writers have supplied. They are well brought together in the Biographia Britannica, in a passage which I quote.

"It is certainly a thing difficult enough to come at the true characters of the principal persons on both sides in this unhappy war; yet with respect to the Earl of Essex it is generally agreed, that he was a nobleman of very upright intentions. Sir Philip Warwick, who speaks the least favourably of him, allows, that he was no ill soldier, and valued much among the men of that profession he says he was a man much disobliged at Court, and of such a natural confused spirit, that he was not able to discern the ill consequences of his indifference towards the Crown; but at the same time he confesses, the Court was not artificial enough to make that right use of him, which his interest amongst the soldiers, and his blunt, plain English nature, might have been formed into, by a seeming confidence. The noble historian tells us plainly, he had no ambition of title, or office, or preferment, but only to be kindly looked upon, and kindly spoken to, and quietly to enjoy his own fortune; and without doubt no man in his nature more abhorred rebellion than he did; nor could he have been drawn into it by any open and transparent temptation, but by a thousand disguises and cozenages. His pride supplied his want of ambition, and he was angry to see any other man more respected than himself, because he thought he deserved it more, and did better require it. For he was in his friendships just and constant, and would not have practised foully even against those that he took to be his enemies. No man had credit enough with him to corrupt him in point of loyalty to the King, while he thought himself wise enough to know what reason was. But the new notions were too hard for him, and intoxicated his understanding, so that he quitted his own to follow theirs, who, as he thought, wished as well, and judged better than himself.' He adds, that when he accepted the commission to be General, he did it with a view of being the preserver, and not the destroyer, of the King and kingdom. We have this character fully confirmed by Denzil Lord Holles, who could not but be well acquainted with this nobleman's real intentions, and was too honest to misrepresent them. The kindness he showed to such of the clergy as fell under the displeasure of the Bishops, was owing to the compassion of his nature, and the sincerity of his zeal for the essentials of religion, as the Earl of Clarendon tells us, with great candour. ( The Earl of

Essex,' says he, 'was rather displeased with the person of the Archbishop, and some other bishops, than indevoted to the function; and towards some of them he had great reverence and kindness, as Bishop Moreton, Bishop Hall, and some other of the less. formal and more popular prelates; and he was as much devoted as any man to the Book of Common Prayer, and obliged all his servants to be constantly present with him at it, his household chaplain being always a most conformable man, and a good scholar.""

The humanity of his character appears from many memorials of the war. There is extant a letter of his to the Parliament in which he urges them to conclude peace on account of the misery which the war brought upon the districts which were the scenes of military operations. He tells them that "The counties suffer much wrong, and the cries of poor people are infinite.” And in the order of the day issued by him when he assumed the Generalship of the Parliamentary forces, there are many directions to the troops, which are as creditable to his heart as a man, as they are to his head as a soldier. I subjoin this document in a note, as it well deserves perusal."

3" Gentlemen and Fellow Soldiers,

"Ye are at this time assembled for the defence of his Majesty, and the maintenance of the true Protestant religion, under my command: I shall therefore desire you to take notice what I, that am your General, shall, by my honour, promise to perform towards you, and what I shall be forced to expect that you shall perform towards me. "I do promise, in the sight of Almighty God, that I shall undertake nothing but what shall tend to the advancement of the true Protestant religion, the securing of his Majesty's royal person, the maintenance of the just privilege of Parliament, and the liberty and property of the subject; neither will I engage any of you into any danger, but (though for many reasons I might forbear) I will in my own person run an equal hazard with you; and either bring you off with honour, or (if God have so decreed) fall with you, and willingly become a sacrifice for the preservation of my country.

"Likewise I do promise, that my ear shall be open to hear the complaint of the poorest of my soldiers, though against the chiefest of my officers; neither shall his greatness, if justly taxed, gain any privilege; but I shall be ready to execute justice against all, from the greatest to the least.

"Your pay shall be constantly delivered to your commanders; and if default be made by any officer, give me timely notice, and you shall find speedy redress.

"This being performed on my part, I shall now declare what is your duty toward me, which I must likewise expect to be carefully performed by you.

"I shall desire all and every officer to endeavour, by love and affable carriage, to command his soldiers; since what is done for fear, is done unwillingly; and what is unwillingly attempted, can never prosper.

"Likewise it is my request, that you be careful in the exercising of your men, and bring them to use their arms readily and expertly, and not to busy them in practising the ceremonious forms of military discipline; only let them be well-instructed in the

EDMUND WALLER.

EDMUND WALLER, the celebrated poet, was born at Coleshill in Hertfordshire, on the 3rd of March, 1605. He was the son of Robert Waller, Esq., a gentleman of Agmondesham in Buckinghamshire, who died during Edmund's infancy, leaving him a yearly income of 3500l. per annum, which may be fairly reckoned as equal to four times that amount at the present day.

Waller's mother placed him at Eton, where he must have diligently availed himself of the aid of his instructors in Greek and Roman literature, as is testified by the extensive and accurate scholarship which his earliest works display, and by the classic elegance of taste that generally pervades his writings. On leaving necessary rudiments of war, that they may know to fall on with discretion, and retreat with care; how to maintain their order, and make good their ground.

"Also I do expect that all those who have voluntarily engaged themselves in this service, should answer my expectation in the performance of these ensuing articles : "1. That you willingly and chearfully obey such as, by your own election, you have made commanders over you.

