ment. The army in South Prussia, under the Princes, defeated Kosciusko, and afterwards the Prussians took Warsaw by storm. The Prince returned to Berlin on the 22nd of September, to the infinite relief of his wife, who had suffered greatly from anxiety. The Crown Prince and Princess were much disposed to set ceremony at defiance: they liked to be hearty and natural, to the great annoyance of their Oberhofmeisterin, the Countess Von Voss, a lady of rigid forms, and devoted to the laws of etiquette. It was she who insisted that the Prince must not enter his wife's morning. room unannounced-a rule which the young husband continually broke. One day he seemed to yield: "Well, Countess," he said, "I will give way; I beg you to be so good as to precede me, to inquire if I may have the honour of speaking with my Royal Consort." Off trotted the triumphant lady; but the Prince meanwhile rushed up the private staircase, and entered Louisa's boudoir by another door. The disconcerted Countess was greeted by peals of laughter. "See, now, my good Von Voss," said the Prince, "my wife and I can meet and speak with each other unannounced whenever we choose; and this is as it should be. But you are an excellent director of Court ceremonies, and we constitute you henceforth our Dame d'Etiquette."

The Prince and Princess were both musical, and both devoted much time to reading. Louisa could read Shakespeare in its original English; she took special interest in the works of living German authors: those of Schiller, Goethe, and Schlegel were then continually appearing.

On the 15th of October, 1795, the Crown Princess presented her husband with a son and heir. At the baptism, the King of Prussia held his grandson at the font; the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz was also present. Besides these sponsors were the Empress Catherine of Russia, Francis II. (the last Germanic-Roman Emperor), King George III. (of England) and Queen Charlotte, the Duke of Brunswick and his mother.

Never were a wedded pair happier than the joyful young parents of this child;-they were happy in their mutual love, in the affection of their near relatives, and in the kindly regard and esteem of the Prussian people. There was only one cloud on their horizon— a cloud, however, which was ere long to break in desolating storms upon the heads of the Royal couple and on their kingdom. But here we pause, not choosing to connect these happy, peaceful days with those which too quickly followed, but which, nevertheless, tended to elevate and strengthen the character of Louisa, and to render her the truly illustrious personage which she eventually became.

(To be concluded next month.)

353

ANDREW MARVEL AND HIS FRIENDS.

A STORY OF THE SIEGE OF HULL.

BY MARIE HALL, née SIBREE,

Author of "Sermons from the Studio," " The Sculptor of Bruges," &c.

CHAPTER XXXIV.-THE SECOND SIEGE OF HULL.

LORD FAIRFAX arrived in Hull after some skirmishing and was shortly followed by his son, Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had had a most perilous retreat from Bradford, and reached Hull in a very sorry plight. He had been more than forty hours in the saddle, with an undressed wound in the wrist from a shot received during his passage through Selby, and his clothes were full of rents and stained with blood. At the beginning of his flight he had been accompanied by his wife and child; but the lady was soon taken prisoner by the Earl of Newcastle, and Sir Thomas's little daughter -a child of five years old, who was carried before her nurse on horseback-fell into such frequent swoonings from excess of fatigue that her father feared for her life. He was obliged to leave her at a house by the wayside, in care of the servant; she was sent for the next day, and having partly recovered from the fright and fatigue, was able to rejoin her father.

A request was immediately sent to Parliament asking leave for Lord Fairfax to become the Governor of Hull, but before the order arrived from London with the formal permission, circumstances obliged his lordship to take the command of all the forces there. Lord Willoughby did not retain his prize long, for Gainsborough was quickly retaken by the Earl of Newcastle, who also drove the Parliamentary troops out of Lincoln and put into that city a garrison for the King. Thus far the Queen's hopes were realised.

Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed to occupy Beverley, but hardly had he taken up his quarters there when intelligence came that Newcastle was rapidly advancing with an army of fifteen thousand horse and foot. Sir Thomas resolved to fall back upon Hull, but before he was ready to depart the Earl entered Beverley. The troops defended themselves bravely but they were overpowered by numbers and a fearful carnage ensued.

On the second day of September, 1643, the second siege of Hull began. But early in the morning of that day the Earl's own coach was seen approaching the gates, attended by a guard; the coach contained the wife of Sir Thomas Fairfax, who was in this generous

manner restored to her husband-the Earl demanding neither a ransom nor an exchange for his prisoner.

Once more the sound of artillery rang through the town from morning to night, and sometimes from night until morning dawned again, for both the beseiged and beseigers carried on the war with the greatest bravery and the most desperate earnestness. The Royalists erected a furnace for preparing the most deadly fireballs, which they were not slack in discharging, and the constant descent of these instruments of destruction terrified the inhabitants and injured both them and their dwellings. The enemy's first act had been to cut off the supplies of fresh water from the town, and to compel the country people to supply their camp with the provisions usually carried to the Hull markets. But the siege was not an unexpected event; fresh water could be obtained in abundance from many wells within the walls, the town was well victualled, and the Royalists could not prevent large supplies from being introduced by sea, if necessary. What most distressed the people was the presence of such a large army in a place already very much overcrowded; under nearly every roof soldiers were billeted; in some cases several families preferred to live together in one home, and give up their houses for the time entirely to their defenders, for the Parliamentary troops had not yet been reformed, and were as coarse and rude in their manners as all other common soldiers of that day. No house was exempt from the duty of entertaining the strangers, so a number of officers were lodged with Sir Ralph, and daily sat down at his hospitable board.

