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Untitled Article
daring this arduous period . He says , ' till this time he was rather of reputation ifi his own country , than of' public dis * course or fame in the kingdom ; but then he grew the argument of all tongues , every man inquiring who and what he was that durst , at his own charge , support the liberty and prosperity of the kingdom . His carriage throughout that agitation , was
with that rare temper and modesty , that they who watched him narrowly to find some advantage against his person , to make him less resolute in his cause , were compelled to give him a just testimony V As might have been expected , the venial court decided for its patron . The King then set his agents at work to endeavour by bribery or intimidation to secure the connivance or the silence of the man whose talents he estimated sufficiently to dread ; but
he had not in this attempt estimated the force of the principles which he had to encounter . Having refused both bribes and submission , the leaders of the popular party , among which Hampden was now perhaps the first , felt themselves no longer safe while within reach of the despotic usurpation which they could not yet
crush . They determined fora time to leave England . It was by a remarkable and fortunate want of policy that John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell , his cousin , were arrested by an order from the king on board the ship in which they had taken their passage for North America . Thus did Charles , by illegal force , retain in England the man by whose masterly councils the war was carried on , which ended in the forfeit of his life , and the man who was
to succeed to his throne . After a lapse of eight years , during which the king had resorted to every expedient which he could contrive , to prop up his tottering authority , without a meeting of Parliament , in November , 1640 , was held the first meeting of what is emphatically called
the Long Parliament : Hampden ' s place was by all accorded to him among the most influential , and with just self-knowledge he ranged himself foremost in the patriot ranks . Clarendon well describes the influence of his character at this time . * When this Parliament began , the eyes of all men were fixed upon him , as their patria pater , and the pilot that must steer the vessel through the tempests and rocks which threatened it . And I am persuaded
his power and interest * at that time were greater to do good or hurt than any man ' s in the kingdom , or than any man of his rank hath had in any time ; for his reputation of honesty was universal , and his affections seemed so publicly guided , that no corrupt or private ends could bias them . He was of an industry and vigilance not to be tired out or wearied by the most laborious , and
of parts not to be imposed upon by the most subtle and sharp . ' At this time the natural progress of affairs was once more checked , and a last chance given to the king by the ascendency which the moderate party suddenly acquired in the House of Commons : men felt themselves on the eve of a convulsion , fearful in its pro-
Untitled Article
Hampden , 44 f
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1832, page 447, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1816/page/15/
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