towards the expected scene of action.[1] But Charles had to
contend not only with the activity of his enemies, but with the fanaticism
of his followers. The Presbyterians of Lancashire had promised to rise,
and Massey, a distinguished officer of that persuasion, was sent before to
organize the levy; but the committee of the kirk forbade him to employ any
man who had not taken the covenant; and, though Charles annulled their
order, the English ministers insisted that it should be obeyed. Massey
remained after the army had passed, and was joined by the earl of Derby,
with sixty horse and two hundred and sixty foot, from the Isle of Man. A
conference was held at Wigan; but reasoning and entreaty were employed in
vain; the ministers insisted that all the Catholics who had been enrolled
should be dismissed; and that the salvation of the kingdom should be
entrusted to the elect of God, who had taken the covenant. In the mean
while Cromwell had despatched Colonel Lilburne, with his

[Footnote 1: Journals, Aug. 12.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. August 11.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1651. August 25.]

regiment of horse, into the county, and ordered reinforcements to join him
from Yorkshire and Cheshire. Derby, with the concurrence of the royalists
in Manchester, undertook to surprise Lilburne in his quarters near that
town, but was himself surprised by Lilburne, who marched on the same day[a]
to observe the earl's motions. They met unexpectedly in the lane leading
from Chorley to Wigan. The heads of the opposite columns repeatedly charged
each other; but the desperate courage of the Cavaliers was foiled by the
steadiness and discipline of their opponents; the Lord Widrington, Sir
Thomas Tildesly, Colonel Throckmorton, Boynton, Trollop, and about sixty
of their followers were slain, and above three hundred privates made
prisoners. The earl himself, who had received several slight wounds on the
arms and shoulders, fled to Wigan with the enemy at his heels. Observing a
house open, he flung himself from his horse, and sprung into the passage.
A female barred the door behind him; the pursuers were checked for an
instant; and when they began to search the house, he had already escaped
through the garden. Weak with fatigue and the loss of blood, he wandered in
a southerly direction, concealing himself by day, and travelling by night,
till he found[b] a secure asylum, in a retired mansion, called Boscobel
House, situate between Brewood and Tong Ca