburn, in Yorkfhire, by colonel Copley ; his whole force was difperfed ; and he himfelf was obliged to fly, firft to the Ifle of Man, thence to Ireland. News too arrived that Montrofe himfelf, after feme more fnc- celfes, was at laft routed ; and this only remaining hope of the royal party finally extinguished.

When Montrofe defcended into the fouthern counties, the covenanters, affembling their whole force, met him with a numerous army, and gave him battle, but v/ithout fuccefs, at Kilfyth K This was the moft complete victory that Montrofe ever obtained. The loyalifts put to fword fix thoufand of their enemies, and left the covenanters no remains ot any army in Scotland. The whole kingdom was lliaken wicn thefe repeated fucceffes of Montrofe; and many noblemen, who fecretly favoured the roval caufe, now declared openly for it, when they faw a force able to fupport them. The marquis of

*' Thefe compofitions were difTercHt, according to the demerits of the perfon : But by a vote of the houfe they could not be under two years rent of the delinquent's cdate. Journ. nth of Augull 1648. Whitlocke, p. 160.

f Rulh. vol. vii. p. 108. f 15th Auguft 1645.

Douglas,

64 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIM.

C H A P. Douglas, the earls of Annandale and Hartfield, the "^^^™. lords Fleming, Seton, Maderty, Carnegy, with J646. many others, flocked to the royal ftandard. Edin- burgh opened its gates, and gave liberty to all the prifoners there detained by the covenanters. Among the reil was lord Ogilvy, fon of Airly, whofe family had contributed extremely to the vi^ory gained at Kilfyth '.

David Lefly v.'as detached from the army in England, and marched to the relief of his diftreflfed party in Scotland. Montrofe advanced (till farther to the fouth, allured by vain hopes, both of rouling to arms the earls of Hume, Traquaire, and Rox- borough, who had promifed to join him; and of obtaining from England fome fupply of cavalry, in which he was deficient. By the negligence of his fcouts, Lefly, at Philip-haugh in the Foreft, fur- prifed his army, much diminillied in numbers, from the defertion of the Highlanders, who had retired to the hills, according to cuftom, in order to fecurc their plunder. After a fliarp conflict:, where Mon- trofe exerted great valour, his forces were routed by Defeat of Lefly's cavalry ^ : And he himfelf was obliged to fly Montrofe. .^yjj-]^ ]^is broken forces into the mountains ; where he again prepared himfelf for new battles and nev^'- enterprifes '.

The covenanters ufed the viftory with rigour. Their prifoners, fir Robert Spotifwood, fecretary of flate, and fon to the late primate, fir Phihp Njf- bet, fn" WiUiam Rollo, colonel Nathaniel Gordon, Andrew Guthry, fon of the bifliop of Murray, Wil- liam Murray, fon of the earl of Tullibardine, were condemned and executed. The fole crime imputed to the fecretary, was his delivering to Montrofe the king's commiffion to be captain general of Scat- land. Lord Ogilvy, who was again taken pri- foner, would have undergone the fame fate, had not

g Rufh. vol. vii. p. 230, 231. Wifhart, cap. 13.

J» ijtii of Sept. 1645. ^ Rufii. vol. vii. p- 231.

liij

C H A R L E S L 65

his fifler found means to procure his efcape, by "^JJ,^^*- changing clothes with him. For this inuance of v^^r^,,^ courage and dexterity, {tie met with harili ufage. 16,^6. The clergy folicited the parliament, that more roy- alifts might be executed ; but could not obtain their requeft ^

After all thefe repeated difafters, which evefy- where befel the royal party, there remained only one body of troops, on which fortune could exer- cife her rigour. Lord Aftley, with a fmall army March 22. of 3000 men, chiefly cavalry, marching to Oxford, in order to join the king, was met at Stowe by colonel Morgan, and entirely defeated ; himfeif being taken prifoner. *' You have done your ■*' work," faid Aftley to the parliamentary officers ; ** and may now go to play, unlefs you chufe to fall *' out among yourfelves '.'*

The condition of the king, during this whole winter, was to the laft degree difaflrous and melan- choly. As the dread of ills is commonly more oppreffive than their real prefence, perhaps in no period of his life was he more juflly the obje<St of compaffion. His vigour of mind, which, though it fometimes failed him in acting, never deferted him in his fufferings, was what alone fupported him; and he was determined, as he wrote to lord Digby, if he could not live as a king, to die like a gentle- man ; nor fliould any of his friends, he faid, ever have reafon to blufli for the prince whom they had fo unfortunately ferved"". The murmurs of dif- contented officers, on the one hand, haralfed their

*= Guthry's Memoirs. Rufh. vol. vii. p. 231.

1 Rii(h. vol. vii. p. 141, It was the fame Aftley who, before he charged at the battle ot Edgehill, made this fliort prayer, O Lord/ tbott kno'iveji hcnv bttfy I mujl be ibis day. If I forgtt lh.^e, do not tl.ou forget me. And with that rote up, and cry'd March oriy boys! War- wick, p. 219. There was certainly much longer prayers faid in the parliamentary army; but I doubt if there wcie fj good a one.

n» Carte's Ormond, vol. iii. N" ah.

Vol. vii. F unhappy

65 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, unhappy fovereign ; while they over-rated thofe ^_ if_^. fervices and fufterings which, they now fav/, mud - 1646. for ever go unrewarded ". The afFe<5tionate duty, on the other hand, of his more generous friends, who refpedted his misfortunes and his virtues, as much as his dignity, wrung his heart with a new forrow ; when he reflected, that fuch difmterelled attachment would fo foon be expofcd to the rigour of his implacable enemies. Repeated attempts, which he made for a peaceful and equitable ac- commodation with the parliament, ferved to no purpofe but to convince them, that the victory was entirely in their hands. They deigned not to make the leail reply to feveral of his meffages, in which he defired a paffport for commiilioners °. At iaft, after reproaching him with the blood fpilt during the war, they told him, that they were preparing bills for him ; and his pafling them would be the tell pledge of his inclination towards peace : In other words, he mufl yield at difcretion p. He de- fired a perlbnal treaty, and offered to come to London, upon receiving a fafe-condu£l for himfelf and his attendants : They abfolutely refufed him admittance, and iffued orders for the guarding, that is, the leizing of his perfon, in cafe he fhould at- tempt to vifit them '5. A new incident, which hap- pened in Irel.-ind, ferved to inflame the minds of men, and to increafe thofe calumnies with which his enemies had fo much loaded him, and which he ever regarded as the mod grievous part of his misfortunes.

After the ceflatlon with the Irifh rebels, the king Vv'as defirous of concluding; a final peace with them, and obtaining their afiiftance in England j;

" Walker, p. 147. ^ Rufln. vol. vii. p. 215,0:0.

P Ibid. vol. fii. p. Z17. 210. Clarendon, vol. iv p. ^'44, ? Rufh. vol. vii. p. 24^;, CL^rendoDj vol, iv. p. 74?.

And

C H A R L E S I. 57

And he gave authority to Ormond, lord lieutenant, c 11 A P« to promife them an abrogation of all the penal laws "*' ''l^. cna6ted againfl: catholics j together with the fufpen- j.j^j, Hon of Poining's ftatute, with regard to forne par- ticular bills, which fhould be agreed on. Lord Herbert, created earl of Glamorgan (though his patent had not yet pafled the feals), having occa- fion for his private affairs to go to Ireland, the king confidered, that this nobleman, being a catholic., and allied to the bed Irifii families, might be of fcrvice : He alfo forelaw, that farther con- cefiions with regard to religion might probably be demanded by the bigoted Iriili ; and that, as thefe conceilions, however neceffary, would give great fcandal to the protcdant zealots in his three king- doms, it would be requifite both to conceal them during fome time, and to preferve Ormond's cha- racler, by giving private orders to Glamorgan to conclude and fnni thefe articles. But as he had a

o

better opinion of Glamorgan's zeal and affedion for his lervice, then of his capacity, he enjoined him to communicate' all his meafures to Ormond ; and though the final conclufion of the treaty muib be executed only in Glamorgan's own name, he was required to be direfted, in the fteps tov/ards it, by the opinion of the lord lieutenant. Glamorgan, bigoted to his religion, and paffionate for the king's fervice, but guided in thefe purfuits by no manner- of judgment or difcretion, fccretly, of himfelf, without any communication with Ormond, con- cluded a peace v/ith the council of Kilkenny, and agreed, in the king's name, that the IriHi Ihould enjoy all the churches of which they had ever been in poffeffion lince the commencement of their in- furredion; on condidon that they iliould ailiil the king in England with a body of ten tiioufand men. This tranfadion was diicovered by accident. The titular archbifliop of Tuam being killed by a fally of ihe garrTon of yiigo, the articles of the treaty were

