Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War, Page 3

  CHAPTER III.

  A BRAWL AT OXFORD.

  News in those days traveled but slowly, and England was full ofconflicting rumors as to the doings of the two armies. Every one wasunsettled. Bodies of men moving to join one or other of the parties keptthe country in an uproar, and the Cavaliers, or rather the toughs of thetowns calling themselves Cavaliers, brought much odium upon the royalcause by the ill-treatment of harmless citizens, and by raids oninoffensive country people. Later on this conduct was to be reversed andthe Royalists were to suffer tenfold the outrages now put upon thePuritans. But there can be no doubt that the conduct of irresponsibleruffians at that time did much to turn the flood of public opinion inmany places, where it would otherwise have remained neutral, against thecrown.

  To Harry the time passed but slowly. He spent his days in Abingdonhearing the latest news, and occasionally rode over to Oxford. Thiscity was throughout the civil war the heart of the Royalist party, andits loss was one of the heaviest blows which befell the crown. HereHarry found none but favorable reports current. Enthusiasm was at itsheight. The university was even more loyal than the town, and bands oflads smashed the windows of those persons who were supposed to favor theParliament. More than once Harry saw men pursued through the streets,pelted with stones and mud, and in some cases escaping barely withtheir lives. Upon one occasion, seeing a person in black garments and ofrespectable appearance so treated, the boy's indignation was aroused,for he himself, both from his conversations with his friend Herbert, andthe talk with his father, was, although enthusiastically Royalist, yetinclined to view with respect those who held opposite opinions.

  "Run down that alley!" he exclaimed, pushing his horse between thefugitive and his pursuers.

  The man darted down the lane, and Harry placed himself at the entrance,and shouted to the rabble to abstain.

  A yell of rage and indignation replied, and a volley of stones wasthrown. Harry fearlessly drew his sword, and cut at some of those whowere in the foreground. These retaliated with sticks, and Harry wasforced backward into the lane. This was too narrow to enable him toturn, his horse, and his position was a critical one. Finding that hewas a mark for stones, he leaped from the saddle, thereby disappearingfrom the sight of those in the ranks behind, and sword in hand, barredthe way to the foremost of his assailants. The contest, however, wouldhave been brief had not a party of young students come up the lane, andseeing from Harry's attire that he was a gentleman, and likely to be ofCavalier opinions, they at once, without inquiring the cause of thefray, threw themselves into it, shouting "Gown! gown!" They speedilydrove the assailants back out of the lane; but these, reinforced by thegreat body beyond, were then too strong for them. The shouts of theyoung men, however, brought up others to their assistance, and a generalmelee took place, townsmen and gownsmen throwing themselves into thefray without any inquiry as to the circumstances from which it arose.The young students carried swords, which, although contrary to thestatutes of the university, were for the time generally adopted. Thetownspeople were armed with bludgeons, and in some cases with hangers,and the fray was becoming a serious one, when it was abruptly terminatedby the arrival of a troop of horse, which happened to be coming into thetown to join the royal forces. The officer in command, seeing sodesperate a tumult raging, ordered his men to charge into the crowd, andtheir interference speedily put an end to the fight.

  Harry returned to their rooms with some of his protectors and theirwounds were bound up, and the circumstances of the fight were talkedover. Harry was much blamed by the college men when he said that he hadbeen drawn into the fray by protecting a Puritan. But when his newfriends learned that he was as thoroughly Royalist as themselves, andthat his father had gone with a troop to Nottingham, they took a morefavorable view of his action, but still assured him that it was theheight of folly to interfere to protect a rebel from the anger of thetownspeople.

  "But, methinks," Harry said, "that it were unwise in the extreme to pushmatters so far here. In Oxford the Royalists have it all their own way,and can, of course, at will assault their Puritan neighbors. But it isdifferent in most other towns. There the Roundheads have the upper handand might retort by doing ill to the Cavaliers there. Surely it werebetter to keep these unhappy differences out of private life, and totrust the arbitration of our cause to the arms of our soldiers in thefield."

  There was a general agreement that this would indeed be the wisestcourse; but the young fellows were of opinion that hot heads on eitherside would have their way, and that if the war went on attacks of thiskind by the one party on the other must be looked for.

  Harry remained for some time with his friends in Christ church,drinking the beer for which the college was famous. Then, mounting hishorse, he rode back to Abingdon.

  Two days later, as he was proceeding toward the town, he met a mandressed as a preacher.

  "Young sir," the latter said, "may I ask if you are Master Furness?"

  "I am," the lad replied.

  "Then it is to you I am indebted for my rescue from those who assaultedme in the streets of Oxford last week. In the confusion I could not seeyour face, but I inquired afterward, and was told that my preserver wasMaster Furness, and have come over to thank you for your courtesy andbravery in thus intervening on behalf of one whom I think you regard asan enemy, for I understand that Sir Henry, your father, has declared forthe crown."

