Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XIV.

  LAST ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE KING.

  The king, after London had been overawed by the army, was lodged inHampton Court. At this time the feeling throughout England was growingstronger and stronger in favor of the re-establishment of the monarchy,It was now a year since, with the fall of Oxford, the civil war hadvirtually concluded, and people yearned for a settled government and areturn to ancient usages and manners. The great majority of that veryParliament which had withstood and conquered Charles were of one mindwith the people in general; but England was no longer free to choose foritself. The army had won the victory for the Commons, and was determinedto impose its will upon the nation. At this time Cromwell, Ireton, andFairfax were disposed to an arrangement, but their authority wasovershadowed by that of the preachers, who, in their harangues to thetroops, denounced these generals as traitors, and then finding that theywere likely to lose their influence, and to become obnoxious to bothparties, henceforth threw their lot in with the army, and headed it inits struggle with the Parliament. Even yet the long misfortunes whichCharles had suffered were insufficient to teach him wisdom. Had he nowheartily thrown himself into the hands of the moderate majority inParliament he might--aided by them and by the Scots, who, seeing thatthe Independents were ignoring all the obligations which had beenundertaken by the Solemn League and government, were now almost openlyhostile to the party of the army--have again mounted the throne, amidthe joyful acclamations of the whole country. The army would havefought, but Charles, with England at his back, would assuredly haveconquered. Unfortunately, the king could not be honest. His sole idea ofpolicy was to set one section of his opponents against the other. Heintrigued at once with the generals and with the Parliament, and had theimprudence to write continually to the queen and others, avowing that hewas deceiving both. Several of these letters were intercepted, andalthough desirous of playing off the king against the army, the Commonsfelt that they could place no trust in him whatever; while the preachersand the army clamored more and more loudly that he should be brought totrial as a traitor.

  Harry Furness had, after the fall of Oxford, remained quietly with hisfather at Furness Hall. Once or twice only had he gone up to London,returning with reports that the people there were becoming more and moredesirous of the restoration of the king to his rights. The greatmajority were heartily sick of the rule of the preachers, with theirlengthy exhortations, their sad faces, and their abhorrence of amusementof all kinds. There had been several popular tumults, in which the oldcry of "God save the king," had again been raised. The apprentices wereready to join in any movement which might bring back the pleasant timesof old. Cavaliers now openly showed themselves in the streets, andLondon was indeed ripe for an insurrection against the sovereignty whichthe army had established over the nation. Had the king at this timeescaped from Hampton Court, and ridden into London at the head of onlytwenty gentlemen, and issued a proclamation appealing to the loyalty ofthe citizens, and promising faithfully to preserve the rights of thepeople, and to govern constitutionally, he would have been received withacclamation. The majority of Parliament would have declared for him,England would have received the news with delight, and the army alonewould not have sufficed to turn the tide against him. Unhappily forCharles, he had no more idea now than at the commencement of the war ofgoverning constitutionally, and instead thinking of trusting himself tothe loyalty and affection of his subjects, he was meditating an escapeto France. Harry received a letter from one of the king's most attachedadherents, who was in waiting upon him at Hampton, begging him to repairthere at once, as his majesty desired the aid of a few of those uponwhom he could best rely, for an enterprise which he was about toundertake. Harry showed the letter to his father.

  "You must do as you will, Harry," the colonel said. "For myself, I stickto my determination to meddle no more in the broils of this kingdom.Could I trust his Majesty, I would lay down my life for him willingly;but I cannot trust him. All the misfortunes which have befallen him, allthe blood which has been poured out by loyal men in his cause, all theadvice which his best councilors have given him, have been thrown awayupon him. He is as lavish with his promises as ever, but all the time heis intending to break them as soon as he gets ample chance. Were heseated upon the throne again to-morrow, he would be as arbitrary as hewas upon the day he ascended it. I do not say that I would not farrather see England under the tyranny of one man than under that of anarmy of ambitious knaves; but the latter cannot last. The king'sauthority, once riveted again on the necks of the people, might enslavethem for generations, but England will never submit long to the yoke ofmilitary dictators. The evil is great, but it will right itself intime. But do you do as you like, Harry. You have, I hope, a long lifebefore you, and 'twere best that you chose your own path in it. Butthink it over, my son. Decide nothing to-night, and in the morning letme know what you have determined."

