The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) π
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lead a mere mob to attack good soldiers. For his followers were
not altogether without a tincture of soldiership; and Feversham's
troops, when compared with English troops of our time, might
almost he called a mob.
It was four o'clock: the sun was rising; and the routed army came
pouring into the streets of Bridgewater. The uproar, the blood,
the gashes, the ghastly figures which sank down and never rose
again, spread horror and dismay through the town. The pursuers,
too, were close behind. Those inhabitants who had favoured the
insurrection expected sack and massacre, and implored the
protection of their neighbours who professed the Roman Catholic
religion, or had made themselves conspicuous by Tory politics;
and it is acknowledged by the bitterest of Whig historians that
this protection was kindly and generously given.416
During that day the conquerors continued to chase the fugitives.
The neighbouring villagers long remembered with what a clatter of
horsehoofs and what a storm of curses the whirlwind of cavalry
swept by. Before evening five hundred prisoners had been crowded
into the parish church of Weston Zoyland. Eighty of them were
wounded; and five expired within the consecrated walls. Great
numbers of labourers were impressed for the purpose of burying
the slain. A few, who were notoriously partial to the vanquished
side, were set apart for the hideous office of quartering the
captives. The tithing men of the neighbouring parishes were
busied in setting up gibbets and providing chains. All this while
the bells of Weston Zoyland and Chedzoy rang joyously; and the
soldiers sang and rioted on the moor amidst the corpses. For the
farmers of the neighbourhood had made haste, as soon as the event
of the fight was known to send hogsheads of their best cider as
peace offerings to the victors.417
Feversham passed for a goodnatured man: but he was a foreigner,
ignorant of the laws and careless of the feelings of the English.
He was accustomed to the military license of France, and had
learned from his great kinsman, the conqueror and devastator of
the Palatinate, not indeed how to conquer, but how to devastate.
A considerable number of prisoners were immediately selected for
execution. Among them was a youth famous for his speed. Hopes
were held out to him that his life would be spared If he could
run a race with one of the colts of the marsh. The space through
which the man kept up with the horse is still marked by well
known bounds on the moor, and is about three quarters of a mile.
Feversham was not ashamed, after seeing the performance, to send
the wretched performer to the gallows. The next day a long line
of gibbets appeared on the road leading from Bridgewater to
Weston Zoyland. On each gibbet a prisoner was suspended. Four of
the sufferers were left to rot in irons.418
Meanwhile Monmouth, accompanied by Grey, by Buyse, and by a few
other friends, was flying from the field of battle. At Chedzoy he
stopped a moment to mount a fresh horse and to hide his blue
riband and his George. He then hastened towards the Bristol
Channel. From the rising ground on the north of the field of
battle he saw the flash and the smoke of the last volley fired by
his deserted followers. Before six o'clock he was twenty miles
from Sedgemoor. Some of his companions advised him to cross the
water, and seek refuge in Wales; and this would undoubtedly have
been his wisest course. He would have been in Wales many hours
before the news of his defeat was known there; and in a country
so wild and so remote from the seat of government, he might have
remained long undiscovered. He determined, however, to push for
Hampshire, in the hope that he might lurk in the cabins of
deerstealers among the oaks of the New Forest, till means of
conveyance to the Continent could be procured. He therefore, with
Grey and the German, turned to the southeast. But the way was
beset with dangers. The three fugitives had to traverse a country
in which every one already knew the event of the battle, and in
which no traveller of suspicious appearance could escape a close
scrutiny. They rode on all day, shunning towns and villages. Nor
was this so difficult as it may now appear. For men then living
could remember the time when the wild deer ranged freely through
a succession of forests from the banks of the Avon in Wiltshire
to the southern coast of Hampshire.419 At length, on Cranbourne
Chase, the strength of the horses failed. They were therefore
turned loose. The bridles and saddles were concealed. Monmouth
and his friends procured rustic attire, disguised themselves, and
proceeded on foot towards the New Forest. They passed the night
in the open air: but before morning they were Surrounded on every
side by toils. Lord Lumley, who lay at Ringwood with a strong
body of the Sussex militia, had sent forth parties in every
direction. Sir William Portman, with the Somerset militia, had
formed a chain of posts from the sea to the northern extremity of
Dorset. At five in the morning of the seventh, Grey, who had
wandered from his friends, was seized by two of the Sussex
scouts. He submitted to his fate with the calmness of one to whom
suspense was more intolerable than despair. "Since we landed," he
said, "I have not had one comfortable meal or one quiet night."
