the Queen, crying out, "Bitter are thy chastisements dread Being, but who shall dare to dispute thy high behest -be it even as thou wilt"-With heavy hearts and clouded brows, the next morning saw them setting out for Oxford; the anguish of the Queen's feelings, rendering her almost incapable of the exertion, Here then, was the end of all her labours-thus was her reunion with the King marked, as if providence had chosen the very hour to chasten the exultation of joy and hope. They moved with great caution, apprehending an attack from Essex, and passing through Deddington, halted at Hop-crofts-holt for the horses and men to refresh. While thus employed, the advanced picquet, which had been stationed on the road to Oxford, fell back and reported that a small party of horse was rapidly approaching. In spite of the Queen's entreaties, King Charles went in person to reconnoitre, and in a short time the cry of "Friends! Friends!" brought the Queen to the spot. About fifty horsemen advanced at a round pace, and Sir Everard Ashley, (a special favourite of Charles) whose elegant buff coat was soiled with blood and dust, rode up. "Thank God for this!" said the King-"this is some alleviation-but why are you here?" "I was anxious that no one should forestall my intelligence," answered the favourite gaily. "It is a proof of your consideration," replied the King, imagining that his intention was to soften the unpleasant news-" you bear misfortunes gaily"-" Heaven send such every day," replied Sir Everard, who thought the allusion was to his being wounded, "but this is none of my blood"-" You have had hard work of it," observed Charles, "but even the consideration of your own safety should not, methinks, overbalance so disastrous -” “Gracious my Liege," said Sir Everard, "a more decided defeat-" "We know it," interrupted the King, as if dreading so hear the details, and he handed Sir Everard the intercepted despatch-""Tis a forgery" exclaimed the favourite-" or stay-let me see the date"-"Is it possible!" cried the agitated monarch in an agony of mingled hope and fear-"Speak, Ashley, and relieve us from this insupportable suspense." "I will tell you what I witnessed gracious Sire, as quickly as I can-no less than the total destruction the annihilation of Waller's army." The King seized the Queen's hands in his, and raising them in an attitude of adoration, said, "In the bitterness of our anguish, we did not question thy righteous decrees in the hour of distress we still placed our hope in thy justice and mercy, and signally, O Lord! hast thou delivered us!" Then turning to Sir Everard Ashley, "How and where befel this glorious day?" "At Roundway-down, two miles from the Devizes; the party sent to re-inforce the Lord Marlborough, and with which I volunteered, reached the small hamlet of Bremilham about eight o'clock in the morning undiscovered, and contrived to communicate with the Earl, who had come to the determination of surrendering within an hour if not re-inforced"-" This accounts for the despatch," said the King. "The supply of ammunition, continued Sir Everard, "which we brought, determined us to fight it out, and conquer or fall-and we did conquer-Our first charge was so irresistible, that it bore down all before it, and threw the infantry into such irrecoverable disorder, as eventually lost them the day; the cavalry held us stoutly for some time-to do the prickeared chiefs justice, they were in no hurry to turn their backs." Intoxicated in no small degree with the feelings which this sudden transition of fortune gave birth to, the royal army entered Oxford in the evening, amidst the stunning congratulations, and multifarious rejoicings of its then motley inhabitants. It here becomes necessary to acquaint the reader that, in order to adapt this tale to the character of a periodical publication, we give but a very brief abstract of the original manuscript, which, when published in its full and collective form, will, no doubt, make one of the most delectable novels of which this novel-writing age can boast. Agreeably to our plan of compression we have omitted in its place an episode, short reference to which is necessary to the right understanding of the matter and the conclusion to which we are progressing. On the demise of his father, Sir Everard Ashley became the Ward of the Marquis of Winchester, and might be said to have been brought up with Lady Eleanor Paulet. The young Knight's ample possessions and his favour with the King rendered him in the eyes of the Marquess a desirable son-in-law, and he had, as a common saying goes, not only "his own consent" to the match, but that of Sir Everard Ashley also. The haughty noble never reckoned on the contingency of his daughter's dissent.Ashley was handsome and vain, and his morals more suited to the Court of the Second than the First Charles. In affairs of the heart he was a practised spoiler, and generally too successful not to be confident of victory. In the progress of the Queen to Oxford, she rested for a few days at Morton-house, near Alfreton, in Derbyshire, the mansion of Sir Thomas Lester. In the fond visions of paternal solicitude, the good Knight cherished the hope of the union of his only child Matilda, with her cousin Henry Lester, who tenderly loved her whom he was taught to look upon as his future wife, and was every way worthy of a reciprocal affection; but the spoiler-the cruel spoiler" came, and to the indulgence of a base and wicked passion, overturned the hopes of parent, child, and lover. Sir Everard Ashley saw the ill-fated Matilda, and wooed and secretly won her to dishonour and to ruin. Ďuring the stay of the Royal party at Mortonhouse Lady Eleanor, attained to a confidence betrayed by female jealousy, and learned that the chosen of her father was a villain.