Their vehemence intimidated the Scottish parliament, and
admonished the duke of Hamilton to proceed with caution. That nobleman,
whose imprisonment ended with the surrender of Pendennis, had waited on the
king in Newcastle; a reconciliation followed; and he was now become the
avowed leader of the royalists and moderate Presbyterians. That he might
not irritate the religious prejudices of his countrymen, he sought to mask
his real object, the restoration of the monarch, under the pretence of
suppressing heresy and schism; he professed the deepest veneration for the
covenant, and the most implicit deference to the authority of the kirk;
he listened with apparent respect to the remonstrances of the clerical
commission, and openly solicited its members to aid the parliament with
their wisdom, and to state their desires. But these were mere words
intended to lull suspicion. By dint of numbers (for his party comprised
two-thirds of the convention), he obtained the appointment of a committee
of danger; this was followed by a vote to place the kingdom in a posture
of defence; and the consequence of that vote was the immediate levy of
reinforcements for the army. But his opponents under the earl of Argyle
threw every obstacle in his way.
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