The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3

by Mrs. West

  CHAP. XXI.

  Art thou not risen by miracle from death? Thy shroud is fall'n from off thee, and the grave Was bid to give thee up, that thou might'st come The messenger of grace and goodness to me.

  Rowe.

  The welcome which the young King received from his English subjects didnot answer the sanguine expectations of his friends. Contrary to therumours that were industriously circulated, the system of terror whichCromwell had established prevented any regular levies being made for hisassistance. The means of the old royalists were exhausted; they had nowlittle but their lives to offer, and the junction of unconnectedindividuals afforded but a scanty and ineffectual muster. It was soonfound that Cromwell repassed the Grampian hills with inconceivableswiftness, and, pouring along with collected forces, dispersed thescattered troops which the King's friends were endeavouring to collect,even before they could be trained to arms. The King's army, fatigued bya long march, destitute of necessaries, but slowly recruiting innumbers, and virtually diminishing in strength, soon found the design ofseizing London beyond its ability. "The loyal city of Worcester," as ithas the honour of being pre-eminently styled, opened its gates torefresh its Sovereign, and offered itself as a temporary retreat, wherehe might muster his forces, and re-consider his measures. Here the Kingwas proclaimed, but the events which attended that solemnity augured illto the actual duration of his reign. The Earl of Derby, accompanied by afew faithful friends, posted into the town to bring the intelligence ofhis own defeat, and the consequent relapse of the north-western countiesunder the yoke of Cromwell. This bad news was rapidly followed byintelligence, that the enemy was in full pursuit. Alarm and suspicionwere visible in every countenance; divided opinions distracted the royalcouncils. Some measures were pursued with rashness; others, moreeligible, neglected from timidity. Many were ready to fight and tosuffer, but a wise, calm superintendence was wanting to prevent valourand generous loyalty from shedding its precious blood in vain.

  The result of the battle of Worcester, the miraculous escape of theKing, the death of many faithful adherents, the execution of others,especially of the noble Earl of Derby, in the very centre of his feudalgreatness, with every mark of barbarous ignominy, and the reduction ofhis heroic Countess and her children to the most extreme state ofpoverty and distress are well known. Arthur De Vallance was an actor insome of these scenes. His plan of quitting England was renounced, whenhe knew, that, by remaining, he could be of service to his Prince. Herepaired to the young King at Stirling as soon as Cromwell's victory atDunbar had taken him out of the hands of Argyle; accompanied him in hismarch to the South, and bravely used his sword in his service at thatfatal overthrow, which seemed to exterminate the monarchy of Englandbeyond all hope of revival. It is well known that Cromwell, withoutgiving time to his own army to rest, after their long march fromScotland, pounced upon the King's troops at Worcester during their firstconsternation; and, leaving a part of his forces to contend with thatportion of the King's who fought valiantly, entered the city along withthose flying fugitives whom the terror of his name had dispersed at thefirst onset, almost at the same instant that the King, disguised as apeasant, rushed out at the opposite gate, dismissed all his friends andattendants, and concealed himself in an adjoining wood. All commandhaving ceased, and no rallying point being established, it became theduty of all to consult their individual safety. Jobson continuedinseparably attached to Sedley's service; he again advised a retreatinto Wales, and being well acquainted with the country, they had thegood fortune to reach the principality before the enemy had secured thepasses, though that was one of their first measures, to prevent theretreat of the King into a part of his dominions where he might be mosteasily concealed, as well from the nature of the country as from theloyal disposition of the inhabitants.

