Richard Charles Browne

“ The czar (Ivan-vasilovitch) is there said to have nailed the French ambassador's hat to his head. Bowes at his next audience put on his hat, and the czar threatened him with the like punishment. Bowes replied that he did not represent the cowardly king of France, but the invincible queen of England, 'who does not vail her bonnet nor bare her head to any prince living.' The czar commended his bravery and took him into favour. Bowes also tamed a wild horse—a task assigned him at the instance of envious courtiers—so effectually that the beast fell dead under him. ”

“ He disclaims any envy at the power Rupert had given William Legge, who appears to have superseded him for a while as governor of the city, but demurs to command being also given him over the counties of Cheshire, Flint, and Denbigh. Though Legge has ‘ever been his good friend,’ Byron feels the slight so keenly that he begs to be recalled ‘if I be not worthy of the command I formerly had.’
Chester was in a sad condition. The merchants had been impoverished. To improve the fortifications the suburbs had been burnt, and their inhabitants were forced into the already crowded city. ”

“ After the Cromwell family had fallen from power, and Ludlow had taken the command of the soldiers in Ireland, Axtel was one of those sent back to England to maintain the republic against the imminent Restoration. But when Monk was marching on London, and Lambert advanced to oppose him, Lambert's troops, the Irish contingent of which was under Ludlow's officers, revolted to their former Cromwellian commanders, and so weakened Lambert's army that Monk marched on peaceably to London. Axtel retired into private life, only emerging to support Lambert in his futile attempt to revolt, April 1660. ”

“ He broke up their meetings; but as they were poor men ('mostly bancroftes,' as he says) , he did not think persecution advisable, though 'if a fat puritan could be laid hold of it were best to punish him.' He so wrought upon the corporation of Berwick that they sent him a protestation of their loyalty—a service worthy of the 'thanks' minuted to him by the council in days when the Scotch were encouraged by the dissensions of the English peers and their half-hearted prosecution of the war. At York the prevalent disaffection gave fresh scope to Astley's diplomacy. ”

“ An ordinance having passed that all who had not taken the prescribed tests should leave London, Andrews prepared to quit England, and was in treaty with Sir Edward Plowden for some land in New Albion, when Barnard persuaded him to remain, on pretence of a rising to be headed by ‘persons of quality’ in Kent, Dorset, and Bucks. Andrews was induced to subscribe this new royalist ‘engagement,’ and to endeavour to draw in Sir John Gell, of Hopton, who was known to be influential and disaffected. ”

“ She is chiefly remembered for her gallant defence of Wardour Castle against Sir Edward Hungerford and Colonel Strode, commanders for the parliament. Though her husband was at Oxford, and she had but twenty-five men against thirteen hundred, she replied to the summons to surrender the castle that she had a command from her lord to keep it, and she would obey his command. ”

“ By the cessation of arms granted by Ormonde, the troops raised for the king's service against the Irish rebels were set free for other employment, and detachments came over at intervals to join the force under the command of Byron, whose whole army is described as ‘rolling like a flood’ up to the walls of Nantwich, the only parliament garrison left in Cheshire. ”

“ Liverpool was threatened. The officers were ready to endure all extremities rather than yield, but the soldiers, for want of pay, ‘are grown extreme mutinous, and run away daily’—the old story.
In May 1645 the king marched to the relief of Chester; Byron met him at Stone, Staffordshire, with the news that the rebels had retired, and Charles turned back and took Leicester, his last success. That summer came Naseby, and the autumn brought Rupert's loss of Bristol (10 Sept.) ”

“ Charles, resolved to stay no longer in Hampton Court and impatient to be gone, commanded Ashburnham and his other confidants, Sir John Berkeley and Legge, to propose some place for him to go to. Ashburnham mentioned Sir John Oglander's house in the Isle of Wight as a place where the king might be concealed till the disposition of the governor of the island, Colonel Robert Hammond, could be ascertained. If Hammond were not to be trusted, the fugitive could secretly take ship for France. ”

“ In August 1642, when the war broke out, Astley left Plymouth for Nottingham to join the king, who made him major-general of the foot—'a man as fit for that office as Christendom yielded,' says Clarendon, whose commendations are in this case imqualified by any after disparagement.
During the first civil war Astley is a notable figure. He was among those 'hurt' at Edgehill (13 Oct. 1642) . His prayer before the battle is recorded by Warvick (Memoirs, 229) . He commanded a division at the siege of Gloucester. ”

“ BYRON, JOHN, first Lord Byron (d. 1652) , was descended from Sir John Byron of Clayton, Lancashire, who obtained the abbey of Newstead, Nottinghamshire, at the dissolution of the monasteries. He was the eldest son of Sir John Byron, K.B., by Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Molineux of Sefton, Lancashire. ”

“ Barnard had been the spy of the council, and had only delayed the arrest of Andrews that other cavaliers might be, through him, decoyed to a like ruin. On his arrival in London, Andrews was examined by President Bradshaw, Sir Henry Mildmay, and Thomas Scott, with a view of extorting admissions to be used against others. Disappointed in this, they committed him to the Tower on a charge of treason in endeavouring to subvert the government ”

