the King to sign the Warrant for his Execution Which they did upon the twelfth of May following and the 22 d of the same Month the Earl of Strafford was beheaded accordingly At this time a treacherous Design was set on foot not without the Participation of the King as appear'd under his own Hand to bring up the English Army and by Force to dissolve the Parliament the Plunder of London being promised to the Officers and Souldiers as a Reward for that Service This was confessed by the Lord Goring Mr. Piercy and others The Scots Army was also tried and the sour Northern Counties offered to be given to them in case they will undertake the same Design And tho neither of these Attempts did succeed yet the King pleased himself with hopes that a seasonable time for dissolving the Parliament would come and then all Power reverting into his own Hands he would deal with their new enacted Laws as he had done besore with the Petition of Right and with their Members as he had done with those of the former Parliaments And that he might not long languish in this Expectation he sent to the House desiring that at once they would make their full Demands and prepare Bills accordingly for his Assent assuring them of his Readiness to comply with their Desires But they perceiving the Design return'd for answer That they could not suddenly resolve on so weighty a Work but would do it with all possible speed In the mean time to improve the present Opportunity they prevail with the King to pass an Act for the Exclusion of the Bishops out of the House of Lords for tho he was unwilling to grant the Parliament any thing yet the State of his Affairs was such that he durst deny them no reasonable thing And now having paid to the Scots and English Armies what was due to them they dismissed them to their respective homes The King having laid his Designs in Ireland as will afterwards appear was not without great Difficulty prevailed with by the Parliament to consent to the disbanding of those eight thousand Irish Papists that had been raised there by the Earl of Strafford Soon after which he resolved upon a Journey to Scotland and tho the Parliament endeavoured to disswade him from it or at least to defer it to a fitter Opportunity he refused to hearken to them under pretence that the Affairs of that Kingdom necessarily required his Presence but in truth his great business was to leave no means unattempted to take off that Nation from their Adherence to the Parliament of England Before his Departure he signed a Commission to certain Persons impowering them to pass the Bills that should be tender'd in his Absence Whilst he was about this Work in Scotland the News of the Irish Rebellion was brought to him that the Papists throughout that Kingdom were in Arms that their Design to surprize and seize the Castle of Dublin had not succeeded being discovered by one O Connelly a Servant of Sir John Clotworthy's and that the Lord Macquire and Mac-mahon who were appointed to that end were taken and sent into England where they were soon after executed for the same The News of this Rrebellion as I have heard from Persons of undoubted Credit was not displcasing to the King tho it was attended with the Massacre of many thousands of the Protestants there Having made what Progress he could in Scotland confirming by Act of Parliament not only what he had formerly granted them but also what they had done in their Assembly at Glascow and in effect whatsoever they desired of him he returned to London where being received with Acclamations and treated at the Expence of the City he became elevated to that degree that in his first Speech to the Commons he sharply reproved them for that instead of thanking him for what he had done they continued to multiply their Demands and Dissatisfactions Whereupon the Parliament were confirmed in their Suspicions that he design'd to break what he had already granted so soon as he had Opportunity and Power in his hands to plead that he was under a Force as some of his Predecessors had done and so reverse what had been enacted for the Good of the People revenge himself on those who had been Instruments in compelling him thereto and fortify himself against the like for the future These Apprehensions made them carnestly insist upon settling the Militia of the Nation in such Hands as both Houses of Parliament should recommend to him particularly representing the great Dissatisfaction of the City of London that Sir William Bâ—lfeur for refusing to permit the Earl of Strafford to escape was dismissed from his Charge of Lieutenant of the Tower and the Government of it put into the hands of one Lunsford a Souldier of Fortune of a profligate Conversation and fit for any wicked Design With much difficulty this Lunsford was removed and Sir John Conyers put into his place but the Parliament and City not satisfied with this Choice and having discovered that Sir John Suckling under pretence of raising a Regiment for Portugal was bringing together a number of Mento seize the Tower for the King it was at last entrusted to the Custody of the Lord Mayor of London About this time great Numbers of English Protestants flying from the bloody Hands of the Irish Rebels arrived in England filling all Places with sad complaints of their Cruelties to the Protestants of that Kingdom Whereupon the Parliament earnestly pressed the King to proclaim them Rebels but could not obtain it to be done till after many Weeks and then but forty of those Proclamations were printed and not above half of them published which was the more observed and resented by reason of the different Treatment that the Scots had met with who no sooner appeared in a much better Cause but they were forth with declared Rebels in every Parish-Church within the Kingdom of England The Rebels in Ireland pretended a Commission from the King for what they did which so alarm'd the People of England that the King thought himself necessitated to do something therein and therefore to carry on his Design he acquainted the Parliament that when an Army was raised he would go in Person to reduce them but they apprehending this pretended Resolution to be only in order to put himself at the Head of an Army that he might reduce the Parliament to his Will refused to consent and procured an Act to pass for the leaving of that War to the management of the two Houses the King obliging himself not to give Terms to any of the Rebels or to make Peace with them without the Parliament's Consent In this Act Provision was made for the satisfying of such as should advance Money for the reduction of Ireland out of the Rebels Lands in several Provinces according to the Rates therein mentioned Upon which considerable Sums of Money were sâ—on brought in The Parliament neglecting no Opportunity
unwarrantable Courses but he made his Escape by Water for that time and one of the most active of the People was seized and executed which served only to exasperate the rest Upon the near Approach of the English and Scots Army a considerable Party of each side encountred and the English contrary to their wonted Custom retired in Disorder not without Shame and some Loss Of such Force and Consequence is a Belief and full Perswasion of the Justice of an Undertaking tho managed by an Enemy in other respects inconsiderable The King startled at the Unsuccessfulness of his first Attempt upon the Petition of a considerable number of the well-affected Nobility requesting him that to avoid the Effusion of more Blood he would call an Assembly of the Nobility consented thereunto This Council accordingly met at York and advised the King to a Cessation of Arms and the Calling of a Parliament to compose Differences which to the great trouble of the Clergy and other Incendiaries he promised to do assuring the Scots of the Paiment of twenty thousand Pounds a Month to maintain their Army till the Pleasure of the Parliament should be known In order to which Writs were issued out for the Meeting of a Parliament on the 3 d of November 1640. The time prefix'd for their assembling being come they met accordingly and as they were very sensible that nothing but an absolute Necessity permitted their coming together so they resolved to improve this happy Opportunity to free the People from their Burdens and to punish the Authors of the late Disorders To this end they declared against Monopolies and expelled the Authors of them out of the House The Opinions of the Judges concerning Ship-Money they voted unjust and illegal fining and imprisoning those that had warranted the Lawfulness thereof And that the Offenders against the Publick might not escape they ordered the Sea-Ports to be diligently guarded and all Passengers to be strictly examined This being done they impeached the Lord Keeper Finch the Earl of Strafford and the Arch-bishop of Canterbury of High Treason in endeavouring to subvert the Laws and to erect an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power They declared that they would pay the English and Scots Armies to the end of May 1641. and assist the Prince Palatine with Men and Money to recover his Country And now having the Charge of two Armies to pay and all Men suspecting they might be abruptly dissolved as had often hapned before and therefore refusing to credit them with such Sums as were necessary unless an Act might pass to secure their sitting till they should think fit to dissolve themselves by Act of Parliament the King gave his Assent to one drawn up and passed to that purpose Another Act likewise passed to assert that according to the antient Fundamental Laws of England a Parliament ought to be held every Year and directing that in case one was not called in three Years the Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal should issue out Writs as is therein expressed and if he fail in his Duty he is declared guilty of High Treason and a certain number of Lords impowered to summon the said Parliament and is they should neglect so to do the Sheriffs and Constables are vested with the same Authority But if it should happen that all the forementioned Powers should be wanting in their Duty the People of England are thereby authorized to put the said Act in execution by meeting and electing Members to serve in Parliament tho not summoned by any Officers appointed to that end The Parliament then proceeded to correct the Abuses that had been introduced in the preceding Years Whereupon the Star-Chamber the High Commission Court the Court of Honour with some others were taken away by Act of Parliament and the Power of the Council-Table restrained The Commissioners of the Custom-House who had collected Customs contrary to Law were fined and such as had been imprisoned by any of the above-mentioned Arbitrary Courts were set at liberty A Protestation was also agreed upon by the Lords and Commons which they took and presented to others to take whereby all those that took it obliged themselves to defend and maintain the Power and Privileges of Parliament the Rights and Liberties of