CHAPTER IV.INFLUENCE OF THE AGITATORS.

No one could yet have said which course events would take; either opposite still seemed possible, the abolition or the complete restoration of the monarchy, exclusive domination of one religious faction or tolerance of several, continuance or abridgment of Parliament, entire supremacy of the army, or union with other powers, maintenance of the laws, or even social reform. To estimate the contrary expectations that existed it is only necessary to know that the Pope at Rome solemnly took counsel as to how far the English Catholics should be authorised to unite with the Independents. It was maintained with a certain confidence that the Independents would restore the King and the episcopal establishment, but introduce universal toleration[492].

The King found himself not altogether in bad hands. He was again allowed Anglican worship: some old servants, like Berkeley and Ashburnham, were permitted to be near him: his children were brought to him, his friends might visit him. He again received foreign ambassadors with a certain ceremony in the hall at Hampton Court, devoted from old times to this purpose: the commissioners who surrounded him appeared as his ministers, though forced upon him. The King asserted that he had the word of the chief officers that his crown should not be assailed: in return he had promised not to quit Hampton Court without previous reference toA.D. 1647.them[493]. In the style used in the last generation by Cuneo, the terms of the oath of allegiance to be taken by the Catholics was then discussed between them and the King[494].

Parliament, in spite of the influence which the Independents had exerted on its present position, and still exercised every moment in its debates, passed a resolution in favour of once more laying before the King the Newcastle propositions, which were based on the full supremacy of Presbyterianism, and requesting his acceptance of them: for this was required by the agreement with the Scots, a link they were unwilling to break.

The Independents allowed this to be done, but meanwhile entered into separate negotiations with the King, in which terms of an entirely opposite character were put forward. According to these the Parliament was immediately to be transferred to Oxford, and dissolved within some three months; the troops were to retire from the capital and deliver up to the city militia the posts which they had occupied. The Episcopate was to be restored to its undoubted rights, corresponding to the old laws; but at the same time there was to be complete liberty of conscience: no man was to be vexatious to another in matters of conscience, or oppress him in such[495]. At an earlier time it had been stipulated that some specially detested adherents of the King (seven in number, though not named) should be excluded from the general amnesty. Now, only four were named—Bristol and Digby, Worcester and Newcastle: some others were to be threatened with banishment and temporary sequestration of their property. Finally, a more popular system of administration of justice was contemplated. The King was astonished at the extent of these proposals, but, as he was rightly told, had they been less comprehensive heA.D. 1647.would not have ventured to believe in their sincerity. They bore on the face of them the character of Independentism: he could not accept them as they stood, but in several points they pleased him better than the Presbyterian terms. To the proffer of the old propositions he replied that the scheme of the army seemed to him better suited to form the foundation for a lasting peace. He protested afresh his determination to secure the Protestant creed with reservation of some indulgence for tender consciences, the liberty of the subject, the privileges of Parliament, and the laws: at the same time he expressed a wish to discuss these propositions in personal intercourse with Parliament and make the acceptance of them possible. It is known that this answer was composed in concert with Ireton and Cromwell, in a garden house at Putney, where the head-quarters of the army lay. The two leaders gave it to be understood that they intended to base a definite treaty on these proposals. Ireton said that if Parliament made opposition, it should be cleansed of the obstructives, and cleansed again until an agreement was obtained. Cromwell smote on his breast, and begged the King to have confidence[496].

Cromwell then spoke with full appreciation of the moral attitude of the King, and referred with emotion to the scene of meeting with his children: he exhibited even a sense of the importance of the monarchy. He was heard to say that no man was secure of life and property unless first of all the King obtained his rights. To other officers, as well as to him, it seemed the most suitable plan, considering the unbroken strength of their opponents and the possibility of a reaction, to secure their own future by a treaty with the King and Parliament. Their expressions have been declared to be hypocritical, in fact merely intended to deter the King from accepting the other propositions, but this in any case it was certain he would never do. Moderate Independents might honestly seek to discover the points in which their interests would coincide with those of the King and the Presbyterians; they might wish to bring about a treatyA.D. 1647.which could be accepted by all[497]. No doubt the interest of the army would always have weighed most with them, only they would have taken account of the two other parties. It was a view which was suggested by the state of things, and at the time filled the whole horizon; but it was certainly such as men’s views usually are, when they are still under general discussion, and being neither definitely formulised nor fixed by binding agreements, may be given up again without scruple.

