F a m o u s Sc o t s S e r i e s Th e following Volum es a re n ow ready T HOM AS CAR LY LE. By H ECT O R C . MAC PH ERSO N . A LLA N R AMSAY. By O LI PH ANT SM EAT O N . H U GH MI LLER. By W . K E IT H LE ASK . JO H N K NO ! . By A . T AYLO R I N N Es. R O B ERT B U R N S. By GABR I EL SET OUN. T H E BA LLA D I ST S. By J O HN GEDD I E . RI CH A R D CA M ERO N . By Pro fe sso r H ER KLESS. SI R J A MES Y. SI MPSO N . By EV E BLANT YR E SIMP SON . T H OM A S C H A LM ER S. By Pro fesso r W . GARD EN BLA I K IE. J AMES BOSW ELL. By W. K E I T H LE ASK. T O BI A S SMOLLET T . By O LIPH ANT SME AT O N. FLET CH ER O F SA LT O U N . By G. W . T . O MON D . T HE BLACKWOO D GR O U P . By Sir GEOR G E DO UGLAS. N OR M A N M A C LEO D . By JOH N WELLWOO D. SI R W A LT ER SCOT T . By Pro fe sso r SAIN T SB U RY . KI R KCA LDY O F GR A N GE . By LO UI S A . BAR BI E . RO BERT FE RGU SSO N . By A . B. GR OSA RT . J A MES T H OMSO N . By WI LLIAM BAYN E . M U N GO PA R K . By T . BAN KS MACLAC H LAN . D A V I D H U ME. By Pro fe sso r CALDERWOO D. W I LLI A M D U N B A R By O LIPH ANT SMEAT O N . SI R WI LLI A M WA LLAC E. By Pro fe sso r M U R I SON . R O BERT LO U IS ST EVE N SO N . By MAR GAR ET MOYES BLAC K . T H OMAS R E I D. By Pro fesso r CAMPBELL FR ASER . PO LLO C K AND A YT O U N . By R OSALIN E MA SSON . A D A M SMIT H . By H ECT O R C. MAC PH ER SON . A N D R EW MELVI LL E. By WILLIAM MOR I SO N . JA M ES FR EDERI C K FER R I ER . By E. S. H ALDAN E . K I N G R OBERT T H E BR UCE. By A . F. M U R I SON . J A MES H OGG . By Sir GEOR GE D O U GLA S. T H OMA S C A M PBELL. By J . C UT H B ERT H ADDEN . GEO RGE BUCH A N A N . By RO B ERT WALLACE. Co mpleted by J . CAMPBELL SMIT H . SI R D AVI D WI LK I E , AND T H E SCOT S SC HOOL O F PAINT ER S. By EDWAR D PI NNI NGT ON . T H E ERSKI N ES, EBEN E! ER AND R A LPH . By A . R M Ac EWEN . T HOM A S GU T H R I E. By O LIPH AN T SME AT ON . D AV I D L I VI NGST O N B . By T . BAN KS MA CLACHLAN . T HE ACA DEMI C GR EGO R I ES. By AGN ES GR A INGER ST EWART . JO H NST ON OF WAR RIST ON . By WI LLIAM MOR I SO N .
T h e des ign s a n d o rn a men ts O f volume by Mr . Jos eph a n d th e p rintin g is from th e p re s s o f Morri s on G ibb Limited , Edinbu rgh .
T H E MEMO R Y W I L L I A M SY M E M A C K I E N UN Q (J A M M E MI N I SSE P I GE B I T W1 M
P R E F A C E I T i s a matter of surpri se to m e that the life and work of one who took such an influential part as Warristo n In the publi c affairs Of so importan t a period in our history have remain ed so lon g without separate treatment . The present volume is an attempt to fill this gap in our national biography . If I have allowed the historica l part of my subject to overbalance the biographical, the reason is that Warristo n ’ s character is almost entirely shown and the interest Of his life almost exclusively found in his public acts . I n eed not enumerate my sources— they are all well known to students of the period of which I have written . The most recent of these is the Fr agmen t of Me D ia ry of Sir A rc/ zz 'ba ld jo fim fo n , Lo rd Wa m ' sto n , M ay 21 5! jzm e 25th, 1 639, printed in 1 896 by the Scottish History Society, and edited with Introduction and n otes by George M orison Paul , M . A . , F. S. A . Scot . This publication has thrown Open an in com parable source of information regarding the brief but critical period which it covers . I desire to ackn owledge my indebtedness to the Editor for so interesting a histori cal relic from the pen of War ri ston , as well as for much valuable biographical material
8 P RE FAC E supplied in his Introduction . I may to another source, which Car lyle in his a n d Spear/m comm ends to anyone Warristo n , v iz . , Hailes ’ M em o ria ls a n d l etters, vol . that I have given all in that volume that is relevant to my subject .
C O N T E N T S C HA P. PA GE PREFACE I NT ROD U CT O R Y FAM I LY ST OC K T H E LET T I N G O U T O F WAT E R S : LAU D ’ S SER V I C E B OO K F I RST ST AG E O F T H E ST R UGG LE : SU PP LI CAT I O N S AN D PROT EST AT I ON S : T H E T AB LES V . T H E NAT I O NAL COV E NAN T V I . T H E GLA SGO W A SSEM B LY : WA R R I ST ON ELECT E D C LE R K V I I . F I RST B I SH O P S’ WA R : D U N S LA W VI I I . F I RST B I SH O P S’ WA R , C O N T I N U E D : T H E PAC I F I CA T I O N O F B ERW I C K B ET WEEN F I R ST AN D SECO N D B I SH O PS’ WA R S T H E SECO N D B I SH O P S’ WA R T H E K I NG’ S V I SI T O F R ECO N C I L IAT I O N T O SCOT LAN D T H E SOLEMN LEAG U E A N D CO V E NAN T T H E WEST M I N ST E R A SSEM B LY T H E A NGLo -SCOT T I SH A LL IAN CE I N T HE FI RST C IV I L WA R T H E ENGAG EM EN T CROMW ELL’ S I NVASI O N O F SCOT LAN D T H E R ESOLU T I O N ERS AN D PROT EST ER S : WA R R I S T o N’ s A D H ESI O N T o C R O MWELL . ! VI I I . T H E REST O R AT I O N : WA R R I ST O N ’ S DEAT H 9
Who m a ll th e wo rld h a s heard . T h e Cove nanters’ protests, in 1637 a n d perhaps, o f th e Covenant itself; canny, an d austere Presbyterian z ealot ; full o f fire, o f heavy an d gloom : in fact, a very n otable character ; —O f our Scotch frie n ds might do well ~to give u s fa rther elucida
C H A P T E R I
J O H N ST O N O F W A R R I S T O N
WE may justly claim for Sir Archibald John ston , Lord Warristo n , a place in the front rank Of those Scottish patriots who, by their resistance to the absolutism o f Char les L, saved the liberties of their own nation and largely helped to secure those of the whole kingdom . H e did n ot reach the stature of the m ost eminent m en who took part i n what was virtually the sam e struggle under the two previous m onarchs . He did not, like Knox an d Melville, focus i n his own life the history of his age . H e lacked their commanding genius and pe rsonal magnetism . Nor had he the same vantage-ground for captivating the heart of the nation . Knox had the pulpit and Melville th e floor of the Assembly : Warristo n ’ s services to liberty were rendered for the most part in the in conspicuous labours of committees of Church and State . Neither has his career that m elo dramatic interest whi ch attaches to many of his contem po raries who , as regards all high and honourable qualities Of character, are not worthy to be named with him . A dashing soldier and brilliant ren egade like M ontrose makes a purple patch on the page of history beside which the figure of the ecclesiastical and constituti on al lawyer, suprem e though h e was i n his Ow n sphere , is but a dull grey . But when all deductions have been made, Warristo n remains
I N T R OD UCT O R Y
FA M O U S S C OT S
I a one Of the m ost notable men of a remarkable time . As the Clerk and legal advi ser Of the Scottish Church , and as the secretary of the prin cipal committees of the Parliam ent, in one Of the most troubled peri ods of our history, he served th e caus e Of liberty from early manh o od to th e close of life with an ability and a loyalty that won for him the con fiden ce of all his associates . NO one did m ore to organ is e the national party, to shape its policy and gu ide its couns els . There was none who toiled for it wi th greater constancy, with fi rm er resolution, with m ore capacity, or with a purer devotion . H e risked all that is clear in life in its interests, and in the end he paid the pen alty of his patriotism on the s caffold. The s tory Of his las t days is on e Of the most pathetic Of a tragi c time . With a mean vin dictivenes s which even the Stuarts never surpas sed, he was hunted down on the Continent, to which h e had es caped at th e Restoration , and brought hom e, his stren gth exhausted by hi s excessive labours a n d the anxieties of his months O f exile, to receive his death - sen ten ce for treas on at th e bar Of Parliament . Scarcely a quarter of a century after his execution, his son - in -law, the noble Jervisw o o d, was also brought to the scaffold . Twi ce had his wife an d children to pass through the horrors and b ear the anguish of so dread a parting WIth those to whom they were un ited by the tenderest ties . Warristo n an d h is house contri buted nobly to the price in blood an d tears which Scotland paid for her liberty . There is on e resp ect in which Warristo n was a pre eminently representative Scot . To him the religious interes t was the deepes t, and the Church th e prim e in stitu tion of the nation . I f he appear to many to have e xagger ated the value of the Presbyterian constitution O f the Church— for there was never even amon g the Scottis h p eople one more passionately attached to it— all must h on our him for th e sacrifices he made to preserve it, and acknowledge the splendid fruit which his s ufferin gs and those o f his compatri ots bore in history . The immediate obj ect Of the Covenanters may have been narrow, but their sincere and hon ourable purp ose, work
J O H N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N I 3
in g along the lines Of a larger providence than they knew, turned th e good which they sought primarily for their own Church an d nation into a mighty reinforce ment of the cause Of liberty all tim e through and all the world over .
C H A P T E R I I FAMI LY ST OCK WA RR I ST ON sprang from the Johnstons of Annandale— an u nlikely race, we would say, to produ ce a Covenanter, if we did not remember in what new directions inherited force of character may break out . The first of his an cestors of whom we have any knowledge was Gavin J ohnston , tenant Of the Kirkton of Kirkpatrick-J uxta, three miles to the south- west of Mo fi' at, who died in 1 555. His heir was James Johnston , tenant of Middlegill— a farm a few miles north of the Kirkton in Evan Water . The n ext in succession , and James Johnston of Middlegill’ s son , w as James Johnston Of B eirh o lm , n ear the Kirkton , who died December 1 6 2 2. Th is James Johnston ’ s brother, Archibald John ston , was Warristo n ’ s grandfather . H e left Annandale 1 and settled as a m erchan t in Edinburgh , where he prospered an d amassed a large fortun e . H is marriage to Rachel Am ot, daughter of Sir John Arn ot o f B irswick , Lo rd Provost of Edinburgh 1 587—1 589, a M em ber of the Privy Council and Treasurer D eput e of the Kingdom , shows that he early made for himself a good position in the city . Through his father-in -law he more tha n once procured the person al in fluence of James V I . in furtherance Of his business in t erests . On 2 2n d April 1 589 the King wrote to Archibald Douglas, thanking him for services rendered to ‘ the son-ln -law o f th e Lord Provost of 1 T ha t A rchibald Johnston reta in ed a kindly fe elin g fo r his na tive pa rish is shown by o n e o f th e provis ion s o fhis wi ll , in which h e left a sum Of 100 merks ‘ to h el th e repair in g a n d comple ting o f ye kirk ca llit Kirkpa trick -Juxta , w ere my predecesso ris ’ bo nes lve. ’
Edinburgh ’ ; and on 3l st May 1 59 5 he conferred a still more distinguished favour on this Edinburgh merchant by writing to Queen Elizabeth on his behalf in connection with a sui t in which J ohnston was engaged before the English Council . Archibald Johnston ’ s wife, Rachel Arnot, who lived till 1 6 26, was a staunch Presbyterian , and from her Warristo n i n herited his love of the Kirk . B ishop B urnet, who was her great-grandson, writes : ‘ B ruce [Robert Bruce, m inister Of Edi nburgh] was concealed in her house for som e years , and they all [the Presbyterian ministers] foun d such advantage in their submission to her, that sh e was counted for many years the Chief support O f her party . My father, m arrying h er eldest grandchild, saw a great way int o all the methods of the Puritans . ’ 1 It was in her house at the Scien n e s that, in 1 6 2 1 , when the ‘ Black Parliament ’ met to ratify the Five A r ticles of P er i/ z, the ministers who had been commanded to leave the City for refusing to conform to the Articles, met and spent the day in prayer . 2 Two years before this , one of her s ons -in -law, Sir Jam es Skene of Cu rriehill, President of the Court Of Session , had failed to appear in the Kirk of Edinburgh on Easter Day to receive the Communion kneeling, in accordan ce with the Articles, and his absence was ascribed to the influence of his mother-in -law and his wife . 3 Her daughter Rachel , wife of Sir William B ruce of Stenhouse, also shared her mother’ s atta chment to the Kirk , and the eldest son o f Lady Bruce was a ruling elder in Jam es Guthrie’ s Rem on strant Presbytery . 4 H er granddaughter, Bishop B urnet’ s mother, was as devoted a Presbyterian . ‘ She was bred to her brother Warristo n ’ s pri nciples and could never be m oved from them . ’ 5 Though her husband , Robert B urnet of C ri mond , afterwards Lord Crimond of the Court of Session, was an Episcopalian , James Guthri e lay concealed for some time in her house . A story conclusive as to her Presbyterian zeal has been preserved in Lord Hailes ’ 1 Burnet’ s H istory qis Ow n T i im e , I . p. .3I 2 Kirkton , p. 16. 3 Ki rkton, p . 1 6 . Ca lderwo od , viii. p . . 38 Burnet’ s s tory of s Ow n T im e, i . p. 434.
J O HN S TO N O F W A R R I ST O N 1 5
1 6 FA M O U S S C OT S M ateria ls a n d Letters . 1 While her son , Bishop B urnet, was minister of Saltoun , he was seiz ed with a Vi olen t fever, an d du ring the delirium attending it imagined that h e was to entertai n Sharp , Archbishop o f St. Andrews . ‘ Where shall we fi n d a place for the Archbishop P cried he . Th e Old lady, forgetful Of her son ’ s condition , answered, ‘ D o n ot let that disturb you, my dear ; we will find a place for him— in th e hottest corn er of hell . ’ Archibald Johnston and Rachel Arnot had five Children three son s an d two daughters . The eldest, James J ohn ston, was Wa rristo n ’ s father. H e als o was a merchant in Edinburgh . His wife, Warristo n ’ s mother, wa s Elizabeth Craig, daughter o f Sir Thomas Craig o f Riccarto n , author O f a famou s work on Feudal La w , and one Of the great est j urists Of his day . Thomas Craig was related to J ohn Craig, Knox ’ s colleagu e, and when completing his studies for the Bar, placed himself under his superin tendence, an d through his influen ce ren ounced the Old religion and becam e a zealous Protestant . H e was much employed by the Church as a legal adviser, and was one of the coun sel for the six ministers who were tried in L6 r6 ”6n a charge of treas on for holdin g the Aberdeen Assembly . On his mother’ s side, therefore, as well as o n his father’ s, Warristo n was come of sound Presbyterian stock ; and it was through her he inherited his interest an d capacity in law. Warri sto n was born in 1 6 1 1 . We have no account O f h is early years . On leavi ng school, he b eca me a student o f Glasgow Un iversity, in whose matri culati on li sts his name appears , o n his entrance to the higher class es in 1 6 30 . Robert Baillie, who afterwards becam e Pri n cipal , was on e of th e Regents at this time : an d it was Wa rristo n ’ s relation ship, through his m other, with Baillie that attracted him to Glasgow . Baillie speaks o f the frien dship professed by Warristo n to himself constantly ‘ sin ce he was a child an d my sch o llar. ’ Wa rristo n passed for the Bar on 6th November 1 633. About the same time h e married Helen M orison , daughter O fSir Alexander Hay OfForester Seat— one of the Senators of 1 Vol . ii. p . 7 5 .
C H A P T E R I I I T H E LET T I N G OUT O F WAT ER S : LA U D ’ S SER V I CE B OOK WAR R IST ON had not passed for the B ar more th an two or three years when the struggle between Charles 1. and the Scots began ; but young and inexperienced as he was , he had already so impres sed th e Presbyterian leaders with his knowledge of ecclesiastical and constitutional law, his at tachment to the p rinciples for which they were contend ing, and his trustworthy personal character, that he at once became their principal legal adviser ; and he retained that Office with undiminished respect to the clo se of his life. It was in the m onths succeeding that most historic O f Scottish Sabbaths— z 3rd July 1 637— when the indignation of the people against Laud’ s liturgy burst out in the riot at St . Giles ’ , that Warristo n becam e prominent in public affairs . In these m onths the entire nation ros e to O btain relief not m erely from the liturgy, but from the incubus Of the whole Episcopal system . From that time it was im po s sible for either the King or the people to rest in half m eas ures, and the controversy became one which could only take end in complete Episcopacy or none . Never did a sovereign m ore evidently put his crown to peril than Charles when h e invaded what the Scottish nation regarded as the inm os t sanctuary Of its liberty ; he was thrust ing a tho rn into its eye . Never did tyranny Show itself more bereft of skill than when he put ‘ little Laud ’ into the saddle to break in a people of such mettle to a hated fashion in religion . The resistance his father’ s ecclesiastical policy in S cotland had encountered at every step might 1 8
The news of the riot in St . Giles’ and the revolt against the Service B ook throughout the whole country took th e Court in Lo n don with such surprise as makes easily credibl e to u s Clarendon ’ s account Of th e ignoran ce and indifference in regard to Scottish afl' airs, alike Of the English Government and the English people : ‘ The truth is , there was so little curiosity either in the Court or in the 1 B a illie’ s Letters, i . p . 1 .
J OH N S TO N O F W A R RI ST O N 1 9 have taught him the need Of caution in pursuing it to its conclusion . Those who knew the temper of the country were amazed at his rashness . Ar we s o modest spirits so one of the mildest of Scots wrote at the tim e an d ar we so towardly h an dlit in this matter that there is ape iran ce we will im b race in a Clap such a masse of novelties ? ’ 1 A great part of the pathos Of the situation lay in the fact that the Scottish people were almost as an xious not to humiliate the King by their resistance to his authority as they were to save their own dearest liberties . Again an d again in the course Of the struggle now beginning, they refused to attach to Charles the Odium of hi s own p olicy, and imputed it to the influence of the evil counsellors by whom he was surrounded . B ut as O ften as they did so he stoutly dis claimed their apology for the acts of his Govern ment, and in th e matter O fth e Service B ook he boasted th at it had all passed through his own hands and received his warm approval . Had he foreseen what a Pandora-box it would be when it was Opened, and what calamities it would bring on him self and his house, he would have said with Prospero deeper than did ever plummet soun d l ’ll drown my book. ’ It was said that copies O f a first edition of the liturgy, which was withdrawn , reached Edinburgh and fell into the hands of the shopkeepers , by whom they were used as wrappage for their parcels . A fitter end this— so the people of S cotland thought— for such a symbol and in stru ment of tyranny than to be used in the services of a religion whose very genius is freedom !
20 FAM O U S S C OT S country to know anything of Scotland or what was done there, that when the whole nation was soli citous to know what passed weekly in Germany and Poland and all other paIt s Of Europe , no m an ever enquired what was doing in Scotland , nor had that kingdom a place or mention Of one page of any gaz ette . ’ 1 Fo r some time to come England was to have an ear for little else but Scotch news 1 1 Clarendo n ’ s H isto ry, i. p. 1 10.
C H A P T E R I V FI R ST ST AGE O F T H E ST R UGGLE : S U PPLI C AT I O N S AND PR OT EST AT I O N S : T H E TA BLES
T HE in structions which the King despatched to the Scottish Council on receiving the report Of the events Of a 3rd July, showed that he had no perception of the strength o f the agitation which had broken out in the country . The Council was enj oined to di scover and prosecute the authors o f the riot, a nd t o support the clergy in the use of the liturgy . It was easy for the King to give orders , at the distan ce of London , to extin guish the fire h e had kindled : even the rashest and most superserviceable of his Offi cials on the sp ot could do nothing to extinguish it . Charles acted in th e first instan ce as though he had been suppressin g a local a disturban ce Of the p eace ; but as the posts which ran daily between the Council in Edin burgh and the Court brought him news of the spread Of the revolt against the Servi ce Book throughou t the kingdom , and alike am ong high and low, gentle and simple, it was gradually brought home to him that he had wounded the deepest and holiest feelings of his Scottish subjects, and provoked a struggle with the conscience- power of a whole nation .
I t had long been the custom of the Scots, in seeking relief from oppressive Acts Of the Crown , to proceed by way of supplication and p_ r _ otesta _ tion - the latter being a formal refusa l to recogni se any Act against which it was made as having legal force . 1 It was by these two familiar 1 I n Rothes’ R elation s, 9. protestation is described as th e mo st ordi nary an d humble an d lega l w ay to obviate an y prejudice [th a t] m ay redo und to an y lega l act, an d prese rvin g our right, pe rmitted to th e
2 2 FA M O U S S C OTS m ethods that, in the fi rs t i nstance, the na tion n ow fought i ts battle with th e King. During the weeks imme diately followin g th e introduction of the Se rvi ce B ook petitions to the Privy Council were drawn up by all sections of the nation— b y nobles and b arons— b y burghs an d par ishes— b y the m in isters and their congregations . As time wore on and the Crown gave no Sign of yielding, thes e gr ew in volume and boldness . On 20 th September the petitioners flocked to Edinburgh and m ade an imposin g demonstration of their strength by m arching in a b o dy to the Council H ouse to present their supplications . Th e D uke of Lennox, th e King’ s cousin , was in Scotland at the tim e and witnessed the demonstration , and on returnin g to London he took with him all the docu ments to lay them before Charles . Some three weeks afterwards information reached Edinburgh that the King’ s answer to the petitions wou ld b e publi shed there on 1 7 th October. It had been communicated to Warristo n by friends at Court, who all through the course Of the struggle supplied him with timely warnings of every fresh step in the King’ s policy. Wa rristo n at on ce despatched m essengers to every part O f the country, sum moning the principal p etiti oners to repair to Edin burgh to receive the King’ s reply and take such m easures as it might render necessary ; and with su ch ala crity was th e call obeyed , that on the appointed day the leaders on the popular side of every rank and from every distri ct had assembled within the capital. The King ’ s answer sh owed that th e petitions had failed to turn him from his poli cy or to undeceive hi m as to his power to carry it through and suppress the agitation . It was published in the form of three proclamations : one dispensing with th e fun ction s of the Council in ecclesiastical affairs and commanding all strangers to leave the city within twenty-four hours on pain of hom ing ; another rem oving the s eat of the Council and Law Courts from Edinburgh ; and the thi rd condemnin g a mea n es t subjects, in th e highest Courts o f A ssembly or Parlia ment, wheresoever they are n o t fully heard, or be ing heard are grieved by an y in iq ui ty in th e se ntence, which is grounded on th e law o f na ture a n d nati ons. ’
J O H N S TO N O F W AR R IST O N 23
The King had proved obstinate, but he found now, as he was to find frequently in the course Of these events , that this was n 0t __ an exclgsigely royalvirtue . When the excitement o f the day was over, the peti tioners held a consultation an d drew up a j oint remonstrance, in which they used m ore boldness than they had yet done in fixing on the bishop s the blam e Of all the recent mischief, an d demanded their exclusion from the Council . The document w as sent in to the Council bearin g the signatures Of ‘ twenty - four nobles , several hundred gentlemen of the Shires , some hundreds of merchants and most of the burghers . ’
In the middle of N ovember the petitioners reas sembled in Edinburgh , a rum our having arisen that the King’ s answer to their last remonstrance would be published about that date . In this they were disappointed ; but before they left the city they adopted a m easure which proved s o
book j ust published by George Gillespie against the E nglis/ z P opis/ z Ceremo n ies obtruded on the Church , which was bein g eagerly read by the people . The petitioners had gathered at the Cross with a large nu m ber of the citizen s Of every class to hear the proclamations, which were no sooner ended than the crowd gave em phatic expression to their exasperation . The B ishop Of Galloway, who happened at the moment to be making his way up the High Street to the Council Room , was m obbed an d chased to the steps Of the building . The p opulace sur rounded the entrance with the evident purpose Of venting their indignation on the members Of the obnoxious body when the Council should break up . On Traquair, the Lord Treasurer, learning what had occurred, h e resolved to go to th e City Chambers and appeal to th e magistrates for protection . He succeeded in reaching the Chambers with out inj ury, but on his way back was roughly handled by the crowd . The magistrates, who were in ill favour with the citizen s at the tim e , owing to their having withheld their subscriptio ns from the petitions sent in by the burghers , had n o influence with the people, and it was only when some o f the leading men among the pe titioners themselves interposed that the Siege o f th e Coun cil House was raised .
24 F AM O U S S C OT S
Once established with their concurrence, it had to be recognised as a regular body within the State, whose function was to carry on a constitutional opposition to the Government
Of the C entral Table, Warristo n was appointed Clerk . Such an importan t Office could only have been entrusted to on e who was deeply committed to the popular cause, an d who had given conclusive proof Of hi s skill in affai rs . We have given one instance of the good service he rendered to his party in acquainting them with the substan ce Of the King’ s forthcoming proclamations , and there can be little doubt that in the drawing up Of the principal suppli cation s — O f those which came from the capital and which ha d claims to be recogn i sed as national in the weight which they carried— h e had a large hand .
. Now they formed perm anent committees , to whose hands the conduct Of all the business was e n trusted. These were the four Tables , as th ey were called the fi rst composed of all the nobles ; the second, of repre sen tative s Of the counties ; the th ird, of representatives O f the presbyteries ; and th e fourth, of representatives of the burghers . A Central Table, made up of four representatives from each of the separate Tables, was to sit constantly in Edinburgh and conduct all negotiation s with the Council . This organisation of the popular forces played a great part in shaping the history of the period an d in bringing the national will to bear with effect upon the Government . At its inception it was rather welcomed than resented by the members of the Council, as a means of saving them from such direct and disagreeable encounters with the masses of the people as that which they had experienced th e previ ous month . Had they been able to foresee what a form idable rival it would prove to th e authori ty Of the Government, they would have regarded its formation with different feelings .
advantageous to their ca use that it made their m eeting at this tim e m emorable . Hitherto they had come together and approached the Council as a miscellaneous crowd , each man representing his local constituency, and bearing a sepa rate supplication
.
Early in December another proclamation was issu ed by
26 FA M O U S S COT S at the Cross Of Edinburgh, when Warristo n , accompanied by Sixteen noblem en and a large number of citizens , stood up on an improvised platform and read out in ringing accents another protesta tion . The reading of the proclama tion was punctuated by the jeers Of the crowd gathered round th e Cross, and the O fficers of the Crown were compelled to wait and listen to Warristo n ’ s counterblas t.
T HE m ethods by which the Tables had hitherto conducted . the struggle with the Crown were now superseded by a more powerful engine . The conception of the National Covenant was due to Warristo n and Alexander Henderson , and it was fram ed between them . It consisted Of three p ortions . The first was a copy O f the National Covenan t O 1 580 ; the second was a re capitulation of all the Acts of Parliament condemnin g Popery an d confirmin g the liberties of the Church ; and the third was a protest against th e innovation s which had provoked the present troubles . The second portion was executed by Warristo n , an d the thi rd by Henderson . I t was Warristo n who read the Coven ant to the vast multitude who assembled in Greyfriars ’ Church yard , a 8th Febru ary 1 638 , to adopt it and attach their sig natures . There is n o nam e that is more 0105e iden tified than his with that august symbol Of the nation al will . I t is not necessary to dwell on the effe ct of the Covenant on th e country , as no part of our history is better kn own . All the Shires signed , and all the towns , except herdeen St . An drews an glgrail. Of noblemen , n ot Papists or Privy Councillors, all but five signed it . Copies were circulated throughout the land , and everywhere they were eagerly subscribed by all sections of the people . The pulpits rang with exhortations to rally round th e standard that had been set up , and even the most zealous Of the m inisters could not complain of the response made by their flocks . Where the Covenant was read at the close of worship the whole congregation, men, women , and children , rose and
C H A P T E R V T HE N AT I ONA L C OV EN A N T
28 FA M O U S S C OT S held u p their hands to signify their adhesion to it . SO great was the ru sh on the Churches of the leading m inisters in the cities that m any o f the women , t o secure a place ,lto o k possession of their seats on the Saturday night, and 'at com munion seasons, as early as the Friday ! N 0 more potent instrum ent for protectin g itself from tyran ny was ever devi sed by a nation . I t brought the resolution of the people to a whi te heat and welded them into such a uni ty that all the power O f the Crown could not avail to break or bend it . I f evidence were needed Of the passion rou sed by the Covenant, it could be supplied as readily from th e testimony of its opponents as from that of the Coven ante rs them selves . In a letter of M r . David Mitchell OfEdinburgh , afterwards B ishop of Aberdeen , to D r. John Leslie, Bish op of Raphoe, we have the m ean s of learning how the agitation was regarded by the Episcopalian clergy ‘ The greater part Of the kingdom have subs cribed , and the res t are da ily subs cribing th e C ovenan t. It I s th e oath Of th e King’ s house 1 580, with s trange additions , a mutual combina t i on fo r resistan ce o fall novat i ons i n religion , do cth ne an? dis ciplin e a n d rites o f worship that have been brought i n sin ce that t i me . s o as if th e least o f the subs cribers b e tou ched , and there be som e O f them n ot ten years o f age, and some not worth two pen ce, that all shal l con cur fo r their defen ce , an d fo r th e expulsion Of all Papists and adversaries— th at i s, al l that wi ll not subs cribe— out o f th e Church and kingdom according to th e laws . This goes on apace . The true pastors are b rought into Edinburgh t o cry out against us wolves and they, wi th our brethren here, M r. Andrew Ramsay, Mr. Henry Rollock, and your whilom friend, th e Prin cipal— crying out th at they are n either good Chri stians n or good s ubj ects that do n ot subscribe, nay , n or i n covenant wi th God— have made us soIodio n s that we dare not go in th e streets . I have been dogged by some gentlemen and followed with many mumbled threaten i ngs behind my back ; and then , when In stairs , sword s drawn , an d if they had the Papist villain , Oh ! T here I s nothing expected here but ci vi l war . There is n o meeting o f th e C oun cil : th e Chan cellor [Sp o ttisw o o d] may n ot wi th safety attend I t: nor any b iSh Op : th e very name is more odious among old and young thaf the devi l’ s 1 1 H ailes’ Mem or z als, II . p . 35.
