The siege of Lichfield

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Preface

This volume is designed. for instruction -ratheit dsan mere amusement I shall have failed to accomplish my wish^ . if what I have written should be read as a mere tale or novel, the object of which is to beguile a feW^ hours; and shall certainly not proceed iu & similar course of labour. But if those whose (pinion I value should judge that it is calculated to convey a just and faithful picture of an important part of English history, in such a manner that. the reader's mind may be informed and improved, I shall then hope for opportunity to illustrate other periods of our history in a similar manner* Of course it is primarily for young persons that the present volume :is intended; yet I am not without the hope^ that it may be deemed worthy of the attention of those who believe

VI PREFACE.

that Divine Providence afFords us examples in other generations both for avoidance and imitation, which may help us to correct the errors of our own.

Persons of severe taste may object to the lighter portions of this work; but they should remember that those parts are perhaps the most likely to engage the attention of the generality of readers, and lead them on to consider what is more valuable. And I would make the same remark with regard to other volumes which I have laid before the public.

With regard to public events, I have followed the contemporary histories of Clarendon and Dugdale, comparing them with the later productions of Hume and Hallam, and testing their truth by Rushworth's Collection, and other documents of the time. Whitelocke, Ludlow, Mrs. Hutchinson, and Walker, have supplied me with moriB particular details. For circumstances of local history I am indebted to the information conveyed in Dr. Harwood's History of Lichfield, to which I have been enabled to add several additional facts of local interest,

PREFACE. VU

furnished by the favour of the Right Hon. Lord Bagot, Rev. Sir W. Nigel Gresley, Lieut. - Gen. Dyott, Rev. T. J. Bums Floyer, and Mr. Stringer of Lichfield. For the designs of the engravings I have to thank the Rev. G. Hamilton and R. Greene, Esq.

As the details of the siege are entirely founded on fact, I have added a plan of the ancient fortress and city, together with an Appendix, containing a few particulars which may further illustrate the history of the times.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. The Cathedral 1

II. The Council 12

CHAPTER II. V'%t QnnnrQ

The first part of the year 1642 vas a time of harrowing suspense and anxiety to all England, and the city of Lichfield shared the general excitement. Being situated at a considerable distance from the metropolis, and the communication with the remote parts of the kingdom being slow and irregular, the arrival of every courier or traveller was expected with intense interest; and the news which was brought in this desultory manner was far from being calculated to allay the apprehensions of the inhabitants. They heard of tumultuous assemblages in different parts of the kingdom, especially in London ; — the archbishop's palace attacked — the bishops insulted — members of parliament prevented by the mob from taking their seats, and their names and persons held up to public execration, if they dared to vote in opposition to the popular will. It is an invariable precursor of revolution, when a faction in the state basely avail themselves of mob-violence for the attainment of their object. Government is virtually at an end when rulers are coerced b}"^ the pressure from without. Relying on the support of the excited masses, the factious leaders were guilty of the most glaring violations of law and justice, committing members of their own house to prison, and impeaching members of the upper house for words used in debate, which were far from being immoderate ; imprisoning those who presented petitions, if their petitions did not please them; usurping at once both the judicial and legislative powers in matters relating to the Church.^ Add to this, that they insulted the King with the most unreasonable demands, which it was impossible that he should grant, without virtually abdicating his regal power. Troops were raised

* See Hallam's Constitutional History of England, vol. IL p. 194.

C

H THE COUNCIL.

without his consent ; his revenues were taken from him; his fortresses occupied by his subjects, and himself denied admittance. At the same time the most absurd rumours and detestable calumnies were circulated by the puritan or dissenting faction, in order to inflame the popular mind. Reports were spread that the King had raised an army of papists, with which he intended to drive out the Parliament, and restore popery; that large numbers of papists were concealed in the vaults and cellars of London, ready to issue forth and massacre the citizens ; and that the King had given orders to blow up the Thames with gunpowder, and destroy the whole city by inundation. Then again, when the King had been forced from London, it was industriously circulated, and currently believed, even till the beginning of the war, that he was in the hands of a party of desperate malignants, who carried him |

about with them against his will, and that the i

troops levied by the Parliament were intended to rescue the King from his bondage. Many ignorant persons actually joined the rebels under this notion ; so utterly unable are the mass of the people to judge of mere matters of fact, so open to the most gross delusion. Such were the current reports circulated amongst the more credulous of the citizens of London, and soon spread amongst the inhabitants of the country. At the same time the '{ press, freed from all restraint, teemed with the most atrocious libels and falsehoods. The vilest calumnies were published by the Puritans against the Church. The clergy, who dared to uphold the King's authority, were sequestered and deprived, and a set of ranting demagogues appointed in their place; and even judges for the same reason were removed from the bench.

