Instead of obeying, he called together the council of officers, who
resolved, in answer to a petition to them from the agitators, that the
votes of parliament were not satisfactory; that the arrears of payment for
eight weeks formed but a portion of their just claim, and that no security
had been given for the discharge of the remainder; that the bill of
indemnity was a delusion, as long as the vote declaring them enemies of
the state was unrepealed; and that, instead of suffering themselves to be
disbanded in their separate quarters, the whole army ought to be drawn
together, that they might consult in common for the security of their
persons and the reparation of their characters. Orders were despatched at
the same time to secure the park of artillery at Oxford, and to seize the
sum of four thousand pounds destined for the garrison in that city. These
measures opened the eyes of their adversaries. A proposal was made in
parliament to expunge the offensive declaration from the journals, a more
comprehensive bill of indemnity was introduced, and other
[Footnote 1: Journals, ix. 164. Commons', Ap. 27, 30. Whitelock, 245, 246.
Rushworth, vi. 447, 451, 457, 469, 480, 485.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1647. May 21.]
[Sidenote b: A.D.
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