Necessities he would not only consent to remedy all their just Grievances but remit his Right to Ship-money for ever though adjudged to him by all the Justices of the Kingdom Nor did he thus obtain his desires the Parliament opposing them not only declaring that Tribute to be illegal but were also dissolved if they had not been prevented by their Dissolution upon the point of voting against the War they so much abominated There were many good Men who were much troubled at this unexpected Dismission of the Parliament fancying that the Heats and Differences betwixt the King and his People might have been dispelled by the Continuance of the Assembly which seemed now on the other side highly exaggerated The enraged Commonalty exclaimed mightily against the Authors of this Counsel Some attributed it to Marquiss Hamilton the ambitious Son of a Mother wholly devoted to the Covenanters Others to the Earl of Strafford But the greatest Crowd would have it to be the Archbishop of Canterbury and to be revenged on him about five Hundred of the Apprentices and Rabble furiously assault his Palace at Lambeth though without Success But the true Authors were the subtle Contrivers of the following Rebellion For Sir Henry Vane one of the principal of them then his Majesty's Principal Secretary being ordered by his Master to move for a Supply of Twelve Subsidies with Power to descend to Eight he when the House by an Offer of Five nay Six were mentioned to advance towards a Complyance peremptorily told them that less than Twelve would not do whereby he not only irritated the Seditious but the more modest part of the Assembly which seemed to be his Design by the Effect The factious were not displeased with the King's Necessities The King's Necessities which they themselves did from time to time contribute to since there were no Subsidies to be obtained but upon Conditions ruinous to Monarchy it self or by exposing his best Friends and Ministers to their Rage and Slaughter And thus they constrained the King though unwilling to unusual ways of supplying his wants that they might thereby expose him to the Contempt and Odium of an irritated People But the King raised Moneys by other means his Council the faithful Nobility and Gentry His Friends contribute to his Supply the Judges but more eminently the Clergy who contributed a fifth of their Revenues whence it was called the Bishops War largely supplying him The Earl of Strafford subscribed 20000 pounds which the Duke of Lenox also did as likewise others proportionably except Hamilton who pretended Poverty though the Author of his Memorials against the current of the English Writers delivers that he also subscribed 20000 pounds Being thus furnished the King raises another Army and marches against the Scots but slowly not supposing them so forward who had already passed the River Tweed near Berwick The Earl of Northumberland was General and Strafford Lieutenant-General of the King's Army but they being both absent the Lord Conway General of the Horse commanded lying with 3000 Foot and 1200 Horse to keep the Passage of the Tine at Newburne Lesley the Rebels General desired permission to pass with his Army with a Petition to the King but being denied he attempted the Passage with Three Hundred Horse which were repulsed Hereupon he plies his great Guns with such Success that the English Lesley forces his Passage at Newburne being for the most part Raw and Unexperienced throwing down their Arms ran away Commissary-General Wilmot made stout Resistance with the Horse till over-power'd by Numbers he was forced likewise to retreat The Scots possessed themselves of New-Castle the same Day being abandoned by Sir Jacob Ashly who sunk his Great Ordnance in the River for haste whilst the whole Army retreated in much disorder towards York Two Days after they took Durham with the same Facility and putting the Northern Counties under Contribution forced them to supply their Needy Troops with Provisions and Moneys in abundance The King Summons the Peers to York Makes a Truce with the Scots The King streightned with these Pressures summoned the Peers to meet him at York by whose Counsel or rather Faction a Treaty was commenced and a Cessation of Arms concluded upon very dishonourable Conditions The Four Northern Counties being allowed the Rebels for their Winter Quarters and 850 Pounds per diem during the Truce for their Maintenance Nor could it be otherwise hoped for since Eleven of those Sixteen Lords which the King had appointed to treat with the Scots were either Principal Leaders or Assertors of the Rebellion in the following War It will not be from the purpose to mention what further happened in this Convention The Scots seemed to wonder that they appearing in Arms upon the Invitation of the English Lords none of them unmindful of the Favour had made any mention of it affirming they had not come without the invitation of their Letters The English Lords surprized with this Reproach assured them That they had made them no Invitation at all The Scots being highly moved with this denial produced an Instrument subscribed with most of their Hands which strangely surprised them until upon a strict scrutiny they found it to be an Invention of the Lord Savil's who had really sent them the said Invitation counterfeiting the subsigned Hands which being now discovered by his own Confession it was thought fit seeing the Cheat had succeeded so well not to publish it Strafford alone did dare to advise against this sordid Compliance with the Enemy urging That the Scots were to be forced back with Steel not Gold He further advised the King to grant them no Conditions unworthy himself or the English Nation Let him but give him leave and he would upon peril of his Head oblige them to return to their Country and Duty to their Prince again This vigorous Advice did so far irritate the Scots that they prosecuted the Author of it to Death On the other side Hamilton suspected to favour his Countrymen perswaded a Peace to which the rest of the Peers did also assent upon a supposition that a Parliament and an Agreement were the securest Remedies against the impending Evil. The Cessation being thus concluded the main of it was referred to the Arbitration of a Parliament Nov. 3. 1640. The Rebel-Parliament meets which the King had already summoned to meet at Westminster And this is that fatal Convention which by the Predominancy of the Puritans in it consummated their Impiety and Disobedience by ruining the most Apostolick Church under Heaven and Murthering the best Prince that ever swayed the English Scepter The King might have expected better treating from this Meeting seeing he did not call it to use his own Words more by others Advice and the Necessity of His Affairs than by his own Choice and Inclination who always thought the right way of Parliaments most safe for his Crown as best pleasing to His Subjects and People In the
the City with his Troops whilst he himself followed with the main Army in order to a formal Siege This obliged the King to think of a Retreat He had attempted all ways of Peace and invited those barbarous Tyrants at Westminster to it though neglected by near Twenty Messages They refused a Pass for the Duke of Lenox with Propositions though the King had in vain conjured their Assent they being then as they said themselves upon others to be sent to his Majesty They also flatly refuse the Scots Commissioners who pressed for a Treaty pretending to great interruption in their Affairs by the delays and difficulties the joint Councils of both Kingdoms produced And therefore vote That the King's Answer shall be desired to their Propositions without Treaty And being indeed weary of the Scots they also voted That they do intend to carry on the War of Ireland with the Forces of England and that the Scots Forces should be called away The Parliament design to gratifie their Grandees In their Debate about the Propositions to be sent the King they think it time to gratifie their Grandees and in order to it Vote That Sir Thomas Fairfax be made a Baron with Five Thousand Pound per Annum settled upon him and that his Father be made an Earl Cromwel a Baron and two Thousand five Hundred Pound per Annum Northumberland Essex Warwick Pembroke Dukes Salisbury Manchester Marquesses Roberts Say Willouby of Taram Wharton Howard Earls Sir William Waller a Baron Hazelrigg Stapelton Barons each Two Thousand Pound per An. Vane a Baron Brown fifteen hundred Pounds per An. and Skippon a Thousand Pound Thus they were dividing the spoil whilst the good King offered provided they would suffer his Friends to live securely at home whatever the most nefarious of Criminals could desire to wit An Act of Oblivion for what is past the Fruition of all they had acquired Accession to Offices and Dignities And because they might have no colour or pretence for Jealousies and Suspicions he would immediately disband all his Forces and would not only return to his Parliament but also ratifie whatever they should judge necessary for restoring his afflicted Kingdoms to their former Tranquillity But all this was absolutely refused by these modest Men who at length laying the Veil of Hypocrisie aside did not blush to declare to the whole World That there was nothing less in their thoughts than what they had so often solemnly declared promised protested vowed and sworn to perform which was To rescue the King out of the hands of Evil Counsellors and to bring him back to his Parliament Nay now they take care