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fugitives took refuge behind a stone wall, where they maintained their post till night, and then retired to Bath, under cover of the darkness.(1)

Hertford and Maurice, disappointed of the success they had promised themselves, attempted to march eastward, and join the king at Oxford. But Waller hung on their rear, and harassed their army until they reached the Devises. There, being reinforced with a large body of fresh troops, he so much surpassed the royalists in number, that they durst no longer continue their march, or expose themselves to the hazard of a battle. It was therefore resolved, that the marquis and the prince should proceed with the cavalry, and, having procured a reinforcement from the royal army, should hasten back to the relief of their friends.

Waller was now so confident of capturing the infantry left at the Devises, that he wrote to the parliament their work was done; and that he should, in his next letter, inform them of the number and quality of the prisoners. But the king, even before the arrival of Hertford and Maurice, informed of the difficulties to which his western army was reduced, had despatched a body of cavalry to their relief, under lord Wilmot. In order to prevent the intended junction, Waller drew up his army on Roundway-down, about two miles from the town of Devises; and Wilmot, in hopes of being supported by the infantry, Idid not decline the combat. Waller's cavalry, after a smart action, were totally routed, and he himself fled with a few horse to Bristol; while the victorious Wilmot, being joined by the Cornish infantry, attacked the enemy's foot with such impetuosity, that almost the whole body was either killed or taken prisoners.(2)

This important victory, preceded by so many other successes, struck great dismay into the parliament, and gave an alarm to their grand army, commanded by the earl of Essex. Farther discouraged by hearing of the queen's arrival at Oxford with ammunition and artillery; and that, having landed in Burlington bay, she had brought from the north a reinforcement of three thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse, Essex left Tame and Aylesbury, where he had hitherto lain, and retired to the neighbourhood of London. Freed from this principal enemy, the king sent his main army westward, under prince Rupert; and by the junction of that army with the Cornish royalists, under the marquis of Hertford, a formidable force was composed; a force, respectable from numbers, but still more from valour and reputation. In hopes of profiting by the consternation into which Waller's defeat and the retreat of Essex had thrown the parliamentary party, prince Rupert resolved to undertake an enterprise worthy of the army with which he was intrusted. He accordingly advanced towards Bristol, the second city in the kingdom for riches and size. The place was in a good posture of defence, and had a garrison of three thousand five hundred men, well supplied with ammunition and provisions; but as the fortifications were found to be not perfectly regular, it was resolved, in a council of war, to proceed by assault, though little provision had been made for such an operation. The Cornish men, in three divisions, attacked the west side with a courage which nothing could repress, or for a time resist; but so great was the disadvantage of ground, and so brave the defence of the garrison, that although the middle division had already mounted the walls, in spite of all opposition, the assailants were in the end repulsed with considerable slaughter, and with the loss of many gallant officers. On the east side, where the approach was less difficult, prince Rupert had better success. After an obstinate struggle, a lodgment was made within the enemy's works; and Nathaniel Fiennes, the governor, son of lord Say, a noted parliamentary leader, surrendered the place at discretion. He and his garrison were allowed to march out with their arms and baggage, but without their colours.(3)

(1) Rushworth, vol. vi. Clarendon, vol. iii. This battle would have been more decisive, had Waller not been reinforced with 500 cavalry from London, completely covered with cuirasses and other defensive armour. These cuirassiers were generally found to be irresistible.

(2) Clarendon, vol. iii. Rushworth, vol. vi.

(3) Id. ibid.

The taking of Bristol was a severe blow to the power of the parliament; and if the king, who soon after joined the camp, had boldly marched to London, before the fears of the people had time to subside, as he was advised by the more daring spirits, the war might in all probability have been finished equally to his honour and advantage. But this undertaking was judged too hazardous, on account of the number and forcé of the London militia; and Gloucester, lying within twenty miles of his late conquest, seemed to present to Charles an easier, and yet an important acquisition. It would put the whole course of the Severn under his command, open a communication between Wales and the western counties, and free one-half of the kingdom from the dominion of the enemy.(1)

These were the king's reasons for undertaking the siege of Gloucester in preference to any other enterprise. Before he left Bristol, however, he sent prince Maurice with a detachment into Devonshire: and, in order to show that he was not intoxicated with good fortune, nor provoked to aspire at a total victory over the parliament, he published a manifesto, in which he renewed the solemn protestation he had formerly made at the head of his army, and expressed his earnest desire of making peace, as soon as the constitution could be re-established.(2)

