[1648-1654 A.D.] he promised that the League and Covenant, the Westminster confession, and entire Presbyterianism should be affirmed by a parliament with his approval, for three years at least, till a new form of worship could be agreed upon. The covenanters who agreed to this were called the "Engagers.' Meanwhile the English parliament was at odds with the army under Cromwell. The Engagers under Hamilton marching to relieve the English parliament were beaten by Cromwell at Preston, August 17th, 1648, and Hamilton made prisoner. This encouraged the faction of Argyll, opposed to the Engagers, to assume control and march on Edinburgh in the dash known as the Whiggamore Raid-a whiggamore, or whig, being a large horsewhip; from this word some historians have derived the party name of whig. The estates under the influence of the raiders annulled the Engagement, and by the Act of Classes removed all its partisans from office. Charles I was shortly afterwards executed in England, and Hamilton perished on the block soon after, March 9th, 1649. SCOTLAND RALLIES TO CHARLES II; THE COMMONWEALTH IN POWER The Presbyterians could not now, however, follow in the path of Cromwell, but proclaimed Charles II as king and sent a commission to him at the Hague in 1649, where they found Montrose in his retinue. He promised to maintain Presbyterianism, the Covenant, and the Confession of Faith in Scotland, but would not extend them to England and Ireland, which displeased the commission. Such a treaty was at last agreed upon, however, May 9th, 1650, and Charles II landed in Scotland June 23rd. Meanwhile the brilliant Montrose had taken up arms, but suffered capture and a cruel execution, as described in our history of England. Cromwell now invaded Scotland and, though nearly defeated by David Leslie, seized a brief opportunity at Dunbar and gained a complete victory, September 3rd, 1650. Charles, chafing under the strict regimen of the Presbyterians, absconded, but this so-called "Start" was such a fiasco that he returned and swallowed the most insulting allusions to his family, whereupon the crown was placed on his head by Argyll at Scone, January 1st, 1651. Under the stimulus of a proposed invasion of England the loyalist Engagers, now called the "Resolutioners," combined with the covenanters, though a faction of so-called "Remonstrants" or "Protestors" broke away from the alliance. From this split rose two parties-the established Presbyterian church and the seceders or dissenters, each of whom claimed to continue " the true church" through their long feuds. Cromwell defeated the coalesced armies, however, at Worcester, and Charles II, after wandering about in disguise, escaped to France.a Scotland offered more resistance; but Monk, whom Cromwell had left in command, stormed Dundee and terrified the other towns into submission. Although a nominal union was proclaimed, and Scotland was allowed members in the English parliament, it was really governed as a conquered country. In 1653 the general assembly was summarily dissolved by Colonel Cotterel. Next year Monk was sent by the protector to quell the royalist risings, under the earl of Glencairn and afterwards under Middleton, a soldier of fortune. Monk, as usual, carried out effectually the work he was sent to do. He also dispersed the general assembly, which made another attempt to sit. Strong forts were built at Leith, Ayr, Inverness, and Glasgow, and Monk with an army of ten thousand men garrisoned the country [1653-1660 A.D.] A council of state, containing only two Scottish members, was appointed, but matters of importance were referred to Cromwell and his English council. The administration of justice was committed to four English and three Scottish judges in place of the court of sessions, with the view of introducing English law. In the church the Presbyterian form of service and the system of presbyteries and synods were allowed to continue, but the stipends of ministers depended on their being approved by a commission appointed by Cromwell. Free trade and an improved postal system between the two countries were established. In all departments of government there was vigour and the spirit of reform, so that it was admitted even by opponents that the eight years of Cromwell's usurpation were a period of peace and prosperity. There was undoubtedly one exception. The taxation was severe. A land-tax of £10,000 a month, afterwards reduced to £6,000, and levied upon the value rent under a valuation of Charles, far exceeded any subsidy before granted to the crown. Customs and also excise duties, recently introduced from England, were diligently levied; so also were the rents of the crown and bishops' land. Altogether it was estimated that a revenue of £143,000 was collected in Scotland. But this had to be supplemented by an equal sum from England to meet an expenditure of £286,000. As