underminers, being received to the Covenant, yet remain disaffected to
the ends of the same; We cannot but think that we walk in the midst
of snares, and that mysteries of iniquity work amongst us, which may
produce most sad and lamentable effects, unto the prejudice of our
Religion and Liberties. Therefore, Because God hath no greater quarrel
against a Nation than that of a broken Covenant; Let all who fear an
Oath, remember the vows of God which are upon them, Watch and Pray, and
take good heed that they be not cheated nor charmed into a violation
of all, or any of the Articles of that Sacred and Solemn League and
Covenant; And let those especially be observed and avoided, who do,
or shall endeavour a division and breach between the Kingdoms, or the
making of any factions or parties contrary to the Covenant, under
pretence of preserving the King and his Authority, whilst they do not
constantly and sincerely prosecute and press our frequent desires of
his subscribing the League and Covenant, and giving satisfaction in all
things to the just desires of both Kingdoms; which underhand dealing
can prove nothing else, but an abusing of His Majesty for mens own
designs: We wish that none suffer themselves to be deceived by any
false glosses of the Covenant, under which some may possibly urge the
keeping of it, so as to draw us into a certain breach thereof, and
press the defence of the King’s Authority and of Religion, to engage
us in those ways that would tend to the ruin of both: We are not now
to press the want of full satisfaction in the much desired work of
Uniformity, as the ground of a breach between the Nations; Though we
still conceive, this Nation will never be wanting to prosecute that
work to the uttermost of their power in all lawful ways, according to
the League and Covenant.
These Kingdoms, after many fervent Supplications and faithful
endeavours of all the Lovers of Truth and Peace, have been happily
united into a League and Covenant, which to this day hath been kept
inviolably, notwithstanding of all the opposition of open Enemies,
and plotting of secret Underminers; And we are confident that none
but such as have hearts full of Atheism and Treachery, will attempt
the violation thereof, in whole, or in part; And that if any shall do
the same, they shall expose themselves to the Curse of Almighty God,
who will be avenged upon all that Swear falsly by his Name. We know
that men of perverse minds, wanting the fear of God, and measuring all
things by their own ends, may conceive of it as alterable, or at least,
that all the Clauses or Heads thereof are not so to be stuck upon, but
that some one or more may be dispensed with upon civil advantages: But
we have not so learned Christ or his Word: Both Nations have Covenanted
with God, and each of them with another, in things most lawful and
necessary for the preservation and good of both, without any limitation
of time: And therefore we and our Posterity are obliged before God unto
the Observation thereof, as long as the Sun and Moon shall endure. The
Sense of these things ought to be so deeply engraven upon the hearts
of all that are in trust, That as they should from their Souls abhor
every thought of a breach with England; So should they carefully and
wisely study to avoid everything that may prove a snare and tentation
unto the same. Amongst other things, if his Majesty shall have thoughts
of coming to this Kingdom at this time, he not having as yet subscribed
the League and Covenant, nor satisfied the lawful desires of his
Loyal Subjects in both Nations, We have just cause to fear that the
consequences of it may be very dangerous, both to his Majesty and these
Kingdoms; Which therefore we desire may be timely prevented.
For so long as his Majesty doth not approve in his heart, and seal
with his hand the League and Covenant, we cannot but apprehend, that
according to his former Principles, he will walk in opposition to
the same, and study to draw us unto the violation thereof, and the
dissolution of the Union so happily begun between Us and our Brethren,
To weaken the Confidence and Trust, and to entertain jealousies, and
make divisions amongst our selves; Neither is it possible, but that
our receiving him in this present posture of Affairs, will confirm
the suspicions of the English Nation, of our underhand dealing with
him before his coming to our Army; And make them, not without cause,
to think that we purpose to dispose of him without their consent, and
to their prejudice; which is contrary to the Profession of those that
were in trust at his Majesty’s first coming to the Scots Quarters, and
overthroweth all the Arguments that have been used by the Commissioners
of our Parliament in their Papers concerning The disposing of his
Majesty’s Person by the joynt advice and common consent of both
Kingdoms given in to both Houses of Parliament in England; Nor do we
see how we can vindicate such a practice from a direct breach of our
engagements to them by Covenant and Treaty; which were not only to
expose us into the hazard of a Bloody War, but to involve us in the
guilt of Perjury. And what greater disservice could be done to his
Majesty and his Posterity, than to give way to a course that might
prove prejudicial to their interest in the Crown and Kingdom of England.