  It was the design of De Vallance to repair to the isle of Man, and offerhis services to the Countess of Derby, who, it was reported, was ableand determined to retain that insulated spot, and establish it as theasylum of persecuted loyalty. He journeyed through the most unfrequentedroads, trusting for his support to the hospitality of a brave,unsophisticated race, who could hardly endure the nominal yoke ofregicides, and preserved the sanctuary of their domestic retreatsunpolluted by the presence of spies and informers. From these, hisoccasional hosts, De Vallance learned many woeful particulars of themiseries of the prisoners taken at Worcester, "who were driven likecattle to London, many of them suffered to perish for want of food, orfrom pestilential diseases arising from crowded prisons, and thesurvivors sold for slaves to the plantations." Such was the freedomthese pseudo-friends of liberty afforded to those who dissented fromtheir opinions; and thus was loyalty (for no other crime was laid totheir charge) punished with a severity, which regular governmentsscruple to use against the most atrocious offenders. Nor should thesetyrannous acts be ascribed so much to the rancorous nature of thevictors as to the natural tendency of power obtained by illegal violentmeans. They who rise to greatness by insurrection, find themselvescompelled to renounce the principles and violate the promises to whichthey owed their exaltation. The greatest tyrants have ever been thosewho experimentally know that rigorous coercion is the only way ofrestraining popular fury. Fear is the incentive and justifier ofcruelty. Man is rarely disposed gratuitously to torment hisfellow-creatures. The world has indeed produced Roman, Mahommedan, andIndian, despots, who seemed to receive pleasure from the sufferings oftheir victims, abstracted from every other consideration; but theseinstances have been too rare to permit us to consider such an infernalpropensity as a just characteristic of human nature. Mercy is moregrateful to the feelings of even bad men than rigorous punishment; butas it cannot with safety be exercised in unsettled governments, whichmust awe the subdued into passive submission, before they can reward theobedient, some of the most powerful dissuasives against exciting popularcommotions arise from the despotism in which they are sure to terminate,the malignant passions which they excite, and the horrible atrocitiesthat often spring from no worse motive than the necessity of securingill-acquired pre-eminence.

  The melancholy state of the kingdom, added to the general anxiety forthe King's welfare, of whose escape to France no certain tidings hadbeen received, overpowered the hitherto-heroic patience of De Vallance,and made him on a public, as well as on a private, account, feel wearyof a world, which seemed left to the misrule of successful guilt andprosperous hypocrisy. He had now travelled into the county of Flint,from whence he hoped to gain a passage to the isle of Man, when hereceived intelligence that, during his confinement, the Earl of Derbyhad signed an order for its surrender, together with all his castles,with which his intrepid Countess immediately complied; vainly hoping asacrifice of the hereditary possessions of the family might be receivedas a commutation for her husband's life. Mold and Hope were alreadygarrisoned by the Parliament; and thus after a long and difficultjourney, during which he had encountered many hair-breadth 'scapes, DeVallance found himself still surrounded with enemies, destitute not onlyof shelter, but nearly of resources, and with no other alternative, thanto be an indigent fugitive, a prisoner, or to try if, by being aparticipator in the crimes of his parents, he could, by the influencewhich either of them possessed with the government, procure a pardon forwhat he deemed the best action of his life, taking arms for hisSovereign.

  It was in a little village near Mold-Castle, that these reflections,combining with the effects of fatigue and hardship, produced anindisposition which confined him to the inn, and compelled him toruminate deeply on his future prospects. It was now plainly seen thatthe European courts were more disposed to form alliances with a potentUsurper, than to forward the restoration of an unfortunate Prince, towhose connexions a cold protection and scanty support were reluctantlyafforded, and even the ties of blood sacrificed to intimidation orambition. The situation of English Loyalists abroad was in every respectdeplorable. They were studiously slighted by the governments under whosewing they shel
tered, and exposed to the insults of the triumphantrepublicans, who, on the contrary, were courted and flattered.