Caricature Often confirms the impressions left by serious history , and of this we have an instance in a letter written by a partisan of the Government to a friend at Court in April 1 638 , from which we give an extract ‘ If you saw under what terribl e maledi ction s they bind them selves to th e pe rforman ce o f the tenor thereof [the Cove nant you would admire, and if you knew what odd, u n co u insolent, and ridiculous courses they use to draw in silly ignorant fools , fearful fa sa rds, women and boys , I can hardly say whether it woul d afford his Maj esty more occasion o f laughter or anger. You could not have ch u se d but laugh to have s een pi pers and candle - makers in our town committed to the town -j ail by our z ealous Mr . Mayor, and herdsmen and hire m e n lai d in the sto cks , up an d down the country, and all fo r refusing to put their hand to th e pen , as a thousand have done w h o cannot write indeed ; and yet you would have laughed better t o have seen th e wives in Edinburgh (ifper m iss u s uperi o r u m , you m ight have been present thereat) s o many Of them as could not subs cribe ( fo r su ch as could have done it already indeed at a sermon on a Sunday was a fortnight) hol d all up their hands when th e Covenant (fo r s o they called it) was read, as soldiers do when they pass muster . I n th e West country they will give no passenger either meat , drink, or lodging fo r h is money, until he first give them assuran ce that he is a member o f their un christian Covenant . You will not believe what sum s they raise , by way o f contribution , fo r maintenan ce o f their commissioner, clerk , postilions , and other members o f state , and yet they are not at th e height o f their levies .
The reports which poured in by every post from Scotland 1 H a iles’ Mem o ria ls, II . p . 23.
J OH N S T O N O F W A R RIST O N 29
‘ T his last week hath been th e busiest Of all oth ers among them ; and they have told those who have stood out (and that by way o fthreatening) that perhaps hereafter, when they would come in upon their knees , it is a question if they wil l get quarters ; and divers o f them stick not to speak it out , that they are as well frien dste d in England as th e King himself , albeit we do verily think these are but their a ccustomed brags fo r I am verily persuaded , except it be some private fanati cal Puritans , if th e braver sort o f the mal contents in his Maj esty ’ s other dominions were rightly informed Of thei r senseless , Ih solent fopperies , they woul d, fo r very shame , disdain to have any corresponden ce with such giddy -headed gowks . ’ 1
The first would have been intolerable to a sovereign of such imperious Spirit and one who set such store on the bish ops the second wou ld have been hopeless with a people who were bou nd by the m ost solemn oaths to seek the overthrow of Episcopacy, root and branch and so the King resolved to adopt the third cours e and send a special Com mission er to Scotland to pacify the nation . The Marquis Of Hamilton was s elected , and there were ' m any respects in which h e was fitted for the mission . H e was Of the highest rank, being a kin sman Of the King and th e premier of the Scottish nobles ; while a loyal subj ect, he di d not sha re in the sam e m easure as many Of the Royalists Charles’ exalted notion of his own prerogative ; though educated in England and resident at the English Court, his fam ily relations with the Covenanters were s o intimate —his m oth er b eing one of the staunchest in the la nd , an d hi s Sisters having married Covenanting noblemen— that he could hardly fail to regard th em with respect if not with sympathy h e was a m an of mild and reasonable temper, an d Of at least respectable ability . B ut h e was not a strong character. He had neither the spiri t to carry through the King’ s poli cy nor the manliness to incur his disfavour by discouragin g it.
30 FAM O U S S C OT S of the ardour with which the country was ablaze in th e cause of the Covenant at length brought hom e to the Kin g and hi s counsellors the gravity of the situ ation in which his poli cy had landed hi s Governm ent. ‘ Wh ae ’ s fule n oo P so Archi e Arm strong, the King’ s fool, gibe d Ezu d as h e was entering the Coun cil one day about this time, and his taunt stru ck so deep that it cost him his place . What course he was now t o pursue with hi s reb ellious Scottish subj ects becam e the all-engrossing problem Of the King . However much he might desire to put them down by force, that alternative was m eanwhile impracticable . The Epis COpalian remna nt in Scotland was Of no account n or could he raise an English army at the tim e that w ould have been powerful enough for the pu rp ose . His ch gjce lay between a co m pleg : su rrender to the Co ven an te rs, a n honest com prom is e, I a temporising p olicy Of O ffering unreal con cession s until he had prepared himself for crushing them .
J O H N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 31
The instructions with which Hamilton was furnished were twofold - h e was to Offer certain concessions , and he was to require the renouncing of the Covenant . These term s were embodied in a Royal Declaration , which he was to publish or withhold at hi s discretion as he foun d , in treating with the leaders of the people, whether the t erms were such as th ey would accept . If they were refused he was to protract the negotiations and keep the Covenanters in hand till the King found him self in a position to crush the agitation . He w as— ih other words— to seek, in the first place, to allay their discontent by a hollow settlement of their grie v an ce s, and if that failed , to win time till the King could raise an army to suppres s them . The Commissioner left London in the end of May, and arrived at Dalkeith Palace on sth J u ne . Four days later he made his entry to the capital by the shore an d Le ith Links . The occasion was used for an imposing demonstra tion in favour of the Covenan t . ‘ Huge m ultitudes as ever was gathered in that field set themselves in th e way nobles , gentry Of all shyre s, women a world : bot we [the ministers] were most conspicuous in our black cloaks , about five hundred on . a b rayside on the links our alan e [by ou rs elves] for his sight . ’ 1 It would have astonished Hamilton had he been told on hi s arrival that the Covenanting leaders were in the secret of his instruction s— that they knew not only th e terms he was commissioned to Offer, but also the m ore sinister side of the diplomacy which he had com e to under take . But such was the fact . After the in stances we have already met wi th of the early information with which they were supplied by correspondents at the Court, of the King ’ s designs, it is no surprise to u s that th ey should have learned the substance of the Royal Declaration . B ut how did they come to know the rest of Hamilton ’ s instru ctions, whi ch, w e may be sure, the greatest pain s would be taken to conceal so fatal would they be if divulged, not only to all confidence in the good faith of the Ki ng, but to the success of his policy ? Was it only a cas e Of suspi cion and inference, or had they B aillie, i . p. 83.
positive information communicated to them ? That an invasion of Scotland was suspected by their friends in London we know. One Of these writing at the tim e to T w o Co n/ida n ts in Scotland says : ‘ Wise m en here do think that the King is resolved to hold you in all fair and promising ways of treaty until he hath suffi ciently fitted him self, by provision both of arms and m en, and then you may look for no other language, but what com es from the m outh of the can n o n . ’ l From the way, however, in which the matter was referred to afterwards at the Glasgow Assembly, we conclude that the nature of the Com missioner ’ s instru ctions must have been dis closed by som e one about the Court. It was alleged at the tim e that th e secret had been betrayed by certain Scotch grooms of th e bedchamber, O f whom the chief was Lord Dysart . 2 In whatever way the Covenanters had Obtained the informa tion, it is evident, from an incident which happened On Hamilton ’ s arrival, that the fear Of som e military stroke on the part Of the King had been aroused and that they were on the watch against it . Munition Of war had arrived i n Leith Roads , d estined for Edinburgh Castle, when a blockade was at Once m ade to prevent its conveyance, and Hamilton had to get it taken to Dalkeith . The Commission er had not spent m any hours in Scotlan d before he realised that it was in vain to seek a settlement on the terms con tained in the Royal D eclaration , and he wrote at once to this effect to the King . On 1 1 th June he received Charles ’ reply, in which the King wrote : I give you leave to flatter them with what hopes you pleas e, s o you engage me not again st my grounds ; your chief end being now to wi n tim e that they may not be able to commit follies till I am able to suppress them . I will rather die than yield to their impertinent an d dam n able demands . ’ 3 The negotiations , however, went on as though they had been all oon a fi de o n the p art of the King . B efore the Marquis ’ arrival a paper ha d been pre pared by Warristo n and Henderson containing a s tatement of 1 H a iles’ M em or i a ls, ii . p. 43. 2 Burton, vi . p . 195. 3 Burnet’ s H ou se of H a m ilton , pp. 55- 58 .
32 FA M O U S S C OT S
The Declaration led to stormy scenes when the Marquis and the Council m et wi th the representatives of the Tables to discuss it, and high words passed . The Coven anting nobles i nsis ted that they had a right from God to keep an Assem bly whi ch n either in law n or reason could the King take away from them . ‘ Loudon told his Grace ro u n dli e they kn ew O f no other bonds betwixt a king and his subjects bot of religion and lawes : if these were broken , their lives were not d ear to them : boasted [intimidated] th ey would not b e — su ch fears were past with them . ’ 1 The Marquis was ill supported , even by th e m embers of his own C oun cil . Sir Thomas Hope, the King’ s Advocate , made n o secret of his sympathy with the Covenanters , and hi s disappoin tment with the Declaration and a maj ority Of th e Council were of the sam e mind . The feeling in the natio nal party through out the cou ntry was one o f th e greates t chagrin . We doe all marvele, ’ says so m oderate a m ember o f it as Baillie, ‘ that ever the C ommissi on er could think to give satisfaction to any living soul by such a declaration . ’ Baffled on all hands, the Marquis took his d eparture for London . In August he returned with fresh in structions , but th ese proved as futile as the form er for the settlem ent of the country . They bargai n ed for the retention of the bishops and limited the p owers O f th e Assembly . Su ch term s c ould not satisfy the national leaders who had stru ck for the abolition of Episcopacy an d the reten tion o f the Original polity of th e Kirk . On ce more Hamilto n had to go up to Lon don and report the failure Of his mission . Returning in the middle O f S eptember, the Marquis at length brought powers to O ffer such terms as allowed pro gress to be made towards a pacifica tio n . T h e innovations which had originated the present troubles were t o be can celled , the High Court o f C ommissio n was to be done away with , and a free Assembly an d a free Parliam ent were to be sum moned . In the Scottish Coun cil this con ciliat ory poli cy brought immense relief, extrica ting them , as it did , from a situation that had become insupporta ble . The resolute and sa nguine spirit of the Covenanters was shown 1 B aillie , i. p . 92.
34 FA M O U S S COT S
by th e qualified satisfaction with which they received th e overtures Of the King . Hamilton ’ s instru ctions in cluded a n inj unction to th e Council to subscribe the Coven ant of 1 580 and to take orders that all th e subj ects should do th e same . Against this inju n ction th e Covenanters made a protestation , which was read by Warristo n at the Cross , on the ground that it s et up a rival s tandard to that which had been accepted by the nation , and was calculated O nly to cause divisi on . The King’ s Covenant, as it was called , became a dead letter.
J OH N ST O N O F W A R R IST O N 35
C H A P T E R V I T H E G LASGOW ASSEMBLY : WA R R IST ON ELECT ED C LER K
A F T E R Charles had promised to call an Assembly, he s et himself to hamp er it with su ch con ditions as should render it harmless . Were it left free, h e kn e w very well that it would undo the entire ecclesiastical p oli cy of his father’ s reign and his own . H e s ought to stipulate, before i t met, for the abrogation o f the Coven ant, for the limitation Of its powers to the petitioning of Parliam en t, fo r the admission of bishops and Con stant Moderators , 1 and for the exclusion of lay members from the presbyteries when these Courts cam e to vote fo r those wh o were to represent them in the Supreme Court . I t was the last of these con diti on s Charles was m ost anx ious to secure, knowing as h e did that th e vot e of the lay members would go dead against the bish ops .
On this p oint the Covenanters stood firm , and it was re s olved that th e Assembly sh ould be compos ed in accordan ce with th e A ct of the D undee Assembly Of 7 th March 1 59 7 , which provided that three ministers an d one ruling elde r sh ould be sent up from each Presbytery . The o ther con ditio n s they also resisted successfully, so that they s ecured a free hand all rou nd . NO more n otable General Assembly has been held than that whi ch met i n Glasgow Cathedral at the clos e of 1 638 . That was indeed an a n n n s m ir a bilis fo r the S cottish Church . There was no other like it i n importan ce till 1 84 3. This Assembly had momentous consequences for the wh ole 1 T hese h ad been imposed o n th e Church by J ames V I . in 1 606 , an d w ere 5 Oken Ofa t th e time as tlze little t/i ieves tlz ru st i n to t/Ie w in dow s to open t e doo rs fo r tile gr eat t/ z ieo es— tb e bi s/ zaps. 36
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 37 kin gdom it played a great part am ong the forces by whi ch Englan d as well as Scotland recovered its liberties from the Stuarts, an d the splendid courage Of th ose who carried it through became one of the most inspiri ng memories in our history . The spirit displayed by its members atoned for the pusillanimity O f their predecess ors wh o met in the same City in 1 6 1 0, and regain ed from King Charles the rights which were then surrendered to his father . For a week before th e O pening of th e Assembly, which took place on We dn e W sLA oy e m b e r, it was evident to all in the city that an occasion of u n usual momen t was expected . From every dire ction strangers fl o cked in and crowded th e streets — nobles with their retinues , barons, burgesses , ministers , an d a multitude besides of both sexes and of every class . Accommodation could hardly b e provided for all wh o came , an d exorbitan t prices were paid for rooms . On th e Saturday, the Marquis of Hamilton , who had been appointed Lord High Com missioner, arrived , attended by most of the Coun cil ; and h e was received at the outskirts by several Of the Covenant ing n obles , between wh om and hi s Grace mu ch ‘ good spee ch ’ was made, and promises of reasonable dealing on both sides . The place Of m eeting was one of the m ost ven erable and stately o f the religious edifice s Of Scotland , and its dignity b e fitte d the occasion . The p er so n n el of the Assembly ih cluded the m ost notable and representative m en i n th e kingdom— th e heads of most O f the n oble h ouses , nearly every baron of consequence, th e chief burgesses in th e country — and the great body of the ministers . Th e Space set apart fo r n on - members was filled by prominent citizens, by young lords and gentlewom en, and by a large number of people from every district interested in the m om entous issues that were t o b e fought out between th e Kirk and th e Crown . SO great were th e crowds at the earlier sittings of the Assembly that th e mem bers n eeded th e Off i cers o f the town guard to clear a way for th em t o their seats , and even with all th eir help could scarce ‘ thrumble through . ’ At o n e en d O f the building was the Lord High
38 FA M O U S S COT S
Commissioner’ s throne, the space around it b eing occupied by the ch ief of the Council ; b efore hi m were the chai rs an d table for the Moderator an d th e Clerk ; the eld ers sat at a large table running down the centre, and rising in tiers on each side Of this table were th e s eats allotted to th e ministers . There never was any doubt as to th e m en on who m the choi ce o f th e Assembly fo r its two principal Offi ces on this criti cal occasio n would fall . Alexander Henderson , in co m parab ilie th e ables t m an of u s all fo r all w as unanimously elected M oderator an d Wa rristo n , ‘ to us all a nonsu ch for a clerk , ’ was elected with only one dissenting voice to that o ffi ce . 1 As great nam es as Henderson ’ s have been ass ociated with th e Chair O f the Assembly, but no ne s o great as Warristo n ’ s with the Clerk ship . At the third seder u n t the newly app ointed Clerk furnished the Assembly with a happy omen Of the services h e was destined to render to i t . Thomas Sandilands , D epute Clerk, delivered to th e House two registers contain ing the Acts o f the Kirk since 1 59 0, and stated that his father, James Sandilands , the late Clerk, never had m ore in his poss ession . Where were th e others— those between 1 56 0 and 1 590 ? It was kn own that King James had ordered Thomas Ni ch olson , J am es Sandilands ’ predecessor, to place all th e records in the hands o f the Archbishop o f St . An drews ; and Roth es ros e i n th e court t o urge that th e bishops should be ordered to deliver up the minutes that were in their possession . Productio n o f the missing books having b een called for by the M oderator, Wa rristo n ros e and d eclared that ‘ by the good providence o f G od thes e books they spake of were come to his hands , which th en he produced to all our great j oy : Fyve books in folio, four written an d su b scryv ed and margin ed wi th the kn own hands Of ane Gray and Ritchie, Clerk s to the General Assembly, containin g the full register from the reformati on i n the year to th e year where Thomas San dilan ds’ s books began , except some leaves which B ish o p Ada m so n e had riven out : thir ane Win rh am e, depu t to M r . Th omas Nico lso n e , had left to an e Alexander Blair, his successor 1 B aillie, i. p. 122.
J OH N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 39 in office, o f whom M r. Archibald [J ohnston] had gotten them , the fifth was an e extract by way of compend from the to the whereby I n a good part B ish op Adam so n e ’ s sacrilegi ous rapi n e migh t be restored . ’ The recovered records , after exam i nation , were d eclared authentic by the Assembly —the Commissi on er pro testing, n ot because h e had anything to say again st th e b ooks, but because the ‘books had s o mu ch to say against the bishops ! Their productio n by th e Clerk was hailed as ‘ ane o f the notable passages Of God ’ s providence towards our Church thir fo u rtie years bygone so great a d esign bein g i n th e heart of th e Prin ce and Prelates for covering in pe rpe tu all darkness of our old Assemblies , which crossed their imten tions . ’ 1 This was not the only occasion , as we shall see, when Warristo n had th e good fortune to recover missing docu ments o f importan ce . At th e sam e seder u n t as that at which he laid the restored min utes on the table of the H ouse, th e new Clerk was put to the framing of his first difficult minute, and it did n ot come so readily to his pen as his friends who were an xious fo r his reputation could have wished . Baillie th ought he was ‘ to seik ’ [had lost hims elf] , an d pitied him . I t was , h owever, the only o ccasio n on whi ch h e stumbled he kythed [ Showed] his wit ever after. ’ The first week of the Assembly was occupied with pre liminary busi n ess, in con nection with which many poi nts came up that gave th e King’ s party— the C ommissi on er a n d his assessors— an d the Presbyterians, wh o made up th e rest o f the Hous e — ah Opp ortu n i ty to sharpen their weap ons and to try their stren gth before they cam e to their ma i n en counter. The toughes t dispute during this stage of the pro ceedings was over a claim made on b ehalf Of the bishops to have a protest read against the Assembly going on 1 B aillie, I . pp . 1 29 et seq . T hese reco rds perish ed I n th e fire wh ich destroyed th e H o use s o f Pa rliame n t In 1 834 . T hey h ad be e n bro ught to Lo n do n by o rder o f a Co mmittee o f th e H o use o f Co mmo n s o n Patro n age in Sco tla nd, a t th e in stan ce Of Prin cipa l Le e , w ho w as a w itn ess, an d w h o wish e d to refer to th em. Se e Burto n, vi . p. 227 .
4 0 FA M O U S S C OT S with its business till the comm ission s of th e members had been tried . To have yielded this demand would have raised, before th e Cour t was constituted, som e of th e gravest questions it had been summon ed to settle, and have left their decision in th e hands of the Com mission er. The bishops ’ petition was refused, whereupon Hamilton lodged a protest in whi ch he mai ntain ed that the refusal would invalidate all the subsequent Acts of the Assembly . I t was on Wednesday, 2 8th November, that the Cour t ca m e to address itself to the cru cial question of its j u ris diction O ver the bishops . When th e question was put by th e M oderator— Was the Assembly j udge of the bishops ? the Commissioner at once rose and warned the H ouse that he would not allow it to b e s ubmitted, and that, if it were , he would dissolve th e Assembly . O n the Moderator persistin g in his course i n defiance of the threat from th e Throne and putting the question a second time— it was a courageous act, and suffi cien t, had it stood alone, as evidence of the stren gth of character we associate wi th the name of Alexander H enderson— the Commis sioner rose again to speak . ‘ It was, ’ says B aillie, ‘ a sad , grave an d sorrowful discourse the Com missioner’ s last pas sage ; h e acted i t with tears, and drew by his Speech water from many eyes , as I think ; well I wot mu ch from mine . ’ 1 On concluding, the Co mmissi oner dis charged th e As sem bly and left th e House ; but before he had gone, Rothes handed th e Clerk a protest that had been prepared fo r the em ergency, in which i t was de clared that his withdrawal would not stay the pro ceedings of the Assembly nor invalidate its Acts . As soon as Hamilton retired, the Moderator put th e questi on to the v ote, when it was unanimously ca rried i n th e affirmative . Such a dire ct defiance o f th e authori ty o f th e Cro w n was o n e of th o se daring acts o f which individuals have often been found capable, but bodies of citiz en s seldom , and it proves the truth of B aillie’ s observation that the m embers o f the Assembly had been ‘ very weelyaile d [well chosen] for the purpos e . ’
him : an d I know him to be an learn e der and m ore con scie n tio us man (although I will not purge him of in fi rm itie s m o re than others) than any of those who were his exco m m u n icato rs . ’ 1 On e o f the m os t n otable in cidents of th e Assem bly was the enlistme n t on the side of the Covenant of on e who was its first m artyr— th e Marquis of Argyle . He attended th e m eeting by th e King’ s comm and, as on e of the Com mission er’ s assessors , and up to the day after Hamilton broke with th e Ass embly, his p ositi on was an ambiguous o n e . He had supp orted the protest lodged by th e bish ops against the Court pro ceedin g b efore the commissi ons were tried, an d had been answered by th e M oderator ‘ cu ttitlie , ’ B ailli e says , nai vely adding, ‘ the man [the Moderator] naturally hath a little ch oler, n o t yet quite extinguished . ’ On the day th e Commissioner withdrew, he made a spee ch in which he still left th e Court in d oubt o f his attitud e but at th e next sederu n t h e app eared , and in resp ons e to the M oderator, who now addressed him in a very di fferen t to n e, an d entreated him to countenan ce the proceedings of the Assembly, he rose an d avowed himself o n the sid e o f the Covenan t . His explanation of his tardy declaration of his sympathy was that he had h op ed that he might be able to m ediate between the King and the Assembly, but that as this was n o longer p ossible h e felt boun d by his fidelity to God and to his c ountry to cast in h is lot with the Church . The accessi on to their ranks of th e most powerfu l subj ect in the realm at a m omen t when they had so distinctly defied the authority of the Crown was hailed by th e Covenanters as a great triumph ; and i t awoke correspondin g resentmen t on the o ther side . ‘ N o on e thing did co nfirm u s so much a s Argyle ’ s presence, ’ so Bailli e expresses th e fe eling o f the Assembly . Hamilton , on the oth er hand , wrote to the King to warn him that Argyle ‘ must b e w ell looked to, for it fears m e he will prove the dan ge ro u se st man in this state . ’ Argyle’ s 1 H a ile s’ M em o r i a ls , II . p . 272. I t is o n ly fair to th e A ssembly to say th a t n o ch arge s affectin g h is mo ral ch ara cte r were bro ugh t aga inst th is bish o p .
4 2 FA M O U S S C OT S
subsequent career was th e b est vindication of the integrity o f his conduct at this tim e ; whatever might be its blemishes, disloyalty to the Coven an t was not one of them . Among the leaders of the p opular cause to whom Argyle now allied him self, Wa rristo n be came his most co n fidential frien d . They were men of very different temperamen ts Argyle was often as difficult to understan d as Wa rristo n was always easy, an d was as i nvariably diplomatic i n his deal in gs as the other was straightforward and tran sparen t ; but the two were alike in th e mai n in terests o f their lives ih their devotio n to cons titutional liberty i n th e State an d t o th e Presbyterian govern men t of the Church . Gen erally, th ough not always, they agreed in their View of public affairs an d stood side by side i n the controversies of th eir time, and at last they were united i n the same tragi c end and in the better tha n Roman courage with which they met it . As one of the firs t acts of th e Assembly was to elect Wa rristo n Clerk, so o ne of its last was t o appoint him also Procurator o f the Church . The Assembly was dissolved on 20 th December.
J OH N S TO N O F WA R R IST O N 43
C H A P T ER V I I F I R ST B I SHO PS’ WA R : D U N S LAw
T H E struggle was now to be carried on , on a new field and wi th other weapon s . As we have seen from his private instructions to Hamilton i n midsummer, Charles had been preparing for some time for an invasion of S cotland ; but th e diff i culties of his govern men t in E ngland made the p reparations drag . The Coven anters , wh o were alive t o his design s , had also been preparing ; and their activity presented a great contras t in its effectiveness to the King’ .s Not many m onths after th e laun ching O f the Covenant, a war com mittee was form ed In every coun ty and a tax was leV I ed on free rents which brought i n a sufficient revenue for th e national defen ce . I n the early summer ammunition b egan to be imported fro m th e C ontin ent, an d commun ication s were opened wi th the distinguished soldier who was afte rwards called to the chief command of the army, and wh o played so n otable a part in the impending civil war— Alexander Lesli e . Leslie ’ s record u nder Gustavus Adolphus had brought him high repute in his profession ; bu t he ha d more than a professional fitn es s for the position he was destin ed to fill in his native land . I t has not been sufficien tly recog n ise d that a very large proportion o f our cou ntrymen w h o fought under the Protestant flag durin g th e Thirty Yea rs ’ War were n o Dugald D alge tys, hiring them selves t o th e b est paymasters an d regardless O f the caus e for whi ch th ey used their swords : they were , on the con trary, warm Protestants . 1 Leslie was one of these ; an d now that his 1 T h ere were la rge levie s amo ng th e Ro ss a n d Sutherla nd men, a n d hence th e favourite name o f Gu sta v u s in th e N o rth. 44 y
J O H N S T O N O F W A R RIST O N 4 5
services were needed at home in essentially the same interest, he resolved to return and offer them to his country . B efore leaving the Co ntin ent he enlisted a large number of Scottish O ff i cers an d soldiers in Sweden and Germany fo r the Cove nanting army, and arranged for the transmission o f war l material . Baillie pays a j ust tribute to Leslie an d our other countrymen so j o u rs of that time when he says that to their kindness ‘ o u r natio n is exceedingly obliged, fo r, t o help their boasted [threaten ed] m other- church and c ountry, they have deserted their Charges abroad to their great loss e, which they knew she was never able to m ak e up ; they have here, o n v e rié easle and small conditions , at tended her service for fear of their val our our peace has both been qui ck er and better : the re n o wn e of their kind ness and conscien ce of their desert at the hand of th eir mother for ever will be their greatest and most glorious recompen ce . ’ I n the four month s between his appointm ent to the chief command of the army an d th e tim e when he had to take the field , Leslie showed the greatest en ergy in his prepara tions . Arms were shipped from H olland, an d at home th e smithies ran g with the manufacture o f weapon s of war ; recruits for the army were enrolled and diligently drilled ; and SO prompt and effectual were the measures taken to deprive th e King of any military footing within Scotland itself , that by the time Charles’ army set out for the North , all the prin cipal strongh olds of the cou ntry had been seized an d se cured , the fortifications of Leith— so importan t for the safety o f th e capital— strengthen ed , the Huntly risin g in the N orth suppressed, and the Scottish side of th e B ord er cleared o f all active allies o f th e Kin g . The spirit displayed by the nation both in this and in th e se cond Bishop s ’ War could not have been more admirable . Every class of the people cheerfully bore its share of the burdens and sacri fi ces required . ‘ Every ane, man and woman , en couraged their neighbours, ’ says Baillie . When the army marched fo r the B order, it knew that it had the whol e nation at its back , an d that , whatever i t might have to en counter in front , n o enemy was left i n the cou ntry to fall on i t from behind .
