Nor are these strong prejudices without their value in the
administration of government, while they are absolutely essential to the
guidance of a revolution. They retard and moderate those excesses which
they cannot entirely control, and even though unable to avoid the
_descensus Averni_, they render that easy descent less fatal and
destructive. Nor is there anything in the history of revolutions more
beautiful than this steady adherence to ancient principles—this
faithful devotion to a fallen prince, when all others have forsaken him
and fled. While man is capable of enjoying the blessings of freedom, the
memory of Hampden will be cherished and revered; and yet there is
something scarcely less attractive in the disinterested loyalty, the
generous self-denial, of the devoted Hyde, who left the comforts of
home, the pride of country and the allurements of fame, to join in the
lonely wanderings of the banished Stuart.
When at last the revolution was accomplished, and Charles and the hopes
of the Stuarts seemed to sleep in the same bloody grave, Colonel Temple,
unwilling longer to remain under the government of a usurper, left
England for Virginia, to enjoy in the quiet retirement of this infant
colony, the peace and tranquillity which was denied him at home. From
this, the last resting place of the standard of loyalty, he watched the
indications of returning peace, and with a proud and grateful heart he
hailed the advent of the restoration. For many years an influential
member of the House of Burgesses, he at last retired from the busy
scenes of political life to his estate in Gloucester, which, with a
touching veneration for the past, he called Windsor Hall. Here, happy in
the retrospection of a well spent life, and cheered and animated by the
affection of a devoted wife and lovely daughter, the old Loyalist looked
forward with a tranquil heart to the change which his increasing years
warned him could not be far distant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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