Charles had determined to start on the 10th of August, and therefore, having passed certain bills on Saturday, the 7th, he then bid his Parliament farewell. The House of Commons greatly disliked this expedition. On the same day they requested the Lords to join them in petitioning his Majesty to delay his departure at least a fortnight longer. Only a strong reason could have induced Puritans to meet for business on the following day, being Sunday, but they did so meet. On that summer morning the members went down to Westminster, first to worship at St. Margaret's, and then to debate at St. Stephen's. But before entering on political affairs they were careful to guard against this Sunday sitting being drawn into a precedent. Often likened to the Pharisees for rigid formalism, these men, on this occasion, really shewed that--with their devout reverence for the holy season--they had caught the spirit of Him who said, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Their attempt--on a day they so much loved to honour by religious exercises--at staying the King's journey northward, showed how much mischief they apprehended from that visit. But their effort did not succeed. On Tuesday, the 10th, Charles came to the House of Lords, and sending for the Commons, gave his assent to the Scotch Treaty and to certain Bills; after which he again took leave of the Houses, and started for Edinburgh, at two o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by the Elector Palatine and the Duke of Lennox. On the 18th the Commons despatched commissioners to watch the ratification of the treaty, and "keep up a good correspondence between the two kingdoms." Mr. Hume calls them spies; their public appointment and legal credentials refute that representation; yet it cannot be a question that their intended business was to keep a sharp eye on his Majesty's proceedings, and to thwart any sinister design of his which they might be able to discover. [Sidenote: _Royal Visit to Scotland._] By the help of certain letters from Sidney Bere--afterwards Under Secretary of State, who formed one of the royal suite during this Scotch visit--we are able to follow the King into some of the religious and social scenes of the northern capital, which the courtier watched with much curiosity, and in his own fashion thus describes:-- "The chaplains' places are supplied by Mr. Henderson and another, who say grace, but I cannot say read prayers, they being likewise extemporary, one in the beginning, then a chapter or two, after that another prayer, then a psalm, and so the benediction. This is in the Chamber of Presence at the usual hours; the sermons have been hitherto in the parish church, though the chapel here be fitted up, but after their fashion, without altar or organs."[211]