It has been suggested with some force that the display of anger in this letter is so unusual in the Earl of Derby, that probably the Countess was chiefly responsible for it;[213] but in any case after this all possible chance of reconciliation between him and the Parliament was at an end. And it must be admitted that the Earl himself from his uncompromising attitude, was largely responsible for the merciless hostility with which he was pursued to the scaffold. In a further list of those to be exempted from Parliament, containing about 30 names, the name of the Earl of Derby comes third, following those of Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice.
The Isle of Man had been put into a position of defence, and plundering expeditions were organised by the few ships which the Earl had under his command. Since the royalist defeat he had been cut off from all communication with England, but maintained intercourse with the Earl of Ormonde in Ireland. Derby addressed many letters to Ormonde urging him to send some guns and ammunition to his help, but without success; eventually Ormonde did despatch some powder, but it was lost at sea.[214] There is no doubt, however, that the piracy of the royalists' vessels was a great nuisance to the shipping in the Irish Sea. In November, 1649, the Admiralty Committee were urged to send a frigate for service upon the coast of Lancashire and North Wales in order to protect the shipping in those parts; but it does not seem to have had very much effect, for the trouble continued during the following year.[215] At length the Parliament adopted a more effective but very dishonourable means of retaliation. In May, 1650, Colonel Birch was ordered to seize the daughters of the Earl of Derby, who were at Knowsley, and any other of the Earl's relatives whom they could secure; and then to send over to Derby to release by a certain date all the Parliamentarian prisoners whom he had, otherwise he must expect retaliation.[216] Lady Katherine and Lady Amelia Stanley were kept in prison for some months; on October 8th, 1650, they were ordered to be set free on bail, but the order was afterwards deferred pending the development of events in the Isle of Man.
There was perhaps some fear in the court of Charles II. now at the Hague, that the Earl of Derby might yield to the proposals made to him by Parliament for surrender. At any rate in January, 1650, he was made a Knight of the Garter, an honour which he had expected in the previous reign. Of the four Knights elected at this time the Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of Newcastle, the Marquis of Montrose, and the Earl of Derby, only Newcastle lived to be installed. The letter of appointment to the Earl of Derby makes special reference to his defence of the Isle of Man; and in the following June Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Sir Lewis Dives were despatched to the Island to urge the importance of preserving it. There had been plans made in the Spring of 1650 for a royalist rising in England, and the Earl of Derby had been named as General in Lancashire; and when Charles II. had a prospect of regaining power, his advisers realised that the Earl of Derby could give substantial assistance in any attempt on the North of England.[217]
It was in June, 1650, that Charles landed at Speymouth in Scotland, took the Covenant, and six months later was crowned King. To anticipate the inevitable invasion of England Cromwell crossed the border and signally defeated Leslie at Dunbar (Sept. 3rd, 1650). After his victory all the South of Scotland submitted to the English. The following summer Cromwell again took the field; Lambert turned the Scots' position by a flank march through Fife, and Leslie, realising that Scotland was lost, staked all on the desperate venture of an invasion of England. Perhaps it did not seem so desperate as it was. They were convinced, as the Jacobites were convinced half a century later, that the country would rise in force out of affection for the House of Stewart; and there was certainly more reason for the expectation in 1651 than in 1715. For the majority of Englishmen after all favoured monarchy, and the prospect of a military despotism alarmed most people. The tyranny of Charles I. was being forgotten, and his tragic death had to a large extent effaced the memory of his incompetence and duplicity. But still more powerful than this feeling was the desire for peace and quietness. The country would probably have accepted Charles II. in 1651 as in 1660, if it could have done so peaceably. Perhaps a majority of the nation, certainly a majority of the inhabitants of Lancashire would have already preferred the restoration of the King to the rule of Cromwell but they were not so anxious for his restoration that they would support it by force of arms. And the old Parliamentarian leaders in Lancashire, estranged as they were from Cromwell, had no more sympathy with their old royalist enemies who now emerged from their retirement in the Isle of Man to welcome Charles' march.[218]
Early in the year the King had opened a correspondence with the Earl of Derby through the medium of Sir John Birkenhead, and had received loyal letters from the Earl in return. It was not to be expected that Charles' submission to the Scots and his taking of the Covenant would be in accord with Derby's views, but it made no difference to the latter's loyalty. When the danger from Scotland seemed imminent the Parliament had made fresh efforts to secure the Isle of Man by force. Derby defeated an attempt of five Parliamentarian ships on the Calf of Man on March 29th, 1651, and shortly afterwards repulsed a second invasion of the Island.
