he whole of September, both the Council and
the House proceeded with inquiries and examinations relating to the
Insurrection. Among those committed to the Tower, besides Sir George
Booth and Lord Herbert, were the Earl of Oxford, Sir William Waller
("upon suspicion of high treason," aggravated by his refusal to
pledge his honour not to act against the Government), Lord
Falconbridge (discharged on bail of L10,000, Oct. 8), and Sir Thomas
Leventhorpe. The Earl of Derby, the Earl of Chesterfield, and Lord
Willoughby of Parham, in custody in the country, were to be brought
to London; proclamations were out against Mordaunt and Massey; and
the Duke of Buckingham, Sir Henry Yelverton, the poet Davenant, the
Earl of Stamford, Denzil Holies, and many others, including some
Presbyterian ministers, were under temporary arrest or otherwise in
trouble. Vane and Hasilrig conducted the inquiries as cautiously as
possible, and with every desire not to multiply prosecutions too
much. Thus, Admiral Montague, who had suddenly left the Baltic with
his whole fleet, against the will and in spite of the remonstrances
of his fellow-plenipotentiaries, Sidney, Honeywood, and Boone, and
who arrived off the English coast Sept. 10, only to know that the
Royalist revolt was at an end, and that any intentions he may have
had in connexion with it must be concealed, was not called in
question for his strange conduct. He came boldly to London, reported
himself to the Council of State, explained that he had come back for
provisions, &c., and was more or less believed.--For, in fact, the
Council itself, and the House itself, contained more open culprits.
Sir Horatio Townshend had shown himself in his true colours, and had
been among the first apprehended; and, though the wily Sir Anthony
Ashley Cooper cleared himself before a committee of the Council
appointed to investigate a charge against him, strong suspicions
remained. On the 8th of August, just after Lambert had marched
against Booth, there had been a call of the House with the result
that Mr. Peter Brooke and Mr, Edmund Dunch, two members who had never
attended and about whom there were evil reports, were fined L100
each; and on the 13th of September, while Dunch's fine was remitted
on explanations given, Brooke, who had actually been in arms with
Booth, was brought to the bar of the House in custody, disabled from
sitting in Parliament, and sent to the Tower on a charge of high
treason. Again, on