A history of England principally in the seventeenth century, Volume 2 (of 6)

by Leopold von Ranke

FOOTNOTES:

[413] To the Queen, 13 March. King’s cabinet opened, No. 13: ‘I being now freed from the place of base and mutinous motions, that is to say, our mongrel Parliament here.’

[414] King’s cabinet opened, No. 20. Cp. his letters of May 12 and 31 in Mrs. Green, of May 14 in Halliwell ii. 380.

[415] Bossuet mentions the affair in his funeral oration on Henrietta Maria. The details of the transaction are still unknown.

[416] King’s cabinet opened, No. 11.

[417] The testimony of Sabran (20 April), ‘Les forces du parlement ont beaucoup plus reçu que donné de l’échec,’ may be set against the pamphlets of the Independents exaggerating their successes in the first movements of the campaign.

[418] Sabian 12/22 June. ‘Les sièges d’Oxford et de Borstall House ont peu duré et mal réussi: il en est revenu en une seule fois dimanche dernier 37 charettes de soldats blessés, et autres depuis.’

[419] In a letter to Lord Jermyn, Digby mentions his ‘advice to the King to have gone to Oxford from Daintry.’ Warburton iii. 135.

[420] Sprigge’s England’s Recovery 32. In Ludlow (Memoirs 151) things are related not without some confusion.

[421] Walker, Historical Discourses 129.

[422] Digby to Legge. ‘So did your fate lead, as scarcely one of us did think of a queer objection, which after the ill success every child could light on.’ This correspondence (Warburton iii. 127) gives the best insight. I combine the narrative of both parties.

[423] Sprigge: ‘The colonels and officers endeavouring to keep their men from disorder, and finding their attempt fruitless therein.’

[424] Wogan: ‘Rossiter’s horse that came to us at that present.’

[425] Wogan: ‘Seeing all their horse beaten out of the field, and surrounded with our horse and foot, they laid down their arms with condition not to be plundered.’

[426] Clarendon iv. 48 (edition of 1849) himself remarks on this battle that the capacity to rally after being beaten disclosed the better discipline which had been introduced by Fairfax and Cromwell.

[427] Journals of Commons, 23 June-7 July.

[428] To Nicholas, 25 Aug. 1645. ‘Let my condition be never so low, I resolve by the grace of God never to yield up this church to the government of papists, Presbyterians, or independents, nor to injure my successors by lessening the crown of that ecclesiastical and military power which my predecessors left me, nor to forsake my friends.’

[429] ‘Who took the occasion to write the ensuing letter to the prince with his own hand, which was so lively an expression of his own soul.’ Clarendon, Hist. iv. 679.

[430] Walker’s Historical Discourses 139: ‘In order to attempt to get to Montrose, whom we then believed master of Scotland.’

[431] ‘The king and I had long before concluded it most for his service that I should absent myself for some time.’ Letter to Hyde, Harley MS. T. V. 566.

[432] Symonds’s Diary 268. The best passage in the little book, had it not been subsequently mutilated and never completed. Walker is here also the most trustworthy witness. What the English journals contain is derived from exaggerated hearsay. The notice in Disraeli v, derived from Bellasis’ Memoirs, cannot be reconciled with the facts known from other sources, for instance about the passports.

[433] Lingard, who here follows special information, x. Note B; Macgregor, History of the British Empire ii. note b.

[434] Sprigge 213. Instead of asking they acted a cessation.

[435] From a report of Montereuil, March 19, it appears that Fairfax remarked on this ‘avec peu d’obligeance pour le comte d’Essex.’ Clarendon Papers ii. 218.

BOOK X.
INDEPENDENTS AND PRESBYTERIANS. FATE OF THE KING.

