FOOTNOTES:
[492] ‘Che una religione sia stabilita cioe l’antica, che e quella del re dentro tutto lo stato e tutte le altre saranno tolerate, dentro le quali altre gli independenti vogliono comprendasi la loro propria, ed ancora la nostra per qualche anno.’ Lettera di Londra 19 Luglio.
[493] From the King’s conversation with Lauderdale, in Burnet, Hamiltons 324.
[494] From some expressions in a request of his for help the hope was reawakened at Rome that he would yet be converted. They were greeted as the first rays of grace shining upon him. But in reality there was as little idea of it now as ever.
[495] Articles of agreement between our Sov. Lord King Charles and H. E. Sir Thomas Fairfax with his Council of War. In Fairfax Correspondence, Civil War i. 394.
[496] Huntingdon’s reasons for laying down his commission. In Maseres 402.
[497] Memoirs of Sir John Berkeley, in Maseres 361. ‘They would comprise the several interests of the Royal, Presbyterian and Independent parties, as far as they were consisting with each other.’
[498] Baillie to Blair. Letters ii. 408.
[499] Reliquiae Baxterianae 53. ‘That the civil magistrates had nothing to do to determine of anything in matters of religion by constraint or restraint, but every man might not only hold but preach and do in matters of religion what he pleased.’
[500] Grignan, 25th Nov., to Brienne. ‘Cromwell et Yerton apparerament l’ont fait aller où il est, pour l’ôter d’entre les mains des agitateurs à le mettre entre celles de Hammond, qui doit à Cromwell toute sa fortune, et aussi pour empêcher en l’éloignant la communication avec les commissaires d’Ecosse, qui leur estoit suspecte.’
[501] Memoirs of Berkeley, in Maseres ii. 375. Ashburnham, whose narrative (ii. 108) gives a report of this, seems not to have followed the beat sources for the political considerations.
[502] ‘A schism being evidently destructif.’
[503] ‘It might not be expected that he should perish for his sake.’ More correctly printed in Ludlow’s Memoirs i. 230 than in Maseres.
[504] ‘If the royal consent to such bill or bills shall not be given in the House of Peers within such time as the Houses shall judge fit and convenient, that then such bill or bills shall nevertheless have the force and strength of an act or acts of Parliament.’ Parl. Hist. xvi. 400.
[505] Grignan to Brienne, Dec. 9. ‘En créance qu’estant en cette ville il les pourroit faire changer (les autres bills).’
[506] Burnet, Hamiltons 327.
[507] His Majesty’s answer, Dec. 28, 1647.
[508] Walker, The mystery of the two yuntos, in Maseres i 337.
[509] Rushworth i. 957: ‘To gratify such as shall make any discovery of the authors or presses of malignant and abusive sheets.’
CHAPTER V.
THE SO-CALLED SECOND CIVIL WAR.
We have not lost sight of the chief disputes which had caused the breach between the King and Parliament, concerning which, as the King did not give way, nothing had been decided by all these acts of violence. The positive character of the opposition now coming to light, and the evident usurpation by the oligarchy in Parliament, operated instead to give the King’s name once more a footing with the people. The contest hitherto had been waged against the lawfulness and extent of the royal authority: but in the encounter of selfish factions men began to discover that a chief power, supreme but not unlimited, not directly dependent on a change in the majority, and personally comprising all general interests, was politically an advantage. The King had innumerable adherents in the capital: there was not a county in which associations in his favour, as the phrase was, ‘for the liberation of the King and Parliament,’ had not been formed. Though the Royalists also were busy, the movement derived its character chiefly from the fact that the Presbyterians found the turn which affairs had taken, and the predominance of their hated opponents, quite unendurable. The Commissioners of the Scots, who saw themselves no longer admitted to any committees, and their despatches and memorials, as well as the terms of the last treaty of union, unnoticed, were most excited of all. They already noted the intention to exclude their countrymen from Ireland: it was obvious that the victory of the Independents was a defeat for the Presbyterians in general, and especially for the Scots.