the People to use their utmost Endeavours to bring to condign Punishment all those who should by Force or otherwise do any thing to the contrary and to stand by and justify all such as should do any thing in prosecution of the said Protestation The Day prefix'd for the Earl of Strafford's Trial being come he was brought before the House of Peers where the Charge against him was managed by Members of the House of Commons appointed to that end The chief Heads of the Accusation were That he had governed the Kingdom of Ireland in an Arbitrary manner That he had retained the Revenues of the Crown without rendring a due Account of them That he had encouraged and promoted the Romish Religion That he had endeavoured to create Feuds and Quarrels between England and Scotland That he had laboured to render the Parliament suspected and odious to the King That he was the Author of that Advice That since the Parliament had denied to grant the King such Supplies as he demanded he was at liberty to raise them by such Means as he thought fit and that he had an Irish Army that would assist him to that end It being the Custom that a Lord High Steward should be made to preside at the Trial of a Peer that Honour was conferred upon the Earl of Arundel The King the Queen the House of Commons the Deputies of Scotland and Ireland with many other Persons of Quality of both Sexes were there present I remember the Earl of Strafford in his Defence objected against the Evidence of the Earl of Cork denying him to be a competent Witness because his Enemy To which George Lord Digby who was appointed one of the Managers of the Charge against him replied That if that Objection should be of any weight with the Court the Earl of Strafford had found out a certain way to secure himself from any sarther Prosecution Yet this Man who then spoke with so much Vigour soon after altered his Language and made a Speech to the House in his favour which he caused to be printed and also surreptitiously withdrew a Paper from the Committee containing the principal Evidence against the said Earl The Parliament resenting this Prevarication ordered his Speech to be burnt by the Hands of the Common Hangman The House of Commons having passed a Bill for the Condemnation of the Earl it was carried to the Lords for their Concurrence which they gave The King not satisfied therewith consulted with the Privy Council some Judges and four Bishops And all of them except one advise the throwing of Jonas over-board for the appeasing of the Storm Upon which the Earl of Arundel the Lord Privy Seal and two more were commissionated by
by the ordinary Forms of Justice That he hoped the Parliament would send them to him to justify themselves if they could if not he knew how to find them Which said he retired The Parliament sensible of this violation of their Privileges and fearing they might be further intrenched upon ordered a Committee of the House to sit in the City of London whither their five Members were gone before for Protection The King followed them thither with a slender or rather no Guard so far was he from fearing either Parliament or City designing to engage the Citizens to deliver up the five Members to him and to stand by him in this horrid Enterprize but they would not be perswaded to comply with his Desires in that matter This violent Attempt proving unsuccessful the Parliament to assert their just Rights voted it to be a Breach of their Privileges and that the like might be prevented for the future after the Committee had sat a few days in the City they returned to Westminster accompanied with Guards from the City both by Land and Water Which the King being informed of and finding that the Design which he had laid had highly provoked the Parliament and People he retired to Hampton-Court whither those that he had formerly entertained at Whitehall soon repaired and at Kingston upon Thames appeared in a military Posture with the Lord Digby and Colonel Lunsford at the head of them The two Houses having notice thereof desired the King to disperse the said Troops and to return to the Parliament The Lord Digby was also required to attend his Duty in the House but he being conscious of his own Guilt and knowing that the King's Affairs were not yet in a posture to bid open defiance to the Parliament chose rather to betake himself to flight as the Queen did soon after upon notice that the two Houses were about to accuse her of High Treason both of them designing not only to withdraw themselves from the Prosecution of the Parliament but also to make what Preparations they could for the raising of an Army against them In order to which the Queen carried with her the Jewels of the Crown and pawned them in Holland for Arms and Money The Parliament having discovered that the Lord Digby had by a Letter advised the King to retire to some Place of Strength and there to declare against them they caused him to be proclaimed a Traitor Notwithstanding which the King instead of returning to London at the earnest Desire of both Houses in prosecution of the Lord Digby's Counsel went farther from them During his Absence many Papers passed between him and the Parliament The chief Aim of those of the latter was to perswade the King to return to London and to settle the Militia in such hands as the Parliament should advise that so all Jealousies between him and his People might be removed Those from the King were to let them know that he could not part with the Militia esteeming it to be the best Jewel of his Crown nor return to London with Safety to his Person The Declarations on both sides proving ineffectual and the King's Designs both at home and abroad being grown ripe he expressed his Dissatisfactions more openly and withdrew to York where several Lords and others affected to his Interest resorted to him with Plate Money Men Horses and Arms Amongst whom were many Papists who tho to cover the King's Designs from the People they were forbidden to come into the Court were yet privately encouraged and daily listed and armed And as the distance of York from the Parliament was one reason why the King went thither so its Nearness to Hull was another This Town he endeavoured to possess himself of being a Place of Strength where great Quantities of Arms and Ammunition had been laid up upon disbanding the Army which was lately on foot in those Parts and very convenient for the landing of Men from Holland But the Parliament suspecting the Design had sent Sir John Hotham thither to keep and defend it for their use Notwithstanding which the King persisted in his Resolution and endeavoured by sending divers Persons of Quality into the Town to surprise it but that way not taking effect he appeared in Person before it demanding Entrance of Sir John Hotham which he absolutely refused to permit alledging that he was entrusted with the Place by the Parliament for the Service of his Majesty and the Nation and that he could not surrender it without their Order The King finding that he could not prevail either by Promises or Threatnings caused Sir John Hotham to be proclaimed a Traitor and returned to York from whence he complained to the Parliament of the Affront he had received at Hull who to manifest their Approbation of Sir John Hotham's Conduct declared that he had done his Duty in denying the King admittance into the Town asserting that the Command of the Militia was entrusted with the King to be employed for the Good of the Nation of which the two Houses of Parliament sitting are the proper Judges The Parliament began now to provide for the Security of all Places and sent a Committee of four of their Members to invite the King to return to Westminster and to endeavour to promote their Interest in the Northern Parts and being informed that there was laid up in the Town of Leicester a considerable Quantity of Arms and Ammunition provided for the County and that Mr. Hastings then Sheriff under pretence of bringing with him a Guard to attend the Judges at the Assizes resolved to secure the said Magazine for the King 's Use they made choice of Officers for three Companies of Foot impowering them to raise the said Companies for the defence of the said Magazine The Captains nominated to this Employment were one Major Grey Dr. Bastwick and one of my Brothers who having been for some time in the Service of the States of Holland was newly returned to England These three having received their Commissions from the Parliament went to Leicester in order to raise their Companies which they had not fully effected when the King with all his Cavalry consisting of about two thousand Horse arrived at Leicester against whom three Companies being no way sufficient to defend the Town they resolved only to secure that Place where the Magazine lay but that not being large enough to receive more than one Company the three Captains cast Lots whose part it should be to defend it which falling upon Major Grey the other two dispersed their Men and set forwards for London but had not rode many Miles when they were seized by a Party of Horse which the King commanded the Sheriff to send after them who brought them back to Leicester from whence they were removed to York where they were kept in the Common Goal and very cruelly treated These were the first Prisoners taken on either side The Magazine by Capitulation was dispersed into several parts of the
I was obliged to walk about all Night which proved very cold by reason of a sharp Frost Towards Morning our Army having received a Reinforcement of Colonel Hampden's and several other Regiments to the number of about four thousand Men who had not been able to join us sooner was drawn up and about Day-light we saw the Enemy upon the top of the Hill so that we had time to bury our Dead and theirs too if we thought fit That Day was spent in sending Trumpeters to enquire whether such as were missing on both sides were killed or Prisoners Those of ours taken by the Enemy were the Lord St. Johns who was mortally wounded and declared at his Death a full Satisfaction and Cheerfulness to lay down his Life in so good a Cause Colonel Walton a Member of Parliament and Captain Austin an eminent Merchant in London of whom the last died through the hard Usage he received in the Goal at Oxford to which he was committed It was observed that the greatest Slaughter on our side was of such as ran away and on the Enemy's side of those that stood of whom I saw about threescore lie within the compass of threescore Yards upon the Ground whereon that Brigade fought in which the King's Standard was We took Prisoners the Earl of Lindsey General of the King's Army who died of his Wounds Sir Edward Stradling and Colonel Lunsford who were sent to Warwick-Castle That Night the Country brought in some Provisions but when I got Meat I could scarce eat it my Jaws for want of use having almost lost their natural Faculty Our Army was now refreshed and Masters of the Field and having received such a considerable Addition of Strength as I mentioned before we hoped that we