The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3

by Mrs. West

  CHAP. XVI.

  The Commonwealth is sick of its own choice.

  Shakspeare.

  The aspect of Ribblesdale and the adjoining country, was completelychanged, during the five years absence of the Beaumont family. Thefields and villages, notwithstanding the two last years of comparativerepose, bore mournful marks of the ravages of civil war; trade was stillstopped and agriculture suspended. The people, disappointed in theirhopes of freedom and prosperity by their new masters, longed for therestoration of their King, whose saint-like demeanour, during his longcaptivity, contradicted the calumnies which his enemies had propagated,and shewed him in his true light, alike conspicuous for his ability, hisfortitude, and his misfortunes. The reign of freedom had ended inmilitary despotism; equality had created a tyrant; zeal had introducedfanaticism and hypocrisy, and discontent was every where so ripe, thatthe presence of a victorious army, and the vigilance of almost asnumerous a host of spies and informers, could not prevent attempts beingmade (in almost every part of the kingdom) to liberate the King, andrestore the old order of things. But where to find funds and leaders,was the chief difficulty. The heads of most noble families,distinguished for loyalty, were either slain, or exiled; their estatesconfiscated or wasted by the pressure of enormous fines, theirresidences burnt or pillaged, and their farms laid waste. The few whoremained in England, watched and betrayed by their own servants, knewnot how to act, or whom to trust, for every tie of obligation, as wellas all sense of subordination and respect for superiors, were entirelyannihilated.

  In passing Lathom-house, Dr. Beaumont pondered on that celebrated sceneof determined female heroism. Though the noble pile bore many marks ofthe arduous conflict it had sustained, its walls (like the family towhich it belonged) still displayed the unyielding superiority ofaristocratic loyalty. But Waverly Hall was a complete ruin. A few of themeaner offices, and a part of the walls, marked where the residencestood, which once sheltered crafty selfishness. The park afforded atemporary asylum to a gang of gipseys, whose cattle grazed unmolested onthe unclaimed demesne, once guarded even from the intrusion of admiringcuriosity, by the secluding jealousy of a cold-hearted worldling, whosepride counteracted his ostentation, and whose timidity was even greaterthan his self-love.

  Dr. Beaumont was himself the herald of his own return. His humbleequipage attracted no attention. His first care being to lodge hisfamily, he sought the house of Dame Humphreys. The streets of thevillage were silent and deserted. Neither the loom, the flail, nor theanvil were heard; not a child was to be seen at play; every thing lookedas if this was a portion of that city where progressive action issuspended, and the sun hangs level over the ocean without power ofsinking. Dr. Beaumont, however, found Dame Humphreys actively employed;and a superabundance of good cheer shewed that she was intent onpurposes of hospitality. She welcomed the exiled Rector and his familywith cordial transport; and assured him, though she had heard as manyfine men since he left them as there were stars in the sky, she hadnever sat under any one by whom she had been so much edified.

  The Beaumonts had many questions to ask, and no one was better endowedwith the quality of free communication than this kind-hearted dame. Sheaccounted for the silence of the village and her own extraordinarybustle, by stating that it was exercise-day; a meeting of ministers hadbeen at the godly work for eight hours; and she doubted not, after solong buffeting Satan, they would come away main hungry. "My poorGaffer," said she, "always brings all he can to our house. They tell hima blessing comes upon all those who furnish a chamber for wayfaringprophets, and set on pottage for them; but for my part I see it not, andbegin to wonder whether these are prophets or no. As for our Gaffer, hehas left off drinking and quarrelling, to be sure, which Your Reverencehad used to rate him for at times; but then he did look after the farmand the cattle, and saw things went right. But now he says, let themorrow take care for itself; so we have nothing but preaching, andpraying, and pecking at other people, and telling of experiences andstumbling-blocks, and abusing those who don't hold all that we do; andall this while the ricks grow less and less every year. And then whenany thing goes wrong in the house, they pop it into a sermon, not asYour Reverence did when you preached about the ten commandments, but apreachment of an hour about such frivolous things as set husbandsa-scolding their wives for spoiling their dinner, or not mending theirclothes; and our poor Gaffer is grown so cast down ever since Prigginstold him he thought he was a reprobate, that he says it is a crying sinto look happy; so he keeps praying on till we have no time to practise."