Under these circumstances what the King had expected A.D. 1648. came to pass. The Scottish Commissioners gave up imposing on him the strict law of the Covenant in respect to religion. Before he had been subjected to all the restraints which made him completely a prisoner, they had appeared in the Isle of Wight, and concluded a secret treaty, based on the proposals formerly made by him in his Newcastle answer, and then so stubbornly rejected by the Scots. The King therein undertook to recognise the League and Covenant between England and Scotland; for the maintenance of the position hereby accorded to the Scots was the chief aim of the Commissioners. He had also to admit several other limitations, which related to old disputes between the two countries, and favoured exclusively the Scottish interest; but the principal point for him was that he was not compelled unconditionally to accept the Presbyterian Church system. As he had proposed, it was only to be temporarily adopted, for a period of three years, and the permanent arrangement to be reserved for subsequent determination in Parliament: no one was to be compelled to accept the Covenant. The Scots, on their side, promised to take up arms, if it could not be secured in any other way, for the prerogative of the crown, understanding thereby its rights in relation to the military power, free nomination to dignities and high posts of trust, control of the Great Seal, a veto on Parliament: the present assembly to be brought to an end speedily, and personal dealings with a full Parliament, in honour, safety, and freedom, to be procured for the King[510]. It is noteworthy that they guaranteed to the King the very rights which were denied him in the four bills: they contemplated the union of the two kingdoms on a basis much more advantageous for the crown. The three commissioners, Loudon, Lauderdale, and Lanerick, pledged themselves to do all in their power to get Scotland to carry out the points here promised, which, in their view, would be done: and to risk their property and even their lives for the cause.
A.D. 1648.
It was an arrangement very like that which Charles I and his Scottish friends had contemplated in 1641, before his journey to Scotland, and again in 1644, at the time of the Uxbridge negotiations: the concessions which the Scottish commissioners then refused they now decided to admit, in prospect of the danger threatening them from the opposite party: for the restoration of a monarchy, limited indeed, but endowed with suitable rights in connexion with the national interests of Scotland, they were now ready to involve their native land in war.
Lord Holland was concerned this time also, since the agreement was on the principles for which he had contended for several years: he received from the Queen, in the name of the Prince of Wales, a commission as general of an army which was to liberate the King from his imprisonment, and restore the freedom of Parliament. Many old officers of the royal army gathered about him. The young Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Peterborough, with their brothers, were ready to stake their lives and fortunes in the cause. The Scottish commission was in close communication with Marmaduke Langdale and Philip Musgrave, who enjoyed great influence, the one in Yorkshire, the other in Cumberland: they too received in the name of the Prince of Wales royal commissions with very extensive powers.
The main question was then whether the Scottish Parliament would sanction the proceedings of the commissioners and give its consent to the war. In the Church commission, which was as little as ever inclined to give up the unconditional establishment of the Covenant in England, it found no approval: on the contrary, the King’s promises were declared unsatisfactory, because his preference for Episcopacy and his dislike to the Covenant were everywhere visible in them. But the Church commission had now to learn that the nation no longer depended entirely upon it. The general feeling was that the agreement so solemnly made had been broken on the side of England: they were ashamed of the surrender of the King, which had given the nation an evil name throughout the world: the growing strength of the Independents left nothing to be expected but an increasing A.D. 1648. disregard of Scottish interests. In many places also a natural sympathy was awakened for their hereditary King. Thus it came to pass that the elections to the new Parliament went in favour of the agreement effected with the King. The leaders of the rival parties were Argyle, who now as ever held to the strict Church view, and Hamilton, who represented the moderates: this time Hamilton and his friends gained a complete superiority over Argyle. The committees also of the Parliament, which met in March, were chosen in the same interest. They had still a hard battle to fight with the Church commission, which still maintained that the King must be bound by oath to establish the Presbyterian system in all the three kingdoms, and that the repression of the malignants in England ought