your majesty's honour and happiness. We princes have found it impossible and implyare not ignorant that the work is great, the ing a repugnancy, since the persons to be difficulties and impediments many, and that reformed and the reformers must be diverse, there be both mountains and lions in the and the way of reformation must be different way; the strongest let (hindrance), till it be from the corrupt way, by which defection of taken out of the way, is the mountain of workmen, and corruption in doctrine, worprelacy, and no wonder, if your majesty ship, and government, have entered into the consider how many papists and popishly kirk. Suffer us, therefore, dread sovereign, affected have for a long time found peace to renew our petitions for this unity of reliand ease under the shadow thereof, how gion and uniformity of kirk government, and many of the prelatical faction have thereby for a meeting of some divines of both kingtheir life and being, how many prophane and worldly men do fear the yoke of Christ and are unwilling to submit themselves to the obedience of the gospel, and how many there be whose eyes are dazzled with the external pomp and glory of the kirk, whose minds are miscarried with a conceit of the governing of the kirk by the rules of human policy, and whose hearts are affrighted with the apprehensions of the dangerous consequences which may ensue upon alterations. But when your majesty, in your princely and religious wisdom, shall remember from the records of former times how against the gates of hell, the force and fraud of worldly and wicked men, and all panic fears of danger, the christian religion was first planted, and the christian kirk thereafter reformed; and from the condition of the present time, how many from the experience of the tyranny of prelates are afraid to discover themselves, lest they be revenged upon them hereafter? whereas, prelacy being removed, they would openly profess what they are, and join with others in the way of reformation. All obstacles and difficulties shall be but matter of the manifestation of the power of God, the principal worker, and the means of the greater glory to your majesty, the prime instrument. The intermixture of the government of prelates with the civil state, mentioned in your majesty's answer to our former petition, being taken away, and the right government by assemblies, which is to be seen in all the reformed kirks, and wherein the agreement will be easy, being settled, the kirk and religion will be more pure and free from mixture, and the civil government more sound and firm. That government of the kirk must suit best with the civil state, and be most useful for kings and kingdoms, which is best warranted by God, by whom kings do reign and kingdoms are established; nor can a reformation be expected in a common and ordinary way, expressed also in your majesty's answer; the wisest and most religious doms, who may prepare matters for your majesty's view, and for the examination and approbation of more full assemblies. The national assembly of this kirk, from which we have our commission, did promise, in their thanksgiving for the many favours expressed in your majesty's letter, their best endeavour to keep the people under their charge in unity and peace, and in loyalty and obedience to your majesty and your laws, which we confess is a duty well beseeming the preachers of the gospel. But we cannot conceal how much both pastors and people are grieved and disquieted with the late reports of the success, boldness, and strength of popish forces in Ireland and England, and how much danger from the power of so malicious and bloody enemies is apprehended, to the religion and peace of this kirk and kingdom, conceived by them to be the spring whence have issued all their calamities and miseries; which we humbly remonstrate to your majesty as a necessity requiring a general assembly, and do earnestly supplicate for the presence and assistance of your majesty's commissioner at the day to be appointed, that, by universal consent of the whole kirk, the best course may be taken for the preservation of religion, and for the averting of the great wrath which they conceive to be imminent to this kingdom. If it shall please the Lord, in whose hand is the heart of the king, as the rivers of waters, to turn it whithersoever he will, to incline your majesty's heart to this thorough reformation, no more to tolerate the mass, or any part of Romish superstition or tyranny, and to command that all good means be used for the conversion of your princely consort, the queen's majesty (which is also the humble desire of this whole kirk and kingdom), your joint comforts shall be multiplied above the days of your affliction, to your incredible joy, your glory shall shine in brightness, above all your royal progenitors, to the admiration of the world, and the terror of your enemies, and your king doms so far abound in righteousness, peace, and prosperity, above all that hath been in former generations, that they shall say, 'It is good for us that we have been afflicted.'" To this petition, which was presented by Mr. Alexander Henderson, the king returned a rather lengthy answer. He said that he had been only induced to give it any answer at all, on learning that it had been printed and circulated among his subjects, and he complained of the "bitterness and sharpness of some expressions," which his "well-affected subjects" might interpret not to be so agreeable to the regard and reverence due to his person, while the matter was reproachful to the honour and constitution of the kingdom of England. He declared that the petitioners, or the general assembly by whose authority they acted, had no authority or power whatever to intermeddle in the affairs of the kingdom or church of England, which were regulated by laws of their own. "Therefore," he said, "we do believe that the petitioners, when they shall consider how unwarranted it is by the laws of that kingdom, and how contrary it is to the laws of this, to the professions they have made