  Isabel inquired how the children were able to command attention to suchlong services; and Dame Humphreys owned the change in this respect waswonderful. "To be sure," said she, "they do sometimes fall sick; butthere is a vast number of thriving little saints growing up among us,who can find out a legal preacher in a moment, and tell you if he is afine man before he is out of breath the first time. There's mygrand-daughter (Nancy we used to call her, but they have since given hersome hard name I never can recollect), she is only nine years old, andis such a gifted creature that she has chosen her religion, and says shewill be a Brownist, for there is no other way to be saved. But hersister Hephzebah has not had her call yet, and says till she has she isto give no account for what she does, and afterwards sin will not lie ather door. Your Reverence shakes your head; but you will now find a vastdeal of learning in the parish, and hard words, and every body able totalk with you; but I say again, that what with spending their time inidleness, and slandering each other, and sighing and groaning they don'tknow for what, and making feasts for ministers, and night meetings, andpraying against the King, and cursing the bishops, and pulling down thechurch--give me the old times again, and the old way of going toHeaven."

  Dr. Beaumont sighed at this strongly coloured, but artless picture offanatical licence, and changed the subject by inquiring the fate of theWaverly family. Their history was indeed tragical. "Poor Sir William,"Dame Humphreys said, "had turned, and trimmed, and cut in, and cut out,till nobody knew whether he was of any side at all, till, just as PrinceRupert raised the siege of Lathom House, when, thinking the King wassure to conquer, mid wanting to be made a Lord, he joined the Princewith a small troop of horse, intending (his neighbours thought) togallop away before the battle began, for Sir William hated the sight ofblood. But so it was; his time was come, and then there is no escaping,for Sir William was shot in his own quarters in a night-skirmish--andwho did they think by?" Here she turned pale with horror, and thenatural simplicity of her language seemed elevated by the emotionsarising from the dreadful tale she had to relate.--"By his own son. O!Your Honour, it is too true. A kinsman of mine saw the deed done, andthe ground has looked blasted ever since. But young Sir Harry, as nowought to be, little thought it was his father when he called him adrunken old cavalier; for the poor old gentleman trembled so, he couldnot cry for quarter till his son had given him his death's wound; and hesaw by the flash of the pistol who it was, and called to mind how he hadmade him serve in the Parliament army against his will. So he justgroaned out, "God is just, Harry," and died. It was the most piteoussight; for the poor youth fell on the dead body, and groaned, and torehis hair, and beat himself in such a manner, till his soldiers bore himaway; and what has become of him since that day no soul knows, for hehas never come to claim the estate, nor to look after any thing; soParliament seized it all, because Sir William died at last a Loyalist.But nobody will buy it, for they cannot make a title, as Sir Harry hasnot forfeited, and may be alive. Beside, people said the house washaunted, so it has never been tenanted; and whoever wants to build,fetches it away piece-meal; and the gypsies camp in the Park when theycome from the neighbouring fairs, and all goes to ruin like thetime-serving family who lived there."