to be aimed at, not alliance with them[511]. It is remarkable that the threatened supremacy of the Independents did not more strongly arouse the religious apprehensions of the Church party: but their view was limited by old antipathies that were directed to other quarters. But the committees, the Parliament, and the people, comprehended the full danger that threatened the Commonwealth, and approved the agreement with the King. In conformity with their decisions some very precise demands were at once addressed to England. They were to the effect that the King should be allowed to treat with Parliament in freedom, safety, and honour, and that for this purpose, in order that it might be possible for all honest members of Parliament to take part without danger in these dealings, the army under Lord Fairfax should be disbanded. It is obvious that an affirmative answer was not to be thought of, nor was any such expected in Scotland. At the same time a resolution had been passed for assuming an attitude of defence and preparing for war; and this was done immediately throughout the country[512]. Hamilton, thanks to the activity of his party, was enabled to take more decided steps than properly A.D. 1648. suited his hesitating nature: he received the chief command. The most celebrated of the old generals, such as the Lesleys, adhered to Argyle; but Hamilton gained others, like Middleton, who had lately made himself a reputation in the Highlands: he was named Lieutenant-General of the infantry, Baillie of the cavalry: the highest post under Hamilton was accepted by the Earl of Callander, who after the Pacification of Berwick had espoused the royal interests. In this manner were the officers named and levies raised: the dependents of Argyle remained virtually excluded from the new army; the Church party resisted vainly at every step. It was the first time that Royalist proclivities gained an advantage over the strict Church tendencies. Under the impulse of the latter the Scots had contributed most towards breaking the independent power of the King: now the moderates had again the advantage, and it seemed as if this would lead to a restoration of his power.
Marmaduke Langdale commenced hostilities by surprising Berwick (end of April): he hoped from thence to rouse the north of England. He at once summoned the governor of Holy Island, who was reported to dislike the imprisonment of the King and the violation of all the laws by Parliament[513], and the Royalist gentry of Northumberland and Durham to declare for the King: many of them actually came over and entered the King’s service. In like manner Philip Musgrave one evening seized Carlisle: he was expected by the Royalists, and the other side did not venture to move. All Westmoreland and Cumberland were filled with warlike bustle: out of Yorkshire and the County Palatine came new levies of horse.
Meanwhile Byron had occupied Anglesey, from whence he roused his old friends in Cheshire and North Wales to resistance against the Parliament. In South Wales Colonel Poyer held Pembroke Castle: he refused at the command of Parliament to surrender his strong castle to the general, whom he designated King Fairfax, saying that he would maintain the A.D. 1648. cause of the true King against him: he raised the red war-standard and summoned the neighbouring gentry to take up arms. Many promised him their help. Petitions in favour of the King and of the Book of Common Prayer were put in circulation. It is asserted that in Cornwall nearly 4000 men assembled under the King’s banner. The troops wore blue and white ribbons in their hats, with the inscription ‘We wish to see our King.’
The movement seized also in a remarkable manner on the fleet which lay in the Downs. The desertion of the fleet had chiefly occasioned the misfortunes of Charles I, and the Presbyterian sentiments, which then had struck the first blow, had always prevailed among the sailors; but these now operated in favour of the King. The fleet also desired personal communication for the King, the observance of the old laws of the land, above all the dissolution of the Independent army. The attempt to force on them, as vice-admiral, Colonel Rainsborough, a member of the army of the most decided type, who had now made his peace with Cromwell, caused the outbreak of an actual revolt. A number of ships quitted the Downs to sail over to Holland, whither the young Duke of York had lately succeeded in escaping. The leaders were presented to him at Helvoetsluys, and implored him to be their admiral. In a short time however the Prince of Wales arrived in the Netherlands, and took the chief command, for which he was in years more capable: we find him soon afterwards cruising on the English coasts with the vessels that had gone over, but without any marked success.
The cry of the sailors was almost universal in England. Without giving way to the special tendencies of the Scots, the people demanded the observance of the laws, according to which free-born Englishmen were accustomed to be governed, and leave to the King for free personal communication.
