ABSTRACT
In the negotiations with the King during 1647 there had been no serious difference between the two Houses. Both had agreed in claiming for the Parliament of England the right to dispose of the King’s person without consulting the Scots. Both had agreed in the policy of demanding the King’s assent to certain propositions as the basis of a peace, and had rejected his demand for a personal treaty, although it was backed by the Scots. In the summer of 1648 the two Houses began to differ on the question of peace. The House of Lords reverted to the position that they had taken up in 1643; they took the lead in proposing fresh negotiations with the King, and in the end carried the majority of the House of Commons with them. The Lords declined to concur in the vote, and ordered the printing of the declaration issued by the Scots to explain their action.
