Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow Extracts from the Order Book of General Monck - The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, vol. 4

Return to Title Page for The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, vol. 4

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Subject Area: History
Topic: The English Revolution

Extracts from the Order Book of General Monck - Sir William Clarke, The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, vol. 4 [1901]

Edition used:

The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, Secretary to the Council of the Army, 1647-1649, and to General Monck and the Commanders of the Army in Scotland, 1651-1660, ed. C.H. Firth (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901). 4 vols.

Part of: The Clarke Papers. Selections from the Papers of William Clarke, 4 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


Extracts from the Order Book of General Monck

October 19, 1659.—

xlix. f. 98.Order to Colonel Timothy Wilkes. That wheras his Lordshippe is informed that the Parliament of England hath bin interrupted and broken uppe, and being the officers of the army have engaged to bee true and faithfull to them, and have now broken their faith with them, and there being many in this country which I finde have nott bin faithfull to the Parliament’s interest; and therfore for the more security of these forces to the Parliament and of our liberties and religion, these are to aucthorize and require him to displace such officers of his regiment of whose fidelity to the Parliament hee doubts, and to place others in their roomes of whose faithfulnesse hee has assurance, and to returne his Lordshippe the names of those hee dismisses, of such as hee places in their roomes.

Commission. That being by Act of Parliament, bearing date the 11th day of October instant, appointed to bee one of the seaven commissioners which are to command the forces in England and Scotland under the Parliament, and there being none of the said commissioners present in Scotland butt his Lordshippe, hee hath therfore thought fitt to displace some disatisfied officers that are nott for the interest of the Parliament and Commonwealth, and amongst others NA; and doe heerby appoint NA to bee NA of NA companie, and to command as of the same, and the officers and souldiers of the said company are to observe him as their officer untill the Parliament’s pleasure bee further knowne.

Lettre to the Governour of Berwick. That being appointed, &c., to authorize him for the better security of the garrison of Berwick to the Parliament, to apprehend all such officers belonging to the said garrison of whose fidelity to the Parliament hee has just cause to doubt, or that have declar’d themselves against the interest of the Parliament or Commonwealth, and to send them in safe custody to Captain Thomas Johnson of his Lordshippe’s regiment of horse att Anderwick, to bee secur’d till further orders, and hee is to place other officers in their roomes, of whose faithfulnesse hee has assurance.

Lettre to . . . . That understanding that there is a part of the army that have broken uppe the Parliament, by which meanes all the whole people of England are like to loose their liberties, if honest men doe nott stand by them and the nation in this juncture of time, therefore I thought fitt to acquaint you that itt is our resolution in Scotland to stand by them, and I shall desire you to repaire to the garrison of Carlile, and to take the charge of itt, for which purpose I have sent you the inclosed order. I know you have power enough with the companies there, and truly hee would expresse much affection to the Parliament and good people of England in doing of itt, and shew himself an honest man therin; and therfore his Lordshippe must perswade him to doe itt, which is, &c.

These are to authorise and require you to take into your charge the garrison of Carlile, and to displace such officers as will nott bee faithfull to the Parliament, and putt others in their places, &c.1

Lettre to Captain Coulson. That understanding that the Parliament is broken uppe by some officers who . . . . his Lordshippe cannott conceive otherwise butt their attempting an action of soe great concernement against the priviledges of the nation can bee to noe other end then setting uppe themselves, and therfore the officers heere have consider’d of itt, and his Lordshippe hath thought fitt to write to my Lord Fleetwood and my Lord Lambert to desire them that the Parliament may bee called to sitt againe, that the country may nott loose their priviledges, and to keepe us from running into confusion. What effect those lettres will have wee know nott, butt wee are resolved, all on this side the water, to stand for the governement by the Parliament without a King, Kingeshippe, single person, or House of Lords, and for the liberties of the people and a godly ministery. His Lordshippe thought fitt to acquaint him with this, least hee might bee missinform’d by some others, and his Lordshippe desires him to acquaint the officers of his regiment with itt, and to send his Lordshippe his resolution whether hee intends to joyne in itt or noe. His Lordshippe thinkes wee are bound to doe itt, both in duty towards God and our country, [and] to declare as they have, being wee shall bee out of hopes ever heerafter to see a Parliament unlesse wee stand to itt now; and therfore his Lordshippe desires him to acquaint his officers, and to send the names of those that are nott free to itt, and hee shall give him orders what shall bee done with them.2

[1 ]To Captain Farmer (Baker, p. 687) or to Captain Deane (Gumble, p. 137).

[2 ]Monck announced his resolution to the world in a series of letters and declarations. On October 20 he wrote, or had drawn up by Clarke, three letters—one to the Speaker, the second to Fleetwood, the third to Lambert. ‘I am resolved,’ he told Lenthall, ‘by the grace and assistance of God, as a true Englishman, to stand to and assert the liberty and authority of Parliament; and the Army here (praised be God!) is very courageous and unanimous, and I doubt not but to give a good account of this action to you. I have, according to the Act of the 11th of this instant, being constituted a commissioner for the government of the Army, put out such persons as would not act according to your commission. I call God to witness that the assertion of a Commonwealth is the only intent of my heart.’ To Fleetwood and Lambert he wrote in terms of rebuke, warning the latter that ‘the nation of England will not endure any arbitrary power, neither will any true Englishman in the Army.’ He also published a Declaration of the Commander-in-Chief in Scotland and the officers under his command, which was signed by ‘William Clarke,’ in the name and by the appointment of the Commander-in-Chief and the Officers of the Army in Scotland. In A Letter from a Person of Quality at Edinburgh, dated October 25, it is said that although this was published in the name of the officers, ‘none was at the contriving of it but himself, Wilkes, Morgan, Emerson, Smyth, and Gumble.’ It was accompanied by a Declaration of the Officers of the Army in Scotland to the Churches of Christ in the Three Nations, which is said by the same authority to have been written by Collins, one of the chaplains of the Army. The three letters and the two declarations were all printed as pamphlets, and are to be found reprinted in Redmayne’s True Narrative, pp. 24-31, and the letters are numbers iii., vi., vii. in Toland’s Collection of Monck’s Letters (1714, 8vo.)