concurred. The Covenanters now felt themselves strong, and the proceedings of the committees appointed by the Glasgow Assembly, touching the deposition of ministers, were approved, with a statement that those deposed merely for signing the bishops' declinature, or receiving the Liturgy, might be restored on their repentance and submission. The Assembly renewed the Covenant, and requested the Commissioner and the Privy Council to pass an act commanding every one in the nation to subscribe it. The council agreed to this, and passed the desired enactment. Thus, the Covenant was becoming an instrument of intolerance. On the 30th of August, the last day of the Assembly, the members presented a petition to the Royal Commissioner against a book entitled "Large Declaration Concerning the Late Tumults in Scotland," lately published in the King's name. They requested the King to recall this book, and to grant authority to summon and bring to Scotland all Scotsmen, who were known or suspected to have been concerned in its composition, especially Walter Balcanqual. The commissioner promised to place the petition before the King, and to report the result.33 The Assembly appointed its next meeting to be held at Aberdeen, in July, 1640.

Parliament met on the day after the Assembly rose, but it accomplished very little. Bills concerning the abolition of Episcopacy passed the Lords of the Articles, but they were not brought up for the sanction of the house. Time passed, and messages went between the Royal Commissioner and the King. At length Parliament was prorogued to the 14th of November, and then till the 2nd of June, 1640, and nothing was settled. The Covenanters thought that the King was trifling with the important matters in dispute, and thus the causes of dissension were continued and intensified.

33 Peterkin's Records. The book which gave so much offence to the Assembly is the one often referred to in the notes of the preceding pages of this volumeLarge Declaration: it is well known to all students of our history, and it contains valuable historical papers and documents about the troubles in Scotland; though, of course, it contains many remarks and reflections which were extremely offensive to the Covenanters.

Charles had again resolved to chastise the rebellious Scots, and summoned his English Parliament, which met in April, 1640. A majority of this Parliament refused to grant supplies till they had obtained the redress of their grievances, and rather than submit, the King dissolved Parliament in anger, after a session of three weeks. Charles now decided to raise money and an army by other modes-such as benevolences, forced loans, commission of array, or in any other way by which he could get a force mustered to fight against the Scots. But difficulties were fast thickening around him, and when the 2nd of June came, he sent a commissioner to again prorogue the Scottish Parliament. In carrying this out, however, a formal mistake was made, which the members of the Estates instantly seized upon, and proceeded to business. They enacted that henceforward the nobles, the barons, and the burgesses should be considered as constituting the three Estates of the kingdom, and all former acts permitting churchmen to sit and vote in Parliament were repealed. The acts of the last General Assembly were ratified, and it was commanded that all His Majesty's subjects should sign the Covenant. It was also enacted that a Parliament should meet every three years, and before separating they appointed a permanent committee of the Estates, to act when Parliament was not sitting.34

The General Assembly met at Aberdeen in the end of July, 1640; but no commissioner appeared to represent the King. The Aberdeen doctors and several other northern ministers were tried before the Assembly, and some of them deposed from the ministry. Acts were passed against the revilers of the Covenant; against witches and charmers; and for abolishing the monuments of idolatry. The Assembly had also under consideration the practice of private meetings, but there was a

34 Acts Parl. Scot., Vol. V., pp. 288-292, 299-203. This parliament condemned the King's Large Declaration, "as full of untruths and lies, derogatory to his Majesty's honour and to his loyal subjects," and they ordered the authors of it to be punished, according to the laws of the kingdom. P. 302.

difference of opinion on this point among the members. Ultimately an act was passed for the regulation of family worship, by which private meetings, if held at improper hours, or composed of more than one family, were forbidden.35

But the Covenanters did not trust altogether to the acts of the Assembly and of Parliament to secure their rights and their ends. Throughout the spring and summer they had been actively engaged in organising their army; and had even sought to strengthen themselves by soliciting the assistance of France. In the north the war was already begun against all the enemies of the Covenant. A large army under Leslie moved from Edinburgh towards the south, and on the 21st of August, 1640, crossed the Tweed. As soon as they entered England, they published a manifesto justifying the expedition. The covenanted army then advanced and forced the passage of the Tyne; and on the 30th, took possession of Newcastle. The King lay encamped at York with an army of 18,000 men. The Scots now petitioned the King to listen to their grievances and their wrongs, and with the concurrence of the English Parliament to settle a lasting peace.

