A copy of that covenant was transmitted to the two houses of parliament at Westminster, where it was received without opposition; and after being subscribed by the lords, the commons, and an assembly of divines, it was ordered to be received by all who lived under their authority. The subscribers, besides engaging mutually to defend each other against all opponents, bound themselves to endeavour the extirpation of popery and prelacy, superstition, hersey, schism, and profaneness; to maintain the rights and privileges of parliament, and defend his majesty's person and authority; to discover and bring to justice all incendiaries and malignants; to humble themselves for their sins, amend their lives, and vie with each other in the great work of reformation22. The Scots were elated at the thought of being the happy instruments of extending, what they believed to be the only true religion, and of dissipating that profound darkness in which they supposed all other nations involved. The general assembly applauded the pious league, and every one was ordered by the convention of estates, to swear to the cove nant, under penalty of confiscation; besides what farther punishment it should please the parliament to inflict on the disobedient, as enemies of God, the king, and the kingdom !— Flaming with holy zeal, and determined that the sword 22. Whitlocke, p. 73. Rushworth, vol. vi. Clarendon, vol. iii. The subscribers to the covenant vowed also to preserve the reformed religion established in the church of Scotland; but, by the artifice of sir Henry Vane, no declaration more explicit was made with respect to England and Ireland, than that these kingdoms should be reformed according to the word of God, and the example of the purest churches. (Id. ibid.) The Scot tish zcalots, when prelacy was abolished, deemed these expressions quite free from ambiguity, considering their own mode of worship as the only one which corresponded in any degree te such a description. But Vane had pther views. That able politician, even while he employed his great talents in over-reaching the presbyterians, and secretly laughed at their simplicity as well as their fanaticism, had blindly devoted himself to wilder and more dangerous opinions, which he hoped to diffuse and establish. should should carry conviction to all refractory minds, the Scottish covenanters now prepared themselves with vigour for military service. An hundred thousand pounds, remitted from England, enabled them to complete their levies; and, having added to their other forces a body of troops which they had recalled from Ireland, they were soon ready to enter England with an army of twenty thousand men23. In order to secure himself against this gathering tempest which he foresaw it would be impossible to dispel, the king turned his eye toward Ireland. The English parliament, to whose care the suppression of the Irish rebellion was committed, had never taken any effectual measures for that purpose: yet the remaining protestants, who were now all become soldiers, joined with some new adventurers, under lord More, sir William St. Leger, sir Frederic Hamilton, and others, had in many rencounters put the catholics to flight, and returned in triumph to Dublin. The rebels had been obliged to raise the siege of Drogheda, in spite of their most vigorous efforts. The marquis of Ormond, then lord lieutenant, had obtained two complete victories over them, and had brought relief to all the forts that were besieged or blockaded in different parts of the kingdom. But the Irish catholics, in their wild rage against the British planters, having laid waste the whole cultivated part of the country, the victorious protestants were in want of the most common necessaries of life; and as the king had it not in his power to relieve them by sending money or provisions into Ireland, he resolved to embrace an expedient which would enable them to provide for their own support, and at the same time contribute to the advancement of his affairs in England. He accordingly gave orders to the lord-lieutenant and the chief justices, who were entirely in his interest, to conclude a truce, for one year, with the council of the rebels at Kil 23. Clarendon, vol. iii. kenny; kenny; and afterward to transport part of the protestant army over to England24. The parliament, whose business it was to find fault with every measure adopted by the king, did not let slip so fair an opportunity of reproaching him with favouring the Irish papists. They exclaimed loudly against the truce, affirming that England must justly dread the divine vengeance for tolerating antichristian idolatry, under pretence of civil contracts and political expediency25 And the forces brought from Ireland, though the cause of so much odium, were of but little service to the royal party. Being landed at Mostyne, in North Wales, and put under the command of lord Byron, they besieged and took the castle of Hawarden, Beeston, Acton, and Dedington-house but a stop was soon put to their career of glory. Elated with success, and entertaining the most profound contempt for the parliamentary forces, they sat down before Nemptwich, in the depth of winter. This was the only place that now adhered to the parliament in Cheshire or its neighbourhood. Its importance