F 2 found

i6^(}-

6^ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

C H A P. found among his baggage, and were immediately LVIII. publilhed every-where, and copies of them fen£ ~ over to the EngHfh parliament "■. The lord lieu- tenant and lord Digby, forefeeing the clamour which would be raifed againfl the king, committed Glamorgan to prifon, charged him with treafon for his temerity, and maintained, that he had acted altogether without any authority from his mafter. The Englifli parliament however neglected not fo favourable an opportunity of reviving the old cla- mour with regard to the king's favour of popery, and accufed him of delivering over, in a manner, the whole kingdom of Ireland to that hated feO:. The king told them, *' That the earl of Glamorgan " having made an offer to raife forces in the king- " dom of Ireland, and to conduct them into Eng- " land for his maj city's fervice, had a commiffion ''' to that purpofe, and to that purpofe only, and " that he had no commiilion at all to treat of any "^ thing elfe, without the privity and direction of " the lord lieutenant, much lefs to capitulate any *' thing concerning religion, or any property be- " longing either to church or laity '." Though this declaration feems agreeable to truth, it gave no fatisfadion to the parliament ; and fome hiftorians, even at prefent, when the antient bigotry is fome- v/hat abated, are defirous of reprefenting this very innocent tranfaftion. In which the king was engaged by the mod violent neceflity, as a ftain en the me- mory of that unfortunate prince ^

Having loll all hope of prevaillngover the rigour of the parliament, either by arms or by treaty, the only refource which remained to the king, was de- rived from the inteftine diffenfions, which ran very high among his enemies. Prefbyterians and inde- pendents, even before their viQory was fully com-

>■ Rufh. vol, vii. p. 139. 5 2lrch, p. 119.

* See note [B],^ at Uie end of the volume,

pkted^y

CHARLES I. ^9

pleted, fell into contefls about the dlvlfion of the c n A P* I'poil, and their religious as well as civil difputes (^Jll^l^j agitated the whole kingdom. k^^^^

The parliament, though they had early aboliflied epifcopal authority, had not, during fo long: a time, fubdituted any other fpiritual government in its place ; and their committees of religion had hitherto aflfumed the whole ecclefiaflical jurifdiclion : But they now eflablillied, by an ordinance, the prelby- terian model in all its forms of congregational^ claf- Ecckfiafli. ficaU provincial^ and national aflemblies. All the *^<'^i ^"'i""^- inhabitants of each parilh were ordered to meet and chufe elders, on whom, together with the minifter, was beflowed the entire direction of all fpiritual concerns within the congregation. A number of neighbouring parifhes, commonly between twelve and twenty, formed a claffis ; and the court, which governed this divifion, was compofed of all the minillers, together wdth two, three, or four elders chofen from each parifh. The provincial aiTembly retained an infpection over feveral neighbouring clafles, and was compofed entirely ot clergymen : The national aifembly was conllituted in the fame manner ; and its authority extended over the whole kingdom. It is probable, that the tyranny exer- cifed by the Scottifh clergy had given warning not to allow laymen a place in the provincial or national aflemblies ; left the nobility and more confiderable gentry, foliciting a feat in thefe great ecclefiaftical courts, fliould bellow a confideration upon them, and render them, in the eyes of the multitude, a rival to the parliament. \i\ the inferior courts, the mixture of the laity might ferve rather to temper the ufual zeal of the clergy '\

But though the prefDyterians, by the eftablifli- ment of parity among the ccclefiaftics, w^re fo far gratifiedj they were denied fatistadion in fev ral

" RuHi. vol vii. p. 2:4.

F \ ©the:

7® ~ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c H A^p. other points, on which they were extremely intent. -^ __^' The affembly of divines had voted prefbyteiy to be 1646. of divine right. The parliament vefufed their affent to that decifion ^'', Selden, Whitlocke, and other poHtical reafoners, ailiited by the independents, had prevailed in this important dehberation. They thoughtj that, had the bigoted leligionifts been able to get their heavenly charter recognifcd, the prefbyters would foon become more dangerous to the magidrate than had ever been the prelatical clergy. Thefe latter, while they claimed to them- felves a divine right, admirced of a like origin to civil authority : The former, challenging to their own order a celeftial pedigree, derived the legifla- tive power from a fource no more dignified than the voluntary afibciation of the people.

Under colour of keeping the facraments from profanation, the clergy of all chriftian fects had af- iumed, what they call the power of the keys, or the right of fulminating excommunication. The example of Scotland was a fufficient leffon for the parliament to ufe precaution in guarding againft fo levere a tyranny. They determ.ined, by a general ordinance, all the cafes in which excommunication could be ufed. They allowed of appeals to parlia- ment from ail ecclefiaftical courts. And they ap- pointed commifiioners in every province to judge of fuch cafes as fell not within their general ordi- nance '\ So much civil authority, intermixed with the ecclefiailical, gave difguft to all the zealot?;.

But. nothing was attended with more univerfal fcandal than the propenfity of many in the parlia- ment towards a toleration of the proteftant fe6ta- ries. The prefoyterians exclaimed, that this in- dulgence made the church of Chrift refemble Noah's ark, and rendered it a receptacle for all unclean beads. They infilled, that the leafl of

^»' Whitlocke, p. 106. Ruih. vol. vii. p. z6o, 261. ^ Rijffi. vol. vii. p. 2ic,

Chrill's

C H A R L E S I. 71

Chrlft's truths was fuperior to all political confider- c HA P. aliens ''. They maintained the eternal obligation ^^^^^^ impofed by the covenant to extirpate herefy and 1644. fchifni. And they menaced all their opponents with the fame rigid perfecution, under which they them- ielves had groaned, when held in fubjedtion by the hierarchy.

So great prudence and referve, in fuch material points, does great honour to the parliament ; and proves, .that, notwithftanding the prevalcncy of bi- gotry and fanaticifm, there were many members who had more enlarged viev/s, and paid regard to the civil interefts of foc:;ty. Thefe men, uniting themfelves to the enthufialb, whofe genius is natu- rally averfe to clerical umrpations, exercifed fo jealous an authority over the affembly of divines, that they allowed them nothing but the liDerty of tendering advice, and would not entruH them even with t!i€ power of elefting their own chairman or his fubftitute, or of fupplying the vacancies of their own members.

While thefe difpUtes were canvaffed by theolo- gians, who engaged in their fpiritual contelts every order of the ftate ; the king, though he entertained hopes of reaping advantage from thofe divifions, was much at a lofs which fide it would be moil: for his intereft to comply with. The prefoyterians were, by their principles, the leaft averfe to regal authority ; but v/ere rigidly bent on the extirpation of prelacy : The independents v/ere refolute to lay .the foundation o'i a republican government ; but as they pretended not to ereft themieives into a national church, it might be hoped, that, if gratified Vv'ith a toleration, they would admit the re-efiablifliment of the . hierarchy. So great attachment had the king to epifcopal jurifdidion, that he was ever in- clined to put it in balance even with his ov/n power and kingly office.

y Rufli. vol. \Vi. p, 308.

F 4 5uT

72 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP. But whatever advantage he might hope to reap ±.viif. ^ fj-oni the divifions in the parliamentary party, he j6 6. '^^•''^s apprehenfive, left it fhould come too late to fave him from the de(lru6lion with which he was inftantly threatened. Fairfax was approaching with a powerful and viclorious army, and was taking the proper meafures for laying fiege to Oxford, which muft infallibly fall into his hands. To be taken captive, and led in triumph by his infolent enemies, was what Charles juftly abhorred ; and every infult, if not violence, was to be dreaded from that enthufialtic foldiery, who hated his perfon and defpifed his dignity. In this defperate extre- mity, he embraced a meafure which, In any other lituation, might lie under the imputation of impru- dence and indifcretion.

MoNTREviLLE, the French miniller, interefted for the king more by the natural fentiments of hu- manity, than any inftrudions from his court, which feemed rather to favour the parliament, had foli- cited the Scottilli generals and commilTioner3, to give proteftion to their diftrefled fovereign ; and having received many general profeinons and pro- mifes, he had always tranfmitted thefe, perhaps with feme exaggeration, to the king. From his fuggeftions, Charles began to entertain thoughts of leaving Oxford, and flying to the Scottifh army, which at that time lay before Newark ^ He con- fidered that the Scottifli nation had been fully gra- tified in all their demands ; and having already, in their own country, annihilated both epifcopacy and regal authority, had no farther conceilions to exa6t from him. In all difputes which had paffed about fettling the terms of peace, the Scots, he heard, had ftill adhered to the milder fide, and had endeavour- ed to foften the rigour of the Englifli parliament, Great difgufts alfo, on other accounts, had taken place between the nations ; and the Scots found thatj

z Clarendon, yol, iv. p. 750. vol v. p. 16.

m

C H A R L E S I. 73

in proportion as their afliftance became lefs ne- chap, ceiTary, lefs value was put upon them. The pro- ,^Jl^[^]hj grefs of the m ependents gave them great alarm ; iCi^6. and they were fcandalifed to hear their beloved co- venant fpoken of, every day, with lefs regard and reverence. The refufal of a divine right to pref- bytery, and the infringing of ecelefiaftical difciplinc from political confiJerations, were, to them, the fubjed of much offence : And the king hoped, that, in their prefent difpofition, the fight of their native prince, flying to them in this extremity of diftrefsj would roufe every fpark of generofity in their bofom, and procure him their favour and pro- tedion.

