Indies had bowed to the authority of the Parlia

ment.

Near Montserrat, an island containing many English people, two small vessels were captured by the fleet, but Rupert, upon examination, finding that the owner of one of the vessels was friendly to the royal cause, at once returned his prize with all her cargo, for he was not seeking to enrich himself at the expense of his master's. friends.

It would be idle and wearisome to detail the every-day life of the Princes during their sojourn amid these Indian isles. In some places they were welcomed, in others rebuffed. Sometimes they captured good prizes, and on other occasions were obliged to fly before a too powerful enemy. At times, even, they were in very severe distress from hunger; and once, when lying off the Virgin Islands, their provisions fell so low, that each man's allowance was reduced to four ounces of bread by day, and other food in the same proportion.

But a worse misfortune was in store for them. A dangerous ledge of rocks lay between the Anagada and the Virgin Islands, and the little fleet happened to be just in that neighbourhood, when, one night, the wind rose so rapidly that it soon became a furious hurricane. The sails of the vessels were torn from the masts, and they were tossed hither and thither over the raging waves, the men on board being no longer able to control them. As dawn drew on and enabled them to see better where they were, they found themselves almost upon the rocks, but two of their number were missing. The "Vice- Admiral"

and the "Honest Seaman," on board of which was Prince Maurice, were nowhere to be seen, as the dreary morning broke. It was a time of great anxiety. The little fleet seemed doomed to destruction upon the cruel ledge of rocks, close down upon which the wild tempest furiously drove them. But just when almost another moment would have caused their ruin, by the merciful providence of God the wind veered round, enabling them to weather the point of danger, and come to safe anchorage off the Virgin Islands. Thus was Prince Rupert's life spared yet once more from the most imminent peril.

But the missing ships had not returned. Intense was the anxiety as to their fate as the hours passed away, and no trace of them was discovered. They never did return. It was afterwards ascertained that the "Vice-Admiral" had gone down in the hurricane of that fearful night; and the "Honest Seaman," having been driven away from her companions by the fury of the storm, went ashore near Hispaniola, and was broken up and lost. In her, to the inexpressible grief of his brother and his friends, perished the good and gentle Prince Maurice. He, who from love and devotion to Rupert, had followed his wild fortunes to the West Indian seas, perished there in this melancholy manner, without even an opportunity of saying farewell.

"In this fatal wreck," wrote one of Rupert's friends, who was with him at the time, "besides a great many brave gentlemen and others, the sea, to glut itself, swallowed the Prince Maurice, whose fame the mouth of detraction cannot blast,

his very enemies bewailing his loss. Many had more power, few more merit; he was snatched from us in obscurity, lest beholding his loss would have prevented some from endeavouring their own safety. So much he lived beloved, and died bewailed."

It was no doubt a mournful thing for Rupert and his followers to return to Europe, leaving behind them so much that they loved buried in the depths of the sea. But after some

few more adventures, attended with more or less success, and the capture of two Parliamentary English ships, the fleet, being now provided with sufficient stores for a long voyage, set out homewards, making the Azores their first destination.

On reaching the Azores, however, the reception they met with was anything but friendly. The Prince ordered a salutation to be made to the forts he was about to enter, but their only reply was to fire upon his vessels, which was enough to show him pretty plainly that they did not wish for the pleasure of his company.

Rupert sent a messenger off to them in a small boat, but their feelings of enmity were so strong, that they would not allow him to come even within speaking distance. When the little company of Royalists found that they were so unwelcome, they turned away from these inhospitable islands, and directed their course to the seaport town of Nantes, on the west coast of France. Here, after all their wanderings, dangers, and privations, they arrived in safety, in the month of March 1653, and brought their storm-tossed ships to anchor in the quiet waters of the Loire.

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CHAPTER XX.

CLOSING YEARS.

WHEN the excitement and anxiety and hard work which belonged to his life at sea were over, and Rupert found himself once more in safety and without employment on the shore of France, his spirits and his health gave way. A sense of

failure, disappointment, and loss, bowed down his sensitive nature more than any personal danger or hardship could have done. He had not been successful in any way. His adored brother Maurice was lost; and but very little was gained for the royal cause. Such prizes, however, as the Prince had been able to bring home with him, were freely and at once devoted to the young King, Charles II., the son of his beloved master and uncle.

Upon hearing of Rupert's arrival, the exiled King at once wrote to him from Paris, expressing his great joy at his safe and scarcely expected return, and assuring him of his ardent desire and impatience to see him once again.

King Louis XIV. himself sent the poor wanderer a most pressing invitation to Paris; and not only so, but as a mark of special honour, sent an escort to Nantes, and one of his own coaches to

convey him. The English Parliament were very angry with Louis on account of these attentions, and even went the length of remonstrating with him for shewing kindness to the Prince. But Louis does not seem to have paid much regard to their ungenerous complaints.

The courtiers and other English gentlemen, who were assembled round Charles in Paris at this time, were not of a class which could inspire Rupert with respect or affection. They were but the remnant which was left of the noble Cavaliers who had served the unhappy Charles I., and they had lost, in idleness and dissipation, many of the virtues which had once distinguished them. The young King himself was vain and frivolousminded, and many men of low and mean character were gathered around him, hanging upon his bounty, and living in idle contentment upon those stores which Rupert, and such as he, had won through incredible hardships for the use of the King. The Prince remained quietly in Paris with King Charles, during the winter of 1653-4, but in the month of June 1654 he paid his poor old mother a visit at the Hague, where she was living in retirement and poverty. Her worthless eldest son Charles Louis, though six years before he had been restored to his Palatinate, refused to give his mother any pecuniary assistance, or even to restore to her her rights as widow of the previous Elector. Rupert also paid a visit to Vienna, where he was cordially welcomed by the Emperor, who offered him a command in his service. He also received much honour from the Austrian people, for the report of the fidelity, bravery, and