jrTj* > ' > This book is DUE on the last date stamped below DEC 8 WM E JAN 4 192< ^^HH . v/ * c\ "\ c i28 ' p \H [N \v .!.>*' -.1 ._ n ^AJhA VbSJgA iMAR 1 2 1934 0(il i 9 1938 JAN 8 19 * 1 JftN 29 1941 sm F EB 2 1 1946 1 0C12S50 E Wll?*19 il , p BRA^i ^S B lJlT*^Y||fY JB FOUR WE6K4 *^J Form Ti-9-5w-5,'24 ?^^|S^ s ^*^> ^ % SOUTHERN 'UNIVERSITY Of SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY OF , ANGELES, CALIF, SOME MEMORIALS JOHN HAMPDEN, HIS PARTY, AND HIS TIMES, BY LORD NUGENT TWO VOLUMES. VOLUME THE SECOND. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXXII. 8 4 8 9 ^ LONDON j Printed by WILLIAM CLOWIS, Stamford Strwt. A CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. PART THE SIXTH. 1641. Triennial Bill Corruptions of the Churchmen Bill to restrain the Clergy from secular offices Missions of Panzani and Rosetti Temporizing of the High Church Party in England with the Romish Discipline Ground of Clarendon's Imputation against Hampden examined Lord Say Nathaniel Fiennes Lord Kimbolton Lord Digby Sir Harry Vane, the Younger Strode Hazelrigge Sir Edward Deering Oliver Cromwell Pym Root-and-Branch Bill for rendering Parliament in- dissoluble but with it's own consent Proceedings against Finch, Windebanke, and others Result of the changes in Government Great Seal given to Sir Edward Littleton Army Plot - - p. 1 PART THE SEVENTH. From 1641 to 1642. The King's project of visiting Scotland Opposed by the Commons Encouraged by the Scots The King arrives at Edinburgh Cultivates Popularity with the Covenanters Hampden and others, Commissioners to attend upon the King Intrigues and Violences of Montrose The Scottish Incident Irish Insurrection The King returns to London- Grand Protestation Defections from the Country Party Demand of the King for the Surrender of Kimbolton and the Five Members a2 IV CONTENTS. Committee of Privileges retire to the City Return in Triumph to Westminster Petition of the Buckinghamshire Men King leaves London Departure of the Queen King goes to York Summons of Hull Declaration of his Cause Is joined by Lords Raises his Standard Hampden's motives and Falkland's compared Breaking out of the Great Civil War 81 PART THE EIGHTH. 1642. Posture of the two parties Their motives and objects Falkland, and others who take part for the King Sir Bevill Grenvil His letter to Sir John Trelawney Formation of the Parliament Armies Loans, and Contributions of Money and Plate The Fleet declares for the Parliament King's conditions from Nottingham rejected Hampden captures the King's Oxfordshire Commissioners at Ascot Conflicts in divers parts Siege and surrender of Portsmouth Coventry and Northampton attacked by the King's ^troops Lord Brook Brook and Hampden repulse the King's troops at Southam Conditions of submission proposed to Lord Brook before Warwick His Answer He assembles his levies, and harangues bis Officers, at Warwick Castle 175 PART THE NINTH. 1642. Defence of Warwick Castle by Sir Edward Peto Of Caldecot Manor- House by Mrs. Purefoy Lord Essex advances to Worcester His Speech to his Army Skirmish at Powick Bridge Parliamentarians enter Worcester Parliament's Petition for Peace Rejected by the King Essex advances his Army Hampden and Holies defeat a party CONTENTS. V near Aylesbury and pursue them into Worcestershire The King puts himself in march towards London Edge Hill fight March through the midland counties Action between Balfore and Rupert at Ayles- bury Battle of Brentford Retreat of the King - - .247 PART THE TENTH. From December 1642, to June 1643. Hampden and Urrie take Reading by assault Hampden arranges the plan of union of the six associated counties Parliament's troops press upon the King's quarters at Oxford Lord Wentworth attacks High Wycombe, and is repulsed Essex retires King's successes in divers parts Queen lands in England Reading re-entered by the King's troops Hampden and Mr. Richard Grenvil repulsed from Brill Sir Bevill Grenvil in Cornwall Bradock Down, and Stratton Hill Lansdown Trelawney's letter to the Lady Grace Grenvil, announcing Sir Bevill's death Siege of Lichfield Lord Brook slain Warder Castle twice taken Overtures of peace, and cessation of arms Broken off Reading besieged by Lord Essex Surrenders Defections from the Parliament's cause Waller's Plot Rupert's expeditions against the Parliament's quarters Attacks Chinnor and Postcombe Chal- grove fight Hampden wounded His last moments and death Con- clusion of the Memorials - 333 ERRATA. VOL. II. PACK 41, line 14, for ' had been the creatures of,' read ' had grown under." 77, last line but one from the bottom, for ' begun ' read ' began.' 11!), note, line 5, for ' number' read ' numbers.' ,, 302, lines 10 and 11, for ' were slain the Lord Bernard Stewart and the Lord Aubigny,' read ' was slain the Lord Aubigny.' PART THE SIXTH. 1641. Triennial Bill Conniptions of the Churchmen Bill to restrain the Clergy from secular offices Missions of Panzani and Rosetti-r-Temporizing of the High Church Party in England with the Romish Discipline Ground of Clarendon's Imputation against Hampden examined Lord Say Nathaniel Fiennes Lord Kimbolton Lord Digby Sir Harry Vane, the Younger Strode Hazelrigge Sir Edward Deering Oliver Cromwell Pym Root-and-Branch Bill for rendering Parliament in- dissoluble but with it's own consent Proceedings against Finch, Windebanke, and others Result of the changes in Government Great Seal given to Sir Edward Littleton Army Plot. VOL. II. B SOME MEMORIALS OF JOHN HAMPDEN, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. IT has been already remarked that two other very important measures were proceed- ing, separately and independently, at an equal pace with the impeachment of Lord Strafford. These were to deprive the Bishops of votes in Parliament, by a bill prohibiting the exercise of any civil office by clergymen ; and to provide, by what was called the Tri- ennial Bill, that parliaments should be holden at intervals of not longer than three years at the most. By the Triennial Bill it was endea- voured to secure the country from the arbitrary courses which the king had been enabled to pur- sue during the long intermission of parliaments. But precarious and ineffectual would such an B2 4 JOHN HAMPDEN, enactment be as a security against any King who might resolve to govern without parlia- ments and in opposition to law. For the pro- visions of the bill itself could only be guarded by the parliamentary power of impeaching the minister under whose advice the King should infringe them ; and the very act of infring- ing them by governing without parliaments would be the minister's guarantee against impeachment. This law provided indeed that, in case the king should refuse to summon a parliament within the time prescribed, the Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal might issue writs for summoning the Peers, and for the election of the Commons ; and that, if the Chancellor or Keeper should neglect to do it, any twelve of the Peers might summon the parliament, and that if the Peers should neglect to issue the necessary summons, the sheriffs of the counties and other magistrates respectively might proceed to the election ; and, should they refuse, then that the free- holders of each county might elect their mem- bers ; and that the members so chosen should be obliged under severe penalties to attend*. * Parl. Hist. Guthrie. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. The passing of this bill was received with publick rejoicings, and the thanks of both houses were solemnly tendered to the King upon his pronouncing the Royal assent. It doubtless was giving a large power to the people. But it was at best a law which, in extreme cases, (and it was a law intended to meet extreme cases only,) would have failed before a tyrannical King, and a resolute minister, with an army to back them. For in those times during a cessation of parlia- ments, the publick voice spoke through but imperfect organs. The press had not influ- ence to assist it either by calling publick meetings of the people or by directing their deliberations when called. The Bill affecting the Bishop's votes was, even separately considered, a measure of primary importance in the eyes of the country party. Apart from every vindictive feeling, which could not but have had it's influence against an order under whose intolerance the separatists of England and the churchmen of Scotland had so severely suffered, and apart from all considerations of the character and deportment of the persons then composing the 6 JOHN HAMPDEN, Hierarchy, the political functions of church- men were regarded by the Puritans generally as founded on an abuse, and tending to a profanation, of the Ecclesiastical Institution. It was so considered, doubtless, by the Presby- terians, in whose estimation the temporalties of the prelates were, like their spiritual powers, an ample remnant of the abhorred discipline of Rome. It was considered so, in an equal degree, by the Independents, who had grafted their love of civil liberty on the profession of a religion ' whose kingdom is not of this world.' There was no country, except the papal dominions themselves, where an alliance with the state had led the Churchmen into such shameless servility as in England. The established Church of England had, although possessing some of the ablest ministers of any time, become exceedingly corrupt. In proportion to what she felt to be the grow- ing distaste in which her corruptions were held by the people did she seek support from the Crown, by making her sacred functions subservient to its arbitrary purposes, and by offering to the person of the Sovereign the basest and most impious measure of adu- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 7 lation. Nor had she even the incomplete excuse that this was by any means the sin at that time prevailing elsewhere. The Church- men of other countries were rich, powerful, and proud. But whatever was their wealth, their power, and their pride, they sought support rather from the austere dignity of their discipline than from the protection of their courts. They commanded rather than solicited the alliance of the state, and more by their spiritual than by their temporal influence over the people. In Holland, the Statholder was lectured by the clergy in his State-House, and the excesses of even his dull and oscono- mical court were subjects of unsparing pulpit invective equally from the privileged Calvinist and the dissenting Arminian. Nor can this be attributed solely to the re- publican spirit of the government, or the reli- gion of the Dutch provinces. For, at the same period, a class of eloquent state divines of the Roman Catholick Faith were rising up under the Regency of arbitrary France ; and, almost before the generation of which we are now treating had passed away, the court preachers of that monarchy, Bossuet, Massillon, and 8 JOHN HAMPDEN, Bourdaloue, were wielding the thunders of the other world in presence of one of the most formidable if not the most unscrupulous of the princes of this earth, and were speaking to him of his duties as reciprocal with the alle- giance of the people over whom he reigned* ; while, in the court of Charles the Second, the Clergy of England were covering the footstool of a less powerful, but if possible a more un- principled tyrant than even Lewis the Four- teenth, with addresses high charged with the * There is a passage in one of the sermons preached by Massil- lon, before Lewis the Fourteenth and his court, during the boyhood of that sovereign, which, besides its eloquence, is well deserving admiration for the boldness, worthy of better times and a better audience, with which it lays down the nature of the Royal trust, its origin, and its duties. ' Un Grand, un Prince, n'est pas ne pour 'lui seul. II se doit a ses sujets. Les peuples, en relevant, lui ' ont confie la puissance et 1'autorite ; et se sont reserve's en ^change ' ses soins, son temps, sa vigilance Ce sont les peuples ' qui, par 1'ordre de Dieu, les ont fait tout ce qu'ils sont ; c'est a eux a ' n'Stre ce qu'ils sont que pour les peuples. Oui, Sire, c'est le choix ' de la nation qui mit d'abord le sceptre entre les mains de vos an- ' ctres. C'est Elle qui les eleva sur le bouclier militaire, et les ' proclama souverains. Le royaume devint ensuite 1'hdritage de ' leurs successeurs. Mais ils le durent originairement au consente- ' ment libre des sujets. Leur naissance seule les mit ensuite en ' possession du trone. Mais ce furent les suffrages publics qui atta- ' cherent d'abord ce droit et cette prerogative a leur naissance. En ' un mot: comme la premiere source de leur autorite" vient de ' Nous, les Rois n'en doivent faire usage que pour Nous.' Petit Cartme. Ecueils de la Piete. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. doctrines of divine right and the obligations of non-resistance. The pluralities, also, had long been matter of grievous and very general complaint. ' For the Bill,' says Archbishop Bancroft, in a let- ter to James the first, in 1610, * that is in hand against pluralities, it is the same that, for above forty years, from parliament to parliament, hath been rejected; and that very worthily.' ' Religio peperit Divitias, et Filia devora- vit Matrem,' said Lord Falkland in his speech concerning episcopacy. And in no history has the truth of this saying been oftener or more strikingly shewn than in that of England both before and since the Reformation. Even the Reformation was rendered popular not so much by the pressure of the Church re- venues on the wealth and industry of the country, as by the laxity of habits among the Churchmen, which it was believed that the overgrown amount of those revenues had tended to promote. The reforming of long established canons of faith and discipline is an enterprise too bold for the generality of men to contemplate with cheerfulness, unless under the excitement of some practical griev- ance which is seen and felt. Few undertake 10 JOHN HAMPDEN, to decide on controversial points of belief; all can judge of the accordance or discrepancy of the manners of the clergy with true religion. Indeed no hierarchy, and no creed, has ever been overthrown by the people, on account only of its theoretical dogmas, so long as the practice of the clergy was incorrupt and con- formable with their professions. Soon after the first settlement of the Refor- mation, at all events from the beginning of James's reign, the prelates had adopted a mistaken view not only of the duties but of the interests also of the body which they represented. They were startled at the natu- ral and inevitable workings of the spirit which their immediate predecessors had evoked to assist them in their great work. They looked back instead of forward, and neglected to cultivate to their advantage those improving resources which the disenthralled genius of free discussion now opened before them and before the people. Though willing from time to time to call in the vices of popular enthusi- asm to abet them in persecuting the religion over which the virtuous energies of the people had helped the reformers to triumph, they yet looked back to the pomp and power which the HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. H unreformed church had possessed ; and occa- sionally they took not only the persons of the Roman Catholicks under their protection but their ceremonies also into observance. Above all, finding that the principles of the Reforma- tion had tended to bring matters of civil right also into debate, they had unwisely persisted in siding with the Crown in the controversy. With singular inconsistency, they joined to the doctrine of a divine right of Kings to their prerogative the doctrine of a divine right of Bishops to their temporalties, plainly incom- patible with the King's supremacy as recog- nised at the head of the first enacting clause of every act of Parliament, and incompatible equally with the tenure by which every Bishop admits in the form of homage that he holds his temporalties of the King. They had openly asserted their divine origin in their sermons and charges, and had signifi- cantly glanced at it in the new canon of 1640. It was boldly and well remarked in Parlia- ment that ' even a Pope at Rome was more tolerable than a Pope at Lambeth*.' * Sir Benjamin Rudyerd's speech, Collection of Speeches, pub- lished 1648. 12 JOHN HAMPDEN, The Roman Catholicks, on their part, had been scarcely less improvident. They were elated with the protection and connivance which they received. ' They were not, ' says Lord Clarendon, * prudent managers of their prosperity ; ' but, putting themselves forward to make and to boast their converts, and to shew their zeal, as a body, for the King, when it was dangerous for them to be seen, as a body, at all, they became conspicuous opponents to the leading party in the House of Commons who were backed by a merciless penal code and urged forward by the cherished intolerance of the people. Thus the Roman Catholicks brought encreasing hatred and dan- ger on themselves, and, by implication, on their friends also. Meanwhile the Court of Rome could not be expected to adopt a wiser policy. Its views were formed upon the sanguine re- presentations of its English adherents. The approaching downfall of the Arch Heresy of the west was openly proclaimed. The name and influence of the Queen were rendered still more odious to the Protestants by an ex- aggerated estimate of her power in religious matters over the mind of her husband. Charles HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 13 was announced to the Roman Catholicks of Europe as favourable to their faith, and it is said that a Cardinal's hat was more than once offered to Laud himself. If this be true, credulous indeed was the Court of Rome to suppose that the time was ripe for engaging the Primate of England to bow his ambition before that of a foreign church, and ill indeed informed not to know that Henri- etta Maria was to the full as jealous of Laud as she was of Strafford, and had been of Buck- ingham ; and for the same reason, a natural antipathy to any Minister who might be power- ful enough to interfere with her influence over the King. Panzani and Rosetti were succes- sively received, contrary to the law of England, as Nuncios from Rome, and another Priest, a Scotchman, was deputed to be the Queen's confessor. It was, besides, known as a secret to the friends of the court, and, therefore, as such secrets usually are, to its opponents also, that Brett was, likewise, contrary to law, re- siding at Rome as an envoy and agent from Charles*. To a spirit and ambition hereditary in a * Clarendon Papers. 14 JOHN HAMPDEN, daughter of Henry the Fourth, the Queen joined none of her father's prudence or mode- ration. In vain was she warned by the ad- vice of her mother, who, during a visit of more than a year in England, had, by the modesty of her demeanour, particularly with reference to religious observances, called forth, in spite of popular animadversion, a willing testimony of approbation from some of the country party*. Mary of Medicis, it is true, has been represented by many writers as having been deeply engaged in the popish intrigues ; but, as it appears, without sufficient evidence. She was on one occasion assaulted by a mob as she returned from mass, and was finally driven out of England by popular clamour ; but these insults were brought upon her rather by her daughter's imprudence than by any act of her own. Resolutions were passed, complaining of the encroachments of Henrietta upon law and treaty ; and these re- monstrances were made all the more signifi- cant by the warm and lavish support given by the leaders of the country party to an * Journals, 12th May* See Lord Holland's Speech. Collec- tion of Speeches, published 1648. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 15 encrease of her civil establishment, in return for her promise of being more cautious in future not to give scandal by an ostentatious and illegal display of the pomps of her re- ligion*. The committees on religion, and the resolu- tions concerning copes and crosses, bowings and genuflexions, and tables put altar-wise, and pictures in churches, were by no means idle or capricious assaults upon the innocent * See Sir Benjamin Rudyerd's Speech, Collection, 1648. For an account of Panzani's and Rosetti's agency at the English court, as given by the Conte Mayolino Bisaccioni, see Appendix A. The particulars in which this account, the main points of which there is no doubt are true, differs from that given of the same transaction by Lord Clarendon, are curious. When com- pared with the King's answer to the remonstrance of the two houses, February 3, it gives another instance of his duplicity. It is but just, however, to believe, that his refusal to purchase the Pope's succours at the price demanded, proceeded as much from sincere attachment to the Protestant religion of the Church of England as from the conviction of the impracticability of the terms proposed by Rosetti ; and there is even reason to suppose that many parts of this negociation were fresh in his remembrance during the declarations, to which he so often called God to witness afterwards, even on the scaffold, that he had never contemplated the introduc- tion of popery ! At the same time the whole of the secret history of this mission surely justifies, in their fullest extent, the jealousies which the Parliament entertained of the Romish emissaries, it's hostility to Windebanke and Weston, and it's determination to break up the influence of the Queen's household. 16 JOHN HAMPDEN, forms under which particular congregations sought to worship God. These things were not harmless, as innovations on the discipline of the reformed religion, or as symptoms of relapse into the discipline of the old; they were the symbols under which the high church, compromising with popery, was pro- ceeding to scandalize, discredit, and perse- cute the Puritans. And he is but a careless observer of the affairs of men and states who fails to see that such are the means by which great passions are often set at work, and great moral effects not unfrequently produced. Political symbols are often of too much im- portance to be neglected by practical states- men. But how formidable are they when they assume a religious shape, and appeal, through the outward senses of men, to things above the limits of this world ? Mr. Hume says that the different appella- tions of ' Sunday, which the Puritans affected * to call the Sabbath*, were at that time known * symbols of the different parties,' and he treats the opposition to the innovations of the court clergy as only a ' poisonous infusion of theolo- * History of England, chap. 1. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 17 gical hatred.' t On account of these/ says he *, * were the popular leaders content to * throw the government into such violent con- * vulsions ; and, to the disgrace of that age * and of this island, it must be acknowledged * that the disorders in Scotland entirely, and ' those in England mostly, proceeded from so * mean and contemptible an originf .' What * Hist, of England, chap. liv. t ' Some persons,' says Hume, ' partial to the patriots of this ' age, have ventured to put them in balance with the most illus- ' trious characters of antiquity, and mentioned the names of Pym, ' Hampden, and Vane, as a just parallel to those of Cato, Brutus, ' and Cassius. Profound capacity, indeed, undaunted courage, * extensive enterprize, in these particulars, perhaps, the Romans * do not much surpass the English worthies. But what a differ- ' ence when the discourse, conduct, conversation, and private as ' well as publick behaviour of both are inspected ! Compare only ' one circumstance, and consider it's consequences. The leisure of ' those noble ancients was totally employed in the study of Grecian ' eloquence and philosophy, in the cultivation of polite letters ' and civilized society : the whole discourse and language of the ' moderns were polluted with mysterious jargon, and full of * the lowest and most vulgar hypocrisy.' (Hist. chap, liv.) Vane was one of the most accomplished men of his age ; and his speculations, though warmed by the zeal of a persecuted and insulted sect, were chastened by the study of the purest models of ancient philosophy. How far ' mysterious jargon and vulgar hypocrisy' are justly imputable to Hampden, we have already seen enough of the style of his writing and conduct of his life to be in some sort able to determine. The short pungent insinuation thrown out by Mr. Hume against Vane, at the VOL. II. * C 18 JOHN HAMPDEN, has been already said of the opposition raised to certain compliances with popish discipline, maybe urged with equal fairness to justify the jealousy with which all the relicks of it's ceremonial were regarded by a party still sore from oppression and insult. It is idle to contend that the means of persecution which the high church had exercised were now destroyed by the Puri- tans having become the dominant party in the House of Commons, and by the House of Commons having become, in some respects, the ruling power of the Parlia- ment, and by the Parliament having become strong enough to overawe the Court. All this, doubtless, is true in part ; but granting that it were entirely so, how had this popular influence been secured? By calling in the reforming principle to act against church abuses. These abuses were only checked, not crushed, while any political power re- conclusion of the memorable passage descriptive of the leaders of the Long Parliament at its opening, (ibid.) deserves notice. ' The enthusiastick genius of young Vane, extravagant in the ' ends which he pursued, sagacious and profound in the means ' which he employed, incited by the appearances of religion, negli- ' gent of the duties of morality.' For the concluding antithesis there is not the slightest justification in fact. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. mained with a hierarchy whose intemperance had been inflamed by successful resistance, and whose reign of active persecution was so recent, and still ready, upon any oppor- tunity, to be renewed by the same hands. Hampden had, from the beginning of his publick life, opposed these innovations as a pure and zealous Christian, But, on the principles of civil liberty only, he would have been bound to guard against the revival of the high church ascendency, now half sub- dued in it's attempts to force free conscience. Archbishop Neile, fortunately for himself, was now dead. Pierce, bishop of Bath and Wells, and Dr. Cozens, dean of Durham, had boldly proceeded to make levies of publick money in those dioceses for the building of high altars, where they had established boys with tapers to serve at the communion, a con- secrated knife to cut the sacramental bread, and almost all those outward appearances of a mass which had some years before been introduced with so much scandal at the con- secration of St. Paul's, by Laud. Cozens, in- deed, had gone so far as to declare that the reformers, ' when they took away the mass, C2 20 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' had, instead of a reformed, made a deformed ' religion. 1 He had denied the King's supre- macy over the church, saying that ' the King * had no more power over the church than the ' boy who rubbed his horse's heels.' And all these doctrines he had made practical by his violent persecution of Smart the prebendary, whose case was just now beginning to be sub- ject of a Parliamentary enquiry, conducted by Hampden *. Hampden also undertook the case against Wren, bishop of Ely ; and served on the committee of thirty which had been appointed, February 10, to consider the matter of church government f. On these questions Selden's was a singular course. His great mind, stored with profound learning, and guided by a pure and lofty inte- grity, was not unfrequently capricious and impracticable in the affairs of a party ; some- times, in spite of his mild and humble temper, sanctioning extreme propositions, and some- times deviating into scrupulous debates on points of mere form and nicety, little suited * Parliamentary History. Rush worth. f For "Sir Ralph Verney's account of the proceedings of this Committee, as given in his MS, notes in the possession of Sir Harry Verney, see Appendix B. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 21 to a time when a rapid and determined spirit was so important to the popular cause. On the examinations and report of this committee he took a decided part, denying the sole power of ordination in the bishops, and concurring in the report against their civil jurisdiction. Yet, in the debates on the question of whether the bishops sat in Parliament as barons or as prelates, he gave it as his opinion that they sat as neither, but as representatives of the clergy. This, opening up again the whole question of separate jurisdiction, led to the reply, that the clergy were already repre- sented out of Parliament in convocation, and in the end, tended powerfully to the exclusion of the spiritual Lords from Parliament. Sel- den afterwards concurred with the leaders in framing the Grand Protestation to maintain the Doctrine of the Church, and the person and authority of the King, privileges of Par- liament, and rights of the Subject. It is not true, as has been insinuated, that the bill to restrain the clergy from the ad- ministration of secular affairs had the purpose of debarring Strafford from the assistance of the votes of persons favourable to his cause ; 22 JOHN HAMPDEN, for, astounded at the commitment of Laud, and at the proceedings announced against certain of the judges, and willing to com- pound with the popular party, the bishops had spontaneously declared that, as spiritual persons, they could take no part in a matter of blood. Besides, Pym, the great author and conductor of the proceedings against the Earl, was but a faint supporter of the bill to restrain the bishops from voting ; and, on the further measures for abolishing Episcopacy, he was openly opposed to Hampden, Vane, Hazel rigge, Fiennes, Sir Edward Deering, Harry Martin, and Lord Say, by whom that course was urged in the two houses. Nor can it be at all true, as Lord Clarendon would have it believed upon the alledged authority of Lord Falkland, that some persons, well wishers to the church establishment, were betrayed into voting for the first Bill against the Bishops by false assurances as to the limits at which the attack upon the temporal powers of the church was to stop. According to Clarendon, Hampden's en- gagement to Lord Falkland was, that he would proceed no further against the clergy, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 23 if the bill respecting their votes in Parlia- ment and their holding of civil offices should pass. But the two universities petitioned ; and the whole high church party, with Williams at their head, whose notions of ecclesiastical prerogative had risen with his elevation to the archbishoprick of York, de- termined to abandon the wiser policy to which, for a short space, some of them had inclined, and in their speeches declared that the claims of the bishops to vote in Parlia- ment rested on the foundations of divine right. The wise and moderate compromise, proposed by Archbishop Usher*, was scouted * The course taken by the illustrious primate (Usher) through- out the disputes on church government was most grievous to the party of the prelates. This is shewn by the virulent terms in which Dr. Heylin attacks his memory, in his pamphlet entitled ' Respondet Petrus,' describing the articles of Dublin, drawn up by Usher, as having been part of a plot of the Sabbatarians and Calvinists. In his arbitration between high and low church, the influence of Usher's reputation was even more powerful than that which his station as Primate gave him. His early victory over Beaumont the Jesuit, in the controversy at Lord Peterborough's at Drayton House, whereby, instead of Lady Peterborough's being reconciled to her lord's religion, her lord himself was brought over to the Protestant faith, and his triumph, twenty years after, over Archbishop Bramhall's attempt to in- troduce the English canons into Ireland, had given him a name which kept even Laud in fear. This influence was heightened by 24 JOHN HAMPDEN, by his brethren ; and that bill was accordingly rejected in the Lords by a great majority. How, then, did Hampden depart from his engagement to Falkland ? On the contrary, Hampden seems, by Clarendon's shewing, to have proceeded in conformity with the very condition which he had proposed. Of the many instances in which the grave and searching mind of Lord Clarendon has blinded itself by looking at facts through the heated glare of it's own resentments, there is none more remarkable than this violent and self- contradicting charge, insinuated, as is not unusual with him, on the words of another person, loosely quoted*. It is clear that, for the moderate and intermediate course which he took in his ' Brief Treatise,' 1641, in which, upholding the apostolical origin of Epis- copacy, ' not to be dispensed with, except in cases of necessity,' he recommends the separately dealing with the secular power of the bishops, as a matter of state arrangement. See Usher's ' Brief Treatise,' and ' Parr's Life of Usher.' See also Andrew Marvell's ' Rehearsal Transposed.' * After these times, particularly about the end of 1642, when the Parliament's affairs were going ill, and when men of the more temporizing sort were looking for an accommodation on any terms, it was very much the fashion with such of them as had voted against the bishops, to atone for it by accusing Hampden and Lord Say of having misled them. There is a speech of Lord Pem- broke's in the House of Lords, Dec. 19, 1642, in which he accuses 4 some ' of having promised him, that if they put the bishops out HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 25 some time, Hyde had viewed, with the jealousy of a rival, Hampden's influence over the mind of Falkland ; and this accounts for the uncontroulable bitterness with which he always speaks of Hampden. But, from the time of the rejection of that bill by the Lords, it appears that Hampden, quitting the more moderate course, was con- sidered to be of the party who supported the London Petition for the abolishing of Episco- pacy, * root and branch.' To say merely that an extreme resistance to a more moderate proposition generally provokes to those which are more violent, is not enough ; it is not putting this case fairly or truly. If, as Falkland maintained, it were really neces- of the Lords' house no further attempt should be made upon the church. This was instantly, and rather contemptuously, answered thus by Lord Brooke on behalf of Lord Say, who seems to have been particularly alluded to. ' The lord who spake last invited you ' by his eye to think a noble lord on the viscount's bench con- ' cerned. 'Tis true several discourses have passed between them ' in my hearing of this business ; and, 'tis very like, he did not usually acquaint him with all his thoughts If he hath done nothing but what his conscience persuaded him was just and fit, ' he hath no cause to complain ; if otherwise, I am sure nothing ' that my friend said to him can be his excuse. I fear these vile ' considerations have hung plummets on some of our wings.' Lord Brooke's Speeches, among Mr. Staunton's tracts. 26 JOHN HAMPDEN, sary for the well being of both Church and State that the temporal power of the clergy should be curtailed, it is difficult to see what other course was left, after the determination of the Lords, but to proceed by ' root and branch.' If, with Lord Falkland, we admit the first position, we cannot easily avoid the conclusion to which, under altered circum- stances, Hampden came on the second. Among those by whom, in conjunction with Hampden, the abolition of Episcopacy now began to be urged in the two houses, Lord Say, Lord Kimbolton, Nathaniel Fiennes, and the younger Vane, were prominent. Lord Say is generally described as of a shrewd mind, and a persevering and resolute temper. It is difficult to come to a true conclusion as to the moral character of a man whose motives it was the business of the contending writers of those times to ex- tol or vilify in almost equally exaggerated measure. And, by even the writers in these times in which we live, the history of Charles and of his Parliaments seems as though it were fated never to be approached but as a contested field on which the battles of liberty HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 27 and prerogative were to be in dispute still and for ever. Nor is this all; each par- ticular character is considered as it were a vantage ground to be fiercely assailed or obstinately maintained ; and as each, in it's turn, surrenders to the assault, or repels it, the victorious party sends up a cry of triumph as though the flag of a great cause were planted upon the outwork of an enemy. The lapse of almost two centuries has scarcely mitigated this spirit ; and every historian, who will deal truly, must own, as he proceeds, how hard it is to quell this spirit in himself, and how doubtful he must be, in the end, whether he have succeeded in the first moral duty which he has deliberately undertaken, that of being, to the utmost of his power, im- partial. The safest way to form his j udgement of disputed facts, and especially of disputed characters, is to rely rather on the admissions of adverse than on the assertions of friendly parties ; and, above all, he must remember, in his endeavour to unravel the truth, that many more passions were at work in those times unfairly to break down reputations than un- deservedly to extol them. 28 JOHN HAMPDEN, Clarendon suggests a doubt of the since- rity of Lord Say's advice to Charles to urge the Lords in person to spare the life of Straf- ford; but without stating a reason to support the doubt, or to justify the suggestion. The noble historian, in like manner, insinuates a charge of avarice and corruption against Lord Say, in his acceptance of the Master- ship of the Court of Wards ; confessing, however, that that high office was after- wards thrown up by him, under an impulse of party zeal, when refusing to obey the sum- mons to attend the King at Oxford. Claren- don also admits that he was of ' good reputa- tion with many who were not discontented.' May and Viccars speak of his great abilities and unimpeached honour, in terms which shew that the party to which they belonged considered him as one with whom it might be proud to associate it's own character and that of it's cause ; and Whitelocke, writing after the Restoration, represents him as ' a person of great parts, wisdom, and in- tegrity,' imbued with the loftiest spirit of patriotism. His appointment to the privy seal, under Charles the Second, he obtained HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 29 and held without taint or suspicion of change of principle, and, as far as can be traced, without any of those unworthy compliances which have cast a shade over the memories of many who only transferred their services from the Commonwealth to thrive in office under the restored King ; and whose inconstancy, ' under change of times,' it was ever the incli- nation of their new master rather to display than to assist them in disguising. We are left then to conclude that a man so praised and so blackened was one with quali- ties of mind and courage sufficient to make him deeply revered and violently hated. Nathaniel Fiennes, his son, who had already risen, at an early age, to great consideration and eminence in the country party, was, in the common admission of all, a person of abilities at least equal to his father's. Like his father, after a youth spent in an active and uncompromising support of the popular cause, he enjoyed favour under the restored govern- ment, without any imputation of dishonour- able compliance with the altered spirit of the times. Clarendon says of him that, ' besides * the credit and reputation of his father, he * had a very good stock of estimation in the 30 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' House of Commons upon his own score ; for * truly he had very good parts of learning and * nature, and was privy to, and a great manager * in, the most secret designs from the begin- 4 ning ; and, if he had not encumbered himself ' with command in the army, to which men ' thought his nature not so well disposed, he 4 had sure been second to none in those coun- 1 sels, after Mr. Hampden's death.' His edu- cation at Geneva, and perhaps also the con- nexions into which, after his return, he was early thrown, had tended to excite in an ambitious and generous mind a thorough abhorrence of the course of church govern- ment in England. Wiser than Hazelrigge, and as much disposed to be forward in sup- porting or proposing the strongest measures, he and the younger Vane had, from the begin- ning of this Parliament, become useful and powerful leaders. With these also must be mentioned Lord Kimbolton, now rising high in esteem among those whom Clarendon calls * the select junto.' He was a well-bred man, of popular manners and address, and generally beloved not only on his own account, but on that of his father and uncle, both of whom had lived to a vene- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 31 rable age with honour and reputation ; the former for many years holding- the office of Lord Privy Seal. Early separating himself from their politicks, and becoming intimate with some of the leaders of the popular party by his marriage with the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, Kimbolton had, says Lord Clarendon, ' as full power in the House of * Commons as any man.' * A stock table was kept at Pym's lodgings in Gray's-Inn-Lane, where these, and a few others the most in each other's confidence, transacted business. Thither Hyde was often invited, until, perceiving in conversation with Fiennes and Martin the lengths to which they were prepared to go, he withdrew himself, and Colepepper, from their society. Cole- pepper and Hyde were soon after sent for by the King, and commanded by him to meet from time to time in council upon his affairs f. With less show of justification, Digby, too, having now entirely changed his course, was received into open favour by the Queen, and, more strangely, (when it is considered how * Clarendon. Life. t Ibid. 32 JOHN HAMPDEN, little he was fitted for it by any qualities of probity or discretion), into the closest confi- dence by the King. He was a man of a brilliant eloquence, an active spirit, and eminent address as a courtier. He had received, says Carte, ' a most elaborate edu- ' cation from his father, and had improved his ' natural parts by travel.' He was an inge- nious and accurate proficient in the exact sci- ences, and had, in his early youth, distin- guished himself not a little in theological con- troversy. But his restless and overweening vanity made him careless of all the essentials of a good fame, and as unsafe a counsellor to his master as he was an improvident guardian of his own reputation. His speech on the bill against Straiford had gained him, and not un- reasonably, great applause. But the eager- ness with which, as if unable to hold any even way of conduct or opinions, he rushed into the direct opposite of his former character and course, discrediting his former opinions, and denouncing his former connexions, leaves him on record, if not as one of the most perfi- dious, as one of the most absurd men of showy abilities whom that or any other age has pro- duced. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 33 The adventurous character of the career upon which the events of each successive day were now hurrying the country party, the perils which menaced the foremost, and the tempta- tions with which all were from time to time assailed, had introduced a very temporising spirit into many. It is generally the case during the period when the elements of any great change are beginning to work, that the popular counsels are encumbered by the pre- sence of some suspected persons, and often damaged by the treachery of others. It was so now in an eminent degree. Several profiting by the experience of Strafford's life, but neg- lecting the moral of his death, had deserted from the popular side ; others were wavering ; and many more appeared plainly to have attached themselves to it for the mere purpose of exhibiting themselves to the King for pur- chase. The impolicy of at once forcing such persons, in such times, from a hollow neutrality into active enmity, did not occur to the country party as soon as it ought. The trimmers were discarded and insulted in council and debate. They were treated with a contumely which took away from such base minds all desire to VOL. II. D 34 JOHN HAMPDEN, further dissemble their baseness. It has been well observed, that men's real qualities are very apt to rise or fall to the level of their reputation. So was it now with the trim- mers. And it may well be doubted whether Hampden's phrase was in this respect well timed, or chosen with his usual prudence, when he said that the trouble which had lately befallen the party ' had been attended ' With this benefit, that they knew who were 1 their friends.' * The largest number of all, though honest in their intentions for liberty, endeavoured to keep the means of retreat still open. In such a state of things, men of the rank, virtue, and courage of Fiennes and the younger Vane were eminently valuable to the leaders. Yet the courage of Fiennes was given to him in an unequal measure ; and his is one of the instances, not unfrequently met with, which show that courage is a faculty which may materially depend upon the different positions of responsibility in which the man is placed. There is no reason for imputing personal * Clarendon. Life. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 36 timidity to Nathaniel Fiennes. On the con- trary, his valour was often and eminently displayed ; nor was there ever, in the most hazardous moments, a bolder politician. Yet there never was a man whose timidity under a great military charge, such as that in which it was his misfortune to find himself when he commanded at the defence of Bristol, gave stronger proof of his consciousness that for such duties he was entirely unfit. Vane's principles were of a more unmixed sort ; and he had, in his early life, many great difficulties and allurements to struggle with. The son of a trading courtier, who had been the ready minister of two arbitrary Sove- reigns, the younger Sir Harry Vane main- tained and avowed, through every change of affairs, the most uncompromising attachment to the republican doctrines. This was ex- pressed by him, to his father's great displea- sure, upon his return from Geneva ; from which place, as from it's seminary, the spirit of popular liberty has so often gone forth to other nations, and in which it has so often found again an asylum when driven back and discomfited. He sought to cultivate these D2 36 JOHN HAMPDEN, principles, in their utmost speculative purity, in New England, where he was instantly raised, by acclamation, to the government of Massachussetts. In this office he openly coun- tenanced antinomian opinions, too absolutely exempt from all human controul both in church and state for even the settlers there. And so terminated his short career as a pre- sident and lawgiver ; which, when considered as the aspiring effort of a man of twenty-three years old, at the head of an infant society, in a new world, cannot but be thought to be too severely dealt with by both Neal and Baxter. Appointed, soon after his return, at his father's instance, to the treasurership of the Navy, he, nevertheless, took deep disgust at the measures of the court, and, throwing up his office, attached himself to the cause and fortunes of the country party ; a course suf- ficiently explained by the earliest and uniform dispositions of his mind ; but which has been lightly and injuriously impugned by some who have imputed it, without any probability of truth, to resentment on account of the morti- fied ambition and disappointed intrigues of his father. Unlike Hampden, whose profes- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. */ sions and views may be shewn to have been uniformly bounded to the establishment of a freedom guarded by limited monarchy, Vane's darling scheme throughout was a Platonick republick ; from the avowal of which he never swerved, even from the hour of his first appearance in the Long Parliament, to that at which he bravely met the fate to which he was unjustly doomed, for an act not only in which he had taken no part, but from which he had signally abstained. In religion and politicks equally an enthusiast, he was as stern and incorruptible in opposition to the sovereignty of Cromwell as he had been to that of Charles. His genius was shrewd and ardent, his judgement penetrating, his elo- quence glowing, and chastened by a better taste than was common among the orators of that time*. * In the matter so often alleged against Vane, respecting the discovery of the minutes of council on Stratford's case, as well as the scene of his publick reconciliation with his father by order of the House of Commons, whatever may have been the conduct of others, Vane's appears, on the strictest investi- gation, to have been high-minded and honourable. It seems more than probable that the father was moved, by the jealousies which had subsisted between him and Straffbrd, to direct his son to the box where the minutes lay, which, when discovered, it JOHN HAMPDEN, Strode was scarcely of sufficient importance, or Hazel rigge or Deering of sufficient discre- tion, to hold a place in the secret councils of the leading men. Dauntless and persevering in his course, whether selected by his party to post, in disguise, from Fawsley to the Scottish border, or, in his place in Parlia- ment, to move the bringing in of the Triennial Act, Hazelrigge was ever ready and faithful to sustain his allotted share of an action in the previous arranging of which he neither took nor desired to take a part. It was sufficient for him that it had the consent of Hampden, whose directing genius he held in the deepest veneration, and that it should be manifestly in furtherance of that great cause to which he was so entirely devoted. Deer- ing, also a subordinate actor, had neither the courage nor fidelity of Hazelrigge ; his name and station in an important county appear to became the son's duty to bring before the committee ; and that the son, duped by the father, and too high-minded to defend himself at the father's expense, bore the weight of his well-acted indignation, and suffered it to be still believed that the minute was found acci- dentally. This is the appearance clearly given to this transaction in Sir Ralph Verney's journal; the box in which these minutes were, (of which his father had sent him the key, with authority to use it,) was placed in his hand by his father's secretary. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. Jy have been, from the beginning, his only re- commendation in the eyes of those under whose direction he moved. Turbulent and selfish, and ever ambitious to concur in the strongest measures, when they seemed likely to advance him along the road of his personal .interest, he had none of that careless purity of purpose which, aiming at generous ends, pursues the most direct and rigourous means ; nor had he that discretion in the choice of his objects, or uniformity in his pursuit of them, which sometimes gives to even a bad or foolish consistency a false semblance of pub- lick virtue, Devoted to the most sordid aims of private advantage, he never rose higher than to be an instrument, working and con- trouled by the direction of others ; and, at length, baffled in his speculations of unjust profit to be derived from Parliamentary con- fiscations, he found himself sunk at once in fortune and in reputation. One person, and one only, was there in this confederacy whose powers seem to have long remained unknown and unmeasured by all but by the searching sagacity of his kinsman Hampden; and this was Oliver Cromwell, bur- 64083 40 JOHN HAMPDEN, gess for Cambridge ; who, with an ill-favoured countenance, a sharp untunable voice, an un- graceful address, a * plain cloth suit which * seemed to have been made by an ill country * taylor, and little band, none of the cleanest*,' had never yet risen to notice in debate, but by some occasional disjointed proposition, coarse in itself, and not recommended by the mode of the delivery. Yet this was he of whom, when Lord Digby asked, ' Pray, Mr. * Hampden, who is that man ? for I see he is * on our side by his speaking so warmly to- 1 day :' Hampden answered, ' That sloven ' whom you see before you hath no ornament ' in his speech ; but that sloven, I say, if we ' should ever come to a breach with the King, * (which God forbid !) in such a case, I say, ' that sloven will be the greatest man in 1 Englandf!' The prophecy was more than accomplished. He lived not only to be the first man in Eng- land, but to fill the most extraordinary station to which any man in England was ever raised by the most extraordinary fortune and abili- * Sir Philip Warwick's Memoirs, t Sir Richard Bulstrode's Memoirs. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 41 ties. Dishonoured by one great over-master- ing vice, he had not one weakness. And, perhaps, it is but truth to say of Cromwell, that the deep inscrutable dissimulation which, in the later days of his career, he summoned to his aid against both foreign and domestick machination, to baffle the assaults at once of the despotick powers of Europe and the de- mocratick spirits of England, was a vice rather called forth by the difficulties of his position than forming an original or natural part among his wondrous qualities. Flattered and magnified by the praises of those who were the creatures of his greatness, he has also been the subject of more vulgar and savage malignity than, perhaps, ever assailed the memory of any other human creature. He was pursued by the hatred of those who opposed his usurpation or were the open ene- mies of his tyranny ; and it has been likewise the trade of many who had crouched before his footstool, with corresponding baseness, to insult over his grave. The courtiers and statesmen of Europe, for one generation at least, were all leagued in this work. For the statesmen of foreign nations were those whom 42 JOHN HAMPDEN, he had discomfited, and upon whose disgrace, or with whose enforced assistance, he had raised the glory of England to no second rank of fame among empires. The statesmen of England forgot, after the Restoration, the greatness he had achieved for their country, or remembered it too well ever to forgive the .contrast in which it stood to her degrada- tion under the sway of their restored master. The courtiers of all nations hated the memory of one who had shewed that a nation could be governed gloriously without a court. Those of France were eager to revile the memory of him to whom their greatest minister had yielded the palm of his continental policy ; whom their vain and arrogant prince had been forced to address as his * brother ;' who, with 6000 Englishmen, had eclipsed the glories of their nation at Dunkirk ; and who had brought the ablest of their negociators to confess an at- tempted and baffled fraud. He had shamed Kings, himself at the head of a people whom he governed only through a sense that he was the fittest man in the country to govern them ; and, at that hour, when it may be believed that, with all men, dissimulation is HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 43 at an end, he breathed his last words forth in a prayer of simple but affecting resignation, commending his own soul to mercy, but, with it, the never-neglected fortunes of a country whose gratitude had not kept pace with his immortal services. Cromwell, at the beginning, probably sin- cere, was doubtless a dissembler from the hour at which he aspired to rule ; but he had to deal with many bad men ; and dissimulation i was the weapon which they used. Cromwell took it up, and vanquished them. Cromwell was a tyrant ; but, of his personal ambition, this is truly to be said, that it was never seen but identified with the greatness of his country. Nor has the unfairness of party zeal been much less actively employed to defame as well as to extol the reputation of Pym, who may be called the colleague of Hampden in the government of the country party. For eight and twenty successive years after the Restoration, powerful pens were incessantly employed to desecrate the ashes of the great men of the generation which had just gone by; and as their descriptions have not un- 44 JOHN HAMPDEN, naturally been taken as models upon which most of the later historians have formed their own, the character of Pym is not likely to have received favourable measure. With a courage that never quailed, a vigilance that never slept, a severity, sharp as the sun- beam to penetrate, and rapid as the thunder- bolt to consume, Pym was the undaunted, indefatigable, implacable, foe, of every measure and of every man that threatened to assail the power of the Parliament, or to destroy the great work which was in hand for the people and posterity. When the citadel of publick liberty was menaced, Pym defended it as one who thought in such a battle all arms lawful. That his parts were, according to Mr. Hume's phrase, ' more fitted for use than ornament,' is little to say of those abilities which, after the Earl of Bedford's death, and when Pym was unsupported by any other influence, raised him to the rank in the estimation of his opponents of being one of the * Parlia- ment Drivers,'* and gave to him in their * Wood's Athenaa. Persecutio Undecima. