BRITAIN. 



596 



tain. 



MON- 

 LTH. 



SsO. 



Scotch 

 fde- 



151. 



roedat 

 w. 



Lothians, to deprive the English of subsistence. 

 Cromwell tried every expedient, without Miecess, to 

 bring Lesly to ab:ittlc. The kinjj came to the Scottish 

 camp, where his presence exciting the jealousy of 

 the fanatical clergy, they ordered him immediately 

 to leave it. They also purged it of 4OOO Malignants 

 and Engagers,* the soldiers of chief credit and expe- 

 rience in the nation ; and being now an army of saints, 

 concluded they could not be beaten. They mur- 

 mured at their prudent general. They murmured 

 also at the Lord, for his delays in delivering them, 

 and plainly told him, that he should no longer be 

 their God, if he would not save them from the sec- 

 taries. An advantage having offered to Lesly on 

 Sunday, they would not suffer him to take it for 

 fear of Sabbath-breaking. Cromwell was in a bad 

 ituation, straitened for provisions, and reduced in 

 numbers by sickness, he .retired to Dunbar. Lesly 

 followed him, and encamped on the heights of Lam- 

 mermuir above the town, taking possession of the 

 passes by which the enemy could retreat to Berwick. 

 The English general had come to the desperate reso- 

 lution of sending his foot and artillery by sea to 

 England, and of breaking through with his cavalry 

 to Berwick. But the madness of the Covenanters 

 snatched a bloodless victory from Lesly, when he 

 was on the eve of seizing it. The ministers, who 

 had been wrestling, (as they termed it,) with the 

 Lord in prayer, fancied that they had at last obtain- 

 ed the victory, and forced their general, in spite of 

 his remonstrances, to descend to the plain and at- 

 tack the English. When Cromwell discovered, 

 through his glass, an unusual movement in the Scot- 

 tish camp, " they are coming down !" he exclaimed, 

 " the Lord hath delivered them into our hands." 

 They continued, during a tempestuous night, to de- 

 scend from the hills : their matches were extinguish- 

 ed, and their undisciplined number* were exposed to 

 the skill of veteran troops, who had been carefully 

 covered from the storm. They were, indeed, deli- 

 vered into the hands of Cromwell. Three thousand 

 were slain, and nine hundred taken prisoners. The 

 Scottish parliament, taught by this disaster the ne- 

 cessity of an union of all parties, resolved, in their 

 meeting at Perth, to call in the aid of the Malignants 

 and Engagers, on condition of a repentance of errors, 

 which was ridiculously dictated and adopted. But 

 two shires in the west of Scotland protested against 

 this admission of the ungodly to co-operate in the 

 cause, and withdrew from the general levy five thou- 

 aand men. 



Tired of the gloomy restriction in which he was 

 held by the Scottish clergy, Charles endeavoured to 

 make his escape to a body of royalists in the High- 

 lands ; but he was overtaken, and persuaded to re- 

 turn. This incident, which was denominated the 

 start, procured him better treatment, from the fear 

 of lo'sing him. His coronation was performed at 

 Scone with great solemnity. The crown was placed 

 on his head by the Marquis of Argyle, whose own 

 head was afterwards the forfeit. 



Charles encamped at Torwood, and his generals 



resolved to pursue the lime eftutioul conduct which 

 had been observed by Lealy, and fatally over-ruled 

 by the clergy. The town of Stirling was behind ; 

 the north supplied them with provisions ; and en- 

 trenchments protected their front ; but their posi- 

 tion was by no means so favourable as in the former 

 year at Edinburgh ; and Cromwell, unable to force 

 them in front, yet, by defeating a detachment on 

 their flank, got between them and the north, and 

 Charles adopted a resolution sufficiently desperate, 

 which Argyle vainly endeavoured to oppose ; he 

 marched to the south, to carry the war into Eng- 

 land, relying on the English royalists for support ; 

 but neither these nor the Presbyterians, though they 

 hated Cromwell, would join an army of fugitive in- 

 vaders. The militia opposed him in front, and 

 Cromwell hung upon his rear. At last, th<- Scot- 

 tish army, who had thrown themselves into Worces- 

 ter, were attacked by Cromwell with 30,000 men, 

 and, after a desperate contest, were all either killed 

 or taken prisoners* The kmtj, escaping with diffi 

 culty (see the article CHARLES II.) from the field 

 of battle, after a multitude of adventures, at last 

 reached Shoreham in Sussex, where a vessel trans- 

 ported him to France. The executions of the 

 royalists, after this suppressed insurrection, were 

 directed, in consequence of sentences by court- 

 martial ; for Cromwell had already found, that a 

 trial by jury would not support tyrannical usur- 

 pation. By the strength of the usurping govern- 

 ment, a total pacification was produced at home. 

 Ireton proceeded with 30,000 men successfully in 

 the work of subduing Ireland, till his death. 



Ludlow, his successor in the command, continued 

 to push the advantages, and to gain an easy victory. 

 Monk, who had been left with 7000 men to over- 

 awe Scotland, reduced the whole kingdom to sub- 

 jection, and an union with England was pressed upon 

 the Scotch at the point of the sword. Of ninety 

 Scottish towns and counties to winch writs were is- 

 sued to send representatives to the English Parlia- 

 ment, only thirty complied. Argyle alone acted 

 with public spirit amidst the calamities of his coun- 

 try. He retreated to his estate, where he fortified 

 himself for some time ; and though he acceded, at 

 last, to an union with England, he was the last ma 

 in Scotland who yielded to Monk. Sir George 

 Ayscue was sent to reduce the colonies ; all of which, 

 except New England, had declared for the king j 

 and Bermudas, Antigua, Virginia, and Barbadoes, 

 were soon reduced. With equal ease were Guern- 

 sey, Jersey, Scilly, and the Isle of Man, subjected | 

 and the sea, which had been infested by the prtvateen 

 of those islands, was rendered safe to English com- 

 merce. The Countess of Derby, who defended the 

 Isle of Man, had the glory of being the last person 

 in the British dominions who submitted to the vie* 

 torioue commonwealth. 



The new government next exerted its energiej 

 abroad. The Dutch had shewn symptoms, during 

 the late civil wars in England, of attachment to the 

 royal cause. It was long before the parliamentary 



Britain, 



Charlcn 

 carries th* 

 war into 

 England. 



Sept. 3. 



The Scot A 

 are com- 

 pletely 

 routed t 

 Worcester, 



Proceed, 

 ings in 

 Scotland, 

 and in the 

 colonies. 



The Malignants were those suspected of Popery or royal principles, 

 treaty or engagement with Charles I. in Cariebiook CftsUe. 

 VCHn IV. PART II. 



The Engagers were that party who had nude Ar 

 if 



