Memoirs of a Cavalier Part 18

That since the general could not be ignorant of his present condition, and that the place he was in could not afford him subsistence or defence; and especially considering that the state of our affairs were such, that if we should escape from thence we could not remove to our advantage, he had thought good to let us know, that if we would deliver up our horses and arms, he would, for avoiding the effusion of Christian blood, or the putting any unsoldierly extremities upon us, allow such honourable and safe conditions, as were rather better than our present circ.u.mstances could demand, and such as should discharge him to all the world, as a gentleman, as a soldier, and as a Christian.

After this followed the conditions he would give us, which were as follows, viz.:--That all the soldiery, as well English as foreigners, should have liberty to go beyond the seas, or to their own dwellings, as they pleased; and to such as shall choose to live at home, protection for their liberty, and from all violence and plundering of soldiers, and to give them bag and baggage, and all their goods, except horses and arms.

That for officers in commissions, and gentlemen of quality, he would allow them horses for themselves and one servant, or more, suitable to their quality, and such arms as are suitable to gentlemen of such quality travelling in times of peace; and such officers as would go beyond sea, should take with them their full arms and number of horses as are allowed in the army to such officers.

That all the troopers shall receive on the delivery of their horses, 20s. a man to carry them home; and the general's pa.s.s and recommendation to any gentleman who desires to go to the Parliament to settle the composition for their estates.

Lastly, a very honourable mention of the general, and offer of their mediation to the Parliament, to treat him as a man of honour, and one who has been tender of the country, and behaved himself with all the moderation and candour that could be expected from an enemy.

Upon the unexpected receipt of this message, a council of war was called, and the letter read; no man offered to speak a word; the general moved it, but every one was loth to begin.

At last an old colonel starts up, and asked the general what he thought might occasion the writing this letter? The general told him, he could not tell; but he could tell, he was sure, of one thing, that he knew what was not the occasion of it, viz., that is, not any want of force in their army to oblige us to other terms. Then a doubt was started, whether the king and Parliament were not in any treaty, which this agreement might be prejudicial to.

This occasioned a letter to my Lord Fairfax, wherein our general returning the civilities, and neither accepting nor refusing his proposal, put it upon his honour, whether there was not some agreement or concession between his Majesty and the Parliament, in order to a general peace, which this treaty might be prejudicial to, or thereby be prejudicial to us.

The Lord Fairfax ingenuously declared, he had heard the king had made some concessions, and he heartily wished he would make such as would settle the kingdom in peace, that Englishmen might not wound and destroy one another; but that he declared he knew of no treaty commenced, nor anything pa.s.sed which could give us the least shadow of hope for any advantage in not accepting his conditions; at last telling us, that though he did not insult over our circ.u.mstances, yet if we thought fit, upon any such supposition, to refuse his offers, he was not to seek in his measures.

And it appeared so, for he immediately advanced his forlorns, and dispossessed us of two advanced quarters, and thereby straitened us yet more.

We had now nothing to say, but treat, and our general was so sensible of our condition, that he returned the trumpet with a safe-conduct for commissioners at twelve o'clock that night; upon which a cessation of arms was agreed on, we quitting Truro to the Lord Fairfax, and he left St Allen to us to keep our headquarters.

The conditions were soon agreed on; we disbanded nine full brigades of horse, and all the conditions were observed with the most honour and care by the enemy that ever I saw in my life.

Nor can I omit to make very honourable mention of this n.o.ble gentleman, though I did not like his cause; but I never saw a man of a more pleasant, calm, courteous, downright, honest behaviour in my life; and for his courage and personal bravery in the field, that we had felt enough of. No man in the world had more fire and fury in him while in action, or more temper and softness out of it. In short, and I cannot do him greater honour, he exceedingly came near the character of my foreign hero, Gustavus Adolphus, and in my account is, of all the soldiers in Europe, the fittest to be reckoned in the second place of honour to him.

I had particular occasion to see much of his temper in all this action, being one of the hostages given by our general for the performance of the conditions, in which circ.u.mstance the general did me several times the honour to send to me to dine with him; and was exceedingly pleased to discourse with me about the pa.s.sages of the wars in Germany, which I had served in, he having been at the same time in the Low Countries in the service of Prince Maurice; but I observed if at any time my civilities extended to commendations of his own actions, and especially to comparing him to Gustavus Adolphus, he would blush like a woman, and be uneasy, declining the discourse, and in this he was still more like him.

