(M399)
The City was now powerless. The day of reckoning had come, and the City
had to pay for the opposition it had displayed towards the army. The Tower
was no longer entrusted to the citizens, but was committed by parliament
to Fairfax as constable.(806) Diligent search was made for reformadoes
with the intention of making an example of some of them,(807) and a
committee consisting of members of both Houses was appointed to enquire
into the violence recently offered to parliament.(808) The Town Clerk
received orders to produce to the committee all such books of the city as
contained the Acts and Orders of the Common Council passed and made from
the 20th July until the 6th August, as well as the original petitions of
which copies had been presented to the Commons on the memorable 26th July,
and other documents.(809)
(M400)
The cry raised by the agitators of the army for the expulsion of the
eleven members from parliament became so great that six of the number
thought it advisable to make their escape to the continent.(810) Of those
that remained to face the worst in England, Glyn, the city’s Recorder, was
one. It was in vain that the Common Council, who upheld the conduct of
their officer, interceded with Fairfax and invoked the aid of friends in
both Houses on his behalf.(811) He was expelled the House and committed to
the Tower, one week only being allowed him to put his papers and affairs
in order.(812)
(M401) (M402)
On the 24th August a deputation of the committee of the army waited on the
Common Council and demanded an advance of a month’s pay (£50,000). The
City was to re-imburse itself out of the arrears which the citizens had
failed to contribute to the army, and which amounted to over £60,000. The
matter was referred to a committee.(813) Ten days elapsed and parliament
became impatient for an answer.(814) The City was told (4 Sept.) that its
"engagement" of the 21st July had been the occasion of the army
approaching London, and its failing to pay the money as it became due was
the occasion of keeping the army near London. If the citizens failed to
take the necessary steps for the removal of the army, "they must expect to
suffer the inconveniences that will come hereby."(815) To this the City
replied (6 Sept.) that whatever arrears of assessments were due they were
not due from the Common Council as a body, for that had never been
assessed, but were due from particular individuals. The council feared
that it would be impossible to raise the money on the security offered,
but it promised to use its best endeavours to raise it if some better
security were found, and to get in arrears of assessments at the same
time. As to the "engagement," they called God to witness that the Common
Council as a body had had no hand in it; but as soon as a copy of it was
received from the army, the council returned answer that "according to
their duty they did rest in that which both Houses of Parliament had
resolved hereupon." In that resolution the council expressed itself as
still remaining and altogether disavowed the "engagement." It even
ventured to hope that the House would not permit such a mark of its
displeasure to remain on record, reflecting so badly as it did upon the
whole City.(816)
(M403) (M404)
This reply being deemed unsatisfactory the Commons sent a more peremptory
demand (9 Sept.) to the effect that not only the sum of £50,000 should be
advanced by the City before the 18th September, but that also the whole of
the arrears, amounting to £64,000, should be levied,(817) and they got
Fairfax himself to write and back up their demand for £50,000. The letter
of Fairfax was dated from Putney on the 6th September, but it was not
communicated to the Common Council until Saturday the 11th, a court which
had been specially summoned for the previous day (Friday) having been
adjourned for want of a _quorum_.(818) To this letter was appended the
following postscript:—"We understand itts neare a fortnight since the
committee applied themselves to you in this busines, and that yet nothing
is done, we desire there may be a present performance, the condicon of the
armie not admitting any longer delay."
(M405)
To the Commons the City made answer (13 Sept.) that arrears were already
being got in as speedily as possible, and asked that the hands of the
collectors might be strengthened by additional parliamentary powers.(819)
To Fairfax a long letter was sent the same day explaining the reason of
the delay that had occurred in satisfying the demand of parliament, and
informing him of the steps that were being taken to get in the arrears due
to the army.(820)
(M406)
The excuses put forward were considered to be of so unsatisfactory and
temporising a character that Fairfax and the General Council of the Army
proposed to parliament, that unless the arrears came in by a certain day
the general himself should be authorised to levy them and to inflict fines
upon delinquents. This withholding the money by the City, said they, was
but a scheme for bringing the army into disrepute, and for the purpose of
causing disturbance; the Common Council had been ready enough to advance
far larger sums to encourage designs against parliament and the army; it
might again be induced to show a similar readiness in providing money,
without which the army could not disperse, if parliament would but impose
a fine upon them as a body, "which money being chargeable so properly upon
themselves, we presume they will not have the like excuse not to
provide."(821)
(M407) (M408) (M409)
Before any further steps were taken to enforce the loan the committee
appointed to investigate the outrage upon parliament in July reported (24
Sept.) to the House that they had discovered sufficient evidence for the
impeachment of Sir John Gayer, the mayor, Thomas Cullum, one of the
sheriffs, and three aldermen of the city, viz., James Bunce, John Langham
and Thomas Adams, on the charge of threatening the Commons with force and
raising a fresh war.(822) The House at once accepted the committee’s
report and ordered the accused parties to the Tower. On the following day
it took into consideration the question as to how the city government was
to be carried on in the absence of the mayor, and resolved to refer the
matter to the rest of the aldermen who happened to be in London at the
time, so that the civil government might continue "according to the
charters, custom or usage of the city in like cases."(823) But on the 27th
it was left to Alderman Pennington, in whom both Houses had confidence, to
summon a Court of Aldermen and to direct that a Common Hall should be
forthwith called for the purpose of electing someone to serve as mayor
"until the 29th October next, or until Sir John Gayer should be either
sentenced or acquitted."(824) The customary day for election (29 Sept.)
