A member of the Common Council, Philip Chetwyn, was charged with having publicly declared that Skippon’s appointment was not the real wish of the court, and that "seaven lies" had been voted by the court on the 11th April last.(853) Chetwyn gave an emphatic denial to the first charge, and eventually both charges were allowed to drop. The council at the same time passed a resolution to the effect that whenever a charge should in future be made by one member of the court against another, and the court take cognisance of it, the charge itself and the names of the accuser and the accused should be expressed in the order of the court.(854)
The City lost no time in availing itself of the assent of parliament to replace the chains in the streets from which they had been removed. They went further than this. From Saturday night to the following Monday night (28-30 May) the gates and posterns were ordered to be kept closed and guarded, the names of all lodgers were to be taken, vagrant soldiers were to be ordered to their quarters, whilst servants and children were to be confined indoors, except on the Sunday that intervened, when they might be escorted to church by their parents or masters.(855) The reason for these precautions was that there had been unmistakable signs of the army getting out of hand. An unexpected danger, the revolt of the whole of South Wales, which meant nothing less than the renewal of the war, served, however, to consolidate the ranks.
With Wales up in arms for the king and the north of England threatened with a Scottish invasion the army had enough to do without keeping a forcible hold on London. The City, therefore, had to be left to itself, and to be kept in good humour by concessions rather than by force until the trouble had passed away. The story goes that before Cromwell proceeded to quell the rebellion in Wales the Council of War resolved that the City should have all they asked or desired, "there being no other way for the present to quiet them." It would be time enough when the enemy had been beaten to "make the City pay for all."(856)
On the 1st May Fairfax wrote to the Commons from Windsor announcing his intention to despatch Cromwell into Wales and to withdraw the regiments quartered at Whitehall and Charing Cross, leaving the protection of parliament to the London forces under the command of Skippon. The same day that the Commons received this letter (2 May) they communicated with the Common Council of the city, who were delighted at the execution of their long expressed wishes that the army should be removed from the vicinity of London and at the compliment paid them by Fairfax in placing the protection of parliament in their hands. The sum of £600 a year was voted to Skippon for his services, a sum just double that allowed him on his appointment as sergeant-major-general in January, 1642.(857) Fairfax wrote him a friendly letter complimenting him on his past services to parliament and the kingdom and expressing regret at parting from him. He at the same time disengaged Skippon from all ties to himself and the army under his command, and wished him much happiness in his new sphere.(858)