“ ARNWAY, JOHN (1601–1653) , royalist divine, was of a Shropshire family and heir to a considerable estate. He was a commoner of St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford, and in 1635 rector of Hodnet and Ightfield. (For difficulties connected with these appointments see State Papers, Dom. 1634-5.) His abounding charity and devoted loyalty were conspicuous. When he repaired to the king at Oxford in 1642, the parliament garrison at Wem plundered his house so completely that (according to his own account) they left him neither bible, nor money, nor clothes. ”

“ Lord Astley's speech to Brereton's officers — 'You have now done your work and may go to play, unless you will fall out among yourselves' — has 'something of prophetic strain,' prompted by the veteran's 'old experience.' The conquerors (who ordered a special thanksgiving for their victory) seem to have borne him no lasting ill-will. ”

“ Both agree that the fatal selfishness of the Lancashire men in resolutely diverting the war from themselves had lost the north. After the surrender (in September 1644) of Montgomery Castle by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Byron tried to help Sir Michael Ernly to regain it. But Sir William Brereton came to its relief, and the governor of Chester returned thither. Byron was defeated by Brereton at Montgomery 18 Sept. 1644 (Rushworth, v. 747) . Byron now found that many who heretofore were thought loyal upon this success of the rebels had either turned neuter or had wholly revolted to them. ”

“ The chief officers, 1,500 soldiers, and all their artillery were taken, and Byron sadly retired to Chester. Prince Rupert now took separate command of the royal forces in Cheshire and the adjacent counties, with Byron as his lieutenant. Sir Abraham Shipman was made governor of Chester. Lands belonging to roundhead ‘delinquents’ were to be sold, and the administration of this fund was vested in Byron, who not long after was made governor by special commission from Rupert (Harl. MS. 2135, f. 30) . ”

“ Of the other persons concerned—Barnard, rewarded with money and promotion, found his true deserts when, four years later, he was hanged at Tyburn for robbery; Ashley was condemned but pardoned; Benson was hanged; Sir John Gell was found guilty of misprision of treason, and so escaped with life, though his estate was forfeited, and he imprisoned till April 1653 (Athenæ Oxon. (ed. Bliss) , iii. 561) . Some writers have asserted that Andrews, by his demonstration of the illegality of the high court, practically abolished it. ”

“ The murder of Buckingham in August 1628 did not injure the fortunes of his protégé, who was, in November of the same year, 'sworn into the place of groom of the bedchamber.' The Calendars of State Papers contain ample evidence that he and his friend, the secretary Nicholas, omitted few of the many opportunities given them by their position at court to enrich themselves by money-lending or by the purchase of land at easy rates. ”

“ Byron's brother was taken while marching to his rescue. A relief party from Oxford had been forced to return. The citizens urged surrender. Byron invited the chief malcontents to dine with him, and gave them his own fare of boiled wheat and spring water. ”

“ Marvell will do as good service as Mr. Ascham.' The dignity of the new resident was jealously guarded by a formal introduction to the Spanish ambassador, and by a special commission under the great seal. At Madrid Hyde was assured that no embassy was in question; it was only that a gentleman had come with letters from the parliament to the king. ”

“ The soldiers lived at free quarters, and their hosts often fled from their houses, for the men (against orders) wore their weapons at all times. They plundered the houses of citizens when the owners were at church, and pawned the goods. ”

“ Byron's title was inherited by his brother Richard (1605–1679) , whose exploits as governor of Newark are recorded in Hutchinson's ‘Memoirs.’ He held the office from the spring of 1643 till about January 1645. In September 1643 he surprised the town of Nottingham and held it for five days; and on 27 Nov. 1643 surprised the committee of Leicestershire at Melton Mowbray (Mercurius Aulicus, p. 690) . He resided in England during the protectorate, and in 1659 rose to support Sir George Booth. He died on 4 Oct. 1679, aged 74, having married (1) Elizabeth, daughter of George Rossel ”

“ But it was too serviceable an instrument to be parted with, and he was by no means its last victim. A detailed account of his death was published by his friend Francis Buckley. It is curious to note that this narrative was reproduced, almost word for word, in a pamphlet professing to relate the particulars of the execution of the Earl of Derby in October 1651. ”

“ But all intelligence as to his movements was intercepted, till his friends learned that he had been routed after a stubborn resistance by Sir Thomas Brereton and Colonel Morgan at Stow-in-the-Wold (21 March 1646) . ”

“ He was frequently a fellow-guest and a sharer in treasury business with Pepys, who styles him an 'experienced man and a cavalier.' His 'odd stories' are duly noted, and there was one touching the lease of Ashburnham House from the dean and chapter of Westminster, wherein the 'devilish covetousness' of Dr. ”

“ It was published at Kilkenny in 1646, on the cessation of arms granted by Lord Herbert, earl of Glamorgan, to whom it is effusively dedicated. It is an attempt to dramatise the Irish troubles. Lirenda is an obvious anagram for Ireland. ”

“ Milton, in his 'Brief History of Moscovia,' gives an account of this embassy, taken from Hakluyt. He does not mention the foregoing anecdotes, nor those recorded in Dr. Collins's 'Present State of Russia,' 1671 (quoted in Notes and Queries, 1st series, x. 210) . ”