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monstrance, to the speaker of the commons, in which he modestly touches upon his own success, and gives a faithful picture of the true postureof affairs.

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"Sir,

"I will not trouble you with the particulars of our march; you shall, "God willing, hear that more at large hereafter. You may be certified only hereby, that the first time the enemy appeared before us was at Aynho on the hill, with a very great body of horse; which Colonel "Middleton faced more than a whole day, with but two regiments, and "in Campania, and skirmished very often with them. The enemy' faced "us afterwards at Stoe the ould, with about four thousand horse, and "retreated before us two days together, without engaging himself more "than by small skirmishes. Upon Tuesday in the evening, the king's "forces, seeing us approach, raised their siege before Gloucester, "whither it pleased God we came very seasonably; for the governor "had not above two or three barrels of powder left; yet had he managed "his business with so much judgement and courage, that the enemy, "not knowing of such want, had but small hopes of attaining their "desires. We now stay here only for the relieving of Gloucester with "victual and other provisions, of which there is an extraordinary

scarcity. That which I must press you with earnestly at this time, is, "First, that there be a sudden provision of eight or ten thousand "pounds, to be sent to that garrison, without which there will be an "impossibility of maintaining it this winter; the discontent of the in"ferior officers and common soldiers being very great, for want of their "pay and arrears, they at this time justly expecting rather reward for "their good service, than want of what is their due. The second, that "the thousand foot, which the parliament is already engaged by pro"mise to send, may speedily march thither, without which they will not "be able to fetch any provisions from the country, but the enemy will be "master to the very gates. The third, that Sir William Waller may be speedily sent down into these parts, which is the only means to preserve those friends you have here; for mine own army is in such extreme necessity for want of pay, (being now in an enemy's country,

and at this time within four or five miles of the king's army, where no "provisions can be had but for ready money,) and so little hopes I have "of a supply from you, that unless we can presently fight, I must be "immediately necessitated to draw into some other place, which may be nearer supplies, and have a more free intercourse to London. "Your assured friend,

Teuxbury, Sept. the 10th, 1643.

ESSEX.

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"For the Speaker of the honourable the House of Commons." [195]

Nothing can be a stronger comment upon the ability of the governor of Gloucester than this account of the temper of his garrison; especially when it is known, that not a single officer and not more than three privates deserted [196] him the whole time that the king was before the city. Massey had also addressed a despatch to the parliament in which he touched upon the same subject, and requested a farther supply of men and arms. Messengers might now pass with at least a chance of escaping observation. These letters were entrusted to a boy who delivered them safely, and the report of the proceedings of the house of commons upon the reading of them is thus given in the journals. "Die Veneris, 15 Septembris, 1643.

"A letter from his excellency the Earl of Essex, from Teuxbury, of "the tenth of September, and from Colonel Massie, of the eleventh of September, relating to the condition of the army, and of the city of "Gloucester, was this day read.

"RESOLVED.-That Colonel Massie shall have a thousand pounds "bestowed upon him, as a reward, and an acknowledgement of his ser"vice; whereof five hundred pounds to be paid in present: and that it "be recommended to my Lord General to advance him to some place "of honour and profit. And it is especially recommended to the com"mittee for advance of monies to take care that this thousand pounds "be paid with all convenient speed.

"RESOLVED. That the arrears to the garrison of Gloucester shall "be forthwith paid upon account made; and that the monies in Mr. "Stevens' hand, shall be made four thousand pounds; and that the

k

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"officers and soldiers of that garrison shall have a month's pay bestowed

upon them as a reward of their service. And it is referred to the "committee for the advance of monies, to provide these monies with all speed: who are to meet upon it this afternoon, at three o'clock."

"ORDERED. That it be referred to the committee for safety, to take "order for the sending of the thousand men, the troops of horse, the pistols, and other provisions, desired by Colonel Massie's letter."

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"RESOLVED. That twenty pounds shall be bestowed upon the messenger that brought these letters from Gloucester, and left with the "master of the boy, for the benefit of the said messenger."

"ORDERED.-That Mr. Stephens and Mr. Hodges do prepare a "letter to be written to Colonel Massie, and signed by Mr. Speaker, in acknowledgement of his good service, and to express the good accept"ance of it. They are likewise to prepare a letter of thanks to the Mayor of Gloucester and the townsmen."

"ORDERED. That public thanksgiving be given on the next Lord's "day, in all the churches of London and Westminster, and the parishes "within the bills of mortality, in acknowledgement of God's great mercy "and goodness, shewn in the relief of Gloucester."

