During the spring and summer Charles continued to press for a cessation of arms, full discretion as to terms being given to Ormonde. The commission to him sets forth that the two Houses of Parliament 'to whose care at their instance we left it' to manage the Irish war, had long failed to support the army and to defend loyal subjects. The general assembly of the Confederates met at Kilkenny on May 20, and appointed commissioners with powers to treat, but nothing was actually done for more than a month, when they delivered their first proposition at Castlemartin in Kildare. Ormonde gave his answer within a week, and the commissioners then asked for an adjournment till July 13. Time was in their favour, for the treaty would confirm each party in possession of what they held, and they were gaining ground. On the appointed day the commissioners returned a dilatory answer, and Ormonde resolved if possible to try conclusions with Preston in the field. He collected 5000 men and succeeded in retaking Edenderry and some other strong places, but his opponent evaded a general action, and scarcity of provisions soon forced him to return to Dublin. On August 1 orders arrived from the King to arrest four Privy Councillors who sided with the Parliament as much as they could, and against whom charges had been brought. Sir John Temple, Sir Adam Loftus, and Sir R. Meredith were accordingly shut up in the Castle, Parsons being excused on making affidavit that confinement would injure his health. The opposition was thus silenced, and Ormonde found himself complete master. In the meantime Pier-Francesco Scarampi, an Oratorian, arrived at Kilkenny with a commission from the Pope, and immediately threw his weight into the scale against peace. The Confederates, he urged, appeared to be winning, and if they continued to fight vigorously they would probably get control of the country. Nothing was to be expected from the justice of any English party, but if they made themselves formidable they might extort respect from the victors, whether King or Parliament. Instead of giving money to Charles 'to be converted by his ministers, our enemies, to their own use,' it would be much better to employ their resources in driving the Scots out of Ulster. The Scots would not be bound by the cessation, which would be a sham as long as it was necessary to fight them. Foreign princes would be offended if arms supplied by them were laid down without their consent. The real object of Scarampi's mission was to 'reinstate the Catholic religion and worship throughout the whole country, and to restore to the entire island the splendour of its ancient sanctity,' and not to beg an uncertain truce for a year. Bellings, on the contrary, who expressed the official view taken by the Supreme Council, argued that it was above all necessary to show that they were no rebels, to join with the English to drive out the Scots, and 'that the Catholic Church may, in safety and freedom, by a tacit