These conditions, so flattering to popular prejudice and the prevailing ideas of the times, appear to have been proposed only because Argyle thought they would be rejected by the youthful monarch, surrounded as he then was by counsellors to whom these terms would be particularly obnoxious. To carry these propositions to Charles II., then at the Hague, seven commissioners from the parliament and kirk were appointed, who set sail from Kirkcaldy roads on the 17th of March,[383] arriving at the Hague on the 26th. His court, which at first consisted of the few persons whom his father had placed about him, had been lately increased by the arrival of the Earl of Lanark, now become, by the death of his brother, Duke of Hamilton, the Earls of Lauderdale and Callander, the heads of the Engagers; and by the subsequent addition of Montrose, Kinnoul, and Seaforth. The following graphic sketch is given by Dr. Wishart of the appearance and reception of the commissioners:—“When these commissioners, or deputies from the Estates were admitted to their first audience of the king, their solemn gait, their grave dress, and dejected countenances, had all the appearance imaginable of humility; and many who were not acquainted with the temper and practices of the men, from thence concluded that they were about to implore of his majesty a general oblivion and pardon for what was past, and to promise a perfect obedience and submission in time coming; and that they were ready to yield every thing that was just and reasonable, and would be sincere in all their proposals of peace and accommodation. They acted in a double capacity, and had instructions both from the Estates and from the commission of the kirk, in both of which the Earl of Cassilis was the chief person, not only in what they were charged with from the Estates, as being a nobleman, but also from the commission of the kirk, of which he was a ruling elder. Their address to the king was introduced with abundance of deep sighs and heavy groans, as if they had been labouring, as Virgil says of the Sibyl, to shake the ponderous load from off their breasts, after which they at last exhibited their papers, containing the ordinances of the Estates, and acts of the commission of the kirk, and pretended that the terms demanded in them were moderate, just, and reasonable, and absolutely necessary for settling the present confusions, and restoring the king; with which, if he complied, he would be immediately settled upon his father’s throne by the unanimous consent of the people.”[384]
The king, after vainly endeavouring to induce the commissioners to modify the conditions to which his acceptance was required, and to declare publicly their opinions of the murder of his father, to which they had made no allusion, declined to agree to the terms proposed. He at the same time stated, that as he had been already proclaimed king of Scotland by the Committee of Estates, it was their duty to obey him, and that he should expect the Committee of Estates, the assembly of the kirk, and the nation at large, to perform their duty to him, humbly obeying, maintaining, and defending him as their lawful sovereign.[385] The commissioners having got their answer on the 19th of May, returned to Scotland, and Charles went to St. Germain in France, to visit Queen Henrietta Maria, his mother, before going to Ireland, whither he had been invited by the Marquis of Ormond to join the royalist army.
During the captivity of Charles I., Montrose used every exertion at the court of France to raise money and men to enable him to make a descent upon the coast of England or Scotland, to rescue his sovereign from confinement; but his endeavours proving ineffectual, he entered into the service of the Emperor of Germany, who honoured him with especial marks of his esteem. He had been lately residing at Brussels engaged in the affairs of the emperor, where he received letters from the Prince of Wales, then at the Hague, requiring his attendance to consult on the state of his father’s affairs; but before he set out for the Hague, he received the news of the death of Charles I. He was so overwhelmed with grief at this intelligence, that according to Bishop Wishart, who was an eye-witness, he fainted and fell down in the midst of his attendants, and appeared for some time as if quite dead. When he had sufficiently recovered to give full vent to his feelings, he expressed a desire to die with his sovereign, as he could no longer enjoy, as he said, a life which had now become a grievous and heavy burden. But on Wishart remonstrating with him upon the impropriety of entertaining such a sentiment, and informing him that he should be rather more desirous of life that he might avenge the death of his royal master, and place his son and lawful successor upon the throne of his ancestors, Montrose replied with composure, that in that view he should be satisfied to live; “but,” continued he, “I swear before God, angels, and men, that I will dedicate the remainder of my life to the avenging the death of the royal martyr, and re-establishing his son upon his father’s throne.”
On arriving at the Hague, Montrose was received by Charles II. with marked distinction. After some consultation, a descent upon Scotland was resolved upon, and Montrose, thereupon, received a commission, appointing him Lieutenant-governor of Scotland, and commander-in-chief of all the forces there both by sea and land. The king also appointed him his ambassador to the emperor, the princes of Germany, the King of Denmark, and other friendly sovereigns, to solicit supplies of money and warlike stores, to enable him to commence the war. Thus, before the commissioners had arrived, the king had made up his mind as to the course he should pursue, and being backed by the opinion of a man of such an ardent temperament as Montrose, the result of the communing between the king and the commissioners was as might have been expected.
Connected probably with Montrose’s plan of a descent, a rising took place in the north under Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine, brother of the Earl of Seaforth, Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, Colonel John Munro of Lumlair, and Colonel Hugh Fraser, who, at the head of a number of their friends and followers, entered the town of Inverness, on the 22d of February, expelled the troops from the garrison, and demolished and razed the walls and fortifications of the town. The pretext put forward by Mackenzie and his friends was, that the parliament had sent private commissioners to apprehend them; but the fact appears to be, that this insurrection had taken place at the instigation of the king, between whom and Pluscardine a correspondence had been previously opened.[386] General David Leslie was sent to the north with a force to suppress the insurgents, who, on his approach, fled to the mountains of Ross; but he was soon obliged to retrace his steps, in consequence of a rising in Athole under the direction of Lord Ogilvie, General Middleton, and others, in favour of the king. Leslie had previously made terms with Urquhart, Munro, and Fraser, but as Mackenzie would not listen to any accommodation, he left behind him a garrison in the castle of Chanonry, and also three troops of horse in Moray under the charge of Colonel Gilbert Ker, and Lieutenant-colonels Hacket and Strachan, to watch Pluscardine’s motions. But this force was quite insufficient to resist Pluscardine, who, on the departure of Leslie, descended from the mountains and attacked the castle of Chanonry, which he re-took. He was thereupon joined by his nephew, Lord Reay, at the head of 300 well-armed able-bodied men, which increased his force to between 800 and 900.