Our carriage now for many years past, in the midst of many tentations,
hath put us beyond all suspicion in the point of our Loyalty; nor
have we the least thoughts of deserting the King’s Majesty in a just
and good cause, being bound by our Covenant in our several Vocations
to endeavour with our Estates and Lives, to preserve and defend his
Person and Authority, in the defence and preservation of the true
Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms: And so far as his Majesty shall
be for these, we really are, and we trust the rest of his Kingdoms
will be for him: Yet we cannot deny, but openly avouch it, That if his
Majesty (which the Lord forbid) shall not satisfie the just desires
of his People; Both Nations stand mutually obliged by that inviolable
Covenant to pursue the ends therein expressed (which cannot be divided)
against all lets and impediments whatsoever. It is therefore our most
earnest and longing desire, That as those who are in trust with the
Publick Affairs of this Kingdom have heretofore with all earnestness
and care in all their addresses dealt with his Majesty, with much
strength of Reason and vehemency of Affection, so they would still deal
with him, to grant his Royal consent to the desires of both Kingdoms,
for setling Religion according to the Covenant, and for securing a
perfect and durable Peace (which we look upon as the only hopeful means
of preserving himself, his Crown, and Posterity) That his Majesty may
return to his Houses of Parliament in England as a reconciled Prince
to satisfied Subjects; And that acclammations of joy may be heard in
all his Majesty’s Dominions, and no sound of War heard therein any
more, except against the bloody Irish Rebels, under whose barbarous and
cruel persecution, our distressed Brethren, both in this Kingdom and in
Ireland, are still groaning and crying out to us and to our Brethren in
England, Be at peace among yourselves, and come to help us.
* * * * *
_Note of Proceedings in the Convention of Estates relative to the
Church, betwixt the Assemblies of 1647 and 1648._
1648.
_March 27._ Answers of Parliament to the desires of the Commissioners
of the General Assembly, represented by them to Parliament, vol. vi.,
p. 290.
_March 29._ Answers of Parliament to the representation of the
Commission of the General Assembly, of their sense on the Parliament’s
Answer to their right desires, p. 291.
_April 11._ Act anent the Resolutions of Parliament concerning the
Breaches of the Covenant and Treaties betwixt the Kingdoms of Scotland
and England, and Demands for Reparation thereof, p. 292.
_April 16._ Act concerning the Desires of the Commissioners of the
General Assembly, p. 295.
_April 19._ A Declaration of Parliament to all his Majesty’s good
Subjects, concerning their Resolutions for Religion, King, and
Kingdoms, in pursuance of the ends of the Covenant, p. 305.
_April 26._ A Letter from the Parliament of Scotland to the Parliament
of England, p. 309.
_April 27._ Desires of the Parliament of Scotland, to the Honourable
Houses of the Parliament of England, p. 309.
_May 2._ Answer of the Parliament of Scotland to the Commissioners’
Papers of the 10th and 29th of April, 1648, p. 310. A Letter sent from
the Parliament of Scotland, to the several Presbyteries within the
Kingdom, p. 321.
_June 10._ Act Ordaining all Ministers to exhort their People to
obedience to the Laws of the Kingdom, and assuring these Ministers
of their Stipends during their lifetime, p. 331. Act and Declaration
of Parliament, in Answer to the Supplications from Synods and
Presbyteries, p. 332.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
AT EDINBURGH, 1648.
The period in our history to which our attention is now
attracted—extending from the beginning of August, 1647, to the 12th of
July, 1648—embraces a variety of striking occurrences, and presents, in
the progress of the great national drama which was rapidly hastening
to its tragical termination, a complication of circumstances well
calculated to affect the most sober-minded as well as the more sanguine
student. The pillars of society were then indeed shaken to their
foundations and utterly overthrown.
