1921 TO THE MARQUIS OF ORMONDE 231 explaining at great length, however, that in their defenceless condition they conceived it their duty to renew the cessation to 13 August. 1 On 4 July Lord Digby, secretary of state, who had just arrived from the queen and was much disconcerted at the stop put on the peace, wrote to Ormonde an account of what purported to be the latest advices from the king and were, no doubt, what the queen believed or desired. It was to the effect that the king really wished the peace to be concluded, but that he could not ' express his pleasure in any way but what the Scots should force from him ' — that in short Ormonde was to disregard all orders except what came in the king's cipher, or was conveyed to him by the queen and prince of Wales. 2 This account of the king's situation, however, appears to have been exaggerated and in part imaginary. The king's numerous letters to his wife while he was at Newcastle show that he found means of frankly expressing his inmost thoughts, and they moreover indicate plainly that this order to Ormonde was what he thought at the time best for his purposes. No doubt Charles was influenced by the circumstances in which he was placed, and would not have authorized the letter had he not been urged to do so by the Scots ; but he was trying hard to gain the Scottish forces to his side, and, as he afterwards wrote to his wife, the conclusion of peace with the catholics would ' infallibly hinder all accommoda- tions ' with the Scots. 3 He was also at the moment sending a message to London ' with an offer to go there upon honourable and just conditions '. The earl of Argyle was about to go to London with the professed intention of inducing parliament to moderate its demands, and if his intervention was to have a chance of success it was necessary to cease negotiating with the Irish rebels. On 16 June, the day after Argyle left, Charles writes to his wife to tell of Argyle 's mission, and adds : I think fit to send thee my answers to Argyle's queries, because it is an epitome of all our main business. The letter which it mentions that I have written to Ormond [meaning the letter of the 11th] is only to stop further treating there after the receipt of it, but meddles nothing with what was done before. 4 Clearly when Charles wrote the letter of 11 June he meant to stop Ormonde from publishing the peace. The queen, however, was always urgent that Charles should make peace with the Irish catholics, and in most matters he yielded to her judgement. Unfortunately we have not got her letters at this time to the king, but we can judge to some extent of their 1 Carte, vi. 405-11. 2 Ibid. pp. 415-17. ■ Charles I in 1646, letter of 19 August, p. 60 4 Ibid. p. 47.