Let no man scruple my honourable mention of this n.o.ble enemy, since no man can suspect me of favouring the cause he embarked in, which I served as heartily against as any man in the army; but I cannot conceal extraordinary merit for its being placed in an enemy.

This was the end of our making war, for now we were all under parole never to bear arms against the Parliament; and though some of us did not keep our word, yet I think a soldier's parole ought to be the most sacred in such case, that a soldier may be the easier trusted at all times upon his word. For my part, I went home fully contented, since I could do my royal master no better service, that I had come off no worse.

The enemy going now on in a full current of success, and the king reduced to the last extremity, and Fairfax, by long marches, being come back within five miles of Oxford, his Majesty, loth to be cooped up in a town which could on no account hold long out, quits the town in a disguise, leaving Sir Thomas Clemham governor, and being only attended with Mr Ashburnham and one more, rides away to Newark, and there fatally committed himself to the honour and fidelity of the Scots under General Leven.

There had been some little bickering between the Parliament and the Scots commissioners concerning the propositions which the Scots were for a treaty with the king upon, and the Parliament refused it. The Parliament, upon all proposals of peace, had formerly invited the king to come and throw himself upon the honour, fidelity, and affection of his Parliament. And now the king from Oxford offering to come up to London on the protection of the Parliament for the safety of his person, they refused him, and the Scots differed from them in it, and were for a personal treaty.

This, in our opinion, was the reason which prompted the king to throw himself upon the fidelity of the Scots, who really by their infidelity had been the ruin of all his affairs, and now, by their perfidious breach of honour and faith with him, will be virtually and mediately the ruin of his person.

The Scots were, as all the nation besides them was, surprised at the king's coming among them; the Parliament began very high with them, and send an order to General Leven to send the king to Warwick Castle; but he was not so hasty to part with so rich a prize. As soon as the king came to the general, he signs an order to Colonel Bellasis, the governor of Newark, to surrender it, and immediately the Scots decamp homewards, carrying the king in the camp with them, and marching on, a house was ordered to be provided for the king at Newcastle.

And now the Parliament saw their error, in refusing his Majesty a personal treaty, which, if they had accepted (their army was not yet taught the way of huffing their masters), the kingdom might have been settled in peace. Upon this the Parliament send to General Leven to have his Majesty not be sent, which was their first language, but be suffered to come to London to treat with his Parliament; before it was, "Let the king be sent to Warwick Castle"; now 'tis, "To let his Majesty come to London to treat with his people."

But neither one or the other would do with the Scots; but we who knew the Scots best knew that there was one thing would do with them, if the other would not, and that was money; and therefore our hearts ached for the king.

The Scots, as I said, had retreated to Newcastle with the king, and there they quartered their whole army at large upon the country; the Parliament voted they had no farther occasion for the Scots, and desired them to go home about their business. I do not say it was in these words, but in whatsoever good words their messages might be expressed, this and nothing less was the English of it. The Scots reply, by setting forth their losses, damages, and dues, the substance of which was, "Pay us our money and we will be gone, or else we won't stir." The Parliament call for an account of their demands, which the Scots give in, amounting to a million; but, according to their custom, and especially finding that the army under Fairfax inclined gradually that way, fall down to 500,000, and at last to 400,000; but all the while this is transacting a separate treaty is carried on at London with the commissioners of Scotland, and afterwards at Edinburgh, by which it is given them to understand that, whereas upon payment of the money, the Scots army is to march out of England, and to give up all the towns and garrisons which they hold in this kingdom, so they are to take it for granted that 'tis the meaning of the treaty that they shall leave the king in the hands of the English Parliament.

To make this go down the better, the Scotch Parliament, upon his Majesty's desire to go with their army into Scotland, send him for answer, that it cannot be for the safety of his Majesty or of the State to come into Scotland, not having taken the Covenant, and this was carried in their Parliament but by two voices.

