effects of it, as was ever observed in any age; a war as cruel as unnatural, that has produced as much rage of swords, as much bitterness of pens, both public and private, as was ever known; and divided the understandings of men, as well as their affections, in so high a degree, that scarce could any virtue gain due applause, any union give satisfaction, or any relation obtain credit, unless amongst men of the same side. It were, therefore, a presumptuous madness to think that this poor and weak discourse, which can deserve no applause from either side, shall obtain from both so much as pardon; or that they should here meet in censure, which in nothing else have concurred."

That species of national vanity which feeds and exalts itself at the expense of other nations, conceived to be less favoured by Providence, or less worthy of its favour, deserves, perhaps, no greater commendation than a similar exercise of the same faculty in individuals would merit. There are points, however, which will arise, both in the cases of individuals and of nations, where comparison is alike unavoidable, and not to be censured; and, of all public events of this nature, the Revolutions, of England in the seventeenth, and of France in the eighteenth, century, are those which most forcibly impel, and most triumphantly justify, the proudest estimate of superiority. The one was distinguished by the constant semblance, and by the general observance,-the other, by the utter disregard, and most profligate contempt and abandonment,of law, and of all social and moral restraint. It would be both curious and profitable to pursue this line of inquiry through all its ramifications, and the result would afford, in every instance, a like cause of honest gratification: but our present business is with the financial part of the system; and here we apprehend, that nothing can more distinctly mark the national character, than the regular and consistent method of proceeding adopted by our victorious parliament with regard to its humble adversaries, compared with the forced and arbitrary confiscations, and exterminating massacres, of the club governments of Paris. For the principles by which the measures of our commonwealth rulers were directed to be regulated, we have only to refer to those ordinances of which an outline has already been given; but for the mode and spirit of the execution, the most direct historical evidence is afforded by that vast and (until very lately) undigested mass of documents collected at the State-paper office, under the title of "Royalist Composition Papers," the bare knowledge of the existence of which, we imagine to be sufficient to prevent any future historian of those times from pretending to the execution of his task without the previous inspection of them. It may be safely assumed,

that the liberality of government will not refuse access, under proper regulations, whenever sought for so important an object.

For the purpose of biographical illustration, we will leave it to be inferred, from a single instance with which we have been favoured, how much may be gathered from a diligent inspection of these singularly interesting documents. It is the case of Inigo Jones, the celebrated architect-of whom all we learn from his present biographers, with relation to his sufferings from sequestration, is, that, having acquired a handsome fortune under the royal favour, it was subsequently much impaired by his losses during the rebellion-" for, as he had a share in his royal master's prosperity, so he had a share too in his ruin."-To which is added, that, "during the usurpation, he was constrained to pay £545, by way of composition for his estate as a malignant."-(See Chalm. Biog. Dict. vol. 19.)

The following entry in the books of the Committee of Sequestrations, will not only supply what is deficient, but correct some important errors, in this commonly received statement; as it will appear from it, that his fine, which was originally assessed at £557. 18s. 5d., being the rate of onetenth upon the amount of his property, as delivered in by him, was increased, upon his own voluntary offer, to £1000, which latter sum appears to have been accepted as in full discharge of all future demands, whether by reason of concealment of property, or of grounds of delinquency not apparent on the face of his submission, does not very clearly appear-although it may, we think, be inferred that a favour was intended to be done him by the acceptance.

"Inigo Jones, of London, Esq.

"His delinquency that he absented from his dwelling-house in Scotland Yard, by Whitehall, for about three years past, but hath never been in the king's quarters by all this time, as he deposeth, but in the parliament quarters, and is a very aged infirm man, scarce able to walk abroad.

"He hath taken the national covenant before William Barton, minister of John Zacharyes, London, the 10th of April, 1645, and the negative oath here the same day.

"He compounds upon a particular delivered in under his hand, by which he doth submit to such fine, &c.; and by which it doth appear,

"That he is possessed of a certain messuage or tenement, with the appurtenances, new built, upon the north-west corner of a certain court called Scotland Yard, by Whitehall, in the county of Middlesex; holden by demise from one Elizabeth Bazill, late of Blackfriars, London, widow, for the remainder of a term of forty-one years, beginning

the 20th of January, 1630; whereupon £16. rent per annum is reserved, which was before the troubles over and above the rent reserved £30-for which his fine at two years is £60.

"There is owing to him in debts from the king and queen's majesties £2090. 2s. 9d., and other debts from other persons, mentioned in his particular, £168.

"He is possessed of goods and mathematical instruments, which he valueth to be worth £700; and saith, that he left in ready money and plate, in a friend's hands of his, when he left this city, to the value of £2000 and upwards, which he saith is questionable whether he shall get it again into his hands or not; all which estate last mentioned amounteth unto the sum of £4958. 11s. 6d. For which his fine, at a tenth, is £495. 18s. 6d.

"So his whole fine is £557. 18s. 5d.

"But he saith and confesseth, that in regard he did proffer unto Sir Henry Vane, sen. that, forasmuch as he hath no issue, and so as his sequestration may be taken off, and he may be cleared from paying any five-and-twentieth, &c., that then he would pay in £1000. for to have these discharges; he is yet ready to hold his word, and pay so much in the whole, so as he may be discharged, as he hath now again offered.

"Resolution of the Committee.

"Fine-£1000. He offers it."

