34 Ikfngs of tbe 1Rot>, 1Rifle t ant) Gun 



despise the first, and covet when plenty, and when 

 that sort grow old and decay, and another cometh 

 in plentifully, then they change ; as if nature taught 

 them that every thing is best in its own proper season, 

 and not so desirable when not kindly ripe, or when 

 through long continuance it begins to lose its native 

 worth and goodness." 



It was not surprising that when General Monk began 

 to take measures for the restoration of the king he 

 should have found in Venables a man willing to assist 

 him. The Commonwealth had not treated the old 

 soldier so handsomely that he should feel bound to it 

 by any tie of loyalty or gratitude. So he threw in 

 his lot with Monk and the Monarchy, and as Governor 

 of Chester Castle did yeoman's service in keeping the 

 King's peace. Whether he found Charles any more 

 grateful than his old Parliamentary masters I do not 

 know. Probably not, for gratitude was never one of 

 the strong points of the Stuarts. But in any case let 

 us hope that the peaceful delights of angling still to 

 the end gave him ample compensation for Fortune's 

 buffets. 



He had taken part in two revolutions. He had 

 seen a king beheaded, and he had seen a king restored. 

 Had he lived a few months longer he would have 

 witnessed a third revolution, and seen another king 

 ousted from his throne. But Death spared him this 

 sight, and took him away in the year before James II. 

 fled from his kingdom and left his crown behind him. 



