The war had now lasted in England for a year and a half. The capital still held firmly to the principles of parliamentary right which it had once adopted, but, as the General observed, the war could not be continued without the possession of a river of gold. It found its best support in an association formed in Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire for common defence, under such leaders as Parliament should appoint: but even here the entire and anxious care of the Parliamentary party was devoted to preventing the gentry from taking part with the King. Meanwhile a counter association in the North, which in fact was the earliest of all, between the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and A.D. 1643. Westmoreland, had been formed under the Earl of Newcastle in favour of the King: a similar one was even then being arranged between Cornwall and Devonshire, which rejected all commands issued without the personal participation of the King. In the former region, the important city of York, where the Royalist resistance had originated, had been confirmed in its attitude by Newcastle’s victories: in the latter, Prince Maurice of the Palatinate had just taken the strong town of Exeter. In Dorset the Parliament had only a couple of fishing villages left; in Somerset and Wilts not a foot of land; in Hampshire all the people were on the King’s side. In the midland counties, Nottingham and Lincoln, from which the King had been obliged to retire a year earlier, his superiority was indisputable: in Northampton his party was at least equal in strength to that of the Parliament; Bedford was occupied by Prince Rupert in October. There was a plan for a rising of the King’s adherents in Kent, where they had hitherto been with difficulty kept down; and this it was hoped would have an effect on London.
In addition to these advantages peace had been restored in Ireland. In May 1642 a synod assembled at Kilkenny had given the country an independent organisation: a council of twenty-four members, in which the four archbishops sat, was appointed to direct public affairs. This council entered into communication with Pope Urban VIII, who was greatly pleased that the land of saints should be purged of heretics. Through the dissensions that had broken out between the King and the Parliament, the English forces could achieve nothing in Ireland; it was expected that in a short time all the surviving Protestants would be at the mercy, or the unmercifulness, of the Irish rebels. Moreover the principles of the Parliament at Westminster were by no means entirely dominant among the Protestants in Ireland: on the contrary the King had still power enough to remove from their offices men who professed such opinions, and to replace them with his own adherents. A moderate middle party was formed, in which the Earl of Ormond was the chief personage. Between these however and the united Catholics there was no irreconcileable breach, as the Catholics continued to treat A.D. 1643. the King as their sovereign lord, whose prerogative they were ready to defend against all the world. Thus it became possible in September 1643 for a truce to be agreed on between the two parties. The Catholics granted the King a subsidy of £30,000.
A great prospect was opened besides by the death of Cardinal Richelieu, and soon afterwards of Louis XIII. The Cardinal towards the end of his life had again begun to exhibit some sympathy for Queen Henrietta; but she might expect much more now that her old friend, Queen Anne, was Regent of France. The party which immediately rose to power was the one to which the Queen herself had belonged. Moreover Charles I expected arms, money, and even men from the King of Denmark[369].
It was in fact doubtful whether Parliament would not be obliged to yield to a combination of so many hostile forces: it had already, feeling this, renewed its dealings with the Scottish Covenanters.
FOOTNOTES:
[346] Letter of Montague from the Hague: ‘Elle n’a jamais temoigné apprehension dans les preparatifs de la mort, que pour les affaires de Dieu et de son mari.’
[347] Zuanne Zon, segretario Veneto de Haya, 16 Giugno. ‘La regina vedendo la piega di quelli affari favorevoli alquanto al re marito, non sollicita la mossa di quei ministri.’
[348] The state of the whole kingdom 1642. According to this the King declared that he had as much right to Hull as any lord of a manor to his country house.
[349] The desires and propositions proposed to Sir John Hotham, with Sir John Hotham’s answers. Letter of Mills, July 1642.
[350] Giustiniani mentions, under date of August 22, that the standard had been set up the week before. This is not actually false, as it was at first displayed from the castle, which the King did not approve. The error of Clarendon, who gives August 25, may arise from the various repetitions. The 22nd is beyond a doubt the true date. Cp. ‘True and exact Relation’ in Somers Tracts iv.