"You are prepared to fight for the cause, therefore you stand
apart. You know that what I say is true, my lord." And he turned to
Monmouth again.
"Finish what you have to say, Crosby."
"Your enterprise is doomed to failure. Here in Somersetshire you are
loved, and a few thousand men, confident that the whole country will
acclaim you, are prepared to lay down their lives for you. The country
is not going to open its arms to you. You can no longer be deceived upon
that point. The train-bands of Wiltshire are mustering, the militia of
Sussex and Oxfordshire are on the road. The Duke of Beaufort supports
the crown, and the undergraduates of Oxford take up arms to oppose you.
Feversham and Churchill march with the regular troops against you, and
your army of yokels must go down like a field of corn before the
reapers."
"I take it that, had there been no doubt of our success, we should have
had the pleasure of your company," said Ferguson.
"No, you would not. I do not favour the rebellion you are raising, and I
come on a self-imposed embassy to plead with my Lord Monmouth, first
because of my friendship for him, secondly to urge that he will not
fashion a scourge for the back of this simple West-Country folk.
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