46 FAM O U S S COT S
It was on 26th January 1 639 that the Scots got t heir fi rst public notice of th e King’ s warlike designs . On that day h e summ oned the English n obility to meet him at York on I st April, with all the forces at their command, ‘ to p rev en t t/ie Sco ts i n vading E ngla n d. ’ This was to be done by an i n vasion o f Scotland, and on a very extensive scale indeed . Troops were t o be landed on the shores of the Clyde an d in Argyle ; a fl eet u nder the command of Hamilton was to be s ent to the Forth ; th e King with the main army was to advan ce t o the Tw eed . It was only within Charles ’ own breast that there was a zeal commen surate with th e pro gramme h e had con ceived . Hardly a soul in th e kingdo ml b eyo n d Laud and his clergy approved of the war . The great body of th e English people sympathised with th e Scots i n the stand they had made against a new fashio n in religion , k n owing very well that if they were b eaten , Laud would have all the freer hand to carry out inn ovation s amongst them selves . It was notorious that th e army itself had n o heart in th e war. Sir R alph Verney wrote from th e ca mp to hi s son : I daresay that there was never m ore unwillin g an army brought to fight . This day I spak e with an under standing S cottishman and on e that is affected to moderate ways . He is confident nothing will satisfy them but takin g away all bishops, an d I daresay th e King will n ever yielde to that, so e we mus t b e miserable . ’ 1 The English nobles and th e fo rce s they had raised assembled at York in th e begin ning Of April, an d were join ed by th e King accordin g to app ointm en t . While the Court remain ed in that city, whi ch it did for a wh ole m on th , Charles issued a proclamati on to th e Scots, con tain ing an Act of Oblivion fo r all wh o would lay d own their arm s wi thi n eight o r nin e days, de claring others rebels , and ordering their servants and vassals not to ackno w ledge them nor pay rents . I n May t h e Royal army marched northwards and en camped at B irks , near B erwick , where the Kin g himself arrived on the 3o th . Te n days earlier the S cottish army mustered at Leith Links, an d o n z r st May Leslie set out with th e m ain body for the B order, march ing 1 Vern ey Papers, p . 24 1 .
Alexander H enderson an d Warristo n were presen t at Duns Law i n an official capacity . That the M oderator and Clerk o f the Gen eral Assembly followed th e arm y and sat in the Coun cil of War is significan t of the trend o f n ati on al i nt erests in S cotlan d sin ce the Re formati on . The Kirk has
J O H N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 47
by Haddington and Dunbar to Dunglass , where he encam ped for a little over a fortnight . On Wednesday, sth Jun e, h e left Dunglass and marched by Oldhamsto cks t o Duns , where he was j oin ed on the sam e day by a detachm ent under the command of Colonel Monro , which had been posted at Kelso . Lesli e ’ s position at D un s was well Chosen, commanding as it did both roads to Edinburgh , one by Haddingto n and th e o ther by Soutra . The Scottish camp was on Duns Law — ‘ the pre ttie round , I ysin g in a declivitie with out steepness to the h eight of a bowsh ot, ’ imm ediately t o the north of th e town— as it is p erfectly described by Baillie . Every reader Of Scottish history is familiar with the picturesque passage ' in one of his letters in which he expatiates with su ch a glow of patrioti c pride on the appearan ce of ‘ our b ra ve and ri ch hill ’ as one cast his eyes ‘ athort ’ it when the Scottish army lay encamped on its Slopes— its level summit garnished with m oun ted can non— from base to crown a tented fi eld, every company having flyin g at its captai n ’ s tent door a brave new colour blazoned with th e S cottish arms , and with the legend inscri bed upon it in gold— Fo r C/ z rist’ s Cr o w n a n d Coven a n t. Th e s oldi ers , mainly young and lusty ploughmen fro m the West country, were full of spirit . Their o ff i cers— most of them nobles and lairds from their own districts— went daily through the regiments and conversed freely with them . Th e c on fi de n ce of th e army i n the old , little, cro oked soldier at i ts head was as boundless as if he had been ‘ great Solyman ’ himself. Several min isters were in the camp , each actin g ]as chaplain t o the regiments raised I n his own district, and : every day of the week there were ‘ good sermon s an d prayers morning and evenin g u nder the open roof of heaven . ’ The heads of that army did not think their m e n would fight with less valour if they wen t to the field with the conviction that the battle was th e Lord ’ s .
48 FA M O U S S C OT S always been in the centre of h er battles . Warristo n , we shall see, took an active part in the con du ct of affairs , and espe cially i n th e negotiation s by which the w ar was concluded without a blow bein g struck .
For the history o f the first B ish ops ’ War, fro m the date of the arrival of Leslie ’ s army at Dunglass to the con clusi on of the p eace, we a re able to draw on the Fr agm en t of Warristo n ’ s Diary, mention ed in the Preface . I t contains a detailed and graphic accoun t of the progress of h ostilities and of the negotiati ons which ended i n the pa cifi catio n of B erwick it describes the vigorous meas ures taken by the Covenanting leaders and the an xieties that fille d their m inds till th e crisis of th e danger was past ; and it supplies us als o with a rep o rt at first han d of their conference with the King, before they came to a Treaty .
The fortnight i n tervening between the arrival of the army at Dunglass and its m arch to Dun s Law w as a time that made severe demands on the energy of the Comm ander ih Chief and the Cou n cil of War. The arm y still needed a co n siderable reinforcement, especially of horse ; in foot Soldiers it outnumbered the King ’ s army, but in cavalry it fell far short of it ; 1 the commissariat was a heavy tax on th eir resources , and the order and disciplin e, where there w ere s o many raw levies, required a great deal of atten tion . D uring that fortnight frequent letters of distress were sent from th e camp to th e C ommittee in Edinburgh , to all the Shires , an d to the m inisters . These letters are given in the D ia ry, an d th eir vehement and rousing style poin ts to Wa rristo n himself as th e scribe . Under date a4th May 1 6 39, the heads of the army wrote : ‘ The King’ s army, especially o f horsemen , lying now close upon our borders in de spygh t of all fo ot companies, m ay and will assuredly ravage all the country and ryde into the heart of the Kin g d om e . Le t n o t an y m an now either linger or think it suffi cient to s en any unworthy body o r a b a chlin g naig [shambling nag] in Is s tead . B ut as they love the standin g 1 T h e R o ya l army consisted o f within a few hundred o f foo t, a n d over 3000 h o rse th e Sco ts a rmy, o f about fo ot an d 500 ho rse.
50 FA M O U S S COT S showi ng th e most praiseworthy zeal i n supportin g the army. The disappointment was not due to the lukewarmness of the country, but to the high temperature which the zeal of those who were at the front and had the greatest responsi b ility had reached . The people in the district where th e army was encamped were ready with their services ; in the town s of East Lo thian they were busy baking and brewin g for the soldiers ; and all the parishes j oin ed in sending in victuals and supplying horses . M on ey was freely lent to th e Committee in Edinburgh . The spirit of the people can not be better illustrated than by the reply whi ch t he town of B urntisland sent to a letter of the Marquis of Hamilton when hi s men- Of -war were lying in th e Forth , 1[in which he promised to stop all disturbance o f the shippi ng trade of th e coast towns of Fife on condition that they would yield ‘ fitting obedience ’ to the Ki ng . After a courteou s a cknowledgmen t O f his Grace ’ s good intention s and a warm expression of their loyalty to th e King, th e people in Burntisland wrote : B ut because th e proposition concern eth not on ly their seafaring m en i ndwellers in this Town , but all those of other port t own s in th e k in gdo m e , and hath an n exed to it som e condition s which are so wrapped up in generals yt they tran scend our reach : We humbly begg your Grace ’ s favour to condescend more spe ciallie up on these co n ditio n e s required o f us , an d to grant us some short competent tym e for a dvysin g thereupon , that n either w e may trench up on our oath t o God and our Covenan t or be pressed with oathes contrarie to the lawes of o u r Kirk and Kingdom , nor yet o m itt any te m po rall du etie of civile obedien ce which we m ost heartily will de fe rr to our Gracious So vera ign e . ’
1 H amilto n ’ s flee t e n te red th e Fo rth at th e begin n ing Of Ma y, but b e yo nd se iz in g o n e or tw o tra di n g ve sse ls , w a s h a rmle ss . H e w as not allo wedto l an d an y o f h is m e n . H is o w n moth er h e l with oth e r la die s in carrying earth a n d sto ne s to strength en th e o rtifi ca tio n s o f Le ith , a n d went a bo ut ‘ a rm ed w ith a pisto l, which sh e vowed to disch a rge 1 upo n h e r o w n so n , ifh e o ffered to come o n sho re. ’
The an xious consultations at the Scottish camp and th e hopes and fears of those wh o were responsible for th e
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 51
conduct of the campaign are unveiled in the D ia ry. On 3rd Ju ne, Alexander H enderson, D avid D ickson , Robert M eldrum ( Leslie ’ s secretary), and Warristo n himself ‘ b e thoght and better b eth o gh t the whole a ftem o o n e upon the present n ecessities of the a rm ie ’ and were ‘ fo rfo gh te n ’ with the consideration of them . On the following day Warristo n spent two h ours with the General and his secre tary in discussing the diff i culties of the situation . Leslie ‘ was e xtre am ly p erplexed, was b ro gh t low befor God in de id and acknowledged that we had no groun d o f co n fi dence ex cept in th e providence of our God who had led us i n thi r straite s and certai nly co n trar to all app ea ran ce was to lead us out of them, thu s the Lord was gmp tying e verie heart and annihilating everie spirit, for to pre pare as we hope to re ce av e some , greater subsequent blinks o f _ his pgyyer. ’ When we read s uch passages we are remin ded of i th e letters and speeches of the great Englishman who was then on the eve of his entrance on public life, so much do ' they partake o f that ‘ practical mysticism — as it has been happily described — which was the secret of Cromwell’ s invincible power on the field of war. After what has been told of th e half-heartedness of the King’ s fo rce s and of the u nity and zeal alike of their own nation and their own army, we may regard th e S cottish Council of War as having taken too gloomy a View of the situation . And such i s the fact . But we m ust remember that they did not know the weakness of the invading army, and that they might well re ckon that to Oppose successfully the strength which the sovereign o fEnglan d, in even th e m ost unfavourable circumstan ces, could put upon the field , would strai n to the utmost the resources of their own kin gdom .
C H A P T E R V I I I FI R ST B I SH OPS’ WA R , CO N T I N U ED : T H E PA CI F I CAT I O N O F B ER W I CK T H E anxious preparations described in th e previous chap ter were arrested by a new turn i n the cours e o f affairs . Not yet were th e ques tions at issue between Charles an d his S cottish subj ects to com e t o the arbitramen t of the sword . The prelude to the negotiati on s that led to the disbandin g of th e two armies was made in two letters of Lord Holland, General of th e King ’ s Horse, one addressed to all the S cottish n obles in the camp , and the o ther to the Marquis of Argyle . His lordship wrote to u rge com plian ce wi th a proclamation the King had published at Newcastle on 1 4 th May, i n whi ch he decl ared that his O bj ect in coming North with his army was ‘ t o give the go od people of Scotlan d all j ust satisfaction i n Parliament, as s oo n e as the present disorder and tumultuous pro ce id ings of some there are quieted , ’ and promised that if sub m ission were made th ey need not fear any hostility o n his part ; but if, on the other han d, the army continued to advance and came within ten miles of th e B o rder, this would be regarded as an i nvasion of the kingdom of England, and they would be treated as rebels . Holland appealed to the nobles as subjects of his Majesty ’ s ‘ natural kingdo m— having been b o rn e in the bowels o f i t - to obey his commands : it was shocking that a sovereign who had ‘ covered us all under the wings of peace when all oth er princes have be en laid open to th e rage and calami ties of warre ’ Should be ‘ faced with ' ah arm ie in his own kingdom l ’
J OH N ST O N O F W AR R IST O N 53
The day after the receipt of H olland ’ s letter— o n 20 th May— Sir John Hume o f Bla cka dder was despatched to the English camp with the answer o f the Covenanters . They regarded his Maj esty as the aggressor, and they e h treated him to appoint a Conference o f ‘ prym e and well affe cted men ’ o f both kingdom s to effe ct a peaceful settlemen t : m eanwhile they would , as he desired , k eep their army within th e bounds pres cribed— such was its ten or . On 3oth May, Hum e reported his lordship ’ s reply, whi ch was in effe ct a refusal of the C o n ference o n the part o f the King an d a ren ewe d deman d for th e submissi o n o f th e C oven an ters . The King’ s honour and his reputation in th e eyes of all m en required that havi ng come so far with his army h e Should not turn back without havin g restored his authority in Scotland . If they will obey, he will remit all bygones and come t o Edinburgh in a quiet and peace abl e way an d hold a Parliament for the settlement o f all disorder : and seeing they were so wilfully ben t for m atte rs of religi on ’ though ‘ the un cleanliness ’ of their places of worship was an offence to him and he would fain reform th em , they would get their will in all these things . Within a week the King seem s to have repented of his rej ection of th e Scottish proposal an d to have used means to suggest the renewal o f it. Under date sth Ju n e, War riston has the following entry in his D ia ry : This day th e Erle of Hum e and D u n fe rm lin g spake with the Erle of M o rto u n , D r. Patri ck H a m m ilto u n and M r. Adam H e b ro u n spake with the Erle of H a ddin gto u n , and about eight o ’ clo ck Robin Leslie cam e to the Gen erall all running t o on e pur p os e that we would supplicate the King to appoin t ane present co nferen ce betwixt s om e o f the English an d som e o f ours , an d to en treat the English Coun cil an d n obility to assist our Suppli cation . ’ Who was this Robin Leslie who j oined the S cottish noblemen and gen tlemen named in proposin g a fresh approach to th e Kin g ? H e was on e o f the Royal pages ; and on con sultin g another version o f this in cident by on e who was als o on th e spot we get some elucidation in regard to his part in th e business . A ccord ing to Baillie, h e was the originator of the proposal . Coming
54 FAM O U S S COT S over to D uns ostensibly to see old friends in th e camp , he had this for his real errand to suggest, at the in stance of th e Kin g, who had becom e afraid o f the strength of the Sco ttish army . The C ovenanters had no desire to humiliate the King, and were glad t o have the door opened again by his own a ct fo r their rej ected overtures . Accordingly Lord Du n fe rm lin e was sent to the Royal camp with a supplication for a Conference, and at the same tim e a letter was s ent t o the E nglish nobility and Council, requ e sting th em t o supp o rt it . D un fermlin e was gra ciously heard , an d the Kin g intimate d that he would send an an swer by the hands of Sir Edmund Verney , Marshal o f the Palace . This was taken as a good omen , Vern ey being known as ‘ a lover of our nation . ’ The King ’ s e nvoy came to D un s without an h o u r’ s delay and held a Confe ren ce with the S cottish n obles . H e had been instructed to require th at they should publish the Royal proclamation made at N ewcastle on the previous m on th as a condition of the King’ s treating with them ; but this they re fus ed to do , putti ng into Verney ’ s hands their reas ons for their refusal . H ow suffi cient these were was proved by a letter of the Marquis of Hamilton t o Lo rd Ogilvy whi ch fell i nto th eir h ands at this tim e, in whi ch th e writer assures his correspond e nt that the King was bent o n curbing th e insolence o f the Covenanters . The pro clamatio n was read at the Conferen ce, however, as a matter of busin ess , an d Verney, who was anxious for peace, reported to the King that his inj un ctio n had been complied with . Thereupon Charles appointed six of the English nobility to meet with repres entatives of th e Scots an d h ear their desires . The S cottish Commissioners were Rothes , Loudoun , D ouglas , Sheriff of T e v io tdale , Alexander H enders on , an d Warristo n . The two las t- named did not s et out with their colleagues ‘ we had n ot will to h azard all at once ’ was the reason give n for their retention . In other words, the S cots had n o faith in the King’ s word , and feared h e would not resp ect th e safe - conduct given under his own hand . I t is signifi cant that it was th e Moderator and Clerk Of the Assembly they were most
afraid to risk in the Kin g’ s hands . These two men stood most distinctly for th e cause that was dearest to them , and most Offensive to him . It was on the morn in g of r 1 th Jun e that the Scottish Commission ers left Dun s La w for the English camp . They were escorted by a hundred horse, an d o n arriving at Birks they were con ducted to the tent of th e Earl of Arundel , Charles ’ Commander-ih —Chief , where the Confer e n ce had been appointed to take place . The busi n ess had not well begu n wh en th e King sudd enly entered the tent . This was no u nusual tri ck with Charles , who had an exaggerated sense of the effect o f the Royal presence in overawing thos e who differed fro m hi m ; but, if that was his object o n this o ccasion , he utterly failed . When h e asked th e S cottish Commissio ners what they desired , Loudoun answered for them all that they desired security fo r their religio n and liberti es , according to th e ecclesias tical an d Civil laws of the kingdom . Warristo n was n ot present, but there were i n th e hands of the Commission ers memoranda drawn up by him of the conditions on which they were to a ccept a settlemen t, along with a paper of private instructions , both of which were of a thorough goin g character. There was n o m an among th em more determined to make the occasion one for obtaining a real redress for th e gri evan ces of the nati on or who realised m ore how mom entous were the issues that hung upon it .
The main conditi ons laid d own in Warristo n ’ s paper were the ratificati on of all th e Acts of th e Glasgow Assembly and the de claration by the Kin g an d Coun cil that they would not in terfere in future with matters of religion ‘ th e cause of all this co n ten tio u n e . ’ Th e others were that the Kin g as the invader was first to lay down arms and give an assuran ce that he would m ake n o similar attempt that the damages done to the trade and shipping o f the coun try by Hamilton ’ s fleet should be paid for o ut of th e estate o f Papists and oth er Incend iaries that the bish oprics— ‘ the cause of all the trouble — should be applied to such common and pious uses as the relief of the poor, the maintenan ce of ministers and scholars, etc . that
J O H N S T O N O F WA R R IST O N 55
56 FAM O U S S COT S the King should reinstate the friends o f the Covenan ters in E ngland who had been treated as rebels, and ass ure them and all who might conform to Presbytery against m oles t ation that the Castles sh ould b e put in to custody o f the King a n d P a r lia me n t ; that th e Coun cil and the Court of Sessio n should be chosen by th e same ; and that n o foreign ers , and especially n o foreign prelate, should be allowed to m ed dle with Scottish affairs . I n this piece of work we see the character of its author. Wa rristo n had always a clear perception of his Obj ect, avowed it without hesitation , defended it with Vigorous argumen t, was ih tolerant o f compromi se, a n d pushed vehemently for whole m easures . On Thursday, 1 3th June, Alexander H enderson an d Warristo n were sent to j oin the Conferen ce . B efore they set out for B irks, another statement of the S cottish d emands was drawn u p— th e prin cipal being the ratifi cation o f the Glasgo w Assembly, the abolition of bishops both in Church an d State— for b en e fi ces and o ffi ces— an d the summ oning of the Parliament at set times, as once in two or three years . At the n ext m eeting, the King took the lead in the discussion on his own side, and Warristo n on the other. Reverting to his pro clamation calling th e Glasgow Assembly, Charles vindicated its term s . Wa rristo n contend ed tha t it was satisfactory neither in manner n or in matter . The Ki ng u rged— with the Assembly ’ s abolition of bishops in hi s mind— that no Assembly could meddle with what was established by law, when he w as answered that Parliam ent could not make ecclesias ti cal laws, but only sanction those mad e by the Assembly ; and when he rej oined that n o ecclesiastical con stitution could have effect if it was not ratified by Parliament, he was told that in that cas e it carried ecclesiastical if n ot civil authority . The King thereupon asserted hi s supremacy in all causes , ecclesiastical as well as civil— the Assembly, he said, could not judge him— so li D eo perco vi . H ere Rothe s brok e in to the contrary that ‘ if he were King and had committed David’ s fault, y! the Kirk might excommuni cate him , ’ naively addi ng that ‘ he knew the King ’ s ma/ would never fall in such trans
A S s oo n as the Conference ended , Warristo n wen t O ff to D un s Law to report the part the Kin g had taken in it, an d his frien ds in the cam p were in no w ayes pleased wi th it . ’
On the Sabbath— 1 6th June— two of the Scottish prelates, Ross and Ab erdeen , s o changed the con ciliatory m ood in which the King had closed th e Conference by their ‘ sweet and peaceable ’ discourses that the M onday’ s m eeting was ‘ more tart ’ than any of the precedin g ones . I t was the n ew taste of the bishops ’ s weetn ess that brought on the fresh accession of the King ’ s oitter n ess again st the Presbyterian s . The Scottish Com missioners , before the Monday ’ s con feren ce, drew u p a fresh draft of a declaration su ch as would satisfy them , for th e Ki ng to give out . Their d emand s had always be come m ore precise, an d these were the most precise of all . The Kin g was asked to pr omise tha t the Gen eral A ssembly would be held once a year, an d often er if necessary, and that Parliamen t would be sum
58 FA M O U S S COT S that his refusal to approve the Acts of the Glasgow Assembly ‘ prelimi tated the n ext Assembly . ’ N ettled by this rem ark , Charles replied that ‘ the devill himself could not make a m ore unchari table constructio n or give a m ore bitter ex pression . ’ Warristo n repeated his objecti on , wh en the King com manded hi m to be Silent an d said he would speak to more reasonable m en . Still Warris to n persisted he was there to speak the mi nds of those he represented, and sp eak h e would . A second time the Kin g commanded him to be silent and rebuked him for hi s pertin acity . B efore the Conferen ce Closed , however, Charles cam e round t o a better mood , an d all th e Com mi ssion ers falling down on th eir kn ees craved that he would make th e next day, which was a Sabbath, one of thanksgiving to them by grantin g their d esires . SO long as he kept up th e bishops , ‘ h e w olde never winne thei r hearts nor keep peace in the kin gdo m e , but if he would quyte th em , he wolde have th e m ost ob edient subj ects in the world . ’ Th e King res erved h is answer till Monday . On dismissing them he gave each a kis s of his hand , and bade Warristo n walk more circum spe ctly in tym e com ing . ’
J O H N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 59
m o n ed once in three years and a s often a s the state of the kingdom required ; that the date of the next Assembly should be fixed , that it should consist of elders as well as ministers , and that it sh ould deal with all proper matters, the places an d powers o f Kirkmen being specially named . When th e Conference resumed its sittings , the Kin g an nounced his adherence to th e answers he had given at th e previous m eeting. When the Commission ers pressed the main p oin t and insisted on his agr eeing to whatever the Assembly m igh t determ ine, he wrote down , as his answer, that wi th regard to Episcopacy he would not bind himself , an d added th ese words : we shall give way to the d etermination of th e General Assem bly w Ch we shall fi nd to be agreeable to the laws of Kirk an d State . ’ As this implied the King ’ s right to a negative vot e, and deprived the Assembly o f p ower to m eddle with th e bishops or wi th any other matter which the Kin g might allege to b e established by law, the Commissi on ers could not accept it . Warristo n ros e twice to Speak against the declaration , but was at once put down by the King. The Scots at this j uncture began to suspect that Charles was only putting o fl' tim e to exhaus t t hem , and they re solved either t o bring hi m to a point with the Treaty or to bri ng th eir leaguer within cannon - shot of the King’ s trenches . This coming t o the King’ s ears , made him more pliant a t th e next m eeting of th e C o n fe I en ce . On Tuesday, 1 8th Ju n e, the Covenanters held a con sultation at which they res olved to make a d e claration o f their resolution to s tan d by the Glasgow Assembly an d i t s Acts . When the Co n ference resumed, the King professed that it was not his d esire that they sh ould repudiate th e Assembly— only they were n ot to ask him t o ratify it. SO the very question that had brought the two armies face to face would be left open .
The Scots had only the altern atives of co ming to a pacifi cation o n these terms o r of prosecuting the war ; and they chose the former course .
I t was but li ttle they had gained from the King only his admission that the disposal of the mai n issue was reserved, and his promis e o f a free Assembly and a free
6 0 FA M O U S S COT S Parliament ; in all the other arti cles of the Settlement he had got his own way . They were determined , however, to make the gai n , su ch as it was , as se cure as p ossible . They could no t leave th e in terpretation o f the n egotiations , n or the version of them t o be given to the coun try , t o th e honour of the King ; and they agreed to i ssue an I nfo r m a tio n aga i n st a ll m ista king of b is M ajesty ’s decla r a tio n . I n this manifesto th ey advertis ed the concessions made by the Ki ng, v iz . , that he did n ot require them to disown the Glasgow Assembly, and that he had com e under prom ise to call a fre e Ass embly an d a free Parliamen t to ratify whatever the Assembly might conclude . The paper w as drawn up with th e m os t careful courtesy to the K i n g, an d at the same time with the m ost uncompromising lan guage they could u se to make it plain to the nation that in all their negotiations th ey had stood firmly on their o riginal ground . C opies of it were distributed among the En glish nobles in the Royal camp, an d the King was requested to make known to them also all that had passed at the Con feren ce, in confirmation of their version of the n e go tia tions, s o that there might be in neither ki n gdom any misunderstanding of their positi o n . A m emo ran dum was als o draw n u p— no d oubt by Wa rristo n ’ s han d— O f Som e bea ds of lzis M a trea tie w it/ z li ts su bjects in Sco tla n d befo r tbe E nglislz N o bilitie, in whi ch the c oncession s made by the Kin g were en umerated and all the doubtful points in the articles of the pa cifi ca tio n elucidated . The Treaty was sign ed on the afternoo n o f Tuesday, 1 8th J une, and on the following M on day it was read by the King ’ s herald in presence of the S cottish army at Dun s La w . When th e reading was over, the Earl of Cass ili s stepped forward and in the name Of all assembled , de clared their adheren ce to the Glasgow Assembly, and thereafter presented a copy of th e C ommission ers ’ I nfo r m a tio n t o the h erald . ‘ All the p e ople applauded , yt they did adhere to the A sse m b lie an d “bade hang the bishops . Wherever the Treaty was read by the Royal heralds , representatives of the Tables appeared and made a similar declaration . We have given the contents of the D ia ry with such
fuln ess , not only because it comes from Warristo n ’ s hand and supplies th e m ost complete and trustworthy account of s o im portant a passage in our history, but also because it show s how great a part h e took in m aking our history at that period . Of all the negotiators on the S cottish side h e was the most courageous and resolute in facing the King, and did most to se cure whatever was grateful to the cou n try in th e term s of th e Treaty . In estimating the result for th e cause of the Covenan t, i t i s easy to minimis e it ; the Treaty postponed the real s truggle with t he King ; Warristo n and his party were under no illusion s on this point th ey knew very well that Charles in his heart was still resolved to maintain th e bishops . M oreover, they were d isbanding their army and incurring the risk of ano the r invasion the m oment the King saw his opportunity . W ould it not have been better for them t o have reje cted the King’ s term s an d at on ce brought o n the inevitable issue ? We know that when the Treaty was published keen disappointme n t was felt in the country . Warristo n m en tions in one of th e last entries i n hi s D ia ry that when he returned t o Edin burgh from D u n s Law h e found many grieved with him and his fellow- Commissioners . They thought the Treaty had b een con cluded with too mu ch haste, and that by delay better term s could have bee n O btain ed .
