the army, which had both the will and the power to set aside any agreement which might be made between him and the parliament; and hence arose his conviction that “the treaty would come to nothing.” 2.  He was acquainted with all that passed in the private councils of his enemies; with their design to bring him to trial and to the scaffold; and he had also received a letter, informing him of an intention to assassinate him during the treaty.—­Herbert, 134.  Can we be surprised, if, under such circumstances, he sought to escape?  Nor was his parole an objection.  He conceived himself released from it by misconduct on the part of Hammond, who, at last, aware of that persuasion, prevailed on him, though with considerable difficulty, to renew his pledge.—­Journals, x. 598.  After this renewal he refused to escape even when every facility was offered him.—­Rushworth, vii. 1344.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1648.  Nov. 27.]

In the morning, when the commissioners took their leave,[a] Charles addressed them with a sadness of countenance and in a tone of voice which drew tears from all his attendants.  “My lords,” said he, “I believe we shall scarce ever see each other again.  But God’s will be done!  I have made my peace with him, and shall undergo without fear whatever he may suffer men to do to me.  My lords, you cannot but know that in my fall and ruin you see your own, and that also near you.  I pray God send you better friends than I have found.  I am fully informed of the carriage of them who plot against me and mine; but nothing affects me so much as the feeling I have of the sufferings of my subjects, and the mischief that hangs over my three kingdoms, drawn upon them by those who, upon pretences of good, violently pursue their own interests and ends.”  Hammond departed at the same time with the commissioners, and the command at Carisbrook devolved on Boreman, an officer of the militia, at Newport on Rolfe, a major in the army.  To both he gave a copy of his instructions from the parliament for the safety of the royal person; but the character of Rolfe was known; he had been charged with a design to take the king’s life six months before, and had escaped a trial by the indulgence of the grand jury, who ignored the bill, because the main fact was attested by the oath of only one witness.[2]

The next morning[b] a person in disguise ordered one

[Footnote 1:  Appendix to Eveyln’s Memoirs, ii. 128.]

[Footnote 2:  Journals, x. 615, 345, 349, 358, 370, 390.  Clarendon, iii. 234.]

[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1648.  Nov. 28.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1648.  Nov. 29.]