necessary defence. We have often said, and we still say, that we believe many inconveniences have grown upon this kingdom by the too long intermission of parliaments; that parliaments are the only necessary sovereign remedies of the growing mischiefs which time and accidents have and will always beget in this kingdom; that without parliaments the happiness cannot be lasting to king or people. We have prepared for the frequent assembling of parliaments, and will be always as careful of their just privileges, as of our life, honour, or interest." And here we may take occasion to remark, how much two works are wanted to do full justice to the memory of the royal martyr: the one, a popular modern reprint of that magnificent old folio volume, entitled "BAZIAIKA, or, The Works of King Charles the Martyr, with a collection of Declarations, Treaties, and other Papers concerning the Differences betwixt his said Majesty and his two Houses of Parliament. London: Printed by James Flesher for R. Keyston, Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty, 1672,”—which contains an interesting biography of the royal saint; the beautiful Eicon Basilike; the extremely valuable controversies betwixt King Charles and the chief Puritan preachers on Church government, in which his majesty displayed intellectual powers of the very highest order; a collection of prayers composed by this royal sufferer in affliction; his majesty's messages; his masterly declarations, which contain much of the most animated and noble writing we are acquainted with; his letters, on which such false and scurrilous charges have been founded, and which reflect his royal innocence as in a spotless mirror, his speeches, &c., &c. Secondly, we desiderate a work corresponding in some sense with Carlyle's recent Life of Cromwell, in which that usurper has been made to write in part his own biography; the vivid and picturesque "filling up," supplying scenery and colouring, being added by his idolatrous admirer. Some such "labour of love," we say, should be undertaken for King Charles; but it must not be weakly or pusillanimously executed. Rather give us a wild enthusiast, or even would-be enthusiast, such as Carlyle himself, (for we cannot quite believe in the contortions of that gentleman's zeal,) than a cold, cautious, cowardly scribe, a "candid friend," ready to make every possible admission against the man whose life he has undertaken to illustrate, and yielding to every blast of vulgar and popular delusion. But, to return from this digression to our author and his immediate theme, he takes a far more favourable view of the present aspect of affairs than we are inclined to do, considering the cause of loyalty to be now permanently the cause of all, peo ple and peer, and feeling little apprehension of democratic turbulence. We are heartily willing to join with him in commending all those, whether landlords or manufacturers, who serve their country, by making their tenantry or their labourers their true friends; but, alas! though the surge of popular disaffection may have seemed for a moment to recede, we fear that it is only gathering fresh strength to sweep once more in fury against our ancient bulwarks! May those bulwarks never fall! But, if they are not to fall, they must be manned by bold and resolute defenders. Mr. Warburton's narrative of Prince Rupert's youth displays no little talent for the effective grouping of historical events. The coronation of his father Frederic at Prague is graphically portrayed. The early fortunes of Rupert, displaying from the first that spirit of bold and happy daring which more than rivalled the valour of medieval chivalry, are pleasantly and naturally "dashed off." His temporary confinement at Lintz, and especially his "love-passages" with Madlle de Kuffstein are delineated in a vein of happy and unforced "prose-poetry." Finally, we accompany Rupert to England, and at this period he is thus aptly painted by his faithful biographer :— "Prince Rupert was now nearly twenty-three. His portrait presents to us the ideal of a gallant Cavalier. His figure, tall, vigorous, and symmetrical, would have been somewhat stately but for its graceful bearing and noble ease. A vehement yet firm character predominates in the countenance, combined with a certain gentleness, apparent only in the thoughtful but not pensive eyes. Large, dark, and well-formed eyebrows overarch a high-bred Norman nose; the upper lip is finely cut, but somewhat supercilious in expression; the lower part of the mouth and chin have a very different meaning, and impart a tone of iron resolution to the whole countenance. Long-flowing hair (through which, doubtless, curled the romantic "love-lock ") flowed over the wide embroidered collar, or the scarlet cloak: he wore neither beard nor moustaches, then