inland towns, requiring a supply of ships duly manned and equipped, or an equivalent sum of money. Odious though this tax was, it yielded upwards of two hundred thousand pounds in the first year of its assessment.

It was against this illegal tax that Hampden first made a stand in the spring of 1636. Being rated at thirty-one shillings and sixpence, he refused to pay it, and determined to bring to a solemn judicial decision the important question. The trial lasted thirteen days, and the decision was unfavourable to Hampden, but it was generally felt that the real question at issue was the rights of the people, and that Hampden was the champion who in his person dared to assert them. Subsequent events showed that the victory on the part of the crown was a triumph dearly won, and a main cause of the breach between the King and his people being so widened that it could not afterwards be healed.

Hampden continued without violence, but firmly, to oppose the tyrannical proceedings of Charles. His views were comprehensive, his conduct conciliatory, and free from prejudice or passion. But, when the tide of events had swept away the last trace of affection between the King and his people, and an appeal to arms took place, then Hampden stood prominently forward, distinguished by his wisdom, his foresight, his courage, his untiring energy, and the boldness of his council. We could point out many instances of his wisdom and military skill; we could dwell upon the gallantry displayed by him at Aylesbury and at Edgehill; we could detail particulars of that fight at Brentford so dishonourable to Charles - so honourable to the valour of Hampden and the Parliamentarians: but we forbear, and invite our reader to accompany us to a scene of painful interest, such as will never again, we trust, be witnessed in this kingdom.

In the month of June, 1643, Charles I. held his head-quarters at Oxford, having with him the fiery Prince Rupert and the Prince of Wales. The Parliamentary troops, under the command of the Earl of Essex, occupied Thame, and a considerable extent of country around; but, the utter absence of energy in the general, and the inaction he displayed, had greatly disgusted and disheartened his troops. Desertions became numerous, and, amongst those who went over to the King, was one Colonel Urrie, a man of bad character, but a clever, dashing guerilla soldier. Rupert presented the greatest possible contrast to Essex. With him all was vigilance and activity. Night after night did he issue from Oxford, scour the country, carry off abundant pillage, and, like a comet, leave a train of fire behind. He gave the enemy no rest, and, after the fashion of Mina, the Spanish chief, in our own days, was ever pouncing upon his prey when least expected.

Shortly before the 17th of June, Urrie had received information that treasure to the amount of 25,000l. was to be conveyed to Essex under escort of two troops of City Horse. Such a booty was too tempting

The precise question, so far as it related to Hampden, was, whether the King had a right, on his own allegation of public danger, to require an inland county to furnish ships, or a prescribed sum of money by way of commutation, for the defence of the kingdom? It was argued for Hampden by St. John and Holborne ; by Solicitor-general Littleton and Attorney-general Banks on the part of the Crown.

to be permitted to escape, and Urrie proposed to Rupert to intercept it. The prince robber (as he was called) entirely coincided in Urrie's views, and on Saturday, June 17th, about four in the afternoon, the trumpets sounded to horse in the streets of Oxford. Rupert had already sent out a body of infantry which joined the cavalry on the march towards the Chiltern Hills, whither the united force, consisting of about two thousand men, proceeded, crossing the Cherwell at Chiselhampton, and leaving Thame, the head quarters of Essex, on the left.

Skilfully though the plan was laid, it was doomed to disappointment. The officer in charge of the treasure had prudently avoided the common road, and taken another by Aylesbury, so that he escaped the snare laid for him. This was a bitter disappointment to the confederates, but Rupert was not the man to return from such an expedition empty-handed. About three in the morning he attacked Postcombe, where a troop of cavalry was quartered, but they being on the alert retired in good order after a slight skirmish. Rupert then made a dash at Chinner, killed many of the enemy, and took more, whom he dragged away half-naked, tied to the horses of his troopers. Having set the place on fire, he thought it time, as the sun had risen, to make the best of his way back to Oxford.

The alarm had, however, spread, and in the grey of the morning a trooper thundered up to Hampden's quarters, at Watlington, and gave him notice of the foray. Soon was he in the saddle, and, having dispatched an express to Lord Essex, urging him to send a force to intercept the enemy at Chiselhampton Bridge, he determined, in spite of the earnest entreaties of his friends, to accompany the cavalry which were now hastily assembling for an attack upon the freebooters.

In an interesting pamphlet, published the week after, entitled "A true relation of a Gret Fight between the King's Forces and the Parliament's, at Chinner, near Tame, on Saturday last," we are told that," amongst these colonells and commanders that were at an instant willing to hazard their lives upon this designe, Colonell Hampden (who is a gentleman that hath never been wanting to adventure his life and fortune for the good and welfare of his King and country, may not be forgotten) who, finding of a good troop of horse, whose captaine was at that time willing, desired to know whether they would be commanded by him upon this designe: whereupon the officers and common men freely and unanimously consented, and proferred to adventure their lives with this noble gentleman, and showed much cheerfullnesse that they could have the honour to be led by so noble a captaine."

