pay or then, without all question, they will prove more ravenous upon the country than the Scots, who, for their own ends and to gain a party here, I believe will give the country all the fair quarter that may be, which our men neither can nor will do." 1 An invasion welcomed by a large part of his subjects, and regarded with indifference by the rest-such was the pass to Confusion at which Charles had been brought by eleven years of Whitehall. wilful government. Everywhere there was lukewarmness and ill-will.2 The attacks upon the communion-rails had spread from Essex to Hertfordshire. Laity and clergy were of one mind in protesting against the oath enjoined by the new canons. At Whitehall everything was in confusion. Northumberland vowed that if he was to take the command he would not go without money.3 Now that it was too late, pressing orders were sent to Conway to fortify Newcastle by the forced labour of the townsmen.4 The coming of the Scots was preceded by two manifestoes —one in the shape of a broadside for popular distribution, the Scottish other as a small pamphlet for more leisurely perusal. manifestoes. The Scots protested that the matter must at last be brought to an issue. They could not afford to continue in arms during interminable negotiations. They were therefore coming to England to obtain redress of grievances from the King. But, with all respectful language towards Charles, they made it clear that it was not from him, but from a Parliament, that they expected redress. The last Parliament had refused to assist him to make war on Scotland. The next one would bring to justice Laud and Strafford, the instigators of the evil policy which had been pursued, and would relegate the Scottish councillors who had been guilty of a like fault to a trial in Astley to Conway, Aug. 11, 13, S. P. Dom. cccclxiii. 73, 93. Osborne to Conway, Aug. 14, Clar. S. P. ii. 105. 2 Salisbury to Windebank, Aug. 13; G. Beare to W. Beare, Aug. 13, S. P. Dom. cccclxiii. 90, 98. 3 Montreuil's despatches, Aug. Bibl. Nat. Fr. 15,995, fol. 109. 23' Astley to Conway, Aug. II, 13, S. P. Dom. cccclxiii. 73, 93. Osborne to Conway, Aug. 14. Clar. S. P. ii. 105. 1640 THE KING'S RESOLUTION. 187 their own country by the laws of Scotland. The invading army would do no man any wrong, would shed no blood unless it were attacked, and would pay ready money for all the supplies which it consumed.1 Charles's policy of using English forces against Scotland was recoiling on his own head. Both nations were alike sick Appeal to of his misgovernment. The practical union of the Parliament. Crowns would prove but a feeble link in comparison with the union of the peoples. The Scots had appealed from the English King to the English Parliament. on the 12th. Aug. 12. The manifesto in London. Aug. 16. The King announces that he will go to York. Copies of the Scottish manifesto were circulated in London Charles was never wanting in personal bravery. At a council held on the 16th, he announced his intention of going in person to York, to place himself at the head of his disordered army. He would listen to no objections. In vain Hamilton suggested that an army ill-affected and ill-paid might not be the better for the King's presence. In vain Holland asked whether the King would have any money when he arrived. In vain, too, Strafford, refusing to believe in the reality of the risk, and thinking that a Scottish invasion would stir England into loyalty, declared that he was not satisfied that Newcastle was in danger, and that if the Scots came in 'it would not be the worse for his Majesty's service.' Charles rightly felt that the post of honour was in the North. Only by appearing in person could he prove the untruth of the statement in the Scottish manifesto, that what had been done had been done by evil counsellors rather than by himself.3 Aug. 17. Answer to the Yorkshire petition. 4 The next few days were spent in preparation. On the 17th a sharp answer was returned to the Yorkshire petition, criticising its inaccuracies, and explaining that the Petition of Right was never intended to do more than to enact that soldiers billeted should pay for 1 Information from the Scottish nation, Treaty of Ripon, 70. The intentions of the army, Spalding, i. 321. 2 Montreuil's despatch, Aug. 13, Bibl. Nat. Fr. 15,995, fol. 109. 23' 3 Minutes of Council, Aug. 16, Hardwicke S. P. ii. 147. 4 Page 177. Aug. 19. The trained bands called out. Aug. 20. the provisions they consumed.1 This loose interpretation of the duties which he owed to his subjects did not prevent Charles from holding his subjects to the very letter of the law towards himself. On the 19th he issued orders to the lords-lieutenants of the midland and northern counties to call out the trained bands for immediate service. On the 2cth, he directed that all persons holding by knight's service should follow him to the field, as their tenures bound them to do, though he added he was ready to accept fines in lieu of service.2 The now familiar order to the sheriffs to pay in the arrears of ship-money was once more issued. To prevent further ill-feeling during the King's absence on the ground of the etcetera oath, Laud was directed to suspend its administration till October.3 Tenants in knight service summoned. Strafford to command the English army. For the army thus hurriedly ordered to be got together it was now necessary to find a commander. Northumberland had always been hopeless of any good result, and his health had by this time broken down under the strain. There was but one man capable of occupying the post. With the title of Lieutenant-General, Strafford was to be placed at the head of the English army. It was finally arranged that Hamilton's mutinous men should be disbanded.5 The Irish army was to be left to shift for itself. The ruin in the North was to be left for Strafford to deal with as best he might. Not that Strafford was in any way despondent. He utterly refused to believe that Newcastle was indefensible, or that the trained bands of the North would not rally to the King when once he was amongst them." 1 Privy Council to the Council of York, Aug. 17, S. P. Dom. cccclxiv. 