the Duke of Ormond with unanimous consent of the Heads Fellows and Students of Colledges is chosen Chancellour of the University of Oxford and so being taken off from the care and troubles of the Irish affairs he had the direction of the softer and more peaceful Muses About the beginning of September Mary the Queen Mother of England having for two and twenty years in Banishment and Widowhood lived without the enjoyment of the King her Husband and with the comfort of a flourishing Off-spring having beheld her Son setled in the Throne died at Paris in France full of years and of glory in all the changes of humane condition About the end of this and beginning of next year the Duke of Albemarle also finished his course And being now to speak the last of a man born for the publick good famous in a high and famous in a lower degree I shall take a short review of his Birth Manners and Fortune George Monk the Son of a Knight was born in Devonshire in the West of England in the year One thousand six hundred and eight He had an elder Brother who inherited his Fathers Estate and Honour and a younger who being bred a Scholar after the Restauration of the King was made Bishop of Hereford George the middlemost pushing his Fortune in the Camp followed the Wars wherein he was first initiated in his youth at Cadis against the Spaniards and shortly after in an Expedition against the French at the Isle of Ré both unfortunate in their issue but with better success he served under the Earl of Oxford in Holland The Civil Wars afterwards breaking out occasioned first by the accursed madness of the Scottish Presbyterians he returned into England and listed himself under Charles the First who then marched against the Scots and next year after was made a Colonel in the Army against the Irish Rebels But the Civil War of England raging more furiously afterwards whilst the Parliament called in the Scots their Brethren in Iniquity to their assistance the King on the other hand having made a Truce with the Irish Rebels called over his Forces from Ireland for his own defence at home and Monk being one of the Commanders of that Army with the rest joyned the King at at Oxford but whilst by orders from the King he mustered the Irish Forces in the Camp he was unexpectedly surprized and taken by Fairfax who served the Parliament and being carried to London lay there almost four years Prisoner in the Tower Whilst he was there shut up and in distress the King sent him secretly an hundred Pieces of Gold which considering the streights his Majesty was then put to was no small Argument of his Royal Affection towards him But being at length tired out with an irksome imprisonment and for the sake of liberty changing sides he took in with the Parliament and went again over into Ireland where he did many brave actions against the Irish Rebels not without Presages of becoming sometime a great General as being the onely person who seemed to have carried with him Honesty and Civility to the Civil War Here it was that first of all he gained the good esteem of Cromwel who then commanded the Parliament-Forces in Ireland having performed an action more advantageous to his General than honourable to himself The Irish War being ended the Summer following he marched with Cromwel against the Scots and did not a little contribute to his fortunate Successes in Scotland Having been so often victorious at Land and now an old Commander he tried his fortune at Sea and under the Rump-Parliament was very successful against the Dutch having in two Engagements beaten them and put them to flight At length when Cromwel got into Supreme Power he was made Governour of Scotland which Trust with equal reputation of Equity and Prudence he discharged during the space of almost five years until Quarrels and Animosities happening at London betwixt the Rumpers and Colonels of the Army he laid hold on the occasion for restoring of the King But at what time first he framed the designe of restoring Charles to the Throne I shall hardly presume to determine Cavillers and those that make the worst of things gave it out that his dutiful services to the King were but fortuitous but they who judge impartially affirm that it was a designe laid many years before Certainly the best of Kings more mindful of the effects of his Loyalty than of its beginning received the duty of Albemarle as extraordinary and kind services and honourably and liberally rewarded them The year before his death he fell into a Dropsie and being weary of the ordinary methods and advice of Physicians he made use of a certain Quack-Medicine which in appearance recovered him but his body being opened after his death a great deal of Water was found in his Bowels and much congealed Bloud in both the Ventricles of his Heart and other neighbouring Vessels For the motion both of the Heart and Bloud being weakened by an inveterate Dropsie gave occasion to the stagnating of the chylous juyce about the Heart which stopping the Fountain of the circulating Bloud put at length a stop to his last breathings for life The Marriage of his onely Son was in a manner the last thing he minded in this life who a few days before his death was married to the Daughter of the Earl of Ogle and Grand-daughter to the Duke of Newcastle thereby to settle as well as honour his Family by an Alliance with so Noble a House After he had seen Britain rejoycing in Triumphs beheld Charles confirmed in the Throne by ten years happy Reign and after he had administred the greatest Offices of Trust under the King both in Peace and War being upwards of sixty years of age he yielded to Destiny which he willingly and undauntedly submitted unto that after the Trophies of a past Life he might at length triumph over Death He left but one onely Son the Illustrious Inheritour of his Fathers Fame hopeful to the State and cherished by the King as his own Charles who had often visited and condoled with him in his sickness was with him to the last and expressed the same affection for dying Albemarle that he had testified to him during his life From Somerset-house where he had lain in state he was with a splendid pomp of solemn Funerals at the Kings charges conveyed to Westminster-Abbey and there amidst the Tears and Condolings of all good men interred amongst the August Monuments of Kings being the last Triumph due to his memory They who are curious to have a description of the shapes and countenance of so great a man may know that he was a person more graceful than beautiful of a middle stature strong and well comparted with a comely presence and of a composed rather than severe or stern aspect He may easily be reckoned a
admission and when they are received do often make such slight impressions that they vanish in oblivion and forgetfulness but examples convey them to us with pleasure and delight and the variety and wonderful accidents that are to be met with in all Histories which are nothing but the imagery and various colours of Virtues and Vices embodied and made visible to us make vived and lasting impressions on the minds of men and stamp and engrave the Ideas of them on the fancy and memory so that nothing but death can destroy or obliterate those impressions And this was one reason why the Ancients cloathed their moral Observations in Apologues Fables and Parables but History having the reality of persons names times and places do infinitely exceed these fictitious representations and therefore as History grew up in the World these fictitious Images of it were laid by and antiquated Examples fit all Capacities at least some or others of them in a vast variety whereas Precepts can hardly be so cloathed but some will despise the meanness of the language or others not understand the goodness of it whereas Examples fit themselves to all Capacities and teach men before they are aware of it the loveliness of Virtue the turpitude and baseness of Vice and the different events which for the most part in every Age have attended them This brings me to the third particular I proposed the divine use of History As the World was not the Product of blind Fate or Chance but the Work of a Great Wise and Holy God who raised and built it out of Nothing by his infinite Power and by his Wisdom brought it into this beautiful order in which we behold and admire it So neither did he desert it when he had form'd and adorn'd it but has ever since govern'd it with one unsearchable and irresistible Providence and Wisdom And this not onely the inanimate and irrational part of it but above all his eyes are upon the children of men and in the government protection preservation rewarding and punishing exalting and abasing them he exerciseth so steady just and reasonable a Providence but withal so abstruse hidden and reserved that it exceeds the Wisdom of the greatest and wisest of men to penetrate into the reasons of it or to foresee the events before they discover themselves in time Now in the History of the Actions and Events of mankind there is an undesigned History of this Providence of God which like some Rivers sometimes run above ground plain and delightful or terrible and instructive at the first glance but at others buries it self under Mountains and Hills and though in those secret recesses it still like those