  "I acted," Harry said, "simply on the impulse of humanity, and hold itmean and cowardly for a number of men to fall upon one."

  "We are," the preacher continued, "at the beginning only of ourtroubles, and the time may come when I, Zachariah Stubbs, may be able toreturn to you the good service which you have done me. Believe me, youngsir, the feeling throughout England is strong for the Commons, and thatit will not be crushed out, as some men suppose, even should the king'smen gain a great victory over Essex--which, methinks, is not likely.There are tens of thousands throughout the country who are now contentto remain quiet at home, who would assuredly draw the sword and go forthto battle, should they consider their cause in danger. The good work hasbegun, and the sword will not be sheathed until the oppressor is laidlow."

  "We should differ who the oppressor is," Harry replied coldly. "Imyself am young to discuss these matters, but my father and those whothink with him consider that the oppression is at present on the side ofthe Commons, and of those whose religious views you share. Whilepretending to wish to be free, you endeavor to bind others beneath yourtyranny. While wishing to worship in your way unmolested, you molestthose who wish to worship in theirs. However, I thank you for youroffer, that should the time come your good services will be at mydisposal. As you say, the issue of the conflict is dark, and it may be,though I trust it will not, that some day you may, if you will, returnthe light service which I rendered you."

  "You will not forget my name?" the preacher said--"Zachariah Stubbs, ahumble instrument of the Lord, and a preacher in the Independent chapelat Oxford. Thither I cannot return, and am on my way to London, where Ihave many friends, and where I doubt not a charge will be found for me.I myself belong to the east countries, where the people are strong forthe Lord, and I doubt not that some of those I know will come to thefront of affairs, in which case my influence may perhaps be of moreservice than you can suppose at present. Farewell, young sir, andwhatever be the issues of this struggle, I trust that you may safelyemerge from them."

  The man lifted his broad black hat, and went on his way, and Harry rodeforward, smiling a little to himself at the promise given him.

  The time passed slowly, and all kinds of rumors filled the land. Atlength beacon fires were seen to blaze upon the hills, and, as it wasknown that the Puritans had arranged with Essex that the news of avictory was so to be conveyed to London, the hearts of the Royalistssank, for they feared that disaster had befallen their cause. The nextday, however, horsemen of the Parliament galloping through the countryproclaimed that they had been defeated; but it was not till next daythat the true state o
f affairs became known. Then the news came that thebattle had indeed been a drawn one.

  On the 26th of October Charles marched with his army into Oxford. Socomplete was the ignorance of the inhabitants as to the movements of thearmies that at Abingdon the news of his coming was unknown, and Harrywas astonished on the morning of the 27th at hearing a great tramplingof horsemen. Looking out, he beheld his father at the head of the troop,approaching the house. With a shout of joy the lad rushed downstairs andmet his father at the entrance.

  "I did not look to be back so soon, Harry," Sir Henry said, as healighted from his horse. "We arrived at Oxford last night, and I am senton with my troop to see that no Parliament bands are lurking in theneighborhood."

  Before entering the house the colonel dismissed his troop, telling themthat until the afternoon they could return to their homes, but must thenre-assemble and hold themselves in readiness to advance, should hereceive further orders. Then, accompanied by his officers, he enteredthe house. Breakfast was speedily prepared, and when this was donejustice to Sir Henry proceeded to relate to Harry, who was burning withimpatience to hear his news, the story of the battle of Edgehill.