When the alliance of the opposite powers, to which the Royalists had succumbed, fell to pieces, all their hopes again revived. Everywhere the old Cavaliers rose. In one of their pamphlets it is said that the black cloud was parting which A.D. 1648. hitherto had hung over them; that their fortune was rising again from the lowest ebb; that the bravery of the North was uniting with the spirit of the South; and that on Hounslow, Dunsmore, Blackheath, on all heaths and heights men were gathering at the call of honour. Now they would have the citizens on their side, who, no longer poisoned by city air, were resolved to die on the bed of honour for the prerogative of their King, which implied the liberty of his subjects. Who could see with dry eyes the indignities which the King had to endure? He would long ago have succumbed to machinations and conspiracies, had not the hand of God rescued him. The undaunted Cavalier would seek for peace sword in hand, but would also exact retribution for past crimes. Were there not nobles who had been murdered, had seen their daughters carried off, their homes plundered, because they wished to defend their houses[514]? In an unexpected and singular manner the complaints of the cities corresponded with the views of the Cavaliers. In London it was said that the capital had done most towards carrying on the war, and that the army might well be content with what the city had done; but yet it wanted to exact its arrears from the city, and oppressed it cruelly.
Hitherto the relations between the King and Parliament had been the only point debated; the rights of the people had been included in those of Parliament. Now however that an authority had been formed which oppressed at once King, Parliament, and people, the popular antipathy was directed against it. The feeling now began to gain ground that the rights of the crown form a part of the public freedom.
It was declared that the King and the country were in the same case, both injured and abused in their rights; that the prerogative of the King and the liberty of the country were most closely connected with one another; and that there was no hope of restoring the latter before the King sat again on his throne[515]. The holders of power were designated in the A.D. 1648. style of the times as ambitious Absaloms who were become haughty Rehoboams. The only means of resistance to them lay in the union of all loyal men in order to work with all their might for the restoration of the King. The Londoners were heard to say that they would spend as much more to restore the King and avenge themselves on their oppressors.
The prevailing party sought to check this inclination by a detailed statement of the King’s transgressions in the style of the old Remonstrance, and this time also avoided laying it before the Lords: it was merely the work of the Lower House, which had many debates over it, for the imputations raised did not seem to all to be well founded. A minority, considerable under the circumstances (fifty votes against eighty), declared against it at the last division: but to the majority the declaration appeared necessary in order to explain to some extent, as well as to strengthen, the proceedings taken against the King. The accusations were directed no longer, as formerly, against his bad advisers, but against himself, and a readiness was evinced to carry on the government without further reference to him[516]. This time however the declaration produced an effect contrary to what was intended, being without the religious impulse which had given its effect to the first, and being intended less to destroy a government that had grown hateful, than to pave the way for a new one that already excited disapproval. Most men considered that Parliament, in undertaking to govern without the King who had summoned it, was committing a flagrant usurpation. Declarations which were secretly put in circulation in the King’s name found general favour. Parliament confiscated and burned the copies which fell into its hands, but they were nevertheless spread abroad in the city, in the country, and even in the army: the pains which Parliament took to discover their origin gave them all the greater weight, as leading to the conclusion that they A.D. 1648. really proceeded from the King[517]. The reports of the movements in Scotland gave the liveliest satisfaction both in the capital and in the provinces: the conduct of the rulers in England in entering into negotiations with the Scots, and sparing nothing to win over their leaders, was due to their fear less of the strength of the Scots than of their influence over England[518], or perhaps both motives were combined. Had they not been afraid of the Scots they would have entirely disarmed the city and dispersed the Common Council. At the same time apprehension of a rising in the city deterred them from encountering the Scots with the vigour which would otherwise have characterised their views and actions[519]. Effects of this feeling were conspicuous in Parliament even under present conditions. The leaders expected to find themselves in a position to carry into execution one of the demands contained in their four bills, namely to prorogue Parliament and intrust the exercise of the supreme authority to a committee in its stead[520]. They abstained from so doing because it might easily have caused an open insurrection. Mazarin said that the King ought to be thankful to his enemies for having rejected conditions which would have been most burdensome to the crown, and for having issued offensive manifestos against him, for that public opinion had been thereby won over to his side.
