VIII HERBERT. Sire, Colonel Cooke has returned from the castle. KING. Well? HERBERT. He found there were strangers in possession, and could get no further information. The rain and the heavy roads may excuse his delay in returning. Cannot these KING. It is indeed a rough night! guards at the door be somewhat further removed? This gusty wind blows the smoke of their matches into the very chamber. HERBERT. I have done what I could, but Major Rolfe was in bed, and it's hard to make him move. This is an anxious night. How does your majesty? KING. Oh, I have known worse chances than this. Set another light in the bowl, Herbert, for we shall hardly sleep to-night. What do you think this new arrival means? HERBERT. I cannot tell; perhaps they intend to transfer your Majesty elsewhere. I understand they are under orders of the army, not of the Parliament. KING. The army! A second abduction by some Joyce? Just now that would be vexatious. The treaty with the Parliament went so smoothly I had hoped to reach a settlement; or, at least, to appear to do so, till some opportunity of escape should offer. And now, if the army interfere, they ruin all. This place is convenient, too, for taking ship, should I be driven to flight. I should be sorry to be transferred. Yet, who knows what the army may offer? Some more advantageous terms, perhaps. HERBERT. They could not well be worse than those your Majesty has been driven to accept. To yield the control of the militia for twenty years KING. That, I must tell you, was but a trick, to gain some necessary time. Why, if I had really intended that concession I should retain but the name of a king. HERBERT. Yet I fear that neither party will be satisfied with anything less. And there is the question of episcopacy KING. That I will never abandon, unless it were in appearance; and even so, perhaps, it were a sin. For, besides the obligation of my oath, I am fully persuaded that the government by bishops is that which is commanded in the Scriptures, and was prac tised by the early church. That is a point of conscience, therefore, which, under no compulsion, will I yield. HERBERT. Of that I am well assured; and for that very reason I fear a settlement will never be concluded. KING. Ah, friend Herbert, I see you are no politician; and so, for your better consolation, I will explain the grounds of my hope; for, if I am more cheerful than you on this dreary night, it is because I have a longer vision, and expect with good reason to escape from this dilemma without detriment to my authority or conscience. We have, as you know, two parties to deal with, the Parliament, which is Presbyterian, and the Army, which is Independent; in the matter of religion, therefore, I am certain, if I displease the one, to gratify the other; if I refuse to establish Presbyterianism, I have the support of the army, and if I refuse to encourage the sects, I have the support of the Parliament. One party, it is true, is for abolishing episcopacy; but the other is content to preserve it on condition of a general toleration. Both would have me resign the militia for a time; but it is possible, under the stress of their mutual jealousies, that that claim may be abandoned. Thus, |