by Proclamation that he shall not come and command their Militia-Officers in case he attempted it to secure his Person and detain all his followers Prisoners The King perceiving himself in such unusuall streights this potent Monarch of three Kingdoms and sometimes Supream Arbitrator of Peace and War knows not now where to lay his Head Heu faciles dare summa Deos eademque tueri Difficiles He therefore reassumes his Thoughts of a Retreat Being rejected by the Parliament The King leaves Oxford and goes to the Scots Army he had a design to throw himself into the Arms of the Army but being refused by these also he puts himself into disguise And accompanied only with two Attendants Ashburnham of his Bed-Chamber and Hudson a Divine he left Oxford and conveyed himself to the Scots Army then at the Siege of Newark Monsieur Montrueil the French Resident then in the Scotch Camp had stipulated for security and equitable conditions for his Majesty who upon that confidence and the assurance he had entertained of his Countrymen's Loyalty as he wrote to the Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland he cast himself into their Protection May 1646. Some thought he was gone into Wales still true however oppressed to his Interests Others that he was withdrawn into Scotland to the renowned Montross and not a few were of opinion that he was conceal'd in the City Which the Parliament so far believed that they declared by beat of Drum and sound of Trumpet That what Person soever shall harbour or conceal or know of the harbouring or concealing of the King's Person and shall not reveal it immediately to the Speakers of both Houses shall be proceeded against as a Traytor to the Commonwealth forfeit his Estate and die without Mercy A while after contrary to the opinion of all Men he was rumoured to be in the Scottish Camp which was also signified to the Grandees at Westminster by the Commander in chief of the Scots Army The pretended Parliament as soon as they were informed of the King's Departure and were assured of his being in the Scotch Army desire and require of the Scotch Commissioners at London and of the Scots General in the Camp That they would deliver his Majesty into their Hands to be secured in Windsor-Castle until the Parliament should otherwise dispose of him Moreover they barbarously Vote That the King by going to the Scots Army He goes with the Army to Newcastle did prolong the War against the Parliament and foment the Discord betwixt the Two Nations But the Scots not ignorant of the value of their purchase gave no Ear to their Dear Brethren but breaking up with their Army a Rumour being spread that Cromwell was advancing towards them with all his Horse marched in haste to Newcastle with the King affirming That as his Majesty came to their Camp of his own Accord so he followed it with the same Liberty the Army neither perswading nor opposing him And this was a place garrisoned with their own Soldiery and near the Confines of their own Country The Royallists being as is related shut up in their Fortresses and languishing with the despair of Relief some of them taking occasion from their adverse Fortune surrender'd upon demand Whilst others defended themselves till they were forced as Col. Stanhop at Shelford or famished out as the Heroick Countess of Darby at Lathome-House which she had kept two Years against all the Insults of the Rebels But the Fate of Hereford was more dismal which having baffled and beat the Scots from her Walls was not able to prevent the surprizal of a less considerable Enemy The Colonels Morgan and Birch with Two Thousand Men drawn out of Gloucester and other neighbouring Garrisons by the favour of an obscure Night and a quick March accomplished the Enterprize For having sent Six choice Souldiers with a Lieutenant who pretended to be a Constable all in Country-Habits Hereford miserably surprized early to the Gate the said fictitious Constable calling to the Guard told them That he was come thither with his Men according to the Governour 's Command to break the Ice in the Moat expecting only till the Bridge was let down Being admitted with their Rural Instruments which they carried for show they immediately making use of the Arms they had under their
premeditated Parricide removed the King the designed Sacrifice to their hellish Ambition hurried from one Prison to another was brought to Windsor where the usual Ceremonies of the Knee and other Marks of Honour were laid aside Col. Harrison a Butcher's Son had the Impudence to sit with his Majesty in the Coach with his Hat on leading this most innocent and pious Prince like a Lamb to the Slaughter There were yet some amongst these Barbarians Who could not judge the King obnoxious to Law and seeing they had vanquished him by Arms they did not at all esteem him considerable or to be feared But the furious Novellists pronounce with much bitterness That they will have him forthwith removed Nor durst they who had other Sentiments mutter against them for fear of being expelled Yet these States had a mind to delegate this worst of Employments as being unheard of and beyond all Precedents to be perpetrated by these worst of Men the Souldiery This being perceived the Chief Officers however unnaturally desperate yet decline it thinking it might suffice if they remitted the performance of so villainous an Act to those who sate by their Favour and Permission The Commons therefore of the Lower House being scarce the eight Part of the whole whereof many also were Commanders in the Army so that nâ—thing remained of a Parliament but the Name arrogating the Supream Power to themselves that they might seem to avoid the Infamy of Perjury absolved themselves by an Ordinance from the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy The Commons assume the Supreme Power which they had so often taken to the King thinking perhaps to evade what they had done separately by this conjunct Abjuration This done they Vote That it is Treason by the Fundamental Laws of the Realm in the King of England to levy War against the Parliament And send up the same to the Peers by the Lord Gray of Grooby who rejected it with Indignation as inconsistent with Reason and the Laws of the Land This enraged the Commons who slighting the Assent and Power of the Lords unanimously decree That 1. The People under God are the Original of all just Power 2. That the Commons of England in Parliament Assembled have the Supream Power of the Nation 3. That whatever is enacted or declared for Law by the House of Commons in Parliament hath the force of Law Constitute a High Court of Justice This Foundation being laid they constitute a High Court of Justice without any consideration of the Lords or those Thousands who desired to preserve the King from the Destruction he was threatned with and the Nation from the Guilt of his most Innocent Blood The Scots by their Commissioners protested highly against this pretended Tryal The Dutch deprecated it as of most pernicious consequence to the Reformed Religion Some of the Chief Nobility as the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hartford and the Earls of Southampton and Linsey endeavoured his Conservation by Prayers and Proffers Offering themselves as being the Chief Ministers of his Will as Hostages for him and by a generous Example of magnanimity in case the Kings pretended Crimes could not be expiated without Blood presented their own to be shed in lieu of his Prince Charles piously endeavoured by all manner of ways to deliver his Father from the impending danger For besides the Dutch Embasladors which his Highness had procured to be sent over to mediate for him he and the Prince of Orange enquired after and sent for such Officers or others in that Country who were of Kindred or related to Cromwell Ireton or any other of the Conspirators and sent them into England with full Power to offer present promise and yield to every thing mingling Thrâ—ats with their Entreaties that might divert them from their designed Parricide or at least retard it The Queen was no less active on her side to save her Royal Consort Endeavors to preserve the King who also writ to Lenthall the Speaker in terms capable to mollify every thing except these Hyrconian Monsters which Letters were also delivered by the French Embassador but laid by without being opened Nor could there any thing in those days be expected from France labouring then with the same Frenzy of Rebellion Amongst others the Presbyterian Preachers who had betrayed the King into these Streights pierced with the Infamy of their Treasons and perhaps apprehending their own turns in case the Independants should persist very earnestly besought and conjured them by monitory Letters Petitions and Remonstrances as also admonished and exhorted them out of their Pulpits to desist from their designed enterpize Lest they should defile the English Nation with so horrid a Guilt as that of Regicide For that execrable fact could not be perpetrated without violating the Obligation of so many Oaths as they had taken without breaking the Publick Faith exhibited by so many Protestations and Declarations without transgressing the Law of Nature and Nations and finally without prostituting the Dictates of the Scripture and our Religion But all this was to no purpose as also the Princes sending of them White Paper to write their own Conditions For nothing seemed enough to them who had swallowed all the Hopes of Empire and were ready to ascend into the Throne They therefore