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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..41c4ff2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52235 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52235) diff --git a/old/52235-8.txt b/old/52235-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 075f7f3..0000000 --- a/old/52235-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14545 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Governor of England, by Marjorie Bowen - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Governor of England - -Author: Marjorie Bowen - -Release Date: June 4, 2016 [EBook #52235] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNOR OF ENGLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Scholar, Graeme Mackreth and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - - - - - - - - - - -THE GOVERNOR OF ENGLAND - - - - - THE GOVERNOR OF - ENGLAND - - BY - - MARJORIE BOWEN - - NEW YORK - E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - 1914 - - - - -CONTENTS - - -PART I - -THE CAUSE - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. THE SUMMONS 3 - - II. THREE YEARS LATER 13 - - III. MR. PYM AND AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 23 - - IV. THE QUEEN'S POLICY 31 - - V. THE FALL OF THE GREAT MINISTER 42 - - VI. THE KING FAILS 51 - - VII. AUTUMN, 1641 61 - - VIII. THE NEWS FROM IRELAND 70 - - IX. MR. PYM AND THE KING 79 - - X. LORD FALKLAND'S ADVICE 90 - - XI. THE FIVE MEMBERS 99 - - XII. NOTTINGHAM 107 - - -PART II - -THE MAN - - I. A LEADER OF MEN 117 - - II. THE QUEEN'S FAREWELL 128 - - III. THE GREAT FIGHT 138 - - IV. THE DEAD CAVALIER 147 - - V. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL CROMWELL AND HIS GOD 157 - - VI. THE KING DREAMS 164 - - VII. LOYALTY HOUSE 174 - - VIII. THE KING'S FOLLY 186 - - IX. THE END OF THE WAR 194 - - -PART III - -THE CRISIS - - I. THE ISSUE WITH THE KING 203 - - II. THE KING'S PLOTS 213 - - III. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL CROMWELL, ROYALIST 221 - - IV. THE KING AT BAY 230 - - V. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL CROMWELL, REPUBLICAN 238 - - VI. PRESTON ROUT 246 - - VII. THE CONSTANCY OF THE KING 254 - - VIII. IN THE BALANCE 261 - - IX. BY WHAT AUTHORITY? 271 - - X. EXIT THE KING 285 - - -PART IV - -THE ACHIEVEMENT - - I. "THE CROWNING MERCY" 297 - - II. THE TALK IN ST. JAMES'S PARK 306 - - III. EXIT THE PARLIAMENT 316 - - IV. "THE NEW ORDER" 324 - - V. HIS HIGHNESS 333 - - VI. MAJOR-GENERAL HARRISON 342 - - VII. LADY NEWCASTLE 352 - - VIII. THE LADY ELISABETH 361 - - IX. EXIT HIS HIGHNESS 370 - - - - -PART I - -THE CAUSE - -"Of the two greatest concernments that God hath in the world, the one -is that of religion and of the preservation of the professors of it; to -give them all due and just liberty; and to assert the word of God. - -"The other thing cared for is the civic liberty and interest of the -nation. - -"Which, though it is, and I think it ought to be, subordinate to the -more peculiar interest of God, yet it is the next best God hath given -men in this world; and if well cared for, it is better than any rock to -fence men in their other interests."--OLIVER CROMWELL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SUMMONS - - -On a certain day in November, a misty day with sharpness under the -mist, a gentleman was walking out of the little town of St. Ives, which -stood black and bleak above the bleak, black waters of the Ouse and the -mournful clusters of bare, drooping willows. - -It was late in the afternoon, and there chanced to be no one abroad in -the grazing lands outside the town save this one gentleman who walked -eastward towards the damp, vaporous fen country. - -The horizon was brought within a few yards of him by the confining -mist, and, as he walked farther from St. Ives, the town began to be -also rapidly lost and absorbed in the general dull greyness, so that -when he turned at last (sharply and as if with some set purpose or some -lively inner prompting), the dwelling-houses, the river, bounded by the -barns and palings, had all disappeared, and there remained only visible -the erect tall steeple of the church, pointing into the grey sky from -the dark obscured willows and dark obscured town and unseen river. - -And though he walked rapidly, yet this tower and steeple of the old, -humble, enduring church continued long in sight, for it was uplifted -into the higher, clearer air, and was in itself substantial and massive. - -For the high-wrought mood of this gentleman who, as he advanced farther -into utter solitude, so continually looked back, this steeple of God's -mansion had a deep spiritual meaning; it rose out of darkness and -vapour and obscurity as the mandate of God rose, the one clear thing, -out of the confusions and strifes and clamours of the world. - -The mandate of God, ay--surely the one thing that mattered, the one -thing to be followed and obeyed--and when the summons and command -were clear there was great joy in obedience; but what when, as now, -the order was not given, when God remained mute and the soul of His -creature was enclosed in darkness even as town and fields were now -enclosed in the cloudy exhumations of the earth? - -When the steeple was at last hidden from his keenest glance, the -gentleman stopped and, leaning against a paling, gazed over the short -expanse of foggy ground visible to him, alone and terribly lonely in -his soul. - -A deep melancholy lay upon him, a melancholy almost inseparable from -his unbending, austere, and sombre creed, a melancholy of the spirit, -black and awful, neither to be ignored nor reasoned with--a spiritual -disease to which he had been prone since his earliest youth, and which -became at times almost intolerable and scarcely to be endured by any -mortal, however stout-hearted. - -Had any one come up through the November mist and noticed and observed -this gentleman leaning on the rough willow paling, he would have -seen nothing to suggest a gloomy mystic nor one struggling with the -anguished tribulations of the soul. - -He was, to the outward eye, a man in the prime of life, of the type -commonly accepted as English, and, indeed, possible to no other nation -in the world, of medium height and the appearance of medium strength, -his obvious gentility gracing his plain, sober, frieze clothes, and the -little sword at his side giving the one courtly touch to his habit, -which otherwise, with plain band and ribbonless hat, might have seemed -too much that of a mere farmer, for his high boots, now mud-caked, had -seen good service. He wore no gloves on his browned hands, and his -hair, of the dusk English brown, was cut in a country fashion, and -worn no longer than his shoulders. - -His face was unusual, yet might have been that of an ordinary man, the -features powerful, the nose bluntly aquiline, the mouth set steadily, -the Saxon grey-blue eyes rather overbrowed, giving the countenance a -glooming air, the chin and jaw massive, the complexion tanned to the -glowing natural colour of a healthy fair man past any bloom of youth, -and unused to the softness of town life. - -Not a handsome face, but not uncomely, and remarkable chiefly (now, at -least) for a certain quiet look, not a slumbering look, but rather the -look of one whose soul is locked and sealed. - -Such was his appearance, and his history was as simple and unpretending -as his visage and his attire; nothing had ever happened to him that -he should stand there now sunk in torments of melancholy. His life -had been smooth, uneventful, successful; he had been born and bred in -Huntingdon, and never gone beyond the borders of that county save when -he had sat, a silent borough Member, in His Majesty's last Parliament -at Westminster, nine years ago, and he was in that happy position of -being well known and respected, in his own little world, as one of -the largest landowners in St. Ives, and utterly unknown to the great -world where fame is distraction and confusion. He was tranquil in -an honourable obscurity, happy in his wife, his children, of an old -well-placed family, well connected, and of considerable local influence -and fair repute. He could himself remember that His late Majesty, -twice coming through Huntingdon, had each time been entertained by -his grandfather at his manor house, on the first occasion with much -splendour, when the King came from Scotland to take up his new crown. - -In his own business he had prospered; the lands he had bought at St. -Ives and which he farmed himself, reclaiming them with patience from -the fen, had well repaid his labour, and he might count himself well -off, and even, for this quiet spot, wealthy. - -Therefore it might have been supposed that this man, midway now through -life, would have considered his honourable labour, his honourable -profits, his serene existence, his fair placement and good report among -his neighbours, his prospect of quietness and respect and comfort to -the end of his days, and have been content, for he was without ambition. - -But he was not satisfied with his own material happiness, for great new -forces and powers were abroad in the world struggling together, and -this struggle echoed again and again in the heart of the man who stood -against the willow paling, gazing into the November mist that shrouded -Erith Bulwark and the fen country. - -The country had been long at peace, lulled and tranquil after that -great triumph of the Reformation of the Church, and that demonstration -of material power which had silenced the pretensions of Spain and -warned the world what England was. - -But Elizabeth was now a generation dead, and the grandson of the -Papist Mary sat on the Tudor's throne with a Frenchwoman, a Mary and -a Papist too, beside him, and the Church was becoming again corrupt, -the power of the bishops daily higher, troubles in Church and State -increasing, liberty, civil and religious, threatened--for the King and -his ministers had governed nine years without a Parliament, contrary to -the laws and ordinances of the realm of England. - -This Huntingdonshire gentleman knew that the devil was in these things, -that God was surely with the oppressed, with those who sought and -found a purer worship, with those, daily increasing, who accepted that -teaching of John Calvin which had inspired the Hollanders to throw -off the bloody yoke of Alva and the Inquisition, with those who had -ventured to plead humbly for liberty of conscience at the conference -of Hampton and had been denied by King and bishops with threats and -scorn, and had gone about since, ridiculed and persecuted, nicknamed -"Puritans." - -This man knew this as he knew the King and the bishops, the ministers, -and the followers of these, were dealing with things idolatrous and -horrible, stepping into the fore-courts of hell. - -Ay, and taking the nation with them. How was that to be -prevented--which way did God appoint? - -That was the question which troubled the personal melancholy of the man -in whose heart it flashed--for the King was King by Divine appointment, -and if he had lent his weight and authority to these ways of misrule -and oppression, idolatry and Papistry, who was to argue with him or -withstand him? - -Who was to appeal from the King to God? - -The man in the frieze habit was conscious of a burning flame or -light in himself which urged him to step forward for this distracted -England's succour. But he received no summons. The face of the Lord was -veiled and he was but a poor soul, possibly damned, with no knowledge -of what destiny the Highest had prepared for him. He felt himself in -blackest chaos; his soul, which had ever striven to obtain God's grace, -now seemed tossed far from mercy on the black waters of despair. - -To him, and especially in this mood, the present world was nothing; he -was not given to metaphor, but in his thoughts he compared the world -to a little plank he had once seen stretched across a deep and angry -stream, and arched above with fairest blossoming trees. The plank in -itself was insignificant, and useful only to support those who might -for a moment stand thereon--the important thing was to save oneself -from the black, dangerous abysses beneath, and gain, somehow, the -flower-crowned heights that the trees veiled and decked. - -Whether the plank be rough or smooth, narrow or wide, mattered not -at all, if only one were enabled to tread thereon straightly. So it -mattered not a jot to this gentleman what his station, chances, or -fortunes might be in this world. Am I damned or saved? was the question -that held the heart of his torment and mingled with it was another: Is -there not that in me, unworthy as I am, which God might make use of to -save these poor people in poor England now? Yea, though I am not bred -to be a lawyer or a soldier, am I not conscious of _something_ within -me which might fit me for this work if God should call me to it? - -But the heavens were black and mute to his intense prayers and his -humble endeavours to commune with God, and he went his obscure way in -wretchedness of heart, never faltering from the stern composure of his -belief that the Lord had preordained all things, and that no act of any -man's could alter a jot what was to befall. - -The King and the bishops, poor puppets, believed in Freewill and such -heresies of Arminianism and Popery, but this Calvinist, standing in the -November vapour, _knew_ that he was but a helpless weapon to be used as -God might direct; _knew_ he was saved or damned before his birth, and -that no deed of his could alter the Divine fiat; _knew_ he was but a -machine into which the Holy Spirit might blow some sparks, but which at -present was cold and empty. - -In this moment he felt hell very close beneath his feet, the earth -seemed a mere crust over that awful region, a crust that might easily -break and spew forth devils, while the over-arching heavens seemed -lost, lost beyond mortal attainment. - -A long shudder shook his strong body, he covered the steadfast grey -eyes with his rough hand, and leant heavily against the paling. - -A cousin of his, a man not unknown in Parliament, had recently defied -the King; had refused, being armed and at the head of his tenantry, to -pay the ship-money, that being a tax (one of many) levied by the King -without the consent of the people of England, Parliament being in -abeyance; and this country gentleman had appealed to the laws, asking, -"By what authority?" and when they said, "the King,"--had answered, -"that was not sufficient, for the laws and the nation were above the -King, and alone he could enforce nothing." - -Which statement made men stare, for it was near treason, and the -speaker of these words was now on his trial, and his cousin, fighting -through his own tribulations, thought of him and of the issue that hung -upon the verdict pronounced upon his case. - -If the judges found the ship-money tax illegal, then had civil liberty -won indeed a victory! If they found that the King was above the laws -and could by his sole authority do what he pleased in Church and State, -why, where was England and those poor few within her borders who truly -sought the Lord? Yet not so much even this tremendous issue touched the -soul of the melancholy Calvinist as the thought--What he did, could not -I do, ay, and more? - -If one, a gentleman of good repute, may thus challenge even the sacred -authority of the King, may not another, of the same good blood and -stalwart faith, the Lord bidding him, accomplish something? - -The thought was like a tiny ray of light penetrating his deep -melancholy; he moved from his cramped position, shook his frieze cloak -on which the drops of moisture hung thick, and looked about him. - -Something to do--something to labour for--something to save and guard -for the Lord in this old realm where all had gone so crooked of late.... - -The fire that never lay very deep beneath the stagnation of his -melancholies mounted clear and bright in his soul. - -He turned about to where he knew the church stood, and, stately -Englishman as he was, he flung out his hands wide with the unconscious -gesture of strong passion, and, looking upwards through the drizzling -mist with that inner eye which perfectly beheld the choired rows of -Paradise and the multitude about the Throne, he cried out aloud-- - -"Lord, wilt thou not choose _me_ also for this service?" - -The little light in his soul increased into a gleam of hope; he turned -his back on the fens and Erith Bulwark, and retraced his steps towards -St. Ives, crossing the lands of Slepe Hall, which he rented, and coming -soon again in view of the quiet, sombre little town, and of the garden -wall enclosing his own riverside house. - -The mist now began to waver and lift, and to be over-coloured with a -play of light, and when he reached the church the day was almost normal -fair. - -In his soul, too, was the struggle stilled; a curious apathy, a pause -in spiritual experience, enveloped him. He stood motionless for a -moment, for he felt physically weak and his legs trembled under him. - -As he halted so, not a yard from the entrance to the church, a solitary -horseman disturbed the dulness of the street--a young yeoman farmer -returning from market at Huntingdon town. On seeing the gentleman he -reined in the stout grey he rode, and very respectfully raised his hat. - -"Why, sir," he said, "there is great news in Huntingdon. Why, Mr. -Cromwell, the news of the verdict is abroad!" - -The other had no need to ask what verdict. In all England men spoke of -"the trial"--the trial of John Hampton for refusing to pay the King's -tax. - -"Well?" he asked, and his serious face was pale. - -"Mr. Cromwell," answered the young man dismally, "he is to pay the -twenty shillings." - -For a moment Mr. Cromwell was silent, then he spoke slowly-- - -"So we have no hope in those who administer the laws?" - -"They have put the laws beneath His Majesty," said the farmer eagerly. -"All is to be as he wills, with no talk of a Parliament at all--so -the lawyers in London say, sir--and Mr. Hampton is to pay the twenty -shillings which goeth with many another honest man's money into the -coffers of the bishops and the Papist Queen." - -"Ay, so the lawyers say," returned Mr. Cromwell, "but this is a matter -which England"--he slightly stressed the word--"must decide." - -The young farmer, flushed and important with his great news, saluted -again, and rode on to report all over the countryside how the protest -of Mr. John Hampton to the laws of England against the tyranny of the -King had failed. - -Mr. Cromwell remained standing by the church a moment, then he wandered -off into one of his own fields near by and entered a great barn which -stood there, and remained silent in the dimness of the interior, which -was fragrant from the scent of last summer's hay stored in the lofts. - -So the Law had decided in favour of the King, who might now levy -ship-money and whatever tax else he chose--and there would be the Tower -and the pillory, the branding and the fine, for those who dared resist, -as there had been for Prynne and Bastwick who had dared to criticise -the ritual of Archbishop Laud. - -Mr. Cromwell felt a strange sparkle in his blood; he paced to and fro -on the rough floor, strewn with the dried husks of the last harvest, -and clasped his hands on his rough coat-breast and then dropped the -left to his sword. As he clasped the plain hilt, a sudden exaltation -shot into his heart, his spirit leapt suddenly to a greater height than -any it had touched before. And then it happened. - -A dazzle of unbelievable light opened before his inner vision, he fell -on his knees and, from a sword of fire, received the accolade of God.... - -"Lord, I am saved!" he cried. "I am in Grace! And I am chosen to be Thy -servant in this work which is to be done in England...." - -When the glamour faded he rose, staggering, and wept a little for joy. - -It was a tremendous moment of his life. - -Then he went home across the wet fields, outwardly an ordinary -gentleman, inwardly a soul newly awake to salvation, bearing a burning -light no more to be quenched until it returned to Heaven. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THREE YEARS LATER - - -"Sir," said the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who had been called hotly -from that country to counsel the imperative needs of the King. "I am -come to give you advice, and I tell you first, and plainly, never man -came to so lost a business." - -As he spoke they stood looking at each other, master and servant, King -and minister, in a little cabinet of Whitehall, that glittered with -richness and flash of deep colour, like a casket of jewels. - -Beyond the deep square window lay the gardens, the houses, the straight -reach of river, and London, beneath a quivering August haze; no discord -of sight nor sound disturbed the peaceful harmony of this scene, and in -the palace gardens the trees rustled and the flowers gave forth their -strength in sweet odours unvexed by human noise or hustle; yet my lord, -gazing out on this sunshine, knew well enough that the city, whose -towers rose beyond the sleepy river, was nursing forces that might -soon gather sufficient deadly power to sweep him, and all he stood -for, into nothingness. He bore himself erect, and the courage that was -his strongest quality showed in his haughty pose, in the expression of -his dark, disdainful face, in the quiet smile with which he spoke his -gloomy pronouncement. - -He received no immediate answer, and in the pause of silence he glanced -attentively at the master whom he had served so whole-heartedly and -believed in so intensely--for such as he must always believe intensely -in the principle for which they fight. - -Charles was leaning against the mullions; melancholy and levity were -strangely mingled in his mien. In stature and make he was slight, in -dress extravagant, his dove-grey silk was embroidered with seed pearls -and gold, and a deep collar of exquisite lace was fastened by two gold -tassels at the lacing of his doublet. - -Every Englishman, first seeing him, noted how foreign he was in -appearance. Though brought up as one of the nation whom he was to rule, -blood was here stronger than breeding, the powerful French-Scotch -strain of his famous name, the influence of his gay, foreign mother, -showed in his elegance, his refinement, his somewhat sad dignity, which -gave him an air as if he were too great to be proud outwardly, but was -beyond measure proud inwardly. - -His hair, of the renowned Stewart auburn colour, fell full and soft -round a face that was slightly worn and troubled, but handsome and -composed still--a face that was too charming to be the index of a mind, -or more than a mere seductive disguise for whatever manner of man lay -beneath. - -My lord had served him long and known him as intimately as any man -save my late murdered Duke of Buckingham, but even my lord, now it was -coming to the issue of their joint policies, could not be quite sure -what the King would do,--where he would be adamant and where give way, -where he would fail, and where he would stand firm. - -"A lost business," Charles repeated at last. He had a blood-red cameo -on the little finger of his fair left hand, and turned it about as he -spoke; it was the only jewel he wore save a long pearl in his right ear. - -"Sir, I call it no better than lost. The army unexercised and -unprovided, great disloyalty abroad, the Scots in a rebellion which is -daily more successful, the people mightily disaffected, and all in a -clamour for a Parliament--and I would to God, sire, that you had not -dismissed the last one, for it was better than any you are like to -have called together at this turn." - -"I will," said Charles, "call none at all." He knew secretly that his -minister was right, and he already regretted the moment of spleen -in which, after a three weeks' sitting, he had dismissed the first -Parliament he had called for eleven years--had called in desperation -for aid against the Scots--for he saw that what Strafford said was -true, and that in the present temper of the nation he was unlikely to -get men so loyal in their temper as even the Members of the so-called -Little Parliament had been. - -"Yea, call none at all," returned the Earl, "and where are we for -money? Is there any king or country to whom we can turn? Have we not -asked in vain even at Rome--even from the merchants of Genoa?" - -"The money must be raised in England," said the King. He would not put -it into words, but to himself he was forced to admit that no foreign -power nor personage would lend money without security--and security -Charles was quite unable to give; for in the eyes of Europe a King of -England, acting without his Parliament, was a person by no means to be -seriously regarded. - -"Then," returned Strafford, in the tone of a man who courageously -accepts defeat, "Your Majesty must call another Parliament." - -Charles moved from the window and seated himself before a small bureau -of dark wood, inlaid with mother-o'-pearl; he rested his delicate face -in his delicate hand and gazed mournfully, almost reproachfully, at his -minister. - -"You accuse me of failure," said the Earl, answering the look in his -master's eyes. "Well, I have failed." - -Certainly he had; his famous policy, which he had proudly called -"Thorough," had fallen to pieces before the first demonstration of the -popular anger, and his attempt to establish the English monarchy as the -monarchies of Spain and France were established, had come to nothing. -He was not the man to shirk blame or responsibility, and he did not -reflect, as he might have reflected, that had Charles whole-heartedly -trusted Strafford as Strafford had whole-heartedly served Charles, the -endeavour to force the policies of Richelieu on the English people -might have approached nearer accomplishment, or at least have avoided a -failure so disastrous. - -The King did not speak; he was not in a mood to be generous with his -servant, for his own humiliation was very bitter and would be bitterer -still if he were forced to call another Parliament. The rebellious -Scots, resisting his attempt to thrust Episcopalian bishops upon them, -had advanced as far as Durham, and the English, far from flying to -arms to resist the invader, were showing obviously enough that they -considered the Scottish cause as theirs, and would indeed soon follow -their northern neighbour's example and call a Parliament of their own -did Charles not call one for them. - -So much the daily petitions, and the demeanour of John Pym, the -ringleader of the malcontents, and those country gentlemen who had -rallied round him in the Little Parliament, by refusing supplies for -the Scottish war unless the country's grievances were first redressed, -attested. - -Strafford took his eyes from his master and looked across the garden -to the shimmering river. He was a more resolute, a more brilliant, -a bolder man than the King. He saw more clearly and gauged more -accurately than His Majesty the strength of the opposition now growing -in England against the royal prerogative and the pretensions of the -Anglican clergy, and he saw also that in the ensuing struggle he stood -in the forefront of the battle and was marked out by Pym and his -followers as the first and principal victim. Once he had been of Pym's -party, and when he had seceded to the King, Pym had told him, "You -may leave us, but we shall not leave you while your head is on your -shoulders." - -He had only been Thomas Wentworth then, and now he was Earl of -Strafford, and, under the King, the greatest man in the three realms, -but the threat recurred to him now as his eyes rested on the dazzle of -the river flowing swiftly towards the Tower. - -He knew he had come to England to play a desperate game with John Pym, -and that the stakes were, "_Thy head or my head_." - -The King startled him from his sombre thoughts by a light blow with -clenched hand on the bureau, and by rising abruptly. - -"Is there no one to defend me against these rebellious Commons?" he -cried, as if his reflections had become desperate and were no longer to -be borne in silence. - -"I have," said Strafford, "done my utmost. I am the best-hated man in -England, sire, for what I have done to enforce your authority. But if -none of my expedients avail your Majesty, if the people will not take a -debased coinage, if the train-bands refuse to arm--if all the support -of my Archbishop but end in his fleeing his palace, pursued by the -people----" - -"The people!" broke in Charles, "always the people!" - -"Ay," said Strafford, "always--the people." - -"And what, my lord," asked the King, "is your advice now?" - -"Advice?" echoed the Earl; the sun now fell full over his fine face and -showed it to be near as colourless as the rich lace collar he wore. -"There is no advice to be given but this--Your Majesty must call a -Parliament." - -The King's mobile mouth curved scornfully. - -"And what will be the first action of this new assembly?" he demanded. -"To present a petition against my Lord Strafford as once a petition was -presented against my Lord Buckingham. Do you not know how the nation -deals with my friends?" - -"Sire," replied the minister, with a great sweetness of manner that -came with endearing charm from one of his stern and bold demeanour, "if -Your Majesty calls me friend, it is enough. What shall I fear when the -King stands by me?" - -"Yes, yes," replied Charles, in sudden agitation; "they should not -have had Buckingham, and they shall not have you--rest assured, my -lord. Guard only from another Felton, and I will protect you from these -baying hounds that hate us so." - -He held out his hand and Strafford clasped and kissed it with sincere -reverence. Not only was the King his beloved master, but the symbol of -that sacred and Divine authority which he believed to be the finest -form of government, and which his strong genius had so devotedly and -strenuously served. - -The King, who seemed shaken with some sudden emotion, turned away, -pressing his handkerchief to his lips, and at that moment the door -opened, the leathern hanging that concealed it was lifted, and a lady -entered the cabinet--a lady frail and flowerlike to the eye, attired -in a gown of white silk with knots of pink; a lady with a radiant face -of the most delicate hues and shadings, whose fine black ringlets -were adorned with a braid of pearls worked in the likeness of the -fleur-de-lis on a pink ribbon. - -Her countenance wore a look of fatigue and anxiety under the animation -of her expression, but, though she had lost the dewy loveliness of her -girlhood, she still appeared fragrant and youthful, an exquisite, royal -creature whose Bourbon blood showed in the quick, impetuous pride of -her carriage, while she had the great black eyes of her Medici mother, -and something, too, of the Italian in her gay liveliness. - -At her entrance the King turned towards her with instant eagerness. He -had at this time three counsellors--Strafford, Laud, and the Queen--and -any one who looked upon him now as he took his wife's hand and led her -to the deep-cushioned window-seat, would not have doubted which had the -most influence of the three. Henriette Marie was now, as she had ever -been, the most powerful influence in her husband's life. - -She looked now from the King to the Earl and said quickly, with a -pronounced French accent-- - -"What advice does my lord give in this perverse issue?" - -"He saith there is nothing for it, Mary, but to call another -Parliament." - -The Queen stamped her white-shod foot. - -"_Mon Dieu!_" she exclaimed, with her eyes afire and a heat as of fire -in her voice also. "Are we to stretch our necks out for the _canaille_ -to put their feet thereon?" - -She spoke with the boundless pride of the daughter of Henri Quatre, of -one whose father, brother, and husband were kings; she spoke also with -the intolerance of a Papist for heretics, and with a woman's ignorance -of the worth and value of the great movements and upheavals of the -world. - -All this Strafford saw; he saw also that she was a bad counsellor for -the King, but, though he was not the kind of man to relish sharing -confidences with a woman, he had long since recognized the fact that -Henriette Marie ruled England fully as much as the King. - -Therefore he answered quietly-- - -"It is the only expedient, Madame, to raise money." - -"I would rather," returned the Queen impetuously, "sell every jewel I -possess!" - -The Earl smiled sadly. - -"All your jewels twice over, Madame, would not serve our need now." - -The Queen turned and caught her husband's sleeve. - -"Is there no alternative--none?" she demanded. "Where are the soldiers? -Believe me, I would sooner see the heads of these men on London Bridge -than conferring together in Westminster Hall." - -"Nay," replied Charles tenderly, "hold up thy heart, dearest. I cannot -think I shall again be confronted by such unruly miscreants as last -time, and truly there are divers things of much inconvenience that I do -fear cannot be settled save by this same calling of a Parliament." - -The Queen returned his look of deep affection with a flashing glance. - -"Truly, I am ashamed and scandalized that Your Majesty is come to this -pass! Where are your lords and your soldiers?" - -"We have barely enough to hold the Scots off London," replied Charles, -"and those are unpaid and disaffected--as thou knowest." - -The Queen's great eyes sparkled with the ready tears of provoked -passion. - -"My Lord Archbishop was not safe at Lambeth," said Strafford slowly. -"The mobile followed him even to the gates of Whitehall." - -"And is there no one to fire on them--to cut them down with the sword?" -asked the Queen. "Oh, Strafford, my Lord Strafford, I fear you have -very greatly failed of your high promises!" - -"The depth of my failure is measured by the depth of my humiliation," -returned the Earl. "I have not spared myself, Madame, in the endeavour -to make this kingdom great in the councils of Europe, and His Majesty -first among the crowned heads thereof, but the breath of the populace -is a wind that will blow any barque on to the rocks." - -The King put his hand on Strafford's great shoulder. - -"My friend," he said warmly, "no king ever had a truer. Do not blame my -lord, Mary, for this pass we are in, for he, if any man can, will serve -us and help us to a better issue." - -"In France we have other ways to deal with treason and rebellion," -said the Queen with sudden weariness; "but do what thou wilt! Call thy -Parliament, and God grant it avail thee to ease thy needs!" - -She moved, with a whisper of silk, from the two men, and, taking up -a vellum-bound book from the little bureau where the King had sat, -fluttered over the painted leaves. - -Strafford picked up his great plumed hat; he was bound that evening -for the headquarters of the English army at York, where he was to take -up the chief command. - -The King walked with him to the door, holding his arm. - -"Fear thou nought," he said earnestly. "I will protect thee." - -The Queen put down the book and came forward. - -"Take no heed of my passions," she said sweetly. "You have served us -well and we love you; good fortune, my lord. Farewell, and a fair -journey to York." - -The Earl went on one knee to kiss her perfumed, pale hand, and she -looked at him with a certain tenderness, a certain regret, a certain -scorn curious to behold. - -"I am too much your servant to avow myself afresh your creature," said -Strafford, lifting his ardent eyes, not to the lady, but to his master. -"You have all of me. I pray God deliver Your Majesty from these present -pressures, and grant me power to work you some service." - -The sun was pouring broad beams full through the window and illumining -all the rich treasures that filled the cabinet, the gold-threaded -tapestry, the Italian pictures, the finely-wrought furniture, the -carpets of Persia, and the two graceful figures so delicately apt to -this gorgeous setting. The sunlight fell also on my lord, a figure more -soldierlike and not so attuned to a scene of luxury. - -So he took his leave and came glooming into the courtyard, and mounted -amid his escort, and rode down Whitehall. - -The streets were empty, by reason of the heat; only the vendors -of oranges and a few idlers were abroad, but when my lord reached -Westminster Hall, he saw by the corner-posts of the road two men -standing, and his bright, quick glance knew them at once for two -enemies of his--one his chief enemy, Mr. Pym, and the other one of his -followers who had sat for Cambridge in the Little Parliament, and been -marked unfavourably by my lord--a certain Oliver Cromwell. - -My lord was too great a man to be discourteous, he touched his beaver -to the gentlemen and rode on with his guard, serene and aloof. - -John Pym looked after the little cavalcade flashing in the dust and -sunlight. - -"There goeth the chief enemy of these realms," he said. "Marked you his -haughty eye when he did salute us?" - -"He cometh from Whitehall," returned Mr. Cromwell. "Hath he advised the -King to call a Parliament, think you, Mr. Pym?" - -John Pym pointed to Westminster Hall behind them. - -"There you and I will sit before the summer be burnt out," he answered, -"whether the King issue the writs or no." - -They both stood silent, looking after my lord, who presently turned in -his saddle and gazed back at the Parliament House. - -"_My head or thy head_," he thought, as he rode through the sunlight. - -Strafford did not want to die. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -MR. PYM AND AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE - - -When Mr. Cromwell had seen Lord Strafford ride away into the late -summer dust of gold, he returned to his lodging and, packing up his -effects, went back to Huntingdon. He was lately removed from St. Ives -to Ely, and was become of late a more quiet, sombre man than even -formerly, for he had received a blow his soul had staggered under, -namely, the death of his eldest son, a gallant youth still at college. -Yet he was soon withdrawn again from his grazing grounds and his -cattle, his harvesting, and buying, and selling, for the King called a -Parliament, and the people sent up from the boroughs and shires all the -flower of English gentlehood, the Cursons, Ashtons, Leighs, Derings, -Ingrams, Fairfaxes, Cecils, Polles, Grenvils, Trevors, Carews, and -Edgcombes, all fine old names deep rooted in English soil--most of them -the very men who had formed the late Parliament which the King had so -summarily dismissed--and with them came Mr. Cromwell, borough Member -for Cambridge, a silent man still, waiting for the Divine guidance -which had been promised him when he entered into Covenant with the Lord. - -Soon after the session opened, a motion was moved for inquiry into -Irish affairs, and Mr. Cromwell, seeing Mr. Pym as they left the House -together, called out to him and said-- - -"It is my Lord Strafford you strike at, is it not?" - -And Mr. Pym answered "Yes." - -The two gentlemen walked together down Whitehall. There were a great -many of the meaner sort abroad, hustling and clamouring and passing -rumour from mouth to mouth about the progress of the Scots and the -humour of the King, all of them big with hopes of the things the -Parliament men would do, now they were gotten together; of how the -bishops would be put down for ever, the new taxes taken off, and His -Majesty's design for bringing over an army of Irish or French Papists -finally defeated. - -As they neared Whitehall--that portentous and haughty palace behind -whose closed gates Majesty endured humiliation as best might be--Mr. -Pym, looking round him in his stately way at the robust and eager -crowd, touched his companion's arm. - -"Mr. Cromwell," he said, "there is good material here if the right man -could be found to handle it." - -"'Tis a great nation," answered Mr. Cromwell, "but 'tis to the ancient -blood we must look--not to these." - -"That was my meaning," returned John Pym; "there are among us many able -men--but who will be called?" - -"Thou thyself, Mr. Pym," said his friend warmly, "art surely a man -after God's own heart, one whom he hath raised up to be a captain, even -as he raised up David." - -"I do what I can," returned Mr. Pym quietly, "but I am not the man for -whom England waiteth." - -By now they had reached the post office at Charing Cross and halted at -a cutler's shop near by, for Mr. Cromwell had left his sword there in -the morning to be repaired, and now came to call for it. As there was -press enough of people buying and testing arms about the door, they -were delayed a little, and as they waited, a young gentleman, thrusting -a brace of new pistols into his belt, pushed his way through the crowd, -mounted a horse a groom held for him, and rode away with great speed. - -Mr. Pym looked after him. - -"That is a friend of my Lord Strafford," he whispered, "posting to York -to warn him to keep from London." - -"Has it come to that?" asked Mr. Cromwell in a moved voice. "Is my lord -afraid?" - -John Pym looked at him sharply. - -"Hast thou not seen that temper in the House whereof any man might be -afraid?" he answered. - -"But my Lord Strafford!" exclaimed the other gentleman in a tone as if -he named the King himself. - -"Thinkest thou I have not the courage to impeach my Lord Strafford?" -demanded Mr. Pym grimly. "He is the chief author of these troubles, and -must answer for them to the Commons of England." - -"I well believe thou hast the courage," answered Mr. Cromwell quietly, -taking up the sword which was waiting for him, "as I believe my lord -hath the courage to answer you." - -"He hath courage," returned John Pym. "You speak as if you favoured -him," he added with a smile. - -Mr. Cromwell smiled also and they left the shop, turning towards St. -Martin's Lane where Mr. Cromwell had his lodgings beyond the fields, -and there, when they had reached his chamber, they sat quiet awhile, -oppressed by the sense of great events which, gathering force and -momentum with every day, were marching forward with the majestic -strength of fate--events in which they, these two modest gentlemen -sitting silent in this modest chamber, felt that they might be -involved, might indeed be piece and part of the new pattern into which -the destinies of England were being rapidly woven. - -Presently Mr. Cromwell rose and opened the window on to the light of -the setting sun which fell aslant the narrow street. - -"There is a great battle before us," he said. - -"Now the Parliament is called, half that battle is won," replied Mr. -Pym. - -"Dost thou see things so easily?" returned the other. "This Earl now -will make a fight." - -"This Earl will bend," flashed John Pym, "as the King will bend." - -"The King?" repeated Mr. Cromwell thoughtfully. "Wilt thou threaten -even the rock of Divine authority on which the throne standeth?" - -John Pym laid his hand on his friend's arm with a great eagerness -and intensity of gesture. He stood now in the full light of the open -window, and it was noticeable that, despite his strong and passionate -air, his person was emaciated and there was a look of disease and -fatigue very marked in his mobile face, as if he felt the full weight -of his years. - -"Hark ye, Mr. Cromwell," he said, "thou art now much hearkened to in -the House and do often obtain the mastery thereof; thou wilt come to -great things yet, for, methinks, thou hast power over men; help us now -to rid England of this Strafford. I ask thee, for hitherto thou hast -kept silence on this matter. And I do not know thy mind on it." - -Mr. Cromwell regarded him gravely, almost mournfully. - -"Dost thou mean to have the Earl's head?" he asked. - -"That is my inner and final meaning--even as it is his to have thine -and mine, and that of every man in England who dare speak his mind.' - -"Then there is failure before thee," answered Oliver Cromwell, "for -this man is the King's friend, and the King will protect him." - -"The King will have neither the power nor the will to protect a man -whom the Commons demand." - -"The Duke of Buckingham----" - -Mr. Pym broke the sentence. - -"Ay--the Duke of Buckingham--would the King have saved him? Felton's -knife spared the answer." - -"This makes His Majesty without honour," said Mr. Cromwell. "I cannot -imagine that he ever could or would abandon one whom he hath twined so -closely in his affections." - -"The Earl must go and all he standeth for," returned John Pym. - -"Ay, all he standeth for--the Star Chamber, the ship money, the Court -of High Commission, the power of the bishops--but the man thou canst -not touch, and thou mayst well leave his life when thou hast destroyed -his life work." - -"Surely thou art always too compassionate," replied Mr. Pym. - -"I have no natural hatred against the Earl of Strafford," smiled Mr. -Cromwell, "and it seemeth to me a hopeless task you do attempt, for the -King can never surrender him." - -"I may fail," said John Pym. "I know that I play a desperate game, but -I feel the Lord is with me and that for His ends and His people I work. -Only a little while we have, the bravest and best of us, and how much -there is to do! How much!" - -Mr. Cromwell leant further out of the window; there was a pot of -geranium slips on the sill, and their perfume was strengthening with -the fall of evening, and filling the quiet air with richness. - -Oliver Cromwell looked over the deep, bright, green leaves towards -Whitehall which lay bathed in the gold and amber light of the sinking -sun. - -"Hark!" he said, "hark!" - -"Thou hast sharp ears," said Mr. Pym. "I hear nothing." - -"I hear," returned the other, "the citizens of London rising----" - -John Pym listened intently. A distant murmurous sound was soon audible -enough, a hoarse sound of human shouting, a blend of human voices with -clash of weapons and the tramp of feet. - -"'Tis the train-bands fighting the apprentices, and those of the baser -sort, belike," said Mr. Pym. "Yesterday they were like to have burnt -down Lambeth Palace when they discovered His Grace had again fled." - -Mr. Cromwell continued to gaze towards the end of the street, across -which several people were beginning to run, attracted by the now common -event of a street riot. - -"The Lord is leading the nation through bitter ways," he observed. -"And I do see ahead of us a time of much trouble, for if His Majesty is -stubborn, these," he pointed down the street to the hurrying crowds, -"will fight." - -"Parliament," replied Mr. Pym, "will settle all grievances without -bringing the mobile into it. Mr. Cromwell, to-morrow I will go to the -Bar of the House of Lords and impeach the King's favourite of high -treason, and there will be a many following me. Wilt thou be one of -them?" - -Oliver Cromwell turned swiftly round to face his friend. - -"Count on me," he said quietly, "to not leave thy party until thou hast -brought the King to reason, but I believe that this will be a longer -and bloodier business than any of us reckon on as yet." - -"I trust we shall leave blood out of it," answered Mr. Pym gravely. -"But God directs as He will, and we are not of a temper to shrink from -fighting for His word and our liberty." - -By now the crowd had gathered in considerable proportions, and the two -spectators at the window observed that the centre of this agitated -throng was a coach and four which, protected by several constables, -footmen, and two gentlemen on horseback, was endeavouring to make -headway down Whitehall, probably to the palace. - -"Who is this," wondered Mr. Pym, "whose appearance causeth such a riot?" - -They were, however, too far off to discern the occupant of the coach, -and therefore presently descended into the street to discover who it -might be whose progress was thus impeded, and to offer, if need be, -some assistance against the clamour of the mobile, for violence and -outrage were not wished for by these two, even though the cries of the -populace might be but an echo of their own sentiments. - -As they began to push their way, into the fringe of the crowd, they -perceived that the coach had been brought to a standstill and was -densely surrounded by shop boys and the meaner kind of citizen. - -The coachman, buffeted by various missiles, leant from his box and -cried-- - -"My lady, I cannot go on!" - -At this the leathern curtains of the coach were drawn back and a -woman's face appeared at the window. She regarded the press before her -fixedly, and with a curious blankness of expression, her high-bred and -sensitive countenance had a cold look of either pride or terror, or -preoccupation, which made it mask-like as a carving. - -Mr. Pym touched his companion's arm. - -"It is Lady Strafford," he said. - -Mr. Cromwell had never before seen the wife of the great minister who -was now no better than a doomed man, and he gazed with vast interest -and pity at the face staring from the coach window. - -"We should save her from this," he answered, and, lifting his sword -hilt, with a few rude blows he forced his way through the crowd to the -coach. - -"Stop this fooling!" he shouted, and his voice, when raised, was of an -extraordinary depth and harshness. The rioters turned, startled, and, -with a quick movement of his powerful arm, he swept two youths from the -wheels to which they were clinging to impede the movement of the coach. - -Mr. Pym was now beside him, rather breathless with pushing his way -through. - -The Countess never moved or altered her bitter calm; the two gentlemen -both saluted her, and when Mr. Pym's hat was off and she had a clear -view of his countenance, she gave a great start and the hot blood -rushed to her face and burnt up her pallor. - -"Mr. Pym!" she cried. "Oh, John Pym!" - -At the sound of this name, which was now famous throughout England as -the champion of the people, the crowd quieted and began shamefacedly to -give way, being at heart good humoured and not disposed to more than -rough horse-play, after the nature of English crowds. - -"Ride on, madam," said Mr. Pym sombrely. "Your way is clear." - -"I want not your succour," she returned, with great heat and force; -"false friend and subtle enemy, I know what you contrive against us!" - -"Against _you_ nothing," he replied, "since once I enjoyed your grace -and entertainment--and, madam, it was your lord left us, not we him." - -"Oh, what a land is this become!" answered the Countess, "when every -designing, rebellious knave may endeavour to strike even at the very -architects of the realm!" - -"Architects of tyranny, madam," said Mr. Pym; "and every plain fellow -who can handle a sword may rightly endeavour to strike at them." - -"Your presence flouts me," cried Lady Strafford. "Drive on!" - -The coach swung forward on the leathers and jolted off down Whitehall, -still pursued by a few boys shouting and hooting. - -"In the old days when I knew her," said John Pym, "she was a most -modest, excellent lady, but now I doubt but that she is proud and -blinded even as her lord." - -"She seemed to me," replied Mr. Cromwell, "to be not so much as one -proud, but as one in a mortal fear." - -"She has heard somewhat of this inquiry into Irish affairs, and is off -to the King to pray protection for her lord. Poor, silly woman, as if -she could prevail against the Commons of England!" - -The autumn dusk was now rapidly approaching, and the two friends turned -into the Strand to find a tavern to get themselves some dinner before -they returned to the House. - -Meanwhile the Countess of Strafford drove furiously into the courtyard -of the palace and, hastening through the public halls and galleries, -demanded an audience of the Queen. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE QUEEN'S POLICY - - -Lady Strafford was admitted, without any delay, into the private -apartment of the Queen, where Henriette Marie sat with two ladies in -a sumptuous simplicity and elegant seclusion, which was noticeable in -the extreme richness and good taste of the apartment, in the attire of -the Queen herself, which, free from all fopperies of fashion, was of an -exceeding fineness and grace, and in her occupation, which was that of -sewing figures in beads on a casket of white silk. - -The chamber was so delicately scented with attar of roses and perfume -of jasmine and cascarilla, so finely warmed with a fire of cedar-wood, -that every breath drawn there was a delight; the window was shrouded -by peach-coloured velvet curtains, and the light came from a suspended -silver lamp the flame of it softened by a screen of rosy silk; on the -wall hung mellowed and ancient French tapestries, heavily shot with -gold and silver, and the inlaid floor was covered with silk carpets. -The Queen wore a pale saffron-coloured gown, and about her elbows and -shoulders hung quantities of exquisite lace fastened by loops of pearl. - -At the entrance of the Countess, she very sweetly dismissed the ladies -and smiled at her visitor, then continued her task, thoughtfully -selecting the beads from an ivory tray and sewing them skilfully on to -the thick white silk. - -The Countess remained standing before the Queen. She was now shown -to be a woman of a carriage of pride and fire, fair-haired and -swift-moving, with a great expression of energy which did not alter her -wholly feminine attraction. - -"Your Majesty will forgive this uncourtly coming of mine," she said, -"but I have it on good authority that this inquiry into Irish Affairs -is but a covert attack on my Lord Strafford." - -"Yea, most certainly," returned the Queen, raising her soft eyes to the -breathless lady. - -"I saw John Pym to-day," cried the Countess, "and methought he had an -air of triumph; besides, would the very boys in the street dare shout -at me unless my lord's fall were assured?" - -She twisted her hands together and sank on to a brocade stool near -the window. The Queen slightly lifted her shoulders and smiled. She -bitterly detested the English, who in their turn loathed her, both for -her nationality and her religion, and even for the name "Mary," which -the King gave her, and which was for ever connected in the popular mind -with Papistry and with two queens who had been enemies of England. -Therefore she was well-used to unpopularity and that hatred of the -crowd of which Lady Strafford to-day had had a first taste. - -"Why discourage yourself about that, madam?" she asked. "These -creatures are not to be regarded." - -"The House of Commons is to be regarded," returned Lady Strafford. - -She spoke, despite herself, in a tone of respect for the power that -threatened her husband, and the Frenchwoman's smile deepened. - -"How afraid you all are of this Parliament," she said. - -"Has it not lately shown that it is something to be afraid of?" cried -the Countess. - -The Queen continued to carefully select the tiny glass beads and to -carefully thread them on the long white silk thread. To the Countess, -who had never loved her, this absorption, at such an hour, in an -occupation so trivial, was exasperating. - -"I have come to Your Majesty on matter of serious moment," she said, -and she spoke as one who had a claim; her husband had rendered great -services to the Crown, and held his lofty position more by his own -genius than by the King's favour. "Yesterday I sent an express to York, -beseeching my lord to stay there with the army, and to-day Mr. Holles, -one of my kinsmen, hath gone on the same errand. I beseech Your Majesty -to add your weight to these entreaties of mine, and to ask His Majesty -to bid my lord stay where he is safe." - -At this the Queen's lovely right hand stopped work, and lay slack on -the white cover of the casket, and with the other she put back the fine -ringlets of black hair from her brow and looked full and delicately at -the Countess. - -"Both the King and I," she returned gently, "wrote to my lord before -that--ay, the day before, and were you more often at court, madame, you -would have heard of it." - -An eloquent flush bespoke the relief and gratitude of the Countess. - -"Then he is safe!" she exclaimed. "At York, amid the army, who can -touch him!" - -The Queen laughed lightly. - -"Dear lady," she said, "thy lord is no longer at York, but on his way -to London. At least, if he be as loyal as I think he be." - -"London?" repeated Lady Strafford, as if it were a word of terror. -"London? my lord cometh?" - -"On the bidding of His Majesty and myself," answered Henriette Marie. - -The Countess rose, she pushed back the dull crimson hood from her fair -curls, and looked the Queen straightly in the face. - -"Wherefore have you bidden him to London, madame?" she asked. - -"That he may answer the charges that will be brought against him," said -the Queen. - -"And you have persuaded him to this!" cried the Countess. "I did think -that I might have counted you and His Majesty among my lord's friends!" - -Henriette Marie picked up a knot of white silk and began to disentangle -the twisted strands. - -"The Earl hath His Majesty's assurances and mine, of friendship and -protection," she said with dignity touched with coldness. - -Lady Strafford stood silent, utterly dismayed and bewildered. It seemed -to her incredible that the King should have asked his hated minister to -come to the capital at the moment when the popular fury against him had -reached full height and the Commons were on the eve of impeaching him. -She did not, could not, doubt that the King would wish to protect his -favourite, but she felt an awful doubt as to his power. Had he not been -forced to call the Parliament at the demand of the people?--was it not -to please them that he had sent for the Earl?--so what else might he -not consent to when driven into a corner! - -The Countess shuddered; she thought of the angry crowd who had chased -Laud from Lambeth Palace, who daily hooted at and insulted her when -she went abroad, of the useless train-bands, of the general bottomless -confusion and tumult, and she saw before her with a horrid vividness, -the calm, weary face of John Pym, the man who led the Commons. - -The Queen surveyed her narrowly, and observed the doubt and terror in -her face. - -"Are you afraid?" she asked. "Is it possible you think the King cannot -protect his friends?" - -Lady Strafford looked at the beautiful frail woman in her lace and silk -who was so delicate, so charming, so gay, and who had more power over -the King than his own conscience, and her heart gave a sick swerve. She -never had, never could, wholly trust the French Papist Queen, for she -was herself too wholly open and English in her nature. - -Henriette Marie rose, and the jasmine perfume was stirred by the -shaking of her garments. - -"Is it not better," she said, with a lovely, tender smile, "that Lord -Strafford should come here and face his enemies, than that he should -lurk in York among his soldiers as if he feared what creatures like -this Pym could do?" - -"Madame," returned Lady Strafford, through white lips, "no one would -ever think the Earl feared his enemies. But to come to London now is -not courage but folly." - -"It is obedience to the King's wishes," said the Queen, and a haughty -fire sparkled in her dark liquid eyes. - -"The King," returned the Countess, "asketh too much from his servant, -by Heaven, madame! Those who love my lord would see him stay at York--" - -"And those who love the King would obey him," flashed Henriette Marie. - -The Countess controlled herself and swept a curtsey. - -"I take my leave," she said. "May Your Majesty hold as ever sacred the -promises with which you have brought my lord in among those who madden -to destroy him! As for me, my heart is fallen low. Madame, a good -night." - -"I do forgive thy boldness for the sake of thy anxiety," said the Queen -with sweetness. "We women have many desperate moments in these bitter -times. A good night, my lady." - -The Countess bent her proud blonde head and departed, and the Queen -took up her beads and her silks and began again to work the bouquet -of roses, lilies, and violets she was embroidering on the lid of the -casket. - -A thoughtful and haughty expression clouded the delicate lines of her -face, and this proud pensive look did not alter when the hangings that -had scarcely fallen into place behind Lady Strafford were again lifted, -and the King, unattended, and with an air of haste, came into her -presence. - -"Has Strafford come?" she asked. - -"Not yet!" replied Charles, in an unsteady voice, "and I have begun to -wish I had not sent for him." - -The Queen flung down her work and rose; the angry red of a deep passion -stained her pallor. - -"Canst thou never be resolute?" she cried. "Wilt thou for ever hesitate -and change and regret every action? My lord, I would sooner be dead -than see this temper in thee." - -The King came and kissed her hand with a charming air of gallantry. - -"Sweet," he said, in self-justification, "it is a horrid thing to -command a man into the hands of his enemies." - -"Thou knowest," returned Henriette Marie firmly, "that the Parliament -and London both clamour for my lord and will not, by any means, be -quiet until he appear. Thou knowest that we, that I, am in actual -danger." - -"Hush, dear heart--speak not of our danger," interrupted Charles -hastily, "lest it seemeth we sacrifice our servant, our friend, to bare -fear." - -"Acquit thyself to thy conscience, Charles," she answered with -limitless pride. "Art thou not the King? Must I remind thee of that as -even now I had to remind my Lady Strafford?" - -"My lady here?" murmured the King. - -"Did you not meet her in your coming?" - -As she spoke Henriette Marie moved towards a mirror that hung in one -corner, and looked at her reflection with unseeing eyes, then turned -the same abstracted glance on to the King. - -The mirror was set in a deep border of embroidery which was framed -in tortoise-shell, and the mellow colours of these, silks and shell, -were softened into rosy dimness by the shaded light. This same glow -was over the lovely figure of the Queen, her gown of ivory and amber -tints, brightened into a knot of orange at her breast, and the pearls -round her throat, and her soft, dark hair held no more lustre than the -exquisite carnation of her fragile beauty. She seemed utterly removed -from all that was commonplace, tumultuous, noisy, coarse, and Charles, -gazing at her with his soul in his eyes, was spurred and stung, as -always when he regarded his wife, with bitter anger that he was not -allowed to follow the bright guidance of this lady, and live with her -in rich happiness and peace adorned with every fine and costly art, -with all the intellectual delicacies and luxurious refinements which so -pleased them both. - -He loathed the English people who dragged him and even his adored -wife into the clamorous atmosphere of intrigue and dissension, of -controversy and riot. - -To Charles there was one God, one Church, one King, one right--the -right of God as manifested in the King's right; all else was to him -mere vexation, disloyalty, and blasphemy. The popular side of the -questions now rending the nations he did not even consider; he stood -absolutely, without compromise or doubt, by his own simple, unyielding, -ardent belief that he was King by God's will, and above and beyond all -laws. - -And his late impotency to enforce this view on his subjects had stirred -his naturally gracious serene nature to deepest astonishment and anger. -He was baffled, outraged, and inwardly humiliated, and he had already -in his heart decided to be avenged on these gentlemen of the Commons -whose clamours had so rudely broken his regal security, and on the -stubborn English who had taken advantage of the rebellion of the Scots -and his lack of money with which to defend himself, to force on him -this hateful Parliament. - -And now, when he knew that Pym, the inspiration and leader of -these unruly gentlemen, was daring to strike at his own especial -friend--minister and favourite, the man who was at once his guide and -mouthpiece--he was bewildered by his intense inner fury, and pride -as well as justice made him regret that he had summoned the Earl to -London. - -He gazed at the Queen where she stood in golden shadow, and these -thoughts tormented him bitterly. - -He knew her mind; her temper was even more despotic than his, and armed -force was the first and only weapon she would have ever used in dealing -with the people; her counsels were ever for the high hand, the haughty -command, the merciless sword, and always the King hearkened to her. But -his nature was more subtle, involved, and secretive than hers, and he -knew better than she did the growing strength of the forces opposed to -him; therefore he had often endeavoured to cope with his difficulties -after a fashion she called irresolute and unstable. - -The Queen broke the heavy silence. - -"Strafford will come and we will protect him," she said; "that is -enough." - -"Nay, not enough," replied Charles, "for I must be avenged on these men -who seek to touch my lord." - -"Hadst thou hearkened to me," she murmured in a melancholy voice, "thou -hadst been avenged on all these long since." - -"Ay, Mary," cried the King earnestly, "we are not in a realm as loyal -and steadfast as France, but rule a country that hath become a very -hive of sedition, discontent, and treason, and it is well to tread -cautiously." - -"Caution is not a kingly virtue," said Henriette Marie, with that same -sad sweetness of demeanour that was so exquisite a cloak for reproof. - -"Trust me to act as is best for thee and for our sons," replied Charles -firmly. "Trust me to so acquit myself to God as to be worthy of thy -love." - -The Queen regarded him with a wise little smile, then pulled a toy -watch of diamonds from the lace at her bosom and glanced at it with -eyes that flashed a little. - -"With quick riding and sharp relays, my lord might almost be here," she -remarked. - -Charles sank into the great chair with arms by the window, and bent his -gaze on the floor. His whole figure had a drooping and fatigued look; -he mechanically fingered the deep points of lace edging his cambric -cuffs. - -Henriette Marie dropped the watch back behind the knot of orange velvet -on her breast, and her glance, that was so quick and keen behind the -misty softness that veiled it, travelled rapidly over her husband's -person. - -She noted the grey hairs in his love-locks, the lines of anxiety -across his brow and round his mouth, his unnatural pallor, the nervous -twitching of his lips. He was the dearest thing on earth to her, but -she had been married to him nearly twenty years and she knew his -weakness, his faults, too well to any longer regard him as that Prince -of romance which he had at first appeared to her. His figure, as she -looked at him now, seemed to her strangely tragical; she could have -wept for this man who leant on her when she should have leant on him, -this man whom she would have despised if she had not loved. - -"Holy Virgin," she said passionately to herself, "give him strength and -me courage." - -She went to her table and began to put away her work. The King raised -his narrowed wistful eyes and said abruptly-- - -"Supposing the Earl doth not come? We are as likely to be hounded from -Whitehall as His Grace from Lambeth if my lord disappoints the people." - -"He will come," said Henriette Marie, delicately putting away her beads -and silks in a tortoise-shell box lined with blue satin and redolent of -English lavender. - -Even as she spoke and before she had turned the silver key in the -casket, her page had entered with the momentous news for which they -both, in their different fashion, waited. - -My Lord Strafford was in the audience chamber, all in a reek from hard -riding. - -They went down together, the King and Queen, and found the dark Earl, -in boots and cloak still muddied, waiting for them. - -"My faithful one!" cried Charles, "so thou art come!" and when -Strafford would have knelt, he prevented him, and instead kissed him on -the cheek. - -"Sire," answered my lord, "I met your messengers on the road. I had -already left York and was hastening to London to meet this accusation -mine enemies do prepare to spring on me." - -Charles seized his hand and grasped it warmly. - -"I do approve thine action, and here confirm all expressions of favour -I have ever given thee." - -"Thy lady," added the Queen, smiling, "was, poor soul, fearful for -thee, but thou art not, I think, seeing thou hast our protection and -friendship." - -"Madame," answered the Earl, fixing on her the powerful glance of his -tired dark eyes, "I am fearful of nothing, I do thank my God, save only -of some smirch on my honour, and that is surely safe while my gracious -master holdeth me by the hand." - -There was energy and purpose in his look, his carriage, his speech, his -bearing had the unshakable composure of the fine man finely prepared -for any fate. - -"Sire," he said, speaking with great sincerity and emotion, "my own -aim hath been to make thee and England great, and if His Majesty is -satisfied, I hold myself acquitted of any wrong to any man, nor do I -take any such on my conscience." - -The King, much moved, clasped my lord's firm right hand closer in his -own, and stood close beside him in intimate affection. - -"What weapon hast thou prepared to fight these rascals with?" asked -Henriette Marie. - -"Madame," replied the Earl grimly, "I shall go down to the House -to-morrow and impeach John Pym of high treason on the ground of his -sympathy with, and negotiating with, the rebel Scots." He smiled -fiercely as if to himself, and added, "_My head or thine_, and no time -to lose!" - -A sudden tremor shook the Queen, a silence fell on her vivacity. - -"Come to us to-morrow," said Charles, "before going to Westminster--and -now to thy waiting wife and a good night, dear lord." - -"Truly this evening I am a weary man," smiled Strafford, and with that -kissed the hands of his lieges and left them. - -They stood silent after his going, not looking at each other. - -They could hear the distant angry clamour of London at their gates. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE FALL OF THE GREAT MINISTER - - -The moon's circle was half-filled with light, a mist rose and hung -above the river, a sullen rain was falling through the windless air, -as the gentlemen left the House and dispersed among the excited crowd -to their dwellings. Along the river the people were dense, they surged -and gathered along the banks from Westminster to St. Katherine's wharf, -shouting, singing, flinging up their hats, and wringing each other's -hands for joy. - -They had just been regaled with a sight many of them had never dared to -hope to see. The mist and the rain had not obscured from their hungry -eyes the barge in which my Lord Strafford, that morning the greatest -subject in two kingdoms, had gone by, a prisoner, to the Tower. - -He stood for an absolute monarchy, a dominant priesthood, taxation -without law, the Star Chamber, the Court of High Commission, even as -the Queen stood for Papistry and the possible employment of foreign -force, and the two between them represented all that was most hateful -to the English. - -Therefore it was neither the usual levity of crowds nor the usual -vulgar rejoicing in fallen greatness that animated these dense throngs -of Londoners, but a deep, almost awful sense that a definite and -tremendous struggle had begun between King and people, and had begun -with a great victory on the popular side. - -It had been a day of smouldering excitement that frequently burst into -riotings between Westminster and Whitehall. In the morning my lord, -with a guard of halberdiers, had gone down as usual to the House; after -a little while he had returned to the palace, accompanied each time by -the furious shouting and groans of the people. The truth was that his -charges against Pym were not yet ready, and he wished to consult his -master. - -The crowd, however, waited, fed by rumours that came from time to time -by means of those who had the entry into the House; by the afternoon it -was definitely known that Mr. Pym had cleared the Lobby and locked the -door of the House, while a discussion of grave importance took place. - -So the people waited, patient but insistent, trusting Mr. Pym and those -gentlemen shut up with him, yet watchful lest they should cheat them. - -Nor were they disappointed; at five o'clock out came Mr. Pym at -the head of some three hundred Members, and, passing through the -frantically applauding crowd, went to the House of Lords. - -Here, at the Bar, he told the Peers, that by the command of the Commons -in Parliament and in the name of all the Commons of England, he accused -the Earl of Strafford of high treason, and demanded that he be put in -custody while they produced the grounds of their accusation. - -Then came my lord again, hastening back from Whitehall (where the news -had reached him), with an assured and proud demeanour, and so into -the House, with a gloomy and unseeing countenance for the hostile -throng; then more suspense, while excitement increased to a point where -it could not be any longer contained, and vented itself in fierce -rattlings on the very doorsteps of Westminster Hall and rebellious -tumults at the very gates of Whitehall, where the guards were doubled -and stood with drawn swords, for there had been some ugly shouting of -the Queen's name, and some hoarse demand that John Pym should accuse -her also of high treason against the realm of England, and haul her -forth with her black Papist brood of priests to answer the charges -against her, even as my lord was answering, or must answer them. -Before the misty evening was far advanced, and while the moon hung yet -sickly pale in a scarcely dark sky, the prologue to this tragedy was -accomplished, and my lord left the House where he had so long ruled -supreme, and was conveyed down the sullen tide to the Tower. - -And when he had at last gone, and his guarded barge was absorbed into -the shadows of the Traitor's Gate, a kind of awe and silence fell -over London. The great minister, the King's favourite, the man who -was both his master's brain and conscience, had fallen so swiftly, so -irrecoverably, as London knew in her heart, that there was almost a -terror mingled with the triumph; for all knew that Strafford was not -one like Somerset or Buckingham, but a man of the utmost capacity for -courage, intelligence, and all the arts of government. - -The Commons of Parliament, who had done this thing, scattered, weary -and quiet, to their various homes and lodgings, and Mr. Cromwell and -Mr. Hampden walked through the falling rain, communing with their -hearts. - -As they neared the palace which stood brilliant with flambeaux lights -flashing on the drawn swords at the gates, Mr. Hampden turned his -gentle face towards his companion and said, "What will the King do?" - -"The King?" repeated Mr. Cromwell, lifting earnest eyes to the silent -palace. "I would I could come face to face with the King--surely he is -a man who might be persuaded of the truth of things if he were not so -surrounded by frivolous, wrong, and wanton counsellors." - -"I believe," answered John Hampden, "that His Majesty rooteth his -pretences so firmly in Divine Right--(being besides upheld in this by -all the clergy), that he would consider it blasphemy to abate one jot -of his claims. See this pass we are come to, Mr. Cromwell; we deal with -a man with whom no compromise is possible--ask Mr. Pym, who tried -to serve him--he will excuse himself, he will shift and turn, but he -will never give way, and when he is most quiet he will always break -his tranquillity with some monstrous imprudence, as this late forcing -of the Archbishop's prayer book on the Scots, thereby provoking a -peaceable nation into rebellion." - -Mr. Cromwell turned up the collar of his cloak, for the cold dampness -of the night was increasing, and he was liable to rheumatism. He made -no answer, and Mr. Hampden, glancing expectantly at his thoughtful -face, repeated his query-- - -"What will the King do now?" - -"What can he do?" replied the Member for Cambridge. "Strafford falleth -through serving him, and likely enough came to London on promise of the -King's protection. The King will stand by Strafford." - -"Then it will remain to be seen which is the stronger--Parliament or -His Majesty," said John Hampden, and he sighed as if he foresaw ahead -a long and bitter struggle. "I tell thee this," he added, with an -earnestness almost sad, "that if the people are disappointed of justice -on my lord, the King is not safe in his own capital, nor yet the Queen. -Thou hast observed, Mr. Cromwell, how well hated the Queen is?" - -"A Papist and a Frenchwoman," replied the other, "how could she -hope for English loyalty? And she is meddling--of all things the -English hate a meddling woman. Her ways might do well in France, but -here we like them not. I am sorry for my Lady Strafford," he added -irrelevantly, and with a strange note of tenderness in his rough voice. -"What are all these issues to her? Yet she must suffer for them. I saw -her yesterday, and she was as still for terror as a chased deer fallen -spent of breath, and yet had the courage to move and speak with pride, -poor gentlewoman!" - -"We shall see many piteous things before England be tranquil," returned -Mr. Hampden sadly. "Chief among them this discomfiture of patient -women. The Lord support them." - -They were now at Mr. Cromwell's door. - -"Wilt thou come up, my cousin?" he asked, laying a detaining hand on -the other's damp coat sleeve. - -"This evening hold me excused," answered Mr. Hampden. "I have some -country gentlemen at my entertainment, and I would not disappoint them." - -So they parted as quietly as if this momentous day had held nothing -of note, and Mr. Cromwell went up to his modest chamber and lit the -candles and placed them on a writing-table which held a Bible among -the quills and papers. He stood for a while thoughtfully; he had flung -off his mantle and his hat, and his well-made, strong figure showed -erect in a plain, rather ill-cut, suit of dark green cloth, his band -and cuffs were of linen, and there was no single ornament nor an inch -of lace about his whole attire; indeed, his lack of the ordinary -elegancies of a gentleman's costume would have seemed to some an -affectation, and to all a sure indication that he had now definitely -joined the increasingly powerful Puritan party which had set itself -to destroy every vestige of ornament in England--from Bishops to lace -handkerchiefs, as their opponents sneeringly remarked. These enemies -were not, perhaps, in a humour for sneering to-night when the chief of -them lay straightened between prison walls. So thought Mr. Cromwell as -he stood thoughtfully before the little table that bore the Bible, and -looked down on the closed covers. - -Above the table hung a mirror; the glass was old and cracked, and -into the frame were stuck various papers which showed how the present -possessor of the room disregarded the original use of the mirror. -Sufficient of the glass, however, remained unobscured to reflect the -head and shoulders of Oliver Cromwell, and this reflection, with the -dark background and the blurred surface of the glass, was like a fine -portrait, and by reason of the absolute consciousness of the man, like -a portrait of his soul as well as of his features. - -His expression was at once fierce and tender and deeply thoughtful; -the brow, so carelessly shaded by the disordered brown hair, was free -from any lines, the grey eyes seemed as if they looked curiously into -the future, the lips were lightly set together, and seemed as if they -might at any minute quiver into speech, the line of his jaw and cheek -had a look of serene fierceness, like the noble idea of strength given -by the jaw of a lion. - -So he looked, reflected in the old mirror and lit by the two common -candles, and if one had suddenly glanced over his shoulder into the -glass and seen that face, they would have thought they looked at a -painting of abstract qualities, not at a compound human being, at -this moment so utterly was his rugged look of strength and fortitude -spiritualized by the radiance of the soul within. - -Outside the rain fell and there was no sound but the drip of the drops -on the sill; the great city was silent after the tumult of the day, -most people were eating, sleeping, going their ways as if there was -no King humiliated utterly, raging in his chamber; no Queen weeping -among her priests; no great man in prison writing to his wife: "Hold up -your heart, look to the children and your house, and at last, by God's -good pleasure, we shall have our deliverance"; no quiet gentleman from -Huntingdon standing in a quiet room and meditating things that would -change this city and this land as it had not been changed since it bore -the yoke of kingship. - -To the many, even to Mr. Pym and Mr. Hampden, the fall of Strafford -might seem a tremendous thing, a shrewd blow against tyranny and a -daring act, but to this younger man, with his deeper, more mystical, -religious fervour, his practical and immeasurable courage, the sweeping -aside of the King's favourite was but the first of many acts that would -utterly alter the face of England. - -Strafford might have gone, but there were other things to go--Papistry, -the Star Chamber, ship money, and other civil wrongs, bishops, prayer -books, church ornaments and choirs, and other pollutions of the -pure faith of Christ, and there was a burning, blazing ideal to be -followed--the ideal of what might be made of England in moral worth, in -civic liberty, in that domestic dignity and foreign power that had made -the reign of Elizabeth Tudor splendid throughout the world. - -This might be done; but how was a poor country gentleman, untrained in -diplomacy or war, to accomplish it? - -How dare he presume that he was meant to accomplish it? - -He moved from the table abruptly and, going to the window, rested his -head against the frame and stared through the soiled panes into the -dark street where the lights glimmered sparsely at long intervals in -the heavy winter air. - -He recalled and clung to the memory of the vision that he had had in -the old barn outside St. Ives; the certainty that he was in covenant -with the Lord to do the Lord's work in England had pierced his soul -with the same sharpness as a dagger might pierce the flesh. At times -the remembered glamour faded, weariness, misgivings, would cloud -the glorious conviction--yet deep-rooted in his noble spirit it -remained. God had spoken to him and he was to do God's works,--but the -practical humanity in him, the strong English sense and sound judgment -demanded--how? - -He was of full middle age and unaccomplished in anything save farming -and such knowledge of the law as less than a year's training could give -him. His education had been the usual education of a gentleman, but he -had less learning than most, for his college days had been short, owing -to the death of his father and the sudden call to responsibilities, and -he had absolutely no love for any of the arts and sciences. How then -was he equipped to combat the immense powers arrayed against him--the -King, the Church, immemorial tradition, custom, usage, the weight of -aristocracy, the example of Europe--for his design, though yet vague, -was to create in England a constitution for Church and State for which -he could see no pattern anywhere within the world. - -He felt no greatness in himself, he was even doubtful of his own -capacity. Though he was already much hearkened to, principally, he -thought, by reason of his connexion with Hampden and the vast number of -relations he had in the House, still, on the few occasions when he had -spoken in public, as when he had taken up the cause of the Fen people -in the late question of the drainage scheme, his ardour and impetuosity -had gone far to spoil his cause, and he was well behind, in political -weight and party influence, such men as Pym and Hampden and even -Falkland and Hyde, Holles and Haselrig, Culpeper and Strode. - -Yet with trumpet rhythm there beat on his brain--"Something to do and -I to do it! Work to be done and I to accomplish it! Something to be -gained and I to gain it! The Lord's battles to be fought and I to fight -them!" - -He moved from the window; the room was cold and the candles burnt with -a tranquil frosty light. Mr. Cromwell went to the great book lying -between the two plain brass sticks, the only book he ever read, the -book in which, to him, was comprised the whole of life and all we know -of the earth, of hell, of heaven. - -He opened the Bible at random; the thick leaves fell back at the -psalms, and his passionate grey eyes fell on a sentence that he read -aloud with a deep note of triumph in his heavy masculine voice-- - -"_O help us against the enemy; for vain is the help of man. Through -God we shall do great acts: and it is he that shall tread down our -enemies._" - -"Through ... _God_" repeated Mr. Cromwell, "we ... shall do ... _great_ -acts." - -He put his hand to the plain little sword at his side, that had -hitherto been of no use save to give evidence of his gentility on -market days at Huntingdon and Ely.... "_Great_ acts," he repeated again. - -As he stood so, his right hand crossed to his sword, his left resting -on the open Bible, his chin sunk on to his breast and his whole face -softened and veiled with thought, he was not conscious of the humble -room, the patter of the rain, the two coarse candles poorly dispelling -the darkness. He was only aware of a sudden access of power, a revival -of the burning sensation that had come to him in the old barn perfumed -with hay at St. Ives. - -His doubts and confusions, misgivings and fears, vanished, this inner -conviction and power seemed sufficient to combat all the foes concealed -in the quiet city--all, even to the King himself.... - -He went to his knees as swiftly as if smitten into that attitude. - -"Through God," he whispered, "we shall do _great_ acts." - -He hid his strong face in his strong hands and prayed. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE KING FAILS - - -November had turned to May and my Lord Strafford's public agony was -over; he lay in the Tower a condemned man. - -For seventeen days had he, in this most momentous trial of his, -defended himself, unaided, against thirteen accusers who relieved -each other, and with such skill that his impeachment was like to have -miscarried; but the Commons were not so to be baulked. - -They dare not let Strafford escape them; they feared an Irish army, a -French army, they feared the desperate King would dissolve them, they -feared another gunpowder plot, and twice, on a cracking of the floor, -fled their Chamber. All fears, all anxieties, all animosities were at -their sharpest edge; the crowds in the streets demanded the blood of -Strafford, and did not pause to add that if they were disappointed they -would not hesitate to satisfy themselves with more exalted victims. - -A Bill of attainder against my lord was brought forward and hurried -through Parliament. Pym and Hampden opposed it, but popular fear -and popular rage were stronger than they, and there was no hope for -Strafford save in the master whom he was condemned for serving. -He wrote to the King, urging him to pass the Bill for the sake of -England's peace. - -London became more and more exasperated; rumours flew thick: The King's -son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, was coming with an army; money was -being sent from the French King; the Irish, that ancient nightmare, -were to be let loose; the Queen had raised a troop to attack the Keys -of the Kingdom and set my lord free by force from the Tower. - -The Bill was passed, and on a May morning sent up for the King's assent. - -He had, a week before, sent a message to the Lords, beseeching them not -to press upon his conscience on which he could not condemn his minister. - -But the appeal had failed; Lords, Commons, and people all waited -eagerly, angrily, threateningly, for the King's assent. - -He asked a day to consider; he sent for three bishops and, in great -agony of mind, asked their ghostly counsel. Usher and Juxon told him -Strafford was innocent and that he should not sign. Williams bid him -bow to the opinion of the judges, and bade him listen to the thunderous -tumult at his gates. London was roused, he said, and would not be -pacified until my lord's head fell on Tower Hill. - -So the hideous day wore on to evening, and the King had not signed. - -As the delay continued, the suspense and agitation in the city become -almost unbearable, and it took all the efforts of the royal guards to -hold the gates of the Palace. - -The King was locked into his private cabinet, and even the Queen had -not seen him since noon. - -Henriette Marie had passed the earlier part of the day with her younger -children. She had made several vain attempts to see the King and she -had denied herself to all, even to Lady Strafford and her frantic -supplications. - -She had many agents continually employed, and during the day they came -to her and reported upon the feeling in the Houses, in the city, and in -the streets. - -She saw, from these advices, that the King's situation was little -better than desperate. She saw another thing--_there was not, at that -moment, sufficient force available in the capital to control the -multitude_. They were, in fact, at the mercy of the populace. - -When the haze of spring twilight began to fall over the stocks and -lilies, violets and pinks in the gardens sloping to the river, still -flashing in the sinking sun, and the first breaths of evening were -wafted through the open windows of the Palace, delicious with the -perfume of these beds of sweets, the Queen went herself and alone to -the cabinet where the King kept his anguished vigil. - -For a while he would not open, even to the sound of her voice, but -after she had waited there a little, like a supplicant, she heard his -step, the key was turned, and he admitted her. She entered swiftly -and flung herself at his feet, as she had done at their first meeting -nearly twenty years ago, when he had lifted her young loveliness to his -heart, there to for ever remain. - -Now she was a worn woman, her beauty prematurely obscured by -distresses, and he was far different from the radiant cavalier who had -welcomed her to England, but the fire of love lit then in the heart of -each had not abated; even now, in the midst of his misery of mind, he -raised her up as tenderly, as reverently, as when she had first come to -him. - -"Mary," he said brokenly, "Mary." - -He kissed her cold cheek as he drew her to his shoulder, and she felt -his tears. - -But her mood was not one of weeping; her frail figure, her delicate -features, were alert and quivering with energy; her large vivid eyes -glanced eagerly round the room. On the King's private black and gold -Chinese bureau lay the warrant for my Lord Strafford's execution. So -hasty and resolved was the Parliament, also, perhaps, so confident of -their power to force the King's assent, that the warrant had been sent -before the royal consent had been given to the Bill. - -The Queen drew herself away from Charles and rested her glance on him. -She wore a white gown enriched with silver damask flowers, her face, -too, was colourless save for a feverish flush under her eyes, and the -long-admired black locks hung neglected and disarranged over her deep -lace collar. She was a sorrowful and reproachful figure as she stood -regarding him so intently. - -The King's white sick face, too, wore a look of utter suffering, in his -narrowed eyes was a bitterness beyond sorrow. - -"Sire," said the Queen in a formal tone, "you shut yourself up here -when it would more befit you to come forth and face what must be -faced." She set her teeth, "The people are at the very gates." - -Charles took a step back against the heavy brocaded hangings of the -wall. - -"I will not sign--no--I will not assent," he muttered. - -"Will not? Will not?" cried the Queen. "Charles, thou hast no choice." - -"Dost thou advise me to do this infamous thing?" answered the King in -a terrible voice. "He is my friend, his peril is through serving me; -and he trusts me, relies on me--that is enough. Even as you came I -had resolved that, not even to save my sacred Crown, would I abandon -Strafford." - -"And what of me and my children?" asked the Queen, in a still voice; -"do we come after thy servant? Is thy love for me grown so halting that -I come last?" - -The King winced. - -"Who would touch thee?" he murmured. - -"Even those who, now outside this very palace, cry insults against the -Papist and the Frenchwoman. Charles, I tell thee this is playing on the -edge of a revolution--are we all to go to ruin for Strafford's sake?" - -"He went to ruin for mine," replied the King. - -"He failed," said the Queen, "and he pays. When we fail, we too will -pay. But this is not our time. The people demand Strafford, and we will -not risk our Crowns and lives by refusing this demand." - -"He trusts me," repeated Charles, "and I do love him. He served me -well, he was loyal ... our God help me!... my friend----" - -He turned away to hide the uncontrollable tears, and, opening a drawer -in the little Chinese cabinet, fumbled blindly among some papers and -pulled out a letter. - -"This is what he wrote me," he faltered. "I have never had one like him -in my service.... Mary ... I cannot let him die." - -He sank into a chair and, resting his elbow on the arm of it, dropped -his face into his hand; the other held the letter of my lord written -from the Tower. - -The Queen had read this epistle; at the time it had moved her, but now -that sensation of generous pity was dried up in the fierce desire to -save her husband and herself from all the ruin a revolution threatened. -She went up to the King and took the letter from his inert fingers, -and, glancing over it, read aloud a passage-- - -"'Sir, my consent shall more acquit you herein to God, than all the -world can do besides. To a willing man there is no injury done; and as -by God's grace I forgive all the world with calmness and meekness of -infinite contentment to my dislodging soul, so, sir, to you I can give -the life of this world with all the cheerfulness imaginable, in the -just acknowledgment of your exceeding favours.'-- - -"Hear!" added the Queen breathlessly, "the man himself does not ask nor -expect this sacrifice of you----" - -Charles interrupted. - -"Because he is magnanimous, shall I be a slavish coward?" - -"He is willing to die," urged the Queen; "he is pleased to give his -life for you----" - -"Willing to die? Where is there a man willing to die? There is none -to be found, however old, wretched, or mean. Deceive not thyself, -Strafford is young, strong, full of joy and life--he hath a wife and -children and others dear to him--is it like that he is _willing_ to -die?" - -The Queen's eyes did not sink before the miserable reproach in her -husband's gaze. - -"Willing or no, he _must_ die," she said firmly. "He must go. Stand not -in the way of his fate." - -"He shall not die through me," said Charles, with a bitter doggedness. -"Am I never to sleep sound again for thinking of how I abandoned this -man? He came to London, Mary, on our promise of protection." - -"We have done what we could," returned Henriette Marie, unmoved, "and -now we can do no more." - -"I will not," said the King, as if repeating the words gave him -strength. "I will not. Do they want everything I love--first -Buckingham--now Strafford----" - -"Then me," flashed the Queen. "Think of that, if you think of your wife -at all." - -This reproach was so undeserved as to be grotesque. In all the King's -concerns, from the most important to the most foolish, she had always -come foremost, and this was the first occasion on which he had not -absolutely thrown himself on her judgment and bowed to her desires. - -Some such reflection must have crossed his tortured mind. - -"You always disliked Strafford," was all he said. - -"No," said the Queen vehemently, as if she disclaimed some shameful -thing. "No, never, and I would have saved him. Do not take me to be so -mean and creeping a creature as to counsel you pass this Bill because I -hate my lord." - -She was justified in her defence; she had been jealous of the powerful -minister, and she had never personally liked him, but it was not for -vengeance or malice that she urged the King to abandon Strafford, but -because she was afraid of that power which asked for his death, and -because her tyrannical royal pride detested the thought that she and -hers should be in an instant's danger for the sake of a subject. And -when she saw her husband, for the first time since their marriage, so -absorbed in anguished thought as to be scarcely aware of her presence, -as to be forgetful of her and her children, she felt jealous of this -other influence that seemed to defy hers, and a fierceness that was -akin to cruelty touched her desperation. - -"Who is this man that I should be endangered for his sake?" she cried, -after she had in vain waited for the King to break his dismal silence. - -"He is my friend," muttered Charles. - -"Save him then, or share his fate," returned his wife bitterly. "As for -me, I will go to my own country, and there find the protection that you -cannot give me." - -Charles sprang up and faced her. - -"Mary, what is this? What do you speak of?" he cried in a distracted -voice, and holding out to her his irresolute hands. - -The Queen took advantage of this sudden weakening of his silent -defences; her whole manner changed. She went up to him softly, took his -hands in hers, and, raising to him a face pale and pleading, broke out -into eager and humble entreaties. - -"My Charles, let him go--let us be happy again--do not, for this -scruple, risk everything! My dear, give way--it must be--we are in -danger--oh, listen to me!" - -He stared at her with eyes clouded with suffering. - -"Couldst thou but put this eloquence on the other side I might be a -happier man," he said. "Strengthen my conscience, do not weaken it." - -His tone was as pleading as hers had been, but she perceived that he -was still obdurate on the main part of her entreaty, and she slipped -from his clasp and knelt at his feet in a genuine passion of tears. - -"You have had the last of me!" she sobbed. "I will not stay where -neither my dignity nor my life is safe. Keep Strafford and let me go!" - -The King turned away with feeble and unsteady steps, and going to the -window pulled aside the olive velvet curtains. - -The twilight had fallen and the sky was pale to colourlessness; low on -the horizon, beyond the river, sombre banks of clouds were rising, and -at the edge of them, floating free in the purity of the sky, was the -evening star, sparkling with the frosty light of Northern climes. - -The King fixed his eyes on this star, but without hope of comfort; cold -and disdainful seemed star and heavens, and God pitiless and very far -away behind the storm-clouds. - -There was no command, no excuse, no reproof for him from on High; in -his own heart the decision must be and now--at once--within the next -hour. At that moment life seemed unutterably hateful to the King; -everything in the world, even the figure of his wife, he viewed with a -touch of sick disgust; the taint of what he was about to do was already -over him, his life was already stained with baseness, his happiness -corrupted. - -He knew, as he stared at the icy star that was already being veiled -by the on-rushing vapours of the rain-cloud, that he would abandon -Strafford. - -Though he knew that it would be better to be that man in the Tower, -against whose ardent life the decree had gone forth, than himself in -his palace, secure by the sacrifice of that faithful servant; though he -knew that in the bloody grave of his betrayed friend would be entombed -for ever his own tranquillity and peace of mind, yet he also knew -that it was not in him to stand firm against those inexorable ones -who demanded Strafford, against the tears and reproaches of his wife, -against his own inner fears and weaknesses which whispered to him dread -and terror of these hateful Parliament men and of this mutinous city of -London. - -In his heart he had always known that he would fail Strafford if it -ever came to a sharp issue, yea, he had known it when he urged his -minister to come from York, and that made this moment the more awful, -that his secret weakness, which he had never admitted to himself, was -forced into life. - -He would forsake Strafford to buy the safety of his Crown, his family, -his person, and Strafford would forgive him (he could picture the look -of incredulous pity on the condemned man's dark face when the sentence -was read to him), and the Parliament would scorn him. - -Through the entanglement of his bitter and humiliating reflections, he -became aware of the sound of the persistent, low sobbing of the Queen -in the darkening room behind him, and he turned, letting the curtains -fall together over the fading heavens, the brightening star, the -oncoming storm. - -The scanty light that now filled the chamber was only enough to let him -discern the white blur of his wife's figure as she knelt before one of -the brocade chairs with her dark head lost in the shadows and her hands -upraised in a startling position of prayer. - -Her sobs, even and continuous as the breaths of a peaceful sleeper, -filled the rich chamber, the splendours of which were now gloomed over -with shadow, with sorrow. - -Presently, as he watched her, and as he listened, the grim sharpness of -his anguish was melted into a weak grief at her distress; his impotency -to protect her from tears became his main torment. - -"Mary," he said, "Mary--it is over--think no more of it--go to bed and -sleep in peace. London shall be content to-night." - -He stumbled towards her, and she rose up swiftly and straightly, -holding her rag of wet white handkerchief to her wet white face. - -"Ah, Charles!" she exclaimed, her voice thick from her weeping. - -She held out her arms, he took her to his heart and bowed his shamed -head on her shoulder; but after a very little while he put her away. - -"Leave me now!" - -"This thing must be done at once--to-night--I cannot tell how long they -can hold the gates----" - -"I must go out," said Charles, with utmost weariness; "get me a light, -my dear, my beloved." - -She found the flint and tinder and, with deftness and expedition, lit -the lamp of crystal and silver gilt which stood on the King's private -bureau. - -As the soft, gracious flame illumined the room, the King, who was -leaning against the tapestry like a sick man, looked at once towards -the fatal paper and beside it the pen and ink dish ready. - -The Queen stood waiting; her face was all blotted and swollen with -weeping; she looked a frail and piteous figure; her youth seemed -suddenly in one day dead, and her beauty already a thing of yesterday. - -"It is well I love thee," said Charles, "otherwise what I do would make -hell for me. Oh, if I had _not_ loved thee, never, never would I have -done this thing!" - -"We shall forget it," answered the Queen, "and we shall live," she -added, straining her hoarse voice to a note of passion, "to avenge -ourselves." - -She spoke to a man of a nature absolutely unforgiving, and at this -moment her mention of vengeance came like comfort to his anguish and -palliation of his baseness. - -"I will never forget, I will never pardon," he swore, lifting up his -hand towards heaven. "Never, never shall there be peace between me and -Parliament until this shame is covered over with blood." - -He snatched up the warrant with trembling hand. - -"Send some lords to me," he cried. "I cannot sign this myself--get it -done--bring this most hateful day to an end!" - -He sank into the chair on which her tears had fallen, and stared at the -paper clutched in his fingers as if it was a sight of horror. - -Henriette Marie hastened away to tell the waiting deputies of the -Houses that the King would pass the Bill, and as she went she heard -a cry intense enough to have carried to the Tower where my lord sat -waiting the news of his fate. - -"Oh, Strafford! Strafford! my friend!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -AUTUMN, 1641 - - -"Things go too far and too fast for me, and though men speak of the -progress we make, to me it seemeth more like a progress into calamities -unspeakable." - -The young man who spoke leant against the dark-blue and gold diapered -wall of the antechamber to the House of Commons, in Westminster Hall; -members and their friends were passing to and fro; in a few days -the memorable and triumphant session would adjourn. The King was -in Scotland, employed, as the Parliament well knew, in one of his -innumerable intrigues, this time an endeavour to bring a Northern army -into London. The Scots, since the imperfect peace he had patched with -them, remained his chief hope. Mr. Hampden was in Edinburgh watching -him, but Mr. Pym remained in London, the mainspring of the popular -party. - -It was late August of the year my Lord Strafford ("putting off my -doublet as cheerfully now as I ever did when I went to my bed," he had -said), had walked to his death on Tower Hill. Archbishop Laud was a -prisoner, and the King had given his consent to a series of Acts which -swept away those grievances which the people had complained of, and, -most momentous of all, he had passed a law by which it was impossible -for him to dissolve Parliament without its own consent. - -Therefore it might seem that affairs had never been so bright and -hopeful for the leaders of the reforming party, and yet this young -gentleman, leaning against the wall and staring at the pool of -sunlight the Gothic window cast at his feet, spoke in a tone of -melancholy and foreboding. - -He had always been a close follower and friend of Pym and Hampden, -and always ardent for the public good--one of the keen, swift spirits -whose direct courage had helped the House to triumph, but now he stood -dejected and rather in the attitude of one who has suffered defeat. - -His companion, who was but a few years older, regarded him with a -thoughtful air, then glanced dubiously at the crowds which filled the -chamber and from which they, in the corner by the window, stood a -little apart. - -"I take your meaning," he replied, after a considerable pause. "I see -a bigger cleavage between King and people than I, for one, ever meant -there to be, and prospects of a division in this nation which will be a -long while healing." - -He bent his gaze on the other side of the chamber where Mr. Pym and Mr. -Cromwell were talking loudly and at great length together. - -If any casual observer had looked in at this assembly, assuredly it -would have been this man by the window at whom they would have glanced -longest and oftenest. - -His appearance would have been noticeable in any gathering, for it was -one of the most unusual beauty and charm. - -He was no more than thirty years of age, and the delicate smoothness -of his countenance was such as belongs to even earlier years, and gave -him, indeed, an air of almost feminine refinement and gentleness; his -long love-locks were pale brown, his heavy-lidded eyes of a soft and -changeable grey, and the expression of his lips, set firmly under the -slight shade of the fashionable moustaches, was one of great sweetness. - -The whole expression of his face was a tenderness and purity seldom -seen in masculine traits; yet in no way did he appear weak, and his -bearing showed energy and resolution. - -His dress, of an olive green, was carefully enriched with rough gold -embroidery, and his linen, laces, and other appointments were of a -finer quality than those worn by the other gentlemen there. - -Such was Lucius Carey, my Lord Viscount Falkland, one of the noblest, -in degree and soul, of those who had combined to curb and confine the -tyranny of the King. - -His companion was Mr. Edward Hyde, an ordinary looking blonde -gentleman, inclined to stoutness, and a prominent member of the more -moderate section of the dominant Commons. - -He followed the direction of the Viscount's gaze and remarked, in a low -tone-- - -"Those two are getting matters very much into their own hands, and Mr. -Cromwell, at least, is too extreme." - -"What more do they want?" asked my Lord Falkland. "The King hath -redressed the grievances we laboured under. They strained the very -utmost of the law (nay, more than the law) on the Earl of Strafford, -and to push matters further smacks of disloyalty to His Majesty." - -"My Lord," answered Mr. Hyde firmly, "reformers are ever apt to run a -headlong course, and some excesses must be excused those who have so -laboured at the general good----" - -"Excesses?" answered my lord, flushing a little. "I am still an -Anglican, by the grace of God, and when I see altars dragged from -their places, rood screens smashed, all pictures, images, and carvings -destroyed in our churches until God's houses look as if they were the -poor remnants of a besieged city,--when I know that this is by order of -Parliament, then methinks it seemeth as if violence had taken the place -of zeal." - -"Neither do these things please me," answered Mr. Hyde, "but the dams -are broken and there are swift tides running in all directions. And who -is to stem them?" - -"Or who," asked my lord sadly, "to guide them into proper channels? Not -your 'root and branch men,' who would sweep every bishop and every -prayer book out of the land. Not by such intolerance or bigotry, Mr. -Hyde, are we to gain peace and liberty." - -"Moderate counsels," returned the other, "own but a weak voice in these -bitter savoured times. It is such as this Oliver Cromwell, with their -loud rude speech, who are hearkened to." - -"I only half like this noisy Mr. Cromwell," said my lord. "He hath -sprung very suddenly into notice, and seemeth to have, on an instant, -gained much authority with Mr. Pym and Mr. Hampden." - -At this moment the object of their speech turned his head and looked at -them as if he had heard his own name. Lord Falkland smiled at him and -made a little gesture of beckoning. - -Mr. Cromwell instantly left his friends and came over to the window, -where he stood in the gold flush of sunshine and looked keenly at the -two young aristocrats. - -"More plots, eh," he asked pleasantly. - -"More talk only, sir," smiled the Viscount. - -Mr. Cromwell laid his heavy muscular hand on my lord's arm. - -"Thou art worthy," he remarked; "but what shall I say of thee?" his -narrowed grey eyes rested on Mr. Hyde's florid face. "Thou art he who -bloweth neither hot nor cold." - -"I am like to blow hot enough, I think," returned Mr. Hyde, "unless -thou blow more cold." - -"Wherein have I vexed thee?" asked Oliver Cromwell, with a pleasantness -that might have covered contempt. - -"Your party is too extreme, sir," said the Viscount earnestly. "You -press too hard upon the weakness of His Majesty. What we set out -to gain hath been gained and safeguarded by law. You should now go -moderately, and, from what I know of your councils, you do not propose -moderation." - -Mr. Cromwell's face hardened into heavy, almost lowering, lines. - -"So you, too, slacken!" he exclaimed. "You would join those who rise up -against us! Fie, my lord, I had better hopes." - -"Mr. Cromwell," returned the Viscount, "we have been long together on -the same road; but if your mind is what I do think it to be, then here -we come to a parting, and many Christian gentlemen will follow my way." - -Oliver Cromwell regarded him with intense keenness. - -"What do you think my mind to be?" he demanded. - -"I think you rush forward to utterly destroy the Anglican Church and to -so limit the King's authority that he is no more than a show piece in -the realm." - -"Maybe that and maybe more than that," returned Mr. Cromwell. "Even as -the Lord directeth: 'He shall send down from on high to fetch me and -shall take me out of many waters.' I stand here, a poor instrument, -waiting His will." - -This answer bore the fervent and ambiguous character that Lord Falkland -had noticed in this gentleman's speeches, and which might be due either -to enthusiasm or guile, and which was, at least, difficult to answer. - -"You run too much against the King," said Mr. Hyde, "and against the -Church of England. Our aim was to clear her of abuses, not to destroy -her." - -"Our aim, Mr. Hyde?" interrupted the Member for Cambridge keenly. "Were -our aims ever the same, from the very first? I saw one thing, you -another; but trouble me not now with this vain discourse," he added, -with a note of great strength in his hoarse voice, "when I know you are -in communication with His Majesty and but seek an opportunity to leave -us." - -Edward Hyde flushed, but answered at once and with pride. - -"I make no secret of it that, if the Parliament forget all duty to the -King, I shall not." - -"Are you afraid?" asked Mr. Cromwell, with more sadness than contempt. -"Or do you look for promotion and honours from His Majesty? There is -no satisfaction in such glory, 'but hope thou in the Lord and He shall -promote thee, that thou shall possess the land; when the ungodly shall -perish, thou shalt see it.'" - -"You do us wrong!" exclaimed Lord Falkland. "We hold to loyalty; we -think of that and not of base rewards." - -"Loyalty!" exclaimed Mr. Cromwell vehemently. "We own loyalty to One -higher than the King, yet what saith St. Paul: 'See then that ye walk -circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, because the days are evil. -Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord -is.' Therefore we go not definitely against His Majesty, but rather -wait, hoping still for peaceable issues and fair days, yet abating -nothing of our just demands nor of our high hopes." - -"Go your ways as you see them set clear before you," returned the -Viscount; "but as for me, all is confusion and I have begun to ponder -many things." - -"'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,'" said the Puritan -firmly, "and such can be of no use to us. Go serve the King and take -ten thousand with you, and still we stand the stronger." - -Mr. Hyde's personal dislike of the speaker, as well as his loyalty and -conservative principles, spurred him into a hot answer. - -"Do you then admit you do not serve the King?" he asked. "Are we to -hear open rebellion?" - -"God knoweth what we shall hear and what we shall see," said Mr. -Cromwell grimly. "There will be more wonders abroad than thy wits will -be able to cope with, methinks, Mr. Hyde." - -"My wits stand firm," smiled that gentleman, "and my faith is uncorrupt -and my sword is practised." - -"The sword!" repeated Oliver Cromwell, putting his hand slowly on the -plain little weapon by his side. "Speak not of the sword! Englishmen -have not, sir, come to that, and will not, unless they be forced." - -"Yet," said Lord Falkland quietly, "do you not perceive that by your -actions you provoke the possibilities of bloodshed? Already the Lords -have fallen away from you--the King hath many friends even among -the Commons, and they are not less resolute, less courageous, less -convinced of the justice of their desires than you yourself--how then -are these divided parties to be brought together unless a temperate -action and a mild counsel be employed? The King hath held his -hand--_sir, hold yours_." - -With these words, which he uttered in a stately fashion and almost in -the tone of a warning, the young lord, taking Mr. Hyde by the arm, was -turning away, but Oliver Cromwell, with an earnest gesture, caught his -hand. - -"Lucius Carey, stay thou with us," he said. - -Lord Falkland let his slight hand remain in the Puritan's powerful -grasp, and turned his serene, mournful eyes on to the older man's -stern, eloquent face. - -"Mr. Cromwell," he replied, "believe me honest as yourself. You left -plenty and comfort for this toilsome business of Parliament, and I also -put some ease by that I might do a little service here. My cause is -your cause, the cause of liberty. I despise the courtier and hate the -tyrant, but I believe in the old creeds, too, Mr. Cromwell, and that -the King is as like to save us as any other gentleman. Therefore, if -henceforth you see little of me, believe that I obey my conscience as -you do follow yours." - -Mr. Cromwell released his hand and said no other word. - -"A good night," smiled Lord Falkland, and, raising his beaver, left -Westminster Hall with Edward Hyde. - -Lord Essex came up to the window, and to him Oliver Cromwell turned -sharply. - -"There go two who will join the King's party," he said bluntly, -pointing after the two Cavaliers. - -"They have long been of that mind," replied Lord Essex dryly. "Mr. Hyde -goeth to seek advancement and my lord because he is tender towards the -clergy." - -"I would have kept my lord," remarked Mr. Cromwell, with a touch of -wistfulness in his tone. "He is a goodly youth and a brave, and hath -too fair a soul to join with idolators and Papists." - -Meanwhile Lord Falkland, having parted from Mr. Hyde, was walking -along the river-bank, where an uneven row of houses edged the gardens -of Northumberland House, Whitehall, and the estates of the Buckingham -family. - -The intense disquiet that agitated the country did not show itself -here: barges and sailing vessels went peacefully past on the brown -tide, urchins played in the mud, boatmen clustered round the steps and -clamoured for fares, at some house near by a concert of music was being -performed, and outside on the cobbles the barefoot children danced. - -One or two gallants escorting ladies masked from the weather strolled -by, and over all was the peaceful glow of the summer sunset hour. - -The scene was thrice familiar to Lord Falkland, but his sensitive soul -and quick eye were alive to every detail of the street, the people, and -the river. - -He loved England, he loved London and the crooked river, built -over with crooked houses, from which rose the churches with the -Gothic towers or lead cupolas; but to-night this love made him feel -melancholy. He had a premonition that terror and discord would descend -on the beloved city, on the beloved land, and that he would be able to -avail nothing against those relentless forces of which Mr. Cromwell was -typical, and which seemed to be sweeping him on to tumult and strife. - -He had left all the delights of his wealthy retirement--his dear -family, his dear friends, and his dear literature--that he might help -his country in the pass to which she had come. - -And now he had himself arrived at a pass and must decide whether he -would remain with the party by which he had so far stood, or remain -loyal to the ancient Church and the ancient constitution which his -fathers had served and defended. - -He paused in his walk when he reached Whitehall stairs, and turned to -look at the splendid new palace as it rose above the gardens and the -houses. - -It was a very gorgeous sunset: gold and tawny, scarlet and crimson were -flung out across the purple west like great banners unfolded; in each -window-glass a blot of gold glittered amazingly; gold lay in every -little wrinkle in the surface of the river and on the patched canvas of -the ships; from the sea a wind was blowing, and in the breath of it the -heat of the summer day died. - -My Lord Falkland lifted his eyes from the palace to the magnificence -of the heavens and his sadness increased upon him; when presently -he looked to earth again he was aware of a small child crying on a -doorstep over some tremendous woe. - -He took some dried plums and a sixpence from his pocket (he usually had -sweetmeats about him, having many children of his acquaintance) and -gave them to the boy. Then he took a small brown volume of Virgil from -his pocket, but perceiving it to be too dark to read, he called a pair -of oars and was rowed to Chelsea Reaches to gain the sweeter air of the -country and to have leisure on the bosom of the river and under the -flaming sky to deal with the perplexing thoughts that vexed his noble -mind. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE NEWS FROM IRELAND - - -Mr. Cromwell was in his chamber writing letters; it was a few weeks -before the expected return of the King and the opening of Parliament, -and the Member for Cambridge had come up to London early to confer -with Mr. Pym and other leaders of the popular party on the so-called -Remonstrance, otherwise the exposition of the case against Charles, and -of the hopes and fears and perils of the Parliament, already divided -within its own walls by the standing back or falling aside of men like -Falkland and Hyde. - -It was a challenge to the King and to those who supported him, and if -passed would prove a shrewder blow to royalty than even the death of -Strafford. - -For the rest, events were, for such a time of unrest, going with -surprising smoothness and quietness for the Parliament; it was now -generally known that the King had failed in his endeavours to bring -down a northern army to overawe Westminster, and though his plots, the -intrigues of the Queen and her Romanist advisers were incessant and -served to keep the Commons in a continual state of watchfulness and -alarm, they had hitherto been fruitless, and Mr. Pym and Mr. Cromwell, -though they might be accounted the strongest opponents of the King, yet -now hoped to bring or force Charles to reason and put the kingdom in -good order without recourse to more rioting or ferment. - -Oliver Cromwell, thinking of these things with satisfaction, and having -sealed his letter, rose to light the lamp, for the gloomy October day, -foggy and brown at the brightest, was drawing to a close. - -When he had trimmed and lit the lamp, he heard a familiar footstep on -the stairs, and, going swiftly to the door, opened it on John Pym. - -"I did not expect thee," said Mr. Cromwell, smiling. - -His visitor passed him and, throwing himself into the great chair -fitted with worn leather cushions near the yet unshuttered window, -stared at his friend with such a visible disturbance in his usually -composed and bold features that Mr. Cromwell was surprised into an -exclamation-- - -"What news is there?" - -A grim smile stirred John Pym's pale lips. - -"Where hast thou been all this day that thou hast not heard?" - -"Here, since midday, and never a breath of news could reach me if some -friend did not bring it." - -John Pym put his hand to his forehead; he looked old and ill and more -utterly overmastered by emotion than his colleague had ever before seen -him. - -"Evil news, Mr. Pym?" and the energetic Puritan's mind flew to that -centre of mischief, the King and Queen in Scotland. - -"Evil news," repeated the older man sombrely, "news that hath set -London in a frenzy. They are running mad in the streets now--news that -will make some swift conclusion here inevitable." - -A light that was perhaps as much of pleasurable anticipation and -satisfaction as of regret or anger brightened Mr. Cromwell's eyes as he -answered-- - -"Tell me--as quick as may be--tell me this grievous thing." - -"The full news has not come to hand yet--only a couple of desperate -messengers and this afternoon three more expresses confirming it." - -He paused, for his voice was fast breaking under the strain of what he -had to utter. - -"The lamp is smoking," he said, to steady himself. - -Mr. Cromwell slowly turned down the wick, then Mr. Pym resumed in a -controlled and normal voice. - -"There has been a most bloody rising in Ireland. The popish Irish have -risen against the English in Ulster--one of them, O'Neil, hath declared -he holdeth a commission from the King. Mr. Cromwell, the fearful -stories are beyond belief--thousands have been massacred, and the whole -Island is in a welter of barbarous confusion." - -A groan of passionate horror and fury broke from Oliver Cromwell; all -the hatred of the Englishman for the Irish, of the Puritan for the -Papist, of the champion of freedom for the King and tyrant stirred in -his heart. - -"This is the Queen's doing!" he exclaimed as half London had exclaimed -in the same rage and anguish. - -"That is the popular cry," said Mr. Pym; "but we must be above the -popular cries and reason out this thing ourselves. Maybe this Phelim -O'Neil lieth, maybe the Queen hath no hand in this slaying of the -Protestants." - -"Canst thou deny," cried Mr. Cromwell, "that she and her priests of -Baal have ever given pernicious advice to the King? Oh, wretched -country that ever had this cursed Frenchwoman set over it!" - -"Let the Queen go," said John Pym. "We are not concerned with her, we -cannot strike at her; our business is with the King. Compose thyself--I -am come to confer with thee." - -"I cannot so easily be calm," answered Mr. Cromwell, "when I consider -how God's English have been treated--are, at this moment, being -tormented and slain!" - -"This is the sowing," returned Mr. Pym grimly. "By and by will come the -harvest." - -"May I be there to help gather it!" cried the Member for Cambridge. -"May God preserve me to a little aid in avenging His people." - -"The time will come," said John Pym, "'for the eyes of the Lord are -over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the -face of the Lord is against them that do evil.'" - -Oliver Cromwell dropped his chin on his breast, as his fashion was when -deeply moved; but John Pym raised his authoritative face and spoke -again. - -"At this moment we must consider how this event is like to bear on the -issues at Westminster. We must be ready. I do not dare to hold the King -responsible for this most horrible work in Ireland, though I fear he -will find it hard to clear his name before the popular eye; but this -much is proven--he had a plot with the Irish gentry to gain Dublin for -himself, and there to raise an army to send against us." - -"Aye, the sword," muttered Cromwell, "the power of the sword!" - -"Even of that have I come to speak," pursued John Pym. "Thou, sagacious -as thou art, canst see the next move the King will take when he -returneth without the help he hoped for from Scotland?" - -The other lifted his fine head quickly. - -"He will demand an army for the reconquest of Ireland," he said -briefly. "And as I hope for mercy," he added solemnly, "he shall not -have it!" - -"The only army the Parliament will raise will be one under its own -control and officered by its own men," replied John Pym; "but the -struggle will be sharp. We have now such men as Hyde and Falkland -against us, and the King's Episcopalian party gathereth strength in the -House and in the country." - -He was silent a while, then he gave a great sigh of mental distress and -physical weariness. - -"Is it too late to hope for peace?" he murmured, as if speaking to -himself. "Is it too late?" - -"It is too late," blazed out Cromwell, "to trust the King. Too late, -indeed! Unless we wish to wait another Saint Bartholomew--another -Valtelline. It is not so long since this Queen's house had those -damnable murders done on poor Protestants--she who designed that -devilry was a Medici. Was not this woman's mother of that family? And -was not the King's grandmother from that same idolatrous court, and was -she not a wanton Papist? Trust none of them, Mr. Pym, nor Stewart, nor -Bourbon, but listen to the Lord's bidding, even as He commandeth, and -care nothing for any other." - -"Thou didst not use to be so hot against the King," said John Pym. - -"I did not know his subtle tricks, his shifts, his deceptions, his -lies, his faithlessness, his great unreason. Hath he not given us his -challenge? What did he not write this very month from Scotland? Mindst -thou his words? 'I am constant to the discipline and doctrine of the -Church of England established by Queen Elizabeth and my father, and I -resolve, by the grace of God, to die in the maintenance of it.' And -then he proceedeth to fill up the vacant bishoprics, and with those -very divines against whom we were bringing a charge of treason. Then -what thou hast said, even this moment, of Ireland--tell me not that it -was not his sceptre which was the staff that stirred up this flame! No -more dealings with Charles, Mr. Pym; the time for that is past." - -The extraordinary strength and grandeur that emanated from the -speaker's personality, clothing it with that magnificence that is -usually only bestowed by the knowledge of high power or a mighty -station, was impressed on Mr. Pym as never, perhaps, before; and it -flashed into the mind of the bold parliamentary leader that here might -be indeed that champion of great fearlessness, indomitable purpose, -spiritual enthusiasm, and broad views who would soon be necessary to -second him and even to take his place, for he, John Pym, was not young, -and was worn with years of infinite labour. Times, too, had immensely -changed since first he had stepped forward to defend the English -law and English liberties, and in the new, strange, perhaps terrific -epoch coming it might well be that a man would be needed of qualities -different from his own. - -Hitherto John Pym had not looked upon Oliver Cromwell as other than -an able and enthusiastic lieutenant; he had ranked him below men of -the intellectual calibre and fine culture of Hampden and Falkland, and -though he had never doubted his willingness in the cause of freedom, -he had not given much thought to his capacity. But lately--when -Cromwell had fired at the King's appointment of the obnoxious priests, -when he had spoken by his side for the exclusion of the bishops from -Parliament, when he had seconded the attack on the Prayer Book--Pym had -noticed in him the gleam of rare and splendid qualities. - -And as he looked at him now, a man of homely simplicity in appearance, -yet conveying, by some magic of the spirit, a splendour and a force -such as is found once among tens of thousands, his heart leapt with a -deep inward joy. - -"Thou art very fit to challenge the King," he said quietly. - -The Calvinist was in no way moved by this. - -"I may be an instrument," he said, "but the way is confused and -troubled; we draw near the whirlpool, and unless God make Himself -manifest, how are we to avoid being sucked into destruction?" - -He began to pace the room with uneven and agitated steps. - -"I would not be the first to draw the sword!" he cried; "but if the -Lord make it law and putteth it into my hands, shall I not strike? Oh, -Mr. Pym, war is an awful thought, and we hang on the edge of dreadful -conclusions; but is this the moment to turn back or pause? 'Teach me, -O Lord, the way of Thy statute, and I will keep it to the end! Give -me understanding and I will keep Thy law; yea, I will keep it with my -whole heart!'" - -He paused by the farther wall, resting one hand against the wood -panelling, and with the other wiping his brow and lips with a plain -cambric handkerchief. - -John Pym sat motionless in the great arm-chair, leaning forward a -little and looking intently and with a kind of quiet eagerness at the -younger man. - -"When I heard this afternoon of the confirmation of this dismal and -lamentable news from Ireland, when I foresaw that the King had now an -excuse to demand an army--then I too thought--God hath spoken, and it -must be the sword." - -Oliver Cromwell's whole stout frame trembled, as if responding to some -intense and suppressed emotion. - -"England! England!" he muttered, "are we come to have to heal thy hurts -with the bloody steel and the devouring flame? I had hoped differently." - -"If the King armeth so must we," said John Pym. "But there is yet some -hope. Hyde and Falkland are now something in the councils of the King, -and he may listen to them." - -"My Lord Falkland will do a true man's uttermost," replied Cromwell, -with that sudden tenderness that was as natural to him as his sudden -fierceness. "But will he avail? I have but a mean opinion of Mr. Hyde." - -"Neither he nor my Lord Viscount have a grasp bold enough nor an -outlook sure enough for these difficult times. But their advice will -better that of the Queen and the priests, and in them resteth our last -hopes of a peaceable settlement." - -As Pym spoke he rose and, going over to Cromwell, grasped him by the -shoulders and looked earnestly into his face. In age there was nearly -twenty years difference between the two men, and the appearance of the -lawyer who had led a studious life in cities was very different from -that of the robust country gentleman; but their look of ardour, of -resolution, of steadfastness was the same, and John Pym's face, marked -with years and faded by ill-health, held the same brightness of a high -purpose as the blunt, fresh features of the younger man, still in the -height and prime of his vigorous strength. - -"Thou wilt be a man much needed in the times to come," said Mr. Pym, -"for I think thou hast the gift of fortitude." - -Oliver Cromwell did not answer; in his mind's eye he saw that misty day -outside St. Ives, the black river, the black houses, the gnarled and -bent willows, the church spire pointing to an obscure heaven, the flat -bog leading to Erith's Bulwark, beyond--the rude paling--all the common -details of that familiar scene where he had first entered into covenant -with God. - -The glory of the vision had faded, and melancholies had taken the place -of that unspeakable joy and wonder; but a faith that never weakened -was always there and sometimes flashed up, as now, into a dazzling -remembrance of that other November day and the promise of the Lord. - -"Englishmen such as thee are greatly wanted now," added Mr. Pym after a -little. - -Mr. Cromwell suddenly flashed into a smile which had a certain steady -happiness in it, as if he had gained contentment from his momentary -absorption or reverie. - -"There are many better than I!" he answered. "Poor reeds, Mr. Pym, but -by binding us together thou mayst make a stout birch for thy purpose!" - -He turned and took his hat and mantle from a peg on the wall. - -"I will come out with thee," he said, "and see how things go in London." - -As the two gentlemen went together down the narrow stairs, Pym, in -a few words, gave his companion the outlines of the next momentous -measure he intended to bring forward at this juncture, when the public -frenzy at the Irish rebellion and the atrocious circumstances of it -would be occupying Parliament as well as people. - -"I shall ask that military appointments may be under parliamentary -control, Mr. Cromwell, and that His Majesty take only such advisers as -the nation can approve; also that my Lord of Essex be given the command -of the train bands--under the authority of Parliament, not the King." - -"Well dost thou seize the moment!" returned the other, in a tone of -admiration. "Turning even these events of horror into profit for -liberty, methinks thou hast the King so stript of all pretences that he -will scarce be able to find any rag of Popery to cover his bareness." - -"Take care," said John Pym, gently laying his hand on his friend's -cuff, "that thou dost not underestimate those forces opposed to thee." - -"And thou," replied Cromwell, "that thou dost not underestimate thine -own strength and power." - -They came out into the ill-lit street, down which the sleet was -sweeping in icy spears; the close, stale odours of the city encompassed -them, and the bitter damp struck through their mantles and made their -flesh shiver. - -"Methinks," said Cromwell, "this dark air is full of portents and heavy -with forebodings. Thou knowest, Mr. Pym, that we stand in a little mean -street, in the cold and darkness, in the midst of a distressed and -oppressed city, yet I tell thee the Lord hath us by the hand and will -lead us yet into the freedom and light of great spaces, there to work -His will." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -JOHN PYM AND THE KING - - -"This is Lord Falkland's advice," said the Queen, "and I do wonder you -should so listen to one who was but lately in the forefront of your -enemies and even now is close with them." - -"It is the advice of the moderate men," returned Charles, with a sneer -on the adjective, "and I must listen to them. Patience, my dear, my -beloved. If I could win John Pym it were worth some sacrifice of pride." - -"Things run more smoothly in your favour now," retorted Henriette -Marie, "and you have no need for these concessions. Was not our welcome -to London fair enough? And do not your friends in the Lords grow daily?" - -"But the party of John Pym groweth daily also," said the King grimly, -"and therefore have I sent for him." - -"I do wonder," cried his wife, "that you should stoop to parley with -one whom we both hold in hatred!" - -"Do not imagine," replied Charles, with intense bitterness, "that -I shall ever forgive John Pym, whom I have long resolved to punish -fittingly. But if I can make an instrument of him, for his own -humiliation and my gain, surely I will." - -They were walking in the gardens of Whitehall. It was still winter, but -of an extraordinary mildness; a pale and soft blue sky showed between -the bare branches, and through the thick carpet of damp brown leaves -the fresh little plants and weeds pushed up shoots of green. - -Charles and his wife walked slowly along the damp paths; she was -wrapped carelessly in a black hood and cloak, and her face was -disfigured by a look of annoyance, anxiety, and fatigue. - -Her beauty and sweetness seemed to have been lately burnt away by the -angry pride and passions the recent troubles had roused in her; she -was not one to retain either meekness or gaiety in adversity, and she -fretted deeply under what she termed the King's inaction. - -Had she been in his place she would have put her fate to the test -before now by some act of violence, and instead of making concession -after concession, as Charles had done, she would have given the call to -arms at the first refusal of the Parliament to do her will or at the -first murmur they made against her fiat. - -And now, in her eyes, a humiliation deeper than any yet endured was to -hand, in the shape of the King's proposed interview with John Pym--a -proposal which, as she had guessed, came from Lord Falkland, who was -beginning to attach himself to the Court, and who was, as always, -working sincerely in the interests of concord, a peaceful settlement, -and public security. - -As usual, perversity and impatience, frivolity and pride made it -impossible for the Queen to grasp the difficulties of her husband's -position and how those difficulties had been augmented by the hideous -uprisings in Ireland, which continued with all the violence of furious -passions loosened after long restraint. - -She said no more, however, for she was not the woman to waste words on -a matter where she was not likely to prevail. - -The King too was silent; his feelings against John Pym were no less -bitter than his Queen's hatred of that resolute commoner, and they were -tinged with a dreadful shame and an awful remorse which she did not -feel, for the thought of Pym brought with it the thought of Strafford. - -When they came to a little turn in one of the paths they beheld ahead -of them a very pleasant vista of bare but fresh trees, flecked with -sun and covered with splashes and tufts of moss, and on a bench beneath -a slender beech a group of youths who were engaged in shooting arrows -at a target. - -Three of the little company were at the first opening of manhood, two -were children. All were unusual in their handsomeness and princely -poise as in the richness of their appointments, and four of them were -distinguished by a darkness of colouring and vividness of expression -commonly associated with the French or Italian, and not likely to be -the passport to popularity in England; the fifth and youngest was a -beautiful, grave child of eight, or so, with bright complexion and -golden auburn hair, who, leaning against the tree, handed to the others -the arrows out of a quiver of gilded leather. - -His dress heightened his look of fairness, for it was light blue, and -the sun fell full over him while the others were in shade and darkly -though magnificently attired. - -The other child was a lad a year or two older, of no particular beauty, -but of a nimble and sprightly appearance, whose irregular features were -lit by a pair of very handsome, eloquent, black eyes; seated at the -end of the bench, he was at the moment practising his skill at archery -and was tugging at a great bow that was almost too stubborn for his -strength. - -The three young men who were gathered round him, directing and -instructing, were obviously brothers; all three of a splendid -presence and all characterized by an air of recklessness, arrogance, -and a certain rude pride, and one was a youth who would have been -distinguished in any company for his extreme handsomeness and his -animated, flamboyant personality. - -It was he who, with the quickness that accompanied all his motions, -turned at the first footfall he heard and discerned the King. At the -sight of His Majesty the sport ended, and the young men rose, laughing; -but the fair child, with a certain prim absorption, busied himself in -putting the arrows away, and never looked up from his task. - -"The bow is too strong for Charles," said the handsome youth with a -strong foreign accent. - -"Get thee a smaller one," answered the King, smiling at his eldest son, -who had cast the bow down with a good-natured grimace. - -"Nay, sire," replied the Prince of Wales, "it is a play that groweth -old-fashioned. I will practise the sword." - -At this the fair boy glanced up from the quiver he was filling. - -"If you will not learn," he said, in a voice serious for his years, -"why waste this time in the essay?" - -His brother burst out laughing. - -"To pass the hours, thou wise man!" - -"I love not to pass the time in fooling," replied the little Duke of -York crossly. "If I had thought you would not learn, I would not have -held the arrows for you." - -The young man laughed again, and so did the Queen, but the King said -quietly-- - -"If James hath a mind to be serious--why, it is no ill thing; you, my -nephews, might without harm be graver." - -The three princes took this reproof in smiling silence; they made a -charming picture in the winter sunlight, in their youth and gaiety and -self-confidence and all the graceful airs of pride and rank which well -became their thoughtless age and high position. - -Two of them, the Elector Palatine and Prince Maurice, moved on -through the gardens with their two English cousins and the Queen, but -Rupert, the handsome, impatient youth, remained where the King stood -thoughtfully by the bench, beside the fallen bow and the quiver of -arrows little James had flung down in disgust. - -"Will Your Majesty see this traitor Pym to-day?" asked Rupert eagerly. - -"Yes, here, and soon," replied Charles. - -"He should be treading the scaffold planks, not the King's garden!" -cried the Prince. - -Charles looked at his nephew with mingled affection and doubt. His own -nature was so totally different from that of the headstrong, violent, -reckless, and rudely arrogant Prince, that he could not altogether love -and trust his nephew; at the same time the young man's eager loyalty, -his warm if imprudent championship of the King's every action, could -not but endear him to Charles, as did his history of misfortune and the -fact that he was the son of the King's only sister, Elizabeth, who had -met with troubles undeserved and bravely borne. - -He answered with the bitterness that often now flavoured his speech. - -"You will taste trouble in your time, Rupert, if you do not learn that -such words must not be used of those who lead the people." - -"I shall never be a king or a ruler," answered Rupert, "and so can keep -a freer tongue. A third son hath no hopes, but few fears, so tantivy to -these crop-eared churls, and may I one day have the hunting of them!" - -He cast up his beaver as he spoke and caught it again with a laugh of -sheer light-heartedness. - -"A free lance at your service, sire," he cried, and stooping near the -root of the beech he pulled up a root of violet which bore several pale -and small flowers of an exceeding sweetness of perfume. - -With quick brown fingers he fastened it into the button-hole of his -dark scarlet doublet. - -"Here comes the bold rebel," he said, his loud, deep voice but slightly -lowered. - -Charles hastily turned his head. - -Lord Falkland and John Pym were approaching. The King seated himself -and pulled his hat over his eyes as if to conceal the confusion in his -countenance when he found himself face to face with the man whom he -regarded as his minister's murderer, and Rupert, leaning against the -tree, folded his arms on his broad chest in an attitude of contempt and -defiance. - -The four men made a strange opposition when they came together: the -refined sweetness and gentle bearing of the English noble contrasting -with the coarse beauty and bold demeanour of the foreign prince, and -the severe deportment and graceful figure of the King opposed to the -bent form, simple attire, and quiet carriage of the parliamentary -leader. - -Both men had approached this interview with reluctance and a sense of -hopelessness; Pym, because he thought that it would be impossible to -force the King to sincerity, and the King, because he thought it would -be impossible to bend or break Pym. - -Charles gave no immediate answer to Lord Falkland's presentation, and -made not the least effort to appear gracious. He and Pym were not -strangers to each other; there had been a time, years ago, when it -had seemed as if the famous lawyer might be one of those advising and -guiding the King. - -"Sir," said Charles at length, "I know not why I have chosen to see you -here, save that the day is fair and we can talk here under the sky as -well as under a ceiling." - -"Sir," replied John Pym simply, "I have been mewed up so much of late -that I am very glad to be in a pleasant place of green." - -"Give us leave, my lord," said Charles, "and you, Rupert, we have to -confer with this our faithful subject." - -The King's cold sarcasm was not lost on John Pym, whose lips curved -into a faint quiet smile, nor on the two young men, one of whom heard -with vexation, the other with considerable amusement. - -Rupert would, indeed, have liked to have stayed and helped bait -and annoy a man whom he regarded as only fit for the branding, the -mutilation, the pillory, and the fine which had been the fate of -William Prynne a few years earlier, but he bowed to the King's -decision and moved away with the Viscount. - -Charles looked after the two figures, alike in youth and comeliness, -dissimilar in everything else, then turned his stern and weary eyes on -John Pym, who stood with his plain hat in his hand, waiting for the -King to speak. - -"Mr. Pym," he said abruptly, "there is much disaffection in the House." - -"Yes, sire." - -"And parties are very sharply divided," added Charles, alluding to the -continued strength of his partisans in the Commons. - -John Pym understood him perfectly. - -"We have," he answered, "much to contend against, but God hath given us -success." - -The King's pale face assumed a look even more hard and bitter than -before; he knew Pym referred to the passing of the Great Remonstrance -which he had carried through the Commons by a narrow majority. - -"We?" he exclaimed. "For whom do you speak when you say 'we,' Mr. Pym?" - -"For those whom Your Majesty wished to deal with when you sent for me," -answered the commoner calmly. - -"Ah!" cried the King sharply. "You think you can boast to my face of -your power in the Commons!" - -"I can boast to any man's face of the power of the English people," -replied Pym, "and I believe it is that power that Your Majesty wisheth -to reckon with." - -Charles was silent, not being able to master his humiliation and pride -sufficiently to speak. - -"It is that power Your Majesty _must_ reckon with," added John Pym, -without bravado or insult, but with intense firmness. - -The blood stained the King's pallor as if it had been called there by a -blow. - -"You have changed your language since last we spoke together, Mr. Pym!" -he cried. - -"Much hath changed, sire. There is a broad river with many currents and -many whirlpools flowing now through England, and it hath swept away -many old landmarks. I do not mean discourtesy, but Your Majesty must -have seen for himself the swift changes of the times." - -"Yes," replied the King. "I have marked a crop of sedition such as few -sovereigns have been called upon to cope with." - -"And the advisers of Your Majesty have ordered and permitted an upset -of the laws such as few peoples have had to endure, and as it is not in -the temper of the English to bear." - -A haughty and bitter reply was on Charles' lips, but he remembered that -it was his object to in some way gain Pym and Pym's enormous influence, -and he summoned his slender stock of tact and patience. - -"Mr. Pym," he said, with dignity, "we are not here to discuss old -grievances, but rather to prepare balm for present sores and to -consider how to avoid opening of future wounds." - -John Pym smiled sadly. - -"It is all," he said, "in Your Majesty's hands." - -"I think," answered the King, "that very little is left in my hands. -Civil and religious authority is both assailed, and now you would -arrest from me the power of the sword." - -"The Parliament should have authority to choose Your Majesty's advisers -and to control the army and the militia," said Pym. - -"You try to force me into a corner," replied Charles, in a still voice. -"But you say it is in my hands," he added, with an effort. "Tell me if -there is any means you--and I--may pursue together." - -John Pym knew as clearly as if Charles had put it into words that he -was appealing for his help; he stood silent, waiting for the King to -further reveal himself. - -"You have had a long and laborious life, Mr. Pym," continued Charles, -fingering the deep lace on his cuffs. "I could give you that ease and -honour that bring repose." - -"I am sorry Your Majesty said that," returned the commoner. "You must -know that I am not a second Strafford to leave my party for royal -bribes." - -"You dare use that name to me!" blazed Charles, all his wrath and -hatred, shame and pain, suddenly laid bare. - -"Why not?" returned Pym steadily. "The death of Thomas Wentworth lieth -not at my door. I opposed his impeachment. I wished his punishment, not -his blood." - -"Thou and thou only brought him to the block!" cried Charles. - -"Nor I, nor any could have done it if his master had chosen to save -him," said John Pym. - -"This is too much!" cried Charles, his lips quivering, his eyes -reddened and flashing. "By my soul, it is too much! Against my will was -this meeting!" - -"I also thought it was too late," replied Pym; "but I stand here, ready -to serve Your Majesty if Your Majesty will deal sincerely with your -people." - -Charles' natural duplicity came to his aid and supplied the place of -patience; he mastered the wrath and horror caused in him ever by the -mention of Strafford, and answered with sudden and unnatural quietness-- - -"Mr. Pym," he said, looking not at him but at his own square-toed -shoes and the white silk roses on them, "I do desire concord and plain -dealing, nor do I wish to provoke further strife." - -"Your Majesty," replied Pym, "then, should stop this great gathering of -ruffling Cavaliers who rally to the palace, and this armed guard who -insult the passing crowd." - -"What of the Roundhead rabble?" said Charles fiercely, "who tear my -bishops' robes from their backs when they endeavour to make their way -across Palace Yard--who insult my Queen because she is Romanist?" - -"Your Majesty provoked it," answered Pym calmly. "And had the bishops -shown more of the meekness proper to their calling they would not now -be in the Tower for their foolish proclamation." - -He still held himself erect, though he was in feeble health and weary -from standing. The King marked his fatigue, natural in one of his age, -but his innate courtesy was stifled by his hatred of this man, and -neither policy nor kindness moved him to bid John Pym be seated. - -"We must discuss these things," he said. "I am willing to be -reasonable, and you have the reputation of a moderate. But you have -some fanatic fellows of your party, Mr. Pym--Holles, Haselrig, Hampden, -and a certain Oliver Cromwell." - -"These gentlemen you name," replied John Pym, "are no more nor less -fanatic than a hundred others, sire." - -"They have stood forth of late as notable in voicing certain daring -opinions," said the King, who, though he had himself carefully in hand, -was not able to be more than barely civil. "You must not think, Mr. -Pym, that I have overlooked them." - -"What is the meaning of Your Majesty's reference to these gentlemen?" - -"Only this," replied Charles steadily, "that you and I could work -together only if you refused your company and counsels to these I have -mentioned--and some others, as my Lord Kimbolton, Mr. Strode, and the -Earl of Essex." - -"They are all," said Mr. Pym, "as well able to advise Your Majesty as -myself. And, sire, if you sincerely wish to please your people, you -will entertain no prejudice against these men, for they are highly -esteemed and trusted by all." - -"Enough, enough!" cried the King, in great agitation, hastily rising. -"I might consider terms with you, Mr. Pym, but not with every heretic -whose voice is loud enough to catch the ear of the vulgar--but do -not misunderstand me--you will hear from me again. To-day--to-day -the sun sets and it groweth chilly." He looked round the garden, now -filled with sunset light, with an abstracted air. "Think of me kindly, -Mr. Pym, and tell the Commons their honour and safety is my chiefest -care--as I hope theirs will be the welfare of the nation." - -"Our talk, then, hath no conclusion?" asked Mr. Pym, who argued little -good from this abrupt dismissal. - -"Not here," said the King with a smile; "at some further time, sir, you -shall know the impression your speech to-day hath made on me. Now I -must think a little on what you have said. A good night, Mr. Pym." - -The commoner bowed, and the King, blowing a little silver whistle which -he carried, brought up an attendant whom he told to conduct Mr. Pym to -the gates of the palace. - -And so the interview from which Lord Falkland and the moderate -royalists had hoped so much ended. - -Charles, trembling with emotion, spurned with the light cane he carried -the spot of earth on which John Pym had stood. - -"Thou damnable Puritan!" he muttered, "must I not only swallow thee but -all thy brood of heretics! Too much, by Christ, too much!" - - - - -CHAPTER X - -LORD FALKLAND'S ADVICE - - -Half an hour later the Queen and Rupert found the King standing by -the sundial; the sun had faded from the heavens, leaving them faintly -purple, the trees were intertwining shapes, grey avenues of darkness, -the scent of the violets by the dial was rich and strong, the air blew -chilly, and in the palace windows the yellow lights were springing up, -one by one. - -The Queen in her dark careless garments and Rupert in his brilliant -bravery alike gloomed up out of the twilight as indistinct shapes. - -The King peered at them a little before he knew them. - -"John Pym and I will never speak together more," he said abruptly -and in a hoarse tone. "When I returned to London it was not with the -purpose of winning these men but of punishing them, and to that purpose -I adhere." - -"Lord Falkland," answered Rupert, "said Your Majesty had promised him -to take no violent measures, and to consult him and your new advisers -in all your actions." - -"Of late I have had to make many promises that are impossible for me -to keep," returned Charles gloomily. "If men press on a king they must -expect he will use all weapons against them. I shall act without my -Lord Falkland's advice. How can he," added the King with a grand air, -"or any man, know what I feel towards these men who threaten my sacred -crown and God His Holy Church? Who imprison my bishops and take from -me--my friends?" his voice broke into sadness. "Truly, as I stood by -this dial, I thought it was like an emblem of my life, all the sunny -hours numbered and the finger now moving into darkness." - -"But to-morrow will see the sun again," cried Rupert, "and so Your -Majesty, coming from an eclipse, shall behold a brighter day." - -"Alas," answered Charles, "the moon is misty and clouds and rain -threaten for to-morrow. But though I am encompassed with many dangers I -will not hesitate to bring these traitors to judgment." - -"This is what I from the first advised," said the Queen. "When we came -from Scotland, and the people were shouting and the city feasting -us--then was the moment to strike." - -"It is not too late," replied Charles. - -"Take care it be not," urged Henriette Marie. "Last autumn half a day's -delay ruined my Lord Strafford, so quick was this accursed Pym." - -"He shall be avenged," cried the King in great agitation. "This time I -will strike first--keep it from my council. The King acts for the King, -now. Come in, my dear love, our short winter day is over--I feel it -cold." - -"A keen wind blows up the river," said the Queen, with a little -shudder. "I saw the gulls to-day at Whitehall; that means a stormy -winter." - -"But so far it hath been sweet as spring," said Rupert, "and there are -so many flowerets out, that you might think it Eastertide." - -They returned to the palace, and the King had sent for Lord Falkland -and was proceeding to his cabinet, when he was met by Lord Winchester, -one of the most influential and ardent of his courtiers, a magnificent -and wealthy Cavalier, a Romanist, and one greatly beloved by King and -Queen. - -"Sire," said this gentleman in a low, hurried voice. "I have just come -from Westminster where there are some most horrid rumours abroad. I -must acquaint you with----" - -Charles looked at him in a startled and bewildered fashion. - -"More ill news?" he murmured. - -"Nay," said the Marquess, "it is but one of many rumours such as now -for ever beat the air--but I have sounded several on the likely truth -of this report, and do believe it to be more than an idle alarm." - -The King took his friend's arm and drew him into his cabinet where -the wax-lights had already been lit and the fire sparkled between the -gleaming brass andirons. - -"Dear lord, be concise and brief," he said affectionately. "I have -summoned Lord Falkland, and he," added Charles with his usual -imprudence, "is not in my confidence. I have taken him because I must. -Now, thy news." - -The Marquess, who was as magnificent in appearance as he was in -temperament, being in all things the great noble, the patron of the -arts, the refined proud gentleman, the type of all that Charles most -admired, began to pace the room as if in some perturbation of mind. - -"I do not know how to frame the thing in words," he began; "'tis about -John Pym." - -"Ah, John Pym!" exclaimed Charles. He went to the fire and broke one of -the flaming logs with the toe of his boot. - -"It is soberly said and credibly received," continued the Marquess, -"that this knavish fellow who hath such a marvellous hold on the minds -of his party is preparing an impeachment of----" - -My lord paused, and the King turned sharply from the fire. - -"What friend of mine doth he strike at now?" he asked, in a tone of -bitter anger and shame. - -"It is said----" - -"Thyself?" - -"Nay, sire--should I for that have troubled you? It is said he -meditates impeaching Her Most Sacred Majesty." - -"Oh, just God!" cried Charles, "shall I endure this another hour, -another minute?" He struck his breast with his open hand, and the rush -of blood to his face showed even through the glow of the fire. "Am I -the King and cannot I protect my wife?" - -"Among Pym's party the thing is denied," said the Marquess, with an -instinctive desire to be fair even to people so hateful to him as were -the Puritans, "but remembering how suddenly he struck before, and -seeing how persistent the rumour was and how many held it credible, I -thought it well to bring it before Your Majesty----" - -"It needed but that!" exclaimed the King. "Yet it needed not a further -outrage. I had already decided on my course." - -He crossed suddenly to the Marquess and grasped him by the embroidered -sleeves. - -"Ever since Strafford died," he said, struggling with violent emotion, -"I have vowed in my heart, by my crown and before God, that Pym and -the Parliament should pay! And they shall--to the last drop of blood -in their bodies! Let no one ask me for mercy for John Pym, for I would -sooner lose my all than lose my vengeance on these rebellious heretics!" - -"It were better to strike at once," replied the Marquess, who well knew -the King's habit of hesitation, and whose sympathies were with the more -reckless counsels of the Queen. "Nor wait until they have gathered -strength and courage, or till fear giveth them daring. For I believe -they have their suspicions that Your Majesty meaneth to punish them." - -"My lord," replied Charles, "you speak with wisdom. You shall not -have long to wait. Let me but beguile my Lord Falkland, who is for a -compromise with these fellows." - -He returned to the fireplace and stood there, shivering, and warming -his hands, though not that he was cold; his features had a red, swollen -look as if he had lately wept, and his eyes were heavy-lidded and -bloodshot. - -"My lord," he said, "come to me when Lord Falkland hath gone, and I -shall have my project ready." - -Before the Marquess could answer, the King's page ushered in Lord -Falkland. - -The King stood silent, biting his forefinger as the young noble saluted -him. - -Not without misgiving did Lord Falkland see the Marquess in this -closeness with the King. He knew him to be a man of honour and -loyalty, but he knew him also to be one of those whose perverse and -reckless advice the King most leant on--advice fatal to the peace of -the kingdom, my lord thought, despairing of bringing Charles into an -alliance with the Puritans when the great Romanist noble thus held his -ear. The Marquess on his side regarded Lord Falkland as little better -than a mild fanatic, and in his heart likened him, half bitterly, half -humorously, to one who, at a bear baiting, should strive to separate -the furious animals by Christian reasoning when the stoutest stick made -would be scarce sufficient. - -So to the Marquess, who, though no statesman and no idealist, yet was -shrewd enough in a worldly way, did Lord Falkland's attempt to make -peace among the factions appear. - -He took a half-laughing leave of the Viscount, and, kissing the King's -hand, retired. - -Charles picked up a small black leather portfolio from his bureau -and began turning over the sketches it contained; they were Italian -drawings recently brought by the Earl of Arundel from Rome, and the -King glanced at them with real pleasure and relief. They were to his -distracted mind what wine and gaiety would be to other men. - -Lucius Carey, my Lord Falkland, with a look of anxiety on his beautiful -face, waited for him to speak. - -"Mr. Pym," said Charles at length, gazing at a little drawing in bistre -of a rocky landscape with trees, "did make some discourse with me on -the government of England." - -"Was his speech such as to please Your Majesty?" asked the Viscount -eagerly. - -"Please me?" repeated the King, keeping his voice steady, but the paper -in his hand fluttering from the nervous shaking of his wrist. "He -wished to discuss matters with me as if we were two stewards set over -an estate--not as if we were King and subject. Yet I do not doubt that -he is a man of influence and one full of expedients and devices." - -"He is honest," said my lord, "and of great power, and it is most -necessary that Your Majesty should consider him and his party." - -"Have I not," asked the King with subdued violence, "considered them?" - -He put the drawing back in the portfolio and turned his sad, angry gaze -on Lord Falkland. - -"It is most necessary," returned the Viscount, "that Your Majesty -should put aside all prejudice, and entertain the advices of these men -with sincerity and openness. It is said at Westminster----" - -"Yea, it is said at Westminster!" interrupted Charles, thinking of -what the Marquess of Winchester had told him. "What is not said at -Westminster?" - -Lord Falkland was entirely ignorant of what the King referred to, and -knew nothing of the designs imputed to Mr. Pym. - -"I referred to those floating whispers and alarming rumours which -declare Your Majesty intendeth, and hath intended, ever since your -coming from Scotland, some sudden and violent measures against the -popular leaders." - -The King turned to his portfolio again and drew out a delicate pencil -sketch of the Madonna and Child; the few strokes of lead glowed with -all the sweetness and grace of the Umbrian School. - -"There is a lovely Raffaello, my lord," he said. "Who would not rather -spend his time with these than with dusty politics?" - -"A King hath no choice, sire," answered the Viscount, who had himself -left a wealthy cultured retirement at the call of patriotism. - -"No," said Charles, "there are many matters in which I have no -choice. As to these reports you have heard, did I not lately promise -the Commons that their safety was as much my care as that of my -own children? And have I not promised you, my lord, and my other -councillors, to take no step without your advice? What more can you ask -of your King?" - -"Nothing more," replied Lord Falkland. "If Your Majesty remain of that -mind I believe there will be but little difficulty to bring all things -to a happy conclusion. Only I know that there are certain rash perverse -courtiers who would tempt Your Majesty to step outside the law." - -"You have caught a republican tone from this Puritan party," said -Charles haughtily. "How shall I keep within the law who am alone the -law?" - -Lord Falkland reddened at the rebuke, but answered the King manfully -and earnestly. - -"Sire, if I am not honest with you, I lack in loyalty. The constitution -of England is a mighty thing, and even the King must respect it--even -as you have promised. And if you go against it, and against the party -and principles of Mr. Pym, there will be great store of unhappiness -ahead of us all." - -Charles closed the portfolio and flung it down. - -"I will do all things in reason," he said, facing the Viscount, "but I -stand as fast by my faith as they by their heresies. I will not forsake -the Church of England." - -Lord Falkland was silent. - -"And they ask for the militia," added Charles. "They desire that the -army for Ireland be in their hands, officered by their creatures." - -"Your Majesty," suggested Falkland, "might allow them the militia for a -time." - -"No, by Christ!" cried Charles, "not for an hour! You ask what was -never asked of King before. Neither Church nor sword will I surrender." - -"Then the conference of Your Majesty with Mr. Pym hath been -unavailing?" asked my lord mournfully. - -"I do not say so much," replied Charles. "I have said I will not be -unreasonable, nor regardless in any way, of the good of the people. I -will see Mr. Pym again." - -"Forgive me, sire," said the Viscount, "but a temperate carriage is -advisable now in all things, to keep our friends, to gain others, and -to render impossible the horrid chance of bloodshed." - -The King's eyes narrowed. - -"They would fight, would they?" he answered. "Well, so would I--I am -not fearful of that. I should know how to meet rebellion." - -"Rebellion?" repeated Lord Falkland. "I do not dare to use or think -that word!" - -"There are some who do," said Charles dryly, "but with God's grace we -will avoid that danger. Are you satisfied, my lord?" - -The Viscount bowed. - -"I have Your Majesty's word for those measures we believe most -necessary now. I am content to leave the rest in the hands of Your -Majesty." - -In his heart, the Viscount, who had met much disillusion and -disappointment since he had joined the Court party, was far from -satisfied. He found the King, as ever, vague, shifting, and reserved, -and he was bound to conclude that the interview with John Pym had -proved absolutely fruitless. Yet he drew some comfort from the fact -that Charles had promised to commit no violence on any of the Members -of the Commons nor to take any steps without the advice of his new -counsellors--those moderate, loyal men of whom Falkland and Hyde were -the chief, and whose mild and patriotic measures were entirely devoted -to the task of making a settlement in the kingdom and mediating between -Charles and the Parliament. - -Charles seemed to notice the shade of sadness, perhaps of mistrust, -on my lord's fair face, and he touched him lightly and kindly on the -shoulder. - -"Believe I shall act as becometh a King," he said, smiling. - -Lord Falkland kissed his sovereign's hand and withdrew, reassuring -himself as best he might, and comforting himself with those fair -visions of truth and concord that never failed to fill his idealistic -mind. - -Charles returned to the portfolio and continued to handle the drawings -with a loving, delicate touch, and to gaze at them with the sensitive -eyes of appreciation and knowledge. - -He was so employed when my Lord Winchester returned. When the splendid -Marquess entered, he put the sketches by. - -"There is little satisfaction to be had from my Lord Falkland," he -remarked. "He is little better than an ambassador of the Puritans." - -"What will Your Majesty do?" asked the Marquess eagerly. - -"To-morrow," replied Charles, "there will be a few of these enemies -of mine lodged in the Tower. To-morrow I impeach Pym and four of his -creatures of high treason, at the Bar of the House of Lords." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE FIVE MEMBERS - - -The commotion at Westminster was intense; never, even at the arrest of -Sir John Eliot or at the impeachment of the Earl of Strafford, or at -the passing of the Great Remonstrance, had excitement run so high. - -For the King, without acquainting his new advisers, in direct violation -of his recent promises, to the astonishment and dismay of his friends, -the rage and horror of his enemies, had made a move which put his legal -position in the wrong and showed at once and for ever that alliance -between him and the popular party was impossible. He had sent the -Attorney-General to the Bar of the House of Lords to impeach Lord -Kimbolton and five members of the Lower Chamber--Pym, Strode, Holles, -Haselrig, and Hampden. - -Immediately afterwards a guard was sent from Whitehall to arrest the -five members. The Commons refused to deliver them, and sent a message -to the King to say that the gentlemen charged were ready to answer any -legal accusation. They also ordered the arrest of the officers who had -been sent to search the rooms of the five members and seize and seal up -their papers. - -This was the answer of the House to the challenge cast down by the -King, and all England thrilled to it; all England waited too, in a kind -of passionate suspense, the answer that would come from Whitehall. Was -the King, who had so suddenly declared himself an enemy of the nation, -baffled, checked or only further enraged? What would he do next? - -Few slept that night of the 3rd of January; and from thousands of -Puritan households prayers and lamentations ascended. - -It was now clear that not by gentle means could the people of England -hope to regain their cherished liberty, and that neither consideration -nor fair dealing was to be hoped from a King who had so contemptuously -disregarded faith and the law. - -Falkland, Culpeper, Hyde, and their following were utterly confounded -and dismayed, ashamed and humiliated, but in the stern hearts of -Pym, Hampden, Holles, Haselrig, Strode, and Cromwell was a certain -exultation. - -Their enemy (for so by now these men had come to regard the King) -had put himself in the wrong, and alienated that vast mass of the -nation which in all great crises long remains neutral, and which had, -hitherto, declared for neither King nor Parliament. - -But the recent action of the King, after his open promise before -Parliament, caused the least reflective and humble of men to entertain -a jealousy of their liberties, and a strong murmur of indignation arose -over the whole country, which was a good help and encouragement to -these men at Westminster. - -Added to this satisfaction, the popular leaders, who had already dared -so much and ventured so far, felt a deep, if stern, gratification, -which was not, perhaps, shared by their followers, that affairs were -coming at length to a conclusion. Charles had now raised the issue, and -it was their task to answer his challenge as decisively as he had given -it. Three at least of the Commoners--Pym, Hampden, and Cromwell--did -not shrink from the immense responsibilities which this involved on -them, nor from the high stakes on which they had to play. - -Pym and Hampden already stood as near to death as had Pym the year -before, when Strafford had come glooming to Westminster to impeach -him, for there could be little doubt of the King's intention to appease -that proud blood of his forsaken minister by the blood of those who had -sent him to his death. - -Cromwell, one of a younger generation and of no such importance in the -eyes of either King, his own party, or the nation, ran no such risk as -his leaders and incurred no such responsibility. He was, however, their -able and indefatigable lieutenant, and Pym at least thought highly -of him as a driving force of courage and fortitude, enthusiasm and -resolution. - -On the morning of the 4th of January, the House met in an incredible -state of tension and excitement, but during the morning hours nothing -untoward occurred, and the Commons adjourned at midday without there -having been any sign or message from Whitehall. - -It was a dun day, the river ran slate-coloured between grey houses, -the sky was murk and low, an east wind blew gusts of icy rain along -the streets, and at midday the light was obscure and dismal; the mild, -hopeful winter had changed after Christmas, and now had the full -Northern bitterness. - -Mr. Cromwell returned to the House early, as did most, and when Mr. Pym -was in his place the benches were again crowded. Denzil Holles, Strode, -Hampden, and Haselrig were near the entrance, talking earnestly with -Lord Kimbolton, the Member of the House of Lords who had been impeached -with them. - -Mr. Cromwell looked at them with some admiration and even envy; they -had a splendid chance to exercise all those qualities which he felt -strongly burning in himself. - -He rose up and made his way to Mr. Pym, who was sitting silent, and -looked ill and fatigued. But his calm, resolute expression, the light -of energy, command, and courage in his glance showed him to be, as -always, the intrepid, prompt leader of men--the leader of wit and -resource and vigour. - -"Any news yet to hand?" asked Mr. Cromwell eagerly. "You have gathered -nothing either in the lobbies or the streets?" - -Mr Pym smiled. - -"What is to be gathered but wild, bottomless rumours such as are to be -looked for in these divided times? I have some of our own people posted -near Whitehall that we may know as soon as possible the action of His -Majesty." - -"Maybe," said Mr. Cromwell, "he will do no more, finding his threats -have failed." - -"You do not know the King as well as I," returned John Pym. "He is the -very haughtiest and most revengeful of men, and is not like to suffer -in silence such an affront (for so he will call it) as hath been put on -him." - -"What, then, will he do?" asked the Member for Cambridge. "What can he -do?" - -"I have tried for many years," replied John Pym, "to work with His -Majesty to form a ministry of loyal men proven by the Parliament--but -it could never be, as you know--and all my dealings with the King, -down to this last interview when I saw him face to face, have taught -me his variableness, his unstability, his pride, and his insincerity. -Therefore I cannot judge nor guess what he will do." - -The four members talking at the entrance had now returned to their -places, and Oliver Cromwell hastened to meet his friend, Lord -Kimbolton, who was about to leave for the Upper House. The Member for -Cambridge accompanied him into the antechamber, and while they were -there, talking on the one absorbing topic of the moment, a fellow with -his face pinched by the wind and a little breathless, came up asking -for Mr. Pym, and, showing his credentials, was admitted into the -Chamber. - -Mr. Cromwell, taking a hasty leave of Lord Kimbolton, hurried back to -his place in the House. - -He found the Members already in a state of deep emotion and -excitement, for the most momentous of news was flashing from mouth to -mouth. - -Mr. Pym's messenger had brought word that the King himself, accompanied -by some hundreds of armed men, was riding down to Westminster. There -was no time to lose; the royal party had been issuing from Whitehall -gates when the man had seen them, and, though some little delay might -be caused by the dense crowd thronging the street, it could not be long. - -Deep cries of "The city! safety in the city! To the river!" echoed -through Westminster Hall, and the five members were pushed from their -places by friendly hands and hurried from the Hall to the lobbies, from -the lobbies to the Thames, and there into the first boat available with -directions to hasten to the sanctuary of the city. - -The thing was done with desperate swiftness, but if it had lacked this -haste it would have been too late, for the House was scarcely returned -to wonted order when the King with his cavalcade of ruffling Cavaliers -arrived at Westminster. - -A deep hush fell on the Chamber, as if every man held his breath. Mr. -Cromwell leant forward in his seat, every line in his powerful face -tense, like a great mastiff on the watch, entirely absorbed by the -movements of his foe. - -The King's men now filled Westminster Hall, and on the threshold of the -inviolable Chamber itself the King appeared. - -When he first saw these rows of hostile faces, darkened, silent -countenances of men who had defied him and whom he hated and scorned, -he paused for a moment full in the doorway and calmly and deliberately -gazed round him. - -There was something awful in the moment; the two opponents, King and -Parliament, so suddenly and violently brought together, seemed like -actors pausing before they enter on a tragedy. - -The King, in rose-coloured cloth and a crimson cloak, great boots with -gilt spurs, his hat in his left hand, and his right pressed to his -heart, the bleak light of the wintry day falling over his fair head and -melancholy face, looked a frail figure to be opposed to these gathered -ranks of gentlemen who had the whole strength and feelings of a great -nation behind them, while he was only armed with the intangible weapons -of traditional authority and such virtue as he might find in the royal -blood of his unfortunate race. - -Beside him was his nephew, the young Elector Palatine, whose dark, -haughty features expressed mingled curiosity and doubt. He had known -exile and wandering, misfortunes and defeat, and it might be that he -thought his uncle was daring those disasters which had broken his -father's heart. His own presence there was an additional outrage on the -Commons, but neither he nor Charles thought of this, so completely had -they in common the family recklessness. - -The two Princes, Charles slightly before his nephew, advanced down the -floor of the House. Mr. Cromwell, turning in his seat, watched him; -there was a deep silence. - -The King mounted the step of the chair and faced the Speaker; his -voice, very pleasant and slow as always, rose clearly through the -crowded, still Chamber. - -"Sir," he said, "we demand certain of your Members--Mr. Pym, Mr. -Strode, Mr. Haselrig, Mr. John Hampden, and Mr. Denzel Holles." - -There was a second's pause, then the King added in a voice slightly -varied and strained with anger-- - -"Where are these men?" - -"Your Majesty," replied the Speaker, "I have neither ears nor eyes in -this place save as the House may be pleased to direct." - -A low, deep murmur followed these words, and the blood ran up from the -King's fair beard to his fair curls, and remained there, a fixed red in -his haughty face. - -"It is no matter," he replied. "I think my eyes are as good as -another's." - -He turned and glanced round the House and scrutinized the packed -benches in which were those five notable empty places; through the -open doors his own followers peered in with a show of pike and pistol. -Oliver Cromwell looked at them and smiled. When the King's swift glance -for one instant rested on him, that grim smile was still on his lips; -he turned and looked down full into the flushed face of the King. - -Charles smiled also with a bitterness beyond words. - -"I perceive that my birds are flown," he said; "but I shall take my own -course to find them." - -The Speaker neither moved nor spoke; a few deep cries of "Privilege!" -rose from the benches, and the King seemed to suddenly lose that proud -composure he had hitherto maintained. His painful colour deepened and -his countenance was confused and troubled, as if he realized how many -and powerful his enemies were and how completely he was now encompassed -by them. - -"Hold us excused that we thus disturb you," he stammered, and he took -his hand from his heart, where he had hitherto kept it, and caught his -nephew by the arm as if to assure himself of the presence of one friend -in the midst of this hostile assembly. - -"God save you, sire!" muttered the Elector Palatine. "Do not give these -rogues the power of disconcerting you." - -Charles replied something that was lost in the ever deepening and -growing murmur from the benches, and, turning on his heel, passed -with his usual dignity of carriage through the ranks of the angry and -triumphant Commons, and joined his own followers in the lobby. - -As the rose-coloured habit flashed out of sight, a great murmur arose, -and the Members turned passionately one to the other. There was neither -noise nor disorder; they were the very flower of English gentlemen, -nearly all of famous names and ancient lineage, and they had not acted -lightly nor for a trivial cause, but with full gravity and weight and -for the sake of civic liberty. - -"His Majesty," said Mr. Cromwell to his neighbour, "is as great a -blunderer as any I have ever seen." - -Further down the benches a member remarked-- - -"The die is cast. Now there is no turning back." - -The next day the Parliament moved into the city for safety, and there -went into committee on the state of affairs in the kingdom. Mr. -Cromwell moved the consideration of means to put the kingdom in a state -of armed defence. - -The King left Whitehall and sent his Queen from Dover to gain help from -France, and to pledge the Crown jewels in Holland. - -So was the die cast indeed, as all men began to see as the stormy -spring merged into the stormy summer. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -NOTTINGHAM - - -"This is a day that will be remembered in the history of these times," -said the lady at the window. - -Her brother made no answer, but continued to lace up his long riding -gloves. - -They were in an upper chamber of a house of the better sort in the town -of Nottingham; the dark panelled walls, the dark floor and ceiling, -the heavy furniture, with the fringes to the chairs and the worked -covers to the table, showed vividly to the least detail in the strong -afternoon rays of the August sun, which was, however, now and then -obscured by heavy clouds which veiled the whole town in dun shadow and -filled with gloom the apartment. - -Both the lady and her brother were very young; but on her countenance -was a melancholy, and on his a resolution, ill-suited to their years. -The Cavalier was fair-haired, slight, grave, and arrayed in the garb of -war, being armed on back and breast, and carrying pistolets and a great -sword. - -The lady was dressed in a style of fantastical richness which well -became her delicate and unusual appearance; she wore a riding habit and -it was of pale violet cloth, enriched with silver, and opening on a -petticoat of deep-hued amber satin braided with a border of purple and -scarlet; at her wrists and over her collar hung deep bands of lace; her -hair was dressed in a multitude of little blonde curls which was like a -net of gold silk wire about her face, and she wore a black hat crowned -with many short ostrich feathers. - -Her features were sensitive, well-shaped, and showed both wit and -melancholy, her eyes were pale brown and languid-lidded, and her -lips were compressed in a decided line which indicated courage and -determination; yet the prevailing impression she made was of great -modesty and feminine tenderness. - -At her breast, fastened with a knot of blue silk, was a long trail of -yellow jasmine and a white rose. - -"If I had been the Queen," she said, "I would not have gone to France." - -"She went to gain succour, Margaret," returned Sir Charles Lucas. - -"Another could have gone," insisted the lady, resting her dreamy eyes -on her very lovely white hands which bore several curious pearl rings. -"If I had a lord and he was in the situation of His Blessed Majesty, I -would not have left him, no, not for two worlds packed with joys." - -"The Queen went in April," replied the Cavalier, "and then matters did -not look to be past mending." - -"Yet, methinks," said Margaret Lucas, "that any one might have -perceived such a temper in the Roundheads that they would not easily -see reason. And, dear Charles, the King had been defied at Hull--what -was that but a portent of this? - -"However," she added at once, "it is not for me to speak so of my -sovereign lady. Oh, Charles, what a heaviness and melancholy doth -encumber my spirits! See how the sky is also stormy and doth presage -a tempest in the heavens, even as men's actions hasten a tempest on -earth." - -"Thine is not the only heart filled with foreboding to-day. Many eyes -are already bitter with tears which shall be shed till their founts -are dry before these troubles end," replied the young man. "But it is -not for us to lament the tearing asunder of England, but to remember -for which purpose we came hither from Colchester to pay our duty to -the King, and renew our oaths of fealty before his banner which shall -to-day be raised." - -Margaret Lucas came from the window; the brilliant light that streamed -through the cracks in the storm-clouds made a dazzling gold of her -hair, and slipped in lines of light down the rich silks and satins of -her garments. - -Glorified by this strong light, she went up to her brother and laid her -hands lightly on his shoulders, turning him, with a gentle pressure, to -face her and look down on her lesser height. - -"Dear," she said, "dear and best--what shall come is hid by God, and no -human eye may take a peep at it, yet we may make a guess that the times -will be rough and disheartening, and thou wilt be thick in the midst of -commotion. Yet whatever happen, remember thy loyal need, thy fair name; -heed no chatter, but serve the King, under God, and keep a thought for -all of us--and for Margaret, who hath no knight as thou hast yet no -lady, have a sweet remembrance. God bless thee according to His will, -Charles, and bring thee safely through these sad distresses." - -The young Cavalier, much moved, drew her two hands from his shoulders -and kissed them, and she, gazing on him with much affection and -something of a mother's look, kissed his bent head where the light hair -waved apart. - -Then, in a humour too solemn for speech, the two young loyalists (their -faith was simple and admitted of no argument--to them the King could do -no wrong) left the chamber and house, and mounting two well-kept horses -and followed by a neat groom, rode through the streets of Nottingham -towards the castle on the hill. - -There were many people abroad, and several companies of shotmen, -musketeers, and of armed citizens marching in the direction of the -castle; but all were silent, and most, it seemed, sad, for an air of -general gloom overhung the town, and there was no one to break it with -rejoicing or shouting or any enthusiasm, and though those gathered -within the town might be tenacious in their loyalty, they were either -not confident enough or not exalted enough in their spirits to express -it by any demonstration. - -There was, besides, a rapid storm blowing up; the sun glowed with -a fiery light, and black clouds tipped with burning gold rolled -threateningly across the heavens. Men's minds, keenly watching for -portents and omens, saw one in the wild weather promised in the sky, -and beheld, prefigured above them, the black waste and the red blood -that from this day on should be spread and spilled over the peaceful -richness of England. - -Margaret Lucas and her brother rode into the courtyard of the castle, -where several companies of soldiers were gathered; some brass guns and -demi-culverins reflected the sun in blazes of light, and a band of -drummers and trumpeters stood ready. - -Sir Charles Lucas perceived that Prince Rupert was already there at -the head of a company of finely-equipped gentlemen on horseback, and -rode up to pay his respects, having already met the Prince. Margaret -remained a little behind among the crowd of courtiers, ladies, and -citizens. - -Rupert's spirits were ablaze with excitement and satisfaction, he -did not even seem to be aware of the general air of depression and -apprehension. The King had promised him the command of the cavalry, the -most important branch of the army, and to a Prince of his years and -temperament, the glory of this was sufficient to obscure everything -else. - -"Good evening, Sir Charles!" he cried; then his quick eye roved past -the youth. "Is not that lady your sister? The likeness is great between -you." - -"That is indeed Margaret Lucas," replied her brother, "who was visiting -near this town, and nothing would satisfy her but joining me to-day in -this ceremony." - -"I must speak to this loyal lady," smiled the Prince. - -He rode up to her and took off his hat, which was heavy with black -plumes. - -"Would you not know me, Mrs. Lucas," he asked, "that you would stay -behind your brother?" - -"I would not be uncivil to any, least to a Prince," replied the lady, -"but neither would I put my conversation on any man nor be so bold as -to look at one unbidden." - -"This is a fair sweet loyalist," said Rupert. "Hast thou a cavalier -beside the King?" - -She looked at him out of untroubled eyes; his bold, hawk-like face, -the black eyes, the white teeth flashing in a smile, the waving black -hair, the dark complexion above the white collar, and all his attire of -scarlet and buff and gold and trappings of war, his great horse, and -the background of cannon, halberdiers, and stormy heavens, made a noble -and splendid picture. - -"I have no cavalier," said Margaret Lucas calmly, "nor have I yet seen -the man to whom I could give my troth." - -"How many years hast thou?" asked Rupert. - -"Highness--nineteen." - -He was little older himself, but he smiled at her as he would have -smiled at a child. - -"Give me your white rose," he said; "as thou art yet free, the gift -harms none." - -Margaret turned to her brother. - -"Charles, shall I?" and a faint smile touched her grave lips. - -"With all heartiness," replied Sir Charles. - -She took the rose and jasmine from above her true heart, and her small -hand laid them on the Prince's outstretched brown palm. - -He raised that hand and kissed her glove, and her eyebrows lifted -half-humorously under her golden fringe of curls. - -"You are in good spirits, my lord," she said. As Rupert, with clumsy -carefulness, was fastening the two frail flowers in his doublet, the -King rode into the courtyard, followed by the royal standard. - -Charles rode a white horse and was wrapped in a dark blue mantle, an -unnatural pallor disfigured his cheek, and an unnatural fire sparkled -in his restless eyes; he seemed both melancholy and excited. He did not -fail of his usual dignity, however, and though shut within himself in -an inner gloom, he acknowledged readily the salutes that greeted him. -There was but a scanty crowd, both of citizens and soldiers, nor was -there much fervour save among the courtiers and personal friends of the -King. - -Charles glanced up at the wide, darkening sky across which the mighty -clouds were marching, trailing fire in the west, then he turned to -Prince Maurice, who rode at his side. "When I was crowned," he said, in -a low voice, "they did preach a sermon on this text--'Be thou faithful -unto death and I will give thee a crown of life'--and unto death I -will be faithful to God, the Church of England, and my rightful royal -heritage." - -He then rode forward, and amid the music of the drums and trumpets and -the shouts of the spectators, the royal standard of England was raised -and unfurled as sign and symbol that the King called on all loyal -subjects for their service and duty. - -Many of the citizens threw up their caps and called out, "Long live -King Charles and hang up the Roundheads!" but their cries soon ceased, -and all gazed in a mournful silence at the great flag straining now at -poles and ropes and flaunting the sunset with bravery of leopards and -lilies and the rampant lion--crimson, gold, and blue. - -It was the symbol of war--of civil war; when it broke on the evening, -then was all hope of peace for ever gone. All argument, appeals to law, -to reason, all legal dispute, all compromise, was over now; henceforth -the sword would decide. - -The sensitive soul of Margaret Lucas was touched by a dreadful grief; -she bent on her saddle and wept. There was to her an almost unbearable -sadness in the silent appeal of the lonely flag. - -The King glanced half-wildly round the little knot of faithful friends -gathered about him; a silence had fallen which none seemed ready to -break. - -Suddenly Charles put out his hand; a drop of rain splashed on the bare -palm. - -"The storm beginneth," he said, and turned his horse's head towards the -castle. - -So they all went their several ways homeward in a wildness of wind and -rain. - -The Royal Standard faced the gusty tempests for six days, then the pole -snapped and the storm hurled it in the dust. - - - - -PART II - -THE MAN - -"A larger soul, I think, hath seldom dwelt in a house of clay."--_A -Contemporary on Oliver Cromwell._ - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A LEADER OF MEN - - -John Pym was dead. - -In June John Hampden had fallen in the fight at Chalgrove field, Lord -Falkland had hurled himself on death in the front of the royalist -ranks at Newbury, and now Pym, the bold and able leader, the dauntless -spirit, the uncorrupted heart, had resigned the weight of his troublous -years and rested in peace at London, where his body lay in state for -good patriots to gaze on and mourn over before it was carried to the -Abbey Church which held the nation's great dead. - -To no man in the three rent kingdoms did the news of John Pym's death -come with such force and menace as to Oliver Cromwell, now Colonel, and -Governor of Ely. - -When the Parliament had taken up arms in reply to the King's challenge -at Nottingham, patriotic and energetic members had been given commands -in the parliamentary army. Mr. Cromwell had raised a troop of his -own in Cambridgeshire, had contributed out of his private means to -the public service, had seized the magazine in Cambridge Castle, and -forcibly prevented the University from sending its gold and silver -plate to the King, and so, by boldness and expedition in all his -actions, had justified the opinion held of him by his colleagues. He -had been under fire at Winceby and Edgehill and in some other of the -random skirmishes which marked the beginning of the war, and he had -shown himself quiet and tenacious in battle. He was now the soul of the -Eastern Association, one of the foremost of the county leagues against -the royal tyranny, Colonel of his own troop (now nearing close on a -thousand men), and Governor of Ely, the town of his residence, where -his family had remained during his service in London. - -So the first turmoil and confusion of this most unhappy calling to -arms had cast up Oliver Cromwell to a higher position than he could -ever have thought of occupying in times of peace, and he had already -had tumultuous experience of the bitternesses, difficulties, and -bewilderments of one in authority during such momentous times. - -To this man, in this situation, came the news of the death of John Pym, -and he went privately to his chamber about the time they were lighting -the candles and considered within himself. - -The two leaders of the older generation, Hampden and Pym, were now -gone, and who was there with sufficient courage and capacity, foresight -and strength to take their place? - -The moment was a critical one for the Parliament. The first rush of -enthusiasm, the first outburst of fury against the King was over; a -general lukewarmness overspread the adherents of the popular party, -and the people, seeing that Parliament had now gotten the sword, were -waiting for a speedy deliverance out of trouble and, finding themselves -instead in the midst of a bloody civil war, were inclined to clamour -for a peace, however hasty and patched up, especially as the tide of -martial success had run in favour of the King, thanks largely to the -generalship of his nephew Rupert, and many faint-hearted men were -beginning to remember that they were incurring the risk of impeachment -for high treason if the King should prove the final victor. - -Those in the forefront of the parliamentary party were moderate men -such as Essex, Warwick, Holles, Strode, Vane, and Manchester; the keen -and fervent eye of Oliver Cromwell could see no successor to Hampden or -Pym. - -Again there came to him remembrances of the day at St. Ives when he -had received together absolute assurance that he was in Grace, and -that the Lord had some uses for him. Did it not seem as if the path, at -first so dim and obscured, was being opened out before him with greater -and increasing clearness? - -He could see the dangers that threatened the liberties of England, -still struggling with, and not yet released from, their bonds, and he -marvelled if God had put the means of quenching these dangers into his -hands: _no other were there_ now Pym was gone, perhaps it might be that -he would be called. - -There was Sir Harry Vane, with his knowledge of foreign countries and -tongues, his pure heart and high courage, who had much of the mystic -piety which pleased Oliver Cromwell. Yet he doubted if this man had -the force and boldness to accomplish what must be accomplished now in -England. - -He paced up and down the room a little, then went to the window and -looked out on the winter afternoon; the bare trees bent and shivered -beneath the steady sweeps of the wind in St. Mary's churchyard near -by, and the towers of the cathedral had a bleached and bonelike look -against a low, dark grey sky. - -As he stood so, deep in his thoughts, he perceived, at first quite -dully, but soon with interest, the solitary figure of a gentleman -facing the wind in the chill street and coming towards his house. - -Oliver Cromwell opened the leaded diamond pane and looked out; the -pedestrian raised his hand to hold his hat against the wind, the -beaver flapped back nevertheless, and the keen observer at the window -recognized the Earl of Manchester, formerly that Lord Kimbolton who had -been one of six members hurried from Westminster to the city, and now -President of the Eastern Association and one of the most popular and -influential men on the parliamentary side. Cromwell, however, had not -that affection for him which he had formerly held; he suspected not my -lord's loyalty, but his judgment, not his good intentions, but his -strength of mind and purpose, and he saw in him a typical exponent of -those evils and dangers his party had most to guard against. - -With a sombre expression on his clouded features he descended the -modest stairway of his simple home: the two-storied house had come to -him, together with the office of tithe farmer, from his wife's uncle. - -When he reached the hall he saw the slight figure of a girl lighting -the lamp above the door; she turned to him with the wax taper in the -silver holder still in her hand and the pure flame of it lighting a -face at once resolute and gentle. - -The extreme plainness of her dark gown and white collar robbed her -of the usual pleasant festive carelessness of youth, but her air of -dignity and health and goodness was attractive enough, and she was not -without distinction and a certain handsomeness of form and feature. - -At the sight of his eldest daughter Colonel Cromwell's face softened -wonderfully, and when he spoke his voice had a note of great tenderness -which entirely dispelled the usual harshness. - -"I did perceive Lord Manchester coming, Bridget," he said. "I pray thee -set the candles in the little parlour. Is thy mother out?" - -"She hath taken Frances and Elisabeth for an airing, sir," answered the -girl. "Mary remaineth with me. She will assay to help me with a tansy -pudding." - -"The odour thereof is abroad already," said Colonel Cromwell. "Have we -not tansy pudding overoften, Bridget?" - -A look of distress flushed the serene face of the young housekeeper. - -"It is so difficult since the war began to vary the dishes," she -answered. "All commodities are so high in price and so scarce." - -"I spoke lightly, dear," interrupted her father hastily. "Trouble not -thy mind with this matter." - -A knock sounded. Bridget Cromwell opened the door and admitted Lord -Manchester, curtsied with great simplicity, then turned into the -parlour, bearing with her the frail light of the taper. - -The two gentlemen followed her. - -"You have heard that John Pym is dead?" asked my lord abruptly. - -"But to-day, though it is a week ago. But the roads have been -impossible." - -"It is," said Lord Manchester, "very rough marching in the fen country." - -"We have a great loss in Mr. Pym," remarked Colonel Cromwell. - -"Sir Harry Vane will take his place." - -"Umph! Sir Harry Vane!" muttered the other. "A dreaming man." - -"A moderate man," amended my lord. - -"I begin," cried Oliver Cromwell, "to detest that word!" - -Bridget had lit four plain candles which stood in copper sticks on -the mantelpiece, and, kneeling down, put her taper to the twigs under -the great logs on the hearth. The small room, which contained neither -picture nor ornament, but which was solidly and comfortably furnished, -was now fully revealed, as was the figure of the Earl in his buff -gallooned with gold, armed with sword and pistol, with his soldier's -cloak falling from his shoulders and his beaver in his hand. - -Bridget blew out the taper, drew the red curtains over the window, -then went to a great sideboard which ran half the length of the room, -and was taking out a bell-mouthed glass and a silver tray when my lord -interrupted her. - -"Not for me, my child," he said, with a smile. "I am lodging in Ely -for the night, and am merely here to have a few words with Colonel -Cromwell." - -At this Bridget curtsied again and withdrew. As the door closed -behind her Oliver Cromwell turned suddenly on his guest with such an -expressive movement that my lord startled. But Cromwell said nothing. - -"Sir," remarked my lord, "since last we met much hath changed. Things -show well for the King." - -Colonel Cromwell did not speak. - -"And I," continued the Earl, "am now very desirous to stop the war." - -The other took this statement quietly. - -"You were ever for a compromise," he said. "Well, well," he smiled. "So -you would stop the war? Not yet, my lord, not yet. When we lay down the -sword the King must be so defeated that he is glad to take our terms, -otherwise why did we ever unsheath the sword?" - -"Success lies so far with His Majesty," was the reply. "Fairfax and -Essex can hardly hold their own, Rupert hath proved a very genius, the -Queen cometh from over seas with men and money--bethink you a little, -Colonel Cromwell, if the King should defeat us? Death for us all, aye, -to our poorest followers, as traitors, and his own terms imposed on a -bleeding nation!" - -"He must not defeat us." - -"The chances are against us," said my lord uneasily. - -"God," returned Colonel Cromwell, with indescribable force, reverence, -and enthusiasm, "is with us. Do you think He will give the victory unto -the children of Belial?" - -"Even if we gain the victory," persisted the Earl, "the King is always -the King." - -"My lord, if that is your temper, why did you ever take up arms?" - -"For that cause in which I would lay them down--the cause of liberty." - -Oliver Cromwell went to the fire and stared down at the cracking logs, -through which the thin flames spurted. - -"These arguments whistle like the wind in an empty drum," he said. "We -must not think of peace until we have gained that for which we made -war. Is the moment when the King is victorious the moment to ask his -terms?" - -"What instrument have we to defeat the King?" demanded my lord. - -"One can be forged," replied Oliver Cromwell. "I do believe, as I told -that very noble person, Mr. Hampden, that the King hath so far gained -the advantage because the blood and breeding is in his ranks--as I -said to my cousin, decayed serving men and tapsters will not fight -like gentlemen--therefore if we have not as yet gentle blood, let us -get the spirit of the Lord: faith will inspire as well as birth, my -lord. I have now myself a lovely troop, honest men, clean livers, eager -devourers of the Word, and had I ten times as many I would put them -with great confidence against Rupert's godless gentlemen." - -"Your troop is mostly fanatic, Anabaptist, Independent--full of sermons -and groans," said my lord. "Extreme men, by your leave, Colonel -Cromwell, and full of religious disputations." - -"Admit they be--they are all enthusiasts, they fight for God, not -pay--as Charles' gentlemen fight for loyalty, not pay--and, sir, I -prefer them who know what they fight for, and love that they know, to -any lukewarm hireling who will mutiny when his pence are in arrear." - -"You yourself are an Independent," remarked the Earl dryly. "I had -forgot." - -"Sir, I belong to no sect; within the limits of the true faith I would -let each man think as he would." - -"So tolerant!" cried my lord. "Then wherefore have you pulled the -preacher from his pulpit in Ely Church?" - -"Because the Anglican rites are a mockery of the Lord," returned -Cromwell, with fire. "And I would as soon have a Papist as a -Prelatist--toleration with the true faith, I said, my lord." - -"Who is to define the true faith?" asked the Earl wearily. "I keep the -Presbyterian doctrine which seemeth best to me, but you, methinks, -would follow Roger Williams. Remember, sir, that you, as all of us," he -added, with some malice, "must take this Covenant the Scots have put -upon us as the price of their aid." - -"That was John Pym's work," answered Colonel Cromwell, in a slightly -troubled manner. "His last work--'twas a galling condition, and at the -time I blamed him; but, sir, we had to have the Scottish army, and as -they would not give the army without we took the Covenant--well, Mr. -Pym was a wise man, and he judged it best--and we have the Scots (for -what they may be worth) marching to us instead of to the King." - -"When you take up your appointment as my Lieutenant-General," insisted -the Earl, "you, too, must take the Covenant." - -"Any man may take it now Sir Harry Vane, that lovely soul, hath added -his clause--_that religion be reformed in England according to the Word -of God_; that covereth everything, I think, sir, the _Word of God_, not -the dictates of the Scots!" - -Lord Manchester looked at him in silence for an attentive moment, then -spoke briskly. - -"You follow Sir Harry Vane in religion, do you follow him in politics? -Are you, too, a Republican?" - -Oliver Cromwell looked at him quietly and frankly. - -"I think a kingly government a good one," he said, "if the king be a -just, wise man. Nay, I never was a Republican." - -"Remember we stand for _King_ and Parliament," remarked the Earl. -"I would not go too far--I would not overthrow the authority of His -Majesty." - -"What care I what man holdeth authority in England as long as he is -powerless to do her wrong," replied Cromwell quietly. "Sir, all I say -is that the time hath not come for peace save it be offered by His -Majesty. Now is still the misty morning when all is doubtful to our -eyes; but presently the sun shall rise above the vapours, and we shall -behold very clearly the things we have to do. The Lord will strengthen -our hands and show us the way, and His enemies shall go down like a -tottering wall and a broken hedge." - -The Earl moved about restlessly. - -"You have great faith, Colonel Cromwell," he said, half sad, half vexed. - -The fire had now sprung up strongly and threw a vivid light over the -figure of the Puritan soldier standing thoughtfully on his homely -hearth. - -"Have I not need of faith?" he asked, in an exalted voice. "Aye, the -shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness and the sword of -the spirit which is the Word of God! 'For we wrestle not against flesh -and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the -rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in -high places!'" - -The Earl made no reply; he was moved by the sincerity and force with -which Colonel Cromwell spoke, but at the same time he was appalled by -the prospect which a continuance of the war seemed to open up. He, like -many others, was confused, bewildered, alarmed by the tremendous thing -the Parliament had dared to do, and he wished to stop a crisis which -was becoming immense and overwhelming; he wished to keep the King and -the Church in their ancient places, and he felt more or less vaguely -that men such as Oliver Cromwell were aiming at a new order of things -altogether. - -Colonel Cromwell, on the other hand, was not confused by the thought of -any future issues; he saw one thing, and that plainly: in the present -struggle between the King and the Parliament, the Parliament must be -victorious; then the future government of England might be decided, not -before. - -He felt that there was no longer much use for men like my Lord -Manchester, able and popular as he was: the stern fanatics among his -own arquebusiers who spent their time in minute disputes and arguments -on matters of religious discipline were more to the liking of Oliver -Cromwell. - -The Earl rose to take his leave. - -"I am at my ancient lodging," he said. "May I expect you to-morrow -morning? There are some military points I would discuss with you." - -"Command me to your own convenience," replied Colonel Cromwell. - -"To-morrow, then." - -The two went into the hall, which was filled by the smell of the tansy -pudding. - -My lord asked after the eldest son of his host. - -"He is very well, I thank you. He is at Newport Pagnell with my Lord -St. John's troop of horse. Richard is still at Felsted, as is Henry; -but I mean soon to take them from their schooling and put them in the -army. Fairfax would take one in his lifeguards; Harrison, I think, -another." - -"So soon!" exclaimed my lord. "Their years are very tender." - -Colonel Cromwell smiled. - -"But the times are very rough, and we must suit ourselves to the times." - -He opened the door; Ely showed bare and dreary beneath the darkening -sky, from which a few flakes of snow were beginning to slowly fall. The -two gentlemen touched hands and parted. As Colonel Cromwell still stood -at the door of his house, gazing thoughtfully at the winter evening as -if he saw there some sign or character plain for his reading, his wife -descended the stairs and, seeing him there, came to his side. She had a -bunch of keys in her hand, and the light from the lamp above the door -gleamed on them. Her docile eyes lifted to his; her face had a look of -stillness: she seemed a creature made for quietness. - -"What had my lord to say?" she asked. - -"Peace! peace!" muttered her husband. "He wanted peace!" - -"And you?" she ventured timidly. - -"I!" he answered. "I live in Meshech and Kedar. I am in blackness and -in the waste places; but the Lord hath had exceeding mercy upon me--I -have seen light in His Light--therefore am I confident in the hope I -may serve Him. His will be done!" - -Elisabeth Cromwell looked out at the dim white towers of the cathedral, -where her first husband and her first-born lay buried, and she thought -of that other child, Robert, who had died at school only three years -before. Life seemed to her suddenly unreal. She closed the door and -turned away. - -Her husband followed her into the room on the right of the passage, -where a fair group of children, Mary, Frances, and Elisabeth, were -roasting chestnuts by the fire. - -A maid was putting a white cloth on the table; the pleasant clink of -glasses and china mingled with the laughter and talk of Elisabeth, a -beautiful child of some thirteen years, whose grace and gaiety was a -sudden brightness in the Puritan household. - -At her father's entrance she came to him at once and showed him a round -ball she had made of holly berries and hung by a red ribbon as an -ornament to her wrist. - -"Vanity!" said Colonel Cromwell; but as he kissed her his whole face -was radiant with love. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE QUEEN'S FAREWELL - - -It was in the July following the winter when he had first come to -discussion with my Lord Manchester that Oliver Cromwell, now the Earl's -Lieutenant-General, flamed suddenly into great brilliance over England. - -By his valour and skill he had turned the tide at Marston, after -Manchester, Fairfax, and Leven had fled from the battle as lost; he -had beaten Rupert's victorious horse with his own light cavalry, and -he had led the Scotch infantry in an overwhelming charge against the -enemy. The north of England was now lost to the King, the prestige of -the parliamentary army had never stood higher, and Oliver Cromwell was -become the foremost soldier in their ranks, both for fame and success. - -Such were the results of the battle at Marston Moor; but Manchester -appeared to be more frightened than encouraged at the victory. He -almost refused to fight; his indecision lost the battle of Newbury; -he allowed the King to relieve Donnington Castle; he would not go to -the help of Essex, who was losing ground in the south; he and his -Lieutenant-General had high altercations; the Scottish Presbyterian -party proposed terms to the King, which Charles haughtily refused. -After this failure they were somewhat quieter, though two of their -leaders, Essex and Holles, endeavoured to bring an action against -Cromwell as an incendiary; but Cromwell himself showed tact and -moderation sufficient to bring about a peace between the various -factions that constituted the parliamentary forces, and in the -autumn of that year was instrumental in the creation of the New Model -Army--the instrument which he had long been burning to handle; the -instrument by which the King, still haughty and defiant at Oxford, in -which loyal city he had his own Parliament, was to be finally brought -to accept and keep the people's terms. - -Cromwell was excepted from the self-denying ordinance which ruled that -no Members of Parliament were to bear commands in the army, and was -created Lieutenant-General and Commander of the Horse, Fairfax being -General and Skippon Major-General. - -Manchester and Essex retired with good sense and dignity. - -Charles, moving from Oxford, stormed Leicester; Fairfax raised the -siege of Oxford to dash after him, and on 14th June 1645 found himself -face to face with the King's forces at Naseby, on the borders of -Northamptonshire. A battle was now inevitable, and by both sides it -was felt that it would be decisive: neither side could endure a great -defeat, and either side would become almost completely master of -England by a great victory at this juncture. Rupert was smarting to -revenge himself for Marston; the King despised the New Model Army, and -was eager to dash to pieces this new instrument of his enemies; Fairfax -was ardent to justify the trust reposed in him. Both armies were -impatient to bring matters to an issue, so on each side were motives -sufficient for fierce inspiration. - -The night after the armies had faced each other the King lay at -Market Harborough, eight miles from the village of Naseby, where the -parliamentary forces were encamped. He had his Queen with him and the -infant Princess, recently born at Exeter, and was lodged in the modest -country house of a certain loyal gentleman, a cadet of the noble house -of Pawlet. Rupert rode up in the twilight from his quarters to see his -uncle, and came into a peaceful, old walled garden, where Charles paced -the daisied grass. - -On a bench beneath a great cedar tree sat the pale Queen, the sun and -shade flecked all over her white dress, her baby on her knee, and by -her side her new lady, Margaret Lucas. - -The garden was all abloom with white roses, the rich summer air full -of the hum of bees and the thousand scents of June; the light was -taking on a richer gold colour as it faded, and where the garden sloped -westward to the orchards the dazzle of the setting sun danced in the -leaves. - -The scene seemed very far from war, from turmoil, from confusion, and -blood-stained strife; among the mossy gables of the house some white -pigeons strutted, and there was no other noise nor any indication of -the army quartered near. - -Prince Rupert came slowly over the lawn; his fringed leather breeches -and Spanish boots were dusty, and his red cloak open on soiled buff and -a torn scarf. He had a gloomy, reckless look, and his brow was frowning -beneath the disordered black love-locks. - -Charles stopped when he saw his nephew coming and asked abruptly-- - -"They will fight to-morrow?" - -"I think they will," replied the Prince. He went up to the Queen and -kissed her hand. - -There was the dimness of many tears in that proud woman's eyes, and -the delicacy of her beauty had turned to a haggard air of sickness; -she had, however, the swift, hawk-like look of one whose courage is -unbroken, and her pride was even more obviously shown now than in -the days of her greatest splendour, when it had been cloaked with -sweetness. Her worn, dark features, her careless dress and impatient -glances, words, and movements were in great contrast to the careful -splendour, the composed gravity, and the smooth youth of the blonde -Margaret Lucas. - -"Have you come to take His Majesty away from me?" cried the Queen to -Rupert as his lips touched her thin, cold hand. - -"He did promise to inspect the army to-night, Madame," returned -Rupert, with a certain touch of indifferency in his manner: Charles -was no soldier, and the Prince had little deference for his opinion on -military matters. - -"And to-morrow there will be a battle," said the Queen. She rose -suddenly, clasping the sleeping child to her heart; her ruined eyes -regained, by the sparkle of tears, for one moment their lost brilliancy. - -"Oh, Madame," cried Margaret Lucas passionately, "surely God will not -permit His Majesty to be defeated!" - -Rupert's dark countenance flashed into a smile as he glanced at her -pale fervency. - -"That cursed Cromwell is on his way to join Fairfax," he remarked. -"Pray, Mrs. Lucas, that he doth not arrive in time." - -"Is he so terrible a man?" asked the Queen scornfully: she could not -endure to give even the compliment of fear to these rebels. - -"A half-crazed fanatic or a very cunning hypocrite," returned the -Prince; "but an able fighter, on my soul, Madame!" - -"His army consisteth of poor ignorant men," cried Henriette Marie. -"Surely, surely gentlemen can prevail against them." - -"We will make the trial to-morrow, Madame," said Rupert, with a flush -in his swarthy face for the memory of Naseby. "At least, we do not lack -in loyalty--in endeavour--Your Majesty believeth that?" - -"Yes, yes," said the Queen hurriedly. "Loyalty is common enough; but -where shall we get good counsels? Are we wise to fight the rebels -to-morrow? By all accounts they are double our number--and if this -Cromwell cometh up with reinforcements----" - -The King, who had hitherto stood silent, fingering the dark foliage on -one of the lower sweeping branches of the cedar tree, now spoke with -authority. - -"We fight to-morrow, Mary. I mean to surprise their outposts." - -A pause of silence fell. The sunlight was slipping lower through the -trees, and lay like flat gold on the lawn; the last brilliance of the -day lay in the fair locks of Margaret Lucas, in the embroideries of her -gown, in the swords of King and Prince, and over the frail figure of -the undaunted Queen. - -"I shall see Your Majesty at the camp after supper?" asked Rupert. - -"Yes--sooner," replied Charles. - -The Queen looked keenly at the young man on whom so much depended in -the issue of to-morrow, and seemed as if she was about to make some -appeal or exhortation; but she turned away with a mere quiet farewell. -The King followed her with a smile to his nephew. - -Margaret Lucas remained under the great cedar tree and Rupert lingered. - -"The white roses are again in bloom," he said. - -"When they next flourish may the King be safe in London again!" cried -the lady. - -"Amen," said Rupert. "Do you know the noble Marquess of Newcastle, Mrs. -Lucas?" he added, with a smile. - -A bright colour mounted to her alert face. - -"I met him in Oxford," she returned. - -"I had your flowers in my Prayer Book in memory of that day we raised -the Standard," said the young Prince, "and when my lord saw them, we -being in chapel together, he did ask of them, and when he heard their -history begged them from me. Does this anger you?" - -"It is not becoming that Your Highness should tell me of it," faltered -Margaret Lucas. - -"You are too modest," smiled the Prince. "He is a gallant lord and -a valiant, loyal soldier. He asked me, if I saw you, to give you his -homages." - -The lady stood silent, her eyes downcast, the quick blood coming and -going in her noble face. Rupert waited. - -"Have you no answer to the princely Marquess?" he asked. - -Margaret Lucas lifted her head. - -"Tell him to--keep--the flowers," she stammered. - -With that she turned away as if she was frightened of having said too -much; the young General laughed a little and went back towards the -house, whistling the air of a German song. - -Margaret stood staring over her shoulder after him; all the misfortunes -of the State, of her own family, all the hideous sights and sad stories -which had weighed her heart with black bitterness, the danger of her -beloved brother, her own precarious situation--all these things were -forgotten in one great flash of happiness. - -She clasped her hands tightly. - -"How I do love thee, thou excellent gentleman," she murmured, "even -with an affection that is so beyond modesty and reason that if thou -wert here I could avow it to thy face! God protect thee, dear, loyal -lord!" - -The sun had now sunk behind the trees and hedges of the orchard; the -last bee had flown; the roses gave forth their strength in a more -intense perfume; the sky changed to a sparkling violet, glimmering with -rosy gold in the west. - -The Queen called Margaret Lucas, and, putting the little Princess in -her arms, bid her go and take the child to her women. - -Margaret made her grave and humble obeisances and withdrew, holding the -King's youngest born over a joyful heart. - -"Mary," said Charles, taking his wife's hand, "if I fail to-morrow you -will go to France. Promise me." - -"You must not fail," she answered passionately. "But I give you this -promise if it makes you fight with a lighter conscience." - -"A light conscience!" echoed the King. "Methinks I shall never own a -light conscience again." - -"You are too discouraged," murmured the Queen, but with a kind of -lassitude. - -They went together into the house, and he told her of the arrangements -he had made for her safe conduct to the coast in case of his defeat. -She listened and made no reply. - -They entered the sitting-room that opened on the garden, and the King -closed the door, for he could hear some of his gentlemen without. - -Henriette Marie seated herself on a worn leather couch and looked at -her husband. - -His face was pallid, his eyes heavy and shadowed, his hair damp about -the brow; he continually put his hand above his eyes or above his heart. - -"Last night I dreamt of Strafford," he said suddenly. - -"It was a dream!" answered the Queen. "Is this a time to dwell on -things unfortunate?" - -He made no reply; he moved about the darkening room, aimlessly touching -the furniture and the walls. - -At last he stopped before the inert figure of his wife. - -"Farewell, sweet," he said. "I have to join the Prince." - -"Farewell," she murmured. - -He moved towards the door and she sprang up. - -"Oh," she exclaimed, in a tone of horror, "this may be our last -meeting!" - -Charles turned, startled. - -"Dear God forbid!" he cried. - -"If--the worst cometh--if I go to France--ah, when shall I again behold -you?" - -"Hast thou also evil premonitions?" asked the King, with a shudder. - -She controlled herself. - -"No," she replied through stiff lips. "No--no--but many thoughts press -on my heart, and I am weak of late." - -Indeed, she felt all her limbs tremble, so that they would no longer -support her, and she sat down on the couch again, cold from head to -foot. - -Charles stood beside her, gazing with the soul's deepest passion of -love and anguish at her bowed dark head. - -"Kiss me and go," she said. "What can I say? You know my whole heart. -All hath been said between you and me. We have been surprised by -misfortune, and I am something unprepared. But never doubt that I love -thee wholly." - -The King again made that gesture of his hand, pressed first to his -heart and then to his forehead, as if heart and head were equally -wounded, then he went to a corner of the room where an old clavichord -stood and lifted up the cover. - -"Sing to me before I go, Mary," he whispered. - -The Queen rose heavily. Her bold spirit was bent with gloom; ill-health -and the continual failure of the King's intrigues and the King's arms -had given her a kind of disgust of life. As she had been more despotic -than the King in prosperity, so she was more bitter and stern in -adversity. As she crossed the window, open on the soft dimness of the -garden, she thought, through her miserable languor, "If, indeed, I -never see him again, the scent of these roses will be with me all my -life." - -"I will light the candles," said Charles. - -"No--no," she answered. She seated herself and her hands touched the -keys. - -Her voice, once the pride of two courts and her greatest -accomplishment, rose in a little French song; but tears and suffering -had taken the clearness from her notes that once had rung so true. - -At the end of the first verse she broke down and, putting her hands -before her face, wept. - -"I do love thee," said the King, bending over her in a passion of -tenderness. "More than words can rehearse I do love thee, dear Mary, -and have loved thee all my days. Be not confounded--it cannot be God's -will to desert us utterly. Hold up your heart. Oh I do love thee, or -I had rather not have lived to see my present miseries--but thou hast -made life worth while to me. My dear wife--my dear, dear wife." - -The Queen did not move, and her dry, difficult sobs did not cease. - -"Oh, love that is so weak," cried the King, "that it cannot do more -than this ... to see thee thus ... what greater misery could I have -than to see thee thus." - -Still she did not speak. She had done much for him--crossed the seas -and become a supplicant at her brother's court, sold her jewels, -persuaded, inspired, and led many to join his standard, raised an army -for his cause, been untiring and dauntless in her counsels, her energy, -her confidence; but now a fatigue that was like despair was over her. -She felt about him a fatality as if success was impossible for him, and -all her ruined pride and splendour, her lost hopes, her lost endeavours -crowded upon her till she could do nothing but weep. - -Charles stooped and, with infinite gentleness, drew her hands from her -face. - -"This is a bad augury for me to-morrow," he said. - -She lifted her head then, the sobs still catching her throat. It was -too dark for him to see her face, distorted by tears; only the dim -white oval of it showed in the dusk. - -"No bad auguries," she said. "No--to-morrow must see a turn in our -miserable fortunes." - -He kissed her with a trembling reverence of devotion, and her tears -dried on his cold cheek. - -"Have confidence," she murmured, her face pressed against his lace -collar. She was always heartening him, firing his hesitation, directing -his indecision, and the instinct of guiding and inspiring him came to -her now even in her moment of weakness. "Have no sad thoughts, no ill -thoughts--God will fight for his anointed King. If I seem confounded, -consider that I have been troubled with many things." - -He drew her gently towards the window, and they stood together looking -out on to the garden. The white hawthorn and roses, the last lilac -still showed pallid through the gloaming; the stars were beginning to -sparkle in a sky from which the gold had faded, leaving it the colour -of dead violets; the pure air was rich and sweet as honey. - -"Whatever betide," said the King, "remember this--I will never forsake -my children's heritage nor my faith." - -He had always scrupulously kept his promise never to discuss religion -with his Papist Queen, and he did not emphasize his resolve to remain -for ever faithful to the Church of England. She knew this constancy of -his and admired it, but now she said nothing of these matters. - -"Whatever befall," she replied, "you are always the King." - -"I shall not forget it," he said, with a kind of passion. - -Another moment of silence passed, during which their thoughts burnt -like fire in their hearts and brains, then he moved to go, stammering -farewells. - -Thrice he turned back to embrace her again, thrice her hands clung to -him with a desperation almost beyond her control, while her lips tried -to form in words what no words could say. - -Then at length he was gone, and she heard the door shut. - -"I will not watch him ride away," she said to herself. "I will wait and -watch his return." - -Suddenly she thought of Lady Strafford and of the last time she had -spoken with the Countess. - -"O, God," she cried, "if I should never see Charles again!" - -She turned to go after him, but controlled herself from this folly and -stood huddled in the window watching the night moths flutter, shadows -among shadows, and the chilly moon brighten from a wraith to gleaming -silver among the whispering orchard trees. - -She stood so until she heard the bugles that announced the King's -departure, then she went to her prayers to supplicate the Madonna and -the saints with bitter tears and bitter forebodings. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE GREAT FIGHT - - -That evening, while the King was reviewing his troops at Harborough and -giving them the word for to-morrow--"Mary"--while General Sir Thomas -Fairfax was holding a council at Naseby, Lieutenant-General Cromwell -was hastening over the borders of Northamptonshire with six hundred men -towards the headquarters of the parliamentary army, which he reached -about five in the morning under the light of a cloudless dawn. - -At the entrance to the village he halted for an instant and surveyed -with a keen eye the undulating open space of ground which rolled -towards Guilsborough and Daventry: unfenced ground, full of rabbit -holes and covered with short, sweet grass and flowers, above which the -larks were singing. - -The pure summer morning was full of gentle airs blowing from orchards -and gardens and the scents of all fresh green things opening with the -opening day. - -Silent lay the hamlet of Naseby, the white thatched cottages, the two -straggling streets, the old church with a copper ball glittering on the -spire, all clearly outlined in the first fair unstained light of the -sun. - -Beyond lay the parliamentary army: a sober force with their pennons, -flags, and colours already displayed among them, and the gold fire -gleaming along their brass cannon. - -Cromwell and his six hundred, dusty from the night's ride, swept, a -flash of steel on leather, a tramp of hoofs, a cloud of dust, through -Naseby, where the villagers crowded at windows and doors, not knowing -whether to curse them or bless them, and so to the headquarters of -General Sir Thomas Fairfax. - -As the new-comers passed through the army and were recognized for -Lieutenant-General Cromwell and his men, whom Rupert had, after Marston -Moor, nicknamed "Ironsides," the soldiers turned and shouted as with -one voice, for it had lately been very commonly observed that where -Cromwell went there was the blessing of God. - -Sir Thomas Fairfax was already on horseback, and the two Generals met -and saluted without dismounting. - -Oliver Cromwell looked pale, and when he lifted his beaver the grey -strands showed in his thick hair: the war had told on him. He had -lost his second son and a nephew. His natural melancholy had been -increased by this and by the bloody waste he had daily to witness, by -the continual bitterness and horror of the struggle; but the exaltation -of his stern faith still showed in his expression, and he sat erect in -his saddle, a massive figure solid as carved oak, in his buff and steel -corselet. - -General Fairfax was a different type of man, patriotic and honourable -as his Lieutenant-General, but cultured, fond of letters, lukewarm in -religion, and not given to extremes. Cromwell, however, found him more -acceptable than Manchester or Essex. - -"Sir," cried the General, "you are as welcome to me as water in a -drought. Sir, I give to you the command of all the horse, and may you -do the good service you did at Long Marston Moor." - -"We are but a company of poor ignorant men, General Fairfax," replied -Oliver Cromwell, "and the malignants, I hear, make great scorn of us as -a rabble that are to be taught a lesson. Yet I do smile out to God in -praises, in assurance of victory, for He will, by things that are not, -bring to naught things that are!" - -"We have to-day a great task," said Sir Thomas Fairfax, "for if the -King gaineth the victory he will press on to London--and once there he -may regain his old standing; whereas if he faileth, he will never more, -I think, be able to bring an army into the field." - -"Make no pause and have no misgiving, sir," replied Cromwell. "God hath -put the sword into the hands of the Parliament for the punishment of -evil-doers and the confusion of His enemies, and He will not forsake -us. Sir, I will about the marshalling of the horse, for I do perceive -that we are as yet not all gotten in order." - -The army indeed, though armed and mounted, was not yet arranged in any -order of battle, and at this moment there came a message from one of -the outposts that the King's forces, in good order, were marching from -Harborough. - -Fairfax with his staff galloped to a little eminence beyond some apple -orchards that fenced in the broad graveyard of the church. By the aid -of perspective glasses they could very clearly see the army of the -King--the flower of the loyal gentlemen of England, the final effort -and hope of Majesty (for this force was Charles' utmost, and all men -knew it)--marching in good array and with a gallant show, foot and -horse, from Harborough. The Royal Standard was borne before, and, they -being not much over a mile away, Cromwell, through the glasses, could -discern a figure in a red montero, such as Fairfax wore, riding at the -head of the cavalry. - -"'Tis Rupert, that son of Baal," he muttered sternly. "The false -Arminian fighteth well--yet what availeth his prowess, when his end -shall be that outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of -teeth?" - -Near by, higher than the old copper ball of the church, a tiny lark -sang; the bees hovered in the thyme at their feet; the stainless blue -of the heavens deepened with the strengthening day. A sudden sense of -the peace and loveliness of the scene touched the sensitive heart of -Sir Thomas Fairfax. - -"English against English, on English land!" he cried. "The pity of it! -God grant that we do right!" - -Cromwell turned in his saddle, his heavy brows drawn together. - -"Dost thou doubt it?" he demanded. "Art thou like the Laodicean, -neither hot nor cold?" - -"I think of England," replied the General, "and of what we destroy -herein--fairness and tranquillity vanisheth from the land like breath -from off a glass!" - -Cromwell pointed his rough gauntleted hand towards the approaching -royal forces. - -"Dost thou believe," he asked, "that by leaving those in power we -secure tranquillity and repose? I tell thee, every drop of blood -shed to-day will be more potent to buy us peace than years of gentle -argument." - -"Thou," said Sir Thomas Fairfax, "art a man of a determined nature--but -I am something slow-footed. To our work now, sir, and may this bloody -business come to a speedy issue!" - -Cromwell rode with his own troop down the little hillside to take -up his position at the head of the cavalry on the right, the left -wing being under Ireton, the infantry in the centre being under the -command of Skippon, the Scotsman, the whole under the supervision of -Fairfax. This deposition of the army was hastily come to, for there -was not an instant to lose; indeed, the Parliamentarians had scarcely -gained the top of the low ridge which ran between the hedges, dividing -Naseby from Sulby and Clipston, when the King's army came into view -across Broadmoor, Rupert opposite Ireton, Langdale and his horse -facing Cromwell and the Ironsides, Lord Astley in the centre, with the -infantry and the King himself in armour riding in front. - -Fairfax posted Okey's dragoons behind the bridges running to Sulby, -and flung forward his foot to meet the advancing line of the royalist -attack. The infantry discharged their pieces, and the first horrid -sound of firing and thick stench of gunpowder disturbed the serene -morning. - -Then began the bloody and awful fight. Up and down the undulating -ground English struggled with English, the colours rocked and dipped -above the swaying lines of men, the demi-culverins and demi-sakers -roared and smoked, the horse charged and wheeled and wheeled and -charged again. The mounting sun shone on a confusion of steel and -scarlet, sword and musket, spurt of fire and splash of blood, on many -a grim face distorted with battle fury, on many a fair, youthful face -sinking on to the trampled earth to rise no more, on many fair locks -of loyal gentlemen, combed and dressed last night and now fallen in -the bloody mire never to be tended or caressed again, on many a stern -peasant or yeoman going fiercely out into eternity with his word of -"God with us!" on his stiffening lips. - -Lord Astley swept back Skippon's first line on to the reserve. Rupert, -hurling his horse through the sharp fire of Okey's dragoons, broke up -Ireton's cavalry, and for all their stubborn fighting bore them back -towards Naseby village. Uplifted swords, maddened horses, slipping, -falling, staggering up again, the shouting, flushed Cavaliers, the -bitter, silent Roundheads struggled together towards the hamlet and -church. In the midst was always Rupert, hatless now, and notable for -his black hair flying and his red cloak and his sword red up to the -hilt. - -Fairfax looked and saw his left wing shattered, his infantry -overpressed and in confusion, the ignorant recruits giving ground, the -officers in vain endeavouring to rally them, and his heart gave a sick -swerve; he dashed to the right, where Cromwell was fighting Langdale, -whose northern horsemen were scattered right and left before the -terrible onslaught of the Ironsides. - -As Cromwell, completely victorious, thundered back from this charge, he -met his General. He did not need, however, Sir Thomas Fairfax to tell -him how matters went; his keen eye saw through the battle smoke the -colours of the infantry being beaten back into the reserve, and he rose -up in his stirrups and waved on his men. - -"God with us!" broke from the lips of the Puritans as their commander -re-formed them. - -"God with us!" shouted Cromwell. - -One regiment he sent to pursue Langdale's flying host; the rest he -wheeled round to the support of the foot. - -Rupert had left the field in pursuit of Ireton; there was no one to -withstand the charge of the Ironsides as they hurled themselves, sword -in hand, into the centre of the battle. - -A great cheer and shout arose from the almost overborne ranks of -Fairfax and Skippon when they saw the cavalry dashing to their rescue, -and a groan broke from Charles when he beheld his foot being cut down -before the charge of the Parliamentarians. - -He rode up and down like a man demented, crying through the storm and -smoke-- - -"Where is Rupert? Is he not here to protect my loyal foot?" - -But the Prince was plundering Fairfax's baggage at Naseby, and the -infantry were left alone to face the Ironsides. - -They faced about for their death with incredible courage, being now -outnumbered one to two, forming again and again under the enemy's fire, -closing up their ranks with silent resolution, one falling, another -taking his place, mown down beneath the horses till their dead became -more than the living, yet never faltering in their stubborn resolution. - -One after another these English gentlemen, pikemen, and shotmen went -down, slain by English hands, watering English earth with their blood, -gasping out their lives on the rabbit holes and torn grass, swords, -pikes, and muskets sinking from their hands, hideously wounded, defiled -with blood and dirt, distorted with agony, dying without complaint for -the truth as they saw truth and loyalty as they conceived loyalty. -One little phalanx resisted even the charge of the Ironsides, though -attacked front and flank; they did not break. As long as they had a -shot they fired; when their ammunition was finished they waited the -charge of Fairfax with clubbed muskets. Their leader was a youth in his -early summer with fair, uncovered head and a rich dress. He fell three -times; when he rose no more his troop continued their resistance until -the last man was slain. Then the Ironsides swept across their bodies -and charged the last remnant of the King's infantry. - -Charles Stewart, watching with agony and dismay the loss of his foot -and guns, rode from point to point of the bitter battle, vainly -endeavouring to rally his broken forces. - -Such as was left of Langdale's horse gathered round him, and at this -point up came Rupert, flushed and breathless, his men exhausted from -the pursuit and loaded with plunder. - -"Thou art too late," said the King sternly, pointing to the awful -smoke-hung field. "Hadst thou come sooner some loyal blood might have -been saved." - -It was the sole reproach he made: he was past anger as he was past hope. - -"God damn and the devil roast them!" cried Rupert, in a fury. "But we -will withstand them yet!" - -With swiftness and skill he seconded the King's courageous efforts to -rally the remnant of the horse, and these drew up for a final stand in -front of the baggage wagons and carriages, where the camp followers -shrieked and cowered. - -For the third time Oliver Cromwell formed his cavalry, being now joined -by Ireton, who, though wounded, had rallied the survivors of Rupert's -pursuit, and now, in good order and accompanied by the shotmen and -dragoons, advanced towards the remnants of the royal horse. - -The King seemed like one heedless of his fate: his face was colourless -and distorted, the drying tears stained his cheek. He looked over the -hillocks scattered with the dead and dying who had fallen for him, and -he muttered twice, through twitching lips-- - -"Broken, broken! Lost, lost!" - -The parliamentary dragoons commencing fire, Rupert headed his line for -his usual reckless charge, and Charles, galloping to the front, was -about to press straight on the enemy's fire, when a group of Cavaliers -rode up to him, and one of them, Lord Carnwath, swore fiercely and -cried out-- - -"Will you go upon your death in an instant?" - -The King turned his head and gave him a dazed look, whereon in a trice -the Scots lord seized the King's foam-flecked bridle, and turned about -his horse. - -"This was a fight for all in all, and it is lost!" cried Charles. - -Seeing the King turn from the battlefield, his cavalry turned about -too as one man, and galloped after him on the spur, without waiting -for the third charge of Cromwell's Ironsides, who chased them through -Harborough, from whence the Queen, on news of how the day was going, -had an hour before fled, and along the Leicester road. - -The regiments that remained took possession of the King's baggage, his -guns and wagons, his standards and colours, his carriages, including -the royal coach, and made prisoner every man left alive on the field. - -In the carriages were many ladies of quality, sickened and maddened, -shrieking and desperate, who were seized and hurried away in their -fine embroidered clothes and fallen hair--calling on the God who had -deserted them--carried across the field strewn with their slain kinsmen -to what rude place of safety might be devised. - -Nor was any roughness exercised against them, for they were English and -defenceless. - -The Irish camp followers were neither English nor defenceless, even the -most wretched tattered woman of them had a skean knife at her belt, and -used it with yelling violence. - -What mercy for such as these, accursed of God and man--the same breed -as those who rose and murdered the English in Ulster? - -"What of these vermin?" asked an officer of Cromwell, when he galloped -past in pursuit of the royalists. - -"Is there not an ordinance against Papists?" was the answer, hurled -harsh and rough through the turmoil. "To the sword with the enemies of -God!" - -It was done. - -Midday had not yet been reached; the whole awful fight had hardly -occupied three hours, and now the King had fled with his broken troops, -and from among the baggage wagons, the stuffs, the clothes, the food, -the hasty tents, the Puritans drove into the open the wretched Irish -women, wild creatures, full of a shrieking defiance and foul cursing, -pitiful too in their rags and dirty finery, their impotence, their -despair. - -Some were young enough and fair enough, but smooth cheeks and bright -eyes and white arms worked no enchantment here; sword and bullet made -short shrift of them and their knives and curses. - -"In the name of Christ!" cried one, clinging half-naked to an Ironside -captain. - -"In the name of Christ!" he repeated fiercely, and dispatched her with -his own hand. - -Then that too was over; the last woman's voice shrieking to saint and -Madonna was quieted; the last huddled form had quivered into stillness -on the profaned earth, the carbines were shouldered, the swords -sheathed, and the Puritans turned back with their captured colours and -standards, such plunder as could be met with, and the King's secret -cabinet, recklessly left in his carriage, and full, as the first glance -showed, of secret and fatal papers. - -The dial on the church front at Naseby hamlet did not yet point to -twelve; across the graves lay Ireton's men and Rupert's Cavaliers, -their blood mingling in the daisied grass; the copper ball which had -overlooked a day of another such sights beyond the sea, still gleamed -against a cloudless sky, and above it, in the purer, upper air, the -lark still poured forth his immutable song which the living were as -deaf to as the dead. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE DEAD CAVALIER - - -Lieutenant-general Cromwell pursued the King to within sight of -Leicester, nine miles beyond Harborough, to which hamlet he returned -with his troop towards the close of day. - -The royalists, who had filled Harborough twenty-four hours before, were -now scattered like dust before the wind; the house where the King and -Queen had stayed the previous night was deserted, and this Cromwell and -some of his officers took possession of, as the most commodious in the -place. - -The church, after being despoiled of painting, carving, coloured glass, -and altar, was used partly as a stable and partly as a prison for the -few captives the Parliamentarians had with them. - -Cromwell watched this work completed, then rode across the fragments of -broken tombs and shattered glass, flung out of the church, to the house -where Charles Stewart had taken farewell of his wife the day before. - -The furniture the Queen had used was still in its place; in the parlour -where Cromwell entered with Ireton stood the clavichord open, as -Henriette Marie had left it when she broke down over her French song; -a glove and a scarf belonging to Margaret Lucas lay on the couch, the -windows were wide on the beautiful garden which again sent up sweet -scents to the evening air. - -Cromwell noticed none of these things; he was not a man of exquisite -senses; perfume and flowers, green trees and sunshine were as little to -him as they could be to any healthy man, and as for delights of man's -making, he abhorred them all as vanities, from pictures and music, fine -dwellings and costly gardens, to ruffles and fringed breeches. - -Ireton was, if anything, a man even stiffer and more rigid in his -ideas. They both sat down to their supper in the delicate little room -which had been some one's home, without the least regard to their -surroundings, either the luxurious furniture or the fair garden giving -forth sweets to the evening air. - -Neither had changed their dusty, blood-stained leather and steel; -Cromwell cast his beaver and gloves on to the satin couch, and Ireton -flung his on to the polished floor. - -A soldier brought in bread, meat, cheese, and beer from the inn; -nothing more was to be had. Cromwell, who had not eaten since the night -before, did not complain, but finished his food with a good appetite. - -Though he had been twenty-four hours in the saddle, he was too strong a -man to feel more than an ordinary weariness, and the exaltation of his -spirits made him forget the slight fatigue of his body. - -The two soldiers said little while they were eating, save to now -and then make some remark on the number of the malignants slain or -captured, or some ejaculations as to the might and power of the Lord -who had now so signally demonstrated that His countenance was turned -towards them. - -Henry Ireton was a man after Cromwell's own heart, one of the choicest -of that little band who had taken the place of the older patriots, -such as Pym and Hampden. Blake and Sidney were two others; Sir Harry -Vane, who was of my late Lord Falkland's temper, Cromwell considered -less well suited to the times; Fairfax he had some doubts of; and -Manchester, Essex, and their kind he regarded as little better than -Laodiceans. - -When he had finished his meal he pushed back his chair and regarded -his companion fixedly. Ireton had taken off his corselet, bandoleer, -and sword, and his left arm was bandaged; his extreme pallor and the -drooping way he sat showed the severity of his wound, but it had not -had power to dismay his spirit or to soften his stern bearing. - -He was a man of five-and-thirty, well born and well favoured, his -features showing resolution, enthusiasm, capacity, and courage. - -"Hast thou no mind to take a wife?" asked Cromwell abruptly. - -"It is not for me to be thinking of marriage when the land is in -mourning," replied Ireton. "Even a wilderness with the water-springs -dried up and a fruitful land become barren." - -"Peace cometh soon," said Cromwell grimly. - -"Yet the King hath escaped into Oxford by now, and many places hold out -against us," returned Ireton. - -"Be not as the children of Ephraim, but remember what the Lord hath -done for us," said Cromwell. "I tell thee He shall this year make an -end of His enemies, Papist, Prelatist, and Arminian, and all such as -defy Him. Is not His hand truly visible amongst us? Surely it would be -a very atheist to doubt it. And for what I was about to say, Harry, -coming to a plainer matter, my daughter Bridget is marriageable -and full of piety and fear of the Lord--a thrifty maiden and one -well-exercised in household ways, and if thou hast a mind to this -alliance we may celebrate a marriage with the peace." - -Ireton flushed with pleasure at this undoubted honour; for Oliver -Cromwell had become already a considerable man, and after the splendour -of to-day's achievements was like to become more considerable still; -beside, Ireton held him in sincere respect and affection. - -"Sir," he replied, "I am very sensible of this kindness, and if I on my -part may satisfy what you shall demand of me, I will take a wife from -thy hearth with as much joy as Jacob took Rachel." - -Oliver Cromwell's face softened into sudden tenderness. - -"Thou _dost_ satisfy me, Henry!" he answered. "I have great and good -hopes of thee. I know not why this came into my mind at this season, -save that, seeing thee hurt and weary, methought a woman's care would -not come ill." - -He rose abruptly, to cut short Ireton's further thanks, and, going to -the door, called for candles. - -Colonel Whalley and some other officers now entered, and after some -further talk they left, Ireton with them, to see to the deposition of -the new troops who, bringing prisoners and plunder, were continuing to -pour into Harborough. Cromwell, left alone, called for ink and paper, -and, seating himself anew at the table where the candles now stood -among the tankards, plates, and knives, commenced his letter to the -Speaker of the House of Commons. - -Little of the tumult filling the village reached this quiet room; -outside the roses, lilacs, and lilies folded their parcels of sweets -beneath the rising moon, and far off a nightingale was singing where -the orchards dipped to a coppice, and the coppice dipped to the west. - -Oliver Cromwell wrote--"Harborough, 14th June 1645," paused a minute, -biting his quill and frowning at the candlelight, then briefly wrote -the news of the great victory:-- - - "SIR,--Being commanded by you to this service, I think myself bound to - acquaint you with the good hand of God towards you and us. - - "We marched yesterday after the King, who went before us from Daventry - to Harborough; and quartered about six miles from him. This day we - marched towards him. - - "He drew out to meet us; both armies engaged. We, after three hours' - fight very doubtful, at last routed his army; killed and took about - 5000, very many officers, but of what quality we yet know not. - - "We also took about 200 carriages--all he had; and all his guns, being - 12 in number, whereof 2 were demi-cannon, 2 demi-culverins, and (I - think) the rest sakers. - - "We pursued the enemy from three miles short of Harborough to nine - miles beyond, even to the sight of Leicester, whither the King fled." - -Having said all he could think of with regard to the actual battle that -was of importance, Cromwell paused again and thoughtfully sharpened his -quill. - -Both the mystical and practical side of him wished to improve the -opportunity. He had lately heard how the Presbyterian party at -Westminster was very hot against the Independents, especially such -as would not take the Covenant, calling them Anabaptists, Sectaries, -and Schismatics; and Cromwell, who was for liberty of conscience and -toleration within Puritan bounds, and who was, if he was anything, an -Independent himself and no lover of the Scots or their Covenant, wished -to impress the Parliament with the worth of these despised sects, at -the same time to magnify God for what He had done for them. He wished -also to give praise to Fairfax, who, under the Lord, he considered the -author of this victory. - -After labouring a little further in thought, he added this to his -letter-- - - "Sir, this is none other but the hand of God; and to Him alone belongs - the glory wherein none are to share with Him. - - "The General served you with all faithfulness and honour; and the best - commendation I can give him is, that I dare say he attributes it all - to God and would rather perish than assume to himself. - - "Which is an honest and a thriving way, and yet as much for bravery - may be given to him in this action as to a man." - -Having thus done justice to his General, the Puritan endeavoured -to do justice to his soldiers, and to give a timely warning to the -Presbyterians. He dipped his quill into the ink-dish and added, with a -firm hand and a bent brow, frowning-- - - "Honest men served you faithfully in this action. Sir, they are - trusty; I beseech you, in the name of God, not to discourage them. - - "I wish this action may beget thankfulness and humility in all that - are concerned in it. - - "He that ventures his life for the liberty of his country, I wish he - trust God for the liberty of his conscience, and you for the liberty - he fights for. - - "In this he rests, who is your most humble servant, - - "OLIVER CROMWELL" - -As he dried and sealed up his letter, the soldier, whose ears, though -deaf to the nightingale and the lift of the wind in the trees without, -were keen enough for all practical sounds, heard a certain tumult or -commotion which seemed to be in the house and almost at his very door. - -With the instinct that the last few years had bred in him, he put his -hand to his tuck sword and shifted it farther round his thigh, then, -taking up the standing candlestick, he hastily crossed to the door and -opened it. A little group of soldiers were gathered round the front -entrance to the house, which stood wide open, and Cromwell joined them, -casting the rays of his two candles over a scene that had hitherto been -illumined only by the pale trembling light of the rising moon. - -A small, white, tired horse stood at the steps of the house, his head -hanging down to his feet; at his bridle was a woman, a dark scarf about -her shoulders, the slack reins in her hand, and on his back hung a man -who had fallen forward on his neck, almost, if not quite, unconscious. - -The woman, with the moonlight on her face, was speaking to the soldiers -in a tone at once imperious and desperate, and from all parts of the -garden a mingled crowd was approaching to ascertain the cause of this -supplication at the gate of the General's house. - -Cromwell stepped with authority to the front; the first flutter of the -candlelight over the scene revealed to him that the man was desperately -wounded and that the woman was wild with fear and anger, yet, by some -fierce effort, keeping her composure. The look on her face reminded him -of that he had seen on Lady Strafford's face when her coach was stopped -by the mob in Whitehall. - -"What is this?" he asked. - -"Sir," replied one of the troopers, "this is none other than one of -those calves of Bethel who did so levant and flourish to-day." - -The lady now let go the reins and stepped forward, interrupting -the soldier, and addressing herself directly to Cromwell, whom she -perceived by his scarf and equipments to be an officer of some rank. - -"Sir," she said, with a dignity greater than her sorrow, and a pride -stronger than her grief, "this is my husband's brother's house." - -"Thy brother hath doubtless fled with the King," returned Cromwell, -"and his house is now the property of the Parliament." - -"This is my husband," said the lady; "he was in the battalia -to-day--and I went down to the field and found him, and one helped me -set him on a horse and so we came here--to my brother's house." - -Cromwell listened tenderly. - -"Alas!" he said, "thou art over young for such scenes." - -He gave the candlestick to one of the soldiers, and stepped into the -garden. - -The Cavalier, who was, by a desperate effort, holding on to his senses, -now dragged himself upright and spoke-- - -"Since the rebels have the house, ask them not--for charity," he -muttered, and then, with the attempt at speech, fainted, and dropped -sideways out of the saddle into the arms of one of the Roundheads. - -At this sight the lady lost all pride, and, glancing wildly round the -ring of steel-clad figures, she clasped her hands in a gesture of -appeal. - -"May he not be taken into the house?" she stammered. "Oh, good sirs, -for pity!" - -"A malignant," said the corporal who had caught the Cavalier, pointing -to his long locks and rich dress, "and one doubtless drunk with the -blood of the saints! Shall I take him to the church, that plague spot -of hierarchy, where the other children of Belial lie bound?" - -"Nay," replied Cromwell, "take up the young man and bring him into the -house." - -He looked to the lady and added-- - -"Madam, what is your name and quality?" - -"Sir," she replied, "my lord is Sir William Pawlet, of the House of the -Marquis of Winchester, and I am Jane, his wife." - -The look of pity died from the Puritan's expressive face. - -"He who holdeth Basing House against us? That Winchester?" he cried -grimly. "Art thou, as he, Papists?" - -"Your tongue doth call us that," she replied faintly. - -"Ha!" cried Cromwell, "must I then succour the children of filth -and abomination, the brood of the Scarlet Women, whose bones I have -declared shall whiten the valley of Hinnom and whose dust I promised to -cast into the brook of Kedar?" - -The lady pressed to her husband's side. - -"God's will be done," she said in despair; "even in this pass I cannot -deny my God nor my King." - -The two soldiers who had lifted the Cavalier paused with their burden, -expecting that the General would order both Papists to a common prison. - -And such, indeed, was for a moment his intention, for no man was more -hated by him than Lord Winchester, who had, since the beginning of the -war, defied the Parliamentarians from Basing House. - -But as he was about to speak he glanced down at the face of the -unconscious man, and a shudder shook him. - -On the young Cavalier's fair face was a dreadful look of his own son -Oliver, who had died at Newport Pagnell, and of that nephew who had -died in his arms after Marston Moor; and with these two memories -came that of his first-born, Robert, dead in early youth, and the -intolerable pain of that loss smote him afresh. - -"Bring the youth into the house," he said sombrely. - -Lady Pawlet made no answer and gave no sign of gratitude; she followed -the soldiers who were carrying her husband, and helped them to support -his head. - -"Surely the young man is dying," said Oliver Cromwell gloomily. "Bring -him into the parlour and fetch a surgeon if one may be found. And -look you, Gaveston," he added to the sergeant, "see this letter is -dispatched to Mr. Lenthall, in London." - -The candles had now been replaced on the table, and the General took up -his letter to the Speaker, but while he was addressing the soldier and -handing him the dispatch, his frowning eyes were fixed on the Cavalier, -who was now extended on the couch with his cloak for a pillow. - -Lady Pawlet, as if despairing of better accommodation, perhaps too -sunk in grief to notice anything, went on her knees by the side of her -husband, and knelt there as still as he, holding his hand to her breast. - -The black scarf had fallen back over her tumbled grey dress and soiled -ruffles, and the red-gold of her disordered hair glittered round a face -disfigured with fatigue and sorrow--a face that had once been fair -enough and gay enough. They were both very young and scarcely past -their bridal days. - -Oliver Cromwell stood with his back to the table, the light behind him, -watching them; she seemed forgetful of his presence. - -Sir William was bleeding in the head and the arm; these at least were -his visible hurts, probably he had other wounds beneath his battle -bravery of silk and bullion fringe, Spanish leather, and brocaded scarf. - -His wife, bending over him still and helpless, as if she, too, was -secretly wounded and dying of it, suddenly moved. - -"A priest," she whispered, "is there not a priest? I think he -is--dying." - -"Pray that the light may come to him in the little time left," said -the Puritan sternly. "And seek not to seal his eternal damnation by -idolatry and devilry." - -The lady looked up as if she had not heard what he said and did not -know who he was. - -"Oh, sir," she said, "will you come and look at my lord?" - -Cromwell stepped up to the couch and gazed down at the Cavalier; his -features were pinched, the wound at the side of the head, from which -the blood had ceased to flow, was of a purplish colour. - -The General touched him on the brow, moving back the clotted curls, and -gazed into his agonized features. - -"His heart--I cannot feel his heart," cried Lady Pawlet. - -"He is not here," said Cromwell. "Even as we speak, he standeth before -the Judgment Seat." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL AND HIS GOD - - -"Well, well!" stammered Lady Pawlet. "There are some shall answer to -God for this. Well, well!" - -"Get to thy friends if thou hast any," said the Puritan, "and let them -put thee beyond seas. There is an ordinance against Papists." - -She stared at him; the body of the dead Cavalier was between them; the -red candlelight and the white moonlight mingled grotesquely over the -dead and the living. - -"Ah yes," she said; her eyes wandered to her husband's face. "The King -will be sorry," she added. - -"The King," replied Cromwell, "hath troubles of his own to mourn for. -Up, mistress, and be going. This is no place for mourner and Papists. -Tell me some friend's house and I will have thee conveyed thither." - -Lady Pawlet made no reply, and remained kneeling by the couch which -held her husband. - -Cromwell moved away abruptly; though professional insensibility and his -hatred of the Papist checked the pity that was natural to him at any -sight of distress, still his mystic, melancholy nature had been moved -by the sight of the young man brought in dead. He thought he beheld in -him a type of all the fair lives that had been ruined or lost since -this war began--wasted men! And how many of them, one, two, or three -thousand to-day, now being shovelled into the trenches at Broadmoor ... -all English like this one ... all with some woman somewhere to weep for -them.... - -He turned again to the immobile woman. - -"Come, madam, come, come," he began, but his speech was broken by the -entry of a soldier with some dispatches from Fairfax, who remained at -Naseby, and with the statement that there was no surgeon conveniently -to be brought. - -"As for that," returned Cromwell, "the malignant is now in the hands of -the Living God. But let that little white horse I saw be looked to." -He turned to Lady Pawlet. "He is mine by right of war, but I will give -thee a fair price for him if he be thine, since we are ever in need of -horses." - -She made no reply; Cromwell glanced at her frowningly. - -"Gaveston," he said, "is there nought but this burnt ale in the house? -Search for a glass of alicant for the malignant's wife, she hath -neither strength to speak or move." - -"Methinks the King did take the fleshpots with him when he fled from -this Egypt," returned Gaveston. "There is scarce enough in the village -to refresh the outer men of the saints themselves--but I will see if I -can find a bottle of sack or alicant, General Cromwell." - -Lady Pawlet, hitherto so immovable as to appear insensible, now -suddenly rose to her feet, and, turning so that she stood with her back -to her husband's body, stared at the General who remained at the table, -not two paces away from her. - -"Art thou Oliver Cromwell?" she cried, with a force and energy that was -so in contrast to her former despairing apathy that the two men were -startled, and Cromwell turned as if to face an accuser. - -"I am he," he answered. - -"Rebel and heretic!" cried the unfortunate lady. "May the curse of -England rest on thee! May all the blood that has been spilt, and all -the tears shed for those thou hast slain, cry out to the throne of God -for a bolt to strike thee down!" - -"Fond creature," replied Cromwell, "I am in covenant with the Lord, and -I do the Lord's work, and your blasphemies do but waste the air." - -"No! I am heard!" answered Lady Pawlet, to whom horror and wrath had -given an exalted dignity and a desperate strength. "Man of blood and -disloyalty, a scourge upon this land, a bitterness and a terror to -these unhappy people!" - -"Shall I take her away?" asked Gaveston, advancing. - -"Nay," replied Cromwell, "let her speak. Words no more than swords -touch those who wear the armour of the Lord. As for thee, vain, unhappy -one, go and wrestle with the evil errors that hold thee, and pray that -light be given to thy eternal darkness." - -Lady Pawlet moved aside and pointed to her husband. - -"He is dead," she said. "Only I know how good he was, how excellent and -loyal--but he is dead in his early summer. And I, too, have lived my -life." - -"'Man is a thing of nought, he passeth away like a shadow,'" returned -the Lieutenant-General sombrely. "We are but a little dust that the -wind bloweth as it will." - -"A brazen face and an iron hand!" cried Lady Pawlet wildly. "A wicked -heart and a lying mouth! What has this unhappy England done that she -cannot be delivered of thee?" - -To the surprise of Sergeant Gaveston, Cromwell neither left the -room nor ordered the removal of the frantic lady, but answered her -earnestly, even passionately-- - -"Was it the Parliament first set up the standard of war? Nay, it -was the King. Was it the Parliament that ever refused to come to an -accommodation? Again the King. Was it the Parliament that roused the -Highlands of Scotland to war? Nay, Montrose, the King's man. Was it the -Parliament did command these horrid outrages in Ireland? Nay, Phelim -O'Neil, the King's man. Therefore accuse us not of bloodshed, for we do -but make a defence against violence and tyranny. We fight for God's -people that they may have repose and blessing, and for this land that -it may have liberty." - -"Thou to talk of God's people, heretic of heretic, who hast rejected -even thine own deluded Church!" - -"Ay, and the blue and brown of the Presbyter as well as the lawn -sleeves of the Bishop," cried Cromwell, pacing up and down in that -agitation that often came on him when he was excited by any attack on -his religious sincerity. "If the prayer-book is but a mess of pottage, -what is the preaching of the Covenanters but dry chips offered to the -soul starving for spiritual manna? Men of all sects fight side by -side in my ranks--would they could do so at Westminster." He suddenly -checked himself as he perceived that he was saying more than his -place and dignity required, controlled the agitation that had hurried -him into speech, and turned to Lady Pawlet, not without pity and -tenderness-- - -"Gaveston, conduct this lady to Naseby where are the other gentlewomen -taken to-day, and give her name and quality to Sir Thomas Fairfax. Take -out the malignant and place him with his fellows in the trenches." - -At this the unhappy wife gave a shriek and hurled herself across the -dead Cavalier, desperately clinging to his limp arms and pressing her -bright head against his bloodied coat. - -"My dear, they want to put you in the ground! I went to find you--you -were alive; what has happened now? I found you; what has happened? They -shall not take you away. Leave me," as Gaveston tried to move her from -the body; "he is not dead." She looked up and the tears were falling -down her cheeks. "I have nothing of him--no child. Would you take him -away?" - -"Leave them here," said Cromwell. Since he had beheld his wife mourning -her two eldest sons he could not bear to see a woman weep, and the -young Cavalier had still that dreadful look of young Oliver. "Send -some woman from the village to her, and in the morning, when she is -removed, you might bury him. Take my things upstairs--wait"----He broke -open the packages and, holding them near the candlelight, looked over -the contents. - -"Nothing I need answer to-night," he said, and glanced again at the -slim figure of the young woman as she clung to her dead in her agony, -the bright unbounded hair all that was left of beauty that had been so -fresh and lovely. - -"So is it with the ungodly," he muttered sombrely. "How suddenly do -they perish, consume, and come to a fearful end! Even like a dream when -one awaketh!" - -So saying, he turned abruptly into the garden and walked away from the -house. - -All the June flowers showed silver pale against the dark lines of -the hedges and the box trees clipped into the forms of dragons and -peacocks--monstrous, clumsy shapes now against a sky filled with the -pale purity of the moonlight. Somewhere a fountain tinkled a thin jet -of water into a shallow basin; a seat, a sundial, a statue showed here -and there as the pleasance led to the fishpond, where the wet leaves -of water-lilies gleamed, and, past that, a bowling-green, shaded with -noble limes, then to the orchards of apple trees bending above the -tall grass scattered with daisies, where the grounds ended in a wooden -paling which fenced a little copse full of hidden birds and flowers. - -The Puritan soldier passed through the garden without noticing the -sleeping loveliness or reflecting on the desolation it soon would be: -his mind was solely on his work, on what he had done, on what he must -do--occupied with all the doubts and terrors of the struggle between -the uplifted spirit and the still passionate human nature. - -Outwardly he never faltered or hesitated, but inwardly all was -often black and awful: a thousand perplexities assailed his strong -understanding, a thousand different emotions warred in his warm and -ardent heart. - -Usually his spiritual enthusiasm went hand in hand with his physical -courage and capacity, with his earthly feelings and hopes; but -sometimes these jarred with each other, and then the old melancholy -rolled over his soul. - -When he had walked unheeding as far as the paling and was stopped -there, by lack of a gate, he folded his arms on the fence and gazed -ahead of him into the sweet night. - -He was fatigued, yet far from the thought of sleep; the excitement -of the battle and the pursuit, the thrill of victory were still with -him.... - -And yet ... and yet ... the dead face of Sir William Pawlet and the -no less terrible countenance of his wife came before the soldier's -vision.... And how many thousands of these were there not now in -England, how many homes deserted like this one, how many fugitives -flying beyond seas, how many comely corpses being tumbled into the -trenches dug among the rabbit burrows on Broad Moor? So many that the -rolling hillocks would be all great graves, and for long years no -man would be able to turn the earth there with a plough but he would -disturb the mouldering dead. - -What if he had to answer for this blood? Was not he the man who had -always urged war--been the soul and inspiration of the conflict, so -that the malignants turned and cursed him, even as Lady Pawlet had this -very evening, believing him to be the foremost of their enemies? - -"Lord God," he cried out, grasping the fence with his strong hands, "I -do not fight for gain or power, for pride or hot blood, but for Thy -service, as Thou knowest! What am I but a worm in Thy sight, yet Thou -hast given me success through Thy lovely mercy and made me a fear unto -them who defy Thee! Hast Thou not declared that Thine enemies shall be -scattered like the dust, and they who dwell in the wilderness kneel -before Thee? Bring us that time, O Lord, bring Thy promised peace and -scatter those who delight in war! For Thou hast said, 'I will bring My -people again as I did from Basan, Mine own will I bring again, as I did -sometime from the deep of the sea!'" - -These words, which he spoke out loudly and in a strong voice, were -wafted strangely over the sleeping copse, where even the nightingale -was silent now; the sound of them seemed to be blown back again and to -echo in his soul strongly even after his lips were silent. - -He suddenly remembered when last he had rested against a fence; it was -that November day outside St. Ives, when God had come to him as he -walked his humble fields in obscurity and given him promise of grace. - -His whole being shook with joy at the recollection; he put his hand to -the cross of his sword, and as he touched the cold metal he again felt -God stoop towards him, and saw the future and the labour of the future -clear and blessed. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE KING DREAMS - - -The Parliamentarians followed up the victory at Naseby with victories -at Langport, Bridgewater, Sherborne, and Bath. The King was desolate at -Newark, relying on Rupert, who held Bristol, that famous city, and had -promised to stand siege for four months and more, and on the Marquess -of Montrose, who had roused the gallant Highlanders to fight for -their ancient line of kings, who had already been triumphant in many -engagements, and was now marching to meet General Leslie, Cromwell's -comrade-in-arms at Marston Moor, who had crossed the Tweed to crush the -Scotch royalists. - -It might seem that the reckless bravery of Rupert and the reckless -loyalty of Montrose were poor props with which to support a crown; -but the King, unpractical in everything, dreamt that these two might -save him yet, though his cause, since first he set his standard up at -Nottingham, had never looked so desperate. - -His private cabinet of papers which had been taken at Naseby had done -him more harm than the defeat, for there were many documents, letters, -and memoranda which proved to the victors the insincerity of his -dealing with the Parliament, the sophistries of his arguments, the -hollowness of his professions, and the unreliability of his word. - -They proved also, if the Parliamentarians had cared to make the -deduction, that Charles, however frivolous he might be, however -unstable and changing, however much he had temporized and given way, -was on some points adamant, and these points were his devotion to the -Church of England, to his Crown and all its prerogatives, his unshaken -belief in his own divine right, and the sacred justice of his cause. - -Charles, indeed, had never meant to come to an honest understanding -with Parliament, which he regarded as rebellious and traitorous. He -might have played with it, cajoled it, lured it, deceived it; but he -had never intended to do more. Promises had been forced from him, -but he had always found some sophistry with which he consoled his -conscience for breaking them; concessions might have been forced from -him, but he always meant, at the first opportunity, to withdraw. -He would, if he had had the power, have replaced the Star Chamber -to-morrow and treated the Puritans as they had been treated after the -Hampton Conference in his father's time. - -And he scarcely made a secret of the way he intended to treat the -rebels if they were ever at his mercy. They embodied all that was -hateful to him, and he had Strafford, Laud, and deep personal -humiliations to avenge. He might sometimes talk of toleration, but -there was none in his heart: his graceful exterior concealed a -fanaticism as stern, as convinced, as unyielding as any that burnt -beneath the rough leather of Cromwell's Independents. - -In the autumn of the year of Naseby, so disastrous to his cause, he was -in the besieged city of Newark, one of the few holding out for him; he -had, indeed, now only a few cities, such as Oxford, Bristol, Exeter, -and Winchester, besides that in which he lay. - -The Marquess of Newcastle, that faithful soldier and loyal subject, and -many faithful Cavaliers and a small loyalist garrison were with him; -they were not under any immediate fear of an attack, because Fairfax -and Cromwell were harrying Goring and Hopton in the south, and the -Parliamentary force in the north was occupied with Montrose. - -The Prince of Wales had followed his mother to the Hague and then to -Paris; the other sons, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, remained in -St. James's Palace, together with the younger children. This safety of -his wife and his heir gave the King a certain comfort and ease in his -mind, and the long, idle autumn days did not pass unpleasantly in the -beleaguered city for one whose delight was in dreams and repose and a -retired leisure. - -His soul was indeed sunk in melancholy, but it was a gentle sadness; -and the quiet of the moment, the sunny days in the old castle and -garden did not fail to touch with peace a soul so sensitive to -surroundings. - -He told Lord Digby, my Lord of Bristol's son (that nobleman having fled -to Paris), that if he could not live like a king he could always die -like a gentleman; no one, not the most insulting, crop-eared ruffian -of them all, could take that privilege from him. So, too, he wrote to -the Queen in reply to her letters, which always advised uncompromising -courses and exhorted him not to give way on any single point in -reality, though she said it might be well to yield in appearance. - -Charles needed no such advice; he was calmly and patiently resolved -to go to ruin on the question of episcopacy and his divine right -rather than yield a tittle, and this was not any the less true that -few believed it of him. Almost the entire country, including the -Parliamentary leaders, thought that now the King was cornered he would -make terms: their only concern was to find guarantees to make him keep -these terms when made. - -To some, in whom he put perfect trust, the King revealed his mind. Thus -he had written to Rupert at Bristol: "Speaking as a mere soldier or -statesman, I must say that there is no probability but of my ruin. - -"But, speaking as a Christian, I must tell you that God will not suffer -rebels and traitors to prosper or this cause to be overthrown. And -whatever personal punishment it shall please Him to inflict on me must -not make me repine, much less give over this quarrel. - -"Indeed, I cannot flatter myself with expectations of good success more -than this, to end my days with honour and a good conscience, which -obliges me to continue my endeavours, as not despairing that God may in -due time avenge His own cause. - -"Though I must avow to all my friends--that he who will stay with me -at this time must expect and resolve either to die for a good cause or -(which is worse) to live as miserable in maintaining it as the violence -of insulting rebels can make it." - -As for the King's future plans, they were vague, uncertain, and waited -on events. Every General in arms for him--Rupert, Goring, Hapton, -Montrose--fought on their own, with no other guidance than what their -talents and circumstances might give them, and Charles might either -join the one of them who was most successful or return to Oxford, -which had been for nearly three years his headquarters. He was not -without hopes that the energies of the Queen might land another army in -England, either Frenchmen supplied by her brother or Dutchmen sent by -his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange. - -He had some encouragement, too, to believe that the Scots, who disliked -Independency almost as much as Prelacy, might yet be detached from -their alliance with the Parliament. It was known that they did not -love Cromwell nor he them, and the more that he gained in importance -the more their ardour for the cause he represented cooled. It was said -that they had even viewed the defeat of the malignants at Naseby with -a cold and dubious eye, as they considered the discomfiture of the -royalists quite balanced by the triumph of the Sectarists, Schismists, -and Anabaptists who composed Cromwell's Ironsides. - -Charles, therefore, nourished some fantastic hope that by deluding -the Scots into thinking he would take the Covenant that was their -shibboleth, he might altogether detach them from his enemies. It was a -subtle and difficult piece of policy, and could only be accomplished -by those intrigues which had so often damaged the King before; but -Charles dallied with the idea, while he waited for the news of a -victory from Montrose which would put Scotland in a more submissive -attitude. - -The middle of September came, and there was no message from the -Marquess. Charles soothed himself with memories of the Graeme's -victories at Aberdeen, Perth, Inverlochy, and Kilsyth, and whiled away -the time with reading, meditation, and the elegant companionship of the -cultured and poetical Newcastle and the fantastical and brilliant Digby. - -These two were with the King in the garden of the house, or castle, -where he lodged in the afternoon of one lovely day when the sun sent a -bloom of gold over the majestic scenery and glittered in the stately -windings of the Trent. - -The talk fell on the Marquess of Winchester, who had so long held -Basing against the Parliament that the Cavaliers had come to call it -Loyalty House and the Puritans to curse it as a cesspool of Satan or -outpost of hell. - -"I would that my noble lord was here," said Charles, with feeling. - -"He doth better service to Your Majesty," returned Lord George Digby, -"in defying the rebels from Basing House." - -"But how long can he defy them?" asked the King. "Can a mere mansion -withstand the onslaughts of an army? Nay," he added, in a melancholy -tone, stooping to pat the white boarhound which walked beside him, "my -Lord Winchester will be ruined like all my friends, and Loyalty House -will be but burnt walls blackened beneath the skies, even as so many -others which have been besieged and beleaguered by the rebels." - -"Speak words of good omen, sir," said Newcastle, who had himself staked -(and lost, it seemed) the whole of a princely fortune on the royal -cause. "Methought that to-day you did have a more cheerful spirit and a -more uplifted heart." - -"Alas!" replied Charles. "I hope on this, on that, I trust in God, I -believe that my own fate is in my own hands, and that I can make it -dignified or mean as I will; but when I consider those who are ruined -for me, then, I do confess, I have no strength but to weep and no -desire but to mourn." - -"Sir," said the Marquess, much moved, "Your Majesty's misfortunes but -endear you the more to us; and as for any inconveniences or losses we -may have suffered, what are they compared to the joy of being of even a -little service to your sacred cause? Sir, the rebels may wax strong and -successful, but believe me there are still thousands of gentlemen in -England who would gladly lay down their lives for you." - -"I do believe it, Newcastle," answered the King affectionately, "and -therefore I am sad that I must see those suffer whom I would protect -and reward." - -They had now, in their leisurely walking, reached a portion of the -garden laid out on some of the old disused fortifications of the -castle, and looking towards the town. - -The ancient earthworks and moat had been planted with grass and trees, -and sloped to a shady park full of deer which stretched to the walls of -the city. - -The castle being upon gently rising ground, Charles and his companions, -on leaving that part of the garden which was walled in, came upon a -scene that was perfect in English fairness. - -It had been a wet summer, and grass and trees were not yet dried or -faded; an exquisite sweep of verdure filled the moat, and beyond the -emerald lawns of the deer park rested, half in the shadow of majestic -elms and oaks and half in the soft light of the sun striking open -glades. Beyond was the strongly fortified town; towers, gables, roofs, -and spires, interspersed with trees, shimmered in the ineffable glow of -autumn, and between them rolled the golden length of the Trent. - -The castle, which stood as an outpost to the town, was grimly fortified -at the base, and the walls of Newark held cannon and soldiery; but none -of this was visible to the three on the old ramparts. The scene was one -of perfect peace, of that peculiar rich and tender beauty which seems -only possible to England, and which not even civil war had here been -able to destroy. - -The King seated himself on a bench which stood against one of the -buttresses of the castle, the white dog gravely placed himself at his -feet, while the two Cavaliers remained standing. The three figures, -aristocratic, finely dressed, at once graceful and careless, well -fitted the scene. - -The King, though worn and haggard, was still a person eminently -pleasing to the eye; the Marquess, a little past the meridian of life, -was yet notable for his splendid presence; and Lord Digby, at once a -philosopher and a courtier, set out a handsome appearance with rich -clothes, both gorgeous and tasteful. - -Charles, after being sunk for some minutes in contemplation of the -prospect below him, turned to Newcastle with a smile both tender and -whimsical. - -"The Queen writes me, my lord," he said, "that there is a certain -gentlewoman with her in Paris who often discourseth of your -excellencies. Have you any knowledge of whom this lady can be?" - -The Marquess flushed at this unexpected allusion, and his right hand -played nervously at his embroidered sword band. - -"I only know one lady in Her Majesty's service," he smiled, "and she is -scarce like to flatter me or any man, being most cold, most shy. Sir, -it is Margaret Lucas, and I met her when she was attending the Queen at -Oxford." - -"It is Margaret Lucas that I speak of," replied Charles. "Dear -Marquess, I think her a very noble lady. Will you not write to her in -Paris and console her exile?" - -The Marquess answered with a firm sadness-- - -"If Mrs. Lucas would accept of me I would take her for my wife. But -these are not the times to think of such toys as courtships." - -"Ah, my lord," said Charles earnestly, "a true and loyal love shall -console thee in any times. What adversity is there a faithful woman -cannot soften? Whatever be before thee, take, whilst thou may, this -gentlewoman's love--thy sacrifices would not so vex my soul if I could -see thee with a gentle wife." - -He sighed as he finished, his thoughts perhaps turning to the one deep -passion of his own life--the Queen--now so far away and so divided from -him by dangers and difficulties. When would he again behold her in her -rich chamber singing at her spinet, with roses at her bosom and her -dark eyes flashing with love and joy? When again would he behold her -among her court at Whitehall, honoured and obeyed? When again take her -hand and look into her dear, dear face?... Were these days indeed over -for ever, to be numbered now with dead things?... - -He rose with a sharp exclamation under his breath: these reflections -were indeed intolerable. - -"Ah," he said impatiently, "this dearth of news is bitter to the -spirit. I sometimes think it would be well to gather my faithful -remnant round me and make a sortie into Scotland to join my Lord -Montrose." - -This was quite to the taste of the two noblemen, who were also tired -of Newark, and Lord Digby, for whom no scheme was too fantastic, began -to discourse on the advantages of the King's sudden appearance in the -Highlands. - -But the mood of Charles quickly changed; his resignation and melancholy -returned. - -"Nay," he said, "I must better the Scots by wits, not force. What -would it avail to fall into the hands of the cunning Argyll and his -Covenanters, and give the squinting Campbell the pleasure of making us -prisoner?" - -The Cavaliers were silent, and the three began to slowly continue their -walk round the old ramparts. - -"Methinks this might be the garden of the Hesperides," said Newcastle -presently. "See how bright the gilded light falleth, how gently move -the dappled deer, and how softly all the little leaves quiver. And all -the young clouds that come abroad are soft as a lady's veil." - -"It were good to die in such a place, at such an hour, if God gave us -any choice," said Charles. "For one could think, in such a moment, that -it was well to leave all sordid things and let the soul leap into the -sunset sky as gladly as the body leapeth in cool water on a dusty day. -But we must live and endure bloody times--and may the angels give us -constancy!" - -As he spoke he idly turned and saw, coming towards him, one of the -gentlemen of his bedchamber. - -He stood still. - -"This is some news," he said. "Go forward, my lord,"--touching Lord -Digby on the arm--"and ask." - -He had become notably pale, and he looked down at the roses on his -shoes and put his hand to his side as the two gentlemen came up to him. - -Momentous news had arrived at last: one of Rupert's troopers had -brought a dispatch from that Prince, and within a few minutes of him -had come a Captain of some Irish who had been with Montrose. - -He brought no dispatch; he had made his way with danger, difficulty, -and great delay from Scotland. His news was put in a few words, but -they were words which Lord Digby could scarcely stammer to the pale -King. - -"There is news come, sir--that David Leslie----" - -"A battle," asked Charles, swiftly looking up. "There hath been a -battle?" - -"Alas! Your Majesty must speak with this Captain of Irish yourself," -said the gentleman, in dismay. "He saith Leslie fell on the noble -Marquess near Selkirk, and did utterly defeat and overwhelm him; it was -at Philiphaugh, sir--and all the Scottish clans were broken and the -Marquess is fled." - -Newcastle gave an exclamation of bitter grief and rage. Charles stood -silent a full minute, then said in a low voice-- - -"The Marquess is not taken?" - -"Not that this Captain knoweth----" - -"Then we have some mercy," said the King, with a proud tenderness -infinitely winning. "My dear lord, what bitterness is thine to-day! -Alas! Alas!" - -Digby, with tears in his eyes, took the dispatch and gave it to -the King, hoping that it might contain news that would soften the -bitterness of Montrose's overthrow. - -But for a while the King, struggling with his stinging disappointment -and mortification, could not read, and when he did break the seals it -was with a distracted air. - -The very heading of the paper brought the hot blood to his pallid -cheeks: it was not "Bristol," but "Oxford." - -The Prince wrote laconically to say he had surrendered Bristol to -Fairfax and Cromwell, and had gone under parliamentary convoy to Oxford. - -When the King had read the letter he stared round upon his gentlemen. - -"Is this my sister's son," he cried, with quivering lips, "or a -hireling Captain? Was this my own blood did this thing? Rupert whom I -trusted?" - -None of them dare speak. Charles was so white that they feared that he -would fall in a fit or swoon. - -"My city, my loyal city!" he muttered; then he cast the Prince's letter -on to the grass, as if it soiled his fingers, and turned slowly away. -He had the look of a broken man. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -LOYALTY HOUSE - - -Soon after Bristol surrendered, Winchester, that other loyal city, -fell. Leicester, so lately taken from the Parliament, was by them -recaptured soon after Naseby. Nearly twenty fortified houses had been -taken this year. Goring's troopers were dispersed. Rupert and his -brother had, in spite of all denials, followed the King to Newark: -Rupert in high disgrace, deprived of his commissions, and ordered -abroad, yet staying and endeavouring to justify himself to his outraged -kinsman, succeeding somewhat, yet still in the unhappy King's deep -displeasure, and hardly any longer to be considered as His Majesty's -Commander of Horse, whether or no he held a commission, since His -Majesty had no longer an army for any one to general. - -In Scotland Montrose had fled to the Orkneys. Argyll and the -Conventiclers were triumphant and biding their chance to make a -bargain either with King or Independents, according as circumstances -might shape themselves, or as either party might be ready to take the -Covenant. - -What, indeed, could the King hope for now but for some division -among his enemies, or that the shadowy army of Dutch, Lorrainers, or -Frenchmen should at last materialize and descend upon the coasts of -Britain. - -Ireland, in a welter of bloody confusion, was a broken reed to lean on. -Ormonde, working loyally there, had too many odds against him, and was -no more to be relied on than Montrose, who had paid a bitter price for -his loyalty and his gallant daring. - -It was in the October of this year which had meant such bitter ruin -to the King's party that the Lieutenant-General of the parliamentary -army, returning from the capture of Winchester, set his face towards -Hampshire, where, at Basingstoke, stood Basing House, the mansion -of the King's friend, the Marquess of Winchester, which had stood -siege for four years, and was a standing defiance and menace to the -Parliamentarians and a great hindrance to the trade of London with the -West, for the Cavaliers would make sorties on all who came or went and -capture all provisions which were taken past. - -Cromwell had at first intended to storm Dennington Castle at Newbury, -another fortified residence which had long annoyed the Puritans; but -Fairfax decided otherwise, believing that nothing could so hearten and -encourage the Parliament as the capture of that redoubtable stronghold, -Basing House. - -Accordingly, Cromwell, gathering together all the available artillery, -turned in good earnest towards Basing, from whence so many had fallen -back discomfited. - -"But now the Lord is with us," said General Cromwell. "We have smitten -the Amalekite at Bristol and Winchester, and shall he continue to -defy us at Basing? Rather shall they and theirs be offered up as a -sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord." - -It was in the middle of the night of 13th October that the -Parliamentarians surrounded Basing House. - -Then, while the batteries were being placed and Dalbier, the Dutchman -from whom Cromwell had first learnt the rudiments of the art of war, -Colonel Pickering, Sir Hardress Waller, and Colonel Montague were -taking up their positions, the Lieutenant-General, who had already been -in prayer for much of the night, gave out to his brigade that he rested -on the 115th Psalm, considering that those they were about to fight -were of the Old Serpent brood, to be fallen upon and slain even as -Cosbi and Timri were slain by Phineas--to be put to the sword even as -Samuel put Agag to the sword. - -Colonel Pickering chose for his text, "I will arise against the house -of Jeroboam with the sword," and on that propounded a discourse to his -troopers as they were getting the sakers and culverins into position; -but Cromwell put his faith in the aforesaid psalm. - -"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for -Thy mercy and Thy truth's sake. - -"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Our God is -in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. - -"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.... _They -that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in -them._" - -With these words in his mind, Lieutenant-General Cromwell gave the -order, near towards six of the autumn morning, for the attack. - -All night the great lordly House, which had so long stood unscathed, -had been silent among its courts, lights showing at the windows and -above the Stewart standard floating lazily in the night breeze. There -were two buildings--the Old House, which had stood, the seat of the -Romanist Pawlets, for three hundred years, a fine and splendid mansion, -turreted and towered after the manner of the Middle Ages, and before -that the New House, built by later descendants of this magnificent -family in the modern style of princely show and comfort, both -surrounded by fortifications and works, a mile in circumference, and -well armed with pieces of cannon. - -As the sun strengthened above the autumn landscape, the steel of morion -and breastplate could be discerned on the ramparts and the colour of an -officer's cloak as he went from post to post giving orders: these were -the only signs that the besieged were aware of the great number and -near approach of the Parliamentarians. - -Soon after six, the dawnlight now being steady, and the attacking -parties being set in order--Dalbier near the Grange, next him Sir -Hardress Waller and Montague; and on his left Colonel Pickering--the -agreed-upon signal, the firing of four of the cannon, being given, the -Lieutenant-General and his regiments stormed Basing House. - -A quick fire was instantly returned, and the steel morions and coloured -cloaks might be seen hastening hither and thither upon the walls and -works, and a certain shout of defiance arose from them (it was known -that they made a boast of having so often foiled the rebels as they -termed them, and that they believed this bit of ground would defy them -even when great cities fell), which the Puritans replied to not at all, -but directed a full and incessant fire, as much as two hundred shots -at a time at a given point in the wall, which, unable to withstand so -fierce an attack, fell in, and allowed Sir Hardress Waller to lead -his men through the breach and right on the great culverins of the -Cavaliers, which were set about their court guard. They, however, -with extraordinary courage and resolution, beat back the invader and -recovered their cannon; but, Colonel Montague coming up, they were -overpowered again by sheer numbers, and the Puritans flowed across the -works to the New House, bringing with them their scaling ladders. There -was another bitter and desperate struggle, the Cavaliers sallying out -and only yielding the blood-stained ground inch by inch as they were -driven back by the point of the pike on the nozzle of the musket. - -Dalbier and Cromwell in person had now stormed at another point; the -air was horrid with fire-balls, the whiz of bullets, the rank smoke -of the cannon, the shrieks and cries that began to issue from the New -House at the very walls of which the fight was now expending its force, -like waves of the sea dashed against a great rock. - -Not once, nor twice, but again and again did the stout-hearted -defenders, in all their pomp of velvet and silk, plume and steel, -repulse their foes; again and again the colours of my Lord Marquess, -bearing his own motto, "_Aymer loyaulte_," and a Latin one taken from -King Charles' coronation money, "_Donec pax redeat terris_," surged -forth into the thickest of the combat, were borne back, and then -struggled forward, tattered and stained with smoke. - -But the hour of Loyalty House had come; the proud and dauntless -Cavalier, whose loyalty had endured foul as well as fair weather, had -now come to the end of his resistance to his master's enemies. - -Nothing human could long withstand the rush forward of the Ironsides. - -Colonel Pickering passed through the New House and got to the very gate -of the Old House. - -Seeing his defences so utterly broken down and his first rampart and -mansion gone, the desperate Marquess was wishful to summon a parley, -and sent an officer to wave a white cravat from one of the turrets with -that purpose. - -But the Puritans would listen to no parley. - -"No dealings with this nest of Popery!" cried Colonel Pickering, whose -zeal was further inflamed by the sight of a popish priest who was -admonishing and encouraging the besieged. - -After this the Cavaliers fell to it again with the sword, keeping up an -incredible resistance, and all the works and the courtyards, the fair -gardens, walks, orchards, and enclosed lands, the pleasances and alleys -laid out by my lord with great taste after the French model were one -bloody waste of destruction; sword smiting sword, gun replying to gun, -men pressing forward, being borne back, calling on their God, sinking -to their death, trampled under foot; the air all murky with smoke, the -lovely garden torn up and in part burning from fire-balls, the wall -of the noble House pierced by cannon-shot, the shrieks of women and -the curses of men uprising, the colours of my lord ever bravely aloft -until he who held them sank down in the press with a sigh, while his -life ran out from many wounds, and the banner of loyalty was snatched -by a trooper of Pickering's and flaunted in triumph above the advancing -Parliamentarians. - -At this sight a deep moan burst from the House and dolorous cries -issued from every window, as if the great mansion was alive and -lamented its fate pressing so near. - -Lieutenant-General Cromwell was now at the very gates of the inner -house, and these were, without much ado, burst open. The Cavaliers, -pressed upon by multitudes and broken at the sword's point, fell -back, mostly dying men, in the great hall; and on the great staircase -were some, notably my Lord Marquess himself, who still made a hot -resistance, as men who had nothing but death before them and meant to -spend the little while left them in action. - -From the upper floors might be heard the running to and fro of women -and servants, the calling of directions, and the gasping of prayers, -while from without the cannon still rattled and smoke and fire belched -through the broken walls. - -At last, my lord being driven up into his own chambers, and those about -him slain, Major Harrison sprang to the first landing and called upon -all to surrender; upon which eight or nine gentlewomen, wives of the -officers, came running forth together and were made prisoners. - -Major Harrison pushed into the nearest chamber, which was most -magnificently hung with tapestries and furnished in oak and Spanish -leather--a great spacious room with candlesticks of gold and lamps of -crystal, brocaded cushions, and Eastern carpets--and there stood three -people, one Major Cuffe, a notable Papist, one Robinson, a player of my -lord's, and a gentlewoman, the daughter of Doctor Griffiths, who was in -attendance on the garrison. - -These three stood together warily, watching the door, and when the -godly Harrison and his troopers burst in they drew a little together, -the soldier before the others. Harrison called on him curtly to -surrender, and named him popish dog, at which the Cavalier came at him -with a tuck sword that was broken in the blade, and with this poor -weapon defended those who were weaponless. - -But Harrison gave him sundry sore cuts that disarmed him, and, his -blood running out on the waxed floor, he slipped in it and so fell, and -was slain by Harrison's own sword through the point of his cuirass at -the armpit. - -Thereupon they called on the play-actor and the lady to surrender. She -made no reply at all, but stared at the haggled corpse of Major Cuffe, -twisting her hands in her flowered laycock apron. - -And the player put a chair in front of him and turned a mocking eye -upon the Puritans. - -"I have had my jest of you many a time," he said, "and if I had lived I -had jested still--but I choose rather to die with those who maintained -me----" - -Here Harrison interrupted. - -"This is no gentleman, but a lewd fellow of Drury Lane." - -He was dragged from behind the chair. - -"I have been in many a comedy," he cried, "but now I play my own -tragedy!" - -Him they dispatched with a double-edged sword, and cast him down; he -fell without a groan, yet strangely murmured, "Amen." - -Major Harrison, with his bloody weapon in his hand, swept across the -chamber through the farther entrance into the next, and his soldiers -after him. - -Mrs. Griffiths now woke from her stupor of dismay and rushed from one -body to another as they lay yet warm at her feet. - -And when she found that they who had lately been speaking to her were -hideously dead, and her hands all blooded with the touching of them, -she turned and cursed the soldiery in her agony. - -"Silence! thou railing woman!" one of them cried. - -She seized one of the empty pistols from the window-seat and struck at -the man. - -"God's Mother avenge us!" she shrieked. - -The fellow, still in the heat of slaughter, hurled her down. - -"Spawn of the scarlet woman!" he exclaimed. - -She got up to her knees, her head-dress fallen and her face deformed. - -"Thrice damned heretic!" she said. "Thou shalt be thrust into the -deepest pit----" - -"Stop her mouth!" cried another, coming up; he gave her an ugly name, -and hit her with his arquebus. - -She fell down again, but continued her reproaches and railing, till -they made an end, one firing a pistol at her at close range, the ball -thereof mercifully killing her, so that she lay prone with her two -companions. - -After this the soldiers joined Major Harrison, whom they found -with Lieutenant-General Cromwell at the end of this noble suite of -apartments, having there at last brought to bay the indomitable lord -of this famous and wealthy mansion, the puissant prince, John Pawlet, -Marquess of Winchester. - -The place where this gentleman faced his enemies was the chapel of his -faith, pompous and glorious with every circumstance of art and wealth. - -Windows of jewel-like glass transmitted the October sunshine in floods -of softly coloured light; the walls were of Italian marble, curiously -inlaid; on the altar blazed, in full pride, an image of the Virgin, the -height of a man and crowned with gems; a silk carpet covered the altar -steps, and cushions of velvet were scattered over the mosaic floor. - -In front of the altar lay a dead priest; the violet glow from the -east window stained his old shrunken features, and beside him on the -topmost step stood the Marquess; above the altar and the Virgin hung a -beautiful picture brought from Italy at great expense by my lord, and -showing a saint singing between some others--all most richly done; and -this and the statue was the background for my lord. - -He had his sword in his hand--a French rapier--water-waved in gold--and -he wore a buff coat embroidered in silk and silver, and Spanish -breeches with a fringe, and soft boots, but no manner of armour. He was -bareheaded; his hair, carefully trained into curls after the manner of -the Court, framed a face white as a wall; one lock fell, in the fashion -so abhorred by the Puritans, longer than the rest over his breast, and -was tied with a small gold ribbon. - -"Truly," said Major Harrison exultingly, "the Lord of Israel hath given -strength and power to His people! 'As for the transgressors, they shall -perish together; and the end of the ungodly is, they shall be rooted -out at the last!'" - -Then Lieutenant Cromwell demanded my lord's sword. - -"The King did give me this blade, and to him alone will I return it," -replied the Marquess. - -"Proud man!" cried Cromwell. "Dost thou still vaunt thyself when God -hath delivered thee, by His great mercy, into our hands?" - -He turned to the soldiers. - -"Take this malignant prisoner and cast down these idolatrous shows and -images--for what told I ye this morning? '_They that make them are like -unto them_, so is every one who _trusteth in them_'--the which saying -is now accomplished." - -When the Marquess saw the soldiers advancing upon him, he broke his -light, small sword across his knee and cast it down beside the dead -priest. - -"Though my faith and my sword lie low," he said, "yet in a better day -they will arise." - -"Cherish not vain hopes, Papist," cried Harrison, "but recant thine -errors that have led thee to this disaster." - -At this, Mr. Hugh Peters, the teacher, who had newly entered the -chapel, spoke. - -"Dost thou still so flourish? When the Lord hath been pleased in a few -hours to show thee what mortal seed earthly glory groweth upon?--and -how He, taking sinners in their own snares, lifteth up the heads of His -despised people?" - -The Marquess turned his back on Mr. Peters, and when the soldiers -took hold of him and led him before the Lieutenant-General, he came -unresisting, but in a silence more bitter than speech. - -Cromwell spoke to him with a courtesy which seemed gentleness compared -to the harshness of the others. - -"My lord," he said, "for your obstinate adherence to a mistaken cause I -must send you to London, a prisoner to the Parliament. God soften your -heart and teach you the great peril your soul doth stand in." - -Lord Winchester smiled at him in utter disdain, and turned his head -away, still silent. - -Now Colonel Pickering came in and told Cromwell that above three -hundred prisoners had been taken, and that Basing was wholly theirs, -including the Grange or farm where they had found sufficient provisions -to last for a year or more and great store of ammunition and guns. - -"The Lord grant," said the Lieutenant-General, "that these mercies be -acknowledged with exceeding thankfulness." - -And thereupon he gave orders for the chapel to be destroyed. - -"And I will see it utterly slighted and cast down," he said, "even as -Moses saw the golden calf cast down and broken." - -The soldiers needed little encouragement, being already inflamed with -zeal and the sight of the exceeding rich plunder, for never, since the -war began, had they made booty of a place as splendid as Basing. - -Major Harrison with his musket hurled over the image of the Virgin on -the altar, and his followers made spoil of the golden vessels, the -embroidered copes, stoles, and cloths, the cushions and carpets. - -The altar-painting was ripped from end to end by a halbert, slashed -across, and torn till it hung in a few ribbons of canvas; the gorgeous -glass in the windows was smashed, the leading, as the only thing of -value, dragged away, the marble carvings were chipped and broken, the -mosaic walls defaced by blows from muskets and pikes. - -After five minutes of this fury the chapel was a hideous havoc, and the -Marquess could not restrain a passionate exclamation. - -Cromwell turned to him. - -"We destroy wood and stone and the articles of a licentious worship," -he said, "but you have destroyed flesh and blood. To-day you shall see -many popish books burnt--but at Smithfield it was human bodies." - -The Marquess made no reply, nor would he look at the speaker, and they -led him away through his desolated house. - -Wild scenes of plunder were now taking place; clothes, hangings, plate, -jewels were seized upon, the iron was being wrenched from the windows, -the lead from the roof; what the soldiers could not remove they -destroyed; one wing of the house was alight with fierce fire, and into -these flames was flung all that savoured of Popery; from the Grange, -wheat, bacon, cheese, beef, pork, and oatmeal were being carried away -in huge quantities; amid all the din and confusion came the cries for -quarter of some of the baser sort who had taken refuge in the cellars, -and divers groans from those of the wounded who lay unnoticed under -fallen rubbish and in obscure corners. - -Cromwell gave orders to stop the fire as much as might be, for, he -said, these chairs, stools, and this household stuff will sell for a -good price. - -The pay of his soldiers was greatly in arrears, and he was glad to have -this pillage to give them. - -"It will be," he remarked, "a good encouragement--for the labourer is -worthy of his hire, and who goeth to warfare at his own cost?" - -He and his officers, together with the Marquess and several other -prisoners, now came (in the course of their leaving of the House) on -the bedchamber of my lord, which caused the Puritans to gape with -amaze, so rich beyond imaginings was this room, especially the bed, -with great coverings of embroidered silk and velvet and a mighty -canopy bearing my lord's arms, all sparkling with bullion as was the -tapestry on the walls. - -Some soldiers were busy here, plundering my lord's clothes, and others -were fighting over bags of silver, and the crown-pieces were scattered -all over the silk rugs. - -Then Mr. Peters, who had been arguing with my lord on his sinful -idolatrous ways, pressed home his advantage and pointed to the disaster -about him and asked the Marquess if he did not plainly see the hand of -God was against him? - -Lord Winchester, who had hitherto been silent, now broke out. - -"If the King had had no more ground in England than Basing House, I -would have adventured as I did and maintained it to the uttermost!" - -"Art so stubborn," cried Mr. Peters, "when all is taken from thee?" - -"Ay," said the Marquess, "Loyalty House this was called, and in that I -take comfort, hoping His Majesty may have his day again. As for me, I -have done what I could; and though this hour be as death, yet I would -sooner be as I am than as thou art!" - -And he said this with such sharp scorn and with an air so princely (as -became his noble breeding) that Hugh Peters was for awhile silenced. - -But Oliver Cromwell said, "Thou must say thy say at Westminster." - -And so fell Basing in full pride. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE KING'S FOLLY - - -Lieutenant-General Cromwell lay encamped outside Oxford; Chester had -lately fallen, and Gloucester, and when the Parliamentarians took -Oxford, as they must certainly soon take it, the King would have not a -foot of ground left in England. - -The King was in Oxford; he had gone from Newark to Wales, he had -wandered awhile with such scattered forces as were left him with Rupert -and Maurice, and then he had returned once more to the faithful, loyal -city that might continue to be both faithful and loyal, but could not -much longer resist the enemy that was ever pressing closer round her -grey walls. - -It was April. "We must end the war this year," Cromwell said. The -people expected a peace and a settlement from the Parliament; the only -question now in the minds of the leaders was, what peace and settlement -would the King make, and keep, now he was fairly beaten? - -This question was foremost night and day in the mind of General -Cromwell. - -This day, towards the end of April, he sat in his tent outside the -beleaguered city, smoking a pipeful of Virginian tobacco and gazing out -at the spring landscape and the near encampment of the Parliamentarian -army, which was illumined by the dubious light of a misty moon. - -Two companions were with him--Henry Ireton, who was to wed Bridget -Cromwell at the conclusion of the war, and Major Harrison, a soldier -not so entirely to the Lieutenant-General's liking as his prospective -son-in-law, still, a deeply religious man and dauntless soldier, if too -strongly tinged with that fanaticism which was now the mainspring of -the new model army. - -A discussion which involved some difference of opinion was taking place -between the three Puritans; Cromwell, who was one against two, was much -more silent than his wont, for it was usual for him to speak at great -length, with many illustrations of his meaning (which served, however, -as much for confusing his purpose as for enlightening it, and had -already got him the name of dissembler among his opponents) and great -fervour and enthusiasm; he could never be called taciturn, but to-night -he was silent with a kind of dumbness as if one of his melancholies -were on him, whereas Harrison and Ireton expounded their case with much -rigour and eloquence. - -And their case was that the King was utterly and entirely not to be -trusted, and that any pact or bargain made with him would be a useless -thing, not worth the sheepskin it was written upon. - -"As witness," said Major Harrison, "his solemn protestation to the -Commons that he loved them as his own children, and a few days after -his coming down to the House and claiming the five--as witness his -promises and false oaths to Parliament which his papers taken at Naseby -did show he never meant to keep, but was the while trying to bring -over Lorrainers to cut our throats--and what of this last business in -Ireland when he sent Lord Glamorgan over to stir up the Irish Papists, -and then, when the scheme was discovered, forsook my lord and utterly -denied him and the Papists too?" - -"As he forsook Strafford," added Ireton. "That deed alone would have -spoilt the credit of a private man, and to my thinking spoils the -credit of a king too." - -"He tried to save him," said Cromwell briefly. - -"Nay, his lady, being Sir Denzil Holles' sister, was the one who made -the effort for the reprieve, as I know from Sir Denzil," replied -Ireton; "the King shook him off like an old cloak, as he would shake -off any friend he thought was likely to be hurtful to him." - -Harrison took up the theme with the greater vehemence of his low origin -and coarse training, for though his noble appearance and military -appointments gave him some of the appearance of that equality with his -fellow-officers which he claimed by reason of his military rank, still, -when he spoke, it was obvious that neither the levelling of war nor -religion could do away with the distinctions of birth and education; -Cromwell and Ireton were as clearly gentlemen as Harrison, the son of a -butcher, was clearly not. - -"What is dealing with the King but trafficking with Egypt," he -concluded his peroration, "and setting up a covenant with the powers -of darkness? Can good come from tinkling with such as Charles Stewart? -Nay, rather a curse upon the land." - -Oliver Cromwell took the pipe out of his mouth; he sat near the -entrance to the tent, and the feeble moonlight was full over his rugged -profile. - -The one oil-lamp had burnt out, and the three soldiers either had not -noticed, or were indifferent to the fact, that they were sitting in the -half-dark. - -"Shallow and frivolous he may be, nay, hath been proved to be," said -Cromwell slowly. "_But he is the King._ Major Harrison, those words are -as a tower of strength, as a wand of enchantment--there is the weight -of seven hundred years or more to support them--and Charles, without -one soldier, means more to England than you or I could ever mean were -we backed by millions." - -"During those seven hundred years you speak of," replied Harrison -grimly, "there have been kings so detestable that means have been found -to put them off their thrones. The thing is not without precedence." - -"Nay, surely," said the Lieutenant-General gently; "but in the wars -and quarrels of which you speak some rival prince was always there -to take his kinsman's place. This is not a dispute among kings and -nobles, but an uprising of the people for their liberty to force the -King to grant them their just demands--therefore, the case is without -precedent." - -"And what, sir, do you deduct from that?" asked Henry Ireton. - -"Why, that if we put the King down there is no one to set in his place. -The Prince of Wales hath gone abroad to the French Court and a papist -mother; the King's nephew, the Elector Charles Louis, who was flattered -with some hopes of the succession, is a silly choice; the King's other -sons are children, Rupert and Maurice are free lances--and which of -these, were he ever so desirable, would be accepted by the nation while -the King lives?" - -There was a little pause, and then Harrison said boldly-- - -"Why need we a king at all?" - -"It is a good form of government," replied Cromwell, "and I believe -the only one the English will take. If you have no king you may have a -worse thing--every shallow pate faction casts to the top seizing the -direction of affairs. It was never the design of any of us," he added, -"to depose the King when we took up arms." - -"Nay," admitted Ireton, "the design was to bring him to reason, but -how may that be done when we deal with one who knows not the name of -reason?" - -"Now," said the Lieutenant-General, "he has no power to be false. Nor -will the Parliament ever again be as defenceless as it was when he was -last at Whitehall." - -"Then," put in Ireton shrewdly, "if you offer terms to the King which -leave the power of the sword with the Parliament, you offer what he, -even in his utmost extremity, will not accept." - -"We have had no experience of what he will do in extremity," replied -Cromwell, "since he has never come to it till now." - -"But has he not," cried Harrison, "always refused to give up what he -terms his rights? Did he not contemptuously reject the Uxbridge Treaty?" - -"As any man might have guessed he would," replied Cromwell dryly; he -had been no party to the folly of the Presbyterians in asking the King -to accept these impossible conditions. "He will always be a Prelatist, -yet he might--nay, he must--rule according to the laws of England, and -allow all men freedom in their thoughts." - -"He never will!" exclaimed Harrison. - -"He must," repeated Cromwell. - -His pipe had now gone out; he knocked out the ashes against the tent -pole and rose. - -"The settlement of this war," remarked Henry Ireton, "is like to be -more trouble than the fighting of it." - -"What," asked Cromwell, with that half-moody, half-tender melancholy -that so often marked his speech, "avail these doubts and surmises? It -is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up so early and so late take -rest, and eat the bread of carefulness--'it is in the Lord's hands--the -Lord's will be done.'" - -Major Harrison rose also; he wore part of his armour; vambrace and -cuirass clattered as he moved. - -"Ay," he said, "worthy Mr. Hugh Peters did wrestle in prayer with the -Lord for three hours on that point, and afterwards held forth in lovely -words--yet were we still in darkness as to God's will with us----" - -"Doubt not," answered Cromwell fervently, "that He will make it -manifest as He hath done aforetime." - -He paused in his pacing and turned to face the huge soldier, who now -stood with one hand on the tent flap, holding it back. - -The moon was sinking, a white wafer behind the gates and towers of -Oxford, but the first flush of the dawn replaced her misty light. - -"I look for the Lord!" cried Cromwell. "My soul doth wait for Him, -in His word is my trust--'My soul fleeth unto the Lord, before the -morning watch, I say before the morning watch!'" - -"Ay," added Harrison, with a coarser enthusiasm and a blunter speech; -"and when the Lord cometh what shall He say--but slay Dagon and his -adherents, put to the sword the Amalekite and Edomite and all the -brood of the Red Dragon. And who is the foremost of these but Charles -Stewart?" - -"The Lord," replied Cromwell, "hath not yet put it into my soul to put -the King down, nor to utterly slight his authority. Yet on all these -matters I would rather be silent--this is scarce the time for speech on -this subject." - -Major Harrison picked up his morion, which bore in front the single -feather that denoted his rank, and with a few words of farewell left -the tent. - -Ireton prepared to follow him. - -"A good repose, Harry," said Cromwell affectionately. "We have talked -over long, and I fear to little purpose. We must come to these -arguments again at Westminster. Get now some sleep--farewell." - -When Henry Ireton had gone, Cromwell continued to walk up and down the -worn turf that formed the floor of the tent. - -"Ah, soul, my soul," he muttered, "art thou wandering again in -blackness, not knowing which way to turn? Do the waters come in and -overwhelm thee? Yet did not the Lord receive thee into His grace, -and make with thee a Covenant and a promise? The sword of the Lord -and Gideon!--has it not been given thee to wield that weapon, and to -triumph with it? Was not the Lord's hand plainly shown in that they -have felled the malignants as the bricks of Basing that fell down one -from the other? And hast thou not permitted them to be utterly consumed -from the land, even from Havilah unto Shur?" - -While he thus exhorted and chided some inner weakness or sadness that -was liable to come over him, most often at night, and when he was -inactive, speaking aloud, as was his wont when thus excited, he was -startled by the sudden entry of one of his officers. - -The man was preceded by the soldier in attendance on Cromwell, who had -kept guard outside his tent, and now carried a lantern, the strong -beams of which, disturbing the dubious light of the tent, showed the -figure of Cromwell standing by the camp-bed on which his armour was -piled. - -"Sir," began the officer, "we have made, outside the city, a prisoner, -whom it is expedient Your Excellency should see." - -"For what purpose, Colonel Parsons?" asked Cromwell wearily, and -hanging his head on his breast, as he did when tired or thoughtful. - -"Because the malignant, defying us, with much fury, did declare a -strange thing. He said that the King had escaped from Oxford two days -or so ago." - -Cromwell looked up sharply; his face seemed full of shadows. - -"Bring the prisoner before me," he said briefly, and seated himself on -the leathern camp-chair at the foot of his rough couch. - -The officer retired, and soon returned accompanied by two halberdiers -escorting a young Cavalier, completely disarmed and dusty and -disordered in his dress, as if he had made a fair struggle before -surrendering his liberty. - -"Thy name?" asked Cromwell. - -"Charles Lucas," replied the young man. - -"And what hast thou to say of this escape of the King from Oxford?" - -The young man laughed. - -"I may now freely tell thee, thou cunning rebel, that His Sacred -Majesty is by now safe in the hands of his faithful Scots." - -Cromwell scarcely repressed a violent start. - -"He went from Oxford in the guise of a groom," continued Sir Charles, -in a tone of amusement and triumph; "and I, for one, helped him." - -"Even so?" said Cromwell, and gazed upon him absently. - -"Shall I not," asked Colonel Parsons, "have the young malignant shot -before the sun is up?" - -The Lieutenant-General roused himself from deep thought with an effort. - -"Nay, let him go," he said; "we want no more corpses nor prisoners." - -Parsons, with the freedom the Independent officers took, remonstrated. - -"He is a Socinian, a Prelatist, an Erastian--even as a soldier of Pekah -or Jeroboam!" - -"Let him go," repeated Cromwell, with his usual mildness, "it is now a -matter of days. Spare all the blood you can, Colonel Parsons." - -The dark red flushed the royalist's cheek. - -"I want no mercy nor quarter from rebels," he said haughtily. - -"Silly boy," smiled Cromwell, "take thy vaunts elsewhere," and Sir -Charles, whether he would or no, was hustled out of the tent. - -Cromwell sat motionless awhile, holding his hand before his eyes. - -"The Scots," he was swiftly thinking, "what a turn is here ... he -will not take the Covenant.... Then he is ours for the asking ... -helpless any way ... the Scots!... Thou art an ill statesman, Charles -Stewart.... Methinks the war is ended." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE END OF THE WAR - - -In June of that year two women sat together in an upper room of a -humble, though decent, house in London, near the Abbey of Westminster -and the Hall where the Parliament was now sitting. - -This was a back street, crooked and obscure; never as yet had it been -touched nor disturbed by the clamours and tumults which of late had -risen and fallen through the broad ways of London like the tempestuous -rising and falling of the winter sea. - -In the little garden stood a lime tree, now in full leaf, and the sun, -striking through the branches, filled the room with a soft greenish -light, and in and out the boughs and sometimes in and out of the open -window a white butterfly fluttered. - -The two women sat near the window and talked together in low voices. - -One was in her prime but spoilt by sorrow and sickness, her blonde hair -mixed with grey as if dust had been sprinkled upon it, her face peaked -and thin, her lids heavy, her eyes dimmed; the other little beyond -girlhood, but she too disfigured by suffering, and nothing remaining to -her of the pleasant beauty of youth save the flowing richness of her -red-gold curls. - -Both were simply, even humbly, clad, in heavy mourning. - -The younger, after a pause of silence during which both gazed out at -the sun among the green with eyes that no longer kindled to such a -sight, remarked-- - -"Bridget Cromwell is married to-day." - -"Yes," replied the other; "they say it is a sure sign of a general -peace." - -The young gentlewoman made no reply to this remark, but glanced down at -the wedding-ring on her fair thin hand. - -"I wonder," she cried fiercely, "if she is as happy as I was when I was -a bride. I wonder if she will ever come to be as unhappy as I am now!" - -Lady Strafford did not reply, and her companion, with the tears -smarting up into eyes already worn with weeping, continued-- - -"I could find it in my heart to wish that the rebel's daughter might -find herself, at my years, a childless widow!" - -"Hush, Jane," said the Countess; "this is not charity!" - -"The times," replied Lady William Pawlet, "do not teach charity. Thou -art nobly patient, but I have not yet learnt to hush my railing. All, -all gone and an empty life! Madonna! how can one support the burden! -Oh, to be a man and go forward in the front ranks to die as Lord -Falkland did! But to be a woman--a woman who must wait till she die of -remembering!" - -"There is no answer to be made--none," said the Countess; "the heart -knoweth its own bitterness." - -"And we sit here in poverty, bereaved and desolate, and Oliver Cromwell -hath my Lord Worchester's estates and the thanks of Parliament," -continued Lady William, following out thoughts too bitter to be kept -silent. "Loyalty now must go barefoot and impudent knavery swell -in high places! I will go abroad to the Queen in Paris--she too is -desolate and maybe can employ me about her person, for I will no longer -be a charge on you, madam. Will you not," she added, in a more timid -tone, "come too?" - -"I will not, willingly," replied the elder lady firmly, "ever see Her -Majesty again. Nor yet the King. Thank God I can keep my loyalty and -wish His Majesty a safe deliverance from all his present perils, but -this I know, that were he to taste the bitterest death and she the -bitterest widowhood, both, in the extreme hour of their misery, could -endure no greater torment than to remember Lord Strafford and how he -died." - -She spoke quietly without raised voice or flushed cheek, yet so -intensely, that Jane Pawlet, who had never heard her mention this -subject before, was horrified and awed. - -"The world is upside down, I think," she murmured. "It all seems to me -so unreal--I doubt it can be more strange in hell." - -"You are young," replied the Countess, "and may live to think of all -this as a clouded dream. But my life is over." - -"You have been the wife of a great man," cried Lady William Pawlet, -"and you have children." - -"Whom I must see grow up as landless exiles, bearing an attainted -name," said Lady Strafford, with a stern smile. - -"But you have fulfilled yourself," returned the other, "while I have -been, and am, useless. Ah me, how differently I dreamed it!" - -Then the poor widow, overwhelmed by recollections of a happiness which -now seemed the doubly dazzling because it had been so brief, rose to -conceal her emotion, and moved restlessly round the room. - -Lady Strafford glanced at her and, with an effort to distract her mind, -touched on another subject. - -"I had a letter from Margaret Lucas in Paris--so ill spelt I can hardly -read it; but it seems the Marquess of Newcastle hath come to St. -Germains and that they are reading each other's poetry--so belike there -will be a match there." - -"Ah yes?" said Lady William heavily. - -"They have both lost their estates," continued the Countess, "so it -will be a fair trial of their love and constancy." - -As she spoke there was a light, almost uncertain knock on the door. - -Lady Strafford, who, in her narrow circumstances, kept no servant, -looked from the window cautiously. - -"It is my brother," she said, and the younger lady at once left the -room, soon returning accompanied by Sir Denzil Holles. - -This gentleman had always been of a contrary party to the Earl of -Strafford, and in the first part of his life had seen but little of his -magnificent sister. He had, however, done his utmost to save the Earl's -life, and was now almost the principle support of the Countess and her -children. - -He was not in arms for Parliament (though he had been one of the famous -five members), and, being estranged from the army by the fact of his -Presbyterian religion, and animated by a great dislike of Oliver -Cromwell, he stood as much aloof as he was able from the clashes of the -times, though he led a considerable party in the Commons. - -"Any news?" asked his sister, after greeting him affectionately. - -"The usual," replied Sir Denzil gloomily. "Oxford surrendered--the -princes and Sir Ralph Hopton are gone beyond seas--Sir Jacob Astley -with the last force of royalists hath been taken--and Bridget Cromwell -is now Bridget Ireton." - -"The King's cause, then," said the Countess, "is utterly lost and -ruined?" - -"As far as it can be maintained by arms, it is," replied her brother, -who, though he had been imprisoned by King Charles, showed no great -elation at his downfall. "And as it is certain he will not take the -Covenant--why, you may take it it is altogether ruined." - -"He will not?" asked Lady William Pawlet. - -"Nay, though they have entreated him on their knees, with tears--as -have we, the Presbyterians--and if he will not take it, there is not a -single Scot will shoulder a musket for him." - -"It seems," remarked the Countess quietly, "that the King can be -faithful to some things." - -"Ay," said Sir Denzil, "to the Church of England and his Crown. I -believe he would resign life itself sooner than either." - -"Therefore if the Scots will not fight there is an end of the war?" -said his sister. "Well, Denzil, what shall we do?" - -"Get beyond seas, unless I can put down the army," he replied. "This -is no longer a country for such as I. The King is overcome--but in his -place is like to be a worse tyrant." - -"You mean Oliver Cromwell?" - -"Yes," said Denzil Holles bitterly. "That man is now the front of all -things--he hath the army at his back and groweth bigger every day." - -"The talk is," said his sister, "that he would make accommodation with -the King, whereas many of his party are for measures the most extreme, -even for setting up a Republic--so it is said--but I know not. What -does one hear but echoes of echoes in a retirement such as this?" - -"It matters not," replied Sir Denzil, "things are all ajar in -England. I have a mind to Holland to a little quiet, some books, a -few friends--Ralph Hopton is at the Hague. I can be no use in this -whirligig, and I will save what little credit, what little fortune, I -have left." - -He had often spoken so before, but had always been drawn back to the -whirlpool at Westminster, and his sister believed that he would be so -again. - -Lady William Pawlet had listened wearily to this conversation between -brother and sister. Her personal anguish had dimmed all politics for -her; the rebels were now to her simply her husband's murderers, the -royalists the party for whom he died. More important to her than the -ultimate fate of King and Parliament was the memory of the morning of -Naseby when she had knotted Sir William's scarf over his cuirass and -hung a little silver saint round his neck as a charm against evil. She -watched the white butterfly which fluttered in the upper branches of -the lime, and thought of the legend of the Ancients which chose this -insect, for its light purity and because of the hideous creature from -which it came, as an emblem of the soul; and she wondered if her lord's -soul was hovering somewhere beneath heaven, watching her, or if he was -already in the Fields of Paradise. Her chief consolation remained that -he had been confessed and absolved before he went to the battle.... - -"Well, well," said Lady Strafford, "London is no place for me--every -paving-stone hath a memory.... And you, child, will you go to Paris?" - -"Yes, madam, to the Queen, who was always a good friend to me. We have -the same faith, as you know." - -"The noble family of Pawlet," remarked Sir Denzil gracefully, "have a -great claim on the house of Stewart. The defence of Basing was one of -the noblest actions of this unhappy war." - -"The Marquess lost everything," said Lady William Pawlet. "Even the -bricks were pulled down and sold--even my lord's shirts--and his -bedchamber invaded by the vulgar, who burnt all the tapestry there for -the sake of the gold threads in it, and they were the most beautiful -hangings in England. What is loyalty's reward? Bitter, I fear, bitter." - -She glanced out of the window at the unchanging sunshine as if it hurt -her eyes, then moved away again restlessly round the room. - -The Countess made an effort to stir a silence that was so full of -memories, of regrets, of disappointments. - -"Well," she said, "the war is over and we shall go abroad; but what -will happen in England?" - -"That," replied Sir Denzil sternly, "is very much in the hands of -Oliver Cromwell." - - - - -PART III - -THE CRISIS - -"Robin, be honest still. God keep thee in the midst of snares. Thou -hast naturally a valiant spirit. Listen to God, and He shall increase -it upon thee, and make thee valiant for the truth. I am a poor creature -that write to thee, the poorest in the world, but I have hope in God, -and desire from my heart to love His people."