should have pursued the Enemy who were marching off as fast as they could leaving only some Troops to face us upon the top of the Hill but instead of that for what reason I know not we marched to Warwick of which the Enemy having notice sent out a Party of Horse under Prince Rupert who on Tuesday Night fell into the Town of Keinton where our sick and wounded Souldiers lay and after they had cruelly murdered many of them returned to their Army The King as if Master of the Field marched to Banbury and summoned it and tho about a thousand of our Men were in the Town yet pretending it not to be sufficiently provided for a Siege they surrendred it to him From thence the King went to Oxford and our Army after some Refreshment at Warwick returned to London not like Men that had obtained a Victory but as if they had been beaten The Parliament ordered them to be recruited and about the same time sent to the King who was advanced with part of his Army to Maidenhead or thereabouts to assure him of their earnest Desire to prevent the effusion of more Blood and to procure a right Understanding between his Majesty and Them The King in his Answer which was brought by Sir Peter Killegrew professed to desire nothing more and that he would leave no means unattempred for the effecting thereof Upon which Answer the Parliament thought themselves secure at least against any sudden Attempt But the very next day the King taking the advantage of a very thick Mist marched his Army within half a Mile of Brentford before he was discovered designing to surprize our Train of Artillery which was then at Hammersmith the Parliament and City which he had certainly done if two Regiments of Foot and a small Party of Horse that lay at Brentford had not with unspeakable Courage opposed his Passage and stopt the March of his Army most part of the Afternoon During which time the Army that lay quarter'd in and about London drew together which some of them and particularly the Life-Guard had opportunity the sooner to do being at that very time drawn into Chelsey-Fields to muster where they heard the Vollies of Shot that passed between the Enemy and our little Party the Dispute continued for some Hours till our Men were encompassed quite round with Horse and Foot and then being over-power'd with Numbers on every side many brave and gallant Men having lost their Lives upon the Place the rest chusing rather to commit themselves to the Mercy of the Water than to those who were engaged in so treacherous a Design leap'd into the River where many Officers and private Souldiers were drowned and some taken Prisoners However the Enemies Design was by this means defeated and they discouraged from any farther Attempt that Night The Parliament also were alarm'd in such a manner with the Danger and Treachery of this Enterprize that they used all possible Diligence to bring their Forces together so that by eight of the Clock the next Morning we had a Body of twenty thousand Horse and Foot drawn up upon Turnham-green a Mile on this side Brentford Those of ours also that lay at Kingston were marching to us by the way of London The Enemy drew out a Party of theirs towards the Hill at Acton which we attacked and forced to retire in Disorder to their main Body And here again in the opinion of many judicious Persons we lost as at Edge-hill before a favourable opportunity of engaging the Enemy with great Advantage our Numbers exceeding theirs and their Reputation being utterly lost in the last Attempt But the Earl of Holland and others pretending to encourage our Army by their Presence made use of their time to disswade the Earl of Essex from fighting till the rest of our Forces arrived magnifying the Power of the Enemy to him and thereby giving them an opportunity to draw off their Forces and Artillery towards Kingston which they did as sast as they could leaving only a body of Horse to face us between the two Brentfords the rest having secured themselves by a timely Retreat Upon this Party some of our great Guns guarded by a Regiment of Foot were towards the Evening ordered to be fired The like Guard was drawn up in the High-ways to secure our Foot from any Attempt of Horse that might be made upon them which some Great Men who pretended a Resolution to fight in that Troop blamed charging the Advisers thereof with Rashness in hazarding them in such a Pound where they must inevitably be cut off if the Enemy should advance upon them But I fear this great care was only counterfeit and that those Persons well knew the Enemy to be in a flying and not in a charging Condition as it quickly appeared for our Cannon no sooner began to play upon them but they retired to the main Body of their Army the Rear of which had by that time recovered Hounslow-heath The Enemy took up their Head-quarters at Kingston where by the advantage of the Bridg over the Thames they hoped to be able tho inferiour in Number to defend themselves against a more numerous Army if they should be attacked and to put in execution
it but that the Army was so bent upon it at present that they durst not shew themselves otherwise protesting that however things might happen to change and whatsoever others might do they would for ever continue faithful to the King They acquainted him also that Proposals were drawn up by Ireton wherein Episcopacy was not required to be abolished nor any of the King's Party wholly ruined nor the Militia to be taken away from the Crown advising that the King would with all Expedition agree to them there being no Assurance of the Army which they had observed already to have changed more than once To this end they brought him to Commissary General Ireton with whom he continued all Night debating upon the Proposals before-mentioned altering two of the Articles as he saith himself in the Manuscript in the most material Points but upon his endeavouring to alter a third touching the Exclusion of seven Persons not mentioned in the Papers from Pardon and the admission of the King's Party to sit in the next Parliament Ireton told him that there must be a Distinction made between the Conquerors and those that had been beaten and that he himself should be afraid of a Parliament where the King's Party had the major Vote In Conclusion conjuring Sir John Barkley as he tendred the King's Welfare to endeavour to procure his Consent to the Proposals that they might with more Confidence be offered to the Parliament and all Differences accommodated Cromwell appeared in all his Conferences with Sir John Barkley most zealous for a speedy Agreement with the King insomuch that he sometimes complained of his Son Ireton's Slowness in perfecting the Proposals and his Unwillingness to come up to his Majesty's Sense at other times he would wish that Sir John Barkley would act more frankly and not tie himself up by narrow Principles always affirming that he doubted the Army would not persist in their good Intentions towards the King During these Transactions the Army marched from about Reading to Bedford and the King with his usual Guard to Woburn a House belonging to the Earl of Bedford where the Proposals of the Army were brought to him to peruse before they were offered to him in publick He was much displeased with them in general saying That if they had any Intention to come to an Accommodation they would not impose such Conditions on him to which Sir John Barkley who brought them to him answered That he should rather suspect they designed to abuse him if they had demanded less there being no appearance that Men who had through so many Dangers and Difficulties acquired such Advantages would content themselves with less than was contained in the said Proposals and that a Crown so near lost was never recovered so easily as this would be if things were adjusted upon these Terms But the King being of another Opinion replied that they could not subsist without him and that therefore he did not doubt to find them shortly willing to condescend farther making his chief Objections against the three following Points 1. The Exclusion of seven Persons from Pardon 2. The incapacitating any of his Party from being elected Members of the next ensuing Parliament 3. That there was nothing mentioned concerning Church-Government To the first it was answered That when the King and the Army were agreed it would not be impossible to make them remit in that point but if that could not be obtained yet when the King was restored to his Power he might easily supply seven Persons living beyond the Seas in such a manner as to make their Banishment supportable To the second That the next Parliament would be necessitated to lay great Burdens upon the People and that it would be a Happiness to the King's Party to have no hand therein To the third That the Law was Security enough for the Church and that it was a great point gained to reduce Men who had fought against it to be wholly silent in the matter But the King breaking away from them said Well I shall see them glad e're long to accept of more equal Terms About this time Mr. Ashburnham arrived to the King 's great Contentment and his Instructions referring to Sir John Barkley's which they were to prosecute jointly Sir John gave him what light he could into the state of Affairs but he soon departed from the Methods proposed by Sir John Barkley and entirely complying with the King's Humour declared openly that having always used the best Company he could not converse with such sensless Fellows as the Agitators that if the Officers could be gained there was no doubt but they would be able to command their own Army and that he was resolved to apply himself wholly to them Upon this there grew a great Familiarity between him and Whalley who commanded the Guard that waited on the King and not long after a close Correspondence with Cromwell and Ireton Messages daily passing from the King to the Head-quarters With these Encouragements and others from the Presbyterian Party the Lord Lauderdale and divers of the City of London assuring the King that they would oppose the Army to the Death he seemed so much elevated that when the Proposals were sent to him and his Concurrence humbly desired he to the great Astonishment not only of Ireton and the Army but even of his own Party entertained them with very sharp and bitter Language saying That no Man should suffer for his sake and that he repented him of nothing so much as that he passed the Bill against the Earl of Strafford which tho it must be confessed to have been an unworthy Act in him all things considered yet was it no less imprudent in that manner and at that time to mention it and that he would have the Church established according to Law by the Proposals To which those of the Army replied that it was not their Work to do it and that they thought it sufficient for them to wave the point and they hoped for the King too he having already consented to the abolition of the Episcopal Government in Scotland The King said that he hoped God had forgiven him that Sin repeating frequently these or the like words You cannot be without me You will fall to Ruin if I do not sustain you This manner of Carriage from the King being observed with the utmost Amazement by many Officers of the Army who were present and at least in appearance were Promoters of the Agreement Sir John Barkley taking notice of it looked with much wonder upon the King and stepping to him said in his Ear Sir you speak as if you had some secret Strength and Power which I do not know of and since you have concealed it from me I wish you had done it from these Men also Whereupon the King began to recollect himself and to soften his former Discourse but it was too late for Col. Rainsborough who of all the Army seemed the least to desire an Agreement