having been appointed a solemn fast, the election took place by order of
the Common Council on the 28th September,(825) when Alderman Warner, a
strong Independent, was chosen mayor, the approaches to the Guildhall
being guarded at the time of the election by a strong body of
soldiers.(826) In the absence of the king, and there being no chancellor
or lord keeper, the new mayor was presented to the House of Lords (30
Sept.), which approved of the city’s choice and gave orders that the
customary oaths should be administered to him in the exchequer as well as
in the city.(827) On the 6th October an ordinance excluding delinquents
from all municipal offices or from voting at municipal elections finally
received the approval of both Houses.(828)
(M410)
A letter from Fairfax, dated at Kingston the 19th November,(829)
threatening to quarter 1,000 men on the city to assist the municipal
authorities in getting in arrears of assessments due to the army, created
no little alarm in the city. Whilst the Common Council was deliberating on
the matter news was brought that the Earl of Northumberland and a
deputation from both Houses were waiting without the Council Chamber
desiring to speak with some members of the court. A similar intimation to
that contained in the letter of Fairfax had been made to parliament, and
both Houses were anxious to urge upon the city the extreme importance of
anticipating such a step as that which Fairfax threatened by getting in
the arrears of assessments as speedily as possible. This the council
expressed itself as very willing to do if parliament would relieve the
collectors of certain pains and penalties recently imposed on them, which
had only served to render them the more unwilling to execute their
duties.(830)
(M411)
A little respite was granted(831) whilst the municipal authorities drew up
a reply to Fairfax.(832) They expressed great regret if the arrears due
from the City to the army, or anything else connected with the City,
should be the cause of the army continuing so long in the vicinity of
London, to the great prejudice if not to the ruin of many. They were doing
all they could to get in the arrears, and they called the general’s
attention to certain proposals which they were about to submit to
parliament. They concluded by assuring Fairfax that the City was
determined to remain faithful to parliament and the kingdom, and at the
same time to cultivate good relations with the army.
(M412)
The City’s proposals, which were submitted to parliament on the 22nd
November, met with little favour in the House of Commons. The deputation
presenting them was somewhat bluntly informed that parliament had done
what it had judged fit in the matter of the City’s arrears; that it was
much dissatisfied with the slowness with which they were being got in;
that the City was setting a very bad example to others which might have
ill consequences; that the commands of parliament were expected to be
obeyed, and that prompt measures ought to be taken by the City to carry
them out.(833)
(M413)
Two days later (24 Nov.) Fairfax wrote to the City from Windsor,(834)
whither the army had removed as soon as the king’s escape (11 Nov.) from
Hampton Court did away with the necessity of its presence in the immediate
neighbourhood of London, informing the authorities that as parliament had
raised an objection to his sending troops to the city for the purpose of
getting in arrears, he was content to wait and see the result of
parliamentary action in the matter and whether the City’s recent promises
bore fruit or not. Should the result prove unsatisfactory, he doubted not
the consequences would be sad, "and that not more to the parliament,
kingdom or army than to the city itself."
(M414)
On the 1st December Alderman Bide, who had narrowly escaped impeachment
with Gayer and the rest, and who was now sheriff, presented a petition to
the Commons on behalf of the City. This petition, which had been ordered
to be prepared as far back as the 6th November—that is to say, before
Charles’s escape from Hampton Court and the withdrawal of the army to
Windsor—after expressing the City’s humble submission to parliament and
its appreciation of the many benefits it had derived from the course which
parliament had followed, prayed the House to take steps for the removal of
the army to a greater distance from the city and for the strict observance
of the Covenant, and concluded by asking for the release of their Recorder
and of the aldermen recently committed to prison.(835) The Journal of the
House records nothing more than the formal answer which the Commons
returned to the petition: their thanks to the City for expressions of
goodwill, their readiness to consider such matters referred to in the
petition as had not been already taken in hand, and their assurance that
speedy justice should be done to those imprisoned.(836) But from other
sources it appears that the petition created considerable ill-feeling in
the House, and that it was only after Vane had threatened to bring the
army back again that the petition was practically rejected. Had the
petitioners succeeded in their object it was expected that the
Presbyterians in parliament and in the city would have followed up their
victory by restoring the expelled members and preparing for a personal
treaty with Charles without imposing upon him any test whatever.(837)
(M415)
In the city the royalist cause was gaining ground every day. The merchant
was tired of the disquietude that had so long prevailed, condemning him to
frequent calls upon his purse whilst preventing him replenishing it by his
commercial pursuits. He was ready to support any party that would promise
him peace and quiet. "The citty is subject still to be ridden by every
party and wilbe so rather than endanger trade and stock," wrote a royalist
in March of this year.(838) The more youthful inhabitant was disgusted
with the closing of the playhouses,(839) whilst the shopkeeper was
indignant at having to close his shop on Christmas-day for fear of a riot,
notwithstanding his having parliamentary sanction for opening it. The city
apprentices resisted the interference of the lord mayor and his officers
who would have put a stop to their decorating a pump in Cornhill with
evergreens at Christmas, and not only did ministers who had been deprived
for malignancy occupy pulpits in various city churches on that day, but
they used the Book of Common Prayer.(840)
(M416)
The mayor, who owed his election to pressure of parliament, and who was on
that account never really popular in the city, unwittingly assisted the
royal cause by another act of injudicious meddling. On Sunday, the 9th
April, 1648, he sent a detachment of trained bands to interfere with the
amusement of some boys playing tip-cat in Moorfields. A crowd of
apprentices and others took the part of the boys, and attacked the trained
bands, getting possession of their arms and colours. With these they
marched, some three or four thousand strong, along Fleet Street and the
Strand, raising the shout of "Now for King Charles!" and intending to make
their way to Whitehall, but before they reached Charing Cross they were
scattered by a troop of cavalry quartered at the King’s Mews, and for a
time the disturbance was at an end. During the night, however, the
apprentices again arose and made themselves masters of Ludgate and
Newgate. Laying their hands on whatever ammunition they could find, and
summoning their friends by drums belonging to the trained bands, they
proceeded to attack the mansion of the unpopular mayor. Whilst a messenger
was hurrying off to Fairfax for military aid, the mayor, the sheriffs and
the Committee of Militia had to repel as best they could the attacks of
the mob, who kept firing through the windows of the lord mayor’s house. At
last the troops arrived, and were admitted into the city by Aldersgate.
