A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



City ; "* but the time to remove difficulties by 

 such means was past. 



In January 1642 Charles made his untoward 

 attempt to arrest ' the Five Members ' in the 

 House of Commons, and, alarmed by the menaces 

 of Parliament and people, the king and queen, 

 with their family, fled from London to Hampton 

 Court, where their arrival was so unexpected that 

 they and their three eldest children had to share 

 one room. 507 This ill-judged flight led to the 

 final breach between king and Parliament. It 

 meant practically the surrender of London, with 

 all its arsenals and stores, to the Parliamentary 

 party. Colonel Lumsden, who had commanded 

 the royal escort, realized the danger, rode on to 

 Kingston with his squadron, and took possession of 

 the magazine of arms in the town. Lord Digby 

 drove over from Hampton Court the next morn- 

 ing to thank him for what he had done, and to 

 suggest further measures. For this Lord Digby 

 was afterwards attainted of treason for 'levying 

 war,' and Lumsden was arrested by the Parlia- 

 mentary party and sent to the Tower. 608 



On 12 January 164.2 the king moved to Wind- 

 sor for ' greater security,' 509 and only returned to 

 the palace for one night, at the end of February, 

 when the queen was on her way abroad, until he 

 was brought back, five years later, as a prisoner. 610 



After the battle of Naseby, in 1645, Hampton 

 Court had become the property of the state, seals 

 were affixed to the doors of the state apartments, 

 and Sir Robert Hadow gave orders for the destruc- 

 tion of the religious emblems in the chapel. All 

 the pictures, the stained glass in the windows, and 

 the altar-rails, were pulled down and destroyed. 410 " 



Charles returned, as a prisoner, on 24 August 

 1647, and remained for about two months, re- 

 ceiving honourable and dignified treatment. 5 " He 

 dined in public in the 'Presence Chamber' as he 

 had done formerly, and any gentlemen who wished 

 to show their loyalty might attend and kiss his 

 hand. John Evelyn, the diarist, was among 

 them. 5 " The king's old servants and faithful fol- 

 lowers were allowed to confer with him ; Mr. 

 John Ashburnham and Sir John Berkeley, though 

 voted delinquents by Parliament, were permitted 

 to return and to be constantly with the king. 513 He 

 also had his own chaplains, and his two younger 

 children, who were then with the Duke of 

 Northumberland at Syon House, were brought over 

 to see their father, and sometimes to stay with him. 

 He also played at tennis and hunted in the parks, 514 



but the Parliamentary Commissioners were living 

 in the palace, and a guard of soldiers, under 

 a Parliamentary officer, Colonel Whalley, was kept 

 in attendance. 6 " The head quarters of the army 

 was at Putney, and Cromwell, with other superior 

 officers, came over to see the king. It was noticed 

 that Fairfax kissed his hand, but Cromwell and 

 his son-in-law, Ireton, though they expressed 

 themselves in a loyal manner, declined the 

 ceremony. 516 Charles's prospects really looked 

 brighter than they had done for some time previ- 

 ously ; Cromwell had long conferences with him 

 of a friendly nature, and he received Mrs. Crom- 

 well very graciously. 5 " One of the most interest- 

 ing of the historical scenes of which Hampton 

 Court has been the background is that of Charles 

 and Cromwell walking together, in friendly con- 

 verse, through the galleries or in the gardens of 

 the palace. 618 It is generally thought that Crom- 

 well at the time sincerely wished to come to terms 

 with the king, 619 but Charles's fatal love of intrigue, 

 and of what he considered 'king-craft,' entirely 

 destroyed any prospect of compromise, and the 

 Parliamentary officers gradually ceased to come to 

 Hampton Court. 6 " 



Charles understood the difference in his position, 

 and was warned that he was in danger of assassina- 

 tion while he remained in the palace. 6 " He 

 eventually withdrew the promise that he had 

 made to Colonel Whalley not to attempt to es- 

 cape. 5 " Ashburnham was dismissed, and the guards 

 were doubled, but in other ways the king was 

 allowed the same liberty as before, and his daugh- 

 ter Elizabeth came to stay with him in October. 5 " 

 She complained of the noise made by the two 

 sentinels stationed in the gallery into which her 

 bedchamber, as well as that of the king, opened, 

 perhaps in the hope that they might be removed ; 

 but Colonel Whalley only gave stricter orders to 

 the soldiers to move quietly, unless the king 'would 

 renew his engagement ' not to escape, but this 

 Charles refused to do. 5 " Ashburnham and Berke- 

 ley were chiefly concerned in arranging for the 

 king's escape, which took place on 1 1 November, 

 l647." 5 On the day before, Whalley had shown 

 him the letter from Cromwell, which has always 

 been quoted to prove that Cromwell did not wish 

 to prevent the king's escape, but meant to use it 

 against him." 6 From Colonel Whalley's official 

 narrative of the event read in the House of Com- 

 mons, it appears that after showing Charles the 

 letter Whalley withdrew, leaving the king to carry 



** S.P. Dot:. Chas. I, cccclxxvi, 29 ; 

 Civil War Tracts, B.M. ; cit. Law, op. 

 cit. ii, 127. 



607 C\mti.Acm,Hist. Rebellion, v, 142- 

 52 ; Whitelocke, Mem. 54; Gardiner, 

 Hi,t. Engl. 



K* Heath, Chron. Civil War, 27 ; 

 Clarendon, Hist. Rebellion. 



609 Disraeli, Cbas. I, ii, 333. 



510 S.P. Dom. Chas. I. cccclxxxix, 1 9. 



&1(la See Architecture, pp. 376-7. 



411 Whitelocke,MB>j,267;Hutch- 

 inson, Memoirs, 305 (ed. 1846) j Sir 

 Thomas Herbert, Memoirs of tht nun 

 last years of the reign of Chat. /, 47, 

 48 j Hiit. MSS. Com. Rif. vii, App. 



594, a list of plate 'for the service 

 of his Majesty at Hampton Court,' 

 23 Sept. 1647. 



61a Evelyn, Diary, 10 Oct. 1647. 



518 Clarendon, op. cit. v, 470; Heath, 

 Cbron. Civil Wars, 147. 



614 Whitelocke, op. cit. 267 ; Sir 

 Thomas Herbert, Memoirs, 49. 



"* Hiit. MSS. Com. Rep. in, App. ii, 

 394- 



516 Godwin, Hiit. Commonia. ii, 395 ; 

 Clarendon, //;;/. Rebellion, iii, 52, 67. 



u ' Herbert, Memoirs, 49. 



* 18 Law, op. cit. ii, 136. 



619 The army began to murmur at 

 the conciliatory attitude of the generals. 



352 



An impeachment was even threatened 

 against Cromwell ; Disraeli, Chas. I, ii, 

 497 ; Memoirs of Col. Hutchimon, 305. 



M Clarendon, Parl. Hist, iii, 778 ; 

 Ashburnham, Narrative, ii, 98. 



641 Lady Fanshatve't Memoirs, 66. 



SM ' Whalley's Narrative to the 

 Speaker,' House of Commons' jfourn. ; 

 Ashburnham, Narrative, ii, loo. 



Ellis, Orig. Letters (Ser. 2), iii, 328. 



5M Law, Hitt. Hampton Court Palace, 

 ii, 141-2. 



626 Ashburnham, Narrative, ii, III ; 

 Berkeley, Memoirs, ii, clxiv. 



686 Carlyle, Cromwell (ed. 1904), i, 

 285 ; Rushworth, Hist. Coll. vii, 871. 



