D. 1646. April 3.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1646. April 11.]
avoided; that he should be requested to give satisfaction on the question
of religion as speedily as possible, and that no co-operation of the royal
forces with the Scots should be permitted. At first Montreuil, in the
anguish of disappointment, was of opinion that no faith was to be put in
the word of a Scotsman: now he thought that he discovered a gleam of[a]
hope in the resolution taken at Royston, and advised[b] the king to accept
the proposal, if no better expedient[c] could be devised. It held out a
prospect of safety, though it promised nothing more.[1]
3. During this negotiation the unfortunate monarch, though warned that, by
treating at the same time with two opposite parties, he ran the risk
of forfeiting the confidence of both, had employed Ashburnham to make
proposals to the Independents through Sir Henry Vane. What the king asked
from them was to facilitate his access to parliament. Ample rewards were
held out to Vane, "to the gentleman, who was quartered[d] with him,"[2] and
to the personal friends of both; and an assurance was given, that if the
establishment of Presbyterianism were still made an indispensable condition
of peace, the king would join his efforts with theirs "to root out of the
kingdom that tyrannical government.
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