known of the characters of Pym and of both the Vanes, that their bitterest enemy hardly ventured to do more than insinuate it. Besides, the testimony was in perfect keeping with the character of Strafford, was substantially corroborated by the only member of the council, who could have been expected to confirm it, and, as Clarendon admits, was fully sustained by the manner and appearance of the parties during the painful and exciting scene, in which it was brought out at the trial of Strafford.*

It is a remarkable circumstance that the sympathies of many persons, who are themselves the ardent friends of liberty, are still given, in a great measure, to those characters in the annals of the mother country, who were the most violent

*The above account of the circumstances of Strafford's trial is almost wholly drawn from Clarendon. The assertors of liberty in every age of the world have been subjected, in their fame, to writers whose prejudices were strongly engaged to misrepresent them. Such especially is the case with Vane and his contemporary fellow-patriots. It is truly wonderful that their glory has not been permanently eclipsed. Providence, in a most extraordinary manner, has provided the means by which calumny can be refuted, error corrected, truth vindicated, and justice done. Although Clarendon endeavors to give an impression unfavorable to the Vanes in relating the facts connected with their testimony in this trial, I am persuaded that a careful reader would

opposers of republican principles; while the suffering martyrs in the cause of freedom are disregarded, or permitted to rest under calumny and reproach.

Strafford has admirers, it is probable, even among republicans. It becomes us to examine a little more carefully the actions and characters of men, before we yield to them our love and sympathy.

Warburton, who was not inclined to look with more than common severity upon the manifestation of an arbitrary spirit, says of Strafford," His ambition, pride, and appetite for revenge, were all exorbitant. His parts were of the first rate, and these solely directed to the gratification of his passions. What wonder then, when men found him in the station of prime minister, they should never think themselves safe while he continued there?" And Clarendon himself, his friend and partisan, admits that he was of "a nature too elate and arrogant," and says, that " of all his pas

gather, even from his account, very much such a view of the transaction, as I have given.

Hallam (in his "Constitutional History," Vol. II. p. 208,) says, that there can be little reason to question the testimony given by the elder Vane; and, in a note, affirms that Bristol and Usher, and Juxon, the Bishop of London, as well as Northumberland, corroborated it. He cites as his authority for this assertion, Rushworth's Abridgment, Vol. IV. pp. 455, 559, 586, and Baillie, p. 284.

sions, his pride was most predominant; which a moderate exercise of ill fortune might have corrected and reformed; and which was, by the hand of Heaven, strangely punished by bringing his destruction upon him by two things that he most despised, the people and Sir Harry Vane."

CHAPTER IX.

Religion the Spirit of the Age in the Time of

Vane. His religious Character. - His religious Principles.

Clarendon's Account of them. Burnet's. Hume's. Mackintosh's Opinion of Vane's Writings.-Vane a Calvinist. Tolerant towards all Sects.

Selections

from his Writings on Toleration. - His Views of the Fall of Man.- Debate on Episcopacy in 1641.- Vane's Speech. Assembly of Divines.

FROM the time of the Reformation until the restoration of Charles the Second, when libertinism and infidelity became the order of the day, the ruling sentiment in England and on the Continent was RELIGION. This was the power which moved all other powers. One of its most remarkable manifestations was the colonization of America by the Puritans. But its last and brightest display, as a predominating and visible power in the affairs of state, was the struggle which resulted in the establishment of the Commonwealth in England. The tone and character of a theological controversy prevailed throughout all its stages. To be a statesman in those days, it was neces

sary to be a theologian. Speeches in Parliament were pregnant with the learning of the schools of divinity. The precedents cited were drawn from the Fathers; the arguments relied upon were texts of Scripture; and, from the House of Lords to the obscurest stations in society, the topics of discussion and conversation were of a religious character. In this respect, the contest of the Parliament and people with Charles the First takes rank above all other political revolutions on record; and, when thoroughly and impartially examined, will be found to transcend them in the dignity of the topics debated, and the importance of the principles at issue.

In writing the history of an eminent leader in such a revolution, it is of essential moment to ascertain and illustrate his religious character. It is no small part of the distinction of Sir Henry Vane, that, in an age when religion was the great political principle, he excelled all his associates and contemporaries in his theological acquirements, and in the spiritual advancement of his character. From his early youth, his whole mind and heart were devoted to the truths of the Gospel, the cause of the church, and the spirit of piety.

Of his religion, as a personal principle, operating upon his soul and his life, I can express myself with freedom; for, on this point, there will