Letter of Fairfax to the City setting forth the obstacles to a peace, 8 July, 1647.
A week later (8 July) Fairfax wrote to the City from Reading—whither he had removed the headquarters of the army (3 July) upon certain concessions being made by parliament—enclosing a copy of a paper which he had forwarded to parliament setting forth the obstacles which still stood in the way of a peaceful settlement, viz., the continued presence of reformadoes in and about London, as well of the army raised for Ireland but not despatched there, and the non-expulsion from the House of those members who had aided the king against parliament.[774] At length parliament gave way. On the 9th the Commons passed an ordinance expelling all members who had favoured the king's cause since the beginning of the war,[775] and the Lords passed another ordinance for all disbanded soldiers to quit London.[776]
The London apprentices' petitions, 13 and 14 July.
Matters were not improved by the action of the apprentices of London, who, like the rest of the inhabitants, took sides with king or parliament. Parliament had recently sanctioned a monthly holiday to all apprentices. The first of these holidays fell on Tuesday, the 13th July. Grateful for this concession, a number of lads employed the day in presenting a petition to the Commons calling upon them to uphold their own authority, recall those who had been so[pg 252] unreasonably expelled, protect the clergy, and bring prisoners to a speedy trial.[777] This was more than the royalist apprentices could stand, so the next day they had their turn, and presented a petition to both Houses praying for the suppression of conventicles, the restoration of the king, the maintenance of the covenant, and the disbandment of the army.[778] This last petition roused the indignation of the army, and was one of the motives which led the "agitators"[779] to demand of the council of war an immediate march on London, a step which would most certainly have been undertaken but for the strenuous opposition of Cromwell and Ireton.[780]
The Solemn Engagement of the City, 21 July.
A week later (21 July) a mob of apprentices, reformadoes, watermen and other disaffected persons met at Skinners' Hall, and one and all signed a Solemn Engagement pledging themselves to maintain the Covenant and to procure the king's restoration to power on the terms offered by him on the 12th May last, viz., the abandonment of the episcopacy for three years and the militia for ten. An endeavour was made to enlist the support of the municipal authorities to this engagement, but a letter from Fairfax (23 July) soon gave them to understand that the army looked on the matter as one "set on foot by the malice of some desperate-minded men, this being their last engine for the putting all into confusion when they could not accomplish their wicked[pg 253] ends by other means."[781] On the 24th both Houses joined in denouncing the Solemn Engagement of the City, their declaration against it being ordered to be published by beat of drum and sound of trumpet through London and Westminster, and within the lines of communication.[782] Anyone found subscribing his name to the engagement after such publication would be adjudged guilty of high treason.
The City's militia again placed in the hands of a parliamentary committee, July, 1647.
In the meanwhile the army council had forwarded (19 July) certain recommendations to the city which they proposed to submit to parliament, among them being one for removing the command of the city's militia out of the hands of the municipal authorities and vesting it in parliament.[783] This proposal was accepted in due course by both Houses.[784]
Dissatisfaction of the City, 24 July.
A mob at Westminster, 26 July, 1647.