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 45 phraseology the nickname of ' King Pym.' His great experience in the practice of Par- liament, on which his authority was hardly inferiour to that of Selden himself, gave to Pym the greatest advantages of preparedness in debate. His efforts were mainly directed to maintain the privileges and power of the Commons. His ruling maxim was that which he expressed on Strafford's impeachment ' Parliaments, without parliamentary power, * are but afair and plausible way into bondage/ Nor was he less well versed in the business of the Treasury than of the House. A man so forward and powerful, and by the court so hated, and so feared, was sure to be assailed with calumnies the most virulent and the most improbable. Accordingly the almost repulsive austerity of Pym's habits and de- meanour could not protect him against the foolish imputation of having won over the beauteous Countess of Carlisle, by a softer in- fluence than that of political agreement, to the interests of the country party ; and a modern author, to whom it has been necessary to ad- vert more than once in these memorials, after a fanciful picture of Pym's system of secret 46 JOHN HAMPDEN, intelligence, ends with discovering a close resemblance between his stern unbending course and the occupation and office of a ' French Lieutenant of Police.' Nor are such extravagances very surprizing or unpardon- able in writers of small account, when we see the grave and lofty Clarendon himself record- ing the disproved statement, so industriously circulated by some of the Royalists, that the death of Pym was caused by a loathsome dis- ease, and then condescending to countenance a superstitious belief that it was the wrath of heaven manifesting itself against the publick acts of the old man's life ; thus leaving us to conclude between the probabilities of a miracle and a calumny. In either case, how injudi- cious in the adherents of the unhappy family of the Stuarts to insist upon accounting the worldly misfortunes of men as visible judge- ments upon their political offences ! On the other hand, Baxter gives to Pym, with Hamp- den and with Vane, an assured place among the highest mansions of the blessed*. And if there ever was a man who would have * Baxter's Saint's Rest.' HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 47 been less likely than another to assign such praise to one whom, in his heart, he thought justly chargeable with blame, that man was the pious and honest Baxter. Hampden's powers, which were now vigour- ously exerting themselves in parliamentary debate, were of a different sort from those of the other popular leaders. He was not a frequent speaker ; nor, when the course of a discussion called upon him to take his part in it, did he sacrifice any thing to a vain display of words and figures, which was so general a vice in the rhetorick of those days ; nor did he indulge himself in those violences of invective or exaggerations of illustration of which so many instances are found in the published speeches of the rest. His practice was usually to reserve himself untill near the close of a debate ; and then, having watched it's progress, to endeavour to moderate the redundancies of his friends, to weaken the impression produced by his opponents, to confirm the timid, and to reconcile the reluc- tant. And this he did, according to the testi- mony of his opponents themselves, with a modesty, gentleness and apparent diffidence 48 JOHN HAMPDEN, in his own judgement which usually brought men round to his conclusions. It is natural that Clarendon, in his unmitigated hatred of Hampden, and of the cause in which he suc- cessfully directed the spirits and minds of others, should give to that triumphant genius, tempered by modesty and guided by discre- tion, the name of craft ; and that, labouring to represent him as a bad man whom all out- ward evidence had raised high in publick affection and esteem, he should pronounce that, from the time when Hampden and Hyde were opposed to each other, * there ' never was a man less what he seemed to be * than Mr. Hampden.' About this time a difference arose in the party, with respect to the course of publick affairs, between those who were called the religious, and the political, Puritans. Of those who were called the religious Puritans, the less considerable of the two classes both as to number and influence, Pym was accounted the leader. Of this schism in the junto the King tried to avail himself; but in vain. For, no sooner did any question of state grievance, apart from that on which they were divided, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 49 appear, but they were again found closely and eagerly united. Yet the bill for abolishing episcopacy was a prominent and practical question, concerning which, not only the party was at issue within itself, but Pym and Hamp- den, the ' Parliament drivers,' were opposed to each other. To the first proposal touch- ing ' root and branch,' the rashness of Arch- bishop Williams had much contributed. The grounds on which the protest of the bishops, against the bill restraining the clergy from civil office, was placed, were doubtless a high breach of the privileges of the Lords, and a denial of the power of an act of Parliament. For, not content with defending the parlia- mentary and other franchises of their own order, they went in effect the monstrous length of resisting the legality of all votes of the Lords at the passing of which they and their brethren should not assist. Into this ill advised course they were betrayed by the hasty temper of the Archbishop, kindling at the violence of a mob which had impeded his passage through Palace Yard. It led at once to the impeachment of those who subscribed their names to it, as having questioned the VOL. II. E 50 JOHN HAMPDEN, power of Acts of Parliament ; an offence which, if it did not amount to fit matter of commitment for treason, was evidence at least of a madness, sufficient (as Lord Clarendon says was remarked at the time) to justify their being placed in a confinement of another and scarcely a milder sort. But among these struggles, the foundations of the constitution were broken up, and its elements in conflict. The efforts of the court to regain the lost ground of arbitrary pre- rogative, and those of the Parliament to strengthen its own defences, became more frequent and less disguised. In nothing does the deep feeling which the Parliament had of its own strength appear more remarkably than in its conduct towards the Scots, when we remember that it was to renew his enter- prize against them that Charles had called the Parliament together. With as little good discretion as good faith, and choosing rather to put his trust in the force of national jealousies than in the popularity of his own government, he had, in his speech at the opening of the session, gone the length of calling the Scottish army rebels ; and this too HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 51 during a treaty. The Parliament seemed for a while to disregard this phrase. But in exactly three months after, the disposition of Parliament was plainly shewn by voting under the name of a ' brotherly assistance,' upon a petition from the Scots, a grant of three hundred thousand pounds, * as a fit pro- ' portion towards the supply of the losses and ' necessities of our brethren of Scotland *.' In such a conflict it was clear that the system of government itself must dissolve, or that, of its two great powers thus put in action against each other, one must effec- tually and signally prevail, and thus the balance be destroyed. The Triennial bill alone, as we have seen, was but a poor defence against any King who might be disposed to look to his army as a resource against his Parliament, and who had still the prerogative of dissolution in his hands, so often before abused in practice, and lately again appealed to as a menace. Another Act had therefore been passed, which in truth rendered the two Houses entirely * Commons Journals, Feb. 3. E 2 52 JOHN HAMPDEN, independent of the Crown ; and two Houses entirely independent of the Crown must soon become the sovereign authority of the state. This was the famous act by which the Parlia- ment declared itself indissoluble but with it's own consent. What rendered this necessary was the state of the treaty with the Scots ; which, if hastily concluded, would have placed at Charles's disposal a great army, the leaders of which he was at the least countenancing in plots against the Parlia- ment*. But that it was establishing a power, which could be justified only upon its neces- sity, no man can deny. It was not in ignorance that Charles had thus hung the fate of his prerogative on the verge of the slippery precipice on which he now stood. But he had disguised the danger to himself, still looking forward to those false hopes with which the ambitious boldness 01 StrafFord and the wanton violence of Laud had so long deceived him. His astonishment at the threatened inroad on his darling pre- rogative, (and he now saw his difficulties in * Guthrie. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 53 their full extent,) deprived him of the power of meeting it with prudence or with firm- ness. It was besides a part of his character, as it is with many obstinate persons, when driven to retract or qualify his course, to rush for a while into the opposite extreme, as if it were to shame and spite the fortune which had checked him. In addition to these infirmities of temper and purpose, a sanguine, but not very distinct, calculation of relief from his army influenced him even in these concessions. They thus became part of a temporary policy by which he expected to amuse his Parliament untill the Scots army might be disbanded, and his own left free for him to deal with*. * The Pere d'Orleans treats the question of Charles's motives doubtfully. He prepares himself however for either case ; and frames this singular justification for Charles, even though it should appear that he played a false part in these transactions, or gave a false account of them when he afterwards became, as the court party endeavoured to make out that he was in the Eikon, the his- torian of his own conduct. ' Tout le monde' says the Jesuit, ' en ' fut si surpris qu'on y crut de la politique. On s'imagina que ' ce prince n'accordoit tant que pour revoquer tout ; que par des * negotiations secretes il se preparoit a la guerre, et a rompre avec * I'epSe les liens qu'il se faisoit avec la plume. II s'en justifie * dans son livre comme d'un procedee contraire a la bonne foi dont * il se piquoit. II fit ce livre dans un temps ofc il avoit inter et de 54 JOHN HAMPDEN, Rapin believes that the King's compliances were furthermore occasioned by a belief that the Parliament might be tempted by them into demands so plainly unreasonable as to materially strengthen his case in the publick opinion ; and M. de Guizot inclines to the same notion. But this is surely searching too deep for the solution of a conduct suffi- ciently to be accounted for in a more obvious way. It is seldom the custom with arbitrary princes to make any surrender of substantial power for the less important object of enlist- ing an additional argument on their side. On the contrary, instead of being led out of their way to strengthen their case in publick opinion, their mistake has usually been, when meditating an assault upon liberty, rather to undervalue publick opinion, and therefore ' parler ainsi, quand la chose eut ete autrement. II etoit entre les ' mains de ses ennemis, captif, et a leur discretion, ne desesperant ' pas neanmoins de s'accommoder encore avec eux. Rien ne lui ' importait davantage que deloigner tons les soupfons dune con- duite dissimuUe. L'on voit me me que cette Ecrit a ete fait pour ' Stre lu par d'autres que par des confidens. Ainsi ce livre ne ' convainc pas que Charles fut aussi peu politique qu'il affecte de ' le paroitre enfin de passer pour sincere." No part of this pas- sage is in irony. Alas for an unhappy prince whose memory has such apologists I HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 55 too much to neglect all appeals to it. Nor should we be justified in lightly supposing Charles guilty of so foul a crime as, among other compliances, to surrender his servant to death, in order to decoy his opponents into demands which might afterwards give him the means of destroying them also. Whatever may have been the motives of Charles, this at least is certain ; the plan of his opponents was more prudent and more prosperous. Both King and Parliament were now paying court to the Scots. Whatever the Scots might have thought of the King, they were wise enough to see that it was the interest at all events of the Parliament to be sincere with them. On the side of the Parlia- ment then lay their safety. The Parliament, on their part, were more and more convinced that the motives of the King's compliances were not sincere. They therefore fortified themselves against his insincerity, in the meanwhile, by availing themselves of these compliances and extorting others ; untill the King, when his blow was to have been struck, found the weapon in his hands rendered powerless by his own act, and new means of incalculable strength placed in those of the 56 JOHN HAMPDEN, bold and wary adversaries with whom he had been dealing. He had not been prepared for the consequences of the first assault. It had not only deprived him of the counsels of his two chief advisers, StrafFord and Laud, but it had made wreck of their whole system, and had involved in the same ruin almost all the inferiour agents, striking speechless, mo- tionless, and hopeless, the few and insignifi- cant that remained. The greater number were permitted to escape from personal arrest. RatclifFe was released, but retired beyond sea, and the Lord Keeper Finch, and Secretary Sir Francis Windebanke, fled. Against Windebanke divers petitions had been presented, complaining of illegal war- rants issued by him, particularly for the dis- charge of prosecutions against Roman Catho- lick Seminary Priests*. It was also known, * The course taken in these cases, particularly in that of Good- man the Jesuit, has been rather uncandidly represented as a perse- cution of them merely as clergymen professing the Roman Catholick religion. This was not so. They were proceeded against as Priests engaged in the education of youth. The law was a cruel and unjust one. But the power assumed by the Crown to dispense with it was illegal. The struggle was with the Crown, not with the Seminary Priests. And it must be observed that, the point having been gained with the Crown, and execution being in the hands of the Parliament, it was not carried into effect. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 5*7 that the Secretary had been for a while co- vertly, and afterwards openly, in communion with their Church. Finch was brought to the bar of the Commons, and there arraigned of his practices against privilege and law, in arti- cles setting forth his refusal, while speaker, to put certain resolutions of the House to the vote, and his advice to the Crown, and his charges on the Circuit, while Chief Justice, in the matter of the Ship money. He was admitted to speak in reply. On his knees he pleaded to the jurisdiction of the House, and, in a speech of eloquent but piteous apology, professed his devotion to the privileges of Parliament, and his sorrow if in any sort he had offended against them. The triumph of the popular party thus far was complete. Finch was impeached by an unanimous vote. It was moved by Lorcl Falkland, with an asperity, says Lord Clarendon, * contrary to ' the usual gentleness of his nature,' calling him ' a silent speaker, an unjust judge, and ' an unconscionable keeper; bringing all law ' from His Majesty's courts into His Majes- ' ty's breast, and giving our goods to the ' King, and our liberties to the sheriffs ; so 58 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' that there was no way by which we had not ' been oppressed and destroyed, if the power * of this person had been equal to his will, * or the will of the King equal to his power*.' Windebanke did not even face his accusers with any answer to their charge. Holland was chosen by him as a place of refuge, and France by Finch. The letters which, from their exile, they both addressed to the Parlia- ment, were in accordance with their deport- ment under accusation ; Finch excusing him- self, as he had done in his speech, by humble expressions of submission, and Windebanke by laying the whole blame on the King. M. Guizot concludes that their escape was countenanced by the ' Junto ;' and with good reason. To pardon them, and to proceed to the utmost extent of penalty against Straf- ford, would have been impracticable ; yet, on the other hand, much more was to be gained for the popular cause by the abject submission and pusillanimous flight of it's enemies than by the shedding of their blood. The event justified the policy ; nor can there be a doubt * Falkland's Speech on the articles brought up by him to the Lords. Jan. 14th. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 59 that the court was as much discredited in the eyes of all men, by the self-degradation of the keeper and secretary, as was the popular cause by the courageous bearing of Strafford, and, afterwards, of Laud. It would have been better for the Parliament if the lieutenant and the archbishop had also been of a temper to barter reputation for life. Chief Justice Bramston, Chief Baron Da- venport, and Judge Crawley, were held to bail for their appearance to answer to charges, principally on ship-money ; and Judge Berke- ley was apprehended upon Speaker Lenthall's warrant while sitting in his own court of King's Bench* ; such was the pervading and irresisti- ble power of the House. Smart, prebendary of Durham, and Alexander Jennings, a gentle- man of Buckinghamshire, the latter of whom had been imprisoned for resisting payment of ship-money, and whose bail had been re- fused, had now reparation made to them of all costs and damages ; and the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Sir Edward Littleton, was entrusted with the great seal. This was * Whitelocke. Parliamentary History. 60 JOHN HAMPDEN, probably not an improper, and certainly not an unpopular, appointment. With the single exception of Selden, with whom he had lived and studied long, Littleton was, perhaps, the greatest lawyer in England. Withoutthe energy or firmness of St. John, and, perhaps, with less of natural ability, he was a man of more moderation, and better qualified by rank in his profession, as well as by his political cha- racter, to be a mediating minister, in such times, between King and people. His early bias, like that of most lawyers, had been to the side of liberty ; but his tone in defence of it had been qualified and subdued by the nearer prospect of professional advancement. Littleton had, during two eventful sessions, sided vehemently with the country party in Parliament. He had, with Sir John Eliot, undertaken to manage the charge against the Duke of Buckingham of poisoning the late King, and was appointed, with Coke and Sir Dudley Digges, to carry the Petition of Right to the Lords. But he was saved, by prefer- ment, from continuing to render himself con- spicuous in a course which brought upon several of those with whom he had been HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. Gl associated such frequent and severe persecu- tions. On his father's death he was rapidly advanced, through a Welch judgeship, to the office of Solicitor-general, and, in 1639, to the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas. Though Littleton cannot with truth be accused of having changed his politicks, they were of an undefined and temporiz- ing sort. It required a lofty sense of publick duty, in those days, to save a lawyer from corruption; and Littleton never was corrupt. He never was prevailed upon, for the sake of acquiring office or retaining it, to devote him- self to the purposes of the court ; and, when Chief Justice, he was selected by both Houses to lay before the King their Address of Thanks for the passing of the Triennial Bill. Nor, even after he had placed himself by the King's side at Oxford with the great seal, did he ever entirely abandon the cause for which the Parliament were contending, or ever ac- quire the entire favour of his master. In pursuing the story of the proceedings against StrafFord, it was necessary to pass over several transactions of great import- ance, concurrent with it in respect of time. 62 JOHN HAMPDEN, Among these was the negociation, slightly alluded to before, for admitting the principal leaders of the coimtry party into prominent and responsible office. The design, as is well known, was broken off by the death of the Earl of Bedford, who seems to have indulged the notion that Strafford might have been saved by the compromise ; a weak and groundless expectation ; to provide for Strafford's safety by raising to power men who knew that their own safety as well as that of the cause for which they had risked everything, depended upon bringing him to publick execution. Pym was to have been Chancellor of the Exchequer in the room of Cottington ; Hollis Secretary of State; and Lord Essex Governor, and John Hampden tutor, to the Prince of Wales. It is an unprofitable and endless occupation to speculate upon what might have been the event of an arrangement which never took place, and which, if it had taken place, must have given a totally different course to publick affairs. The enquiry with which some writers have amused themselves, as to how far the vices of a character so mean and so depraved as that of Charles the Second were vices oi HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 63 nature, or how far of education, is of small consequence either to the historian or philo- sopher. None of the facts or lessons of his- tory are affected by such an enquiry. We have already seen, faintly shadowed out by Hampden himself, in his letters to Eliot, his own views of the fit education of a young man. This, then, may be safely predicated, nor is it worth while to go further ; that by the failure of an arrangement by which Hampden would have been appointed to form the habits of the future Sovereign of his country, one of the worst of pupils was taken from one of the greatest of masters. The difficulty must be spared to posterity of deter- mining whether or not Charles the Second could have come forth, such as he afterwards was, from the hands of John Hampden. The object of such of the country party as had any views or interest in these projects, was to effect a great change in the administra- tion, not only about the person and court of the King, but principally in the revenue. The King perceived this design, and thwarted it, even before Bedford's death ; and this was seen in the result, in the arrangements that 64 JOHN HAMPDEN, failed, and in those that were effected. The Treasurership was only transferred to one of the court party, the Earl of Middleton * ; the Chancellorship of the Exchequer remained; the Privy Council was encreased ; the Court of Wards and the Solicitor Generalship were made peace-offerings to the people. The King had no violent repugnance to admitting per- sons from the popular side to his presence ; but he kept the responsible offices of the re- venue in hands which he could controul. Thus a negociation, supposed by the Tory writers to have been begun for the purpose of saving Lord Strafford, and, according to the insinuations of some, to have nearly triumphed over the virtue of the country party, ended, not in conciliating that party not in delay- ing them from their object, but in giving them the additional power of pursuing it with the agency of a crown lawyer. All levies of ship-money were declared for the future to be * Juxon desired leave to resign the treasurership. With the utmost fidelity to his master throughout, even to that master's last moments, Juxon never intermeddled in politicks or faction ; and, says Sir Philip Warwick, during all the troubles was never ques- tioned or molested. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 65 illegal ; the Star Chamber was utterly abo- lished ; it's judgements were struck off the file ; and, above all, the levying of the revenue of Customs placed by law for evermore under the controul of Parliament. Nor did the Commons stop here. But the event which, falling out at this time, went the furthest to colour, if not to justify, the assumption of the whole power of the state by Parliament, was the conduct and discovery of the Army Plot. How far Charles was a party in the main design of then march- ing a portion of the northern army upon Lon- don to dissolve the Parliament, is doubtful. That at one time he deterred the conspirators from the attempt to put it into execution is certain ; but it is equally so that he counter- signed, with his own initials, the * Army Of- ficers' Petition.' That he corresponded with the principal conspirators, and continued his countenance to them during a great part of the action of the plot, appears under his own hand ; and Newcastle's papers sufficiently shew that it had been part of his original pro- ject, a very short time before, to bring up the army, and that he now maintained a secret communication with it through the dangerous VOL. IT. F 66 JOHN HAMPDEN, agency of these wild and desperate intriguers. The royalist writers, indeed, generally do not deny this, but content themselves with justi- fying it ; and of the Queen's active partici- pation in the whole plot there is no doubt*. The evidence of it, which appeared before Parliament, unquestionably assisted the ob- jects of the country party, and continued to keep the publick mind in a state of alarm which, though, perhaps, oftenest found ser- viceable to the purposes of a government, is sometimes of no small use to a party in oppo- sition to a government. But the imputation of fable and of artifice with which Lord Clarendon endeavours to dissemble the reali- ties of the whole transaction, (confounding it with others less genuine, and entirely pass- ing by all that was important in the confes- sions of Percy and Goring,) is most disin- genuous ; the more so in him, since he had, a short time before, himself been eagerly em- ployed in pursuing the evidence of another design to be executed by the soldiery, and had, in consequence, taken up the message of the Lords concerning the expected attempt to * Madame de Motteville. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 67 rescue Lord Strafford from the Tower*; both of which facts he keeps out of sight. There was abundant evidence of a spirit in the army, in the courtiers, and in the King, jointly, which rendered some very extra- ordinary and lasting measures necessary for providing for the safety of the House. Ac- cordingly great pains have been taken by the court party, in their writings, to draw atten- tion away from those outrages of which there was undeniable evidence, in order to expose the over-coloured statements of fanciful and groundless panick, of which, in such times, and in such a conflict of passions, there was not a little felt, and, perhaps, not a little feigned. That many false alarms were excited and many false plots bruited about, is unques- tionably true. True, also, that the mind of the Parliament was so harassed by the informa- tions it received, that, on one occasion, the breaking down of a bench in the gallery under two corpulent gentlemen, Mr. Moyle and Mr. Chamberlayne, threw the House, for a mo- ment, into such a sudden amazement, that a cry arose of a second gunpowder plotf. In * Commons' Journals, April 28. t Carte. F2 68 JOHN HAMPDEN, truth, the fair way of looking at the question of the reality of the dangers, at different times and from different quarters, apprehended, is to rest the cases mainly on the testimony of those who could not have been parties with the Parliament in any exaggeration of them, and which shew, beyond question, the exist- ence of a rash but deep-laid scheme to destroy the Parliament by military force. The Mar- chioness of Newcastle cannot be suspected of becoming intentionally a favourable witness ; yet, in the * Life of her Husband,' written by her, we have the comment on the evidence which his own correspondence affords of the King's settled intention being already formed of * securing his interests in the north ' against his Parliament, by which he was * unjustly and unmannerly treated.' The information, it appears, had long been in the possession of Pym. The principal agents in it were known ; but, because they were known, (and a knowledge of the chief- tains accounted for the unscrupulous charac- ter of the enterprize,) it was difficult to make men believe in the real importance of it. Charles's Presence Chamber and Council HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 69 Board had been for some time beset with soldiers of fortune and mere men of pleasure, who, from the Queen's favour, soon found their way, if not into the entire confidence of the King, at least into his good graces which they believed to be his entire confidence. And they acted accordingly. The conspiracy was guided by two amatory poets, two mere profligates, and two young men of family who were only known to the country, the one as being a Roman Catholick whose uncle had been engaged in the Gunpowder Treason, the other as having received his education amid the morals and politicks of the French court. Suckling and Davenant, Jermyn* and Goring, Percy and Wilmot, with the rash Jack Ashburhham and a few subordinate agents, were the actors in a plot which was to move a great army upon Lon- * The ' particular and afterwards suspicious affection,' as Guthrie terms it, which the Queen bore towards Jermyn, was, (if we may believe the Earl of Dartmouth, on the testimony of his father,) made the means, under the adroit management of the Countess of Carlisle, for putting a very important secret of Henrietta's private history into the power of the Marquis of Hamilton, and raising that nobleman, whom she before had detested, high in her favour. See Lord Dartmouth's Notes on Bui-net, Hist. Own Times, Edit. Oxon. 1823. 70 JOHN HAMPDEN, don, capture the Parliament, secure the sea- ports, negociate foreign succours, and turn back from the footstool of the Throne that flowing tide of popular power before which Strafford, at the head of the councils of England and of the government of Ireland, had stood in vain and had been overwhelmed. For the Parliamentary leaders to allow the King to see that they were aware of the desperate nature of the scheme, before they might be able to bring it to publick proof, would have been perilous in the highest degree. Still no time was to be lost in deranging it's machinery, and at all events in providing for the Scots being kept together and on good terms with the Parliament. A middle course therefore was adopted. As early as the 7th of January a committee had been established, * Concerning the Pub- lick Safety,' of which Hampden was a mem- ber and manager. And now it was that the vote of a * brotherly assistance ' of 300,000/. to the Scots was passed* ; the King was addressed * Clarendon, in' his account of these transactions, complains much of this vote, saying that ' foreigners were paid, and the English not.' What can be thought of the honesty or the value HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 71 in general terms on the subject of plots and dangers ; on the Irish army ; on the publick discontents, and against the introduction of foreign troops ; and, at length, on the 9th of May, by a bold proposition, an unanimous Declaration was obtained, signed and sworn to by all the members of the Commons, and by all the Lords but two, for the defence of religion, privilege, and liberty. At one blow the Army Plot was ruined. The King saw that it was known to the Junto; that they were preparing to make it known to the country; that the Scottish army, which he hoped would disband for want of money, was supplied with means to keep itself entire ; and that his own army, which he hoped to have at his disposal, was still to be occupied for a of Clarendon's animadversions, when it is seen that in this case, as in that of the conference with the Lords concerning the plot to rescue Strafford from the Tower, Clarendon has kept back in his History the whole fact of his having himself borne a very con- siderable part in it ? It was Hyde himself who brought up the report of the Com- mittee recommending the ' brotherly assistance,' and managed the conference upon it. Comm. Journ. 20 Martii, post merid. He was afterwards on the Committee with Hampden and others to negociate with the City the loan of ,120,000, in part of this ' assistance.' Comm. Journ. 25 Martii, post merid. 72 JOHN HAMPDEN, renewed period in watching it. The con- spirators took the alarm. Jermyn fled to France, and Percy to concealment in the house of his brother the Duke of North- umberland; Wilmot and Pollard were com- mitted to the Gate-house, together with Ash- burnham, who never undertook any design that he did not help to ruin by his indiscre- tion ; and the infamous Goring, who never joined in any cause that he did not help to ruin by his treachery, saved himself by giving early intimation to Pym of his willing- ness to divulge all*. Lord Kimbolton and two others were accordingly sent to Ports- mouth, where Goring commanded, to take his information ; and Hampden and Hollis to Alnwick, to examine the Duke of North- umberland touching his brother's corre- spondence : directions were despatched by the Speaker's warrant to secure the other ports in Hants, Dorsetshire, Guernsey, and Jersey, and to put the train bands in readiness ; Sir * ' Goring,' says Sir Philip Warwick, ' is said to have betrayed ' them all, as he did ; but he swore to me, (which was no great ' assurance,) that he never revealed it till he certainly knew that ' the chief members of both Hpuse,s were before acquainted with 'it,' HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 73 John Hotham and Sir Hugh Cholmley were sent to the north, Sir Walter Earle to the west, and the King was addressed to appoint the Earl of Essex Lieutenant of York, ' in this time of danger*.' A letter was more- over directed by the Speaker to Sir John Coniers and Sir Jacob Asteley, commanding the army in the north, prepared by Hampden as Chairman of the Committee of Seven. It set forth the general * causes of jealousy that ' there have been some secret attempts and * practices' with the army ; that the House intends to enquire into the conspiracy, * for * the purpose of proceeding especially against 1 the principal actors therein/ promising free- dom from all punishment to such as had been worked upon by such conspirators, * if * they shall testify their fidelity to the State ' by a timely discovery of what they know, ' and can certify therein ; ' engaging to ' satisfy * all such arrears as this House hath formerly * promised to discharge,' and directing the generals to communicate these things to all under their command^. To whatever extent the connexion of Charles * Sir Ralph Verney's Notes, t Comra, Journ, 8 May, 74 JOHN HAMPDEN, with the rash scheme of the Army Plot had gone, it affords a clue to all the concessions that he was now making to his Parliament. Without his army all attempts to recover his lost ground were hopeless, except by casting himself frankly upon his Parliament and people, which was the only course he never could bring himself to adopt, arid which in truth would now have been received by them with a degree of suspicion too well justified by all his former conduct. Without money he could not maintain his army, and, without the Royal assent being previously given to the concessions which the Parliament demanded, the Parliament would not give the money. A poll tax meanwhile was in progress for the payment of both armies, of five per cent, on all expended income, and an additional tax on all patents and titles. But the tone and attitude of the Commons had undergone a material change. The forms of petition were studiously and punctiliously observed, but in such a manner as to shew the King that the House was aware of the violence he meditated against it's privileges and it's existence. It recognised the power HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 75 of the sword as in him ; but pointed distantly at the limitations under which that power was to be exercised, and even at the circum- stances under which the publick safety might demand that the controul of Parlia- ment should extend over his use of that power. He was told that, in a free state, it is given to the Sovereign for the defence of the people and of that form of government of which the House of Commons is a part. He was told that his officers were in a conspiracy against the State, and he was told moreover to whom the chief command in one of the largest provinces of his kingdom ought, for the pub- lick safety, to be entrusted. These doubtless were extraordinary powers assumed by the Parliament; and it is equally true that by degrees these demands were rising to an amount quite irreconcileable with any just notion of a form of government in which the monarchical principle was to have it's due influence upon the balance. It had not, as yet, made any claim of power over the army. But it was laying ground for this claim, in case that future circumstances should render the exercise of it necessary. And this is not 76 JOHN HAMPDEN, the English Constitution. Still there is the constantly recurring question : by what other means was any balanced form of government to be protected against Charles the First How could the power and authority of Par- liament have been otherwise preserved, to be again reduced within it's proper dimensions under the sway of some succeeding Prince ? Short of having these powers in it's hands, could the House of Commons have reasonably hoped to survive one week, with the supplies voted, Scotland tranquillized, a standing army of soldiers and a standing army of lawyers at the disposal of the King, and those who had destroyed his friend and minister cast power- less at his discretion ? The Parliament knew, by experience often repeated, the whole poli- tical and moral scheme of Charles's govern- ment. His policy, the restoration of the absolute prerogative royal, such as it had been claimed by the Plantagenets and the Tudors, and his moral creed justifying the effecting of this restoration by all and any means of fraud or force. His conduct, from as far back as the time of giving the royal assent to the Petition of Right, to that of his cor- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. " respondence with the army plotters, was an ineffaceable and renewed proof that no bond of treaty or accommodation with him, of which Parliament did not hold the security in it's own hands, was of any value. The true way of judging of the conduct of the Long Parlia- ment in these transactions, is to compare it with the conduct of the Convention Parlia- ment in 1688 ; under circumstances not iden- tical, not similar in all their parts, but so nearly analogous that the only very marked difference in Charles's favour is, that James had an example in memory which his father had not ; and this, though mitigating the case for Charles, in no way lowers, in the compari- son, the justification of his Parliament. James the Second once endeavoured to govern for three years without Parliaments : Charles had done so five times, in violation of personal engagements such as James had never entered into, and had governed without a Parliament for a period of nearly twelve years. James the Second assumed a power to dispense with the known laws of the land, and threat- ened and begun a transfer of church property, and the restoration of popery. Charles had JOHN HAMPDEN, actually dispensed with the known laws of the land, in cases of confiscation, taxation, billeting, imprisonment, banishment, pillory, and mutilation. He, indeed, may fairly be supposed never to have meditated the restora- tion of popery ; but he had effected the esta- blishment of a sort of popery in Protestant clothing, more hostile to civil liberty than any which had ever been endured by the English nation from the time of King John to that of Henry the Eighth, when England boasted, and the world believed, that the shackles of priestly tyranny had been broken for ever. In Scotland he had striven to esta- blish the rites of the Church of England, con- trary to law and to his oath. In England, he had not only cast off, but made war upon, the old reforming principle of the English church, leaning for support upon that limb of her dis- cipline which was of the nature of that eccle- siastical government which she had broken, and was, therefore, most distasteful generally to the people. Yet the Long Parliament had not, like that of the Convention, voted these acts a virtual abdication of the throne, nor had it proceeded, by it's own authority, to HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 79 dispossess the Sovereign of his title and bestow it elsewhere. Probably, it may be answered, because it had not yet the power ; perhaps so ; but be that as it may, surely it is not just to blame the Parliament of Charles, not having the power, because it did not take the direct course of power which was taken by the Parliament of James. The time for taking the pledge of the royal word was passed. The ruling party had learned the lesson, that it never is any part of the moral law of an arbitrary Sovereign to keep faith with such of their subjects as have resisted them. History abounds with instances of engagements solemnly ratified between arbitrary Kings and their people after advantages gained on the popular side : it affords not one of an arbitrary King who has ever observed any such engagements when the power of breaking them has returned to him. The question of whether Charles was to be resisted at all is a separate one ; but, if to be resisted, surely it would have been madness in the Parliament to trust to his faith without the security of an hostage. The Parliament proceeded, therefore, gra- 80 JOHN HAMPDEN. dually and warily, in a defensive course, to- wards an assumption of power, which could alone protect it against the assaults which it was in evidence before them that the King had in his immediate contemplation. It pro- ceeded gradually to withdraw from the Crown all means of violence, until the Crown might be found on the head of some prince who might be trusted with such prerogative as is compatible with liberty, and is an essential part of a free monarchy. \ It was in this spirit that Hampden, when, at a more advanced period of the dispute, he was asked, ' what he would require that the ' King should do ?' answered, ' That he place ' himself, with his children, and all that he ( hath, in our hands.' PART THE SEVENTH. From 1641 to 1642. The King's project of visiting Scotland Opposed by the Commons Encouraged by the Scots The King arrives at Edinburgh Cultivates Popularity with the Covenanters Hampden and others, Commissioners to attend upon the King Intrigues and Violences of Montrose The Scottish Incident Irish Insurrection The King returns to London Grand Protestation Defections from the Country Party Demand of the King for the Surrender of Kimbolton and the Five Members Com- mittee of Privileges retire to the City Return in Triumph to Westminster Petition of the Buckinghamshire Men King leaves London Departure of the Queen King goes to York Summons of Hull Declaration of his Cause Is joined by Lords Raises his Standard Hampden's motives and Falkland's compared Breaking out of the Great Civil War. VOL. II. G PART THE SEVENTH. From 1641 to 1642. WHETHER, in Charles's judgement, the time had now become ripe for the blow which he had so long contemplated, or whether, a part of the machinery having failed him, the crisis was thus hastened, it is certain that he began to look impatiently for the means of redeeming himself from that temporizing course which he had pursued with so much disadvantage. The policy with which he had endeavoured to lull the suspicions of the Commons lay bare before them and the country ; the discovery of the Army Plot, and his ill-disguised eager- ness to keep together the levies of Roman Catholicks in Ireland, (useless, since the paci- fication with the Scots, for any purpose which would bear the avowal,) were strong and pub- lick evidence of some dangerous design. But other considerations there were, besides the G 2 84 JOHN HAMPDEN, difficulty of longer keeping his motives secret, which determined him to hasten their accom- plishment. Some circumstances, of late, had threatened to raise jealousies among the Eng- lish people, and to sow differences between a portion of them and the Houses. May admits that, for a short time, the popularity of the Parliament had been on the decline ; ' Bi- * shops,' says he, ' had been much lifted at, ' though not taken away; whereby a great * party, whose livelihood and fortune depended ' upon them, and, far more, whose hopes of ' preferment looked that way, most of the * clergy, and both the Universities, began to ' be daily more disaffected to the Parliament, ' complaining that all rewards of learning ' must be taken away, which wrought deeply ' in the hearts of the young and more ambi- ' tious of that coat.' The populace also had, on many occasions, committed great excesses in interruption of the Church service, while the Common Prayer was reading; and the Parliament, taunted by the Court with being the abettors of them, (and unsupported by the Crown,) had not, in truth, the power to con- troul them ; unless by having recourse to means HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 85 which would have impaired their own credit with a strong party among the people. And such means they could not, while unsupported by the Crown, be expected to adopt. To these causes of disgust were added the publick preachings of illiterate persons, mostly of the lowest order of tradesmen. ' This, however,' says May, ' some, in a * merry way, would put off; considering the ' precedent times, and saying that these trades- ' men did but take up that duty which the ' Prelates and great Doctors had let fall, the ' preaching of the Gospel ; and that it was but ' a reciprocal invasion of each other's callings ; ' that chandlers, salters, weavers, and the ' like, preached, while the Archbishop him- ' self, instead of preaching, was busied in ' projects about leather, salt, soap, and such ' commodities as belonged to those tradesmen.' These distempers are almost inseparable from a state in which a country party is endeavouring by popular means to diminish the power of the King, and the King is well pleased, at any risk, to discredit the popular party, by casting them on the support of a tumultuous multitude, for whose acts they JOHN HAMPDEN, are unfairly made answerable. Besides, the House of Commons had been obliged to substitute new imposts for those which they had abolished ; and now, first for many years, the people felt themselves taxed by votes of Parliament. It was, for many reasons, the King's desire at this juncture that the Parliament should adjourn ; the more so, because the bill against Episcopacy was yet pending, and the Houses were also engaged in other committees, for reparation to those who had suffered under the ship-money and other illegal taxes, for settling permanently the revenue of the customs in the hands of Parliament, and for taking into consideration, generally, the state of the kingdom. Charles suddenly announced to them that the visit which he had promised to his frien'ds at Edinburgh must now be paid, and the Scot- tish Parliament opened by him in person. In vain did the Commons represent to him the charge of such a journey, at a time when the beggared condition of the exchequer, and the embarrassments of the publick credit, made it very difficult to carry on the publick service at all, and almost hopeless to meet HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 87 the demands of arrears due to both armies. And with what propriety was he to expose himself in person to the complaints and ex- cesses of troops, some flushed with their late receipt of pay, some clamouring for what was due to them, and all thirsting to be set free from a military restraint which was at once irksome and inglorious ? The King changed his pretext, and now announced his journey as for the purpose of softening these difficulties and allaying these disorders, and of preparing the armies to disband in peace. The Houses scarcely required this proof that the motive was a treacherous one, and that, foiled in his attempt to bring up the English soldiers to London, he wished to join them on their own ground, and put himself at their head. The object of going northward was to further a double intrigue, with the English officers, and with the Scottish Covenanters. It is also probable that he was not without hopes of finding evidence to set up the au- thenticity of the letter which Saville had forged, and thus to establish a case of treason against the Parliamentary leaders. On the other hand, it appeared that the 88 JOHN HAMPDEN, Scottish Commissioners, (having, as long as the Puritans of England could assist them, pursued the objects so important to their own country in conjunction with that party,) were disposed to push forward the interests of Scotland, separately from that general cause in which they had met with such cordial assistance. They lent themselves readily and eagerly to the project of the King's journey, in order that they might in Edinburgh receive his ratification of the terms for which they had stipulated by treaty in London. Of this difference between the Parliamentary ' Grandees' and their 'Brethren of Scotland,' Charles was not slow to take note ; nor was the advantage small which he promised him- self in further separating their interests and feelings by personal negociation in the me- tropolis of the North. There was a point beyond which it was not prudent for the English leaders to urge their remonstrances, for fear of irritating the Scots, and of per- chance assisting by opposition the disunion which the King was endeavouring to effect by intrigue. The Commons took, therefore, a middle course ; they addressed him, pray- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 89 ing that he would defer his journey for a fortnight, in order that the two armies on the frontier might be paid off, and the road be left unoccupied by which he and his train should pass. This address it was not easy to find stateable reasons for declining to comply with. The Earl of Holland was sent down with a commission to disband the armies ; yet to avoid falling in with the English troops, already discontented with the irregularity of the supplies voted for their pay, does not appear to have suited the King's main design; nor could he, in the end, be prevailed upon to delay his departure beyond two days. The publick display which he made, passing on horseback with the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Hamilton, Lord Willoughby, his heralds, and a numerous re- tinue, in sight of the disbanding armies, and his early endeavours (if Baillie be to be be- lieved) to engage the Scots with the Cava- liers of the English army in the forcible dissolution of the English Parliament, shew that what was urged by the Commons as a motive for delaying his journey was, in truth, one of his main incentives to under- 90 JOHN HAMPDEN, take and to hasten it*. He lost no time in addressing himself to the Covenanters. He raised Hamilton to the highest rank in the peerage of his country ; Argyle he made a Marquis; and he created old Leslie, who had for the greater part of his life been a soldier of fortune, Earl of Leven ; Loudon and Almond were also made Earls ; and on the Earl of Dumferline he bestowed a large grant of crown lands, and a pension out of the publick revenue. Hamilton accepted the dukedom, but retained his attachment to the Covenant ; and Leslie, in the overflowings of a short-lived gratitude, protested that he never again would bear arms against so good a King. But the English Parliament would have been blind indeed not to see the approaching con- firmation of what they had apprehended from Charles's obstinate adherence to the project of moving northwards. He had, in the last days of his stay in London, evaded giving any direct answer to them ; but, when pressed on * Ludlow, who does not appear to have ever been led by party feelings into misstating such facts as he avers on his own knowledge, says that Charles offered to surrender to the Scots four English counties in pledge for the performance of his terras with them if they would assist him in this object. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 91 that point, had, like one importuned on a secret which troubled him, changed the subject, and spoken on the Dutch treaty, and the depreda- tions of the pirates from Tangier and Salee. The Parliament was not of materials or of a temper thus to be dealt with. If, indeed, the King had not had good reason to know the suspicions of his Parliament, or the Parlia- ment to know the designs of the King, either party might, in these transactions, have easily been made the dupe of the other. But both were playing an exceeding deep game ; and each understood every move of the other as it was made. The Scottish Presbyterians were troubled with no interest but their own ; and both parties were bidding for their as- sistance. One course alone remained to the Parliament, as a check upon the objects which the King now so actively pursued. And that course was adopted. It was to depute com- missioners, nominally, to treat with the Scots concerning the ratification of the treaty, and to obtain security for the debt due from them to the northern counties of England, but really to thwart the King's negociations with the Covenanters, and to report upon them to the 92 Parliament. For this Committee, openly ap- pointed by votes of both Houses, and openly proceeding to where the King held his Court, Lord Clarendon can find no less violent name than that of spies ; which designation is eagerly adopted by Mr. Hume. In order that the jealousy of the Parliament and the true purpose of this Committee might be no secret to the King, the Commissioners named to attend him were, for the Lords, the Earl of Bedford, and Lord Howard of Escricke ; and, for the Commons, Hampden and Fiennes ; and afterwards were added Sir Philip Staple- tori and Sir William Armyne. They presented themselves to the King at Holyrood; and, with whatever distaste Charles was likely to view the presence and conduct of a Parliamentary Committee appointed for these acknowledged purposes, his communications with the members of it were conducted with all shew of graciousness on his side, and of duty and respect on their's. Hampden and Fiennes were the active and responsible chiefs of that Committee, the soul of it's counsels, and the conductors of it's correspondence with the Parliament. The HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 93 latter of these two, on account of the rising importance which his abilities and his power- ful connexions had given him ; the former on account of his boldness, temper, discretion, and wisdom ; of his being the man of ' the most absolute spirit of popularity' in both kingdoms ; and because, moreover, he had of all men of that party been in the closest communication with the Scots, and was best acquainted with the means of keeping them in awe of their former engagements and of their future interests with the English Parlia- ment. Nor was it long before the duties of that commission were called into activity. The leaders of the Scottish Presbyterians, as we have seen, and several also of their prin- cipal preachers, were taken into high favour by the King, and into close communication with him. Henderson was always at his side, and had a grant of the rents of the Chapel Royal. He lived at his palace, advising with him in his closet, and ministering to his popu- larity with the multitude by accompanying him on every occasion of representation and display. Charles publickly accepted, and swore to, the terms of the Covenant ; and one 94 JOHN HAMPDEN, of the earliest acts of the Scottish Parliament which received the royal assent was the act of pacification, declaring that the commo- tions had arisen from the innovations in religion, and corruption of church govern ment*. Argyle, Hamilton, and Lanerick his brother, were at first to be used for the pur- pose of bringing over the affections of the powerful families of Scotland. But Charles had always failed in this important object of his Scottish policy. A body of nobility so divided by old feudal recollections as that of Scotland, and so distrustful of Hamilton in consequence of his having openly sided with the King, in his late wars on the southern frontier of that country, was not to be bound to the King's interests through his means. Above all, Argyle and Hamilton had been ever the marked and personal foes of Mon- trose, whose restless spirit was never stayed by any considerations from pursuing by any means of violence or fraud the destruction of any man who thwarted his objects of intrigue, or obstructed the views of his high reaching ambition. Montrose, of whom Clarendon, * Rushworth. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 95 forgetful of the crimes which he imputes to him in the early part of his history, says, in the latter part of it, that ' he was not without * vanity, but his virtues were much superiour,' had been thrown into confinement by the Parliament of Scotland for a complication of proved offences of the highest sort. He had, the year before, engaged himself in a plot to betray the Covenanters' army with whom he was serving, because he had failed in an attempt to procure the chief command ; and prudential motives alone prevented the Scots from publickly arraigning him for the act*. But all the circumstances of his treachery were known to the Committee of Estates, their knowledge of it communicated to him, and his conduct from thenceforth closely watched. And it was not long before his restless spirit threw him upon another design, of which he was openly convicted. He had incited one Stewart to accuse Argyle, Hamilton, and Rothes, of a treasonable in- tent to depose Charles. On the proceedings, Stewart, ill-qualified to be the agent of so * Burnet's Hist, own Times. Nalson. Clarendon, Hist. Reb. Hardwicke's State Papers. Sidney Papers. 96 JOHN HAMPDEN, bold an intriguer as Montrose, confessed his crime. Nothing then remained for Montrose but to denounce Stewart as having been suborned by Argyle to forge this confession ; and thus, embroiling the charge, he left his wretched accomplice in the dilemma of a capital accusation of leasing-making against one, at least> of the nobles, and to be conse- quently put to an ignominious death*. But the turbulent genius of Montrose was not subdued by the failure of this enterprize ; he well knew how to feed the suspicious temper of Charles, and, even from prison, secretly corresponded with him, through the means of a page of the Bed Chamber! . He indulged him with assurances of being able to furnish proof against the Hamiltons and Argyle ; but, as Clarendon assures us, ad- vised the simpler mode of disposing of them by assassination, which, says the noble writer, he ' frankly undertook himself to manage.' ' The King,' says Clarendon, * abhorred that * Brodie. Baillie's and Woodrow's MS. Letters in the Advo- cate's Library, as quoted by Brodie. Baillie's published Letters. Guthrie's Memoirs. Appendix to Scottish Acts for 1641. t Hailes's Letters. Laing's History. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 97 ' expedient, though, for his own security, he ' advised that proofs might be prepared for * the Parliament.' Yet still had not he the virtue or courage to free himself from the agency of so unprincipled an adviser. But Moritrose established a stronger hold over the passions of Charles ; he flattered him with the assurance of full evidence to convict the leaders of the English Parliament of treasonable correspondence with the Scot- tish army. To cut off at one blow, by course of law, Pym, Hampden, Fiennes, and the rest, before whose courage and skill he stood in bonds, and from whose strong grasp he despaired of wresting the power he had lost, unless by getting a pretext for at once destroying them, was a tempting proposal. Charles was in- toxicated with the hope, threw off all dis- cretion and reserve with this rash, bad man, and committed his conduct at once to his dangerous guidance. What evidence Montrose may have sub- orned, prepared, or only promised, will pro- bably never be known. According to some writers, the wretched Saville was implicated VOL. II. H JOHN HAMPDEN, in this plot with a second forgery*. Ready as he always was to betray any party or person who might be misled into trusting him, he has left his character answerable, perhaps, for some acts of guilt of which it was morally clear. Saville must have been a man of no inconsiderable abilities ; for, universally sus- pected, he was yet always employed as the busy agent of alternate factions for their several purposes, though never far enough in the confidence of any to be able to make his perfidy profitable to himself. The immediate result of these intrigues was the event so well known to all readers of Scottish history under the name of the * Incident.' In itself, probably, little more than one of those sudden enterprizes of feu- dal treachery and violence with which the Scottish history of the seventeenth century abounds, it has been covered by the actors and writers on both sides with a veil of pom- pous mystery, through which only occasional glimpses have been given, which have tended rather to confound than discover the truth. * Laing's History of Scotland. