thank you for them, and if they be but as good as the Scots regiments, which I saw this morning, I shall be doubly pleased; for, as to these I have seen, there cannot be, I am sure, better men than they are, and they do truly look like old regiments; and one cannot be better pleased with them than I am, and must again thank you for them[14]." His Majesty, however, declined the Prince of Orange's proposal to accompany the brigade to England, fearing that His Highness might acquire too much influence in this country. The three English regiments arrived in the early part of July; and the rebel army having been overthrown at Sedgemoor on the 6th of that month, they were not required to draw their swords in the contest; but the presence of this celebrated body of men, at this critical juncture, could not fail to strengthen the interest of the court and overawe the disaffected. The brigade was encamped at Blackheath, and subsequently on Hounslow-heath, where the King reviewed it, and expressed his approbation of its warlike appearance, discipline, and good conduct; but the known staunch protestant principles of many of the officers and men gave his Majesty some concern. The three regiments (two of them now the FIFTH and SIXTH foot) obtained rank in the English army from the date of their arrival in England, and took precedence of the regiments raised by King James during the rebellion, in consequence of the latter not being completely organized when the brigade arrived. The rank of SIR HENRY BELLASIS'S regiment (now SIXTH FOOT) was afterwards disputed in consequence of the refusal, in the first instance, to proceed to England[15]; but a board of general officers decided this question in its favour in 1694. The rebellion having been suppressed, the English brigade returned to the Netherlands in August[16]; and the Scots a short time afterwards. The King was desirous of procuring the appointment of the Earl of Pembroke to the command of the six regiments, which was acceded to; but soon afterwards his Majesty pressed the Prince of Orange and States of the United Provinces to confer this important trust on the Earl of Carlingford, who was objected to (as the Earl of Dunbarton had been in the time of Charles II.), in consequence of his being a papist: his Majesty was particularly urgent on the subject; but the States did not acquiesce. [Sidenote: 1686] [Sidenote: 1687]