their own country and reported to the assembly the unsatisfactory termination of their mission.

The only question which presented itself to the King to be decided upon was, whether he should trust himself to the Roman Catholics of Ireland, or to the Presbyterians of Scotland. The murder of Dorislaus, the Parliament's ambassador to the States, had taken place on the 3rd of May, and it was apparent that Holland could be no longer a safe residence for the King: indeed he had had a hint given him to depart. Upon which he makes a pretence of consulting the States as to the course which he should adopt and finally decides for Ireland, determining first to pay a visit to the Queen mother at Paris.

And such was the termination of the first of the two proposals made by the Scots to their exiled king.

The late successes of the Marquis of Ormond, in Ireland, must have had great weight in bringing the King to this decision, but the subsequent reverses of the royalists prevented its being carried into effect; and thus both projects came to an end. The Irish expedition, had it been for a time successful, would have eventually led to another outbreak, as the King would have had to show more favour towards his Roman Catholic subjects, than the people at large were prepared as yet to acquiesce in—and the other attempt by means of the Scotch, might very probably have been the means of at once extirpating "Popery and Prelacy" altogether. But better things were in store for the distressed Church of England. We had occasion (Vol. VI. p. 70) in speaking of Dr. Morley's movements to trace those of the King from the Hague to S. Germain's, and thence to Jersey, which had not yet submitted to the usurpers, and was thought a safe and convenient residence from which Charles might at any time set sail for Ireland, if his presence in that country should be thought desirable. He reached that island about the end of September, 1649. Meanwhile the Presbyterians of Scotland were trembling for themselves and were anxious to strengthen their position by securing the co-operation of the King. Argyle also was apprehensive that he could not long retain the power which he at present possessed, and accordingly procured that a new deputation should be sent to Charles, offering the same terms as before, terms which they hoped in his present necessitous condition, there being now no hopes from Ireland, and the Parliament meditating an invasion of Jersey, he might be induced to accept. Accordingly Breda was named as the place of rendezvous, and thither Charles repaired. Unfortunately at the time of this treaty his best counsellor, Hyde, was gone as ambassador to the court of Spain, and so had it not in his power to give advice except indirectly. It is possible however that Hyde's influence might have had no effect. Perhaps the King was determined to sacrifice honour and conscience for the sake of recovering his crown ;

and if so he would have turned a deaf ear to the remonstrance of all those to whom he had hitherto been accustomed to defer.

It is scarcely possible to view the history of political events in England from the time when Charles acceded to the overtures of the Scotch commissioners at Breda to the battle of Worcester, without feeling that there was a visible interference of Providence for the preservation of the English Church. We have had occasion to observe, in a previous paper, that little sympathy was felt in this movement by the Royalist party in general, and that the episcopalian divines stood entirely aloof from it. Clarendon, who more than any other of the king's advisers represented and understood the views of the Bishops and Clergy, was utterly averse to it, and that chiefly on the score of conscience. He was probably sagacious enough to foresee that the Scots would not be able to restore the King, but he must have known enough of the character of Charles to feel sure that he could not with any sincerity promise his assent to the Covenant. He, if any one, knew the King's temper, and was aware how easily he was led away by thoughtless companions, and how unable he was to resist temptations of whatever kind. Young as he was at this time, Charles perhaps thought little of any thing beyond the romance of the enterprise of an exiled king endeavouring to fight his way back to his crown and having once taken the fatal step of assenting to the demands of the Scotch commissioners at Breda, he went on recklessly, and scarcely made any resistance to the increasing exorbitancy of their requirements.

From a letter written by Sir John Berkeley to Hyde, from Paris, March 22, 1649-50, it appears that the King was then within three days of Breda, where "he is to meet the Scots' commissioners, who are likewise on their way, notwithstanding all the most industrious artifice that hath been used to divert them, but truly I think in vain, for there is no great danger of an agreement, which in my poor opinion halts on both the feet: for they are resolved to insist upon things unreasonable, and we are not in a disposition to grant them reasonable." (State Papers, Vol. 2, p. 530.) What Clarendon's own opinion was may be gathered from the following beautiful extract from a letter addressed by him to Lady Morton, and dated 18th March, 1650.

:

"I pray Gop this treaty may prove prosperous to the King; the Scots, methinks, deal with him like honest men, and tell him plainly that they will never do him good and yet we are so mad as to believe that they will do better than they promise. For sure nobody would have the King do all that they propose, but they are so senseless as to hope to be too hard for them after they have sworn to be as ill as they. It is an excellent expedient to draw GOD's blessing upon us, to have no other excuse for taking an oath, than that they resolve not to keep it at the same time they take it; for without doubt, none of your court can wish the covenant should

be kept, which obliges the takers never to suffer the Queen more to set foot in England, and to destroy all those who have served the King honestly; yet they are content everybody should take it. Oh! my Lady, we are making haste out of Christianity, and forgetting there is another court to appear in when we are out of this; but keep yourself to your foundations of virtue and innocence, and you shall live to see exemplary judgments upon this projecting, restless, vain people who are undoing the little good they have done by running to those, who if they had not seen this giddiness and inconstancy in them would long since have frankly committed themselves to their conduct and disposal. But I have long thought our nation will be either utterly extinguished under this great judgment, or be restored and preserved by such an extraordinary way, as we shall not be able to assume any part of it to our own wits and dexterity; for methinks GOD Almighty exceedingly discountenances all the designs which our natural reason is apt to flatter us with."

The same view of the matter appears in a letter to Henrietta Maria from Madrid, of which the following is an extract.

