CHAP. ་ 1647 Charles prepares an answer to The Aug. 1. lication. Whilst Lauderdale was in vain attempting to reach the Abbey, Charles was preparing, after long consultations with his lawyers and divines, an answer to The Heads of the Proposals. In the opinion of Berkeley, who had himself a share in drawing it up, it was absolutely conclusive. "We easily," he wrote, "answered the proposals both in law and reason; but we had to do with what was stronger than both." The army leaders, on the other hand, being well aware of the general nature of the King's reply, Their pub answered it in advance on August 1, by publishing The Heads of the Proposals themselves, whilst they, at the same time, urged Berkeley, if he could not persuade the King to assent to their terms, to obtain from him at least a kind letter to the army,' before the submission of London, which they knew to be impending, deprived the courtesy of all its grace. A letter to Fairfax repudiating the enemies of the army and declaring himself in the main satisfied with The Heads of the Proposals was indeed prepared for Charles's signature, but he refused to sign it, and before he consented to sign any letter at all, events had occurred which robbed it of both grace and efficacy.'1 Yet at the very time when he was so sparing of any public demonstration of good-will, he was sending private messages to Ireton, assuring him of his readiness to confide in the army, and to entrust it with the settlement of the kingdom." Charles's double dealing. Danger of anarchy in the City. 6 By this time the citizens were growing weary of the anarchy which they had fostered in their midst. The Reformadoes were beginning to talk of plundering the City. The Independents, who, after all, con1 Berkeley's Memoirs, 38, 39. Draft of a letter, Aug. 3, Clar. St. P. ii. 371. 2 Major Huntington's Sundry Reasons, p. 7, E. 458, 3. 3 "Il n'y a pas un soldat qui veuille sortir d'icy maintenant : ils THE SPEAKERS WITH THE ARMY. 175 СНАР. LIII. 1647 Aug. 2. dent peti attacked. from wark. stituted a not inconsiderable minority amongst the Londoners, were emboldened by Fairfax's arrival at Colnbrook to appear on August 2 at Guildhall with a petition for an accommodation. They were there Indepen attacked by Poyntz and his officers, and some of tioners them were wounded mortally. The arrival of a depu- A demand tation from Southwark, where there had long been Southa jealousy of the City's claim to command the militia of the suburbs, was even more ominous of danger. Southwark required from the Common Council that an agreement should be made with the army, and that the disposal of its militia should be conceded to it. Even in the seventeenth century the City was weakened by the growth of a greater London beyond the limits of its jurisdiction. Aug. 3. A deputa tion from Fairfax. the City to a declara tion by the army. Before nightfall on the 2nd, the Common Council made up its mind to yield; and the next morning despatched a letter to Fairfax, disclaiming any wish to enter upon a new war. The deputation which carried the letter found the army drawn up on Hounslow Heath, 20,000 strong, and, for a reply, had to be content with a long declaration, drawn up on the preceding day, in which was set forth the intention of the army to march on London, as well as its expectation that the eleven members would be either delivered up, or kept in custody till they could be tried according to law. Then followed a scene which had no doubt been carefully pre-arranged. The fugitive members of the two Houses headed by Reception their Speakers, and accompanied by Fairfax himself, fugitive rode along the front of the regiments. Their recep- members. tion could not have been more enthusiastic. The croyent tous avoir bonne part dans le butin de ceste ville qu'ils Aug. 8 of the CHAP. 1647 Southwark sends for help. soldiers threw their hats into the air with cries of Fairfax was by this time assured of success. A message had come from Southwark imploring his aid. Four regiments were rapidly pushed forward on the south side of the Thames, and at two in the morning they entered Southwark through a gate opened to them by their friends inside. Even before this the City had surrendered at discretion. The Surrender letter announcing its resolution to submit, written on the afternoon of the 3rd, reached Fairfax at Hammersmith on the morning of the 4th. Later in the day another letter arrived from Charles, who, now briefly disclaimed all intention of making war against Parliament, without even attempting to meet the charge to which he was really open, of having sympathised with the attempt of the Presbyterians to make war against the army.2 of the City. Aug. 4. A letter from the King. Aug. 6. The army enters London. On August 6 the army, escorting the returning members, tramped along the road to Westminster. The march resembled a triumphal procession rather than the occupation of a hostile city. Every soldier had placed a leaf of laurel in his hat. When Hyde Park was reached the Lord Mayor and Aldermen welcomed the General, and the distasteful ceremony wa repeated by the Common Council at Charing Cross.3 1 Rushw. vii. 743-751. 