There was some other design of the royalists in England during the Spring of this year for which several people were imprisoned; and by Cromwell's order there were seized at Greenock a party of royalists who were on their way to the Isle of Man to concert measures with the Earl of Derby.[219]
The Scots began their march into England in June, 1651, and entered Lancashire early in August. They had about 16,000 men, "I daresay near double the number of those that the King of Sweden entered Germany with if not more," wrote one of the officers. Charles was proclaimed King at Penrith on August 7th, and afterwards at all the market towns through which he passed. On Saturday, August 9th, the army was at Kendal; two days later they entered Lancaster, and on the following day Charles was proclaimed at the Cross, and all the prisoners in the Castle were released.[220] That night the King slept at Ashton Hall, near Lancaster, and on the 13th at Myerscough Lodge, Sir Thomas Tyldesley's house. Next day they passed through Preston, and leaving there the same day, Charles stayed on August 14 at Sir William Gerrard's house at Bryn Hall, six miles from Warrington. The conduct of the royal army was very different from that of the Scotch Invasion of 1648. No plundering was allowed, and violence was strictly forbidden. No one was forced to join the army, and Charles marched swiftly, staying only a night or two at each place so as not to be too great a burden on the country. Yet in spite of this no great enthusiasm was allowed. Few recruits joined the royal standard, and there were a number of desertions. At Preston Charles rode on horseback through all the streets of the town; but even here he was disappointed by the coolness of his reception. There were already misgivings among his followers. "We have quit Scotland," wrote Hamilton on August 8th, "being scarce able to maintain it; and yet we grasp all; nothing but all will satisfy us or to lose all. I confess I cannot tell you whether our hopes or fears are greatest; but we have one stout argument, despair; for we must now either stoutly fight it or die. All the rogues have left us; I shall not say whether for fear or disloyalty; but all now with His Majesty are such as will not dispute his commands."[221]
The Council of State had not been idle in view of the projected Scotch invasion. On April 19th they had issued instructions to Major-General Harrison to go down to Lancashire with three troops of horse, of his own regiment, and on his arrival to replace Colonel Rich, who was to return to headquarters with the three troops under his command. Harrison remained in Lancashire to keep order. When the Scots approached nearer, Colonels Duckenfield, Birch, and Mackworth were commissioned to raise ten new companies of foot of 100 men each out of the late militia forces in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire and Salop. Liverpool was to be especially guarded, and Duckenfield, who was Governor of Chester, addressed an appeal to the Council of State for the replacement of forty barrels of powder and a quantity of arms which he had previously furnished out of the magazine under his charge for use of the troops in Ireland.[222] The Council of State were evidently quite satisfied with the preparations which were being made in these three counties for resistance. Meanwhile Cromwell had sent Major-General Lambert with a detachment of cavalry to follow the Scots, and he hung on their rear all along the line of march without being strong enough to engage them. On their way through Lancashire, however, Lambert slipped round them and effected a junction with Harrison somewhere south of the Ribble (Wed., Aug. 13th). Their combined forces, together with the newly raised local troops, amounted in all to 12,000 horse, foot and dragoons; but they were still unwilling to engage the Scots before they had been joined by Cromwell. When Lambert and Harrison met Charles was still north of Preston, and still retreating before him they passed through Bolton on Thursday, August 14th.[223] On reaching Warrington, however, Lambert decided to oppose the Scots' advance. Sending out a few troops to skirmish with their advance guard, he occupied Warrington Bridge by a detachment of foot, whose retreat was secured by cavalry. The skirmishing party encountered the royalists two miles north of Warrington, and were soon dispersed; the royalist scouts entered the town about noon, and being followed by the rest of the army, at once attacked the bridge. The Cheshire foot who were posted there, held their ground for an hour and a half; as 2,000 of the Scots pressed upon them their position was for a time somewhat perilous; but at length, breaking down as much of the bridge as they could, they regained the main body of the army in safety. The Scots following, engaged the Parliamentarian rearguard, consisting of Major-General Lambert's, General Whalley's and Colonel Twistleton's regiments, but they were beaten off; and Lambert withdrew in safety to Knutsford, a more favourable place for cavalry operations, expecting Charles to follow him; but the King continued his march through Cheshire in a more direct line.[224]
The Parliamentarians had really the better of the skirmish, but it was magnified by the royalists into a great victory for themselves. Charles issued from Higher Whitley on the same evening, a statement of his affairs in which he declared that he might have crossed the Mersey by several fords, but attacked the bridge directly in order to give his troops confidence.[225] The fact that it was thought necessary to magnify so greatly this small success, showed how much the royalists lacked confidence. Even Clarendon admits that the extent of the achievement was to force Lambert to retire somewhat faster than he had intended; and it was thought that the disorder of his retreat was partly feigned in order to draw the royalists on. And even in the army there was misgiving in spite of the apparent success. The King perceiving David Leslie's gloomy expression, rallied him upon it, and asked him what he thought of the troops now. Leslie replied that however well the army looked it would not fight.[226]