THREATENED REDUCTION OF THE ARMY. 29 CHAP. 1647 before it. had been gained. The new majority, however, had no easy task before it. Its leaders, Holles, Stapleton and the others, were men of no special ability, and were hardly likely to succeed in persuading the Difficulties King to acknowledge the doctrine of Parliamentary control. The problem with which they were immediately confronted was scarcely less difficult. The nation was crying out for a diminution of taxation, and no diminution of taxation was possible without a complete or partial disbandment of the army. On February 15 there was a demonstration of popular feeling serious enough to startle Parliament into immediate financial action. A man who had purchased an ox at Smithfield refused to pay the excise. The bystanders took his part, and in the tumult which ensued the collectors were cudgelled, their office burnt down, their books torn, and 8ol. scattered or carried off. It required the personal intervention of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs to quell the disturbance.1 The Presbyterians were ready enough to move in the direction indicated by the riot. On the next day they welcomed a petition from Suffolk asking for the establishment of Presbyterianism as the national religion, the suppression of an accursed toleration, and the disbandment of the army. Before long the example of Suffolk was followed by most of the other Associated Counties. Feb. 15. A riot at Smithfield. Feb. 16. A Suffolk petition. Feb. 18. Scheme for the reduction On February 18 the Presbyterian scheme for dealing with the army was brought forward in the Commons. It was first proposed that 6,600 horse of the and dragoons should be maintained in England, and army. as this motion only involved the reduction of the existing force by 400,3 it was agreed to without a 1 The Weekly Account, E. 377, 3. 2 L.J. ix. 18. There were 7,000 horse and dragoons in the New Model. CHAP. 1647 Feb. 19. Advan tages of the scheme. Feb. 20. A letter from Ormond. Jan. 16. Dublin refuses to support his soldiers. division. The first serious conflict came on the The plan thus adopted was from a constitutional point of view not without its merits. The cavalry, the most difficult part of an army to train and discipline, was to be preserved almost intact. Cavalry, however, without the co-operation of infantry was helpless in a campaign, and the only infantry on which such a force could rely would be the trained bands, which, composed as they were of civilians summoned from their daily occupations for temporary service, would be most unlikely to assist in the establishment of a military despotism. The whole organisation of the country would be of a piece. As in the State Parliament was to act as a check upon the Crown, and in the Church the lay elders were to act as a check on the ministers, so in the army the civilian infantry were to act as a check on the professional cavalry. It is undeniable that a certain unity of idea pervaded the whole plan of the Presbyterian party. 3 The only difficulty remaining was to dispose of the existing infantry, and on the 20th a letter from Ormond offered a means of bringing the intended disbandment within moderate limits. Ormond, as might have been foreseen, had at last found it necessary to make his choice between the Papal Nuncio and the English Parliament. On January 16 the citizens of Dublin refused longer to support the 1,425 men who formed the only effective force remaining 1 158 to 148. 3 C.J. v. 91. 2 C.J. v. 90, 91. MILITARY ARRANGEMENTS. 31 CHAP. 1647 Feb. 6. He offers to sur under his command. For a few days he continued to make head against this sea of troubles, but on February 6 he abandoned hope, and, waiving his former stipulation that he should not be required to leave Dublin till the King's consent had been obtained,2 render his he offered to surrender the Lord Lieutenantship to the English Parliament without any other conditions than those necessary to secure his own personal good treatment. From the despatch in which Ormond announced his resolution, the Houses learnt that the burden of the war in Ireland would henceforth Prospect of employfall on their shoulders, and they were thus enabled ment for to offer service in Ireland to those soldiers of the English soldiers. New Model who were unwilling to return to civil life. 3 the fortifica be de Before shaping out a plan for the reduction of English Ireland, the House completed its scheme for the mili- tions to tary establishment in England. It was agreed that, molished. with some stated exceptions, the existing fortifications should be demolished. Walled towns were to be rendered easily accessible, whilst actual fortresses, like Ashby and Donnington, were to be so dealt with as to leave no more than picturesque ruins for the enjoyment of future generations. The fewer the defensible positions left, the less numerous would be the garrisons to be kept in pay, and the more difficult would it be to resist the authority of the central government. Whatever merits the plan of the Presbyterians may have had, their mode of dealing with the army was most inopportune. They seem, indeed, to have thought that, with the nation on their side, they 1 Lambert to Ormond, Jan. 16; Petition of the Citizens of Dublin, Jan. 16, Carte MSS. fol. 145, 149. 2 See vol. ii. 546. 3 L.J. ix. 29. CHAP. XLVII. 1647 March 4. refuse to continue the pay of could afford to treat the army with contempt. On March 4 the Lords, acting as though it were a light thing to rouse the indignation of every man in the The Lords ranks, rejected an Ordinance providing for the continuance of the assessment on which the payment the army, of the troops depended.1 This vote proved to be only the first of a long series of blunders. On the 6th the Lords followed up their mistake by forbidding Fairfax to quarter his troops in the Eastern Association, as though they were anxious to reserve a space in which a new force might be brought into existence to hold head against the existing army.2 March 6. fere with and inter Fairfax. Attack on Fairfax in the A letter from Fairfax. In the Commons the conduct of the Presbyterian March 5. leaders was equally provocative. On the 5th they attempted to oust Fairfax from the command of the Commons. horse and dragoons, which were henceforth to constitute the regular army; but at this point their followers broke away from them and frustrated March 6. their plans. On the 6th a letter reached the House in which Fairfax, with every expression of goodwill, offered to co-operate with Parliament in despatching troops to Ireland. On this the Commons Numbers proceeded to fix the numbers of the new Irish army. It was to consist of 8,400 foot, 1,200 dragoons, and 3,000 horse, making in all a force of 12,600 men. A further vote decided that this whole body of horse and foot should be formed out of the army under Fairfax. There would thus remain for disbandment about 6,000 foot. As, how3 C.J. v. 107. of the proposed Irish army. 2 Ib. ix. 66. 1 L.J. ix. 57. 4 The number of foot originally in the New Model was 14,000. As 8,400 were wanted for Ireland, there would remain 5,600. As, however, the army was now slightly increased (Whitacre's Diary, Add. MSS. 31, 116, fol. 306), the number of foot to be disposed of may be reckoned at about 6,000. A THREATENED DISBANDMENT. ever, the ambassadors of France and Spain were on the look-out for recruits, and as it was probable that many of the men desired to return to their homes, the number of foot soldiers driven against their inclinations to relinquish a military career could not be large. As far as the horse and dragoons were concerned, there were needed for England and Ireland together, 10,800 men,1 or 3,800 more than Fairfax's army could produce. Having thus, as they fondly imagined, provided against any discontent amongst the soldiers, the Presbyterians struck at the higher organisation of the army. On March 8 the House resolved that, with the exception of Fairfax himself, there should be no officer in the new army with rank above that of a colonel; that no member of the House of Commons should hold any command in England, and that no one who refused to take the Covenant should be an officer at all. These resolutions, which were obviously directed at Cromwell's military position, were all carried without a division. A farther motion that all officers should conform to the government of the Church established by Parliament was the first which the Independents ventured to challenge, but on this they were beaten by a majority of 136 to 108.2 and mino It can hardly be doubted that if all England had Majorities been polled the result would have been overwhelm- rities. ingly in favour of any scheme which would diminish or set aside the preponderance of the army. Yet a wise dealing with minorities is not the least of the arts of government, and in this art the Presbyterians had yet. 1 For England 6,600, and for Ireland 4,200; the horse and dragoons of the New Model being 7,000. 2 C.J. v. 107. |