peace betwixt England and Scotland, together with their engagements with the parliament of England, demanded that they should surrender the person of their king to that body, the honour of Scotland was intimately concerned in so conducting the transaction, that there should be no room for alleging that any selfish advantage was stipulated by the Scots as a consequence of giving him up. I am almost ashamed to write, that this honourable consideration had no weight.

The Scottish army had a long arrear of pay due to them from the English parliament, which the latter had refused, or at least delayed, to make forthcoming. A treaty for the settlement of these arrears had been set on foot; and it had been agreed that the Scottish forces should retreat into their own country, upon payment of two hundred thousand pounds, which was one-half of the debt finally admitted. Now, it is true that these two treaties, concerning the delivery of the king's person to England, and the payment by parliament of their pecuniary arrears to Scotland, were kept separate, for the sake of decency; but it is certain, that they not only coincided in point of time, but bore upon and influenced each other. No man of candour will pretend to believe that the parliament of England would ever have paid this considerable sum, unless to facilitate their obtaining possession of the king's person; and this sordid and base transaction, though the work exclusively of a mercenary army, stamped the whole nation of Scotland with infamy. In foreign countries they were upbraided with the shame of having made their unfortunate and confiding sovereign a hostage, whose liberty or surrender was to depend on their obtaining payment of a paltry sum of arrears; and the English nation reproached them with their greed and treachery, in the popular rhyme,—

"Traitor Scot

Sold his king for a groat."

The Scottish army surrendered the person of Charles to the commissioners for the English parliament, 21st September, 1646, on receiving security for their arrears of pay, and immediately evacuated Newcastle and marched for their own country.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE TAKING OF PONTEFRACT CASTLE FOR THE KING. CLARENDON.

When the war had been brought to an end by the reduction of all places, and persons, which had held for the king, and all men's hopes had been rendered desperate, by the imprisonment of his majesty in the Isle of Wight, those officers and gentlemen who had served, whilst there was any service, betook themselves generally to the habitations they had in the several counties; where they lived quietly and privately, under the insolence of those neighbours who had formerly, by the inferiority of their conditions, submitted to them. When the parliament had finished the war, they reduced and slighted most of the inland garrisons, the maintenance whereof was very chargeable; yet by the interest of some person who commanded it, or out of the consideration of the strength and importance of the place, they kept still a garrison in Pontefract castle, a noble royalty and palace belonging to the crown, and then part of the queen's jointure. The situation in itself was very strong; no part whereof was commanded by any other ground: the house very large, with all offices suitable to a princely seat, and though built very near the top of a hill, so that it had the prospect of a great part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire, yet it was plentifully supplied with

water. Colonel Cotterell, the governor of this garrison, exercised a very severe jurisdiction over his neighbours of those parts; which were inhabited by many gentlemen, and soldiers who had served the king throughout the war, and who were known to retain their old affections, though they lived with all submission to the present government. Upon the least jealousy or humour, these men were frequently sent for, reproached, and sometimes imprisoned by the governor in this garrison; which did not render them the more devoted to him. When there appeared some hopes that the Scots would raise an army for the relief and release of the king, sir Marmaduke Langdale, in his way for Scotland, had visited and conferred with some of his old friends and countrymen, who now lived quietly within some distance of Pontefract, who informed him of that garrison, the place whereof was well known to him. And he acquainting them with the assurance he had of the resolution of the principal persons of the kingdom of Scotland, and that they had invited him to join with them, in order to which he was then going thither, they agreed, "that when it should appear that an army was raised in Scotland upon that account, which must draw down the parliament's army into the other northern counties, and that there should be risings in other parts of the kingdom," (which the general indisposition and discontent, besides some particular designs, made like to fall out,) "that then those gentlemen should endeavour the surprise of that castle, and after they had made themselves strong in it, and provided it with provisions to endure some restraint, they should draw as good a body to them as those countries would yield;" and having thus adjusted that design, they settled such a way of correspondence with sir Marmaduke, that they frequently gave him an account, and received his directions for their proceeding. In this disposition they continued quiet, as they had always been; and the governor of the castle lived towards them with less jealousy, and more humanity, than he had been accustomed to.

There was one colonel Morrice, who, being a very young man, had, in the beginning of the war, been an officer in some regiments of the king's; and, out of the folly and impatience of his youth, had quitted that service, and engaged himself in the parliament army with some circumstances not very commendable; and by the clearness of his courage, and pleasantness of his humour, made himself not only very acceptable, but was preferred to the command of a colonel, and performed many notable services for them, being a stout and bold undertaker in attempts of the greatest danger; wherein he had usually success. After the new modelling of the army, and the introducing of a stricter discipline, his life of great license kept not his reputation with the new officers; and being a free speaker and censurer of their affected behaviour, they left him out in their compounding their new army, but with many professions of kindness, and respect to his eminent courage, which they would find some occasion to employ, and reward. He was a gentleman of a competent estate in those parts in Yorkshire; and as he had grown elder, he had heartily detested himself for having quitted the king's service, and had resolved to take some seasonable opportunity to wipe off that blemish by a service that would redeem him; and so was not troubled to be set aside by the new general, but betook himself to his estate; enjoyed his old humour, which was cheerful and pleasant; and made himself most acceptable to those who were most trusted by the parliament; who thought that they had dismissed one of the best officers they had, and were sorry for it.

