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accepted them as the authentic records of the Church. the business of the Bishop's declinator being resumed, the Commissioner thereafter produced the King's instructions, subscribed and sealed, wherein sundry things were conceded, but no security given for any thing. The Moderator, in a learned speech, returned thanks to the King for his great favour, yet pressed the Assembly to proceed to a vote. “A sad, grave, and afflicting discussion" ensued: the Commissioner, in a speech, accompanied with tears, spoke much of his sincere endeavours to serve his God, his King, and his Country; of his grief, yet necessity to depart; the causes he alleged, were, the spoiling of the Assembly, by partial directions from the Tables at Edinburgh, and the intrusion of Lay Elders to vote in the Assembly; and His Grace added, that instead of choosing Elders, had the Presbyteries applied to the King, he, out of his good liking to the Assembly, would have taken the voice of so many noblemen and gentlemen, conducible for his services, if they would have had patience to have the right of their interrupted possession restored to them by order. This was warmly answered by Rothes, Loudon, and others: the Commissioner then protested, and discharged the Assembly from proceeding any farther; on which he departed, and was immediately followed by his Counsellors.

The Assembly being now left to themselves, consisting only of one party, resolved, at all hazards, to go on with their work; although Argyle was not a member, he was earnestly requested to countenance the meeting, which he cheerfully did. The Assembly continued their Sessions till 26th December, inclusive, having had in whole twenty-six diets, after the Commissioner left the Assembly.-They decreed,

1st, The abjuration of Episcopacy and the Articles of Perth. 2d, They abolished the Service-Books, and the High Commission, &c.

3d, The proceedings of the six preceding Assemblies, during Episcopacy, were declared to be null and void.

4th, The Bishops of Galloway, St. Andrews, Brichen, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Ross, Glasgow, Argyle, and Dumblain, were deposed and excommunicated, as were also a number of other Clergymen.

5th, The Covenant being approved of, was ordered to be signed by all ranks, under pains of excommunication.

6th, Churchmen were incapacitated from holding any place in Parliament.

7th, A number of Ministers and young Noblemen were appointed Commissioners to endeavour to procure the Royal assent to the whole proceedings of this memorable Assembly, and thus, to use the language of Hume, "Episcopacy, the High Commission, the Articles of Perth, the Canons, and the Liturgy, were abolished and declared unlawful, and the whole fabric which James and Charles, during a course of years, had been raising with so much care and policy, fell at once to the ground.” The Assembly having specially ordered Mr. George Winram of Libberton, to present the petition to the King, praying for his royal sanction to their proceedings, he set off for the Court, in London, on 9th January 1639, and was, with some difficulty, introduced to the King and Council, by the Marquis of Hamilton. His Grace, on his knee, read the petition, upon which the King* made the following singular remark, “When they have taken my head, they will put on my cowl." Mr. Winram waited many weeks for an answer, but received none; the King, however, sent a letter to his Council in Scotland, that he would be at York on the first of April next, when he would give advice in the matter. In the meantime, the Covenanters received private information that their countrymen at Court were required to take an oath, renouncing the Assembly, and promising to give every assistance to the King. Having thus far succeeded, Charles issued out orders for all his loyal nobles and gentry in England to attend his Royal Standard

Charles I.

at York, on the first of April, as he had appointed the Marquis of Huntly his Lieutenant, to oppose his Scotch subjects. Alarmed at these accounts, the leading members of the late Assembly, who had been formed into a standing Committee, called a meeting of the nobles and others interested in the great cause, to be held at Edinburgh on the 20th February, when it was unanimously agreed to raise an army, so as to defend their religious principles. The Covenanters having appointed Leslie to be their leader, cast their eyes at home and abroad for support. Charles having offended the French Court by his answer regarding the Low Country Provinces, the politic and enterprising Cardinal Richelieu, who at that time managed the affairs of France, secretly aided the Covenanters with money and arms. At home, a capitalist, Mr. William Dick, lent them 400,000 merks Scots, and afterwards continued his assistance, for which he was made Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The Earl of Argyle having also become a principal leader, hostilities commenced, when the Castle of Edinburgh, the Fortresses at Leith, and, in short, the whole of the country, were in the hands of the Covenanters, except such parts as were under the power of the Marquis of Huntly. Charles, on the other hand, determined to subdue the refractory spirit of Scotland, placed 5000 men under the Marquis of Hamilton, and 20,000 foot and 3000 horse under the orders of the Earl of Arundale. The King and his splendid Court soon joined the camp at Berwick. Thus commenced the civil wars, which for a long period deluged this country with the blood of its best citizens. Before the commencement of hostilities, James, Earl of Montrose, returning from his travels, conceiving himself slighted by the Marquis of Hamilton, joined the Covenanters; the Monarch, however, carried on a private correspondence, which gained him over to his cause. In the meantime, the Covenanters had placed 5000 foot and 2000 horse under his command, and the cadets of his family. On passing the Tweed, his private correspondence was discovered;