almost universal; and his cheek, though bronzed by exposure, was marked by a womanly dimple. On the whole, our Cavalier must have presented an appearance as attractive in a lady's eye, and as unlovely in a Puritan's, as Vandyke ever immortalised. Such was the aspect of the young Palatine, who won for himself a name so renowned in the tradition of our civil wars, yet so uncertain in their history." We shall proceed, though the passage be rather long, to extract the next two or three pages of the narrative, so characteristic are they of Mr. Warburton's ease and grace of narration, as also of his impartiality. "He (the prince) is now riding side by side with his royal kinsman to Nottingham, on the way to the opening scene of the great tragedy. By the aid of old writings, and still more by the aid of old prints and pictures, we may bring the group of warlike travellers before our eyes, and behold the scenes they saw. A strong wind was sweeping over the wide valley of the Trent, then uninclosed by fences, and only marked at wide intervals by some low strong farm-houses, with innumerable gables. In the distance, boldly relieved against the stormy sky, rose the stern old castle of Nottingham; a flag-staff, as yet innocent of the fatal standard, was visible on its highest tower. Long peace and security had invested the country round with a very different aspect from that which Rupert had lately seen in Germany. A prosperous peasantry were gathering in a plentiful harvest. There were no symptoms any where of the approaching war, until the royal cavalcade passed by.-The greater part of the prince's cavalry was there, endeavouring to make an imposing appearance; but they were scantily furnished with the basnet (or steel cap), and the back and breastplate over leather doublet, that then formed the essential harness of a trooper; for arms, they had nothing but their swords. The equipment of their king and their young general was almost as simple: the plumed hat of the time was only laid aside on the day of battle, and not always then by the reckless Rupert; a short cloak (the prince's was of scarlet cloth), and large cavalry boots, almost enveloped the remainder of the person; a slender train of heralds and poursuivants, and some gentlemen-at-arms, complete the cavalcade. Such was the royal progress to the head-quarters of the Cavaliers. "Never had the king's destiny appeared so dark. On the preceding day Coventry had closed her gates against him, and fired upon his flag; Leicester was only held to his cause by Wilmot's cavalry; his appeal to his people had been hitherto made in vain. Some few of the chief Cavaliers, indeed, had obeyed his summons; but the peasants, the yeomen, and even the soldiers of fortune still stood aloof, or looked wistfully towards the parliament. Nottingham as yet afforded a rallying point for his few adherents, and a shelter to his council; but the very country he was passing through was hostile, and the high sheriff Digby could scarcely assemble sufficient trainbands' to furnish the appearance of a royal guard. Yet the day was come, the eventful day appointed for the Raising of the Standard, and Charles did not hesitate in his purpose. His character henceforth displayed far more firmness than hitherto his better nature, although reserved, was dauntless, enduring, and even sanguine. He believed himself to be an injured and outraged king, and that he was about to appeal most righteously to the God of Battles. : "Meanwhile the little town of Nottingham was filled with thousands of curious spectators from the country round about. The day passed on without tidings of the king, or any tokens of the approaching ceremony, only that from time to time some Cavaliers arrived, their armour and gay caparison dimmed and disfigured by the storm. The foremost of these devoted men had already bidden a long farewell to the homes, now desolate, yet glorying in their departure. "At length the royal banner was seen advancing across the plain. As the king drew near, a profound melancholy was observed upon his countenance: Hyde and his brother counsellors of peace watched it anxiously, but were soon disabused of the hope that such sadness betokened any altered purpose. The council immediately assembled in the dilapidated hall of the old castle, and the king's determination was declared by his own lips, in such terms as precluded all remonstrance. The standard was to be raised forthwith-that irrevocable challenge to a powerful people (?) in their wrath! and the challenger was a powerless king, without troops, revenue, or apparent resources. His only hope lay in the national loyalty he had once so severely tried, and in the chivalry of the few faithful Cavaliers who then surrounded him. "All matter of debate was now postponed, and the king proceeded to the