certainty of complete success. At intervals, light nourishment in regulated quantities, continued to be passed to the miners; this however, they soon rejected, expressing but one desire, that their friends would make haste. Their strength began to fail them; their respiration became more and more difficult; their utterance grew feebler and fainter; and towards six o'clock in the evening, the last words that could be distinguished, were-" Brothers make haste!" The general anxiety was now wound up to the highest pitch; it was, perhaps, the most trying crisis yet experienced since the commencement of these benevolent labours; at length the moment of deliverance was, all at once, announced, and at ten o'clock it was accomplished. One by one they appeared, like spectres, gliding along the gallery which had just been completed; their weak, and agitated forms supported by the engineers, on whom they cast their feeble eyes, filled with astonishment, yet beaming with gratitude. Accompanied by the doctors, they all, with one single exception, ascended to the entrance of the mine, without aid; such was their eagerness again to inhale the pure air of liberty. From the mouth of the mine to the temporary residence allotted them, the whole way was illuminated. The engineers, pupils, and the workmen, with the National Guard under arms, were drawn up in two lines to form a passage; and thus, in the midst of a religious silence, did these poor fellows traverse an attentive and sympathising crowd, who, as they passed along, inclined their heads, as a sort of respect and honour to their sufferings. Such are the affecting particulars of an event, during the whole of which, every kind of business was suspended at St. Etienne; an event which exhibited the entire population of a large town, forming, as it were, but one heart, entertaining but one thought, imbued with but one feeling, for the god-like purpose of saving the lives of eight poor obscure individuals. Christians, men of all countries, whenever and wherever suffering humanity claims your aid,—Go ye and do likewise! Examination of Claude Fereol, working-miner, aged thirty-two years, one of the eight men who were inclosed in the mine of Bois-Monzil. Q. At what hour on the second of this month of February, did you enter the mine of Bois-Monzil? A. At five o'clock in the morning. Q. How many of you went in? A. Twenty-six, not including M. Bonin, the clerk. Q. When you were in the mine, did any person seem to apprehend danger from the waters? A. No, not in the least on that day; but a few days before, M. Bonin had been informed that the waters flowed in in a manner to excite alarm, and that it would be prudent to take the usual precautions; to which advice, however, he unfortunately paid no attention. Q. How, and in what manner, did you perceive the irruption of the waters? A. Towards eight o'clock in the morning, we suddenly heard a noise like a clap of thunder. One of the overseers immediately called out, "To the water! to the water!" Seven of us instantly hastened to him; that is to say, all those who worked in the upper gallery. We saw the flood rush by us, at the distance of four paces: it flowed with great rapidity, filling the whole bed of the gallery, twelve feet wide, and, at least, five feet deep. A few inches more, and at that moment it would have attained the top of the gallery. Q. How long did you behold the water flow in this manner? A. Nearly an hour. It did not rise towards us, because it rushed into the lower galleries, which were filled. Q. When this hour had elapsed, what did you then do? A. We all of us went to the ridge of the gallery where we were found; its length is about seventy-two feet. We gave ourselves up for lost. As soon as we arrived there, we simultaneously fell on our knees; and Jean Teyssot, the oldest of us, recited different prayers. We equally invoked the intercession of the holy saints for our deliverance, which occupied about the space of an hour. Our lamps were still burning. We then went to look at the waters. We flattered ourselves they had fallen an inch, either because they had descended into the lower galleries, or because the pumps were at work without. We remained there about an hour, after which we returned to the ridge of the gallery to renew our united prayers to the Almighty, as we always kept together. While we were praying, our lamps suddenly expired, all at the same instant, which greatly added to our afflictions. Three of us then exclaimed, “ Even thus shall we expire, just like these lamps." We now prepared ourselves forthat death which we considered inevitable, and redoubled our prayers, imploring pardon of God for our greatest faults. Previous to this, some of us had wept; but now the most perfect and entire resignation took place with us all. At the beginning, the married men frequently thought of their wives and children, but now some of them said, "Let us rather think of those who are departing, than of those we shall leave behind. May heaven protect them, and pardon us!" Henceforth we remained by the ridge of the gallery, except Sagnol, who occasionally went to examine the waters: Sagnol, whose strength was less impaired than ours, often said to me on returning, "Fereol be comforted, the waters abate; we shall see our friends here in two or three days." We made an equal partition of our clothes; Sagnol, who had a jacket and a flannel waistcoat, gave the latter to Chovet, who had left his upper garments in another gallery. Q. Had you thought of striking on the rock in the hope of being heard; and when did you begin? A. Half an hour after the waters began to escape, one of us seized a wedge and struck on the rock; the rest did the