[1] At the same time, the friends of the commonwealth resolved
to oppose Lambert, once the idol of the soldiery, to Monk. Lambert, indeed,
was a prisoner in the Tower, confined by order of the council, because he
had refused to give security for his peaceable behaviour; but, with the aid
of a rope, he descended[a] from the window of his bed-chamber, was received
by eight watermen in a barge, and found a secure asylum in the city. The
citizens, however, were too loyal to listen to the suggestions of the
party; he left his concealment, hastened[b] into Warwickshire, solicited,
but in vain, the co-operation of Ludlow, collected from the discontented
regiments six troops of horse and some companies of foot, and expected in a
few days to see himself at the head of a formidable force. But Ingoldsby,
who, of a regicide, was become a royalist, met him[c] near Daventry with
an equal number; a troop of Lambert's men under the command of the younger
Hazlerig, passed over to his opponents; and the others, when he gave the
word to charge, pointed their pistols to the ground. The unfortunate
commander immediately turned and fled; Ingoldsby followed; the ploughed
land gave the advantage to the stronger horse; the fugitive was overtaken,
and, after an ineffectual effort to awaken the pity of his former comrade,
submitted to his fate.
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