DIE Mercurii, 9 Junii.
Comes Manchester, Speaker.
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Comes Northumberland.
Comes Rutland.
Comes Pembrooke.
Comes Lincolne.
Comes Denbigh.
Comes Mulgrave.
Comes Stanford.
Comes Suff. |
L. Berkley.
L. Wharton.
L. North.
L. Hunsdon.
L. Grey.
L. Willoughby. |
Preachers at the Humiliation thanked.
Mr. Herle, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Arrowsmith, and Mr.
Vines, (after their Sermons) withdrew; and, being called
in again, were told, "That this House did acknowledge
the great Respects done unto it, for their Performance of this Day's Duty; and did give them very
hearty Thanks for the same."
Answer from the H. C.
Doctor Heath and Mr. Page returned Answer from
the House of Commons:
That they will send Answer, by Messengers of their
own, concerning the Declaration for suppressing of
Tumults.
Letters from Sir T. Fairfax and the Commissioners with the King.
A Letter from Sir Thomas Fairefax, was read.
(Here enter it.)
A Letter from the Commissioners with the King was
read, and a Relation touching the King's Removal from
Holdenby. (Here enter them.)
Letter from Sir T. Fairfax, that he had wrote a full Answer to the Speaker of the H. C. not having Time to send a Duplicate to this House.
"For the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Manchester, Speaker of the House of Peers pro
Tempore.
"My Lord,
I received your Letter, subscribed by the Speakers
of both Houses; and last Night late sent an Answer
to Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons, desiring
him to communicate the same to the House of
Peers, in regard the Letter was long, and the Time
would not then give Leave for the Writing another.
I desire your Lordship's Excuse for it; and that it
may not be attributed to any Neglect in
Cambridge, June 7, 1647.
"Your Lordship's humble Servant,
"T. Fairefax."
Letter from the Commissioners with the King, that He refused to go back to Holdenby; and was on His Way to Newmarket; with Sir T. Fairfax's Consent.
"For the Right Honourable the Earl of Manchester, Speaker of the House of Peers pro Tempore. These.
"My Lord,
"Upon Saturday, as we were upon the Way between Huntingdon and Cambridge, in our Journey as
we supposed towards New Markett, we were met by
Colonel Whalley, who acquainted us with the First
Orders he had received from the General, to attend
the King, with his Regiment, at Holdenby, in the
room of Colonel Greaves; and also with such other
Orders as he received from his Excellency after it
was known unto him that His Majesty was upon His
March towards Newmarkett, whereby he was directed,
at his Meeting of the King upon the Way, to intreat
His Majesty to take up His Quarters at the next convenient House, which he had assigned to be at Childersly, the late Dwelling-house of Sir John Cutts;
wherewith His Majesty was contented. At the same
Time we also received Two Letters from the General,
wherein he acquainted us that the changing of the
Guards at Holdenby, and the Removal of the King,
had been without his Privity; and that he had sent
Colonel Whalley, with his Regiment, to attend His
Majesty back to Holdenby: But those Orders which
Colonel Whalley last received, for waiting upon the
King to such convenient Quarters as should be next
to the Place where he met Him in the Way, were
given, as it seems, after the Date of those Letters he
directed to us, and upon his Knowledge of the King's
being advanced as far as Huntington: Upon Saturday
in the Afternoon, the King came accordingly to this
Place; and we returned Answer to his Excellency's
Two Letters, wherein we acquainted him with our
Condition; and that we had sent to the Parliament
for Directions, which we speedily expected. Upon
Saturday, late in the Night, Sir Hardres Waller and
Colonel Lambert came unto us from the General, and
desired our Advice what was fittest to be done upon
this Accident, which had befallen by the Disorder of
the Soldiers, without his Excellency's Knowledge; and
withal propounded unto us the King's Return to Holdenby, wherein His Majesty had declared His utter
Averseness to Colonel Whally; insisting, that He would
not be posted from Place to Place; but, since they had
removed Him against His Will from Holdenby, He would
now go to Newmarkett. To this we durst not, in the
Condition we were, presume to give any Advice at
all, before we received new Directions from you;
and that was all the Answer we returned. Upon
Monday, the General himself, the Lieutenant General, and other Chief Officers of the Army, came hither; and were much pressed by the King, that, for
His Conveniency, He might remove to His own House
at Newmarkett; professing that He would not return
to Holdenby. Herein, though much desired, we could
not take upon us to advise or act any Thing; conceiving that no new Guards could be put into the
Capacity of the former, who by Ordinance of Parliament were immediately to receive and observe our
Orders, and could not be countermanded by any other
Authority than of both Houses. His Excellency, after
much Discourse, returned back to his Quarters at
Cambridge, having promised the King that He should
have their Resolution before Morning; and accordingly Colonel Whalley hath now received Orders to
attend the King to Newmarkett, whither we also wait
upon Him; expecting Hourly to receive your Directions, which are hereby earnestly entreated, and will
be extremely welcome unto
Childersley, the 8th of June, 1647.
"Your Lordship's humble Servant,
"Edw. Mountagu.
"In regard I was straitened in Time when my
last Letter was written, I have here inclosed sent you a perfect Relation of what
passed upon the 4th of this Instant June,
when the King spake publicly with the Soldiers at Holdenby.
Narrative of the Manner of the King's being taken from Holdenby by a Party of the Army under Cornet Joyce.