momentous ceremony of the day. At once the fatal standard was unfurled from a high eminence within the park, its broad folds waving over the warlike group below. The king stood upon a grassy knoll: a herald by his side then read the proclamation with a voice almost inaudible in the storm; but that officer had scarcely begun, when the king, with characteristic indecision, took the paper from his hand, and made such alterations that the herald blundered inauspiciously through the remainder of his task. The few spectators shouted God save the King!' and night coming on put an end to the dismal ceremony. "The next morning no standard was to be seen. It had been blown down during the night. The king ordered it to be removed to a commanding station in the park, observing, that 'before it looked as if imprisoned! But a fatality seemed still to attend upon that standard. The ground was so hard that the heralds were obliged to use their daggers in order to plant it in the unwilling soil, and even then four men were compelled to support it through the ceremony. Again the proclamation was read, and for four successive days the broad standard of England streamed out upon an unceasing storm, with the blood-red battle-flag above. "The signal caught the eye of many a group of gallant men, who were then advancing across the valley to join that standard and to live or die beneath its shadow. Few they were, but they represented tens of thousands who lingered in blessed peace among their homes as long as peace was possible, yet started forth in battle-armour as soon as the summons of the trumpet reached them. Their hearts might not be all at ease as to the clear justice of their cause, but it seemed, doubtless, the less evil alternative: old and honourable prejudices, ancient associations, chivalrous honour, reckless and desperate loyalty drew them to their king. How mournful that such devotion should have been so tried-and so rewarded!" What the meaning of this last phrase may be, we do not very 66 well know, but suppose it may convey an allusion to the return of Charles the Second, that unworthy son of the martyr-monarch. But, despite the slight tendency to what we should designate trimming" discernible in this narrative, it must be confessed that its style is easy and agreeable, and its colouring very picturesque. Would that Mr. Warburton had always sketched his scenes of action as distinctly! Sometimes he appears too hurried, and by haste forfeits effect. An admirable letter follows from "the heroic Sir Beville Grenville," as our author most fitly designates him, the tone of which shows none of those faint-hearted scruples alluded to by Mr. Warburton, which were, we believe, unknown, save to men like Hyde and Falkland, who had been partially infected by long proximity to the miasma of treason and sedition: Sir Beville then wrote to Sir John Trelawny,--." Sir, the barbarous and implacable enemy, notwithstanding his Majesty's gracious proceedings with them, do continue their insolencies and rebellion in the highest degree:" and again, “I can not contain myself within my doors when the King of England's standard waves in the field upon so just occasion,-the cause being such as must make all those who die in it little inferior to martyrs." This was the trumpet-tone of honour, loyalty, and truth, and should awake an echo in every manly breast. Mr. Warburton subjoins, fairly enough, the record of Sir Edmund Varney's doubts and fears, as a kind of "pendant:" Sir Edward "did not like the quarrel." Wherefore? As we might have suspected, "he had no reverence for the bishops for whom this quarrel subsists;" that is, practically speaking, he was half a Puritan.——A chapter follows in which Mr. Warburton has taken a sweeping review of the domestic policy of England. His general views have been already suggested. He says: "I believe that Charles met his first parliament with a sincere desire to conciliate their affection, apart from all interested motives;" but subsequently twits him with "insincerity," on what grounds we are left in ignorance; for our author has taken occasion in more than one instance to prove the groundlessness of the usual charges, especially in as far as the private correspondence with the queen is concerned, taken at Naseby, respecting which Messrs. Carlyle and Macaulay have written such egregious nonsense as to give strong grounds for the suspicion that they have never even looked at the subject-matter of their abuse. Mr. Warburton is very severe upon the king for his desertion of Strafford, perhaps not unjustly: yet he forgets to mention (as do most other historians) that all the king's adherents in the House of Commons, all the bishops, save Juxon, all the ministry even had deserted Strafford first, and that he himself implored death of his royal master, |