That he might the better conceal his intentions, orders were given at every gate in Oxford, for al- lowing three perfons to pafs ; and in the night the kings accompanied by none but Dr. Hudfon and Mr. Afhburnham, went out at that gate which leads to London. He rode before a portmanteau, and called himfclf Afhburnham's fervant. He palT- ed through Henley, St. Albans, and came fo near to London as Harrow on the Hill. He once en- tertained thoughts of entering into that city, and of throwing himfelf on the mercy of the parliament. But at lafl, after paffing through many crofs roads, he arrived at the Scottiih camp before Nevvark \ The parliament, hearing of his efcape from Oxford, jtb May, jiTued rigorous orders, and threatened with inftant (death whoever fhould harbour or conceal him ^

Th^ Scottifli generals and commiffiyners affe£led Kin- goes great furprife on the appearance of the king : And s^^^J^i though they payed him all the exterior refpecl due camp at to his dignity, they inftantly fet a guard upon him, Newark, under colour of protection, and made him in reality a prifoner. They informed the Englifh parliament of this unexpected incident, and affured them that

? Rufhvyorth, vol. vii. p .267. b Whitlocke, p. 209.

they

74

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, they had entered Into no private treaty with the LVIII. .king. I'hey applied to him for orders to Bellafis,

'-^'f""^ governor of Newark, to furrender that tovv^n, now ^ ' reduced to extremity -, and the orders were inftantly obeyed. And hearing that the parliament laid claim to the entire difpofal of the king's perfon, and that the Englilli army was making fome motions to- wards them ; they thought proper to retire north- wards, and to fix their camp at Newcaftle ".

This meafure 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 ail depend- ed. It was the mode of that age to make the pulpit the fcene of news ; and on every great event, the ■^ whole fcripture was ranfacked by the clergy for paf- fages applicable to the prefent occafion. The firft. minifter who preached before the king, chofe thefe words for his text : " And behold ail the men of *' Ifrael came to the king, and faid unto him, Why •* have our brethren, the m.en of Judah, ftolen " thee away, and have brought the king and his «* houfehold, and all David's men with him, over , "• <' Jordan? And all the men of Judah anfwered the «* men of Ifrael, Becaufe 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 coft ; or hath *^ he given us any gift ? And the men of Ifrael an^ *^ fwered the men of Judah, and faid. We have ten '^ parts in the king, and we have alfo more right ^^ in David than ye: Why then did ye defpife " us, that OUT advice fhould not be firft had, in *^ bringing back our kin*^ : And the words of the *' men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the " men of Ifrael ^." But the king found, that the happinefs chiefly of the allufion had tempted the

« Rufh, vol.vii. p. ayi. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 23. <J 2 Sam. chap, xix 41, 42. and 43 verlcs. Sec Clarendon, vol. v. P 23, 5.4.

preacher

CHARLES I.

75

preacher to employ this text, and that the cove- c ii A p. nanting zealots were no-wife pacified tov/ards him. yj^^l^ Another preacher, after reproaching him to his 1646. face with his mifgovernment, ordered this pfalra to be fung :

Wby doft thou, tyrant, hoajl thyfelf Thy wicked deeds to praife ?

The king flood up, and called for that pfalm which begins with thefe words.

Have mercy ^ Lord, on me, I pray ; For me?! would me devour :

The good-natured audience, in pity to fallen ma- jefty, fhowed for once greater deference to the king than to the minifter, and fung the pfalra which the former had called for ^

Charles had very little reafon to be pleafed with his fituation. He not only found himfelf a prifoner very ftriftly guarded : All his friends were kept at a diftance ; and no intercourfe, either by letters or converfation, was allowed him, with any one on whom he could depend, or who was fuf- pefted of any attachment towards him. The Scottilh generals would enter into no confidence with him ; and ftill treated him with diftant cere- mony and feigned refpeft. And every propofal, which they made him, tended farther to his abafe- ment and to his ruin ^.

They required him to IlTue orders to Oxford, and all his other garrifons, commanding their furrender to the parliament : And the king, fenfible that their refiftance was to very little purpofe, willingly com- plied. The terms given to moft of them were honourable J and Fairfax, as far as it lay In his power,

e Whitlocke, f>. 234. f Clarendon, vol. v, p. 30.

was

76 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP vvas very exa£l in obferving them. Far from allow-

LViiT. jjig violence, he would not even permit infults or

j^ g triumph over the unfortunate royalifts ; and by his

generous humanity, fo 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 officers. Montrofe alfo, after having experienced IHli more variety of good and bad for- tune, threw down his arms, and retired out of the

, . idngdom.

The marquis of Worcefter, a man pad eighty- four, was the lafl: in England that fubmitted to the authority of the parliament. He defended Raglan caftle to extremity ; and opened not its gates till the middle of Augud. Four years, a few days except- ed, were now elapfed, fmce the king firll erefted his llandard at Nottingham ». So long had the Britilh nations, by civil and religious quarrels, been occu- pied in fhedding their own blood, and laying wafte their native country.

The parliament and the Scots laid their propo- fals before the king. They were fuch as a captive, entirely at mercy, could expect from the mod in- exorable viclor : Yet were they little worfe than what were infifted on before the battle of Nafeby. The power of the fword, inftead of ten, which the king now offered, was demanded for twenty years, together with a right to levy whatever money the parliament Ihould think proper for the fupport of their armies. l"he other conditions were, in the main, the fame with thofe which had formerly been oiTered to the klng'^.

Charles faid, that propofals which introduced fuch important innovations in the conflitution, de- manded time for deliberation : The commiiTioners replied, that he mufl give his anfvver in ten days',

? Rufhworth, vol. vl. p. 293. *> Ibid, p. 309.

; Ibid. vul. vii. p. 319.

lie

CHARLES I.

He defired to reafon about the meaning and im- port of fome terms : They informed him, that they had no power of debate ; and peremptorily required ~^j^^, his confent or refufal. He requeued a perfonal treaty with the parHament : They threatened, that, if he delayed compliance, the parliament would, by their own authority, fettle the nation.

What the parliament was molt intent upon, tvas not their treaty with the king, to whom they paid little regard ; but that with the Scots. Two important points remained to be fettled with that nation ; their delivery of the king, and the eftima- tion 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 difpofal of his per- fon: And that, in fuch a cafe, where the titles are equal, and the fubjeft indivifible, the preference was due to the prefent pofl'eifor. The Englilh maintained, that the king, being in England, was comprehended within the juriidiction of that king- dom, and could not be difpofed of by any foreign nation. A delicate queliion this, and what furely could not be decided by precedent ; fmce fuch a fituation is not, any where, to be found in hif- tory ^.

As the Scots concurred with the Engliili, in im- pofing fuch fevere conditions on the king, that, notwithftanding his unfortunate fituation, he ftill re- fufed to accept of them ; it is certain that they did not defire his freedom : Nor could they ever intend to join lenity and rigour together, in fo incon- fiftent a manner. Before the fettlement of terms, the adminiftration mult be polTelfcd entirely by the parliaments of both kingdoms ; and how incompa- tible that fcheme with the liberty of the king, is eafdy imagined. To carry him a prifoner into Scot- land, where few forces could be fupported to guard

^ Rurtiworth, vol, vii. p. 339.

him.

^8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, him, was a meafure fo full of inconvenience and ^^^^^- danger, that, even if the Englifli had confented to 1646. i^5 muft have appeared to the Scots themfelves altogether uneligible : And how could fuch a plan be fupported in oppofition to England, polTeiTed of fuch numerous and victorious armies, which were, at that time, at lead feemed to be, in entire union with the parliament ? The only expedient, it is ob- vious, which the Scots could embrace, if they fcrupled wholly to abandon the king, was immedi- ately to return, fully and cordially, to their allegi- ance ; and, uniting themfelves with the royalills in both kingdoms, endeavour, by force of arms, to reduce the Englifh parliament to more moderate conditions : But befides that this meafure was full of extreme hazard ; what was it but inftantly to combine with their old enemies againfl their old friends ; and, in a fit of romantic generofity, over- turn what, with fo much expence of blood and trea- fure, they had, during the courfe of fo many years, been fo carefully erefting ?