They followed up the rioters to the Leadenhall, where arms were being
collected. Resistance to a disciplined force soon proved useless. The
ringleaders were taken and led off to prison, and the crowd was dispersed,
but not without some little bloodshed.(841) The affair made the city
poorer by the sum of £300, that amount being voted by the Court of
Aldermen out of the city’s cash to the officers and soldiers sent by
Fairfax to suppress the riot.(842)
(M417)
On the 13th April the city authorities submitted to both Houses an account
of what had recently taken place, which the Houses ordered to be printed.
Parliament accepted their assurance that they were in no way responsible
for the outbreak, and thanked the mayor and all others concerned for the
part they had taken in its suppression. A day was appointed for a public
thanksgiving for deliverance from the threatened danger. The Tower
garrison was augmented and the city’s chains removed, in view of a
recurrence of danger, whilst a commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued
for the punishment of those implicated in the late riot.(843)
(M418) (M419)
Six months and more had now passed since Gayer, the late deposed mayor,
and his brother aldermen had been committed to prison, and no steps had as
yet been taken to bring them to trial. At length articles of impeachment
were drawn up by the Commons and sent up to the Lords (15 April),(844)
charging him with having on the 26th July last past, in conjunction with
Thomas Adams, John Langham, James Bunce, aldermen of the city and others,
"maliciously and traitorously plotted and endeavoured with open force and
violence, and with armed power, to compel and enforce the Lords and
Commons then assembled in parliament at Westminster to alter the laws and
ordinances by parliament established for the safety and weal of the realm;
and likewise maliciously and traitorously raised and levied war against
the king, parliament and kingdom." Gayer took exception to the
jurisdiction of the House, and when brought before the Lords and ordered
to kneel at the bar as a delinquent refused to do anything of the kind,
for which contempt he was fined £500. After hearing the articles of
impeachment read, he declared that he disavowed and abhorred the offences
with which he was charged, and asked to be furnished with a copy of them.
He further desired the assistance of counsel and time to answer them, both
of which were allowed.(845) When his brother aldermen and fellow prisoners
appeared before the Lords to hear their several charges read to them and
were ordered to kneel as delinquents, they too refused. Like Gayer they
were severally fined(846) and relegated to the Tower, whence they had been
brought. There the four aldermen remained prisoners until a crisis arrived
in the following June, when the Commons, fearing to alienate the city at a
time when the enemy was almost at its gates, declared (3 June) that they
would proceed no further with the charges.(847) The Lords thereupon
ordered (6 June) their discharge and their impeachments to be
vacated.(848)
(M420)
Gayer did not live long to enjoy his liberty. By his will, dated the 19th
December following his discharge, he left a sum of £200 for the purchase
of lands or tenements the rents of which were to be devoted to the
preaching of a sermon on the 16th October of every year in the church of
St. Catherine Cree in commemoration of the testator’s escape from a lion
whilst travelling in Africa. The sermon is preached to this day and is
commonly known as the "Lion Sermon."(849)
(M421)
In the meanwhile matters assumed a gloomy aspect for the Independents,
culminating in the news that an army was in course of being raised in
Scotland. The object for which this step was being taken was declared to
be the establishment of the Presbyterian form of religion in England, the
suppression of heresy and the Book of Common Prayer, the disbandment of
Fairfax’s army of sectaries, and the opening of negotiations with Charles,
who was to be brought for the purpose to the neighbourhood of London.(850)
(M422)
Matters were made worse by the continued ill-feeling between the City and
the English army, whose pay was still largely in arrear. No threats of
Fairfax or of parliament had succeeded in making the inhabitants of the
city pay up their arrears of assessments, and unless these were paid the
soldiers had no alternative but to starve or render themselves obnoxious
to the nation by living at free quarters. The City had been already
charged with withholding money for the express purpose of driving the army
to the latter alternative, that so the nation might the quicker be free of
it. The army was fast losing patience, and there was some talk of it
taking the law into its own hands.
(M423) (M424)
On the 24th April the mayor informed the citizens assembled in Common
Council that he had received information from one John Everard of certain
matters which the informer pretended to have overheard at Windsor greatly
affecting the city. He had examined Everard on oath, and the result of the
examination being then openly read, it was resolved to lay the same before
parliament.(851) Accordingly, on the 27th, Everard’s information, which
was nothing more nor less than a threat which he had overheard some
officers make of disarming and plundering the city, was laid before both
Houses, together with a petition from the municipal authorities that the
chains which had been recently removed from the streets of the city by
order of parliament might be restored for the purpose of defence, that the
army should be removed to a greater distance, and that Skippon might be
placed in command of the city’s forces.(852) There was nothing to be
gained by opposing the city’s wishes in the matter of replacing the chains
and the appointment of Skippon, so that these concessions were readily
made, but the question of removing the army could only be decided with the
concurrence of the army itself.
(M425)
A member of the Common Council, Philip Chetwyn, was charged with having
publicly declared that Skippon’s appointment was not the real wish of the
court, and that "seaven lies" had been voted by the court on the 11th
April last.(853) Chetwyn gave an emphatic denial to the first charge, and
eventually both charges were allowed to drop. The council at the same time
passed a resolution to the effect that whenever a charge should in future
be made by one member of the court against another, and the court take
cognisance of it, the charge itself and the names of the accuser and the
accused should be expressed in the order of the court.(854)
(M426) (M427)
The City lost no time in availing itself of the assent of parliament to
replace the chains in the streets from which they had been removed. They
went further than this. From Saturday night to the following Monday night
(28-30 May) the gates and posterns were ordered to be kept closed and
guarded, the names of all lodgers were to be taken, vagrant soldiers were
to be ordered to their quarters, whilst servants and children were to be
confined indoors, except on the Sunday that intervened, when they might be
escorted to church by their parents or masters.(855) The reason for these
precautions was that there had been unmistakable signs of the army getting
out of hand. An unexpected danger, the revolt of the whole of South Wales,
which meant nothing less than the renewal of the war, served, however, to
consolidate the ranks.
