pretended only to petition for what concerned them as soldiers; then, they must have a vindication of their character; soon afterward, it was necessary that their enemies should be punished; and, at last, they claimed a right of new-moulding the government, and of settling the nation'. They even proceeded so far as to name eleven members, the very leaders of the presbyterian party, whom they charged with high treason, as enemies to the army, and evil counsellors to the parliament; and they insisted, that these individuals should be immediately suspended from their public functions. The commons replied, that they could not proceed so far upon a general charge. The army adduced, as precedents, the cases of Strafford and Laud; and the obnoxious members themselves, not willing to be the occasion of discord, begged leave to retire from the house".

The army seemed satisfied with this proof of submission, and, in order to preserve appearances, removed, at the desire of the parliament, to a greater distance from London, and fixed its head-quarters at Reading, still having the king in its custody. Nor was Charles displeased at this jealous watchfulness over his person. He now began to find of what consequence he was to both parties; and fortune, amidst all his calamities, seemed to again to flatter him. The two houses, afraid of his forming some accommodation with the army, addressed him in a more respectful style than they had for some time employed, and even invited him to reside at Richmond, and contribute his assistance toward the adjustment of national affairs. The chief officers of the army treated him with apparent regard; and the settlement of his revenue and authority was insisted on, in the public declarations of that body; so that the royalists conceived hopes of the re-establishment of monarchy.

Though the king kept his ear open to all proposals, and hoped to hold the balance between the opposite parties, he entertained stronger hopes of an accommodation with the army than with the parliament, whose rigour he had severely felt. To this opinion he was particularly inclined, by the proposals sent from the council of officers for the settlement of the nation; in which they neither insisted on the abolition of episcopacy nor on the punishment of the royalists-the very points that he was ex

1 Rushworth, vol. vii. and viii.

2 The names of these members were sir Philip Stapleton, sir William Lewis, sir John Clotworthy, sir William Waller, sir John Maynard, Holles, Massey, Glynne, Nichol, Long, and Harley.

3 Parl. Hist. vol. xv.-Rushworth.

tremely unwilling to yield, and which had rendered every former negotiation abortive. He also hoped, that, by gratifying a few persons with titles and preferments, he might draw over the whole military power, and at once reinstate himself in his civil authority. To Cromwell he offered the garter, a peerage, and the command of the army; and to Ireton, the lieutenancy of Ireland. Nor did he think that they could reasonably, from their birth or former situation, entertain more ambitious views '.

Cromwell, willing to keep a door open for an accommodation with the king, if the course of events should render it necessary, pretended to listen to these secret negotiations; but he continued, at the same time, his scheme of reducing the parliament to subjection, and of depriving it of all means of resistance. For this purpose, it was required that the militia of the city of London should be changed, the presbyterian commissioners displaced, and the command restored to those who had exercised it during the course of the war. The parliament complied even with so imperious a demand, hoping to find a more favourable conjuncture for the recovery of its authority and influence. But the impatience of the city deprived that assembly of all prospect of advantage from its cautious measures, and afforded the troops a plausible pretext for their concerted violence. petition against the alteration of the militia was drawn up by the citizens; and its presentation was supported by a seditious multitude, who besieged the house of commons, and obliged the members to reverse the vote they had so lately passed 2.

A

No sooner was intelligence of this tumult conveyed to Reading, than the troops began their march toward the capital, to vindicate, as they said, the invaded privileges of parliament against the seditious citizens, and restore that assembly to its just freedom of debate and council. They were met on Hounslow-heath by the speakers of the two houses, accompanied with eight peers, and about sixty commoners; who, having secretly retired from the city, presented themselves before the army with their maces, and all the ensigns of their dignity, complaining of the violence put upon them, and craving protection 3.

The remaining members prepared themselves with vigour for defence, and seemed resolutely bent on resistance. The two houses immediately chose new speakers, renewed their orders

1 Parl. Hist. vol. xvi.-Clarendon, vol. v.

3 Rushworth, vol. viii.

2 Rushworth, vol. vii.

for enlisting troops, and commanded the militia to man the lines. But the terror of an universal pillage, and even of a massacre, having seized the timid inhabitants, the parliament was obliged to submit. The army marched in triumph through the city, but without committing any outrage. The speakers who Aug. 6. had seceded now resumed their seats, as if nothing had happened; and the eleven impeached members, being accused as the authors of the tumult, were expelled. Seven peers were impeached; the lord mayor, one sheriff, and three aldermen, were sent to the Tower; several citizens and officers of the militia were committed to prison; the lines round the city were levelled; the militia restored to the independents; and the parliament being reduced to absolute servitude, a day was appointed for a solemn thanksgiving to God for the restoration of its liberty'.

