few hurried lines to London
with the ill tidings. [367] He then pushed on to Exeter, where he found
Christopher Monk, Duke of Albemarle. This nobleman, the son and heir
of George Monk, the restorer of the Stuarts, was Lord Lieutenant of
Devonshire, and was then holding a muster of militia. Four thousand men
of the trainbands were actually assembled under his command. He seems to
have thought that, with this force, he should be able at once to crush
the rebellion. He therefore marched towards Lyme.

But when, on the afternoon of Monday the fifteenth of June, he reached
Axminster, he found the insurgents drawn up there to encounter him. They
presented a resolute front. Four field pieces were pointed against the
royal troops. The thick hedges, which on each side overhung the narrow
lanes, were lined with musketeers. Albemarle, however, was less alarmed
by the preparations of the enemy than by the spirit which appeared in
his own ranks. Such was Monmouth's popularity among the common people
of Devonshire that, if once the trainbands had caught sight of his well
known face and figure, they would have probably gone over to him in a
body.

Albemarle, therefore, though he had a great superiority of force,
thought it advisable to retreat. The retreat soon became a rout. The
whole country was strewn with the arms and uniforms which the fugitives
had thrown away; and, had Monmouth urged the pursuit with vigour, he
would probably have taken Exeter without a blow. But he was satisfied
with the advantage which he had gained, and thought it desirable that
his recruits should be better trained before they were employed in
any hazardous service. He therefore marched towards Taunton, where he
arrived on the eighteenth of June, exactly a week after his landing.
[368]

The Court and the Parliament had been greatly moved by the news from
the West. At five in the morning of Saturday the thirteenth of June, the
King had received the letter which the Mayor of Lyme had despatched from
Honiton. The Privy Council was instantly called together. Orders were
given that the strength of every company of infantry and of every troop
of cavalry should be increased. Commissions were issued for the levying
of new regiments. Alford's communication was laid before the Lords; and
its substance was communicated to the Commons by a message. The Commons
examined the couriers who had arrived from the West, and instantly
ordered a bill to be brought in for att