they were sufficiently hard. Among them, he obliged himself to raze their walls, and to fill up the formidable ditches of Toulouse, rendering it incapable of ever presenting a defensive front to any assailant; while a French garrison, occupying the splendid Narbonnese Castle, would keep strict watch over the proceedings of the citizens. Another article bound him to set a price on the head of every suspected heretic, throughout his dominions; and a third to make war on his generous faithful allies, the count of Foix, and all who yet showed a disposition to preserve their independence. But a more sure method of silencing for ever the voice of truth in those unhappy regions was adopted, by the assembled prelates of the provinces, who met in council at Toulouse for that purpose; and this was the introduction and permanent settlement of that master-piece of what is itself the master-piece of Satan-that most hideous child of a hideous parent, the Inquisition, which had received the fiat of its establishment, as a godly and useful means of upholding the power of the papacy, at the fourth council of Lateran, so infamously famous for its antichristian decrees. If now a single sheep or lamb of Christ's flock lurked among the blighted scenes of former peace and prosperity, it was sure to be discovered, brought forth, and immolated.

C. E.

THE DAYS OF LAUD.

PART III: CHAPTER I.

They

An unusual degree of excitement prevailed in the streets of London on the morning of the sixth of August 1647. Unusual even in times when few could deliberate coolly, or feel unaccompanied with painful throbbings of heart. The citizens looked harassed and ill at ease. They had taken an active, though a subordinate part in the mighty revolutions of the last ten years. were now weary of change, and would have remained content with the liberty they enjoyed under the Parliament, intolerant and despotic as it seemed likely to become. Pym-Hampden-Falkland, where were they? The exigencies of the times might have echoed the question. Selden, the glory of England,'* and of the Long Parliament, unable to keep the power of the sword from either party, who in wielding it sought to enslave their opponents, had almost entirely withdrawn from public business. Essex and other old and faithful leaders of the Parliamentarian army, deprived by the selfdenying ordinance of their command-none left to awe the military might that marched from Hounslow-heath in solemn and determined order, bearing indeed the appearance of humility and submission, but led on by that man whose profound intellect enabled him to centre in himself all the power that fluctuated between the

So called by Grotius.

army and the Parliament-whose hypocrisy and guilt have reflected their evil shining on some who shared not in them.

But" The Lord reigneth." Hampden, and Falkland, his instruments for freeing England from her ancient yoke, had done their work, and were removed from the troubled scene. Another instrument is needed to scourge the Parliament, and Oliver Cromwell rides scatheless on to remove from its counsels, men who might have opposed his ambitious designs. An instrument is needed to still the unquiet land, and force its children to submit to one common government, to own one common fealty. Could Charles Stuart have done this? or his effeminate degraded successor ? or the bigot James. In very deed for this cause I have raised thee up," is a text that may moderate the wonder with which men regard the elevation, the crimes, and the wisdom of Oliver Cromwell.

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The fears of the citizens, who in their panic had looked forward to the entrance of the army as to a signal for massacre and pillage, in some measure abated, while they listened to the well-curbed movements of the soldiers' horses, and the measured tread of the infantry. Henry, now Colonel Parnell, rode at some distance behind Cromwell. His spirits were elated with feelings of triumph. He looked proudly and in scorn at the subdued and terrified multitude that thronged the way. He had looked proudly and in defiance at all who sought to restore the king's authority. Where were now his earnest yearnings after liberty? He was himself part of the dominant power. Cuthbert Camden had brought to the conflict a vigorous mind, and feeling heart, both controlled, though only in part, by pure principles of religion; he had thought and uttered his

thoughts with those whose piety and patriotism were fresh, noble, genuine. He had fought and bled in a struggle for good, although sin mingled deeply in the strife. Henry Parnell's mind was matured in scenes of blood; he too talked of liberty, but was wont to enforce the will of his chiefs and his own. He talked of religion, could apply texts of scripture, with little reverence indeed, but with expert shrewdness to the passing events of the day. He had learned the cant of those among whom he warred. A cant that counterfeited, and aped, and brought into evil repute the sayings of such men as Dod,* Baxter, and Owen; that counterfeited, and aped, and brought into evil repute the sayings of God himself, and did its part towards forming the godless and immoral character of the next genera

tion.

Another officer rode near Henry Parnell, who had been engaged in the king's service until the Battle of Naseby, and the surrender of Bristol, nearly put an end to the hopes of the royalists; he then deserted to Cromwell, in whose army he now held the rank of Captain. This man was Parnell's constant associate. There was a charm in Captain Atterbury's manners which the greater part of Cromwell's officers lacked. His birth and breeding were those of a gentleman. They were raised from the lower ranks of society, and their coarseness disgusted Parnell, while he emulated their valour and adopted their language. Atterbury also used it, when it served to urge his soldiers to new exertions in a cause which they believed to be the cause of God, or when, having driven the minister of some village-church from his post, he mounted the pulpit, and strove to inflame the minds of the flock with fanaticism and strife.

*For a sketch of his character, see Fuller's Church History, Book ii. Section 5.

But before Henry Parnell he threw away at least this one of the masks, which he found it convenient to wear. He tore the covering from the face of others, who like himself" wore a rough garment to deceive," and often fixed a veil of hypocrisy where evident sincerity baffled all his attempts to discover one.

The two friends rode on in silence, following the wonderful man whom both owned as a leader, but both regarded with widely-different feelings. Parnell, with the ardour of two-and-twenty, rejoiced in the growing glory of his General as if it had been his own. He saw with exultation the terrified Parliament (the remains of that Parliament which Cuthbert Camden had taught him to venerate) forced to expel its choicest members, and to receive back unquestioned the fugitive speakers, Lenthall and Manchester, at the command of Oliver Cromwell. Other deeds of submission were exacted at the same time. The soldiers were quartered about Whitehall, and the Meuse and the Parliament bent its neck to military rule.

How Atterbury regarded these acts it was not easy to discover. He spoke of his general with respect, but watched him with the solicitude of one whose hopes are staked upon an uncertain future, and who had sagacity to foresee that Cromwell, beyond all other men, would influence future events.

Parnell and Atterbury did not long remain in London. The Scots began to show faint signs of returning loyalty, mingled with stronger fears of the final overthrow of Presbyterianism. Scotland therefore looked threateningly at the martial rulers of her sister-kingdom, and the prospect of northern service took the two friends again to the neighbourhood of York, whither we shall precede them.