Message from Thomas Fairfax

Master Peters Messuage from Sir Thomas Fairfax.

A Fter the Lord had appeared for our Army at Torrington, and had written his name in such visible characters before the faces of many, counsel was taken to pursue the Enemy into Cornwall, and the rather because the scattering of that body of Horse would after an especial manner promote our future designs, not only in order to Exceter, but also to our Eastern employment, I shall therefore give you an accompt, first of the steps we made into Cornwall; secondly, of the state of the Country; thirdly, the condition of the Enemy; fourthly of our own Army.

Upon our advance, the General gave me a Commission to apply myself to all means and expedients I could think of, for the stopping of the East parts of Cornwall from rising and joining with the Enemies Horse, Foot being that which the Enemy (only) wanted, and those they brought to Torrington blown into several parts, and scattered, with a purpose not to appear again. Accordingly I rid to Plymouth, (though not without much difficulty) riding forty miles very near the Enemies Guards; I dealt at Plymouth with the Governor and the Committee there, who offered me all their furtherances, had Passes of them for any I should employ into Cornwall, and was much engaged to Mr. Raw, of that place, (a discreet able man, and industrious) who undertook to agitate my desi • nes with the Enemy, and deserves exceeding well for his faithfulness and wisdom therein.

When I was thus thoughtful how to engage the Cornish Foot from rising in the East, (whose example would have had a present influence on all the County) it pleased the Lord to send in one out of Cornwall, of very good quality, (and much interested) who came disguized into Plymouth, having the same design with myself, for strong affections to the Parliament and their Cause, assuring me, that 3000. men stood ready to join with the Enemies Horse, yet that there were good hopes, that the leaders being rightly informed, might not only prevent it, but conditionally close with us.

Their chiefes were old Master Colliton, Colonel Edgcomb of Mount Edgcomb, Master Thomas Lowre, and Lieutenant Colonel Scawen.

To these I applied myself (by writing) and declared what I had in Commission from the General, and sent it by the party by me employed, who returned again, and gave me hopes, and yet professed much jealousy on their part for the true performance on what I promised; and therefore to shorten my work I offered myself an Hostage to them, till the General should make good what I promised.

By the next return they invited me into Cornwall, where four of them should be ready, in the behalf of themselves and others, to treat with me, and as they saw cause, to accompany me to the General.

I adventured over to them, and there found Master Corriton, M. Thomas Lowre, M. Glanvill, the eldest Son of Serjeant Glanvill, and Major Trevise; who being persuaded of the truth of what I had engaged myself for, were persuaded to go to the General with me, and truly I found them very ingenuous, who had long before distasted the Court way, and abhorred the practices of many of the Kings party.

By this time the General had entered Cornwall, and (at Stratton) our men beat up a Guard of the Enemies, and took 300. Horse: these Cornish Gentlemen, finding my words made good unto them, were much convinced and affected, receiving from the General Protections for themselves and that side of the Country against the violence of our Soldiers, as also Letters of recommendation to the Parliament, for this their service, which took such effect, that not only these 3000. men, ready for their march, retired to their houses, but also the whole County where we came, either came in to us, or sat still; and truly these Eastern Gentlemen are very considerable, and I am persuaded the old Master Coriton, (who suffered for Magna Charta, with Sir John Elliot,) will return to his interest again, with many more of them.

Upon our advance the Enemy retreated, the General lay at Bodman to refresh our men, and to undeceive the County, if by any means we might, which the Lord himself was pleased to help us in, even to wonder, by an Irish Frigot, coming into Padstow, and bringing Letters to Hopton and others, from the Earl of Glamorgan, that • esuited Papist, assuring them of ten thousand Irish ready for England.

These Letters the General commanded me to read, at a great meeting of the Country men, in a field near Bodman, which had such success, that the arguments I used unto them, and what I read was received with divers acclamations.

Upon this day fortnight a strong Party of ours was sent out to fall upon their main Guard, under the command of that honest and worthy Gentleman Col. Rich, who accordingly met with one thousand of the Enemies Horse, routed them, and put them to flight, and took two hundred Horses, and one hundred Prisoners, amongst whom Master General Perts, who is since dead of his wounds, in whose pocket a copy of a Letter to the Princes Counsel about him, was found to this purpose.

That the Kings condition is so low is not our fault▪ we are not able to break through the Enemy, nor strong enough to fight them; therefore are resolved to compound for ourselves, and leave you to do what you please. Sir, it came from the Military part.

