turned them against the town. Having thus reached the upper town, they quickly let down the drawbridge, and passed into the lower, where the cavalry, now admitted, scoured the streets. Six hundred of the enemy were taken; but those that escaped, having fled to the upper town, from which the parliamentary troops had passed, drew up the bridge, and showered down grenadoes and hot slug, that set the division they had left in flames, from which only two or three houses were rescued. While that quarter was in one conflagration, Major Cowel stood with his guard in the street to prevent a sally. The garrison in the second town still held out, and it was at first resolved to carry it by storm; but the assailants so far altered their plan, as to content themselves with a feint to keep the troops in constant alarm. A message was then sent by Fairfax to the governor, informing him that he compassionated the innocent, who must suffer on the occasion, and that he would allow the women to leave the town by a certain hour; but the governor's lady, laying her hand on her breast, which she said gave suck to prince Charles, desired the messenger to tell the general they would hold out to the last; yet when the hot slugs fired the houses, this lady, with the rest of her sex, gladly accepted of the proffered kindness; and, as the townsmen felt amazed, the governor surrendered on terms. A thousand officers and soldiers, besides gentlemen and clergy, marched out prisoners, while forty-four barrels of powder, as many pieces of ordnance, four hundred weight of match,

and fifteen hundred stand of arms, fell into the hands of the victors. Goods too, of great value, which had been deposited here for security, were seized by the commissioners of the parliament, and sold; from the price of which three shillings were allowed to every soldier for his services in storming the place.

The capture of this town was of immense consequence; for, as the distance between it and Lime, a town in the possession of the parliament, was only about twenty miles, a line of garrisons connected them; and all communication with Devon and Cornwall, the counties most devoted to the royal cause, and the rest of the kingdom, was cut off. It was debated by the victors whether they should pursue Goring or take in Bath. The council generally recommended the first; but Fairfax, however disposed to follow their advice, latterly resolved upon the last, as the capture of that place might straiten Bristol, and consequently facilitate his operations upon that most important garrison. Before his approach, however, Bath was reduced by Col. Rich, under whom, in the affair, a party of dragoons performed a remarkable exploit. Having been drawn up near the bridge, they, quitting their horses, crept on their bellies towards the gate, and having seized on the small ends of the muskets presented against their party through the loop holes of the gate, called out to the guard to take quarter. The astonished guard instantly fled, leaving their muskets behind them, and thus gave possession of the bridge to the assailants, who

forced the gate, and were ready to enter, when the town was surrendered on terms. A hundred and forty prisoners, six pieces of ordnance, &c. were taken on the occasion. Rupert had advanced with 1500 to the relief of that town, but finding that he was too late, he retreated.

Fairfax, having received intelligence of the capture of Bath, directed himself to Sherborn; but as the clubmen rose in great numbers in Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset, Cromwell was dispatched against them. The majority he persuaded to return peaceably to their own dwellings; but as a part fired upon a detachment of horse, and killed some which he sent, under a lieutenant, to inquire into the cause of their warlike proceedings, he found it necessary to attack them, and about 200 were wounded. These persons being taken prisoners, were, after an examination regarding their instigators, dismissed on their promise not to engage in similar adventures. Their standard had a motto which, though conceived in a sorry jingle, would have justly moved the compassion of every generous mind, had it really depicted the feelings with which they resorted to arms.

"If you offer to plunder our cattle,
Be assured we will give you battle."

Having dispersed these clubmen, Cromwell joined Fairfax at Sherborn, and the place was quickly reduced. Four hundred prisoners were taken there, amongst whom were several of quality; and

the soldiers, in the confusion attending the capture, could not be prevented from plunder, which they disposed of to the country people on the following market day.

1645.

After this Fairfax resolved to reduce Bristol; but Bristol surrendered by the capture of that town was expected by him to Rupert, be a matter of uncommon difficulty, while the ad- Sept. 10, verse party flattered themselves that it would weary out the assailants in fruitless efforts, till new forces were elsewhere levied. The garrison was large and well provided; but if we may judge from the accounts transmitted, the fortifications were not calculated for a very vigorous defence. It is probable however that, had such an individual as Blake commanded the place, it might have held out longer; but the impetuosity of Rupert was not accompanied with that inexhaustible resolution which qualifies a man for bearing up against a continued disastrous contest. The situation of Charles elsewhere, too, was at this time to all appearance so desperate, that it seemed better, if possible, to save the garrison, in order that it might take the field. Massey had shut up Goring in the west; and the Scots, who had advanced to Glocester, intercepted the king's approach to Bristol. Such was the posture of affairs, when the town was surrendered; but the Scots unexpectedly retreated, and then the place might, if it could have been preserved, have afforded a refuge to the king's harassed troops. This, however, which afforded the basis of the outcry against Rupert, by his own

party, could not have been foreseen; and before he did yield, the lines were forced, a party of his troops cut off from the garrison, and the town fired in several places. But in a declining cause, every act is condemned by its partisans, and it was the fate of Rupert, who, with all his faults, was the best officer Charles had, to incur the personal resentment, on many accounts, of the very individual whom the king desired to record the events of his reign.

After the fall of Bristol, the garrisons in the west which intercepted the communication with London, were beset. Rainsborough was dispatched against Berkley-castle, the only considerable place left for the king in Gloucestershire, and which was already blocked up, while Cromwell was sent against the Devises. The Devises was a place of great strength. The castle, raised on a huge mount of earth, had lately been fortified by the order of the governor, Sir Charles Loyd, accounted a good engineer, with several new works cut out of the main earth, so strong that no cannon could pierce them, and so situated as to command each other, while most of the approaches were so palisaded and stoccadoed, as seemingly to obstruct a storming. But Cromwell was not to be daunted. Before attempting the place, however, he summoned the governor to surrender, and intimated that, if he were otherwise resolved, his wife and the other females were at liberty to pass from the town. The answer was "win and wear it ;" but when all was prepared for a storm, the governor surrendered