Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War Read online

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  FRIENDS THOUGH DIVIDED

  A TALE OF THE CIVIL WAR

  BY

  G.A. HENTY

  AUTHOR OF "IN TIMES OF PERIL," "THE YOUNG FRANCTIREURS,""THE YOUNG BUGLERS," ETC, ETC.

  PREFACE

  My dear lads: Although so long a time has elapsed since the great civilwar in England, men are still almost as much divided as they were thenas to the merits of the quarrel, almost as warm partisans of the oneside or the other. Most of you will probably have formed an opinion asto the rights of the case, either from your own reading, or from hearingthe views of your elders.

  For my part, I have endeavored to hold the scales equally, to relatehistorical facts with absolute accuracy, and to show how much of rightand how much of wrong there was upon either side. Upon the one hand, theking by his instability, bad faith, and duplicity alienated his bestfriends, and drove the Commons to far greater lengths than they had atfirst dreamed of. Upon the other hand, the struggle, begun only to winconstitutional rights, ended--owing to the ambition, fanaticism, anddetermination to override all rights and all opinions save their own, ofa numerically insignificant minority of the Commons, backed by thestrength of the army--in the establishment of the most completedespotism England has ever seen.

  It may no doubt be considered a failing on my part that one of my heroeshas a very undue preponderance of adventure over the other. This Iregret; but after the scale of victory turned, those on the winning sidehad little to do or to suffer, and one's interest is certainly with thehunted fugitive, or the slave in the Bermudas, rather than with theprosperous and well-to-do citizen.

  Yours very sincerely,

  G.A. HENTY.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I. The Eve of the War

  CHAPTER II. For the King

  CHAPTER III. A Brawl at Oxford

  CHAPTER IV. Breaking Prison

  CHAPTER V. A Mission of State

  CHAPTER VI. A Narrow Escape

  CHAPTER VII. In a Hot Place

  CHAPTER VIII. The Defense of an Outpost

  CHAPTER IX. A Stubborn Defense

  CHAPTER X. The Commissioner of the Convention

  CHAPTER XI. Montrose

  CHAPTER XII. An Escape from Prison

  CHAPTER XIII. Public Events

  CHAPTER XIV. An Attempt to Rescue the King

  CHAPTER XV. A Riot in the City

  CHAPTER XVI. The Execution of King Charles

  CHAPTER XVII. The Siege of Drogheda

  CHAPTER XVIII. Slaves in the Bermudas

  CHAPTER XIX. A Sea Fight

  CHAPTER XX. With the Scotch Army

  CHAPTER XXI. The Path Across the Morass

  CHAPTER XXII. Kidnaped

  CHAPTER XXIII. The Battle of Worcester

  CHAPTER XXIV. Across the Sea.

  CHAPTER XXV. A Plot Overheard

  CHAPTER XXVI. Rest at Last

  FRIENDS, THOUGH DIVIDED.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE EVE OF THE WAR.

  It was a pleasant afternoon in the month of July, 1642, when three youngpeople sat together on a shady bank at the edge of a wood some threemiles from Oxford. The country was undulating and picturesque, and alittle more than a mile in front of them rose the lofty spire of St.Helen's, Abingdon. The party consisted of two lads, who were aboutfifteen years of age, and a girl of ten. The lads, although of about thesame height and build, were singularly unlike. Herbert Rippinghall wasdark and grave, his dress somber in hue, but good in material and wellmade. Harry Furness was a fair and merry-looking boy; good humor was thedistinguishing characteristic of his face; his somewhat bright andfashionably cut clothes were carelessly put on, and it was clear that nothought of his own appearance or good looks entered his mind. He worehis hair in ringlets, and had on his head a broad hat of felt with awhite feather, while his companion wore a plain cap, and his hair wascut closely to his head.

  "It is a bad business, Harry," the latter said, "but, there is onesatisfaction that, come what may, nothing can disturb our friendship. Wehave never had a quarrel since we first met at the old school downthere, six years ago. We have been dear friends always, and my onlyregret has been that your laziness has prevented our being rivals, forneither would have grudged the other victory."

