one were sincerely attached to him; but never would
gain the Presbyterians, who were averse to his family and his cause, and
would ascribe his compliance merely to policy and necessity: that the
Scots had refused to give him any assurances of their intending to
restore him to the throne of England; and could they even be brought
to make such an attempt, it had sufficiently appeared, by the event
of Hamilton's engagement, how unequal their force was to so great an
enterprise: that on the first check which they should receive,
Argyle and his partisans would lay hold of the quickest expedient for
reconciling themselves to the English parliament, and would betray the
king, as they had done his father, into the hands of his enemies: and
that, however desperate the royal cause, it must still be regarded as
highly imprudent in the king to make a sacrifice of his honor, where the
sole purchase was to endanger his life or liberty.

The earl of Laneric, now duke of Hamilton, the earl of Lauderdale, and
others of that party who had been banished their country for the late
engagement, were then with the king; and being desirous of returning
home in his retinue, they joined the opinion of the young duke of
Buckingham, and earnestly pressed him to submit to the conditions
required of him. It was urged, that nothing would more gratify the
king's enemies than to see him fall into the snare laid for him, and by
so scrupulous a nicety, leave the possession of his dominions to those
who desired but a pretence for excluding him: that Argyle, not daring so
far to oppose the bent of the nation as to throw off all allegiance to
his sovereign, had embraced this expedient, by which he hoped to make
Charles dethrone himself, and refuse a kingdom which was offered him:
that it was not to be doubted but the same national spirit, assisted by
Hamilton and his party, would rise still higher in favor of their prince
after he had intrusted himself to their fidelity, and would much abate
the rigor of the conditions now imposed upon him: that whatever might
be the present intentions of the ruling party, they must unavoidably
be engaged in a war with England, and must accept the assistance of the
king's friends of all parties, in order to support themselves against a
power so much superior: that how much soever a steady, uniform conduct
might have been suitable to the advanced age and strict engagements
of the late king, no one would throw any blame on a y