ts; and the important
question for his decision was, whether he should surrender it to them or to
the parliament. The one savoured of perfidy to his religion, the other[a]
of treachery to his sovereign. He preferred the latter. The first answer to
his offer he was induced to reject as derogatory from his honour: a second
negotiation followed; and he at last consented to resign to the parliament
the sword, the emblem of his office, the[b] castle of Dublin, and all the
fortresses held by his troops, on the payment of a certain sum of money, a
grant of security for his person, and the restoration of his lands, which
had been sequestrated. This agreement was performed. Ormond came to
England, and the king's hope of assistance from Ireland was once more
disappointed.[1]

Before the conclusion of this chapter, it will be

[Footnote 1: Journals, viii. 519, 522; ix. 29, 32, 35. The reader will find
an accurate account of the numerous and complicated negotiations respecting
Ireland in Birch, Inquiry, &c., p. 142-261.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1646. Oct. 14.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1647. Feb. 22.]

proper to notice the progress which had been made in the reformation of
religion. From the directory for public worship, the synod and the houses
proceeded to the government of the church. They divided the kingdom into
provinces, the provinces into classes, and the classes into presbyteries
or elderships; and established by successive votes a regular gradation of
authority among these new judicatories, which amounted, if we may believe
the ordinance, to no fewer than ten thousand. But neither of the great
religious parties was satisfied. 1. The Independents strongly objected to
the intolerance of the Presbyterian scheme;[1] and though willing that it
should be protected and countenanced by the state, they claimed a right
to form, according to the dictates of their consciences, separate
congregations for themselves. Their complaints were received with a willing
ear by the two houses, the members of which (so we are told by a Scottish
divine who attended the assembly at Westminster) might be divided into four
classes: the Presbyterians, who, in number and influence, surpassed any
one of the other three; the Independents, who, if few in number, were yet
distinguished by the superior talents and industry of their leaders; the
lawyers, who looked with jealousy on any attempt to erect an ecclesiastical
power independent of the legislature; and the m