Clarendon (Hist., vol. I, part II. book v.) describes Sir John Hotham as “by his nature and education a rough and rude man, of great covetousness, of great pride, and great ambition; without any bowels of good nature, or the least sense or touch of generosity; his parts were not quick and sharp, but composed, and he judged well; he was a man of craft, and more likely to deceive than be cozened.” “He had been first induced to sympathise with the Parliament against the King,” adds Clarendon, “by his particular malice against the Earl of Strafford;” he had been imprisoned, probably as he suspected at the instigation of Strafford, for complaining in Parliament at the King’s demands for large subsidies for the army; and he had formally ranged himself upon the Parliamentary side; but the Parliamentary leaders “well knew that he was not possessed with their principles in any degree,” that, although he had considered Laud guilty of treason, he was a zealous supporter of Church and State, and that he had been “terrified” by certain votes against sheriffs and deputy-lieutenants passed in the House of Commons. “Therefore they sent his son, a member likewise of the House, and in whom they confided, to assist him, or rather to be a spy upon his father. And this was the first essay they made of their Sovereign Power over the Militia and the Forts.” As will appear later, the son was in reality more royalist in his inclinations than the father upon whom he was to spy.
Against such a usurpation of the Royal Prerogative the King made a protest on 9 March. He was determined to displace Hotham, and to replace Newcastle, at Hull. In April he went North with a view to testing the powers of the Parliament by entering Hull himself. At the same time he was anxious to avoid all appearance of committing an act of war. Ostensibly, he intended merely to enter Hull as he might enter any of his other cities.
When Hotham was informed that the King was approaching, accompanied by 300 men, and that there were 400 more behind them, he was “in great confusion,” says Clarendon, “and calling some of the chief magistrates, and other officers together to consult, they persuaded him not to suffer the King to enter the town”.
Presently a messenger from Charles arrived, bringing to Hotham the information that the King would do him the honour of dining with him that day.
Bewildered almost to distraction, Hotham resolved to obey orders which he had received from the Parliament to admit no troops whatever without its special instructions. Accordingly he had his drawbridges raised, and standing upon the walls when the King arrived, he very respectfully informed him of the strict injunctions which he had received from his employers—the Commons. Then the King offered to come in with an escort of only twenty men; but Hotham, knowing that there was a strong royalist spirit within the town, was afraid of admitting him, and said that to allow even so small a number of armed men to enter would be a breach of his orders. Clarendon says: “the gentleman, with much distraction in his looks, talked confusedly of ‘the trust he had from the Parliament’; then fell upon his knees, and wished ‘that God would bring confusion upon him and his, if he were not a loyal and faithful subject to His Majesty, but, in conclusion, plainly denied to suffer his Majesty to come into the town’”. The King’s soldiers then loudly called upon the garrison to kill Hotham on the spot and throw him over the wall; and Charles, having made his heralds proclaim Hotham a traitor, rode away in a rage.
In the following month (May), the greater part of the arms and stores were shipped from Hull to the Tower of London. The Hotham incident greatly increased the irritation already existing between the King and the Parliament; and, although war had not been actually declared, both sides were collecting troops and stores.
Charles ordered Newcastle to take possession of the city bearing his name, and also the command of the four adjacent counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham and Westmoreland. On 17 June, 1642, he entered the city of Newcastle in the name of the King. He also secured Tynemouth Castle and he fortified Shields. The King had now a port on the East coast at which he could receive supplies from Holland, whither the Queen had gone to raise money for the coming war by selling her jewels and begging for loans.
It was all very well to be given the command of four counties; but it was difficult to command them without men to enforce commands. The King had indeed ordered Newcastle to make bricks without straw. As it was, when Newcastle arrived, “he neither found any military provision considerable for the undertaking that work, nor generally any great encouragement from the people in those parts”. So says the Duchess; and she adds:—
“As soon as my Lord came to Newcastle, in the first place he sent for all his Tenants[39] and Friends in those parts, and presently raised a Troop of Horse consisting of 120, and a Regiment of Foot, and put them under Command, and upon duty and exercise in the Town of Newcastle; and with this small beginning took the Government of that place upon him ... and armed the Soldiers as well as he could: And thus he stood upon his Guard, and continued them upon Duty; playing his weak Game with much Prudence, and giving the Town and Country very great satisfaction by his noble and honourable Deportment.” In short, under the circumstances, Newcastle would have found it very dangerous, when “playing his weak game,” to be anything except civil and obsequious.