BEFORE THE RESTORATION.

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dred and twenty thousand men. In Hyde Park twenty thou- chap.

sand citizens, well armed and accoutred, passed in review,-

and showed a spirit which justified the hope that, in case ofneed, they would fight manfully for their shops and firesides.

The fleet was heartily with the nation. It was a stirring time,a time of anxiety, yet of hope. The prevailing opinion wasthat England would be delivered, but not without a desperateand bloody struggle, and that the class which had so longruled by the sword would perish by the sword.

• Happily the dangers of a conflict were averted. Therewas indeed one moment of extreme peril. Lambert escapedfrom his confinement, and called his comrades to arms. Theflame of civil war was actually rekindled; but by prompt andvigorous exertion it was trodden out before it had time tospread. The luckless imitator of Cromwell was again a pri-soner. The failure of his enterprise damped the spirit of thesoldiers; and they sullenly resigned themselves to their fate.

The new Parliament, which, having been called without The Re-the royal writ, is more accurately described as a Convention,met at Westminster. The Lords repaired to the hall, fromwhich they had, during more than eleven years, been ex-cluded by force. Both Houses instantly invited the King toreturn to his country. He was proclaimed with pomp neverbefore known. A gallant fleet convoyed him from Holland tothe coast of Kent. When he landed, the cliffs of Dover werecovered by thousands of gazers, among whom scarcely onecould be found who was not weeping with delight. The jour-ney to London was a continued triumph. The whole roadfrom Rochester was bordered by booths and tents, and lookedlike an interminable fair. Everywhere flags were flying, bellsand music sounding, wine and ale flowing in rivers to thehealth of him whose return was the return of peace, of law,and of freedom. But in the midst of the general joy, onespot presented a dark and threatening aspect. On Blackheath

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