committed The Lords Justices Sir William Parsons and Sir John Burlace taking those Arms which they found in Dublin and arming whom they could on a sudden to defend themselves dispatched Letters to the King in Scotland and the Earl of Leicester then chosen Deputy but staying in England Money was wanting and no supplies neerer then England Owen O Conally the first discoverer of the Plot brought the first Letters to London upon receipt of which they rewarded Owen with a gift of 500.l and an annuity of two hundred pounds per annum and presently both Houses of Parliament met at a Conference and the House of Commons forthwith resolved into a Committee to consider of Irelands relief and also to provide for the safety of England for distractions began then to appear in England the Parliament every day considered of Irelands relief and presently ordered supplies of money to be borrowed of the City of London Victuals and Ammunition for that purpose But all relief could be but slow in such a sudden disease For the Rebellion encreased and spread through all the Kingdom and many Papists and ill-affected fled from Dublin into the Country to joyn with the Rebels whilest the City in their rooms was daily filled with poor spoiled Protestants who came naked and famished thither many of them being past relief and there perished in the City It were an endless thing to relate the pitiful condition of those woful people and what sad stories they there told concerning the bloody rage of those inhumane Irish Rebels and several tortures by which the unhappy English were brought to their ends But the Lords of the Councel and Lords Justices in a short time with those Arms of Dublin had armed many well-affected Gentlemen and sent many active Commanders out of the City to defend places neer against the approach of the Rebels About the middle of November were in Arms Sir Charles Coot Sir Henry Tichburn the Lord Lambert Sir Thomas Lucas Capt. Armstrong Capt. Yarner and the Earl of Ormond came to Dublin with an hundred Horse well armed At which time the Parliament of England till greater sums could be raised sent them over as a present comfort twenty thousand pounds But it was a long time before they could send over any forces to the relief of that bleeding Kingdom the first was a Regiment Commanded by Sir Simon Harcourt who arrived on the last of December 1641. While Ireland was thus miserably distressed the King returned out of Scotland into England and was entertained by the City of London with most pompous solemnity the whole multitude of Citizens distinguished by their several Companies in such costly Equipage as never before was known with Horse and Arms met the King and guarded him through the whole City to his Palace at White-hall Some condemned that costly entertainment of the City at such a sad time others hoped it might gain the Kings dubious affection to his people but it wrought a contrary effect in the King who began now to think he could never lose the love of the City whatsoever he did and was flattered by some with a hope that the City would assist him in curbing of the Parliament it self he grew therefore more disdainful toward the Parliament and to endear the City invited divers of the chief to Hampton Court where he feasted them and Knighted some But the honest Citizens perceiving that no good use was made of their dutiful expressions toward the King but that some bad people did openly say that the City were weary of the Parliament and would joyn with the King against it they framed a Petition to the Parliament wherein the contrary is professed and that they would live and die with the Parliament for the good of the Common-wealth While the King remained at Hampton Court the House of Commons presented him with a Remonstrance wherein the Grievances of the Kingdom are expressed but no fault laid upon himself in plain words but a Malignant party as they call them and evil Counsellors Irelands calamities seemed to be quite forgotten or rather that those inhumane Rebels were countenanced every body wondring that the King would not proclaim them Rebels and some honest Lords advising the King to proclaim them speedily that a better course might be taken against them they desired him to wash off that foul stain from himself by proceeding severely against those wicked villains who reported every where that they had authority from him to seize upon the Holds of the English Protestants that they were the Queens Souldiers and rise to maintain the Kings Prerogative against the Puritan Parliament in England they therefore advised him by all means to purge himself of that crime then which a greater on earth could not be But so strangely were things carried that although the Rebellion brake out upon the twenty third of October the King did not proclaim them Rebels till the first of January and then gave a strict command that no more then forty Copies of that Proclamation should be Printed and that none of them should be published till his Majesties pleasure were further signified so that a few only could take notice of it which made all men extreamly wonder when they observed the late contrary