  How greatly soever Cromwell subdued and oppressed England by hisdomestic management, like all other able tyrants, he made the nation heenslaved great and formidable by his foreign policy, using the energieswith which despotism had furnished him, to extend her commerce, andsupport her naval superiority.--Had no peculiar family-circumstancescompelled De Vallance to renounce his home, doubtless he would haveimitated the vise conduct of Agricola, who is justly celebrated "for notbeing in that class of patriots, who conceive they gain immortal glory,when by rashness they provoke their fate; but showed that, even in theworst of times, and under the most despotic ruler, it is possible forthe man of heroic fortitude to be great and good with moderation." ButDe Vallance felt he could not compound for an estate to which he had nojust title, nor reconcile himself to parents, who were stained withevery crime. Could he forget the wrongs and woes of Allan Neville; thedeath of Eustace; the mournful seclusion and daily anguish ofIsabel!--Submission to Cromwell must be combined with a sacrifice ofevery honest principle, every cherished affection of his heart. Englandtherefore afforded no rest to the sole of his foot, and if he sought thecontinent, it should be as a military hireling, not as a dependentmendicant; as one who could earn his bread, not as a supplicant, who hadno other claim to support than loyalty and indigence.

  There were many gentlemen who had emigrated to Virginia, whenhostilities terminated in 1646, who were now comfortably established asplanters; and he felt he might trust his desire of obtaining a similarsituation to his mental resources, and the energy and perseverance ofhis natural character. The new world was unstained by the contaminatingvices of the old. In a society, chiefly composed of Loyalists, he wouldnot be aggrieved by the sight of low-born insolence, trampling onhereditary greatness, nor offended by the perversions of sophists, thecant of hypocrites, and the exaltation of villains. He could there onlyendure bodily inflictions. What prevented him from thus exoneratinghimself from the severest visitations of adversity, and immediatelytransporting himself across the Atlantic? The consideration of that vastworld of waters separating him from Isabel Evellin; for though he mightno more hope to bind her to him by the tie of marriage, or even to shareher dear society, the bond of love was indissoluble. He could not removeto such a distance from her, as would make it impossible to render herany assistance. He might not be able to defend or console her; but, byremaining in England, he could suffer or die for her sake.

  Irresolution increased the depression of De Vallance; his bodilycomplaints gained ground, and Jobson too, though still an affectionate,was no longer a cheerful, companion. His spirits sunk while he was withthe King in Worcester; he predicted the loss of that battle, and theevening before his master acknowledged himself unable to proceed, hegave him to understand that he had seen a warning of his approachingdeath. Instead of rejoicing over their casual comforts, and anticipatingbetter days as he used to do, he was ever prognosticating evils, andlessening their humble comforts, by prophesying their impending loss.Even the full-frothed can and savoury luncheon lost their usual relish;it was always the last good Welsh-ale, or dried salmon, he should havein this world; and if he repeated his farewel libation, till he grewintoxicated, every draught added to his sadness. Instead of roaring outa joyous song, he fell to crying, and talked of the slaughter incidentto storming a city, instead of the brave sallies of a garrison.

  De Vallance repeatedly asked the reason of this change, and as theincrease of his indisposition confirmed Jobson in his opinion of thetruth of his conclusions, the latter thought (since his master must diesoon) he might as well own how he knew that his recovery was impossible.He then reminded him of his predictions, that the King would lose thebattle, and confessed he had received a supernatural intimation thatEngland was ruined, and the poor Loyalists quite undone.--"I would nottell Your Honour," said he, "at the time, because I know you don'tcredit such things; but I met Fido in the streets of Worcester the nightbefore it was taken by Old Noll--Mr. Eustace's own poor Fido, and I thensaid the King would be beat."

  "I never knew," replied De Vallance, "that the appearance of a dog wasoracular."

  "Well, laugh on," said Jobson, "and I wish it may do you good. But Isay, I saw him again, the night before you was taken ill, and I know bythat it is all over with you."

  The affectionate Jobson burst into tears as he spoke, while De Vallancewas extremely struck at the re-appearance of the animal. He remindedJobson that dogs were often extremely alike, and inquired how he knewthat this actually belonged to Eustace.

  "How do I know," replied he, "that I am Ralph Jobson? Why it knew me,and seemed to wag its tail; nay, made as though it would lick my hand."