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 99 Suddenly, in the midst of Montrose's darker designs, Lord Henry Kerr, a generous-spirited rash young man, son to the Earl of Roxburgh, sent his defiance to Hamilton, proclaiming him a traitor to God, his King, and his coun- try, and saying that ' he would make good ' his charge against him with his life.' Of this outrage Hamilton complained in his place in the Parliament the same day ; and Kerr, being ordered by his father to go to the Parliament House to make submission, went with the inappropriate accompaniment of 600 officers and soldiers under arms. The Parliament, in consternation, raised the city guard, and, by proclamation, ordered Kerr's followers, and the multitude who were nock- ing from all parts, to disperse. For two days, peace seemed to be restored; but, on the third night, Argyle and the two Hamil- tons fled to Kinneil. The alarm of an assassination plot instantly flew from mouth to mouth through Edinburgh. What after- wards appeared on evidence was, that a band of desperadoes, most of them men of noble family, with the Earl of Crawford at their head, and with a following of some hun- H 2 100 JOHN HAMPDEN, dreds, had undertaken to arrest Argyle and the Hamiltons, and to hurry them off to a frigate stationed in Leith Roads, where they were to remain for trial on Montrose's charges ; and that Crawford was to assassi- nate them in case of resistance. Thus much was communicated to them on the informa- tion of Colonel Urrie, afterwards so well known in the civil wars of both countries, to whom the plot had been laid open by a Colonel Stewart, who had obtained his know- ledge through an identity of name with one of the conspirators *. Popular belief assigned to the enterprize a much wider range. It was said that Cochrane, one of Crawford's party, who commanded a regiment stationed near Edinburgh, was to march upon the city, to break into the Parliament House, to seize cer- tain suspected members there, to liberate Mon- trose, and, with the assistance of the Kerrs, Humes, Johnstones, and some other borderers, to place Scotland entirely within the power of * Lanerick's Relation. Baillie'sMS. Letters, quoted by Brodie. Baillie's published Letters. Clarendon's Hist. Reb. Laing. Evidence in Balfour's Diurnal. MSS. Papers in Advocate's Li- brary, as quoted by Brodie. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 101 the King ; furthermore, that Montrose was to procure evidence against the Covenanting Lords on their trials, the other insurgents to furnish troops, and, after this first blow had been struck, to accompany the King to Eng- land, and, with the remnants of the dis- banded English army, to secure the means for dissolving the Parliament, and destroy- ing the leaders of the country party there. To whatever length the intention had in fact gone, the Scottish Parliament forthwith called on Leslie to take command of the city guard and such other troops as could be collected and relied on, and to remain under arms for it's protection. The fugitive Lords, after some negociation, returned. The King, on his part, loudly complained of what he represented as a plot forged by the leaders of the Covenant to excite dissensions between him and his Scottish subjects. But what the most tended to throw suspicion upon the King, and to discredit his remonstrance against Argyle and the Hamiltons, was his sudden attempt to raise a large sum of money in Holland ; and, above all, his going down on the very evening of the discovery to the Parliament 102 JOHN HAMPDEN, House, with all the persons who had been named by Urrie, and with 500 or 600 sol- diers*. That a violent seizure of the persons of the three Covenanting Lords was intended, there appears to be no reasonable doubt ; nor is it very improbable, on the other hand, that the Covenanting Lords were eager to act in pub- lick upon the impulse of their fears, and so to expose the machinations of the plotters and the double-dealing of Charles, instead of thwarting the design and providing for their own safety, which perhaps they might have done, secretly, and without noise. After all, it is likely that this plot, like many other state plots, odious and dangerous in it's in- tention, was exaggerated by those whose safety had been threatened, partly from passionate resentment, and partly for fur- ther political objects. Certain it is, that the news was instantly dispatched to Lon- don express by the English Commissioners, and that it arrived there with extraordinary speed, spreading consternation and panick * Evelyn's Memoirs, Appendix. Correspondence between King Charles and Secretary Nicholas. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 103 in the Standing Committee and in the two Houses, who had just reassembled after the adjournment. It was, doubtless, in many respects, a fortunate discovery for the coun- try party in England. It gave manifest warning of a new course of designs on the part of the King. It opened also to both countries the whole secret of his dealings with Montrose ; and it hastened the steps which the English Parliament had, before the recess, been inclined to adopt for it's own safety, but for which it still wanted a signal and stateable justification. The Com- missioners now set out for London, to resume their seats and report to the Houses. But, before they left Edinburgh, they addressed the King, praying him to return with them to Parliament as he had promised. Nor did many days elapse before he followed them ; but, before his departure from Edinburgh, again receiving the Covenanting Lords into seeming favour, he gave a great feast to the Parliament. Once more Scotland saw her ancient palace glittering with the emblems of her independent sovereignty, and the de- scendant of her kings, the origin of whose 104 JOHN HAMPDEN, race she traced amid the clouds of dim anti- quity, now again ' encompassed with his kingdom's pearl,' and courting and receiving the favour of his people. For the time, the Scots forgot all but that Charles was their countryman and their King, and that he was soon to leave them ; and he left Scotland with more applause (notwithstanding their belief that he had so lately borne part in a plot against their Parliament) than met him when he came to confirm their Civil Constitution and Ecclesiastical Liberties. ' His Majesty ' departed,' says Heath, * a contented King ' from a contented people*.' But in the Sister Island a fearful storm at this time broke forth, soon to rage with a fury that threatened the total and bloody dismem- berment of the Empire. It went near to effect, at once, the extermination of the whole Protestant population of Ireland. The amount of the massacre actually per- petrated is variously stated ; the fears of all the Protestants, the passions of many, and the interests of not a few, tending to exagge- * Heath's Chronicle. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 105 rate the number of the slain ; the exaggera- tions, of course, increasing with the efforts of the Popish writers afterwards to under- rate it. The slaughter was not limited to the towns and villages. It pursued it's vic- tims among the bogs, the mountains, and the woods, to which they fled for refuge. All calculation, therefore, of it's amount, must be, to a great degree, fanciful. Thus much only is certain ; that the purpose of the in- surgents extended to the entire rooting out of the Protestant settlers by an indiscrimi- nate butchery of both sexes and of all ages ; and that, for several weeks, it proceeded almost unchecked. Dublin itself was saved by a mere accident. For a short space the rebels had made some show of humanity, until they secured the co-operation of the Lords of the Pale, who, in their detestation of the Puritans, and their remembrance of the persecutions which for near a century had been endured by themselves and their forefathers of their own faith and country, joined interests and forces with the Irish of the ancient stock, to crush the power of the English Parliament. The next day after this 106 JOHN HAMPDEN, union beheld the whole province of Ulster in carnage and conflagration, traversed by columns of armed men, intoxicated with re- ligious hate, and deaf to every plea for mercy, marching upon points, and carrying to all quarters at once devastation and death. Modes of torture, too horrible for the human mind to contemplate, and too detestable for description, were invented and executed. The havock spread southward, abating only where it had consumed the materials on which it's fury had been exercised. The Shannon became choaked with the bodies of the slain. The generous though turbulent nature of Roger Moore, the chief who had first excited the rebellion, recoiled from the barbarities which marked it's course; and at last, finding his authority unable to controul the spirit which it had been powerful to evoke, he, after a gallant protest, quitted the bloodstained and dishonoured cause which he had under- taken in the hope to give liberty to his country; and he fled to Flanders. The prin- cipal leaders of this hideous warfare were, of the ancient Irish, Sir Phelim O'Neale, Macquire, and Macmahon, and of those of HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 107 the Pale, Lord Gormanstown. They pleaded a Royal Commission under a seal, surrep- titiously obtained, as some writers state, (but this Mr. Godwin satisfactorily disproves,) from the foot of an ancient monastick charter ; and, putting forth as their justification the intention to assist the King against his Scot- tish and English enemies, and assured of assistance from the Roman Catholick powers of the Continent, they assumed the ill-omened appellation of the Queen's Army*. No candid person who has well examined the evidence now imputes to Charles that he connived at this atrocious insurrection ; though, unhappily for him, his consent was proclaimed by the insurgents themselves, and, not very unreasonably, suspected by the English Parliament. On the other hand, it cannot be disguised that countenance and facilities had been afforded to them by his unjustifiable obstinacy in so long persisting, contrary to promise and to repeated warning, in keeping Strafford's Roman Catholick army together. His communications with it had * Whitelocke. Birch's Relation of Glamorgan's Transactions. 108 JOHN HAMPDEN, been detected, and published to the whole English and Scottish nations, with great care, and some exaggeration ; and it had been dis- banded, after an ineffectual attempt on his part to transport it into Flanders, there to remain within call in the hands of the King of Spain. But, after so much tampering with so wild and dangerous a body, the formal act of disbanding did not disunite it's ele- ments. They instantly reassembled for the most tremendous outbreak which has ravaged any country in modern times, and which con- tinued in Ireland, with various, and seldom abated, rage, for upwards of two years. On Charles's return to London, he found the state in the greatest disorder, and men's minds in the utmost alarm. During the whole adjournment, the Standing Committee, with Pym in the chair, had been collecting the materials for a solemn appeal to the country. Parliament had met on the 20th of October. The country was beset with danger and distraction, external and domestick. The Scottish intrigues, the Irish insurrection, France taking a part in each, Holland and Denmark in secret negociation with the King HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 109 to furnish him with military means against his subjects*, the Exchequer of England in pledge for an unprecedented amount of debt, and the publick credit nearly exhausted. To finish the sum of calamity and dismay, the plague was again breaking out in several parts of Middlesex, and even of Westminster itselft- The two Houses had, before the King's return, gone no small way towards assuming the powers of an independent government. Just before the adjournment, they had, for the first time, entered on their Journals a resolution under the name of an Ordinance against * the raising and transporting of forces * of horse or foot out of his Majesty's do- ' minions of England and Ireland J;' which, whether intended or not, by its framers, to furnish a convenient precedent for afterwards enacting laws on the mere vote of the two Houses, had been, in this case, rendered almost unavoidable by the attempt of the King to establish his Irish army in Flanders. To this, however, the royal assent was after- * Newcastle's Letters. Duchess of Newcastle's Memoirs, t Commons' Journals, Sept. 6. $ Ibid. Sept. 9. 110 JOHN HAMPDEN, wards given ; and it is remarkable only as the first instrument bearing a name which not long after began to signify an Act of Parlia- ment passed without the consent or authority of the Crown. Charles, on his arrival in London, pro- ceeded as he had done in Edinburgh. He applied himself first to pay court to the City. As in Edinburgh, he met with extraordinary testimonies of affection in return ; but, as in Edinburgh, he mistook both the motive of these demonstrations and the nature of his own popularity. He had never been per- sonally disliked by his people. On the con- trary, they were anxious to mark their affec- tion towards him, perhaps, also, towards the due prerogatives of the Crown ; but they were equally eager, in all they did and said, to separate him from his evil Councillors. He believed his evil Councillors, and not his people ; and weakly and passionately con- cluded that the City would proceed to support him to the utmost against his Parliament. He knew not he would not be convinced that silently, slowly, but irresistibly, was growing up and spreading a jealousy of all HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. HI the institutions of the country, except the courts of common law. These had never been seen as instruments of tyranny, except in the great case of the Ship-Money Decision ; and that decision had been struck off the Rolls, the Judges who had concurred in it disgraced and punished, the precedent reversed, and the patents of the Judges declared to be no longer held at the pleasure of the Crown. Charles was received as one who had power to act a great part at a crisis of great danger and difficulty ; and at such a crisis publick bodies are always inclined to form sanguine expectations of those who come with great power of doing good. He was gloriously feasted in the City. In return, he feasted the citizens gloriously at Hampton Court ; but scarcely had they time to proffer their love and duty before it was made matter of general discourse among the Court party that the City was weary of the Parliament, and was prepared to support the King alone. ' Whether,' says May, ' it begat the same ' opinion in the King or not, I cannot tell ; ' but certainly some conceived so by actions ' which immediately followed, expressing a 112 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' greater confidence against the Parliament ' than before ; displacing some from such * trusts as they had conferred upon them, ' insomuch that the City, presently after, ' finding what ill use was made of those ex- * pressions, were enforced to declare them- ' selves, in a petition to both Houses, that, * since some ill affected people had inter- ' preted their loyal and affectionate attach- ' ment to the King as a sign that they would * wholly adhere to him and desert the Parlia- * ment, they openly professed the contrary ; ' and that they would live and die with them ' for the good of the Commonwealth. After * which, the City, no less than the Parliament, * did seem to be distasted both by the King ' and Queen.' Most men agree that the crisis of the Grand Remonstrance was that at which all shallow truce, all insidious compromise, ceased be- tween King and Parliament ; and when secret jealousy, intrigue, and machination were changed into manifest and avowed enmity. There was no longer a chance left of restoring the balance of the Constitution. All that remained was to make choice between render- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 113 ing up to the King, without further dispute, the whole of that arbitrary prerogative which he had claimed, or giving the sovereign power of the Commonwealth in trust to the Parlia- ment during the remainder of his reign, in the hope of its being surrendered back when- ever the purposes of the trust should be at an end ; and that were to know little of the nature of popular assemblies once invested with such a power. It is a difficult question to determine at what period, after the meeting of the Long Parliament, it might have been possible for Charles, even if he could have been per- suaded to act sincerely, and under good counsel, to preserve the due prerogatives of his crown by a course consistent at once with his own dignity and with a spirit of wise concession befitting the temper of the times, and of the men with whom he had to act. This only is clear,- that, at the beginning, such a course was practicable, and that now it was no longer so. No form of constitution, of which monarchy is a part, can preserve liberty, nor can a free monarchy stand, where the separate powers of king and people are VOL. II. I 114 JOHN HAMPDEN, employed to invade each other's lawful autho- rity. This, however, is to be observed of the testimony of Clarendon : up to the time of the Long Parliament, the whole course of his narrative and reasoning are against the King ; afterwards, uniformly in his favour. Upon the evidence then of him, who, of all men, wrote on these matters with his affec- tions the most strongly bound to the cause of Charles, it is clear, with respect to the often agitated question of ' Which party gave the ' provocation, ' that the course of aggression was begun by Charles. The King having refused, when he left England, to appoint any lawful commission for administering the sovereign power in his name, the Parliament, in his absence, and under the urgent alarm of the Irish rebellion, was not loth to issue an ordinance for the raising of troops in that country. Charles, on his return to his English metropolis, re- moved the guard which the two Houses had by address obtained from him to be placed in Palace Yard for their protection under com- mand of the Earl of Essex ; thus leaving them no better pledge than his promise for their HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 115 security, when appearances justified every suspicion that one of those violent enterprizes might be repeated from which they had so lately and so narrowly escaped. He ap- pointed other troops to quarter at their doors under the orders of the Earl of Dorset, an intemperate man, devoted to the court, and known, most unfavourably, to the Parliament, as a prime promoter of some of those cruel censures in the Star Chamber, so lately de- nounced by resolution and reversed by statute. In this difficulty, the Commons proceeded with moderation and dignity. They directed the Speaker, by his authority, to remove the guard, and required that, instead of it, the High Constable should provide * a strong and sufficient watch *.' They, moreover, voted a conference with the Lords, touching the tu- multuous assembly of people about the Houses of Parliament. But here the Lords deserted them. And, at best, this precaution was but temporary. Their permanent safety remained to be provided for ; for, at the same time, the King had placed the Tower of London, with * Commons' Journal, Dec. 30, Jan. 1. I 2 116 JOHN HAMPDEN, the charge of the Mint, in the hands of Colonel Lunsford, an unprincipled desperado, who had signalized himself by many acts of out- rageous violence, one of which had nearly brought him to the gibbet, and who was believed to be a ready instrument for any lawless enterprize. Lunsford was in a few days removed from this command, in conse- quence of an unanimous address ; but on the morrow of his dismissal he began to take vengeance on the Parliament, and justify their opinion of him, by marching down to Westminster Hall with an armed mob, as- saulting and wounding several persons, and threatening to drag the members out by force. It was then, but not till the 7th of January, that both Houses prayed the King's consent to a bill for placing the militia, both by sea and land, in the hands of commissioners to be appointed by the Parliament. The Lord Keeper Littleton supported this bill*. Selden, the highest constitutional au- thority in the House, opposed it. In truth, it was not capable of any defence but that of the overwhelming danger and necessity of the * Clarendon Hist Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 117 time. But, with equal vehemence, he resisted the King's commission of array ; and, after- wards, to sanction, by his example, the expe- dient which the danger and necessity of the time had imposed, he accepted a commission of lieutenancy under the Parliament for rais- ing the militia in their behalf. To that clause in the bill for pressing soldiers, which denied the power of the crown to press, save under the authority of a bill, he gave his entire and eager consent. To this check upon an unlawfully assumed power, the King made furious and obstinate opposition, sending a message, pending the discussion of the bill, to declare that he would never pass it. A declaration which only produced a remon- strance against the King's interference with bills in their passage through Parliament. In the Appendix to Evelyn is a letter from the Queen to Secretary Nicholas, November 12, which shews that both she and the King were well aware of the tendency of such a precedent as that of the first Ordinance, even though justified by such an emergency as that in Ireland. ' I send you,' says she, ' a lettre ' for Milord Keeper, that the King ded send JOHN HAMPDEN, * to me, to deliver it if I thought fit. The * subject of it is to make a declaration against * the ordres of Parliament which ar made ' without the King.' Meanwhile, on the 1st of December, the Grand Remonstrance was presented to the King. At great length, and with great power, it summed up all the grievances under which the Parliament and people had suffered throughout his whole reign. Illegal imposts, monopolies, fines, and arbitrary imprison- ments, denials of justice by some courts, and oppressive jurisdiction of others, Popish Lords in Parliament, and favour shewn to evil counsellors, all were presented at one view ; and it concluded with a general peti- tion that the prelates should be deprived of their votes, that none should be entrusted with the publick affairs whom the Parliament might not approve of, and that the escheated lands of the Irish rebels might not be alien- ated, but reserved for the support of the Crown, and the payment of the expenses of the war. On the different clauses, a great and violent debate had arisen. On the 22nd of Novem- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 119 ber, the House had continued sitting till three in the morning ; having met at ten on the preceding day, and having begun the debate on the remonstrance at three in the afternoon. Some of the members, struck with alarm, and many, says Clarendon, worn out with fatigue, had retired from the House*. At length, the resolutions were carried, after two divisions, by a majority of only 159 to 148, and of 124 to 101. And now a des- perate stand was attempted to be made by Hyde. It was to the effect of a pro- test, to be entered by the minority against the decision of the House. The conflict of passions and voices was tremendous, and bloodshed, says Sir Philip Warwick, would probably have ensued ; ' we had catched at ' each other's locks, and sheathed our swords ' in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity * Clarendon and Dugdale endeavour to shew, that so many of the old members had left the House, that the votes were passed by a packed committee. Mr. Brodie very properly observes, that this falling off in the members of the House, towards the end of the debate, would affect both parties. But the proportionate number of the two divisions upon the remonstrance, and of the third, on Hyde's motion, shew that the comparative strength of the mino- rity had not decreased. See Sir Philip Warwick's account of the same transaction. See also Appendix to Evelyn. 120 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' and great calmness of Mr. Hampden, by a short speech, prevented it, and led us to * defer our angry debate until the next morn- * ing.* He rose amidst the uproar, and, with that commanding influence, which, though rarely exerted, he possessed above all men in the House, he composed, for a moment, the rage of the contending parties, sufficiently to gain their consent to an adjournment; by which, at once, he saved them from a less appeasable conflict, and effectually baffled Hyde's project, which could only have suc- ceeded by some compromise, forced on in the confusion, for striking the former proceedings from the journals. Cromwell declared next day to Lord Falkland, that, had theRemon- strance not been carried, ' he would instantly ' have sold all that he had, and gone to Ame- * rica ; and that he knew there were many * other honest men of the same resolution.' * The opposition, thus vanquished, was not renewed, and the Remonstrance passed peace- ably through its next and final stage. Thus far, however, since the King's breach Clarendon. Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 121 with the City, some of these events over which he had no controul had, indirectly, worked benefit to his cause. The Grand Remonstrance had given a motive to some, and a pretext to others, who heretofore had opposed him, for now devoting themselves entirely to his in- terests. Hyde had thrown off all disguise with the Country Party, arid Culpeper, though occasionally serving with them in commit- tees, in cases of privilege, and even on the defence of the kingdom and the levying of soldiers, was now acknowledged by all as one of the selected council of the King. Falkland was shaken by late events, and, looking forward with dismay, wavered in his course ; yet his veneration for Parliaments and their privileges, and his strong and jea- lous love of liberty, still attached him to the persons, and made him reluctant to quit the party, of those with whom he had so long and cordially served. Sir Ralph Hopton was still as eager as ever in support of the strongest votes against the Court. That Falk- land had not yet, nor till after the affair of the five members, quitted the country party is clear, from reference to the journals ; and 122 JOHN HAMPDEN, to suppose that his association with them during the short time which passed between the remonstrance and that event, was insi- dious or insincere, ' in tanto viro,' to use the words of his friend, ' in tanto viro injuria virtutum fuerit.' But the time unquestionably was now come at which the most honourable and constant spirit might fairly justify itself in a direct and open change of politicks. It was not that the terms of the Grand Remonstrance had put forth any new doctrines, or made any new claim for the Commons ; but it was clearly intended as a publick justification of claims already made and daily becoming more fre- quent and decisive. And many an honest and high mind, which had acquiesced in the necessity of some of the earlier assumptions of power by the Parliament, thought that the time was come at which, at length, to make a stand for Monarchy. Besides the advantage which Charles de- rived from the late adhesion of so many honour- able men to his interests, and from the ex- ample which it held forth to others, his own published answer to the Remonstrance was HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 123 Calculated to strengthen it. Hyde drew up this answer for his master with an ability worthy of that pen which has since com- mended to posterity the recital of his troubles and his fate. Charles's impatience, however, would never long suffer favourable events or good counsel to work for his advantage ; but would always embroil his case at the very moment when the greatest circumspection was wanted to improve it. The attempt to seize the five members was the decisive act of his rashness and perfidy ; perfidious, be- cause, on the very day before, he had remon- strated with the House on their renewed de- mand for a guard of soldiers, and had assured them, ' on the word of a king,' that he should be as tender of their persons as of those of his children * ; decisive, as rendering it no longer possible, from that fatal day, for the House to set up for itself any security but that of absolute force. Votes and resolutions, which are the lawful weapons of a Parliament while the Constitution stands, are powerless when it is suspended. The ' power of the * Rushworth. 124 JOHN HAMPDEN, purse ' is popularly said to be the security of Parliaments against Sovereigns ; but against a tyrant, with the power of the sword in his hands, it is none. It would be as reasonable for the unarmed man to console himself with his fancied power of the purse in presence of the spoiler who has that of the sword. On the 4th of January this frantick enter- prize was undertaken ; whether solely of Charles's own motion, or whether under the advice of Digby, against whom the House had, a few days before, complained to the Lords of his declaration * that this was no free Parliament,' or whether at the instance of the Queen, who is said to have bid him ' pull those rogues out by the ears, or never see her face again,' is unnecessary here to inquire. The boundary which separates the empire of absolute violence from that of law and privilege was now passed ; and, as if to make the act more signal, and to deprive himself of all hope of retreat or shelter, under the responsibility of others, Charles did it in person. From that hour, all reserve and scruple on the other side was at an end, ex- cept so far as related to the still disclaiming HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 125 all violence to his person or to his ' lawful power.' Charles, relying on the information, more or less authentick, which he had received in Scotland, respecting the English leaders, and assuming as probable, what does not appear ever to have existed, some correspondence between them and Richelieu, on the 3rd sent down his Attorney- General, Sir Edward Herbert, to the bar of the House of Lords, to accuse in his name the Lord Kimbol- ton, and five gentlemen of the House of Commons, of high treason, desiring that a Secret Committee might examine witnesses, and that the accused persons should be placed in custody. The Lord Kimbolton, who was in his place, with strong professions of his innocence submitted himself to what- ever order the House should make, but prayed that he might be cleared as publickly as he had been charged *. A Committee being im- mediately appointed to examine precedents as to the regularity of proceedings, and the Commons being informed of the accusation against its members, the Lords adjourned till * See his published speech, Brit. Mus. 126 JOHN HAMPDEN, the following day, no man moving for the commitment of Kimbolton on the King's behalf*. The Commons, meanwhile, having received information that the lodgings and trunks of Mr. Strode, Hazlerigge, Pym, Hampden, and Hollis, had, in their absence, been sealed up by the King's command, ordered, by resolution, that the Serjeant- at- Arms attending the House should break the seals, and that the Speaker's warrant should be issued for the apprehension of the persons who had affixed them. The House further declared, in conformity with the unanimous protestation which they had signed four months before, that any hinderance or molesta- tion to the persons of any of their members, until the House should have been first made acquainted with the grounds of such .pro- ceedings, was a high breach of privilege, and might be resisted by force. The House then desired an immediate conference with the Lords ; but, before the Lords' answer came down, a serjeant-at-arms appeared at the table, and required the persons of the five members. * Rushworth, Whitelocke, Clarendon, Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 127 The Commons unanimously stood upon their privilege, and, desiring the Serjeant to retire, sent a message by a Committee of their own body, that they should take the premises into their serious consideration, and that the mem- bers should be ready to answer any legal charge. The Lords, next day, took a similar course. The Commons, however, instantly went into Committee ; and Strode and Hollis spoke, repelling the charge of treason, de- manding trial, and professing their willingness to submit themselves and their case, without any further preparation, to any legal process of inquisition and judgment *. On the 4th, the accused members attending according to order in their places, Lord Falk- land, in the name of the Committee who had taken the message to the King, stated in answer that he was desired to inform the House, that the Serjeant had done nothing but what he had it in command to do. Upon this Hampden rose, and, on grounds dis- tinctly and powerfully stated, laid down the tests by which he desired, with respect to * Rushworth, Commons Journals, Jan. 3. Somers's Tracts. Published Speeches, Brit. Mus. 128 JOHN HAMPDEN, the matter of accusation, that his conduct might be tried. He entered not on the par- ticulars of the charges ; for the evidence to support them had not yet been opened to the House ; but, as was necessary when the terms loyalty, obedience, and resistance, had been so loosely employed, he particu- larized upon these several duties as consti- tuting the difference between a good and a bad subject. He divided them under the heads of * Religion towards God, loyalty and * due submission to the lawful commands of * the Sovereign, and good affection towards * the safety and just rights of the people, * according to the ancient and fundamental * laws of the realm.' Concerning religion, he claimed the right of determining, by searching the sacred writings, in which ' are contained all things necessary to salvation;' he con- trasted this law with the doctrine and disci- pline of the Church of Rome, and averred that ' all other sects and schisms that lean ' not only on the Scriptures, though never so ' contrary to the Church of Rome, are a * false worshipping of God, and not the true ' religion.' He then proceeded to define HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 129 the limits and extent of ' lawful obedience' to the Sovereign, ' acting with the free consent ' of his great council of state, assembled in ' Parliament. For the first, to deny a willing ' and dutiful obedience to a lawful sovereign ' and his privy council, (for, as Camden truly ' saith, the commands of the Lords Privy ' Counsellours, and the edict of the prince, is ' one, they are inseparable, the one never ' without the other,) to deny to defend his ' royal person and kingdoms against the ene- ' mies of the same, either publick or private, ' or to deny to defend the ancient privileges ' and prerogatives of the King, as pertinent ' and belonging of right to his royal Crown, ' and the maintenance of his honour and dig- ' nity, or to deny to defend and maintain true ' religion in the land, according to the truth * of God, is one sign of an evil subject. ' Secondly, to yield obedience to the com- ' mands of a King, if against the true reli- ' gion, and the ancient and fundamental laws ' ojf the land, is another sign of an ill subject. ' Thirdly, to resist the lawful power of the ' King, to raise insurrection against the King, ' admit him averse in his religion, to con- VOL. II. K 130 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' spire or in any way to rebell against his ' sacred person, though commanding things * against our consciences in exercising reli- * gion, or against the rights and privileges of ' the subject, is an absolute sign of a disaf- * fected and trayterous subject.' Of the means to know the difference between a good subject and a bad, ' by their obedience to the ' laws, statutes, and ordinances made by the ' King, with the whole consent of his Parlia- ' ment,' he spoke thus : ' First, I conceive, ' if any particular Member of a Parliament, ' although his judgement and vote be con- ' trary, do not willingly submit to the rest, ' he is an ill subject to his king and country ; ' and, secondly, to resist the ordinance of the ' whole state of the kingdom, either by the * stirring up a dislike in the hearts of his ' Majesty's subjects of the proceedings of the ' Parliament, to endeavour, by levying arms, ' to compel the King and Parliament to make * such laws as seem best to them, to deny the ' power, authority, and privileges, of Parlia- * ment, to cast aspersions upon the same and ' its proceedings, thereby inducing the King * to think ill of the same, and to be incensed HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 131 * against the same, to procure the untimely ' breaking up and dissolution of a Parlia- ' ment, before all things be settled by the ' same, for the safety and tranquillity both of ' King and state, these are apparent signs of ' a treacherous and disloyal subject against ' his king and country. I humbly desire my ' actions may be compared with either ; and ' both as a subject, a Protestant, as a native ' of this my country, and as I am a Member 1 of this present and happy Parliament, that I ' be esteemed, as I shall be found guilty upon * these articles exhibited against myself and ' the other gentlemen, to be a bad or a good 1 subject to my sovereign and native country ; ' and to receive such sentence upon the same ' as by this honourable House shall be con- * ceived to agree with law and justice*.' Hazelrigge followed, approaching the spe- cifick charges in the articles rather nearer than Hampden had done. He took the phraze, ' to subvert the fundamental laws,' under which head he classed privilege of Parliament. Treason could consist only in * A learned and discreet Speech of Master John Hampden, &c. &c. &c. London, 1642. K2 132 JOHN HAMPDEN, words or acts. His speeches in that House were in their recollection, and, in his votes, he had generally concurred with the ma- jority. His acts, and those of the gentle- men with him, particularly with reference to Scotland, had been in accordance with votes and resolutions of that House ; and the levy- ing of war, and promoting tumults and sedi- tions, could only refer to their concurrence with the rest of the House in the ordinance for troops in Ireland to stay the progress of the rebellion, or to the raising of the militia, and placing the city guard of Westminster before the doors of the House, to suppress the tumults of the people, and to protect the House from a military force unlawfully me- nacing the freedom of it's debates. Hazel - rigge's speech was not destitute of ingenuity or force ; but, as men generally do who de- fend themselves by anticipation, he fell into the error of imputing some motives for the accusation which could not have had any place in the minds of the accusing party. The supposition that Charles undertook the prosecution of the five members, for the purpose of stopping the further proceedings HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 133 of the bill against episcopacy, cannot be true. That bill had only very lately been resumed by a portion of the Country Party, and had not yet recovered the check, which, through the successful artifice of Hyde, it had received during the preceding session*. It was a matter more likely to divide than strengthen the power of the Country Party. And, above all, if it had been Charles's ob- ject, by impeachment, to remove from the House the principal promoters of that bill, he would not have included in that im- peachment two, who, by their position, were the most important opposers of it, Pym and Hollis. The single and simple object of Charles was to at once destroy six of the most active and popular opponents of his Government. What evidence he may have supposed himself to be possessed of for this purpose has never appeared. By his rash- ness he put it beyond his own power to pro- ceed further with it ; and, if there were any documents in his possession on which he * See Clarendon's account (Hist. Reb.) of his own conduct in the Chair of the Committee on the Bill against 1 Episcopacy, whereby for a time it was defeated. 134 JOHN HAMPDEN, could have proceeded, these he kept out of sight, in order to keep out of sight also all means of detecting the source from which he derived them. Unless, by the valuable and indefatigable labours of Mr. Lemon, in arranging the stores of the State Paper Office, some evidence, now unknown, should arise, it will, in all probability, remain for ever an unsolved question, upon what testi- mony Charles was urged to this ill-fated and disastrous enterprise. The evening before had been passed by him in active preparations. Arms were moved from the Tower to Whitehall, and a band of rash young men were assembled, for whom a table was prepared at the palace, and who, the next morning, from the violent expressions which they used against the Houses, seemed pre- pared for any deed of desperate violence. Scarcely had the House reassembled, after the dinner hour's adjournment, for the re- newal of the debate, when intelligence was brought by a Captain Langrish, who had passed the party in their way down the street, that the King, escorted by a guard of some hundreds of officers, soldiers, and other armed HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 135 attendants, was advancing upon Westminster Hall. Private information had been received of this design by Lord Holland from Lady Carlisle, who was in the Queen's household ; and by him it was communicated to Pym. To avoid the bloodshed which must probably have ensued, if the House, which had so lately pledged itself to protect it's privileges, had been forced to defend it's members against armed men with the King in person at their head, the five members were ordered to with- draw, which, after some expostulation and resistance from Strode, they did. The King, meanwhile, was entering New Palace Yard, and, proceeding through Westminster Hall, where his attendants ranged themselves on both sides, he ascended the stairs, and knocked at the door of the House of Com- mons*. Entering, with his nephew, Charles, the Prince Palatine of the Rhine f, at his side, he glanced his eye towards the place where Pym was wont to sit, and then walked directly to the chair. The Speaker, though commanded * Rushworth. Warwick. Whitelocke. Clar. Hist. Reb. May. t Not Rupert, as some historians have mistakenly represented it. He did not arrive in England till two months after this event. 136 JOHN HAMPDEN, to sit still with the mace before him, rose, with the rest of the House, at the King's approach, and, leaving the steps of the chair to which the King ascended, flung himself on his knee before him. In vain did the King look round for the objects of his search. The members stood, with their heads uncovered, in stern respectful silence, when the King ad- dressed the Speaker, Lenthall, in words which are well known as being the cause of this memorable reply : ' May it please your ' Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor * tongue to speak, in this place, but as the * House is pleased to direct me, whose ser- ' vant I am here ; and I humbly beg your * Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any * other answer than this to what your Majesty * is pleased to demand of me*.' The King's speech in answer sufficiently shows how little, before he entered on this strange proceeding, he had foreseen the chance of any part of his plan failing him. All the difficulties of his position now at once rushed to his mind. He saw no means * Rushworth. Whitelocke. Clarendon Hist. Reb. May. Hatsell's Precedents. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 137 of honourable or dignified retreat. He looked around from the chair, and he saw all eyes bent upon him, every countenance expressive of amazement at his rashness, but all men determined to act the great part he had im- posed upon them, as became their position, their engagements, and their duties. He looked down, and he saw the Speaker in the posture which denoted an awful sense of what was demanded of him by the presence before which he knelt, but to which he would not surrender the trust with which the Commons had invested him. At the table sat Rush- worth taking down the words which alone broke that portentous silence, and which, on the morrow, must sound in every ear in the metropolis, to spread alarm through the Empire, and to be delivered down to all pos- terity with the story of that day. The King's reply was weak and confused, and it bore not on the question. ' There is no privilege ' in cases of treason.' . . . ' I intend nothing ' but to proceed against them in a fair and ' legal way*.' The breach of privilege was * See Commons' Journals, Jan. 4. 138 JOHN HAMPDEN, his entering the House; the breach of law was his endeavouring to execute a com- mittal for treason without examination and without warrant. ' I tell you I do expect ' that, as soon as they come to the House, ' you will send them to me, otherwise I must * take my own course to find them.' He must have known that the House could not, after the unanimous declaration for the defence of it's privileges, suffer it's members to be sur- rendered at this illegal bidding ; and thus he retired, amid loud and repeated cries of * Privilege, privilege ! ' The House instantly adjourned. On the following day a resolution was passed, expressing the sense of the House concerning the violence which had been com- mitted. A Committee of Privileges was voted to sit in the City, and to confer with the Lords. To the City the King repaired before the Committee had assembled. He went there for the double purpose of requiring from the Common Council their assistance in appre- hending the five members, and of ascertaining how far he might, by his presence, secure the support of the magistrates and of the people. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 139 The spirit, however, which had shown itself in the House of Commons, had been already eagerly seconded by the citizens of London. The cries of ' Privilege ! ' which he had left sounding from so many voices in the House of Commons, met and pursued him in his progress through the streets ; and a letter of fearful purport was thrown into his carriage as he passed along, containing the words of the .Ten Tribes of Judah when they forsook the weak and tyrannical Rehoboam, * To your tents, O Israel ! ' In the Guildhall his speech was received without one responsive cheer ; and, though he was that day nobly feasted, and, though he returned unimpeded and uninsulted to Whitehall, he clearly saw that, except within the walls of his own palace, and among his devoted courtiers and the dissolute levies which had followed him the day before, it was vain to look in his metropolis for sup- port against the Parliament*. The five accused members meanwhile were received into a house in Coleman Street, from which place of refuge, notwithstanding a pro- *Rushworth. Clarendon Hist.Reb. Micro Chronicon. Lilly's Observations. 140 JOHN HAMPDEN, clamation issued to apprehend them and to forbid the harbouring of them, the King was unable to dislodge them. From thence they maintained an uninterrupted communication with the Committee of Privileges, which, after its first meeting, sat, day by day, alter- nately, in Grocers', Goldsmiths', and Mer- chant Tailors' Halls. To make a powerful appeal to the citizens upon Parliamentary privilege invaded and publick liberty me- naced, to prepare and confirm them for the times that were at hand, and to ensure their protection to the secluded members, was the first work of this Committee. This was ma- naged principally by Serjeants Glyn and Maynard. The next few days were spent in preparing to resume the sittings of Parlia- ment at Westminster. The Committee de- clined, with thanks, the offer of the city apprentices to conduct them back to the House, alledging, that the guard of the train bands was sufficient for their protection ; but it was at last determined, that the services of the mariners should be accepted to con- voy them by water. They ordered a ship, which had arrived from Berwick with arms HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 141 and ammunition, to fall down the river, out of the reach of the Tower guns, and moor herself midway, to assist in the event of any sudden attack ; and, on a report that the King proposed to come again to the House with a purpose of reconciliation, they ordered that he and the nobles in his train should be received with all duty and respect. Till the 10th, daily remonstrances and peti- tions were tendered. On the llth, the five members returned by water, with the Com- mittee, to attend the first meeting of the House : Lord Kimbolton was with them. The Thames was covered with boats, and the bridge and banks were lined with spectators. The Sheriffs embarked, with a part of the city guard, attended by armed boats and barges manned by sailors and carrying ordnance with matches lighted; and the rest of the train bands marched by land to secure the avenues to the House. The procession was doubtless to the full as much for triumph as for secu- rity. The members, who had, a week before, with difficulty escaped a doubtful, perhaps a bloody, conflict with the followers of the King, were now borne along upon their return under 142 JOHN HAMPDEN, the gaudy flashing of arms and standards, to the sounds of martial musick, and of ' guns and sakers,' and to the acclamations of the people of both cities. On the following day, the famous Bucking- hamshire Petition was presented to the Houses, by about four thousand freeholders, who had ridden up from their county, each with a copy of the late protestation worn in his hat, to shew their affection to the cause of the Parliament, and to the person of Hampden, their representative.* They complained of ' a ' malignant faction, whereby the perfecting of ' a reformation is hindered ; the endeavours of * the House of Commons in great part suc- ' cessless; our dangers grown upon us byreite- ' rated plots ; and priests and other delinquents ' unpunished, to the encouragement of others ; ' Ireland lost by protracted counsels ; and, to 1 cut off all hopes of future reformation, the * very being of Parliaments endangered by a ' desperate and unexampled breach of privi- * leges, which, by our protestation lately taken, ' we are bound with our lives and estates to * Rushworth. Clarendon Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 143 ' maintain. And, in respect of that latter ' attempt upon the honourable House of Com- * mons, we are now come to offer our service ' to that end, and resolved in their just de- ' fence to live and die.' They were dismissed with a vote of thanks, and informed, that, as the Parliament was sufficiently guarded by the great care of the City, they might return home, till further occa- sion ; of which they should be duly informed*. Meanwhile, the King had suddenly retired to Hampton Court, from that metropolis to which he never more returned but as a pri- soner. The Buckinghamshire men had told the House of Commons that they had also a pe- tition to the King, and desired the directions of that House as to the best way of delivering it, who advised them, that ' if they selected ' eight or ten of their number to wait upon ' his Majesty with it, that course would be ' the most acceptable!.' To Windsor, therefore, this deputation re- paired, where the King now held his Court, * Rushworth. Commons' Journals. f Commons' Journals. 144 JOHN HAMPDEN, having stayed but a few days at his palace at Hampton. This petition limited itself to the case of their representative, and the five other impeached persons. ' That having, by vir- ' tue of your Highness's writ, chosen John ' Hampden Knight for our Shire, in whose * loyalty we, his countrymen and neighbours, ' have ever had good cause to confide, of late ' we, to our no less amazement than grief, ' find him, with other Members of Parliament, ' accused of treason ; and, having taken into our serious consideration the manner of their ' impeachment, we cannot but, under your ' Majesty's favour, conceive that it doth so * oppugn the rights of Parliament, (to the * maintenance whereof our protestation binds * us,) that we believe it is the malice which * their zeal to your Majesty's service and of ' the State hath contracted in the enemies to ' your Majesty, the Church, and the Common- ' wealth, that hath occasioned this foul accu- * sation, rather than any deserts of their's * who do likewise through their sides wound * us, your petitioners, and others, by whose * choice they were presented to the House. * We, therefore, most humbly pray that Mr. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 145 ' Hampden, and the rest that lie under the ' burthen of that accusation, may enjoy the ' just privileges of Parliament.' The King's answer was conceived in a mild and prudent tone. That ' being, graciously ' pleased to let all his subjects understand ' his care not knowingly to violate any of the ' privileges of Parliament, he had signified, ' through the Lord Keeper, that because of * the doubt that hath been raised of the ' manner, he would waive his former proceed- ' ings, and proceed in an unquestionable way. ' That then it will appear that he had so suf- ' ficient grounds as he might not, injustice to ' the kingdom and honour to himself, have ' foreborne. And yet that he had much ' rather that the said persons should prove ' innocent than be found guilty. However, ' he could not conceive that their crimes could ' in any sort reflect upon those, his good sub- ' jects, who elected them to serve in Parlia- 1 ment *.' This reply, as well as the form of message which had been sent to the Lords, engaging, * Rushworth. VOL. IT. L 146 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' as some doubts had arisen concerning the ' manner,' to proceed by due course of law, were probably advised and drawn up by Falk- land. Falkland, it will be remembered, had been deputed by the Commons on that unsuc- cessful mission of remonstrance upon Her- bert's articles of impeachment against the members, and upon the conduct of the Ser- jeant- at- Arms. Loyally and affectionately zealous for the interests of his master, he had spared no pains to advise an answer very different in spirit from that with which he had, on that occasion, been obliged to return. In three days after he sent for Falkland, and gave him the seals of office of Chief Secretary of State, Culpeper having, the day before, been made Chancellor of the Ex- chequer*. Falkland did not, because his advice had been rejected, feel it the less his duty to give his best services when Charles's returning prudence inclined him, in danger and alarm, * Culpeper's appointment was a very strange one. He was made Chancellor of the Exchequer for life, by patent dated January 6. Another instance of the unwise and unconstitutional modes in which Charles undertook to baffle the power of the Commons to obtain the removal of publick servants by address. Par/. Hist, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 147 to seek them. And yet, embroiled as the King's cause had now been by the petulance of Digby, and the ferocity of Lunsford, he had not firmness enough to disembarrass him- self of their fatal presence and advice. They pushed their dangerous course to still further extremities. They appeared openly in arms against the Parliament ; yet were they not disclaimed or rebuked by Charles. They put themselves at the head of a small turbulent body of some two or three hundred men, at Kingston-on-Thames, avowing a wild and im- practicable scheme for investing the metro- polis, and cutting off the supplies *. A pro- clamation was instantly issued against them by both Houses. The train bands of the midland counties were ordered to march ; again the county of Buckingham offered to raise troops to defend the Parliament ; and again it received the thanks of Parliament through its representatives ; and a committee * Clarendon states this transaction very untruly, representing it as if Digby had come alone to Kingston from Hampton Court in a coach and six, whereas the evidence shews, that he and Luns- ford were there with three troops of horse, making proclamation for recruits, and thanking in the King's name those who joined them, L2 148 JOHN HAMPDEN, of public safety was formed, of which Hamp- den was a member. From this time forward a struggle was inevitable. Bodies of troops appeared, in divers parts, for the King. The Marquis of Newcastle, not long after, raised the people of the north, and, in the begin- ning of the spring, coined money, under royal warrant, to pay his levies *. On the other hand, the Houses, on a report presented by Sir Harry Vane, passed a vote to put the kingdom in a posture of defence t ; and Goring, at Portsmouth, and Sir John Hotham, at Hull, were directed, by ordinance, to hold those magazines ' for King and Par- * liament,' and to surrender their trust to none but under the same authority. The votes, too, relating to the civil affairs of the state, assumed daily a more decisive aspect. Former resolutions became declara- tions and ordinances ; and the bill for taking away the Bishops' votes was resumed, and passed into a law, receiving, (at the instance of the Queen, says Clarendon,) the Royal assent, when it was too late for even that great * Marchioness of Newcastle's Memoirs, t Commons' Journal, January 25. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 149 concession to be made with grace, or received with any more than a cold and formal ac- knowledgement. But the period from which the Parliament dated the commencement of hostilities by the King, was that of the Queen's departure for Holland. Her pretext was to accompany her daughter the Princess of Orange ; her object was to procure supplies, and negociate for the aid of foreign regiments. And she carried with her a large part of the Crown jewels to pledge for a loan of money*. Here, again, Digby was the evil genius that worked mischief to the fortunes of the King and Queen. It was in a letter of his that the full discovery of this negociation was made. Whether or no it was his rashness that coun- selled this correspondence is doubtful, but it was his incaution that betrayed it. From Dover, her place of embarkation, Charles repaired to Greenwich, and from thence, with Lord Hertford and his two sons, and a train of some forty or fifty gentlemen, and a troop of horse, he began his journey to * ClarendonHist, Reb, Heath's Chront 150 JOHN HAMPDEN, York. Thither he went to secure the maga- zine of Hull, and to put himself at the head of Newcastle's levies. This province presented to him great and commanding advantages. It was powerful for the raising of troops ; it was fertile in the means for supporting them ; it's distance from London gave time for com- pleting his preparations unmolested ; the local interests and feelings of it's inhabitants were distinct from those of the Londoners and of the people of the midland counties. Be- sides all this, the influence of the Caven- dishes and Wentworths, backed by that of Lord Derby, in Lancashire, gave him vast support ; and Hyde himself had obtained a large share of popularity with the gentry and middle classes, by his successful efforts in the abolition of that odious and oppressive tyranny the Presidency of the North. This journey, says Sir Philip Warwick, the King never could have performed, but that ' the * Houses thought it would conduce more to * their victory to fetch him back in triumph ' than to stop him in the way.' Surely, the Houses had a stronger, and much more ob- vious motive. Conscious that the crisis which HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 151 must bring against them a force raised in his name was now near at hand, conscious that a main part of the strength of their own cause depended on their being able to maintain in publick the profession they had so often made, that no shew of violence should be offered against his person, it was matter with them equally of principle and indubi- table policy, that the first aggressive act should be allowed to proceed from him. Nor was it long before he gave them the opportunity which they awaited. His first movement towards ascertaining the firmness of the Parliament's officers to fulfil their trust, and of the Parliament itself to maintain it's ground, was the summoning of Hull. Be- sides it's containing all the arms, ammunition, and artillery of the disbanded army of the north, Hull was of great importance to Charles, as affording a place of shelter and support to any force which he might collect ; and it commanded the entrance of the Hum- ber, where, as it afterwards appeared, the King's intention was to collect a fleet of war, and receive the supplies thrown in from Den- mark and from Holland. The young Duke of 152 JOHN HAMPDEN, York and Prince Rupert, who were upon a visit to Sir John Hotham, were dining with him when he received intelligence of the King being, with a body of three hundred horse, in full march upon the city *. Hotham had barely time to see the drawbridges up before Charles appeared at the Beverley Gate, and demanded admittance for himself and his fol- lowers. With protestations of all humility, Hotham on his knees offered to receive his Majesty and his household, but refused to admit a military force to occupy the city with which he had been entrusted. The King's determination thus to present himself under the walls without any previous communication with the Governor, or knowledge of his pro- bable intentions, was rash and ill advised. It was, as in the attempt to arrest the five mem- bers, a deliberate risk of ungraceful discomfi- ture, strange in a person possessed of so high a sense of dignity as Charles. Moreover, the failure of this demand, which he might at least with more propriety have deputed to another to make in his behalf, threw him at * Heath's Chronicle. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 153 once on the necessity of proclaiming Hotham a traitor, and on making, shortly after, a feeble and ineffectual attempt to enter by force, with three thousand foot and one thousand horse, which led to an unsuccessful siege of some days, by sea and land, and cost many lives *. Thus he gave notice of war when he had not a garrisoned town, no regular army in the field, small store of ammunition, few ships, and little money to supply any of these wants; while the Parliament had all the pub- lick revenue and magazines of the country in their hands. Which of the two parties began the Civil War has always since been matter of strenu- ous dispute. It is incapable of being satis- factorily determined; nor in truth is it of the least importance to the justification of either. The one class of writers insist on the Ordi- nance for the Militia, which preceded the Commissions of Array, as having been a levying of war by the Parliament. The other, with as much truth, impute to the King his negociations with foreign powers for * Viccars Parliamentary Chronicle, 154 JOHN HAMPDEN, aid, his attempt upon Hull, his commission to Newcastle, and his declaration from York, which may be said to have put him in the field before the Parliament, as having been a beginning of the war on his part. The pre- parations on each side went on together, and the approaches of the war were so gradual, (but after a certain time so rapid,) . that it must remain with historians to adopt which- ever of these acts it may suit their fancies or passions to assign as the point from which to date the actual commencement of hostilities; a point which, when determined, decides nothing with respect to the moral argument either way. In truth, the war had been for some time determined on by both parties, and (on whichever side the better justification lies) it is rather matter of surprise that it was de- ferred so long. Charles now pursued, with the utmost activity, the course which he had begun in Yorkshire, availing himself of the interest and zeal of his friends, not only in the dis- tricts well affected to his cause, but in some, also, where the Parliament had it's main strength. Worsted in his first summons of Hull, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 155 he returned to York ; but, on his way, a large body of gentry met him at Beverley, with a tender of their utmost services, and accompa- nied him to the metropolis of their province. At York he summoned the country round, and issued his first Commission of Array. It was a few days after, that both Houses voted that * It appears that the King, seduced by wicked ' counsel, intends to make war against the * Parliament ; that, whensoever the King ' maketh war upon the Parliament it is a ' high breach of the trust reposed in him by ' his people, contrary to his oath, and tending ' to the dissolution of the Government ; and ' that whosoever shall serve or assist him in ' such wars are traitors by the fundamental * laws of this Kingdom*.' Next day, they sent him a petition praying him to disband his forces. On the 1st of June, (the same day that the Commission of Array was published by the Commissioners through Yorkshire,) were voted the nineteen propositions to the Kingf. These, it is clear, though put forth in expressions of the humblest duty to the * Commons' Journals, May 20. t Ibid., June 1. 156 JOHN HAMPDEN, King's person, and breathing the most urgent desire of peace, were not propounded with any hope of being able to engage the royal assent, or prevent the evils they deprecate ; but rather as a manifestation of the terms on which the two Houses were anxious to rest their justi- fication in the struggle which was then to begin. They urge upon the King to make the ap- pointment of his great officers of state, his principal ministers, and the commanders of his guards and garrisons, subject to the ap- probation of the two Houses ; the taking away of the votes of the Popish Lords, who, indeed, had long been found as a party in the Upper House, supporting all the most unrea- sonable claims of prerogative, and, in many cases of privilege, going near to put the Houses in conflict with each other ; the reformation of Church government ; the set- tlement of the militia in Commissioners ap- proved by the Parliament ; the swearing of the Privy Councillors and Judges to maintain the Petition of Right, and all other statutes hereafter to be made ; that all public officers shall hold their places quamdfu bene se gesserint ; HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 157 that the King shall disband his newly-raised levies ; that Lord Kimbolton and the five members shall be cleared by statute ; and that no peer hereafter to be made shall sit without consent of Parliament. Large, doubtless, and before unheard-of, claims of power, and described by the King, in his answer, as * a ' profession of peace which, joined to such ' propositions, did appear a mockery and a 1 scorn.' Yet it is hard to say that to make the choice of the publick servants of the state subject to the consent of Parliament, (which, in truth, was the point which the King rejected as contrary to the essentials of the English Constitution,) was, under all the circumstances of outrage which had occurred, a much more violent power than that which, according to the Constitution in happier times, Parliaments possess, as of unquestionable right and practice, to secure the removal of them by impeachment or address*. The King now put forth the famous declara- * Sir Philip Warwick gives a somewhat unfair appearance to the nineteen propositions, by putting them forth in his Memoirs as if they had preceded the drawing up of the King's first Commission of Array, and his summoning of Hull ; when, in fact, they followed, and may be truly said to have been in consequence of, these acts. 158 JOHN HAMPDEN, tion of his cause ; on which the Peers and principal gentry who had joined him made an engagement for the defence of the King, and against obedience to any ordinance con- cerning the militia that hath not the royal assent. It was subscribed by the Lord Keeper, the Duke of Richmond, the Mar- quis of Hertford ; the Earls of Lindsey, Cum- berland, Huntingdon, Bath, Southampton, Dorset, Salisbury, Northampton, Devonshire, Bristol, Westmoreland, Berkshire, Monmouth, Rivers, Newcastle, Dover, Carnarvon, and Newport; the Lords Mowbray and Maltra- vers, Willoughby of Eresby, Rich, Charles Howard, Newark, Paget, Chandoys, Falcon- bridge, Poulett, Lovelace, Coventry, Duns- more, Seymour, Gray of Ruthen, and Falk- land; the Comptroller, Secretary Nicholas, Sir John Culpeper, the Lord Chief Justice Banks, and a number of gentry. The Lord Keeper Littleton, too, on the requisition of the King, sent the Great Seal of England to York, and the next day fol- lowed it himself. Lord Salisbury's course cannot easily be accounted for. Within a few days after he had signed the engagement, he HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 159 left the King, and escaped back to London *. His motive for thus deserting his pledged faith does not appear : his baseness only is clear. Lord Paget, appointed by the Parliament Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, had fled from his county to the King, about the first week in June. Mr. Tyrill, one of his Deputy-Lieu- tenants, in a letter, dated Inner Temple, June 15, to his son-in-law, Mr. Richard Gren- vil, of Wotton, then High Sheriff, says ' I c suppose you heare of y" flight of yo r cosen * the Lord Lieutenant, whoe is gone for ' Yorke, w th the Lord Bristoll ; y e Lord Fawk- ' land and Sir John Culpeper are gone ' alsoe ; and nowe all theire intelligences ' beinge gone, it is to be thought some sud- ' dayne storme will falle upon y e kingdome ; ' y e citizens bringe in theire mony and plate ' roundly, accordinge to y e expositions. Not- ' withstandinge y e Lord Lieutenant is gone, * y e meeting holds at Aylesbury on Friday; ' the deputies are armed wi th y e power of his ' Lo p , by a newe order of Parliament!.' His flight was caused by the almost unanimous * Warwick's Memoirs. Whitelocke. t Mr. Richard Grenvil's Papers, at Stowe. 100 JOHN HAMPDEN, determination of the gentry of that county not to give up into his hands the powder which the Committee of publick safety had sent down to store at Aylesbury. At the meeting on that Friday were assembled the whole lieutenancy of the county, thirty-two in number, with the Lord Wharton, who was shortly after invested with the office of Lord Lieutenant, by ordinance. They were ap- pointed to collect the money of the county, and vest it in the hands of a treasurer, to levy and train the militia, to form a garrison at Aylesbury, and manage generally the pub- lick affairs of the district*. The King, meanwhile, had proceeded south- ward. He fixed his head-quarters at Not- tingham, the largest town near the borders of that division of England where the Parlia- ment interest was the strongest, and through which he knew that he must pass, as through * For a list of the Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire, see Appendix C. It is curious to those who know that county well, and take interest in it, to observe from that return how many of the families of the first gentry in it have become extinct, while several of the names in the list are now to be found among the yeomen and farmers residing where the manor-houses of their ancestors stood. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 161 an enemy's country, by force. Here it was that, on the 22nd of August, with great pomp, he raised and planted his royal standard, inviting the people of the country round to join it. Many slight encounters had already taken place. The Parliament had several regiments in Northamptonshire and Warwick- shire, and Prince Rupert had pushed forward with a strong body of horse to Leicester ; the Earl of Newcastle was moving with about five thousand men to the eastward, and the ad- vanced posts had met and skirmished. But now the war began *. By such as had looked forward through passing events to consequences, an appeal to arms must for a long time have been deemed unavoidable. Yet, to most, even of those who took part in the preparations and watched their progress, the Great Civil War came at last * For Charles's final and eloquent proclamation announcing his intention to raise the standard, see Appendix D. It is a singular circumstance that Clarendon, who must have been present at that memorable ceremony, states it to have occurred on the 25th, whereas the proclamation itself dates it three days before. This is the more remarkable, as this misstatement of dates is calcu- lated to lead to an inference that the Parliament's order to Lord Essex to take command of the army preceded this act of the King's ; whereas it was voted on the 24th, when the news had reached London of the standard being actually raised. VOL. II. M 162 JOHN HAMPDEN, as matter of surprise. Many, of both parties, who had fanned the hidden and infant spark into life, saw with dismay the flames as they burst forth from either side, soon to meet in one general and mingling blaze. Thus it must ever be in civil war. By most men, however long it has threatened in its approach, it is not seen to be imminent until it is upon them; nor can it be comprehended in all its dread- ful particulars until they are to be dealt with face to face. The images of extreme and unnatural strife, so often pictured by the poet, brother battling against brother, the arm of the son raised against the parent, are not among those which the most commonly pre- sent themselves to afflict society in civil war. But it is, that many of those ties of habit and affection which bind men the most closely to life are loosened ; severed by publick en- mity, or, what is less tolerable still than pub- lick enmity, suspicion and distrust. These are unhappinesses which, in civil war, may be the lot even of those whose condition leads them into the dispute only as the attached and obedient followers of the standard raised by some neighbouring in- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 163 fluence, and among whom the connexions of friendship and of kindred are, generally, the ieast liable to be disturbed. But with those pn whom their station imposes loftier callings, and who are answerable in the high- est degree for the course which they assign to tliemselves and others, much more fearful are the trials which must hourly occur; duties in conflict, every private affection op- posed to eyery pufolipk obligation, and every plea, the strongest, for sympathy and protec- tion, which cannot be answered. Even things inanimate, which appeal to remembrance only, crowd in with their num- berless associations, to tell us how unnatural a state of man is civil war. The village street barricaded; the house deserted by all it's social pharities,- perhaps occupied as the stronghold of a foe ; the church where lie pur parents' bones become a battery pf can- npn, an hospital for wounded, a stable for horses, or a keep for captives ; the accus- tpmed paths pf pur early yputh beset with open menace pr hidden danger; it's fields made foul with carnage ; and the impreca- M2 164 JOHN HAMPDEtf, tions of furious hate, or the supplications of mortal agony, coming to us in our own lan- guage, haply in the very dialect of our pecu- liar province ; these are among the familiar and frequent griefs of civil war. The family of Hampden did not escape those divisions which so unhappily distracted some of the noble houses at this time. Mr. Alexander Hampden had not only formed opinions which separated him entirely from his illustrious kinsman, but, about a year after the commencement of the war, he gave testimony of them by an act dishonouring to the name and station which he bore. He en- gaged himself in Edmund Waller's plot ; two first cousins of John Hampden thus joining in a conspiracy against the persons of the principal Members of the Parliament, which, if not originally a scheme of assassination, was one which could have succeeded only by bloodshed, and for which two of the sub- ordinate agents justly suffered an ignominious death. The first year of the Civil War, grievous in so many ways for publick con- siderations to Hampden, was a time also of HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 16$ great domestick affliction to him. Soon after the outbreak his eldest son died. But the severest blow was the loss of his favourite and beloved daughter, Mrs. Knightley. This was a sad visitation, the memory of which hung gloomily over his spirit during the short re- mainder of his life*. It will not be improper here to direct our attention to the system by which Hampden's conduct from this period seems to have been governed. From the time of Charles's violent entry into the House of Commons, Hampden's carriage in publick, which, we are told by Clarendon and others, had been ever marked by modesty and mildness, * became fiercer ; * and he threw away the scabbard when he ' drew the sword.' Mr. Guthrie, a fair and candid writer, says that * if Hampden, in any * part of his great plan, fell short of his usual ' sagacity, it was in thinking Charles to be ' more weak and wicked than he really was.' Perhaps this observation may have proceeded from a rather inconsiderate acquiescence in the hasty conclusion that at such a crisis the most active and severest course of conduct '.* Sir Philip Warwick. 166 JOHN HAMPDEN, necessarily betokens the most inveterate and irreconcilable feelings. The contrary is ofteri the case ; and an attentive consideration makes it probable that it was so with Hamp- den. It is true, that henceforward we shall always find him foremost to urge the strongest and most decisive measures. To believe that he, whom all agree in accounting the most sagacious and considerate of his party, was changed, in an hour of resentment, to be the most intemperate and impracticable, would be a supposition at variance with all moral pro- bability. This personal antipathy to Charles does not appear ; nor, if it did, could it afford the just solution of his change of demeanour now. One more probable may be found in some remarkable passages of what remains of his history. It is sufficient, for the present; to bespeak attention to this fact, that, in the execution of a great plan to which the mind has with difficulty reconciled itself, the fiercest and most decisive course is perfectly in unison with the soberest motives, and may often be the wisest way of accomplishing the most mode- rate ends. Lord Clarendon says of Falkland that he was * one of those who believed that HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 167 * one great battle would end all differences.' Others there were who resolutely ventured all for themselves and for the country, without laying down in their own minds any definite term to the war, or probable occasion for a treaty. Thus, as was afterwards said, ' a * summer's triumph proved but a winter's ' story ; and the game, however it seemed 4 won in autumn, was to be played over again 1 in the spring*.' But, as, of all the King's adviserSj Lord Falkland was the most reluctant to begin the contest, and the most anxiously thirsting for any probable overtures of a lasting peace, so, among the parliamentary leaders, till the dis- putes had risen so high as to preclude media- tion, Hampden's conduct had been the most conciliatory, the most ' publick minded,' and the least influenced by animosity or passion. But, from the taking up of arms, as Lord Falkland was, thenceforward, of those on the King's side, the most in favour of bold and rapid enterprises, so was Hampden, in the Council of War and Committee of Publick * See Rush, vi,, pp. 3, 4. 168 JOHN HAMPDEN, Safety ; and, as he was the first to see how impracticable was the hope of accommoda- tion till grounded upon some decisive advan- tage, so was he unremitting to push for that advantage, and to urge upon his tardier chiefs and compeers such undertakings as might shorten the conflict, and hasten on the treaty. Thus, if it had come to pass that fortune had plainly declared for the King's side, Falkland would have been the fittest of his counsellors to restrain his demands within such bounds as a conqueror might be persuaded to re- spect; and, if the event had been favour- able to the Parliament's cause, Hampden would have had the best means of con- trouling that party in success within or near those limits of privilege beyond which they had not proceeded until it became at least questionable whether they could any longer defend privilege without invading prerogative. In the wisdom and influence of these two men lay the best hope of such a settlement, which, to be permanent, must have been matter of compromise, and which, to become matter of compromise, must have been founded upon great power of dictation placed in prudent HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 169 hands like theirs. But of this more here- after. In was under the woody brows of his own beauteous Chilterns that Hampden first pub- lished the ordinance to marshal the militia of his native county. The parishes and hun- dreds, often with their preachers at the head, mustered at their market-houses to march forth to training. In the dearth of all the ordinary implements of war, arms and accoutrements of the most grotesque fashion now left the walls where, from the times of the civil wars of the two Roses, they had hung as hereditary trophies in the manor- houses, the churches, and the ' cottages of the yeomen. In the returns of arms, par- ticularly of the levies of the northern parts, at the first outbreak, the long-bow, the brown bill, and the cross-bow, resumed their place among the equipments of a man-at- arms*. It was not till some months after, when the stores of Hull, and Newcastle, and Plymouth, and of the Tower of London, were distributed, that the match-lock and pistol found their way into the hands of the * ordered * Mr. R. Grenvil's Returns. 170 JOHN HAMPDEN, * musqueteers and dragooners' in the country parts ; and, even to the end of the civil wars, large bodies of men, besides the regular pike- meh, were furnished only with rude lances ; and, on the King's part, many thousands, particularly of the Welshmen, went to the battle with staves and Danish clubs. The conflicts which arosfe out of the meet- ings of parties, acting under warrant td raise troops, and collect the other materials of war j gradually assumed the character of military skirmishes ; and the towns, the high roads, and woods, through which the supplies had to pass, became daily, and in almost all parts of England, the scenes of encounters more or less obstinate and bloody. By degrees, as these parties grew larger in their numbers, and more confident in their strength, they issued out from the fortified towns to try their arms and spirit against bodies which they knew to be collecting in the neighbourhood, and to drive in cattle for the magazines which, in all parts, were in progress of being formed. As the summer advanced, the corn, still green, was reaped by working parties on each side, whether to swell with its unripe HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. produce their own guarded granaries, or; as was oftener the case, for forage for their horses, or, oftenest, in order to take it from the reach of their enemies. This course had also the effect, in the neighbourhood of the cities, of obliging the country people to follow their food, and thus of enlisting themselves and increasing the garrisons. The history of these wars, as they pro- ceeded, casts a peculiar interest on places^ the names of which, as connected with the events of later times, carry with them no very lofty recollections. Even the small scale on which, throughout the civil wars, operations, insignificant in themselves but mighty in their consequences, were carried on, gives* at first hearing, a homely and contracted sound to the story of the contest. Thus, some men have made it matter of complaint, while tra- versing the plains and passes of Greece, that they have found that land, which has been made immortal by the warrior's sword, by the poet's song, by the gown of the orator the statesman and the philosopher, confined within such petty limits as those between the Egean Sea and the mountain boundary of her State's, 172 JOHN HAMPDEN, But this is an ill considered feeling. What can more sustain the glory of that famous history than the reflection, how narrow the space in which the spirit of freedom made good for ages her cause against the world? NO trifling cause of admiration, that the powerful lessons of liberty have sprung up into ripeness, and been reaped, and stored up, even by other nations, from a germ like that of the Grecian Repub- licks, or the Commonwealth of England. He who contemplates, without emotion, the vic- torious progress of mighty empires, may yet feel some enthusiasm when, standing in a rocky pass dark with pine and plane trees, or on a small sandy plain broken only by a few rude and shapeless hillocks, he is told, * Here Grecian freedom bled, to die, but not ' to be subdued, this is Thermopylae ; here ' she triumphed, you are among the graves * of Marathon.' Then, though but the plough- man be seen on Chalgrove now, though the names of Birmingham, and Coventry, and Gloucester, be no more known but by the peaceful contests of busy trade, with all its powers and all its enterprise, though a few hours of journey suffice to carry us from HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 173 the opening to the concluding scene, from Oxford where Charles held his court, to where last he grappled with his subjects at Naseby, we may acknowledge, in even these names of familiar sound, the feelings which must ever attach themselves to places made memorable by bold endeavour or great achieve- ment, by the acts, or by the fall, of men who have contributed to the fame of their native land. Once aroused to the fearful necessity of taking arms, and of using them, the principal leaders of the Puritans were rapid, resolute, and unwearied, in all the various business of the approaching war. They had matured their secret and sturdy plan, and now worked with an energy which at first was wanting among the greater part of the adherents to the Royalist cause. They had added to their rigid morals a noble and simple vigour; ' They had put on,' says Sidney, ' the athle- * tick habit of liberty for the contest ; ' they had made the laws of God the study of their lives ; they found them often in conflict with those of their rulers ; they made their choice, and solemnly appealed to the issue of battle, 174 JOHN HAMPDEN. as men who thoroughly believed themselves espeqajly designed ' To some great work, His glory, And people's safety*. And many, who before had looked with doubt and fear upon the very name of liberty, now m;nlr proclamatipn pf it with their lips, in- scribed it, and ' God with Us,' upon their banners to phaljenge lawless prerogative ; and, having drawn their swords in it's behalf, sheathed them not untill they had made what long ha4 been a bye-wprd and a grievous jest, their leading cry to victory. * Samson Agonistes. PART THE EIGHTH. 1642. Posture of the two parties Their motives and objects Falkland, and others who take part for the King Sir Bevill Grenvil His letter to Sir John Trelawney Formation of the Parliament Armies Loans, and Contributions of Money and Plate The Fleet declares for the Parliament King's conditions from Nottingham rejected Hampden captures the King's Oxfordshire Commissioners at Ascot Conflicts in divers parts Siege and surrender of Portsmouth Coventry and Nor- thampton attacked by the King's troops Lord Brook Brook and Hampden repulse the King's troops at Southam Conditions of sub- mission proposed to Lord Brook before Warwick His Answer He assembles his levies, and harangues his officers, at Warwick Castle. PART THE EIGHTH. 1642. AT the time of raising the standard, the King's affairs wore but a discouraging aspect ; and they continued to do so for some weeks after. He had been led into too sanguine a calculation both of his actual strength and of the rapidity with which it might be increased. His standard floated over the rising ground on which it had been planted, daily and nightly guarded, and graced with all the ceremony and splendour befitting so majes- tick a symbol of war ; the royal pavilion and the tents of the nobles and the gentry were pitched around it, and the household and body-guard formed a brave encamp- ment in the rear ; each morning, soon after sunrise, the heralds assembled, by sound of trumpet, at its foot, and then dispersed them- VOL. II. N 178 JOHN HAMPDEN, selves through the towns and country adja- cent, making proclamation and summons in the King's name. Bands of military musick played throughout the day, and in the course of it the King himself frequently appeared. But the people of the country did not flock in from around to enlist themselves in the cause ; and even the spectacle soon ceased to attract. In truth, the King had not hus- banded wisely his means of display. He had been too much seen among the ordinary and not very popular preparations for the war; and, above all, he had taken the field, and unsuccessfully, before he raised his standard. He had at that time not above three or four hundred regular troops with him in and about Nottingham. It is true that he knew the greater part of the gentry of England to be in his favour; true also that he knew how great an advantage he possessed in having the choice of his own time, and of his own terms too, for beginning the war. For still the Parliament could not, with any shew of regard to its own repeated declarations, nor consistently with what was still its un- doubted policy, make any hostile movement HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 179 in advance of him. He was also at liberty to hold a much more unreserved and decisive tone than they. His published statements were more calculated to address themselves to the feelings of all classes : they abounded in topicks to be dealt with much more freely than those of the Parliament; and the lan- guage of a King, casting himself and his royal cause upon the sympathies of his peo- ple, had a charm which did not belong to the colder reasonings of the opposing party. The Parliament were fain in their replies to use his name jointly with their own, as the sanction and vindication of their quarrel, professing ' that the separation of the King from the Par- ' liament could not be without a destruction of ' the Government, and that the dividers were ' enemies to the State.' The King had no measures to keep. In phrases more quickly intelligible, and more easily communicable through the country, he called them * rebels ' and traitors to God and the King, who raised ' a hand against the ancient monarchy of ' the land and against the Lord's anointed.' The Parliament represented him as in the thraldom of a malignant faction. He pro- N2 180 JOHN HAMPDEN, tested that his acts and his cause were his own. They proposed to * redeem him from ' those that took him a voluntary captive, and 1 would separate him from his Parliament ; ' they professed to fight against his will only, * not against his person, which they desired * to rescue and preserve, nor against his ' authority, which was with them.' The King ' disowned their service as a scorn, 1 that they should say they fought for King ' and Parliament when their armies were * ready to charge him in the field*.' These were mighty advantages, of which Charles well knew the value, and to which he frequently and powerfully appealed. There was no class or description of his subjects to whom he did not separately apply himself, and, very generally, with success. To the unreflecting, the cause which bore the King's name singly had a sound at once brilliant and holy; to the vain-glorious, it appeared bedecked with decorations and titles, and hopes of reward springing fresh from the fountain, so called, of honour ; to the dissolute it recommended itself as con- * Baxter's Life. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 181 trasted with the sway of a party, the severity of whose personal observances, and whose whole system of moral government over others, were distasteful and irksome. Be- sides, there were some, not a few, of those soldiers of fortune, whose experience in the art of war was brought to market, and con- sidered of high value in a country inexpe- rienced in that science, to whom the Cavaliers' side shewed in prospect more occasions of preferment and of plunder. London herself, with all her spoil, was in view. The gaiety, the splendpur, the inlaid armour, the braided love-lock, the glitter- ing badge of a sovereign's, or, more precious still, of a court lady's, favour, dazzled the eyes and warmed the fancies of the young ; the venerable sacredness of antique institu- tions, the hazardous indistinctness of new, and a proneness to seek shelter under the edifice of power even after its foundations had been shaken, fixed the hearts of the old: while, to the gentry and the nobles, the lofty asso- ciations of chivalry, and the generous recol- lections of hereditary and personal fealty, gave a powerful bias in a quarrel where 182 JOHN HAMPDEN, neutrality was seldom practicable, and never honourable. These were interests and passions likely all to lead men to the party of the King. Meanwhile, publick principle and a sense of duty may be ad- mitted to have equally guided both ways in this great dispute ; and doubtless on both sides these influences had equal power. So long as subsidies, so long as quarterings of troops, so long as Bishops' tyrannies and Popish innovations, so long as out- rages on the privileges of the Parliament and the liberties of the people, were upper- most in men's minds, while grievances met their eyes at every turn, and the alter- native of resistance was only contemplated distantly and in principle, the popular voice was loud against the King ; but, loud in its outcry against the grievance, the popular voice must not always be expected to be equally firm in support of the remedy, when the time for applying the remedy has arrived. The Londoners and the counties had, with a wonderful accordance of feeling, acknow- ledged that their liberties were inseparably involved in the independence of Parliament. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 183 They had gone along with Parliament, not only in the grand remonstrance, but even in its claim upon the power over the militia, and confessed it to be founded purely and simply on the necessity of self-defence. Even the King's standard displayed at Nottingham at first failed as a talisman on the minds of the people. As yet, they had seen only pre- parations for hostilities which they thought the King had provoked, and had been weak enough to suppose that mere preparations and a display of power on the other side might produce concessions and give security. San- guine in their hopes of avoiding the extremity of war, they had still to learn that, until forced by defeat, it is not in the nature of a King who has been nursed in notions of divine right to treat in good faith with a once re- volted people, or of a once revolted people to have any confidence in the good faith of a King. But when the menace ceased, and its accomplishment arrived, resolutions began to waver and to change. It is said by a court writer, after the Re- storation, that Sir Benjamin Rudyard, who died about this time, declared on his death- 184 JOHN HAMPDEN, bed that Pym and Hampden told him ' that ' they thought the King so ill -beloved by his ' subjects, that he could never be able to * raise an army to oppose them*.' If this be believed, it needs not to be remarked in what an error Pym and Hampden had in- dulged themselves. But it is not very like truth. The difficulties which both had met with during their unremitting exertions to execute the ordinances for the militia, and to hinder the success of the commission of array, must, to men of their sagacity, have sooner brought conviction of their error. It is how- ever certain that the party generally, con- fident in their own strength, and hoping to the last that a protracted civil war might be avoided, very much underrated the influence of the royalist spirit. Many who had, through danger and dis- repute, proved themselves friends of liberty, and whose names, so long as the memory of good men is safe, are a sufficient answer to any scandal on their motives, now took arms for the King. They had opposed prerogative when liberty was oppressed and in peril ; * See Brief Chron. of the Civil Wars. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 185 they offered themselves to support what they conceived to be the essentials of mo- narchy, when the Parliament Leaders began to feel their power, and to be the rulers of the state. At a crisis of this sort, decisive as each man's conduct must be on his own fortunes, and, perhaps, on those too of his country, and fierce as is the conflict on which he is entering, it is with reflecting persons generally the result of the most nicely ba- lanced considerations. One who, at the first out-break of civil dissensions, can take his part without hesitation, must generally take it without any very grave or fixed view of the principles which have governed his decision. There never yet was a civil war in which either side had a clear case of unqualified right against a clear case of unmitigated wrong. It is the wisely moderate and the scrupulously good who have usually the greatest difficulty in deciding for themselves. It is they therefore who have the greatest risk to run of differing from each other in their decisions. And if this were remem- bered in reviewing the conduct of men and parties in difficult times, there would be more 186 JOHN HAMPDEN, charity and more truth in the conclusions both of those who act in publick affairs, and of those who write about them. At the head of those who, friends of liberty, when the contest became irrecon- cileable between King and people took part, for the sake of the monarchy, with the King, and who, having taken that part, clove to it with eagerness and fidelity, at the head of these Lord Falkland may not improperly be placed. On the motives of his conduct, at a crisis to him of such unhappiness, there seems to be no stain, nor is there any cause assigned for his change of parties, at the time and in the manner in which it happened, that can be a dishonour to his memory. It was not, like Culpeper's, to be suspected of having arisen from any appetite for office ; for dates and facts shew that he abstained from serving the King in place, until he ran the risk, by further refusal, of encouraging a supposition that he declined to render himself answerable for the advice he gave. And then he eagerly embraced the office for the sake of the responsibility it imposed. It was not, like Hyde's, mixed up HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 187 with any jealousies or resentments ; for he long resisted the persuasions of Hyde to think ill of the intentions of those against whose acts he thought it necessary to pro- test. Least of all was it from a spirit of intrigue, or of self-advancement by unworthy artifices, such as suited the minds and morals of many factious men ; for we have other testi- mony corroborative of that of Clarendon, that the scrupulous virtue of Falkland forbade him generally from recurring to such means of in- formation or assistance as could not be given without violation of morality and honour*. Indeed we may well believe his friend's elo- quent tribute to be but little exaggerated and that it was but the truth to say that he took more pains to avoid office than most men * The only exception I can find is in the correspondence, which he conducted for the King, with the conspirators in Waller's plot. It would be most unjust to impeach the honour of a publick man, because, in the furtherance of a great cause, he may be obliged, on occasions, to accept the services of unworthy agents. Nor does this cast any blame on Falkland. But Clarendon was not justi- fied, with all that he must have known of the missions of Sir Alex- ander Hampden and of the Lady Aubigny, in saying that Falkland ' could never bring himself to give any countenance or entertain- ' ment ' to such as, ' by communication of guilt or dissimulation of ' manners, wind themselves into such trusts and secrets as enable ' them to make discoveries.' 188 JOHN HAMPDEN, do to gain it ; and that he used no means to persuade the King to bestow office upon him, but deserving it. Unqualified and unsuspected praise may also be given to some others who followed in his course : high-minded and steady friends of liberty, who yet, to use the metaphor of one of them, ' had they seen the Crown of * England on a hedge stake,' would have re- mained with it to the death to defend it. Among these we may fairly class Lord Hert- ford, Lord Dunsmore, Lord Capel, Lord Paget, and Sir Ralph Hopton. Of others, who subscribed high and honourable names to the Declaration which was drawn out under the shadow of the King's standard, such as Newcastle, Paulet, Northampton, Derby, and Lindsey, the first of whom was appointed General of the King's Northern Army, and the last, Lieutenant General in Chief of the forces which he himself commanded in person, little need be said but that, from the beginning, and to the utmost extent, sup- porters of the policy of the King, they were bold, uncompromising, and faithful, in his need. Some there were, on that side, such HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 189 as Saville and Salisbury, and some who be- gan by taking the field with the parlia- mentary party, such as Goring, Clare, North- umberland, Holland (and, unhappily we must add, afterwards, Bedford too), who changed more than once in the course of the war, concerning whom the less enquiry is made with reference to the purity of their apparent motives the more charitably will their me- mories be dealt with. Such there must be at all times, who, to the great damage of publick liberty, join the popular cause on account of private disgusts, of personal ex- pectations, or for the sake of becoming import- ant, in the only way open to them, by tam- pering alternately with both parties. Sir Edmund Verney was appointed Stand- ard-bearer to the King. He had no taste for courts, had ever sided with the country party in Parliament, and not only felt, but ex- pressed, doubts of the justice of the cause on which he was entering*. He stated, as his sole motive, a soldier-like reason, shewing more anxiety not to do wrong than * Sir P. Warwick's Memoirs Clarendon, Life. 190 JOHN HAMPDEN, reflection to guide him in doing right, of the sincerity of which, however, from the hour when he reluctantly raised the standard to that at which he bravely died defending it, there is no ground of doubt. He said * he * had eaten the King's bread,' and was there- fore bound to his service in personal honour ; otherwise, he disapproved of the cause in which he was engaged* : a sentiment, fit only for a feudal vassal, which had carelessly been allowed a place in the heart of a high-minded gentleman. It was at this unpromising period of the King's affairs that the brave Sir Bevill Grenvil declared himself in the field, and, in a moment of general doubt and dismay, first published the commission of array and raised troops and occupied a line of posts in the West. In his native county of Corn- wall, which he had long represented in Par- liament, he took his part, as one who, having weighed and resolved with caution, was now ready to act with determination and effect. There was no man who had more faithfully done his duty in the House of Commons * Clarendon Life. Ludlow's Memoirs. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 191 against the arbitrary measures of the King. He had early associated himself with the reformers of abuses, and, personally and politically attached to Sir John Eliot, had joined in the remonstrances upon his com- mitment. In one of his letters to his wife, his ' best friend the Lady Grace Grenvil,' many of which give so amiable a view of his private virtues and gentleness of dis- position, he speaks of Eliot as being ' resolved ' to have him out of his imprisonment.' He had also, much later, put himself at the head of a local opposition to the ship money, and in 1640, presented to the House of Com- mons the petition and remonstrance of Wat- ford and of other towns in Hertfordshire*. But Sir Bevill seems never to have contem- plated the possibility of any justification in any case for a subject resisting a sovereign in arms, and to have considered the weapons of war as to be used by a good man at the bidding of his sovereign only, and then that such bidding always makes the use just and glorious. Such was his feeling even as early * Commons 1 Journals. 192 JOHN HAMPDEN, as the first Scottish war, though undertaken by the insurgents in defence of those very principles of personal and religious liberty which he had always manfully supported in parliament. In a letter to Morice, dated Newcastle, May 13, 1639*, he says ' For my ' part, I go with joy and comfort to venture * my life in as good a cause, and with as good * company, as ever Englishman did ; and I do ' take God to witness, if I were to choose a ' death, it should be no other but this.' He appears to have always indulged himself in a melancholy foreboding, strange in so brave and fixed a mind, of the fate which really befel him early in the civil wars. In the fol- lowing letter he justifies to an affectionate and anxious friend his quitting his home, his children, and that amiable and high-minded woman by whom his strong love was so well deserved, for the purpose of entering on a service in which he was, ever after, in life and death, among the foremost. It so well lays open his pure and gallant heart, that it de- serves insertion : * Hardwick Papers. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 193 To Sir Jo. 'Trelawny. ' Mo. Hon. S r , ' I have in many kindes had tryall of y r * noblenes, but in none more then in this sin- 1 gular expression of y r kind care and love. ' I give also y r excelP Lady humble thankes ' for respect unto my poore woman, who hath * been long a faithfull much obliged servant ' of your Ladyes. But, S r , for my journey, it ' is fixt. I cannot containe myself w th in my ' doores when the K g of Eng s standard waves ' in the field upon so just occasion the cause 1 being such as must make all those that dye f in it little inferiour to martyrs. And for * myne owne, I desire to acquire an honest ' name, or an hon ble grave. I never loved my * life or ease so much as to shunn such an * occasion, w ch if I should, I were unworthy ' of the profession I have held, or to succede * those ances. of mine, who have, so many of * them, in severall ages, sacrificed their lives * for their country. ' S r , the barbarous and implacable enemy, * (notwithstanding His Majesty's gracious * proceedings w th them,) do continue their ' insolencies and rebellion in the highest VOL. II. O 194 JOHN HAMPDEN, * degree, and are united in a body of great * strength ; so as you must expect, if they ' be not prevented and mastered neer their * own homes, they will be troublesome in y ri , * and in the remotest pl s ere long. * I am not w th out the consideration, (as you * lovingly advise,) of my wife and family ; ' and, as for her, I must acknowledge she ' hath ever drawne so evenly in her yoke ' with me, as she hath never prest before or * hung behinde me, nor ever opposed or re- ' sisted my will. And yet truly I have not, in * this or any thing else, endeavoured to walke * in the way of power w th her, but of reason ; * and though her love will submit to either, ' yet truly my respect will not suffer me to ' urge her with power, unless I can convince ' with reason. So much for that, whereof I * am willing to be accomptable unto so good ' a friend. * I have no suite unto you in mine owne * behalfe, but for y r prayers and good wishes, * and that, if I live to come home againe, you * would please to continue me in the number * of your servants. * I shall give a true relation unto my very HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 195 * nob. friend Mr. Mo. (Moyle) of y r and his ' aunt's loving respects to him, which he hath ' good reason to be thankfull for; and so, I be- ' seech God to send you and your nob. family * all health and happiness ; and, while I live, * I am, Sir, ' Y r unfay. lov. and fai. serv. B. G.'* To one of the proudest spirits that ever rose up against the King in his injustice and tyranny was joined one of the most generous that ever lent him it's aid in his need and peril. Sir Bevill had an almost romantick appetite for danger, which is sometimes apt, unknown to it's possessor, to form a powerful quantity in the scale in which he balances his resolves at a moment like that of which we are now treating. The generosity of his nature was such as to make him, at such a time, almost suspect his own former conduct, and put himself more forward than perhaps otherwise he would have done, when any thing was to be achieved in a cause which he now thought in it's turn to be oppressed. ' His temper * Among Lord Carteret's papers, discovered and lent to me by the Lord Bishop of Llandaff. 02 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' and affections,' says Lord Clarendon, ' were 1 so publick, that no accident which happened * could make any impressions in him; and ' his example kept others from taking any 1 thing ill, or at least seeming to do so. In a ' word, a brighter courage and a gentler dis- * position were never married together, to * make the most cheerful and innocent con- ' versation*.' The King being now actually in the field, no time was lost by the Parliament in dis- playing and putting into activity all the va- rious preparations which it had already made for the war. The raising of troops, and the garrisoning and fortifying of towns proceeded with great and increasing rapidity. The new levies were formed into regiments and brigades. Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had been sent down to assist Sir John Hotham, began, but with small success, to collect a force which was destined to make head against the Marquis of Newcastle in the north. On Sir William Waller, who had the command at Exeter, devolved a like charge in the west, where Sir Ralph Hopton, Slanning, and Grenvil, * Hist. Reb. <7 HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 197 occupied the greater part of the country, and some of the small sea-ports, for the King. Lord Brook in Warwickshire, Lord Say and his sons in Northamptonshire, the Earl of Bedford in Bedfordshire, Lord Kim- bolton and Cromwell in Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire, and Lord Wharton Arthur Goodwyn Mr. West Mr. Bulstrode Mr. Tir- rell and Mr. Richard Grenvil the High She- riff in Buckinghamshire, Skippon and Hollis and Stapleton in Middlesex, and the Sheriffs of Essex Surrey and Berkshire in their re- spective counties, formed the militia rein- forcements for the army which was placed under the chief direction of the Earl of Essex. This became soon the main army of the Par liament ; and, in the course of less than a month after the raising of the King's stand- ard, the parliamentarian force throughout England amounted to about 25,000 men. The whole was at the disposal of the Com- mittee of Publick Safety. The divisions were generally placed under the command of such of the chiefs as had served in the wars of Gustavus Adolphus ; and a few French and German engineers were engaged to superin- 198 JOHN HAMPDEN, tend the fortifications and the drilling of the artillery. The brigades and single regiments were raised and led by such of the noblemen and country gentlemen as were found com- bining with their local influence activity courage and genius enough for military affairs to be entrusted with commands. The regiments of infantry, as their cloathing became more complete, assumed the colours of their respective leaders, generally such as had been worn by the serving men of the families. Hollis's were the Lon- don red-coats ; Lord Brook's, the purple ; Hampden's, the green-coats ; Lord Say's and Lord Mandeville's, the blue. The orange, which had long been the colour of Lord Essex's household, and now that of his body- guard, was worn in a scarf over the armour of all the officers of the Parliament army, as the distinguishing symbol of their cause. Each regiment also carried a small standard, or cornet, with, on one side, the device and motto of it's colonel, and, on the other, the watchword of the Parliament ' God With Us.' The Earl of Essex's bore the inscription, '.Cave, Adsum,' words not well chosen, as, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 199 in the course of the wars, they sometimes afforded occasion for jest among the Cavaliers, when his regiment chanced to be seen in re- treat, or engaged in levying contributions, or in some such other duties which were dis- tasteful to the parts of the country over which it was moving, and which thus gave a some- what whimsical air to the warning. Some of these mottos were better chosen, and better justified. In the third year of the war, when the second son of the Earl of Leicester, Algernon Sidney, drew his youthful sword in that cause to which, in his old age, he gave testimony with his blood, he inscribed his standard with these words ' Sanctus Amor * Patriae Dat Animum.' The motto which was borne at the head of Hampden's regi- ment marked well it's leader's publick course, ' Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum.' The infantry, on account of the scarcity of the weapons of war, during the first campaign, were variously armed, but the greater number carried matchlocks, pikes, or poleaxes. The cavalry were better appointed. The dragoon wore his steel cap and gorget, back and breast plates, with tassets descending to the 200 JOHN HAMPDEN, knees, and he carried his long sword, and carbine, and pistols ; and some of the horse- men were armed, like the German Cravats, with long lances. Hazelrigge's regiment of horse, from the completeness of their de- fensive armour, obtained the name of the Lobsters, and Cromwell's that of the Iron- sides. Hampden's green regiment was com- posed entirely of Buckinghamshire men ; and his colleague, Arthur Goodwyn of Upper Winchenden, raised a regiment of cavalry in the same county. It appears, from the returns of Lord Essex's army, that soon after the outbreak of the war it must have consisted of, in the whole, nearly fifteen thousand infantry, and four thousand five hundred horse. Of the former, there were twenty regiments. The Lord General's Body Guard, and the regiments of the Earl of Peterborough, the Earl of Stamford, Viscount Say, Viscount Rochford, Viscount St. John, Lord Kimbolton, Lord Brook, Lord Roberts, Lord Wharton, John Hampden, Denzil Hollis, Sir John Merrick, Sir Henry Cholmely, Sir William Constable, Sir William Fairfax, Charles Essex, Thomas Grantham, Thomas HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 201 Ballard, and William Bamfield. The cavalry were in seventy-five troops. These were all raised, as were many of the infantry regi- ments, at the charge of their commanders. They were the Lord General's Life Guard of Gentlemen, and the troops of the Earls of Bedford, Peterborough, and Stamford, Vis- counts Say, St. John, and Fielding, Lords Brook, Wharton, Willoughby of Parham, Hastings, Grey of Groby, Sir William Balfour, Sir William Waller, Sir Arthur Hazelrigge, Sir Walter Erie, Sir Faithful Fortescue, Nathaniel Francis and John Fiennes, Oliver Cromwell, Valentine Waughton, Henry Ire- ton, Arthur Goodwyn, John Dalbier, Adrian Scroope, Thomas Hatcher, John Hotham, Sir Robert Pye, Sir William Wray, Sir John Saunders, John Alured, Edwyn Sandys, John and Thomas Hammond, Alexander Pym, Anthony and Henry Mildmay, James and Thomas Temple, Arthur Evelyn, Robert Vivers, Hercules Langrishe, William Pretty, James Sheffield, John Gunter, Robert and Francis Dowett, John Bird, Mathew Draper, Dimmocke, Horatio Carey, John Neale, Edward Ayscough, John and Francis Thomp- 202 JOHN HAMPDEN, son, Edward Keighley, Alexander Douglas, Thomas Lydcott, John Fleming, Richard Grenvil, Thomas Tyrill, John Hale, William Balfour, George Austin, Edward Wingate, Edward Bayntun, Charles Chichester, Walter Long, Edward West, William Anselm, Robert Kirle, and Simon Rudgeley*. Sir John Merrick was, according to the military phrase then in use, Serjeant-Major-General of this army, the Earl of Peterborough General of the Ordnance, and the Earl of Bedford of the Horse. Divers loans of money had at various times been advanced in aid of the Parliament. In these offers the City of London, and the Associated Company of Merchant Adven- turers, had taken the lead as early as in January, the former with an advance of fifty thousand, the latter of thirty thousand, pounds, and a promise of twenty thousand more for the service of Ireland |; and the City advanced an additional loan of a hundred thousand. This had been assisted by volun- t --. * List of the Army raised under the command of Robert, Earl of Essex, 1642. f Commons' Journals, January 15 and 24. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 203 tary subscriptions to a great amount through- out the country. There is, in Rushworth, a list consisting of the names of all the prin- cipal persons of the Parliamentary party, affixed to large sums subscribed for the pub- lick service, in which it appears that John Hampden advanced two sums of a thousand pounds each. These payments, however, were inadequate to the double purpose of suppress- ing the rebellion in Ireland, and of putting England in a posture of defence. Scotland had been applied to for a ' brotherly assist- ance' in the Irish affairs. Fiennes, Staple- ton, and Hampden, had been appointed by Parliament to treat with her Commissioners for the transporting of two thousand five hundred men from Scotland into Ireland ; and the Scots sold this assistance at the rate of sixteen thousand pounds, and the delivery of the town and castle of Carrickfergus to them in pledge*. But application was now made in vain by the Parliament to their ' brethren of Scotland ' for support in the work of placing the country in a state of defence. The midland counties of England, * Commons' Journals, January 25. 