ingly do declare, That if any Scottishmen, officers or soldiers, lately members of the said Scottish Army, and taken or escaped in or since the late Fight and pursuit, shall be found straggling in the countries, or running away from the places assigned them to remain in till the pleasure of the Parliament, or of his Excellency the Lord General be known,-It will be accounted a very good and acceptable service to the Country and Kingdom of England, for any person or persons to take and apprehend all such Scottishmen; and to carry them to any Officer having the charge of such prisoners; or, in defect of such Officer, to the Committee or Governor of the next Garrison for the Parliament within the County where they shall be so taken; there to be secured and kept in prison, as shall be found most convenient. And the said Committee, Officer, or Governor respectively, are desired to secure such of the said prisoners as shall be so apprehended and brought unto them, accordingly. And if any of the said Scottish officers or soldiers shall make any resistance, and refuse to be taken or render themselves, all such persons well-affected to the service of the Parliament and Kingdom of England, may and are desired to fall upon, fight with, and slay such refusers: but if the said prisoners shall continue and remain within the places and guards assigned for the keeping of them, That then no violence, wrong, nor injury be offered to them by any means. Provided also, and special care is to be taken, That no Scottishman residing within this Kingdom, and not having been a member of the said Army, and also, That none such of the said Scottish prisoners as shall have liberty given them, and sufficient passes to go to any place appointed, may be interrupted or troubled hereby. 'Durham,' 8th September, 1648. OLIVER CROMWELL.* LETTER XLIII. 6 FAIRFAX is still at Colchester, arranging the ransoms,' and confused wrecks of the Siege there; Cromwell has now reached Berwick, all the Monroes now fairly across the Tweed. 'Lieutenant Colonel Cowell,' I conclude, was mortally wounded at Preston Battle; and here has the poor Widow been soliciting and lamenting. Newspapers (in Cromwelliana, p. 46). † Rushworth, vii., 1256. For his Excellency the Lord Fairfax, General of all the Parliament's Armies: These. MY LORD 'Berwick,' 1th September, 1648. Since we lost Lieutenant-Colonel Cowell,, nis Wife came to me near Northallerton, much lamenting her loss, and the sad condition she and her children were left in. He was an honest worthy man. He spent himself in your and the Kingdom's service. He being a great Trader in London, deserted it to serve the Kingdom. He lost much monies to the State; and I believe few outdid him. He hath a great arrear due to him. He left a Wife and three small children but meanly provided for. Upon his deathbed he commended this desire to me, That I should befriend his to the Parliament or to your Excellency. His Wife will attend you for Letters to the Parliament; which I beseech you to take into a tender con sideration. I beseech you to pardon this boldness to Your Excellency's most humble servant, On the 19th June, 1649, Widow Cowell' is ordered to be paid her Husband's Arrears by the Committee at Haberdashers' Hall. One hopes she received payment, poor woman! Upon his death-bed her Husband commended this desire to me.' In the very hours while this Letter is a writing, 'Monday, 11th September, 1648,' Monro, now joined with the Earl of Lanark, presents himself at Edinburgh: but the Whiggamore Raid, all the force of the West Country, 6000 stror.g, is already there ; 'draws out on the crags be-east the Town,' old Leven in the Castle ready to fire withal; and will not let him enter. Lanark and Monro move west to Stirling; meet Argyle and the Whigga. mores, make some Treaty or Armistice, and admit them to be the real Committee of Estates,' the Hamilton Faction having ended.‡ Here are two Letters of one date, directly on the back of these occurrences. • Lansdowne Mss., 1236, fol. 85. † Commons Journals, vi., 237. Guthry, pp. 288-97. LETTER XLIV. For the Right Honorable the Lord Marquis of Argyle, and the rest of the well-affected Lords, Gentlemen, Ministers, and People now in arms in the Kingdom of Scotland: Present. 'Near Berwick,' 16th September, 1648. MY LORDS AND Gentlemen, Being (in prosecution of the common Enemy) advanced, with the Army under my command, to the borders of Scotland, I thought fit, to prevent any misapprehension or prejudice that might be raised thereupon, to send your Lordships these Gentlemen, Colonel Bright, Scoutmaster-General Rowe, and Mr. Stapylton, to acquaint you with the reasons thereof: concerning which I desire your Lordships to give them credence. I remain, My Lords, Your very humble servant, OLIVER CROMWELL.* Colonel Bright and Scoutmaster Rowe are persons that often occur, though somewhat undistinguishably in the Old Pamphlets. Bright, in the end of this month, was sent over, from Berwick' apparently, to take possession of Carlisle now ready to surrender to us.