having observed these Passages went out from the Conference and hastned to the Army informing them what Entertainment their Commissioners and Proposals had found with the King Sir John Barkley being desirous to allay this heat demanded of Ireton and the rest of the Officers what they would do if the King should consent By whom it was answered that they would offer them to the Parliament for their Approbation The King having thus bid defiance to the Army thought it necessary to bend all his Force against them and especially to strengthen their Enemies in the Parliament To this end a Petition was contrived to press them to a speedy Agreement with the King and presented in a most tumultuous manner by great numbers of Apprentices and Rabble back'd and encouraged by many dismissed and disaffected Officers who joined with them Whilst the Two Houses were in Debate what Answer to give to this insolent Multitude some of them getting to the Windows of the House of Lords threw Stones in upon them and threatned them with worse Usage unless they gave them an Answer to their liking Others knocked at the door of the House of Commons requiring to be admitted but some of us with our Swords forced them to retire for the present and the House resolved to rise without giving any Answer judging it below them to do any thing by compulsion Whereupon the Speaker went out of the House but being in the Lobby was forced back into the Chair by the Violence of the insolent Rabble whereof above a thousand attended without doors and about sorty or fifty were got into the House So that it was thought convenient to give way to their Rage and the Speaker demanding what Question they desired to be put they answered That the King should be desired to come to London forth with which Question being put they were asked again what further they would have they said That he should be invited to come with Honour Freedom and Sasety to both which I gave a loud Negative and some of the Members as loud an Affirmative rather out of a prudential Compliance than any Affection to the Design on foot By these Votes and the coming down of divers well-affected Citizens to appease them the Tumult was somewhat allayed and the Members of Parliament with their Speaker passed through the Multitude safely The next Morning I advised with Sir Arthur Haslerig and others what was fittest to be done in this Conjuncture and it was concluded that we could not sit in Parliament without apparent Hazard of our Lives till we had a Guard for our Defence it being manifestly the Design of the other Party either to drive us away or to destroy us Therefore we resolved to betake our selves to the Army for Protection Sir Arthur Haslerig undertaking to perswade the Speaker to go thither to which he consented with some Difficulty and having caused a thousand Pounds to be thrown into his Coach went down to the Army which lay then at Windsor Maidenhead Colebrook and the adjacent Places Having acquainted as many of our Friends as I could with our Resolution to repair to the Army I went down and the next day being the same to which the Parliament had adjourned themselves the Army rendezvouzed upon Hownslow-heath where those Members of Parliament as well Lords as Commons who could not with Safety stay at Westminster appeared in the Head of them at which the Army expressed great Joy declaring themselves resolved to live and die with them At night the Earl of Northumberland the Lord Say the Lord Wharton and other Lords the Speaker and Members of the House of Commons aforesaid with Sir Thomas Fairfax and many principal Officers of the Army met at Sion-house to consult what was most advisable to do in that Juncture which whilst they were doing an Account was brought of the Proceedings of those at Westminster that day by the Serjeant of the House who came with his Mace to the no little Satisfaction of the Speaker He acquainted them that the remaining Members being met in the House of Commons had for some time attended the coming of their Speaker but being informed that he was gone to the Army they had made choice of one Mr. Pelham a Lawyer and Member of the House to be their Speaker After which they had appointed a Committee of Lords and Commons to join with the Directors of the Militia of London in order to raise Forces for the Defence of the Parliament the Success of which Attempt they desired to see before they would declare against the Army To this end Massey Pointz Brown and Sir William Waller encouraged by the Common Council and others who by various Artifices had been corrupted used all possible Diligence to list Men and prepare a Force to oppose the Army but their Proceedings therein were much obstructed by divers honest Citizens who importunately solicited them to treat with the Army and also by the News of the General Rendezvouz upon Hounslow-heath Tho the Lords had been removed from the Command of the Army yet it was manifest that their Influence there still continued partly from a desire of some great Officers to oblige them and partly from the Ambition of others to be of their Number who to shew their earnest Desires to serve the King being morally assured the Parliament and City were likely to be shortly in the Power of the Army who might be induced to take other Counsels in relation to the King upon such Success especially considering his late Carriage towards them they sent an Express to Sir John Barkley and Mr. Ashburnham advising that since the King would not yield to their Proposals that he would send a kind Letter to the Army before it were known that London would submit Whereupon a Letter was prepared immediately but the King would not sign it till after three or four Debates which lost one whole day's time At last Mr. Ashburnham and Sir John Barkley going with it met with Messengers from the Officers to hasten it But before they could come to Sion-house the Commissioners from London were arrived and the Letter out of season For coming after it was known with what Difficulty it had been obtained and that Matters were like to be adjusted between the Parliament and Army it lost both its Grace and Efficacy Notwithstanding all which the Officers being resolved to do what they could proposed whilst the Army was in the very Act of giving Thanks for their Success that they should not be too much elevated therewith but keep still to their former Engagement to the King and once more solemnly vote the Proposals which was done accordingly The face of Affairs in the City was at this time very various according to the different Advices they received for upon the Report of the Advance of the Army and the taking of some of their Scouts they cried out Treat Treat And at another time being informed that Men listed in great numbers the word
was Live and die Live and die but when Southwark had let in part of the Army and joined with them they returned to the former Cry of Treat Treat to which the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common Council consenting were ready to admit the Army as Friends being not able to oppose them as Enemies and afterwards to attend those Members who had retired to the Army being in all about a hundred to the Parliament Having resumed our Places in the House as many of the eleven Members as had returned to act immediately withdrew and Pointz with other reduced Officers who had endeavoured to form a Body against the Army fled But we had other Difficulties to encounter for tho that Vote by which the Petition of the Army was declared seditious and those guilty of Treason who should prosecute the same after such a day was razed out of the Journal yet by reason that the bulk of the opposite Party was left still in the House the Militia of London could not be changed without much Difficulty and some other Votes of great Consequence could not be altered at all However the Parliament appointed a Committee to inquire into the late Force that was put upon them who having made their Report Sir John Maynard was impeached and Recorder Glyn with Mr. Clement Walker and others imprisoned A day or two after the Restitution of the Parliament the Army marched through the City without offering the least Violence promising to shew themselves faithful to the Publick Interest but their Actions furnished occasion to suspect them particularly their discountenancing the Adjutators who had endured the Heat of the day the free Access of all Cavaliers to the King at Hampton-Court and the publick Speeches made for the King by the great Officers of the Army in a Council of War held at Putney some of that Party taking the same liberty in the House of Commons where one of them publickly said That he thought God had hitherto blasted our Counsels because we had dealt so severely with the Cavaliers These things caused many in the Army who thought themselves abused and cheated to complain to the Council of Adjutators against the Intimacy of Sir John Barkley and Mr. Ashburnham with the chief Officers of the Army affirming that the doors of Cromwell and Ireton were open to them when they were shut to those of the Army Cromwell was much offended with these Discourses and acquainted the King's Party with them telling Mr. Ashburnham and Sir John Barkley that if he were an honest Man he had said enough of the Sincerity of his Intentions and if he were not that nothing was enough and therefore conjured them as they tendred the King's Service not to come so frequently to his Quarters but to send privately to him the Suspicion of him being grown so great that he was afraid to lie in them himself This had no effect upon Mr. Ashburnham who said that he must shew them the necessity of complying with the King from their own Disorders About three Weeks after the Army entred London the Scots prevailed with the Parliament to address themselves again to the King which was performed in the old Propositions of Newcastle some Particulars relating to the Scots only excepted The King advising with some about him concerning this Matter it was concluded to be unsafe for him to close with the Enemies of the Army whilst he was in it Whereupon the King refused the Articles and desired a Personal Treaty The Officers of the Army having seen his Answer before it was sent seemed much satisfied with it and promised to use their utmost Endeavours to procure a