If the war between the King and Parliament could be regarded as at an end, the controversy between them was by no means concluded. The King in spite of his defeat maintained the position which he had taken up on quitting London; he was as firm in it as ever. So far as the pacification of the country depended on an understanding of the King with Parliament, not a step had been gained; the questions had rather grown more complicated through the course of events. The people, crying for peace, would undoubtedly have been contented with the restoration of a Parliamentary régime without the abasement of the royal power. But in the tumult of violence and faction how could moderate wishes have had any chance even of full expression, to say nothing of being carried out? The men who gave the tone to the Lower House required of the crown a sort of renunciation of the military authority, which was opposed to the ancient notions of the monarchy. They deemed themselves compelled for their own sakes to persist. But it was not the strength of Parliament alone which had prevailed over the King. The great change to his disadvantage had been wrought by the Scots, the last blow in the field and his ruin by the Independents: and these victorious allies had their own objects and sought to gain them. The Scots desired the uprooting of the episcopal system; their last alliance with England was founded on the assent to this demand. The Independents meditated new forms in both Church and State. They vehemently opposed the Scottish system, and sought to alienate Parliament from it, and bring it over to their own ideas.

How the cause of the King and his fate should be decided was an element in the intestine strife between the parties: it depended mainly on whether the Presbyterians or the Independents gained the upper hand.

CHAPTER I.
FLIGHT OF THE KING TO THE SCOTS.

In the realm of those ideas, which constitute the western world by their connexion and shake it by their strife, the Independents exhibit views in relation to both religious and political government which, if not entirely new, yet acquired general influence first through them. Religion by its nature aims at a world-embracing community of doctrine and life—an idea on which all great hierarchies are founded, including the Papacy. As the Reformation movement arose chiefly from the oppression which the carrying out of religious unity in a stringent form exerted over single kingdoms and states, it led directly to national unions,—national churches, which no doubt were founded on a creed that claimed universal acceptation, but whose authority could never extend beyond mere provincial limits. Among the formations of this kind the two most strongly organised are doubtless those which were established in Great Britain. We know to what far-reaching contests their opposition led, shaking not merely men’s minds, but the very government of the two countries.

The Independents appeared on the frontiers of the Anglican and Scottish Presbyterian Churches just at the outbreak of their quarrel. The faithful, who when oppressed by Laud at first fled before him to the Continent or emigrated to America, now held together in congregations, which through the closer spiritual union of their members satisfied their need of common religious feeling. Something similar took place in Ireland, in the colonies planted there by the Scots, when Stafford tried to subject them to the yoke of Canterbury. But the Congregationalists who then returned to Scotland did not A.D. 1645. again join the national Presbyterian Church. They assisted gladly and efficiently in defeating the power of the bishops—first in Scotland and then in England, where they united with all the other separatists who had been held down by Laud, but never crushed: but at all times they persisted in trying to carry out their own views. They not only opposed on principle the influence of the State over the Church, but rejected the national as well as the universal, hierarchy, the General Assembly of the Scots as well as the English Convocation. They admitted only a brotherly influence of the churches over each other, consistent with co-ordinate authority: the right to decide for the community they would acknowledge only in the assembled congregation itself. In their system the difference between clergy and laity vanished entirely, for they had no objection to laymen preaching.

As they had taken part in the great war against the bishops on the assumption that after victory they would be free from all religious oppression, and had contributed perhaps the most powerfully of all to the decision by their influence over the city populations, they regarded it as a hateful injustice that the Presbyterians refused them toleration. The last act of union was in a certain sense a declaration of war against the Independents, who in consequence took no share in the Assembly of Divines.

With these ecclesiastical efforts were connected tendencies both intellectual and political, allied to them by internal analogy. The most important and most complete expression of them we find in Milton. Without having himself had any direct share in the religious changes, Milton advocated the rights of the human spirit in its individual character. He attacked the censorship of the press, which the Presbyterians most strictly exercised, in a pamphlet[436] which must be ranked as high in the literature of pamphlets as any of Luther’s popular writings, or the Provincial Letters of Pascal. It must be reckoned as the most eloquent and powerful of all pleas for the liberty of the press: the natural claim of the truth-seeking A.D. 1645. spirit to unchecked utterance is fully recognised in it. Milton is all the more urgent on the subject because he sees his own people inspired with an energy which presses forwards in all directions and is striking out new paths. She sees the light, says he; waking up from sleep she shakes her locks filled with the strength of Samson. And this is the moment at which men would oppress her with old restrictions, and invoke against her the power of the State: as though it were possible in great convulsions to escape a confused variety of new opinions—as though it were not the worst of all opinions to refuse to hear anything but what is pleasing. And they dare to denounce as heretics men who for their lives and faith, for their learning and pure intents, merit the very highest esteem.