But, though all thefe refleftions occurred to the Scottifli commiffioners, they refolved to prolong the difpute, and to keep the king as a pledge for thofe arrears which they claimed from Eng- land, and which they were not likely, in the prefent difpofition of that nation, to obtain by any other expedient- The fum, by their account, amounted to near two millions : For they had re- ceived Httle regular pay fmce they had entered England. And though the contributions which. they had levied, as well as the price of their living at free quarters, mufl be 'deducted ; yet flill the fum which they infifted on was very confider- able. After many difcuffions, it was, at lafl, agreed, that, in lieu of all demands, they fliould accept of 400,000 pounds, one half to be paid inftantly, an- other in two fubfequent payments '.

■• Ri fliworth, vol. vii. p. 3*6. Par], liiil. vol.xv. p. 2j6.

Great

CHARLES I. 79

Great pains were taken by the Scots (and the c fi a p. Englifh complied with their pretended delicacy) to ^.^^ii/ make this eftimation and payment of arrears ap- 1641^. pear a quite different tranfaction from that for the delivery of the king's perfon : But common fenfe requires, that they lliould be regarded as one and the fame. The Englifn, it is evident, had they not been previoufly alfured of receiving the king, would never have parted with fo confiderable a fum j and, while they weakened themfelves, by the fame meafure have llrengthened a people, with whom they muft afterwards have fo material an intereil to difcufs.

Thus the Scottifh nation underwent, and fliil undergo (for fuch grievous ftains are not eafily wiped off), the reproach of felling their king, and betray- •ing their prince for money. In vain did they maintain, that this money was, on account of for- mer fervices, undoubtedly their due ; that in their prefent fituation, no other meafure, without the ut- moft indifcretion, or even their apparent ruin, could be embraced ; and that, though they delivered their king into the hands of his open enemies, they were themfelves as much his open enemies as thofe to whom they furrendered him, and their common ha- tred againfl him had long united the two parties in flri£l: alliance with each other. They were llill an- fwered, that they mide ufe of this fcandalous expe- dient for obtaining their wages ; and that, after taking arms, without any provocation, again'l: their fovereign, who had ever loved and cheriihed them, they had defervedly fallen into a fituation, from Vvhich they could not extricate themfelves, without cither infamy or imprudence.

The infamy of this bargain had fuch an influence on the Scottifa parliament, that they once voted, that the king {hould be proteifled, and his liberty infilled on. But the general affembly interpofed, and pro- nounced, that, as he had refufed io take the cove- 8 nan?,

HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

CHAP. LVIIl.

1646-

t647- King deli- vered up by the Scots.

nant, which was prcffed on him, it became not the godly to Goncern themfelves about his fortunes. After this declaration, it behoved the parliament to retract their vote "".

Intelligence concerning the final refolution of the Scottiih nation to furrender him, was brought to the king ; and he happened, at that very time, to be playing at chefs ". Such command of temper did he poflefs, that he continued his game without interruption ; and none of the by-ftanders could perceive, that the letter, which he perufed, had brought him news of any confequence. The Englifh commiliioners, who, fome days after, came to take him under their cuftody, were admitted to kifs his hands ; and he received them with the fame grace and cheerfulnel's, as if they had travelled on no other errand than to pay court to him. The old earl of Pembroke in particular, who was one of them, he congratulated on his itrength and vigour, that he was ftill able, during fuch a feafon, to per- form fo long a journey, in company with fo many young people.

The king being delivered over by the Scots to the Englifli commiffioners, v/as conduced, under a guard, to lloldenby, in the county of Northamp- ton. On his journey, the whole country flocked to behold him, moved partly by curiofity, partly by companion and affeftion. If any ftill retained ran- cour againft him, in his prefent condition, they paff- ed in lilence; while his v^ell-wifhers, more gene- rous than prudent, accompanied his march with tears, with acclamations, and with prayers for his fafety°. That ancient fuperftition likewife, of de- firing the king's touch in fcrophulous diftempers, feemed to acquire frefh credit among the people, from the general tendernefs which began to prevail for this virtuous and unhappy monarch.

m Farl. Hift. vol.xv. p. 243, 344- " Burnet's Memoirs of

the Hamiltons. <> Ludlow, Herbert.

The

CHARLES r. 8i'

The commiffioners rendered his confinement at c H A P. Holdenby very rigorous ; difmiffing his ancient ^J^^J^^ fervants, debarring him from, vifits, and cutting off ,647. all communication with his friends or family. The parliament, though earnelHy applied to by the Idng, refufed to allow his chaplains to attend him, be- caufe they had not taken the covenant. The king refufed to ainll at the fervice exercifed according to the directory ; becaufe he had not as yet given his confent to that mode of worfliipp. Such religious zeal prevailed On both fides ! And fuch was the unhappy and diftraded condition to which it had reduced king and people !

During the time that the king rem.ained in the Scottilh army at Newcaftle^ died the earl of EiTex, the difcarded, but flill povv'eriui and popular general of the parliament. - His death, in this conjuncture, was a public misfortune. Fully fenfible of the ex^ cefles to which affairs had been carried, and of the, worfe confequences which were flill to be appre- hended, he had refolved" to conciliate a peace, and to remedy, as far as poffible, all thofe ills to which, from miflake rather than any bad intentions, he had himfelf fo much contributed. The prelby- terian, or the moderate party among the commons, found themfelves confiderably weakened by his death: And the fmall remains of authority which ftill adhered to the houfe of peers, were in a manner tv'hoUy extinguiihed 'J.

P Clarendon, vol v. p. 39. Warwick, p. ■29S. ^ Clarendon) vol, v. p. 43,

Vol. VII. G

82 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAINe

C H A P. LIS.

Mutiny of the army The king fe'ized by "Joycs

■ The army march againji the parliament

The army fuhdiie the farllament The kingjiies

to the IJIe of Wight- Second civil war hi-

vafion from Scotland — ^ — -The treaty of Newport

The civil war and invafion reprejfed The

king felzcd again by the army The houfe purged

The king*s tri&d — And execution — And cha- racter.

c H A P. 'T~^ liE dominion of the parliament was of fhort i^l^^^lj A. dm-ation. No fooner had they fubdued their 1647, fovereign, than their own fervants rofe againfl them, and tumbled them from their llippery throne. The facred boundaries of the laws being once vio- lated, nothing remained to confine the wild projects of zeal and ambition. And every fucceffive revo- lution became a precedent for that which followed it.

In proportion as the terror of the king's power diminiflied, the divifion between independent and prefbyterian became every day more apparent ; and the neuters found it at laft requifite to feek (helter in one or the other fadion. Many new writs were iflued for elections, in the room of members who had died, or were difqualified by adhering to the king ; yet ftill the prefbyterians retained the fupe- riority among the commons : And all the peers, except lord Say, were efteemed of that party. The independents, to whom the inferior feftaries ad- hered, predominated in the army : And the troops of the new model were univerfally infeded with that enthufiallic fpirit. To their afliltance did the inde- pendent

C H A R L E S I. 83

peiident party among the commons chiefiy truft, c h A f, in their projefts for acquiring the afcendant over \^^^„^^^.l,^ their antagonifts. 1C47.

Soon after the retreat of the Scots, the prefby- terians, feeing every thing reduced to obedience, began to talk of diminifhing the army : And, on pretence of eafmg the public burdens, they le- velled a deadly blow at the oppofite fa£lion. They purpofed to embark a ilrong detachment, under Skippon and MalTey, for the fervice of Ireland : They openly declared their intention of making a great reduction of the remainder'. It was even imagined, that another nev^ model of the army was projeded, in order to regain to the preibyterians that fuperiority which they had fo imprudently loft by the former ',

The army had fmall Inclination to the fervice of Ireland ; a country barbarous, uncultivated, and laid wafte by maffacres and civil commotions; They had lefs inclination to difband, and to renounce that pay, which, having earned it through fatigues and dangers, they now purpofed to enjoy in eafe and tranquillity. And mod of the officers, having rifen from the dregs of the people, had no other pro- fpeft, if deprived of their commiffion, than that of returning to languifh in their native poverty and obfcurity.

These motives of interefl acquired additional influence, and became more dangerous to the par- liament, from the religious fpirit by which the army was univerfally aftuated. Among the generality of men, educated in regular, civilized focieties, the fentiments of fhame, duty, honour, have confider- able authority, and ferve to counterbalance and di- reft the motives derived from private advantage : But, by the predominancy of enthufiafm arnong the

' Fourteen thoufand men were only intended to be kcp^ up; 6coo horfe,, 6000 foot, and 2000 dragooHS. Bates. ■ Rulluvorth, vol, vii, p. 564.

C 2^ par

§4 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, parll^imentary forces, thefe falutary principles lofl ^^^^!^lj their credit, and were regarded as mere human in- 3647.- ventlons, yea moral inftitutions, fitter for heathens than for chriftians ^ The faint, reiigned over to fuperior guidance, was at full liberty to gratify all his appetites, difguifed under the appearance of pious zeal. And, befides the flrange corruptions engendered by this fpirit, it eluded and loofened all the ties of morality, and gave entire fcope, and even fandion, to the felfiflmels and ambition which na- turally adhere to the human mind.