The independents, who had secretly concurred in all the encroachments of the military upon the civil power, exulted in their victory. They had now a near prospect of moulding the government into the form of that imaginary republic which had long been the object of their wishes; and they vainly expected by the terror of the sword, to impose a more perfect system of liberty on the nation, without perceiving that they themselves, by such a conduct, must become slaves to some military despot. Yet were the leaders of this party, Vane, Fiennes, St. John, and others, the men in England most celebrated for sound thought and deep design; so certain it is, that an extravagant passion for sway will make the most prudent overlook the dangerous consequences of those measures which seem to tend to their own aggrandisement. Men under the influence of such a passion may be said to see objects only on one side; hence the hero and the politician, as well as the lover, in the failure of their selfdeceiving projects, have often occasion to lament their own blindness.

The king, however, derived some temporary advantages from this revolution. The leaders of the army, having now established their dominion over the city and parliament, ventured to bring their captive sovereign to his palace of Hampton-court, where he lived, for a time, with an appearance of dignity and freedom. He still entertained hopes that his negotiations with the generals would be crowned with success, and declined all advances from the parliament. Cromwell, it is asserted, really intended

Rushworth, vol. viii.-Hume, vol. vii.

to have made a private bargain with the king, but found insuperable difficulties in attempting to reconcile the military fanatics to such a measure. This reason, it is at least certain, he assigned for more rarely admitting the visits of the king's friends. The agitators, he said, had already rendered him odious to the army, by representing him as a traitor, who, for the sake of private interest, was ready to betray the cause of God to the great enemy of piety and religion'.

Cromwell thus finding, or pretending to find, that he could not safely close with the king's proposals, affected to be much alarmed for his majesty's safety. Violent schemes, he asserted, were formed by the agitators against the life of the captive monarch; and he was apprehensive, he said, that the commanding officers might not be able to restrain those desperate enthusiasts from effecting their bloody purpose. That no precaution, however, might seem to be neglected, the guards were doubled upon him, the promiscuous concourse of people was restrained, and a more jealous care was exerted in attending his person; all under colour of protecting him from danger, but really with a view of making his present situation uneasy to him.

court.

These artifices soon produced the desired effect. Charles took a sudden resolution of withdrawing himself from HamptonHe accordingly made his escape, attended by Nov. 11. three gentlemen, in whom he placed particular confidence, namely, sir John Berkeley, Ashburnham, and Legge, though seemingly without any rational plan for the future disposal of his person. He first went toward the sea-coast, and expressed great anxiety that a certain ship, in which it was supposed he intended to transport himself beyond sea, had not arrived. After secreting himself for some time at Titchfield, he determined to put himself under the protection of colonel Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight, nephew to Dr. Hammond, his favourite chaplain, but intimately connected with the republican party. For this purpose, Ashburnham and Berkeley were dispatched to that island, but with orders not to discover to the governor the place where the king lay concealed, until they had obtained a promise from him, that he would not deliver up his majesty to the parliament or the army. Such a promise would have been a slender security; yet Ashburnham imprudently, if not treacherously, brought the colonel to Titchfield, without exacting it; and the king was obliged to accompany him to Carisbroke

1 Clarendon, vol. v.- -Rushworth, vol. viii.

2 Rushworth, vol. viii.

Castle, where, although received with expressions of duty and respect, he found himself a mere prisoner 1.

It is impossible to say how far the firmest mind may, on some occasions, be influenced by the apprehensions of personal danger; but it is certain that Charles never took a weaker step, or one more agreeable to his enemies, than in abandoning his palace of Hampton-court. There, though a captive, he was of more consequence than he could be in any other place, unless at the head of an army. He was now indeed far enough removed from the fury of the agitators; but he was also totally separated from his adherents, and still at the disposal of the army. The generals could, undoubtedly, have sent him at any time, while in their custody, to such a place of confinement; but the attempt might have roused the returning loyalty of the nation. It was therefore an incident as fortunate for his persecutors as it proved fatal to himself, that he should thus madly rush into the snare.

Cromwell being now freed from all anxiety in regard to the custody of the king's person, and entirely master of the parliament, employed himself seriously to cure the disorders of the army. That arrogant spirit, which he himself had so artfully fostered among the inferior officers and private men, to prepare them for a rebellion against their masters, and which he had so successfully employed both against the king and the parliament, now became dangerous to their leaders. The camp, in many respects, carried more the appearance of civil liberty than of military subordination. The troops themselves were formed into a kind of republic; and all hostile opposition being at an end, nothing was now talked of by these armed legislators, but plans of imaginary commonwealths, in which royalty was to be abolished, nobility set aside, all ranks of men levelled, and an universal equality of property as well as of power introduced among the citizens. A perfect parity, they said, had place among the elect; and consequently the meanest sentinel, if enlightened by the Holy Ghost, was entitled to equal regard with the highest commander 2.

To mortify this spiritual pride, Cromwell issued orders for discontinuing the meetings of the agitators; and having nothing farther to fear from the parliament, he resolved to make that

All the historians of that age, except the earl of Clarendon, whose authority is chiefly followed in this narration, represent the king's departure for the isle of Wight as altogether voluntary. He seems to have probability on his side, in ascribing that measure partly to necessity. Hist. vol. v.

2 Walker's Hist. of Independency.