-We now pursue our main story. The distinguished part which Sir Everard had borne in the recent brilliant affair at Roundway, and the increased favour of the sovereign in consequence, led the Marquess of Winchester the more earnestly to forward the long projected union which he had cherished in his mind, and he never dreamt that his daughter's affections could resist the hero of the hour, whom he had destined for her husband. Parents are apt, as well as kings, to find, that prerogative may be strained to a fatal extension. The Marquess brought the submissive duty as he would call it, of his daughter to the test; he communicated to her his wishes-enforced to a command; an interview took place between the Lady Eleanor and the vainly supposed conqueror of all hearts, Sir Everard Ashley. She cast against the profligate's pretensions the name of the betrayed Matilda Lester, and rejected his addresses with all the scorn which could be expressed in courtly language, and all the decision which virtue, leaving pre-engaged affection out of the question, should oppose to vice. We omit the detail of the spirited and interesting scene which took place on the occasion. It would not be easy to describe the enraged feelings of the Marquess on learning the issue of his air-built hopes-if we could suppose the proud nobleman descending from his buckram dignity to a point of com parison with Colonel Oldboy in the opera, we might appropriate to him the words and sentiment of the song "If a daughter you have, she's the plague of your life, The real mockery, however, is against nature, when worldly views would controul her laws, and reckon alike on the affections of the heart and the convictions of the mind, but as commonplace sacrifices to conventional arrangements. The Marquess of Winchester was not without having had some misgivings respecting Colonel De Lacy, and this only urged him to a more despotic exercise of a father's power. He had previously obtained permission to proceed to his mansion of Basinghouse, at this time a garrison to the king's service, and he fixed for the following morning for his departure, to be accompanied by his daughter, to whom he announced, that she should be less his child than his prisoner, until her affections should conform to his will. All women, God bless them! are more or less match-makers, from the cottage dame to her whose plotting head is encircled with a diadem. Love can assume no disguise to screen it from a woman's eye, its feelings cannot escape the sympathy of woman's heart; she is, at once, the theory and practice of all that is safely or dangerously, happily, or miserably, the issue of human action, springing from the tenderness and devotedness of human passion. WOMAN. O! woman precious gift of heav'n She strews with flow'rs our path of pain Henrietta, whose own heart was filled with that passion legitimately so strange to royal unions, had early perceived the attachment mutual to Lady Eleanor and Colonel De Lacy, and felt pleased at its progress, and had even reconciled the Marchioness of Winchester, whose pride was not less than that of her Lord, to a match upon which, the royal fortunes being prosperous, she could confer wealth and distinction. On learning the Marquess's determination of proceeding with her fair prisoner to Basing-house, she managed a farewell meeting between the lovers, in which pledges of unalterable constancy sealed the compact of their hearts, and wound up the lady's spirits to the trial before her,At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Marquess and his daughter commenced their journey, accompanied by a respectable re-inforcement for the garrison of Basing, and Sir J. Bunckley, who, having been appointed to the command of Greenland-house, was of the party as far as Wallingford. As they were crossing the Thames at a ford about eight miles from Oxford, Lady Eleanor's horse got a little out of the direct track, and Smallcraft, who was in Bunckley's train a volunteer, pressing up to her assistance, slid a small packet into her hand, and then quickly fell back into his place. As soon as she was alone at Aldermaston, where they halted for the night, she was overjoyed to find that the packet contained a strong, but hastily executed likeness of "her heart's dear lord," and on the back was written, "I am blessed with your's!"-she recollected that at the Queen's desire, she had sat to an eminent artist at the Hague, the celebrated Gerard Dow. bid fair, in a short time, completely to command the defences of the house. The Marquess soon found that he had been too confident, and the most poignant apprehensions were excited, not for his own fate or the preservation of his ancestral residence, but for the safety of his beloved child. His situation becoming every moment more critical, he at length, although reluctantly, resolved on applying for succour from Oxford. Accordingly, on Monday morning, the 12th of September, the Marchioness of Winchester's household in Oxford were aroused by the arrival of an express. What were that Lady's feelings we leave to our readers' conception, on perusing the following letter: Thine in anguish, Three months had nearly passed unmarked by any great event, except the siege of Gloucester, which the King had undertaken in person, com- "If you would save the life of your mitting the Government of Oxford to child, or preserve her from falling into Sir Everard Ashley. The base and the hands of an enemy whose cruelty profligate in mind are incapable of a might inflict worse than death, lose not pure and chivalrous love; grossness a moment in exerting your influence to and selfishness are, with such, ever as- obtain a party which may assist to her cendant, and the refinement and devot- escape, if not sufficient to reinforce me edness which impart to the tender pas- or raise the siege with which I am sore sion the elevation, enthusiasm, and and closely beset. I cannot spare a if necessary, the martyrdom of reli- man from this, and am determined to gion never enobles the heart that refers perish in maintaining the trust reposed every thing to self It is the same way in me by my Sovereign. From the with the evil councillor and statesman, son of my adoption-from the hero of whose ambition is