In similar contrast, and in fact on the basis of the principle already adopted, appeared also political views of the widest scope. It was declared a crying inconsistency that the Scots, after denouncing their King from the pulpit and taking up arms against him, should still acknowledge him and seek to restore his power. Milton would not hear of the combination of national sovereignty with divine right, which formed the basis of the Scottish system, and which floated also before the eyes of the Presbyterians in England. If the crown were of divine right, no treaty with it would be possible, for in that case the entire power of the State would belong to the King. But men are born free, they are the image of God: authority is conferred on one for the sake of order, but the prince is not only not the lord of the rest, he is their deputy: the magistrate is above the people, but the law is above the magistrate. Milton did not hesitate to maintain that the victory won over the King in the struggle necessarily led to his fall, to a change of government and of the laws.

With these views coincided the theories expressed by Henry Vane, who was then perhaps the most conspicuous leader in parliamentary affairs. He admitted that the supreme power was of divine right, and obedience to it an indispensable duty; but it depended on the people whether or not they would commit it to an individual, and on what A.D. 1645. conditions[437]. Since now the King had transgressed the conditions imposed on him, and had been conquered in the war which broke out in consequence, the people was in no way bound to revert to the old form of government, but entered on the possession of its original freedom: for the same end for which the old government had been established they might now abolish it, according to the idea of justice which was originally implanted in man, and is interwoven with his being. The republic was not yet directly pointed out as the ideal form of government, but the right was claimed of resorting to it at pleasure.

Never did these ideas find ground better prepared to receive them, or more ready acceptance, than in the army, which from the first had been formed on corresponding principles. In the time of Manchester, who allowed it from forbearance, the separatists who desired to take military service gathered by preference round Cromwell, whose object it was to lead into the field men of decided opinions[438]. His soldiers should be as incapable of looking behind them as himself,—he actually made it an accusation against the Lords that they were too prudent. These views were now confirmed by success. The Independents and other separatists had done the best work in the open field, as in the city disturbances. They laughed at the Scots and their moderation, which they held to be mere hypocrisy, a mask from behind which to bring England under their sway. For if it was allowable to make war against the King, it was lawful to overthrow him, to imprison and put him to death. How astonished were the Presbyterian preachers who followed Cromwell’s camp at the anti-royalist A.D. 1645. and destructive spirit which prevailed in it[439]. Charles I was regarded merely as the successor of William the Conqueror, who had made his generals into lords, and his captains into knights, the ancestors of the nobility and gentry still subsisting: but all this had been founded on the right of the sword, and might again be reversed by the same right. They felt like successors of the Anglo-Saxon population, again after long oppression regaining the upper hand. Theoretically and historically they considered themselves justified in overturning the existing State and founding a new one.

We may observe the stages of the intentions which in this contest were successively exhibited. At first it was only intended to restore the full efficiency of the Parliamentary régime: the elections in the autumn of 1640 were held with this in view. But the Parliament when it assembled raised claims which would have given it unconditional preponderance, a kind of political and military omnipotence. The Scots and the Parliamentary leaders in concert with them added the demand for the subjection of the King to a Presbyterian system. As a fourth step, the Independents rejected this form also, and entirely disowned obedience to the King.

Nor were these in any sense empty theories: the Independents had actually gained a power which was only limited by the power of their opponents, who were the King’s enemies also. It is asserted that on the publication of the King’s letters captured at Naseby, which were read everywhere throughout the country, they intended to induce the people to demand his deposition, and upon this, it was further planned to declare Charles I unfit to reign, and to make the Earl of Northumberland, whom they hoped to carry with them, Protector of the realm: in this way they would have given a new form to the kingdom[440].

They could not however reckon on the assent of the English people. In the counties Episcopalian sympathies prevailed: in the capital Presbyterian opinions, in direct opposition A.D. 1646. to the Independents, were generally accepted. For while the extravagances into which the sects fell, appearing in various forms one after the other, necessarily offended those who did not belong to them, the Presbyterian preachers, after it came to an open breach in the Assembly, distinctly attacked the Independents from the pulpit; and they were still by far the more powerful. The common people, sure of their faith, desired the Presbyterian forms, stringent church discipline, even excommunication, and rejected toleration. The elections to the Common Council had hitherto been conducted on an understanding between the Presbyterians and the separatists, but at the end of the year 1645 Presbyterianism was dominant and the sectarians were excluded. In January 1646 a fast day was held in the city, at which the Covenant was renewed with signature and oath. The next day the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council presented a petition to Parliament for the carrying out of church government in the Scottish fashion, conformably to the Covenant.

