and killed Dalbier, who was cut to pieces by the soldiers on account of his having been a renegade from the parliamentary army.
The fate of the Scottish army decided that of Goring at Colchester. There was nothing further to stand out for; he surrendered at discretion, and was sent to prison to await the award of parliament, with lord Capel, and Hastings, the brother of the earl of Huntingdon; but two of his officers, Sir George Lisle and Sir Charles Lucas, the brother of lord Lucas, and heir to his title and estates, were shot. All sides were growing savage. These two officers fell bravely, and deserved a better fate. Lucas, tearing open his doublet, cried, "Fire, rebels!" and instantly fell. Lisle ran to him, kissed his dead body, and then turning to the soldiers, told them to come nearer. One of them said, "I'll warrant you we shall hit you." He replied, "Friends, I have been nearer, when you have missed me." The death of these noble fellows sullied the fair reputation of Fairfax, who afterwards deeply regretted it.
On the revolt of the ships at Deal, under the command of Rainsborough, whom they left ashore, the parliament appointed the earl of Warwick, the brother of the earl of Holland, but more in the confidence of the reformers, lord admiral of the fleet, and sent him to oppose the insurgent fleet. No sooner was it heard in Paris that the English ships had sailed for Holland, and called on the duke of York to command them, than it was thought highly expedient that the prince of Wales should hasten thither himself and take the command. Accordingly, he travelled in all haste to the Hague, accompanied by prince Rupert, and the lords Hopton and Colepepper. The prince was received with acclamations by the fleet at Helvoetsluys, and with other vessels, making altogether nineteen, he sailed to the coast of England. It was thought by that party that it was best to sail along the English coast, showing their strength for some time, and then to proceed to the mouth of the Thames. At that time the insurrection in Kent was proceeding under Hales, L'Estraune, and the earl of Norwich, which Fairfax soon dealt with at Maidstone; but whilst it was in force the prince might have made a safe descent on the Isle of Wight, and attempted The rescue of his father. The castle of Carisbrook was not strong, and there were few forces besides its garrison in the island; but though Charles anxiously expected the coming of the fleet, and sent repeated messages, no attention was paid to them. For nearly a month the prince had the full command of the coast. Fairfax was engaged with the insurgents at Colchester, and the rest of the army was equally occupied in Wales, and in waiting for the approach of the invasion from Scotland; yet he made no movement whatever for the rescue of his father, which every one would have thought would be the first thing. Many have been the surmises on this head, and the general opinion seems to have been that the relations of the queen and lord Jermyn now were such, that of all things, Charles was not wanted there. Others repel this as a vile and unfounded calumny, which we leave, as not affecting the main current of history, but Clarendon, the great champion of the royal party, himself makes no scruple in stating that there was cause of some kind for not seeking to liberate the king. "It cannot be imagined," he says. "how wonderfully fearful some persons in France were that he should have made his escape, and the dread they had of his coming thither."
Warwick posted himself at the mouth of the Thames, to prevent any advance towards London, or any relief to the city of Colchester; but he did not deem himself strong enough till he should be joined by another fleet under Sir George Ayscough, from Portsmouth. With this arrival Warwick was in a condition to attack the prince's fleet, but he lay still, nor did the prince appear more inclined to assail him. He was satisfied to intercept merchantmen coming into port, and demanding their ransom from the city. This occasioned a brisk correspondence betwixt the city and the prince, under cover of which proposals were made by the prince and his counsellors for the city opening its gates and declaring for the king. But the demand of the prince for ten thousand pounds as ransom of the merchant ships, disgusted the city, and presently after came the news of the total defeat of the Scotch army at Preston. On this the prince sailed away again to Helvoetsluys, without attempting anything more. His fleet, according to Clarendon, like the court and army of his father, was rusted with factions, and so incapable of any decided course of action. But the earl of Warwick did not present a more flattering aspect! Though it is confessed that he was amply strong enough after Ayscough's junction to have beaten the prince, he satisfied himself with watching him off, and following him at a respectful distance to the Dutch coast. He is said there to halve persuaded the disappointed sailors to return to the service of the parliament, and thus recovered most of the ships. But the public was greatly dissatisfied with his conduct, and the independents did not hesitate to declare that they were always betrayed by the cowardice or disaffection of noble commanders. The whole war bore striking evidences of this fact; and Clarendon asserts that Warwick had an understanding with his brother Holland, and would almost certainly have gone over had the Scottish invasion succeeded. Clarendon asserts that the parliament of Scotland had sent lord Lauderdale to the Hague, to invite prince Charles to go to Scotland and put himself at the head of affairs there for Ms father, in order to encourage the endeavour to put down the independents, who were at once hostile to the king and the solemn league and covenant; but that the news of the defeat of Hamilton arriving, defeated that object. By the end of August all the attempts of the royalists were crushed.
The presbyterians took the opportunity whilst Fairfax, Cromwell, and the leading independents were absent with the army, to propose a fresh treaty with Charles. On hearing of this movement, Cromwell wrote to the parliament, to remind it of its vote of non-addresses, and that to break it and make fresh overtures to the king, who would still adhere to his inadmissible demands, would be an eternal disgrace to them. But the immediate defeat of Hamilton so much raised the terror of the presbyterians at the overwhelming weight which this would give to the army and the independent party, that they hastened the business. Charles readily acceded to it, and would fain have obtained his wish of carrying on the negotiation in London, especially as a large party there were urgent for accommodation with him. But the parliament dared not thus far run counter to the
