Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/54

34 to attack the enemy; but they had no competent leaders; for unorganized citizens to seek an army twice their strength was madness; their only hope was to make a tolerable defence and secure terms for their property. The English were quiet till the following morning. On Monday the 5th they came up from the sea in three divisions. The provost and the corporation met them with a flag of truce, and offered to deliver the keys to Lord Hertford, on condition that all persons who desired might depart with their effects, and that he would engage for the safety of the town. 'The Scots,' Hertford said, briefly, 'had broken their promises, confirmed by oath and seal, and certified by their Parliament,' and he was sent thither by the King's Highness 'to take vengeance of their detestable falsehood, to declare and show the force of his Highness's sword to all such as would resist him.' They must yield at discretion, and he would promise them their lives. If they refused, the consequences would be on their own heads. He gave them a day to consider their answer; and in the afternoon, to assist their decision, ominous clouds of smoke were seen darkening the sky towards Haddiiigton and Lammermuir. Lord Evers, with his four thousand horse, came in from Berwick, having marked his advance by a broad track of desolation, where abbey and grange, castle and hamlet, were buried in a common ruin.

The odds were now terrible; but the Scots were not to be frightened in cold blood while there was a hope of resistance. They shut their gates, and told Hertford