hath led thee to thy Creator; and that Creator, the King eternal, immortal, but no longer invisible, blotting out for Christ's sake, all thy misdeeds, shall have said unto thee, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Fare thee well then, my aged friend! thou hast lost nothing, and gained every thing; lost time, and gained eternity; lost earth, and gained heaven.

Signed,

?.

ESCAPE OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND.

(Continued from page 418.)

DR. GORGES, the King's Chaplain, being a gentleman of good family near that place, and allied to Mr. Norton, supped with them, and, being a man of a cheerful conversation, asked Mrs. Lane many questions about William,-of whom he saw she was so careful, by sending up meat to him-" how long his ague had been gone? and whether he had taken physic since it left him! and the like;" to which she gave such answers as occurred. The Doctor had studied a little physic; and, as soon as supper was done, out of good nature, and without telling any body, he went to see William. The King saw him coming into the chamber, and withdrew to the side of the bed, that he might be farthest from the candle, and the Doctor came, and sate down by him, felt his pulse, and asked him many questions, which he answered in as few words as was possible, he expressing great inclination to go to his bed; to which the Doctor left him, and went to Mrs. Lane, and told her "that he had been with William, and that he would do well;" and advised her what she should do if his ague returned. The next day, the Doctor went away, so the King saw him no more. The next day, the Lord Wilmot came

to the house with his hawk, to see Mrs. Lane, and so conferred with William, who was to consider what he was to do. They thought it necessary to rest some days, till they were informed what port lay most convenient for them, and what person lived nearest to it, upon whose fidelity they might rely.

After some days stay here, the King came to know that Colonel Francis Windham lived within little more than a day's journey of the place where he was; of which he was very glad; for, besides the regard which he had to his elder brother, whose wife had been his nurse, this gentleman had behaved himself very well during the war, and had been governor of Dunstan Castle, where the King had lodged when he was in the west.

The King sent Wilmot to him, and acquainted him where he was, and that he would gladly speak with him. It was not hard for him to chuse a good place where to meet, and thereupon the day was appointed. After the King had taken his leave of Mrs. Lane, who remained with her cousin Norton, the King and the Lord Wilmot met the Colonel. At the place of meeting, they rested only one night, and then the King went to the Colonel's house, where he rested many days, whilst the Colonel contrived at what place the King might embark, and how they might procure a vessel to be ready there, which was not easy to find, there being so great a fear possessing those who were honest, that it was hard to procure any vessel that was out ward bound to take in any passenger.

There was a gentleman, one Mr. Ellison, who lived near Lyme in Dorsetshire, and was well known to Colonel Windham, having been a captain in the King's army, and was still looked upon as a very honest man. With him the Colonel consulted how they might get a vessel to be ready to take in a

66

danger of being arrested, and take them to France. Though no man would ask who the persons were, yet it could not but be suspected who they were, at least they concluded it was some of the Worcester party. There was at Lyme a master of a bark, of whose honesty the captain was very confident. The man was lately returned from France, and had unladed his vessel, when Ellison asked him "when he would make another voyage?" and he answered, as soon as he could get lading for his ship." The other asked, "whether he would undertake to carry over a couple of gentlemen, and land them in France, if he might be as well paid for his voyage as he used to be when he was freighted by the merchants." He then told him that he should receive fifty pounds for his fare; the large recompence had that effect, that the man undertook it. It was resolved that upon such a night, which, upon consideration of the tides, was agreed upon, the man should draw his vessel from the pier, and, being at sea, should come to such a point about a mile from the town, where his ship should remain upon the beach when the water was gone, which would take it off again about break of day the next morning. There was, very near that point, a small inn, kept by a man who was reputed honest. Into that inn the two gentlemen were to come in the beginning of the night, that they might put themselves on board, when all was ready. The King being satisfied with the preparations which were made, came at the time appointed.

They found many passengers in the inn; and so were to be contented with an ordinary chamber, which they did not intend to sleep long in. But, as soon as there appeared any light, Wilmot went out to discover the vessel, of which there was no appearance. In a word, the sun arose, and nothing like a ship in view. They sent to the Captain, who was as much amazed; and he sent to the town,

Escape of King Charles II.

453

and his servant could not find the master of the vessel, which was still in the pier. They suspected the Captain, and the Captain suspected the Master. However, it being past ten of the clock, they concluded, it was not fit for them to stay longer there, and so they mounted their horses again to return to the house where they had left the Colonel, who, they knew, resolved to stay there, till he were assured that they were gone.

The truth of the disappointment was this. The man meant honestly, and made all things ready for his departure; and the night he was to go out with his vessel, he had staid in his own house, and slept two or three hours, and the time of the tide being come, that it was necessary to be on board, he took out of the cupboard some linen, and other things which he used to carry with him to sea. His wife had observed that he had been, for some days, fuller of thought than he used to be, and that he had been speaking with seamen who used to go with him, and that some of them had carried provisions on board the bark, of which she had asked her husband the reason, who told her "that he was promised freight speedily, and therefore he would make all things ready." She was sure that there was yet no lading in the ship, and therefore, when she saw her husband take all those materials with him, which was a sure sign that he meant to go to sea, and, it being late at night, she shut the door, and declared that he should not go out of his house. He told her, "he must go, and was engaged to go to sea that night, for which he should be well paid." His wife told him, "she was sure he was doing something that would undo him, and she was resolved he should not go out of his house; and, if he should persist in it, she would tell the neighbours, and carry him before the Mayor to be examined, that the truth might be found out." The

lence of his wife, was forced to yield to her, that there might be no further noise, and so went into his bed.

And it was very happy that the King's jealousy had hastened him from that inn. The passen gers who had lodged in the inn during that night, had, as soon as they were up, sent for a smith to visit their horses, it being a hard frost. The smith, when he had done what he was sent for, examined the feet of the other horses, to find more work. When he had observed them, he told the host of the house," that one of those horses had travelled far, and that he was sure that his four shoes had been made in four different counties; which, whether his skill was able to discover it or no, was very true. The smith told this story to some of his neighbours; and so it came to the ears of one who was an enemy to the King. Immediately he sent for an officer, and searched the inn, and enquired for those horses; and, being informed that they were gone, he caused horses to be sent to follow them, and to make enquiry after the two men who rid those horses, and positively declared that one was Charles Stuart *.

From Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. (To be continued.)

A short account of the Life and Death of Sarah Walch, of Halliwell, near Bolton-le-Moors, who died March 27, 1825.-Written by her Brother. SARAH WALCH was the daughter of Abraham and Mary Walch, who always endeavoured to instruct her in the knowledge and love of God. She was born Nov. 4, 1813. At an early age she was sent

* The King.