It could hardly be doubted that the chief rebel was not far off.
The pursuers redoubled their vigilance and activity. The cottages
scattered over the heathy country on the boundaries of
Dorsetshire and Hampshire were strictly examined by Lumley; and
the clown with whom Monmouth had changed clothes was discovered.
Portman came with a strong body of horse and foot to assist in
the search. Attention was soon drawn to a place well fitted to
shelter fugitives. It was an extensive tract of land separated by
an enclosure from the open country, and divided by numerous
hedges into small fields. In some of these fields the rye, the
pease, and the oats were high enough to conceal a man. Others
were overgrown with fern and brambles. A poor woman reported that
she had seen two strangers lurking in this covert. The near
prospect of reward animated the zeal of the troops. It was agreed
that every man who did his duty in the search should have a share
of the promised five thousand pounds. The outer fence was
strictly guarded: the space within was examined with
indefatigable diligence; and several dogs of quick scent were
turned out among the bushes. The day closed before the work could
be completed: but careful watch was kept all night. Thirty times
the fugitives ventured to look through the outer hedge: but
everywhere they found a sentinel on the alert: once they were
seen and fired at; they then separated and concealed themselves
in different hiding places.
At sunrise the next morning the search recommenced, and Buyse was
found. He owned that he had parted from the Duke only a few hours
before. The corn and copsewood were now beaten with more care
than ever. At length a gaunt figure was discovered hidden in a
ditch. The pursuers sprang on their prey. Some of them were about
to fire: but Portman forbade all violence. The prisoner's dress
was that of a shepherd; his beard, prematurely grey, was of
several days' growth. He trembled greatly, and was unable to
speak. Even those who had often seen him were at first in doubt
whether this were truly the brilliant and graceful Monmouth. His
pockets were searched by Portman, and in them were found, among
some raw pease gathered in the rage of hunger, a watch, a purse
of gold, a small treatise on fortification, an album filled with
songs, receipts, prayers, and charms, and the George with which,
many years before, King Charles the Second had decorated his
favourite son. Messengers were instantly despatched to Whitehall
with the good news, and with the George as a token that the news
was true. The prisoner was conveyed under a strong guard to
Ringwood.420
And all was lost; and nothing remained but that he should prepare
to meet death as became one who had thought himself not unworthy
to wear the crown of William the Conqueror and of Richard the
Lionhearted, of the hero of Cressy and of the hero of Agincourt.
The captive might easily have called to mind other domestic
examples, still better suited to his condition. Within a hundred
years, two sovereigns whose blood ran in his veins, one of them a
delicate woman, had been placed in the same situation in which he
now stood. They had shown, in the prison and on the scaffold,
virtue of which, in the season of prosperity, they had seemed
incapable, and had half redeemed great crimes and errors by
enduring with Christian meekness and princely dignity all that
victorious enemies could inflict. Of cowardice Monmouth had never
been accused; and, even had he been wanting in constitutional
courage, it might have been expected that the defect would be
supplied by pride and by despair. The eyes of the whole world
were upon him. The latest generations would know how, in that
extremity, he had borne himself. To the brave peasants of the
West he owed it to show that they had not poured forth their
blood for a leader unworthy of their attachment. To her who had
sacrificed everything for his sake he owed it so to bear himself
that, though she might weep for him, she should not blush for
him. It was not for him to lament and supplicate. His reason,
too, should have told him that lamentation and supplication would
be unavailing. He had done that which could never be forgiven. He
was in the grasp of one who never forgave.
But the fortitude of Monmouth was not that highest sort of
fortitude which is derived from reflection and from selfrespect;
nor had nature given him one of those stout hearts from which
neither adversity nor peril can extort any sign of weakness. His
courage rose and fell with his animal spirits. It was sustained
on the field of battle by the excitement of action. By the hope
of victory, by the strange influence of sympathy. All such aids
were now taken away. The spoiled darling of the court and of the
populace, accustomed to be loved and worshipped wherever he
appeared, was now surrounded by stern gaolers in whose eyes he
read his doom. Yet a few hours of gloomy seclusion, and he must
die a violent and shameful death. His heart sank within him. Life
seemed worth purchasing by any humiliation; nor could his mind,
always feeble, and now distracted by terror, perceive that
humiliation
lead a mere mob to attack good soldiers. For his followers were
not altogether without a tincture of soldiership; and Feversham's
troops, when compared with English troops of our time, might
almost he called a mob.
