]
The sincerity of this declaration was soon put to the test. The loyal party
in the city, especially among the moderate Presbyterians, had long been on
the increase. At the last elections the common council had been filled with
members of a new character; and the declaration which they issued demanded
"a full and free parliament, according to the ancient and fundamental laws
of the land." Of the assembly sitting in Westminster, as it contained no
representative from the city, no notice was taken; the taxes which it
had imposed were not paid; and the common council, as if it had been
an independent authority, received and answered addresses from the
neighbouring counties. This contumacy, in the opinion of the parliamentary
leaders, called for prompt and exemplary punishment; and it was artfully
suggested that, by making Monk the minister of their vengeance, they
would open a wide breach between him and their opponents. Two hours after
midnight he received[a] an order to march into the city, to arrest eleven
of the principal citizens, to remove the posts and chains which had lately
been fixed in the streets, and to destroy the portcullises and the gates.
After a moment's hesitation, he resolved to obey, rather than hazard the
loss of his commission.
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