answered by him. Still heavier articles | ber of armed vessels: and the lord lieuagainst Buckingham were exhibited in an tenants of the counties were ordered to impeachment from the Commons, charging summon the people to be trained to him with corruption, and other crimes. arms. But an attempt was unsuccessful, The king vainly attempted to prevent which aimed to induce the people at this, by strong assertions of his preroga- large to pay the subsidies voted by the tive, which the Commons met by declara- Commons, though the act had not passed. tions of ancient, constant, and undoubted rights to question and complain of all persons dangerous to the commonwealth. Sir John Elliot was among the most active in this affair; he was committed to the Tower, the king's wrath being excited by a reflection upon him in relation to the last illness of his royal father, which there is every reason to consider unfounded. These proceedings induced the king to dissolve the parliament in great haste, to prevent another petition against the favourite, and an answer to his reply to the charges; the king declaring, "Not for a minute," when the lords urged a few days' delay of this proceeding. One charge which excited the popular indignation was, that the duke had caused the French king to be supplied with English ships, to act against the Protestants in France, then in arms against their king. In answer to this, Buckingham said, that he had been deceived, and thought it was the intention of the French to employ these ships against Genoa. But this was not the case: the particulars have been already related; and when writing from Paris, while there for the king's marriage, Buckingham had expressly stated, that the success of Louis against his Protestant subjects, would depend on the ships furnished by England and Holland. Another financial measure was called for by the success of the Romanist party, in Germany, against the elector Palatine, whose affairs were now in a very desperate state. Charles thought that the necessity for an effort, in behalf of the Protestant cause, would induce the nation to furnish money with less reluctance; and a large amount was required as a loan, to be repaid from future parliamentary grants. Commissioners were appointed, who were directed to proceed with inquisitorial powers in case of opposition. Persons in middle and humble life, who resisted, were forced to serve in the army or navy, while several of higher rank were sent to distant prisons. Some of the latter continued their opposition, and sought to be set free by the legal process of habeas corpus, as they were imprisoned only by mandate from the king and council, without being charged with any offence. The right of the government to imprison at pleasure was largely discussed. Magna Charta, and subsequent laws founded thereon, were cited; instances, even in the last century, of persons thus imprisoned, being released on claiming the protection of this writ were quoted; but the judges decided in favour of the power of the crown, and refused the liberation of those who would not pay the loan. Further proceedings followed; the soldiers, lately returned from Cadiz, were quartered upon many who were reluctant to advance the money, and encouraged to commit even brutal outrages. All this increased the unpopularity of the court party. Partly to remove that, and partly from the violent, though feeble conduct of Buckingham, a war with France was determined on, under preCom-tence of aiding the Protestants in that kingdom. The latter were unwilling to engage in hostilities; but Buckingham led a fleet and army into France, and again induced the inhabitants of Rochelle to take up arms. He landed in the island of Rhé, but, after an unsuccessful siege of the principal fortress, he was compelled to embark and leave the coast: being the last man to enter the boats, he preserved his reputation The dissolution of this parliament was followed by the imprisonment of the earls of Arundel and Bristol; it left increased irritation between the king and his subjects, and prevented the removal of his pecuniary difficulties, which now pressed the king so severely, that he resorted to decisive and active measures on account of them. The duties of tonnage and poundage were still levied. missioners were appointed to increase the revenue from the crown lands, and to raise money by fines for long leases. The penalties on recusants, and religious delinquents, were enforced. Persons of property were obliged to lend sums of money; and the large amount of 120,000l. was required from the City of London. The sea ports were required to provide and maintain, for a time, a certain num for personal courage, though his want of | he holds himself as well obliged as of his abilities in every other respect was ap- prerogative." parent. Another expedition was needful to remove this disgrace, and relieve the Protestants thus brought into collision with their monarch. This required a meeting of parliament, in preparation for which some popular measures were resorted to. Archbishop Abbot was reinstated, and several who had been imprisoned were released. The primate had been suspended from the exercise of his office for refusing to license a sermon in which the preacher taught that the loans required by the king were lawful. But, without waiting for the parliament, another effort was made to raise contributions; however, the opposition was so general, that it was relinquished. The contests at the elections were unusually severe; the general result was unfavourable to the court, and when the parliament was opened, it was found to contain a large proportion of individuals of property and independence. This equivocal consent excited much indignation among the popular party; severe resolutions against Buckingham would have been passed; but, by the king's order, the