The enemy was in great pain for Sir William Brereton and his forces,
and expresses rode night and day to the Scots in the north, and to the
parties in Lancashire to come to his help. The prince, who used to be
rather too forward to fight than otherwise, could not be persuaded to
make use of this opportunity, but loitered, if I may be allowed to say
so, till the Scots, with a brigade of horse and 2000 foot, had joined
him; and then 'twas not thought proper to engage them.
I took this opportunity to go to Shrewsbury to visit my father, who
was a prisoner of war there, getting a pass from the enemy's governor.
They allowed him the liberty of the town, and sometimes to go to his
own house upon his parole, so that his confinement was not very much
to his personal injury. But this, together with the charges he had
been at in raising the regiment, and above L20,000 in money and plate,
which at several times he had lent, or given rather to the king, had
reduced our family to very ill circumstances; and now they talked of
cutting down his woods.
I had a great deal of discourse with my father on this affair; and,
finding him extremely concerned, I offered to go to the king and
desire his leave to go to London and treat about his composition, or
to render myself a prisoner in his stead, while he went up himself.
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