What was to happen if the hostility of the contending interests proved unconquerable. In the army itself there was still a powerful faction which would listen to none of these agreements. It is not in fact true, as has been asserted ever since, that every kind of manifestation in the army proceeded from the generals themselves. It had long before been perceived that in the Independent party there were two separate views current. The leaders would have been content with an arrangement with the King on the terms accepted in his answer, the mass would not have been satisfied with this[498]. Still less would the latter have been contented with the concessions now contemplated.

When the King said that tender consciences must be spared, this was by no means the liberty of conscience which the Independents on principle desired. The King was willing only to admit a limitation of authority in church matters: their theory, on the contrary, aimed at the separation of Church and State. They refused to the civil power any authority to interfere in matters of religion, as every man had a right to believe and to worship God as he pleased[499].

More than this, they desired a fundamental change in the State and the Government, not a mere union of the Independent and Parliamentarian magnates with the King, which would merely lead once more to the old oppression. TheA.D. 1647.army had taken up arms to restore the rights and liberties of the nation, according to its judgment and conscience; but as yet nothing had been changed, either in the oppressive administration of justice, or in the arbitrary dealings of Parliamentary committees, or in the burden of tithes and the excise, or in the persecution of the faithful.

These sentiments now found their regular expression in the above-mentioned institution of Agitators, a name which characterised the thing exactly. It was intended to form a representation of the troops. Elections were held in the companies, and from those elected the agents or Agitators were chosen by a second process of election; agents they were meant to be, Agitators they became: but they were intended to represent the interests not of the separate divisions but of the whole body. They had been formed with the connivance of the officers, but in a short time assumed an attitude of entire independence of them. There was a distinction between the council of war and the council of the army: in the former Cromwell had the chief influence, not in the latter. They imputed to him that he had always regarded the army merely as a means of attaining his political ends; that it had been all-important to him to drive away his opponents and rivals, like Stapleton and Hollis; that after succeeding in this, he had forgotten the cause of the army and of the people; that he was seen to sit among the usurpers, and contribute to increase the burdens of the people; they had honoured him so long as he had gone to work uprightly, but now he had dealings with the malignants who surrounded the King, and interested himself on their behalf. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who to the last had formed a centre for the Presbyterians, had died in the previous year without issue. The report was spread abroad, that the King would make Cromwell, for his good services, Earl of Essex.

On the side of the accusers were somefewsuperior officers, such as Colonel Rainsborough, who was not wanting in the energy requisite for leading a party, and Lilburne, who had largely contributed to the ferment by various pamphlets.

In October the Agitators of five cavalry regiments, among them Cromwell’s, Ireton’s and Fleetwood’s own regiments,A.D. 1647.united, and formulated their wishes in two papers—‘The True Statement of the Cause of the Army’ and ‘Agreement with the People’—in which their demands were set forth, both for themselves and for the people, with much fire and emphasis. They did not hesitate to lay it before the next meeting of the assembly of officers, held at the head-quarters at Putney. Fairfax was not present, but Cromwell and Ireton were; and denied that this was the opinion of the army. Rainsborough asserted the contrary, and called for the punishment of those who had entered into an understanding with the King. Violent words followed: the papers themselves were referred to a commission, which was to report on them.

The council of the army would not hear of any agreement with the King. A pamphlet was put in circulation, and even brought before the King’s eyes at Hampton Court, which said that he must be punished personally, since he had given occasion for so much bloodshed.