He now, as a country gentleman, frequented the fairs and markets, and conversed with equal freedom with all his neighbours, of what party soever they had been, and renewed the friendship he had formerly held with some of those gentlemen who had served the king. But no friendship was so dear to him, as that of the governor of Pontefract castle, who loved him above all men, and delighted so much in his com

pany, that he got him to be with him sometimes a week and more at a time in the castle, when they always lay together in one bed. He declared to one of those gentlemen, who were united together to make that attempt, "that he would surprise that castle, whenever they should think the season ripe for it ;" and that gentleman, who knew him very well, believed him so entirely, that he told his companions, "that they should not trouble themselves with contriving the means to surprise the place; which, by trusting too many, would be liable to discovery; but that would take that charge upon himself, by a way they need not inquire into; which he assured them should not fail:" and they all very willingly acquiesced in his undertaking; to which they knew well he was not inclined without good grounds. Morrice was more frequently with the governor, who never thought himself well without him; and always told him, "he must have a great care of his garrison, that he had none but faithful men in the castle; for that he was confident there were some men who lived not far off, and who many times came to visit him, had some design upon the place;" and would then in confidence name many persons to him, some whereof were those very men with whom he communicated, and others were men of another temper, and were most devoted to parliament, all his particular friends and companions; "but that he should not be troubled; for he had a false brother amongst them, from whom he was sure to have seasonable advertisement;" and promised him, "that he would, within few hours' notice, bring him at any time forty or fifty good men into the castle to reinforce his garrison, when there should be occasion;" and he would show him the list of such men as would be always ready, and would sometimes bring some of those men with him, and tell the governor before them, "that those were in the list he had given him of the honest fellows, who would stick to him when there should be need;" and others would accidentally tell the governor, "that they had listed themselves with colonel Morrice to come to the castle, whenever he should call or send to them." And all these men, thus listed, were fellows very notorious for the bitterness and malice which they had always against the king, not one of which he ever intended to make use of.

He made himself very familiar with all the soldiers in the castle, and used to play and drink with them; and, when he lay there, would often rise in the night, and visit the guards; and by that means would sometimes make the governor dismiss and discharge a soldier whom he did not like, under pretence, "that he found him always asleep," or some other fault which was not to be examined; and then he would commend some other to him as very fit to be trusted and relied upon; and by this means he had very much power in the garrison. The governor received several letters from his friends in the parliament, and in the country, "that he should take care of colonel Morrice, who resolved to betray him ;" and informed him, "that he had been in such and such company of men, who were generally esteemed most malignant, and had great intrigues with them;" all which was well known to the governor; for the other was never in any of that company, though with all the show of secrecy, in the night, or in places remote from any house, but he always told the governor of it, and of many particular passages in those meetings; so that when these letters came to him, he showed them still to the other; and then both of them laughed at the intelligence; after which Morrice frequently called for his horse, and went home to his house, telling his friend, "that though he had, he knew, no mistrust of his friendship, and knew him too well to think him capable of such baseness, yet he ought not for his own sake be thought to slight the information; which would make his friends the less careful of him: that they had reason to give him warning of those meetings, which, if he had not known himself, had been very worthy of his suspicion; therefore he would forbear coming to the castle again, till this jealousy of his friends should be over; who would know of this,

and be satisfied with it:" and no power of the governor could prevail with him, at such times, to stay; but he would be gone, and stay away till he was, after some time, sent for again with great importunity, the governor desiring his counsel and assistance a much as his company.

It fell out, as it usually doth in affairs of that nature, when many men are engagd, that there is an impatience to execute what is projected before the time be broughly ripe. The business of the fleet, and in Kent, and other places, and the daily alarms from Scotland, as if that army had been entering the kingdom, made the gentlemen who were engaged for this enterprise imagine that they deferred it too long, and that though they had received no orders from sir Marmaduke Langdale, which they were to expect, yet they had been sent and miscarried. Hereupon they called upon the gentleman who had undertaken, and he upon Morrice, for the execution of the design. The time agreed upon was such a night, when the surprisers were to be ready upon such a part of the wall, and to have ladders to mount in two places, where two soldiers were to be appointed for sentinels who were privy to the attempt. Morrice was in the castle, and in bed with the governor, and, according to his custom, rose about the hour he thought all would be ready. They without made the sign agreed upon, and were answered by one of the sentinels from the wall; upon which they run to both places where they were to mount their ladders. By some accident, the other sentinel who was designed was not upon the other part of the wall; so that when the ladder was mounted there, the sentinel called out; and finding that there were men under the wall, run towards the court of guard to call for help; and in his way met Morrice, who, finding him to be a wrong soldier, seemed not to believe him, but took him back with him to show him the place, and carried him to the top of the wall, nearer, that they might listen; and from thence, being a very strong man, he made a shift to throw the soldier over the wall; and by this time they from without were got upon the wall from both places, and had made their signs to their friends at a distance. With these Morrice went to the court of guard, which was in part prepared, so that with knocking two or three of the other on the head, they became masters there, and opened the port for their friends' horse and foot to enter. Morrice, with two or three gentlemen, went to the governor's chamber, whom they found in his bed, and told him, "the castle was surprised, and himself a prisoner." He betook himself to his arms for his defence, but quickly found that his friend had betrayed it, and the other gentlemen appearing, of whom he had been before warned, his defence was to no purpose, yet he received some wounds. Morrice comforted him with assurance "of good usage, and that he would procure his pardon from the king for his rebellion."

