table. The Scots were fortunate in their
leaders. In the end of 1638 there returned to Scotland from Germany,
Alexander Leslie, the great soldier who had fought for Protestantism
under Gustavus Adolphus. In February, 1639, he took command of the army
of the Covenant, which had been largely reinforced by veterans from the
Thirty Years' War. A more attractive personality than Leslie's was that
of the young Earl of Montrose, who had attached himself with enthusiasm
to the national cause, and had attempted to convert the people of
Aberdeen to covenanting principles. Charles, on his part, asserted that
his throne was in danger, and that the Scottish preparations constituted
a menace to the kingdom of England, and so attempted to rouse enthusiasm
for himself.

While the king was preparing to reinforce the loyalist Marquis of Huntly
at Aberdeen, the news came that the garrisons of Edinburgh and Dunbarton
had surrendered to the insurgents (March, 1639), who, a few days later,
seized the regalia at Dalkeith. On March 30th Aberdeen fell into the
hands of Montrose and Leslie, and Huntly was soon practically a
prisoner. Charles had by this time reached York, and it was now evident
that he had entirely miscalculated the strength of the enemy. He had
hoped to subdue Scotland through Hamilton and Huntly; he now saw that,
if Scotland was to be conquered at all, it must be through an English
army. The first blood in the Civil War was shed near Turriff, in
Aberdeenshire (May 14th, 1639), where some of Huntly's supporters gained
a slight success, after which the city of Aberdeen fell into their hands
for some ten days, when it was reoccupied by the Covenanters. Meanwhile
Charles and Leslie had been facing each other near Berwick; the former
unwilling to risk his raw levies against Leslie's trained soldiers,
while the Covenanters were not desirous of entering into a war in which
they might find the whole strength of England ultimately arrayed against
them. On the 18th June the two parties entered into the Pacification of
Berwick, in accordance with which both armies were to be disbanded, and
Charles promised to allow a free General Assembly and a free Parliament
to govern Scotland. While the pacification was being signed at Berwick,
a battle was in progress at Aberdeen, where, on June 18th-19th, Montrose
gained a victory, at the Bridge of Dee, over the Earl of Aboyne, the
eldest son of the Marquis of Huntly. For the third time, Montrose
sp