ABSTRACT
When the Scots handed Charles over to the English in February, 1647, the King was far from thinking his position desperate, although he was determined not to make any permanent concessions of importance. Parliament attempted to get rid of the menace from the Army without satisfying the soldiers’ pecuniary claims. The first policy adopted by Cromwell was that of coming to terms with Charles. The combination of the King and the Army would not only have been irresistible; it would also have secured an appearance of legality for the settlement on which they agreed. After the defeat of the Scots and of the English royalists, agreement between the Army and the King was most improbable, and, though negotiations were entered upon, they failed. Before the end of the campaign, Parliament, under the influence of the Presbyterians, had reopened negotiations with Charles.