They put the garrison in good order, and so many came to them from Yorkshire, Nottingham, and Lincoln, that they could not in a short time be restrained, and had leisure to fetch in all sorts of provisions for their support, and to make and renew such fortifications as might be necessary for their defence. From Nottingham there came sir John Digby, sir Hugh Cartwright, and a son and nephew of his, who had been good officers in the army, with many soldiers who had been under their com mand; many other gentlemen of the three counties were present, and deserve to have their names recorded, since it was an action throughout of great courage and conduct.

Cromwell's marching towards the Scots with the neglect of these men after their first appearance, and only appointing some county troops to enclose them from increasing their strength, gave them great opportunity to grow; so that driving those troops to a greater distance, they drew contribution from all the parts about them, and made incursions much farther, and rendered themselves so terrible, that, as was said before, after the Scots' defeat, those of Yorkshire sent very earnestly to Crom

well, "that he would make it the business of his army to reduce Pontefract." But he, resolving upon his Scottish expedition, thought it enough, to send Rainsborough to perform that service, with a regiment of horse, and one or two of foot, belonging to the army; which, with a conjunction of the country forces under the same command, he doubted not would be sufficient to perform a greater work. As soon as the castle had been reduced, they who were possessed of it were very willing to be under the command of Morrice; who declared he would not accept the charge, nor be governor of the place, knowing well what jealousies he might be liable to, at least upon any change of fortune, but under the direction of sir John Digby; who was colonel general of those parts, and was a man rather cordial in the service, than equal to the command; which made him refer all things still to the counsel and conduct of those officers who were under him; by whose activity, as much was done as could be expected from such a knot of resolute persons.

The total defeat of the Scottish army being now generally known, and that their friends in all other places were defeated, they in the castle well knew what they were presently to expect, and that they should be shortly shut up from making farther excursions. They heard that Rainsborough was upon his march towards them, and had already sent some troops to be quartered near them, himself yet keeping his headquarters at Doncaster, ten miles from the castle. They resolved, whilst they yet enjoyed this liberty, to make a noble attempt. They had been informed, that sir Marmaduke Langdale (whom they still called their general), after the overthrow of the Scottish army, had been taken prisoner, and remained in Nottingham castle, under a most strict custody, as a man the parliament declared, "they would make an example of their justice." Morrice, with a party of twelve horse, and no more, but picked and choice men, went out of the castle, in the beginning of the night, with a resolution to take Rainsborough prisoner, and thereby to ransom their general. They were all good guides, and understood the ways, private and public, very exactly; and went so far, that about the break of day or a little after, in the end of August, they put themselves into the common road that led from York; by which ways the guards expected no enemy; and so slightly asked them "whence they came?" who negligently answered; and asked again, "where their general was?" saying, "they had a letter for him from Cromwell." They sent one so show them where the general was; which they knew well enough; and that he lay at the best inn of the town. And when the gate of the inn was opened to them, three of them only entered into the inn, the other rode to the other end of the town to the bridge, over which they were to pass towards Pontefract; where they expected and did find a guard of horse and foot, with whom they entertained themselves in discourse, saying, "that they stayed for their officer, who went only in to speak with the general;" and called for some drink. The guards making no questions of their being friends, sent for drink, and talked negligently with them of the news; and, it being broad day, some of the horse alighted, and the foot went to the court of guard, conceiving that morning's work to be over. They who went into the inn, where nobody was awake but the fellow who opened the gate, asked in which chamber the general (for so all the soldiers called Rainsborough) lay; and the fellow showing them from below the chamber door, two of them went up, and the other stayed below, and held the horses, and talked with the soldier who had walked with them from the guard. The two who went up, opened the chamber door, found Rainsborough in his bed, but awaked with the little noise they had made. They told him in short, "that he was their prisoner, and that it was in his power to choose whether he would be presently killed," (for which work he saw they were very well prepared,) "or quietly, without making resistance, or delay, to put on his clothes, and be mounted upon a horse, that was ready below for him, and accompany them