  The awful reflections on retributive justice which the fate of thisunprincipled man excited, were interrupted by the return of Humphreys,who ushered in some of his divines. The change which his wife describedwas visib
le in his horror-stricken countenance. He had been formerly aman of a sordid worldly disposition and hard unyielding temper, on whomthe mild Christian persuasions of Dr. Beaumont had occasionally madegood impressions, though these were as often blunted by the power oflong indulged habits. But when such a man was roused from his stupor bythe cauteries of Calvinism, despair was more likely to take possessionof his mind than the pious energy and humble hopes which follow truerepentance. Priggins indeed boasted of Humphreys as a convert, on theground of his being restrained from the public commission of some faultsin which he had formerly indulged; but if one evil spirit had beendispossessed, seven more wicked had taken up their abode in his heart.He was terrified, not awakened; plunged in an abyss of desperation andmisanthropy, not excited to a life acceptable to God or useful to man.The sight of Dr. Beaumont recalled to his mind many acts of fraud andinjustice which he had formerly committed against him; but the longexercises, as they were called, to which he had been listening, had notillustrated the universal promise of mercy to penitent sinners; theyheld out no encouragement to co-operate with the divine call to newnessof life which the gospel gives to all mankind; they gave no explanationof reformation and restitution as necessary parts of repentance. Much totheir own ease, and with daring disregard of all the plain and practicalparts of Scripture, the preachers successively employed themselves inexpounding what they called dark texts, on which they built theirfavourite system; impious in theory and destructive in practice. Theyspoke of election and reprobation as positive, irreversible decrees ofGod, no ways resulting from the conduct of man, whom they stated to be amere inefficient vessel filled with grace and destined to glory, orheaped full of pollution and devoted to eternal destruction, accordingto the arbitrary will of the Framer, without any liberty of choice inhimself, or any power of expediting his own faith or finaljustification. They spoke of the saving call as discerniblysupernatural, preceded by bodily as well as mental torture, andinstantaneously followed by a perceptible assurance that they couldnever more sin, that the righteousness of their Redeemer was imputed tothem, and that, as his merits were all-sufficient, nothing was requiredof them but the supineness of passive faith. This routine of doctrines,varied according to the different tempers and phraseology of thepreachers, and rendered yet more obscure by bold metaphors and strainedallusions, was what poor Humphreys incessantly listened to, fancying hewas thus taking care of his soul, and vainly hoping he would gather someinstructions which would assuage his secret horrors. He was miserablewhen not employed in this manner; yet, as no start of enthusiasm evertold him that the saving call had taken place even in the congregationswhich he mistook for the courts of the Lord, he rather hoped for, thanfound relief from his tortures. Pale and haggard in his looks, moroseand sullen in his manners, restless and dissatisfied, he revived thedisputations of the conventicle at the table, calling on Dr. Beaumont totell what he thought of some points of doctrine on which his ministerscould not agree. The Doctor attempted to speak, but his voice was soondrowned by the Stentorian lungs and tautological verbiage of hisopponent. Only one sentence that he uttered was distinctly heard, whichwas a quotation from the pious Hammond, that "exemplary virtue mustrestore the church." A general cry was raised against this sentiment.One repeated a text from St. Paul, supposed to assert the inefficacy ofworks; another observed, it was presumptuous to dictate to Providence.Some called him a formalist; others a Pharisee; while a third party, yetmore metaphysical, denied that men, strictly speaking, had any power toact at all. Priggins at last rose, and, with many plausible pretences ofcharity, proposed that they should all pray for their offending brother,which was done in the anathematizing style which, in those days, wascalled intercession: "Lord, open the eyes of this reprobate sinner.Pluck him as a burning brand out of the furnace of thy wrath. Make himsee that he is a vessel filled with spiritual pride, hypocrisy, andbarren legality. Punish him for the saving of his soul till he repentsof his ungodly enmity to us thy chosen favourites, whom thou hast raisedto the work of conversion, and penned in thy fold to eternal life," &c.

  Dr. Beaumont and his family withdrew, in compassionate silence, fromthis profane perversion of devotion, which discovered the same spirit ofintolerance and persecution that characterized the darkest periods ofPopery. A project had been formed by Isabel, to which the rest of thefamily readily assented. This was to take up their abode for the presentin the untenanted ruins of Waverly-hall, and endeavour to prevent itsfurther dilapidation. With the assistance of Williams, she re-inclosedthe garden, and put a few of the outer tenements into that state ofcomfort which cleanliness supplies. Dame Humphreys conscientiouslyrestored all the moveables she held in trust to furnish theirapartments; and, as Dr. Beaumont brought with him a protection from thegovernment, neither Morgan nor Priggins could prevent him from residingin the parish as long as he conducted himself in an inoffensive manner.As to Davis, since his induction into the Rectory, he had graduallycarnalized (to use one of his own favourite expressions); and, beinggrown sleek and contented, he preferred reposing in his arm-chair tostorming in the pulpit, congratulating himself with having reformed thechurch, which he effected by removing every ornament as superstitious,stripping public worship of every decency, publicly burning the CommonPrayer books, and denying the sacraments to all who were notCovenanters. Having done all this, he thought it time to rest from hislabours, and devoted his days to those gross indulgences of appetitewhich are not unfrequently the solaces of men who consider theenjoyments of mental taste as criminal, permitting his neglected flockto be collected by Priggins, or any other hungry itinerant who wastraining himself as a theological tyro, previous to his being settled inan incumbency.

