caped from the hands of his eager enemies to the friendly shores of France.

Among those instrumental in this loyal and dutiful work, many women of high and low degree have earned a lasting name; and of these Mrs. Jane Lane, from the importance of the service she rendered, and the courage and circumspection with which she carried through the enterprise her brother engaged her in, deserves the first place.

After the unfortunate issue of the battle of Worcester, Charles passed from the faithful guardianship of the Penderels, of Boscobel, to the house of his loyal adherent, Mr. Whitgreave, of Moseley; but the search and suspicion to which this gentleman was subject as a Roman Catholic, made his house too unsafe a retreat for him to remain there; and it was soon agreed amongst his friends that he should remove to Bentley Hall, about four miles distant, the residence of Mr. Lane and his son, Colonel John Lane.

The character of this family was well known to Mr. Whitgreave and his friend, Father Hudlestone, who was also actively engaged with him in the king's cause. It is thus given by Clarendon : "Lord Wilmot had, by very good fortune, fallen into the house of an honest gentleman, one Mr. Lane, a person of an excellent reputation for his fidelity to the king, but of so universal and general a good name, that, though he had a son who had been a colonel in the king's service during the late war, and was then upon his way, with men, to Worcester, the very day of the defeat, men of all affections in the country, and of all opinions, paid the old man very great respect. He (Lord Wilmot) had been very civilly treated there, and the old gentleman had used some diligence, and found out where the king was, that he might get him to his house, where he was sure he could conceal him till he might contrive his full deliverance." "The king inquired of the monk (Father Hudlestone) of the reputation of this gentleman, who told him that he had a fair estate, was exceedingly beloved, and the eldest justice of the peace of that county of Stafford; and, though he was a very zealous Protestant, yet he lived with so much civility and candour towards the Catholics, that they would trust him as much as they would do any of their own profession; and that he could not think of any place of so good

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repose and security for his Majesty repair to." This venerable gentleman was the father of nine children, the eldest of whom (Colonel John Lane) Mr. Whitgreave described to the king as a right honest gentleman. Clarendon speaks of him as a very plain man in his discourse and behaviour, but of a fearless courage and an integrity superior to any temptation. It was he who suggested the plan of employing his young sister in the scheme for escape devised first for Lord Wilmot, but afterwards changed for the king himself. She is spoken of as "a daughter of the house, of a very good wit and discretion, and very fit to bear a part in such a trust:" indeed, her brother could not have conceived the idea of so employing her, if he had not already formed the highest opinion of her courage and prudence. It fortunately happened that, at this time, Jane Lane was about to visit a friend, Mrs. Norton, of Abbotsleigh, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, who was shortly expecting her confinement; and for this purpose a pass had been procured from an officer of the Parliamentary army for herself and her servant. It occurred to Colonel Lane that Lord Wilmot, who much desired to reach Bristol, from whence he could take ship, might easily personate his sister's servant; and this plan was entertained till, on the failure of a scheme for Charles crossing the Severn for Wales, it was thought advisable that he should avail himself of this means of escape instead. All this being agreed on, in the dusk of the evening Charles bade farewell to his devoted servants at Moseley, and was committed by them to the care of Colonel Lane, who, with the horses, lay in concealment near, to conduct him to his house; where they arrived on Monday night, the 9th of September, 1651.

It seems fitting here to give some description of the young king in the guise in which he appeared before his enthusiastically loyal subjects at Bentley. His hair, instead of flowing in the long and graceful curls of the period, had been cut short at the ears, and clipped away at the crown of the head even as near as the scissors would go. He wore a very greasy old gray steeple-crowned hat, with the brims turned up, without lining or hatband; a green jump coat, threadbare, even to the threads being worn white; and breeches of the same, with long knees down to the garter; with an old leathern doublet, a pair of white flannel stockings, next his

legs, which the king said were his boot stockings, the embroidered tops being cut off, to prevent them being discovered, and upon them a pair of old green yarn stockings, all worn and darned at the knees, with their feet cut off; his shoes were old, all slashed, for the ease of his feet, which had been sorely galled in his long marches:" he wore no gloves, and his hands had been carefully coloured with walnut-juice, as a completion of his disguise. It was thus that he appeared before our heroine, whose feelings were, no doubt, high-wrought and excited at the thought of the honor and the danger preparing for her next day; but the lively and daring spirit of the young king, and his cheerful endurance of all his hardships and humiliations, must have more than atoned, in the eyes of his faithful subjects, for the absence of all outward signs of greatness; and it is probable that Charles never so fully reigned in the hearts of his devoted adherents as when he came a destitute wanderer amongst them in the garb of the meanest countryman. When, in prosperous after-years, he gave them such cause for shame and sorrow, how sadly must they have looked back to these times, when his evil fortunes were their only cause for regret, and they believed him the worthy object of their love and dearest hopes!