was well known, and consequently the necessity of attempting its relief. Sir Thomas Fairfax, alarmed at the proA. D. 1644.gress of the royalists in this quarter, accordingly JAN. 16. assembled in Yorkshire an army of four thousand men; and having joined sir William Brereton, suddenly attacked Byron's camp. The swelling of the river Wever by a thaw, had divided one part of the royal army from the other, and the whole was routed and dispersed 26. The invasion from Scotland, in favour of the parliament, was attended with more momentous consequences. The 24. Carte's Life of Ormond, vol. iii. Rushworth, vol. vi. Some Irish catholics came over with the protestants, and joined the royal army, where they continued the same cruelties and disorders to which they had been accustomed : (Whitlocke, p. 78.) and the parliament voted that no quarter, in any action, should ever be given to them. But prince Rupert, by severe retaliation, soon put a stop to this inhumanity. Rushworth, vol. vi, 26. Rushworth, ubi. sup. Scottish 25. Id. ibid. Scottish army, under the command of the earl of Leven, having summoned the town of Newcastle without effect, passed the Tyne, and faced the marquis of Newcastle, who lay at Durham, with an army of fourteen thousand men. The marquis did not decline the challenge; but before any action took place, he received intelligence of the return of sir Thomas Fairfax, with his victorious forces, from Cheshire. Afraid of being inclosed between two armies, he retreated to York; and Leven having joined lord Fairfax, they sat down before that city. The earl of Manchester arrived soon after with an accession of force; and York, though vigorously defended by the marquis of Newcastle, was so closely besieged by these combined armies, and reduced to such extremity, that the parliamentary generals flattered themselves with a speedy conquest. A siege of so much importance roused the spirit of prince Rupert. By exerting himself vigorously in Lancashire and Cheshire, he collected a considerable army; and being joined by sir Charles Lucas, who commanded New. castle's horse, he hastened to the relief of York with an army of twenty thousand men. The Scottish and parliamen tary generals, on his approach, immediately raised the siege, and drew up their forces on Marston-moor, where they proposed to give battle to the royalists. Prince Rupert entered the town by another quarter, and safely joined his forces to those of Newcastle, by interposing the river Ouse between him and the enemy. Having so successfully effected his purpose, the prince thought to have remained satisfied with his good fortune. The marquis was sensible of it, and endeavoured, by many arguments, to persuade him to decline a battle; but especially as the Scottish and English armies were at variance, and must soon separate of their own accord, while a few days would bring him a reinforcement of ten thousand men. That violent partizan, however, whose martial disposition was not sufficiently tempered with prudence, or softened by complaisance, treated this advice with contempt; and withou VOL. III. A 3 without deigning to consult Newcastle, who had long been the chief prop of the royal cause in the north, he imperiously issued orders for battle, and led out the army to Marstonmoor. The marquis refused to take any share in the command, but behaved gallantly as a volunteer. Fifty thousand British troops were, on this occasion, led to mutual slaughter. The numbers on each side were nearly equal, and victory continued long undecided. At length lieutenant-general Cromwell, who conducted the prime troops of the parliament, having broken the right wing of the royalists, led by prince Rupert, returned from the pursuit, and determined a contest, which before seemed doubtful. Sir Charles Lucas, who commanded the left wing of the royalists, and who had put the right wing of the parliamentary army to flight, being ignorant of the fortune of the day in other quarters, was surprised to see that he must again renew, with this determined leader, the combat for victory. Nor was Cromwell a little disappointed to find, that the battle was yet to be gained. The second engagement was no less furious than the first. All the hostile passions that can inflame civil or religious discord, were awakened in the breasts of the two parties; but, after the utmost efforts of courage by both, success turned wholly to the side of the parliament. The king's artillery was taken, and his army pushed off the field27. The loss of this battle was, in itself, a severe blow to the royal cause, and its consequences were still more fatal than could have been expected. The marquis of Newcastle, enraged to find all his successful labours rendered abortive by one act of temerity, and frightened at the prospect of renewing the desperate struggle, immediately left the kingdom in despair, and continued abroad till the restoration 28. Prince Rupert 27. Clarendon. vol. v. Rushworth, vol. vi. Whitlocke, p. 89. 28. This nobleman, who was considered as the ornament of the court, and of his order, had been engaged, contrary to the natural bent of his disposition, by a high sense of honour, and personal regard to his master, to take part in these military transactions. He disregarded the dangers of war, but |