nearly the whole was spent in Scotland, and the burden of taxation fell on the upper classes, the nation generally did not feel it so much as might have been expected. It was a maxim of Cromwell's policy to improve the condition of the commons, and in one of his last speeches he claimed in memorable words to have effected this in Scotland. In this respect the commonwealth and protectorate continued the political effect of the Reformation. The commonalty for the first time since the War of Independence acquired a consciousness of its existence and hope for the future. Cromwell, like former powerful rulers, aimed at uniting Scotland with England, but his proposals in this direction were premature. To Barebones' Parliament (1653), which met after the dissolution of the Long Parliament, five Scottish members were summoned, there being one hundred and thirty-four from England, Wales, and Ireland. By the Instrument of Government and an ordinance following it, Scotland was granted thirty, while England had four hundred members; but only twenty Scottish attended the parliament of 1654, and care was taken by Monk that they should be men attached to Cromwell's interest. When in his second parliament in 1656 he tried the experiment of a house of lords, three Scotsmen were summoned, the quota of members to the commons remaining as before. This, like his other parliaments, was speedily dissolved. On the death of the protector his son Richard was proclaimed his successor in Scotland as well as in England, and thirty members were again returned to the new parliament, which, however, was almost immediately afterwards dissolved. The Restoration soon followed, though in Scotland there was no need of it, for Charles II was already king. However beneficial the rule of Cromwell may be deemed, it had a fatal defect in the eyes of a people proud of their freedom. It was imposed and maintained by force. His death and the restoration of the ancient line of kings were looked on as a deliverance from oppression. ['Burnet'se words are famous: "There was good justice done, and vice was suppressed and punished; so that we always reckon those eight years of usurpation a time of great peace and prosperity." And there was a saying, "A man may ride all over Scotland with a switch in his hand and a hundred pounds in his pocket, which he could not have done these five hundred years."] [1660-1661 A.D.] THE RESTORATION; THE DRUNKEN PARLIAMENT The hopes of the Scots from Charles II were doomed to speedy disappointment. So far from being grateful for the support they had given him in adversity, he looked back with disgust, as his grandfather had done, on the time when he was under the yoke of the Presbyterian ministers. Cromwell had shown the possibility of governing Scotland by military force and of raising a considerable revenue from it; and Charles took advantage of both lessons. From this date rather than from the earlier or later union Scottish history assumes a provincial character; Scotland was governed without regard to its interest or wishes according to the royal pleasure or the advice of the nobles who for the time had the ear of the king. The power of the clergy had been broken by Cromwell's policy and their own divisions. The party of the Resolutioners or moderate Presbyterians, some of whom now leaned to Episcopacy, and the party of the Remonstrants were still irreconcilable, and their mutual hatred rendered the task of government easier. For the first two years after the Restoration the government of Scotland was in the hands of Middleton, who had been created an earl. The measures of retaliation were few but signal.d The parliament which met at Edinburgh on the 1st of January, 1661, has been honoured with the name of "the drunken parliament." Burnet says: "It was a mad, roaring time, full of extravagance; and no wonder it was so, when the men of affairs were almost perpetually drunk." In England, the passions of the cavaliers were less fierce, and were held more in subjection by the obvious danger of provoking another civil war. In Scotland, the dominant party had no thought beyond that of keeping its opponents under its feet. Argyll, as the great leader of the covenanters, was now to offer the satisfaction of his head for the fall of his rival, Montrose. Upon the restoration of Charles, Argyll had hastened to London to offer his homage to the king. He was arrested, and then sent to Scotland, to be brought to trial for his alleged offences. When questioned before the parliament he pleaded the amnesty of 1651, and the English government determined to admit the plea. He was then accused of having received a grant from Cromwell, of having aided the English invaders, and of having sat in Richard Cromwell's parliament, and voted for a bill which abjured the rights of the Stuarts to the crown. The fate of Argyll was sealed when a