After some delay Ralph replied coldly :

'BROTHER-I know not how saifly this letter may ' come into your hands, therefore I shall only tell you 'that in October I received your letter dated September 14, which was soe full of sharpnesse that I rather chose to forbeare answering it (being willing to avoyde all ' matter of dispute) then returne such a reply (as that language did deserve) to a brother I love soe well.

' have now received another from you in another straine 'by Mr. Rogers, for which I thanke you, and let me 'intreate you to stick to the resolution you have taken 'concerning mee, and I shall promise to doe the like to you. I will send you noe newes least it cause the letter 'to miscarry. . . Your truly affectionat Brother to serve 'you, R.V.'1

Here was a father and three sons, each taking his own line, and no two feeling exactly alike, for the younger Edmund, though he could not outdo his father in personal loyalty, was in conviction far more whole-heartedly for the King, and Ralph's conscientious vacillations had nothing in common with Henry's easy-going indifference to one side or the other. They were but typical of the divided counsels in many another family throughout the country, and those, too, amongst the worthiest; for the larger minded a man was, the more likely to see how much was to be said for the opponent's point of view, how great were the shortcomings on his own side. For years the questions at issue had been debated with more or less heat, and it was inevitable that men of different temperaments should take different views of what their conscience demanded, especially in the beginning, when few thought the struggle would have gone so far, not reflecting how much easier it is to draw the sword than to sheathe it, when every victory has exasperated the situation more and more.

1 Verney Memoirs.

Another instance of a divided family was that of the Sidneys. The Earl of Leicester himself had no more doubt than had Sir Edmund Verney which side honour and duty called him to support, but he was a man of very different temper, and his adhesion was so uncertain and wavering that it was impossible to trust him with any important position, which want of confidence offended and estranged him. His second and cleverest son, Algernon,

was what in later times would be called a radical of a visionary type, and he carried his elder brother with him, while Dorothy's husband, young Lord Sunderland, was among the king's most devoted adherents, and Lady Leicester showed her loyalty when the Royal children were entrusted to her charge by insisting, against the desire of the Parliament, that they should be treated in her household with the respect due to their rank.

Although it is chiefly amongst these distinguished people that the records have come down to us, the same thing must have been taking place in many quiet homes throughout the country. Everywhere were friends estranged, families separated, suspicions engendered. Another cause which made for the destruction of family life for the next generation or two was the exile which was the lot of so many. Either the children were separated from their parents, or they were brought up in foreign homes with foreign ideas and habits. It was not only the sorrow of exile but its results that were to be deplored.

The condition of the Church too was lamentable; the iconoclastic rage of the Puritans exceeded even that at the time of the Reformation, and not only spared neither statue nor painted window, but broke up all organs and committed to the flames piles of ancient music-books containing unpublished treasures of old Church music which could never be recovered. Many churches were utterly wrecked, and so terrible was the destruction wrought by Waller's troops in Winchester Cathedral that

it was seriously debated whether it would not be best to pull the old building down and use the material. It was only saved by a representation made by the townsmen to the Protector that its long nave was the best place in the town where large numbers might hear sermons. The use of the Book of Common Prayer was interdicted-so much for freedom of conscience-and all priests who adhered to their ancient laws and canons, or who had given any aid to the king in his distress, were turned out of their livings, and their places supplied by Independent or Presbyterian preachers-'godly ministers' in the phraseology of the day. Daily service in the churches was entirely discontinued, the only week-day worship consisting of the Wednesday evening lecture with a long extempore prayer. With that exception public worship was entirely relegated to the Sabbath,' which was observed as a day of mortification and gloom, not only all games and sports being forbidden, but even the innocent recreation of a country walk. Taylor relates how in the village of Barnsley 'little children were not suffered to walk or 'play and two women who had been at Church before ' and after Noone, did but walke in the fields for their ' recreation, and they were put to their choice either to pay sixpence apiece (for prophane walking) or to be 'laid one houre in the stocks; & the peevish willfull 'women (though they were able enough to pay) to save their money & jest out the matter, lay both by the 'heeles merrily one houre.'1

And this was what took the place of the godly discipline of The Country Parson; no fancy picture be it remembered, for it was exemplified not only in the life of the writer, but in that of many another, such as Hammond, Vaughan, Owen, Cosins, Morley. For it was the best men who were driven out; the careless and self-seeking, the time-servers and indifferent, could easily secure their peace by violating their conscience and so

1 A Short Account of a Long Journey, by John Taylor, the Water-Poet.

retain their livings. Great numbers preferred penury and exile, some taking refuge abroad, some living in retirement in England and ministering privately whenever occasion served. Evelyn has this entry for March 5, 1649:

'Mr. Owen, a sequestr'd, & learned minister, preached ' in my parlour, and gave us the Blessed Sacrament now wholly out of use in the Parish Churches, which the 'Presbyterians & Fanaticks had usurped.'

Thus religion, banished in the name of religion, kept on its hidden way. When the storm had passed it was found how many had kept the lamp of faith alight, and these came back to plant once more the old waste places: Ken and Morley, Hammond and Hall, did their utmost to rebuild the churches and to restore the ancient godly customs, but it was hard work to form again the religious habits, the broken traditions of a whole people; it would have been easier to rebuild a ruined cathedral than to bring back the scattered congregations to the ways they had once walked in.

When the Restoration came a new order began; the old could never be brought back; there were many things no Restoration could restore. Monarchy was set up again, and the Church was reinstated, but the scaffold at Whitehall saw the end of more things than one man's life.