"2. That you take special care to keep your arms at all times fit for service, that upon all occasions you may be ready, when the signal shall be given, by the sound of drum or trumpet, to repair to your colours; and so to march upon any service, where and when occasion shall require.

"3. That you bear yourselves like soldiers, without doing any spoil to the inhabitants of the country: so doing you shall gain love and friendship, where otherwise, you will be hated and complained of; and I, that should protect you, shall be forced to punish you according to the severity of law.

"4. That you accept and rest satisfied with such quarters as shall fall to your lot, or be appointed you by your Quarter-master.

"5. That you shall, if appointed for centries or perdues, faithfully discharge that duty; for, upon fail hereof, you are sure to undergo a very severe censure.

"6. You shall forbear to profane the Sabbath, either by being drunk, or by unlawful games; for whosoever shall be found faulty must not expect to pass unpunished.

❝7. Whosoever shall be known to neglect the feeding of his horse with necessary provender, to the end that his horse be disabled or unfit for service; the party, for the said default, shall suffer a month's imprisonment, and afterwards be cashiered as unworthy the name of a soldier.

"8. That no trooper, or other of our soldiers, shall suffer his paddee to feed his horse in the corn, or to steal men's hay; but shall pay every man for hay 6d. day and night, and for oats 28. the bushel. And lastly,

"9. That you avoid cruelty; for it is my desire rather to save the lives of thousands than to kill one, so that it may be done without prejudice.

"These things faithfully performed, and the justice of our cause truly considered, let us advance with a religious courage, and willingly adventure our lives in the defence of the King and Parliament."

Eton, Waller was placed at King's College; this must have been as a Fellow Commoner, as his name does not appear in the Registrum Regale.

At the early age of eighteen, Waller was a statesman, a courtier, and a poet. The House of Commons in those days was not so strict as it afterwards became in excluding minors from its walls; and Waller, as his Epitaph by Rymer expresses it, “Nondum octodecennalis inter ardua regni tractantes sedem habuit, a burgo de Agmondesham missus." Our young senator was well received at the Court of James the First, which he assiduously frequented; and the first published specimen of his poetical powers was a copy of congratulatory verses on Prince Charles's escape from shipwreck at St. Andero on his return from Spain. Johnson says of this piece, that it justifies the observation made by one of Waller's editors, that he attained, by a felicity like instinct, a style which perhaps will never be obsolete. The rhythm and elegance of expression which are displayed in Waller's earliest poems, are not only equal to those of his more mature productions, but they are remarkable in themselves; and he is certainly the first writer in whose hands our heroic couplet assumed any smoothness and metrical harmony. Waller was an attentive reader of Fairfax's translation of Tasso (in the same metre as the original), and he professed himself indebted to this model for the smoothness of his own numbers. The practice of Latin versification at Eton must also have contributed to give Waller his distinguishing excellence in rhythm. I know no instance of a poet showing elegance in Latin versification, but betraying ruggedness when he uses his own language. Petrarch and the other great Italian scholars, Milton and Gray among our own, are splendid examples to the contrary.

Waller's residences at King's cannot have been very long and frequent, as, besides his senatorial functions and his attendances at Court, we find that he had become the husband of a great city heiress, the father of two children, and was a widower by the time he was five-and-twenty. He must, however, have sometimes assumed his station at Cambridge as a member of the university, as a Latin epigram signed Ed. Waller, Armiger, Coll. Regal. is preserved in "Rex Redux," the collection of Cambridge verses on the return of Charles the First from Scotland, after his coronation there in 1633. Waller's first marriage had largely increased his previously

ample wealth, and he sought to advance himself in rank by winning a second wife from among the high-born beauties of the day. His poetical courtships of Lady Dorothea Sidney, whom he immortalised by the name of Sacharissa, and of Lady Sophia Murray, whom he sang of as his Amoret, were long, melodious and unsuccessful. But though he lost the ladies, he won what probably he loved better than either of them, universal celebrity: and as he himself elegantly expressed it, like Apollo in vain pursuit of Daphne,

"He catched at love, and filled his arms with bays."

Johnson has described Waller's courtships with peculiar sarcasm, and thus narrates the circumstances of his second marriage.

"When he had lost all hopes of Sacharissa, he looked around him for an easier conquest, and gained a lady of the family of Bresse, or Breaux. The time of his marriage is not exactly known. It has not been discovered that his wife was won by his poetry; nor is anything told of her, but that she brought him many children. He doubtless praised some whom he would have been afraid to marry, and perhaps married one whom he would have been ashamed to praise. Many qualities contribute to domestick happiness, upon which poetry has no colours to bestow; and many airs and sallies may delight imagination, which he who flatters them never can approve. There are charms made only for distant admiration. No spectacle is nobler than a blaze.”

Waller was a second time returned to Parliament for Agmondesham in 1640, and he again represented that borough in the Long Parliament. Waller was Hampden's nephew, and he was also connected, though more distantly, with the family of Cromwell. He joined these and other popular leaders in insisting that a redress of grievances ought to precede a vote of supply; and he soon signalised himself as one of the best orators on the opposition side of the house. So highly did the chiefs of his party esteem his abilities, that he was put forward by them as the manager of the prosecution of Mr. Justice Crawley, for the part which that judge had taken on the Ship-money question. Waller's speech on this occasion must have been one of no ordinary power and skill, inasmuch as 20,000 copies of it are said to have been sold in a single day.

Waller was, however, far from going all the lengths to which the fierce zealots of his party were eager to proceed. A speech of his on