Parliament, at the same time, was besieged with petitions for disbanding the army and restoring the king. To allay the ferment in the capital, whilst the army was engaged in the provinces, Parliament passed a resolution that no change should be made in the government by kings, Lords, and Commons. Fairfax withdrew his troops from the Mews and Whitehall, and Major-General Skippon was made commander of the City militia, to act in concert with the Lord Mayor and Corporation. The men of Kent and Essex rose in great numbers for the king. At Deal, off which Colonel Rainsborough, now acting as admiral, was lying, the people rose. The fleet, consisting of six men-of-war, revolted, hoisted the royal colours, and sailed to Helvoetsluys, where they called for the Duke of York to take the command. The effect of this event was neutralised, however, by a victory, which Fairfax obtained on the 1st of June over the Royalists at Maidstone, where, after a hard fight of six hours, he slew two hundred in the streets, and took four hundred prisoners. This defeat prevented the junction of this body with another under Colonel Goring, now Earl of Newport, who marched to Blackheath, and demanded entrance into the City. The Independent party were in a perilous position there. There was, as we have seen, a numerous body in London in favour of the king, who had no reliance on the militia. To conciliate public opinion, the Parliament ordered the release of the aldermen imprisoned at the desire of the army, and revoked the impeachment against the six Lords and eleven Commoners. Holles and his associates resumed their seats and their old measures, voted for a renewed negotiation with Charles on condition that he should restore Presbyterianism, and give the command of the army to Parliament for ten years. Luckily for the Independents, the Lords rejected these propositions, and voted a treaty without any conditions. At the same time the Common Council, showing a decided leaning towards the king, offered to protect him from danger and insult if he would come to the capital. The danger to the Independent interest was only repelled by the obstinacy of their old enemy Holles, who would consent to nothing which did not establish Presbyterianism. [Illustration: EXECUTION OF SIR CHARLES LUCAS AND SIR GEORGE LISLE. (_See p._ 78.)]