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The beginning of this year, the marquis of Montross was taken in the north of Scotland by colonel Straughan* with a small body of troops, and hanged at Edinburgh on a gallows thirty feet high; his body was buried under the gallows, and his quarters set upon the gates of the principal towns in Scotland; but his behaviour was great and firm to the last. The marquis appeared openly for the king in the year 1643, and having routed a amall party of covenanters in Perthshire, acquired considerable renown; but his little successes were very mischievous to the king's affairs, being always magnified beyond what they really were: His vanity was the occasion of breaking off the treaty of Uxbridge, and his fears lest King Charles II. should agree with the Scots, and revoke his commission before he had executed it, now hurried him to his own ruin..

The young king being in treaty with the Scots covenanters at Breda, was forced to stifle his resentment for the death of the marquis, and submit to the following hard conditions :

(1.) That all persons excommunicated by the kirk should be forbid the court.

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(2.) That the king, by his solemn oath, and under his hand and seal, declare his allowance of the covenant.

(3.) "That he confirm those acts of parliament, which enjoin the covenant. That he establish the presbyterian worship and discipline, and swear never to oppose, or endeavor to alter them.

*This is not accurate. Colonel Straughan's forces in conjunction with others, fell on lord Montross's party, routed them, and took 600 prisoners but the marquis himself escaped, though with difficulty, for his horse, pistols, belt, aud scabbard, were seized: and two or three days after the fight, he was taken sixteen miles from the place of engagement, in a disguise, and sorely wounded: having been betrayed, some say by lord Aston, but, according to bishop Burnet, by Mackiand, of Assin. Dr. Grey, and Whitlocke's Memorials, p. 438, 9. Ed.

+ If his successes were magnified beyond the truth, his character has also been handed down with the highest eulogiums. The marquis of Montross," says Mr. Granger," was comparable to the greatest heroes of antiquity. We meet with many instances of valor in this active reign; but Montross is the only instance of heroism. Amongst other circumstances of indignity, which accompanied his execution, the book of his exploits, a small octavo written in elegant Latin, which is now very scarce, was tied appendant to his neck. Dr. Grey, and Granger's History of England, vol. ii. p. 245, 6. 8vo. Ed.

(4.) That all civil matters be determined by parliament; and all ecclesiastical affairs by the kirk.

(5.) That his majesty ratify all that has been done in the parliament of Scotland in some late sessions, and sign the covenant upon his arrival in that kingdom, if the kirk desire it."*

The king arrived in Scotland June 28, but before his landing, the commissioners insisted on his signing the covenant, and upon parting with all his old counsellors, which he did, and was then conducted by the way of Aberdeen and St. Andrews to his house at Faulkland. July 11, his majesty was proclaimed at the cross at Edinburgh, but the ceremony of his coronation was deferred to the beginning of the next year. In the mean time, the English commonwealth was providing for a war, which they saw was unavoidable, and general Fairfax refusing to act against the Scots, his commission was immediately given to Cromwell, with the title of Captain-general in chief of all the forces raised, and to be raised by authority of parliament, within the commonwealth of England. Three days after, (viz.) June 29, he marched with eleven thousand foot, and five thousand horse, towards the borders of Scotland, being resolved not to wait for the Scots invading England, but to carry the war into their country. The Scots complained to the English parliament of this conduct, as a breach of the act of pacification, and of the covenant; but were answered, that they had already broken the peace by their treaty with Charles Stuart, whom they had not only received as their king, but promised to assist in recovering the crown of England. Their receiving the king was certainly their right as an independent nation; but whether their engaging to assist him in recovering the crown of England, was not declaring war, must be left to the reader.

July 22, the general crossed the Tweed, and marched his army almost as far as Edinburgh without much opposition, the country being deserted by reason of the terror of

* Besides taking the covenant, it was enacted of the king also to acknowledge twelve articles of repentance, in which were enumerated the sins of his father and grandfather, and the idolatry of his mother; and in which were declarations, that he sought the restitution of his rights for the sole advantage of religion, and in subordination to the kingdom of Christ. Mrs. Macaulay's History of England, vel. v. p. 62, 8vo. Ed.

the name of Cromwell, and the reports that were spread of his cruelty in Ireland. Not a Scotsman appeared under sixty, nor a youth above six years old, to interrupt his march. All provisions were destroyed, or removed, to prevent the subsistence of the army, which was supplied from time to time by sea; but the general having made proclamation, that no man should be injured in his person or goods, who was not found in arms, the people took heart, and returned to their dwellings.