proceedings against the Scots who were in a very quick and sharp manner proclaimed and those Proclamations forthwith dispersed with as much diligence as might be thorow all the Kingdom But before this Proclamation came out the Parliament being somewhat troubled with some speeches of which they had been informed as if a Plot were contrived against them desired the King to allow them a Guard for security of their persons and that the Earl of Essex then Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Houshold might be Commander of it But the King denied them a Guard giving them many fair promises of his care for their safety and that he would command such a Guard to wait upon them as he would be responsible for to Almighty God Three days after the Proclamation against those Irish Rebels being the fourth of January the King attended with about three hundred Armed Gentlemen came to Westminster and entring in Person into the House of Commons and seating himself in the Speakers Chair demanded five Members of that House to be delivered to him Mr. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Pym Mr. Hamden and Mr. Strode Those five Members had by command of the House upon information of the Kings intent absented themselves Which the King finding went away after a short Speech delivered concerning them That he intended a fair Trial against them and that he was and would be as careful to maintain the Priviledges of Parliament as ever any King of England was He had the day before demanded them by his Atturney Sir Edward Herbert a Member of the House of Commons pretending a Charge of high Treason against them and with them against the Lord Mandevile a Member of the House of Lords But the Parliament did not think
which favour they gave the King thirty thousand pounds This was that cessation of Arms so much spoken against by honest men in London for that reason especially that it was directly against a Law and the Kings faith for it was enacted by authority of Parliament the King also signing the Act in the year one thousand six hundred forty one That the War against those bloudy Irish Rebels should proceed untill it were declared by Parliament that Ireland were fully subdued and that no peace nor any cessation of Arms should be made with those Rebels without the consent of both Houses of Parliament Thus was assistance brought to either side to the King which he especially aimed at in this business that English Army which for almost a whole years space had fought valiantly and victoriously against those Rebels was now brought into England within five moneths after that cessation to fight against the Parliament of England but the cause being changed the fortune of those Souldiers was likewise changed for they had no success in England but within a short time after their arrival that whole Army was utterly defeated and all their cheif commanders with seventeen hundred common Souldiers were taken prisoners by Sir Thomas Faâ—rfax The Scottish Army that Winter following about the middle of January passing over Tweed came into England The Earl of Leven was General his kinsman David Lesley commanded the Horse the snow that fell at that time covered the ground in an unusual depth and as great a frost had congealed all the rivers but the heat of fighting was greater than the rigor of the air and the patience of Souldiers overcame the hard weather The Earl of Leven marched with his forces against the Earl of Newcastle who with a great Army possessed the Northern parts of England for the King nor did the War goe on with less vigour in other parts In the beginning of the Spring great Armies were raised on both sides and filled all the countries with terrour all the following Summer which fell in the year one thousand six hundred forty four they fought with equal fury and almost equal fortunes insomuch as that England by the dubiousness of success on both sides and sad vicissitude of calamitous slaughters was made an unhappy Kingdom The Kings fortune was susteined by brave Armies in the West under the Princes Rupert and Maurice in Wales under Gerard and others in the midland Counties under Sir Jacob Ashley an old Souldier other Armies were commanded by Sir Ralph Hopton and Colonel Goring and in the North the Earl of Newcastles great Army Nor were the forces of Parliament inferiour the cheif Army under the General Essex Waller commanded another the Earl of Manchester to whom Crumwell a stout and successful Souldier was joyned led a strong Army toward the North where the Lord Fairfax and his Son had good forces and Sir John Meldrum not far off the Earl of Denbigh a stout Commander was with a fair Party about Strafford and besides these the great Scottish Army At the beginning of that Summer the Parliament attempted a thing of great moment to besiege Oxford or at least to block up the King within that Town which was endeavoured by two Armies Essex on the one side and Waller on the other but the King deceived them both and with a few light Horse escaping out of the Town went to joyn with his greater Armies General Essex marched farther into the West but the expedition proved unhappy