han the national
ritual, had been passed, and was rigidly enforced; the dominant party
thus endeavouring to deprive the people of one of the most sacred rights
of man,--that of worshipping God according to the dictates of
conscience. England's debauched king, secretly a Papist, had sold his
country for gold to England's hereditary foe, whose army he had engaged
to come and crush the last remnants of national freedom, should his
Protestant people dare to resist the monarch's traitorous proceedings.
The profligacy and irreligion of the court was widely imitated by all
classes, till patriots, watching with gloomy forebodings the downward
progress of their country, began to despair of her future fate. Such
was the state of things when, on the morning of the 14th of August,
1670, several sedate, grave-looking persons were collected at the north
end of Gracechurch Street, in the City of London. Others were coming up
from all quarters towards the spot. As the first arrived, they stood
gazing towards the door of a building, before which were drawn up a body
of bearded, rough soldiers, with buff coats, halberds in hand, and iron
caps on their heads. Several of the persons collected, in spite of the
armed men at the door, advanced as if about to enter the building.

"You cannot go in there," said the sergeant of the party; "we hold it in
the name of the king. Begone about your business, or beware of the
consequences!" In vain the grave citizens mildly expostulated. They
received similar rough answers. By this time other persons had arrived,
while many passers-by stopped to see what was going forward. Among
those who came up was a tall young man, whose flowing locks and
feathered cap, with richly-laced coat, and silk sash over his shoulder,
to which, however, the usual appendage, a sword, was wanting, showed
that he was a person of quality and fashion. Yet his countenance wore a
grave aspect, which assumed a stern expression as he gazed at the
soldiers. He stopped, and spoke to several of those standing round,
inquiring apparently what had occurred. About the same time, another
man, who seemed to be acquainted with many of the persons in the crowd,
was making his way among them. He was considerably more advanced in
life than the first-mentioned person, and in figure somewhat shorter and
more strongly built. Though dressed as a civilian, he had a military
look and air. From an opposite direction two other persons app