horse which had borne him, starting up, approached close to the body of its master, and, putting its head to where he lay; by a long wild neigh seemed at once to express its sorrow, and to claim assistance.

"If it be Essex or Manchester, Fairfax or Cromwell, we must render him aid, Margaret," said the mother; "never must it be said that friend or enemy needed help at my door and did not meet it. Call up the hind's-boy, Bridget: open the door, and bring in yon fallen

Her commands were speedily fulfilled; for though brought low in her estate, the Lady Herrick was not one to suffer herself to be disobeyed. The stranger was lifted from the ground, placed in a chair, and carried into the house. His eyes were closed; and it was evident to the elder lady, as she held the canIdle to his face, that, if not killed, he was completely stunned by his fall. He was a hardfeatured man, with short grizzled hair, and a heavy determined brow, on which the lines of habitual thought remained, even in the state of stupor into which he had fallen. He was broadly made and muscular, though not corpulent, and was above the middle size without being tall. His dress consisted of a dark gray coat, which clove to him with the familiar ease of an old servant, and a brown cloak, which, in truth, had lost much of its freshness in his service. Above his coat had been placed a complete cuirass, the adjustment of which betrayed great symptoms of haste: and by his side he wore one of those long heavy blades of plain steel which had often been the jest of the Cavaliers.

His head was uncovered either by hat or morion, and the expanse of his forehead, the only redeeming point in his countenance, was thus fully displayed. The rest of his face was not only coarse in itself, but bad in its expression; and when, after some cold water had been thrown over it, he revived in a degree, and looked round, the large, shrewd, unsatisfactory eyes which he turned upon those about him, had nothing in them to prepossess the mind in his favour.

The moment that consciousness had fully returned, he made an effort to start upon his feet, but instantly sunk back again into the chair, exclaiming, "The Lord hath smitten me, yet must I gird up my loins and go, lest I fall into captivity."

"Fear not, fear not!" replied Lady Herrick, whose humanity was somewhat chivalrous, "you are in safety here: wait for a while till you are better able to mount, and then get

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you gone, in God's name, for I seek not to foster Roundheads more than may be. Yet stay till you can ride," she added, seeing his hand again grasp the chair, as if to rise, "women should know no enemies in the hurt and wounded."

"Nay, but, worthy lady," replied the Par liamentarian, "should the crew of the Moabitish General Goring follow me even here to smite me hip and thigh, as they have vowed to do to all who bear arms for godliness' sake, or to bear me away captive—”

"Fear not, fear not!" answered the lady, "none should dare, by my hearth's side, to lay hands on one that common mercy bade me take in and shelter-fear not, I say-that is right, Margaret," she added, seeing her daughter pour some wine into a glass for the use of the stranger, "take that, it will revive you, and give you strength to speed on."

"Hast thou caught the stranger's horse, Dickson?" she demanded, turning to the boy who had aided in bringing in the Commonwealth-man, and who now re-entered the room after a momentary absence.

"He is caught and made fast below," replied the lad, "and here are my young master and Master Henry Lisle coming up from the court. They have beaten the Roundheads, and killed Colonel Cromwell, and taken his whole army prisoners!"

Scarcely had he time to pour forth this rapid tide of news when the door was thrown open, and two young Cavaliers, in broad hats and plumes, followed one another rapidly in, each taking with the lips of the two ladies that dear liberty consecrated to intimacy and affection. "Welcome, welcome, my gallant son!" cried the mother, as she held the first to her bosom.

"My own dear Margaret!" whispered the young gentleman who had followed, as he took the unresisting kiss which welcomed him back from danger and strife; but further gratulations of all kinds were suddenly stopped, as the eyes of the two Cavaliers fell upon the stranger, who had now recovered strength to rise from his scat, and was anxiously looking towards the door beyond them.

"Who in the devil's name have we here?" cried Sir George Herrick, "what crop-eared villain is this?"