On the oth er hand, th e King’ s readin ess to come even to such terms revealed his sen se of his own wan t of support in England, and this was a great moral gain for th e S cots . An d though the promise of a General Assembly and a Parliament gave no assuran ce that the Acts of either would be respe cted by the Kin g if he found at the tim e that h e could safely Oppose them , they had good grounds for believing— as both were to be held immediately— that Charles would b e as ill prepared for hostilities when they came on as h e evidently felt himself to b e n ow. It is hinted i n Baillie’ s l etters that the reason fo r the Scottish Commissioners concluding the Treaty as it stood was th e fear of disaffection in their own ranks , but for such a fear there was no ground, save the suspicion that had l
J O H N ST O N O F W A R R IST O N 6 1
6 2 FA M O U S S C OT S been aroused ih regard to Montrose and one or two other adheren ts of th e cause, and the grumbling o f s om e of the people of th e M ers e wh o had suffered in convenience from the en campment o f th e two armies in their distri ct. One of those under suspicion was Warristo n ’ s own C hief, Lord J ohn ston of Annandale, and a letter of Warristo n of this date to his lordship shows that a few of the nobles were b eing solicited to go over to the King ’ s interest, and that, though th e s ecessi ons were n ot likely to be serious , th e leaders o f th e Covenant u sed th eir utmost endeavo urs to prevent them . The Earl of Traquai r had undertaken to brin g over Lord J ohnston , among others , to the Royalists and the letter was written for the pu rpose o f defeatin g ‘ my Lord Treasurer’ s brags . ’ It reveals the man ! who wrote it— hi s hon esty, hi s ardour, his convincedness that th e cause fo r which h e pled was the ca use of God and i t shows, along with a keen enough perception of the weak er Sid es of m en, a trust, honourable to his o wn character, in the power of an appeal to their conscience . After m ention~ in g the sinister rum ours that were abroad with regard to John ston , the letter goes on to say ‘ If you take this oath [to the King] you renoun ce th e C ove nant with G od, you draw down 1 1 15 vengean ce verily upon you , your house and you r name, good fame, yourself and your posterity, with that stigmatising blot and blunder o f a traitor t o your religion , th e Ki rk , th e libe rty and freedom o f this k ingdom you will be in fam o u s i n all stories and contemned both at hom e and abroad , whereof I am very confident you abhor the very thought worse than death . Mistake not my forewarning you o f these consequen ces , as if I believed your Lordship would fall on them, fo r I protest I am not capable as yet Of such an imag i nation but you know my licen ce an d liberty to be free in this business with all I love an d respect . ’ M ontros e, it seems, had b een i nvited to Court at this tim e an d had declined, and Johnston is exhorted to follow his example an d ‘ d o nobly as my n oble Lord of M ontrose has done Th e letter resum es This is my advi ce but if yo u r Lordship will go away , truly I shall be sorry fo r it ; but I will both expe ct from your Lord
ship an answer hereunto more clear and spe cial, whereby I may be m ore enabled to falsify the doubts , and answer th e objection s m ade by others against your voyage [to the C ourt] like as an t rue -hearted J ohn ston , and a tru e friend and servan t to yo u r Lo rdShip and to th e house o f J ohnston , and , above all , as a faithful advocate fo r God’ s Kirk , and agen t fo r this great work o f G od in this land . I do faithfully counsel you and really fo rw am you , as in the presen ce o f the great God , before whom yo u r Lordship an d I will both answer, that as you l ove you r own soul , your nam e, your state, your count ry and religion , you n either by word, or writ , undertake either to assist the King in this h is course against your fellow - C ovenanters , whi ch by your solemn oath you are obliged to m aintain . ’
The letter closes with th ese sentences
J OH N S TO N OF W A R R IST O N 63
‘ And albeit all the Lo rds o f Fife, Lothian , and th e West would con cur in defection with those in th e N orth an d th e South , I make not question that the great—Go d, th e patron o f If this Work , will trample them down . I t shall be seen , even it Shall be seen in this world , that the Lord will fight fo r h is people , and rather work mira cles before h e desert them an d suffer h is work to be destroyed . I n th e meantime let everyone o fus be sure o f himself , and warn and en courage ane an other, and G od , w h o knit our hearts and our b a n ds, will be found to keep the kn ot fastened with h is own hand . ’ 1 1 H a il es’ M em oria ls, i . p. 49.
C H A P T E R I X B ET WEEN FI R ST A ND S ECO N D B I SHOPS’ WAR S
T HE Treaty was no sooner concluded than ominous signs o ccurred that b oded but a short period of peace . While the King was still at the B order, he summoned fourteen of the leading Covenanters to B e rwick to confer with him on State affairs . M ost of them de clined the summon s owing to their suspicion o f some si nister design in the King ’ s min d . How keenly he felt their refusal cam e out at the m eeting of th e General Assembly held in the following August, whi ch he promised to attend, but did not, givin g as his excus e that it could n ot be thought reasonable that h e sh ould trust his person with th os e wh o could not trust theirs with hi m . B ut a still graver omen was that C harles no sooner return ed to London than he had the memorandum which had been drawn up by the S cottish Commissioners burned by the hands o f th e common hangman . The promised Assembly m et on 1 2th August 1 639 . Si x days earlier th e King wrote to Spo ttisw o o d, Archbishop of S t . Andrews , in an swer to an appeal made to him through Laud by th e Scottish bishops ; and the letter shows how mu ch reason there was for the distrust on the part of the C ovenanters of which he complained . The bishops were assured that th ough the Kin g would give way to the Presby terian s for the p resen t, he would always have it in his mind to fi n d a way of restorin g them . He advised them t o send i n a protest against the Acts of the im pending Assembly and Parliam ent, and to address it to neither Court directly, but through the Royal Com missioner . In this way they would supply hi m with a weapon by which he would be 64
66 FA M O U S S C OT S b ook, ’ and ended by requesting the King to call in the book , and to command all who had had a han d in i t, and especially B alca n q u h al, to be sent to Sco tland, in order to be tried and punished, as a salutary example to deter oth ers from raisi ng sedition between the King and his subj ects , and that his loyal an d loving people in Sco tlan d should b e p lea re d before the world fro m th e false accusations that had been made against them . The supplica tion was probably th e production of th e Clerk, and bears th e marks o f Warristo n ’ s fearless an d p erempt ory spiri t in all his addresses to the King .
Joh n Weems, min ister of Kinnaird, especially, gave tou ch in g utteran ce to what all felt. He could s carce get a w ord sp oken fo r tears tri cklin g down alo ng his grey hairs and yet witha] , smiling with j oy, said , “ I do remember when th e Kirk of Scotland had a beautiful face . I re member since there was a great p ower and life accompan ying the ordi nan ces o f God, and a powerfu l work of operation upon the hearts of people . Then my eyes did see a fearful defecti on aft er, procured by our sins, and no m ore did I wish, befo re my eyes were closed , but t o have s een such a beautiful day . B lessed fo r everm ore b e our Lord and King, Jesus : and the blessing of Go d be upon his Maj esty, and the Lo rd make us thankful . ” 1 1 Peterkin ’ s R ecords, p. 250.
The achievements of th e Assembly called forth ferven t expressions of thankfuln ess from the m e mbers — as th ey well might—fo r they did not leave a single po in t in the reformatio n o f the Church unaccomplished. The agi tati on had lasted little more than two years ; withi n s o short a ti me the wh ole burden of Episcopa cy, whi ch had las ted with m ore or less rigour for well- nigh half a century, was thrown O ff , and the C hurch breathed again the air of liberty .
In the Assembly there was a rem nant who had be en members of the Court when Jam es v 1. began to assail its freedom and overturn its p oli ty, and when the day th ey had longed fo r, but scarce h oped to see, arrived— when the Church came to its rights again— these venerable m en were overcome with j oy . They rose o n e after an o th er in the House and poured out their hearts in gratitud e to God .
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 6 7 In one of his letters of this date Baillie expatiates on th e turn the tide had taken in the fortunes of the Church with a glow of satisfaction which n o doubt reflected the feelings o f all the Presbyt erians in the kingd o m : ‘ The several pieces of th is heavenly work , whi ch Go d has begun and perfe cted by the noble spirits o f m an ie brave men amon g us , fitted e xcelle n tlie with gifts according to th e extra ordinary exigen ts of our tim e I wish ye had th em wel l de scryve d. ’ Non e of th e ‘ brave men am on g us ’ had taken a larger part in th e work than Bailli e ’ s old pupil, a nd Warristo n would be prominen t in his m in d when he pen n ed these words . A few m on th s later he wrote to Wa rristo n urging him to write a narrative of the period , as there was n o one fitter fo r the work than one ‘ whom God has enabled in all this cause to do great things . ’ As the Assemblyro se, the Parliament began to sit . It met for the first t i m e i n th e present Parliament Hous e , which was n o t happily inaugurated by its proceedings . Before finishing its formal preliminary busin ess, it was prorogued to 2n d June 1 64 0 . The King had n o mind to expedite the busi ness of a Parliamen t which had b een ex pressly called t o c onfirm the d eed o f the Assembly i n ab olishing the bish ops . Again st the prorogation a protest was lodged, in whi ch it was contended that n o ex cuse or oc casion had been given fo r i t and that it was contrary t o the Treaty . The docum ent was prepared by Warristo n , an d it was he wh o read it t o th e Hous e . The prorogati on was a glaring breach of faith on the part of the King, and the Covenan ters res olved that they would h old him to his c ovenan t . I n all their tra n sacti ons with Charles i t is h ard t o say whether they sh owed m o re pain s to observe towards him the respe ct due t o a sovereign or to keep him fro m encroaching o n the liberties of the kingdom . So, in the sprin g of 1 64 0, Dunfermline a n d Loudoun were sent to London to vindicate to the King’ s own face the proceedings of the Ass embly and the Parlia ment . Charles refused to hear them ; and on the eve o f their return to Scotland Loudoun was arrested an d sen t to
68 FAM O U S S C OT S the To wer . It was not s o m uch , however, the erran d on which he had com e to Court that incensed the King against him , as th e dis covery of a letter wh ich had been drafted before the Bish ops ’ War by several of the Scottish leaders in cluding Loudoun , Rothes , Mo ntrose, and Gen eral Leslie —ih which they made an appeal to Louis ! I I I . of Fran ce to support the m against th e Cro wn . Charles not uh naturally th ought that this dis covery had put it in h is power to rid hi mself at a stroke of all his troubles i n connection with the governm ent of Scotlan d . A charge of treas o n proved against s om e of the p ri ncipal Covenanters would m ore than turn the balan ce of the grievan ces of which the Sco ts com plained , and would serve t o ali enate the sympathy of their English fri en ds . SO Charles hoped but he was disapp oi n ted . S cotland felt n o co mpunction i n th e matter, fo r never in its history had its Parliament, with whose vi rtual san ction th e nobles approached Louis, p arted with th e right to nego tiate by itself , and wi thout the concurrence of the s overeign , with foreign princes, when the nation was threatened with war . 1 N or would th e E nglish people dance to the King ’ s piping . They felt they had m o re to fear from his o wn oppressi ve govern ment than from any foreign fo e .
When Parliam ent met on the day fi xe d— 2n d Jun e 1 64 0 — it was found that the King had on ce more given orders fo r a p rorogation , but as these were not formally a u th e n ti cate d the Parliament con tin ued to sit . In any cas e, it would have don e s o, but the omission made i t easier fo r i t to proceed . The situation sin ce the pacifica tio n o f B erwick had been one of veiled hostility to the Cro wn, but the resolutio n of Parliament to disregard the King’ s instru ctio n s to prorogue w as a criti cal step towards the ren ewal of a ctual war, and was so u nderstood on both sides . The first Act Of the s ession was to reconstitute th e Estates , which had hitherto consisted of the Prelates , the Nobles , an d the B urgesse s . Th e Prelates were now ex cluded, but the old number o f the Estates was still pre 1 See Burto n , v i . p. 29.
served by dividin g the second into the greater barons, or nobles , and the lesser barons , or represen tatives of coun ties .
J O H N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 69
There were two items in the business of this Parliament which sp ecially concern ed Warristo n . I t voted him a salary of 1 0 0 0 merks a year as Advocate to th e Kirk , an d 50 l merks as Clerk— to be paid out of th e Kirk rents of th e ‘ late bishoprics . It also gave him a commissio n in co n n e ctio n with the impendin g war, which showed its sense of the unique s ervice he had rendered t o the n ation and still was expected to render . Act 24 th of the session was as follows : ‘ And because there will fall out i n th e cam p a n ece ssitie of treaties , consultation s , or public declaration s, to show ye reason o f ye demand s an d proceedings in Assembly and Parliamen t, and ye prej udice s again st either of them , the e steats o rdean Master Archibald Johnston ,
Th e Parliament next transacted its Chief business— the ratification of the Acts o f th e Assem bly— which was carried in every case without opposition . Its last Act was to appoint a C ommission o f representatives of the three Estates to un dertake the governmen t of the country, with full powers alik e in peace and war . This Commissi on proved a m ost poten t organ of the will of the nation during th e long period of trouble that was impending.
Th e House then proceeded to draw up a statem ent of its grievan ces again st th e Crown an d to enum erate all the points on whi ch the Kin g had in fringed th e articles of th e recent Treaty . H e had violated m ost of i ts terms ; he had allowed the actio n of the Parlia ment to be aspersed before the English Coun cil , and had issued den un ciations of its condu ct broadcast am ong the English people ; an d when Commissioners had been sent to Lo ndon to vindicate its hon our, he had dismissed them and sen t one of them to p rison . Instead of seeking to pres erve peace between th e two kin gdom s, he had don e everythin g that was possible to in volve th em in war. For every one of these charges the Parliam en t gave chapter and verse . With war inevitably before it, it was determined t o clear itself and to lay th e entire responsibility on the Kin g.
7 0 FAM O U S S COT S pro curato u r for ye Kirke, as best acquaint with these reasons and prejudices , to attend his Exce lle n cie [General Leslie] and to b e present at all o ccatio n e s with ye said C o m m ite for their further information an d cle erin g th erean en t . ’ 1 1 A cts of P a r lia m en t, iv . p . 284.
C H A P T E R ! T H E S ECON D B I SHOPS’ WA R
Charles had summ on ed the English Parliam ent to O btain supplies for another invasion Of Scotland, but i t had met his demand for mon ey by a counter dem an d for better government and he had summarily dismiss ed it . The temper shown by the Slzo r t P a r lia m en t would have mad e a wiser ruler pause, but Charles took no warni ng and went on to raise supplies by his own hand . Strafford an d other English n obles gave large sums ; the Irish Parliament, through Straffo rd’ s influen ce, gave subsidies amoun tin g to the En glish Co nvocation voted for six years ; and Catholics subscribed s o much that the King ’ s army was spoken of as the Popish army . 1 ‘ It was, ’ says Carlyl e , ‘ a m ost hopeless army . ‘They m utinied against their officers i n various town s in th eir march ; if the Clergyman was reported Puri tan they went and gave him three cheers ; if o f surplice tendency, they s ometimes threw his furniture o ut of th e window . N o fighting again st Scotch Gospel lers was to be hoped fo r from these men . ’ 2 The preparation o f the Scots was of a very difl ‘ e re n t kind . They raised an army of foot an d n early 30 0 0 ho rse , eve ry m a n of them with his heart in the business . A quarter of the able- bodied m en in every parish were called out ; a tenth of the rents of the whole country was taxed , and the min isters procured voluntary subscriptions . 1 Prin cipa l Le e ’ s H i story of tb e Cb u rclz of Scotla n d, II . p . 295. 2 Ca rlyl e ’ s Cro m w ell, i . p. 83.
Tw o months before the meetin g of the Scottish Estates
The capital set a noble example by the promptitud e and li berali of its con tri bution s . ‘ Oft tym es , ’ says B aillie, ‘ has that w orthy Toune been a good instrumen t to our cause, bot n ever m ore seas on abl e than at this d an gerous exigen t . ’ Warristo n alo ng WIth Rothes a n d Loud ou n m ad e an appeal to th e citi z en s for loans of m on ey a nd also for mat erial for the army t en ts ; and Henry R ollo ck, on e of the mos t p opular of the min isters, sp ok e ‘ so sw e e tlie t o th e peo ple’ s m inds on the Su n day ’ t hat the w omen that very afternoon a nd on the M onday freely brought such store of coars e linen and sheets as alm ost suff i ced to cover the whole army ; an d m on ey on loan p oure d in s o freely that by the Tu esday Warristo n and his colleagues had i n their hands , with promises of m ore shortly t o follow . I n the las t page of his D ia ry— a detached frag ment of n o t m ore than thirty or forty lines im m ediately following th e body of the M S . which ends wi th June 1 639 there are two en tries referrin g to the extraordinary zeal shown by the city of Edi n burgh at this tim e : ‘ Upon Su nday, 9 o f August ( 1 64 0 ) thair was k eipe d ane s olem n fas t throw the h aill army and th e Ci ty o f Edg” . q lk did con tribute much to provide the m on ey and te nts . Upon Mo n o day th e 1 0 of August, all the neighbours being solemnly co n vein e d, in the parliat hous e of Edg“ . wi th prayer and exh ortation , th ey Offer willingly as m an y par ticu lar sum s as amounted to ane hundred th thousand pounds . This is God ’ s work and w o n de rfu ll in our eyes , q lk requires rem e mbrance, thankfulness an d d ependen ce on God in n eue difficu ltie s. ’ On 2 0 th August the S cottish army crossed the Twe ed at Coldstream in high spirits , and th en marched leisurely through Northumberlan d in thre e divisio ns , which kept within easy reach of each o ther. On Thursday, a 8th May, these all m e t by app oin tment at Newburn , five miles up the Tyn e from Newcas tle, where they forced a passage after but a feeble resistan ce on th e part of the e n emy . Advancing without i nterruption , th ey to ok possession of N ewcas tle, and i n a day or two m ade themselves masters of N o rth u m b e rlan d an d D u rham . Th e R oyal forces fell back o n York , where the
7 2 FA M O U S S COT S
In the course o f settlin g the deman ds fo r th e punishm ent of th e Incen diaries, Strafford and Laud— th e two prime ones - came to be d ealt with . The firs t drafts of th e charges again st them were entrusted to B aillie— although he was not o n the Comm ission— an d after being submi tted to friends in the Com mon s, were given , on e t o Alexander H enderson and the other to Wa rristo n and Lou doun , to be pu t in to fin al form . ‘ B oth we an d the E nglish are panting fo r these two proce sses, ’ says Baillie . The Parliam ent had intim ated that it would delay both trials till the Scottish Com m issioners had drawn up their contri butions to th e i ndi ctments ; and i t had n amed a particular day fo r these to be given in . We can w ell believe the chronicler of their proceedings when he tells us they were resolved 1 B a illie ’ s Letters, i . pp. 27 2—27 7 .
7 4 FA M O U S S C OT S te n an ce of the Scottish army while it rem ain ed in England, and thereafter adjourned to London .
The Long Parliament had jus t ass embled and the Scot tish Commissi oners were eye- witnesses of the processes by whi ch it abolished one by one th e d espoti c Acts of Charles and punished the chief abettors of them . I n their corre spo n den ce with their friends at h ome th ey gave copious expression to the high h opes with whi ch th e temper alike Of the English Parliam ent and th e English people, and espe cially the people o f Lo n don , filled th em . ‘ All things h e re , ’ wrote B aillie, goes on as our heart could wish . We were ex tre am lie welcome . H u dge things are here in workin g ; the mighty han d of God be abou t this great work W e h Ope this shall be the j o yfu ll ha rves t of the teares that thir manie ye are s has been sawi n in thir kin gdo m e s. All here are w e arie of Bishops . We d oubt not bo t at on ce we shall have all our demands, for the God of H eaven i s clea rlie with us, in co u radges dailie our friends , amazes our enemies a nd con fou n ds them . ’ 1 The demands were slowly but surely con ceded . When ever the English nobles refused them , the S cottish Com missioners i n sisted on their con sulting the Parliam ent from wh ich they derived their autho rity, and the Parliament always backed the Scots— it was their sure refuge .
J OH N S TO N O F WA R R IST O N 7 5 that it would be n o fault of th eirs if on that day they would not be ‘ in hands with ’ the two principal delin quen ts , and espe cially with his ‘ little Grace . ’ While in Lon don as on e of the Commissioners of the Treaty, Warristo n frequently wrote to Lo rd Balmerin o an d other friends i n Scotland i n regard to the negotiation s . I n one of his letters to Balm eri n o, dated 29 th Fe b . 1 64 1 , h e refers to an i n cident whi ch caused much excitement at the time , and in c on nectio n with which he was much blamed . Early in 1 64 1 a rumour went abroad that th e C om m issio ners had been i nduce d by the blandi shm ents of Charles to abandon their charges against S trafford and Lan d. Traquair was supposed to have origin ated it with th e View O f making the Commissioners odious to the people, or i f they should repudiate it, odious to th e King . The Com mission ers immediately drew up a paper in denial . The paper was given in to the English C ommissioners , and copie s of it were printed and affixed in the m ost public places— b ywh ose orders it was not known . The King was in furiated , and threatened to cancel the Commissioners ’ safe - co nduct . The pap er on a ccount of its acerbity was ascribed to Warristo n , but in his letter to Balmeri n o he gives a flat denial to the charge . He says : ‘ T O tell you the truth non e can j ustify the printing of it [th e Com missioners ’ paper] neither knew I of it ; and albeit th e paper, because of its bi ttern ess, b e called Joh nston ’ s paper, yet it was delivered to th e En glish Commissioners , er ever I did s o much as see it. ’ 1
In the following April Warristo n was much con cerned ab out th e prosecution o f the S cottish I n cen diaries , an d espe cially o f Traquair. H e an d his colleagues were deter m in ed t o bring th e Lo rd Treasurer t o j ustice, and Charles was equally determ in ed to bring him off. We have three letters from his hand , o n e addressed to Balmerino, an d the other two — both o f great length— m to Adam H epburn of Humbie , in all of which he deals with this m atter. In his letter to Balme rin o he instructs his lordship how to treat the counsel engaged for the prosecution of the Incendiaries, 1 H ailes’ Mem o r ia ls, II . p. 107 .
7 6 FAM O U S S C OT S and in doin g so makes s om e observations not flattering t o his brothers of the gown . They would n eed to be hands omely paid b eforeh and, for if they were no t, being ‘ m ercenary advocates , ’ Traquair, wh o was a man of n o conscien ce, might buy th em over ! N o m oney must be Spared on th eir retai n ers , and they must spare n o pain s on th eir briefs . Were it n ot that h e would be on e o f the ‘ prim e st witnesses ’ against the accused, he would willingly have been the ‘ pursu er ’ him self, and would have thought it ‘ a n otable occasion to exp ress afi ectio n ’ to the Cause and Country . 1 I n th e first of th e two letters to Hepburn h e refers to the efforts the King was making to save Traq u air. Charles wished to bargain fo r a u niversal Act of Oblivi on , an d threat en ed that if exceptions were made on the Commissi on ers’ sid e, he would insist on m akin g an equal number on his side . I n th e conjectural list of the King’ s ex ceptions Wa rristo n was certainly believed to be one ; so was Ro thes Argyle and Loudoun were suspected to be others . Wa rristo n urges his fri ends in Scotland not to give heed to in timidation and to insis t on T ra q u a ir’ s punishme nt , whatever might be the con sequ ence to himself and th e o thers who were threatened by the King . ‘ I say and write to you fro m the bottom of my heart, that before the Parliam ent of S cotlan d were th us frustrated and boasted [i n timidated] from th eir pursuit of In cendiarie s I will rather be con tent, for myself, this nigh t to be laid in th e Gate- house, and let them do wi th m e t o morrow what they pleased . ’ 2 In his secon d letter t o Hepburn , Warristo n reports a private interview h e had with the Ki ng on the same busi n ess . Charles would st omach no exception s to the Act o f Oblivio n ; if any were m ade , h e would retaliate : and Wa rristo n was as d e termin ed that the S cottish Parliamen t Should d efy his threats an d go o n with the prosecu tion . ‘ Sin ce m y wri tin g my last, ’ he says , ‘ with this sam e bearer and closin g it yesternight, I had o cca sion this m ornin g t o speak with M . and after, by his advice, wi th the King, to wh om I told my m ind freely of the dangers and in co n 1 H ailes’ M em or ia ls, II . p . 1 1 7 . 2I bid. p. 120.
J OH N S TO N O F W A R RI ST O N 7 7
ven ien ce s he might draw on him self, by discussing his actions and forcing men , for th eir defence , to look over old prac tiques , not so expedien t for him ; ex o n era vi a n im a m m ea m to him , and that fo r oth ers , because as for myself, I told him that I d efied all the world that could lay to my charge any treason able i n tention against his person and crown , and ren ewed my offer to go in chains with any accuser to Scotland . ’ On the same day the King met with all the Com m issioners to dis cuss the Treaty . He spoke of taking th e payment of their war expenses into his own hands — for the purpose, as Wa rristo n thought, of breeding j ealousy between them and the English Parliament — and also o f paying a Visit to S cotland and atten din g the m eeting of the Parliament there . Then , turning to th e A ct of Oblivion , ‘ he cried and swore, that if they ex cepted a ' n y he would except some also . ’ Warristo n regarded this as an empty threat, neither did h e beli eve that the King mean t t o go to Scotland ; and he urged his friends in the Parliamen t to do th eir duty fearlessly i n bringing the Incendiaries , and especially Traquair, to j ustice . 1 Wa rristo n was mistaken in supposing that Charles had really no intention to visit Scotland . H e did visit it, as we shall see, and at tended the meeting of the Parliament that dealt with th e I n cendia ries, and through hi s person al influence saved Traquair and others fro m the extreme m easures which the Parliamen t was prep ared an d indeed actually resolved to take against them . The Treaty, which granted all the demands of the Covenanters , was ratified o n 7 th Augus t 1 64 1 . Their invasion of Englan d cost them little and it accomplished mu ch . I t secured every immediate object for which it was undertaken and gave them a triumph over the Kin g at every point. So long as ‘ our lads sat on at Newcastle ’ the English Comm ons sat on at Westminster, secure from all i nterference fro m the Kin g, to grant the Scots all they sought in order t o retri eve their constitutional rights . 1 H ailes’ M em o ria ls, II . 224 .
7 8 FA M O U S S C OT S
When Charles provoked th e invasion, he dealt a fatal blow to his own power i n both kingdoms . In th e i nterest o f keeping up the Scottish bishops, he thre w away his throne L and his life . ‘ We cann ot d o without them , th e Philis tines are too s trong fo r us , ’ so said Strode — one of the five m embers of the C ommon s whom Charles , on J anu ary 1 64 2, went do w n in per so n to th e H ouse to arres t— o f the Scottish army in Northu m berlan d . The support of th e English Parlia m entar y party by S cotlan d n ot only tied the King’ s han ds in the Lon g Parliam en t, but after wards, when he came to wage war with the Parliamen t, and when th e struggle reached i ts most critical stage, turned the tide against him and overwhelmed him with disaster. While in London, negotiating the Treaty, the S co ttish Commissioners an d the ministers who accompanied them used their ti me in cultivating the friendship of leading m embers of the popular party, both in Church and State, and in pro moting a permanent union between the force s of Scottish Presbyterianism and English Puritanism on the basis of a comm on ecclesiastical poli cy in the two king doms . In th is they made such progress that when the critical period in th e Civil War arrived, they, for the sake of bringing it to a consummati on , p ersuaded their nation to j oin its arm s to those o f their fri en ds in England . I t was largely their own fault that they did not ultimately succe ed ; it was th eir own intolerance that gave strength to th e Independen ts in the English Parliamentary party it was the fear expressed by Milto n that ‘ New Presbyter would b e but Old Priest writ large, ’ that led Cromwell and the strongest of the Puri tans to oppose th eir programme . When we know what was thought and said abou t the Independents by the S cottish min isters, when th ey e n countered them in London, when we read the discussions in the Gen eral As sembly at this period i n regard to the lawfulness o f private meetings of C hristian people for the purpose of mutual exhortation , we do n ot won der that the Presbyterians roused such a determ ined resistan ce to their supremacy . Meanwhile, however, they had good
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 7 9 grounds for the hopes they so war mly cherished ; and the dem and made and granted in the Treaty j ust con cluded in London , that th e two kingdoms sh ould seek uniformity i n religion as th e basis o f a lasting peace, seemed to be fairly on the way of realisation .
T H E Treaty was no sooner concluded and Le slie ’ s arm y on its way home th an Charles set out for Scotland . He arrived i n the capital on 1 4 th August 1 64 1 . The General Assembly had j ust risen , but Parliament was in session . The Ki n g’ s object plainly was to alienate its support fro m the Engli sh Parliament. He could not have been more complacen t than he was on every h and during thi s Visit . H e attended the Presbyterian service in the Abbey Church which was conducted by the distinguished m inister who proj ected the Covenant conj ointly with Warristo n , an d who , as Moderator, was mainly responsible for the defiance of his authority by the Glasgow Assembly. At th e first meeting of Parliament at which he was presen t, he made a graci ous speech, in whi ch he declared that his purp ose i n comi ng to his native kin gdom was to end th e unhappy d iffere n ces between himself and his subjects an d to give them con ten t and general satisfaction . He attended Parlia ment day after day, spoke frequently and for the m ost part in a friendly spiri t, a nd eagerly gave the Royal san ction t o its Acts . The perso n n el of the Government underwent such a change , with the King ’ s approval, as takes place n ow when those who o ccupy the fron t ben ch of the Opp osition pas s over to the Treasury ben ch . The Kin g’ s complian ce wi th the n atio n al will was received with enthusias m by a people who were never slow to recognise gra cious acts on the p art of their sovereign . The change in Charles ’ tem per and policy, however, was too sudden and violent, and had to o evident a m otive in the straits of hi s governm ent in England , 80
C H A P T E R ! I T H E K I N G’ S VI SI T O F R ECO N C I LI AT I ON T O SCO T LA N D
82 FA M O U S S C OT S was b ound to follow the advice of th e Estates . H ere , to o , Wa rristo n led the Opposition to th e Kin g, an d i n one o f the dis cussions on the question, to ok part with such effe ct that he virtually settled it . On this o ccasi on h e gave th e Parliamen t a like surprise to that wh i ch he had given the General Asse mbly in Glasgow when h e laid its lost mi nutes on th e table of the Hous e . H e had justified the clai m of th e Parliament on th e ground that it was in accordan ce with an cient constituti onal usage . The King deni ed thi s usage, when Wa rristo n referred him to t he Records . No w C harles had only to o go od reason for b eli e ving that these were n ot in existen ce, kn o win g as h e did that th ey had been given by his father James V I . t o on e Hay of D u n fe rm lin e fo r the purpos e of being d e stroyed . Hay , h o w ever, had pu t the m away in his charter - ches t, an d it s o happen ed that Wa rristo n , in conne ction wit h s ome civil case , had had occasion to search th e chest, and had com e upon the S tate d ocuments . Great was Charles ’ astonish m en t an d m o rtifi ca tio n when on his challenging th e exis t ence of th e Records , Warristo n produced them . 1 The claim made by the Parliament was carried out in th e app oi ntment of leading Covenan ters to high O ffi ces of state an d i n the honours that were be sto wed upon others of their number. Argyle was rais ed t o the dignity of a Marquis ; Leslie was created Earl of Leven Loudoun received the Chan cellorship ; and Warristo n was knigh ted an d made a Lo rd o f Sessi on . Th ere was a m ore cove ted o ff i ce t o which he was n early app oi n ted at this t im e , and which he after wards filled . The blu e riband of his professi on was the Lord Clerk Registership, and th e m o st z eal ous of th e Covenanters and all th e Es tates wished to bestow it u pon him as a reward for his ‘ great a nd v e rie h appie laboures i n the Sta te he was , h owever, passed over in favour of Gibson of Durie , th e Kin g bei ng strongly i n favour o f th e latt er, an d Argyle also, t o the surpris e o f many supp orting hi s can dida ture . Th e Marqu is had had a tussle wi th Wa rristo n in the Parliam ent over a proposal made by the latter to return Commissio ners fro m the Ge neral A sse m b lyto the Legi slatur e. 1 Wo dro w ’ s A n a lecta , II . p. 2 1 9 .