Rivers maintains an uninterrupted course yet can no mortal eyes pursue its streams and observe its windings and turnings or when and where it will break out and again discover it self till he himself is pleased to bring it into the light again Now History has brought down an uninterrupted thread of the methods of Providence from the creation of the World to this day by which as in a Glass we may see a representation of the Justice and Mercy of God in his dealings with the sons of men and admire that wonderful Wisdom and Power which without offering violence to the freedom of mens wills has yet been able to dispose them to effect his own most holy purposes when they least designed it without any violence has protected Virtue against the utmost rage of Men and Devils and preserved it through all the Ages of an ill World and punished Vice by it self in ways so abstruse and secret that the Workers of Iniquity have been stun'd and amazed to see not onely their ill designes over-ruled but made the Instruments of their own deserved ruine There is no one thing that hath in every Age so much staggered the belief of a divine Providence governing the World and the Affairs of Mankind as the prosperity of wicked and lewd men and the misery and oppression of good and virtuous men But this Mist will vanish like smoak when men are pleased to take a view of past Ages and observe the Catastrophies of the several Periods and Ages for that which may seem at one time to be all Mystery and Riddle will by degrees open and unfold it self till at last there will be nothing more apparent than that God had all this while his eyes upon both the one and the other and kept the invisible Reins in his own hands and by ways unperceived both by the good and bad at last tho not suddenly brought them to their deserved ends and recompenced both according to their different deserts and this will give us an assurance that as it has been in past Ages so it will be in ours the same God is still at the Helm and he will as heretofore he has conduct us also to that end we have deserved be it good or bad without respect of persons which will preserve us in Peace and Virtue dispel all melancholly thoughts and free us both from speculative and practical temptations It is not hard to apply all I have said to the History of our Late Revolutions in England but as I designe a Preface to a very short History of them and so must not be long so the Reader will be much more instructed and better pleased to reflect upon that History and to compare it with this Preface and then determine with himself whether these thoughts of mine upon this occasion are pertinent and whether there be any thing in the following Story that will prove and illustrate the truth of what I have here said and therefore to him I shall leave it But because these Pieces never appeared before in English may I have the Readers leave to give him a short account of the designes of them The Author of the first two Parts was Dr. Geo. Bates a learned and an eminent Physician of London in the last Age who was afterwards Physician to Oliver Cromwel and so must of necessity be intimately acquainted with many things which were not known to others and had means to look through all the disguises of that cunning Impostor as his Station and Employment also afforded him an easie access to most of the Grandees that had then a large share in promoting the Miseries of England The first part was published in the time of Oliver Cromwel and yet is written in an Air and Stile which shews the Author durst speak truth when if discovered his life would have paid the price of his Veracity and yet that time too may yield us a good assurance he did not venture his life for falshoods and slaunders it was not then a time to bely prosperous insolent and inraged Villains He gives us this account of the Work himself by an Epilogue added in a latter impression at the end of the First Part. Whilst the Original of this small History was in Writing it was several times seen by the Reverend George
the treachery of the Irish to deliver up to Jones Dublin with the whole Garrison and all that continued in their Duty From that time the Pope's Nuncio Commanded in Chief except in those places which were under Jones Coot and Monck which espoused the Party of the Rump-Parliament He took to himself the whole Power made Laws pronounced Judgments drew up and mustered Armies managed the War and imposed money with an absolute and despotick Authority But by this means he became both hated and despised so that having received one blow after another especially Preston's Forces being defeated by Jones he grew weak both in Men and Authority This opportunity was laid hold upon by Clanricard who Commanded one Army in Vlster and Taff who Commanded another in Munster who having consulted with Inchiqueen resolved upon it as the most expedient course to implore the Royal Assistance again Unite together into one and to send forthwith to the Queen and Prince of Wales to acquaint them with what they had done confessing that the Truce was not faithfully observed and discovering those by whose fault and instigation it was broken They moreover most humbly beg that the Marquess of Ormond may be sent over with Authority and Supplies and engage upon conditions which were not disliked by the King to fight under his Banner till the broken Forces of the Rump-Parliament should be utterly destroyed and his Majesty and they themselves fully restored to their former peace The Popes Nuncio suspecting that matters would fall out so and that the storm which his Government had raised would break over his own head forbids any farther Treaty threatens the Contraveeners with dire Punishments and at length strikes those that persisted in their purpose with the usual Weapon of Excommunication But that blunt Thunderbolt scared no body for they march against him and besiege him in the Town of Galloway Whilst in the mean time the Lord O-brian diverts the Succours that Ouen-Ro-Oneal designed to bring to his Party Then the Pope's Nuncio despairing of relief capitulated for a dishonourable Retreat and departed Whilst these matters were acting the Glorious King Charles the First Murdered by the Hands of Rebel Parricides Crowned his Death with Martyrdome Nevertheless the Marquess of Ormond being rid of that difficulty and having a new Commission and Instructions from King Charles the Second repairs to Corke and shortly after to Kilkenny where a Parliament or Convention of the States of Ireland was then kept and after long Debates on each side they came to a great many Articles of Agreement of which this was the substance After a Recognition whereby they owned his Majesty for Soveraign and lawful King of Ireland and that they would to the utmost defend him with their Lives and Fortunes they agree That the King should give the Irish free liberty of their Religion That if it seemed fit to the Deputies or Commissioners who were appointed to the number of eighteen a Parliament should be called within two Months wherein Papists as well as others should have liberty of free Voting and that the King shall confirm their Acts provided they be not grievous to Protestants All Acts and Decrees past since August 1641 that might be dishonorable to the Irish Nation shall be repealed That all Law Suits Sentences Actions or Processes commenced or determined since that time be wholly abolished and that the Irish be restored to the Lands and Estates whereof they had been dispossessed That all Impediments be removed that were wont to barr the Irish Papists from sitting in Parliament That all Debts be reckoned to be in the same state as they were in in the Year 1641 and that no body be molested nor troubled upon that account That the Lands of the Barons and Nobles in the Counties of Toumond Clare Tipperrary Limmerick Kilkenny and Wicklo be adjudged to the ancient Possessors and their Titles made good by new Acts. That Inns be Erected for the Students in Law wherever the Lord Lieutenant shall think convenient and where Degrees also in the Law may be taken as well as in England That Places and Titles of Honour and beneficial Offices may be free both to Papists and Protestants That the use and Exercise of Arms Commands and Governments may be in the power of the same and that during the War five thousand Irish Foot and two thousand Horse be kept in pay That the Court of Wards be abolished and in lieu of it twelve thousand pounds a year payed into the Kings Exchequer That no Peer have liberty to Vote by Proxy That the Nobles be obliged within five years to purchase Lands a Baron to the value of two hundred pounds a year a Viscount four hundred an Earl six hundred a Marquess eight hundred and a Duke a thousand That they may be free to treat of the independance of the Parliament of Ireland upon that of England That those of the Kings Privy-Council shall meddle with no Affairs but the Publick That Suits about Titles be referred to the Judges of the Kingdom to whom it belongs to try them That the Acts against the Exportation of Irish Wool Tallow and other Goods out of the Kingdom be repealed That they who have been under any pretext Fined or Punished in the County of Ulster since the first of King James shall be relieved according to Equity