  "And did you not permit him?" said De Vallance.

  The terrified trooper turned pale, and his teeth chattered with horror."I did not say that it was Fido's living self," exclaimed he; "and whatwould have become of me, had I been touched by a ghost? why my arm wouldhave withered directly. I knew a man in village that had his nose beatflat to his face, only for peeping into the belfry, while a ghost wasdancing among the bell-ropes.--No, to be sure, I flung a stone at it,and it ran away setting up a howl."

  De Vallance now laboured to convince Jobson, that admitting the realityof spectral appearances in the human form, animals were not endowed witha vital principle, capable of existing distinct from their bodies.Jobson was shocked at his master's presumptuous neglect of warnings, andhe vehemently urged the impossibility of a living dog being at Worcesterin September, and in Wales at Christmas. He stated the privilege ofspirits to take any shape; and not nicely attending to the question ofidentity, shewed from oral testimony, that they sometimes appeared as aglazed pipkin, and sometimes as the skeleton of a horse's head. Theexertion of endeavouring to enlighten wilful absurdity increased thedebility of De Vallance. Jobson's forebodings were turned intocertainties, and he walked into the church-yard to see in what spot heshould bury his master, and hoping to hear the death-watch, as a signthat he should rest beside him.

  The landlady at the little inn, where the forlorn Arthur languished,pitying the sufferings of her interesting guest, and the inactive griefof his attendant, requested she might be permitted to send for anexcellent gentleman, who was come to live in the neighbourhood, and haddone many extraordinary cures.--"You need not," said she, "feartroubling him, he takes no pay but the blessings of those he heals; andhe is said to be as useful to a wounded spirit, as he is to a diseasedbody." De Vallance was weary of life; but the soldier must not quit hispost, till his discharge be duly signed by his Commander; he yieldedtherefore to the proposal. Jobson had a rooted dislike to all doctors;but reluctance to his master's employing one was changed intoconsternation, when he saw in the benevolent volunteer-Esculapius, theDoctor Lloyd against whom he had conceived an inveterate antipathy,verily believing him capable of poisoning a patient for the sake ofconverting him into an anatomy. He rushed into his master's chamber toannounce his identity, and when he found the intelligence only increasedhis eagerness to see him, he resolved however to prevent his taking anyof his medicines.

  The diseases brought on by fatigue and distress are seldom obstinate,when resisted by youth, a good constitution, a clear conscience, and acalm judgment. Dr. Lloyd dealt in potent cordials. He possessed theessential qualities of a true friend; and the behaviour of De Vallancesoon induced him to exert his talents in that capacity. He had hardlyfelt his pulse, before he pronounced that little was necessary besidestranquillity and generous support. Arthur's heart panted with impatienceto commence a confidential intimacy; but he recollected he must inspireconfidence, before he could venture to require it. A sick stranger,languishing at a village-inn, was as likely to be the enemy as thefriend of a cause it was now dangerous to espouse. Stronglypre-possessed in favour of a man, who courageously ventured among amultitude of hostile and infuriated soldiers, avowed his attachment tothe victim they had just slaughtered, and bestowed on his corpse
thedecent sepulture they meant to deny, De Vallance felt no apprehension attrusting his own life ta such tried fidelity. He spoke of himself asfriendless, distressed, and in the utmost need of advice and protection.He declared himself to be a Loyalist, who, having engaged in the King'slast attempt, would be excepted from the expected amnesty. By this meanshe drew Dr. Lloyd into a guarded communication of his former residenceat Pembroke, and his acquaintance with Eustace Evellin. De Vallanceowned himself to be a friend to that family. He even used the wordbrother. Dr. Lloyd turned on him a significant glance, when, to justifythe claim, De Vallance drew from his bosom the letter of Isabel, andexplained the hopes that had been defeated by the death of Eustace. "Youwill not wonder," added he, "that I have a painful eagerness to knowevery circumstance of that lamentable event."