The military confeifors were farther encouraged in difobedlence to fuperiors, by that fplritual pride to which a miilaken piety is fo fubjefl:. They were not, they faid, mere janizaries ; mercenary troops inlifled for hire, and to be difpofed of at the will of their paymafters". Religion and liberty were the motives which had excited them to arms ; and they had a fuperior right to fee thofe bleifmgs, which they had purchafed with their bleed, enfured to future generations. By the fame title that the prelbyterians, in contradiftindion to the royalifts, had appropriated to themfeives the epithet of godly^ or the %vell affected ^^, the independents did now, in contradiftinclion to the prefbyterlans, affume this magnificent appellation, and arrogate all the afcen- dant, which naturally belongs to it.

Hearing of parties in the houfe of commons, and being informed that the minority were friends to the army^ the majority enemies ; the troops na- turally inter efted themfeives in that dangerous dif- tinftion, and were eager to give the fuperiority to their partifans. Whatever hardfliips ' they under- \yent, though perhaps derived from inevitable ne- ce^ity, were afcribed to a fettled defign of opprelT- ing them, and relented as an eifecl of the animofity and malice of their adverfaries.

• llufn. vol, vi. p. 134. " Ibid. vol. vii. p. 565.

*■' Ibid, vol. vii. p, 474.

Not WITH-

C H A R L E S I. ?5

Notwithstanding the great revenue, which ^^j^^' accrued from taxes, aireffments, fequeftrationsj and ^^^^..^^^.^ compofitions, confiderabie arrears were due to the 1647. army ; and many of the private men, as well as of- ficers, had near a twelvemonth's pay ftill owing them. The army fufpeded, that this deficiency was purpofely contrived in order to oblige them to live at free quarters ; and by rendering them odious to the country, ferve as a pretence for difbanding them. When they faw fuch members as were employed in committees and civil offices, accumu- late fortunes^ they accufed them of rapine and pub- lic plunder. And, as no plan was pointed out by the commons for the payment of arrears, the fol- diers dreaded, that, after they.fhould be difbanded or embarked for Ireland, their enemies, who pre- dominated in the two houfes, would entirely de- fraud them of their right, and opprefs them with impunity.

On this G^round or pretence did the firft commo- J^utmy of tions begin in the army. A petition, addreffed to Fairfax the general, was handed about ; craving an indemnity, and that ratified by the king, for any illegal aftions, of which, during the courfe of the war, the foldiers might have been guilty ; together with fatisfadion in arrears, freedom from prefling, relief of widows and maimed foldiers, and pay till difbanded''. The commons, aware of what com- buftible materials the army was compofed, were alarmed at this intelligence. Such a combination, they knew, if not checked in its firfl appearance, mud be attended with the mofl dangerous confe- quences, and mufl foon exalt the military above the civil authority. Befides fummoning fome officers to anfv/er for this attempt, they immediately voted, March 30. that the petition tended to introduce mutiny, to put conditions upon the parhament, and to obftruft the relief of Ireland ; and they threiitened to pro^e^d

" Pad, Hift. vol. XV. p. 341.

Q 3 againfl

\6 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

^ ?, c'^ ^- againft the promoters of it, as enemies to the (late^ and diftarbers of public peace ^'. This declaration, which mav be deemed violent, efpecially as the army had fome ground for complaint, produced fatal eiied.s. The f 'Idlers lamented, that they were deprived of the privileges of Englifnmen ; that they were not allowed fo much as to reprefent their grievances ; that, while petitions from Effex and other places were openly encouraged againft the army, their mouths w^ere flopped 5 and that they who v/ere the authors of liberty to the nation, were reduced, by a faction in parliament, to the mofi; grievous fervitude.

In this difpofition was the army found by War- v/ic, Dacres, Maffey, and other commiffioners, who were fent to make them propofals for entering into the fervice of Ireland '. Inftead of inlif!:ing, the ge- nerality obje6led to the terms ; demanded an in- demnity ; were clamorous for their arrears : And, though they exprefTed no diuatisfaftion againfl Skip- pon, who was appointed commander, they difco- vered much ftronger inclination to ferve under Fair- fax and Cromwel ^ Some officers, who were of the preibyterian party, having entered into engage- ments for this fervice, could prevail on very few x)f the foldiers to inlift under them. And, as thefe officers lay all under the grievous reproach of defert- ing the army, and betraying the intereft of their companions, the reft were farther confirmed in that confederacy, w^hich they had fecretly formed \

To petition and remonftrate being the moft cau- tious method of conducing a confederacy, an ap- plication to parliament v/as figned by near 200 of- ficers ; in which they made their apology with a very imperious air, afferted their right of petition- ingj and complained of that imputation thrown

y Pari. Hill:, vol. xv. p. 344, 2 Rufh. vol. vii. p. 457. ^ Ibid. voL vii. p. 458. J* Ibid, vol. vii, p-461. 556.

upon

CHARLES I. 87

upon them by the former declaration of the lower CHAP.

houfe^ The private men like wife of fome regl- ^^^_ ^

nients fent a letter to Skippon ; in which, together 1647, with infifting on the fame topics, they lament that defigns were formed againll them and many of the godly party in the kingdom ; and declare that they could not engage for Ireland, till they were fatished in their expeftations, and had their jufl defires granted*^. The army, in a word, felt their power, and refolved to be mafters.

The parliament too refolved, if pofTible, to pre- ferve their dominion ; but being deHitute of pov/cr, and not retaining much authority, it was not eafy for them to employ any expe4ient which could contribute to their purpofe. The expedient which '

they now made ufe of, wasthe word imaginable. They fent Skippon, Cromwel, Ireton, and Fleetwood, to the head quarters at Saffron Weldon in Eifex ; and empowered them to make offers to the army, and inquire into the C2.uk of its dijiempcrs. Thefe 7^1^ M^*? very generals, at leaft the three laft, were fecretly the authors of all the difcontents ; and failed not to foment thofe diforders, which they pretended to appeafe. By their fuggeftion, a meafure was em- braced, which, at once, brought matters to extre- mity, and rendered the mutiny incurable.

In oppofition to the parliament at Weftminfter, a military parliament was formed. Together with a Council of the principal officers, which was ap- pointed after the model of the houfe of peers ; a more free reprefentative of the army was compofed, by the election of two private men or inferior of- ficers, under the title of agitators, from each troop or company ^ By this means, both the general humour of that time was gratified, intent on plans of imaginary republics 5 and an eafy method con-

* Rufh. vol. vii. p. 468. d Idem, ibid, p, 474.

e Idem, ibidi p. 485. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 43,

G 4 trived

S8 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

c y A p. trived for conducing underhand, and propagating, {^^^„„^^,^ the fedition of the army. 1647. This terrible court, when aiTembled, having

firfl declared that they found no dijiempers in the army, but msLiij grievances j under v/hich it labour- *• ed, immediately voted the offers of the parliament unfatisfadory. Eight weeks' pay alone, they faid, was promifed ; a fmall part of fifty-fix weeks, which they claimed as their due : No vifible fecurity wa? given for the remainder : And having been declared ^ public enemies by the commons, they might here-

after be profecuted as fuch, unlefs the declaration were recalled ^ Before matters came to this height, Cromwel had polled up to London, on pretence of laying before the parliament the rifmg difcoutents of the army.

The parliament made one vigorous eifort morq, to try the force of their authority ; They voted that all the troops which did not engage for Ireland, fhould inflantly be difbanded in their quarters ^. At the fame time, the counfel of the army ordered a general rendezvous of all the regiments, in order to provide for their common interefts. And while they thus prepared themfelves for oppofition to the par- liament, they ftruck a blow, which at once d^cide.d the victory in their favour. Th^y^'<r -^ PARTY of five hundred horfe appeared at Hol- feized by dcnby, condu6led by one Joyce, who had once been Joyce. a taylor by profeffion ; but was now advanced to the rank of cornet, and was an adive agitator in the army. Without being oppofed by the guard, whofe affeftions were all on their fide, Joyce came into the king's prefence, armed with pillols, and told him, that he mud immediately go along with him. Whither P faid the king. 'To the armyy replied Joyce. By what warrant ? aiked the king. Joyce

*■ Riifh, vol. vii. p. 407. 505. Whjtlocke, p. »5o. 2 Rkiflii. vol. Vii. p, 427,

pouited

• C H A R L E S I. 89

pointed to the foldiers, whom he brought along ; C h^a p. tall, handfome, and well accoutred. Tour warranty v-,,..^^-^ faid Charles, fmlling, iswritinfaircharaders^ legi- 1647. hie without fpelllng ^. The parliamentary commif- iioners came into the room : They alked Joyce, whether he had any orders from the parliament ? he faid, iVo ; from the General ? 'No : By what autho- rity he came ? He made the fame reply as to the

"king : They would write, they faid, to the par- liament to know their pleafure. Tou may do Jo, replied Joyce J hut in the mean time the king muji i?nme- diately go zuiih me. Refiftance was vain. The king, after protracting the time as long as he could, went into his coach ; and was fafely conduced to the army, who were haftening to their rendezvous at Triplo-Heath, near Cambridge. The parlia-. ment, informed of this event by their commillioners, were thrown into the utmofl conilernation '\

Fairfax himfelf was no lefs furprifed at the king's arrival. That bold meafure, executed by Joyce, had never been communicated to the gene- ral. The orders were entirely verbal ; and nobody avowed them. And while every one affected afio- nifhment at the enterprife, Cromwel, by whofe council it had been directed, arrived from London, and put an end to their deliberations.

