In truth, the great force which the King had assembled for the purpose of overawing his mutinous capital had become more mutinous than the capital itself; and was more dreaded by the court than by the citizens.

Early in August, therefore, the camp was broken up, and the troops were sent to quarters in different parts of the country.
[442] James flattered himself that it would be easier to deal with separate battalions than with many thousands of men collected in one mass.

The first experiment was tried on Lord Lichfield's regiment of infantry, now called the Twelfth of the Line.

That regiment was probably selected because it had been raised, at the time of the Western insurrection, in Staffordshire, a province where the Roman Catholics were more numerous and powerful than in almost any other part of England.

The men were drawn up in the King's presence.