In vain his mother explained, and strove to pacify him. The sight of one of the rebels raised again in his bosom all the agitating fury of the fight in which he had been just engaged; and neither the prayers of his mother or his sister, the promise they had made to the stranger or their remonstrances to himself,

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The stranger said not a word; but bit his nether lip, and calmly drawing his tuck, retreated into one corner of the room, keeping a keen fixed eye upon the young Cavalier who strode on towards him. Margaret, seeing that all persuasion was vain with her brother, turned her imploring eyes to Henry Lisle, who instantly laid his hand upon his companion's cloak. "What now?" exclaimed the other, turning sharp upon him.

"This must not be, George," replied the Cavalier.

"Must not be!" thundered Sir George Herrick, "but it shall be! Who shall stay me?"

"Your own better reason and honour, I trust," replied the other. "Hear me-but hear me, Herrick! Your lady mother promised this fellow safety to stay and to go; and upon her promise alone-she says he stayed. Had that promise not been given we should not have found him here. Will you slay a man by your own hearth, who put confidence in your mother's word! Fie, fie! let him go! We have slain enough this night to let one rebel escape, were he the devil himself!"

Sir George Herrick glared round for a moment in moody silence, and then put up his sword. "Well," said he at length, "if he stayed but on her promise, let him take himself away. He will grace the gibbet some other day. But do not let me see him move across the room," he added, with a look of disgust, "or I shall run my blade through him whether I will or not."

"Come, fellow, get thee gone!" said Henry Lisle, "I will see thee depart:" and while his companion fixed his eyes with stern intensity upon the fireplace, as if not to witness the escape of the Roundhead, he led him out of the chamber to the outer door.

The stranger moved forward with a firm calm step, keeping his naked sword still in his hand, and making no comment on the scene in which he had been so principal a performer. As he passed through the room, however, he kept a wary glance upon Sir George Herrick; but the moment he quitted it he seemed more at ease, and paused quietly at the door while the boy brought forward his charger. During that pause he turned no unfriendly look upon

whether

"No thanks are needed," interrupted Henry Lisle, cutting across what promised to be one of the long harangues habitual with the fanatics of that day, "no thanks are needed for safety that is grudgingly awarded. I tell thee plainly, that had it not been for the lady's promise, I would willingly have aided in hanging thee with my own hands; and when next we two meet face to face, we shall not part till the lifeblood of one or other mark our meeting-place!"

"It may be so, if such be God's will," replied the Parliamentarian, "and now I pray the Lord to give me strength that I may never be found slack to do the work appointed me!"

"Thou hast never been so yet, though it be the work of the evil one," answered Henry Lisle, and then added, "I know thee, though none else here does, or it had fared harder with thee in despite of all promises."

"Thou knowest me!" said the stranger, without testifying any great surprise, "then thou doest the better deed in Israel: and I will trust, notwithstanding thy present malignancy, that the day of grace may yet come to thee. Farewell!"

Thus saying, he put his foot in the stirrup, and mounting somewhat heavily the horse which was now brought up for him, rode away across the common.

[Want of space compels us to omit the details of the second scene. As the reader will have surmised, the succored Puritan was Oliver Cromwell. On the day that, with solemn pomp, he was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Henry Lisle, a relic of the defeated and scattered Royalists, lay in the Tower of London convicted of treason and awaiting the headsman's block. In the agony of despair, Lady Herrick sought Cromwell, and by the memory of that night when his own life was protected in her house, she gained the life of him, who was not only her daughter's husband, but a tender son to her in the place of the one that had fallen in battle.]

SIR GILES OVERREACH.

[Philip Massinger, born at Salisbury, 1584; died in London, March, 1639. Dramatist. Educated at Oxford. The historian Hallam says: "Massinger as a tragic writer appears to me second only to Shakspeare; in the higher comedy I can hardly think him inferior to Jonson." He wrote many plays in conjunction with Fletcher and others; and thirty-seven were entirely his own productions. Of these all save nineteen were destroyed by a stupid servant who used the MSS. for lighting fires. The first collected edition of Massinger's plays was prepared by William Gifford; and a new edition from Gifford's text was issued in 1870 by Lieut. Col. F. Cunningham (Warne & Co.) The Virgin Martyr: The Duke of Milan; The Bondman; The Maid of Honour; The Fatal Dowry: The City Madam; A Very Woman; The Bashful Lover; and A New Way to Pay Old Debts-from which the following passages are taken -are the most important of the plays still in existence.]