(M428)
With Wales up in arms for the king and the north of England threatened
with a Scottish invasion the army had enough to do without keeping a
forcible hold on London. The City, therefore, had to be left to itself,
and to be kept in good humour by concessions rather than by force until
the trouble had passed away. The story goes that before Cromwell proceeded
to quell the rebellion in Wales the Council of War resolved that the City
should have all they asked or desired, "there being no other way for the
present to quiet them." It would be time enough when the enemy had been
beaten to "make the City pay for all."(856)
(M429)
On the 1st May Fairfax wrote to the Commons from Windsor announcing his
intention to despatch Cromwell into Wales and to withdraw the regiments
quartered at Whitehall and Charing Cross, leaving the protection of
parliament to the London forces under the command of Skippon. The same day
that the Commons received this letter (2 May) they communicated with the
Common Council of the city, who were delighted at the execution of their
long expressed wishes that the army should be removed from the vicinity of
London and at the compliment paid them by Fairfax in placing the
protection of parliament in their hands. The sum of £600 a year was voted
to Skippon for his services, a sum just double that allowed him on his
appointment as sergeant-major-general in January, 1642.(857) Fairfax wrote
him a friendly letter complimenting him on his past services to parliament
and the kingdom and expressing regret at parting from him. He at the same
time disengaged Skippon from all ties to himself and the army under his
command, and wished him much happiness in his new sphere.(858)
(M430)
The civic authorities were not slow to take advantage of the turn of
affairs. If they were to be responsible for the protection of parliament
and the peace of the city, surely, they reasoned, the appointment of their
own Committee of Militia should be left in their hands as well as the
custody of the Tower. Both Houses accordingly were approached with
petitions to this effect (9 May).(859) The Lords hesitated,(860) but the
Commons at once acquiesced.(861) On the 16th the Commons had under
consideration the several names of persons chosen (12th May) by the Common
Council to serve on the Militia Committee,(862) and agreed to the City’s
nomination of Lieutenant-Colonel West to be lieutenant of the Tower.(863)
(M431)
On the 19th a deputation of Lords and Commons waited on the Common Council
and informed them that both Houses had assented to their wishes. In return
for this favour parliament expected that the City would secure them from
tumult and insurrections, and "did now put themselves really and truly
into the hands of the city." The court was at the same time assured that
parliament meditated no alteration of the fundamental government of the
kingdom by king, lords and commons, that it was resolved to stand by the
solemn league and covenant and preserve the treaties between England and
Scotland.(864)
(M432) (M433)
Once more at an important crisis in England’s history all depended upon
the attitude of the city of London. "The key of the situation was in the
hands of the city, which had it in its power to paralyse the army by
simply maintaining an attitude of passive resistance."(865) But great as
was the detestation in which the army was held by the majority of
citizens, their distrust of the royalists, should they regain the upper
hand, was greater. Under the circumstances the City resolved to maintain
its attitude of standing by parliament, and gave its assurance to both
Houses that it was ready "to live and die with them according to the
solemn league and covenant."(866)
(M434)
Four days later (23 May) the City presented a petition to both Houses in
which, after acknowledging the joy and comfort they had derived from the
recent announcement made to them that parliament was resolved to make no
constitutional change in the government of the kingdom by king, lords and
commons, and other matters conducive to peace, the citizens prayed that
the Houses would release their Recorder, the aldermen and the rest of the
citizens that were still imprisoned in the Tower. The Commons replied by
at once ordering the release of Glyn and nine other prisoners, and
promised to take into consideration the release of the aldermen, which was
a more serious business, in a week’s time.(867)
(M435)
Parliament was the more anxious to conciliate the City inasmuch as a
royalist rising had already taken place in Kent (21 May). On the 26th May
a deputation from the Commons waited on the Common Council with a request
for an immediate advance of £6,000. A portion of the money was to be
devoted to the payment of Fairfax’s soldiers, "to enable them to march
out," and give place to the city’s own force under Colonel West. The money
was at once voted,(868) and Fairfax, after giving orders for securing
Southwark, proceeded to occupy Blackheath, the place appointed for the
rendezvous of the insurgents.
(M436)
Whilst Fairfax was engaged in putting down the rising in Kent the royalist
party in the city was not inactive. On the 30th May a petition was
presented to the Common Council, purporting to emanate from "divers well
affected citizens and other inhabitants" of the city, desiring the court
to approach parliament with the view (_inter alia_) of bringing about a
personal treaty with the king and appeasing the Kentish insurgents "by way
of accommodation and not by any engagement in blood."(869) Contrary to its
usual practice the court consented to forward the petition to both Houses,
which it did on the 1st June, with the result that a deputation from
parliament waited on the court that same afternoon with a verbal reply.
The precise terms of the reply are not recorded. We are only told that
after a "full and large declaration" made by the parliamentary members,
the council expressed itself as completely satisfied.(870)
(M437)
An appeal was made the same day (1 June) by a certain section of the
inhabitants of the city for a Common Hall to be summoned. The appeal was
made to the Common Council. The court took time to consider the matter.
After consulting the law-officers it was eventually agreed not to accede
to the request, on the plea that, although it was in the power of the
court to assemble the livery for the election of public officers and other
purposes as might be necessary for the public good of the city, it was
neither fit nor convenient to summon them at the present juncture on
account of the present distraction and distempers of the city and places
adjacent.(871)
(M438) (M439)
Two days later (3 June), when a deputation from parliament again appeared
before the Common Council with the news that the insurgents were making
their way to Blackheath under the leadership of the Earl of Norwich,
otherwise known as "Lord Goring," and asked that the Militia Committee
might speedily raise what force it could for the protection of parliament
and the city, the opportunity was again taken of pressing the Houses for
the release of the aldermen, an act which they were assured "would give
good satisfaction to the city and very much quiet their minds."(872) That
same afternoon the Commons resolved to proceed no further with the
impeachments of the aldermen, and on the 6th they were set free by order
of the House of Lords.(873)
(M440)
Parliament could not well have done otherwise, unless they wished to lose
their main support—the support of the City; for although the Earl of
Norwich found the city’s gates shut against him, as was to be expected
with Warner occupying the mayoralty chair and Skippon in command of the
trained bands, there was, as we have seen, a considerable party in the
city who favoured the royalist cause and would gladly have trusted Charles
if they dared.