Before this manifesto was issued, a bold attempt had been made to restore peace to the kingdom, by the celebrated Edmund Waller, so well known as à poet, and who was no less distinguished as an orator. He still continued to attend his duty in parliament, and had exerted all his eloquence in opposing those violent counsels by which the commons were governed; and, in order to catch the attention of the house, he had often, in his harangues, employed the keenest satire and invective. But finding all opposition within doors to be fruitless, he conceived the idea of forming a party without, which might oblige the parliament to accept reasonable conditions. Having sounded the earl of Northumberland, and other eminent persons, whose confidence he enjoyed, he was encouraged to open his scheme to Tomkins, his brother-inlaw, and to Chaloner, the intimate friend of Tomkins, who had entertained similar sentiments. By these gentlemen, whose connexions lay chiefly in the city, he was informed that the same abhorrence of war there prevailed among all men of sense and moderation. It therefore seemed not impracticable, that a combination might be formed between the peers and citizens, to refuse payment of the illegal and oppressive taxes imposed by the parliament without the royal assent. But while this affair was in agitation, and lists were making out of such noblemen as the confederates believed to be well affected to their design, it was betrayed to Pym by a servant of Tomkins who had overheard their discourse. Waller, Tomkins, and Chaloner were imme diately seized, and tried by a court-martial. They were all three condemned, and Tomkins and Chaloner were executed on gibbets erected before their own doors; but Waller saved his life by counterfeiting sorrow and remorse, by bribing the puritanical clergy, and by paying a fine of ten thousand pounds.(3)

The discovery of this project, and the severity exercised against the persons concerned in it, could not fail to increase the authority of the parlia ment; yet so great was the consternation occasioned by the progress of the king's arms, the taking of Bristol, and the siege of Gloucester, that the cry for peace was renewed, and with more violence than ever. A multitude of women, with a petition for this purpose, crowded about the house of commons, and were so clamorous, that orders were given for dispersing them; and a troop of horse being employed in that service, several of the women were killed and wounded. Many of the popular noblemen had deserted the parliament, and gone to Oxford. Northumberland retired to his country seat and Essex himself, extremely dissatisfied, exhorted the parliament to think of peace. The house of lords sent down terms of accommodation, more moderate than any that had hitherto been offered; a vote was even passed, (1) May, book iii. Whitlocke, p. 69. (2) Id. ibid. (3) Rushworth, vol. vi. Clarendon, vol. lii.

VOL. II.-H

by a majority of the commons, that these proposals should be transmitted to the king. But this pleasing prospect was soon darkened. The zealous republicans took the alarm: a petition against peace was framed in the city, and presented to the parliament by Pennington, the factious lord-mayor. The pulpits thundered their anathemas against malignants; rumours of popish conspiracies were spread; and the majority being again turned towards the violent side, all thoughts of pacification were banished, and every preparation made for war, and for the immediate relief of Gloucester.(1)

That city was defended by a numerous garrison, and by a multitude of fanatical inhabitants, zealous for the crown of martyrdom. Massey, the governor, was a soldier of fortune, and by his courage and ability had much retarded the advances of the king's army. Though no enthusiast himself, he well knew how to employ to advantage that enthusiastic spirit which prevailed among the soldiers and citizens. By continued sallies, he molested the royalists in their trenches; he gained sudden advantages over them; and he repressed their ardour, by disputing every inch of ground. The garrison, however, was reduced to the last extremity; when Essex, advancing to its relief with a well-appointed army of fourteen thousand men, obliged the king to raise the siege, and threw into the city a supply of ammunition and provisions.(2)

Chagrined at the miscarriage of his favourite enterprise, and determined to intercept Essex in his return, the king, by hasty marches, took possession of Newbury before the arrival of the parliamentary army. An action was now unavoidable; and Essex, conscious of his inferiority in cavalry, drew up his forces on an advanced ground, called Brig's hill, within a mile of the town. The battle was begun by the royalists, and fought with steady and desperate courage on both sides. Essex's horse were several times broken by the king's, but his infantry maintained their ground; and, besides keeping up a constant fire, they presented an invincible rampart of pikes against all the furious shocks of prince Rupert, and those gallant troops of gentlemen of which the royal cavalry was chiefly composed. Night at last put an end to the combat, and left the victory undecided. Next morning Essex pursued his march; and although his rear was severely harassed by prince Rupert, he reached London without losing either his cannon or baggage. The king followed him; and taking possession of Reading, there established a garrison, to be a kind of curb upon the capital.(3)