A tumult was caused in London about this time (April 6/16) by the apprentices who would not be debarred their Sunday A.D. 1648. amusements outside the gates, and held their ground against the attack of the militia, and even of some detachments of regular troops, so that for a moment they were masters of the city: but no great consequences resulted, as they were without leaders, and were put down the next day without difficulty: but they had given cheers for the King, and exhibited the dislike of the populace to the existing order of things. It was said in the city that the leaders of the army and their adherents in Parliament had succeeded in alienating Parliament and the citizens from each other: an honourable man might be deceived once, but not a second time: and now they were seeking to separate them from their best friends, the Scots, but that should not be done: that these Grandees were a worse faction than ever the Spanish had been, and that reconciliation with them would mean ruin of religion and law[521]. Cromwell is said to have declared that the city must either be brought to better obedience or laid in the dust.
Gradually,—for between the opinions of a capital and those of an assembly sitting in it there operate unavoidably mutual influences of very various kinds,—at the end of April or beginning of May, a most extensive change in the sentiments of Parliament was observed. The Presbyterians regained the preponderance: the Independents either gave way for the moment, or were in the minority. Resolutions for increasing the power of the military commanders, which had passed the Lords, were rejected in the Lower House. The city was restored to full control over its militia, and allowed to name the governor of the Tower, and the duty of guarding the Parliament was again intrusted to it. The troops of Fairfax quitted the posts, of which they had taken possession during the tumult in the previous year, and the aldermen who had been imprisoned in consequence were again set free[522].
Still more significant was the revocation of the decree made A.D. 1648. at the beginning of the year about the King and the government. It was resolved by a considerable majority—for the moderates who had retired had now returned—that the constitution of England, according to which King, Lords, and Commons co-operated in the government, should not be altered, and that without regard to the divisions of January 3, the proposals made to the King before his flight to the Isle of Wight should be repeated, and negotiations opened with him about them[523]. On May 19 Parliament sent a deputation to the Common Council, to inform the city of these resolutions, and to begin the restoration of the old relations of mutual confidence and co-operation. The Common Council answered that these overtures were like a beam of light breaking through the clouds, and that the city would live and die with Parliament for the maintenance of the League and Covenant. But it was no longer the old idea of the League and Covenant on strict Church principles, in which the city and Parliament united: they agreed unhesitatingly with the adherents of Hamilton, who were now supreme in Scotland, in accepting the King’s last proposals as the basis of a future understanding: and the city also required that he should be allowed to deal personally with Parliament, and that the army should be disbanded.
Under these circumstances it would have been of the highest importance to have rescued the King from custody, and to have placed him in the midst of his adherents; and two attempts were made, one soon after the other, to effect this. They were contrived by the society to which Lady Carlisle belonged, and chiefly by the ladies[524]. Once some soldiers on guard had been actually won, and a boat provided to carry the King away to a safe place; but at the critical moment everything was spoiled by unexpected difficulties, or by the watchfulness of his enemies.
The contradiction was most startling: while Parliament was thinking of reconciliation with the King and dismissal of the army, the latter was actually waging war in the name of Parliament against all supporters of these views.
A.D. 1648.
At the beginning of May Cromwell set out with a strong division against the Royalists of South Wales. Some resistance was offered by the feudal castle of Chepstow, which seems to dominate its neighbourhood as though it had grown up out of the ground. While this place, and with it a number of men influential in the country, was being reduced by a subordinate, Cromwell himself moved forward to besiege Pembroke, which was defended with all the more stubbornness, because the chiefs who were shut up there could reckon on no mercy. It capitulated on July 11, but a number of exceptions was made in granting terms to the garrison. Cromwell was less inexorable against the old Royalists than against those who had once borne arms against the King, for the latter were guilty of apostasy from God’s light. Three of them were condemned to death, but were allowed to draw lots which should be executed[525].