Our next specimen of delinquency shall be taken from a no less celebrated personage, whose fame has recently been revived and adorned with all the graces of poetical imagery, in, one-certainly not the least admirable-of the historical romances of the author of Waverley-the heroic Countess of Derby. The reader (and who is not the reader?) of Peveril of the Peak, will thank us for the illustration.

"A charge of delinquency exhibited against the Countess of Derby, before the commissioners for advance, by Robert Massie, of Warrington.

"That the said countess was in the Isle of Man with her husband (now in arms, &c.) on or about the 30th of June last; and within a short time she went from thence to the Scots king-and that the said countess did, when Captain Bradshaw (who was a commander under the Earl of Derby,) brought divers prisoners of the parliament's side into the said Isle, blame the said Captain Bradshaw, that he did not cast those prisoners overboard and drown them; for that they were traitors and rebels, (meaning, in regard to their king,) and that they came from a rebellious place, (to wit, Liverpool,) being bound for Carrickfergus, in Ireland. Allowed, 2d Jan. 1650."

The fairest and most impartial method of ascertaining the effect of the sequestrating and compounding laws upon the bulk of persons of consideration and property throughout the

country, would be, however, by selecting the cases of a few individuals of that class of society, not particularly distinguished for the share taken by them in the troubles of the time; and, if of any historical importance, not as warriors or statesmen, but merely as having being forced by local circumstances into a temporary notoriety, which ceased with the restoration of public order, and a return to the usual course of things in the interchanges of social and domestic life. We have been allowed access to some private papers, which, in addition to the public sources of information already alluded to, will render the task of such a research more than ordinarily interesting, with reference to the case of Sir John Acland, of Columbjohn, the ancestor of the present highly respected member for the county of Devon, a royalist gentleman of great worth and reputation, whom (nevertheless) the casual events of the war alone elevated to a station in which he was (we may presume) unwillingly conspicuous in a certain district, and during a limited period of our great civil distractions.

66

At the commencement of the war," (we are now quoting from the Summary of Transactions in the West of England, prefixed by Mr. Lysons to his History of Devonshire in the Magna Britannia,) "the whole county of Devon was in the hands of the committees, and the majority of the inhabitants, particularly in the north part of the county, attached to the cause of the parliament." In October, 1642, the city of Exeter received a parliament garrison, and became the head quarters of their general, the Earl of Stamford; and, notwithstanding the successes which attended the arms of the Cornish royalists, and the army under Sir Ralph Hopton, during the greater part of the following year, we are told that, Late in the summer of 1643, the king had no force in the county, except a small garrison at Columbjohn, the seat of Sir John Acland, which was some check upon the garrison at Exeter. Sir John Berkeley was then sent into Devonshire with a regiment of horse, to take the command of the king's forces, to recruit their numbers, and take measures for blockading Exeter. After the capture of Bristol, Prince Maurice was sent into the west as commander-in-chief. He found Sir John Berkeley's forces, much augmented by new levies from the country, straitly besieging Exeter, with his guards close to the gates." That city surrendered on the 4th of September, 1643, and remained from that time the principal garrison and chief hope of the royalists in the west, until its ultimate subjugation by Fairfax. On the 26th of July, 1644, the king came thither, in his pursuit of the Earl of Essex; and was, with his army, again quartered there, "and about Bradninch, Crediton, &c." in the immediate neighbourhood, on his return from that expedition in August.

*

During the course of that year, which (as far as relates to the affairs of the west) was principally occupied by the unsuccessful siege of Plymouth, the scene gradually changed in its aspect towards the contending parties. "In September, 1645, the clubmen of Devon declared for the parliament. From this time, nothing but a series of disastrous events happened to the royal party in Devonshire; nor is it to be wondered at, that these disasters should have been hastened by the cruelties and oppressions of Sir Richard Grenville, the licentious conduct of Lord Goring, and the dissensions among all the king's generals."" In the midst of these dissensions, Sir Thomas Fairfax, commander-in-chief of the parliament army, entered Devonshire, and pursued his victorious career, till he had reduced every town and fortress in the county. Lord Goring, who had been quartered at Poltimore, with fifteen hundred horse, retired into Exeter ;" and, soon afterwards, having quitted his command, withdrew to the continent. Fairfax made himself master of Tiverton, on the 19th of October, and, after its reduction, Poltimore, Bishop's Clyst, and Stoke Canon, (all on the eastern side, and within three or four miles of the city,) were made parliament garrisons. Other places, situated to the north and west, were in like manner occupied. On the 25th of January, 1645-6, Powderham Castle, (the ancient seat of the Courtenays, then in the occupation of Sir Amos Ameredith, who had married the widow of the late Colonel Francis Courtenay,†) was taken by Colonel Hammond, and Mamhead, (the seat of Sir Peter Ball,) another royalist garrison, in the same neighbourhood, was abandoned. The city of Exeter, now entirely surrounded, was summoned by Fairfax, on the 27th of January, and the blockade commenced on the 9th of February. Various other transactions in the northern and western parts of the county withdrew the attention of the general during that and the following month; but, at length, on the 31st of March, 1646, we find him at Columbjohn, his army being quartered at Silverton. On the 3d of April, a treaty was commenced at Poltimore, and carried on till the 9th, when the city was surrendered upon articles.

We have been particular in these dates, as necessary to the full understanding of what follows, and have only to add, that Columbjohn, (the theatre of so large a part of the events

* This was the seat of Sir John Bampfylde, a gentleman attached to the parliament cause; and still remains that of his descendants.

+ The then Sir William Courtenay was too young to have taken any part in the troubles; but his father-in-law's name occurs in the list of compounders.