  Among these tents of Kedar, Dr. Beaumont fixed his habitation with asoul thirsting for peace, and a mind disposed to subdue his opponents bythose invincible weapons, a meek and quiet spirit, and a holy,inoffensive, and useful life. His narrow finances, derived chiefly froma precarious fund, allowed not the practice of that liberality which isthe surest means of attracting a crowd of panegyrists; and his scantymeans were still further taxed by what he esteemed the duty of sendingassistance to many gallant royalists at this time in arms for theimprisoned King; in particular to those, who, with the brave, repentantMorrice, surprised Pontefract Castle, and made from thence thosecourageous sallies and predatory incursions which gave employment to theParliamentary troops in that quarter, and prevented them from uniting tooverwhelm the succours which Sir Marmaduke Langdale was conducting tojoin Duke Hamilton and the Scotch Loyalists. But, however limited itsmeans, a good heart will ever discover some way of shewing itsbenevolence. Charity was now a scanty rill, not an ample stream; but itssource was fed by a regular supply, and where it ran it fertilized.Constantia roused her mind from the apathy of grief to obey and supporther father. She found she could instruct the ignorant; and though nolonger able to furnish materials for clothing the naked, she could cutout garments and sew them for those who were too ill-informed to beexpert in female housewifery. Isabel and she gathered herbs; Mrs.Mellicent superintended their distillation, and again consulted "TheFamily Physician," in forming ointments and compounding cordials; Dr.Beaumont went from house to house, trying to conciliate hisparishioners, and to recall their wanderings, in nothing changed but thepaleness of his countenance and the homeliness of his attire, stillreproving with mild authority, and instructing with affectionatesolicitude; while his appearance spoke a heart yearning over the sorrowsand sins of the kingdom, and habits necessarily restricted to that baresufficiency which just supports life. The manners of the young ladieswere equally mild, uncomplaining, and respectable; the only differencewas, that Constantia was pensive and dejected, Isabel active andcheerful in adversity. The former seemed to move in a joyless routine ofduty; but Isabel was so animated that only the most minute observercould tell that she was not perfectly happy, and hence she gained thecharacter of having an unfeeling heart.

  The affectionate respect which the villagers had long felt for their oldpastor soon began to
revive. Man naturally looks on the unfortunate withpity. The Beaumonts no longer excited envy, which (such is our pronenessto offend) is often the substitute for gratitude. Dr. Beaumont was nowtheir superior only in goodness and wisdom; a superiority more easilyendured than that created by affluence or a larger share of temporalindulgencies. Many too began to be weary of the tautology and confusionof their arbitrary services, which, depending upon the humour, or (asthey proudly called it) the inspiration of their minister, often weariedinstead of gratifying the curiosity of the hearers. They recollected theLiturgy of the Church of England with somewhat of the feeling weentertain for a dead friend, remembering all his excellences, forgettinghis imperfections, and lamenting that in his lifetime we were ofteninclined captiously to condemn his whole conduct. By returning to thatchurch from which they had been led, by what they now saw was the spiritof delusion, they exercised the freedom of choice which was so dear totheir proud feelings; and it soon became the request of many of theparishioners, that Dr. Beaumont would read to them the church service,and expound the Scripture in the manner prescribed by her articles. Toread the Liturgy was now become a statutable offence; but Dr. Beaumontadopted, as an expedient, what was then resorted to by many divines[1]well versed in difficult cases of conscience--changing the expressions,but preserving a meaning as closely allied to the old worship as thetimes would admit. Yet even this transposed and disguised form was tooopposite to the doctrines, and, (may it not be said?) too superior tothe productions of the new teachers to be permitted with impunity. HenceDr. Beaumont found it necessary, for his own safety, to collect hislittle flock on a Sunday evening, in an unfrequented valley surroundedby hills, on one of which a centinel was placed to prevent their beingsurprised in this interdicted worship; and thus this church, literallyexiled and driven into the wilderness, performed the Christian sacrificeof prayer and praise.

  The storm of war, however, soon interrupted their devotion; and, rollingfearfully from the North, came close to the dwelling where the piouspastor endeavoured to drink the waters of affliction in privacy. TheDuke of Hamilton had now collected an army, from whose efforts to wipeoff the shame of their countrymen the Covenanters, in delivering up theKing to his merciless enemies, a glorious result was expected. With thishope they entered England by way of Carlisle; and, preceded by theEnglish forces, led by Sir Marmaduke Langdale, they marched intoLancashire full of zeal and confidence, but negligent of thatdiscipline, and inattentive to those military expedients by which alone(considering the enemy with whom they had to contend) the least shadowof success could be acquired. In vigilance, activity, and promptdecision, Cromwell was the very prototype of that man who has changedthe aspect of the present times. Various armies were collected withalmost magical celerity, and provided with every necessary for their owncomfort and the annoyance of the foe; and scarcely had the Loyalists inthe west, north, and east brought their raw recruits into the field,before a well-appointed body of veterans was arrayed against them, readyto cut off their resources, and give them battle. Cromwell himself tookthe command of the northern division; and without delaying his granddesign, by stopping to subdue Pontefract Castle, as his more timidcounsellors advised, he marched immediately to attack the Scotch army,though with inferior numbers, and put them to the rout, after havingfirst defeated their English allies. Both the generals were takenprisoners. Sir Marmaduke afterwards escaped; but the Duke suffered onthe scaffold shortly after the Royal Martyr whom, with late repentance,he vainly attempted to save.