Meanwhile Fairfax had been operating to clear the ground in the neighbourhood of the capital. In connexion with the agitation within the city and the removal of part of the army from its vicinity, a movement hostile to the Independents broke out in Kent, which also demanded primarily the dissolution of the army. With all the greater fury consequently the divisions, which were collected, dashed upon the armed crowd which appeared in the field. One of the most murderous conflicts of the whole war took place at Maidstone[526]. The streets were barricaded, the open square defended with cannon, and a musketry fire kept up from the houses. It was late at night when the Independents at last became masters of the town; as they said, by the help of God, who fought all their battles for them.
Meanwhile Lord Holland, who this time actually took up arms for the Presbyterian cause, the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Francis Villiers, appeared with a considerable body of cavalry at Kingston-on-Thames, in the hope that Surrey, Sussex, and Middlesex would join them: they announced A.D. 1648. their intention to bring the King back to Parliament, and to enforce again the recognised laws of the land. But they did not know the activity of the watchful enemy to whom they were opposed. Before any one had declared for them their cavalry was scattered, and the youthful Lord Francis died of the wounds he received in this encounter: on his body was found a lock of his lady-love’s hair. On the other hand, the members of the same party who had risen in Essex, being strengthened by the fugitives from Kent, made a determined defence at Colchester, which could not be overcome by the extremity of want: and everywhere it was seen that the disasters sustained in no way checked the agitation.
It was mainly this state of things which induced the Scots to advance into England before their preparations were completed or their opponents at home pacified[527]: otherwise the friends upon whom they might reckon for the present would be altogether put down. The opinion even of those who did not wish it was that this undertaking would probably succeed, that the Parliament would send Cromwell to Wales, and Fairfax to Colchester, so as to leave free scope for the Scottish army, and that so the sectarian force might easily be dissipated. It would be a good thing no doubt that the King should be restored, but not by these hands and with such evil allies: this would endanger the glorious Reformation for which Scotland had endured so much[528].
We may see what at this moment was still possible. A fresh battle must decide between the moderate Presbyterians and the Independents: but how much depended on its issue? By the victory of the former a monarchy, limited indeed, but still free, and with it the continuation of all legally existing arrangements, would have been saved, and a prospect opened of the restoration of the Episcopal Church within definite limits; the victory of the second could lead to nothing but a republic, and rendered probable a breach with the past in A.D. 1648. the form either of a completely effected and radical revolution on the basis of the rights of the individual, or of the domination of the army and its leaders. Moreover, if the Scots gained the day, there was no need, in the existing state of parties and considering the greater moderation of that which was now supreme, to apprehend the maintenance of that political and religious preponderance at which they had hitherto aimed, though they would not have allowed themselves to be forced back into a subordinate position: a relation of equilibrium between the two countries would have been formed. On the other hand, the victory of the Independents might be expected to cause not only their entire supremacy in England, but also the extension of it over Scotland, and consequently the establishment, at any rate within a short time, of the undoubted preponderance of England in Great Britain. The relations of the European states were such that none of them could interfere decisively at this moment. The French had never yet succeeded in concluding a general peace, the Spaniards especially showing an unyielding obstinacy. There was even a talk of an attack on France to be made in concert by them and the Independents, which in the summer of 1648, when the troubles of the Fronde broke out, might have been very destructive. On this ground the French avoided everything which might have roused the Independents against France, and have caused an alliance between them and Spain. The assistance given by the French to the King’s cause was but indirect and slight, very far removed from the persistent help which two years before they had led him to expect. A stronger support was afforded by Charles I’s son-in-law, William II Prince of Orange, who had now become Stadtholder-General: but he was hampered at every step by constitutional opposition, which limited his participation. In the midst of the existing divisions of Europe these contests were more than ever purely British—between the nationalities, or rather between the religious and political ideas which pervaded them; and now by the advance of the Scots into England, they were brought to a decisive conflict.
