Nicholas Martin, Knights; and the mayor, bailiffs, and commonalty of the city of Exon, " for all treasons and other offences whatsoever." This article occasioned great displeasure against the Earl of Stamford in the two Houses; in whose eyes, any confession of treason by their adherents, however cir cumstanced, appears to have been regarded as a dereliction of their duty.

As soon as they were in possession of the metropolis of the west, the conquerors called together the force of the county in his majesty's favour. In a few days, Prince Maurice had under him 7000 foot, besides cavalry; making the most numerous and best appointed army which had yet been seen in the west. At the same time, Colonel Digby, with another considerable force, was pressing the siege of Plymouth, and had captured from the garrison a work of importance, christened, (probably after the name of the general,) Mount Stamford. At this time, the power of the Houses, throughout the kingdom, was at the lowest ebb; and both the forces and hopes of the royalists in the highest vigour and now, when unanimity was most wanted to press and conclude the war, the disaffection, the division, the irresolution and irregular ambition which ever surrounded Charles in the person of his adherents in the camp as in the court, broke out into such disorder, as to counteract all the advantages which the valour of his adherents had procured for him, while they were yet unconnected, and acting under every disheartening circumstance. Three thousand men, under a few resolute gentlemen, conquered the west, in the spring of 1643, from an enemy far superior in numbers and policy. More than three times that number, under a prince of royal blood, with a rich and extensive county to support them, effected absolutely nothing. "The first error, (says Clarendon,) committed by Prince Maurice, was that of staying too long at Exeter; the second, that of not marching upon Plymouth without diversion." For the latter he accounts, by saying, that his ignorance of the country induced him to listen to those who advised an attack on Dartmouth, as a sea-port of importance-a singular excuse for a general officer who had now remained above a month in the very county in which both places were situated. However, towards the latter end of September, he sat down before Dartmouth, which was already blockaded by flying parties; a place ill situated for defence, standing in a succession of long terraces, on the lower part of the declivity of a steep hill; and ill provided with fortifications. It held out a month, during which, sickness and defection weakened the besieging army: Colonel James Chudleigh (the apostate) was killed before it. The place surrendered October 6. From Dartmouth, Prince Mau

rice marched to Plymouth; of which, from whatever cause, he does not appear to have commenced the regular siege before the middle of November.

The place, however, had been constantly beleaguered by various parties of the royalists ever since January, when Hopton, Mohun, and Godolphin came into it with propositions, one of which was, that the first of these officers should be admitted to the government of the town. They were refused entry by the magistrates, and made one or two sharp attacks on the place. It was said that Hopton and his officers pledged themselves, by oath, to the capture of it; "kneeling on their knees," (as one of the London diurnals informed its readers with pious horror,) "kneeling on their knees, with each man a glass of sack in his hand. The cessation, the history of which has been given above, shortly afterwards intervened The following curious passage of Lord Clarendon's history not only gives the description of the state of Plymouth, but also of many other towns which long maintained, under every difficulty, their adherence to parliament :

"It was a rich and populous corporation, being, in time of peace, the greatest port for trade in the west; and, except Bristol, then more considerable than all the rest. There was in it a castle, very strong towards the sea, with good platforms and ordnance: and little more than a musket shot from the town, was an island*, with a fort in it, much stronger than the castle: both which were, before the troubles, under the command of a captain, with a garrison of about fifty men at most; and were only intended for a security and defence of the town against a foreign invasion; the castle and island together having a good command of the entrance into the harbour, but towards the land there was very little strength. This command was in the hands of Sir Jacob Ashley, and as unprovided to expect or resist any enemy as the other castles and forts of the kingdom; less for the receiving a recruit; there being only ordnance and ammunition, without any other provisions for the support of the soldiers within the walls; and the garrison itself being, by time, marriages, and trade, incorporated into the town, are rather citizens than soldiers. So that, Sir Jacob Ashley being sent for to the king, before his setting up his standard, as soon as there was any apprehension of a party for the king in Cornwall, after the appearing of Sir Ralph Hopton and those other gentlemen there, the mayor and corporation of Plymouth quickly got both the castle and island into their power."

The Mayor took upon himself the command of the place: but he was soon saddled with a committee of parliament, of

* Called St. Nicholas' Island.

whom Sir Alexander Carew was a leading member. This gentleman had the government of St. Nicholas' Island, and entered into a plot for the delivery of his trust to the royalists. His plan failed from overmuch caution, as he was determined not to come to any conclusion with those who treated with him, until the king's seal was affixed to a solemn instrument for his pardon. He was betrayed by his servant, some time in August this year; and sent up by sea to London, where he was shortly afterwards executed*.