  The scene of this contest was so near Ribblesdale that the engagementwas plainly seen from the hills I have just spoken of, where Dr.Beaumont and his family, with the fervent piety, though not with thesuccess of Moses, held up their hands in prayer to the God of battle.The result disappointed their ardent hopes; and the more grateful dutyof thanksgiving was thus changed to humble resignation. The fugitiveLoyalists and their vindictive pursuers scoured along the valleys. Thepresent situation of the Beaumonts was highly unsafe; and they eagerlyhurried along to regain the melancholy shelter of their ruinous abode.

  The shades of evening fell as they entered Waverly Park, agonized withsorrow and commiseration of the calamities they had beheld. A squadronof cavalry rode rapidly by them, which they guessed were part of theKing's northern horse, so celebrated in the early periods of the civilwar. Isabel's anxiety to see if they were closely pursued conquered herfemale terrors. She ran from her friends and climbed a little eminence,by which means she discovered a sight which roused the liveliestfeelings of compassion. She saw an officer falling from his horse, dead,as she believed. Perceiving that he bled profusely, she called to heruncle to go back with her and try if they could render him anyassistance. On such an occasion even Constance was courageous, and theyall hastened to the spot where he lay. Mrs. Mellicent remarked, thatthough he had lost the distinguishing insignia, she feared, by his beingso well accoutered, he was a rebel. His helmet was fallen off, hiscountenance entirely disfigured with blood, and the hand which graspedhis broad-sword seemed stiffened instead of being relaxed by death. "Itmatters not what he is," replied Dr. Beaumont, "his present staterequires immediate assistance." Constantia seized one of his hands tosee if life still fluttered in the pulse, but dropped it in an agony,exclaiming, "Merciful Heaven, it is Eustace! I know him by the ring healways wore." Dr. Beaumont immediately recognized the well-known crestof the Earls of Bellingham. "Dear unfortunate youth," said he; "yet, mychild, be comforted; he has died in a most righteous cause." By thistime Isabel, who had ran to fetch some water, returned, and began towash his face, and staunch the blood, while the distracted Constanceclung, screaming, to the bosom of her aunt, wildly lamenting the fate ofher beloved. With more self-command, but equal anxiety, Isabel removedthe clotted gore, and pulled the matted hair from off his brow. "These,"said she, "are not my brother's features, but indeed I know them well.Our noble protector, the good Barton's pupil--" She paused a moment, andgasped for her own breath, while eagerly watching if he respired. A deepsob gave indication of life. "He is alive," continued she, in a lowwhisper, as if fearing to precipitate a spirit that was flutteringbetween time and eternity; "let us gently raise, and try to restorehim."

  There was not one of the party who did not anxiously join in expressing,by their active services, the sense they entertained of former kindness.Williams hastened to bring a wain and mattress; Mrs. Mellicent ran forbandages and styptics; and the wounded gentleman was safely conveyed tothe house, still in a state of insensibility. Mrs. Mellicent's skill hadstopped the hemorrhage; and a more scientific surgeon, who was calledin, pronounced that, with proper care, his wounds would not provemortal. Isabel claimed the office of chief nurse; the patient's sensesgradually returned; and his eyes, when again capable of distinguishingobjects, recognized one which had long been impressed on his heart. Herewarded her benevolent ministration with a grateful smile and feeblepressure of her hand; and Isabel felt happier at that moment than shehad ever done since her dear mother was interred among Fourness Fells,when, with a voice convulsed with grief, she joined in the requiem,filled her coffin with funeral herbs, and scattered the emblems ofsorrow on her grave.

  "You must not speak," said Isabel; "the Doctor has prescribed the utmostquietness; you must only listen while I tell you, that for a thousandworlds I would not have lost the pleasure of saving your life. Had I notturned back you would have bled to death in a few minutes. Alas!"continued she, recollecting herself, "the hope of your recoverytransports me too far. I forget that your exertions probably contributedto make the battle of Preston end so fatally to our cause? Why are youthe enemy of my King and of my father?"

  "I will never be the enemy of those you love," replied he, with a lookof languishing pain and grateful anxiety. Isabel burst into tears. "Saythat again," said she; "just those words and no more, lest your woundsshould bled afresh; and if you die--"

  "Sweet Isabel, finish that sentence."

  "I shall surely die of grief," said she, rushing out of the room to callher aunt to take
her office, ashamed that her joy at her patient'srecovery of his senses had overpowered her habitual self-command.