204 JOHN HAMPDEN, however, undertook with great alacrity to bear this charge. They voluntarily subscribed their money and their plate. The cities of London and Westminster were forward and liberal in their contributions. The women brought in their rings and jewels, the gold- smiths and silversmiths their stock, and the train-bands mustered daily to exercise in Moorfields, amid the acclamations of their fellow-citizens, who, to the no small annoy- ance of the old Serjeant-Major-General of the London army, General Skippon, crowded in to ' pledge healths and gratulations, not * without prayers and thanksgivings, that * the Lord had put it into the hearts of those ' brave defenders to stand so stoutly for his * cause, and for the liberties of the land*.' Propositions for further loans of money, at an interest of eight per cent., were now made, and for a time were freely answered. Buck- inghamshire was foremost among the counties with a tender of thirty thousand pounds for the publick service, for which aid it received the thanks of Parliament through its repre- sentatives Hampden and Goodwyn. The * City and Country Intelligencer, August 24 to 30. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 205 arrival of supplies of troops and money to the King from the Dutch and Danes had been a main cause of alarm to the Parlia- ment. The sea line of defence became an object of primary importance on this account, and also for cheap and easy transport of troops and stores to the remoter parts of the island. The fleet had been entrusted to the Earl of Northumberland, as Lord High Admiral, by the Parliament, to whom his conduct had been most acceptable in the case of the army plot, in which his brother had been so deeply engaged. But Northumberland was not a man to be confided in by any party. It was not, perhaps, that he was treacherous by de- sign ; but he was naturally timid, and his high station in the country, and the over- wrought estimate which he had formed of his own importance, and perhaps of his own abilities too, made him reluctant to bind him- self to the fortunes of any party, and gave him a tendency to a course of trimming and intrigue, in times when no man's interest or reputation could stand but in close and faith- ful connexion with one of the two great parties 206 JOHN HAMPDEN, In the State. He had put himself, with the Navy of England, at the disposal of Parlia- ment ; but, when called upon to join the ren- dezvous of the fleet, he fell sick, and retired to Alnwick. The Earl of Warwick was in- stantly named by ordinance to succeed him ; and the sailors and officers of the fleet, who had, ever since the business of the Ship- Money, as a body, taken part with the mer- chants in favour of the popular interest, sa- luted his flag, and, almost unanimously de- claring for King and Parliament, placed themselves and their ships under his com- mand. A large detachment instantly sailed under Warwick for the Humber. It was now that the King, at Nottingham, made overtures of treaty, sending the Earls of Southampton and Dorset, Sir John Cul- peper, and Sir William Udall, to present them to the Parliament. Clarendon admits that the King was persuaded to this by a belief that the Parliament would refuse to treat, and thereby disgust the country, and that, during the interval, he might gain time to forward his levies and other preparations ; aggravat- ing the proofs of the insincere spirit in which HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 207 this was done, by citing the very words in which the proposal was made. * We assume ' you, nothing but our Christian and pious * care to prevent the effusion of blood hath * begot this motion ; our provision of men, * arms, and money, being such as may secure ' us from further violence till it pleases God * to open the eyes of our people*/ An effort of duplicity needless and superflu- ous ; and quite without effect, since the Par- liament well knew the real state of his affairs, and had had frequent experience of his unhappy habit of making such pro- fessions with a disguised and contrary inten- tion. He stated also, in his message, his de- termination that nothing should be wanting on his part ' to advance the True Protestant * Religion, and confirm all just power and ' privileges of Parliament.' Under these words, so often employed by him on similar occasions, it is but too evident that he al- ways veiled a double meaning. By ' True ' Protestant Religion ' it is to be shown that he reserved to himself this interpretation, ' the ancient immunities of the Episcopal * Hist. Reb. 208 JOHN HAMPDEN, * order ;' and * by just power and privileges * of Parliament,' his own notions of the limits which, from the beginning of his reign, he had endeavoured unlawfully to assign to them. One of Charles's great vices was a constant desire to gain an advantage in treaties by betraying his Parliament into acquiescing in some doubtful phrase; and one of his remarkable weaknesses was the being usually too hasty to do this success- fully*. Yet Clarendon, ascribing these over- tures to a mere wish to gain time, makes it matter of charge against Hampden that he persuaded the Parliament to reject them. After two days, this answer was returned by both Houses. That they had ' endea- ' voured to prevent, by several advices and ' petitions, the dangerous and distracted state * of this kingdom, not only without success, * but that there have followed those several 4 proclamations and declarations against both 4 the Houses of Parliament, whereby their * actions are declared treasonable, and their * Of his intention in using these ambiguous generalities there is abundant proof in his letters taken at Naseby. See ' King's Ca- binet opened.' PARTY AND HIS TlMtfg. ' persons traitors ; and, thereupon, your Ma- 'jesty hath set up your standard against ' them, whereby you have put them, and in ' them the whole kingdom, out of your pro- ' tection. So that, untill your Majesty shall * recall those proclamations and declarations, ' whereby the Earl of Essex and both Houses * of Parliament are declared traitors or other- ' wise delinquents, and untill the standard set * up in pursuance of the said proclamation be ' taken down, your Majesty hath put us into * such a condition, that, while we so remain, ' we cannot, by the fundamental privileges of ' Parliament, the publick trust reposed in us, ' or with the general good and safety of this ' kingdom, give your Majesty any other an- ' swer to this message*.' The King returned a further reply, to the end, Clarendon says, * that he might make ' further use of their pride and passion.' In this he offered, that if they would appoint a day for the revoking of their declarations against all persons as traitors or otherwise for assisting him, he would, on the same, recall his proclamations and declarations, and * Collection of Remonstrances. VOL, II, P 210 JOHN HAMPDEN, take down his standard ; the noble historian confessing that, when he took this resolution, all means of resisting them were hopeless, and that some advised him to appear at once in London, ' conceiving there would be more '. likelihood for him to prevail that way than * by any army he was like to raise.' Lord Falkland was received by Parliament in his place to deliver this message ; but Charles, in the interval, and pending the treaty, as if to prepare ground for departing from any terms which might after be arranged, repeated, in fresh instructions to his Commissioners of Array, his proclamation of treason. Of this the Houses complained in their rejoinder; but again promised that, if his standard be taken down, and the proclamation recalled, and if he would return to his Parliament, ' your Majesty shall find such expressions of ' our fidelities and duties, as shall assure you ' that your safety, honour, and greatness, can * only be found in the affections of your peo- * pie and the sincere counsels of your Par- * liament.' What hope could there be of the result of negotiations-so begun and continued, while the King persisted in calling those with HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 211 whom he was treating traitors, and while they felt that they could not expect that any terms would be kept with them which were not first ensured by his placing himself entirely and unreservedly in their hands ? At length, wearied with what they saw were only artifices to gain time, the Houses, on the 9th of September, published a declaration to the whole kingdom, and sent down again Hampden and some of their other principal officers to Northampton, to put their regi- ments and brigades in readiness to march. On the same day the Earl of Essex, with great pomp, at the head of the London train- bands and the levies from the adjacent coun- ties which had come in the night before, pro- ceeded to join the grand army. He was accompanied for several miles along the Barnet road by the Members of both Houses, and the several guilds and companies of mer- chants, and greeted by the acclamations and prayers of the populace of both cities^ who had poured forth to line the way as he passed. In the midland counties the King's Com- mission of Array had been published only partially, and with little success; and on P 2 212 JOHN HAMPDEN, several occasions the Commissioners had been taken by the country people, or by detach- ments of the Parliament's troops, and sent up under escort to London. About a month before, while Hampden and Goodwyn were mustering the Buckingham- shire and Oxfordshire levies on Chalgrove, information had been sent to them by White- locke that a party of gentlemen, with the Earl of Berkshire at their head, were assembling at Watlington, to make proclamation for troops in the King's name under the Commission of Array. With that quick spirit of decision which so strongly marked his character on so many greater occasions, Hampden seized the opportunity, and, without dissolving the meet- ing on Chalgrove, departed with a troop of Goodwyn's horse, and a company of his own regiment, for Watlington; but the Commis- sioners, hearing of the muster at Chalgrove, had hastened, with the soldiers whom they had brought down with them, and some who had joined them, to Sir Robert Dormer's house at Ascot, where they raised the draw- bridge on the moat, and stood upon their defence. Finding that they had been pur- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 213 Sued, and that the house was invested, they fired a few shots from within ; but, the be- siegers making ready for an assault, they yielded upon quarter, and the Earl, and Sir John Curzon, and three others, the principal Commissioners, were sent prisoners to Lon- don*. From thence Hampden proceeded to- wards Oxford, in company with Lord Say, who joined him with some forces from the neighbourhood of Banbury, and entered it, after three days' preparation for a siege, the King's party retiring into Gloucestershire. This enterprize very much discomposed and angered the Cavaliers, and delayed the pro- gress of the array in those parts, leaving to Hampden the power of completing the busi- ness of the Buckinghamshire muster unmo- lested f. But more active and more urgent business soon called him in another direction. The several Ordinances which followed each other rapidly for ' putting the kingdom in a ' posture of defence' had been, before the arrival of Essex's main army, enforced with * Whitelocke's Memorials. Rushworth. Perfect Diurnal, August 15. t Harl. MSS., Brit, Mus, 214 JOHN HAMPDEN, the greatest zeal in the district lying between Nottingham and London, along which it was reasonable to suppose that the King's first great enterprize would be directed. It was important for the Parliament that the counties and principal towns along this line should re- ceive the strongest marks of it's trust, should be inspired with confidence while declaring themselves in it's behalf, and that they should be protected and provisioned at the least charge to themselves. It was fortunate for the Parliament, that in those counties and principal towns it's cause was, at the outset, eminently popular. Warwickshire, Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire, under the influence of their principal gentry, had declared themselves, almost unanimously, on that side, and were in the most diligent pre- paration. In Hertfordshire, also, the spirit, though divided, was generally favourable to the Parliament. In Northamptonshire alone, nearly one-half of the strength of the county inclined towards the party of the King. The interest of the Earl of Manchester, the Lord Lieutenant, was divided with that of Lord Kimbolton, his son. Lord Northampton had HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 215 great power : he was proud, active, and reso- lute ; but, on account of his reputation for courage and high honour, was beloved as well as powerful. He was indefatigable in thwarting the Parliamentary levies, and in proceeding with the Commission of Array; yet the town of Northampton declared for the Parliament, and was made a place of arms. Cirencester took the same part, in spite of the influence of the Lord Chandoys, who lived at Sudely Castle in great magnifi- cence. The Mayor and principal inhabitants answered his requisition with a protestation against the illegality of any commission under the Great Seal to raise troops without consent of Parliament ; and moreover desired him to prepare himself for going up to London, under a guard of the townsmen, to answer before Parliament for the act. He fled that night and rejoined the King*. Besides Northampton and Cirencester, Warwick, Aylesbury and St. Albans began to be strengthened with batteries, and re- ceived the magazines for the supply of the country along the two great London roa.ds. * Viccars's Parliamentary Chronicle. 216 JOHN HAMPDEN, Gradually this spirit spread itself through other parts of England, but not with the same unity of action. It had been endeavoured by both parties to secure the towns along the western coast. The Marquis of Hertford had dispatched from Sherbourne Castle a re- quisition to the town of Poole ; but Poole had declared for the Parliament, and begun to fortify itself. Lord Hertford then sum- moned the town, by virtue of his new com- mission as Lieutenant -General of Dorset, Somerset, Hants, Wilts, and all Wales. It was at Poole that he purposed to fix his head-quarters; but the Mayor, in the name of the whole town, replied that * no commis- * sion under the Broad Seal could make law ; ' that the commission to raise troops, without * consent of the Houses, was against law; and ' that, instead of obeying, they trusted to be * able, before long, to bring him up to the ' Parliament to answer for that illegal act*.' Shortly after the raising of the Royal standard, the Earl of Bedford, Denzil Holies, and Sir Walter Erie, marched, with an army, (according to Clarendon, of at least seven * Viccars Parl. Chron. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 217 thousand foot, and eight troops of horse,) raised by Charles Essex, from Wells to Sher- bourne, where they were kept in check by Lord Hertford, with a very inferior force. Portsmouth was, at the time of the raising of the Standard, held for the King, by one whose course, from first to last, devious, uncertain, and unprincipled, shed disgrace upon the nobleness of his name, and upon the honourable profession of a soldier. This man was Goring ; than whom, on account of his private vices of drunkenness, cruelty, and rapacity, and of his political timidity and treachery, scarcely any one was more un- worthy to be trusted with any important matters for counsel or execution. The King, forgetful of how Goring, by formerly be- traying his associates in the army plot, had saved himself from the Parliament's wrath, and for a time had won his way into popular favour, was cajoled by his apparent devoted- ness to the Royal cause, now that, in turn, he deceived the expectations of the Paiiia ment, and held against them the charge they had given him. Goring continued, therefore, in command of the most important fortified 218 JOHN HAMPDEN, town on the sea-bord of England ; and that at a time when, (the state of the whole west of the island and of the fleet being consi- dered,) .the most brave and faithful hand should surely have peen selected to hold the keys of Portsmouth. Goring, however, seemed to prepare for a bold and obstinate defence. He raised a powerful battery at Poptbridge, which com- manded the only pass into the island of Portsea, and he strengthened all the works of the town to the land-side. Towards the end of August, the Parliament's troops, which had been collected under Sir John Merrick, appearing on Portsdown, took possession of the London road; and, forcing Portbridge, invested the town to the northward and eastward of Southsea, which was defended by the castle and a line of outworks. On this quarter the siege commenced, and was continued for several days with no advantage gained against the garrison, till a two-gun battery was thrown up on the other side of the town, across the water, at Gosport. By this small work was that great and power- ful place of arms, fortified according to the HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 219 best rules of art in those days known, and bristling with cannon, and it's beach lined with boats, so annoyed as, in the course of a few days more, to be brought near to a sur- render. On the night of the third of Sep- tember, the Parliamentarians took Southsea Castle by escalade ; and, on the next morn- ing, ' the Governor seeing,' says Viccars, * through perspective glasses, that a good and ' fair platform was erected at Gosport for ' ten pieces of ordnance,' proposed terms, and was allowed to march out with the garri- son. Upon this inconsiderable menace, and shameful capitulation, (whether moved by treachery or cowardice, or both,) did Goring quit the town which he had boasted should never be taken until he should have blown up the magazine which would have laid it in ruins ; and, leaving his garrison to effect a difficult and hazardous march to the King's quarters in the west, he, on the same night, took boat for Holland*. Meanwhile, the King, having quitted Not- tingham, proceeded to Leicester, and, moving on the main London road, menaced Coventry * Viccars Parl. Chron. Clarendon Hist. Reb. 220 JOHN HAMPDEN, and Warwick. He desired the attendance of the Mayor and Sheriffs of Coventry, and announced to them his intention of occupy- ing their town in person. But the greater number of the inhabitants, putting on Lord Brook's colours, in spite of the presence of the Earl of Northampton their recorder, instructed the Mayor, in conjunction with the principal citizens, to return for answer, that * his Majesty's Royal person should be ' most respectfully welcome to them, but that * they humbly besought his Majesty to pardon ' them if they could not with safety permit * his cavaliers to enter with him*.' By a subsequent message, they limited the number of such attendants as might be permitted to enter with the King to two hundred. The Earl in vain endeavoured to collect an adverse party ; but, failing, with his utmost efforts, to muster more than four hundred, was obliged to leave the town, escaping, with great diffi- culty, through the back door of an inn. Disappointed and incensed at the obstacle which Coventry presented to his advance, the King brought up his battering train, * Viccars Parl. Chron. fctS PARTY AND 'HIS TlMS. 221 arid, sitting down with a large force, opened his fire upon the city*. Then began a fierce assault, and a gallant defence. The con- dition of Coventry had been considered by Lord Brook as so little promising, opposed to so large a force as was marched against it, that he had removed the greatest part of the ammunition to Warwick Castle for security. But the brave townsmen under- took to endure the siege. Unsupported by soldiers, unassisted by engineers, and very scantily supplied with the materials of war, they prepared for one of those defences which, in later years, and on a larger scale, unforti- fied towns in the hands of the people have sometimes successfully made against the regular operations of war. Having barri- caded the streets with harrows, carts, and spars, they first endeavoured to man the breach which the King's guns had made in their walls. Driven from thence, they rallied in the streets, and several times forced back his troops beyond their broken gates. At length having, on one occasion, thrown the cavaliers into utter confusion, they pur- * Collections for History of Coventry. Dugdale's Warwickshire, 222 JOHN* HAMPDEN, sued the advantage, and, rushing oat of the town, stormed the King's nearest lines, and, taking several guns, turned them on the retreating enemy with no small execution. The Lord Brook, with Hampden, Lord Say, Lord Grey, Holies, and Cholmley, who had joined from several parts, were now ad- vancing to the relief of this gallant town ; on intelligence of which, all further attack on Coventry was abandoned, and the King, drawing off his forces, returned to Leicester. Hampden had been dispatched out of Buckinghamshire to take the command at Northampton, with a small brigade of in- fantry and some guns, his colleague, Arthur Goodwyn, accompanying him with his regi- ment of cavalry. On the alarm, however, of the King's activity in Warwickshire, he hastened, with all he could collect, to join Lord Brook for the support of that county*. Some weeks before, Lord Brook had been threatened with a siege in his own castle. On the night of the 28th of August, the Earl of Newcastle, the Earl of Lindsey, the * True and Remarkable Passages, from Monday, 5th Sept., to Saturday, 10th, 1642. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. Earl of Northampton, the Earl of Rivers, the Lord Rich, the Lord Mowbray, and the Lord Capel, with five regiments of foot and ten troops of horse, had marched from Notting- ham towards Warwick, where Lord Brook lay with his new levies, but in greater force than they expected, the gentry of the county having nocked thither with their men at arms, forming altogether a body of nearly seven thousand men. Brook having received intelligence, in the morning, of the approach of the Royalist Lords with their army, met them moving upon the town from Grove Park, where they had been entertained by Mr. Dormer, a Roman Catholick gentleman. The two powers met in the fields about a mile from Warwick, when a trumpet was sent forward by the Lords to demand a parley. Their propositions were, that Lord Brook should lay down his arms, a Royal pardon being offered to him, that he should resign Warwick Castle into such hands as the King should think fit, that he should . disavow the Ordinance of the Militia, endeavour the exe- cution of the Commission of Array, deliver the magazine of the county into the hands 224 JOHfr HAMPDENj of the Earl of Northampton, and make mission to the King. To these conditions the Lords added, that, if they were refused by Lord Brook, he must expect no less than signal and instant punish- ment. Lord Brook was of a temper not quick to anger, and a mind deeply imbued with the stern and patient reserve which partly the externals of their religion, and partly the pressure of political necessity, had imposed upon the Puritan party. But the spirit of a gallant gentleman, in whose veins flowed the blood of many generations of proud and valiant ancestors, rose up against terms so unworthy to be proposed to him, and against a tone and bearing so unbecoming to the noble persons who addressed him in the confidence of fancied power. Incensed, he wheeled his horse about, to leave them with- out reply ; but, after a moment's consideration, he returned, and, fronting them as he spoke, * My Lords,' said he, ' I much wonder that * men of judgement, in whose breasts true * honour should hold her seat, should so much * wrong their noble predecessors as to seek * the ruin of those high and noble thoughts tilS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 225 ' they should endeavour to support. Doth ' fond ambition, or your self-willed pride, so * much bewitch you that you cannot see the * crown of this your act? When the great * Council of the Parliament was first assem- ' bled, you then were members, honourable ' members. Why did you not continue ? ' Was it because your actions were so bad ' you were ashamed to own them ? Had you ' done evil in some petty kind, a better course 4 might have quitted you from that, and you ' had been still honoured, loved, and feared. ' As for these propositions, take this in * answer. When that his Majesty, his pos- * terity, and the peace of the kingdom, shall * be secured from you, I gladly shall lay down ' my arms and power. As for the castle, it ' was delivered to my trust by the High Court ' of Parliament, who reserve it for the King's ' good use, and I dare boldly say will so em- 1 ploy it. As for the Commission of Array, * you know it is unlawful. For the magazine 1 of the county, it was delivered to me also by ' the Parliament, and, as a faithful servant to ' the country, I am resolved to continue it, till * Northampton can shew me greater authority VOL. IT. Q 226 JOHN HAMPDEN, * for the delivery of the same. As touching ' his Majesty's pardon, as I am confident I * have not given any occasion of offence to ' his Majesty, so I need not his pardon ; and * I doubt not in a short time his Majesty will * find who are his best friends. As for your ' fury, I wholly disdain it ; and answer it but ' by hoping that Northampton may be trans- * lated to Warwick, to stand sentry upon 1 Warwick Castle, to fright crows and kites.' These words being thus spoken, the Lords rode back to their party, and Lord Brook to his; and it was not till the King's troops, seeing those of the Parliament more nume- rous than they had expected, had fairly left the field, that Lord Brook returned with his men to Warwick, where, with thanks for their support, he read to them the resolution of approbation which had been passed by the Lords and Commons, for a further incite- ment*. Meanwhile, intelligence was received at War- wick that Northampton's army had passed * Narrative of Propositions, &c. ; with Lord Brook's Answer. Published by authority of Parliament, August 20. In Mr. Staun- ton's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. them to the eastward, and was in full march towards Northamptonshire ; upon which Lord Brook set forth with a small part of his army, about three thousand, for Southam, where he was joined by Hampden's brigade, which was then moving towards Banbury, Warwick, and Coventry, to his support. These, together, formed a corps of near six thousand infantry, with three hundred horse, and nine guns. The chief officers who commanded this force with Brook and Hampden, were Lord Say, Lord Grey, Denzil Holies, and Cholmley Thus, raised and led by chiefs to whom the profession of arms was new, and who had only their zeal, reputation, and general abi- lities, to contribute in aid of the cause, these 1 regiments, particularly those of Brook, Hamp- den, and Holies, early in the war became dis- tinguished for discipline as well as courage. Gradually ridding themselves of some officers whose skill was unequal to the task they had undertaken, deserted by some, and joined by others, these formed the right wing of Essex's army, of which they were now the first divi- sion in the field. In the middle of the night, this little army Q2 HAMPDfcft, being quartered in Southam, and the powder and other stores found in the town being secured, the men had retired to their billets, wearied with the harassing and rapid march which both brigades had that day made, when news came in from the patrols that the Earl of Northampton had pushed on to within two miles of the town with all his force. The drums instantly beat to arms throughout the town, ' upon hearing whereof, of such mag- ' nanimous spirits were the soldiers, and pos- ' sessed with such a sudden passion of joy ' that their enemies, the Cavaliers, were so ' near, that they gave a great shout, with ' flinging up of their hats and clattering their ' arms, till the town rang again with the sound ' thereof, and, casting aside all desire of meat * and lodgings provided for them, went imme- ' diately into the fields adjoining to the town, * ready for battle, where they continued till ' the morning*.' At daybreak, the enemy, who had been checked overnight by the sounds which told them that the town was on the alert, appeared on the Dunsmore road and lanes adjoining, and formed opposite, * ' A True and Perfect Relation.' Mr. Staunton's Coll, of Tracts. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 229 Hampden's brigade, with the guns, being in the first line, had taken post on some rising ground ; and Lord Brook, with the second line and the cavalry, in reserve, was covered by the brow of the hill. Thus the two bodies remained, each in silence awaiting the attack, till about eight o'clock, when the soldiers of the Parliament, becoming impatient, began shouting and setting up their hats on their pikes and musket-rests, to draw on the enemy. Lord Brook then moved up his cavalry on Hampden's right, to extend his line, the enemy being observed to bring up some fresh troops, with some pieces of ordnance, on that flank. Hampden began the fight, charging with his infantry, under cover of the guns, and sup- ported by the horse. After a sharp skirmish, the King's troops gave way, and were pursued to the river, leaving their guns behind them, which they had scarcely brought into action ; but, beyond this, Lord Brook, with his cavalry, could not follow them, the enemy showing in position behind the river a body of dragoons of at least four times his number. This success against a superiour force seems to have been owing to the Parliament having more cannon, 230 JOHN HAMPDEN, using them with effect at the beginning of the affair, the whole of the first line ad- vancing at the moment when the artillery of the King had taken up their ground to answer their fire. Two of Lord Northamp- ton's officers fell into their hands ; one of these, Captain Legge, mistaking the green regiment of the enemy for his own, (no un- common disaster in the commencement of these ill-disciplined campaigns,) was made prisoner in the very midst of the opposite lines. The King and Prince Rupert were said to have been on the field as spectators, and to have retired, before the rout, to Not- tingham, and from thence again to Leicester- shire. Towards the close of the skirmish, Hampden and Brook were joined by fresh levies of volunteers out of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, and Buckinghamshire ; the country bringing in provisions from every part, and the peasantry of the district through which the King's troops retired rising upon the stragglers in the rear of his retreating masses with cudgels and staves *. Meanwhile, the town of Northampton began * Viccars Parl. Chron. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 231 to fortify. On the 5th of September, letters, we find, were received by the Parliament from Withers, the Mayor, stating that Hampden and Goodwyn had marched for Leicester, by which Northampton had been left without assistance to resist the adverse party in that neighbourhood, and praying for troops from London, to supply the place of the former garrison*. With this requisition the Parliament had not the means of complying. And now, left to their own resources, the citizens began to emulate the late example of those of Coventry, and to prepare for defence. The women worked with the men, day and night, throw- ing up earth from the ditch, and forming ram- parts. But the King, mortified at the slowness with which his levies proceeded throughout the midland counties, and the delays which, in consequence, befel his cause, resolved to put himself at the head of the forces which were assembling in Shropshire and in Wales. Sending orders to the Earl of Newcastle to * True and Remarkable Passages, Sec., from Monday 5th of September to Saturday 10th, 1642. 232 JOHN HAMPDEN, move his army southward, to support Lord Northampton and keep Lord Essex's ad- vanced guard in check, he repaired to Derby, and thence to Wellington. Here halting, he issued his orders of war, to be spread through the country wherever troops were collecting in his behalf; and he published a protestation, again declaring the Earl of Essex and his adherents to be traitors, and his troops an army of Brownists, Anabaptists, and Atheists. From thence he proceeded to Shrewsbury. Here all was favourable and cheering to his cause. Above ten thousand men had, within a week, marched in brigade to join him, well armed, and already disciplined by bodies of old soldiers mixed up in their ranks to the amount of full one-half of the whole number. These powers were daily increasing, and supported by crowds of Welshmen, ill armed and undisciplined, but still formidable on account of their wild spirit, and of the vast accession which they gave to an army in a fertile country where an abundant harvest had just been reaped, and which was well able to support them. It was here, too, that he received the encouraging news, from the HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 233 north, of the arrival of a second supply, from Holland, of arms, ammunition, and money, which had escaped the vigilance of Warwick's cruizers. Clarendon expresses his surprise, that, during this period, and even before the King left Nottingham, Essex did not advance upon the line which was before him. A week be- fore the King began his journey, no assur- ance, (to use the phrase quoted by Lord Clarendon as Sir Jacob Astley's,) could have been given to the King against his being taken out of his bed, if a brisk attempt had been made to that purpose. But, short of any extremity which these words are meant to describe, Rupert might have been driven back, the King obliged to place himself in the hands of the Parliament, or to quit the island, and the war thus brought to an end*. This was the first grand display of Lord Essex's overmastering faults of dila- toriness and indecision. By those who con- found these qualities, in war or politicks, with a spirit of moderation, Essex is praised for not pressing upon the King; but even * Clarendon Hist. Reb. 234 .! JOHN HAMPDEN, Clarendon, with all his feelings on these subjects, treats this only as matter of over- sight on the one part, and of wonder on the other. It was not what Hampden meant when he advised refusing the offer of treaty from Nottingham. No delay, in trul&upcca- sioned during a treaty, could have given the King greater advantage than Essex now voluntarily afforded him. Essex had ex- perience in the details of war : he was a good general in the day of battle ; but, be- yond the science of operations in the field, he had no qualities for command. His re- commendation for the office of General-in- Chief consisted, indeed, only in his possess- ing, to an eminent degree, the love and con- fidence of his soldiers, and in his high birth and Presbyterian tenets, which made his appointment a compromise agreeable to a large party in the Upper House, who, though faithful in the cause, were yet well pleased to see in the Lord-General a person qualified by position and by religion to neutralize the ascendency of the Root and Branch men, and of the Independents. Accordingly, with good motives and great means, he conducted HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 235 Jiimself throughout as one acting for a party rather than for a cause ; and his timid and temporizing policy inclined him always, (as Cromwell afterwards said of Kimbolton,) to A such a peace to which victory would have > been an obstacle.' He entered upon the business of the Civil War, having by his side Dalbier, and other soldiers of fortune, who had long served abroad in foreign pay. In a war of great principles, mercenaries may be good agents, but are bad advisers. Hampden Saw this ; and his penetration was afterwards done justice to by Cromwell. In the field Cromwell pursued the system which Hamp- den had in vain recommended. The techni-? cal rules of war were easily to be learnt ; but the successful application of them, in great affairs, required more than mere soldiership. Dalbier and Lesly failed before Oliver, who had studied the lessons of their experience, but had, in addition, higher gifts, the know- ledge of how the spirits of men were to be dealt with. He cultivated the enthusiasm of the young troops, and conquered. Hampden from the beginning kept the cause, and the object of it, straight in view. He knew that 236 JOHN HAMPDEtf, to begin with displaying a spirit of compro- mise renders an advantageous compromise in the end impracticable. It was those who knew little of his real ends, or were little dis- posed to do them justice, who said, that * when he drew the sword, he threw away the 1 scabbard.' Such a metaphor describes a feeling seldom known in any higher grade of an army than among its ranks. But from this time began that conflict of system between Hampden and the Lord- General, of which the history of the next year gives so many instances. A party in Yorkshire began now to form and arm for the Parliament, under Sir John Hotham and his son, who, by the departure of the Earl of Newcastle, were enabled to move out of Hull, and occupy a line of country to the north of the Humber. These levies increasing gradually in numbers, the leaders chose Ferdinando Lord Fairfax to be their Commander -in -Chief; and their choice was confirmed by Ordinance. They then proceeded to garrison some other forti- fied places in the county, and forced Sir William Saville, and the other Cavaliers who PARTY AND HI9 TIMES. 237 had been left in weak and detached parties, to throw themselves into Pomfret Castle. On the other bank of the river, the Lord Wil- loughby of Parham, the Earl of Lincoln, and other persons of influence in Lincolnshire, raised troops of horse, and proceeded to form a junction with Fairfax's northern army*. Meanwhile, a division of the King's troops, moving southward, began to take in towns upon their line of advance. The Earl of Derby, with Lord Molineux, marching with a large force to the westward of the course which the Earl of Newcastle had taken, tra- versed Cheshire ; and, in order to place them- selves on the flank of Fairfax, summoned the town of Manchester, establishing their bat- teries in Salford ; but the citizens, assisted by a German engineer, stood a close and hot siege for some days, and obliged the Earl to retire. The state of Yorkshire, however, it's inclinations strongly favourable to the King's cause, and supported by the presence of this well-appointed and numerous army on it's western frontier, presented such diffi- culties in the way of any active operations for * Viccars Parl, Chron. 238 JOHN HAMPDEN, the Parliament in those parts, that Lord Fair- fax, and many of the gentry who had joined him, shewed a disposition to propose a treaty of neutrality; a measure evidently fraught with the most serious injury to the Parlia- mentary cause in the midland counties. For, the King's object being to collect all his dis- posable force nearer the metropolis, he would have been thus enabled to leave the whole north, with the Parliament's levies there, such as they were, neutralized, and put out of a condition to act ; while he might have carried on the great objects of the war un- disturbed, until it should have suited his convenience to return northwards in force. This negociation, however, was stopped by peremptory instructions from Westminster. But to the same instrument the Houses, in* flamed by the King's denunciations against Lord Essex and their other leaders, were persuaded to enter exceptions, charging trea- son against eleven of the ministers and principal officers of the household, who had first declared against their authority. These were the Earls of Bristol, Cumberland, Rivers, and Newcastle, Lord Newark, and HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 239 Endymion Porter ; and, besides these, some of the wisest and best of the advisers of the King, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Falkland, Hyde, and Secre- tary Nicholas, who, if there had been a chance of moderating the King's temper and counsels, so as to bring him to any hopeful terms of treaty, would probably have been the most inclined, and certainly the most able, to do so. This was a violent and ill advised act of the Parliament, and is hardly to be accounted for but by a degree of passion unworthy of their accustomed saga- city and prudence. But, upon this proclamation, their army in the north ceased from its inactivity ; and Hotham put himself in march, with a brigade, to the support of the western towns, and took Doncaster, and Selby, and Cawood Castle, where the Archbishop of York had established a place of arms*. On the first shew of the King's intention to move southward with his main army, London and Westminster completed their fortifica- * Continuation of certain Special and Remarkable Passages, from Monday, 10th October, to Friday, 14th. 240 JOHN HAMPbfctf, tions, and increased their train-bands to a great amount. Batteries were thrown up in the suburbs, at Mile End, Islington, and the approaches to Westminster ; bars and chains drawn across the entrances of the main streets, and lines constructed on the heights towards Hampstead and Harrow ; arid armed boats, with ordnance, sent up the river to Maiden- head and Windsor*. To supply the ex- penses of this defence, votes of sequestration were passed against the revenues of bishop- ricks and deaneries, and against the rents of those who had been declared delinquents. It was now that Bishops were voted down, root and branch ; on which occasion great illuminations and bonfires were kindled in London, and an ordinance was passed, (a sin- gular accompaniment to a general rejoicing,) putting down stage plays, and directing monthly fasts ; and the people, animated at once by resentment and by danger, loaded the tables of both Houses with unqualified tenders of fidelity and service for life or death. * Special Passages and Certain Informations, from Tuesday, llth October, to Tuesday, 18th, Perfect Diurnal, Tuesday, 18th October. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 241 The Parliament, having ceased to treat, now set forth, in a long and eloquent proclamation, the provocations under which they had taken arms, and that the end for which they did so was * to procure and establish the safety of ' religion and fruition of our laws and liberties * in this and all other his Majesty's dominions, ' which we do here again protest before the ' Almighty God to be the chief end of all our * counsels and resolutions, without any inten- * tion or desire to hurt or injure his Majesty, * either in his person or just power.' The virtuous and brave Lord Brook, to whose high qualities even his enemies paid their reluctant tribute, had been placed by vote at the head of the Lieutenancy of the County of Warwick*. He assembled, at his castle, the commanders and captains who had been elected to take charge of that county, to deliver to them their commissions. There, in the hall of that noble fortress, threatened with an instant siege, and his troops newly mus- tered, and unprepared for war, save by the spirit which they had already caught from their dauntless leader, he harangued his * Clarendon Hist. Reb. VOL. II. R 242 JOHN HAMPDEN, officers in a speech abounding in high and manly feeling. He enlarged upon the miseries of a civil war, and the unprovoked courses which compelled them to engage in it*. * Persuasions,' said he, ' to valiant men, as I ' know you to be, are useless ; and if I thought * there were any of you that was not to be * incited more by the justice of the quarrel * than any oratory to fight in this cause, surely ' I would rather wish his room than his com- * pany; for, if the nobility and bravery of ' the cause be not sufficient to animate even * cowards, and make even the meanest spirits ' courageous, I know not what possibly can * stir up mortal men to put on undaunted resolutions.' He then appealed to them as husbands and brothers, who would save their houses, their wives, and sisters, from the law- less fury of soldiers, hired and incensed to in- sult and to outrage. He described the conduct of the royal troops, on free quarter, where they had been admitted or faintly opposed. He appealed to them by their religion, by that * freedom of conscience which invokes you * to stand up it's champions against those * In Mr. Staunton's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 243 * Papistical malignants who would strike at ' God through the very heart of his known * truth so long practised among us.' He vin- dicated their cause from the aspersion of it's having been Undertaken against the King. ' They were to fight,' said he, * to keep the ' crown and kingdom for the sovereign and 1 his posterity, to maintain his known rights * and privileges, which are only relative with ' the people's liberties.' He then spoke ' touching those gentlemen ' who, being strangers, are come hither to ' proffer to us their services, and, in testimo- ' nial of their abilities, and that they have ' been commanders in the German wars, have * here produced their several certificates. I 1 must needs thank the gentlemen for their ' kind proffer, and yet desire license to be * plain with them, hoping they will not take ' it as a disparagement of their valours if I ' tell them we have now too woful experience ' in this kingdom of the German wars, and ' therefore cannot so well approve of the aid * of foreign and mercenary auxiliaries. In ' Germany, they fought only for spoil, rapine, * and destruction ; merely money it was, and R2 244 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' hope of gain, that excited the soldier to that * service. It is not here so required, as the ' cause stands with us. We must rather em- ' ploy men who will fight merely for the cause * sake, and bear their own charge, than those ' who expect rewards and salaries ; for by 1 such means we shall never have a con- ' elusion of these wars. For mercenaries, * whose end is merely their pay, as for their * subsistence, rather covet to spin out the ' wars to a prodigious length, as they have * done in other countries, than to see them * brought to a happy period. We must dis- 4 patch this great work in a short time, or be * all liable to inevitable ruin. I shall, there- ' fore, speak my conscience. I had rather * have a thousand honest citizens that can * handle their arms, whose hearts go with * their hands, than thousands of mercenary * soldiers that boast of their foreign expe- ' rience.' He thus ended : ' And so I shall conclude * my speech, and turn it into prayer, that God * Almighty will arise and maintain his own * cause, scattering and confounding the de- * vices of his enemies, not suffering the un- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 245 ' godly to prevail over his flock. Lord, we ' are but a handful in consideration of thine ' and our enemies. Therefore, O Lord, fight 1 thou our battles : go out as thou didst in the ' time of David before the hosts of thy ser- * vants ; and strengthen and give us hearts, ' that we may show ourselves men, for the * defence of thy true religion, and our own ' and the King and Kingdom's safety.' PART THE NINTH. 1642. Defence of Warwick Castle by Sir Edward Peto Of Caldecot Manor- House by Mrs. Purefoy Lord Essex advances to Worcester His Speech to his Army Skirmish at Powick Bridge Parliamentarians enter Worcester Parliament's Petition for Peace Rejected by the King Essex advances his Army Hampden and Holies defeat a party near Aylesbury and pursue them into Worcestershire The King puts himself in march towards London Edge Hill fight March through the midland counties Action between Balfore and Rupert at Ayles- bury Battle of Brentford Retreat of the King. PART THE NINTH. 3642. BEFORE the arrival of the main army, the Parliament's quarters round Northampton and Daventry had been harassed by sharp and frequent attacks ; and Lord Brook had quitted his castle, and hastened to their re- lief. Warwick had for a while ceased to be threatened ; yet it was not safe to materially weaken it's defences. He, therefore, took only his troop of horse, and a few companies of pikemen, leaving Sir John Peto in com- mand, with a part of the infantry, mostly of the new levies, and dispatching the rest to the neighbourhood of Coventry and Bir- mingham. On the same day, his departure was made known to Lord Northampton, who instantly put a large body of troops in march for Warwick ; but, making a circuit to the southward, he first entered Banbury, where, little prepared for such an 250 JOHN HAMPDEN, incursion, the townsmen held a large store of ammunition, with some pieces of ordnance. Of these supplies the Earl possessed him- self, meeting with little, if any, opposition ; and then proceeded rapidly to his destination. Early in the morning of the next day but one, he entered Warwick with all his forces, and summoned the castle. Sir Edward Peto without hesitation returned an absolute re- fusal to treat. After a pause of two hours, another summons was sent in, and terms offered, which were met by an indignant reply, that the Earl might at first have taken the word of a gentleman who would not sur- render his trust. Lord Compton, the Earl's son, began the attack with a few guns from the town, while his father and Lord Duns- more threw up a battery on some rising ground in the park, on the other side of the castle. Sir Edward then sent a trum- pet, desiring that ' all friends should leave ' the town, but, for the rest, he bid them ' look to themselves ; ' and, upon the re- turn of the officer, hung out a red flag of defiance from Guy's Tower. Well fur- nished with ammunition, but with no heavier HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 251 ordnance than a few drakes and some large wall-pieces, he now began to return the fire, which continued, though without much effect on either side, for three days. The castle's strength was security enough against any attempt by storm, nor had it anything to fear from the effect of the few guns which had been brought from Banbury ; while the assailants on the town side were covered by the houses, which the garrison were loth to batter or burn down. On the third day, Lord Comptpn planted some cannon on the church tower, from which the fire of the castle soon dislodged him, knock- ing down one of the pinnacles, and making his position too dangerous to be held. The besiegers then trusted to starving out the garrison, and, thenceforward, remained un- der shelter of the town ; those on the other side never having unmasked their battery, but keeping the trees still standing for their protection. The castle being thus invested, Sir Edward hoisted on the flag-staff of the tower a Bible and a winding-sheet, the one as a testimony of his cause, and the other of his determination to maintain it to the last. 252 JOHN HAMPDEN, Nothing seemed likely to be gained to the opposite party by protracting the siege. The King was advancing to relieve Wor- cester. He required the whole strength of his army ; and Lord Northampton, therefore, drew off his troops to join him*. Scarcely had the siege of Warwick Castle been raised, when Prince Rupert, with from five to six hundred cavalry, marched upon Caldecot Manor-house, in the north of the county, with intent to take it by surprise. It belonged to Mr. William Purefoy, a gentle- man of ancient family, a member of the House of Commons, and colonel of a regi- ment in garrison at Warwick Castle. When Rupert summoned Caldecot, there were none within but Mrs. Purefoy, her two daughters, Mr. Abbott, her son-in-law, eight serving men, and a few maid-servants f. This brave little garrison refused to surrender, inspired by the example of a woman's courage and fidelity to maintain the charge for her ab- sent husband. The history of the civil wars * Tracts in the possession of Mr. Staunton. Collection for a History of Warwickshire, t Gibson's Additions to Camden. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 253 affords several such instances. The stories of Lathom Hall, held by the Countess of Derby, and of Warder Castle, by Blanch Lady Arundell, have added lustre to those noble names. The holding of Caldecot was not less heroick, nor it's capitulation less honourable. The assailants broke down the main gate of the outer court ; but the men, stationed at the windows, received them with so well directed a fire, that, at the first onset, three of Rupert's officers, and several of his soldiers, were slain. There were twelve muskets in the house ; the women loading them, as the men continued the execution with rapid and deadly aim. The attack con- tinued for several hours, with repeated as- saults, in the intervals between which, as the bullets were expended, the women ran the pewter of their kitchen dishes into moulds for a fresh supply. At length, towards night- fall, mortified with the obstinate resistance, and with the loss he had already sustained, Rupert drew off his party, but, as he retired, set fire to the barns and outhouses. The wind blowing fresh upon the main building, he again advanced under cover of the smoke 254 JOHN HAMPDEN, and darkness. And now, the ammunition within failing, the house threatened with instant conflagration, and no hope of succour remaining, the brave lady went forth, and claimed protection from the Prince^ stipulat- ing for the lives of her garrison. It was then first that he was made aware of the smallness of the force which had so gal- lantly withstood so fierce and protracted an assault. He granted her condition ; and, to his honour, as Viccars confesses, ' being much * taken with their most notable valour, saved * their lives and house from plundering, say- * ing to Mr. Abbott that he was worthy to be ' a chief commander in an army, and prof- ' fered him such a place in his army, if he ' would go with him ; but he modestly refused ' it. However, the said Prince fairly per- ' formed his promise, and would not suffer a * pennyworth of the goods in the house to be ' taken from them ; .and so departed*.' Prince Rupert rejoined the King at Shrews- bury, where he remained till the preparations were completed for taking the field with the * Viccars Parl. Chron. Continuation of Special and Remark- able Passages Gibson's Additions to Camden. Monument of Mr. Abbott in Caldecot Church. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 255 whole army. He now returned with the ad- vanced guard. Worcester was held for the King, and Rupert was moving along the Severn in the direction of that city, in order to relieve the garrison, which was threatened by the Earl of Essex. On the 19th of September, he sent a flag of truce, with a message, to the Lord-General, who was then at Northampton preparing to march upon Worcester. He reproached him with his treasons, questioned him as to his intended line of march, whether on Worces- ter or Coventry, and offered to give him the meeting, with the best army each could pro- vide, on Dunsmore Heath. Essex was not tempted by this proposal of the Prince's to allow the King's army to advance in front of Birmingham, Coventry, and War- wick, (thus effectually cutting off these towns from all relief,) nor to allow an enemy, superiour to him in the numbers and equip- ment of his cavalry*, to choose the place of meeting on an open heath, and in the midst of a country abounding with forage, of which the Prince stood much in need.f The offer was * Clarendon Hist. Reb. t Ibid. 256 JOHN HAMPDEN, such as might have been expected from a chieftain of twenty-three, with a brilliant di- vision of above five thousand new raised horse ; but not such as was likely to be accepted by an experienced general, whose advantage con- sisted in infantry, in artillery (which, in those days, was a cumbrous weapon, not easily to be wielded in the open field against cavalry), and in the extent of friendly district in his rear. Nor, probably, was he without his suspicions that the time expended in arrang- ing the terms of this challenge, might be em- ployed by the King in strengthening and re- lieving Worcester. * Whereupon, his Excel- * lency returned answer, that the manner of ' his raising those forces that were then with ' him ready to march under his command was * a thing not now to be disputed on between ' them, the occasions and legality thereof being ' already determined by both Houses of Par- * liament ; neither had he undertaken that ' command with any intent for to levy forces ' or to make war against his Majesty's Royal * person ; but to obtain a peace between his * Sacred Majesty and his Great Council of * Parliament, and all the rest of his Majes- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 257 ' ty's faithful, dutiful, and most loyal sub- ' jects, against any persons whatsoever that 1 should oppose and resist the same ; and ' that he feared not to meet the Prince in * any place that he should appoint or make * choice of*.' But, meanwhile, he put his army in march for Worcester. He was again accompanied from Northampton, as he had been from London, along several miles of road, by the principal gentry of the neigh- bourhood, and by crowds of people, with great rejoicings, and loud expressions of good- will. The Lord-General now established himself in Worcester ; and he lost no time in issuing his orders of war in the form of a speech at the head of his army. He desired them to take notice of what on his honour he promised to perform, and what he should expect from them. ' I do promise, in the sight of Al- ' mighty God, to undertake nothing but what ' shall tend to the advancement of the true * Protestant religion, the securing of his Ma- * Prince Robert's Speech to the Earl of Essex, and his excel- lency's Answer thereunto from Northampton, on Monday, Sept. 19. King's Coll., Brit. Mus. VOL. II. S 258 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' jesty's royal person, the maintenance of the * just privileges of Parliament, and the liberty * and property of the subject. Neither will I * engage any of you into any danger, but I ' will, in my own person, run an equal hazard ' with you, and either bring you off with 1 honour, or (if God have so decreed) fall with * you, and willingly become a sacrifice for the * preservation of my country. Likewise I do 1 promise that my ear shall be open to hear ' the complaint of the poorest of my soldiers, * though against the chiefest of my officers, ' neither shall his greatness (if justly taxed) ' gain any privilege ; but I shall be ready to * execute justice against all, from the greatest 1 to the least. Your pay shall be constantly ? delivered to your commanders, and, if de- * fault be made by any officer, give me timely * notice, and you shall find speedy redress. I * shall now declare what is your duty towards ' me, which I must likewise expect to be care- ' fully performed by you. I shall desire all * and every officer to endeavour by love and ' affable carriage to command his soldiers; ' since what is done for fear is done unwillingly, * and what is unwillingly attempted can never HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 259 ' prosper. Likewise 'tis my request that you ' be very careful in the exercising of your ' men, and bring them to use their arms readily ' and expertly, and not busy them in practis- ' ing the ceremonious forms of military dis- * cipline ; only let them be well instructed in * the necessary rudiments of war ; that they ' may fall on with discretion, and retreat with ' care; how maintain their order, and make * good their ground. Also I do expect that 4 all those which voluntarily engaged them- * selves in this service should answer my ' expectation in the performance of these 'ensuing articles. ' 1. That you willingly and cheerfully obey ' such as by your own election you have made ' commanders over you. ' 2. That you take special care to keep your ' arms at all times fit for service, that upon all * occasions you may be ready, when the signal * shall be given by the sound of drum or ' trumpet, to repair to your colours, and so to ' march upon any service, where and when ' occasion shall require. ' 3. That you bear yourselves like soldiers, * without doing any spoil to the inhabitants of S2 2GO JOHN HAMPDEN, ' the country; so doing you shall obtain love ' and friendship, where, otherwise, you will be ' hated and complained of, and I, that should * protect you, shall be forced to punish you ' according to the severity of law. * 4. That you accept, and rest satisfied with, * such quarters as shall fall to your lot, or be ' appointed you by your quarter-master. ' 5. That you shall, if appointed for sentries * or perdues, faithfully discharge that duty ; * for, upon fail hereof, you shall be sure to * undergo a very severe censure. ' 6. You shall forbear to prophane the sab- ' bath, either by being drunk, or by unlawful * games ; for whosoever shall be found faulty * must not expect to pass unpunished. * 7. Whosoever shall be known to neglect ' the feeding of his horse with necessary pro- * vender, to the end that his horse be disabled * or unfit for service, the party for the said ' default shall suffer a month's imprisonment, * and afterwards be cashiered, as unworthy ' the name of a soldier. * 8. That no trooper, or other of our soldiers, ' shall suffer his paddee to feed his horse in * the corn, or to steal men's hay, but shall HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 261 ' pay, every man, for hay 6d. day and night, * and for oats 2s. the bushel. * Lastly, that you avoid cruelty. For it ' is my desire rather to save the lives of thou- ' sands than to kill one ; so that it may be ' done without prejudice. These things faith - ' fully performed, and the justice of our cause ' truly considered, let us advance with a reli- * gious courage, and willingly adventure our * lives in the defence of the king and par- * liament*.' On the 22d of September, while the army was on it's march, a skirmish was fought, which both parties agreed in calling the battle of Worcester. Improperly so named ; for it was but an affair of outposts in which a few hundred men were engaged, and it was not fought at Worcester, but about four miles from that city, at Powick Bridge, upon the river Team. But both parties were equally eager to announce to the country that a battle had been fought, and equally well determined to claim the result of it as a victory to them- selves ; each giving very inflated accounts of their enemy's superiority in numbers, and of * King's Pamphlets Brit. Mus. 262 JOHN HAMPDEN, the decisiveness of their own success. All the diurnals, proclamations, and intelligencers, which issued from either side to spread the news, were remarkably unscrupulous on this point. The exaggerations seem to be very evenly balanced. The real issue of the engage- ment was, (no very uncommon event in the beginning of these wars,) that the one party was beaten back in the field, and the other, immediately after, retired in a panick, leaving the post which they had to defend to an ad- versary who had given no proof of being able to take it. Ludlow, however, in his memoirs, appears to give the most honest and credible evidence, inasmuch as he speaks very frankly of the misconduct on his own side, and owns the defeat. This, compared with Clarendon's, and correcting the misrepresentations of other more detailed accounts, gives a tolerably in- telligible view of the affair. About ten troops of the parliament's regular horse, and six of dragoons*, under the com- mand of Colonel Browne and Colonel Sandys, * The dragoons are, in these accounts, always distinguished from the horse. They were troops who acted with the regular cavalry, but often on foot, and sometimes mounting behind the HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 263 being in all about five hundred, made good their passage of the bridge, and, drawing up in a meadow on the left of the road, established themselves there till the next day, waiting the support of the main body, and, apparently, little expecting to be attacked ; for they had placed themselves with a narrow bridge and an unfordable river behind them. To lead them into further disadvantage, the enemy dispatched a messenger, disguised, with a false report that Sir William Balfore, lieute- nant-general in chief of the parliament's ca- valry, was in force on the other side of the city. The messenger delivered orders, as from Balfore, that, upon the firing of a cannon, which was to be his signal of onset, they were to advance upon the lanes nearer the city, to stop and capture the flying garrison. Soon after this, some of the enemy's dragoons shewed themselves on the road, and, Colonel Sandys having mounted for the attack, the whole body, contrary to Nathaniel Fiennes's horsemen in advance or retreat. They were armed with long swords, like the troopers ; but they also carried matchlocks, and are supposed by Dr. Meyrick to have derived their name from the locks of the carbines of the first dragoons having the representa- tion of a dragon's head, with the lighted match borne in its jaws. 264 JOHN HAMPDEN, and Captain Wingate's advice, (who would, at all events, have waited for the signal,) pushed forward. But, though they had not given time for the enemy's ambush to be thoroughly formed, they soon discovered that they had been mistaken in supposing those in front to be beaten men leaving the town. For, while engaged with the dragoons, they suddenly found themselves attacked on both flanks by infantry, who opened a severe fire, and then charged them with their pole-axes, Na- thaniel Fiennes, on whose reputation for per- sonal courage there never was a just stain, (however unfurnished he was with the firm- ness befitting the higher responsibilities of the military profession,) behaved with great valour. He instantly supported the advanced party, and, with his own hand, pistolled the officer commanding the enemy's horse. Then, breaking through them, he forced them over the hedges among their own infantry. But Sandys was mortally wounded, and taken. At length, pressed by fresh troops, (Rupert and Maurice being both in the field with about 1600 men,) the Parliamentarians retired in confusion across the bridge, hotly pursued, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 265 and with great loss*. Edmund Ludlow was with the advanced guard of the main army, being then in the Lord General's body-guard of gentlemen, at Parshot, on the way from Northamptonshire. ' The body of our routed ' party,' says he, ' returned in great disorder ' to Parshot, at which place our life-guard ' was appointed to quarter that night ; where, * as we were marching into the town, we dis- ' covered horsemen riding very hard towards * us, with drawn swords, and many of them ' without hats, from whom we understood the ' particulars of our loss, not without improve- * ment, by reason of the fear with which they ' were possessed, telling us that the enemy ' was hard by in pursuit of them ; whereas, ' it afterwards appeared, they came not ' within four miles of that place. Our life- 1 guard being, for the most part, strangers to ' things of this nature, were much alarmed ' with this report ; yet, some of us, unwilling * to give credit to it till we were better in- * Viccars's Parl. Chron. Ludlow's Memoirs. Clarendon Hist. Reb. Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer. Continuation of Speciall and Remarkable Passages, from Monday the 3d, till the 5th of October. 266 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' formed, offered ourselves to go out upon a * further discovery of the matter ; but our * Captain, Sir Philip Stapylton, not being * then with us, his Lieutenant, one Bainham, * an old soldier (a generation of men much ' cried up at that time), drawing us into a ' field, where he pretended we might more * advantageously charge if there should be * occasion, commanded us to wheel about. * But our gentlemen, not yet well understand- * ing the difference between " wheeling- ' about" and " shifting for themselves," ' their backs being now towards the enemy * whom they thought to be close in the * rear, retired to the army in a very disho- ' nourable manner, and the next morning ' rallied at the head-quarters, where we re- ' ceived but cold welcome from the General, ' as we well deserved.' The next day the garrison of Worcester retired on it's way to Shrewsbury, though the King was advancing to their relief, with a force, which, together with their's, outnum- bered Essex's whole army. They took with them Wingate, whom they had made prisoner in the fight, and (as Viccars says), ' it was HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 267 ' credibly reported, most barbarously and ' basely made him ride naked, though a ' Member of Parliament, and a pious worthy ' gentleman.' How far this special case may be true, with it's somewhat whimsical aggra- vations, is not perhaps very much worth serious inquiry*. Rupert, generally known at that time under the name of the Prince Robert, and, among the Parliamentarians, by no very forced conceit, under that of ' the ' Prince Robber,' had not served at the head of a regiment in Germany, without acquiring, and encouraging very abundantly and freely among his horsemen, the insolent and cruel spirit of partizan warfare. Particular in- stances of this sort, it is true, were treasured up by the Parliamentary chroniclers, to serve as general examples of the conduct of the opposite party ; but it is equally true, that Rupert's general conduct in these respects subjected him, more than once, to a check in * A very different account is given of the subsequent treatment which he received. ' Captaine Wingate is used like a gentleman by ' the Cavaliers ; and the printed pamphlets doe much injury that ' expresse any harde usage of him by them. Give the devill his due, ' and doe soe to the Cavaliers in this thing.' Speciall Passages. From the 1 1th to the 18th of October. 268 JOHN HAMPDEN, the published orders of the King, and that, wherever he appeared, the war was usually marked with great ferocity and excess. His generous conduct to Mrs. Purefoy, after the surrender of Caldecot House, appears, indeed, as a solitary exception. Lord Essex now took possession of Wor- cester. On the 29th of September, a struggle took place in the Guildhall, on the election of the Lord Mayor of London ; those of the Livery who were secretly attached to the Court proposing Sir John Cordwell, but the Parliamentarians carrying the election of Alderman Pennington by a very large majo- rity ; an event as injurious to what remained of the King's interest in tfie city, as the at- tempt had been unwise. It exasperated, if possible still more, the already inflamed spi- rits of the citizens ; and it did so in a manner which only gave them a public triumph, and exposed to danger the opposing minority, who had thus displayed themselves as a party, and proved at once their own weakness and the utter hopelessness of their further progress there. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 269 The Parliament, however, resumed a tone of moderation. Though their cause was already in arms throughout the country, it had not yet been committed in open field against the king in person. While a hope remained of avoid- ing this extremity, every effort to delay it was a duty. And this justice, at least, must be done to the Parliament's motives in this delay, that every day was increasing the King's means in men, in military stores from abroad, and in the influence of his name and of those of his supporters ; while the preparations made by the houses, and by their generals, were complete, and not likely to be further extended. They, however, instantly dis- patched another petition for peace, setting forth the distractions of the country, protest- ing against the machinations of the secret cabinet, particularly in respect of the dread- ful massacres still flagrant in Ireland, and of the open menace of an incursion of the Irish rebels, and of troops from Germany and Denmark ; and ending with what Viccars terms a ' most just redargution of the malig- * nants' foul and false slanders on the Parlia- ' ment.' 270 JOHN HAMPDEN, To this proposition, forwarded by Essex to the King, and praying also safe conduct and free access for himself to his Majesty, this brief and haughty answer was returned : ' That his Majesty would receive any petition 1 that should be presented to him from his ' Parliament, and give free access to those that ' should bring the same; but that he would ' not receive any petition from the hands of ' any traitor.' In one short intemperate sen- tence thus casting back at once every ap- proach to a treaty, and rendering all further proposition, as affairs then stood, entirely hopeless. For, besides the unnecessary vio- lence of recalling to the Parliament's remem- brance, at such a moment, that the person in whom they had voted their chief confidence had been proclaimed a traitor, it showed them the impossibility of procuring access to the King for any otber person entrusted with a similar project of accommodation ; almost every one of those leading members of either house to whom such project or petition could be with benefit confided being precluded under the same proscription from appearing in the royal presence. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 271 On this a resolution was passed, that ' for ' his Majesty to make such a distinction of his * Parliament, that he would receive no peti- * tion from the hands of such whom he ac- ' counts traitors, he did therein abridge them ' of the greatest privilege of Parliament that ' can be, and in effect refuse to receive any ' petition from them at all. For that his ' Majesty, by proclaiming the Earl of Essex ' and his adherents to be traitors, hath, in ' these words, comprehended both the houses * of Parliament, which is not only against the ' privileges of Parliament, but also against the ' fundamental laws of the land.' It was there- fore also voted, ' that the Earl of Essex should ' go forward in raising forces according to his ' instructions, and lay by the said petition * which was to have been presented to his * Majesty ; and that the Lord-General should ' advance his army.' Nor did the mischief rest here. The Lord Mohun and the Earl of Bath had returned their summonses to the Parliament, denying it to be a free Parliament, and alledging that they had the King's warrant for not obeying its commands. The Lord Capel had also, 272 JOHN HAMPDEN, at the same time, given commission to the Marquis of Hertford to apply all his rents in the west to the maintaining of the war against the Parliament. Again, then, the Parliament proceeded with these three Lords as it had done with the eleven who had first left West- minster for York ; and, in order to retaliate upon the King a petulant course which showed no better in the imitation, voted them to be capital delinquents, and that their estates should be placed in commission for the pub- lick service of the Commonwealth. The lands and estates, also, of all convicted Papists, and Popish recusants, (the common unjust resource of the English Government on all such occasions of need,) were voted to be se- questered, and their persons to be secured*. Meanwhile, it appears that Hampden was incessantly and variously occupied in all the affairs of the war-. We find him in North- ampton, at the head-quarters of the Earl of Essex, and leading his brigade in the general advance of the army upon Worcester ; but, several times was he journeying to and fro between Northampton and London, to hold * Viccars Parl. Chron. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 273 counsel with the Parliament, and to assist at the Committee of Publick Safety ; and, a very few days before the advance, he was dispatched to take the command at Ayles- bury, where the magazines of the county lay, and towards which, it seems, that parties of the Earl of Northampton's division were moving by circuitous routes, occasionally lay- ing waste the country round, and threatening to force the new raised and unconnected bodies of volunteers who guarded the London road in Essex's rear. On the 16th, supported by Holies, he commanded in a severe skirmish at a short distance from the town of Ayles- bury, in which many were slain, and the cavaliers were repulsed and pursued, the prisoners being sent to Buckingham and Wycombe jails. A requisition was instantly sent to London for troops to reinforce the garrison of Aylesbury. Hampden and Holies, however, did not pause upon their advantage, but pursued the beaten party in the direction of Oxford, from which city they dislodged the Lord Byron, and followed him into the Vale of Evesham, where, on the 21st, they brought him to action, and dispersed his VOL. II. T 274 JOHN HAMPDEN, force. They then rejoined Lord Essex's army upon its entry into Worcester*. The war had by this time assumed a more determinate object and system, and it's ope- rations were conducted on a larger scale. Hitherto, ignorant of the amount of each other's strength, doubtful of the extent of each other's views, and irresolute as to their own, and each looking daily for some deci- sive proposal of accommodation to be made from the adverse side, both parties had con- tented themselves with uncombined enter- prizes and encounters, which had, for the most part, sprung from local causes rather than from any which could materially expe- dite the great issue of the conflict. But the natural consequences of these uncombined enterprizes and encounters now began to appear. Neighbouring posts were strength- ened and multiplied, in order to give support to the scattered parties in the field. Exten- sive lines of communication were formed, and the armies on both sides drew in their detach- ments to move on points. The King, who * Special Passages, Sept. 23 and 24. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 275 had now advanced from Shrewsbury and Ludlow, having manoeuvred for some days with skill and success in the neighbourhood of Worcester, was enabled, suddenly putting himself in march to the eastward, to effect a junction with Lord Northampton's division. It was now about the middle of October. His army was collected in a body of near twenty thousand men, and a large part of it on Essex's flank was actually covering one of the main roads to the metropolis, where the Parliament sat protected only by the train- bands of the city, and by some half-formed and undisciplined levies which still remained to guard the stores of the midland coun- ties, and which might have been either forced or passed. The flanking roads on both sides were circuitous and bad. Es- sex's communications extended from Wor- cester, through part of Oxfordshire, into Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertford- shire, and Middlesex. But the line was too much extended ; it was weak, and easy to be broken through in almost any part. The King's were complete, from Ludlow and Shrewsbury, northward, to the furthest ex- T 2 276 JOHN HAMPDEN, tremity of Cheshire, and, westward, through Wales, to Cornwall, Devonshire, and Somer- setshire, where Hopton, Grenvil, and Slan- ning, were daily increasing their powers. The King had succeeded in placing him- self nearly two days' march in advance of the main army of the Parliament, on the way to London. The Parliament had already dispatched peremptory orders to Lord Essex to proceed, by forced marches, on the War- wickshire road, in order to menace, and, if possible, turn, the King's right flank ; but, this failing, at all hazards to bring him to action. Lord Essex had a double motive for wishing to force a battle; first, to prove his troops, and, if possible, give the impres- sion of a victory ; and, secondly, to delay the King, and endeavour to break through his army, and thus resume that defensive posi- tion, with his back upon London, of which the King had so dexterously deprived him. Charles had every interest in avoiding a battle. If successful, it would not have very materially advanced his operations, further than by the name of a victory ; for he could not have pursued a beaten enemy without HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 277 removing further from his main object London. On the other hand, defeat would have been to him irretrievable ruin. His troops, confident in their better discipline and in the skill of their experienced generals, did not require to be convinced of their supe- riority over their enemy. At all events, there was nothing to justify such a risk. They already took it for granted, that they could conquer whenever they should have occasion to fight. And now Coventry was again threatened by Prince Rupert. His summons was treated with contempt by the gallant citizens ; intel- ligence of which being dispatched to Charles, propositions were sent, under the sign manual, ordering the surrender of the town to the Prince, and promising, in return, ' on the ' faith of a King,' protection from plunder, and an act of entire oblivion. To this mes- sage, after a general council of the inhabi- tants, the Mayor and Aldermen sent an answer, conceived in the most respectful terms, but expressing their determination not to surrender their city to any armed force or person coming in the name of the King, 278 JOHN HAMPDEN, without the concurrent authority of the Par- liament ; having, as they said, had experience of the robberies and cruelties of the cavaliers in divers parts of the kingdom. ' All which ' being seriously considered,' they declared themselves bound in conscience to God, in loyalty to his Majesty, and in regard for their own safety and honour, and the safety and honour of all who were the dearest to them, ' to deny his Majesty's desires, and to ' oppose all those that might in any way en- ' deavour, under pretence of his Majesty's ' commands legally given, to disturb the * peace of the kingdom.' And that, ' having * with all humility presented these lines, as ' the perfect copy of their intentions,' they betake themselves, ' every man to his charge, ' leaving these particulars to his Majesty's * consideration *.' The garrison accordingly prepared them- selves for the worst. But, the second day after their last defiance had been dispatched, their spirits were raised and confirmed by the intelligence of Denzil Holies having, * His Majesty's Declaration and Proposition, and Answer thereto. Printed for T. West, October 22, 1 642. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 279 on the 18th, obliged Lord Digby, at the head of a very superior force, to retire from the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton, after a severe skirmish in which many had fallen on each side. The Parliament's reports magnify this into a great victory against incredible odds, giving an equally incredible account of the killed of Lord Digby's party ; while the King's press, by passing the whole event by in silence, confirms the general fact that the issue was unfavourable to the cava- liers. All that is certain, besides this, is that Digby's brigade in those parts was composed of three regiments, that he endeavoured to force the main road, which was held by Holles's regiment only, and that, after a sharp encounter, he retired upon the King's quarters at Leicester. Meanwhile the armies were rapidly ap- proaching, and a general engagement was evidently at hand. The joint terrors of the King's name and Rupert's presence hav- ing failed to alarm Coventry into an instant surrender, no more time was to be lost by the King. He accordingly abandoned all further attempt upon that city, and left it in his rear, little being to be feared from any annoyance 280 JOHN HAMPDEN, to be attempted by a weak garrison of undis- ciplined citizens. The different divisions of the Parliament's army, meanwhile, moved in a converging line with that of the King's march. Moreover, being less encumbered with useless followers, and with forage and provisions, (the country being generally friendly, and bringing in these things from all sides for their daily con- sumption,) they advanced with a rapidity which induced the King to abandon the less obstructed course by St. Alban's, and to take, with both columns, the more westerly direc- tion of Southam, in order to avoid the 'risk of his right flank being gained or passed. And of this there was some danger ; for Stratford on Avon, with it's bridge, was already occu- pied by the Parliamentarians. Hampden and Brook had entered it on the 18th; and, on the next morning, with the assistance of the towns- men, had repulsed a severe attack made by two brigades, and had secured the passage of the river. On the 20th the King's advanced guard was before Banbury *. . A little before midnight, on the 21st of * Lord Essex's Relation. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 281 October, from the road which traverses the brow of Edge Hill, the fires of the Parlia- ment's pickets were descried in the Vale of Redhorse, and, at dawn, the main body of it's army was seen moving in a direction parallel with the King's rear-guard, from the town of Keinton, which it had entered the night before. Here Rupert halted, and sent instant intelligence to the King. Soon after day- break, Charles was on the heights. He pitched his tent on the eastern extremity of the range, resting his right on the Burton Dassett and Wormleighton Hills, his centre posted over Radway, and his left on a steep road leading down from a lone inn, then called, as now, the ' Sun Rising.' That flank was further protected by the difficult country in front of Lord Northampton's house at Compton Wynyate. A stronger position can- not easily be imagined. Here, then, the Parliament army, already fatigued and ha- rassed by forced marches through a deep country, and under orders, at all risks, to stop the King's passage to London, and having, by its late movements, staked its reputation upon this object, found itself sud- denly checked. 282 JOHN HAMPDEN, A feeling of military pride made it, doubt- less, desirable to Charles, having a full view of the enemy in order of battle, not to pursue what might have been miscalled a retreating march upon the metropolis. Still, it was ap- parent that he might, without avoiding a con- flict, have waited, with great advantage, the attack of troops who had no choice left them in the selection of ground, and whose whole purpose would be impeded until they might have been able to force him from those com- manding heights. Regiment after regiment was seen coming up on the Parliament's side, and forming in front of the town of Keinton, in three lines. Their force, in that field, ready to engage, consisted of ten regiments of foot, forty-two troops of regular horse, and about seven hundred dragoons ; in all, between twelve and thirteen thousand men. A de- tachment of their guns took post on their right, among the enclosures, on a rising ground to the westward of the town, and a little in advance of it, and commanding that part of the field, then open, which is still known by the name of * the two Battle ' Farms.' The rest of their small park of HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 283 artillery was on their extreme left. But this was very inferiour in force to the artillery of the King ; for the greater part of the Parlia- ment's train had been left behind, unprovided with draught horses, by the negligence of M. de Boys, their French engineer. They were now brought on, with great exertion and difficulty, but still nearly a day's march in the rear, under the command of Hampden, who, with a brigade, consisting of his own regiment, Colonel Grantham's, Colonel Bark- ham's, and Lord Rochford's, in all about three thousand infantry, had been appointed to guard them. A hasty council of war was now called by the King. His army was superior in num- bers to that of his enemy, by at least two thousand infantry, and sixteen troops of horse, and in sight of a plain where cavalry might act with eminent advantage. His soldiers were high in spirit, eager to engage, and im- patient of delay with an adversary whom they despised. In addition to this, he knew from his scouts that the main body of the Parlia- ment's guns, with a whole brigade, could not be brought into action that day, but might, if 284 JOHN HAMPDEN, he were to waste many hours more, be made available against him. To all these tempting incentives to a battle there was no considera- tion to oppose, save that of the absolute use- lessness of fighting at all, and the great im- portance of not delaying the march of at least a portion of his force upon London. But Prince Rupert's temper was peremptory and unmanageable. He commanded the cavalry ; and on them the greater share of the day's glory in the plain of Keinton was likely to rest ; and Prince Rupert's was a brilliant, but ever a selfish, enthusiasm. He had, only a few days before, received with great con- tumely a message delivered by Lord Falk- land, and had declared that he would acknow- ledge no orders, in march or in battle, but from the King himself. This, as an insult upon Falkland's office, was treated by him in a tone of sharp but courteous sarcasm, well befitting the lofty spirit of a well-bred gentle- man, who keenly resented the Prince's petu- lance, yet would not allow it to interfere with his own duties, or the publick service *. It forced the King, however, on a new and very * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 285 inconvenient arrangement*. The Earl of Lindsey, the King's Lieutenant-General, saw that the Prince had thus disclaimed his con- troul also. To allow the line to be com- manded by that headstrong young man, (and somebody must command it in chief,) was impossible. A sort of compromise was there- fore attempted. The King proposed that the order of battle should be formed by General Ruthven, who had long served under the Princes Maurice and Henry of Orange in the Netherlands, and for some time in the same army with Rupert himself in Germany. To this Lindsey consented, putting himself, on foot, at the head of the King's Guards, in the centre of the first line ; there remaining answerable for the fate of an army drawn out by another, and the whole right wing of which was commanded by a rash man, who would take no orders from him. The adventurous courage of Rupert gave him an influence over the mind of the King which he had no other quality to justify. Against the counsel of Lindsey, and of se- * Clarendon Hist. Reb. Bulstrode's Memoirs. 286 JOHN HAMPDEN, veral other experienced officers, it was deter- mined not to await the battle in position, but to push forward the two first lines, and meet the attack halfway. The morning was bright and cold. The main body of the King's troops had been on the hills all night; the King had joined them in person, from Sir William Chancie's, at Ratott Bridge, and Prince Ru- pert from the Lord Spencer's, at Wormleigh- ton, where he had rested for a few hours. The army advanced in great pomp ; the King himself having first ridden along the lines, clad in steel, and wearing his Star and George on a black velvet mantle over his armour, and a steel cap, covered with velvet, on his head*. He had already addressed his principal officers in his tent, in a brave and eloquent harangue. ' If this day shine * prosperous unto us,' said he, ' we shall all ' be happy in a glorious victory. Your King * is both your cause, your quarrel, and your ' captain. The foe is in sight. Now show * yourselves no malignant parties, but with * your swords declare what courage and fide- * Bulstrode's Memoirs. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. ' lity is within you. I have written and de- ' clared that I intended always to maintain f and defend the Protestant Religion, the ' rights and privileges of Parliament, and the * liberty of the subject; and now I must ' prove my words by the convincing argument ' of the sword. Let Heaven show his power ' by this day's victory, to declare me just, * and as a lawful, so a loving, King to my ' subjects. The best encouragement I can ' give you is this : that, come life or death, ' your King will bear you company, and ever ' keep this field, this place, and this day's ' service, in his grateful remembrance.' He spoke twice at the head of his troops. His speech to his soldiers, immediately before the battle, was thus given out in print. ' Friends and soldiers. I look upon you with 'joy to behold so great an army as ever ' King of England had in these later times, ' standing with high resolutions to defend ' your King, the Parliament, and all my loyal ' subjects. I thank your loves, offered to ' your King, with a desire to hazard your ' lives arid fortunes with me and in my cause, ' freely offered, and that in my urgent neces- 288 JOHN HAMPDEN, * sity. I see by you that no father can relin- * quish and leave his son no subject his 4 lawful king; but I attribute this to the just- ' ness of my cause. He that made us a King 1 will protect us. We have marched so long ' in hopes to meet no enemy ; we knowing 1 none at whose hands we deserve any oppo- ' sition. Nor can our sun, shining through ' the clouds of malignant envy, suffer such 1 an obscurity, but that some influence of ' my royal authority, derived from God, whose 1 substitute and supreme governor under Christ I 1 am, hath begotten in you a confidence in * my intentions. But matters are now not 1 to be declared by words, but by swords. * You all think our thoughts. Endeavour to ' defend our person, while I reign over your ' affections as well as your persons. Now, * therefore, know my resolution is to try the ' doubtful chance of war, which, with much * grief, I must stand to, and endure the ha- 1 zard. I desire not the effusion of blood ; * but, since Heaven hath so declared that so * much preparation hath been made, we must ' needs accept of this present occasion and * opportunity of gaining an honourable vie- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 289 ' tory, and some addition of glory to our ' crown ; since reputation is that which doth * gild over the richest gold, and shall ever be ' the endeavour of our whole reign. The * present action of this battle makes me speak ' briefly, and yet lovingly and loyally, towards ' you, our loyal army I put not my confi- ' dence in your strength or number, but con- * fide that, though your King speaks to you, * and that with as much love and affection as * ever King of England did to his army, yet ' God, and the justness, of our cause, toge- ' ther with the love I bear to the whole, ' kingdom, must give you the best encourage- ' ment. In a word, your King bids you all ' be courageous, and Heaven make you vic- * torious *.' At about two o'clock in the afternoon they advanced. The order in which they de- scended from the hill was this : Prince Ru- pert, at the head of the Prince of Wales's regiment, led the cavalry of the right wing, and Lord Byron the reserve, on the extreme right of which Colonel Washington's dra- * Colonel Western's Letter. Printed for Richard Johnson, 1 642. In Mr. Staunton's collection. VOL. II. U 290 JOHN HAMPDEN, goons, supported by six hundred regular horse, took possession of some bushes and enclosures. On his left were eight regiments of infantry. The infantry of the centre, in column of six lines, was led by General Ru- then and Sir Jacob Astley; Lord Lindsey, with his son Lord Willoughby, at the head of the royal foot guards, the red coats ; and Sir Edmund Verney, carrying the standard, which had been displayed, all the morning, from the hill. Behind these, and a little to the right, the King took post with his guard of pen- sioners. The cavalry of the left wing was commanded by Lord Wilmot, and consisted of the regiments of Lord Goring and Lord Fielding*. These were supported by Lord Carnarvon at the head of six hundred pike- men and a small body of musqueteers. The reserve was commanded by Lord Digby ; and Sir George Lisle's and Colonel Ennis's dra- goons lined the hedges and broken ground in advance of the extreme left, as Washing- * George Baron Fielding, second son to William Earl of Den- bigh, who likewise bore arms for the King, and was in the field as a volunteer that day. Basil Viscount Fielding, elder brother to George, had taken part with the Parliament, but was not with the army at Edge Hill. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 291 ton's had done on the right. In the rear of these were the ill-armed and almost undis- ciplined levies from Wales. The brave Lord Lindsey's prayer, imme- diately before the advance, was short and fervent. ' Oh, Lord, thou knowest how busy ' I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not * thou forget me. March on, boys * ! ' The Parliamentarians were drawn up in three brigades. The right wing was com- posed of three regiments of horse, under the orders of Sir John Meldrum, Sir Philip Sta- pleton, and Sir William Balfore, with Colonel Richard Fielding's regiment, and some guns in reserve, and supported by musqueteers lining a long hedge, at a right angle with their front. Next to these were the Lord Roberts's and Sir William Constable's infan- try. In the centre were the Lord-General's own regiment, and Colonel Ballard's, and Lord Brook's, with Holles's, also infantry, in reserve. The left wing consisted of five regi- ments of infantry; Lord Wharton's, Lord Mandeville's, Colonel Cholmley's, and Co- lonel Charles Essex's, with Sir William Fair- * Sir Philip Warwick's Memoirs. U 2 292 JOHN HAMPDEN, fax's in reserve. On the extreme flank were a few guns, with twenty-four troops of horse, commanded by Sir James Ramsay, a Scot. Ministers of the Word were seen riding along the ranks as they formed, exhorting the men to do their duty, and fight valiantly*. The action was commenced by the Parlia- ment's guns, which opened from their right flank, and were instantly answered by the whole park of the King's artillery from the centre ; the cannonade continuing briskly for some time. The first charge was made by the King's cavalry from his left, which was re- pulsed ; the musqueteers who supported them being also driven back to take refuge behind the second line of pikes. But, on the other wing, their success was very different. The Parliament's line had been weakened here, by extending itself to avoid being outflanked. And, at the commencement of the conflict on this part, Sir Faithful Fortescue, an Irishman, (very unworthy of either of his honourable names,) who commanded a squadron of the Parliament's horse, ordered his men to fire their pistols into the ground, and then gal- * Viccars's Parl. Chron. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 293 loped with them into Prince Rupert's lines ; where, however, accident gave them the pu- nishment they deserved : for, being mistaken for enemies by those to whom they were de- serting, they received a fire which instantly laid twenty-five of them dead*. And now Prince Rupert, charging with the whole of the cavalry of the King's right wing, broke through, and entirely routed, Sir James Ramsay's horse, who, enfeebled and dis- mayed, were making an irresolute attempt to gain the advantage of the hill. Even Colonel Essex's regiment, who had moved up to sup- port them, also broke and fled. The battle, on that part, soon became a chase, though Essex did all that he could to rally the flying troops, and Holies and Ballard advanced gal- lantly from their right to cover their ground. The side of the hill, and, soon afterwards, the plain beneath it, were covered with nearly the whole of the Parliament's left wing in com- plete disorder, and Rupert's horse in close and unsparing pursuit. ' The Lord Mande- ' ville's men,' says an eye-witness, ' would not * stand the field; though his Lordship be- * Clarendon Hist. Reb. Mrs. Hutchinson's Memoirs. 294 JOHN HAMPDEN, * seeched, nay cudgelled, them. No, nor yet ' the Lord Wharton's men. Sir William Fair- ' fax, his regiment, except some eighty of 1 them, used their heeles*.' Nor did Cholm- ley's behave better. Cavalry endeavouring to force their flight through the infantry who were ordered to support them, the infantry scarcely better disposed to stand, but unable to fly before the rapid torrent of Rupert's charge, all were in one confused mass, and not a face of a private soldier fronted that of his enemy, except Lord Brook's purple coats, Colonel Ballard's grey coats, and Den- zil Holles's gallant red coats, who, again op- posed to superiour numbers, and under the severer trial of witnessing the cowardice of their comrades, had nobly rushed across the advancing enemy. But the King's cavalry had already swept by with an impetuosity which infantry, forming hastily, and from a flank, could not withstand. But these brave regiments, though overborne, rallied, and at once engaged and checked the whole infantry of the King's right and centre. Meanwhile, * Speciall Newes from the Army at Warwicke since the fight ; seat from a minister of good note. In Mr. Staunton's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 295 the pursuit lasted across the open fields for three miles, up to Keinton itself, with tremen- dous slaughter. But here Rupert's triumph ended ; and he incurred the reproach of allow- ing himself to be detained in an inglorious work of plunder for upwards of an hour, while the King's infantry was engaged, and worsted for lack of his support. The principal part of the baggage of the Parliament's army was lying in waggons in the streets of Keinton. Few were left to guard it, and the horses had been all moved forward to assist with the artillery, which was in action. The pillage of these now wholly fixed the atten- tion of the Prince, who thus delayed his return to the battle, and gave his soldiers an example of insubordination which it was one of his most urgent duties to discountenance and repress*. The alarm was given to him, while thus employed, that the enemy was again forming, reinforced by fresh troops, on the outskirts of the town. The ground on * It is said of the Prince, that, on his return to the field of battle, finding the royal army in confusion, and the King himself in great danger, he told him that he ' could give a good account ' of the enemy's horse.' ' Ay, by G d,' exclaimed a cavalier, ' L and of their carts too !' 290 JOHN HAMPDEN, which he rallied and drew up his cavalry to charge them again, is still known as ' Prince Rupert's Head-land,' and gives it's name to a farm about a mile to the eastward of Keinton. But it was now too late. Hampden, who had left Stratford-on-Avon the evening before, had pushed on with Colonel Grantham's regiment, and his own green coats, and five guns, with which the men had, all night, toiled through the deep roads, leaving be- hind Colonel Barkham's and Lord Roch- fort's regiments to bring up the rest of the ar- tillery and great store of ammunition, which did not arrive till the day after. And now the two regiments, led by Hampden, were seen hastening across the enclosures to support the mangled squadrons of flying horse. Dragging their guns out of the lanes along which they had advanced, they formed between the pur- sued and the pursuers, and opened their fire upon Rupert, killing several of his men and horses, and, though unable to pursue, obliging him, in his turn, to recross the plain in great confusion. Rupert, on his return, found the King's battle wearing a very different aspect from HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 297 that under which he had left it. Holles's, and Ballard's, and Brook's, regiments, having made good the ground abandoned by the fugi- tives, had now poured in from the flank upon the main body of the King, which, at the same time, was charged in front by the rest of the Parliament's infantry, headed by the Earl of Essex in person. The gentlemen and officers of the cavalry, instead of flying with their men, had joined to strengthen the centre. And Colonel Charles Essex, having striven in vain to rally his craven regiment, returned to die bravely as a volunteer in more honourable company. He, and the Lord St. John, met their death in this charge. The Lord- General's life guard of gentlemen, to whom these gallant persons had joined themselves, first broke the King's guards, who were afterwards * abundantly smitten down by ' the orange coats, by Sir William Constable's ' blue coats, the Lord Roberts's red coats, and * the Lord Say's blue coats, led by Sir John ' Meldrum.' And the cavalry from the Parlia- ment's right, under Balfore, Stapleton, and the Lord Willoughby of Parham, and composed of the troops of Hazlerigge, Lord Brook, Lord 298 JOHN HAMPDEN, Grey, Gunter, Draper, Temple, Long, Fiennes, Luke, Cromwell, Hunt, andtlrrey, now rushed in furiously. At this time was slain Sir Ed- mund Verney, and the royal standard, which he bore, was taken by Mr. Young, one of Sir William Constable's ensigns, and delivered by Lord Essex to his own secretary, Chambers, who rode by his side. Elated by the prize, the secretary rode about, more proudly than wisely, waving it round his head. Whereupon, in the confusion, one of the King's officers, Captain Smith of the Lord John Stewart's troop, seeing the standard captured, threw round him the orange scarf of a fallen Parlia- mentarian, and, riding in among the lines of his enemies, told the secretary that ' it were ' shame that so honourable a trophy of war ' should be borne by a penman.' To which suggestion the credulous guardian of this ho- nourable trophy consenting surrendered it to the disguised cavalier, who galloped back with it amain, and, before evening, received knight- hood under its shadow. But the royal army was now so severely pressed in front and on its left, menaced also on its right by a body of horse which had HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 299 regained that rising ground from which Ram- say's brigade had, early in the fight, been driven, that Charles was vehemently impor- tuned to leave the field. But this his ardent courage, and the pledge which he had given to his troops, to abide with them for life or death, would not permit. He would have charged in person with his reserves of two regiments and his band of pensioners, but from this his household officers withheld him. And now the evening was setting in, and, as the authorized narrative on the King's part says, the darkness made it difficult to distin- guish friends from foes*. No one of the ac- counts published by authority on either side is throughout true, either as to the details, or as to the general result, of this famous battle. To believe them on both sides would be to conclude that an hour more of daylight would have blessed both armies with a sure and signal victory. The truth appears to be that both had already suffered too severely, and * The account of the battle is taken from Clarendon, Viccars, Bulstrode, Warwick, Whitelocke, Heath's Chronicle, Ludlow's Memoirs, Charles Pym's and Nathaniel Fiennes's Letters, other published tracts and letters, principally in Mr. Staunton's collec- tion, the Parliament's Diurnals, and the Oxford Intelligencers. 300 JOHN HAMPDEN, that the condition of each was too perilous, for either to be eager to renew the conflict. The King's officers were dismayed at the sudden and unexpected chance which had placed the safety of the whole army in hazard, after they had seen nearly one half of the host of their enemies routed, and had firmly and surely believed the day to be already their own. Rupert's men and horses were too much fatigued for another charge. On the other side, what remained together of the Parlia- ment's cavalry were weak in numbers, and equally spent with the exertion of a long march and a hard and doubtful contest, and with the effects of exposure for many nights to wet and cold. Moreover they felt only the extent of their own disadvantage ; they knew not that their enemy's plight was no less se- vere ; and they looked with distrust towards the issue of another attack on the part of the more numerous, better disciplined, and, perhaps, more confident, troops of the Prince. But the reinforcement of the two regiments had now come up with Hampden. Lord Essex saw that the higher ground was still in the King's hands. He called a council of his principal HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 301 officers, and he listened mainly, as he had ever done, to the advice of the cautious Dai- bier. A general who, during an unfinished battle, puts to a council the question of again advancing or not, may be presumed to have a leaning of opinion towards the less adven- turous course. Resolute under difficulty and repulse, it was when success was to be im- proved that Essex was timid and indecisive. In vain did Hampden, Grantham, Holies, and Brook, urge him to renew the attack. Hamp- den was for instantly pressing forward, and endeavouring to force the King's position ; and so to relieve Banbury, and throw himself at once on the contested line of the great London road. And Ludlow and Whitelocke assert, and Warwick and Clarendon confess, that if this course had been adopted, the King's condition might have become hazard- ous in the extreme. Of the loss of men on either side no truth is to be gained from any of the authorized statements taken separately. According to one of the accounts sent to the Parliament, and published ' to prevent false informations,' the King lost in slain about three thousand, the Parliament three hundred. According 302 JOHN HAMPDEN, to that which issued from the King's press at Oxford, the amount of the King's loss is doubt- ful, but ' this is certain, that the royal army ' slew five Parliamentarians for every one * slain of their's.' To attempt to balance these would be misspent labour. The Parlia- mentarians seem to have lost rather more in private soldiers, the King certainly more in persons of distinction. Of these, besides Sir Edmund Verney, were slain the Lord Ber- nard Stewart and the Lord Aubigny. Among a number of prisoners of note, the brave old General, Lord Lindsey, was taken, but mor- tally wounded. His son, the Lord Willoughby, in vain rushed to the rescue. He had only the sad comfort of performing the last filial duties. Lindsey died in the Lord-General's coach, on the way to Warwick Castle, under whose portcullis his corpse entered side by side with that of his youthful and gallant enemy, Charles Essex *. A tolerably correct judgment is to be formed * In the Appendix is subjoined a reprint of a scarce and cu- rious tract in Mr. Staunton's collection. It is not altogether uninteresting to speculate on the causes and extent of human credulity, the more remarkable always when not excited by the conflicts of political or religious prejudice. The world abounds with histories of preternatural appearances the most utterly in- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 303 of the conduct and issue of the Edge Hill fight, only by comparing together the conflict- ing accounts, which are abundant. On the whole, the fairest, and the most consistent with each other and with probability, are Natha- niel Fiennes's, (which, written at the time, de- serves credit for its moderation,) and Edmund credible, supported by testimony the most undeniable. Here is a ghost story of the most preposterous sort. Two great armies of ghosts, for the mere purpose, as it seems, of making night hideous to the innocent and scared townsmen of Keinton, fighting over again the battle of Edge Hill, which had been decided, as far as their mortal efforts could decide it, more than two months before. Yet is this story attested upon the oath of three officers, men of honour and discretion, and of ' three other gentle- ' men of credit,' selected by the King as commissioners to report upon these prodigies, and to tranquillize and disabuse the alarms of a country town ; adding, moreover, in confirmation, their testi- mony to the identity of several of the illustrious dead, as seen among the unearthly combatants who had been well known to them, and who had fallen in the battle. A well- supported im- posture, or a stormy night on a hill-side, might have acted on the weakness of a peasantry in whose remembrance the terrors of the Edge Hill fight were still fresh ; but it is difficult to imagine how the minds of officers, sent there to correct the illusion, could have been so imposed upon. It will also be observed, that no inference is attempted by the witnesses to assist any notion of a judgment or warning favourable to the interests or passions of their own party. It is a pure, inexplicable working of fancy upon the minds of shrewd and well-educated men, in support of the super- stitions of timid and vulgar ones, who had, for several nights, been brought to consent to the same belief. For the story, see Appendix E. The solution of it must be left to the ingenuity of the reader. 304 JOHN HAMPDEN, Ludlow's, and Sir Philip Warwick's, which have the best chance of being dispassion- ate, having been written many years after the event, and not, as it appears, in a spirit violently disposed to favour either party. Clarendon's, if compared with the others, or even with the map, will be found to be, in parts, extremely incorrect. Seldom has ill success been left so nearly balanced between two conflicting armies after so great a battle. ' Victor uterque fuit, victus * uterque fuit,' says Sir Richard Bulstrode. And, therefore, both returned solemn thanks to God as for a victory. Both lost guns, stores, and colours. The one remained mas- ter of the field of battle, and the other kept the London road, the gaining or retaining possession of which had been the only reason- able motive for fighting at all. And, even- tually, both retreated ; the one forgetting that the way to the metropolis was open to his enemy, and the other, before whom it was open, neglecting to march upon it. Of this neglect on the King's part there appears to be but one probable solution; of which hereafter. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 305 In the original papers of James II., col- lected by Carte, it is thus stated. ' It was ' of fatal consequence that he did not march 1 to London, which, in the fright, would not * have cost him a stroke. Ruthven, the day 1 after the battle, desired the King to send ' him with most of the horse and three thou- ' sand foot to London, where he would get * before Essex, seize Westminster, drive away ' the rebel part of the Parliament, and main- * tain it till the King came up with the rest ' of the army. But this was opposed by the * advice of many of the council. They were * afraid that the King should return by con- ' quest ; and said so openly. They per- * suaded the King to advance so slowly to * London, that Essex got there before him ; f and the Parliament, ready before to fly, took * heart.' Of the King's officers, (besides the Lord Willoughby,) Colonels Lunsford, Vava- sour, Stradling, Rodney, and Munro, were taken prisoners. The roads were covered with the wounded of both armies. * It would ' be a charitable worke,' says ' a minister of ' good note,' in his letter to the Lord Mayor Voi. II. X 306 JOHN HAMPDEN, of London *, * if some rich citizen would ' drop the silver oyle of his purse into the ' wounds of the sick and maimed souldiers * who have soe freely hazarded theire lives ' for the gospell.' The King marched back with a great part of his army, the evening after the battle, to the position from which he had that day de- scended ; and, from thence, further up, to the Wormleighton Hills, lying out, that night, in a hard and piercing frost. The main body of the Parliamentarians also retired from the bleak plain to the ' warmer quarter ' of Keinton ; but leaving a brigade of observation on the ad- vanced position which they had won on the eastern extremity of the battle. * This gave ' Essex,' says Sir Philip Warwick, ' a title ' unto the victory of that day.' On the next morning, both armies remained for several hours opposed in order of battle, as if again to engage ; but neither was disposed to begin the attack. Charles sent a flag of truce, borne by Clarencieux King at Arms, with a proclamation, dated * from our Court on * Edge Hill,' offering to Lord Essex, and to * Mr. Staunton's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 307 such of his army as should surrender, a free pardon. To this, the General, after strictly prohibiting the herald from tampering with the soldiers, returned for answer, that he should take the instructions of Parliament on his Majesty's gracious offer. About sun- set, ' for what reason,' saysLudlow, ' I know * not,' and indeed without any apparent mo- tive, he began a retreat on Warwick. Again Hampden interposed with a remonstrance, and strongly advised a rapid advance, to harass the retiring King, to restore the spirits of the midland counties, and save London. He vo- lunteered to lead the advance himself, with his fresh and eager brigade. But Dalbier, in whom the methodical system of the German science was grafted upon what is supposed to be the characteristick caution of his native land, supported Essex's inclination to be con- tent with the fame of a doubtful victory. Had the King's position been forced, and his army in consequence driven to a precipi- tate retreat, it would have been extremely difficult for him to save even a remnant of his army. He had no point on which he could have safely retired. Oxford was wholly unfortified. X2 308 JOHN HAMPDEN, Banbury lay in his way with a garrison, which, though powerless against his army when together and unembarrassed with any other enemy, would have been a formidable obstacle to him in retreat ; and the nearer he approached to London, the more unfriendly was the country through which he must have passed. The extreme west of England would have been the only secure refuge open to his troops ; and so long a retreat, encumbered as he was with so much of the useless equi- page of royal pomp, would have been difficult and hazardous. His ministers and servants of state, with their followers of all sorts, above twelve hundred in number, accompanied him, not bearing arms, but making larger demands for subsistence and conveniences than any number of military officers of the highest rank. Sir William Dugdale was present in the action, as Norroy King at Arms, at the head of a numerous body of heralds, with each of whom was a retinue of pursuivants and horse- boys. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, then twelve and ten years old, were on HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 309 the hill. They were placed under the care of Dr. William Harvey, afterwards so famous for his discoveries concerning the circulation of the blood, and then Physician in Ordinary to the King. During the action, forgetful both of his position and of his charge, and too sensible of the value of time to a philo- sophick mind to be cognizant of bodily dan- ger, he took out a book, and sat him down on the grass to read, till, warned by the sound of the bullets that grazed and whistled round him, he rose, and withdrew the Princes to a securer distance*. The first notice received in London of the Edge Hill fight was a very doubtful one. Beacons had been established along the line of communication between the Parliament and its army. In the alarm of the King's ad- vance from Shrewsbury, Essex had received orders from the two Houses to give intelli- gence by firing the nearest beacon, whenever he might overtake the King and arrest his progress. The light by night, or the smoke by day, was to be the signal of his success in * Aubrey's Letters and Lives of Eminent Men. 310 JOHN HAMPDEN, having brought the King to action, which the country people, on the different heights, up to London itself, were by proclamation directed to repeat. When the darkness had set in upon the hostile armies, and the fight was at an end, a small party of the Parliament's troops, who had gained the summit of the Beacon Hill, near Burton Dasset, gave the signal. Tradition says that some shepherds, on a part of the high ridge over Ivinghoe, on the borders of Buckinghamshire and Hertford- shire, and at a distance of at least thirty miles in a direct line from Edge Hill, saw a twinkling light to the northward, and, upon communication with their minister, ' a godly and well-affected person,' fired the beacon there also, which was seen at Harrow on the Hill, and from thence at once carried on to London ; and that thus the news was given along a line of more than sixty miles, by the assistance of only two intermediate fires. But this mode of communication told the story very imperfectly, and most disastrous rumours soon followed. Fear is a fleet mes- senger. A party of the routed cavalry from the Parliament's left, contriving in the con- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 311 fusion to slip past the opposite flank of the King's army, fled forward through Banbury. They were accompanied by Ramsay, their commander, whose published defence de- livered before a court-martial, (to the injury of his memory a very imperfect one,) is among the collection of broadsheets pre- served in the British Museum. These fugitives, offering in their haste and panick but a sorry sample of the condition of the Parliament's army, spread the news of an entire defeat, as rapidly and as far as their own and their horses' speed would serve. This unhappy report that the battle was irre- trievably lost, reached London on the 24th, not many hours after the first intelligence, by signal, of the encounter. It was not till the pay after that Lord Wharton and Strode arrived at the doors of the two Houses where the Parliament was sitting; and, almost at the same time, came another official state- ment, from Holies, Stapleton, Ballard, Bal- fore, Meldrum, and Charles Pym, to refresh the drooping confidence of the Parliament and the citizens with intelligence of a com- plete victory ; modestly and well written, as 312 JOHN HAMPDEN, to the account of the battle ; but, as to the claim of a victory, only one degree less un- true than the alarm had been of an entire defeat. But the fact of the King being between Lord Essex's army and the metropolis was one which no ' special relation ' had the power to disguise. The dismay of the citizens was intense. But their preparations for defence were rapid, vigorous, and resolute. The shops were shut up. The people thronged forth into the streets to close the barricades ; every where the train-bands beat to arms and mus- tered in Finsbury Fields, Hyde Park, and the village of Pancras, to take their orders to occupy the posts before their city, or to put themselves in march to oppose the King on his road. Directions the most positive were dis- patched by repeated expresses to the Lord- General, to endeavour, at all hazards, whe- ther forcing his way by a second battle, or turning the King's flank by manoeuvre, to throw himself across the main road, or, if that were impracticable, into London itself*. * Speciall Passages. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 313 Fortunately for the Parliament, the King's movements now became as disconnected and as dilatory as those of his adversary had been. He trifled away his time in taking and occu- pying several small places, such as Banbury and Broughton Castle, the last of which held out for a whole day with a garrison of only one troop of horse, and consumed another day in settling articles of capitulation ; and, after passing some few days more at Oxford, he moved onwards, resting his right flank, which was not menaced, on the Thames, and leaving his left, on which Essex was marching, uncovered, with two great roads open. It is impossible to believe that this could have been oversight. Charles himself had military talents of no mean order. He had begun to display them before the battle of Edge Hill, and he gave very decisive proofs of them in his conduct on many subsequent occasions during the war. He was besides surrounded by experienced officers. The only probable mode of accounting for it must be by referring it to the political difficulties which were uppermost in the minds of some of his advisers. All who had interests of their own 314 JOHN HAMPDEN, to serve with the adverse party, or terms to make with the King for such of their friends as had engaged themselves in it, all who feared the lengths to which, in sudden and decisive success, the King might be led by passions which they had not influence enough over him to controul, those too who vainly thought that a more reasonable accommoda- tion might be come to by treaty, while the issue of the war was yet in part uncertain, the timid, and the temporizing, were all alarmed at the prospect of their master ob- taining at once the power of dictating peace upon his own terms. Nor is it improbable that Falkland himself may have deprecated such success. For his well established favour with Charles was yet incapable of standing against such coun- sel as Rupert's or Digby's would have been if given among such scenes as must have fol- lowed the triumphal entry into London of the forcing of her defences by storm. This, indeed, is hinted intelligibly enough by se- veral contemporary writers, among whom is Clarendon himself. But whatever was the cause of Charles's HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 315 conduct at this crisis, the energy and genius of Essex were roused equally by the reproaches of the Parliament and of some of his own officers, and by the inactivity of the King. He suddenly advanced upon Northampton, engaging the King's attention by threatening his flank with a detached force in the country about Brackly and Aynho ; Hampden and his friend and colleague Arthur Goodwyn leading the advanced guard. The Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire, who were raising and marshalling the volunteers of that county, received this letter from the Lord Wharton * : * GENTLEMEN, ' It greeues my heart thatt your County ' should be putt into soe g* distraction. My ' L ds haue considered of your letter, and are * very desirous to doe any thing for the pre- ' seruation of your county. They conceaue ' itt most for the seruice of the county and 1 the safety of yourselfes and the forces now ' raysed thatt you retire a little neerer to Ux- . * Among Mr. Grenvil's papers. 316 JOHN HAMPDEN, * bridge, which is appoynted to bee the ren- 1 dezvous for a conuoy of g 1 strength to bee ' sent downe with diuerse things to my L (l of 1 Essex ; with which if you thinke good to ' fall in, and to joyne unto my L d of Essex ' his army, the state will entertayne you, and * allow such pay as all other officers and sol- * diers haue. * My L ds doe butt propound all this to your * consideration, leaning you in euery part of * itt to resolue of whatt you finde more fitt for * your occasion to your owne judgement. I ' haue spouke to my L d of Warwicke for some * officers for you, and ame in hope to preuayle ' therein. ' I ame ' Your most affectionate frend * to serve you, ' P. WHARTON.' ' 30 Octob. 1642. London.' ' For Collonell Bullstrood and the ' rest of the deputy lieutennants ' of the county of Bucks ' att Amersham.' During the march, Hampden wrote thus from Northampton to encourage them : HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 317 ' To my noble friends, Colonel Bulstrode, ' Captain Grenvil, Captain Tyrell, Cap- ' tain West, or any of them. ' GENTLEMEN, * The army is now at Northampton, ' moving every day nearer to you. If you ' disband not, we may be a mutual succour to ' each other ; but, if you disperse, you make * yourselves and your country a prey. ' You shall hear daily from ' Your servant, * JOHN HAMPDEN.' ' Northampton, Oct. 31.' * I wrote this enclosed letter yesterday, * and thought it would have come to you then ; ' but the messenger had occasion to stay till ' this morning. We cannot be ready to march ' till to-morrow; and then, I believe, we shall. ' I desire you will be pleased to send to me ' again, as soon as you can, to the army, that ' we may know what posture you are in, and ' then you will hear which way we go. You ' shall do me a favour to certify me what you ' hear of the King's forces ; for I believe your 318 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' intelligence is better from Oxford and those ' parts than our's can be. ' Your humble servant, * JOHN HAMPDEN.' ' Northampton, Nov. 1, 1642.' One of Mr. Grenvil's informants, just re- turned from Oxford, where he had lately wit- nessed, with some discomfort, the execution of a spy, writes to him thus : ' Right Wor fu11 , * Upon the motion of your man Cherry, I ' give you to understand that I,beinge at Oxon, t gber 2^ W arned by a warrant from his Ma tie * amongst all ministers, freeholders, trades- * men, and men of estate in Oxon shire, sawe * his Ma tie sitting in Christ chch hall; prince ' Robert was gone before to Abingdon with * 510 men. The Kinge intends for London * w th all speede. Redinge must be inhu- ' manly plundered. One Blake, or Blake- * well, I know not whether, was this day ' hanged, drawen, and quartered, in Oxon, for ' rec B 50 lb a weeke from y e ParP for intelli- ' gence, he beinge Priuy Chamberlayne to HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 319 ' Prince Rob 1 . Wee were in Oxon streets under * pole-axes, the cavaliers soe out-braved it. ' The K' s horse are their, with 7000 dra- ' gooners. The foote I knowe not, saue that * Colonell Salisbury, (my countryman,) hath * 1200 poore Welch vermins, the offscowringe ' of the nation. Dr. Hood remembers his best ' respects to you ;* but groanes for rent. ' He is much afraid of your safety. He ' prayes for you. Oxonshire was sent for to ' contribute to his Ma ties necessity. Little * helpe (God knowes). They pillage ex- * treamely about Oxon. Whole teames taken 1 away, euen of y e E. of 's man Bigge of ' Staunton. Soe much happines to your wors p , 4 as to * Your oblidged seruant, ' ROB. EVANS. * Wootton, 9 ber 3 rd , 1642. ' To the Right Wor fuU Rich. Grenvil, ' Esq., High Sheriffe of Bucks, ' these present.' On the day on which Hampden's letter was written to the Buckinghamshire Lieu- tenancy, encouraging them with the assur- * Warden of New College. Mr. Grenvil held some large farms, near Wotton, under that college. 320 JOHN HAMPDEN, ance of speedy support, and exhorting them to hold out manfully for the defence of their county, until the succour should arrive, a severe skirmish took place at Aylesbury, in which a part of his own regiment and Colonel Grantham's, supported by six troops of horse under Sir William Balfore, repulsed a very superiour force, led by Prince Rupert in person. Strong parties had been sent forth from Banbury and Oxford, to collect forage and drive in cattle for the King's army, to watch the march of Essex's army, to hover on his flank, and hinder his com- munications with the metropolis. The small garrison of new raised militia at Aylesbury had been moved to some quarter which was more closely threatened, and the town, and the rich pastures of the vale which surrounds it, left unprotected. Thither Prince Rupert marched with a force of some thousands of horse and foot, and, after some days, passed in securing for the King's use much of the produce of the vale and despoiling and lay- ing waste much more than he secured, en- tered and possessed himself of the town. Here, after one day more of free-quar- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 321 ter in Aylesbury, during which the inhabi- tants were made to suffer all sorts of out- rage from his soldiers, he received intelli- gence of the approach of a brigade of the Parliament's troops from Stony Stratford. Rupert, probably afraid of attempting a de- fence within the walls of a place, however well adapted by its situation for defence, where the townsmen were all his enemies, and having in his front a country over which his cavalry could act with great advantage, left there but a troop of horse and two companies of foot, and marched out with all the rest of his force to meet the advancing enemy. But he had not gone farther than the brook, about half a mile to the northward of the town, where there was then no passage but a bad ford, swollen by the rains, when he found himself checked by Balfore's horse and foot, in column, on the opposite bank. After the first volley or two, Rupert charged across the ford, and, break- ing through Balfore's two first lines of in- fantry, plunged into the centre of his horse, who were flanked on the right by Charles VOL. II. Y 322 JOHN HAMPDEN, Pym's troop. And here a sharp and despe- rate conflict began. Sir Lewis Dives came up with the Prince's reserve, and Captain Herbert Blanchard with Balfore's. The mus- quetry of the foot, the carbines and petronels of the cavalry, swords, and pole-axes, all doing the work of death, and the soldiers of all arms mixed and fighting in one close and furious throng. It lasted thus but a few minutes : the King's troops were driven back across the stream, and Rupert rallied on the other side, only to lose more men from the fire, and to receive a charge in return, which drove him back in confusion towards the town. In vain did the troops within hurry down to his support. The towns- men rushed forth upon their rear, with whatever arms haste and fury could sup- ply to them, and Rupert with difficulty began his retreat towards Thame, before the mingled troops and populace, who, however, after slaughtering the hindmost for above a mile, did not venture further to pursue among the enclosures a force still superiour to their own. In this action, some hundreds of Ru- pert's men fell, and of the Parliamentarians HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 323 above ninety, according to the confession of the report published in London*. In a letter from Woburn, on the 4th of November, the Lord-General desired the Deputy-Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire to march all their train-bands, horse and foot, to St. Albans, to join his army there on the next day, promising protection if the King should traverse their county, but calling upon them to strengthen his force for the defence of London, if his march should be pursued in that direction -f. It was soon evident, however, that London was the King's object. The advanced guard, under Prince Rupert, was quartered at Maid- enhead, and a strong picket at Colnbrook. With all dispatch, therefore, Lord Essex pro- ceeded to the metropolis, which he entered two days after. There he was received with every mark of gratitude and honour, the * Good and joyfull newes out of Buckinghamshire Dr. Mun- dell's Letter. Some of the remains of this skirmish were disco- vered a few years ago, by the labourers who were digging pits for gravel, in a field at Holman's Bridge, near the old ford. More than two hundred skeletons were found buried in the small space which was opened ; among which, many appeared, from the manner in which they were laid, to have been those of officers, t Mr. Grenvil's papers. Y 2 324 JOHN HAMPDEN, thanks of the two Houses being voted to him, and a sum of 5000/., in testimony of appro- bation of his conduct at Edge Hill*. Holies, with his regiment, was quartered at Brentford, and Hampden in the neighbour- bourhood of Uxbridge. Meanwhile, two ships of war were brought up the Thames, as high as the bridge, and a division of gun- boats moored off Westminster f. And now the Houses voted that the Earls of Northumberland and Pembroke, and four members of the Commons, should act as com- missioners to treat with the King for peace. On the morning of Thursday, the 10th of November, the commissioners set forth, and, at Colnbrook were met by Sir Peter Kil- legrew, with news that the King was on horse- back coining into the town with his artillery from Maidenhead. In Colnbrook they waited to receive him. Having read the petition, the King bespoke them courteously. He said that they could not expect a present answer to a petition of so great importance ; yet that he would deliver it in part the next day, and send it by a special messenger to Parliament. * Speciall passages. t Ibid. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 325 On Friday morning both houses met, and, having received the report of their commis- sioners, resolved to sit that afternoon to await the signification of his Majesty's further plea- sure. The promised message arrived not, but, instead, reports of hasty warrants by the King, violently enforced, requiring the inhabitants of the country round Maidenhead instantly to supply means of transport for guns and stores, and horses for a remount to his cavalry. On Saturday, however, the answer was brought by the Earl of Northumberland, in which the King called God to witness his great desire of peace, and, in order to avoid further blood- shedding, offered to treat at Windsor, or where- ever else he might be. This was received with great demonstrations of joy. It was consi- dered as no less than saving London from the attempt of an infuriated army to carry it by storm, and as a sure earnest of the King's dis- position to grant fair terms of peace. But, on that very morning, while the King's answer was before the Houses, he was in full march to the execution of a foul and cruel act of trea- chery. He marched during a treaty, and while the other party were actually reading his mes- 326 JOHN HAMPDEN, sage of readiness to listen to terms of peace. Vainly does Clarendon essay to clear Charles of this ineffaceable charge. He states him to have sent, some days after, a vindication of himself in a message to Parliament, in which he told them of the ' Earl of Essex's * drawing: out his forces towards him, and o * possessing those quarters about him, and al- * most hemming him in after the time that the ' Commissioners were sent to him with the * Petition*.' But Clarendon himself shows that this advance of Essex's, with which, by a confusion of dates, the King artfully re- proaches the Parliament, took place after the attack had been made on the Parliament's quarters at Brentford ; and he moreover ad- mits that ' the Houses were so well satisfied ' with the answer their Committee had brought * from the King, and with their report of his * Majesty's clemency and gracious reception ' of them, that they had sent order to their ' forces " that they should not exercise any * act of hostility towards the King's forces ;" * and at the same time dispatched a mes- * senger to acquaint his Majesty therewith, * Clarendon .Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 327 * and to desire " that there might be the like * forbearance on his part*." At day-break, the morning being unusually misty, and the Parliament's pickets reposing under the security of a flag of truce which had passed their lines, eight regiments of the King's foot, and twenty troops of horse, with six guns, were dispatched from Colnbrook to Sion, and, finding only Holles's regiment in the town of Brentford, broke in upon their quarters. For three hours the fight was maintained by this small unsupported force, occupying the houses and disputing each street; untill Brook and Hampden came in from their cantonments to the sound of the firing. The contest became more general, though still against fearful odds. Five times did Brook and Hampden charge the streets, to endeavour to open a retreat for this brave and suffering regiment who had so despe- rately maintained themselves. But the King's troops having, in part, made good their ad- vance through the town, now invested it, attacking on all sides with horse, foot, and artillery. No hope remained but to hold out * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. 328 JOHN HAMPDEN, till succour might arrive from London. To- wards evening, Lord Essex was seen advan- cing from that direction with the train bands of the City in brave array, having received the news of the struggle which was going on as they were assembled for exercise in Chel- sea Fields. Still, the brigade under the Parliamentary colonels within the town re- mained surrounded. They maintained the fight in the streets, having held the post obstinately till the arrival of Essex ; and now, oppressed by numbers, and their ammu- nition spent, the remnant of this gallant little force threw themselves into the Thames, where many were drowned; but the greater part were enabled, some by the help of boats and barges, and some by swimming down the stream, to rejoin their friends, who covered the bank. Supported by the Earl and the train bands, they again advanced, and in sufficient strength to beat the King's troops through the town, who had occupied it for some hours, and to pursue them for several miles in the dark, as long as they could see the glimmer of their matches *. Speciall Passages. England's Memorable Accidents. Cla- rendon. Hist. Reb. Ludlow's Mem. Mrs. Hutchinson. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 329 During this action, the King was at Houns- low, sending orders to his regiments from time to time, to push on at all risks, and without delay, to London * On the next morning the whole army of the Parliament, having arrived from London, joined their train bands and other troops who had been engaged the evening before, and took up their ground on Turnham Green, in force about twenty-four thousand horse and foot. Orders were given that two regiments of horse, and four of foot, should march by Acton and Osterley Park towards Hounslow to the rear of the King's army, which had now moved from its different quarters about Kings- ton, and was drawn up on the heaths ; while Essex, with the three great divisions that re- mained, was to attack them in front. Hampden was detached to lead the van of * In this action, John Lilburn was taken, among other prisoners, by the King, and, being removed to Oxford, was tried before Judge Heath for his life. The manner of his defence of himself at law upon this tryal, was in accordance with his deportment on other occasions. It was resolute and fearless. But his death was resolved upon, till delayed by a message from Lord Essex, who threatened the execution of three prisoners in the hands of the Parliament, for every one of the Parliament's officers executed by the King. 330 JOHN HAMPDEN, the infantry, next to the horse. But he had not proceeded above a mile, when, in con- sequence of one of those changes of counsel so often fatal to Essex's success in the mo- ment of advantage, the whole plan was aban- doned, and Hampden was recalled. The troops remained under arms for many hours, facing the King's lines, and occasion- ally advancing towards them. While the general was debating in another council of war whether he should fall on, the King drew off his ordnance and tumbrils, and began to retire. Lord Essex, whether owing to his besetting vice of over- caution when rapid and resolute action was required, or whether de- ceived by false information respecting those troops of the King who had been on the Surrey side the day before, had sent three thousand men across a bridge of boats be- tween Battersea and Fulham, to dislodge the cavaliers, after they had already passed over at Kingston to join their main army*. Thus weakened, and made aware of his mistake by the encreasing length of the lines * Speciall passages, &c. from 8th to 15th November. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 331 opposed to him, he paused. The Earl of Holland, a man of neither courage nor fidelity, busied himself at this moment to work upon Lord Essex's irresolution, exag- gerating to him the amount of the King's force, and advising him not to fight untill the wing which had crossed the river should return. Dalbier again was at his side. Again Hampden's urgent remonstrance was over-ruled. Skippon, who, at the head of his London Train Bands, and jealous of their fame, thirsted for the occasion of leading them forward now to their first encounter, joined eagerly with Hampden in imploring Essex at once to rush on upon the King, and, if they should fail to rout him at the first onset, to hang upon his march, to enter every town in action with his rear guard, and not to quit him till they had destroyed his army, and thus brought the war to a conclusion, or at least had so weakened him as to put be- yond question his further projects for that winter. Instead of this, not a blow was struck. For the second time, the great occa- sion of decisive success was lost; and the King was allowed, unmolested, to retreat on 332 JOHN HAMPDEN. Colnbrook, and, having passed two days at Hampton Court, from thence, by the way of Reading, to Oxford*. * Whitelocke's Memorials. Warwick's and Ludlow's Memoirs. Perfect Diurnal. Continuation of Speciall and Remarkable Occur- rences. England's Memorable Accidents. Mrs. Hutchinson's Memoirs. Clarendon. Hist. Reb. PART THE TENTH. From December 1642, to June 1643. Hampden and Urrie take Reading by assault Hampden arranges the plan of union of the six associated counties Parliament's troops press upon the King's quarters at Oxford Lord Wentworth attacks High Wycombe, and is repulsed Essex retires King's successes in divers parts Queen lands in England Reading re-entered by the King's troops Hampden and Mr. Richard Grenvil repulsed from Brill- Sir Bevill Grenvil in Cornwall Bradock Down, and Stratton Hill Lansdown Trelawney's letter to the Lady Grace Grenvil, announcing Sir Bevill's death Siege of Lichfield Lord Brook slain Warder Castle twice taken Overtures of peace, and cessation of arms Broken off Reading besieged by Lord Essex Surrenders Defections from the Parliament's cause Waller's Plot Rupert's expeditions against the Parliament's quarters Attacks Chinnor and Postcombe Chal- grove fight Hampden wounded His last moments and death Con- clusion of the Memorials. PART THE TENTH. From 1642 to 1643. THE King had failed in his attempt to seize the metropolis while a treaty was pending. This act had exasperated and united against him those in London who had been divided, disheartened, and reduced to ask for peace upon almost any terms that might secure their city from assault and plunder. The contributions had begun to come in slowly from the city, and the army were clamouring for pay. A new levy of customs had been made, and Lord Brook, Lord Say, and Sir Harry Vane, had been deputed to meet the citizens in Guildhall. They had urged with all their eloquence and power, enforced with all the topicks which the necessity of the times suggested, a speedy and vigorous sup- ply. But the p'ropositions had been coldly received. Great meetings of idlers, under 336 JOHN HAMPDEN% the name of ' the Apprentices,' had been called together, in Coyent Garden and other open spaces, to petition the Houses for peace and accommodation, and symptoms of tumult had appeared among the soldiers assembling at the Globe Tavern and divers other places of publick resort, which it required the pre- sence of some of the most popular of the leaders to allay. But the general cry of per- fidy against the King now reconciled all dif- ferences and armed all spirits to improve the late advantage. Even his friends endea- voured but faintly and confusedly to apolo- gize for the circumstances of his late enter- prize. Success sometimes covers over the iniquity of an act, which, in failure only, is branded with appropriate disgrace ; and against the exultations of a triumphant party, the reproach of bad faith can seldom gain an attentive or patient hearing. But Charles's retreat was as inglorious as his advance had been morally shameful. Yet, through the cri- minal indecision of Essex, the repulse of the King became as little signal, and the result of it substantially as little beneficial to the Par- liament, as, under the circumstances, it could HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 337 be. He who had been the ' darling of the sword-men' still maintained all that frank- ness of manner with the soldiers which, joined to personal bravery, makes a leader beloved of them. He had, besides, the nobler quality of a quick and lofty sense of military honour. But his weak fondness for hereditary dis- tinction, ill-disguised in converse with his equals, his cautious reserve on all points re- lating to the great principles of that cause, on which he had entered, rather, as was sus- pected, from disappointed ambition, than any attachment to popular doctrines, and his frigid reluctance at all times to seize the fruits of prosperity, so as to turn them to instant and important account, began to disgust the prin- cipal persons both in the parliament and in the army, and to make it seen that he was but an ineffective champion in a revolutionary con- flict. Distrustful of the consequences, even before the achievement was complete, and alarmed as much at the decisive character of the persons with whom, as of the times in which, he had to act, his first care always was to controul rather than advance the tide of success, and his besetting fear was that of VOL. II. Z 338 JOHN HAMPDEN, doing too much. This was continually and fatally inclining him to secret compromises, which, in the end, made him well nigh faith- less to the cause with which he was en- trusted, because he had undertaken it with- out reconciling himself to all that it might in its course demand. His example chilled the spirit of his troops and disturbed the cordiality of their leaders. He saw not the necessity of exciting in his ranks an en- thusiasm which might cope with the chival- rous sentiment cultivated throughout those of the King, and the constitution of the par- liamentary army became justly liable to the criticism passed upon it by Cromwell in con- versation with Hampden*. Hampden's duty in the field was to obey. It was mortifying to his genius. But his modesty and publick virtue rendered, in his mind, the dangers of disunion paramount over all other dangers. He sometimes remonstrated, but, when over- ruled, always did his best to make even those counsels prosper which he disapproved. His conduct in detached command ever formed a striking contrast with that of his dilatory chief. * See Burton's Diary, Appendix, vol. ii., p. 501, 2. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 339 This was a practical reproach which Hamp- den could not spare him. Hampden was ever prompt, and, generally, successful. After the King's retreat, Essex, by order of the Parlia- ment, advanced upon Windsor, and, crossing the Thames at Marlow, drove Rupert out of that town and Henley. He placed a garrison in both, and made good the whole country on the right bank of the Thames. Hampden had pressed forward with his own brigade to Reading ; and a small body of cavalry had been sent from Henley, under Urrie, to second him. With this reinforcement, he endea- voured to place himself between Prince Ru- pert and Oxford. The Prince, however, on his approach, to avoid being cut off, hastened his own retreat, leaving all the baggage of his division in Reading, with a garrison of about fifteen hundred men, commanded by Colonel Lewis Kirke, the father of him who, in after times, was so infamously notorious for his cruelties in the west of England. Reading had been, about a month before, abandoned to the King's troops, in a manner not very reputable, by Henry Marten. It was a place of importance to an army ad- z 2 340 JOHN HAMPDEN, vancing either towards or from London, being capable of holding a large garrison, and having four roads open to it. Upon this town Hampden marched, having cap- tured some straggling parties of the cava- liers ; and, sitting down before it, opened trenches on the rising ground to the north- west. He then sent in a gentleman of quality, with a flag of truce and a trumpet, offering as terms an entire indemnity to all who were not included in the Parliament's proclamation, with full liberty to depart when the town should have surrendered. To this an arrogant answer was returned by Kirke*. He confided not a little in Hampden's reluctance to open batteries upon a town full of inhabitants who were generally well affected to the parlia- mentary cause, and some of whom probably were connected in friendly habits with the neighbouring family of the Vachells of Coley. Accordingly, though commanding a view of almost every street, Hampden fired few shot into the town, except what were necessary to cover his approaches within a distance at * A true relation of the proceedings of His Excellency the Earl of Essex, with the taking of Redding by Colonel Hampden and Colonel Hurry. Kings Collection. Brit. Mus. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 341 which he might drive the troops from the walls with musquetry. Kirke in the meanwhile pressed the town's people to serve not only in working parties, but also in the defence. On the second night he attempted several sallies to destroy the Parliament's works, but was re- pulsed at each time with loss. At day-break on the third morning, Hampden and Urrie, seeing all quiet within, and judging the gar- rison to be fatigued and dispirited with the unsuccessful enterprizes of the night, deter- mined to try if, with some companies of their best and most resolute soldiers, they could force and carry the walls by assault. In the grey twilight of the morning, advancing si- lently from the trenches with four hundred chosen men, Hampden passed the outer and second ditch, and, mounting the rampart, threw himself into the northernmost bastion. The townsmen, who formed part of the guard, at once laid down their arms ; but the regular troops, falling back upon the second line of redoubts, though hotly pursued, were well supported by the main garrison of the place, and made a stout stand. Here the success of the attack became very doubtful ; 342 JOHN HAMPDEN, the cavaliers rallying bravely, and beating back the assailants into the ditches, where, scattering grenades among them, a fearful slaughter began. But Hainpden, calling for- ward the reserves, placed himself at the head of a second attack, and, again struggling up the walls with fresh men, renewed the fight on the crest of the main work. It was then that, Kirke drawing out nearly the whole garrison from the body of the place, the conflict came to push of pike, chief to chief, each at the head of his party, and each cheering his men by his presence and example. Several of the officers on both sides rushing to the front were slain, and Hampden could not long have maintained himself against the supe- riour force now crowding out upon him, and supported by the batteries, had not Urrie, who had been detached to the right, pushed between the cavaliers and the town. In- stantly the inhabitants within ceased their fire. It was not till after four hours fighting, and till above four hundred of the garrison had been laid dead in the place, and the Parliamentarians had planted their ensigns pn the top of the work, that Colonel Kirke HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 343 abandoned the defence. Escaping with a few of his followers through a sally port on. the left into the town, he got to his horses, and fled to Oxford, leaving Hampden master of Reading, the stores, and baggage which had been left there, and a great number of prisoners*. Meanwhile Lord Essex, who remained at Henley, had sent some forces from Kingston upon Thames to make head against the Ca- valiers' levies in Sussex, which, under Lord Thanet and the High Sheriff Ford, were com- mitting great havock in that county. They were advancing upon Lewes, between which town and Cuckfield, on Hawood Heath, they were met by the Parliament's detachments, defeated, and beaten back upon Chichester, which was fortified, and held for the King. The King's garrison of Farnham Castle, commanded by Sir John Denham, was also attacked and reduced, after a very slight and bad defence, and little loss on the Parlia- ment's side, excepting that of Colonel Fane, son to the Earl of Westmorland, who was shot through the cheek, and died a few days * A True Relation, &c. Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer. 344 JOHN HAMPDEN, . after. Sir John Denham was more emi- nent as poet, gamester, and wit, than sol- dier. When George Wither was, shortly after this time, brought prisoner to Oxford, and was in some jeopardy, having been taken in arms against the King, Sir John Denham begged the King not to hang him, for that * while Wither lives, Denham will not be the ' worst poet in England*.' This good natured epigram contributed to save Wither's life, and was afterwards also the means of restoring to Denham some of his property in Surrey, which had been confiscated by Parliament and given to Wither. But it would be unfair to refer a kind and gentle act to an interested motive. These were not the only successes now ob- tained by the detachments of the Parliament's army in the midland districts of England. The King had scarcely established his head quarters at Oxford, when Prince Rupert re- sumed his incursions on the country between that city and the Parliament's lines. Hamp- den was almost daily on the road between the advanced posts of the army and London * Wood. Ath. Oxon. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 345 With prodigious activity did he appear dis- charging at almost the same time the double duties of command in the field, and counsel in the Close Committee ; reporting to the House on the state of the army from the head quarters, and of the nation from the Com- mittee; and then, without stay of time or purpose, posting down to take command of his brigade in action, or to strengthen the garrison of some menaced town*. Nor were these the sum of his various, unceasing, and important, labours. From Aylesbury he be- gan to form the union of the six associated midland counties of Bucks, Hertford, Bed- ford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, and Northamp- ton. He conducted the correspondence, he arranged the details, he allayed the jealousies, which beset the first formation of a plan in * See Perfect Diurnall, Sept. 12. 19. 26. Oct. 3. Nov. 16. 28. Dec. 5. Continuation of Certain Speciall and Remarkable Pas- sages, &c. Nov. 23. Dec. 8. 15. Denhatn thus describes it, in his lampoon on Hampden, entitled ' A Speech Against Peace, at ' the Close Committee.' 4 Have I so often passed between ' Windsor and Westminster, unseen, ' And did myself divide, ' To keep His Excellence in awe, 4 And give the Parliament the law ? ' For they knew none beside.' 346 JOHN HAMPDEN, conformity with which different districts, threatened by one common danger, yet un- accustomed to act under one common chief, were called upon to contribute out of a common fund of money and men to each others necessities, when each felt only it's own weakness and poverty. In concert with Lord Say and Lord Kimbolton, he gradually brought all the materials which these coun- ties could separately supply, to act as one compacted machine, full of vigour and ala- crity. He lived not indeed to see this engine working with all the power which belonged to it ; but before his death it began to be adopted as a model in other parts of England, and, afterwards, furnished Cromwell with the means which his great genius and energy made successful. Lord Essex, meanwhile, strongly urged by messages from the two Houses, proceeded, though slowly, towards the great object of the war. On the 5th of December, he put the main body of his army in motion, with the design of investing Oxford. This had never been a favourite enterprize of his own ; nor is it probable that he would have undertaken HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 347 it now, had he not known that an impression of his inactivity was daily sinking deeper into the minds of the army and of the Parliament. Hampden's influence in the Close Committee, which in truth had the supreme direction of the war, made his position with Lord Essex, under whom he was acting as a colonel in the field, one of great difficulty. His advice, from the beginning of the King's retreat, had always been, as we have seen, the bolder one of an instant advance upon Oxford, in order to bring the King to terms which he should afterwards have neither the temptation nor power to break through. Peremptory direc- tions were now sent to the Lord General to make a forward movement. He could no longer find a pretext for remaining on his ground in the south of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, when the country was open before him. He therefore chose the least enterprizing course which was allowed him. He determined to narrow his distance from Oxford, and to begin the forms of a regular investment, when he ought to have marched his army into the town. On his advance, he had a successful skirmish at 348 JOHN HAMPDEN, Stoken Church with a brigade of the King' troops, who retired before him ; and, a few days after, having fortified Tedstock, about ten miles from Oxford, he sent forward Ar- thur Goodwyn with his regiment of foot and five troops of horse to possess themselves of Abingdon, where they lay within a mile of the advanced pickets of the King. Mean- while, Sir John Meldrum and Colonel Lang- ham, with their two regiments of infantry, seven troops of horse, and nine heavy guns and four small drakes, had passed by the westward without opposition beyond Oxford, and had entrenched themselves near Wood- stock. The country to the eastward alone remained open to the operations of the King's troops. To be tempted into action with the Parliamentarians on either of the other two sides might have weakened the King's powers too much by dividing them, and would have taken them away from the main object of London. It would besides have left Oxford exposed to a sudden assault from any one of the small parties which had now approached so near on three sides. Something it wa3 necessary that the King should do to prevent HIS PAtlTY AND HIS TIMES. 349 the investment becoming complete. He con- ceived the project of turning the whole of Essex's right flank, and again throwing a body of troops in the rear of it, upon the eastern road to London. Prince Rupert was sent to besiege Cirencester, in order to pre- vent the Parliament's garrison there from interfering with this enterprize. A strong body of horse, near five thousand, with artil- lery, now proceeded, under the command of the young Lord Wentworth, Lord Strafford's son, by the way of Thame, to menace Ayles- bury and Wy combe. The King had forces on the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire side, who were to overrun those counties, and so possess themselves of the Hertfordshire road. But the Association had been active in Cambridgeshire. They had collected their levies with great rapidity upon these points, and appeared in such force, that to attack them would have materially delayed the King's object, and to leave them in the rear would have been unsafe. The detachments which had moved into Hertfordshire, had no better success. They were checked at Watford ; and, finding themselves opposed in front, and 350 JOHN HAMPDEN, threatened on their right by the militias of the six counties, they were fain to retreat by the same road along which they had advanced*. Wentworth made a more promising attempt. Finding Aylesbury well fortified to the north- ward and westward by strong batteries, and to the east by a redoubt on the rising ground towards Bierton, and not wishing to waste time in a siege, he suddenly left it, moving rapidly by the lanes across the Chilterns, and coming down through the Woodlands upon Wycombe. There he took post on the two high hills towards the side of Wycombe Heath and the Penn Woods. To such as know the ap- pearance of Wycombe from either of those heights it would seem that the assailants would not have required artillery, nay hardly more than the fire-arms of the dragoons, to render it untenable. But Lord Went- worth * sounded his trumpets and made 4 a glorious shew,' and then, descending into the valley, endeavoured to enter the town from the side of the Rye. Here he was taken in flank by about four thousand pike-men, vo- * Speciall Passages. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 351 lunteers raised in the neighbourhood, and opposed in front by the small garrison of re- gular troops commanded by Captain Hayes, who were supported by some guns. After several hours' fighting, Lord Wentworth re- tired, himself wounded, having lost near nine hundred of his men, and with no other success than the having slain about three hundred of the Parliamentarians *. The purpose of these enterprizes having failed, and Lord Essex having now so nearly succeeded in investing Oxford, Charles was urgently advised by some to betake himself to the North ; the rather, as his army in those parts, now hard pressed by the Fairfaxes and Hothams, might receive countenance from their sovereign's presence, and that he, by a personal view of their necessities, might be induced to spare to them, from his magazines in the South, supplies of ammunition and other stores, which, by the vigilance of Lord Warwick's cruizers, they had failed to obtain from abroad. These supplies, timely ob- * Captain Hayes's and Goodwyn's Letters. A most glorious and happy victory obtained of the Lord Wentworth by the Buck- ingham, &c. Volunteers, 7th December, 1642. King's Collect. Brit. Mus. 352 JOHN HAMPDEN, tained, might, it was hoped, enable them to reduce Hull, and convert it into an important place of arms for his service. The Earl of Essex, being made aware of this intention, instantly despatched orders to the forces in the Committees of Northampton, Warwick, Derby, and the neighbourhood of Worcester, and to Lord Stamford in Hertfordshire, to col- lect with all possible speed all their strength, to intercept the King's progress to the North, and to oppose Lord Digby, who was marching to the Westward in great force for the pur- pose of diverting them from watching the King. Lord Essex also set forward with an advanced guard of infantry and artillery, now near Oxford, in pursuit. Thus prosperously looked the affairs of the Parliament in this quarter, when a sudden combination of active and successful movements in various parts of England, assisted by other circumstances of good fortune, turned the whole aspect of the campaign in favour of the King, and closed that year with giving him a very decisive ad- vantage. Cirencester was taken by Prince Rupert, who committed the most dreadful severities, putting a great part of the garrison HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 353 and numbers of the towns people to the sword. ' It yielded,' says Clarendon, ' much plunder, * from which the undistinguishing soldier ' could not be kept, but was equally injuri- ' ous to friend and foe ;' so that many who had been imprisoned by the Parliament, * found themselves at liberty, and undone, ' together.' Rupert, instantly after, scoured the borders of North Wales, giving support and confidence to the King's friends in those districts, and receiving only a slight check at Gloucester, where he was stopped and beaten off by the gallantry of General Massy. The Queen had about this time arrived from Holland, making good her landing at Bur- lington, though pursued by the Parliament's fleet. She brought three ships laden with ammunition, arms, and stores of all sorts, and a large sum of money, which, together, ena- bled the Earl of Newcastle to put into activity the powers of an association which he had formed for the King in the four northern counties, and to which he now gave the name of the Queen's army. Thus supported and reinforced he cleared the whole country to the north of the Humber, and laid siege VOL. II, 2 A 354 JOHN HAMPDEN, to Hull. A great body of the principal gentry of the west had now taken the field in the King's behalf, supported by a nume- rous army, and opposed only by General Ruthen and General James Chudleigh, who had to carry on the operations of the campaign in a district the people of which were generally hostile to the Parliament's cause. Exeter was besieged by Hopton and Sir Bevill Grenvil, who, though more than once repulsed, ceased not to threaten that city, and impede the supplies coming up to it from the sea. Marlborough also was entered, and held by a powerful garrison under the Lords Wilmot, Grandison, and Digby. These advantages on the King's part were scarcely counterbalanced by the taking of Winchester, Hereford, and Monmouth, by Sir William Waller, and, shortly after, of Leeds, by Sir Thomas Fairfax, who also, in the course of the next month, gave the Earl of Newcastle a signal defeat at Wakefield*. The Earl of Essex saw the necessity of detaching a part of his own army to suc- * Heath's Chronicle* HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 355 cour the cause in the West, and Prince Rupert was now on his return to strengthen that of the King. Instead, then, of the long and often demanded attack on Ox- ford, (for which all things were ripe, and which could hardly have failed in the execu- tion, and the success of which would have probably gone near to end the war,) the Lord General preferred to concentrate his force by abandoning that neighbourhood, and drawing nearer to London. Oxford could not have withstood a two days' siege. Besides the natural disadvan- tages of its position, its inhabitants, though loud for the King while he was present and the enemy at a distance, were not to be de- pended on. The University, during the ad- vance of the Parliament's army upon Wor- cester, in the preceding autumn, had peti- tioned the Earl of Pembroke, their Chancellor, for his protection ; to which a scornful an- swer had been returned by the Earl, telling the Vice-Chancellor, that the open course of hostility which that body had adopted against the authority of Parliament, not only by the raising of supplies of plate and money for 2 A 2 356 JOHN HAMPDEK, the King, but by enrolling the gownsmen in troops, had deprived them of all claim to favour, except such as the laws of war granted to garrisons submitting at discretion. Lord Say and Hampden, however, on their entry, had not ' Lifted their spear against the Muses' bower/ Oxford had not been subject to plunder or to any of the other extremities of war. Reading was now for the second time aban- doned to be garrisoned for the King, and Maidenhead became an advanced post of the Parliament's army again reduced to a defensive position before London. In this posture were the two armies at the beginning of 1643. Proposals of peace were again voted by Parliament; but they were still grounded upon the assumption, that the King had, under the controul of evil advisers, levied war upon his Parliament, and the basis of accommodation was the stipu- lation, that he should return to London. A cessation of arms, however, was agreed to, during which commissioners might meet to negociate terms. But hitherto the various successes on both sides had left the issue of HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 357 the war as doubtful as it had been before the Edge-Hill fight. The armies were in their winter-quarters, without any immediate pro- spect of a forward movement on either side that could lead to any decisive advantage, and the sanguine temperament of the King, daily flattering him with the expectation of favourable news from the North and from the West, made him reject all overtures of treaty. On the 1st of January appeared at Oxford the first number of the ' Mercurius Aulicus.' Journals of occurrences had been for some time published weekly by the Parliament, and proclamations and intelligences issued on the King's part, generally in the shape of single broad sheets printed by authority. Dr. Heylin now undertook the business of the press, and he worked it with an activity and virulence, and with a disregard of fact in his statements, which even more than rivalled the exaggerations of those sent forth by the weekly writers of the Parliament's party. In- deed, it requires great care in referring to such authority on either side at about this time, not to be grossly deceived as to the reality as well as the character of many of 358 JOHN HAMPDEN, the events which are recorded. We find battles announced as won by the Earl of Newcastle and Lord Northampton which never were fought, and * Certaine intelli- ' gence of great and signal victories obtained * by the Earle of Essex,' or ' joy full newes * from the West, with a greate defeate of the ' Malignants under Hopton,' with more than once a ' confident belief that Prince Rupert was slain. It is difficult to say on which side the balance of untruth preponderated. More newspapers were published by the Parliament ; six in London alone. For the King there were the Mercurius Aulicus, published at Oxford, and the Belgicus at the Hague for distribution on the English coast, besides proclamations and other intelligences. But Dr. Heylin was eminent above all other men in the compounding of what, in modern phrase, would be called a bulletin from the army. If, on the one hand, Essex forbore from oc- cupying a town or village which would have made a strong post in advance against the King, and a picket of Rupert's entered it at night, the transaction was next week magni- fied by Dr. Heylin into a triumphant routing HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 359 of the runaway roundheads, or a signal and providential argument of the unanimity of the country round in favour of the royal cause. It must, however, be admitted that, if Heylin equalled, and sometimes surpassed, the Parliament's journalists in exaggeration, the Mercurius Aulicus was written with great ability, and had much the advantage over the other papers of those times in its powers of sarcasm and invective, and in the ingenuity of its misrepresentations. On the whole, it is seldom safe to state a fact of any import- ance to the characters of those engaged in it on contemporary evidence, which is not vouched by the testimony of each party. On the morning of the 1st of January there was a sharp skirmish in the town of Burford, between some of the Parliament's dragoons and Sir John Byron, who, with his regiment, was escorting ammunition to the Marquis of Hertford. At about midnight of the 3 1st, Byron and his men having retired to their quarters, their sentinels descried four horse- men by the light of their matches, the ad- vanced guard of a troop entering the town from the Cirencester road, and, before the 360 JOHN HAMPDEN, alarm could be well given, about two hundred dragoons were in the market-place. The conflict began about the White Hart, an inn at the town's end, from which a lane led to the market cross. Byron, taking possession of the cross and the houses about it, opened a fire of musquetry on the Parliamentarians, who, as little expecting to find an enemy in Burford as they had been expected by them, were thrown into some confusion. A fierce struggle ensued, in the course of which Sir John was wounded in the face with a pole-ax ; but at last he succeeded in clearing the town, pursuing the dragoons near six miles, beyond which it was unsafe to advance, the moon not having risen, and the road not hav- ing been reconnoitred by him *. On the night of the 5th Hampden's regi- ment was doing duty on the outposts near Brackly. The pickets were attacked by a strong body of horse, sent out by the Earl of Northampton to surprize them. The Parlia- mentarians were on the alert, and repulsed the assailants with loss, pursuing them for several hours after day-break with two regi- * Mercurius Aulicus. Continuation of Special! Passages. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 361 ments of dragoons, whom Hampden, sus- pecting or having intelligence of their design, had brought into the town, from the Buck- ingham side, after dark on the evening be- fore. On the first conflict, however, Wag- staffe, who had, from the beginning, served under Hampden as lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, was taken ; and, being a prisoner of some note, was hurried off with a few troopers to Oxford. Wagstaffe had been for some years in the service of the French king, and actively employed in his wars*. Like some of the other soldiers of fortune, the nature and condition of his engagement had left him, in his own estimation, at liberty to change his party and cause with great facility of conscience. Wagstaffe no sooner arrived at the head quarters of the King, than he engaged his services to him with the same eagerness with which they had before been given to the Parliament. And, to make them more available, he was thenceforward usually employed in enterprizes in which he would be most likely to be opposed personally against the troops and against the skill of his old * Mercurius Aulicus. 362 JOHN HAMPDEN, master, whose habits of warfare and whose troops he well knew, and under whom he had become well acquainted with those parts of the country in which they were likely to meet. Accordingly at Brill we find him, almost im- mediately afterwards, acting with the garrison^ by which an enterprize of Hampden's was defeated, and shortly after at Stratford-on- Avonj commanding the party which was beaten by hinl. In the course of the late operations, Lord Essex had neglected a post of great strength and importance between Aylesbury and Thame; of great importance as lying directly upon his principal line of communication, and affording a place of refuge and support for the parties employed from Oxford to harass the Parliament's lines, and naturally of great and commanding strength. Brill-Hill is the highest of a small steep range on the borders of Oxfordshire and Bucking- hamshire, and is backed by a deep mass of woodland on the side towards Ayles- bury, through which large bodies of men might move in that direction for several miles, unobserved. This position was allowed with- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 363 out opposition to be occupied by the cavaliers, who established a garrison there, and strength- ened it with a large redoubt and lines of de- fence on all sides. Sir Gilbert Gerrard, a brave and good officer, held it for the King with a force of about six hundred men. It was not till the full effects of this oversight began to be felt by Lord Essex, in the inter- ruption which this garrison gave to all his arrangements in that quarter, that he turned his attention to repossessing himself of it. Arthur Goodwyn had made a successful at- tack by night upon the neighbouring quarters at Piddington, and had carried off three troops of horse with their officers *. But the fortress still remained unassailed and threat- ening. Suddenly, Mr. Grenvil, the high sheriff, planned an assault upon this formi- dable and commanding post. He marched the volunteers from Aylesbury, and sent for Hampden with his regiment from Wycombe to assist him. But the enterprize entirely failed. The King had reinforced the garrison the day before the attack, and Hampden had * A Continuation of Certaine Speciall and Remarkable Pas- sages, &c. From Thursday 19th January, to Thursday 26th. 364 JOHN HAMPDEN, been unable, from the bad state of the roads, to bring up any artillery, except a few small sakers. After three several attempts to carry the lines by storm, in each of which they were repulsed by the steadiness of Gerrard's troops, and the great strength of the place, the Par- liamentarians were forced to retire, covering their retreat as well as they could, pursued, however, by the cavalry of the garrison, and suffering the loss of many men and horses among the deep lanes and woods and marshes. In this action, Mr. Grenvil received a dan- gerous wound from a musquet shot, and from this time it does not appear that the high sheriff was tempted to take the field in per- son *. Meanwhile, his kinsman, on the op- posite party, pursued in Cornwall a gallant and eager course of service, generally distin- guished by success. On the 19th of January was fought the fight of Bradock Down, in which the King's troops, commanded in chief by Sir Ralph Hopton, obtained a signal advantage. This action was of the more importance, as being the first which restored the King's affairs in * Mercurius Aulicus. HIS PAfeTY AND HIS TIMES. 