=29. Cromwell's Conquest.=--No sooner did the news of these doings reach London than _Cromwell_ was sent northward with a large army to put a stop to them. The old hatred of _England_ was rekindled by this invasion, and numbers of recruits flocked round the banner of the Covenant. The army thus brought together was made up of good soldiers who made no pretences to piety, and of would-be saints who knew nothing of fighting. But the saints drove from their ranks all whom they suspected of lukewarmness in the cause and therefore looked on as sinners, and thus weeded out their best soldiers. Those who were left were put under the command of _Leslie_, and the King was not suffered to go out with the host. They took up a strong position on the hills south of the _Firth of Forth_, and for some time Cromwell tried in vain to bring them to a battle, but at last Leslie was persuaded against his better judgment to go down into the plain and meet the enemy. A battle was fought near _Dunbar_, September 3, in which the Scots were thoroughly beaten. =30. The Coronation.= --Meanwhile Charles was in _Dunfermline_, in old times the royal city, under care so strict and watchful that it was very much like imprisonment. The life which he led there was so distasteful to him that he made his escape, in hopes of joining the northern chiefs. But their plans were badly laid. He found no one to meet him as he had expected, and he was pursued and brought back by his former guardians. According to the ancient custom, _Charles_ was crowned at _Scone_ by the hands of the _Marquess of Argyle_.