About this time, a number of the English nobles petitioned the King to summon a Parliament, and his difficulties daily increased. He offered to negotiate with the Scots, and summoned the English Parliament to meet at Westminster, on the 3rd of November, 1640; this assemblage was afterwards known as the Long Parliament. Within a few weeks after it met,

Stafford was impeached.

Parties appointed by the King and by the Covenanters met at Ripon, and agreed that the Scottish army should remain inactive at Newcastle; for this they were to receive eight hundred pounds a-day. Thus matters remained for some time, when the place of negotiating was transferred to London. The Scottish commissioners and the ministers who accompanied them, then took an active interest in the policy of the English

35 Peterkin's Records; Baillie's Letters and Journals, Vol. I., pp. 248-255.

Parliamentary party. After long treating, terms of peace were agreed upon, and ratified in August, 1641. The main points of the agreement were that the Castle of Edinburgh and other fortresses should be restored and used for the defence of the kingdom, with the advice of Parliament; that the King should not appoint men to office who had been declared disqualified by Parliament. "And whereas unity in religion and uniformity in Church government has been desired by the Scots, as a special means of preserving peace between the two kingdoms, his Majesty, with the advice of both Houses of Parliament, does approve of the affection of his subjects of Scotland, in their desire of having conformity of Church government between the two nations; and as the Parliament has already taken into consideration the reformation of Church government, so they proceed therein in due time as shall best conduce to the glory of God, the peace of the Church, and the good of both kingdoms." "36 At this time, the King wished to please the Scots, and make them contented, and thus to separate their cause from that of the English. To promote this end, he resolved to visit Scotland, and arrived in Edinburgh in the middle of August, 1641.

The Estates had been sitting in Edinburgh since the middle of July and the King attended a meeting of the House on the 18th of August, and delivered a speech. He spoke of the differences which had arisen between him and his subjects, and of his anxiety to settle them; of his love to his native country, which had caused him to face and to overcome many difficulties in order to be there at that time. He referred to the royal power which had descended to him through one hundred and eighty descents, which they had so often professed to maintain. In short, he said, "the end of my coming is to perfect all that I have promised; and withal to quiet those distractions which have, and may fall out amongst you; and this I am resolved

36 Baillie's Letters and Journals, Vol. I., p. 263; Acts Parl. Scot., Vol. V., p. 341 et seq., pp. 371-382.

fully and cheerfully to do; for I can do nothing with more cheerfulness than to give my people content and a general satisfaction " 37

Parliament sat long, and occupied itself with many things. It passed three hundred and nine acts, which touched upon many points of a personal and social character, as well as political and religious matters. It enacted that no one should sit in Parliament till he gave in his adherence to the Covenant. The acts of the Parliament of June, 1640, were ratified, and received the royal assent; the prerogatives of the Crown were diminished; and in several points, the constitution of Parliament itself was changed. The King himself seems to have thought that he would be able to manage the English, if he could only pacify the Scots; on the 18th of November. his English subjects was daily widening. His interference with the freedom of the members of Parliament aroused intense excitement, and he found the city of London an unsafe place for him. Accordingly, he removed his court thence to York in

the spring of 1642.38

and he left Edinburgh for England But the breach between him and

The Covenanters might now have been satisfied, as they had got all that they demanded; but other views and aims had entered into their minds, and they desired to give their principles a wider range of application, so that when the opportunity of this presented itself, it was natural for them to embrace it. While England was entering on the struggle of civil war, the Parliament and the King's party each preparing for the contest, it was impossible for the Scots to remain passive observers of this momentous conflict.39

37 Balfour's Annals, Vol. III., pp. 40-41; Acts Parl. Scot., Vol. V., p. 362 et seq.

38 Acts Parl. Scot., Vol. V., pp. 338-660.

39 Carlyle, in his Letters and Speeches of Cromwell, gives a vivid sketch of the proceedings of the King at this time. "January 10, 1642, the King and his court quit Whitehall, the five members and parliament proposing to return to