Thus there was a division in the armed force which held the power in its hands. Cromwell, who scarcely was misjudged by his companions in arms, would have been content for the time, it appears, with the advantages already gained. What a charm there is in contests like these, in overthrowing our opponents by parliamentary resolutions, and bringing over the majority to our side! It might be an object of his ambition, in the old conflict of the Royalist, Parliamentarian, and Independent interests, to gain the upper hand for the latter, in union with the King, whereby the existence of each individual, and also of society in general, would be secured, with some reforms possibly, but in the main in its present condition. On the other hand, the majority of the soldiers represented by the Agitators rejected all further dealings with the King: God had hardened his heart, or he would have accepted the proposals made to him: God had put all things under the feet of the victorious army, and thus laid on it a duty to settle the country according to their original convictions. The army would have preferred to abstain from all further dealings with the Long Parliament: it demanded the formation of a new one on the basis of an effective representation of the people. It rejected with increasing vehemence, not only the Presbyterian, butA.D. 1647.also the Episcopalian system with the modification last proposed, and claimed an absolute right to universal liberty of conscience, the abolition of a series of oppressive taxes, a thorough reform of justice and of the entire public weal. A new political element now emerged from profound darkness into the light of public life: a conscious advance was made towards social revolution.

These ideas became at once personally dangerous to the officers, when the idea was suggested that the army ought to elect its own officers: this was expressed in a pamphlet of Lilburne’s, which further said that the army ought to form a council out of the sincere friends of the people, in order to check the usurpation of the Parliament men. The ideas of the Agitators were as little consistent with military subordination, which depends on a relation assumeda prioriand actually subsisting, as with every other aspect of order. It appeared as though an authority would be created out of the midst of the army, both to command it and to carry out the desired reforms in the nation.

The officers could not possibly let this continue, as they saw their own existence threatened: but what means had they of acting in opposition? The total rejection of the proposals must have caused an outbreak of complete disobedience. They resolved to resist the movement, while giving way to it in part. In a detailed remonstrance against the prevailing insubordination and mutiny, Fairfax declared that he neither could nor would retain the command of them under such circumstances. Military obedience is the indispensable condition of the existence of an army. Would it not have endangered its own internal coherence, if it had carried out the plan of electing its own officers? At the same time he made several promises corresponding to the wishes expressed by the troops, which should be performed when obedience was restored. There were some regiments which were not satisfied, and appeared at the places of assembly with tokens of resistance: but by far the greater part professed themselves content. They signed a pledge to be satisfied with what the general council of officers should determine in respect to the army and to the entire kingdom.A.D. 1647.This example influenced also the malcontents. A court martial was held in the open field which sentenced to death three of the chief mutineers, one of whom, selected by lot, was shot in front of his regiment. In the latter half of November obedience might be considered as re-established: and Parliament voted its thanks to the generals who had most contributed to this result.

Just as the extreme tendencies towards a general dissolution of society came to light among the troops, who had taken up arms of their own free inclination, and thought that they had acquired by their victories the right to establish universal autonomy, so also it may be stated that they were first checked in their course by the necessity of military discipline, the thing which of all others is furthest removed from all self-assertion: the troops obeyed their officers, whose commissions were derived from a totally different order of things from that which they recognised.

They had not, as has been said, given way unconditionally. The promises which Fairfax had made, at the moment of the crisis, contemplated a new Parliament, which should proceed from free and equal elections, and wherever possible fully represent the people. In the addresses in which the regiments recognised the general as the chief set over them by God, they repeated their old demands, security for the rights and liberties of the realm according to the assurances given to the people. The officers could not possibly place themselves in direct opposition to the tendencies prevailing in the army, which after all many of them privately shared. While the troops submitted to pay the old military obedience, the officers gave scope to the democratic ideas which had increased in the army. An understanding was entered into between the officers and the Agitators, by which the former retained their authority, but the latter maintained their rights.

