120

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

chap. From Cheshire the King turned southward, and, in the■ 1687 ~ full belief that the Fellows of Magdalene College, howevermutinous they might be, would not dare to disobey a com-mand uttered by his own lips, directed his course towardsOxford. By the way he made some little excursions to placeswhich peculiarly interested him, as a King, a brother, and ason. He visited the hospitable roof of Boscobel and theremains of the oak so conspicuous in the history of his house.He rode over the field ofEdgehill, where the Cavaliers firstcrossed swords with the soldiers of the Parliament. On thethird of September he dined in great state at the palace ofWoodstock, an ancient and renowned mansion, of which nota stone is now to be seen, but of which the site is still markedon the turf of Blenheim Park by two sycamores which growThe King near the stately bridge. In the evening he reached Oxford.iioi[otd.ge wag rece j vec i there with the wonted honours. The stu-dents in their academical garb were ranged to welcome himon the right hand and on the left, from the entrance of thecity . to the great gate of Christ Church. He lodged at thedeanery, where, among other accommodations, he found aHo repri- chapel fitted up for the celebration of the Mass. * On the dayFenowsoi after his arrival, the Fellows of Magdalene College wereiene^ a " ordered to attend him. When they appeared before him hetreated them with an insolence such as had never been shownto their predecessors by the Puritan visitors. “ You have notdealt with me like gentlemen,” he exclaimed. “You havebeen unmannerly as well as undutiful.” They fell on theirknees and tendered a petition. He would not look at it. “Isthis your Church of England loyalty? I could not havebelieved that so many clergymen of the Church of Englandwould have been concerned in such a business. Go home.Get you gone. I am King. I will be obeyed. Go to yourchapel this instant; and admit the Bishop of Oxford. Letthose who refuse look to it. They shall feel the whole weightof my hand. They shall know what it is to incur the dis-pleasure of their Sovereign.” The Fellows, still kneelingbefore him, again offered him their petition. He angrily* London Gazette of Sept. 5. and Sept. 8.1681.