Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

CROMWELL'S NEGOTIATIONS 75
servants, the Commissioners especially, who in their
ignorance expressed great trouble of mind, until the
Lord Montague opened a letter his Majesty left upon
the table, directed to him, giving a hint of what
induced him to hasten thence in such a manner,
being for self-preservation, yet kindly acknowledging
their civility to his person all along, with his good
acceptance of their loyalty and service." 1
So Herbert tells what is really one of the most
dramatic episodes of the Rebellion tragedy. When
Charles was removed to Hampton Court from Oatlands,
the Independents were in a majority in the
House, and the power of the army, if " thinly veiled," 2
was practically supreme. The King, however he
might seem to have his state, was a prisoner, " and
one more stage had been passed on the road which
was to end in the enslavement of Parliament."
When Charles was at Hampton Court the headquarters
of the army were at Putney, a convenient
point from which both King and Parliament might
be controlled. Cromwell, it would appear, was hoping
to restore firm government through an alliance with
Charles. The position was complicated by the attitude
of the Scots Commissioners, who won from Parliament
the acceptance of the Presbyterian scheme produced
at Newcastle. Parliament was in confusion, and Cromwell
and Ireton were urging matters to a crisis, sub-
1 Cf. the pathetic account of these days in Lady Fanshawe's
Memoirs.
2 Gardiner, "Great CivilWar," iii.352.