At one of the diets of the Parliament Warristo n presented a petition for exoneration , ’ as i t was called , in conn e ction with the performance of the duties wi th whi ch h e had been entrusted as C om m issioner in attending th e army an d taking part in the negotiati ons fo r the Treaty . I n th e p etition he prays : ‘ That as it hath pleased the Lord wh o is the fram er and s earcher of hearts to mak it m y greates t desire in this lyfe to be in any degree acco rding to my weakness the m eanest instrumen t o f his service in this great work fo r th e gude of the Kirk and State b efore I retire to m y private affaires and callin g fro m the which thir four yeire s I have been co n tin u allie distracted , I may obtai n fro m his gracious Ma/ and your H e an exonerati on of that charge and an appro bati on of my form er cariage to b e j o yn e d t o an inward testim o nie of good con scien ce before God . ’ The Parliam en t made handsome ackn owledgm en t of th e way i n which he had discharged his s tewardship : H e heath in all fide litie caire and diligence b ehaved hims elf in ye fo irsaid employm en t, charge, and trust , as ane loyall subj e ct to ye King and true patrio t to his country . ’ 1 H e was at the sam e time app ointed on e o f th e Commissioners for conserving the recent Treaty with England . In th e beginning of the chapter referen ce was m ad e to certai n inauspicious events whi ch happened t oward s th e cl ose of th e King’ s Visit and undid all its con ciliat ory effects . Those were th e intrigues of Mon trose and o thers , adherents of the Cu mbern a u ld B a n d, against the Covenanters , th e plot to deport Argyle and Hamilton fro m the kingd om th e I n ciden t, as it was called— and above all, the I rish reb ellion and m assacres . I n th e fi rst two the King, in th e p opular belief, was impli cated . They were con strued as part of a poli cy h e had planned i n coming t o S cotlan d , whi ch was to s eize the m om ent when the fears of the nation 1 A cts ofPa r lia m en t, v. 67Gb , b 6 1 , 029 1 .
Argyle opposed i t ‘ with sto rm e as m ak ein g way fo r chu rch men ’ s voices in Parliament, ’ and in doing s o was unden iably m ore in accord with the Church of M elville ’ s day than Warristo n . Whether there w as som e alien ation or irrita tion between the two, at this tim e , we do not kn ow.
J O H N S TO N O F W A R RIST O N 83
84 FA M O U S S CO TS w ould be disarmed by his surrender to its demands , for laying hands on leading patriots and certain influential nobles who though no Coven anters were in disfavour with the Court, and getting the army, with M ontrose at its head , into hi s own power. But i t was the last o f these events that did m os t t o turn th e vi si t, which the King made for the p urpos e of detaching the Scots from their English allies, into the m ean s of bin din g th e two m o re closely together . The tidings from Ireland spread a panic through both kingdom s , which was due not m erely t o the blood curdli ng tale of th e atroci ties perpetrated by the rebels , but also to the suspicion of compli city on the part o f th e King . The leader o f th e rebelli o n d e clared in a pro clamation h e issued that he was a cting by th e Kin g’ s instruction s an d for the purp os e of restoring his authority in England an d that he had a commission under th e Great S eal of Scotland . What degree of truth there was in his assertio n s it is impossible to dis cover . N o one holds that the King was directly responsible for the mas sacres . B ut did he ins tigate the rising of th e Irish Papists at the risk of the butchery that followed ? Writin g o f the com m ission O ’ Neil profes sed to have received from th e King, B urton says : ‘ B y som e writers the commission has been cas t aside as a forgery s o obvi ously in con sistent with th e surrounding conditio n s that its rej ection requires n o support fro m cri ticism . B ut this i s a matter open to di fferen ces o f opi nion an d an y on e con versant with the do cuments of the tim e could poi n t to papers of undoubted auth en ticity, issued by the Kin g, of a n ature more inconsistent and surprising than this commission . ’ 1 It did not need, h owever, such dark imputa tion s on the Ki ng ’ s hon our to lead the Scots to cleave to their English friends . I n th e late war, Charles had raised a large force of I rish Papists to i nvad e S cotland, and that act was too rece nt and had impressed the n ation too strongly with his unscrupul ousn ess , n ot t o b e suff i cien t, when taken i n connection with the event s i n I relan d, t o make th e S cots more anxious than ever for the co n tinuance of the English alliance . 1 Burto n, v i. p. 344 .
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 85
Since the con clusion of the Treaty, the friends of freedom in the two cou ntries had taken measures to maintain corresponden ce wi th one another. In the General Assembly held in July of this year— 1 64 1 — a t St . Andrews in the first in stance an d then adj ourn ed t o Edinburgh , friendly letters : were received from English Puritan mi n isters , and on these bei ng submitted, the M oderator, Alexander Henderson, m oved the Hous e to prepare a platform fo r religious con formity with England t o consist of a common catechism and confession , a common directory fo r w orship, and a comm on form of Church govern ment . Parliam entary correspondence was also establish ed between the two coun tries . At the meeting of the Estates, Co mmissioners had appeared from the English C o mm ons , and the courtesy was reciprocated by the appoi ntmen t of S cottish Com mission ers to attend at Westmin ster. It is significan t o f the temper o f the Estates that all Of these were men on who m they could most certainly count n ot to b e complian t with the King ; a nd Warristo n was of the number.
C H A P T E R ! I I T HE S OLEM N LEA GUE A N D C OVE N A N T
I N the following year— 1 64 2— the quarrel between the Kin g and th e English Parliamen t cam e to a head an d issued in civil war. I t was felt by both parties that Scotland would play a d eci sive part in th e struggle, and each did th e utm ost to gain her support . From th e first there was little doubt as to the side sh e would espouse . She had no trust in Charles , and was convinced that if he crushed the forces of the Parliam ent the loss of her dearly recovered liberties would i nevitably follow. Sh e knew sh e had n othing to fear from the opposite event . N o one believed that the Parliam e n t, however powerful, would do anything to hurt her. The only poin t that was o pen to question was whether it would satisfy her aspirati ons for un iformity in religion by adopting th e Presbyterian system in Englan d . Even in regard to thi s the Parliament had given good grounds fo r hop e by its legislation again st the bishops , a s well as by its correspondence on the subj ect with the Scots themselves . Charles ’ visit to S cotland was followed by un relaxin g efforts on his part to prevent h er j oining the forces of the Parliament . I n the month of May h e comm an ded Loudoun , the Chancellor, to call th e C ouncil together to draw up a rem on stran ce for presen tatio n to the Parliament, setting forth all the wrongs it had done to his prerogative . Warri s to n , who was ih London at the tim e, wen t down to Edinburgh , at the request of the Parliament, in order to d efeat the sch eme . A paper which h e wrot e and published under the title of A Letter to a F r ien d had great influ en ce 86
with the country in rousin g opposition to it . The King ’ s party was very confident, and flocked to the capital to support its friend s in the Council in carrying out the Royal injun ctio n but they were so overm at ched alike in n umber an d res olution by their opponents— for th e most part gentle men and m ini sters from Fife and the Lothians— that the remonstrance had to be dropped .
J O H N ST O N O F W A R R I ST O N 87
The General Assem bly m et at St . Andrews on 2 7th July, withi n a month of the day th e Kin g raised his standard at N o ttingham , and had placed before it letters from Puritan ministers in Englan d and from the Parliamen t, an d als o a very gracious m essage fro m the Kin g— all bidding fo r its support . The House, in face of a passionate prote st from the Lord High Commission er, answered its Englis h fri ends in the most cordial terms , and at th e sam e time re s olved t o supplicate the King for peace . At a Commission of the Assembly whi ch m et in th e autumn replies were re ceived fro m th e King and th e Parliam ent . Charles would go n o further than prom is e to consider the d esires of th e Ass e mbly ; an d he warn ed it against cherishin g hopes of those wh o had no m ore love for Presbytery than they had fo r Epis copacy . The Parliament, on th e other hand , promised all that was asked , an d gave an earnest of it there and then by abolishing the bish ops .
When the fortunes o f war, towards the close of th e year, turned in favour of the King, the Parliam ent, on Pym ’ s m otion, sent a de claratio n with request fo r help to the Scots . This was m et by a c ounter de claration fro m Charles . Th e Scottish Co uncil m et, and after a stiff debate, in which ‘ Lanark [th e Marquis Of Hamilton ’ s brother and th e Secretary of State] and Argyle let fly at ane an other for a wh ile with much eagern ess , ’ agreed to publish th e Kin g ’ s declaration an d wi thhold the Parliament’ s . I t was feared by the Coven anters that this Act o f th e Coun cil , whi ch had been passed through mismanagement o n th e part of their own leaders, w ould wound their friends in the English Parliam ent ; but in the end i t did go od rath er than harm . ‘ I t was , ’ says Baillie, ‘ a trumpet that wakened us all out of a deep sleep . I t was feared that the next step of the
88 FA M O U S S C OT S Council would be to rai se an army for the King . This pu t us all agas t for we were fea red that the firs t action of such an Ar m ie m ight have been t he knocking down our best patriots . ’ 1 A la rge number of the leading Covenanters from all parts , and esp ecially from Fife, rushed to Edinburgh and brought such influen ce to b ear upo n the C o uncil that it was n ot only deterred from takin g any fresh step in favour of th e Ki n g, but was compelled to can cel that which i t had taken at the previous meetin g . The Kin g’ s part y havin g faile d to in duce the Coun cil to support the Royal cause in Englan d , now s ough t to pledge i t at leas t to absta in fro m supportin g the Parliamen t, and got up a Cr oss P etitio n , as it was called , in favour of this compromise . Thereupon th e C ommis sion ers of th e Church to ok what B ai llie calls th e m ost ‘ pere m pto r an d extraordinary ’ step of issuing a declaration against th e petition to be read from all the pulpits and he adds , ‘ this is lyke to get pu n ctu all O bedi ence by all the min isters of th e l and . ’ There could be n o question that Scotland was very decidedly throwin g i ts i n fluen ce o n the side of the Parliament at a m oment when th e fortunes of th e Civil War were trem blin g in the balance. The action of the Commissioners s ealed the fate of th e compromise . While the Covenanters were evidently prepared to draw the sword on the side of the Parliament, they were reluctant to do so until they had exhausted every effort to p ersuade the King to yield t o its deman d for the abolition o f th e bish ops . Accordingly a Commissio n of mediatio n was appointed, composed of representatives o f the Estate s and Commissioners of th e Church . The Commission approach ed th e Kin g at York in February 1 64 3, an d the treatmen t its m embers received from Ch arles hims elf an d thos e who were about him , and from the people of the city, did not win favour for his cause when i t was reported i n Scotland . ‘ No n e durs t shew them an y sensible favour . In th e streets and fro m the windows they were continually revile d by all sorts of pe ople ; and by their s e cret fri ends were de syre d to look to their person s as i f fro m s tabbing 1 Bailli e’ s Letters , 11 . p . 58 .
9 0 FA M O U S S C OT S how willing we are to redeem them with our lifes yow shall hear . ’ Th e suggestion is that the Parliam ent feared it might have to pay too great a price fo r Scotti sh suppo rt by the acceptance of Presbyte ry, a nd that it wished that w hatever the Scots did might be of their o wn res olve . Very soon, however, the Parliamen t gratified its friends in th e North by a direct appeal for help . Th e General Assembly m e t on the 2n d August, and on the 7 th Commissio ners from th e Parliament arrived at Leith . These in cluded Sir Henry Van e th e younger, M ilton ’ s friend and the subj ect o f on e of hi s sonn ets , an d two notable ministers— Marshall and Nye . Their com mission gave them full power to treat with the Assembly . They pre s ented a declaration of both Houses of Parliament, setti n g fo rth th eir desi re to reform religion , o f whi ch they had given proof by abolishing the bishops , and suggesting that the A ssembly should appoint som e of its members t o j oin with their divin es for that end . They also presented two letters — on e from the Westminster Assembly, whi ch had been in session fo r s ome weeks, inviting the Court to sen d represen tatives to take part in its labours, the other from seven ty of the Puritan m inisters, earnestly entr eatin g help . When the latter was read , it drew tears from many eyes . Reports were abroad that B ristol had been taken and that the King was likely to march to London : it was one o f the most depressed mom ents in the fortunes of the Parliament . A Committee was app ointed t o negotiate wi th th e English Com missioners . In th e Com mittee th ere was a gen eral desire to go to the help of Parliament, the only differen ce between the m embers being as to how they were to do it . Should they go as m ediators or as supporters of the Parliam en t ? Wa rristo n by his passionat e pleading won th e day for the latter course . As Pym was the prim e mover in E ngland in proposing the alliance between th e arms of th e Parliam ent an d thos e of Scotland, so Wa rristo n was the p rincipal man in b ri ngin g Scotlan d t o conclude it : together these two were the auth ors of this m as ter- stroke . ‘ Warristo n his alone , ’ says B aillie, ‘ did shew the van itie
The S olemn League and Coven ant bound those who swore to it to seek the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotlan d and the reformation of religion i n th e other two ki ngdom s in doctrine, worship , and gove rn m ent, according to the Word of God, and the example of the best refo rmed churches . It was sworn at St . Marga re t’ s, l Westmin ster, on 25th September 1 64 3, by th e Parlia 1 B a illie, II . p. 90.
J OH N ST O N O F W A R R IST O N 9 1 of that motion [to go as mediators] and the im po ssibilitie o f i t . ’ The English Com missioners were for a civil league, but gave way to the Assembly ’ s preference for a religi ous covenant . The Moderator, Alexan der Henderson , framed a draft of a covenant, but it did n ot allow an O pen en ough door for Independency to sui t th e taste of the Com mission ers . H ere agai n , however, they had to give way and accept Henderso n ’ s draft . A Committee o f the Estates si tting at the time also gave its assent . The draft was then brought before the Assembly itself, w here it was ‘ re caive d with th e greatest applause that ever I saw in a nything, w ith so h e artie affe ction , expressed in the tears o f pitie and j oy by v e rie man ie grave, wise and Old m en . ’ 1 H enderson ’ s _draft becam e, with little alteration , the final form of th e Sol emn League and Covenan t . The Committee of Estates imm ediately issued a pro clamation publishing the do cument th at was to b e th e inst rument of u niting the national forces to those of th e English Parliament, and calling out all fencible men between sixteen and sixty to form an army t o co -operate with its allies on th e south ern side of the B order .
This I nternational Covenant was fashioned on the model of th e Scottish National Covenant and the mighty part the latter had played in the recovery of Scottish liberty became a powerful motive in inducin g the English Parliament to adopt the former. When Henderson and Warristo n , only five years before, projected the Nation al Covenant , they could scarcely have anticipated that wi thin s o short a tim e it would have such a tremendous effect on the des tin ies of the two kingdoms .
FAM O U S S C OT S
ment, the Scottish Comm issioners, and the Westminster Divine s . There is no d oubt that the Scots expected that their own Church would b e the m odel on which the English Ch u rch would be reconstructed : at the same time, th e docum ent i tself did not go that length, and both parties were quite aware that it left som e open questions .
C H A P T E R X I I I T HE WEST M I N ST ER A SSEMBLY
I T will be convenient to embrace in on e chapter all that we have to say abou t this famous Convocation , though it was prolonged through th e years and much i nvolved in the p olitical events with which th e next two chapters are o ccu pied . The Assembly was called by th e authority of the “English Parliamen t under an ordinance of 1 2th Jun e 1 64 3, an d was appoin ted to m eet on I st July . I t was convened for the purpos e o f settling the govern ment an d worship of th e Chur ch of England and de claring i ts doctri n e ; but i n the month of October its commission was enlarged so as t o carry out th e object of th e S olem n League and C oven ant and prepare a comm on platform i n religious matters for the thre e kingdoms . Parliamen t was to submit t o th e Assembly all the ques tions to be discuss ed , and i t reserved th e righ t of final adj udi cation on them . I t n ominated th e m embers 1 51 in all, of whom 1 2 1 were divines, 1 0 m embers of the Lords , and 20 memb ers of th e Com mon s . The Scottish , Commissioners when th ey j oined the Assembly chose to l deliberate, without votin g, so as to preserve their in depen d- 1 ence of th e English Parliam ent an d treat with it as the representatives o f th eir own kingd om . Of th e divines return ed to the Assembly, all but a few were Presbyterians of a more or less pron ounced type, so that they had an overwhelming vote . But the minority, by their pre—emin ent ability, mad e up for the smallness of their n umbers . There were the Erastians , two Ofwhom , Dr. John Ligh tfoot and Th omas Coleman, were among th e greatest Oriental s cholars of their day ; while th ei r leader, Seld en , 9 3
9 4 FA M O U S S C OT S was powerful en ough of him s elf to make hi s party respected i n the Assembly . His erudition was un surpas sed among his contemporaries ; he had taken an active part in publi c affairs for a quarter of a century ; he was a skilful contro v ersiali st and he thre w himself wi th all his s trength into th e debates . There were the Independents— all m en of high character, pas sionate conviction , an d great capacity . Their leaders were D r. Thomas Goodwin, C romwell ’ s favourite preacher, and perhaps the weighti est theologian in the Assembly, and Philip Nye, who though a divin e had a great reputation as an active an d fa r- s eeing p olitician . The Indepen den ts h a l the support of Sir H en ry Vane the younger, a man of lofty spirit an d aims— a doctrinaire, it is t ru e, and with little co nstructive power, but, a s Cromwell found to his cos t, stubb orn i n resisting any poli cy that did n ot accord with hi s ideals . There were m any in the maj ority who were m en of distin ction , such as Calam y , an d M arshall, an d Reynolds, and Vines, and Whitaker, but they were n ot the equals o f those who led the minori ty . B es ides, in the Parliament, which gave fi nal judgment on all questions , the strength of the parties was reversed . There the E rastian s and I n dependents were m ost powerful , and t hei r po wer increas ed as time went on . The English Commo n s were d etermined not to transfer the supremacy it had just wrested fro m on e se ction of th e clergy to th e hand s of another section . The S cottish Commissioners were Alexand er Henderson , Samuel Rutherford, Robert Baillie , Robert Douglas , and Ge orge Gillespie—ministers ; and Warristo n , the Earl of Cassilis , an d Lo rd Maitland— afterwards th e infam ous Duk e of Lauderdale— elders . Gillespie was their chief debat er, and the ren own h e won in th e A ssembly is on e o f th e pr oudly che rished tradi tions of the Scottish Church . H is c olleagu es sp ok e in the m ost glowi ng term s of th e prowess he d i splayed when matched agains t th e ables t of his antagon ists — when cr ossing swords with the illustri ous Selden himself. N on e in all the C onference s, ’ wrote thei r m o st d iligen t penman , ‘ did reason m ore and m o re perti n en tlie . H e has studied so a ccu rate lie all th e p oin ts
The discussion s connected with the symbolical books the C on fessi o n of Faith and th e Cate chism— with the Dire c tory of Worship and the Metrical Versi on of the Psalms , were tedious e n ough but i t was when the Indep enden t an d Eras tian controversi es were entered o n — when the cru cial . questions o f the method of Church governm ent an d th e ] auton omy of the Church cam e before the Assembly that the sharpest a nd mos t prolon ged de bates aro se . I n th ese debates the two parties put forth all their s trength ; an d the hea t o f the con troversy with i n the Assembly was inten si fi ed by th e imported argume nts of a great army of pamphleteers on b oth sid es throughout the c ou n try . At first the Scottish Commissione rs were in n o haste t o bring these questions on , but rather sought to postpone them . 1 B aillie , II . pp. 1 1 9, 1 59 . 1 [ bid 11. pp . 1 64, 207 .
J OH N S TO N O F WA R R IST O N 95
ever yet com e to an A sse m b lie h e has gotten so ro adie, so as sured , so solid a way o f publick debating , that h owever there be in the A sse m b lie divines very ex cellen t m en, yet in my j udgmen t, there is not one that speaks m ore ra tio n allie an d to th e point than that brave youth has ever don e . ’ 1 Wa rristo n was the only elder am ong the represen tatives who took part in the discussions . H e took his seat in the Assembly early in 1 64 4 , but his attendan ce was often interrupted by the calls made up on him for public service of another kind . ‘ We go t good h elp of him , ’ however, whe n he was pres ent . Though the Assembly had a formidable mass of work before it, it could not be blam ed for perfunctorin ess in the way i n which it performed any part Of it . It sat fo r over five years , and thrashed out painfully every questi on that gam e before it . The length o f the discussion s outwo re th e patience of the S cots , who were no t unaccustom ed to pro lixity in their own Church Courts . They can put n othin g to any poin t , either in Church or State ; we are vexed an d overwearied with their w aye s. N othin g i n any A sse m b lie that ever was in the world except Trent like to them . I f our n eigh b o u re s at Edinburgh tasted th e sauce wherein we dip our venis on at London , their teeth would not water so fast to be h ere, as som e of them d oth . ’ 2
96 FA M O U S S COT S
The other occasi on was in the Assembly itself an d at a late stage in its c ours e, when o n e O f the most impo rt an t discuss ions in its history took place over an ordinan ce of th e Parliamen t whi ch had been procured through th e pressure o f th e m in o rity, for the pu rpose of s e ttin g up a body of Civil Commissi on ers i n each co unty as a Court of Appeal from the Church Courts i n cases o f dis cipl in e . The ordinan ce was keenly resented by th e Presbyteri ans as an en croachm en t of the civil power on the Spiri tual , an d the 1 Ba illie, II . p. 237 .
There were two occasions in which Wa rristo n t ook a prominent part in the busin ess of the Assembly . One was when the minority proposed that an Act for t he toleratio n of Ind ependen cy should be procured in the Co m m o n s before the question of the government of th e Church was settled . The proposal roused the strong opp osi tion of the Presbyterians , who regarded it as a n attempt to limit th e origi n al remit to th e Ass embly, and as a notice o n th e part of the min ori ty that they would n ot accept its decision un condition ally . The matter was referred t o a Co mmittee , of which the Scottish Commissi oners were m embers , a n d all of the m stoutly resisted the proposal my Lord Chan cello r [Loudoun] with a s paite [torrent] of divi n e eloquen ce , Warristo n with the shar p po in t of manifold arguments, Maitland , M r . H en ders on , Mr . Gillespie and all . ’ 1
They were looking forwar d to Leslie ’ s army assistin g their dialectic : the more i ndispen sable it made itself to the Parliamen ta ry cause, t he m ore likely they w ere to pre vail in the Assembly . B ut wi th a di fferen t calculation o f the effe cts which the progress of the Civil War would have on the i s sue , n either were their O pp on en ts unwillin g to put o ff the mai n questio ns . They k n ew their s trength in the Parl iament , and they believed that time was on thei r side . In the end th e Scottish Comm issioners came t o be as much fo r expedi ti on as at first th ey had been fo r delay, an d th e pages o fB aillie abound in pathetic lamentatio n s over the tim e consum ed by ‘ th e bi cke ri ngs an d strange ruggi ngs bet wee n th e Presbyterians and ‘ the chiefs of the wild an d mon strous p eople, ’ as he terms the I ndepende n ts in the Assembly .
9 8 FA M O U S S C OT S
thoughts o fwhat I s before you . I n my j udgment that 15 before you whi ch con cerns Christ and these kingdoms m ost and above all , and whi ch will be th e chiefest means to end or continu e thes e troubles . I can never be persuaded that they were raised or will be cal med upon th e settling o f ci vil rights and p riv ile dge s, either o f King or Parliament, whatsoever may seem e to be our present su ccess . But I am confident they have a higher rise from above, fo r the highest end— the settling the crown o f Christ i n this island to be pr0pa gat from island to continent . U ntill King J esus be set down on his thr one wi th his s ceptre in h is hand, I do not expect G od’ s pea ce, and s o no solid peace from man in thes e k i n gdo m e s ; but that sove ra ign e t ruth being established a desirable peace will be found to follow y ‘ . upon . ‘ Sir, all Christians are bound to give testimony to e v e rie truth when they a re called to it ; but ye ar the immediat servants o f the Most H igh— Ch rist’ s preco n es an d heralds whose propper fun ction 18 to pro claim h is name, preserve h is of fi ces and assert h is rights . C hrist h a s h a d many testimonies gi ven to his prophetical and priestly Offi ce by th e pleading and suffering o f his sa in cts ; and I n thir latter da yes he seems t o require the sam yn e into his kingly offi ce . A king loves testi mony to his cro w n e best o f any as that which is tenderest to h im : and confessors or m artyres fo r Christ’ s cro w n e ar the most royal an d most stately o f any state martyrs fo r alth ough Christ’ s kingdom b e not o f this world, and his servants did not fight therefor when he wes to suffer ; yet it is in this world, and fo r this end was h e born . And to this end , that we may give a testimony to the t ruth amongst others , were we born . B u t I n a peculiar way it lye th upon you, sir, w ho hes both your calling from Ch rist fo r it, and at the same time a parti cular calling from man . I t is that W “ . the honh1° . houses requi res and expe cts fro m you , especially at such a time when th e s ettlement o f religion depends y . upon , and when it is the v e rie controversie o f the tym e . . A n d the civil magistrates not only call you before them to av e rre th e truth thereon, but also to give you good examples comes befor yow out o f th e tender n ess o f y‘ . civil trust and du tie to maintain th e priviledge o f Parliament by the Covenant, and fo r respect to you to g i ve a testi mony asserting o f y . civil rights and privil edge, and to forewarn you lest you break the samen and In curre civi l pre mun i res . Sir, this shoul d teach us to b e as tender, z e allo u s, and careful] to assist Christ an d his Church, their priviledge and right that Christ lives and reign s al one over and in his
Church , and will have all done therein a ccording to his word and will , and that he has gi ven n o supreme headship o v e r h is Ch u I ch t o any P ope, K i ng o r P a r li a m en t w b a tsoev er . ‘ Sir, ye ar often desired to remember the bounds o f your co m m I ssio n from man , an d n ot to exceed the samen : I am con fident you will make as mu ch conscien ce not to be deficient in the dis charge o f your com mission from Christ . Wee must not before men mince, hold up, con ceal, p rudentially waive anything ne cessary fo r this test i mony nor qu i t one hoofe, or edge away an hemme o f Christ’ s robe royal . ‘ T ru e ly, s i r, I am confident ye will never be i n love with a peaceable and external possession that may be granted to th e Church, as to co n ce a le, discla im e , or inve rt your Master’ s right . That were to los e th e substan ce fo r the circumstan ce, t o disserve and dethrone Christ, to serve yourselves and enthrone others in h is place . Sir, we may heare mu ch o f breach o fpriviledge and covenant in relation to civile rights . Le t us remember in th e C ovenant the three ends in the title and p reface, three maine duties in th e body, and th e three effe cts in th e close . T h e Covenant began with the advan cement and ends with th e enlargement o f th e k in gdo m e o f Christ as th e substantiel l and overword o f the whole . T h e first article o fth e sevin I s Christ’ s arti cle, lyke di es do m i n ica I n th e week, all the rest ar i n D o m i n o and su b o rdin a t y . unto, and s u bo rdi n a ta n on pregn a n t. Christ’ s throne is highest and h is p riviledge supreme as only king and head o f h is Church, albeit kings and m a go stra te s may be members I n it . . I s it SO small a thing to have the s w o rde th at they must have the keyes also ? Qu a e D en s sejzcnx it ho m o n e yn nga t. . ‘ Sir, I w i ll only close th is by reminding you o f two passages o f your letter, sent by orders o f the H ouse o f C ommons to th e G en erall Assembly o f the Church o f Scotland that ye will sett out such a dis cipline as to th e utmost o f your power y e m ay exalt Christ, th e only lord over th e Church , h is own house, In all h is offices, and present this Chur ch as a chast v i rgi n e to Christ . An d fo r thi s en d that ye were not restrained by the H ouses in your votes and resolutions, nor bound up to th e sense o f others , nor to carry on privat designes In an i e servil e way but by your oath new formed against all fettering o fyour judgments , and engaged y . b y a ccording to th e H ouses’ desire , t o use all fre e do m e be coming th e integri ty o f your con s cien ce, weight o f the cause, an d the gravity and honour o f such an Assembly . ’ I n these words Warristo n rang o ut in the presen ce of the
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 99
The victory of the Presbyteria ns was only, after all, an academic one . A greater p ower had arisen in the country than the Parliament, and one that was hostile to their aim s . The great struggle the nation was pas sin g through had roused too strong a pas sion for lib erty in those who had felt the tyranny of th e hierarchy to allow them willingly to repla ce it by any enforced uniform ity in religion . They could not return to any system that would repress in dividual freedom in religious thought and life . There is n o doubt tha t what led the Erastian s and the Independents to offer
The King’ s headship over the Church , which up to this pe riod was s carcely question ed in Englan d, had never for a moment be en admitt ed in Scotland . And while we believe that what is now known as the Volun tary prin ciple is the only on e that cons erves the Spiritual authority of the Chu rch , and that the p os ition of all Presbyterian s who clai m or accept a legal establishmen t for their Church i s in compatible with that authority, we must rememb er that final prin ciples are not rea ched in a day, and we must ho n o ur tho s e who moved i n the direction of them an d made the roads by which we ha ve reached them .