  Harry slept but little that night. When he met his father at breakfasthe said:

  "I have decided, father. You know that my opinions run with yours as tothe folly of the king, and the wrongfulness and unwisdom of his policy.Still he is alone, surrounded by traitors to whose ambition he is anobstacle, and who clamor for his blood. I know not upon what enterprisehe may now be bent, but methinks that it must be that he thinks of anescape from the hands of his jailers. If so, he must meditate a flightto France. There he will need faithful followers, who will do their bestto make him feel that he is still a king who will cheer his exile andsustain his hopes. It may be that years will pass before England shakesoff the iron yoke which Cromwell and his army are placing upon her neck.But, as you say, I am young and can wait. There are countries in Europewhere a gentleman can take service in the army, and should aught happento King Charles there I will enroll myself until these evil days be allpassed. I would rather never see England again than live here to beruled by King Cromwell and his canting Ironsides."

  "So be it, my son," the colonel said. "I do not strive to dissuade you,for methinks had I been of your age I should have chosen the same.Should your fortunes lead you abroad, as they likely will, I shall sendyou a third of my income here. The rest will be ample for me. There willbe little feasting or merriment at Furness Hall until the cloud whichovershadows England be passed away, and you be again by my side. Thereis little fear of my being disturbed. Those who laid down their armswhen the war ceased were assured of the possession of their property,and as I shall draw sword no more there will be no excuse for theRoundheads to lay hands on Furness Hall. And now, my boy, here are ahundred gold pieces. Use them in the king's service. When I hear thatyou are abroad I will write to Master Fleming to arrange with hiscorrespondents, whether in France or Holland, as you may chance to be,to pay the money regularly into your hands. You will, I suppose, takeJacob with you?"

  "Assuredly I will," Harry said. "He is attached and faithful, andalthough he cares not very greatly for the King's cause, I know he willfollow my fortunes. He is sick to death of the post which I obtained forhim after the war, with a scrivener at Oxford. I will also take WilliamLong with me, if he will go. He is a merry fellow, and has a wise head.He and Jacob did marvelously at Edinburgh, when they cozened thepreachers, and got me out of the clutches of Argyll. With two suchtrusty followers I could go through Europe. I will ride over to Oxfordat once."

  As Harry anticipated, Jacob was delighted at the prospect of abandoninghis scrivener's desk.

  "I don't believe," he said, when he had learned from Harry that theywere going to the king at Hampton, "that aught will come of theseplottings. As I told you when we were apprentices together, I loveplots, but there are men with whom it is fatal to plot. Such a one,assuredly, is his gracious majesty. For a plot to be successful, all tobe concerned in it must know their own minds, and be true as steel toeach other. The King never knows his own mind for half an hour together,and, unfortunately, he seems unable to be true to any one. So let it beunderstood, Master Harry, that I go into this business partly from loveof you, who
have been truly a most kind friend to me, partly because Ilove adventure, and hate this scrivener's desk, partly because there isa chance that I may benefit by the change."

  Harry bade him procure apparel as a sober retainer in a Puritan family,and join him that night at Furness Hall, as he purposed to set out atdaybreak. William Long also agreed at once to follow Harry's fortunes.The old farmer, his father, offered no objection.

  "It is right that my son should ride with the heir of Furness Hall," hesaid. "We have been Furness tenants for centuries, and have ever foughtby our lords in battle. Besides, Master Harry, I doubt me whetherWilliam will ever settle down here in peace. His elder brother will havethe farm after me, so it matters not greatly, but your wars andjourneyings have turned his head, and he thinks of arms and steel capsmore than of fat beeves or well-tilled fields."

  The next morning, soon after daybreak, Harry and his followers leftFurness Hall, and arrived the same night at Hampton. Here they put up ata hostelry, and Harry sent a messenger to Lord Ashburnham, who hadsummoned him, and was in attendance upon the king, to say that he hadarrived.