That the Inhabitants and Citizens of Corke Youghal and Dungarban be restored to their Possessions that they were turned out of in the beginning of the War provided they give Security for their Loyalty and that they shall not be troublesome to the Garrisons That an Act of Oblivion be past of all things before committed those excepted who stand guilty of Barbarous and Inhumane Crimes That it be lawful to none of the Nobles to Farm the Customes That Laws be made against Monopolies That the Jurisdiction of the Court called Castle-Chamber be moderated That the Law be abrogated which ordained That Horses should not draw the Plow by the Tail and that the Straw should not be burnt to separate the Corn from it That Law Suits about Sea Matters shall be decided in the Chancery of Ireland That for the future all Actions about the want of Title shall be suppressed if the owners have from ancient times possessed the Lands by any Right That also all Interest for Moneys since the beginning of the Troubles be discharged and that for the following years it exceed not five per Cent. a Year That the Deputies or Commissioners shall impose sufficient Taxes for carrying on the War both by Sea and Land either by way of Excise or any other way that they shall judge most convenient for the Publick That Justices of the Peace shall have Power to determine Suits under the value of ten Shillings That the Governours of the Popish Perswasion enjoy the Governments and Commands that they are at present in possession of That the Tenths of taken Ships and
and the suspicion of a sudden Insurrection again amongst the Irish because they parted so easily with their Inheritances is laid at their door as a ruine We purposely pass by matters of less importance least what we are about by the by should swell up to too vast a bulk The Officers of the Army what by craft and what by force turning Richard out of the Supream Power and the Rump-Parliament after five years interment being raised again from the dead the eyes of all are fixed upon Henry It was thought by some that he would defend his own Authority and vindicate that of his Brother Others hoped that he would favour the Royal Cause and so make his interest with the King the Navy especially giving no obscure marks of their inclination and the Army and Kingdom of Ireland being ready enough to promote such an Enterprize Nor dare I swear that he entertain'd no such Projects But the Lord Broghill and Coot deserting him in dubious Affairs and Steel and Tomlinson old Commissioners managing and Waller and Corbet new ones continually solliciting him he at length resigns himself to the Will and Pleasure of the Rump-Parliament and returns into England there to give an account of his administration Hitherto we have dwelt in Ireland that without interruption we might give the Reader an account of the Affairs of that Kingdom Now bringing our discourse back to former years we must return to the Democratical Republicans who after the murder of the King swayed Affairs in England under the Olygarchicks These being upstarts promoted for the most part men of their own Edition to places of honour and profit Which the Londoners took so ill that the Mayor and Aldermen came and petitioned the Rump-Parliament that the cheif Citizens or that some of them at least might be again admitted into the common Council of the City These were about three hundred whom either age or wealth at least recommended But the year before the Rump-Parliament had turned a great many of them out and judged them unworthy of carrying any office in the City for no other reason but because they had signed the Petition making Peace with the King which the greater and sounder part of the Parliament were also for But that desire of the Mayor and Aldermen though they seriously alledged the want of ingenious and honest men of moderate Estates for discharging the offices of the City is rejected with contempt nor would they have any but the Riff Raff and inconsiderable rable to manage Publick Affairs as being such who measured good and evil according to the will and pleasure of their Masters Whil'st these things are carried on at London CHARLES the Second was not asleep nor did he neglect his Affairs though the Regicides carried all before them in England but moves every stone and leaves nothing unessayd that the wit and power of man could devise or execrate for resetling the undone Nations asserting the publick Liberty and the Regicide being revenged recovering his ancient Inheritance He implores the assistance of Foreign Kings and Princes who are all equally concerned according to the Supream Power they have received from God and their common duty to give Sanctuary to the oppressed but especially to Kings whom above all men living they ought to protect not only upon the account of Kindred and Cognation but also for fear of Contagion least the horrid example of Rebellion might have an influence upon their own Subjects that if perchance they should be reduced to the like streights they might likewise obtain the like help and assistance He sends Ambassadours to the Emperour and German Princes to the Grand Signior the great Duke of Moscovie the Kings of Poland Denmark and Sweden to the republick of Venice and the States General of the united Provinces He sends into Spain from whence he had the greatest expectation the Lord Edward Hide who had formerly been Lord cheif Baron of the Exchequer and was afterwards Lord Chancellor and Earl of Clarendon whose Iuvenile and vegete wit might put life into the aged head of Cottington In France besides a particular Ambassadour the Queen Mother and Duke of York were there and the King himself to sollicite his own affairs But alass almost every where unsuccessfully the distance of place hindering the aid of some and either the want of money domestick seditions or dangers from neigbours obstructing the assistances of others None are touched with the sence or pity of the Calamities of another The Ottoman Court dealt barbarously in that for a little money they delivered up the Ambassadour Henry Hide a most accomplished Gentleman into the hands of the Rump-Parliament who being brought over into England for his unshaken Loyalty without any pretext of ancient Law he was beheaded before the Royal Exchange in London France with promises gives hope of large assistance so long as they could procure any help from the Subjects of the King of England especially from James Duke of YORK who commanding the English and Irish that served the French in Flanders had given many Noble and Illustrious proofs of his Heroick Valour and Courage Until that Blake had beaten the French Fleet under the Command of the Duke of Vendosme which came to the relief of Dunkirk at that time besieged by the Spaniards Then they sent Burdex to treat of peace at London whil'st the Regicides expected no less than a declaration of War And having afterwards entred into a strict allyance they inwardly rejoyced that the Kings Majesty was deluded and no small stop put to the fury of the Rebels The Spaniard seemed to be grieved at the Kings Murder but excused himself that it did not belong to him to determine about the controversies of England nor did he take pleasure to meddle in other Peoples Affairs out of his own Terrritories but that in the mean time he should be ready to do the King all the kindness he could within his Countries Nevertheless not long after Ascham being killed which I shall shortly relate he was the first King who Commanded his Hedge Ambassadour Don Alonso de Cardenas to Worship the rising sun of the Common-wealth wish the Parrcides all happiness intreat the continuance of Friendship and good Correspondence betwixt his Kingdomes and the New Common-wealth and promised severely to punish the Wicked Murderers of Ascham Now there are some not obscure Reasons why the great Mind of so Wise a King was by so unexpected a change that rather discovered than altered his Inclinations brought over to the contrary side For besides Ancient and Paternal enmities with Queen Elizabeth Philip himself had particular Quarrels against Charles It wounded him deep that his Sister being courted in Marriage even so far as to have had an interview and conference with her she should afterwards be slighted for a Daughter of France though a Princess of extraordinary Worth Besides the old offence