packet arrived from England, containing letters from him to Monk, inimical to the king and favourable to Cromwell. To produce such private letters against an old associate in the same cause was as base in Monk as it was infamous in the parliament to be moved by such treachery to Argyll's condemnation. He was sentenced to be beheaded within forty-eight hours. He accepted the fate with courage and resignation. At the same time Guthrie, a Presbyterian minister, violent and uncompromising in his opinions, was put to death as an example to the clergy. Early in 1661 parliament passed the act of supremacy, by which the king was made supreme in all matters, ecclesiastical as well as civil; and the oath of allegiance, by which the denial of that supremacy was visited with the penalties of high treason. In this way all for which the nation had been contending for years was prostrated by a single stroke, and an ample ground prepared for the persecutions which afterwards ensued. But even this headlong career was not fast enough for Middleton's parliament, as it was usually called, which generally transacted business after a debauch, and while their heads were still reeling with intoxication; and, tired of abrogating, one by [1661-1663 A.D.] one, the acts of former Scottish parliaments for the liberties of the church and the subject, they at last proceeded to sweep them away by wholesale. This was done by what was called the Rescissory Act, which decreed that all the proceedings devised and established for reformation, between the years 1638 and 1650, were rebellious and treasonable, including the Solemn League and Covenant itself, and the memorable Assembly of Glasgow in 1638, in which Episcopacy had been overthrown. Resolutions so mad and so despotic were the inevitable precursors of martyrdom, for they could only be confirmed by shedding the best blood of the country. In August, 1661, a letter from the king was received by the Scottish council, in which Charles, after denouncing the national Presbyterian polity as inconsistent with a monarchic government, thus briefly announced his sovereign purpose: "Wherefore we declare our firm resolution to interpose our royal authority for restoring the Church of Scotland to its right government by bishops, as it was before the late troubles." When the apostate, James Sharp, had sold his brethren and his church to their enemies, and been guerdoned with the archbishopric of St. Andrews, which made him primate of Scotland, it was easy to guess the nature of this "right government by bishops" and whether it would be worthy of the name." THE NEW CLERGY AND THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE OLD Sharp's example was followed by other ministers of the same party. But the majority and all the remonstrants stood firm; three hundred and fifty were deprived of their livings, each of which became a centre of disaffection towards the government, while their attachment to the Covenant was every day strengthened by persecution. The Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant were declared unlawful oaths, and all persons speaking or writing against the royal supremacy in matters ecclesiastical were incapacitated from office. Middleton had the immediate responsibility for these measures, and the condemnation and forfeiture of the new earl of Argyll, whose estates he coveted, under the old law against leasing-making increased the hatred with which he was regarded. His fall was due to an attempt to supplant his rival Lauderdale by the Act of Billeting, under which the Scottish parliament named by ballot twelve persons with Lauderdale at their head as incapable of holding public office. This and other acts were carried out without the previous consent of Charles; Lauderdale persuaded Charles that his personal authority was in danger, and Middleton was called to court and sent as governor to Tangier, where he soon after died. The earl of Rothes was now appointed commissioner, but the chief influence was in the hands of Lauderdale, who continued to act as Scottish secretary in London. The change in its rulers brought no relief to Scotland. To supply this unexpected and astounding blank with a new clergy, was now the difficulty of the bishops; and accordingly raw uneducated lads, and other characters still more unfit by their moral disqualifications, were thrust into the vacant charges. "They were the worst preachers I ever heard," is the candid confession of Burnet; "they were ignorant to a reproach, and many of them were openly vicious. They were a disgrace to their orders and the sacred function, and were, indeed, the dregs and refuse of the northern parts. Those of them who arose above contempt or scandal, were men of such violent tempers that they were as much hated as the others were despised." In the mean time the dispossessed clergy became more formidable in their |