The King immediately discovered what this meant. When he saw himself threatened by the Agitators, at the moment when the contest broke out, he had taken counsel with the Scottish delegates, who came to him as friends, as to where he should seek refuge from them, whether in London, or perhaps at Edinburgh, or somewhere on theA.D. 1647.Border, say at Berwick, so as to have support against extreme dangers. But this was not altogether within his own option. In conformity to his promise he first asked the leaders for permission to quit Hampton Court. They were doubtless well disposed to grant it, for they too would not let him fall into the hands of the Agitators[500]. But how could they have allowed him to go to the capital or to Scotland, where their chief opponents would have employed his presence against them! Moreover this was not the King’s intention. He knew that the Scots would grant him nothing if he fell again into their power, but might do so if they saw themselves threatened by his connexion with the army. He expected, if in the then impending contest the officers gained the upper hand, that they would fulfil the promises made to him, but that if they did not remain masters, they would seek support in him, the King[501]. Not without political calculation in his own way, as to the means of deriving advantage from the hostility of parties, Charles I resolved to fly to the Isle of Wight, where Colonel Hammond was in command, a man who a short time before had expressed his displeasure at the wild fury of the soldiers, with whom he would have nothing more to do. In the evening of November 10, Charles I quitted Hampton Court in apparent flight. Attended by Ashburnham, Legge, and Berkeley, he found the gates of the park, through which he issued, unguarded: he was unpursued on his way through the wood, where he himself acted as guide: it seems as though a well-considered connivance of the other side had aided him. From Titchfield, where he stayed in concealment, he sent word to Hammond of his approach. Hammond could be induced to give no further promise than that he would treat the King as might beA.D. 1647.expected of a man of honour. Charles I felt that he was still a prisoner, but at first he was treated with much distinction. Here also the old respect for the name of King attended him. As he passed through Newport, a lady came out of a house to present to the King a rose which at that late season had bloomed in her garden, and to offer him her good wishes. In Carisbrook castle—one of the fortresses with which Henry VIII had strengthened the coast defences—whither Hammond conducted him, he enjoyed tolerable liberty. No one was at first denied access to him: old friends and servants flocked round him. The King was still very far from despairing of his cause. While in the Isle of Wight he added some concessions on single points to the proposals made at Newcastle, and renewed his request for personal negotiations in London: but he still held to his resolution never to assent to the definitive abolition of Episcopacy or to the sale of Church lands. He still hoped to have in this the support of the superior officers.

He had however calculated only that they would win the day or be beaten; it had never occurred to him that they would recover their superiority as against the Agitators, and then adopt most of their ideas. The representative whom he sent to them to Windsor was surprised at the coldness and reserve with which he was received. At the dead of night, in a lonely place, he had an interview with one of the chief officers, formerly well disposed to the King, who told him that though it looked as if they had retained the upper hand, yet in reality it was not the case. Cromwell had been visited by a large part of the soldiers, perhaps two thirds of the whole, who had assured him that they were determined not to recede from their old views, and that if he opposed them they would make a division in the army and try to destroy their opponents[502]: that feeling the danger which might hence result to himself, Cromwell, under the mediation of Hugh Peters, had joined the violent enthusiasts: that the idea of holding to the King had again occurred to him, but that he had rejected it, seeing that even in case of victory the best thatA.D. 1647.he could expect would be nothing more than pardon: but that as he could not bring the army over to his side, he had no resource but to go over to theirs. Cromwell intimated to the King’s representative that he would serve the King, so long as it was possible without ruining himself, but that he could not be expected to perish for his sake[503]. No notice was taken of the King’s proposals.

Parliament also was destined by the Agitators to destruction, but for this things were by no means ripe. Their immediate object was to crush in the bud any agreement with the King, and in this they fully succeeded. Under the influence of the officers, who in turn depended on the public opinion formed in the army, four bills passed the Houses in the middle of December, which were fundamentally at variance with the King’s views.

Therein Parliament in the first place demanded the entire military authority, together with the right to impose the taxes necessary for the maintenance of the army, unconditionally for the next twenty years, whether the King lived or died: after that period this power might not be wielded by the crown without the assent of Parliament, but might be by Parliament without the assent of the crown, for every resolution passed by the two Houses was to be considered as having the royal assent[504]. The concession which the King offered was temporary and limited to his own life; the scheme demanded by Parliament would have made the military power for ever independent of the crown.

Parliament moreover wished to be itself equally independent of the crown. The King was to create no new peers without the consent of the two Houses: the nominations made by him since his recovery of the Great Seal were to be cancelled.