name One Hundred and Fifty of the most Petulant of the Faction and the most adverse to Monarchy to judge the King Some of the Nobility whom they had pitcht upon as also the Judges however raised to that Dignity by them for daring to declare That it was not lawful to bring the King of England to Tryal were expunged out of that black Catalogue others being introduced in their places A suborned Prophetess produced to encourage their Villainy But to encourage the doubtings of the less Perswaded and entitle their Actions to Providence these divine Jugglers produced an Impostor a Virgin they called her out of Hertfordshire who told the Officers of the Army That she had a Message from Heaven to them and being admitted affirmed That God did approve of their Designs Which did exceedingly encourage the most wavering The Contemptibleness of the Judges did in some sort aggravate their Crimes many Petty-foggers Brewers Carr-men Goldsmiths Coblers and other Mechanicks being of the Number who thirsting after the King's Revenues as well as his Blood were forward to perpetrate any mischief how tremendous soever At this Tribunal the King was impleaded baited and condemned unheard unconvict as Guilty of those Crimes of Treason Tyranny and Murther which those incarnate Divels his Judges had committed I had purposed to omit the Particulars of this Black Tragedy as being exactly described already by better Pens But lest these Commentaries might prove imperfect it was thought requisite to present the Curious if this empty Narrative can render any such with an Abridgment of the same Quamquam animus meminisse horret luctuque refugit The pretended Court of High Justice having spent some days in settling
returned to Cologn he found his Brother the Duke of Gloucester there lately arrived from France The King had been informed now he had been thrust out of England by the Regicides which they had done to save the Expence of his Maintenance and to Ship-wrack his Religion Besides it was supposed that Cromwell had designed his Removal for that some in his Council had moved his Assumption to the Crown as no ways obnoxious or prejudiced by reason of his Youth as is already mentioned 'T is scarce imaginable with what Constancy he defended his Religion however very young In so much that armed with Instructions from the Lord Hatton and Doctor Cousens he eluded the Assaults of Abbot Montague and the Marquess of Plessis the one employed by the Queen-Regent of France and the other by the Queen of England Neither the charming Pleasures of the French Court nor the Purple Dignities of the Church of Rome nor yet the extream Severities of the Queen his Mother who did not only refuse him his ordinary Sustenance but denied him the Solace of her Benediction were of strength to shake his Faith Which they yet would endeavour to force by shutting him up in the Jesuits Colledge if the King his Brother displeased with these Novelties had not sent the Marquess of Ormond to his Rescue and to bring him to Cologn to him which he did though not without Difficulty But nothing was impossible for this Great Man After this the King went to Franckfort famous for its Marts And in his Progress saluted the Queen Christina of Sweden at Koningsteyn Where after a Reception worthy Two such great Princes and some private Discourses the Duke of Gloucester and his Royal Sister did the same The Marquess of Ormond Earl of Norwich Lord Newburgh and others of His Majesty's Train being also admitted paid that great Princess the Respects due to her Highness The Queen continued her Journey to Insprug where after a splendid Reception from the Arch-Duke she made Public Profession of the Roman Religion The King leaving Franckfort with the universal Acclamations of the People and thundring of their Cannon went to Ments whither he had been invited by that Elector where his Reception was truly Royal. And after three Days Treat parting with the same Magnificence returned to Cologn Nor did his Majesty spend the Time idly whilst the Regicides triumphed in England He had already sent Embassies to all the Princes of Europe to desire their Assistance against his Rebels But with little success though the Cause were Common The French flourishing in Promises made a League with the Regicides The Spaniards though they seemed to grieve at the Murther of the King were yet the first that acknowledged and owned this rising Common-wealth The Grand Seignior corrupted with English Gold delivered Sir Henry Hyde the King's Embassadour at that Court against the Law of Nations into the Hands of the Parricides who Murthered him by cutting off his Head before the Exchange Swedeland was then in an unsetled Condition Portugal unable being attacked both by the Spaniard and Dutch in the Indies Poland was worried with her own Domestick Distractions Denmark was exhausted with the Treasure formerly lent to Charles I. Others indeed restified their good-wills by their Contributions as the Great Duke of Muscovy the Count of Oldenburg the Electors of Mentz and Brandenburg and some other Princes of Germany by the Earl of Rochester's negoriating at Ratisbone But what could this import to make a new and great War Whereas it scarce sufficed to defray the Charges of the Embassies The King then seeing no Hopes of his Restauration from abroad wisely sought a Remedy where the Wound was received from the Benevolence and Loyalty of his Subjects which the Eminence of his Vertues could not in Justice refuse him Neither was he any way wanting to himself but most intent upon all Occasions leaving nothing unattempted whereby he might raise his sinking Affairs He kept constant Correspondence with his Friends in England Caus'd great Disturbances to the Rebels on every side and exposing himself to the Danger did more than once incite the People to arm against the Usurpers He now kept his Court at Bruges in Flanders nearer hand having been invited by the Spaniards repenting their too early Compliments to the Regicides and supplied with 9000 l. per annum which Money was punctually repaid upon His Majesty's Restitution The Duke in the mean Time having recalled all the Kings Subjects in the French Service joyning them with those in the Spanish Low-Countries composed a considerable Body which he commanded with no less Honour than he had done in France although they were well nigh destroyed by the fatal Valour of the English Rebels at Mardike and the Battle of Dunkirk The Duke more illustrious by Misfortunes did not only for some time resist but retard the Progress of the Victors until oppressed by multitudes as is already said he was necessitated to comply with the Fate of the vanquished Cromwell dying soon after however a way seemed thereby to be opened to the Kings Restauration his Majesty received the News of it with remarkable Constancy and Calmness of Mind in no ways insulting though he saw his most Mortal Enemy extinguished in the Person of this Vsurper Cardinal Mazarin however averse to King Charles did at the same time congratulate the Queen his Mother upon the Hopes of her Sons Restauration since he was by the Death of that Tyrant delivered from his most implacable and successful Enemy The sudden Change in England followed by the Deposing of Richard and the Resurrection of the Rump and the other Innovations already mentioned which followed as they augmented the Hopes of the King at Home so they varied the Counsels of Princes abroad Which his Majesty applyed in as much as was possible to his own Use by Negotiations and Embassies But there being now a Treaty in Agitation betwixt France and Spain he would himself be present at it For if a Peace were concluded which was more than probable betwixt these great Princes it was but reasonable to suppose that they might spare some of their numerous Forces to assist an injured King their Ally by Blood and Common Interest And yet the King would rather reduce his Rebel-Subjects to Obedience by the Appearance of his Power than by the Use of his Forces In the mean time accompanied with the Duke of York his Brother and the Marquess of Ormond he hasted Incognito through France having saluted the Queen his Mother at Paris in his way to St. John De Luz where the Great Ministers of the Two Crowns were then in Treaty Don Louis de Haro upon Notice of the Kings Approach went to met and receive him Which he did alighting from his Horse and Embracing and kissing his Knees with as much Honour and Splendour as if he had been his Master the King of Spain The next Day his Majesty was visited by Cardinal Mazarin the other great Plenipotentiary who was