Having suppressed the rising in Athole, Leslie was again sent north by the parliament, accompanied by the Earl of Sutherland; but he had not proceeded far, when he ascertained that Mackenzie had been induced by Lord Ogilvie and General Middleton, who had lately joined him, to advance southward into Badenoch, with the view of raising the people in that and the neighbouring districts, and that they had been there joined by the young Marquis of Huntly, formerly Lord Lewis Gordon, and had taken the castle of Ruthven. Leslie thereupon divided his army, with one part of which he himself entered Badenoch, while he despatched the Earl of Sutherland to the north to collect forces in Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, with another part, consisting of five troops of horse, under the command of Ker, Hacket, and Strachan. To hinder the royalists from retiring into Athole, Leslie marched southward towards Glenesk, by which movement he compelled them to leave Badenoch and to march down Spey-side towards Balveny. On arriving at Balveny, they resolved to enter into a negotiation with Leslie, and accordingly Pluscardine and Middleton left Balveny with a troop of horse to meet Leslie, leaving Huntly, Reay, and Ogilvie, in charge of the forces, the former of whom sent his brother Lord Charles Gordon to the Enzie, to raise some horse.
While waiting for the return of Pluscardine and Middleton, the party at Balveny had not the slightest idea that they might be taken by surprise; but on the 8th of May at day-break, they were most unexpectedly attacked by the horse which had been sent north with the Earl of Sutherland, and which, returning from Ross, had speedily crossed the Spey. Seizing the royalist sentinels, they surprised Lord Reay at the castle of Balveny, where he and about 900 foot were taken prisoners and about 80 killed. Huntly and Ogilvie, who had their quarters at the church of Mortlach, about a mile from Balveny castle, escaped. Colonel Ker at once dismissed all the prisoners to their own homes on giving their oaths not to take up arms against the parliament in time coming. He sent Lord Reay along with some of his kinsmen and friends and Mackenzie of Redcastle and other prisoners of his surname to Edinburgh; all of whom were imprisoned. Huntly, Ogilvie, Pluscardine, and Middleton, on giving security to keep the peace, were forgiven by Leslie and returned to their homes. Colonel Ker afterwards returned to Ross, took Redcastle, which he demolished, and hanged the persons who had defended it. Thus ended this premature insurrection which, had it been delayed till the arrival of Montrose, might have been attended with a very different result.[387]
The projected descent by Montrose upon Scotland, was considered by many persons as a desperate measure, which none but those quite reckless of consequences would attempt; but there were others, chiefly among the ultra-royalists, who viewed the affair in a different light, and who, although they considered the enterprise as one not without considerable risk, anticipated its success. Such, at least, were the sentiments of some of the king’s friends before the insurrection under Mackenzie of Pluscardine had been crushed; but it is very probable that these were greatly altered after its suppression. The failure of Pluscardine’s ill-timed attempt was indeed considered by Montrose as a great misfortune, but a misfortune far from irreparable, and as he had invitations from the royalist nobility of Scotland, requesting him to enter upon his enterprise, and promising him every assistance in their power, and as he was assured that the great body of the Scottish nation was ready to second his views, he entered upon the task assigned him by his royal master, with an alacrity and willingness which indicated a confidence on his part of ultimate success.
In terms of the powers he had received from the king, Montrose visited the north of Europe, and obtained promises of assistance of men, money, and ammunition, from some of the northern princes; but few of them fulfilled their engagements in consequence of the intrigues of the king’s enemies with the courtiers, who thwarted with all their influence the measures of Montrose. By the most indefatigable industry and perseverance, however, he collected a force of 1,200 men at Gottenburg, about 800 of whom had been raised in Holstein and Hamburg, and having received from the Queen of Sweden 1,500 complete stands of arms, for arming such persons as might join his standard on landing in Scotland, he resolved, without loss of time, to send off this armament to the Orkneys, where, in consequence of a previous arrangement with the Earl of Morton, who was favourable to the king, it was agreed that a descent should be made. Accordingly, the first division of the expedition, which consisted of three parts, was despatched early in September; but it never reached its destination, the vessels having foundered at sea in a storm. The second division was more fortunate, and arrived at Kirkwall, about the end of the month. It consisted of 200 common soldiers and 80 officers, under the command of the Earl of Kinnoul, who on landing was joined by his uncle the Earl of Morton and by many of the Orkney gentlemen. Kinnoul immediately laid siege to the castle of Birsay, which was soon surrendered to him; and he proceeded to raise levies among the Orcadians, but was checked in his progress in consequence of a difference with Morton, who claimed the privilege, as superior of Orkney, of commanding his own vassals, a claim which Kinnoul would not allow. Morton felt the repulse keenly, and died soon thereafter of a broken heart, as is believed. His nephew, perhaps hurt at the treatment he had given his uncle, speedily followed him to the grave.