207 To rcturne to Nottingham, after the prince was marcht away out of the country, the enemie without was still designing against the garrison, and the governor's enemies within were still perplexing all his affaires. Up<m the eleventh of May, a letter was found by a wench in the night-time, dropt in the shoemaker's booths; which letter was directed to Sr. Richard Biron, informing him that " the " businesse betweene them went on with good successe, and that " the time drawing on, it behoov'd him to be very dilligent, and " des iring him to burne the letter;" which was subscrib'd, "Your " carefull servant, A. C.;" and a postcri pt written, " Faile nothing " by any means, and there shall be no neglect in me." The governor tooke all courses tha t could be imagin'd to discover this person, but could never find him out. About this time some troopers going by a house, where one Henry vVandall, a debosht maliignant apothecary had liv'd , (but the house was now empty, and he had the key of it); they perceiv'd a smoke to come out of it, and went in and found some kindled sticks, laid in a potsherd, iust by a rotten post, under the stair-case, with hurc1s and other combustible things lock, who C\•en spoke against it, p. 123, shews the indispensible necessity for such a new model. ((Some members of the house were sent to their generals to complain of u their rem1ssness. The Earle of Manchester was under a kind of accusation , the lord u general in discontent, Wailer not much otherwise, the fo rces not carefully ordered, " and the parliament business in an unsettled condi tion, so that it was hi gh time for "some other course to be taken by them." I\fr. Sprigge demonstrates this more fully. " He says, '' Cromwell was absent in the west when the exemption was voted; that he " had come to \ Vinds;or over night to ki ss the general'? hand and take hi s Jeave on quit~ " ting the service, but the following morning , ere he came forth of his chamber, those ·u commands, than which he thought of nothing less in all the world, came to him from " the committee of both ki ngdoms, in obed ience to which he immediately marcht _a away." And further, er that the house did this for their own happiness and that of u their general Fairfax." Mrs. Hutchinson was sufficiently observant of Cromwell's artifices to have accused him of it on this occasion, if he had deserved it. 2 G
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