(M441)
Nor were the municipal authorities themselves adverse to the restoration
of the king, but such restoration must be effected on their own terms.
Again and again they called upon parliament to open a personal treaty with
Charles. On the 22nd June the Common Council directed a petition to both
Houses to be drafted, thanking them for setting the aldermen at liberty,
and praying them to allow the king to come to some house near parliament
where negotiations might be carried on.(874) The petition was submitted to
both Houses on the 27th June, and was well received.(875) The Commons, in
reply, declared that they were using their best endeavours in the interest
of peace, and they had already appointed a committee to consider what
further offers could be made to the king, as well as of "time, place and
other circumstances for convenience of address to be made to his
majesty."(876)
(M442)
A week later (5 July) the Common Council introduced to the House of Lords
another petition, in which the officers of the trained bands of the city
made a similar request for a personal treaty to be made with the king in
London, and not only repeated a former request made by the City itself
that the London regiments might be associated with those of the adjacent
counties, but asked that the force thus formed might be furnished with a
contingent of cavalry. To all these requests the Lords gave a ready
assent.(877) The Commons, however, to whom a similar petition was
presented the same day, whilst signifying their assent to the amalgamation
of the trained bands, left the other matters for further consideration,
and appointed a committee to confer with the Common Council and the
officers of the trained bands the following afternoon.(878)
(M443)
The question to be considered was the steps to be taken for the security
of the king’s person in the event of his taking up his quarters in London
for the purpose of negotiating. The Common Council, for their part,
undertook in such an event to venture their lives and fortunes in
defending his majesty against all violence according to the covenant, and
appointed a committee to confer with the parliamentary committee and with
the military officers as to the best means of enabling them to carry out
this engagement.(879)
(M444)
By the 11th July the committee was in a position to report to the Common
Council the result of the conference so far as it had gone.(880) The
parliamentary committee had propounded seven questions bearing upon the
terms of the City’s engagement to protect the king against violence
pending negotiations, and its intentions as to the king’s person in the
event of such negotiations falling through. To these the city committee
had made replies (now submitted to the council for approval), and had
added certain propositions to the parliamentary committee to enable the
City the better to carry out its engagement. The first two of these
related to the amalgamation and increase of the militia; the third asked
that, pending negotiations, no force should be allowed to come within
thirty miles of London, and that riot and tumult raised in the city during
that period after proclamation made should be met with a death penalty;
and the last that if parliament so willed no one who had ever taken up
arms against it should be allowed within thirty miles of London without
leave. Both the answers and proposals of the city committee were alike
approved by the council, and a house-to-house visitation was organised for
the purpose of getting names subscribed to the city’s engagement.
(M445)
The demand for a death penalty on rioters in the city was not unwarranted.
There were not wanting signs of disaffection even in the ranks of the
city’s militia. So recently as Saturday, the 8th July, the Speaker
himself, whilst being escorted to his coach by a company of soldiers, had
been insulted by one in the ranks, who cried out to the surrounding mob
"that now he was out of their charge they [the mob] should tear him in
pieces."(881) A few days later (12 July) some prisoners of war were
rescued in the streets of London by the mob, and the lord mayor received a
sharp reprimand for not keeping better order in the city.(882) The
Commons, in consequence, resolved that no more prisoners should be brought
to London.(883)
(M446) (M447)
It was known that about this time secret enlistments were being carried on
in the city, and that horses were being despatched out of the city by twos
and threes to assist the royalists. It was also reported that an attempt
was about to be made to seize the Tower.(884) The majority of the
inhabitants, nevertheless, remained faithful to parliament, and the
Speaker took the opportunity of a petition addressed to both Houses (12
July) from "divers well-affected magistrates, citizens, ministers and
other inhabitants" of the city and parts adjacent, praying them to enter
into no treaty without proper assurances for the maintenance of the
covenant,(885) to compliment the aldermen and great magistrates of the
city on their courage and fidelity. It was a petition—the Speaker said,
addressing the deputation—for peace, and such peace as the House and all
honest men desired. It had come at a most seasonable time, when parliament
was the object of much abuse and men dared not own their true opinions.
