"He lamented the idolatry of his mother, and the tolera"tion of it in his father's house; a matter of great of 66 fence," he said, "to all the protestant churches, and a "heinous provocation of HIM who is a jealous God visiting "the sins of the father upon the children. He professed that "he would have no enemies but the enemies of the co"venant ; and that he detested all popery, superstition, pre"lacy, heresy, schism, and profaneness, and was resolved "not to tolerate, much less to countenance any of them, in "any part of his dominions'5. This declaration had not the desired effect. The covenanters and the clergy were still diffident of the king's sincerity; and their suspicions were increased when they compared his education, and the levity of his character, with the solemn protestations he had so readily made. They had therefore prepared other trials for him. They meant that he should go through a public penance before his coronation and even to that indignity Charles had consented. In the mean time he found his authority totally annihilated. He was not called to assist at any public council, and his favour was sufficient to discredit any candidate for office or preferment. The same jealousy rendered abortive all his attempts to reconcile the opposite parties. Argyle, the chief leader of the covenanters, artfully eluded all the king's advances toward a coalition. Malignants and Engagers continued to be objects of general hatred and persecution; and whoever happened to be obnoxious to the clergy, were sure to be branded with one or other of those epithets16. The animosities among the parties of Scotland were so violent, that the approach of an English army was not suf ficient to allay them. The progress of that army it must now be our business to observe. 15. Sir Edward Walker's Historical Discourses. Burnet, vol. i. Hume, Tol vii. 16. Id. ibid. The The English parliament was no sooner informed of the issue of the negociations at Breda, than Cromwell was recalled from Ireland: and vigorous preparations were made for hostilities, which it was foreseen would prove inevitable between the two British kingdoms. Ireton was left to govern Ireland, in the character of deputy, during Cromwell's absence; and as Fairfax still retained the name of commander in chief of the forces. in England, it was expected that he, assisted by the lord-lieutenant, would conduct the war against Scotland. But although Fairfax had permitted the army to make use of his name in offering violence to the parliament, and in murdering his sovereign, he could not be prevailed upon to bear arms against his covenanted brethren; so inconsistent are the ideas of fanatics in regard to moral duty! Cromwell, on this occasion, acted the part of a profound hypocrite. Being sent as one of a committee of parliament, to overcome the scruples of Fairfax, (with whose rigid inflexibility in every thing that he regarded as a matter of principle, Oliver was well acquainted) he went so far as to shed tears, seemingly, of grief and vexation, in the affected earnestness of his solicitations. But all in vain: Fairfax resigned his commission; and Cromwell, whose ambition no one could suspect, after he had laboured so zealousy to retain his superior in the chief command, was declared captain-general of all the forces in England'. This was the greatest step he had yet made toward sovereignty, such a command being of the utmost cousequence in a commonwealth that stood solely by arms. Fully sensible of the importance of rank he had attained, the new general immediately assembled his forces; and before the Scots had signi fied any intention of asserting the right of Charles to the crown of England, he entered their country with an army of sixteen thousand men. 17. Whitlocke. Clarendon, vol vi. The The Scots, who had begun to levy troops, on being threatened with an invasion, now doubled their diligence, and soon brought together a stout army The command of this army was given to David Lesley, an officer of experience, who formed a very proper plan of defence. He entrenched himself in a fortified camp between Edinburgh and Leith, after having taken care to remove from the counties between Berwick and Edinburgh, every thing that could serve to subsist the English army. Cromwell advanced to the Scottish camp, and tried, by every provocation, to bring Lesley to a battle, but without effect. The prudent Scotsman aware, that, though superior in numbers, his army was inferior in discipline to the enemy, kept carefully within his entrenchments; so that Cromwell, reduced to distress for want of provisions, and harassed by continual skirmishes, was obliged to retire to Dunbar, where his fleet lay at anchor. Lesley followed him, and encamped on the heights of Lammermure, which overlook that town. Cromwell, who had but a few days