The Presbyterians in the end carried the day in th e As sembly, the adoption of their sys tem pass ed the Parlia m ent , an d a beginning was made with its actual O peration in London and La n cashire . There was one differen ce, how ever, bet ween the n ew government which Par liament enact ed fo r the English Church and the government of the Scotti sh Church ; in th e former all the ecclesiastical Court s were to be controlled by th e Parliament . That was a vi tal difference . The opponents of Presbytery might have said o f the addition it made to the power of the S ta te the little more, and how m uch it is !’ and the Presbyte ri an s, of the subtracti on it made from the liberty of the Church ‘ the little less, and what worlds away
I OO FA M O U S S C OT S English divines and repres entatives of the English Parlia ment those clai ms o f the Church of Christ to s elf-govern ment and independence of the civil authori ty whi ch, fro m the days of Melville to thos e of Ch almers , have been s o effectively and persistently declared on the floor of the General Assembly .
At the same tim e, it is only fair t o the Presbyterians to allow that they saw a real danger in a heterogeneou s national Church , and that they were right in think ing that as soon as the government of the nation was settled such a Church would fall in pieces , an d the ancient Church wi th i ts attraction s of historical p res cription an d orderlines s be welcom ed again by the English people . Wheth er Presbyterianism as a via m edia could have maintained itself in the land and gradually weaned the people from Episcopacy and se cured their perm an en t atta chment, is a question we need not discuss . In any case the English Dissenters could not do other than they did ; an d they are to be honoured with all those who have prom oted freedom by refusing an immediate an d a partial Vi ctory for a distant, but when it came a m ore complete and m ore permanen t, triumph . The Scottish Presbyterians los t n othing by their failure . In assistin g those who at the time disappoin ted them , they helpe d the growt h in the n eighbouring kingdom of that section of the nation which ultimately deposed the dynasty that had so long m enaced the liberties of their own Church and kingdom , an d which has ever since shown th e warmest sympathy with all that has been best in the religiou s and political life of Scotland . We have only dealt, as was our purpose, with th e ecclesiastico - poli tical que stions which came before the
1 0 2 FA M O U S S C OT S a lib ertie for all religions without exception and h e adds that he would leave it to his friends to pe rceive from that design of the enemy what need he and his brethren in London had of their prayers ! The English Presbyterian s were of th e same mind as Baillie . Their London m inisters declared in 1 64 5 ‘ we detest an d allow n o such toleration . ’ It was in the army, a n d especially among the Ironsides , tha t the new force o f Dissent was strongest ; and it was to protect these honest men from the imposition of the Cove nant that their Chief made his resolute stand against the new uniformi ty . H e and those wh o stood with him in the same spirit n eed no Vindication at our hands — they were the truest friends of every right interes t, alike of Church and S tate, both in England and Scotland .
As sembly. Its theologi cal labours and pro du ctio n s take rank with those of the great historic Coun cils of the Church and the chief symbolical book that bear s its name has proved to be the m ost vital of all the Calvinis tic Confessions
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 1 03
. We can sca rcely exaggerate the theologi cal ]and religious results of the Assembly in Scotland . I t gave her the system of doctrine an d the metrical version of ’ the Psalter, which through all the generations since have continued to shape the religious thought of her people and to nourish their piety .
Westminster
C H A PT E R X I V T H E ANGLo -SCOT T I SH A LLI A N CE I N T HE FI RST C I V I L WAR
T HE alliance was formed , as we saw in the chapter be fore last, in the autumn of 1 64 3. I mmediately thereafter a Committee of both kingdoms was appointed to direct the two armies for the objects set forth in the Solem n Le ague and Covenant, and the indispensable Warristo n was one of its members . T he Scottish army crossed the Tweed in January 1 644 , and it was in the same mon th , four years after, that it evacuated England . Thes e were anxious years for the Scottish members of the Join t Committee, and a heavy share of their labours fell on Wa rristo n . The policy of the Presbyterians of both kin gdoms was to bring Charles to term s, and to pursue the war only to such a poin t as would secure the establi shment of their own ecclesiastical system . The only way i n whi ch it could s ucceed was by th e Scots makin g the Parliament feel its dependence on their army . From the momen t it entered England the Scottish Com missioners at Wes tmin ster showed the greatest anxiety that it should come to the front in the struggle . Their first hop e was that it would ca pture Newcas tle, a h Ope which was n ot realis ed till October 1 6 4 4 . But before that town ca pitulated , the portio n of th e allied army under David Leslie vied at Marston Moor, 2n d July 1 644, wi th C romwell’ s Ironsides in th e honours of the Vi ctory . The Scots were aggrieved by the way in whi ch their army ’ s sh are of that day ’ s work was ignored by their English friends 1 , and that, not merely 1 B aillie, ii . pp. 203, 207 . 104
1 06 FA M O U S S COT S to retrieve his position in Englan d . The S cots had to acknowledge that there was in them ‘ a world of thin gs to in creas e his disgrace, ’ 1 an d the Parliament urged the n eed o f caution in dealing with hi m after such disclosures . The Scots , o n th e other hand , argued that the disclosures would assist a Treaty by humbling the Kin g and m aking him amenable to r eason . If he continued s tubborn an d refused terms , he could not stand out longer against the fo rces of the Parliament . Charles ’ policy at the tim e was to foster j ealousy between the Presbyterians and the I ndependents , and so he intrigued with both . These two parties had s o little confidence i n each other that the Scots were afraid of the English takin g the King forcibly out of their hand : the mom ent Charles had surrendered himself at Newark , Leslie ha d retired t o Newcastle, in order to make his prize more secure from such an attempt . ‘ The King’ s being with u s makes them [th e Independents] m add , ’ says B aillie . The Presbyterians in the Parliament, on the other han d, were delighted . Now that C harles was in the hands of the Scots , they had good hopes that he would com e t o terms . I t was decided, at length, that negotiation s with the King sh ould b e resumed , and so Parliam ent approached him , proposing as the term s of a settlement, that it should have th e control of the arm y and navy for twenty years , that all Malignants should be excluded from civil and military offices , that Episcopacy should be abolished and Presbytery es tablished . The Scottish Commissioners pressed the Ki ng with tears to yield to these terms. They felt that the Covenant, even at that eleventh hour, would do all his business but that if he refused it, hi s h opes for recoverin g his power would for ever p ass away . N o on e strove h arder than Warristo n for thi s Treaty . ‘ All the Royalists in Scotland could not have pleaded so much for the Crown and th e King ’ s j ust power : ’ 2 and h e pleaded as earn estly with th e King to recognise that th e Treaty gave hi m all his rights . Charles, however, would not give way— the C ovenan t was too bitter a pill for him to swallow. M oreover, he still had hopes of bringin g the two sectio n s 1 B a illie, ii. p. 289. 1 J bz ’d. ii . p. 368 .
J O H N S TO N O F W ARR I ST O N 1 0 7 of his opponents to a rupture, and of persuading one or other to j oin with him in preventing its rival gain ing the ascendency . When the n egotiati ons fell to the ground, one of the Presbyterians asked , ‘ What will become of us now that the Kin g has rejected the proposals ? ’ when one of the Independents replied , What would have become of us if he had accepted them ? ’ 1 In the month of October Charles proposed as a pacifica tion that he should agree to establish Presbytery for three years, during which tim e the government to be perman ently adopted in the Church might b e discussed an d fi nally s ettled ; but this was too patent a device to give him time to recover his own position . Though rej ected at the time, i t was accepted in January ( 1 64 7 ) by the leading Presby te rian s in the Parliament . This m ade it plain that they now feared more the ascendency of the Independent s than the restoration of the King’ s absolute authority, which they had un ited with that party to overthrow. Their next m ove was to get rid of th e army, which they knew would resist such a settlement ; and as they could not well propose such a step, so lon g as the S cottish army remained in England , they resolved to negotiate with the latter to leave the country . The Scots had nothing to gain by remaining, and so, accepting th e term s offered for their share of the cost of the Civil War, they evacuated Newcastle and marched fo r the B order in the end of J anuary 1 64 7 . There were two letters written at this date by Patrick Maule, Earl of Panmure, to Warristo n which show how bitterly the King resented the part th e latter had taken in th e recent n egotiations . In the fi rst — dated 2n d January 1 64 7— the writer says ‘ The informations whi ch have been made against you in you r violen ce against h is Majesty have taken su ch impression s that n o man can be heard to speak to the contrary , fo r th e ground that you go upon i s s o fa r contrary to his resolution , let the envier be never so much fo r his good they that press h im to condes cend to the C ovenant, he thinks that they seek h is 1 Green ’ s Sb ort H i story oftire E nglislz People, p . 546 .
1 08 FA M O U S S C OT S ruin .
What repo rts have been made by your spee che s, both public and p rivate, your Lady can inform you . Your La dy would not go to ki ss h is Maj esty’ s hands ; sh e had h e r own reasons fo r it, which I could not but submi t to, sin ce it was her pleasure. ’ 1 Th e second letter, dated 23rd January 1 64 7 , says ‘ I fin d by his Maj esty, that though what is done was past both in C ommittee and Parliament, yet he attributed the carriage thereof to particular persons, who have endeavoured to their uttermost is ruin , and he can not but a cknowledge their intention s to his good that voted to the contrary, though they did n ot ca rry it ; in this particular you have your own part o f the blam e, whi ch i s unnecessary fo r m e to write more o f it . But I as sure you he doth not think tha t you h ave dis ~ charged the duty and respect to him that he hath deserved and expe cted from you. H is Maj esty i s resolved fo r the wors t an d will suffer anything before he condescend to th e C ovenant ; an d it i s thought the Parliament o f England will not b e s o rigid i n that point as the Parliament o f S cotland is . If his Maj esty be on ce from us , it will b e found that we have but an ill game t o play; and I pray G od we have not cause to repent our proceed i ngs when it is too late ; fo r certainly his Maj esty’ s affe ction will be alienated from th e nation , an d it will b e found that we have littl e [help o r pity] from th e kingdom of England . His Maj esty thinks himselflittle ob liged to your nation , but more disobliged t o some particulars than to the general, and I am confident h e will stu dy t o resent it ; yet I shall never leave endeavouring to give him th e best im pressions , both o f you an d your fri ends , that I can think upon, at all occasions ; if it do no good , I am sure it will d o no i ll . I have written s o o ft and s o fairly, both t o my Lord o f A rgyl e and you, o f this and all other things, that I ca n add n othing thereto . ’ 11 In th e Acts of Parliament belonging to the yea rs from the formation of th e Anglo -Scottish allian ce to M ar ch 1 64 7 , Warristo n ’ s nam e frequently occurs . During that period he sat for the coun ty of Edinburgh an d was Speaker of the barons . M ost of the minutes in which he is mention ed refer to th e various commissions to which he was appointed. 1 H ailes’ M emor ials, II . p. 185. 1 I bid. 11. p . 1 88 .
WH EN Leslie’ s army returned home in January 1 64 7 , th e King, who was still in its hands , was anxious to accompany i t, and friends in Scotl and tried hard to get the nation to invite him but the Gen eral Ass embly peremptorily refused to receive him till he accepted the Covenant ; and its firmness ended the project . He was handed over to a Committee of the English Parliament, by whom he was removed to H olmsby H ous e, in Northamptonshire, to remain th ere till he had satisfied both kingdoms . He was much chagrined by th e action of the Scots at thi s tim e, but from the moment it was decided that he should be transferred to the keeping of the Parliamen t, he seems to have conceived the hope that i n his new position h e would be able to carry on his policy of creating division between the parties opposed to his government, and with m o re effect than hitherto . At the close of the second letter of the Earl of Panmure to Wa rristo n , quoted in last chapter, his lordshi p says : ‘ His Majesty is so well resolved now for his going to Holmsby as ever I saw him for anything . He thinks that the Scots have sold him at too cheap a rate. If our p osterity find not the smart thereof, it is well . But he says that we have absolutely quitted ou r interest in him . ’ 1 The Scottish army being now out of the way, the Presbyterians in th e Parliament moved forward with their policy. They voted that th e existing arm y should b e disbanded and a new one rais ed with Presbyterian o fli cers 1 Hailes’ Memo ria ls, II . p. 1 88 . ! O
C H A P T E R X V T H E E N GAGEME N T
J O H N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N I I I at its head . B ut the army had its own Views on the subject . The soldiers for the m ost part had served at their own charges and their pecun ia ry claim s on the Parliament remained to be settled . They had besides a loftier reason for their disobedience . They had drawn their swords to secure the liberties of the kingdom , and they could not sheathe them till they had accomplished their object . In a letter addressed by the heads of the army to the Lord Mayo r, Aldermen , and C ommon Council of the City of Lon don in Ju n e 1 64 7 , they stated the grounds of their refusal to disband . ‘ As fo r th e thing we insist upon as Englishmen— and surely our being soldiers hath not stript us o f that interest, although our mali cious enemies would have it so — w e desire a settlement o f th e Peace o f the Kingdom and o f th e Liberties o f th e Subj ect according to the V otes and D eclarations o f Parliament, whi ch befo re we took a rms , were by th e Parliament used as argu ments and inducements to invite us and divers o f our dear friends out ; s ome o f whom have lost their lives In this war. Whi ch, being now, by God ’ s blessing fin ish e d— w e think we have as much right t o demand and desire to see a happy Settlement, as we have to our money and to th e other common interests o f s oldiers which we have insisted upon . We find also th e in ge n io u s and honest People in almost all parts o f th e kingdom where we come, full o f the sense o f ruin and mis ery , if th e Army shou ld be disban ded befo r e the Peace o f th e Kingdom and those other things before mentioned, have a full and per fe ct s ettlement . ‘ We have said before, and profess it now, we desire n o alteration o f the Civil G overnment . A s little do we desire to interrupt , or in th e least to intermeddle with the settling o f the Presbyterial G overnment. N o r did we s eek t o open a way fo r licentious liberty under preten ce o f obtaining eas e fo r tender conscien ces . We profess , as ever in these things , when on ce th e state h a s made a Settlement , we have nothing to say but submit or suffer . O nly we could wish that every good citi z en and every man who walks peaceable In a blame less conversation and i s benefi cial to th e Commonwealth , might have liberty and en couragement ; this being a ccording to th e t rue poli cy o fall States and even to j usti ce it self . ’ 1 1 Carlyle’ s Crom w ell, i . p. 229 .
1 1 2 FA M O U S S C OT S
On its reaching the ea rs of the Council of Officers which the army had appointed to protect its in terests , that a new army was to be raised and th e King brought t o Lo ndon , five hundred m en under the comm and of Com et Joyce seized the King at H olmsby Hou se an d bore him o ff to Ne w market. The seizure was n ot dis pleasing to Charles , who hoped it would fomen t the differen ces between the army and the Parlia men t. Crom well, who had endeavoured for some tim e to mediate be tween these two b odi es, was compelled to act at this jun cture with those who had bo rne along with himself the brunt o f the Civil War. The army marched on London and laid an H u mble R ep resen ta tio n of their cas e before the two Houses of Parliament, in which they clai med a settlement of the governmen t, in accordan ce with th e promi se s, votes, an d declarations of Parliament . They repudiated, as before, any desire to touch the monarchy or the Presbyt erian government of the Church, but at the sam e tim e insisted on toleration. They demanded the expulsion from the Com mons of eleven membe rs with Denzil Holles at their head, as the breeders o f trouble between themselves and the Parliament . The H u mble R epresen ta tio n wa s referred to a Com mittee. The heads of the army then sought to deal directly with th e King . Ireton , Crom well’ s son i n -law, was the principal agent in the n egotiations , but Cromwell supported him in all that he did, for there was no m an in England les s disposed than Cromwell to overthrow the m onarchy so long as there was a shred of hope that Cha rles would consent to rule as a constitutional sovereign .
The terms which I reton submitted to th e King— the H ea ds of P r oposa ls, as they were called— were n o m ore than were neces sary to s ecure the liberti es o f the kingdom , in the event of Charles bein g again en trusted with the government . They in clud ed an Act o f Oblivion for all save a few of the prin cipal Malig nan ts , Parliamenta ry control of th e arm y an d navy and appo intm ent of the chief offi cers of state, triennial Parlia m ents , electoral reform , a j uster taxation, a simplifica tion of the law, an d the abolition of privileged in teres ts . As regards
I 1 4 FA M O US S COT S they heard that their own Com missioners had succeeded in the negotiations . Thes e feelings , however, were of short duration . When Loudoun and Lauderdale returned to Scotland , it came out that th e term s of the Treaty were very difl' e re n t fro m what had been reported , and that the C o m~ missioners had accepted less from the King and given m ore than th e nation would stand to . There was keen disappointment , and the Commissioners were much blamed . The first to declare th emselves regarding the Treaty were th e m inisters, who were s trongly opposed to it. The Com mission of Assembly pronounced again s t th e in ade q u acyof the King’ s concessions in religion , an d ‘ the pulpit s sounded loud ’ on the same Side. B ut when Parliament met, it was found that the members were overwhelmingly in favour of the Treaty . The nobles, who were presen t in unusually large numbers, were nearly all En gagers . Argyle, B almerino, Loudoun (who had now abandoned hi s fellow-Com missioners at Carisbrooke) , and a few others consti tuted the minority . Th e maj ority of the baron s were Engagers ; the burgesses were about equally divided ; but the represen tatives of the larger tow n s were Engagers . The chief s pokesmen of the minority were Argyle an d Warristo n .
The maj ority in the Parliamen t were anxious to effect a compromise with the ministers and secure their suppo rt for the Treaty ; and for this p u rpose they asked an d obtained a Conference between Six of their own number and six members of the Assembly . Warristo n was n ot sent to th e Conference , but before it m et he and others drew up a n ew oath of association to be imposed on all to whom the nation should entrust the prosecution of the object of the Covenan t at the present cris is . It was too strict, even for thos e members of the Conference who were most friendly to its authors, but it could not be ignored, coming as it d id from such an influential quarter, and it imported a fresh difficulty in to the situation . A new step, however, taken by the Parliamen t, brought the Conferen ce to an end. Thi s was the resolution to which it cam e, at the instigation of the hottest -headed of the Engagers, to seize the garri son s at
B erwick and Carlisle . The result was the uniting and strengthening of the Non - Engagers (or Remonstran ts , as they were also ca lled) throughout the country . Many of the Shires sent in petiti ons against the Engagement, an d their example was followed by the burghs, and also by presbyteries and syn ods . David Leslie and the other offi cers of the army declared they would not move till the Kirk was satisfied . In the West the popular feeling was espe cially keen , and in the course of the controversy a body of Clydesdale m en who had assembled on Mauchline M oor by way of dem on stratio n against the Engagers had a seri ous brush with a party of their soldiers . On 1 2th July th e Assem bly met to consider the question of the hour. I t supported th e action that had been taken by its own Commission, condemned the Engagement, ordered all the ministers to preach again st it, and passed a declaration in accordan ce with their own finding for publication in both k in gdoms . There were certain leaders who were conspi cuous by their absence from this Assembly . Am ong these were Argyle, Loudoun, an d Warristo n . The two firs t stayed away that they migh t escape subs cribin g to a bond imposed by the Parliam ent requirin g the subj ect s to support the levy for the army . Warristo n ’ s reason was differen t . Eight of the m in isters were to be brought to the bar of th e Assembly on the charge o f instigating th e Mauchline Gathering, and it fell to him , as Procurator of the Church , to conduct the pro secu tion . It was i mpossible for him to do so, believin g as he did that the prosecution was unj ust, and so he did not appear at the Assembly . B aillie is our authority for assign ing his absence to this cause . He says : ‘ The good advocate being res olved in his mind if he had been put to it, t o have pleaded for th e m inisters and n ot again st them , was , with much ado, moved by his friends to lurk for som e time till the sto rm e went over. ’ H e went to Can tyre as the guest o f Argyle . Hamilton led the Engagers ’ forces in to England , but was defeated at a stroke by Cromwell at Preston , August 1 648 and ‘ the Whiggamore Raid ’ immediately followed . Six thou sand men of th e West country under Eglinton
J OH N S T O N O F W ARR IST O N 1 1 5
The Estates met in January 1 64 9, and passed th e Act of Classes, disqualifying Malignants for any service of the S tate, till they satisfied the Kirk . It was moved by Argyle and Seconded by Warristo n , who was its author . ‘ The M arquis of Argyle ha d a very long speech, consistin g of 5 heads , which he called the breaking of the Malignants ’ teeth, and he who came after him [Warristo n ] would break their j aws . Wa rristo n , the King’ s advo cate, after the Marquis of Argyle had ended, read a s peech two hours in length o ff his paper, being an explanation of Argyle’ s five heads of teeth , as he nam ed them , with the an s wering of such obj ects he thought the pri me Engagers would make on them in defence . ’ 1 1 B alfo ur, iii. p. 377 .
1 1 6 FAM O U S SC OT S marched from Mauchline to Edinburgh , where they occupied Salisbury Crags, while old Le ven held the Cas tle in th e same interest . The Whiggamore Raid placed the government of the country in the hand s of the Rem onstrants , with Argyle at their head . B efore cross in g the B order after Preston, to s ecure the interests of the Parliament in Scotland , Cro mwell ca me to a cordial under standing with Argyle as to the obj ect of his invas ion . On Wednesday, 4 th October, he arrived in Edinburgh , and lodged at Moray H ouse . His business with the Estates was qui ckly arran ged . He lai d a demand before them for the disqualification of Malignants for all public service, which was im media tely granted, their compliance being conveyed to him by Warristo n , Cas silis, and two other gentlem en . On the Saturday he was banqueted at the C astle, Leven presiding . The followi ng week, on hi s way south, he wrote to the Speaker of the Commons , assuring the House that the affairs of Scotland were in a ‘ thrivin g posture, ’ that ‘ good elections ’ were going on , that the Estates were to rais e 4 0 00 horse an d foot, an d that meanwhile h e was leaving Maj or- General Lam bert, w i th suffi cient troops, to hold the country . He hi mself ha d received ‘ n oble entertainment, ’ and he left Scotland with the confidence that henceforth it would be ‘ a bette r neighbour to Engl and . ’
C H A P T E R X V I C ROMWELL’ S I N VASI ON O F S COT LA N D WH I LE resisting the tyranny o f Charles 1. th e Covenanters had never ceased to protest their attachment to the m onarchy, and at any moment they would have b een ready to defend the King’ s person and autho rity had h e given them security that he would respect the rights of the Church and the nation . The execution of the King divided them from their English friends ; when Charles 11. was proclaimed a few days after, it was with the goodwill of the whole nation and the Covenanters now turned to him for the realisation of the hopes which his father had so often and so bitterly disappointed . B efore receivin g him , how ever, ih Scotl and and engagi ng in another war on his behalf, they were resolved to pledge him to rule in accordance with their desires . The first body of Commissioners who vi sited him with this object on the Con tin ent return ed with a report of failure . The Hague Conference was fruitless . Charles ’ ‘ great sticke ’ was at the Covenant, which covered the Scots ’ demands . They would be content with n othing less, and for Charles to be hesitant here was to bring the negotiations to a deadlock . He was sanguine of being brought to the throne , without b eing indebted to those who would make his tenure of it intolerable . The Con ference held at Breda i n th e following year had a different result . I n the interval Charles ’ hopes from Irelan d and fro m M ontrose’ risin g in S cotland had been blas ted : the party represented by the Commis sioners was n ow the only string to his bow, and he swallowed the Covenan t. Wh en he reached Scotland in June 1 650, he was pledged to that 1 1 8
J OH N S TO N O F W AR RIST O N ”9
symbol of the nation’ s aspirations, and after his arrival beca m e doubly pledged by a formal repudiation of his father and mother’ s malign ancy . These transaction s were more disgraceful to the national leaders than to Charles himself, knowing as they did the hollown ess of his pro fe ssio n . There were some of the leaders who were not respon sible for them and who strongly opposed them . Of these Warristo n was the chief, and the others— among them Jam es Guthrie, Sir Joh n Chiesley of K erswall, Sir John Swinton — were men wh o were closely identified with him in public affairs all through . So ill at ease were the con sciences of those who were responsible, that when they came to make war for Charles, they would not allow him to accompany the army, lest by his presen ce they should incur the displeasure of the God of battles !
We know how inept their consciences appeared to Crom well, who always saw through the wrappings of things to their soul and substance . Car lyle puts the situation in a sentence : ‘ Given a divine law of the B ible in one han d an d 2 Stuart king, Charles I . or in the other, when did history ever present a more irreducible case of equation s in this world ? ’ In parting with Cromwell and joining Charles, th e Scottish Presbyterians threw away the kern el for the husk . Th ey have often erred in bin ding their faith to documents an d trusting to the security of legal enactments , but never so egregiously as in th is instance . And dear was the pri ce they paid for their folly ‘ The killing tim e ’ was the penalty . H ow true was M ilton ’ s warning : ‘ Woe be to you Presbyterians esp ecially, if ever any of Charles ’ race recover the English scep tre . B elieve m e, you shall pay all the reckon ing !’ Cromwell had no course left but to strike at the fresh Stuart movemen t in Scotland . B ut never did he enter on war with such reluctance — never did he unsheathe his sword with such a grudge as when it was to fight again st the Covenanters, with whom he felt he was kn it together i n the same essential interests . H e exhausted every argument to avert the collision ; and it was only when argument failed, when his passionate appeals to them ‘ in
1 20 FA M O U S S COT S
the bowels of Christ to think it possible they m ight b e mistaken ’ proved unavailing, that he made them feel the weight of his hand on the field of battle . I t n eeded crass m inds and inexplicable consciences on their part not to feel the tremendous force of hi s remons trances . In a letter to General Leslie from the ca mp at Pentland h e wr ote ‘ We return you this an swer by which I hope it will appea r that we continue the s ame we h ave professed ourselves to the H onest People in S cotland, wi shing to them as to our own soul s it being no part o f our bus iness to hinder any o f them from worshipping G od i n the way they are satisfied in their cons ciences by the word o f God they ought, though different from us but shal l thereto be ready to perform what obligation is upon us by the Covenan t. B ut that, under pressure o f th e Covenan t, mistaken an d wrested from the most native intent an d equity thereof , a king shoul d b e taken an d imposed upon us and this be called the cause o f G od and H is Kingdom , ” an d this done upon the satisfaction o f G od’ s peopl e in b o th nation s , as is alleged , together with a disowning o fM alignants , although h e who 15 the head o f them, in Whom all their h ope and comfort is , b e re ceived ; who at this very instant hath a Popish army fighting fo r h im an d under h im in Irelan d and strong co m m issro n s by th e Malignants in England to raise armies in our bowels . How th e godly interest you pretend you have received him upon and the Malign ants’ interest in their ends and cons equen ces ca n be secured, we cann ot dis cern . All thos e Malignants take th eir confiden ce an d e n co u rage m e n t from the late transa ction o f your Kirk and State with your King . We com mit both you and ourselves to H im who kn ows the heart and tries th e reins with whom are all our ways w h o is able to do fo r u s and you above what we know ; which we desire may b e much , in mercy to this po or people and to th e glory o fh is great name . ’ 1
Wh atever hopes Cromwell might j ustly cherish from such cogent reasonings and generou s appeals were disappointed . A fortnight after th e date of the letter to Le slie — o n 3rd September 1 650 — the Scottish army was routed at Du n bar. The blam e h as been generally laid at the door 1 Ca rlyl e’ s Crom w ell, ii. 1 7 2.