  An hour later Lord Ashburnham joined him. "I am glad you have come,Master Furness," he said. "The king needs faithful servants; and it'swell that you have come to-day, as I have been ordered by those in powerto remove from the king's person. His majesty has lost all hope ofcoming to an agreement with either party here. At one time it seemedthat Cromwell and Ireton were like to have joined him, but a letter ofthe king's, in which he spoke of them somewhat discourteously, fellinto their hands, and they have now given themselves wholly over to theparty most furious against the king. Therefore he has resolved to fly.Do you move from hence and take up your quarters at Kingston, where nocurious questions are likely to be asked you. I shall take lodgings atDitton, and shall there await orders from the king. It may be that hewill change his mind, but of this Major Legg, who attends him in hisbedchamber, will notify us. Our design is to ride to the coast nearSouthampton and there take ship, and embark for France. It is not likelythat we shall be attacked by the way, but as the king may be recognizedin any town through which we may pass, it is as well to have half adozen good swords on which we can rely."

  "I have with me," Harry said, "my friend Jacob, who was lieutenant in mytroop, and who can wield a sword well, and one of my old troopers, astout and active lad. You can rely upon them as on me."

  Lord Ashburnham stayed but a few minutes with Harry, and then mountedand rode to Ditton, while Harry the same afternoon journeyed on intoKingston, and there took up his lodgings. On the 11th of November, threedays after their arrival, Harry received a message from Lord Ashburnham,asking him to ride over to Ditton. At his lodgings there he found SirJohn Berkeley. Major Legg shortly after arrived, and told them that theking had determined, when he went into his private room for eveningprayer, to slip away, and make for the river side, where they were to bein readiness for him with horses. Harry had brought his followers withhim, and had left them at an inn while he visited Lord Ashburnham.William Long at once rode back to Kingston, and there purchased two goodhorses, with saddles, for the king and Major Legg. At seven in theevening the party mounted, William Long and Jacob each leading a sparehorse. Lord Ashburnham and Sir John Berkeley joined them outside thevillage, and they rode together until, crossing the bridge at Hampton,they stopped on the river bank, at the point arranged, near the palace.Half an hour passed, and then footsteps were heard, and two figuresapproached. Not a word was spoken until they were near enough to discerntheir faces.

  "Thank God you are here, my Lord Ashburnham," the king said. "Fortune isalways so against me that I feared something might occur to detain you.Ha! Master Furness, I am glad to see so faithful a friend."

  The king and Major Legg now mounted, and the little party rode off.Their road led through Windsor Forest, then of far greater extent thanat present. Through this the king acted as guide. The night was wild andstormy, but the king was well acquainted with the forest, and atdaybreak the party, weary and drenched, arrived at Sutton, in Hampshire.Here they found six horses, which Lord Ashburnham had on the previousday sent forward, and mounting these, they again rode on. As the sunrose their spirits revived, and the king entered into conversation withAshburnham, Berkeley, and Harry as to his plans. The latter wassurprised and disappointed to find that so hurriedly had the kingfinally made up his mind to fly that no ship had been prepared to takehim from the coast, and that it was determined that for the time theking should go to the Isle of Wight. The governor of the Isle of Wightwas Colonel Hammond, who was connected with both parties. His uncle waschaplain to the king, and he was himself married to a daughter ofHampden. It was arranged that the king and Major Legg should proceed toa house of Lord Southampton at Titchfield, and that Berkeley and LordAshburnham should go to the Isle of Wight to Colonel Hammond, to findif he would receive the king. Harry, with his followers, was to proceedto Southampton, and there to procure a ship, which was to be inreadiness to embark the king when a message was received from him.Agents of the king had already received orders to have a ship inreadiness, and should this be done, it was at once to be brought roundto Titchfield.

  "This seems to me," Jacob said, as, after separating from the king, theyrode to Southampton, "to be but poor plotting. Here has the king beenfor three months at Hampton Court, and could, had he so chosen, havefixed his flight for any day at his will. A vessel might have beenstanding on and off the coast, ready to receive him, and he could haveridden down, and embarked immediately he reached the coast. As it is,there is no ship and no arrangement, and for aught he knows he may be acloser prisoner in the Isle of Wight than he was at Hampton, while bothparties with whom he has been negotiating will be more furious than everat finding that he has fooled them. If I could not plot better than thisI would stick to a scrivener's desk all my life."

  It was late in the afternoon when they rode into Southampton. They foundthe city in a state of excitement. A messenger had, an hour before,ridden in from London with the news of the king's escape, and withorders from Parliament that no vessel should be allowed to leave theport. Harry then rode to Portsmouth, but there also he was unable to doanything. He heard that in the afternoon the king had crossed over ontothe Isle of Wight, and that he had been received by the governor withmarks of respect. They, therefore, again returned to Southampton, andthere took a boat for Cowes. Leaving his followers there, Harry rode toNewport, and saw the king. The latter said that for the present he hadaltogether changed his mind about escaping to France, and that Sir JohnBerkeley would start at once to negotiate with the heads of the army. Hebegged Harry to go to London, and to send him from time to time surenews of the state of feeling of the populace.