In Parliament these views were not predominant, as may be inferred from the fact that Henry Martin (who had been the first to express decidedly anti-royalist sentiments—he had said that it was better for one family to perish than many—and had in consequence been driven from Parliament) in January 1646 ventured to return thither. But there was still a considerable Presbyterian party in the Lower House, which had been not a little strengthened by the result of the supplementary elections held in the autumn of 1645[441]. In the Upper House the Lords, who saw themselves slighted by the transformation of the army, were inclined the same way: both foresaw their own ruin if the Independents became entirely masters. Still they calculated on being able to withstand them: they had on their side the words of the treaties, and the interests of the Scots, against whom the Independents were specially hostile. The Scots greeted the manifestation in the city with indescribable satisfaction: the Scottish Parliament entered into direct communication with it; for the English Parliament, it was said, notoriously can do nothing without the capital. A.D. 1646. One of the Scottish clergy exclaimed, that after God he relied most on the capital of England.

But while a numerous party in Parliament, the city, and the Scots were united against the Independents, who on their side were equally well represented in Parliament, and controlled the army, men’s eyes turned back to the King in a new fashion. Although without any practical power, the King could still, through the authority of his name, which operated as a seal of legality, throw into the scale a considerable weight in favour of the party which he supported.

But how, it will be asked, could he possibly think of drawing nearer to the Independent party, which was as anti-royalist as it could be? A letter sent from Oxford to Henry Vane in March 1646, with the King’s knowledge, to a certain extent explains this[442]. It sought to convince him that he would gain nothing by totally overthrowing the King: the sole result would be the ruin of England at home and abroad. The King wished at that time to come to London, in order to deal in person with the Parliament. After his appeal to arms had failed, he thought that he should be able to return to much the same relations as had subsisted before he quitted Whitehall in the beginning of 1642. The most difficult point of the negotiations to be expected obviously lay in the Covenanting demands of the Presbyterians in league with Scotland; and in order to have any support against them, the King needed the aid of the Independents. He appears to have believed that their chief object was to obtain religious independence for their congregations; and this should be for ever assured through his authority; in alliance with them he would establish freedom of conscience for them and for himself[443]. And though they had once formed a league with the Presbyterians against the A.D. 1646. Episcopalian system, they now seemed not averse to enter into a similar one with the King against the Presbyterians. There were Independent influences at work about the King and even about the Queen. With the latter they were furthered chiefly by Percy, brother of the Earl of Northumberland. The Scots and Presbyterians were so much alarmed that they claimed the influence of the French government with the Queen on their behalf.

We return to the dealings of the French government with English affairs. The troubles in England had been of indescribable advantage to France, by allowing her free scope on the Continent: during this period the French in alliance with Sweden had done serious mischief to the strength of the house of Austria in Germany, and through the risings in Portugal and Catalonia, to the Spanish monarchy also: their power at this moment girdled the world. After long hesitation, and as a last resource against utter destruction, Charles I and his consort offered to the French court an offensive and defensive alliance; and Mazarin, who now governed the Regent in relation to foreign affairs as completely as ever Richelieu had done, was inclined to assent: but he would not take part with Charles I in his domestic affairs; he had recalled one of the plenipotentiaries sent to England, Grecy, because he had connected himself too closely with the King, and awakened mistrust of France in Parliament. When he sent over Sabran, with whom we are acquainted, in the spring of 1644, he instructed him before making any further league with the King to bring about a reconciliation between him and the Parliament, on the supposition that the equilibrium between the two, on which the due observance of the laws depended, would thus be maintained. He was to support the just claims of Charles I, but was not to help to make him monarch and lord of England[444].

