MILITARY INTERVENTION. from St. Albans, reiterating the demand for the expulsion of the eleven members.1 129 CHAP. 1647 June 25. The army Uxbridge. To give point to its message, the army on the 25th shifted its head-quarters to Uxbridge, where, as its posts were scattered over a line reaching from removes to Staines to Watford, it was admirably placed for the purpose of cutting off supplies from London. Special care was taken to keep Charles in the power of the army. Rossiter, who had been appointed by the Houses to take charge of the King's person, was now directed by Fairfax to march together with his regiment to head-quarters.3 6 For a time the Houses persuaded themselves that it was possible to stand firm. On the 25th, whilst the army was still on the march towards Uxbridge, the Commons declared that it doth not appear that anything hath been said or done within this House by any of the members in question, touching any matters contained in the papers sent from the army, for which this House can in justice suspend them.' The next morning brought from the army letters so menacing in their tone that the eleven members themselves found their position untenable. At their own request they received leave of absence and withdrew from the House." guised interven No one at the present day would be inclined to Undisdeny that military intervention to redress the balance military of Parliamentary parties is an enormous evil. What can be said on behalf of the army is that the country was passing through a crisis in which the 1 C.J. v. 222. Fairfax and the Council of War to the Commissioners at St. Albans, June 24, Cary's Mem. of the Civil War, i. 255. 2 Perfect Occurrences, E. 515, 24. 3 Montague to Manchester, June 25; Nottingham to Manchester, June 25, L.J. ix. 296. CHAP. 1647 The knot cut, not dis foundations of government had become unsettled; and that the existing Parliament was an oligarchy protected by statute against dissolution. The injustice with which the material grievances entangled. of the soldiers had been met by Parliament was no doubt the main cause which banded the army against the Presbyterian leaders, but it is impossible to leave out of sight the fact that the best men in the army were convinced that in coming to an understanding with the Scottish commissioners, and in agreeing to accept from the King terms which would have left everything in a condition of uncertainty, the Presbyterians were as blind to the true interests of the State as they were to the fairness of the original demands of the soldiery. It had been Ireton's opinion, embodied in the great remonstrance of the army, that if the nation deliberately chose a Parliament which worked evil, it was the duty of all men to submit in the hope that the nation would change its mind at the next election. The power held by the Presbyterians was exempt from the chances of an election, and the army, having the sword in its hands, cut the knot in a rough and ready way. How, having once employed force, the army could step back into the domain of legality was a question not easy to answer, and it would become still more difficult as time went on, bringing temptations to solve fresh difficulties in the same way as it had solved its difficulties now. A question to the army. Even before the withdrawal of its members, the House of Commons had shown its consciousness of weakness by asking the army to signify what were the least concessions which would be deemed satisJune 28. factory. On the 28th the answer of the army was Parliament must discourage the desertions The army's demands. received. 1 C.J. v. 224. THE FULL DEMANDS OF THE ARMY. which it had before invited, must pay the soldiers who were constant to their duty as much as had been offered to the deserters, must send the Reformadoes out of London, must abandon all warlike preparations and all invitations to armies from Scotland or the Continent, must pay the army till a settlement of the kingdom was reached, and must consent not to bring the King nearer London than the place where the quarters of the army might be at any given time. If these requests were granted the army would retire to Reading. As for the eleven members, the proceedings against them might be postponed till the business of the kingdom had received its due attention. In other words, there was no disposition to bring them to punishment now that they had ceased to be dangerous.1 131 CHAP. LI. 1647 treatment. June 25. visited by chaplains, Whilst the army was engaged in its dispute with The King's the Houses, it had taken care to facilitate a future good understanding with the