Personal Treaty Cromwell Ireton and many of their Party in the House pressing the King's Desires with great Earnestness wherein contrary to their Expectations they found a vigorous Opposition from such as had already conceived a Jealousy of their private Agreement with the King and were now confirmed in that Opinion and the Suspicions of them grew to be so strong that they were accounted Betrayers of the Cause and lost almost all their Friends in the Parliament The Army that lay then about Putney were no less dissatisfied with their Conduct of which they were daily informed by those that came to them from London so that the Adjutators began to change their Discourse and to complain openly in Council both of the King and the Malignants about him saying that since the King had rejected their Proposals they were not engaged any further to him and that they were now to consult their own Safety and the Publick Good that having the Power devolved upon them by the Decision of the Sword to which both Parties had appealed and being convinced that Monarchy was inconsistent with the Prosperity of the Nation they resolved to use their Endeavours to reduce the Government of England to the Form of a Commonwealth These Proceedings strook so great a Terror into Cromwell and Ireton that they thought it necessary to draw the Army to a general Rendezvouz pretending to engage them to adhere to their former Proposals to the King but indeed to bring the Army into subjection to them and their Party that so they might make their bargain by them designing if they could carry this point at the Rendezvouz to dismiss the Council of Adjutators to divide the Army and to send those to the most remote Places who were most opposite to them retaining near them such only as were fit for their purpose This Design being discovered by the Adjutators amongst whom Col. Rainsborough had the principal Interest they used all possible Industry to prevent the general Muster which was appointed to be at Ware supposing the Separation thereupon intended to be contrary to the Agreement made upon taking the King out of the hands of the Parliament and destructive to the Ends which they thought it their Duty to promote In the mean time Cromwell having acquainted the King with his Danger protesting to him that it was not in his Power to undertake for his Security in the Place where he was assuring him of his real Service and desiring the Lord to deal with him and his according to the Sincerity of his Heart towards the King prepared himself to act his part at the General Rendezvouz The King being doubtful what to do in this Conjuncture was advised by some to go privately to London and appear in the House of Lords to which it was answered That the Army being Masters of the City and Parliament would undoubtedly seize the King there and if there should be any Blood shed in his Defence he would be accused of beginning a new War Others counselled him to secure his Person by quitting the Kingdom Against which the King objected that the Rendezvouz being appointed for the next Week he was not willing to quit the Army till that was passed because if the superiour Officers prevailed they would be able to make good their Engagement if not they must apply themselves to him
the adjacent Places and another Party to block up Dover and other Forts upon the Coast whilst Goring remained with the rest about Rochester Sir Thomas Fairfax resolving first to attack those about Maidstone fell upon them and beat them into the Town which they had fortified before whereupon tho the Numbers within the Town being at least equal to those without made it a Work of great Hazard and Difficulty yet considering that those with the Lord Goring exceeded either and might march to the Enemies Relief ours resolved to storm the Place which they did the Night following the General by his own Example encouraging the Men to fall on who for a good while were not able to make any considerable Progress till Col. Hewson with his Regiment opened a Passage into one of the Streets where the Dispute growing hot he was knocked down with a Musquet but recovering himself he pressed the Enemy so hard that they were forced to retreat to their main Guard and falling in with them at the same time so disordered them that they all began to shift for themselves wherein they were favoured by the Advantage of the Night yet many of them were made Prisoners and many killed many Horses and all their Artillery fell into the hands of ours The General as soon as he had refreshed his Men advanced towards that Body commanded by the Lord Goring which was much increased in Number by the Addition of those who escaped from Maidstone but not in Resolution being so discouraged with their Relation of what had passed there that immediately upon our Approach they began to retreat many of them running away to their own Habitations Notwithstanding this a considerable Body continuing with the Lord Goring he sent to the City of London desiring leave to march through the City into Essex designing to recruit his Men with such of that County as had lately expressed so much Affection to the King's Interest The City tho much inclined to have the King received upon Terms yet not willing absolutely to espouse the Cavalier Party especially in a flying Posture and considering that there was a great Number still amongst them who retained their Affection to the Publick Cause returned a positive Denial to Goring so that he was necessitated to make use of Boats or other means to transport his Men over the River into the County of Essex A Party of Horse was sent from the Army to keep a Guard at Bow-bridg as well to prevent the disaflected in the City from running to the Enemy as to hinder them from doing any thing to the prejudice of London Lieutenant General Cromwell with that part of the Army which was with him besieged the Castle and Town of Pembroke whither the principal of that Body which fled from St. Faggons had made their Retreat In the mean time the Presbyterian Party prevailing in the House by reason of the Absence of divers Members who belonged to the Army and were employed in all parts of the Nation discharged from Prison those who had been committed upon the account of that Force which was put upon the House by the late Tumults and the Parliament left to the Mercy of their Enemies with a very slender Guard The Lord Lisle's Commission to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland expiring at the same time they refused to renew it by which means the Province of Munster fell into the hands of the Lord Inchequin as President who made use of the opportunity to displace those Officers that had been put in by the Lord Lisle preferring his own Creatures to their Employments to the great prejudice of the English Interest in that Country many others who were acquainted with his Temper and Principles quitted voluntarily and tho he still pretended Fidelity to the State of England yet he expressed himself dissatisfied with the Proceedings of the Army-Party towards him Some Overtures also he had received from the Irish touching an Accommodation but being straitned by them in his Quarters and therefore advancing with his Army towards them Col. Temple and some others yet remaining in his Army being willing to improve the occasion pressed him so hard to resolve to fight that he could not well avoid it At the beginning of the Battel the Success seemed to be very doubtful but in the end ours obtained the Victory some thousands of the Enemy being killed many made Prisoners and all their Baggage taken Not long after this he declared against the Parliament and joined with the Irish Rebels Some of the English Officers concurred with him in his Declaration many left him and came to the Parliament who made provision for them as they had done for those that came away before Tho this Conjunction of Inchequin was not concluded without the King's Consent yet it was not a proper season for him to condescend so far as they desired whereby great Divisions arose amongst them for there was a Party of Old Irish as they were called headed principally by Owen Roe O Neal of whom several were in the Supreme Council who out of an innate Hatred to the English Government joined with those who would be satisfied with nothing less than to have the Pope acknowledged to be their only Supreme Lord so that not being able to agree their Differences proved very serviceable to the English Interest The like Spirit of Division appeared amongst our Enemies in Scotland where tho the Number was great of those that professed their constant Adherence to their Engagements contained in the Covenant yet when it came to a Trial in their Convention the Anti-Covenanters who were for restoring the King without any Terms carried all before them So that instead of the Marquiss of Argile the Marquiss of Hamilton was appointed General of their Army all the inferiour Officers being of the same Mold and Principle insomuch that the Pulpits who before had proclaimed this War now accompanied the Army that was preparing to march with their Curses for tho they could have been contented that the Sectarian Party as they called it should be ruined provided they could find Strength enough to bring in the King themselves yet they feared their old Enemy more than their new one because the latter would only restrain them from lording it over them and others affording them equal Liberty with themselves whereas the former was so far from that as hardly to suffer them to be Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water for those who would have all Power both Civil and Ecclesiastical put into one Hand could not possibly agree with such as would have it divided into many These Affairs necessitated the Parliament to raise the Militia in order to oppose this malevolent Spirit which threatned them from the North and also prevailed with them to discountenance a Charge of High Treason framed by Major Huntington an Officer of the Army with the Advice of some Members of both Houses against Lieutenant General Cromivell for endeavouring by betraying the King Parliament and
