they conceived to be an improved state of things. It was, indeed, absolutely necessary that something should be done, for the bishops would not attempt to supply vacant cures, which were considerable in number, either from removals or sequestrations. The parliament could hardly undertake the management of church affairs, though things were so arranged that the supreme control rested in the Houses. To carry out their intentions, one hundred and twenty "pious, godly, and judicious divines were selected by the members of parliament, and to these were added ten peers and twenty commoners. "The two Houses prescribed the form of the meetings, and the subject of the debates; they enjoined an oath to be taken on admission, and the obligation of secrecy till each question should be determined; and they ordained that every decision should be laid before themselves, and considered of no force until it had been confirmed by their approbation". On the 20th of November, this assembly received orders to prepare a plan of ecclesiastical government; four Scottish ministers were summoned to work out, in concert with the assembly, the great design of the party-uniformity of worship in the two countries. The committee whose duty it was to investigate in each county the conduct and doctrine of the clergy, found occasion to eject some thousands from their livings. The few Episcopalians in the Assembly soon discovered it was not the place for them, and retired: the subsequent contests between the Presbyterians and Independents may be read in the church histories. While most of the doings of the "Divines of Westminster" were doomed to early decay, a part became permanent institutions. On this point, Bishop Short writes, "The works which this Assembly gave to the public are the more interesting because they have been retained as the authorised guide to those of our countrymen who still adopt the Presbyterian form of church government. They consist of a Directory for worship and ordination; a Confession of Faith; and two Catechisms, the larger and the shorter. Besides these, there is a form of Presbyterian church government, agreed upon by the Assembly, but never authorized."

6. New arrangements for carrying on the Government and administration of Justice. Towards the close of the year, the Committee of Safety was dissolved on the ground that a change was necessary, by reason of the Scots agreeing to engage in the war. A new executive took its place, under the name of the Committee of the Two Kingdoms: it was composed of members of both Houses, and certain commissioners from the Estates of Scotland. This arrangement received its completion in the early part of 1644. It was further necessary to do something for the administration of justice, which had been suspended for

twelve months, the king adjourning the terms from Westminster to Oxford, and the parliament forbidding the judges to go their circuits during vacation. In the Chancery, the commissioners sat, and the three judges that remained with the parliament, in the Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Exchequer.

SECTION XVI. THE CIVIL WAR IN 1643.

1. The queen lands at Burlington with men and arms, Feb., 1643. Henrietta, during the time she had been in Holland, had done her lord good service by repeatedly sending over arms and ammunition. In her efforts she was seconded by the Stadtholder, her son-in-law. The parliament, in the latter part of 1643, sent over Strickland as ambassador, to ask for a neutrality, but he was coldly received by the court, and by the people with open manifestations of ill-will. With four vessels laden with arms and men, the queen got safe into Burlington, but Batten, the parliamentary admiral, came in as they were landing the stores, and cannonaded the place. The queen's arrival greatly strengthened the cause of her husband. The Earl of Newcastle escorted her to York, where she remained four months. Her affability brought in many of the gentry, and a host of catholics hastened to serve under her banner. Entering into negotiations with some of the parliamentary leaders, a measure of success followed, for Cholmondeley promised to put Scarborough, of which he was governor, into her hands, and even Hotham was open to overtures for surrendering Hull to the queen.

2. Essex takes Reading: his outposts beaten at Chalgrove, June 18, 1643. The same day that the Oxford commissioners returned to London, Essex took the field. Hampden, who was colonel of a regiment under Essex, counselled a march on Oxford to besiege the king, but a council of war determined otherwise. The siege of Reading was formed (April 7) and the place surrendered in ten days: the town was gained to the parliament, but it was some advantage to Charles to be reinforced by its garrison of four thousand men. In consequence of the sickness and desertion of the troops, the Earl was compelled to remain six weeks at Reading. The truth was, Essex belonged to the moderate party, and made war with regret; his coolness in the cause was well known, and the question had always been raised, whether he ought not to be superseded. This want of confidence had the effect of depriving him of the means of doing what otherwise he might have done. His forces were in want of pay, provisions, and clothing, and his request for supplies unheeded, while every necessary was furnished to Waller, at this time the parliamentary favorite. After several messages from the parliament,

Essex moved his head-quarters to Thame, and shortly after a Colonel Hurry deserted to the king, and gave information that the parliamentary outposts were open to attack. On the evening of the 17th of June, Rupert left Oxford with two thousand men, and early in the next morning slew about fifty parliamentarians at Chinnor, and carried off sixty prisoners. Retreating on the morning of the 18th, Hampden stood in his way with a party of horse. A trooper had been despatched to call on Essex to bring out his troops, and Hampden, on the faith of the general's coming up, proposed to keep Rupert in play in Chalgrove-field, till additional forces arrived. To rally some disordered horse, Hampden headed a charge, and in the act of doing so was struck by two balls; he then rode off the field to Thame, and died after enduring six days of intense suffering. Rupert made good his retreat by way of Chiselhampton-bridge.

3. Fairfax defeated at Atherton Moor, June 30, 1643. In the North, the cause of the parliament rapidly declined from the time that the queen landed, the Earl of Newcastle gathering meanwhile additional strength every day. Lord Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas suffered a defeat at Atherton Moor, near Bradford, and were likely to be crushed entirely, for the Hothams had agreed to shut out the Fairfaxes from Hull and admit Newcastle. Fortunately for the parliament, the plot was discovered; the Hothams were sent in fetters to London and executed. Fairfax was now put in possession of Hull, but his defeat had opened the way for Newcastle to enter the country south of the Humber, with a force sufficient to make Lord Willoughby and Cromwell retire, after having achieved some successes, and to take possession of Gainsborough and Lincoln.