"The Party being drawn up in the First Court before the House, His Majesty came down, and, standing upon the Top of the Steps, directed his Speech
to Cornet Joyce, who, representing the Commander
of the Party, stood before the Horse at the Foot of
the Stairs. The King said, "That Cornet Joyce having, though at an unseasonable Hour in the Night,
acquainted Him that he was come to convey His Majesty to the Army, His Majesty, according to His Promise, was there to give His Answer, in Presence of
them all; but first He desired to know by whom He
was authorized to propound this to His Majesty."
Mr Joyce answered, "That he was sent by Authority
from the Army." The King replied, "That He knew
no lawful Authority in England but His own, and
next under Him the Parliament;" but withal asked,
"Whether he had any Authority from Sir Thomas
Fairefax, and whether in Writing?" It being replied,
"That Sir Thomas Fairefax was a Member of the
Army;" the King insisted, "That He was not answered; Sir Thomas Fairefax, being their General,
was not properly a Member, but Head of the Army."
Joyce said, "That at least he was included in the
Army; and that the Soldiers present were his Commission, being a Commanded Party out of every Regiment." The King replied, "That they might be good
Witnesses, but He had not seen such a Commission
before; and if they were his Commission, it was an
Authority very well written, all handsome young
Men." The King proceeded to say, "That He came
to Holdenby, not by Constraint (though not so willingly
as He might have done), to the Intent He might send
Messages to His Two Houses of Parliament, and receive Answers from them; that accordingly He had
sent several Messages to them, and thought Himself
in a Sort obliged to stay for their Answers, which
were not come; yet, if they gave Him such Reasons
as might convince His Judgement, He would go with
them; nay, the Commissioners should not stop Him:
He desired therefore to know the Reasons they could
give for this Journey." Joyce replied, "That a Plot
for this Four Years last contrived, by some Members
of both Houses, to overthrow the Laws of the
Kingdom; that a Design to convey His Person to an
Army newly to be raised for that Purpose; were the
Causes of their undertaking this Employment, and
hoped would prevail with His Majesty to go willingly
with them, thereby to defeat the Purposes of those
that would otherwise, by the Countenance of His
Person, perturb the Peace of the Kingdom; and that
His being with the Army was the readiest Expedient
He could think upon, to procure Him a speedy and
satisfactory Answer to His former Messages." The
King returned, "That He knew no Syllable of any
such Design or intended Army; and that to seek an
Answer with so many gallant Men at his Back were
to extort it, which were very unhandsome; besides
that their Proposal looked like an Opposition to the
Parliament, which He desired not, or would ever infringe their just Privileges of the Laws of the Land:
That these Reasons induced Him, not to go willingly; and therefore desired to know what they intended
if He would not go with them." It was answered,
"That they hoped His Majesty would not put them
to use those Means which otherwise they should be
necessitated to if He refused: For the Commissioners,
or any else that refused, they knew well what Course
to take with them." The King protested, "That,
unless they gave Him Satisfaction to the reasonable
and just Demands He should make, He would not go
with them, unless they carried Him by absolute Force;
and He thought they would well think upon it, before
they would lay violent Hands upon their King: That
the Commissioners had never put any Constraint upon
Him; they were more civil." Then He propounded, "That He might be used with Honour and Respect; that they would not force Him in any Thing contrary to His Conscience or His Honour, though He hoped
He had long ago so fixed His Resolutions, that no
Force could cause Him to do a base Thing; though
they were Masters of His Body, yet His Mind was
above their Reach." But to those Propositions they
consented with a general Acclamation; Mr. Joyce
adding, "That their Principles were, not to force
any Man's Conscience, much less the King." Then
His Majesty desired, "That those which attended
Him, and some other of His Servants against whom
they had no just Exceptions, might be permitted to
wait upon Him." This being agreed, the King asked
"Whither they would have Him go?" Oxford was
first nominated, then Cambridge. The King named
Newmarkett; which accepted, He desired Care might
be taken to carry His Stuff; wherein, Mr. Joyce said,
something was done already. Other Expressions of
their Respect to the King, of the Army's Desire to
see Him with them, and of their Fidelity towards
Him, were intermixed in the Discourse, together with
Complaints of the Proceeding of the Parliament towards them; "which, the King said, He would not
adjudge unless He heard both Sides." The King having ended; at the Desire of the Commissioners, He
gave them Leave to speak to the Troops; who, having repeated the Sum of their Instructions from both
Houses, whereby they were appointed to attend His
Majesty at Holdenby till further Orders, did publicly
protest against His Removal, and against this Act of
the Soldiers, as unlawful in itself, and dangerous to
them; requiring so many of them as would stand by
the Commissioners in Opposition thereof to declare
themselves accordingly: But it being with a general
Voice answered, "That not a Man of them would do
so;" the Commissioners added, "That, as honest Men,
they held themselves obliged to discharge the Trust
reposed in them to the utmost of their Power; and
agreeable thereunto, if they had Force for the Service, they would withstand them to the Loss of their
Lives; but, since they were not in a Capacity at present, they must acquiesce. As the King turned back
to go into the House, Major Tomlins declared to His
Majesty, in the Presence of the Commissioners, That,
according to the Orders they gave him, he had endeavoured what he could to induce the Troops assigned for the ordinary Guards, which he commanded
in the Absence of Colonel Greavis, to draw up and
make Resistance, but without Effect, they all refusing
to obey him therein."
"Ex'r."
Adjourn.
Adjourn, 10a To-morrow Morning.