from a Conjunction than to oppose them when united it being highly probable that the first things they would fall upon after their Union would be such as were most taking with the People in order to oblige them to assist in the disbanding of the Army under pretence of lesiening their Taxes and then if the Army should in any manner signify a Dislike of their Proceedings they would be esteemed by the Majority of the People to be Disturbers of the publick Peace and accused of designing nothing save their own particular Advantages The King's Party in Colchester expecting to be included in the Peace which was treating between him and the Parliament held out to the utmost but being in extreme want of Provisions and destitute of all hopes of Relief since the Defeat of the Scots they were sorced to surrender on the 28 th of August 1648. upon Articles whereby some of the principal of them being Prisoners at Discretion the Court Martial assembled and condemned Sir Charles Lucas Sir George Lisle and Sir Barnard Gascoin to die the last of whom being a Foreigner was pardoned and the other two were shot to death according to the Sentence The Lord Goring and the Lord Capel were sent Prisoners to London and committed to the Tower by an Order of the Parliament The Two Houses finding things in this posture hastened the Departure of their Commissioners to the Isle of Wight with Powers and Instructions to treat with the King who principally insisted on that Article concerning Bishops whom he accounted to be by Divine Right or rather essentially necessary to the Support of Arbitrary Power whereupon Ministers of each side were appointed to dispute touching that Subject in order to satisfy the King's Conscience But the Army having now wonderfully dispersed their Enemies on every part began to consider how to secure themselves and the Common Cause against those Counsels that were carried on in opposition to them under pretext of making Peace with the King and to that end drew up a Declaration at St. Albans dated the 16 th of November 1648. shewing that the Grounds of their first Engagement was to bring Delinquents to Justice that the King was guilty of the Blood shed in the first and second War and that therefore they could not trust him with the Government This Remonstrance they presented to the Parliament on the 20 th of November 1648. The King and Parliament seeing this Cloud beginning to gather endeavoured by all means possible to hasten their Treaty to a Conclusion The Army also were not wanting to fortify themselves against that Shock sending some of their own Number to those Members of Parliament whom they esteemed most faithful to the Common Cause to invite them down to the Army after they should in a publick manner have expressed their Dissatisfaction to the Proceedings of those who had betrayed the Trust reposed in them by the good People of England and declared that finding it impossible to be any farther serviceable in Parliament they had resolved to repair to the Army in order toprocure their Assistance in settling the Government of the Nation upon a just Foundation At a Meeting of some Members of Parliament with the said Officers from the Army it was resolved That tho the way proposed by them might be taken in case all other means failed yet seeing there was more than a sufficient Number of Members in the Parliament to make a House who were most affectionate to the Publick Cause it would be more proper for the Army to relieve them from those who rendred them'useless to the Publick Service thereby preserving the Name and Place of the Parliament than for the Members thereof to quit their Stations wherein they were appointed to serve and to leave the Civil Authority in the hands of those who would be ready to fall in with any Power that would attempt to frustrate what should be agreed on by them and the Army In prosecution of this Result the Army drew to Colebrook from whence Commissary General Ireton sent me word that now he hoped they should please me which I must acknowledg they did by the way which they were taking not from any particular Advantages that I expected from it except an equal share of Security with other Men but that the People of England might be preserved in their just Rights from the Oppressions of violent Men the Question in dispute between the King's Party and us being as I apprehended Whether the King should govern as a God by his Will and the Nation be governed by Force like Beasts or whether the People should be governed by Laws made by themselves and live under a Government derived from their own Consent Being fully perswaded that an Accommodation with the King was unsafe to the People of England and unjust and wicked in the nature of it The former besides that it was obvious to all Men the King himself had proved by the Duplicity of his dealing with the Parliament which manifestly appeared in his own Papers taken at the Battel of Naseby and elsewhere Of the latter I was convinced by the express Words of God's Law That Blood desileth the Land and the Land cannot be cleansed of the Blood that is shed therein but by the Blood of him that shed it Numbers Chap. 35. v. 33. And therefore I could not consent to the Counsels of those who were contented to leave the Guilt of so much Blood upon the Nation and thereby to draw down the just Vengeance of God upon us all when it was most evident that the War had been occasioned by the Invasion of our Rights and open Breach of our Laws and Constitution on the King's part The Commissioners that were appointed to manage the Treaty with the King returned with the King's Answer containing neither a positive Grant nor an absolute Denial As to the Bishops he still retained his Principle of their Divine Right and therefore declared that he could not dispense with the Abolition of them but for present Satisfaction hoping by giving ground to gain a better opportunity to serve them he consented that those who had bought their Lands should have a Lease of them for some Years and for satisfaction for the Blood that had been shed he was willing that six should be excepted but withal Care was taken that they should be such as were far enough from the reach of Justice By another Article the Militia was to remain in the Parliament for ten Years thereby implying if I mistake not that the Right of granting it was in the King and consequently that we had done him wrong in contending with him for it By such ways and means did some Men endeavour to abuse the Nation Some of our Commissioners who had been with the King pleaded in the House for a Concurrence with him as if they had been imployed by him tho others with more Ingenuity acknowledged that they would not advise an Agreement upon those Terms were it not
to prevent a greater Evil that was like to ensue upon the Refusal of them But Sir Henry Vane so truly stated the matter of Fact relating to the Treaty and so evidently discovered the Design and Deceit of the King's Answer that he made it clear to us that by it the Justice of our Cause was not asserted nor our Rights secured for the future concluding that if they should accept of these Terms without the Concurrence of the Army it would prove but a Feather in their Caps Notwithstanding which the corrupt Party in the House having bargain'd for their own and the Nation 's Liberty resolved to break through all Hazards and Inconveniences to make good their Contract and after twenty four hours Debate resolved by the Plurality of Votes That the King's Concessions were Ground for a future Settlement At which some of us expressing our Dissatisfaction desired that our Protestation might be entred but that being denied as against the Orders of the House I contented my self to declare publickly that being convinced that they had deserted the Common Cause and Interest of the Nation I could no longer join with them the rest of those who dissented also expressing themselves much to the same purpose The day following some of the principal Officers of the Army came to London with expectation that things would be brought to this issue and consulting with some Members of Parliament and others it was concluded after a full and free Debate that the Measures taken by the Parliament were contrary to the Trust reposed in them and tending to contract the Guilt of the Blood that had been shed upon themselves and the Nation that it was therefore the Duty of the Army to endeavour to put a stop to such Proceedings having engaged in the War not simply as Mercenaries but out of Judgment and Conscience being convinced that the Cause in which they were engaged was just and that the Good of the People was involved in it Being come to this Resolution three of the Members of the House and three of the Officers of the Army withdrew into a private Room to consider of the best means to attain the ends of our said Resolution where we agreed that the Army should be drawn up the next Morning and Guards placed in Westminster-Hall the Court of Requests and the Lobby that none might be permitted to pass into the House but such as had continued faithful to the Publick Interest To this end we went over the Names of all the Members one by one giving the truest Characters we could of their Inclinations wherein I presume we were not mistaken in many for the Parliament was fallen into such Factions and Divisions that any one who usually attended and observed the business of the House could after a Debate upon any Question easily number the Votes that would be on each side before the Question was put Commissary General Ireton went to Sir Thomas Fairfax and acquainted him with the necessity of this extraordinary way of proceeding having taken care to have the Army drawn up the next Morning by seven of the Clock Col. Pride commanded the Guard that attended at the Parliament-doors having a List of those Members who were to be excluded preventing them from entring into the House and securing some of the most suspected under a Guard provided for that end in which he was assisted by the Lord Grey of Grooby and others who knew the Members To justify these Proceedings the Army sent a Message to the House representing That whereas divers Members had been expelled the House upon account of the Violence done to the Parliament by the City of London and others in 1647. yet upon the Absence of many well-affected Members by reason of their Employments in the Army and elsewhere against the Enemy the said Persons were re-admitted without any Trial or Satisfaction in the things whereof they were accused whereby the Scots had been drawn to invade this Kingdom and the House prevented by the Intruders and their Accomplices from declaring against the Invaders who had made up the Number of ninety odd Votes to that purpose And whereas by the prevalency of the same corrupt Counsels Justice had been obstructed and a Settlement of Affairs hindred and lastly the King's Concessions declared to be a Ground for the Settlement of Peace notwithstanding the Insufficiency and Defects of them they therefore most humbly desired that all those Members who are innocent in these things would by a publick Declaration acquit themselves from any Guilt thereof or Concurrence therein and that those who shall not so acquit themselves may be excluded or suspended the House till they have given clear Satisfaction therein that those who have faithfully performed their Trust may proceed without interruption to the execution of Justice and to make speedy provision for an equal Succession of Representatives wherein Differences may be composed and all Men comfortably acquiesce as they for their parts thereby engaged and assured them they would The House wherein there was about six score was moved to send for those Members who were thus excluded by the Army which they did as I presume rather upon the account of Decency than from any desire they had that their Message should be obeyed and that it might clearly appear that this Interruption proceeded from the Army and not from any Advice of the Parliament to the end that what they should act separately might be esteemed to be only in order to prevent such Inconveniences as might otherwise fall upon the Nation if the whole Power should be left in the hands of an Army and that their Actions appearing to be founded upon this Necessity they might the better secure the Respect and Obedience of the People Upon such Considerations when the Serjeant returned and acquainted them that the excluded Members were detained by the Army the House proceeded in the business before them Lieutenant General Cromwell the Night after the Interruption of the House arrived from Scotland and lay at Whitehall where and at other Places he declared that he had not been acquainted with this Design yet since it was done he was glad of it and would endeavour to maintain it Major General Harrison being sent by the Army with a Party of Horse to bring the King from the Isle of Wight Col. Hammond who was entrusted with the Custody of him by the Parliament disputed to deliver him but finding that those about him inclined to comply he thought it not convenient to make any farther Opposition So that the King was conducted from the Island to Hurst-Castle and from thence to Windsor by Major General Harrison Being on his way he dined at Mr. Leviston's in Bagshot-Park who had provided a Horse for him to make his Escape but this Design also was discovered and prevented The King being at Windsor it was debated what should be done with him The Army were for bringing him to a Trial for levying War against the Parliament and People of