Both Parliament and the army had always been mostA.D. 1647.apprehensive that acts done in direct opposition to the King’s commands might some day serve as the occasion of judicial prosecution against individuals. The demand was now addressed to the King that all orders and decrees against the acts of Parliament and its adherents should be declared null and void, and that the judges should be for ever forbidden to trouble any man in respect of them.

The four bills and the propositions appended to them are the expression of the preponderance newly gained by the army—a manifesto of the alliance between the leaders for the time, the generals, and the Agitators. Not only a change of the constitution was aimed at by them, but also a legalisation of the régime of force at that moment existing.

In order not to be checked in its proceedings from the side of the city, where an independent spirit still exhibited itself, Parliament demanded the right to adjourn at whatever time and to whatever place it pleased[505]. If it should still come to negotiations with the King in person, it intended that they should not take place in London. What could be the object of such a meeting? It was assumed at the time that the prospect of it was kept open by Parliament merely in order not to be compelled to make offers side by side with the demands which it made; also that, in case of his acceptance, it wished to reserve all further points. But the King could feel no temptation to assent. It had been remarked, especially by the Scots, that he would thereby burden himself and his people with the army for ever, and make Parliament a mere sub-committee of the army[506]. Charles replied in a similar strain, that he would never deprive himself of his sovereignty, especially in such a way that his successors, as well as himself, would be unable to regain it, nor would he hold himself liable for the oppression which thereby would fall upon his people. He considered it an unheard-of thing to decide the most important points before negotiation began, and declared himself resolved to accept no acts that were offered to him before a personal interview; that neitherA.D. 1648.dislike to his present position, nor fear of what might be impending, should ever move him from this determination. He not only refused the proposals, but rejected altogether the course adopted by Parliament[507]. Parliament surely must have expected this; perhaps did expect it. The general impression was that the dominant party wished to bring about a complete breach with the King, by presenting the bills to him for simple acceptance or rejection.

Now at last the King found that he had fallen into the hands of a decidedly hostile power: he was treated in the Isle of Wight altogether as a prisoner. The tone taken in Parliament was as though he had committed a crime in rejecting the four bills: there was a talk of confining him in some inland castle and bringing him to trial. Ireton intimated that the King was refusing to his people security and protection, the return for which would be obedience; but the latter could not be had without the former. Cromwell appears as a man who, after hesitating a moment, has chosen his side, and advances in the direction of his party with full vehemence. He now repeated the words of the Agitators, that God had hardened the King’s heart; that he could not be conciliated, and that the brave soldiers by whom he had been defeated and conquered must not be exposed to his vengeance: that Parliament must expect nothing more from him, but should govern by its own power and resolution.

Parliament now in fact decided on this course: it resolved henceforth to send no addresses to the King, and to receive no messages or letters from him: to send any communication to him or receive any from him without the leave of Parliament was to be high treason (Jan. 3). The King was virtually excluded from his kingdom.

The general assembly of the army accepted these declarations with joy. It asserted that Parliament could have asked for nothing less than was contained in the last proposals, without endangering the safety of itself and of all who adhered to it, without deserting the cause for which God had declared in the result of the battles. It assented withoutA.D. 1648.opposition to the resolutions now passed, and promised to defend them against all.

The fact that the superior officers who sat in Parliament exhibited not only no leaning towards the King, but the harshest aversion to his cause, completely put an end to the misunderstanding between them and the common soldiers. At Windsor, where the General Assembly met, the restoration of unity was celebrated by a festival. Deputies went to the various garrisons, in order to give an account everywhere of the new turn of events, which the soldiers regarded as the triumph of their opinions, and to arouse corresponding sentiments. Seven of them, with a number of officers, laid the declaration of the army before Parliament, which voted them its thanks. Thus all variance between the army and its officers, and between the army and Parliament, was removed; and at this moment they all made common cause against the King.