Charles I had never any sympathy with Spain: the house A.D. 1645. of Braganza, under which Portugal was separated from the Spanish monarchy, found support from him, and sought, like the house of Orange, to obtain through him a dynastic alliance: the Portuguese ambassador managed his correspondence with his wife. Still it appeared to the French that in the struggle between France and Spain he leant rather to the Spanish side: they mistrusted the presence in his council of Bristol and Digby, who had long been known as representatives of the Spanish interest. All the less were they disposed to contribute to the full restoration of his power, so as to enable him possibly in the future to be troublesome to them.

It is obvious that Sabran, who acted according to these instructions, could effect but little. Apart from the practical difficulties—for a full recognition of Parliament must have preceded any negotiation—he could not win the confidence of either party. Charles I observed with astonishment that the ambassador, from whom he expected the most active support to his cause, and an unequivocal declaration in his favour, assumed the attitude of a neutral[445]: he requested the Queen to apply in France for his recall. On the other side, Parliament thought that Sabran encouraged the King in his resistance, which was actually true at least in relation to the religious question. Sabran was commissioned also to deal with the Scots; he was to warn them against too close a connexion with England, since they would in that way gradually become a province of the neighbouring country, and endanger their old alliance with France. The Scots replied that their view rather was to strengthen that alliance, and by means of their union with England to bring that kingdom also to join it: if an understanding between the King and the two Parliaments could be achieved, he would himself announce this alliance. They suggested the prospect that they themselves, on the strength of their old treaties, and the English with them, in agreement with France, would take part in the war in Germany, primarily for the recovery of the Palatinate—an undertaking which could not fail to gain them a great body of A.D. 1645. allies in Germany[446]. It is plain that this implied no opposition to the French schemes, but is rather a development of them. The Scots assumed that they would retain the upper hand in England. The connexion between France and Scotland seemed to both parties equally desirable.

The rise of the Independents contributed to the same result. The French government was horrified at the idea of their obtaining the superiority and changing England into a republic. Such a state would be mightier than the strongest kingdom: for as in republics all contribute to the common resolutions, so every one strives his utmost to carry them out. And if then the English republic should unite with that of the Netherlands, they would form a power quite irresistible, especially at sea[447]. Moreover so successful a rebellion would afford a bad example to other countries, and might easily lead them to imitate it. They durst not let them attain their end.

In the summer of 1645 we find Montereuil in London, resuming all the connexions which Bellièvre had formed, and he himself had extended: he renewed the closest intercourse with Lord Holland. Holland remarked that the King had entered into a kind of correspondence with the Independents, as believing that their views could never be carried out, and that friendly relations with them would be useful against the Presbyterians; but how much better would it have been for him to come to an agreement with the latter. For the views of the Independents pointed to complete equality in both Church and State: it was their purpose to destroy the very name of King of England: while it was the wish of the Scots, and of the better part of the English, to save the royal authority, only under limitations which were certainly hard, but were based on the old laws. He thought that it could not go against the King’s conscience to acknowledge the Presbyterian form of church, which approached far more nearly than did that of the Independents to the episcopal form, inasmuch A.D. 1646. as it made some church control and subordination possible. He requested that the influence of France might be used to bring the King round to an understanding with the Scots and Presbyterians: moreover he himself hoped thereby to regain the favour of the King and Queen. Montereuil said that he had instructions to assure him that his leading would be followed in this respect, and that by bringing about such an understanding he would earn immortal fame, and in the future be the first man in England[448].

It was actually to Holland that the idea first occurred that the King should retire to the Scottish army: so long as the King in any way kept the field, he had thought of other expedients; but when Bristol surrendered, and that defeat had been sustained near Chester, he saw no other means of resisting the Independents save by throwing the King into the arms of the Scots[449]. There he would find support enough to compel the Independents to accept endurable terms.

It is obvious that this fully suited the French policy. It seemed the best means of bringing about that connexion between the English Presbyterians, the Scots, and the King, by which not only the supremacy of the Independents might be hindered, but also grand prospects might be opened for the domination of France in Europe. A negotiation was begun, which by the manner in which it succeeded, and yet at the same time did not succeed, exercised an important influence over subsequent events.

