[1]
The object of these votes could not be concealed from the Independents.
They resolved to oppose their adversaries with their own weapons, and to
intimidate those whom they were unable to convince. Suddenly, at their
secret instigation, the army, rising from its cantonments in the
neighbourhood of Nottingham, approached the metropolis, and selected
quarters in the county of Essex. This movement was regarded and resented
as a menace: Fairfax, to excuse it, alleged the difficulty of procuring
subsistence in an exhausted and impoverished district.[a] At Saffron Walden
he was met by the parliamentary commissioners, who called a council of
officers, and submitted to their consideration proposals for the service of
[Footnote 1: Journals of Commons, iv., Feb. 15, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27;
March 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. On several divisions, the Presbyterian majority was
reduced to ten; on one, to two members. They laboured to exclude Fairfax,
but were left in a minority of 147 to 159.--Ibid. March 5. "Some," says
Whitelock, "wondered it should admit debate and question" (p. 239).]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1647. March 21.]
Ireland; but instead of a positive answer, inquiries were made and
explanations demanded, while a remonstrance against the treatment of the
army was circulated for signatures through the several regiments.
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