speaker adjourned the House. The next day, a request for a more explicit answer was agreed upon. The king, fearing for his favourite, took his seat upon the throne, ordered his former answer to be cut off, and the more usual form of "Let right be done as is desired," to be written on the petition. He then declared that he had done his part; the fault would not be his if the parliament had not a happy conclusion. His consent was received with acclamations, and the bill for the money grant was passed. It might have been expected that, after obtaining these important concessions, the leaders of the popular party would have rested content with what they had gained, at least for a time, and apparently they would have been wise to have done The king, in his opening speech, used so: but, encouraged by the king's comstrong and doubtful expressions, but pliance, they determined to proceed still these were not resented: a large supply further. In a few days, they presented a rewas voted, but the Commons determined monstrance, complaining of the evils that not finally to sanction the grant till they threatened religion, and the welfare of had procured redress of the evils most the nation; and urging the disgraces that complained of. With this view, an im- had been incurred, attributing these results portant document, called "the Petition principally to the undue power exercised of Right," was brought forward, ground-by the duke of Buckingham. The popular ed on resolutions stating, that no free-party thought to enforce this remonstrance, man ought to be imprisoned, unless a by withholding the duties on customs, and lawful cause was expressed; that the prepared another petition to remind the writ of habeas corpus ought, in no case, king, that, by the petition of right, he to be withheld; that if the return to that was prevented from levying them; but writ showed no cause sufficient to justify before it was presented, they were rerestraint, the party ought to be bailed, quired to attend in the House of Lords, or set at liberty; that no sums of money when the king asserted that the tonnage could be demanded by the king, without and poundage were not dependent upon consent by act of parliament. The right their will, but that he was accountable to of imprisonment, at the will of the sove- God only for his actions; then, declaring reign, was too important for Charles, and his assent to the tonnage and poundage, too agreeable to him, to be relinquished he prorogued the parliament. In this without a struggle; but he did not ven- address he referred to the petition of ture upon decided or open opposition. right; but stated, that to the judges When the petition was presented, and in- alone, under him, belonged the interstead of the usual form, "Let it be law pretation of the laws, and they had alas is desired;" he directed the following ready told the king there would be cases answer to be written under the petition: of exception to it. This eventful session "The king willeth that right be done, showed an important series of popular according to the laws and customs of the rights recognized by the crown; but it also realm; and that the statutes be put in showed that the procurers of this great due execution, that his subjects may have boon were disposed to go much further. no cause to complain of any wrong, or Here, then, was increased irritation beoppression, contrary to their just rights tween the king and his subjects. Another and liberties, to the preservation whereof new feature was exhibited. The king gained over two of his warm opponents, Savile and Wentworth, by the gifts of honours and office. The latter, who had been active in resistance to the court, was subsequently known as lord Strafford, and became very energetic in support of the royal proceedings. THE SUNFLOWER. A FLOWER may be sweet-scented, without equalling the violet in fragrance; it may be fair, without being lovely as the rose; and, in like manner, too, a flower may be highly estimated for one quality, though it may be deficient in another. The sunflower is less a favourite than most others, because it is deficient in that shrinking, delicate kind of beauty so interesting in flowers generally. It is considered coarse and harsh; and the eye that beams with love and admiration on the rose and the lily, often changes to a cool and negligent expression while glancing at the head of the sunflower. But shall the strength and majesty of the lion be overlooked because he has not the meekness of the lamb? Shall the high-soaring eagle be despised, because he is not soft and gentle, like the dove? You shall not find tenderness and timidity in the sunflower, but you ought not to look for them; the sunflower is the giant, the champion of the garden; coming up with a strong and esolute growth, and having a bold and daring look, that will not blink or change for shine or shade, day or night. It is a noble and determined flower, carrying itself loftily, having at all times a resolved and fearless expression. Whether turning up to look at the skies, or bending down towards the ground, you shall find the same firm countenance, bright and unsubdued. You need not love the sunflower. It is proud and high, asking no smile, no sympathy, indifferent to all things, loving best to look stedfastly in the face of the king of day, with a fixed, unwearied gaze, as if delighting in the golden beam that makes its own-self more sunlike. You have doubtless seen some rueful spot, far from the tulip beds and the moss roses, where the earth was coarse and barren, but for trees and weeds, and rambling plants, and where a broken crumbling wall inclosed a rude, but sunny corner; did you not see there how the sunflower came up, viewing at a dis tance the stately garden, and glorying in its wild neglected bed, growing and spreading, a mighty thing, resting a