Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil WarHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Juvenile fiction
Harry heard with deep regret the many stories current of the evil life
and ways of the young king. Had it not been for the deadly hatred which
he felt to Cromwell and the Puritans for the murder of Sir Arthur
Ashton, and the rest of the garrison and people of Drogheda, in cold
blood, he would have retired altogether from the strife, and would have
entered one of the continental armies, in which many Royalist refugees
had already taken service. He determined, however, that he would join in
this one expedition, and that if it failed he would take no further part
in civil wars in England, but wait for the time, however distant, when,
as he doubted not, the people of England would tire of the hard rule of
the men of the army and conventicle, and would, with open arms, welcome
the return of their sovereign.
Early in June the king sailed for Scotland, accompanied by the regiment
which Harry had raised, and a few hundred other troops. He landed there
on the 16th. The English Parliament at once appointed Cromwell
captain-general and commander-in-chief of all the forces raised and to
be raised within the commonwealth of England. A few days later he left
London, and on the 23d of June entered Scotland with sixteen thousand
men. King Charles, to whom Harry had been presented by Prince Rupert as
one of his father's most gallant and faithful soldiers, received him at
first with great cordiality. As soon as he found, however, that this
young colonel was in no way inclined to join in his dissipations, that
his face was stern and set when light talk or sneers against religion
were uttered by the king's companions, Charles grew cold to him, and
Harry was glad to be relieved from all personal attendance upon him, and
to devote himself solely to his military duties. Upon landing in
Scotland, Harry, with his regiment, was encamped in the valley between
Edinburgh Castle and the high hill called Arthur's Seat. A few days
after his arrival he, with Jacob, who was now raised to the rank of
major, and William Long, who was one of his lieutenants, entered the
palace of Holyrood, where the king's court was held. Here were gathered
a motley assembly. A few English Cavaliers, many loyal Scotch nobles and
gentlemen, and a large number of somber men of the Covenant. Next to
Charles stood a tall man, whom Harry instantly recognized. Argyll, for
it was he, stared fixedly at the young colonel, who returned his look
with one as cold and haughty.
"This is Colonel Furness, my lord earl," the young king said. "One of my
father's bravest and most devoted followers."
"I seem to have met the gentleman before," the earl said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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