At the time now referred to, the King intimated that he was ready to give answers to the propositions formerly sent him to Newcastle; and, on the 18th, of May, his Majesty’s answers were communicated to both Houses. These were, in substance, that he desired to go to London, and was willing to settle the Presbyterian polity in England for three years; that he would ratify Westminster Assembly, provided some clergy, to be named by him, were added to it, in order to deliberate on the form of church-government that should be established after the lapse of these three years, and provided that he and his household should be free to adhere to the old form and use the Book of Common Prayer; that he would relinquish the command of the militia for ten years, to return to the Crown at the end of that time, &c. The House of Peers, on reading this letter, referred it to a committee, and the Commons agreed to take it into consideration some days after. On the same day, letters from the Commissioners to the army were received, setting forth the great weight and importance of their negotiations. On these, the Commons passed a resolution, that all the forces in the kingdom that would not go to Ireland should be disbanded, and remitted to the Committee at Derby House to consider of the time and manner of disbanding; and one or two of the Commissioners were ordered up to give an account of their proceedings. Next day was wholly spent in debating on the Confession of Faith, and the debate adjourned.

On the 20th, another petition to the Commons, as “the supreem authority,” was discussed and rebuked; and the Lords took into consideration that part of the King’s letter which referred to his going to London. After debate, it was agreed that he should go to Oatlands—the Commons concurring. The Provincial Assembly met in the Convocation House of St Paul’s. Next day an indemnity bill was passed, in both Houses, in favour of all who had acted under the orders of Parliament during the troubles. The army Commissioners reported to the House, and accounts were received, that all the troops had returned to their quarters, and discipline was again restored, under Fairfax, at Walden. At this crisis, a letter in ciphers, from Ashburnham to the King, was intercepted: it recommended to the King not to make an absolute agreement with the Parliament, as, peace being restored betwixt Spain and Holland, he might depend on a large auxiliary force from the former.

On the 25th of May, the Committee of Commons made their report as to the mode of disbanding the army on the 3d and 5th of June, at different stations; but these being promulgated, tidings arrived, on the 28th, that the troops were dissatisfied with the arrears proposed to be given them. In a council of war, on the 29th, which was called by Fairfax on this subject, it was voted, by about 200 officers, (six only being satisfied,) that the rate of payment was unsatisfactory as to the soldiers: and among the reasons stated for this conclusion, it was intimated that the soldiers would rendezvous without their officers, and tumults and plunder would ensue. This was rendered certain by a petition to the General, signed by the “Agitators, in behalf of the several Regiments,” claiming a redress of their grievances, which daily increased, and remonstrating against any disjunction of the army before being satisfied and disbanded. This was followed by letters from the General to both Houses, dated the 30th of May, and received on the 1st of June, intimating that the dissatisfaction was rather aggravated than lessened, and that he was “forced to yield to something out of order, to keep the army from disorder.” Quailing before the rising storm, the Houses of Parliament hastily resolved that the common soldiers should get the whole of their arrears, instead of a moiety, and ordered a former declaration against the army to be erased from the journals of both Houses; but, by this time, several corps were on their march, concentrating, not only without but against the orders of their officers.

It were a tedious, though not perhaps an uninstructive task, to trace all the turnings and windings of the negotiations which ensued betwixt the English Parliament and the army at this critical period; but it would be unsuitable in this sketch. It may be sufficient, therefore, merely to state that, on the 4th of June, a party of the troopers, under the command of Joyce, a cornet of dragoons, seized the King’s person; that, subsequently, the demands of the army became more bold and extensive; that, instead of being confined to demands for payment of arrears, &c., they adopted the language and the principles of the Parliament itself; and, in the assumed character of citizens and patriots, they insisted on certain high points of national policy, which are competent only to the supreme legislature of a country, dictating, in terms the most imperative, the conditions on which Parliament should be constituted, and the constitution modelled; and, in short, assuming the complete control of national affairs, and superseding both King and Parliament. To complete the humiliation of Parliament, both Houses were beset by a rabble of the London apprentices on the 26th of July, and literally dissolved and dispersed by the mob. In order to enforce their pretensions and demands, the army advanced gradually, during the progress of the negotiations, towards the metropolis, and finally encamped at Hounslow Heath, in the immediate vicinity of London, in the beginning of August, 1647, to the number of 20,000 men, in a high state of appointment and unity. For some time, the Houses of Parliament made a shew of resistance, and prepared to oppose any approach of the army to London, by calling out the city militia and trained bands; but, as the danger advanced, and tumults grew around them, their courage gradually abated. Several members who were obnoxious to the mutineers, were obliged, in compliance with the peremptory demand that the House should be “purged,” to retire from the Commons; and, finally, all attempts at resistance were abandoned, and many of the members fled or took refuge in the army, with a weakness and pusillanimity which is only to be paralleled in the previous arrogance displayed by themselves in all their encroachments on the prerogatives of the monarchy. Without, however, dwelling longer on this topic, or enumerating any of the particulars which characterised the movements in England, we proceed to bring under the reader’s notice the Acts of the General Assembly in Scotland, which met on the 4th of August, 1647. The same day, the English army entered the city of London without the slightest resistance; thus assuming a supreme and commanding power over the nation.

THE PRINCIPALL ACTS
OF THE GENERALL ASSEMBLY MET AT EDINBURGH,
August 4, 1647.

August 16, 1647. Post Meridiem. Sess. II.
Act allowing the half of the Ministers in the Presbyterie of Zetland only, with their Ruling Elders, to keep the Provinciall Assembly.

THE Generall Assembly, Understanding that the whole Members of the Presbyterie of Zetland, adjoyned to the Provinciall of Caithnes and Sutherland upon weighty considerations by the preceeding Assembly, cannot be present at the meetings of that Provinciall, without great prejudice to the particular Congregations within that Presbyterie, and many other inconveniences; That Isle being of great distance from Land, and the passage from and to the same being uncertaine and dangerous: Doe therefore Declare and Ordaine, That the whole Ministers and Elders of the Presbyterie of Zetland, shall not be tyed hereafter to come to the meetings of their said Provinciall; But that the half of the number of the Ministers with their Ruling Elders, shall be onely oblieged to keep the meetings of the said Provinciall Assembly in time coming.