presence. But after the king was returned to England, he and the other gentlemen, his fellowprisoners, were set at liberty; upon which he went to his own house, and remained there some time. This was towards the end of the year 1641. CHAP. II. The behaviour of the covenanters in England.-Montrose confers with the queen at York; is supplanted by the Marquis of Hamilton, whose advice is followed.-The covenanters call a convention at Edinburgh.-Montrose's conference with Mr Henderson, from whom he learns the designs of the covenanters. In the year 1642, the covenanters in both kingdoms began to lay aside the mask, and to carry their matters above board. The rebels in England vexed the king with their unjust and unreasonable petitions and complaints; they loaded him with reproach, and abused his royal name in their ballads, and scurrilous libels and pasquils; yea, they went so far as to incite and spirit up the common people to mob him in his own palace, and even to use threatenings against him. He might very justly by his own authority have punished these scandalous and tumultuous proceedings, but he chose rather to refer them to the parliament, thinking by that means to melt them down to submission and obedience but it was to no purpose for him to confer obligations upon such an ungrateful set of men; for they themselves were the authors and abettors of all those insolent tumults, notwithstanding he had most graciously bestowed numberless favours upon them; and had yielded more for the ease of their pretended grievances, and the security of the subject, than all the kings of England, from the time of William the Conqueror, had done before him. Therefore at last, much contrary to his inclination, he was forced to retire from London for the safety of himself and family for the queen's greater security he sent her to Holland; and he himself came down to York. The states of parliament, as they called themselves, immediately thereupon took up arms; and these very forces which his majesty had raised for the relief of Ireland, and were in readiness for that expedition, they now turned against the king himself; having before had the address to procure the officers all of their own naming. The rebels in Scotland, who knew well that the king had a sufficient strength to overpower the English, resolved not to be wanting in assistance to their brethren in England, now when they stood in need of it; and though the king in the late parliament at Edinburgh had most graciously given them full satisfaction in every thing they could desire, which they declared in their public acts, ** * The Earl of Loudon, in name of the nobility, and Sir Thomas Hope junior, in name of the gentry, made congratulatory speeches to his majesty, for giving them full satisfaction in every thing concerning religion and liberty, so that now a contented king was to depart from a contented country.-Guth. Mem. p. 108. yet they now resolved to carry on a war against him in England. But that they might provide for the security of affairs at home, they again endeavoured all they could to draw Montrose over to their side, as he was the only person of whom they were afraid. They offered to make him lieutenant-general of their army, and to do for him whatever else he should demand that was in their power but he rejected all their offers; and perceiving that the storm would inevitably soon burst out, he set out for England to acquaint the king of the state of affairs, so that he might in due time be provided against it, taking with him only the Lord Ogilvy as his companion and confident. When he came to Newcastle, he got account that the queen was returned from Holland, and had just landed at Burlington in Yorkshire. * He went directly to her, and informed her how matters stood; but as she was fatigued with her voyage, having had a very stormy passage, she told him, that she would consult these matters deliberately when they came to York. Accordingly, after they came there, she sent for him, and he again laid every thing before her majesty at full length, and showed her that there was as much danger to be apprehended from the Scots covenanters as from the English, if they were not timeously suppressed. * End of February 1643. C Being asked, what, in this case, he would advise to be done? He answered, that it was proper to repel force by force; that the king wanted not many faithful and valiant subjects in Scotland, who had wealth, power, and courage, and were ready to withstand the covenanters, should they have the hardiness to enterprise any thing against the king; that the only thing they wanted was a warrant from his majesty, without which they would attempt nothing; but, if they were once clothed with his authority, this would so inspirit them, that there was nothing they would not venture upon for his service; that the only risk was in a delay, for that the covenanters, had they once got an army on foot, would then have it in their power to suppress any after-rising upon the very first motions; that it was, therefore, necessary to check so great an evil in the bud, for that it was too late to administer medicines when the disease had infected the whole body. This was a wholesome and seasonable advice, and the queen would undoubtedly have embraced it, had not her mind been altered by the Marquis of Hamilton, who came from Scotland on a pretence only to pay his respects to the queen, and to congratulate her majesty upon her safe return, though, in fact, he had come up with the knowledge and consent of the covenanters, merely to thwart Montrose's counsels. He did not, indeed, deny but there was some danger from the |