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HONOURABLE CONDITIONS OF SURRENDER OFFERED. 229

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, twenty shillings a man to carry them home; and the general's pass 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 loath 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 past, 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 circum

stances, 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. Albans to us to keep our head quarters.

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 noble 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 came exceedingly 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 circumstance 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 passages of the wars in Germany, which I had served in; he having been, at the same time, in the Low Countrics, 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 noble enemy, since no man can suspect me of favouring the cause

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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.

CHAPTER XVII.

VARIOUS OPINIONS ON THE KING'S THROWING HIMSELF UPON THE FIDELITY OF THE SCOTS-THE SCOTCH PARLIAMENT REFUSE TO RECEIVE HIM INTO SCOTLAND-THE KING IS GIVEN UP-CONSEQUENCES THEREOF-REFLECTIONS THE KING'S DEATH-CONCLUSION.

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, loath to be cooped up in a town which could on no account hold long out, quits the town in a disguise, leaving Sir Thomas Glenham 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 him, and sent 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 to 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 it is, 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 500,000l. and at last to four; but all the while this is trancacting, a separate treaty is carried on at London with

THE KING REFUSED ADMISSION TO SCOTLAND.

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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 it is 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 circumstances 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 God 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.

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