It was in vain that they argued and entreated: Charles, with
his characteristic obstinacy,[a] retired to rest about midnight; and in a
short time Lieutenant-Colonel Cobbett arrived with a troop of horse and a
company of foot. Boreman refused to admit him into Carisbrook. But Rolfe
offered him aid at Newport; at five the king was awakened by a message that
he must prepare to depart; and about noon he was safely lodged in Hurst
Castle, situate on a solitary rock, and connected by a narrow causeway, two
miles in length, with the opposite coast of Hampshire.[1]
The same day the council of officers published a menacing declaration
against the House of Commons. It charged the majority with apostasy
from their former principles, and appealed from their authority to "the
extraordinary judgment of God and of all good people;" called on the
faithful members to protest against the past conduct of their colleagues,
and to place themselves under the protection of the army; and asserted that
since God had given to the officers the power, he had also made it their
duty, to
[Footnote 1: Rushworth, vii. 1344-1348, 1351. Herbert, 113, 124.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1648. Nov. 30.]
provide for the settlement of the kingdom and the punishment of the
guilty.
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