Clothes or Food he used what Hour he went to rest or what Horse he mounted In the mean time our Army in Scotland lying near the Enemies Camp at Torwood who were plentifully furnished with Provisions from the County of Fife it was resolved that a Party of ours commanded by Colonel Overton should be sent in Boats from Leith and Edinburgh into that County to contrive some way to prevent the Enemies Supplies from thence This Party was followed by four Regiments of Horse and Foot commanded by Major General Lambert Of which the Enemy having notice sent Sir John Brown who was esteemed to be a Person of Courage and Conduct with part of their Army to oppose them It was not long before the two Parties came to an Engagement wherein the Enemy was totally routed Sir John Brown who commanded them with about two thousand of his Men killed many made Prisoners and all their Baggage taken The Scots being deprived of their usual Supplies from Fife and not expecting any from foreign Parts by reason of the number of our Ships cruizing on their Coast resolved to march into England having received Encouragement so to do from their old and new Friends there They passed the River Tweed near Carlisle there being a strong Garison in Berwick for the Parliament and were considerably advanced on their March before our Army in Scotland were acquainted with their Design Major General Harrison with about four thousand Horse and Foot somewhat obstructed their March tho he was not considerable enough to fight them and being joined by Major General Lambert with a Party of Horse from the Army they observed the Enemy so closely as to keep them from Excursions and to prevent others from joining with them The Scots who were in great expectation of Assistance from Wales and relied much upon Col. Massey's Interest in Glocestershire advanced that way Few of the Country came in to them but on the other side so affectionate were the People to the Common-wealth that they brought in Horse and Foot from all Parts to assist the Parliament Insomuch that their Number was by many thought sufficient to have beaten the Enemy without the Assistance of the Army some even of the excluded Members appearing in Arms and leading Regiments against the Common Enemy At the same time upon notice that the Earl of Derby was at the Head of fifteen hundred Horse and Foot in Lancashire Col. Liburn was sent that way with about eight hundred Men who meeting with the Earl's Forces near Wigan after a sharp Dispute for about an hour totally routed them The Number of the Slain was considerable on the Enemies side The Lord Widdrington with other Persons of Quality were killed All their Baggage was taken and three or four hundred made Prisoners with the Loss only of one Officer and about ten private Souldiers of Col. Lilburn's The Earl of Derby himself was wounded and escaped to Worcester but bringing not above thirty tired Horse with him the Townsmen began to repent their Revolt from the Parliament The Scots having possessed themselves of the City of Worcester and fortified it as well as they could in so short a time resolved to attack our Army which was now advanced to that Place and posted on each side of the Severn ready to receive them with General Cromwell at their Head Their first Attack was made upon Lieutenant General Fleetwood's Quarters that were on the other side of the River who with some Forces of the Army and a Reinforcement of the Militia made a vigorous Resistance The General fearing he might be overpower'd dispatch'd some Troops to his Assistance by a Bridg laid over the River commanding Major General Lambert to send another Detachment to the same purpose but he desired to be excused alledging that if the Enemy should alter their Course and fall upon those on this side they might probably cut off all that remained which was not unlikely for soon after most of the Enemies Strength fell upon that part of the Army where the General and Major General Lambert were The Battel was sought with various Success for a considerable time but at length the Scots Army was broken and quitting their Ground retreated in great Disorder to the Town where they endeavoured to defend themselves Major General Harrison Col. Croxton and the Forces of Cheshire entred the Place at their heels and being followed by the rest of the Army soon finished the Dispute and totally defeated the Enemy Three English Earls seven Scots Lords and above six hundred Officers besides ten thousand private Souldiers were made Prisoners The King's Standard and a hundred fifty eight Colours with all their Artillery Ammunition and Baggage was also taken On our side Quarter-master General Mosely and Capt. Jones with about a hundred private Souldiers were killed and Capt. Howard with one Captain more and about three hundred Souldiers wounded This Victory was obtained by the Parliament's Forces on the 3 d of September being the same Day of the same Month that the Scots had been defeated at Dunbar the preceding Year Col. Massey escaped into Leicestershire but being dangerously wounded found himself not able to continue his way and fearing to be knock'd on the head by the Country delivered himself to the Countess of Stamford Mother to the Lord Grey of Grooby who caused his Wounds to be carefully dressed and sent notice of his Surrender to the Army Whereupon a Party was dispatched with Orders to conduct him from thence to London as soon as he should be fit to travel which was done and he committed Prisoner to the Tower The Scots King with the Lord Wilmot were concealed by three Country-men till they could furnish him with a Horse with which he crossed the Country to one Mr. Gunter's near Shoreham in Sussex carrying one Mrs. Lane behind him from whence in a small Bark he escaped to France The General after this Action which he called the Crowning Victory took upon him a more stately Behaviour and chose new Friends neither must it be omitted that instead of acknowledging the Services of those who came from all Parts to assist against the Common Enemy tho he knew they had deserved as much Honour as himself and the standing Army he srowned upon them and the very next day after the Fight dismissed and sent them home well knowing that a useful and experienced Militia was more likely to obstruct than to second him in his ambitious Designs Being on his way to London many Members of the Parliament attended by the City and great numbers of Persons of all Orders and Conditions went some Miles out of the Town to meet him which tended not a little to heighten the Spirit of this haughty Gentleman Lieutenant General Monk whom the General had raised to that Employment and ordered to command in Scotland during his Absence took Sterling-Castle and then marched with about four thousand Horse and Foot before Dundee But being advised that General Lesley the Earl of
Army to advance himself it being manifest that the preferring this Accusation at that time was principally designed to take him off from his Command and thereby to weaken the Army that their Enemies might be the better enabled to prevail against them The Design of the King's Escape was still carried on but by the Vigilance of the Governour of the Isle of Wight and his Officers it was discovered and prevented The next Morning after the Discovery they found the Iron Bars of the King's Chamber-window eaten through by something applied to them Whereupon those who were to have been instrumental in his Escape not knowing otherwise how to revenge themselves on those who had defeated their Enterprize accused Major Rolfe a Captain in that Garison very active and vigilant in his Charge of a Design to kill the King raising such a Clamour about it that the Parliament thought not sit to decline the putting him upon his Trial but the Accusation appearing to the Grand Jury to be grounded upon Malice they refused to find the Bill About the same time Capt. Burleigh who had beat a Drum at Newport for the rescuing of the King was brought to his Trial and the Jury having found him guilty of High Treason he was executed according to the Sentence Those of the Enemies commanded by the Lord Goring who had fled into Essex grew to a considerable Number but being new-raised Men and not well acquainted one with another upon the Advance of our Army retreated to Colchester with a Body so much exceeding ours which pursued and besieged them in that Place that Commissary General Ireton compared the Town and those therein to a great Bee-hive and our Army to a small Swarm of Bees sticking on one side of it but the number of ours was soon increased by the Forces which the well-affected in the Counties of Essex Suffolk Norfolk and Cambridg sent to their Assistance The Earl of Holland who at the beginning of the Parliament had appeared active for them and afterwards leaving them had gone to the King at Oxford when he supposed him to grow strong then again returning to the Parliament upon the declining of the King's Affairs publishing a Declaration at his coming to London that he left the King because he saw the Irish Rebels so eminently favoured by him in this low Condition of the Parliament revolted again and formed a Party of about a thousand Horse with which he marched from London and declared against them accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham whose Sequestration upon the account of his Minority when he first engaged with the King the