This artful and audacious confpirator had con-

• dueled himfelf in the parliament v/ith flich profound diffimulation, with fuch refined hypocrily, that he had long deceived thofe, who, being themfelves very dexterous practitioners, in the fame arts, fhould na- turally have entertained the more fufpicion againfl others. At every intelligence of diforders in the army, he was moved to the higheft pitch of grief and of anger. He wept bitterly : He lamented the misfortunes of his country : He advifed every vio- lent meafure for fuppreifmg the mutiny ; and by

b Whitiocke, p. 154. Warwick, p. 299. i Rufh. vol. vii,

p. 51^, J15. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 47.

8 thefe

go HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, thefe precipitate counfels, at once feenied to evince ^^^' his own fmcerity, and enfiamed thofe difcontents, of 1647. which he intended to make advantage. He obteft- ed heaven and earth, that his devoted attachment to the parliament had rendered him fo odious in the army, that his hfe, while among them, was in the utmoft danger ; and he had very narrowly efcaped a confpiracy formed to affaffinate him. But in- formation being brought, that the moft adive of- ficers and agitators were entirely his creatures, the parliamentary leaders fecretly refolved, that, next day, when he ihould come to the houfe, an accu- fation fliould be entered againft him, and he fhould be fent to the Tower ^. Cromwel, who in the conduct of his defperate enterprifes frequently ap- proached to the very brink of deftruction, knew how to make the requihte turn with proper dex- terity and boldnefs. Being informed of this defign, he haflened to the camp ; where he was received with acclamations, and was inflantly invefted with the fupreme command, both of general and army.

Faie-Fax, having neither talents himfelffor ca« bal, nor penetration to difcover the cabals of others^ had given his entire confidence to Cromwel j who, by the belt-coloured pretences, and by the appear- ance of an open iincerity and a fcrupulous con- fcience, impofed on the eafy nature of this brave and virtuous man. The council of officers and the agitators were moved altogether by Cromwel's di- rection, and conveyed his will to the whole army. By his profound and artful condutl, he had now at- tained a fituation, where he could cover his enter- prifes from public view ; and feeming either to obey the commands of his fuperior officer, or yield to the movements of the foldiers, could fecretly pave the way for his future greatnefs. While the diforders of the army were yet in their iifancy, he kept at a

^ Clarendon, vol, v. p. 46.

diltancCa

CHARLES 1. 91

diilance, left bis counterfeit averfion might throw a CHAP, damp upon them, or his fecret encouragement be- ^^^• get Jufpicion in the parliament. As foon as they ^~76477^ came to maturity, he openly joined the troops ; and in the critical moment, ftruck that important blow of feizing the king's perfon, and depriving the par- liament of any reiburce of an accommodation with him. Though one vizor fell oft, another ftill re- mained to cover his natural countenance. Where delay was requifite, he could employ the mod in- defatigable patience : Where celerity was neceiTary, he flew to a decilion. And by thus uniting in his perfon the moft oppofite talents, he was enabled to combine the moil contrary interefts in a fubfervi- ' ency to his fecret purpofes.

The parliament, though at prefent defencelefs, The army was poifeffed of many refources ; and time might m^rch eafily enable them to refift that violence with which ^5^ parl.a- they were threatened. Without farther dehbera- mtnt. tion, therefore, Cromwel advanced the army upon them, and arrived in a few days at St. Albans.

Nothing could be more popular than this ho- ftility which the army commenced againlt the par- liament. As much as that aifembly was once the idol of the nation, as much was it now become the obje£l of general hatred and averfion.

The felf-denying ordinance had no longer been put in execution, than till Effex, Manchefter, Waller, and the other officers of that party, had refigned their commiffion : Immediately after, it was laid afide by tacit confent ; and the members, Iharing all offices of power and profit among them, proceeded with impunity in exercilmg afts of op- preffion on the helplefs nation. Though the ne- ceffity of their fituation might ferve as an apology for many of their meafures, the people, not accui- tomed to fuch a fpecies of government, were not difpofed to make the requifite allowances.

A SMALL

•HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

A SMALL fupply cf 100,000 pounds a year could never be obtained by former kings from the jealous humour of parliaments ; and the Englifh, of all nations in Europe, v;ere the leafl accuflomed to taxes : But this parliament, from the commence- ment of the war, according to feme computations, had levied, in five years, above forty millions ' ; yet were loaded with debts and incumbrances, which, during that age, were regarded as prodigious. If thefe computations lliould be thought much ex- aggerated, as they probably are ^^ the taxes and impofitions were certainly far higher than in any former ftate of the Englifh government ; and fuch popular exaggerations are, at leaft, a proof of popu- lar difcontents.

But the difpofal of this money was no lefs the object of general complaint againfl the parlia- ment than the levying of it. The fum of 300,000 pounds they openly took, 'tis afnrmed ", and divided among their own members. The committees, to whom the management of the different branches of revenue was entrufted, never brought in their ac- counts, and had unlimited power of fecreting what- ever fums they pleafed from the pubhc treafure". Thefe branches were needlefsly multiplied, in order to render the revenue more intricate, to fliare the advantages among greater numbers, and to con- ceal the frauds of v/hich they were univerfally fuf? peded p,

' Clement Walker's Hiftory of the Two Juntos, prefixed to his Hiftory of Independency, p. 8. This is an author of fpirit and in- genuity ; and being a zealous pariiamentarian, his authority is very confideratle, notwithflanding the air of I'atire which prevail? in his writings. This computation, however, fccms much too large; efpeciatly as the fequeftrations, during the time of war, could not be fo confiderable as afterwards.

<P Yet the Time fum precifely is afligned in another book, called Jlnyal Treafury of England, p. 297.

" Clement Walker's Hiftory of Independency, p. 3. 166.

* Jbid. p. 8. P Id. ibid.

Th§

C H AR L E S I. 93

The method of keeping accounts praclifed in the chap. exchequer, was cfonfelTedly the exafteft, the mofl ^-'^• ancient, the beft known, and the lead liable to j^^,, fraud. The exchequer was, for that reafon, abo- livflied, and the revenue put under the management of a committee who were fubjed: to no control ^.

The excife was an odious tax, formerly unknow^n to the nation ; and was now extended over pro- vifions, and the common neceflaries of life. Near one half of the goods and chattels, and at lead one half of the lands, rents, and revenues of the king- dom had been fequeftered, To great numbers of royaliftsj all redrefs from thefe fequeftrations was refufed : To the rejfl, the remedy could be ob- tained only by paying large compofitions and fub- fcribing the covenant, which they abhorred. Be- fides pitying the ruin and defolation of fo many an- cient and honourable families, indifferent fpeclators could not but blame the hardfhip of puniihing with fuch feverity, aclions which the law in its ufual and mod undifputed interpretation llriclly required of every fubjett.

The feverities too, exerciied againd the epifcopal clergy, naturally afFefted the royalids, and even all men of candour, in a fenfibie manner. By the mod moderate computation "", it appears, that above one half of the edablidied clergy had been turned out to beggary and want, for no other crime than their ad- hering to the civil and religious principles in which they had been educated ; and for their attachment to thofe laws under whofe countenance they had at fird embraced that profeffion. To renounce epif- $:opacy and the liturgy, and to fubfcribe the cove^

^ ClementWalker's Hiftory of Independency, p. 8.

' See John Walker's Attempt towards recovering an Account of the Numbers and Sufferings of the Clergy. The parliament pre- tended to leave the fequeftered clergy a filth of their revenue ; bnt this author makes it fufficiently appear, that this provifion, fmall a* it is, was never leguUrly paid the ejctSed clergy.

nant,

94 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, nant, were the onlv terms which could fave them

T T"V" ^

y^,,^,.,^-^^^ from fo rigorous a fate ; and if the leaft mark of 164.7. malignancy, as it was called, or affedion to the king, who fo entirely loved them, had ever efcaped their ^ lips, even this hard choice was not permitted. The

facred charader, which gives the priefthood fuch authority over mankind, becoming more venerable from the fufferings endured, for the fake of prin- ciple, by thefe diftrefled royalifts, aggravated the general indignation againfl their perfecutors.

