BRITAIN. 



58:7 





hUR 



I. 



ad tr:mr- 



10 ortlcr- 

 it to be 



ircrs..|;y 



ci of- 



r to bribe 



the 

 otch 



ic dis- 



' 



enatc the 

 otch 

 imhis 

 use. 



Vane, HO declaration more explicit was made, with 

 regard to England ami In-land, than th it ihcsi- king- 

 doms should be reformed ai conlniv; to t! 

 God, and the example of the purest church, s. The 

 Scottish zealots, when prelai:y was abjured, took it 

 for gr :n this c* th:it their own 



model. Hut the able politician 

 :ul other view.-; ; and while he laughed at their 

 ity, had devoted himself to the maintenance 

 ms still more dangerous. The solemn league 

 and covenant was received in the Scottish convention 

 and kirk assembly with enthusiasm and tears of joy, 

 and transmitted to the English parliament ,md assem- 

 bly of divines at Westminster, where it was received 

 with the same applause, and ordained in both king- 

 doms t>> be universally subscribed. By a treaty with 

 the Scottish comvntiun, 21,000 Scotch were to be re- 

 in arms at the cxpcnce of England, to be led 

 by their own generals, and to receive orders from a 

 committee of both kingdoms. No terms of peace 

 were to be concluded without the concurrence of 

 the Scotch, who were to evacuate England at the 

 conclusion of the war. ' 



Political choice, as well as religious zeal, no doubt 

 prompted Scotland to take this side in a quarrel, in 

 which the success of parliament threatened much less 

 evil to their nation, than the success of the king ; a 

 quarrel too, in which neutrality was as difficult as 

 unsafe. But Charles had, in the mean time, endeav- 

 oured to atone for his recent rejection of their media- 

 tion, by offers to bribe their loyalty, which, if in- 

 sincere, were at least magnificent. Among many 

 things, he promised to rennnex Northumberland, 

 Cumberland, and Westmoreland, to the ancient king- 

 dom of Scotland. But these offers were counteracted, 

 by the discovery of intrigues, by which the non-co- 

 venanting Highland clans under Montrose, were en- 

 gaged to desolate the Lowlands in the royal cause. 



The Earl of Antrim, who was to bring the Irish 

 to co operate in this design, attempted to land at 

 Knockfergus, but was surprised by the Scotch ; and 

 the discovery of correspondence found 0:1 his person, 

 rrst revealed the king's intention* to procure a cessa- 

 tion of arms with the Irish Catholics, and to intro- 

 duce their arms into England. This discovery spread 

 horror and alarm, and more firmly united the English 

 and Scotch. A massacre of the chief Covenanters 

 was projected by Moutrose. and was to have tnkeii 

 place at the Countess of Roxburgh's funeral ; but the 

 royalists were happily too few to attempt it. 



The discovery of the king's intentions to make a 

 truce with the Irish insurgents, and to con\ert those 

 ferocious enemies into Auxiliaries, quickened the mili- 

 tary preparations of the Scotch, and impelied them 

 to take the field in the depth of wn.tcr, (1643-4). 

 By the victories o' Ormond, all the forts which had 

 been either besieged or blockaded by the native Irish 

 had been relieved ; and by Ormond's influence chiefly, 

 the justices and council in Ireland Lad lallen into an 

 entire dependence on the king ; so that, excepting a 

 body of Scottish forces, who, for some time, were al- 

 lowed, by agreement with the English parliament, to 

 defmd die British pi niter:, in the north of Ireland, it 

 was to Charles's troops that the honour of preserving 

 the Bntibh name in the sister island was due, 



TOfc, IV. PAHT JU 



The king, that he might make preparations during 

 the winter for the ensuing campaign, summoned to 

 Oxford all the mi-mb' rs of i-i'h-. r !>' us'.- who -idhi-reii 

 to his interests, and availed himself of the name of a 

 parliament, so passionately clu-mhed by t> 

 His house of commons amounted only to 11' 

 of the number at Westminster: his hoi: 

 was twice as numerous as thai of his opponents. 

 Such a spectacle of doubl (' ken 



of calamity to the nation, which iemin<i-, us of CEdi- 

 pus, when he beheld two sii: 

 The parliament ;tt Westminster voted the first 

 that was ever introduced in England. That at Ox- 

 ford imitated the example, and granted the king 

 .*. 100,000, to be levied by loans upon their subjects 

 with IB his quarters. It was the interest of Charles 

 to declare himself, (whether sincere or not,) conti- 

 nually anxious for peace: it was the interest of the 

 commons rather to be sure of an advantageous peace, 

 than to risk any thing by an unequal treaty. The 

 negotiations, therefore, which Charles preferred be- 

 fore the commencing campaign, were thwarted in the 

 first instance, by his applying to Essex, who refused to 

 assist towards treating, unless the communication were 

 directly opened with parliament ; and in the next in- 

 stance, by the king refusing to acknowledge the 

 houses at Westminster an entire parliament without 

 including those at Oxford. Twenty. one thousand 

 Scotch, commanded by Lesly, earl of Leven, and 

 guided by a committee of the two nations, marched 

 to support the parliamentary cause, in the depth of 

 winter ; and crossing the Tweed amidst severe frost 

 and deep snows, sent an ineffectual summons to the 

 town of Newcastle. Then passing the Tyne, they 

 faced the Marquis of Newcastle, who lay at Durham 

 with M-,000 men. The regiments which Charles had 

 procured from Ireland, reduced some fortified places 

 in Cheshire, and invested Namptwich , but yo;;ng 

 Fairfax advanced to relieve it, and totally ruined 

 and dispersed the Irish auxiliaries. He then joined 

 his father, Lord Fairfax ; and their joint forces de- 

 feated Colonel Belhsis at Selb,y, whom Newcastle 

 had left to protect one approach to his army; so that 

 the Marquis, for fear of being inclosed, was obliged 

 to retire to the deft nee of York, and to frmit a 

 junction of Fairfax with the Scotch. Their united 

 arms seemed insufficient to reduce York, till the ar- 

 rival of Manchester (lately Kimbolton) with a third 

 parliamentary army. Even then, the three armies 

 contented themselves with a slight blockade ; but on 

 the approach of Prince Rupert with l!S,000 royalists, 

 Manchester, Leven, and Fairfax, abandoned the t>iege, 

 and prepared for battle on Marston Moor. By a 

 most dextrous movement, or rather concealment of 

 his movements, Rupert crossed the Ouse, threw his 

 military stores and provisions into Y>rk, and joined 

 his forces with those of the Marquis of Newcastle. 

 If contented with this exploit, he had listened to the 

 advice of Newcastle, and remained on th<- defensive 

 till another expected reinforcement arrived, tht 

 army would have probably much diminished; the 

 king's army, at all events, would have been 

 but impelled by a rash spirit, Rupert gave orders' for 

 battle. His forces occupied Marston Moor, those of 

 his opponents extended along the adjacent, fields ; 



Britlir 

 CUAH 



parfuiMvi 



at Oxford. 



Progress o- 

 the Scotch 

 armv. 



Battle oi~ 

 Marston 

 Moor. 