Divers small skirmishes we had with them, Lieutenant General Cromwell himself, with some of his horses are setting out Parties and Guards, and attending their motions, adventured himself according to his wonted manner; and now the Enemies head Quarter being at Truro, and their chief strength not above five or six miles from us, the General resolving to fight them, or drive them to the Sea, sent them such Propositions with a Summons, as he did conceive would take off much of their Forces, and bring them all to a sudden agreement; and upon the sending of these, advanced still forward, and in our advance they met us with a desire of a Treaty, which accordingly was yielded unto, and held six days, there being matters not a few to be considered of, as appears by the Articles.

Upon the last Lord's Day, upon a Down a mile from Truro, after I had Preached to our men, and divers of the Enemies, they began to deliver up their Arms and Horses.

The first Regiment was a French Regiment, under the command of Mounsier Laplane on Sunday last, yet I must much commend the civility of our Soldiers herein, that they let them pass without mocking, or jeering, or offering any affronts to them.

On Monday there were three Brigades more disbanded, and on Tuesday the rest according to the Articles; If it shall be objected, That the General dealt too gently with the County, or the Soldiery part there, I answer.

1 That the constitution of both the one and the other required it, the Soldiers being a strong Party, and in the Enemies Country.

2 The people needed it, and the same weapon proved their cure that made their wound, Hoptons moderation, civility that first deceived them, and the Generals now joined with faithfulness took the scales from their eyes.

3 That we have all this year found it our advantage;

4 Meekness, sweetness and courage have been always stirring in our General for digniority; we know that Caesar dando, sublenando, ignoscendo gloriam adeptus est, but of the General we may say by the like means, Patriam been adeptus est.

5 We believe, that the Conduct of this Army delight not to drink blood.

6 The Parliaments aims are not destructive, but reductive.

7 We look upon it as the Spirit of Christ in these latter times, and of the New Testament, to save, and not to ruin; and the Heathen could say:

And this I am bold to add, That such is the Providence of God, that if we had fought and beaten them, we should not have scattered them as now they are; God hath restrained from the Enemies themselves this acknowledgement, that their God's is not like ours; their men not like ours, their Actions not like ours: the very words of one of their chief Commanders were these:

And all the Enemy are engaged never to take up Arms against the Parliament, except some very few only.

For the Country, the Gentry came almost all in unto us, the Cornish Soldiers brought us and laid down their Arms at the Generalls foot, many of them professing they would but go home and attend him.

Some of the Arguments I used in speaking and preaching to them in their public Assemblies were;

First, for the Parliament, they did as a Justice of Peace, sent out a Counstable to apprehended such as had broke the civil Peace: The Cunstable beaten back from his office, hath more help sent him, Town and Cuntry who are re-resolved to pursue his disturbers, our taking up of Arms was not against Cornish men, nor any particular men, nor any particular County, but against such as disturbed both them and us, which if they deliver them to us; we had the end of our travels.

Secondly▪ I used an Argument of utily, wishing them to consider how they could subject without trade which are from the City of London, and other parts of the Kingdom.

Thirdly, What havoc the Irish and French might make upon them if they landed; of which Gorings desperadoes have given them a taste.

Fourthly, How comfortably, and safe they might live under the Parliament, who are loath to loose such a Tribe as they were.

Fifthly, I answered a common murmuring amongst them, that their Country was never conquered. They were told, that our Army was never conquered neither, and yet we were willing to wrestle with them in their one way, by embracing, and huging of them, they should conquer us, and we would conquer them, we would win the day, and they should gain the field, or their fields: If they lost a service B •• ke they sh • uld have a better worship:

Sixthly, was from experience, the were wished to tract all the Parliaments proceedings, and the Armies in other Counties; whether they had had better Ministers, and better Magistrates placed then before.

Seventhly, was taken from the practice of the enemy, and this query was put to them, what good the enemy had 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 done for them; whether their Examples, and Practises, Councils and endeavors, had led • hem to more holiness, justness, and exactness.

Many of them confessed, they were received by ill reports brought of the Parliament, and the crueltyes of this Army, by Hoptons flateries, and the Courtiers, and by the Kings, and Princes Personal appearance amongst them: and by their promises to them honoring of them, as more particular appears, by this D • claration of the Kings, hanged up in every Church in the Country.

And lastly, their lude and ungodly Ministers had counseled them, and exampled them to the greatest part of their misery, I make no doubt, they may prove a People of God's praise, may they but enjoy a faithful Magistracy and Ministry; for which, my most earnest and humble request is to this Honorable House: me thinks they cry at every Gate, bread bread, for the Lord's sake.

I wish there were some Evangelical Ministers in each County of the Kingdom, that poor People might know there is a God; that they might fear him, and love him, and be acquainted with his Son, who is theirs and our life.

