Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/242

588 reached Preston on the 17th of August, where he was opposed by Cromwell in person with his veteran battalions ; and notwithstanding that the duke had been reinforced since he entered England, by 3000 to 4000 loyalists under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and afterwards by 2000 foot and 1000 horse, commanded by Sir George Munro, the result of various skirmishes which here took place, was the total defeat of his army. The duke himself, accompanied by a few officers and cavalry, proceeded on to Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, where he surrendered to Lambert, on assurance of personal safety to himself and his followers. The unfortunate duke was now carried to Derby, thence to Ashby-de-la-Zouche, where he remained till December, when he was removed to Windsor, and placed under a strong guard. On the second night of his confinement here, while taking a turn after supper in the court-yard, a sergeant made up to him, and, with the utmost insolence of manner, ordered him to his apartment: the duke obeyed, but remarked to lord Bargeny, who was then a prisoner also, that what had just happened was a singular instance of the mutability of worldly things that he who, but a short while since, had the command of many thousand men, was now commanded by a common sergeant.

A few days after the duke's arrival at Windsor, his ill-fated master, who was then also a prisoner there, was ordered for trials. Having learned when the king was to proceed to the tribunal, the duke prevailed upon his keepers to allow him to see his majesty as he passed. On the approach of the king, he threw himself at his feet, exclaiming in an agony of sorrow, his eyes suffused with tears, "My dear master!" The king, not less affected, stooped down and embraced him, replying, with a melancholy play upon the word dear, "I have indeed been so to you." The guards would permit no further conversation, but, by the order of their commander, instantly hurried off the king. The duke followed his beloved master, with his eyes still swimming in tears, so long as he could see him, impressed with the belief that they would never meet on earth again. Aware from the king's execution, which soon after took place, that a similar fate awaited him, the duke, with the assistance of a faithful servant, effected his escape from Windsor. Two horses waited at a convenient place to carry him and his servant to London, where he hoped to conceal himself until an opportunity occurred of getting to a place of greater safety; but he was instructed not on any account to enter the city till seven o'clock in the morning, when the night patrols, who prowled about the town and suburbs, should have retired from duty. By an unaccountable fatality, the unfortunate duke neglected to attend to this most important injunction, and entered the city at four o'clock in the morning. As if every thing had resolved to concur in the destruction of the unfortunate nobleman, besides the risk which he ran as a matter of course from the patrol, it happened that there was a party of horse and foot in Southwark, where the duke entered, searching for Sir Lewis Dives and another gentleman, who had also escaped from confinement the night before. By these the duke was taken while in the act of knocking at a door where he had been long seeking admittance. At first he imposed upon the soldiers by a plausible story, and as they did not know him personally, they were disposed to allow him to depart; but some suspicious circumstances attracting their notice, they searched him, and found in his pockets some papers which at once discovered him. He was now carried to St James's, where he was kept a close prisoner till the 6th February, 1648, when he was brought to trial before the High Court of Justice, and arraigned as earl of Cambridge, for having "traitorously invaded this nation (England) in a hostile manner, and levied war to assist the king against the kingdom and people of England, &c." The duke pled that he was an alien, and that his life besides was secured by the