--_Lieutenant-General -Cromwell to Colonel Hammond, Nov. 1648._ - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE ISSUE WITH THE KING - - -On a summer afternoon in the year 1647, an officer, with a small escort -of arquebusiers, rode from Putney to Hampton village, and turning -briskly towards the palace, passed unchallenged, and saluted by the -sentries, through the great iron gates, over the moat, and stopped at -the principal entrance. - -The captain of the guard-house came out. - -"'Tis Lieutenant-General Cromwell!" he exclaimed. - -"Ah, Colonel Parsons," returned the other pleasantly. "I do recall that -thou went here----" - -"Things have changed since we besieged Oxford, sir," said Parsons. - -"Ay, and gotten themselves into a fine confusion," replied Cromwell; -"but I will see the King. Tell His Majesty who waits." - -"Nay, sir, step in," said Parsons; "the days are gone by when men had -to wait for an audience of His Majesty." - -"Yet I trust to it that he is entertained with civility?" said the -Lieutenant-General. "Were it otherwise it would look very ill." - -Without waiting for a reply to this, which was intended more as a -rebuke to Parsons' tone of speech than as question, for Cromwell knew -very well how the King was treated and lodged, the Lieutenant-General -passed up the stairs and along the galleries towards the royal -apartments, preceded by one of the palace attendants. - -Parsons looked after him with mingled admiration and envy. - -"There goes the darling of the army and the terror of the Parliament," -he said to another officer who had joined him. "They no more know -what to do with Noll Cromwell than they know what to do with Charles -Stewart." - -He voiced the common view of the situation of the Parliament men; the -which had indeed found themselves in greater difficulties during the -peace than they had done during the war, though they had succeeded in -getting the Scots out of the kingdom and the King into their own hands. - -After wearisome and confused negotiations between the King, the Scots, -and the Presbyterians had come to nothing through Charles' haughty -refusal to forsake the Church of England and take the solemn Covenant, -the Parliament had paid the Scots £20,000, as an instalment of the pay -due to them, and on this the Northerners had marched away across the -Borders to the endless disputes among themselves, headed by Argyll, the -Covenanter, and Hamilton, the royalist, who were now one up, now one -down, like boys on a see-saw. - -The King had been delivered to the Parliamentary Commissioners and -lodged with great respect at Holmby. - -And then the Parliament was confronted with other problems: On one -hand the clamours of the people for a good understanding with His -Majesty, and on the other side the claims of the army, which refused -to be disbanded without the arrears of pay owing, which arrears were -not forthcoming except in so small a proportion as to be indignantly -refused by the soldiers. - -Some of the right was on the side of the army and all the might. -Neither Parliament nor nation could do anything with them, especially -as all the force and fervour of the new Puritan religion which had -defeated the King was to be found in the ranks of the soldiers, for -nearly all the Parliament men were Presbyterians, and nearly all the -army belonged to one or other of the enthusiastic sects commonly named -'Independents'; and oft either side of this cleavage of religious -belief was nearly as much bitterness as had animated Puritan and Papist -against each other. - -Denzil Holles had resolved to stay in England, and was busy leading a -party in Parliament against the chiefs of the army, principally against -the Lieutenant-General, who was looked upon as the great man of his -side, nay, by some, as the great man of the nation. - -He, on his part, maintained a singular quiet, nor put himself forward -in any way. He had moved his family from Ely to London, and there -resided quietly or moved about from place to place as his duties -called, contradicting no man and interfering with none; yet somehow his -figure was always in the background of men's thoughts, and all either -feared him, or looked to him hopefully as their case might be, as if -from him must come, sooner or later, the healing of the schisms, the -twisting together of the intricate strands of faction, the smoothing -out of the tangled confusions that now maddened and bewildered men. - -There were able, honest leaders in every sect and faction, there -were clever, high-minded politicians like Sir Harry Vane, there were -energetic and successful soldiers like Sir Thomas Fairfax, and there -were men like Ireton who combined the qualities of both--all of whom -were respected and followed by their several parties. But none stood -out so vividly in the eyes of both friend and foe as did the figure of -Oliver Cromwell, whose cavalry charges had turned the tide of battle at -Marston Moor and Naseby, who was the idol of that army which seemed now -to hold the balance of power, and whose utterances in Parliament had -shown him to be as decisive, as wary, as brilliant in attack, as quick -in resource, as commanding a personality in politics as he was on the -battlefield. - -Yet there was perhaps no one, among all the men whom the times had -made prominent, who kept so in the background of events during the -last turmoils, confusions, and intricacies of the negotiations and -consultations between the King, the Scots, the Parliament, the Army, -the Presbyterians, and the Independents. - -Since the conclusion of the Civil War, the King had been, and continued -to be, the great element of discord and difficulty. No one could resign -themselves to do without him, and no one knew what to do with him; the -Scots had given him up in despair, and the parliamentary Commissioners -found him equally impossible to deal with. A general deadlock had -been solved, Gordian knot fashion, by the army; Cornet Joyce and -six hundred men, acting under what orders no one knew, but acting -certainly according to the general wish, had carried off the King -(very much to his will and liking), from Holmby, to the great dismay -of the parliamentary Presbyterians, and lodged him at Hinchinbrook, -from whence he moved about with the army, treated in kingly style. He -was finally taken to Hampton Court, the army headquarters being now at -Putney, in such ominous nearness to London that the great city itself -was believed to tremble, and at Westminster there was open turmoil. - -Lieutenant-General Cromwell, who, with the other officers, had been -ordered to his regiments when news came of Cornet Joyce's amazing -action, but who had already gone (not without some haste, his enemies -said, for fear of an arrest from the incensed Parliament, for it was -credited that his was the authority under which Joyce had acted), had -remained at Putney for some weeks before this visit of his to Hampton -Court. - -He was, with little delay, admitted to the King's antechamber, where -Lord Digby received him, and soon into the King's presence. The -apartment was one of the beautiful chambers built and decorated by -Henry VIII; old oak, carved in a deep linen pattern and worn to a -colour that was almost dark silver, formed the walls, and round the -deep blue painted ceiling ran a design of "A. H." and the Tudor roses, -quartered thus to please the first English Queen who died a public and -shameful death. - -An oriel window, brilliant with painted blazonry, was set open on to -the gardens which sloped to the willow trees and the river, and in the -red-cushioned window-seat the King's white dog slept. - -The furniture was very handsome stately oak and stamped Spanish -leather; above the low mantelshelf hung a picture by Antonio Mor, -a portrait of the sad-faced Mary Tudor, in white cambric and black -velvet, gold chain, and breviary. - -Charles was seated at a coral-red lacquer cabinet or desk powdered with -gold figures--a princely piece of furniture, rich and costly. Cromwell, -seeing him, paused in the doorway and took off his broad-leaved hat. - -The two exchanged a quick and steady look. Cromwell had last seen the -King at Childerly House, only a few weeks before, when he and General -Fairfax had ridden down to Huntingdon to meet His Majesty; but the -interview had been brief, by torchlight, and the Lieutenant-General had -taken little part in it. The King, too, had been largely obscured by a -horseman's hat and cloak, so that the last clear remembrance Cromwell -had of the King remained that of the famous day when Charles had come -to Westminster to seize the five members. - -That scene and the central figure of it remained very vividly in -Cromwell's mind, even across all the stormy years which lay between -then and now. He recalled the unutterable haughtiness, the poise, the -splendour, the rich attire of the King then; he would not have known -the man before him for the same. - -Charles wore a brown cloth suit passemented with silver, grey hose, and -shoes with dark red roses on them; his whole attire was careless, even -neglected, and he had no jewellery, order, or any kind of adornment, -save a deep falling collar of Flemish thread lace. - -But the change in his attire was not so remarkable as the change in -his appearance; his hair, which still fell in love-locks on to his -shoulders, was utterly grey, and his face had a grey look too, so -entirely devoid was it of any brightness of colour, his features were -swollen and suffused, and his eyes were heavy-lidded and unutterably -weary. - -It gave Oliver Cromwell a sudden start to see the King, whose mere name -was such a tower of strength, who had vaunted himself so proudly, and -been so tenacious of his royal rights, reduced to this semblance of -beaten humanity who bore on his face the marks of how he had suffered -in body and soul. Cromwell himself had changed too; he was a year older -than Charles, but, in his untouched vigour and ardent air of strength -and enthusiasm, looked many years younger; his buff and soldierly -appointments were richer than formerly, and he carried himself with an -air of greater authority and decision. - -Charles set down the quill with which he was writing, and pointed to a -chair with arms near the window. - -"What can Lieutenant-General Cromwell," he said, with a most delicate, -most scornful, emphasis on the title, "want with me?" - -Cromwell gazed at him with unabashed grey eyes. It might be acutely in -the King's mind that it was strange for a country gentleman to be thus -facing a King of England, but no such thought disturbed the Puritan. - -"Sir," he returned, "the nation is in a crisis that must end soon--the -army and the Parliament are in disagreements. We are the victims of -unsearchable judgments." - -"Yes," agreed Charles, who was not sorry to hear it, and who hoped, in -the troubled waters of these divisions, to fish for his own benefit; he -was already like a wedge between Parliament and army, splitting them -further apart. - -"I am here," continued Cromwell, "as representing the army." - -"Sent by a deputation?" asked the King keenly. His greatest hope was in -the army. - -"Sent by no deputation," returned the other firmly. "Inspired only by -the Lord, yet what I offer I could engage the fulfilment of." - -There was a quiet assumption of power in these words that was wormwood -to the King, but he controlled himself. - -"You have come to propose terms," he said. "I have been listening to -terms for long weary months. What are yours?" - -"Nay, I make no terms with Your Majesty," said Cromwell. "I only wish -you to be sincere with your people." - -It was what John Pym had said at the very beginning--before the war, -Charles remembered; he remembered, too, that he had offered Pym a price -and Pym had refused. "You did not bid high enough," the Queen said -afterwards. Charles, ever untaught by experience, proceeded to repeat -with Cromwell the tactics he had used with Pym. What, after all, could -this man have come for, save to drive a bargain? And he was worth -bargaining with, as Pym had been--powerful rebels both! - -The King's eyes shot hate at the quiet figure before him, but he -answered smoothly-- - -"Sincere! You and I speak a different language, sir, but I will try to -understand you. You mean that the army will do something for me? That -you might influence them on my behalf?" - -Cromwell rose and moved to the oriel window; an expression of agitation -swept into his face. - -"Sir," he said, with deep earnestness, "Your Majesty is the only remedy -for these present divisions--until a good peace be established, and you -be again at Whitehall, the nation is but like a parcel of twigs which, -unbound, cannot stand. Sir, I know there are extreme men who think -otherwise, but they are of the sort who are always there, and must be -never heeded." - -A wave of exultation made the blood bound in the King's veins: he was -then indispensable to the nation. His swift, secret thought was that -he might regain his throne on his own terms, without yielding a jot of -his prerogatives, since his arch-enemy admitted what he had admitted. - -"The army desires to see Your Majesty in your rightful place," -continued Cromwell, "and would and could bring you to London despite -the Parliament." - -"Well?" asked Charles. - -"We must have," said Cromwell, with a certain heaviness, "the things -for which we have fought, for which we have poured out our blood." - -A bitterly sarcastic smile curved the King's thin lips. Cromwell was -coming to his price, he thought; he wondered what he would ask, and -what might be promised with safety. - -"We must have toleration for God's people," said the Puritan. - -The King interrupted. - -"I will not take the Covenant. I have already refused an army because -of that condition." - -"You are now, sir," returned Cromwell bluntly, "dealing with -Englishmen, not Scots. We set no such store by the Covenant. I said, -sir, toleration." - -"A word," remarked Charles, "beloved of fanatics." - -"A word," said Cromwell, unmoved, "dear to honest men. We would have -all deal with God according to their conscience." - -The King did not think it worth while to probe into the reservation -this tolerance made in disfavour of Prelacy and Papacy, the two faiths -he believed in. The whole gamut of theological questions had been run -through and argued upon during the conferences at Newcastle, and had -left Charles as firm an adherent as before of the Anglican Church. The -whole subject of the Puritan faith, associated as it was with vexation, -disloyalty, and rebellion, was too distasteful a one for him to enter -on; he reserved his wit and strength for the more practical issues. - -"Will you tell me briefly, sir, the main purpose of this visit?" - -"I wished," said Cromwell, "to sound Your Majesty. The army would not -waste its labours--and Your Majesty hath been slippery," he added -calmly. - -The outraged blood stormed the King's cheeks; but the several instances -of his duplicity were too well known and too well attested to be for an -instant denied. - -"I am a prisoner," he said haughtily, "and therefore forbidden -resentment." - -With trembling fingers he drew nearer to him a bowl of yellow roses -that stood on his desk and nervously pulled at the leaves. - -Cromwell did not look at him, but at the peaceful and lovely view of -garden and river beyond the oriel window. - -"The army," he pursued quietly, giving weight to every word, "would -have no trafficking with foreign powers, no bringing of foreign forces, -no stirrings and meddlings in Ireland or Scotland, no vengeance taken -on any of their number, a free Parliament, and free churches. To a -king who could agree to these things--sware to them--_on the word of a -king_, and on that pledge keep them--there would be small difficulty in -his coming again to his ancient place and power. Remember these things, -Your Majesty; consider and ponder them. I shall come again to consult -with you. 'Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good: dwell in -the land, and verily thou shalt be fed--delight thou in the Lord, and -He shall give thee thy heart's desire.' Cast thyself on these words, -sir, that God hath moved me to say to thee." - -He spoke with such earnestness, dignity, such extraordinary conviction -that the King's sneer died on his lips, and though his sensation of -respect was instantly gone, still it had been there. - -"Above all," added Cromwell, "I pray Your Majesty be sincere. If you -mislike what I have said, what I have asked of you--bid me not to come -again." - -The King took this to mean, "Will you deal with me or no?" and he -answered without hesitation, for he was well aware of Cromwell's power -and prestige. - -"Come again and let us talk of these things at leisure. I commonly walk -in the galleries in the afternoon. Let me some day have your company." - -He rose; a smile softened his haggard face into something of its -ancient grace. - -"Do not disappoint me of your second coming," he said. - -He held out his hand. Cromwell, without hesitation or confusion, kissed -it and left. - -While his steps were yet sounding without, Charles rang a bell on his -desk that instantly summoned Lord Digby from the adjoining apartment. - -"Open the window wider!" cried the King, with a shudder. "The air is -tainted...." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE KING'S PLOTS - - -"That man," added Charles, in a tone of great agitation, "will make -terms. He came abruptly and left abruptly, he spoke obscurely--but his -meaning was to offer himself for my service." - -"It is no wonder," replied Lord Digby, "there is a great and widening -rift between the army and the Parliament, and Cromwell hath been -heard to very plainly urge on the Presbyterians the advisability of -submitting to Your Majesty." - -"What," muttered the King, walking about the room, "does he want?" - -"Did he not tell Your Majesty? Methought that had been the object of -his visit." - -"He told me," replied Charles, "the usual demands--what the army would -have, what it would not have. I take no notice of that. What doth he -want for himself?" - -"His price would be a high one," returned Lord Digby thoughtfully. "He -is much esteemed by his party; he hath good hopes of rising." - -"Faugh!" cried the King angrily. "He hath _risen_--what more can he -hope? He comes to me because he finds his usurped honours perilous, -because he can hardly hold his own. There is no loyalty in the fellow. -I take him to be a very artful, false rebel." - -"Yet," said my lord earnestly, "he is worth gaining. I know of none -whom the rebels think so highly of, and his interest in the army is -supreme." - -"I also have some interest in the army," said Charles haughtily. "Dost -not thou know it? Even as this Cromwell knoweth it--else why doth he -come to me? Nay, he is well aware that I still count for something in -this my kingdom." - -"Still, I would say that it were well to gain Oliver Cromwell--if he be -willing to bring the army over to Your Majesty. I say, he is greater in -the public eye than we can think. His party taketh him for a man." - -"And so he is, and therefore can be gained," replied Charles, with -a bitter smile. "I tell thee it goes to my heart to deal with this -fellow, whom I would very willingly see hanged; indeed, it does. But as -I do believe he hath influence, I will do it. What would he have--some -patent of nobility? It were fitting to offer him the rebel Essex's -title. Hath he not some distant relation to that Thomas Cromwell who -was the Earl of Essex?" - -"I have heard it," assented Lord Digby, "and I believe that Your -Majesty hath hit on a good bait. Cromwell hath much railed against the -nobility, which is a good sign in a man that he would have a title -himself." - -"And Fairfax--I must throw a sop to Fairfax," continued Charles. "There -is more loyalty and more manners in him than in his Lieutenant." - -"He is not," added Lord Digby, "so useful." - -Charles paused before the window. - -"You know," he said, "that my best hopes are still in Scotland, and not -with these rebels. If I can make a secret treaty with the Scots, I am -independent of army and Parliament both." - -Lord Digby was not practical nor level-headed. His loyalty was too -sincere to allow him broad-mindedness in his view of the struggle now -taking place in England, and his ideas were rather fantastical and -partook of that lightness and even frivolity which characterized so -many of the King's followers; but even he could not help seeing that -Charles was playing a game which every day became more dangerous, and -that this complicated and subtle intrigue was not suited to present -circumstances. A straight dealing with the army leaders, the Cavalier -thought, would have been better than these underhand negotiations with -the Scots, who had already proved themselves so unreliable, especially -as Charles never would, under any pressure, take the Covenant, and -therefore his alliance with Scotland could only be based on delusion -and fraud; while, at the same time, if these negotiations were -revealed, the English Parliament and the English army would be further -set against the King, and with England and the divisions in England lay -Charles' best chance--not in his northern kingdom. - -It was these constant intrigues and subterfuges on the part of the -King, his blindness to his real interests, his unconquerable disdain -of his enemies, his firm refusal to believe that any pact or agreement -was possible between him, the King, and them, his subjects, his proud -resignation, which would take any ill, but would never give way on -any detail, however small, that had driven those fierce and downright -Princes, Rupert and Maurice, out of England. Rupert had thought the -Royal cause lost before he delivered Bristol, yet the King had had many -chances since then, all lost, or missed, or flung away. - -He was too extraordinarily incredulous of his enemies' successes; it -seemed as if he could not believe nor remember that he was no longer -what he had been, one of the foremost kings in Europe, but a monarch -without an army, without a town, without revenues or allies, separated -from his family, surrounded by adversaries, practically a prisoner, -and dependent on the dole of the Parliament for the very bread he ate. -Charles could not realize these things--his birth, his instincts, his -character were too strong for his intelligence, though that was not -mean--and he still blinded himself with the idea that he was _the -King_, and that he needed no other claim and no other force than what -lay in those words to eventually triumph over, and be signally revenged -on, his rebellious subjects. - -Not that Charles had shown this temper too openly or exhibited any -outward folly in his long dealings with Scots and Parliament. These -complicated negotiations had shown him at his best; he had been clever, -learned, courteous, full of resource and firmness. The principle of -his unalterable divine authority (the rock on which all the various -hopes of a compromise were eventually shattered) he kept securely -out of sight, being too proud to vaunt or rave. None the less it -was there, and he was disdainfully storing up future vengeance for -all of them--Scots, Presbyterians, Parliament men, army men, and -Puritans--when the time should come for him to have done playing with -them. - -Such advisers as he had (the Queen was still the foremost) supported -him in his views and in the means he took to advance his aims; but -now affairs were become so desperate that he held the bare semblance -of kingship only by the consent and tolerance of the Parliament and -the army. And it occurred to many, as it occurred now to Lord Digby, -that an open peace with the rebels on the best terms to be got was the -safest, indeed the only, policy to be pursued. - -Lord Digby ventured now to say as much, in guarded and respectful -terms, but with as much weight as his own volatile nature (only too -much like Charles' own) would allow. - -The King, resting one elbow on the window-sill, his chin in his hand -and his eyes fixed on the passing glitter of the river, listened with -impatience hardly disguised. - -Soon he interrupted. - -"Next thou wilt advise me to take the Covenant," he said, "or to accept -the articles offered me at Uxbridge or Norwich!" - -"Nay," answered Lord Digby, with a flush on his fair face; "but I do -say there is no reliance to be placed on the Scots." - -"Wait," returned Charles obstinately. "I am of good hopes I can get an -army from them without taking the Covenant, but on the mere promise -to do so, and on some suspension of the bishops for three years or -so--some compromise, worked secretly." - -"Is this plan laid?" asked Digby, who had not before heard of it. - -"Yea, with my Lord Hamilton, and then I shall be able to hang up all -these knavish rascals who come to me to bargain--to offer terms to -_me_!" - -"Meanwhile flatter them," said my lord uneasily. - -"I will flatter them," returned Charles, with a flash in his worn eyes. -"I will talk of an Earldom to Cromwell--but I hope the Scots will be -across the border again before the patent is signed!" - -Lord Digby was still not convinced; it seemed to him that this overture -from a man of the weight and influence of Oliver Cromwell was not an -advance to be lightly treated at this delicate stage of affairs. - -"This man is fanatic," he said. "Your Majesty must remember that. I -believe he standeth more for principle than party, more for his ideas -than for his gain. A title may allure him, but it is a matter where one -would need to be careful, sire. The bait must be skilfully played, or -this fish will not rise." - -But Charles, though supremely constant on some points himself, found -it impossible to believe in the constancy of those whose opinions were -opposed to him: such as Cromwell were to him 'rebels,' and he gave them -no other distinction. - -"We shall see as to that," he replied impatiently. "What did this man -come here for if not to get his price?" - -"Methinks he came on behalf of his policy," said Lord Digby doubtfully. -"Maybe he would have the credit of reconciling Your Majesty with the -Parliament, and after the peace some great place in the army or at your -Council board." - -"These high ambitions may be useful to us," replied Charles, with a -bitter accent, "and therefore we will encourage them. Meanwhile, our -hopes lie across the border or across the sea--not in the rebel camp." - -He was then silent a little while and seemed, as had become usual with -him, to have suddenly sunk into a meditation or reverie: he would so do -now in the midst of a conversation, the midst of a sentence even, as -if his mind wandered suddenly from the present to the past, from the -objects near to objects far away. - -His face looked as if a veil had been dropped over it, so completely -absent was his gaze, so utterly did an expression of melancholy hide -and disguise all other. - -Lord Digby stood watching him with bitter regret, with indignant -sorrow, and as he gazed at this face which humiliation and anguish had -distorted and altered as a terrible disease will distort and alter, -as he noticed the grey locks, the thin, marred profile, the careless -dress, a horrible conviction pressed on his heart with the certainty of -a revelation: the King was ruined, broken, cast down; never would he be -set up again, and these schemes and plots were mere baseless delusions. -This conviction was as fleeting as it was strong, yet for one moment -the faithful gentleman had seen his master as a thing utterly lost, and -he turned his head away swiftly, for he loved the man as well as the -King. - -Charles turned from the window, his thin fingers still pressed to his -face. - -"Go and see if any letters have come," he said. - -Lord Digby did not say that immediately a courier came he was brought -to the King, and therefore there could be no letters without his -instant knowledge, but turned sadly to go on his errand; he knew -the King was waiting always for letters from Henriette Marie in -France--imperious, passionate letters when they came, which he kissed -every line of and sprinkled with the scalding tears of pride and love -and regret. - -As soon as Lord Digby had gone Charles drew from his doublet a gold -chain, from which hung two diamond seals and a miniature in a case -ornamented with whole pearls. - -He touched the spring, the lid flew up, and he gazed at the little -enamel which showed him the features of the Queen. - -The painting had been done in her bridal days, and the artist's -delicate skill had preserved for ever the seductive loveliness of her -early youth; she wore white, and her complexion was the tint of blonde -pearl, her dark hair hung in fine tendrils on her brow, her large eyes -were glancing at the spectator with a laughing look, round her neck was -a string of large pearls, and on her bosom a bow of pink ribbon. - -So he remembered her as he had first seen her, when, at the first -glance, she had subdued him into her willing bondsman: before he met -her he had been cold to women, and after meeting her there had been no -other in the world for him. - -He never reflected if this complete absorption in her, this submission -to her will had been for his good; he never recalled the many fatal -mistakes she had advised, nor the damage done him by his unpopular -Romanist Queen; he never even admitted to himself that the one action -of his life for which he felt bitter remorse, the abandonment of -Strafford, was mainly committed to please her; nor did it ever occur -to him that many women would have stayed with him to the last, at all -costs. The brightness of his devotion outshone all these things; he saw -her image good and brave and infinitely dear, and of all his losses -the loss of her was paramount. As he thought of her, his longing half -formed the resolution to quit all these turmoils and escape to France, -abandoning for her sake his last chances of keeping his crown. - -He might have come to this resolution before and carried it through had -he not too well known her pride and her ambition. - -"If you make an agreement with Parliament," she had written, "you are -no king for me. I will never set foot in England again." - -And he had promised her that he would make no pact with the rebels -unless she had first approved. - -A light cloud passed over the sun, the sparkle died from the river, -the glow from the sky, the warm tremble of light from the trees; and -as Charles looked other clouds came up, in stately battalions, and -darkened the whole west. - -Lord Digby returned. - -"No messenger, sire," he said, "no letters." - -"I did know it," replied Charles, with a smile that cast scorn on -himself; "but I am my own fool, and beguile the time with mine own -follies." - - - - -CHAPTER III - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL, ROYALIST - - -"Thou goest too often to Hampton Court," said Major Harrison. "I say it -to thy face." - -"Thou mayst say it before any man," returned Cromwell mildly, "and do -no harm." - -"If you will have any influence with the army you will go no more," -continued Harrison. - -"Ay!" said Cromwell, with the same patience; "but I think neither of my -influence with the army nor of any other thing, friends, but of what -the Lord hath put it in my heart to do for His service and the peace of -these times." - -So saying, he laid down a little manual of gun drill, the pages of -which he had been turning over, and relit his pipe. - -The scene was the guard-room of the army's headquarters at Putney. -Cromwell had been to London that morning to see his family, who were -now established in a mansion in Drury Lane, and his buff coat and his -falling boots were still dusty with the dust of the return ride. - -Fairfax was in the room and the preacher, Hugh Peters. The bolder -Harrison voiced their opinions when he told Cromwell that he was -becoming too intimate with the King and too firm a supporter of the -royal pretensions; but Fairfax, from a natural reserve, and Peters, -because he hoped the Lieutenant-General would make an adequate defence, -were silent. - -"Little did I ever think," cried Harrison, pacing heavily about the -room, "that thou wouldst become the consort of tyrants, the frequenter -of the strange children, whose mouth talketh of vanity, and whose right -hand is a hand of iniquity!" - -Cromwell raised his calm eyes from his long clay pipe. - -"No man will enjoy his possessions in peace until the King hath his -rights again," he said, "and I make no disguise from you nor from any -that I am doing my utmost to bring about a good peace with His Majesty. -For what other reason did any of us take up arms?" - -"Ay," assented Sir Thomas Fairfax hastily, "and the Parliament and the -city of London are pressing for a settlement." - -"My visits to Hampton Palace," continued Cromwell, "and my communings -with the King have had this one object--a good peace." - -"If thou canst bring Charles Stewart to a good peace--_and make him -keep it_--thou hast more than mortal skill," said Harrison. - -"What wouldst thou in this realm?" asked Cromwell, glancing up at him -with a gleam of humour. "A republic?" - -The other three were silent at this; even among the extremists the idea -of totally abolishing the kingship was scarcely murmured. - -"Well, then," said Cromwell, with a little smile, glancing round the -three silent faces, "a treaty with the King is the only means to get -us out of our present imbroglio, is it not? Now we have conquered His -Majesty, we must make terms with him." - -"You never will," cried Hugh Peters vehemently. "He is false and false, -unstable and creeping in his ways--even while you confer with him he is -arranging to bring in the Scots again or murdering Papists from Ireland -or the French!" - -"How do you know?" asked the Lieutenant-General, turning sharply in his -chair. - -Mr. Peters glanced at Major Harrison, who replied-- - -"It is true that I have my finger in some plots the King hath in -hand. His agents meet at the Blue Boar in Holborn, and he hath a whole -service of secret couriers travelling between England, the Scots, and -France. As yet I have no letters, no absolute proofs in my possession, -but I do not think to lack them long." - -"Have you long known of this, Sir Thomas?" asked Cromwell, rising. - -"A week or so," replied the General; "but I have not given it overmuch -attention. If one listened to all the rumours of plots one's brain -would be confounded." - -"I have men in disguise at the Blue Boar," said Harrison stubbornly, -"and soon I hope to prove my suspicions correct." - -"Why, if they are," said Cromwell calmly, "then I shall change my -policy." - -"Thou art all of a fatalist," remarked Harrison grimly; "there is no -ruffling thee." - -The Lieutenant-General picked up his gloves and hat and riding-stock. - -"Can I alter God's decrees that I should fret because of them?" he -answered earnestly. "I am but the flail in the hand of the thresher. -The Lord's will be done on me and on His Majesty, who are both the -instruments of His unsearchable judgments on these lands." - -He saluted the General respectfully, but left without further speech. -He might call himself the instrument of the Lord: it was clear that he -did not consider himself the instrument of Sir Thomas Fairfax. - -He seemed, indeed, quietly but fully conscious that he and he alone -could move the army (which at present still held the balance of power), -and that he, therefore, and no other was become the arbiter of these -realms. - -When he left the guard-room he sent his servant for his son-in-law, -Henry Ireton, who soon joined him; the two mounted and, through the -October sun, rode to Hampton Court. - -They exchanged little conversation on the way, partly because each -thoroughly understood the other, and partly because their minds were -full of busy thoughts. - -The King, who was still treated with formality and respect, with his -own servants and his own friends about him, made no delay in seeing -them. He had lately had several interviews with Cromwell, with Fairfax, -with Ireton, and walking about Wolsey's groves and alleys had discussed -with them, through more than one summer and autumn afternoon, the -prospects before England. - -It was in the garden, in one of the beautiful walks of yellowing oak -and beech that sloped to the river, that he received them now. - -As usual his manner was gentle and gracious, as usual he kept his seat -(he was resting on a wooden bench) and did not uncover, though the two -Generals doffed their hats: power still paid this respect to tradition. - -"Sir," said Cromwell at once, "I should have waited on you sooner, but -I have been sick of an imposthume in the head. But now I am here I have -weighty matters to say, and I would have Your Majesty give a keen ear -to my words." - -"Am I not ever," said Charles, with a faint smile, "attentive to your -words?" - -"I know not," replied Cromwell, with his plain outspokenness. "I cannot -read the heart of Your Majesty," and he looked at him straightly. - -With the tip of his cane Charles disturbed the first little dead gold -leaves which lay at his feet. - -"Ah," he replied slowly, "so you have weighty things to say?" - -He had long known that his conferences with the leaders of the -army must come to a crisis and a plain issue soon; it had not been -his purpose to force this moment until his plans were all smoothly -arranged, but now he was ready enough. As usual he had his points -clear, his feelings under command, as usual his manner was gentle, -contained, courteous, his mind alert and watchful; yet there was a -weariness in his face and voice that all his art could not disguise, -as he came again to the old wretched business of speaking his enemies -fair, as he once more engaged in the endless game of negotiation, -proposal and counter-proposal, which he never intended should come to -anything. - -The keen eyes of Commissary-General Ireton detected the shudder of -reluctance, almost repulsion, which Charles so instantly repressed. - -"We will be short, Your Majesty," he said, "and it is not our intention -to ask you for more audiences. The army doth not like our meeting. All -must be settled in this coming together." - -Charles glanced up at the two men standing before him as John Pym had -stood before him once in another of his royal gardens--Pym was dead, -but his principles were alive indeed; Charles thought that if the old -Puritan was in any hell which allowed him a glimpse of the earth he -must be grinning derisively at this scene now. - -"We have had," said Cromwell, not waiting for Charles to speak, -"conferences, rendezvous, councils of war, much running to and fro -between the army and the Parliament, many talks between ourselves and -Your Majesty. Surely this thing must come to an end. The country is -without a government, and many extreme and fanatic men do seize the -time to unsettle the mind of the vulgar with fierce, empty words." - -He paused a moment, then added, looking at the King intently and -openly, and speaking with almost mournful seriousness-- - -"Your Majesty knows what the country must have--are you prepared to -grant us these desires?" - -Charles looked at him with a steadiness equal to his own. - -"And if I say I am?" he replied. "What then?" - -Both men were speaking with a directness usually foreign to them. - -"Then," said Cromwell, "you may be in Whitehall within the week, sir. -The army will escort you there." - -Charles could hardly disguise the leap of exultation that shook his -heart at this splendid chance, which, after being dangled before him so -long, was at length definitely offered him. - -"Sir," added the Lieutenant-General, "I make no disguise from you that -there are many in the army not of my mind--it is rumoured that Your -Majesty hath secret dealings with the Scots, the French, the Dutch----" - -"If the English are loyal to me," replied Charles, "wherefore should -I need foreign aid? These tales fly like thistledown before the first -autumn wind--when we are in London, sir, I will listen to, and satisfy, -all demands." - -"Is that a pledge?" demanded Cromwell. "Is Your Majesty sincere with -me?" - -Charles rose. - -"What have I to gain by insincerity?" he said; and again his cane -stirred the drifting shrivelled leaves. - -"And I must speak my side," he added. "It is my wish to show you that -loyalty may bring more profit and honour than rebellion." - -"What manner of profit?" asked Cromwell. "If you mean personal profit, -why, I am well enough." ('Ay, with my Lord Worchester's lands,' thought -Charles bitterly): "two of my wenches are wed, my eldest son is -settled, the younger making good progress, for my other little maids -and their mother I can provide--what more should I want? For Henry -Ireton I can say the same." - -"Yet I can gild this honourable prosperity," replied the King. "When my -Lord Essex died, his title--his title died with him--you, methinks, are -of the first Earl's house----" - -"Ah!" cried Cromwell sharply, and flushed all over his face and neck. - -"Oliver Cromwell may take the rank of Thomas Cromwell, who was also the -terror and the help of a king," continued Charles, with smiling lips -and narrowed eyes. - -The blood was still staining the Lieutenant-General's face; his -forehead was crimson up to the thick brown hair; he looked on the -ground in a fashion that was embarrassed, almost stricken. - -'I have not offered enough,' thought Charles; aloud he said-- - -"When I am in Whitehall I will sign the patent, and then the Earl of -Essex may command me to further service." - -Still Cromwell did not speak. - -'Thou clod, dost thou not understand!' cried the King in his heart. - -He spoke again. - -"And thy son-in-law, Henry Ireton here--he also I would raise----" - -Cromwell interrupted, but in a confused and stammering fashion. - -"Sir--you have mistaken--I am no cadet of the first Earl of Essex's -family--nay--or so remote; it matters not--I never thought of it--this -was not what I came to speak of--yet what I would have said is gone -from me." His head fell on his breast despondently; he made a hopeless -little gesture with his gloved right hand. "Let it pass," he finished. - -"For me," said Henry Ireton. "I would that Your Majesty had not spoken -of this." - -Charles could not keep all scorn from his smile as he replied-- - -"We will discuss these things at Westminster." - -Cromwell raised his head and gazed into the King's pale, composed face. - -"I do ask Your Majesty," he said, and in his deep voice was a note of -intense appeal, "to be sincere with me." - -"I am sincere with you, General Cromwell," replied Charles. - -A light gust of wind shook the oak branches and more leaves drifted -downwards. - -"To-morrow I will return with General Fairfax and some other -officers," said Cromwell, "with whom Your Majesty may finally speak." -He seemed about to take his leave, hesitated, then, as if a sudden -impulse had shaken him, he turned again and addressed Charles. - -"Not for my sake," he said, "nor for any light reason--but for thy -soul's sake that when thou comest before the living God thou mayst have -no treachery or falsehood in the scale against thee, deal fairly with -me now. There thou shalt wear no crown to give thee courage, and no -courtier shall flatter thee--therefore, sir, bethink thee, and tell me -plainly if I may trust thee." - -"I have said it," replied Charles. - -For a second Cromwell was silent; then he and Ireton took a formal -leave and left the Palace grounds. - -When they were mounted and clear of the iron gates and the stone lions, -Ireton spoke. - -"Wilt thou put that man up in Whitehall again? See how his mind runs on -little things--he did offer us bribes as if we were soldiers deserting -for higher pay." - -"That went to my soul," replied Cromwell simply. "I thought he took me -for an honest man--but it pleased the Lord to mortify me, and I must -not murmur. As for the King--yea, I will put him on his heights again, -for that is the only way to peace." - -They rode silently until they came within sight of Putney, and there -they were met by Major Harrison, who, riding, came out of the village -and joined them at the village green. - -"News," he said abruptly, with a grim smile and triumphant eyes--"news -from 'The Blue Boar.'" - -"Ay?" replied Cromwell quietly. - -Harrison turned his horse about and rode beside the others; the three -slowed to a walking pace. - -"You had not left the guard-room ten minutes," said Harrison, "before -my man arrived from London, all in a reek. He had found and arrested -the King's secret messenger, and out of his saddle ripped these"--he -held up a packet of papers--"secret letters to the Queen," he added -triumphantly, "and as fatal as those papers captured after Naseby!" - -Ireton gave a passionate exclamation, but Cromwell said-- - -"What is in them?" - -"Much treason," replied Harrison succinctly. "He tells his wife he -will never make a peace with either army or Parliament, that he is -deluding both while he raises a force in Scotland and Ireland, in which -countries Hamilton and Ormonde intrigue for him. He begs her to get a -loan from the Pope to raise a foreign army--and he promises," added -Harrison dryly, "that, when he hath his day again, those two rebels, -Cromwell and Ireton, shall both be hanged." - -"Doth he? doth he?" said Cromwell; he held out his hand and took the -papers. - -One glance at their contents confirmed Harrison's summary--the whole -was in the King's known hand. - -Oliver Cromwell turned his horse and rode back to Hampton Court. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE KING AT BAY - - -When Cromwell returned to the Palace the King had already gone to his -supper. - -"I will wait," said the Lieutenant-General; and in the little room with -the linen-pattern carving in the grey-coloured walls, the portrait of -Mary Tudor, the red lacquer desk, and the oriel window, where he had -first spoken with Charles, he waited. - -Between his buff coat and his shirt lay the packet of papers ripped -from the saddle of the secret messenger in the stables of "The Blue -Boar"--papers which Charles believed to be across the Channel by now. - -Oliver Cromwell waited while nearly half an hour ticked away on the -dial of the gilt bracket clock, and then came Lord Digby to say that -His Majesty would not be disturbed again to-night; Charles had still -the unconquerable pride of royalty; he would not be summoned to meet -his enemies at any hour they chose to name; the state with which he was -still surrounded perhaps deluded him into thinking he could behave as -he had behaved at Whitehall. - -If so, the veil of his dignity was now rent in such a way that it could -never be patched again; Cromwell, with a manner there was no mistaking, -the manner of the master, repeated his demand for an instant audience -of His Majesty. - -Lord Digby withdrew, and five minutes later the Puritan soldier was -ushered into the old, now disused, state chamber of Henry VIII, hung -with fine Flemish tapestries representing the 'Seven deadly Sins' and -lit by mullioned windows looking on the Park. - -Charles was already there, walking up and down; he had changed his -dress since Cromwell had left him, and now wore black velvet with -cherry-coloured points and gold tags; his fingers played nervously with -the long gold chain which thrice circled his chest. - -In the light, already slightly dim, of the large room, the grey look -of his face and hair was more apparent; it was almost as if some faded -carving had been joined to a living body, so extraordinarily lifeless -and without light was that immobile face framed in the long, waving, -colourless locks. - -But in the eyes, swollen and lined, an intense vitality gleamed; the -dark pupils sparkled with force and emotion under the tired, drooping -lids as Charles stopped in his pacing and turned about to face Cromwell. - -"I had not expected this," he said, with a haughtiness which seemed -to disguise some straining passion. "What more have we to say, sir? -Methought you were to come to-morrow." - -"To-morrow might have been too late," said Cromwell. He spoke in his -usual quiet, almost melancholy, fashion; his heavy voice held the usual -deep note, enthusiastic, mournful. - -He stood bareheaded, in his dusty leathers and silk scarf, his falling -boots, soiled spurs, and plain tuck sword, his head a little drooping, -his tanned face reddish from the ride through the autumn air. - -Behind him the Gothic figures on the tapestry twisted and glowed -through branches and sprays of flowers and a luxurious profusion of -rare birds and uncouth beasts. - -"Too late for what?" asked Charles, still endeavouring to conciliate -his powerful foe, and now, he hoped, ally, still barely able to conceal -his angry pride at the lack of ceremony with which he was treated, -the manner in which this man came before him, his great disgust and -repulsion at having to deal with such fellows at all. - -"Get you gone to-night from Hampton, sir," said Cromwell, "to whatever -place seems good--here you shall no longer be safe." - -"Ah," cried Charles, "is this the end of all your wily advances? I am -not safe!" - -"Because I cannot protect you when what Major Harrison knows is spread -abroad among the army." - -The King's right hand left his chain; he pressed his fingers over his -heart; on the black velvet they looked thin and white beyond nature. - -"The hand of God is against you," said Cromwell sombrely. "He does not -mean that you shall again rule in this land. I would have made treaty -with you as the Gibeonites made with David--and I would not ask from -you the lives of seven, as they asked for the sons of Saul, but only -your own word pledged openly. But you could not keep it, but dealt with -the children of Belial and all the array of the ungodly." - -Charles took one delicate step backwards. - -"These are mighty words," he said. - -"They are mighty doings," replied Cromwell. "Not of mean things or -small things or the things concerning one man or another am I speaking, -but of great things, the displeasure of God on this wretched land, the -means we must take to revoke His judgment.... Much blood hath been -shed," he added, with a sudden flash in his voice, "but not that which -must be before we find peace." - -"I know not of what you speak," muttered the King. - -"You very well know," replied Cromwell, and through the obscure web of -his words a meaning of passion, of force and fire did gleam, like gold -or flame. "You know what you have done. How you have deceived and gone -crookedly. But God is not mocked. Hath He not said, 'Though they dig -into Hell thence shall mine hand take them, though they climb up into -Heaven thence shall I pull them down'? And out of darkness and secrecy -hath He revealed your designs that you may not bring more evil upon -England." - -"Of what dost thou accuse the King?" asked Charles. - -"Of high treason," replied Cromwell--"of treason towards God and -England." - -A step farther back moved Charles, so that his shoulders touched and -ruffled the tapestry. - -"By what authority do you use this boldness?" he asked. - -"My authority is from within," answered the Puritan. "I can satisfy -men of my authority. I am not afraid. I see that in treating with you -I have committed folly, but that is over. God will find another way. -Get from Hampton, under what excuse you may. I would not, sir, have the -army do you a mischief." - -"I will," replied Charles, "get as far as may be from the violence of -insulting rebels--I will withdraw myself from my subjects until they -remember their duty to their King." - -"In what way," demanded Cromwell, "hast thou fulfilled thy duty to God -or to His people?" - -"I have endured much!" cried Charles, in a sharp voice. "But till now I -have been spared open insolence!" - -Unmoved and unblenching the Lieutenant-General regarded him. - -"Sir," he replied, "you may yet hear worse words than any I have -said, and may have to bear a rougher speech. I did not come to rail, -but to tell you that I am now persuaded there can be no treaty or -understanding between you and us. Sir, others advised me of this -awhile ago, but I would not listen. But now the hand of God is plainly -discoverable--your plots and subterfuges are revealed, sir, your secret -letters to the Queen are known." - -Charles, whose quick mind had been reviewing all the possible disasters -that could have befallen, who had been wondering which of his intrigues -had been unveiled, was not prepared for a catastrophe so complete -as the discovery of his secret correspondence with his wife, which -revealed, not one, but all of his complicated plots. - -As Cromwell told him at last the cause of his sudden estrangement, he -felt at once a shock and a premonition chill his heart; he remembered -quite clearly what had been in his last letter to the Queen, and the -statement that he had made in his irritation and humiliation regarding -Cromwell and Ireton, and he saw that another golden chance had gone, -and that he had lost for ever the help of the army which he had -sacrificed so much pride to gain. - -But he faced this misfortune as he had faced so many others, with -unfailing courage and dignity. - -"You pretend to deal with me as your king," he said, "but you treat me -as your prisoner. I am spied upon, and my very letters opened.... There -is no more to be said." - -Cromwell did not deny the charge, as he might well have done, since -Major Harrison, and not he, had tracked and arrested the King's -messenger. - -"My hopes of you are dead," he merely said. "I would have you leave -Hampton, for I know not what the army may do, and if they take you to -Whitehall now, sir, it will not be as a king, but as a prisoner." - -"I am well used to that treatment," replied Charles, with hot -bitterness, "nor have I looked for any other at the hands of rebellious -fanatics. Didst thou think," he added, with the full force of that fury -and scorn he had so long concealed breaking the bounds of his fitful -prudence and his steady courtesy, "that _I_ ever regarded _thee_ as my -friend?" - -"I would have been so, sincerely," replied Cromwell, with his -unruffled, melancholy calm. "I and Ireton risked our prestige with the -army to make conferences and debates with you, but it hath been as if -one should pour water into a sieve. I would have overlooked much--even -the insult you put on me to-day when you tried to buy me with a feather -for my cap, when I was offering myself to you with no thought but the -good of this realm. So cheaply did you hold Pym, so cheaply will you -always hold honest men, it seems--and I, sir, tell you plainly that I -have done with you. I will find other ways. Not through you can peace -come to England. I do now perceive it. 'Unstable as water, thou shalt -not excel.' You must go on to your fate, sir, as I shall to mine; but -look for no ally in me or in the army, for henceforth there can be no -treaty between Your Majesty and us. My cousin, Colonel Whalley, shall -remain here to look after your security; as for me, you shall not see -me again, or in a manner very different. As for what may become of you -or your estate, of that I wash my hands of--the Lord deal with you." - -"Amen," said Charles sternly, "and may He judge between you and me. -Between me who have kept His ancient statutes and upheld His Church, -and you who have defied and blasphemed both." - -"God is neither in statutes nor in churches," replied Cromwell, "but -in the innermost recesses of the spirits and the secret depths of -the heart, and these sanctuaries have you polluted and defiled, with -tyranny and falseness and sly and untruthful dealing." - -He took a step towards the door; a sudden weariness seemed to have -overtaken him, or a wave of the weakness from his recent illness; he -looked, in his dusty clothes, like a rider beaten with fatigue, a -traveller exhausted after a long journey, his chin sank on his linen -collar; his broad shoulders were bowed, and his step was at once heavy -and uncertain. - -Charles remained white, rigid in pose and expression as when Cromwell -entered the chamber; the shadows were swiftly closing round them and -all sharp lines and fine colours were blurred; through the one open -window a breeze came, which lightly stirred the dusty tapestry and -shook it in faint ripples from top to bottom. - -The disused, unfurnished chamber, built for pomp and magnificence, was -unutterably mournful and dreary, a fitting setting for the unfortunate -King whose black figure was lost in, and one with, the ancient arras. - -When he had reached the door, Cromwell turned and spoke again. - -"Thou hast, sir, lost as good a chance as we are ever like to get of -a fair settlement, and lost it through falseness and folly." He spoke -with passion, but it was a passion of regret, not of vexation or wrath. -"A good night." - -The King, without turning his head or moving, stood as if he dismissed -an unwelcome suitor from an audience, he showed an indifference that -was stronger than contempt and an insulting coolness and absence of -passion. - -So, with no other word on either side, they parted, and Oliver rode -back to Putney, weary with disappointment and chagrin, though his -inmost prescience knew, and had known, that this disappointment and -chagrin had been from the first foredoomed, that in ever dealing with -the King at all he had been preparing the failure that had disclosed -itself to-night; as he reflected on the whole business, his stern -common sense laughed at the idealism which had led him astray; how -could he have ever hoped to have clipped a king to _his_ pattern out of -Charles? - -The delusion was over; he asked himself, as he rode through the fresh -autumn twilight, what was to take its place? - -If the King could not be trusted--what then? Some of the bold words -of Thomas Harrison flashed into his mind. Must they, could they, do -without a king at all? - -Oliver Cromwell did not think so; he was never a Republican: order -and system were lovely to him, and both were involved, in his English -heart, with the idea of a steadfast though constrained monarchy. - -In anything else (where, indeed, was the model for anything else to be -found in Europe, save perhaps in the peculiar constitution, founded -under peculiar circumstances, of the United Provinces?) he foresaw the -elements of constant anarchy, constant revolution.... - -Yet he had done with the King--finished with him with that complete -definiteness of which his resolutions were supremely capable. - -So Cromwell strove with his thoughts during the short ride to Putney -where all the chiefs of the army were already in conclave. - -Alone in the uncared-for splendour of another monarch the unhappy King -stood, motionless, as his enemy had left him, and tried to measure the -extent of his misfortune and to readjust his shattered plans. - -He was still, as ever, incredulous of his ultimate defeat, but never -before had he been so utterly at a loss for present action. The army -was lost to him, that was clear; neither the Scots nor the Parliament -were ready to receive him, the Queen had not been able to raise the -foreign army, his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, had been prevented -by the States-General from sending troops to his assistance, Ormonde -could do nothing in Ireland--that country was indeed lost to the -royal cause, since the miserable affair of the Earl of Glamorgan--and -Hamilton seemed powerless to fight the Campbell faction at Edinburgh. - -"What shall I do?" muttered Charles. "What shall I do?" - -His thoughts turned with even deeper longing than usual to the Queen -in her exile; he believed that he might forsake everything and go to -her; two things restrained him, sheer pride and the thought of his two -children, the Princess Elisabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, who were -in the hands of the Parliament and whom he would have to leave behind. - -The Duke of York had already escaped to France, but the figures of -these little children rose up and restrained his flight. - -Besides, he must stand by his crown ... but he would not stay at -Hampton--his own enemy had warned him. - -But where to go--in all my three realms where to go? - -Several days he waited in his usual indecision, then, miserable, -harassed, uncertain, torn by a thousand perplexities, he and his few -companions crept one night down the back stairs, came out on to the -riverside, and went forth aimlessly, with no plan nor purpose, with -nothing but schemes as wild as will-o'-the-wisps to light the dimness -and confusions of their future. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL, REPUBLICAN - - -In a room of the house where Oliver Cromwell had moved his family from -Ely, a mansion in Drury Lane, one of the least pretentious in that -fashionable street, but stately and comfortable, two women were sitting -over the ruddy fire which lit and cheered the close of the short winter -day. - -The contrast between them was as marked as any contrast could be, -yet something in their personalities knit together and blended as if -beneath their great differences there was an underlying likeness--the -likeness of the same breed and birth. - -The elder lady was towards the close of life--eighty, perhaps, or more; -her face and person were delicate, her lap full of delicate embroidery, -out of which her fine fingers drew a fine needle and thread. - -She wore a grey tabinet gown; a white cap and white strings enclosed -her fragile face, white linen enfolded her shoulders and bosom, and -long white cuffs reached from her wrist to her elbow. - -A housewife's case and a small Bible hung by cords to her waist; she -had nothing of gold or silver but her worn wedding ring, yet she gave -the impression of something high and fine and aristocratic. - -She sat in a deep, cushioned chair with a hooded top; the failing light -had baffled the eyes that were still so keen, and the needlework was -dropped on her lap. - -At her feet, on a small footstool, sat her grandchild, she who had -brightened the house at Ely with her balls of holly berries, her red -ribbons, her laughter, and her songs, and who now brightened the finer -town house when she visited there; she was no longer an inmate of her -father's home, for, though only seventeen, Elisabeth was a year married -and now Mrs. Claypole. - -Neither in dress nor manner was she a Puritan; her lavender-blue silk -gown, flowing open on a lemon-coloured petticoat, her deep falling -collar and cuffs of Flemish lace, the bow of rose colour at her breast -and in her hair, her white sarcenet shoes with the silver buckles, the -long ringlets which escaped the pearl comb and fell on her shoulders, -even her piquant bright face, with eyes slightly languishing and mouth -slightly wilful, seemed more to belong to the now exiled court of -Henriette Marie than to the household of the leader of the Roundhead -army. - -Yet there was nothing frivolous in the appearance of Elisabeth -Claypole; her prettiness had a pensive cast, her glance often a -seriousness unusual for her age, and if she sometimes showed a pride, -a vanity, or an impatience, impossible to her sweetly austere sister, -Bridget Ireton, she was not less noble and pious, brave and good, and -perhaps her deeper tenderness, her greater gaiety, her warmer love of -life were not such sins in the eyes of the God whom she had always been -taught to fear; yet sins her father called them, though he knew they -made her lovable, though he found her sweeter than Bridget, who was -gentle perfection. - -Sitting here now, in the closing day, with the firelight flushing her -delicate clothes and her sensitive face, and the shadows encroaching -on her hair, here, with the cheerful noises of London without and the -cheerful atmosphere of home within, she talked to her grandmother of -the one subject every one must talk of this wondrous winter--the King's -bewildered flight from Hampton, his aimless two days' riding, his final -turning to the Isle of Wight and giving himself up to the Governor -there, Colonel Hammond, whom he had reason to believe was loyalist at -heart. - -Yet here again the King had been, as ever, unfortunate; Robert Hammond, -tempted at first to take the King where he wished, yet remained true -to his trust, and the unhappy Stewart was again a prisoner, now at -Carisbrooke, kept more strictly than before--and a portentous silence -hung over the nation; English, Scots, Presbyterians, Independents, -Parliamentarians, the army, the Royalists--all seemed waiting--"Waiting -for what?" asked Elisabeth Claypole, voicing the question England was -asking. - -"For the Lord to show His will towards this poor kingdom," said Mrs. -Cromwell simply. "Surely He will dispose it all to mercy." - -"Mercy?" repeated the young girl thoughtfully. "I see little mercy -abroad. Much blood and bitterness--but no mercy." - -"At least," said the old gentlewoman composedly, "His Majesty is mewed -up, and that should be a step towards the settlement of these tangled -affairs." - -"Alas, poor King!" murmured the youngest Elisabeth (it was her mother -and her grandmother's name). "Alas! alas!" - -"Why dost thou say alas?" asked Mrs. Cromwell calmly. "Dost thou not -recall what thy father said in the House the other day when he moved -that no more addresses should be sent to the King, nor any dealings -made with him, under pain of high treason? He put his hand on his -sword, thy father did, and he said, quoting Holy Writ--'Thou shalt not -suffer a hypocrite to reign----'" - -"He said not so much a month ago," replied Elisabeth; "then he was -all for a good peace with His Majesty, saying--how could any man come -quietly to his own save by that?" - -"Thou knowest," returned the old lady, who had much of the strength and -melancholy of her son in her calm demeanour, "that all that is changed." - -"Will there be another war?" murmured Elisabeth Claypole, looking -dreamily into the fire. - -"That is a matter for men.... Be not so grave, dear heart, the Lord -hath us all in His keeping." - -"My father," replied the girl, "hath been grave of late--during all my -visit. He thinketh affairs are dark, I believe." - -"Not only affairs of the kingdom weigh on him, Elisabeth--something his -own do oppress him. The Parliament settlements are yet indefinite, and -then there is your brother Richard's marriage. It does not please your -father that he should be so deep in love as to leave the Life Guards. -And then this Dorothea Mayor's father requireth settlements, hard for -your father to give as things now stand--all this weighs with him and -puts him in anxieties and silences." - -At the end of this speech, Mrs. Cromwell, either exhausted from so -many words or from the thoughts her own explanation had conjured up, -sighed and leant back in her chair, dropping her chin on the immaculate -whiteness of her cambric bosom, as her son would sink his on his breast -when he was thoughtful or oppressed. - -"Richard," said Elisabeth Claypole in that soft, eager voice which was -always ready to plead for and to praise every one, "is not suited for -the army--he never cared for it." - -"Cannot you see," replied Elisabeth Cromwell almost sharply, "what a -disappointment that is for your father?" - -"He loveth Oliver," whispered Oliver's sister, and her eyes swam in -tears. "Oliver would have been a good soldier." - -"He loved Robert more," returned the grandmother. "Robert was the -first born. His eldest son. Richard could never be as either Robert or -Oliver to him; yet he will be loving and just to Richard." That sense -of the presence of the dead that the hushed mention of them seems to so -often evoke, as if they were never far, and at the sound of love and -regret hovered near, filled the darkening room. Both the grandmother -and sister seemed to see the bright ardent figure of the young cornet, -whose life had burst forth so fiercely into action amid the whirling -events of war, and had been stilled so suddenly by a hideous disease -in an insignificant garrison, and was now forgotten save by these one -or two who had loved him. - -Elisabeth Claypole remembered; she remembered his excitement, their -mother's instructions, the cordials and balms he had taken with him, -the fine shirts she had helped stitch and pack, his new sword that had -looked so big to her childish eyes--the farewells--the letters.... - -Elisabeth Cromwell remembered; she remembered his farewell visit, how -she had blessed him and he had knelt before her with her hand on his -smooth fair head ... and his tallness and straightness and slenderness, -and all his bright new bravery of war array.... - -"Ah well," she said softly. "Ah well," and her mind wandered off to her -own youth, and it seemed to her as if she had indeed been living a long -time ... almost too long. - -"Light the candles, my love, my dear," she said. "It is sad to sit in -the dark." - -As her granddaughter rose, the door opened and Oliver Cromwell entered. - -His coming was a surprise; he was not now often in London, save when he -had to speak at Westminster. He had lately been at Hereford, and they -had not expected his return so soon. - -The sincere warmth of his welcome might have pleased any man, however -weary, and his gravity lifted under it for a while, but when he had -kissed them both and come to the fire and warmed his hands, silence -came over him, as if the melancholy had closed over and clouded him -again. His mother, from her hooded chair, gazed at his powerful, yet -drooping figure, and the presence of the younger Oliver seemed more -insistent. - -Elisabeth Claypole had gone to fetch the candles. - -"We were speaking of Oliver," said Mrs. Cromwell. - -Her son turned to look down at her. - -"He is with the Lord," he answered gravely. "He was a man--and took a -man's fate doing man's work." - -A little fall of silence, then Cromwell spoke again-- - -"Do you think of Robert sometimes, mother?" - -"I knew, I knew," murmured the old gentlewoman. "He was your love." - -"He was a child," replied Cromwell, with infinite tenderness, with -infinite regret. "A little, useless child. Dying so, he remains a -child--never higher than my shoulder. My eldest born. Oliver laughed -when he did go, for joy to die in God's service, but Robert wept. Ay, -they at Felsted told me he wept because I was not there to take his -hand in the sharpness of his passing. Oh, that went to my heart, my -innermost heart ... but God saved me." - -The young Elisabeth returned, followed by the servant with the two -branched candlesticks of brass which stood on the black polished table, -where they reflected their full shining length. - -With a shudder the Lieutenant-General roused himself and turned to face -the room. - -"What hast thou been doing?" asked Elisabeth Claypole when the maid had -gone. - -"It would not please thee to know," he answered sombrely. - -Now the room was lit she noticed his pallor, his heavy air. - -"Thou art tired, father," she cried. - -"Ay--tired--tired--bring me a glass of wine, dearest." He turned round -again to the fire and said abruptly, "There hath been a mutiny in -the army. A rebellious meeting at Corkbush field--these levellers it -was--but I did stamp it out; we must have no disaffection in the army." - -"A meeting?" exclaimed his daughter, taking a bell-mouthed glass from -the sideboard; "but it is ended--how?" - -"They drew lots," replied Cromwell, "and one was shot. One Arnald--a -brave man." - -"Oh, father!" cried Mrs. Claypole. "More blood--more misery!" - -"It had to be," said Cromwell. "Dost thou think I love it?" He made an -effort to shake off his preoccupation and his gloom, "Come, come, this -is no news for thee." - -He turned again to gaze very tenderly at her as she came with wine on a -silver salver. - -"Oh, vanity and carnal mind!" he cried, pulling at the ribbons on her -sleeve; "thy sister Ireton doth think that thou art too much given to -worldliness! Yet seek ye the Lord and ye shall find Him," he added, -with a sudden grave smile. - -"Sir, I would," she replied earnestly. "Let not my ways deceive you, I -am very humble at heart." - -"I do believe it," he said. - -He drank his wine slowly. He asked where his wife was (he had learnt -below that she was abroad), and was told that she was with Lady Wharton. - -"She did not expect me," he said half-wistfully. "I wish that I had -chanced to find her. Since I am so much away I would have all round me -when I am at home." - -"She will be in soon," said his mother, gathering up her fine sewing -with an air of regret, for the candlelight was not strong enough for -her to see the minute stitches. - -Elisabeth crept up to her father, and taking his sword hand, caressed -it. - -"What of the King?" she asked. - -"The King is at Carisbrooke," he replied. - -She gave a deep sigh. - -"How will it end, my father?" - -"How should we have that knowledge yet?" - -"The poor King!" she exclaimed. "I am sorry for the poor King!" - -Cromwell was silent. - -"Tell me," said Elisabeth, creeping closer to him, "will there be -another war?" - -"God forfend," he answered gravely. - -"Then what will the King do?" she insisted. - -"Thou art very tender towards the King." - -"I am sorry for him, surely. And I have heard thee say--he must have -his rights again." - -"He hath forfeited his rights," said Cromwell, glooming. "He is a -hypocrite." - -"Once you were his friend," said Elisabeth Claypole; "is that over? -Why, Major Harrison even called you royalist." - -"Yes, it is over," returned her father, "and now you may sooner call -me republican--a name I did use to hate. The King is not one to be -trusted, neither is he fortunate. God is against him, and will not have -him raised up again; even as the Lord's judgment went forth against -Tyrus, so hath it gone forth against Charles Stewart. What hath God -said--'I shall bring thee down with them that descend to the pit--and -thou shalt be no more--thou shalt be sought for, but never shalt thou -be found!'" - -"But what wilt thou do with the tyrant?" asked Mrs. Cromwell. - -"He is not my prisoner, nor am I his judge," replied Cromwell, with -sudden vehemence. "Ask _me_ not what his fate will be! Ask me not to -pity the King--'he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity, and the rod -of his anger shall fail.'" - -He crossed to the sideboard and set his glass there. - -Elisabeth Claypole stood sad and thoughtful by her grandmother's chair; -Cromwell came and kissed her delicate forehead. - -"Thy brother's marriage treaty sticks," he said pleasantly. "I must -go and write to Mr. Mayor, and cast up what higher settlements I can -offer." - -"He demands too much," declared Mrs. Cromwell. - -"Nay, he is prudent; but I have two wenches still to provide -for--farewell for a moment." He had gone again. - -"The affairs of men!" muttered the old gentlewoman. "Well, well." - -Elisabeth Claypole, too, felt sad; she, too, felt helpless in a busy -world that did not need her. She returned to her stool and began to -fold up her grandmother's work; both of them, being women, were used to -loneliness. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -PRESTON ROUT - - -Charles was a prisoner at Carisbrooke, more strictly guarded than ever -before, but not any less dangerous to Parliament or the disrupting -forces which stood for Parliament. In spite of everything they still -tried to come to an agreement with him, for the confusion of the -kingdom was beyond words, beyond any one man's brain to grasp and cope -with, and all turned to the King and the tradition behind the King as -the one stable thing in a whirl of chaos. - -Charles thought that they, traitors and rebels as they were, were -speeding to their own doom. Outwardly he played with them as he had -done before; he referred himself, he said, wholly to them. Meanwhile he -was sowing the seeds of another Civil War. - -He had come to an agreement with the Scots whereby they were to unite -with the English royalists against the Parliament, and he on his side -was to suppress Sectaries and Independents and to establish presbytery -for three years, himself retaining the Anglican form of worship. This -agreement was signed secretly, wrapped in lead, and buried in the -garden of Carisbrooke Castle. - -Royalist risings broke out all over the country, particularly in Wales; -mutinies were frequent in the still undisbanded, unpaid army; the -struggle between Presbyterian and Independent was as sharp as it had -ever been. Hamilton triumphed over the Argyll faction in the Scottish -Parliament, raised an army 40,000 strong, and prepared to march across -the Border "to deliver the King from Sectaries." Part of the fleet -had revolted, gone to Holland, fetched the young Prince of Wales and -Rupert, and was buccaneering round Yarmouth Roads. In Ireland the -Marquess of Ormonde and the papal Nuncio were coming to some pact to -unite against the Parliament, and the feeling of the sheer people of -England was veering against the austere rule of the Puritan and coming -again to the old known and tried idea of Kingship. "Why not," they -asked, "a good peace with His Majesty?" - -Cromwell and a few others knew why not; because the King was utterly -impossible to deal with; because he did not admit that he, the King, -_could_ be dealt with, made party to a bargain or an agreement, like an -ordinary man. - -But in the minds of the common people, Charles did not get the blame -nor they the credit of this attitude of his. Cromwell in particular had -lost much of his prestige; the zealots blamed him for his conferences -with the King, the moderates because they had not succeeded. He brought -about meetings between the leaders of the two factions, Presbyterians -and Independents, but quite uselessly--neither would yield a jot. Then -the extreme men of the Parliament and the extreme men of the army were -gotten together by his care to discuss the desperate state of affairs. - -This conference resolved itself into a bitter and academic dispute on -the various forms of government, each man backing himself by manifold -quotations from Scripture. - -"Wherefore," cried Cromwell, starting up impatiently, "do you argue -which is best--monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy--when you are come -here to find a remedy for the present evils?" - -Thereat they began to reply together, tediously and idly, and Cromwell -picked up the cushion from the chair on which he sat and hurled it at -Ludlow's head, and before it could be flung back to him he ran down the -stairs, thus ending the conference. - -Soon after, the army came together at Windsor and, with prayers and -tears and exhortations, besought God to tell them for what mistreading -or fault all these turmoils and distresses had come upon them. - -And the conclusion of these three days of mystic exaltation was that -God was punishing them for their dealings with Charles Stewart, who was -henceforth to be no more considered or dealt with, but treated as a -delinquent and man of blood who would be, in good time, made to answer -for his sins to men before he went to answer for them to God. - -The situation was a paradox. The Scots were invading the kingdom to -restore Charles and to force the Covenant on England; these two matters -were no less the object of the parliamentary majority, yet they were -bound to withstand Hamilton, for his victory would mean their own utter -overthrow. - -To further complicate the situation, Langdale and the English -Cavaliers, joined with Hamilton, abhorred the Covenant, and were -fighting not merely for the re-establishment of the monarchy but the -re-establishment of the Church of England. - -It was obvious, even to the most hopeful, that only the sword could cut -these tangles; it was obvious, even to the most hesitating, that the -Scots must be driven back over their own Border. - -Cromwell, who had been on the edge of impeachment, who had many eager -foes now in Parliament and army, was called forth again at the supreme -moment. - -He was sent to South Wales, crushed the rebellion there, took Pembroke -Castle, heard Hamilton had crossed the Border, turned northwards and, -by July, was in Leicestershire. By the middle of August he had joined -General Lambert between Leeds and York. - -There his scouts brought him news that Hamilton and Langdale had -effected a juncture and were marching for London. - -"If," said Cromwell, "they reach London, then goodnight to us, for the -King will be master for all in all, and all the blood and bitterness -will have been for naught." - -There was nothing but him and his force to stay them. He had, perhaps, -eight thousand men; they, twenty-one thousand, or near it. The weather -was tumultuous, stormy; torrents of rain fell, the upland fells were -almost impassable from mud and bog. Cromwell had brought his army by -long and arduous marches from Wales; many of them were barefoot, many -in rags. None of them had yet received the months of arrears of pay -which had been so long in dispute. Plunder was forbidden them; they -were there, like the hosts of Joshua, to fight for the Lord, and for -nothing else. - -My Lord Duke, with his great straggling army, came over the open heaths -as far as Preston and Wigan, no colours displayed because of the wind, -no tents nor fires at night because of the wind and the rain; so they -marched, a weary troop, neither well-disciplined nor well-generaled, -and soon to face those troops which Oliver Cromwell had made the best -in the world. But there was with them neither hesitation nor dismay, -for half of them were Scots, and Langdale's men were of the same breed -as Cromwell's, and would fight as well and endure as stubbornly. - -Cromwell came to Clitheroe and lay in the house of a Mr. Sherburn, a -Papist, at Stonyhurst. The next day was Wednesday, and still raining; -the weather, the soldiers said, "was as fearful a marvel as the hideous -sight of English fighting English on English earth"; the sky was one -colour with earth, heavy, dun; the beaten heath, the broken bushes -dripped with moisture, the water ran in rivulets through the soaked -earth. As the rain ceased for a while the wind would rise, sweeping -strongly across the open spaces. - -Ashton marched to Whalley, other troops of dragoons to Clitheroe, -Cromwell advanced towards Preston. On the other side my Lord Duke -advanced, also, hardly knowing where, in the rain and wind, on the -undulating ground of hillocks and hollows, his army lay, or how and -where it was available. - -Sir Marmaduke Langdale was near Langdridge Chapel, on Preston Moor, the -other side of the Ribble. Four miles away my lord the Duke, who was at -Darwen, the south side of the river too, where there should have been -a ford, but was not, so swollen was the tide with the mighty rains. My -Lord Duke passed the bridge with most of his brigades and sent Lord -Middleton with a large portion of the cavalry to Wigan. - -Meanwhile, through the rain and the confusion, stumbling over the -incredibly rough ground, a forlorn of horse and foot, commanded by -Major Hodgson and Major Rounal, came upon Sir Marmaduke and his three -thousand English. - -The Scots, themselves confused, thinking it only an attack of Lancaster -Presbyterians, did not support Langdale, who complained that he had -not even enough powder; but he fought, he and his men, like heroes, -against forces more than double their number--against the Ironsides, -for four hours, always in the wind and wet, on the rough ground. Then -such as was left of them gave way and fell back on Preston; some of the -infantry surrendered, some of the horse escaped north to join Munro. - -Meanwhile, Cromwell had swept Hamilton and Baillie back across the -Darwen, back across the Ribble, had captured both bridges and driven -my lord towards Preston town. Three times in his retreat my lord -turned round to face his enemies, crying out for "King Charles!" Three -times he repulsed the troops pursuing him, and the third time he drove -them far back and, escaping from them, swam the river and joined -Lieutenant-General Baillie where he had enclosed himself on the top of -a hill. - -Night fell and the battle was stayed; all were wet, weary, hungry, -haggled; the Parliamentarians, the victors, not the less exhausted, but -with fire in their hearts and hymns of praise on their lips. Cromwell -wrote to "the Committee of Lancashire sitting at Manchester" his -account of the day's fight, dispatched it, prayed, and got into the -saddle again. - -It was still foul weather, wind, rain, miles of muddy heath, hillocks, -hollows now stained with blood and scattered with bodies, men, and -horses, dead and dying. - -The Duke of Hamilton's forces fought all that day and the next, routed -again and again, rallied again and again; always the rain, the wind, -the muddy heath, the low clouds, always the soldiers growing fainter -and wearier. Beaten from the bridge of Ribble, falling back, a drumless -march on Wigan Moor, leaving the ammunition to the enemy, falling -farther back on to Wigan town, where they thought to make some stand, -but decided not to, with skirmishes of detachments at Redbank where -the Scots nearly worsted Colonel Pride at Ribble Bridge, and where -Middleton (the weather, always foul, bringing confusion and fatigue) -missed his chief, coming too late. And so it went for three days on -the wet Yorkshire heaths, till finally it was over; the fate of King, -Church, Constitution, and Covenant was decided. Hamilton and the -vanguard of horse rode wearily and aimlessly towards Uttoxeter; Munro -and the rearguard straggled back to their own country; a thousand of -them were left dead under the rain, trodden into the bloody heath; -three thousand of them were made prisoners. And the second Civil War -which had flamed up so suddenly and so fiercely was ended. - -The Puritans--the patriots--had passed through their darkest hour -triumphantly; their ragged, hungry, unpaid soldiers, fighting truly for -God and not for pay, had again saved England from the return of the -tyrant and his manifold oppressions and confusions. - -After the three days' fight was over, Cromwell sat down at Warrington -to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons a long account of the -rout. - -"The Duke," he wrote, "is marching with his remaining horse towards -Namptwich.... If I had a thousand horse that could but trot thirty -miles, I should not doubt but to give a very good account of them; but -truly we are so harassed and haggled out in this business, that we are -not able to do more than walk at an easy pace after them." - -But whether or no the Puritans were too wearied to pursue their enemies -mattered little; the day was decided. - -The Duke of Hamilton, wandering vaguely, with fewer and fewer men after -him, was finally taken at Uttoxeter, where he surrendered, a sick and -broken man. - -Cromwell cleared the Border of the remnants of the Scots, retook -Berwick and Carlisle, engaged the Argyll faction, now the head of the -Government of Scotland, to exclude all royalists from power, and turned -back towards England, the foremost man of the moment again, and in the -eyes of at least half England, the saviour of the country from the -invader. - -But if the country was grateful, the Parliament was not. Denzil Holles, -fiercest of Presbyterians, rose up at Westminster to lead a party -against his enemy Cromwell. The Lords, who had all become royalists, -considered whether they should impeach the victorious general; it was -noticeable how much bolder they all were when the Independents and -their indomitable leader were absent, and how, as the return of the -army, strengthened in renown and prestige, drew nearer, they began to -cast round for some means of escape from the fact facing them, that -when Cromwell reappeared at Westminster he would be absolute master of -the political situation, for he had behind him the entire army and they -had nothing but the mere unsupported weight of the law. - -So sharp was the division and so fierce had party hatred become, that -the Presbyterians at Westminster hated the Independents with the army -as no Roundhead or Cavalier had ever hated in the first broad division -of the war. - -Toleration was the watchword of Cromwell and his followers, and no -word was more detestable to the Parliament. To mark their loathing of -it they passed an ordinance punishing Atheism. Arianism, Socinianism, -Quakerism, Arminianism, and Baptists with death. - -Meanwhile, Cromwell, looming ever larger in the imaginations of men, -was returning triumphant to London. If his fame had been at the lowest -when he left for Wales, it was at the highest now. Denzil Holles -conceived the idea of meeting material force by moral force; as they -had nothing else to oppose to Cromwell they must oppose the King. -Charles still remained, in many ways, the hub of the political wheel. - -The Parliament must now yield either to him or to the army; they -thought they saw their chance with Charles. If terms could be come -to with him, and he be installed in London before the army returned, -Cromwell would be faced with a situation with which he would probably -not be able to cope. _He_ had denounced the King solemnly at the -Windsor meeting, therefore Charles, once again in power, could not -treat him otherwise than as an enemy. - -The vote against further addresses to the King, which Cromwell's -eloquence had hurried through the House, was repealed, and -parliamentary commissions were sent to the Isle of Wight to open a new -treaty with the King. - -But they were not prepared to make concessions; the propositions of -Uxbridge, of Newcastle, of Oxford, of Hampton Court were offered again -and again, fought inch by inch. Charles, too, was still as intractable -as ever; the coalition between royalist and Presbyterian seemed doomed -to failure; the negotiations were continually ruptured on the subject -of Church government. Charles would not forgo his bishops, and the -Parliament would not endure them; though each side was desperate, on -this point they were firm. - -Meanwhile, Cromwell and his Ironsides were coming nearer. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE CONSTANCY OF THE KING - - -The fifteen commissioners had left the King; Sir Harry Vane, perhaps -the sincerest republican of all, had stayed behind a moment to entreat -Charles--as Pym--as Cromwell--had entreated him--"to be sincere." - -The King, grave, composed, courtly, had answered him as he had answered -Pym and Cromwell--"In all these dealings I have been sincere." - -And so they left him, and the wearisome yet desperate negotiations, -which had been protracted from the middle of the September after -Preston Rout to nearly the end of November, were over. - -Charles had given way; he had consented to the temporary abolition of -the bishops, for three years at least; the coalition of Royalist and -Presbyterian was formed against Cromwell and the army; the treaty which -made a third Civil War imminent was signed. - -After the commissioners had departed, Lord Digby came to Charles, -who still sat at the head of the table at which he had so often held -his own in caustic argument and learned dispute on the subject of -Episcopacy. - -"Bring me," said the King, "a little wine." - -Lord Digby, without calling a servant, served the King himself. - -The winter twilight was falling; the sea fog drifting over the island -thickened the sad atmosphere that filled the room in which the King -sat. A private house at Newport had been for some weeks now his -residence, and carried with it less state, but more semblance of -freedom, than Carisbrooke Castle. - -The King wore grey. Since his own servants had been taken from him he -had grown more and more neglectful of his attire; there was nothing -either fine or splendid in his garments, and he wore no jewels. His -face showed a more cheerful expression than had been of late usual to -him, and when he had drunk the alicant, a faint colour came into his -cheeks and a sparkle to his eyes. - -"Digby," he said, "I think I shall yet be able to undo these rogues, -these traitors, these villains--but come, I must write to my Lord -Ormonde, for I have had to publicly give orders that he is to do -nothing in Ireland, and he may be misled." - -To most these words, the first he had spoken since he had assured Sir -Harry Vane of his sincerity, would have appeared indeed startling -and ironical, but Lord Digby knew the whole of his master's tortuous -intrigues. He was aware that from the moment the negotiations with the -Parliament began, Charles had been planning to escape from the Isle -of Wight, and join that portion of the navy which was now under the -command of Rupert and the Prince of Wales, and thus make a descent on -Ireland, where the incredible exertions of the Marquess of Ormonde kept -alive a royalist party, and from there attempt another such invasion of -England as had just ended so fatally at Preston Rout. - -Such was the wild, vague, and desperate scheme which the King nursed -in preference to returning triumphantly to London as the ally of the -Parliament, and from there dealing with the army, now his open enemies. - -But this, though it might seem the surest proof of his levity and -falsity, was in reality the uttermost testimony he could give of his -constancy to principles which he accounted Divine. - -The price the Parliament asked was the sacrifice of Episcopacy, and -that was what Charles would never consent to. Far preferable was the -wild hazard, the desperate risk, the almost certain danger of trusting -to Rupert and his lawless little fleet, or Ormonde and his inadequate -forces, or Ireland and her uncertain loyalty, than keeping the pact -with the Presbyterian, who refused the Divine form of Church government. - -Now, almost before the commissioners had entered their coaches, he was -hurriedly writing to Ormonde and to the Queen. - -"Do not be astonished at any concession I may make," he wrote to the -Marquess, "for it will come to nothing, and heed no public commands I -may give, until you hear that I am free; but keep alive with all vigour -the spirit of loyalty in Ireland." - -To his wife he wrote--"The great concessions I have made to-day were -merely in order to my escape." - -When these hasty letters, in the writing of which the King seemed to -relieve some of the feelings that he had had to contain in his bosom -during the long hours of his conference with the representatives of -Parliament, were finished and locked into the secret drawers of the -King's desk, Lord Digby lit the candles and closed the shutters over -the mournful, wet, misty night. - -"I would, sir," he said, with a little shudder, "that we were well out -of this cursed island." - -Charles rose from the little desk; his eyes were brilliant, his mouth -hardly set under the delicate moustaches. - -"If I were once in Ireland," he said, "fortune would look differently -on me." - -He had always been so--always, under the most cruel mortification -hopeful, trustful in some expedient. Ever since his overthrow he had -trusted first in Rupert and Montrose, then in the foreign armies the -Queen would raise, then in Hamilton, then in the divisions of his -enemies, and now in Rupert and his elusive ships. - -Lord Digby could not fail to see this incurable hopefulness of his -master, nor to argue ill from it; but he was himself light-spirited -and fantastical, and his remonstrances were few and faint. - -Yet he hazarded one now. - -"As the army is deadly disloyal and much raised up of late, and as the -Parliament is your one sure refuge from it, sir, would it not be wiser -to observe this treaty, at least for a while?" - -"Never!" cried Charles fiercely. "Never will I yield! I have sworn that -I will defend the Church of England and my rights--even unto death. -I will not deal with these rebels save by the sword. The sword? Nay, -the halter. I hope, Digby, that God will give me the day when I can -see these rogues marched to Tyburn. Thou canst scarcely conceive," he -added, with great intensity, "what a hatred I have for them--how my -mortifications, my humiliations, my losses, all the loyal blood shed -for me cry out for repayment! How I loathe them and their heretical -opinions and their canting speech--how I detest them for mine own -helplessness!" - -He flung himself into the arm-chair beside the hearth, where a feeble -fire burnt neglected. - -"Hamilton's a prisoner," he said gloomily. "What will they do with my -faithful lord? How many noble lives have I not to avenge?" - -As he spoke he thought (as he thought often now, too often for his own -peace) of Strafford, his first great, awful, and useless sacrifice. - -"If it cost my heart's blood I will not submit," he muttered, biting -his lip. - -But Lord Digby would not so easily relinquish his point--that the -Parliament was a surer refuge from the army than Rupert or Ormonde, or -any possible ships or possible men either of these Cavaliers might be -able to command. - -"Fairfax," he reminded the King, "sent Ireton to the House with a -remonstrance from the army, protesting against the Parliament dealing -with Your Majesty, and even daring to say that you should be brought -to trial." - -"But the House," replied the King, with a grim smile, "refused to -consider these demands of 'armed sectaries.'" - -"But the army," persisted Lord Digby, "hath the power." - -"I will be free of all of them," cried Charles passionately. "Of the -army, of the Parliament, of all their cursed sects and heresies." - -He lapsed into a melancholy silence again. My lord put another log on -the fire and stirred the faint flames to a blaze. - -"In the Queen's letter of this morning," said Charles suddenly, "she -mentioned that loyal gentlewoman, Margaret Lucas--she hath fallen ill. -When she had the news of the end of her brother, Sir Charles, she was -as one who had received a death-sentence." - -Tears moistened his own eyes. He was not usually very sensible of the -sorrows of those who were ruined in his service, and gratitude was no -part of his character or tradition; yet there was something in the -story of the gallant young Lucas, who, after an heroic defence of -Colchester, had surrendered on terms which bargained for quarter for -the inferiors, but left the superiors at the mercy of the enemy, yet -who had been taken out with his fellow-officer, Sir George Lisle, and -shot like a dog before those walls he had so valiantly defended through -three months of famine and misery, which moved the King, even to tears. - -"Ireton's doing," he cried. "Jesus God! grant that I may send Ireton to -Tyburn one day." - -"From an officer who came here recently I heard an account of it," said -Lord Digby, in a low voice. "They neither of them thought to have died, -seeing they had surrendered to mercy, but they made no grief of it. Sir -Charles was shot first, and Sir George bent and kissed him while he was -yet warm (and conscious, I hope) and spoke to the wretched rebels, -'Come nearer and make sure of me.' And upon one of the dogs replying, -'I warrant you we shall hit you, Sir George,' he smiled and said, 'Ay! -but I have been nearer to you, many a time, my friends, and you have -missed me,--I would I had been there to give them company.'" - -"And they are gone!" sighed Charles. "How many of the young and brave -have I not lost! Ah, Digby, mine hath been a dismal fate, to ruin all -those I would most advance, to bring down those whom I would most -exalt." - -He was not thinking now of Sir Charles Lucas, but of the Queen; his -thoughts were never long from her. The image of her in her exile, in -her poverty and humiliation, in her beaten pride and broken splendour -was the most lively of all his mortifications, the most exquisite of -all his secret tortures; he felt that he had abjectly failed towards -her, towards her children, and, keenest sting of all, that she must -despise him for his failure and his misfortune. - -His head sank lower and lower on his breast, and two tears forced -themselves from his tired eyes and hung burning on his faded cheeks. - -"Digby, my faithful lord," he said, "I do sometimes think that it would -have been better for me to have died at Naseby. By now the Lord would -have judged me, and I should have been at peace--peace, peace! How the -word dangles before us while the thing is never to be found, this side -of heaven." - -Digby dropped on one knee beside him. - -"May Your Majesty soon find it," he said, in a broken voice, "and live -long to enjoy it." - -"If it were possible!" murmured Charles. "But we must get to -Ireland--it is very needful that we should get to Ireland." - -Lord Digby lowered his voice, as if somewhere in this lonely, -desolate-looking room a spy of Parliament or army might lurk. - -"The preparations are all complete," he said. "It only needs to wait -until the commissioners have left the Island." - -A little shudder shook the King. - -"What will it feel, Digby," he murmured, "to be free again--free!" - -Then, as if rousing himself from thoughts that threatened to be -overwhelming, he put out his hand and took up a small brown volume -tooled in gold, and, turning over the thin pages rough with print, -let slip his mind from the leases of care and suffered himself to be -distracted by Lucan's _Pharsalia_. - -The mist changed to rain, which slashed at the window; a winter wind -disturbed the tapestry and flickered the flames on the deep hearth, -which hissed beneath the drops falling down the wide chimney. - -Charles, sunk in the deep, worn leather chair, with one thin hand -supporting his thin face, the long curls flowing over his breast, -gathered consolation from those ancient deeds of melancholy heroism and -fated endeavour. - -Lord Digby left the room to concert with the few personal attendants -left the King about the final arrangements for the King's flight from -Newport as soon as the Parliamentarians should have returned to London. - -But again Charles Stewart proved unfortunate. - -The day before his projected escape Colonel Hammond, the Governor -of the Island, sent an escort to remove His Majesty from Newport to -Hurst Castle, a dreary residence near the coast, on the sea shingle, -where Charles was closely guarded beyond all hope of escape, even if -his word of honour not to escape had not been extracted from him: and -this was a point where he would admit of no sophistries. So the dream -of Rupert and his ships and Ormonde and his loyal Catholics vanished, -as all Charles' dreams had vanished, into the bitter obscurity of -disappointment. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -IN THE BALANCE - - -It was the army who had ordered the King's removal to a place of -greater security, the army who had now resolved to make an end of these -long negotiations between King and Parliament. - -On the day after Charles was closed into Hurst Castle the army marched -into London, Cromwell not yet with them; but other men, embued with his -spirit, were his representatives. He had proposed that the Parliament -should be forcibly dissolved and a new one elected, and a Declaration -to this effect had been issued by the army now openly at variance with -the assembly, which had flung aside their great Remonstrance. Leading -officers spoke darkly, yet unmistakably, of what they would do to the -King, ay, and to the Parliament. - -The Commons, undaunted, voted that the King's concessions were -sufficient ground for treating of a general peace; the reply of the -army was to send Colonel Pride down to the House to arrest every member -who had voted to continuing negotiations with the King. - -"It was the only way," said Henry Ireton, "to save the kingdom from a -new war into which King and Parliament conjointly would plunge us--that -is our warrant and our law for what we do." - -Cromwell, coming the evening of that day to London, approved. "Since -it is done, I am glad of it," he said, "and will endeavour to maintain -it." - -Meanwhile, Harrison had gone down to Hurst Castle and removed the King -from that melancholy solitude to Windsor. - -The now purged House of Commons, which consisted of a mere handful -of Independent members, was nothing but the mouthpiece of the army, -who were now the masters of the hour. In council they decided against -bringing the King to trial if he could be brought by any means to -reason, and Lord Denbigh was sent to Windsor again--once more and for -the last time--to offer Charles terms. - -The same terms--the abandonment of Episcopacy and of his own absolute -sovereignty. - -All illusion was at last stripped from the proceedings; no meaningless -courtesies or formalities obscured the issue. The army were treating -Charles as they would treat a vanquished enemy, and he at last saw -it--saw there was no hope, no evasion possible, no succour at hand, no -shift, no expedient to which he could turn; saw, too, for the first -time, the sharp and bitter nature of the alternative of his refusal of -these terms. - -The army talked freely of his trial and death; there was barely a -disguise given to the fact that Lord Denbigh gave him his choice -between the Church of England, his Crown--and his life. - -This struck not at the King's ambition or lust of power or love of -authority, but at his conscience, for he believed as firmly that -he was there to uphold the Divine ordinance in Church and State as -Cromwell believed that God was mocked by Lawd's surplices, candles, and -genuflexions. - -On the gloomy day in the end of December when the return of Lord -Denbigh with the King's answer was expected, Henry Ireton was with his -father-in-law in his house in Drury Lane. Both men showed signs of the -tremendous physical and spiritual stress they had lately undergone. -Cromwell especially was haggard; the burden which he had assumed was -no light one, nor was the responsibility he was about to undertake one -which could be worn easily. - -Up to the very last he had hoped that the King would give way. Lord -Denbigh's journey had been on his recommendation, and he still clung to -the possibility that Charles, now absolutely with his back against the -wall, might make those concessions which would enable the army to spare -him. - -But the other and more likely alternative had to be faced. - -"Can we," said Henry Ireton, in a tone almost of awe, "bring to trial -the crowned and anointed King?" - -The thing was indeed unheard of, appalling in its audacity even to the -men who had been already years in arms against their King--a thing -without precedent, full of a nameless horror. But Oliver Cromwell -was not troubled by this consideration. He was uplifted by his stern -enthusiasm from all fears of laws and tradition; he knew himself -capable of moulding the movement to suit the need; and he was of an -incalculable courage. - -Yet in this affair he had shown himself more moderate, almost more -hesitating, than many of his colleagues; he did not see clearly; he -was not sure what God had meant him to do, and his personal feeling, -despite his absolute refusal to deal further with Charles after his -treachery had been made manifest, was still towards some arrangement by -which the King could be returned to the throne and forced to keep his -people's laws. - -His trust in the King had been utterly scattered; his sentiments had -become almost republican; yet in his heart he struggled to find some -means of saving the King as he had struggled since the end of the first -civil war. - -He still hesitated before committing himself to the fierce measures -advocated by the great body of the army; yet Charles had done some -things which Cromwell could never forgive. - -Notably the calling in of the Scots. - -To the Englishman, English of the English in every fibre, this "attempt -to vassalage us to a foreign nation," as he had called it, was the -intolerable, unforgivable wrong--a thing which burnt the blood to think -of--a wrong which the Scots, beaten back across the border and Hamilton -waiting death in London, did not soften or make amends for. Cromwell -had broken the Scots, but he could not forgive them. - -"Had he not done that," he cried aloud, "it had been easier to forget -his manifold deceits." - -"God hath witnessed against him," replied Ireton. - -But he, too, was for moderation; he had suggested a trial of the King -and then a decorous imprisonment. - -Such a compromise did not please the Lieutenant-General, who was -waiting for the indication for swift, prompt action. He wanted an -impetus to an irrecoverable decision, not an expedient for avoiding it; -nothing in the nature of a shift was ever tolerable to him. - -"Until Lord Denbigh return," he broke out, "we can decide on nothing. I -know not what the Providence of God may put upon us; but this I know, -the King hath one more chance, and if he take it not--there will be no -excuse but folly and cowardice to delay our dealings with him." - -"And when we have dealt with him--what then?" asked Ireton, and he -looked gloomy and apprehensive, like a man oppressed with many heavy -thoughts. - -Oliver Cromwell rose from the table at which both had been sitting; -through his air of weariness the indomitable fire of his inner -conviction, his inner faith glowed. Ireton, looking at him, thought -that he always, even in his moments of deepest dejection or melancholy, -gave that impression of one carrying a flame. - -"I have much rested on these words of late," he said: "'They that shine -with thee shall perish. They that war against thee shall be as nothing; -and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right -hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.'" - -As he spoke he moved to the window and stood with his back against the -dark curtains which hung before it. His clothes were dark too, his -white band and his tanned but pale face, his brown hair and clasped -hands were all picked out and shone upon by the candlelight; for the -rest, his figure was in shadow. Ireton, gazing at him, was impressed -by something about him which, hearty and homely as were his manners, -seemed to always put him beyond his brother officers: the quality of -greatness, Henry Ireton thought it was; but he wondered wherein lay -greatness. - -Cromwell did not speak again, and Ireton took his leave. - -"I am going to Sir Thomas Fairfax," he said, "and if any messenger -comes from Windsor to-night, I will send one over to you with the news." - -After he had been alone a little while Cromwell went upstairs, still -with a thoughtful face, with eyes downcast and a frowning brow. - -The room he entered was rendered cheerful by the bright firelight and -the glow of the candles in the wall sconces of polished brass, and it -formed the setting to a fair and tender picture. - -Cromwell's wife was seated at the spinet which occupied one corner of -the room, and either side of her stood one of her younger daughters, -singing. The lady and the children were all dressed in a brown colour, -and the purity of their fair-complexioned faces and the delicacy of -their soft and waving gold-brown hair was heightened by their collars -and caps of white cambric enriched with exquisite needlework. - -At the Lieutenant-General's entrance they paused, and Elisabeth -Cromwell was about to rise, but he bade them continue and crossed to -the fireplace, where he stood quietly, with his head hanging on his -breast. - -With a blush for the presence of their father at their simple -performance, the two little girls began again; the fresh voices, -sharply pure and sweetly tremulous, rose clearly and echoed clearly in -the high-ceiled chamber, accompanied by the faint, half-muffled notes -of the spinet. - - "Ye Holy Angels bright, - Who wait at God's right hand, - Or through the realms of light - Fly at your Lord's command. - Assist our song, - Or else the theme - Too high doth seem - For mortal tongue." - -The little singers had forgotten the embarrassment of an audience; -their eyes sparkled, their little round mouths strained open in a -rapture. - -Elisabeth Cromwell, as her fingers touched the keys to the simple -melody, looked across the spinet to her husband. - - "Ye blessed souls at rest, - Who ran this earthly race, - And now from sin released, - Behold the Saviour's face. - His praises sound - As in His light - With sweet delight - Ye do abound." - -The mother's head bent a little; she dropped her eyes. She was thinking -of Robert and Oliver, and wondering if they were leaning from heaven to -listen to this song--"blessed souls at rest." Ah, well! - - "Ye saints, who toil below, - Adore your Heavenly King, - And onward as ye go - Some joyful anthem sing. - Take what He gives - And praise Him still - Through good and ill, - Who ever lives!" - -The young voices gathered greater fervency on the next lines-- - - "My soul, bear thou thy part, - Triumph in God above, - And with a well-tuned heart - Sing thou the songs of love! - Let all thy days - Till life shall end, - Whate'er He send, - Be filled with praise!" - -Frances and Mary Cromwell, having ended their hymn, came round from -behind the spinet and curtsied to their father. - -"A sweet song," he said, "and sweetly sung. Who wrote the words, Mary?" - -"Mr. Richard Baxter, sir," she replied; "he taught them to the troop -he was chaplain of at Kidderminster--and Henry copied them and brought -them home to us." - -"Learn Mr. Baxter's hymns," he smiled, "but not his tenets. He is -lukewarm and unstable." - -Mrs. Cromwell rose. - -"And now they must to bed--I fear it is already over-late." - -The Lieutenant-General stooped and kissed each of them on the fair, -untroubled brow. - -"A good night, my dears, my sweets. A good night, my little wenches." - -He lingered over the farewell caress half wistfully, and as they left -the room his tired eyes followed them. - -Elisabeth Cromwell came to her husband's side and glanced up at him, -then down at the fire. - -"You are troubled to-night," she said, in a low voice. - -"No," he answered, "no." - -"About Richard's marriage settlements," she returned. "It is over a -year since that affair was first opened." - -"I know," he replied, "I know. But what can I do? I cannot settle on -Dorothy Mayor moneys which I have not got for my own. There is Henry -to think of, and the two little ones--and thou knowest, Bess, I am not -rich." - -She knew well enough from many economies of her own. He had strained -his estates at the commencement of the first war, when he had raised -and equipped, at his own expense, his troop in Cambridgeshire; his pay -was in arrears and had lately been reduced; he had waited many ancient -debts due to him from the Government; and he had returned the larger -portion of the income arising from the grant of Lord Worchester's lands -to the Parliament to be used in settling that unhappy country, Ireland. -Therefore he was now more hampered and with less money to dispose -of than when in private life, and all his frugal living and all his -wife's good management would not permit him to afford Mr. Mayor what he -demanded for his daughter; therefore Richard's match had hung a year, -and seemed likely to hang longer. - -"I would rather," said Richard's father abruptly, "that the lad was -more like his brother Henry, and less eager to take a wife and live -easily." - -"All cannot be as thee," answered Elisabeth Cromwell half sadly, -"wrapped in great affairs." - -He turned. - -"Why, Bess," he said, taking her hand, "that did sound as a reproach." - -"Nay, my lord, my dear," she replied, in a subdued passion; "but thou -art so much away." - -"But thou art not alone," he said, eagerly bending over her. - -"A woman is always alone, Oliver, when she is away from him she -loves. I think a man doth not understand that--he hath so much -else--thou--thou hast so much--and I am gone right into the background -of thy life!" - -He took both her hands now and laid them on his heart. - -"Thou art dearer to me than any creature in the world," he said. "Let -that content thee." - -She sighed and smiled together. By her great love for him she could -measure her great pain because of him--the separations, the anxieties, -the apprehension, the knowledge that she was only a part of his life, -that he had now many, many other things to think of more important -than her, while she had nothing but him--always him. But he could not -understand. - -"Well, well," she said. - -"Why art thou sad, Bess?" he asked tenderly. "Is it about Dick's -marriage?" - -She shook her head; her gentle face flushed with the thought that came -to her. - -"Oh, Oliver, I have been sorry about the King," she said simply. - -"The King!" He dropped her hands. - -Elisabeth Cromwell lifted her large, clear grey eyes. - -"What is to be the fate of the King?" she asked, trembling. - -"That hangs in the balance," he replied briefly. "Bring not these -questions on to my own hearth, Bess." - -Thus rebuked, she moved away, trembling more. - -Her husband looked at her kindly. - -"It is not for me or thee," he said gently, "to discuss the fate of the -King, but for God in His good time to disclose it. Maybe He will harden -His heart as He hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and maybe He will turn -it to peace." - -"These are terrible times," replied Elisabeth Cromwell rapidly. -"I cannot but think of how terrible--being a woman I cannot but -tremble--fearful things are said now about the King--about--bringing -him to trial." - -"Why not?" asked her husband sternly. "Hath he not been the author of -two civil wars, and would he not have brought about a third save that -God struck his forces at Preston Battle?" - -"But he--he is the Governor of England," she answered timidly. - -"Nay, no longer," returned Oliver Cromwell; "that high office hath -he defiled. God hath overturned him--'He shall put down the mighty -from their seats and exalt the humble and meek.' The King hath sinned -against God, against his people, against the laws of England." - -"Alack--it is beyond my understanding," sighed his wife; "but it seems -to me _he is the King_!" - -"Be not deceived by high-sounding words," replied the -Lieutenant-General. "Charles Stewart is a man and must pay as men -pay--for their sins and their follies." - -As he spoke the servant entered with a note, which had just been -brought, he said, by General Fairfax's man. - -Cromwell gazed at the seal--Henry Ireton's arms pressed into wax -scarcely cold--a full minute before he opened it, and the blood rushed -to his face. - -When he opened the letter his fingers shook. - -It contained a few words from his son-in-law, the sand yet sticking to -the ink. - -The King had utterly refused to see Lord Denbigh, and utterly refused -to have any dealings either with Parliament or army. - -He defied them. Now, driven to the last extremity, he had flung aside -all subterfuge and all evasion; he stood by his conscience, and no -matter what the consequences, he refused terms which he regarded as a -betrayal of God's laws in Church or State. - -Oliver Cromwell crumpled up the letter with a gesture of, for him, -unusual agitation. - -"So it is over!" he muttered. He gazed at his wife with eyes that did -not see her; drops of sweat stood out on his forehead and his lips -quivered. - -"What is over?" asked Elisabeth Cromwell, in terrified tones. - -He drew himself together with an effort. - -"The reign of Charles Stewart," he replied simply. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -BY WHAT AUTHORITY? - - -The Lords having rejected the ordinance for bringing the King to -trial, the Commons, always under the influence of the army, declared -themselves capable of enforcing their own act by their own law, "the -People being, under God, the original of all just power." - -Charles was hurried from Windsor to St. James's, and the day after his -arrival in London put on his trial for having endeavoured to subvert -his people's rights, for having levied war on them with the help of -foreign troops, and with having, after once being spared, endeavoured -by all wicked arts to again involve the kingdom in bloody confusion. - -This was the end after so many years of strife, evasion, pacts made -and broken, bloodshed and lives ruined. Charles was a prisoner on -trial for his life, and in one of his splendid beds at Whitehall (now -the headquarters of the army) Oliver Cromwell slept or lay awake and -struggled with tumultuous thoughts. - -Many who had been with him all along were against him now. Vane and -Sidney protested hotly. Many members refused to sit among the judges -who were to try Charles. - -"The King," said Sidney, "can be tried by no court, and by such a court -as this no man can be tried." - -"I tell you," said Cromwell sombrely, "we will cut off his head with -the crown upon it." - -So passionate and vigorous and unalterable was his resolution now it -was taken. - -The fiercer spirits of the army were with him. "'Blood defileth the -land,'" quoted Ludlow, "'and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood -shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.'" - -Cromwell, too, now believed that by God's express law the King was -doomed. - -It mattered not a whit to him that the tribunal which was to try -Charles had neither legal nor moral right, since there was no law by -which the King could be brought to trial, and the judges represented -neither the Commons nor the people, but a section of the army; -indeed, while others endeavoured to find excuses with which to cover -up the obvious illegality of the proceeding, Cromwell disdained any -such shifts. As he had been the man who had striven longest and most -arduously to make some compromise with the King, he was now the man who -was advancing most boldly and directly to the climax of the King's last -phase. - -He had decided there could be no peace while Charles lived, and he -spared no effort to secure his death. - -The time for temporizing was past, he believed, and he acted, as he -never failed to act at a crisis, with swiftness, with firmness, with -unhesitating decision. - -Whitelocke, St. John, Wilde, and Rolle declined to be President of the -Court which tried the King, but John Bradshaw accepted. - -For a week the trial in the great Hall of Westminster (which the King -had last entered when he came to demand the five members) continued, -a long haughty protest on the part of Charles, a stern overruling -of him on the part of the Court--the whole thing almost incredible -in swiftness, fierceness, and enthusiastic passion overlaid with -the stately forms of ancient ceremonial. On the fourth time of the -sitting, the 29th January, being Saturday, the Court was held--as many -believed--for the last time. - -Lord Digby, who had been separated from his master when Charles was -removed to Hurst Castle, and had been wandering about, more or less in -disguise ever since, had managed to gain London, and on this morning -of the 29th, a cold, wet, and grey day, he made his way to Westminster -Hall, to witness the awful, unbelievable spectacle of the trial of his -King. - -The great gates of the Hall were opened to admit the general public, -which soon swarmed in, and Digby found himself in the midst of a vast -concourse of people, mostly of the baser sort, who pushed and gossiped -and passed food and drink from one to another, so that the atmosphere -was like the pit of a theatre for the smell of beer and oranges, as it -had been at the trial of Lord Strafford. - -Lord Digby caught scraps of conversation which pierced him to the -heart--how, on the second day, the head had fallen off the King's cane -and he had had to stoop for it himself--how he had paled at this, as if -he took it for an ill-omen ... how curt Bradshaw had been with him, and -how certain all were that there could only be one end--the axe.... - -Soon the Court entered, and a great "Ah-h," like an indrawn breath, -rose from the crowd when they saw that Serjeant Bradshaw, the Lord -President, was attired in a scarlet robe, instead of the black one -which he had worn on the previous occasions. "His cap," whispered the -man next Lord Digby, "is lined with steel, for fear one might make an -attempt on him." - -John Bradshaw, with a very unmoved dignity and stern calmness, took -his seat in the midst of the Court, in a crimson velvet chair, having -a desk with a crimson velvet cushion before him; either side of him, -on the scarlet-hung benches, the fourscore members of the Court seated -themselves, all with their hats on; sixteen gentlemen with partisans -stood either side the Court; before a table, set at the feet of the -President and covered with a rich Turkey carpet on which lay the sword, -stood the Serjeant-at-Arms with the mace; the Clerk of the Court sat at -this table also. - -A company of guards was placed about the Hall to keep order, and -everywhere, in the body of the Court and in the galleries, was a great -expectant press of people. - -After the Court had been sitting about ten minutes, the prisoner -arrived in the charge of Colonel Tomlinson and a company of gentlemen -with partisans. - -As he entered some of the soldiers cried out, "Execution! Execution! -Justice against the traitor at the Bar!" - -The Serjeant-at-Arms met the King and conducted him to the Bar, where a -crimson velvet chair was placed for him. - -Charles looked sternly at the Court, up at the galleries and the -multitude gathered in the body of the Hall; then he seated himself, -without moving his hat. - -He was dressed more richly than Lord Digby remembered him to have been -for some time; his suit was black velvet and pale blue silk, with -Flemish lace and silver knots; he carried a long cane in his hand and -a pair of doeskin gloves. He was scarcely seated before he rose up -again and moved about and looked down at the spectators with a smile of -unutterable haughtiness. Lord Digby was near enough to remark that he -looked in good health, vigorous, and composed. - -Suddenly he glanced up at the Lord President, and though he must have -remarked the scarlet robe, he did not change colour. - -"I shall desire a word--to be heard a little," he said, "and hope I -shall give no occasion of interruption." - -"You may answer in your time," replied Bradshaw coldly. "Hear the Court -first." - -"If it please you, sir, I desire to be heard," said the King. "And -I shall not give any occasion of interruption--and it is only in a -word--a sudden judgment----" - -"Sir," interrupted the Lord President, "you shall be heard in due time, -but you are to hear the Court first----" - -"Sir, I desire--it will be in answer to what I believe the Court will -say--sir, a hasty judgment is not so soon recalled----" - -"Sir," replied the Lord President sternly, "you shall be heard before -the judgment be given, and in the meantime you may forbear." - -Charles took his seat again, saying, "Well, sir, shall I be heard -before judgment be given?" - -The Lord President now proceeded to address the Court. - -"Gentlemen, it is well known to most of you that the prisoner at the -Bar hath been several times convened before the Court to make answer to -a charge of treason----" - -Here the King looked up and laughed in the face of the Court. - -"--and other high crimes exhibited against him in the name of the -People of England----" - -A shrill woman's voice interrupted from one of the galleries--"Not half -the People!" The King smiled, and there was some disturbance while the -lady was silenced or removed. - -Bradshaw continued: "To which charge being required to answer, he -began to take on him to offer reasoning and debate unto the authority -of the Court to try and judge him; but being overruled in that, and -still required to make his answer, he was still pleased to continue -contumacious, and to refuse to submit or answer. - -"Thereupon the Court have considered of the charge; they have -considered of the contumacy and of the notoriety of the fact charged -upon the prisoner, and have agreed upon the sentence to be pronounced -against this prisoner." - -The Lord President paused a moment, and a low hum went through the -Court. The King threw back his head with that expression of incredulous -haughtiness still on his face. - -"The prisoner doth desire to be heard," continued Bradshaw, "before the -sentence be pronounced, and the Court hath resolved that they will hear -him." - -Charles rose; his scornful eyes flickered along the faces of his judges -and rested for a second on the white countenance of Oliver Cromwell, -who was looking at him intently. - -The Lord President addressed the King-- - -"Yet, sir, this much I must tell you beforehand, which you have been -minded of before, that if that you have to say be to offer any debate -concerning jurisdiction, you are not to be heard in it--you have -offered it formerly and you have indeed struck at the root, that is, -the power and supreme authority of the Commons of England--but, sir, if -you have anything to say in defence of yourself concerning the matter -charged, the Court hath given me in command to let you know that they -will hear you." - -The King caught hold of the bar in front of him. He began to speak; -at first his voice, though steady, was so low that only those near -could hear him; he addressed himself to Bradshaw, but he faced all his -judges, and his glance travelled from one to another. - -At last Lord Digby, straining forward through the press, caught some -words. - -"... This many a day all things have been taken away from me, but -that which I call more dear to me than my life, my honour, and my -conscience--and if I had respect to my life more than the peace of the -kingdom, the liberty of the subject, certainly I should have made a -particular defence for myself, for by that at leastwise I might have -deferred an ugly sentence, which I believe will pass on me." - -He then asked to be heard in the Painted Chamber before the Lords and -Commons before any sentence was given. - -As he concluded he raised his voice and spoke with great nobleness and -force. - -"And if I cannot get this liberty I do here protest that so fair shows -of liberty and peace are pure shows and not otherwise since you will -not hear your King." - -A hush followed his speech; Cromwell whispered to a neighbour; a faint -sunlight penetrated the narrow Gothic window and touched to brilliancy -John Bradshaw in his scarlet robes among his crimson cushions. - -"Sir, you have spoken," he said. - -"Yes, sir," replied the King, looking at him austerely. - -The sunlight strengthened; the judge blazed in his unrelieved red; the -prisoner was still in shadow; he stood with his hands on the bar; Lord -Digby could see that he was biting his under-lip. - -"What you have said," announced Bradshaw, "is a further declining of -the jurisdiction of this Court, which was the thing wherein you were -limited before----" - -The King's voice cut his speech. - -"Pray excuse me, sir, for my interruption, because you mistake me--it -is not a declining of it; you do judge me before you hear me speak. -I say I will not, I do not decline, though I cannot acknowledge the -jurisdiction of this Court----" - -A deep humming from the Court drowned the rest of his speech. - -Bradshaw, stern, slightly flushed, and in a voice of terrible import, -made reply-- - -"Sir, this is not altogether new that you have moved unto us--not -altogether new to us, though it is the first time in person that you -have offered it to the Court. Sir, you say you do not decline the -jurisdiction of the Court." - -"Not in this that I have said," answered Charles swiftly. - -"I understand you well, sir," said the Lord President; "but, -nevertheless, that which you have offered seems to be contrary to that -saying of yours--for the Court are ready to give a sentence." - -The very slightest quiver disturbed the King's face; he sought for his -handkerchief, found it, and wiped his lips, looking down the while. - -"It is not as you say," continued Bradshaw sternly, "that we will not -hear our King--we have been ready to hear you, we have patiently waited -your pleasure for three Courts together, to hear what you would say to -the People's charges against you, to which you have not vouchsafed to -give any answer at all." - -As Lord Digby, pressed in the pushing crowd, listened to these words -and gazed at the awful scene a sickness came over him; he saw that -terrible red of judge and cushion, chair and bench float in a mist -before his eyes, and through that scarlet blur the King's figure, -stripped now of the inviolate sacredness of Majesty--merely a man, a -desperate man in a sea of enemies, making a last stand for his life. - -Bradshaw concluded his speech by saying that the Court would withdraw -to the Court of Awards to consider of the King's request to be heard in -the Painted Chamber, and so they moved out, leaving the red chair and -the red benches bare. - -Charles was also removed; as he passed the sword lying on the table -covered with the Turkey carpet he said, "I do not fear that," and -Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Harrison, hearing the words, looked at him -over their shoulders as they went out. - -Lord Digby struggled nearer the front and cried out, "God save your -Majesty!" hoping the King would recognize his voice, but it was lost in -cries of "Justice!" and "Execution!" which rose from the soldiers. - -After half an hour the Court returned and the Serjeant-at-Arms brought -back the prisoner. Charles now held in his hand a small bunch of herbs, -and truly the atmosphere was stifling; he was still composed, but his -face was now as white as the wall behind him; he seated himself and -folded his arms. - -Bradshaw addressed him; he was not to be allowed to go before the Lords -and Commons in the Painted Chamber. "The judges are resolved to proceed -to punishment and to judgment, and that is their unanimous resolution." - -Some of the spectators groaned; the sense of impending doom, calamity, -and horror spread from one to another. Charles rose; he was not a whit -abashed or lowered in his pride, but there was a passion in his tones, -a ringing challenge in his words, which were the indications of an -inner despair. - -"I know it is vain for me to dispute," he said. "I am no sceptic for -to deny the power you have--I know that you have power enough! I -confess, sir, I think it would have been for the kingdom's peace if you -had shown the lawfulness of your power!" His haughty contempt showed -for a moment unmasked, his look, his bearing, his voice, defied them -utterly. "For this delay that I have desired, I confess it is a delay, -but a delay very important to the peace of the kingdom, for it is not -my person that I look on alone, it is the kingdom's welfare and the -kingdom's peace--it is an old sentence that we should think long before -we resolve of great matters--therefore, sir, I do say again, that I do -put at your doors all the inconveniency of a hasty sentence. I confess -I have been here this week, this day eight days ago was the day I -came here first, but a little delay of a day or two further may give -peace--whereas a hasty judgment may bring on that trouble and perpetual -inconveniency to the kingdom that the child which is unborn may repent -it." He paused a second, then raised his voice slightly. "Therefore -again, out of the duty I owe to God, and to my country, I do desire -that I may be heard by the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber, or -any other chamber that you will appoint me." - -The sixty-eight judges made no movement; Bradshaw, whose dignity and -unfaltering composure were as remarkable as the dignity and composure -of the prisoner, considering the extraordinary position in which he, a -mere Cheshire gentleman, was now placed towards his sovereign, and what -a responsibility he was taking on himself, what undying vengeance, what -possibly horrible fate he was facing if the tide should one day turn, -briefly replied that the Court had made their resolution and again -asked Charles if he had anything to say for himself before sentence was -delivered. - -The King, facing him, replied-- - -"I say this, sir, that if you will hear me, if you will but give this -delay, I doubt not but I shall give some satisfaction to you all here, -and to my People, after that. And, therefore, I do require you, as you -shall answer it at the dreadful Day of Judgment, that you will consider -it once again." - -It was what he had said since he had first been put on trial, a -steady refusal to recognize this Court (as on all legal grounds he -was justified in doing), a refusal to plead or argue the cause, a -repetition of the haughty demand--"By what authority?" Before the -Lords and Commons he might defend himself, not before this tribunal of -his rebellious subjects. But as deeply rooted, as unyielding, as his -refusal to recognize the Court was the Court's intention to judge and -condemn him; they were there to make inquisition for blood, and not one -of them faltered in their stern task. - -In answer to the King's last speech Bradshaw said merely, "Sir, I have -received direction from the Court." - -The King sat down. - -"Well, sir," he said, and looked about him with utter haughtiness. - -"The Court will proceed to sentence," continued the Lord President, "if -you have nothing more to say." - -Lord Digby and many others held their breath: would the King, even now, -disdain to answer to his charge? - -He looked at Bradshaw and very faintly smiled. - -"Sir," he said, "I have nothing more to say, but I shall desire that -this may be entered--what I have said." - -He knew as he spoke that his last hope had gone; he put the herbs to -his nostrils and his thoughts flew to Paris and the woman waiting -there.... The winter sun had faded; the crimson and scarlet glowed -through a sombre shadow of river mist and afternoon fog, which began to -encroach upon the Court and blot the eager faces and blur the coloured -garments and dim the glitter of the great bare sword at which the King, -turning in his chair, looked curiously. - -"The Court, sir, hath something more to say to you," said Bradshaw, -"which, although I know it will be very unacceptable, yet they are -resolved to discharge their duty. Sir, you speak very well of a -precious thing, which you call Peace, and it is much to be wished that -God had put it into your heart that you had as effectually and really -endeavoured and studied the peace of the kingdom, as now in words you -do pretend--but, as you were told the other day, actions must expound -intentions--yet your actions have been clean contrary." - -In this strain the speech continued, delivered with clearness, with -force and point, yet with a rapidity that strained the speed of the -licensed penmen who were taking down the report of the trial. - -Bradshaw spoke with learning, with eloquence, with weight and fire; yet -what he said was but a repetition of the old grounds the Parliament had -taken since the beginning of the war; the law was above the King. The -King had defied the law and was therefore answerable. - -He cited many precedents, quoted many authorities, but he could not -disguise the illegality of the tribunal over which he presided, or -cloak the fact that the King was being judged by means as outside the -law as his had been when he had cast Sir John Eliot into the Tower or -forced John Hampton to pay ship money. - -The King had lost in the long struggle and was now paying the penalty -as they on the scarlet benches would have paid if he had been the -victor. - -This fact Bradshaw might adorn with all dignity and eloquence--but it -remained obvious and undeniable. - -The Lord President spoke too long; the crowd became restless; and awful -as the moment was, unprecedented as was the occasion, human weakness -and human levity prevailed. Some yawned, some fought their way out for -fresh supplies of food and drink, some went away to spread the news the -King was doomed. - -Some followed the speech eagerly enough and hummed their approbation, -some shouted protests and were thrown out by the soldiers. - -Charles, listening to an indictment such as no king had ever listened -to before, in a situation in which no king had ever been before, sat -perfectly still, holding the herbs to his nostrils. - -To him this talk was mere waste of air; he was, as he had said, as -good a lawyer as any in the kingdom, and he knew that the Court which -Bradshaw so burningly justified had no shadow of legal right; he knew -that he was the victim of force, and he knew that he was suffering, not -so much for the offences which the Lord President laid to his charge, -as because he had remained faithful to the Church of England and the -Divine right of kings; he knew that if he had forsaken these two tenets -even a few days ago when Lord Denbigh came to Windsor he might have -been saved. - -And he did not regret his firmness--even at this moment. - -Once, when Bradshaw, appealing to history, said, "You are the hundred -and ninth King of Scotland," he moved, and his look brightened as if he -had been recalled from wandering thoughts to the present moment; and -when the Lord President spoke of the violent end of his grandmother, -Mary Stewart, he started a little and frowned. - -For the rest he was motionless and silent, save only when Bradshaw -arraigned him as, "Tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the -Commonwealth of England"; then he blushed and cried out, "Ha!" - -The Lord President, spurred afresh by this cry of defiance, proceeded -to prove these charges against the King, reinforcing them with texts of -Scripture, and so upbraiding and fiercely condemning the King that at -last Charles, amid a general murmur and buzz of the Court, sprang to -his feet. - -"I would only desire one word before you give sentence," he said, "and -that is that you hear me concerning those great imputations that you -have laid to my charge!" - -"Sir," replied Bradshaw undauntedly, "you must give me leave to go -on--for I am not far from your sentence and your time is now past----" - -Again Charles interrupted. - -"But I desire that you will hear me a few words only--for truly -whatever sentence you will put upon me in respect of those heavy -imputations that I see by your speech you have put upon me--sir, it is -very true that----" - -"Sir," said Bradshaw, with great sternness, "I would not willingly, -especially at this time, interrupt you in anything you have to say, -but, sir, you have not owned us as a Court--you look upon us as a sort -of people met together--and we know what language we receive from your -party." - -"I know nothing of that!" exclaimed Charles contemptuously. - -Bradshaw continued with the old bitter grievance: "You disavow us as -a Court"--and on that theme spoke a little longer, the King the while -facing him, leaning forward eagerly, with clenched hands and white -face, frowning. - -"We cannot be unmindful of what the Scripture tells us, for to acquit -the guilty is of equal abomination as to condemn the innocent. We may -not acquit the guilty. What sentence the law affirms to a traitor, -tyrant, a murderer, and a public enemy to the country, that sentence -you are now to hear read unto you, and that is the sentence of the -Court." - -There was a great movement in the Hall as of a wave advancing, then -flung back. Oliver Cromwell put his hands before his face; the King did -not move. - -"Read the sentence," said Bradshaw. "Make an oyer and command silence -while the sentence is read." - -Which was done by the Clerk of the Court, and silence indeed fell--a -silence which seemed to shudder. - -The Clerk read over the charge from the parchment he held, and then -proceeded-- - -"This charge being read unto him, he, the said Charles Stewart, was -required to give his answer, but he refused to do so, and so expressed -the several passages of his trial in refusing to answer. For all which -Treasons and Crimes this Court doth adjudge that the said Charles -Stewart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy, shall be put -to death by the severing of his head from his body." - -Terrible sighs broke from the spectators; they swayed to and fro. The -King, now the moment had come, looked incredulous. - -"The sentence now read and published," said Bradshaw, "is the Act, -Sentence, Judgment, and Resolution of the whole Court." - -At this the sixty-eight judges stood up to show their assent. - -"Will you hear me a word, sir?" cried Charles. - -"Sir," returned Bradshaw, "you are not to be heard after the sentence." - -"No, sir?" - -"No, sir--by your favour, sir. Guard, withdraw your prisoner." - -The partisans closed round Charles; incredulous, outraged, he continued -to protest. - -"I may speak after the sentence--by your favour, sir, I may speak after -the sentence--ever----" - -The guards caught hold of him none too civilly. - -"I say, sir, I do," cried the unfortunate King--then sternly to the -soldier who had seized his arm, "Hold!"--"by your favour the sentence, -sir----" - -They pushed and dragged him away. He raised his voice. - -"I am not suffered for to speak! Expect what justice other people will -have!" - -So, still incredulous, protesting, he was forced away, and the Court -rose and went into the Painted Chamber. - -Lord Digby made his way out of the crowd; he found a dun mist over -London and rows of Cromwell's Ironsides keeping guard outside the Hall. - -As the King passed out with his guards on his way to Sir Robert -Cotton's, one of these men called out, "God bless you, sir!" and his -officer struck him on the face. - -"It is a severe punishment for a little offence," said Charles. He was -now quite calm. - -The mist deepened, blotting out the surging crowd, some of whom wept -and some of whom were silent, but none of whom openly rejoiced. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -EXIT THE KING - - -The Dutch Ambassador interceded for the King; the Queen and the Prince -of Wales wrote, offering to accept any conditions Parliament might -require if only the King might be spared; but the stern enthusiasts who -had resolved to sacrifice the blood of the tyrant were not to be turned -from their purpose now by any entreaty or threat whatever; the thing -they were about to do was awful, incredible to the whole world, but -they were not to be stopped now. The Scottish commissioners spoke for -the King, too, but in vain; neither they nor the others got any answer. - -That day, Monday, the King was permitted to take leave of the only -two of his children left in England--the Duke of Gloucester and the -Princess Elisabeth; that day Oliver Cromwell and his colleagues signed -the death-warrant at Whitehall. - -The next day was appointed for the execution; the King slept that night -at St. James's Palace, but Oliver Cromwell, in the rich chamber in -Whitehall, slept not at all, but prayed from candlelight to dawn, then -armed himself and went out to meet the other commissioners who were -in the banqueting hall, urging that the workmen be hastened with the -scaffold in front of the Palace, which was not yet ready, nor did look -to be ready before the King came. - -Charles slept; neither dreams nor visions disturbed him, and when he -woke, two hours before the dawn, he remembered everything at once, very -clearly. - -He remembered that he was to die to-day, that he had taken leave of his -children and given Elisabeth two diamond seals for her mother.... He -remembered that he would never see the Queen again, and that he left -her an exile dependent on her sister-in-law, the Regent of France. - -And as he got out of bed he remembered Lord Strafford. - -He dressed himself with great slowness and care in the clothes he had -worn during his trial; he put on two shirts and a blue silk vest, for -it was cold and he had no wish to shiver; he exactly adjusted the black -and silver, the Flemish lace, the knots of ribbon; he combed his hair -and arranged it in the long, smooth ringlets.... Once or twice while he -was dressing he paused. - -"O God," he said, "am I--the King--going to die to-day?" - -He was still incredulous; it seemed to himself that his feelings were -suspended. He moved mechanically; he had an almost childish anxiety not -to tremble; he kept holding out his right hand and looking at it; when -he saw that it was steady he smiled. - -When he came to fasten his doublet he went to the mirror framed in -embroidery and tortoise-shell, which hung at the foot of his bed, and -then he noticed that his face was slightly distorted--at one side drawn -with a strange contraction.... Yet he told himself that he felt quite -calm; he tried to smooth that look away from his features with his -fingers, then moved away abruptly and opened the window. - -He wondered what Strafford had looked like just before his death, and -it came to him that he was enduring what Strafford had endured--minute -by minute the same--he was also the same age as Strafford had been, to -the very year. - -He sat down in the great arm-chair by the bed and tried to think; -what a failure his life had been, what a collapse of all hopes and -ambitions--how incomplete; he was very, very weary of the long -struggle which he had maintained so unyieldingly, and not sorry to have -it ended. - -Yet it was an awful thing to die this way--and so suddenly. - -Only a month ago he had been at Windsor, firmly believing that his -enemies would destroy each other, firmly believing that he would once -more come to Whitehall, a king, and hang all these rebels and traitors. - -And now it was all over, all the hopes and fears, suspenses and -agitations, all the struggles and defeats and intrigues; there were -only a few hours of time left, and only one thing more to do--to die -decently. - -He put on his shoes with the big crimson roses, his light sword, his -George with the collar of knots and roses, his black velvet cloak; -then as the dawn began to blur the candlelight, Bishop Juxon, whose -attendance had been permitted him, came to him. It was this Bishop -who had urged him not to assent to Strafford's death--how well both -men remembered that now--across all the tumultuous events which lay -between--how well! - -Charles rose. - -"I thank you for your loyalty, my lord," he said; and then he was -silent, for he thought that his voice sounded unnatural. - -"May Your Majesty wake to-morrow so glorified that you will forget -to-day!" replied the Bishop. - -"To-morrow!" repeated Charles absently. "Ay, to-morrow--you will get up -to-morrow and move and eat--ay, to-morrow----" - -"To-morrow thou wilt be in Paradise, sire," replied Juxon firmly, and a -sincere hope and courage shone in his eyes, which were red and swollen -with weeping. - -"I die for the Church of England," said the King quickly. "They may say -what they will, but if I had abandoned Episcopacy I might have lived." - -"God knoweth it," answered the Bishop solemnly, "and men will know it -after a little while." - -Charles took up his hat, his gloves, his cane, and without speaking -followed the Bishop into the little royal chapel where he had so often -worshipped in happier times. - -He took the Sacrament; when the ceremony was over a calm, almost -a lethargy, fell on his spirits; he tried to think of great and -tremendous things, of what was behind him and what was before him, -but his brain slipped from them; even the Queen had become absolutely -remote. He found himself wondering how Strafford had felt at this same -moment in his life. - -When he left the chapel he went to one of the antechambers and waited. - -Trivial things attracted his attention: he noticed that the ceiling -needed repainting, and, looking down at his collar of the George, the -foolish thought occurred to him as he saw the enamelled blossoms that -he would never behold real roses again, for this was winter and there -would be no flowers in the park which he would have to pass through. - -He wished that he could fix his mind on something high and splendid now -there was so little longer left in which to think of anything, and it -distressed him that he could not. - -None of this appeared in his demeanour; he sat, looking very stately -and noble, with his cloak wrapped round him for the cold and his cane -in his hand. - -"The omens were against me from the first," he said suddenly. "I was -crowned in white, like a shroud, and at my coronation sermon the text -was: 'Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a crown of -Eternal Life'; then my flag was blown down at Nottingham--and the other -day, at what they call my trial, the head fell off my cane." - -This speech showed that his mind still ran on worldly things; but Juxon -seized hold on a portion of his words with which to give him comfort. - -"Thou hast been faithful unto death," he said, "and to-day will enter -on to Eternal Life." - -"I said I would die rather than betray the Church of England," -answered Charles, "and I have redeemed it to the letter." - -As he spoke there entered unceremoniously Colonel Hacker, one of the -three officers appointed to convey him to Whitehall. - -Charles rose with such majesty and undaunted dignity that the stout -Puritan was, for a moment, abashed, and held out his warrant in silence. - -"I submit to your power, but I defy your authority," said the King -contemptuously, and with that clapped on his hat and followed the -officer, Juxon following him. - -When they reached the fresh air Charles felt a new vigour, a certain -excitement; in all the depth of his fall and the bitterness of his -humiliation, in all the extreme of his failure and the mightiness of -his defeat, he had his own inner triumph. He might be broken but he was -not bent; he died a King, not yielding a jot of his rights, bequeathing -to his son a lost heritage, but one uncurtailed by any concession of -his. He was dying for his beliefs--because he would not forgo them they -were killing him; he found satisfaction in that thought. - -When he came to where his escort of guards waited, he cried out in his -usual tone of authority, "March on apace!" - -It was now about ten o'clock; the heavy air had hardly lifted over -London, but it was pleasant in the Park, and from the bare fields -and hedgerows beyond came a waft of winter freshness; all the view -was blocked by people and regiment upon regiment of soldiers, all -motionless and expressionless. - -"It is an ordinary day," said Charles, "like a hundred other days, but -it shall long be marked with red in England's calendar." - -The people, overawed by the soldiers and by the terror of the occasion, -were strangely silent as he passed; the prevailing emotion seemed a -desperate curiosity, as if they waited, breathless, to know if this -horrific thing could really come to pass. - -The King thought of nothing but of how Strafford had walked so.... - -When he came to Whitehall he was conducted to his own bedchamber; there -was a fire burning and a breakfast laid for him. In these familiar -surroundings, where some of the happy moments of his splendid life -had been spent, a faint horror came over him, and he felt his knees -tremble; he found, too, that a physical sickness touched him at the -sight of the food. - -"I have taken the Sacrament," he said briefly. Then he asked of the -soldiers still attending him--"How long?"--and they told him "Till the -scaffold was finished." - -"It is terrible," said Charles to the bishop, "to wait." - -The Commissioners were waiting too. Oliver Cromwell was in the -boarded gallery, and with him was one Nunelly, the doorkeeper to the -committee of the army, who had a warrant of £50,000 to deliver to the -Lieutenant-General, with them were Major Harrison and Mr. Hugh Peters. - -"O Lord!" cried this last, "what mercy to see this great city fall down -before us! And what a stir there is to bring this great man to justice, -without whose blood he would turn us all to blood had he reigned again!" - -Oliver Cromwell took the packet from Nunelly; he was quite white, and -his hand shook so that twice the package dropped. - -"Nunelly," he said hoarsely, "will you see the beheading of the -King--surely you will see the beheading of the King?" - -And without waiting for an answer he began to pace up and down, in -uncontrollable agitation and excitement. - -And presently Hugh Peters and Richard Nunelly went out into the -banqueting hall, and out of the centre window on to the scaffold where -the joiners were yet at work driving staples in. - -When they returned to the boarded gallery, Cromwell and Harrison were -still there. - -"This will be a good day," said Peters. - -"Are you not afraid that it will be a bloody day to all England?" asked -Nunelly fearfully. - -"This is not a thing done in a corner," replied Harrison calmly, "but -before the world. I follow not my own poor judgment, but the revealed -word of God in His Holy Scriptures." - -Cromwell turned to Peters who stood in his black cloak and hat like -death's own herald. - -"Is it ready?" he asked. "Why this delay--this intolerable delay?" - -His voice shook as he spoke. - -"Are the vizards ready?" he asked again. - -"Ay, it is Brandon the hangman and the fellow Hulet, and they are to -have thirty pounds apiece--and now, I think, Colonel Hacker may go to -fetch the King," replied Peters. - -"Will you see him pass?" asked Harrison. - -"I will not look on him again, alive or dead!" replied Cromwell -sombrely. - -But Peters and Nunelly went to an upper window where they might have a -good view.... - -In his bedchamber the King still waited; the soldiers had withdrawn -and left him alone with Juxon, to whom the dying man gave his last -instructions, and one, above all, important. - -"Let my son forgive his father's murderers--and let _him always -maintain the Church of England and his own royal rights in this -realm_--let him make no compromise on these points. And let my -younger sons never be cajoled into taking their brother's place--my -son Charles, who, in a few moments now, will be King of England and -Scotland." - -"I promise," said Juxon. - -Then the King rose and walked up and down. - -"Jesus, God!" he cried, "spare me this waiting!" - -"I implore Your Majesty to eat and drink a little," entreated the -bishop, and Charles, who felt himself indeed sick and faint, drank a -glass of claret and eat a piece of bread. When he had finished he took -a white satin cap from his pocket and gave it to Juxon, also his watch, -with some broken words of thanks. Then Colonel Hacker came, and the -King turned to go through the splendid galleries of his old home to his -death. - -He had his hat on and said not a word; beneath his composure he was -struggling to overcome the physical weakness that beset him, rendering -him incapable of high thoughts; the sensitive flesh shrank from what it -had to face; already he felt a ring of pain round his neck. - -The fine apartments, the paintings, the rich furniture still there, -swam dizzily before his eyes; but he walked firmly.... - -Colonel Hacker led the way; they stepped through the centre window of -the banqueting hall on to a scaffold hung with black, on which stood -the two vizards or headsmen; both of whom wore frieze breeches and -coats--one had a grey beard showing beneath the mask, the other was -disguised with a light wig. When Charles stepped out of the window he -recoiled with a repulsion no pride could control. In the foreground -the two black figures, and beyond a sea of white faces, all looking -at him; even the soldiers, horse and foot, their red coats and steel -brightening the grey morning, were looking at him--all in silence. - -His glance fell to the block. "Is it so low?" he asked, in a horrified -way. Then he recovered himself and turned to the few about him. - -"It was the Parliament began the war, not I," he said, "but I hope they -may be guiltless too, and all blame may go to the ill instruments which -came between us"--here one of the officers touched the axe, and the -King cried out--"Take care of the axe! take care of the axe!"--resuming -afterwards his speech. "The government rests with the King and not with -the people, in that belief and in the faith of the Church of England I -die." - -He laid off his cloak and hat, then added with great wistfulness-- - -"In one respect I suffer justly, and that is because I have permitted -an unjust sentence to be executed on another." - -He took off his George and the little miniature of the Queen (which he -kissed), and gave them to Juxon. - -He gave a purse of guineas to the grey-bearded vizard with the axe, who -knelt to ask his pardon, and again that awful sickness closed over his -heart. - -"Take care they do not put me to pain," he said to Colonel Hacker, -and his lips trembled. Then to the man, "I shall say but very short -prayers, and then thrust out my hands--at this sign do you strike." - -"I will warrant, sir," said Colonel Hacker, "the fellow is skilful." - -The King now took off his doublet, sword, and sword-string, doing it -carefully that he might gain time for perfect composure at the supreme -minute. - -Juxon approached him. - -"Your Majesty hath but one more stage to travel in this weary world, -and though that is a turbulent and troublesome stage, it is a short -one, and will carry Your Majesty all the way from earth to heaven." - -Charles looked at St. James's Palace showing beyond the multitude of -faces. - -"I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side," he said. He took -the white satin cap from the bishop, and put his hair up in it; a -slight figure he looked now in the straight blue vest and white cap. - -The church bells struck half-past twelve, the sluggard sun sent faint -rays through the low winter clouds. The King knelt down. "Remember," he -said to Juxon. - -A great excitement steadied him, driving away the sickness; this was -the end, the end--and after? - -He placed his forehead in the niche of the block; the position was -uncomfortable, and he was staring down at the black covering of the -scaffold floor. - -He closed his eyes, clutching his hands on his breast; he felt the -keen air on his bare neck, and confused visions leaped before him. He -tried to pray. - -"Lord Jesus," he murmured swiftly. "Lord Jesus----" he could think of -nothing more; with an almost mechanical movement he threw out his hands. - -He heard the headsman step nearer; he set his teeth. - -The axe struck cleanly; the blood was over all of them, and the vizard -with the light wig held up by the long grey curls the head which had -bounded to his feet. - -"God save the people of England!" said Colonel Hacker. - -A deep and awful groan broke from the multitude, and the soldiers, -hitherto immovable, turned about in all directions, clearing the -streets. - - - - -PART IV - -THE ACHIEVEMENT - - -"We are Englishmen; that is one good account. And if God give a nation -valour and courage, it is honour and a mercy."--OLIVER P., 1656, -_Speech to Parliament, Tuesday, 16th Sept., in the Painted Chamber_. - - -"I was by birth a gentleman living neither in any considerable height -nor yet in obscurity. I have been called to several employments in the -Nation.... I did endeavour to discharge the duty of an honest man in -those services."--OLIVER P., _ibid._, _12th Sept. 1654_. - - -"If my calling be from God and my testimony from the People--only God -and the People will take it from me, else I shall not part with it--I -should be false to the trust that God hath placed in me, and to the -interest of the people of these nations if I should."