Parliament had freely remitted and the Lord Francis his Brother prevailing also with Dalbeir formerly Quarter-Master-General to the Earl of Essex to join with them Their Rendezvouz was appointed to be upon Bansted-Downs but the Vigilance of the Parliament was such that a Party of Horse and Foot was soon sent after them commanded by Sir Michael Lewesey who without much Dispute put those Courtly Gentlemen to the rout The Lord Francis presuming perhaps that his Beauty would have charmed the Souldiers as it had done Mrs. Kirke for whom he made a splendid Entertainment the Night before he left the Town and made her a Present of Plate to the Value of a thousand Pounds stayed behind his Company where unseasonably daring the Troopers and refusing to take Quarter he was killed and after his Death there was found upon him some of the Hair of Mrs. Kirk sew'd in a piece of Ribbon that hung next his Skin The rest fled towards St. Neots in the County of Huntington where being fallen upon again they were routed a second time in which Action the Parliament's Souldiers to express their Detestation of Dalbeir's Treachery hewed him in pieces The Earl of Holland was taken and sent Prisoner to Warwick-Castle but the Duke of Buckingham escaped and went over to France Pomfret-Castle being seized by some of the King's Party was besieged by the Country assisted by some of the Army Sir Hugh Cholmely commanding at the Siege but the Army finding little Progress made therein ordered Col. Rainsborough with more Forces thither appointing him to command in the room of Sir Hugh Cholmely Whilst he was preparing for that Service being at Doncaster ten or twelve Miles from Pomfret with a considerable Force in the Town a Party of Horse dismounting at his Quarters and going up as Friends to his Chamber under pretence of having business with him seized him first and upon his Refusal to go silently with them murdered him After his Death another Commander being appointed in his place to carry on the Siege those in the Castle were reduced to such Extremities that some of the most desperate of them resolved together with their Governour one Morris who had been Page to the Earl of Strassord to endeavour the breaking through our Forces on Horseback which they attempted and tho most of them were beaten back to the Castle by the Besiegers yet this Morris made his way through but was afterwards taken as he passed through the Country in the Disguise of a Beggar and carried to York where he was arraigned before Justice Thorpe and being found guilty of Treason was executed for the same Lieutenant General Cromwell with that part of the Army which was with him besieged the Town and Castle of Pembroke whither the chief of that Party that fled from St. Faggons had made their Retreat as I said before but wanting great Guns he was obliged to send for some to Glocester which with much difficulty were brought to him This Place detained the greatest part of our Army about six Weeks but it was remarkable that about the time the Scots were entring into England the Garison for want of Provisions was forced to capitulate and surrender upon Articles by which some of them were to remain Prisoners and others to be banished into Ireland for three Years amongst the latter were Col. Thomas Stradling Sir Henry Stradling Col. Button and Major Butler of the first were Col. Laughern Col. Poyer and Col. Powell Twenty Thousand Scots being upon their March into England under the Conduct of Duke Hamilton with about five Thousand English commanded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale some of us who had opposed the Lieutenant General 's Arbitrary Proceedings when we were convinced he acted to promote a selfish and unwarrantable Design now thinking our selves obliged to strengthen his Hands in that necessary Work which he was appointed to undertake writ a Letter to him to encourage him from the Consideration of the Justice of the Cause wherein he was engaged and the Wickedness of those with whom he was to encounter to proceed with Chearfulness assuring him that not withstanding all our Discouragements we would readily give him all the Assistance we could The House of Commons declared the Scots who had invaded England to be Enemies and ordered the Lieutenant General to advance towards them and fight them But the Lords in this doubtful Posture
of Affairs declined to concur with them in the same Yet both of them with the City of London joined in driving on a Personal Treaty with the King in the Isle of Wight and to that end the Lords and Commons revoked the Votes for Non-Addresses whereby the King seemed to be on sure ground for that if the Scots Army failed he might still make Terms with the Parliament The King's Party in Colchester were also much encouraged with hopes of Relief from the Scots Army who were very numerous and well furnished with all things but a good Cause To fight this formidable Army the Lieutenant General could not make up much above seven thousand Horse and Foot and those so extremely harassed with hard Service and long Marches that they seemed rather fit for a Hospital than a Battel With this handful of Men he advanced towards the Enemy and about Preston in Lancashire both Armies met on the 17 th of August 1648. The English who were in the Scots Army had the Honour of the Van and for a time entertained ours with some Opposition but being vigorously pressed by our Men they were forced to retreat to a Pass which they maintained against us whilst they sent to their General for Succours which he not sending on purpose as was said that the English might be cut off and his Party kept intire to enable him to set up for himself and give Law to both Nations they began to shift for themselves which made such an Impression upon the Scots that they soon followed their Example retreating in a disorderly manner Ours followed them so close that most of their Foot threw down their Arms and yielded themselves Prisoners Many of the principal Officers of their Foot were taken with all their Artillery Ammunition and Baggage Hamilton with four or five thousand Horse in a Body left the Field and was pursued by Col. Thorney a Member of Parliament and Colonel of a Regiment of Horse a worthy and a valiant Man who following them too close and unadvisedly run himself upon one of their Lances wherewith he was mortally wounded which he perceiving by the wasting of his Spirits to express his Affection to his Country and Joy for the Defeat of the Enemy desired his Men to open to the right and left that he might have the Satisfaction to see them run before he died The Enemies Body of Horse kept themselves together for some days roving up and down the Country about Leicestershire which County the Lord Grey of Grooby had raised and brought together about three thousand Horse and Foot to preserve the Country from Plunder and to take all possible Advantages against the Enemy and tho a Body of Horse from the Army was in pursuit of the Scots yet the Leicestershire Party came up first to them at Uttoxeter in Staffordshire where the Body of the Enemies Horse was and whilst the Scots were treating with the other Party from the Army the Lord Grey's Men observing no Guards kept entred upon them before any Conditions were made whereupon Hamilton surrendred himself to Col. Wayte an Officer of the Leicestershire-Party delivering to him his Scarf his George and his Sword which last he desired him to keep carefully because it had belonged to his Ancestors By the two Parties the Scots were all made Prisoners and all their Horses seized the Duke of Hamilton was carried Prisoner to Windsor-Castle and all their Standards of Horse and Foot were taken and sent up to London where the Parliament ordered them to be hung up in Westminster-Hall The House of Lords who had avoided to declare the Scots Enemies whilst their Army was entire now after their Defeat prevented the House of Commons and moved that a Day might be appointed to give God Thanks for this Success The News of this Victory being carried to the Isle of Wight the King said to the Governour that it was the worst News that ever came to England to which he answered That he thought the King had no cause to be of that Opinion since if Hamilton had beaten the English he would certainly have possessed himself of the Thrones of England and Scotland The King presently replied You are mistaken I could have commanded him back with the motion of my Hand Which whether he could do or no was doubtful but whatever Reasons he had for this Opinion it seemed very unseasonable to own it openly in that Conjuncture Lieutenant General Cromwell marched with part of his Army to Edinburgh where he dispossessed the Hamiltonian Party of their Authority and put the Power into the hands of the Presbyterians by whom he was received with great Demonstrations of Joy and tho lately they looked upon the Independent Party as the worst of their Enemies yet now they owned and embraced them as their best Friends and Deliverers and having notice given them that the English Army was about to return into England they prevailed with the Lieutenant General to leave Major General Lambert with a Body of Horse till they could raise more Forces to provide for their own Safety The Treaty with the King being pressed with more heat than ever and a Design visibly appearing to render all our Victories useless thereby by the Advice of some Friends I went down to the Army which lay at that time before Colchester where attending upon the General Sir Thomas Fairfax to acquaint him with the state of Affairs at London I told him that a Design was driving on to betray the Cause in which so much of the Peoples Blood had been shed that the King being under a Restraint would not account himself obliged by any thing he should promise under such Circumstances assuring him that most of those who pushed on the Treaty with the greatest Vehemency intended not that he should be bound to the performance of it but designed principally to use his Authority and Favour in order to destroy the Army who as they had assumed the Power ought to make the best use of it and to prevent the Ruin of Themselves and the Nation He acknowledged what I said to be true and declared himself resolved to use the Power he had to maintain the Cause of the Publick upon a clear and evident Call looking upon himself to be obliged to pursue the Work which he was about Perceiving by such a general Answer that he was irresolute I went to Commissary General Ireton who had a great Influence upon him and having found him we discoursed together upon the same Subject wherein we both agreed that it was necessary for the Army to interpose in this matter but differed about the time he being of opinion that it was best to permit the King and the Parliament to make an Agreement and to wait till they had made a full Discovery of their Intentions whereby the People becoming sensible of their own Danger would willingly join to oppose them My Opinion was that it would be much easier for the Army to keep them