4. Waller defeated at Lansdown and Roundawaydown, July, 1643. Placing a confidence in Sir W. Waller, which they did not in Essex, the parliament put under his command a force of eight thousand men, well clothed and appointed. For a time this confidence did not seem misplaced. His movements were rapidly made, one place after another fell into his hands, and his unbroken success led his admirers to call him William the Conqueror. But fortune proved fickle. At Lansdown, near Bath, he fought Prince Maurice without success on the 5th, and on the 13th he sustained from Lord Wilmot, at Roundaway-down, near Devizes, a bloody defeat which scattered his army, and laid the entire West of England open to the royalists. Even now Waller was not deserted by his patrons, they met him in a kind of triumphal procession, and the Speaker of the Commons officially thanked him for his services to his country.

5. Essex fights the indecisive battle of Newbury, Sept. 20, 1643. The defeat of Waller left the royalists to act their pleasure in the south-western parts of the kingdom. All the principal towns fell into their hands, even Bristol surrendered to Rupert after a siege of only three days; for his cowardice, Fiennes, the governor, was sentenced to death, but his life was spared by Essex. To make the royal cause the more promising, the queen joined her husband on the 13th of July, bringing with her three thousand men and some cannon. Charles comprehended his position, and proposed that the two royal armies should meet under the walls of London, but Newcastle objected to leave the North so long as the enemy held Hull. Under these circumstance, the king was persuaded to undertake the siege of Gloucester, the last place remaining to the parliament in the West. Charles summoned the city on the 10th of August, the garrison was but fifteen hundred, yet so stout were the inhabitants, that they told the king they would by God's help keep the city. Meanwhile, great efforts had been made to strengthen the army under Essex. With twelve thousand men, he reached the Prestbury Hills on the twenty-sixth day of the siege; the royalists at once burnt their huts and retired. Having provisioned Gloucester and rested his men, the general set out on the 10th towards London. On approaching Newbury on the 19th, he found the royal army had barred the road against him. At day-break on the 20th, Essex gave battle which raged till night-fall, each party making desperate efforts to win the game. Both parties rested on the ground, and Essex was in expectation of another fight, but when morning came he found to his surprise that the royalists had drawn off during the night, leaving an open road. In this battle the parliamentarians lost five hundred men, but only a few officers; Charles lost fifteen hundred, and many officers, amongst whom were the Lords Sunderland, Caernarvon, and Falkland, "the glory of the royalist party".

6. Irish forces come to England to aid the king, Nov. 1643. With considerable difficulty the parliament had succeeded in suppressing the rebellion in Ireland, by means of an English army to be paid out of the forfeited lands. Including the Scots, the army acting against the rebels amounted at one time to fifty thousand men, but it soon decreased by reason of want, desertion, and casualties. Applications made to the English parliament were not attended to, and a spirit of disaffection grew up; the parliamentary interest declined, and the army became favorable to the royal cause. Meanwhile, the Catholics in imitation of the Scots, called a Synod (Oct. 1642) at Kilkenny, at which a covenant was ordered to be taken, binding the subscribers by an oath

to protect the catholic worship, the person and rights of the sovereign, and the liberties of Ireland. `A national assembly was to assume the functions of a parliament, and a supreme council of twenty-four members, of which Lord Mountgarret was elected president, the executive. A communication was opened with Charles, who foreseeing in this movement an advantage to his cause, sent orders to the Marquis of Ormond to conclude an armistice with the insurgents, and sent over to England a part of the army. To this the catholic confederates consented, and a truce for twelve months was concluded in September, 1643; and further, they contributed £30,000 in money and provisions towards the support of the royal forces. In November, Ormond sent off five regiments, into which many native Irish had been introduced; landing at Chester, these troops enrolled themselves under Lord Byron, governor of that city. The introduction of these forces into the kingdom tended to damage the royal cause rather than otherwise, for many fought no more on the side of the king, when they knew that a treaty had been made with the papists at Kilkenny, and that this was one of the results.

SECTION XVII.-PROCEEDINGS OF THE LONG
PARLIAMENT, 1644.

1. The king calls a counter parliament at Oxford, Jan. 22-April 16, 1644. To dispel the influence which the name of parliament appeared to have on the minds of the people, the king with much reluctance consented to call a parliament of royalists at Oxford. Forty-five peers and one hundred and eighteen commoners obeyed the summons; the same day a call of the House at Westminster showed an attendance of twenty-two lords and two hundred and eighty commoners. The first measure of the Houses at Oxford was to request through Essex that commissioners might be appointed to treat of an accommodation; the Earl would not however deliver the letter, because neither in its address, nor its contents did it acknowledge the authority of the Long Parliament. A second effort by the king himself resulted only in a recriminatory reply. Though all hope of conciliation was lost, the Houses continued to sit, voting a few taxes and loans, and bitterly reproaching their peers at Westminster. Being found as troublesome as they were useless, Charles adjourned them congratulating himself upon being at last "rid of this mongrel parliament, the haunt of cowardly and seditious motions".

2. Means adopted by the parliament for raising a revenue, 1644. When the parliament began to exercise an independent sovereignty, one of the first necessities that pressed upon it, was that of providing for their expenditure. For a time