Tired of the gloomy restriction in which lie was held by the Scottish clergy, Charles endeavoured to make his escape to a body of royalists in the Highlands ; but he was overt en, and persuaded to return. This incident, which wardenominated the start, procured him better treatment, from the fear of losing him. His coronation was performed at Scone with great solemnity. The crown was placed on his head by the marquis of Argyle, whose own head was afterwards the forfeit.
Charles encamped at Torwood, and his generals re solved to pursue the same cautious conduct which had been observed by Lesly, and fatally over-ruled by the clergy. The town of Stirling was behind ; the north supplied them with provisions ; and entrenchments pro tected their front ; but their position was by no means so favourable as in the former year at Edinburgh ; and Cromwell, unable to force them in front, yet, by defeat ing a detachment on their flank, got between them and the north, and Charles adopted a resolution sufficiently desperate, which Argyle vainly endeavoured to oppose ; he marched to the. south, to carry the war into England, relying on the English royalists for support ; but nei ther these nor the Presbyterians, though they hated Cromwell, would join an army of fugitive invaders. The militia opposed him in front, and Cromwell hung upon his rear. At last, the Scottish army, who had thrown themselves into Worcester, were attacked by Cromwell with 30,000 men, and, after a desperate contest, were all either killed or taken prisoners. The king, escaping with difficulty (see the article CHARLES II.) from the field of battle, after a multitude of adventures, at last reached Shoreham in Sussex, where a vessel transport ed him to France. The executions of the royalists, after this suppressed insurrection, were directed, in consequence of sentences by court-martial ; for Crom well had already found, that a trial by jury would not support tyrannical usurpation. By the strength of the usurping government, a total pacification was produced at home. Ireton proceeded with 30,000 men success fully in the work of subduing 'Ireland, till his death.
Ludlow, his successor in the command, continued to push the advantages, and to gain an easy victory. Monk, who had been left with 7000 men to overawe Scotland, reduced the whole kingdom to subjection, and an union with England was pressed upon the Scotch at the point of the sword. Of ninety Scottish towns and counties to
which writs were issued to send representatives to the English parliament, only thirty complied. Argyle alone acted with public spirit amidst the calamities of his country. He retreated to his estate, where he fortified himself for some time ; and though he acceded, at last, to an union with England, he was the last man in Scot land who yielded to Monk. Sir George Ayscue was sent to reduce the colonies ; all of which, except New England, had declared for the king ; and Bermudas, Antigua, Virginia, and Barbadoes, were soon reduced. With equal ease were Guernsey, Jersey, Scilly, and the Isle of Man, subjected ; and the sea, which had been infested by the privateers of those islands, was rendered safe to English commerce. The countess of Derby, who defended the Isle of Man, had the glory of being the last person in the British dominions who submitted to the victorious commonwealth.
The new government next exerted its energies abroad. The Dutch had shown symptoms, during the late civil wars in England, of attachment to the loyal cause. It was long before the parliamentary envoy could obtain an audience of the states-general. Dorislaus, a Dutchman by birth, but who had resided 'in England, and taken an active share in the king's death, had been assassinated by some English royalists in Holland, who had not been pursued by the Dutch government with such rigour as was expected. The prospect of rich prizes from the Dutch, and of diverting men's minds from tyranny at home by splendid achievements, deter mined Cromwell and his parliament to change their proposed alliance with their fellow-Protestants into a furious war.
The Dutch, though they dreaded and deprecated a war, prepared a fleet of 42 sail to protect their naviga tion, which their famous admiral, Tromp, commanded. Blake, the English admiral, met him in the straits of Dover, and a battle was fought, in which it is not known which party commenced hostilities, with no decisive victory on either side. The Dutch fleet, however, re tired to their own coast, and their government still ne gotiated for peace. The English demanded immediate reparation for all the damages they had sustained ; on the refusal of which, they declared war.