the north. Finding his majesty thus bestirring himself to muster his friends together, I asked him, if he thought it might not be for his majesty's service to let me go among my friends, and his loyal subjects about Shrewsbury? Yes, says the king, smiling, I intend you shall, and I design to go with you myself. I did not understand what the king meant then, and did not think it good manners to inquire; but the next day I found all things disposed for a march, and the king on horseback by eight of the clock; when calling me to him, he told me I should go before, and let my father and all my friends know he would be at Shrewsbury the Saturday following. 1 left my equipages, and taking post with only one servant, was at my father's the next morning by break of day. My father was not surprised at the news of the king's coming at all; for, it seems he, together with the loyal gentry of those parts, had sent particularly to give the king an invitation to move that way, which I was not made privy to; with an account what encouragemeut they had there in the endeavours made for his interest. In short, the whole country was entirely for the king; and such was the universal joy the people showed when the news of his majesty's coming down was positively known, that all manner of business was laid aside, and the whole body of the people seemed to be resolved upon the war.

As this gave a new face to the king's affairs, so I must own it filled me with joy; for I was astonished before, when I considered what the king and his friends were like to be exposed to. The news of the proceedings of the parliament, and their powerful preparations, were now no more terrible; the king came at the time appointed, and having lain at my father's house one night, entered Shrewsbury in the morning. The acclamations of the people, the concourse of the nobility and gentry about his person, and the crowds which now came every day into his standard, were incredible.

The loyalty of the English gentry was not only worth notice, but the power of the gentry is extraordinarily visible in this matter. The king, in about six week's time, which was the most of his stay at Shrewsbury, was supplied with money, arms, ammunition, and a train of artillery, and listed a body of an army upwards of twenty thousand men.

His majesty seeing the general alacrity of his people, immediately issued out commissions, and formed regiments of

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horse and foot; and having some experienced officers about him, together with about sixteen who came from France, with a ship loaded with arms and some field-pieces, which came very seasonably into the Severn, the men were exercised, regularly disciplined, and quartered, and now we began to look like soldiers. My father had raised a regiment of horse at his own charge, and completed them, and the king gave out arms to them from the supplies which I mentioned came from abroad. Another party of horse, all brave, stout fellows, and well mounted, came in from Lancashire, and the Earl of Derby at the head of them. The Welchmen came

in by droves; and so great was the concourse of people, that the king began to think of marching, and gave the command, as well as the trust of regulating the army, to the brave Earl of Lindsey, as general of the foot; the parliament general being the Earl of Essex; two braver men, or two better officers, were not in the kingdom; they had both been old soldiers, and had served together as volunteers in the Low Country wars, under Prince Maurice. They had been comrades and companions abroad, and now came to face one another as enemies in the field.

Such was the expedition used by the king and his friends, in the levies of this first army, that, notwithstanding the. wonderful expedition the parliament made, the king was in the field before them; and now the gentry in other parts of the nation bestirred themselves, and seized upon and garrisoned several considerable places for the king. In the north, the Earl of Newcastle not only garrisoned the most considerable places, but even the general possession of the north was for the king, excepting Hull and some few places, which the old Lord Fairfax had taken up for the parliament. On the other hand, entire Cornwall, and most of the western counties, were the king's. The parliament had their chief interest in the south and eastern part of England; as Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Huntingdon, Hertford, Buckinghamshire, and the other midland counties. These were called, or some of them at least, the associated counties, and felt little of the war, other than the charges; but the main support of the parliament was the city of London. The king made the seat of his court at Oxford, which he caused to be regularly fortified. The Lord Say had been here, and had possession of the city for the enemy,

and was debating about fortifying it, but came to no resolution, which was a very great oversight in them; the situation of the place, and the importance of it, on many accounts, to the city of London, considered; and they would have retrieved this error afterwards, but then it was too late; for the king made it the head-quarters, and received great supplies and assistance from the wealth of the colleges, and the plenty of the neighbouring country. Abingdon, Wallingford, Basing, and Reading, were all garrisoned and fortified as outworks, to defend this as the centre. And thus all England became the theatre of blood, and war was spread into every corner of the country, though as yet there was no stroke struck. I had no command in this army; my father led his own regiment; and, as old as he was, would not leave his royal master; and my elder brother stayed at home to support the family. As for me, I rode a volunteer in the royal troop of guards, which may very well deserve the title of a royal troop; for it was composed of young gentlemen, sons of the nobility, and some of the prime gentry of the nation, and I think not a person of so mean a birth or fortune as myself. We reckoned in this troop two-and-thirty lords, or who came afterwards to be such and eight-and-thirty of younger sons of the nobility, five French noblemen, and all the rest gentlemen of very good families and estates.