But what excited the mod univerfal complaint- was, the unlimited tyranny and defpotic rule of the country-committees. During the war, the difcre- tionary power of thefe courts was excufed, from the plea of neceffity : But the nation was reduced to de- fpair, when it faw neither end put to their duration, nor bounds to their authority. Thefe could fe- quefter, fine, imprifon^ and corporally punifli, with- out law or remedy. They interpofed in queflions of private property. Under colour of malignancy, they exercifed vengeance againft their private ene- mies. To the obnoxious, and fometimes to the in- nocent, they fold their proteftion. And inftead of one ftar-chamber; which had been abolillied, a great number were anew erected, fortified with better pre- tences, and armed with more unhmited authority'.

Could any thing have increafed the indignatioil againft that ilavery, into which the nation, from the too eager purfuit of liberty, had fallen, it muft have been the refleftion on the pretences by which the people had fo long been deluded. The fanc- tified hypocrites, who called their oppreffions the

= Clement Walker's Hiftory of Indpendency, p. 5. Hollis gives the fame reprefentation asWalker of the plundering, oppreffions, and tyranny of the parliament : Only, inftead of laying the fault on both parties, asWalker does, he afcribes it folely to the independent fadtion. The prcfbyterians, indeed, being commonly denominated the modern party, would probably be more inotfenlive. See Rufh. vol. vii. p. 598. and Pari. Hift. vol- xv. p, 230.

7 fpoiling

CHARLES I.

95

fpoiling of the Egyptians, and their rigid feverity chap. the dominion of the eled, interlarded all their ini- ^[^^' quities with long and fervent prayers, faved them- ks^^. felves from blufhing by their pious grimaces, and exercifed in the name of the Lord, all their cruelty on men. An undifguifed violence could be for- given : But fuch a mockery of the underftanding, fuch an abufe of religion, were, with men of pene- tration, objects of peculiar refentment.

The parliament, confcious of their decay in po- pularity, feeing a formidable armed force advance upon them, were reduced to defpair, and found all their refources much inferior to the prefent necef- fity. London flill retained a llrong attachment to prefbyterianifm ; and its militia, which was nume- rous, 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 fecure it againft the king. A body of horfe was ordered to be inflantly levied. Many officers, who had been calhiered by the new model of the army, offered their fervice to the parliament. An army of 5000 men lay in the north under the command of general Pointz, who was of the prefbyterian faction ; but thefe were too diftant to be employed in fo urgent a neceffity. The forces deftined for Ireland were quartered in the weft ; and, though deemed faithful to the parliament, they alfo lay at a diftance. Many inland garrifons were commanded by officers of the fame party ; but their troops, being fo much dif- perfed, could at prefent be of no manner of fervice. The Scots were faithful friends, and zealous tor prefbytery and the covenant ; but a long time was required, ere they could collect their forces, and march to the affiftance of the parliament.

96 HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP. In this fituation, It was thought more prudent to ^^^' fubmit, and by compliance to flop the fury of the 1647. enraged army. The declaration, by which the mi-

8th June, litary petitioners had been voted public enemies j was recalled and erafed from the journal-book ^ This was the firft fymptom which the parliament gave of fubmiffion ; and the army, hoping, by terror alone, to effed: all their purpofes, flopped afi St. Albans, and entered into negotiation with their maflers.

Here commenced the encroachments of the mi- litary upon the civil authority. The army, in their ufurpations on the parliament, copied exa6lly the model which the parliament itfelf had fet them, in their recent ufurpations on the crown.

Every day they rofe in their demands. If one claim was granted, they had another ready, fliil more enormous and exorbitant ; and were deter- mined never to be fatisfied. At firfl they pre- tended only to petition for what concerned them- felves as foldiers : Next, they mud have a vindica- tion of their charafter : Then it was neceffary, that their enemies be punifhed " : At laft they claimed a right of modelling the whole government, and fet- tling the nation ^^.

They preferved, in words, all deference and re- fpeft to the parliament ; but, in reality, infulted them and tyrannifed over them. That affembly they pretended not to accufe : It was only evil coun- fellors, who feduced and betrayed it.

•fCtbJune. They proceeded fo far as to name eleven mem- bers, whom, in general terms, they charged with high treafon, as enemies to the army and evil couu-

* Rufh. vol. vii. p. 503. 547, Clarendon, vol. v. p. 4.5. *• Rufh. vol. vii. p. J09, ^ Ibid, vol. vii. p. 567. ^JJ-

lbi<l* Tol. viii, p. 731.

fellors

CHARLES I,

97

fellors to the parliament. Their names were, Holh's, chap. fir Philip Stapleton, fir William Lewis, fir John ^^^" Clotworthy, fir William Waller, fir John Maynard, 1647.' Maffey, Glyn, Long, Harley, and Nicholas \ Ihefe were the very leaders of the prefbyterian party.

They infilled, that thefe members fliould imme- diately be fequeftered from parliament, and be -thrown into prlfon/. The commons rephed, that they could not, upon a general charge, proceed fo far -. The army obferved to them, that the cafes of Straf- ford and Laud were dire6l precedents for that pur- pofe ^ At laft, the eleven members themfelves, not to give occafion for difcord, begged leave to re- tire from the houfe ; and the army, for the prefent, feemed fatisfied with this mark of ilibmiffion ^

Pretending that the parliament intended to levy war upon them, and to involve the nation again in blood and confufion, they required, that all nev/ levies fliould be flopped. The parliament complied with this demand ^

There being no figns of refiftance, the army, in order to fave appearances,- removed, at the defire of the parliament, to a greater difhance from Lon- don, and fixed their head-quarters at Readlno-. They carried the king along with them In all their inarches.

That prince now found himfelf In a better fituation than at Holdenby, and had attained fome greater degree of freedom, as well as of confideration, with both parties.

All his friends had accefs to his prefence : His correfpondence with the queen was not interrupted : His chaplains were reftored to him, and he was al- lowed the ufe of the liturgy : His chiiden were

^ Rufh. vol. vii. p. 570. y I'uid. vol. vii. p. 57;.

2 Ibid. vol. vii. p. 552,. ^ Ibid. vol. vii. p. C94. Wliit-

locke, p. 259. b Rufh. vol. vu. p 593, 59^.

•^ Ibid. vol. vii. p. 572, 574.

Vol. VIL H

©nee

(jt ■ HISTORY OF GREx\T BRITAIN.

CHAP, once allowed to vlfit him, and they paffed a few ^^ "^ days at Caverfham, where he then refided \ He 1647. had not feen the duke of Glocefter, his youngeft fon, and the prhicefs Elizabeth, fince he left Lon- don, at the commencement of the civil diforders ^ ; nor the duke of York, fince he went to the Scot- tifh army before Newark. No private man, unac- quainted with the pleafures of a court and the tu- mult of a camp, more paffionately loved his family;, than did this good prince ; and fuch an inflance of indulgence in the army was extremely grateful to liim. Cromwel, who was witnefs to the meeting of the royal family, confelTed, that he never had been prefent at fo tender a fcene ; and he extremely applauded the benignity v/hich difplayed Itfelf in the whole difpofition and behaviour of Charles.

That artful politician, as well as the leaders of all parties, payed court to the king; and fortune, not- withiLanding all his calamities, feemed again to fmiie upon him. The parliament, afraid of his forming fome accommodation with the army, addrefied him in a more refpeftful ftyle than formerly j and invit- ed him to refide at Richmond, and contribute his afFxilance to the fettlementof the nation. The chief officers treated him with regard, and fpake on all occafions of reflcring him to his juft powers and prerogatives. In the public declarations of the army, the fettlement of his revenue and authority were Infifted on ^ The royalifls, every where, en- tertained hopes of the refioration of monarchy ; and the favour which they univerfally bore to the army, contributed very much to difcourage the parliament^ and, to forward their fubmiiTion*

^ Clarendon,. vol. i. p. 5T, 5?. 57.

« When the king applied to have his cliildreir, the parTiaraent al- ways told him^^ that they could take as much care at London, both. of their bodies and fouls, as could be done at Oxford.. Pari, Hift. vol. xiii, p; 127,. f Ruili, vol. vii, p. 500.

Thi

CHARLES L

99

The king began to feel of \vhat confequence he c n A P. was. The more the national confufions increafed, v,J^!^-„^ the more was he confident that all parries would, 1647. ' at length, have recoiirfe td his Ia\vf"ul authority as the only remedy for the public difordeis. Tou can- not be zuiihoui me^ faid he, on feveral occafions : Tou cannot fettle the nation but by my ajfi/lance. A people without government and without liberty, a parliament without authority, an army without a legal mailer : Didraftions every where, terrors^ op- preflions, convulfions : From this fcene of confu- fion, which could not long continue, all men, he hoped, would be brought to reflect on that ancient government, under which they and their anceflors had ib long enjoyed happinefs and tranquillity.