King by granting his reasonable requests. On June 25 he was allowed to He is receive a visit from the ever-faithful Duke of Rich- Richmond mond, and his chaplains, Sheldon and Hammond, and by his reached him at the same time. A letter from Cromwell and Hewson instructed Whalley, who was still in command of the guard placed over the King, that, in the event of the Parliamentary commissioners directing him to dismiss the chaplains, he was to refuse to obey their orders. On Sunday, June 27, Charles, who had by that time removed to Hatfield, for the first time since he left Oxford, officiate more than a year before, joined in divine service con 1 Nottingham and Wharton to Manchester, June 27, L.J. ix. 299. Certain Independent articles said to have been presented by the army to the King (MS. E. 393, 11) were no doubt forged. See Rushw. vi. 602. 2 See p. 125. 3 Cromwell and Hewson to Whalley, June 25, Clarke Papers, i. 140. June 27, who CHAP. LI. 1647 June 28. The Houses dismissal of Richmond and the chaplains, and the removal of the King. ducted in accordance with the Prayer Book of the English Church.1 In spite of the withdrawal of the eleven members, the Houses were still controlled by a Presbyterian order the majority, and, on the 28th, flaming up in indignation, they sent orders to their commissioners to drive Richmond and the two chaplains from the King's presence.2 The next day they voted that Charles should return to Holmby, hoping in this way to remove him from the influence of the army. These, however, were but counsels of despair, and on the preacher's 30th, the day of the monthly fast, the preacher who addressed the Commons gave vent somewhat profanely to what was doubtless the general feeling. "If the wheels turn thus," he said, "I know not whether Jesus Christ or Sir Thomas Fairfax be the better driver." 4 A June 30. remark. The The Houses were soon brought to a sense of their powerless. impotence. They learnt that Whalley had opposed a passive resistance to their orders for the dismissal of Richmond and the chaplains, and, what was still worse, that even the King had given way before the seductions of the army. He had made up his mind, he said, when he was told of the vote for his return to Holmby, to go to Windsor and to Windsor he would go. On this the Commons summoned Sheldon and Hammond to their bar, to answer for having used the Book of Common Prayer with divers superstitious gestures contrary to the Directory as prescribed by ordinance of Parliament.' The chaplains, however, as well as the King, were already at Windsor, July 1. The chaplains summoned to the Commons' bar. 5 1 Letter of Intelligence, June 28, Clarendon MSS. 2,538. 4 Newsletter from London, July 3, Clarke Papers, i. 150. CHARLES AT CAVERSHAM. and when the messengers arrived to carry out the orders of the House the soldiers took good care that neither Sheldon nor Hammond should be found.1 133 CHAP. 1647 Windsor. With all their desire to take Charles's actions in Charles at good part, the soldiers could hardly feel satisfied with his bearing. He talked as if he could summon both Parliament and army before him to accept their judgment at his hands. "Sir," said Ireton in reply to some such language, "you have an intention to be the arbitrator between the Parliament and us; and we mean to be it between your Majesty and the Parliament.": July 3. Head removed to Reading, and the Caver sham July 4. Charles's with On July 3, Parliament having assented to some at least of the demands of the army, head-quarters quarters were removed to Reading, whilst the King was established at Lord Craven's house at Caversham on the opposite bank of the Thames. On the 4th Charles had an interview with Cromwell, and it was observed that they both appeared well satisfied with the result. interview The leading personages of the army openly expressed Cromwell. their belief that an understanding with the King would be arrived at in a fortnight, and with Parliament even sooner, a body of commissioners having been already appointed to represent the army in discussing with the Parliamentary commissioners the terms of a definite settlement.3 and Though it is untrue that Fairfax allowed himself Fairfax to be a mere puppet in Cromwell's hands, he un- Cromwell. doubtedly allowed his energetic Lieutenant-General to take the lead in the negotiation which was now 1 L.J. ix. 313; Letter of Intelligence, July 5, Clarendon MSS. 2,547. 2 Sir J. Berkeley's Memoirs, 15. 3 Letter of Intelligence, July 4, Clarendon MSS. 2,544; Joachimi to the States General, July, Add. MSS. 17,677, S, fol. 471; Clarke Papers, i. 148. |