same successively. All at once we heard our blows answered; at first we thought they were trying to come to our aid through the lower galleries. However we soon perceived our error; it was one of our comrades, who had been surrounded by the waters in another place, and who thus sought assistance. We suppose it was Jean Brun, who had been surprised by the overflowing of a gallery in which he happened to be. The sounds were repeated for the space of an hour, when we heard them no more. It was impossible for us to go to his aid. Immediately after our lamps were extinguished we placed ourselves in another corner of the ridge of the gallery, where we repeated our prayers every hour, sometimes kneeling, sometimes lying down, sometimes standing up. Q. Did the time seem very long to you? A. No; as it was passed in praying, in hope, or in resignation. Q. When did you first hear the sounds from without, and what were you doing at that moment? A. For two hours we had not ceased striking on the rock; our strength and spirits were exhausted, we were lying one upon the other, when, all at once, we heard the sound of several blows. We all of us instantly started on our feet-we felt the greatest pleasure. Soon after we heard the explosions, which shook the floor of the gallery where we stood; this increased our joy. Q. Were there any disputes amongst you? A. No; quite the reverse; the most perfect accord subsisted amongst us, having all the same will, the same sentiment, the same idea. What one proposed or desired, the rest wished or concurred in. When one said that we must resign ourselves to die, all of us became resigned. If another gave us hope, we all shared it with him. Q. Did you experience hunger? A. No; none of us; except on the second day, when Brun, the youngest of us, said he felt an appetite. He then ate the leather of his braces, after which he complained no more of hunger. Beraud also ate a part of his shirt, and two wicks of our lamp, but without feeling hungry; it was merely to sustain his strength, and to garnish his stomach, as he said. Q. Did you feel thirst? A. Yes, frequently; especially towards the end of our confinement. We used to go and drink in the gallery which the waters had penetrated, but subsequently we discovered a little stream of running water, by the noise it made, which we uncovered with our hands. Howover, for my part, I drank very sparingly, fearing it might do me harm. Antoine Dumas abstained altogether from drinking, having a quid of tobacco in his mouth, which, he asserted, stood in lieu of every thing. On the first day, half a pound of bread, and three glasses (tumblers) of wine, were divided between six only of our comrades. Beraud and myself refused to partake of either the bread or wine, because we alone had breakfasted, and it was but fair to render our respective situations equal! Q. Did you suffer much? A. Yes, extremely from cold, which we began to feel two hours after we were shut up in the gallery. This cold proceeded from the humidity produced by the leaking of the water on all sides. To warm ourselves we spread some brushwood, and two persons laid down upon it; he amongst us who suffered the most from cold, plaeed himself between the two, who pressed him as close as possible; another then laid himself upon the middle one, and, in this manner, we alternately endeavoured to keep ourselves warm. Q. Did you always retain your reason? A. No. Jean Teyssot, our ancien, had lost his senses for twenty-four hours when we drew in the boring instrument. He raved without ceasing; it was so far happy for him that he was not conscious of his real situation. I, also, lost my senses for two hours. But Sagnol and Chevot preserved their presence of mind throughout. The horrible idea of eating each other in case of excessive hunger, was never thought of. I believe we should have died each and all, without being aware of the fate of those who had preceded us; since we were fast verging to that point, where, like Teyssot, we should have experienced no outward sensation. What contributed to overpower Teyssot, was the want of snuff, which he constantly complained of. Q. Did you get any sleep? A. Little or none; at most, one with another, not more than two hours each. Q. Did you hear the labours going on for your release? A. Perfectly. Whenever they ceased for a moment, we renewed our knocking, to indicate no time was to be lost; and as we found the first boring-tool had passed on the other side of us, we gave several successive knocks, in the hope of making them understand their mistake. Q. Could you in any degree distinguish the direction of the instrument which penetrated to where you remained? A. Very well. I heard when they began to place it, and I remember having remarked that it was "all right." Five minutes ere it reached us, I anticipated that we should presently see it, because I had placed my ear close to the ground for the purpose of hearing more distinctly. As soon as it had perforated to our gallery, I hastened to draw it out, and instantly informed my companions, all of whom, except Teyssot, who was too ill, threw themselves on their knees to thank God for our approaching deliverance! When they called to us through the hole, “It is M. Neyron's workmen who have found you,” I immediately recognised the persons who spoke. After we had been asked how many we were, and when I replied eight, three of whom are unwell, and when I had made known our respective names, they announced to me that they were about to convey us some soup, but I begged they would first let us have fire to produce a light, however they previously passed the soup, of which each of us took a single mouthful. They then introduced a