But when the King was forced by the violence of his enemies to adopt measures of self-defence^ and had determined to vindicate his cause and resist further aggression, the eyes of the more moderate part of the nation began to be opened. In truth, the violence of the factious leaders in part defeated its own object ; for their unreasonable demands and increasing insolence made it manifest^ even to their own adherents, that they had resolved to push things to extremities ; and many who had hitherto voted in opposition to the court, and joined in the factious cry, now that they perceived that it was not a mere question of the extent of prerogative, but of the very existence of monarchy, chose the King's part in the contest which they had contributed to bring about Thus it is that when moderate and conscientious men are betrayed into acquiescence in unjustifiable measures, even though it be to obtain a just object, instead of the means being sanctified by the end, the end is desecrated by the means employed to gain it ; and they who have contributed to set the mass in motion, intending to roll it to a certain point, are unable to stop its impetus when they most desire; and find to their mortification that they have been all the while the tools of men less honest than themselves. Nothing contributed more to disabuse the public mind of its delusion than the manifestoes of the King, penned by the noble Falkland : and it is worth observing, that whereas the so-called parliamentary party circulated their own statements, and carefully suppressed those on the other side wherever they were able to do so ; the King, on the other hand, dispersed his own and those of the hostile party together, desirous that all men might judge between them, and confident in the justice of his cause.

The war which was about to conmience has been commonly called a war between the King and Parliament. How utterly erroneous is this designa* tion, will be apparent from one or two facts. It is well known that the revolutionary party were always in a minority even in the House of Commons, and prevailed only by the aid of mob-violence and intimidation. When the war broke out in 164-2, the members of the House of Lords who resorted to the King far exceeded those who remained behind ; and' afterwards, the Parliament which assembled around the King at Oxford equalled the number, of those who sat at Westminster. How, then, could it be rightly called a war between the King and Parliament, when two estates of the realm at least were clearly on the King's side? It was nothing more or less than a rebellion fomented by a knot of factious demagogues, effected by mob-violence, and submitted to by the supine indifference and laziness of the better disposed. Perhaps no one thing more contributed to it than the negligent attendance of the loyal members in their places in parliament^ which enabled the revolutionists, though a minority, to choose their own time for bringing forward the most objectionable measures. It were well if after-ages would tak^ example by these ascertained facts.

The following passage from Clarendon is worth the consideration of members of parliament in all ages : ** I know not," he says, '^ how those men have already answered it to their consciences, or how they will answer it to Him who can discern their consciences, who having assumed their country's trust, and, it may be, with great earnestness laboured to acquire that trust (u e. a seat in parliament), by their supine laziness, negligence, and absence, were the first inlets to those inundations which so contributed to those licenses which overwhelmed us. F'ar by this means a handful ofmen^ much inferior in the beginningy came to give laws to the major part'*

At length, on the 25th day of August, 1642, the news was spread through the country that the King had set up the royal standard at Nottingham. The day on which the civil war thus openly commenced was ushered in with a tremendous storm of wind and rain ; and the King's standard was no sooner raised than it was blown down again by the violence

c2 of the tempest, — an omen which was not without its influence on the minds of the royalists. In truth, the King commenced the struggle under no very favourable auspices. He was accompanied by not more than a few hundred troops, unprovided with arms or military stores. The garrisons and depots^ were in the hands of rebels. They had also in the neighbourhood of the King an army of six thousand men, under the command of Essex, with which they might at once have crushed the royal cause ; but from some unexplained reason, — whether they underrated the power of the King, and expected that his small force would melt away instead of augmenting, or whether Essex and other leaders dreaded the course which seemed inevitable, and shrank from the enormous sin of actual rebellion against their lawful sovereign, — whatever might have been the cause, it is certain that they neglected to avail themselves of the power with which they then seemed able to have put an end to the contest at a blow.

Meanwhile the King's forces daily increased in number. The loyalty of the nation was roused, and the spirit of ancient chivalry was again kindled. Many who had shrunk supinely from public affairs when their exertions might have saved the country, now, partly from shame, partly from alarm, came forward on the side of their lawful ruler. The nobility and gentry of the land flocked to him from all quarters^ bringing with them armed attendants ;

and they who were unable to answer the summons in person sent in stores and contributions. The Universities melted down their plate to be coined into money ; and the Queen sold her jewels, and purchased arms and ammunition for the troops.