[Sir Giles Overreach is a cruel extortioner who has helped to ruin his prodigal nephew Frank Wellborn. The latter obtains the assistance of a rich widow, Lady Allworth, to deceive his uncle, who, fancying that Wellborn is about to wed the lady, refills the spendthrift's coffers. At the same time Overreach is eager to marry his daughter Margaret to Lord Lovell. Lovell appears to favour the match, but only does so in order to secure Margaret's hand for his page and friend Tom Allworth. Justice Greedy is a creature of the usurer's, but has no thought beyond his stomach; Marrall, an attorney, is another of Overreach's tools, but betrays him in the end, and helps to bring about his discomfiture.]

SCENE-A Room in LADY ALLWORTH's House.

Enter LORD LOVELL and ALLWORTH.

Lov. 'Tis well; give me my cloak; I now discharge you

From further service: mind your own affairs,

I hope they will prove successful.

All. What is blest

With your good wish, my lord, cannot but prosper.
Let aftertimes report, and to your honour,
How much I stand engaged, for I want language
To speak my debt; yet if a tear or two
Of joy, for your much goodness, can supply
My tongue's defects, I could-

Lov. Nay, do not melt:

This ceremonial thanks to me's superfluous.
Over. [within.] Is my lord stirring?

Lov. 'Tis he! oh, here's your letter: let him in.

Enter OVERREACH, GREEDY, and MARRALL.

Over. A good day to my lord!
Lov. You are an early riser,
Elr Giles.

Over. And reason, to attend your lordship.
Lov. And you, too, master Greedy, up so soon!
Greedy. In troth, my lord, after the sun is up,

I cannot sleep, for I have a foolish stomach

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That croaks for breakfast. With your lordship's

favour,

I have a serious question to demand
Of my worthy friend Sir Giles.

Lov. Pray you use your pleasure.

Greedy. How far, Sir Giles, and pray you answer me Upon your credit, hold you it to be

From your manor-house, to this of my lady Allworth's? Over. Why, some four mile.

Greedy. How! four mile, good Sir Giles—

Upon your reputation, think better;
For if you do abate but one half-quarter
of five, you do yourself the greatest wrong
That can be in the world; for four miles riding,
Could not have raised so huge an appetite
As I feel gnawing on me.

Mar. Whether you ride,

Or go afoot, you are that way still provided,
An it please your worship.

Over. How now, sirrahı? prating

Before my lord! no difference! Go to my nephew,
See all his debts discharged, and help his worship
To fit on his rich suit.

Toss'd like a dog still!
Mar. I may fit you too.

Lov. I have writ this morning

[Aside, and exit.

A few lines to my mistress, your fair daughter.
Over. "Twill fire her, for she's wholly yours already :-
Sweet master Allworth, take my ring; 'twill carry you
To her presence, I dare warrant you; and there plead
For my good lord, if yon shall find occasion.
That done, pray ride to Nottingham, get a license,
Still by this token. I'll have it dispatch'd,
And suddenly, my lord, that I may say,
My honourable, nay, right honourable daughter.
Greedy. Take my advice, young gentleman, get your
breakfast;

"Tis unwholesome to ride fasting: I'll eat with you,
And eat to purpose.

Over. Some Fury's in that gut:

Hungry again! did you not devour, this morning,

A shield of brawn, and a barrel of Colchester oysters? Greedy. Why, that was, sir, only to scour my stomach,

A kind of a preparative. Come, gentleman,

I will not have you feed like the hangman of Flushing,

Alone, while I am here.

Lov. Haste your return.

All. I will not fail, my lord.

Greedy. Nor I, to line

My Christmas coffer.

[Exeunt GREEDY and ALLWORTH

Over. To my wish: we are private.