only are bound by the Religion of Treaties and Agreements but the Scots not at all Let them pretend their League and Covenant but withal let them consider that therein Religion and the Liberty of the Subject is in the first place to be secured and that the honour and defence of the King is designed but in the second place and in order to the former since therefore these two thwart one another it is but just that that which is last and morâ— ignoble be dispenced with As to what concerns the establishment of Presbytery it was not certainly the intention of the Covenant by force of Arms to impose it upon people whether they would or not unless it could be made out by Holy Scripture and Arguments of sound reason to which they themselves were ready to subscribe Afterwards they profess in the Name of God and with bowels full of love and compassion That it would be their greatest joy if without Arms they might obtain satisfaction and security This they cause to be dispersed among the Scots that came to Market to Berwick thereby to wheedle them and create a good Opinion of themselves and stir up Factions among the People Cromwell also gives the Scots sweet words having published a Declaration and caused it by his Agents to be dispersed through Scotland Wherein he bids the honest Inhabitants through whose Countries the Army was to march to be of good courage he having no quarrel with them and not to depart from their Houses it being his intention to do injury to no man but rather to protect all He moreover puts them in mind of the modesty and good discipline of the Souldiers whereof they themselves were eye witnesses when he pursued Duke Hamilton 's men into the heart of the Kingdom telling them that from that was past they should make a Judgment of what was to come That he took to heart all the concerns of good men and that now he drew his Sword against the Authors of wrongs who had lately polluted both England and Scotland with Blood and Slaughter and who would involve them into new Miseries having admitted into their bosom the King an open favourer of wickedness But he sings to the deaf they being now sufficiently acquainted with his tricks and fallacies For the Inhabitants flying with what Goods they could carry with them betook themselves to places of more security nor was there a bit of Victuals to be found in that Country but what was brought in the Ships that waited upon the Coast About the end of June one thousand six hundred and fifty after four days march in the Enemies Country he came to Musselbrough within a few miles of Edenborrough with five thousand five hundred Horse eleven thousand Foot sixteen field pieces and all sorts of warlike Provisions In the mean time the Scots were not idle but having levied an Army under the Command of Old Leslie with much expedition part of the Forces were encamped and strongly entrenched betwixt Leeth and Edenburrough To whose assistance flocked daily Souldiers raised in all parts who had taken the Covenant and neither served under Montross nor Hamilton No respect in the mean time was had to the King who was left at St. Johnston upon pretext that he had not spent time enough in Prayers and the Works of Mortification for receiving the mold and impression of Presbytery Cromwell afterward draws up his Army in Battalia within a mile of the Scottish Camp and took the Field that he might provoke them to come to Battel But the Scots not inclining to come to an Engagement he went up to Arthurs seat near Edenburrough that he might view the Enemy and consider whether he had not best to fall into their Camp whil'st his Forces were as yet in good plight and the Scots not altogether well prepared But the Officers disswaded him from that enterprise as being full of danger if not also rash Wherefore perceiving that no good was to be done that way he marches towards Musselbrough to refresh his Souldiers leaving a Guard behind that might keep the Enemy in play if perchance they might charge him in the Reer And indeed they did so and beat and put that party to flight pursuing them until Lambert with another Body of men put a stop to their Victory though he received two wounds Many were killed in that Engagement which nevertheless was but as a prelude to the Slaughter of the night following For Straughan had undertaken with fifteen hundred Horse raised by the Clergy to have Cromwell either alive or dead For that end Prayers were poured forth in the Churches and the Ministers roaring from the Pulpits implored nay I had almost said commanded the Victory As if God Almighty had been obliged in duty by all means to assist his own Saints purged from the leaven of Malignancy and joyned to himself by Covenant against King-killing Hereticks and Sectarians In the mean time Straughan falls in suddenly and briskly upon the Cromwellians and puts their Out-Guards into Disorder but with no happy success for the Enemy coming up in Bodies one after another beat off the Black-Coat men and pursued them even to the Camp Straughan himself having been dismounted and with much ado escaping into the Town The flying and consternation was so great that the Pursuers had almost entered the Enemies Camp had not the Kings Majesty who came that morning been happily there For he causing the Cannon to be turned against the Fugitives threatned to Fire upon them if they rallied not and drew up again in order under the protection of the Guns of the Camp that so the Troops one after another might be received into the Camp His Majesty lay in his Cloaths all that night upon the ground without a wink of sleep but the Souldiers next morning being sensible from what danger he had delivered the Army and how much he had deserved at their hands had C. R. marked with a Coal or Match some upon their Hats and Caps and others on their Coats as a badge of their gratitude The Council of War was very angry at these things and the Ministers coming earnestly beg of him that he would withdraw and not expose himself to the dangers of War They pretend to be in Covenant with God as no King was and that That Life which was to be preferred before the Lives of ten thousand private Souldiers was not to be exposed to the Enemy with many things of that nature But the King obstinately refusing and judging it unworthy that he who swayed the Royal Scepter and wore the Crown should fear Wounds or shun the shedding of his Blood for his Subjects The Commanders also come and intercede with him They beseech urge and at length not obscurely threaten that if he would not he might shift for himself and if he desired not to meet with worse usage he would remove to some other place
place standing in the middle of the Forth leaving behind them sixteen piece of Cannon and Blackness Brantiland also on the other side of the Frith over against Leeth surrenders no less disgracefully delivering up the Guns Ammunition and Ships Cromwell being informed of these successes would not lose time by waiting the motions of the King's Army Wherefore he passed over to Brantiland whence sending Whaley to take in the smaller Garrisons which lay upon the Coast of Fiffe he himself marches towards St. Johnston which the King had entrusted to the defence of the Lord Duffus with twelve hundred men though to no purpose For Cromwell having drained the water out of the Mote and Ditches and battering the Walls with his Cannon forces a surrender of the place Cromwell being now at a great distance from Sterling and wholely taken up about these matters the King having given the best Orders he could about the Affairs of Scotland sets out upon his march into England that in that Kingdom of his he might try his fate which had been very cross to him in the other Therefore on the last of July one thousand six hundred fifty one at Carlisle he enters England with about fourteen thousand men Horse and Foot But the Soldiers march with so much hardship and so severe discipline that hardly any Age hath seen the like so that from Carlisle to Worcester about two hundred Miles distant from one another no man much less any house received the least injury if you 'l except the breaking of one Orchard and the taking of four or five Apples for which notwithstanding the Soldier that committed it was presently shot to Death In all places on their march the Garrisons are summoned in the Kings name to surrender but without any success And in the more eminent places by Heralds CHARLES the Second is proclaimed King of England Scotland France and Ireland the people in the mean while being in great Consternation So soon as the news of this expedition was by Post brought to the Rump-Parliament and the report flying that the King having mounted his Soldiers on Horses which he found upon the Rode hastened his March towards London as it is common to fear to make dangers far greater than they are such Horror and Consternation invaded the minds of the Parricides and Rebels that in despair they began to cast about for lurking holes and places of escape and accused Cromwell of rashness and precipitancy Until they had notice that the King had diverted to Worcester and received fresh comforts from Cromwell's Letters who bad them be of good cheer and use their utmost force to obviat that last danger and wholely destroy the Enemy Harrison on the left hand with three thousand Horse waited the motion of the King's Army being for that end left behind on the Borders of England after followed Lambert with two thousand both as occasion offered harassing and hindering them in their March At Warrington Bridge they made the chiefest attempt to hinder the King's Forces to pass it But before the Bridge could be cut Lambert's men being engaged and forced to retreat the Scots get over And now leaving London Rode they resolve to rest at Worcester a City scituated upon the Savern from whence they hoped to receive succours from Wales and make great levies in Glocester and Oxford shires by the means of Muffey who heretofore had with reputation been Governour of Glocester for the Parliament Thither therefore they march and having met with one repulse from some of the Paliament Souldiers that were there by chance they possess the City but were much weakened and impaired in strength