Though the king's loss, in this battle, was not very considerable with respect to numbers, his cause suffered greatly by the death of some gallant noblemen. Besides the earls of Sunderland and Carnarvon, who had served their royal master with courage and ability in the field, fell Lucius Cary, viscount Falkland, no less eminent in the cabinet; the object of universal admiration while living, and of regret when dead. Devoted to the pursuits of learning, and fond of polite society, he had abstracted himself from politics till the assembling of the present parliament; when, deeming it criminal any longer to remain inactive, he stood foremost in all attacks upon the high prerogatives of the crown, and displayed, with a bold freedom, that warm love of liberty and masculine eloquence, which he had imbibed from the sublime writers of antiquity. But no sooner did he perceive the purpose of the popular leaders, than, tempering the ardour of his zeal, he attached himself to his sovereign; and, convinced that regal authority was already sufficiently reduced, he embraced the defence of those limited powers that remained to it, and which he thought necessary to the support of the English constitution. Still, however, anxious for the liberties of his country, he seems to have dreaded the decisive success even of the royal party; and the word PEACE was often heard to break from his lips, accompanied with a sigh. Though naturally of a gay and cheerful disposition, he became, from the commencement of the civil war, silent and melancholy, neglecting even a

(1) Rushworth, vol. vi.

(2) Clarendon, vol. iii.

(3) Id. ibid.

decent attention to his person: but on the morning of the battle of Newbury, as if he had foreseen his fate, he dressed himself with his usual elegance and neatness, giving as a reason for so doing his desire that the enemy might not find his body in a slovenly condition. “I am weary of the times," added he, "and foresee much misery to my country; but believe I shall be out of it before night!"(1) He charged in the front of Byron's regiment, and was shot in the belly."

The shock which both armies had received in the battle of Newbury discouraged them from any second trial of strength before the close of the campaign; and the declining season soon obliged them to retire into winterquarters. There we must leave them for a time, and take a view of the progress of the war in other parts of the kingdom, and of the measures pursued by both parties for acquiring a superiority.

In the northern counties, during the summer, the marquis of Newcastle, by his extensive influence, had raised a considerable force for the king; and high hopes were entertained of success from the known loyalty and abilities of that nobleman. But in opposition to him appeared two men, on whom the fortune of the war was finally to depend, and who began about this time to be distinguished by their valour and military talents; namely, sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. The former, son of lord Fairfax, put to flight a party of royalists at Wakefield, and the latter obtained a victory over another party at Gainsborough. But the total rout of lord Fairfax, at Atherton, more than balanced both those defeats; and the marquis of Newcastle, with an army of fifteen thousand men, sat down before Hull, into which the elder Fairfax had thrown himself with the remnant of his broken forces.(2) After having carried on the attack of Hull for some time without effect, Newcastle was beat off by an unexpected sally of the garrison; and suffered so much in the action, that he thought proper to raise the siege. About the same time, the earl of Manchester, having advanced from the eastern associated counties, and formed a junction with Cromwell and young Fairfax, obtained a considerable advantage over the royalists at Horn Castle.(3) But notwithstanding these misfortunes, the royal party still retained great interest in the northern counties; and had Yorkshire not been kept in awe by the garrison of Hull, a junction of the northern and southern armies might have been effected, and the king had perhaps been enabled to terminate the war with the campaign.

The prospect was now very different. Alarmed at the rapid progress of the king's forces, during the early part of the summer, the English parliament had sent commissioners to Edinburgh, with ample powers, to treat of a nearer union and confederacy with the Scottish nation.

The Scots, who, not satisfied with having accomplished the restoration of the Presbyterian religion in their own country, still indulged an ardent passion for propagating that religion in the neighbouring kingdom, declared themselves ready to assist their brethren of England; and proposed, that the two nations should enter into a covenant for the extirpation of prelacy, and a more intimate union of the English and Scottish parliaments. By the address of the younger sir Henry Vane, who took the lead among the English commissioners, was accordingly framed at Edinburgh the famous SOLEMN LEAGUE AND Covenant.

A copy of that covenant was transmitted to the two houses of parliament at Westminster, where it was received without opposition; and after being subscribed by the lords, the commons, and an assembly of divines, it was ordered to be received by all who lived under their authority. The subscribers, besides engaging mutually to defend each other against all opponents,

(1) Whitlocke, p. 70. Clarendon, vol. iii.

