care be had, that the places of professors of divinity in every university, be filled with the ablest men, and best affected to the order and reformation of this kirk. The commotions which so soon after took place, prevented these, and a number of other excellent resolutions from being carried into full effect, but they remain as honourable testimonies to the virtuous efforts of the church of Scotland, whose highest praise in her best time, was the attention she ever paid to the training of her youth, and the seminaries of education. *

* A committee was appointed at this assembly, to consider the state of the remote parts of Scotland, the Highlands, Islands of Orkney, Zetland, and the Hebrides, and to procure the settlement of ministers among them.

THE

HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.

BOOK VII.

Ar his departure from Scotland, Charles left a popular administration, and an apparently satisfied people. The church was settled upon a legal foundation, all the causes of complaint removed, and nothing seemed wanting but a period of internal tranquillity, to give stability to the new arrangements. There were some asperities in the construction of the political machine, but these would have worn off in its regular movements, had no external cause operated to derange its operations. Yet, with all these fair appearances, there existed a powerful counteracting agency in the restless spirit of the high royalists, who, encouraged by the king, watched for the reintroduction of all that had been abolished, and in the anxious desires of the church to promote the establishment of presbytery throughout the island-the one led to the impeachment of the English commons, and the other greatly contributed to the cordial co-operation of the Scots with the English parliament.

There existed in the state, opposed to each other as parties, the high royalists, or the abettors of unrestrained prerogative, and the friends to limited monarchy-the supporters of the constitution as now established-for however much accused

The intrigues of the high royalist party, procured for the king that evidence upon which he intended to proceed, in the impeachment of the English commons, and lord Kimbolton: Had this plot succeeded, the popular party would, most probably, have been crushed in England, and this woula only have been preparatory to the recall of every concession that had been granted in Scotland.

of republican principles, there is not the smallest proof that any of the factions ever contemplated, or would have approved of a government without a hereditary chief, or ever thought of any other family, than of that one, the roots of whose genealogical tree were radiated among the original laminæ of the nation, and hid in the obscurity of their earliest records. At the head of the first were Traquair, a man of a narrow temporizing genius, and Montrose, distinguished by bold, unprincipled ambition, but both in disgrace, and, from their situation, incapable of effecting any thing for the king, except by intrigue. They had, however, promised, that they would procure the overturn of the late acts, and being retained in his majesty's confidence, they destroyed any cordiality in the royal mind towards the state of things as he left them, while they agitated the nation by the dark rumours of change to which they gave rise. The chief men among the last, Argyle, Loudon, and Balmerino, were not more distinguished for their steady affection to the cause of liberty, than for their abilities; Argyle was reputed the most acute, and Loudon the most eloquent of the Scots. Hamilton, from the extent of his property, possessed next to these the greatest influence, but he had been thrown involuntarily into the arms of the covenanters, and his trimming politics were ultimately disadvantageous both to his king and country. The church also was divided. The sincere, upright, conscientious presbyterians formed one class, they were men who preferred that form of ecclesiastical government, because they thought it most consonant to the Scriptures, and most conducive to the best interests of religion, yet would have borne, had they followed the dictates of their own minds, with those whom they esteemed truly pious, in minor matters of church order and discipline. Among them were numbered the most venerable names of the age, Rutherford, Blair, Gillespie, and Cant. Baillie trimmed with them, as Hamilton did with the statesmen. The others were the political presbyterians, who were the most furious for forms, but less careful about

* They were afterward carried away by the more violent, but the history of their change of sentiment, belongs to ecclesiastical story.

practical piety, and though they fought for the bulwarks of the Scottish Zion, were little anxious about beautifying her palaces. The most forward among them were Guthrie, Dalgleish, and Colville, &c. The former were afterward martyrs, the latter bishops, when times altered. These, however, acted together at present, and the moderates* predominated, the others submitting for the sake of peace, as they supposed, to measures of which they did not altogether approve, but for which the pretexts were specious, and urged with zeal. The papists and episcopalians were a nerveless minority.

Two objects are mentioned, as having been in the king's view, in his late journey to Scotland. First, to conciliate the Scots by his concessions, so that if he could not obtain their assistance, he might secure their neutrality in the ensuing conflict, which he thus early either meditated or foresaw; and next, that he might obtain such information, as would enable him to impeach the leading men in England, as accessory to the introduction of a foreign force into the country. In his primary design he had so far succeeded, as to cause a reflux in the ebbing tide of Scottish loyalty, and might, perhaps, have ultimately, in a great degree, if not wholly, accomplished it, had he not delivered himself up too much to the guidance of the high royalists, who hurried him into measures incompatible with his previous purpose. By the plot of the incident, they checked in the bud, the returning confidence of the covenanting chiefs so severely, that all the sunshine of royal favour was not able afterward to restore it; for although an outward reconciliation had taken place, they never forgot the attempt, and Montrose, who was now fairly committed with his earlier friends, betrayed their secrets to the king, and furnished him with the information he so much desired, respecting their connexion with the English lords, a circumstance, which is justly considered as among the immediate causes of the civil war in England, as the proceedings against Balmerino was in Scotland.

Perhaps Britain never saw such an assemblage of integrity

* Such was the name that party assumed to themselves, when persecuting the Brownists. Guthrie's Memoirs, p. 89.

and ability, as sat in the long parliament, and the leaders were too clear sighted, not to perceive the advantages which nourishing the hopes of uniformity in church government, would procure from Scotland; we shall accordingly find, that the very first proceedings of the English parliament, after the king's return, were directed to secure the affection of the Scottish ministers, while they never for a moment intermitted in their vigilant co-operation with the Scottish nobles, to paralyze the efforts of the high royalists. In the house of commons, as already noticed, "the incident" had made a deep impression; the principal men saw in it a spirit of vindictiveness, which survived treaties of pacification, and acts of oblivion, and which the obvious interests of Charles himself, to stand well with the Scottish nobles, had not been able to subdue. There was obviously no treason, of which Hamilton or Argyle could be accused since the negotiation, it must have been before, and it could only consist in their correspondence with the English, or in some way refer to the late disturbance. Their safety had been secured by their flight, and the interposition of the estates; it was therefore necessary for those who were conscious of being liable to similar, or stronger charges in England, to anticipate such an event, and provide against it, by putting the king himself upon his defence. This, which was not obscurely hinted in the instructions to the commissioners in Scotland, was plainly brought forward in the remonstrance which followed.

In that celebrated exposé, a terrific picture was drawn of the state of the nation; all the grievances of the people were exhibited in the strongest colours; every act of misgovernment, from the commencement of the reign, till that period, distinctly detailed, every misfortune minutely entmerated, and the whole ascribed to the evil counsellors by whom the king was surrounded, and whom he was unwil ling to dismiss. The removal of these ministers, and the appointment of others possessed of the confidence of parliament, were pointed out, as the means for ensuring the happiness, wealth, and prosperity of the country at home, and its respectability abroad. The example of the Scots, who had obtained the parliamentary nomination of the high officers of