by the tediousness and length of the march From hence the Kings Majesty by Letters invites the Lord Mayor and Common-Council of London to Arm for his Defence and for their own just Liberties promising Pardon to all for what was past except the Murderers of his Father But these Letters are burnt at the Royal Exchange by the Hand of the Common Hangman a Copie of them is also burnt by the Hand of the Speaker Lental at a general Muster of the Trained-bands of London in Moor-fields The King presently after his arrival in Pitchford-field near Worcester by Proclamation Commands all from sixteen to sixty years of Age according to the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom to come to his Assistance In obedience to that Proclamation shortly after Francis Lord Talbot eldest Son of the Earl of Shreusbury with sixty Horse Thomas Hornihold with fourty John Mashburn with fourty John Parkinton Walter Blunt Ralph Clair and many more both Knights and Esquires besides two thousand common People come in this desperate State of Affairs to hazard their Lives in the Kings Service The conjunction of these makes in all fourteen thousand two thousand Scots either for fear or because of the tediousness of the March having dropt off by the way Why more did not come into the Kings Camp any Man may guess at the reason of it to wit That the late suppression of the Insurrection of the Welsh Londoners and Norfolk and Suffolk Men and the cruelty of the Rump-Parliament in punishing the fruitless attempts of rising run in all Peoples Minds Besides the sudden and unexpected coming of the King gave no truce to the well affected of animating one another and of associating for his Service Nor lastly could the injuries done by the Scots not long before in England be got out of the Minds of the English it seeming much the same to them whether they suffered Bondage under the Tyranny of their Countrey-men or the Insolence of the Scots And above all we are to consider the great diligence of the Republicans of both sorts in stirring up the Countries encreasing their Forces and in observing and suppressing those who were Loyal to the King Cromwell who left Monck in Scotland with Eight thousand Men to carry on his Victories there being now come back into England animates with new Vigour the Forces of the Rebel-Parricides and presently joyning his Men with Lambert Harrison Gray and Fleetwood and those who from all parts came flocking in partly voluntarily and partly by compulsion he made up an Army if some be not mistaken in their reckoning of fourscore thousand Men and more whom he posts round the City of Worcester But the brave though unfortunate attempts of the Earl of Derby which happened about that time are not to be past over in silence He with a small handful of two hundred and fifty Men from his own Isle of Man arrived at a little Town in Lancashire and in that Countrey raised almost fifâ—n hundred Men with whom he marches to â—chester there to joyn five hundred more bâ— to his misfortune he met with Lilburn a Colonel of the Rump-Parliament Forces with sixteen hundred Men. For coming presently to blow up the Town of Wigan after a smart conflict the
having sent before him five thousand Prisoners who being sufficiently exposed to the Scoffs and derision of the People are either clapt up in Prisons or sent to the New World there to drudge in the Sugar Mills In the mean time Monck who was deservedly afterwards Created Duke of Albermarle being made General of the English Forces to the number of six thousand which Cromwell had left behind him in Scotland attacques Sterling-Castle and takes it by surrender with all the Guns Ammunition much Provision five thousand Arms the Registers Coffers Jewels and several Monuments and Relicks of Kings together with that lofty Inscription Nobis haec invicta dedere centum sex proavi Colonel Alured surprised and took the Aged Earl of Levin the Earl of Crawford-Lindsey Lord Ogilby and many other Noblemen whilst they were met for raising of Soldiers at Ellet a Town in Pearthshire Sir Philip Musgrave also the Provost of St. Johnstone and others being about the same business are taken at Dumfrise But Dundee because it had the boldness to hold out was stormed and taken by assault and the whole Town left to the mercy of the Soldiers who kill'd and plunder'd all they found Aberdeen and other Towns and Forts being warned by this sad example of their own accord yielded to the Enemy A little after the Marquess of Argile made a shew of maintaining the Interest of the Kingdom as also the Highlanders but having obtained indifferent good Conditions they also yield and submit their necks to the English Yoke Afterward four Citadels are built strong both by Art and Situation to which by Sea men and Provisions might easily be transported from England to wit at Air Innerness St. Johnston and Leith besides Sterling Castle standing on the Brow of a Hill and Edingburrough Castle which we described before Nay in every County they keep a Garison in some Castle or other that if any new Rebellion should arise they might have opportunity to suppress it where-ever it happened in Scotland Nor could the main Land of Scotland put bounds to the Victory of the English who slighting the dangers of those raging and voracious Seas carry their Victories over to the Isles Orkney and Shetland But as when the Serpent is bruised in the Head he often threatens with his Tail so the Marquess of Huntley Earls of Glencairn and Athol Midleton and others stir the Embers and raise new flames of a War But Morgan easily reduced them having before they could joyn routed the chief of them Henceforward they who had been accustomed to be most unruly and disobedient when occasion of Kicking offered are fain to bite upon the Bit and upon capitulation promise to live quietly for the future Now are Judicatures and Courts of Justices opened in Scotland for which end amongst other Itinerary Judges are sent from England George Smith John Marss Edward Moseley to whom were added of the Scots the Lord Craighall Lockhart and Swinton not to be forgotten A Council of State is also made up of English not of the best Quality who were matched by some Scots mingled with them nay in every Shire a Meeting is called wherein renouncing the King they are obliged to subscribe to the English Government and to unite into one Common-wealth with the English And at length they are commanded to send thirty Commissioners to the Parliament of England Nor is it to be denyed but that they were English though from Scotland who were appointed to that Office except the Marquess of Argile and Laird of Swinton which two were the only Scots that hearded themselves into that Parliament The use of Arms is likewise denyed to that Nation nay and of Horses also except only for some necessary ends and uses Besides their Commerce and Negotiations with Foreigners are narrowly observed lest under that pretext they might hatch mischief against the Common-wealth of England So much they got by disturbing the quiet of England and by medling in the stirs and troubles of others nay and by being the Authors of the innumerable Calamities which we suffered So they fell into the Pit that they dug for us and were taken in the Snares which they had laid for the Innocent nor was there any hopes of a Deliverer or an Avenger till God should think fit to look down from his Mountain and having chastised the perverseness of the People have Mercy upon them But so much for Scotland let us therefore leave it and return to matters that properly concern our selves Jersey must now come upon the Stage for the subduing whereof Hains with great preparations of Soldiers and all things necessary is empowred who passing over thither with about seventy sail of Ships great and small for three days space was beat off from several places of the Island by Sir George Cartright Governour of the Island since deservedly Vnder Chamberlain of the King's Houshold though sooner than was expected he afterward obtained the Victory For making a descent in the night time and Bovil who commanded the Cavalier Party doing his utmost to hinder the Enemies Landing being killed in the first Encounter the rest seized with a sudden fear and Consternation are put to flight The Inhabitants after that submitted to the will and pleasure of their new Masters Elizabeth Castle also standing upon a Rock and at high water encompassed by the Sea being battered and torn with great Guns and Mortar-Peeces one of which was so fatal as at one blow to kill or mangle eight and forty Soldiers after two Months siege capitulates upon Condition that the Governour and Garison with Bag and Baggage should have liberty to pass over into France Next follows the Isle of Mann this place though defended by Feminine Valour to wit by the Countess of Derby yet vied so much in honour with men that it was doubtful whether in the Royal Cause Sir George Cartright or she fell the last Victim under the Hands of the Traytors All the Provinces thus subdued an Act of Oblivion passes whereby the memory of what was past being abolished all Crimes whatsoever are pardoned But this was hampered with so many Limitations Restrictions Exceptions and ensnaring Clauses that there was little hopes for true Penitents to expect any good from it But such however as it was Cromwell alone was to be thanked for it by him chiefly it was proposed and by his means and endeavours it past in the Rump-Parliament that by so doing he might by a shew of kindness claw the suffering and vanquished People and at the same time heap hatred and indignation upon the Heads of his fellow Traytors For now forsooth it was time to put an end to Rapine and Violence Did they take so much pleasure in undoing Estates and ruining Families There was enough allowed to anger and revenge That it was altogether fit to shew Clemency and Mercy to the Guilty who having sufficiently payed for their faults
