“I admit we ought not to have stayed so long in Preston,” said Forster. “But you all seemed unwilling to quit your quarters, and I apprehended no danger.”
“'Tis idle to regret the past,” said Lord Widdrington; “you have complained of the absence of the High Church Tories, my lord,” he added, to Lord Kenmure. “But you cannot say that the Roman Catholics have failed you.”
“No, they have proved our staunchest friends,” replied Lord Kenmure. “And a braver and a better commander cannot be found than Lord Derwentwater.”
“In that we all agree,” said Lord Nithsdale and the other Scottish nobles.
“The hour at which the armistice expires is close at hand,” said Forster, “and we must therefore prepare to conclude this painful business properly. We will remain here, but all the officers—English and Scotch—must forthwith assemble within the churchyard to deliver up their arms. Let immediate orders be given to that effect,” he added to Charles Radclyffe and Captain Dalziel, who at once departed on the errand.
XII.—THE INSURGENT OFFICERS DELIVER UP THEIR SWORDS.
SHORTLY afterwards, in obedience to Forster's orders, all the officers of the insurgent force assembled in the churchyard, and though they endeavoured to assume a careless air, many of them looked very downcast. Among them were all those who had recently joined at Lancaster and Preston, and received the rank of captain—Mr. Townley, of Townley, Sir Francis Anderton, Ralph Standish, Gabriel Hesketh, John Tyldesley, John Dalton, and several others.
They had had but a short campaign, and might now have to pay for their devotion with their lives. However, they bore themselves bravely under the distressing circumstances. The annoyance of the ceremonial was heightened by its publicity.