to use against the English Parliament.’ English Parliament frightened.And, with this fear in their heads, the leaders of Parliament were now driven to take steps far beyond any they had intended a year before. First they brought forward laws for the utter abolition of bishops and all their works; The ‘Militia Bill’, December, 1641.and then laws to transfer the command of the army or militia from the Crown to Parliament.
Civil war in sight.This last was revolution pure and simple. No king could agree to this, and so Charles began to set about preparations for war. Large numbers of Members of Parliament came to join him from both Houses; but those that remained at Westminster were of course all the more determined to fight.
Cavaliers and Roundheads.The words ‘rebellion’, ‘treason’, ‘traitor’ are very ugly words; and traitors in those days were put to a very ugly death. So, many moderate men, who had hated Charles's unlawful government, and applauded all the work of this Parliament during its first nine months, now threw in their lot with the Crown. So did many men who cared nothing for bishops; Charles was their King, and his flag was flying in the field. There were many men, too, who hated the long sermons and the gloomy nature of the Puritans; for the Puritans objected to country sports, maypoles, dancing, and to lots of innocent amusements. These ‘Cavaliers’ called the Parliament men ‘Roundheads’, ‘crop-eared rogues’, and so on; they gave the King an excellent force of cavalry, in which arm the Parliament was at first weak. The King’s best foot-soldiers were mostly Cornishmen or Welshmen, good fellows to fight, too.
But the Parliament had the richer districts of the kingdom, the South and East; London was in its grip; it had most of the fleet; and much the fuller purse.