righteousness, which at best is liable to roll back into sin again, to be entangled, overcome, and finally triumphed over by the pollutions of this world."

"Thine eyes, O Lord, run to and fro through the whole earth. Thou art the supreme disposer of all the kingdoms of men, giving them to whomsoever thou wilt. Whatever cross-blows thou sufferest to be given thy people for a season, thou orderest all to thine own glory, and their true advantage. But thou hast a set time for Sion's deliverance. Let the exceeding near approach of this, bear up the spirits of thy poor despised ones, in this day of extremity and suf fering, from sinking and despondency. Carry them through their suffering part, with a holy triumph, in thy chariots of salvation. How long, O Lord, holy and true? Make haste to help the remnant of thy people. Break the heavens and come down, touch the mountains of prey, the kingdoms of this evil world, and let them smoke." "But, Lord, be this dispensation of what continuance it will, for the serving of thy most gracious and wise designs, let the spirit and resolution of thy servants be steady and unchangeable, that whether they live, they may live to the Lord, that died for them; or whether they die, they may die to the Lord, who lives for ever to make intercession for them, that they may glorify

thee with their bodies and spirits, whether by life or by death."

"Thou knowest, O Lord, that in the faith of Jesus, and for the truth as it is in Jesus, thy servant desires to die. In this faith, dear Lord, I have lived, and in this faith and profession I die. Now set thy seal to it, and remove the reproaches and calumnies with which thy servant is reproached, for thou knowest his innocency. Dear Father, thou sentest us unto this world; but this world is not our home, we are strangers and pilgrims in it, as all our fathers were. We have no abode here, but there is a house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, that, when this tabernacle is dissolved, we may enter into.

"Thou seest and knowest all things, and art able to witness to the truth and integrity of thy servant. When his blood is shed upon the block, let it have a voice afterward, that may speak his innocency, and strengthen the faith of thy servants in the truth.

"The desire of our soul is to hasten to thee, O God, to be dissolved, that we may be with Christ. Blessed be thy name, that this great strait that we were before in, is now determined; that there is no longer abode for me in this mortal body. Let thy servant speak something in behalf of the nation, wherein he hath lived. Lord, did we not exceed other nations in our

day? Great things have been done by thee in the midst of us. O that thou wouldst look down in pity and compassion, and pardon the sins of this whole nation, and lay them not to their charge; show them what is thy good and acceptable will, and bring them into subjection thereunto. We humbly pray thee, O Lord, look down with compassion upon this great and populous city; cleanse away the impurity, sinfulness, and defilements thereof; cause their souls to delight in thy word, that they may live. Let a spirit of reformation and purity spring up in and among them with power; make them willing to lay down all that is dear to them for thee, that thou mayest give them a crown of life. We are assured that thou knowest our suffering case and condition. We desire to give no just occasion of offence, nor to provoke any, but in meekness to forgive our enemies. Thy servant, that is now falling asleep, doth heartily desire of thee, that thou wouldst forgive them, and not lay this sin to their charge."

The writer of an article on "Vane and Bunyan," in the Westminster Review, in treating of the character and genius of Sir Henry, defies Clarendon, Hume, or any other of his detractors "to produce a human composition, in the nature of prayer, ancient or modern, that for sublimity, truth, simplicity, or pathos can surpass" those,

from which extracts have now been made, offered by the sufferer in his prison and on the scaffold.

At the conclusion of the prayer, and when his garments had been adjusted to receive the stroke, he looked up, and said, "I bless the Lord, who hath accounted me worthy to suffer for his name. Blessed be the Lord, that I have kept a conscience void of offence to this day. I bless the Lord, that I have not deserted the righteous cause, for which I suffer."

As he bowed his head to the block, he uttered these words, "Father, glorify thy servant in the sight of man, that he may glorify thee in the discharge of his duty to thee and to his country.” In an instant, and at a single blow, the executioner discharged his office.

Thus fell Sir Henry Vane. In his death the first age of English liberty reached its termination. It commenced, and it closed, in blood. Lord Strafford was the earliest victim of the incensed spirit of liberty as it entered upon the triumphant possession of the government; and Vane was the last great sacrifice offered up to the vengeance of restored despotism. They perished on the same scaffold.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Effect of Vane's Death.-His Estates and Honors restored to his Family. - Duke of Cleveland.- Concluding Reflections.

It is impossible for us to conceive of the moral effect produced, not merely upon the spectators, but upon the nation at large, by the manner of Sir Henry Vane's death. It almost shook the King from his throne. Burnet says, "that it was generally thought the government had lost more than it gained by his death." Pepys, who was a loyalist, conversant with the higher circles of society, and a courtier, witnessed the execution, and describes it with evident marks of admiration of the sufferer. He says that the people regarded it as a "miracle," and that it was a most impressive and effectual spectacle. He says further, that it was remarked, "that the King lost more by that man's death than he will get again for a good while;" and he himself expresses the opinion, that it gave the Bishops a blow from which they would never recover.

The republicans felt that new life was imparted to their cause, and looked upon Vane as a champion and martyr, who had filled the whole measure