f dying. They
separated; Eustace, to bid a mental farewel to his kindred, home, and
love; and Monthault, to prepare the Prince and Lord Goring to welcome a
pleasant addition to their party in a spirited youth, who had resolved
to escape from the restrictions of austere friends, and to try the
agreeable freedom of a military life. In this view these defenders of
the Crown and the Church of England looked on the last resources which a
falling King committed to their care.

[1] This paragraph is copied from Fenelon.

[2] Walton's Lives.

CHAP. XIII.

O! holy men!
Ye are the sons of piety and peace;
Ye never felt the sharp vindictive spur
That goads the injured warrior; the hot tide
That flushes crimson on the conscious cheek
Of him who burns for glory; else indeed
Ye much would pity me.

Mason.

Eustace kept his promise, and rejoined Monthault, at the time and place
appointed, equipped for service. His friend commended his heroism. "And
did you," said he, "obtain Constantia's permission?" "No," answered
Eustace; "I felt unequal to such a trial. I only pressed her hand with
greater tenderness, and more earnestly implored Heaven to take her into
his especial care."

"You will both thank me for projecting this separation," replied the
Major. "Seeing the world with your own eyes will improve you, brush off
that home-bred air which makes you bashful, and enlarge your ideas and
powers of conversation. I promise ourselves a spirited, agreeable
campaign. Hopton's office in the council will confine him about the
person of the Prince, who must be kept at some distance from the scene
of action; and Goring is no rigid disciplinarian. The enemy is not in
force in the west; Cromwell and Fairfax are both to play at
King-hunting; so we shall have time to divert ourselves and do our duty
too."

From Bristol, Eustace wrote to his uncle and Constantia, excusing his
absence by the uncontrollable avidity he felt to engage in the cause of
his injured Prince, to whose commands he promised a strict obedience,
and vowed to be sedulously attentive to all his new duties. To
Constantia he added that he hoped to return worthier of her, and to feel
in future the glorious consciousness of having contributed to restore
his virtuous persecuted Sovereign, and give peace to his afflicted
country. There was so much loyalty, honour, l