Edinburgh, have a voluminous correspondence, in which they quote much Scripture, and each declares himself the favourite or justified of heaven. The Scots reproached Cromwell and his party with breaking the league and covenant, and Cromwell retorted on them, that though they pretended to covenant and fight against malignants, they had entered into agreement with the head and centre of the malignants himself, which he said he could not understand. Cromwell, leaving a force to invest Dunbar, which was said to suffer extreme famine, being cooped by the English both on land and sea, about the 13th of August shifted his camp to the Pentland Hills to the west of Edinburgh, in order to cut off Leslie's supplies.
Whilst lying there the young king himself made a visit to the army at Leith, where he was received by the soldiers with acclamations; but the assembly of the kirk was soon scandalised by the drunkenness and profanity which his presence brought into the camp, and set on foot an inquiry, the result of which was that eighty officers, with many of their men, were dismissed that they might not contaminate the rest of the army. They also required Charles to sign a declaration to his subjects in his three kingdoms, informing them that he lamented the troubles which had been brought on the realm by the resistance of his father to the solemn league and covenant, and by the idolatry of his mother. That for himself he had subscribed the covenant with all his heart, and would have no friends or enemies but the friends or enemies of the covenant. That he repented making a peace with the papists of Ireland, and now declared it null and void; and that he detested all popery, prelacy, idolatry, and heresy. Finally, that ho would accord to a free parliament of England the propositions agreed upon by the commissioners of the two kingdoms, and would settle the English church according to the plan organised by the Westminster assembly of divines.
Never was so flagrant a set of falsehoods forced on a reluctant soul! Charles read the declaration with imagination, and declared that he would sacrifice everything rather than thus to cast reproach on his parents and their supporters, who had suffered so on their behalf, or belie his own sentiments. But he was soon convinced that he must in reality see his cause totally abandoned if he did not comply, and at the end of three days he signed with tears and shame the humiliating document. The exulting kirk then proclaimed a certain victory from heaven over "a blaspheming general and a sectarian army."
And truly, affairs appeared very likely to come to such a conclusion. Cromwell found it difficult to feed his army; the weather continued stormy and wet, and his soldiers suffered extremely from fevers and other illness from exposure to the weather. Cromwell made a sudden march in the direction of Stirling, as though he intended to cut off that that city from communication with the capital. This set Leslie in motion; he hastily sent forward his forces, and the vanguards came to skirmishing, but could not engage in complete battle on account of the boggy ground between them. Cromwell as suddenly retreated, and firing his huts on the Pentlands, retreated towards Dunbar. This effectually roused the Scots; they knew his distress from sickness and lack of supplies, and they thought he meant now to escape into England. To prevent that, and to make themselves masters of the whole English army, as they now confidently expected, they marched rapidly along the feet of the Lammermoor Hills, and Leslie managed to outstrip him, and hem him in betwixt Dunbar and Doon hill. A deep ravine called Cockburn's Path, or, as Oliver pronounced it, Coppers Path, about forty feet deep and as many wide, with a rivulet running through it, lay betwixt Oliver and the Scotch army, which was posted on Doon Hill. On Oliver's right lay Belhaven Bay, on his left Brocksmouth House, at the mouth of a brook, and where there is a path southward. Leslie had secured the passes of Cockburn's Path, and imagined that he had Cromwell and his army secure from Sunday night to Tuesday morning, the 3rd of September. But on Monday afternoon, Cromwell observed Leslie moving his right wing down into the plain towards Brocksmouth House, evidently intending to secure that pass also; but Cromwell at once espied his advantage. He could attack and cut off this right wing, whilst the main body of Leslie's army, penned betwixt the brook and the hills, could not manœuvre to help it. On observing this, Cromwell exclaimed to Lambert, "The Lord hath delivered us!" and arrangements were made to attack the right wing of Leslie at three o'clock in the morning. Leslie had twenty-three thousand men—Cromwell about half as many; but by a vigorous, unexpected attack on this right wing, after three hours of hard fighting, Cromwell throw the Scots into confusion, and Oliver exclaimed, "They run! I profess they run!" In fact, the horse of the Scots dashed frantically away over and through their own foot, and there was a wild flight in all directions. Three thousand slain lay on the spot, the Scotch army was in wild rout, and as the sun just then rose over St. Abb's Head and the sea, Oliver exclaimed to his soldiers, "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered!" "The lord-general," says Hodgson, "made a halt till the horse could gather for the chase, and sung the 117th Psalm. Then the pursuit was made as far as Haddington. Ten thousand prisoners were taken, with all the baggage, artillery, and ammunition of the enemy. A thousand men were slain in the pursuit. By nine o'clock in the morning, David Leslie, the general, was in Edinburgh, old lord Leven reached it by two, and what a city! The general complained that the ministers had occasioned the disaster; they would not let him rest till he descended from his height to attack the enemy on a disadvantageous ground. The ministers, though all their prophecies of victory were falsified, had yet plenty of other reasons for it. They published a "Short Declaration and Warning," in which they enumerated no less than thirteen causes for this terrible overthrow. The general wickedness of the country, the especial wickedness of the king's house, and the number of malignants amongst the king's followers, &c. &c. Cromwell told them plainly in letters which he addressed to them, that it was for taking up a family that the Lord had so eminently lifted up his hand against, and in pretending to cry down malignants, and yet receiving and setting up the head of them all. He advanced to Edinburgh and took up his quarters there, closely blockading the castle, which was soon compelled to surrender.
As for Charles II., he was rather delighted than other-
