gland broke out, he
returned from fighting for the King in Holland, to fight for him at
home. When Cromwell offered him his release from the Tower, at the price
of helping to subdue the Irish rebels, his accepting the command was to
the advantage of this country.

To begin with, Monk was forced to turn soldier with unexpected
suddenness. The Under-Sheriff of Exeter publicly affronted Sir Thomas
Monk, on which his son, aged sixteen, went to Exeter and gave the
offender 'the chastisement he deserved (without any intention of
murder).' This step created a good deal of disturbance, and to avoid
more, 'our young gentleman' was packed off to 'the School of War in the
Low Countries.'

He was taken prisoner early in the Civil War, and after over two years
of close imprisonment, agreed to accompany the Lord Deputy Lisle to
Munster. After leaving Ireland he gained brilliant successes at sea over
the Dutch. Prince tells a tale that is characteristic of him and of
Cromwell. The seamen who had served under Monk had been told that they
should receive their full pay as soon as the prizes were sold off, but
were unreasonably impatient; and while Monk was actually at Whitehall
putting their claims before the Protector, news was brought him 'that
three or four thousand seamen were come as far as Charing Cross with
swords, pistols, and clubs, to demand their pay. General Monk, thinking
himself wronged in this, ran down to meet them, drew his sword, and fell
upon them; Cromwell following with one or two attendants, cut and hew
the seamen, and drove them before him.' Prince finishes the story with
applause of the boldness that 'should drive such great numbers of such
furious creatures as English seamen.' Later, Monk's command in Scotland
resulted in a state of order and quietness then very unusual in that
country.

Accusations of dealing unfairly with the Parliament in 1659 may be
levelled against him with some justice, but how was loyalty possible to
a household so divided against itself as were the rulers of the Kingdom?
The Army and the Parliament were in bitter antagonism to each other, and
Lambert's soldiers had shut the Parliament out of Westminster. The
members of the Rump Parliament, the earlier 'secluded' members, the
Presbyterians, the Independents under Lambert, the Royalists, and
smaller parties, were all working for their own ends. When Monk marched
south, a deputation was sent to meet him from the Council of Officers,
oste