I come not to make offer with my daughter

A certain portion, that were poor and trivial:

In one word, I pronounce all that is mine,

In lands or leases, ready coin or goods,

With her, my lord, comes to you; nor shall you have One motive, to induce you to believe

I live too long, since every year I'll add
Something unto the heap, which shall be yours too.

Lov. You are a right kind father.
Over. You shall have reason

To think me such. How do you like this seat?
It is well wooded, and well water'd, the acres
Fertile and rich; would it not serve for change,
To entertain your friends in a summer progress?
What thinks my noble lord?

Lov. 'Tis a wholesome air,

And well-built pile; and she that's mistress of it, Worthy the large revenue.

Over. She the mistress!

It may be so for a time: but let my lord
Say only that he likes it, and would have it,
I say, ere long 'tis his.

Lov. Impossible.

Over. You do conclude too fast, not knowing me, Nor the engines that I work by. "Tis not alone The lady Allworth's lands, for those once Wellborn's, (As by her dotage on him I know they will be,) Shall soon be mine; but point out any man's In all the shire, and say they lie convenient, And useful for your lordship, and once more I say aloud, they are yours.

Lov. I dare not own

What's by unjust and cruel means extorted;
My fame and credit are more dear to me,
Than so to expose them to be censured by
The public voice.

Over. You run, my lord, no hazard.
Your reputation shall stand as fair,
In all good men's opinions, as now;

Nor can my actions, though condemn'd for ill,
Cast any foul aspersion upon yours.
For, though I do contemn report myself,
As a mere sound, I still will be so tender
Of what concerns you, in all points of honour,
That the immaculate whiteness of your fame,
Nor your unquestioned integrity,
Shall e'er be sullied with one taint or spot
That may take from your innocence and candour.
All my ambition is to have my daughter
Right honourable, which my lord can make her:
And might I live to dance upon my knee
A young lord Lovell, born by her unto you,
I write nil ultra to my proudest hopes.
As for possessions, and annual rents,
Equivalent to maintain you in the port
Your noble birth, and present state requires,
I do remove that burthen from your shoulders,
And take it on mine own; for, though I ruin
The country to supply your riotous waste,
The scourge of prodigals, want, shall never find you.
Lov. Are you not frighted with the imprecations
And curses of whole families, made wretched
By your sinister practices?

Over. Yes, as rocks are,

When foamy billows split themselves against Their flinty ribs; or as the moon is moved,

When wolves, with hunger pined, howl at her bright

ness.

I am of a solid temper, and, like these,

Steer on, a constant course: with mine own sword,
If call'd into the field, I can make that right,
Which fearful enemies murmur'd at as wrong.
Now, for these other piddling complaints
Breath'd out in bitterness; as when they call me
Extortioner. tyrant, cormorant, or intruder
On my poor neighbour's right, or grand incloser
Of what was common, to my private use;
Nay, when my ears are pierced with widows' cries,
And undone orphans wash with tears my threshold,

I only think what 'tis to have my daughter
Right honourable; and 'tis a powerful charm
Makes me insensible of remorse, or pity,
Or the least sting of conscience.

Lov. I admire

The toughness of your nature.

Over. 'Tis for you,

My lord, and for my daughter, I am marble;
Nay more, if you will have my character
In little, I enjoy more true delight,

In my arrival to my wealth these dark

And crooked ways, than you shall e'er take pleasure In spending what my industry hath compass'd.

My haste commands me hence; in one word, therefore, Is it a match?

Lov. I hope, that is past doubt now.

Over. Then rest secure; not the hate of all mankind here,

Nor fear of what can fall on me hereafter,
Shall make me study aught but your advancement
One story higher: an earl! if gold can do it.
Dispute not my religion, nor my faith;
Though I am borne thus headlong by my will,
You may make choice of what belief you please,
To me they are equal; so, my lord, good morrow. [Exit.