part of its broad leaves even on the ground, and rearing high its head above your own? Yes, you saw it there, and passed on, seeking sweeter and fairer flowers, and stayed not a moment to mark how grand it looked, and how kingly, exulting in the beam of the sun and its own magnificence. But the sunflower is also an enduring flower, abiding long and waging warfare boldly with the pitiless storm, bearing itself bravely in the beating of the_rain, while its capacious leaves lash and toss about in the hurricane, yielding haughtily to the warring winds, bearing and bending with a stubborn and dignified resistance, and looking still bright and unconquered, when broken, and drenched, and ruined, and reft from its place. Have you some difficulty to overcome; some hard task to perform? Stoop you under some burden your faintheartedness makes heavy and fearful? Go and look full in the bold bright face of the sunflower. It will speak to you of strength, and courage, and steady determination; and, through the goodness of its Almighty Maker, it may impart new vigour, and awaken fresh good resolutions and determinations, in a moment of fancied inability. MY AUNT PRISCILLA.-No. V. MANKIND may be fairly divided into three classes: those who act on bad principles, those who act on good principles, and those who act on no principles at all, but are the mere creatures of impulse. The last is by far the most numerous, and certainly not the least mischievous. Those who habitually and openly adopt and act on bad principles are, in general, pretty well understood both by themselves and by others. They do not deceive themselves by the semblance of good; and their open display of evil, as it renders them more odious, renders them proportionally less dangerous to others. But the impetuous, unstable, double-minded man, who acts just as the impulse of the moment guides him, satisfies himself that he "means no harm," forgetting both that he is guilty and condemned for doing no good, and that, whether or not he mean it, in reality he does much harm, by his occasional outbreaks of actual folly; by the influence of his example; and by the impediments which his erratic movements are perpetually throwing in the way of others. Those alone can be justly esteemed good, exemplary, and useful, who form to themselves right principles, and then conscientiously and habitually regulate their conduct by them. It is a great thing to know whereabouts to find such people; and we cannot fail to reverence the person of whom we can say with confidence, in reference to any improper action or course of conduct, "I am sure he will not do that," or "I am positive he did not do so." Why not?" "Because he would not think it right." My aunt was one of this sturdy sort. She habitually acted on principle, and, making every due allowance for human fallibility and human imperfection, her principles were sound and judicious, and her practice uniform and consistent. From her example, I am led to conclude, that the plan she adopted is the only way of really "living" all the days of one's life, and leaving behind some valuable evidence that we have not lived in vain. Oh, the dreamy, useless, uninteresting existence of a large portion of the human race! They seem to live as if they were created for nothing higher than self-gratification, either in its more refined or its grosser form; and as if all around them had no higher employment for their time and their powers, than to minister to their gratifications. Such frivolity would excite only the smile of pity or contempt, if we could divest ourselves of the idea that awakens the sigh of heartfelt anguish, that these triflers must give an account of the time they fritter away, of the evil they have done, and the good they have omitted to do, while in the strictest, most degrading, and most guilty sense, they were living to themselves. But to return to my aunt, and to the recollection of some of her fixed principles. The first, undoubtedly, was obedience. "I am the servant of God, and my first concern in everything must be, to know and do his will." How striking and encouraging is the promise, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light," Matt. vi. 22; and how is it fulfilled in the experience of those who set the Lord always before them. The one question, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" | generally admits of an easy solution when it is not perplexed and hampered by the admixture of foreign solicitudes, such as these: "How will it appear?" it be safe?" "Will it be politic?" "Will I have heard my dear aunt remark, that in so many instances duty is found congenial with inclination and interest, that those who desire to do the will of God from the heart, had need look closely into the motives of their conduct, lest they should take credit for obedience, when, in reality, they only seek to please themselves. "Oh," she would say, "how exceeding broad is the command to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and to do every thing from a principle of love and obedience to him. I am afraid lest conformity to what God has commanded should be, in reality, nothing better than acting in accordance with natural inclinations, or as impelled by the influence of circumstances. Without this all-pervading principle, our activity, and kindness, and decorum, though they may look well in the eyes of our fellowcreatures, and be useful to them, have no more claim to be regarded as acts of rational obedience to the will of God, than the ravens flying to feed Elijah.” Happy is it for individuals and for society when natural inclinations and surrounding circumstances are favourable to such things as are lovely and of good report; but the genuine Christian will be deeply solicitous, not only to do such things, but to do them "after a godly sort. My dear aunt, who had