--OLIVER P., -_ibid._ - - - - -CHAPTER I - -"THE CROWNING MERCY" - - -On a soft golden blue day in September 1651, when the trees were still -in full leafage in the Park, and the river reflected a sky veiled with -delicate white clouds, when the last sheaves of corn were standing in -the fields beyond St. James's Palace, and the orchards near glowed all -red with fruit, a crowd was gathered in the streets of London--a crowd -as vast and as excited as that which had waited to hear the verdict -on Lord Strafford, or had thronged to witness the awful scene outside -Whitehall when the King knelt before the headsman. - -On both these occasions the people, if triumphant, in the first -instance, were still awestruck and silenced, in the second, by the -portents of great events and by the magnitude of the terrible daring -of their leaders. Now they were triumphant openly, rejoicing almost -light-heartedly; the King had died a traitor's death and the skies -had not fallen; other great men had followed him in his final fate, -and none had avenged them. The present Charles Stewart, called the -King of Scots since his coronation at Scone, was flying the country, -a proscribed fugitive; the Commonwealth, proclaimed after the death -of the late King, was a year and a half old and had shown no signs of -weakness nor unstability, and to-day the people were got together to -welcome home the Lord-General, Oliver Cromwell, who was returning after -having subdued Ireland and Scotland as those Islands had never yet been -subdued. - -Fire and sword had swept Ireland from coast to coast; Cromwell had -not spared the enemies of the Lord, as Drogheda could witness, Papist -priests had been hanged or knocked on the head, Papist garrisons -massacred, Papist peasants transported, Papist gentry forbidden their -religion, and driven from their estates into the desolate regions of -Connaught. - -Without pause or hesitation or check, with fierceness, vigour, and -irresistible onslaught, Cromwell had overcome Ireland, and had left the -unfortunate country, silenced now with her own blood, to cherish for -ever a terrible image of this Englishman, and a terrible hatred. - -Next, he turned against Scotland, where the second Charles, having -denounced the faith of his father, and the religion of his mother, -having taken the Covenant (submitting in a moment to those things which -the late King had died rather than yield to), was setting up once more -the standard of the Stewarts. - -Cromwell (now Lord-General, for Fairfax, too cold and meticulous for -these times, had retired) met the Scots at Dunbar and beat Lord Leven -and David Leslie as thoroughly as he had beaten Hamilton at Preston, -and with troops as tired, hungry, and outnumbered, as they had been -hungry and outnumbered then. Dunbar Drove they called this, as they had -called the other Preston Rout. - -Both were mighty victories. - -Then, a year later, on the 3rd of September, the anniversary of Dunbar, -Cromwell, supported by Lambert and Harrison, marched to meet another -invading army of Scots headed by the young Charles, and on the banks -and bridges of the Severn and in the streets of Worcester city, beat -them again, ruining completely the cause of the young Stewart, who -watched the day from the cathedral tower, then fled, hopeless, not to -Scotland, but beyond seas, this time to seek an asylum at his sister's -court. - -That was the end of it. Cromwell had subdued kings and kingdoms; there -was no one left to lead any army across the Border or ships across St. -George's Channel, and neither of the sister islands would be likely -to attempt to measure swords with England again. There were no more -gallant Cavaliers to rise up for a lost cause. Montrose had been hanged -in Edinburgh, and the young King for whom he died had repudiated him -almost before the heroic soul had left the gallant body. Hamilton, -Capel, Holland, Derby, had suffered on the block, kissing the axe -that had slain their master; the rest were beyond seas, in exile and -poverty, or in their own country outnumbered, forlorn, impoverished, -and silenced. - -And the man who had thus achieved the triumphs of his cause and his -beliefs, the soldier who had been victorious in every engagement he had -undertaken, whose enthusiasm, fire, and faith had heartened his party -when even the bravest had been daunted, was the man who was riding into -London to-day, welcomed by salvos of artillery and pealing of bells. - -Five of the foremost Members of Parliament had ridden out to meet him -on his march. One of the royal palaces, that of Hampton, had been given -him as a residence; he enjoyed now a grant of nearly six thousand a -year, and in his train, as he entered London, were many of the noblest -in the country, and with him rode the Lord Mayor, the Speaker, the -Council of State, the Aldermen, and Sheriffs. - -It was noticed that his carriage was simple and modest; the triumphant -conclusion of the nine years' struggle had no more power to shake him -from the calm inspired by his sombre creed and intense beliefs than -the rebuffs, confusions and temptations of the struggle itself. He was -still, in his own eyes, as much God's mere instrument as when he sowed -his grain and reaped his harvest in Huntingdon; and the future and his -rise or fall were as absolutely preordained by the Lord now as then. - -With a modesty that was absolutely unaffected he declined all credit -for his overwhelming victories; and with a simplicity some mistook -for irony (but irony was not in his nature), he remarked of the huge -multitude which had gathered to see him pass: "There would be even more -to see me hanged," so exactly did he value the popular favour, and so -completely was he aware of the peril of the height on which he stood. - -When the triumphal entry was over and evening was closing in, he turned -at last to his own home. - -One sadness marred the return; Henry Ireton had died in Ireland, worn -out by the fatigues of the strenuous campaign which had more than -once laid the Lord-General himself on a bed of sickness, and Bridget -Ireton was shut into her house, mourning her lord, whose body was being -brought home for burial in the Abbey Church at Westminster. - -The rest were all there to welcome him; his mother, his wife, his -son Richard, now at last wedded to Dorothy Mayor (Henry was still in -Ireland, doing good work there), Elisabeth Claypole and her husband, -and the two unmarried girls, Mary and Frances. - -The women wept, in their enthusiasm and joyful relief. Elisabeth -Claypole hung on his breast in a passion of tears, so completely did -the sadness of the world overwhelm her sensitive heart in any moment of -emotion. - -Almost her first words were to ask his kindness towards the poor Irish -who were being sent to Jamaica and Barbadoes as slaves. After all -Cromwell's victories his favourite daughter's delicate voice had risen -with the same appeal: "Be merciful, be pitiful--spare the prisoners!" - -"Why do you weep, Betty?" he asked. - -"Because she is a foolish wench," said her husband good-humouredly. - -"Nay," said Elisabeth Cromwell, "what doth your old poet say--'pity -runneth soon in a gentle heart'; and we have had to bear some straining -anxieties." - -"And we have heard awful reports," murmured Mrs. Claypole, smiling -through her tears with that simple archness which her father loved, -however he might contemn her carnal mind. "Blood--nothing but blood -was spoken of, until my dreams were coloured red." - -"Ay," said old Mrs. Cromwell, with the vagueness of her great age. -"Hast thou not slain the children of the Scarlet Woman by tens of -thousands? I heard that at Drogheda thou didst close the blasphemous -idolaters into their own church, and there burn them, as an offering of -sweet savour in the nostrils of the Lord." - -Cromwell glanced at his daughter Elisabeth, and answered nothing; the -cries of the burning Papists echoed sometimes in his own heart for -all his stern exaltation in slaying the enemies of God. For a moment -his brow clouded, but the subject was swept away and forgotten in the -congratulations, questions, and answers of Mr. Claypole and Richard -Cromwell. The times were still momentous, even perilous; now there was -peace what would they and all the other men of England do? - -While the Lord-General talked with these two, the women took the old -gentlewoman to her room; she could hardly walk now and her senses were -failing, the Bible was constantly in her hands, and she spoke of little -else but her son. - -When she had reached the chamber set apart for her, she got into her -chair by the window and looked at the sunset a little, half-dozing and -talking to herself, then she roused suddenly and asked Mrs. Claypole, -who tenderly remained with her, to "Fetch your father, child, fetch -your father. I have had little of him but the pain of his absences, and -I would see him now!" - -Elisabeth Claypole, light-footed and delicate in her glimmering white -and blue silks, sped on her errand, taking with her some of the last -late roses with which she had adorned her grandmother's room. - -When she gave her message she slipped the stems of two of them through -the button-hole of her father's dusty uniform. Their gay beauty looked -incongruous enough on his sober attire, but though his lips chid her, -his eyes smiled, and he let the blossoms remain. - -Elisabeth Cromwell was wondering, in sentences half-awed, half-vexed, -how she should keep house in a great place like Hampton Court?--how -many servants must she have, and how could they use such a number of -rooms? - -"We will come and stay with thee," said Dorothy, Richard's wife, -who was not averse to her share of her father-in-law's splendour. -Her pretty face was very bright and smiling to-day above the demure -fall of her lawn collar, and her gown was new silk, embroidered in a -fashion not uncourtly; her husband, too, was habited with a richness -beyond his father's. The Lord-General had not failed to mark his son's -wide, Spanish boots, fringed breeches, grey cloth passemented with -rose-colour, and Malines lace collar and fall. It did not please him, -for he took it as another indication of that weakness and levity which -he had before suspected, with a terrible pang, in his eldest surviving -son. - -He made no reply to Dorothy Cromwell, but followed his daughter to her -grandmother's room. - -That night there was a wonderful sunset, not only the west but the -whole horizon was gold, crimson, and scarlet; the earth seemed ringed -with fire, and the glow penetrated even into the narrow street, so that -there was the sense of a wonderful light and colour abroad--a light -brilliant and mystical, shed from heaven upon the earth. - -Oliver Cromwell crossed the room, which was dark and plain, but full -of the odour of dry rose leaves and lavender and camphire, and stood -before his mother who sat by the window, a small shrivelled gentlewoman -in a hooded chair. She lifted her blurred eyes and held out her two -little hands to him; he kissed them, and then as Elisabeth Claypole -left them he broke forth, "Mother, I am tired, tired." - -He rested his sick head against the mullions and gazed up at the little -strip of sky, glorious with floating clouds of light, visible above the -houses opposite. - -"How is it with thee, my son Oliver?" she asked. "Thou art come in -triumph with much acclaim, but hast thou within the peace of God, which -passeth all understanding?" - -He answered with a fervour and a quickness which was like the passion -of self-justification yet ennobled by his usual enthusiasm. - -"I have followed the pillar of cloud by day," he answered, "the pillar -of fire by night. I have disregarded the wind and the whirlwind, and I -have listened for the still small voice. _I believe God hath been with -me because of the victories I have had._" - -"Surely," replied Mrs. Cromwell, "He hath witnessed for thee as He -witnessed against the King. Is not this fight at Worcester spoken of on -all tongues as the crowning mercy?" - -The Lord-General continued to look at the sky which was fast paling -from flame tints into a burning paleness, like gold in a furnace, -thrice refined. - -"For nine years I have laboured," he said, "and not once hath the Lord -put me down. Yet sometimes the voice will fail, sometimes the Sign will -not come--sometimes I even seem to fall from grace--sometimes I wonder -why I ever left obscurity. Yet the Lord called me! I will maintain -it--He held up my hands and made me His instrument! I have been one -with the Spirit; I say it was God's work, for He did not put me down! -Now, it were better that I should lay aside my high office and return -to what I was." - -"It were better," said the old gentlewoman; "but can England spare you -yet? For me, I would rather die where I have lived than amid these -splendours." - -"I will go back to my own place," continued Oliver Cromwell. "I have -done what God set me to do--I have swept the enemy from the land, I -have seen the tyrant slain, and his children exiled. When shall the -young man, Charles Stewart, get another army? Nay, when he fled from -Worcester city, he fled from his throne for ever; his forces are -scattered and no captain out of Egypt shall ever get them together -again. I say the land is purged, and what work is there for me?" - -He was silent a moment, then he added, "I am weary and still something -sick." - -These recent sicknesses of his troubled him; he could not understand -the fault for which this weakness had been laid on him. Following out -his own thoughts he broke into speech again. - -"As for Drogheda, _I say it was in the heat of action_, and were they -not Papists, blasphemous idolaters whose hands were red with the blood -of God's poor people? _It was in the heat of action!_ What was that -little moment compared to the torments of hell they have earned? When -they were shut up in the church and the flames were getting hold on -them, I heard one say--'God damn me, God confound me, I burn!' That -is God's judgment. God _hath_ damned him--to the flame that is never -quenched and the worm that never dieth! Poor clay am I, but a reed -He breatheth through--shall I be blamed for His vengeance against -Drogheda? Nay, no more than I shall be praised for His victories at -Dunbar and Worcester--when He was pleased to make use of a certain poor -thing of mine, nay, a little invention, the army." - -The ancient gentlewoman leant forward and stroked his sleeve with her -pallid hand thickened with heavy veins. She had an instinct that he -required comforting in this the highest moment of his glory. - -He still wore his buff riding coat, his dusty boots, his plain -sword-thread and sword; surely no victorious general had ever returned -to take his triumph in such attire. No order, no ornament distinguished -him from the meanest of his fellow-citizens; his features, always -heavy, were slightly swollen and slightly suffused, his eyes most -deeply lined and shadowed; there was as much grey as brown now in the -locks that fell to his shoulders, and a general sadness was in his -expression, his pose, the tone of his rough voice. - -His little mother continued to anxiously stroke his cloth sleeve and to -gaze up at him with those failing eyes which saw neither marks of age -nor fatigue, saw neither plainness nor ill-health, but only _her_ son -in the glory of his matchless achievement. - -He looked down at her at last. - -"My mother," he said, "how long ago is it since I knelt to say my -prayers at your knee? I feel the years grow marvellously heavy and my -body full of the evils of old age. So little done, so much to do! For -all of us, such a little while." - -"Many more years for thee, son Oliver," she replied. "Many more and -much to do in them! If there be something to be done in England, wilt -thou not do it?" - -"Surely," he said, straightening himself, "for I am English--it is the -English who now testify most for the Lord, and He out of His mercy hath -given us great gifts." - -The last sunlight had faded from the narrow street, and the precise -chamber was growing dark. - -"God keep thee always," said Mrs. Cromwell quietly. "I would not hold -thee even from manifest danger if He bade thee go!" - -"I believe I never shall go back to Ely," he answered evenly. "My hand -is on the plough----" - -The door was gently opened and Elisabeth Claypole, holding a candle -which illumined her wistful, frail beauty, half entered and told them -the supper waited for them below. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE TALK IN ST. JAMES'S PARK - - -The Council of State had done well; great names were among the members. -Sir Harry Vane had devoted his patriotism and his great gifts to the -administration of the navy, which was under the command of William -Blake, already as renowned at sea as Cromwell on the land; the naval -war with the United Provinces was already taxing the resources of the -infant Commonwealth, and so far all had acquitted themselves with -honour and distinction. - -Rupert and his roving pirate ships had been swept from the seas, Deane -and Monk kept an iron hand on Scotland, Fleetwood and Ludlow completed -the bloody conquest of Ireland. Outwardly the new Republic might well -present a uniform and solid appearance; but within it seethed with -confusion. - -The main cause of the two civil wars and the execution of the -King--ecclesiastical questions--was still in abeyance; nothing was -settled in Church or State. Nor were the finances of the country in a -hopeful condition; neither the Church lands nor the King's lands nor -all the revenues formerly given to royalty served to pay the expenses -of the Dutch War. Cromwell's dreams of retirement vanished; urged from -within by his own eager soul and from without by the appeals of those -who could not bear their burdens without his help, he remained in the -forefront of affairs, the leader of the army in name and fact, a figure -slightly enigmatical, needed by all and by some feared. - -He was not without his enemies. Edmund Ludlow, on one of his visits to -London, told him frankly that the extreme Puritans could not forget his -attempt to come to terms with the late King, and the extreme moderates -could not forget his execution of the mutineers at Ware. - -The last time Ludlow and Cromwell had crossed words Cromwell had ended -the argument by hurling a cushion at his opponent's head. Now he -answered mildly and declared that the Lord was bringing to pass through -him what He had promised in the 110th Psalm; he expounded this theory -for an hour, and Ludlow was silenced by rhetoric if not convinced by -reason. - -Meanwhile Cromwell, whether he silenced his critics by oratory or -hurled cushions, went his way without heeding any of them; sometimes -mildly, sometimes in sudden gusts of temper, sometimes in strange -exalted excitements he pursued a policy which, however obscure and -vague it might seem to others, was clear as crystal and bright as flame -to him. - -The feeling between the army and the remnant of Charles' last -Parliament still ruling at Westminster became again restless and -intense; all men began to see that the present Government was, and -could be nothing else, but provisional. A date, three years off, was -fixed for the dissolution of the present Parliament, and Cromwell -called a conference between the chief lawyers and the chief captains, -to whom he offered two vital questions: Should they have a republic or -a monarchy? if a monarchy, who was to be King? - -The Parliament men were mostly for a monarchy, the army men for a -republic: Desborough and Whalley were especially strong for that. - -Oliver Cromwell was not with them: he had never been at heart -republican; but he said little, and the conference broke up, as the -others had done, without solving a single difficulty. - -Sometime after the Lord-General, coming from his luminous obscurity -where he gleamed, keeping all men in an uncertainty as to his wishes -and his intentions, asked the Lord Whitelocke, lawyer and Parliament -man, to attend him in his walking in the Park, and to there discuss -with him the unsettlement and turmoil of the State. - -It was a day in November; the brambles in the hedges had sparse -fox-coloured leaves; the trees in the orchard and archery ground were -bare; the elms and oaks were hung with thin scattered gold leaves -against a pale blue and frosty sky; the ground was hard with a thin ice -in the ruts where yesterday had been mud; above the empty Palace, which -might be plainly glimpsed through the bare trees, a solitary white -cloud floated, like a forlorn banner. The Lord-General often looked at -this cloud while he spoke: he had a habit of gazing much at the sky. - -He wore a black suit and grey worsted hose, broad leathern shoes with -wide steel buckles, sword, band, collar, and hat as plain as might be. -There was nothing about his person to indicate the profession which he -represented; he was in every way as plain as the plain lawyer to whom -he talked. He opened with what was in his mind, but gently, indirectly -and vaguely, after his usual manner. - -"Where is the cause? Where is this for which we all fought? Lord -Whitelocke, did so many poor people die to this end? Was the glorious -climax of the war, the death of the tyrant to lead to no better -conclusion than this? Hath the Lord led us out of Egypt to abandon us -now? Truly, sir, I do not think it, yet I ask you where is the cause? -I say that the cause is overlaid with jars, with jealousies, with -confusion, and this must not be. The Lord will not have it--it is not -as it should be, sir, in a Commonwealth." - -Bulstrode Whitelocke hesitated a moment and struck at the frozen ground -with his cane; he was a shrewd, prosaic man, a keen lawyer, and a -fearless patriot. After his little pause he resolved on boldness: his -quick, direct speech was a contrast to Cromwell's involved phrases. - -"The peril we are in, sir, cometh from the arrogance of the army, from -their high pretensions and unruly ways and desire for dominance." - -The Lord-General gave him a long glance. - -"Say you so?" he returned mildly. "Yet methinks they are a lovely -company, worthy of all honour." - -"They have had all honour and all profit too," returned Whitelocke -grimly, "and now they would have all power as well, under your favour, -sir." - -"Nay," returned Cromwell, "this is not so. The army is the poor -instrument by which the Lord saved England; they did some little -service at Naseby--at Preston--at Dunbar and Winchester, and though -I dare say they would sooner die than take any of the glory of -these mercies, yet the Lord chose them as His instruments, and that -must be accounted to them as an honour. Sir, the army hath laboured -much, sweated in your service; sir, without the army"--he pointed to -Whitehall--"that Palace would now be the dwelling-place of the young -man, Charles Stewart. I pray you consider these things." - -"Yet I repeat," insisted the Lord Whitelocke, who was voicing the -feeling of the entire Parliament and a great portion of the nation, -"that the army is the cause of these present jars--their imperious -carriage is hard to be borne, sir, and from it arises the confusions -and jealousies which oppress us. As to their merits, the Council of -State hath done somewhat too--the war with the Dutch----" - -"Because of this war my spirit hath groaned!" interrupted Cromwell. -"Should there not rather be a union between two Protestant republics -than war? And what do not you spend on it? All that which you have -gained from King and bishops. I say it were more befitting us, as -Christians and Englishmen, to have peace with the Dutch." - -Whitelocke refused to be drawn into this argument. He returned to his -point. - -"The Council of State rule well and wisely--the people uphold them." - -"Nay, do they?" interrupted the Lord-General, in a very decided tone. -"I tell you this, Mr. Whitelocke, I have been up and down the country -and heard the opinions of many men, and I say that most, and the best -of them, do loathe the Parliament." - -"Where is this leading?" asked the lawyer sharply. - -"Ay, where?" repeated Cromwell. "There are the people new come from -civil strife unheard of, and ye lay on them the great burden of a -foreign war; ye settle nothing and strive after nothing but to prolong -your own sitting. There are scandalous members among you--ay, I know it -well--self-seekers, drunkards, men of lewd life. I say it is not well -these should be uncontrolled in power, therefore I spoke for a king or -for one with a king's authority. They have none to check them, they -do as they will, they are slow, they are idle, they meddle in private -matters; it will not do. Let them look to their authority, which is on -high; let them seek God painfully." - -He spoke with passion now, but also with a certain weariness, as if he -was oppressed with great thoughts and slowly struggled to the outward -expression of them. - -"You are a soldier and therefore impatient," returned Whitelocke -quietly. "The Parliament is slow--but that is within human reason." - -The Lord-General turned and looked at him grimly. - -"There is another thing which is not within human reason, which is -that this Commonwealth should stand without a master set over the -Parliament." - -"How may one do that?" demanded the lawyer sharply, "when the -Parliament is itself the authority from which we derive ours?" - -"That is a formal difficulty," replied Cromwell impatiently. "Do you -think I should be stopped by nice points of law?" - -Whitelocke marked the pronoun the soldier had used. - -"Would you withstand the Parliament?" he asked keenly. "They are your -masters." - -"They are no man's masters; they are means to an end," replied -Cromwell. "I am a poor thing, but the Lord hath made some use of me -these ten years past--yea, a little use. He hath been pleased to -appoint me to do a few things for Him, some little work, and I will -do it, despite Parliament as I did and despite a king. I say we will -have righteousness and justice; if need be these men can be put down as -the tyrant was put down, and the poor and simple be cared for and the -groans of the needy heard." - -"These are stern words," said Whitelocke; "and how will you justify -them?" - -"God will justify them," replied the Lord-General, "as He hath hitherto -upheld what I have said in His name. What was I? What did I know of -armies or of the battalion? Yet the Lord said, 'Be thou ruler, even -among Mine enemies,' and sent me forth to conquer kings and princes. -And we were but a handful and they gentlemen. Yet we did it. 'With -His own right hand and with His holy arm hath He gotten Himself the -victory!' And now I am bidden to labour still in His cause and to go -forward--and do you think that poor remnant sitting at Westminster -shall hinder me?" - -The Lord Whitelocke was silent; he was rather startled at what -he took to be the kernel of Cromwell's speech--his enmity to -the Parliament--and he was not deceived by the gentleness and -self-effacement of the Lord-General, who, he knew, was indeed capable -of doing away with the Parliament as he and his had done away with the -King. And there was now, as always, the great fact to be remembered -and reckoned with that Cromwell had behind him the army of his own -creation, that fierce military whose enthusiasm was not much curbed -or checked by regard for mere formal institutions and laws of men's -framing. - -"In very deed," he replied, "your power and the power behind you is too -high. How can we withstand it?" - -"My power, such as it be," returned the soldier mildly, "cometh from -God and the People. Be assured that if I use it for other than the -glory of one and the good of the other it will pass from me. I say this -because meseemeth you have fear of the army, poor souls; but I did not -open this talk for any matter of argument with thee, but rather in a -friendly spirit to discuss the present jars." - -"You have discussed them to good purpose, sir," returned Whitelocke -dryly. "I perceive that you look upon the Parliament and the Council of -State with ill-will and mistrust." - -"I think," replied Cromwell, still gazing at the pale cloud floating -in the pale sky over Whitehall, "that we need a Governor over this -England." - -"Where is he to be found?" demanded Whitelocke. - -"The Lord will bring such an one forward in His good leisure," said -Cromwell. - -Whitelocke liked this speech still less than those which had gone -before it; he thought it meant that the Lord-General intended in truth -to set himself against the Parliament. - -"Who will be your Governor of England?" he asked. - -"Who can resolve that question?" said Cromwell evasively. - -"What is your proposal to solve the present difficulties?" was -Whitelocke's next question. He was determined that he would, if -possible, gain something definite from the present conversation. - -The Lord-General made no answer, and they walked on slowly and in -silence. The very last leaves were scattered from the boughs overhead -on to the frosty ground at their feet, and a little low, sharp wind was -blowing across the city. - -Bulstrode Whitelocke waited for the Lord-General's answer. Himself a -moderate man, to a point he was wholly with Cromwell's tolerance and -large-mindedness; but when Cromwell's moderation suddenly culminated in -daring action, then Whitelocke refused to follow him. He had been one -of the most active of those who had endeavoured to frame a treaty with -the late King, and had warmly supported Cromwell's attempts to bring -Charles to a compromise; but he had refused to sit in the High Court of -Justice that had tried and condemned the King. So now he felt that they -were again reaching a crisis when he could not support any longer the -man whom he so sincerely admired. - -But the Lord-General would not any further disclose himself, and when -Whitelocke was about to press for a reply he caused a distraction by -pausing and pointing to a gentleman walking near the archery fields, to -which they had now nearly approached. - -"I know his face, who is he?" asked Cromwell. - -Bulstrode Whitelocke, somewhat vexed at this abrupt change of subject, -answered briefly-- - -"He is the Latin Secretary to the Council of State." - -"Ah," said the Lord-General, "a very worthy citizen. I have heard of -him. From the first he hath given his testimony to the good cause. I -would there were many more such among you." - -By this, the person of whom he spoke drew near, and seeing the two -gentlemen, and knowing Whitelocke and recognizing Cromwell, he stopped -and bowed. - -Cromwell turned towards him, and Whitelocke had no choice but to do -likewise. - -"You are the Latin Secretary," said the Lord-General. "You have written -much in defence of the cause. I have often sought an occasion to speak -to you." - -The gentleman thus addressed bowed in some confusion like one -overwhelmed by a great honour. - -"Do you know me?" asked Cromwell. - -"I do, my Lord-General," was the reply, given in a sweet musical -voice. "What lover of truth and freedom doth not?--'My lord fighteth -the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy -days.'" - -He spoke with a warm sincerity which raised his words above the -suspicion of flattery, and a flush overspread his naturally pallid -features. - -There was something about his person and manner wholly attractive; in -his youth (he was now in middle age) he must have been of a beauty -almost feminine, and his traits still had a frail and delicate -comeliness; his large dark blue eyes were fatigued and heavy lidded -as if swollen with overuse, and his pale cheek and the brow shaded -by the long locks of brown hair bore traces of sickness and anxiety; -his figure was slender and noble, and his black clothes were fine -in quality; his whole appearance was of an elegance wholly lacking -to the Lord-General's person; indeed, for all the sobriety of his -attire, he appeared more like one of the unfortunate Cavaliers than -one of the most vigorous champions of the Independents, the author of -_Eikonoclastes_. - -"I thank you, Mr. Milton," replied Cromwell. "I hope we may be better -acquainted. You have laboured much and your reward halts, but I believe -you have that greatness in you which is pleased to serve England -without fee." - -"For the little that I do I am even overpaid," replied John Milton, -with a deepening of his boyish flush. - -The glance of the two men met, and a look flashed between them as if -they were wholly one in spirit; then the Secretary bowed again, and -each went his way. - -"The Council have bidden him write an answer to Salmasius' work," said -Whitelocke. "He calls it _A Defence of the People of England_--but it -doth not proceed as quickly as he would wish because his eyes fail him. -He told me that at times he could hardly see the letters on the paper." - -Cromwell looked back at the slender, erect figure walking away under -the bare trees. - -"Thou hast a brave heart if I mistake not," he murmured. - -Then he went on again, Bulstrode Whitelocke still waiting for him to -deliver himself. - -Not until they had almost reached the confines of the Park and the -houses of Charing Cross did the Lord-General speak. - -Then, turning suddenly to his expectant companion, he said-- - -"What if a man should take it upon himself to be king?" - -Whitelocke stared, startled beyond concealment. - -"Well?" urged Cromwell gently. - -The lawyer, recovering himself, took refuge in the pedantic, formal -objections offered by the law and the constitution. - -Cromwell listened patiently. When Whitelocke, rather confused and -breathless, had brought his speech to an end he answered mildly-- - -"Neither the law nor the constitution gave authority for the execution -of a king. Yet we did it. Therefore we may do other things for which -there is no warrant in charter or Parliament roll, but for which the -warrant cometh from God. Yet for the moment I have no more to say." - - - - -CHAPTER III - -EXIT THE PARLIAMENT - - -During these days the Lord-General and his colleagues, Harrison and -Lambert, waited much on the Lord, confessing their sinfulness and -asking for Divine help. - -Behind them was always the army, demanding arrears of pay, work for the -poor, and the suppression of the general lawlessness of the kingdom; -there were many more conferences between the lawyers and the soldiers; -towards the close of 1652 Cromwell gently, and Lambert and Harrison -not at all gently, began to say that it was the Lord's will that -the Parliament should go. Parliament, they declared, should call a -convention and then abdicate. - -The gentlemen at Westminster, seeing the military saints were in -earnest, set themselves to prepare a scheme of government which should -meet the approval of the army; the wise and valiant Sir Harry Vane, the -younger, drew up a bill to provide for a provisional government, the -nucleus of which was to be the members now sitting, they who had been -ever in the forefront of the fight since that fight had begun. - -This scheme to give perpetuity to a body which they wished to -completely abolish only further exasperated the army; Cromwell and -Harrison pushed forward their own bill. - -On the 19th of April, Vane and Cromwell and their several supporters -held another conference in the suite of apartments in Whitehall Palace, -now given to the Lord-General, at which both parties agreed to stay -their hands until the discussion should be resumed and brought to some -conclusion. The next day Cromwell was more cheerful than had been usual -with him of late; he loved polemics and to measure his rhetoric with -others; yesterday's long argument with Sir Harry Vane had enlivened -him; he looked forward to a resumption of the conference and to a final -triumph for the Cause; he had recently communed much with himself, -brooded and considered in his soul, and he was convinced that God had -further work for him; part of that work he believed to be to settle the -nation--and not by way of the Parliament. - -That morning as he was at breakfast with Lambert and Harrison an abrupt -end was put to his tranquillity and satisfaction. - -News was brought that the Parliament had assembled early and were -hurrying through Sir Harry Vane's bill. - -The Lord-General sank at once into gloomy silence, while the other two -soldiers heavily condemned the perfidy of the Parliament men. - -"I will not believe it," said Cromwell at last. "Nay, I will not -believe falsehood of Sir Harry Vane." - -"But maybe," suggested Major-General Harrison, "his followers have got -beyond Sir Harry and done this thing despite him." - -"Nay," returned the Lord-General. "I believe it not." - -"You are too slow to move!" cried Harrison, with some heat. "If it had -not been for your hesitation there would have been no Parliament to -defy the poor toilers in God's cause." - -The Lord-General pushed his tankard away from him. - -"You are one," he answered, "who will not wait the Lord's leisure, but -would hurry into that which afterwards honest men must repent." - -"You have waited the Lord's leisure too long," said Harrison. "Much -delay is not good." - -"When the Lord speaks, I obey," answered Cromwell, with some grimness; -"and then my actions are as swift as any man's, yea, even as thine, -Major-General Harrison. I have given some poor testimony to that -effect." - -"Meanwhile," put in Lambert, "the miserable remnant at Westminster -are making their bill law--and where are we? Even made a mock of and -slighted." - -As he spoke another messenger arrived, and close on his heels a third, -to say that the Parliament were in very deed pushing through Sir Harry -Vane's bill. - -Then Cromwell rose. - -"'Up, Lord, and help me, O my God,'" he said, "'for Thou smitest all -mine enemies upon the cheek-bone--Thou hast broken the teeth of the -ungodly!' Now is the time--yea, even now." He turned to Harrison. "Come -with me to Westminster and let us testify to God." - -He called for his hat; he wore his black coat and his grey worsted -stockings and a plain neck-band. - -As he was leaving Whitehall he ordered a guard of soldiers to accompany -him, and marched down to Westminster with them behind him, as Charles -had marched with his armed followers from the same Palace to the same -Parliament eleven years before. - -When they reached Westminster Hall he left the file of muskets in the -outer room, and he and his two generals passed to their usual places in -the Commons. - -There were about sixty members present; at the silent entrance of the -three soldiers all looked round and about them, and some shifted in -their places and whispered to their neighbours. "I see Old Noll's red -nose," said one as Cromwell entered; "we are like to have a tempest." - -But the Lord-General went quietly to his seat, as did his two -companions; and the members, whatever trepidation they might feel, -displayed none, but continued their debate, preparatory to passing Sir -Harry Vane's bill. - -Cromwell listened, his arms folded, his head bent on his breast; the -sweet April sunshine filled the chamber with a pleasant haze in which -the motes danced; Sir Harry Vane looked often at the Lord-General as -if he would find an opportunity to excuse himself for his seeming -breach of faith; indeed, his supporters had taken the matter out of his -hands and forced the bill on, whether he would or no; but Cromwell sat -glooming, and would not meet his eye. - -The discussion proceeded, moderate, orderly; presently the Lord-General -called to Major-General Harrison, who sat opposite to him on the other -side of the House, to come to him. - -"Methinks," said Cromwell grimly, looking about him, "this Parliament -is rife for a dissolution--and that this is the time for doing it." - -Harrison, impetuous as he was, was startled by this; he might urge -Cromwell to action, and blame his slowness, but when Cromwell was -roused Harrison, like any other, was alarmed. - -"Sir," he replied, lowering his voice (for their conversation was being -observed with suspicion), "this work is very great and dangerous, -therefore, seriously consider of it, before you engage in it." - -"You say well," replied Cromwell, and lapsed into moody silence again. -Harrison took the seat next him, Lambert being near. - -The members, though still outwardly tranquil, hastened the debate, and -in a short while the question for passing the bill was about to be put. - -Then Cromwell moved, and, leaning sideways to Harrison, touched him -on the arm and said, "This is the time; I must do it;" and then he -suddenly stood up, taking off his hat, and throwing out his right hand, -he addressed the members with great passion. - -"What heart have ye for the public good," he cried--"ye who support -the corrupt interest of presbytery and that of the lawyers, who are -the props of tyranny and oppression? This is a time of rebuke and -chastening, but as the Lord liveth, we will have neither rebuke nor -chastening from such as you!" - -The members, swept into silence by the suddenness and violence of his -speech, made no reply; all eyes were fixed on him as he stood on the -floor of the House, his face flushed and his eyes fiery under the -lowering brows. - -"What do ye care for but power?" he flung at them, and his voice rang -into the farthest corners of the Hall. "What do you care for but to -perpetuate that power? As for that Act"--he pointed to where it lay -ready to be passed--"you have been forced to it, and I dare affirm -that you never designed to observe it! I say your time has come; the -Lord hath done with you--He has chosen more worthy instruments for -the carrying on of His work--I say He will have no more paltering and -fumbling with traps and toys of the ungodly!" - -Here Sir Peter Wentworth got to his feet amid a hum of approbation. - -"This is the first time," he declared, red in the face, "that ever I -heard such unbecoming language in Parliament--and it is the more horrid -as it comes from the servant of the Parliament, and a servant whom -Parliament hath so highly trusted--yea, and so highly obliged," he -added, with meaning. - -But he could get out no more. Cromwell stepped into the midst of the -House and waved his hand contemptuously. - -"Come, come!" he cried. "I will put an end to your prating!" - -Then, stamping his feet and clapping on his hat as he saw several rise -in a tumult to answer him, he said in a loud, stern voice, "You are -no Parliament--I say you are no Parliament! I will put an end to your -sitting!" - -Then, while several tried to speak together and there was a confusion, -the Lord-General bade the serjeant attending the House open the doors, -which he did. - -"Call them in," said Cromwell; "call them in." And Lieutenant-Colonel -Wolseley, with two files of muskets, entered the House and marched up -the floor. - -Then Sir Harry Vane, seeing the soldiers, stood up in his place and -protested loudly-- - -"This is not honest! Yea, it is against morality and common honesty!" - -Cromwell turned round and sorted him with his glance from the press. - -"Oh, Sir Harry Vane! Sir Harry Vane!" he cried. "The Lord deliver me -from Sir Harry Vane!" - -Then pointing out another member, he cried, "There sits a drunkard," -and so railed at several separately, ending, "Are these fit to govern -God's poor people?" - -The House was now in absolute disorder and confusion, but the -Lord-General's voice rose above it all. - -His angry eye lit on the mace. - -"What shall we do with this bauble?" he asked, and added, "There, take -it away!" - -Major-General Harrison went up to the Speaker. - -"Sir," he said, "seeing things are reduced to this pass, it is no -longer convenient for you to remain here." - -The Speaker answered, "Unless you force me, I will not come down." - -"Sir," replied Harrison, "I will lend you my hand." - -And, so saying, he took hold of him and brought him down. - -Then Cromwell turned again to the Members who were all coming from -their places. - -"It is you who have forced me to do this!" he cried, with passion, "for -I have sought the Lord day and night that He would rather slay me than -put me on the doing of this work!" - -Turning to Lieutenant-General Wolseley, who commanded the muskets, he -ordered him to clear the House, which was done, the Members forlornly -departing under the command of the soldiers, Cromwell sternly watching -the while. - -And when the benches were all empty he went to the clerk, who was -blankly and in a bewildered way holding Sir Harry Vane's Bill, and, -snatching it from his hands, put it under his cloak. - -Then ordering the doors to be locked, he went back to Whitehall with -Lambert and Harrison. But the day's work was not yet complete; he had -barely reached his headquarters before Lieutenant-General Wolseley came -up to say that the late Parliament's creation, the Council of State, -were sitting as usual in the Painted Chamber. - -"Say you so?" replied Cromwell, and he turned back to Whitehall as he -had turned back to Hampton when he heard of Charles' double dealing. - -Lambert and Harrison accompanied him, and the three swept into the -Painted Chamber with little ceremony. - -John Bradshaw, the late King's judge, was in the chair; he faced the -Lord-General as he had faced the unhappy King, with unshaken dignity -and calm. - -Cromwell was now composed; but he eyed the Councillors fiercely as he -walked up the room. - -"If you meet here as private persons," he said, "you shall not be -disturbed, but if you meet as a Council of State, this is no place for -you," his harsh voice became ominous. "Since you cannot but know what -has just been done in the House, take notice that the Parliament is -dissolved." - -The Latin secretary raised his tired blue eyes with something of -admiration as well as keen interest in their glance, but Bradshaw -replied with unmoved sternness, eyeing Cromwell with a directness as -uncompromising as Cromwell eyed him. - -"Sir," he said, "we have heard what you did in the House, and before -many hours all England will hear it. But, sir, you are mistaken to -think that the Parliament is dissolved--for no power under Heaven can -dissolve them but they themselves, therefore take _you_ notice of that." - -"Ha, Mr. Bradshaw," returned the Lord-General, "you may talk and talk, -but I say that the Lord has done with you and with these others about -you. I know that you are a person of an upright carriage, who has -notably appeared for God and for the public good, but I say that your -time is over--other means are to be used now, yea, other means!" - -"The means of force and violence," replied John Bradshaw calmly, "and -to them we must submit. I do not deny that, but your right we shall -always deny, therefore remember it----" - -"You are no longer a Council of State," said Cromwell, "and none shall -any longer give heed to you. Go about your several businesses." - -Bradshaw came down from his place. - -"And with us goes the Commonwealth," he returned. "What will you put in -place of it?" - -"The Lord shall show in His leisure," said Cromwell sternly, and went -from the Painted Chamber with Lambert and Harrison after him. - -And so it was over; the Parliament had followed the King; the last -remnant and pretence of a constitution had been swept away, and a -sudden military revolution had placed the army at the head of the -nation, their leader thereby becoming the greatest man in England. - -For, the King gone, the Parliament broken, who was there left for any -man to look to save he who had swept away both King and Parliament and -now stamped angrily out of Westminster Hall? - -Even Harrison had been taken by surprise; he was enthusiastic, as he -foresaw an uninterrupted reign of God's chosen, those military saints -who were sacred and purified by their fights for the Lord, but he was -also a little bewildered as to the course future events must take. - -Lambert merely said, "This is a difficult business and requires careful -handling." - -But Cromwell himself was openly exalted and uplifted; his passion of -anger gave way to a passion of spiritual enthusiasm. - -"This hath been a call from the Lord!" he cried, as the three walked -back to Whitehall. "Yea, a direct call! Own it, for it hath been -unprojected, and is marvellous! This morning did we know of this thing? -Nay, and now it is done! And this hath been the way the Lord hath dwelt -with us from the first. He hath kept things from our eyes all along so -that we have never seen His dispensations beforehand!" - -"Truly," replied Harrison, "He hath marvellously witnessed for us, and -thou hast been as Joshua who scattered the enemies of the Lord at the -waters of Merom, and chased them even into the valley of Mizpeh, and -burnt Hazor with fire." - -"The Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites are scattered," said -Lambert, "but who is now to reign in Israel?" - -"We whom God hath called," replied Cromwell. - -And so they came to the headquarters of the army at Whitehall, the -palace of the late King; and the second revolution was complete. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -"THE NEW ORDER" - - -The rule of the Lord-General and his council of officers, governing -in a form parliamentary, called "the little Parliament" was a failure -complete and absolute. - -Soldiers could not do the work of lawyers, nor the veterans of Naseby, -Preston, Dunbar, and Worcester rule England as well as they had -defended her. Such measures as they carried were totally against the -principles and policy of their leader, who passed from rapt enthusiasm -to sad disillusion, and finally to gloomy anger again; the military -saints, chosen of the Lord as they were, and the very cream of the -elect, could not govern England. - -In December 1653, after many consultations with his councils, Cromwell, -who hesitated to break up another Parliament by force, persuaded the -officers to hand back their powers to him from whom they had received -them. - -The soldiers, though fanatic, narrow, and intolerant, were neither -self-seeking nor unreasonable; they saw that they were unable to govern -the country, and that there was only one man who could undertake the -task that had been too much for them. - -Whether he had the courage, the daring, the firmness to seize this -position, to step to the front and take the command so completely, -to take upon himself the burden of rule in the present state of the -country, after so many attempts at government had failed, was yet to be -seen. - -He had hitherto shown no personal ambition and no desire to thrust -himself forward, his manner being rather to keep himself in the -background and wait for God to bid him act. - -The moment was serious, perilous, even awful; the Members of the last -Parliament and the officers met constantly in prayer; conferences, -meetings between all the able men available, were frequent; the people, -sternly and austerely ruled for the last three years, with the Puritans -triumphant and the Cavaliers utterly silenced and suppressed, waited in -a quietude that concealed an intense excitement. - -On Wednesday, the 15th of December, the Lord-General rode from one of -these meetings to his home, now at Hampton Court. He arrived there -bitten with the cold and covered with fine snow. He went straight -to the fire in the room which his family used to dine in, and flung -himself with the weariness of one spent in mind and body into the great -wicker chair with arms and red cushions that he commonly used. - -The noble, pleasant room was empty save for Elisabeth, his daughter -(the Claypoles had a suite of apartments at Hampton Palace), and her -youngest child, who was asleep on her knee. He had not noticed her at -first, so quietly was she withdrawn into the shadows, and her low, -pleased exclamation, "My father!" gave him a little start. - -"Betty!" he impetuously flung out his hand to her; she softly laid the -sleeping boy on the velvet couch from which she had risen, and, coming -to his side, knelt beside him, and slipped her hand inside his. - -He gazed with affectionate pleasure at her charming face, bright and -delicate, sensitive and resolute, lifted to his, the brown, waving -hair, the expressive blue eyes, the mouth a little wistful, the chin a -little proud, the whole infinitely dear and loving. - -"What has happened to-day?" she asked gently. - -The look of heaviness her greeting had lightened returned to his -countenance; he lifted his head and stared into the mellow flames that -sprang from the great logs between the brass and irons. - -"Betty, it hath come," he said; "it is to be laid on me, the burden, -yea, the whole burden. Mine was the responsibility," his rough voice -rose a little. "I put down the King, I broke the Parliament--I set up -the officers who failed (the more blame to me)--and now it is I who -must guide the State." - -"Thou?" murmured Elisabeth. - -"Who else?" he continued moodily, "who else? It is a call from God and -the people, and no man could ask for more. Yea, I know the Lord hath -called me as He called me ten years ago from St. Ives--this is thy -work--get thou up and do it!" - -"Thou--wilt thou be King?" asked Elisabeth, dropping his hand with a -shiver of fear. - -"Even so," he replied sombrely; "but not with the name of a thing so -hated shall I be called. Some time ago this came to me as the thing to -do--a flash out of a cloud--then darkness came again; but now it is -before me, very clearly, that I must be the Governor of England." - -"It is a high calling and an awful place to hold," said his daughter. - -"And I am sick in the body, often and often tired in the soul. Thou -dost know," he added, with a kind of passion, "how very, very willing I -was to retire after Worcester fight; often upon riding the rough ways -in Scotland, often when sick in Ireland, have I dreamt to come back to -a meek, sweet retirement, but it was not to be. God sought me out again -and bid me go forward. And now there is this come upon me. Betty, I -shall soon be fifty-five years old. I feel myself, in many ways, old. -But there is this work to do. And it is for England. Yet how shall -I prevail where these upright and wise ones failed? For they strove -earnestly, yet God would not have them. Will He forsake me also? 'Oh, -that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest!' -Lo, then would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would -hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest!" - -And his head drooped on his breast as if he was discouraged. - -Elizabeth took his inert hand again between her fresh, warm palms. - -"Why should you fear a cold success in this great venture?" she asked. -"Truly it is a great and awful thing to take a king's place, but shall -not the Lord still support you as hitherto, and bless you with notable -victories?" - -Cromwell, still staring into the fire, answered slowly. - -"I have some sparks of the light of His countenance, which keeps me -alive--yet I see ahead difficulties greater than any I have yet met. -What are charges in the field compared to factions in the State? I say -the saints failed, and shall not I fail? Will not men say to me, as -the Hebrew said to Moses--'Who made thee a Prince and a judge over us. -Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?" - -Elisabeth shuddered. - -"Ay, I killed the Egyptian," continued Cromwell, glooming, "but there -are many more out of Egypt ready to take his place, ready to confound -us, yea, there are plenty of diabolic persons abroad, ready to set -snares for the godly, even the devil and all his angels are lying in -wait to thwart this England which the Lord hath elected for His own!" - -"But thou canst meet and conquer them, if it be in the power of any man -to do so," returned Elisabeth simply. "Again I say it is a high and -fearful thing that thou must undertake, but I know that in all things -thou wilt walk according to the Gospel." - -The Lord-General turned to look at her as she knelt beside him in her -rosy gown with the firelight glowing over her, her faced upturned, and -her hands clasped on the arm of his chair--a sweet comforter truly, in -her seriousness and loving encouragement, in her eager belief in him -and rapt piety. - -"That is not how many will speak of me, Betty," he said, with a sad -tenderness. "Rather will they call me usurper and traitor, and say that -I have put down others for carnal ambition. Many hard and contemptuous -things will be said of me, Betty." - -"I know," she answered bravely, "but need _we_ care?" - -As she spoke, a third came down the shadowy room, and joined -them--Elisabeth Cromwell. - -The Lord-General rose and went up to her. - -"You are tired!" she cried, noting that before all, and she caught his -arms and peered up into his face tenderly through the dim light. - -"Mother," said Mrs. Claypole, rising from beside the empty chair--"the -new orders are decided upon to-day----" - -"Ah!" cried Cromwell's wife, "and thou?" - -"My dear, my best," he said, "we must live at Whitehall now----" - -"The king's palace?" she exclaimed, recoiling a little. - -"Yea," he answered gently, "for I am called to be the new Governor of -this country." - -"Why, that is a fearful thing!" she said, with a half-terrified laugh. -"Thou wilt never more be safe, nor I at peace!" - -She let go her hold on his sleeves and moved to the fire. - -"I was happier before it all began," she said abruptly; "this startles -me." She gave again that piteous laugh, which was more like a sob. "I -am too old to learn to be a Prince's lady," she said. - -And she glanced in the mirror above the mantelpiece, looking at her -grey hair and meek face. - -"I would sooner not put this up in Whitehall for all the world to gape -at!" she said. - -"Ah, mother!" cried Betty Claypole, and embraced her and kissed her -hand. - -"Did you not expect this?" asked the Lord-General mournfully. "I did -so--because," he added, with great simplicity, "I saw no other fitted -for the place." - -"There is no other" said his daughter. "He is one and only--is it not -so, mother? And thou art one and only, too, dear, and wilt shine in -Whitehall far higher than the French Queen." - -The Lord-General turned with a little smile to both of them. - -"By now you should be used to living in a palace," he said. - -"What will they say of us?" asked Elisabeth Cromwell, still troubled. -"They will say that we have put ourselves up in the King's place." - -"There is no king," interrupted Cromwell firmly. "And as for the place -I undertake to fill, the whole people have called me to it, yea, the -whole people." - -He repeated this statement as if to persuade and convince himself; he -well knew that his authority came from a very few of the people, mainly -from the army leaders, and that his election was not the result of a -general demand on the part of the nation; only the minority had hailed -him, the majority remained as always, passive, almost indifferent--or -fiercely hostile. - -He might be going to rule for the people's sake, purely, but he was not -going to rule by their wish. He felt this a weakness in his case and -strove to cover it, even to deceive himself in it; a general election, -a genuine appeal to the country, might have resulted in bringing in -the second Charles Stewart, and for the sake of the cause he had not -dared risk it. Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, who in many ways represented -the average Englishman, had pressed Cromwell to call in Charles after -the crisis of a year ago, and no one knew better than the Lord-General -that the three islands seethed with royalist plots and the restless -intrigues of various fanatical sects. No one knew better than he, -either, what a target for hatred and rage he would be, what undying -fury he would arouse, how many and implacable his enemies would become. - -His call might be from God, it certainly was not from the people of -England. - -Elisabeth Claypole knew something of all this, and to her there -was something piteous in the strong man's attempt to belittle his -difficulties and disguise the narrow basis on which his authority -rested. - -Elisabeth Cromwell broke the thoughtful silence. - -"And thou wilt be Governor of England!" she said. "Scarcely can I -believe it." - -She voiced the incredulity of many; yet the thing was done. - -On the following Friday, His Excellency the Lord-General of the Forces -became His Highness the Lord-Protector of England, and was installed in -that office with all ancient ceremonial, formerly used by kings, and -kings alone. - -There was an installation in the Chancery Court, Westminster Hall, His -Highness appearing in a richer dress than he had ever worn before, even -at his son's wedding--rich velvet, all black, with a band of gold round -his hat, a fine sword, and sword band. - -So he went in procession from Whitehall and back again, attended by -the Lord Mayor, the judges, and other dignitaries, in robe of state, -outriders, running footmen, guards of soldiers, and the usual shouting -crowd, half-awed, half-jeering, and wholly curious, some wishing -confusion to red-nosed Noll and some thanking the Lord that He had sent -a gracious saint to reign over them. - -The sergeants with their maces, the heralds in gold and scarlet, -proclaimed, at Old Exchange, at Palace Yard, and in other places, -Oliver Cromwell Lord-Protector, with the same dignity, and ceremony, -and shouting as Charles Stewart had been proclaimed King. So a change -so tremendous was accomplished with such little outward difference. - -The new ruler had given his oath of fidelity to the new Constitution -(an instrument drawn up in four days by the officers, with Lambert at -their head) and had received the great seal and sword of State. By the -afternoon all was over, and the man who little more than ten years -ago had been a gentleman farmer, with no experience save that of the -routine of a country estate, with no more knowledge of God and man than -he could learn from his one Book, with no power, influence, or wealth -at all, was now sole ruler, dictator, and symbol of one of the greatest -nations in Europe and foremost champion of the Reformed Religion.... - -Elisabeth Claypole (Lady Elisabeth now) slept that next spring in -Whitehall; the first night she lay on a bed with blue satin curtains -brought by Henriette Marie from France, and not sold with the King's -other effects by reason of the fine workmanship of the needlework on -them. - -A mirror once used by the Queen was in the room too, her fleurs-de-lis -were embroidered in the hangings, and the whole chamber was still -redolent of the perfumes she had kept in the caskets and cupboards. -Elisabeth, who had less than any of her family the stern belief in -fatalism, which was the central doctrine of their austere and heroic -creed, and less blind reliance on the justice of the Puritan cause, -felt a faint horror and a regretful remorse at lying among these -splendours when the woman to whom they had belonged (to whom they -still belonged, Elisabeth thought) dwelt in poverty and loneliness, -unfortunate as Queen and wife. - -That first night she dreamt dismal things, and woke up in the dark, -oppressed with confused remembrances of the excitement of the day. - -And with other remembrances, more awful; often had she heard an account -of the execution of the King and listened with horrified and reluctant -ears. - -Now, as she sat up in the great bed, shivering in the winter night, she -pictured, all too clearly, the late King as he had been described to -her--the slender figure in the pale blue silk vest, with the George on -the breast, and the hair gathered up under a white satin cap. - -She thought that she saw him glimmer across the dark, looking down at -his feet--he wore the wide shoes with silk roses, which had gone out of -fashion since his death--and then at her, smiling bitterly. - -He came, without moving his limbs, gliding to the bed, passed it, rose -up a man's height from the floor, and disappeared in a shaft of shaking -light. - -"We are intruders here!" said Elisabeth, cold to the heart. She got -out of bed (her husband was still asleep; she could hear his even -breathing) and stood shivering in the keen air. - -A chill like a presage of death crept through her veins; the whole -place seemed to exhale an air of hate and misery. - -So strong was this feeling that she fumbled for a gown in the dark, and -stole to the next chamber to look at her infant son. - -The moonlight was in his room, and she saw him sleeping peacefully -beside his nurse. Elisabeth crept back, dreading lest she should -conjure up another awful image of the late King. - -"I am not going to be happy here," she kept saying to herself. "I am -not going to be happy here." - -The next day she did not leave her bed, and before long it was known -that the Protector's favourite daughter was stricken with a lingering, -nameless illness. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -HIS HIGHNESS - - -"Was England ever in a better way?" demanded the Lord-Protector. "Even -under Elisabeth of famous memory (for so we may truly call her) was -this country more quiet at home, more respected abroad? Nay, there is -no malignant in the land can say it----" - -"Surely Your Highness hath no need to make any defence to us," said -the Lord Lambert, one of his military council. Some number of them -and other dignitaries were gathered in his apartment at Whitehall, -listening to him. - -His Highness, who had hitherto been pacing restlessly up and down the -room, here came to a pause before the table at which the officers and -councillors sat. - -"I have need to defend myself before all men," he exclaimed vehemently, -"for on every hand am I decried and blamed! I speak not of plots -against my life and such little matters--the work of a few diabolic -persons in the pay of Charles Stewart--but of the great discontent -of the Prelatists, of the rage of the Papists, of the intolerance of -all--yea, even of the sharpness and bitterness of many of God's people -who go about saying that the ways of Zion are filled with money, that -their gold is dim, and that there is a sharp wind abroad, but not to -cleanse the land." - -None of the officers offering to speak, Cromwell continued, still in an -impassioned manner-- - -"Whoever speaks so is wrong! God put me here. My authority is from -Him--I will come down for none of them." - -He went to the window embrasure and stood there, with his back to the -light, his hat pulled over his brows, his arms folded on his breast, -gazing at his councillors and friends. - -The Protectorship had lasted over a year, and Cromwell was now as -absolute as ever any Stewart had dared to be. - -His first Parliament had gone the way of the last of King Charles'; the -members presuming to question the Instrument by which Cromwell had been -elected, His Highness had again resorted to the file of soldiers with -loaded snaphances, and, gathering the expelled members in the Painted -Chamber, had made them swear fealty to the Instrument and to himself -before he permitted them to return to their places. - -The immovable Bradshaw, Sir Arthur Haselrig, one of the famous five -members, and some others refused the oath; the rest took it and went -back. - -But so impossible was it to combine a military autocracy with the -ancient methods of civil government, so impossible for soldiers and -lawyers to work together, that the Parliament again displeased His -Highness by revising the Instrument into a constitution which His -Highness could not accept. - -On the earliest opportunity he dismissed them, and had since ruled -entirely on his own authority with such help as he might get from the -Council of officers. - -So when all the ancient landmarks had been carried away, the power -of the sword remained standing and the army and their general ruled -England; it was a strange ending to the long, earnest, and bloody -struggle, an ending neither Pym nor Hampden had ever foreseen, nor -Cromwell himself, when the Parliament he was afterwards to break had -sent him down to Cambridge to raise a troop for the defiance of the -King. - -In ruling without a Parliament he was doing what Strafford and Charles -had perished for attempting, in keeping a huge standing army (it was -now twice the number named in the Instrument) he was doing what no king -of England had been permitted to do; he had, in fact, the power at -which Charles had aimed, and he had what Charles had never been able -to attain--the armed force to maintain him in that power. - -When he dealt with the Parliament he had used the methods Strafford -would have used had he dared, and he was ruling now with the absolutism -which Strafford had always passionately hoped would one day belong to -his master. - -But what had not been possible to a descendant of many kings, with all -tradition behind him, had been achieved easily enough by a soldier -produced by a revolution, who had nothing to rely on but the gifts -within himself. - -Cromwell was too clear-sighted not to discern the illogical position -he was occupying, but it did not disturb him, nor did he find it very -wonderful; his fatalism (which his enemies termed opportunism) accepted -without question all that the Lord should be pleased to send; his -enthusiasm for the cause of liberty disguised, even from himself, the -arbitrary nature of his authority, and the victorious soldier, who had -fought God's battles from Naseby to Worcester, was not to be frightened -from the position he held by any malignant talk of his unlawful right. -Nor was the wise patriot and ardent statesman to be argued from the -point of vantage from whence he could do the best for England. - -But the plots, agitations, upheavals, intolerances, and violences about -him, even among his own one-time friends (some of whom, including the -lofty-minded Vane, were in the Tower), did shake and trouble him. -These, more than anything, thwarted him in his honest and strenuous -attempt to set up an orderly government on the ruins left by the -violence of war and the wreckage of social upheaval. - -"I will not have intolerance!" he broke out now, suddenly at his -Council. "I say I will not have it--let every man who is not a -Prelatist or a Papist--who doth not preach licentious doctrines in the -name of Christ--let him worship in peace!" - -"In this way many damnable heresies will creep into the land," answered -one of the officers. - -"I would rather," cried His Highness, "permit Mahometanism in the land -than have one of God's people persecuted!" - -His Council remained silent; not one of these men agreed with him, and -it was a notable tribute to the respect and affection they had for him -that none of them raised a voice in dissent. - -He felt, however, their opposition, as indeed he felt the opposition of -the entire nation to this dearest of his ideals--toleration. - -It seemed as if men never would agree to leave their neighbour in peace -on the question of religious belief; and the extraordinary bitterness -of the feeling between the various sects was more and more vexing to -Cromwell, who had always held tolerance as a matter of principle, and -now, as he advanced more and more in greatness and power, recognised -it as being a necessary element of wise government at home and useful -alliances abroad. - -"God," he continued, driving home his point with a certain labour, as -if he struggled to put into words what no words would convey, "hath -elected England--He hath made us the instruments of some work of His. -He wishes us to go forward--to fight heresies and Antichrist--but also -He wisheth us to remain united in brotherly love, not to be too nice -and strict about the religion of the man next us, so long as he be -working clearly in due fear of Him--were we not all kinds in the army? -Did any fight the worse for being an Anabaptist? Nay, I do not think -so. God hath need of all of us who love Him." - -General Lambert answered-- - -"This is very well here, among sober men, but how shall Your Highness -get such a doctrine accepted among the general?" - -"Yea," said the Lord-Protector gloomily. "Truly the fools trouble me -more than the knaves--most of all do the lukewarm vex me, for nought -will bring them to any reason--give me a Saul sooner than a Gallio!" - -"Sir," replied one of the officers, "there are Sauls, and plenty too, -and maybe the Lord calleth us to combat these sooner than to smooth -over heresies and live peaceably with those who are little better than -the heathen and the infidel." - -Cromwell groaned. - -"There is much to do," he answered. "I say there is much to do--yea, -serious and mighty things; and shall we stop on the way to argue upon -trivial matters?" - -"Trivial matters!" echoed several voices at once. - -The Lord-Protector flashed upon them-- - -"Yea, so I say! Study how a man may serve the State, not how he may be -persuaded from his proper beliefs--this is enough for any man. 'With -my whole heart have I sought Thee--O let me not go wrong out of Thy -commandments!'--he who can say that from his heart, leave him in peace. -Even these poor people the Quakers--what harm is there in them that -they should be so roughly used? What hath God said?--'I have loved thee -with an everlasting love--with loving kindness have I drawn thee!' -Shall we, too, not strive for a little of this kindness? What have we -not had to contend with of late? A Parliament that was but a clog and -a hindrance, rebellions such as that at Salisbury, godly men such as -Major-General Harrison led astray, rising of Anabaptists--all manner of -trouble and confusion--and shall we add to it by persecuting those who -differ from us in small matters of doctrine?" - -The Council remained silent; the Keepers of the Great Seal glanced -at one another. These men were not in dread of His Highness as his -Parliament had been; they were not his creation to be scattered at his -will--nay, he was rather their creation--yet they knew that when it -came to a struggle he always prevailed, gently or roughly, directly -or indirectly, and they were aware of his whirlwind resolutions and -believed that if occasion arose they, too, might be smitten and cast -aside, even though they were the very foundations on which his power -stood. - -The Protector, eyeing them keenly, was silent too. - -The Master of the Rolls, Lenthall (the Speaker whom Harrison had -helped from the chair when Cromwell had dismissed the remnant of -Charles' last Parliament), propping his grim face on his thin hand, -asked His Highness what he was discontented with. - -"Surely," he said, with some austerity, "the work of Christ is being -accomplished in England? Abroad we have good respect--I think General -Blake hath made the name of English respected on the seas--all Europe -hath recognized this Commonwealth. Why is Your Highness so vexed and -troubled?" - -He spoke with some sternness, for he believed, in common with many of -his colleagues, that the Protector aimed at an even greater personal -power, and to make himself king in name as he was in fact--an ambition -which was intensely displeasing to the army and to their leaders, -nearly all of whom were staunch Republicans. - -"I am vexed and troubled because there is so much confusion and -littleness at home," replied Cromwell. "There is more lamenting over -the putting down of cock-fighting, play-acting, and horse-racing, -gambling, and such lewd sports than ever I heard over the loss of any -good thing. There are plots and confusions manifold, and the Lord hath -veiled the future from me, therefore I am vexed and troubled. Yet," he -added, with a change of voice and a bright flash in his eyes, "I am -not discouraged nor disheartened--ye must not so misread me--'in the -daytime also He led them with a cloud, and in the night with a pillar -of fire'--so it hath always been with me--do not think that that hath -ever failed me." - -No man had any speech with which to answer him, and the little assembly -broke up with the usual courtesies. Only Lambert said as he was -leaving: "'He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in -all thy ways.'" - -When they had all gone His Highness went to the table where they had -been sitting, and sat down in his great chair of honour and dropped his -head on his breast. - -Many and great thoughts oppressed him; the melancholy that was such -a close companion to his enthusiasms overcame him. He saw himself -old, weary, faced with an impossible situation, with unsurmountable -difficulties. - -For some while he sat so, his head sinking lower, his hands clasped on -his knees; then he was aroused by the gentle opening of the door, and -Elisabeth Claypole came softly into the Council Chamber. - -"Forgive me," she said. "I did see that the others had gone, and, -knowing that you must be alone, I feared you had fallen into sad -thoughts." She approached him. "It is not well, my father--nay, it is -not well--that you should sit alone with melancholy thoughts." - -She sank into the chair that the stern Lambert had just left; the dark -wood and leather now framed a very different picture from that the -austere soldier had made. - -Long ill-health, which physicians could not cure, and intervals -of lingering illness, which physicians could not ease, had robbed -Elisabeth Claypole of much of her vivacity and much of her fresh -comeliness, but she still remained, despite her languor, her paleness, -a certain sadness caused by constant pain, a creature choice and rare, -and, despite all, cheerful and courageous. As the Lord-Protector lifted -his tired eyes to gaze at her dear face he saw in her youthful features -a sudden startling likeness to his mother, who had died, still valiant -and serene, a few months after she had moved into the King's palace. - -This curious resemblance between one dead, so full of years, and one -young and living gave him a feeling of horrid presage; he rose abruptly. - -"Betty, I wish you would get well," he said. - -She smiled faintly. - -"That is what Bridget says," she answered (Bridget Ireton was Bridget -Fleetwood now, the wife of one of her father's most honoured generals. -Mary and Frances were still to wed, and great matches were foretold -for them); "but you must not think so much of me--I shall soon be well -enough." - -Her father gazed at her, yearning over that lost brightness which he -had condemned once as evidence of a carnal mind; her grey gown, her -modest laces, her smooth ringlets--all were plain enough now; though -her father had put on great state and lived almost with the ceremonial -of a king, the Lady Elisabeth had no longer any heart for pretty -vanities. - -"Methinks," said Cromwell bluntly, "thou art not happy when thou art at -Whitehall." - -"I love Hampton better," she replied evasively. - -It was not difficult for him to divine what her thoughts were--what -they always had been. - -"Thou dost think thy father liveth in another man's house by living in -the King's palace," he said, with whimsical tenderness. - -"No, no," she answered, with an effort; "but it remindeth me of old, -unhappy times--of all the blood that was shed--of the King himself -(poor, wretched King)----" - -Cromwell interrupted vehemently. - -"He did not die for nothing, neither he nor the others--that judgment -on the tyrant was the fruit and crown of all our efforts and prepared -the way for such of Christ's work as we have been able to do since. -Betty"--he turned to his daughter with the same half-anxious, -half-proud air of defence with which he had turned to his Council a -little before--"is not this country better at home and abroad than it -was under the late King?" - -"All bear witness to that," she replied quickly; "and that is the -reason why you should be more uprised in spirits, sir." - -"I have much to overcome," he answered. - -"What hath the Lord said?" rejoined the Lady Elisabeth--"'With him that -overcometh will I share My throne.'" - -"Dear one, thy rebuke is well," answered His Highness gently, "and do -not doubt that I shall go forward to the end. But at present there are -some things hard to bear--mostly the estrangement from some Christians -of my acquaintance. I did never think to be parted from Major-General -Harrison and John Bradshaw, those godly men. Albeit I have tried my -best to remain with them, and I hope yet to win Major-General Harrison." - -"He is hard, father--he is hard and fierce," replied Elisabeth -Claypole. "He was cruel to many poor men--I have heard notable talk of -it----" - -"Thou art too pitiful," said Cromwell, "and judge as a woman. There -is no man among us--not thy brother Henry, not Lambert, nor Dishowe, -nor my son Fleetwood, a finer soldier or a truer Christian than Thomas -Harrison." - -"I do not like him," insisted the Lady Elisabeth, with a sparkle of -her former spirit. "Methinks he smells of his father's trade, and -it is credibly believed that he hath plotted against you with the -Anabaptists--Richard told me as much." - -"As to that I will demand an answer of these charges from him," -returned Cromwell gloomily. "Believe me that I love him." - -For answer and comfort she rose and went up to him; as she took him -lovingly by the upper arm she started. She felt something hard beneath -the rich black velvet which he wore. - -"You have armour on!" she murmured. - -"Since young Major Gerrard set the precedent there have been many ready -to follow his example," replied His Highness. "And in this way I would -not die--nay, I would not die shot like a beast." - -"O Christ, preserve us all!" cried Lady Elisabeth, and fell weeping -over the heart that her father had to guard with a steel corselet from -the assassin's bullet or knife. - -He put his arm round her as if she had been a child (so, indeed, she -still seemed to him); and the thoughts of both went back to the happy -home in St. Ives, before they had known sickness or death among them, -when she had not gone in silk nor he in secret armour, when they had -not known the perils of great positions nor the magnificence of kings' -palaces. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MAJOR-GENERAL HARRISON - - -Major-General Harrison, in grim retirement, sternly rejected the -Lord-Protector's half-wistful attempts to win him, and even refused to -come to Whitehall as a friend and dine or sup with the Cromwell family. - -His Highness, however piqued or hurt he might be in secret, refused to -allow any persecution of his old comrade-in-arms, though Harrison was -becoming daily more involved with the Anabaptists and that peculiar -section of enthusiasts who were styled Fifth-Monarchy Men, because they -believed that the four kingdoms foretold by St. John had come to pass, -and that the kingdom now approaching was the fifth, that of Christ. - -His Highness was lenient with them as with other fanatics: it was in -his nature to be tolerant and to prefer any form of enthusiasm to -lukewarmness. He was gentle with the Quakers, and listened patiently -to George Fox's mystic denunciations of him. "I am sure that thou and -I should be good friends did we but know each other," had been his -parting words. He interceded, though vainly, for the poor, half-crazed -Naylor, who had allowed his followers to salute him as the Messiah and -had been sentenced by Parliament to brandings, whippings, and pillories -that meant a hideous death. - -But though the Lord-Protector was merciful he was also strong, as had -been abundantly proved. - -When fanaticism became insubordination and the cause of religious -liberty cloaked mutiny and revolt, when, in brief, things mystic and -intangible interfered with things very practical and tangible, His -Highness struck, once and for ever. - -He raised no objection to men finding in the pages of the Revelations a -doctrine comfortable to themselves; but if they used such doctrines as -a pretext for rebellion, he knew how to hold them down with a firm hand. - -Therefore, though he argued sweetly and meekly with Thomas Harrison, he -had that redoubtable saint closely under his observation, as he also -watched Harry Vane and Bradshaw and Haselrig and other of his one-time -friends. - -His Highness was busy in these days, full of high business with France -and Spain and the Netherlands as well as with this business of keeping -order at home; for Oliver Cromwell, who had always been a great man, -was now a great Prince, and England had become of more importance in -Europe than she had been since the royal Elisabeth or the royal Harry V. - -It was the Lord's doing, said His Highness, the Lord who had elected -the English as His chosen people. A league of the Protestant nations -in one alliance was foremost of the Lord-Protector's deeply cherished -schemes; at present it seemed far from consummation: more practical -matters occupied His Highness. With Blake on the seas and himself at -home, England was powerful and vigorous; outwardly she was serene -as she was glorious, but none knew better than Cromwell himself how -beneath this serenity raged faction, discontent, and confusion, and how -uncertain the tenure of this glory was--merely the tenure of his own -life. - -Soon after a certain complicated and perilous plot against that life -had been discovered and crushed, Cromwell received, among other news -equally disturbing (for troubles did not lack in England this turbulent -spring), an account, well attested, of Major-General Harrison's -treasonous dealings with the Fifth-Monarchy Men and of a widespread -plot to seduce the army from its allegiance. - -An Anabaptist preacher had held forth boldly. "Wilt thou have Christ or -Cromwell?" he had asked. In daring and in defiance these enthusiasts -were getting beyond all common prudence. - -His Highness sent for Major-General Harrison, not in the terms of -friendship now, but as a Prince summoning a subject. - -Major-General Harrison came, grimly but serenely, and was ushered -through all the state the Protector kept, for, though simple with his -family and friends, to the outer world he held as much show as any -monarch, into the presence of His Highness, who waited him in a very -rich chamber that still contained some of the late King's pictures and -hangings and carpets. - -The Lord-Protector was standing facing the door. He looked less than -his years, and his expression and pose were both of extraordinary -vigour; he wore brown velvet gallooned with gold and a great falling -collar of lace; his hair was now as grey as Charles' when he was -brought prisoner to Hampton Court; but his mournful, resolute face -showed no sign of age or feebleness. - -Thomas Harrison was unbooted, for he had come by water; his attire was -the very extreme of severe simplicity, and his dark countenance was -pale and stern. - -He took off his high-crowned hat as he came into the Protector's -presence and flung it, with his cloak, across a chair; he made no -reverence and eyed His Highness with calm hostility. - -This cold look from one who had been his ancient friend, who had shared -with him so many hopes, enthusiasms, toils, and victories, smote the -Protector to the heart. He had been prepared for this enmity; but now -that he was actually in the presence of his former companion-at-arms, -the sight of the figure he had so often seen foremost in the field of -battle, fighting for the Lord, and the face which he had seen so often -fired by an exaltation kindred to his own, overwhelmed him with a -tender sadness and the tears sprang into his eyes. - -"Thomas Harrison," he cried, "I did not think that we should meet thus!" - -"Nor I," replied the other sombrely. "Sir, have your say with me and -let me go--for I have nobler work to do than a vain waiting on men in -palaces." - -His Highness slightly flushed. - -"I see what rankles in thy mind," he replied. "Yet I did think that, -whatever the general might say, a man such as thou wouldst have -believed the best, not the worst. Nay," he added more warmly, "why -shouldst thou think so meanly of me? Looking into thy own heart, thou -knowest thy motives and principles pure--hast thou not the generosity -to credit that I might look into my heart and say the same?" - -Major-General Harrison gazed at him unmoved. - -"Wherefore this defence?" he asked. "I have accused you of nothing." - -"Not in words," replied the Lord-Protector, "but by thy whole conduct -and manner." - -"Neither need trouble thee," said the soldier calmly, speaking with -more mildness and adopting the form of speech both more respectful and -more affectionate, "since thou needst not see me save by thy own wish." - -"It was needful that I should see thee," returned His Highness, "it was -very needful. Hard things are said of thee--yea, difficult and curious -things." - -He walked about the room, looking at the floor, his arms folded behind -him, then stopped before Harrison, who remained a few paces from the -door standing by the chair on which were his hat and cloak. - -"Thou hast meddled with Anabaptists and these mistaken people called -Fifth-Monarchy Men," he said abruptly. - -A grim smile flashed over Harrison's face. - -"Art thou become a persecutor and a watcher over men's consciences and -a spy on their actions?" he asked. - -"Nay," replied His Highness, grimly too, "thou knowest well enough if -I am tolerant or no, Thomas Harrison; thou knowest me very well, even -to the roots of my heart. But now I am Governor of England, and over -England I shall watch." - -"Thou art," said the undaunted Republican, "a tyrant." - -"I am a ruler by charter of God and the People," said Cromwell. "It is -well known in this nation and in all the world"--he lifted his head -with great dignity--"whether I am a tyrant or no. But I will admit this -much, I have as much power and authority as many a bad king. Take that -along with thee." - -"I take along with me," returned Harrison, "that thou art a tyrant; -and though it hath pleased God, in His mysterious decrees, to place -thee where thou art, I know that He hath done it to bring a further -rebuke and chastening upon us before the coming of His kingdom and for -thy destruction. There is a wind abroad over the land, but one which -neither purifies nor cools--the presence of God is not with thee nor -with those under thee." - -"This is hardly said," answered the Lord-Protector sadly. "Ah, thou -hast gone so far with me--canst thou not go a little further? Together -we fought, together we judged that wicked man, Charles Stewart----" - -Harrison interrupted. - -"Then thou wast acting as God directed--but lately thou hast acted -as if a bad angel possessed thee. The true saints who fought with -thee then could not fight with thee now, Lord Cromwell. A poor few we -are--nay, a pitiful remnant, but we believe that before long it will be -made known from Heaven that we are right, although it hath seemed good -to Him to suffer this turn to come upon us--so that we are a forsaken -few." - -"Nay, not forsaken!" cried His Highness, much agitated. "Is it not for -thee, and such as thee, that this Government exists?" - -"I know not," replied Harrison coldly. "Methought that it existed for -itself, as all governments do." - -"Truly" cried the Lord-Protector, with rising anger, "they who call -thee hard have reason--nay, thou art more, thou art unjust." - -"Unjust!" repeated Harrison, with more emotion than he had so far -shown. "Is thy memory so feeble or thy heart so false as not to recall -the old days, the bright morning of our hopes and triumphs?" - -He came a step nearer, holding out his hands and speaking vehemently. - -"We rejoiced in slaying the enemies of the Lord; with many tears -and prayers and strivings we sought assurance of the Lord's will -and brought the tyrant to judgment. Thou and I put our names to his -death-warrant; thou and I will answer together for that deed before the -Heavenly Throne, and I can say before Him who searcheth all hearts, I -did this thing thinking His hand was in it, and that the land could -only be cleansed from blood by the blood of him who first shed blood. -But thou, what canst thou say?--I slew this man that I might climb into -his place, succeed to his power, sleep in his rich bed, have carnal -honours for my children, and a high name for myself! Oh, Oliver, thou -canst say nothing else!" - -"Before Him who made me a Joshua over this Israel I need no defence," -answered His Highness simply. "He knoweth my poor heart and what He put -therein--and how this miserable flesh, with many stumbles, tried to do -His will. I am not afraid of my God. Leave Him to judge me and return -to thy ancient faithfulness to me." - -"Thou wert," said Harrison, "as the apple of mine eye, but now I loathe -thee. Thou hast turned aside, and thou shalt not tempt me to follow -thee, even if thou flatterest me, saying, 'Come and sit on my right -hand and share my power.'" - -The Lord-Protector took a sharp turn about the room. - -"Thou art deluded, I plainly see," he said; "but it cannot be allowed -that thou shouldst run into these excursions, though I have given thee -a great latitude--I say that it cannot be allowed. I have with a great -deal of patience suffered thee to sally out, but I perceive thou art -misled, yea, and rebellious--surely we will have no rebellion." - -"Do what you will with me," said Harrison calmly. "I will give my -little poor testimony to the truth as I know it. Maybe I am a little -mistaken, but I act according to my understanding, desiring to make the -revealed Word of God in His Holy Scriptures my guide." - -"Thou art mistaken," replied Cromwell gloomily. "Beware of a hard heart -and an obdurate spirit. And beware of these Fifth-Monarchy Men. They -plot against the Commonwealth--they plot against my life." - -"You believe that of me?" asked Harrison sharply. - -"Why not?" returned His Highness scornfully. "Thou hast put thy hand to -the removal of one tyrant and may willingly desire to remove another." - -"What I did against Charles Stewart was not done in a corner," said the -Republican calmly, "nor should I act in a hidden way against you or -against anyone." - -"Nay," said Cromwell impulsively, "I believe it. Forgive me. But thou -art in these Fifth-Monarchy plots." - -"We do not plot," returned Harrison, "nor intrigue, whatever may be -noised of us." - -"Thou mayst put what name thou wilt to it, Major-General Harrison," -said His Highness; "but it is a known fact that thou seekest to disturb -the Government and seduce the army." - -"I neither own the Government nor molest it. But wherefore these words? -I do not seek to fly or in any way to save myself. Sir, I am in your -power, both I and those poor hearts, those few redcoats who still hold -the pure doctrine." - -"Thou knowest," replied the Lord-Protector hastily, and with evident -emotion, "that I wish to be at peace with all men--even with the -malignants." - -"Yea!" cried Thomas Harrison, with a flame of anger in his dark eyes, -"you have been very ready to make peace with Bael--to this has your -tolerance led you!" - -"I would that thou hadst a little more tolerance," was the mild reply. - -"These are vain words," said the soldier impatiently. "You and I have -parted company long since. Our ways lie differently now. Tell me what -you will of me and let this end." - -Oliver Cromwell looked at him fully and mournfully, then sighed. - -"If thou wilt recognise the Government thou mayst live in peace for me." - -Thomas Harrison replied in a tone serene and unmoved-- - -"I will not; come what may, I will not." - -The Lord-Protector straightened his figure (which drooped a little in -the shoulders of late), and then the blood slowly overspread his face. - -"I shall not take this lightly," he said; "for my own dignity I may not -take it lightly--I am the Governor of England. I have some authority." - -"The brief carnal power of a thing of clay," replied Harrison, with an -exalted smile. "Wherefore should I seek to please thee, who in a few -years will be gone from this scene, leaving behind thy power and thy -splendour? I listen to the voice of Him before whom thou and all the -nations of the earth are less than a drop of water in the bucket; my -thoughts are fixed, not on this dusty sojourn here, but on those azure -eternities which God giveth to His servants. Therefore I will not obey -thee in this matter, for my conscience is against it." - -The Lord-Protector was silent a moment, then he spoke in a tone from -which all friendliness and pleading had gone. - -"Then if you will not recognize the Government, you must cease to serve -it. I shall ask for your commission." - -Major-General Harrison gently unfastened his sword thread and laid the -plain weapon and the plain belt on a little table which stood near the -Protector. - -"There is my sword," he said, "which hath done some poor little -service. Take it and let it rust." - -Cromwell remembered Marston Moor, Naseby, Basing, Oxford, many warm -acts of friendship, many mutual prayers--all the old laborious, -hopeful, triumphant days which they had shared. - -He said nothing; his hand went out as if yearningly and lovingly -towards the weapon which he had so often seen red with the newly -smitten blood of God's enemies. - -He still did not speak, and his silence was stern. - -Thomas Harrison took up his hat and cloak, and with a courteous but -cold salute turned to take his leave. - -His Highness turned to watch him and suddenly spoke, even as the other -had his hand on the door. - -"Thomas Harrison, it is very fitting that I make some defence to you. -You have known me very well, and you believe hard, diabolic things of -me. I would make some answer to this. I may bear the unkind thoughts of -mine enemies, but I would be relieved of the ill-opinion of those who -were once my friends." - -Harrison paused, and then turned with his back to the door, still -unmoved and hostile, but attentive, as if compelled to that amount of -respect by the rough, impassioned voice and fervent tones of the man -for whom he would have given his life a few years ago. As he listened -to his one-time beloved General, something of the old affection touched -him, though faintly; he waited. - -"You accuse me of base ambition," said His Highness, lifting his -head--his face had a look of a lion, mournful and infinitely -strong--"but that failing I never had. You accuse me of grasping at -the King's power, but that I never wanted. A man was needed--England, -I say, had need of a man--but none came. Any of you could have come -forward to take this place I hold--this place of no peace, little -sleep, and endless labour--any of you! But you were not called, or you -did not heed the call, you stepped aside--and England waited. I know -not if you lacked courage, or if your conscience called you different -ways--but none offered. And I, on in years and something broken by the -wars, besought the Lord not to put this upon me--yet He did. And I did -not shirk it. I obeyed Him as I did when I left London to form a troop -in Cambridge that time the King did raise his standard against the -people. Each time the Lord's breath was through me, as wind is through -a hollow reed, and by Him I could do a little. That is my only merit. -And England is something now--the home of His chosen. You were nice, -you hesitated, you made punctilios--but I heard the call and saw the -light, as oft in the battalion, and I obeyed. I have tried many ways of -government, each as it comes to my hand. What my position truly is I -know not--I am a parish constable set to keep the peace. Yet here I be, -by God's will, and here I do my work. You may judge me with charity, -Thomas Harrison, as one upon whom a very heavy burden hath been laid." - -He paused, and his head drooped. - -"There is no more to say," he added, and his rough voice had fallen -lower. "Farewell--'God watch between me and thee when we are absent -from one and another.'" - -"Amen," said Thomas Harrison. - -And so they parted. - -The Lord-Protector stood lonely in the rich chamber, which had been -furnished by the dead King and the banished Queen. - -He went to the window and looked on the spring fairness of the garden, -on the warm glitter of the river and the sails going down to the sea. - -His greatness oppressed him in that moment, and he was home-sick for -the past and the uneventful days of his youth. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -LADY NEWCASTLE - - -Through the mingled splendour and distress, brightness and confusion -of these years of the Lord-Protector's ruling in England, while the -glory of England rose to a perilous height (her renown glittered as the -foam on a wave cast for a moment into the sun--soon to fall into the -darkness of the waters again and to be lost), while Oliver Cromwell -shone refulgent in all men's eyes, the Lady Elisabeth Claypole, moving -from her husband's house to her father's palaces, and in all places -greatly loved, faded visibly and pitifully. - -She had always been an advocate of mercy, and many a Cavalier owed his -life or his estate to her pleadings, and there was no one, however he -might hate Cromwell, who had not a gentle thought for this daughter -of his. Among her keen, delicate sisters she showed yet more keen and -delicate, and though she had now lost the fresh English fairness which -bloomed in the Lady Mary and the Lady Frances, and which had become -womanly grace in Bridget Fleetwood, yet of all of them she was the most -lovable. If any wished a favour from the Lord-Protector it was to her -they went to ask her intercession, for as her illness and her weakness -grew and her end came nearer, nearer with every painful breath she -drew, His Highness' tender love increased into an agony of yearning, -until it seemed as if he could refuse her nothing. - -One April, when His Highness was deep in great affairs--letters to -Cardinal Mazarin, letters to General Blake now sailing victorious in -foreign waters, questions of his taking the title of King, questions -of the Fifth Monarchy men having broken out rebelliously at last, and -Thomas Harrison being in the Tower for abetting them--a supplicant -came to Hampton with a very earnest entreaty to be allowed to see the -Lord-Protector. Whereat John Thurloe, His Highness' faithful secretary, -was indignant almost beyond the bounds of courtesy, and mighty angry -with the servants who had let the lady get as far as the antechamber. - -"Lackeys," said she, on hearing his complaint, "are still used to pay -respect to princesses." - -But he told her she could by no means see His Highness, and he spoke so -firmly that she sadly turned away. - -"Alas!" she murmured, "that I should be sent like a beggar from the -door of a usurper!" - -John Thurloe regarded her sharply. - -"Had you been a man, madam, you would have had to answer for that -remark." - -The lady turned and seemed about to reply, when Elisabeth Claypole -chanced to pass the open door, and, seeing a stranger there, she -entered. - -"Who is this?" she asked. - -"A lady who will not give her name," said the secretary dryly; "but no -one can see His Highness now." - -"My name," said the stranger, with that air of fantastic dignity which -disguised her haggard sadness, "is something too great to be bandied -about here--but give me yours, madam." - -"I am Elisabeth Claypole, madam," returned the Protector's daughter -mildly. - -The lady swept a courtly curtsey. - -"There is no need," she replied, "for me to disguise my quality from -one so generous and good. I am, madam, the wife of the unfortunate -Marquess of Newcastle." - -This name, which a few years ago had been one of the greatest in the -land, and still echoed in the minds of men, had an effect on John -Thurloe and even on Elisabeth herself. The new order had not endured -long enough for people to have eradicated the instinct of respect for -noble blood and ancient names; for a moment the Marchioness, in her -poor attire, abashed the two commoners, so strong still were tradition -and the old teaching. - -Then Elisabeth Claypole spoke. - -"Will you come with me, madam, and take a little poor hospitality?" - -Thurloe, glad to be relieved of the responsibility of the distinguished -petitioner, put in his word. - -"I will give Your Grace's name to His Highness presently, but I do fear -it is useless." - -"Come with me, madam," repeated the Lady Elisabeth, and she gently took -the Marchioness by the hand and led her to her apartment. - -Lady Newcastle came meekly; for all her air of pride she was downcast -and bewildered with misfortune. - -The Lady Elisabeth's room looked on the river, now shaded by willow -trees covered with drooping yellow and red leaves, the banks were grown -with tall grasses and rushes, and the first pale flowers of spring, -beyond the soft fields, faded into the soft sky. - -Elisabeth Claypole loved to sit day after day at her deep window gazing -on that scene, watching the river that wandered through such pleasant -ways through the great city, past the palace, past the Traitor's Gate, -out to the wonder and turmoil of the open sea. - -It was a beautiful chamber hung with embroidery of her own stitching, -and furnished with many curious pieces from the Netherlands and China, -carpets of Persia, and two mirrors framed in glass flowers and done by -the Venetians. - -She put a chair for the Marchioness and herself sank into the window -seat, glancing swiftly at her guest. She saw a lady of a medium -loveliness, most piteously worn and marred by sorrow, and attired in -a tasteful if unusual style, which gave her the appearance of being -richly dressed; but Elisabeth's quick eyes saw that the grey silk dress -had been turned and scoured, that the ruffles of lace had been darned -again and again, and that she wore no jewels. The Protector's daughter -felt ashamed of her own velvet gown and the valuable pearls she had in -her ears. - -"I wished to see your father, madam," said Lady Newcastle, in a voice -where fatigue and humiliation struggled with a natural pride. - -"Alas!" murmured Elisabeth. "He is so pressed with business--will you -tell your errand to me, my Lady Newcastle?" - -"I have come to England in company with my brother-in-law to endeavour -to obtain some remnant of my husband's estates," was the answer. "And -we were returning in despair, when I, unknown to him, thought to make -this personal appeal." - -The Lady Elisabeth knew at once that the unfortunate gentlewoman had -made an utterly hopeless journey, for she was well aware that one of -the late King's generals, and a royalist so notable as the Marquess of -Newcastle, could never obtain grace from the Commonwealth. - -Wishful, as ever, to avoid inflicting pain rudely, she made an evasive -answer. - -"Will your lord swear fealty to the Government, madam?" - -"Nay--do you take him for a disloyal wretch?" flashed the Marchioness. - -"Then," replied Elisabeth, with something of her pride roused, "I -wonder that you should have undertaken the labour of this journey." - -A pallor overshadowed the royalist lady's features, and she hung her -head, as if she heard in these words the full extent of her miseries -and the depths of her humiliations. - -"Could you see how the exiles live in Paris, in Rotterdam--in Antwerp," -she answered--"all of us--even the Queen--you would not wonder at my -endeavour, however foolish, to obtain some relief." - -It was the Protector's daughter who paled now; the thought of the -English exiles wandering miserably through Europe had constantly -haunted her. - -"You are then in distress?" she asked, in a low voice. - -"In the greatest poverty," replied Lady Newcastle, her pride melting -before the touch of tenderness, and the tears suddenly reddening her -eyes. "The French King makes nothing of us; he is all for an alliance -with the usur--with your father. The Princess of Orange can do nothing -for us, for, since her husband died, the Netherlands have put down -her son and so--and so----" she paused to command herself, then -continued: "Do not think I complain for myself. My lord was ruined -when I married him in Paris. I took him for great and exceeding love, -as he did me, seeing I was dowerless, and I make it no hardship to -share his exiled wanderings with him--but there are so many others even -wanting bread--and Her Majesty and the Princess Henrietta are in such -distress----But not to you should I speak of these things. I would only -explain how it is that I have so far lowered my dignity as to come here -on this errand." - -Elisabeth Claypole caught a glimpse of the sufferings, poverties, -and misery of the exiled English in this speech, given so humbly, so -haltingly, yet with the accent of a pride unquenched. - -My lady dashed the tears from her eyes with a laced handkerchief. - -"I am Margaret Lucas," she added, "and well used to misfortunes. I came -to England to try what I could do, but I found no friend anywhere, nor -any one who would bring me before your father. So I came to-day--wildly -and foolishly, it might be--to ask if he would give my lord his rights." - -"I would not give you false hopes," replied the Lady Elisabeth. "My -Lord's estate is forfeit, and no entreaties of yours or mine could -avail to restore it." - -"Entreaties?" cried Lady Newcastle. "I fear I could not entreat----" - -She abruptly checked her sentence, but Elisabeth knew well enough that -some hard thing against the Protector had been on her tongue. - -"Have patience, my lady, this life is very short and full of sadness. -All these great affairs and great pains will soon be past, and others -will be in our places while we shall be at rest--up there"--she pointed -to the sky--"above it all, God grant!" - -"You speak as if you too were unfortunate!" said the Marchioness -wonderingly. "Surely, Mrs. Claypole, you do not need philosophy to -sweeten your lot." - -"I am dying," answered Elisabeth Claypole. "And I am young and have -much on this earth that I love, also I suffer very greatly--so much -that I wish I could die quicker. Therefore," she added sweetly, "you -see that I have not found the world wholly pleasant, and why I long for -these mansions God hath prepared for us above." - -My lady's warm heart was greatly moved by this touching confession. - -"Forgive me, I did not know," she answered; "but I dare hope you are -mistaken----" - -"Those who love me deceive themselves, but I know," smiled Elisabeth. -"I am not afraid to die--but sometimes, madam, I am a coward before the -pain, the great pain,"--then, hastily turning the subject from herself, -she added,--"I mix not at all in business, I know my father doeth -God's work--yet I am most grieved for you and such as you, for all the -blood shed, for all the misery. Ah me!--our day is now, we seem very -glorious, but what doth it all hang on? My father's life--no more. And -it may be that we too shall end and come to nothing and your turn come -again. I know not. Sometimes life seems very far away from me, as if I -surveyed it from a distance, and saw it all blurred and vague." - -"How many sad women I have seen!" exclaimed Margaret. "The Queen--you -would not know her--an old woman, all burnt away with fiery tears; -Lady Strafford, all broken and silenced; Lady William Pawlet, who -hath crept into a convent and is as near a nun as a widow may be--and -myself--how I have wept--mine eyes are weakened for ever because of -tears. It was for Charles, my dear, dear brother ... you know they -shot him, poor gallant soldier, outside Colchester.... Your father was -guiltless of that, or nothing had brought me here to-day." - -Elisabeth did not answer; Cromwell was certainly not responsible for -the military executions, so harsh and unnecessary, of Lucas and Lisle -after the siege of Colchester; but it had been the work of Bridget's -first husband, Henry Ireton (a man whom she had never liked), and so -she could not condemn the action though her heart cried out against it. -The Marchioness rose, and the gentle April sunlight flicked the scoured -silk, the darned lace, the face so peaked and worn for one so young. - -"Well, well," she said, with quivering lips, "one goes on living--but -the world is never the same after these things have happened. How -differently I dreamed it would be!" - -"I also," answered Elisabeth Claypole. "I never thought of death at -all. Far, far off I fancied him, and behold, he was knocking at the -door. But the world does not heed poor silly women, madam; we are but -the dust bruised by the tramplings of great events; nations march -past and leave us weeping. God send you a good deliverance from your -sorrows. I will do what little I can, and ask my father to receive your -petition, but well I know it hopeless." - -"I thank you," said Margaret; "from my heart I thank you for your good, -your generous, graciousness. I cannot think of you as my enemy----" - -"Why should you?" cried Elisabeth. "We are both English women. I hope -the day is near when all such shall be united." - -She rose and unlatched the lattice, and a fresh air blew in from the -young leaves that quivered on the willows and the young grass that -waved in the fields. - -"The river!" said Margaret, looking over her shoulder. "I often dream -of the river, it seems woven through everything--twisted in and out -of the past years and all their story. In Paris, among strangers, I -think of the river, and grow sad with home-sickness. The river is very -dear--and means so much." - -"I think so too," said Elisabeth. "Consider how it will flow on the -same, hundreds of years hence, when all the present kingdoms of the -earth will be dust like yester year's roses." - -"I hope I shall die in England," said my lady irrelevantly; "and now -farewell," she added bravely. "Forgive me my sad coming." - -"Come again," interrupted the Lady Elisabeth, taking her hand. "I may -have news for you. Where do you lodge?" - -"With Mrs. Brydon, a cousin of my father over against the Exchange. -I am called Mrs. Lucas there, for any pomp is foolish in such sorry -circumstances." - -"Come again in a few weeks--my father is so occupied with the Spanish -War--but I will speak to him of my lord's estates. Yet I can promise -nothing," she added reluctantly. - -"Yet I love you dearly for the kindness," replied Margaret, holding out -her hands. - -Elisabeth took them in her own frail fingers; these two women were -strangely drawn to one another. - -"I pray Heaven you will recover," added the Marchioness. "I think you -will recover. Madam, you will live to be very happy." - -"God may make me happy," said Elisabeth, "but not on the earth now." - -"Nay, you will live to encourage other unfortunates as you have -encouraged me." - -Both of them had tears in their eyes; obeying a mutual impulse, they -bent and kissed each other on the cheek. - -Elisabeth came with Margaret to the outer door of her apartments, and -there gave her in charge to one of the ushers to be conducted from the -palace with all courtesy. - -Before she returned to her chamber she asked if His Highness was at -leisure. - -She was told that he was deeply engaged with his secretary on the -questions to be put before the Council when he returned to Whitehall -to-morrow. - -Lady Newcastle returned to an alien London, and sat down in her forlorn -and ancient splendour to write to her beloved lord in Antwerp, where he -lodged in the house of the late King's painter, Sir Peter Rubens. - -As the shadows fell over the city, over the fresh countryside, over -the river, as the night moths came out and the early stocks and pinks -in the gardens at Hampton Palace filled the air with sweetness, His -Highness still toiled in his cabinet, and Elisabeth Claypole still sat -at the open window of her room with folded hands and thoughtful eyes -gazing across the twilight. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE LADY ELISABETH - - -When the Marchioness of Newcastle, after waiting long and vainly, -returned at length to Hampton Court and asked for the Lady Elisabeth, -she was told that the Protector's daughter was too ill to see any one. - -After lingering a little, and trying other sources of communication -with the court and finding none, she returned sadly with her husband's -brother to Antwerp to take up again her exiled life. - -All through that summer and autumn Elisabeth Claypole had seemed -sinking down to death. She knew little of what passed: of how, after -long debates, His Highness had refused the title of King ('a feather -in his cap,' he called it; a feather he would fain have had, many -said, only the army had willed otherwise), but had been installed in -purple and ermine as Lord-Protector of the new-formed Constitution and -presented with Bible and sword; of how ambassadors had come and gone -in England and the war with Spain proceeded brilliantly; how plots -were formed and exposed and His Highness went in a continual fear of -his life that was beginning to undermine his calm nerves and resolute -courage, and of how he and his Generals toiled continually---- - -Of all this Elisabeth Claypole knew little; she was scarcely conscious -of more than the darkened room in which she lay and of the figures of -her mother and sisters coming and going softly, of her husband grieving -by her bed, and her father's presence in such moments as he could -spare to hold her hand and speak comforting words to her tired ears. - -By the spring they thought that they had cured her; but in the summer -she drooped again, though she went to the marriage of her sister -Frances with young Mr. Rich, the Earl of Warwick's heir. - -Frances was the last to wed, for Mary was now Lady Fauconberg. Many -finer matches had been suggested for this youngest of the Protector's -daughters; some had even tried to bring about a marriage between her -and Charles Stewart, and the women of His Highness' family had favoured -this scheme, but Cromwell waved it aside--'If he could forgive his -father's death, I could not forgive the loose manner of his life'--and -Frances had wedded, after much opposition, Mr. Rich, a delicate youth. - -In the June of this year of 1658 came the great news of the fall of -Dunkirk, the defeat of the Spanish, and the flattering friendship of -the French. London glittered with a congratulatory embassy from Paris; -in the midst of the pageantry, His Highness, who had already interfered -once to save the poor people of the valleys of Piedmont, was once more -extending his mighty protection to them, and Mr. Milton, the Latin -Secretary to the Council of State, was turning His Highness' letters -into Latin: Mr. Milton dictated his translations now, for he was lately -become utterly blind. - -The news of the battle of the Dunes raised England to a yet higher -point of fame than she had yet reached. France could refuse such an -ally nothing, and Mazarin interfered to protect the Piedmontese. - -So went affairs abroad and in England well too, save that the finances -were strained, His Highness having dissolved the Parliament in -February, preferring, indeed, to govern without one. - -"God be judge between you and me," were the concluding words of his -last speech. - -Other sorrows beside the illness of his daughter visited His Highness -this summer: Mr. Rich died a few months after his marriage, leaving -poor Frances a widow at seventeen; the old Earl of Warwick died, an -ancient friend of the Protector; most painful and terrible loss of all, -the youngest son of the Lady Elisabeth died, and she fell again into -illness and was soon at a desperate extremity. - -In between his entertainment of the French ambassadors at Whitehall, -his conferences with his Council, and all the routine of government, -His Highness would take his coach and drive to Hampton, and sit for -a while in his child's darkened chamber and pray with tears that her -agony might be lessened. - -His own health began to suffer. Those about him noticed that the deep -gloom which had settled on his spirits was affecting his strength; he -still looked and seemed in every way younger, much younger than his -years; he had a great appearance of strength; he gave the impression -of being firmly built, and set, and able to endure for a great while -yet the powerful winds which buffeted his high and glorious pinnacle of -splendour. - -Yet those most with him, especially Thurloe, his ardent and faithful -secretary, thought that underneath this calm and strong exterior he -was much shaken in mind and health. His domestic sorrows were known -to affect him sorely, his nerves were strained to breaking-point by -the constant apprehension of assassination, the future was believed -to weigh on him, for there was no settlement of the country for any -period longer than his life, and it became daily more apparent how the -whole fabric of Puritan government depended on that life, on his unique -position and influence with the army, on the dominating force of his -personality, on the glory of his prestige and the glamour of his genius. - -He had always seemed so vigorous, and glowing with the light and the -fire of an immortal spirit that no one associated him with age or -death or thought about his successor; but it was possible that to -himself, as the atmosphere of death chilled his home, might come the -reflection that the England of his making was as baseless as the Greece -of Alexander, and might as easily fall to pieces at his death--only -his captains were not the men to divide the spoils. What, then, would -follow? - -He may well have asked himself that question and pondered over it in -these dark days. - -The Lord Richard, his eldest surviving son, was a mere country -gentleman, with neither strength nor talents--nay, rather of an -indolent turn and a certain softness; to set him to hold together the -various elements which controlled the nation would be to invite certain -failure. - -The Lord Henry, his second son, was as able a man as any about him and -already of much distinction in his military and diplomatic career; -but he was not the man to step into another's place: ambition did not -spur his noble qualities. Then there were the Lord Fleetwood, his -son-in-law, the Lord Lambert, Disbrowe, many fine, fearless soldiers, -Blake, Monck. But where was _the_ man--the one pre-eminently marked out -to continue the work of His Highness? - -No one could point to such an one. The Lord-Protector had the right -of naming his successor, but as yet had not done so; the new-founded -Constitution (the last attempt to frame a civil government on the -foundations of arbitrary military power) was scarcely complete, and -after these last glorious successes in the Spanish War there was -further persistent talk of a kingship for the Protector. Many said this -title was a certain thing; but it was a thing yet pending, and with it -the question of the succession. - -There were many jars and confusions, too, in the inner state of England -that might well weigh on the spirit of the Protector. His body was -worn with gout and a slight but lingering aguish fever. He might -neglect none of his business, and maintain the appearance of mental and -physical strength, but John Thurloe, his constant companion, was not -deceived. - -"His Highness," he said to Whitelocke, "is a sick man, and these vigils -by the Lady Elisabeth will wear him to a great disease." - -That summer was notable for the fierceness of the heat: day by day -the sun beat down without either rain or cloud, night after night the -stars shone with unveiled brilliance; then towards the beginning of -August a light wind blew for several days and cooled the air. Elisabeth -Claypole seemed to rally a little as the great heat was relieved, and -His Highness, who had left business for several days lately to watch -by her, thought it safe to return to London, where the French notables -were still being entertained. - -On Friday the 6th of August he came back to Hampton Court; he came in -a coach, for, having lately been flung from his carriage, he was too -shaken to ride on horseback. That day he had been more than usually -cheerful; he had even smiled at the reports from France: tales of how -his Ironsides (oh, irony!), now fighting there side by side with the -followers of the Scarlet Lady, had given their General trouble by their -behaviour in the churches of the idolaters, one lighting his pipe -from the candle on the high altar. Then he heard how Mr. Hugh Peters -had endeavoured to make long sermons before the magnificent Cardinal, -hoping to convert him from his deep errors. - -At the name of Mr. Hugh Peters His Highness smiled no more; it recalled -to him strangely that winter morning in Whitehall when he had paced -the boarded gallery in sick agitation, and Hugh Peters, in his black -clothes, had gone out to the scaffold and helped knock a staple in and -hurried to and fro in enthusiastic excitement.... It seemed so long ago -... and now this same Hugh Peters was arguing with Cardinal Mazarin, -and the young King of France was sending him a rich sword with a -jewelled hilt ... a King who was the nephew of that other King who had -knelt down at the block that January morning. - -His Highness did not set much store by this costly sword: his victories -had been won with plainer weapons. - -While he was in his coach, hastening towards Hampton, he took from his -pocket a pamphlet which was then making much stir in England. The title -was _Killing no Murder_, and it set forth with much eloquence that any -murderer of Oliver Cromwell would be justified by God and man. - -His Highness read the paper from beginning to end, then put it back in -his pocket. - -"There is no notice to be taken of such things," said John Thurloe, who -sat opposite him. - -"It is no matter one way or another," answered His Highness; and he -took from his bosom a small Bible and gave it to Thurloe and asked him -to read from it aloud, "For," he said, "I feel my eyes tired." - -"What shall I read?" asked the secretary, leaning towards the light -of the window and unclasping the Book: the coach had just turned by -Turnham Green and the road was smooth. - -"Read," said the Lord-Protector, "the fourth of St. Paul to the -Philippians, the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth verses--read aloud -in a strong voice." - -Which John Thurloe did. - -"'Not that I speak in respect of want: but I have learned, in -whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be -abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere, and by all things, I am -instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to -suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth -me.'" - -His Highness repeated the last sentence. - -"'_I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me._' This -Scripture did once save my life," he added, "when my eldest son, poor -Robert, died, which went as a dagger to my heart--indeed, it did." - -He paused and John Thurloe looked up, startled to hear him refer to a -sorrow so ancient. But Cromwell's thoughts seemed to be in the past. - -"In my great extremity," he continued, "I did read these passages -of Paul's contention--of the submission to the will of God in all -conditions; and it was hard--indeed, it was hard. In my weakness I -said, 'It is true, Paul, _you_ have learned this, and attained to -this measure of grace; but what shall _I_ do? Ah, poor creature, it -is a hard lesson for me to take out. I find it so!' But reading on to -the thirteenth verse, where Paul saith, '_I can do all things through -Christ which strengtheneth me_,' then faith began to work and my heart -to find support, saying to myself, 'He that was Paul's Christ is my -Christ too!'--and so I drew waters out of the well of salvation." - -"Why should Your Highness remind yourself of this?" asked Thurloe -anxiously. - -"Oh, Thurloe!" cried the Lord-Protector, with a great sigh, "it is to -nerve myself in case another of my children should be taken from me. -If she should die--it would be almost more than I could bear. Yet God -might take her, though I have wrestled with Him for her life, even as -David wrestled for the life of his son. My brave, sweet one! She was -always good and loving, was she not, Thurloe? Wonderful and inscrutable -are His ways that He should lay such suffering and agonies on one so -delicate and valiant!" - -The secretary had no more to say; neither did His Highness speak again, -but gazed out of the window at the sun-dried countryside, at the -orchards where the dry wind blew the shrivelled leaves of red and gold -from the fruit too early ripe, at the great elms and oaks rustling the -foliage to the ground, at the thatched and gabled cottages where the -children ran to the doors to watch the coach with the four horses and -outriders and the troop of Lifeguards go by. - -Soon they came in sight of the river, with islands and barges and -reaches, where the boats were drawn above the tide and a few boys -fished, knee-deep in mud. - -Then they lost the river and passed between private mansions standing -among trees, and so to the village of Hampton as the sun was sinking in -a glow of unstained fire. - -As they neared the Palace His Highness became very pale, and he looked -once or twice with an air of dread from the window, as if he expected -to see some awful change over the place. - -But no scene could have been more peaceful: the river flowed softly -between the fading willows and the banks where the tall grasses, white -whorls of hemlock, and clusters of parsley flowers grew; the last light -of the sun glowed on the red bricks of the Palace and cast long shadows -from the summer flowers in the garden; up among the high chimney-stacks -white pigeons fluttered home with light upon their wings. - -Cromwell entered the Palace. The first to meet him was one of the -grooms of his chamber; the man gave him a frightened look and moved -away without speaking. - -He went towards his daughter's apartments, and in the corridor Frances -Rich, a child in widow's mourning, came towards him with staggering -steps. - -He paused. - -"Oh, my father!" she said, and lifted a face swollen with weeping. - -"What is it, my dear?" he asked, in a still voice. "Be calm, my child, -my dear." - -He took her trembling little figure by the shoulder and smoothed back -the damp hair from her forehead. - -"Is she dead?" he asked. "Is she gone--is Betty dead, dear?" - -"Oh, my father!" sobbed poor Frances again, and seemed unable to find -other words. - -Elisabeth Cromwell came down the passage, and with her the Lord -Claypole. - -"Ah," said His Highness, "is it over? And I left her--yet only for a -little--and she is gone." - -His wife came and put her arms round his neck and wept on his shoulder -a little, then she took his hand and led him to their daughter's -chamber, followed by those two other mourners, also sick with grief and -watching. - -Elisabeth Claypole lay dead, she had fallen from one convulsion fit to -another, and breathed her last breath, in great pain and suffering, but -with a composed and cheerful mind and a serene and hopeful soul. - -She was dead; very young she looked as she lay in the great bed in -the darkened chamber with the shadows over her; the rich coverlet was -straightened across her limbs, the sheet smoothed, the pillow shaken; -she was at peace after the long tossings to and fro, the hot nights of -agony, the dragging days of unconsciousness. - -Very small she looked and delicate; her hair seemed like a handful of -fine silk on the pillow, her hands white flowers on the coverlet; her -head was drooping slightly sideways, and the gentle look she wore in -life had returned, effacing all trace of suffering. - -There were many standing round her; all made way at the approach of His -Highness; he came up to the bed and looked down at her. - -"'My life is waxen old with heaviness,'" he murmured, "'and my years -with mourning.... I am become like a broken vessel.'" - -He bent over her stillness, his transient sorrow breaking vainly -against her eternal repose. - -"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," said Elisabeth Cromwell, -and touched her husband's hand. - -He went to his knees on the bed-step and put his head on his folded -hands. - -"May He who sitteth above the waterflood comfort me--for in myself I -can do nothing!" he muttered. - -They left him there, for they thought that he prayed; but it was not -so: the valiant spirit had been robbed of its matchless fortitude at -last; His Highness was in a swoon of anguish. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -EXIT HIS HIGHNESS - - -From that day he sickened rapidly; his strength fell from him with a -suddenness that amazed those about him. He attended business as usual, -wearing the purple of royal mourning, but the heaviness of his spirit -was noticed by all. - -Towards the end of August, George Fox, the Quaker, came to Hampton -Court to see His Highness about the persecution of the Friends; he -went by river, and soon after he stepped ashore at Hampton he saw His -Highness riding at the head of his Lifeguards, going towards the Palace -under the shade of the riverside trees. - -George Fox waited until the cavalcade, which was coming slowly towards -him, into Hampton Court Park, had reached him, gazing steadily the -while at that figure of His Highness, drooping a little in the saddle -and looking ahead of him, with an extraordinary air of stillness. - -"I felt and saw," wrote Fox afterwards, when he was back in his -cobbler's shop in London, "a waft of death go forth against him, and -when I came to him he looked like a dead man." - -His Highness was very courteous; he checked his horse when he saw the -patient figure, russet-clad, with the broad-brimmed hat, waiting for -him, and welcomed Fox as warmly as he had done two years before when -the Quaker saw him at Hyde Park Corner among his Guards, and pressed to -his carriage window, and spoke to him gravely--as he spoke to him now, -warning him, and laying before him the sufferings of the Friends, even -as the spirit moved him to do. - -His Highness listened; the stillness of his demeanour, remarkable in -one naturally so full of energy and eloquence, did not alter; he said -very little, only kindly bade Fox come and see him at his house next -day. - -And so he rode on slowly towards the red palace, "and I," wrote Fox in -his _Journal_, "never saw him more." - -For the following day, when he came from Kingston to Hampton again, the -doctors would let no one see His Highness, who was fallen worse--of a -tertian ague, they said--and would never ride at the head of his famous -Guard again, either through Hampton Court Park or anywhere else. George -Fox had been the last to see the Lord-Protector on horseback, girt with -a sword. - -Soon after he was moved by coach to London, where the air was thought -to be better for his complaint; St. James's Palace, that he intended -to lodge at, not being immediately ready, he was taken to Whitehall, -and on the Wednesday following half the nation was praying for him, and -half waiting breathlessly, "for a great deliverance." - -In Whitehall, a meeting of preachers and godly persons besought God -with prayers and tears to spare His Highness, and all over the city -were apprehension, expectation, hopes, fears, and supplication. - -So it had come to this: the twenty years of great events, with all the -toil, achievement, triumph, tumult, and sorrow, had swept up to this -moment when the gentleman farmer from St. Ives, who had received a -command from God, lay dying at Whitehall, with that command executed -as far as it is in a man to accomplish a mission he conceives Divine, -dying, with England breathless, and the son of the late tyrant -breathless too, and watching and waiting from across the water. - -It seemed to many valiant souls as if this England so violently shaped -anew into something of the form which was the ideal of Puritanism, -purged and glorified, was no more than the vivified dream of this one -man, and that when he passed from the earth it would be as when a -sleeper wakes--the dream would be dispelled and all things become as -they had been. - -What he himself might think, now that he knew the summons had come, -none could tell, for he was mostly silent during the ebb and flow of -his illness, and only spoke to pray; once or twice the passionate -entreaties to God, which he heard rising around him, and the passionate -affection of his family and friends, seemed to rouse in him a desire -and hope of life. He could not but know that his work was not yet -finished, and that this was not the best of times for him to die. - -"Lord, Thou knowest," he said, "that if I do desire to live, it is to -show forth Thy praise and declare Thy works!" and, "Is there none that -says, Who will deliver me from this peril?" then, "Man can do nothing; -God can do what He will." - -And at times he fell into a kind of enthusiasm, speaking much of the -Covenants of Works and of Grace and expounding them; to his wife and -children, who felt their very life being torn from them, he spoke, too: -"Love not this world"--he repeated the words with great vehemence, as -was his wont--"I say, love not this world; it is not good that you -should love this world--children, live like Christians. I leave you the -Covenant to feed on!" - -But for the most he had done with human affection; weeping did not seem -to touch that heart that had once been so tender to tears. - -He did not even look at those about him, but upwards at the dark canopy -of his bed; and to that inner eye which had beheld the sword stretched -out of the cloud in the barn at St. Ives, it was no covering of -tapestry which hung above him, but the threshold of the eternal world. - -The dry wind, which had begun before the Lady Elisabeth died, and blown -for weeks across the Island from sea to sea, deepened and strengthened -now from day to day, and at the end of this month of August, when His -Highness was rapidly coming to the end of all storms and calms alike, a -hurricane of wind arose--the most fearful, violent, and protracted any -man could remember. - -The angry seas sucked in ships and sailors and beat furiously on the -coast, trees were uprooted, haystacks and barns overturned, tiles and -chimneys cast down; in the cities men could scarcely stand in the -streets for the wind which roared and piped round the corners. - -The great man dying and the great storm raging became mysteriously -connected in the minds of those watching and waiting breathlessly; -there were not wanting those who said that it was the Devil come for -His Highness, nor those who thought it was the sound of the wings of -God's angels, nor those who thought that it was devils and angels both -wrestling together. - -It was drawing near to that most glorious day for Oliver Cromwell -and his cause, the 3rd of September, the anniversary of Dunbar -and Worcester, and of the calling of the first Parliament of His -Highness--a day of general thanksgivings and triumph to all Puritans. - -As the stormy winds rocked Whitehall Palace and rattled at the window -out of which Charles Stewart had stepped to die, and at the window of -the room where the Lord Protector lay, His Highness rallied from his -slumbers and sat upright in his great bed and listened to the tempest, -as a soldier might sit up in the dark and listen the night before a -battle. - -"I think I am the poorest wretch alive," he said, "but I love God, -or, rather, am beloved by Him--I am a conqueror and more than a -conqueror--'_through Christ which strengtheneth me_'"--so he repeated -again the words which had saved him once, long ago. But as he sat up, -hearkening to the blowing winds without, his comfort seemed to go from -him. - -"It is a fearful thing," he said, "to fall into the hands of the Living -God!" - -He raised himself up and stretched out his hand towards the wind as if -he appealed to something in that tumult outside his palace. - -"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!" he -cried again. - -So high and loud the wind howled that those about him shivered as if -they feared to be struck by some supernatural force; but Cromwell sat -erect, and again cried out, "I say it is a fearful thing to fall into -the hands of the Living God!" - -One of the chaplains praying in the adjoining chamber heard His -Highness' raised and agonized voice and entered the sick-room. - -To him Oliver Cromwell turned eagerly. - -"_Tell me_," he asked, in a voice of intense wistfulness, "_is it -possible to fall from Grace?_" - -"Nay," said the pastor, "it is not possible." - -"_Then_," said the dying man, "_I am saved, for I know that I was once -in Grace_." - -He clasped his hands, and the family and friends about him, whom he -seemed to have forgotten, heard, in the pauses of the wind, his prayer-- - -"Lord, though I am a miserable and wretched creature, I am in Covenant -with Thee through Grace! And I may--I will--come to Thee, for Thy -people! Thou hast made me, though very unworthy, a mean instrument to -do them some good, and Thee service--many of them have set too high a -value on me, others wish and would be glad of my death--Lord, however -Thou do dispose of me, continue and go on and do good for them." - -His voice rose now like the voice of a well man, almost as strong as -the voice that had greeted with a psalm the rising sun before Dunbar. - -"Give them consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual love--and -go on to deliver them, and with the work of reformation--and make the -Name of Christ glorious in the world. Teach those who look too much on -Thy Instruments to depend more upon Thyself. Pardon such as desire to -trample on the dust of a poor worm, for they are Thy people too. - -"And pardon the folly of this short prayer--even for Jesus Christ's -sake. And give us a good night, if it be Thy pleasure. Amen!" - -And after this he lay down among his pillows and slept, despite the -storm. - -And there began to be whispers about the succession, which hitherto no -one had dared name. - -It was vaguely believed that His Highness _had_ named him, some while -ago, and the sealed paper containing his wishes was at Hampton. Thurloe -and the Lord Fauconberg sent there for it, but the paper could not be -found; and His Highness' body was fast sinking into eternal slumber, -and his spirit escaping them, and they were all confused and amazed at -what might be before them. - -The faithful Thurloe approached his bed and asked him who was to be his -successor. - -At which His Highness turned his head and was silent. - -"The Lord Richard?" whispered Thurloe, and the Lord Protector was -believed to answer, "Yes, yes," but no man could be sure of what he -said. Henry Cromwell was absent; the rest of his family were near -him, but he seemed to forget them. Only twice he asked intensely for -"_Robert, Robert_, my eldest son." - -He fell now into great pains, but with them came great cheerfulness of -spirit. - -"God is good," he was heard to say--"indeed, He is--God is good--my -work is done. Yet God be with His people." - -On the eve of the thanksgiving day, which shall never be kept as a -thanksgiving day again, save by an oppressed people, secretly in their -hearts, the victor of the battles which made the 3rd of September -glorious was seen to be very near the end of his restlessness and his -pain. - -He spoke to himself continually, judging and abasing himself, and -his eyes were continually turned upward to that rich canopy and rich -ceiling, which was certainly neither covering nor concealment to him -who saw the light beyond the palace roof. - -His sad, forlorn wife (who saw but dark days ahead of her) besought him -to drink and sleep and held out a cup to him. - -"It is not my design to drink or sleep," he answered, "but my design is -to make what haste I can to be gone." - -All through the windy night he prayed brokenly; once he spoke of -Harrison, and seemed troubled; once he asked God to spare Betty further -pain, and again he said, "Is Robert dead?--and Oliver?" - -When the sun was up over city and golden river, and the vast crowds -waiting anxiously, His Highness had fallen to silence. - -Neither to the God who waited for him, nor to his forlorn family, nor -to the breathless nation did His Highness speak again in any earthly -tongue. - -That afternoon the Lord ungirt the sword with which He had invested his -Captain twenty years before, and in Whitehall Palace Oliver Cromwell's -lifeless body lay--and the nation flew asunder into confusion. - -"My days are gone like a shadow, and I am withered like grass. - -"But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever--and Thy remembrance -throughout all generations.... - -"They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; they all shall wax old as -doth a garment. - -"And as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: -_but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail_." Amen. Amen. - - -_Printed by_ MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Governor of England, by Marjorie Bowen - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNOR OF ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 52235-8.txt or 52235-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/3/52235/ - -Produced by Scholar, Graeme Mackreth and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Governor of England - -Author: Marjorie Bowen - -Release Date: June 4, 2016 [EBook #52235] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNOR OF ENGLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Scholar, Graeme Mackreth and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - - - - - - - -<h1> -THE GOVERNOR OF<br /> -ENGLAND</h1> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top:5em;">BY</p> - -<p class="ph2">MARJORIE BOWEN</p> - -<p class ="ph4" style="margin-top:10em;" >NEW YORK<br /> -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY<br /> -1914 -</p> - - - - - - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - - - - - - - - - -<table id="toc" summary ="contents"> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="center"><a href="#PART_I">PART I</a><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span> -THE CAUSE</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<th>CHAP.</th> -<th> </th> -<th>Page</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">I.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Summons</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">II.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Three Years Later</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">III.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Mr. Pym and an Old Acquaintance</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Queen's Policy</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">V.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Fall of the Great Minister</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The King Fails</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Autumn, 1641</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The News from Ireland</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Mr. Pym and the King</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">X.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Lord Falkland's Advice</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Five Members</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Nottingham</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="center"><a href="#PART_II">PART II</a><br/>THE MAN</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - - - - -<tr> -<th>CHAP.</th> -<th> </th> -<th>Page</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">I.</td> -<td class="small-caps">A Leader of Men</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">II.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Queen's Farewell</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">III.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Great Fight</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Dead Cavalier</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">V.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Lieutenant-General Cromwell and his God</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VI.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> -<td class="small-caps">The King Dreams</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Loyalty House</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The King's Folly</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The End of The War</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="center"><a href="#PART_III">PART III</a><br />THE CRISIS</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - - -<tr> -<th>CHAP.</th> -<th> </th> -<th>Page</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">I.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Issue with The King</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">II.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The King's Plots</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">III.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Lieutenant-General Cromwell, Royalist</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The King at Bay</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">V.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Lieutenant-General Cromwell, Republican</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Preston Rout</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Constancy of the King</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">In the Balance</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> -</tr><tr> -<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> -<td class="small-caps">By what Authority?</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">X.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Exit the King</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="center"><a href="#PART_IV">PART IV</a><br />THE ACHIEVEMENT</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<th>CHAP.</th> -<th> </th> -<th>Page</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">I.</td> -<td class="small-caps">"The Crowning Mercy"</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_297">297</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">II.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Talk in St. James's Park</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">III.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Exit the Parliament</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> -<td class="small-caps">"The New Order"</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">V.</td> -<td class="small-caps">His Highness</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Major-General Harrison</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_342">342</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Lady Newcastle</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_352">352</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> -<td class="small-caps">The Lady Elisabeth</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_361">361</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> -<td class="small-caps">Exit His Highness</td> -<td class="right"><a href="#Page_370">370</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - - - - - - - - -<h2><a id="PART_I"></a>PART I<br /> - -THE CAUSE</h2> - -<p>"Of the two greatest concernments that God hath in the world, the one -is that of religion and of the preservation of the professors of it; to -give them all due and just liberty; and to assert the word of God.</p> - -<p>"The other thing cared for is the civic liberty and interest of the -nation.</p> - -<p>"Which, though it is, and I think it ought to be, subordinate to the -more peculiar interest of God, yet it is the next best God hath given -men in this world; and if well cared for, it is better than any rock to -fence men in their other interests."—<span class="smcap">Oliver Cromwell</span></p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> - -THE SUMMONS</h2> - - -<p>On a certain day in November, a misty day with sharpness under the -mist, a gentleman was walking out of the little town of St. Ives, which -stood black and bleak above the bleak, black waters of the Ouse and the -mournful clusters of bare, drooping willows.</p> - -<p>It was late in the afternoon, and there chanced to be no one abroad in -the grazing lands outside the town save this one gentleman who walked -eastward towards the damp, vaporous fen country.</p> - -<p>The horizon was brought within a few yards of him by the confining -mist, and, as he walked farther from St. Ives, the town began to be -also rapidly lost and absorbed in the general dull greyness, so that -when he turned at last (sharply and as if with some set purpose or some -lively inner prompting), the dwelling-houses, the river, bounded by the -barns and palings, had all disappeared, and there remained only visible -the erect tall steeple of the church, pointing into the grey sky from -the dark obscured willows and dark obscured town and unseen river.</p> - -<p>And though he walked rapidly, yet this tower and steeple of the old, -humble, enduring church continued long in sight, for it was uplifted -into the higher, clearer air, and was in itself substantial and massive.</p> - -<p>For the high-wrought mood of this gentleman who, as he advanced farther -into utter solitude, so continually looked back, this steeple of God's -mansion had a deep spiritual meaning; it rose out of darkness and -vapour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> and obscurity as the mandate of God rose, the one clear thing, -out of the confusions and strifes and clamours of the world.</p> - -<p>The mandate of God, ay—surely the one thing that mattered, the one -thing to be followed and obeyed—and when the summons and command -were clear there was great joy in obedience; but what when, as now, -the order was not given, when God remained mute and the soul of His -creature was enclosed in darkness even as town and fields were now -enclosed in the cloudy exhumations of the earth?</p> - -<p>When the steeple was at last hidden from his keenest glance, the -gentleman stopped and, leaning against a paling, gazed over the short -expanse of foggy ground visible to him, alone and terribly lonely in -his soul.</p> - -<p>A deep melancholy lay upon him, a melancholy almost inseparable from -his unbending, austere, and sombre creed, a melancholy of the spirit, -black and awful, neither to be ignored nor reasoned with—a spiritual -disease to which he had been prone since his earliest youth, and which -became at times almost intolerable and scarcely to be endured by any -mortal, however stout-hearted.</p> - -<p>Had any one come up through the November mist and noticed and observed -this gentleman leaning on the rough willow paling, he would have -seen nothing to suggest a gloomy mystic nor one struggling with the -anguished tribulations of the soul.</p> - -<p>He was, to the outward eye, a man in the prime of life, of the type -commonly accepted as English, and, indeed, possible to no other nation -in the world, of medium height and the appearance of medium strength, -his obvious gentility gracing his plain, sober, frieze clothes, and the -little sword at his side giving the one courtly touch to his habit, -which otherwise, with plain band and ribbonless hat, might have seemed -too much that of a mere farmer, for his high boots, now mud-caked, had -seen good service. He wore no gloves on his browned hands, and his -hair, of the dusk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> English brown, was cut in a country fashion, and -worn no longer than his shoulders.</p> - -<p>His face was unusual, yet might have been that of an ordinary man, the -features powerful, the nose bluntly aquiline, the mouth set steadily, -the Saxon grey-blue eyes rather overbrowed, giving the countenance a -glooming air, the chin and jaw massive, the complexion tanned to the -glowing natural colour of a healthy fair man past any bloom of youth, -and unused to the softness of town life.</p> - -<p>Not a handsome face, but not uncomely, and remarkable chiefly (now, at -least) for a certain quiet look, not a slumbering look, but rather the -look of one whose soul is locked and sealed.</p> - -<p>Such was his appearance, and his history was as simple and unpretending -as his visage and his attire; nothing had ever happened to him that -he should stand there now sunk in torments of melancholy. His life -had been smooth, uneventful, successful; he had been born and bred in -Huntingdon, and never gone beyond the borders of that county save when -he had sat, a silent borough Member, in His Majesty's last Parliament -at Westminster, nine years ago, and he was in that happy position of -being well known and respected, in his own little world, as one of -the largest landowners in St. Ives, and utterly unknown to the great -world where fame is distraction and confusion. He was tranquil in -an honourable obscurity, happy in his wife, his children, of an old -well-placed family, well connected, and of considerable local influence -and fair repute. He could himself remember that His late Majesty, -twice coming through Huntingdon, had each time been entertained by -his grandfather at his manor house, on the first occasion with much -splendour, when the King came from Scotland to take up his new crown.</p> - -<p>In his own business he had prospered; the lands he had bought at St. -Ives and which he farmed himself, reclaiming them with patience from -the fen, had well repaid his labour,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> and he might count himself well -off, and even, for this quiet spot, wealthy.</p> - -<p>Therefore it might have been supposed that this man, midway now through -life, would have considered his honourable labour, his honourable -profits, his serene existence, his fair placement and good report among -his neighbours, his prospect of quietness and respect and comfort to -the end of his days, and have been content, for he was without ambition.</p> - -<p>But he was not satisfied with his own material happiness, for great new -forces and powers were abroad in the world struggling together, and -this struggle echoed again and again in the heart of the man who stood -against the willow paling, gazing into the November mist that shrouded -Erith Bulwark and the fen country.</p> - -<p>The country had been long at peace, lulled and tranquil after that -great triumph of the Reformation of the Church, and that demonstration -of material power which had silenced the pretensions of Spain and -warned the world what England was.</p> - -<p>But Elizabeth was now a generation dead, and the grandson of the -Papist Mary sat on the Tudor's throne with a Frenchwoman, a Mary and -a Papist too, beside him, and the Church was becoming again corrupt, -the power of the bishops daily higher, troubles in Church and State -increasing, liberty, civil and religious, threatened—for the King and -his ministers had governed nine years without a Parliament, contrary to -the laws and ordinances of the realm of England.</p> - -<p>This Huntingdonshire gentleman knew that the devil was in these things, -that God was surely with the oppressed, with those who sought and -found a purer worship, with those, daily increasing, who accepted that -teaching of John Calvin which had inspired the Hollanders to throw -off the bloody yoke of Alva and the Inquisition, with those who had -ventured to plead humbly for liberty of conscience at the conference -of Hampton and had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> denied by King and bishops with threats and -scorn, and had gone about since, ridiculed and persecuted, nicknamed -"Puritans."</p> - -<p>This man knew this as he knew the King and the bishops, the ministers, -and the followers of these, were dealing with things idolatrous and -horrible, stepping into the fore-courts of hell.</p> - -<p>Ay, and taking the nation with them. How was that to be -prevented—which way did God appoint?</p> - -<p>That was the question which troubled the personal melancholy of the man -in whose heart it flashed—for the King was King by Divine appointment, -and if he had lent his weight and authority to these ways of misrule -and oppression, idolatry and Papistry, who was to argue with him or -withstand him?</p> - -<p>Who was to appeal from the King to God?</p> - -<p>The man in the frieze habit was conscious of a burning flame or -light in himself which urged him to step forward for this distracted -England's succour. But he received no summons. The face of the Lord was -veiled and he was but a poor soul, possibly damned, with no knowledge -of what destiny the Highest had prepared for him. He felt himself in -blackest chaos; his soul, which had ever striven to obtain God's grace, -now seemed tossed far from mercy on the black waters of despair.</p> - -<p>To him, and especially in this mood, the present world was nothing; he -was not given to metaphor, but in his thoughts he compared the world -to a little plank he had once seen stretched across a deep and angry -stream, and arched above with fairest blossoming trees. The plank in -itself was insignificant, and useful only to support those who might -for a moment stand thereon—the important thing was to save oneself -from the black, dangerous abysses beneath, and gain, somehow, the -flower-crowned heights that the trees veiled and decked.</p> - -<p>Whether the plank be rough or smooth, narrow or wide, mattered not -at all, if only one were enabled to tread thereon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> straightly. So it -mattered not a jot to this gentleman what his station, chances, or -fortunes might be in this world. Am I damned or saved? was the question -that held the heart of his torment and mingled with it was another: Is -there not that in me, unworthy as I am, which God might make use of to -save these poor people in poor England now? Yea, though I am not bred -to be a lawyer or a soldier, am I not conscious of <i>something</i> within -me which might fit me for this work if God should call me to it?</p> - -<p>But the heavens were black and mute to his intense prayers and his -humble endeavours to commune with God, and he went his obscure way in -wretchedness of heart, never faltering from the stern composure of his -belief that the Lord had preordained all things, and that no act of any -man's could alter a jot what was to befall.</p> - -<p>The King and the bishops, poor puppets, believed in Freewill and such -heresies of Arminianism and Popery, but this Calvinist, standing in the -November vapour, <i>knew</i> that he was but a helpless weapon to be used as -God might direct; <i>knew</i> he was saved or damned before his birth, and -that no deed of his could alter the Divine fiat; <i>knew</i> he was but a -machine into which the Holy Spirit might blow some sparks, but which at -present was cold and empty.</p> - -<p>In this moment he felt hell very close beneath his feet, the earth -seemed a mere crust over that awful region, a crust that might easily -break and spew forth devils, while the over-arching heavens seemed -lost, lost beyond mortal attainment.</p> - -<p>A long shudder shook his strong body, he covered the steadfast grey -eyes with his rough hand, and leant heavily against the paling.</p> - -<p>A cousin of his, a man not unknown in Parliament, had recently defied -the King; had refused, being armed and at the head of his tenantry, to -pay the ship-money, that being a tax (one of many) levied by the King -without the consent of the people of England, Parliament being in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -abeyance; and this country gentleman had appealed to the laws, asking, -"By what authority?" and when they said, "the King,"—had answered, -"that was not sufficient, for the laws and the nation were above the -King, and alone he could enforce nothing."</p> - -<p>Which statement made men stare, for it was near treason, and the -speaker of these words was now on his trial, and his cousin, fighting -through his own tribulations, thought of him and of the issue that hung -upon the verdict pronounced upon his case.</p> - -<p>If the judges found the ship-money tax illegal, then had civil liberty -won indeed a victory! If they found that the King was above the laws -and could by his sole authority do what he pleased in Church and State, -why, where was England and those poor few within her borders who truly -sought the Lord? Yet not so much even this tremendous issue touched the -soul of the melancholy Calvinist as the thought—What he did, could not -I do, ay, and more?</p> - -<p>If one, a gentleman of good repute, may thus challenge even the sacred -authority of the King, may not another, of the same good blood and -stalwart faith, the Lord bidding him, accomplish something?</p> - -<p>The thought was like a tiny ray of light penetrating his deep -melancholy; he moved from his cramped position, shook his frieze cloak -on which the drops of moisture hung thick, and looked about him.</p> - -<p>Something to do—something to labour for—something to save and guard -for the Lord in this old realm where all had gone so crooked of late....</p> - -<p>The fire that never lay very deep beneath the stagnation of his -melancholies mounted clear and bright in his soul.</p> - -<p>He turned about to where he knew the church stood, and, stately -Englishman as he was, he flung out his hands wide with the unconscious -gesture of strong passion, and, looking upwards through the drizzling -mist with that inner eye which perfectly beheld the choired rows of -Paradise and the multitude about the Throne, he cried out aloud—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Lord, wilt thou not choose <i>me</i> also for this service?"</p> - -<p>The little light in his soul increased into a gleam of hope; he turned -his back on the fens and Erith Bulwark, and retraced his steps towards -St. Ives, crossing the lands of Slepe Hall, which he rented, and coming -soon again in view of the quiet, sombre little town, and of the garden -wall enclosing his own riverside house.</p> - -<p>The mist now began to waver and lift, and to be over-coloured with a -play of light, and when he reached the church the day was almost normal -fair.</p> - -<p>In his soul, too, was the struggle stilled; a curious apathy, a pause -in spiritual experience, enveloped him. He stood motionless for a -moment, for he felt physically weak and his legs trembled under him.</p> - -<p>As he halted so, not a yard from the entrance to the church, a solitary -horseman disturbed the dulness of the street—a young yeoman farmer -returning from market at Huntingdon town. On seeing the gentleman he -reined in the stout grey he rode, and very respectfully raised his hat.</p> - -<p>"Why, sir," he said, "there is great news in Huntingdon. Why, Mr. -Cromwell, the news of the verdict is abroad!"</p> - -<p>The other had no need to ask what verdict. In all England men spoke of -"the trial"—the trial of John Hampton for refusing to pay the King's -tax.</p> - -<p>"Well?" he asked, and his serious face was pale.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Cromwell," answered the young man dismally, "he is to pay the -twenty shillings."</p> - -<p>For a moment Mr. Cromwell was silent, then he spoke slowly—</p> - -<p>"So we have no hope in those who administer the laws?"</p> - -<p>"They have put the laws beneath His Majesty," said the farmer eagerly. -"All is to be as he wills, with no talk of a Parliament at all—so -the lawyers in London say, sir—and Mr. Hampton is to pay the twenty -shillings which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> goeth with many another honest man's money into the -coffers of the bishops and the Papist Queen."</p> - -<p>"Ay, so the lawyers say," returned Mr. Cromwell, "but this is a matter -which England"—he slightly stressed the word—"must decide."</p> - -<p>The young farmer, flushed and important with his great news, saluted -again, and rode on to report all over the countryside how the protest -of Mr. John Hampton to the laws of England against the tyranny of the -King had failed.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell remained standing by the church a moment, then he wandered -off into one of his own fields near by and entered a great barn which -stood there, and remained silent in the dimness of the interior, which -was fragrant from the scent of last summer's hay stored in the lofts.</p> - -<p>So the Law had decided in favour of the King, who might now levy -ship-money and whatever tax else he chose—and there would be the Tower -and the pillory, the branding and the fine, for those who dared resist, -as there had been for Prynne and Bastwick who had dared to criticise -the ritual of Archbishop Laud.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell felt a strange sparkle in his blood; he paced to and fro -on the rough floor, strewn with the dried husks of the last harvest, -and clasped his hands on his rough coat-breast and then dropped the -left to his sword. As he clasped the plain hilt, a sudden exaltation -shot into his heart, his spirit leapt suddenly to a greater height than -any it had touched before. And then it happened.</p> - -<p>A dazzle of unbelievable light opened before his inner vision, he fell -on his knees and, from a sword of fire, received the accolade of God....</p> - -<p>"Lord, I am saved!" he cried. "I am in Grace! And I am chosen to be Thy -servant in this work which is to be done in England...."</p> - -<p>When the glamour faded he rose, staggering, and wept a little for joy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was a tremendous moment of his life.</p> - -<p>Then he went home across the wet fields, outwardly an ordinary -gentleman, inwardly a soul newly awake to salvation, bearing a burning -light no more to be quenched until it returned to Heaven.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> - -THREE YEARS LATER</h2> - - -<p>"Sir," said the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who had been called hotly -from that country to counsel the imperative needs of the King. "I am -come to give you advice, and I tell you first, and plainly, never man -came to so lost a business."