could have had no Aid from abroad France and Spain being engaged in a War and the Pope though he might wish well remote and not over liberal so that they must necessarily have been ruined by the Forces of England and Scotland The Conspiracy being brought to Maturity many of the Gentlemen first The Conspiracy is discovered and afterwards most of the Nobility as also the entire Multitude of the Romish Religion joined in it and with unheard-of Secrecy assaulted suppressed and took most of the Towns and Fortresses of the Kingdom and sparing none these barbarous Traytors massacred without Respect of Sex or Age them of the English Nation and Religion filling all Places where they came with Ruine Rapines Burnings and infinite Slaughters Dublin the chief Seat of the Government and Kingdom was not surprized being saved by the seasonable Infidelity of one O Conall an Irish-man who being convinced by the horridness of the Fact or greatness of the Reward he hoped for from its Discovery lays open the whole Conspiracy acquainting the Chief-Justices with the Design the Night before it was to have been put in Execution London-derry Colrane Tredagh with some other Towns and Fortresses standing upon their Defence escaped the Danger which with the Arrival of some few Forces from England occasioned a very long and very bloody War The Lords Justices having secured the Castle of Dublin where the King's Magazines were Dublin secured and the City as well as they could with armed Men they the next Morning apprehended Hugh Mac-Mahon Grand-child to the late rebellious Earl of Tyrone who by his unwary Confidence or rather divine Providence had occasioned the Discovery by entrusting O Conalli with the Secret Being brought before the Council he boldly avowed the Conspiracy affirming That as it was universal and to be put in execution that instant Morning so it was not humanely possible to be prevented Some of the Conspirators taken He acknowledged himself their Prisoner and being in their Power they might use him as they pleased he was sure to be suddenly revenged The Lord Macquier another of the principal Conspirators was also taken but few more of Quality the rest of the Undertakers as Roger More Plunket Birne and others having escaped The Citizens with such as could be confided in were immediately armed and Proclamation made and sent into all Quarters of the Discovery of this flagitious Rebellion and their Disappointment of their Attempt upon Dublin as also to exhort all good Subjects to betake themselves to their Defence Upon this Proclamation the Lords of the English Pale being of British Extraction and who in all former Rebellions had been true to the Crown pretending Ignorance of any Plot before this publick Notice repaired to the Council with Assurances of their Fidelity and offer of their Service And they were not only entrusted it being dangerous to suspect them in this Juncture but had also Arms delivered to them upon their Desires and Commissions to levy Men for their own Defence and that of their Provinces The standing Forces in Ireland consisting of scarce 1000 Horse and 2000 Foot were dispersed in the several Fortresses of the Kingdom but so remote that it was not possible the ways being intercepted by the Rebels to draw them to a Body besides many of them being Catholicks revolted and others were surprised or intercepted so that few of them could be brought to Dublin The City was in the mean time fortified with all imaginable Industry being also daily filled with Numbers of such who fled from the cruel and inhumane Barbarities of the Rebels Of these and the neighbouring English two Regiments were formed whereof Sir Henry Tichburne had one together with the Government of Tredagh and Sir Charles Coot the other with the Command of Dublin These two Places being the principal Fortresses of the Party The Justices and Council dispatched an Express to the King who was then in Scotland and to the Parliament at Westminster of the Discovery and Progress of the Conspiracy His Majesty highly perplexed as most concerned with this monstrous Rebellion offers all his Assistance for the suppressing of it acquaints the Parliament of Scotland with it and demands their Aid in it conjures the two Houses at Westminster and empowers them to use the utmost of Force and Counsel to prevent the Progress of the Rebellion and deliver his Protestant Subjects from the Calamities that threatned them Nay sometime after he offered to go in Person and raise 10000 Voluntiers for that Service if the Parliament would but pay them all which they refuse under pretence of not exposing his Sacred Person to so eminent Danger but in truth preferring their own Fears to the Solace of so many desolate Sufferers and lest when he had conquered those Rebels he might be sensible of the Injuries done him and being armed become formidable to the Parliament it self The Houses indeed voted a powerful Relief of Men Money and Provisions but they were but slow in Performance retarding the Supplies they had so eagerly ordered with their undutiful Disputes and Quarrels with the Court till the whole was well nigh lost Bleeding Ireland was the Subject of their Discourse not their Care being too much taken up with the Management of their own Designs at Home so that they went no farther besides exclaiming at the Obstacles they themselves created and that by a Calumny black as the Rebellion it self they cast the Odium of those Delays upon the unsulliedst Innocence in the World the King than whom no Prince could be more sensibly affected with the greatness of the Calamity nor desired the Wellfare of his Subjects with more Affection The King returns out of Scotland The King having appeased Scotland returned to London where he was received with the general Acclamations of the People and all the Pomp imaginable being met by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and royally feasted together with the Queen and Prince at Whitehall But the Parliament being much disturbed with this solemn Entertainment had prepared another reception for his Majesty They had used all their Arts to hinder his going into Scotland lest peradventure he should tamper with his Army by the way of which they had already created to themselves several Jealousies it being as yet but in disbanding or that he should gain too much upon the Scots-Parliament by his Concessions and Favours But what they more openly acted was to press the King to substitute a Lieutenant in his absence who might personate him not obscurely designing the Earl of Essex for this honour by which grant they might have divested him of every thing but his Title before his return which he perceiving wisely refused them so ruinous a Concession And yet he commissioned him General on the South-side of Trent with Power to raise Forces in case of Necessity But the Faction impatient of every Repulse in revenge framed a Remonstrance in his absence wherein whatever was defective in the Government was as
General and Lieutenant General they had their Quarters surprized and beaten up about Mid-night by Reynolds where Four Hundred of them were made Prisoners and Nine Hundred of their Horses taken The Democraticks or Levellers being thus defeated our brave Hero's march to Oxford where both of them Fairfax and Cromwell were made Doctors of Law who had themselves trampled upon all Laws both Divine and Human. After this having visited Portsmouth they return to London in Triumph where after a Thanks-giving for their late Successes they were together with their Servile Senate invited treated and regal'd by the more Servile City who again not to seem ungrateful or rather to intangle them in their Interest bestowed New-Park with all the Deer in it upon the Citizens The Regicides being now secure at home at least in Appearance began to look after Foreign Correspondence and Amities Amongst which the Friendship of the Vnited Netherlands seemed preferable by reason of their Neighbourhood of their Resemblance in Government and the Genius of the Nation Dorislawes and Ascham in their Embassies Doctor Dorislawes a Civilian as also a German by Birth was sent thither with Instructions not only to propose a strict Friendship but also a Coalition of both People But he was prevented in it being assassinated in his Lodging by one Whitford a Scot who with Ten or Twelve more having perpetrated the Fact withdrew without any Pursuit though they were afterwards colourably summon'd in by the States The reason of this Remissness was his presuming to appear as it were in the King's presence having contributed so eminently to the Ruine of his Father And thus God permitted one Injustice to be retaliated with another Nor had Ascham another of their Envoy's at Madrid better Fate being kill'd in his Inn upon his Arrival by one Sparks an English-man who though he took Sanctuary was pulled thence by the Spaniard apprehending the rising Greatness of the new Common-wealth for the Regicides had declared though they much esteemed the Amity of so great a King yet they ought and did require the punishment of so Nefarious a Parricide as they called it adding that unless Justice were immediately satisfied they did not see how the Friendship betwixt both Nations could be sincere and durable The King acknowledged at the Hague The King had continued hitherto at the Hague acknowledged and reverenced by all and though the States that they might not altogether seem to displease their Sister Common-wealth of whom they began to be jealous had dispensed with the Ceremony of Public Congratulation yet the Swede and Danish Embassadors had saluted His Majesty with the usual Testimonies of Condolence and Congratulation He was also King in Possession Scotland having proclaimed him and Ireland being upon the point of being reduced so that his Affairs calling him away he left the Hague and being attended by the Princess Royal his Sister and the Prince of Orange his Brother-in-law to whose generous Friendship he owed all Things through Rotterdam Dort and Breda Treated magnificently by the Arch-Duke being received at these Places with the noise of their Cannon and Bells and all other marks of Honour he came to Antwerpe the principal City of the Spanish Netherlands where he was magnificently entertained and presented with a rich Chariot and Eight brave Horses sent him by Arch-Duke Leopold Governour of the Low-Countries His Majesty was also Royally treated by him at Brussels from whence