The County is all clearly reduced, except Pendennis, Helford, and the Mount; which the very Country (I hope) will be willing to reduce themselves, Feymouth Harbor is free to us; we have taken St. Mawes Castle, with Twelve pieces of Ordnance in it, and one called the Roaring-Meg, a choice piece of brass: the General is sending Eastward some of his forces, towards Barnstable and Exeter, and intends (having blocked up Pendennis) to return himself.

There came two out of Exeter to us, who carried in Propositions with them; and of Barnstable we hope to give a good account shortly.

At Foy upon Monday last, we took a ship called the Green Knight, having 16 pieces of Ordnance, and richly laden, they being ignorant that the Harbor was ours.

Your Affaires have a good complexion upon them at present; and doubtless, whilst you employ good men▪ they will be good for you.

I have observed in the whole Tract of this Western Work, divers promises fulfilled; As that the Lord would send an Hornet amongst them: that is, a Spirit of fear, and that they shall fly when none pursues them: we could seldom make them stand anywhere; they never offered to beat up a Guard of ours at any time, though they had Four Thousand • ighting Horse.

I had been told in their quarters where I lay, as 3. times my lot was to lie in Hoptons own quarters in bed, where they told me upon every Alarm, the sh •• kings of Belshazer was up on them, one passage above the rest was this, 40. of them lieing in an house at Saint Auste • , two Coults that wre feeding upon a Common▪ in a could night, came for shelter to the side of the house. • hey took • an Alarm within, charged the Coults to stand; but they not understand the Language, kept on their way, put them to such a fight, that they tumbled one upon the back of another to get away.

Sometimes I thought of that promise in the first Psalm, that they shall be scattered as Chaff before the wind, they are gone into several Countries.

Sometimes, the Lord saith he will bring his wheel upon them, and break them, we saw their power broken, their Councils broken, their intrests broken, their expectations broken, who would have broke the very Axeltree of the State.

Sometimes I thought of the Prophesy; when the Lord saith he would pour contempt upon Princes▪ especially when I read writings from t • e Prince, thus, dated at our Court at Sillie: And though he be unwilling to play with words, ye • I could wish that that place, and name might ever be the portion of those that council Princes to their own Ruin.

Manie of such like punishes have been fulfilled in our fight.

And now I must be thankful to those Gentlemen of this House, that have been careful for Moneyes▪ Clothes, and Ammunition for the Army, being the Sinewes of Our Work, and yet must complain; that after many Letters written from place to place, we have not had one ship from the Parliament upon the Coast, to join with us in any Design, or to meet the Enemy when they went away with their Welsh: only Captain Plunkets Ship lying at Plimmouth was willing to do their utmost, and Sir George A • scugh, that commands the expedition, brought us the last money to Foy, and is earnestly seeking out which way to serve us to the uttermost.

I would say something for myself, and yet so prove an At • mbe, as not worth a minute of your time; though you have been pleased to bear with my rudeness.

Since my last being in the City, I have been by some represented as one scandalizing of others; which as it hath no truth in it: so I bless God, that there is a Parliament to appeal unto, and I know not the cause hereof, but from my forwardness and faithfulness to the Work in hand.

This I am bold to say, Though it should be accounted a Crime to serve the Parliament, and I might be sory for the Despiers, w • ich it shall never make me weary of my Duty, nor my Masters.

If in my death the State might be a gainer, I have sometimes thought I might be willing to come to that trial, if my life may serve you, you may command it, for I must make the same profession that he did to Caesar, that your former favors have done me that injury, that I must live, and die ungrateful.

These are my last Requests, and the very sithings of my soul, that

First, since the Spirit of God hath done all your Works for you, that Spirit may never be sadded by you, that glads yours: It hath been an old Jesuitical practice, to beat Religion with Religions: I say no more.

Secondly, that you may live to see that Top stone laid; to which you may all cry grace, grace.

Thirdly; And lastly, That when your souls shall sit upon your trembling lips, and take care of your bodies, your accounts may be as comfortable, as your pains have been in defatigable, and more. So prays

We hear for certain, that Greenvill, Culpepper, Sir Nicholas Crisp, and divers others are in France, Hopton and Wentworth, and divers others were going from Penthancts thither on Tuesday last: the French and others have leave to take shipping at Plymouth▪ 20 or 30 are allowed to go t • the King: divers Irish and Welsh are gone into Pendennis, where there are many distractions, and Sir Henry Killegrew most vile and violent, who upon Sunday last burnt the ancient house of that name, called Arwennock, now belonging to Sir Peter Killegrew. The Prince remains still in Scillie, expecting what end his Father will make with the Parliament. The same day a Letter was sent to Mr. Peters as followeth▪

Mr. Peters being to preach at Brides, Sunday the 22. of March, a paper was delivered to him of News, which Major Temple (who was in the fight) brought, of the routing of Sir Jacob Ashley: of which here followeth a Copy.