</p> - -<p>As he spoke they stood looking at each other, master and servant, King -and minister, in a little cabinet of Whitehall, that glittered with -richness and flash of deep colour, like a casket of jewels.</p> - -<p>Beyond the deep square window lay the gardens, the houses, the straight -reach of river, and London, beneath a quivering August haze; no discord -of sight nor sound disturbed the peaceful harmony of this scene, and in -the palace gardens the trees rustled and the flowers gave forth their -strength in sweet odours unvexed by human noise or hustle; yet my lord, -gazing out on this sunshine, knew well enough that the city, whose -towers rose beyond the sleepy river, was nursing forces that might -soon gather sufficient deadly power to sweep him, and all he stood -for, into nothingness. He bore himself erect, and the courage that was -his strongest quality showed in his haughty pose, in the expression of -his dark, disdainful face, in the quiet smile with which he spoke his -gloomy pronouncement.</p> - -<p>He received no immediate answer, and in the pause of silence he glanced -attentively at the master whom he had served so whole-heartedly -and believed in so intensely—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>for such as he must always believe -intensely in the principle for which they fight.</p> - -<p>Charles was leaning against the mullions; melancholy and levity were -strangely mingled in his mien. In stature and make he was slight, in -dress extravagant, his dove-grey silk was embroidered with seed pearls -and gold, and a deep collar of exquisite lace was fastened by two gold -tassels at the lacing of his doublet.</p> - -<p>Every Englishman, first seeing him, noted how foreign he was in -appearance. Though brought up as one of the nation whom he was to rule, -blood was here stronger than breeding, the powerful French-Scotch -strain of his famous name, the influence of his gay, foreign mother, -showed in his elegance, his refinement, his somewhat sad dignity, which -gave him an air as if he were too great to be proud outwardly, but was -beyond measure proud inwardly.</p> - -<p>His hair, of the renowned Stewart auburn colour, fell full and soft -round a face that was slightly worn and troubled, but handsome and -composed still—a face that was too charming to be the index of a mind, -or more than a mere seductive disguise for whatever manner of man lay -beneath.</p> - -<p>My lord had served him long and known him as intimately as any man -save my late murdered Duke of Buckingham, but even my lord, now it was -coming to the issue of their joint policies, could not be quite sure -what the King would do,—where he would be adamant and where give way, -where he would fail, and where he would stand firm.</p> - -<p>"A lost business," Charles repeated at last. He had a blood-red cameo -on the little finger of his fair left hand, and turned it about as he -spoke; it was the only jewel he wore save a long pearl in his right ear.</p> - -<p>"Sir, I call it no better than lost. The army unexercised and -unprovided, great disloyalty abroad, the Scots in a rebellion which is -daily more successful, the people mightily disaffected, and all in a -clamour for a Parliament—and I would to God, sire, that you had not -dismissed the last one,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> for it was better than any you are like to -have called together at this turn."</p> - -<p>"I will," said Charles, "call none at all." He knew secretly that his -minister was right, and he already regretted the moment of spleen -in which, after a three weeks' sitting, he had dismissed the first -Parliament he had called for eleven years—had called in desperation -for aid against the Scots—for he saw that what Strafford said was -true, and that in the present temper of the nation he was unlikely to -get men so loyal in their temper as even the Members of the so-called -Little Parliament had been.</p> - -<p>"Yea, call none at all," returned the Earl, "and where are we for -money? Is there any king or country to whom we can turn? Have we not -asked in vain even at Rome—even from the merchants of Genoa?"</p> - -<p>"The money must be raised in England," said the King. He would not put -it into words, but to himself he was forced to admit that no foreign -power nor personage would lend money without security—and security -Charles was quite unable to give; for in the eyes of Europe a King of -England, acting without his Parliament, was a person by no means to be -seriously regarded.</p> - -<p>"Then," returned Strafford, in the tone of a man who courageously -accepts defeat, "Your Majesty must call another Parliament."</p> - -<p>Charles moved from the window and seated himself before a small bureau -of dark wood, inlaid with mother-o'-pearl; he rested his delicate face -in his delicate hand and gazed mournfully, almost reproachfully, at his -minister.</p> - -<p>"You accuse me of failure," said the Earl, answering the look in his -master's eyes. "Well, I have failed."</p> - -<p>Certainly he had; his famous policy, which he had proudly called -"Thorough," had fallen to pieces before the first demonstration of the -popular anger, and his attempt to establish the English monarchy as the -monarchies of Spain and France were established, had come to nothing. -He was not the man to shirk blame or responsibility, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> did not -reflect, as he might have reflected, that had Charles whole-heartedly -trusted Strafford as Strafford had whole-heartedly served Charles, the -endeavour to force the policies of Richelieu on the English people -might have approached nearer accomplishment, or at least have avoided a -failure so disastrous.</p> - -<p>The King did not speak; he was not in a mood to be generous with his -servant, for his own humiliation was very bitter and would be bitterer -still if he were forced to call another Parliament. The rebellious -Scots, resisting his attempt to thrust Episcopalian bishops upon them, -had advanced as far as Durham, and the English, far from flying to -arms to resist the invader, were showing obviously enough that they -considered the Scottish cause as theirs, and would indeed soon follow -their northern neighbour's example and call a Parliament of their own -did Charles not call one for them.</p> - -<p>So much the daily petitions, and the demeanour of John Pym, the -ringleader of the malcontents, and those country gentlemen who had -rallied round him in the Little Parliament, by refusing supplies for -the Scottish war unless the country's grievances were first redressed, -attested.</p> - -<p>Strafford took his eyes from his master and looked across the garden -to the shimmering river. He was a more resolute, a more brilliant, -a bolder man than the King. He saw more clearly and gauged more -accurately than His Majesty the strength of the opposition now growing -in England against the royal prerogative and the pretensions of the -Anglican clergy, and he saw also that in the ensuing struggle he stood -in the forefront of the battle and was marked out by Pym and his -followers as the first and principal victim. Once he had been of Pym's -party, and when he had seceded to the King, Pym had told him, "You -may leave us, but we shall not leave you while your head is on your -shoulders."</p> - -<p>He had only been Thomas Wentworth then, and now he was Earl of -Strafford, and, under the King, the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> man in the three realms, -but the threat recurred to him now as his eyes rested on the dazzle of -the river flowing swiftly towards the Tower.</p> - -<p>He knew he had come to England to play a desperate game with John Pym, -and that the stakes were, "<i>Thy head or my head</i>."</p> - -<p>The King startled him from his sombre thoughts by a light blow with -clenched hand on the bureau, and by rising abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Is there no one to defend me against these rebellious Commons?" he -cried, as if his reflections had become desperate and were no longer to -be borne in silence.</p> - -<p>"I have," said Strafford, "done my utmost. I am the best-hated man in -England, sire, for what I have done to enforce your authority. But if -none of my expedients avail your Majesty, if the people will not take a -debased coinage, if the train-bands refuse to arm—if all the support -of my Archbishop but end in his fleeing his palace, pursued by the -people——"</p> - -<p>"The people!" broke in Charles, "always the people!"</p> - -<p>"Ay," said Strafford, "always—the people."</p> - -<p>"And what, my lord," asked the King, "is your advice now?"</p> - -<p>"Advice?" echoed the Earl; the sun now fell full over his fine face and -showed it to be near as colourless as the rich lace collar he wore. -"There is no advice to be given but this—Your Majesty must call a -Parliament."</p> - -<p>The King's mobile mouth curved scornfully.</p> - -<p>"And what will be the first action of this new assembly?" he demanded. -"To present a petition against my Lord Strafford as once a petition was -presented against my Lord Buckingham. Do you not know how the nation -deals with my friends?"</p> - -<p>"Sire," replied the minister, with a great sweetness of manner that -came with endearing charm from one of his stern and bold demeanour, "if -Your Majesty calls me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> friend, it is enough. What shall I fear when the -King stands by me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," replied Charles, in sudden agitation; "they should not -have had Buckingham, and they shall not have you—rest assured, my -lord. Guard only from another Felton, and I will protect you from these -baying hounds that hate us so."</p> - -<p>He held out his hand and Strafford clasped and kissed it with sincere -reverence. Not only was the King his beloved master, but the symbol of -that sacred and Divine authority which he believed to be the finest -form of government, and which his strong genius had so devotedly and -strenuously served.</p> - -<p>The King, who seemed shaken with some sudden emotion, turned away, -pressing his handkerchief to his lips, and at that moment the door -opened, the leathern hanging that concealed it was lifted, and a lady -entered the cabinet—a lady frail and flowerlike to the eye, attired -in a gown of white silk with knots of pink; a lady with a radiant face -of the most delicate hues and shadings, whose fine black ringlets -were adorned with a braid of pearls worked in the likeness of the -fleur-de-lis on a pink ribbon.</p> - -<p>Her countenance wore a look of fatigue and anxiety under the animation -of her expression, but, though she had lost the dewy loveliness of her -girlhood, she still appeared fragrant and youthful, an exquisite, royal -creature whose Bourbon blood showed in the quick, impetuous pride of -her carriage, while she had the great black eyes of her Medici mother, -and something, too, of the Italian in her gay liveliness.</p> - -<p>At her entrance the King turned towards her with instant eagerness. He -had at this time three counsellors—Strafford, Laud, and the Queen—and -any one who looked upon him now as he took his wife's hand and led her -to the deep-cushioned window-seat, would not have doubted which had the -most influence of the three. Henriette Marie was now, as she had ever -been, the most powerful influence in her husband's life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<p>She looked now from the King to the Earl and said quickly, with a -pronounced French accent—</p> - -<p>"What advice does my lord give in this perverse issue?"</p> - -<p>"He saith there is nothing for it, Mary, but to call another -Parliament."</p> - -<p>The Queen stamped her white-shod foot.</p> - -<p>"<i>Mon Dieu!</i>" she exclaimed, with her eyes afire and a heat as of fire -in her voice also. "Are we to stretch our necks out for the <i>canaille</i> -to put their feet thereon?"</p> - -<p>She spoke with the boundless pride of the daughter of Henri Quatre, of -one whose father, brother, and husband were kings; she spoke also with -the intolerance of a Papist for heretics, and with a woman's ignorance -of the worth and value of the great movements and upheavals of the -world.</p> - -<p>All this Strafford saw; he saw also that she was a bad counsellor for -the King, but, though he was not the kind of man to relish sharing -confidences with a woman, he had long since recognized the fact that -Henriette Marie ruled England fully as much as the King.</p> - -<p>Therefore he answered quietly—</p> - -<p>"It is the only expedient, Madame, to raise money."</p> - -<p>"I would rather," returned the Queen impetuously, "sell every jewel I -possess!"</p> - -<p>The Earl smiled sadly.</p> - -<p>"All your jewels twice over, Madame, would not serve our need now."</p> - -<p>The Queen turned and caught her husband's sleeve.</p> - -<p>"Is there no alternative—none?" she demanded. "Where are the soldiers? -Believe me, I would sooner see the heads of these men on London Bridge -than conferring together in Westminster Hall."</p> - -<p>"Nay," replied Charles tenderly, "hold up thy heart, dearest. I cannot -think I shall again be confronted by such unruly miscreants as last -time, and truly there are divers things of much inconvenience that I do -fear cannot be settled save by this same calling of a Parliament."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Queen returned his look of deep affection with a flashing glance.</p> - -<p>"Truly, I am ashamed and scandalized that Your Majesty is come to this -pass! Where are your lords and your soldiers?"</p> - -<p>"We have barely enough to hold the Scots off London," replied Charles, -"and those are unpaid and disaffected—as thou knowest."</p> - -<p>The Queen's great eyes sparkled with the ready tears of provoked -passion.</p> - -<p>"My Lord Archbishop was not safe at Lambeth," said Strafford slowly. -"The mobile followed him even to the gates of Whitehall."</p> - -<p>"And is there no one to fire on them—to cut them down with the sword?" -asked the Queen. "Oh, Strafford, my Lord Strafford, I fear you have -very greatly failed of your high promises!"</p> - -<p>"The depth of my failure is measured by the depth of my humiliation," -returned the Earl. "I have not spared myself, Madame, in the endeavour -to make this kingdom great in the councils of Europe, and His Majesty -first among the crowned heads thereof, but the breath of the populace -is a wind that will blow any barque on to the rocks."</p> - -<p>The King put his hand on Strafford's great shoulder.</p> - -<p>"My friend," he said warmly, "no king ever had a truer. Do not blame my -lord, Mary, for this pass we are in, for he, if any man can, will serve -us and help us to a better issue."</p> - -<p>"In France we have other ways to deal with treason and rebellion," -said the Queen with sudden weariness; "but do what thou wilt! Call thy -Parliament, and God grant it avail thee to ease thy needs!"</p> - -<p>She moved, with a whisper of silk, from the two men, and, taking up -a vellum-bound book from the little bureau where the King had sat, -fluttered over the painted leaves.</p> - -<p>Strafford picked up his great plumed hat; he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> bound that evening -for the headquarters of the English army at York, where he was to take -up the chief command.</p> - -<p>The King walked with him to the door, holding his arm.</p> - -<p>"Fear thou nought," he said earnestly. "I will protect thee."</p> - -<p>The Queen put down the book and came forward.</p> - -<p>"Take no heed of my passions," she said sweetly. "You have served us -well and we love you; good fortune, my lord. Farewell, and a fair -journey to York."</p> - -<p>The Earl went on one knee to kiss her perfumed, pale hand, and she -looked at him with a certain tenderness, a certain regret, a certain -scorn curious to behold.</p> - -<p>"I am too much your servant to avow myself afresh your creature," said -Strafford, lifting his ardent eyes, not to the lady, but to his master. -"You have all of me. I pray God deliver Your Majesty from these present -pressures, and grant me power to work you some service."</p> - -<p>The sun was pouring broad beams full through the window and illumining -all the rich treasures that filled the cabinet, the gold-threaded -tapestry, the Italian pictures, the finely-wrought furniture, the -carpets of Persia, and the two graceful figures so delicately apt to -this gorgeous setting. The sunlight fell also on my lord, a figure more -soldierlike and not so attuned to a scene of luxury.</p> - -<p>So he took his leave and came glooming into the courtyard, and mounted -amid his escort, and rode down Whitehall.</p> - -<p>The streets were empty, by reason of the heat; only the vendors -of oranges and a few idlers were abroad, but when my lord reached -Westminster Hall, he saw by the corner-posts of the road two men -standing, and his bright, quick glance knew them at once for two -enemies of his—one his chief enemy, Mr. Pym, and the other one of his -followers who had sat for Cambridge in the Little Parliament, and been -marked unfavourably by my lord—a certain Oliver Cromwell.</p> - -<p>My lord was too great a man to be discourteous, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> touched his beaver -to the gentlemen and rode on with his guard, serene and aloof.</p> - -<p>John Pym looked after the little cavalcade flashing in the dust and -sunlight.</p> - -<p>"There goeth the chief enemy of these realms," he said. "Marked you his -haughty eye when he did salute us?"</p> - -<p>"He cometh from Whitehall," returned Mr. Cromwell. "Hath he advised the -King to call a Parliament, think you, Mr. Pym?"</p> - -<p>John Pym pointed to Westminster Hall behind them.</p> - -<p>"There you and I will sit before the summer be burnt out," he answered, -"whether the King issue the writs or no."</p> - -<p>They both stood silent, looking after my lord, who presently turned in -his saddle and gazed back at the Parliament House.</p> - -<p>"<i>My head or thy head</i>," he thought, as he rode through the sunlight.</p> - -<p>Strafford did not want to die.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> - -MR. PYM AND AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE</h2> - - -<p>When Mr. Cromwell had seen Lord Strafford ride away into the late -summer dust of gold, he returned to his lodging and, packing up his -effects, went back to Huntingdon. He was lately removed from St. Ives -to Ely, and was become of late a more quiet, sombre man than even -formerly, for he had received a blow his soul had staggered under, -namely, the death of his eldest son, a gallant youth still at college. -Yet he was soon withdrawn again from his grazing grounds and his -cattle, his harvesting, and buying, and selling, for the King called a -Parliament, and the people sent up from the boroughs and shires all the -flower of English gentlehood, the Cursons, Ashtons, Leighs, Derings, -Ingrams, Fairfaxes, Cecils, Polles, Grenvils, Trevors, Carews, and -Edgcombes, all fine old names deep rooted in English soil—most of them -the very men who had formed the late Parliament which the King had so -summarily dismissed—and with them came Mr. Cromwell, borough Member -for Cambridge, a silent man still, waiting for the Divine guidance -which had been promised him when he entered into Covenant with the Lord.</p> - -<p>Soon after the session opened, a motion was moved for inquiry into -Irish affairs, and Mr. Cromwell, seeing Mr. Pym as they left the House -together, called out to him and said—</p> - -<p>"It is my Lord Strafford you strike at, is it not?"</p> - -<p>And Mr. Pym answered "Yes."</p> - -<p>The two gentlemen walked together down Whitehall. There were a great -many of the meaner sort abroad, hustling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> and clamouring and passing -rumour from mouth to mouth about the progress of the Scots and the -humour of the King, all of them big with hopes of the things the -Parliament men would do, now they were gotten together; of how the -bishops would be put down for ever, the new taxes taken off, and His -Majesty's design for bringing over an army of Irish or French Papists -finally defeated.</p> - -<p>As they neared Whitehall—that portentous and haughty palace behind -whose closed gates Majesty endured humiliation as best might be—Mr. -Pym, looking round him in his stately way at the robust and eager -crowd, touched his companion's arm.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Cromwell," he said, "there is good material here if the right man -could be found to handle it."</p> - -<p>"'Tis a great nation," answered Mr. Cromwell, "but 'tis to the ancient -blood we must look—not to these."</p> - -<p>"That was my meaning," returned John Pym; "there are among us many able -men—but who will be called?"</p> - -<p>"Thou thyself, Mr. Pym," said his friend warmly, "art surely a man -after God's own heart, one whom he hath raised up to be a captain, even -as he raised up David."</p> - -<p>"I do what I can," returned Mr. Pym quietly, "but I am not the man for -whom England waiteth."</p> - -<p>By now they had reached the post office at Charing Cross and halted at -a cutler's shop near by, for Mr. Cromwell had left his sword there in -the morning to be repaired, and now came to call for it. As there was -press enough of people buying and testing arms about the door, they -were delayed a little, and as they waited, a young gentleman, thrusting -a brace of new pistols into his belt, pushed his way through the crowd, -mounted a horse a groom held for him, and rode away with great speed.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pym looked after him.</p> - -<p>"That is a friend of my Lord Strafford," he whispered, "posting to York -to warn him to keep from London."</p> - -<p>"Has it come to that?" asked Mr. Cromwell in a moved voice. "Is my lord -afraid?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> - -<p>John Pym looked at him sharply.</p> - -<p>"Hast thou not seen that temper in the House whereof any man might be -afraid?" he answered.</p> - -<p>"But my Lord Strafford!" exclaimed the other gentleman in a tone as if -he named the King himself.</p> - -<p>"Thinkest thou I have not the courage to impeach my Lord Strafford?" -demanded Mr. Pym grimly. "He is the chief author of these troubles, and -must answer for them to the Commons of England."</p> - -<p>"I well believe thou hast the courage," answered Mr. Cromwell quietly, -taking up the sword which was waiting for him, "as I believe my lord -hath the courage to answer you."</p> - -<p>"He hath courage," returned John Pym. "You speak as if you favoured -him," he added with a smile.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell smiled also and they left the shop, turning towards St. -Martin's Lane where Mr. Cromwell had his lodgings beyond the fields, -and there, when they had reached his chamber, they sat quiet awhile, -oppressed by the sense of great events which, gathering force and -momentum with every day, were marching forward with the majestic -strength of fate—events in which they, these two modest gentlemen -sitting silent in this modest chamber, felt that they might be -involved, might indeed be piece and part of the new pattern into which -the destinies of England were being rapidly woven.</p> - -<p>Presently Mr. Cromwell rose and opened the window on to the light of -the setting sun which fell aslant the narrow street.</p> - -<p>"There is a great battle before us," he said.</p> - -<p>"Now the Parliament is called, half that battle is won," replied Mr. -Pym.</p> - -<p>"Dost thou see things so easily?" returned the other. "This Earl now -will make a fight."</p> - -<p>"This Earl will bend," flashed John Pym, "as the King will bend."</p> - -<p>"The King?" repeated Mr. Cromwell thoughtfully.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> "Wilt thou threaten -even the rock of Divine authority on which the throne standeth?"</p> - -<p>John Pym laid his hand on his friend's arm with a great eagerness -and intensity of gesture. He stood now in the full light of the open -window, and it was noticeable that, despite his strong and passionate -air, his person was emaciated and there was a look of disease and -fatigue very marked in his mobile face, as if he felt the full weight -of his years.</p> - -<p>"Hark ye, Mr. Cromwell," he said, "thou art now much hearkened to in -the House and do often obtain the mastery thereof; thou wilt come to -great things yet, for, methinks, thou hast power over men; help us now -to rid England of this Strafford. I ask thee, for hitherto thou hast -kept silence on this matter. And I do not know thy mind on it."</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell regarded him gravely, almost mournfully.</p> - -<p>"Dost thou mean to have the Earl's head?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"That is my inner and final meaning—even as it is his to have thine -and mine, and that of every man in England who dare speak his mind.'</p> - -<p>"Then there is failure before thee," answered Oliver Cromwell, "for -this man is the King's friend, and the King will protect him."</p> - -<p>"The King will have neither the power nor the will to protect a man -whom the Commons demand."</p> - -<p>"The Duke of Buckingham——"</p> - -<p>Mr. Pym broke the sentence.</p> - -<p>"Ay—the Duke of Buckingham—would the King have saved him? Felton's -knife spared the answer."</p> - -<p>"This makes His Majesty without honour," said Mr. Cromwell. "I cannot -imagine that he ever could or would abandon one whom he hath twined so -closely in his affections."</p> - -<p>"The Earl must go and all he standeth for," returned John Pym.</p> - -<p>"Ay, all he standeth for—the Star Chamber, the ship money, the Court -of High Commission, the power of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> bishops—but the man thou canst -not touch, and thou mayst well leave his life when thou hast destroyed -his life work."</p> - -<p>"Surely thou art always too compassionate," replied Mr. Pym.</p> - -<p>"I have no natural hatred against the Earl of Strafford," smiled Mr. -Cromwell, "and it seemeth to me a hopeless task you do attempt, for the -King can never surrender him."</p> - -<p>"I may fail," said John Pym. "I know that I play a desperate game, but -I feel the Lord is with me and that for His ends and His people I work. -Only a little while we have, the bravest and best of us, and how much -there is to do! How much!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell leant further out of the window; there was a pot of -geranium slips on the sill, and their perfume was strengthening with -the fall of evening, and filling the quiet air with richness.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell looked over the deep, bright, green leaves towards -Whitehall which lay bathed in the gold and amber light of the sinking -sun.</p> - -<p>"Hark!" he said, "hark!"</p> - -<p>"Thou hast sharp ears," said Mr. Pym. "I hear nothing."</p> - -<p>"I hear," returned the other, "the citizens of London rising——"</p> - -<p>John Pym listened intently. A distant murmurous sound was soon audible -enough, a hoarse sound of human shouting, a blend of human voices with -clash of weapons and the tramp of feet.</p> - -<p>"'Tis the train-bands fighting the apprentices, and those of the baser -sort, belike," said Mr. Pym. "Yesterday they were like to have burnt -down Lambeth Palace when they discovered His Grace had again fled."</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell continued to gaze towards the end of the street, across -which several people were beginning to run, attracted by the now common -event of a street riot.</p> - -<p>"The Lord is leading the nation through bitter ways,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> he observed. -"And I do see ahead of us a time of much trouble, for if His Majesty is -stubborn, these," he pointed down the street to the hurrying crowds, -"will fight."</p> - -<p>"Parliament," replied Mr. Pym, "will settle all grievances without -bringing the mobile into it. Mr. Cromwell, to-morrow I will go to the -Bar of the House of Lords and impeach the King's favourite of high -treason, and there will be a many following me. Wilt thou be one of -them?"</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell turned swiftly round to face his friend.</p> - -<p>"Count on me," he said quietly, "to not leave thy party until thou hast -brought the King to reason, but I believe that this will be a longer -and bloodier business than any of us reckon on as yet."</p> - -<p>"I trust we shall leave blood out of it," answered Mr. Pym gravely. -"But God directs as He will, and we are not of a temper to shrink from -fighting for His word and our liberty."</p> - -<p>By now the crowd had gathered in considerable proportions, and the two -spectators at the window observed that the centre of this agitated -throng was a coach and four which, protected by several constables, -footmen, and two gentlemen on horseback, was endeavouring to make -headway down Whitehall, probably to the palace.</p> - -<p>"Who is this," wondered Mr. Pym, "whose appearance causeth such a riot?"</p> - -<p>They were, however, too far off to discern the occupant of the coach, -and therefore presently descended into the street to discover who it -might be whose progress was thus impeded, and to offer, if need be, -some assistance against the clamour of the mobile, for violence and -outrage were not wished for by these two, even though the cries of the -populace might be but an echo of their own sentiments.</p> - -<p>As they began to push their way, into the fringe of the crowd, they -perceived that the coach had been brought to a standstill and was -densely surrounded by shop boys and the meaner kind of citizen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - -<p>The coachman, buffeted by various missiles, leant from his box and -cried—</p> - -<p>"My lady, I cannot go on!"</p> - -<p>At this the leathern curtains of the coach were drawn back and a -woman's face appeared at the window. She regarded the press before her -fixedly, and with a curious blankness of expression, her high-bred and -sensitive countenance had a cold look of either pride or terror, or -preoccupation, which made it mask-like as a carving.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pym touched his companion's arm.</p> - -<p>"It is Lady Strafford," he said.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell had never before seen the wife of the great minister who -was now no better than a doomed man, and he gazed with vast interest -and pity at the face staring from the coach window.</p> - -<p>"We should save her from this," he answered, and, lifting his sword -hilt, with a few rude blows he forced his way through the crowd to the -coach.</p> - -<p>"Stop this fooling!" he shouted, and his voice, when raised, was of an -extraordinary depth and harshness. The rioters turned, startled, and, -with a quick movement of his powerful arm, he swept two youths from the -wheels to which they were clinging to impede the movement of the coach.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pym was now beside him, rather breathless with pushing his way -through.</p> - -<p>The Countess never moved or altered her bitter calm; the two gentlemen -both saluted her, and when Mr. Pym's hat was off and she had a clear -view of his countenance, she gave a great start and the hot blood -rushed to her face and burnt up her pallor.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Pym!" she cried. "Oh, John Pym!"</p> - -<p>At the sound of this name, which was now famous throughout England as -the champion of the people, the crowd quieted and began shamefacedly to -give way, being at heart good humoured and not disposed to more than -rough horse-play, after the nature of English crowds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Ride on, madam," said Mr. Pym sombrely. "Your way is clear."</p> - -<p>"I want not your succour," she returned, with great heat and force; -"false friend and subtle enemy, I know what you contrive against us!"</p> - -<p>"Against <i>you</i> nothing," he replied, "since once I enjoyed your grace -and entertainment—and, madam, it was your lord left us, not we him."</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a land is this become!" answered the Countess, "when every -designing, rebellious knave may endeavour to strike even at the very -architects of the realm!"</p> - -<p>"Architects of tyranny, madam," said Mr. Pym; "and every plain fellow -who can handle a sword may rightly endeavour to strike at them."</p> - -<p>"Your presence flouts me," cried Lady Strafford. "Drive on!"</p> - -<p>The coach swung forward on the leathers and jolted off down Whitehall, -still pursued by a few boys shouting and hooting.</p> - -<p>"In the old days when I knew her," said John Pym, "she was a most -modest, excellent lady, but now I doubt but that she is proud and -blinded even as her lord."</p> - -<p>"She seemed to me," replied Mr. Cromwell, "to be not so much as one -proud, but as one in a mortal fear."</p> - -<p>"She has heard somewhat of this inquiry into Irish affairs, and is off -to the King to pray protection for her lord. Poor, silly woman, as if -she could prevail against the Commons of England!"</p> - -<p>The autumn dusk was now rapidly approaching, and the two friends turned -into the Strand to find a tavern to get themselves some dinner before -they returned to the House.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Countess of Strafford drove furiously into the courtyard -of the palace and, hastening through the public halls and galleries, -demanded an audience of the Queen.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> - -THE QUEEN'S POLICY</h2> - - -<p>Lady Strafford was admitted, without any delay, into the private -apartment of the Queen, where Henriette Marie sat with two ladies in -a sumptuous simplicity and elegant seclusion, which was noticeable in -the extreme richness and good taste of the apartment, in the attire of -the Queen herself, which, free from all fopperies of fashion, was of an -exceeding fineness and grace, and in her occupation, which was that of -sewing figures in beads on a casket of white silk.</p> - -<p>The chamber was so delicately scented with attar of roses and perfume -of jasmine and cascarilla, so finely warmed with a fire of cedar-wood, -that every breath drawn there was a delight; the window was shrouded -by peach-coloured velvet curtains, and the light came from a suspended -silver lamp the flame of it softened by a screen of rosy silk; on the -wall hung mellowed and ancient French tapestries, heavily shot with -gold and silver, and the inlaid floor was covered with silk carpets. -The Queen wore a pale saffron-coloured gown, and about her elbows and -shoulders hung quantities of exquisite lace fastened by loops of pearl.</p> - -<p>At the entrance of the Countess, she very sweetly dismissed the ladies -and smiled at her visitor, then continued her task, thoughtfully -selecting the beads from an ivory tray and sewing them skilfully on to -the thick white silk.</p> - -<p>The Countess remained standing before the Queen. She was now shown -to be a woman of a carriage of pride and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> fire, fair-haired and -swift-moving, with a great expression of energy which did not alter her -wholly feminine attraction.</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty will forgive this uncourtly coming of mine," she said, -"but I have it on good authority that this inquiry into Irish Affairs -is but a covert attack on my Lord Strafford."</p> - -<p>"Yea, most certainly," returned the Queen, raising her soft eyes to the -breathless lady.</p> - -<p>"I saw John Pym to-day," cried the Countess, "and methought he had an -air of triumph; besides, would the very boys in the street dare shout -at me unless my lord's fall were assured?"</p> - -<p>She twisted her hands together and sank on to a brocade stool near -the window. The Queen slightly lifted her shoulders and smiled. She -bitterly detested the English, who in their turn loathed her, both for -her nationality and her religion, and even for the name "Mary," which -the King gave her, and which was for ever connected in the popular mind -with Papistry and with two queens who had been enemies of England. -Therefore she was well-used to unpopularity and that hatred of the -crowd of which Lady Strafford to-day had had a first taste.</p> - -<p>"Why discourage yourself about that, madam?" she asked. "These -creatures are not to be regarded."</p> - -<p>"The House of Commons is to be regarded," returned Lady Strafford.</p> - -<p>She spoke, despite herself, in a tone of respect for the power that -threatened her husband, and the Frenchwoman's smile deepened.</p> - -<p>"How afraid you all are of this Parliament," she said.</p> - -<p>"Has it not lately shown that it is something to be afraid of?" cried -the Countess.</p> - -<p>The Queen continued to carefully select the tiny glass beads and to -carefully thread them on the long white silk thread. To the Countess, -who had never loved her, this absorption, at such an hour, in an -occupation so trivial, was exasperating.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I have come to Your Majesty on matter of serious moment," she said, -and she spoke as one who had a claim; her husband had rendered great -services to the Crown, and held his lofty position more by his own -genius than by the King's favour. "Yesterday I sent an express to York, -beseeching my lord to stay there with the army, and to-day Mr. Holles, -one of my kinsmen, hath gone on the same errand. I beseech Your Majesty -to add your weight to these entreaties of mine, and to ask His Majesty -to bid my lord stay where he is safe."</p> - -<p>At this the Queen's lovely right hand stopped work, and lay slack on -the white cover of the casket, and with the other she put back the fine -ringlets of black hair from her brow and looked full and delicately at -the Countess.</p> - -<p>"Both the King and I," she returned gently, "wrote to my lord before -that—ay, the day before, and were you more often at court, madame, you -would have heard of it."</p> - -<p>An eloquent flush bespoke the relief and gratitude of the Countess.</p> - -<p>"Then he is safe!" she exclaimed. "At York, amid the army, who can -touch him!"</p> - -<p>The Queen laughed lightly.</p> - -<p>"Dear lady," she said, "thy lord is no longer at York, but on his way -to London. At least, if he be as loyal as I think he be."</p> - -<p>"London?" repeated Lady Strafford, as if it were a word of terror. -"London? my lord cometh?"</p> - -<p>"On the bidding of His Majesty and myself," answered Henriette Marie.</p> - -<p>The Countess rose, she pushed back the dull crimson hood from her fair -curls, and looked the Queen straightly in the face.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore have you bidden him to London, madame?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"That he may answer the charges that will be brought against him," said -the Queen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And you have persuaded him to this!" cried the Countess. "I did think -that I might have counted you and His Majesty among my lord's friends!"</p> - -<p>Henriette Marie picked up a knot of white silk and began to disentangle -the twisted strands.</p> - -<p>"The Earl hath His Majesty's assurances and mine, of friendship and -protection," she said with dignity touched with coldness.</p> - -<p>Lady Strafford stood silent, utterly dismayed and bewildered. It seemed -to her incredible that the King should have asked his hated minister to -come to the capital at the moment when the popular fury against him had -reached full height and the Commons were on the eve of impeaching him. -She did not, could not, doubt that the King would wish to protect his -favourite, but she felt an awful doubt as to his power. Had he not been -forced to call the Parliament at the demand of the people?—was it not -to please them that he had sent for the Earl?—so what else might he -not consent to when driven into a corner!</p> - -<p>The Countess shuddered; she thought of the angry crowd who had chased -Laud from Lambeth Palace, who daily hooted at and insulted her when -she went abroad, of the useless train-bands, of the general bottomless -confusion and tumult, and she saw before her with a horrid vividness, -the calm, weary face of John Pym, the man who led the Commons.</p> - -<p>The Queen surveyed her narrowly, and observed the doubt and terror in -her face.</p> - -<p>"Are you afraid?" she asked. "Is it possible you think the King cannot -protect his friends?"</p> - -<p>Lady Strafford looked at the beautiful frail woman in her lace and silk -who was so delicate, so charming, so gay, and who had more power over -the King than his own conscience, and her heart gave a sick swerve. She -never had, never could, wholly trust the French Papist Queen, for she -was herself too wholly open and English in her nature.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> - -<p>Henriette Marie rose, and the jasmine perfume was stirred by the -shaking of her garments.</p> - -<p>"Is it not better," she said, with a lovely, tender smile, "that Lord -Strafford should come here and face his enemies, than that he should -lurk in York among his soldiers as if he feared what creatures like -this Pym could do?"</p> - -<p>"Madame," returned Lady Strafford, through white lips, "no one would -ever think the Earl feared his enemies. But to come to London now is -not courage but folly."</p> - -<p>"It is obedience to the King's wishes," said the Queen, and a haughty -fire sparkled in her dark liquid eyes.</p> - -<p>"The King," returned the Countess, "asketh too much from his servant, -by Heaven, madame! Those who love my lord would see him stay at York—"</p> - -<p>"And those who love the King would obey him," flashed Henriette Marie.</p> - -<p>The Countess controlled herself and swept a curtsey.</p> - -<p>"I take my leave," she said. "May Your Majesty hold as ever sacred the -promises with which you have brought my lord in among those who madden -to destroy him! As for me, my heart is fallen low. Madame, a good -night."</p> - -<p>"I do forgive thy boldness for the sake of thy anxiety," said the Queen -with sweetness. "We women have many desperate moments in these bitter -times. A good night, my lady."</p> - -<p>The Countess bent her proud blonde head and departed, and the Queen -took up her beads and her silks and began again to work the bouquet -of roses, lilies, and violets she was embroidering on the lid of the -casket.</p> - -<p>A thoughtful and haughty expression clouded the delicate lines of her -face, and this proud pensive look did not alter when the hangings that -had scarcely fallen into place behind Lady Strafford were again lifted, -and the King, unattended, and with an air of haste, came into her -presence.</p> - -<p>"Has Strafford come?" she asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Not yet!" replied Charles, in an unsteady voice, "and I have begun to -wish I had not sent for him."</p> - -<p>The Queen flung down her work and rose; the angry red of a deep passion -stained her pallor.</p> - -<p>"Canst thou never be resolute?" she cried. "Wilt thou for ever hesitate -and change and regret every action? My lord, I would sooner be dead -than see this temper in thee."</p> - -<p>The King came and kissed her hand with a charming air of gallantry.</p> - -<p>"Sweet," he said, in self-justification, "it is a horrid thing to -command a man into the hands of his enemies."</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest," returned Henriette Marie firmly, "that the Parliament -and London both clamour for my lord and will not, by any means, be -quiet until he appear. Thou knowest that we, that I, am in actual -danger."</p> - -<p>"Hush, dear heart—speak not of our danger," interrupted Charles -hastily, "lest it seemeth we sacrifice our servant, our friend, to bare -fear."</p> - -<p>"Acquit thyself to thy conscience, Charles," she answered with -limitless pride. "Art thou not the King? Must I remind thee of that as -even now I had to remind my Lady Strafford?"</p> - -<p>"My lady here?" murmured the King.</p> - -<p>"Did you not meet her in your coming?"</p> - -<p>As she spoke Henriette Marie moved towards a mirror that hung in one -corner, and looked at her reflection with unseeing eyes, then turned -the same abstracted glance on to the King.</p> - -<p>The mirror was set in a deep border of embroidery which was framed -in tortoise-shell, and the mellow colours of these, silks and shell, -were softened into rosy dimness by the shaded light. This same glow -was over the lovely figure of the Queen, her gown of ivory and amber -tints, brightened into a knot of orange at her breast, and the pearls -round her throat, and her soft, dark hair held no more lustre than the -exquisite carnation of her fragile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> beauty. She seemed utterly removed -from all that was commonplace, tumultuous, noisy, coarse, and Charles, -gazing at her with his soul in his eyes, was spurred and stung, as -always when he regarded his wife, with bitter anger that he was not -allowed to follow the bright guidance of this lady, and live with her -in rich happiness and peace adorned with every fine and costly art, -with all the intellectual delicacies and luxurious refinements which so -pleased them both.</p> - -<p>He loathed the English people who dragged him and even his adored -wife into the clamorous atmosphere of intrigue and dissension, of -controversy and riot.</p> - -<p>To Charles there was one God, one Church, one King, one right—the -right of God as manifested in the King's right; all else was to him -mere vexation, disloyalty, and blasphemy. The popular side of the -questions now rending the nations he did not even consider; he stood -absolutely, without compromise or doubt, by his own simple, unyielding, -ardent belief that he was King by God's will, and above and beyond all -laws.</p> - -<p>And his late impotency to enforce this view on his subjects had stirred -his naturally gracious serene nature to deepest astonishment and anger. -He was baffled, outraged, and inwardly humiliated, and he had already -in his heart decided to be avenged on these gentlemen of the Commons -whose clamours had so rudely broken his regal security, and on the -stubborn English who had taken advantage of the rebellion of the Scots -and his lack of money with which to defend himself, to force on him -this hateful Parliament.</p> - -<p>And now, when he knew that Pym, the inspiration and leader of -these unruly gentlemen, was daring to strike at his own especial -friend—minister and favourite, the man who was at once his guide and -mouthpiece—he was bewildered by his intense inner fury, and pride -as well as justice made him regret that he had summoned the Earl to -London.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - -<p>He gazed at the Queen where she stood in golden shadow, and these -thoughts tormented him bitterly.</p> - -<p>He knew her mind; her temper was even more despotic than his, and armed -force was the first and only weapon she would have ever used in dealing -with the people; her counsels were ever for the high hand, the haughty -command, the merciless sword, and always the King hearkened to her. But -his nature was more subtle, involved, and secretive than hers, and he -knew better than she did the growing strength of the forces opposed to -him; therefore he had often endeavoured to cope with his difficulties -after a fashion she called irresolute and unstable.</p> - -<p>The Queen broke the heavy silence.</p> - -<p>"Strafford will come and we will protect him," she said; "that is -enough."</p> - -<p>"Nay, not enough," replied Charles, "for I must be avenged on these men -who seek to touch my lord."</p> - -<p>"Hadst thou hearkened to me," she murmured in a melancholy voice, "thou -hadst been avenged on all these long since."</p> - -<p>"Ay, Mary," cried the King earnestly, "we are not in a realm as loyal -and steadfast as France, but rule a country that hath become a very -hive of sedition, discontent, and treason, and it is well to tread -cautiously."</p> - -<p>"Caution is not a kingly virtue," said Henriette Marie, with that same -sad sweetness of demeanour that was so exquisite a cloak for reproof.</p> - -<p>"Trust me to act as is best for thee and for our sons," replied Charles -firmly. "Trust me to so acquit myself to God as to be worthy of thy -love."</p> - -<p>The Queen regarded him with a wise little smile, then pulled a toy -watch of diamonds from the lace at her bosom and glanced at it with -eyes that flashed a little.</p> - -<p>"With quick riding and sharp relays, my lord might almost be here," she -remarked.</p> - -<p>Charles sank into the great chair with arms by the window, and bent his -gaze on the floor. His whole figure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> had a drooping and fatigued look; -he mechanically fingered the deep points of lace edging his cambric -cuffs.</p> - -<p>Henriette Marie dropped the watch back behind the knot of orange velvet -on her breast, and her glance, that was so quick and keen behind the -misty softness that veiled it, travelled rapidly over her husband's -person.</p> - -<p>She noted the grey hairs in his love-locks, the lines of anxiety -across his brow and round his mouth, his unnatural pallor, the nervous -twitching of his lips. He was the dearest thing on earth to her, but -she had been married to him nearly twenty years and she knew his -weakness, his faults, too well to any longer regard him as that Prince -of romance which he had at first appeared to her. His figure, as she -looked at him now, seemed to her strangely tragical; she could have -wept for this man who leant on her when she should have leant on him, -this man whom she would have despised if she had not loved.</p> - -<p>"Holy Virgin," she said passionately to herself, "give him strength and -me courage."</p> - -<p>She went to her table and began to put away her work. The King raised -his narrowed wistful eyes and said abruptly—</p> - -<p>"Supposing the Earl doth not come? We are as likely to be hounded from -Whitehall as His Grace from Lambeth if my lord disappoints the people."</p> - -<p>"He will come," said Henriette Marie, delicately putting away her beads -and silks in a tortoise-shell box lined with blue satin and redolent of -English lavender.</p> - -<p>Even as she spoke and before she had turned the silver key in the -casket, her page had entered with the momentous news for which they -both, in their different fashion, waited.</p> - -<p>My Lord Strafford was in the audience chamber, all in a reek from hard -riding.</p> - -<p>They went down together, the King and Queen, and found the dark Earl, -in boots and cloak still muddied, waiting for them.</p> - -<p>"My faithful one!" cried Charles, "so thou art come!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> and when -Strafford would have knelt, he prevented him, and instead kissed him on -the cheek.</p> - -<p>"Sire," answered my lord, "I met your messengers on the road. I had -already left York and was hastening to London to meet this accusation -mine enemies do prepare to spring on me."</p> - -<p>Charles seized his hand and grasped it warmly.</p> - -<p>"I do approve thine action, and here confirm all expressions of favour -I have ever given thee."</p> - -<p>"Thy lady," added the Queen, smiling, "was, poor soul, fearful for -thee, but thou art not, I think, seeing thou hast our protection and -friendship."</p> - -<p>"Madame," answered the Earl, fixing on her the powerful glance of his -tired dark eyes, "I am fearful of nothing, I do thank my God, save only -of some smirch on my honour, and that is surely safe while my gracious -master holdeth me by the hand."</p> - -<p>There was energy and purpose in his look, his carriage, his speech, his -bearing had the unshakable composure of the fine man finely prepared -for any fate.</p> - -<p>"Sire," he said, speaking with great sincerity and emotion, "my own -aim hath been to make thee and England great, and if His Majesty is -satisfied, I hold myself acquitted of any wrong to any man, nor do I -take any such on my conscience."</p> - -<p>The King, much moved, clasped my lord's firm right hand closer in his -own, and stood close beside him in intimate affection.</p> - -<p>"What weapon hast thou prepared to fight these rascals with?" asked -Henriette Marie.</p> - -<p>"Madame," replied the Earl grimly, "I shall go down to the House -to-morrow and impeach John Pym of high treason on the ground of his -sympathy with, and negotiating with, the rebel Scots." He smiled -fiercely as if to himself, and added, "<i>My head or thine</i>, and no time -to lose!"</p> - -<p>A sudden tremor shook the Queen, a silence fell on her vivacity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Come to us to-morrow," said Charles, "before going to Westminster—and -now to thy waiting wife and a good night, dear lord."</p> - -<p>"Truly this evening I am a weary man," smiled Strafford, and with that -kissed the hands of his lieges and left them.</p> - -<p>They stood silent after his going, not looking at each other.</p> - -<p>They could hear the distant angry clamour of London at their gates.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER V<br /> - -THE FALL OF THE GREAT MINISTER</h2> - - -<p>The moon's circle was half-filled with light, a mist rose and hung -above the river, a sullen rain was falling through the windless air, -as the gentlemen left the House and dispersed among the excited crowd -to their dwellings. Along the river the people were dense, they surged -and gathered along the banks from Westminster to St. Katherine's wharf, -shouting, singing, flinging up their hats, and wringing each other's -hands for joy.</p> - -<p>They had just been regaled with a sight many of them had never dared to -hope to see. The mist and the rain had not obscured from their hungry -eyes the barge in which my Lord Strafford, that morning the greatest -subject in two kingdoms, had gone by, a prisoner, to the Tower.</p> - -<p>He stood for an absolute monarchy, a dominant priesthood, taxation -without law, the Star Chamber, the Court of High Commission, even as -the Queen stood for Papistry and the possible employment of foreign -force, and the two between them represented all that was most hateful -to the English.</p> - -<p>Therefore it was neither the usual levity of crowds nor the usual -vulgar rejoicing in fallen greatness that animated these dense throngs -of Londoners, but a deep, almost awful sense that a definite and -tremendous struggle had begun between King and people, and had begun -with a great victory on the popular side.</p> - -<p>It had been a day of smouldering excitement that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> frequently burst into -riotings between Westminster and Whitehall. In the morning my lord, -with a guard of halberdiers, had gone down as usual to the House; after -a little while he had returned to the palace, accompanied each time by -the furious shouting and groans of the people. The truth was that his -charges against Pym were not yet ready, and he wished to consult his -master.</p> - -<p>The crowd, however, waited, fed by rumours that came from time to time -by means of those who had the entry into the House; by the afternoon it -was definitely known that Mr. Pym had cleared the Lobby and locked the -door of the House, while a discussion of grave importance took place.</p> - -<p>So the people waited, patient but insistent, trusting Mr. Pym and those -gentlemen shut up with him, yet watchful lest they should cheat them.</p> - -<p>Nor were they disappointed; at five o'clock out came Mr. Pym at -the head of some three hundred Members, and, passing through the -frantically applauding crowd, went to the House of Lords.</p> - -<p>Here, at the Bar, he told the Peers, that by the command of the Commons -in Parliament and in the name of all the Commons of England, he accused -the Earl of Strafford of high treason, and demanded that he be put in -custody while they produced the grounds of their accusation.</p> - -<p>Then came my lord again, hastening back from Whitehall (where the news -had reached him), with an assured and proud demeanour, and so into -the House, with a gloomy and unseeing countenance for the hostile -throng; then more suspense, while excitement increased to a point where -it could not be any longer contained, and vented itself in fierce -rattlings on the very doorsteps of Westminster Hall and rebellious -tumults at the very gates of Whitehall, where the guards were doubled -and stood with drawn swords, for there had been some ugly shouting of -the Queen's name, and some hoarse demand that John Pym should accuse -her also of high treason against the realm of England,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> and haul her -forth with her black Papist brood of priests to answer the charges -against her, even as my lord was answering, or must answer them. -Before the misty evening was far advanced, and while the moon hung yet -sickly pale in a scarcely dark sky, the prologue to this tragedy was -accomplished, and my lord left the House where he had so long ruled -supreme, and was conveyed down the sullen tide to the Tower.</p> - -<p>And when he had at last gone, and his guarded barge was absorbed into -the shadows of the Traitor's Gate, a kind of awe and silence fell -over London. The great minister, the King's favourite, the man who -was both his master's brain and conscience, had fallen so swiftly, so -irrecoverably, as London knew in her heart, that there was almost a -terror mingled with the triumph; for all knew that Strafford was not -one like Somerset or Buckingham, but a man of the utmost capacity for -courage, intelligence, and all the arts of government.</p> - -<p>The Commons of Parliament, who had done this thing, scattered, weary -and quiet, to their various homes and lodgings, and Mr. Cromwell and -Mr. Hampden walked through the falling rain, communing with their -hearts.</p> - -<p>As they neared the palace which stood brilliant with flambeaux lights -flashing on the drawn swords at the gates, Mr. Hampden turned his -gentle face towards his companion and said, "What will the King do?"</p> - -<p>"The King?" repeated Mr. Cromwell, lifting earnest eyes to the silent -palace. "I would I could come face to face with the King—surely he is -a man who might be persuaded of the truth of things if he were not so -surrounded by frivolous, wrong, and wanton counsellors."</p> - -<p>"I believe," answered John Hampden, "that His Majesty rooteth his -pretences so firmly in Divine Right—(being besides upheld in this by -all the clergy), that he would consider it blasphemy to abate one jot -of his claims. See this pass we are come to, Mr. Cromwell; we deal with -a man with whom no compromise is possible—ask Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Pym, who tried -to serve him—he will excuse himself, he will shift and turn, but he -will never give way, and when he is most quiet he will always break -his tranquillity with some monstrous imprudence, as this late forcing -of the Archbishop's prayer book on the Scots, thereby provoking a -peaceable nation into rebellion."</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell turned up the collar of his cloak, for the cold dampness -of the night was increasing, and he was liable to rheumatism. He made -no answer, and Mr. Hampden, glancing expectantly at his thoughtful -face, repeated his query—</p> - -<p>"What will the King do now?"</p> - -<p>"What can he do?" replied the Member for Cambridge. "Strafford falleth -through serving him, and likely enough came to London on promise of the -King's protection. The King will stand by Strafford."</p> - -<p>"Then it will remain to be seen which is the stronger—Parliament or -His Majesty," said John Hampden, and he sighed as if he foresaw ahead -a long and bitter struggle. "I tell thee this," he added, with an -earnestness almost sad, "that if the people are disappointed of justice -on my lord, the King is not safe in his own capital, nor yet the Queen. -Thou hast observed, Mr. Cromwell, how well hated the Queen is?"</p> - -<p>"A Papist and a Frenchwoman," replied the other, "how could she -hope for English loyalty? And she is meddling—of all things the -English hate a meddling woman. Her ways might do well in France, but -here we like them not. I am sorry for my Lady Strafford," he added -irrelevantly, and with a strange note of tenderness in his rough voice. -"What are all these issues to her? Yet she must suffer for them. I saw -her yesterday, and she was as still for terror as a chased deer fallen -spent of breath, and yet had the courage to move and speak with pride, -poor gentlewoman!"</p> - -<p>"We shall see many piteous things before England be tranquil," returned -Mr. Hampden sadly. "Chief among them this discomfiture of patient -women. The Lord support them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were now at Mr. Cromwell's door.</p> - -<p>"Wilt thou come up, my cousin?" he asked, laying a detaining hand on -the other's damp coat sleeve.</p> - -<p>"This evening hold me excused," answered Mr. Hampden. "I have some -country gentlemen at my entertainment, and I would not disappoint them."</p> - -<p>So they parted as quietly as if this momentous day had held nothing -of note, and Mr. Cromwell went up to his modest chamber and lit the -candles and placed them on a writing-table which held a Bible among -the quills and papers. He stood for a while thoughtfully; he had flung -off his mantle and his hat, and his well-made, strong figure showed -erect in a plain, rather ill-cut, suit of dark green cloth, his band -and cuffs were of linen, and there was no single ornament nor an inch -of lace about his whole attire; indeed, his lack of the ordinary -elegancies of a gentleman's costume would have seemed to some an -affectation, and to all a sure indication that he had now definitely -joined the increasingly powerful Puritan party which had set itself -to destroy every vestige of ornament in England—from Bishops to lace -handkerchiefs, as their opponents sneeringly remarked. These enemies -were not, perhaps, in a humour for sneering to-night when the chief of -them lay straightened between prison walls. So thought Mr. Cromwell as -he stood thoughtfully before the little table that bore the Bible, and -looked down on the closed covers.</p> - -<p>Above the table hung a mirror; the glass was old and cracked, and -into the frame were stuck various papers which showed how the present -possessor of the room disregarded the original use of the mirror. -Sufficient of the glass, however, remained unobscured to reflect the -head and shoulders of Oliver Cromwell, and this reflection, with the -dark background and the blurred surface of the glass, was like a fine -portrait, and by reason of the absolute consciousness of the man, like -a portrait of his soul as well as of his features.</p> - -<p>His expression was at once fierce and tender and deeply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> thoughtful; -the brow, so carelessly shaded by the disordered brown hair, was free -from any lines, the grey eyes seemed as if they looked curiously into -the future, the lips were lightly set together, and seemed as if they -might at any minute quiver into speech, the line of his jaw and cheek -had a look of serene fierceness, like the noble idea of strength given -by the jaw of a lion.</p> - -<p>So he looked, reflected in the old mirror and lit by the two common -candles, and if one had suddenly glanced over his shoulder into the -glass and seen that face, they would have thought they looked at a -painting of abstract qualities, not at a compound human being, at -this moment so utterly was his rugged look of strength and fortitude -spiritualized by the radiance of the soul within.</p> - -<p>Outside the rain fell and there was no sound but the drip of the drops -on the sill; the great city was silent after the tumult of the day, -most people were eating, sleeping, going their ways as if there was -no King humiliated utterly, raging in his chamber; no Queen weeping -among her priests; no great man in prison writing to his wife: "Hold up -your heart, look to the children and your house, and at last, by God's -good pleasure, we shall have our deliverance"; no quiet gentleman from -Huntingdon standing in a quiet room and meditating things that would -change this city and this land as it had not been changed since it bore -the yoke of kingship.</p> - -<p>To the many, even to Mr. Pym and Mr. Hampden, the fall of Strafford -might seem a tremendous thing, a shrewd blow against tyranny and a -daring act, but to this younger man, with his deeper, more mystical, -religious fervour, his practical and immeasurable courage, the sweeping -aside of the King's favourite was but the first of many acts that would -utterly alter the face of England.</p> - -<p>Strafford might have gone, but there were other things to go—Papistry, -the Star Chamber, ship money, and other civil wrongs, bishops, prayer -books, church ornaments and choirs, and other pollutions of the -pure faith of Christ, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> there was a burning, blazing ideal to be -followed—the ideal of what might be made of England in moral worth, in -civic liberty, in that domestic dignity and foreign power that had made -the reign of Elizabeth Tudor splendid throughout the world.</p> - -<p>This might be done; but how was a poor country gentleman, untrained in -diplomacy or war, to accomplish it?</p> - -<p>How dare he presume that he was meant to accomplish it?</p> - -<p>He moved from the table abruptly and, going to the window, rested his -head against the frame and stared through the soiled panes into the -dark street where the lights glimmered sparsely at long intervals in -the heavy winter air.</p> - -<p>He recalled and clung to the memory of the vision that he had had in -the old barn outside St. Ives; the certainty that he was in covenant -with the Lord to do the Lord's work in England had pierced his soul -with the same sharpness as a dagger might pierce the flesh. At times -the remembered glamour faded, weariness, misgivings, would cloud -the glorious conviction—yet deep-rooted in his noble spirit it -remained. God had spoken to him and he was to do God's works,—but the -practical humanity in him, the strong English sense and sound judgment -demanded—how?</p> - -<p>He was of full middle age and unaccomplished in anything save farming -and such knowledge of the law as less than a year's training could give -him. His education had been the usual education of a gentleman, but he -had less learning than most, for his college days had been short, owing -to the death of his father and the sudden call to responsibilities, and -he had absolutely no love for any of the arts and sciences. How then -was he equipped to combat the immense powers arrayed against him—the -King, the Church, immemorial tradition, custom, usage, the weight of -aristocracy, the example of Europe—for his design, though yet vague, -was to create in England a constitution for Church and State for which -he could see no pattern anywhere within the world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> - -<p>He felt no greatness in himself, he was even doubtful of his own -capacity. Though he was already much hearkened to, principally, he -thought, by reason of his connexion with Hampden and the vast number of -relations he had in the House, still, on the few occasions when he had -spoken in public, as when he had taken up the cause of the Fen people -in the late question of the drainage scheme, his ardour and impetuosity -had gone far to spoil his cause, and he was well behind, in political -weight and party influence, such men as Pym and Hampden and even -Falkland and Hyde, Holles and Haselrig, Culpeper and Strode.</p> - -<p>Yet with trumpet rhythm there beat on his brain—"Something to do and -I to do it! Work to be done and I to accomplish it! Something to be -gained and I to gain it! The Lord's battles to be fought and I to fight -them!"</p> - -<p>He moved from the window; the room was cold and the candles burnt with -a tranquil frosty light. Mr. Cromwell went to the great book lying -between the two plain brass sticks, the only book he ever read, the -book in which, to him, was comprised the whole of life and all we know -of the earth, of hell, of heaven.</p> - -<p>He opened the Bible at random; the thick leaves fell back at the -psalms, and his passionate grey eyes fell on a sentence that he read -aloud with a deep note of triumph in his heavy masculine voice—</p> - -<p>"<i>O help us against the enemy; for vain is the help of man. Through -God we shall do great acts: and it is he that shall tread down our -enemies.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Through ... <i>God</i>" repeated Mr. Cromwell, "we ... shall do ... <i>great</i> -acts."</p> - -<p>He put his hand to the plain little sword at his side, that had -hitherto been of no use save to give evidence of his gentility on -market days at Huntingdon and Ely.... "<i>Great</i> acts," he repeated again.</p> - -<p>As he stood so, his right hand crossed to his sword, his left resting -on the open Bible, his chin sunk on to his breast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> and his whole face -softened and veiled with thought, he was not conscious of the humble -room, the patter of the rain, the two coarse candles poorly dispelling -the darkness. He was only aware of a sudden access of power, a revival -of the burning sensation that had come to him in the old barn perfumed -with hay at St. Ives.</p> - -<p>His doubts and confusions, misgivings and fears, vanished, this inner -conviction and power seemed sufficient to combat all the foes concealed -in the quiet city—all, even to the King himself....</p> - -<p>He went to his knees as swiftly as if smitten into that attitude.</p> - -<p>"Through God," he whispered, "we shall do <i>great</i> acts."</p> - -<p>He hid his strong face in his strong hands and prayed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VI<br /> - -THE KING FAILS</h2> - - -<p>November had turned to May and my Lord Strafford's public agony was -over; he lay in the Tower a condemned man.</p> - -<p>For seventeen days had he, in this most momentous trial of his, -defended himself, unaided, against thirteen accusers who relieved -each other, and with such skill that his impeachment was like to have -miscarried; but the Commons were not so to be baulked.</p> - -<p>They dare not let Strafford escape them; they feared an Irish army, a -French army, they feared the desperate King would dissolve them, they -feared another gunpowder plot, and twice, on a cracking of the floor, -fled their Chamber. All fears, all anxieties, all animosities were at -their sharpest edge; the crowds in the streets demanded the blood of -Strafford, and did not pause to add that if they were disappointed they -would not hesitate to satisfy themselves with more exalted victims.</p> - -<p>A Bill of attainder against my lord was brought forward and hurried -through Parliament. Pym and Hampden opposed it, but popular fear -and popular rage were stronger than they, and there was no hope for -Strafford save in the master whom he was condemned for serving. -He wrote to the King, urging him to pass the Bill for the sake of -England's peace.</p> - -<p>London became more and more exasperated; rumours flew thick: The King's -son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, was coming with an army; money was -being sent from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> French King; the Irish, that ancient nightmare, -were to be let loose; the Queen had raised a troop to attack the Keys -of the Kingdom and set my lord free by force from the Tower.</p> - -<p>The Bill was passed, and on a May morning sent up for the King's assent.</p> - -<p>He had, a week before, sent a message to the Lords, beseeching them not -to press upon his conscience on which he could not condemn his minister.</p> - -<p>But the appeal had failed; Lords, Commons, and people all waited -eagerly, angrily, threateningly, for the King's assent.</p> - -<p>He asked a day to consider; he sent for three bishops and, in great -agony of mind, asked their ghostly counsel. Usher and Juxon told him -Strafford was innocent and that he should not sign. Williams bid him -bow to the opinion of the judges, and bade him listen to the thunderous -tumult at his gates. London was roused, he said, and would not be -pacified until my lord's head fell on Tower Hill.</p> - -<p>So the hideous day wore on to evening, and the King had not signed.</p> - -<p>As the delay continued, the suspense and agitation in the city become -almost unbearable, and it took all the efforts of the royal guards to -hold the gates of the Palace.</p> - -<p>The King was locked into his private cabinet, and even the Queen had -not seen him since noon.</p> - -<p>Henriette Marie had passed the earlier part of the day with her younger -children. She had made several vain attempts to see the King and she -had denied herself to all, even to Lady Strafford and her frantic -supplications.</p> - -<p>She had many agents continually employed, and during the day they came -to her and reported upon the feeling in the Houses, in the city, and in -the streets.</p> - -<p>She saw, from these advices, that the King's situation was little -better than desperate. She saw another thing—<i>there was not, at that -moment, sufficient force available in the capital to control the -multitude</i>. They were, in fact, at the mercy of the populace.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<p>When the haze of spring twilight began to fall over the stocks and -lilies, violets and pinks in the gardens sloping to the river, still -flashing in the sinking sun, and the first breaths of evening were -wafted through the open windows of the Palace, delicious with the -perfume of these beds of sweets, the Queen went herself and alone to -the cabinet where the King kept his anguished vigil.</p> - -<p>For a while he would not open, even to the sound of her voice, but -after she had waited there a little, like a supplicant, she heard his -step, the key was turned, and he admitted her. She entered swiftly -and flung herself at his feet, as she had done at their first meeting -nearly twenty years ago, when he had lifted her young loveliness to his -heart, there to for ever remain.</p> - -<p>Now she was a worn woman, her beauty prematurely obscured by -distresses, and he was far different from the radiant cavalier who had -welcomed her to England, but the fire of love lit then in the heart of -each had not abated; even now, in the midst of his misery of mind, he -raised her up as tenderly, as reverently, as when she had first come to -him.</p> - -<p>"Mary," he said brokenly, "Mary."</p> - -<p>He kissed her cold cheek as he drew her to his shoulder, and she felt -his tears.</p> - -<p>But her mood was not one of weeping; her frail figure, her delicate -features, were alert and quivering with energy; her large vivid eyes -glanced eagerly round the room. On the King's private black and gold -Chinese bureau lay the warrant for my Lord Strafford's execution. So -hasty and resolved was the Parliament, also, perhaps, so confident of -their power to force the King's assent, that the warrant had been sent -before the royal consent had been given to the Bill.</p> - -<p>The Queen drew herself away from Charles and rested her glance on him. -She wore a white gown enriched with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> silver damask flowers, her face, -too, was colourless save for a feverish flush under her eyes, and the -long-admired black locks hung neglected and disarranged over her deep -lace collar. She was a sorrowful and reproachful figure as she stood -regarding him so intently.</p> - -<p>The King's white sick face, too, wore a look of utter suffering, in his -narrowed eyes was a bitterness beyond sorrow.</p> - -<p>"Sire," said the Queen in a formal tone, "you shut yourself up here -when it would more befit you to come forth and face what must be -faced." She set her teeth, "The people are at the very gates."</p> - -<p>Charles took a step back against the heavy brocaded hangings of the -wall.</p> - -<p>"I will not sign—no—I will not assent," he muttered.</p> - -<p>"Will not? Will not?" cried the Queen. "Charles, thou hast no choice."</p> - -<p>"Dost thou advise me to do this infamous thing?" answered the King in -a terrible voice. "He is my friend, his peril is through serving me; -and he trusts me, relies on me—that is enough. Even as you came I -had resolved that, not even to save my sacred Crown, would I abandon -Strafford."</p> - -<p>"And what of me and my children?" asked the Queen, in a still voice; -"do we come after thy servant? Is thy love for me grown so halting that -I come last?"</p> - -<p>The King winced.</p> - -<p>"Who would touch thee?" he murmured.</p> - -<p>"Even those who, now outside this very palace, cry insults against the -Papist and the Frenchwoman. Charles, I tell thee this is playing on the -edge of a revolution—are we all to go to ruin for Strafford's sake?"</p> - -<p>"He went to ruin for mine," replied the King.</p> - -<p>"He failed," said the Queen, "and he pays. When we fail, we too will -pay. But this is not our time. The people demand Strafford, and we will -not risk our Crowns and lives by refusing this demand."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He trusts me," repeated Charles, "and I do love him. He served me -well, he was loyal ... our God help me!... my friend——"</p> - -<p>He turned away to hide the uncontrollable tears, and, opening a drawer -in the little Chinese cabinet, fumbled blindly among some papers and -pulled out a letter.</p> - -<p>"This is what he wrote me," he faltered. "I have never had one like him -in my service.... Mary ... I cannot let him die."</p> - -<p>He sank into a chair and, resting his elbow on the arm of it, dropped -his face into his hand; the other held the letter of my lord written -from the Tower.</p> - -<p>The Queen had read this epistle; at the time it had moved her, but now -that sensation of generous pity was dried up in the fierce desire to -save her husband and herself from all the ruin a revolution threatened. -She went up to the King and took the letter from his inert fingers, -and, glancing over it, read aloud a passage—</p> - -<p>"'Sir, my consent shall more acquit you herein to God, than all the -world can do besides. To a willing man there is no injury done; and as -by God's grace I forgive all the world with calmness and meekness of -infinite contentment to my dislodging soul, so, sir, to you I can give -the life of this world with all the cheerfulness imaginable, in the -just acknowledgment of your exceeding favours.'—</p> - -<p>"Hear!" added the Queen breathlessly, "the man himself does not ask nor -expect this sacrifice of you——"</p> - -<p>Charles interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Because he is magnanimous, shall I be a slavish coward?"</p> - -<p>"He is willing to die," urged the Queen; "he is pleased to give his -life for you——"</p> - -<p>"Willing to die? Where is there a man willing to die? There is none -to be found, however old, wretched, or mean. Deceive not thyself, -Strafford is young, strong, full of joy and life—he hath a wife and -children and others dear to him—is it like that he is <i>willing</i> to -die?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Queen's eyes did not sink before the miserable reproach in her -husband's gaze.</p> - -<p>"Willing or no, he <i>must</i> die," she said firmly. "He must go. Stand not -in the way of his fate."</p> - -<p>"He shall not die through me," said Charles, with a bitter doggedness. -"Am I never to sleep sound again for thinking of how I abandoned this -man? He came to London, Mary, on our promise of protection."</p> - -<p>"We have done what we could," returned Henriette Marie, unmoved, "and -now we can do no more."</p> - -<p>"I will not," said the King, as if repeating the words gave him -strength. "I will not. Do they want everything I love—first -Buckingham—now Strafford——"</p> - -<p>"Then me," flashed the Queen. "Think of that, if you think of your wife -at all."</p> - -<p>This reproach was so undeserved as to be grotesque. In all the King's -concerns, from the most important to the most foolish, she had always -come foremost, and this was the first occasion on which he had not -absolutely thrown himself on her judgment and bowed to her desires.</p> - -<p>Some such reflection must have crossed his tortured mind.</p> - -<p>"You always disliked Strafford," was all he said.</p> - -<p>"No," said the Queen vehemently, as if she disclaimed some shameful -thing. "No, never, and I would have saved him. Do not take me to be so -mean and creeping a creature as to counsel you pass this Bill because I -hate my lord."</p> - -<p>She was justified in her defence; she had been jealous of the powerful -minister, and she had never personally liked him, but it was not for -vengeance or malice that she urged the King to abandon Strafford, but -because she was afraid of that power which asked for his death, and -because her tyrannical royal pride detested the thought that she and -hers should be in an instant's danger for the sake of a subject. And -when she saw her husband, for the first time since their marriage, so -absorbed in anguished thought as to be scarcely aware of her presence, -as to be forgetful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> of her and her children, she felt jealous of this -other influence that seemed to defy hers, and a fierceness that was -akin to cruelty touched her desperation.</p> - -<p>"Who is this man that I should be endangered for his sake?" she cried, -after she had in vain waited for the King to break his dismal silence.</p> - -<p>"He is my friend," muttered Charles.</p> - -<p>"Save him then, or share his fate," returned his wife bitterly. "As for -me, I will go to my own country, and there find the protection that you -cannot give me."</p> - -<p>Charles sprang up and faced her.</p> - -<p>"Mary, what is this? What do you speak of?" he cried in a distracted -voice, and holding out to her his irresolute hands.</p> - -<p>The Queen took advantage of this sudden weakening of his silent -defences; her whole manner changed. She went up to him softly, took his -hands in hers, and, raising to him a face pale and pleading, broke out -into eager and humble entreaties.</p> - -<p>"My Charles, let him go—let us be happy again—do not, for this -scruple, risk everything! My dear, give way—it must be—we are in -danger—oh, listen to me!"</p> - -<p>He stared at her with eyes clouded with suffering.</p> - -<p>"Couldst thou but put this eloquence on the other side I might be a -happier man," he said. "Strengthen my conscience, do not weaken it."</p> - -<p>His tone was as pleading as hers had been, but she perceived that he -was still obdurate on the main part of her entreaty, and she slipped -from his clasp and knelt at his feet in a genuine passion of tears.</p> - -<p>"You have had the last of me!" she sobbed. "I will not stay where -neither my dignity nor my life is safe. Keep Strafford and let me go!"</p> - -<p>The King turned away with feeble and unsteady steps, and going to the -window pulled aside the olive velvet curtains.</p> - -<p>The twilight had fallen and the sky was pale to colour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>lessness; low on -the horizon, beyond the river, sombre banks of clouds were rising, and -at the edge of them, floating free in the purity of the sky, was the -evening star, sparkling with the frosty light of Northern climes.</p> - -<p>The King fixed his eyes on this star, but without hope of comfort; cold -and disdainful seemed star and heavens, and God pitiless and very far -away behind the storm-clouds.</p> - -<p>There was no command, no excuse, no reproof for him from on High; in -his own heart the decision must be and now—at once—within the next -hour. At that moment life seemed unutterably hateful to the King; -everything in the world, even the figure of his wife, he viewed with a -touch of sick disgust; the taint of what he was about to do was already -over him, his life was already stained with baseness, his happiness -corrupted.</p> - -<p>He knew, as he stared at the icy star that was already being veiled -by the on-rushing vapours of the rain-cloud, that he would abandon -Strafford.</p> - -<p>Though he knew that it would be better to be that man in the Tower, -against whose ardent life the decree had gone forth, than himself in -his palace, secure by the sacrifice of that faithful servant; though he -knew that in the bloody grave of his betrayed friend would be entombed -for ever his own tranquillity and peace of mind, yet he also knew -that it was not in him to stand firm against those inexorable ones -who demanded Strafford, against the tears and reproaches of his wife, -against his own inner fears and weaknesses which whispered to him dread -and terror of these hateful Parliament men and of this mutinous city of -London.</p> - -<p>In his heart he had always known that he would fail Strafford if it -ever came to a sharp issue, yea, he had known it when he urged his -minister to come from York, and that made this moment the more awful, -that his secret weakness, which he had never admitted to himself, was -forced into life.</p> - -<p>He would forsake Strafford to buy the safety of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Crown, his family, -his person, and Strafford would forgive him (he could picture the look -of incredulous pity on the condemned man's dark face when the sentence -was read to him), and the Parliament would scorn him.</p> - -<p>Through the entanglement of his bitter and humiliating reflections, he -became aware of the sound of the persistent, low sobbing of the Queen -in the darkening room behind him, and he turned, letting the curtains -fall together over the fading heavens, the brightening star, the -oncoming storm.</p> - -<p>The scanty light that now filled the chamber was only enough to let him -discern the white blur of his wife's figure as she knelt before one of -the brocade chairs with her dark head lost in the shadows and her hands -upraised in a startling position of prayer.</p> - -<p>Her sobs, even and continuous as the breaths of a peaceful sleeper, -filled the rich chamber, the splendours of which were now gloomed over -with shadow, with sorrow.</p> - -<p>Presently, as he watched her, and as he listened, the grim sharpness of -his anguish was melted into a weak grief at her distress; his impotency -to protect her from tears became his main torment.</p> - -<p>"Mary," he said, "Mary—it is over—think no more of it—go to bed and -sleep in peace. London shall be content to-night."</p> - -<p>He stumbled towards her, and she rose up swiftly and straightly, -holding her rag of wet white handkerchief to her wet white face.</p> - -<p>"Ah, Charles!" she exclaimed, her voice thick from her weeping.</p> - -<p>She held out her arms, he took her to his heart and bowed his shamed -head on her shoulder; but after a very little while he put her away.</p> - -<p>"Leave me now!"</p> - -<p>"This thing must be done at once—to-night—I cannot tell how long they -can hold the gates——"</p> - -<p>"I must go out," said Charles, with utmost weariness; "get me a light, -my dear, my beloved."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> - -<p>She found the flint and tinder and, with deftness and expedition, lit -the lamp of crystal and silver gilt which stood on the King's private -bureau.</p> - -<p>As the soft, gracious flame illumined the room, the King, who was -leaning against the tapestry like a sick man, looked at once towards -the fatal paper and beside it the pen and ink dish ready.</p> - -<p>The Queen stood waiting; her face was all blotted and swollen with -weeping; she looked a frail and piteous figure; her youth seemed -suddenly in one day dead, and her beauty already a thing of yesterday.</p> - -<p>"It is well I love thee," said Charles, "otherwise what I do would make -hell for me. Oh, if I had <i>not</i> loved thee, never, never would I have -done this thing!"</p> - -<p>"We shall forget it," answered the Queen, "and we shall live," she -added, straining her hoarse voice to a note of passion, "to avenge -ourselves."</p> - -<p>She spoke to a man of a nature absolutely unforgiving, and at this -moment her mention of vengeance came like comfort to his anguish and -palliation of his baseness.</p> - -<p>"I will never forget, I will never pardon," he swore, lifting up his -hand towards heaven. "Never, never shall there be peace between me and -Parliament until this shame is covered over with blood."</p> - -<p>He snatched up the warrant with trembling hand.</p> - -<p>"Send some lords to me," he cried. "I cannot sign this myself—get it -done—bring this most hateful day to an end!"</p> - -<p>He sank into the chair on which her tears had fallen, and stared at the -paper clutched in his fingers as if it was a sight of horror.</p> - -<p>Henriette Marie hastened away to tell the waiting deputies of the -Houses that the King would pass the Bill, and as she went she heard -a cry intense enough to have carried to the Tower where my lord sat -waiting the news of his fate.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Strafford! Strafford! my friend!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VII<br /> - -AUTUMN, 1641</h2> - - -<p>"Things go too far and too fast for me, and though men speak of the -progress we make, to me it seemeth more like a progress into calamities -unspeakable."</p> - -<p>The young man who spoke leant against the dark-blue and gold diapered -wall of the antechamber to the House of Commons, in Westminster Hall; -members and their friends were passing to and fro; in a few days -the memorable and triumphant session would adjourn. The King was -in Scotland, employed, as the Parliament well knew, in one of his -innumerable intrigues, this time an endeavour to bring a Northern army -into London. The Scots, since the imperfect peace he had patched with -them, remained his chief hope. Mr. Hampden was in Edinburgh watching -him, but Mr. Pym remained in London, the mainspring of the popular -party.</p> - -<p>It was late August of the year my Lord Strafford ("putting off my -doublet as cheerfully now as I ever did when I went to my bed," he had -said), had walked to his death on Tower Hill. Archbishop Laud was a -prisoner, and the King had given his consent to a series of Acts which -swept away those grievances which the people had complained of, and, -most momentous of all, he had passed a law by which it was impossible -for him to dissolve Parliament without its own consent.</p> - -<p>Therefore it might seem that affairs had never been so bright and -hopeful for the leaders of the reforming party, and yet this young -gentleman, leaning against the wall and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> staring at the pool of -sunlight the Gothic window cast at his feet, spoke in a tone of -melancholy and foreboding.</p> - -<p>He had always been a close follower and friend of Pym and Hampden, -and always ardent for the public good—one of the keen, swift spirits -whose direct courage had helped the House to triumph, but now he stood -dejected and rather in the attitude of one who has suffered defeat.</p> - -<p>His companion, who was but a few years older, regarded him with a -thoughtful air, then glanced dubiously at the crowds which filled the -chamber and from which they, in the corner by the window, stood a -little apart.</p> - -<p>"I take your meaning," he replied, after a considerable pause. "I see -a bigger cleavage between King and people than I, for one, ever meant -there to be, and prospects of a division in this nation which will be a -long while healing."</p> - -<p>He bent his gaze on the other side of the chamber where Mr. Pym and Mr. -Cromwell were talking loudly and at great length together.</p> - -<p>If any casual observer had looked in at this assembly, assuredly it -would have been this man by the window at whom they would have glanced -longest and oftenest.</p> - -<p>His appearance would have been noticeable in any gathering, for it was -one of the most unusual beauty and charm.</p> - -<p>He was no more than thirty years of age, and the delicate smoothness -of his countenance was such as belongs to even earlier years, and gave -him, indeed, an air of almost feminine refinement and gentleness; his -long love-locks were pale brown, his heavy-lidded eyes of a soft and -changeable grey, and the expression of his lips, set firmly under the -slight shade of the fashionable moustaches, was one of great sweetness.</p> - -<p>The whole expression of his face was a tenderness and purity seldom -seen in masculine traits; yet in no way did he appear weak, and his -bearing showed energy and resolution.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> - -<p>His dress, of an olive green, was carefully enriched with rough gold -embroidery, and his linen, laces, and other appointments were of a -finer quality than those worn by the other gentlemen there.</p> - -<p>Such was Lucius Carey, my Lord Viscount Falkland, one of the noblest, -in degree and soul, of those who had combined to curb and confine the -tyranny of the King.</p> - -<p>His companion was Mr. Edward Hyde, an ordinary looking blonde -gentleman, inclined to stoutness, and a prominent member of the more -moderate section of the dominant Commons.</p> - -<p>He followed the direction of the Viscount's gaze and remarked, in a low -tone—</p> - -<p>"Those two are getting matters very much into their own hands, and Mr. -Cromwell, at least, is too extreme."</p> - -<p>"What more do they want?" asked my Lord Falkland. "The King hath -redressed the grievances we laboured under. They strained the very -utmost of the law (nay, more than the law) on the Earl of Strafford, -and to push matters further smacks of disloyalty to His Majesty."</p> - -<p>"My Lord," answered Mr. Hyde firmly, "reformers are ever apt to run a -headlong course, and some excesses must be excused those who have so -laboured at the general good——"</p> - -<p>"Excesses?" answered my lord, flushing a little. "I am still an -Anglican, by the grace of God, and when I see altars dragged from -their places, rood screens smashed, all pictures, images, and carvings -destroyed in our churches until God's houses look as if they were the -poor remnants of a besieged city,—when I know that this is by order of -Parliament, then methinks it seemeth as if violence had taken the place -of zeal."</p> - -<p>"Neither do these things please me," answered Mr. Hyde, "but the dams -are broken and there are swift tides running in all directions. And who -is to stem them?"</p> - -<p>"Or who," asked my lord sadly, "to guide them into proper channels? Not -your 'root and branch men,' who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> would sweep every bishop and every -prayer book out of the land. Not by such intolerance or bigotry, Mr. -Hyde, are we to gain peace and liberty."</p> - -<p>"Moderate counsels," returned the other, "own but a weak voice in these -bitter savoured times. It is such as this Oliver Cromwell, with their -loud rude speech, who are hearkened to."</p> - -<p>"I only half like this noisy Mr. Cromwell," said my lord. "He hath -sprung very suddenly into notice, and seemeth to have, on an instant, -gained much authority with Mr. Pym and Mr. Hampden."</p> - -<p>At this moment the object of their speech turned his head and looked at -them as if he had heard his own name. Lord Falkland smiled at him and -made a little gesture of beckoning.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell instantly left his friends and came over to the window, -where he stood in the gold flush of sunshine and looked keenly at the -two young aristocrats.</p> - -<p>"More plots, eh," he asked pleasantly.</p> - -<p>"More talk only, sir," smiled the Viscount.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell laid his heavy muscular hand on my lord's arm.</p> - -<p>"Thou art worthy," he remarked; "but what shall I say of thee?" his -narrowed grey eyes rested on Mr. Hyde's florid face. "Thou art he who -bloweth neither hot nor cold."</p> - -<p>"I am like to blow hot enough, I think," returned Mr. Hyde, "unless -thou blow more cold."</p> - -<p>"Wherein have I vexed thee?" asked Oliver Cromwell, with a pleasantness -that might have covered contempt.</p> - -<p>"Your party is too extreme, sir," said the Viscount earnestly. "You -press too hard upon the weakness of His Majesty. What we set out -to gain hath been gained and safeguarded by law. You should now go -moderately, and, from what I know of your councils, you do not propose -moderation."</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell's face hardened into heavy, almost lowering, lines.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - -<p>"So you, too, slacken!" he exclaimed. "You would join those who rise up -against us! Fie, my lord, I had better hopes."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Cromwell," returned the Viscount, "we have been long together on -the same road; but if your mind is what I do think it to be, then here -we come to a parting, and many Christian gentlemen will follow my way."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell regarded him with intense keenness.</p> - -<p>"What do you think my mind to be?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"I think you rush forward to utterly destroy the Anglican Church and to -so limit the King's authority that he is no more than a show piece in -the realm."</p> - -<p>"Maybe that and maybe more than that," returned Mr. Cromwell. "Even as -the Lord directeth: 'He shall send down from on high to fetch me and -shall take me out of many waters.' I stand here, a poor instrument, -waiting His will."</p> - -<p>This answer bore the fervent and ambiguous character that Lord Falkland -had noticed in this gentleman's speeches, and which might be due either -to enthusiasm or guile, and which was, at least, difficult to answer.</p> - -<p>"You run too much against the King," said Mr. Hyde, "and against the -Church of England. Our aim was to clear her of abuses, not to destroy -her."</p> - -<p>"Our aim, Mr. Hyde?" interrupted the Member for Cambridge keenly. "Were -our aims ever the same, from the very first? I saw one thing, you -another; but trouble me not now with this vain discourse," he added, -with a note of great strength in his hoarse voice, "when I know you are -in communication with His Majesty and but seek an opportunity to leave -us."</p> - -<p>Edward Hyde flushed, but answered at once and with pride.</p> - -<p>"I make no secret of it that, if the Parliament forget all duty to the -King, I shall not."</p> - -<p>"Are you afraid?" asked Mr. Cromwell, with more sadness than contempt. -"Or do you look for promotion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> honours from His Majesty? There is -no satisfaction in such glory, 'but hope thou in the Lord and He shall -promote thee, that thou shall possess the land; when the ungodly shall -perish, thou shalt see it.'"</p> - -<p>"You do us wrong!" exclaimed Lord Falkland. "We hold to loyalty; we -think of that and not of base rewards."</p> - -<p>"Loyalty!" exclaimed Mr. Cromwell vehemently. "We own loyalty to One -higher than the King, yet what saith St. Paul: 'See then that ye walk -circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, because the days are evil. -Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord -is.' Therefore we go not definitely against His Majesty, but rather -wait, hoping still for peaceable issues and fair days, yet abating -nothing of our just demands nor of our high hopes."</p> - -<p>"Go your ways as you see them set clear before you," returned the -Viscount; "but as for me, all is confusion and I have begun to ponder -many things."</p> - -<p>"'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,'" said the Puritan -firmly, "and such can be of no use to us. Go serve the King and take -ten thousand with you, and still we stand the stronger."</p> - -<p>Mr. Hyde's personal dislike of the speaker, as well as his loyalty and -conservative principles, spurred him into a hot answer.</p> - -<p>"Do you then admit you do not serve the King?" he asked. "Are we to -hear open rebellion?"</p> - -<p>"God knoweth what we shall hear and what we shall see," said Mr. -Cromwell grimly. "There will be more wonders abroad than thy wits will -be able to cope with, methinks, Mr. Hyde."</p> - -<p>"My wits stand firm," smiled that gentleman, "and my faith is uncorrupt -and my sword is practised."</p> - -<p>"The sword!" repeated Oliver Cromwell, putting his hand slowly on the -plain little weapon by his side. "Speak not of the sword! Englishmen -have not, sir, come to that, and will not, unless they be forced."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yet," said Lord Falkland quietly, "do you not perceive that by your -actions you provoke the possibilities of bloodshed? Already the Lords -have fallen away from you—the King hath many friends even among -the Commons, and they are not less resolute, less courageous, less -convinced of the justice of their desires than you yourself—how then -are these divided parties to be brought together unless a temperate -action and a mild counsel be employed? The King hath held his -hand—<i>sir, hold yours</i>."</p> - -<p>With these words, which he uttered in a stately fashion and almost in -the tone of a warning, the young lord, taking Mr. Hyde by the arm, was -turning away, but Oliver Cromwell, with an earnest gesture, caught his -hand.</p> - -<p>"Lucius Carey, stay thou with us," he said.</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland let his slight hand remain in the Puritan's powerful -grasp, and turned his serene, mournful eyes on to the older man's -stern, eloquent face.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Cromwell," he replied, "believe me honest as yourself. You left -plenty and comfort for this toilsome business of Parliament, and I also -put some ease by that I might do a little service here. My cause is -your cause, the cause of liberty. I despise the courtier and hate the -tyrant, but I believe in the old creeds, too, Mr. Cromwell, and that -the King is as like to save us as any other gentleman. Therefore, if -henceforth you see little of me, believe that I obey my conscience as -you do follow yours."</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell released his hand and said no other word.</p> - -<p>"A good night," smiled Lord Falkland, and, raising his beaver, left -Westminster Hall with Edward Hyde.</p> - -<p>Lord Essex came up to the window, and to him Oliver Cromwell turned -sharply.</p> - -<p>"There go two who will join the King's party," he said bluntly, -pointing after the two Cavaliers.</p> - -<p>"They have long been of that mind," replied Lord Essex dryly. "Mr. Hyde -goeth to seek advancement and my lord because he is tender towards the -clergy."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I would have kept my lord," remarked Mr. Cromwell, with a touch of -wistfulness in his tone. "He is a goodly youth and a brave, and hath -too fair a soul to join with idolators and Papists."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Lord Falkland, having parted from Mr. Hyde, was walking -along the river-bank, where an uneven row of houses edged the gardens -of Northumberland House, Whitehall, and the estates of the Buckingham -family.</p> - -<p>The intense disquiet that agitated the country did not show itself -here: barges and sailing vessels went peacefully past on the brown -tide, urchins played in the mud, boatmen clustered round the steps and -clamoured for fares, at some house near by a concert of music was being -performed, and outside on the cobbles the barefoot children danced.</p> - -<p>One or two gallants escorting ladies masked from the weather strolled -by, and over all was the peaceful glow of the summer sunset hour.</p> - -<p>The scene was thrice familiar to Lord Falkland, but his sensitive soul -and quick eye were alive to every detail of the street, the people, and -the river.</p> - -<p>He loved England, he loved London and the crooked river, built -over with crooked houses, from which rose the churches with the -Gothic towers or lead cupolas; but to-night this love made him feel -melancholy. He had a premonition that terror and discord would descend -on the beloved city, on the beloved land, and that he would be able to -avail nothing against those relentless forces of which Mr. Cromwell was -typical, and which seemed to be sweeping him on to tumult and strife.</p> - -<p>He had left all the delights of his wealthy retirement—his dear -family, his dear friends, and his dear literature—that he might help -his country in the pass to which she had come.</p> - -<p>And now he had himself arrived at a pass and must decide whether he -would remain with the party by which he had so far stood, or remain -loyal to the ancient Church and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> the ancient constitution which his -fathers had served and defended.</p> - -<p>He paused in his walk when he reached Whitehall stairs, and turned to -look at the splendid new palace as it rose above the gardens and the -houses.</p> - -<p>It was a very gorgeous sunset: gold and tawny, scarlet and crimson were -flung out across the purple west like great banners unfolded; in each -window-glass a blot of gold glittered amazingly; gold lay in every -little wrinkle in the surface of the river and on the patched canvas of -the ships; from the sea a wind was blowing, and in the breath of it the -heat of the summer day died.</p> - -<p>My Lord Falkland lifted his eyes from the palace to the magnificence -of the heavens and his sadness increased upon him; when presently -he looked to earth again he was aware of a small child crying on a -doorstep over some tremendous woe.</p> - -<p>He took some dried plums and a sixpence from his pocket (he usually had -sweetmeats about him, having many children of his acquaintance) and -gave them to the boy. Then he took a small brown volume of Virgil from -his pocket, but perceiving it to be too dark to read, he called a pair -of oars and was rowed to Chelsea Reaches to gain the sweeter air of the -country and to have leisure on the bosom of the river and under the -flaming sky to deal with the perplexing thoughts that vexed his noble -mind.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -THE NEWS FROM IRELAND</h2> - - -<p>Mr. Cromwell was in his chamber writing letters; it was a few weeks -before the expected return of the King and the opening of Parliament, -and the Member for Cambridge had come up to London early to confer -with Mr. Pym and other leaders of the popular party on the so-called -Remonstrance, otherwise the exposition of the case against Charles, and -of the hopes and fears and perils of the Parliament, already divided -within its own walls by the standing back or falling aside of men like -Falkland and Hyde.</p> - -<p>It was a challenge to the King and to those who supported him, and if -passed would prove a shrewder blow to royalty than even the death of -Strafford.</p> - -<p>For the rest, events were, for such a time of unrest, going with -surprising smoothness and quietness for the Parliament; it was now -generally known that the King had failed in his endeavours to bring -down a northern army to overawe Westminster, and though his plots, the -intrigues of the Queen and her Romanist advisers were incessant and -served to keep the Commons in a continual state of watchfulness and -alarm, they had hitherto been fruitless, and Mr. Pym and Mr. Cromwell, -though they might be accounted the strongest opponents of the King, yet -now hoped to bring or force Charles to reason and put the kingdom in -good order without recourse to more rioting or ferment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell, thinking of these things with satisfaction, and having -sealed his letter, rose to light the lamp, for the gloomy October day, -foggy and brown at the brightest, was drawing to a close.</p> - -<p>When he had trimmed and lit the lamp, he heard a familiar footstep on -the stairs, and, going swiftly to the door, opened it on John Pym.</p> - -<p>"I did not expect thee," said Mr. Cromwell, smiling.</p> - -<p>His visitor passed him and, throwing himself into the great chair -fitted with worn leather cushions near the yet unshuttered window, -stared at his friend with such a visible disturbance in his usually -composed and bold features that Mr. Cromwell was surprised into an -exclamation—</p> - -<p>"What news is there?"</p> - -<p>A grim smile stirred John Pym's pale lips.</p> - -<p>"Where hast thou been all this day that thou hast not heard?"</p> - -<p>"Here, since midday, and never a breath of news could reach me if some -friend did not bring it."</p> - -<p>John Pym put his hand to his forehead; he looked old and ill and more -utterly overmastered by emotion than his colleague had ever before seen -him.</p> - -<p>"Evil news, Mr. Pym?" and the energetic Puritan's mind flew to that -centre of mischief, the King and Queen in Scotland.</p> - -<p>"Evil news," repeated the older man sombrely, "news that hath set -London in a frenzy. They are running mad in the streets now—news that -will make some swift conclusion here inevitable."</p> - -<p>A light that was perhaps as much of pleasurable anticipation and -satisfaction as of regret or anger brightened Mr. Cromwell's eyes as he -answered—</p> - -<p>"Tell me—as quick as may be—tell me this grievous thing."</p> - -<p>"The full news has not come to hand yet—only a couple of desperate -messengers and this afternoon three more expresses confirming it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<p>He paused, for his voice was fast breaking under the strain of what he -had to utter.</p> - -<p>"The lamp is smoking," he said, to steady himself.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell slowly turned down the wick, then Mr. Pym resumed in a -controlled and normal voice.</p> - -<p>"There has been a most bloody rising in Ireland. The popish Irish have -risen against the English in Ulster—one of them, O'Neil, hath declared -he holdeth a commission from the King. Mr. Cromwell, the fearful -stories are beyond belief—thousands have been massacred, and the whole -Island is in a welter of barbarous confusion."</p> - -<p>A groan of passionate horror and fury broke from Oliver Cromwell; all -the hatred of the Englishman for the Irish, of the Puritan for the -Papist, of the champion of freedom for the King and tyrant stirred in -his heart.</p> - -<p>"This is the Queen's doing!" he exclaimed as half London had exclaimed -in the same rage and anguish.</p> - -<p>"That is the popular cry," said Mr. Pym; "but we must be above the -popular cries and reason out this thing ourselves. Maybe this Phelim -O'Neil lieth, maybe the Queen hath no hand in this slaying of the -Protestants."</p> - -<p>"Canst thou deny," cried Mr. Cromwell, "that she and her priests of -Baal have ever given pernicious advice to the King? Oh, wretched -country that ever had this cursed Frenchwoman set over it!"</p> - -<p>"Let the Queen go," said John Pym. "We are not concerned with her, we -cannot strike at her; our business is with the King. Compose thyself—I -am come to confer with thee."</p> - -<p>"I cannot so easily be calm," answered Mr. Cromwell, "when I consider -how God's English have been treated—are, at this moment, being -tormented and slain!"</p> - -<p>"This is the sowing," returned Mr. Pym grimly. "By and by will come the -harvest."</p> - -<p>"May I be there to help gather it!" cried the Member for Cambridge. -"May God preserve me to a little aid in avenging His people."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The time will come," said John Pym, "'for the eyes of the Lord are -over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the -face of the Lord is against them that do evil.'"</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell dropped his chin on his breast, as his fashion was when -deeply moved; but John Pym raised his authoritative face and spoke -again.</p> - -<p>"At this moment we must consider how this event is like to bear on the -issues at Westminster. We must be ready. I do not dare to hold the King -responsible for this most horrible work in Ireland, though I fear he -will find it hard to clear his name before the popular eye; but this -much is proven—he had a plot with the Irish gentry to gain Dublin for -himself, and there to raise an army to send against us."</p> - -<p>"Aye, the sword," muttered Cromwell, "the power of the sword!"</p> - -<p>"Even of that have I come to speak," pursued John Pym. "Thou, sagacious -as thou art, canst see the next move the King will take when he -returneth without the help he hoped for from Scotland?"</p> - -<p>The other lifted his fine head quickly.</p> - -<p>"He will demand an army for the reconquest of Ireland," he said -briefly. "And as I hope for mercy," he added solemnly, "he shall not -have it!"</p> - -<p>"The only army the Parliament will raise will be one under its own -control and officered by its own men," replied John Pym; "but the -struggle will be sharp. We have now such men as Hyde and Falkland -against us, and the King's Episcopalian party gathereth strength in the -House and in the country."</p> - -<p>He was silent a while, then he gave a great sigh of mental distress and -physical weariness.</p> - -<p>"Is it too late to hope for peace?" he murmured, as if speaking to -himself. "Is it too late?"</p> - -<p>"It is too late," blazed out Cromwell, "to trust the King. Too late, -indeed! Unless we wish to wait another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> Saint Bartholomew—another -Valtelline. It is not so long since this Queen's house had those -damnable murders done on poor Protestants—she who designed that -devilry was a Medici. Was not this woman's mother of that family? And -was not the King's grandmother from that same idolatrous court, and was -she not a wanton Papist? Trust none of them, Mr. Pym, nor Stewart, nor -Bourbon, but listen to the Lord's bidding, even as He commandeth, and -care nothing for any other."</p> - -<p>"Thou didst not use to be so hot against the King," said John Pym.</p> - -<p>"I did not know his subtle tricks, his shifts, his deceptions, his -lies, his faithlessness, his great unreason. Hath he not given us his -challenge? What did he not write this very month from Scotland? Mindst -thou his words? 'I am constant to the discipline and doctrine of the -Church of England established by Queen Elizabeth and my father, and I -resolve, by the grace of God, to die in the maintenance of it.' And -then he proceedeth to fill up the vacant bishoprics, and with those -very divines against whom we were bringing a charge of treason. Then -what thou hast said, even this moment, of Ireland—tell me not that it -was not his sceptre which was the staff that stirred up this flame! No -more dealings with Charles, Mr. Pym; the time for that is past."</p> - -<p>The extraordinary strength and grandeur that emanated from the -speaker's personality, clothing it with that magnificence that is -usually only bestowed by the knowledge of high power or a mighty -station, was impressed on Mr. Pym as never, perhaps, before; and it -flashed into the mind of the bold parliamentary leader that here might -be indeed that champion of great fearlessness, indomitable purpose, -spiritual enthusiasm, and broad views who would soon be necessary to -second him and even to take his place, for he, John Pym, was not young, -and was worn with years of infinite labour. Times, too, had immensely -changed since first he had stepped forward to defend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> the English -law and English liberties, and in the new, strange, perhaps terrific -epoch coming it might well be that a man would be needed of qualities -different from his own.</p> - -<p>Hitherto John Pym had not looked upon Oliver Cromwell as other than -an able and enthusiastic lieutenant; he had ranked him below men of -the intellectual calibre and fine culture of Hampden and Falkland, and -though he had never doubted his willingness in the cause of freedom, -he had not given much thought to his capacity. But lately—when -Cromwell had fired at the King's appointment of the obnoxious priests, -when he had spoken by his side for the exclusion of the bishops from -Parliament, when he had seconded the attack on the Prayer Book—Pym had -noticed in him the gleam of rare and splendid qualities.</p> - -<p>And as he looked at him now, a man of homely simplicity in appearance, -yet conveying, by some magic of the spirit, a splendour and a force -such as is found once among tens of thousands, his heart leapt with a -deep inward joy.</p> - -<p>"Thou art very fit to challenge the King," he said quietly.</p> - -<p>The Calvinist was in no way moved by this.</p> - -<p>"I may be an instrument," he said, "but the way is confused and -troubled; we draw near the whirlpool, and unless God make Himself -manifest, how are we to avoid being sucked into destruction?"</p> - -<p>He began to pace the room with uneven and agitated steps.</p> - -<p>"I would not be the first to draw the sword!" he cried; "but if the -Lord make it law and putteth it into my hands, shall I not strike? Oh, -Mr. Pym, war is an awful thought, and we hang on the edge of dreadful -conclusions; but is this the moment to turn back or pause? 'Teach me, -O Lord, the way of Thy statute, and I will keep it to the end! Give -me understanding and I will keep Thy law; yea, I will keep it with my -whole heart!'"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<p>He paused by the farther wall, resting one hand against the wood -panelling, and with the other wiping his brow and lips with a plain -cambric handkerchief.</p> - -<p>John Pym sat motionless in the great arm-chair, leaning forward a -little and looking intently and with a kind of quiet eagerness at the -younger man.</p> - -<p>"When I heard this afternoon of the confirmation of this dismal and -lamentable news from Ireland, when I foresaw that the King had now an -excuse to demand an army—then I too thought—God hath spoken, and it -must be the sword."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell's whole stout frame trembled, as if responding to some -intense and suppressed emotion.</p> - -<p>"England! England!" he muttered, "are we come to have to heal thy hurts -with the bloody steel and the devouring flame? I had hoped differently."</p> - -<p>"If the King armeth so must we," said John Pym. "But there is yet some -hope. Hyde and Falkland are now something in the councils of the King, -and he may listen to them."</p> - -<p>"My Lord Falkland will do a true man's uttermost," replied Cromwell, -with that sudden tenderness that was as natural to him as his sudden -fierceness. "But will he avail? I have but a mean opinion of Mr. Hyde."</p> - -<p>"Neither he nor my Lord Viscount have a grasp bold enough nor an -outlook sure enough for these difficult times. But their advice will -better that of the Queen and the priests, and in them resteth our last -hopes of a peaceable settlement."</p> - -<p>As Pym spoke he rose and, going over to Cromwell, grasped him by the -shoulders and looked earnestly into his face. In age there was nearly -twenty years difference between the two men, and the appearance of the -lawyer who had led a studious life in cities was very different from -that of the robust country gentleman; but their look of ardour, of -resolution, of steadfastness was the same, and John Pym's face, marked -with years and faded by ill-health,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> held the same brightness of a high -purpose as the blunt, fresh features of the younger man, still in the -height and prime of his vigorous strength.</p> - -<p>"Thou wilt be a man much needed in the times to come," said Mr. Pym, -"for I think thou hast the gift of fortitude."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell did not answer; in his mind's eye he saw that misty day -outside St. Ives, the black river, the black houses, the gnarled and -bent willows, the church spire pointing to an obscure heaven, the flat -bog leading to Erith's Bulwark, beyond—the rude paling—all the common -details of that familiar scene where he had first entered into covenant -with God.</p> - -<p>The glory of the vision had faded, and melancholies had taken the place -of that unspeakable joy and wonder; but a faith that never weakened -was always there and sometimes flashed up, as now, into a dazzling -remembrance of that other November day and the promise of the Lord.</p> - -<p>"Englishmen such as thee are greatly wanted now," added Mr. Pym after a -little.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell suddenly flashed into a smile which had a certain steady -happiness in it, as if he had gained contentment from his momentary -absorption or reverie.</p> - -<p>"There are many better than I!" he answered. "Poor reeds, Mr. Pym, but -by binding us together thou mayst make a stout birch for thy purpose!"</p> - -<p>He turned and took his hat and mantle from a peg on the wall.</p> - -<p>"I will come out with thee," he said, "and see how things go in London."</p> - -<p>As the two gentlemen went together down the narrow stairs, Pym, in -a few words, gave his companion the outlines of the next momentous -measure he intended to bring forward at this juncture, when the public -frenzy at the Irish rebellion and the atrocious circumstances of it -would be occupying Parliament as well as people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I shall ask that military appointments may be under parliamentary -control, Mr. Cromwell, and that His Majesty take only such advisers as -the nation can approve; also that my Lord of Essex be given the command -of the train bands—under the authority of Parliament, not the King."</p> - -<p>"Well dost thou seize the moment!" returned the other, in a tone of -admiration. "Turning even these events of horror into profit for -liberty, methinks thou hast the King so stript of all pretences that he -will scarce be able to find any rag of Popery to cover his bareness."</p> - -<p>"Take care," said John Pym, gently laying his hand on his friend's -cuff, "that thou dost not underestimate those forces opposed to thee."</p> - -<p>"And thou," replied Cromwell, "that thou dost not underestimate thine -own strength and power."</p> - -<p>They came out into the ill-lit street, down which the sleet was -sweeping in icy spears; the close, stale odours of the city encompassed -them, and the bitter damp struck through their mantles and made their -flesh shiver.</p> - -<p>"Methinks," said Cromwell, "this dark air is full of portents and heavy -with forebodings. Thou knowest, Mr. Pym, that we stand in a little mean -street, in the cold and darkness, in the midst of a distressed and -oppressed city, yet I tell thee the Lord hath us by the hand and will -lead us yet into the freedom and light of great spaces, there to work -His will."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IX<br /> - -JOHN PYM AND THE KING</h2> - - -<p>"This is Lord Falkland's advice," said the Queen, "and I do wonder you -should so listen to one who was but lately in the forefront of your -enemies and even now is close with them."</p> - -<p>"It is the advice of the moderate men," returned Charles, with a sneer -on the adjective, "and I must listen to them. Patience, my dear, my -beloved. If I could win John Pym it were worth some sacrifice of pride."</p> - -<p>"Things run more smoothly in your favour now," retorted Henriette -Marie, "and you have no need for these concessions. Was not our welcome -to London fair enough? And do not your friends in the Lords grow daily?"</p> - -<p>"But the party of John Pym groweth daily also," said the King grimly, -"and therefore have I sent for him."</p> - -<p>"I do wonder," cried his wife, "that you should stoop to parley with -one whom we both hold in hatred!"</p> - -<p>"Do not imagine," replied Charles, with intense bitterness, "that -I shall ever forgive John Pym, whom I have long resolved to punish -fittingly. But if I can make an instrument of him, for his own -humiliation and my gain, surely I will."</p> - -<p>They were walking in the gardens of Whitehall. It was still winter, but -of an extraordinary mildness; a pale and soft blue sky showed between -the bare branches, and through the thick carpet of damp brown leaves -the fresh little plants and weeds pushed up shoots of green.</p> - -<p>Charles and his wife walked slowly along the damp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> paths; she was -wrapped carelessly in a black hood and cloak, and her face was -disfigured by a look of annoyance, anxiety, and fatigue.</p> - -<p>Her beauty and sweetness seemed to have been lately burnt away by the -angry pride and passions the recent troubles had roused in her; she -was not one to retain either meekness or gaiety in adversity, and she -fretted deeply under what she termed the King's inaction.</p> - -<p>Had she been in his place she would have put her fate to the test -before now by some act of violence, and instead of making concession -after concession, as Charles had done, she would have given the call to -arms at the first refusal of the Parliament to do her will or at the -first murmur they made against her fiat.</p> - -<p>And now, in her eyes, a humiliation deeper than any yet endured was to -hand, in the shape of the King's proposed interview with John Pym—a -proposal which, as she had guessed, came from Lord Falkland, who was -beginning to attach himself to the Court, and who was, as always, -working sincerely in the interests of concord, a peaceful settlement, -and public security.</p> - -<p>As usual, perversity and impatience, frivolity and pride made it -impossible for the Queen to grasp the difficulties of her husband's -position and how those difficulties had been augmented by the hideous -uprisings in Ireland, which continued with all the violence of furious -passions loosened after long restraint.</p> - -<p>She said no more, however, for she was not the woman to waste words on -a matter where she was not likely to prevail.</p> - -<p>The King too was silent; his feelings against John Pym were no less -bitter than his Queen's hatred of that resolute commoner, and they were -tinged with a dreadful shame and an awful remorse which she did not -feel, for the thought of Pym brought with it the thought of Strafford.</p> - -<p>When they came to a little turn in one of the paths they beheld ahead -of them a very pleasant vista of bare but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> fresh trees, flecked with -sun and covered with splashes and tufts of moss, and on a bench beneath -a slender beech a group of youths who were engaged in shooting arrows -at a target.</p> - -<p>Three of the little company were at the first opening of manhood, two -were children. All were unusual in their handsomeness and princely -poise as in the richness of their appointments, and four of them were -distinguished by a darkness of colouring and vividness of expression -commonly associated with the French or Italian, and not likely to be -the passport to popularity in England; the fifth and youngest was a -beautiful, grave child of eight, or so, with bright complexion and -golden auburn hair, who, leaning against the tree, handed to the others -the arrows out of a quiver of gilded leather.</p> - -<p>His dress heightened his look of fairness, for it was light blue, and -the sun fell full over him while the others were in shade and darkly -though magnificently attired.</p> - -<p>The other child was a lad a year or two older, of no particular beauty, -but of a nimble and sprightly appearance, whose irregular features were -lit by a pair of very handsome, eloquent, black eyes; seated at the -end of the bench, he was at the moment practising his skill at archery -and was tugging at a great bow that was almost too stubborn for his -strength.</p> - -<p>The three young men who were gathered round him, directing and -instructing, were obviously brothers; all three of a splendid -presence and all characterized by an air of recklessness, arrogance, -and a certain rude pride, and one was a youth who would have been -distinguished in any company for his extreme handsomeness and his -animated, flamboyant personality.</p> - -<p>It was he who, with the quickness that accompanied all his motions, -turned at the first footfall he heard and discerned the King. At the -sight of His Majesty the sport ended, and the young men rose, laughing; -but the fair child, with a certain prim absorption, busied himself in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -putting the arrows away, and never looked up from his task.</p> - -<p>"The bow is too strong for Charles," said the handsome youth with a -strong foreign accent.</p> - -<p>"Get thee a smaller one," answered the King, smiling at his eldest son, -who had cast the bow down with a good-natured grimace.</p> - -<p>"Nay, sire," replied the Prince of Wales, "it is a play that groweth -old-fashioned. I will practise the sword."</p> - -<p>At this the fair boy glanced up from the quiver he was filling.</p> - -<p>"If you will not learn," he said, in a voice serious for his years, -"why waste this time in the essay?"</p> - -<p>His brother burst out laughing.</p> - -<p>"To pass the hours, thou wise man!"</p> - -<p>"I love not to pass the time in fooling," replied the little Duke of -York crossly. "If I had thought you would not learn, I would not have -held the arrows for you."</p> - -<p>The young man laughed again, and so did the Queen, but the King said -quietly—</p> - -<p>"If James hath a mind to be serious—why, it is no ill thing; you, my -nephews, might without harm be graver."</p> - -<p>The three princes took this reproof in smiling silence; they made a -charming picture in the winter sunlight, in their youth and gaiety and -self-confidence and all the graceful airs of pride and rank which well -became their thoughtless age and high position.</p> - -<p>Two of them, the Elector Palatine and Prince Maurice, moved on -through the gardens with their two English cousins and the Queen, but -Rupert, the handsome, impatient youth, remained where the King stood -thoughtfully by the bench, beside the fallen bow and the quiver of -arrows little James had flung down in disgust.</p> - -<p>"Will Your Majesty see this traitor Pym to-day?" asked Rupert eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, here, and soon," replied Charles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He should be treading the scaffold planks, not the King's garden!" -cried the Prince.</p> - -<p>Charles looked at his nephew with mingled affection and doubt. His own -nature was so totally different from that of the headstrong, violent, -reckless, and rudely arrogant Prince, that he could not altogether love -and trust his nephew; at the same time the young man's eager loyalty, -his warm if imprudent championship of the King's every action, could -not but endear him to Charles, as did his history of misfortune and the -fact that he was the son of the King's only sister, Elizabeth, who had -met with troubles undeserved and bravely borne.</p> - -<p>He answered with the bitterness that often now flavoured his speech.</p> - -<p>"You will taste trouble in your time, Rupert, if you do not learn that -such words must not be used of those who lead the people."</p> - -<p>"I shall never be a king or a ruler," answered Rupert, "and so can keep -a freer tongue. A third son hath no hopes, but few fears, so tantivy to -these crop-eared churls, and may I one day have the hunting of them!"</p> - -<p>He cast up his beaver as he spoke and caught it again with a laugh of -sheer light-heartedness.</p> - -<p>"A free lance at your service, sire," he cried, and stooping near the -root of the beech he pulled up a root of violet which bore several pale -and small flowers of an exceeding sweetness of perfume.</p> - -<p>With quick brown fingers he fastened it into the button-hole of his -dark scarlet doublet.</p> - -<p>"Here comes the bold rebel," he said, his loud, deep voice but slightly -lowered.</p> - -<p>Charles hastily turned his head.</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland and John Pym were approaching. The King seated himself -and pulled his hat over his eyes as if to conceal the confusion in his -countenance when he found himself face to face with the man whom he -regarded as his minister's murderer, and Rupert, leaning against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> the -tree, folded his arms on his broad chest in an attitude of contempt and -defiance.</p> - -<p>The four men made a strange opposition when they came together: the -refined sweetness and gentle bearing of the English noble contrasting -with the coarse beauty and bold demeanour of the foreign prince, and -the severe deportment and graceful figure of the King opposed to the -bent form, simple attire, and quiet carriage of the parliamentary -leader.</p> - -<p>Both men had approached this interview with reluctance and a sense of -hopelessness; Pym, because he thought that it would be impossible to -force the King to sincerity, and the King, because he thought it would -be impossible to bend or break Pym.</p> - -<p>Charles gave no immediate answer to Lord Falkland's presentation, and -made not the least effort to appear gracious. He and Pym were not -strangers to each other; there had been a time, years ago, when it -had seemed as if the famous lawyer might be one of those advising and -guiding the King.</p> - -<p>"Sir," said Charles at length, "I know not why I have chosen to see you -here, save that the day is fair and we can talk here under the sky as -well as under a ceiling."</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied John Pym simply, "I have been mewed up so much of late -that I am very glad to be in a pleasant place of green."</p> - -<p>"Give us leave, my lord," said Charles, "and you, Rupert, we have to -confer with this our faithful subject."</p> - -<p>The King's cold sarcasm was not lost on John Pym, whose lips curved -into a faint quiet smile, nor on the two young men, one of whom heard -with vexation, the other with considerable amusement.</p> - -<p>Rupert would, indeed, have liked to have stayed and helped bait -and annoy a man whom he regarded as only fit for the branding, the -mutilation, the pillory, and the fine which had been the fate of -William Prynne a few years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> earlier, but he bowed to the King's -decision and moved away with the Viscount.</p> - -<p>Charles looked after the two figures, alike in youth and comeliness, -dissimilar in everything else, then turned his stern and weary eyes on -John Pym, who stood with his plain hat in his hand, waiting for the -King to speak.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Pym," he said abruptly, "there is much disaffection in the House."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sire."</p> - -<p>"And parties are very sharply divided," added Charles, alluding to the -continued strength of his partisans in the Commons.</p> - -<p>John Pym understood him perfectly.</p> - -<p>"We have," he answered, "much to contend against, but God hath given us -success."</p> - -<p>The King's pale face assumed a look even more hard and bitter than -before; he knew Pym referred to the passing of the Great Remonstrance -which he had carried through the Commons by a narrow majority.</p> - -<p>"We?" he exclaimed. "For whom do you speak when you say 'we,' Mr. Pym?"</p> - -<p>"For those whom Your Majesty wished to deal with when you sent for me," -answered the commoner calmly.</p> - -<p>"Ah!" cried the King sharply. "You think you can boast to my face of -your power in the Commons!"</p> - -<p>"I can boast to any man's face of the power of the English people," -replied Pym, "and I believe it is that power that Your Majesty wisheth -to reckon with."</p> - -<p>Charles was silent, not being able to master his humiliation and pride -sufficiently to speak.</p> - -<p>"It is that power Your Majesty <i>must</i> reckon with," added John Pym, -without bravado or insult, but with intense firmness.</p> - -<p>The blood stained the King's pallor as if it had been called there by a -blow.</p> - -<p>"You have changed your language since last we spoke together, Mr. Pym!" -he cried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Much hath changed, sire. There is a broad river with many currents and -many whirlpools flowing now through England, and it hath swept away -many old landmarks. I do not mean discourtesy, but Your Majesty must -have seen for himself the swift changes of the times."</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied the King. "I have marked a crop of sedition such as few -sovereigns have been called upon to cope with."</p> - -<p>"And the advisers of Your Majesty have ordered and permitted an upset -of the laws such as few peoples have had to endure, and as it is not in -the temper of the English to bear."</p> - -<p>A haughty and bitter reply was on Charles' lips, but he remembered that -it was his object to in some way gain Pym and Pym's enormous influence, -and he summoned his slender stock of tact and patience.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Pym," he said, with dignity, "we are not here to discuss old -grievances, but rather to prepare balm for present sores and to -consider how to avoid opening of future wounds."</p> - -<p>John Pym smiled sadly.</p> - -<p>"It is all," he said, "in Your Majesty's hands."</p> - -<p>"I think," answered the King, "that very little is left in my hands. -Civil and religious authority is both assailed, and now you would -arrest from me the power of the sword."</p> - -<p>"The Parliament should have authority to choose Your Majesty's advisers -and to control the army and the militia," said Pym.</p> - -<p>"You try to force me into a corner," replied Charles, in a still voice. -"But you say it is in my hands," he added, with an effort. "Tell me if -there is any means you—and I—may pursue together."</p> - -<p>John Pym knew as clearly as if Charles had put it into words that he -was appealing for his help; he stood silent, waiting for the King to -further reveal himself.</p> - -<p>"You have had a long and laborious life, Mr. Pym,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> continued Charles, -fingering the deep lace on his cuffs. "I could give you that ease and -honour that bring repose."</p> - -<p>"I am sorry Your Majesty said that," returned the commoner. "You must -know that I am not a second Strafford to leave my party for royal -bribes."</p> - -<p>"You dare use that name to me!" blazed Charles, all his wrath and -hatred, shame and pain, suddenly laid bare.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" returned Pym steadily. "The death of Thomas Wentworth lieth -not at my door. I opposed his impeachment. I wished his punishment, not -his blood."</p> - -<p>"Thou and thou only brought him to the block!" cried Charles.</p> - -<p>"Nor I, nor any could have done it if his master had chosen to save -him," said John Pym.</p> - -<p>"This is too much!" cried Charles, his lips quivering, his eyes -reddened and flashing. "By my soul, it is too much! Against my will was -this meeting!"</p> - -<p>"I also thought it was too late," replied Pym; "but I stand here, ready -to serve Your Majesty if Your Majesty will deal sincerely with your -people."</p> - -<p>Charles' natural duplicity came to his aid and supplied the place of -patience; he mastered the wrath and horror caused in him ever by the -mention of Strafford, and answered with sudden and unnatural quietness—</p> - -<p>"Mr. Pym," he said, looking not at him but at his own square-toed -shoes and the white silk roses on them, "I do desire concord and plain -dealing, nor do I wish to provoke further strife."</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty," replied Pym, "then, should stop this great gathering of -ruffling Cavaliers who rally to the palace, and this armed guard who -insult the passing crowd."</p> - -<p>"What of the Roundhead rabble?" said Charles fiercely, "who tear my -bishops' robes from their backs when they endeavour to make their way -across Palace Yard—who insult my Queen because she is Romanist?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Your Majesty provoked it," answered Pym calmly. "And had the bishops -shown more of the meekness proper to their calling they would not now -be in the Tower for their foolish proclamation."</p> - -<p>He still held himself erect, though he was in feeble health and weary -from standing. The King marked his fatigue, natural in one of his age, -but his innate courtesy was stifled by his hatred of this man, and -neither policy nor kindness moved him to bid John Pym be seated.</p> - -<p>"We must discuss these things," he said. "I am willing to be -reasonable, and you have the reputation of a moderate. But you have -some fanatic fellows of your party, Mr. Pym—Holles, Haselrig, Hampden, -and a certain Oliver Cromwell."</p> - -<p>"These gentlemen you name," replied John Pym, "are no more nor less -fanatic than a hundred others, sire."</p> - -<p>"They have stood forth of late as notable in voicing certain daring -opinions," said the King, who, though he had himself carefully in hand, -was not able to be more than barely civil. "You must not think, Mr. -Pym, that I have overlooked them."</p> - -<p>"What is the meaning of Your Majesty's reference to these gentlemen?"</p> - -<p>"Only this," replied Charles steadily, "that you and I could work -together only if you refused your company and counsels to these I have -mentioned—and some others, as my Lord Kimbolton, Mr. Strode, and the -Earl of Essex."</p> - -<p>"They are all," said Mr. Pym, "as well able to advise Your Majesty as -myself. And, sire, if you sincerely wish to please your people, you -will entertain no prejudice against these men, for they are highly -esteemed and trusted by all."</p> - -<p>"Enough, enough!" cried the King, in great agitation, hastily rising. -"I might consider terms with you, Mr. Pym, but not with every heretic -whose voice is loud enough to catch the ear of the vulgar—but do -not mis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>understand me—you will hear from me again. To-day—to-day -the sun sets and it groweth chilly." He looked round the garden, now -filled with sunset light, with an abstracted air. "Think of me kindly, -Mr. Pym, and tell the Commons their honour and safety is my chiefest -care—as I hope theirs will be the welfare of the nation."</p> - -<p>"Our talk, then, hath no conclusion?" asked Mr. Pym, who argued little -good from this abrupt dismissal.</p> - -<p>"Not here," said the King with a smile; "at some further time, sir, you -shall know the impression your speech to-day hath made on me. Now I -must think a little on what you have said. A good night, Mr. Pym."</p> - -<p>The commoner bowed, and the King, blowing a little silver whistle which -he carried, brought up an attendant whom he told to conduct Mr. Pym to -the gates of the palace.</p> - -<p>And so the interview from which Lord Falkland and the moderate -royalists had hoped so much ended.</p> - -<p>Charles, trembling with emotion, spurned with the light cane he carried -the spot of earth on which John Pym had stood.</p> - -<p>"Thou damnable Puritan!" he muttered, "must I not only swallow thee but -all thy brood of heretics! Too much, by Christ, too much!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER X<br /> - -LORD FALKLAND'S ADVICE</h2> - - -<p>Half an hour later the Queen and Rupert found the King standing by -the sundial; the sun had faded from the heavens, leaving them faintly -purple, the trees were intertwining shapes, grey avenues of darkness, -the scent of the violets by the dial was rich and strong, the air blew -chilly, and in the palace windows the yellow lights were springing up, -one by one.</p> - -<p>The Queen in her dark careless garments and Rupert in his brilliant -bravery alike gloomed up out of the twilight as indistinct shapes.</p> - -<p>The King peered at them a little before he knew them.</p> - -<p>"John Pym and I will never speak together more," he said abruptly -and in a hoarse tone. "When I returned to London it was not with the -purpose of winning these men but of punishing them, and to that purpose -I adhere."</p> - -<p>"Lord Falkland," answered Rupert, "said Your Majesty had promised him -to take no violent measures, and to consult him and your new advisers -in all your actions."</p> - -<p>"Of late I have had to make many promises that are impossible for me -to keep," returned Charles gloomily. "If men press on a king they must -expect he will use all weapons against them. I shall act without my -Lord Falkland's advice. How can he," added the King with a grand air, -"or any man, know what I feel towards these men who threaten my sacred -crown and God His Holy Church? Who imprison my bishops and take from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -me—my friends?" his voice broke into sadness. "Truly, as I stood by -this dial, I thought it was like an emblem of my life, all the sunny -hours numbered and the finger now moving into darkness."</p> - -<p>"But to-morrow will see the sun again," cried Rupert, "and so Your -Majesty, coming from an eclipse, shall behold a brighter day."</p> - -<p>"Alas," answered Charles, "the moon is misty and clouds and rain -threaten for to-morrow. But though I am encompassed with many dangers I -will not hesitate to bring these traitors to judgment."</p> - -<p>"This is what I from the first advised," said the Queen. "When we came -from Scotland, and the people were shouting and the city feasting -us—then was the moment to strike."</p> - -<p>"It is not too late," replied Charles.</p> - -<p>"Take care it be not," urged Henriette Marie. "Last autumn half a day's -delay ruined my Lord Strafford, so quick was this accursed Pym."</p> - -<p>"He shall be avenged," cried the King in great agitation. "This time I -will strike first—keep it from my council. The King acts for the King, -now. Come in, my dear love, our short winter day is over—I feel it -cold."</p> - -<p>"A keen wind blows up the river," said the Queen, with a little -shudder. "I saw the gulls to-day at Whitehall; that means a stormy -winter."</p> - -<p>"But so far it hath been sweet as spring," said Rupert, "and there are -so many flowerets out, that you might think it Eastertide."</p> - -<p>They returned to the palace, and the King had sent for Lord Falkland -and was proceeding to his cabinet, when he was met by Lord Winchester, -one of the most influential and ardent of his courtiers, a magnificent -and wealthy Cavalier, a Romanist, and one greatly beloved by King and -Queen.</p> - -<p>"Sire," said this gentleman in a low, hurried voice. "I have just come -from Westminster where there are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> some most horrid rumours abroad. I -must acquaint you with——"</p> - -<p>Charles looked at him in a startled and bewildered fashion.</p> - -<p>"More ill news?" he murmured.</p> - -<p>"Nay," said the Marquess, "it is but one of many rumours such as now -for ever beat the air—but I have sounded several on the likely truth -of this report, and do believe it to be more than an idle alarm."</p> - -<p>The King took his friend's arm and drew him into his cabinet where -the wax-lights had already been lit and the fire sparkled between the -gleaming brass andirons.</p> - -<p>"Dear lord, be concise and brief," he said affectionately. "I have -summoned Lord Falkland, and he," added Charles with his usual -imprudence, "is not in my confidence. I have taken him because I must. -Now, thy news."</p> - -<p>The Marquess, who was as magnificent in appearance as he was in -temperament, being in all things the great noble, the patron of the -arts, the refined proud gentleman, the type of all that Charles most -admired, began to pace the room as if in some perturbation of mind.</p> - -<p>"I do not know how to frame the thing in words," he began; "'tis about -John Pym."</p> - -<p>"Ah, John Pym!" exclaimed Charles. He went to the fire and broke one of -the flaming logs with the toe of his boot.</p> - -<p>"It is soberly said and credibly received," continued the Marquess, -"that this knavish fellow who hath such a marvellous hold on the minds -of his party is preparing an impeachment of——"</p> - -<p>My lord paused, and the King turned sharply from the fire.</p> - -<p>"What friend of mine doth he strike at now?" he asked, in a tone of -bitter anger and shame.</p> - -<p>"It is said——"</p> - -<p>"Thyself?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, sire—should I for that have troubled you? It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> is said he -meditates impeaching Her Most Sacred Majesty."</p> - -<p>"Oh, just God!" cried Charles, "shall I endure this another hour, -another minute?" He struck his breast with his open hand, and the rush -of blood to his face showed even through the glow of the fire. "Am I -the King and cannot I protect my wife?"</p> - -<p>"Among Pym's party the thing is denied," said the Marquess, with an -instinctive desire to be fair even to people so hateful to him as were -the Puritans, "but remembering how suddenly he struck before, and -seeing how persistent the rumour was and how many held it credible, I -thought it well to bring it before Your Majesty——"</p> - -<p>"It needed but that!" exclaimed the King. "Yet it needed not a further -outrage. I had already decided on my course."</p> - -<p>He crossed suddenly to the Marquess and grasped him by the embroidered -sleeves.</p> - -<p>"Ever since Strafford died," he said, struggling with violent emotion, -"I have vowed in my heart, by my crown and before God, that Pym and -the Parliament should pay! And they shall—to the last drop of blood -in their bodies! Let no one ask me for mercy for John Pym, for I would -sooner lose my all than lose my vengeance on these rebellious heretics!"</p> - -<p>"It were better to strike at once," replied the Marquess, who well knew -the King's habit of hesitation, and whose sympathies were with the more -reckless counsels of the Queen. "Nor wait until they have gathered -strength and courage, or till fear giveth them daring. For I believe -they have their suspicions that Your Majesty meaneth to punish them."</p> - -<p>"My lord," replied Charles, "you speak with wisdom. You shall not -have long to wait. Let me but beguile my Lord Falkland, who is for a -compromise with these fellows."</p> - -<p>He returned to the fireplace and stood there, shivering,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> and warming -his hands, though not that he was cold; his features had a red, swollen -look as if he had lately wept, and his eyes were heavy-lidded and -bloodshot.</p> - -<p>"My lord," he said, "come to me when Lord Falkland hath gone, and I -shall have my project ready."</p> - -<p>Before the Marquess could answer, the King's page ushered in Lord -Falkland.</p> - -<p>The King stood silent, biting his forefinger as the young noble saluted -him.</p> - -<p>Not without misgiving did Lord Falkland see the Marquess in this -closeness with the King. He knew him to be a man of honour and -loyalty, but he knew him also to be one of those whose perverse and -reckless advice the King most leant on—advice fatal to the peace of -the kingdom, my lord thought, despairing of bringing Charles into an -alliance with the Puritans when the great Romanist noble thus held his -ear. The Marquess on his side regarded Lord Falkland as little better -than a mild fanatic, and in his heart likened him, half bitterly, half -humorously, to one who, at a bear baiting, should strive to separate -the furious animals by Christian reasoning when the stoutest stick made -would be scarce sufficient.</p> - -<p>So to the Marquess, who, though no statesman and no idealist, yet was -shrewd enough in a worldly way, did Lord Falkland's attempt to make -peace among the factions appear.</p> - -<p>He took a half-laughing leave of the Viscount, and, kissing the King's -hand, retired.</p> - -<p>Charles picked up a small black leather portfolio from his bureau -and began turning over the sketches it contained; they were Italian -drawings recently brought by the Earl of Arundel from Rome, and the -King glanced at them with real pleasure and relief. They were to his -distracted mind what wine and gaiety would be to other men.</p> - -<p>Lucius Carey, my Lord Falkland, with a look of anxiety on his beautiful -face, waited for him to speak.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Mr. Pym," said Charles at length, gazing at a little drawing in bistre -of a rocky landscape with trees, "did make some discourse with me on -the government of England."</p> - -<p>"Was his speech such as to please Your Majesty?" asked the Viscount -eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Please me?" repeated the King, keeping his voice steady, but the paper -in his hand fluttering from the nervous shaking of his wrist. "He -wished to discuss matters with me as if we were two stewards set over -an estate—not as if we were King and subject. Yet I do not doubt that -he is a man of influence and one full of expedients and devices."</p> - -<p>"He is honest," said my lord, "and of great power, and it is most -necessary that Your Majesty should consider him and his party."</p> - -<p>"Have I not," asked the King with subdued violence, "considered them?"</p> - -<p>He put the drawing back in the portfolio and turned his sad, angry gaze -on Lord Falkland.</p> - -<p>"It is most necessary," returned the Viscount, "that Your Majesty -should put aside all prejudice, and entertain the advices of these men -with sincerity and openness. It is said at Westminster——"</p> - -<p>"Yea, it is said at Westminster!" interrupted Charles, thinking of -what the Marquess of Winchester had told him. "What is not said at -Westminster?"</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland was entirely ignorant of what the King referred to, and -knew nothing of the designs imputed to Mr. Pym.</p> - -<p>"I referred to those floating whispers and alarming rumours which -declare Your Majesty intendeth, and hath intended, ever since your -coming from Scotland, some sudden and violent measures against the -popular leaders."</p> - -<p>The King turned to his portfolio again and drew out a delicate pencil -sketch of the Madonna and Child; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> few strokes of lead glowed with -all the sweetness and grace of the Umbrian School.</p> - -<p>"There is a lovely Raffaello, my lord," he said. "Who would not rather -spend his time with these than with dusty politics?"</p> - -<p>"A King hath no choice, sire," answered the Viscount, who had himself -left a wealthy cultured retirement at the call of patriotism.</p> - -<p>"No," said Charles, "there are many matters in which I have no -choice. As to these reports you have heard, did I not lately promise -the Commons that their safety was as much my care as that of my -own children? And have I not promised you, my lord, and my other -councillors, to take no step without your advice? What more can you ask -of your King?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing more," replied Lord Falkland. "If Your Majesty remain of that -mind I believe there will be but little difficulty to bring all things -to a happy conclusion. Only I know that there are certain rash perverse -courtiers who would tempt Your Majesty to step outside the law."</p> - -<p>"You have caught a republican tone from this Puritan party," said -Charles haughtily. "How shall I keep within the law who am alone the -law?"</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland reddened at the rebuke, but answered the King manfully -and earnestly.</p> - -<p>"Sire, if I am not honest with you, I lack in loyalty. The constitution -of England is a mighty thing, and even the King must respect it—even -as you have promised. And if you go against it, and against the party -and principles of Mr. Pym, there will be great store of unhappiness -ahead of us all."</p> - -<p>Charles closed the portfolio and flung it down.</p> - -<p>"I will do all things in reason," he said, facing the Viscount, "but I -stand as fast by my faith as they by their heresies. I will not forsake -the Church of England."</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland was silent.</p> - -<p>"And they ask for the militia," added Charles. "They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> desire that the -army for Ireland be in their hands, officered by their creatures."</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty," suggested Falkland, "might allow them the militia for a -time."</p> - -<p>"No, by Christ!" cried Charles, "not for an hour! You ask what was -never asked of King before. Neither Church nor sword will I surrender."</p> - -<p>"Then the conference of Your Majesty with Mr. Pym hath been -unavailing?" asked my lord mournfully.</p> - -<p>"I do not say so much," replied Charles. "I have said I will not be -unreasonable, nor regardless in any way, of the good of the people. I -will see Mr. Pym again."</p> - -<p>"Forgive me, sire," said the Viscount, "but a temperate carriage is -advisable now in all things, to keep our friends, to gain others, and -to render impossible the horrid chance of bloodshed."</p> - -<p>The King's eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>"They would fight, would they?" he answered. "Well, so would I—I am -not fearful of that. I should know how to meet rebellion."</p> - -<p>"Rebellion?" repeated Lord Falkland. "I do not dare to use or think -that word!"</p> - -<p>"There are some who do," said Charles dryly, "but with God's grace we -will avoid that danger. Are you satisfied, my lord?"</p> - -<p>The Viscount bowed.</p> - -<p>"I have Your Majesty's word for those measures we believe most -necessary now. I am content to leave the rest in the hands of Your -Majesty."</p> - -<p>In his heart, the Viscount, who had met much disillusion and -disappointment since he had joined the Court party, was far from -satisfied. He found the King, as ever, vague, shifting, and reserved, -and he was bound to conclude that the interview with John Pym had -proved absolutely fruitless. Yet he drew some comfort from the fact -that Charles had promised to commit no violence on any of the Members -of the Commons nor to take any steps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> without the advice of his new -counsellors—those moderate, loyal men of whom Falkland and Hyde were -the chief, and whose mild and patriotic measures were entirely devoted -to the task of making a settlement in the kingdom and mediating between -Charles and the Parliament.</p> - -<p>Charles seemed to notice the shade of sadness, perhaps of mistrust, -on my lord's fair face, and he touched him lightly and kindly on the -shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Believe I shall act as becometh a King," he said, smiling.</p> - -<p>Lord Falkland kissed his sovereign's hand and withdrew, reassuring -himself as best he might, and comforting himself with those fair -visions of truth and concord that never failed to fill his idealistic -mind.</p> - -<p>Charles returned to the portfolio and continued to handle the drawings -with a loving, delicate touch, and to gaze at them with the sensitive -eyes of appreciation and knowledge.</p> - -<p>He was so employed when my Lord Winchester returned. When the splendid -Marquess entered, he put the sketches by.</p> - -<p>"There is little satisfaction to be had from my Lord Falkland," he -remarked. "He is little better than an ambassador of the Puritans."</p> - -<p>"What will Your Majesty do?" asked the Marquess eagerly.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow," replied Charles, "there will be a few of these enemies -of mine lodged in the Tower. To-morrow I impeach Pym and four of his -creatures of high treason, at the Bar of the House of Lords."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XI<br /> - -THE FIVE MEMBERS</h2> - - -<p>The commotion at Westminster was intense; never, even at the arrest of -Sir John Eliot or at the impeachment of the Earl of Strafford, or at -the passing of the Great Remonstrance, had excitement run so high.</p> - -<p>For the King, without acquainting his new advisers, in direct violation -of his recent promises, to the astonishment and dismay of his friends, -the rage and horror of his enemies, had made a move which put his legal -position in the wrong and showed at once and for ever that alliance -between him and the popular party was impossible. He had sent the -Attorney-General to the Bar of the House of Lords to impeach Lord -Kimbolton and five members of the Lower Chamber—Pym, Strode, Holles, -Haselrig, and Hampden.</p> - -<p>Immediately afterwards a guard was sent from Whitehall to arrest the -five members. The Commons refused to deliver them, and sent a message -to the King to say that the gentlemen charged were ready to answer any -legal accusation. They also ordered the arrest of the officers who had -been sent to search the rooms of the five members and seize and seal up -their papers.</p> - -<p>This was the answer of the House to the challenge cast down by the -King, and all England thrilled to it; all England waited too, in a kind -of passionate suspense, the answer that would come from Whitehall. Was -the King, who had so suddenly declared himself an enemy of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> nation, -baffled, checked or only further enraged? What would he do next?</p> - -<p>Few slept that night of the 3rd of January; and from thousands of -Puritan households prayers and lamentations ascended.</p> - -<p>It was now clear that not by gentle means could the people of England -hope to regain their cherished liberty, and that neither consideration -nor fair dealing was to be hoped from a King who had so contemptuously -disregarded faith and the law.</p> - -<p>Falkland, Culpeper, Hyde, and their following were utterly confounded -and dismayed, ashamed and humiliated, but in the stern hearts of -Pym, Hampden, Holles, Haselrig, Strode, and Cromwell was a certain -exultation.</p> - -<p>Their enemy (for so by now these men had come to regard the King) -had put himself in the wrong, and alienated that vast mass of the -nation which in all great crises long remains neutral, and which had, -hitherto, declared for neither King nor Parliament.</p> - -<p>But the recent action of the King, after his open promise before -Parliament, caused the least reflective and humble of men to entertain -a jealousy of their liberties, and a strong murmur of indignation arose -over the whole country, which was a good help and encouragement to -these men at Westminster.</p> - -<p>Added to this satisfaction, the popular leaders, who had already dared -so much and ventured so far, felt a deep, if stern, gratification, -which was not, perhaps, shared by their followers, that affairs were -coming at length to a conclusion. Charles had now raised the issue, and -it was their task to answer his challenge as decisively as he had given -it. Three at least of the Commoners—Pym, Hampden, and Cromwell—did -not shrink from the immense responsibilities which this involved on -them, nor from the high stakes on which they had to play.</p> - -<p>Pym and Hampden already stood as near to death as had Pym the year -before, when Strafford had come gloom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>ing to Westminster to impeach -him, for there could be little doubt of the King's intention to appease -that proud blood of his forsaken minister by the blood of those who had -sent him to his death.</p> - -<p>Cromwell, one of a younger generation and of no such importance in the -eyes of either King, his own party, or the nation, ran no such risk as -his leaders and incurred no such responsibility. He was, however, their -able and indefatigable lieutenant, and Pym at least thought highly -of him as a driving force of courage and fortitude, enthusiasm and -resolution.</p> - -<p>On the morning of the 4th of January, the House met in an incredible -state of tension and excitement, but during the morning hours nothing -untoward occurred, and the Commons adjourned at midday without there -having been any sign or message from Whitehall.</p> - -<p>It was a dun day, the river ran slate-coloured between grey houses, -the sky was murk and low, an east wind blew gusts of icy rain along -the streets, and at midday the light was obscure and dismal; the mild, -hopeful winter had changed after Christmas, and now had the full -Northern bitterness.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell returned to the House early, as did most, and when Mr. Pym -was in his place the benches were again crowded. Denzil Holles, Strode, -Hampden, and Haselrig were near the entrance, talking earnestly with -Lord Kimbolton, the Member of the House of Lords who had been impeached -with them.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell looked at them with some admiration and even envy; they -had a splendid chance to exercise all those qualities which he felt -strongly burning in himself.</p> - -<p>He rose up and made his way to Mr. Pym, who was sitting silent, and -looked ill and fatigued. But his calm, resolute expression, the light -of energy, command, and courage in his glance showed him to be, as -always, the intrepid, prompt leader of men—the leader of wit and -resource and vigour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Any news yet to hand?" asked Mr. Cromwell eagerly. "You have gathered -nothing either in the lobbies or the streets?"</p> - -<p>Mr Pym smiled.</p> - -<p>"What is to be gathered but wild, bottomless rumours such as are to be -looked for in these divided times? I have some of our own people posted -near Whitehall that we may know as soon as possible the action of His -Majesty."</p> - -<p>"Maybe," said Mr. Cromwell, "he will do no more, finding his threats -have failed."</p> - -<p>"You do not know the King as well as I," returned John Pym. "He is the -very haughtiest and most revengeful of men, and is not like to suffer -in silence such an affront (for so he will call it) as hath been put on -him."</p> - -<p>"What, then, will he do?" asked the Member for Cambridge. "What can he -do?"</p> - -<p>"I have tried for many years," replied John Pym, "to work with His -Majesty to form a ministry of loyal men proven by the Parliament—but -it could never be, as you know—and all my dealings with the King, -down to this last interview when I saw him face to face, have taught -me his variableness, his unstability, his pride, and his insincerity. -Therefore I cannot judge nor guess what he will do."</p> - -<p>The four members talking at the entrance had now returned to their -places, and Oliver Cromwell hastened to meet his friend, Lord -Kimbolton, who was about to leave for the Upper House. The Member for -Cambridge accompanied him into the antechamber, and while they were -there, talking on the one absorbing topic of the moment, a fellow with -his face pinched by the wind and a little breathless, came up asking -for Mr. Pym, and, showing his credentials, was admitted into the -Chamber.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cromwell, taking a hasty leave of Lord Kimbolton, hurried back to -his place in the House.</p> - -<p>He found the Members already in a state of deep emotion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> and -excitement, for the most momentous of news was flashing from mouth to -mouth.</p> - -<p>Mr. Pym's messenger had brought word that the King himself, accompanied -by some hundreds of armed men, was riding down to Westminster. There -was no time to lose; the royal party had been issuing from Whitehall -gates when the man had seen them, and, though some little delay might -be caused by the dense crowd thronging the street, it could not be long.</p> - -<p>Deep cries of "The city! safety in the city! To the river!" echoed -through Westminster Hall, and the five members were pushed from their -places by friendly hands and hurried from the Hall to the lobbies, from -the lobbies to the Thames, and there into the first boat available with -directions to hasten to the sanctuary of the city.