  "No, indeed, Herbert. But there was never a chance of that. You havealways been Mr. Gregory's prize boy, and are now head of the school;while I have always been in his bad books. But, as you say, Herbert, wehave been dear friends, and, come what will, we'll continue so. Wecannot agree on the state of the kingdom, and shall never do so. We haveboth taken our views from our parents; and indeed it seems to me thatthe question is far too difficult a one for boys like us to form anyopinion of it. When we see some of the best and wisest in the landranging themselves on either side, it is clear that even such a wisenoddle as yours--to say nothing of a feather brain like mine--cannotform any opinion on a subject which perplexes our elders and betters."

  "That is true, Harry; but still--"

  "No, no, Herbert, we will have no argument. You have the best of itthere, and I fall back upon authority. My father, the colonel, is forthe king; yours for the Parliament. He says that there are faults onboth sides, and indeed, for years he favored the Commons. The king'sacts were unconstitutional and tyrannical, and my father approved of thebold stand which Sir George Elliot made against him. Now, however, allthis has been changed, he tells me, and the Commons seek to rule withouteither king or peers. They have sought to impose conditions which wouldrender them the lords absolute of England, and reduce the king to a merepuppet. They have, too, attacked the Church, would abolish bishops, andinterfere in all matters spiritual. Therefore, my father, whileacknowledging the faults which the king has committed, and grievingover the acts which have driven the Parliament to taking up a hostileattitude to him, yet holds it his duty to support him against theviolent men who have now assumed power, and who are aiming at thesubversion of the constitution and the loss of the country."

  "I fear, also," Herbert said, "that the Commons have gone grievouslybeyond their rights, although, did my father hear me say so, I shouldfall under his gravest displeasure. But he holds that it is necessarythat there should be an ecclesiastical sweep, that the prelates shouldhave no more power in the land, that popery should be put down with aniron hand, and that, since kings cannot be trusted to govern well, allpower should be placed in the hands of the people. My own thoughts doincline toward his; but, as you say, when one sees men like my LordFalkland, who have hitherto stood among the foremost in the ranks ofthose who demand that the king shall govern according to law, now sidingwith him against them, one cannot but feel how grave are thedifficulties, and how much is to be said on either side. How is one tochoose? The king is overbearing, haughty, and untrue to his word. TheParliament is stiff-necked and bent upon acquiring power beyond what isfair and right. There are, indeed, grievous faults on both sides. But itseems to me that should the king now have his way and conquer theCommons, he and his descendants will henceforth govern as absolutemonarchs, and the liberty of the people will be endangered; while on theother hand, should the Parliament gain the upper hand, they will placeon a firm basis the liberties of Englishmen, and any excesses which theymay commit will be controlled and modified by a future parliament, forthe people of England will no more suffer tyranny on the part of theCommons than of the king; but while they cannot change the one, it isin their power to elect whom they will, and to send up men who willgovern things moderately and wisely."

  "At any rate," Harry said, "my father thinks that there is neither
moderation nor wisdom among the zealots at Westminster; and as I hearthat many nobles and country gentlemen throughout England are of thesame opinion, methinks that though at present the Parliament have thebest of it, and have seized Portsmouth, and the Tower, and all thedepots of arms, yet that in the end the king will prevail against them."

  "I trust," Herbert continued earnestly, "that there will be no fighting.England has known no civil wars since the days of the Roses, and when wesee how France and Germany are torn by internal dissensions, we shouldbe happy indeed that England has so long escaped such a scourge. It isindeed sad to think that friends should be arrayed against each other ina quarrel in which both sides are in the wrong."

  "I hope," Harry said, "that if they needs must fight, it will soon beover, whichever way fortune may turn."

  "I think not," Herbert answered. "It is a war of religion as much as awar for power. The king and the Commons may strive who shall govern therealm; but the people who will take up arms will do it more for thetriumph of Protestantism than for that of Pym and Hampden."

  "How tiresome you both are," Lucy Rippinghall interrupted, pouting. "Youbrought me out to gather flowers, and you do nothing but talk of kingsand Parliament, as if I cared for them. I call it very rude. Herbert isoften forgetful, and thinks of his books more than of me; but you,Master Harry, are always polite and gentle, and I marvel much that youshould be so changed to-day."

  "Forgive me," Harry said, smiling. "We have been very remiss, MissLucy; but we will have no more of high politics, and will, even if neveragain," he said sadly, "devote all our energies to getting such a basketof flowers for you as may fill your rooms with beaupots. Now, if yourmajesty is ready to begin, we are your most obedient servants."

  And so, with a laugh, the little party rose to their feet, and startedin quest of wild flowers.

