1645-1646 ] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 117 



surprising successes continually accruing to his enemies ; 

 for the battle fields of Edge-hill and of Naseby were 

 alone sufficiently disheartening to have paralysed 

 even a stouter heart ; yet he finds in addition that, to 

 the surrender of Bristol, he may soon have to add that 

 of the strong city of Chester. His immediate neces 

 sities, added to the increasing expenses of the long con 

 tinued war, were rapidly impoverishing not only his 

 nobles but the country. While his own and the public 

 distress thus gradually lessened every prospect of suc 

 cess, one last ray of hope seemed to present itself to the 

 unhappy monarch. There was still a chance of succour 

 from Ireland, the acceptance of which, however, was 

 fraught with many difficulties. The loyalty of the 

 Irish, it was quite evident, could only be ensured by 

 nothing short of conciliatory measures of a more than 

 ordinary nature, especially if desired to bring over 

 to his service ten thousand of his Irish subjects. 



The King had written from Liskeard, in August, 

 1644, to the enfeebled Marquis of Worcester, respecting 

 himself and his son, of u the value I have of you both,&quot; 

 assuring him, &quot; that if God bless me, I will not be 

 behindhand with either of you.&quot; 



The most ordinary delays pressed heavily on his Ma 

 jesty, whose nerves seem to have been completely un 

 strung by successive misfortunes and the pitiable state 

 of his entire kingdom. In June, 1645, he expressed 

 himself to the Earl of Glamorgan, &quot; I am glad to hear 

 that you are gone to Ireland;&quot; so keenly alive was he 

 to the importance of the mission on which he had en 

 gaged him, and in one short sentence expresses the sin 

 cere trust of his heart, when he says &quot; So that, by 

 the grace of God, I hope shortly to recover my late 

 loss with advantage, if such succours come to me from 

 that kingdom, which I have reason to expect, but the 