The petition was the more valuable from the quality of the
petitioners—"divers aldermen and great magistrates of the city of London,
many reverend ministers, who have always held close to the cause, and
others, the gentlemen of birth and quality that have less valued their
blood than the hazard and loss of so noble an undertaking." On behalf of
the Commons he returned them real and hearty thanks, assuring them that
the House approved of the petition and the matter thereof, and that in
prosecuting the peace it would take care to preserve the religion, laws
and liberties of all those who have been constant to these ends.(886)
(M448)
On the 18th July the City caused two petitions to be presented to both
Houses, one of which asked for an impost to be laid on Newcastle coals,
and the other repeated the old request for an amalgamation of the city’s
militia with that of the neighbouring counties. To the first no answer was
vouchsafed. To the second the Commons replied that the matter had already
been referred to a committee; whilst the Lords directed an ordinance to be
drawn up pursuant to the wishes of the petitioners. The petition relative
to the militia was met by a counter-petition from "divers well-affected
citizens of London and inhabitants in and about the same," the authors of
which the Common Council wished to discover.(887)
(M449)
In the meantime enlistments of horse and foot had been to such an extent
carried on clandestinely in the city, under pretext of the parliamentary
powers granted to Skippon, that the municipal authorities began to get
nervous. Servants and apprentices were reported to have enlisted one
another at all hours of the night, and to have issued spurious
commissions. Against the continuation of such proceedings, which
threatened the city with danger, the authorities petitioned both Houses
(22 July). The Lords consented to revoke a commission granted to Skippon
to raise a troop of cavalry for the protection of parliament,
independently of the Committee of Militia; the Commons, on the other hand,
determined to let the order stand.(888) The civic authorities thereupon
yielded to the entreaties of the inhabitants of the city, and resolved (27
July) to raise a troop of horse on their own account to be subject to the
orders of the Militia Committee alone. On the 29th they again petitioned
the Commons.(889) That day being Saturday the House appointed a committee
to confer with the Common Council on the following Monday afternoon, and
undertook to put a stop to irregular enlistments in the future.(890)
(M450)
When Monday came a deputation from the Commons duly appeared and explained
the reasons for continuing Skippon’s commission and the measures that were
to be taken to prevent irregular enlistments. Several letters were read
for the purpose of demonstrating the dangers with which the country was
still threatened, among them being one from a royalist agent in London, in
which the writer informed his correspondent of the progress of the
royalist cause in the city. "We are in this city," he declared, "generally
right; only Skippon makes some disturbance by listing horse and foot,
which, though inconsiderable to what we have listed for us, yet we hope
not only to null his listing, but out him from his being general of this
city. The Lords have already done something, but wait for some further
encouragement from hence, to which purpose the Common Council are about
framing a petition."(891) The reading of this letter appears to have had a
diametrically opposite effect upon the members of the council than was
anticipated, for they still insisted upon the withdrawal of Skippon’s
authority under which the irregular enlistments were carried on. The
Commons, however, refused to be moved from their former resolution.
(M451)
On the 2nd August a letter from the Prince of Wales, who had recently
arrived with a fleet off Yarmouth, was read to the Common Council. The
letter had been forwarded to its destination by the company of merchant
adventurers, and contained a copy of the prince’s declaration to the
effect that he was approaching the shores of England to settle religion in
accordance with the terms of the agreement between his father and the
Scots, to restore the king to his throne, and to bring about an act of
oblivion and the disbandment of all armies.(892) He had recently seized
several merchantmen in the Downs—one alone being valued at £20,000—and he
asked the Common Council to pay him that sum to assist him in his
enterprise, promising on receipt of the money to set the vessels
free.(893)
(M452)
On hearing this letter and declaration read the council forthwith
appointed a committee to draw up a petition to parliament, in which they
repeated their request for a speedy personal treaty with the king so as to
put an end to the present troubles and miseries. After sending for the
original letter the Commons directed (3 Aug.) the City to make no reply to
the prince until the House took further order, and the next day declared
all who aided the prince, by sea or by land, to be traitors and
rebels.(894)
(M453)
Disappointed at the way in which the news of the arrival of his fleet had
been received by the City, the prince lent a more ready ear to proposals
from Scotland, and on the 16th August declared his acceptance of the terms
offered. It was still believed by many that as soon as he should raise his
standard in the north the Presbyterians in the city would openly avow
themselves in his favour, and rumour had gone so far as to name the
commanders of their forces. "The lords and the city," wrote one of
Rupert’s correspondents, "understand each other, as also the reformadoes,
that are considerable—8,000 in number."(895)
(M454)
On the 29th August the City was asked by a committee of the House of
Commons to send money, corn or biscuit to the value of £20,000 for the
relief of the army in the north, and to take active measures for getting
in all arrears of assessments due for the army of Fairfax.(896) But
although the City so far acceded to this request as to take immediate
steps for getting in arrears of assessments, recent events—and notably the
successes of Cromwell and Fairfax at Preston and Colchester, as well as
the seizure of London ships and interference with London trade—had
rendered the citizens anxious that parliament should come to an
understanding with the army.(897)
(M455)
On the 4th September a deputation from parliament appeared before the
Common Council and asked for a loan of £10,000, to be paid by weekly
instalments of £2,000, to enable the House to proceed with negotiations
with the king. The nature of the security to be given for the loan was
practically left in the hands of the city provided it lay within the power
of parliament. The request was unanimously granted, bonds under the city’s
seal being offered as security to those willing to make advances.(898)
(M456)
The prospect of negotiations being opened at all with the king was
distasteful to the radical party or "Levellers" in the city, and a
petition was laid before the Commons on the 11th September calling upon
them as the supreme authority in the realm to shake off all control
exercised over them by the House of Lords, and to render kings, queens,
nobles and all persons alike subject to the law of the land. The
petitioners finally asked the House to consider seriously "whether the
justice of God be likely to be satisfied or His yet continuing wrath
appeased by an Act of Oblivion."(899)
(M457)
This petition had little effect upon the House, and preparations were
rapidly pushed forward. Fifteen commissioners were appointed, of whom
Glyn, the Recorder, was one,(900) to go to Newport in the Isle of Wight
for the purpose of opening negotiations with Charles, who was allowed to
take up his quarters in that little town on parole. The commission held
its first sitting on the 18th September, it being understood that
negotiations were to continue for forty days and no more. They, however,
continued to be carried on long after the allotted time.
(M458)
Early in November parliament was again pressed for money and was forced to
apply to the City for a further loan of £4,000 to enable it to proceed
with the "Treaty." It at the same time complained of the inadequate guard
provided by the City for the protection of the Houses. The guard, it was
said, consisted of hired men, and not citizens, who often quitted their
posts when on duty. The subject led to an acrimonious debate in the Common
Council. As soon as Alderman Gibbs, who was a member of the Militia
Committee, began to suggest a remedy for the evil, he was interrupted by
Philip Chetwyn, whose plain speaking had once before created trouble, and
who now boldly charged the alderman and others with telling "many long
stories to put the city in fear without cause." He declared that at a
former council the alderman had acted in a similar way, "pretending that
the city was in great danger of having their throats cut whereas there was
no such cause." This speech brought other members of the council on their
legs in defence of the alderman, who declared that this was not the first
time that Chetwyn had done him wrong, and asked the court to right him.