  Taking his followers with him, Harry rode to London, disguised as acountry trader. He held communication with many leading citizens, aswell as with apprentices and others with whom he could get intoconversation in the streets and public resorts. He found that the vastmajority of the people of London were longing for the overthrow of therule of the Independents, and for the restoration of the king. Thepreachers were as busy as ever haranguing people in the streets, andespecially at Paul's Cross. In the cathedral of St. Paul's theIndependent soldiers had stabled their horses, to the great anger ofmany moderate people, who were shocked at the manner in which those whohad first begun to fight for liberty of conscience now tyrannized overthe consciences and insulted the feelings of all others. Harry and hisfollowers mixed among the groups, and aided in inflaming the temper ofthe people by passing jeering remarks, and loudly questioning thestatements of the preachers. These, unaccustomed to interruption, wouldrapidly lose temper, and they and their partisans would make a rushthrough the crowd to seize their interrogators. Then the apprenticeswould interfere, blows would be exchanged, and not unfrequently thefanatics were driven in to take refuge with the troops in St. Paul's.Harry found a small printer of Royalist opinions, and with theassistance of Jacob, strung together many doggerel verses, making ascoff of the sour-faced rulers of
England, and calling upon the peoplenot to submit to be tyrannized over by their own paid servants, thearmy. These verses were then set in type by the printer, and in theevening, taking different ways, they distributed them in the streets topassers-by.

  Day by day the feeling in the city rose higher, as the quarrels atWestminster between the Independents, backed by the army and thePresbyterian majority, waxed higher and higher. All this time the kingwas negotiating with commissioners from the army, and with others sentby the Scots, one day inclining to one party, the next to the other,making promises to both, but intending to observe none, as soon as hecould gain his ends.

  On Sunday, the 9th of April, Harry and his friends strolled up to MoorFields to look at the apprentices playing bowls there. Presently fromthe barracks of the militia hard by a party of soldiers came out, andordered them to desist, some of the soldiers seizing upon the bowls.

  "Now, lads," Harry shouted, "you will not stand that, will you? TheLondon apprentices were not wont to submit to be ridden rough-shod overby troops. Has all spirit been taken out of you by the long-windedsermons of these knaves in steeple hats?"

  Some of the soldiers made a rush at Harry. His two friends closed in byhim. The two first of the soldiers who arrived were knocked down.Others, however, seized the young men, but the apprentices crowded up,pelted the soldiers with stones, and, by sheer weight, overthrew thosewho had taken Harry and carried him off. The soldiers soon came pouringout of their barracks, but fleet-footed lads had, at the commencement ofthe quarrel, run down into the streets, raising the shout of "clubs,"and swarms of apprentices came running up. Led by Harry and hisfollowers, who carried heavy sticks, they charged the militia with suchfury that these, in spite of their superior arms, were driven backfighting into their barracks. When the gates were shut Harry mounted ona stone and harangued the apprentices--he recalled to them the ancientrights of the city, rights which the most absolute monarchs who had satupon the throne had not ventured to infringe, that no troops should passthrough the streets or be quartered there to restrict the liberties ofthe citizens. "No king would have ventured so to insult the people ofLondon; why should the crop-haired knaves at Westminster dare to do so?If you had the spirit of your fathers you would not bear it for amoment."

  "We will not, we will not," shouted the crowd. "Down with the soldiers!"

  At this moment a lad approached at full run to say that the cavalry werecoming from St. Paul's. In their enthusiasm the apprentices prepared toresist, but Harry shouted to them:

  "Not here in the fields. Scatter now and assemble in the streets. Withthe chains up, we can beat them there."

  The apprentices gave a cheer, and, scattering, made their way from thefields just as the cavalry issued into the open space. Hurrying in alldirections, the apprentices carried the news, and soon the streetsswarmed with their fellows. They were quickly joined by the watermen--inthose days a numerous and powerful body. These were armed with oars andboat-stretchers. The chains which were fastened at night across the endsof the streets were quickly placed in position, and all was prepared toresist the attack of the troops.