CHAP. 1648 Fairfax's failure. June 14. He hems in the Royalists. The Suffolk trained bands. Far into the night Fairfax continued his attempt to storm the defences. It was all in vain; and on the morning of the 14th, grasping the truth that a long siege was inevitable, he hastened to prevent the escape of the Royalist horse by placing strong bodies of men on the road leading out of Colchester and urging the Suffolk trained bands to stop the passages over the Stour by guarding the bridges at Nayland, Stratford, and Catawade. These Suffolk trained bands had for some time hesitated in their allegiance, and the Royalists had expected to find them on their side. Like so many others of their class, however, they thought of peace first and of party distinctions afterwards, and agreed to prevent the irruption of the Royalists into their country. Some little time afterwards they were actually induced to take their part in the blockade of Colchester, probably thinking it the shortest way to avert the horrors of war from their own county. Diary attached to the contemporary map, which is the most distinct military authority on the Parliament side, says that Barkstead 'entered the Head Gate, and being overpowered there and out of the churchyard the King's forces barricaded the gate.' An Exact Narrative (E. 448, 18) says that 'they were resolutely charged by the Lord General's van . . . who suddenly beat the enemy from their ground and pursued them into the town, and seven colours of ours entered with them, but ... our men were forced to give back and the town gates were closed on them.' Merc. Elencticus (E. 449, 7) makes Lucas use cannon on the hill, which seems incompatible with his use of horse. Compare also ? to Lenthall, June 14, Portland MSS.; Carter, 131. 1 The writer of The Siege of Colchester (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii. part 9, p. 26) says that the Suffolk men would have supported the King but that there came an order from a person whom . . . the Prince of Wales, commissioned to be General of this County,' perhaps Lord Willoughby of Parham, see p. 451-as Lucas, who held a commission in Essex, cannot be intended-'commanding them not to move upon their allegiance; this was a malignant reflection from the Presbyterian party.' Whether this is true or not, it illustrates the bad feeling between Presbyterians and Cavaliers. DANGER FROM THE SEA. 403 CHAP. LXIII. 1648 Island June 19. An attack from the sea re In another direction Fairfax was equally successful. He seized Mersea Island with its blockhouse in order to cut off all hostile approach by the Colne. Mersea On the 19th three vessels laden with provisions for seized. the besieged attempted to force their way up the river, but they were driven back by the garrison of Mersea, whose efforts were seconded by the arrival pulsed. from Harwich of two ships in the service of Parlia'ment.1 Nevertheless, the provisions in Colchester A long siege were sufficient to enable resolute men to hold out expected. long, and the besiegers had no resource but to settle down to the work of building forts and repelling sallies. of succour. the navy. It was, however, by no means impossible that Prospect from some quarter or other succour might arrive. If Norwich and Capel were unable to leave Colchester, Fairfax was equally fixed to his lines of circumvallation round it, and either London or any Royalist county so minded might rise without fear of attack from that terrible army the reputation of which weighed so heavily on all its enemies. Above State of all, the power of the sea seemed likely to pass into the hands of the King's partisans. It was true that nineteen ships still remained faithful to the Houses, whilst only nine had declared for the King, but the minds of many of the sailors of the nineteen were trembling on the balance, and it would be most unwise to employ such men on active service against their comrades. Moreover, three of the nineteen were needed to guard the entrance to the Colne, whilst eight of the remainder were either at Portsmouth or in the West, leaving only eight available for service in the Thames.2 1 Diary; A Great Victory, E. 449, 20. 2 Derby House Committee, Day Book, June 13. CHAP. 1648 The re volters at Goree. For the present, though no immediate danger impended from the action of the navy, there was a possibility of an attack at any moment. The nine revolted ships crossed to Goree in Holland, where they invited the Duke of York to come on board as their admiral. The Duke sent them Lord Willoughby of Parham to command as vice-admiral, and held out June 29. hopes that the Prince of Wales would soon be with them. On June 25 the Prince left St. Germains for Holland, travelling by way of Calais.1 The Prince of Wales sets out for Holland. The Derby House Committee naturally took alarm. If the Prince were to land with military stores at Yarmouth or Lynn it would be hard to find the elements of an army capable of