In their first zeal they had intended to pass formal ordinances against the King’s authority; but this was as yet avoided, the more so as no special constitutional forms were needed to carry on the government of the country without reference to him. It sufficed to do as was done by a resolution of January 3, namely, to renew in relation to England and Ireland, without reference to the Scottish members, the authority possessed by the Committee of the two kingdoms: the only thing needed was to replace by some Independents the excluded Presbyterian members. The twenty-one members of whom it was composed, seven lords and fourteen commoners, thus took into their hands the supreme power. Among the latter we find the two Vanes, Haslerig, and Cromwell. Northumberland, Warwick, and other Presbyterian lords fought for some time against agreeing to this: the King’s friends expected a breach between the two Houses; but on January 15 the Lords also assented to the resolution of the Lower House.

What then immediately came to light was the domination of the men who had obtained the lead in the Parliamentary struggles, and who were popularly named Grandees. Each of these ruled absolutely over a faction: whoever did not join theA.D. 1648.factions fell at once to the ground. The most weighty affairs were arranged beforehand in the Committees by a few persons, and then came before the Lower House. But it was asserted that all the parts were settled beforehand, who should make the proposal, support it, deal with this or that part of the question, and close the debate. A most extraordinary position was enjoyed by those who managed money matters. Great sums were raised by loan; an important part, some said half, of the property in the kingdom was in sequestration, monthly contributions were collected, the excise brought in a considerable revenue: but the millions which came in, in money or money’s worth, passed through so many hands, that it was impossible to keep account of it all: the old arrangements of the Exchequer no longer existed.

Thus, under the forms of a Parliament, which was meant to represent the rights of the nation, some few had possessed themselves of all authority, and constituted, as was said at the time, an oligarchy with dictatorial power[508]. And woe to any one who should rise against them. The Grandees desired nothing better than a manifestation made by their opponents, so as to be able to throw them into prison and seize their property. Everywhere there were, or were supposed to be, spies: the informers received a portion of the fines.

A committee, already appointed to suppress distasteful pamphlets, was now furnished with new and strict instructions, and rewards were offered to those who should denounce the secret presses and anonymous authors[509]. The drama was entirely forbidden; and stage, galleries, and benches removed from the theatres. If a case occurred, the players were to be punished as vagabonds, and the spectators subjected to a fine.

Fairfax had sent two regiments to Whitehall; for in the contest with the King the Parliamentary and military leadersA.D. 1648.were now most closely united. The soldiers exercised a sort of police authority, and prosecuted malignants and Papists: but what might not be included under those names! The prisons were filled with Royalists, alike Catholic and Protestant: others were banished or took to flight.

Thus those who desired to introduce universal liberty appeared as the wielders of an absolute, selfish, and oppressive power. Ideas in their nature mutually exclusive were brought, through love of faction and power, to walk hand in hand.

FOOTNOTES:[492]‘Che una religione sia stabilita cioe l’antica, che e quella del re dentro tutto lo stato e tutte le altre saranno tolerate, dentro le quali altre gli independenti vogliono comprendasi la loro propria, ed ancora la nostra per qualche anno.’ Lettera di Londra 19 Luglio.[493]From the King’s conversation with Lauderdale, in Burnet, Hamiltons 324.[494]From some expressions in a request of his for help the hope was reawakened at Rome that he would yet be converted. They were greeted as the first rays of grace shining upon him. But in reality there was as little idea of it now as ever.[495]Articles of agreement between our Sov. Lord King Charles and H. E. Sir Thomas Fairfax with his Council of War. In Fairfax Correspondence, Civil War i. 394.[496]Huntingdon’s reasons for laying down his commission. In Maseres 402.[497]Memoirs of Sir John Berkeley, in Maseres 361. ‘They would comprise the several interests of the Royal, Presbyterian and Independent parties, as far as they were consisting with each other.’[498]Baillie to Blair. Letters ii. 408.[499]Reliquiae Baxterianae 53. ‘That the civil magistrates had nothing to do to determine of anything in matters of religion by constraint or restraint, but every man might not only hold but preach and do in matters of religion what he pleased.’[500]Grignan, 25th Nov., to Brienne. ‘Cromwell et Yerton apparerament l’ont fait aller où il est, pour l’ôter d’entre les mains des agitateurs à le mettre entre celles de Hammond, qui doit à Cromwell toute sa fortune, et aussi pour empêcher en l’éloignant la communication avec les commissaires d’Ecosse, qui leur estoit suspecte.’[501]Memoirs of Berkeley, in Maseres ii. 375. Ashburnham, whose narrative (ii. 108) gives a report of this, seems not to have followed the beat sources for the political considerations.[502]‘A schism being evidently destructif.’[503]‘It might not be expected that he should perish for his sake.’ More correctly printed in Ludlow’s Memoirs i. 230 than in Maseres.[504]‘If the royal consent to such bill or bills shall not be given in the House of Peers within such time as the Houses shall judge fit and convenient, that then such bill or bills shall nevertheless have the force and strength of an act or acts of Parliament.’ Parl. Hist. xvi. 400.[505]Grignan to Brienne, Dec. 9. ‘En créance qu’estant en cette ville il les pourroit faire changer (les autres bills).’[506]Burnet, Hamiltons 327.[507]His Majesty’s answer, Dec. 28, 1647.[508]Walker, The mystery of the two yuntos, in Maseres i 337.[509]Rushworth i. 957: ‘To gratify such as shall make any discovery of the authors or presses of malignant and abusive sheets.’