limited to his own Roundway I trust, under Providence, aggrandisement, and, a stranger to the for my child's rescue from this imminent exalted principle which never separates peril. the love of power from that of country, would sacrifice King and people to his tenacity of place. Unfortunately there are not wanting in our own days subjects for the parallel. Ashley had three times visited Basing-house after the return of the Marquess and his daughter, but his detested suit, was received by the latter with such marked contempt for himself and character, that offended vanity converted his mis-called love into hate, the demonstration of which we shall see presently. The Marquess of Winchester had strengthened his mansion fortress, and deemed himself secure, but the Parliament duly regarding the value of the position to the King's interests, determined on its reduction. Onslow and Jervis were superseded in their joint command of the army in that quarter by Colonel Joshua Norton, a man of fortune and influence in that part of the country. He commenced the siege of Basing with vigour and threw up works in the park, which "Dated at the House at The Marchioness hurried on her apparel, and almost frantic with distress, proceeded to the lodgings of Sir Edward Hyde, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who at her instance summoned a private council at his apartments. In about half an hour the Lords Hertford and Southampton, Sir Everard Ashley, and Colonel De Lacy attended. "Read that, brother," said the Marchioness, handing the letter to the Marquess of Hertford. He read it, and without uttering a word, handed it to Lord Southampton, and thus silently it went the round of the small council. "What is to be done?" demanded the Marquess, with breathless impatience, as De Lacy returned the letter to the Marquess who presided. All eyes were turned on Sir Everard, as being governor of the city. "I perceive," said he, with an apathy of manner ill-suited to the occasion, "that I am called upon to give my opinion on this lamentable business; the duty which I have to perform is painful, but is also imperative-the case is beyond hope or remedy." "God of mercy!" exclaimed the Marchioness, "do I hear aright ?—and is it you, then, who would crush the efforts to save our devoted house-you, whom it has nurtured, to inflict a deadly sting-you, the bosom friend-the elected son of its unfortunate representative!" "I have said, that a painful duty is imposed on me the vital trust," said Sir Everard, "of maintaining this city perhaps the last hold of the king, a single soldier therefore cannot be spared from its defence." "Colonel Webb's force is at our disposal," said the Marquess of Hertford, "but we have not a single horseman." "Nor, pardon me, shall you, my Lord," re-. plied the knight; "I will do my duty, let what will be thought of it." De Lacy, who had not yet spoken, addressing himself to the Marquess of Hertford, said, "Your Lordship mentioned, that Colonel Webb's force is at your disposal. I know him well-have served with him, and a better soldier does not exist. If we could muster some volunteer horse, and that the queen permits, I will join, either in command, or as a volunteer, and, with the aid of heaven, will bring a rescue or lose my life." The Marchioness arose, threw herself on De Lacy's shoulder and wept aloud. Aye," said Ashley, with a sneer that marked the malignity of his heart, "aye, Colonel De Lacy, no doubt, will storm the garden of the Hesperides; but the days of enchantment and romance are at an end, and Lady Eleanor Paulet's doughty Orlando will find no winged horse to assist him; and as to the four-legged ones under my command, once and for all, not one of them shall stir." De Lacy looked with cool contempt on the wretch, while the indignant Marchioness, aroused beyond all self-controul, lifted her hand and struck the false loon on the face; he started up, his countenance distorted with passion, and quitted the room. upon him, poltroon!" said the Lady to the astonished conclave. The law of VOL. I. "Out courtly manners and the gentle charac ter of her sex were violated, but the Marchioness found her vindication in the law of nature; and the noble hearts that witnessed her provocation confessed, that the offence of the woman was justified by the feelings of the mother. The result of the deliberation was that the noble friends of the Marchioness, then present, should arm and mount their retainers as well as they could, and these, together with a number of gallant and loyal young spirits of the University, who volunteered their services even at the hazard of incurring the penalties of College discipline, formed a band of two hundred horsemen, well mounted, and by no means indifferently armed. Colonel Webb's force amounted to one hundred foot. To these the Queen added her Dutch guard, consisting of ten men, brave and steady soldiers. Among the University volunteers Henry Lester, the lover of his cousin Matilda, of Morton-house, and two young and gallant spirits, Courtnay and Trevannion, were foremost. When the force was paraded, scarfs of white linen, to be worn on the left arm, were distributed to all, officers and privates, to distinguish them to their friends at Basing, as well as to each other, the attack on the enemy for the relief of the Marquess of Winchester being intended to take place in the night. The Marchioness confided to De Lacy's ingenuity and discretion how to convey to Basing-house the following brief note, communicating the movement about to take place, that the beleaguered garrison might be prepared to give its cooperation. "Your friends have hastily collected what succour they could, which will leave this at midnight; as, from the smallness of the force, a night attack has been resolved on, each man is distinguished by a white scarf on his left arm: adopt the like precaution. The pass-word is "Love and Loyalty!" That Heaven may work your deliverance, prays your "Oxford, Sept. 12th, 5 o'clock, P.M. 1643." "AUGUSTA. |