The Scots army, under the command of general Lesley, stood on the defensive, and watched the motions of the Euglish all the month of August; the main body being intrenched within six miles of Edinburgh, to the number of thirty thousand of the best men, that ever Scotland saw; general Cromwell did every thing he could to draw them to a battle, till by the fall of rain, and bad weather, he was obliged to retreat to Musselborough, and from thence to Dunbar, where he was reduced to the utmost straits, having no way left but to conquer or die. In this extremity, he summoned the officers to prayer; after which, he bid all about him take heart, for God had heard them; then walking in the earl of Roxborough's gardens, that lay under the hill upon which the Scots army was encamped, and discovering by perspective glasses, that they were coming down to attack him, he said God was delivering them into his hands. That night proving very rainy, the general refreshed his men in the town, and ordered them to take particular care of their firelocks, which the Scots neglected, who were all the night coming down the hill, Early next morning Sept. 3, the general with a strong party of horse beat their guards, and then advancing with his whole army, after about an hour's dispute, entered their camp and carried all before him; about four thousand Scots fell in battle, ten thousand were made prisoners, with fifteen hun. dred arms, and all their artillery and ammunition; the loss of the English amounting to no more than about three hundred men.

It is an odd reflection lord Clarendons makes upon this victory: "Never was victory obtained (says his lordship) Life of Cromwell, p. 178. Burnet's Hist. vol. i. p. 74, Edinb. edi § Vol. III. p. 577.

with less lamentation; for as Cromwell had great argument of triumph, so the king was glad of it, as the greatest happiness that could befal him, in the loss of so strong a body of his enemies." Such was the encouragement the Scots had to fight for their king!

Immediately after this action, the general took possession of Edinburgh, which was in a manner deserted by the clergy; some having shut themselves up in the castle, and others fled with their effects to Sterling, the general, to deliver them from their fright, sent a trumpet to the castle, to assure the governor that the ministers might return to their churches, and preach without any disturbance from him, for he had no quarrel with the Scots nation on the score of religion. But the ministers replied, that having no security for their persons, they thought it their duty to reserve themselves for better times. Upon which the general wrote to the governor,

"THAT his kindness offered to the ministers in the castle, was without any fraudulent reserve; that if their master's service was their principal concern, they would not be so excessively afraid of suffering for it. That those divines had misreported the conduct of his party, when they charged them with persecuting the ministers of Christ in England; for the ministers in England (says he) are supported, and have liberty to preach the gospel, though not to, rail at their superiors at discretion; nor

Dr. Grey adds the reason which lord Clarendon assigns for the king's rejoicing in this victory: which was, his apprehension that if the Scots had prevailed, they would have shut him up in prison the next day whereas, after this defeat, they looked upon the king as one they might stand in need of, gave him more liberty than they had before allowed, permitted his servants to wait on him, and began to talk of a parliament, and of a time for his coronation. ED.

It is a proof of this, that while Oliver Cromwell was at Edinburgh, he attended divine worship in the great church there, when Mr. William Derham preached, and called Oliver an usurper to his face. He was so far from resenting this, that he invited Mr. Derham to visit him in the evening, when they supped together in great harmony. Oliver observed, however, "that it was well known to him, how much he and his brethren disliked him but they might assure themselves that, if any of the Stewart line came to the throne, they would find their little fingers greater than his loins." Dr. Gibbons' Account of the Cromwell Family, annexed to his Funeral Sermon for William Cromwell, Esq.-p. 47. En.

under a pretended privilege of character, to over-top the civil powers, or debase them as they please.-No man has been disturbed in England or Ireland for preaching the gospel; nor has any minister been molested in Scotland, since the coming of the army hither-speaking truth be comes the ministers of Christ; but when ministers pretend to a glorious reformation, and lay the foundation thereof in getting to themselves power, and can make worldly mixtures to accomplish the same, such as the late agreement with their king; they may know that the Sion promised is not to be built with such untempered mortar. And for the unjust invasion they [the ministers] mention, time was, when an army out of Scotland came into England, not called by the supreme authority-we have said in our papers, with what hearts, and upon what account we came, and the Lord has heard us, though you would not, upon as solemn an appeal as any experience can parallel I have nothing to say to you, but that I am,

"Sir, your humble servant,

"O. CROMWELL."

The Scots ministers, in their reply to this letter, objected to the general, his opening the pulpit doors to all intruders,by which means, a flood of errors was broke in upon the nation. To which the general replied, "we look on ministers as helpers of, not lords over the faith of God's people I appeal to their consciences, whether any denying of their doctrines, or dissenting from them, will not incur the censure of a SECTARY; and what is this but to deny christians their liberty, and assume the infallible chair? where do you find in scripture, that preaching is included within your function? though an approbation from men has order in it, and may be well, yet he that hath not a better than that, hath none at all.

"I hope he that ascended up on high may give his gifts to whom he pleases; and if those gifts be the seal of mission, are not you envious, though Eldad and Medad prophesy? You know who has bid us covet earnestly the best

Life of Cromwell, p. 182.

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