both to himself and the Parliament Waller followed the King but in vain for he could not hinder his designed March onely some skirmishes happened between parts of their Forces but nothing was done of any great moment until Waller returned with his force to encounter enemies in other places Various were the successes this Summer in most parts of the Kingdom in the West South and midland Counties the Kings forces prevailed above the Parliament which perchance had been ruined if the North had not made them amends with some atchievements besides one great Victory For Leve with his Scottish forces coming the last Winter into England besides the taking of some Towns and Forts had much weakened Newcastles Army lessening their number not by fighting but enduring the sharpness of that weather which the other could not so well doe To Leven the Lord Fairfax after Selby was so miraculously taken by valiant Sir Thomas Fairfax joyned himself with all his forces to whom also the Earl of Manchester after his Lincoln expedition came with a gallant Army Three Parliament Armies under three Generals Leven Manchester and Fairfax with great concord and unanimity had marched together and with joyned forces had besieged the great City of York whereof the Earl of Newcastle was Governour to raise the siege Prince Rupert was come with a great Army out of the South the three Generals left their siege to fight the Prince under him also Newcastle having drawn his forces out of York served who on a great plain called Marston Moore gave battel to the three Generals This was the greatest battel of the whole civil war never did greater Armies both in number and strength encounter or drew more bloud in one fight The Victory at first was almost gotten by the Royalists whose left Wing Fairfax his men being disadvantaged by the inconvenience of the ground had routed and put to flight the right wing of the Parliamentarians but this loss was more than recompenced in the other Wing where Crumwell who fought under Manchester charged with such force and fury the right wing of the Royalists that he broke the best Regiments which Prince Rupert had and put them all to flight Crumwel together with David Lesley pursued them and wheeling about with his Horse came opportunely to the releif of his oppressed friends in the other Wing where they ceased not until they had gained a compleat Victory and all Prince Rupert his Ordnance his carriages and baggage were possessed by the Parliamentarians After this Victory Rupert with the remnant of his forces fled into the South some of the Victorious Armies Horse in vain pursuing him for some miles the Earl of Newcastle with some of his chosen friends leaving York of which City Sir Thomas Glenham took the government went to Scarborough where within a while after he took shipping and passed into Germany The three Generals Leven Manchester and Fairfax after this great Victory returned to besiege York to whom that City soon after upon conditions was rendered after which they divided their forces and Leven with his Scottish Army returning into the North about the end of that Summer took the rich Town of Newcastle about the same time that the General Essex unfortunately managed his business in the West and having lost all his Artillery returned to London This Summer the Queen passed into France and used great endeavour to raise aid for the King her husband among the Roman Catholikes but those endeavours proved fruitless yet
by leave of the Parliament made a voluntary Secession for six moneths Concerning that Order of Parliament that the King should go to Richmond the General desired to be excused intreating them not to command that untill things were more quiet and that they would appoint no Residence for the King nearer to London than they would allow the Quarter of the Army to be After which the King was conveied to Roiston thence to Hatfield no long after to Causum while the Army quartered at Reading From whence when the General with his Army marched to Bedford the King went to the Earl of Bedfords House neer Ouborn About that time was rumoured a very dangerous conspiracy in London of Citizens Apprentices and others against the Army namely that many Citizens and Apprentices and other people had privately listed themselves to make a Force against the Army The General hearing this certified the Cities Commissioners who were then with him at the Head-quarters of it Who made hast to London to examine and quiet those troubles but at that time between the two embittered Factions nothing but suspitions and tumults could be These Jealousies daily encreasing on July 22. the Parliament made an Order to change that Militia of the City which had been established upon the fourth of May and put others which were better affected to the Army in their rooms Upon which Order the Citizens of that faction were wonderfully incensed and petitioned the House on the twenty six of July which being read seemed rather a command than a petition This was carried and followed by a dissolute multitude of Citizens Apprentises and other unruly persons who pressed to the very doors of the Parliament and