[453] ‘That the King of Great Britain shall put himself into the Scots army, he shall be there received as their natural sovereign, and that he shall be with them in all freedom of his conscience and honour.’ Montereuil refers thereupon to ‘Les promesses que j’avois eu de leur part à Londres.’
[454] ‘To give me a noble and friendly assistance by arms.’ Charles to Henrietta Maria, April 6.
[455] Racconto della fuga del re d’Inghilterra d’Oxonia al campo scozzese, scritta da un cavaliere Inglese, Londra 17 Giugno 1646. Min. Rom. ‘Quando avesse trovato mezzo di trasferirsi incognito al luogo destinato, l’averebbe accolto in mezzo dell’ esercito.’
[456] Journals of Commons, 4 May. Rushworth vi. 267.
[457] Ashburnham Narrative: ‘They supposing that if H. Maj, could have come safe to London—they would have accepted him with much more moderation.’ Ashburnham himself does not seem to have been convinced of the reality of the combination.
[458] Hudson: ‘Where he was almost persuaded to come to London.’
[459] Private memorandum for Lord Balcarres, May 4, 1646. Appendix to Baillie ii. 514. Cp. Letter to Spang, May 15, ib. 370.
CHAPTER II.
CHARLES I AT NEWCASTLE.
Externally the Scots treated the King with all the respect due to his rank; but they allowed him no liberty whatever. On the march to Newcastle, which was made with the utmost haste—for they were always afraid of opposition from the Independent army—the King sought to ascertain how they were inclined towards him from an officer whom he trusted[460]. As this man was telling him that he must regard himself as a prisoner, Lesley gave him a proof of the fact by peremptorily interrupting the conversation. Only Montereuil, to whom it could not be refused, was allowed to see the King occasionally; otherwise no one was admitted. The sentinels posted round his quarters were ordered to keep good watch on the windows, that letters might not be thrown out unobserved and received below. The Scots wished to separate their King from all the world, and keep him exclusively under their own influence; for their main object was to induce him actually to make the concessions which were necessary to the consolidation of Presbyterianism in Scotland and in England.
As Charles I had already declared himself willing to receive instruction in Presbyterianism, an attempt was first of all made to convince him of the truth of that system. Alexander Henderson, whom the King already liked, was immediately despatched to Newcastle, to ‘heal the prince as a good physician of the predilection which he had for the Episcopalian system.’ This predilection however was in the A.D. 1646. King not merely a matter of feeling, but depended on conviction, grounded on theological study. It has always been a matter of wonder that the King was so well able, without extraneous help, to encounter the trained Presbyterian controversialist in the correspondence which was preferred to oral discussion[461].