  Dr. Lloyd regarded his patient with scrutinizing attention. "You know,"said he, "that the resolute defence of Pembroke-Castle provoked theparliamentary General to adopt measures that were intended to striketerror into the King's party; and from the particular manner in whichyou apply to me, you possibly also know that, influenced by compassion,I removed the body of Eustace, and performed those offices whichfriendship required."

  The undefined, unacknowledged hopes which had floated in the mind ofArthur vanished at this reply, and as they disappeared, convinced him,that he had cherished a vain romantic illusion. A long pause ensued; DeVallance heaved a deep sigh, and asked if the noble youth was resignedto his fate.

  "Life was very dear to him," answered Dr. Lloyd, "and nowonder.--Talent, personal beauty, lively and generous feelings, thepurest sense of honour, and the noblest aspirings after fame, werecombined in his character. He loved too, and he knew himself beloved.You seem, Sir, about his age; my sensibility has been blunted by time;but I will appeal to your own susceptibility, to conceive the sensationsof his impassioned heart, when he found himself suddenly arrested in thebloom of manhood, by a summons to an ignominious death. This, too, at adistance from all his kindred, and after having sustained for manymonths the most severe warfare, and the cruellest privations. But if youask me if he discovered any unmanly weakness at this awful moment--Ianswer none. He looked and moved like a hero going to mount the car oftriumph. The lustre of his dauntless eye appalled the musketeers, whowere drawn up in the court. 'Take sure aim,' said he; 'Your commanderspares not youth and loyalty; therefore be like him, pitiless.'"

  "Detestable act, infernal massacre!" exclaimed De Vallance.--"RetributiveHeaven, I own thy justice! That murderous volley, Bellingham, slew thyson!" Dr. Lloyd clasped the clenched hands with which he seemed preparedto beat his own bosom, and requested an explanation.

  "Do not, do not," said the tortured Arthur, "believe me capable ofrepaying your kind commiseration with ingratitude, if I own myselfdescended from the most cruel and treacherous of men. The murderedEustace was rightful heir to the title and fortunes which, as the son ofBellingham, I might claim. Shall I own, though my heart recoils at theconfession, that I strongly fear a base private motive urged my fatherto select this victim, as a sacrifice to what he called publicexpedience.--Oh! Dr. Lloyd, had I never been born, had my ambitiousparents laid no base projects for my aggrandizement, the noble Eustacehad still lived."

  "My good Sir," returned the kind physician, "we must debate this point alittle. In the first place, let me assure you the lots were fairly cast.I do not justify, indeed I severely reprobate the cruel policy whichrequired the sacrifice of three victims; but it was resolved on in fullcouncil, the blame therefore is divided among all the officers. I alsoknow that Lord Bellingham committed his own safety by endeavouring topreserve the life of Eustace."

  An overwhelming load of infamy seemed, at this assurance, removed fromthe oppressed De Vallance. "Speak it again, dear worthy man, againrepeat that my father would have saved him. You know he would? You canswear to the fact? But soft--was not he supreme commander? What, then,prevented him from signing his pardon?"

  Dr. Lloyd replied--"The limited power which a general possesses overtroops, who, in obeying him, have cancelled the previous obligations ofduty and conscience. He who accepts the command of a revolutionary armyis ever fearful of being sacrificed by his own soldiers. His officemakes him the ostensible champion of liberty; but his army claim agreater licence than consists with the requisite exercise of disciplineand authority. His subordinate officers envy his supremacy; for thechain of prescriptive gradation is dissolved by the pretext ofpreferring merit; and what soldier of fortune is there who does notthink himself equal to the highest posts which his machinations andenterprize can procure. We Loyalists (for such, Sir, I now in confidenceown myself to be) have often said that Lord Bellingham was only halfwicked. He retained too much of the gentleman to practise extortion, orto connive at the rapacity by which his subalterns tried to make themost of their brief authority. He enforced discipline withoutcondescending to that familiarity and occasional indulgence which makeseverity palatable. He was an agent of the new system, trying tointroduce the manners of the old. He saw his own danger when it was toolate. He discovered that he served villains who, despising honestpraise, renounced every honourable bond of amity, to whom treachery andcruelty were become habitual; and that he commanded desperadoes, who,setting no value on their own lives, kept his in their power. Such, Sir,was the state of your father's army, and such the secret hostility ofthose for whom he fought. You may condemn his embarking in their cause,his timidity, his irresolution, his fluctuating variableness, but nothis deliberate cruelty or private malice. After Eustace had drawn thelot of death, the power of the general could not save him from an armylost to every generous feeling, and thirsting for revenge."

