Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/288

280 fancies, born for each other; and of course Charles and Clara were actually made to be husband and wife. Those charming visits were regularly returned. There was no such thing as ceremony between us, as there was with our other neighbours.

'But the cruel war broke out, and all was changed. The St. Clairs and the Winbournes no longer visited each other; indeed, it was dangerous to go anywhere. And we barricaded our bouses, and kept within them as much as possible. The two neighbours who had been such friends became at first cold and distant, and finally haughty enemies; but the ladies and children never ceased to love each other. At every opportunity they could get they exchanged kindnesses, but while the war continued an entire reconciliation between the families was impossible. The insincerity and arbitrary conduct of the King filled my father with abhorrence. St. Clair declared that he was justified by policy, by the factious opposition he met with, and by the Divine right of kings, in everything he did and said. When the King triumphed, St. Clair's exultation was unbounded. When the Parliamentary forces prevailed, his strong passions found vent in bitter expressions and biting sarcasms against the "brutal mob," as he was pleased to term us.

'For seven years this bitter war continued to rage in unhappy England. The fatal obstinacy of the King, and the foolish tenacity with which he clung to his notions of royal supremacy and despotism, marked him as the certain object of popular vengeance. Had I been in his place, I would have flung my crown into the Thames sooner than see the horrors of civil war let loose upon my miserable country. But men's passions prompt them to overcome all things and no man likes to be beaten. The hearts of those who are blinded by ambition are as hard and cold as rocks of adamant. No experience of themselves or of