The Scots having refused his coming into Scotland, as was concerted between the two Houses, and their army being to march out of England, the delivering up the king became a consequence of the thing--unavoidable, and of necessity.

His Majesty, thus deserted of those into whose hands he had thrown himself, took his leave of the Scots general at Newcastle, telling him only, in few words, this sad truth, that he was bought and sold. The Parliament commissioners received him at Newcastle from the Scots, and brought him to Holmby House, in Northamptonshire; from whence, upon the quarrels and feuds of parties, he was fetched by a party of horse, commanded by one Cornet Joyce, from the army, upon their mutinous rendezvous at Triplow Heath; and, after this, suffering many violences and varieties of circ.u.mstances among the army, was carried to Hampton Court, from whence his Majesty very readily made his escape; but not having notice enough to provide effectual means for his more effectual deliverance, was obliged to deliver himself to Colonel Hammond in the Isle of Wight. Here, after some very indifferent usage, the Parliament pursued a farther treaty with him, and all points were agreed but two: the entire abolishing Episcopacy, which the king declared to be against his conscience and his coronation oath; and the sale of the Church lands, which he declared, being most of them gifts to G.o.d and the Church, by persons deceased, his Majesty thought could not be alienated without the highest sacrilege, and if taken from the uses to which they were appointed by the wills of the donors, ought to be restored back to the heirs and families of the persons who bequeathed them.

And these two articles so stuck with his Majesty, that he ventured his fortune, and royal family, and his own life for them. However, at last, the king condescended so far in these, that the Parliament voted his Majesty's concessions to be sufficient to settle and establish the peace of the nation.

This vote discovered the bottom of all the counsels which then prevailed; for the army, who knew if peace were once settled, they should be undone, took the alarm at this, and clubbing together in committees and councils, at last brought themselves to a degree of hardness above all that ever this nation saw; for calling into question the proceedings of their masters who employed them, they immediately fall to work upon the Parliament, remove Colonel Hammond, who had the charge of the king, and used him honourably, place a new guard upon him, dismiss the commissioners, and put a stop to the treaty; and, following their blow, march to London, place regiments of foot at the Parliament-house door, and, as the members came up, seize upon all those whom they had down in a list as promoters of the settlement and treaty, and would not suffer them to sit; but the rest who, being of their own stamp, are permitted to go on, carry on the designs of the army, revive their votes of non-addresses to the king, and then, upon the army's pet.i.tion to bring all delinquents to justice, the mask was thrown off, the word all is declared to be meant the king, as well as every man else they pleased. 'Tis too sad a story, and too much a matter of grief to me, and to all good men, to renew the blackness of those days, when law and justice was under the feet of power; the army ruled the Parliament, the private officers their generals, the common soldiers their officers, and confusion was in every part of the government. In this hurry they sacrificed their king, and shed the blood of the English n.o.bility without mercy.

The history of the times will supply the particulars which I omit, being willing to confine myself to my own accounts and observations.

I was now no more an actor, but a melancholy observator of the misfortunes of the times. I had given my parole not to take up arms against the Parliament, and I saw nothing to invite me to engage on their side. I saw a world of confusion in all their counsels, and I always expected that in a chain of distractions, as it generally falls out, the last link would be destruction; and though I pretended to no prophecy, yet the progress of affairs have brought it to pa.s.s, and I have seen Providence, who suffered, for the correction of this nation, the sword to govern and devour us, has at last brought destruction by the sword upon the head of most of the party who first drew it.

If together with the brief account of what concern I had in the active part of the war, I leave behind me some of my own remarks and observations, it may be pertinent enough to my design, and not unuseful to posterity.

1. I observed by the sequel of things that it may be some excuse to the first Parliament, who began this war, to say that they manifested their designs were not aimed at the monarchy, nor their quarrel at the person of the king; because, when they had in their power, though against his will, they would have restored both his person and dignity as a king, only loading it with such clogs of the people's power as they at first pretended to, viz., the militia, and power of naming the great officers at court, and the like; which powers, it was never denied, had been stretched too far in the beginning of this king's reign, and several things done illegally, which his Majesty had been sensible of, and was willing to rectify; but they having obtained the power by victory, resolved so to secure themselves, as that, whenever they laid down their arms, the king should not be able to do the like again. And thus far they were not to be so much blamed, and we did not on our own part blame them, when they had obtained the power, for parting with it on good terms.

