The gentlemen seeing no remedy,
solicited their own case at the Parliament, and got it passed in
their behalf; and by this means my father got his liberty, and by the
assistance of the Earl of Denbigh got leave to come to London to make
a composition as a delinquent for his estate. This they charged at
L7000, but by the assistance of the same noble person he got off for
L4000. Some members of the committee moved very kindly that my father
should oblige me to quit the king's service, but that, as a thing
which might be out of his power, was not insisted on.
The modelling the Parliament army took them up all this winter, and
we were in great hopes the divisions which appeared amongst them might
have weakened their party; but when they voted Sir Thomas Fairfax to
be general, I confess I was convinced the king's affairs were lost and
desperate. Sir Thomas, abating the zeal of his party, and the mistaken
opinion of his cause, was the fittest man amongst them to undertake
the charge. He was a complete general, strict in his discipline, wary
in conduct, fearless in action, unwearied in the fatigue of the
war, and withal, of a modest, noble, generous disposition.
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