While Ormonde was negotiating with the Confederates under the title of 'His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects now in arms'--he had not allowed them to style themselves 'Catholics' simply--a common danger was drawing the Scottish estates and the English Parliament into a closer alliance. One week after the conclusion of the Irish cessation the solemn League and Covenant was published by order of the House of Commons. The word League was introduced by Vane to emphasise the political character of the compact, for the growing Independent party had no idea of submitting themselves to the strict yoke of Presbyterian polity. Making this reservation and reducing the sum promised to 30,000_l._, we may accept Baillie's account: 'The authority of a General Assembly and Convention of Estate was great; the penalties set down in print before the Covenant, and read with it, were great; the chief aim of it was for the propagation of our Church discipline to England and Ireland; the great good, and honour of our nation; also the Parliament's advantage at Gloucester and Newbury, but most of all the Irish cessation, made the minds of our people embrace that means of safety; for when it was seen in print from Dublin, that in July his Majesty had sent a commission to the Marquis of Ormonde, the judges, and committee there, to treat with these miscreants; that the dissenting commissioners were cast in prison; that the agreement was proclaimed, accepting the sum of 300,000_l._ sterling from these idolatrous butchers, and giving them, over the name of Roman Catholic subjects now in arms, a sure peace for a year, with full liberty to bring in what men, arms, money they could from all the world, and to exterminate all who should not agree to that proclamation;--we thought it clear that the Popish party was so far countenanced, as it was necessary for all Protestants to join more strictly for their own safety; and that so much the more, as ambassadors from France were come both to England and us, with open threat of hostility from that Crown.' Monro refused to be bound by the cessation, but abstained from open hostilities until orders came from Scotland. 'Here,' says Turner, 'was strange work, a man not able to prosecute a war, yet will not admit of a cessation. It cost us dear, for since the King's restoration, all our arrears were paid us by telling us we were not in the King's pay, since we refused to obey his commands; and very justly we were so served.' By a clever stroke of the politicians rather than the theologians Ireland was made a party to the Covenant as 'by the providence of God living under one King, and being of one reformed religion,' thus excluding the Irish confederates from the rights of subjects.[47] [Sidenote: Jealousies among the Confederates.] [Sidenote: Antrim's nominal command.]