But when I have thus far advocated for the enemies, I must be very free to state the crimes of this b.l.o.o.d.y war by the events of it. 'Tis manifest there were among them from the beginning a party who aimed at the very root of the government, and at the very thing which they brought to pa.s.s, viz., the deposing and murdering of their sovereign; and, as the devil is always master where mischief is the work, this party prevailed, turned the other out of doors, and overturned all that little honesty that might be in the first beginning of this unhappy strife.

The consequence of this was, the Presbyterians saw their error when it was too late, and then would gladly have joined the royal party to have suppressed this new leaven which had infected the lump; and this is very remarkable, that most of the first champions of this war who bore the brunt of it, when the king was powerful and prosperous, and when there was nothing to be got by it but blows, first or last, were so ill used by this independent, powerful party, who tripped up the heels of all their honesty, that they were either forced by ill treatment to take up arms on our side, or suppressed and reduced by them. In this the justice of Providence seemed very conspicuous, that these having pushed all things by violence against the king, and by arms and force brought him to their will, were at once both robbed of the end, their Church government, and punished for drawing their swords against their masters, by their own servants drawing the sword against them; and G.o.d, in His due time, punished the others too. And what was yet farther strange, the punishment of this crime of making war against their king, singled out those very men, both in the army and in the Parliament, who were the greatest champions of the Presbyterian cause in the council and in the field. Some minutes, too, of circ.u.mstances I cannot forbear observing, though they are not very material, as to the fatality and revolutions of days and times. A Roman Catholic gentleman of Lancashire, a very religious man in his way, who had kept a calculate of times, and had observed mightily the fatality of times, places, and actions, being at my father's house, was discoursing once upon the just judgment of G.o.d in dating His providences, so as to signify to us His displeasure at particular circ.u.mstances; and, among an infinite number of collections he had made, these were some which I took particular notice of, and from whence I began to observe the like:--

1. That King Edward VI. died the very same day of the same month in which he caused the altar to be taken down, and the image of the Blessed Virgin in the Cathedral of St Paul's.

2. That Cranmer was burnt at Oxford the same day and month that he gave King Henry VIII. advice to divorce his Queen Catherine.

3. That Queen Elizabeth died the same day and month that she resolved, in her Privy Council, to behead the Queen of Scots.

4. That King James died the same day that he published his book against Bellarmine.

5. That King Charles's long Parliament, which ruined him, began the very same day and month which that Parliament began, that at the request of his predecessor robbed the Roman Church of all her revenues, and suppressed abbeys and monasteries.

How just his calculations were, or how true the matter of fact, I cannot tell, but it put me upon the same in several actions and successes of this war. And I found a great many circ.u.mstances, as to time or action, which befell both his Majesty and his parties first;

Then others which befell the Parliament and Presbyterian faction, which raised the war;

Then the Independent tyranny which succeeded and supplanted the first party;

Then the Scots who acted on both sides;

Lastly, the restoration and re-establishment of the loyalty and religion of our ancestors.

1. For King Charles I.; 'tis observable, that the charge against the Earl of Strafford, a thing which his Majesty blamed himself for all the days of his life, and at the moment of his last suffering, was first read in the Lords' House on the 30th of January, the same day of the month six years that the king himself was brought to the block.

2. That the king was carried away prisoner from Newark, by the Scots, May 10, the same day six years that, against his conscience and promise, he pa.s.sed the bill of attainder against the loyal, n.o.ble Earl of Strafford.

3. The same day seven years that the king entered the House of Commons for the five members, which all his friends blamed him for, the same day the Rump voted bringing his Majesty to trial, after they had set by the Lords for not agreeing to it, which was the 3rd of January 1648.

4. The 12th of May 1646, being the surrender of Newark, the Parliament held a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing, for the reduction of the king and his party, and finishing the war, which was the same day five years that the Earl of Strafford was beheaded.

5. The battle at Naseby, which ruined the king's affairs, and where his secretary and his office was taken, was the 14th of June, the same day and month the first commission was given out by his Majesty to raise forces.