Hot and hard did these gallant fellows ride, and presently fell in with other troops, all of whom came under the command of lieut.colonel-or, as he is called in the old pamphlets, Serjeant-Major Gunter (for in those days the rank of serjeant-major nearly corresponded with that of the lieut.-colonel of the present day). We may conceive the eagerness with which the troopers spurred on to retrieve their disgrace-they have been told to make all haste, and to hold the enemy in check by dint of brisk skirmishing until Essex can come up with reinforcements of infantry, and right willing are they to cross swords, and exchange shots with the cavaliers: we may imagine Rupert and his forces pushing on their jaded horses in order

to clear the bridge before the enemy can reach it-many a look is turned behind, and at length, about seven in the morning, the rays of the sun, which had risen unclouded in all the glorious brilliancy of June, are reflected from some object in the distance. The sparkling of arms amidst a cloud of dust becomes visible, and soon afterwards a body of horse, moving with rapidity, is clearly discerned. Rupert is at this time passing a fair-field, called CHALGRAVE FIELD, beyond which is a lane leading to the bridge. His military eye tells him at a glance the importance of securing the open ground; so sending the prisoners and booty forward to cross the bridge with all speed, he turns into the field and marshals his forces in battle array. His own regiment, and that of Prince Charles, forming the main body; Colonel Percy's regiment being in reserve. The distance between the hostile forces rapidly diminishes, and when within charging distance, the Parliamentary cavalry draw up to breathe their horses, and form somewhat in order before making the attack. It is eight o'clock, and the sun is fiercely hot; the commanders are making their final arrangements, short though the time be, and the men are eagerly awaiting the command for the onset.

And now the fight begins. Gunter with his troops comes down among the enclosures on the right of the Royalists, and Rupert at once charges them fiercely, his Life Guards and dragoons smiting them with their long swords. Gunter, pushing on too eagerly, is struck by a pistol-shot; and Percy's reserve coming up and falling on the flank of his men, they first yield, then break, and at last fairly give way. During this time, Hampden with two troops has been making his way round the right of the Cavaliers, and at this critical moment he rushes forward to rally and support the beaten troops; but it is too late: the confusion increases,―shouts of victory are heard from the Cavaliers,-by twos and threes Gunter's men are turning and fleeing. Presently an officer is seen slowly extricating himself from the mêlée and, with drooping head and unsteady seat, making his way to the rear. By heaven, 'tis Hampden! He is hurt,-evidently badly hurt: his dress is dabbled with blood; his pale face, rendered paler by traces of powder, tells of suffering, and the fire of his eye is quenched! Gunter is dead; Sheffield and Hampden badly wounded: overwhelmed by numbers, the Parliamentarians can no longer hold their ground. Hampden casts one long, anxious look upon the battle-field, and, with a heavy sigh, turns his horse's head towards the house of the father of his first wife,-the wife of his love, Simeon at Pyrton; but, alas! the enemy's cavalry are in his way, and he is obliged to ride back across the grounds of Hazeley on his way to Thame. There is a brook directly in his path: he pauses, but is conscious that, in his wounded state, he is unequal to remount if once he dismounts,-so, summoning all his energy, he dashes his spurs into his horse's flanks and with a leap clears the brook. This effort quite exhausts him: with the greatest difficulty, and in a fainting state, he reaches the house of Ezekiel Brown at Thame, is lifted from off his horse and placed in the best apartment, which he is never destined to leave but as a corpse!

Gun-shot wounds in the neighbourhood of the large joints, especially when complicated with fracture, are always serious, but the surgical practice two centuries ago would diminish the chances of recovery. Stimulating balsams and irritating nostrums were the favourite remedies, such as would increase the inflammation and constitutional

irritation. Even Wiseman, who was sergeant-surgeon to Charles II., and of superior intelligence to the generality of his contemporaries, countenanced such treatment. Take, for example, the advice he gives for the management of a gun-shot wound:-" Be not disturbed in your thoughts, but having taken out the bullet or pieces of splinter, dress it up as a contused wound with fat of puppies, or such as followeth, as hot as the part will bear, not giving credit to any that shall persuade you to the contrary; no, tho' it be near a bone, for the discharge will foul it more than your greasy medicaments. Therefore dress it thus. Take of oil of white lilies bvj., boil in this two new-whelpt puppies until the flesh fall from the bones; then add of earth-worms steeped in wine, fbj.; boil these awhile, then strain them by a gentle compression; to the strained liquor add turpentine, iii. drs.; spirits of wine, i. oz. Reserve this for your use." This strange farrago will at the present day excite a smile, but it is rather a favourable specimen of the prescriptions of our ancestors.