  The news of Dr. Beaumont's having preserved the life of a woundedofficer, soon reached the ears of Morgan, who concluding it must be oneof his own party, imagined he should now have ample opportunity to wreakhis vengeance on a man whom he had marked for destruction, in revengefor the insult he had received from Eustace, and the disappointment ofhis hopes of obtaining Constantia. It was, however, necessary toascertain the fact of his harbouring a Royalist taken in arms, before heproceeded to frame the information. Not satisfied with the Doctor'ssolemn assurance that the person whose life he had preserved was inreality a Parliamentary officer, he insisted on examining him himself;and also that he might interrogate him without the intrusion of anywitness. The danger which the sufferer's health might undergo, wasbeneath his notice; he entered the room with an air of domineeringcruelty, ready to pounce on a victim unable to escape; but, after ashort interview, he returned with the softened accents of obsequiousrespect to the stranger, and affable condescension to the Beaumonts. Hedesired that they would spare no trouble and expence in attending thegentleman, and assured them they would be well rewarded for their pains.He lamented that their poor abode did not afford suitable convenience,and hinted that as soon as the stranger was able to be removed he wouldhave him conveyed to Saints' Rest, his own mansion. He then announcedthat their guest was the Lord Sedley, only son of the Earl ofBellingham, who at that time commanded the forces sent to subdue theWelsh insurgents, and was himself a personal favourite of Cromwell, andattached to his staff. "He gives," continued Morgan, "a very favourableaccount of your principles and conduct, and I shall not fail to announceyour proper behaviour to their honours the Committee-men, and I hopeGovernment will be disposed to overlook your past offences. The Earl isa staunch supporter of the good cause, and the young gentleman a youthof very fair promise."

  If Morgan expected his intelligence would be received with the transportof minds subdued by adversity, and suddenly elated by a prospect ofbetter times, he mistook the characters of those he addressed. Thecircumstance of Sedley wearing a seal-ring impressed with the crest ofBellingham, had led Dr. Beaumont to suspect who he was; but since in hisformer intercourse with the family he had studiously avoided alldiscovery, the worthy Rector thought it would be indecorous to take anyadvantage of his misfortunes, and therefore evaded the inquiries ofConstantia, how he came to wear the same crest as Eustace, by remarkingthat many families adopted armorial bearings nearly similar. Totallyfree from all the malignant passions, he felt no animosity to the son ofthat traitor who had wrested a coronet and princely demesne from theinjured Neville, but rejoiced at the consideration that it had been inhis power to render the most important services gratuitously to one whohad so essentially assisted his family, and was beside the darling pupilof his respected friend Barton. Mrs. Mellicent's feelings were of a morevindictive cast, but her asperity had been so softened by the fineperson and pleasing manners of young Sedley, that she could notdetermine on the expediency of immediately turning him out of doors, asshe possibly might have done had he been uncouth and vulgar; she evenkept her resolution till sight of his necessity and helplessness hadassisted her benevolence to vanquish the warmth of temper, and taughther to respect the claims of a fellow creature in distress. Isabel hadby this time discovered the state of her own heart; and the superiorrank of the object of her affections was not the only reason forchanging love into despair. Her dear father had often in his formerravings mentioned Lord Bellingham as the ally of Lucifer, and likely tosucceed him on the infernal throne. At those times it must indeed beremembered, that he mistook his own children for dancing fiends, but hisaversion to Bellingham was rooted, and at every eclipse of reason herenewed his execrations on a person, whose name, in his tranquilmoments, never passed his lips. She loved the son of this man; thisvillain; for so she must think him, as her father, even in his mosteccentric moments, never so confounded the distinctions of honour andguilt as to misrepresent characters. Nor could his rooted aversionproceed from the difference in their political principles, for it was inher early years, before the troubles commenced, that he mentionedBellingham as the infernal spirit who had driven him to the mountains;and in every allusion he confirmed the idea of a private rather than apublic quarrel. Time and absence had increased rather than weakened theaffection and reverence which Isabel bore to her father. His eminentservices to the King, his bravery and activity, unimpaired by wounds,imprisonment, or declining years, made her prouder of such a parent thanshe would have been of one seated on the right hand of power. And hadshe cherished and avowed an affection for the son of a cruel enemy toher honoured father!--What a want of filial piety, what a shamefulinattention to his wrongs would it be, knowingly to confirm such anunnatural inclination! Whatever pain it cost her, she determined torelease her heart from the fetters which gratitude and pity had combinedto form.