  "We reached Shrewsbury, as I wrote you," he said, "and stayed theretwenty days, and during that time the army swelled and many nobles andgentlemen joined us. We were, however, it must be owned, but a motleythrong. The foot soldiers, indeed, were mostly armed with muskets; butmany had only sticks and cudgels. On the 12th we moved to Wolverhampton,and so on through Birmingham and Kenilworth. We saw nothing of therebels till we met at Edgecot, a little hamlet near Banbury, where wetook post on a hill, the rebels being opposite to us. It must be owned,"Sir Henry went on, "that things here did not promise well. There weredissensions between Prince Rupert, who commanded the cavalry, and LordLindsey, the general in chief, who is able and of great courage, buthot-headed and fiery. In the morning it was determined to engage, asEssex's forces had not all come up, and the king's troops were at leastas numerous as those of the enemy. We saw little of the fighting, for atthe commencement of the battle we got word to charge upon the enemy'sleft. We made but short work of them, and drove them headlong from thefield, chasing them in great disorder for three miles, and taking muchplunder in Kineton among the Parliament baggage-wagons. Thinking thatthe fight was over, we then prepared to ride back. When we came to thefield we found that all was changed. The main body of the Roundheads hadpressed hotly upon ours and had driven them back. Lord Lindsey himself,who had gone into the battle at the head of the pikemen carrying a pikehimself like a common soldier, had been mortally wounded and takenprisoner, and grievous slaughter had been inflicted. The king's standarditself had been taken, but this had been happily recovered, for twoRoyalist officers, putting on orange scarfs, rode into the middle of theRoundheads, and pretending that they were sent by Essex, demanded theflag from his secretary, to whom it had been intrusted. The scrivenergave it up, and the officers, seizing it, rode through the enemy andrecovered their ranks. There was much confusion and no little angrydiscussion in the camp that night, the footmen accusing the horsemen ofhaving deserted them, and the horsemen grumbling at the foot, becausethey had not done their work as well as themselves. In the morning thetwo armies still faced each other, neither being willing to budge afoot, although neither cared to renew the battle. The rest of theParliamentary forces had arrived, and they might have struck us a heavyblow had they been minded, for there was much discouragement in ourranks. Lord Essex, however, after waiting a day and burying his dead,drew off from the field, and we, remaining there, were able to claim thevictory, which, however, my son, was one of a kind which was scarceworth winning. It was a sad sight to see so many men stretched stark anddead, and these killed, not in fighting with a foreign foe, but withother Englishmen. It made us all mightily sad, and if at that momentLord Essex had had full power from the Parliament to treat, methinksthat the quarrel could have been settled, all being mightily sick ofsuch kind of fighting."

  "What is going to be done now, father?" Harry asked.

  "We are going to move forward toward London. Essex is moving parallelwith us, and will try to get there first. From what we hear from ourfriends in the city, there are great numbers of moderate men will beglad to see the king back, and to agree to make an end of this direfulbusiness. The zealots and preachers will of course oppose them. But whenwe arrive, we trust that our countenance will enable our friends to makea good front, and to overcome the opposition of the Puritans. We expectthat in a few days we shall meet with offers to treat. But whether orno, I hope that the king will soon be lodged again in his palace atWhitehall."

  "And do you think that there will be any fighting, sir?"

  "I think not. I sincerely hope not," the colonel said.

  "Then if you think that there will only be a peaceable entry, will younot let me ride with you? It will be a brave sight to see the king enterLondon again; one to tell of all one's life."

  The colonel made no reply for a minute or two.

  "Well, Harry, I will not say you nay," he said at length. "Scenes ofbroils and civil war are not for lads of your age. But, as you say, itwould be a thing to talk of to old age how you rode after the king whenhe entered London in state. But mind, if there be fighting, you mustrein back and keep out of it."

  Harry was overjoyed with the permission, for in truth time had hungheavily on his hands since the colonel had ridden away. Hiscompanionship with Herbert had ceased, for although the lads pressedhands warmly when they met in Abingdon, both felt that while any daymight bring news of the triumph of one party or the other, it wasimpossible that they could hold any warm intercourse with each other.The school was closed, for the boys of course took sides, and so muchill-will was caused that it was felt best to put a stop to it by closingthe doors. Harry therefore had been left entirely upon his ownresources, and although he had ridden about among the tenants and, sofar as he could, supplied his father's place, the time often hung heavyon his hands, especially during the long hours of the evening. Afterthanking his father for his kindness, he rushed wildly off to order hishorse to be prepared for him to accompany the troop, to re-burnish thearms which he had already chosen as fitting him from the armory, and tomake what few preparations were necessary for the journey.

  It was some days, however, before any move was made. The king wasoccupied in raising money, being sorely crippled by want of funds, aswell as of arms and munitions of war. At the beginning of November theadvance was made, Sir Henry with his troop joining Prince Rupert, andadvancing through Reading without opposition as far as Maidenhead, wherehe fixed his quarters. Two days later he learned that Essex had arrivedwith his army in London. On the 11th King Charles was at Colnbrook. Herehe received a deputation from the Houses of Parliament, who proposedthat the king should pause in his advance until committees of bothHouses should attend him with propositions "for the removal of thesebloody distempers and distractions." The king received the deputationfavorably, and said that he would stop at Windsor, and there receive thepropositions which might be sent him.

  Unfortunately, however, the hopes which were now entertained that peacewould be restored, were dashed to the ground by an action which wasascribed by the Royalists to the hotheadedness of Prince Rupert, butwhich the king's enemies affirmed was due to the duplicity of hismajesty himself. On this point there is no evidence. But it is certainthat the advance made after this deputation had been received renderedall further negotiation impossible, as it inspired the Commons with thegreatest distrust, and enabled the violent portion always to feign adoubt of the king's word, and great fears as to the keeping of any termswhich might be made, and so to act upon the timid and wavering. The veryday after the deputation had left, bearing the news to London of theking's readiness to treat, and inspiring all there with hope of peace,Prince Rupert, taking advantage of a very thick mist, marched hiscavalry to within half a mile of the town of Brentford before hisadvance was discovered, designing to surprise the train of artillery atHammersmith and to push o
n and seize the Commons and the city.

