from
the hands of their adversaries, they forwarded a request to the two
houses, that the command of the London militia might be transferred from
disaffected persons to men distinguished by their devotion to the cause of
the country. The Presbyterians in the city were alarmed; they suspected a
coalition between the king and the Independents; they saw that the covenant
itself was at stake, and that the propositions of peace so often voted in
parliament might in a few days be set aside. A petition was presented[a]
in opposition to the demand of the army; but the houses, now under the
influence of the Independents, passed[b] the ordinance; and the city, on
its part, determined[c] to resist both the army and the parliament. Lord
Lauderdale, the chief of the Scottish commissioners, hastened to the king
to obtain his concurrence; a new covenant, devised in his favour, was
exposed at Skinners' Hall, and the citizens and soldiers, and probably the
concealed royalists, hastened in crowds to subscribe their names. By it
they bound themselves, in the presence of God, and at the risk of their
lives and fortunes, to bring the sovereign to Westminster, that he might
confirm the concessions which he had made in his letter from Holmby, and

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1647. July 14.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1647. July 23.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1647. July 24.]

might confer with his parliament on the remaining propositions. But the
recent converts to the cause of the army hastened to prove the sincerity of
their conversion. Both Lords and Commons voted this engagement an act of
treason against the kingdom; and the publication of the vote, instead
of damping the zeal, inflamed the passions of the people. The citizens
petitioned a second time, and received a second refusal. The moment the
petitioners departed, a multitude of apprentices, supported by a crowd of
military men, besieged the doors of the two houses; for eight hours they
continued, by shouts and messages, to call for the repeal of the ordinance
respecting the militia, and of the vote condemning the covenant; and the
members, after a long resistance, worn out with fatigue, and overcome with
terror, submitted to their demands. Even after they had been suffered to
retire, the multitude suddenly compelled the Commons to return, and,
with the speaker in the chair, to pass a vote[a] that the king should be
conducted without delay to his palace at Westminster. Both houses adjourned
for three days, and