own act has immortalized, was Thomas Swift,* incumbent of the neighbouring parish of Goodrich. Fully aware of the King's pecuniary distress, he mortgaged his estate; and with the money thus raised he proceeded to Raglan Castle. The Governor, with whom he was personally acquainted, asked the object of his visit, and whether he could serve him; for he was equally esteemed as a zealous pastor, and a staunch royalist. "I am only come," said he, "to give his Majesty my coat;" and, in taking it off, the Marquess pleasantly observed: "Thy coat, I fear me, is of little worth." "Why then," said Swift, "take my waistcoat also." And here was the hidden treasure, for, on being ripped up, it was found to contain three hundred broad gold pieces. "And the King," says Lord Clarendon, "received no relief that was more seasonable and acceptable than this during the war." Mr. Swift's zeal and activity in the royal cause exposed him to much danger and many sufferings. "He was plundered," says Heath, "more than thirty times by the Parliament's army, and ejected from his church living. His estate was sequestered, and he himself thrown into prison."

At Raglan the King "stayed until news came that Fairfax, after taking Leicester, had marched into the west, and defeated Goring's troops at Lamport; at the same time that the Scottish army, on its march, had taken a small garrison between Hereford and Worcester by storm, and put all within it to the sword;" while Prince Rupert sent for all those foot, which were levied towards a new army to supply the garrison. But the expectations, which had been industriously fostered in the King's mind of a more propitious fortune, became every day more faint. Of all the schemes that had been set afoot for retrieving his past errors, and regaining the hearts of his alienated subjects, not one was permitted to prosper. And as a fatal climax to his unhappy fortunes, "it was at Raglan Castle," says Lord Clarendon, "that the King received the terrible information of the surrender of Bristol (September 11, 1645), which he so little apprehended, that if the evidence thereof had not been unquestionable, it could not have been believed. With what indignation and dejection of mind the King received this advertisement, needs no other description and enlargement than the setting down in the very words of it the letter which the King writ thereupon to Prince Rupert; which, considering the unspeakable indulgence his Majesty had ever shewed towards that Prince, is sufficient evidence how highly he was incensed by that act, which yet he took some time sadly to think of and consider, before he would allow himself to abate so much of his natural candour towards him. As soon as he received that surprising intelligence, the King removed from Raglan Castle."

* Grandfather of the famous Dean of St. Patrick's.

CASTLE.]

THE KING RETIRES FROM RAGLAN CASTLE.

177

The King took leave of Raglan Castle on the 15th of September, mournfully observing to the Marquess, that by so doing he hoped "to ease his lordship of a heavy burden." His Majesty then thanked his noble and devoted host for the large sums of money which had been advanced to him in the course of his troubles. Whereupon the Marquess replied: "Sire, I had your word for the money; but I never thought to have been so soon repaid; for now that you have given me thanks, I have all I looked for."* Well might the royal guest have expressed his feelings on quitting Raglan in the following lines, taken from his own 'Collection:'

I fall! I fall!

Whom shall I call?

Alas! can he be heard,

Who now is neither loved nor feared?
You, who were wont to kisse the ground,
Where'er my honour'd steps were found,
Come, catch me at my last rebound!

How each admires

Heaven's twinkling fires,

When from their glorious seat

Their influence gives life and heat!

But, oh! how few there are-
Tho' danger from that act be far-

Will stoop and catch a falling star.t

"Distracted with a thousand griefs, and accompanied by a few trusty and disconsolate servants, the royal victim wandered about the country, thankful to accept protection from any one who had fortune or inclination to minister to his distress. And many cruel days,' to use his own words, were spent in weary marchings without food, narrow escapes, and precipitate retreats, before he took his last farewell of the land of Gwent."

On one occasion he was hotly pursued in his retreat through Shire Newton, by a party of sixty Roundheads; but reaching a place called Charleston Rock, near the New Passage, a fishing-boat was found, in which he was safely ferried over the Severn into Gloucestershire. His pursuers coming up in the mean

Of this disastrous event a sympathising French poet writes:

Tel qu'un lion forcé de repaire en repaire,
En dépit des chasseurs regagne sa tanière.
Mais Charles, en cet asile investi sans sécours,
Ne pouvait s'y flatter que d'un frêle recours-
Trop déplorable objet de tant de trahisons,
Indigné, trainé de prisons en prisons,
L'imfortuné Monarque, abreuvé de misères,
Finit sur le billot ses destins sanguinaires.

while, but only to find their object defeated, seized upon the remaining boats, and with drawn swords compelled the fishermen to ferry them across. They hurried into the boats, and, with the royal fugitive still in view, made all haste to be once more on his traces. The poor fishermen, however, being royalists at heart, had no sympathy with these king-hunters; but rowing lustily towards a reef of rocks called the "English Stones," within a gunshot of the Gloucester shore, there hauled in their oars; and landing their freight on the rocks, told them the water was so shallow that the boats could go no further, and they might easily wade to the opposite bank. And such, in fact, was quite practicable at low water; but, in the present instance, the tide flowed so rapidly, that in making the attempt to reach the opposite bank the whole party were drowned.

Informed of the catastrophe, Cromwell abolished the ferry, which was not renewed until 1718, after a protracted lawsuit between the proprietor of St. Pierre and the Duke of Beaufort's guardians, when it was named the "New Passage."

The Siege.-Early the following spring a resolution was passed that the Castle of Raglan, which had so often thrown open its gates to the King, and still supported a garrison in his service, should be reduced without loss of time. It was the last fortress that held out, and until its walls were dismantled, and the garrison made prisoners, the spirit of loyalty in Monmouth would never be thoroughly subdued. The Castle was accordingly invested by Major-General Glenham and Sir Trevor Williams;† but the latter, it has been asserted, was not very hearty in his opposition to the King; for he had many misgivings respecting the ultimate designs of Cromwell, who also, as it appears from existing documents, ‡ was equally suspicious of Sir Trevor. The first summons to surrender the Castle to Parliament was received by the garrison with indignation and defiance.

armourer.

Early in June they were joined by Colonel Morgan, who, with a strong body of men || from Worcester, took the command. The troops of the garrison

*See Thomas's "Tinterne," p. 78.

↑ Rowland Williams of Llangibby was distinguished by royal favour, both in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and that of her successor, and in proof thereof received the honour of knighthood. His grandson, the Sir Trevor Williams here mentioned, in consideration of

his loyal attachment to the interests of King Charles, was created a baronet on the 14th of May, 1642.

See Letter published by Mr. Thomas in his "Account of Raglan," note 23.

Stated by Rushworth as only 1,500 men, while the garrison in the Castle amounted to 800 men.