Having conferred with Lord Wilmot and Colonel Lane, on next day's journey, and supped; the king retired to bed, though his rest could be but short, for at break of day his host called him up, providing him with a suitable disguise for the new character he was to assume. He was now to personate the son of one of Colonel Lane's tenants, and to change his name from Will Jones, which he had hitherto borne, to William Jackson. To bear out this change, Colonel Lane provided him with a new suit and cloak of country grey cloth, as near as could be contrived, like the holiday suit of a farmer's son, a disguise more convenient for their present intentions than that of a servant would have been. His dress being now complete, Colonel Lane took the king by a back way to the stable, where he fitted his stirrups and gave him some instructions for better acting his part; then mounted him on a good "double horse," and directed him to come to the gate of the house, which he did, with a fitting air of humility, carrying his hat under his arm.

By this time it was twilight, and old Mrs. Lane, who knew nothing of this great secret, "would needs see her beloved daughter take horse;" and, as she was standing for this purpose, the colonel said to the young king--" Will, thou must give my sister thy hand." But he, unacquainted with such little offices, offered his hand the contrary way—a piece of awkwardness which attracted the old lady's attention, who, laughing, asked her son-" What a goodly horseman her daughter had got, to ride before her!" The party thus setting out consisted, besides the king and his young protectress, of Mr. Henry Lascelles, her cousin, who was admitted into the king's secret, and Mrs. Peters, a married sister of Jane Lane's, and her husband, both of whom were in entire ignorance of it. They were followed, in another route, by Colonel Lane and Lord Wilmot, with hawk and hounds, as a disguise the only one Lord Wilmot could ever be induced to assume: even the king had not been able to persuade him to this apparently necessary precaution. could never, get my Lord Wilmot to put on any disguise, he saying that he should look frightfully in it, and therefore did never put on any. Considering that this plea was addressed to his royal master, when arrayed in the garments we have described to our readers, we cannot but feel amused, as well as surprised, at its coolness.

he says,

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That night Lord Wilmot and Colonel Lane lodged at the house of Sir Clement Fisher, at Pockington, in Warwickshire, "where the colonel knew they should both be as welcome as generosity, and as secure as fidelity could make them. His name is mentioned from his after-connection with our heroine.

When the royal party had gone about two hours on their journey, the king's horse cast a shoe: and he had to take it to the next forge to have it replaced. The blacksmith's shop is always the head-quarters for news; and Charles took the opportunity to learn what he could indeed he entered with such spirit into the strange and hazardous scenes into which he was thrown, that, in spite of the danger, it is evident he derived considerable enjoyment from them. "As I was holding my horse's foot," he says, in his own account, I asked the smith what news? He told me that there was no news, that he knew of, since the good

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news of the beating of the rogues the Scots. I asked him whether there were none of the English taken that joined with the Scots. He answered that he did not hear that that rogue Charles was taken, but some of the others were taken, but not Charles Stuart. I told him (probably with some little allusion to Leslie's conduct) that, if that rogue was taken, he deserved to be hanged more than all the rest, for bringing in the Scots. Upon which he said I spoke like an honest man; and so we parted."

At Wooton, within two or three miles of Stratford, they caught sight of a troop of cavalry, halting to refresh their horses. Mr. Peters, who had before experienced ill treatment from the soldiers, declared he would not pass through them, to be beaten again; and was resolute in turning back; the very course to excite suspicion. The king, hearing him say so, whispered softly in the ear of his companion that they might not turn back. "But all she could say in the

world would not do:" Mr. Peters resisted his sister-in-law's earnest persuasions, and turning back with his wife, entered Stratford another way. The king, however, by no means disconcerted, rode leisurely through the midst of them, without exciting notice; and, if the heart of his young companion beat quicker in this peril, she betrayed no unworthy signs of it. Indeed, throughout she well deserved the praise Mr. Whitgreave has left of her-that, in all this journey, Mrs. Lane performed the part of a most faithful and prudent servant to his Majesty, showing her observance when an opportunity would allow it, and at other times acting her part in the disguise with much discretion.

At Stratford Mr. and Mrs. Peters left them, to pursue their journey to Windsor; and the royal party, now reduced to three, rested for the night at Mr. Tomb's, of Long Marston, with whom Jane Lane was well acquainted. There Charles, as Will Jackson, was ushered into the kitchen; and a story is told that the cook, busy in preparing supper for her master's friends, desired him to wind up the jack: he did his best to obey her, but could not hit upon the right way of doing it, on which she exclaimed in a passion"What countryman are you, that you know not how to wind up a jack?" Will Jackson answered with ready humility"I am a poor tenant's son of Colonel Lane's, in Stafford