so by a Gun without a Bullet was the first that fired a Broad-side and that by order from his Masters However from which Side soever the Provocation was given May 24. 1652. both Fleets desperately engaged in the Afternoon and fought it out stoutly till dark night hid the horrid Spectacle from the Eyes of Men. From this Engagement the Dutch double to us in number with the loss of two Ships and as much if not more mauled than we departed But seeing the Dutch could obtain no Victory in that unexpected Aggression their Embassadors excuse the Matter as having been a fortuitous Engagement when they themselves thought of nothing less Yet both Sides prepare for War which was not at all ungrateful to the English as being certain they could so long protract it until the Dutch being forced to a Coalition would at length yield or being reduced to extremity of which they entertained no doubtful Hopes considering the Opportunity of our Ports and the Number of their well-equipped Fleet they would be glad to submit to the Will of the Conquerors Both Parties were obstinate and prepared all things that might be necessary to destroy one another The Dutch Confederate with the Danes who therefore lay first an Embargo upon a Fleet of the English in the Sundt and afterwards carry them into Copenhagen being laden with Masts Pitch Hemp and Sail-cloth which at that time the Regicides were in great want of though they had got a pretty good Supply from the West-Indies and the Northern Parts of Scotland The King of England besides offers them a Squadron of English Ships for their Assistance which nevertheless they would not suffer to carry the English Colours but in their own Ports lest the Breach betwixt the two Commonwealths might prove irreparable Both Parties in the mean while press Seamen set out Ships encrease the number of their Sailors yea and put Land-Soldiers on Board too All hopes of Peace now vanishing the Embassadors return home and a second and third Engagement hapned at Sea No Age before that can shew an Instance that ever any People not onely of Europe but of the whole World engaged at Sea with such roaring of Great Guns such Fury Courage and Resolution of Men and so much Blood and Slaughter as the English and Dutch did during that War though with continual ill Success to the Dutch except that in the Straits near Legorn John van Galen who was killed by a Cannon-bullet and had young Trump for his Successor having sunk two of our Ships and taken a third that was afterwards regained by a Stratagem had the better of us through our own negligence But then Revolutions hapning amongst us at home when Cromwell had invaded the Government by the the Mediation of Stones and Dolman Englishmen who favoured the Dutch four new Ambassadors come over again Bevering Jounstal Neuport and Perre at first to learn what Advantage they might expect from that turn of Affairs and accordingly then to treat of Peace The Dutch now thrice overcome had sufficient experience of the English Strength having Seventeen hundred Merchant-Ships taken many Men of War sunk and disabled a great many Sea-Commanders slain no Trade by Sea and Sedition at home rising almost to a Rebellion But the fourth and last Engagement above all the rest gave a clear Demonstration what Side Victory inclined to when not a few were punished with Imprisonment Infamy and Death for their Miscarriage at Sea others allured and encouraged with Promises Rewards Hopes of Booty and full Cups of Brandy and as if Holland lay at stake in the Fortune of this Engagement and that they were to use their utmost and last Efforts for the defence of their Country they restore Discipline build stronger Ships cast Guns that carried further and give Commands to trusty valiant and daring Men Nay some of the States General are ordered to go on Board as Eye-witnesses of the Valour or Cowardise of their Men. At length the English Fleet commanded by Monck having waited for the Dutch six Months upon their own Coast they set out from the Texel and Weelings and bore up towards ours and with as many Ships as they could fit out briskly came to an Engagement but after a long Dispute with such Success that Trump in the Admiral-Ship bearing in bravely amongst the English was shot dead in the Breast a Man of great Courage for Valour is to be praised even in an Enemy and most skilful in Sea affairs after his Death the Enemy was put to flight and great slaughter committed amongst them In that Engagement seven and twenty Dutch Ships were either sunk or burnt two thousand Seamen and Soldiers killed a thousand taken with six Captains Whereas of the English there were not above four hundred Men and one small Ship wanting about seven hundred wounded most of whom afterwards recovered These things succeeding so ill the Dutch clap up a Peace with Cromwell the Danes also being comprehended in the Treaty He hinted a little at a Coalition onely for Forms sake which the Dutch Ambassadors rejecting he waved it having other things in design But Bevering and Newport privately promise in the Name of the States of Holland and West-Friesland and engage themselves That neither the Prince of Orange an innocent Babe then in the Cradle nor any of his Race should ever be chosen Statholder or Admiral of their Provinces and that he should never have the Vote of their Provinces in the States General for being elected General of the Forces Which they got at length confirmed by the States at Groningen The rest of the Provinces in the mean time crying out against it But the Peace made with the Dutch had almost disturbed ours at home For the Seamen complaining that they were defrauded of their Pay tumultuously and seditiously flock together in a great Body and with murmuring and Threats fly to Whitehall bitterly railing and demanding their due till Cromwell attended with some Officers rushing out drew their Swords killed some Seamen dispersed the rest and so composed the Tumult But we must not so dismiss the Dutch For it hapned that War breaking out with Holland three Ships the Saviour Samson and St. George were freighted by some Amsterdam-Merchants under borrowed Names from Hamborough and Lubeck Hanse-Towns to bring Goods from St. Lucar in Spain to Amsterdam But the laden Ships by Storms and contrary Winds being forced into the Downs fell in amongst the English Frigats that were more formidable than the Winds Which being searched they found them very richly laden having on board to the value of Four hundred thousand Pounds English in Plate and other rich Commodities and stopp'd them until they had acquainted the Parricides with the Booty They presently order them to be brought up into the River of Thames where it was pretended that the Silver and Goods were consigned to the Spanish Embassadour Don Alonso de Cadenas who used
than the Lawful Government of the King joyn in the same Resolution namely Overton who heretofore had been Governour of Scotland and Wildman both Leading Men. They had hopes that the Republicans and Royalists being associated together they might either overcome or at least force Cromwell to come to better Terms and that then turning their Arms against the Royalists they might easily subdue them For the report was That 2000 Horse and vast numbers of Foot all Republicans had listed themselves for that Service The Governours of Towns and Forts give also hopes of joyning in the Confederacy Cannon are likewise provided and one day first then another and a third are appointed for the Insurrection that rising at the same time in all Counties they might every way divert and divide the Enemy and in this uncertainty what Course to take overcome him But Cromwell is not ignorant of these Contrivances he employs all his Arts and Might to get a clear discovery of the Scheme and Series of the whole Business to bring to light the Plotters and especially that he might detect the Lords and Chief Persons of Quality break their Measures and by a false Insurrection spoil their true Rising By that means he suppressed the Conspiracy of the Cornish and Shropshire Men by stirring them up to precipitate their Rising At Hessen-Moor also in Yorkshire a numerous Meeting is appointed to be amongst whom Fairfax himself was reported to have given hopes of appearing But he being beset by the Craft and Artifices of Cromwell abstained from Action There the Earl of Rochester whom we have often mentioned by the Name of the Lord Wilmot and Sir Nicholas Armorer met at the appointed time that they might Head the rest But both of them few appearing and most part falling off for fear betook themselves presently to flight and being taken at Ailsbury by the Rebels