June 21.]
new lines of communication to be demolished; they sent a month's pay to
the forces under Fairfax, with a vote declaring them the army of the
parliament, and appointed commissioners to treat with commissioners from
the military council, as if the latter were the representatives of an
independent and coequal authority.[1]
This struggle and its consequences were viewed with intense interest by the
royalists, who persuaded themselves that it must end in the restoration
of the king; but the opportunities furnished by the passions of his
adversaries were as often forfeited by the irresolution of the monarch.
While both factions courted his assistance, he, partly through distrust of
their sincerity, partly through the hope of more favourable terms,
balanced between their offers, till the contest was decided without his
interference. Ever since his departure from Holmby, though he was still a
captive, and compelled to follow the marches of the army, the officers had
treated him with the most profound respect; attention was paid to all his
wants; the general interposed to procure for him occasionally the company
of his younger children; his servants, Legge, Berkeley, and Ashburnham,
though known to have come from France with a message from the queen,[2]
were permitted to attend him; and free access was
[Footnote 1: Rushworth, vi.
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