All the contemporary writers agree that Hampden's wound was in the shoulder. It is stated by some that he was struck by two carabine balls, which broke the bone and entered the chest; but the account to which we are disposed to attach most credence, and to which we shall presently refer, gives a different version of the matter. There is a third statement, to which we shall first give consideration.

About the middle of the last century a story made its appearance, having Horace Walpole for its sponsor, to the following effect:-That at Chalgrave field Hampden's pistol burst and shattered his hand in a terrible manner; that, when dying, he sent for Sir Robert Pye, his son-in law, and told him that he was in some degree accessory to his death, as he had the pistols from him. Sir Robert assured him that he bought them in France from an eminent maker and tried them himself. It appeared on examining the other pistol that it was loaded to the muzzle with several supernumerary charges, owing to the negligence of the servant. Such was the story: but the late Henry James Pye, Esq., lineal descendant of Sir Robert Pye, states, in his "Commonplace Book," that his father always questioned the authenticity of the anecdote, as his father was bred up and lived with Sir Robert Pye until he was eighteen years old, and he never mentioned such circumstance. The story met with but little credit generally, and would have been forgotten, had not public attention been roused by an apparent confirmation of it which appeared in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for August, 1828.

Some doubt was thrown upon the authenticity of this narrative at the time of its appearance, but, on the whole, it seems to have received credit. It was evidently believed by Doctor Russell, who, in his "History of Modern Europe," remarks, when speaking of Hampden, " He is said to have received his wound by the bursting of one of his own pistols." When, however, Lord Nugent's interesting "Memorials of Hampden" appeared in 1832, without the slightest allusion being made to the disinterment, surprise was felt, and an explanation required by Mr. Southey in his review of the "Memorials" in the "Quarterly." His lordship replied in "A Letter touching an article in the last Quarterly Review," in which he says, "Nothing will serve Mr. Southey but he must quote me

Not having been able to obtain a sight of the pamphlet, we quote from extracts from it in the "Athenæum" for Feb. 12th, 1848.

against myself, and say that I have made personal observation of the state of John Hampden's wrist, and saw that it was shattered.' Not I, indeed! Mr. Southey quotes a very silly, distasteful narrative of a supposed very ghastly transaction which, he says, he derives from the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' and supposed to be written by myself, or under my authority. Not it, indeed!" His lordship adds a suspicion that the credulous Mr. Sylvanus Urban had been made a victim of that "unfair guerilla mode of attack, popularly called a hoax. I certainly did see," continues his lordship, "in 1828, while the pavement of the chancel of Hampden Church was under repair, a skeleton, which I have many reasons for believing was not John Hampden's, but that of some gentleman or lady who, probably, died a quiet death in bed-certainly with no wound of the wrist."

This express disclaimer on the part of Lord Nugent might have been supposed to set the matter at rest; but the question was reopened by Mrs. Hall, in the "Art-Union Journal" for January, 1848. Her article was severely commented upon by a correspondent in the "Athenæum," to whom Mrs. Hall replied in the same periodical "that the statement of the 'Gentleman's Magazine' was confirmed to me in every particular not six months ago by the housesteward of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and the clerk of the church, both of whom were present on the occasion."

We have been at some pains to ascertain the real facts of the case, and accordingly made application to three of the principal parties who are stated to have been present at the disinterment. Although the information we obtained in reply was not so full as we could have wished, it has led us to the conclusion that a search was made for the body of Hampden, but that it was not attended with any satisfactory results, and that the statement in the " Gentleman's Magazine" is not authentic.

We have made allusion to another account of the nature of the wound which we are strongly inclined to believe is the correct one. It is that given in the pamphlet published by the Parliamentarians during the week after Hampden received his wound.* This states that "it is certain that Colonell Hampden, that noble and valiant gentleman, received a shot with a bullet in the shoulder, which stuck between the bone and the flesh, but is since drawne forth, and himselfe very cheerfull and hearty, and is, (through God's mercy,) more likely to be a badge of honour than any danger of life." The following appears to us likely to be the true version of the case:-The bullet struck Hampden on the back of the shoulder-joint, probably splintering the head of the humerus, (or large bone of the arm,) and injuring the joint, but not penetrating. This of itself would be a serious injury, and attended with much subsequent febrile disturbance under the best treatment; but when we take into consideration the fact that it was the custom of the surgeons of those days to fill a wound with lint steeped in stimulating balsams, and to apply dressings of a most irritating description, it is not a matter of surprise that although the ball appears to have been extracted, violent fever from constitutional irritation set in, which, combined with the effects of the local inflammation sure to arise, would satisfactorily account for the fatal termination of the case.

* "A True relation of a gret Fight between the King's Forces and the Parliament's, at Chinner, near Tame, on Saturday last. 1643."