gaged in the contest more from pique than principle, and was not prepared to push matters to an extremity. Many opportunities of pursuing the war with success were therefore thrown away. On more than one occasion, the very parliament was in jeopardy, through the near advances of the royalists. This stigma does not attach to such men as Lord Brooke, Hampden, and Cromwell, all of whom were resolutely bent upon the defence of the liberties of England, and the deliverance of the nation from its oppressors. The two former prevented Charles from marching into the metropolis, by the timely succour they afforded to the regiment of Holles at Brentford;* and the last had been occupied from the commencement of the war in raising and disciplining his famous Ironsides, a troop of warriors, one thousand strong, the like to which the world has never seen in any age, either before or since.

Unhappily for their country, Brooke and Hampden were numbered among the earliest victims of the war; the former at the siege of Lichfield, on the 2nd of March, 1643, after having reduced nearly all Warwickshire; and the latter in the following June, in the skirmish at Chalgrove, near Oxford, while recruiting in the neighbourhood. The loss of two such men at such a time, was a great blow to the popular cause. The death of Hampden, in particular, excited as much consternation in parliament as if

*Essex was roused to a sense of danger, only by the roaring of the cannon, which reached his ears in the House of Lords.

† See an able sketch of "The brave Lord Brooke," in Stoughton's Spiritual Heroes.

Hampden was wounded between the shoulders by a random shot, on his fiftieth birthday, and died on the 24th of June, or six

their whole army had been destroyed. For a moment it was paralyzed; and even hesitated whether to proceed with the war or no. In a little time, however, the braver spirits of the day recovered from the recoil, and pursued their object with fresh determination. An opportunity had been afforded of ascertaining the real position of their party. The more timid and time-serving had revealed themselves in the season of disaster, and the cowardly and the courtly were henceforth distinguished from the patriotic. The people, moreover, came in to their aid, and impelled them forwards. When the peers proposed to the commons an immediate accommodation with the king, the whole city was up in remonstrance. The clergy and the common council alike denounced the overture, and a petition was presented against it by the Lord Mayor, at the head of the populace. From this time, the House of Lords lost much of the respect it had formerly received, and parliament was shut up to the course which its leaders had marked out. Notwithstanding the defection of some peers to the camp of the king, the Pyms and St. Johns were staunch, and led on the commons with fresh earnestness. They brought the wavering Essex round to a course of more decided hostility, and were repaid by the relief of Gloucester, and the victory at Newbury. Still, great danger impended, and new methods were devised for strengthening the popular days after. His dying words were,-" O Lord, save my bleeding country. Have these realms in thy special keeping. Confound and level in the dust those who would rob the people of their liberty and lawful prerogative. Let the king see his error, and turn the hearts of his wicked counsellors from the malice and wickedness of their designs. Lord Jesus, receive my soul !"

cause against the hostility and treachery of the common foe.

We are thus brought to the period when the assistance of Scotland was solicited by parliament. This step was not taken without reluctance. It was already evident to many of the patriots, that the presbyterians of the north were ambitious of conferring their own ecclesiastical system on the people of England, in place of the now abolished hierarchy. For some time, their fears on this score prevented their seeking aid likely to be accompanied by unwelcome conditions. On the other hand, the liberties of England were in jeopardy, and it was not quite so plain, that presbyterianism might not be a suitable religion for both countries. It was determined, therefore, to try how far the matter might be adjusted, and eventually a compact was entered into between the two nations, known by the name of the "Solemn League and Covenant." For the purposes of the mere emergency, the measure was apparently successful. On the 19th of January, 1644, the Scotch army, 21,000 strong, entered England by Berwick, joined the armies of the parliament, and had its share in several engagements, with various success. In the end, however, England had to fight and win its own battles, and afterwards, to turn its arms against its temporary ally. The experiment of a religious adjustment proved a failure. Instead of fastening the yoke of their religious system upon the necks of the people of England, the Scotch people found themselves, after many provocations, at the foot of a conqueror, as generous as he was brave-a conqueror and a ruler who, while retaining possession of their country by a

military force, taught them the novel lesson of civil subordination, without robbing them of their religious freedom.

Descending from this very general view of public events, the policy adopted by parliament in relation to ecclesiastical matters claims our first consideration, leading as it did to most of those stormy scenes of division, debate, and controversy, in which all religious párties became involved, and amongst the rest the Independents.

Having abolished the hierarchy, parliament was under the necessity of supplying something in its place, or, at least, of determining the ecclesiastical position of the nation. Historically speaking, the best thing, and theoretically, the only just thing, would have been a declarative enactment, that henceforth religion should be wholly excluded from the business of legislation; and that, as speedily as possible, some equitable system should be instituted, whereby national property, previously appropriated by the Anglican church, should either be compounded for, or revert to the use of the state. In this case, the wisdom of parliament would have applied itself to one of the noblest objects ever presented to the minds of statesmen, namely, the liberation of religion from all state interference and control, with such provisions as should secure the state from detriment through religious movements and parties. Had this been done, the war between Charles and his parliament would soon have ended; the strife of parties during the perplexed period of the Commonwealth have been mitigated, if not avoided; and the nation, fenced off from the chief source of bad legislation and social divisions in subsequent years, would

have entered upon a career of unrivalled splendour. Had this been attempted by any considerable party in the state, even though without success, its name and story would have transcended in interest that of any, however illustrious, in the annals of our country.

That there were many whose views went as far as this, cannot be questioned. But their influence was very inconsiderable, and by no means equal to their numbers. Accustomed to persecution, and habituated in consequence to cherish their own convictions almost in secret, they did not feel inclined at this season to protrude their principles upon public attention. They were only too thankful for the unwonted liberty they enjoyed. It was a rare season for them. No longer was it necessary to meet in darkened chambers, in outbuildings of difficult access, in retired and unsuspected houses, barns, and hay-lofts; or under cover of the night, in gardens, fields, and copses. No longer were they in fear of spies, informers, and pursuivants. They could now meet their fellow citizens, their fellow townsmen, their fellow parishioners, without feeling that by the operation of iniquitous laws they were a degraded class. For a season, this immunity from long pending wrongs made them err in the excess of gratitude. As is too often the case in such circumstances, prosperity became a snare to them. Having manfully held fast by their principles, when the whole world besides was against them, they now held them somewhat too loosely, when the tide of human affairs turned, and the world ceased to frown.

Such was the actual position of those who held, at this period, the most correct, but in the opinion of their fellow-subjects, the most extreme and impracti