The two parties being thus fairly engaged in open hostility sent fprth their manifestoes to every town and county ; requisitions were despatched by the King to all his loyal subjects to furnish arms and money, and counter- requisitions were issued by the Parliament

On the 17th of October, the following order from the King was forwarded to the magistrates of the city of Lichfield.

'** Charles R.

" Trusty and Wel-beloved :

" We greet you well. Our will and pleasure is, that, you cause all the inhabitants of your citty of Leitchfield immediately to bring into the townehall there all their armes, muskets, pykes, corsletts, swords, or weapons of any sort; and whosoever 9hall fayle of bringing in his said arms, or endeavour to conceale the same, shall be taken as a person disaffected to the publique peace.

'< And our pleasure is, that the said armes bee forthwith sent unto us, to our royal standard. And further, we require you to summon all the substantial inhabitants of that our citty, and in our name move them, that they severally contribute in such proportion to us in money or plate for the present supply of our extraordinary visible necessity, as wee may thereby judge of the sense they have of our condition ; and of this service we shall expect a particular account, as well of those who refuse as of those who do supply us, by Wednesday, 8 of the clock in the morning, at our royal standard. And hereof you must not fayle, as you tender our displeasure.

*^ Given att our Court att Wolverhampton this 17th day of October, 1642."2

Lichfield, like every other town in the kingdom, was at this time divided into factions, and was by no means disposed to comply unanimously with the King's command. The Earl of Essex was lord of the manor, and by his influence and connexions in the town had contributed greatly to its disaffection ; — ^interfering most unconstitutionally in their elections, and, for his own purposes, fomenting a dis* contented rebellious spirit, and setting parties against each other. The vicinity of the Close, though not without its beneficial influence, yet had the effect of raising a party jealous of the clergy, and always ready to oppose them. It generally happens, that in cathedral towns there is a dissatisfied party of men jealous of the influence of the dignified clergy, which accounts for the fact, that you will often find

^ See Appeadix, note A.

a viotent spirit of dissent under the very walls of the cathedral.

Upon the receipt of the King's message, a public meeting was held in the town-hall, to deliberate upon this important business. There were zealous men on both sides, eager partisans of the King or Parliament. The principal leader of the royalists was Sir Richard Dyott, steward and recorder of the city, and a person of considerable property and high respectability. Several times he had represented the city of Lichfield in parliament ; but at the last general election, two members of different politics had been sent. Some years before, he had been selected by the King on the occasion of a special commission at Carlisle and Appleby, and appointed one of the commissioners, at which time }ie had received the honour of knighthood. Another stanch supporter of the Church and King was Mr. Henry Mott, one of the bailiffs for that year. But a majority of the corporation were of the contrary faction. Thomas Minors, a mercer, the sheriff for the city, was a man of sour puritanical principles, a bitter enemy to the Church, though withal a man of character and integrity. Sampson Burnes, one of the magistrates, was also a strong partisan of parliament, though in the main a good churchman, which was somewhat remarkable. Michael Noble, the town-clerk, and Richard Drafgate, steward of Lord Essex, were leaders on the parliament* ary side.

History has not preserved the speeches and arguments of these several persons. The point was hotly contested between them; the one party strongly urging that the King's commands should be immediately complied with, the other as stoutly refusing.

At the beginning of civil troubles there will generally be found a large and influential body of moderate men, who though, no doubt, sometimes sincere, yet are for the most part a selfish and interested race, consulting only how they may preserve their property, and best serve their own interests. Such a man was Mr. Elisha Froggat, commonly called, from his place of residence, Froggat of Froglane, reputed to be a man of considerable wealth, and consequently of some influence in the city. This man was a kind of amphibious animal, — neither fish nor flesh, neither royalist nor roundhead. He was fond of calling himself a moderate man ; but, like many others, he mistook the nature of moderation. Moderation consists, not in wavering between parties, and being a true friend of none; but in choosing one side conscientiously and honestly, and maintaining it zealously though dispassionately. Of this, Mr. Froggat, like most other moderate men, had no notion. His object was, if possible, to keep in with both parties. He was, besides, an inveterate croaker and coward, — a prophet of evil ; in ordinary times, a harmless inofiensive person, but at a period when energy and zed

CH« II.] THE COUNCIL. 2S

were required, a sad marplot and mischief-maker. This gentleman delivered his sentence to the following effect : He had a great regard for the King •—provided he governed according to law. The Parliament he respected highly — so long as they confined themselves to their just rights. The use of government was the protection of the public peace, and of the lives and properties of individuals. [So far Mr. Froggat was a true conservative.] When government no longer protected them, they must provide in the best manner they were able for their own safety. Why should they give up their arms to the King, when they most wanted them to defend themselves? At the same time, certainly, if the King got the better of his adversaries, he would probably remember those who refused to render him assistance. His counsel, therefore, was, that they should send a humble address to his Majesty, expressive of their high regard for his person, as in duty bound, and so forth; but to represent respectfully, that they required their arms for the defence of their own city.