  The resolution was extremely noble, but to execute it was superlativelydifficult. Lord Sedley was daily before her eyes in the interestingcharacters of suffering magnanimity or ardent attachment. When hisunclosed wounds throbbed with extreme anguish, could she refuse tominister to his relief? When returning ease allowed him to direct thegrateful acknowledgments of a devoted heart, to the protecting angel whohad rescued him from death, could she deny the confessed affectionsurprise had drawn from her, and resolve to hate or even forget him onaccount of a supposed hereditary feud? The struggle of her soul wasapparent to Sedley, who, ignorant of his father's crimes, attributed heraffected reserve to the alarm she felt lest the claims of his exaltedstation should prove incompatible with love. To alleviate this fear hewas more explicit in his declarations, and energetic in his vows ofdevoting to her the life she had preserved. She attempted to look coldand determined, while she answered that she feared insuperableobjections would prevent their union. In the weak state to which LordSedley was reduced, the least agitation of mind was dangerous; after oneof these conversations he fainted, and was thought expiring, but thefirst object he saw on his recovery was Isabel, in such an agony ofgrief as convinced him that indifference had no share in the alterationof her behaviour.

  The first opportunity which she again afforded him of speaking to her,he resolved to use to bring on a complete eclaircissement, and as heshould require perfect frankness, he resolved to set her a similarexample. But to execute his design was now very difficult; for Isabel,with virgin modesty, blended with the restrictions imposed by filialduty, now avoided being alone with the object of her tenderest regard.Her uncle had deemed it right to inform her, that it was a lively senseof irreparable injuries, which pointed her father's incoherent ravingsat Lord Bellingham. His wrongs, the Doctor observed, were of a naturewhich only Christian charity could forgive, or Christian fortitudeendure; and he warned her against cherishing any sentiment more ardentthan pity for Sedley's sufferings, and gratitude for his formerservices. She promised to endeavour to comply, in a manner which evincedthat this advice came too late. She tried to recollect the pains he hadformerly taken to avoid her, and the marked precaution of Barton inconcealing his name. She wished to think him a scion of a cankered tree,which would transfuse infection wherever it was engrafted. The surgeonhad just pronounced him at liberty to remove, and Isabel endeavoured tohope he would avail himself of that permission. "His declarations oflove and gratitude may," thought she, "be bribes to induce us to be morecareful of his preservation, or he may think himself bound in honour tooffer me a partnership in his fortunes, as the preserver of his life. Iwill owe nothing to his pity or his gratitude. I will recollect, that Iam the daughter of a noble Loyalist, irreparably injured by his rebelfather, restrain the ebullitions of youthful sensibility and unweighedpreference, and if he leaves us, part without a tear."

  Nothing could be more foreign to the purposes of Lord Sedley than toquit his adored preserver. He made no use of his release from restraint,but to follow Isabel in her domestic occupations, nor of his returningstreng
th, but to try to lighten her labours. "Am I troublesome to you,"he would say, "that you look on me less kindly; if so, I shall regretthe restoration of health and ease, and the power of again enjoying therefreshing air and blessed light of heaven. The tenderness which madethe chamber of infirmity paradise, is withheld from me, now I have aprospect of living to reward it."

  Isabel attempted to reply, but only stammered out, "Lord Sedley!"--"Iwill be known to you," said he, "by no other name than that by which Iwill plight my troth, Arthur de Vallance.--What has my Isabel to say tome in that character? I will not allow her to retract the sweetencouragement she gave me when I was the helpless object of her tendercare. Her compassion and assiduity looked so much like love, as to cheatme into a belief, that she who said she would die with me would consentto make the life she preserved a blessing."

  Surely, thought Isabel, this is not the language of hereditary baseness.She cast a look on her lover which confirmed that opinion. Yet, howcould she tell him that his father's crimes formed an insuperablebarrier to their union. After much hesitation, she resolved to be asexplicit as her own respect for the feelings of filial piety wouldpermit. "I will own," said she, "that what fell from me in a transportof joyful surprise, was not an unmeaning exclamation, but the confessionof a strong preference. But now that I have had time for reflection, Imust remember that you long struggled against your partiality for me,and even now you seem rather vanquished by a combination ofcircumstances and a sense of obligation, than led to make me your freeunquestioned choice. This indicates that you know of some secret reason,some family animosity, perhaps, which ought to prevent my ever beingyour wife. I am the daughter of a Loyalist, unfortunate indeed, butbrave and noble; I will not reproach you with your father's faults. Hisprosperity, the trust he exercises under the Usurper, are in my eyesreasons, if not of hating you, at least of resolving not to unite myselfto principles so opposite to those I have ever cherished."