  To know that his father had rather been guilty of the transgressions offrail man than of the horrible enormities of a demon, was an invaluableconsolation to De Vallance. But still Eustace had fallen under thesentence of Bellingham, and himself consequently been banished fromIsabel. Dr. Lloyd interrupted his mournful reverie by inquiring whatwere his future views.

  "When you described Eustace going to execution," returned he, "youappealed to the sympathy of a heart eternally separated from the objectof a pure, cherished affection. Read that letter. Conceive it written bya woman whose beauty is her smallest praise, and then advise me how tobestow the unvalued remnant of a life which must be spent in exile fromher."

  Dr. Lloyd perused Isabel's farewel, and inquired if her brother's deathwas the only obstacle to their union.

  "Yes," replied De Vallance. "I had renounced the principles in which Iwas educated, abjured the aggrandizement and affluence which my parents'crimes had purchased; I had her promise, sanctioned by her father's fullconsent, as a reward for services I was so fortunate as to render them.We were to have fled to Holland, rich in the possession of domestichappiness and decent competence, when that fatal intelligence----"

  "Come, young gentleman," interrupted Dr. Lloyd, "you meditate toodeeply. I see you want society. The hardships you have undergone haveoverwhelmed you. I must remove you to my own cottage. I keep a cordialthere which I never trust out of my own custody. I see your disease, andknow my remedy will complete your cure."

  "Sir," returned De Vallance, "we are talking of something infinitelymore important than life. I know my disease is at present trifling, theeffect of anxiety acting too forcibly on a fatigued body. I could say itconsoles me, as a proof that my constitution will not be alwaysinvincible to the attacks of these mental agonies; and you answer thecommunications which your sympathy has extorted from me on thesoul-piercing subjects of my honour and my love, by telling me you havea nostrum that will relieve my head-aches, and ease my frame of thisdebilitating languor."

  Dr. Lloyd rose, and examined the apartment to see that there were nowitnesses; he then drew his chair close to De Vallance, and gazed on hisemotion with the delight of a healing angel commissioned to alleviatethe woes of virtue, and, grasping his hand, told him "he should seeEustace--the living Eustace," continued he. Seeing Arthur lookincredulous, "Eustace Evellin is alive,
and resides with me. Hush!suppress that burst of ecstacy; all our lives are at stake. Not evenhonest Jobson must know he lives, lest his intemperate rapture shouldbetray him."

  De Vallance was rapt in pious exultation. Exonerated from such a load ofpaternal guilt, he seemed to pray with more assured confidence of Divineprotection. His gratitude to the worthy physician exceeded the powers oflanguage. Enfeebled by indisposition, he sunk upon his bosom, called hima second father, and thanked him for a renewed and valuable existence.

