s of letters which he had
written to the king upon it, which ought not in good manners to have been
written; and I believe will not be forgiven to him, by those for whose
service they were written."--Clarendon Papers, ii. 346.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1645. Oct. 17.]

The unfortunate monarch was still at Oxford devising new plans and
indulging new hopes. The dissensions among his adversaries had assumed a
character of violence and importance which they had never before borne.
The Scots, irritated by the systematic opposition of the Independents, and
affected delays of the parliament, and founding the justice of their
claim on the solemn league and covenant confirmed by the oaths of the two
nations, insisted on the legal establishment of Presbyterianism, and the
exclusive prohibition of every other form of worship. They still ruled in
the synod of divines; they were seconded by the great body of ministers
in the capital, and by a numerous party among the citizens; and they
confidently called for the aid of the majority in the two houses, as of
their brethren of the same religions persuasion. But their opponents, men
of powerful intellect and invincible spirit, were supported by the swords
and the merits of a conquering army. Cromwell, from the field of Naseby,
had written to express his hope, that the men who had achieved so glorious
a victory might be allowed to serve God according to the dictates of their
consciences. Fairfax, in his despatches, continually pleaded in favour of
toleration. Seldon and Whitelock warned their colleagues to beware how they
erected among them the tyranny of a Presbyterian kirk; and many in the two
houses began to maintain that Christ had established no particular form
of church government, but had left it to be settled under convenient
limitations by the authority of the state.[1] Nor were their

[Footnote 1: Baillie, ii. 111, 161, 169, 183. Rushw. vi. 46, 85. Whitelock,
69, 172. Journals, vii. 434, 476, 620.]

altercations confined to religious matters. The decline of the royal cause
had elevated the hopes of the English leaders. They no longer disguised
their jealousy of the projects of their Scottish allies; they accused them
of invading the sovereignty of England by placing garrisons in Belfast,
Newcastle, and Carlisle; and complained that their army served to no other
purpose than to plunder the defenceless inhabitants. The Scots haughtily
replied, that the occupation of the fortresses wa