1 22 FAM O U S S COT S rej ected again and again ; but still we begged to be b e lieved that we loved them as our own souls ; they often retu rn ed evil for good . ’ Afterwar d s, he spoke of Dunbar in the sam e way : ‘ Som e who were godly were then fought into their graves , and of all th ei cts of m y public life, it is that in which [ have th e ‘ l east quiet . ’ A Tew days after the b attle Cromwell an d h is army reached Edinburgh . The m inisters of the city had taken refuge in the Castle, an d one of h is first acts was to write t o Dundas, the Governor, to grant lib erty to them to leave it and preach in their several churches . The ministers refused the offer and complained of persecution , and als o of what they were pleased to call ‘ the usurping of th e m inistry by Cromwell’ s officers an d soldiers , wh o occasionally preached in their churches . For an swer Cromwell wrote a noble vindi cation of the liberty of pro ph e syin g , in which at the same ti me he m akes th e m ost generous allowan ce for the prejudices of his opponen ts . After a reply t o the charges contai ned in the ministers ’ letter, in the cours e of whi ch he turns round u po n them an d as ks, ‘ Wh o hath been the tru est fu lfille rs of the Covenant, of its m ost real an d equi table ends ? ’ he goes on ‘ You say you have great cause to regret tha t men o f civil employments usurp the calling an d employm ent o fth e minis try. A re you troubled that Ch rist is preached ? I s preaching s o ex clu siv ely your fun ction ? I s it against th e Covenant ? Away wi th the C oven ant if this be so . Where do you fin d in the S crip tures a ground to warran t such as serti on ? I hope He that as cended up on high may give h is gifts to whom he pl eas e s ; and if these gifts b e th e s eal o f mission, b e n o t you envious , though Eldad and Medad prophesy . Appropriation [ordination] is an a ct o f convenien cy in respect to order, n ot o f necessity to give facul ty to preach th e G ospel . Your p re t ended fear that error should set in is like th e man w h o would keep all win e out o f the country lest men should be drun k. It will be fou nd an un just and unwise j ealousy to deprive a man o f his natural lib e rty upon a sup sitiou he ma abuse it. When he doth abus e it, judge . An if you wi ll cal ou r s peak ings together sin ce we came to Scotlan d— to provoke one
There were great hea rt - searchings among the Covenanters as to the causes of the defeat of their arm s . 2 Som e of them ascribed it to the insufficient purgation of the army , severe as it had been, and proposed to rectify the evil by m aking it s till more drastic . They took a bold step in this direction by u rging the deposition of the head of the army, D avid Leslie ; an d when the Estates refused, they protested . Am ong those who j oined in this action were Warristo n an d James Guthrie . It w as surely too rigorous a test, even from the Covenanters ’ poin t of view, that required them to exclude Leslie ; and it i s diff i cult to defend those who urged it, and to deny fl t h at they were precisians . There i s nothing to show that Leslie was undeserving of their confidence . His career, n ot only as a soldier but as a Covenanter, had been an honour able one . Th e spirit of the man may be seen from a letter he sent to friends in Scotland when h e w as with the army at Durham . I ts only date is ‘ 1 5th December, ’ 1 Ca rlyl e’ s Crom w ell’ s Letters a nd Spear/u s, 11. p. 208 . See Ca u ses of tire Lo rd’ s Wr at lz , which w as published in connection with th e Day o fHumilia tion fo r Dunbar, September 1650.
another to love and goo d work s an d to charity and love towards yo u if g you will call things s can dalous to the Kirk and yaga i nst the y Co v en an t becausegdone by men o f civil callings , we rejoice in these , notwithstanding what you say . I beseech you in the b owel s o f Christ, search after th e min d o f th e Lord and we shall help you by our prayers tha t you ma fin d i t out , fo r yet (if we know our hearts at all) our bowel s o i n Christ J esus yearn after the godly 1n Scotland . We know there are stumbl i ng blocks which hinder you the personal prejudi ce you h ave taken up against u s and our ways , wherein we cannot but think some occasion h as been given, and fo r whi ch we mourn , th e apprehension you have tha t we have hindered the glorious reformation you think you were upon ; I am persuaded that these and such like bend you from an understand i ng an d y ielding to the mind o f Go d 1n the great day o f th e power an d v i s i tation . 1
J O H N S TO N O F W A R R IST O N 1 23
With this letter the correspondence closed, and Cromwell resumed hostilities . Leslie’ s army m eanwhile had gone North and was rallyin g at Stirling .
1 24 FA M O U S S C OT S but it was evidently written at a tim e when there was urgent n eed of his servi ces at hom e, an d when it required great loyalty to th e Covenant to offer them Be cause you d esired me to be plain with you in this, and t o com muni cate my mind, I will be free, that fo r my own part I desire not upon any te rm s to have command in my own country fo r m any reason s . First, it is not, to me nor any m an to carry him s elf s o that he shall or can please al l men , as is to be s e en o f those who have gone before me . Se condly , I have great ones to my enemies in that kingdom . T h 1rdly, hi s Maj esty, with al l reverence would see m e hanged , and las t o f all , I can live abroad, and get preferment with honour. Yet fo r all this, they who have done so much fo r me, shall c om man d m e in that cause I have sworn to, in s pite o f all greatness , m alice or whatsoever, to undergo anything fo r the maintenan ce o f the ca use, not d oubting but G od wi ll give a blessing much beyond th e expectation o f al l his enemies ; and that I shoul d speak any more con cerning m y self in that particular, I will not, but refer myself to G od an d t o m yfr1en ds, knowing nothing can be done but at his pleasure. ’ The serious and perm anent rent which the demands of Warristo n an d Guthrie produced at this time in the rank s of the Covenan t will be more fully narrated in the next chapter. Mean time, we are only concerned with its effect on the course of th e English invasion . I t was well known to Cromwell ; and he was hopeful that Warristo n ’ s party would displace the party that was in power an d becom e his allies . I t was in the West that the strict C oven an ters were strongest . There they had an army of 50 0 0 men under the command of Colonels Strachan and Ker, who were both vehement Remonstrants . The Estates had to humour the Westland men an d allow their army to act in depen den tly : they were too powerful a body to drive into revolt . There was a fear that they might go over to Cromwell, wi th whom they were at one in their antagonism to Cha rles and in their religious temperament . Indeed , they had given him the hint that if h e would clear out of th e country, they 1 H ailes’ Memori a ls, ii . p. 138 .
1 26 FA M O US S C OTS approached Glasgow, a p an ic spread am ong the autho ri ties , but with little cause, as Baillie ’ s account of Cromwell ’ s visit to the city at the tim e shows : ‘ The ministers an d magistrates flee all away : I got to the isle of C u m b rae , but left all my family and goods to Cromwell ’ s court esy, which was great, for he took such a course with his soldiers that they did less displeas ure than if they had been in Londo n , though Mr. ! a chary B oyd railed on them all to their very faces in the High Church . ’ Cromwell ’ s sta y in Glasgow was cut short by a ru m our that the Western army had design s on Edinburgh , and he returned to the capital without havi ng accomplished his obj ect . The Remonstran ts replied to his letter, but not in a very encouraging way. A second time b e appealed to them , sen ding his letter on this o ccasion by the han ds of two of his Dun bar prisoners - Provost ] afl' ray of Aberdeen and Carstar e s (one of the ministers of Glasgow, the father of Principal Carstares) but again it w as fruitless . The Remonstran ts resolved, though not without a divi sion o f opinion, to fight for their own hands against the English ; but di saster soon overtook their army : under Colonel Ker i t atta cked a divi sion of the English forces at Ham ilton and wa s totally routed.
The party which was in power, and which, before the battle of Dunbar, had e xcluded the M alignants from the army, n ow made com mon caus e with them and received them into their ranks . It was a relief to Cromwell to feel that he had now to carry on the war wi th those who were essentially oppo sed to him , an d not with men for whom , however they might misunderstand his own spirit an d aims , he had a sin cere regard as brothers in Chri st . His arm y renewed its activity, after a suspension of som e months for the purpose of carrying on the negotiations with the Remonstrants . As Leslie was not to be drawn from his s trong position in Stirling, Cromwell resolved to cross over to Fife and seize Perth , in order to cut o ff the enemy from his supplies in the north . The victory which his army won at I nverkeithing left the way clear . As soon , however, as this flank movem ent had been exe cuted , the Scottish army,
J OH N S TO N O F WAR R IST O N 1 27 with the King in its midst, quitted Stirling and marched for England, with what result we all know— the battle of Worcester, Cromwell’ s crownin g mercy and Charles’ finishing stroke . M r. W . S . Douglas, in his interesting work on Cro mw ell s Scale/ z Ca mp a ign s, seeks to fasten a charge on Warristo n of playing the informer to the enemy in connection with two of the incidents of this period . The first occasion was when the Estates at S ti rling had resolved to send a force to the West to bring the Remonstrants to a point an d compel them to declare their re al intention s ; and the accusation is that Warristo n communi cated the contemplated movement of the main army to Cromwell, wh o, regarding it as about to be made for the purpose of effecting a con junction with Strachan ’ s force, immediately gave orders to his own army to m arch to the West, the result being th e defeat of the Remonstrants in the fight at Hamilton. The charge has absolutely no foundation . There is no evidence — there is none even suggested— that Cromwell acted on such information . The conj ecture is made solely on the ground that at a later period Warristo n is alleged by th e author to have been guilty of a similar breach of faith . Mr. Douglas introduces his second charge with a great flouri sh of trum pets . I t i s a damnin g accusation against a m an for whom he has conceived a stron g dislike ; an d he ha s the clearest possible proof of it ! When he is done, he turns round triumphantly to his readers and asks in Carlyle’ s words Alas , will an y human soul ever again love poor Warristo n ? ’ Unfortunately, however, for the accuser’ s enj oyment of his own performance, he had no sooner finished i t than he was obliged by the discovery of fresh facts to appe nd a note that has the effect of Spo ilin g i t . B ut it is ‘ very hard, ’ as he pathetically says, to sacrifice ‘ a pet pas sage, ’ and so he makes an attempt to rehabilitate his case by new and— it must be said— very flimsy evidence . Thi s second charge of treachery against Warristo n is that he informed Cromwell of the intention of the S cottish arm y to move from S tirling to rais e th e English siege of Black ness, and that acting on the warning, Cromwell frus trated
Now on what ground does this charge rest ? There was a newspaper published in London and subsidised by the Govern ment— the M ercu n ' us P o lz 'tz ' cus (of which, by the way, Milton was for a time the Offi cial censor) - in which correspo ndence from Scotland , Ireland, and th e Continent regularly appeared . In an Edinburgh letter of r st April ( 1 651 ) there is a reference to Warristo n , who had j us t arrived in the city from Stirli ng, accompanied by his wife and family, on an o fficial errand . H e had been appointed Lord Clerk Register in March 1 64 9, an d he had come to Edinburgh at this tim e to get possession of th e registers of the kingdom . The wri ter in the n ewspaper says ‘ I am confident his coming is no disadvantage to us , for our horse marched forward to Stirlin g the next morning ; the last night about midnight the most part of the foot marched . And not without su ccess, for thi s day I am assuredly i n formed that the enemy, r 6o o horse and foot, ar e come over the water and are within view of Lithgow. ’ Was n ot this very sinister ? Of cours e it was . Warristo n ’ s arrival in Edinburgh and the despatch of English troops were s ynchronous ; was the correspondent of the Lon don paper not making a shrewd gues s when he suggested that th e English took action on in formation communi cated by Warristo n ? No doubt ; but the shrewdest guesses are sometimes fallacious, and thi s i s an instance . There w a s a traitor in the Scottish camp , and the traitor was a Johnston , but not our Johnston : and for putting u s in the way of proof, we are indebted to M r. Douglas him self in his retracto ry note . In Nicoll’ s D ia ry (p . 52) there is th e following entry, dated April 1 651 , on the first of which m onth Blackness fell : ‘ su n drie were taken and appreh en dit an d co m m ittit to prisso u n for being upon the wi cked Association in the west countrie, an d for fomenting divi sion in the Kirk and stai t, and for favourin g the en ym ie and complying with his co u rssis, and for a dvysin g and geving counsell again the King and his honest w ayis, n am elie, Walter Young marchand, M ajor fob n n estou fl , and William Dow ny, writer. ’ In Lamont’ s D ia ry (p . 31 ) there is the following entry : ‘ 1 651 , Jun . The Commission
1 28 FA M O U S S C OT S the movement .
1 30 FA M U S S C OT S were afterwards packed for conveyance from th e Tower in London to Edinburgh , they filled 1 0 7 hogsh eads , 1 2 chests or tru nks , and 1 4 barrels ! As will be seen from the letter Of Warristo n that follows, Cromwell had given him a m onth for the purpose an d he had to ask fo r an extension of th e time . The letter is dated Edi n burgh , 1 4th April ( 1 651 ) My Lord , on Satu rn dayat night very laite I re ceived your 10. letter with ane passe to my s ervant, whereanent I a m ready to atten d yr. lo . , whensoever ye sall command or you r le a sur may pe rm itt . Your 10. kn ows I am bot a s ervant to those who employes me, and s o cannot without theat express warrand re de lyv e r the passes which I delivered on ce to them anent th e re gis te re s ’ t whereof the king, the parliament ’ t th e commission o f th e church hath k e ipe d the prin ciples and hath entrusted me only with some o f them to be sh e w e n to yr . Ex cellency fo r the recovery o f the Registers, but if y r . 10. press it again I shall sen d it over ’ t re cea v e their dire ctions, whi ch is all yr. 10. k nows a faithful s ervan t entrusted by them co n doe. My lord, I hope your lo . will not restri ct th e former passes an d fa r less e to a moneth n ix t following seing yr. 10 . or any whom you shall appoint sh all see me use all possible diligen ce ( upon the coming o f the clerks to know ’ t re ce a v e every m an h is o w n e registers) t o despatch them to th e places whereunto they sal l b e appointed if on [one] week could d o th e business I should be very glad, if contrary winds ’ t other ne ces sa ry accidents (which will be seen to yr . 10. or in y r. absen ce to th e G overnors o f Leith) shall any w aye s retard or Imped, I am certainly persuaded yr . 10. i n justi ce ’ t e q u itie wold not suffer any advantage to be taken therefrom in a matter con cerning pu b lict re cords , whi ch useth to be in violabl e 1n all w arre s . T h e sooner that th e ship b e re delyv e re d she would be th e sooner ready, fo r I hear th e a r is a laik stru ck up in h ir ’ t is not weel k n o w en whear it is yr . 10 . be pleased to d1r e ct th e governor o f Leith to lett on o f the Clerks who is in town goe see h is o w n e that he may in the m ean tym e be m ak ein g them ready, an d so th e like to the rest as they shall come. I desir yr . 10. s ecreta ry may men d the passes by addi ng some other clerks’ names whi ch h e had forgotten ’ t adding the alternative o f one se rvant fo r every one o f the clerks, becaus e themselves , it may b e, cannot come al l over in re gaird o f the Parliament’ s sitting down on Thursday next . So crav e in g pardon fo r troublin g yr . Ex cell .
O
with so long a letter o f so evil a hand ’ t being most willing to attend yr . Excell . whensoever ye shall command me to clear my simple meaning and plain way o f d ealing from all m istaik s or obj ection s — I remain , yr . Ex cell . humble servan t, A. J H O N ST ON .
J OH N ST O N O F W AR R IST O N 1 3 1
I N the last chapter we noticed the division that arose in the ranks Of the Covenanters after Dunbar, in its effects on th e m ilitary situ ation . The Remon strant army was extinguished by the fight at Hamilton , but the strife between the two parties continued till the Restoration , an d we have now to deal with their ecclesia sti cal and political disputes , and their respective relations to Cromwell ’ s Government . It is not an attractive part of our history, and we shall not be tempted to linger upon it even by the fact that Warristo n was much in it .
C H A P T E R X V I I T HE RESOLUT I O N ER S AND P R OT EST ER S : WAR R IST ON’ S ADHESI O N T O C R OMWELL
The Resolutioners or Ministerialists were for the King and Covenant : the Protesters or Oppositi on were for th e Covenant, without the King . While the former retained the Covenant in their platform , it becam e a nullity when the King was Charles 11. The latter, in excluding the King from their platform , were actuated by n o anti monarchical feeling, but only by their in curable distrust of Charles . The Resolutioners became inevita bly the political allies of the Malignants, an d were used by them for their own purposes : while they gave a p assive obedien ce to Cromwell’ s Government they never conceal ed their love for the m onarchy, and were as enthusiasti c as the Royalists themselves over the Restoration , until they saw that the bishops were to com e back with the King. The Protesters became as inevitably the political allies of Cromwell, though n o more than in th e cas e of the Resolutioners were their ai ms in full accord with his . They never plainly 1 32
1 34 FA M O U S S C OT S Esta tes and the King at the Hague and at B reda, and with the easy term s on which Charles had been received in th e country . Nobody believed i n th e sincerity of his com plian ce with the Covenant ; and the overwhelming defeat inflicted by the English army was gen erally regarded as a D ivine judgment for the dishonour don e to the Coven ant by th e acceptance of his light profession of it . While th e Resoluti oners, however, were willing to continue their support of Charles , i n ' spite of their distrust of h im in matters of religion , the Protesters i n sisted that the Kin g should be pu t out of the quarrel with Cromwell, an d that the war for the national defence should be prosecuted on a new platform , in whi ch the religious Side of the Covenant should have a s ole place, an d the political be altogether excluded .
On the 1 7 th October ( 1 650) a m eeting of the stri cter party was held at D umfries , where Strachan ’ s arm y was stationed at the time, when a Remonstran ce against the policy of th e M inisterialists, drawn up by Warristo n , who was presen t, was submitted an d adopted . Five days later the Remon s trance was lai d before a Co nference held at Stirling between the chief members of the Committee of Estates and the Commissioners of the Church . Wa rristo n spoke strongly in its favour, and high words passed betwe en him and Robert Douglas, who was the m ost influential m in ister of the Church and a keen Resolutioner. The Conference was resumed at Perth , where Warristo n again was the spokesman of his party ; but no agreemen t was com e to . The Committee of Estates m et, the King being present . Warristo n , who was never awed by the presen ce of Royalty, whom indeed it rather provoked to his b oldest in defence of the interests of the nation, when he believed them to be impe rilled by the Crown , made the m ost passionate spe ech he had yet delivered in suppo rt of the Remonstrance ; but he failed to carry the H ous e, and the Remonstrance was condemned . The Com mission o f the Assembly was convened , when there was an other hot dis cussion with the same result . The minori ty protested, an d ‘ went out of the town h ighlie miscontent. ’ Hugh
At the General Assembly of 1 652, the m inority were enj oined to withdraw their protest on pain of disciplin e .
In the following year the Assembly, which met i n Edinburgh in July, was summarily dissolved by Cromwell ’ s soldiery ; 2 and the quarrel was left to be carried on in the subordinate courts of the Church , and in the country .
We cannot agree with those who regard the closure of the Assembly as an inexcusable act of despotism . Crom well’ s treatmen t of the Assembly had nothing in common w ith that of the two Stuarts , and leaves no s tain o n his govern men t of Scotland , which from first to last, alike in matters civil, ecclesiastical, and juridical , was conspicuously 1 T h e rea son fo r th e adjournment to Dundee w a s th at th e ba ttle o f I n verkeith in g too k pla ce while th e As sembly w as sitting in St. Andrews ; a n d in Dun dee it would be more out o f th e w ay o f th e English a rmy . Se e B aillie’ s description o fth e scene , iii. p. 225.
Binning expressed the common feeling of his brethren, when he de clared , after the Commission broke up , that ‘ it would approve nothin g that wes right ; that a hypo crite ought n ot to reign over us ; that we ought to treat with Cromwell , and give him secu ritie n ot to trouble England with a kin g ; and who marred this treatie— the blood of the slain in this quarrel should be on their head . ’
J OH N S TO N O F W AR R IST O N 1 35
The formal rupture between the two parties took place at the General Assembly held firs t of all in St . Andrews an d then in D undee in July A ‘ Resolution ’ in support of the recom mendations of the Commission to abolish the Act of Classes was carried in th e Court, when the minority laid a protest on th e table and withdrew from the House . Warristo n bore the bru nt of the displeasure of the M inisterialists . They sought to get him excluded from the Committee of Estates ; and they accused him of acts of treachery to the national defence on the shallowest grounds .
When D undas , for example, surrendered Edinburgh Castle, they blamed him in the matter ; an d for n o better reas on than that he had been responsible for D undas ’ appoin tment as Governor .
In the country , and especially, as we have said , in the West, the Protesters outrivalled the Resolution ers in winning the s upport of the p eople . Th eir m in isters were for the most part distinguished by a quality which has never failed to win the hea rts of Scottish Christians ; they were men of u n ctio n ; they were fervent preachers of the doctrin es of 1 Cromwell’ s Letters, eta , iii . p. 1 80.
1 36 FAM O U S S C OT S fair . He i s his own best Vindi cator. Le t us hear him for himself. The speech I quote, th ough made in th e English Parliament, applies to his S cottish as well as hi s English administration ‘ O u r pra ctice hath been to let al l this nation see tha t whatever preten sions to religion would continue quiet, peaceable , they Should enj oy cons cien ce and liberty to themselves— and n o t to make religion a preten ce fo r arm s and blood. Truly we have suffered them and that cheerfu lly, s o to enj oy their liberties . Whatever is contrary and not peaceable, let th e preten ce b e n ever so spe cious , if i t tend to combinations to interests and factions , we shall not care by th e grace o f Go d, w lz o m we meet wi thal , though never s o specious , I f they b e not quiet . God give us heart and spirit to keep things equal . Which t ruly, I profess to you , hath been m y temper . I have had some “boxes on the ears ”and rebukes on the on e han d and on the other some censuring m e fo r Presbytery , others as an in le tte r to al l th e se cts and heresies o f th e nation . I have borne my reproach, but I have, through G od’ s mercy, n ot been unhappy 1n hindering any one religion to impose upon an other . It is the civil magistrates’ real endeavour to keep all professing C hristians in this relation to one another, n ot suffer ing any to say or do what will justly provoke th e other. I think h e that woul d have more liberty than this is not worthy o f any .
Cromwell ’ s act was j ustified by both parties in the Assembly itsel f. The Protes ters cam e to the m eeting resolved to challenge its lawfuln ess , and were glad when it was dissolved ; and in 1 656 the Resolutioners instru cted James Sharp, when he went to London as their agent, t o beg th e Protector not to call another Assembly while the Church remained in such a divided condition .
1 38 FA M O U S S C OT S neglected by all excep t the Remon strants, to whom he was guide . ’ 1 This di sm al picture, however, does not presen t the whole tru th in regard to the condition of Scotlan d under Cromwell’ s Government . If the authority of th e Throne was in abeyan ce, if the nobles were all prostrate , if the supreme court of the Church was closed, if all the national institu tions were upset, the country its elf prospered an d the people made no com plaint . N ever in her history was S cotland governed with such security to person an d property ; never was j ustice admi nistered m ore i mpartially in her law courts . Trade flourished an d m oney becam e more abundant . N 0 S cottish administration was ever so liberal to the un iversities as Cromwell’ s . 2 A S regards religion , Cromwell was the firs t ruler in our cou n try who proposed to give a Govern men t grant in aid of the work of evangelisation in the Highlan ds and Islands and while the state of vital religi on at th e time among the people m ay have been coloured by some of our Church historians, we have goo d grounds for believin g that in stead of being a period of declension in this respect, it was one of growth and revival . I t will have been observed that Baillie, in the passage we have just quoted , m akes a statement in regard to Warristo n which seriously reflects on his character. H e writes of him as having refunded much ‘ of w lza t lze go t fo r p la ces. ’ Warristo n had lost the Lord Clerk Registership with the fall o f the Scottish State : in that offi ce he had a great many subordin ate offices in his gift ; and the allegation is that he had accepted considerable sum s of m on ey from those on whom he had conferred them , an d afterwards —when he saw he was to be deprive d of the registership paid back the m oney through fear of exposure . The sam e charge is made by Scot of Sco tstarv it in his Staggeri ng Sta te of Seo ttis/ z Sta tesm en , with the additional detail that Sir John Gibson, Warristo n ’ s cousin , and M r . William Hay were two of those to whom places were sold, and that as 1 B a illie, iii. p . 249. 9 T h e T ower o f Ki ng’ s College, Aberdeen, w as erected in 1 658 a n d named afte r Cromwell .
J OH N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 1 39 they were both M alignants and disqualified by the Acts of Classes for any off ice under the Crown , the Offen ce was a d ouble one . If we had o nly the authority of a writer with so loose an d libellous a pen as S cot for the charge, we might dismiss it w ithout any consideration . Nor would we pay much heed to similar allegations made by others who were equally embittered against Warristo n . In a pam phlet printed in London in 1 657 , and entitled A Lyvely Clz a ra eter of So m e P r eten ding Gr a n dees of Sco tla n d to fl ee Goo d Old Ca u se, D igested in to E zglz t Qu eries, he is a ccused of having, after his reappointment to the Lord Clerk Registership (on his joining, as we Shall see he did j oin , Cromwell’ s Government), raised the charges for drawing out bonds, writs , and other legal d eeds, and used his office to make his own kitchen smoak well . ’ 1 B aillie ’ s repetition of the fa m a , however, cannot be lightly pass ed over, for, while it is only fair to Warristo n to take in to accou n t th e fact that his old frien d an d tutor, who was a strong Resolution er, had becom e cool to hi m owing to the powerful support he was giving to the Protesters , Baillie was too honourable a man to give circulation to such an imputation had he n ot though t there was som e good ground for it . There i s one Obvious diffi culty in th e way of accepting either his or Scot’ s version of the matter. If Warristo n was so poor at the time as both say, how did h e raise the m oney whi ch he reimbursed ? There we must leave the charge . If Warristo n was guilty of the peculation , i t is an instance , which is not uncommon , O f a man lapsing in the very virtue i n which he has sh own special strength . His whole career up to thi s time had b ee n singularly free from any m ercenary and sordid tain t . The weary controversy within th e Church grew the bitterer the longer it was continued . There were many effo rts to reunite the two parties, but they were fruitless . A pre po sal o n the part of the Protesters to set up , with the con curren ce of the English , a body of twenty-four ministers and Six elders — all members of their own party— as a Government for the Church greatly exasperated the Resolutioners an d widened the breach . Another proj ect of the Protesters of which 1 Se e Nicoll’ s D i a ry, p. 237 .
1 40 FAM O U S S COT S Warristo n an d Guthri e were the authors had the sam e effect. They proposed a new Covenant, omittin g all the articles in former covenants relatin g to the King and the Parliament, to the liberties of the realm an d the national de fence . The Resolutioners regarded this as a device to enable th eir rivals to lord it over themselves by help of the English. It was favoured by Monk, Cromwell’ s lieutenant-general, who was brought by it into intimate relations with its authors . There wa s evidently a growing approximation between their p arty and the ‘ Secta ries, ’ and B ailli e taunts the Protestin g ministers on the score th at they ‘ made no bones to pray wi th the English . ’ 1 I n the autumn Of 1 656 the negotiation s whi ch each party made to obta in the favour of th e Government in securing its own paramountcy were transferred to London . Up to this tim e neither had gai n ed any very decided advantage : at the most the Protesters had succeeded in ejecting on e or two Resolutioner ministers from their parishes and supplying their places with others of their own section of the Church . Latterly, however, through B ro ghill’ s adverse influence, and in spi te of Monk ’ s goodw ill, they had rather been losing ground at the head quarters of the Go vernment . B oth parties had b een invited more than on ce by Cromwell to send representa ~ tive s to arrange with himself a settlement of the con tro ve rsy , but they had hitherto declined : it was again st the grain of Scottish Churchmen to recognise the righ t o f th e Governme nt to interfere in the internal affairs of th e Church . At last, however, they yielded to the Pro te cto r’ s wishes . The settlement the Protesters were to seek was th e appointmen t of two Government Commissions On e for the administration of th e revenues of the Church i n accordance with the Acts of th e Assembly and the laws of the realm previous to th e spli t, the other for the purpose of ‘ plan ting and purging ’ the parishes and composin g differen ces i n the synods and presbyteries . They were to propose that th e first should be constituted by members chosen as the wisdom of the Government might decide, an d 1 Baillie, iii . p. 321 .