(2) Lord Fairfax was appointed governor of this place in the room of sir John Hotham. That gentle man and his son, repenting of their engagements with the parliamentary party, had entered into a correspondence with the marquis of Newcastle, and expressed an intention of delivering Hull into his hands for the king. But their purpose being discovered, they were arrested, and sent prisoners to London; where, without any regard to their former services, they fell victims to the severity of the parliament. Rushworth, vol. ví. (3) Warwick. Walker.

bound themselves to endeavour the extirpation of popery and prelacy, superstition, heresy, schism, and profaneness; to maintain the rights and privileges of parliament, and defend his majesty's person and authority; to discover and bring to justice all incendiaries and malignants; to humble themselves for their sins, amend their lives, and vie with each other in the great work of reformation.(1)

The Scots were elated at the thought of being the happy instruments of extending what they believed to be the only true religion, and of dissipating that profound darkness in which they supposed all other nations involved. The general assembly applauded the pious league, and every one was ordered by the convention of estates to swear to the covenant, under penalty of confiscation; besides what farther punishment it should please the parliament to inflict on the disobedient, as enemies of God, the king, and the kingdom!Flaming with holy zeal, and determined that the sword should carry conviction to all refractory minds, the Scottish covenanters now prepared themselves with vigour for military service. A hundred thousand pounds, remitted from England, enabled them to complete their levies; and, having added to their other forces a body of troops which they had recalled from Ireland, they were soon ready to enter England with an army of twenty thousand men.(2)

In order to secure himself against this gathering tempest, which he foresaw it would be impossible to dispel, the king turned his eye towards Ireland. The English parliament, to whose care the suppression of the Irish rebellion was committed, had never taken any effectual measures for that purpose: yet the remaining Protestants, who were now all become soldiers, joined with some new adventurers, under lord More, sir William St. Leger, sir Frederick Hamilton, and others, had in many rencounters put the Catholics to flight, and returned in triumph to Dublin. The rebels had been obliged to raise the siege of Drogheda, in spite of their most vigorous efforts. The marquis of Ormond, then lord-lieutenant, had obtained two complete victories over them, and had brought relief to all the forts that were besieged or blockaded in different parts of the kingdom. But the Irish Catholics, in their wild rage against the British planters, having laid waste the whole cultivated part of the country, the victorious Protestants were in want of the most common necessaries of life; and as the king had it not in his power to relieve them by sending money or provisions into Ireland, he resolved to embrace an expedient which would enable them to provide for their own support, and at the same time contribute to the advancement of his affairs in England. He accordingly gave orders to the lord-lieutenant and the chief justices, who were entirely in his interest, to conclude a truce for one year with the council of the rebels at Kilkenny; and afterward to transport part of the Protestant army over to England.(3)

The parliament, whose business it was to find fault with every measure adopted by the king, did not let slip so fair an opportunity of reproaching him with favouring the Irish papists. They exclaimed loudly against the truce, affirming that England must justly dread the divine vengeance for tolerating antichristian idolatry, under pretence of civil contracts and political expediency (4) And the forces brought from Ireland, though the cause

(1) Whitlocke, p. 73. Rushworth, vol. vi. Clarendon, vol. iii. The subscribers to the covenant vowed also to preserve the reformed religion established in the church of Scotland; but, by the artifice of sir Henry Vane, no declaration more explicit was made with respect to England and Ireland, than that these kingdoms should be reformed according to the word of God, and the example of the purest churches. (Id. ibid.) The Scottish zealots, when prelacy was abolished, deemed these expressions quite free from ambiguity, considering their own mode of worship as the only one which corresponded in any degree to such a description. But Vane had other views. That able politician, even while he employed his great talents in overreaching the presbyterians, and secretly laughed at their simplicity as well as at their fanaticism, had blindly devoted himself to wilder and more dangerous opinions, which he hoped to diffuse and establish. (2) Clarendon, vol. iii.

(3) Carte's Life of Ormond, vol. iii. Rushworth, vol. vi. Some Irish Catholics came over with the Protestants, and joined the royal army, where they continued the same cruelties and disorders to which they had been accustomed (Whitlocke, p. 78): and the parliament voted that no quarter, in any action should ever be given to them. But prince Rupert, by severe retaliation, soon put a stop to this inhumanity Rushworth, vol. vi. (4) Id. ibid.

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