night in England.

That King Charles had been miraculously preserved, as my Lord Manchester
set forth, there can be no doubt. His courageous efforts to regain the
Crown at the battle of Worcester and his subsequent escapes from the
vigilant pursuits of the Cromwellian soldiers, would, if set down in
justice and with detail, present a story more entertaining than any
romance ever written. Here they must of necessity be mentioned with
brevity.

In the year 1645, Charles I., having suffered the loss of many great
battles, became fearful of the danger which threatened his family and
himself. He therefore ordered his son Charles, who had already retired
into the west, to seek refuge in the Scilly Isles. The prince complied
with his desires, and went from thence to Paris, where his mother,
Henrietta Maria, had already taken shelter, and, after a short stay
with her, travelled to the Hague. Soon after the king was beheaded, the
Scots, who regarded that foul act with great abhorrence, invited
Charles to come into their kingdom, provided he accepted certain hard
conditions, which left the government of all civil business in the hands
of Parliament, and the regulation of all religious matters in charge
of the Presbyterians. No other prospect of regaining his rights, and of
enabling him to fight for his throne presenting itself, he accepted
what was known as the Covenant, and landed in Scotland in 1650. He
was received with the respect due to a monarch, but placed under the
surveillance forced on a prisoner. The fanatical Presbyterians, jealous
of that potent influence which his blithe ways exercised over all with
whom he associated, neither permitted him to attend the council nor
command the army; they, however, preached to him incessantly, admonished
him of his sins and those of his parents, guarded him as a captive, and
treated him as a puppet. Meanwhile Cromwell, being made aware of his
presence in the kingdom, advanced at the head of a powerful body into
Scotland, fought and won the battle of Dunbar, stormed and captured
Leith, and took his triumphal way towards Edinburgh town. Charles was at
this time in Perth, and being impatient at his enforced inaction whilst
battles were fought in his name, and lives lost in his cause, made his
escape from the Covenanters, with the determination of arousing
the Royalists who lay in the north. But the Scots soon overtook and
recaptured him. However, this decisive action awoke them to a b