  Dr. Lloyd then briefly related the circumstances of Eustace'spreservation. Either his magnanimity intimidated the executioners, orhis gallantry and beauty inspired compassion. He refused to have hisface covered, saying he feared not to look on death. The power of thehuman eye, in such circumstances, has been owned to be invincible. Thevolley was fired with unsteady aim. His fellow-sufferers fell dead. Hestood unwounded; but a momentary impulse induced him to drop besidethem, and to lie apparently lifeless, bathed in their blood. At the sameinstant his faithful spaniel rushed forward, licked his extended hand,and, with dreadful howlings, seemed to guard his remains; and themutiny, excited by the agitators, broke out among the soldiers, who weredrawn up to witness the horrid spectacle. While they clamorously accusedthe General of depriving them of their lawful right, the plunder of thetown of Pembroke, and attempting to save the cavaliers, Lloyd heroicallyand adroitly took advantage of the tumult; and, though he had no otherdesign than giving his corse decent internment, he had the transport tobe instrumental in preserving the life of his friend. He took every wiseprecaution that his miraculous escape should be a profound secret.Endeared to each other by these extraordinary circumstances, they agreednever to separate; and Dr. Lloyd removed to a spot where he was unknown,supported by the income of a small inheritance, and declining thepractice of medicine, except gratuitously among the indigent. Eustacecut off his redundant hair, stained his complexion, and otherwisedisguised his appearance; and he passed as the son of a gentleman, who,being afflicted with mental derangement, was obliged to be kept in closeretirement. Dr. Lloyd rented a neat secluded cottage; and the friendslived in decent privacy, waiting for happier times.

  De Vallance now required an explanation of Fido's being seen atWorcester; and Dr. Lloyd owned that, finding it impossible to restrainthe loyal impetuosity of Eustace, he went to that city to learn thesituation of the King, since, if there were any hopes of a prosperousissue, he had consented that they should both join the royal standard.The Doctor further added, that he feared their present comforts couldnot long continue. The surrender of the Earl of Derby's Castles hadintroduced the rebel troops into the neighbourhood; and he dreaded lestEustace should be discovered and recognized. They therefore meditated avoyage to Virginia; and the plan was now suspended by the anxiety ofEustace to hear some tidings from his kindred, and to acquaint them withhis situation. The impossibility of sending intelligence of suchimportance by a public conveyance, in times when the letters and actionsof royalists were subjected to the most vigilant scrutiny; and thehazard and difficulty of forwarding it by a private hand had longprevented him from having any correspondence with his family; nor did heknow the anguish his supposed murder had cost them. In those times ofcivil contention the dearest relatives were often long ignorant of eachother's fate. So numerous were the instances of cruelty, so multipliedthe tales of wo, that they wearied and confused the reciter. Manyparents believed their sons safe in a foreign country, who, at last theyfound, had long since perished in some obscure skirmish, where valourbled unshaded by its deserved laurels. Others, who had lamented thedeath of their dearest relations, received them back at the King'srestoration, as if they had risen from their tombs. The necessity ofextreme caution, the frequency of assumed names and personal disguises,and the insecurity and infrequency of written communications,obliterated the traces of identity. Among the less evils of civil war,dividing the ties and preventing the connecting intercourse of sociallife must be enumerated; and what opinion must those who rejoice in theconversation of a present friend, or open, with trembling delight, aletter from an absent one, form of a nation convulsed by furiousdiscord, when the privation of these blessings is ranked only among itssmaller calamities!

