“What news?” I cried, for I saw that he had news. The people crowded round him to hear his answer. He stayed on the threshold, and raised his hat.
“God save the King!” he cried. “His Majesty raised his flag at Nottingham against his enemies the day before yesterday. God save the King!”
Now, there were some that echoed Philip Lisle’s cry heartily. But there were others who said nothing and looked very grave, while Parson Drumbleforth shook his head sadly, saying that the kingdom which is divided against itself shall not stand. And thus the red shadow of war suddenly loomed over all our merrymaking.
XIII
Of Philip Lisle’s Call to Arms
I think there was little more dancing amongst us upon that evening, for no one seemed to have much heart left for merrymaking after hearing Philip Lisle’s news. Certainly the country had not been so peaceful during the past few years as to make us feel that we were suddenly thrown out of a state of security into a condition of danger. No man, I suppose, had thought that the difference ’twixt King and Commons could have other ending than this. For so many years had the struggle gone on and always with so much increase of bitterness on either side that nothing but the shedding of blood could bring peace to us again. And yet civil war is a terrible and a fearful thing, for it is, as I think, a setting of brother against brother and father against son. Now, I think naught of one nation going to war with another, for that seems natural and is only to be looked for, seeing that human nature is what it is. Indeed, to fight with Frenchmen or Spaniards seems to be one of the chief duties of a true Englishman who loves his country. But for Englishmen to fight with Englishmen, that, indeed, is vastly out of place and ought never to be.
The assembly broke up into knots and fell to discussing the situation. Parson Drumbleforth, whose face had grown very anxious when he heard the news, drew near to Philip Lisle and began to question him. A group of others stood round us, hearkening to what was said.
“The King, you say, sir, hath raised his standard at Nottingham?” said Parson Drumbleforth.
“He hath, your reverence. On the 22nd of August he raised it, and is now gathering round him all that are loyal to his Majesty.”
“Hath the King much following, sir?”
“He hath the majority of the Lords, sir, and as for the Commons, there are large numbers of the members of that House who will serve his Majesty.”
“But the country, sir,” said Parson Drumbleforth, “how will the country go?”
“If the people do their duty, sir, will they not serve their King, to whom they owe allegiance?”
Parson Drumbleforth shook his head at that and said that these were sad days.
“For mark you, Master Lisle,” continued he, “I am a Royalist to my last breath and to the last throb of my heart, for so I am commanded by my conscience and my reason. And yet I do think that in this matter his Majesty hath not been well advised and will ultimately suffer. I agree not with them who clamour for the right of the people. I had rather be ruled by a tyrant than by Demos, for your tyrant is but one man, but Demos is a beast of many heads and dispositions. Nevertheless, it had been well, I think, to humour the popular mind somewhat in this case. For I fear me, Master Lisle, that if it come to a case of endurance ’twixt the throne and the people, the throne will come badly out of it.”
But Philip Lisle shook his head at that, and seemed to regard Parson Drumbleforth as a fainthearted Royalist at the best.
“We have taken to the sword,” said Philip Lisle, “and by the sword we shall put down this bad feeling towards the monarchy. What, are those who are ruled to say how they shall be ruled? It used to be said that power came from God, but according to these new teachers it cometh from the people.”
“Alas!” said Parson Drumbleforth, “there are many false teachers abroad, certainly. But, oh, sirs, it is a terrible matter, this civil war, and I would that we could see the end of it. For mind you, Master Lisle, these disaffected men will fight, ay, to the death. I hear they are smarting grievously under a sense of wrong, and such men will give and take many a hard blow ere the affair be settled.”
“The King hath his army,” said Philip Lisle.
“If the King hath the people against him, his army will stand him in little stead, sir,” said an old gentleman, Master Geoffrey Oldthwaite, who had listened attentively to the conversation between Philip Lisle and the Vicar. “Whether his Majesty know it or not, or whether or not they that advise him know it, there is a strong feeling against the King all through the land. For mark you, sir—I speak freely—we Englishmen, as you should know, being one yourself, do like that our liberties should be preserved and honoured, we being a free people and of a proud nature. Now, there are many who do not consider that the King hath conserved the liberties of the people. See what vexatious matters have come upon us in this reign. Hath his Majesty ever been at one with the members whom we send to represent us in Parliament? Have there not been disputes concerning tonnage and poundage, ship-money, and impropriations? We have also heard, sir, of the Star Chamber and of the sentences upon Masters Prynne and Bastwick, and now the King hath endeavoured to seize five representatives of the people