to each other, and how unbecoming in itself, for them to require the ancient, happy, and established government of the church of England to be altered and conformed to the laws and constitutions of another church, will find themselves misled by the information of some persons here, who would willingly engage the petitioners to foment a difference and division between the two kingdoms, which we have with so much care and industry endeavoured to prevent, not having laboured more to quench the combustion in this kingdom, than we have to hinder the like from either devouring Ireland, or entering into Scotland; which, if all others will equally labour, will undoubtedly be avoided." The king next spoke with some indignation of the imputations which had been cast upon him with regard to the rebellion in Ireland. With respect to the question of uniformity of religion, he refused to give any further answer than that which had been given to a former petition on the same subject. "But we cannot enough wonder," he said, "that the petitioners should interpose themselves, not only as fit directors and judges between us and our two houses of parliament, in business so wholly concerning the peace and government of this our kingdom, and in a manner so absolutely entrusted to us, as what new laws to consent or not to consent to; but should assume and publish, that the desire of reformation in this kingdom is in a peaceable and parliamentary way; when all the world may know, that the proceedings here have been and are not only contrary to all the rules and precedents of former parliaments, but destructive to the freedom, privilege, and dignity of parliaments themselves." After further protesting against the supposition on which the petitioners seemed to act, that he had not a right to consent to or reject what laws he liked, without being subjected to the animadversion of any one, and complaining of the disrespectful manner in which they denounced God's wrath against him, telling them that the English were as little partial to presbyterianism as they, the Scots, were to episcopacy, and declaring his own attachment to the protestant faith, Charles said, in conclusion:-"But we might well have expected from the petitioners, who have in their solemn national covenant literally sworn so much care of the safety of our person, and cannot but know in how much danger that hath been and still is by the power and threats of rebellious arms, that they would as well have remembered the 23rd of October [the day of the battle of Edgehill], as the 5th of November; and as well have taken notice of the army raised and led against us by the earl of Essex, which hath actually assaulted and endeavoured to murder us; which we know to abound in Brownists, anabaptists, and other sectaries, and in which we have reason (by the prisoners we have taken, and the evidence they have given) to believe there are many more papists (and many of those foreigners) than in all our army, as have advised us to disband out of the army of the earl of Newcastle, which is raised for our defence, the papists in that army, who are known to be no such number as to endanger their obtaining any power of building their Babel, and setting up their idolatry, and whose loyalty he hath reason to commend (though he was never suspected for favouring their religion) not before that of protestants, but of such as rebel under that title, and whose assistance is as due to us by the law of God and man, to rescue us from domestic rebellion, as to defend us from foreign in vasion, which we think no man denies tc be lawful for them to do. But we do solemnly declare and protest, that God shall no sooner free us from the desperate and rebellious arms taken up against us, but we shall endeavour to free ourselves and kingdom from any fear of danger from the other, by disarming them according to the laws of the land, as we shall not fail to send our commissioners to the assembly at the time appointed for it by the laws of Scotland. To conclude, we desire and require the petitioners (as becomes good and pious preachers of the gospel) to use their utmost endeavours to compose any distraction in opinions or misunderstandings which may by the faction of some turbulent persons be raised in the minds of our good subjects of that our kingdom, and to infuse into them a true sense of charity, obedience, and humility, the great principles of christian religion; that they may not suffer themselves to be transported with things they do not understand, or think themselves concerned in the government of another kingdom, because it is not according to the customs of that in which they live; but that they dispose themselves with modesty and devotion to the service of Almighty God, with duty and affection to the obedience of us and our laws (remembering the singular grace, favour, and benignity we have always expressed to that our native kingdom) and with brotherly and christian charity one toward another; and we doubt not but God in his mercy to us and them will make us instruments of his blessings upon each other, and both of us in a great measure of happiness and prosperity to the whole nation." When the Scottish envoys proceeded to court, Lanark set out to travel quick, in order to be there before them, but he was detained on his way by the troops of the parliament, and only reached Oxford at the end of February, when he delivered to the king the opinion of his party in Scotland, that he should keep the envoys there and amuse them with fair speeches, but not let them go on to London. Charles was now exulting in what he looked upon as a certain prospect of success against his enemies, and he contemplated nothing short of their entire subjugation. While he was using to the envoys the language we have been quoting, he was secretly maturing against his native land plans of massacre and destruction of the most odious description. About the time that Lanark arrived at Oxford, the queen returned to England, landing at Burlington in Yorkshire on the 22nd of February, bringing