Lov. He's gone-I wonder how the earth can bear
Such a portént! I, that have lived a soldier,
And stood the enemy's violent charge undaunted,
To hear this blasphemous beast am bath'd all over
In a cold sweat: yet, like a mountain, he
(Confirm'd in atheistical assertions)

Is no more shaken than Olympus is
When angry Boreas loads his double head
With sudden drifts of snow.

[The means which Overreach has taken to effect the speedy and secret narriage of his daughter to Lord Lovell, enable Margaret and Allworth to become man and wife.]

Enter ALLWORTH and MARGARET.

Marg. Sir, first your pardon, then your blessing, with

Your full allowance of the choice I have made.
As ever you could make use of your reason, [Kneeling.
Grow not in passion; since you may as well
Call back the day that's past, as untie the knot

Which is too strongly fasten'd: not to dwell Too long on words, this is my husband.

Over. How!

All. So I assure you; all the rights of marriage, With every circumstance, are past. Alas. sir, Although I am no lord, but a lord's page,

Your daughter and my loved wife mourus not for it; And, for right honourable son-in-law, you may say, Your dutiful daughter.

Over. Devil! are they married?

And only spends itself, I'll quit the place: Alone I can do nothing; but I have servants, And friends to second me; and if I make not This house a heap of ashes, (by my wrongs,

What I have spoke I will make good!) or leave Oue throat uncut,-if it be possible,

Hell, add to my afflictions!

Mar. Is't rot brave sport?

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[Brit.

Greedy. Brave sport? I am sure it has ta'en away my stomach;

them joy!

Or thou art dead.

Willdo. They are married.

Over. Thou hadst better

Have made a contract with the king of fiends, Than these:-my brain turns!

Willdo. Why this rage to me ?

Is not this your letter, sir, and these the words? Marry her to this gentleman.

Over. It cannot

Nor will I e'er believe it, 'sdeath! I will not;
That I, that, in all passages I touch'd
At worldly profit, have not left a print
Where I have trod, for the most curious search
To trace my footsteps, should be gull'd by children,
Baffled and fool'd, and all my hopes and labours
Defeated, and made void.

Well. As it appears,

You are so, my grave uncle.

Over. Village nurses

Revenge their wrongs with curses; I'll not waste
A syllable, but thus I take the life
Which, wretched, I gave to thee.

[Attempts to kill MARGARET.

Lov. (coming forward.] Hold, for your own sake! Though charity to your daughter hath quite left you, Will you do an act, though in your hopes lost here, Can leave no hope for peace or rest hereafter? Consider; at the best you are but a man, And cannot so create your aims, but that They may be cross'd.

Ocer. Lord! thus I spit at thee,

And at thy counsel; and again desire thee,

And as thou art a soldier, if thy valour

Dares shew itself, where multitude and example

Lead not the way, let's quit the house, and change

Six words in private.

Lov. I am ready.

L. All Stay, sir,

Contest with one distracted!

Well. You'll grow like him,

Should you answer his vain challenge.

Over. Are you pale?

Borrow his help, though Hercules call it odds,

I'll stand against both as I am, hemm'd in thus.

Since, like a Libyan lion in the toil,

My fury cannot reach the coward hunters,

L. All. His threats move me

No scruple, madam.

Mar. Was it not a rare trick,

An it please your worship, to make the deed nothing?

I can do twenty neater, if you please

To purchase and grow rich; for I will be
Such a solicitor and steward for you,

As never worshipful had.

Well, I do believe thee;

But first discover the quaint means you used
To raze out the conveyance?

Mar. They are mysteries

Not to be spoke in public: certain minerals
Incorporated in the ink and wax.-

Besides, he gave me nothing, but still fed me
With hopes and blows; and that was the inducement
To this conundrum. If it please your worship
To call to memory, this mad beast once caused ine
To urge you, or to drown or hang yourself;
I'll do the like to him, if you command me.

Well. You are a rascal! he that dares be false
To a master, though unjust, will ne'er be true
To any other. Look not for reward

Or favour from me; I will shun thy sight
As I would do a-basilisk's: thank my pity,

If thou keep thy ears; howe'er, I will take order
Your practice shall be silenced.