  The design might have been successful, for the exploits of Rupert'shorse at the battle of Edgehill had struck terror into the minds of theenemy. In the town of Brentford, however, were lodged a regiment offoot, under Hollis, and these prepared manfully to resist. Veryvaliantly the prince, followed by his horse, charged into the streets ofBrentford, where the houses were barricaded by the foot soldiers, whoshot boldly against them. Many were killed, and for three hours thecontest was resolutely maintained. The streets had been barricaded, andPrince Rupert's men fought at great disadvantage. At length, as eveningapproached, and the main body of the Cavaliers came up, the Parliamentmen gave way, and were driven from the town. Many were taken prisoners,and others driven into the river, the greater portion, however, makingtheir way in boats safely down the stream. The delay which their sturdyresistance had made saved the city. Hampden was bringing his men acrossfrom Acton. Essex had marched from Chelsea Fields to Turnham Green, andthe road was now blocked. After it was dark the Train-Bands advanced,and the Parliament regiments, reinforced by them, pushed on to Brentfordagain; the Royalists, finding that the place could not be held, fellback to the king's quarters at Hounslow.

  The chroniclers describe how wild a scene of confusion reigned in Londonthat evening. Proclamations were issued ordering all men to take uparms; shops were closed, the apprentice boys mustered in the ranks, andcitizens poured out like one man to defend the town. They encamped uponthe road, and the next day great trains of provisions sent by the wivesof the merchants and traders reached them, and as many came out to seethe forces, the scene along the road resembled a great fair.

  In this fight at Brentford Harry Furness was engaged. The Royalists hadanticipated no resistance here, not knowing that Hollis held the place,and Sir Henry did not think of ordering Harry to remain behind. At themoment when it was found that Hollis was in force and the trumpetssounded the charge, the lad was riding in the rear of the troop, talkingto one of the officers, and his father could take no step to prevent hisjoining. Therefore, when the trumpets sounded and the troops started offat full gallop toward the town, Harry, greatly exulting in his goodluck, fell in with them and rode down the streets of Brentford. Themusketry fire was brisk, and many of the troop rolled from their horses.Presently they were dismounted and ordered to take the houses by storm.With the hilts of their swords they broke in the doors, and there wasfierce lighting within.

  Harry, who was rather bewildered with the din and turmoil of the fight,did as the rest, and followed two or three of the men into one of thehouses, whose door had been broken open. They were assailed as theyentered by a fire of musketry from the Parliament men within. Those infront fell, and Harry was knocked down by the butt of a pike.

  When he recovered he found himself in a boat drifting down the stream, aprisoner of the Roundheads.

  For a long time Harry could hear the sounds of the guns and cannon atBrentford, and looking round at the quiet villages which they passed onthe banks, could scarce believe that he had been engaged in a battle andwas now a prisoner. But little was said to him. The men were smartingunder their defeat and indulged in the bitterest language at thetreachery with which, after negotiations had been agreed upon, theadvance of the Royalists had been made. They speedily discovered theyouth of their captive, and, after telling him brutally that he wouldprobably be hung when he got to London, they paid no further attentionto him. The boat was heavily laden, and rowed by two oars, and thejourney down was a long one, for the tide met them when at the villageof Hammersmith, and they were forced to remain tied up to a tree by thebank until it turned again. This it did not do until far in the night,and the morning was just breaking when they reached London.

  It was perhaps well for Harry that they arrived in the dark, for in theexcited state of the temper of the citizens, and their anger at thetreachery which had been practiced, it might have fared but badly withhim. He was marched along the Strand to the city, and was consigned to alock-up in Finsbury, until it could be settled what should be done tohim. In fact, the next day his career was nearly being terminated, forJohn Lilburn, a captain of the Train Bands, who had been an apprenticeand imprisoned for contumacy, had been captured at Brentford, and afterbeing tried for his life, was sentenced to death as a rebel. Essex,however, sent in word to the Royalist camp that for every one of theParliament officers put to death, he would hang three Royalistprisoners. This threat had its effect, and Harry remained in ignoranceof the danger which had threatened him.

  The greatest inconvenience which befell him was that he was obliged tolisten to all sorts of long harangues upon the part of the Puritansoldiers who were his jailers. These treated him as a misguided lad, anddid their best to convert him from the evil of his ways. At last Harrylost his temper, and said that if they wanted to hang him, they might;but that he would rather put up with that than the long sermons whichthey were in the habit of delivering to him. Indignant at this rejectionof their good offices, they left him to himself, and days passed withouthis receiving any visit save that of the soldier who brought his meals.