with much ado made their escape Sir Henry Slingsby and Sir Richard Maleverer being with others taken are committed to Prison A great many People appeared that night also in Sherwood-Forest near Nottingham But being partly betrayed and partly smitten with fear and divided about the Choice of a Commander they all fly of which a great many being apprehended suffer a tedious Imprisonment for it At the same time about Three hundred Wiltshire Men rising under the Command of Wagstaff Major-General of the Army broke into Salisbury where two Judges of the Kingdom were then holding the Assizes whom they seised but afterwards civilly dismissed From thence for some days they wander up and down in vain expecting Auxiliary Forces till at length many of them disappeared and the rest were defeated in their Quarters by Crook's Regiment Wagstaff escaping safe in the dark London Kent and the other Counties taking warning from the Misfortunes of their Brethren forbore at present to make any Disturbance but yet they could not escape the Intelligence of Cromwell The Earl of Oxford Lords Willoughby of Parham Newport and Compton Littleton Peyton Packington Ashburnham Russel Legg Philips Halsey and many others whom I shall not name being seised are committed to a long and irksom Imprisonment and some transported to the Plantations The Republicans also Wildman Overton and much about the same time Vane are made Prisoners All the Prisoners who were clearly convicted of the Fact are severely punished Many shed their generous Blood some being beheaded at Salisbury and some at Exeter as Penruddock Groves Lucas and others died upon a Gibbet who ought to have had their Memories eternized in Statues But not many of the rest were put to death as not being taken in the Fact or escaping in the Crowd of so many concerned or lastly not any one accusing another Now the Reader is to know how Cromwell came to the knowledge of the matter He had given power to the publick Postmasters who were all at his devotion to stop suspected People open and secretly read their Letters and if they appeared to insinuate any thing tending to an Insurrection to give him an account of them if there were any thing found ambiguously written to write it down till he might have an opportunity either of seising or branding the Parties with pregnant suspicion He narrowly observed all Posts and Messengers caused them sometimes to be stopp'd and carefully searched from Head to Foot terrifying them with Threats and Imprisonments and plying them with Wine and other Engines of Discovery he found out the most hidden Secrets He therefore hired and dispersed about many Spies and Eve-droppers nay and some clandestine ones amongst the Cavaliers themselves who openly stood up for the King and Royal Cause but Men of no Estates nor Honesty who prying into all the Secrets they could gave intelligence of them But these Men did but little Service being accustomed to detect things that were publickly known and sometimes contradictory He gained a considerable and topping Traytor one Manning whose Father died in defence of the Royal Cause as he himself had formerly served the King and received a Wound in the Foot being a Gentleman of a good Family and by Religion a Roman Catholick who notwithstanding that he might be the more acceptable and make way for his future Treachery daring in a manner to mock God took the Sacrament after the manner of the Church of England Cromwell by Craft and Allurements wholly debauched this Man into his Party who insinuated himself into the King's Service and the Society of the Courtiers under pretext of raising amongst the Royalists Six thousand pounds English a year for the Use of His Majesty Cromwell in the mean time privately paying the Money Under this specious colour he securely dived into the Counsels of the King and of His Friends and weekly sends an Account of them till at length as no Treason can be long concealed the Rat discovered himself and being guilty of the Death of so many Brave Men by his own Blood which was all he could do he expiated his Crime But a Parliament is now called at London though not after the ancient manner The Commons are onely called to sit and consult in Parliament nor these neither freely elected by all the People But before they were suffered to enter the House Cromwell spake to them to this purpose That some years ago none would have thought of such a Door of Hope that he knew there were yet many Humours and Interests and that Humours were above Interest that the Condition of England was like Israel in the Wilderness that this was a Healing Day there was neither Nobleman nor Gentleman nor Yeoman before known by any Distinction we had not any that bore Rule or Authority but a great Contempt of Magistracy and Christ's Ordinances That the Fifth Monarchy was highly cried up by Persons who would assume the Government but that desired thing wanted greater manifestation than appeared for such Men to change the Authority by He desired
Back-doors Guards being set at all of them Let us here mention one Passage which tho' indeed ridiculous had nevertheless almost cost him his Life Being much troubled with the Stone he used sometimes to swill down several sorts of Liquor and then stir his Body by some violent kind of Motion as Riding hard on Horseback or Jolting in a Coach that by such Agitation he might disburden his Bladder Wherefore one day he took with him his Secretary Thurlow that they two by themselves might privately use this Exercise in a Coach in Hide-Park When they were come thither Cromwell himself got up into the Coach-box drawn by six stout Horses lately presented him by the Count Oldenburgh But so soon as he began to snap his Whip the Horses run away and the Postilion who was to guide them being thrown off of the Forehorse they fall a fretting and grow unruly and not knowing their Master toss their new Driver from his Seat upon the Pole who falling from thence upon the Ground and being entangled in his Coat was dragged up and down till having received many Bruises and a Pocket-Pistol going off in his Pocket his Coat rent and he escaped from the very Jaws of Death a Troop of Guards that waited without the Park hastning in to his Assistance God Almighty thought it not fit that this Plague of England should thus expire though he was not far from the just punishment of his Crimes that is from being torn to pieces alive by unruly Horses But this made work for Poets and Post-boys and afforded pleasant Discourse in Taverns Cromwell now growing bare of Money dispersed his Souldiers over the Countrey allowing them free Quarters instead of Pay taking a pretext from a late Insurrection without any accusation or proof of a Crime to plunder all those who had been sequestrated for the Royall Cause commanding them to pay the tenth part of their Goods and of their yearly Rents unless they could compound for it by laying down a Sum of Money as had been often done before The Publick Faith and Act of Oblivion stood them in no stead though it had cost vast Sums of Money or had been stipulated by Articles upon the surrender of Garrisons and strong places Nor did the innocence of many who had not meddled in these Affairs in the least excuse them all are equally involved in the Guilt and must all alike part with their Money New Major Generals are appointed to raise the Moneys in all Counties to the number of fourteen each having their Province which perhaps reached three or four Counties over which as amongst the Romans the Military Tribunes so these were appointed with almost an absolute Power And that they might not seem thus to domineer onely for Money they are impowered to make inquiry into all those who had carried Arms for the King or had favoured that Cause those who had heretofore bought up Arms or had hired or let out Post-horses into Privat Assemblies those who live at too high a rate when it is not known how they are able to afford it into Vagabonds and Idle Persons into those that frequent any sort of Game those who slight or are averse from the established Governments into such as raise Tumults or Sedition those who haunt Taverns Tipling and Eating-houses into unlearned and scandalous Ministers and School-masters All such the Major Generals had power to inquire into call before them and punish To these were joined Assessors in the several Counties Towns and Provinces for most part chosen out of the very Sink of the People though others of better note were sometimes mingled with them these had Power upon common Fame proper Knowledge or bare Conjecture to inform against others make them appear and accuse them before the Major General of the Army with whom they sat as Assessors in giving Judgment Good God! how Princely these fellows carry it how big and proud do they look despising and slighting all others of what rank and quality soever Nothing pleased them more than to insult over and oppress the Ministers of the Church of England sufficiently already born down who being long ago turned out of their Houses and Livings these Blades would not so much as suffer them to teach little Children thereby to get Bread to themselves and Families unless some Fanatick interceded for them which happened rarely and but to a few The Royalists being right or wrong before