And that I may give the due to their personal valour, many of this troop lived afterwards to have regiments and troops under their command, in the service of the king; many of them lost their lives for him, and most of them their estates: nor did they behave unworthy of themselves in their first showing their faces to the enemy, as shall be mentioned in its place.

While the king remained at Shrewsbury, his loyal friends bestirred themselves in several parts of the kingdom. Goring had secured Portsmouth; but being young in matters of war, and not in time relieved, though the Marquis of Hertford was marching to relieve him, yet he was obliged to quit the place, and shipped himself for Holland, from whence he returned with relief for the king, and afterwards did very good service upon all occasions, and so effectually cleared himself of the scandal the hasty surrender of Portsmouth had brought upon his courage.

The chief power of the king's forces lay in three places, in

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Cornwall, in Yorkshire, and at Shrewsbury. In Cornwall, Sir Ralph Hopton, afterwards Lord Hopton, Sir Bevil Granvil, and Sir Nicholas Slamming, secured all the country, and afterwards spread themselves over Devonshire and Somersetshire, took Exeter from the parliament, fortified Bridgewater and Barnstable, and beat Sir William Waller at the battle of › Roundway Down, as I shall touch at more particularly, when I come to recite the part of my own travels that way.

In the north, the Marquis of Newcastle secured all the country, garrisoned York, Scarborough, Carlisle, Newcastle, Pomfret, Leeds, and all the considerable places, and took the field with a very good army, though afterwards he proved more unsuccessful than the rest, having the whole power of a kingdom at his back, the Scots coming in with an army to the assistance of the parliament; which indeed was the general turn of the scale of the war; for, had it not been for the Scots' army, the king had most certainly reduced the parliament, at least to good terms of peace, in two years' time. The king was the third article: his force at Shrewsbury I have noted already; the alacrity of the gentry filled him with hopes, and all his army with vigour, and the 8th of October, 1642, his majesty gave orders to march. The Earl of Essex had spent above a month after his leaving London (for he went thence the 9th of September) in modelling and drawing together his forces; his rendezvous was at St. Albans, from whence he marched to Northampton, Coventry, and Warwick, and leaving garrisons in them, he comes on to Worcester. Being thus advanced, he possesses Oxford, as I noted before, Banbury, Bristol, Gloucester, and Worcester, out of all which places, except Gloucester, we drove him back to London in a very little while.

Sir John Biron had raised a very good party of five hundred horse, most gentlemen, for the king, and had possessed Oxford; but on the approach of Lord Say quitted it, being now but an open town, and retreated to Worcester; from whence, on the approach of Essex's army, he retreated to the king. And now all things grew ripe for action, both parties having secured their posts, and settled their schemes of the war, taken their posts and places as their measures and opportunities directed, the field was next in their eye, and the soldiers began to inquire when they should fight; for as yet there had been little or no blood drawn, and it was not long before they had

enough of it; for I believe I may challenge all the historians in Europe to tell me of any war in the world where, in the space of four years, there were so many pitched battles, sieges, fights, and skirmishes, as in this war; we never encamped or intrenched, never fortified the avenues to our posts, or lay fenced with rivers and defiles; here was no leaguers in the field, as at the story of Nuremberg, neither had our soldiers any tents, or what they call heavy baggage. It was the general maxim of this war, Where is the enemy? let us go and fight them: or, on the other hand, if the enemy was coming, What was to be done? why, what should be done? draw out into the fields, and fight them. I cannot say it was the prudence of the parties, and had the king fought less he had gained more; and I shall remark several times, when the eagerness of fighting was the worst council, and proved our loss. This benefit however happened in general to the country, that it made a quick, though a bloody end, of the war, which otherwise had lasted till it might have ruined the whole nation.

CHAPTER X.

THE ROYAL ARMY TAKES THE FIELD-ACTION WITH THE REBELS UNDER ESSEX-BATTLE OF EDGEHILL-THE PARLIAMENT CLAIMS THE VICTORY-THEY VOTE AN ADDRESS FOR PEACE-SAD REFLECTIONS ON THE MISERIES OF CIVIL WAR.

Sir

On the 10th of October the king's army was in full march, his majesty generalissimo, the Earl of Lindsey, general of the foot, Prince Rupert, general of the horse; and the first action in the field was by Prince Rupert and Sir John Biron. John had brought his body of five hundred horse, as I noted already, from Oxford to Worcester; the Lord Say, with a strong party, being in the neighbourhood of Oxford, and expected in the town; Colonel Sandys, a hot man, and who had more courage than judgment, advances with about fifteen hundred horse and dragoons, with design to beat Sir John Biron out of Worcester, and take post there for the parliament.

The king had notice that the Earl of Essex designed for Worcester, and Prince Rupert was ordered to advance with