2 The King to Fairfax, Aug. 4, ib. vii. 753. See p. 174. THE ARMY IN THE CITY. 177 CHAP. LIII. 1647 In Parliament opposition, for the moment, died away. Manchester and Lenthall returned to their chairs, and the fugitive members were once more Restoraseen in their respective Houses. Fairfax having members. tion of the Constable Tower. been duly thanked by Lords and Commons, received the appointment of Constable of the Tower, which Fairfax was no longer to be intrusted to the citizens. The of the Reformadoes were at last to be actually ejected. from London, and a Committee consisting of members of both Houses was appointed to inquire into the violence recently offered to Parliament.1 Aug. 7. The army through On the following day a display of force was made of which the citizens could hardly fail to marches appreciate the significance. The bulk of the army, the City. some 18,000 strong, marched through the streets of the City, and passed over London Bridge on the way to Croydon. Cromwell rode at the head of the cavalry, but Fairfax, whose health was not yet completely restored, was seated in a carriage with Cromwell's wife and his own. A Royalist spectator, indeed, declared that the troops were neither wellhorsed nor well-armed,' but their martial vigour and their orderly discipline were beyond dispute.2 A sufficient force remained behind at Westminster and the Tower to guard the Houses against a fresh incursion of the City mob. In the eyes of Fairfax this military occupation of London was but a necessary preliminary to an understanding with the King, and there is every reason to believe that the majority of the officers and men under his command shared his standing hopes. With their full knowledge, the General had King. 1 L.J. ix. 374; C.J. v. 268. 2 Letter of Intelligence, Aug. 9, Clarendon MSS. 2,572; Newsletter, Aug., Aug. 1, Roman Transcripts, R.O. The latter writes that the soldiers passerent sy modestement, et en sy bon ordre, que je ne crois pas que l'on puisse voir une armée mieux disciplinée.' The army hopes for an under with the CHAP. 1647 Fairfax and the Great Charter. Comparison be tween the times of John and of Charles. Indepen- House of Aug. 9. declared, in a letter recently addressed to the City, that the army had no other design but the quiet and happy settlement of a firm and lasting peace.'1 When, upon his entry into the Tower, the records of the kingdom were shown to him, he called for the Great Charter. "This is that," he said, "which we have fought for, and by God's help we must maintain." 2 To maintain the principles of the Great Charter under the changed conditions of the seventeenth century was indeed the work in hand. Neither Fairfax nor anyone then living was likely to remember that it was only after the struggles of two generations that the benefits of the Great Charter had been more than nominally secured. The first difficulty of the army after its day of triumph was, however, not with Charles but with Parliament. The House of Lords, indeed, gave little trouble. With the exception of Pembroke, who always sided with the party which happened for the moment to be uppermost, none of the Lords who had voted Willoughby of Parham into the chair reappeared after the restoration of Manchester. The attendance of a little knot of twelve or thirteen peers, who occupied a corner of the empty chamber, now converted the House of Lords into an Independent stronghold. It was far otherwise with the House of Commons. On August 9 a large number of those members who had prudently asked leave of absence during the recent troubles returned to the House, where their presence seriously imperilled the mastery of the Independent party. Both Presbyterians and Inde 2 1 Fairfax to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, Aug. 5, Rushw. vii. 756. Sanderson's Life of King Charles, 1,002. |