[492]‘Che una religione sia stabilita cioe l’antica, che e quella del re dentro tutto lo stato e tutte le altre saranno tolerate, dentro le quali altre gli independenti vogliono comprendasi la loro propria, ed ancora la nostra per qualche anno.’ Lettera di Londra 19 Luglio.

[493]From the King’s conversation with Lauderdale, in Burnet, Hamiltons 324.

[494]From some expressions in a request of his for help the hope was reawakened at Rome that he would yet be converted. They were greeted as the first rays of grace shining upon him. But in reality there was as little idea of it now as ever.

[495]Articles of agreement between our Sov. Lord King Charles and H. E. Sir Thomas Fairfax with his Council of War. In Fairfax Correspondence, Civil War i. 394.

[496]Huntingdon’s reasons for laying down his commission. In Maseres 402.

[497]Memoirs of Sir John Berkeley, in Maseres 361. ‘They would comprise the several interests of the Royal, Presbyterian and Independent parties, as far as they were consisting with each other.’

[498]Baillie to Blair. Letters ii. 408.

[499]Reliquiae Baxterianae 53. ‘That the civil magistrates had nothing to do to determine of anything in matters of religion by constraint or restraint, but every man might not only hold but preach and do in matters of religion what he pleased.’

[500]Grignan, 25th Nov., to Brienne. ‘Cromwell et Yerton apparerament l’ont fait aller où il est, pour l’ôter d’entre les mains des agitateurs à le mettre entre celles de Hammond, qui doit à Cromwell toute sa fortune, et aussi pour empêcher en l’éloignant la communication avec les commissaires d’Ecosse, qui leur estoit suspecte.’

[501]Memoirs of Berkeley, in Maseres ii. 375. Ashburnham, whose narrative (ii. 108) gives a report of this, seems not to have followed the beat sources for the political considerations.

[502]‘A schism being evidently destructif.’

[503]‘It might not be expected that he should perish for his sake.’ More correctly printed in Ludlow’s Memoirs i. 230 than in Maseres.

[504]‘If the royal consent to such bill or bills shall not be given in the House of Peers within such time as the Houses shall judge fit and convenient, that then such bill or bills shall nevertheless have the force and strength of an act or acts of Parliament.’ Parl. Hist. xvi. 400.

[505]Grignan to Brienne, Dec. 9. ‘En créance qu’estant en cette ville il les pourroit faire changer (les autres bills).’

[506]Burnet, Hamiltons 327.

[507]His Majesty’s answer, Dec. 28, 1647.

[508]Walker, The mystery of the two yuntos, in Maseres i 337.

[509]Rushworth i. 957: ‘To gratify such as shall make any discovery of the authors or presses of malignant and abusive sheets.’

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