after some Stay being conveyed on his way to France by the Duke of Lorrain Goes into France and feasted and honoured every where with the same Grandeur as if the King of Spain had been there he came to Compeigne where the French King accompanied with a great Train of his Nobility received him with all the Testimonies of Affection and Honour and brought him thence in State to his Mother the Queen of Great Brittain then at St. Germians Whilst the King was in France the Duke of Gloucester his Brother and the Lady Elizabeth his Sister both Princes of divine Endowments and Hopes were removed from the Earl of Northumberland's Guardianship to Carisbrook Castle infamous for having been the Prison of their Martyred Father to the custody of that impure Villain Anthony Mildmay The Lady Elizabeth dyeth and the D. of Gloucester is banished where the Princess afflicted with the daily Sight of that odious Mansion and consumed with Grief and the Maladies it occasioned breathed her last being denied by those barbarous Parricides the Assistance of such Physicians as she had desired Her Brother the Duke was presently after banished out of England by the Regicides the only agreeable Thing they did in rescuing him out of their Bloody Hands by their own Act. The Kingdom being thus subdued and the Army reduced to Obedience the Mock-Parliament or Rump for Continuation of the History of Ireland it grew famous by that Title of Infamy thought Ireland now worthy their consideration They therefore Vote Eleven Regiments to be sent thither under the conduct of Cromwell with the Title of Lord Governour whereof he was very fond which he could not forbear testifying for all his Dissimulation The Fame of these Preparations immediately flew over which obliged the Irish Rebels however dissenting amongst themselves to think of uniting for their Public Safety and although the Nuntio opposed this Confederation with all his Power excommunicating the Authors of it whilst they declared him and his Party Traytors resolving to force him by Arms which they did The Popes Nuntio expelled driving him into Galloway for his security where they prest him so hard that notwithstanding the Thunder of his Excommunication he was necessitated for his personal safety to abandon his Principality and the Kingdom The Irish-Grandees thus at Liberty invite and obtain the Marquess of Ormond as is mentioned in our former Commentaries with an Assurance of an entire Obedience to his Majesty's Lieutenant He being arrived the Confederates grew formidable by the Accession of the Lord Inchequin President of Munster and the Scots in the Province of Vlster Both these had served the Parliament with much Vigor until the King and Monarchy had been destroyed in England but abhorring the sordid Tyranny of the Regicides they deserted that Party they had so unjustly followed and return to their Duty and Allegiance to their Sovereign Owen-Roe-Oneal refused to be included in the Confederacy upon pretence that sufficient Provisions had not been made for the Security of their Religion but in reality because the Confederate Delegates had foolishly denied the no extravagant Conditions which his Quality seemed to require and he had demanded The Difference was about the Command of Four Thousand Men which they were willing to grant and Six Thousand which he insisted upon which they afterwards tho too late after his conjunction with Monk and Coot and his relieving of London-derry were glad to assent to During these Traverses the Marquess of Ormond entered upon the Government The
erected a High Court of Justice to terrify the Royallists by which Colonel Gerrard and Mr. Vowell were inhumanly butchered And truly there was no Appearance of stirring at Home all being quiet and the Patties quite wearied out besides the dread of so powerful an Army hovering over them Abroad he had been courted by an Embassy out of France and Whitlock in Sweden concludes a Treaty with that Crown But what he most earnestly seemed to desire was the Friendship of the Dutch as necessary for his Establishment But before we determine that Difference it will be proper to give some Accompt of the War betwixt the Two Nations which had been so ruinous to both especially the Hollanders having according to my usual Method not thought fit to disjoyn the Relations of things of Importance tho distant in Time The People of England had about Two Years past commenc'd a War against the Vnited Provinces which was by so much the more fierce as being betwixt Two Rival Common-wealths both equally jealous of each others Greatness besides that both did endeavour to render themselves Masters of the Traffick of the Ocean The Causes divulged in Manifesto's and Declarations on both sides were various the English insisting chiefly upon Dorislaus his Murther and the unrevenged Contumelies thrown upon their Embassadors St. John and Strickland at the Hague The first Blow was a Civil Edict prohibiting all Men of what Nation soever to bring any Commodities or Merchandize into England but such as was of the Growth of the Country from whence they brought them This as it was very advantagious to the English so it was ruinous to the Dutch whom it also chiefly aimed at as abounding in Shipping and producing nothing of their own Growth but Butter and Cheese who however potent at Sea the Scots being now vanquished sent Four Embassadors into England to endeavour to mitigate the Rigor of this Act and conclude the Treaty which had been begun at the Hague but to little purpose For the English being heightened with so many Victories propose new Conditions to the Dutch arrogating to themselves reasonably enough the Herring-Fishing and the Honour of the Flag They also revive the Slaughtering of their Country-men at Amboyna and pretend a free Passage for Navigation thro the Scheld to Antwerp The Embassadors disdaining the Pride and Haughtiness of the English bragged also with no less Arrogance of their Hundred and Fifty Men of War which they had in Readiness Whilst they were thus cavilling they were both surprized with the Rumor of an Engagement betwixt Blake and Tromp their Two Admirals The manner thus Tromp with a Fleet of Forty Ships of War met Blake with only Fifteen to whom Bourn came with Eight more out of the Downs tho not till after they were engaged The English to vindicate the Honour of the Flag warned the adverse Admiral by a Shot to strike which was repeated Thrice But Tromp confident in his Numbers and Strength answered him at first with Contempt by discharging a Gun on the contrary side and then putting out the Bloody Flag gave him his whole Tyre of Ordnance Blake replyed in kind which engaged both Fleets both fighting with great Valour until the Night parted them The Dutch lost Two of their Ships one being taken as also the Captains of both whilst the other abandoned by the English was left to the Mercy of the Waves The English were much endamaged in their Rigging and Sails their Loss in Men being but inconsiderable not above Forty slain and wounded The Embassadors being informed of the Success of this Fight and finding they had got nothing by it seemed to deprecate the Offence as an accidental Encounter and in no wise committed with the Knowledge or by any Command of the States General But their Excuses were not received so that they broke out into an open War on both sides which was carried on with equal Violence and Emulation Blake sailing Northward fell in with the Dutch Herring-Fleet which he dispersed in a Moment taking all their Convoy which consisted of Twelve Men of War Tromp came shortly after into that Sea with Design to meet their East India Merchant Ships which having sent Home he resolved to adventure another Battle with Blake But being diverted by a violent Storm he could not recover his own Coasts without Difficulty Several Encounters happened bewixt these potent Parties upon other Occasions with various Successes Sir George Ayscue defeated a Fleet of Merchants in the Channel taking and sinking several of them And some time after meeting another Crew of them convoyed by Sixty Men of War fought them The Combat lasted from Four in the Afternoon till the Night separated them with equal Valour and Loss The Dutch continued their Way undisturbed the English retreating to Plimouth to repair the Dammage received in the Fight which seemed to imply the Advantage of the Enemy In the mean Time several Trading-Ships as well of the French as Dutch were daily made Prize of And Blake took the whole French Fleet designed for the Relief of Dunkirk whereof he brought Seven to Dover which obliged the Dunkirkers to surrender their Town into the Hands of the Arch-Duke who besieged them The States for the better Government of their Fleets had appointed some of their Members to embark with them as well to advise with their Councils as to supervise the Actions of their Chiefs And now De Wit is at Sea with Sixty Ships of Force but he did not think fit to wait Blake's sailing towards him out of the Downs who notwithstanding did dare to disturb his Rear with his nimblest Sailors But Tromp having got together a great Fleet consisting of Fourscore brave appointed Ships resolved to attempt Blake in the very Downs who however not exceeding half the other in Numbers stay'd for him The Fight was great and the Victory bravely contested for until the Night parted them But the English being overpowered having lost Two Ships retreated with the rest to Dover and thence into the River of Thames Nor was the Victory bloodless on the Enemies side having many of their Ships torn and disabled Tromp fierce with his Advantage wandered now at pleasure uncontrouled and vainly bearing a Beesom at his Main Top bragg'd he would sweep the Sea of the English The Parliament having prepared a very great Fleet of Eighty Ships of War constituted a Triumvirate of Admirals Blake being still one Dean and Monk the other These being ready sooner than the Dutch expected attended Tromp with a great Fleet of Merchants returning from the Ports of France and Spain Nor had they waited long when they discovered this numerous Enemy be betwixt them and Portland Blake sails directly towards them And Tromp no less forward prepares to receive him The Fight was cruel and bloody the Success also being various in the divers Parts of it until the Night parted them On the Morrow they engage again Tromp having sent his loaden Vessels before closed their Rear
