King's summons, does not appear.

He had been pro

mised a command; but was disappointed in this expectation.1

Lord Falkland's service on a crusade in favour of episcopal power and a compulsory Liturgy could not have been tendered from any sympathy in the cause; but when summoned by duty or by his sovereign to take the field, he submitted to the disappointment of not having the promised command, and volunteered to serve under the Earl of Essex.

This change from his tranquil studious life seems to have created no ordinary sensation in the society he had gathered round him: his departure was a theme to the poets Cowley and Waller, and their verses bear the

2

Clarendon's Hist. of the Rebellion,' vol. iv. p. 253.

2 TO LORD FALKLAND,

FOR HIS SAFE RETURN FROM THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION AGAINST

THE SCOTS.

"Great is thy charge, O North; be wise and just;

England commits her Falkland to thy trust,
Return him safe; learning would rather choose

Her Bodley or her Vatican to lose.

All things that are but writ or printed there,
In his unbounded breast engraven are;
There all the sciences together meet,
And every art does all his kindred greet,
Yet justle not, nor quarrel; but as well
Agree as in some common principle.
So in an army, govern'd right, we see

(Though out of several countries raised it be)

That all their order and their place maintain,——

The English, Dutch, the Frenchman, and the Dane;

So thousand divers species fill the air,

Yet neither crowd nor mix confus'dly there;

Beasts, houses, trees, and men together lie,
Yet enter undisturb'd into the eye.

And

strongest testimony to the high value they set on his worth, and to their anxiety at seeing so much virtue, wisdom, and learning exposed to the risks of war.

The whole expedition to Scotland was, though costly,

And this great prince of knowledge is by Fate
Thrust into th' noise and business of a State.
All virtues, and some customs of the court,
Other men's labour, are at least his sport;
While we, who can no action undertake,
Whom Idleness itself might learned make,-
Who hear of nothing, and as yet scarce know
Whether the Scots in England be or no,-
Pace dully on, oft tire, and often stay,
Yet see his nimble Pegasus fly away.
"T is Nature's fault, who did thus partial grow,
And her estate of wit on one bestow,

Whilst we, like younger brothers, got at best
But a small stock, and must work out the rest.
How could he answer 't, should the State think fit

To question a monopoly of wit?

Such is the man whom we require, the same
We lent the North; untouch'd as is his fame,

He is too good for war, and ought to be

As far from danger as from fear he 's free.
Those men alone (and those are useful too),
Whose valour is the only art they know,
Were for sad war and bloody battle born;
Let them the State defend, and He adorn."

"TO MY LORD OF FALKLAND.

COWLEY.

"Brave Holland lands, and with him Falkland goes.
Who hears this told, and does not straight suppose

We send the Graces and the Muses forth

To civilize and to instruct the North ?

Not that these ornaments make swords less sharp,-
Apollo bears as well his bow as harp;

And though he be the patron of that spring
Where in calm peace the sacred virgins sing,
He courage had to guard th' invaded throne

Of

fruitless and inglorious. It settled no differences with the Scotch, whilst it gave rise to many jealousies and disputes amongst the English themselves. The only advantage gained by any part of the King's troops was in the early occupation of Berwick by the Earl of Essex. For this object he marched day and night, yet with this unwonted haste he succeeded in preserving order and discipline. He disregarded all false rumours as to the strength and feats and intentions of the Scotch, and possessed himself of the town without opposition. The King held his court at York for a time, and then advanced beyond Berwick. The Scots were reported to be on the march, and the Earl of Holland was sent to Dunse, about ten or twelve miles over the border, where he found the Scots drawn up. General Leslie ingeniously disposed his army, consisting of only three thousand ill-armed men, to look like a greater force.' The Earl of Holland sent a message to the King to consult his pleasure as to his engaging, but without waiting for the answer he and his principal officers decided to retreat. In this it seems he only anticipated

Of Jove, and cast th' ambitious giants down.
Ah! noble friend! with what impatience all
That know thy worth, and know how prodigal
Of thy great soul thou art (longing to twist
Bays with that ivy which so early kiss'd
Thy youthful temples), with what horror we
Think on the blind events of war and thee!
To fate exposing that all-knowing breast
Among the throng as cheaply as the rest;
Where oaks and brambles (if the copse be burn'd)
Confounded lie, to the same ashes turn'd."

1 Clarendon's 'Hist. of the Rebellion,' vol. i.

WALLER.

p. 211.

the King's reply, which forbad him to engage; and the cordial reception of Lord Holland,' who had thus sacrificed the honour of his troops, and the joy evinced at his return, plainly showed that the King had called together this brilliant display of armed nobility with no other idea than that of overawing the Covenanters into submission. The expedition was to be a mere military pageant; and an array of followers, who had willingly devoted their time and their fortunes to bringing wellappointed soldiers into the field, found that they had been intended for little better than figures dressed up for the occasion to produce a dazzling effect on a people who were to be astonished and frightened, not subdued, into obedience. No wonder that the Covenanters, who were well informed of all that passed at the English Court, should have hoped to open a correspondence with generals who either shared in the weak policy of their sovereign, or who, resenting their being thus made to play at war, might waver in their allegiance. Three separate letters were addressed by them to the three generals, the Earls of Arundel, Essex, and Holland.

The Earl of Essex treated that which was addressed to him with greater scorn than did the other two. He sent it to the King without returning any answer, or holding any communication with the messenger who brought it; nor would he take part in the treaty which was soon after set on foot. This treaty of pacification is thus described by Lord Clarendon :2—

1 Clarendon's' Hist. of the Rebellion,' vol. i. p. 214.

2 Ibid., p. 217.

66

66

"Whosoever will take upon him to relate all that passed in that treaty must be beholden to his own "invention, the most material matters having passed in "discourse, and very little committed to writing. Nor "did any two who were present agree in the same re"lation of what was said and done; and, which was worse, not in the same interpretation of the meaning "of what was comprehended in writing. An agreement was made (if that can be called an agreement "in which nobody meant what others believed he did) "that the armies were to be disbanded, an act of "oblivion passed, the King's forts and castles re"stored, and an assembly and parliament to be called "for a full settlement."

The army was disbanded, the Scots retracted nothing they had done, abated nothing in their demands, and burned their own version of the treaty by the common hangman. The King returned to London, outwitted by the Scotch; his army disappointed, his court distracted by animosities and factions, his nobility impoverished, his reputation diminished at home and abroad by failure of success, and the attachment to his person somewhat lessened by the little courtesy with which he dismissed those who had shown so much loyalty in the gathering together. One man stood free of all blame in the much misunderstood treaty, and had never made one false step throughout this Tragedy of Errors,' and that was the Earl of Essex; yet he was discharged in the crowd without even ordinary ceremony, and soon after refused the command of the Forest of Needwood, which was close to his estates,