When we last paused in our narrative, we left the Sovereign of
the British kingdom a prisoner in the hands of a mutinous army in
England—the usurping Parliament truckling to an armed force of its own
creation—the capital of that kingdom in the possession and under the
dominion of the army—and the people suffering from an intolerable load
of burdens, and all the horrors of social anarchy. It is unnecessary
for our purpose, however, to dilate on these particulars; and we do
not intend to enter on them further than is absolutely necessary for
illustrating the relative movements in Scotland, which it is our more
immediate object to record.
In the Acts of the Assembly 1647,[363] our readers will find a
Declaration and brotherly Exhortation to their brethren of England, in
which they deplore the many obstructions to the triumph of the Covenant
and Presbytery, in the variety of pestilent sectaries which had sprung
up; and, referring to the Declaration of the Scottish Parliament, of
16th January preceding, they declare that their zeal in that cause does
not abate nor diminish anything at all from their loyalty and duty to
the King’s Majesty; they profess that the Covenant and presbyterial
government are so far from hindering or excluding their duty to the
King, that it was thereby strengthened and supported. Nothing, however,
would induce the clerical party to abate one jot of the Covenant; and
they demanded of the King that which he could not, without an utter
dereliction of honour and conscience, comply with—an adoption of the
Covenant and extirpation of prelacy and all the diversified heresies
which abounded in England, under the protection of the English army,
then in complete ascendancy over all the authorities of the State.
In these circumstances, many of the nobility, and all of the Scottish
nation who had shewn any opposition to the Covenant, and hence acquired
the designation of _malignants_, bestirred themselves in behalf of
the King and the restoration of social order. In pursuance of these
objects, and with the view, doubtless, of also wiping off the stigma
which, well or ill founded, attached to the nation—as having sold
the King to his rebellious English subjects, who had ever after kept
him a prisoner—the Scotch resolved to make another effort; and the
Committee of Estates, after much debate, agreed to send the Chancellor
and Lanerick on a mission to the King and the English Parliament, in
order to unite with Lauderdale, who was in England, and, if possible,
to effect some reconciliation by persuading the King and the English
Parliament to adopt the Covenant. Even this proposition (which was no
concession whatever to the King) was unpalatable to the Kirkmen and
their friends in Parliament. Argyle and Wariston protested against it
as too favourable for the King, and the clergy failed not to declaim
against it as an artifice of hated malignancy.
The Scottish Deputies proceeded to England, and, in October, entered
on their task of negotiation upon the principles embodied in their
instructions, urging the King’s acquiescence in the Covenant as a means
of insuring support in all his legitimate prerogatives, against those
who now avowed hostility to monarchy. Beset and bewildered amidst the
conflicting and irreconcilable propositions of the two Parliaments
and the army, his Majesty at length, on the 11th of November, made
his escape from Hampton Court, and, two days after, took refuge in
Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle of Wight; his intention of leaving the
country having been baffled, and his person still remaining in the
power of what may justly be called the rebel or revolutionary party,
in the English Parliament and army, under the guidance of Cromwell and
Vane.
On his flight, the King left messages to be communicated to
Parliament,[364] expressing his favourable opinion of Episcopacy, yet
consenting that Presbytery should be established for three years, but
with toleration to all who could not submit to it conscientiously.
These terms were not acceptable to the Scottish Commissioners, falling
far short of what their constituents and the Covenanters insisted on;
but they were entirely disregarded by the English Parliament, who,
without ever consulting them, passed four Acts, which were entirely on
civil points, and substantially denuded the King of every vestige of
royalty. The Scottish Commissioners indignantly remonstrated against
these Acts as a breach of the treaty with Scotland, and proceeded to
the Isle of Wight, where they advised the King against assenting to
these Bills, which would subject himself and his people to a military
despotism; and formally protested against these domineering ordinances
of the English Parliament. Separate negotiations with the King were
carried on by them, and speedily digested into a treaty, which soon
after became but too well known under the name of “The Engagement.”
A brief retrospect, however, is requisite before the nature of that
treaty is explained.
