[391] I take this notice from Fuller’s Worthies ii. 225. On the Royalist side Newcastle was originally blamed (A. Trevor, in Carte’s Letters i. 58), then Byron, who actually suggested the attack on Cromwell (Rupert’s Diary). The Scots praise Lindsay, Eglinton, above all David Lesley. The Presbyterians defend Fairfax. Cromwell is however praised even by those who were not Independents, as the author of the victory.
[392] Préface aux negotiations de Sabran. ‘Le party contraire ayant Londres et les forces de mer en main, les Ecossais l’appuyant d’une forte armée, la nature ayant mis un obstacle près a tout secours étranger, le peuple ayant toujours estimé le parlement le contrepoids de l’autorité royale pour son propre bien, la hayne de l’un et de l’autre (peuple et parlement) étant égal contre le roy et la reine, il est malaisé d’attendre que de la main de Dieu le restablissement de l’autorité royale.’
CHAPTER IV.
PREPONDERANCE OF THE SCOTS. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ENGLISH ARMY.
The Scots, there is no doubt, had again contributed decisively to the change of fortune, and therefore a great influence on the course of affairs necessarily fell into their hands. Immediately after the arrival of the Scottish commissioners the Committee of the two kingdoms was established, a body which in fact expressed this relation. Loudon and Warriston had devised the scheme: it was first discussed and shaped in consultation with the younger Vane and Oliver St. John, and then brought before Parliament. The Committee was to direct its attention to the maintenance of a good understanding within the three kingdoms, as well as with foreign powers, and especially in all that related to the war in which they were engaged, not only to advise and consult, but to order and regulate[393]. These words excited vigorous opposition in the Lords: they were unwilling to commit the direction of affairs to a Committee which consisted partly of Scots, and which would deprive Parliament of the ultimate decision, and they also did not wish to place the Earl of Essex, who hitherto had maintained great independence in the command of his army, as was allowed to a general in those days, under the direction of a Committee. The Scots however insisted on their views in a forcible memorial, and were backed by the Lower House. For it was obvious that the war could not be carried on by the two A.D. 1644. nations in conformity with the single end in view, nor could their forces co-operate, unless they were under a single authority, which was impossible without a Committee of both nations. Nor could such a Committee be in its turn subject to Parliament: the Upper House was informed that unless it assented the war would have to be carried on without the two Houses of Parliament. After unusually active opposition, repeated divisions, and several conferences, the Lords gave way. The Committee was entrusted with the required full powers: it comprised seven Lords and fourteen of the Commons. We find Presbyterian names not only among the former, where they preponderated, but also among the latter. Manchester, Warwick, Essex, Northumberland, appear among the former, the two Vanes, Stapleton, St. John, Haslerig, Oliver Cromwell, among the latter. The resolutions were in general passed by a very small number of votes[394].
Among the papers of the interregnum preserved in the English archives is a collection of the resolutions of this Committee. They refer to the maintenance of communication between the armies, to the furnishing of supplies, to the conduct of the war itself, both in England and Ireland. Sometimes they are very precise and stringent. The commanders of the armies are instructed what troops they are to assemble, whether they are to oppose the King or Prince Rupert, in what direction they are to move.
The money requisite for the army was collected by another Committee, which sat in Goldsmiths’ Hall, and received its powers and instructions from the English Parliament. The chief source of income was the property of delinquents[395], for so they termed all who held to the King in opposition to the resolutions of Parliament: the property was sold, or the owners compelled to pay a composition, which at times was very considerable. The Earl of Thanet was condemned to pay a fine of £20,000, for having aided the King with his plate, A.D. 1644. and appeared in the field against the Parliament. The offence imputed to most of them is participation in the war in favour of the King; but some are condemned for having shown themselves to be enemies of Parliament and of good men, as the adherents of Parliament are termed. We know how nearly the Scots were concerned in these confiscations: when the treaty was concluded attention was expressly directed to the goods of papists, prelatists, and other malignants, as being the cause of all mischief[396].
The Lords opposed the Scottish interest in another affair also. They asked for a Committee of the two Houses to open peace negotiations with the King; the Scots maintained that not only no peace could be concluded without them, but no negotiations could be undertaken, the two nations being united for peace as well as for war. The Lower House was not so strong in favour of the Scots this time as formerly: the votes were equal, but the Speaker, Lenthall, gave his casting vote in favour of the Scots.
Thorough hostility between the Lords and the Scottish Commissioners was however not to be expected. Lord Holland,—who had once gone to the court at Oxford, but being unable to exert any influence there had returned to the Parliament,—and his friends among the nobility, desired nothing so much as a treaty with the King, which would secure them both ways. For already they clearly perceived what would happen to them if the Lower House persisted in its present course. They greatly desired the presence of the Scottish Commissioners, and the regard which must be paid to the Scottish Parliament, as a counterpoise to their opponents, by whom they were completely overmatched[397].
The Scots thus attained unlimited influence over the conduct of the war, the negotiations with the King, home and foreign affairs: nothing could be done without them, the A.D. 1644. Committee of the two kingdoms, in which they had a decisive voice, held the government in its hands.
They sought especially to strengthen and extend this power, because they desired, according to the terms of the union, to complete the Presbyterian system in England, and to establish uniformity.