Though Charles kept his ears open to all pro- pofals, and expelled to hold the balance between the oppolite parties, he entertained more hopes of accommodation with the army. He had experi- enced the extreme rigour of the parliament. They pretended totally to annihilate his authority : They had confined his perfon. In both thefe particulars, the army fhowed more indulgence". He had a free intercourfe with his friends. And in the propofals, which the council of officers fent for the fettlemenc of the nation, they infilled neither on the abolition of epifcopacy, nor of the punilhment of the roy^ .alifls ; the two points to which the king had the mofl extreme relud:ance : And they demanded, that a period lliould be put to the prefent parliament ; the event for which he mod ardently longed.

His conjunction too feemed more natural with the generals, than with that ufurping alTembly, who had fo long aflumfed the entire fovereignty of the ftate, and who had declared their relblution Hill to continue mailers. By gratifying a few perfons with

z Warwick, p, 303. Pari. Hitt. vol. xvi, p. 40. Clarendon, vol. V. p. 50.

H 2 titles

tcff HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN,

C H A P. titles and preferments, he might draw over, heJ ^^■^- hoped, the whole military power, and, in an in- idlT. ^^.nt, reinflate himfelf in his civil authority. To Ireton he offered the lieutenancy of Ireland : To Cromwel, the garter, the title of earl of EfTex, and the command of the army. Negotiations to this purpofe were fecretly conduced. Cromwel pre- tended to hearken to them; and was well pleafed to keep the door open for an accommodation, if the courfe of events fhould, at any time, render it ne- ceflary. And the king, who had no fufpicion that one born a private gentleman, could entertain the daring ambition of feizing a fceptre tranfmitted through a long line of monarchs, indulged hopes that he would, at lad, embrace a meafure which, by all the motives of duty, intereft, and fafety, feem- ed to be recommended to him.

While Cromwel allured the king by thefe ex- peftations, he (till continued his fcheme of reducing the parliament to fubjeclion, and depriving them of all means of refinance. To gratify the army, the parliament invelled Fairfax with the title of general in chief of all the forces in England and Ireland ; and entruiled the whole military authority to a per- fon who, though well incHned to their fervice, v/as no longer at his own difpofal.

They voted that the troops which, in obedi- ence to them, had inlifted for Ireland, and deferted the rebellious army, fhould be dilbanded, or, in other words, be punifhed for their fidelity. The forces in the north, under Pointz, had already mu- tinied againft their general, and had entered into an aflociation with that body of the army which was fo fuccefsfully employed in exalting the military above the civil authority ''.

That no refource might remain to the parlia- ment, it was demanded, that the militia of London

h Rufh. vol. vii. p 6jo.

ihould

C H A R L E S L loi

ihould be changed, the prefbyterian com in IfTi oners c hap, difplaced, and the command reftored to thofe v»'ho, ^^''^* during the couvfe of the war, had conftantly exer- j^^^. cifed it. The parhament even complied with fo violent a demand, and pafled a vote in obedience to the army'.

By this unlimited patience they purpofed to teni- porife under their prefent difficulties, and they hoped to find a more favourable opportunity for recover- ing their authority and influence : But the impa- tience of the city lofl them all the advantage of their cautious meafures. A petition againfl the alteration ioth July. of the militia was carried to WellminOer, attended by the apprentices and feditious multitude, who be- fieged the door of the houfe of commons ; and by their clamour, noife, and violence, obliged them to reverfe that vote, which they had pafled fo lately. When gratified in this pretenfion, they immediately difperfed, and left the parliament at liberty''.

No fooner was intelli.C!;ence of this tumult con- . -

veyed to Reading, than the arm.y was put in mo- tion. The two houfes being under reitraint, they were refolved, they faid, to vindicate, againft the feditious citizens, the invaded privileges of parlia- ment, and reftpre that afiembly to its jufl freedom of debate and counfel. In their way to London, they were drawn up on Hounflow- heath ; a formi- • dahle body, twenty thoufand Itrong, and determined, without regard to laws or liberty, to purfue what- ever meafures their generals fliould di(5late to them. Here the moft favourable event happened, to quicken and encourage their advance. The fpeakers of the two houfes, Manchefter and Lenthal, at- tended by eight peers, and about fixty commoners, having fecretly retired frpm the city, prefented themfelves with their maces, and all the enfigns of their dignity ; and complaining of the violence put

» Rufh. vol. vii. p. 6-J9 632. ^ Iliid vol. vii. p 6+1. 643.

P^rendonj vol. v. p. 61. Whitlockc, p, 269. Cl. Waiktr, p 3S.

H 3 ' upon

102 ' HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP, upon them, applied to the array for defence and Lix. protection. They were received with fliouts and 1^47. acclamations : Refpecl was paid to them as to the parliament of England : And the army being pro- vided with fo plaufible a pretence, which, in all pub- lic tranfactioiis, is of great confequence, advanced to chaftife the r^oelilous city, and to reinftate the violated parliament'.

Neither. Lenthal nor Mancheiler were efleemed independents j and fuch a fhep in them was unex- pected. But they probably forefaw, that the army muft, in the end, prevail; and they were willing to pav court in time to that authority, which began to predominate In the nation.

The parliament, forced from their temporifmg meafures, and obliged to refign, at once, or combat for their liberty and power, prepared themfelves with vigour for defence, and determined to refill the violence of the army. The two houfes immediately chofe new fpeakers, lord Hunfdon, and Henry Pelham : They renewed their former orders for en- lifting troops I They appointed MaiTey to be com- mander : They ordered the trained bands to man the lines : And the whole city v/as in a ferment, and refounded with military preparations'".

When any intelligence arrived, that the army Hopped or retreated, the fhout of One and ally ran with alacrity, from ftreet to ftreet, among the citizens : AVhen news came of their advancing, the cry of Treat and capitulate^ was no lefs loiid and vehement ". The terror of an univerfal pillage, and even maifacre, had feized the timid inhabit- ants.

As the army approached, Rainfborow, being fent by t'he general over the river, prefented himfelf be- fore Southwark, and was gladly received by feme

' Pviifli. '. ol. viii. p. 750. Clarendon, vol. v, p. 6^' M Rufu, vol. vii p. 646. ^ Whitlocke, p. ^65.

8 foldiers.

' C H A R L E S I. J03

foldiers, who were quartered there for Its defence, ^ ^^^ ^' and who were refolved not to feparate their interefls v.,,^-.,,-^^ from thofe of the army. It behoved then the par- i647» Hament to fubmit. The anny marched in triumph through the city, but preferved the greateft order, decency, and appearance of humility. They con- duced to Weftminfter the two fpeakers, who took their feats as if nothing had happened. The eleven impeached members, being accufed as authors of the tumult, were expelled ; and mofi: of them re- tired beyond fea : Seven peers were impeached : The mayor, one fiierifF, and three aldermen, fent to the Tower : Several citizens and officers of the militia committed to prifon : Every deed of the parliament annulled, from the day of the tumult till the return of the fpeakers : The hnes about the city levelled : The militia reflored to the independ- ents : Regiments quartered in Whitehall and the The army Meufe : And the parliament being reduced to a re- pariil!f ^^ gular formed fervitude, a day was appointed of fo- ment. lemn thankfgiving for the reftoration of its liberty °. The independent party among the commons ex- ulted in their victory. The whole authority of the nation, they imagined, was now lodged in their hands ; and they had a near profpefl of moulding the government into that imaginary republic which had long been the objeft of their wiilies. They had ■fecretly concurred in all encroachments of the mili- tary upon the civil power ; and they expe61:ed, by the terror of the fword, to irni^ofe a more nerfecl; fyftem of liberty- on the reludlant nation. All parties, the king, the church, the parliament, the preibyte- rians, had been guilty of errors fiiice the commence- ment of thefe diforders : But it muft be confclTed, that this delufion of the independents and republi- cans was, of all others, the molt contrary to com- mon fenfe and the eltablilhed maxims of policy.

® Runiworth, vol.viii. p. 797, 758, SiC.

" H4 ■ Yet

164^ HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

^ Li^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ leaders of that party, Vane, Fiennes, %,^-.^-^ St. John, Martin, the men in England the moft ^6^7. celebrated for profound thought and deep contri- vance ; and by their wtU-coloured pretences and profeffions, they had over-reached the whole nation. To deceive fuch men, vi^ould argue a fuperlative ca- pacity in Cromwel ; were it not that, befides the great difference there is between dark, crooked coun- cils and true wifdom, an exorbitant paffion for rule and authority will make the moft prudent overlook the dangerous confequences of fuch meafures as feem to tend, in any degree, to their own advancement.

The leaders of the army, having eftabliilied their dominion over the parliament and city, ventured to bring the king to Hampton-court, and he lived, for fom.e time, in that palace, with an appearance of dignity and freedom. Such equability of temper did he poffefs, that during all the variety of fortune which he underwent,, no difference was perceived in