It is but a debt of justice, which we are gratified to pay to our
countrymen, when we reiterate, from the authentic record, that in
these very delicate and perplexing circumstances, Lord Loudoun,
Chancellor, and his colleagues of the Commission, did all that loyal
and brave men could do, under their instructions, to rescue their
Sovereign from the grasp of a set of infuriated and armed democrats.
So early as 13th August preceding, the Scottish Parliament had adopted
a Declaration and Remonstrance, expressive of their resolution “to
redeem his Majesty from the hands of schismaticks, and place him in his
Parliament with honour and safety—to procure the peace of the three
kingdoms, &c.—all which are not only endangered, but, by likelihood,
ready to be destroyed by the power of an overawing tyrannical army,
under the conduct of Sir Thomas Fairfax;” and to this was added an
oath, taken by the Parliament of Scotland, and ordered to be taken by
all his Majesty’s loyal subjects, in which they vowed to “maintain and
defend with our lives, powers, and estates, his Majesty’s royal person,
honour, and estate, as is expressed in our National Covenant, and
likewise the power and priviledges of Parliament, and the lawful rights
and liberties of the subject.” After referring to doctrines held by
the English Parliament, that _kingly government was inconvenient_, and
the King a _public enemy_; that it contemplated the new and arbitrary
modelling of Parliament, and the ruin and destruction of the House of
Lords;—the declaration referred to, concluded with an intimation, that,
failing a remedy for these impending breaches of treaty and loyalty
on the part of the English usurping Parliament, the Scottish nation
would make such provision of arms and other military forces, as might
secure their religion and their King, kingdom, and parliament.[365] In
pursuance of this resolution, a corps of 3,500 men, under General David
Leslie, was cantoned at Jedburgh, and along the Border.
On the 14th of September, (1647,) the King’s answer to the propositions
which had been sent him, was read in the Parliament, to the effect
that he would give full satisfaction to his people for whatsoever
should concern the settling of the Protestant profession, with liberty
to tender consciences, and the securing of the laws, liberties, and
properties of all his subjects, and the just privileges of Parliament,
for the future.[366] This, after various and long discussions, they
held to be a refusal of their propositions; and, on the 22d of that
month, resolved, “to fall directly upon the settlement of the kingdom,
by establishing such additional laws as might make for the present and
future good of the kingdom, turning the propositions into Bills and
Acts;[367]” and ultimately agreed that tender consciences should be
freed, by way of indulgence, from the penalty of the statute for the
Presbyterian government on account of their nonconformity, who do meet
in some other congregation for worship on Sunday,—that Papists should
be subject to penalties in the statute of Elizabeth against them, but
no indulgence should extend to tolerate the use of common prayer in
any place whatsoever.[368] On the 18th of October, the Commons sent
up sixteen propositions to the Lords, to be sent to the King, among
which were these:—That the militia should be under the direction of
Parliament for twenty years; that bishops, deans, and chapters, should
be abolished; that the bishop’s lands should be sold; that the great
officers of State should be chosen by Parliament; and that Presbytery
should be established for three years.[369]
Meanwhile, the army was also engaged in the work of legislation.
