raight onwards wi'
the banner o' light, instead o' dallying here and biding there like a
half-hairted Didymus? And the same or waur will fa' upon us if we dinna
march on intae the land and plant our ensigns afore the wicked toun o'
London--the toun where the Lord's wark is tae be done, and the tares tae
be separated frae the wheat, and piled up for the burning.'

'Your advice, in short, is that we march on!' said Monmouth.

'That we march on, your Majesty, and that we prepare oorselves tae be
the vessels o' grace, and forbear frae polluting the cause o' the Gospel
by wearing the livery o' the devil'--here he glared at a gaily attired
cavalier at the other side of the table--'or by the playing o' cairds,
the singing o' profane songs and the swearing o' oaths, all which are
nichtly done by members o' this army, wi' the effect o' giving much
scandal tae God's ain folk.'

A hum of assent and approval rose up from the more Puritan members of
the council at this expression of opinion, while the courtiers glanced
at each other and curled their lips in derision. Monmouth took two or
three turns and then called for another opinion.

'You, Lord Grey,' he said, 'are a soldier and a man of experience. What
is your advice? Should we halt here or push forward towards London?'

'To advance to the East would, in my humble judgment, be fatal to us,'
Grey answered, speaking slowly, with the manner of a man who has thought
long and deeply before delivering an opinion. 'James Stuart is strong
in horse, and we have none. We can hold our own amongst hedgerows or in
broken country, but what chance could we have in the middle of Salisbury
Plain? With the dragoons round us we should be like a flock of sheep
amid a pack of wolves. Again, every step which we take towards London
removes us from our natural vantage ground, and from the fertile country
which supplies our necessities, while it strengthens our enemy by
shortening the distance he has to convey his troops and his victuals.
Unless, therefore, we hear of some great outbreak elsewhere, or of some
general movement in London in our favour, we would do best to hold our
ground and wait an attack.'

'You argue shrewdly and well, my Lord Grey,' said the King. 'But how
long are we to wait for this outbreak which never comes, and for this
support which is ever promised and never provided? We have now been
seven long days in England, and during that time of all the House of
Commons no single