"ORDERED.-That a conference be desired upon these votes; and "that a letter be sent by both houses, to my Lord General, to acknow"ledge the great service he has done, in the conducting of his army in "the difficult march to the relief of Gloucester."

"Mr. Pym is appointed to prepare this letter." [197]

Essex was pent up in Tewkesbury, calculating expedients of escape, and the king watching for an opportunity of bringing him fairly to action. [198] The parliamentarian writers certainly have not formed a proper estimate of his majesty's situation, when they insinuate that after drawing off from the siege his design was to retreat from them. [199] That he suffered them to march to Tewkesbury unmolested, Clarendon attributes to want of information, and Charles seems to have suffered much from the negligence of those about him, dispirited as all may be supposed to have been from their recent failure. But that he afterwards sought every opportunity of an engagement is clear; and he was

thoroughly aware that the enemy could not remain in his present position. To comprehend the difficulty of a retreat it will be necessary to remark that every road to London, near or circuitous, was now occupied by the royalists, save the intermediate route over the Cotswolds, by which Essex had already marched, and where the whole country was wasted before him. That tedious track, which the people of Gloucester always used, when they had possession of Sudley, by Winchcomb and Evesham to Warwick, was blocked up by the king. The road through Oxford was equally so, and Cirencester was occupied by two regiments of cavalry. But the king on his side had not force enough effectually to close up every avenue; he had a long line of country to observe, and the southern extremity of it, as will be seen in the sequel, was not sufficiently secured. Perhaps he might have found opportunity of effecting his purpose by watching the hills, had that been possible, till the movements of his adversary had been ascertained; but he appears to have calculated upon his passing through the vale. Here Essex shewed his skill as a general, and by a masterly manœuvre extricated himself from the difficulty.

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He began by throwing a bridge over the Severn, [200] and making a Sept. 14. demonstration towards Worcester. A part of his force was led out to Upton, and his majesty received information that they were in Ripple field. The king hastened towards the spot; it was the fairest that could have been chosen; he would have been up with them in two hours: [201] but the general having amused the royalists had drawn back into Tewkesbury. They saw that at the eminence of the Mythe, and at the bridge over the Avon, five hundred men might have made good their position against twenty thousand, and that it was impossible to force them therefore the king's foot were marched back to Evesham and the horse were ordered to distress them. These attacked the quarters of Sir James Ramsey, at Oxendon, on Thursday night, slew many of his men and took several prisoners. On Friday Essex stole Sept. 15. out of Tewkesbury many hours before the king had notice of his departure, or what direction he had taken. (202) The vexation of the royalists may be imagined when they found he had eluded them; but they had

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another mortification in store. He marched all night and reached Cirencester at three o'clock in the morning. The two regiments of horse that were in the place, amounting to between three and four hundred men, were commanded by Sir Nicholas Crispe [203] and Colonel Spencer. The colonels were absent, and all but the centinels in their beds; they overpowered the guard and burst into the town; when the cavaliers called for quarter, and it was granted them. Every man and officer, many gentlemen of rank, more than four hundred horses, and all the colours were taken; but what heightened this success was the capture of forty cart loads of provisions, great part of which had been collecting by the commissaries for the siege. [204] This was, indeed, an advantage equivalent to a victory; for by their own admission they were so worn out with hunger, that without it they could neither have advanced nor fought: it was their chief sustenance till the next battle. All things were against the king, and his reverses seemed to move in a circle. Provisions that with great toil had been gathered for the support of those that were to have taken Gloucester relieved from starvation those that had rescued the city from his hands. The prisoners at Cirencester were tied together with match for ropes, and the retreat was continued. Between Cirencester and Cricklade they passed over the borSept. 16. ders; where through a deep country, bemired by the rain, they advanced no more than five miles a day. [205]

Nothing was omitted by the king. The indefatigable Rupert was up the hills and followed hard after them day and night, while Charles with his foot and artillery pursued them by another road. [206] The prince Sept. 18. overtook them at Auldborn Chace, and their progress was retarded by a fierce and murderous encounter. The king had thus gained time to throw himself upon their line of retreat; and then ensued the first battle Sept. 20. of Newbury [207] another drawn battle, in which,-O madness and misery of civil war!-some of the best blood in the land was shed, and thousands of valiant Englishmen perished by each others' hands.

It is difficult to ascertain who really had the advantage in this battle. Both, as upon a former occasion, laid claim to it. Essex issued public. orders for the burial of the dead, and the king for the care of all the