Waving his conq'ring steele, as if that he
From Mars had got the sole monopolie
Of never-failing courage; and so cheare
His fighting men!

Farewell, beloved in parliament and field
Farewell thy souldiers' faithfull broken shield!"

Soon after the death of Hampden the armies of the Puritans were again successful under the leadership of that wonderful man Oliver Cromwell, to whose military genius was owing the triumph of the popular cause.*

Had Charles the First succeeded in crushing the parliament, in taxing his subjects at his own discretion, and in forcing upon them forms of worship to which a large number of them were opposed from principle, the liberties of England would have perished.

John Milton was, by his writings, a most powerful advocate in the cause of civil and religious liberty during this so important period of English history.

* Among the other men of this age, distinguished in the House of Commons for their ability and patriotism were Sir John Elliot, John Pym, Henry Marten and Sir Harry Vane.

The protectorate of Cromwell during which England was the first power in Europe, was only justifiable on the supposition that that country was not then prepared for a republican government and that had such been instituted it could have lasted but a short time, and would have caused further bloodshed.

3

In such words as these, with a sort of prophetic sorrow, he closes his "Second Defense of the People.'

"As for myself to whatever state things may re

turn,

I have performed, and certainly with good will, I hope not in vain, the service which I thought would be of most use to the commonwealth.

"It is not before our doors alone that I have borne my arms in defence of liberty. I have wielded them in a field so wide that the justice of those which are no vulgar deeds, shall be explained and vindicated alike to foreign nations and our own countrymen. If after achievements so magnanimous, ye basely fall from your duty, if ye are guilty of any thing unworthy of you, be assured posterity will speak, and thus pronounce its judgment."

Too soon were the fears of the immortal poet, and friend of his race realized.t In the reign of

* Mitford's Life of Milton.

"The Habeas Corpus act passed by parliament in the reign of Charles II. was very important for the security of personal liberty. By this act every prisoner must be brought before a judge, the cause of his detainer certified, and the judge is authorized and bound to discharge him if the cause of his imprisonment be insufficient or invalid. The violation of this statute is punishable by the highest penalties."— Tytler's History.

“The twenty-sixth of May, 1679, is a great era in our history. For on that day the Habeas Corpus Act received. the royal assent. From the time of the great charter, the substantive law respecting the personal liberty of Englishmen had been nearly the same as at present; but it had been inefficacious for want of a stringent system of procedure.

Charles the Second, the elevated spirit which actuated the previous generation seems for a time to have departed. That dissolute and contemptible monarch often governed with the assistance of corrupt ministers, dishonorable magistrates and brutal judges. Sir Matthew Hale, however, was an honorable exception. The people, weary of war, allowed those who would gladly have roused them from their lethargy to be led to the scaffold.

The noble patriot who had continually before his mind a glorious vision of a state where there was equality and freedom, of a republic foreshadowed by Greece and Rome, but possessing all the elements of lasting greatness, Algernon Sydney, and that other whose highest ambition it was to preserve unimpaired and strengthened the constitution of his country, and to have a limited monarchy, Lord Russel, were both executed for treason. Sir Harry Vane also suffered death upon the scaffold on account of the prominent part he had taken in the great rebellion.*

What was needed was not a new right, but a prompt and searching remedy, and such a remedy the Habeas Corpus act supplied. The king would gladly have refused his consent to that measure; but he was about to appeal from his parliament to his people on the question of the succession; and he could not venture, at so critical a moment, to reject a bill which was in the highest degree popular!"-Macaulay's History of England.

* "Speaking of the Covenanters of Scotland, who endured

James the Second's reign was even more foolish and wicked than that of his brother.* By constantly encroaching upon the rights of his subjects, and by openly espousing Catholicism, he entirely lost their affections, and finally and, most fortunately for them, by his voluntary and ridiculous flight he opened the

everything in this reign for the sake of religious liberty, Macaulay says: "Driven from the towns, they assembled on heaths and mountains. Attacked by the civil power, they without scruple repelled force by force. At every conventicle they mustered in arms. They repeatedly broke out into open rebellion. They were easily defeated and mercilessly punished; but neither defeat nor punishment could subdue their spirit. Hunted down like wild beasts, tortured till their bones were beaten flat, imprisoned by hundreds, hanged by scores, exposed at one time to the license of soldiers from England, abandoned at another time to the mercy of bands of marauders from the highlands, they still stood at bay in a mood so savage that the boldest and mightiest oppressor could not but dread the audacity of their despair."

* "He who had expressed just indignation when the priests of his own faith were hanged and quartered, amused himself with hearing Covenanters shriek and seeing them writhe while their knees were beaten flat in the boots. In this mood he became king, and he immediately demanded and obtained from the obsequious estates of Scotland, as the surest pledge of their loyalty, the most sanguinary law that has ever in our islands been enacted against Protestant Nonconformists.

"With this law the whole spirit of his administration was in perfect harmony. The fiery persecution which had raged when he ruled Scotland as Vicegerent, waxed hotter than ever from the day on which he became sovereign.”—Macaulay's History of England.

way for that bloodless but most important revolution by which he lost the throne. It was immediately ascended by William of Orange and Mary the daughter of James, and a new era at once commenced.*

Parliament now established on a firm foundation those principles of freedom which are the glory of the English Constitution, William signing with pleasure that new Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, which permanently secured the liberties of the people.

He may therefore be regarded as the great friend and defender of civil and religious liberty in England at this most important period. During the reigns

* "On inviting William and Mary to the throne which had been vacated by James II. the parliament found themselves in a situation to make conditions, and they availed themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them of giving something like a definite form to the constitution. The following important restrictions were accordingly adopted, and have since been incorporated with the fundamental principles of the government of England. 1. The monarch must be of the Protestant faith. 2. The prerogative of the sovereign cannot allow him to suspend the laws, nor interfere with their execution. 3. The monarch cannot levy money, without the consent of parliament. 4. A standing army cannot be kept up in time of peace, without the consent of parliament. 5. The subjects have a right at all times to petition the crown. 6. Parliament must be frequently assembled. 7. The monarch must not interfere with the elections. 8. Perfect freedom of speech in debate must at all times be allowed to the members of parliament."-R. G. Parker.