Alice was rather pleased at having her table well filled, though the gaiety of some of the younger men, and their flattering attentions to herself, were often wearisome; but she felt less constrained with her husband when others were present than when left to his society alone. Ralph, on the contrary, felt much dissatisfaction at having his home invaded, and while he always behaved like a generous host he would have made a considerable sacrifice to have dispensed with these guests. He fancied Alice was beginning to get over the shock she had received at Winestead, and that, with perseverance, and having her constantly under his influence, he should thaw that icy reserve of hers and soften her heart towards himself; and now these military arrangements upset bis little plans and threatened to undo the careful work of the past few months. Alice never gave him any cause for jealousy, but Ralph could not bear to see how eagerly his brother officers did her any trifling service, and it vexed him mightily to think that perhaps they suspected the actual state of things; would not they see, as well as he did, how ceremonious she was in her behaviour to him?

would any of them mistake her pensive, almost melancholy air and look, for Puritanical asceticism? Fortunately, Ralph's guests were seldom to be seen except during the hours for meals, for after the arrival of Lord Fairfax everyone was busy with strengthening the defences and preparing for the reception of the foe, and when the assault began Alice had occupation enough herself, both in comforting and encouraging the poor, timid people, and in ministering to the wounded and the dying. All the spare rooms in the Manor Palace were soon filled with the sick and disabled, for the loss within the walls was very considerable during the second siege.

Mistress Crowle and Dorothy, who had been but rarely at the hospital of late, now began to devote themselves to this humane work, and for some reason unknown they were less shy with Alice. Other good women in the town came forward and offered their assistance in nursing the sick; but the majority of the housewives were busied in supplying the wants of the hale and strong, or in attending to their own friends who had been injured. Sir William Lister had received under his roof the poor old men and women that his mother had gathered into the new Lister Almshouses, turning the empty houses into temporary barracks. Thus he secured for Kate as quiet a home as could be hoped for in a besieged town, and the old people were protected and well cared for. The Whartons had been compelled once more to seek refuge in Hull, for Sir Clifford felt it was useless this time to fortify his own house, so he and his son were with the ladies, occupying rooms at the "King's Head," where Lord Fairfax and Sir Thomas were also lodging, with divers other persons of quality.

During the first few days of the siege little advantage seemed to be gained on either side. Both parties erected forts and batteries, which carried devastation into each other's quarters. Early in the morning of the 4th of September the Royalists had begun a work about half a mile from the town. They laboured night after night, often only to see the fruits of their toil nearly destroyed next day by the cannon from the walls. But they did not abandon their object, and at last the "King's Fort," as it was called, was finished, at the expense of many lives. The Royalists now certainly had the ascendancy for a time. They were able to shoot into the town balls weighing thirty-six pounds, and from the elevation of this fort the hot balls were more surely and fatally aimed.

This success threw the inhabitants into great consternation, for there was so much inflammable merchandise within the walls that if a fire broke out in any place the whole town would speedily have been reduced to ashes. Therefore the Governor's first care was to order all combustible matters to be put into cellars, for vessels of water to be set before every door in readiness to extinguish the first

spark, and a stricter watch was kept over the magazine. The next thing was to demolish the King's Fort, and to effect this Lord Fairfax strengthened the Charter-house battery, and managed, with great difficulty, to erect a fort himself not far from his enemy's. The Royalists had not expected this counter movement; but they were consoled by a further success on their side, for on the 9th of this same month the besieged made a sally, falling upon the village of Anlaby, and were quickly driven back to their gates. This repulse, however, only made the besieged resort to extreme measures. for soon afterwards Lord Fairfax ordered the banks of the river to be cut, and so inundated the country round that the enemy were obliged to abandon many of their posts, and then followed a succession of manoeuvres that did not much profit either party.

While the war was raging on and around the walls of Hull, the social world within had its own trouble, apart from all public calamities. Will Lister's little son was ill; it was no trifling ailment now that could be charmed away by a lullaby hymn and a refreshing sleep. It was clear to the old women who came in to see their benefactor's heir and to give their sage advice that this sickness was unto death. It was plain to Dame Lister, who doated on her grandchild; and Kate dared not ask any more questions, lest some one should put into words what her agonised heart so dreaded. One day the baby had seemed in its usual health, and Will had rejoiced in the idea that he was fighting for his son's rights and liberties as well as for his own. The next day the baby's bloom and brightness had faded, in such haste was death to snatch the darling of the home. A messenger had been sent for Alice, but she was at the hospital, and old Janet, not thinking the matter urgent, had been tardy in letting her mistress know of the summons. Dame Lister, growing feeble herself in health, was lying down, thinking the child might linger several hours longer. So the sorrowful pair were alone with the little sufferer. Will stood in his armour, which he seldom put off during the siege, and watched with Kate as the life of their firstborn ebbed away. Now and then there was a feeble struggle and Kate looked up appealingly to her husband; but what could his manly strength or her motherly love avail now? The babe was going to rest in a tenderer bosom than hers, aud to inhabit a kingdom bought with more precious blood than would redden England's fields. Neither Kate nor Will could find any comfort in this hour; they had no sure hopes about the future. Death was there without any of the alleviations that religion imparts. The hand of God was touching them, and they could not feel that it was a loving, Fatherly hand. As the little life flickered and waned the struggle increased, and the baby opened his dark eyes and fixed them on his mother with such