with his Ships of War and fights retreating The Third day the Battle being renewed the Dutch after a stout Conflict got away by Favour of the Darkness having lost Eleven of their Men of War and Thirty of the Merchant Ships The English lost the Sampson but saved her Men as also the Captains Mildmay and Ball commanding the Triumph and Vanguard and Blake himself was wounded in his Thigh The slaughter on both sides especially the Enemies was very great Tromp gained great Honour and that deservedly for saving his Fleet justly attributing the Cause of his Retreat to his Care for his Merchants which he convoy'd The Hollanders admonished by their Losses write to the Rump for a Reconciliation but seeing the other Provinces had not concurred their Letters were rejected But what the Dutch lost in the Channel seemed to be compensated by their Victory in the Tyrrehenian Sea off of Leghorn where Van Galen defeated Appelton taking and sinking Fire Men of War He had formerly taken the Phenix at Porta Longona which was afterwards recovered by Cox sometime her Lieunant who in the Night under the Notion of Fisher-men clapt her on Board with a Hundred Men in Three Boats forcing Young Tromp who commanded her to save himself out of the Cabin Window and brought her to Naples The Danes favouring the Dutch had detained an English Fleet in the Sound loaden with Masts Pitch Tar Hemp and other Naval Provisions which the English mainly wanted Nor would they release them although pressed to it by Captain Ball with a great Fleet of War year 1653 In the Beginning of this Year 1653. Cromwell as is mentioned had dislodged the Rump assuming to himself the Supream Authority over these Nations And now the Dutch proposing to themselves much Advantage by this Change and as they supposed unsetled state of Affairs prepare a great Fleet consisting of Fourscore brave Ships of Force Wherewith Tromp sailing out of the Texel made Northwards to meet their French Merchant Fleet coming round Ireland and Great Brittain for fear of the English who obstructed the Passage through the Channel These being sent Home in safety Tromp sailed to Dover which Town he battered with his whole Fleet a whole Day The English in the mean Time under the Command of Monk and Dean sailing along the Coasts of Scotland Denmark and the Belgick Strands carried no less Terror with them June 2. The Coasts having been thus allarm'd on both Sides both Fleets came in Sight of each other and engaged The Fight as usual was brave and bloody Dean was slain by a Cannon Bullet from the first Broad-side but the Dutch in Revenge were so ill treated that the Night coming on they retired towards Dunkirk securing themselves from the Enemies greatest Ships betwixt those known Sands The next Morning the English augmented by the Accession of Blake with Eighteen Ships renewed the Fight and after a sharp Encounter force the Dutch to flye notwithstanding Tromp who put himself at the foremost of them his Endeavours to the contrary The Belgians lost at least Fifteen of their Ships sunk and taken the Dammage the English suffered being very inconsiderable The Conquerours raised with their Success besieged the Havens and Ports of Holland and Zealand to their very great Detriment for the Ships homeward bound ignorant of what had happened fell into the Hands of the Besiegers and those within durst not venture out The Dutch finding the Inequality of the Party send Embassadours into England to treat of Peace where whilst they are disputing about the Conditions the Fleets again meet not far from the Texel This Naval Battel seemed to exceed all the other in Fierceness and Slaughter though nothing memorable happened that or the following Day by reason of the Tempestuousness of the Weather On the Third Day July 31. being the 31st of July the Fleets from the Texel and Zealand being joyned Tromp and De Witt made up to the English who bearing off at Sea by reason of the Sholes and a Lee-shore quickly tackt upon them and receiving their Attack with equal Fortitude and Fierceness at length repelled them The Fight dured from Six in the Morning till Noon Nor did the Party seem unequal until Tromp was slain being shot in the Breast with a Musket Bullet And thus fell this great Man to be mentioned with Honour for the Glory of his Achievements and his skill in Naval Affairs He finished his Course with no less Reputation than he had continued it seeing he died in Defence of his Country and that the War which he had begun expired with him The Admiral being dead the Valour of his Men vanished with him who unequal to the English in Perseverance fled before them with much Disorder and Loss towards the Texel Nor were they much pressed in their Retreat for Monk however successful bought his Victory dear being necessitated to return into England to repair his Breaches and Losses He had Six of his Captains slain and as many wounded and Two of his Ships lost Pen and Lawson did particularly signalize themselves What the Enemy suffered was not known save that Five of their Captains were made Prisoners and scarce Ninty of One Hundred and Twenty Ships they had fought with escaped into the Texel A day of Thanksgiving was appointed in England for this Victory the Chief Officers and Captains of the Fleet being honoured with Gold-Chains and Medals as Marks of their Valour and good Service Opdam a Person of Honour and of the Nobility which is conspicuous in Holland succeeded Tromp in the Command of the Fleet. And now both Republicks weary of the War seemed desirous of Peace which was also concluded betwixt them upon Conditions honourable enough for the English if the Protector too solicitous for the future had not too much apprehended the Young Prince of Orange then in his Nurses Arms. The Danes were included in the Treaty the Price of the detained Ships being paid by the States Peace was likewise concluded with the King of Portugal as also with the Sweeds by splendid Embassies from both Sides A more strickt League was also made with the French and all upon his own Terms For he forced the Dutch and Portuguese to pay the Charges of the War Nor would he conclude with the French without inserting an Article their King being then under Age That France should upon Demand assist him with Ten Thousand Men to establish his Authority against the King against the People and against the Defections of his own Army which he had reason to apprehend Nay they valued the Friendship and Favour of this Usurper at that Rate that they forced King Charles by an unheard of President upon his Demand to leave that Kingdom banishing him out of his very Exile against the Law of Nations which allows Sanctuary to the distressed and against the Rights of Blood and Hospitality Cromwell being offended with Spain or perhaps in Consequence of the League with France Proclaims War against that
changed his Battery and will now try to gain them by Civilities and a more gentle Usage But that taking no effect with Men immoveable in their Loyalty and whom nothing could oblige to abandon that Cause they had so religiously maintained he thought of other ways to be rid of these Men so averse to his Tyranny Upon this accompt he permits Foreign Ministers in League with him to make Levies of them for their Wars the Prisons having often times been emptied for that purpose The Colonies in the West Indies consumed many of them by Slavery and others allured into the unfortunate expedition of San Domingo perished in it His Domestick Enemies being thus removed or oppress'd the Vsurper became also formidable to Strangers And now it seemed seasonable for him to think of transmitting his Tyranny to his Posterity As he had usurp'd the Power of a King so he ambition'd the Title which a Parliament he had convened for his Purpose endeavoured to invest him with But he was opposed by the Chiefs of the Army who expected and hoped after his Fate to have their Turns in the Supremacy However he managed his Design so well that he was created Sovereign Protector with Power to name his Successor which was in effect what he desired in rendring his Tyranny Hereditary The Spaniards to repay one War with another seized and confiscated all the English Merchants Goods and Shipping in his Dominions and by a Publick Edict declared War against the Nation But Cromwell acting more Effectually sent Blake and Montague with a Fleet to shut up the Haven of Cadiz where the Rich Ships from the Indies usually arrived Stayner with his Squadron of Seven Frigats 1656. Sep. 1. fell upon Eight of them in the Absence of their Admiral whereof he took Two burnt One with the Marquess of Badaiox the