The agitators of sixteen regiments concocted proposals, which were
laid before Parliament on the 1st November, for a reform in the
parliamentary representation—for triennial parliaments—for a power in
the Commons to erect and abolish all offices and courts; and that,
in matters of religion, there should be no parliamentary legislation
whatever—“the ways of God’s worship are not at all intrusted by us to
any human power.”[370]
In these circumstances, the Scottish Commissioners did their duty
manfully: on the 5th of November, they sent a letter to the Speaker of
the Commons, complaining of the violence done to the King’s person by
the army, and of his being still detained in captivity; and intimated
“that no alteration of affairs shall ever separate them from the duty
and allegiance they owe unto his Majesty, nor from their constant
resolution to live in loyalty under his government;” requiring the
English Parliament to concur with them in a personal treaty with
his Majesty.[371] At that time, it appears, the Scottish clergy, of
all parties, were unwearied in their invectives against the English
Parliament and army; and a spirit of hostility was thus fostered and
awakened against them.[372] Such was the state of matters when the King
escaped from Hampton Court; and, on the 15th of November, letters were
received by both Houses from Hammond, the governor, announcing his
Majesty’s arrival at the Isle of Wight. Of the proceedings which took
place on the part of the Scottish Commissioners, from the time of their
first communications with his Majesty in October, till the completion
of the engagement in December following, we deem it unnecessary to
give the details and documents fully, as these are recorded by Burnet,
and may be consulted.[373] The Scotch Commissioners, however, were
zealous, and, so far as we can see, honest in their counsels to the
King to put his veto on the four bills. The consequence of the King’s
refusal to pass these bills in the end of December was, that he was
committed a close prisoner in Carisbrook Castle, by orders of the
English Parliament. From that time forward his Majesty was hedged about
by the creatures of the levelling faction; his letters intercepted
even from the Queen and his daughter; and an English Parliament did
not scruple to violate all the sanctities of domestic affection, and
to subject these documents to the scrutiny of committees of their
appointment.
We must now revert to the proceedings in Scotland arising out of the
state of affairs in England, which we have now briefly explained;
and although there were many circumstances of a cheering nature,
calculated to redeem the national character from the obloquy into
which it had fallen in consequence of its participation in the
rebellious proceedings of the English usurpers, yet was there a great
preponderance of perilous anarchy; and it was at this particular period
that a collision arose betwixt the Kirk and the State, which, within
a very short space, rent the strength of the kingdom in pieces, and
subjected it to the deepest humiliation.
On the 8th of February, 1648, the Grand Committee of the Estates
convened at Edinburgh, and adjourned to the 10th on account of the
absence of the Scots Commissioners. On the 9th, the Commission of
Assembly also met; and, on the 10th, the Committee of the Estates
re-assembled, when Loudoun, and the other Scots Commissioners, made
reports of their proceedings in England during their recent mission.
The discussions which thence arose, and the courses which followed, are
of so important a character as to require particular detail, in order
to illustrate fully the sad state of distraction and disorganization
into which the kingdom had fallen.
The first session of the second triennial Parliament was holden at
Edinburgh on the 2d of March, 1648, and, on the 17th, it appointed
a committee for preventing dangers—Berwick and Carlisle being
garrisoned with malignants. The same day, answers were made to the
communication from the Commission of Assembly, in which the Estates
pledged themselves “that the grounds and causes of undertaking of war
be cleared to be so just as that all who are well affected may be
satisfied in the lawfulness and necessity of the ingadgment;”[374] that
religion and the maintenance of the Covenant should be the principal
end of all the undertakings of this kingdom; and they desired a
Committee of the Church to meet a Committee of Estates on the 24th, to
draw up such a state of the question of war, as might unite the nation
in a unanimous undertaking of such duties as were requisite for the
reformation and defence of religion.
After intervening conferences, the Estates, on the 11th of April,
passed an act anent the Resolutions of Parliament, concerning the
breaches of the Covenant and treaties betwixt the kingdoms of
England and Scotland, and demands for reparation thereof.[375] They
waived mention of the non-payment of arrears due on the “brotherly
assistance,” and the allowance for the Scottish army in Ireland,
(amounting to £312,000 sterling;) and also waived adverting to the
disavowal, by the English, of the treaty of 28th November, 1643: and
enumerating all the breaches of treaty on the part of the English
Parliament, the act concludes with three propositions:—_1st_, That
effectual steps be taken for enforcing the adoption of the Covenant by
all the subjects of the Crown of England, conformably to the treaty
1643, which declared all recusants to be public enemies, and liable
to punishment—that uniformity and Presbyterianism be settled, and the
Directory for worship and Westminster Confession be adopted, and all
heresies and the Service Book be suppressed and extirpated: _2dly_,
That the King should go with all honour, freedom, and safety, to some
of his houses in or near London; and that the Parliaments of both
kingdoms might communicate with him for establishing religion and
peace;—and, _3dly_, That the army of sectaries, under the command of
Fairfax, be disbanded, and none be employed but such as should take the
Covenant, and be well affected to religion and government.