† Scoutmaster' is the Chief of the Corps of 'Guides,' as soldiers now call them. As to Stapylton or Stapleton, we have to remark that, besides Sir Philip Stapleton, the noted Member for Boroughbridge, and one of the Eleven, who is now banished and dead, there is a Bryan Stapleton now Member for Aldborough: he in January last‡ was Commissioner to Scotland; but this present Stapylton is still another. Apparently, one Robert Stapylton; a favorite Chaplain of Cromwell's; an Army-Preacher, a man of weight and eminence in that character. From his following in the rear of the Colonel and the Scoutmaster, instead of taking precedence in the Lieutenant-General's Letter as an M.P. would have done, we may infer that this Reverend Robert Stapylon is the Cromwell Messenger,-sent to speak a word to the Clergy in particular. *Thurloe, i., 100. † Cromwelliana, p. 48. Commons Journals, v., 442; Whitlocke, p. 290. Scoutmaster Rowe, William Rowe, appears with an enlarged sphere of influence, presiding over the Cromwell spy-world, in a very diligent, expert and almost respectable manner, some years afterwards, in the Milton State-Papers. His counsel might be useful with Argyle; his experienced eye, at any rate, might take a glance of the Scottish Country, with advantage to an invading General. Of the Reverend Mr. Stapylton's proceedings on this occasion we have no notice: but he will occur afterwards in these Letters; and two years hence, on Cromwell's second visit to those Northern parts, we find this recorded: 'Last Lord's Day,' 29th September, 1650, Mr. Stapylton preached in the High Church,' of Edinburgh, while we were mining the Castle !—' forenoon and afternoon, before his Excellency with his Officers; where was a great concourse of people; many Scots expressing much affection at the doctrine, in their usual way of groans.' In their usual way of groans, while Mr. Stapylton held forth: consider that!—Mr. Robert, at 10 o'clock at night on the 3d September' next year, writes, from the other side of Severn,' a copious despatch concerning the Battle of Worcester,† and then disappears from History. ** The following Letter, of the same date, was brought by the same Messengers for the Committee of Estates. LETTER XLV. For the Right Honorable the Committee of Estates for the Kingdom of Scotland: These. RIGHT HONORABLE, Near Berwick,' 16th September, 1648. Being upon my approach to the borders of the Kingdom of Scotland, I thought fit to acquaint you of the reason thereof. It is well known how injuriously the Kingdom of England was lately invaded by the Army under Duke Hamilton; contrary to the Covenant and 'to' our leagues of amity, and against all the engagements of love † Ibid., p. 113, * Cromwelliana, p. 92. and brotherhood between the two Nations. And notwithstanding the pretence of your late Declaration,* published to take with the people of this Kingdom, the Commons of England in Parliament Assembled declared the said Army so entering, Enemies to the Kingdom; and those of England who should adhere to them, Traitors. And having† received command to march with a considerable part of their Army, to oppose so great a violation of faith and justice,-what a witness God, being appealed to,‡ hath borne, upon the engagement of the two Armies, against the unrighteousness of man, not only yourselves, but this Kingdom, yea and a great part of the known world will, I trust, acknowledge. How dangerous a thing it is to wage an unjust war; much more, to appeal to God the Righteous Judge therein! We trust He will persuade you better by this manifest token of His displeasure; lest His hand be stretched out yet more against you, and your poor People also, if they will be deceived. That which I am to demand of you is, The restitution of the Garrisons of Berwick and Carlisle into my hands, for the use of the Parliament and Kingdom of England. If you deny me herein, I must make our appeal to God; and call upon him for assistance, in what way He shall direct us ;—wherein we are, and shall be, so far from seeking the harm of the well-affected people of the Kingdom of Scotland, that we profess as before the Lord, That (what difference an Army, necessitated in a hostile way to recover the ancient rights and inheritance of the Kingdom under which they serve, can make§) we shall use our endeavor to the utmost that the trouble may fall upon the contrivers and au thors of this breach, and not upon the poor innocent people, who have been led and compelled into this action, as many poor souls now prisoners to us confess. We thought ourselves bound in duty thus to expostulate with you, and thus to profess; to the end we may bear our integrity out before the world, and may have comfort in God, whatever the event be. Desiring your answer, 1 rest, Your Lordships' humble servant, *To be found in Rushworth; read it not! OLIVER CROMWELL.|| †The grammar requires I having,' but the physiognomy of the sentence requires nothing. on Preston Moor. Means: 'so far as an Army, necessitated to vindicate its country by War, can make a discrimination.' The 'ancient rights and inheritance' are the right to choose our own King or No-King, and so forth. Thurloe, i., 100. |