insurmountable barrier to the free action of large bodies either of horse or foot.

Lord Clarendon, in his 'Life,' written by himself, gives the following account of Lord Falkland's death. "In this battle of Newbury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer lost the joy and comfort of his life; which he lamented so passionately, that he could not for many days compose himself to any thoughts of business. His dear friend the Lord Falkland, hurried by his fate, in the morning of the battle, as he was naturally inquisitive after danger, put himself into the head of Sir John Byron's regiment, which he believed, was like to be in the hottest service, and was then appointed to charge a body of foot, and in that charge was shot with a musket bullet, so that he fell dead from his horse. The same day that the news came to Oxford of his death, which was the next day after he was killed, the Chancellor received a letter from him, written at the time when the army rose from Gloucester: but the messenger had been employed in other service, so that he came not to Oxford till that day; the letter was an answer to one the Chancellor had then sent to him, in which he had told him, how much he suffered in his reputation with all discreet men, by engaging himself unnecessarily in all places of danger: and that it was not the office of a privy counsellor and secretary of State to visit the trenches, as he usually did; and conjured him, out of the conscience of his duty to the King, and to free his friends from those continual uneasy apprehensions, not to engage his person to those dangers, which were not incumbent to him. His answer was, that the trenches were now at an end, there could be no more danger there. That his case was different from other men's, that he was so much taken notice of for an impatient desire of peace, that it was necessary he should likewise make it appear, that it was not out of fear of the utmost hazard of war: he said some melancholy things of the time; and concluded, that in few days, they should come to a battle, the issue whereof he hoped would put an end to the misery of the kingdom."

The Royalist accounts of this part of the action are equally detailed and the 'Mercurius Aulicus' thus describes it.+ "Many of their living have cause to remember how the little enclosed Hill commanding the town of Newbury, and the plaine, where His Majesty in person was drawne up (being the first place attempted by our foot by daybreak), was then prepossessed by a great body of their foot, till in their advance to it, ours beate them off into the hedgerows, under which shelter they much annoyed both our foot and horse, the right valiant L.-Col. Villiers and ten of his ensigns being hurt upon the ground the rebels

* Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, vol. i, pp. 164-5.

+ October 14, 1643.

first stood on, yet though they lost the hill, they kept the hedges all the forenoon, till a fresh supply of neare 200 musqueteers advancing up a lane to surprise our pykes and colours by that gallant resolute charge made by Sir Thos. Aston with his own troope (through a double quick-set hedge), these poachers were dislodged, their fresh supply routed, and fled before him in such haste, that though his horse was shot in the entrance to the lane and drew him by the leg amongst them, they had not the civility to help him up, but let him walk away on foot leaving their pykes and colours to shift for themselves, and never after regained the place. But Prince Rupert himselfe drew down a fresh relief of foot and made good the lane against them, and about three of the clock two small pieces of ours being then drawne up to that hill, which was the place of most concernment, and was never quit by us till the King drew off all his foot in a body to Newbury field, nor ever after mann'd by them. This is the naked truth, which for three weeks together they have so loudly rail'd at, but shall never heare more of it, if now they are unsatisfied."

While these conflicts are going forward on the hill, the battle rages with fury on Enborne Heath, where Essex's right wing, heedless of the gallant charges of the royal cavalry, are making a strenuous effort to surmount the broken ground that the approach to the Wash everywhere presented. Excited nearly to frenzy by reports that their comrades are being worsted on the left and may be cut off from their support, they charge with an ardour which passionate zeal for their cause alone could give. The general officers Skippon, Stapleton, and Merrick expose themselves as fearlessly as the common soldiers, and the very domestics, workmen, and camp-followers rush to the field, and, animating each other to the highest pitch of fanatical excitement, fight as bravely as the bravest officers.

The Royalists, almost paralyzed by the prowess of the men, of whom till then "they had too cheap an estimation," are straining every nerve to keep at bay the foe they cannot overcome. Meteor-like, Rupert flashes from one point of the position to another, and is always to be seen in the thickest of the fight; but nothing can keep back his fierce assailants. On they come through gorse and brushwood, in face of a heavy cannonade from the Royalist guns on the heath,-through a storm of musquetry bullets flying amidst the darkened air-and in a few minutes they breast the western slope of the Wash:

"Now comes the brunt, the crisis of the day!"

Old Skippon who had coolly watched the progress of the advance, calls on his men to "charge!" an enthusiastic cheer answers the order! and with an impetuosity not to be resisted Stapleton's mailed cuirassiers cleave their way through the royal squadrons,

and gallantly clear the ridge, the remainder of the troops pour up the ascent, the head of the royalist column is overwhelmed, and the battle virtually won! The Royalists' left flank being completely turned by this brilliant charge, the successful cooperation of the centre and finally of the left, as the Royalists are pushed back towards the town, completes the victory, and the soldiers of the Parliament are at length left masters of the hard-fought field, which, in the early morning, they had so defiantly promised their general to win.

A final effort was made by "The enemy," says Lord Digby, "On a passe by the river" (apparently Guyer's Lane); but Sir William Vavasour with the King's life-guard defeated it with heavy loss. The struggle was however practically at an end, though the ground was still stubbornly contested. It was no headlong flight down the northern slopes of the Wash to Newbury, but a dogged sullen retreat, in which the pursuer dared not press his unquestioned advantage by endeavouring to force the King beyond the line of the Kennet.

Night was well advanced before the last shots ceased; and then, the struggle ended, the wearied soldiers formed their hasty bivouacs. But the losses had been heavy and important on both sides. Here on the Heath, fell the brave young Lord Carnarvon, who, "emulating the noblest actions recorded in the annals of war," was struck down as he was returning from a successful attack. Also the gallant Sunderland, "a lord of great fortune, tender years, and an early judgement," who, putting himself in the King's troop as a volunteer, fell pierced by "a cannon bullet" while he was gathering up his bridle reins for the first charge. But equal courage, so Lord Byron asserts, was not shown by all of those engaged: he says, "What was done upon the Heath (where the main body of our horse and foot fought) I will not relate, because I was not an eye-witness of it, only this is generally confest, that had not our foot play'd the poultroons extremely that day, we in all probability had set a period to the war, our horse having behaved themselves with as much gallantry as could be My Lord Carnarvon (than whom no man acted a more honourable part in the war) and many other valiant men were here slaine."

*

Space will not permit a detailed recital of all the various turns of fortune experienced by the two armies throughout the latter part of the day; but the following extract from Robert Codrington's narrative, quoted by Mr. Forster in his 'Life of Cromwell,' and which in comparison with all accessible accounts of the battle, though somewhat tinctured by the feelings of a partisan, appears to be very superior in clearness to other statements, may be introduced at this point; as it admits of one or two of the localities referred to being defined.

"After six hours long fight, with the assistance of his horse