Four days afterthe date of Colville’ s letter, Baillie wrote to Sharp ‘ You see the en closed [Colville’ s letter] that his [Wa rristo n ’ s] profession t o me cons tantly Sin ce h e was a child and my s choller was o f so great friendship, an d that su ch past O ffi ces o funinterrupted kindness had all w a ye s past mutually betw ixt us . That I could never have thought that fo r any cause whatsoever he would have spoken o f me t o any living, mu ch less before th e Protector, words whi ch tended so ex ceedingly to my hu rt, without th e least signifi cation even to myselfdirectly or indire ctly that h e harboured any such thoughts o f me, surely if any other man ’ s rashness (fo r malice , I know n o man living that professes to have it, at me) h a d brought m e to any troubl e eith er fo r my words or deeds, I would have ad dressed myself to n one sooner than my Lord W a rristo n fo r his counsel and assistan ce as he may remember in h is l ate distresses I had been one o f his fastest friends . ’ On z rst M arch , Sharp replied from London as follows Ifthe Lord W a rristo n did mean you, I think h e hath d ealt inj uriously with you upon many a ccounts but h e did not name you then neither have I sin ce heard by any in this place that you were the man he aimed at . ’ We need not add another word to dispose of thi s calumny . Warristo n ’ s visit to London in the interests of the Pro testers w as destined to have an important influence on hi s own public career. B efore leaving Edin burgh on his mission he had expressed a fear that he might be offered pla ce under the Protector and tempted for the sake of the em oluments to accept it, as he was in p ecun ia ry straits an d had a large family to support. What he feared happen ed. D uring his visits to th e Court overtures were made to h im by Cromwell which resulted in his j oin in g his Government ; and he w as reappointed Lord Clerk Register in July 1 657 . It was not in Scotland , however, but in England an d at West minster that h e was h enceforth to take m ost part in publi c a ffairs . He was a member of every Adm inistration by whi ch the Com monwealth was governed from this time on to t he Restoration . When Cromwell, in the second session of his
1 4 2 FA M O U S S C OT S
J OH N S TO N O F W A R R I ST O N 1 43 last Parliam ent— 2oth January to 4th February 1 658— made the experiment of a second House, Warristo n was one of the sixty-three who constituted it . There were oth er two S cots in the number, viz . , the Earl of Cassilis an d Sir William Lockhart . The s ession only lasted for sixteen days , and the peers had nothing to do . It was very largely the Commons ’ jeal ousy o f the se cond House that caused th e breach b e tween them and Cromwell , and that led him to dissolve the Parliament so soon after i t had reas s embled . In Richard Cromwell’ s Parliament— 27 th Jan u a ryto 4 th February 1 659 Wa rristo n continued to sit among the Lords . When Ri chard Cromwell abdicated and an Administration formed by a coalition between the old Republican party and the Rump cam e into power, Warristo n , through the i n fluen ce o f Sir Harry Vane, became on e of the Non - Parliamentary members of the Executive, having as his colleagues, am ong others, Vane, Ludlow, Fleetwood , Lambert, Desborough, Whitlo ck e , Lord Fairfax, and John Bradshaw . H e was one of the m ost influential of the body, and took the chair alternately with Wh itlo ck e and Vane. The Administration continued in power for five months, and was succeeded by another formed by the Army or Wallingford H ouse party . The old Executive , h owever, was retai ned, its name b eing changed to ‘ the Committee of Publi c Safety . ’ It was reduced from thirty-one to twenty - three m embers , and Warristo n continued to hold a place in it . The Wallingford H ouse Governm ent was displaced by the return o f the Rump on ce m ore , 26th December 1 6 59 , when several of the m em bers of th e Executive were censured and condem n ed to ex clusi on from publi c life . Warristo n , though one of the m ost pro minent, somehow escaped this penalty . Before other two m on ths were over, Monk ’ s march on London put an end to the Commonwealth . We have seen the Singular disclosure Warristo n gave of his state of mind on the eve of his London mission . His con science was ill at ease ; he felt that he was about to expose hims elf to a temptation which would prove too strong . We Shall see that in his last h ours h e reproached himself for hi s compliance with Cro mwell, an d referred to
1 44 FAM O U S S C OTS his having Seriously blamed others for doing the same thing before him as an aggravation of his conduct . B ut for his own testimony we should never have suspected that his part in the service of th e Commonwealth was in any way uncongen ial to hi m ; he might have been as co nvinced a republican as any of his colleagues . And had he not taken bla me to himself for this part of his career, n o historian could have suggested it . Politically, he was much nearer Cromwell ’ s type O f republicanism than Charles’ type of m onarchy ; and in religion there was the closest sym pathy between Wa rristo n and the Protector . It was only on ecclesiastical matters they were divided : and it was Wa rristo n ’ s rigorous Presbyterianism that made his com j plian ce with Cromwell’ s Government weigh so heavily on his conscience . With his own confession before us, we cannot exonerate him from m oral fault. B ut had he only done what he did with a clear conscience , we should only have the more admired him for his adhesion to the Government of one who had purchased so good a right to rule Englan d and in whose hands the liberties of the United Kingdom were s o safe .
1 46 FA M O U S S COT S O n ro th October a writ of fugitation was issued against him . In the following year h e was tri ed i n his absence for treas on . The indictm ent in effect w as that he had b een ‘ airt and pairt ’ in all the sediti ous acts of the King’ s S cottish subj ects during the presen t a nd the previous reign that he had opposed the terms on which Char les was received in Scotland in 1 6 50 ; and that he had complied with Cromwell . He was condemned, his offi ces were declared vaca nt, an d his estates fo rfeited ; and the sentence of death was pron ounced against hi m . 1 Th e tria l and con dem n atio n were pro claimed at the Cross, 1 3th May when the heralds ‘ rave as under hi s airm s an d trampl ed them u nder their feet and k u ist [cast] a number o f tham e over the croce and affixt ane of thame upon the height o f the great stane to rem ai n there to the pu b lict view o f all the beholders . Thir airm s were cro ce d backward, his h ead bein g put do w nmost, an d his feet upmost . ’ 2 Warristo n , on leaving the country, fled to Hollan d, and thence to Germany . He spent most of his ti me of exile in the city of Hambu rg . While residing there he had an illness for which he was treated by a Dr. B ates, one of th e Court physicians, and it was s aid that he met with foul play at his hands . The specific allegation was that he was purposely over- bled to s uch an extent that his constitution was Shattered . In hi s speech on the s caffold Warristo n spoke of his memory having been ‘ m uch destroyed ’ by ‘ excessive drawing of blood, ’ am on g other causes, but made no imputation of the kin d we have men tio n e d. After s pending two years in Hollan d and Germ any he wen t incautiously to France, where he was join ed by his wife . Lady J ohnston had petitioned the King to gran t a pardon to her husband for the sake of their twelve children, but in supplicating Charles ’ pity Sh e had ‘ sought grace from a graceles s face ’ ; and when the petition was refus ed sh e resolved to share her husband ’ s exile, for at least a little while . The King, suspectin g that a Maj or John ston kn ew where th e two had appointed to meet on the Continent, 1 A cts of P a rlia m ent , vu . Appendix , 7— 1 1 . 3 N ico ll’ s D ia ry, p. 232.
J OH N ST O N O F W AR R IST O N 1 47 had him arrested and thrown into prison till he should inform . The Majo r, it was said, took fever through the treatm ent he received, and died of it . One of thos e base creatures whom Ch arles could always lay hands upon for the vilest servi ces - Alexander M urray, commonly called ‘ Crooked Murray — was employed as a d etective ; and by tracking Lady Johnston ’ s movements h e discovered Warristo n at Rouen . Murray, who ca rried in hi s hand a commission from Charles , and who had applied to the French king for a writ of extradition , entered the refugee’ s lodgings and seized him when he was at his devotion s . Warristo n w as brought across the Channel and consigned to the Tower in January 1 663. H e lay there for six months, his imprison ment bein g Shared and solaced through permission of the Government by hi s fourth daughter, Margaret, who was only a girl at the t i me . In the m onth of June he was brought down to Edinburgh to undergo the sentence pron oun ced against him in 1 66 1 . Parliament was sitting, and the Government was anxious to carry out the execution at a season so favourable for impressing the public mind with the terrors of the law, and emphasising the punishment of so notorious an enemy of the King. It was on 8th June that the p ri soner landed at Leith and in accordan ce with arrangements made at a meeting of the Council a few days before, he was made to walk to th e city, bareheaded, between guar d s ; an d confined in the Tolbooth . On 8th July h e was brought to th e bar of Parliament to have his senten ce confirmed . All who saw him were Shocked at the ch ange in hi s appearance and bearing. N o one in that House where fo r so many years he h ad been a leading figure had ever h ad cause to pi ty Warristo n before . A S he had risen to addres s it, he had compelled it to listen by his po werful reasoning and tren chant speech . Many a time had h e made the King and the courtiers cower under his invective . B ut n ow as he stood before the House so enfeebled that when he attempted to speak , he showed no flickering even of his native fire, there were few who were n ot touched with compassion , and it was left only to the bishops to insult hi m by the expression of their p leasure 1n his h u m 111a
While he lay in the Tolbooth awaiting his death , Warris ton ’ s relatives and friends were allowed to visit him . They found him in a calm frame, his greatest con cern being that he might have ‘ a gracious through-bearing, ’ and n ot faint in the hour of trial . ’ The nearer he d rew to his end, h e grew th e more tranquil . His frien d Kirkton visited him th e night before his execution , when he said to him , ‘ I dare never question my salvation . I ha ve so often seen God ’ s face in the hour of prayer . ’ That night h e ‘ slept very s weetly, ’ and when the m orning came it found him still peaceful, and he spoke with assurance of his being clothed in a long white robe before night . ’ ‘ Abba, Father !’ was his constant ejaculation . At two o ’ clock he was taken from pris on and conducted by his via do lorosa — it was only a few steps— to the M ercat Cross, where th e gallows— an unusually high one, to be in keepin g with the offen ces to be expiated upon it— was erected . A round the Cross were station ed the King’ s mounted guards, armed with carabines , and with their swords drawn ; and the city guard with their colours displayed . Wha t an irony there is in the life of man ! Warristo n ’ s town residence stood j ust on the opp o site sid e of the High Street from the Cross ; every day for many years he had looked u n co n ce m e dly on th e spot to which he was now led forth to so awful a death ; the p revio u s shadow of that dread morning had perhaps never once fallen on his sp iri t . On his way to the Cro ss he often turned to th e people and asked their prayers . When the scaffold was reached, h e begged th e crowd to quiet its elf and listen to his las t words ; and then he read in a clear voice his dying testimony, addressing it first to th ose assembled on the north side of the Cross , and then to thos e on the south side . When he had fin ished, he prayed with
1 48 FA M O U S S C OTS tion . Lauderdale behaved with characteristic baseness on this occasion, when his Old comrade in the Covenant stood waiting his sentence . A disposition havi ng been shown by m any to delay the execution , he rose— in accorda nce, as all knew, with the wishes of the King— to insist on its being carried out at once . Th e House gave way, and it was fixed for 2 2n d J u ly .
1 50 FA M O U S S C OT S Warristo n ’s body was laid in Greyfriars Churchyard . His head was struck o ff and hung up at the Neth erb o w beside Jam es Guthrie ’ s, but o n the intercession of a fri end at Cou rt, it was a fter a short while take n down an d buried wi th hi s other dust in the graveyard which, d uring the next quarter of a century, became the m os t sacred ground i n S cotland . Of the children of Warristo n who survived their father, we know of nine— two sons and seven daughters . With th e exception of the elder son , Alexander, they proved them selves worthy O f the nam e th ey b ore . Ale xander was bred as a lawyer, but made his living for a while by dealin g in Exchequer bills , and then found employment in the secret service of Kin g William ’ s Government . I n B rodie’ s D ia ry there is the following entry regarding hi m 1 67 1 , Nov . 1 7 th . I heard that Alexander, Warristo n ’ s son , had brok and through cheating, lying, wron g ways . M y brother and others had suffered mu ch by him . ’ The younger son , James — born 9th Septemb er 1 655, died 1 3th March 1 7 44— had a distinguished career. He was educated in Holland , and won great reputation , while studying at Utre cht, for his kn owledge of civil law . Through the influence of his cousin , Bish op B urn et, he obtain ed office under the Governm ent . He was Secretary o f State for Scotland from 1 69 2 to 1 696 ; and in 1 7 0 4—1 7 0 5 h e filled , like his father, th e O ffice of Lord Clerk Register. When he retired, he lived at Twickenham in quite a courtly way ; h e ha d often the Prime M inis ter, Sir Ro bert Walpole , as h is guest, and the King himself ( George s ometim es hon oured his table by his presence . H e had many of his father ’ s traits of chara cter. He had the sam e s in cerity and th e s ame hot and eager temper, and app aren tly, also, the same sa ngfr oid i n th e presence of Royalty, fo r it was said that h is mann ers were too free for th e taste at least O f on e of the soverei gn s h e served— William 111. On th e oth er han d, h e was a favouri te of Queen Caroline, who liked his humour an d pleasantry . In respect of these he was not his father ’ s son . The daugh ters of the family were, Eliza be th, who was
J OH N S T O N O F W A R R IST O N 1 51 married twice ; fi rst to Thomas , eldest son of her father’ s friend , Sir Adam H epburn of Hum bie , and next t o Gen eral William Drummond of C ro m lix, created Viscount Strath allan in 1 686 (seven years after her death) ; Rachel, who becam e the wife of Rob ert Baillie of Je rv isw o o d Helen, who married (in 1 659) George H om e of Graden , in the paris h of Earlston, B erwickshire Margaret, who was married twice, first to Sir J o hn Wemys s of B ogie, an d then to M r . B enjamin B ressey ; Janet, m arried to Si r Alexander Mackenzie of Coul another, whose name we do not know, who becam e the wife o f M r . Roderick M ackenzi e and Eu ph an , who died unmarried May 1 7 1 5. We have mentioned the fact that Helen Johnston , Lady Graden , attended Jervisw o o d when he s uffered th e p enalty of death on the char ge, utterly false, of his complicity in the Rye House Plot . For si x months before, h e lay a prisoner in the Tolbooth, pr ostrated with Sickness , an d durin g nearly the whole of that tim e Lady Graden shared his imprisonment, tendin g him with th e m os t Sisterly affection , and consoling him by th e reading of the Word o f God and her own devout conversation . On the day o f his trial ( 23rd De cember which lasted from ten o’ clo ck in th e foren oon to one o ’ clo ck next morn ing, sh e sat besid e him in th e dock . During the few hours that intervened between the sentence and its execution , Sh e contin ued with him i n the prison ; she followed him to the scaffold , an d strengthened him by whispered words of faith up to the last m om en t ; and when all was over sh e still remain ed till the last barbarous i ndignities , pres cribed by the sen ten ce, were done upon the co rpse— till it was cu t in coupons ’ an d thes e were o yle d and tarred —when she took th e limbs and wrapped them up in a linen cloth fo r brief burial i n th e ‘ thieves’ hole before they were distributed to the differen t public places wher e they were to be exposed . I s it th os e who endure such a d eath or th os e wh o convoy oth ers throu gh it, who most claim our pity and o ur admiration ? That Warristo n was th e father o f such a daughter— for i t was a spiritual as well as a natural paternity— i s surely an additional ground for honouring hi s m emory .
We have closed our sketch Of Wa rristo n ’ s career. We have little difli cu lty in getting behind the work of his life to its inward quality . H is character nee ds no elu ci dation . Among his contemporaries and allies there were men who were the opposite, whose chara cter was in a greater or less degree enigmati cal , whose conduct O ften perplexes us in seeking to come to a fai r j udg ment regarding them . Warristo n always bore his purpose
1 52 FA M O U S S C OT S Lady Graden an d her husband were both s ta unch Covenanters . I n 1 6 7 8 , Home was seized at Crookha m , a village on the B order, by a part y of English s oldiers who were i n search of Covenanters who had sought refuge i n Northumberland , and carried as a prisoner to Hume Castle . I n th e following year he fought at B othwell B ridge ; an d in the sam e year, in the month Of October, he died . From the Report of the Com mittee for Public Affairs presented to the Council on r o th S eptember 1 684 , we learn that Lady Graden was fined in over twenty -six thousand poun ds S cots for n onconformity, by Henry Ker, the Sheriff of Teviot dale . The fine was so excessive that it was apparently infl icted not m ere ly because of th e person al offence Sh e had given to the Government, but because s he was Warristo n ’ s daughter and Home’ s widow and Jervisw o o d’ s sister- in law ! M argaret J ohnston was her father’ s companion , as we have mentioned , while he was a prisoner in the Tower. In 1 67 4 Sh e was brought before the Council and imprison ed along wi th other Covenanting ladies for presenting a p eti tion for liberty to their m inisters t o conduct the wors hip o f their people in accordance with their own forms . The peti tion ers were brought u p before the Council a second time, an d banished from the city . Th e fa ct that so m an y of Warristo n ’ s children followed in his steps and suffered for the cause for whi ch h e gave hi s life is a great testimony to his sin cerity ; for if a man ’ s interior life be not in accordan ce with the lofty prin ciples which he professes , noth ing is more sure than that those who see him in his freest and mos t spontan eous m oments will b e cooled towards these p rinciples .
1 54 F AM O U S S C OT S Warristo n meant the same thing when he spoke in his last confession of the grace of God as engr a ven on his conscience and his heart . There was no one among all the reverend men in the Assembli es where he was so familiar a figure Of whose piety his brethren were m ore assured than the keen lawyer who sat in the Clerk’ s chair. Even at a time in Scotland when m en who habitually secluded them se lves for a portion of every day for the exercises of the spiritual life were not s carce, Warristo n was singular for the hours he passed in his closet with the door shut . He Spent more time in reading, m editation , and prayer than any man I ever knew, ’ was Kirkton’ s testimony . There were many stories current am ong his intimates of the extra ordinary length o f his private devotions and of his oblivious n ess at those times to all that was going on aroun d him . When Je rvisw o o d was on his way to the scaffold, as he passed Warristo n ’ s house he looked up to on e of the rooms and turning to Lady Graden , who accompanied him , said, ‘ Many a sweet day and night with God had your now glorified father in that chamber . ’ He needed many orisons— h e needed to be ‘ very sure of God ’ — to live the life he lived, and to die his death . And when we turn from these testim onies to the involuntary self- revelati on which like every m an h e gave in h is doings , we have, I think , the best confession of all that his life had its sources in th e convictions and inspiration s of the Christian Faith .
A CT S o f Classes, T h e , 1 16. A rgyle, join s th e Co venan t, 4 1 ; th e confiden tia l friend o f Wa r risto n, 48 ma de a marq uis, 82 has a tussle with Wa rris to n in Parliamen t , 82 ; mo ves th e A cts o f Classes in Pa rlia ment, 87 ; absen ts h imself from th e Ge n era l A ssembly to esca pe subscribing to a bond impose d by Parliament fo r th e su pfpo rt o fa w ar-levy, 1 1 5 ; h ea d o th e Remonstrants, 1 1 6 ; drown ed in debt, 1 37 ; brought to th e sca ffo ld, 145. A rn o t, Rach e l, grandmother o f Warristo n , 1 4 ; h er z ea l fo r Presbytery, 1 5. BAI LLI E, Robert, o f Jervisw o o d, so n -in -law o f Wa rristo n , 1 51 , 1 4. Ba il s lie , Robert , min ister o fKilw in an d afterwards Prin cipa l o f G lasgo w University, 16, 4 7 , 74 , 94 . 1 40. 14 1 . 1 4 2 : h is Letter s q uo ted, 19, 34 , 40 et passim . Balca n q uhal, De an o fDu1h am , 65. Ba lmeri no , Lo rd , 7 5. Berwick , T rea ty o f , 60. B inn ing, H ugh, 1 35. Burnet, B ish o p, n ephew o f Wa r riston , n oted, 1 5, 33, 4 1 . Burnet , o be rt, Lo rd Crimond, broth er -in -law o fWarristo n , 4 1 . CEREM ONI ES, T ile E nglislz Pop is/ z , o f Geo rge Gillespie pro claimed, 23. Charles rashness o f , in thrust in g inn ovatio ns on th e Sco ttish Chu rch, 1 9 conside ratio n shown to h im by th e Scottish pe o ple, 1 9 , 67 , 7 3, 1 18; orde rs th e pro secutio n o f th e auth ors o fth e riot at St. Giles, 2 1 ; his o b stin acy, 23 ; h is duplicity, 31 33 his h a tred o fth e Covenan t, 33 ; plans an in vasion o f Scot la nd, 46 ; his pa rt in th e negotiations a t Birks, 55- 58 reassures th e Sco ttish bish ops , 64 ; his violatio n o f th e T rea ty o f Berwick, 69 ; shie lds th e Scottish I n cendiaries , 7 5-81 h is sa crifices fo r th e bisho ps , 7 8 visits Sco tland, 80 ; is suspe cted o fintrigues with Mo ntro se a n d oth ers, an d o f instiga tin g th e Irish Rebellion, 83, 84 ; seeks to keep Scotland fro m j o in ing with th e English Pa rliamen t, 86 re pairs to th e Sco ttish a rmy a t N e w a rk, 105 co mpro mising letters a re foun d in h 1s carriage at Naseby , 105 fo ste rs j ea lo usy be tween th e Presbyterian s and th e I n de pe nden ts , 1 06 ; is handed o ve r to a co mmitte e o f th e En glish Pa rliamen t a n d taken to H o lmsby H o use , 1 10 se iz ed at H olmsby House by
I N D E !
1 56 Cornet Joyce an d taken to Newmarke t, 1 12 ; rem oved to H ampton Court , 1 1 3 ; flees to Carisbro o ke Castle, 1 1 3 make s th e se cret trea ty known as T h e Engagement ’ with Scottish Co mmissio ners, 1 1 3; his e x ecu tion , 1 1 7 . Cha rle s procla imed King by th e Scots , 1 1 8; a ccepts th e Covena nt, 1 1 8 a rrive s 1n Sco t land, 1 1 8; n o t a llowed to acco mpa n y th e arm y to Dunbar, 1 1 9 jubilatio n in Scotland a t h is Restora tion , 1 45 ; his v in di ctiv en e ss towa rds Warristo n , 145 ; refuses Lady John ston ’ s pe titio n fo r a pardo n fo r h e r husba nd , 1 46 . Chie sley, Sir J o hn, o f Kersw all, 1 1 91 14 5° Cla ren don , Lo rd, quoted, 20. Covenant , T h e Na tion al , passion roused by, 29 ; a ccount o f by a n Episco pa lian min ister, 28; a ccount o f by a pa rtisan o f th e Go vernmen t, 29. Cra ig, Eliz abeth, Warris to n , 1 6 . Craig, Sir T ho ma s, o f Riccarto n , grandfa ther o fWarristo n , 1 6 . Cromwell , re asons Of , fo r preferrin g Indepe n dency, 10 1 hi s re ce p tio n a t Edin burgh a fter th e battle o f Preston , 1 1 6 ; h is relucta nce to invade Sco tland , 1 1 9 ; h is correspondence with th e ministers o fEdin burgh, 1 23 tries to establish frien dlyrela tio n s with th e R emonstra n ts, 1 25 a t Gla sgo w, 1 26 ; diss o lves th e Genera l A ss embly, 1 36 cha r acter o f his government in Sco tla nd, 1 38 . Cu m bern a u ld B a n d, T h e , 83. mother o f DO UG LAS, Robert , minister in Edinburgh , 1 34 . I N D E ! Dun ba r, Ba ttle o f , 1 20. Duns Law , Scottish a rmy a t, 47 . ED I N B U R GH , Enthusiasm o f th e citiz e ns o f , fo r th e Co venant, 7 2. Erasti a ns, T h e , in Westminster A ssembly, 93. Five D issen ting B ret/lren , T h e , in Wes tminste r A ssembly, 101 . GI LLESP I E , George, 23, 94, 96 . Goo dwin, T h omas , 94 . H Gelen raden , Lady see Johnston . Guthrie, James, 1 19, 123, 1 24, 1 33, 1 50. H AMrLT ON, Fight a t, 1 26 . H amilton , Marq uis o f , King’ s Spe cia l Commi ssion er to Sco t l and, 30 ; his cha ra cter , 30 Lord H igh Commissioner a t Glasgow A sse mbly, 37 . H ay, Sir A lexa nder, o f Forester Sea t, fa th er -in -law o fWarristo n , 1 7 . H ay, Helen Morison, Lady John ston o fWarristo n , 1 7 , 1 1 5. H enderson , Alexander, frames th e N a tion al Covena nt along with Wa rris to n , 27 ; Modera tor o f Glasgow A ssembly, 38; a t Dun s Law , 4 1 , 51 , 54 ; Com missio ner a t Ripon , 7 5 moves Genera l A sse mbly to prepare a pla tform o f re ligi ous unifo rmity fo r th e two kingdoms , 85 ; frames first draft Of th e Solemn Leagu e an d Coven ant, 9 1 a t Westminster A ssembly, 94 , 96 . H e pburn, Adam, o f Humbie, Le tters o fWarris to n to, 76 . H ome, George, OfGraden , so n -in la w o fWa rristo n , 1 52. Ho pe, Sir T homas, King’ s Advo cate, 34 .
1 58 Committee o fPublic Safety, 1 43 reproaches himse lf fo r comply ing with Cromwell, 1 43 ; a wa rran t is issued fo r his a rrest, 145 ; h e escapes, 145 ; tried i n absen tia fo r treason , an d sentenced to dea th , 146 fl ees to H o lla nd an d thence to Germany, 1 46 ; goes in cautious ly to Fra nce, an d is a pprehended a t Rouen, 1 46 ; brought to Engla nd an d confined in th e T ower, 147 brought to Edinburgh an d co nfined 1n th e T olbooth, 1 47 his appearance a t th e b a r o f Parli ament to receive con firma tion o f his se n tence, 147 ; las t hours, 1 48 speech on th e scaffold, 149 , his children , 1 50, 1 51 ; h 1s character, 1 52. Joh nston , Helen, daughter o f Wa rris to n , married to George Home o f Graden, 1 51 acco m pan ics J e rv isw o o d to th e scafl o ld, 1 51 ; fined fo r non conformity, 1 52. Johnston , J ames , merchant, Edinburgh, fa ther o f War riston , 16 . Johnsto n , James, so n o fWarristo n , distinguished caree r o f , 1 50. Jo hn ston , Margaret, daughter o f Warris to n , with h er fath er in th e T ower, 1 51 ; impriso ned wi th other Covenanting la dies , 1 52. Johnston, Ra che l , sister o f Wa r ris ton , m a rried to Lo rd Cri mon d, 1 5 ; h er a ttachment to h e r brother’ s prin ciples , 1 5. John ston, Lord, o f An nandale, Le tters o fWarristo n to, 62. KER, Colonel , 1 24. LAN ARK , Earl o f , 87 , 1 1 3. La rger D ecla r atio n , T he King’ s, 65. I N DE! Laud, Archbishop, 18 , 46, 101 . Le slie, Alexander, Ea rl o f Leven, 44 . 46, 68. 82. 1 16. 1 26 Les lie, Da vid , General , 104 , 105, Le 1 1 6, 1 1 2 2 0, b I 23. yalslic, o in , a 10 e at Dun s Law , 53. pe g Long Parliament, 'sa tisfa ction o f Sco ttish Comm issioners with, 74~ Lo udoun, Earl o f , 34 , 54 , 67 , 7 6, 82, 86 , 96 , 1 1 3, 1 14, 1 15. Louis m m. o f France, Co venant ing . Leaders draft a letter to, ask 1ng his suppo rt , 68 . MA IT LAN D, Lo rd , afterwards Du ke o f Lauderdale, 96 , 1 1 3, 1 14 1 1 37 Marston Moor, Ba ttle o f , 104. Mauchline Moo r Ga thering, 1 1 8 . Milto n, 7 8 , 10 1 , 1 19. Mo n g ro se , 1 1 , 62, 83 , 89, 105, I I Murray, T he Croo ked, 147 . NASEBY, The ba ttle o f , 105. Nye. Phi l i p. 90. 94 SCOT T o fSco tstarvit, 1 38 . Selden, 94. O ’ N EI L, Le ader of the I rish Rebe llion, 84. PH I LI PHA U GH , T h e ba ttle o f , 105. Presbyterians, Intolerance o f th e , 10 1 , 102 ; th e ir policy in th e Civil Wa r, 104 . Protesters an d Reso lutioners chara cte rised, 131- 34 . Pym , 87 1 90° R I PO N . 73, 7 7 . R o llock, H enry, Minister in Edinburgh, 7 2. Roth es, Earl o f , 54, 68 , 76, 1 37 . Ruth erford, Samuel, 94, 133.
I N D E ! 1 59 Service Bo o k, Revolt against th e, Syde se rf , Bish op o fGalloway, 23, 2 1 . 4 1 . Sha rp, Archbish o p, 1 6, 1 4 1 , 1 o f th e Covenant, Cha racter o fth e , 44 , 45. Spo ttisw o o d, A rchbisho p, 4 1 64 . VAN E, Sir Henry, 90, 143. St. Giles , Rio t in , 18 . Strach a n , Colonel , 1 24 . WEST M I N ST ER ASSEMBLY , T h e , Straffo rd , 7 1 , 74 . ch . xiii . , 93. Swin to n, Sir John , 1 19. Wh iggamo re Ra id, 1 1 1 , 1 16. T h e 24 . Eai 'l o f , 23, 25, 62, 65, 75°