On receiving this intelligence, General
Leslie hastened north with a force of 3000 cavalry. General
Middleton, who supported the King's friends in the Highlands, and
who was then at Forfar, hearing of Leslie's advance, forwarded him
a letter containing a copy of a bond and oath of engagement which
had been entered into by Huntly, Athole, the Earl of Seaforth, and
other leading Highland chiefs, by which they had pledged themselves
on oath to join firmly and faithfully together, and "neither for
fear, threatening, allurement, nor advantage, to relinquish the
cause of religion, of the king, and of the kingdom, nor to lay down
their arms without a general consent; and as the best undertakings
did not escape censure and malice, they promised and swore, for the
satisfaction of all reasonable persons, that they would maintain
the true religion, as then established in Scotland, the National
Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant, and defend the person
of the King, his prerogative, greatness, and authority, and the
privileges of parliament, and the freedom of the subject." Middleton
pointed out that the only object of himself and friends was to
unite the Scots in the defence of their common rights, and that,
as would be seen from this bond, the grounds on which they entered
into association were exactly the same as those professed by Leslie
himself.
Pages:
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452