ed officers, two thousand horses,
twelve pieces of cannon, forty barrels of powder; all the king's
baggage, coaches, most of his servants, and his secretary; with his
cabinet of letters, of which the parliament made great improvement, and,
basely enough, caused his private letters between his majesty and the
queen, her majesty's letters to the king, and a great deal of such
stuff, to be printed.

DEFOE.

[Note: _The battle of Naseby_, fought on June 14th, 1645. The king's
forces were routed, and his cannon and baggage fell into the enemy's
hands. Not only was the loss heavy, but it was made more serious by his
correspondence falling into the hands of the parliamentary leaders,
which exposed his dealings with the Irish Roman Catholics. The most
remarkable point about this description is the air of reality which
Defoe gives to his account of an event which took place nearly twenty
years before his birth.]

* * * * *

THE PILGRIMS AND GIANT DESPAIR.

Now there was, not far from the place where they lay, a castle, called
Doubting Castle, the owner whereof was Giant Despair, and it was in his
grounds they now were sleeping; wherefore he, getting up in the morning
early, and walking up and down in his fields, caught Christian and
Hopeful asleep in his grounds. Then with a grim and surly voice he bid
them awake, and asked them whence they were, and what they did in his
grounds. They told him that they were pilgrims, and that they had lost
their way. Then said the giant. You have this night trespassed on me by
trampling in and lying on my grounds, and therefore you must go along
with me. So they were forced to go, because he was stronger than they.
They also had but little to say, for they knew themselves in a fault.
The giant, therefore, drove them before him, and put them into his
castle, into a very dark dungeon, nasty, and loathsome to the spirits of
these two men. Here, then, they lay from Wednesday morning till Saturday
night, without one bit of bread or drop of drink, or light, or any to
ask how they did; they were, therefore, here in evil case, and were far
from friends and acquaintance. Now, in this place Christian had double
sorrow, because it was through his unadvised haste that they were
brought into this distress.

Now Giant Despair had a wife, and her name was Diffidence; so when he
was gone to bed, he told h