Hamilton appeared in England with pomp greater than befitted even his high rank, surrounded by a splendid bodyguard A.D. 1648. and attended by a numerous train of nobles. His cavalry was perhaps the best that ever crossed the Scottish frontier, but his infantry was ill-trained, armed more with pikes than muskets, and not sufficiently familiar with the use of them. Although he had formerly served under or beside Gustavus Adolphus, he could not be reckoned a thorough soldier, nor had he the enthusiasm of a ruling idea: his sympathy with the Royalist cause was always influenced by his own personal position and by the circumstances of the moment. His strategy bore the same character. Of the generals who surrounded him, those who knew most about war, such as Middleton and Colonel Turner, who filled the office of Adjutant-General, would have preferred to direct their advance into Yorkshire by the route previously adopted, since the inhabitants there were again more favourably disposed to the Scots, and the cavalry would have had more room to act on the open moorlands: but Hamilton wished first to relieve Carlisle, for which reason they deviated from this course; and when at Hornby, after a considerable advance, the proposal to turn in the direction of Yorkshire was discussed, Hamilton rejected it, because he expected to find a favourable reception in Manchester, and after that to be able to rekindle the flame of insurrection not yet quite extinct in North Wales. This political motive prevailed over military considerations: Hamilton was wont in most cases to give way readily, but on this one point he held firm. In the army too the conviction prevailed that they should find friends everywhere, and with their help would soon reach London. They fancied themselves engaged in a peaceful occupation, rather than in a dangerous campaign. The separate divisions proceeded on their way far apart from each other, without dreading an enemy. Cromwell came upon them in this state. His troops were of sorry appearance, for they had already suffered severely in Wales, and even when united with the division of Lambert, who came from the North to join them, were by no means equal in number to the enemy; but they felt the full impulse of their religious and political principle, and were fighting for their existence. If Hamilton gained a firm position in A.D. 1648. England, so that their opponents might be able to rally to him, they were lost. If they conquered him, all Britain was in their hands. Though weaker in total numbers, Cromwell and Lambert were the stronger at every single point where, three days in succession, they encountered the enemy. On the first day they had a very obstinate fight with the English Royalists under Marmaduke Langdale[529], who being ill supported by the main army and ultimately outflanked, retired upon Preston. The town itself could not be held against Cromwell’s cavalry, nor the bridge over the Ribble against his musketeers. The Scots did not allow themselves to be turned by this disaster from their line of march upon Wigan and Warrington. In the council of war held on horseback on the open field, the opinion was given that they ought to hold their ground where they were and await attack; but considering the want of provisions and the continued absence of several regiments, it seemed more advisable to continue their march. The unceasing rainy weather, the roads that gave no footing in that deep and boggy country, especially on Wigan Moor, made progress extremely difficult. On this second day the Independents had the advantage of being able to attack in rear the Scottish rear guard, and inflicted serious losses upon it. On the third day Cromwell overtook the advancing force at the pass of Winwick. Here once more a regular battle took place. The Scots and Royalists defended themselves most bravely; once the Independents were forced to give way, but at last they obtained the victory. When the Scots reached Warrington, they found that, in spite of the strong position they had taken up, they were no longer able to cope with the enemy. The long march of two days and two nights without sufficient food had exhausted the strength of the men, they had no ammunition, they had lost all their artillery, and the population around was hostile. In this desperate situation Hamilton was urged to let the infantry capitulate, and escape A.D. 1648. himself with the cavalry. It seems that he never formally gave his consent, but the soldiers, the officers, and the other generals were unanimous in favour of this course, and the entire body of infantry surrendered as prisoners of war.