</p> - -<p>The thing was done with desperate swiftness, but if it had lacked this -haste it would have been too late, for the House was scarcely returned -to wonted order when the King with his cavalcade of ruffling Cavaliers -arrived at Westminster.</p> - -<p>A deep hush fell on the Chamber, as if every man held his breath. Mr. -Cromwell leant forward in his seat, every line in his powerful face -tense, like a great mastiff on the watch, entirely absorbed by the -movements of his foe.</p> - -<p>The King's men now filled Westminster Hall, and on the threshold of the -inviolable Chamber itself the King appeared.</p> - -<p>When he first saw these rows of hostile faces, darkened, silent -countenances of men who had defied him and whom he hated and scorned, -he paused for a moment full in the doorway and calmly and deliberately -gazed round him.</p> - -<p>There was something awful in the moment; the two opponents, King and -Parliament, so suddenly and violently brought together, seemed like -actors pausing before they enter on a tragedy.</p> - -<p>The King, in rose-coloured cloth and a crimson cloak, great boots with -gilt spurs, his hat in his left hand, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> his right pressed to his -heart, the bleak light of the wintry day falling over his fair head and -melancholy face, looked a frail figure to be opposed to these gathered -ranks of gentlemen who had the whole strength and feelings of a great -nation behind them, while he was only armed with the intangible weapons -of traditional authority and such virtue as he might find in the royal -blood of his unfortunate race.</p> - -<p>Beside him was his nephew, the young Elector Palatine, whose dark, -haughty features expressed mingled curiosity and doubt. He had known -exile and wandering, misfortunes and defeat, and it might be that he -thought his uncle was daring those disasters which had broken his -father's heart. His own presence there was an additional outrage on the -Commons, but neither he nor Charles thought of this, so completely had -they in common the family recklessness.</p> - -<p>The two Princes, Charles slightly before his nephew, advanced down the -floor of the House. Mr. Cromwell, turning in his seat, watched him; -there was a deep silence.</p> - -<p>The King mounted the step of the chair and faced the Speaker; his -voice, very pleasant and slow as always, rose clearly through the -crowded, still Chamber.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he said, "we demand certain of your Members—Mr. Pym, Mr. -Strode, Mr. Haselrig, Mr. John Hampden, and Mr. Denzel Holles."</p> - -<p>There was a second's pause, then the King added in a voice slightly -varied and strained with anger—</p> - -<p>"Where are these men?"</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty," replied the Speaker, "I have neither ears nor eyes in -this place save as the House may be pleased to direct."</p> - -<p>A low, deep murmur followed these words, and the blood ran up from the -King's fair beard to his fair curls, and remained there, a fixed red in -his haughty face.</p> - -<p>"It is no matter," he replied. "I think my eyes are as good as -another's."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned and glanced round the House and scrutinized the packed -benches in which were those five notable empty places; through the -open doors his own followers peered in with a show of pike and pistol. -Oliver Cromwell looked at them and smiled. When the King's swift glance -for one instant rested on him, that grim smile was still on his lips; -he turned and looked down full into the flushed face of the King.</p> - -<p>Charles smiled also with a bitterness beyond words.</p> - -<p>"I perceive that my birds are flown," he said; "but I shall take my own -course to find them."</p> - -<p>The Speaker neither moved nor spoke; a few deep cries of "Privilege!" -rose from the benches, and the King seemed to suddenly lose that proud -composure he had hitherto maintained. His painful colour deepened and -his countenance was confused and troubled, as if he realized how many -and powerful his enemies were and how completely he was now encompassed -by them.</p> - -<p>"Hold us excused that we thus disturb you," he stammered, and he took -his hand from his heart, where he had hitherto kept it, and caught his -nephew by the arm as if to assure himself of the presence of one friend -in the midst of this hostile assembly.</p> - -<p>"God save you, sire!" muttered the Elector Palatine. "Do not give these -rogues the power of disconcerting you."</p> - -<p>Charles replied something that was lost in the ever deepening and -growing murmur from the benches, and, turning on his heel, passed -with his usual dignity of carriage through the ranks of the angry and -triumphant Commons, and joined his own followers in the lobby.</p> - -<p>As the rose-coloured habit flashed out of sight, a great murmur arose, -and the Members turned passionately one to the other. There was neither -noise nor disorder; they were the very flower of English gentlemen, -nearly all of famous names and ancient lineage, and they had not acted -lightly nor for a trivial cause, but with full gravity and weight and -for the sake of civic liberty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<p>"His Majesty," said Mr. Cromwell to his neighbour, "is as great a -blunderer as any I have ever seen."</p> - -<p>Further down the benches a member remarked—</p> - -<p>"The die is cast. Now there is no turning back."</p> - -<p>The next day the Parliament moved into the city for safety, and there -went into committee on the state of affairs in the kingdom. Mr. -Cromwell moved the consideration of means to put the kingdom in a state -of armed defence.</p> - -<p>The King left Whitehall and sent his Queen from Dover to gain help from -France, and to pledge the Crown jewels in Holland.</p> - -<p>So was the die cast indeed, as all men began to see as the stormy -spring merged into the stormy summer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER XII<br /> - -NOTTINGHAM</h2> - - -<p>"This is a day that will be remembered in the history of these times," -said the lady at the window.</p> - -<p>Her brother made no answer, but continued to lace up his long riding -gloves.</p> - -<p>They were in an upper chamber of a house of the better sort in the town -of Nottingham; the dark panelled walls, the dark floor and ceiling, -the heavy furniture, with the fringes to the chairs and the worked -covers to the table, showed vividly to the least detail in the strong -afternoon rays of the August sun, which was, however, now and then -obscured by heavy clouds which veiled the whole town in dun shadow and -filled with gloom the apartment.</p> - -<p>Both the lady and her brother were very young; but on her countenance -was a melancholy, and on his a resolution, ill-suited to their years. -The Cavalier was fair-haired, slight, grave, and arrayed in the garb of -war, being armed on back and breast, and carrying pistolets and a great -sword.</p> - -<p>The lady was dressed in a style of fantastical richness which well -became her delicate and unusual appearance; she wore a riding habit and -it was of pale violet cloth, enriched with silver, and opening on a -petticoat of deep-hued amber satin braided with a border of purple and -scarlet; at her wrists and over her collar hung deep bands of lace; her -hair was dressed in a multitude of little blonde curls which was like a -net of gold silk wire about her face, and she wore a black hat crowned -with many short ostrich feathers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<p>Her features were sensitive, well-shaped, and showed both wit and -melancholy, her eyes were pale brown and languid-lidded, and her -lips were compressed in a decided line which indicated courage and -determination; yet the prevailing impression she made was of great -modesty and feminine tenderness.</p> - -<p>At her breast, fastened with a knot of blue silk, was a long trail of -yellow jasmine and a white rose.</p> - -<p>"If I had been the Queen," she said, "I would not have gone to France."</p> - -<p>"She went to gain succour, Margaret," returned Sir Charles Lucas.</p> - -<p>"Another could have gone," insisted the lady, resting her dreamy eyes -on her very lovely white hands which bore several curious pearl rings. -"If I had a lord and he was in the situation of His Blessed Majesty, I -would not have left him, no, not for two worlds packed with joys."</p> - -<p>"The Queen went in April," replied the Cavalier, "and then matters did -not look to be past mending."</p> - -<p>"Yet, methinks," said Margaret Lucas, "that any one might have -perceived such a temper in the Roundheads that they would not easily -see reason. And, dear Charles, the King had been defied at Hull—what -was that but a portent of this?</p> - -<p>"However," she added at once, "it is not for me to speak so of my -sovereign lady. Oh, Charles, what a heaviness and melancholy doth -encumber my spirits! See how the sky is also stormy and doth presage -a tempest in the heavens, even as men's actions hasten a tempest on -earth."</p> - -<p>"Thine is not the only heart filled with foreboding to-day. Many eyes -are already bitter with tears which shall be shed till their founts -are dry before these troubles end," replied the young man. "But it is -not for us to lament the tearing asunder of England, but to remember -for which purpose we came hither from Colchester to pay our duty to -the King, and renew our oaths of fealty before his banner which shall -to-day be raised."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - -<p>Margaret Lucas came from the window; the brilliant light that streamed -through the cracks in the storm-clouds made a dazzling gold of her -hair, and slipped in lines of light down the rich silks and satins of -her garments.</p> - -<p>Glorified by this strong light, she went up to her brother and laid her -hands lightly on his shoulders, turning him, with a gentle pressure, to -face her and look down on her lesser height.</p> - -<p>"Dear," she said, "dear and best—what shall come is hid by God, and no -human eye may take a peep at it, yet we may make a guess that the times -will be rough and disheartening, and thou wilt be thick in the midst of -commotion. Yet whatever happen, remember thy loyal need, thy fair name; -heed no chatter, but serve the King, under God, and keep a thought for -all of us—and for Margaret, who hath no knight as thou hast yet no -lady, have a sweet remembrance. God bless thee according to His will, -Charles, and bring thee safely through these sad distresses."</p> - -<p>The young Cavalier, much moved, drew her two hands from his shoulders -and kissed them, and she, gazing on him with much affection and -something of a mother's look, kissed his bent head where the light hair -waved apart.</p> - -<p>Then, in a humour too solemn for speech, the two young loyalists (their -faith was simple and admitted of no argument—to them the King could do -no wrong) left the chamber and house, and mounting two well-kept horses -and followed by a neat groom, rode through the streets of Nottingham -towards the castle on the hill.</p> - -<p>There were many people abroad, and several companies of shotmen, -musketeers, and of armed citizens marching in the direction of the -castle; but all were silent, and most, it seemed, sad, for an air of -general gloom overhung the town, and there was no one to break it with -rejoicing or shouting or any enthusiasm, and though those gathered -within the town might be tenacious in their loyalty, they were either -not confident enough or not exalted enough in their spirits to express -it by any demonstration.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was, besides, a rapid storm blowing up; the sun glowed with -a fiery light, and black clouds tipped with burning gold rolled -threateningly across the heavens. Men's minds, keenly watching for -portents and omens, saw one in the wild weather promised in the sky, -and beheld, prefigured above them, the black waste and the red blood -that from this day on should be spread and spilled over the peaceful -richness of England.</p> - -<p>Margaret Lucas and her brother rode into the courtyard of the castle, -where several companies of soldiers were gathered; some brass guns and -demi-culverins reflected the sun in blazes of light, and a band of -drummers and trumpeters stood ready.</p> - -<p>Sir Charles Lucas perceived that Prince Rupert was already there at -the head of a company of finely-equipped gentlemen on horseback, and -rode up to pay his respects, having already met the Prince. Margaret -remained a little behind among the crowd of courtiers, ladies, and -citizens.</p> - -<p>Rupert's spirits were ablaze with excitement and satisfaction, he -did not even seem to be aware of the general air of depression and -apprehension. The King had promised him the command of the cavalry, the -most important branch of the army, and to a Prince of his years and -temperament, the glory of this was sufficient to obscure everything -else.</p> - -<p>"Good evening, Sir Charles!" he cried; then his quick eye roved past -the youth. "Is not that lady your sister? The likeness is great between -you."</p> - -<p>"That is indeed Margaret Lucas," replied her brother, "who was visiting -near this town, and nothing would satisfy her but joining me to-day in -this ceremony."</p> - -<p>"I must speak to this loyal lady," smiled the Prince.</p> - -<p>He rode up to her and took off his hat, which was heavy with black -plumes.</p> - -<p>"Would you not know me, Mrs. Lucas," he asked, "that you would stay -behind your brother?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I would not be uncivil to any, least to a Prince," replied the lady, -"but neither would I put my conversation on any man nor be so bold as -to look at one unbidden."</p> - -<p>"This is a fair sweet loyalist," said Rupert. "Hast thou a cavalier -beside the King?"</p> - -<p>She looked at him out of untroubled eyes; his bold, hawk-like face, -the black eyes, the white teeth flashing in a smile, the waving black -hair, the dark complexion above the white collar, and all his attire of -scarlet and buff and gold and trappings of war, his great horse, and -the background of cannon, halberdiers, and stormy heavens, made a noble -and splendid picture.</p> - -<p>"I have no cavalier," said Margaret Lucas calmly, "nor have I yet seen -the man to whom I could give my troth."</p> - -<p>"How many years hast thou?" asked Rupert.</p> - -<p>"Highness—nineteen."</p> - -<p>He was little older himself, but he smiled at her as he would have -smiled at a child.</p> - -<p>"Give me your white rose," he said; "as thou art yet free, the gift -harms none."</p> - -<p>Margaret turned to her brother.</p> - -<p>"Charles, shall I?" and a faint smile touched her grave lips.</p> - -<p>"With all heartiness," replied Sir Charles.</p> - -<p>She took the rose and jasmine from above her true heart, and her small -hand laid them on the Prince's outstretched brown palm.</p> - -<p>He raised that hand and kissed her glove, and her eyebrows lifted -half-humorously under her golden fringe of curls.</p> - -<p>"You are in good spirits, my lord," she said. As Rupert, with clumsy -carefulness, was fastening the two frail flowers in his doublet, the -King rode into the courtyard, followed by the royal standard.</p> - -<p>Charles rode a white horse and was wrapped in a dark<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> blue mantle, an -unnatural pallor disfigured his cheek, and an unnatural fire sparkled -in his restless eyes; he seemed both melancholy and excited. He did not -fail of his usual dignity, however, and though shut within himself in -an inner gloom, he acknowledged readily the salutes that greeted him. -There was but a scanty crowd, both of citizens and soldiers, nor was -there much fervour save among the courtiers and personal friends of the -King.</p> - -<p>Charles glanced up at the wide, darkening sky across which the mighty -clouds were marching, trailing fire in the west, then he turned to -Prince Maurice, who rode at his side. "When I was crowned," he said, in -a low voice, "they did preach a sermon on this text—'Be thou faithful -unto death and I will give thee a crown of life'—and unto death I -will be faithful to God, the Church of England, and my rightful royal -heritage."</p> - -<p>He then rode forward, and amid the music of the drums and trumpets and -the shouts of the spectators, the royal standard of England was raised -and unfurled as sign and symbol that the King called on all loyal -subjects for their service and duty.</p> - -<p>Many of the citizens threw up their caps and called out, "Long live -King Charles and hang up the Roundheads!" but their cries soon ceased, -and all gazed in a mournful silence at the great flag straining now at -poles and ropes and flaunting the sunset with bravery of leopards and -lilies and the rampant lion—crimson, gold, and blue.</p> - -<p>It was the symbol of war—of civil war; when it broke on the evening, -then was all hope of peace for ever gone. All argument, appeals to law, -to reason, all legal dispute, all compromise, was over now; henceforth -the sword would decide.</p> - -<p>The sensitive soul of Margaret Lucas was touched by a dreadful grief; -she bent on her saddle and wept. There was to her an almost unbearable -sadness in the silent appeal of the lonely flag.</p> - -<p>The King glanced half-wildly round the little knot of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> faithful friends -gathered about him; a silence had fallen which none seemed ready to -break.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Charles put out his hand; a drop of rain splashed on the bare -palm.</p> - -<p>"The storm beginneth," he said, and turned his horse's head towards the -castle.</p> - -<p>So they all went their several ways homeward in a wildness of wind and -rain.</p> - -<p>The Royal Standard faced the gusty tempests for six days, then the pole -snapped and the storm hurled it in the dust.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a id="PART_II"></a>PART II<br /> - -THE MAN</h2> - -<p>"A larger soul, I think, hath seldom dwelt in a house of clay."—<i>A -Contemporary on Oliver Cromwell.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> - -A LEADER OF MEN</h2> - - -<p>John Pym was dead.</p> - -<p>In June John Hampden had fallen in the fight at Chalgrove field, Lord -Falkland had hurled himself on death in the front of the royalist -ranks at Newbury, and now Pym, the bold and able leader, the dauntless -spirit, the uncorrupted heart, had resigned the weight of his troublous -years and rested in peace at London, where his body lay in state for -good patriots to gaze on and mourn over before it was carried to the -Abbey Church which held the nation's great dead.</p> - -<p>To no man in the three rent kingdoms did the news of John Pym's death -come with such force and menace as to Oliver Cromwell, now Colonel, and -Governor of Ely.</p> - -<p>When the Parliament had taken up arms in reply to the King's challenge -at Nottingham, patriotic and energetic members had been given commands -in the parliamentary army. Mr. Cromwell had raised a troop of his -own in Cambridgeshire, had contributed out of his private means to -the public service, had seized the magazine in Cambridge Castle, and -forcibly prevented the University from sending its gold and silver -plate to the King, and so, by boldness and expedition in all his -actions, had justified the opinion held of him by his colleagues. He -had been under fire at Winceby and Edgehill and in some other of the -random skirmishes which marked the beginning of the war, and he had -shown himself quiet and tenacious in battle. He was now the soul of the -Eastern Association, one of the fore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>most of the county leagues against -the royal tyranny, Colonel of his own troop (now nearing close on a -thousand men), and Governor of Ely, the town of his residence, where -his family had remained during his service in London.</p> - -<p>So the first turmoil and confusion of this most unhappy calling to -arms had cast up Oliver Cromwell to a higher position than he could -ever have thought of occupying in times of peace, and he had already -had tumultuous experience of the bitternesses, difficulties, and -bewilderments of one in authority during such momentous times.</p> - -<p>To this man, in this situation, came the news of the death of John Pym, -and he went privately to his chamber about the time they were lighting -the candles and considered within himself.</p> - -<p>The two leaders of the older generation, Hampden and Pym, were now -gone, and who was there with sufficient courage and capacity, foresight -and strength to take their place?</p> - -<p>The moment was a critical one for the Parliament. The first rush of -enthusiasm, the first outburst of fury against the King was over; a -general lukewarmness overspread the adherents of the popular party, -and the people, seeing that Parliament had now gotten the sword, were -waiting for a speedy deliverance out of trouble and, finding themselves -instead in the midst of a bloody civil war, were inclined to clamour -for a peace, however hasty and patched up, especially as the tide of -martial success had run in favour of the King, thanks largely to the -generalship of his nephew Rupert, and many faint-hearted men were -beginning to remember that they were incurring the risk of impeachment -for high treason if the King should prove the final victor.</p> - -<p>Those in the forefront of the parliamentary party were moderate men -such as Essex, Warwick, Holles, Strode, Vane, and Manchester; the keen -and fervent eye of Oliver Cromwell could see no successor to Hampden or -Pym.</p> - -<p>Again there came to him remembrances of the day at St. Ives when he -had received together absolute assurance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> that he was in Grace, and -that the Lord had some uses for him. Did it not seem as if the path, at -first so dim and obscured, was being opened out before him with greater -and increasing clearness?</p> - -<p>He could see the dangers that threatened the liberties of England, -still struggling with, and not yet released from, their bonds, and he -marvelled if God had put the means of quenching these dangers into his -hands: <i>no other were there</i> now Pym was gone, perhaps it might be that -he would be called.</p> - -<p>There was Sir Harry Vane, with his knowledge of foreign countries and -tongues, his pure heart and high courage, who had much of the mystic -piety which pleased Oliver Cromwell. Yet he doubted if this man had -the force and boldness to accomplish what must be accomplished now in -England.</p> - -<p>He paced up and down the room a little, then went to the window and -looked out on the winter afternoon; the bare trees bent and shivered -beneath the steady sweeps of the wind in St. Mary's churchyard near -by, and the towers of the cathedral had a bleached and bonelike look -against a low, dark grey sky.</p> - -<p>As he stood so, deep in his thoughts, he perceived, at first quite -dully, but soon with interest, the solitary figure of a gentleman -facing the wind in the chill street and coming towards his house.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell opened the leaded diamond pane and looked out; the -pedestrian raised his hand to hold his hat against the wind, the -beaver flapped back nevertheless, and the keen observer at the window -recognized the Earl of Manchester, formerly that Lord Kimbolton who had -been one of six members hurried from Westminster to the city, and now -President of the Eastern Association and one of the most popular and -influential men on the parliamentary side. Cromwell, however, had not -that affection for him which he had formerly held; he suspected not my -lord's loyalty, but his judgment, not his good intentions, but his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -strength of mind and purpose, and he saw in him a typical exponent of -those evils and dangers his party had most to guard against.</p> - -<p>With a sombre expression on his clouded features he descended the -modest stairway of his simple home: the two-storied house had come to -him, together with the office of tithe farmer, from his wife's uncle.</p> - -<p>When he reached the hall he saw the slight figure of a girl lighting -the lamp above the door; she turned to him with the wax taper in the -silver holder still in her hand and the pure flame of it lighting a -face at once resolute and gentle.</p> - -<p>The extreme plainness of her dark gown and white collar robbed her -of the usual pleasant festive carelessness of youth, but her air of -dignity and health and goodness was attractive enough, and she was not -without distinction and a certain handsomeness of form and feature.</p> - -<p>At the sight of his eldest daughter Colonel Cromwell's face softened -wonderfully, and when he spoke his voice had a note of great tenderness -which entirely dispelled the usual harshness.</p> - -<p>"I did perceive Lord Manchester coming, Bridget," he said. "I pray thee -set the candles in the little parlour. Is thy mother out?"</p> - -<p>"She hath taken Frances and Elisabeth for an airing, sir," answered the -girl. "Mary remaineth with me. She will assay to help me with a tansy -pudding."</p> - -<p>"The odour thereof is abroad already," said Colonel Cromwell. "Have we -not tansy pudding overoften, Bridget?"</p> - -<p>A look of distress flushed the serene face of the young housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"It is so difficult since the war began to vary the dishes," she -answered. "All commodities are so high in price and so scarce."</p> - -<p>"I spoke lightly, dear," interrupted her father hastily. "Trouble not -thy mind with this matter."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<p>A knock sounded. Bridget Cromwell opened the door and admitted Lord -Manchester, curtsied with great simplicity, then turned into the -parlour, bearing with her the frail light of the taper.</p> - -<p>The two gentlemen followed her.</p> - -<p>"You have heard that John Pym is dead?" asked my lord abruptly.</p> - -<p>"But to-day, though it is a week ago. But the roads have been -impossible."</p> - -<p>"It is," said Lord Manchester, "very rough marching in the fen country."</p> - -<p>"We have a great loss in Mr. Pym," remarked Colonel Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"Sir Harry Vane will take his place."</p> - -<p>"Umph! Sir Harry Vane!" muttered the other. "A dreaming man."</p> - -<p>"A moderate man," amended my lord.</p> - -<p>"I begin," cried Oliver Cromwell, "to detest that word!"</p> - -<p>Bridget had lit four plain candles which stood in copper sticks on -the mantelpiece, and, kneeling down, put her taper to the twigs under -the great logs on the hearth. The small room, which contained neither -picture nor ornament, but which was solidly and comfortably furnished, -was now fully revealed, as was the figure of the Earl in his buff -gallooned with gold, armed with sword and pistol, with his soldier's -cloak falling from his shoulders and his beaver in his hand.</p> - -<p>Bridget blew out the taper, drew the red curtains over the window, -then went to a great sideboard which ran half the length of the room, -and was taking out a bell-mouthed glass and a silver tray when my lord -interrupted her.</p> - -<p>"Not for me, my child," he said, with a smile. "I am lodging in Ely -for the night, and am merely here to have a few words with Colonel -Cromwell."</p> - -<p>At this Bridget curtsied again and withdrew. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> the door closed -behind her Oliver Cromwell turned suddenly on his guest with such an -expressive movement that my lord startled. But Cromwell said nothing.</p> - -<p>"Sir," remarked my lord, "since last we met much hath changed. Things -show well for the King."</p> - -<p>Colonel Cromwell did not speak.</p> - -<p>"And I," continued the Earl, "am now very desirous to stop the war."</p> - -<p>The other took this statement quietly.</p> - -<p>"You were ever for a compromise," he said. "Well, well," he smiled. "So -you would stop the war? Not yet, my lord, not yet. When we lay down the -sword the King must be so defeated that he is glad to take our terms, -otherwise why did we ever unsheath the sword?"</p> - -<p>"Success lies so far with His Majesty," was the reply. "Fairfax and -Essex can hardly hold their own, Rupert hath proved a very genius, the -Queen cometh from over seas with men and money—bethink you a little, -Colonel Cromwell, if the King should defeat us? Death for us all, aye, -to our poorest followers, as traitors, and his own terms imposed on a -bleeding nation!"</p> - -<p>"He must not defeat us."</p> - -<p>"The chances are against us," said my lord uneasily.</p> - -<p>"God," returned Colonel Cromwell, with indescribable force, reverence, -and enthusiasm, "is with us. Do you think He will give the victory unto -the children of Belial?"</p> - -<p>"Even if we gain the victory," persisted the Earl, "the King is always -the King."</p> - -<p>"My lord, if that is your temper, why did you ever take up arms?"</p> - -<p>"For that cause in which I would lay them down—the cause of liberty."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell went to the fire and stared down at the cracking logs, -through which the thin flames spurted.</p> - -<p>"These arguments whistle like the wind in an empty drum," he said. "We -must not think of peace until we have gained that for which we made -war. Is the moment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> when the King is victorious the moment to ask his -terms?"</p> - -<p>"What instrument have we to defeat the King?" demanded my lord.</p> - -<p>"One can be forged," replied Oliver Cromwell. "I do believe, as I told -that very noble person, Mr. Hampden, that the King hath so far gained -the advantage because the blood and breeding is in his ranks—as I -said to my cousin, decayed serving men and tapsters will not fight -like gentlemen—therefore if we have not as yet gentle blood, let us -get the spirit of the Lord: faith will inspire as well as birth, my -lord. I have now myself a lovely troop, honest men, clean livers, eager -devourers of the Word, and had I ten times as many I would put them -with great confidence against Rupert's godless gentlemen."</p> - -<p>"Your troop is mostly fanatic, Anabaptist, Independent—full of sermons -and groans," said my lord. "Extreme men, by your leave, Colonel -Cromwell, and full of religious disputations."</p> - -<p>"Admit they be—they are all enthusiasts, they fight for God, not -pay—as Charles' gentlemen fight for loyalty, not pay—and, sir, I -prefer them who know what they fight for, and love that they know, to -any lukewarm hireling who will mutiny when his pence are in arrear."</p> - -<p>"You yourself are an Independent," remarked the Earl dryly. "I had -forgot."</p> - -<p>"Sir, I belong to no sect; within the limits of the true faith I would -let each man think as he would."</p> - -<p>"So tolerant!" cried my lord. "Then wherefore have you pulled the -preacher from his pulpit in Ely Church?"</p> - -<p>"Because the Anglican rites are a mockery of the Lord," returned -Cromwell, with fire. "And I would as soon have a Papist as a -Prelatist—toleration with the true faith, I said, my lord."</p> - -<p>"Who is to define the true faith?" asked the Earl wearily. "I keep the -Presbyterian doctrine which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> seemeth best to me, but you, methinks, -would follow Roger Williams. Remember, sir, that you, as all of us," he -added, with some malice, "must take this Covenant the Scots have put -upon us as the price of their aid."</p> - -<p>"That was John Pym's work," answered Colonel Cromwell, in a slightly -troubled manner. "His last work—'twas a galling condition, and at the -time I blamed him; but, sir, we had to have the Scottish army, and as -they would not give the army without we took the Covenant—well, Mr. -Pym was a wise man, and he judged it best—and we have the Scots (for -what they may be worth) marching to us instead of to the King."</p> - -<p>"When you take up your appointment as my Lieutenant-General," insisted -the Earl, "you, too, must take the Covenant."</p> - -<p>"Any man may take it now Sir Harry Vane, that lovely soul, hath added -his clause—<i>that religion be reformed in England according to the Word -of God</i>; that covereth everything, I think, sir, the <i>Word of God</i>, not -the dictates of the Scots!"</p> - -<p>Lord Manchester looked at him in silence for an attentive moment, then -spoke briskly.</p> - -<p>"You follow Sir Harry Vane in religion, do you follow him in politics? -Are you, too, a Republican?"</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell looked at him quietly and frankly.</p> - -<p>"I think a kingly government a good one," he said, "if the king be a -just, wise man. Nay, I never was a Republican."</p> - -<p>"Remember we stand for <i>King</i> and Parliament," remarked the Earl. -"I would not go too far—I would not overthrow the authority of His -Majesty."</p> - -<p>"What care I what man holdeth authority in England as long as he is -powerless to do her wrong," replied Cromwell quietly. "Sir, all I say -is that the time hath not come for peace save it be offered by His -Majesty. Now is still the misty morning when all is doubtful to our -eyes; but presently the sun shall rise above the vapours, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> we shall -behold very clearly the things we have to do. The Lord will strengthen -our hands and show us the way, and His enemies shall go down like a -tottering wall and a broken hedge."</p> - -<p>The Earl moved about restlessly.</p> - -<p>"You have great faith, Colonel Cromwell," he said, half sad, half vexed.</p> - -<p>The fire had now sprung up strongly and threw a vivid light over the -figure of the Puritan soldier standing thoughtfully on his homely -hearth.</p> - -<p>"Have I not need of faith?" he asked, in an exalted voice. "Aye, the -shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness and the sword of -the spirit which is the Word of God! 'For we wrestle not against flesh -and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the -rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in -high places!'"</p> - -<p>The Earl made no reply; he was moved by the sincerity and force with -which Colonel Cromwell spoke, but at the same time he was appalled by -the prospect which a continuance of the war seemed to open up. He, like -many others, was confused, bewildered, alarmed by the tremendous thing -the Parliament had dared to do, and he wished to stop a crisis which -was becoming immense and overwhelming; he wished to keep the King and -the Church in their ancient places, and he felt more or less vaguely -that men such as Oliver Cromwell were aiming at a new order of things -altogether.</p> - -<p>Colonel Cromwell, on the other hand, was not confused by the thought of -any future issues; he saw one thing, and that plainly: in the present -struggle between the King and the Parliament, the Parliament must be -victorious; then the future government of England might be decided, not -before.</p> - -<p>He felt that there was no longer much use for men like my Lord -Manchester, able and popular as he was: the stern fanatics among his -own arquebusiers who spent their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> time in minute disputes and arguments -on matters of religious discipline were more to the liking of Oliver -Cromwell.</p> - -<p>The Earl rose to take his leave.</p> - -<p>"I am at my ancient lodging," he said. "May I expect you to-morrow -morning? There are some military points I would discuss with you."</p> - -<p>"Command me to your own convenience," replied Colonel Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow, then."</p> - -<p>The two went into the hall, which was filled by the smell of the tansy -pudding.</p> - -<p>My lord asked after the eldest son of his host.</p> - -<p>"He is very well, I thank you. He is at Newport Pagnell with my Lord -St. John's troop of horse. Richard is still at Felsted, as is Henry; -but I mean soon to take them from their schooling and put them in the -army. Fairfax would take one in his lifeguards; Harrison, I think, -another."</p> - -<p>"So soon!" exclaimed my lord. "Their years are very tender."</p> - -<p>Colonel Cromwell smiled.</p> - -<p>"But the times are very rough, and we must suit ourselves to the times."</p> - -<p>He opened the door; Ely showed bare and dreary beneath the darkening -sky, from which a few flakes of snow were beginning to slowly fall. The -two gentlemen touched hands and parted. As Colonel Cromwell still stood -at the door of his house, gazing thoughtfully at the winter evening as -if he saw there some sign or character plain for his reading, his wife -descended the stairs and, seeing him there, came to his side. She had a -bunch of keys in her hand, and the light from the lamp above the door -gleamed on them. Her docile eyes lifted to his; her face had a look of -stillness: she seemed a creature made for quietness.</p> - -<p>"What had my lord to say?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Peace! peace!" muttered her husband. "He wanted peace!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And you?" she ventured timidly.</p> - -<p>"I!" he answered. "I live in Meshech and Kedar. I am in blackness and -in the waste places; but the Lord hath had exceeding mercy upon me—I -have seen light in His Light—therefore am I confident in the hope I -may serve Him. His will be done!"</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell looked out at the dim white towers of the cathedral, -where her first husband and her first-born lay buried, and she thought -of that other child, Robert, who had died at school only three years -before. Life seemed to her suddenly unreal. She closed the door and -turned away.</p> - -<p>Her husband followed her into the room on the right of the passage, -where a fair group of children, Mary, Frances, and Elisabeth, were -roasting chestnuts by the fire.</p> - -<p>A maid was putting a white cloth on the table; the pleasant clink of -glasses and china mingled with the laughter and talk of Elisabeth, a -beautiful child of some thirteen years, whose grace and gaiety was a -sudden brightness in the Puritan household.</p> - -<p>At her father's entrance she came to him at once and showed him a round -ball she had made of holly berries and hung by a red ribbon as an -ornament to her wrist.</p> - -<p>"Vanity!" said Colonel Cromwell; but as he kissed her his whole face -was radiant with love.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> - -THE QUEEN'S FAREWELL</h2> - - -<p>It was in the July following the winter when he had first come to -discussion with my Lord Manchester that Oliver Cromwell, now the Earl's -Lieutenant-General, flamed suddenly into great brilliance over England.</p> - -<p>By his valour and skill he had turned the tide at Marston, after -Manchester, Fairfax, and Leven had fled from the battle as lost; he -had beaten Rupert's victorious horse with his own light cavalry, and -he had led the Scotch infantry in an overwhelming charge against the -enemy. The north of England was now lost to the King, the prestige of -the parliamentary army had never stood higher, and Oliver Cromwell was -become the foremost soldier in their ranks, both for fame and success.</p> - -<p>Such were the results of the battle at Marston Moor; but Manchester -appeared to be more frightened than encouraged at the victory. He -almost refused to fight; his indecision lost the battle of Newbury; -he allowed the King to relieve Donnington Castle; he would not go to -the help of Essex, who was losing ground in the south; he and his -Lieutenant-General had high altercations; the Scottish Presbyterian -party proposed terms to the King, which Charles haughtily refused. -After this failure they were somewhat quieter, though two of their -leaders, Essex and Holles, endeavoured to bring an action against -Cromwell as an incendiary; but Cromwell himself showed tact and -moderation sufficient to bring about a peace between the various -factions that constituted the parliamentary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> forces, and in the -autumn of that year was instrumental in the creation of the New Model -Army—the instrument which he had long been burning to handle; the -instrument by which the King, still haughty and defiant at Oxford, in -which loyal city he had his own Parliament, was to be finally brought -to accept and keep the people's terms.</p> - -<p>Cromwell was excepted from the self-denying ordinance which ruled that -no Members of Parliament were to bear commands in the army, and was -created Lieutenant-General and Commander of the Horse, Fairfax being -General and Skippon Major-General.</p> - -<p>Manchester and Essex retired with good sense and dignity.</p> - -<p>Charles, moving from Oxford, stormed Leicester; Fairfax raised the -siege of Oxford to dash after him, and on 14th June 1645 found himself -face to face with the King's forces at Naseby, on the borders of -Northamptonshire. A battle was now inevitable, and by both sides it -was felt that it would be decisive: neither side could endure a great -defeat, and either side would become almost completely master of -England by a great victory at this juncture. Rupert was smarting to -revenge himself for Marston; the King despised the New Model Army, and -was eager to dash to pieces this new instrument of his enemies; Fairfax -was ardent to justify the trust reposed in him. Both armies were -impatient to bring matters to an issue, so on each side were motives -sufficient for fierce inspiration.</p> - -<p>The night after the armies had faced each other the King lay at -Market Harborough, eight miles from the village of Naseby, where the -parliamentary forces were encamped. He had his Queen with him and the -infant Princess, recently born at Exeter, and was lodged in the modest -country house of a certain loyal gentleman, a cadet of the noble house -of Pawlet. Rupert rode up in the twilight from his quarters to see his -uncle, and came into a peaceful, old walled garden, where Charles paced -the daisied grass.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> - -<p>On a bench beneath a great cedar tree sat the pale Queen, the sun and -shade flecked all over her white dress, her baby on her knee, and by -her side her new lady, Margaret Lucas.</p> - -<p>The garden was all abloom with white roses, the rich summer air full -of the hum of bees and the thousand scents of June; the light was -taking on a richer gold colour as it faded, and where the garden sloped -westward to the orchards the dazzle of the setting sun danced in the -leaves.</p> - -<p>The scene seemed very far from war, from turmoil, from confusion, and -blood-stained strife; among the mossy gables of the house some white -pigeons strutted, and there was no other noise nor any indication of -the army quartered near.</p> - -<p>Prince Rupert came slowly over the lawn; his fringed leather breeches -and Spanish boots were dusty, and his red cloak open on soiled buff and -a torn scarf. He had a gloomy, reckless look, and his brow was frowning -beneath the disordered black love-locks.</p> - -<p>Charles stopped when he saw his nephew coming and asked abruptly—</p> - -<p>"They will fight to-morrow?"</p> - -<p>"I think they will," replied the Prince. He went up to the Queen and -kissed her hand.</p> - -<p>There was the dimness of many tears in that proud woman's eyes, and -the delicacy of her beauty had turned to a haggard air of sickness; -she had, however, the swift, hawk-like look of one whose courage is -unbroken, and her pride was even more obviously shown now than in -the days of her greatest splendour, when it had been cloaked with -sweetness. Her worn, dark features, her careless dress and impatient -glances, words, and movements were in great contrast to the careful -splendour, the composed gravity, and the smooth youth of the blonde -Margaret Lucas.</p> - -<p>"Have you come to take His Majesty away from me?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> cried the Queen to -Rupert as his lips touched her thin, cold hand.</p> - -<p>"He did promise to inspect the army to-night, Madame," returned -Rupert, with a certain touch of indifferency in his manner: Charles -was no soldier, and the Prince had little deference for his opinion on -military matters.</p> - -<p>"And to-morrow there will be a battle," said the Queen. She rose -suddenly, clasping the sleeping child to her heart; her ruined eyes -regained, by the sparkle of tears, for one moment their lost brilliancy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Madame," cried Margaret Lucas passionately, "surely God will not -permit His Majesty to be defeated!"</p> - -<p>Rupert's dark countenance flashed into a smile as he glanced at her -pale fervency.</p> - -<p>"That cursed Cromwell is on his way to join Fairfax," he remarked. -"Pray, Mrs. Lucas, that he doth not arrive in time."</p> - -<p>"Is he so terrible a man?" asked the Queen scornfully: she could not -endure to give even the compliment of fear to these rebels.</p> - -<p>"A half-crazed fanatic or a very cunning hypocrite," returned the -Prince; "but an able fighter, on my soul, Madame!"</p> - -<p>"His army consisteth of poor ignorant men," cried Henriette Marie. -"Surely, surely gentlemen can prevail against them."</p> - -<p>"We will make the trial to-morrow, Madame," said Rupert, with a flush -in his swarthy face for the memory of Naseby. "At least, we do not lack -in loyalty—in endeavour—Your Majesty believeth that?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," said the Queen hurriedly. "Loyalty is common enough; but -where shall we get good counsels? Are we wise to fight the rebels -to-morrow? By all accounts they are double our number—and if this -Cromwell cometh up with reinforcements——"</p> - -<p>The King, who had hitherto stood silent, fingering the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> dark foliage on -one of the lower sweeping branches of the cedar tree, now spoke with -authority.</p> - -<p>"We fight to-morrow, Mary. I mean to surprise their outposts."</p> - -<p>A pause of silence fell. The sunlight was slipping lower through the -trees, and lay like flat gold on the lawn; the last brilliance of the -day lay in the fair locks of Margaret Lucas, in the embroideries of her -gown, in the swords of King and Prince, and over the frail figure of -the undaunted Queen.</p> - -<p>"I shall see Your Majesty at the camp after supper?" asked Rupert.</p> - -<p>"Yes—sooner," replied Charles.</p> - -<p>The Queen looked keenly at the young man on whom so much depended in -the issue of to-morrow, and seemed as if she was about to make some -appeal or exhortation; but she turned away with a mere quiet farewell. -The King followed her with a smile to his nephew.</p> - -<p>Margaret Lucas remained under the great cedar tree and Rupert lingered.</p> - -<p>"The white roses are again in bloom," he said.</p> - -<p>"When they next flourish may the King be safe in London again!" cried -the lady.</p> - -<p>"Amen," said Rupert. "Do you know the noble Marquess of Newcastle, Mrs. -Lucas?" he added, with a smile.</p> - -<p>A bright colour mounted to her alert face.</p> - -<p>"I met him in Oxford," she returned.</p> - -<p>"I had your flowers in my Prayer Book in memory of that day we raised -the Standard," said the young Prince, "and when my lord saw them, we -being in chapel together, he did ask of them, and when he heard their -history begged them from me. Does this anger you?"</p> - -<p>"It is not becoming that Your Highness should tell me of it," faltered -Margaret Lucas.</p> - -<p>"You are too modest," smiled the Prince. "He is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> gallant lord and -a valiant, loyal soldier. He asked me, if I saw you, to give you his -homages."</p> - -<p>The lady stood silent, her eyes downcast, the quick blood coming and -going in her noble face. Rupert waited.</p> - -<p>"Have you no answer to the princely Marquess?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Margaret Lucas lifted her head.</p> - -<p>"Tell him to—keep—the flowers," she stammered.</p> - -<p>With that she turned away as if she was frightened of having said too -much; the young General laughed a little and went back towards the -house, whistling the air of a German song.</p> - -<p>Margaret stood staring over her shoulder after him; all the misfortunes -of the State, of her own family, all the hideous sights and sad stories -which had weighed her heart with black bitterness, the danger of her -beloved brother, her own precarious situation—all these things were -forgotten in one great flash of happiness.</p> - -<p>She clasped her hands tightly.</p> - -<p>"How I do love thee, thou excellent gentleman," she murmured, "even -with an affection that is so beyond modesty and reason that if thou -wert here I could avow it to thy face! God protect thee, dear, loyal -lord!"</p> - -<p>The sun had now sunk behind the trees and hedges of the orchard; the -last bee had flown; the roses gave forth their strength in a more -intense perfume; the sky changed to a sparkling violet, glimmering with -rosy gold in the west.</p> - -<p>The Queen called Margaret Lucas, and, putting the little Princess in -her arms, bid her go and take the child to her women.</p> - -<p>Margaret made her grave and humble obeisances and withdrew, holding the -King's youngest born over a joyful heart.</p> - -<p>"Mary," said Charles, taking his wife's hand, "if I fail to-morrow you -will go to France. Promise me."</p> - -<p>"You must not fail," she answered passionately. "But I give you this -promise if it makes you fight with a lighter conscience."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>"A light conscience!" echoed the King. "Methinks I shall never own a -light conscience again."</p> - -<p>"You are too discouraged," murmured the Queen, but with a kind of -lassitude.</p> - -<p>They went together into the house, and he told her of the arrangements -he had made for her safe conduct to the coast in case of his defeat. -She listened and made no reply.</p> - -<p>They entered the sitting-room that opened on the garden, and the King -closed the door, for he could hear some of his gentlemen without.</p> - -<p>Henriette Marie seated herself on a worn leather couch and looked at -her husband.</p> - -<p>His face was pallid, his eyes heavy and shadowed, his hair damp about -the brow; he continually put his hand above his eyes or above his heart.</p> - -<p>"Last night I dreamt of Strafford," he said suddenly.</p> - -<p>"It was a dream!" answered the Queen. "Is this a time to dwell on -things unfortunate?"</p> - -<p>He made no reply; he moved about the darkening room, aimlessly touching -the furniture and the walls.</p> - -<p>At last he stopped before the inert figure of his wife.</p> - -<p>"Farewell, sweet," he said. "I have to join the Prince."</p> - -<p>"Farewell," she murmured.</p> - -<p>He moved towards the door and she sprang up.</p> - -<p>"Oh," she exclaimed, in a tone of horror, "this may be our last -meeting!"</p> - -<p>Charles turned, startled.</p> - -<p>"Dear God forbid!" he cried.</p> - -<p>"If—the worst cometh—if I go to France—ah, when shall I again behold -you?"</p> - -<p>"Hast thou also evil premonitions?" asked the King, with a shudder.</p> - -<p>She controlled herself.</p> - -<p>"No," she replied through stiff lips. "No—no—but many thoughts press -on my heart, and I am weak of late."</p> - -<p>Indeed, she felt all her limbs tremble, so that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> would no longer -support her, and she sat down on the couch again, cold from head to -foot.</p> - -<p>Charles stood beside her, gazing with the soul's deepest passion of -love and anguish at her bowed dark head.</p> - -<p>"Kiss me and go," she said. "What can I say? You know my whole heart. -All hath been said between you and me. We have been surprised by -misfortune, and I am something unprepared. But never doubt that I love -thee wholly."</p> - -<p>The King again made that gesture of his hand, pressed first to his -heart and then to his forehead, as if heart and head were equally -wounded, then he went to a corner of the room where an old clavichord -stood and lifted up the cover.</p> - -<p>"Sing to me before I go, Mary," he whispered.</p> - -<p>The Queen rose heavily. Her bold spirit was bent with gloom; ill-health -and the continual failure of the King's intrigues and the King's arms -had given her a kind of disgust of life. As she had been more despotic -than the King in prosperity, so she was more bitter and stern in -adversity. As she crossed the window, open on the soft dimness of the -garden, she thought, through her miserable languor, "If, indeed, I -never see him again, the scent of these roses will be with me all my -life."</p> - -<p>"I will light the candles," said Charles.</p> - -<p>"No—no," she answered. She seated herself and her hands touched the -keys.</p> - -<p>Her voice, once the pride of two courts and her greatest -accomplishment, rose in a little French song; but tears and suffering -had taken the clearness from her notes that once had rung so true.</p> - -<p>At the end of the first verse she broke down and, putting her hands -before her face, wept.</p> - -<p>"I do love thee," said the King, bending over her in a passion of -tenderness. "More than words can rehearse I do love thee, dear Mary, -and have loved thee all my days. Be not confounded—it cannot be God's -will to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> desert us utterly. Hold up your heart. Oh I do love thee, or -I had rather not have lived to see my present miseries—but thou hast -made life worth while to me. My dear wife—my dear, dear wife."</p> - -<p>The Queen did not move, and her dry, difficult sobs did not cease.</p> - -<p>"Oh, love that is so weak," cried the King, "that it cannot do more -than this ... to see thee thus ... what greater misery could I have -than to see thee thus."</p> - -<p>Still she did not speak. She had done much for him—crossed the seas -and become a supplicant at her brother's court, sold her jewels, -persuaded, inspired, and led many to join his standard, raised an army -for his cause, been untiring and dauntless in her counsels, her energy, -her confidence; but now a fatigue that was like despair was over her. -She felt about him a fatality as if success was impossible for him, and -all her ruined pride and splendour, her lost hopes, her lost endeavours -crowded upon her till she could do nothing but weep.</p> - -<p>Charles stooped and, with infinite gentleness, drew her hands from her -face.</p> - -<p>"This is a bad augury for me to-morrow," he said.</p> - -<p>She lifted her head then, the sobs still catching her throat. It was -too dark for him to see her face, distorted by tears; only the dim -white oval of it showed in the dusk.</p> - -<p>"No bad auguries," she said. "No—to-morrow must see a turn in our -miserable fortunes."</p> - -<p>He kissed her with a trembling reverence of devotion, and her tears -dried on his cold cheek.</p> - -<p>"Have confidence," she murmured, her face pressed against his lace -collar. She was always heartening him, firing his hesitation, directing -his indecision, and the instinct of guiding and inspiring him came to -her now even in her moment of weakness. "Have no sad thoughts, no ill -thoughts—God will fight for his anointed King. If I seem confounded, -consider that I have been troubled with many things."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<p>He drew her gently towards the window, and they stood together looking -out on to the garden. The white hawthorn and roses, the last lilac -still showed pallid through the gloaming; the stars were beginning to -sparkle in a sky from which the gold had faded, leaving it the colour -of dead violets; the pure air was rich and sweet as honey.</p> - -<p>"Whatever betide," said the King, "remember this—I will never forsake -my children's heritage nor my faith."</p> - -<p>He had always scrupulously kept his promise never to discuss religion -with his Papist Queen, and he did not emphasize his resolve to remain -for ever faithful to the Church of England. She knew this constancy of -his and admired it, but now she said nothing of these matters.</p> - -<p>"Whatever befall," she replied, "you are always the King."</p> - -<p>"I shall not forget it," he said, with a kind of passion.</p> - -<p>Another moment of silence passed, during which their thoughts burnt -like fire in their hearts and brains, then he moved to go, stammering -farewells.</p> - -<p>Thrice he turned back to embrace her again, thrice her hands clung to -him with a desperation almost beyond her control, while her lips tried -to form in words what no words could say.</p> - -<p>Then at length he was gone, and she heard the door shut.</p> - -<p>"I will not watch him ride away," she said to herself. "I will wait and -watch his return."</p> - -<p>Suddenly she thought of Lady Strafford and of the last time she had -spoken with the Countess.</p> - -<p>"O, God," she cried, "if I should never see Charles again!"</p> - -<p>She turned to go after him, but controlled herself from this folly and -stood huddled in the window watching the night moths flutter, shadows -among shadows, and the chilly moon brighten from a wraith to gleaming -silver among the whispering orchard trees.</p> - -<p>She stood so until she heard the bugles that announced the King's -departure, then she went to her prayers to supplicate the Madonna and -the saints with bitter tears and bitter forebodings.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> - -THE GREAT FIGHT</h2> - - -<p>That evening, while the King was reviewing his troops at Harborough and -giving them the word for to-morrow—"Mary"—while General Sir Thomas -Fairfax was holding a council at Naseby, Lieutenant-General Cromwell -was hastening over the borders of Northamptonshire with six hundred men -towards the headquarters of the parliamentary army, which he reached -about five in the morning under the light of a cloudless dawn.</p> - -<p>At the entrance to the village he halted for an instant and surveyed -with a keen eye the undulating open space of ground which rolled -towards Guilsborough and Daventry: unfenced ground, full of rabbit -holes and covered with short, sweet grass and flowers, above which the -larks were singing.</p> - -<p>The pure summer morning was full of gentle airs blowing from orchards -and gardens and the scents of all fresh green things opening with the -opening day.</p> - -<p>Silent lay the hamlet of Naseby, the white thatched cottages, the two -straggling streets, the old church with a copper ball glittering on the -spire, all clearly outlined in the first fair unstained light of the -sun.</p> - -<p>Beyond lay the parliamentary army: a sober force with their pennons, -flags, and colours already displayed among them, and the gold fire -gleaming along their brass cannon.</p> - -<p>Cromwell and his six hundred, dusty from the night's ride, swept, a -flash of steel on leather, a tramp of hoofs, a cloud of dust, through -Naseby, where the villagers crowded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> at windows and doors, not knowing -whether to curse them or bless them, and so to the headquarters of -General Sir Thomas Fairfax.</p> - -<p>As the new-comers passed through the army and were recognized for -Lieutenant-General Cromwell and his men, whom Rupert had, after Marston -Moor, nicknamed "Ironsides," the soldiers turned and shouted as with -one voice, for it had lately been very commonly observed that where -Cromwell went there was the blessing of God.</p> - -<p>Sir Thomas Fairfax was already on horseback, and the two Generals met -and saluted without dismounting.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell looked pale, and when he lifted his beaver the grey -strands showed in his thick hair: the war had told on him. He had -lost his second son and a nephew. His natural melancholy had been -increased by this and by the bloody waste he had daily to witness, by -the continual bitterness and horror of the struggle; but the exaltation -of his stern faith still showed in his expression, and he sat erect in -his saddle, a massive figure solid as carved oak, in his buff and steel -corselet.</p> - -<p>General Fairfax was a different type of man, patriotic and honourable -as his Lieutenant-General, but cultured, fond of letters, lukewarm in -religion, and not given to extremes. Cromwell, however, found him more -acceptable than Manchester or Essex.</p> - -<p>"Sir," cried the General, "you are as welcome to me as water in a -drought. Sir, I give to you the command of all the horse, and may you -do the good service you did at Long Marston Moor."</p> - -<p>"We are but a company of poor ignorant men, General Fairfax," replied -Oliver Cromwell, "and the malignants, I hear, make great scorn of us as -a rabble that are to be taught a lesson. Yet I do smile out to God in -praises, in assurance of victory, for He will, by things that are not, -bring to naught things that are!"</p> - -<p>"We have to-day a great task," said Sir Thomas Fairfax, "for if the -King gaineth the victory he will press on to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> London—and once there he -may regain his old standing; whereas if he faileth, he will never more, -I think, be able to bring an army into the field."</p> - -<p>"Make no pause and have no misgiving, sir," replied Cromwell. "God hath -put the sword into the hands of the Parliament for the punishment of -evil-doers and the confusion of His enemies, and He will not forsake -us. Sir, I will about the marshalling of the horse, for I do perceive -that we are as yet not all gotten in order."</p> - -<p>The army indeed, though armed and mounted, was not yet arranged in any -order of battle, and at this moment there came a message from one of -the outposts that the King's forces, in good order, were marching from -Harborough.</p> - -<p>Fairfax with his staff galloped to a little eminence beyond some apple -orchards that fenced in the broad graveyard of the church. By the aid -of perspective glasses they could very clearly see the army of the -King—the flower of the loyal gentlemen of England, the final effort -and hope of Majesty (for this force was Charles' utmost, and all men -knew it)—marching in good array and with a gallant show, foot and -horse, from Harborough. The Royal Standard was borne before, and, they -being not much over a mile away, Cromwell, through the glasses, could -discern a figure in a red montero, such as Fairfax wore, riding at the -head of the cavalry.</p> - -<p>"'Tis Rupert, that son of Baal," he muttered sternly. "The false -Arminian fighteth well—yet what availeth his prowess, when his end -shall be that outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of -teeth?"</p> - -<p>Near by, higher than the old copper ball of the church, a tiny lark -sang; the bees hovered in the thyme at their feet; the stainless blue -of the heavens deepened with the strengthening day. A sudden sense of -the peace and loveliness of the scene touched the sensitive heart of -Sir Thomas Fairfax.</p> - -<p>"English against English, on English land!" he cried. "The pity of it! -God grant that we do right!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> - -<p>Cromwell turned in his saddle, his heavy brows drawn together.</p> - -<p>"Dost thou doubt it?" he demanded. "Art thou like the Laodicean, -neither hot nor cold?"</p> - -<p>"I think of England," replied the General, "and of what we destroy -herein—fairness and tranquillity vanisheth from the land like breath -from off a glass!"</p> - -<p>Cromwell pointed his rough gauntleted hand towards the approaching -royal forces.</p> - -<p>"Dost thou believe," he asked, "that by leaving those in power we -secure tranquillity and repose? I tell thee, every drop of blood -shed to-day will be more potent to buy us peace than years of gentle -argument."</p> - -<p>"Thou," said Sir Thomas Fairfax, "art a man of a determined nature—but -I am something slow-footed. To our work now, sir, and may this bloody -business come to a speedy issue!"</p> - -<p>Cromwell rode with his own troop down the little hillside to take -up his position at the head of the cavalry on the right, the left -wing being under Ireton, the infantry in the centre being under the -command of Skippon, the Scotsman, the whole under the supervision of -Fairfax. This deposition of the army was hastily come to, for there -was not an instant to lose; indeed, the Parliamentarians had scarcely -gained the top of the low ridge which ran between the hedges, dividing -Naseby from Sulby and Clipston, when the King's army came into view -across Broadmoor, Rupert opposite Ireton, Langdale and his horse -facing Cromwell and the Ironsides, Lord Astley in the centre, with the -infantry and the King himself in armour riding in front.</p> - -<p>Fairfax posted Okey's dragoons behind the bridges running to Sulby, -and flung forward his foot to meet the advancing line of the royalist -attack. The infantry discharged their pieces, and the first horrid -sound of firing and thick stench of gunpowder disturbed the serene -morning.</p> - -<p>Then began the bloody and awful fight. Up and down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> the undulating -ground English struggled with English, the colours rocked and dipped -above the swaying lines of men, the demi-culverins and demi-sakers -roared and smoked, the horse charged and wheeled and wheeled and -charged again. The mounting sun shone on a confusion of steel and -scarlet, sword and musket, spurt of fire and splash of blood, on many -a grim face distorted with battle fury, on many a fair, youthful face -sinking on to the trampled earth to rise no more, on many fair locks -of loyal gentlemen, combed and dressed last night and now fallen in -the bloody mire never to be tended or caressed again, on many a stern -peasant or yeoman going fiercely out into eternity with his word of -"God with us!" on his stiffening lips.</p> - -<p>Lord Astley swept back Skippon's first line on to the reserve. Rupert, -hurling his horse through the sharp fire of Okey's dragoons, broke up -Ireton's cavalry, and for all their stubborn fighting bore them back -towards Naseby village. Uplifted swords, maddened horses, slipping, -falling, staggering up again, the shouting, flushed Cavaliers, the -bitter, silent Roundheads struggled together towards the hamlet and -church. In the midst was always Rupert, hatless now, and notable for -his black hair flying and his red cloak and his sword red up to the -hilt.</p> - -<p>Fairfax looked and saw his left wing shattered, his infantry -overpressed and in confusion, the ignorant recruits giving ground, the -officers in vain endeavouring to rally them, and his heart gave a sick -swerve; he dashed to the right, where Cromwell was fighting Langdale, -whose northern horsemen were scattered right and left before the -terrible onslaught of the Ironsides.</p> - -<p>As Cromwell, completely victorious, thundered back from this charge, he -met his General. He did not need, however, Sir Thomas Fairfax to tell -him how matters went; his keen eye saw through the battle smoke the -colours of the infantry being beaten back into the reserve, and he rose -up in his stirrups and waved on his men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>"God with us!" broke from the lips of the Puritans as their commander -re-formed them.</p> - -<p>"God with us!" shouted Cromwell.</p> - -<p>One regiment he sent to pursue Langdale's flying host; the rest he -wheeled round to the support of the foot.</p> - -<p>Rupert had left the field in pursuit of Ireton; there was no one to -withstand the charge of the Ironsides as they hurled themselves, sword -in hand, into the centre of the battle.</p> - -<p>A great cheer and shout arose from the almost overborne ranks of -Fairfax and Skippon when they saw the cavalry dashing to their rescue, -and a groan broke from Charles when he beheld his foot being cut down -before the charge of the Parliamentarians.</p> - -<p>He rode up and down like a man demented, crying through the storm and -smoke—</p> - -<p>"Where is Rupert? Is he not here to protect my loyal foot?"</p> - -<p>But the Prince was plundering Fairfax's baggage at Naseby, and the -infantry were left alone to face the Ironsides.</p> - -<p>They faced about for their death with incredible courage, being now -outnumbered one to two, forming again and again under the enemy's fire, -closing up their ranks with silent resolution, one falling, another -taking his place, mown down beneath the horses till their dead became -more than the living, yet never faltering in their stubborn resolution.</p> - -<p>One after another these English gentlemen, pikemen, and shotmen went -down, slain by English hands, watering English earth with their blood, -gasping out their lives on the rabbit holes and torn grass, swords, -pikes, and muskets sinking from their hands, hideously wounded, defiled -with blood and dirt, distorted with agony, dying without complaint for -the truth as they saw truth and loyalty as they conceived loyalty. -One little phalanx resisted even the charge of the Ironsides, though -attacked front and flank; they did not break. As long as they had a -shot they fired; when their ammunition was finished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> they waited the -charge of Fairfax with clubbed muskets. Their leader was a youth in his -early summer with fair, uncovered head and a rich dress. He fell three -times; when he rose no more his troop continued their resistance until -the last man was slain. Then the Ironsides swept across their bodies -and charged the last remnant of the King's infantry.</p> - -<p>Charles Stewart, watching with agony and dismay the loss of his foot -and guns, rode from point to point of the bitter battle, vainly -endeavouring to rally his broken forces.</p> - -<p>Such as was left of Langdale's horse gathered round him, and at this -point up came Rupert, flushed and breathless, his men exhausted from -the pursuit and loaded with plunder.</p> - -<p>"Thou art too late," said the King sternly, pointing to the awful -smoke-hung field. "Hadst thou come sooner some loyal blood might have -been saved."</p> - -<p>It was the sole reproach he made: he was past anger as he was past hope.</p> - -<p>"God damn and the devil roast them!" cried Rupert, in a fury. "But we -will withstand them yet!"</p> - -<p>With swiftness and skill he seconded the King's courageous efforts to -rally the remnant of the horse, and these drew up for a final stand in -front of the baggage wagons and carriages, where the camp followers -shrieked and cowered.</p> - -<p>For the third time Oliver Cromwell formed his cavalry, being now joined -by Ireton, who, though wounded, had rallied the survivors of Rupert's -pursuit, and now, in good order and accompanied by the shotmen and -dragoons, advanced towards the remnants of the royal horse.</p> - -<p>The King seemed like one heedless of his fate: his face was colourless -and distorted, the drying tears stained his cheek. He looked over the -hillocks scattered with the dead and dying who had fallen for him, and -he muttered twice, through twitching lips—</p> - -<p>"Broken, broken! Lost, lost!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>The parliamentary dragoons commencing fire, Rupert headed his line for -his usual reckless charge, and Charles, galloping to the front, was -about to press straight on the enemy's fire, when a group of Cavaliers -rode up to him, and one of them, Lord Carnwath, swore fiercely and -cried out—</p> - -<p>"Will you go upon your death in an instant?"</p> - -<p>The King turned his head and gave him a dazed look, whereon in a trice -the Scots lord seized the King's foam-flecked bridle, and turned about -his horse.</p> - -<p>"This was a fight for all in all, and it is lost!" cried Charles.</p> - -<p>Seeing the King turn from the battlefield, his cavalry turned about -too as one man, and galloped after him on the spur, without waiting -for the third charge of Cromwell's Ironsides, who chased them through -Harborough, from whence the Queen, on news of how the day was going, -had an hour before fled, and along the Leicester road.</p> - -<p>The regiments that remained took possession of the King's baggage, his -guns and wagons, his standards and colours, his carriages, including -the royal coach, and made prisoner every man left alive on the field.</p> - -<p>In the carriages were many ladies of quality, sickened and maddened, -shrieking and desperate, who were seized and hurried away in their -fine embroidered clothes and fallen hair—calling on the God who had -deserted them—carried across the field strewn with their slain kinsmen -to what rude place of safety might be devised.</p> - -<p>Nor was any roughness exercised against them, for they were English and -defenceless.</p> - -<p>The Irish camp followers were neither English nor defenceless, even the -most wretched tattered woman of them had a skean knife at her belt, and -used it with yelling violence.</p> - -<p>What mercy for such as these, accursed of God and man—the same breed -as those who rose and murdered the English in Ulster?</p> - -<p>"What of these vermin?" asked an officer of Cromwell, when he galloped -past in pursuit of the royalists.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is there not an ordinance against Papists?" was the answer, hurled -harsh and rough through the turmoil. "To the sword with the enemies of -God!"</p> - -<p>It was done.</p> - -<p>Midday had not yet been reached; the whole awful fight had hardly -occupied three hours, and now the King had fled with his broken troops, -and from among the baggage wagons, the stuffs, the clothes, the food, -the hasty tents, the Puritans drove into the open the wretched Irish -women, wild creatures, full of a shrieking defiance and foul cursing, -pitiful too in their rags and dirty finery, their impotence, their -despair.</p> - -<p>Some were young enough and fair enough, but smooth cheeks and bright -eyes and white arms worked no enchantment here; sword and bullet made -short shrift of them and their knives and curses.</p> - -<p>"In the name of Christ!" cried one, clinging half-naked to an Ironside -captain.</p> - -<p>"In the name of Christ!" he repeated fiercely, and dispatched her with -his own hand.</p> - -<p>Then that too was over; the last woman's voice shrieking to saint and -Madonna was quieted; the last huddled form had quivered into stillness -on the profaned earth, the carbines were shouldered, the swords -sheathed, and the Puritans turned back with their captured colours and -standards, such plunder as could be met with, and the King's secret -cabinet, recklessly left in his carriage, and full, as the first glance -showed, of secret and fatal papers.</p> - -<p>The dial on the church front at Naseby hamlet did not yet point to -twelve; across the graves lay Ireton's men and Rupert's Cavaliers, -their blood mingling in the daisied grass; the copper ball which had -overlooked a day of another such sights beyond the sea, still gleamed -against a cloudless sky, and above it, in the purer, upper air, the -lark still poured forth his immutable song which the living were as -deaf to as the dead.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> - -THE DEAD CAVALIER</h2> - - -<p>Lieutenant-general Cromwell pursued the King to within sight of -Leicester, nine miles beyond Harborough, to which hamlet he returned -with his troop towards the close of day.</p> - -<p>The royalists, who had filled Harborough twenty-four hours before, were -now scattered like dust before the wind; the house where the King and -Queen had stayed the previous night was deserted, and this Cromwell and -some of his officers took possession of, as the most commodious in the -place.</p> - -<p>The church, after being despoiled of painting, carving, coloured glass, -and altar, was used partly as a stable and partly as a prison for the -few captives the Parliamentarians had with them.</p> - -<p>Cromwell watched this work completed, then rode across the fragments of -broken tombs and shattered glass, flung out of the church, to the house -where Charles Stewart had taken farewell of his wife the day before.</p> - -<p>The furniture the Queen had used was still in its place; in the parlour -where Cromwell entered with Ireton stood the clavichord open, as -Henriette Marie had left it when she broke down over her French song; -a glove and a scarf belonging to Margaret Lucas lay on the couch, the -windows were wide on the beautiful garden which again sent up sweet -scents to the evening air.</p> - -<p>Cromwell noticed none of these things; he was not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> man of exquisite -senses; perfume and flowers, green trees and sunshine were as little to -him as they could be to any healthy man, and as for delights of man's -making, he abhorred them all as vanities, from pictures and music, fine -dwellings and costly gardens, to ruffles and fringed breeches.</p> - -<p>Ireton was, if anything, a man even stiffer and more rigid in his -ideas. They both sat down to their supper in the delicate little room -which had been some one's home, without the least regard to their -surroundings, either the luxurious furniture or the fair garden giving -forth sweets to the evening air.</p> - -<p>Neither had changed their dusty, blood-stained leather and steel; -Cromwell cast his beaver and gloves on to the satin couch, and Ireton -flung his on to the polished floor.</p> - -<p>A soldier brought in bread, meat, cheese, and beer from the inn; -nothing more was to be had. Cromwell, who had not eaten since the night -before, did not complain, but finished his food with a good appetite.</p> - -<p>Though he had been twenty-four hours in the saddle, he was too strong a -man to feel more than an ordinary weariness, and the exaltation of his -spirits made him forget the slight fatigue of his body.</p> - -<p>The two soldiers said little while they were eating, save to now -and then make some remark on the number of the malignants slain or -captured, or some ejaculations as to the might and power of the Lord -who had now so signally demonstrated that His countenance was turned -towards them.</p> - -<p>Henry Ireton was a man after Cromwell's own heart, one of the choicest -of that little band who had taken the place of the older patriots, -such as Pym and Hampden. Blake and Sidney were two others; Sir Harry -Vane, who was of my late Lord Falkland's temper, Cromwell considered -less well suited to the times; Fairfax he had some doubts of; and -Manchester, Essex, and their kind he regarded as little better than -Laodiceans.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> - -<p>When he had finished his meal he pushed back his chair and regarded -his companion fixedly. Ireton had taken off his corselet, bandoleer, -and sword, and his left arm was bandaged; his extreme pallor and the -drooping way he sat showed the severity of his wound, but it had not -had power to dismay his spirit or to soften his stern bearing.</p> - -<p>He was a man of five-and-thirty, well born and well favoured, his -features showing resolution, enthusiasm, capacity, and courage.</p> - -<p>"Hast thou no mind to take a wife?" asked Cromwell abruptly.</p> - -<p>"It is not for me to be thinking of marriage when the land is in -mourning," replied Ireton. "Even a wilderness with the water-springs -dried up and a fruitful land become barren."</p> - -<p>"Peace cometh soon," said Cromwell grimly.</p> - -<p>"Yet the King hath escaped into Oxford by now, and many places hold out -against us," returned Ireton.</p> - -<p>"Be not as the children of Ephraim, but remember what the Lord hath -done for us," said Cromwell. "I tell thee He shall this year make an -end of His enemies, Papist, Prelatist, and Arminian, and all such as -defy Him. Is not His hand truly visible amongst us? Surely it would be -a very atheist to doubt it. And for what I was about to say, Harry, -coming to a plainer matter, my daughter Bridget is marriageable -and full of piety and fear of the Lord—a thrifty maiden and one -well-exercised in household ways, and if thou hast a mind to this -alliance we may celebrate a marriage with the peace."</p> - -<p>Ireton flushed with pleasure at this undoubted honour; for Oliver -Cromwell had become already a considerable man, and after the splendour -of to-day's achievements was like to become more considerable still; -beside, Ireton held him in sincere respect and affection.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he replied, "I am very sensible of this kindness, and if I on my -part may satisfy what you shall demand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> of me, I will take a wife from -thy hearth with as much joy as Jacob took Rachel."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell's face softened into sudden tenderness.</p> - -<p>"Thou <i>dost</i> satisfy me, Henry!" he answered. "I have great and good -hopes of thee. I know not why this came into my mind at this season, -save that, seeing thee hurt and weary, methought a woman's care would -not come ill."</p> - -<p>He rose abruptly, to cut short Ireton's further thanks, and, going to -the door, called for candles.</p> - -<p>Colonel Whalley and some other officers now entered, and after some -further talk they left, Ireton with them, to see to the deposition of -the new troops who, bringing prisoners and plunder, were continuing to -pour into Harborough. Cromwell, left alone, called for ink and paper, -and, seating himself anew at the table where the candles now stood -among the tankards, plates, and knives, commenced his letter to the -Speaker of the House of Commons.</p> - -<p>Little of the tumult filling the village reached this quiet room; -outside the roses, lilacs, and lilies folded their parcels of sweets -beneath the rising moon, and far off a nightingale was singing where -the orchards dipped to a coppice, and the coppice dipped to the west.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell wrote—"Harborough, 14th June 1645," paused a minute, -biting his quill and frowning at the candlelight, then briefly wrote -the news of the great victory:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—Being commanded by you to this service, I think myself -bound to acquaint you with the good hand of God towards you and us.</p> - -<p>"We marched yesterday after the King, who went before us from Daventry -to Harborough; and quartered about six miles from him. This day we -marched towards him.</p> - -<p>"He drew out to meet us; both armies engaged. We, after three hours' -fight very doubtful, at last routed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> army; killed and took about -5000, very many officers, but of what quality we yet know not.</p> - -<p>"We also took about 200 carriages—all he had; and all his guns, being -12 in number, whereof 2 were demi-cannon, 2 demi-culverins, and (I -think) the rest sakers.</p> - -<p>"We pursued the enemy from three miles short of Harborough to nine -miles beyond, even to the sight of Leicester, whither the King fled."</p></div> - -<p>Having said all he could think of with regard to the actual battle that -was of importance, Cromwell paused again and thoughtfully sharpened his -quill.</p> - -<p>Both the mystical and practical side of him wished to improve the -opportunity. He had lately heard how the Presbyterian party at -Westminster was very hot against the Independents, especially such -as would not take the Covenant, calling them Anabaptists, Sectaries, -and Schismatics; and Cromwell, who was for liberty of conscience and -toleration within Puritan bounds, and who was, if he was anything, an -Independent himself and no lover of the Scots or their Covenant, wished -to impress the Parliament with the worth of these despised sects, at -the same time to magnify God for what He had done for them. He wished -also to give praise to Fairfax, who, under the Lord, he considered the -author of this victory.</p> - -<p>After labouring a little further in thought, he added this to his -letter—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>"Sir, this is none other but the hand of God; and to Him alone belongs -the glory wherein none are to share with Him.</p> - -<p>"The General served you with all faithfulness and honour; and the best -commendation I can give him is, that I dare say he attributes it all -to God and would rather perish than assume to himself.</p> - -<p>"Which is an honest and a thriving way, and yet as much for bravery -may be given to him in this action as to a man."</p></div> - -<p>Having thus done justice to his General, the Puritan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> endeavoured -to do justice to his soldiers, and to give a timely warning to the -Presbyterians. He dipped his quill into the ink-dish and added, with a -firm hand and a bent brow, frowning—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>"Honest men served you faithfully in this action. Sir, they are -trusty; I beseech you, in the name of God, not to discourage them.</p> - -<p>"I wish this action may beget thankfulness and humility in all that -are concerned in it.</p> - -<p>"He that ventures his life for the liberty of his country, I wish he -trust God for the liberty of his conscience, and you for the liberty -he fights for.</p> - -<p>"In this he rests, who is your most humble servant,</p> - -<p style="margin-left:40%;"> -"<span class="smcap">Oliver Cromwell</span>"<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>As he dried and sealed up his letter, the soldier, whose ears, though -deaf to the nightingale and the lift of the wind in the trees without, -were keen enough for all practical sounds, heard a certain tumult or -commotion which seemed to be in the house and almost at his very door.</p> - -<p>With the instinct that the last few years had bred in him, he put his -hand to his tuck sword and shifted it farther round his thigh, then, -taking up the standing candlestick, he hastily crossed to the door and -opened it. A little group of soldiers were gathered round the front -entrance to the house, which stood wide open, and Cromwell joined them, -casting the rays of his two candles over a scene that had hitherto been -illumined only by the pale trembling light of the rising moon.</p> - -<p>A small, white, tired horse stood at the steps of the house, his head -hanging down to his feet; at his bridle was a woman, a dark scarf about -her shoulders, the slack reins in her hand, and on his back hung a man -who had fallen forward on his neck, almost, if not quite, unconscious.</p> - -<p>The woman, with the moonlight on her face, was speaking to the soldiers -in a tone at once imperious and desperate, and from all parts of the -garden a mingled crowd was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> approaching to ascertain the cause of this -supplication at the gate of the General's house.</p> - -<p>Cromwell stepped with authority to the front; the first flutter of the -candlelight over the scene revealed to him that the man was desperately -wounded and that the woman was wild with fear and anger, yet, by some -fierce effort, keeping her composure. The look on her face reminded him -of that he had seen on Lady Strafford's face when her coach was stopped -by the mob in Whitehall.</p> - -<p>"What is this?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied one of the troopers, "this is none other than one of -those calves of Bethel who did so levant and flourish to-day."</p> - -<p>The lady now let go the reins and stepped forward, interrupting -the soldier, and addressing herself directly to Cromwell, whom she -perceived by his scarf and equipments to be an officer of some rank.</p> - -<p>"Sir," she said, with a dignity greater than her sorrow, and a pride -stronger than her grief, "this is my husband's brother's house."</p> - -<p>"Thy brother hath doubtless fled with the King," returned Cromwell, -"and his house is now the property of the Parliament."</p> - -<p>"This is my husband," said the lady; "he was in the battalia -to-day—and I went down to the field and found him, and one helped me -set him on a horse and so we came here—to my brother's house."</p> - -<p>Cromwell listened tenderly.</p> - -<p>"Alas!" he said, "thou art over young for such scenes."</p> - -<p>He gave the candlestick to one of the soldiers, and stepped into the -garden.</p> - -<p>The Cavalier, who was, by a desperate effort, holding on to his senses, -now dragged himself upright and spoke—</p> - -<p>"Since the rebels have the house, ask them not—for charity," he -muttered, and then, with the attempt at speech, fainted, and dropped -sideways out of the saddle into the arms of one of the Roundheads.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> - -<p>At this sight the lady lost all pride, and, glancing wildly round the -ring of steel-clad figures, she clasped her hands in a gesture of -appeal.</p> - -<p>"May he not be taken into the house?" she stammered. "Oh, good sirs, -for pity!"</p> - -<p>"A malignant," said the corporal who had caught the Cavalier, pointing -to his long locks and rich dress, "and one doubtless drunk with the -blood of the saints! Shall I take him to the church, that plague spot -of hierarchy, where the other children of Belial lie bound?"</p> - -<p>"Nay," replied Cromwell, "take up the young man and bring him into the -house."</p> - -<p>He looked to the lady and added—</p> - -<p>"Madam, what is your name and quality?"</p> - -<p>"Sir," she replied, "my lord is Sir William Pawlet, of the House of the -Marquis of Winchester, and I am Jane, his wife."</p> - -<p>The look of pity died from the Puritan's expressive face.</p> - -<p>"He who holdeth Basing House against us? That Winchester?" he cried -grimly. "Art thou, as he, Papists?"</p> - -<p>"Your tongue doth call us that," she replied faintly.</p> - -<p>"Ha!" cried Cromwell, "must I then succour the children of filth -and abomination, the brood of the Scarlet Women, whose bones I have -declared shall whiten the valley of Hinnom and whose dust I promised to -cast into the brook of Kedar?"</p> - -<p>The lady pressed to her husband's side.</p> - -<p>"God's will be done," she said in despair; "even in this pass I cannot -deny my God nor my King."</p> - -<p>The two soldiers who had lifted the Cavalier paused with their burden, -expecting that the General would order both Papists to a common prison.</p> - -<p>And such, indeed, was for a moment his intention, for no man was more -hated by him than Lord Winchester, who had, since the beginning of the -war, defied the Parliamentarians from Basing House.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> - -<p>But as he was about to speak he glanced down at the face of the -unconscious man, and a shudder shook him.</p> - -<p>On the young Cavalier's fair face was a dreadful look of his own son -Oliver, who had died at Newport Pagnell, and of that nephew who had -died in his arms after Marston Moor; and with these two memories -came that of his first-born, Robert, dead in early youth, and the -intolerable pain of that loss smote him afresh.</p> - -<p>"Bring the youth into the house," he said sombrely.</p> - -<p>Lady Pawlet made no answer and gave no sign of gratitude; she followed -the soldiers who were carrying her husband, and helped them to support -his head.</p> - -<p>"Surely the young man is dying," said Oliver Cromwell gloomily. "Bring -him into the parlour and fetch a surgeon if one may be found. And -look you, Gaveston," he added to the sergeant, "see this letter is -dispatched to Mr. Lenthall, in London."</p> - -<p>The candles had now been replaced on the table, and the General took up -his letter to the Speaker, but while he was addressing the soldier and -handing him the dispatch, his frowning eyes were fixed on the Cavalier, -who was now extended on the couch with his cloak for a pillow.</p> - -<p>Lady Pawlet, as if despairing of better accommodation, perhaps too -sunk in grief to notice anything, went on her knees by the side of her -husband, and knelt there as still as he, holding his hand to her breast.</p> - -<p>The black scarf had fallen back over her tumbled grey dress and soiled -ruffles, and the red-gold of her disordered hair glittered round a face -disfigured with fatigue and sorrow—a face that had once been fair -enough and gay enough. They were both very young and scarcely past -their bridal days.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell stood with his back to the table, the light behind him, -watching them; she seemed forgetful of his presence.</p> - -<p>Sir William was bleeding in the head and the arm; these at least were -his visible hurts, probably he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> other wounds beneath his battle -bravery of silk and bullion fringe, Spanish leather, and brocaded scarf.</p> - -<p>His wife, bending over him still and helpless, as if she, too, was -secretly wounded and dying of it, suddenly moved.</p> - -<p>"A priest," she whispered, "is there not a priest? I think he -is—dying."</p> - -<p>"Pray that the light may come to him in the little time left," said -the Puritan sternly. "And seek not to seal his eternal damnation by -idolatry and devilry."</p> - -<p>The lady looked up as if she had not heard what he said and did not -know who he was.</p> - -<p>"Oh, sir," she said, "will you come and look at my lord?"</p> - -<p>Cromwell stepped up to the couch and gazed down at the Cavalier; his -features were pinched, the wound at the side of the head, from which -the blood had ceased to flow, was of a purplish colour.</p> - -<p>The General touched him on the brow, moving back the clotted curls, and -gazed into his agonized features.</p> - -<p>"His heart—I cannot feel his heart," cried Lady Pawlet.</p> - -<p>"He is not here," said Cromwell. "Even as we speak, he standeth before -the Judgment Seat."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER V<br /> - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL AND HIS GOD</h2> - - -<p>"Well, well!" stammered Lady Pawlet. "There are some shall answer to -God for this. Well, well!"</p> - -<p>"Get to thy friends if thou hast any," said the Puritan, "and let them -put thee beyond seas. There is an ordinance against Papists."</p> - -<p>She stared at him; the body of the dead Cavalier was between them; the -red candlelight and the white moonlight mingled grotesquely over the -dead and the living.</p> - -<p>"Ah yes," she said; her eyes wandered to her husband's face. "The King -will be sorry," she added.</p> - -<p>"The King," replied Cromwell, "hath troubles of his own to mourn for. -Up, mistress, and be going. This is no place for mourner and Papists. -Tell me some friend's house and I will have thee conveyed thither."</p> - -<p>Lady Pawlet made no reply, and remained kneeling by the couch which -held her husband.</p> - -<p>Cromwell moved away abruptly; though professional insensibility and his -hatred of the Papist checked the pity that was natural to him at any -sight of distress, still his mystic, melancholy nature had been moved -by the sight of the young man brought in dead. He thought he beheld in -him a type of all the fair lives that had been ruined or lost since -this war began—wasted men! And how many of them, one, two, or three -thousand to-day, now being shovelled into the trenches at Broadmoor ... -all English like this one ... all with some woman somewhere to weep for -them....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned again to the immobile woman.</p> - -<p>"Come, madam, come, come," he began, but his speech was broken by the -entry of a soldier with some dispatches from Fairfax, who remained at -Naseby, and with the statement that there was no surgeon conveniently -to be brought.</p> - -<p>"As for that," returned Cromwell, "the malignant is now in the hands of -the Living God. But let that little white horse I saw be looked to." -He turned to Lady Pawlet. "He is mine by right of war, but I will give -thee a fair price for him if he be thine, since we are ever in need of -horses."</p> - -<p>She made no reply; Cromwell glanced at her frowningly.</p> - -<p>"Gaveston," he said, "is there nought but this burnt ale in the house? -Search for a glass of alicant for the malignant's wife, she hath -neither strength to speak or move."</p> - -<p>"Methinks the King did take the fleshpots with him when he fled from -this Egypt," returned Gaveston. "There is scarce enough in the village -to refresh the outer men of the saints themselves—but I will see if I -can find a bottle of sack or alicant, General Cromwell."</p> - -<p>Lady Pawlet, hitherto so immovable as to appear insensible, now -suddenly rose to her feet, and, turning so that she stood with her back -to her husband's body, stared at the General who remained at the table, -not two paces away from her.</p> - -<p>"Art thou Oliver Cromwell?" she cried, with a force and energy that was -so in contrast to her former despairing apathy that the two men were -startled, and Cromwell turned as if to face an accuser.</p> - -<p>"I am he," he answered.</p> - -<p>"Rebel and heretic!" cried the unfortunate lady. "May the curse of -England rest on thee! May all the blood that has been spilt, and all -the tears shed for those thou hast slain, cry out to the throne of God -for a bolt to strike thee down!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Fond creature," replied Cromwell, "I am in covenant with the Lord, and -I do the Lord's work, and your blasphemies do but waste the air."</p> - -<p>"No! I am heard!" answered Lady Pawlet, to whom horror and wrath had -given an exalted dignity and a desperate strength. "Man of blood and -disloyalty, a scourge upon this land, a bitterness and a terror to -these unhappy people!"</p> - -<p>"Shall I take her away?" asked Gaveston, advancing.</p> - -<p>"Nay," replied Cromwell, "let her speak. Words no more than swords -touch those who wear the armour of the Lord. As for thee, vain, unhappy -one, go and wrestle with the evil errors that hold thee, and pray that -light be given to thy eternal darkness."</p> - -<p>Lady Pawlet moved aside and pointed to her husband.</p> - -<p>"He is dead," she said. "Only I know how good he was, how excellent and -loyal—but he is dead in his early summer. And I, too, have lived my -life."</p> - -<p>"'Man is a thing of nought, he passeth away like a shadow,'" returned -the Lieutenant-General sombrely. "We are but a little dust that the -wind bloweth as it will."</p> - -<p>"A brazen face and an iron hand!" cried Lady Pawlet wildly. "A wicked -heart and a lying mouth! What has this unhappy England done that she -cannot be delivered of thee?"</p> - -<p>To the surprise of Sergeant Gaveston, Cromwell neither left the -room nor ordered the removal of the frantic lady, but answered her -earnestly, even passionately—</p> - -<p>"Was it the Parliament first set up the standard of war? Nay, it -was the King. Was it the Parliament that ever refused to come to an -accommodation? Again the King. Was it the Parliament that roused the -Highlands of Scotland to war? Nay, Montrose, the King's man. Was it the -Parliament did command these horrid outrages in Ireland? Nay, Phelim -O'Neil, the King's man. Therefore accuse us not of bloodshed, for we do -but make a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> defence against violence and tyranny. We fight for God's -people that they may have repose and blessing, and for this land that -it may have liberty."</p> - -<p>"Thou to talk of God's people, heretic of heretic, who hast rejected -even thine own deluded Church!"</p> - -<p>"Ay, and the blue and brown of the Presbyter as well as the lawn -sleeves of the Bishop," cried Cromwell, pacing up and down in that -agitation that often came on him when he was excited by any attack on -his religious sincerity. "If the prayer-book is but a mess of pottage, -what is the preaching of the Covenanters but dry chips offered to the -soul starving for spiritual manna? Men of all sects fight side by -side in my ranks—would they could do so at Westminster." He suddenly -checked himself as he perceived that he was saying more than his -place and dignity required, controlled the agitation that had hurried -him into speech, and turned to Lady Pawlet, not without pity and -tenderness—</p> - -<p>"Gaveston, conduct this lady to Naseby where are the other gentlewomen -taken to-day, and give her name and quality to Sir Thomas Fairfax. Take -out the malignant and place him with his fellows in the trenches."</p> - -<p>At this the unhappy wife gave a shriek and hurled herself across the -dead Cavalier, desperately clinging to his limp arms and pressing her -bright head against his bloodied coat.</p> - -<p>"My dear, they want to put you in the ground! I went to find you—you -were alive; what has happened now? I found you; what has happened? They -shall not take you away. Leave me," as Gaveston tried to move her from -the body; "he is not dead." She looked up and the tears were falling -down her cheeks. "I have nothing of him—no child. Would you take him -away?"</p> - -<p>"Leave them here," said Cromwell. Since he had beheld his wife mourning -her two eldest sons he could not bear to see a woman weep, and the -young Cavalier had still that dreadful look of young Oliver. "Send -some woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> from the village to her, and in the morning, when she is -removed, you might bury him. Take my things upstairs—wait"——He -broke open the packages and, holding them near the candlelight, looked -over the contents.</p> - -<p>"Nothing I need answer to-night," he said, and glanced again at the -slim figure of the young woman as she clung to her dead in her agony, -the bright unbounded hair all that was left of beauty that had been so -fresh and lovely.</p> - -<p>"So is it with the ungodly," he muttered sombrely. "How suddenly do -they perish, consume, and come to a fearful end! Even like a dream when -one awaketh!"</p> - -<p>So saying, he turned abruptly into the garden and walked away from the -house.</p> - -<p>All the June flowers showed silver pale against the dark lines of -the hedges and the box trees clipped into the forms of dragons and -peacocks—monstrous, clumsy shapes now against a sky filled with the -pale purity of the moonlight. Somewhere a fountain tinkled a thin jet -of water into a shallow basin; a seat, a sundial, a statue showed here -and there as the pleasance led to the fishpond, where the wet leaves -of water-lilies gleamed, and, past that, a bowling-green, shaded with -noble limes, then to the orchards of apple trees bending above the -tall grass scattered with daisies, where the grounds ended in a wooden -paling which fenced a little copse full of hidden birds and flowers.</p> - -<p>The Puritan soldier passed through the garden without noticing the -sleeping loveliness or reflecting on the desolation it soon would be: -his mind was solely on his work, on what he had done, on what he must -do—occupied with all the doubts and terrors of the struggle between -the uplifted spirit and the still passionate human nature.</p> - -<p>Outwardly he never faltered or hesitated, but inwardly all was -often black and awful: a thousand perplexities assailed his strong -understanding, a thousand different emotions warred in his warm and -ardent heart.</p> - -<p>Usually his spiritual enthusiasm went hand in hand with his physical -courage and capacity, with his earthly feelings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> and hopes; but -sometimes these jarred with each other, and then the old melancholy -rolled over his soul.</p> - -<p>When he had walked unheeding as far as the paling and was stopped -there, by lack of a gate, he folded his arms on the fence and gazed -ahead of him into the sweet night.</p> - -<p>He was fatigued, yet far from the thought of sleep; the excitement -of the battle and the pursuit, the thrill of victory were still with -him....</p> - -<p>And yet ... and yet ... the dead face of Sir William Pawlet and the -no less terrible countenance of his wife came before the soldier's -vision.... And how many thousands of these were there not now in -England, how many homes deserted like this one, how many fugitives -flying beyond seas, how many comely corpses being tumbled into the -trenches dug among the rabbit burrows on Broad Moor? So many that the -rolling hillocks would be all great graves, and for long years no -man would be able to turn the earth there with a plough but he would -disturb the mouldering dead.</p> - -<p>What if he had to answer for this blood? Was not he the man who had -always urged war—been the soul and inspiration of the conflict, so -that the malignants turned and cursed him, even as Lady Pawlet had this -very evening, believing him to be the foremost of their enemies?</p> - -<p>"Lord God," he cried out, grasping the fence with his strong hands, "I -do not fight for gain or power, for pride or hot blood, but for Thy -service, as Thou knowest! What am I but a worm in Thy sight, yet Thou -hast given me success through Thy lovely mercy and made me a fear unto -them who defy Thee! Hast Thou not declared that Thine enemies shall be -scattered like the dust, and they who dwell in the wilderness kneel -before Thee? Bring us that time, O Lord, bring Thy promised peace and -scatter those who delight in war! For Thou hast said, 'I will bring My -people again as I did from Basan, Mine own will I bring again, as I did -sometime from the deep of the sea!'"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<p>These words, which he spoke out loudly and in a strong voice, were -wafted strangely over the sleeping copse, where even the nightingale -was silent now; the sound of them seemed to be blown back again and to -echo in his soul strongly even after his lips were silent.</p> - -<p>He suddenly remembered when last he had rested against a fence; it was -that November day outside St. Ives, when God had come to him as he -walked his humble fields in obscurity and given him promise of grace.</p> - -<p>His whole being shook with joy at the recollection; he put his hand to -the cross of his sword, and as he touched the cold metal he again felt -God stoop towards him, and saw the future and the labour of the future -clear and blessed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VI<br /> - -THE KING DREAMS</h2> - - -<p>The Parliamentarians followed up the victory at Naseby with victories -at Langport, Bridgewater, Sherborne, and Bath. The King was desolate at -Newark, relying on Rupert, who held Bristol, that famous city, and had -promised to stand siege for four months and more, and on the Marquess -of Montrose, who had roused the gallant Highlanders to fight for -their ancient line of kings, who had already been triumphant in many -engagements, and was now marching to meet General Leslie, Cromwell's -comrade-in-arms at Marston Moor, who had crossed the Tweed to crush the -Scotch royalists.</p> - -<p>It might seem that the reckless bravery of Rupert and the reckless -loyalty of Montrose were poor props with which to support a crown; -but the King, unpractical in everything, dreamt that these two might -save him yet, though his cause, since first he set his standard up at -Nottingham, had never looked so desperate.</p> - -<p>His private cabinet of papers which had been taken at Naseby had done -him more harm than the defeat, for there were many documents, letters, -and memoranda which proved to the victors the insincerity of his -dealing with the Parliament, the sophistries of his arguments, the -hollowness of his professions, and the unreliability of his word.</p> - -<p>They proved also, if the Parliamentarians had cared to make the -deduction, that Charles, however frivolous he might be, however -unstable and changing, however much he had temporized and given way, -was on some points<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> adamant, and these points were his devotion to the -Church of England, to his Crown and all its prerogatives, his unshaken -belief in his own divine right, and the sacred justice of his cause.</p> - -<p>Charles, indeed, had never meant to come to an honest understanding -with Parliament, which he regarded as rebellious and traitorous. He -might have played with it, cajoled it, lured it, deceived it; but he -had never intended to do more. Promises had been forced from him, -but he had always found some sophistry with which he consoled his -conscience for breaking them; concessions might have been forced from -him, but he always meant, at the first opportunity, to withdraw. -He would, if he had had the power, have replaced the Star Chamber -to-morrow and treated the Puritans as they had been treated after the -Hampton Conference in his father's time.</p> - -<p>And he scarcely made a secret of the way he intended to treat the -rebels if they were ever at his mercy. They embodied all that was -hateful to him, and he had Strafford, Laud, and deep personal -humiliations to avenge. He might sometimes talk of toleration, but -there was none in his heart: his graceful exterior concealed a -fanaticism as stern, as convinced, as unyielding as any that burnt -beneath the rough leather of Cromwell's Independents.</p> - -<p>In the autumn of the year of Naseby, so disastrous to his cause, he was -in the besieged city of Newark, one of the few holding out for him; he -had, indeed, now only a few cities, such as Oxford, Bristol, Exeter, -and Winchester, besides that in which he lay.</p> - -<p>The Marquess of Newcastle, that faithful soldier and loyal subject, and -many faithful Cavaliers and a small loyalist garrison were with him; -they were not under any immediate fear of an attack, because Fairfax -and Cromwell were harrying Goring and Hopton in the south, and the -Parliamentary force in the north was occupied with Montrose.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Wales had followed his mother to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> Hague and then to -Paris; the other sons, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, remained in -St. James's Palace, together with the younger children. This safety of -his wife and his heir gave the King a certain comfort and ease in his -mind, and the long, idle autumn days did not pass unpleasantly in the -beleaguered city for one whose delight was in dreams and repose and a -retired leisure.</p> - -<p>His soul was indeed sunk in melancholy, but it was a gentle sadness; -and the quiet of the moment, the sunny days in the old castle and -garden did not fail to touch with peace a soul so sensitive to -surroundings.</p> - -<p>He told Lord Digby, my Lord of Bristol's son (that nobleman having fled -to Paris), that if he could not live like a king he could always die -like a gentleman; no one, not the most insulting, crop-eared ruffian -of them all, could take that privilege from him. So, too, he wrote to -the Queen in reply to her letters, which always advised uncompromising -courses and exhorted him not to give way on any single point in -reality, though she said it might be well to yield in appearance.</p> - -<p>Charles needed no such advice; he was calmly and patiently resolved -to go to ruin on the question of episcopacy and his divine right -rather than yield a tittle, and this was not any the less true that -few believed it of him. Almost the entire country, including the -Parliamentary leaders, thought that now the King was cornered he would -make terms: their only concern was to find guarantees to make him keep -these terms when made.</p> - -<p>To some, in whom he put perfect trust, the King revealed his mind. Thus -he had written to Rupert at Bristol: "Speaking as a mere soldier or -statesman, I must say that there is no probability but of my ruin.</p> - -<p>"But, speaking as a Christian, I must tell you that God will not suffer -rebels and traitors to prosper or this cause to be overthrown. And -whatever personal punishment it shall please Him to inflict on me must -not make me repine, much less give over this quarrel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Indeed, I cannot flatter myself with expectations of good success more -than this, to end my days with honour and a good conscience, which -obliges me to continue my endeavours, as not despairing that God may in -due time avenge His own cause.</p> - -<p>"Though I must avow to all my friends—that he who will stay with me -at this time must expect and resolve either to die for a good cause or -(which is worse) to live as miserable in maintaining it as the violence -of insulting rebels can make it."</p> - -<p>As for the King's future plans, they were vague, uncertain, and waited -on events. Every General in arms for him—Rupert, Goring, Hapton, -Montrose—fought on their own, with no other guidance than what their -talents and circumstances might give them, and Charles might either -join the one of them who was most successful or return to Oxford, -which had been for nearly three years his headquarters. He was not -without hopes that the energies of the Queen might land another army in -England, either Frenchmen supplied by her brother or Dutchmen sent by -his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange.</p> - -<p>He had some encouragement, too, to believe that the Scots, who disliked -Independency almost as much as Prelacy, might yet be detached from -their alliance with the Parliament. It was known that they did not -love Cromwell nor he them, and the more that he gained in importance -the more their ardour for the cause he represented cooled. It was said -that they had even viewed the defeat of the malignants at Naseby with -a cold and dubious eye, as they considered the discomfiture of the -royalists quite balanced by the triumph of the Sectarists, Schismists, -and Anabaptists who composed Cromwell's Ironsides.</p> - -<p>Charles, therefore, nourished some fantastic hope that by deluding -the Scots into thinking he would take the Covenant that was their -shibboleth, he might altogether detach them from his enemies. It was a -subtle and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> difficult piece of policy, and could only be accomplished -by those intrigues which had so often damaged the King before; but -Charles dallied with the idea, while he waited for the news of a -victory from Montrose which would put Scotland in a more submissive -attitude.</p> - -<p>The middle of September came, and there was no message from the -Marquess. Charles soothed himself with memories of the Graeme's -victories at Aberdeen, Perth, Inverlochy, and Kilsyth, and whiled away -the time with reading, meditation, and the elegant companionship of the -cultured and poetical Newcastle and the fantastical and brilliant Digby.</p> - -<p>These two were with the King in the garden of the house, or castle, -where he lodged in the afternoon of one lovely day when the sun sent a -bloom of gold over the majestic scenery and glittered in the stately -windings of the Trent.</p> - -<p>The talk fell on the Marquess of Winchester, who had so long held -Basing against the Parliament that the Cavaliers had come to call it -Loyalty House and the Puritans to curse it as a cesspool of Satan or -outpost of hell.</p> - -<p>"I would that my noble lord was here," said Charles, with feeling.</p> - -<p>"He doth better service to Your Majesty," returned Lord George Digby, -"in defying the rebels from Basing House."</p> - -<p>"But how long can he defy them?" asked the King. "Can a mere mansion -withstand the onslaughts of an army? Nay," he added, in a melancholy -tone, stooping to pat the white boarhound which walked beside him, "my -Lord Winchester will be ruined like all my friends, and Loyalty House -will be but burnt walls blackened beneath the skies, even as so many -others which have been besieged and beleaguered by the rebels."</p> - -<p>"Speak words of good omen, sir," said Newcastle, who had himself staked -(and lost, it seemed) the whole of a princely fortune on the royal -cause. "Methought that to-day you did have a more cheerful spirit and a -more uplifted heart."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Alas!" replied Charles. "I hope on this, on that, I trust in God, I -believe that my own fate is in my own hands, and that I can make it -dignified or mean as I will; but when I consider those who are ruined -for me, then, I do confess, I have no strength but to weep and no -desire but to mourn."</p> - -<p>"Sir," said the Marquess, much moved, "Your Majesty's misfortunes but -endear you the more to us; and as for any inconveniences or losses we -may have suffered, what are they compared to the joy of being of even a -little service to your sacred cause? Sir, the rebels may wax strong and -successful, but believe me there are still thousands of gentlemen in -England who would gladly lay down their lives for you."</p> - -<p>"I do believe it, Newcastle," answered the King affectionately, "and -therefore I am sad that I must see those suffer whom I would protect -and reward."</p> - -<p>They had now, in their leisurely walking, reached a portion of the -garden laid out on some of the old disused fortifications of the -castle, and looking towards the town.</p> - -<p>The ancient earthworks and moat had been planted with grass and trees, -and sloped to a shady park full of deer which stretched to the walls of -the city.</p> - -<p>The castle being upon gently rising ground, Charles and his companions, -on leaving that part of the garden which was walled in, came upon a -scene that was perfect in English fairness.</p> - -<p>It had been a wet summer, and grass and trees were not yet dried or -faded; an exquisite sweep of verdure filled the moat, and beyond the -emerald lawns of the deer park rested, half in the shadow of majestic -elms and oaks and half in the soft light of the sun striking open -glades. Beyond was the strongly fortified town; towers, gables, roofs, -and spires, interspersed with trees, shimmered in the ineffable glow of -autumn, and between them rolled the golden length of the Trent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> - -<p>The castle, which stood as an outpost to the town, was grimly fortified -at the base, and the walls of Newark held cannon and soldiery; but none -of this was visible to the three on the old ramparts. The scene was one -of perfect peace, of that peculiar rich and tender beauty which seems -only possible to England, and which not even civil war had here been -able to destroy.</p> - -<p>The King seated himself on a bench which stood against one of the -buttresses of the castle, the white dog gravely placed himself at his -feet, while the two Cavaliers remained standing. The three figures, -aristocratic, finely dressed, at once graceful and careless, well -fitted the scene.</p> - -<p>The King, though worn and haggard, was still a person eminently -pleasing to the eye; the Marquess, a little past the meridian of life, -was yet notable for his splendid presence; and Lord Digby, at once a -philosopher and a courtier, set out a handsome appearance with rich -clothes, both gorgeous and tasteful.</p> - -<p>Charles, after being sunk for some minutes in contemplation of the -prospect below him, turned to Newcastle with a smile both tender and -whimsical.</p> - -<p>"The Queen writes me, my lord," he said, "that there is a certain -gentlewoman with her in Paris who often discourseth of your -excellencies. Have you any knowledge of whom this lady can be?"</p> - -<p>The Marquess flushed at this unexpected allusion, and his right hand -played nervously at his embroidered sword band.</p> - -<p>"I only know one lady in Her Majesty's service," he smiled, "and she is -scarce like to flatter me or any man, being most cold, most shy. Sir, -it is Margaret Lucas, and I met her when she was attending the Queen at -Oxford."</p> - -<p>"It is Margaret Lucas that I speak of," replied Charles. "Dear -Marquess, I think her a very noble lady. Will you not write to her in -Paris and console her exile?"</p> - -<p>The Marquess answered with a firm sadness—</p> - -<p>"If Mrs. Lucas would accept of me I would take her for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> my wife. But -these are not the times to think of such toys as courtships."</p> - -<p>"Ah, my lord," said Charles earnestly, "a true and loyal love shall -console thee in any times. What adversity is there a faithful woman -cannot soften? Whatever be before thee, take, whilst thou may, this -gentlewoman's love—thy sacrifices would not so vex my soul if I could -see thee with a gentle wife."</p> - -<p>He sighed as he finished, his thoughts perhaps turning to the one deep -passion of his own life—the Queen—now so far away and so divided from -him by dangers and difficulties. When would he again behold her in her -rich chamber singing at her spinet, with roses at her bosom and her -dark eyes flashing with love and joy? When again would he behold her -among her court at Whitehall, honoured and obeyed? When again take her -hand and look into her dear, dear face?... Were these days indeed over -for ever, to be numbered now with dead things?...</p> - -<p>He rose with a sharp exclamation under his breath: these reflections -were indeed intolerable.</p> - -<p>"Ah," he said impatiently, "this dearth of news is bitter to the -spirit. I sometimes think it would be well to gather my faithful -remnant round me and make a sortie into Scotland to join my Lord -Montrose."</p> - -<p>This was quite to the taste of the two noblemen, who were also tired -of Newark, and Lord Digby, for whom no scheme was too fantastic, began -to discourse on the advantages of the King's sudden appearance in the -Highlands.</p> - -<p>But the mood of Charles quickly changed; his resignation and melancholy -returned.</p> - -<p>"Nay," he said, "I must better the Scots by wits, not force. What -would it avail to fall into the hands of the cunning Argyll and his -Covenanters, and give the squinting Campbell the pleasure of making us -prisoner?"</p> - -<p>The Cavaliers were silent, and the three began to slowly continue their -walk round the old ramparts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Methinks this might be the garden of the Hesperides," said Newcastle -presently. "See how bright the gilded light falleth, how gently move -the dappled deer, and how softly all the little leaves quiver. And all -the young clouds that come abroad are soft as a lady's veil."</p> - -<p>"It were good to die in such a place, at such an hour, if God gave us -any choice," said Charles. "For one could think, in such a moment, that -it was well to leave all sordid things and let the soul leap into the -sunset sky as gladly as the body leapeth in cool water on a dusty day. -But we must live and endure bloody times—and may the angels give us -constancy!"</p> - -<p>As he spoke he idly turned and saw, coming towards him, one of the -gentlemen of his bedchamber.</p> - -<p>He stood still.</p> - -<p>"This is some news," he said. "Go forward, my lord,"—touching Lord -Digby on the arm—"and ask."</p> - -<p>He had become notably pale, and he looked down at the roses on his -shoes and put his hand to his side as the two gentlemen came up to him.</p> - -<p>Momentous news had arrived at last: one of Rupert's troopers had -brought a dispatch from that Prince, and within a few minutes of him -had come a Captain of some Irish who had been with Montrose.</p> - -<p>He brought no dispatch; he had made his way with danger, difficulty, -and great delay from Scotland. His news was put in a few words, but -they were words which Lord Digby could scarcely stammer to the pale -King.</p> - -<p>"There is news come, sir—that David Leslie——"</p> - -<p>"A battle," asked Charles, swiftly looking up. "There hath been a -battle?"</p> - -<p>"Alas! Your Majesty must speak with this Captain of Irish yourself," -said the gentleman, in dismay. "He saith Leslie fell on the noble -Marquess near Selkirk, and did utterly defeat and overwhelm him; it was -at Philiphaugh, sir—and all the Scottish clans were broken and the -Marquess is fled."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - -<p>Newcastle gave an exclamation of bitter grief and rage. Charles stood -silent a full minute, then said in a low voice—</p> - -<p>"The Marquess is not taken?"</p> - -<p>"Not that this Captain knoweth——"</p> - -<p>"Then we have some mercy," said the King, with a proud tenderness -infinitely winning. "My dear lord, what bitterness is thine to-day! -Alas! Alas!"</p> - -<p>Digby, with tears in his eyes, took the dispatch and gave it to -the King, hoping that it might contain news that would soften the -bitterness of Montrose's overthrow.</p> - -<p>But for a while the King, struggling with his stinging disappointment -and mortification, could not read, and when he did break the seals it -was with a distracted air.</p> - -<p>The very heading of the paper brought the hot blood to his pallid -cheeks: it was not "Bristol," but "Oxford."</p> - -<p>The Prince wrote laconically to say he had surrendered Bristol to -Fairfax and Cromwell, and had gone under parliamentary convoy to Oxford.</p> - -<p>When the King had read the letter he stared round upon his gentlemen.</p> - -<p>"Is this my sister's son," he cried, with quivering lips, "or a -hireling Captain? Was this my own blood did this thing? Rupert whom I -trusted?"</p> - -<p>None of them dare speak. Charles was so white that they feared that he -would fall in a fit or swoon.</p> - -<p>"My city, my loyal city!" he muttered; then he cast the Prince's letter -on to the grass, as if it soiled his fingers, and turned slowly away. -He had the look of a broken man.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VII<br /> - -LOYALTY HOUSE</h2> - - -<p>Soon after Bristol surrendered, Winchester, that other loyal city, -fell. Leicester, so lately taken from the Parliament, was by them -recaptured soon after Naseby. Nearly twenty fortified houses had been -taken this year. Goring's troopers were dispersed. Rupert and his -brother had, in spite of all denials, followed the King to Newark: -Rupert in high disgrace, deprived of his commissions, and ordered -abroad, yet staying and endeavouring to justify himself to his outraged -kinsman, succeeding somewhat, yet still in the unhappy King's deep -displeasure, and hardly any longer to be considered as His Majesty's -Commander of Horse, whether or no he held a commission, since His -Majesty had no longer an army for any one to general.</p> - -<p>In Scotland Montrose had fled to the Orkneys. Argyll and the -Conventiclers were triumphant and biding their chance to make a -bargain either with King or Independents, according as circumstances -might shape themselves, or as either party might be ready to take the -Covenant.</p> - -<p>What, indeed, could the King hope for now but for some division -among his enemies, or that the shadowy army of Dutch, Lorrainers, or -Frenchmen should at last materialize and descend upon the coasts of -Britain.</p> - -<p>Ireland, in a welter of bloody confusion, was a broken reed to lean on. -Ormonde, working loyally there, had too many odds against him, and was -no more to be relied on than Montrose, who had paid a bitter price for -his loyalty and his gallant daring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was in the October of this year which had meant such bitter ruin -to the King's party that the Lieutenant-General of the parliamentary -army, returning from the capture of Winchester, set his face towards -Hampshire, where, at Basingstoke, stood Basing House, the mansion -of the King's friend, the Marquess of Winchester, which had stood -siege for four years, and was a standing defiance and menace to the -Parliamentarians and a great hindrance to the trade of London with the -West, for the Cavaliers would make sorties on all who came or went and -capture all provisions which were taken past.</p> - -<p>Cromwell had at first intended to storm Dennington Castle at Newbury, -another fortified residence which had long annoyed the Puritans; but -Fairfax decided otherwise, believing that nothing could so hearten and -encourage the Parliament as the capture of that redoubtable stronghold, -Basing House.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, Cromwell, gathering together all the available artillery, -turned in good earnest towards Basing, from whence so many had fallen -back discomfited.</p> - -<p>"But now the Lord is with us," said General Cromwell. "We have smitten -the Amalekite at Bristol and Winchester, and shall he continue to -defy us at Basing? Rather shall they and theirs be offered up as a -sweet-smelling sacrifice to the Lord."</p> - -<p>It was in the middle of the night of 13th October that the -Parliamentarians surrounded Basing House.</p> - -<p>Then, while the batteries were being placed and Dalbier, the Dutchman -from whom Cromwell had first learnt the rudiments of the art of war, -Colonel Pickering, Sir Hardress Waller, and Colonel Montague were -taking up their positions, the Lieutenant-General, who had already been -in prayer for much of the night, gave out to his brigade that he rested -on the 115th Psalm, considering that those they were about to fight -were of the Old Serpent brood, to be fallen upon and slain even as -Cosbi and Timri were slain by Phineas—to be put to the sword even as -Samuel put Agag to the sword.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> - -<p>Colonel Pickering chose for his text, "I will arise against the house -of Jeroboam with the sword," and on that propounded a discourse to his -troopers as they were getting the sakers and culverins into position; -but Cromwell put his faith in the aforesaid psalm.</p> - -<p>"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for -Thy mercy and Thy truth's sake.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Our God is -in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.</p> - -<p>"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.... <i>They -that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in -them.</i>"</p> - -<p>With these words in his mind, Lieutenant-General Cromwell gave the -order, near towards six of the autumn morning, for the attack.</p> - -<p>All night the great lordly House, which had so long stood unscathed, -had been silent among its courts, lights showing at the windows and -above the Stewart standard floating lazily in the night breeze. There -were two buildings—the Old House, which had stood, the seat of the -Romanist Pawlets, for three hundred years, a fine and splendid mansion, -turreted and towered after the manner of the Middle Ages, and before -that the New House, built by later descendants of this magnificent -family in the modern style of princely show and comfort, both -surrounded by fortifications and works, a mile in circumference, and -well armed with pieces of cannon.</p> - -<p>As the sun strengthened above the autumn landscape, the steel of morion -and breastplate could be discerned on the ramparts and the colour of an -officer's cloak as he went from post to post giving orders: these were -the only signs that the besieged were aware of the great number and -near approach of the Parliamentarians.</p> - -<p>Soon after six, the dawnlight now being steady, and the attacking -parties being set in order—Dalbier near the Grange, next him Sir -Hardress Waller and Montague; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> on his left Colonel Pickering—the -agreed-upon signal, the firing of four of the cannon, being given, the -Lieutenant-General and his regiments stormed Basing House.</p> - -<p>A quick fire was instantly returned, and the steel morions and coloured -cloaks might be seen hastening hither and thither upon the walls and -works, and a certain shout of defiance arose from them (it was known -that they made a boast of having so often foiled the rebels as they -termed them, and that they believed this bit of ground would defy them -even when great cities fell), which the Puritans replied to not at all, -but directed a full and incessant fire, as much as two hundred shots -at a time at a given point in the wall, which, unable to withstand so -fierce an attack, fell in, and allowed Sir Hardress Waller to lead -his men through the breach and right on the great culverins of the -Cavaliers, which were set about their court guard. They, however, -with extraordinary courage and resolution, beat back the invader and -recovered their cannon; but, Colonel Montague coming up, they were -overpowered again by sheer numbers, and the Puritans flowed across the -works to the New House, bringing with them their scaling ladders. There -was another bitter and desperate struggle, the Cavaliers sallying out -and only yielding the blood-stained ground inch by inch as they were -driven back by the point of the pike on the nozzle of the musket.</p> - -<p>Dalbier and Cromwell in person had now stormed at another point; the -air was horrid with fire-balls, the whiz of bullets, the rank smoke -of the cannon, the shrieks and cries that began to issue from the New -House at the very walls of which the fight was now expending its force, -like waves of the sea dashed against a great rock.</p> - -<p>Not once, nor twice, but again and again did the stout-hearted -defenders, in all their pomp of velvet and silk, plume and steel, -repulse their foes; again and again the colours of my Lord Marquess, -bearing his own motto, "<i>Aymer loyaulte</i>," and a Latin one taken from -King Charles' coronation money, "<i>Donec pax<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> redeat terris</i>," surged -forth into the thickest of the combat, were borne back, and then -struggled forward, tattered and stained with smoke.</p> - -<p>But the hour of Loyalty House had come; the proud and dauntless -Cavalier, whose loyalty had endured foul as well as fair weather, had -now come to the end of his resistance to his master's enemies.</p> - -<p>Nothing human could long withstand the rush forward of the Ironsides.</p> - -<p>Colonel Pickering passed through the New House and got to the very gate -of the Old House.</p> - -<p>Seeing his defences so utterly broken down and his first rampart and -mansion gone, the desperate Marquess was wishful to summon a parley, -and sent an officer to wave a white cravat from one of the turrets with -that purpose.</p> - -<p>But the Puritans would listen to no parley.</p> - -<p>"No dealings with this nest of Popery!" cried Colonel Pickering, whose -zeal was further inflamed by the sight of a popish priest who was -admonishing and encouraging the besieged.</p> - -<p>After this the Cavaliers fell to it again with the sword, keeping up an -incredible resistance, and all the works and the courtyards, the fair -gardens, walks, orchards, and enclosed lands, the pleasances and alleys -laid out by my lord with great taste after the French model were one -bloody waste of destruction; sword smiting sword, gun replying to gun, -men pressing forward, being borne back, calling on their God, sinking -to their death, trampled under foot; the air all murky with smoke, the -lovely garden torn up and in part burning from fire-balls, the wall -of the noble House pierced by cannon-shot, the shrieks of women and -the curses of men uprising, the colours of my lord ever bravely aloft -until he who held them sank down in the press with a sigh, while his -life ran out from many wounds, and the banner of loyalty was snatched -by a trooper of Pickering's and flaunted in triumph above the advancing -Parliamentarians.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> - -<p>At this sight a deep moan burst from the House and dolorous cries -issued from every window, as if the great mansion was alive and -lamented its fate pressing so near.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant-General Cromwell was now at the very gates of the inner -house, and these were, without much ado, burst open. The Cavaliers, -pressed upon by multitudes and broken at the sword's point, fell -back, mostly dying men, in the great hall; and on the great staircase -were some, notably my Lord Marquess himself, who still made a hot -resistance, as men who had nothing but death before them and meant to -spend the little while left them in action.</p> - -<p>From the upper floors might be heard the running to and fro of women -and servants, the calling of directions, and the gasping of prayers, -while from without the cannon still rattled and smoke and fire belched -through the broken walls.</p> - -<p>At last, my lord being driven up into his own chambers, and those about -him slain, Major Harrison sprang to the first landing and called upon -all to surrender; upon which eight or nine gentlewomen, wives of the -officers, came running forth together and were made prisoners.</p> - -<p>Major Harrison pushed into the nearest chamber, which was most -magnificently hung with tapestries and furnished in oak and Spanish -leather—a great spacious room with candlesticks of gold and lamps of -crystal, brocaded cushions, and Eastern carpets—and there stood three -people, one Major Cuffe, a notable Papist, one Robinson, a player of my -lord's, and a gentlewoman, the daughter of Doctor Griffiths, who was in -attendance on the garrison.</p> - -<p>These three stood together warily, watching the door, and when the -godly Harrison and his troopers burst in they drew a little together, -the soldier before the others. Harrison called on him curtly to -surrender, and named him popish dog, at which the Cavalier came at him -with a tuck<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> sword that was broken in the blade, and with this poor -weapon defended those who were weaponless.</p> - -<p>But Harrison gave him sundry sore cuts that disarmed him, and, his -blood running out on the waxed floor, he slipped in it and so fell, and -was slain by Harrison's own sword through the point of his cuirass at -the armpit.</p> - -<p>Thereupon they called on the play-actor and the lady to surrender. She -made no reply at all, but stared at the haggled corpse of Major Cuffe, -twisting her hands in her flowered laycock apron.</p> - -<p>And the player put a chair in front of him and turned a mocking eye -upon the Puritans.</p> - -<p>"I have had my jest of you many a time," he said, "and if I had lived I -had jested still—but I choose rather to die with those who maintained -me——"</p> - -<p>Here Harrison interrupted.</p> - -<p>"This is no gentleman, but a lewd fellow of Drury Lane."</p> - -<p>He was dragged from behind the chair.</p> - -<p>"I have been in many a comedy," he cried, "but now I play my own -tragedy!"</p> - -<p>Him they dispatched with a double-edged sword, and cast him down; he -fell without a groan, yet strangely murmured, "Amen."</p> - -<p>Major Harrison, with his bloody weapon in his hand, swept across the -chamber through the farther entrance into the next, and his soldiers -after him.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Griffiths now woke from her stupor of dismay and rushed from one -body to another as they lay yet warm at her feet.</p> - -<p>And when she found that they who had lately been speaking to her were -hideously dead, and her hands all blooded with the touching of them, -she turned and cursed the soldiery in her agony.</p> - -<p>"Silence! thou railing woman!" one of them cried.</p> - -<p>She seized one of the empty pistols from the window-seat and struck at -the man.</p> - -<p>"God's Mother avenge us!" she shrieked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> - -<p>The fellow, still in the heat of slaughter, hurled her down.</p> - -<p>"Spawn of the scarlet woman!" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>She got up to her knees, her head-dress fallen and her face deformed.</p> - -<p>"Thrice damned heretic!" she said. "Thou shalt be thrust into the -deepest pit——"</p> - -<p>"Stop her mouth!" cried another, coming up; he gave her an ugly name, -and hit her with his arquebus.</p> - -<p>She fell down again, but continued her reproaches and railing, till -they made an end, one firing a pistol at her at close range, the ball -thereof mercifully killing her, so that she lay prone with her two -companions.</p> - -<p>After this the soldiers joined Major Harrison, whom they found -with Lieutenant-General Cromwell at the end of this noble suite of -apartments, having there at last brought to bay the indomitable lord -of this famous and wealthy mansion, the puissant prince, John Pawlet, -Marquess of Winchester.</p> - -<p>The place where this gentleman faced his enemies was the chapel of his -faith, pompous and glorious with every circumstance of art and wealth.</p> - -<p>Windows of jewel-like glass transmitted the October sunshine in floods -of softly coloured light; the walls were of Italian marble, curiously -inlaid; on the altar blazed, in full pride, an image of the Virgin, the -height of a man and crowned with gems; a silk carpet covered the altar -steps, and cushions of velvet were scattered over the mosaic floor.</p> - -<p>In front of the altar lay a dead priest; the violet glow from the -east window stained his old shrunken features, and beside him on the -topmost step stood the Marquess; above the altar and the Virgin hung a -beautiful picture brought from Italy at great expense by my lord, and -showing a saint singing between some others—all most richly done; and -this and the statue was the background for my lord.</p> - -<p>He had his sword in his hand—a French rapier—water-waved in gold—and -he wore a buff coat embroidered in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> silk and silver, and Spanish -breeches with a fringe, and soft boots, but no manner of armour. He was -bareheaded; his hair, carefully trained into curls after the manner of -the Court, framed a face white as a wall; one lock fell, in the fashion -so abhorred by the Puritans, longer than the rest over his breast, and -was tied with a small gold ribbon.</p> - -<p>"Truly," said Major Harrison exultingly, "the Lord of Israel hath given -strength and power to His people! 'As for the transgressors, they shall -perish together; and the end of the ungodly is, they shall be rooted -out at the last!'"</p> - -<p>Then Lieutenant Cromwell demanded my lord's sword.</p> - -<p>"The King did give me this blade, and to him alone will I return it," -replied the Marquess.</p> - -<p>"Proud man!" cried Cromwell. "Dost thou still vaunt thyself when God -hath delivered thee, by His great mercy, into our hands?"</p> - -<p>He turned to the soldiers.</p> - -<p>"Take this malignant prisoner and cast down these idolatrous shows and -images—for what told I ye this morning? '<i>They that make them are like -unto them</i>, so is every one who <i>trusteth in them</i>'—the which saying -is now accomplished."</p> - -<p>When the Marquess saw the soldiers advancing upon him, he broke his -light, small sword across his knee and cast it down beside the dead -priest.</p> - -<p>"Though my faith and my sword lie low," he said, "yet in a better day -they will arise."</p> - -<p>"Cherish not vain hopes, Papist," cried Harrison, "but recant thine -errors that have led thee to this disaster."</p> - -<p>At this, Mr. Hugh Peters, the teacher, who had newly entered the -chapel, spoke.</p> - -<p>"Dost thou still so flourish? When the Lord hath been pleased in a few -hours to show thee what mortal seed earthly glory groweth upon?—and -how He, taking sinners in their own snares, lifteth up the heads of His -despised people?"</p> - -<p>The Marquess turned his back on Mr. Peters, and when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the soldiers -took hold of him and led him before the Lieutenant-General, he came -unresisting, but in a silence more bitter than speech.</p> - -<p>Cromwell spoke to him with a courtesy which seemed gentleness compared -to the harshness of the others.</p> - -<p>"My lord," he said, "for your obstinate adherence to a mistaken cause I -must send you to London, a prisoner to the Parliament. God soften your -heart and teach you the great peril your soul doth stand in."</p> - -<p>Lord Winchester smiled at him in utter disdain, and turned his head -away, still silent.</p> - -<p>Now Colonel Pickering came in and told Cromwell that above three -hundred prisoners had been taken, and that Basing was wholly theirs, -including the Grange or farm where they had found sufficient provisions -to last for a year or more and great store of ammunition and guns.</p> - -<p>"The Lord grant," said the Lieutenant-General, "that these mercies be -acknowledged with exceeding thankfulness."</p> - -<p>And thereupon he gave orders for the chapel to be destroyed.</p> - -<p>"And I will see it utterly slighted and cast down," he said, "even as -Moses saw the golden calf cast down and broken."</p> - -<p>The soldiers needed little encouragement, being already inflamed with -zeal and the sight of the exceeding rich plunder, for never, since the -war began, had they made booty of a place as splendid as Basing.</p> - -<p>Major Harrison with his musket hurled over the image of the Virgin on -the altar, and his followers made spoil of the golden vessels, the -embroidered copes, stoles, and cloths, the cushions and carpets.</p> - -<p>The altar-painting was ripped from end to end by a halbert, slashed -across, and torn till it hung in a few ribbons of canvas; the gorgeous -glass in the windows was smashed, the leading, as the only thing of -value, dragged away, the marble carvings were chipped and broken, the -mosaic walls defaced by blows from muskets and pikes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> - -<p>After five minutes of this fury the chapel was a hideous havoc, and the -Marquess could not restrain a passionate exclamation.</p> - -<p>Cromwell turned to him.</p> - -<p>"We destroy wood and stone and the articles of a licentious worship," -he said, "but you have destroyed flesh and blood. To-day you shall see -many popish books burnt—but at Smithfield it was human bodies."</p> - -<p>The Marquess made no reply, nor would he look at the speaker, and they -led him away through his desolated house.</p> - -<p>Wild scenes of plunder were now taking place; clothes, hangings, plate, -jewels were seized upon, the iron was being wrenched from the windows, -the lead from the roof; what the soldiers could not remove they -destroyed; one wing of the house was alight with fierce fire, and into -these flames was flung all that savoured of Popery; from the Grange, -wheat, bacon, cheese, beef, pork, and oatmeal were being carried away -in huge quantities; amid all the din and confusion came the cries for -quarter of some of the baser sort who had taken refuge in the cellars, -and divers groans from those of the wounded who lay unnoticed under -fallen rubbish and in obscure corners.</p> - -<p>Cromwell gave orders to stop the fire as much as might be, for, he -said, these chairs, stools, and this household stuff will sell for a -good price.</p> - -<p>The pay of his soldiers was greatly in arrears, and he was glad to have -this pillage to give them.</p> - -<p>"It will be," he remarked, "a good encouragement—for the labourer is -worthy of his hire, and who goeth to warfare at his own cost?"</p> - -<p>He and his officers, together with the Marquess and several other -prisoners, now came (in the course of their leaving of the House) on -the bedchamber of my lord, which caused the Puritans to gape with -amaze, so rich beyond imaginings was this room, especially the bed, -with great coverings of embroidered silk and velvet and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> mighty -canopy bearing my lord's arms, all sparkling with bullion as was the -tapestry on the walls.</p> - -<p>Some soldiers were busy here, plundering my lord's clothes, and others -were fighting over bags of silver, and the crown-pieces were scattered -all over the silk rugs.</p> - -<p>Then Mr. Peters, who had been arguing with my lord on his sinful -idolatrous ways, pressed home his advantage and pointed to the disaster -about him and asked the Marquess if he did not plainly see the hand of -God was against him?</p> - -<p>Lord Winchester, who had hitherto been silent, now broke out.</p> - -<p>"If the King had had no more ground in England than Basing House, I -would have adventured as I did and maintained it to the uttermost!"</p> - -<p>"Art so stubborn," cried Mr. Peters, "when all is taken from thee?"</p> - -<p>"Ay," said the Marquess, "Loyalty House this was called, and in that I -take comfort, hoping His Majesty may have his day again. As for me, I -have done what I could; and though this hour be as death, yet I would -sooner be as I am than as thou art!"</p> - -<p>And he said this with such sharp scorn and with an air so princely (as -became his noble breeding) that Hugh Peters was for awhile silenced.</p> - -<p>But Oliver Cromwell said, "Thou must say thy say at Westminster."</p> - -<p>And so fell Basing in full pride.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -THE KING'S FOLLY</h2> - - -<p>Lieutenant-General Cromwell lay encamped outside Oxford; Chester had -lately fallen, and Gloucester, and when the Parliamentarians took -Oxford, as they must certainly soon take it, the King would have not a -foot of ground left in England.</p> - -<p>The King was in Oxford; he had gone from Newark to Wales, he had -wandered awhile with such scattered forces as were left him with Rupert -and Maurice, and then he had returned once more to the faithful, loyal -city that might continue to be both faithful and loyal, but could not -much longer resist the enemy that was ever pressing closer round her -grey walls.</p> - -<p>It was April. "We must end the war this year," Cromwell said. The -people expected a peace and a settlement from the Parliament; the only -question now in the minds of the leaders was, what peace and settlement -would the King make, and keep, now he was fairly beaten?</p> - -<p>This question was foremost night and day in the mind of General -Cromwell.</p> - -<p>This day, towards the end of April, he sat in his tent outside the -beleaguered city, smoking a pipeful of Virginian tobacco and gazing out -at the spring landscape and the near encampment of the Parliamentarian -army, which was illumined by the dubious light of a misty moon.</p> - -<p>Two companions were with him—Henry Ireton, who was to wed Bridget -Cromwell at the conclusion of the war, and Major Harrison, a soldier -not so entirely to the Lieutenant-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>General's liking as his prospective -son-in-law, still, a deeply religious man and dauntless soldier, if too -strongly tinged with that fanaticism which was now the mainspring of -the new model army.</p> - -<p>A discussion which involved some difference of opinion was taking place -between the three Puritans; Cromwell, who was one against two, was much -more silent than his wont, for it was usual for him to speak at great -length, with many illustrations of his meaning (which served, however, -as much for confusing his purpose as for enlightening it, and had -already got him the name of dissembler among his opponents) and great -fervour and enthusiasm; he could never be called taciturn, but to-night -he was silent with a kind of dumbness as if one of his melancholies -were on him, whereas Harrison and Ireton expounded their case with much -rigour and eloquence.</p> - -<p>And their case was that the King was utterly and entirely not to be -trusted, and that any pact or bargain made with him would be a useless -thing, not worth the sheepskin it was written upon.</p> - -<p>"As witness," said Major Harrison, "his solemn protestation to the -Commons that he loved them as his own children, and a few days after -his coming down to the House and claiming the five—as witness his -promises and false oaths to Parliament which his papers taken at Naseby -did show he never meant to keep, but was the while trying to bring -over Lorrainers to cut our throats—and what of this last business in -Ireland when he sent Lord Glamorgan over to stir up the Irish Papists, -and then, when the scheme was discovered, forsook my lord and utterly -denied him and the Papists too?"</p> - -<p>"As he forsook Strafford," added Ireton. "That deed alone would have -spoilt the credit of a private man, and to my thinking spoils the -credit of a king too."</p> - -<p>"He tried to save him," said Cromwell briefly.</p> - -<p>"Nay, his lady, being Sir Denzil Holles' sister, was the one who made -the effort for the reprieve, as I know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> from Sir Denzil," replied -Ireton; "the King shook him off like an old cloak, as he would shake -off any friend he thought was likely to be hurtful to him."</p> - -<p>Harrison took up the theme with the greater vehemence of his low origin -and coarse training, for though his noble appearance and military -appointments gave him some of the appearance of that equality with his -fellow-officers which he claimed by reason of his military rank, still, -when he spoke, it was obvious that neither the levelling of war nor -religion could do away with the distinctions of birth and education; -Cromwell and Ireton were as clearly gentlemen as Harrison, the son of a -butcher, was clearly not.</p> - -<p>"What is dealing with the King but trafficking with Egypt," he -concluded his peroration, "and setting up a covenant with the powers -of darkness? Can good come from tinkling with such as Charles Stewart? -Nay, rather a curse upon the land."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell took the pipe out of his mouth; he sat near the -entrance to the tent, and the feeble moonlight was full over his rugged -profile.</p> - -<p>The one oil-lamp had burnt out, and the three soldiers either had not -noticed, or were indifferent to the fact, that they were sitting in the -half-dark.</p> - -<p>"Shallow and frivolous he may be, nay, hath been proved to be," said -Cromwell slowly. "<i>But he is the King.</i> Major Harrison, those words are -as a tower of strength, as a wand of enchantment—there is the weight -of seven hundred years or more to support them—and Charles, without -one soldier, means more to England than you or I could ever mean were -we backed by millions."</p> - -<p>"During those seven hundred years you speak of," replied Harrison -grimly, "there have been kings so detestable that means have been found -to put them off their thrones. The thing is not without precedence."</p> - -<p>"Nay, surely," said the Lieutenant-General gently;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> "but in the wars -and quarrels of which you speak some rival prince was always there -to take his kinsman's place. This is not a dispute among kings and -nobles, but an uprising of the people for their liberty to force the -King to grant them their just demands—therefore, the case is without -precedent."</p> - -<p>"And what, sir, do you deduct from that?" asked Henry Ireton.</p> - -<p>"Why, that if we put the King down there is no one to set in his place. -The Prince of Wales hath gone abroad to the French Court and a papist -mother; the King's nephew, the Elector Charles Louis, who was flattered -with some hopes of the succession, is a silly choice; the King's other -sons are children, Rupert and Maurice are free lances—and which of -these, were he ever so desirable, would be accepted by the nation while -the King lives?"</p> - -<p>There was a little pause, and then Harrison said boldly—</p> - -<p>"Why need we a king at all?"</p> - -<p>"It is a good form of government," replied Cromwell, "and I believe -the only one the English will take. If you have no king you may have a -worse thing—every shallow pate faction casts to the top seizing the -direction of affairs. It was never the design of any of us," he added, -"to depose the King when we took up arms."</p> - -<p>"Nay," admitted Ireton, "the design was to bring him to reason, but -how may that be done when we deal with one who knows not the name of -reason?"</p> - -<p>"Now," said the Lieutenant-General, "he has no power to be false. Nor -will the Parliament ever again be as defenceless as it was when he was -last at Whitehall."</p> - -<p>"Then," put in Ireton shrewdly, "if you offer terms to the King which -leave the power of the sword with the Parliament, you offer what he, -even in his utmost extremity, will not accept."</p> - -<p>"We have had no experience of what he will do in extremity," replied -Cromwell, "since he has never come to it till now."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But has he not," cried Harrison, "always refused to give up what he -terms his rights? Did he not contemptuously reject the Uxbridge Treaty?"</p> - -<p>"As any man might have guessed he would," replied Cromwell dryly; he -had been no party to the folly of the Presbyterians in asking the King -to accept these impossible conditions. "He will always be a Prelatist, -yet he might—nay, he must—rule according to the laws of England, and -allow all men freedom in their thoughts."</p> - -<p>"He never will!" exclaimed Harrison.</p> - -<p>"He must," repeated Cromwell.</p> - -<p>His pipe had now gone out; he knocked out the ashes against the tent -pole and rose.</p> - -<p>"The settlement of this war," remarked Henry Ireton, "is like to be -more trouble than the fighting of it."</p> - -<p>"What," asked Cromwell, with that half-moody, half-tender melancholy -that so often marked his speech, "avail these doubts and surmises? It -is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up so early and so late take -rest, and eat the bread of carefulness—'it is in the Lord's hands—the -Lord's will be done.'"</p> - -<p>Major Harrison rose also; he wore part of his armour; vambrace and -cuirass clattered as he moved.</p> - -<p>"Ay," he said, "worthy Mr. Hugh Peters did wrestle in prayer with the -Lord for three hours on that point, and afterwards held forth in lovely -words—yet were we still in darkness as to God's will with us——"</p> - -<p>"Doubt not," answered Cromwell fervently, "that He will make it -manifest as He hath done aforetime."</p> - -<p>He paused in his pacing and turned to face the huge soldier, who now -stood with one hand on the tent flap, holding it back.</p> - -<p>The moon was sinking, a white wafer behind the gates and towers of -Oxford, but the first flush of the dawn replaced her misty light.</p> - -<p>"I look for the Lord!" cried Cromwell. "My soul doth wait for Him, -in His word is my trust—'My soul fleeth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> unto the Lord, before the -morning watch, I say before the morning watch!'"</p> - -<p>"Ay," added Harrison, with a coarser enthusiasm and a blunter speech; -"and when the Lord cometh what shall He say—but slay Dagon and his -adherents, put to the sword the Amalekite and Edomite and all the -brood of the Red Dragon. And who is the foremost of these but Charles -Stewart?"</p> - -<p>"The Lord," replied Cromwell, "hath not yet put it into my soul to put -the King down, nor to utterly slight his authority. Yet on all these -matters I would rather be silent—this is scarce the time for speech on -this subject."</p> - -<p>Major Harrison picked up his morion, which bore in front the single -feather that denoted his rank, and with a few words of farewell left -the tent.</p> - -<p>Ireton prepared to follow him.</p> - -<p>"A good repose, Harry," said Cromwell affectionately. "We have talked -over long, and I fear to little purpose. We must come to these -arguments again at Westminster. Get now some sleep—farewell."</p> - -<p>When Henry Ireton had gone, Cromwell continued to walk up and down the -worn turf that formed the floor of the tent.</p> - -<p>"Ah, soul, my soul," he muttered, "art thou wandering again in -blackness, not knowing which way to turn? Do the waters come in and -overwhelm thee? Yet did not the Lord receive thee into His grace, -and make with thee a Covenant and a promise? The sword of the Lord -and Gideon!—has it not been given thee to wield that weapon, and to -triumph with it? Was not the Lord's hand plainly shown in that they -have felled the malignants as the bricks of Basing that fell down one -from the other? And hast thou not permitted them to be utterly consumed -from the land, even from Havilah unto Shur?"</p> - -<p>While he thus exhorted and chided some inner weakness or sadness that -was liable to come over him, most often at night, and when he was -inactive, speaking aloud, as was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> his wont when thus excited, he was -startled by the sudden entry of one of his officers.</p> - -<p>The man was preceded by the soldier in attendance on Cromwell, who had -kept guard outside his tent, and now carried a lantern, the strong -beams of which, disturbing the dubious light of the tent, showed the -figure of Cromwell standing by the camp-bed on which his armour was -piled.</p> - -<p>"Sir," began the officer, "we have made, outside the city, a prisoner, -whom it is expedient Your Excellency should see."</p> - -<p>"For what purpose, Colonel Parsons?" asked Cromwell wearily, and -hanging his head on his breast, as he did when tired or thoughtful.</p> - -<p>"Because the malignant, defying us, with much fury, did declare a -strange thing. He said that the King had escaped from Oxford two days -or so ago."</p> - -<p>Cromwell looked up sharply; his face seemed full of shadows.</p> - -<p>"Bring the prisoner before me," he said briefly, and seated himself on -the leathern camp-chair at the foot of his rough couch.</p> - -<p>The officer retired, and soon returned accompanied by two halberdiers -escorting a young Cavalier, completely disarmed and dusty and -disordered in his dress, as if he had made a fair struggle before -surrendering his liberty.</p> - -<p>"Thy name?" asked Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"Charles Lucas," replied the young man.</p> - -<p>"And what hast thou to say of this escape of the King from Oxford?"</p> - -<p>The young man laughed.</p> - -<p>"I may now freely tell thee, thou cunning rebel, that His Sacred -Majesty is by now safe in the hands of his faithful Scots."</p> - -<p>Cromwell scarcely repressed a violent start.</p> - -<p>"He went from Oxford in the guise of a groom," continued Sir Charles, -in a tone of amusement and triumph; "and I, for one, helped him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Even so?" said Cromwell, and gazed upon him absently.</p> - -<p>"Shall I not," asked Colonel Parsons, "have the young malignant shot -before the sun is up?"</p> - -<p>The Lieutenant-General roused himself from deep thought with an effort.</p> - -<p>"Nay, let him go," he said; "we want no more corpses nor prisoners."</p> - -<p>Parsons, with the freedom the Independent officers took, remonstrated.</p> - -<p>"He is a Socinian, a Prelatist, an Erastian—even as a soldier of Pekah -or Jeroboam!"</p> - -<p>"Let him go," repeated Cromwell, with his usual mildness, "it is now a -matter of days. Spare all the blood you can, Colonel Parsons."</p> - -<p>The dark red flushed the royalist's cheek.</p> - -<p>"I want no mercy nor quarter from rebels," he said haughtily.</p> - -<p>"Silly boy," smiled Cromwell, "take thy vaunts elsewhere," and Sir -Charles, whether he would or no, was hustled out of the tent.</p> - -<p>Cromwell sat motionless awhile, holding his hand before his eyes.</p> - -<p>"The Scots," he was swiftly thinking, "what a turn is here ... he -will not take the Covenant.... Then he is ours for the asking ... -helpless any way ... the Scots!... Thou art an ill statesman, Charles -Stewart.... Methinks the war is ended."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IX<br /> - -THE END OF THE WAR</h2> - - -<p>In June of that year two women sat together in an upper room of a -humble, though decent, house in London, near the Abbey of Westminster -and the Hall where the Parliament was now sitting.</p> - -<p>This was a back street, crooked and obscure; never as yet had it been -touched nor disturbed by the clamours and tumults which of late had -risen and fallen through the broad ways of London like the tempestuous -rising and falling of the winter sea.</p> - -<p>In the little garden stood a lime tree, now in full leaf, and the sun, -striking through the branches, filled the room with a soft greenish -light, and in and out the boughs and sometimes in and out of the open -window a white butterfly fluttered.</p> - -<p>The two women sat near the window and talked together in low voices.</p> - -<p>One was in her prime but spoilt by sorrow and sickness, her blonde hair -mixed with grey as if dust had been sprinkled upon it, her face peaked -and thin, her lids heavy, her eyes dimmed; the other little beyond -girlhood, but she too disfigured by suffering, and nothing remaining to -her of the pleasant beauty of youth save the flowing richness of her -red-gold curls.</p> - -<p>Both were simply, even humbly, clad, in heavy mourning.</p> - -<p>The younger, after a pause of silence during which both gazed out at -the sun among the green with eyes that no longer kindled to such a -sight, remarked—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Bridget Cromwell is married to-day."</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied the other; "they say it is a sure sign of a general -peace."</p> - -<p>The young gentlewoman made no reply to this remark, but glanced down at -the wedding-ring on her fair thin hand.</p> - -<p>"I wonder," she cried fiercely, "if she is as happy as I was when I was -a bride. I wonder if she will ever come to be as unhappy as I am now!"</p> - -<p>Lady Strafford did not reply, and her companion, with the tears -smarting up into eyes already worn with weeping, continued—</p> - -<p>"I could find it in my heart to wish that the rebel's daughter might -find herself, at my years, a childless widow!"</p> - -<p>"Hush, Jane," said the Countess; "this is not charity!"</p> - -<p>"The times," replied Lady William Pawlet, "do not teach charity. Thou -art nobly patient, but I have not yet learnt to hush my railing. All, -all gone and an empty life! Madonna! how can one support the burden! -Oh, to be a man and go forward in the front ranks to die as Lord -Falkland did! But to be a woman—a woman who must wait till she die of -remembering!"</p> - -<p>"There is no answer to be made—none," said the Countess; "the heart -knoweth its own bitterness."</p> - -<p>"And we sit here in poverty, bereaved and desolate, and Oliver Cromwell -hath my Lord Worchester's estates and the thanks of Parliament," -continued Lady William, following out thoughts too bitter to be kept -silent. "Loyalty now must go barefoot and impudent knavery swell -in high places! I will go abroad to the Queen in Paris—she too is -desolate and maybe can employ me about her person, for I will no longer -be a charge on you, madam. Will you not," she added, in a more timid -tone, "come too?"</p> - -<p>"I will not, willingly," replied the elder lady firmly, "ever see Her -Majesty again. Nor yet the King. Thank<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> God I can keep my loyalty and -wish His Majesty a safe deliverance from all his present perils, but -this I know, that were he to taste the bitterest death and she the -bitterest widowhood, both, in the extreme hour of their misery, could -endure no greater torment than to remember Lord Strafford and how he -died."</p> - -<p>She spoke quietly without raised voice or flushed cheek, yet so -intensely, that Jane Pawlet, who had never heard her mention this -subject before, was horrified and awed.</p> - -<p>"The world is upside down, I think," she murmured. "It all seems to me -so unreal—I doubt it can be more strange in hell."</p> - -<p>"You are young," replied the Countess, "and may live to think of all -this as a clouded dream. But my life is over."</p> - -<p>"You have been the wife of a great man," cried Lady William Pawlet, -"and you have children."</p> - -<p>"Whom I must see grow up as landless exiles, bearing an attainted -name," said Lady Strafford, with a stern smile.</p> - -<p>"But you have fulfilled yourself," returned the other, "while I have -been, and am, useless. Ah me, how differently I dreamed it!"</p> - -<p>Then the poor widow, overwhelmed by recollections of a happiness which -now seemed the doubly dazzling because it had been so brief, rose to -conceal her emotion, and moved restlessly round the room.</p> - -<p>Lady Strafford glanced at her and, with an effort to distract her mind, -touched on another subject.</p> - -<p>"I had a letter from Margaret Lucas in Paris—so ill spelt I can hardly -read it; but it seems the Marquess of Newcastle hath come to St. -Germains and that they are reading each other's poetry—so belike there -will be a match there."