of the gentlemen of the county, who, under a suspicion of their loyalty,
had been confined in that city by order of the council.[2]

At the first news of the royal march, the leaders at Westminster abandoned
themselves to despair. They believed that Cromwell had come to a private
understanding with the king; that the Scots would meet with no opposition
in their progress; and that the Cavaliers would rise simultaneously in
every part of the kingdom.[3] From these terrors they were relieved by
the arrival of despatches from the general, and by the indecision of the
royalists, who, unprepared for the event, had hitherto made no movement;
and with the

[Transcriber's Note: Footnote 1 not found in the text]

[Footnote 1: Leicester's Journal, iii. 117.
Balfour, iv. 314.]

[Footnote 2: Leicester's Journal, 113, 114. Whitelock, 502, 503. Clarendon,
iii. 402.]

[Footnote 3: Hutchinson, 336.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. August 16.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1651. August 22.]

revival of their hopes the council assumed a tone of defiance, which was
supported by measures the most active and energetic. The declaration of
Charles,[a] containing a general pardon to all his subjects, with the
exception of Cromwell, Bradshaw, and Cook, was burnt in London by the hands
of the hangman; and a counter proclamation was published,[b] pronouncing