What he had said at a former council about the danger the city was in was
nothing more than what the Militia Committee had authorised him to say,
and this statement was corroborated by other members of the committee then
present. Certain questions were thereupon put to the vote, when it was
decided (1) that Chetwyn had done the alderman a wrong by his speech, (2)
that what the alderman had spoken at a former council was warranted by the
Militia Committee, and (3) that the action by the committee on that
occasion had been for the safety of the city, which was then in
danger.(901) On the 27th November the Militia Committee reported to the
council the steps taken to satisfy parliament that better protection would
be afforded to the Houses in the future.(902)
(M459)
Before the end of November the army, now at Windsor, had entirely lost
patience both with king and parliament, and on the last day of the month
issued a declaration to the effect that it was about to appeal "unto the
extraordinary judgment of God and good people." The existing parliament
must be dissolved to give place to a succession of reformed parliaments.
Those members who agreed with the army were invited to leave the House and
join the army to form a kind of provisional government until elections for
a new parliament could take place, when the army would willingly disband.
(M460)
That same night (30 Nov.) whilst the mayor was going the rounds inspecting
the city watches a letter was put into his hands by a trumpeter of
Fairfax, addressed to the lord mayor, aldermen and common council.(903)
Strictly speaking, the mayor had no right to open a letter thus addressed.
Reynardson, however, who had not long been in the mayoralty chair, and who
afterwards displayed strong royalist proclivities, thought otherwise and
broke the seal; a proceeding which received the approval of the Common
Council specially summoned for the next day (1 Dec.)(904) The letter
announced the general’s intention of quartering his army on London, and
demanded a sum of £40,000 out of the arrears of assessment to be paid to
the soldiers by the following night.(905)
(M461)
The council at once decided to lay the letter before both Houses, and in
the meantime took steps for the immediate payment of an instalment of
£10,000 to Fairfax, to whom a deputation was despatched to assure him that
the City would do its utmost to execute his commands.(906) Both Houses
assented to Fairfax being provided with the money demanded, the Commons
giving the City liberty to communicate direct with the general by
committee or letter as they should think fit.(907)
(M462)
In spite of a request by the Commons that he would keep at a distance,
lest his approach should involve danger, Fairfax entered London with his
troops on Saturday, the 2nd December, and took up his quarters at
Whitehall. On Wednesday, the 6th—the day on which Colonel Pride
administered his famous "purge" to the House of Commons—a letter from the
general was read in the Common Council in which he desired that 3,800 beds
might be sent to Whitehall by ten o’clock the next morning for the use of
the soldiers, and also sufficient furniture for lodging. The beds and
furniture were to be afterwards returned.(908)
(M463)
The Common Council immediately nominated a committee to go to Fairfax and
to beg him to excuse the City furnishing the beds as desired. The
committee was further instructed to inform his lordship that if he would
obtain a warrant from the Committee of the Army to the Treasurers at War
for the payment of £10,000, the City would be prepared to pay over the
whole sum of £40,000 (which ought to have been already paid over) by the
next day (7 Dec). There was one other matter. A rumour had reached the
city that it was intended to arrest Major-General Browne, who at the time
was serving as one of the sheriffs of London, and the committee were
directed to point out to his excellency the "inconveniences" likely to
arise from such a proceeding.(909)
(M464)
Fairfax paid little regard to what might or might not be convenient for
the City, and on the 12th Browne was arrested, together with Waller,
Massey and others, on the charge of having joined in an invitation to the
Scots to invade England, although it was difficult to find evidence
against them. The Court of Aldermen immediately interested themselves in
endeavouring to obtain Browne’s release, guaranteeing to Fairfax, if he
would set the sheriff free, to produce him whenever required, and vouching
for his "civil and quiet deportment" in the city.(910)
(M465)
Finding that the money (£40,000) which he had ordered the City to furnish
was not forthcoming on the day appointed, Fairfax notified the Common
Council by letter (8 Dec.) that he had given orders for seizing the
treasury at Goldsmiths’ Hall and Weavers’ Hall. The sum of £27,400 was
accordingly seized at the latter Hall; and this sum Fairfax intended to
keep until the £40,000 should be paid. When that was done he would
withdraw his troops, and not before. On learning this the Common Council
sent a deputation to inform his excellency that, if certain concessions
were made, the City itself would be responsible for repayment of the money
seized, and that arrears should be got in as speedily as possible. At the
same time Fairfax was asked to withdraw his troops from the city.(911)
(M466)
To these proposals Fairfax replied by letter the same day,(912) that if
the City would cause all the money charged on the City for the army up to
the 25th March next ensuing, and still in arrear, to be brought in within
fourteen days, he would repay the money taken from Weavers’ Hall and would
withdraw his troops. Their presence in the city he affected to conceive
would facilitate the collection of the money. On the receipt of this
letter the civic authorities renewed their exertions to hasten the getting
in of assessments.(913)
(M467)
It was thought that a saving might be effected by the discontinuance of
the trained bands in their duty of guarding the city. They were known to
be very remiss in their duties, piling their arms and leaving them in
charge of some few of their number whilst the others went away and amused
themselves. They had thus become a laughing-stock to the better
disciplined soldiers of the army, and brought discredit on the city. The
question was eventually left to the discretion of the Militia Committee to
continue the guards or not as it might think fit.(914)
(M468)
In spite, however, of every effort the money demanded by Fairfax was not
forthcoming, and the maintenance of his troops quartered in the city
became an intolerable burden. On Saturday, the 6th January, 1649, a
fortnight’s pay, or, £19,000, was due to the soldiers, and unless the
money was found within four days Fairfax threatened to quarter his whole
army upon the city. A house-to-house visitation for getting in arrears was
organised. A short extension of time for payment to the army was asked for
and obtained. Ministers were charged to exhort their parishioners on the
intervening Sunday to pay up their arrears. The money was eventually
advanced by the Treasurers at War on the personal security of the aldermen
and wealthier inhabitants of each ward.(915)
(M469)
The feeling of detestation for the army and of inclination towards the
king had in the meanwhile been growing stronger in the city day by day. A
royalist lord mayor, in the person of Abraham Reynardson, had recently
been elected, and it was feared by parliament—or the Rump, as it came to
be called—that the same royalist proclivities would show themselves in the
elections to the Common Council which were to take place on St. Thomas’s
day (21 Dec.). An ordinance was accordingly passed on the 18th against the
election of "malignants" to the city council. This ordinance was amended
two days later (20 Dec.) in such a way as to exclude every citizen who had
subscribed to an engagement for a personal treaty with the king.(916) It
was in vain that representation was made to parliament of the difficulty
of getting a council together under such a restriction. The House was
inflexible and ordered the election to be at once proceeded with. The
election accordingly took place, but when the members came to take their
seats the mayor forbade them unless they were prepared to take the oath of
allegiance, which had not yet been abolished. This action on the part of
Reynardson being reported to the House, it directed him (5 Jan., 1649) to
forthwith summon the Common Council together, but to suspend the taking of
oaths until further order.(917) It at the same time gave orders for the
city chains to be removed and stored in the Leadenhall, the easier to put
down any disturbance that might arise in consequence of the recent
elections.(918) The effect of the "purge" thus administered to the city’s
parliament was soon to be seen.