Mr. Froggat's motion was received by a great number of those present as a happy expedient to extricate themselves from their difficulties, and was eventually carried, the other parties being unable to coalesce with each other. Thus it is that, in the beginning of civil strife, moderate men of this description, being generally the most numerous, have great influence, and are able to decide between the adverse parties ; but as troubles advance, the neutrals are forced to amalgamate with one party or the other, or are ground in pieces, and crushed, like the grain between the upper and nether millstone. In some of the counties neutral societies were formed when the war broke out^ consisting of men who proposed to join neither party, but to wait the result ; but the Parliament at once voted these societies illegal, in the spirit of the law of the Athenian democracy, which inflicted the punishment of death on those who remained neutral in civil strife. In truth, at such times it is the duty of every man to maintain the cause which he believes to be just; nor is it possible for men long to remain neutral, however much they may wish it.

The royalists, out-voted in the town-haU, were not disposed to let the matter drop, but adjourned in a body to the house of Sir R. Dyott, where they were joined by a large body of friends from the Close. '< What! gentlemen,'* said Sir Richard, standing on the raised floor at the end of his spacious hall, and holding in his hand the King's proclamation, as with high indignation he addressed the royalists who thronged around him, '< shall it be said that the ancient and loyal city of Lichfield has refused to send assistance to her King ip the time of his need ? Shall our children after us learn that their fathers were rebels and traitors against their Sovereign ? Shall we submit to be bearded by the seditious varlets and sneaking knaves in yonder town-hall? Are there none here who will enlist themselves in the King's service, and carry their arms with them to his standard ?*'

" I will for one I" said a clear and resolute voice, which proceeded from the same young man who, as we have seen, some time previously distinguished himself by expelling the fanatic intruder from the Cathedral.

No sooner was the ice broken, than a number of other voices were raised in simultaneous consent, and the spirit of enthusiasm was quickly kindled, and spread from one to another.

" Well done, Henry Archbold, and all of you," said Sir Richard; '<I knew we had stout hearts and loyal spirits amongst us, who would not suffer our city to be disgraced by these roundhead knaves and rebels. Let us at once enroll our names as volunteers for the King ; and let us begin by giving three cheers for his success:** which was accordingly done with hearty good-will by the brave royalists.

At this moment, Dr. Amway, who stood by the side of Sir Richard, advanced to address the meeting. " Gentlemen and fellow-townsmen," said he, "I am rejoiced to see so many present who are animated with a zeal to serve their King and country. It is a solemn duty which we owe to God to stand forth on the side of our Sovereign, now that he calls on us for aid. Let all of us contribute what we are able to maintain the cause of truth and justice. Let the rich contribute of their wealth, the wise and experienced their counsel ; let the young and strong gladly draw their swords in the good cause. For myself, seventy winters have rendered me unable to render my personal service to my King, which otherwise I should not have scrupled to offer ; but I here declare that it is my intention to fit out and maintain at my own expense eight troopers, and send them immediately to join the royal standard."

A loud burst of applause followed this announcement, and the generous loyalty of the worthy canon spread itself through the meeting ; many who were present at once enrolled themselves as volunteers ; others, who were aged or infirm, commissioned deputies in their stead, whom they equipped with horses and arms at their own expense. Precentor Hegins declared that he would go as chaplain to the regiment. Forty gallant troopers were mounted within a few days, and the command of the troop was given to Captain Anthony Dyott, the eldest son of Sir Richard ; the worthy knight himself having been with difficulty persuaded, as the head of a large family, to remain at home ; and it was thought that he might serve the King's cause best at Lichfield, where his influence was of importance.

CHAPTER III. ®s

Sc)i nation.

Iglllil

nr iQvc

Kbblb.

