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CHAP. by her railing provoked our soldiers, then in heat, into a further passion. The soldiers were permitted to sell the wheat to the country-people, who fetched it away in carts and hand-barrows. The furniture in like manner was disposed of piece-meal; stools, chairs, tables, all found willing purchasers; not an iron bar or bit of lead was left in all the windows; by the following Thursday morning not a gutter remained about the premises, for what the soldiers left the fire devoured, so that nothing but bare walls was to be seen twenty hours after the capture.'

Cromwell's letter was ordered by the Commons to be read on the Sunday following from every pulpit in the land, and a day of thanksgiving appointed by the Parliament.

compass.

Meanwhile Fairfax with the army marched towards the west of England, the only point where open resistance may be said to have assumed any pretensions to that of an organized force. Nor was Cromwell slow in his movements towards a similar point of the Three days after the storming of Basing House he appeared before Langford House, in the neighbourhood of Salisbury. I sent the governor a summons,' [he is writing to the Speaker] 'who desired I should send two officers to treat with him, and I accordingly appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Hewson and Major Kelley thereunto. The treaty produced the agreement which I have enclosed to you.'

Cromwell's name now struck a panic into the hearts of all who offered to oppose the Parliamentary forces. Wherever he appeared resistance seemed useless, and the terror he inspired far exceeded all that his military

CONCLUSION OF THE CAMPAIGN.

skill, could accomplish. The Parliament meanwhile, in recognition of his services, voted him the thanks of the two Houses, a barony, and an estate worth 2,500l. a year.

The conclusion of the campaign in the west was disastrous to the Royalists. Their army, which the young Prince Charles had got together and reformed, was forced to retreat into Cornwall, where it was broken and scattered by the victorious Parliamentary generals. Prince Charles fled to the Scilly Islands, leaving General Hopton to make the best terms he could for the remainder of the Royalists forces, who were obliged to capitulate in the March following.

Exeter surrendered on April 9, and a fortnight later King Charles withdrew in disguise from his English adherents; and, after encountering many dangers and difficulties, succeeded in reaching the Scottish army under Montrose.

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СНАР.

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CHAPTER X.

England at the Close of the first Civil War-Policy of the Royalists— The King decides on trusting Himself with the Scots-His Reasons for taking this Step explained to the Parliament-His Majesty's Reception-Alarm in London on receipt of this Intelligence-The King accompanies the Scottish Army to Newcastle-Cromwell returns to London-Marriage of his Daughter Bridget to Ireton-Cromwell resides in Drury Lane-His Letter to Mrs. Claypole-Proposals for Peace rejected by the King-Negotiations between the Scots and the Parliament for the Surrender of the King concluded-Popular Outery for the Disbandment of the Army-Their Complaints of Arrears and other Grievances neglected-First Instalment paid to the Scots' Army -A Significant Coincidence of Dates-Religious Restraint put upon the King whilst with the Scots-Surrender of His Majesty to the Parliamentary Commissioners, and Journey to Holmby House-Review of the Political Chess-board at this Period-Parliamentary Neglect in providing for the Requirements of the Army a principal Cause of Hostility shown to Presbyterianism by the latter-The Policy of the King in seeking to bring into collision the two Parties-Relative Position of the English Presbyterians and the Army-Members of Parliament required to conform to the Solemn League and Covenant -Episcopalian Clergymen excluded from their Pulpits-Destruction of Ecclesiastical Property-Archbishop Usher allowed a Small Pension -Neglect of Religion, and Coercive Measures enforced by Parliament for its better Observance-The Code of Faith, called the Westminster Confession, presented to Parliament and adopted-Opposition in several Places to the Suppression of old Observances-The Coercive Policy a Mistake-Difficulties in the way of judging a past Age by the Light of a subsequent one.

BEFORE proceeding with this narrative, let us pause for a few moments to survey the position of England at this eventful period of the seventeenth century. Charles the First had been conquered by his own. subjects, in a contest which had lasted four years. The first civil war was now over. That great political and military struggle had for the time being come to an end from the sheer inability in one of the belli

DEPLORABLE STATE OF ENGLAND.

gerents to prolong it, and pastoral England bore the destructive evidences thereof stamped in indelible characters upon all her borders. Scarcely could a family be found throughout the length and breadth of the land who had not to mourn the absence of one or more from the old friendly circle; few indeed whom death or antagonism had not widely, if not irrevocably separated. A collapse of no ordinary character had overtaken society in all its ramifications, social, political, and religious, which years alone could modify or ameliorate. The demon of party strife had triumphed. The tenderest ties had been suddenly and violently snapped asunder, and there was left in its stead the burning thirst for revenge in the breast of the oppressed and the oppressor, the conquered and the conqueror alike. The peaceful avocations of everyday life had long been suspended by an entire population, which had embraced one side or other in the great struggle. The agricultural labourer had deserted the plough and become a soldier; the farmer or yeoman was now a member of some cavalry regiment; and the county squire a military officer. The land remained untilled, and the few looms the country could boast of no longer found willing and cunning hands to work them. Mill-streams had for the most part become stagnant pools, and commerce had flown to other and more congenial lands, where peace and order, instead of confusion and anarchy, governed the destinies of mankind.

The King's prospects had of late become exceeding gloomy. The spring of 1646 found the monarch in possession of but few towns or strongholds, and those,

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CHAP. with one or two exceptions, of only secondary importance. The victorious Parliamentary generals had scattered and broken the Royalist troops on all sides, and their last stronghold of any importance was now being surrounded by the troops of Fairfax. Oxford, so long their head-quarters, offered no longer a tenable position. All hope of foreign aid, either in men, money, or materials, had long since disappeared. At best there was but a choice of evils which presented itself to the desponding Cavaliers. Could the King have escaped to the sea coast, and so to France, he might, by so doing, have saved his own life and with it possibly the monarchy; but such a step on his part would have been none other than a virtual abdication of the throne; and, desperate as were his Majesty's fortunes, this alternative had never for a moment been entertained.

It is very questionable if Charles at this present moment fully realised his position: otherwise there is no solution which at all accounts for the blind infatuation he displayed in his pertinacious refusal of all overtures of peace unless the divine right of kings to tax their subjects without their consent formed an important and recognised feature.

His one object, conspicuous throughout, had been to gain time by resorting to all sorts of delays, in the hope and anticipation that the Presbyterians and the Independents would in the end quarrel, and fight it out between themselves. In that event the two factions would probably be obliged to seek his aid as arbitrator, or the victor would fall an easy prey to the army of the Cavaliers.