could surpass; she had the pride which well becomes high birth and noble nature, when they are struggling with adversity; and she had a winning and gracious courtesy, which attracted to her the chivalry of England, and earned her the lasting support of the Merchant Princes of Holland. She was popularly known as the "Queen of Hearts," and the name was well bestowed, for, when her fortunes were at the lowest, she received truer and more disinterested homage than crowned Prince or victorious conqueror ever won from hereditary subjects or vanquished foes.

The people of England had fought and prayed for her success. She was sprung from their Royal house; she was fighting the battle of their faith; she had beauty, courage, and long descent; and they rendered her the homage which, under such circumstances, is ever won by unfaltering devotion to a noble cause. The national sympathy, however, outran the sympathy of the Crown; the father and brother of Elizabeth looked coldly on, and gave her husband much advice but little aid; until at length, reft of his dominions, a fugitive and a supplicant, he committed his cause to the champion of his faith, Gustavus of Sweden. The great Swede had, however, many objects to strive for, and many prizes to win. The restoration of the inefficient Frederick to his Electorate could have filled only a small space in the dreams of his far-reaching ambition; and Frederick clung to the robes of his patron a courtier and a pensionary till death terminated his weak and contemptible career.

Rupert was the third son of this ill-fated marriage, and from his earliest youth he had been accustomed to the clang of arms, the march of armies, the perils of the

fight, and even the solitude of a dungeon; but the school of arms in which he had been reared was an ill education for a leader in English war.

Sorrowfully, with doubt and hesitation, did the Nobles and Gentlemen of England draw the sword: they were to struggle against kindred and friends ; against men who had mingled in the same pursuits, and been animated by the same ends as themselves, and, whichever side was victorious, the strife involved much present suffering and future uncertainty. For what were these risks encountered? On the one part for a King whom no one trusted, and on the other for a Parliament which had become the mouthpiece of faction and the tool of unscrupulous and designing men.

The letter, often quoted, of Sir William Waller to Sir Ralph, afterwards Lord Hopton, expresses in noble language the feeling which prevailed at this moment :—

My affections to you are so unchangeable, that hostility itself cannot violate my friendship to your person, but I must be true to the cause wherein I serve. The great God, who is the searcher of my heart, knows with what reluctance I go upon this service, and with what perfect hatred I look upon a war without an enemy. The God of peace in his good time send us peace, and in the meantime fit us to receive it! the stage, and we must act the parts to us in this tragedy. Let us do it in and without personal animosities."

The conditions under which

the struggle were widely different.

We are both on that are assigned a way of honour,

Rupert mingled in

His only aim was

the preservation of his uncle's throne. He risked no

great possession; he perilled no vast heritage upon the issue. An exile from his own land, he was little better than an adventurer here; and while he was prepared to devote himself with energy and courage to the Royal cause, his training and antecedents rendered the war he waged sanguinary, wasteful, and licentious.

It was unfortuate for Rupert that he was too early trusted with great command. Although he was used to war, he had not the experience requisite to enable him to conduct an arduous campaign to a victorious close. A brilliant partizan leader, invaluable in a foray or an assault, he would have admirably accomplished the boldest designs of a skilful leader; but his was the hand to execute and not the head to plan. In time, perhaps, his youthful impetuosity and reckless daring might have toned down, and he might have developed the qualities of a great and successful general; but, ere these qualities had time to ripen, the cause he struggled for was lost, monarchy was swept away, and Charles had perished on the scaffold.

Rupert was not 23 years old when the King's Standard was set up at Nottingham in August, 1642, and he came then, at the instance of the Queen, to take the great position of "General of the Horse." He came, thus young, to command men who had seen long service, and a stranger to England, to take a leading part in her civil strife. It is not surprising to find that his energy, decision, and daring soon gave him strong hold on the wavering King. Rupert, ever at hand, trained in arms, always prompt in council and impetuous in the field, was precisely the man to guide Charles. Then, too, it

was not unnatural that the dazzling qualities of the Prince should win the admiration and regard of the younger Cavaliers, and, though Statesmen might deprecate his policy, and old soldiers condemn his tactics, he soon had a following of his own-a following which comprised among it some who were dissolute, many who were reckless, but whose every member was animated by the courage, and inspired by the example of their leader.

The first of the letters from the King to Prince Rupert, which is among those now for the first time printed is the letter dated from Oxford, 3rd Feb. 1643 (according to the old style, 1642).

Two days previously the King had written a letter to the Prince stating that at Cirencester and other places great quantities of cloth canvass and buckram are to be had for supplying the great necessities our soldiers have of suits," and directing him to possess himself of what supplies of this character the army needed, keeping an account of them and giving a ticket to the owners, who were subsequently to "receive such securities for their commodities as they shall have no cause to except against."

Meanwhile arrangements had been made by Lord Hertford and Prince Rupert for an assault upon Cirencester, It was made on the 2nd of February, and after a brief resistance, was successful. The victory was stained by bloodshed and outrage, and Clarendon admits that the town "yielded much plunder, from which the undistinguishing soldiers could not be kept, but was equally injurious to friend and foe; so that many honest men, who were imprisoned by the rebels for not concur

B

ring with them, found themselves undone together."

Whitelock, in his Memorials † says, “A few days afterwards, Prince Rupert, with 4,000 horse and foot, marched by Sudeley Castle to Cirencester: where the magazine of the County lay; this he took, putting the Earl of Stamford's regiment, and many others, to the sword; took 1,100 prisoners, and 3,000 arms."

"These prisoners were led in much triumph to Oxford, where the King and Lords looked on them, and too many smiled at their misery, being tied with cords, almost naked, beaten and driven along like dogs."

This achievement was of great importance to the Royal forces, for it gave them not only the prestige of victory, and the advantage of securing the stores they required, but it also opened up an uninterrupted communication with Worcester with Worcester and South Wales, a district from which, by the aid of Lord Glamorgan and his father, they confidently reckoned on most important aid.

The letter dated, Oxford 4th November, 1643, speaks of a proposition concerning Lancashire which the King submits to the consideration of the Prince. This proposition was apparently commented on and replied. to on the following day, for a letter is inserted in Warburton's Work under the date 6th November, from Mr. Secretary Nicholas to the Prince ‡, in which he replies to "animadversions" the latter had made with regard to the proposed military arrangements, and closes with the following passage:-" Therefore His Majesty

Clarendon, Vol. 3, p. 417, edit. 1826. + p. 167, edit. 1732.

Rupert & the Cavaliers p. 327, vol. 2.