Vice-Roy of Peru and his Lady in it sunk Another forced Two on Shore and the other Two escaped into Port. This was a great Victory wherein they took above Two Millions of Pieces of Eight But that which Blake won at Teneriffe the Year following surpassed all other in Nobleness of Action and Resolution of the Undertakers The West India Fleet consisting of Sixteen Rich Ships 1657. Apr. 20. having Intelligence that the English were cruising upon the Atlantick Ocean put into the Haven of Santa Cruz where by the Advantage of their strong Castle at the Entry and Seven Forts round the Bay they thought themselves secure But Blake perceiving their Order sending Stayner a brave Commander with some nimble Frigats before followed himself with the rest of his Fleet. And plying the Castle and Forts with his great Ships beat the Spaniards from their Guns and after a sharp Fight took the Fleet abandoned by the Sea-men who ran on Shore but not being able to carry it away with them they set in on fire consuming both it and the immense Riches it was fraughted with A Thanksgiving-Day being appointed in England for this so eminent a Victory Blake was honoured by the Parliament with a Present of Five Hundred Pounds But this so famous Admiral did not long survive so many Victories expiring at his Entrance into Plymouth Road by the Malignity of the Dropsy and Scurvy Thus ended this brave and fortunate Warriour worthily to be celebrated if he had not so audaciously resisted his own Prince Nor was it at Sea only that Cromwell plagued the Spaniard for he sent Six Thousand Men under the Command of Collonel Reynolds into Flanders who much facilitated the Successes of the French Montmedy and St. Venant were taken by their Asstance and some time after Mardike which was delivered to the English and by them so strongly fortified that it firmly withstood the Assaults of the Brittish Regiments in the Service of Spain Hereupon Dunkirk was Besieged by the Confederates But Don Juan of Austria Governour of those Low-Countries Solicitous for the conserving of so considerable a Sea-port and to prevent the Excursions of the French into Flanders on that side having drawn his Army together and strengthened it with Veterane Souldiers taken out of their Garrisons and being joyned by the Duke of York with four Batalions of English and Irish then under his Command he marched to the Relief of the Besieged and suddenly possessing the Height of the Sand-Hills opposite to Turin's Camp pitcht his there Marshal Turin having left Guards to Defend Forts and Posts against the Sallies of the Besieged drew the rest of his Army out of his Trenches The English were in the Van who notwithstanding the Showers of shot powered upon them ascended the Hill and after a sharp encounter at push of Pike and Butt-end of Musket forced the Enemy from their Ground This being done the French Horse charged the opposite Cavalry which being long sustained by the Valour and Vertue of the Duke of York and his Brother Gloucester was at last the English advancing upon them obliged to leave the Field There were above a Thousand slain and more then Two Thousand taken Prisoners The Cannon and Spoil of the Field were the present Reward of the Victors and some time after Dunkirk it self Which by the Death of the Governour the Marquess of Lede was surtendered upon Conditions and put into the Possession of the English by Contract Cromwell however heightned by this Victory did not long survive it being oppressed with a Melancholy which he had contracted upon the Death of his beloved Daughter Cleypoole Which accompanied with a Fever and Faintings snatcht him hence deprecating his immature Destiny in vain to that Tribunal where he was to give an Accompt of his Rebellions Sacriledge Perjury Parricide and Tyranny He died indeed like other Men in his Bed but not without some extraordinary Commotions of Spirit Nay the whole Frame of Nature suffer'd violent Concussions by a dreadful Tempest at the Exit of this Impostor which threatn'd by Tumult and Noises loud as his Sins to reduce the World into its pristine Chaos again We cannot with Justice deny this great Artist in Dissimulation and Imposture Courage and Vastness of Mind since he raised himself up from a Private Condition and a simple Gentleman to the Supream Height of Empire not altogether unworthy the Degree he attained to if he had not acquired it by ill Means BOOK III. Richard succeeds his Father in the Protectorate He is deposed by the Army The Rump restored Lambert defeats Sir George Booth Montague returns with the Fleet out of Denmark Lambert turns out the Rump Monk dissents and declares for the Rump Lambert marches against him Being deluded by Treaties he is deserted by his Army The Committee of Safety routed and the Rump yet again restored Monk marches to London Readmits the Secluded Members The Parliament dissolv'd by its own Act. An Abstract of the King's Actions and Motions abroad He is proclaimed by the Parliament Returns into England His glorious Reception The End of our Troubles OLiver having during his Sickness been vainly
began not only to neglect his Equals but to despise his Superiors also But the Army was first to be gained which he endeavoured to do by the usual Charms of Ambition attributing to them the Glories of their Atchievements and the Honour of the late Success He also distributed amongst them the Thousand Pounds which these nefarious Senators had bestowed on him affirming that Presents of that kind were no less due to them by whose Fortitude Great Actions were performed than to him by whose Conduct they were effected With these Arts he rendered the Souldiers not only favourable but subservient to his Designs Whilst he is thus employed he received Letters from the Senate who began to suspect him of ambitious Intreagues but very obligingly writ to invite him to Town which he instantly obeyed being secure in the Souldiers affection and that he might give no Shadow of Distrust by his Delay A Petition from the rest of the Commanders to the Parliament followed the General wherein they required That Fleetwood and Lambert should have the Chief Command and Generalship of the Army The Parliament who had conferred that Province upon their Speaker who had also hitherto commissioned these very Officers startled at so unusual a Demand and fancying if they yielded they were undone Vote That to have any more General-Officers in the Army than are already settled by the Parliament was unnecessary burthensom and dangerous to the Common-wealth But the Souldiers persisting in their arrogant Demands this Vote was followed by another declaring That it should be Treason for any Person or Persons to levy Money without the consent of Parliament By this means these States thought and reasonably enough to render the Souldiers for the future more obedient to them from whom they were to expect their Stipend and Rewards This done they animated perhaps more with Choler than Counsel casheer Lambert as Chief of the Conspiracy and Eight more of the boldest Tribunes of his Party transferring the Chief Command of the Army upon Seven of their own Tribe viz. Fleetwood Monk Hazelrig Ludlow Walton Morley and Overton But the disbanded Officers disdaining to be thus used armed with Revenge and Ambition flew with their Regiments to Westminister filling the Avenues of the Court with their Souldiers resolving to hinder the sitting of the Members The Parliament on the other side loth to dislodge solicited the rest of the Army to their Assistance and had them Being drawn up on both sides they yet past no further than Threats being pacified by the Care and Authority of the Council of State But Lambert gained his desir'd end in hindering the Speaker to go to the House and sending him Home without his Pretorian Troop which had attended him thither and more like a Captive than a General or an Imperial Speaker The Independant Faction being thus divided the Civil Part of it was forced to truckle to the Military and now in Contempt of the Authority of their Senate Fleetwood no great Souldier but a valiant Holder-forth by Suffrage of the Council of Officers was made General and Lambert Lieutenant General to whose Artifice the other was obnoxious They also erected a Council of State or Committee of Safety consisting of Three and Twenty Commissioners most Officers to whom the Supreme Care of the Laws and Government were at present committed with Instructions to introduce a new Form of a Common-wealth The State being thus settled Lambert endeavours by a Declaration to calm the Minds of Men distracted with so many Novelties with the Show and Assurance or their Liberties both Sacred and Civil and sending some of his * Colbet Barrow Confidents into Scotland and Ireland attempts all ways to draw those Armies to his Party But without Success for Ireland being addicted to the Rump continued faithful to them And Monk did dare openly to dissent from the new Modellers Part also of the Fleet under their Vice-Admiral Lawson did sharply demand the Restitution of the Parliament and Portsmouth a strong Sea Town revolted from our Novelists The Committee of Safety being in these Streights provide with their utmost Care Remedies for so many Evils Lambert is sent with a great Army consisting of Twelve Thousand Men against Monk and Forces were likewise sent to reduce Portsmouth the Fleet being invited by Messages and Promises to return to their Obedience But these precautions proved every where fruitless for the Fleet blocking up the Mouth of the Thames