The cavalry fared no better a few days later. After some days’ march Hamilton despaired of breaking through with them, and on August 25 he surrendered to Major-General Lambert, to whom Cromwell had intrusted the pursuit[530]. Those about the King tried to comfort him by saying that Hamilton had intended to mount the throne himself. He answered that a wave of his hand would have put an end to such a project; he regarded this defeat as the greatest disaster which could happen to him.
At each stage of these civil wars it was always a great pitched battle which was decisive. As at Marston Moor, all danger to the power of Parliament from the co-operation of the Scots and English Royalists was removed, and at Naseby the monarchy was completely overthrown by the Independents, without the help, nay, even in opposition to the Scots, so now at Preston the influence of the Scots and their ideas upon the Church and realm of England was terminated.
It was very hard on the Presbyterian preachers to be obliged at the order of the government to celebrate this victory in the churches. Most of them contented themselves with merely reading the news and the order; others expressed their astonishment, one might have said their indignation, that God should let the righteous cause be defeated and favour the unrighteous: they added that the sword of Cromwell was after all the sword of God, for he was God’s scourge for the earth.
In the South of England all was decided by this event: Colchester surrendered; the Prince quitted the Downs; and the fleet exhibited a change of sentiments. In the North Cromwell pressed on the remainder of the defeated army. He A.D. 1648. was commanded by Parliament to let no new war arise out of the ashes of the old one; to follow up his victory until he had completed it, and above all, until he had retaken Berwick and Carlisle. He was not empowered to enter Scotland, but he had already such a position that he could venture to proceed to invasion on his own account if the necessity of the case seemed to require it. When he crossed the Tweed he requested the Committee of the Scottish Estates to deliver up to him the two fortresses, or else he should appeal to God; that is to say, to the decision of war.
There were still some remains of the defeated army in the field: Sir George Monro had come into Scotland with the troops that had arrived from Ireland a short time before the defeat, and had there been reinforced by new levies: and as yet Hamilton’s adherents did not give up the contest. Lanerick, the Duke’s brother, thought it possible to defend the frontiers, and perhaps next year to undertake something in the King’s favour. But a contrary movement broke out in Scotland itself. The Church had regarded the defeat of Hamilton, which took place on the anniversary of the Covenant, as the actual judgment of God. Beside the political dissentients there arose also the clergy at the head of their parishioners, and they drove the Committee of Estates from Edinburgh. From this rising, the Whiggamores’ raid[531] as it was called, the name of Whigs was derived. Nor was it unimportant; it made the resistance of the remains of the Royalists to Cromwell’s invasion impossible, and thereby contributed materially to the decision of the great question.
For a moment it seemed as though the two parties would come to blows, but neither felt itself strong and determined enough for this. The adherents of Hamilton allowed the management of affairs to be taken in hand by their opponents, who professed to be friends of Cromwell, and greeted his victory as their own.
On October 4, 1648, Cromwell entered Edinburgh. The A.D. 1648. leader of the Independents was received as if in triumph by the leaders of the Covenanters, who at an earlier time had seen in him their most dangerous and detested enemy. At his first appearance on Scottish soil Carlisle and Berwick had been given up. He now gave it to be understood that as all the confusion of the last few months had been caused by Scotland not crushing the malignants and authors of the troubles, but conferring on them confidential posts of rank and importance, he must take precautions, in the name of the English Parliament, against this ever happening in future. The Committee of Estates as now constituted saw its own interest in excluding his enemies. It promised the next day to take care that no one who had had a share in the last alliance, or had been in arms, should hold any public office without the consent of England. In the next Parliament followed the infamous law fixing the classes according to which this exclusion was regulated in a graduated scale.
The French observed that it was all over with the independence of Scotland, to which they attached so much importance[532]. But the immediate result was merely that Argyle, Johnston, and their party, resumed the dominant position which they had recently lost.
The strict Presbyterians and the Independents had this at least in common, that both were inconsistent with that theory of the monarchy to which Charles I still adhered. Through their co-operation the moderate Presbyterianism, which in any case could and would work with him, had been overthrown in both England and Scotland; but they were by no means agreed between themselves.