</p> - -<p>"Ah yes?" said Lady William heavily.</p> - -<p>"They have both lost their estates," continued the Countess, "so it -will be a fair trial of their love and constancy."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> - -<p>As she spoke there was a light, almost uncertain knock on the door.</p> - -<p>Lady Strafford, who, in her narrow circumstances, kept no servant, -looked from the window cautiously.</p> - -<p>"It is my brother," she said, and the younger lady at once left the -room, soon returning accompanied by Sir Denzil Holles.</p> - -<p>This gentleman had always been of a contrary party to the Earl of -Strafford, and in the first part of his life had seen but little of his -magnificent sister. He had, however, done his utmost to save the Earl's -life, and was now almost the principle support of the Countess and her -children.</p> - -<p>He was not in arms for Parliament (though he had been one of the famous -five members), and, being estranged from the army by the fact of his -Presbyterian religion, and animated by a great dislike of Oliver -Cromwell, he stood as much aloof as he was able from the clashes of the -times, though he led a considerable party in the Commons.</p> - -<p>"Any news?" asked his sister, after greeting him affectionately.</p> - -<p>"The usual," replied Sir Denzil gloomily. "Oxford surrendered—the -princes and Sir Ralph Hopton are gone beyond seas—Sir Jacob Astley -with the last force of royalists hath been taken—and Bridget Cromwell -is now Bridget Ireton."</p> - -<p>"The King's cause, then," said the Countess, "is utterly lost and -ruined?"</p> - -<p>"As far as it can be maintained by arms, it is," replied her brother, -who, though he had been imprisoned by King Charles, showed no great -elation at his downfall. "And as it is certain he will not take the -Covenant—why, you may take it it is altogether ruined."</p> - -<p>"He will not?" asked Lady William Pawlet.</p> - -<p>"Nay, though they have entreated him on their knees, with tears—as -have we, the Presbyterians—and if he will not take it, there is not a -single Scot will shoulder a musket for him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It seems," remarked the Countess quietly, "that the King can be -faithful to some things."</p> - -<p>"Ay," said Sir Denzil, "to the Church of England and his Crown. I -believe he would resign life itself sooner than either."</p> - -<p>"Therefore if the Scots will not fight there is an end of the war?" -said his sister. "Well, Denzil, what shall we do?"</p> - -<p>"Get beyond seas, unless I can put down the army," he replied. "This -is no longer a country for such as I. The King is overcome—but in his -place is like to be a worse tyrant."</p> - -<p>"You mean Oliver Cromwell?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Denzil Holles bitterly. "That man is now the front of all -things—he hath the army at his back and groweth bigger every day."</p> - -<p>"The talk is," said his sister, "that he would make accommodation with -the King, whereas many of his party are for measures the most extreme, -even for setting up a Republic—so it is said—but I know not. What -does one hear but echoes of echoes in a retirement such as this?"</p> - -<p>"It matters not," replied Sir Denzil, "things are all ajar in -England. I have a mind to Holland to a little quiet, some books, a -few friends—Ralph Hopton is at the Hague. I can be no use in this -whirligig, and I will save what little credit, what little fortune, I -have left."</p> - -<p>He had often spoken so before, but had always been drawn back to the -whirlpool at Westminster, and his sister believed that he would be so -again.</p> - -<p>Lady William Pawlet had listened wearily to this conversation between -brother and sister. Her personal anguish had dimmed all politics for -her; the rebels were now to her simply her husband's murderers, the -royalists the party for whom he died. More important to her than the -ultimate fate of King and Parliament was the memory of the morning of -Naseby when she had knotted Sir William's scarf over his cuirass and -hung a little silver saint round his neck as a charm against evil. She -watched the white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> butterfly which fluttered in the upper branches of -the lime, and thought of the legend of the Ancients which chose this -insect, for its light purity and because of the hideous creature from -which it came, as an emblem of the soul; and she wondered if her lord's -soul was hovering somewhere beneath heaven, watching her, or if he was -already in the Fields of Paradise. Her chief consolation remained that -he had been confessed and absolved before he went to the battle....</p> - -<p>"Well, well," said Lady Strafford, "London is no place for me—every -paving-stone hath a memory.... And you, child, will you go to Paris?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, madam, to the Queen, who was always a good friend to me. We have -the same faith, as you know."</p> - -<p>"The noble family of Pawlet," remarked Sir Denzil gracefully, "have a -great claim on the house of Stewart. The defence of Basing was one of -the noblest actions of this unhappy war."</p> - -<p>"The Marquess lost everything," said Lady William Pawlet. "Even the -bricks were pulled down and sold—even my lord's shirts—and his -bedchamber invaded by the vulgar, who burnt all the tapestry there for -the sake of the gold threads in it, and they were the most beautiful -hangings in England. What is loyalty's reward? Bitter, I fear, bitter."</p> - -<p>She glanced out of the window at the unchanging sunshine as if it hurt -her eyes, then moved away again restlessly round the room.</p> - -<p>The Countess made an effort to stir a silence that was so full of -memories, of regrets, of disappointments.</p> - -<p>"Well," she said, "the war is over and we shall go abroad; but what -will happen in England?"</p> - -<p>"That," replied Sir Denzil sternly, "is very much in the hands of -Oliver Cromwell."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a id="PART_III"></a>PART III<br /> - -THE CRISIS</h2> - -<p>"Robin, be honest still. God keep thee in the midst of snares. Thou -hast naturally a valiant spirit. Listen to God, and He shall increase -it upon thee, and make thee valiant for the truth. I am a poor creature -that write to thee, the poorest in the world, but I have hope in God, -and desire from my heart to love His people."—<i>Lieutenant-General -Cromwell to Colonel Hammond, Nov. 1648.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> - -THE ISSUE WITH THE KING</h2> - - -<p>On a summer afternoon in the year 1647, an officer, with a small escort -of arquebusiers, rode from Putney to Hampton village, and turning -briskly towards the palace, passed unchallenged, and saluted by the -sentries, through the great iron gates, over the moat, and stopped at -the principal entrance.</p> - -<p>The captain of the guard-house came out.</p> - -<p>"'Tis Lieutenant-General Cromwell!" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Ah, Colonel Parsons," returned the other pleasantly. "I do recall that -thou went here——"</p> - -<p>"Things have changed since we besieged Oxford, sir," said Parsons.</p> - -<p>"Ay, and gotten themselves into a fine confusion," replied Cromwell; -"but I will see the King. Tell His Majesty who waits."</p> - -<p>"Nay, sir, step in," said Parsons; "the days are gone by when men had -to wait for an audience of His Majesty."</p> - -<p>"Yet I trust to it that he is entertained with civility?" said the -Lieutenant-General. "Were it otherwise it would look very ill."</p> - -<p>Without waiting for a reply to this, which was intended more as a -rebuke to Parsons' tone of speech than as question, for Cromwell knew -very well how the King was treated and lodged, the Lieutenant-General -passed up the stairs and along the galleries towards the royal -apartments, preceded by one of the palace attendants.</p> - -<p>Parsons looked after him with mingled admiration and envy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> - -<p>"There goes the darling of the army and the terror of the Parliament," -he said to another officer who had joined him. "They no more know -what to do with Noll Cromwell than they know what to do with Charles -Stewart."</p> - -<p>He voiced the common view of the situation of the Parliament men; the -which had indeed found themselves in greater difficulties during the -peace than they had done during the war, though they had succeeded in -getting the Scots out of the kingdom and the King into their own hands.</p> - -<p>After wearisome and confused negotiations between the King, the Scots, -and the Presbyterians had come to nothing through Charles' haughty -refusal to forsake the Church of England and take the solemn Covenant, -the Parliament had paid the Scots ₤20,000, as an instalment of the pay -due to them, and on this the Northerners had marched away across the -Borders to the endless disputes among themselves, headed by Argyll, the -Covenanter, and Hamilton, the royalist, who were now one up, now one -down, like boys on a see-saw.</p> - -<p>The King had been delivered to the Parliamentary Commissioners and -lodged with great respect at Holmby.</p> - -<p>And then the Parliament was confronted with other problems: On one -hand the clamours of the people for a good understanding with His -Majesty, and on the other side the claims of the army, which refused -to be disbanded without the arrears of pay owing, which arrears were -not forthcoming except in so small a proportion as to be indignantly -refused by the soldiers.</p> - -<p>Some of the right was on the side of the army and all the might. -Neither Parliament nor nation could do anything with them, especially -as all the force and fervour of the new Puritan religion which had -defeated the King was to be found in the ranks of the soldiers, for -nearly all the Parliament men were Presbyterians, and nearly all the -army belonged to one or other of the enthusiastic sects commonly named -'Independents'; and oft either side of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> cleavage of religious -belief was nearly as much bitterness as had animated Puritan and Papist -against each other.</p> - -<p>Denzil Holles had resolved to stay in England, and was busy leading a -party in Parliament against the chiefs of the army, principally against -the Lieutenant-General, who was looked upon as the great man of his -side, nay, by some, as the great man of the nation.</p> - -<p>He, on his part, maintained a singular quiet, nor put himself forward -in any way. He had moved his family from Ely to London, and there -resided quietly or moved about from place to place as his duties -called, contradicting no man and interfering with none; yet somehow his -figure was always in the background of men's thoughts, and all either -feared him, or looked to him hopefully as their case might be, as if -from him must come, sooner or later, the healing of the schisms, the -twisting together of the intricate strands of faction, the smoothing -out of the tangled confusions that now maddened and bewildered men.</p> - -<p>There were able, honest leaders in every sect and faction, there -were clever, high-minded politicians like Sir Harry Vane, there were -energetic and successful soldiers like Sir Thomas Fairfax, and there -were men like Ireton who combined the qualities of both—all of whom -were respected and followed by their several parties. But none stood -out so vividly in the eyes of both friend and foe as did the figure of -Oliver Cromwell, whose cavalry charges had turned the tide of battle at -Marston Moor and Naseby, who was the idol of that army which seemed now -to hold the balance of power, and whose utterances in Parliament had -shown him to be as decisive, as wary, as brilliant in attack, as quick -in resource, as commanding a personality in politics as he was on the -battlefield.</p> - -<p>Yet there was perhaps no one, among all the men whom the times had -made prominent, who kept so in the background of events during the -last turmoils, confusions, and intricacies of the negotiations and -consultations between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the King, the Scots, the Parliament, the Army, -the Presbyterians, and the Independents.</p> - -<p>Since the conclusion of the Civil War, the King had been, and continued -to be, the great element of discord and difficulty. No one could resign -themselves to do without him, and no one knew what to do with him; the -Scots had given him up in despair, and the parliamentary Commissioners -found him equally impossible to deal with. A general deadlock had -been solved, Gordian knot fashion, by the army; Cornet Joyce and -six hundred men, acting under what orders no one knew, but acting -certainly according to the general wish, had carried off the King -(very much to his will and liking), from Holmby, to the great dismay -of the parliamentary Presbyterians, and lodged him at Hinchinbrook, -from whence he moved about with the army, treated in kingly style. He -was finally taken to Hampton Court, the army headquarters being now at -Putney, in such ominous nearness to London that the great city itself -was believed to tremble, and at Westminster there was open turmoil.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant-General Cromwell, who, with the other officers, had been -ordered to his regiments when news came of Cornet Joyce's amazing -action, but who had already gone (not without some haste, his enemies -said, for fear of an arrest from the incensed Parliament, for it was -credited that his was the authority under which Joyce had acted), had -remained at Putney for some weeks before this visit of his to Hampton -Court.</p> - -<p>He was, with little delay, admitted to the King's antechamber, where -Lord Digby received him, and soon into the King's presence. The -apartment was one of the beautiful chambers built and decorated by -Henry VIII; old oak, carved in a deep linen pattern and worn to a -colour that was almost dark silver, formed the walls, and round the -deep blue painted ceiling ran a design of "A. H." and the Tudor roses, -quartered thus to please the first English Queen who died a public and -shameful death.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> - -<p>An oriel window, brilliant with painted blazonry, was set open on to -the gardens which sloped to the willow trees and the river, and in the -red-cushioned window-seat the King's white dog slept.</p> - -<p>The furniture was very handsome stately oak and stamped Spanish -leather; above the low mantelshelf hung a picture by Antonio Mor, -a portrait of the sad-faced Mary Tudor, in white cambric and black -velvet, gold chain, and breviary.</p> - -<p>Charles was seated at a coral-red lacquer cabinet or desk powdered with -gold figures—a princely piece of furniture, rich and costly. Cromwell, -seeing him, paused in the doorway and took off his broad-leaved hat.</p> - -<p>The two exchanged a quick and steady look. Cromwell had last seen the -King at Childerly House, only a few weeks before, when he and General -Fairfax had ridden down to Huntingdon to meet His Majesty; but the -interview had been brief, by torchlight, and the Lieutenant-General had -taken little part in it. The King, too, had been largely obscured by a -horseman's hat and cloak, so that the last clear remembrance Cromwell -had of the King remained that of the famous day when Charles had come -to Westminster to seize the five members.</p> - -<p>That scene and the central figure of it remained very vividly in -Cromwell's mind, even across all the stormy years which lay between -then and now. He recalled the unutterable haughtiness, the poise, the -splendour, the rich attire of the King then; he would not have known -the man before him for the same.</p> - -<p>Charles wore a brown cloth suit passemented with silver, grey hose, and -shoes with dark red roses on them; his whole attire was careless, even -neglected, and he had no jewellery, order, or any kind of adornment, -save a deep falling collar of Flemish thread lace.</p> - -<p>But the change in his attire was not so remarkable as the change in -his appearance; his hair, which still fell in love-locks on to his -shoulders, was utterly grey, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> face had a grey look too, so -entirely devoid was it of any brightness of colour, his features were -swollen and suffused, and his eyes were heavy-lidded and unutterably -weary.</p> - -<p>It gave Oliver Cromwell a sudden start to see the King, whose mere name -was such a tower of strength, who had vaunted himself so proudly, and -been so tenacious of his royal rights, reduced to this semblance of -beaten humanity who bore on his face the marks of how he had suffered -in body and soul. Cromwell himself had changed too; he was a year older -than Charles, but, in his untouched vigour and ardent air of strength -and enthusiasm, looked many years younger; his buff and soldierly -appointments were richer than formerly, and he carried himself with an -air of greater authority and decision.</p> - -<p>Charles set down the quill with which he was writing, and pointed to a -chair with arms near the window.</p> - -<p>"What can Lieutenant-General Cromwell," he said, with a most delicate, -most scornful, emphasis on the title, "want with me?"</p> - -<p>Cromwell gazed at him with unabashed grey eyes. It might be acutely in -the King's mind that it was strange for a country gentleman to be thus -facing a King of England, but no such thought disturbed the Puritan.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he returned, "the nation is in a crisis that must end soon—the -army and the Parliament are in disagreements. We are the victims of -unsearchable judgments."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Charles, who was not sorry to hear it, and who hoped, in -the troubled waters of these divisions, to fish for his own benefit; he -was already like a wedge between Parliament and army, splitting them -further apart.</p> - -<p>"I am here," continued Cromwell, "as representing the army."</p> - -<p>"Sent by a deputation?" asked the King keenly. His greatest hope was in -the army.</p> - -<p>"Sent by no deputation," returned the other firmly. "Inspired only by -the Lord, yet what I offer I could engage the fulfilment of."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was a quiet assumption of power in these words that was wormwood -to the King, but he controlled himself.</p> - -<p>"You have come to propose terms," he said. "I have been listening to -terms for long weary months. What are yours?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, I make no terms with Your Majesty," said Cromwell. "I only wish -you to be sincere with your people."</p> - -<p>It was what John Pym had said at the very beginning—before the war, -Charles remembered; he remembered, too, that he had offered Pym a price -and Pym had refused. "You did not bid high enough," the Queen said -afterwards. Charles, ever untaught by experience, proceeded to repeat -with Cromwell the tactics he had used with Pym. What, after all, could -this man have come for, save to drive a bargain? And he was worth -bargaining with, as Pym had been—powerful rebels both!</p> - -<p>The King's eyes shot hate at the quiet figure before him, but he -answered smoothly—</p> - -<p>"Sincere! You and I speak a different language, sir, but I will try to -understand you. You mean that the army will do something for me? That -you might influence them on my behalf?"</p> - -<p>Cromwell rose and moved to the oriel window; an expression of agitation -swept into his face.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he said, with deep earnestness, "Your Majesty is the only remedy -for these present divisions—until a good peace be established, and you -be again at Whitehall, the nation is but like a parcel of twigs which, -unbound, cannot stand. Sir, I know there are extreme men who think -otherwise, but they are of the sort who are always there, and must be -never heeded."</p> - -<p>A wave of exultation made the blood bound in the King's veins: he was -then indispensable to the nation. His swift, secret thought was that -he might regain his throne on his own terms, without yielding a jot of -his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> prerogatives, since his arch-enemy admitted what he had admitted.</p> - -<p>"The army desires to see Your Majesty in your rightful place," -continued Cromwell, "and would and could bring you to London despite -the Parliament."</p> - -<p>"Well?" asked Charles.</p> - -<p>"We must have," said Cromwell, with a certain heaviness, "the things -for which we have fought, for which we have poured out our blood."</p> - -<p>A bitterly sarcastic smile curved the King's thin lips. Cromwell was -coming to his price, he thought; he wondered what he would ask, and -what might be promised with safety.</p> - -<p>"We must have toleration for God's people," said the Puritan.</p> - -<p>The King interrupted.</p> - -<p>"I will not take the Covenant. I have already refused an army because -of that condition."</p> - -<p>"You are now, sir," returned Cromwell bluntly, "dealing with -Englishmen, not Scots. We set no such store by the Covenant. I said, -sir, toleration."</p> - -<p>"A word," remarked Charles, "beloved of fanatics."</p> - -<p>"A word," said Cromwell, unmoved, "dear to honest men. We would have -all deal with God according to their conscience."</p> - -<p>The King did not think it worth while to probe into the reservation -this tolerance made in disfavour of Prelacy and Papacy, the two faiths -he believed in. The whole gamut of theological questions had been run -through and argued upon during the conferences at Newcastle, and had -left Charles as firm an adherent as before of the Anglican Church. The -whole subject of the Puritan faith, associated as it was with vexation, -disloyalty, and rebellion, was too distasteful a one for him to enter -on; he reserved his wit and strength for the more practical issues.</p> - -<p>"Will you tell me briefly, sir, the main purpose of this visit?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I wished," said Cromwell, "to sound Your Majesty. The army would not -waste its labours—and Your Majesty hath been slippery," he added -calmly.</p> - -<p>The outraged blood stormed the King's cheeks; but the several instances -of his duplicity were too well known and too well attested to be for an -instant denied.</p> - -<p>"I am a prisoner," he said haughtily, "and therefore forbidden -resentment."</p> - -<p>With trembling fingers he drew nearer to him a bowl of yellow roses -that stood on his desk and nervously pulled at the leaves.</p> - -<p>Cromwell did not look at him, but at the peaceful and lovely view of -garden and river beyond the oriel window.</p> - -<p>"The army," he pursued quietly, giving weight to every word, "would -have no trafficking with foreign powers, no bringing of foreign forces, -no stirrings and meddlings in Ireland or Scotland, no vengeance taken -on any of their number, a free Parliament, and free churches. To a -king who could agree to these things—sware to them—<i>on the word of a -king</i>, and on that pledge keep them—there would be small difficulty in -his coming again to his ancient place and power. Remember these things, -Your Majesty; consider and ponder them. I shall come again to consult -with you. 'Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good: dwell in -the land, and verily thou shalt be fed—delight thou in the Lord, and -He shall give thee thy heart's desire.' Cast thyself on these words, -sir, that God hath moved me to say to thee."</p> - -<p>He spoke with such earnestness, dignity, such extraordinary conviction -that the King's sneer died on his lips, and though his sensation of -respect was instantly gone, still it had been there.</p> - -<p>"Above all," added Cromwell, "I pray Your Majesty be sincere. If you -mislike what I have said, what I have asked of you—bid me not to come -again."</p> - -<p>The King took this to mean, "Will you deal with me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> or no?" and he -answered without hesitation, for he was well aware of Cromwell's power -and prestige.</p> - -<p>"Come again and let us talk of these things at leisure. I commonly walk -in the galleries in the afternoon. Let me some day have your company."</p> - -<p>He rose; a smile softened his haggard face into something of its -ancient grace.</p> - -<p>"Do not disappoint me of your second coming," he said.</p> - -<p>He held out his hand. Cromwell, without hesitation or confusion, kissed -it and left.</p> - -<p>While his steps were yet sounding without, Charles rang a bell on his -desk that instantly summoned Lord Digby from the adjoining apartment.</p> - -<p>"Open the window wider!" cried the King, with a shudder. "The air is -tainted...."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> - -THE KING'S PLOTS</h2> - - -<p>"That man," added Charles, in a tone of great agitation, "will make -terms. He came abruptly and left abruptly, he spoke obscurely—but his -meaning was to offer himself for my service."</p> - -<p>"It is no wonder," replied Lord Digby, "there is a great and widening -rift between the army and the Parliament, and Cromwell hath been -heard to very plainly urge on the Presbyterians the advisability of -submitting to Your Majesty."</p> - -<p>"What," muttered the King, walking about the room, "does he want?"</p> - -<p>"Did he not tell Your Majesty? Methought that had been the object of -his visit."</p> - -<p>"He told me," replied Charles, "the usual demands—what the army would -have, what it would not have. I take no notice of that. What doth he -want for himself?"</p> - -<p>"His price would be a high one," returned Lord Digby thoughtfully. "He -is much esteemed by his party; he hath good hopes of rising."</p> - -<p>"Faugh!" cried the King angrily. "He hath <i>risen</i>—what more can he -hope? He comes to me because he finds his usurped honours perilous, -because he can hardly hold his own. There is no loyalty in the fellow. -I take him to be a very artful, false rebel."</p> - -<p>"Yet," said my lord earnestly, "he is worth gaining. I know of none -whom the rebels think so highly of, and his interest in the army is -supreme."</p> - -<p>"I also have some interest in the army," said Charles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> haughtily. "Dost -not thou know it? Even as this Cromwell knoweth it—else why doth he -come to me? Nay, he is well aware that I still count for something in -this my kingdom."</p> - -<p>"Still, I would say that it were well to gain Oliver Cromwell—if he be -willing to bring the army over to Your Majesty. I say, he is greater in -the public eye than we can think. His party taketh him for a man."</p> - -<p>"And so he is, and therefore can be gained," replied Charles, with -a bitter smile. "I tell thee it goes to my heart to deal with this -fellow, whom I would very willingly see hanged; indeed, it does. But as -I do believe he hath influence, I will do it. What would he have—some -patent of nobility? It were fitting to offer him the rebel Essex's -title. Hath he not some distant relation to that Thomas Cromwell who -was the Earl of Essex?"</p> - -<p>"I have heard it," assented Lord Digby, "and I believe that Your -Majesty hath hit on a good bait. Cromwell hath much railed against the -nobility, which is a good sign in a man that he would have a title -himself."</p> - -<p>"And Fairfax—I must throw a sop to Fairfax," continued Charles. "There -is more loyalty and more manners in him than in his Lieutenant."</p> - -<p>"He is not," added Lord Digby, "so useful."</p> - -<p>Charles paused before the window.</p> - -<p>"You know," he said, "that my best hopes are still in Scotland, and not -with these rebels. If I can make a secret treaty with the Scots, I am -independent of army and Parliament both."</p> - -<p>Lord Digby was not practical nor level-headed. His loyalty was too -sincere to allow him broad-mindedness in his view of the struggle now -taking place in England, and his ideas were rather fantastical and -partook of that lightness and even frivolity which characterized so -many of the King's followers; but even he could not help seeing that -Charles was playing a game which every day became more dangerous, and -that this complicated and subtle in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>trigue was not suited to present -circumstances. A straight dealing with the army leaders, the Cavalier -thought, would have been better than these underhand negotiations with -the Scots, who had already proved themselves so unreliable, especially -as Charles never would, under any pressure, take the Covenant, and -therefore his alliance with Scotland could only be based on delusion -and fraud; while, at the same time, if these negotiations were -revealed, the English Parliament and the English army would be further -set against the King, and with England and the divisions in England lay -Charles' best chance—not in his northern kingdom.</p> - -<p>It was these constant intrigues and subterfuges on the part of the -King, his blindness to his real interests, his unconquerable disdain -of his enemies, his firm refusal to believe that any pact or agreement -was possible between him, the King, and them, his subjects, his proud -resignation, which would take any ill, but would never give way on -any detail, however small, that had driven those fierce and downright -Princes, Rupert and Maurice, out of England. Rupert had thought the -Royal cause lost before he delivered Bristol, yet the King had had many -chances since then, all lost, or missed, or flung away.</p> - -<p>He was too extraordinarily incredulous of his enemies' successes; it -seemed as if he could not believe nor remember that he was no longer -what he had been, one of the foremost kings in Europe, but a monarch -without an army, without a town, without revenues or allies, separated -from his family, surrounded by adversaries, practically a prisoner, -and dependent on the dole of the Parliament for the very bread he ate. -Charles could not realize these things—his birth, his instincts, his -character were too strong for his intelligence, though that was not -mean—and he still blinded himself with the idea that he was <i>the -King</i>, and that he needed no other claim and no other force than what -lay in those words to eventually triumph over, and be signally revenged -on, his rebellious subjects.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> - -<p>Not that Charles had shown this temper too openly or exhibited any -outward folly in his long dealings with Scots and Parliament. These -complicated negotiations had shown him at his best; he had been clever, -learned, courteous, full of resource and firmness. The principle of -his unalterable divine authority (the rock on which all the various -hopes of a compromise were eventually shattered) he kept securely -out of sight, being too proud to vaunt or rave. None the less it -was there, and he was disdainfully storing up future vengeance for -all of them—Scots, Presbyterians, Parliament men, army men, and -Puritans—when the time should come for him to have done playing with -them.</p> - -<p>Such advisers as he had (the Queen was still the foremost) supported -him in his views and in the means he took to advance his aims; but -now affairs were become so desperate that he held the bare semblance -of kingship only by the consent and tolerance of the Parliament and -the army. And it occurred to many, as it occurred now to Lord Digby, -that an open peace with the rebels on the best terms to be got was the -safest, indeed the only, policy to be pursued.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby ventured now to say as much, in guarded and respectful -terms, but with as much weight as his own volatile nature (only too -much like Charles' own) would allow.</p> - -<p>The King, resting one elbow on the window-sill, his chin in his hand -and his eyes fixed on the passing glitter of the river, listened with -impatience hardly disguised.</p> - -<p>Soon he interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Next thou wilt advise me to take the Covenant," he said, "or to accept -the articles offered me at Uxbridge or Norwich!"</p> - -<p>"Nay," answered Lord Digby, with a flush on his fair face; "but I do -say there is no reliance to be placed on the Scots."</p> - -<p>"Wait," returned Charles obstinately. "I am of good hopes I can get an -army from them without taking the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> Covenant, but on the mere promise -to do so, and on some suspension of the bishops for three years or -so—some compromise, worked secretly."</p> - -<p>"Is this plan laid?" asked Digby, who had not before heard of it.</p> - -<p>"Yea, with my Lord Hamilton, and then I shall be able to hang up all -these knavish rascals who come to me to bargain—to offer terms to -<i>me</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Meanwhile flatter them," said my lord uneasily.</p> - -<p>"I will flatter them," returned Charles, with a flash in his worn eyes. -"I will talk of an Earldom to Cromwell—but I hope the Scots will be -across the border again before the patent is signed!"</p> - -<p>Lord Digby was still not convinced; it seemed to him that this overture -from a man of the weight and influence of Oliver Cromwell was not an -advance to be lightly treated at this delicate stage of affairs.</p> - -<p>"This man is fanatic," he said. "Your Majesty must remember that. I -believe he standeth more for principle than party, more for his ideas -than for his gain. A title may allure him, but it is a matter where one -would need to be careful, sire. The bait must be skilfully played, or -this fish will not rise."</p> - -<p>But Charles, though supremely constant on some points himself, found -it impossible to believe in the constancy of those whose opinions were -opposed to him: such as Cromwell were to him 'rebels,' and he gave them -no other distinction.</p> - -<p>"We shall see as to that," he replied impatiently. "What did this man -come here for if not to get his price?"</p> - -<p>"Methinks he came on behalf of his policy," said Lord Digby doubtfully. -"Maybe he would have the credit of reconciling Your Majesty with the -Parliament, and after the peace some great place in the army or at your -Council board."</p> - -<p>"These high ambitions may be useful to us," replied Charles, with a -bitter accent, "and therefore we will encour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>age them. Meanwhile, our -hopes lie across the border or across the sea—not in the rebel camp."</p> - -<p>He was then silent a little while and seemed, as had become usual with -him, to have suddenly sunk into a meditation or reverie: he would so do -now in the midst of a conversation, the midst of a sentence even, as -if his mind wandered suddenly from the present to the past, from the -objects near to objects far away.</p> - -<p>His face looked as if a veil had been dropped over it, so completely -absent was his gaze, so utterly did an expression of melancholy hide -and disguise all other.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby stood watching him with bitter regret, with indignant -sorrow, and as he gazed at this face which humiliation and anguish had -distorted and altered as a terrible disease will distort and alter, -as he noticed the grey locks, the thin, marred profile, the careless -dress, a horrible conviction pressed on his heart with the certainty of -a revelation: the King was ruined, broken, cast down; never would he be -set up again, and these schemes and plots were mere baseless delusions. -This conviction was as fleeting as it was strong, yet for one moment -the faithful gentleman had seen his master as a thing utterly lost, and -he turned his head away swiftly, for he loved the man as well as the -King.</p> - -<p>Charles turned from the window, his thin fingers still pressed to his -face.</p> - -<p>"Go and see if any letters have come," he said.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby did not say that immediately a courier came he was brought -to the King, and therefore there could be no letters without his -instant knowledge, but turned sadly to go on his errand; he knew -the King was waiting always for letters from Henriette Marie in -France—imperious, passionate letters when they came, which he kissed -every line of and sprinkled with the scalding tears of pride and love -and regret.</p> - -<p>As soon as Lord Digby had gone Charles drew from his doublet a gold -chain, from which hung two diamond seals and a miniature in a case -ornamented with whole pearls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> - -<p>He touched the spring, the lid flew up, and he gazed at the little -enamel which showed him the features of the Queen.</p> - -<p>The painting had been done in her bridal days, and the artist's -delicate skill had preserved for ever the seductive loveliness of her -early youth; she wore white, and her complexion was the tint of blonde -pearl, her dark hair hung in fine tendrils on her brow, her large eyes -were glancing at the spectator with a laughing look, round her neck was -a string of large pearls, and on her bosom a bow of pink ribbon.</p> - -<p>So he remembered her as he had first seen her, when, at the first -glance, she had subdued him into her willing bondsman: before he met -her he had been cold to women, and after meeting her there had been no -other in the world for him.</p> - -<p>He never reflected if this complete absorption in her, this submission -to her will had been for his good; he never recalled the many fatal -mistakes she had advised, nor the damage done him by his unpopular -Romanist Queen; he never even admitted to himself that the one action -of his life for which he felt bitter remorse, the abandonment of -Strafford, was mainly committed to please her; nor did it ever occur -to him that many women would have stayed with him to the last, at all -costs. The brightness of his devotion outshone all these things; he saw -her image good and brave and infinitely dear, and of all his losses -the loss of her was paramount. As he thought of her, his longing half -formed the resolution to quit all these turmoils and escape to France, -abandoning for her sake his last chances of keeping his crown.</p> - -<p>He might have come to this resolution before and carried it through had -he not too well known her pride and her ambition.</p> - -<p>"If you make an agreement with Parliament," she had written, "you are -no king for me. I will never set foot in England again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> - -<p>And he had promised her that he would make no pact with the rebels -unless she had first approved.</p> - -<p>A light cloud passed over the sun, the sparkle died from the river, -the glow from the sky, the warm tremble of light from the trees; and -as Charles looked other clouds came up, in stately battalions, and -darkened the whole west.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby returned.</p> - -<p>"No messenger, sire," he said, "no letters."</p> - -<p>"I did know it," replied Charles, with a smile that cast scorn on -himself; "but I am my own fool, and beguile the time with mine own -follies."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL, ROYALIST</h2> - - -<p>"Thou goest too often to Hampton Court," said Major Harrison. "I say it -to thy face."</p> - -<p>"Thou mayst say it before any man," returned Cromwell mildly, "and do -no harm."</p> - -<p>"If you will have any influence with the army you will go no more," -continued Harrison.</p> - -<p>"Ay!" said Cromwell, with the same patience; "but I think neither of my -influence with the army nor of any other thing, friends, but of what -the Lord hath put it in my heart to do for His service and the peace of -these times."</p> - -<p>So saying, he laid down a little manual of gun drill, the pages of -which he had been turning over, and relit his pipe.</p> - -<p>The scene was the guard-room of the army's headquarters at Putney. -Cromwell had been to London that morning to see his family, who were -now established in a mansion in Drury Lane, and his buff coat and his -falling boots were still dusty with the dust of the return ride.</p> - -<p>Fairfax was in the room and the preacher, Hugh Peters. The bolder -Harrison voiced their opinions when he told Cromwell that he was -becoming too intimate with the King and too firm a supporter of the -royal pretensions; but Fairfax, from a natural reserve, and Peters, -because he hoped the Lieutenant-General would make an adequate defence, -were silent.</p> - -<p>"Little did I ever think," cried Harrison, pacing heavily about the -room, "that thou wouldst become the consort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> of tyrants, the frequenter -of the strange children, whose mouth talketh of vanity, and whose right -hand is a hand of iniquity!"</p> - -<p>Cromwell raised his calm eyes from his long clay pipe.</p> - -<p>"No man will enjoy his possessions in peace until the King hath his -rights again," he said, "and I make no disguise from you nor from any -that I am doing my utmost to bring about a good peace with His Majesty. -For what other reason did any of us take up arms?"</p> - -<p>"Ay," assented Sir Thomas Fairfax hastily, "and the Parliament and the -city of London are pressing for a settlement."</p> - -<p>"My visits to Hampton Palace," continued Cromwell, "and my communings -with the King have had this one object—a good peace."</p> - -<p>"If thou canst bring Charles Stewart to a good peace—<i>and make him -keep it</i>—thou hast more than mortal skill," said Harrison.</p> - -<p>"What wouldst thou in this realm?" asked Cromwell, glancing up at him -with a gleam of humour. "A republic?"</p> - -<p>The other three were silent at this; even among the extremists the idea -of totally abolishing the kingship was scarcely murmured.</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said Cromwell, with a little smile, glancing round the -three silent faces, "a treaty with the King is the only means to get -us out of our present imbroglio, is it not? Now we have conquered His -Majesty, we must make terms with him."</p> - -<p>"You never will," cried Hugh Peters vehemently. "He is false and false, -unstable and creeping in his ways—even while you confer with him he is -arranging to bring in the Scots again or murdering Papists from Ireland -or the French!"</p> - -<p>"How do you know?" asked the Lieutenant-General, turning sharply in his -chair.</p> - -<p>Mr. Peters glanced at Major Harrison, who replied—</p> - -<p>"It is true that I have my finger in some plots the King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> hath in -hand. His agents meet at the Blue Boar in Holborn, and he hath a whole -service of secret couriers travelling between England, the Scots, and -France. As yet I have no letters, no absolute proofs in my possession, -but I do not think to lack them long."</p> - -<p>"Have you long known of this, Sir Thomas?" asked Cromwell, rising.</p> - -<p>"A week or so," replied the General; "but I have not given it overmuch -attention. If one listened to all the rumours of plots one's brain -would be confounded."</p> - -<p>"I have men in disguise at the Blue Boar," said Harrison stubbornly, -"and soon I hope to prove my suspicions correct."</p> - -<p>"Why, if they are," said Cromwell calmly, "then I shall change my -policy."</p> - -<p>"Thou art all of a fatalist," remarked Harrison grimly; "there is no -ruffling thee."</p> - -<p>The Lieutenant-General picked up his gloves and hat and riding-stock.</p> - -<p>"Can I alter God's decrees that I should fret because of them?" he -answered earnestly. "I am but the flail in the hand of the thresher. -The Lord's will be done on me and on His Majesty, who are both the -instruments of His unsearchable judgments on these lands."</p> - -<p>He saluted the General respectfully, but left without further speech. -He might call himself the instrument of the Lord: it was clear that he -did not consider himself the instrument of Sir Thomas Fairfax.</p> - -<p>He seemed, indeed, quietly but fully conscious that he and he alone -could move the army (which at present still held the balance of power), -and that he, therefore, and no other was become the arbiter of these -realms.</p> - -<p>When he left the guard-room he sent his servant for his son-in-law, -Henry Ireton, who soon joined him; the two mounted and, through the -October sun, rode to Hampton Court.</p> - -<p>They exchanged little conversation on the way, partly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> because each -thoroughly understood the other, and partly because their minds were -full of busy thoughts.</p> - -<p>The King, who was still treated with formality and respect, with his -own servants and his own friends about him, made no delay in seeing -them. He had lately had several interviews with Cromwell, with Fairfax, -with Ireton, and walking about Wolsey's groves and alleys had discussed -with them, through more than one summer and autumn afternoon, the -prospects before England.</p> - -<p>It was in the garden, in one of the beautiful walks of yellowing oak -and beech that sloped to the river, that he received them now.</p> - -<p>As usual his manner was gentle and gracious, as usual he kept his seat -(he was resting on a wooden bench) and did not uncover, though the two -Generals doffed their hats: power still paid this respect to tradition.</p> - -<p>"Sir," said Cromwell at once, "I should have waited on you sooner, but -I have been sick of an imposthume in the head. But now I am here I have -weighty matters to say, and I would have Your Majesty give a keen ear -to my words."</p> - -<p>"Am I not ever," said Charles, with a faint smile, "attentive to your -words?"</p> - -<p>"I know not," replied Cromwell, with his plain outspokenness. "I cannot -read the heart of Your Majesty," and he looked at him straightly.</p> - -<p>With the tip of his cane Charles disturbed the first little dead gold -leaves which lay at his feet.</p> - -<p>"Ah," he replied slowly, "so you have weighty things to say?"</p> - -<p>He had long known that his conferences with the leaders of the -army must come to a crisis and a plain issue soon; it had not been -his purpose to force this moment until his plans were all smoothly -arranged, but now he was ready enough. As usual he had his points -clear, his feelings under command, as usual his manner was gentle, -contained, courteous, his mind alert and watchful; yet there was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> -weariness in his face and voice that all his art could not disguise, -as he came again to the old wretched business of speaking his enemies -fair, as he once more engaged in the endless game of negotiation, -proposal and counter-proposal, which he never intended should come to -anything.</p> - -<p>The keen eyes of Commissary-General Ireton detected the shudder of -reluctance, almost repulsion, which Charles so instantly repressed.</p> - -<p>"We will be short, Your Majesty," he said, "and it is not our intention -to ask you for more audiences. The army doth not like our meeting. All -must be settled in this coming together."</p> - -<p>Charles glanced up at the two men standing before him as John Pym had -stood before him once in another of his royal gardens—Pym was dead, -but his principles were alive indeed; Charles thought that if the old -Puritan was in any hell which allowed him a glimpse of the earth he -must be grinning derisively at this scene now.</p> - -<p>"We have had," said Cromwell, not waiting for Charles to speak, -"conferences, rendezvous, councils of war, much running to and fro -between the army and the Parliament, many talks between ourselves and -Your Majesty. Surely this thing must come to an end. The country is -without a government, and many extreme and fanatic men do seize the -time to unsettle the mind of the vulgar with fierce, empty words."</p> - -<p>He paused a moment, then added, looking at the King intently and -openly, and speaking with almost mournful seriousness—</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty knows what the country must have—are you prepared to -grant us these desires?"</p> - -<p>Charles looked at him with a steadiness equal to his own.</p> - -<p>"And if I say I am?" he replied. "What then?"</p> - -<p>Both men were speaking with a directness usually foreign to them.</p> - -<p>"Then," said Cromwell, "you may be in Whitehall within the week, sir. -The army will escort you there."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - -<p>Charles could hardly disguise the leap of exultation that shook his -heart at this splendid chance, which, after being dangled before him so -long, was at length definitely offered him.</p> - -<p>"Sir," added the Lieutenant-General, "I make no disguise from you that -there are many in the army not of my mind—it is rumoured that Your -Majesty hath secret dealings with the Scots, the French, the Dutch——"</p> - -<p>"If the English are loyal to me," replied Charles, "wherefore should -I need foreign aid? These tales fly like thistledown before the first -autumn wind—when we are in London, sir, I will listen to, and satisfy, -all demands."</p> - -<p>"Is that a pledge?" demanded Cromwell. "Is Your Majesty sincere with -me?"</p> - -<p>Charles rose.</p> - -<p>"What have I to gain by insincerity?" he said; and again his cane -stirred the drifting shrivelled leaves.</p> - -<p>"And I must speak my side," he added. "It is my wish to show you that -loyalty may bring more profit and honour than rebellion."</p> - -<p>"What manner of profit?" asked Cromwell. "If you mean personal profit, -why, I am well enough." ('Ay, with my Lord Worchester's lands,' thought -Charles bitterly): "two of my wenches are wed, my eldest son is -settled, the younger making good progress, for my other little maids -and their mother I can provide—what more should I want? For Henry -Ireton I can say the same."</p> - -<p>"Yet I can gild this honourable prosperity," replied the King. "When my -Lord Essex died, his title—his title died with him—you, methinks, are -of the first Earl's house——"</p> - -<p>"Ah!" cried Cromwell sharply, and flushed all over his face and neck.</p> - -<p>"Oliver Cromwell may take the rank of Thomas Cromwell, who was also the -terror and the help of a king," continued Charles, with smiling lips -and narrowed eyes.</p> - -<p>The blood was still staining the Lieutenant-General's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> face; his -forehead was crimson up to the thick brown hair; he looked on the -ground in a fashion that was embarrassed, almost stricken.</p> - -<p>'I have not offered enough,' thought Charles; aloud he said—</p> - -<p>"When I am in Whitehall I will sign the patent, and then the Earl of -Essex may command me to further service."</p> - -<p>Still Cromwell did not speak.</p> - -<p>'Thou clod, dost thou not understand!' cried the King in his heart.</p> - -<p>He spoke again.</p> - -<p>"And thy son-in-law, Henry Ireton here—he also I would raise——"</p> - -<p>Cromwell interrupted, but in a confused and stammering fashion.</p> - -<p>"Sir—you have mistaken—I am no cadet of the first Earl of Essex's -family—nay—or so remote; it matters not—I never thought of it—this -was not what I came to speak of—yet what I would have said is gone -from me." His head fell on his breast despondently; he made a hopeless -little gesture with his gloved right hand. "Let it pass," he finished.</p> - -<p>"For me," said Henry Ireton. "I would that Your Majesty had not spoken -of this."</p> - -<p>Charles could not keep all scorn from his smile as he replied—</p> - -<p>"We will discuss these things at Westminster."</p> - -<p>Cromwell raised his head and gazed into the King's pale, composed face.</p> - -<p>"I do ask Your Majesty," he said, and in his deep voice was a note of -intense appeal, "to be sincere with me."</p> - -<p>"I am sincere with you, General Cromwell," replied Charles.</p> - -<p>A light gust of wind shook the oak branches and more leaves drifted -downwards.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow I will return with General Fairfax and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> some other -officers," said Cromwell, "with whom Your Majesty may finally speak." -He seemed about to take his leave, hesitated, then, as if a sudden -impulse had shaken him, he turned again and addressed Charles.</p> - -<p>"Not for my sake," he said, "nor for any light reason—but for thy -soul's sake that when thou comest before the living God thou mayst have -no treachery or falsehood in the scale against thee, deal fairly with -me now. There thou shalt wear no crown to give thee courage, and no -courtier shall flatter thee—therefore, sir, bethink thee, and tell me -plainly if I may trust thee."</p> - -<p>"I have said it," replied Charles.</p> - -<p>For a second Cromwell was silent; then he and Ireton took a formal -leave and left the Palace grounds.</p> - -<p>When they were mounted and clear of the iron gates and the stone lions, -Ireton spoke.</p> - -<p>"Wilt thou put that man up in Whitehall again? See how his mind runs on -little things—he did offer us bribes as if we were soldiers deserting -for higher pay."</p> - -<p>"That went to my soul," replied Cromwell simply. "I thought he took me -for an honest man—but it pleased the Lord to mortify me, and I must -not murmur. As for the King—yea, I will put him on his heights again, -for that is the only way to peace."</p> - -<p>They rode silently until they came within sight of Putney, and there -they were met by Major Harrison, who, riding, came out of the village -and joined them at the village green.</p> - -<p>"News," he said abruptly, with a grim smile and triumphant eyes—"news -from 'The Blue Boar.'"</p> - -<p>"Ay?" replied Cromwell quietly.</p> - -<p>Harrison turned his horse about and rode beside the others; the three -slowed to a walking pace.</p> - -<p>"You had not left the guard-room ten minutes," said Harrison, "before -my man arrived from London, all in a reek. He had found and arrested -the King's secret messenger, and out of his saddle ripped these"—he -held up a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> packet of papers—"secret letters to the Queen," he added -triumphantly, "and as fatal as those papers captured after Naseby!"</p> - -<p>Ireton gave a passionate exclamation, but Cromwell said—</p> - -<p>"What is in them?"</p> - -<p>"Much treason," replied Harrison succinctly. "He tells his wife he -will never make a peace with either army or Parliament, that he is -deluding both while he raises a force in Scotland and Ireland, in which -countries Hamilton and Ormonde intrigue for him. He begs her to get a -loan from the Pope to raise a foreign army—and he promises," added -Harrison dryly, "that, when he hath his day again, those two rebels, -Cromwell and Ireton, shall both be hanged."</p> - -<p>"Doth he? doth he?" said Cromwell; he held out his hand and took the -papers.</p> - -<p>One glance at their contents confirmed Harrison's summary—the whole -was in the King's known hand.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell turned his horse and rode back to Hampton Court.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> - -THE KING AT BAY</h2> - - -<p>When Cromwell returned to the Palace the King had already gone to his -supper.</p> - -<p>"I will wait," said the Lieutenant-General; and in the little room with -the linen-pattern carving in the grey-coloured walls, the portrait of -Mary Tudor, the red lacquer desk, and the oriel window, where he had -first spoken with Charles, he waited.</p> - -<p>Between his buff coat and his shirt lay the packet of papers ripped -from the saddle of the secret messenger in the stables of "The Blue -Boar"—papers which Charles believed to be across the Channel by now.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell waited while nearly half an hour ticked away on the -dial of the gilt bracket clock, and then came Lord Digby to say that -His Majesty would not be disturbed again to-night; Charles had still -the unconquerable pride of royalty; he would not be summoned to meet -his enemies at any hour they chose to name; the state with which he was -still surrounded perhaps deluded him into thinking he could behave as -he had behaved at Whitehall.</p> - -<p>If so, the veil of his dignity was now rent in such a way that it could -never be patched again; Cromwell, with a manner there was no mistaking, -the manner of the master, repeated his demand for an instant audience -of His Majesty.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby withdrew, and five minutes later the Puritan soldier was -ushered into the old, now disused, state chamber of Henry VIII, hung -with fine Flemish tapestries represent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>ing the 'Seven deadly Sins' and -lit by mullioned windows looking on the Park.</p> - -<p>Charles was already there, walking up and down; he had changed his -dress since Cromwell had left him, and now wore black velvet with -cherry-coloured points and gold tags; his fingers played nervously with -the long gold chain which thrice circled his chest.</p> - -<p>In the light, already slightly dim, of the large room, the grey look -of his face and hair was more apparent; it was almost as if some faded -carving had been joined to a living body, so extraordinarily lifeless -and without light was that immobile face framed in the long, waving, -colourless locks.</p> - -<p>But in the eyes, swollen and lined, an intense vitality gleamed; the -dark pupils sparkled with force and emotion under the tired, drooping -lids as Charles stopped in his pacing and turned about to face Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"I had not expected this," he said, with a haughtiness which seemed -to disguise some straining passion. "What more have we to say, sir? -Methought you were to come to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"To-morrow might have been too late," said Cromwell. He spoke in his -usual quiet, almost melancholy, fashion; his heavy voice held the usual -deep note, enthusiastic, mournful.</p> - -<p>He stood bareheaded, in his dusty leathers and silk scarf, his falling -boots, soiled spurs, and plain tuck sword, his head a little drooping, -his tanned face reddish from the ride through the autumn air.</p> - -<p>Behind him the Gothic figures on the tapestry twisted and glowed -through branches and sprays of flowers and a luxurious profusion of -rare birds and uncouth beasts.</p> - -<p>"Too late for what?" asked Charles, still endeavouring to conciliate -his powerful foe, and now, he hoped, ally, still barely able to conceal -his angry pride at the lack of ceremony with which he was treated, -the manner in which this man came before him, his great disgust and -repulsion at having to deal with such fellows at all.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Get you gone to-night from Hampton, sir," said Cromwell, "to whatever -place seems good—here you shall no longer be safe."</p> - -<p>"Ah," cried Charles, "is this the end of all your wily advances? I am -not safe!"</p> - -<p>"Because I cannot protect you when what Major Harrison knows is spread -abroad among the army."</p> - -<p>The King's right hand left his chain; he pressed his fingers over his -heart; on the black velvet they looked thin and white beyond nature.</p> - -<p>"The hand of God is against you," said Cromwell sombrely. "He does not -mean that you shall again rule in this land. I would have made treaty -with you as the Gibeonites made with David—and I would not ask from -you the lives of seven, as they asked for the sons of Saul, but only -your own word pledged openly. But you could not keep it, but dealt with -the children of Belial and all the array of the ungodly."</p> - -<p>Charles took one delicate step backwards.</p> - -<p>"These are mighty words," he said.</p> - -<p>"They are mighty doings," replied Cromwell. "Not of mean things or -small things or the things concerning one man or another am I speaking, -but of great things, the displeasure of God on this wretched land, the -means we must take to revoke His judgment.... Much blood hath been -shed," he added, with a sudden flash in his voice, "but not that which -must be before we find peace."</p> - -<p>"I know not of what you speak," muttered the King.</p> - -<p>"You very well know," replied Cromwell, and through the obscure web of -his words a meaning of passion, of force and fire did gleam, like gold -or flame. "You know what you have done. How you have deceived and gone -crookedly. But God is not mocked. Hath He not said, 'Though they dig -into Hell thence shall mine hand take them, though they climb up into -Heaven thence shall I pull them down'? And out of darkness and secrecy -hath He revealed your designs that you may not bring more evil upon -England."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Of what dost thou accuse the King?" asked Charles.</p> - -<p>"Of high treason," replied Cromwell—"of treason towards God and -England."</p> - -<p>A step farther back moved Charles, so that his shoulders touched and -ruffled the tapestry.</p> - -<p>"By what authority do you use this boldness?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"My authority is from within," answered the Puritan. "I can satisfy -men of my authority. I am not afraid. I see that in treating with you -I have committed folly, but that is over. God will find another way. -Get from Hampton, under what excuse you may. I would not, sir, have the -army do you a mischief."</p> - -<p>"I will," replied Charles, "get as far as may be from the violence of -insulting rebels—I will withdraw myself from my subjects until they -remember their duty to their King."</p> - -<p>"In what way," demanded Cromwell, "hast thou fulfilled thy duty to God -or to His people?"</p> - -<p>"I have endured much!" cried Charles, in a sharp voice. "But till now I -have been spared open insolence!"</p> - -<p>Unmoved and unblenching the Lieutenant-General regarded him.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he replied, "you may yet hear worse words than any I have -said, and may have to bear a rougher speech. I did not come to rail, -but to tell you that I am now persuaded there can be no treaty or -understanding between you and us. Sir, others advised me of this -awhile ago, but I would not listen. But now the hand of God is plainly -discoverable—your plots and subterfuges are revealed, sir, your secret -letters to the Queen are known."</p> - -<p>Charles, whose quick mind had been reviewing all the possible disasters -that could have befallen, who had been wondering which of his intrigues -had been unveiled, was not prepared for a catastrophe so complete -as the discovery of his secret correspondence with his wife, which -revealed, not one, but all of his complicated plots.</p> - -<p>As Cromwell told him at last the cause of his sudden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> estrangement, he -felt at once a shock and a premonition chill his heart; he remembered -quite clearly what had been in his last letter to the Queen, and the -statement that he had made in his irritation and humiliation regarding -Cromwell and Ireton, and he saw that another golden chance had gone, -and that he had lost for ever the help of the army which he had -sacrificed so much pride to gain.</p> - -<p>But he faced this misfortune as he had faced so many others, with -unfailing courage and dignity.</p> - -<p>"You pretend to deal with me as your king," he said, "but you treat me -as your prisoner. I am spied upon, and my very letters opened.... There -is no more to be said."</p> - -<p>Cromwell did not deny the charge, as he might well have done, since -Major Harrison, and not he, had tracked and arrested the King's -messenger.</p> - -<p>"My hopes of you are dead," he merely said. "I would have you leave -Hampton, for I know not what the army may do, and if they take you to -Whitehall now, sir, it will not be as a king, but as a prisoner."</p> - -<p>"I am well used to that treatment," replied Charles, with hot -bitterness, "nor have I looked for any other at the hands of rebellious -fanatics. Didst thou think," he added, with the full force of that fury -and scorn he had so long concealed breaking the bounds of his fitful -prudence and his steady courtesy, "that <i>I</i> ever regarded <i>thee</i> as my -friend?"</p> - -<p>"I would have been so, sincerely," replied Cromwell, with his -unruffled, melancholy calm. "I and Ireton risked our prestige with the -army to make conferences and debates with you, but it hath been as if -one should pour water into a sieve. I would have overlooked much—even -the insult you put on me to-day when you tried to buy me with a feather -for my cap, when I was offering myself to you with no thought but the -good of this realm. So cheaply did you hold Pym, so cheaply will you -always hold honest men, it seems—and I, sir, tell you plainly that I -have done with you. I will find other ways. Not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> through you can peace -come to England. I do now perceive it. 'Unstable as water, thou shalt -not excel.' You must go on to your fate, sir, as I shall to mine; but -look for no ally in me or in the army, for henceforth there can be no -treaty between Your Majesty and us. My cousin, Colonel Whalley, shall -remain here to look after your security; as for me, you shall not see -me again, or in a manner very different. As for what may become of you -or your estate, of that I wash my hands of—the Lord deal with you."</p> - -<p>"Amen," said Charles sternly, "and may He judge between you and me. -Between me who have kept His ancient statutes and upheld His Church, -and you who have defied and blasphemed both."</p> - -<p>"God is neither in statutes nor in churches," replied Cromwell, "but -in the innermost recesses of the spirits and the secret depths of -the heart, and these sanctuaries have you polluted and defiled, with -tyranny and falseness and sly and untruthful dealing."</p> - -<p>He took a step towards the door; a sudden weariness seemed to have -overtaken him, or a wave of the weakness from his recent illness; he -looked, in his dusty clothes, like a rider beaten with fatigue, a -traveller exhausted after a long journey, his chin sank on his linen -collar; his broad shoulders were bowed, and his step was at once heavy -and uncertain.</p> - -<p>Charles remained white, rigid in pose and expression as when Cromwell -entered the chamber; the shadows were swiftly closing round them and -all sharp lines and fine colours were blurred; through the one open -window a breeze came, which lightly stirred the dusty tapestry and -shook it in faint ripples from top to bottom.</p> - -<p>The disused, unfurnished chamber, built for pomp and magnificence, was -unutterably mournful and dreary, a fitting setting for the unfortunate -King whose black figure was lost in, and one with, the ancient arras.</p> - -<p>When he had reached the door, Cromwell turned and spoke again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Thou hast, sir, lost as good a chance as we are ever like to get of -a fair settlement, and lost it through falseness and folly." He spoke -with passion, but it was a passion of regret, not of vexation or wrath. -"A good night."</p> - -<p>The King, without turning his head or moving, stood as if he dismissed -an unwelcome suitor from an audience, he showed an indifference that -was stronger than contempt and an insulting coolness and absence of -passion.</p> - -<p>So, with no other word on either side, they parted, and Oliver rode -back to Putney, weary with disappointment and chagrin, though his -inmost prescience knew, and had known, that this disappointment and -chagrin had been from the first foredoomed, that in ever dealing with -the King at all he had been preparing the failure that had disclosed -itself to-night; as he reflected on the whole business, his stern -common sense laughed at the idealism which had led him astray; how -could he have ever hoped to have clipped a king to <i>his</i> pattern out of -Charles?</p> - -<p>The delusion was over; he asked himself, as he rode through the fresh -autumn twilight, what was to take its place?</p> - -<p>If the King could not be trusted—what then? Some of the bold words -of Thomas Harrison flashed into his mind. Must they, could they, do -without a king at all?</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell did not think so; he was never a Republican: order -and system were lovely to him, and both were involved, in his English -heart, with the idea of a steadfast though constrained monarchy.</p> - -<p>In anything else (where, indeed, was the model for anything else to be -found in Europe, save perhaps in the peculiar constitution, founded -under peculiar circumstances, of the United Provinces?) he foresaw the -elements of constant anarchy, constant revolution....</p> - -<p>Yet he had done with the King—finished with him with that complete -definiteness of which his resolutions were supremely capable.</p> - -<p>So Cromwell strove with his thoughts during the short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> ride to Putney -where all the chiefs of the army were already in conclave.</p> - -<p>Alone in the uncared-for splendour of another monarch the unhappy King -stood, motionless, as his enemy had left him, and tried to measure the -extent of his misfortune and to readjust his shattered plans.</p> - -<p>He was still, as ever, incredulous of his ultimate defeat, but never -before had he been so utterly at a loss for present action. The army -was lost to him, that was clear; neither the Scots nor the Parliament -were ready to receive him, the Queen had not been able to raise the -foreign army, his son-in-law, the Prince of Orange, had been prevented -by the States-General from sending troops to his assistance, Ormonde -could do nothing in Ireland—that country was indeed lost to the -royal cause, since the miserable affair of the Earl of Glamorgan—and -Hamilton seemed powerless to fight the Campbell faction at Edinburgh.</p> - -<p>"What shall I do?" muttered Charles. "What shall I do?"</p> - -<p>His thoughts turned with even deeper longing than usual to the Queen -in her exile; he believed that he might forsake everything and go to -her; two things restrained him, sheer pride and the thought of his two -children, the Princess Elisabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, who were -in the hands of the Parliament and whom he would have to leave behind.</p> - -<p>The Duke of York had already escaped to France, but the figures of -these little children rose up and restrained his flight.</p> - -<p>Besides, he must stand by his crown ... but he would not stay at -Hampton—his own enemy had warned him.</p> - -<p>But where to go—in all my three realms where to go?</p> - -<p>Several days he waited in his usual indecision, then, miserable, -harassed, uncertain, torn by a thousand perplexities, he and his few -companions crept one night down the back stairs, came out on to the -riverside, and went forth aimlessly, with no plan nor purpose, with -nothing but schemes as wild as will-o'-the-wisps to light the dimness -and confusions of their future.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER V<br /> - -LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL, REPUBLICAN</h2> - - -<p>In a room of the house where Oliver Cromwell had moved his family from -Ely, a mansion in Drury Lane, one of the least pretentious in that -fashionable street, but stately and comfortable, two women were sitting -over the ruddy fire which lit and cheered the close of the short winter -day.</p> - -<p>The contrast between them was as marked as any contrast could be, -yet something in their personalities knit together and blended as if -beneath their great differences there was an underlying likeness—the -likeness of the same breed and birth.</p> - -<p>The elder lady was towards the close of life—eighty, perhaps, or more; -her face and person were delicate, her lap full of delicate embroidery, -out of which her fine fingers drew a fine needle and thread.</p> - -<p>She wore a grey tabinet gown; a white cap and white strings enclosed -her fragile face, white linen enfolded her shoulders and bosom, and -long white cuffs reached from her wrist to her elbow.</p> - -<p>A housewife's case and a small Bible hung by cords to her waist; she -had nothing of gold or silver but her worn wedding ring, yet she gave -the impression of something high and fine and aristocratic.</p> - -<p>She sat in a deep, cushioned chair with a hooded top; the failing light -had baffled the eyes that were still so keen, and the needlework was -dropped on her lap.</p> - -<p>At her feet, on a small footstool, sat her grandchild, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> who had -brightened the house at Ely with her balls of holly berries, her red -ribbons, her laughter, and her songs, and who now brightened the finer -town house when she visited there; she was no longer an inmate of her -father's home, for, though only seventeen, Elisabeth was a year married -and now Mrs. Claypole.</p> - -<p>Neither in dress nor manner was she a Puritan; her lavender-blue silk -gown, flowing open on a lemon-coloured petticoat, her deep falling -collar and cuffs of Flemish lace, the bow of rose colour at her breast -and in her hair, her white sarcenet shoes with the silver buckles, the -long ringlets which escaped the pearl comb and fell on her shoulders, -even her piquant bright face, with eyes slightly languishing and mouth -slightly wilful, seemed more to belong to the now exiled court of -Henriette Marie than to the household of the leader of the Roundhead -army.</p> - -<p>Yet there was nothing frivolous in the appearance of Elisabeth -Claypole; her prettiness had a pensive cast, her glance often a -seriousness unusual for her age, and if she sometimes showed a pride, -a vanity, or an impatience, impossible to her sweetly austere sister, -Bridget Ireton, she was not less noble and pious, brave and good, and -perhaps her deeper tenderness, her greater gaiety, her warmer love of -life were not such sins in the eyes of the God whom she had always been -taught to fear; yet sins her father called them, though he knew they -made her lovable, though he found her sweeter than Bridget, who was -gentle perfection.</p> - -<p>Sitting here now, in the closing day, with the firelight flushing her -delicate clothes and her sensitive face, and the shadows encroaching -on her hair, here, with the cheerful noises of London without and the -cheerful atmosphere of home within, she talked to her grandmother of -the one subject every one must talk of this wondrous winter—the King's -bewildered flight from Hampton, his aimless two days' riding, his final -turning to the Isle of Wight and giving himself up to the Governor -there, Colonel Hammond, whom he had reason to believe was loyalist at -heart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - -<p>Yet here again the King had been, as ever, unfortunate; Robert Hammond, -tempted at first to take the King where he wished, yet remained true -to his trust, and the unhappy Stewart was again a prisoner, now at -Carisbrooke, kept more strictly than before—and a portentous silence -hung over the nation; English, Scots, Presbyterians, Independents, -Parliamentarians, the army, the Royalists—all seemed waiting—"Waiting -for what?" asked Elisabeth Claypole, voicing the question England was -asking.</p> - -<p>"For the Lord to show His will towards this poor kingdom," said Mrs. -Cromwell simply. "Surely He will dispose it all to mercy."</p> - -<p>"Mercy?" repeated the young girl thoughtfully. "I see little mercy -abroad. Much blood and bitterness—but no mercy."</p> - -<p>"At least," said the old gentlewoman composedly, "His Majesty is mewed -up, and that should be a step towards the settlement of these tangled -affairs."</p> - -<p>"Alas, poor King!" murmured the youngest Elisabeth (it was her mother -and her grandmother's name). "Alas! alas!"</p> - -<p>"Why dost thou say alas?" asked Mrs. Cromwell calmly. "Dost thou not -recall what thy father said in the House the other day when he moved -that no more addresses should be sent to the King, nor any dealings -made with him, under pain of high treason? He put his hand on his -sword, thy father did, and he said, quoting Holy Writ—'Thou shalt not -suffer a hypocrite to reign——'"</p> - -<p>"He said not so much a month ago," replied Elisabeth; "then he was -all for a good peace with His Majesty, saying—how could any man come -quietly to his own save by that?"</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest," returned the old lady, who had much of the strength and -melancholy of her son in her calm demeanour, "that all that is changed."</p> - -<p>"Will there be another war?" murmured Elisabeth Claypole, looking -dreamily into the fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That is a matter for men.... Be not so grave, dear heart, the Lord -hath us all in His keeping."</p> - -<p>"My father," replied the girl, "hath been grave of late—during all my -visit. He thinketh affairs are dark, I believe."</p> - -<p>"Not only affairs of the kingdom weigh on him, Elisabeth—something his -own do oppress him. The Parliament settlements are yet indefinite, and -then there is your brother Richard's marriage. It does not please your -father that he should be so deep in love as to leave the Life Guards. -And then this Dorothea Mayor's father requireth settlements, hard for -your father to give as things now stand—all this weighs with him and -puts him in anxieties and silences."</p> - -<p>At the end of this speech, Mrs. Cromwell, either exhausted from so -many words or from the thoughts her own explanation had conjured up, -sighed and leant back in her chair, dropping her chin on the immaculate -whiteness of her cambric bosom, as her son would sink his on his breast -when he was thoughtful or oppressed.</p> - -<p>"Richard," said Elisabeth Claypole in that soft, eager voice which was -always ready to plead for and to praise every one, "is not suited for -the army—he never cared for it."</p> - -<p>"Cannot you see," replied Elisabeth Cromwell almost sharply, "what a -disappointment that is for your father?"</p> - -<p>"He loveth Oliver," whispered Oliver's sister, and her eyes swam in -tears. "Oliver would have been a good soldier."</p> - -<p>"He loved Robert more," returned the grandmother. "Robert was the -first born. His eldest son. Richard could never be as either Robert or -Oliver to him; yet he will be loving and just to Richard." That sense -of the presence of the dead that the hushed mention of them seems to so -often evoke, as if they were never far, and at the sound of love and -regret hovered near, filled the darkening room. Both the grandmother -and sister seemed to see the bright ardent figure of the young cornet, -whose life had burst forth so fiercely into action amid the whirling -events of war, and had been stilled so suddenly by a hideous disease<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -in an insignificant garrison, and was now forgotten save by these one -or two who had loved him.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole remembered; she remembered his excitement, their -mother's instructions, the cordials and balms he had taken with him, -the fine shirts she had helped stitch and pack, his new sword that had -looked so big to her childish eyes—the farewells—the letters....</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell remembered; she remembered his farewell visit, how -she had blessed him and he had knelt before her with her hand on his -smooth fair head ... and his tallness and straightness and slenderness, -and all his bright new bravery of war array....</p> - -<p>"Ah well," she said softly. "Ah well," and her mind wandered off to her -own youth, and it seemed to her as if she had indeed been living a long -time ... almost too long.</p> - -<p>"Light the candles, my love, my dear," she said. "It is sad to sit in -the dark."</p> - -<p>As her granddaughter rose, the door opened and Oliver Cromwell entered.</p> - -<p>His coming was a surprise; he was not now often in London, save when he -had to speak at Westminster. He had lately been at Hereford, and they -had not expected his return so soon.</p> - -<p>The sincere warmth of his welcome might have pleased any man, however -weary, and his gravity lifted under it for a while, but when he had -kissed them both and come to the fire and warmed his hands, silence -came over him, as if the melancholy had closed over and clouded him -again. His mother, from her hooded chair, gazed at his powerful, yet -drooping figure, and the presence of the younger Oliver seemed more -insistent.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole had gone to fetch the candles.</p> - -<p>"We were speaking of Oliver," said Mrs. Cromwell.</p> - -<p>Her son turned to look down at her.</p> - -<p>"He is with the Lord," he answered gravely. "He was a man—and took a -man's fate doing man's work."</p> - -<p>A little fall of silence, then Cromwell spoke again—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do you think of Robert sometimes, mother?"</p> - -<p>"I knew, I knew," murmured the old gentlewoman. "He was your love."</p> - -<p>"He was a child," replied Cromwell, with infinite tenderness, with -infinite regret. "A little, useless child. Dying so, he remains a -child—never higher than my shoulder. My eldest born. Oliver laughed -when he did go, for joy to die in God's service, but Robert wept. Ay, -they at Felsted told me he wept because I was not there to take his -hand in the sharpness of his passing. Oh, that went to my heart, my -innermost heart ... but God saved me."</p> - -<p>The young Elisabeth returned, followed by the servant with the two -branched candlesticks of brass which stood on the black polished table, -where they reflected their full shining length.</p> - -<p>With a shudder the Lieutenant-General roused himself and turned to face -the room.</p> - -<p>"What hast thou been doing?" asked Elisabeth Claypole when the maid had -gone.</p> - -<p>"It would not please thee to know," he answered sombrely.</p> - -<p>Now the room was lit she noticed his pallor, his heavy air.</p> - -<p>"Thou art tired, father," she cried.</p> - -<p>"Ay—tired—tired—bring me a glass of wine, dearest." He turned round -again to the fire and said abruptly, "There hath been a mutiny in -the army. A rebellious meeting at Corkbush field—these levellers it -was—but I did stamp it out; we must have no disaffection in the army."</p> - -<p>"A meeting?" exclaimed his daughter, taking a bell-mouthed glass from -the sideboard; "but it is ended—how?"</p> - -<p>"They drew lots," replied Cromwell, "and one was shot. One Arnald—a -brave man."</p> - -<p>"Oh, father!" cried Mrs. Claypole. "More blood—more misery!"</p> - -<p>"It had to be," said Cromwell. "Dost thou think I love it?" He made an -effort to shake off his preoccupation and his gloom, "Come, come, this -is no news for thee."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned again to gaze very tenderly at her as she came with wine on a -silver salver.</p> - -<p>"Oh, vanity and carnal mind!" he cried, pulling at the ribbons on her -sleeve; "thy sister Ireton doth think that thou art too much given to -worldliness! Yet seek ye the Lord and ye shall find Him," he added, -with a sudden grave smile.</p> - -<p>"Sir, I would," she replied earnestly. "Let not my ways deceive you, I -am very humble at heart."</p> - -<p>"I do believe it," he said.</p> - -<p>He drank his wine slowly. He asked where his wife was (he had learnt -below that she was abroad), and was told that she was with Lady Wharton.</p> - -<p>"She did not expect me," he said half-wistfully. "I wish that I had -chanced to find her. Since I am so much away I would have all round me -when I am at home."</p> - -<p>"She will be in soon," said his mother, gathering up her fine sewing -with an air of regret, for the candlelight was not strong enough for -her to see the minute stitches.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth crept up to her father, and taking his sword hand, caressed -it.</p> - -<p>"What of the King?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"The King is at Carisbrooke," he replied.</p> - -<p>She gave a deep sigh.</p> - -<p>"How will it end, my father?"</p> - -<p>"How should we have that knowledge yet?"</p> - -<p>"The poor King!" she exclaimed. "I am sorry for the poor King!"</p> - -<p>Cromwell was silent.</p> - -<p>"Tell me," said Elisabeth, creeping closer to him, "will there be -another war?"</p> - -<p>"God forfend," he answered gravely.</p> - -<p>"Then what will the King do?" she insisted.</p> - -<p>"Thou art very tender towards the King."</p> - -<p>"I am sorry for him, surely. And I have heard thee say—he must have -his rights again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He hath forfeited his rights," said Cromwell, glooming. "He is a -hypocrite."</p> - -<p>"Once you were his friend," said Elisabeth Claypole; "is that over? -Why, Major Harrison even called you royalist."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is over," returned her father, "and now you may sooner call -me republican—a name I did use to hate. The King is not one to be -trusted, neither is he fortunate. God is against him, and will not have -him raised up again; even as the Lord's judgment went forth against -Tyrus, so hath it gone forth against Charles Stewart. What hath God -said—'I shall bring thee down with them that descend to the pit—and -thou shalt be no more—thou shalt be sought for, but never shalt thou -be found!'"</p> - -<p>"But what wilt thou do with the tyrant?" asked Mrs. Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"He is not my prisoner, nor am I his judge," replied Cromwell, with -sudden vehemence. "Ask <i>me</i> not what his fate will be! Ask me not to -pity the King—'he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity, and the rod -of his anger shall fail.'"</p> - -<p>He crossed to the sideboard and set his glass there.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole stood sad and thoughtful by her grandmother's chair; -Cromwell came and kissed her delicate forehead.</p> - -<p>"Thy brother's marriage treaty sticks," he said pleasantly. "I must -go and write to Mr. Mayor, and cast up what higher settlements I can -offer."</p> - -<p>"He demands too much," declared Mrs. Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"Nay, he is prudent; but I have two wenches still to provide -for—farewell for a moment." He had gone again.</p> - -<p>"The affairs of men!" muttered the old gentlewoman. "Well, well."</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole, too, felt sad; she, too, felt helpless in a busy -world that did not need her. She returned to her stool and began to -fold up her grandmother's work; both of them, being women, were used to -loneliness.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VI<br /> - -PRESTON ROUT</h2> - - -<p>Charles was a prisoner at Carisbrooke, more strictly guarded than ever -before, but not any less dangerous to Parliament or the disrupting -forces which stood for Parliament. In spite of everything they still -tried to come to an agreement with him, for the confusion of the -kingdom was beyond words, beyond any one man's brain to grasp and cope -with, and all turned to the King and the tradition behind the King as -the one stable thing in a whirl of chaos.</p> - -<p>Charles thought that they, traitors and rebels as they were, were -speeding to their own doom. Outwardly he played with them as he had -done before; he referred himself, he said, wholly to them. Meanwhile he -was sowing the seeds of another Civil War.</p> - -<p>He had come to an agreement with the Scots whereby they were to unite -with the English royalists against the Parliament, and he on his side -was to suppress Sectaries and Independents and to establish presbytery -for three years, himself retaining the Anglican form of worship. This -agreement was signed secretly, wrapped in lead, and buried in the -garden of Carisbrooke Castle.</p> - -<p>Royalist risings broke out all over the country, particularly in Wales; -mutinies were frequent in the still undisbanded, unpaid army; the -struggle between Presbyterian and Independent was as sharp as it had -ever been. Hamilton triumphed over the Argyll faction in the Scottish -Parliament, raised an army 40,000 strong, and prepared to march<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> across -the Border "to deliver the King from Sectaries." Part of the fleet -had revolted, gone to Holland, fetched the young Prince of Wales and -Rupert, and was buccaneering round Yarmouth Roads. In Ireland the -Marquess of Ormonde and the papal Nuncio were coming to some pact to -unite against the Parliament, and the feeling of the sheer people of -England was veering against the austere rule of the Puritan and coming -again to the old known and tried idea of Kingship. "Why not," they -asked, "a good peace with His Majesty?"</p> - -<p>Cromwell and a few others knew why not; because the King was utterly -impossible to deal with; because he did not admit that he, the King, -<i>could</i> be dealt with, made party to a bargain or an agreement, like an -ordinary man.</p> - -<p>But in the minds of the common people, Charles did not get the blame -nor they the credit of this attitude of his. Cromwell in particular had -lost much of his prestige; the zealots blamed him for his conferences -with the King, the moderates because they had not succeeded. He brought -about meetings between the leaders of the two factions, Presbyterians -and Independents, but quite uselessly—neither would yield a jot. Then -the extreme men of the Parliament and the extreme men of the army were -gotten together by his care to discuss the desperate state of affairs.</p> - -<p>This conference resolved itself into a bitter and academic dispute on -the various forms of government, each man backing himself by manifold -quotations from Scripture.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore," cried Cromwell, starting up impatiently, "do you argue -which is best—monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy—when you are come -here to find a remedy for the present evils?"</p> - -<p>Thereat they began to reply together, tediously and idly, and Cromwell -picked up the cushion from the chair on which he sat and hurled it at -Ludlow's head, and before it could be flung back to him he ran down the -stairs, thus ending the conference.</p> - -<p>Soon after, the army came together at Windsor and, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> prayers and -tears and exhortations, besought God to tell them for what mistreading -or fault all these turmoils and distresses had come upon them.</p> - -<p>And the conclusion of these three days of mystic exaltation was that -God was punishing them for their dealings with Charles Stewart, who was -henceforth to be no more considered or dealt with, but treated as a -delinquent and man of blood who would be, in good time, made to answer -for his sins to men before he went to answer for them to God.</p> - -<p>The situation was a paradox. The Scots were invading the kingdom to -restore Charles and to force the Covenant on England; these two matters -were no less the object of the parliamentary majority, yet they were -bound to withstand Hamilton, for his victory would mean their own utter -overthrow.</p> - -<p>To further complicate the situation, Langdale and the English -Cavaliers, joined with Hamilton, abhorred the Covenant, and were -fighting not merely for the re-establishment of the monarchy but the -re-establishment of the Church of England.</p> - -<p>It was obvious, even to the most hopeful, that only the sword could cut -these tangles; it was obvious, even to the most hesitating, that the -Scots must be driven back over their own Border.</p> - -<p>Cromwell, who had been on the edge of impeachment, who had many eager -foes now in Parliament and army, was called forth again at the supreme -moment.</p> - -<p>He was sent to South Wales, crushed the rebellion there, took Pembroke -Castle, heard Hamilton had crossed the Border, turned northwards and, -by July, was in Leicestershire. By the middle of August he had joined -General Lambert between Leeds and York.</p> - -<p>There his scouts brought him news that Hamilton and Langdale had -effected a juncture and were marching for London.</p> - -<p>"If," said Cromwell, "they reach London, then good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>night to us, for the -King will be master for all in all, and all the blood and bitterness -will have been for naught."</p> - -<p>There was nothing but him and his force to stay them. He had, perhaps, -eight thousand men; they, twenty-one thousand, or near it. The weather -was tumultuous, stormy; torrents of rain fell, the upland fells were -almost impassable from mud and bog. Cromwell had brought his army by -long and arduous marches from Wales; many of them were barefoot, many -in rags. None of them had yet received the months of arrears of pay -which had been so long in dispute. Plunder was forbidden them; they -were there, like the hosts of Joshua, to fight for the Lord, and for -nothing else.</p> - -<p>My Lord Duke, with his great straggling army, came over the open heaths -as far as Preston and Wigan, no colours displayed because of the wind, -no tents nor fires at night because of the wind and the rain; so they -marched, a weary troop, neither well-disciplined nor well-generaled, -and soon to face those troops which Oliver Cromwell had made the best -in the world. But there was with them neither hesitation nor dismay, -for half of them were Scots, and Langdale's men were of the same breed -as Cromwell's, and would fight as well and endure as stubbornly.</p> - -<p>Cromwell came to Clitheroe and lay in the house of a Mr. Sherburn, a -Papist, at Stonyhurst. The next day was Wednesday, and still raining; -the weather, the soldiers said, "was as fearful a marvel as the hideous -sight of English fighting English on English earth"; the sky was one -colour with earth, heavy, dun; the beaten heath, the broken bushes -dripped with moisture, the water ran in rivulets through the soaked -earth. As the rain ceased for a while the wind would rise, sweeping -strongly across the open spaces.</p> - -<p>Ashton marched to Whalley, other troops of dragoons to Clitheroe, -Cromwell advanced towards Preston. On the other side my Lord Duke -advanced, also, hardly knowing where, in the rain and wind, on the -undulating ground of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> hillocks and hollows, his army lay, or how and -where it was available.</p> - -<p>Sir Marmaduke Langdale was near Langdridge Chapel, on Preston Moor, the -other side of the Ribble. Four miles away my lord the Duke, who was at -Darwen, the south side of the river too, where there should have been -a ford, but was not, so swollen was the tide with the mighty rains. My -Lord Duke passed the bridge with most of his brigades and sent Lord -Middleton with a large portion of the cavalry to Wigan.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, through the rain and the confusion, stumbling over the -incredibly rough ground, a forlorn of horse and foot, commanded by -Major Hodgson and Major Rounal, came upon Sir Marmaduke and his three -thousand English.</p> - -<p>The Scots, themselves confused, thinking it only an attack of Lancaster -Presbyterians, did not support Langdale, who complained that he had -not even enough powder; but he fought, he and his men, like heroes, -against forces more than double their number—against the Ironsides, -for four hours, always in the wind and wet, on the rough ground. Then -such as was left of them gave way and fell back on Preston; some of the -infantry surrendered, some of the horse escaped north to join Munro.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell had swept Hamilton and Baillie back across the -Darwen, back across the Ribble, had captured both bridges and driven -my lord towards Preston town. Three times in his retreat my lord -turned round to face his enemies, crying out for "King Charles!" Three -times he repulsed the troops pursuing him, and the third time he drove -them far back and, escaping from them, swam the river and joined -Lieutenant-General Baillie where he had enclosed himself on the top of -a hill.</p> - -<p>Night fell and the battle was stayed; all were wet, weary, hungry, -haggled; the Parliamentarians, the victors, not the less exhausted, but -with fire in their hearts and hymns of praise on their lips. Cromwell -wrote to "the Committee of Lancashire sitting at Manchester" his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -account of the day's fight, dispatched it, prayed, and got into the -saddle again.</p> - -<p>It was still foul weather, wind, rain, miles of muddy heath, hillocks, -hollows now stained with blood and scattered with bodies, men, and -horses, dead and dying.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Hamilton's forces fought all that day and the next, routed -again and again, rallied again and again; always the rain, the wind, -the muddy heath, the low clouds, always the soldiers growing fainter -and wearier. Beaten from the bridge of Ribble, falling back, a drumless -march on Wigan Moor, leaving the ammunition to the enemy, falling -farther back on to Wigan town, where they thought to make some stand, -but decided not to, with skirmishes of detachments at Redbank where -the Scots nearly worsted Colonel Pride at Ribble Bridge, and where -Middleton (the weather, always foul, bringing confusion and fatigue) -missed his chief, coming too late. And so it went for three days on -the wet Yorkshire heaths, till finally it was over; the fate of King, -Church, Constitution, and Covenant was decided. Hamilton and the -vanguard of horse rode wearily and aimlessly towards Uttoxeter; Munro -and the rearguard straggled back to their own country; a thousand of -them were left dead under the rain, trodden into the bloody heath; -three thousand of them were made prisoners. And the second Civil War -which had flamed up so suddenly and so fiercely was ended.</p> - -<p>The Puritans—the patriots—had passed through their darkest hour -triumphantly; their ragged, hungry, unpaid soldiers, fighting truly for -God and not for pay, had again saved England from the return of the -tyrant and his manifold oppressions and confusions.</p> - -<p>After the three days' fight was over, Cromwell sat down at Warrington -to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons a long account of the -rout.</p> - -<p>"The Duke," he wrote, "is marching with his remaining horse towards -Namptwich.... If I had a thousand horse that could but trot thirty -miles, I should not doubt but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> to give a very good account of them; but -truly we are so harassed and haggled out in this business, that we are -not able to do more than walk at an easy pace after them."</p> - -<p>But whether or no the Puritans were too wearied to pursue their enemies -mattered little; the day was decided.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Hamilton, wandering vaguely, with fewer and fewer men after -him, was finally taken at Uttoxeter, where he surrendered, a sick and -broken man.</p> - -<p>Cromwell cleared the Border of the remnants of the Scots, retook -Berwick and Carlisle, engaged the Argyll faction, now the head of the -Government of Scotland, to exclude all royalists from power, and turned -back towards England, the foremost man of the moment again, and in the -eyes of at least half England, the saviour of the country from the -invader.</p> - -<p>But if the country was grateful, the Parliament was not. Denzil Holles, -fiercest of Presbyterians, rose up at Westminster to lead a party -against his enemy Cromwell. The Lords, who had all become royalists, -considered whether they should impeach the victorious general; it was -noticeable how much bolder they all were when the Independents and -their indomitable leader were absent, and how, as the return of the -army, strengthened in renown and prestige, drew nearer, they began to -cast round for some means of escape from the fact facing them, that -when Cromwell reappeared at Westminster he would be absolute master of -the political situation, for he had behind him the entire army and they -had nothing but the mere unsupported weight of the law.</p> - -<p>So sharp was the division and so fierce had party hatred become, that -the Presbyterians at Westminster hated the Independents with the army -as no Roundhead or Cavalier had ever hated in the first broad division -of the war.</p> - -<p>Toleration was the watchword of Cromwell and his followers, and no -word was more detestable to the Parliament. To mark their loathing of -it they passed an ordin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>ance punishing Atheism. Arianism, Socinianism, -Quakerism, Arminianism, and Baptists with death.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell, looming ever larger in the imaginations of men, -was returning triumphant to London. If his fame had been at the lowest -when he left for Wales, it was at the highest now. Denzil Holles -conceived the idea of meeting material force by moral force; as they -had nothing else to oppose to Cromwell they must oppose the King. -Charles still remained, in many ways, the hub of the political wheel.</p> - -<p>The Parliament must now yield either to him or to the army; they -thought they saw their chance with Charles. If terms could be come -to with him, and he be installed in London before the army returned, -Cromwell would be faced with a situation with which he would probably -not be able to cope. <i>He</i> had denounced the King solemnly at the -Windsor meeting, therefore Charles, once again in power, could not -treat him otherwise than as an enemy.</p> - -<p>The vote against further addresses to the King, which Cromwell's -eloquence had hurried through the House, was repealed, and -parliamentary commissions were sent to the Isle of Wight to open a new -treaty with the King.</p> - -<p>But they were not prepared to make concessions; the propositions of -Uxbridge, of Newcastle, of Oxford, of Hampton Court were offered again -and again, fought inch by inch. Charles, too, was still as intractable -as ever; the coalition between royalist and Presbyterian seemed doomed -to failure; the negotiations were continually ruptured on the subject -of Church government. Charles would not forgo his bishops, and the -Parliament would not endure them; though each side was desperate, on -this point they were firm.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell and his Ironsides were coming nearer.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VII<br /> - -THE CONSTANCY OF THE KING</h2> - - -<p>The fifteen commissioners had left the King; Sir Harry Vane, perhaps -the sincerest republican of all, had stayed behind a moment to entreat -Charles—as Pym—as Cromwell—had entreated him—"to be sincere."</p> - -<p>The King, grave, composed, courtly, had answered him as he had answered -Pym and Cromwell—"In all these dealings I have been sincere."</p> - -<p>And so they left him, and the wearisome yet desperate negotiations, -which had been protracted from the middle of the September after -Preston Rout to nearly the end of November, were over.</p> - -<p>Charles had given way; he had consented to the temporary abolition of -the bishops, for three years at least; the coalition of Royalist and -Presbyterian was formed against Cromwell and the army; the treaty which -made a third Civil War imminent was signed.</p> - -<p>After the commissioners had departed, Lord Digby came to Charles, -who still sat at the head of the table at which he had so often held -his own in caustic argument and learned dispute on the subject of -Episcopacy.</p> - -<p>"Bring me," said the King, "a little wine."</p> - -<p>Lord Digby, without calling a servant, served the King himself.</p> - -<p>The winter twilight was falling; the sea fog drifting over the island -thickened the sad atmosphere that filled the room in which the King -sat. A private house at Newport had been for some weeks now his -residence, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> carried with it less state, but more semblance of -freedom, than Carisbrooke Castle.</p> - -<p>The King wore grey. Since his own servants had been taken from him he -had grown more and more neglectful of his attire; there was nothing -either fine or splendid in his garments, and he wore no jewels. His -face showed a more cheerful expression than had been of late usual to -him, and when he had drunk the alicant, a faint colour came into his -cheeks and a sparkle to his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Digby," he said, "I think I shall yet be able to undo these rogues, -these traitors, these villains—but come, I must write to my Lord -Ormonde, for I have had to publicly give orders that he is to do -nothing in Ireland, and he may be misled."</p> - -<p>To most these words, the first he had spoken since he had assured Sir -Harry Vane of his sincerity, would have appeared indeed startling -and ironical, but Lord Digby knew the whole of his master's tortuous -intrigues. He was aware that from the moment the negotiations with the -Parliament began, Charles had been planning to escape from the Isle -of Wight, and join that portion of the navy which was now under the -command of Rupert and the Prince of Wales, and thus make a descent on -Ireland, where the incredible exertions of the Marquess of Ormonde kept -alive a royalist party, and from there attempt another such invasion of -England as had just ended so fatally at Preston Rout.</p> - -<p>Such was the wild, vague, and desperate scheme which the King nursed -in preference to returning triumphantly to London as the ally of the -Parliament, and from there dealing with the army, now his open enemies.</p> - -<p>But this, though it might seem the surest proof of his levity and -falsity, was in reality the uttermost testimony he could give of his -constancy to principles which he accounted Divine.</p> - -<p>The price the Parliament asked was the sacrifice of Episcopacy, and -that was what Charles would never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> consent to. Far preferable was the -wild hazard, the desperate risk, the almost certain danger of trusting -to Rupert and his lawless little fleet, or Ormonde and his inadequate -forces, or Ireland and her uncertain loyalty, than keeping the pact -with the Presbyterian, who refused the Divine form of Church government.</p> - -<p>Now, almost before the commissioners had entered their coaches, he was -hurriedly writing to Ormonde and to the Queen.</p> - -<p>"Do not be astonished at any concession I may make," he wrote to the -Marquess, "for it will come to nothing, and heed no public commands I -may give, until you hear that I am free; but keep alive with all vigour -the spirit of loyalty in Ireland."</p> - -<p>To his wife he wrote—"The great concessions I have made to-day were -merely in order to my escape."</p> - -<p>When these hasty letters, in the writing of which the King seemed to -relieve some of the feelings that he had had to contain in his bosom -during the long hours of his conference with the representatives of -Parliament, were finished and locked into the secret drawers of the -King's desk, Lord Digby lit the candles and closed the shutters over -the mournful, wet, misty night.</p> - -<p>"I would, sir," he said, with a little shudder, "that we were well out -of this cursed island."</p> - -<p>Charles rose from the little desk; his eyes were brilliant, his mouth -hardly set under the delicate moustaches.</p> - -<p>"If I were once in Ireland," he said, "fortune would look differently -on me."</p> - -<p>He had always been so—always, under the most cruel mortification -hopeful, trustful in some expedient. Ever since his overthrow he had -trusted first in Rupert and Montrose, then in the foreign armies the -Queen would raise, then in Hamilton, then in the divisions of his -enemies, and now in Rupert and his elusive ships.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby could not fail to see this incurable hopefulness of his -master, nor to argue ill from it; but he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> himself light-spirited -and fantastical, and his remonstrances were few and faint.</p> - -<p>Yet he hazarded one now.</p> - -<p>"As the army is deadly disloyal and much raised up of late, and as the -Parliament is your one sure refuge from it, sir, would it not be wiser -to observe this treaty, at least for a while?"</p> - -<p>"Never!" cried Charles fiercely. "Never will I yield! I have sworn that -I will defend the Church of England and my rights—even unto death. -I will not deal with these rebels save by the sword. The sword? Nay, -the halter. I hope, Digby, that God will give me the day when I can -see these rogues marched to Tyburn. Thou canst scarcely conceive," he -added, with great intensity, "what a hatred I have for them—how my -mortifications, my humiliations, my losses, all the loyal blood shed -for me cry out for repayment! How I loathe them and their heretical -opinions and their canting speech—how I detest them for mine own -helplessness!"</p> - -<p>He flung himself into the arm-chair beside the hearth, where a feeble -fire burnt neglected.</p> - -<p>"Hamilton's a prisoner," he said gloomily. "What will they do with my -faithful lord? How many noble lives have I not to avenge?"</p> - -<p>As he spoke he thought (as he thought often now, too often for his own -peace) of Strafford, his first great, awful, and useless sacrifice.</p> - -<p>"If it cost my heart's blood I will not submit," he muttered, biting -his lip.</p> - -<p>But Lord Digby would not so easily relinquish his point—that the -Parliament was a surer refuge from the army than Rupert or Ormonde, or -any possible ships or possible men either of these Cavaliers might be -able to command.</p> - -<p>"Fairfax," he reminded the King, "sent Ireton to the House with a -remonstrance from the army, protesting against the Parliament dealing -with Your Majesty, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> even daring to say that you should be brought -to trial."</p> - -<p>"But the House," replied the King, with a grim smile, "refused to -consider these demands of 'armed sectaries.'"</p> - -<p>"But the army," persisted Lord Digby, "hath the power."</p> - -<p>"I will be free of all of them," cried Charles passionately. "Of the -army, of the Parliament, of all their cursed sects and heresies."</p> - -<p>He lapsed into a melancholy silence again. My lord put another log on -the fire and stirred the faint flames to a blaze.</p> - -<p>"In the Queen's letter of this morning," said Charles suddenly, "she -mentioned that loyal gentlewoman, Margaret Lucas—she hath fallen ill. -When she had the news of the end of her brother, Sir Charles, she was -as one who had received a death-sentence."</p> - -<p>Tears moistened his own eyes. He was not usually very sensible of the -sorrows of those who were ruined in his service, and gratitude was no -part of his character or tradition; yet there was something in the -story of the gallant young Lucas, who, after an heroic defence of -Colchester, had surrendered on terms which bargained for quarter for -the inferiors, but left the superiors at the mercy of the enemy, yet -who had been taken out with his fellow-officer, Sir George Lisle, and -shot like a dog before those walls he had so valiantly defended through -three months of famine and misery, which moved the King, even to tears.</p> - -<p>"Ireton's doing," he cried. "Jesus God! grant that I may send Ireton to -Tyburn one day."</p> - -<p>"From an officer who came here recently I heard an account of it," said -Lord Digby, in a low voice. "They neither of them thought to have died, -seeing they had surrendered to mercy, but they made no grief of it. Sir -Charles was shot first, and Sir George bent and kissed him while he was -yet warm (and conscious, I hope) and spoke to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> wretched rebels, -'Come nearer and make sure of me.' And upon one of the dogs replying, -'I warrant you we shall hit you, Sir George,' he smiled and said, 'Ay! -but I have been nearer to you, many a time, my friends, and you have -missed me,—I would I had been there to give them company.'"</p> - -<p>"And they are gone!" sighed Charles. "How many of the young and brave -have I not lost! Ah, Digby, mine hath been a dismal fate, to ruin all -those I would most advance, to bring down those whom I would most -exalt."</p> - -<p>He was not thinking now of Sir Charles Lucas, but of the Queen; his -thoughts were never long from her. The image of her in her exile, in -her poverty and humiliation, in her beaten pride and broken splendour -was the most lively of all his mortifications, the most exquisite of -all his secret tortures; he felt that he had abjectly failed towards -her, towards her children, and, keenest sting of all, that she must -despise him for his failure and his misfortune.</p> - -<p>His head sank lower and lower on his breast, and two tears forced -themselves from his tired eyes and hung burning on his faded cheeks.</p> - -<p>"Digby, my faithful lord," he said, "I do sometimes think that it would -have been better for me to have died at Naseby. By now the Lord would -have judged me, and I should have been at peace—peace, peace! How the -word dangles before us while the thing is never to be found, this side -of heaven."</p> - -<p>Digby dropped on one knee beside him.</p> - -<p>"May Your Majesty soon find it," he said, in a broken voice, "and live -long to enjoy it."</p> - -<p>"If it were possible!" murmured Charles. "But we must get to -Ireland—it is very needful that we should get to Ireland."</p> - -<p>Lord Digby lowered his voice, as if somewhere in this lonely, -desolate-looking room a spy of Parliament or army might lurk.</p> - -<p>"The preparations are all complete," he said. "It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> only needs to wait -until the commissioners have left the Island."</p> - -<p>A little shudder shook the King.</p> - -<p>"What will it feel, Digby," he murmured, "to be free again—free!"</p> - -<p>Then, as if rousing himself from thoughts that threatened to be -overwhelming, he put out his hand and took up a small brown volume -tooled in gold, and, turning over the thin pages rough with print, -let slip his mind from the leases of care and suffered himself to be -distracted by Lucan's <i>Pharsalia</i>.</p> - -<p>The mist changed to rain, which slashed at the window; a winter wind -disturbed the tapestry and flickered the flames on the deep hearth, -which hissed beneath the drops falling down the wide chimney.</p> - -<p>Charles, sunk in the deep, worn leather chair, with one thin hand -supporting his thin face, the long curls flowing over his breast, -gathered consolation from those ancient deeds of melancholy heroism and -fated endeavour.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby left the room to concert with the few personal attendants -left the King about the final arrangements for the King's flight from -Newport as soon as the Parliamentarians should have returned to London.</p> - -<p>But again Charles Stewart proved unfortunate.</p> - -<p>The day before his projected escape Colonel Hammond, the Governor -of the Island, sent an escort to remove His Majesty from Newport to -Hurst Castle, a dreary residence near the coast, on the sea shingle, -where Charles was closely guarded beyond all hope of escape, even if -his word of honour not to escape had not been extracted from him: and -this was a point where he would admit of no sophistries. So the dream -of Rupert and his ships and Ormonde and his loyal Catholics vanished, -as all Charles' dreams had vanished, into the bitter obscurity of -disappointment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -IN THE BALANCE</h2> - - -<p>It was the army who had ordered the King's removal to a place of -greater security, the army who had now resolved to make an end of these -long negotiations between King and Parliament.</p> - -<p>On the day after Charles was closed into Hurst Castle the army marched -into London, Cromwell not yet with them; but other men, embued with his -spirit, were his representatives. He had proposed that the Parliament -should be forcibly dissolved and a new one elected, and a Declaration -to this effect had been issued by the army now openly at variance with -the assembly, which had flung aside their great Remonstrance. Leading -officers spoke darkly, yet unmistakably, of what they would do to the -King, ay, and to the Parliament.</p> - -<p>The Commons, undaunted, voted that the King's concessions were -sufficient ground for treating of a general peace; the reply of the -army was to send Colonel Pride down to the House to arrest every member -who had voted to continuing negotiations with the King.</p> - -<p>"It was the only way," said Henry Ireton, "to save the kingdom from a -new war into which King and Parliament conjointly would plunge us—that -is our warrant and our law for what we do."</p> - -<p>Cromwell, coming the evening of that day to London, approved. "Since -it is done, I am glad of it," he said, "and will endeavour to maintain -it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Harrison had gone down to Hurst Castle and removed the King -from that melancholy solitude to Windsor.</p> - -<p>The now purged House of Commons, which consisted of a mere handful -of Independent members, was nothing but the mouthpiece of the army, -who were now the masters of the hour. In council they decided against -bringing the King to trial if he could be brought by any means to -reason, and Lord Denbigh was sent to Windsor again—once more and for -the last time—to offer Charles terms.</p> - -<p>The same terms—the abandonment of Episcopacy and of his own absolute -sovereignty.</p> - -<p>All illusion was at last stripped from the proceedings; no meaningless -courtesies or formalities obscured the issue. The army were treating -Charles as they would treat a vanquished enemy, and he at last saw -it—saw there was no hope, no evasion possible, no succour at hand, no -shift, no expedient to which he could turn; saw, too, for the first -time, the sharp and bitter nature of the alternative of his refusal of -these terms.</p> - -<p>The army talked freely of his trial and death; there was barely a -disguise given to the fact that Lord Denbigh gave him his choice -between the Church of England, his Crown—and his life.</p> - -<p>This struck not at the King's ambition or lust of power or love of -authority, but at his conscience, for he believed as firmly that -he was there to uphold the Divine ordinance in Church and State as -Cromwell believed that God was mocked by Lawd's surplices, candles, and -genuflexions.</p> - -<p>On the gloomy day in the end of December when the return of Lord -Denbigh with the King's answer was expected, Henry Ireton was with his -father-in-law in his house in Drury Lane. Both men showed signs of the -tremendous physical and spiritual stress they had lately undergone. -Cromwell especially was haggard; the burden which he had assumed was -no light one, nor was the responsibility he was about to undertake one -which could be worn easily.</p> - -<p>Up to the very last he had hoped that the King would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> give way. Lord -Denbigh's journey had been on his recommendation, and he still clung to -the possibility that Charles, now absolutely with his back against the -wall, might make those concessions which would enable the army to spare -him.</p> - -<p>But the other and more likely alternative had to be faced.</p> - -<p>"Can we," said Henry Ireton, in a tone almost of awe, "bring to trial -the crowned and anointed King?"</p> - -<p>The thing was indeed unheard of, appalling in its audacity even to the -men who had been already years in arms against their King—a thing -without precedent, full of a nameless horror. But Oliver Cromwell -was not troubled by this consideration. He was uplifted by his stern -enthusiasm from all fears of laws and tradition; he knew himself -capable of moulding the movement to suit the need; and he was of an -incalculable courage.</p> - -<p>Yet in this affair he had shown himself more moderate, almost more -hesitating, than many of his colleagues; he did not see clearly; he -was not sure what God had meant him to do, and his personal feeling, -despite his absolute refusal to deal further with Charles after his -treachery had been made manifest, was still towards some arrangement by -which the King could be returned to the throne and forced to keep his -people's laws.</p> - -<p>His trust in the King had been utterly scattered; his sentiments had -become almost republican; yet in his heart he struggled to find some -means of saving the King as he had struggled since the end of the first -civil war.</p> - -<p>He still hesitated before committing himself to the fierce measures -advocated by the great body of the army; yet Charles had done some -things which Cromwell could never forgive.</p> - -<p>Notably the calling in of the Scots.</p> - -<p>To the Englishman, English of the English in every fibre, this "attempt -to vassalage us to a foreign nation," as he had called it, was the -intolerable, unforgivable wrong—a thing which burnt the blood to think -of—a wrong which the Scots, beaten back across the border and Hamilton -waiting death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> in London, did not soften or make amends for. Cromwell -had broken the Scots, but he could not forgive them.</p> - -<p>"Had he not done that," he cried aloud, "it had been easier to forget -his manifold deceits."</p> - -<p>"God hath witnessed against him," replied Ireton.</p> - -<p>But he, too, was for moderation; he had suggested a trial of the King -and then a decorous imprisonment.</p> - -<p>Such a compromise did not please the Lieutenant-General, who was -waiting for the indication for swift, prompt action. He wanted an -impetus to an irrecoverable decision, not an expedient for avoiding it; -nothing in the nature of a shift was ever tolerable to him.</p> - -<p>"Until Lord Denbigh return," he broke out, "we can decide on nothing. I -know not what the Providence of God may put upon us; but this I know, -the King hath one more chance, and if he take it not—there will be no -excuse but folly and cowardice to delay our dealings with him."</p> - -<p>"And when we have dealt with him—what then?" asked Ireton, and he -looked gloomy and apprehensive, like a man oppressed with many heavy -thoughts.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell rose from the table at which both had been sitting; -through his air of weariness the indomitable fire of his inner -conviction, his inner faith glowed. Ireton, looking at him, thought -that he always, even in his moments of deepest dejection or melancholy, -gave that impression of one carrying a flame.</p> - -<p>"I have much rested on these words of late," he said: "'They that shine -with thee shall perish. They that war against thee shall be as nothing; -and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right -hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.'"</p> - -<p>As he spoke he moved to the window and stood with his back against the -dark curtains which hung before it. His clothes were dark too, his -white band and his tanned but pale face, his brown hair and clasped -hands were all picked out and shone upon by the candlelight; for the -rest, his figure was in shadow. Ireton, gazing at him, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> impressed -by something about him which, hearty and homely as were his manners, -seemed to always put him beyond his brother officers: the quality of -greatness, Henry Ireton thought it was; but he wondered wherein lay -greatness.</p> - -<p>Cromwell did not speak again, and Ireton took his leave.</p> - -<p>"I am going to Sir Thomas Fairfax," he said, "and if any messenger -comes from Windsor to-night, I will send one over to you with the news."</p> - -<p>After he had been alone a little while Cromwell went upstairs, still -with a thoughtful face, with eyes downcast and a frowning brow.</p> - -<p>The room he entered was rendered cheerful by the bright firelight and -the glow of the candles in the wall sconces of polished brass, and it -formed the setting to a fair and tender picture.</p> - -<p>Cromwell's wife was seated at the spinet which occupied one corner of -the room, and either side of her stood one of her younger daughters, -singing. The lady and the children were all dressed in a brown colour, -and the purity of their fair-complexioned faces and the delicacy of -their soft and waving gold-brown hair was heightened by their collars -and caps of white cambric enriched with exquisite needlework.</p> - -<p>At the Lieutenant-General's entrance they paused, and Elisabeth -Cromwell was about to rise, but he bade them continue and crossed to -the fireplace, where he stood quietly, with his head hanging on his -breast.</p> - -<p>With a blush for the presence of their father at their simple -performance, the two little girls began again; the fresh voices, -sharply pure and sweetly tremulous, rose clearly and echoed clearly in -the high-ceiled chamber, accompanied by the faint, half-muffled notes -of the spinet.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"Ye Holy Angels bright,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Who wait at God's right hand,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Or through the realms of light</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 30%;">Fly at your Lord's command.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Assist our song,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Or else the theme</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Too high doth seem</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">For mortal tongue."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The little singers had forgotten the embarrassment of an audience; -their eyes sparkled, their little round mouths strained open in a -rapture.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell, as her fingers touched the keys to the simple -melody, looked across the spinet to her husband.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"Ye blessed souls at rest,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Who ran this earthly race,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">And now from sin released,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Behold the Saviour's face.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">His praises sound</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">As in His light</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">With sweet delight</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Ye do abound."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The mother's head bent a little; she dropped her eyes. She was thinking -of Robert and Oliver, and wondering if they were leaning from heaven to -listen to this song—"blessed souls at rest." Ah, well!</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"Ye saints, who toil below,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Adore your Heavenly King,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">And onward as ye go</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Some joyful anthem sing.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Take what He gives</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">And praise Him still</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Through good and ill,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Who ever lives!"</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The young voices gathered greater fervency on the next lines—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"My soul, bear thou thy part,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">Triumph in God above,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 30%;">And with a well-tuned heart</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 30%;">Sing thou the songs of love!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Let all thy days</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Till life shall end,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Whate'er He send,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 35%;">Be filled with praise!"</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Frances and Mary Cromwell, having ended their hymn, came round from -behind the spinet and curtsied to their father.</p> - -<p>"A sweet song," he said, "and sweetly sung. Who wrote the words, Mary?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Richard Baxter, sir," she replied; "he taught them to the troop -he was chaplain of at Kidderminster—and Henry copied them and brought -them home to us."</p> - -<p>"Learn Mr. Baxter's hymns," he smiled, "but not his tenets. He is -lukewarm and unstable."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Cromwell rose.</p> - -<p>"And now they must to bed—I fear it is already over-late."</p> - -<p>The Lieutenant-General stooped and kissed each of them on the fair, -untroubled brow.</p> - -<p>"A good night, my dears, my sweets. A good night, my little wenches."</p> - -<p>He lingered over the farewell caress half wistfully, and as they left -the room his tired eyes followed them.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell came to her husband's side and glanced up at him, -then down at the fire.</p> - -<p>"You are troubled to-night," she said, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"No," he answered, "no."</p> - -<p>"About Richard's marriage settlements," she returned. "It is over a -year since that affair was first opened."</p> - -<p>"I know," he replied, "I know. But what can I do? I cannot settle on -Dorothy Mayor moneys which I have not got for my own. There is Henry -to think of, and the two little ones—and thou knowest, Bess, I am not -rich."</p> - -<p>She knew well enough from many economies of her own. He had strained -his estates at the commencement of the first war, when he had raised -and equipped, at his own expense, his troop in Cambridgeshire; his pay -was in arrears and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> had lately been reduced; he had waited many ancient -debts due to him from the Government; and he had returned the larger -portion of the income arising from the grant of Lord Worchester's lands -to the Parliament to be used in settling that unhappy country, Ireland. -Therefore he was now more hampered and with less money to dispose -of than when in private life, and all his frugal living and all his -wife's good management would not permit him to afford Mr. Mayor what he -demanded for his daughter; therefore Richard's match had hung a year, -and seemed likely to hang longer.</p> - -<p>"I would rather," said Richard's father abruptly, "that the lad was -more like his brother Henry, and less eager to take a wife and live -easily."</p> - -<p>"All cannot be as thee," answered Elisabeth Cromwell half sadly, -"wrapped in great affairs."</p> - -<p>He turned.</p> - -<p>"Why, Bess," he said, taking her hand, "that did sound as a reproach."</p> - -<p>"Nay, my lord, my dear," she replied, in a subdued passion; "but thou -art so much away."</p> - -<p>"But thou art not alone," he said, eagerly bending over her.</p> - -<p>"A woman is always alone, Oliver, when she is away from him she -loves. I think a man doth not understand that—he hath so much -else—thou—thou hast so much—and I am gone right into the background -of thy life!"</p> - -<p>He took both her hands now and laid them on his heart.</p> - -<p>"Thou art dearer to me than any creature in the world," he said. "Let -that content thee."</p> - -<p>She sighed and smiled together. By her great love for him she could -measure her great pain because of him—the separations, the anxieties, -the apprehension, the knowledge that she was only a part of his life, -that he had now many, many other things to think of more important -than her, while she had nothing but him—always him. But he could not -understand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, well," she said.</p> - -<p>"Why art thou sad, Bess?" he asked tenderly. "Is it about Dick's -marriage?"</p> - -<p>She shook her head; her gentle face flushed with the thought that came -to her.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Oliver, I have been sorry about the King," she said simply.</p> - -<p>"The King!" He dropped her hands.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell lifted her large, clear grey eyes.</p> - -<p>"What is to be the fate of the King?" she asked, trembling.</p> - -<p>"That hangs in the balance," he replied briefly. "Bring not these -questions on to my own hearth, Bess."</p> - -<p>Thus rebuked, she moved away, trembling more.</p> - -<p>Her husband looked at her kindly.</p> - -<p>"It is not for me or thee," he said gently, "to discuss the fate of the -King, but for God in His good time to disclose it. Maybe He will harden -His heart as He hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and maybe He will turn -it to peace."</p> - -<p>"These are terrible times," replied Elisabeth Cromwell rapidly. -"I cannot but think of how terrible—being a woman I cannot but -tremble—fearful things are said now about the King—about—bringing -him to trial."</p> - -<p>"Why not?" asked her husband sternly. "Hath he not been the author of -two civil wars, and would he not have brought about a third save that -God struck his forces at Preston Battle?"</p> - -<p>"But he—he is the Governor of England," she answered timidly.</p> - -<p>"Nay, no longer," returned Oliver Cromwell; "that high office hath -he defiled. God hath overturned him—'He shall put down the mighty -from their seats and exalt the humble and meek.' The King hath sinned -against God, against his people, against the laws of England."</p> - -<p>"Alack—it is beyond my understanding," sighed his wife; "but it seems -to me <i>he is the King</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Be not deceived by high-sounding words," replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> the -Lieutenant-General. "Charles Stewart is a man and must pay as men -pay—for their sins and their follies."</p> - -<p>As he spoke the servant entered with a note, which had just been -brought, he said, by General Fairfax's man.</p> - -<p>Cromwell gazed at the seal—Henry Ireton's arms pressed into wax -scarcely cold—a full minute before he opened it, and the blood rushed -to his face.</p> - -<p>When he opened the letter his fingers shook.</p> - -<p>It contained a few words from his son-in-law, the sand yet sticking to -the ink.</p> - -<p>The King had utterly refused to see Lord Denbigh, and utterly refused -to have any dealings either with Parliament or army.</p> - -<p>He defied them. Now, driven to the last extremity, he had flung aside -all subterfuge and all evasion; he stood by his conscience, and no -matter what the consequences, he refused terms which he regarded as a -betrayal of God's laws in Church or State.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell crumpled up the letter with a gesture of, for him, -unusual agitation.</p> - -<p>"So it is over!" he muttered. He gazed at his wife with eyes that did -not see her; drops of sweat stood out on his forehead and his lips -quivered.</p> - -<p>"What is over?" asked Elisabeth Cromwell, in terrified tones.</p> - -<p>He drew himself together with an effort.</p> - -<p>"The reign of Charles Stewart," he replied simply.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IX<br /> - -BY WHAT AUTHORITY?</h2> - - -<p>The Lords having rejected the ordinance for bringing the King to -trial, the Commons, always under the influence of the army, declared -themselves capable of enforcing their own act by their own law, "the -People being, under God, the original of all just power."</p> - -<p>Charles was hurried from Windsor to St. James's, and the day after his -arrival in London put on his trial for having endeavoured to subvert -his people's rights, for having levied war on them with the help of -foreign troops, and with having, after once being spared, endeavoured -by all wicked arts to again involve the kingdom in bloody confusion.</p> - -<p>This was the end after so many years of strife, evasion, pacts made -and broken, bloodshed and lives ruined. Charles was a prisoner on -trial for his life, and in one of his splendid beds at Whitehall (now -the headquarters of the army) Oliver Cromwell slept or lay awake and -struggled with tumultuous thoughts.</p> - -<p>Many who had been with him all along were against him now. Vane and -Sidney protested hotly. Many members refused to sit among the judges -who were to try Charles.</p> - -<p>"The King," said Sidney, "can be tried by no court, and by such a court -as this no man can be tried."</p> - -<p>"I tell you," said Cromwell sombrely, "we will cut off his head with -the crown upon it."</p> - -<p>So passionate and vigorous and unalterable was his resolution now it -was taken.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> - -<p>The fiercer spirits of the army were with him. "'Blood defileth the -land,'" quoted Ludlow, "'and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood -shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.'"</p> - -<p>Cromwell, too, now believed that by God's express law the King was -doomed.</p> - -<p>It mattered not a whit to him that the tribunal which was to try -Charles had neither legal nor moral right, since there was no law by -which the King could be brought to trial, and the judges represented -neither the Commons nor the people, but a section of the army; -indeed, while others endeavoured to find excuses with which to cover -up the obvious illegality of the proceeding, Cromwell disdained any -such shifts. As he had been the man who had striven longest and most -arduously to make some compromise with the King, he was now the man who -was advancing most boldly and directly to the climax of the King's last -phase.</p> - -<p>He had decided there could be no peace while Charles lived, and he -spared no effort to secure his death.</p> - -<p>The time for temporizing was past, he believed, and he acted, as he -never failed to act at a crisis, with swiftness, with firmness, with -unhesitating decision.</p> - -<p>Whitelocke, St. John, Wilde, and Rolle declined to be President of the -Court which tried the King, but John Bradshaw accepted.</p> - -<p>For a week the trial in the great Hall of Westminster (which the King -had last entered when he came to demand the five members) continued, -a long haughty protest on the part of Charles, a stern overruling -of him on the part of the Court—the whole thing almost incredible -in swiftness, fierceness, and enthusiastic passion overlaid with -the stately forms of ancient ceremonial. On the fourth time of the -sitting, the 29th January, being Saturday, the Court was held—as many -believed—for the last time.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby, who had been separated from his master when Charles was -removed to Hurst Castle, and had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> wandering about, more or less in -disguise ever since, had managed to gain London, and on this morning -of the 29th, a cold, wet, and grey day, he made his way to Westminster -Hall, to witness the awful, unbelievable spectacle of the trial of his -King.</p> - -<p>The great gates of the Hall were opened to admit the general public, -which soon swarmed in, and Digby found himself in the midst of a vast -concourse of people, mostly of the baser sort, who pushed and gossiped -and passed food and drink from one to another, so that the atmosphere -was like the pit of a theatre for the smell of beer and oranges, as it -had been at the trial of Lord Strafford.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby caught scraps of conversation which pierced him to the -heart—how, on the second day, the head had fallen off the King's cane -and he had had to stoop for it himself—how he had paled at this, as if -he took it for an ill-omen ... how curt Bradshaw had been with him, and -how certain all were that there could only be one end—the axe....</p> - -<p>Soon the Court entered, and a great "Ah-h," like an indrawn breath, -rose from the crowd when they saw that Serjeant Bradshaw, the Lord -President, was attired in a scarlet robe, instead of the black one -which he had worn on the previous occasions. "His cap," whispered the -man next Lord Digby, "is lined with steel, for fear one might make an -attempt on him."</p> - -<p>John Bradshaw, with a very unmoved dignity and stern calmness, took -his seat in the midst of the Court, in a crimson velvet chair, having -a desk with a crimson velvet cushion before him; either side of him, -on the scarlet-hung benches, the fourscore members of the Court seated -themselves, all with their hats on; sixteen gentlemen with partisans -stood either side the Court; before a table, set at the feet of the -President and covered with a rich Turkey carpet on which lay the sword, -stood the Serjeant-at-Arms with the mace; the Clerk of the Court sat at -this table also.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> - -<p>A company of guards was placed about the Hall to keep order, and -everywhere, in the body of the Court and in the galleries, was a great -expectant press of people.</p> - -<p>After the Court had been sitting about ten minutes, the prisoner -arrived in the charge of Colonel Tomlinson and a company of gentlemen -with partisans.</p> - -<p>As he entered some of the soldiers cried out, "Execution! Execution! -Justice against the traitor at the Bar!"</p> - -<p>The Serjeant-at-Arms met the King and conducted him to the Bar, where a -crimson velvet chair was placed for him.</p> - -<p>Charles looked sternly at the Court, up at the galleries and the -multitude gathered in the body of the Hall; then he seated himself, -without moving his hat.</p> - -<p>He was dressed more richly than Lord Digby remembered him to have been -for some time; his suit was black velvet and pale blue silk, with -Flemish lace and silver knots; he carried a long cane in his hand and -a pair of doeskin gloves. He was scarcely seated before he rose up -again and moved about and looked down at the spectators with a smile of -unutterable haughtiness. Lord Digby was near enough to remark that he -looked in good health, vigorous, and composed.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he glanced up at the Lord President, and though he must have -remarked the scarlet robe, he did not change colour.</p> - -<p>"I shall desire a word—to be heard a little," he said, "and hope I -shall give no occasion of interruption."</p> - -<p>"You may answer in your time," replied Bradshaw coldly. "Hear the Court -first."</p> - -<p>"If it please you, sir, I desire to be heard," said the King. "And -I shall not give any occasion of interruption—and it is only in a -word—a sudden judgment——"</p> - -<p>"Sir," interrupted the Lord President, "you shall be heard in due time, -but you are to hear the Court first——"</p> - -<p>"Sir, I desire—it will be in answer to what I believe the Court will -say—sir, a hasty judgment is not so soon recalled——"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Sir," replied the Lord President sternly, "you shall be heard before -the judgment be given, and in the meantime you may forbear."</p> - -<p>Charles took his seat again, saying, "Well, sir, shall I be heard -before judgment be given?"</p> - -<p>The Lord President now proceeded to address the Court.</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen, it is well known to most of you that the prisoner at the -Bar hath been several times convened before the Court to make answer to -a charge of treason——"</p> - -<p>Here the King looked up and laughed in the face of the Court.</p> - -<p>"—and other high crimes exhibited against him in the name of the -People of England——"</p> - -<p>A shrill woman's voice interrupted from one of the galleries—"Not half -the People!" The King smiled, and there was some disturbance while the -lady was silenced or removed.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw continued: "To which charge being required to answer, he -began to take on him to offer reasoning and debate unto the authority -of the Court to try and judge him; but being overruled in that, and -still required to make his answer, he was still pleased to continue -contumacious, and to refuse to submit or answer.</p> - -<p>"Thereupon the Court have considered of the charge; they have -considered of the contumacy and of the notoriety of the fact charged -upon the prisoner, and have agreed upon the sentence to be pronounced -against this prisoner."</p> - -<p>The Lord President paused a moment, and a low hum went through the -Court. The King threw back his head with that expression of incredulous -haughtiness still on his face.</p> - -<p>"The prisoner doth desire to be heard," continued Bradshaw, "before the -sentence be pronounced, and the Court hath resolved that they will hear -him."</p> - -<p>Charles rose; his scornful eyes flickered along the faces of his judges -and rested for a second on the white countenance of Oliver Cromwell, -who was looking at him intently.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Lord President addressed the King—</p> - -<p>"Yet, sir, this much I must tell you beforehand, which you have been -minded of before, that if that you have to say be to offer any debate -concerning jurisdiction, you are not to be heard in it—you have -offered it formerly and you have indeed struck at the root, that is, -the power and supreme authority of the Commons of England—but, sir, if -you have anything to say in defence of yourself concerning the matter -charged, the Court hath given me in command to let you know that they -will hear you."</p> - -<p>The King caught hold of the bar in front of him. He began to speak; -at first his voice, though steady, was so low that only those near -could hear him; he addressed himself to Bradshaw, but he faced all his -judges, and his glance travelled from one to another.</p> - -<p>At last Lord Digby, straining forward through the press, caught some -words.</p> - -<p>"... This many a day all things have been taken away from me, but -that which I call more dear to me than my life, my honour, and my -conscience—and if I had respect to my life more than the peace of the -kingdom, the liberty of the subject, certainly I should have made a -particular defence for myself, for by that at leastwise I might have -deferred an ugly sentence, which I believe will pass on me."</p> - -<p>He then asked to be heard in the Painted Chamber before the Lords and -Commons before any sentence was given.</p> - -<p>As he concluded he raised his voice and spoke with great nobleness and -force.</p> - -<p>"And if I cannot get this liberty I do here protest that so fair shows -of liberty and peace are pure shows and not otherwise since you will -not hear your King."</p> - -<p>A hush followed his speech; Cromwell whispered to a neighbour; a faint -sunlight penetrated the narrow Gothic window and touched to brilliancy -John Bradshaw in his scarlet robes among his crimson cushions.</p> - -<p>"Sir, you have spoken," he said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," replied the King, looking at him austerely.</p> - -<p>The sunlight strengthened; the judge blazed in his unrelieved red; the -prisoner was still in shadow; he stood with his hands on the bar; Lord -Digby could see that he was biting his under-lip.</p> - -<p>"What you have said," announced Bradshaw, "is a further declining of -the jurisdiction of this Court, which was the thing wherein you were -limited before——"</p> - -<p>The King's voice cut his speech.</p> - -<p>"Pray excuse me, sir, for my interruption, because you mistake me—it -is not a declining of it; you do judge me before you hear me speak. -I say I will not, I do not decline, though I cannot acknowledge the -jurisdiction of this Court——"</p> - -<p>A deep humming from the Court drowned the rest of his speech.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw, stern, slightly flushed, and in a voice of terrible import, -made reply—</p> - -<p>"Sir, this is not altogether new that you have moved unto us—not -altogether new to us, though it is the first time in person that you -have offered it to the Court. Sir, you say you do not decline the -jurisdiction of the Court."</p> - -<p>"Not in this that I have said," answered Charles swiftly.</p> - -<p>"I understand you well, sir," said the Lord President; "but, -nevertheless, that which you have offered seems to be contrary to that -saying of yours—for the Court are ready to give a sentence."</p> - -<p>The very slightest quiver disturbed the King's face; he sought for his -handkerchief, found it, and wiped his lips, looking down the while.</p> - -<p>"It is not as you say," continued Bradshaw sternly, "that we will not -hear our King—we have been ready to hear you, we have patiently waited -your pleasure for three Courts together, to hear what you would say to -the People's charges against you, to which you have not vouchsafed to -give any answer at all."</p> - -<p>As Lord Digby, pressed in the pushing crowd, listened to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> these words -and gazed at the awful scene a sickness came over him; he saw that -terrible red of judge and cushion, chair and bench float in a mist -before his eyes, and through that scarlet blur the King's figure, -stripped now of the inviolate sacredness of Majesty—merely a man, a -desperate man in a sea of enemies, making a last stand for his life.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw concluded his speech by saying that the Court would withdraw -to the Court of Awards to consider of the King's request to be heard in -the Painted Chamber, and so they moved out, leaving the red chair and -the red benches bare.</p> - -<p>Charles was also removed; as he passed the sword lying on the table -covered with the Turkey carpet he said, "I do not fear that," and -Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Harrison, hearing the words, looked at him -over their shoulders as they went out.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby struggled nearer the front and cried out, "God save your -Majesty!" hoping the King would recognize his voice, but it was lost in -cries of "Justice!" and "Execution!" which rose from the soldiers.</p> - -<p>After half an hour the Court returned and the Serjeant-at-Arms brought -back the prisoner. Charles now held in his hand a small bunch of herbs, -and truly the atmosphere was stifling; he was still composed, but his -face was now as white as the wall behind him; he seated himself and -folded his arms.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw addressed him; he was not to be allowed to go before the Lords -and Commons in the Painted Chamber. "The judges are resolved to proceed -to punishment and to judgment, and that is their unanimous resolution."</p> - -<p>Some of the spectators groaned; the sense of impending doom, calamity, -and horror spread from one to another. Charles rose; he was not a whit -abashed or lowered in his pride, but there was a passion in his tones, -a ringing challenge in his words, which were the indications of an -inner despair.</p> - -<p>"I know it is vain for me to dispute," he said. "I am no sceptic for -to deny the power you have—I know that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> you have power enough! I -confess, sir, I think it would have been for the kingdom's peace if you -had shown the lawfulness of your power!" His haughty contempt showed -for a moment unmasked, his look, his bearing, his voice, defied them -utterly. "For this delay that I have desired, I confess it is a delay, -but a delay very important to the peace of the kingdom, for it is not -my person that I look on alone, it is the kingdom's welfare and the -kingdom's peace—it is an old sentence that we should think long before -we resolve of great matters—therefore, sir, I do say again, that I do -put at your doors all the inconveniency of a hasty sentence. I confess -I have been here this week, this day eight days ago was the day I -came here first, but a little delay of a day or two further may give -peace—whereas a hasty judgment may bring on that trouble and perpetual -inconveniency to the kingdom that the child which is unborn may repent -it." He paused a second, then raised his voice slightly. "Therefore -again, out of the duty I owe to God, and to my country, I do desire -that I may be heard by the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber, or -any other chamber that you will appoint me."</p> - -<p>The sixty-eight judges made no movement; Bradshaw, whose dignity and -unfaltering composure were as remarkable as the dignity and composure -of the prisoner, considering the extraordinary position in which he, a -mere Cheshire gentleman, was now placed towards his sovereign, and what -a responsibility he was taking on himself, what undying vengeance, what -possibly horrible fate he was facing if the tide should one day turn, -briefly replied that the Court had made their resolution and again -asked Charles if he had anything to say for himself before sentence was -delivered.</p> - -<p>The King, facing him, replied—</p> - -<p>"I say this, sir, that if you will hear me, if you will but give this -delay, I doubt not but I shall give some satisfaction to you all here, -and to my People, after that. And, therefore, I do require you, as you -shall answer it at the dreadful Day of Judgment, that you will consider -it once again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was what he had said since he had first been put on trial, a -steady refusal to recognize this Court (as on all legal grounds he -was justified in doing), a refusal to plead or argue the cause, a -repetition of the haughty demand—"By what authority?" Before the -Lords and Commons he might defend himself, not before this tribunal of -his rebellious subjects. But as deeply rooted, as unyielding, as his -refusal to recognize the Court was the Court's intention to judge and -condemn him; they were there to make inquisition for blood, and not one -of them faltered in their stern task.</p> - -<p>In answer to the King's last speech Bradshaw said merely, "Sir, I have -received direction from the Court."</p> - -<p>The King sat down.</p> - -<p>"Well, sir," he said, and looked about him with utter haughtiness.</p> - -<p>"The Court will proceed to sentence," continued the Lord President, "if -you have nothing more to say."</p> - -<p>Lord Digby and many others held their breath: would the King, even now, -disdain to answer to his charge?</p> - -<p>He looked at Bradshaw and very faintly smiled.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he said, "I have nothing more to say, but I shall desire that -this may be entered—what I have said."</p> - -<p>He knew as he spoke that his last hope had gone; he put the herbs to -his nostrils and his thoughts flew to Paris and the woman waiting -there.... The winter sun had faded; the crimson and scarlet glowed -through a sombre shadow of river mist and afternoon fog, which began to -encroach upon the Court and blot the eager faces and blur the coloured -garments and dim the glitter of the great bare sword at which the King, -turning in his chair, looked curiously.</p> - -<p>"The Court, sir, hath something more to say to you," said Bradshaw, -"which, although I know it will be very unacceptable, yet they are -resolved to discharge their duty. Sir, you speak very well of a -precious thing, which you call Peace, and it is much to be wished that -God had put it into your heart that you had as effectually and really -endeav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>oured and studied the peace of the kingdom, as now in words you -do pretend—but, as you were told the other day, actions must expound -intentions—yet your actions have been clean contrary."</p> - -<p>In this strain the speech continued, delivered with clearness, with -force and point, yet with a rapidity that strained the speed of the -licensed penmen who were taking down the report of the trial.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw spoke with learning, with eloquence, with weight and fire; yet -what he said was but a repetition of the old grounds the Parliament had -taken since the beginning of the war; the law was above the King. The -King had defied the law and was therefore answerable.</p> - -<p>He cited many precedents, quoted many authorities, but he could not -disguise the illegality of the tribunal over which he presided, or -cloak the fact that the King was being judged by means as outside the -law as his had been when he had cast Sir John Eliot into the Tower or -forced John Hampton to pay ship money.</p> - -<p>The King had lost in the long struggle and was now paying the penalty -as they on the scarlet benches would have paid if he had been the -victor.</p> - -<p>This fact Bradshaw might adorn with all dignity and eloquence—but it -remained obvious and undeniable.</p> - -<p>The Lord President spoke too long; the crowd became restless; and awful -as the moment was, unprecedented as was the occasion, human weakness -and human levity prevailed. Some yawned, some fought their way out for -fresh supplies of food and drink, some went away to spread the news the -King was doomed.</p> - -<p>Some followed the speech eagerly enough and hummed their approbation, -some shouted protests and were thrown out by the soldiers.</p> - -<p>Charles, listening to an indictment such as no king had ever listened -to before, in a situation in which no king had ever been before, sat -perfectly still, holding the herbs to his nostrils.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> - -<p>To him this talk was mere waste of air; he was, as he had said, as -good a lawyer as any in the kingdom, and he knew that the Court which -Bradshaw so burningly justified had no shadow of legal right; he knew -that he was the victim of force, and he knew that he was suffering, not -so much for the offences which the Lord President laid to his charge, -as because he had remained faithful to the Church of England and the -Divine right of kings; he knew that if he had forsaken these two tenets -even a few days ago when Lord Denbigh came to Windsor he might have -been saved.</p> - -<p>And he did not regret his firmness—even at this moment.</p> - -<p>Once, when Bradshaw, appealing to history, said, "You are the hundred -and ninth King of Scotland," he moved, and his look brightened as if he -had been recalled from wandering thoughts to the present moment; and -when the Lord President spoke of the violent end of his grandmother, -Mary Stewart, he started a little and frowned.</p> - -<p>For the rest he was motionless and silent, save only when Bradshaw -arraigned him as, "Tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the -Commonwealth of England"; then he blushed and cried out, "Ha!"</p> - -<p>The Lord President, spurred afresh by this cry of defiance, proceeded -to prove these charges against the King, reinforcing them with texts of -Scripture, and so upbraiding and fiercely condemning the King that at -last Charles, amid a general murmur and buzz of the Court, sprang to -his feet.</p> - -<p>"I would only desire one word before you give sentence," he said, "and -that is that you hear me concerning those great imputations that you -have laid to my charge!"</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied Bradshaw undauntedly, "you must give me leave to go -on—for I am not far from your sentence and your time is now past——"</p> - -<p>Again Charles interrupted.</p> - -<p>"But I desire that you will hear me a few words only—for truly -whatever sentence you will put upon me in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> respect of those heavy -imputations that I see by your speech you have put upon me—sir, it is -very true that——"</p> - -<p>"Sir," said Bradshaw, with great sternness, "I would not willingly, -especially at this time, interrupt you in anything you have to say, -but, sir, you have not owned us as a Court—you look upon us as a sort -of people met together—and we know what language we receive from your -party."</p> - -<p>"I know nothing of that!" exclaimed Charles contemptuously.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw continued with the old bitter grievance: "You disavow us as -a Court"—and on that theme spoke a little longer, the King the while -facing him, leaning forward eagerly, with clenched hands and white -face, frowning.</p> - -<p>"We cannot be unmindful of what the Scripture tells us, for to acquit -the guilty is of equal abomination as to condemn the innocent. We may -not acquit the guilty. What sentence the law affirms to a traitor, -tyrant, a murderer, and a public enemy to the country, that sentence -you are now to hear read unto you, and that is the sentence of the -Court."</p> - -<p>There was a great movement in the Hall as of a wave advancing, then -flung back. Oliver Cromwell put his hands before his face; the King did -not move.</p> - -<p>"Read the sentence," said Bradshaw. "Make an oyer and command silence -while the sentence is read."</p> - -<p>Which was done by the Clerk of the Court, and silence indeed fell—a -silence which seemed to shudder.</p> - -<p>The Clerk read over the charge from the parchment he held, and then -proceeded—</p> - -<p>"This charge being read unto him, he, the said Charles Stewart, was -required to give his answer, but he refused to do so, and so expressed -the several passages of his trial in refusing to answer. For all which -Treasons and Crimes this Court doth adjudge that the said Charles -Stewart, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy, shall be put -to death by the severing of his head from his body."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> - -<p>Terrible sighs broke from the spectators; they swayed to and fro. The -King, now the moment had come, looked incredulous.</p> - -<p>"The sentence now read and published," said Bradshaw, "is the Act, -Sentence, Judgment, and Resolution of the whole Court."</p> - -<p>At this the sixty-eight judges stood up to show their assent.</p> - -<p>"Will you hear me a word, sir?" cried Charles.</p> - -<p>"Sir," returned Bradshaw, "you are not to be heard after the sentence."</p> - -<p>"No, sir?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir—by your favour, sir. Guard, withdraw your prisoner."</p> - -<p>The partisans closed round Charles; incredulous, outraged, he continued -to protest.</p> - -<p>"I may speak after the sentence—by your favour, sir, I may speak after -the sentence—ever——"</p> - -<p>The guards caught hold of him none too civilly.</p> - -<p>"I say, sir, I do," cried the unfortunate King—then sternly to the -soldier who had seized his arm, "Hold!"—"by your favour the sentence, -sir——"</p> - -<p>They pushed and dragged him away. He raised his voice.</p> - -<p>"I am not suffered for to speak! Expect what justice other people will -have!"</p> - -<p>So, still incredulous, protesting, he was forced away, and the Court -rose and went into the Painted Chamber.</p> - -<p>Lord Digby made his way out of the crowd; he found a dun mist over -London and rows of Cromwell's Ironsides keeping guard outside the Hall.</p> - -<p>As the King passed out with his guards on his way to Sir Robert -Cotton's, one of these men called out, "God bless you, sir!" and his -officer struck him on the face.</p> - -<p>"It is a severe punishment for a little offence," said Charles. He was -now quite calm.</p> - -<p>The mist deepened, blotting out the surging crowd, some of whom wept -and some of whom were silent, but none of whom openly rejoiced.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER X<br /> - -EXIT THE KING</h2> - - -<p>The Dutch Ambassador interceded for the King; the Queen and the Prince -of Wales wrote, offering to accept any conditions Parliament might -require if only the King might be spared; but the stern enthusiasts who -had resolved to sacrifice the blood of the tyrant were not to be turned -from their purpose now by any entreaty or threat whatever; the thing -they were about to do was awful, incredible to the whole world, but -they were not to be stopped now. The Scottish commissioners spoke for -the King, too, but in vain; neither they nor the others got any answer.</p> - -<p>That day, Monday, the King was permitted to take leave of the only -two of his children left in England—the Duke of Gloucester and the -Princess Elisabeth; that day Oliver Cromwell and his colleagues signed -the death-warrant at Whitehall.</p> - -<p>The next day was appointed for the execution; the King slept that night -at St. James's Palace, but Oliver Cromwell, in the rich chamber in -Whitehall, slept not at all, but prayed from candlelight to dawn, then -armed himself and went out to meet the other commissioners who were -in the banqueting hall, urging that the workmen be hastened with the -scaffold in front of the Palace, which was not yet ready, nor did look -to be ready before the King came.</p> - -<p>Charles slept; neither dreams nor visions disturbed him, and when he -woke, two hours before the dawn, he remembered everything at once, very -clearly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> - -<p>He remembered that he was to die to-day, that he had taken leave of his -children and given Elisabeth two diamond seals for her mother.... He -remembered that he would never see the Queen again, and that he left -her an exile dependent on her sister-in-law, the Regent of France.</p> - -<p>And as he got out of bed he remembered Lord Strafford.</p> - -<p>He dressed himself with great slowness and care in the clothes he had -worn during his trial; he put on two shirts and a blue silk vest, for -it was cold and he had no wish to shiver; he exactly adjusted the black -and silver, the Flemish lace, the knots of ribbon; he combed his hair -and arranged it in the long, smooth ringlets.... Once or twice while he -was dressing he paused.</p> - -<p>"O God," he said, "am I—the King—going to die to-day?"</p> - -<p>He was still incredulous; it seemed to himself that his feelings were -suspended. He moved mechanically; he had an almost childish anxiety not -to tremble; he kept holding out his right hand and looking at it; when -he saw that it was steady he smiled.</p> - -<p>When he came to fasten his doublet he went to the mirror framed in -embroidery and tortoise-shell, which hung at the foot of his bed, and -then he noticed that his face was slightly distorted—at one side drawn -with a strange contraction.... Yet he told himself that he felt quite -calm; he tried to smooth that look away from his features with his -fingers, then moved away abruptly and opened the window.</p> - -<p>He wondered what Strafford had looked like just before his death, and -it came to him that he was enduring what Strafford had endured—minute -by minute the same—he was also the same age as Strafford had been, to -the very year.</p> - -<p>He sat down in the great arm-chair by the bed and tried to think; -what a failure his life had been, what a collapse of all hopes and -ambitions—how incomplete; he was very,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> very weary of the long -struggle which he had maintained so unyieldingly, and not sorry to have -it ended.</p> - -<p>Yet it was an awful thing to die this way—and so suddenly.</p> - -<p>Only a month ago he had been at Windsor, firmly believing that his -enemies would destroy each other, firmly believing that he would once -more come to Whitehall, a king, and hang all these rebels and traitors.</p> - -<p>And now it was all over, all the hopes and fears, suspenses and -agitations, all the struggles and defeats and intrigues; there were -only a few hours of time left, and only one thing more to do—to die -decently.</p> - -<p>He put on his shoes with the big crimson roses, his light sword, his -George with the collar of knots and roses, his black velvet cloak; -then as the dawn began to blur the candlelight, Bishop Juxon, whose -attendance had been permitted him, came to him. It was this Bishop -who had urged him not to assent to Strafford's death—how well both -men remembered that now—across all the tumultuous events which lay -between—how well!