cried out in a threatning way that before the House rise they must order according to their Petition and so far did their violence prevail that they extorted an Order for the re-establishing of the former Militia But not content with that when the House was rising they took the Speaker and rudely thrust him again into his chair detaining both him and the rest of the Members there an unheard of violation of Parliament until they enforced from them another Order which was That the King should come to London After this rude violation the Houses adjourned until Fryday next which was the thirtieth of July Upon which day both the Speakers being absent for they with the greatest part of the Members had left London and withdrawn themselves to the Army new Speakers were chosen the Lord Hunsdon and Mr. Henry Pelham a Barrester by whom Orders were made that day 1. That the King should come to London 2. That the Militia of London should be authorized to raise Forces for defence of the City 3. Power was given to the same Militia to choose a General for those Forces It was likewise Ordered that the aforesaid eleven Members Impeached by the Army should return to their seats in Parliament The Citizens armed with these Orders presently proceed to raising of Forces of which they Elected Massey to be their General In the mean time the Lords and Commons who had left London consulting with the General and chief Commanders of the Army made an Order That all Acts and Decrees that had passed on the 26. of July and since should be accounted null and void and that they did adhere to the Declaration of the General and Councel of the Army It was likewise Decreed that the General with his Army should march to London But when the Citizens heard of the Armies approach their stomacks being somewhat abated and their opinions so much divided in Common-Councel that it appeared impossible for them suddenly to raise any forces to oppose the Army they sent to the General for a Pacification which by the consent of the Members of parliament then with him was granted to them upon these conditions 1. That they should desert the Parliament now sitting and the Eleven Impeached Members 2. That they should recall their Declaration lately divulged 3. They should relinquish their present Militia 4. They should deliver up to the General all their Forts and the Tower of London 5. They should disband all the Forces they had raised And do all things else which were necessary for the publick tranquillity All which things none of them daring to deny were presently ratified On the sixt day of August the General with his Army came to Westminster and with him the Speakers of both Houses together with the rest of the Lords and Commons whom he restored all to their former Seats Both the Speakers in the name of the whole Parliament gave thanks to the General they made him Commander of all the Forces in England and in Wales and Constable of the Tower of London a moneths pay was likewise given as a gratuity to the Army The next day General Fairfax Lieutenant General Cromwel Major General Skippon and the rest of the Commanders with the whole Army marched through London from the Western part thereof to the Tower where some Commands were changed and the Militia otherwise setled Then least the City should swell with too much power her Militia by Order of Parliament was divided and Authority given to Westminster Southwark and the Hamblets about the Tower to exercise and command their own Militiaes Thus was the Presbyterian faction depressed and the Parliament thus restored were very intent upon the business of annulling all those Acts which in their absence and by that tumultuous violence had been made and in punishing the Authors of those Seditions FINIS Book III. A short mention of the Originall and Progress of the Second War THe Parliament restored the Militia of London setled and the other Commands fitly disposed the General Fairfax marched out of London and quartered his Army in the Towns and Villages adjacent onely leaving some Regiments about White-Hall and the Mews to guard the Parliament his Head-Quarters being at Putney the King about the middle of August was brought to the most stately of all his Palaces Hampton Court While the King remained at Hampton Court he seemed not at all a restrained man But a Prince living in the splendor of a Court so freely to his presence were all sorts of people admitted to kiss his hands and do all obeysances whatsoever None were forbidden to wait upon him Nor did the people from London onely and the adjacent Towns resort to the King but his Servants also from beyond the Seas even those who by Order of Parliament had been forbidden and Voted Delinquents such as Ashburnham Barkley and the rest who now by the permission of the Army had safe recourse to him But upon what reasons or design this permission was many wondred Stirred up by these examples if not sent for by the King the Lords formerly of his Councel at Oxford the Duke of Richmond Marquess Hartford the Earls of Southampton and Dorset with the Lord Seymor about the beginning of October came to the King as if to consult and give their