Treaty with the Scotch.
1643, November.
The Covenant prepared in Scotland having been adopted in England, the two countries entered into a treaty on the 29th of November, 1643. The first of the Articles declared, that the Covenant now to be sworn throughout both kingdoms was "a most noble near tie and conjunction between them against the papist and prelatical faction, and for pursuance of the ends expressed in the said Covenant." The Scotch agreed to levy and send an army of 18,000 foot, 2,000 horse, and 1,000 dragoons, to be ready at some general rendezvous near the borders of England; and the English promised that the charges so incurred should be refunded when peace was settled, with Scotch consent. The money was to be raised out of the forfeited estates of papists, prelatists, malignants, and their adherents; and £100,000 was to be paid at Leith or Edinburgh with all convenient speed, half of the sum being conveyed at once by the bearers of the treaty.[371] English solicitude respecting this compact oozes out in the quaint old diurnals of that day. "The Covenant," say they, "will doubtless give more life to the preparations of their brethren, if they be not already on their march into this kingdom, which we have good grounds to surmise they be; but no letters as yet come to confirm the same." A communication from the north is joyfully quoted, to the effect that the artillery, ammunition, arms, and men were all in readiness; and it is added, "upon the first notice of your agreement in the Covenant and propositions, they will be setting forward without doubt."[372] On the 6th of September we read of a consultation about the Scotch Covenant, and the advance of moneys, and of letters sent to hasten forward their preparations. The northern rulers stipulated that the war should be carried on for the sake of the Covenant; and bleeding England, accepting help on such terms, and agreeing to pay expenses, the journalists waited eagerly for tidings of the advancing troops. Baillie, in his manse at Kilwinnin, writing a news-letter which would make some columns in the Times, informed his reverend dear cousin, Mr. William Spang, about a fortnight after the newspaper had circulated rumours of Scotch preparations, that so soon as the Covenant was signed by any considerable number in England, and a certain amount of money remitted to Scotland, he and his friends would turn to God by fasting and prayer, and promote the levy of 32,000 foot and 4,000 horse. This number far exceeded what had been stipulated for in the treaty; but no doubt the exaggeration was simply owing to the heated zeal of the honest news-writer. In the same quaint and lively pages, which, while they reflect passing events, also indicate what the Scotch thought of their own proceedings and of the condition of the English, we find Baillie saying, "Surely it was a great act of faith in God, and huge courage and unheard-of compassion, that moved our nation to hazard their own peace and venture their lives and all, for to save a people so irrecoverably ruined both in their own and in all the world's eyes." In December, writing from Worcester House, in the Strand—a mansion which had been fitted up by Parliament for the Commissioners with furniture taken out of the King's wardrobe—the same writer alludes to the undecisive conduct of the English war, adding, "they may tig tag on this way this twelvemonth. Yet if God send not in our army quickly, and give it not some notable success, this people are likely to faint; but it is the hope of all the godly, it is the confidence and public prayers of all the good ministers here, that God will honour the Scots to be their saviours." "All things are expected from God and the Scots."[373]
Treaty with the Scotch.
1643, November.
The articles of the treaty, together with these waifs and strays sifted out of early newspapers and old letters, enable us to comprehend how matters stood in relation to the Covenant. The Scotch contingents were to march across the border for ends set forth in that document: and the adoption of it in England was demanded before a single pikeman would cross the Tweed. The feeling of our neighbours, in short, had culminated to this point, that England resembled the man fallen among thieves, and that they themselves were playing the part of the good Samaritan. And so much of truth lay at the bottom of this assumption, that it must be admitted our fathers did most surely need the military assistance of their brethren; and that not without a sufficient consideration—partly religious and partly pecuniary, for the whole of which a careful stipulation was made—could the assistance be secured. Without charging the North with a huckstering policy, or representing the South as over-driven in the bargain; we must regard the taking of the Covenant, and the affording of the required supplies, as so much payment rendered for so much help. Nor does it seem at all less plain, that the army marched under the banner of the Covenant for the establishment of uniformity. The Assembly in Edinburgh, and the Parliament under its control, shewed as strong a zeal for a single form of religion as English Kings and English Bishops had ever done. The contrast between the duplicity of Charles and the honesty of Henderson—between the ritualism of Laud and the simple worship of Baillie—certainly ought to be recognized; but then, also, it must be admitted that all these persons had their hearts fixed on the establishment of one Church, one creed, and one service, without the toleration of a second; in other words, the enjoyment of full liberty for their own consciences, but not the bestowment of a shred for the conscience of any one besides. The Church of the Covenant is not specified by name, it is simply described as meant to be "according to the Word of God and the example of the best reformed churches;" but as we know the persons who drew up the instrument, what but Presbyterianism can be understood as the ecclesiastical system intended by these expressions?