on which he avowed his conduct, and asked the Generals, if they desired to call their Sovereign their foe? Uniting himself to the Royal party, he marched into Scotland, and defeated Lord Elcho at Perth, and put Lord Burleigh to flight at Aberdeen. On 15th August 1645, he engaged 7000 Covenanters at Kilsyth, under General Baillie; 6000 of whom were put to the sword, and the remainder were mostly destroyed in Dullater Bog. The City of Glasgow, hearing that Montrose was to give his troops two days rest at Kilsyth, sent Sir Robert Douglas of Blackerston, and Mr. Archibald Fleming the Commissary, to congratulate His Lordship on so signal a victory; and, in the name of Provost Bell, and the other Magistrates, to invite him and his army to spend a few days in Glasgow. Having accepted the invitation, the Earl and his army were welcomed with great solemnity, and his Lordship was entertained by the Magistrates and principal inhabitants in a very sumptuous manner; and after receiving the apologies of the citizens in good part, and their promises of attachment to the cause of his Royal Master, he encamped next day at Bothwell. The City of Edinburgh sent a similar deputation to Bothwell, and apologised for their conduct in opposing the Royal cause: Argyle, in the meantime, having fled into Ireland; others sought refuge in England or the Isles. Montrose, as the King's Lieutenant-Governor of Scotland, received the homage of the remaining nobility for his Prince, the greater part of whom, however, came on purpose to deceive him, which they easily effected, by bewildering and leaving him and his army in a rugged country, destitute of the necessary supplies.

Montrose, advancing to the south, was surprised at Philiphaugh, and his forces completely routed by Leslie's cavalry, who had been detached from the army in England, to the relief of his distressed party in Scotland. Previous to this defeat, which took place on 15th September 1645, Montrose, as King's Lieutenant, had summoned a Parliament, to be held at Glasgow, on 20th

October. The Committee of Estates, and the Commissioners of the Church, now resolved to go thither, and sent orders to their friends in the Western Shires to attend them on their arrival. Leslie, with one-half of his horse, went with them as a convoy, the other half being sent to Alloa, to destroy the property of the Earl of Marr, on account of his loyalty. Three of the prisoners taken at Philiphaugh, viz. Sir William Rollock, Sir Philip Nisbet, and Alexander Ogilvie of Inverquharty, were executed at Glasgow; Rollock on the 28th, and the others on the 29th October.

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On hearing the account of this execution, Mr. David Dickson, Professor of Divinity in Glasgow College, was so much elated, that he said, "The work goes bonnily on," which passed into a proverb. Montrose, in the meantime, came to the vicinity of Glasgow with his army, but did not enter the City; after remaining for several days, he withdrew his army to Atholl.

Leslie, in his turn, having visited Glasgow, behaved with great lenity to the citizens, though he jeeringly borrowed of them 20,000l. Scots, to pay the interest of the sum which he alleged they had lent to Montrose.

Digby and Langdale, who were to have opened the Parliament, which Montrose summoned, found it convenient to keep out of Leslie's way. The papers found in Digby's carriage showed that the King wished for peace on his own terms only. The effects of the defeat at Philiphaugh, where the misfortunes of Montrose and his Royal Master commenced, became every day more apparent. The King, after various disasters, considered himself as little short of a state prisoner in Oxford, then besieged by Sir Thomas Fairfax, General of the Parliament forces; His Majesty, therefore, by a particular effort, effected his escape from confinement, and threw himself upon the mercy of the Scots army, encamped at Newcastle; here, however, somewhat unexpectedly, he also found himself a prisoner, and subjected to have a guard placed over him. The Scottish Generals and Commissioners did not fail to inform the English

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