sequestred must now suffer a Decimation and be threatned with Imprisonment Bonds and Transportation which sometimes were actually inflicted Licentious indeed was the Rule of these Men they carry all things Arbitrarily and with Despotick Authority making themselves Judges of Controversies though they were ignorant of and despised all Forms and Methods of Process which they constantly decided in favours of the Faction and their Party They imposed new and unusual Punishments nay and made new Laws Raised People out of their Beds at Midnight and committed them to Goals nay and caused Constables who have the power of keeping the Peace in Countrey Villages to be whipt and put in the Stocks compelled Persons of Quality who had appeared for neither Party nay such as had been for the Parliament and others also who heretofore by hereditary right had siâ—ten in the House of Lords to come and give their Votes in the Elections for Parliament-Men Being at length drunk with that Exorbitant Power they hardly acknowledged the Protector himself and begun to spurn against the mighty Tyrant which made him by degrees lessen their Power and upon the approach of a Parliament wholly abolish it About the same time Cromwell sends one of his Bedchamber Envoy into Poland there to Congratulate the Victories of the King of Sweden with a present of four brave Horses as a Testimony of his Affection Whether or not Private Affairs be worth the relating may be a doubt yet that the inclinations of the People may be known I shall mention some Passages Davison Holder and Thorold are brought into suspition of acting for the King and of using endeavours to bring him in therefore they are committed to a Provost Marshal to be shortly brought to Tryal before the High Court of Justice In the mean time having obtained leave from him to walk abroad they wheadled the Soldier into a by place whom because he refused to consent to their escape they Pistolled But being afterwards apprehended they are brought to their Tryal for Murder before the Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in Westminster-hall and submitted themselves to the Verdict of a Jury of Twelve Men a Tryal that onely pleases our Countrey-men as being according to Law Nevertheless though they were taken in the fact and that the Judge himself had promised to use his endeavours to have these Men Condemned yet I know not what scruples being started the Jury brought them in Not guilty which thing vexed Cromwell who had resolved with himself
the old man so long as he hoped for a Successour out of his Family and to be adopted in the Army where his reputation was great He secretly despised Cromwel's Relations as too low and unfit for Principality thinking that he alone remained worthy to be advanced to Supremacy Which afterwards more secretly but not more justly he attempted rather than obtained The awe of Cromwel whilst alive gave some check such as it was to the dissembled madness of the Democratical Republicans But the Family of the Cromwels being ruined the British affairs were in that state that amongst the Regicides no faith love judgment nor truth was to be found The furious unsetled Colonels without sense or honesty laying aside all care of Reputation or Justice softened and fed their private hopes The Power of the Rulers was mutually suspected and the Honour of the Nation wholly slighted And the same Army of Cromwel abandoning the Family of their General perfidiously abolished the Protectordom which by perjuries they had established as a brave and memorable Constitution The Rabble also were so inclined that many desired and all accustomed to the Yoke of Bondage suffered the Rump-Parliament though of old notorious for flagitiousness and now for buoying up the aspiring Colonels In the mean time all things were carried according to the pleasure of the Rump and the dictates of Fanaticks the terrour of the present and presages of future evils But the turns of the Government were no less odious than the vices of the Parricides to those who any ways concerned themselves for the Publick In the mean time they were not free from danger whom Quality the suspicion of Loyalty to the King Wealth or eminent Parts rendred obnoxious to the Jealousies of the Rulers The old Souldiers of the King and such as were devoted to Charles the Second in the mean while who had hearts to do and suffer any thing rejoyced in secret having without the loss of reputation or degenerating from the ancient care they were sprung from endured the calamities of Adversity the long insulting and many Rapines of Robbers and all the shams of Fortune with an honest and patient Poverty Though the settlement of Cromwel in the government and the unshaken fidelity of his Adherents had so often defeated all their endeavours of restoring the King yet they carefully eyed the dissensions and distractions of the Fanaticks and the turns and revolutions of the Government And now the mutual clashings of the Rebels gave courage to the Loyal Nobility secretly to contrive the restauration of their Liberty and under pretence of a free and full Parliament the recovery of the just Rights of King CHARLES For that end they made use of the assistance of some Presbyterians an inflexible sort of men a bad presage of a certain overthrow since they are a kind of people that make use of good fortune rather for the subversion than the establishment of Kings Thus a framed Conspiracy all over England produced both glory and danger to the illustrious Undertakers Sir George Booth now Lord Delamere appeared first in the Insurrection in Cheshire He was assisted with the advice and hands by the Earls of Derby and Kilmurry Sir Thomas Middleton Major-General Egerton and many others of less note who having incited their Country-men to take up Arms and having formed an Army they put a Garrison in Chester an ancient City washed by the River Dee Booth himself in the mean time with 2000 Horse and Foot took the Field expecting the aid of all good men throughout England in so illustrious an Undertaking but with more Loyalty than Fortune At the news of so sudden an Eruption the Rump was terrified and being doubtful of their New Government startled at the present Commotions apprehensive of future and conscious of the greatness of their own Crimes they were in fear of all men And so much the more that they knew that Booth was not the sole Head of the Party but that there were many more besides him who hatched the same designes The Parricides had no other hopes of safety but in daring boldly wherefore arming with expedition the fiercest of the Sectarian Rout doubling their Guards and sending flying parties of the old Forces into all Counties and Towns they no sooner smelt out but they prevented the designes of the Royalists In the mean time Lambert is ordered with a body of Horse and Foot to march in all haste against Booth But the guilty Parricides could not think themselves secure unless they were re-enforced with Souldiers from Scotland and the Garrison of Dunkerk and with two Regiments called from Ireland commanded by Zanchie and Axtell After that Booth had in vain endeavoured to hinder their conjunction both Armies come in view one of another near Norwich but the River that runs by the Town hindred the Enemy from approaching Booth had set a strong Guard to defend the Bridge over the River and had drawn up his men beyond it but still inferiour both in number and fortune For Lambert having gained the Bridge charged Booth's Forces so warmly that the raw and unexperienced Country-Rout were not able to endure the shock of the old and expert Souldiers Lambert having put all of them to flight Chester is surrendered unto him Booth after his overthrow hunting about for a safe retreat was discovered in disguise at Newport and taken from whence being carried to London he was clapt up in the Tower His whole Estate which was pretty considerable being seized his head had likewise gone had not a greater destiny preserved him from the imminent cruelty of the Rump For the shortness of their government seems to be the cause that the punishment of Booth's Party was rather deferred than remitted The short-lived Rump in the mean time were not a little proud of the overthrow of their enemies and emboldened by this auspicious beginning of their New Government And the Cheshire-Insurrection was so convenient for Lambert's interest that he reckoned it amongst the favours of his prosperous fortune For having thereby attained which he so much desired to the pre-eminence of a General he intended to triumph not so much over Booth as over the conquered Rump and indeed the mutual confidence of the Knaves was not durable for the Rump was jealous of the Army and the Army of the Rump Lambert in the mean time who had a vast power in the Army exceeding all bounds of a private condition so wheadled the Officers and Souldiers that upon their return they drew up and signed a Petition at Derby wherein after they had alleadged many ridiculous falshood of their dutifulness towards the Rump their affection to the Publick and Liberty of the People they saucily desire the House that the Command of the Army should be put into the hands of Fleetwood and Lambert as the onely means of uniting the Forces in faithfulness and concord which