“Honoble Sr,
I came to Drayton, hearinge you were there, butt unfortunately mist of you, yor honor lyeinge in Stafforde the night before; I have since then waited yor retorne from London, haveinge 30 able men in readiness, and 20 of them well armed, to doe yor honor servise. I have kepte them together upon my owne charge, and should have bin glad they might have bin accepted in Ossestrie, to doe duty for theire free quarters till yor honor had returned. I motioned this to Major Goldegay, butt itt could nott be granted without an order from the Comitte. Sr, I am resolved to doe you servise, or no man; and for my fidelity, I will engage £400, paid in Shropshire, and if you please, as much in Cheshire; if yor honor please, I could wish to have a comission sent me by the first, because I only tooke itt in direction from yor honor, and whether thatt may suporte me in yor honor’s absence, (should I be questioned) I make a doubte of. Sr, my request is, I may have order by the first, to martch to Osestree, where I and my men will doe duty for free quarters, (requireinge noe pay) till yor honor retorneth; and lett me receive order from Major Goldegay to thatt purpose, if you soe please, for were I settled in a garrison, I could have men sufficient. I beseech yor honor retorne me yor pleasure by the first, and I shall willingly embrace yor commands; if yor honor send to Hugh Bate, Shoemaker, in Wem, he will convey yor letter to Mr. Jon. Grosvenor, in Berson, from whence itt will come safe to me. Sr, I pray for yor honors prosperity and safe retorne, and whilst I live I shall remaine
Att yor servise,
EDWARDE MYNSHULL.”“Berson, April 25th, 1645.”
The fall of Shrewsbury into the power of the Parliament was marked by “a solemn thanksgiving throughout the City of London,” on the 12th March; Mytton was summoned to appear before the House of Commons on the 29th of that month, and “Master Speaker, in the name, and by the command of the whole House, gave him hearty thanks for his many and faithfull services done to the state; giving him all encouragement to persist in the same: especially for that gallant service of Shrewsbury; assuring him that he shall never want the encouragement of the House of Parliament in his undertakings.”
General Mytton had evidently embarked all his energies in the parliamentary cause; yet notwithstanding the tribute paid to him by the Commons, it does not appear that he obtained from that source any more substantial honours. This neglect seems to have given him much pain. A letter to him from the Duke of Northumberland, about this period, shews that even the Governorship of Oswestry was not actually accorded to him till late in the year 1645. The letter we subjoin:—
“Sr,
By an indisposition in my health, I have not beene able for some dayes to attend the Committie of both kingdomes, so as I can not give you so good an account of your businesse as I desired, but I heare that a commission for your being governor of Oswallds-tree is alreadie signed; to-morrow I shall make a further enquirie after this particular, and if it be in my power to contribute any thing towards your satisfaction, none shall more readily assist you then
Your very affectionate freind and servant,
“London, Nov. 21, 1645.”
NORTHUMBERLAND.”
“For my very loveing Freind, Col. Mytton.”
The conquest of Shrewsbury, by the parliamentary troops, is generally acknowledged to have been achieved by the gallantry and superior tactics of General Mytton; and having accomplished so signal a service for his party, he naturally expected, now that the Governorship of that town was vacant, that the office would he conferred upon him. His ancient relation to the town, his ancestors having been inhabitants and burgesses for upwards of four centuries, added strength to his claim. All his important services to the Parliament were, however, of no weight, and the Governorship was bestowed upon another man. We are told that “Colonel Mytton’s politics were getting very fast out of fashion. He had sided with the Parliament only for the limitation of prerogative, not for the subversion of the monarchy. The Presbyterians, to whom, it appears, he belonged, had no insurmountable objections to the office of a king, provided he was under their controul: or to a national establishment of religion, if its revenues were at their disposal. But those who commence important changes in a state have seldom the satisfaction of reaping the fruit of their labours. Spirits more ardent, with views more extensive, step in between them and the consummation of their designs.” With Sir William Waller, another of the ablest and most successful commanders of the Presbyterian party, he could say, “after the expence of so much blood and treasure, all the difference between our former and present estate is this, that before-time, under the complaint of a slavery we lived like freemen; and now, under the notion of a freedom, we live like slaves, enforced by continual taxes and oppressions, to maintain and feed on our miseries.”
Although General Mytton had been thus ungratefully treated by the Parliament, he still occupied his military position, for we find that in 1648 he was engaged with Sir Thomas Myddleton in the attack upon Caernarvonshire and Anglesey. In June of that year the Speaker of the House of Commons communicated to him a letter, highly approving his “good and faithfull service” against “Sir John Owen and his rebellious crewe.” The letter referred to is a curiosity, as it shows the blasphemous freedom which Cromwell’s parliament took with the holy name of God:—
“Sir,
I received a letter subscribed by yourself and the Governor of Conway, wherein you gave an account of the late successe wherewith God hath beene pleased to blesse the forces under both yor commands and conductes in yor late expedition into Carnarvonshire, against Sir John Owen and his rebellious crewe, wch I have imparted to the house, and hath beene there read. Yor good and faithfull service in that expedition is soe well represented, that I am comanded, as from the house and in their name, to returne thanks for the same, wch hereby I doe, and you are desired to do the like to those officers and souldiers under the charge and comand wch God hath beene pleased to make instrumentall in the obteyning of such a seasonable mercy, and withall to represent to the house what course (like to be effectual) may bee taken for remunerating ye officers and souldiers for their good service. This beeing all I have in comand at present, I shall only add that I am
Yor assured loveing freind,
WM. LENTHALL, Speaker.”“June the 13th, 1648.”
Lenthall, the Speaker, was profuse, as we have shewn, in compliments, but still no substantial mark of favour upon General Mytton was bestowed. The Committee to whom the appointment of Governor of Shrewsbury Castle had been referred had long before found “reasons of weight to put another” in that office, after having held it in their own hands for some time. In 1647 the Governorship was filled by Humphrey Mackworth, Esq., of Betton, a Presbyterian, and Colonel in the army, who occupied the post till his death, in 1654, and having been one of Cromwell’s Privy Council, was buried in Henry VII.’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey, on the 26th December, with great magnificence. He was succeeded in office at Shrewsbury by Thomas Hunt, Esq., representative of the town in Parliament, and a Colonel in the army. Mytton retired to London, from what immediate cause there is no record to show; but some writers assert that he resigned his command. In 1651 we find that the Parliament again solicited Major-General Mytton’s services, the following letter having been forwarded to him by the President Bradshawe. The kingdom was disturbed at this period by the Scottish Covenanters, under the nominal command of Charles II.:—
“Sr,
The Scotts army being now entred into England, and bending their course towards those parts where wee know you have a good interest, wee conceive your presence there may bee of use for the service of the Commonwealth; wee therefore desire you forthwith to repaire into the Countie of Salop, and there, with the rest of your fellow Commissioners, doe your best endeavour, and put out your interest there for the raiseing of what force of horse and foot you can, for the service of the Commonwealth in this present exigency of affaires.
Signed in the name and by order of the Councell of
State, appointed by authority of Parliament,
JO: BRADSHAWE, Prsidt.”“Whitehall, 14th August, 1651.”
“For Major General Thomas Mytton.”
Most probably by this time General Mytton had grown tired with the hard toils of intestine warfare, and become disgusted with the faithlessness of the men whom he had so ardently and faithfully served; for we do not find that he complied with Bradshawe’s letter, or took any further part in public affairs. He died in the metropolis in the year 1656, and his body was taken down to Shrewsbury, and interred in St. Chad’s Church there.