  The condition of affairs was at the outbreak of the civil war such asmight well puzzle older heads than those of Harry Furness or HerbertRippinghall, to choose between the two powers who were gathering arms.

  The foundations of the difficulty had been laid in the reign of KingJames. That monarch, who in figure, manners, and mind was in thestrongest contrast to all the English kings who had preceded him, wasinfinitely more mischievous than a more foolish monarch could have been.Coarse in manner--a buffoon in demeanor--so weak, that in many mattershe suffered himself to be a puppet in the hands of the profligates whosurrounded him, he had yet a certain amount of cleverness, and anobstinacy which nothing could overcome. He brought with him fromScotland an overweening opinion of the power and dignity of his positionas a king. The words--absolute monarchy--had hitherto meant only amonarch free from foreign interference; to James they meant a monarchyfree from interference on the part of Lords or Commons. He believedimplicitly in the divine right of kings to do just as they chose, and inall things, secular and ecclesiastical, to impose their will upon theirsubjects.

  At that time, upon the Continent, the struggle of Protestantism andCatholicism was being fought out everywhere. In France the Huguenotswere gradually losing ground, and were soon to be extirpated. InGermany the Protestant princes had lost ground. Austria, at one timehalting between two opinions, had now espoused vehemently the side ofthe pope, and save in Holland and Switzerland, Catholicism wastriumphing all along the line. While the sympathies of the people ofEngland were strongly in favor of their co-religionists upon theContinent, those of James inclined toward Catholicism, and in allmatters ecclesiastical he was at variance with his subjects. Whatcaused, if possible, an even deeper feeling of anger than hisinterference in church matters, was his claim to influence the decisionsof the law courts. The pusillanimity of the great mass of the judgeshindered them from opposing his outrageous claims, and the people sawwith indignation and amazement the royal power becoming infinitelygreater and more extended than anything to which Henry VIII. or evenElizabeth had laid claim. The negotiations of the king for a marriagebetween his son and the Infanta of Spain raised the fears of the peopleto the highest point. The remembrance of the Spanish armada was stillfresh in their minds, and they looked upon an alliance with Spain as themost unholy of contracts, and as threatening alike the religion andliberties of Englishmen.

  Thus when at King James' death King Charles ascended the throne, heinherited a legacy of trouble. Unhappily, his disposition was even moreobstinate than that of his father. His training had been wholly bad, andhe had inherited the pernicious ideas of his father in reference to therights of kings. Even more unfortunately, he had inherited his father'scounselors. The Duke of Buckingham, a haughty, avaricious, and ambitiousnoble, raised by King James from obscurity, urged him to follow the pathof his father, and other evil counselors were not wanting. KingCharles, indeed, had an advantage over his father, inasmuch as hisperson was stately and commanding, his manner grave and dignified, andhis private life irreproachable. The conflicts which had continuedthroughout the reign of his father between king and Parliament speedilybroke out afresh. The Commons refused to grant supplies, unless the kinggranted rights and privileges which he deemed alike derogatory anddangerous. The shifty foreign policy of England was continued, and soonthe breach was as wide as it had been during the previous reign.

  After several Parliaments had been called and dissolved, some gainingadvantage from the necessities of the king, others meeting only toseparate after discussions which imbittered the already existingrelations, for ten years the king dispensed with a Parliament. Themurder of the Duke of Buckingham by Felton brought no alleviation to thesituation. In Ireland, Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, ruled withtyrannical power. He was a man of clear mind and of great talent, andhis whole efforts were devoted to increasing the power of the king, andso, as he considered, the benefit of the country. In Ireland he had asubmissive Parliament, and by the aid of this he raised moneys, andruled in a manner which, tyrannical as it was, was yet for the benefitof that country. The king had absolute confidence in him, and his advicewas ever on the side of resistance to popular demands. In England thechief power was given to Archbishop Land, a high church prelate, bentupon restoring many of the forms of Catholic worship, and bitterlyopposed to the Puritan spirit which pervaded the great mass of theEnglish people.

