In August the Scots invaded England for the first time since the minority of Mary Stuart, and, on August 28th, they defeated a portion of the king’s army at Newburn, a ford near Newcastle.  The town was immediately occupied, and from Newcastle the invaders advanced to the Tees and seized Durham.  Charles was forced, a second time, to give way.  In October he agreed that the Scottish army of occupation should be paid until the English Parliament, which he was about to summon, might make a final arrangement.  By Parliament alone could the Scots be paid, and thus, by a strange irony of fate, the occupation of the northern counties by a Scottish army was, for the time, the best guarantee of English liberties.  There were, however, points on which the Scottish army and the English Parliament found it difficult to agree, and it was not till August, 1641, that the Scots recrossed the Tweed.  Charles, who hoped to enlist the sympathy of the Scots in his struggle with the English Parliament, paid a second visit to Edinburgh, where he gave his assent to the abolition of Episcopacy, and to the repeal of the Acts which had given rise to the dispute.  But it became evident that the Parliament, and not the king, was to bear rule in Scotland.  The king’s stay in Edinburgh was marked by what is known as “The Incident”, a mysterious plot to capture Argyll and Hamilton, who was now the ally of Argyll.  It was supposed that the king was cognizant of the plan; he had to defend himself from the accusation, and was declared guiltless in the matter.  At the time of the Incident, Argyll fled, but soon returned, and Charles had to yield to him in all things.  Parliament, under Argyll, appointed all officials.  Argyll himself was made a marquis, and Leslie became Earl of Leven.  There was a general amnesty, and among those who obtained their liberty was the Earl of Montrose, who had been imprisoned in May for making terms with the king.  In November, 1641, Charles left Scotland for London, to face the English Parliament.  He can scarcely have hoped for Scottish aid, and when, a few months later, he was on the verge of hostilities and made a request for assistance, it was twice refused.

With the general course of the Great Rebellion we are not here concerned.  It is important for our purpose to notice that it affected Scotland in two ways.  The course of events converted, on the one hand, the Episcopalian party into a Royalist party, and placed at its head the Covenanter, Montrose.  On the other hand, the National Covenant was transformed into the Solemn League and Covenant, which had for its aim the establishment of Presbytery in England as well as in Scotland.  This “will o’ the wisp” of covenanted uniformity led the Scottish Church into somewhat strange places.  As early as January, 1643, Montrose had offered to strike a blow for the king in Scotland, but Charles would not take the responsibility of beginning the strife.  In August negotiations began for the extension of