THE PILGRIM FATHERS.

THE breaking waves dashed high on a stern and rock-bound

coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches tossed,

And the heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er, When a band of exiles moored their bark on the wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes, they, the true-hearted, cameNot with the roll of stirring drums, and the trumpet that sings of fame :

Not as the flying come, in silence and in fear—

They shook the depths of the desert's gloom with their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang, and the stars heard, and the sea! And the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang to the anthems of the free:

The ocean-eagle soared from his nest by the white waves' foam, And the rocking pines of the forest roared-this was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair amidst that pilgrim band; Why had they come to wither there, away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye, lit by her deep love's truth; There was manhood's brow, serenely high, and the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar? bright jewels of the mine? The wealth of seas? the spoils of war? They sought a faith's pure shrine !

Ay, call it holy ground, the soil where first they trod ! They have left unstained what there they found-freedom to worship God!

MRS. HEMANS.

RENEWAL OF PARLIAMENTARY RULE.

THE

HE Short Parliament.-To obtain the necessary supplies Charles summoned a Parliament in 1640. As it refused to vote money till the grievances of the nation were redressed, it was dissolved within three weeks, and is thus known as the Short Parliament.

Strafford advanced towards Scotland with what troops could be gathered together; but the Scotch army, both irritated and emboldened by the evasive policy of Charles, crossed the Tweed, and routing an English outpost, seized Newcastle. The undisciplined troops of the king could not be induced to attack them, and Charles was compelled to leave Northumberland and Durham in their hands as a pledge for the payment of their war expenses.

The Long Parliament.-Again Charles was forced to summon a Parliament to grant the necessary supplies.

The Parliament which then met, is known in history as the Long Parliament,1 the work of which had more momentous consequences than those of any other English Parliament either before or since. The Commons found an able and resolute leader in Pym, whose influence soon became so great that by friends and foes he was known as King Pym. The Commons, refusing to vote supplies, divided their work into three parts―investigation of abuses, punishment of delinquents, and adoption of remedies.

For the first of these duties, numerous committees were appointed to receive the petitions which came pouring in from all parts of the country. These gave full particulars of all the illegal acts of the Crown in the dif

ferent districts, and named the officials who had acted. as agents of the king. They thus furnished the information required for the just punishment of the guilty. The name 'delinquent,' as well as the more bitter

one of malignant,' had been applied in Sir John Eliot's resolution of the year 1629 to all who introduced changes in religion, to all who advised the levying

of taxes not granted by Parliament, to all who helped in the raising of such illegal subsidies, and even to those who voluntarily paid them. Such offenders were declared to be capital enemies of the Commonwealth; and the Commons now determined to bring the criminals to trial.

Many of the court party fled from the country; Laud was committed to the Tower; and it was resolved to impeach Strafford of high treason. It was not difficult to show that Strafford had frequently trampled the law under foot, but the evidence of treason was insufficient. Parliament, however, by a Bill of Attainder, condemned him to death.

Charles had solemnly pledged his word to save the Earl at all hazards; but his courage failed him in the difficult crisis. In dread of the mob which surrounded Whitehall, and not knowing how to thwart the resolve of the Parliament, he gave his assent to the bill, and thus sacrificed the life of his minister to save those of his own wife and children.

"Put not your trust in princes," said the unfortunate Strafford as he went to meet his fate with proud tranquillity. Before an immense multitude, he stepped cheerfully to the block on Tower Hill. The falling of the fatal axe was greeted with a loud shout of joy, the blazing of bonfires, and the ringing of bells. His death, they thought, had delivered their country from a terrible danger.

The

After the death of Strafford, the Parliament immediately set itself to a thorough redress of abuses. tyrannical courts of the Star Chamber and the High Commission were abolished; the levying of ship-money was interdicted and the sentence against Hampden an

nulled; and all arbitrary exercise of the royal prerogative, either for taxation or imprisonment of the subject, was declared illegal.

They next passed a Triennial Bill to prevent any repetition of a long period of rule without Parliament; and then decreed that the present Parliament should not be dissolved without its own consent.2 The money was then voted for the payment of the Scottish army, which at once returned home.

3

The Immediate Causes of the Civil War.-Charles soon afterwards went north to Scotland and entered into an intrigue to win the Covenanters over to his support against the Parliament of England, by professing to yield to the demands of the Assembly. All that he gained by this crooked policy was to put the Parliamentary leaders on their guard; and, at that very time, tidings arrived from Ireland which filled the nation with horror and increased their distrust of the king.

There had taken place a massacre of Protestants and English to the number, it was rumoured, of 200,000.* The murderers claimed to be acting by warrant of Charles, and styled themselves the King's Army.' That Charles could have had any connection with them is utterly incredible, but the Parliament at once rushed to the conclusion that the plot was but part of one great design for the destruction of the liberties of the nation.

The fears of Pym and his followers were increased by the growth of a strong moderate party within the House of Commons. They felt that, unless they kept up the popular excitement, their lives would be at the mercy of the king. Accordingly it was resolved by the leaders to draw up a Grand Remonstrance, giving an account of all the illegal acts of Charles since his accession to the