  De Vallance had, that evening, the infinite transport of folding Eustaceto his heart, in the comfortable asylum where the worthy Doctor Lloydconcealed the hope of an illustrious house, the noble victim of adversefortune. The generous youths pledged the vows of mutual and perpetualfriendship. Conversing with all the confidence of brothers, Arthuracquainted Eustace with the early history of their family, and his owndetermination never to reap the fruits of his parents' misdeeds. He toldhim how Isabel had preserved his life; related the gradual change of hispolitical principles--their mutual attachment--her heroical devotednessto her proscribed father--the meek magnanimity and active piety of Dr.Beaumont--the arrival of Jobson--the agony of Colonel Evellin--and thedeep anguish of Constantia; concluding with his own banishment fromRibblesdale, and the apparent extinction of his dearest hopes. To knowthat his youthful errors were not only pardoned, but that he was so dearand constant an object of regret to those he fondly adored, gave theheart of Eustace those alternations of exquisite delight and painfulanxiety which distinguish generous and exalted minds from the coldequanimity of selfish apathy. Misery had often made him wish to beforgotten by all he loved; but no sooner did his misfortunes wear a lesssombre hue, than his expanding heart cherished the hope that othersbeside himself rejoiced in the suspension of his misfortunes. He couldnot endure the thought of suffering these beloved objects to languish indespair on his account; and he determined to trust to his disguise, andimmediately pay a visit to Lancashire. But Dr. Lloyd was too chary ofthe treasure he had so faithfully preserved, to intrust him to his ownkeeping. De Vallance and Eustace were both obnoxious to the rulingpowers by having borne arms for the King; and he insisted on theircontinuing concealed in his Welsh cottage, while himself went to consultDr. Beaumont upon their future measures. Emigration to America was afavourite project with all. It was hoped means might be found to removeColonel Evellin; and the lovers allowed their imagination to form atransatlantic paradise, where, with their Constantia and Isabel, theymight enjoy the halcyon blessings of domestic happiness, after havingbeen so cruelly harassed by the storms of war. De Vallance did not nowthink it impossible to be reconciled to his father, or unlawful to usehis mother's interest with Cromwell to procure a pardon for ColonelEvellin, whose incurable infirmities prevented his being an object ofterror. Sometimes, with the sanguine confidence of a mind raised fromabsolute despair, he fancied a family-reconciliation might be effected;but he submitted to the prudence of Dr. Lloyd's advice, that every stepmust be taken with extreme caution, and dispositions sounded beforediscoveries should be hazarded.

  The affectionate heart of Eustace would not allow that any one shouldsuffer the misery of suspense on his account; and he pleaded soearnestly that Jobson might be allowed to see him, that Dr. Lloydyielded, on the condition that the honest trooper should go with him toLancashire, knowing that his exuberant transport might not be trusted inthe neighbourhood where Eustace was concealed. The terror of Jobson atDe Vallance's removing to the house of the supposed indefatigableanatomist was hardly relieved by seeing him return, next morning,looking well and happy. But an invitation from the Doctor to visit hiscottage and see his curiosities absolutely petrified him; and he vowedhe had rather see Old Noll charge at the head of Hazlerig's lobstersthan dead men rattling their own bones, or poor innocent childrenswimming in pickle like witches in a pond. Winking on De Vallance with alook of significance, he said, "You do not know so much of this Doctoras I do; for though the whole country talks of his cures, they own heshuts himself up as if he dealt with the devil, and walks about with amelancholy gentleman who is haunted with a familiar spirit." Arthurengaged him in conversation till they imperceptibly approached theDoctor's cottage, when he first assured him of the actual existence ofFido, whom he was to be permitted to take to Constantia; and thench
anged incredulous astonishment to frantic joy, by pointing out theliving Eustace advancing to embrace him. Jobson screamed, capered,tossed his cap into the air, clung round his former master's neck, thendropped on his knees, prayed, sobbed, and laughed, almost in the sameinstant. His gratitude and affection for Dr. Lloyd was somewhat allayedby his envying him the happiness of preserving Eustace, whom, heacknowledged, he loved the best of all his masters, begging De Vallanceto pardon him for saying so. Yet his regard for the amiable physicianwas mingled with some degree of terror; and it was not till he wasassured that he did not travel with any stuffed monsters, or relics froma gibbet, that he could heartily rejoice at the prospect of telling Mrs.Isabel that her lover and brother were sworn friends, of drying thetears of pretty Mrs. Constance, and of seeing the old Colonel withoutbeing hated as the bearer of ill news. But on carefully examining thewallet which Dr. Lloyd prepared for the journey, and ascertaining that,instead of astrological calculations and scalping knives, it containedonly comforts and necessaries, Jobson, with renewed courage and joyousexpectations, set out to accompany him on a delightful errand toRibblesdale.