tinder-box, &c., but it was impossible to make use of it, owing to the vitiated air of the gallery. The small quantity of soup we had given to our ancien, recalled him a little to his senses, and the first thing he asked for was a pinch of snuff! We received a few pinches only, which sufficed however to intoxicate him in some degree. Q. Were you not asked what day in the week it was? A. Yes, and I answered Saturday, as we all supposed; and when we were informed it was Monday, I quickly replied, "Ah! we ought to have known that; as we yesterday indulged ourselves freely in drinking-water." Q. Did you hear the rumbling of the iron carriages? A. Yes, twice. Q. Do you recollect the Prefect's speaking to you through the hole? A. Yes. But we did not know it was him; when we were told so, it gave us much pleasure, and confidence; as we said, "It appears everybody is interested for us, since Monsieur le Prefet has deigned to come here." Q. Did you often think of your wives and families? A. Not very often. Q. Did the soup relieve you much? ever. A. At first it gave us strength; but afterwards we felt more fatigued than This I account for from the air conveyed to the workmen by the means of bellows, coming to us warm and vitiated, which greatly affected our breathing. Thus, a few hours after the opening of the communication by the hole, several of my companions were unable to speak, and the old man, especially, was much exhausted. To remedy this I occasionally placed my hand, or a stone, before the hole, urging the workmen to dispatch. From this moment, that is, after having each of us taken about a tubeful of soup, we abstained from taking any thing more, either because our stomachs would not bear it, or because we were too anxious that no time should be lost in delivering us. Q. Do you remember in what manner you left the mine? A. Yes. It was the Emperor (a nickname) governor of the quarry of Rochetaille, who first entered. Antoine Dumas embraced him round the neck. We descended one by one, with the exception of the old man, who was carried. We did not forget to bring away our lamps. The sight of the engineers and the doctors gave us great pleasure; and when we were quite out of the mine, and saw the Garde Nationale under arms, our hearts beat with joy and gratitude towards the brave men who had snatched us from the jaws of death. Eight men perished, including M. Bonin, to whose unfortunate inattention the calamity may, in some measure, be attributed. Paris. L. OUR EARLY PATRIOTS. "Great men have been among us; hands that penned Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend. They knew how genuine glory was put on; Taught us how rightfully a nation shone In splendour: what strength was, that would not bend SUCH was the noble testimony given by Wordsworth in his earlier and better days, to the exertions of those Englishmen, who, two centuries ago, devoted themselves to the popular cause, and struggled heart and hand, to work out in their own persons a restoration of the liberties of their country. At the present time it may not be uninteresting to turn aside for a while from the political strife in which our contemporaries are engaged, and consider attentively the character of these "first patriots," who vindicated the rights of Englishmen in an age far removed from our own, though not altogether dissimilar in the great interests which divided it. It will not be a useless lesson to view the example of men who, for the destruction of the corruption of that day, risked their all, and on the justice and benefit of its abolition pledged their fame to the latest posterity. The portraiture of such individual character,—which will be found to illustrate forcibly those principles of right conduct, that have contributed, in all ages, to the best purposes of usefulness,— has been but slightly touched on in the histories of that period. It has been too much the fashion with each successive writer to repeat the tale of his predecessor, and to identify the temporary existence of party with that page in history, which, bearing the record of English tyranny and English resistance, especially belongs to the general interests of mankind. Those authors of our own day, who, with minds versed in the science of the constitution, have given us a faithful picture of the struggle for liberty, although they have done justice to the characters of the men engaged in it, and to the steadiness and sagacity with which their intentions were prosecuted, have yet been too much occupied in the discussion of the great constitutional questions of the time, to enquire into their private motives or their personal histories. It seemed, therefore, to the writer of this paper, that a rich source of valuable knowledge remained yet unexplored by the literary enquirer; and in attempting to gain from close researches a more intimate acquaintance with the personal characters of those great and able men, he disclaims all quarrel with truth, and will in every case prefer its discovery to the assertion of a favourite opinion. Before attempting these personal sketches however, it may be considered requisite to a perfect understanding of the circumstances by which the characters of the patriots were formed, and their early dispositions developed, to glance briefly at the state of the times and of parties preceding the reign of Charles I. This is not the place for any elaborate exposition of the causes of the growth of the Commons in the state, although it may be remarked generally, that they grew into note and consideration precisely as the Barons declined; and that from the stormy and turbulent reign of Henry III. upwards, amidst all the contentions that ensued, the cause of |