"[1]
This unexpected escape drew from the parliament threats of vengeance
against all persons who should presume to harbour the royal fugitive; but
in the course of three days the intelligence arrived, that he was again
a prisoner in the custody of Colonel Hammond, who had very recently been
appointed governor of the Isle of Wight. The king, accompanied by Legge,
groom of the chamber, had on the evening of his departure descended the
back stairs into the garden, and repaired to a spot where Berkeley and
Ashburnham waited[b] his arrival. The night was dark and stormy, which
facilitated their escape; but, when they had crossed the river at Thames
Ditton, they lost their way, and it was daybreak before they reached
Sutton, where they mounted their horses. The unfortunate
[Footnote 1: See Ashburnham's letter to the speaker on Nov. 26, p. 2; his
memoir, 101-112; Berkeley, 373-375; Journals, ix. 520; Rush. vii. 871;
Clarendon, iii. 77; Mem. of Hamiltons, 324; Whitelock, 278. That a letter
from Cromwell was received or read by the king, is certain (see Journals,
x. 411; Berkeley, 377); that it was written for the purpose of inducing him
to escape, and thus fall into the hands of the Levellers, is a gratuitous
surmise of Cromwell's enemies.
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