INTRODUCTION.

HE characters of the men who bore part in the great rebellion stand prominently before us. In the confused chronicles of earlier times the annalist laid on the colours where he chose, he arranged every light and every shade, and with his busy pencil created demi-gods or imagined fiends. In the contest between the King and his disaffected subjects all the conditions were changed; on every side light streams in upon us; the fierce political pamphlets and newspapers of the day, the memoirs, letters, and state papers subsequently published, and the essays at a yet later date of historians, philosophers, and partizans, all contribute to that great store of historical learning on which the inquirer can draw, and from which he may form an estimate of the actors in that eventful strife.

It is difficult, however, to write of the past and not to feel like a partizan, and in almost every essay, memoir, or history we refer to, there are traces of a bitterness of spirit and harshness of judgment which are scarcely consistent with a justly poised balance. No doubt the records of the past history of their own land are of exceptional interest to English writers. In most

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countries there is a wide gulf between the past and the present; a system of government existed; it became unsuited to the requirements or the will of the nation, and in some political hurricane it was swept away; a new system was erected on the old site, and the very foundations of the former edifice were rooted up-there was no connecting link between them, and though the history of the older structure might have some antiquarian interest it had no real bearing on active political life.

In England, on the contrary, revolutions have in great measure been governed by precedent, and it is natural, where the actions of our ancestors may materially affect our rights, that we should regard them with an interest similar to that which we feel for the politics of our own time, in which history is being enacted before our eyes by the leaders we follow or their antagonists whom we distrust.

It is needless for the purpose of illustrating the letters before us to compose an elaborate essay on their authors-yet their characters are interesting, and a few observations may not be out of place.

Foremost in station, the centre and the mark of all the intrigues and cabals of that stormy epoch, the character of the King is the first subject that commands our attention. Eight generations have lived and passed away since the troubles that beset him commenced, yet his character and career are still the theme on which loyalty delights to dwell and which detraction has made her own. There has been reason alike for panegyric and condemnation; for the exaggerated adulation of the Cavalier, and for the Roundhead's bitter wrath,

No Character in history is better known to us than is this unhappy King. His stately effigy has been handed down to us on "the breathing canvass of Vandyke," his noble eloquence, like some costly jewel, has been preserved in the classic setting of Clarendon ; and his memory is reverenced by every lover of literature and every student of art. His good resolutions, his noble language, his lofty bearing, his energy and faith commanded the love of his adherents and tardy admiration of his enemies; while the unshrinking steadfastness of his gaze when he had nought save death to look upon, won him back the love of his people, and secured the eventual triumph of his cause.

These qualities and attributes might have formed the basis in another age and under other conditions of a great and magnanimous career. Who does not know however, with what dross the pure metal was alloyed? With tyranny, with irresolution, with fraud; with a fatal tendency to make any and every promise which the exigencies of the hour suggested, and to repudiate them as shamefully, as he had made them rashly the moment pressure was withdrawn. Vacillating, weak, and distrustful of himself, Charles was peculiarly under the influence of those who were about him, and the man who was most unhesitating in his advice and the most confident in insisting upon its adoption, had a prevailing though momentary influence on the wavering Councils of the Crown.

With plans thus perpetually shifting it was impossible for his friends to confide or for his enemies to trust in Charles. The promises made in good faith one day were broken on the next under the influence of

some fresh adviser. The plan of an expedition was settled, and almost ere the march was commenced an imperative command withdrew a large portion of the forces engaged in it, thus reducing the remainder to inaction. A treaty was negotiated with the Parliament, and when success was almost attained a letter under the royal hand convicted the writer of prevarication and faithlesness. Thus all was uncertainty in the royal counsels, and irritation gradually hardening into inexorable vengeance in those of his opponents. If we fail to see great faults on either side we wilfully blind ourselves to the truth; if we fail to discern great virtues we ignore as needlessly some of the brightest characters, and many of the noblest deeds which gem our storm-tossed history.

It must never be forgotten that, as the struggle continued, the Actors in it changed. It was not Hampden and Falkland only who early perished. On every side the ranks of statesman and soldier-patriots were thinned by death or by causes powerful as death itself. There came a time when the haughty integrity of Essex, the chivalry of Waller, "the gentle and generous nature" of Manchester animated no longer the popular armies, when the eloquence of Pym was silenced in the grave, and even Fairfax was regarded with distrust by those whose armies he had led to victory. On the royal side Sir Bevil Grevil fell at Lansdown, and thus was lost the inspiration of his courage, and the spell of his bright example: Northampton died a hero's death on Hopton Heath, and Derby perished on the scaffold.

Gradually from the gloom of the future figure after figure emerged of men once obscure but destined now to fulfil great purposes; the gloss on the sword of Rebellion

had worn off but the weapon retained its temper, and was wielded with unsparing severity and skill. A narrow fanaticism trampled down all trace of chivalrous courtesy, and rested not till it had crushed the cavaliers, and handed over power to a sectarian army and its bigotted but able chief.

Foremost among the Cavaliers-conspicuous by birth, by dauntless courage, which neither policy nor prudence ever checked; by stern resolution, which never wavered before difficulties; by a knowledge of the incidents of war, the marshalling of armies, and the life of camps such as had in those days never been learned in England-Rupert of the Rhine stands conspicuous and alone.

He was cradled in misfortune and nursed in strife. His father, Frederick, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, was the unequal descendant of a long line of illustrious ancestors. Heir to a great position, he might have been the champion and avenger of the Protestant cause, for the opportunity was his if he had had the courage to grasp and the steadfast firmness to hold it. But he was a pedant, a waverer, and a bigot. A brief term of success sufficed to demonstrate his incapacity for rule, and many years of adversity failed to wring from his dull phlegmatic temperament any sentiment more noble than a cold unenterprising patience.

This man was wedded to one of the best and noblest women of her age. The Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I., had every attribute which can make a woman beloved and reverenced. She had beauty such as few could boast, she had courage none