It was four o'clock: the sun was rising; and the routed army came
pouring into the streets of Bridgewater. The uproar, the blood,
the gashes, the ghastly figures which sank down and never rose
again, spread horror and dismay through the town. The pursuers,
too, were close behind. Those inhabitants who had favoured the
insurrection expected sack and massacre, and implored the
protection of their neighbours who professed the Roman Catholic
religion, or had made themselves conspicuous by Tory politics;
and it is acknowledged by the bitterest of Whig historians that
this protection was kindly and generously given.416
During that day the conquerors continued to chase the fugitives.
The neighbouring villagers long remembered with what a clatter of
horsehoofs and what a storm of curses the whirlwind of cavalry
swept by. Before evening five hundred prisoners had been crowded
into the parish church of Weston Zoyland. Eighty of them were
wounded; and five expired within the consecrated walls. Great
numbers of labourers were impressed for the purpose of burying
the slain. A few, who were notoriously partial to the vanquished
side, were set apart for the hideous office of quartering the
captives. The tithing men of the neighbouring parishes were
busied in setting up gibbets and providing chains. All this while
the bells of Weston Zoyland and Chedzoy rang joyously; and the
soldiers sang and rioted on the moor amidst the corpses. For the
farmers of the neighbourhood had made haste, as soon as the event
of the fight was known to send hogsheads of their best cider as
peace offerings to the victors.417
Feversham passed for a goodnatured man: but he was a foreigner,
ignorant of the laws and careless of the feelings of the English.
He was accustomed to the military license of France, and had
learned from his great kinsman, the conqueror and devastator of
the Palatinate, not indeed how to conquer, but how to devastate.
A considerable number of prisoners were immediately selected for
execution. Among them was a youth famous for his speed. Hopes
were held out to him that his life would be spared If he could
run a race with one of the colts of the marsh. The space through
which the man kept up with the horse is still marked by well
known bounds on the moor, and is about three quarters of a mile.
Feversham was not ashamed, after seeing the performance, to send
the wretched performer to the gallows. The next day a long line
of gibbets appeared on the road leading from Bridgewater to
Weston Zoyland. On each gibbet a prisoner was suspended. Four of
the sufferers were left to rot in irons.418
Meanwhile Monmouth, accompanied by Grey, by Buyse, and by a few
other friends, was flying from the field of battle. At Chedzoy he
stopped a moment to mount a fresh horse and to hide his blue
riband and his George. He then hastened towards the Bristol
Channel. From the rising ground on the north of the field of
battle he saw the flash and the smoke of the last volley fired by
his deserted followers. Before six o'clock he was twenty miles
from Sedgemoor. Some of his companions advised him to cross the
water, and seek refuge in Wales; and this would undoubtedly have
been his wisest course. He would have been in Wales many hours
before the news of his defeat was known there; and in a country
so wild and so remote from the seat of government, he might have
remained long undiscovered. He determined, however, to push for
Hampshire, in the hope that he might lurk in the cabins of
deerstealers among the oaks of the New Forest, till means of
conveyance to the Continent could be procured. He therefore, with
Grey and the German, turned to the southeast. But the way was
beset with dangers. The three fugitives had to traverse a country
in which every one already knew the event of the battle, and in
which no traveller of suspicious appearance could escape a close
scrutiny. They rode on all day, shunning towns and villages. Nor
was this so difficult as it may now appear. For men then living
could remember the time when the wild deer ranged freely through
a succession of forests from the banks of the Avon in Wiltshire
to the southern coast of Hampshire.419 At length, on Cranbourne
Chase, the strength of the horses failed. They were therefore
turned loose. The bridles and saddles were concealed. Monmouth
and his friends procured rustic attire, disguised themselves, and
proceeded on foot towards the New Forest. They passed the night
in the open air: but before morning they were Surrounded on every
side by toils. Lord Lumley, who lay at Ringwood with a strong
body of the Sussex militia, had sent forth parties in every
direction. Sir William Portman, with the Somerset militia, had
formed a chain of posts from the sea to the northern extremity of
Dorset. At five in the morning of the seventh, Grey, who had
wandered from his friends, was seized by two of the Sussex
scouts. He submitted to his fate with the calmness of one to whom
suspense was more intolerable than despair. "Since we landed," he
said, "I have not had one comfortable meal or one quiet night."
