hopes of his friends, would have made Dr. Beaumont rejoice that
Eustace did not swell the list of noble and illustrious persons left on
that bloody field, had not his sorrow for a "King and kingdom lost" been
too acute and overwhelming to receive any diminution from private
considerations. The infantry, cannon, ammunition, baggage, and all the
resources of the King, were there wrested from his grasp by victorious
rebels; and England virtually exchanged the government of the religious,
conscientious descendant of her ancient Princes, for that of a low-born,
cruel hypocrite, who ruled her with a rod of iron. The King indeed
escaped from the battle with a small body of horse; but it was only to
fly from place to place before his unwearied enemies, pursued into every
corner of his kingdom, without knowing where to rest his head, allowed
no pause, even to ruminate on his misfortunes, till at last, trusting
that his own countrymen would not betray the Prince who flew, like a
bird hunted by the hawk, to their bosoms, he appealed to the pretended
loyalty of the Scotch Covenanters; and they sold him to those who
thirsted for his blood.

Yet neither the desperate state of the kingdom, nor the ruin of their
own fortunes, long since embarked in the same vessel with his rights,
could compose the feuds of the western generals, or induce them to
attend to the directions of the Prince's council, or to the discipline
and behaviour of their troops. The latter, from their intolerable
insolence and rapine, became formidable only to their friends; and the
approach of Fairfax was hailed, even in the best-disposed districts, as
a signal of deliverance from the galling yoke of military extortion.
Goring, the soldier's darling, who combined all the alluring qualities
of a demi-god, was found to want the distinguishing marks of a Christian
hero. Possessed neither of self-command, obedience, nor fortitude, he
was ever ready to dash at splendid actions, but was without resources in
the day of peril. He was too vain of his wit and companionable talents
to submit to the command of others, and too supine, dissipated, and
rash, either to improve opportunities of action, or to defeat the views
of the enemy. Such was the leader under whom Eustace hoped to serve his
king, and learn the art of war. His friend, Monthault, was a transcript
of all Lord Goring's faults, to which he added the most cool and
determined treachery, under the garb of blunt simplici