  Sedley thanked her for allowing him an opportunity of explaining thepast. It was most true, that at their first interview he felt the powerof her fortitude and generous regard to others, nor did he overlook thecomplacency with which she received his services. Though at that timehearty in the Parliamentary cause, it was owing to the advice (or heshould rather say, the commands) of Barton, under whose guidance he wasplaced by his father, that he deputed him to execute the plan he hadformed for the safe conduct of the Beaumonts through the seat of war,instead of being himself their escort, as he at first intended. The sameinterference had again prevented him from renewing an acquaintance withthem, on the rescue of Constantia. The principles he had imbibed fromBarton forbade every deviation from the path of honour; and an alliancewith a conspicuous royalist, would either have estranged him from hisfamily or exposed them to ruin. Isabel inquired if the same impedimentsdid not still exist. "A great change has taken place," replied LordSedley; "I am now like you, a child of misfortune; but were it not so,'Love is become the lord of all,' and when he reigns, he reignsunrivalled."

  He proceeded to inform her, that the violent feuds of the predominantfactions had infected the privacies of domestic life. His mother waswarmly attached to Cromwell's party, while his father adhered to that ofthe Presbyterian republicans; the differences between whom were nowgrown irreconcileable. He knew that the command intrusted to LordBellingham was given him as a snare, and that he was so surrounded byspies, as to be virtually in the power of any common serjeant, who, inthe two-fold capacity of Agitator and Preacher, could denounce hisgeneral at the drum-head, and under the pretence of his havingsacrificed the Lord's cause, and the rights of the army, to an ungodlyParliament, could send him prisoner to London. Lord Sedley confessed,with shame, that his mother, by giving information that his father wasin secret not well disposed to Cromwell, had caused him to be placed ina situation where the greatest circumspection could not ensure hissafety. The sentiments he had imbibed from Barton led him to prefer themore moderate counsels, and in the conduct of the contending factions hehad seen so much to condemn, that he wished to abstain from allinterference in public affairs. But his mother misinterpreting hisseclusion into a preference of his father's party, invited Cromwell toCastle Bellingham, on his march against the Duke of Hamilton, andrequested that he would take her son with him as one of his suite. Morelike a captive than a volunteer, Lord Sedley was compelled to acquiescein her proposal; but the intimate view which his situation gave him ofCromwell's character, inspired him with the most revolting disgust. Thedomestic situation of his parents dispirited him on the one side, whilesomething more than indifference to the cause for which he foughtoperated on the other, till, hopeless of better times, careless ofsafety, and desirous rather of losing life than of gaining glory, herushed into the battle; yet, when the conflict began, he felt roused bya mechanical impulse, and, engaging in a hot pursuit of some of thenorthern horse, he received those wounds from one of the troopers, whichnearly terminated his existence.

  "Such, Isabel," continued he, "is the present condition of him, who mustagain owe his life to your pity. I have no home, but one occupied by amother, engaged in plots for the destruction of her husband, anddetermined to render her son the creature of an ambitious hypocrite,rather than serve whom, he would die. I cannot join my father, for thatwould be to add a second victim to the one, whom Cromwell has resolvedto expose to the sharpest ordeal. My hereditary claim to rank and titleis now merely the vision of a shadow, for I know it is the secretintention of the fanatics to abolish the Peers as a political body, andestates are now held by permission rather than right, nor are thepossessors secure of their inheritance for a single day. Greatness isthus reduced to the bare simplicity of individual desert. In you,Isabel, I see the genuine loveliness of unsophisticated virtue, thequalities of fortitude, discretion, and sincerity, which these arduoustimes peculiarly require. At present I have had little opportunity toshew you my character, but let me intreat permission to be shelteredunder your uncle's roof, till I can arrange some plan for my futureconduct, and shew you more of the heart which is irrevocably yours."

  The plea of anxious distress revived all the tenderness of Isabel; andhe whom, she believed, she could reject as the heir of a coronet, andthe favourite of an Usurper, became the object of inviolable attachmentwhen viewed as an outcast, seeking an asylum from the misfortunesbrought on him by the crimes of his parents. Considering it to be herduty, she explained his situation to her uncle and aunt, and they agreedthat it would be inhuman to deny him the refuge he craved. But still, ashe was at present rather a probationary than an assured penitent, and insome points of view an object of suspicion, Dr. Beaumont felt it wouldbe endangering his own security to converse with him freely on politicaltopics. Still more hazardous would it be to admit him to a participationof their family-secrets, and at this time there was one which engrossedtheir minds, and threw an unusual air of mystery and anxious solicitudeinto Isabel's behaviour.

  [1] Especially Bishop Sanderson.