(M470)
On the 13th January, by which day a High Court of Justice had been
especially established for the king’s trial and all royalists had been
banished the city by order of Fairfax,(919) the new Common Council began
to assert itself. The court had been summoned to meet at eight o’clock in
the morning (not an unusually early hour in those days), but the mayor did
not put in an appearance until eleven, and then was only accompanied by
two aldermen, the number necessary to form a court. It was soon seen that
there was something wrong. The mayor refused to acknowledge the authority
of the council or to allow the minutes of the last court to be read in
accordance with custom. The council took but little notice of this and
passed on to the next business. This was a petition to the House of
Commons, drawn up and approved by a committee,(920) asking the House to
execute justice impartially and vigorously "upon all the grand and capital
authors, contrivers of and actors in the late wars against parliament and
kingdom, from the highest to the lowest," and to take steps, as the
supreme power of the nation, for the preservation of peace and the
recovery of trade and credit.(921) Such a petition was so diametrically
opposed to the sentiments of the royalist lord mayor and his brother
aldermen that they got up and left the court rather than allow the
petition to be sanctioned by their presence. Strictly speaking there was
no longer any court. Nevertheless an attempt was made to get the Common
Sergeant and then the Town Clerk(922) to put the question, but they
refused to do so in the absence of the mayor and aldermen, and they too
got up and left the council chamber. Thus left to themselves the members
of the court voted Colonel Owen Rowe into the chair. The petition was then
three times read, and after due deliberation unanimously agreed to, twenty
members of the council being nominated to carry it up to the House,
together with a narrative of the proceedings that had taken place that day
in court.(923)
(M471)
In submitting the petition to the Commons on the 15th January, Colonel
Robert Tichborne, a member of the council, explained the reason why the
petition varied in title from other petitions from the city, purporting,
as it did, to come from the commons of the city alone, and not from the
mayor, aldermen and commons, and with the petition presented a narrative
of the proceedings that had taken place in the council two days
before.(924) The House readily accepted the explanation (as was only to be
expected), and declared that the petition and narrative might and should
of right be entered on the records of the Common Council. "As to the
Common Council of the city of London, and so owned by this House"—the
Speaker went on to say—"they take notice of the extraordinary affections
long since and often expressed by many particular persons, if not by every
member of your present body, especially of that true and publick principle
which carried you on to the framing of this petition, and to your going
through with it, notwithstanding the opposition and withdrawing of your
mayor and aldermen." The Speaker assured the deputation that the House
fully approved of the members continuing to sit as a Common Council in the
absence or dissent of the mayor or aldermen, or both together, and
concluded by saying that both the petition and narrative would receive
speedy consideration.(925)
(M472)
On the 23rd January two officers from the army waited upon the Court of
Aldermen and informed the members that the sum of £4,000 out of the
£19,000 formerly demanded for the army was still in arrear. The money was
in the hands of the Treasurers at War, but they refused to pay it over
until they had received their security from the wards according to
agreement. Fairfax pressed for an immediate payment, otherwise he would be
under the necessity of quartering troops of horse and foot upon those
wards which had failed to give the promised security for arrears of
assessments. Rather than this should happen the aldermen themselves
engaged to be security to the treasurers for payment of the money.(926)
(M473)
In the meanwhile the special tribunal established for the trial of the
king had commenced its work. At its head sat John Bradshaw, a
sergeant-at-law and sometime a judge of the sheriffs’ court of the Wood
Street compter in the city.(927) Five aldermen were placed on the
commission, viz., Isaac Pennington, Thomas Andrews, Thomas Atkins, Rowland
Wilson and John Fowke;(928) but only the first two named took any active
part in the trial, and Wilson absolutely declined to serve. Not one of
them affixed his signature to the king’s death-warrant. Among the rest of
the commissioners were, however, two citizens of repute, viz., Robert
Tichborne, afterwards an alderman,(929) and Owen Rowe, both of whom took
an active part in the trial and both signed the warrant for the king’s
execution. When put upon his trial in October, 1660, for the part he now
took, Tichborne pleaded that what he had done was through ignorance, and
that had he known more he would sooner have entered a "red hot oven" than
the room in which the warrant was signed.(930) His penitence saved his
life, and he, like Pennington, spent the remainder of his days in
confinement.
The proceedings of the trial were unreasonably short and sharp. On Friday,
the 19th January, Charles was brought from Windsor to London. On the
following day he made his first appearance before his judges. On that day
week—Saturday, the 27th—sentence was pronounced, and three days later (30
Jan.) it was carried out before the king’s own banquetting-house at
Whitehall.