</p> - -<p>Charles rose.</p> - -<p>"I thank you for your loyalty, my lord," he said; and then he was -silent, for he thought that his voice sounded unnatural.</p> - -<p>"May Your Majesty wake to-morrow so glorified that you will forget -to-day!" replied the Bishop.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow!" repeated Charles absently. "Ay, to-morrow—you will get up -to-morrow and move and eat—ay, to-morrow——"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow thou wilt be in Paradise, sire," replied Juxon firmly, and a -sincere hope and courage shone in his eyes, which were red and swollen -with weeping.</p> - -<p>"I die for the Church of England," said the King quickly. "They may say -what they will, but if I had abandoned Episcopacy I might have lived."</p> - -<p>"God knoweth it," answered the Bishop solemnly, "and men will know it -after a little while."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> - -<p>Charles took up his hat, his gloves, his cane, and without speaking -followed the Bishop into the little royal chapel where he had so often -worshipped in happier times.</p> - -<p>He took the Sacrament; when the ceremony was over a calm, almost -a lethargy, fell on his spirits; he tried to think of great and -tremendous things, of what was behind him and what was before him, -but his brain slipped from them; even the Queen had become absolutely -remote. He found himself wondering how Strafford had felt at this same -moment in his life.</p> - -<p>When he left the chapel he went to one of the antechambers and waited.</p> - -<p>Trivial things attracted his attention: he noticed that the ceiling -needed repainting, and, looking down at his collar of the George, the -foolish thought occurred to him as he saw the enamelled blossoms that -he would never behold real roses again, for this was winter and there -would be no flowers in the park which he would have to pass through.</p> - -<p>He wished that he could fix his mind on something high and splendid now -there was so little longer left in which to think of anything, and it -distressed him that he could not.</p> - -<p>None of this appeared in his demeanour; he sat, looking very stately -and noble, with his cloak wrapped round him for the cold and his cane -in his hand.</p> - -<p>"The omens were against me from the first," he said suddenly. "I was -crowned in white, like a shroud, and at my coronation sermon the text -was: 'Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a crown of -Eternal Life'; then my flag was blown down at Nottingham—and the other -day, at what they call my trial, the head fell off my cane."</p> - -<p>This speech showed that his mind still ran on worldly things; but Juxon -seized hold on a portion of his words with which to give him comfort.</p> - -<p>"Thou hast been faithful unto death," he said, "and to-day will enter -on to Eternal Life."</p> - -<p>"I said I would die rather than betray the Church of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> England," -answered Charles, "and I have redeemed it to the letter."</p> - -<p>As he spoke there entered unceremoniously Colonel Hacker, one of the -three officers appointed to convey him to Whitehall.</p> - -<p>Charles rose with such majesty and undaunted dignity that the stout -Puritan was, for a moment, abashed, and held out his warrant in silence.</p> - -<p>"I submit to your power, but I defy your authority," said the King -contemptuously, and with that clapped on his hat and followed the -officer, Juxon following him.</p> - -<p>When they reached the fresh air Charles felt a new vigour, a certain -excitement; in all the depth of his fall and the bitterness of his -humiliation, in all the extreme of his failure and the mightiness of -his defeat, he had his own inner triumph. He might be broken but he was -not bent; he died a King, not yielding a jot of his rights, bequeathing -to his son a lost heritage, but one uncurtailed by any concession of -his. He was dying for his beliefs—because he would not forgo them they -were killing him; he found satisfaction in that thought.</p> - -<p>When he came to where his escort of guards waited, he cried out in his -usual tone of authority, "March on apace!"</p> - -<p>It was now about ten o'clock; the heavy air had hardly lifted over -London, but it was pleasant in the Park, and from the bare fields -and hedgerows beyond came a waft of winter freshness; all the view -was blocked by people and regiment upon regiment of soldiers, all -motionless and expressionless.</p> - -<p>"It is an ordinary day," said Charles, "like a hundred other days, but -it shall long be marked with red in England's calendar."</p> - -<p>The people, overawed by the soldiers and by the terror of the occasion, -were strangely silent as he passed; the prevailing emotion seemed a -desperate curiosity, as if they waited, breathless, to know if this -horrific thing could really come to pass.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> - -<p>The King thought of nothing but of how Strafford had walked so....</p> - -<p>When he came to Whitehall he was conducted to his own bedchamber; there -was a fire burning and a breakfast laid for him. In these familiar -surroundings, where some of the happy moments of his splendid life -had been spent, a faint horror came over him, and he felt his knees -tremble; he found, too, that a physical sickness touched him at the -sight of the food.</p> - -<p>"I have taken the Sacrament," he said briefly. Then he asked of the -soldiers still attending him—"How long?"—and they told him "Till the -scaffold was finished."</p> - -<p>"It is terrible," said Charles to the bishop, "to wait."</p> - -<p>The Commissioners were waiting too. Oliver Cromwell was in the -boarded gallery, and with him was one Nunelly, the doorkeeper to the -committee of the army, who had a warrant of ₤50,000 to deliver to the -Lieutenant-General, with them were Major Harrison and Mr. Hugh Peters.</p> - -<p>"O Lord!" cried this last, "what mercy to see this great city fall down -before us! And what a stir there is to bring this great man to justice, -without whose blood he would turn us all to blood had he reigned again!"</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell took the packet from Nunelly; he was quite white, and -his hand shook so that twice the package dropped.</p> - -<p>"Nunelly," he said hoarsely, "will you see the beheading of the -King—surely you will see the beheading of the King?"</p> - -<p>And without waiting for an answer he began to pace up and down, in -uncontrollable agitation and excitement.</p> - -<p>And presently Hugh Peters and Richard Nunelly went out into the -banqueting hall, and out of the centre window on to the scaffold where -the joiners were yet at work driving staples in.</p> - -<p>When they returned to the boarded gallery, Cromwell and Harrison were -still there.</p> - -<p>"This will be a good day," said Peters.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Are you not afraid that it will be a bloody day to all England?" asked -Nunelly fearfully.</p> - -<p>"This is not a thing done in a corner," replied Harrison calmly, "but -before the world. I follow not my own poor judgment, but the revealed -word of God in His Holy Scriptures."</p> - -<p>Cromwell turned to Peters who stood in his black cloak and hat like -death's own herald.</p> - -<p>"Is it ready?" he asked. "Why this delay—this intolerable delay?"</p> - -<p>His voice shook as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"Are the vizards ready?" he asked again.</p> - -<p>"Ay, it is Brandon the hangman and the fellow Hulet, and they are to -have thirty pounds apiece—and now, I think, Colonel Hacker may go to -fetch the King," replied Peters.</p> - -<p>"Will you see him pass?" asked Harrison.</p> - -<p>"I will not look on him again, alive or dead!" replied Cromwell -sombrely.</p> - -<p>But Peters and Nunelly went to an upper window where they might have a -good view....</p> - -<p>In his bedchamber the King still waited; the soldiers had withdrawn -and left him alone with Juxon, to whom the dying man gave his last -instructions, and one, above all, important.</p> - -<p>"Let my son forgive his father's murderers—and let <i>him always -maintain the Church of England and his own royal rights in this -realm</i>—let him make no compromise on these points. And let my -younger sons never be cajoled into taking their brother's place—my -son Charles, who, in a few moments now, will be King of England and -Scotland."</p> - -<p>"I promise," said Juxon.</p> - -<p>Then the King rose and walked up and down.</p> - -<p>"Jesus, God!" he cried, "spare me this waiting!"</p> - -<p>"I implore Your Majesty to eat and drink a little," entreated the -bishop, and Charles, who felt himself indeed sick and faint, drank a -glass of claret and eat a piece of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> bread. When he had finished he took -a white satin cap from his pocket and gave it to Juxon, also his watch, -with some broken words of thanks. Then Colonel Hacker came, and the -King turned to go through the splendid galleries of his old home to his -death.</p> - -<p>He had his hat on and said not a word; beneath his composure he was -struggling to overcome the physical weakness that beset him, rendering -him incapable of high thoughts; the sensitive flesh shrank from what it -had to face; already he felt a ring of pain round his neck.</p> - -<p>The fine apartments, the paintings, the rich furniture still there, -swam dizzily before his eyes; but he walked firmly....</p> - -<p>Colonel Hacker led the way; they stepped through the centre window of -the banqueting hall on to a scaffold hung with black, on which stood -the two vizards or headsmen; both of whom wore frieze breeches and -coats—one had a grey beard showing beneath the mask, the other was -disguised with a light wig. When Charles stepped out of the window he -recoiled with a repulsion no pride could control. In the foreground -the two black figures, and beyond a sea of white faces, all looking -at him; even the soldiers, horse and foot, their red coats and steel -brightening the grey morning, were looking at him—all in silence.</p> - -<p>His glance fell to the block. "Is it so low?" he asked, in a horrified -way. Then he recovered himself and turned to the few about him.</p> - -<p>"It was the Parliament began the war, not I," he said, "but I hope they -may be guiltless too, and all blame may go to the ill instruments which -came between us"—here one of the officers touched the axe, and the -King cried out—"Take care of the axe! take care of the axe!"—resuming -afterwards his speech. "The government rests with the King and not with -the people, in that belief and in the faith of the Church of England I -die."</p> - -<p>He laid off his cloak and hat, then added with great wistfulness—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - -<p>"In one respect I suffer justly, and that is because I have permitted -an unjust sentence to be executed on another."</p> - -<p>He took off his George and the little miniature of the Queen (which he -kissed), and gave them to Juxon.</p> - -<p>He gave a purse of guineas to the grey-bearded vizard with the axe, who -knelt to ask his pardon, and again that awful sickness closed over his -heart.</p> - -<p>"Take care they do not put me to pain," he said to Colonel Hacker, -and his lips trembled. Then to the man, "I shall say but very short -prayers, and then thrust out my hands—at this sign do you strike."</p> - -<p>"I will warrant, sir," said Colonel Hacker, "the fellow is skilful."</p> - -<p>The King now took off his doublet, sword, and sword-string, doing it -carefully that he might gain time for perfect composure at the supreme -minute.</p> - -<p>Juxon approached him.</p> - -<p>"Your Majesty hath but one more stage to travel in this weary world, -and though that is a turbulent and troublesome stage, it is a short -one, and will carry Your Majesty all the way from earth to heaven."</p> - -<p>Charles looked at St. James's Palace showing beyond the multitude of -faces.</p> - -<p>"I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side," he said. He took -the white satin cap from the bishop, and put his hair up in it; a -slight figure he looked now in the straight blue vest and white cap.</p> - -<p>The church bells struck half-past twelve, the sluggard sun sent faint -rays through the low winter clouds. The King knelt down. "Remember," he -said to Juxon.</p> - -<p>A great excitement steadied him, driving away the sickness; this was -the end, the end—and after?</p> - -<p>He placed his forehead in the niche of the block; the position was -uncomfortable, and he was staring down at the black covering of the -scaffold floor.</p> - -<p>He closed his eyes, clutching his hands on his breast;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> he felt the -keen air on his bare neck, and confused visions leaped before him. He -tried to pray.</p> - -<p>"Lord Jesus," he murmured swiftly. "Lord Jesus——" he could think of -nothing more; with an almost mechanical movement he threw out his hands.</p> - -<p>He heard the headsman step nearer; he set his teeth.</p> - -<p>The axe struck cleanly; the blood was over all of them, and the vizard -with the light wig held up by the long grey curls the head which had -bounded to his feet.</p> - -<p>"God save the people of England!" said Colonel Hacker.</p> - -<p>A deep and awful groan broke from the multitude, and the soldiers, -hitherto immovable, turned about in all directions, clearing the -streets.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a id="PART_IV"></a>PART IV<br /> - -THE ACHIEVEMENT</h2> - - -<p>"We are Englishmen; that is one good account. And if God give a nation -valour and courage, it is honour and a mercy."—<span class="smcap">Oliver P.</span>, -1656, <i>Speech to Parliament, Tuesday, 16th Sept., in the Painted -Chamber</i>.</p> - - -<p>"I was by birth a gentleman living neither in any considerable height -nor yet in obscurity. I have been called to several employments in the -Nation.... I did endeavour to discharge the duty of an honest man in -those services."—<span class="smcap">Oliver P.</span>, <i>ibid.</i>, <i>12th Sept. 1654</i>.</p> - - -<p>"If my calling be from God and my testimony from the People—only God -and the People will take it from me, else I shall not part with it—I -should be false to the trust that God hath placed in me, and to the -interest of the people of these nations if I should."—<span class="smcap">Oliver -P.</span>, <i>ibid.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> - -"THE CROWNING MERCY"</h2> - - -<p>On a soft golden blue day in September 1651, when the trees were still -in full leafage in the Park, and the river reflected a sky veiled with -delicate white clouds, when the last sheaves of corn were standing in -the fields beyond St. James's Palace, and the orchards near glowed all -red with fruit, a crowd was gathered in the streets of London—a crowd -as vast and as excited as that which had waited to hear the verdict -on Lord Strafford, or had thronged to witness the awful scene outside -Whitehall when the King knelt before the headsman.</p> - -<p>On both these occasions the people, if triumphant, in the first -instance, were still awestruck and silenced, in the second, by the -portents of great events and by the magnitude of the terrible daring -of their leaders. Now they were triumphant openly, rejoicing almost -light-heartedly; the King had died a traitor's death and the skies -had not fallen; other great men had followed him in his final fate, -and none had avenged them. The present Charles Stewart, called the -King of Scots since his coronation at Scone, was flying the country, -a proscribed fugitive; the Commonwealth, proclaimed after the death -of the late King, was a year and a half old and had shown no signs of -weakness nor unstability, and to-day the people were got together to -welcome home the Lord-General, Oliver Cromwell, who was returning after -having subdued Ireland and Scotland as those Islands had never yet been -subdued.</p> - -<p>Fire and sword had swept Ireland from coast to coast;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> Cromwell had -not spared the enemies of the Lord, as Drogheda could witness, Papist -priests had been hanged or knocked on the head, Papist garrisons -massacred, Papist peasants transported, Papist gentry forbidden their -religion, and driven from their estates into the desolate regions of -Connaught.</p> - -<p>Without pause or hesitation or check, with fierceness, vigour, and -irresistible onslaught, Cromwell had overcome Ireland, and had left the -unfortunate country, silenced now with her own blood, to cherish for -ever a terrible image of this Englishman, and a terrible hatred.</p> - -<p>Next, he turned against Scotland, where the second Charles, having -denounced the faith of his father, and the religion of his mother, -having taken the Covenant (submitting in a moment to those things which -the late King had died rather than yield to), was setting up once more -the standard of the Stewarts.</p> - -<p>Cromwell (now Lord-General, for Fairfax, too cold and meticulous for -these times, had retired) met the Scots at Dunbar and beat Lord Leven -and David Leslie as thoroughly as he had beaten Hamilton at Preston, -and with troops as tired, hungry, and outnumbered, as they had been -hungry and outnumbered then. Dunbar Drove they called this, as they had -called the other Preston Rout.</p> - -<p>Both were mighty victories.</p> - -<p>Then, a year later, on the 3rd of September, the anniversary of Dunbar, -Cromwell, supported by Lambert and Harrison, marched to meet another -invading army of Scots headed by the young Charles, and on the banks -and bridges of the Severn and in the streets of Worcester city, beat -them again, ruining completely the cause of the young Stewart, who -watched the day from the cathedral tower, then fled, hopeless, not to -Scotland, but beyond seas, this time to seek an asylum at his sister's -court.</p> - -<p>That was the end of it. Cromwell had subdued kings and kingdoms; there -was no one left to lead any army across the Border or ships across St. -George's Channel, and neither<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> of the sister islands would be likely -to attempt to measure swords with England again. There were no more -gallant Cavaliers to rise up for a lost cause. Montrose had been hanged -in Edinburgh, and the young King for whom he died had repudiated him -almost before the heroic soul had left the gallant body. Hamilton, -Capel, Holland, Derby, had suffered on the block, kissing the axe -that had slain their master; the rest were beyond seas, in exile and -poverty, or in their own country outnumbered, forlorn, impoverished, -and silenced.</p> - -<p>And the man who had thus achieved the triumphs of his cause and his -beliefs, the soldier who had been victorious in every engagement he had -undertaken, whose enthusiasm, fire, and faith had heartened his party -when even the bravest had been daunted, was the man who was riding into -London to-day, welcomed by salvos of artillery and pealing of bells.</p> - -<p>Five of the foremost Members of Parliament had ridden out to meet him -on his march. One of the royal palaces, that of Hampton, had been given -him as a residence; he enjoyed now a grant of nearly six thousand a -year, and in his train, as he entered London, were many of the noblest -in the country, and with him rode the Lord Mayor, the Speaker, the -Council of State, the Aldermen, and Sheriffs.</p> - -<p>It was noticed that his carriage was simple and modest; the triumphant -conclusion of the nine years' struggle had no more power to shake him -from the calm inspired by his sombre creed and intense beliefs than -the rebuffs, confusions and temptations of the struggle itself. He was -still, in his own eyes, as much God's mere instrument as when he sowed -his grain and reaped his harvest in Huntingdon; and the future and his -rise or fall were as absolutely preordained by the Lord now as then.</p> - -<p>With a modesty that was absolutely unaffected he declined all credit -for his overwhelming victories; and with a simplicity some mistook -for irony (but irony was not in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> his nature), he remarked of the huge -multitude which had gathered to see him pass: "There would be even more -to see me hanged," so exactly did he value the popular favour, and so -completely was he aware of the peril of the height on which he stood.</p> - -<p>When the triumphal entry was over and evening was closing in, he turned -at last to his own home.</p> - -<p>One sadness marred the return; Henry Ireton had died in Ireland, worn -out by the fatigues of the strenuous campaign which had more than -once laid the Lord-General himself on a bed of sickness, and Bridget -Ireton was shut into her house, mourning her lord, whose body was being -brought home for burial in the Abbey Church at Westminster.</p> - -<p>The rest were all there to welcome him; his mother, his wife, his -son Richard, now at last wedded to Dorothy Mayor (Henry was still in -Ireland, doing good work there), Elisabeth Claypole and her husband, -and the two unmarried girls, Mary and Frances.</p> - -<p>The women wept, in their enthusiasm and joyful relief. Elisabeth -Claypole hung on his breast in a passion of tears, so completely did -the sadness of the world overwhelm her sensitive heart in any moment of -emotion.</p> - -<p>Almost her first words were to ask his kindness towards the poor Irish -who were being sent to Jamaica and Barbadoes as slaves. After all -Cromwell's victories his favourite daughter's delicate voice had risen -with the same appeal: "Be merciful, be pitiful—spare the prisoners!"</p> - -<p>"Why do you weep, Betty?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Because she is a foolish wench," said her husband good-humouredly.</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Elisabeth Cromwell, "what doth your old poet say—'pity -runneth soon in a gentle heart'; and we have had to bear some straining -anxieties."</p> - -<p>"And we have heard awful reports," murmured Mrs. Claypole, smiling -through her tears with that simple archness which her father loved, -however he might contemn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> her carnal mind. "Blood—nothing but blood -was spoken of, until my dreams were coloured red."</p> - -<p>"Ay," said old Mrs. Cromwell, with the vagueness of her great age. -"Hast thou not slain the children of the Scarlet Woman by tens of -thousands? I heard that at Drogheda thou didst close the blasphemous -idolaters into their own church, and there burn them, as an offering of -sweet savour in the nostrils of the Lord."</p> - -<p>Cromwell glanced at his daughter Elisabeth, and answered nothing; the -cries of the burning Papists echoed sometimes in his own heart for -all his stern exaltation in slaying the enemies of God. For a moment -his brow clouded, but the subject was swept away and forgotten in the -congratulations, questions, and answers of Mr. Claypole and Richard -Cromwell. The times were still momentous, even perilous; now there was -peace what would they and all the other men of England do?</p> - -<p>While the Lord-General talked with these two, the women took the old -gentlewoman to her room; she could hardly walk now and her senses were -failing, the Bible was constantly in her hands, and she spoke of little -else but her son.</p> - -<p>When she had reached the chamber set apart for her, she got into her -chair by the window and looked at the sunset a little, half-dozing and -talking to herself, then she roused suddenly and asked Mrs. Claypole, -who tenderly remained with her, to "Fetch your father, child, fetch -your father. I have had little of him but the pain of his absences, and -I would see him now!"</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole, light-footed and delicate in her glimmering white -and blue silks, sped on her errand, taking with her some of the last -late roses with which she had adorned her grandmother's room.</p> - -<p>When she gave her message she slipped the stems of two of them through -the button-hole of her father's dusty uniform. Their gay beauty looked -incongruous enough on his sober attire, but though his lips chid her, -his eyes smiled, and he let the blossoms remain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell was wondering, in sentences half-awed, half-vexed, -how she should keep house in a great place like Hampton Court?—how -many servants must she have, and how could they use such a number of -rooms?</p> - -<p>"We will come and stay with thee," said Dorothy, Richard's wife, -who was not averse to her share of her father-in-law's splendour. -Her pretty face was very bright and smiling to-day above the demure -fall of her lawn collar, and her gown was new silk, embroidered in a -fashion not uncourtly; her husband, too, was habited with a richness -beyond his father's. The Lord-General had not failed to mark his son's -wide, Spanish boots, fringed breeches, grey cloth passemented with -rose-colour, and Malines lace collar and fall. It did not please him, -for he took it as another indication of that weakness and levity which -he had before suspected, with a terrible pang, in his eldest surviving -son.</p> - -<p>He made no reply to Dorothy Cromwell, but followed his daughter to her -grandmother's room.</p> - -<p>That night there was a wonderful sunset, not only the west but the -whole horizon was gold, crimson, and scarlet; the earth seemed ringed -with fire, and the glow penetrated even into the narrow street, so that -there was the sense of a wonderful light and colour abroad—a light -brilliant and mystical, shed from heaven upon the earth.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell crossed the room, which was dark and plain, but full -of the odour of dry rose leaves and lavender and camphire, and stood -before his mother who sat by the window, a small shrivelled gentlewoman -in a hooded chair. She lifted her blurred eyes and held out her two -little hands to him; he kissed them, and then as Elisabeth Claypole -left them he broke forth, "Mother, I am tired, tired."</p> - -<p>He rested his sick head against the mullions and gazed up at the little -strip of sky, glorious with floating clouds of light, visible above the -houses opposite.</p> - -<p>"How is it with thee, my son Oliver?" she asked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> "Thou art come in -triumph with much acclaim, but hast thou within the peace of God, which -passeth all understanding?"</p> - -<p>He answered with a fervour and a quickness which was like the passion -of self-justification yet ennobled by his usual enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"I have followed the pillar of cloud by day," he answered, "the pillar -of fire by night. I have disregarded the wind and the whirlwind, and I -have listened for the still small voice. <i>I believe God hath been with -me because of the victories I have had.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Surely," replied Mrs. Cromwell, "He hath witnessed for thee as He -witnessed against the King. Is not this fight at Worcester spoken of on -all tongues as the crowning mercy?"</p> - -<p>The Lord-General continued to look at the sky which was fast paling -from flame tints into a burning paleness, like gold in a furnace, -thrice refined.</p> - -<p>"For nine years I have laboured," he said, "and not once hath the Lord -put me down. Yet sometimes the voice will fail, sometimes the Sign will -not come—sometimes I even seem to fall from grace—sometimes I wonder -why I ever left obscurity. Yet the Lord called me! I will maintain -it—He held up my hands and made me His instrument! I have been one -with the Spirit; I say it was God's work, for He did not put me down! -Now, it were better that I should lay aside my high office and return -to what I was."</p> - -<p>"It were better," said the old gentlewoman; "but can England spare you -yet? For me, I would rather die where I have lived than amid these -splendours."</p> - -<p>"I will go back to my own place," continued Oliver Cromwell. "I have -done what God set me to do—I have swept the enemy from the land, I -have seen the tyrant slain, and his children exiled. When shall the -young man, Charles Stewart, get another army? Nay, when he fled from -Worcester city, he fled from his throne for ever; his forces are -scattered and no captain out of Egypt shall ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> get them together -again. I say the land is purged, and what work is there for me?"</p> - -<p>He was silent a moment, then he added, "I am weary and still something -sick."</p> - -<p>These recent sicknesses of his troubled him; he could not understand -the fault for which this weakness had been laid on him. Following out -his own thoughts he broke into speech again.</p> - -<p>"As for Drogheda, <i>I say it was in the heat of action</i>, and were they -not Papists, blasphemous idolaters whose hands were red with the blood -of God's poor people? <i>It was in the heat of action!</i> What was that -little moment compared to the torments of hell they have earned? When -they were shut up in the church and the flames were getting hold on -them, I heard one say—'God damn me, God confound me, I burn!' That -is God's judgment. God <i>hath</i> damned him—to the flame that is never -quenched and the worm that never dieth! Poor clay am I, but a reed -He breatheth through—shall I be blamed for His vengeance against -Drogheda? Nay, no more than I shall be praised for His victories at -Dunbar and Worcester—when He was pleased to make use of a certain poor -thing of mine, nay, a little invention, the army."</p> - -<p>The ancient gentlewoman leant forward and stroked his sleeve with her -pallid hand thickened with heavy veins. She had an instinct that he -required comforting in this the highest moment of his glory.</p> - -<p>He still wore his buff riding coat, his dusty boots, his plain -sword-thread and sword; surely no victorious general had ever returned -to take his triumph in such attire. No order, no ornament distinguished -him from the meanest of his fellow-citizens; his features, always -heavy, were slightly swollen and slightly suffused, his eyes most -deeply lined and shadowed; there was as much grey as brown now in the -locks that fell to his shoulders, and a general sadness was in his -expression, his pose, the tone of his rough voice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> - -<p>His little mother continued to anxiously stroke his cloth sleeve and to -gaze up at him with those failing eyes which saw neither marks of age -nor fatigue, saw neither plainness nor ill-health, but only <i>her</i> son -in the glory of his matchless achievement.</p> - -<p>He looked down at her at last.</p> - -<p>"My mother," he said, "how long ago is it since I knelt to say my -prayers at your knee? I feel the years grow marvellously heavy and my -body full of the evils of old age. So little done, so much to do! For -all of us, such a little while."</p> - -<p>"Many more years for thee, son Oliver," she replied. "Many more and -much to do in them! If there be something to be done in England, wilt -thou not do it?"</p> - -<p>"Surely," he said, straightening himself, "for I am English—it is the -English who now testify most for the Lord, and He out of His mercy hath -given us great gifts."</p> - -<p>The last sunlight had faded from the narrow street, and the precise -chamber was growing dark.</p> - -<p>"God keep thee always," said Mrs. Cromwell quietly. "I would not hold -thee even from manifest danger if He bade thee go!"</p> - -<p>"I believe I never shall go back to Ely," he answered evenly. "My hand -is on the plough——"</p> - -<p>The door was gently opened and Elisabeth Claypole, holding a candle -which illumined her wistful, frail beauty, half entered and told them -the supper waited for them below.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> - -THE TALK IN ST. JAMES'S PARK</h2> - - -<p>The Council of State had done well; great names were among the members. -Sir Harry Vane had devoted his patriotism and his great gifts to the -administration of the navy, which was under the command of William -Blake, already as renowned at sea as Cromwell on the land; the naval -war with the United Provinces was already taxing the resources of the -infant Commonwealth, and so far all had acquitted themselves with -honour and distinction.</p> - -<p>Rupert and his roving pirate ships had been swept from the seas, Deane -and Monk kept an iron hand on Scotland, Fleetwood and Ludlow completed -the bloody conquest of Ireland. Outwardly the new Republic might well -present a uniform and solid appearance; but within it seethed with -confusion.</p> - -<p>The main cause of the two civil wars and the execution of the -King—ecclesiastical questions—was still in abeyance; nothing was -settled in Church or State. Nor were the finances of the country in a -hopeful condition; neither the Church lands nor the King's lands nor -all the revenues formerly given to royalty served to pay the expenses -of the Dutch War. Cromwell's dreams of retirement vanished; urged from -within by his own eager soul and from without by the appeals of those -who could not bear their burdens without his help, he remained in the -forefront of affairs, the leader of the army in name and fact, a figure -slightly enigmatical, needed by all and by some feared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<p>He was not without his enemies. Edmund Ludlow, on one of his visits to -London, told him frankly that the extreme Puritans could not forget his -attempt to come to terms with the late King, and the extreme moderates -could not forget his execution of the mutineers at Ware.</p> - -<p>The last time Ludlow and Cromwell had crossed words Cromwell had ended -the argument by hurling a cushion at his opponent's head. Now he -answered mildly and declared that the Lord was bringing to pass through -him what He had promised in the 110th Psalm; he expounded this theory -for an hour, and Ludlow was silenced by rhetoric if not convinced by -reason.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Cromwell, whether he silenced his critics by oratory or -hurled cushions, went his way without heeding any of them; sometimes -mildly, sometimes in sudden gusts of temper, sometimes in strange -exalted excitements he pursued a policy which, however obscure and -vague it might seem to others, was clear as crystal and bright as flame -to him.</p> - -<p>The feeling between the army and the remnant of Charles' last -Parliament still ruling at Westminster became again restless and -intense; all men began to see that the present Government was, and -could be nothing else, but provisional. A date, three years off, was -fixed for the dissolution of the present Parliament, and Cromwell -called a conference between the chief lawyers and the chief captains, -to whom he offered two vital questions: Should they have a republic or -a monarchy? if a monarchy, who was to be King?</p> - -<p>The Parliament men were mostly for a monarchy, the army men for a -republic: Desborough and Whalley were especially strong for that.</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell was not with them: he had never been at heart -republican; but he said little, and the conference broke up, as the -others had done, without solving a single difficulty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sometime after the Lord-General, coming from his luminous obscurity -where he gleamed, keeping all men in an uncertainty as to his wishes -and his intentions, asked the Lord Whitelocke, lawyer and Parliament -man, to attend him in his walking in the Park, and to there discuss -with him the unsettlement and turmoil of the State.</p> - -<p>It was a day in November; the brambles in the hedges had sparse -fox-coloured leaves; the trees in the orchard and archery ground were -bare; the elms and oaks were hung with thin scattered gold leaves -against a pale blue and frosty sky; the ground was hard with a thin ice -in the ruts where yesterday had been mud; above the empty Palace, which -might be plainly glimpsed through the bare trees, a solitary white -cloud floated, like a forlorn banner. The Lord-General often looked at -this cloud while he spoke: he had a habit of gazing much at the sky.</p> - -<p>He wore a black suit and grey worsted hose, broad leathern shoes with -wide steel buckles, sword, band, collar, and hat as plain as might be. -There was nothing about his person to indicate the profession which he -represented; he was in every way as plain as the plain lawyer to whom -he talked. He opened with what was in his mind, but gently, indirectly -and vaguely, after his usual manner.</p> - -<p>"Where is the cause? Where is this for which we all fought? Lord -Whitelocke, did so many poor people die to this end? Was the glorious -climax of the war, the death of the tyrant to lead to no better -conclusion than this? Hath the Lord led us out of Egypt to abandon us -now? Truly, sir, I do not think it, yet I ask you where is the cause? -I say that the cause is overlaid with jars, with jealousies, with -confusion, and this must not be. The Lord will not have it—it is not -as it should be, sir, in a Commonwealth."</p> - -<p>Bulstrode Whitelocke hesitated a moment and struck at the frozen ground -with his cane; he was a shrewd, prosaic man, a keen lawyer, and a -fearless patriot. After his little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> pause he resolved on boldness: his -quick, direct speech was a contrast to Cromwell's involved phrases.</p> - -<p>"The peril we are in, sir, cometh from the arrogance of the army, from -their high pretensions and unruly ways and desire for dominance."</p> - -<p>The Lord-General gave him a long glance.</p> - -<p>"Say you so?" he returned mildly. "Yet methinks they are a lovely -company, worthy of all honour."</p> - -<p>"They have had all honour and all profit too," returned Whitelocke -grimly, "and now they would have all power as well, under your favour, -sir."</p> - -<p>"Nay," returned Cromwell, "this is not so. The army is the poor -instrument by which the Lord saved England; they did some little -service at Naseby—at Preston—at Dunbar and Winchester, and though -I dare say they would sooner die than take any of the glory of -these mercies, yet the Lord chose them as His instruments, and that -must be accounted to them as an honour. Sir, the army hath laboured -much, sweated in your service; sir, without the army"—he pointed to -Whitehall—"that Palace would now be the dwelling-place of the young -man, Charles Stewart. I pray you consider these things."</p> - -<p>"Yet I repeat," insisted the Lord Whitelocke, who was voicing the -feeling of the entire Parliament and a great portion of the nation, -"that the army is the cause of these present jars—their imperious -carriage is hard to be borne, sir, and from it arises the confusions -and jealousies which oppress us. As to their merits, the Council of -State hath done somewhat too—the war with the Dutch——"</p> - -<p>"Because of this war my spirit hath groaned!" interrupted Cromwell. -"Should there not rather be a union between two Protestant republics -than war? And what do not you spend on it? All that which you have -gained from King and bishops. I say it were more befitting us, as -Christians and Englishmen, to have peace with the Dutch."</p> - -<p>Whitelocke refused to be drawn into this argument. He returned to his -point.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The Council of State rule well and wisely—the people uphold them."</p> - -<p>"Nay, do they?" interrupted the Lord-General, in a very decided tone. -"I tell you this, Mr. Whitelocke, I have been up and down the country -and heard the opinions of many men, and I say that most, and the best -of them, do loathe the Parliament."</p> - -<p>"Where is this leading?" asked the lawyer sharply.</p> - -<p>"Ay, where?" repeated Cromwell. "There are the people new come from -civil strife unheard of, and ye lay on them the great burden of a -foreign war; ye settle nothing and strive after nothing but to prolong -your own sitting. There are scandalous members among you—ay, I know it -well—self-seekers, drunkards, men of lewd life. I say it is not well -these should be uncontrolled in power, therefore I spoke for a king or -for one with a king's authority. They have none to check them, they -do as they will, they are slow, they are idle, they meddle in private -matters; it will not do. Let them look to their authority, which is on -high; let them seek God painfully."</p> - -<p>He spoke with passion now, but also with a certain weariness, as if he -was oppressed with great thoughts and slowly struggled to the outward -expression of them.</p> - -<p>"You are a soldier and therefore impatient," returned Whitelocke -quietly. "The Parliament is slow—but that is within human reason."</p> - -<p>The Lord-General turned and looked at him grimly.</p> - -<p>"There is another thing which is not within human reason, which is -that this Commonwealth should stand without a master set over the -Parliament."</p> - -<p>"How may one do that?" demanded the lawyer sharply, "when the -Parliament is itself the authority from which we derive ours?"</p> - -<p>"That is a formal difficulty," replied Cromwell impatiently. "Do you -think I should be stopped by nice points of law?"</p> - -<p>Whitelocke marked the pronoun the soldier had used.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Would you withstand the Parliament?" he asked keenly. "They are your -masters."</p> - -<p>"They are no man's masters; they are means to an end," replied -Cromwell. "I am a poor thing, but the Lord hath made some use of me -these ten years past—yea, a little use. He hath been pleased to -appoint me to do a few things for Him, some little work, and I will -do it, despite Parliament as I did and despite a king. I say we will -have righteousness and justice; if need be these men can be put down as -the tyrant was put down, and the poor and simple be cared for and the -groans of the needy heard."</p> - -<p>"These are stern words," said Whitelocke; "and how will you justify -them?"</p> - -<p>"God will justify them," replied the Lord-General, "as He hath hitherto -upheld what I have said in His name. What was I? What did I know of -armies or of the battalion? Yet the Lord said, 'Be thou ruler, even -among Mine enemies,' and sent me forth to conquer kings and princes. -And we were but a handful and they gentlemen. Yet we did it. 'With -His own right hand and with His holy arm hath He gotten Himself the -victory!' And now I am bidden to labour still in His cause and to go -forward—and do you think that poor remnant sitting at Westminster -shall hinder me?"</p> - -<p>The Lord Whitelocke was silent; he was rather startled at what -he took to be the kernel of Cromwell's speech—his enmity to -the Parliament—and he was not deceived by the gentleness and -self-effacement of the Lord-General, who, he knew, was indeed capable -of doing away with the Parliament as he and his had done away with the -King. And there was now, as always, the great fact to be remembered -and reckoned with that Cromwell had behind him the army of his own -creation, that fierce military whose enthusiasm was not much curbed -or checked by regard for mere formal institutions and laws of men's -framing.</p> - -<p>"In very deed," he replied, "your power and the power behind you is too -high. How can we withstand it?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> - -<p>"My power, such as it be," returned the soldier mildly, "cometh from -God and the People. Be assured that if I use it for other than the -glory of one and the good of the other it will pass from me. I say this -because meseemeth you have fear of the army, poor souls; but I did not -open this talk for any matter of argument with thee, but rather in a -friendly spirit to discuss the present jars."</p> - -<p>"You have discussed them to good purpose, sir," returned Whitelocke -dryly. "I perceive that you look upon the Parliament and the Council of -State with ill-will and mistrust."</p> - -<p>"I think," replied Cromwell, still gazing at the pale cloud floating -in the pale sky over Whitehall, "that we need a Governor over this -England."</p> - -<p>"Where is he to be found?" demanded Whitelocke.</p> - -<p>"The Lord will bring such an one forward in His good leisure," said -Cromwell.</p> - -<p>Whitelocke liked this speech still less than those which had gone -before it; he thought it meant that the Lord-General intended in truth -to set himself against the Parliament.</p> - -<p>"Who will be your Governor of England?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Who can resolve that question?" said Cromwell evasively.</p> - -<p>"What is your proposal to solve the present difficulties?" was -Whitelocke's next question. He was determined that he would, if -possible, gain something definite from the present conversation.</p> - -<p>The Lord-General made no answer, and they walked on slowly and in -silence. The very last leaves were scattered from the boughs overhead -on to the frosty ground at their feet, and a little low, sharp wind was -blowing across the city.</p> - -<p>Bulstrode Whitelocke waited for the Lord-General's answer. Himself a -moderate man, to a point he was wholly with Cromwell's tolerance and -large-mindedness; but when Cromwell's moderation suddenly culminated in -daring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> action, then Whitelocke refused to follow him. He had been one -of the most active of those who had endeavoured to frame a treaty with -the late King, and had warmly supported Cromwell's attempts to bring -Charles to a compromise; but he had refused to sit in the High Court of -Justice that had tried and condemned the King. So now he felt that they -were again reaching a crisis when he could not support any longer the -man whom he so sincerely admired.</p> - -<p>But the Lord-General would not any further disclose himself, and when -Whitelocke was about to press for a reply he caused a distraction by -pausing and pointing to a gentleman walking near the archery fields, to -which they had now nearly approached.</p> - -<p>"I know his face, who is he?" asked Cromwell.</p> - -<p>Bulstrode Whitelocke, somewhat vexed at this abrupt change of subject, -answered briefly—</p> - -<p>"He is the Latin Secretary to the Council of State."</p> - -<p>"Ah," said the Lord-General, "a very worthy citizen. I have heard of -him. From the first he hath given his testimony to the good cause. I -would there were many more such among you."</p> - -<p>By this, the person of whom he spoke drew near, and seeing the two -gentlemen, and knowing Whitelocke and recognizing Cromwell, he stopped -and bowed.</p> - -<p>Cromwell turned towards him, and Whitelocke had no choice but to do -likewise.</p> - -<p>"You are the Latin Secretary," said the Lord-General. "You have written -much in defence of the cause. I have often sought an occasion to speak -to you."</p> - -<p>The gentleman thus addressed bowed in some confusion like one -overwhelmed by a great honour.</p> - -<p>"Do you know me?" asked Cromwell.</p> - -<p>"I do, my Lord-General," was the reply, given in a sweet musical -voice. "What lover of truth and freedom doth not?—'My lord fighteth -the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy -days.'"</p> - -<p>He spoke with a warm sincerity which raised his words<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> above the -suspicion of flattery, and a flush overspread his naturally pallid -features.</p> - -<p>There was something about his person and manner wholly attractive; in -his youth (he was now in middle age) he must have been of a beauty -almost feminine, and his traits still had a frail and delicate -comeliness; his large dark blue eyes were fatigued and heavy lidded -as if swollen with overuse, and his pale cheek and the brow shaded -by the long locks of brown hair bore traces of sickness and anxiety; -his figure was slender and noble, and his black clothes were fine -in quality; his whole appearance was of an elegance wholly lacking -to the Lord-General's person; indeed, for all the sobriety of his -attire, he appeared more like one of the unfortunate Cavaliers than -one of the most vigorous champions of the Independents, the author of -<i>Eikonoclastes</i>.</p> - -<p>"I thank you, Mr. Milton," replied Cromwell. "I hope we may be better -acquainted. You have laboured much and your reward halts, but I believe -you have that greatness in you which is pleased to serve England -without fee."</p> - -<p>"For the little that I do I am even overpaid," replied John Milton, -with a deepening of his boyish flush.</p> - -<p>The glance of the two men met, and a look flashed between them as if -they were wholly one in spirit; then the Secretary bowed again, and -each went his way.</p> - -<p>"The Council have bidden him write an answer to Salmasius' work," said -Whitelocke. "He calls it <i>A Defence of the People of England</i>—but it -doth not proceed as quickly as he would wish because his eyes fail him. -He told me that at times he could hardly see the letters on the paper."</p> - -<p>Cromwell looked back at the slender, erect figure walking away under -the bare trees.</p> - -<p>"Thou hast a brave heart if I mistake not," he murmured.</p> - -<p>Then he went on again, Bulstrode Whitelocke still waiting for him to -deliver himself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> - -<p>Not until they had almost reached the confines of the Park and the -houses of Charing Cross did the Lord-General speak.</p> - -<p>Then, turning suddenly to his expectant companion, he said—</p> - -<p>"What if a man should take it upon himself to be king?"</p> - -<p>Whitelocke stared, startled beyond concealment.</p> - -<p>"Well?" urged Cromwell gently.</p> - -<p>The lawyer, recovering himself, took refuge in the pedantic, formal -objections offered by the law and the constitution.</p> - -<p>Cromwell listened patiently. When Whitelocke, rather confused and -breathless, had brought his speech to an end he answered mildly—</p> - -<p>"Neither the law nor the constitution gave authority for the execution -of a king. Yet we did it. Therefore we may do other things for which -there is no warrant in charter or Parliament roll, but for which the -warrant cometh from God. Yet for the moment I have no more to say."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> - -EXIT THE PARLIAMENT</h2> - - -<p>During these days the Lord-General and his colleagues, Harrison and -Lambert, waited much on the Lord, confessing their sinfulness and -asking for Divine help.</p> - -<p>Behind them was always the army, demanding arrears of pay, work for the -poor, and the suppression of the general lawlessness of the kingdom; -there were many more conferences between the lawyers and the soldiers; -towards the close of 1652 Cromwell gently, and Lambert and Harrison -not at all gently, began to say that it was the Lord's will that -the Parliament should go. Parliament, they declared, should call a -convention and then abdicate.</p> - -<p>The gentlemen at Westminster, seeing the military saints were in -earnest, set themselves to prepare a scheme of government which should -meet the approval of the army; the wise and valiant Sir Harry Vane, the -younger, drew up a bill to provide for a provisional government, the -nucleus of which was to be the members now sitting, they who had been -ever in the forefront of the fight since that fight had begun.</p> - -<p>This scheme to give perpetuity to a body which they wished to -completely abolish only further exasperated the army; Cromwell and -Harrison pushed forward their own bill.</p> - -<p>On the 19th of April, Vane and Cromwell and their several supporters -held another conference in the suite of apartments in Whitehall Palace, -now given to the Lord-General, at which both parties agreed to stay -their hands until the discussion should be resumed and brought to some -conclusion. The next day Cromwell was more cheerful than had been usual -with him of late; he loved polemics and to measure his rhetoric with -others; yesterday's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> long argument with Sir Harry Vane had enlivened -him; he looked forward to a resumption of the conference and to a final -triumph for the Cause; he had recently communed much with himself, -brooded and considered in his soul, and he was convinced that God had -further work for him; part of that work he believed to be to settle the -nation—and not by way of the Parliament.</p> - -<p>That morning as he was at breakfast with Lambert and Harrison an abrupt -end was put to his tranquillity and satisfaction.</p> - -<p>News was brought that the Parliament had assembled early and were -hurrying through Sir Harry Vane's bill.</p> - -<p>The Lord-General sank at once into gloomy silence, while the other two -soldiers heavily condemned the perfidy of the Parliament men.</p> - -<p>"I will not believe it," said Cromwell at last. "Nay, I will not -believe falsehood of Sir Harry Vane."</p> - -<p>"But maybe," suggested Major-General Harrison, "his followers have got -beyond Sir Harry and done this thing despite him."</p> - -<p>"Nay," returned the Lord-General. "I believe it not."</p> - -<p>"You are too slow to move!" cried Harrison, with some heat. "If it had -not been for your hesitation there would have been no Parliament to -defy the poor toilers in God's cause."</p> - -<p>The Lord-General pushed his tankard away from him.</p> - -<p>"You are one," he answered, "who will not wait the Lord's leisure, but -would hurry into that which afterwards honest men must repent."</p> - -<p>"You have waited the Lord's leisure too long," said Harrison. "Much -delay is not good."</p> - -<p>"When the Lord speaks, I obey," answered Cromwell, with some grimness; -"and then my actions are as swift as any man's, yea, even as thine, -Major-General Harrison. I have given some poor testimony to that -effect."</p> - -<p>"Meanwhile," put in Lambert, "the miserable remnant at Westminster -are making their bill law—and where are we? Even made a mock of and -slighted."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he spoke another messenger arrived, and close on his heels a third, -to say that the Parliament were in very deed pushing through Sir Harry -Vane's bill.</p> - -<p>Then Cromwell rose.</p> - -<p>"'Up, Lord, and help me, O my God,'" he said, "'for Thou smitest all -mine enemies upon the cheek-bone—Thou hast broken the teeth of the -ungodly!' Now is the time—yea, even now." He turned to Harrison. "Come -with me to Westminster and let us testify to God."</p> - -<p>He called for his hat; he wore his black coat and his grey worsted -stockings and a plain neck-band.</p> - -<p>As he was leaving Whitehall he ordered a guard of soldiers to accompany -him, and marched down to Westminster with them behind him, as Charles -had marched with his armed followers from the same Palace to the same -Parliament eleven years before.</p> - -<p>When they reached Westminster Hall he left the file of muskets in the -outer room, and he and his two generals passed to their usual places in -the Commons.</p> - -<p>There were about sixty members present; at the silent entrance of the -three soldiers all looked round and about them, and some shifted in -their places and whispered to their neighbours. "I see Old Noll's red -nose," said one as Cromwell entered; "we are like to have a tempest."</p> - -<p>But the Lord-General went quietly to his seat, as did his two -companions; and the members, whatever trepidation they might feel, -displayed none, but continued their debate, preparatory to passing Sir -Harry Vane's bill.</p> - -<p>Cromwell listened, his arms folded, his head bent on his breast; the -sweet April sunshine filled the chamber with a pleasant haze in which -the motes danced; Sir Harry Vane looked often at the Lord-General as -if he would find an opportunity to excuse himself for his seeming -breach of faith; indeed, his supporters had taken the matter out of his -hands and forced the bill on, whether he would or no; but Cromwell sat -glooming, and would not meet his eye.</p> - -<p>The discussion proceeded, moderate, orderly; presently the Lord-General -called to Major-General Harrison, who sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> opposite to him on the other -side of the House, to come to him.</p> - -<p>"Methinks," said Cromwell grimly, looking about him, "this Parliament -is rife for a dissolution—and that this is the time for doing it."</p> - -<p>Harrison, impetuous as he was, was startled by this; he might urge -Cromwell to action, and blame his slowness, but when Cromwell was -roused Harrison, like any other, was alarmed.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he replied, lowering his voice (for their conversation was being -observed with suspicion), "this work is very great and dangerous, -therefore, seriously consider of it, before you engage in it."</p> - -<p>"You say well," replied Cromwell, and lapsed into moody silence again. -Harrison took the seat next him, Lambert being near.</p> - -<p>The members, though still outwardly tranquil, hastened the debate, and -in a short while the question for passing the bill was about to be put.</p> - -<p>Then Cromwell moved, and, leaning sideways to Harrison, touched him -on the arm and said, "This is the time; I must do it;" and then he -suddenly stood up, taking off his hat, and throwing out his right hand, -he addressed the members with great passion.</p> - -<p>"What heart have ye for the public good," he cried—"ye who support -the corrupt interest of presbytery and that of the lawyers, who are -the props of tyranny and oppression? This is a time of rebuke and -chastening, but as the Lord liveth, we will have neither rebuke nor -chastening from such as you!"</p> - -<p>The members, swept into silence by the suddenness and violence of his -speech, made no reply; all eyes were fixed on him as he stood on the -floor of the House, his face flushed and his eyes fiery under the -lowering brows.</p> - -<p>"What do ye care for but power?" he flung at them, and his voice rang -into the farthest corners of the Hall. "What do you care for but to -perpetuate that power? As for that Act"—he pointed to where it lay -ready to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> passed—"you have been forced to it, and I dare affirm -that you never designed to observe it! I say your time has come; the -Lord hath done with you—He has chosen more worthy instruments for -the carrying on of His work—I say He will have no more paltering and -fumbling with traps and toys of the ungodly!"</p> - -<p>Here Sir Peter Wentworth got to his feet amid a hum of approbation.</p> - -<p>"This is the first time," he declared, red in the face, "that ever I -heard such unbecoming language in Parliament—and it is the more horrid -as it comes from the servant of the Parliament, and a servant whom -Parliament hath so highly trusted—yea, and so highly obliged," he -added, with meaning.</p> - -<p>But he could get out no more. Cromwell stepped into the midst of the -House and waved his hand contemptuously.</p> - -<p>"Come, come!" he cried. "I will put an end to your prating!"</p> - -<p>Then, stamping his feet and clapping on his hat as he saw several rise -in a tumult to answer him, he said in a loud, stern voice, "You are -no Parliament—I say you are no Parliament! I will put an end to your -sitting!"</p> - -<p>Then, while several tried to speak together and there was a confusion, -the Lord-General bade the serjeant attending the House open the doors, -which he did.</p> - -<p>"Call them in," said Cromwell; "call them in." And Lieutenant-Colonel -Wolseley, with two files of muskets, entered the House and marched up -the floor.</p> - -<p>Then Sir Harry Vane, seeing the soldiers, stood up in his place and -protested loudly—</p> - -<p>"This is not honest! Yea, it is against morality and common honesty!"</p> - -<p>Cromwell turned round and sorted him with his glance from the press.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Sir Harry Vane! Sir Harry Vane!" he cried. "The Lord deliver me -from Sir Harry Vane!"</p> - -<p>Then pointing out another member, he cried, "There sits a drunkard," -and so railed at several separately, ending, "Are these fit to govern -God's poor people?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> - -<p>The House was now in absolute disorder and confusion, but the -Lord-General's voice rose above it all.</p> - -<p>His angry eye lit on the mace.</p> - -<p>"What shall we do with this bauble?" he asked, and added, "There, take -it away!"</p> - -<p>Major-General Harrison went up to the Speaker.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he said, "seeing things are reduced to this pass, it is no -longer convenient for you to remain here."</p> - -<p>The Speaker answered, "Unless you force me, I will not come down."</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied Harrison, "I will lend you my hand."</p> - -<p>And, so saying, he took hold of him and brought him down.</p> - -<p>Then Cromwell turned again to the Members who were all coming from -their places.</p> - -<p>"It is you who have forced me to do this!" he cried, with passion, "for -I have sought the Lord day and night that He would rather slay me than -put me on the doing of this work!"</p> - -<p>Turning to Lieutenant-General Wolseley, who commanded the muskets, he -ordered him to clear the House, which was done, the Members forlornly -departing under the command of the soldiers, Cromwell sternly watching -the while.</p> - -<p>And when the benches were all empty he went to the clerk, who was -blankly and in a bewildered way holding Sir Harry Vane's Bill, and, -snatching it from his hands, put it under his cloak.</p> - -<p>Then ordering the doors to be locked, he went back to Whitehall with -Lambert and Harrison. But the day's work was not yet complete; he had -barely reached his headquarters before Lieutenant-General Wolseley came -up to say that the late Parliament's creation, the Council of State, -were sitting as usual in the Painted Chamber.</p> - -<p>"Say you so?" replied Cromwell, and he turned back to Whitehall as he -had turned back to Hampton when he heard of Charles' double dealing.</p> - -<p>Lambert and Harrison accompanied him, and the three swept into the -Painted Chamber with little ceremony.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> - -<p>John Bradshaw, the late King's judge, was in the chair; he faced the -Lord-General as he had faced the unhappy King, with unshaken dignity -and calm.</p> - -<p>Cromwell was now composed; but he eyed the Councillors fiercely as he -walked up the room.</p> - -<p>"If you meet here as private persons," he said, "you shall not be -disturbed, but if you meet as a Council of State, this is no place for -you," his harsh voice became ominous. "Since you cannot but know what -has just been done in the House, take notice that the Parliament is -dissolved."</p> - -<p>The Latin secretary raised his tired blue eyes with something of -admiration as well as keen interest in their glance, but Bradshaw -replied with unmoved sternness, eyeing Cromwell with a directness as -uncompromising as Cromwell eyed him.</p> - -<p>"Sir," he said, "we have heard what you did in the House, and before -many hours all England will hear it. But, sir, you are mistaken to -think that the Parliament is dissolved—for no power under Heaven can -dissolve them but they themselves, therefore take <i>you</i> notice of that."</p> - -<p>"Ha, Mr. Bradshaw," returned the Lord-General, "you may talk and talk, -but I say that the Lord has done with you and with these others about -you. I know that you are a person of an upright carriage, who has -notably appeared for God and for the public good, but I say that your -time is over—other means are to be used now, yea, other means!"</p> - -<p>"The means of force and violence," replied John Bradshaw calmly, "and -to them we must submit. I do not deny that, but your right we shall -always deny, therefore remember it——"</p> - -<p>"You are no longer a Council of State," said Cromwell, "and none shall -any longer give heed to you. Go about your several businesses."</p> - -<p>Bradshaw came down from his place.</p> - -<p>"And with us goes the Commonwealth," he returned. "What will you put in -place of it?"</p> - -<p>"The Lord shall show in His leisure," said Cromwell sternly, and went -from the Painted Chamber with Lambert and Harrison after him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> - -<p>And so it was over; the Parliament had followed the King; the last -remnant and pretence of a constitution had been swept away, and a -sudden military revolution had placed the army at the head of the -nation, their leader thereby becoming the greatest man in England.</p> - -<p>For, the King gone, the Parliament broken, who was there left for any -man to look to save he who had swept away both King and Parliament and -now stamped angrily out of Westminster Hall?</p> - -<p>Even Harrison had been taken by surprise; he was enthusiastic, as he -foresaw an uninterrupted reign of God's chosen, those military saints -who were sacred and purified by their fights for the Lord, but he was -also a little bewildered as to the course future events must take.</p> - -<p>Lambert merely said, "This is a difficult business and requires careful -handling."</p> - -<p>But Cromwell himself was openly exalted and uplifted; his passion of -anger gave way to a passion of spiritual enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"This hath been a call from the Lord!" he cried, as the three walked -back to Whitehall. "Yea, a direct call! Own it, for it hath been -unprojected, and is marvellous! This morning did we know of this thing? -Nay, and now it is done! And this hath been the way the Lord hath dwelt -with us from the first. He hath kept things from our eyes all along so -that we have never seen His dispensations beforehand!"</p> - -<p>"Truly," replied Harrison, "He hath marvellously witnessed for us, and -thou hast been as Joshua who scattered the enemies of the Lord at the -waters of Merom, and chased them even into the valley of Mizpeh, and -burnt Hazor with fire."</p> - -<p>"The Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites are scattered," said -Lambert, "but who is now to reign in Israel?"</p> - -<p>"We whom God hath called," replied Cromwell.</p> - -<p>And so they came to the headquarters of the army at Whitehall, the -palace of the late King; and the second revolution was complete.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> - -"THE NEW ORDER"</h2> - - -<p>The rule of the Lord-General and his council of officers, governing -in a form parliamentary, called "the little Parliament" was a failure -complete and absolute.</p> - -<p>Soldiers could not do the work of lawyers, nor the veterans of Naseby, -Preston, Dunbar, and Worcester rule England as well as they had -defended her. Such measures as they carried were totally against the -principles and policy of their leader, who passed from rapt enthusiasm -to sad disillusion, and finally to gloomy anger again; the military -saints, chosen of the Lord as they were, and the very cream of the -elect, could not govern England.</p> - -<p>In December 1653, after many consultations with his councils, Cromwell, -who hesitated to break up another Parliament by force, persuaded the -officers to hand back their powers to him from whom they had received -them.</p> - -<p>The soldiers, though fanatic, narrow, and intolerant, were neither -self-seeking nor unreasonable; they saw that they were unable to govern -the country, and that there was only one man who could undertake the -task that had been too much for them.</p> - -<p>Whether he had the courage, the daring, the firmness to seize this -position, to step to the front and take the command so completely, -to take upon himself the burden of rule in the present state of the -country, after so many attempts at government had failed, was yet to be -seen.</p> - -<p>He had hitherto shown no personal ambition and no desire to thrust -himself forward, his manner being rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> to keep himself in the -background and wait for God to bid him act.</p> - -<p>The moment was serious, perilous, even awful; the Members of the last -Parliament and the officers met constantly in prayer; conferences, -meetings between all the able men available, were frequent; the people, -sternly and austerely ruled for the last three years, with the Puritans -triumphant and the Cavaliers utterly silenced and suppressed, waited in -a quietude that concealed an intense excitement.</p> - -<p>On Wednesday, the 15th of December, the Lord-General rode from one of -these meetings to his home, now at Hampton Court. He arrived there -bitten with the cold and covered with fine snow. He went straight -to the fire in the room which his family used to dine in, and flung -himself with the weariness of one spent in mind and body into the great -wicker chair with arms and red cushions that he commonly used.</p> - -<p>The noble, pleasant room was empty save for Elisabeth, his daughter -(the Claypoles had a suite of apartments at Hampton Palace), and her -youngest child, who was asleep on her knee. He had not noticed her at -first, so quietly was she withdrawn into the shadows, and her low, -pleased exclamation, "My father!" gave him a little start.</p> - -<p>"Betty!" he impetuously flung out his hand to her; she softly laid the -sleeping boy on the velvet couch from which she had risen, and, coming -to his side, knelt beside him, and slipped her hand inside his.</p> - -<p>He gazed with affectionate pleasure at her charming face, bright and -delicate, sensitive and resolute, lifted to his, the brown, waving -hair, the expressive blue eyes, the mouth a little wistful, the chin a -little proud, the whole infinitely dear and loving.</p> - -<p>"What has happened to-day?" she asked gently.</p> - -<p>The look of heaviness her greeting had lightened returned to his -countenance; he lifted his head and stared into the mellow flames that -sprang from the great logs between the brass and irons.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Betty, it hath come," he said; "it is to be laid on me, the burden, -yea, the whole burden. Mine was the responsibility," his rough voice -rose a little. "I put down the King, I broke the Parliament—I set up -the officers who failed (the more blame to me)—and now it is I who -must guide the State."</p> - -<p>"Thou?" murmured Elisabeth.</p> - -<p>"Who else?" he continued moodily, "who else? It is a call from God and -the people, and no man could ask for more. Yea, I know the Lord hath -called me as He called me ten years ago from St. Ives—this is thy -work—get thou up and do it!"</p> - -<p>"Thou—wilt thou be King?" asked Elisabeth, dropping his hand with a -shiver of fear.</p> - -<p>"Even so," he replied sombrely; "but not with the name of a thing so -hated shall I be called. Some time ago this came to me as the thing to -do—a flash out of a cloud—then darkness came again; but now it is -before me, very clearly, that I must be the Governor of England."</p> - -<p>"It is a high calling and an awful place to hold," said his daughter.</p> - -<p>"And I am sick in the body, often and often tired in the soul. Thou -dost know," he added, with a kind of passion, "how very, very willing I -was to retire after Worcester fight; often upon riding the rough ways -in Scotland, often when sick in Ireland, have I dreamt to come back to -a meek, sweet retirement, but it was not to be. God sought me out again -and bid me go forward. And now there is this come upon me. Betty, I -shall soon be fifty-five years old. I feel myself, in many ways, old. -But there is this work to do. And it is for England. Yet how shall -I prevail where these upright and wise ones failed? For they strove -earnestly, yet God would not have them. Will He forsake me also? 'Oh, -that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest!' -Lo, then would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would -hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> - -<p>And his head drooped on his breast as if he was discouraged.</p> - -<p>Elizabeth took his inert hand again between her fresh, warm palms.</p> - -<p>"Why should you fear a cold success in this great venture?" she asked. -"Truly it is a great and awful thing to take a king's place, but shall -not the Lord still support you as hitherto, and bless you with notable -victories?"</p> - -<p>Cromwell, still staring into the fire, answered slowly.</p> - -<p>"I have some sparks of the light of His countenance, which keeps me -alive—yet I see ahead difficulties greater than any I have yet met. -What are charges in the field compared to factions in the State? I say -the saints failed, and shall not I fail? Will not men say to me, as -the Hebrew said to Moses—'Who made thee a Prince and a judge over us. -Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?"</p> - -<p>Elisabeth shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Ay, I killed the Egyptian," continued Cromwell, glooming, "but there -are many more out of Egypt ready to take his place, ready to confound -us, yea, there are plenty of diabolic persons abroad, ready to set -snares for the godly, even the devil and all his angels are lying in -wait to thwart this England which the Lord hath elected for His own!"</p> - -<p>"But thou canst meet and conquer them, if it be in the power of any man -to do so," returned Elisabeth simply. "Again I say it is a high and -fearful thing that thou must undertake, but I know that in all things -thou wilt walk according to the Gospel."</p> - -<p>The Lord-General turned to look at her as she knelt beside him in her -rosy gown with the firelight glowing over her, her faced upturned, and -her hands clasped on the arm of his chair—a sweet comforter truly, in -her seriousness and loving encouragement, in her eager belief in him -and rapt piety.</p> - -<p>"That is not how many will speak of me, Betty," he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> said, with a sad -tenderness. "Rather will they call me usurper and traitor, and say that -I have put down others for carnal ambition. Many hard and contemptuous -things will be said of me, Betty."</p> - -<p>"I know," she answered bravely, "but need <i>we</i> care?"</p> - -<p>As she spoke, a third came down the shadowy room, and joined -them—Elisabeth Cromwell.</p> - -<p>The Lord-General rose and went up to her.</p> - -<p>"You are tired!" she cried, noting that before all, and she caught his -arms and peered up into his face tenderly through the dim light.</p> - -<p>"Mother," said Mrs. Claypole, rising from beside the empty chair—"the -new orders are decided upon to-day——"</p> - -<p>"Ah!" cried Cromwell's wife, "and thou?"</p> - -<p>"My dear, my best," he said, "we must live at Whitehall now——"</p> - -<p>"The king's palace?" she exclaimed, recoiling a little.</p> - -<p>"Yea," he answered gently, "for I am called to be the new Governor of -this country."</p> - -<p>"Why, that is a fearful thing!" she said, with a half-terrified laugh. -"Thou wilt never more be safe, nor I at peace!"</p> - -<p>She let go her hold on his sleeves and moved to the fire.</p> - -<p>"I was happier before it all began," she said abruptly; "this startles -me." She gave again that piteous laugh, which was more like a sob. "I -am too old to learn to be a Prince's lady," she said.</p> - -<p>And she glanced in the mirror above the mantelpiece, looking at her -grey hair and meek face.</p> - -<p>"I would sooner not put this up in Whitehall for all the world to gape -at!" she said.</p> - -<p>"Ah, mother!" cried Betty Claypole, and embraced her and kissed her -hand.</p> - -<p>"Did you not expect this?" asked the Lord-General mournfully. "I did -so—because," he added, with great simplicity, "I saw no other fitted -for the place."</p> - -<p>"There is no other" said his daughter. "He is one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> and only—is it not -so, mother? And thou art one and only, too, dear, and wilt shine in -Whitehall far higher than the French Queen."</p> - -<p>The Lord-General turned with a little smile to both of them.</p> - -<p>"By now you should be used to living in a palace," he said.</p> - -<p>"What will they say of us?" asked Elisabeth Cromwell, still troubled. -"They will say that we have put ourselves up in the King's place."</p> - -<p>"There is no king," interrupted Cromwell firmly. "And as for the place -I undertake to fill, the whole people have called me to it, yea, the -whole people."</p> - -<p>He repeated this statement as if to persuade and convince himself; he -well knew that his authority came from a very few of the people, mainly -from the army leaders, and that his election was not the result of a -general demand on the part of the nation; only the minority had hailed -him, the majority remained as always, passive, almost indifferent—or -fiercely hostile.</p> - -<p>He might be going to rule for the people's sake, purely, but he was not -going to rule by their wish. He felt this a weakness in his case and -strove to cover it, even to deceive himself in it; a general election, -a genuine appeal to the country, might have resulted in bringing in -the second Charles Stewart, and for the sake of the cause he had not -dared risk it. Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, who in many ways represented -the average Englishman, had pressed Cromwell to call in Charles after -the crisis of a year ago, and no one knew better than the Lord-General -that the three islands seethed with royalist plots and the restless -intrigues of various fanatical sects. No one knew better than he, -either, what a target for hatred and rage he would be, what undying -fury he would arouse, how many and implacable his enemies would become.</p> - -<p>His call might be from God, it certainly was not from the people of -England.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole knew something of all this, and to her there -was something piteous in the strong man's attempt to belittle his -difficulties and disguise the narrow basis on which his authority -rested.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell broke the thoughtful silence.</p> - -<p>"And thou wilt be Governor of England!" she said. "Scarcely can I -believe it."</p> - -<p>She voiced the incredulity of many; yet the thing was done.</p> - -<p>On the following Friday, His Excellency the Lord-General of the Forces -became His Highness the Lord-Protector of England, and was installed in -that office with all ancient ceremonial, formerly used by kings, and -kings alone.</p> - -<p>There was an installation in the Chancery Court, Westminster Hall, His -Highness appearing in a richer dress than he had ever worn before, even -at his son's wedding—rich velvet, all black, with a band of gold round -his hat, a fine sword, and sword band.</p> - -<p>So he went in procession from Whitehall and back again, attended by -the Lord Mayor, the judges, and other dignitaries, in robe of state, -outriders, running footmen, guards of soldiers, and the usual shouting -crowd, half-awed, half-jeering, and wholly curious, some wishing -confusion to red-nosed Noll and some thanking the Lord that He had sent -a gracious saint to reign over them.</p> - -<p>The sergeants with their maces, the heralds in gold and scarlet, -proclaimed, at Old Exchange, at Palace Yard, and in other places, -Oliver Cromwell Lord-Protector, with the same dignity, and ceremony, -and shouting as Charles Stewart had been proclaimed King. So a change -so tremendous was accomplished with such little outward difference.</p> - -<p>The new ruler had given his oath of fidelity to the new Constitution -(an instrument drawn up in four days by the officers, with Lambert at -their head) and had received the great seal and sword of State. By the -after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>noon all was over, and the man who little more than ten years -ago had been a gentleman farmer, with no experience save that of the -routine of a country estate, with no more knowledge of God and man than -he could learn from his one Book, with no power, influence, or wealth -at all, was now sole ruler, dictator, and symbol of one of the greatest -nations in Europe and foremost champion of the Reformed Religion....</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole (Lady Elisabeth now) slept that next spring in -Whitehall; the first night she lay on a bed with blue satin curtains -brought by Henriette Marie from France, and not sold with the King's -other effects by reason of the fine workmanship of the needlework on -them.</p> - -<p>A mirror once used by the Queen was in the room too, her fleurs-de-lis -were embroidered in the hangings, and the whole chamber was still -redolent of the perfumes she had kept in the caskets and cupboards. -Elisabeth, who had less than any of her family the stern belief in -fatalism, which was the central doctrine of their austere and heroic -creed, and less blind reliance on the justice of the Puritan cause, -felt a faint horror and a regretful remorse at lying among these -splendours when the woman to whom they had belonged (to whom they -still belonged, Elisabeth thought) dwelt in poverty and loneliness, -unfortunate as Queen and wife.</p> - -<p>That first night she dreamt dismal things, and woke up in the dark, -oppressed with confused remembrances of the excitement of the day.</p> - -<p>And with other remembrances, more awful; often had she heard an account -of the execution of the King and listened with horrified and reluctant -ears.</p> - -<p>Now, as she sat up in the great bed, shivering in the winter night, she -pictured, all too clearly, the late King as he had been described to -her—the slender figure in the pale blue silk vest, with the George on -the breast, and the hair gathered up under a white satin cap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> - -<p>She thought that she saw him glimmer across the dark, looking down at -his feet—he wore the wide shoes with silk roses, which had gone out of -fashion since his death—and then at her, smiling bitterly.</p> - -<p>He came, without moving his limbs, gliding to the bed, passed it, rose -up a man's height from the floor, and disappeared in a shaft of shaking -light.</p> - -<p>"We are intruders here!" said Elisabeth, cold to the heart. She got -out of bed (her husband was still asleep; she could hear his even -breathing) and stood shivering in the keen air.</p> - -<p>A chill like a presage of death crept through her veins; the whole -place seemed to exhale an air of hate and misery.</p> - -<p>So strong was this feeling that she fumbled for a gown in the dark, and -stole to the next chamber to look at her infant son.</p> - -<p>The moonlight was in his room, and she saw him sleeping peacefully -beside his nurse. Elisabeth crept back, dreading lest she should -conjure up another awful image of the late King.</p> - -<p>"I am not going to be happy here," she kept saying to herself. "I am -not going to be happy here."</p> - -<p>The next day she did not leave her bed, and before long it was known -that the Protector's favourite daughter was stricken with a lingering, -nameless illness.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER V<br /> - -HIS HIGHNESS</h2> - - -<p>"Was England ever in a better way?" demanded the Lord-Protector. "Even -under Elisabeth of famous memory (for so we may truly call her) was -this country more quiet at home, more respected abroad? Nay, there is -no malignant in the land can say it——"</p> - -<p>"Surely Your Highness hath no need to make any defence to us," said -the Lord Lambert, one of his military council. Some number of them -and other dignitaries were gathered in his apartment at Whitehall, -listening to him.</p> - -<p>His Highness, who had hitherto been pacing restlessly up and down the -room, here came to a pause before the table at which the officers and -councillors sat.</p> - -<p>"I have need to defend myself before all men," he exclaimed vehemently, -"for on every hand am I decried and blamed! I speak not of plots -against my life and such little matters—the work of a few diabolic -persons in the pay of Charles Stewart—but of the great discontent -of the Prelatists, of the rage of the Papists, of the intolerance of -all—yea, even of the sharpness and bitterness of many of God's people -who go about saying that the ways of Zion are filled with money, that -their gold is dim, and that there is a sharp wind abroad, but not to -cleanse the land."</p> - -<p>None of the officers offering to speak, Cromwell continued, still in an -impassioned manner—</p> - -<p>"Whoever speaks so is wrong! God put me here. My authority is from -Him—I will come down for none of them."</p> - -<p>He went to the window embrasure and stood there, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> his back to the -light, his hat pulled over his brows, his arms folded on his breast, -gazing at his councillors and friends.</p> - -<p>The Protectorship had lasted over a year, and Cromwell was now as -absolute as ever any Stewart had dared to be.</p> - -<p>His first Parliament had gone the way of the last of King Charles'; the -members presuming to question the Instrument by which Cromwell had been -elected, His Highness had again resorted to the file of soldiers with -loaded snaphances, and, gathering the expelled members in the Painted -Chamber, had made them swear fealty to the Instrument and to himself -before he permitted them to return to their places.</p> - -<p>The immovable Bradshaw, Sir Arthur Haselrig, one of the famous five -members, and some others refused the oath; the rest took it and went -back.</p> - -<p>But so impossible was it to combine a military autocracy with the -ancient methods of civil government, so impossible for soldiers and -lawyers to work together, that the Parliament again displeased His -Highness by revising the Instrument into a constitution which His -Highness could not accept.</p> - -<p>On the earliest opportunity he dismissed them, and had since ruled -entirely on his own authority with such help as he might get from the -Council of officers.</p> - -<p>So when all the ancient landmarks had been carried away, the power -of the sword remained standing and the army and their general ruled -England; it was a strange ending to the long, earnest, and bloody -struggle, an ending neither Pym nor Hampden had ever foreseen, nor -Cromwell himself, when the Parliament he was afterwards to break had -sent him down to Cambridge to raise a troop for the defiance of the -King.</p> - -<p>In ruling without a Parliament he was doing what Strafford and Charles -had perished for attempting, in keeping a huge standing army (it was -now twice the number named in the Instrument) he was doing what no king -of England had been permitted to do; he had, in fact, the power at -which Charles had aimed, and he had what Charles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> had never been able -to attain—the armed force to maintain him in that power.</p> - -<p>When he dealt with the Parliament he had used the methods Strafford -would have used had he dared, and he was ruling now with the absolutism -which Strafford had always passionately hoped would one day belong to -his master.</p> - -<p>But what had not been possible to a descendant of many kings, with all -tradition behind him, had been achieved easily enough by a soldier -produced by a revolution, who had nothing to rely on but the gifts -within himself.</p> - -<p>Cromwell was too clear-sighted not to discern the illogical position -he was occupying, but it did not disturb him, nor did he find it very -wonderful; his fatalism (which his enemies termed opportunism) accepted -without question all that the Lord should be pleased to send; his -enthusiasm for the cause of liberty disguised, even from himself, the -arbitrary nature of his authority, and the victorious soldier, who had -fought God's battles from Naseby to Worcester, was not to be frightened -from the position he held by any malignant talk of his unlawful right. -Nor was the wise patriot and ardent statesman to be argued from the -point of vantage from whence he could do the best for England.</p> - -<p>But the plots, agitations, upheavals, intolerances, and violences about -him, even among his own one-time friends (some of whom, including the -lofty-minded Vane, were in the Tower), did shake and trouble him. -These, more than anything, thwarted him in his honest and strenuous -attempt to set up an orderly government on the ruins left by the -violence of war and the wreckage of social upheaval.</p> - -<p>"I will not have intolerance!" he broke out now, suddenly at his -Council. "I say I will not have it—let every man who is not a -Prelatist or a Papist—who doth not preach licentious doctrines in the -name of Christ—let him worship in peace!"</p> - -<p>"In this way many damnable heresies will creep into the land," answered -one of the officers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I would rather," cried His Highness, "permit Mahometanism in the land -than have one of God's people persecuted!"</p> - -<p>His Council remained silent; not one of these men agreed with him, and -it was a notable tribute to the respect and affection they had for him -that none of them raised a voice in dissent.</p> - -<p>He felt, however, their opposition, as indeed he felt the opposition of -the entire nation to this dearest of his ideals—toleration.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if men never would agree to leave their neighbour in peace -on the question of religious belief; and the extraordinary bitterness -of the feeling between the various sects was more and more vexing to -Cromwell, who had always held tolerance as a matter of principle, and -now, as he advanced more and more in greatness and power, recognised -it as being a necessary element of wise government at home and useful -alliances abroad.</p> - -<p>"God," he continued, driving home his point with a certain labour, as -if he struggled to put into words what no words would convey, "hath -elected England—He hath made us the instruments of some work of His. -He wishes us to go forward—to fight heresies and Antichrist—but also -He wisheth us to remain united in brotherly love, not to be too nice -and strict about the religion of the man next us, so long as he be -working clearly in due fear of Him—were we not all kinds in the army? -Did any fight the worse for being an Anabaptist? Nay, I do not think -so. God hath need of all of us who love Him."</p> - -<p>General Lambert answered—</p> - -<p>"This is very well here, among sober men, but how shall Your Highness -get such a doctrine accepted among the general?"</p> - -<p>"Yea," said the Lord-Protector gloomily. "Truly the fools trouble me -more than the knaves—most of all do the lukewarm vex me, for nought -will bring them to any reason—give me a Saul sooner than a Gallio!"</p> - -<p>"Sir," replied one of the officers, "there are Sauls, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> plenty too, -and maybe the Lord calleth us to combat these sooner than to smooth -over heresies and live peaceably with those who are little better than -the heathen and the infidel."</p> - -<p>Cromwell groaned.</p> - -<p>"There is much to do," he answered. "I say there is much to do—yea, -serious and mighty things; and shall we stop on the way to argue upon -trivial matters?"</p> - -<p>"Trivial matters!" echoed several voices at once.</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector flashed upon them—</p> - -<p>"Yea, so I say! Study how a man may serve the State, not how he may be -persuaded from his proper beliefs—this is enough for any man. 'With -my whole heart have I sought Thee—O let me not go wrong out of Thy -commandments!'—he who can say that from his heart, leave him in peace. -Even these poor people the Quakers—what harm is there in them that -they should be so roughly used? What hath God said?—'I have loved thee -with an everlasting love—with loving kindness have I drawn thee!' -Shall we, too, not strive for a little of this kindness? What have we -not had to contend with of late? A Parliament that was but a clog and -a hindrance, rebellions such as that at Salisbury, godly men such as -Major-General Harrison led astray, rising of Anabaptists—all manner of -trouble and confusion—and shall we add to it by persecuting those who -differ from us in small matters of doctrine?"</p> - -<p>The Council remained silent; the Keepers of the Great Seal glanced -at one another. These men were not in dread of His Highness as his -Parliament had been; they were not his creation to be scattered at his -will—nay, he was rather their creation—yet they knew that when it -came to a struggle he always prevailed, gently or roughly, directly -or indirectly, and they were aware of his whirlwind resolutions and -believed that if occasion arose they, too, might be smitten and cast -aside, even though they were the very foundations on which his power -stood.</p> - -<p>The Protector, eyeing them keenly, was silent too.</p> - -<p>The Master of the Rolls, Lenthall (the Speaker whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> Harrison had -helped from the chair when Cromwell had dismissed the remnant of -Charles' last Parliament), propping his grim face on his thin hand, -asked His Highness what he was discontented with.</p> - -<p>"Surely," he said, with some austerity, "the work of Christ is being -accomplished in England? Abroad we have good respect—I think General -Blake hath made the name of English respected on the seas—all Europe -hath recognized this Commonwealth. Why is Your Highness so vexed and -troubled?"</p> - -<p>He spoke with some sternness, for he believed, in common with many of -his colleagues, that the Protector aimed at an even greater personal -power, and to make himself king in name as he was in fact—an ambition -which was intensely displeasing to the army and to their leaders, -nearly all of whom were staunch Republicans.</p> - -<p>"I am vexed and troubled because there is so much confusion and -littleness at home," replied Cromwell. "There is more lamenting over -the putting down of cock-fighting, play-acting, and horse-racing, -gambling, and such lewd sports than ever I heard over the loss of any -good thing. There are plots and confusions manifold, and the Lord hath -veiled the future from me, therefore I am vexed and troubled. Yet," he -added, with a change of voice and a bright flash in his eyes, "I am -not discouraged nor disheartened—ye must not so misread me—'in the -daytime also He led them with a cloud, and in the night with a pillar -of fire'—so it hath always been with me—do not think that that hath -ever failed me."</p> - -<p>No man had any speech with which to answer him, and the little assembly -broke up with the usual courtesies. Only Lambert said as he was -leaving: "'He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in -all thy ways.'"</p> - -<p>When they had all gone His Highness went to the table where they had -been sitting, and sat down in his great chair of honour and dropped his -head on his breast.</p> - -<p>Many and great thoughts oppressed him; the melan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>choly that was such -a close companion to his enthusiasms overcame him. He saw himself -old, weary, faced with an impossible situation, with unsurmountable -difficulties.</p> - -<p>For some while he sat so, his head sinking lower, his hands clasped on -his knees; then he was aroused by the gentle opening of the door, and -Elisabeth Claypole came softly into the Council Chamber.</p> - -<p>"Forgive me," she said. "I did see that the others had gone, and, -knowing that you must be alone, I feared you had fallen into sad -thoughts." She approached him. "It is not well, my father—nay, it is -not well—that you should sit alone with melancholy thoughts."</p> - -<p>She sank into the chair that the stern Lambert had just left; the dark -wood and leather now framed a very different picture from that the -austere soldier had made.</p> - -<p>Long ill-health, which physicians could not cure, and intervals -of lingering illness, which physicians could not ease, had robbed -Elisabeth Claypole of much of her vivacity and much of her fresh -comeliness, but she still remained, despite her languor, her paleness, -a certain sadness caused by constant pain, a creature choice and rare, -and, despite all, cheerful and courageous. As the Lord-Protector lifted -his tired eyes to gaze at her dear face he saw in her youthful features -a sudden startling likeness to his mother, who had died, still valiant -and serene, a few months after she had moved into the King's palace.</p> - -<p>This curious resemblance between one dead, so full of years, and one -young and living gave him a feeling of horrid presage; he rose abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Betty, I wish you would get well," he said.</p> - -<p>She smiled faintly.</p> - -<p>"That is what Bridget says," she answered (Bridget Ireton was Bridget -Fleetwood now, the wife of one of her father's most honoured generals. -Mary and Frances were still to wed, and great matches were foretold -for them); "but you must not think so much of me—I shall soon be well -enough."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> - -<p>Her father gazed at her, yearning over that lost brightness which he -had condemned once as evidence of a carnal mind; her grey gown, her -modest laces, her smooth ringlets—all were plain enough now; though -her father had put on great state and lived almost with the ceremonial -of a king, the Lady Elisabeth had no longer any heart for pretty -vanities.</p> - -<p>"Methinks," said Cromwell bluntly, "thou art not happy when thou art at -Whitehall."</p> - -<p>"I love Hampton better," she replied evasively.</p> - -<p>It was not difficult for him to divine what her thoughts were—what -they always had been.</p> - -<p>"Thou dost think thy father liveth in another man's house by living in -the King's palace," he said, with whimsical tenderness.</p> - -<p>"No, no," she answered, with an effort; "but it remindeth me of old, -unhappy times—of all the blood that was shed—of the King himself -(poor, wretched King)——"</p> - -<p>Cromwell interrupted vehemently.</p> - -<p>"He did not die for nothing, neither he nor the others—that judgment -on the tyrant was the fruit and crown of all our efforts and prepared -the way for such of Christ's work as we have been able to do since. -Betty"—he turned to his daughter with the same half-anxious, -half-proud air of defence with which he had turned to his Council a -little before—"is not this country better at home and abroad than it -was under the late King?"</p> - -<p>"All bear witness to that," she replied quickly; "and that is the -reason why you should be more uprised in spirits, sir."</p> - -<p>"I have much to overcome," he answered.</p> - -<p>"What hath the Lord said?" rejoined the Lady Elisabeth—"'With him that -overcometh will I share My throne.'"</p> - -<p>"Dear one, thy rebuke is well," answered His Highness gently, "and do -not doubt that I shall go forward to the end. But at present there are -some things hard to bear—mostly the estrangement from some Christians -of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> acquaintance. I did never think to be parted from Major-General -Harrison and John Bradshaw, those godly men. Albeit I have tried my -best to remain with them, and I hope yet to win Major-General Harrison."</p> - -<p>"He is hard, father—he is hard and fierce," replied Elisabeth -Claypole. "He was cruel to many poor men—I have heard notable talk of -it——"</p> - -<p>"Thou art too pitiful," said Cromwell, "and judge as a woman. There -is no man among us—not thy brother Henry, not Lambert, nor Dishowe, -nor my son Fleetwood, a finer soldier or a truer Christian than Thomas -Harrison."</p> - -<p>"I do not like him," insisted the Lady Elisabeth, with a sparkle of -her former spirit. "Methinks he smells of his father's trade, and -it is credibly believed that he hath plotted against you with the -Anabaptists—Richard told me as much."</p> - -<p>"As to that I will demand an answer of these charges from him," -returned Cromwell gloomily. "Believe me that I love him."</p> - -<p>For answer and comfort she rose and went up to him; as she took him -lovingly by the upper arm she started. She felt something hard beneath -the rich black velvet which he wore.</p> - -<p>"You have armour on!" she murmured.</p> - -<p>"Since young Major Gerrard set the precedent there have been many ready -to follow his example," replied His Highness. "And in this way I would -not die—nay, I would not die shot like a beast."</p> - -<p>"O Christ, preserve us all!" cried Lady Elisabeth, and fell weeping -over the heart that her father had to guard with a steel corselet from -the assassin's bullet or knife.</p> - -<p>He put his arm round her as if she had been a child (so, indeed, she -still seemed to him); and the thoughts of both went back to the happy -home in St. Ives, before they had known sickness or death among them, -when she had not gone in silk nor he in secret armour, when they had -not known the perils of great positions nor the magnificence of kings' -palaces.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VI<br /> - -MAJOR-GENERAL HARRISON</h2> - - -<p>Major-General Harrison, in grim retirement, sternly rejected the -Lord-Protector's half-wistful attempts to win him, and even refused to -come to Whitehall as a friend and dine or sup with the Cromwell family.</p> - -<p>His Highness, however piqued or hurt he might be in secret, refused to -allow any persecution of his old comrade-in-arms, though Harrison was -becoming daily more involved with the Anabaptists and that peculiar -section of enthusiasts who were styled Fifth-Monarchy Men, because they -believed that the four kingdoms foretold by St. John had come to pass, -and that the kingdom now approaching was the fifth, that of Christ.</p> - -<p>His Highness was lenient with them as with other fanatics: it was in -his nature to be tolerant and to prefer any form of enthusiasm to -lukewarmness. He was gentle with the Quakers, and listened patiently -to George Fox's mystic denunciations of him. "I am sure that thou and -I should be good friends did we but know each other," had been his -parting words. He interceded, though vainly, for the poor, half-crazed -Naylor, who had allowed his followers to salute him as the Messiah and -had been sentenced by Parliament to brandings, whippings, and pillories -that meant a hideous death.</p> - -<p>But though the Lord-Protector was merciful he was also strong, as had -been abundantly proved.</p> - -<p>When fanaticism became insubordination and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> cause of religious -liberty cloaked mutiny and revolt, when, in brief, things mystic and -intangible interfered with things very practical and tangible, His -Highness struck, once and for ever.</p> - -<p>He raised no objection to men finding in the pages of the Revelations a -doctrine comfortable to themselves; but if they used such doctrines as -a pretext for rebellion, he knew how to hold them down with a firm hand.</p> - -<p>Therefore, though he argued sweetly and meekly with Thomas Harrison, he -had that redoubtable saint closely under his observation, as he also -watched Harry Vane and Bradshaw and Haselrig and other of his one-time -friends.</p> - -<p>His Highness was busy in these days, full of high business with France -and Spain and the Netherlands as well as with this business of keeping -order at home; for Oliver Cromwell, who had always been a great man, -was now a great Prince, and England had become of more importance in -Europe than she had been since the royal Elisabeth or the royal Harry V.</p> - -<p>It was the Lord's doing, said His Highness, the Lord who had elected -the English as His chosen people. A league of the Protestant nations -in one alliance was foremost of the Lord-Protector's deeply cherished -schemes; at present it seemed far from consummation: more practical -matters occupied His Highness. With Blake on the seas and himself at -home, England was powerful and vigorous; outwardly she was serene -as she was glorious, but none knew better than Cromwell himself how -beneath this serenity raged faction, discontent, and confusion, and how -uncertain the tenure of this glory was—merely the tenure of his own -life.</p> - -<p>Soon after a certain complicated and perilous plot against that life -had been discovered and crushed, Cromwell received, among other news -equally disturbing (for troubles did not lack in England this turbulent -spring), an account, well attested, of Major-General Harrison's -treasonous deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>ings with the Fifth-Monarchy Men and of a widespread -plot to seduce the army from its allegiance.</p> - -<p>An Anabaptist preacher had held forth boldly. "Wilt thou have Christ or -Cromwell?" he had asked. In daring and in defiance these enthusiasts -were getting beyond all common prudence.</p> - -<p>His Highness sent for Major-General Harrison, not in the terms of -friendship now, but as a Prince summoning a subject.</p> - -<p>Major-General Harrison came, grimly but serenely, and was ushered -through all the state the Protector kept, for, though simple with his -family and friends, to the outer world he held as much show as any -monarch, into the presence of His Highness, who waited him in a very -rich chamber that still contained some of the late King's pictures and -hangings and carpets.</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector was standing facing the door. He looked less than -his years, and his expression and pose were both of extraordinary -vigour; he wore brown velvet gallooned with gold and a great falling -collar of lace; his hair was now as grey as Charles' when he was -brought prisoner to Hampton Court; but his mournful, resolute face -showed no sign of age or feebleness.</p> - -<p>Thomas Harrison was unbooted, for he had come by water; his attire was -the very extreme of severe simplicity, and his dark countenance was -pale and stern.</p> - -<p>He took off his high-crowned hat as he came into the Protector's -presence and flung it, with his cloak, across a chair; he made no -reverence and eyed His Highness with calm hostility.</p> - -<p>This cold look from one who had been his ancient friend, who had shared -with him so many hopes, enthusiasms, toils, and victories, smote the -Protector to the heart. He had been prepared for this enmity; but now -that he was actually in the presence of his former companion-at-arms, -the sight of the figure he had so often seen foremost in the field of -battle, fighting for the Lord, and the face which he had seen so often -fired by an exaltation kindred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> to his own, overwhelmed him with a -tender sadness and the tears sprang into his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Thomas Harrison," he cried, "I did not think that we should meet thus!"</p> - -<p>"Nor I," replied the other sombrely. "Sir, have your say with me and -let me go—for I have nobler work to do than a vain waiting on men in -palaces."</p> - -<p>His Highness slightly flushed.</p> - -<p>"I see what rankles in thy mind," he replied. "Yet I did think that, -whatever the general might say, a man such as thou wouldst have -believed the best, not the worst. Nay," he added more warmly, "why -shouldst thou think so meanly of me? Looking into thy own heart, thou -knowest thy motives and principles pure—hast thou not the generosity -to credit that I might look into my heart and say the same?"</p> - -<p>Major-General Harrison gazed at him unmoved.</p> - -<p>"Wherefore this defence?" he asked. "I have accused you of nothing."</p> - -<p>"Not in words," replied the Lord-Protector, "but by thy whole conduct -and manner."</p> - -<p>"Neither need trouble thee," said the soldier calmly, speaking with -more mildness and adopting the form of speech both more respectful and -more affectionate, "since thou needst not see me save by thy own wish."</p> - -<p>"It was needful that I should see thee," returned His Highness, "it was -very needful. Hard things are said of thee—yea, difficult and curious -things."</p> - -<p>He walked about the room, looking at the floor, his arms folded behind -him, then stopped before Harrison, who remained a few paces from the -door standing by the chair on which were his hat and cloak.</p> - -<p>"Thou hast meddled with Anabaptists and these mistaken people called -Fifth-Monarchy Men," he said abruptly.</p> - -<p>A grim smile flashed over Harrison's face.</p> - -<p>"Art thou become a persecutor and a watcher over men's consciences and -a spy on their actions?" he asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Nay," replied His Highness, grimly too, "thou knowest well enough if -I am tolerant or no, Thomas Harrison; thou knowest me very well, even -to the roots of my heart. But now I am Governor of England, and over -England I shall watch."</p> - -<p>"Thou art," said the undaunted Republican, "a tyrant."</p> - -<p>"I am a ruler by charter of God and the People," said Cromwell. "It is -well known in this nation and in all the world"—he lifted his head -with great dignity—"whether I am a tyrant or no. But I will admit this -much, I have as much power and authority as many a bad king. Take that -along with thee."</p> - -<p>"I take along with me," returned Harrison, "that thou art a tyrant; -and though it hath pleased God, in His mysterious decrees, to place -thee where thou art, I know that He hath done it to bring a further -rebuke and chastening upon us before the coming of His kingdom and for -thy destruction. There is a wind abroad over the land, but one which -neither purifies nor cools—the presence of God is not with thee nor -with those under thee."</p> - -<p>"This is hardly said," answered the Lord-Protector sadly. "Ah, thou -hast gone so far with me—canst thou not go a little further? Together -we fought, together we judged that wicked man, Charles Stewart——"</p> - -<p>Harrison interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Then thou wast acting as God directed—but lately thou hast acted -as if a bad angel possessed thee. The true saints who fought with -thee then could not fight with thee now, Lord Cromwell. A poor few we -are—nay, a pitiful remnant, but we believe that before long it will be -made known from Heaven that we are right, although it hath seemed good -to Him to suffer this turn to come upon us—so that we are a forsaken -few."</p> - -<p>"Nay, not forsaken!" cried His Highness, much agitated. "Is it not for -thee, and such as thee, that this Government exists?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I know not," replied Harrison coldly. "Methought that it existed for -itself, as all governments do."</p> - -<p>"Truly" cried the Lord-Protector, with rising anger, "they who call -thee hard have reason—nay, thou art more, thou art unjust."</p> - -<p>"Unjust!" repeated Harrison, with more emotion than he had so far -shown. "Is thy memory so feeble or thy heart so false as not to recall -the old days, the bright morning of our hopes and triumphs?"</p> - -<p>He came a step nearer, holding out his hands and speaking vehemently.</p> - -<p>"We rejoiced in slaying the enemies of the Lord; with many tears -and prayers and strivings we sought assurance of the Lord's will -and brought the tyrant to judgment. Thou and I put our names to his -death-warrant; thou and I will answer together for that deed before the -Heavenly Throne, and I can say before Him who searcheth all hearts, I -did this thing thinking His hand was in it, and that the land could -only be cleansed from blood by the blood of him who first shed blood. -But thou, what canst thou say?—I slew this man that I might climb into -his place, succeed to his power, sleep in his rich bed, have carnal -honours for my children, and a high name for myself! Oh, Oliver, thou -canst say nothing else!"</p> - -<p>"Before Him who made me a Joshua over this Israel I need no defence," -answered His Highness simply. "He knoweth my poor heart and what He put -therein—and how this miserable flesh, with many stumbles, tried to do -His will. I am not afraid of my God. Leave Him to judge me and return -to thy ancient faithfulness to me."</p> - -<p>"Thou wert," said Harrison, "as the apple of mine eye, but now I loathe -thee. Thou hast turned aside, and thou shalt not tempt me to follow -thee, even if thou flatterest me, saying, 'Come and sit on my right -hand and share my power.'"</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector took a sharp turn about the room.</p> - -<p>"Thou art deluded, I plainly see," he said; "but it cannot be allowed -that thou shouldst run into these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> excursions, though I have given thee -a great latitude—I say that it cannot be allowed. I have with a great -deal of patience suffered thee to sally out, but I perceive thou art -misled, yea, and rebellious—surely we will have no rebellion."</p> - -<p>"Do what you will with me," said Harrison calmly. "I will give my -little poor testimony to the truth as I know it. Maybe I am a little -mistaken, but I act according to my understanding, desiring to make the -revealed Word of God in His Holy Scriptures my guide."</p> - -<p>"Thou art mistaken," replied Cromwell gloomily. "Beware of a hard heart -and an obdurate spirit. And beware of these Fifth-Monarchy Men. They -plot against the Commonwealth—they plot against my life."</p> - -<p>"You believe that of me?" asked Harrison sharply.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" returned His Highness scornfully. "Thou hast put thy hand to -the removal of one tyrant and may willingly desire to remove another."</p> - -<p>"What I did against Charles Stewart was not done in a corner," said the -Republican calmly, "nor should I act in a hidden way against you or -against anyone."</p> - -<p>"Nay," said Cromwell impulsively, "I believe it. Forgive me. But thou -art in these Fifth-Monarchy plots."</p> - -<p>"We do not plot," returned Harrison, "nor intrigue, whatever may be -noised of us."</p> - -<p>"Thou mayst put what name thou wilt to it, Major-General Harrison," -said His Highness; "but it is a known fact that thou seekest to disturb -the Government and seduce the army."</p> - -<p>"I neither own the Government nor molest it. But wherefore these words? -I do not seek to fly or in any way to save myself. Sir, I am in your -power, both I and those poor hearts, those few redcoats who still hold -the pure doctrine."</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest," replied the Lord-Protector hastily, and with evident -emotion, "that I wish to be at peace with all men—even with the -malignants."</p> - -<p>"Yea!" cried Thomas Harrison, with a flame of anger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> in his dark eyes, -"you have been very ready to make peace with Bael—to this has your -tolerance led you!"</p> - -<p>"I would that thou hadst a little more tolerance," was the mild reply.</p> - -<p>"These are vain words," said the soldier impatiently. "You and I have -parted company long since. Our ways lie differently now. Tell me what -you will of me and let this end."</p> - -<p>Oliver Cromwell looked at him fully and mournfully, then sighed.</p> - -<p>"If thou wilt recognise the Government thou mayst live in peace for me."</p> - -<p>Thomas Harrison replied in a tone serene and unmoved—</p> - -<p>"I will not; come what may, I will not."</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector straightened his figure (which drooped a little in -the shoulders of late), and then the blood slowly overspread his face.</p> - -<p>"I shall not take this lightly," he said; "for my own dignity I may not -take it lightly—I am the Governor of England. I have some authority."</p> - -<p>"The brief carnal power of a thing of clay," replied Harrison, with an -exalted smile. "Wherefore should I seek to please thee, who in a few -years will be gone from this scene, leaving behind thy power and thy -splendour? I listen to the voice of Him before whom thou and all the -nations of the earth are less than a drop of water in the bucket; my -thoughts are fixed, not on this dusty sojourn here, but on those azure -eternities which God giveth to His servants. Therefore I will not obey -thee in this matter, for my conscience is against it."</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector was silent a moment, then he spoke in a tone from -which all friendliness and pleading had gone.</p> - -<p>"Then if you will not recognize the Government, you must cease to serve -it. I shall ask for your commission."</p> - -<p>Major-General Harrison gently unfastened his sword thread and laid the -plain weapon and the plain belt on a little table which stood near the -Protector.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> - -<p>"There is my sword," he said, "which hath done some poor little -service. Take it and let it rust."</p> - -<p>Cromwell remembered Marston Moor, Naseby, Basing, Oxford, many warm -acts of friendship, many mutual prayers—all the old laborious, -hopeful, triumphant days which they had shared.</p> - -<p>He said nothing; his hand went out as if yearningly and lovingly -towards the weapon which he had so often seen red with the newly -smitten blood of God's enemies.</p> - -<p>He still did not speak, and his silence was stern.</p> - -<p>Thomas Harrison took up his hat and cloak, and with a courteous but -cold salute turned to take his leave.</p> - -<p>His Highness turned to watch him and suddenly spoke, even as the other -had his hand on the door.</p> - -<p>"Thomas Harrison, it is very fitting that I make some defence to you. -You have known me very well, and you believe hard, diabolic things of -me. I would make some answer to this. I may bear the unkind thoughts of -mine enemies, but I would be relieved of the ill-opinion of those who -were once my friends."</p> - -<p>Harrison paused, and then turned with his back to the door, still -unmoved and hostile, but attentive, as if compelled to that amount of -respect by the rough, impassioned voice and fervent tones of the man -for whom he would have given his life a few years ago. As he listened -to his one-time beloved General, something of the old affection touched -him, though faintly; he waited.</p> - -<p>"You accuse me of base ambition," said His Highness, lifting his -head—his face had a look of a lion, mournful and infinitely -strong—"but that failing I never had. You accuse me of grasping at -the King's power, but that I never wanted. A man was needed—England, -I say, had need of a man—but none came. Any of you could have come -forward to take this place I hold—this place of no peace, little -sleep, and endless labour—any of you! But you were not called, or you -did not heed the call, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> stepped aside—and England waited. I know -not if you lacked courage, or if your conscience called you different -ways—but none offered. And I, on in years and something broken by the -wars, besought the Lord not to put this upon me—yet He did. And I did -not shirk it. I obeyed Him as I did when I left London to form a troop -in Cambridge that time the King did raise his standard against the -people. Each time the Lord's breath was through me, as wind is through -a hollow reed, and by Him I could do a little. That is my only merit. -And England is something now—the home of His chosen. You were nice, -you hesitated, you made punctilios—but I heard the call and saw the -light, as oft in the battalion, and I obeyed. I have tried many ways of -government, each as it comes to my hand. What my position truly is I -know not—I am a parish constable set to keep the peace. Yet here I be, -by God's will, and here I do my work. You may judge me with charity, -Thomas Harrison, as one upon whom a very heavy burden hath been laid."</p> - -<p>He paused, and his head drooped.</p> - -<p>"There is no more to say," he added, and his rough voice had fallen -lower. "Farewell—'God watch between me and thee when we are absent -from one and another.'"</p> - -<p>"Amen," said Thomas Harrison.</p> - -<p>And so they parted.</p> - -<p>The Lord-Protector stood lonely in the rich chamber, which had been -furnished by the dead King and the banished Queen.</p> - -<p>He went to the window and looked on the spring fairness of the garden, -on the warm glitter of the river and the sails going down to the sea.</p> - -<p>His greatness oppressed him in that moment, and he was home-sick for -the past and the uneventful days of his youth.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VII<br /> - -LADY NEWCASTLE</h2> - - -<p>Through the mingled splendour and distress, brightness and confusion -of these years of the Lord-Protector's ruling in England, while the -glory of England rose to a perilous height (her renown glittered as the -foam on a wave cast for a moment into the sun—soon to fall into the -darkness of the waters again and to be lost), while Oliver Cromwell -shone refulgent in all men's eyes, the Lady Elisabeth Claypole, moving -from her husband's house to her father's palaces, and in all places -greatly loved, faded visibly and pitifully.</p> - -<p>She had always been an advocate of mercy, and many a Cavalier owed his -life or his estate to her pleadings, and there was no one, however he -might hate Cromwell, who had not a gentle thought for this daughter -of his. Among her keen, delicate sisters she showed yet more keen and -delicate, and though she had now lost the fresh English fairness which -bloomed in the Lady Mary and the Lady Frances, and which had become -womanly grace in Bridget Fleetwood, yet of all of them she was the most -lovable. If any wished a favour from the Lord-Protector it was to her -they went to ask her intercession, for as her illness and her weakness -grew and her end came nearer, nearer with every painful breath she -drew, His Highness' tender love increased into an agony of yearning, -until it seemed as if he could refuse her nothing.</p> - -<p>One April, when His Highness was deep in great affairs—letters to -Cardinal Mazarin, letters to General Blake now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> sailing victorious in -foreign waters, questions of his taking the title of King, questions -of the Fifth Monarchy men having broken out rebelliously at last, and -Thomas Harrison being in the Tower for abetting them—a supplicant -came to Hampton with a very earnest entreaty to be allowed to see the -Lord-Protector. Whereat John Thurloe, His Highness' faithful secretary, -was indignant almost beyond the bounds of courtesy, and mighty angry -with the servants who had let the lady get as far as the antechamber.</p> - -<p>"Lackeys," said she, on hearing his complaint, "are still used to pay -respect to princesses."</p> - -<p>But he told her she could by no means see His Highness, and he spoke so -firmly that she sadly turned away.</p> - -<p>"Alas!" she murmured, "that I should be sent like a beggar from the -door of a usurper!"</p> - -<p>John Thurloe regarded her sharply.</p> - -<p>"Had you been a man, madam, you would have had to answer for that -remark."</p> - -<p>The lady turned and seemed about to reply, when Elisabeth Claypole -chanced to pass the open door, and, seeing a stranger there, she -entered.</p> - -<p>"Who is this?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"A lady who will not give her name," said the secretary dryly; "but no -one can see His Highness now."</p> - -<p>"My name," said the stranger, with that air of fantastic dignity which -disguised her haggard sadness, "is something too great to be bandied -about here—but give me yours, madam."</p> - -<p>"I am Elisabeth Claypole, madam," returned the Protector's daughter -mildly.</p> - -<p>The lady swept a courtly curtsey.</p> - -<p>"There is no need," she replied, "for me to disguise my quality from -one so generous and good. I am, madam, the wife of the unfortunate -Marquess of Newcastle."</p> - -<p>This name, which a few years ago had been one of the greatest in the -land, and still echoed in the minds of men, had an effect on John -Thurloe and even on Elisabeth herself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> The new order had not endured -long enough for people to have eradicated the instinct of respect for -noble blood and ancient names; for a moment the Marchioness, in her -poor attire, abashed the two commoners, so strong still were tradition -and the old teaching.</p> - -<p>Then Elisabeth Claypole spoke.</p> - -<p>"Will you come with me, madam, and take a little poor hospitality?"</p> - -<p>Thurloe, glad to be relieved of the responsibility of the distinguished -petitioner, put in his word.</p> - -<p>"I will give Your Grace's name to His Highness presently, but I do fear -it is useless."</p> - -<p>"Come with me, madam," repeated the Lady Elisabeth, and she gently took -the Marchioness by the hand and led her to her apartment.</p> - -<p>Lady Newcastle came meekly; for all her air of pride she was downcast -and bewildered with misfortune.</p> - -<p>The Lady Elisabeth's room looked on the river, now shaded by willow -trees covered with drooping yellow and red leaves, the banks were grown -with tall grasses and rushes, and the first pale flowers of spring, -beyond the soft fields, faded into the soft sky.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole loved to sit day after day at her deep window gazing -on that scene, watching the river that wandered through such pleasant -ways through the great city, past the palace, past the Traitor's Gate, -out to the wonder and turmoil of the open sea.</p> - -<p>It was a beautiful chamber hung with embroidery of her own stitching, -and furnished with many curious pieces from the Netherlands and China, -carpets of Persia, and two mirrors framed in glass flowers and done by -the Venetians.</p> - -<p>She put a chair for the Marchioness and herself sank into the window -seat, glancing swiftly at her guest. She saw a lady of a medium -loveliness, most piteously worn and marred by sorrow, and attired in -a tasteful if unusual style, which gave her the appearance of being -richly dressed; but Elisabeth's quick eyes saw that the grey silk dress -had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> been turned and scoured, that the ruffles of lace had been darned -again and again, and that she wore no jewels. The Protector's daughter -felt ashamed of her own velvet gown and the valuable pearls she had in -her ears.</p> - -<p>"I wished to see your father, madam," said Lady Newcastle, in a voice -where fatigue and humiliation struggled with a natural pride.</p> - -<p>"Alas!" murmured Elisabeth. "He is so pressed with business—will you -tell your errand to me, my Lady Newcastle?"</p> - -<p>"I have come to England in company with my brother-in-law to endeavour -to obtain some remnant of my husband's estates," was the answer. "And -we were returning in despair, when I, unknown to him, thought to make -this personal appeal."</p> - -<p>The Lady Elisabeth knew at once that the unfortunate gentlewoman had -made an utterly hopeless journey, for she was well aware that one of -the late King's generals, and a royalist so notable as the Marquess of -Newcastle, could never obtain grace from the Commonwealth.</p> - -<p>Wishful, as ever, to avoid inflicting pain rudely, she made an evasive -answer.</p> - -<p>"Will your lord swear fealty to the Government, madam?"</p> - -<p>"Nay—do you take him for a disloyal wretch?" flashed the Marchioness.</p> - -<p>"Then," replied Elisabeth, with something of her pride roused, "I -wonder that you should have undertaken the labour of this journey."</p> - -<p>A pallor overshadowed the royalist lady's features, and she hung her -head, as if she heard in these words the full extent of her miseries -and the depths of her humiliations.</p> - -<p>"Could you see how the exiles live in Paris, in Rotterdam—in Antwerp," -she answered—"all of us—even the Queen—you would not wonder at my -endeavour, however foolish, to obtain some relief."</p> - -<p>It was the Protector's daughter who paled now; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> thought of the -English exiles wandering miserably through Europe had constantly -haunted her.</p> - -<p>"You are then in distress?" she asked, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"In the greatest poverty," replied Lady Newcastle, her pride melting -before the touch of tenderness, and the tears suddenly reddening her -eyes. "The French King makes nothing of us; he is all for an alliance -with the usur—with your father. The Princess of Orange can do nothing -for us, for, since her husband died, the Netherlands have put down -her son and so—and so——" she paused to command herself, then -continued: "Do not think I complain for myself. My lord was ruined -when I married him in Paris. I took him for great and exceeding love, -as he did me, seeing I was dowerless, and I make it no hardship to -share his exiled wanderings with him—but there are so many others even -wanting bread—and Her Majesty and the Princess Henrietta are in such -distress——But not to you should I speak of these things. I would -only explain how it is that I have so far lowered my dignity as to come -here on this errand."</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole caught a glimpse of the sufferings, poverties, -and misery of the exiled English in this speech, given so humbly, so -haltingly, yet with the accent of a pride unquenched.</p> - -<p>My lady dashed the tears from her eyes with a laced handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"I am Margaret Lucas," she added, "and well used to misfortunes. I came -to England to try what I could do, but I found no friend anywhere, nor -any one who would bring me before your father. So I came to-day—wildly -and foolishly, it might be—to ask if he would give my lord his rights."</p> - -<p>"I would not give you false hopes," replied the Lady Elisabeth. "My -Lord's estate is forfeit, and no entreaties of yours or mine could -avail to restore it."</p> - -<p>"Entreaties?" cried Lady Newcastle. "I fear I could not entreat——"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> - -<p>She abruptly checked her sentence, but Elisabeth knew well enough that -some hard thing against the Protector had been on her tongue.</p> - -<p>"Have patience, my lady, this life is very short and full of sadness. -All these great affairs and great pains will soon be past, and others -will be in our places while we shall be at rest—up there"—she pointed -to the sky—"above it all, God grant!"</p> - -<p>"You speak as if you too were unfortunate!" said the Marchioness -wonderingly. "Surely, Mrs. Claypole, you do not need philosophy to -sweeten your lot."</p> - -<p>"I am dying," answered Elisabeth Claypole. "And I am young and have -much on this earth that I love, also I suffer very greatly—so much -that I wish I could die quicker. Therefore," she added sweetly, "you -see that I have not found the world wholly pleasant, and why I long for -these mansions God hath prepared for us above."</p> - -<p>My lady's warm heart was greatly moved by this touching confession.</p> - -<p>"Forgive me, I did not know," she answered; "but I dare hope you are -mistaken——"</p> - -<p>"Those who love me deceive themselves, but I know," smiled Elisabeth. -"I am not afraid to die—but sometimes, madam, I am a coward before the -pain, the great pain,"—then, hastily turning the subject from herself, -she added,—"I mix not at all in business, I know my father doeth -God's work—yet I am most grieved for you and such as you, for all the -blood shed, for all the misery. Ah me!—our day is now, we seem very -glorious, but what doth it all hang on? My father's life—no more. And -it may be that we too shall end and come to nothing and your turn come -again. I know not. Sometimes life seems very far away from me, as if I -surveyed it from a distance, and saw it all blurred and vague."</p> - -<p>"How many sad women I have seen!" exclaimed Margaret. "The Queen—you -would not know her—an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> old woman, all burnt away with fiery tears; -Lady Strafford, all broken and silenced; Lady William Pawlet, who -hath crept into a convent and is as near a nun as a widow may be—and -myself—how I have wept—mine eyes are weakened for ever because of -tears. It was for Charles, my dear, dear brother ... you know they -shot him, poor gallant soldier, outside Colchester.... Your father was -guiltless of that, or nothing had brought me here to-day."</p> - -<p>Elisabeth did not answer; Cromwell was certainly not responsible for -the military executions, so harsh and unnecessary, of Lucas and Lisle -after the siege of Colchester; but it had been the work of Bridget's -first husband, Henry Ireton (a man whom she had never liked), and so -she could not condemn the action though her heart cried out against it. -The Marchioness rose, and the gentle April sunlight flicked the scoured -silk, the darned lace, the face so peaked and worn for one so young.</p> - -<p>"Well, well," she said, with quivering lips, "one goes on living—but -the world is never the same after these things have happened. How -differently I dreamed it would be!"</p> - -<p>"I also," answered Elisabeth Claypole. "I never thought of death at -all. Far, far off I fancied him, and behold, he was knocking at the -door. But the world does not heed poor silly women, madam; we are but -the dust bruised by the tramplings of great events; nations march -past and leave us weeping. God send you a good deliverance from your -sorrows. I will do what little I can, and ask my father to receive your -petition, but well I know it hopeless."</p> - -<p>"I thank you," said Margaret; "from my heart I thank you for your good, -your generous, graciousness. I cannot think of you as my enemy——"</p> - -<p>"Why should you?" cried Elisabeth. "We are both English women. I hope -the day is near when all such shall be united."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span></p> - -<p>She rose and unlatched the lattice, and a fresh air blew in from the -young leaves that quivered on the willows and the young grass that -waved in the fields.</p> - -<p>"The river!" said Margaret, looking over her shoulder. "I often dream -of the river, it seems woven through everything—twisted in and out -of the past years and all their story. In Paris, among strangers, I -think of the river, and grow sad with home-sickness. The river is very -dear—and means so much."</p> - -<p>"I think so too," said Elisabeth. "Consider how it will flow on the -same, hundreds of years hence, when all the present kingdoms of the -earth will be dust like yester year's roses."</p> - -<p>"I hope I shall die in England," said my lady irrelevantly; "and now -farewell," she added bravely. "Forgive me my sad coming."</p> - -<p>"Come again," interrupted the Lady Elisabeth, taking her hand. "I may -have news for you. Where do you lodge?"</p> - -<p>"With Mrs. Brydon, a cousin of my father over against the Exchange. -I am called Mrs. Lucas there, for any pomp is foolish in such sorry -circumstances."</p> - -<p>"Come again in a few weeks—my father is so occupied with the Spanish -War—but I will speak to him of my lord's estates. Yet I can promise -nothing," she added reluctantly.</p> - -<p>"Yet I love you dearly for the kindness," replied Margaret, holding out -her hands.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth took them in her own frail fingers; these two women were -strangely drawn to one another.</p> - -<p>"I pray Heaven you will recover," added the Marchioness. "I think you -will recover. Madam, you will live to be very happy."</p> - -<p>"God may make me happy," said Elisabeth, "but not on the earth now."</p> - -<p>"Nay, you will live to encourage other unfortunates as you have -encouraged me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span></p> - -<p>Both of them had tears in their eyes; obeying a mutual impulse, they -bent and kissed each other on the cheek.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth came with Margaret to the outer door of her apartments, and -there gave her in charge to one of the ushers to be conducted from the -palace with all courtesy.</p> - -<p>Before she returned to her chamber she asked if His Highness was at -leisure.</p> - -<p>She was told that he was deeply engaged with his secretary on the -questions to be put before the Council when he returned to Whitehall -to-morrow.</p> - -<p>Lady Newcastle returned to an alien London, and sat down in her forlorn -and ancient splendour to write to her beloved lord in Antwerp, where he -lodged in the house of the late King's painter, Sir Peter Rubens.</p> - -<p>As the shadows fell over the city, over the fresh countryside, over -the river, as the night moths came out and the early stocks and pinks -in the gardens at Hampton Palace filled the air with sweetness, His -Highness still toiled in his cabinet, and Elisabeth Claypole still sat -at the open window of her room with folded hands and thoughtful eyes -gazing across the twilight.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -THE LADY ELISABETH</h2> - - -<p>When the Marchioness of Newcastle, after waiting long and vainly, -returned at length to Hampton Court and asked for the Lady Elisabeth, -she was told that the Protector's daughter was too ill to see any one.</p> - -<p>After lingering a little, and trying other sources of communication -with the court and finding none, she returned sadly with her husband's -brother to Antwerp to take up again her exiled life.</p> - -<p>All through that summer and autumn Elisabeth Claypole had seemed -sinking down to death. She knew little of what passed: of how, after -long debates, His Highness had refused the title of King ('a feather -in his cap,' he called it; a feather he would fain have had, many -said, only the army had willed otherwise), but had been installed in -purple and ermine as Lord-Protector of the new-formed Constitution and -presented with Bible and sword; of how ambassadors had come and gone -in England and the war with Spain proceeded brilliantly; how plots -were formed and exposed and His Highness went in a continual fear of -his life that was beginning to undermine his calm nerves and resolute -courage, and of how he and his Generals toiled continually——</p> - -<p>Of all this Elisabeth Claypole knew little; she was scarcely conscious -of more than the darkened room in which she lay and of the figures of -her mother and sisters coming and going softly, of her husband grieving -by her bed, and her father's presence in such moments as he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> -spare to hold her hand and speak comforting words to her tired ears.</p> - -<p>By the spring they thought that they had cured her; but in the summer -she drooped again, though she went to the marriage of her sister -Frances with young Mr. Rich, the Earl of Warwick's heir.</p> - -<p>Frances was the last to wed, for Mary was now Lady Fauconberg. Many -finer matches had been suggested for this youngest of the Protector's -daughters; some had even tried to bring about a marriage between her -and Charles Stewart, and the women of His Highness' family had favoured -this scheme, but Cromwell waved it aside—'If he could forgive his -father's death, I could not forgive the loose manner of his life'—and -Frances had wedded, after much opposition, Mr. Rich, a delicate youth.</p> - -<p>In the June of this year of 1658 came the great news of the fall of -Dunkirk, the defeat of the Spanish, and the flattering friendship of -the French. London glittered with a congratulatory embassy from Paris; -in the midst of the pageantry, His Highness, who had already interfered -once to save the poor people of the valleys of Piedmont, was once more -extending his mighty protection to them, and Mr. Milton, the Latin -Secretary to the Council of State, was turning His Highness' letters -into Latin: Mr. Milton dictated his translations now, for he was lately -become utterly blind.</p> - -<p>The news of the battle of the Dunes raised England to a yet higher -point of fame than she had yet reached. France could refuse such an -ally nothing, and Mazarin interfered to protect the Piedmontese.</p> - -<p>So went affairs abroad and in England well too, save that the finances -were strained, His Highness having dissolved the Parliament in -February, preferring, indeed, to govern without one.</p> - -<p>"God be judge between you and me," were the concluding words of his -last speech.</p> - -<p>Other sorrows beside the illness of his daughter visited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> His Highness -this summer: Mr. Rich died a few months after his marriage, leaving -poor Frances a widow at seventeen; the old Earl of Warwick died, an -ancient friend of the Protector; most painful and terrible loss of all, -the youngest son of the Lady Elisabeth died, and she fell again into -illness and was soon at a desperate extremity.</p> - -<p>In between his entertainment of the French ambassadors at Whitehall, -his conferences with his Council, and all the routine of government, -His Highness would take his coach and drive to Hampton, and sit for -a while in his child's darkened chamber and pray with tears that her -agony might be lessened.</p> - -<p>His own health began to suffer. Those about him noticed that the deep -gloom which had settled on his spirits was affecting his strength; he -still looked and seemed in every way younger, much younger than his -years; he had a great appearance of strength; he gave the impression -of being firmly built, and set, and able to endure for a great while -yet the powerful winds which buffeted his high and glorious pinnacle of -splendour.</p> - -<p>Yet those most with him, especially Thurloe, his ardent and faithful -secretary, thought that underneath this calm and strong exterior he -was much shaken in mind and health. His domestic sorrows were known -to affect him sorely, his nerves were strained to breaking-point by -the constant apprehension of assassination, the future was believed -to weigh on him, for there was no settlement of the country for any -period longer than his life, and it became daily more apparent how the -whole fabric of Puritan government depended on that life, on his unique -position and influence with the army, on the dominating force of his -personality, on the glory of his prestige and the glamour of his genius.</p> - -<p>He had always seemed so vigorous, and glowing with the light and the -fire of an immortal spirit that no one associated him with age or -death or thought about his successor; but it was possible that to -himself, as the atmosphere of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> death chilled his home, might come the -reflection that the England of his making was as baseless as the Greece -of Alexander, and might as easily fall to pieces at his death—only -his captains were not the men to divide the spoils. What, then, would -follow?</p> - -<p>He may well have asked himself that question and pondered over it in -these dark days.</p> - -<p>The Lord Richard, his eldest surviving son, was a mere country -gentleman, with neither strength nor talents—nay, rather of an -indolent turn and a certain softness; to set him to hold together the -various elements which controlled the nation would be to invite certain -failure.</p> - -<p>The Lord Henry, his second son, was as able a man as any about him and -already of much distinction in his military and diplomatic career; -but he was not the man to step into another's place: ambition did not -spur his noble qualities. Then there were the Lord Fleetwood, his -son-in-law, the Lord Lambert, Disbrowe, many fine, fearless soldiers, -Blake, Monck. But where was <i>the</i> man—the one pre-eminently marked out -to continue the work of His Highness?</p> - -<p>No one could point to such an one. The Lord-Protector had the right -of naming his successor, but as yet had not done so; the new-founded -Constitution (the last attempt to frame a civil government on the -foundations of arbitrary military power) was scarcely complete, and -after these last glorious successes in the Spanish War there was -further persistent talk of a kingship for the Protector. Many said this -title was a certain thing; but it was a thing yet pending, and with it -the question of the succession.</p> - -<p>There were many jars and confusions, too, in the inner state of England -that might well weigh on the spirit of the Protector. His body was -worn with gout and a slight but lingering aguish fever. He might -neglect none of his business, and maintain the appearance of mental and -physical strength, but John Thurloe, his constant companion, was not -deceived.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span></p> - -<p>"His Highness," he said to Whitelocke, "is a sick man, and these vigils -by the Lady Elisabeth will wear him to a great disease."</p> - -<p>That summer was notable for the fierceness of the heat: day by day -the sun beat down without either rain or cloud, night after night the -stars shone with unveiled brilliance; then towards the beginning of -August a light wind blew for several days and cooled the air. Elisabeth -Claypole seemed to rally a little as the great heat was relieved, and -His Highness, who had left business for several days lately to watch -by her, thought it safe to return to London, where the French notables -were still being entertained.</p> - -<p>On Friday the 6th of August he came back to Hampton Court; he came in -a coach, for, having lately been flung from his carriage, he was too -shaken to ride on horseback. That day he had been more than usually -cheerful; he had even smiled at the reports from France: tales of how -his Ironsides (oh, irony!), now fighting there side by side with the -followers of the Scarlet Lady, had given their General trouble by their -behaviour in the churches of the idolaters, one lighting his pipe -from the candle on the high altar. Then he heard how Mr. Hugh Peters -had endeavoured to make long sermons before the magnificent Cardinal, -hoping to convert him from his deep errors.</p> - -<p>At the name of Mr. Hugh Peters His Highness smiled no more; it recalled -to him strangely that winter morning in Whitehall when he had paced -the boarded gallery in sick agitation, and Hugh Peters, in his black -clothes, had gone out to the scaffold and helped knock a staple in and -hurried to and fro in enthusiastic excitement.... It seemed so long ago -... and now this same Hugh Peters was arguing with Cardinal Mazarin, -and the young King of France was sending him a rich sword with a -jewelled hilt ... a King who was the nephew of that other King who had -knelt down at the block that January morning.</p> - -<p>His Highness did not set much store by this costly sword: his victories -had been won with plainer weapons.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p> - -<p>While he was in his coach, hastening towards Hampton, he took from his -pocket a pamphlet which was then making much stir in England. The title -was <i>Killing no Murder</i>, and it set forth with much eloquence that any -murderer of Oliver Cromwell would be justified by God and man.</p> - -<p>His Highness read the paper from beginning to end, then put it back in -his pocket.</p> - -<p>"There is no notice to be taken of such things," said John Thurloe, who -sat opposite him.</p> - -<p>"It is no matter one way or another," answered His Highness; and he -took from his bosom a small Bible and gave it to Thurloe and asked him -to read from it aloud, "For," he said, "I feel my eyes tired."</p> - -<p>"What shall I read?" asked the secretary, leaning towards the light -of the window and unclasping the Book: the coach had just turned by -Turnham Green and the road was smooth.</p> - -<p>"Read," said the Lord-Protector, "the fourth of St. Paul to the -Philippians, the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth verses—read aloud -in a strong voice."</p> - -<p>Which John Thurloe did.</p> - -<p>"'Not that I speak in respect of want: but I have learned, in -whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be -abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere, and by all things, I am -instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to -suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth -me.'"</p> - -<p>His Highness repeated the last sentence.</p> - -<p>"'<i>I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.</i>' This -Scripture did once save my life," he added, "when my eldest son, poor -Robert, died, which went as a dagger to my heart—indeed, it did."</p> - -<p>He paused and John Thurloe looked up, startled to hear him refer to a -sorrow so ancient. But Cromwell's thoughts seemed to be in the past.</p> - -<p>"In my great extremity," he continued, "I did read these passages -of Paul's contention—of the submission to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> the will of God in all -conditions; and it was hard—indeed, it was hard. In my weakness I -said, 'It is true, Paul, <i>you</i> have learned this, and attained to -this measure of grace; but what shall <i>I</i> do? Ah, poor creature, it -is a hard lesson for me to take out. I find it so!' But reading on to -the thirteenth verse, where Paul saith, '<i>I can do all things through -Christ which strengtheneth me</i>,' then faith began to work and my heart -to find support, saying to myself, 'He that was Paul's Christ is my -Christ too!'—and so I drew waters out of the well of salvation."</p> - -<p>"Why should Your Highness remind yourself of this?" asked Thurloe -anxiously.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Thurloe!" cried the Lord-Protector, with a great sigh, "it is to -nerve myself in case another of my children should be taken from me. -If she should die—it would be almost more than I could bear. Yet God -might take her, though I have wrestled with Him for her life, even as -David wrestled for the life of his son. My brave, sweet one! She was -always good and loving, was she not, Thurloe? Wonderful and inscrutable -are His ways that He should lay such suffering and agonies on one so -delicate and valiant!"</p> - -<p>The secretary had no more to say; neither did His Highness speak again, -but gazed out of the window at the sun-dried countryside, at the -orchards where the dry wind blew the shrivelled leaves of red and gold -from the fruit too early ripe, at the great elms and oaks rustling the -foliage to the ground, at the thatched and gabled cottages where the -children ran to the doors to watch the coach with the four horses and -outriders and the troop of Lifeguards go by.</p> - -<p>Soon they came in sight of the river, with islands and barges and -reaches, where the boats were drawn above the tide and a few boys -fished, knee-deep in mud.</p> - -<p>Then they lost the river and passed between private mansions standing -among trees, and so to the village of Hampton as the sun was sinking in -a glow of unstained fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span></p> - -<p>As they neared the Palace His Highness became very pale, and he looked -once or twice with an air of dread from the window, as if he expected -to see some awful change over the place.</p> - -<p>But no scene could have been more peaceful: the river flowed softly -between the fading willows and the banks where the tall grasses, white -whorls of hemlock, and clusters of parsley flowers grew; the last light -of the sun glowed on the red bricks of the Palace and cast long shadows -from the summer flowers in the garden; up among the high chimney-stacks -white pigeons fluttered home with light upon their wings.</p> - -<p>Cromwell entered the Palace. The first to meet him was one of the -grooms of his chamber; the man gave him a frightened look and moved -away without speaking.</p> - -<p>He went towards his daughter's apartments, and in the corridor Frances -Rich, a child in widow's mourning, came towards him with staggering -steps.</p> - -<p>He paused.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my father!" she said, and lifted a face swollen with weeping.</p> - -<p>"What is it, my dear?" he asked, in a still voice. "Be calm, my child, -my dear."</p> - -<p>He took her trembling little figure by the shoulder and smoothed back -the damp hair from her forehead.</p> - -<p>"Is she dead?" he asked. "Is she gone—is Betty dead, dear?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, my father!" sobbed poor Frances again, and seemed unable to find -other words.</p> - -<p>Elisabeth Cromwell came down the passage, and with her the Lord -Claypole.</p> - -<p>"Ah," said His Highness, "is it over? And I left her—yet only for a -little—and she is gone."</p> - -<p>His wife came and put her arms round his neck and wept on his shoulder -a little, then she took his hand and led him to their daughter's -chamber, followed by those two other mourners, also sick with grief and -watching.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></p> - -<p>Elisabeth Claypole lay dead, she had fallen from one convulsion fit to -another, and breathed her last breath, in great pain and suffering, but -with a composed and cheerful mind and a serene and hopeful soul.</p> - -<p>She was dead; very young she looked as she lay in the great bed in -the darkened chamber with the shadows over her; the rich coverlet was -straightened across her limbs, the sheet smoothed, the pillow shaken; -she was at peace after the long tossings to and fro, the hot nights of -agony, the dragging days of unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>Very small she looked and delicate; her hair seemed like a handful of -fine silk on the pillow, her hands white flowers on the coverlet; her -head was drooping slightly sideways, and the gentle look she wore in -life had returned, effacing all trace of suffering.</p> - -<p>There were many standing round her; all made way at the approach of His -Highness; he came up to the bed and looked down at her.</p> - -<p>"'My life is waxen old with heaviness,'" he murmured, "'and my years -with mourning.... I am become like a broken vessel.'"</p> - -<p>He bent over her stillness, his transient sorrow breaking vainly -against her eternal repose.</p> - -<p>"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," said Elisabeth Cromwell, -and touched her husband's hand.</p> - -<p>He went to his knees on the bed-step and put his head on his folded -hands.</p> - -<p>"May He who sitteth above the waterflood comfort me—for in myself I -can do nothing!" he muttered.</p> - -<p>They left him there, for they thought that he prayed; but it was not -so: the valiant spirit had been robbed of its matchless fortitude at -last; His Highness was in a swoon of anguish.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CHAPTER IX<br /> - -EXIT HIS HIGHNESS</h2> - - -<p>From that day he sickened rapidly; his strength fell from him with a -suddenness that amazed those about him. He attended business as usual, -wearing the purple of royal mourning, but the heaviness of his spirit -was noticed by all.</p> - -<p>Towards the end of August, George Fox, the Quaker, came to Hampton -Court to see His Highness about the persecution of the Friends; he -went by river, and soon after he stepped ashore at Hampton he saw His -Highness riding at the head of his Lifeguards, going towards the Palace -under the shade of the riverside trees.</p> - -<p>George Fox waited until the cavalcade, which was coming slowly towards -him, into Hampton Court Park, had reached him, gazing steadily the -while at that figure of His Highness, drooping a little in the saddle -and looking ahead of him, with an extraordinary air of stillness.</p> - -<p>"I felt and saw," wrote Fox afterwards, when he was back in his -cobbler's shop in London, "a waft of death go forth against him, and -when I came to him he looked like a dead man."</p> - -<p>His Highness was very courteous; he checked his horse when he saw the -patient figure, russet-clad, with the broad-brimmed hat, waiting for -him, and welcomed Fox as warmly as he had done two years before when -the Quaker saw him at Hyde Park Corner among his Guards, and pressed to -his carriage window, and spoke to him gravely—as he spoke to him now, -warning him, and laying before him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> the sufferings of the Friends, even -as the spirit moved him to do.</p> - -<p>His Highness listened; the stillness of his demeanour, remarkable in -one naturally so full of energy and eloquence, did not alter; he said -very little, only kindly bade Fox come and see him at his house next -day.</p> - -<p>And so he rode on slowly towards the red palace, "and I," wrote Fox in -his <i>Journal</i>, "never saw him more."</p> - -<p>For the following day, when he came from Kingston to Hampton again, the -doctors would let no one see His Highness, who was fallen worse—of a -tertian ague, they said—and would never ride at the head of his famous -Guard again, either through Hampton Court Park or anywhere else. George -Fox had been the last to see the Lord-Protector on horseback, girt with -a sword.</p> - -<p>Soon after he was moved by coach to London, where the air was thought -to be better for his complaint; St. James's Palace, that he intended -to lodge at, not being immediately ready, he was taken to Whitehall, -and on the Wednesday following half the nation was praying for him, and -half waiting breathlessly, "for a great deliverance."</p> - -<p>In Whitehall, a meeting of preachers and godly persons besought God -with prayers and tears to spare His Highness, and all over the city -were apprehension, expectation, hopes, fears, and supplication.</p> - -<p>So it had come to this: the twenty years of great events, with all the -toil, achievement, triumph, tumult, and sorrow, had swept up to this -moment when the gentleman farmer from St. Ives, who had received a -command from God, lay dying at Whitehall, with that command executed -as far as it is in a man to accomplish a mission he conceives Divine, -dying, with England breathless, and the son of the late tyrant -breathless too, and watching and waiting from across the water.</p> - -<p>It seemed to many valiant souls as if this England so violently shaped -anew into something of the form which was the ideal of Puritanism, -purged and glorified, was no more than the vivified dream of this one -man, and that when he passed from the earth it would be as when a -sleeper wakes—the dream would be dispelled and all things become as -they had been.</p> - -<p>What he himself might think, now that he knew the summons had come, -none could tell, for he was mostly silent during the ebb and flow of -his illness, and only spoke to pray; once or twice the passionate -entreaties to God, which he heard rising around him, and the passionate -affection of his family and friends, seemed to rouse in him a desire -and hope of life. He could not but know that his work was not yet -finished, and that this was not the best of times for him to die.</p> - -<p>"Lord, Thou knowest," he said, "that if I do desire to live, it is to -show forth Thy praise and declare Thy works!" and, "Is there none that -says, Who will deliver me from this peril?" then, "Man can do nothing; -God can do what He will."</p> - -<p>And at times he fell into a kind of enthusiasm, speaking much of the -Covenants of Works and of Grace and expounding them; to his wife and -children, who felt their very life being torn from them, he spoke, too: -"Love not this world"—he repeated the words with great vehemence, as -was his wont—"I say, love not this world; it is not good that you -should love this world—children, live like Christians. I leave you the -Covenant to feed on!"</p> - -<p>But for the most he had done with human affection; weeping did not seem -to touch that heart that had once been so tender to tears.</p> - -<p>He did not even look at those about him, but upwards at the dark canopy -of his bed; and to that inner eye which had beheld the sword stretched -out of the cloud in the barn at St. Ives, it was no covering of -tapestry which hung above him, but the threshold of the eternal world.</p> - -<p>The dry wind, which had begun before the Lady Elisabeth died, and blown -for weeks across the Island from sea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> to sea, deepened and strengthened -now from day to day, and at the end of this month of August, when His -Highness was rapidly coming to the end of all storms and calms alike, a -hurricane of wind arose—the most fearful, violent, and protracted any -man could remember.</p> - -<p>The angry seas sucked in ships and sailors and beat furiously on the -coast, trees were uprooted, haystacks and barns overturned, tiles and -chimneys cast down; in the cities men could scarcely stand in the -streets for the wind which roared and piped round the corners.</p> - -<p>The great man dying and the great storm raging became mysteriously -connected in the minds of those watching and waiting breathlessly; -there were not wanting those who said that it was the Devil come for -His Highness, nor those who thought it was the sound of the wings of -God's angels, nor those who thought that it was devils and angels both -wrestling together.</p> - -<p>It was drawing near to that most glorious day for Oliver Cromwell -and his cause, the 3rd of September, the anniversary of Dunbar -and Worcester, and of the calling of the first Parliament of His -Highness—a day of general thanksgivings and triumph to all Puritans.</p> - -<p>As the stormy winds rocked Whitehall Palace and rattled at the window -out of which Charles Stewart had stepped to die, and at the window of -the room where the Lord Protector lay, His Highness rallied from his -slumbers and sat upright in his great bed and listened to the tempest, -as a soldier might sit up in the dark and listen the night before a -battle.</p> - -<p>"I think I am the poorest wretch alive," he said, "but I love God, -or, rather, am beloved by Him—I am a conqueror and more than a -conqueror—'<i>through Christ which strengtheneth me</i>'"—so he repeated -again the words which had saved him once, long ago. But as he sat up, -hearkening to the blowing winds without, his comfort seemed to go from -him.</p> - -<p>"It is a fearful thing," he said, "to fall into the hands of the Living -God!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span></p> - -<p>He raised himself up and stretched out his hand towards the wind as if -he appealed to something in that tumult outside his palace.</p> - -<p>"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!" he -cried again.</p> - -<p>So high and loud the wind howled that those about him shivered as if -they feared to be struck by some supernatural force; but Cromwell sat -erect, and again cried out, "I say it is a fearful thing to fall into -the hands of the Living God!"</p> - -<p>One of the chaplains praying in the adjoining chamber heard His -Highness' raised and agonized voice and entered the sick-room.</p> - -<p>To him Oliver Cromwell turned eagerly.</p> - -<p>"<i>Tell me</i>," he asked, in a voice of intense wistfulness, "<i>is it -possible to fall from Grace?</i>"</p> - -<p>"Nay," said the pastor, "it is not possible."</p> - -<p>"<i>Then</i>," said the dying man, "<i>I am saved, for I know that I was once -in Grace</i>."</p> - -<p>He clasped his hands, and the family and friends about him, whom he -seemed to have forgotten, heard, in the pauses of the wind, his prayer—</p> - -<p>"Lord, though I am a miserable and wretched creature, I am in Covenant -with Thee through Grace! And I may—I will—come to Thee, for Thy -people! Thou hast made me, though very unworthy, a mean instrument to -do them some good, and Thee service—many of them have set too high a -value on me, others wish and would be glad of my death—Lord, however -Thou do dispose of me, continue and go on and do good for them."</p> - -<p>His voice rose now like the voice of a well man, almost as strong as -the voice that had greeted with a psalm the rising sun before Dunbar.</p> - -<p>"Give them consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual love—and -go on to deliver them, and with the work of reformation—and make the -Name of Christ glorious in the world. Teach those who look too much on -Thy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> Instruments to depend more upon Thyself. Pardon such as desire to -trample on the dust of a poor worm, for they are Thy people too.</p> - -<p>"And pardon the folly of this short prayer—even for Jesus Christ's -sake. And give us a good night, if it be Thy pleasure. Amen!"</p> - -<p>And after this he lay down among his pillows and slept, despite the -storm.</p> - -<p>And there began to be whispers about the succession, which hitherto no -one had dared name.</p> - -<p>It was vaguely believed that His Highness <i>had</i> named him, some while -ago, and the sealed paper containing his wishes was at Hampton. Thurloe -and the Lord Fauconberg sent there for it, but the paper could not be -found; and His Highness' body was fast sinking into eternal slumber, -and his spirit escaping them, and they were all confused and amazed at -what might be before them.</p> - -<p>The faithful Thurloe approached his bed and asked him who was to be his -successor.</p> - -<p>At which His Highness turned his head and was silent.</p> - -<p>"The Lord Richard?" whispered Thurloe, and the Lord Protector was -believed to answer, "Yes, yes," but no man could be sure of what he -said. Henry Cromwell was absent; the rest of his family were near -him, but he seemed to forget them. Only twice he asked intensely for -"<i>Robert, Robert</i>, my eldest son."</p> - -<p>He fell now into great pains, but with them came great cheerfulness of -spirit.</p> - -<p>"God is good," he was heard to say—"indeed, He is—God is good—my -work is done. Yet God be with His people."</p> - -<p>On the eve of the thanksgiving day, which shall never be kept as a -thanksgiving day again, save by an oppressed people, secretly in their -hearts, the victor of the battles which made the 3rd of September -glorious was seen to be very near the end of his restlessness and his -pain.</p> - -<p>He spoke to himself continually, judging and abasing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> himself, and -his eyes were continually turned upward to that rich canopy and rich -ceiling, which was certainly neither covering nor concealment to him -who saw the light beyond the palace roof.</p> - -<p>His sad, forlorn wife (who saw but dark days ahead of her) besought him -to drink and sleep and held out a cup to him.</p> - -<p>"It is not my design to drink or sleep," he answered, "but my design is -to make what haste I can to be gone."</p> - -<p>All through the windy night he prayed brokenly; once he spoke of -Harrison, and seemed troubled; once he asked God to spare Betty further -pain, and again he said, "Is Robert dead?—and Oliver?"</p> - -<p>When the sun was up over city and golden river, and the vast crowds -waiting anxiously, His Highness had fallen to silence.</p> - -<p>Neither to the God who waited for him, nor to his forlorn family, nor -to the breathless nation did His Highness speak again in any earthly -tongue.</p> - -<p>That afternoon the Lord ungirt the sword with which He had invested his -Captain twenty years before, and in Whitehall Palace Oliver Cromwell's -lifeless body lay—and the nation flew asunder into confusion.</p> - -<p>"My days are gone like a shadow, and I am withered like grass.</p> - -<p>"But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever—and Thy remembrance -throughout all generations....</p> - -<p>"They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; they all shall wax old as -doth a garment.</p> - -<p>"And as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: -<i>but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail</i>." Amen. Amen.</p> - - -<p style="margin-top:5em;"><i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">Morrison & Gibb Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Governor of England, by Marjorie Bowen - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNOR OF ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 52235-h.htm or 52235-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/3/52235/ - -Produced by Scholar, Graeme Mackreth and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Books project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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