"I pray GoD send the King a good issue of this treaty at Breda, and that he may not throw off servants of unquestionable faith and integrity, of whom he is possessed, in expectation of great services from those who have done all the mischief to his Majesty and his father, and to your Majesty, and do not appear to repent any thing they have done, and so are the more like to act over the same part again. Above all, I hope he will make no such concessions as may by degrees produce a resurrection of that accursed parliament in England, which it is plain is the drift of the Scots, and makes them to be so solicitous to be acknowledged a parliament, presuming the other will follow. I am so ambitious that your Majesty should know my heart in all things, that I could not conceal my present fears, though they may be liable to censure; yet proceeding from entire devotion to your Majesty, I am confident will never render me unworthy your Majesty's protection, as

"Madam,

"Your Majesty's most obliged humble servant.
[Edward Hyde.]"

The King met the commissioners first at the latter end of March, and the propositions submitted to him were even more outrageous than those which he had the previous year rejected at the Hague. He did not give any immediate answer, but repaired to the Hague to consult the Queen of Bohemia, and the Prince of Orange. Whilst the matter was still in question, two additional commissioners are sent, making some new demands, the intention of which was, on the part of Argyle, to prevent his coming to Scotland. Charles was induced to answer that he would defer the

signing the Covenant till he came to Scotland, and that then if the Kirk would press it upon him, he would give them satisfaction. He vainly hoped that upon his arrival he should not be urged to it, but that his subjects there would feel the advantage of having their King amongst them, at a time when some collision with their southern brethren of the Commonwealth of England was inevitable. The King accordingly excused himself from signing the Covenant till his arrival. He was at the same time in communication with Montrose, and it is probable that he hoped some great successes on the part of the Marquis might lead the way to a more advantageous arrangement between himself and the Ministers of the Kirk. Before he left Breda, however, came the news of Montrose's execution, and a new message was brought saying that there was evidence of his having corresponded with Montrose, and that no notice should be taken of such correspondence if he would immediately set sail. Argyle immediately upon hearing of the King's resolution to sail despatched another vessel, with new conditions such as might effectually prevent his setting out, but the King's fleet had already sailed, and did not fall in with the vessel sent to anticipate it.

After the treaty had been concluded at Breda, the success of the Scots against the Marquis of Montrose, whom they hanged and quartered, emboldened them to vote his Majesty's concessions unsatisfactory. So they framed new demands which met him at Terhey, where he embarked. However the King was not to be deterred, and set sail Sunday morning, 12th June, 1650, Styl. Nov. The new demands were pressed upon him upon his anchoring under Holy Island, at the mouth of the Elve, after a stormy passage of nine days. On Sunday, 23rd June, or 3rd July, Styl. Nov., they cast anchor in Cromarty Frith at the mouth of the Spey, and here before he landed, he was made to sign both the Covenants national and solemn. One of the first acts of the Scots was to dismiss all his English attendants from the King; Buckingham was the only English nobleman left with him, and this notwithstanding the Duke's notoriously profligate character, because he from utter indifference to religion and conscience, could be induced to advise the King to adopt any measure that might seem to be expedient. The very persons who to serve a purpose could countenance flagrant immorality, were those who would not allow the King to take a walk on Sunday, and took upon themselves sharply to rebuke him if there had been any dancing or playing at cards in his presence. Burnet speaks of being present on one occasion when the King had to listen to six successive sermons on a fast day; and continues, that things were managed with so little discretion, that it contributed not a little to beget in him an aversion to all sort of strictness in religion. His first remove was to Aberdeen, where he was lodged opposite the Tolbooth, in full view of the hand of

Montrose, which was hung up over the prison; thence to Dundee and St. Andrew's, where Mr. Rutherford made him an oration, telling him that unless he adhered to the Covenant it was all over with him and his cause. Hence he removed to Stirling, and July 27, joined the army at Leith, Cromwell being then within a few miles of Edinburgh. The King was becoming too popular with the army to be allowed to remain, and the leaders of the Kirk party refused to act in what they considered would be no longer the cause of GOD, unless he took his departure. Accordingly, on Friday, August 2nd, he crossed the Forth to Dunfermling. Soon after Cromwell suddenly retreated to Haddington, and thence to Dunbar. After much altercation between the King and the Kirk party, he was induced to put out a declaration, August 16th, in which he engages that the Directory, Confession of Faith, and Catechism of the assembly of divines shall be established in England. The Scots were sure of victory, and gradually increased in their demands on the King. To all appearance they had nothing to do but remain in the advantageous position which they occupied. Cromwell's ships and provisions lay at Dunbar, and he could not dare to leave them: he was actually thinking of putting his army on board and sailing back to Newcastle, when owing to a dispute between Lesley and Waristown, the latter not thinking the former, who was commander in chief, forward enough against the sectaries, as they were called, orders were given to march down the hill. In the morning, before they were in order, Cromwell fell upon them and completely routed them. Sunday, Sept. 15, was appointed for a day of humiliation for the defeat of the army, which was attributed amongst other causes to the provocation given by the King's house, which they feared he had not thoroughly repented of, and the carnal confidence of many in the army, and the neglect of many in the duties which they owed their families. It appears that a committee of the Kirk had all the power in their own hands, and were willing enough to make use of the King for the furtherance of their Presbyterian principles: most of the gentry, and nearly all the common people were very loyal, but the committee did not choose to allow the King too much intercourse with the people, and in fact, though outwardly served with a ceremonial befitting a King, he was in reality little else than a prisoner, sentinels being posted round his lodgings, and spies being instructed to watch his words and actions. The ministers of the Kirk too were continually thrusting themselves into his bedchamber to catechize him, and exact repetitions of his promises. The most exact account of what took place after the King's leaving Breda is given in Sir Edward Walker's Journal of affairs in Scotland: he came over with the King from Holland, and remained there till the end of October, after which he returned and wrote his narrative at the Hague, dating it Dec. 1650.

The defeat at Dunbar must have been the cause of great satis