The French above all things desired to get security from the Scots that they would grant the King endurable terms if he acceded to the proposal. They informed Loudon and Balmerino, the commissioners then in London, that otherwise it might be more advantageous for the King to deal with the Independents than with them and the Presbyterians. They tried to show that the future independence of Scotland depended on this combination. Loudon said that he could not undertake to make any alteration in the articles agreed A.D. 1646. on between the two Parliaments, but gave them to understand that concessions would be made to the King’s wishes on points not irrevocably settled; thus in military affairs they would accept the proposals made by him at Uxbridge; in relation to Ireland they would allow new deliberations in regular parliamentary course; they would spare Digby, whom they would even seek to gain, and other enemies of Parliament in the King’s suite: he made himself answerable for carrying these things in Scotland. He was asked whether and how he expected to bring the Independents to accept these conditions: he answered that he would demand it by reason of the treaties subsisting between the two kingdoms, and should they refuse, he would compel them by force[450].

There were schemes on foot not merely for saving the King, but for the formation of a widespread combination for the repression of the Independents, when Montereuil, by instruction of his court, and in concert with the Presbyterians, went to Oxford to induce the King to take refuge in the Scottish camp. It was just at the moment when the last Royalist corps in Cornwall surrendered and was dispersed. Montereuil represented to the King that especially after the last demonstrations of the city of London he could retain no hope of preventing the introduction of the Presbyterian system: it was virtually established, and was an evil that the King must put up with, since some good might be derived from it. It is certain that the King had given up the hope of achieving anything permanent: he even promised to give full satisfaction on this point, the only one on which it had to be given, provided they would require of him nothing that went against his conscience[451]. He had always thought of coming himself to London for the negotiations: that being shown to be impracticable, he now promised to betake himself A.D. 1646. to the Scottish camp, it being assumed that there his conscience and his honour would be respected, and his attendants safe. It was not his own idea, but he accepted it, as seeming to offer him an endurable solution. He declared that he was ready to let himself be instructed in the Presbyterian system, and in general to satisfy the Scots in that matter, so far as a corresponding promise was made to him by them. The question is, did they give him such a promise, did they promise him liberty of conscience, royal honour, and security for his followers, in the sense in which he asked it?

A declaration of the governing committee in Scotland, which Colonel Murray, who was to manage the mediation of the French crown with the King, laid before Cardinal Mazarin in Paris, certainly says that the King, if he comes into the Scottish camp, shall be received there with honour, and stay there in all security: but there is bound up with it the demand that he shall first assent to the introduction of Presbyterianism, accept the conditions proposed at Uxbridge, and make himself responsible for carrying these things forward with the advice of the two Parliaments. In this case they promised him not only security, but restoration to his dignity, greatness, and authority. It appears that the committee hoped at this moment to carry its point, and make Presbyterianism, with the King at the head, dominant in England as well as in Scotland: it would not be content with any conditional concession.

There is however no doubt that their plenipotentiary in France went a step further. According to Mazarin’s assertion in an official document (Bellièvre’s instructions), Murray, who worked in the profoundest secrecy, since nothing must be known in London, expressly and directly promised, in the name of the Scots, that the King should not be forced in his conscience[452]. Murray afterwards made some other promises in favour of his adherents, which the Scottish plenipotentiaries in London confirmed, at least by word of mouth.

A.D. 1646.

Depending on this, and no doubt also on the influence which it could always exert to procure the fulfilment of these promises, the French government empowered its emissary, Montereuil, to promise all this to King Charles in the name of the Queen-Regent and King of France: honourable treatment suitable to his dignity, liberty of conscience, a good reception for all who should accompany him, reconciliation with his adherents, defence of his rights[453].

Very far from finding the acceptance of these conditions degrading, Charles I saw in them the foundation for a junction between the forces still left to him and the Scottish army. He informed Montrose that when the Scots should have openly declared themselves to this effect, and guaranteed a complete amnesty to him, the Earl, and his adherents, he might then unite his troops with those of the Parliament. When he informed his wife, who had wished for the connexion with the Scots, of his assent, he requested her to contrive that France should procure him an honourable peace, or if such were not attainable, then should support him with arms, in alliance with the States-General and the Prince of Orange[454]. Always sanguine, and full of the highest hopes, he thought he was forming an alliance which should yet gain him the victory.