17. 2 The King to the Lords-Lieutenants of certain counties, Aug. 19, S. P. Dom. Proclamation, Aug. 20, Rymer, xx. 433. 3 Hardwicke S. P. ii. 151. + It has often been suspected that this illness was a feint to escape the responsibility of commanding; but the letters amongst the State Papers leave no doubt of its reality. See especially Garrard to Conway, Oct. 6, S. P. Dom. 5 Windebank's Notes, Aug. 29, S. P. Dɔm. cccclxiv. 45. • Strafford to Conway, Aug. 18, ibid. cccclxiv. 27. 1640 The King sets out. The Scots cross the Tweed. THE SCOTS CROSS THE BORDER. 189 On the morning of the 20th the King set out from London. That night the Scottish army, some 25,000 strong, crossed the Tweed at Coldstream. Montrose was the first to plunge into the river to lead the way. Leaving the garrison of Berwick on their flank, the Scots pushed steadily on. They issued a proclamation assuring the men of Northumberland that they would not take a chicken or a pot of ale without paying for it. They brought with them cattle and sheep for their immediate necessities. Spectators who watched the blue-bonneted host as it passed, wondered at its discipline, and stared at the Highlanders with their bows and arrows. Strafford, when all military force appeared to be melting away, had encouraged himself with the hope that an invasion would open the eyes of his countrymen in the North to the reality of their danger. In Northumberland at least no such result was visible. "They," wrote Conway of the Scots, "deal very subtily. They hurt no man in any kind, they pay for what they take, so that the country doth give them all the assistance it can. Many of the country gentlemen do come to them, entertain and feast them." 2 The calculated courtesy of the Scots was not without its exceptions. Estates of recusants, with the lands of the Bishop and Chapter of Durham, were regarded as lawful prey, to which no mercy was to be shown. Feeling in Northumberland. Aug. 21. In London, after the King had left, everything was in confusion. "We are here, and in every place," wrote Sir Nicholas Byron, "in such distraction as if the day of Confusion in judgment were hourly expected." 3 Charles's system London. of government had not been such as to gather round him men capable of taking the initiative in moments of peril. The Council was at its wits' end. The City, once more applied to, persisted in its refusal of a loan.* At last an expedient was Baillie, i. 256. ? Conyers to Conway, Aug. 21; Conway to Vane, Aug. 22, 26, S. P. Dom. cccclxiv. 60, 61, 84. 3 Byron to Conway, Aug. 21; Conway to Vane, Aug. 21, S. P. Dom. cccclxiv. 63. Windebank's Notes of Business, Aug. 22, S. P. Dom. cccclxiv. 45. Aug. 22. thought of which offered some relief for the immediate necessity. It was known that the East India Company had just received a large consignment of pepper. On the 22nd CotMoney to be tington appeared before the Company and offered to Praised on pepper. buy the whole at a price above that at which it was immediately saleable. The Company refused to deal with the King, but they agreed to accept the substantial securities of private persons for the payment of the money by instalments within a year. The general result was that by the end of the month Cottington saw his way to the receipt of 50,000l., advanced upon interest at the rate of 16 per cent., about double the rate at which money was usually attainable.1 Aug. 23. York. It might well be doubted whether even this provision would arrive in time. When the King reached York on the 23rd, his first thought was to urge upon the Council his need The King at of money. 'Certainly," he wrote on the 27th, “if ye send us none or little, the rebels will beat us without striking a stroke." 2 Amidst the universal discouragement, Strafford's voice was alone raised in calm assurance. The actual invasion of the Scots, he said, confidence. was more to the King's advantage 'than should have been had we been the aggressors.' The English army, too, would be at Newcastle before the Scots, 'and so secure the place.' 3 Aug. 24. Strafford's 23 and York If Strafford was over-sanguine, his hopes were not entirely without foundation. The county of Durham offered to turn The Durham out its trained bands, and to send 2,000 men to shire trained defend the fords of the Tyne. On the 24th the bands. King collected round him the lords and gentry of Yorkshire, and adjured them to form a second line of defence on the Tees. In the presence of their sovereign the gentlemen of Yorkshire laid aside their grievances for a time, and offered to follow where he should lead, within the county, on the receipt of a fortnight's pay. "I must tell you," wrote Vane, 1 E. I. C. Court Minutes, Aug. 22, 26. Warrant, March (?), 1641, S. P. Dom. 2 The King to Windebank, Aug. 23, 27, Clar. S. P. ii. 91, 92. 3 Strafford to Cottington, Aug. 24, S. P. Dom. cccclxiv. 86. |