and upwards from one man, and burnt them all night through the army, and such as they carried not away, either they broke in pieces, or threw into the fire, or trod in the mire. Had they rested with robbing of the richer sort it had been some degree of mercy, but they left not unplundered the blind beggar at Old Brainford, taking from him and his wife their wearing apparel, linen, woollen and bedding; and the like they did to the poor almswomen in the Spittle there, and cook from them their wheel or rocks by which they got something towards a livelihood; and when they had thus plundered and taken away all the goods, except here and there a bed, they defaced some houses and set one of them on fire on purpose, as is conceived, to fire the town, which was afterwards quenched by an inhabitant. Had their wicked carriages here ended in the loss of the inhabitants’ goods without hazard of their persons, they had undergone it with more patience, but such was their inhuman behaviour, that they did set drawn swords and pistols cocked to men’s and women’s breasts, threatening them with death if they brought not out all their money, and threatening others to cut off their noses and pull out their eyes, calling them Parliament dogs, round-headed rogues, beating and wounding some of them, (one of them being a lame cripple,) taking of the inhabitants prisoners, and putting irons upon them, others they tied with ropes, and stripped some to their shirts, and as one of them who was led next day in irons towards Oatlands, stopped to take a little water in his hat to drink, they beat him and bruised him for offering to do it. Their hearts were so scared they would not extend compassion to the aged and greyheaded; for they took one grave old gentleman, above four score years of age, and put him with other of the inhabitants of the town, into the pound, where they were divers hours, and afterwards were removed into a slaughter-house, where they lay all night, it being a most nasty and noisome place; and the old gentleman being bound hand and foot together all night. They also plundered an ancient gentlewoman of about three score and ten years of age, whose age and weakness would not permit her to go to Church for these seven years last past, they took from her all her bedding, linen, pewter, &c., and even her mantle from her back, leaving her in a poor and miserable condition. Their plundering was so universal, that even divers of the richer as well as the mean sort were, and to this day are, inforced to live on the charity of the Earl of Essex and his soldiers, the Cavaliers leaving scarce a piece of bread or meat in all the town. It would pierce a heart of flint to see the tears dropping from the old men’s eyes, in expressing their sad condition; and a great addition to these cruelties was the barbarous, merciless, and unheard of usage of the Parliament soldiers by the Cavaliers; for they did put them