with her stores and ammunition for the king's army. She was received by the marquis of Montrose, who conveyed her to York. The marquis described to the queen the state of Scotland, declared his opinion that nothing but extreme measures were to be expected from the covenanters, and urged that they should be immediately suppressed. He said that there were many in Scotland who possessed courage as well as loyalty, and on whose devotion he could calculate; and he proposed that a conspiracy should be secretly formed amongst these, who should rise suddenly and put to death all the chief leaders of the covenanters before they had time to put themselves on their defence. He assured her, at the same time, that if the covenanters were allowed time to assemble an army, they would be immediately masters of Scotland, and no force that the king could raise in that country would be able to make any head against them. These plans were opposed, however, by the marquis of Hamilton, who was just now made a duke by the king, and who was with the queen at York. He represented the disgrace which must fall upon the royal cause from such an unprincipled course as that recommended by Montrose. He acknowledged that the king had little to expect from the Scots, and that his chief hope was to keep up so much agitation, that during that year they should not decide upon joining the English parliament. He declared, however, that Montrose had greatly overrated his influence and power, and that such an attempt as that he contemplated, whether successful or not, would exasperate the whole Scottish people against the king to such a degree as must be most disastrous to his cause. The queen was in favour of Montrose's plan, and was persuaded with difficulty to delay until they might consult with the king. No doubt to the astonishment of Hamilton, Charles gave his full approbation to the proposal made by Montrose, and a plot was immediately formed which, it has been justly observed, would have led to a massacre which would probably have rivalled in atrocity that which had recently taken place in Ireland. The chie managers of this plot were to be the marquis of Montrose and the earl of Antrim. The latter was to proceed to Ireland immediately, where he was to bribe Monro and gain over the Scottish army sent thither under that general to serve against the rebels themselves, but who were now to be led back into Scotland to serve the king. Antrim was then to conclude a treaty with the Irish rebels this, and aware of the effects of such protests in Scotland, sent for the earl of Lindsay, and employed him to dissuade his colleague from that course; and, on being further informed that there was a plot to assassinate him on the way, Loudon demanded his passport and hurried back to Scotland. At the same time the king addressed another declaration to his Scottish subjects, expressed in the same tone and similar language as his answers to the commissioners. to forward which Charles urged the earl the safe-conduct. The king, hearing of of Ormond, now lord lieutenant of Ireland, to conclude a cessation with them. An army of these Irish rebels, under the command of Antrim, was to be transported to the western coast of Scotland, where they were to be joined by the M'Donalds of the isles. Montrose, in the mean time, was to join with the Gordons, and raise the highlanders of the north of Scotland. All these movements were to be concerted with the utmost secrecy, and the covenanters were to be taken unawares by a sudden assault and exterminated, and, when Scotland had been thus entirely reduced to the king's obedience, these united armies were to march into England, and assist the king against his parliament. The conspirators had miscalculated in the very first step towards putting this plot into execution, and it was defeated by the integrity of Monro and his army. One day major Ballantyne, an officer with the Scottish army in Ireland, saw a ship's boat lying under suspicious circumstances in a creek near Carrickfergus, and caused it to be seized. A man was taken in it who confessed that he was a servant of the earl of Antrim, and that he was sent on shore to see if the earl could land there in safety, which he was to signify to the ship by a preconcerted signal. The major compelled the man to make the signal, upon which Antrim immediately landed, and was placed under arrest. Among the papers found on his person were the instructions for seducing the Scottish army and the king's commission to treat with the Irish rebels. Thus was one design against the covenanters of Scotland frustrated. Meanwhile the position of the Scottish commissioners in Oxford was not a pleasant one. They were detained there by the king in a vain interchange of papers and replies, but they were treated with so little respect that they could hardly pass along the streets without being mocked and reviled. At length, after they had been thus detained nearly four months, their friends began to be uneasy, and they received the orders of the conservators of the peace to return. Hamilton at the same time wrote to the king to assure him that it would be injurious to his interests in Scotland to detain the commissioners longer. They were, however, still desirous of proceeding to London, and applied to the king for leave to go thither, but it was refused. Loudon would have protested against this as a breach of On the return of the latter to Scotland, a meeting of the privy council, the conser vators of the peace, and the commissioners for public burthens, was held to receive their report. When the king's various declarations and answers were read, they caused the greatest dissatisfaction, espe cially those parts in which he avowed the employment of papists, and charged the English parliament with doing the same. After they had been considered, it was proposed that, on account of the critical state of affairs, and as an army was being raised in the north of England which rendered it necessary to put the country in a posture of defence, which could not be done without