A FEW furlongs from the Close of Lichfield, on the east side, is an ancient church dedicated to St. Chad. It was on this spot, according to a legend of former days, that the holy niaji led an eremitical life, dwelling in a cell beside a bubbling spring. A stone is still seen at the bottom of the spring on which it is

28 THE SEPARATION.

stated that he was wont to kneel at his prayers; more probably it was placed there for the converts who were baptised. The saint himself is said to have been supported by the milk of a wild doe, white as snow, which resorted to his cell; and many holy men either dwelt with him or sought his company. ' His principal companion was Ovin, who had been chief minister to Princess Ethelreda ; but determining' to quit the temptations of the world, he came, with his axe in hand, to dwell with St. Chad, and exercise himself in the laborious occupar tion of wood-cutting.

One day these holy men were disturbed in their quiet seclusion by the sound of hound and horn, which rang through the forest glades ; and presently St Chad's white doe rushed panting into the cell of the saint, seeking protection from its pursuers. She was soon followed by a gallant train of hunters, at the head of which were Wulfade and Rufine, sons of Wulfere the king of Mercia. The young princes were struck with reverential awe at the dignified aspect of the saint ; and having thus providentially formed an acquaintance with St. Chad, were afterwards converted by him from heathenism, and baptised into the Christian Church. The King, their father, having learned their conversion from an evil counsellor named Werebod, put them both to death ; but afterwards, filled with remorse, himself sought the cell of the holy man by the counsel of Queen Ermenilda, embraced the faith of Christ, and ba-

CH. III.] THE SEPARATION. 29

nished all idolatrous worship from his dominions. Afterwards St. Chad was appointed bishop of Lichfield ; and the fame of his piety, which he had acquired as a hermit, deservedly accompanied him as bishop.

He built for himself a small house and oratory on the spot where his cell had formerly stood ; and thither he retired often to pray in private, and there at last he died.

On the approach of his death, we are told, flights of angels sang hymns over his cell ; and after his death many miracles are said to have been performed. A lunatic, who by accident had escaped from his keepers, rested a night upon his tomb, and in the morning was restored to his senses. The very dust taken from his grave was coi^idered a certain remedy for all disorders incident to man and beast. He was canonised ; a shrine erected to the honour of his memory was visited by innumerable devotees, and Lichfield began to increase and flourish.

Such is the legend of St Chad. We read it in the present day with a smile of incredulity; but divested of its marvels, it preserves to us the memory of a good, and holy, and able man, who exercised a beneficial influence over the barbarous age in which he lived, and baptised many converts, both high and low, into the faith of Christ. By him the Mercian heathens were brought to a knowledge of Christ. He was, in short, a Christian missionary,

D 2 so THE SEPARATION.

one of the second founders of the English Churchy after the British Christians had been well-nigh exterminated by their heathen conquerors, and before the Popish system had spread its noxious branches. Probably our own forefathers owe their conversion to his zeal. We should regard him, therefore, as one, the influence of whose faith and holy deeds> has descended even to our own days, and whose name deserves to be had in everlasting remembrance.

The place where St. Chad fixed his residence was called Chadstowe, or the station of St. Chad ; and the parish has since received the abbreviated name of Stowe, or St. Chad's. The remains of the saint's habitation have been preserved until very recently. ^ " 1 have long ago," says Dr. Stukeley, writing in 1756, " taken a drawing of St Chad's habitation by the neighbouring church of Lichfield, where Ovin heard the angels at St. Chad's obit. There is his well and a little monastery. The habitation joins to the north-west angle of the church."

At the time of our narrative, the little monastery,- after having been suppressed and dilapidated at the Reformation, had been repaired by the clergyman of the place, and converted into his parochial residence.

Thus the same spot had bom witness to many changes of the Church : it had been the slaughterplace of the first Christians, then the cell of the

CH. III.] THB SEPARATION. 81

anchorite, or the baptistry of the missionary ; afterwards the site of the monastery ; and now the quiet residence of the Protestant clergyman.

Our story now introduces us to the inmates of this peaceful dwelling. It was in the month of October, — one of those bright and calm evenings which mark the close of summer, and gild the changing foliage with every varied hue before it is rudely scattered by the equinoctial gale, — when Mr. Morley, the vicar of Lichfield, having returned home from his parochial labours, was seated in his library with his only daughter, watching the glorious sun as it set beneath the western horizon, throwing the elegant spires of the Cathedral into bold relief against the illumined sky. Catharine Morley was one of those soft and gentle beings who are formed for domestic love and peace ; but, at the same time, she was not without strength of character, — a strength arising more from religious faith than natural temperament, — which might enable her to endure affliction more nobly than those of hardier mould. At the present time her bright eyes were dimmed with tears, and a sigh struggled in her breast; but she strove to conceal her feel-* ings, lest they should increase her father's distress* The hearts of both were sorrowful and anxious.