been singularly privileged in treading a long and honourable course, in which duty and inclination alike led the way, was afterwards no stranger to the trial of principle involved in their separation. The steadiness with which she was enabled to pursue the course of duty, when it ran counter to that of inclination, must have been a source of solid satisfaction to herself, as corroborating the testimony of conscience to her previous sincerity. To her friends, it presented a delightful and instructive example of genuine and consistent piety, characterized by singleness of aim and simplicity of dependence, She considered nothing with which she had to do so trifling as to be beneath the inquiry, "Is it right? Is it agreeable to the will of God?" She considered no step so obviously easy and safe, as that she could venture to take it on her own judgment, or in her own strength. Such a measure, she knew, would be sure to issue in a slide or a stumble. On the other hand, she never hesitated to take a step at the evident call of duty, and in reliance on Divine aid and strength. | However arduous it might be, she expected to be sustained; however dangerous, she expected to be preserved, for she knew whom she had trusted, and she not only repeated the declaration, but realized its vital efficacy, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," Phil. iv. 13. As obedience was her first principle, (the obedience not of constraint, but of gratitude and love,) so self-renunciation was her second. She renounced the idolatry of righteous self, as well as that of sinful self, and looked out of herself for acceptance and strength. She deeply felt, and often expressed, (when she permitted herself to speak freely to a beloved friend,) her entire dependence on the Saviour "for light to direct, and disposition to choose, and strength to pursue, and submission to suffer, and patience to wait." Nothing possesses a stronger tendency to make men of "quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," than simplicity of aim and entireness of consecration. This was pre-eminently displayed in the Christian's great Exemplar; and, in a humble measure, it characterizes all his disciples. I have not, in the course of my own observation, met with a more striking instance of this, than in the character of my aunt Priscilla; and I have sometimes been painfully compelled to contrast her simple, straightforward course of holiness, with the evasions, the subterfuges, the contrivances to explain away the requirements and meaning of Scripture, by which some professing Christians strive to keep up a decent appearance, and to maintain tolerably good terms with conscience, while they live in the neglect or violation of precepts so plain, that "he that runs may read," and that the wayfaring man, though a fool, should not err therein. Scripture was, indeed, a light to her feet, and a lamp to her paths. When it dictated, "This is the way," she unhesitatingly walked therein, and found rest to her soul, and scattered blessings in her path. Of those whose privilege it was to trace out her lovely and consistent course, some have far more closely imbibed her spirit and followed her example; while others, with myself, have often, in the bitterness of self-reproach, exclaimed, "Oh, how different has my conduct been from that of aunt Priscilla!" My aunt habitually cherished and acted under correct views of the shortness of time, and the relative value of the interests of time and eternity. This was the influential principle which so well regulated the views and conduct of the early Christians, in reference both to their duties and their trials, and which proved to them an unfailing source of consolation and happiness. Rom. viii. 18; 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. The same principle exerted a happy practical influence on her whose character I am now endeavouring to trace. It seemed always to connect itself with her worldly projects, plans, and expectations. No one more thoroughly enjoyed the bounties of Providence, the delights of social endearment, or any of the advantages that met in her lot. No one was more distinguished by intelligent forethought and promptitude in suggesting and improving circumstances and opportunities in common things: but then, it was always under the holy and chastening influence of piety. "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that," Jas. iv. 15. She knew how to possess as though she possessed not, and to "use this world, as not abusing it," constantly remembering that "the fashion of this world passeth away, 1 Cor. vii. 31. When she was favoured with worldly success and satisfaction, still her highest enjoyment was in the conviction that these were not her all, nor her best things; that she had a better portion in reserve. When visited with trials and disappointments, she would say, how light and transient! Only for a moment! A few years hence, and all this will indeed appear 'less than nothing and vanity!' Let me realize the fact, that it is so now, and then my heart and mind will be kept steady in the midst of changing scenes. "But "Such The same principle influenced her wishes as to her views of the education of her children, in all arrangements for placing them out in life, and in the views she entertained of their forming acquaintances and connexions. a pursuit," she would say, "might in itself be agreeable; but is it worth the time required for its acquisition? Several hours a-day, for several years, is no inconsiderable portion of the little period allotted for purposes of real utility, and for preparation for eternity." "Such a situation, or such a connexion, might be advantageous in a worldly point of view; but how is it likely to operate on the discharge of the great duties of life, or the interests of the soul and eternity?" To the solemn |