only by shrewd observations of what passed on board, and of the strange people that came and went, that Pepys then guessed what he afterwards knew to be the fact.  “My Lord,” as Pepys always affectionately calls his patron, was pledged to the King, and was managing most discreetly in his interest.[2]—­But the power of Montague, as Commander-in-chief of the Navy only, was nothing in comparison with Monk’s.  How was Monk comporting himself?  Most cautiously to the last.  Though it was the policy of his biographers afterwards, and agreeable to himself, that his conduct from the date of his march out of Scotland should be represented as a slow and continuous working on towards the one end of the King’s restoration, the truth seems to be that he clung to the notion of some kind of Commonwealth longer than most people, and made up his mind for the King only when circumstances absolutely compelled him.  With the Army, or a great part of it, to back him, he might resist and impede the restoration of Charles; but, as things now were, could he prevent it ultimately?  Why not himself manage the transaction, and reap the credit and advantages, rather than leave it to be managed by some one else and be himself among the ruined?  That he had been later than others in sending Charles his adhesion was no matter.  He had gained consequence by the very delay.  He was no longer merely commander of an Army in Scotland, but centre and chief of all the Armies; he was worth more for Charles’s purposes than all the others put together; and Charles knew it!  So Monk had been reasoning for some time; and it was on the 17th of March, the day after the dissolution of the Parliament of the Secluded Members, that his ruminations had taken practical effect.  Even then his way of committing himself was characteristic.  His kinsman, Sir John Greenville, the same who had been commissioned to negotiate with him when he was in Scotland, was again the agent.  With the utmost privacy, only Mr. Morrice being present as a third party, Monk had received Greenville at St. James’s, acknowledged his Majesty’s gracious messages, and given certain messages for his Majesty in return.  He would not pen a line; Greenville was to convey the messages verbally.  They included such recommendations to his Majesty as that he should smooth the way for his return by proclaiming a pardon and indemnity in as wide terms as possible, a guarantee of all sales and conveyances of lands under the Commonwealth, and a liberal measure of Religious Toleration; but the most immediate and practical of them all was that his Majesty should at once leave the Spanish dominions, take up his quarters at Breda, and date all his letters and proclamations thence.  For the rest, as there were still many difficulties and might be slips, the agreement between his Majesty and Monk was to be kept profoundly secret.[3]