persisted in their Obstinacy The Parlamentarians at Portsmouth were grown formidable by the Accession of those that besieged them who had revolted to them and Ireland following the Example of the other Dissenters declared for the Parliament But the greatest Danger that threatned them appeared in the North for Monk in his Letters to Fleetwood did dare to disapprove the Actions of the Army requiring the immediate Restitution of the Parliament And mustering his Army having turn'd out such of his Officers as favoured the contrary Party he marched Southwards and seizes the strong Town of Berwick The Committee of Safety startled with Monk's Proceedings send Embassadors to him to treat of Peace and a mutual Correspondence betwixt them giving out at the same time Commissions and Orders for new Levies being resolved if the Treaty did not succeed to vindicate their Power by Arms. Lambert as is said was marched towards the Confines of the Kingdom with his Army the Committee omitting no Industry whereby they might divert this growing storm in the North. Monk also revolving the Danger and Greatness of his Enterprize will do nothing rashly He apprehended the English Army as brave and numerous and therefore resolves to protract and delay Time His Friends also out of England had assured him that the New Government there was odious to the Nation which would also for want of Money and Council if he delay'd a little fall by its own Weight Moved with these Reasons and the Backwardness of his own Preparations he seems less averse to Peace than formerly and sending Three Delegates to the Committee of Safety magnifies his Desires of an Accomodation These Embassadors met Lambert at York and satisfying him abundantly of the peaceable Inclinations of the Scottish Army wrought so with him that he prohibited the further Advance of his Forces Monk having thus lull'd his Adversaries summons a Convention of the Scots Nobility from whom not obscurely informed or presuming of his Intentions he obtained Contributions for his Army for a Year before-hand allowing them in return Liberty to arm themselves for their Defence In the mean time a Pacification was agreed upon at London betwixt Commissioners of both sides where amongst other things the Name and Family and Royal Title of the Stuarts was wholly excluded a Tyrannous Stratarchy or Club-law being introduced under the Vail of a Free State Monk having received the Articles agreed upon recalls his Commissioners And casting Wilks the principal of them into Prison for exceeding his Orders refuses to ratify the Treaty and
not as absolutely refusing it but as desiring time to consider of it For the Rump compell'd all in Office to a Renunciation of the Right and Title of the King By which means they insured them in their Society and insnared them in the same Bond of Rebellion with themselves The Londoners deceived in their Expectations began to Mutiny They will acknowledge no Authority but that of a Free Parliament and make a Decree in their Common Council that for the future they will pay no Taxes nor Imposts whatever to any but by order of such a Convention full and entirely their own Masters The Rump mad with Anger command Monk to march into the City with his Army and order him to beat down the Gates and Portcullises break their Posts and take away their Chains out of the Streets Several also of the Prime Citizens Assertors of Liberty were put in the Tower Sectaries and Fanaticks being introduced into their Vacancies The People were amazed at these Actions of Monk from whom they had hoped better things Whilst he revolving the Odiousness of what he had done however necessitated to it by the pressing Commands of the Juncto and lest he should imprudently spoil what he had so well begun and not ignorant that these Tasks had been imposed upon him as well to try his Obedience as to break the Friendship and Intelligence which was betwixt him and the City resolved to attempt greater Matters To all this he apprehended a Diminution of his Power with the Souldiers which was likewise effected that very Day the Command of the Army being given to a Septemvirate of their own Confidents he being but one of the Number This highly displeased him nor could he endure Co-Equals in Power which the Rump forgetful that it was Lambert's Case had obtruded upon him And who indeed can endure Sharers in that Power he is solely Master of Monk impatient of so sordid an Indignity complains to his Officers of this Mutilation of his Authority who upon consideration of the Matter of Fact did unanimously declare That the Parliament forgetful of them by whose Merit they did reign had designed and resolved to casheer them and by continuing their Session to perpetuate their Tyranny over the most Noble English Nation Upon these Grounds the Army marches into London resolving to joyn Hands with the Citizens now Assertors of the Publick Liberty and declare together with them for a Free Parliament as the only Remedy for so many Evils Being thus united the Souldiers pathetically testified their Resentments and Sorrow for the Injuries and forced Violence done to that Noble City which was put upon them against their Wills This happy Conjunction fill'd the Town and whole Kingdom with so universal a Joy that the People demonstrated their Satisfaction by their Acclamations Feb. 9. ringing of their Bells and infinite Bonfires besides the roasting of all manner of Rumps in Contempt of the present Juncto resounding in these Transports and glad Ecstasies the Name and Fame of the General The Mock-Parliament troubled at this unexpected Change and forseeing their infallible Ruin if Monk persisted omitted no Arts no Allurements Wiles Flatteries Threats Treasons or any other means whereby they might reclaim Monk or destroy him It is affirmed that the Sectaries who could suffer any Lord but their own whom they had so cruelly offended offered him the Protectorate upon condition he would not change Party Which he Prudently as well as Loyally refused considering that tho the Employment was magnificent yet it was very hazardous the stream of the Peoples Inclinations flowing towards their old Government It was reported that Monsieur Bourdeaux the Embassadour of France offered the same but with the same success though he had also offered the Assistance of France for securing of the Dignity Monk had given the juncto who had usurp'd the Power over their Colleagues they themselves being scarce an eight part of the whole a Day by which they were to fill their Vacancies with new Elections Which being omitted by the Fanaticks the Secluded Members having given him satisfaction in several Conferences why they ought to be readmitted were however mainly opposed by the Rumpers and chief of their Conspiracy freely permitted to return to their Duty again The House being encreased by double the Number and at liberty to act began where they had ended in 1648. Voting the Concessions of Charles the Martyr in the Isle of Wight to be satisfactory and declare That what ever had been done by their Vsurping Colleagues since was null and of no effect But these Gentlemen being Presbyterians and consequently tenacious of their old Principles condemned indeed what was done by the Independants but recall'd none of their own Unjust Decrees nor voted any thing at present in favour of the King On the contrary they declare That Charles I. did first raise up Arms against the Parliament They impose again the Solemn League and Covenant the Root of all our Evils and Vote That none who had born Arms against the Parliament should be admitted in the next Elections But withal they make Monk Captain-General of all their Forces vote the Gates Portcullises Posts Chains c. of the City to be set up again at the Publick Charge release Booth and others out of Prison put the Militia of the Kingdom into good Hands and having fixed a day for their Dissolution as they had been obliged by Monk they appointed a Free Parliament to convene in April next These things being done to the Satisfaction of all Men they further constitute a Council of State who should govern during the Interregnum And recommending the Souldiery to Monk's Care and Prudence they dissolve themselves by their own Act and Decree putting an end to that Long and Bloody Parliament which could not be determined but by their own Consent after they had exercised their Tyranny upon their Fellow-Subjects besides the Horrid Murther of their Sovereign the Space of Nineteen Years except Oliver's Quingquennium Richard's short Empire and Lambert's Ten Weeks domineering And thus ended that unhappy Parliament which gave Life and Being to those viperous Factions of Presbytery and Independency by whose violence and impetuous ambition of ruling they did not only destroy the Hierarchy of the Church but Monarchy out of the Common-wealth involving themselves in the Ruin of that Parent that begot them 'T is scarce credible with what excess of joy the People wearied with the continuance of that Black Parliament and freed from the fear of its Refurrection entertained the News of its Dissolution The Fanaticks only and the Dependants of the Hated Juncto who left nothing unattempted for the perpetuating the Session of the Regicides were averse to it To effect which they solicited Petitions out of the City against their Dissolution they tempted the Tribunes and Chief Officers with the usual Charms of Largesses to their Party they caused fictitious Lists of the Militia to be printed And when all would not prevail some of