At the same
time his agents were busy in procuring loyal and affectionate addresses
from the army, the counties, and the principal towns; and these, published
in the newspapers, served to overawe his enemies, and to display the
stability of his power.[1]
The apprehension of invasion, to which Cromwell so frequently alluded, was
not entirely groundless. On the return of the winter, the royalists had
reminded Charles of his promise in the preceding spring; the king of Spain
furnished an aid of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns; the harbour of
Ostend was selected for the place of embarkation; and arms, ammunition, and
transports were purchased in Holland. The prince himself, mastering for a
while his habits of indolence and dissipation, appeared eager to redeem his
pledge;[2] but the more prudent of his advisers conjured him not to risk
his life on general assurances of support; and the marquess of Ormond, with
the most chivalrous loyalty, offered to ascertain on the spot the real
objects and resources of his adherents. Pretending to proceed on a mission
to the court of the duke of Neuburg, that nobleman, accompanied by O'Neil,
crossed the sea,[a] landed in disguise at Westmarch on the coast of Essex,
and
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, vi.
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