  So far the errors had been entirely upon the side of the king. Thedemands of the Commons had been justified by precedent andconstitutional rule. The doings of the king were in equal opposition tothese. When at last the necessity of the situation compelled Charles tosummon a Parliament, he was met by them in a spirit of absolutedefiance. Before any vote of supply would he taken, the Commons insistedupon the impeachment of Strafford, and Charles weakly consented to this.The trial was illegally carried on, and the evidence weak and doubtful.But the king's favorite was marked out for destruction, and to the joyof the whole kingdom was condemned and executed. A similar fate befellLaud, and encouraged by these successes, the demands of the Commonsbecame higher and higher.

  The ultimatum which at last the Puritan party in Parliament delivered tothe king, was that no man should remain in the royal council who was notagreeable to Parliament; that no deed of the king should have validityunless it passed the council, and was attested under their hands; thatall the officers of the state and principal judges should be chosen withconsent of Parliament, and enjoy their offices for life; that none ofthe royal family should marry without consent of Parliament or thecouncil; that the penal laws should be executed against Catholics; thatthe votes of popish lords should not be received in the Peers, and thatbishops should be excluded from the House; that the reformation of theliturgy and church government should be carried out according to theadvice of Parliament; that the ordinances which they had made withregard to the militia should be submitted to; that the justice ofParliament should pass upon all delinquents, that is, upon all officialsof the state and country who had assisted in carrying out the king'sordinances for the raising of taxes; that a general pardon should hegranted, with such exceptions as should he advised by Parliament; thatthe fort and castles should
be disposed of by consent of Parliament;and that no peers should be made but with the consent of both Houses.They demanded also that they should have the power of appointing anddismissing the royal ministers, of naming guardians for the royalchildren, and of virtually controlling military, civil, and religiousaffairs.

  As it was clear that these demands went altogether beyond the rights ofthe Commons, and that if the king submitted to them the power of thecountry would be solely in their hands, while he himself would become acipher, he had no course open to him but to refuse assent, and to appealto the loyal nobility and gentry of the country.

  It is true that many of these rights have since been obtained by theHouses of Parliament; but it must be remembered that they werealtogether alien at the time to the position which the kings of Englandhad hitherto held, and that the body into whose hands they would beintrusted would be composed solely of one party in the state, and thatthis party would be controlled by the fanatical leaders and theministers of the sects opposed to the Established Church, which were atthat time bitter, narrow, and violent to an extent of which we have nowno conception.

  The attitude thus assumed by Parliament drove from their ranks a greatmany of the most intelligent and enlightened of those who had formerlysided with them in their contest against the king. These gentlemen feltthat intolerable as was the despotic power of a king, still moreintolerable would it be to be governed by the despotic power of a groupof fanatics. The liberty of Englishmen was now as much threatened by theCommons as it had been threatened by the king, and to loyal gentlementhe latter alternative was preferable. Thus there were on both sidesearnest and conscientious men who grieved deeply at being forced todraw swords in such a quarrel, and who felt that their choice of sideswas difficult in the extreme. Falkland was the typical soldier on theroyal side, Hampden on that of the Commons.

  It is probable that were England divided to-morrow under the sameconditions, men would be equally troubled upon which side to rangethemselves. At this period of the struggle, with the exception of a fewhot-headed followers of the king and a few zealots on the side of theCommons, there was a general hope that matters would shortly bearranged, and that one conflict would settle the struggle.

  The first warlike demonstration was made before the town of York, beforewhose walls the king, arriving with an armed force, was refusedadmittance by Sir John Hotham, who held the place for the Parliament.This was the signal for the outbreak of the war, and each partyhenceforth strained every nerve to arm themselves and to place theirforces in the field.

  The above is but a brief sketch of the circumstances which led theCavaliers and Puritans of England to arm themselves for civil war. Manydetails have been omitted, the object being not to teach the history ofthe time, but to show the general course of events which had led to sobroad and strange a division between the people of England. Even now,after an interval of two hundred years, men still discuss the subjectwith something like passion, and are as strong in their sympathiestoward one side or the other as in the days when their ancestors took uparms for king or Commons.

  It is with the story of the war which followed the conversation of HarryFurness and Herbert Rippinghall that we have to do, not with that of thepolitical occurrences which preceded it. As to these, at least, nodoubts or differences of opinion can arise. The incidents of the war,its victories and defeats, its changing fortunes, and its final triumphare matters beyond the domain of politics, or of opinion; and indeedwhen once the war began politics ceased to have much further sway. Theoriginal questions were lost sight of, and men fought for king orParliament just as soldiers nowadays fight for England or France,without in any concerning themselves with the original grounds ofquarrel.