It could hardly be doubted that the chief rebel was not far off.
The pursuers redoubled their vigilance and activity. The cottages
scattered over the heathy country on the boundaries of
Dorsetshire and Hampshire were strictly examined by Lumley; and
the clown with whom Monmouth had changed clothes was discovered.
Portman came with a strong body of horse and foot to assist in
the search. Attention was soon drawn to a place well fitted to
shelter fugitives. It was an extensive tract of land separated by
an enclosure from the open country, and divided by numerous
hedges into small fields. In some of these fields the rye, the
pease, and the oats were high enough to conceal a man. Others
were overgrown with fern and brambles. A poor woman reported that
she had seen two strangers lurking in this covert. The near
prospect of reward animated the zeal of the troops. It was agreed
that every man who did his duty in the search should have a share
of the promised five thousand pounds. The outer fence was
strictly guarded: the space within was examined with
indefatigable diligence; and several dogs of quick scent were
turned out among the bushes. The day closed before the work could
be completed: but careful watch was kept all night. Thirty times
the fugitives ventured to look through the outer hedge: but
everywhere they found a sentinel on the alert: once they were
seen and fired at; they then separated and concealed themselves
in different hiding places.
At sunrise the next morning the search recommenced, and Buyse was
found. He owned that he had parted from the Duke only a few hours
before. The corn and copsewood were now beaten with more care
than ever. At length a gaunt figure was discovered hidden in a
ditch. The pursuers sprang on their prey. Some of them were about
to fire: but Portman forbade all violence. The prisoner's dress
was that of a shepherd; his beard, prematurely grey, was of
several days' growth. He trembled greatly, and was unable to
speak. Even those who had often seen him were at first in doubt
whether this were truly the brilliant and graceful Monmouth. His
pockets were searched by Portman, and in them were found, among
some raw pease gathered in the rage of hunger, a watch, a purse
of gold, a small treatise on fortification, an album filled with
songs, receipts, prayers, and charms, and the George with which,
many years before, King Charles the Second had decorated his
favourite son. Messengers were instantly despatched to Whitehall
with the good news, and with the George as a token that the news
was true. The prisoner was conveyed under a strong guard to
Ringwood.420
And all was lost; and nothing remained but that he should prepare
to meet death as became one who had thought himself not unworthy
to wear the crown of William the Conqueror and of Richard the
Lionhearted, of the hero of Cressy and of the hero of Agincourt.
The captive might easily have called to mind other domestic
examples, still better suited to his condition. Within a hundred
years, two sovereigns whose blood ran in his veins, one of them a
delicate woman, had been placed in the same situation in which he
now stood. They had shown, in the prison and on the scaffold,
virtue of which, in the season of prosperity, they had seemed
incapable, and had half redeemed great crimes and errors by
enduring with Christian meekness and princely dignity all that
victorious enemies could inflict. Of cowardice Monmouth had never
been accused; and, even had he been wanting in constitutional
courage, it might have been expected that the defect would be
supplied by pride and by despair. The eyes of the whole world
were upon him. The latest generations would know how, in that
extremity, he had borne himself. To the brave peasants of the
West he owed it to show that they had not poured forth their
blood for a leader unworthy of their attachment. To her who had
sacrificed everything for his sake he owed it so to bear himself
that, though she might weep for him, she should not blush for
him. It was not for him to lament and supplicate. His reason,
too, should have told him that lamentation and supplication would
be unavailing. He had done that which could never be forgiven. He
was in the grasp of one who never forgave.
But the fortitude of Monmouth was not that highest sort of
fortitude which is derived from reflection and from selfrespect;
nor had nature given him one of those stout hearts from which
neither adversity nor peril can extort any sign of weakness. His
courage rose and fell with his animal spirits. It was sustained
on the field of battle by the excitement of action. By the hope
of victory, by the strange influence of sympathy. All such aids
were now taken away. The spoiled darling of the court and of the
populace, accustomed to be loved and worshipped wherever he
appeared, was now surrounded by stern gaolers in whose eyes he
read his doom. Yet a few hours of gloomy seclusion, and he must
die a violent and shameful death. His heart sank within him. Life
seemed worth purchasing by any humiliation; nor could his mind,
always feeble, and now distracted by terror, perceive that
humiliation
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