The Scots in the army however did not understand the matter thus. The Chancellor had a meeting with the committee at Royston, the result of which, to Montereuil’s astonishment, was quite different from what had been promised him in London. They would have no open meeting with the King, as this might involve them in difficulties with the English Parliament. The King must declare that he was on his way to Scotland, only under this pretext would they be able to receive him: but he must not bring with him a single company of his troops. The stipulations in A.D. 1646. favour of his adherents were rejected or limited; an immediate recognition of Presbyterianism was pointed out as highly desirable. Montereuil did not know whether or not to advise the King, under these limitations, to carry out the concerted plan.

While Charles was preparing with Prince Rupert, who in his growing embarrassments had returned to his side and formed a guard for him, to break through the hostile troops that were continually approaching nearer, and so to push for Scotland, he received these tidings. He was intensely disgusted, seeing in it a return of the Scots ‘to their old detestable treachery’: for a moment all was in confusion.

In this grievous perplexity the King once more turned to the Parliamentary troops of the Independent faction, and offered the Commissary-General to come into the midst of them, if he would promise to honour and maintain his royal dignity. The same proposal was also made to some officers of the troops that were besieging Woodstock: they agreed, if their superiors approved, to send safe conducts for the King’s plenipotentiaries, with a view to closer conference: they were expected at Oxford with the most painful anxiety, but they never arrived. The Independent generals were not yet inclined to enter blindly into relations with the King.

A detailed contemporary report relates that the King had yet a third alternative offered to him, that the Lord Mayor of London had undertaken to keep him safe if he came to the city, and that the plan had even been formed for his appearance at a review of the militia, fixed for May 5 in Hyde Park, but that Parliament had been informed of the scheme and postponed the review. The story is of a somewhat apocryphal character and wrong in its date[455], and therefore cannot be accepted; but it is true that a review was to have been held, and was put off by Parliament on pretexts which have no importance[456]. The Parliament declared A.D. 1646. it to be high treason secretly to receive and harbour the King: it forbade any Royalist to remain in London or its vicinity. Its resolutions betray agitation, and a fear that the King would find sympathy among the people. He would not have been freed in London from the necessity of assenting to the introduction of Presbyterianism; but the court at Oxford was convinced that the city would not compel him to such hard conditions, and that his liberty of conscience would be safer than with the Scots[457]. And in fact the King all but took the way to London. He did not take his two nephews with him, though that had been his intention hitherto, for Rupert was easily recognisable by his great stature, and was hated in the country. Attended only by his captain, Hudson, and the faithful Ashburnham, whose servant he pretended to be, with a valise behind his saddle, Charles I on April 27 quitted Oxford, and reached Brentford and Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital: and here the King was very near venturing into London itself[458]. But the vigilance of Parliament seems to have been too severe, his prospects not clear enough. After remaining there two days in concealment, during which fresh negotiations had been entered into with the Scots, he at last resolved to betake himself to their camp at Newark. Although his earlier dealings with them had had no result, yet he did not appear quite as a fugitive seeking help. His arrival gave the Scots an advantage; for they were much afraid of his falling, in one way or another, into the hands of the Independents, and giving to their views the authority of his name: it was much better and safer if the King found shelter in their camp. The English troops who were taking part in the siege of Newark, were not only astonished, but also jealous, at seeing their King enter the abode of the French ambassador, near their quarters in Southwell, and soon afterwards, surrounded by Scottish troops, remove to A.D. 1646. the head-quarters of General Lesley. The Scots were afraid that the English army, which was far stronger than theirs, might try to carry off the King by force[459]. In London this unexpected dénouement produced the greatest impression on both sides. The Presbyterians were satisfied; the Independents, says Baillie, were very wroth thereat.

After Newark had been surrendered to the English troops at the wish of the Scots, with consent of the King—for they did not wish to excite their jealousy any further—they hastened to conduct him to Newcastle, near their own frontier. They knew perfectly well how valuable he was to them. They calculated that his presence would serve to keep in dependence the still unconquered Royalists in Scotland, and above all the English Presbyterians. They thought further that the King would ultimately not refuse to sign the Covenant, whereupon they would strengthen his authority. Their object was to bring to completion that combination which has been so often mentioned, with the French, the King, and the English Presbyterians, who formed the most numerous party in the country, and by this means to make head against the Independents.