365 those parts after the failure and retreat of the Marquis of Hertford, Lieutenant General of the Western Association. A fresh army had been raised in a marvellously short time by the efforts of Hopton, Sir Nicholas Slanning, and Sir Bevill Grenvil*. The Lord Mohun too having, since the beginning of the civil war, kept himself in close retirement upon his estate at Boconnock, now joined the rising party, and shewed himself in arms for the first time in this battle, within sight of his own house. The Parliamentarians, encou- raged by their former success, were threat- ening Liskeard, the capture of which would have opened to them a line of communication along nearly the whole of the western coast. It was within a few miles from this town that the two armies met. Heath and Clarendon describe the unexpected opening of a masked battery of two small drakes as mainly instru- mental in the issue of this encounter ; one of the instances of the effect of a very small force of artillery in times when the use was so little known of that engine of war in the field. The victory was complete. The Par- liamentarians were checked and routed, and * Heath's Chronicle. 366 JOHN HAMPDEN, 1250 prisoners taken, and, on the same even- ing, Hopton entered Liskeard in triumph. The following letter was sent by Sir Bevill to his wife, who was then at his house at Stow, about thirty miles from the place of action. It describes with warm and hurried energy the achievement in which he had that day borne a very forward part, and was written before he had put off the armour he had worn in the fight*. Nothing that is natural to a frank and gallant man's feelings is ungrace- ful in the expression, nor is it dishonouring to Sir Bevill that something of the spirit of self- commendation, which on that night swelled his heart, should have been poured forth in a letter to his ' best friend,' to whom he knew that his fame was dear and precious as his safety.. 1 For the Lady Grace Grenvil, ' at Stow. * The messenger is paid, ' Yet give him a shilling more. ' MY DEARE LOVE, ' It hath pleased God to give us a happy ' victory on this present Thursday, being the * In Lord Carteret's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 367 ' 19th of January, for w ch pray joyne w th me * in giving God thanks. We advanced yes- * terday from Bodmyn to finde the Enemy w ch ' we heard was abrode, or, if we missd him ' in the field, we were resolved to unhouse ' them in Liskeard, or leave our boddies in the ' high way. We were not above 3 mile from ' Bodmyn when we had viewe of two troopes ' of theire horse to whom we sent some of 1 our's w ch chasd them out of the field, while * our foote marchd after our horse. But * night coming on, we could march no farther ' then Boconnock Parke, where, (upon my ' Lo: Mohun's kinde motion,) we quartered ' all our army that night by good fires under ' the hedges. The next morning, (being this * day) we marchd forth, and, about noone^ ' came in full view of the enemie's whole army * uppon a faire heath between Bocon: and * Braddock church. They were in horse * much stronger then we, but, in foote, we were ' superior as I thinke. They were possest of 1 a pritty rising ground w ch was in the way * towards Liskerd ; and we planted ourselves * upon such another against them w tb in mus- ' ket shott ; and we saluted each other w th 368 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' bulletts about two bowers or more, each side ' being willing to keepe their ground of ad- ' vantage and to have the other to come over ' to his prejudice. But after so long delay, ' they standing still firme, and being obsti- * nate to hould their advantage, S r Ra: Hopton ' resolvd to march over to them, and to leave ' all to the mercy of God and valour of our ' side. I had the van, and so, after sollemne ' prayers at the head of every devision, I ledd ' my part away, who followed me w th so great * a courage both downe the one hill and up * the other, that it strooke a terror in them, 1 while the seconds came up gallantly after * me, and the winges of horse chargd on both ' sides. But their courage so faild as they ' stood not the first charge of the foote, but ' fledd in great disorder ; and we chast them * diverse miles. Many are not slaine, because 1 of their quick disordering. But we have taken * above 600 prisoners, and more are still ' brought in by the soldiers. Much armes * they have lost ; 8 collours we have won, and ' 4 pieces of ordinance from them ; and * w th out rest we marchd to Liskerd, and 8 tooke it w th out delaye, all theire men flying HIS PAfcTY AND HIS TIMES. 369 ' from itt before we came ; and so I hope we ' are now againe in the way to settle the ' countrey in peace. All our Cornish Gran- ' dies were present at the battell, w th the ' Scotch Generall Ruthven, the Somersett ' Collonells, and the Horse Captaines Pirn ' and Tomson, and, but for their horses' ' speed, had been all in our hands. Lett my ' sister, my cossens of Clovelly, w th y r other ' frends, understand of gods mercy to us ; ' and we lost not a man. So I rest t Y rs ever, ' BEVILL GRENVIL. ' Liskerd, July 19, 1642.' But the Parliamentarians, thus beaten at Bradock, and driven in confusion through Liskeard, were not prevented from again rallying in force further to the westward. The little experience of both parties in the art of war, the want of combination, and the difficulties which the country presented all over England, owing to the fewness and badness of the roads, gave on all occa- sions great advantages to beaten armies. Assurances were sent to them of powerful assistances. It was promised that Sir Wil- VOL. II. 2 B 370 JOHN HAMPDEN, liam Waller, with a large and better dis- ciplined force, should soon be on the march to support them from the neighbourhood of Gloucester. They were thus encouraged to make head as long and as obstinately as they could, and to harass as much as possible the King's force by dividing their own and acting upon their flanks, until this expected assist- ance might arrive. Accordingly we find from Sir Bevill's letters*, that as soon as the beginning of February, the Royalists having advanced upon the main body of the Parlia- mentarians, who had retreated on Plymouth, were again distracted by fresh powers gather- ing in their rear in the country round Tavi- stock. A large body of the King's army was detached to Okehampton, where they found themselves opposed by near 5000 men, who, retreating on Chagford, were attacked with- out success. The approaches to the town being difficult, and the King's cavalry too far in advance of their infantry, ' our men,' says Sir Bevill, * were forced to retire againe after * they were in ; and one loss we have sustained * Letter to Lady Grace, dated Okehampton : Feb. 9. In Lord Carteret's possession. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 371 ' that is unvalluable, to witt, Sydney Godol- ' phin is slaine in the attempt, who was as ' gallant a gent: as the world had.' Saltash was next attacked and forced by Sir Ralph Hopton, where he took many can- non and prisoners, and a ship of war*; Ru- then escaping in an open boat to Plymouth '|\ But Hopton was now in great difficulties. Placed between the force near Tavistock and the garrison of Plymouth, and unable to reduce the latter place, or to clear the country to the eastward of him without directing his whole power on that point, contrary to the advice of Sir Bevill, he di- vided his army, occupying himself for near a fortnight in a hopeless siege of Ply- mouth, the garrison of which could scarely have ventured to move out, and allowing the Parliamentarians, in other parts adjacent, to gather strength and spirits. On the 25th of February, however, the siege of Plymouth was abandoned, ' which,' says Sir Bevill, * for ' my part, I never expected could be success- ' full : yet, in submission to better judgement * I gave way. And we are now at Tavistock, * Heath's Chronicle. * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. 2 B 2 372 JOHN HAMPDEN, ' united again in one boddy. The party of our's ' w ch was at Modbury indured a cruell assault ' for 12 bowers against many thousand men, * and killd many of them, with the losse of fewe ' and some hurt. But our's at last were ' forced to retire to Plympton for want of am- * munition, having spent all their stock. We * are still threatned, but I hope god's favour 1 will not forsake us. To the Lady Grace at Stow, Feb. 25.' During this sharp campaign in the West, while Rutheri, General Chudleigh, and the Earl of Stamford commanded jointly for the Parliament, the Earl of Stamford, whether from jealousy or some more dishonouring motive, appears to have failed in giving the support which was demanded from him by the other two. They were active, enterprizing, and indefatigable. Stamford had rarely the good fortune to be with his division, where the danger and exigency of the business in hand the most urgently required his presence in the field. At Bradock Down his absence was the more remarkable, inasmuch as Ru- then had halted for two days for him to come HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 373 up from a distance of only about twenty miles, and when his additional numbers could hardly have failed of securing an important advan- tage. It seems as if nothing but the danger of offending a person of his rank and con- nexions, and the deserved popularity of his son the brave Lord Gray of Groby, can ac- count for so bad a soldier as Lord Stamford having been left in command of troops, or even having escaped censure from the Parliament. But the difficulties which the close committee had in these respects to encounter, among the religious jealousies of the Independents and the Presbyterians, and the political jealousies of the nobles and the levellers engaged toge- ther in this cause, having often to balance the disadvantage of retaining incompetent leaders against that of disgusting their party by removing them, may easily be conceived, but will probably never be known in all the various and complicated details. The state of Devonshire, strongly against the King, and of Cornwall doubtful, disposed him, and the character of their leaders in the West ; and the important business nearer home, induced the Parliament to conclude an 374 JOHN HAMPDEN, armistice, that was soon broken also by com- mon consent. The defeat of Stratton Hill was that which determined the Parliament to place the west- tern army under one leader, in whose acknow- ledged abilities and claims for supreme com- mand they might have confidence, and to turn their attention much more seriously to the war in that important quarter. Here Chudleigh commanded for the Parliament, supported by Sir Richard Buller and Sir Alexander Carew* ; and Hopton, and under him Grenvil, and Slanning, John Arundell, Sir John Berkeley, John Ashburnham, and John Trevanion, for the King. Lord Stam- ford, as usual, had neglected to join in the position which the Parliament's army had taken up, and the whole of its cavalry had been detached, a few miles off to Bodmin, under the command of Sir George Chud- leigh, the general's father, to disperse or capture a force which had assembled there to recruit for the royal cause under the com- mission of array. Availing himself of the advantage of this moment, Hopton pushed * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 375 forward his whole army by a forced march of two days, and, on his arrival in sight of the enemy, instantly attacked. Sir Bevill led the advance with his musqueteers and pikemen, supported by Sir John Berkeley's brigade, and, for some time, drew the whole power of the enemy's troops on the hill to that part, where, from the steepness of the ascent and the stubbornness of the defence, the assailants met with great difficulty and loss. At length, after several hours of severe fighting, relieved from some of the stress of the action by three other divisions coming up to the attack on the three other sides, the Cornish leaders, finding the ammunition nearly spent, a defect which they agreed, says Clarendon, ' could only be supplied by courage,' determined to push forward at once for the plain on the summit. There the four parties met, and overthrew the Parlia- mentarians, who, unfurnished with cavalry to protect their flanks, although behaving with the utmost courage, and their officers doing all that skill and soldiership could do, were entirely routed and driven down in great dis- order, leaving General Chudleigh and seven- 376 JOHN HAMPDEN, teen hundred other prisoners, thirteen pieces of cannon, and all their baggage and stores, in the hands of the victors. The success of this battle reduced all that part of the West country to submit to the King, excepting Plymouth, which still held out, protected by the strength of its citadel, and receiving its supplies, unmolested, by sea. On Sir Ralph Hop ton, in memory of the victory, was con- ferred the title of Baron Hop ton of Stratton. These events had gradually raised the war in the West into great importance with both parties. The Parliament saw itself daily losing ground in those parts, and at length determined to send thither Sir William Wal- ler to the supreme command, supported with a small additional force, and with all the re- putation which he had derived from his mili- tary experience abroad, encreased by his late services and successes in Surrey, Hampshire, Gloster, and Hereford. No sooner had the commonwealth party received this reinforce- ment of means and of system than Prince Maurice and Lord Hertford were detached thither by the King. This led to a course of alternate successes and defeats which kept HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 377 the issue of the war in balance for nearly two years, the cause of the Parliament appearing more than once nearly extinguished there, but at length prevailing. The history of these events would carry us wide of the main subject of these memorials, and, in respect of dates, far beyond it. Lansdown was, on the whole, a victory for Waller ; but, at the battle of Roundway Down, which followed soon after, he received a complete and signal over- throw. He returned to London, unfortunate, but with the well-deserved glory of having conducted himself, though unsuccessfully, with skill, determination, and valour, against a combination of circumstances beyond his controul ; ill supplied with means, and cruelly thwarted by the jealousy of Essex. But on his return he was met by both Houses with a vote of thanks, honourable to them as to him, like that of the Roman senate to their consul after Cannae. ' Quo in tempore, adeo ' magno animo civitas fuit, ut consule, ex ' tanta clade redeunti, et obviam itum fre- ' quenter ab omnibus ordinibus sit, et gratiae ' actae, quod de republica non desperasset.'* I * Tit. Liv., lib. xxii., ad fin. 378 JOHN HAMPDEN, Cornwall, Devonshire, and Somersetshire, afterwards became the principal scene of the war, Essex and Fairfax leading on the one part, and the King in person on the other; and it ceased not until the entire abandon- ment of the West by the King, owing mainly to the carelessness, the excesses, the cowardice, and, perhaps, treachery, of Goring, who com- manded his cavalry. But the fight at Lans- down closed the brave and honourable life of Sir Bevill Grenvil. Waller had retired into Bath upon some reinforcements of cavalry, lately arrived from London. There he knew that Maurice and the Marquis of Hertford must attack him, or lose all the fruits of what had been done in Cornwall, and leave that county and Devonshire to be brought again under the undisputed dominion of the Parlia- ment by the reduction of the few small garri- sons held for the King, and by the power of Lord Warwick's fleet upon the coast. The King's army advanced from Wells and Frome by Bradford. But finding Waller strongly posted on Lansdown, his artillery flanking the main road and covered by fascines and stone walls, they retired to Marsfield, where they HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 379 were charged by Haselrigge's regiment of cui- rassiers, ' the Lobsters,' with great execution. Here, however, rallying with their whole force of cavalry, under Maurice and the Earl of Carnarvon, and the Cornish musqueteers under Sir Nicholas Slanning, they again beat back the cuirassiers to the foot of the hill. And now Sir Bevill Grenvil's troops on the right becoming impatient at the sight of the batteries and breastworks on the hill, * cried ' out that they might have leave to fetch off ' those cannon *.' Sir Bevill himself headed this gallant attack, flanked by a party of horse on his right, his own regiment of mus queteers on the left, himself on horseback leading up his pikes midway, in the face of the cannon, and meeting a strong body of the King's, routed and pursued by the Parlia- ment's cavalry. In vain did the cannon and musquetry from the brow of the hill play fast and thick upon the resolute Cornishmen, who pressing forward and ' scritching like their ' own wild sea mows |,' bore up against two charges of cavalry on their ascent. But, on the third charge, Sir Bevill's horse was killed, * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. t Western Tragedy. 380 JOHN HAMPDEN, and this gallant gentleman fell to rise no more, covered with wounds, and his head cloven with the blow of a poll-axe. The troops retired, further disordered by the blow- ing up of a magazine among them ; and Clarendon, though he unaccountably claims the victory for the King, admits that Waller quartered that night again in the city of Bath, at the foot of the disputed hill ; while Hopton was borne off the field severely wounded, many of his officers slain, and his army re- treating towards Oxford by the way of De- vizes. In this town they were for some days enclosed by Waller, till they were relieved by the other army under the Earl of Hertford and Prince Maurice *. I have been led beyond the proper date of these memorials to pursue the short and bright career of Sir Bevill to its honourable close. But I trust that the subject and the feeling of the following letter, written by his faithful friend Trelawney, an- nouncing his death to that high-minded and amiable woman Lady Grace, may excuse this violation of the unity of time in my narrative. * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. Ludlow's Memoirs. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES 381 HONORABLE LADY, * How cann I containe myselfe or longer conceale my sorrow for y e Death of y l ex- * cellent Man y r most deare Husband, and ' my noble Freind. Bee pleased w th y r wisdome * to consider of the events of warr w ch is sel- * dome or never constant, but as full of muta- * bility as hazard. And, seeing it hath pleased ' God to take him from y r La pp , yet this may ' something appease y r greate flux of teares, ' that hee died an Honorable Death, w ch all * his enemies will envy, fighting w th invincible ' valour and Loyalty y e Battle of his God, his ' King, and Country. A greater honour then * this noe Man living can enioy. But God ' hath cal'd him unto himselfe to crowne him ' (I doubt not) w th immortall Glory for his ' noble constancye in this blessed Cause. It ' is too true (most noble Lady) that God hath * made you drinke of a bitter Cupp, yett, if * you please to submitt unto his Devine Will '. and pleasure by kissing his rodd patiently, * God (noe doubt) hath a staff of Consolation * for to comfort you in this greate affliction * and try all. Hee will wipe y r eyes, drie up 382 JOHN HAMPDEN, * the flowing springe of y r Teares, and make ' y r Bedd easye, and by y r patience overcome ' God's Justice by his retourning Mercie. ' Maddam, hee is gone his Journey but a little * before us, wee must march after when it ' shall please God, for your La pp knows y' ' none fall without his Providence w ch is as ' greate in the thickest showre of Bulletts, as * in y e Bedd. I beseeche you (deare Lady) 1 to pardon this my trouble and boldnes, and ' y e God of Heaven blesse you and comfort * you and all my noble Cosens in this y r * greate visitation, which shal bee the un- ' fayned Prayers of him that is, Most noble ' Lady, ' Your Ladishipps honerer ' and humble Servant * JOHN TRELAWNE.' ' Trelawne, 20th July, 1643.' We now return to the affairs of the mid- land counties as we left them about the end of February. The town of Lichfield had throughout been steady in its adherence to the Parliament's cause ; but its garrison had been for some time HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 383 withdrawn, and detached to other parts which appeared to be more urgently menaced. Sud- denly, in furtherance of a design long laid in secret by Lord Chesterfield and a party of the gentry of the surrounding country, the Cathe- dral Close was seized and fortified for the King. Provisions and ammunition had been collected in a house within this precinct, and the position of the place, and the double wall which surrounded it, rendered it strong ac- cording to the means and rules then known for defence and for attack. Lord Brook from Warwickshire, assisted by Sir John Gell from the neighbourhood of Derby, undertook to reduce it. Although the Earl of Northamp- ton was moving from Banbury to support the party which occupied the close, it capitulated upon mere quarter, after three days' siege. But, on the second day of the attack, Lord Brook, who was directing from a window the advance of a body of troops up a street lead- ing towards the Close, was slain by a musquet shot, fired from the Cathedral tower. It was on the 2nd of March, the calendar day of St. Chad, a Mercian Bishop, the founder of Lichfield Cathedral ; a coincidence which did 384 JOHN HAMPDEN, not escape being dealt with by all the court writers as a visible judgement, in which it is difficult to suppose that they themselves could have been believers. Clarendon, as usual, does not disdain to countenance, by insinuation, the observations made by others on this childish augury. Dr. Heylin very gravely remarks, that Lord Brook, when he left Coventry, had desired his Chaplain to preach upon this text from Esther, ' If I * perish, I perish; 1 and that ' it is on credible ' testimony, that before his entry into Lich- * field, he was heard to wish, if the cause he ' was in were not right and just, he might be * presently cut oif ; which, being compared ' with the event, may serve sufficiently to con- ' vince the conscience of those, who have ' been hitherto seduced unto a good opinion ' of so fowle a cause, that it is neither justi- ' fiable in itself, nor acceptable unto God.' 4 These things,' says he, * should be hear- * tily considered of*.' It is asserted by Dugdale, and repeated on his authority by Carte, that Brook, ' seeing the 'consequences * Mercurius Aulicus. Tuesday, March 14. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 385 ' of the cause he had espoused, was inclined ' to change his side, when he lost his life at * Lichfield.' This is shewn to be untrue by every part of his character and conduct to the last. One even of less high and scru- pulous honour than Lord Brook would hardly have stooped to the treachery of planning, and conducting a voluntary enterprize against those whom, at the same time, he was ' in- clining' to join. It would be moreover some- thing contradictory to Dr. Heylin's theory of visible judgements, that one, whose life was spared through a long and dangerous career of service to the Parliament, should be cut off by a special providence at the time when, repenting his former courses, he was about to devote himself to the cause of the King. He was, indeed, of a spirit so pure, pious, and brave, that while he was revered by the Parliamentarians, as one whose repu- tation added glory and power to their cause, his enemies could find no ground of censure against his motives. ' They who were ac- ' quainted with him,' says Lord Clarendon, * believed him to be well natured and just.' Lord Chesterfield, and the party in the VOL. II. 2 C 386 JOHN HAMPDEN, Close, surrendered ; and the Earl of North- ampton, retiring, took up his quarters in Stafford. On the fifteenth, was fought, near this town, the battle of Hopton Heath ; the division of the Parliamentarians from Lich- field having advanced under Sir William Gell, and joined itself to that of Sir William Bre- reton, coming from the north. Here, within a few days after his great rival and opponent, Lord Brook, had been carried to his grave, the Earl of Northampton lost his life, fighting with desperate valour, and, even when unhorsed and surrounded, refusing quarter. As the evening closed upon the troops, the cavalry, of both sides equally, were prevented by the coal-pits from pursuing any casual advantage in a manner which might have determined the success. After a bloody, but indecisive, day, both armies retreated at night- fall ; the Parliament's to some rising ground southward, and the King's into Stafford. And, as was the custom on all like occasions, both parties took to themselves the credit of a victory*. * Clarendon. Hist. Reb. Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer. Speciall Passages, &c. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 387 Meanwhile, Lord Herbert's small and newly-raised army was surrounded and en- tirely destroyed by Sir William Waller, who, shortly after, reduced Hereford also, and Tewkesbury. While these places were won and lost, alternately, by King and Parlia- ment, in the midland counties, and while a great campaign was preparing in the extreme West of England, the intermediate county of Wilts was the scene of no less active opera- tions ; but these were carried on by parties inconsiderable in number, and unconnected in position. The castle of Warder, small and unimportant for any object that could have influence on the fate of the war, was, in the course of a few months, twice besieged, and twice taken ; once by Sir Edward Hunger- ford and Strode, for the Parliament, and again retaken by the Lord Arundell, Colonel Barnes, and Sir Francis Doddington, from Edmund Ludlow, who had been left in com- mand, and had assisted in the first siege. The last of these defences was remarkable for the obstinate bravery with which Ludlow, for several months, maintained, against a very superiour force, an edifice, which had been 2C 2 388 JOHN HAMPDEN, weakened by the lapse of many centuries, originally constructed to resist only the at- tacks of archery and such other powerless machines of ancient warfare, and surrounded on three sides by a steep woody hill in the pos- session of the enemy. It was at last taken by the explosion of a mine, which laid a great part of one of the flanking towers open, and grievously damaged the main body of the castle. The first defence, which had lasted little more than a week, was rendered memo- rable as having been conducted by the cou- rage and fidelity of two noble ladies : these were the aged Lady Blanch, wife of Thomas Lord Arundell, and her son's wife, the Lady Cecily, daughter of Sir Henry Compton, of Brambletye in Sussex. They held the castle, in the absence of their husbands, with a garrison consisting of little more than their menial servants. The firing of a mine on one side of the building so weakened the remaining means of resistance, that, on the besiegers threatening to spring another on the other side, and then to storm the castle, if it were not delivered up before an hour- glass should have run out, a surrender was HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 389 proposed on an honourable capitulation, the terms of which were signed by Hungerford and the Lady Blanch*. By these successive sieges this antique mansion was brought nearly to the condition of a ruin. The ponds were drained, the deer parks destroyed, the gardens and terraces dismantled, and the walls shattered almost to their foundations. A great part of the outer wall, inner court, and two towers, still stand, a monument of the ancient glories and greatness of a noble house, beautiful and venerable in the bareness in which war and time have left it. A cessation of arms in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire had been proposed by the King, and assented to by Parliament, on the first of March ; and grounds of treaty were discussed, by Commissioners, at Oxford, with the King in person. It was agreed that, during the cessation, the King's forces in Ox- fordshire should advance no nearer to Wind- sor than Wheatley, and, in Buckinghamshire, no nearer to Aylesbury than Brill ; the Par- * Ludlow's Memoirs. Clarendon. Hist. Reb. Mercurius Rusticus. 390 JOHN HAMPDEN, liament's, in Oxfordshire, no nearer to Oxford than Henley, and, in Buckinghamshire, no nearer than Aylesbury. And the King's troops, soon after, retired from before Glou- cester, which, after Waller had left those parts, had been maintained with the utmost resolution and skill, by General Massey, for several weeks, against the vigorous and un- remitting attacks of a large army *. But, at Oxford, from beginning to end of the long protracted negotiations, the insincere and inconstant temper of the King cast end- less difficulties in the way of the treaty, and often marred the prospect when it seemed the most promising of success. Whitelocke, who was present with the Commissioners, and acted as their clerk at the conferences, as- cribes this mainly to the influence of cer- tain others, ' some of the bed-chamber and higher,' whose weaker judgments it was the King's misfortune to have permitted to sway his own -f. He received the Commissioners with cour- tesy ; he feasted them in his Court at Christ * Viccars's Parl. Chron. Mercurius Rusticus. Clarendon. Hist. Reb. t Whitelocke' s Memorials. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 391 Church ; he occasionally even condescended to share the entertainment of the Earl of Northumberland, who kept a magnificent and costly table for the Commissioners, and to accept presents of wine and other dainties from them*. But, early in the armi- stice, he essayed to amend the terms of ces- sation, in order to keep his communications open with London ; and the Earl of Newport was taken at Coventry, coming from the Queen, without a pass from Sir Thomas Fair- fax, and contrary to the stipulations agreed uponf. These attempts were strongly re- sisted by the Parliament's Commissioners. But the Close Committee in Westminster were not inclined, any more than the King, that these disputes should abruptly end the negotiation. For they had a great and difficult work in hand elsewhere, which re- quired time, and which, in case of the King proving insincere in his professed desire for peace, it was of the utmost importance to them to conclude. Hitherto, from the breaking out of the war, Scotland had preserved a careful neutrality. * Whitelocke's Memorials. t Weekly Intelligencer. 392 JOHN HAMPDEN, She had been content that the dispute should be waged by others, though not insensible of the deep interest which she had in the result. From the struggle into which she had entered for the security of her National Church she had been relieved only by the events which had turned the King's whole attention to what was going on nearer home. She dreaded lest any issue, either of treaty or of arms, disadvantageous to the Parliament, might be followed by a renewed attempt on the King's part to extinguish that spark of the Genevan discipline and doctrine in his northern kingdom which had kindled and spread through the South among the mate- rials with which he had vainly endea- voured to smother it up. Argyle was for an open junction with the cause of the English Parliament. But most of the other Covenanters, having parted with the King on such good terms, and having, since that time, received no provocation of a strictly national sort, and moreover, being neutra- lized by the influence of the Marquis of Hamilton, did not choose to risk anything by joining in the general cause with the HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 393 Parliamentary Leaders of England. They had therefore coldly met all the overtures made to them for assistance. But the time was now come when Scotland saw her interest in bearing a share in the arrangement of the treaty. Henderson, whose abilities and fa- vour with the King, marked him as a fit person to conduct such a conference on her behalf, was now therefore despatched, at the head of a deputation of Ministers of the Kirk, to Oxford. Their propositions, how- ever, were strictly confined to the project of a settlement of Ecclesiastical affairs ; in which, they contended, the Kirk should take part. Meanwhile, the King's proposals to the Par- liament's Commissioners varied almost daily, and soon took a shape which gave little rea- son to expect a peaceful issue. He stipu- lated for a surrender, at the outset, of all the forts, magazines, towns, ships, and revenue, into his own hands, and that ' all illegal i ' power claimed or acted by orders of Parlia- ' ment be disclaimed.' This was no less than proposing to the Parliament to disarm, and deprive themselves of all further power to raise troops or money, promising in return to 394 JOHN HAMPDEN, * execute all laws concerning Popery or Re- f formation,' and afterwards, ' to try per pares ' all persons excepted against in the treaty *.' Yet did these hopeless conferences endure for more than a month ; the King manifest- ing, says Whitelocke, ' his great parts and ' abilities, strength of reason, and quickness * of apprehension, with much patience in 1 hearing what was objected against him, ' wherein he allowed all freedom, and would * himself sum up the arguments, and give ' a most clear judgment upon them.' Upon the great subject of difficulty, respecting the Parliament's not giving away the means of defence untill the other terms should have been carried into effect, the King at length * said he was fully satisfied, and promised to * give the Commissioners his answer in * writing, according to their desire ; but, be- ' cause it was then past midnight, he would ' have it drawn up the next morning, as it * was now agreed upon.' They returned to their lodgings full of joyful hopes.' * But * instead of that answer which they expected, * and were promised, the King gave them a * Whitelocke's Memorials. HIS PAETY AND HIS TIMES. 395 * paper quite contrary to what was concluded ' the night before, and very much tending to * the breach of the treaty. They did humbly * expostulate this with his Majesty, and * pressed him upon his royal word, and the ill 1 consequences which they feared would fol- * low upon this his new paper. But the King * told them he had altered his mind, and * that this paper which he now gave them ' was his answer which he was now resolved ' to make upon their last debate *.' This answer was that, as soon as he should be satisfied in his first proposition, namely, the surrender of the forts, towns, magazines, navy, and revenue, and as soon as the mem- bers of both Houses should be restored, and he and they ' secured from tumultuous as- ' semblies, (which he conceived could not ' be otherwise done but by adjourning the 4 Parliament to some place twenty miles * from London, such as the Houses should * agree upon,) he would consent to the dis- ' banding of the armies, and would return ' speedily to his Parliament. This being in- * timated to the Commissioners, they dis- * Whitelocke's Memorials. 396 JOHN HAMPDEN, * suaded the sending of it, as fearing it might ' break off the treaty, and the improbability ' that the Houses would adjourn and leave ' the city of London, their best friends and * strength, and put a discontent upon them. Such is the account of this unhappy transac- tion, written, after the Restoration, by White- locke, who was himself the witness of what he relates. Thus, then, was the last cherished chance of peace destroyed, and on the 15th of April the Commissioners left Oxford in obedience to a peremptory order of recall. But, while the last negotiations were proceeding, Prince Rupert had recommenced his incursions into Buckinghamshire with a large force. On Monday morning, the 13th of March, he again appeared, with 6000 men, and the King's life guard, and the black regiment, at the village of Stone, within two miles of Aylesbury. But the news of the intended enterprise having reached the Parliament the day before, Hampden and Stapleton had ' posted away to their charges*.' With their regiments, and those of Goodwyn and Homestead, * Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 397 which lay at Wycombe, in all about 3000 horse and foot, they set forth to reinforce Colonel Bulstrode, who commanded at Ayles- bury. They were joined on their march by Colonel Mills, with a regiment of dragoons from Beaconsfield ; so that, early on the morning of Prince Rupert's intended attack, the town was found thronged with a powerful force for its defence. It now became their duty to endeavour to protect the country round from pillage, which had already commenced. The Prince had begun to retire, but had de- tached Lord Carnarvon to his right, who entered the town of Wendover, and, having plundered it, proceeded towards Chesham, where he met a few of the Parliament's horse, whom he routed and forced back into Mis- senden. On rejoining Rupert that night, he found him in full retreat, laying waste, as he passed, the villages which lay on his road to Oxford. But, towards the morning, the Prince hastened his retreat by Brill, his rear- guard severely harassed by repeated charges, and, moreover, having received the alarm that Lord Essex was moving to intercept him 398 JOHN HAMPDEN, at Thame. On the 24th, he resumed his enterprise with an increased power, and ten pieces of ordnance but with no better suc- cess. The disposition of the Parliament's troops was now complete ; the country people all along his line of march on the alert ; a large force in position before Aylesbury ; and Hampden's brigade, joined with the main body under the Earl of Essex, on his flank near Thame, and menacing Oxford, in the event of his further advance *. Before the Commissioners had left Oxford, and while the King was still anxious to avoid making such a movement as must fix upon him in person the reproach of having broken the armistice in those parts, Rupert traversed the whole of Northamptonshire and Warwick- shire with his cavalry, and, putting himself at the head of that army which had remained inactive since the Earl of Northampton's death, on Easter Monday he took Birming- ham by assault. Of all his acts of cruelty and rapacity, none are a fouler stain upon * Whitelocke's Memorials. Perfect Diurnal, from March 6th to 27th. Speciall and Remarkable Passages, from March 16th to 23d. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 399 his memory, than those which, without pro- vocation or excuse, he perpetrated against this town after all resistance was at an end. There had been nothing done by the de- fenders of Birmingham which justified any extraordinary severity. The inhabitants, it is true, had strongly and uniformly attached themselves to the party and fortunes of Lord Brook. They had twice gallantly defended their town, but, in those defences, they had shewn no spirit and done no act contrary to the acknowledged usages of war. On this occasion, they had been left defence- less, at the mercy of a powerful army. But mercy there was none. The town was sacked and pillaged, and, the night after it was entered, nearly one half was burned to the ground by the furious soldiery. Without delay, moving into Staffordshire, the Prince laid siege to Lichfield, and took that place also. But Lichfield was saved from a like vengeance by a peremptory letter dispatched by the King, with a postscript from Secretary Nicholas; both of which, though written in terms which might not offend the Prince or discredit him with the army, sufficiently 403 JOHN HAMPDEN, mark, in the way of advice, what Charles felt of the wanton violence of his nephew's con- duct*. And now the judges' sessions of Oyer and Terniiner were suspended by message from the Houses, ' untill it should please God to ' end these distractions between King and ' people.' This consequence of civil war, long deprecated, long delayed, had become inevitable. The course of the common law was stopped through the land. It had hitherto been wondrously maintained in a country beset by fighting armies. But the Great Seal was in the King's hands, and, under the guise of general justice, commis- sions had for some time been issued only to such judges as were with the King or of his party; and the cases brought before them bore relation all to state matters. Moreover, the King now issued a proclamation for .hold- * ' A Message with a Letter from his Majesty to Prince Rupert ' at or before the time of the taking of Lichfield and the Close ; will- ' ing and commanding Prince Rupert not to use any cruelty upon ' the inhabitants of the aforesaid city,' &c., with a postscript from Sec. Nicholas, concerning ' His Majesty's reall intentions how 'your princely thoughts ought to be steered in your resolutions and ' all your warlike affairs and enterprizes. April 18.' In Mr. Staun- ton's Collection. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 401 ing the Easter term at Oxford instead of Westminster, and requiring all the judges to attend him there*. For some time after the commencement of the war, the power of the law had been preserved, respected, and duly administered, on both sides. The judges had gone their circuits, passing with flags of truce through the districts held by opposite armies, and holding their courts with sheriffs who at other times headed the levies of their respective counties in the field. And it is remarkable and memorable to all posterity, and glorious to the character of our country, that, throughout this great struggle, from first to last, there is no instance on record of private assassination or popular massacre ; nor of plunder, except under the orders of war. ' Non internecinum inter cives fuisse ' bellum ; de dignitate atque imperio cer- ' tassef.' Doubtless, on both sides, as must ever be when interests lie deep, and rising passions overflow, and where the war is car- ried on by small detached parties of ill- disciplined troops, often acting under feelings * Continuation of Speciall Passages, from 13th to 20th of April. t Tit. Liv. VOL. IT. 2 D 402 JOHN HAMPDEN, of local feud, the work of spoliation was carried on with more eagerness and severity where there was a spirit of personal or family animosity to be gratified. There were confis- cations, there was free quarter occasionally allowed, but much oftener restrained ; and private pillage there was none. What very strongly marks this is the loud complaining, by the journalists, on both sides, of the enor- mities done by the troops, but which, when specified, even with all the exaggeration of party recitals of events then fresh, appear to have been few, and, with one or two great ex- ceptions, trifling. These accounts are full of petty inflated details of such atrocities as those committed upon the furniture and wine- cellars of Sir Robert Minshull's house at Bourton*, or of Lord Say's at Broughtonf ; a minister of the gospel led astride upon a bear I, or bed- tickings and curtains cut to pieces and household stuff destroyed at Brentford ; now and then recounting, in terms of deep horror or of vast commenda- tion, a practical jest like that of the Parlia- * Mercurius Rusticus. t Viccar's Par!. Chron. I Mercurius Rusticus. Special! Passages. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 403 merit's soldiers eating up the batch of apple- pies which Mrs. Armitage, the wife of the clergyman of Wendover, had baked for Prince Rupert's troopers*. The instances of sanguinary cruelty, which find their place among the stories of these wars, were of acts done in military execu- tion : no secret murder, no bands of free- booters assembling for spoil between the quarters of the armies or among the villages deserted by their fighting men, no savage outbreak of a licentious rabble, disfigured the grave severity of this mighty conflict* An honourable memorial of the comportment of the English people in those unhappy times. The suspension of commissions of Oyer and Terminer did not last beyond a few months. No sooner had the Parliament re- solved to make a Great Seal of its own than the common law courts again sat through- out the realm ; and Hutton and Davenport, assisted by Maynard, Glyn, Wylde, and Rolls, for the Parliament, and Chief Justice * A Perfect Diurnall of the Passages in Parliament, Tuesday, 2 1st of March. 2D2 404 JOHN HAMPDEN, Heath and Ryves for the King, tried causes under the authority of the two Seals of Eng- land; the King's being in the hands of the Lord Keeper Littleton, and Whitelocke being appointed by the Parliament to hold theirs. On the 15th of April, the day on which the treaty was formally declared by both parties to be at an end, the Earl of Essex marched his whole army to besiege Reading. Read- ing had been carefully fortified, and the three entrances, by Forbury, Harrison's barn, and Pangbourne-lane, covered with works ; some reliefs had been sent in by water, but still there was a great want both of provisions and ammunition. Hampden, commanding the advance guard, broke ground within a short distance of the town during that night, taking advantage of the hedges and banks to shelter his working parties. On the afternoon of the next day, the army being strengthened by three regiments of foot coming up by Sonning and Cavesham with Lord Grey, the cannonade was opened from the trenches and batteries, hastily thrown up to the south, between the Thames and Kennett, and was briskly answered from the town. Towards HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 405 the evening, Sir Arthur Aston, the governour, having received a grievous blow on the head from a falling tile, was disabled from further duty, and the command of the garrison de- volved on Colonel Fielding*. The King, having made preparation to relieve the town, set forward early on the morning of the 24th to Wallingford. Two days before, an attempt of the same sort had been made by Vavasour, which was defeated with great slaughter by Colonel Middleton. In the collection of manuscripts at Stowe is a journal of these transactions, written by Sir Edward Deering, who was present with the King during the attempted relief. Charles established his head-qarters at Wallingford ; and, after dining at Mr. Molyn's house, went round the fortifications, and passed that evening in preparations for his at- tack. He took up the ground for his army about two miles before Wallingford, and gave orders that all should be in readiness for moving at five in the morning. At day- break, having slept, the night before, in the * Letter to the Speaker, from Hampden, Stapleton, and Good- wyn, King's Collect., Brit. Mus. 406 JOHN HAMPDEN, governour's apartments at the castle, he mounted, having his household, heralds, and guard of gentlemen-pensioners, in attend- ance ; and with him went forth his own troop of horse, consisting of a great number of per- sons of high quality, commanded by the Lord Bernard Stuart *, brother to the Duke of Rich- mond. Another troop followed, composed of their servants, under the command of Sir William Killegrew, with the baggage of the King and of his retinue. The army, being forty-five troops of horse, and nine regiments of foot, besides dragoons and artillery, now marched in two divisions ; the one, with General Ruthven, straight upon the town of Reading ; the other, commanded by the King in person, upon a road to the left, towards Caversham, where the two divisions again met, with the intention of surprizing the be- siegers' quarters, and taking their works in reverse. Here the fight began, and soon be- came general, the Parliamentarians having enclosed the rear of their works, and turning * The Lord Bernard Stuart is erroneously stated, in page 302, to have fallen at the battle of Edge Hill. This mistake was co- pied from one of the Parliament's returns. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 407 a great part of their battering train upon the King's troops as they advanced, at the same time filling the hedge-rows on the flanks with musquetry, and having two regiments of infantry (Colonel Barclay's and Lord Ro- berts's) within the lines opposite, ready to act on any point. The King's troops, how- ever, received no effectual check untill they reached Caversham bridge, which General Ruthven endeavoured to force with his whole power, under cover of his guns, ' some of 4 which were so large,' says Dr. Coates, ' that 1 they discharged balls of twenty-four pounds ' weight,' a calibre of artillery scarcely ever before used in the field. But, repulsed here, after a long and bloody struggle, the Cavaliers retired upon Wallingford, making no further attack. And, this enterprize having failed, the town surrendered. For, unknown to the King, on the morning on which he moved to the relief, the garrison had hung out a white flag from the walls, had sounded a parley, and were actually treating, hostages having been ex- changed, and commissioners from both sides sitting at Sir Francis Knowles's house, while the armies were engaged. 408 JOHN HAMPDEN, On the next day, the capitulation was signed ; by which, on the morning of the 27th, the garrison marched out with the ho- nours of war, but leaving ten pieces of ord- nance, their stores, and prisoners in the town, and engaging to retire directly to Oxford, without committing any hostilities in their way. Hampden and Skippon were instantly sent in alone, with a few soldiers and a work- ing party, to view the town, an alarm having been spread that some of the works were mined and slow matches left burning : but, in the evening, the Earl of Essex, with his whole army, entered. The recent conduct of Prince Rupert at Birmingham had so in- flamed the anger of the Parliament's troops, that it was by the utmost exertions of their officers that they could be restrained from outrage. It was with difficulty that they were held from violating the treaty, and at- tacking the King's troops marching out ; their rage being increased by seeing the waggons of the retiring cavaliers laden with much more than they were entitled by the capitulation to carry away; ' much unlawful baggage,' says the Mercurius Bellicus, ' be- HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 409 1 sides, of women, great, though not good, * store.' The conduct of the Earl of Essex, and the other officers, was scrupulously ho- nourable and just ; and by an issue of twelve shillings to each man, from the military chest, in lieu of plunder, the threatened disorders were stayed. It was not, however, till the Sunday following that discipline was quite restored. On that day, publick thanksgivings were offered up through the town ; all the churches were thronged with the soldiery, and the preachers effectually quenched the flame which the leaders had had only power enough to restrain*. Colonel Fielding was instantly brought before a Council of War at Oxford to answer for the surrender. The indignation of the King, the court, and the whole army, was intense against him who had delivered up a place to an enemy in face of a royal army * These details of the siege and surrender are taken from Dr. Coates's papers ; ' Mercurius Bellicus, being the fourth intelligence from Reading, April the last;' ' Joyful Intelligence from our Camp at Reading, John Alexander, April 27th ;' and Hampden's, Sta- pleton's, and Goodwyn's letter to the Speaker ; all in the King's Coll. Brit. Mus. : likewise Mercurius Aulicus ; and Sir Edward Deering's Journal, in the MS. Coll. at Stowe. 410 JOHN HAMPDEN, fighting to relieve it when, as it was urged, the King depended on his seconding the at- tempted relief by a vigorous sally of the whole garrison. With such feelings arrayed against him Fielding was not likely to have his case fairly judged. It was in vain he pleaded that the negotiations had been begun before he had any knowledge of his Majesty's in- tended enterprise ; that, before the action, the treaty was in progress, and that his honour was engaged to the enemy, not at such a mo- ment to ' defy them, to break off.' Those who had advanced on Brentford during a treaty, and harassed the country round Oxford, for weeks, during an armistice, were little dis- posed to listen to a justification of the surren- der of Reading, upon the plea of faith to be kept with rebels. In vain did Hampden, Stapleton, and Skippon, offer, if safe conduct might be given them, to come before the Coun- cil as witnesses in Fielding's behalf that the negotiation was justified in the beginning by dearth of food and stores, and the surrender demanded in the end by engagement; and thus a brave and faithful officer, distinguished by many forepast services to the King's cause, HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 411 was found guilty on a mixed charge of cow- ardice and treason, and sentenced to an igno- minious death. Charles reprieved him at the last moment, when the soldiers were under arms in Oxford streets, and the crowd assem- bled round the scaffold. But the revenge of the court was fully wreaked upon Fielding in the destruction of his character. The occupation of Reading was of great importance to the Parliament's interest. But the immediate result of it was a great ca- lamity in their army. The unhealthy state in which the town had been left by the former garrison, and the closely crowded lodgement of the victors for some weeks after their entry, produced a fever and ague among their ranks, the effects of which were scarcely mitigated by the withdrawal of the greater part of them to quarters round, in a country now left unusually damp by heavy rains. Sickness, and many other causes of discon- tent, raised a mutinous spirit, and, on orders being given for marching to the cantonments near Reading, some regiments refused to put themselves under arms. Among these was Hampden's. Their leader was absent at 412 JOHN HAMPDEN, Westminster. He instantly hastened to sub- due the storm by his presence, and it was by his courage, address, and popularity, that the mutineers were again reduced to discipline and duty *. But more serious discontents even than these, and in higher quarters, distracted the affairs of the Parliament. Up to this time, and from that of the Edge Hill fight, the Close Committee had seen the genius and the resolution of Hampden in conflict with the timorous counsels of Essex, in all his latter views of state policy, and in most of his operations of war. The evil influence of the Lord General's inactive temper was shewn in the unresisted advantages reaped by the Royal party. In Staffordshire and Northamptonshire, cities were taken, within reach of support, yet unsupported. The Queen's forces had increased and become for- midable in the North, where Fairfax was cramped by his orders. Waller, in Hereford- shire, had been unable to profit by his suc- cesses; and the campaign in the west was starved for want of necessary supplies. And * Dr. Coates's Papers, May 26. Mercurius Civicus. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 413 all this because no decisive movement was made by the army covering London, to occupy the King's attention, by which, if it had failed to bring the war to an in- stant close, it might at least have obliged the King to fall back from Oxford, and have afforded succour to the cause in other parts. The disheartening aspect of things had its effect upon the politicks of many of the party. The less courageous, and the less faithful, were endeavouring to make what terms they could with the King for their own safety. The fruit of those oppor- tunities which the long protracted confe- rences at Oxford had afforded to the King, for detaching many powerful persons, some of the commissioners themselves, from their engagements to the Parliament, had now become manifest. The Earls of Northum- berland and Holland made their submission and joined the Court; the latter of these, under circumstances of humiliation, so mor- tifying to his spirit, that, before long, his wounded pride again led him back to rejoin the cause to which he had not virtue enough to cleave in its adversity. Edmund Waller, 414 JOHN HAMPDEN, who had also been on that commission, was detected, with Tomkins his brother-in-law, Chaloner, and a few other subordinate agents, in their wild and treacherous plot to deliver over their party to destruction. During the treaty of Oxford, the King's friends in the city, among whom was Sir Nicholas Crispe, a rash partisan of the Royal cause, had engaged to seize the Parliament and the Metropolis. The commission of array, under which they were to act, when the scheme should be ripe for action, was entrusted to the care of the Lady Aubigny, who came up to London with a pass from the Parlia- ment under the pretext of family affairs. The conspiracy was discovered to Pym by a servant of Tomkins. Among those appre- hended and tried, was Mr. Alexander Hamp- den ; a name which, probably out of reve- rence to the memory of his illustrious kins- man, is kept out of sight by almost all the Parliamentarian writers in their narratives of this transaction. ' Ne in tali facinore ' optimi hujusce nominis ulla fieret mentio.' ( Waller, a member of the House of Com- * mons, Tomkins, Chaloner, and others,' says HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 415 Whitelocke; ' those who were engaged in 1 this conspiracy, of which Mr. Tomkins ' and Mr. Chaloner were found guilty and ' executed for it,' says Edmund Ludlow. ' One plot,' says Mrs. Hutchinson, who dis- guises nothing for interest or fear, * conducted ' by Mr. Waller, and carried on by many dis- ' affected persons in the cittie, was now taking * effect, to the utter subversion of the Parlia- ' ment and People : but that God by his pro^ * vidence brought it timely to light, and the ' authours were condemned, and some exe- ' cuted. But Waller, for being more a knave 1 than the rest, and peaching his complices, * was permitted to buy his life for 10,000/.' Of those who had sided with the Parliament, all are silent respecting the name of Alexander Hampden, except Rushworth, who details everything. ' May 19 :' says Dugdale in his Diary, ' Mr. Hampden sent with a message 1 for treaty, and stayed.' He was apprehended on the 21st. Alexander Hampden had indeed always been about the Court and person of the King, and against him there is but this mitigated reproach that, for the advancement of a cause 416 JOHN HAMPDEN, to which he had throughout attached himself, he, under pretence of negotiation, became a party in a plot which, both on account of the means and the associates employed in it, a high sense of honour should have bid him shun. But no baseness can be conceived greater than Edmund Waller's. Formerly, officious in his services to the Parliamentary leaders, he had distinguished himself by the virulence of his invective against those who were then sinking under the power of the House of Commons; now, forward in the design to deliver up to ruin and destruction the cause in which he had engaged, and the friends and kindred who had trusted him, he was cowardly and begged their mercy when the peril recoiled upon himself. The following letter is in Lord Wharton's papers in the Bodleian, in which he meanly prays the favour of Arthur Goodwyn to save him, in regard to the memory of John Hamp- den, who was among those whom the plot was to have delivered up prisoners to the King. HIS PARTY AND HIS TIMES. 417