resisting him. Cromwell's Not only was Cromwell still detained before Pemwrecked. broke Castle, but the vessel which carried his siege siege train Danger in the North. June 10. train had been sunk at the mouth of the Severn by a sudden storm. All the assistance that Cromwell could render was the despatch of a small force to the aid of Lambert in the North.2 It was to the North that the eyes of all English Royalists were now impatiently turning. The cloud long gathering was at last ready to burst. On June 9 the Scottish Parliament gave full powers to its Committee of Estates, and on the next day adment of the journed its own meetings for two years.3 Hamilton, who was supreme in the Committee of Estates, had now the whole machinery of Government in his supreme. hands, and supported as he was by the majority of the nobility, was able to defy the opposition of Adjourn Scottish Parlia ment. Hamilton 1 Letter of Intelligence, June 21; Goffe to Aylesbury, Jan; Hyde to Berkeley, July 1, Clarendon MSS. 2,817, 2,827, 2,825. June 24, 2 Cromwell to Lenthall, June 14; Cromwell to Fairfax, June 28, Carlyle Letters, lix. lxi.; A Wonder, A Mercury Without a Lie, E. 451, 17. 3 Acts of Parl. of Scotl. VI. part ii. 102. HAMILTON'S ARMY. Argyle and the clergy. To destroy his influence it would be necessary to raise an armed force against him, and both David Leslie and Argyle, though they had been sounded on the subject, were too prudent to run the risk of appearing in arms against men who had the support of both King and Parliament.1 Middleton was now definitely appointed to command the horse and Baillie the foot of the new forces. 405 СНАР. LXIII. 1648 opposition levies. way. Turner at Armed with compulsory powers, Hamilton's agents, Useless who usually had at their back the influence of the to the territorial magnates, found little difficulty in levying men. Fife resisted for a time; but Fife had been Fife gives sadly depopulated by the slaughter of Kilsyth, and, in spite of the vigour of its Presbyterianism, its resistance could not be prolonged. In Clydesdale, the other great centre of clerical influence, the opposition was stronger, but gave way before the pressure of military force. Sir James Turner, a soldier to Sir James the backbone, having been sent to Glasgow to en- Glasgow. force obedience, anticipated the methods by which Louis XIV. afterwards attempted to convert the Huguenots. "At my coming there," to use his own words, "I found my work not very difficult, for I shortly learnt to know that the quartering of two or three troopers and half a dozen musketeers was an argument strong enough in two or three nights' time to make the hardest-headed Covenanter in the town to forsake the Kirk and to side with the Parliament." A little later a body of 2,000 men collected at Mauchlin to resist the levies, but were routed Middleton by Middleton without difficulty, after which all open lin. resistance came to an end.2 As to the next step to be taken there was some 1 Montreuil to Brienne, June 3, Carte MSS. lxxxiii. fol. 292b. 2 Turner's Memoirs, 53, 55; Baillie, iii. 47. at Mauch CHAP. LXIII. 1648 amongst A rendez pointed. difference of opinion amongst the leaders. Lanark proposed that they should push their advantage home, and crush Argyle's party before setting out for Engof opinion land. Lauderdale was for an immediate advance the leaders. southwards, and Hamilton, giving way to his urgency, appointed a general rendezvous to be held at Annan on July 4. An advance into England was indeed. necessary if the English Royalists of the northern counties were not to be driven to despair. Lambert, who had been recently joined by Ashton with the Lancashire forces, had driven Langdale into Carlisle, and was threatening to besiege the place. vous ap Will the English officers take the Already the double-dealing which was at the bottom of Hamilton's adventure was causing emcovenant? barrassment. The Committee of Estates had forwarded to Langdale and the other English officers the draft of a letter which they called upon them to sign, inviting the Scots to enter England for the ends of the Covenant.' Langdale refused either to sign it himself or to ask his officers to sign it, and in the end it was returned with no more than twelve signatures appended.2 Holland's designs known. In spite of these divergencies a Scottish invasion, if it could be made to coincide with a Royalist explosion in England, would be truly formidable. The Queen, however, had rendered this the more difficult. by placing the control over the movement in the hands of Holland. Those by whom the general thus appointed was surrounded had not the art of keeping a secret, and during the last fortnight in June scarcely a day passed without some fresh revelation reaching the Committee at Derby House. It was thoroughly well known that Holland had been issuing commis1 Burnet, vi. 43. 2 Musgrave's narrative, Clarendon MSS. 2,867. Compare Turner's Memoirs, 57. |