Earls of Middleton, Lords of Clermont and of Fettercairn

54 The Earls of Middleton.
Taking advantage of Cromwell's march north-
wards, after a victory obtained over the Scotch,
July 20th, Charles proposed to the generals to invade
England, in which country he hoped to be joined by
many Royalists whom he believed would declare
themselves, as soon as they perceived him at the
head of an army The Scotch accordingly made a
rapid march, and arrived in the neighbourhood of
Warrington, August 6th.
The king's arrival had, however, been so sudden
and unexpected that the English Royalists were quite
unprepared to meet him ; and many of those who
joined him as soon as possible, were prevented from
uniting their forces with his, because they had not
signed the Covenant. From these causes Charles
found, on arriving at Worcester, that his army had
diminished instead of increased. Cromwell, on the
other hand, directly he discovered the king's inten-
tion, sent word to his friends in England that he
would follow as soon as possible. The Common-
wealth immediately raised the militia of the counties,
and enabled their general to attack Charles's force
of twelve thousand men with an army of thirty
thousand. 1
On the anniversary of the battle of Dunbar
1 Whitelocke ; Clarendon ; Leicester's Journal ; Lingard ; Ludlow ;
Parliamentary History.