were of one mind with the people in general; but England was no longer free to choose for itself.  The army had won the victory for the Commons, and was determined to impose its will upon the nation.  At this time Cromwell, Ireton, and Fairfax were disposed to an arrangement, but their authority was overshadowed by that of the preachers, who, in their harangues to the troops, denounced these generals as traitors, and then finding that they were likely to lose their influence, and to become obnoxious to both parties, henceforth threw their lot in with the army, and headed it in its struggle with the Parliament.  Even yet the long misfortunes which Charles had suffered were insufficient to teach him wisdom.  Had he now heartily thrown himself into the hands of the moderate majority in Parliament he might—­aided by them and by the Scots, who, seeing that the Independents were ignoring all the obligations which had been undertaken by the Solemn League and government, were now almost openly hostile to the party of the army—­have again mounted the throne, amid the joyful acclamations of the whole country.  The army would have fought, but Charles, with England at his back, would assuredly have conquered.  Unfortunately, the king could not be honest.  His sole idea of policy was to set one section of his opponents against the other.  He intrigued at once with the generals and with the Parliament, and had the imprudence to write continually to the queen and others, avowing that he was deceiving both.  Several of these letters were intercepted, and although desirous of playing off the king against the army, the Commons felt that they could place no trust in him whatever; while the preachers and the army clamored more and more loudly that he should be brought to trial as a traitor.

Harry Furness had, after the fall of Oxford, remained quietly with his father at Furness Hall.  Once or twice only had he gone up to London, returning with reports that the people there were becoming more and more desirous of the restoration of the king to his rights.  The great majority were heartily sick of the rule of the preachers, with their lengthy exhortations, their sad faces, and their abhorrence of amusement of all kinds.  There had been several popular tumults, in which the old cry of “God save the king,” had again been raised.  The apprentices were ready to join in any movement which might bring back the pleasant times of old.  Cavaliers now openly showed themselves in the streets, and London was indeed ripe for an insurrection against the sovereignty which the army had established over the nation.  Had the king at this time escaped from Hampton Court, and ridden into London at the head of only twenty gentlemen, and issued a proclamation appealing to the loyalty of the citizens, and promising faithfully to preserve the rights of the people, and to govern constitutionally, he would have been received with acclamation.  The majority of Parliament would have declared for him, England would have received