BOOK 1651. Commis sioners sent land to es tablish it. as since, looked with sullen disdain upon the assuming and dictation of a rival state; and there period of Scottish history respecting which so little has been recorded, as the reign of the commonwealth and of Cromwel. It is true the crowns had been united ever since the accession of James to the English throne; and the history of no country can be splendid, so long as it is considered as a minor appendage, a secondary jewel in a superior crown. But, in addition to all other considerations, the repugnance of the Scots to the union will easily be understood, when it is remembered that the great body of the nation was presbyterian, and that the minority was for the most part zealously attached to the house of Stuart. The commissioners who were appointed to go into Scotland for the settlement of affairs there, were St. John, Vane, Lambert, Dean, Monk, and three others. There is something remarkable in the appointment of Vane at this time. The first dawnings of the political contention, which soon afterwards broke out, shewed themselves, in the peremptory way in which Cromwel, on his return from the battle of Worcester, forced the statesmen at home to name a day for the dissolution of the present parliament. Vane was at the head of those statesmen. The construction which vulgar writers of history usually put on such incidents, is that XIX. 1651. the obnoxious party was put upon such a com- СНАР. mission to get rid of him. But this could scarcely answer any useful purpose in the present instance. At any rate it marks the generous and unsuspicious mind of Vane, who consented to go upon a journey to Scotland for certainly not less than two months, and to leave the military party without his personal opposition during that term. We We may also infer from this fact the slow, deliberate and cautious procedure of Cromwel. Vane would scarcely have engaged in this transaction, and have withdrawn himself for so long a time from the metropolis, if Cromwel and he had not been seemingly on terms of friendship.-St. John, who was at this time Cromwel's particular and confidential ally, was at the head of the commission. and Dean Monk, who, when Cromwel marched from Scot- Lambert land in pursuit of the invading army, had been ordered on left by him in charge to complete the reduction that station. of that country, was not, now that hostilities were over in England, thought sufficient for the settling affairs in the north. He bore the style of lieutenant-general of the ordnance, a title which had previously been conferred on lord Broghil in Ireland, to pacify the discontents manifested in the carriage of that nobleman. Major-generals Lambert and Dean however, two of the commissioners for settling the affairs of Scotland, were now sent III. 1651. BOOK to exercise a higher authority. We find Lambert at Edinburgh so early as the latter end of Novemberf. The purpose of sending these two of ficers was to receive submissions, to grant terms, and to quiet the minds of the people. We are told that they, and the officers who accompanied them, heard controversies between party and party; and that the litigants were greatly satisfied at the full examination that was made, and the speedy decisions that were pronounced ". Success of the com 1652. The instructions to the commissioners were fi missioners. nally given on the eighteenth of December. They reached Scotland in the course of the following month, and opened their proceedings at Dalkeith, six miles from Edinburgh. Their purpose was to summon deputies from the different shires and boroughs of Scotland to meet them, and declare their assent to the proposed union. They sat during the greater part of January, and the whole of February1; and on the first of March they sent up Vane and another of the commissioners to report to parliament the progress they had made, from whose statement it appeared that twenty shires and thirtyfive boroughs had already assented to the union". In consequence of this report the act of union was brought in, and read a first and a second time on XIX. 1652. the thirteenth of April". It was surely no small CHAP. condescension on the part of England, to send two of the first men in the state, St. John by his situation, and Vane by his character and consideration, to gain over the Scots to the new system; and they must have felt that they were not treated like a conquered people. Burnet's account of the state of his country at Testimony this period, deserves to be transcribed. "After this Scotland was kept in great order. Some castles in the highlands had garrisons put into them, that were so careful in their discipline, and so exact to their rules, that in no time the highlands were kept in better order, than during the usurpation. There was a considerable force of seven or eight thousand men kept in the country: these were paid exactly, and strictly disciplined. The pay of the army brought so much money into the kingdom, that it continued all that while in a very flourishing state. Cromwel built three citadels, at Leith, Air and Inverness, beside many little forts. There was good justice done; and vice was suppressed and punished: so that we always reckon those eight years of usurpation a time of great peace and prosperity." of Burnet. 322 CHAPTER XX. LAMBERT NAMED LORD DEPUTY OF IRELAND.- BOOK THE next circumstance we have to relate is somewhat in the nature of an intrigue. Lambert was appointed by the parliament to succeed Ireton as appointed lord deputy of Ireland". His commission was for of Ireland. six months. Lambert, though a man of consider 1652. Lambert lord deputy able abilities, was distinguished for his vanity and a childish love of minute elegance. He was a florist, and even had some skill in the art of flowerpainting. No sooner had he heard of his appointment, being then in Scotland, than he began to make great preparations, and came to London with a large train, having laid out five thousand pounds on his equipage". Bridget Ireton, daughter of Cromwel, and widow of the late deputy, was also * Journals, Jan. 23, 30. b Ludlow, p. 412. Hutchinson, Vol. II, p. 194. |