forage, seemed now on the brink of ruin or disgrace. He was conscious of his danger, and is said to have embraced the desperate resolution of sending to Newcastle his foot and artillery by sea, and of attempting at all hazards, to force his way with his cavalry. But in this he would have found the utmost trouble, as Lesley had taken possession of all the difficult passes between Dunbar and Berwick. And could he even have accomplished his retreat, it would have occasioned, in the present unsettled disposition of men's minds, a general insurrection for the king in England18. But the enthusiastic zeal of the Scottish clergy relieved Cromwell from all his difficulties. They had ordered the king to leave the camp, on finding he gained on the affections of the soldiery; and they had likewise carefully purged it of a large body of Malignants and Engagers, whose loyalty had led them to attend their young sovereign, and who were 18. Burnet, vol. i. Clarendon, vol. vi. Whitlocke p. 471. men SEPT. S. men of the greatest credit and military appearance in the nation. They now thought they had an army composed wholly of saints; and so confident were they of success, that after wrestling all night with the Lord in prayer, they forced Lesley, in spite of his earnest remonstrances, to descend into the plain, in order to slay the sectarian host. Cromwell, who had also been seeking the Lord in his way, and had felt great enlargement of heart in prayer, seeing the Scottish camp in motion, was elated with holy transport. "God," cried he," is delivering them into our hands: they are coming "down to us!" He accordingly commanded his army to advance singing psalms, in proof of his perfect assurance of victory, and fell upon the Scots before. they were disposed in order of battle, after descending the hill. They were suddenly broken, and totally routed. Above three thousand fell in the battle aud pursuit, and about twice that number were taken prisoners. Cromwell, improving his advantage, made himself master of Edinburgh and Leith, while the remnant of the Scottish army fled to Stirling. An ague, with which he was seized, and the approach of winter, prevented him from pushing his conquests farther before the close of the campaign. The defeat at Dunbar, which broke the power, and brought down the spiritual pride of the covenanters, who reproached their God with the slaughter of his elect, and of deceiving them by false revelations, was by no means disagreeable to the king. He considered the armies that fought on both sides, as almost equally his enemies; and he hoped that the vanquished, for their own preservation, would now be obliged to allow him some more authority. He was not deceived. The Scottish parliament, which met soon after at Perth, agreed to admit Hamilton, Lauderdale, and all the Engagers, to share in the civil and military employments of the kingdom, on their doing public penance. Some Malig 19. Id. ibid. Sir Edward Walker, Hist. Disc. Ludlow's Mem. vol.i. VOL. III. ' 3 L nants nants, or episcopal royalists, also crept in among them: and the king's intended penance was changed into the cere mony of his coronation, which was performed with great pomp and solemnity at Scone 2. But Charles, amid all this appearance of respect, was still in a condition that very ill suited his temper and disposition. He remained in the hands of the most rigid covenanters, aud was in reality little better than a prisoner. Exposed to all the rudeness and pedantry of the presbyterian clergy, and obliged to listen to prayers and sermons, from morn to night, he had no opportunity for the display of his agreeable qualities; and could not help frequently betraying, amid so many objects of ridicule and disgust, evident symptoms of weariness and contempt. For although artful in the practice of courtly dissimulation, he could never mould his features into that starched grimace, which the covenanters regarded as the infallible sign of conversion. His spiritual guides, therefore, never thought him sufficiently regenerated, but were continually striving to bring him into a more perfect state of grace". Shocked at all these indignities, and still more tired with the formalities to which he was obliged to submit, Charles A. D. 1651.attempted to regain his liberty, by joining a body of royalists, who promised to support him. He accordingly made his escape from Argyle and the covenanters; but being pursued by colonel Montgomery and a troop of horse, he was induced to return, on finding the royalists less powerful than he expected. This elopement, however had a good effect. The king was afterward better treated, and intrusted with more authority; the covenanters being afraid of renewing their rigours, lest he should embrace some desperate measure22. 20. Burnet. Walker. Clarendon. 22. Id, ibid. 21. Burnet vol. i. The |