a meeting of parliament or a convention of the estates, the former of which the king had refused to call, they should have recourse to the latter alternative. They had sufficient precedents for calling such a convention without the king's warrant; but it was violently opposed by Hamilton and the king's friends in the council, and it was not till the question had been warmly and urgently debated through several meetings, that at length it was carried against them. The chancellor was thereupon directed to issue his mandate for a meeting of the estates on the 22nd of June. It may be observed, that all the individuals were called to a convention of the estates which would be summoned to a parliament, and that the only difference between them was that the former had not the power to make or pass laws. A letter was sent to the king, signed by those members of the council who had voted for the convention, and who, in stating to him what they had done, justified it on the plea that they were driven to adopt this course by a sense of the impending danger, and by the circumstance that the supplies due from the English parliament to their army in Ireland, were in arrears, and that the payment of the brotherly assistance had been delayed left the convention, and returned no more. on account of the distractions in England. The estates now proceeded to business of The king had already ordered that all the an ordinary character, while they waited for Scottish lords who were in his service in a communication from England. It was England should repair to Edinburgh to known that the English parliament had resupport his party; but this proceeding solved to send certain commissioners to itself caused a feeling of alarm which en- Scotland, but they were delayed by the state tirely counteracted their influence. Three of affairs in England, where the king's party days after the meeting of the council which had been continually gaining ground during decided on calling together the estates, the the earlier months of this year Meanwhile earls of Lanark, Kinnoul, and Roxburgh, an incident had occurred which gave the arrived from the king. Their instructions estates some occupation while they waited were to hinder, by all fair means, any treaty for the message from the English parliabetween the Scots and the parliament of ment. Six of the Scottish nobles sent from England, to prevent the ministers from Oxford by the king to be present at the censuring the king's actions from their convention, the earls of Morton, Roxburgh, pulpits, and to declare the king's readiness Kinnoul, Lanark, Annandale, and Carnwath, to provide for the payment of the Scottish had, on their way, written a joint letter to army in Ireland, and that it was his plea- the queen advising that a considerable force sure that it should not be recalled home should be sent into Lancashire to hinder without his orders. To ensure obedience that county from being lost to the king. to this part of his instructions, the king This letter was intercepted by the parliadischarged the earl of Leven (Lesley) from mentarians, and a messenger was sent to obeying any orders, except from him, for its Scotland by the English parliament to recall. The council was also directed to charge the six lords with a breach of the publish the king's declaration to his Scottish treaty between the two countries. After subjects, in which he informed them that some debating, five of the lords were let off he had been compelled much against his with a gentle censure, on promising not to inclination to take up arms in self-defence, offend in the same way again; but the disavowing the employment of papists or sixth, lord Carnwath, lay under the more recusants, and calling upon them to support serious charge of having spoken of the Scothim in his cause. The king had at first tish people as rebels to the king, and having absolutely forbidden the assembly, but, it asserted that the only object of their comhaving been represented to him that this missioners was to stir up rebellion in both would not produce the desired effect, he countries, and thus ruin the king and his sent another letter, dated from Oxford, on family. Carnwath was ordered to be put the 10th of June, allowing of their meeting on his trial, but he made his escape out of to consult and conclude touching ways to the kingdom, and was fined ten thousand supply the Scottish army in Ireland, and pounds Scots for contumacy. The earl of the relieving of public burthens by pressing Traquair was also in danger of prosecution, the speedy payment of the brotherly as- and found it prudent to absent himself, but sistance due from England; but he ex- he was screened from further proceedings pressly forbad their proceeding to any other by his son, the lord Linton, who was high business, and especially to anything that in credit with the estates. Messengers also might tend to the raising of an army. arrived from Monro, who transmitted to the privy council the papers seized upon the earl of Antrim, with an account of the plot in which he and Montrose were engaged, and after the estates had sat a long time, during which their only public act was a vote for raising supplies for the army of Ireland, Mr. Corbet, a member of the English house of commons, arrived from the parliament, with instructions to request that the earl of Antrim might be delivered to them to be put on his trial for his proceedings in Ireland, to excuse their delay in communicating with the convention on account of When the estates met on the day appointed, all the king's friends were present, declaring that they attended by his express warrant, and the meeting began with a debate on the limitation contained in the king's letter. When, however, this question was put to the vote, Hamilton, with eighteen lords of the king's party present, were supported by the vote of one knight only for the limitation, while all the rest of the estates were unanimous in voting it a free convention. Upon this, Hamilton and Lanark, with the more zealous friends of the king, |