After his success at Barnstaple, Colonel Digby formed the blockade of Plymouth; and a severe loss was sustained by the garrison in a sally which they made, at a place called Knocker's Hole: they beat up the quarters of the enemy, but were intercepted on Roborough Down, and many of them made prisoners: only one Major Serle charged through and escaped with the remainder. On the 4th of November, they lost the important outwork of Mount Stamford; and upon this occasion it is asserted by Clarendon, that the mayor himself was inclined to treat for a surrender, had the Prince arrived. From Rushworth it appears, that on this occasion, he imposed an oath on the garrison to defend their trust to the utmost, which, (according to the custom of the times) was published in the assemblies by the ministers of the town. Plymouth was again summoned, shortly after, by Colonel Digby, and repeated skirmishes took place, in which a great deal of resolution was displayed on the part of the besieged. On the third of December, Prince Maurice's men took, by surprise, the outwork of Lazy (qu. Lory) Point: but a fresh sally was made from the town, in which the besiegers suffered considerably, a number of their heavy armed horse being forced into the oozy bed of the Plym, near Lypson works, where they were drowned or lost in the morass. On December 18th, batteries were opened against the town, which were successfully counterbattered from the works. At length, on the morning of Christmas-day, the besieging army retired from before the town, contenting itself with maintaining a distant blockade. In this manner, many places were bravely defended by their inhabitants, which were equally destitute of all natural advantage of situation, and of all regular fortification: and the spirit which gained such romantic victories for the cavaliers in the field, too frequently failed them as soon as an earthen mound and fosse were placed between them and their mechanical antagonists. "It was remarked as a providence, that in this siege, when the

* See the account of his execution in Rushworth, where are some interesting details respecting it..

people were straitened for food, such a vast number of pilchards drifted into the harbour, that they were taken in baskets, and got such abundance, that being preserved and salted, they yielded them store of provision."

At this time, the gentlemen of the county effected what the promptitude of the supporters of parliament had at first prevented them from doing, but what they might easily have performed in the early part of 1643, had not each of them been more intent on prosecuting his private fortunes, or raising assessments and commanding independent troops of horsemen, than on the public service. An association was formed for the king, in Devon and Cornwall, under the sanction of an oath, one of the principal articles of which provided for the prosecution of the siege of Plymouth.

With the termination of this year's campaign in the two counties, and the establishment of the royalist association between them, it seems expedient to pause in these memorials; and, before proceeding to another chapter of our history, we shall probably retrace the steps we have already trodden, for the purpose of introducing facts and references illustrative of what has been written, which could not conveniently find a place in our notes; premising that we are far from aspiring to the character of historians, and shall be satisfied with the humbler title of compilers of "Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire," and collectors of " Pieces Justificatives to attend them.

ART. II.-Extracts from such of the Penal Laws, as particularly relate to the peace and good order of this Metropolis: to which are added, the Felonies made so by Statute; some general cautions to Shopkeepers; and a short Treatise on the Office of Constable; by Sir John Fielding, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the counties of Middlesex, Essex, and Surry, and for the City and Liberty of Westminster. A new Edition, 1762.

Given the laws of any country to find the manners and morals of the people, is, perhaps, for an ingenious logician, a soluble problem; but whether or not the mere laws may be sufficient data for this purpose, there can be no doubt, that an examination of the statutes, their history and changes, in any nation, would afford material assistance to both the historian of events,

and of manners. The work before us, partly compiled from the manuscripts of the celebrated Henry Fielding, and partly the composition of his brother, Sir John Fielding, displays frequently, in a striking manner, the existing state of manners in the metropolis, in their time, and, in many instances, shews, very decidedly, the great improvement which has taken place in London, in every respect, since the period at which it was written, an improvement which has not been enjoyed alone by the capital, but in common with the whole kingdom; for the date of the book is pretty nearly the date from which the prosperity and happiness of this kingdom began to increase in a stupendous ratio, and from which time, both the face, and much of the character, of the country have been entirely changed.*

With the view of giving our readers an opportunity of making some comparisons for themselves, we propose selecting a few extracts from the work before us, which has likewise another interest arising out of the name of its authors. Fielding, in the most happy manner, turned the laborious discharge of his duties as a magistrate, to the amusement of the public; for, in his magisterial occupation, we are to look for the source of many of the most instructive and entertaining of his productions. The share which the great novelist had taken in one of the parts of this work, is thus mentioned by his brother.

"The late Henry Fielding, who, for some time, executed the important office of principal acting magistrate for the county of Middlesex, and city and liberty of Westminster, so much to his own honour, and so much to the advantage of his country, observing, from daily experience, the great difficulties and dangers to which the peace officers were exposed in the execution of their office, either from the desperate behaviour of felons, the cunning of cheats, or, what is worse than both, the attacks of litigious persons, under the influence and directions of the lowest of attornies, who are ready on all occasions to point out any irregularity committed by a peace officer, and to make their advantage of it, to the injury, nay, often, to the ruin of the officer, resolved to draw up, and publish a plain and complete account of the office of constable, which he begun, but by a lingering illness, which put a period to his valuable life, he was prevented from perfecting this useful work; and, as several constables have of late subjected themselves to prosecutions from errors in their judgment, I have carefully collected and revised the observations found among my brother's manuscripts on this subject, and have made such additions as may possibly render the work more useful, though I am far from offering it to the public as a perfect treatise,"

*See Dupin's Commercial Power of Great Britain, vol. ii., p. 6, et passim.