1826.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



627 



safely out of the country. In the meanwhile, 

 the King's time hangs heavy on his hands, 

 and having nothing better to do, he begins 

 to fall in love with ' pretty mistress Alice,' 

 and at last discloses himself, and makes a 

 direct proposal of ' protection.' This of 

 course is indignantly rejected ; but so true 

 and exem])lary is the good young lady's 

 loyalty, that tilings go on pretty much as 

 before. Her attendant, however, to whom 

 some how or other the young king had not 

 made himself agreeable— he was consum- 

 mately ugly— communicates to Markham, 

 the very extraordinary assiduities of the 

 stranger-gentleman to her mistress. Starch 

 and stiff as he is, Markham has warm blood 

 in his veins, and can brook no interference 

 with his affections. He marches straight 

 towards the palace — be was still quartered 

 8t the town of Woodstock — and on his 

 way across the park, he encounters this 

 same young Scotchman, and presently they 

 get to tilting ; but are quickly broken in 

 upon by old Sir Henrj'. A challenge in 

 form, however, follows, and the next morn- 

 ing is to decide the mortal arbitrament. 

 The news gets wind, and Alice and Dr. 

 Rochecliffe — as in duty bound— of course 

 take measures to prevent it. On the 

 perilous edge of battle, Alice — nodus vin- 

 dice dignus — presents herself to the com- 

 batants ; and, perplexed between lier loyalty 

 and her love, she contrives to confirm 

 ~Markham's jealousies, and he takes an 

 eternal farewell. The result touches at 

 last the cold feelings of Charles, and to 

 spare the misery of both parties, he abruptly 

 discloses himself tr> Markham ; and all of 

 course is set straight again between the 

 lovers. This generous confidence it will be 

 supposed embarrasses Markham a good 

 deal, and at once makes half a royalist of 

 him. 



By this time Cromwell becomes fully ac- 

 quainted with Charles's presence at Wood- 

 stock, through Tomkins the preaching 

 trooper, who had remained it seems at the 

 palace to settle some affairs left unfinished 

 by the commissioners on their hasty depar- 

 ture, and who was playing double — being 

 at the same time the confidant both of 

 Cromwell and Dr. Rochecliffe. Every- 

 thing was thus easily ai'ranged between 

 ' trusty' Tomkins and Cromwell for seizing 

 Charles. Cromwell arrives ^t Woodstock, 

 goes straight to the inn, places sentinels at 

 the door, and presents himself without 

 ceremony to Markliam and his friends. 

 Wildrake, who was with Markham, instant- 

 ly takes alarm at the sudden appearance of 

 Crqmwell — he knows of Charles's conceal- 

 ment^slides out of the room, and has just 

 time to let down a boy by the window and 

 despatch him with an enigmatical message 

 to the palace, which is luckily interpreted 

 correctly by Alice's sagacity. Measures 

 are instantly taken for removing the king ; 

 Sir Henry's son at the very moment arrived 

 with jaded horses— the old man produces a 



specific for giving new life in an instant to 

 the wearied animals— the kuig is smuggled 

 off, with Alice for his guide, and the son 

 remains behind to personate Charles, — to 

 gain time. 



Cromwell, in the meanwhile, is waiting 

 for Tomkins. Tomkins fails him. Un- 

 luckily, instead of minding his business, he 

 was in pursuit of Alice's attendant, and 

 meeting her in a convenient spot was 

 making somewhat violent love, when he 

 was surprised by a swain of hers, who with 

 a stroke of his quarter-staff killed him on 

 the spot. 



Cromwell's patience is at length exhaust- 

 ed. He sets out himself with a detach- 

 ment — accompanied by Markham under 

 aiTest— surrounds the house with a double 

 circle of guards — breaks down tlie gate- 

 rushes in with his troops — tracks the laby- 

 rinths of the palace — blows up the tower — 

 gets scent of the knight's son, whom he 

 supposes to be the kin, seizes him, discovers 

 too late his mistake, and in an agony of 

 bitter vexation at the loss of the fugitive, 

 commands every soul of the party— old Sir 

 Henrj', his son, Markham, Wildrake, Dr. 

 Rochecliffe, and we know not how many 

 more, to be gibbetted forthwith. Of course 

 they all escape, and Markham and Alice 

 are reserved for happiness. Cromwell was 

 no butcher ; though be gave hasty orders, 

 they were rarely executed, and he himself 

 was pleased with tlie neglect of them : and 

 knowing they would not be promptly per- 

 formed, the more readily suffered himself to 

 issue them. 



The True History of the State Prisoner, 

 commonly called the Iron Mask, extracted 

 from Documents in the French Archives; by 

 tite Hon. Geo. Agar Ellis. May 1826.— 

 The first who speculated on the identity of 

 the Iron Mask, we believe was Voltaire. 

 Keeping in view nothing but the fact of 

 the extraordinary precaution taken to se- 

 cure and conceal the person of the prisoner, 

 and the vague reports of the extreme respect 

 she\vn by the governor of the state prison, 

 he concluded the prisoner must be a person 

 of royal birth, and, with his usual precipi- 

 tateness hasarded the conjecture of his 

 being the elder or twin brother of Louis 

 XIV. The extreme improbability of tliis 

 guess gave rise to a variety of other conjec- 

 tures, and a great number of candidates for 

 the vacant honoiu' have been started, at 

 different times, by writers of considerable 

 eminence. The best of them has made but 

 a plausible story. Louis XV. who pro- 

 fessed to know all about the matter, — from 

 what quarter does not appear, seems to 

 have been amused by the perplexity of the 

 speculators, and repeatedly declared they 

 were all in the wrong. Choiseul set Madame 

 de Pompadour to worm the secret out of 

 him, but all she could extract was, that he 

 was the minister of an Italian Prince; and 

 on Choiseul himself pressing the question, 

 the King still gave the same answer. Tliat 

 4L2 



