The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-05-19
THE UNKNOWN LEADER.
A Dramatic Story of the War With XII.
Philip.

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Dramatic Story of the War with King
! Philip.
Once upon time. as the fairy. sto-
ries begin. only this is not a fairy
story, there was a war in country
across the sea. long and cruel war
There were many battles fought and
thousands OF men lost their lives, and
what DO you suppose it was all about9
Why so they might know whether the
king was to rule with or without par
lament But very important prin-
clple was at stake. and many honest
men fought on the side of the parlia~
| ment.
In the end the king was defeated
and taken prisoner. says a writer in
the Philadelphia Times. No doubt
you have read about it in your history
and know that this kings name was
Charles Stuart, Charles l. Of En-
| gland. If So you will remember that
he was put on trial for his life and
| condemned to death. There were
many good men on the parliamenfs
side that were opposed to this. but
the majority were determined that he
should die. So one cold January day
he was brought out and beheaded on
! Tower Hill.
For dozen years. then. there was
no king in England. They called it
the Commonw ealth but l thing We
| might as we'll call it the reign of Oil
yer Cromwell When Cromwell died
most OF the people had got tired OF
the Commonwealth " and they sent
to France for the young prince
Charles Stuart the son of the MUIR
dered king: This was called the
Restoration.
One of the first things the new king
did was to order the arrest of all the
men who had condemned his father
to death. There were forty of them,
and they were called regicides. that
Is. the murderers of a king. Nearly
all OF them were taken and executed,
but three of them managed to escape
These three men came to America
which was then virtually wilder
ness. with few villages scattered
here and there among tho forests
They found various refugees though
they were pursued from time to time,
by the agents of King Charles. Some
times they hid in caves sometimes an
Indian wigwam gave them hospitable,
shelter and one of them for fifteen
years was the secret guest of the good
minister Of Hadley. which was then a
border town in the valley of the Con-
necticut
During King Phillips war large
force of Indians attacked Hadley 1t
was on Sunday and the savages sur
prised the hamlet while the people
were assembled in the little church.
Suddenly the warwhoop sounded. and
the Indians clambered over the pals
AIDES and rushed through the gate
| ways.
The Puritans grasped their frelocks
which they carried to church with
them in those fighting days and mus
tered upon the green. Almost can
you see the scene glittering under the
drowsy skies of June. the savages in
war paint and feathers leaping and
tlourishing their murderous weapons:
the settlers with peaked hats and
quilted doublets, making as gallant a
defense as they could the women and
children kneeling behind them.
But the settlers were losing ground
and the Indian yells were growing
tiercer and more triumphant They
turned at last to flee. just then "a,
strange figure rushed in front of the
fleeing whites. No one knew him OF.
where he had come from He was
an old man, but tall and erect with
long white hair and flowing beard
dressed like a cavalier. He brand
ished a slender rapier which flashed
as the spectators thought with an un-
earthly light
Rally here. men Of Hadley:" he
cried, in a stern, loud voice that had
its effect even upon the Indian foe
Rally here-for your lives"
His military presence and his cheer
| ing words inspired the settlers TO q
heroic defense. The tide of battle
turned in & short time the savages
fled and the little frontier town was.
| saved.
But when the settlers turned TO
thank their deliverer he had disap-
peared as mysteriously as he had
come.
Even very good people were super
stitious in those days and as they
could not account for it in any other
way. it began to be whispered among
them that an angel Of the Lord had
| appeared in their defense, nor did
they learn their mistake until the.
death Of the minister's secret guest
which happened several years after
wards Then they knew that the
angel with the white hair must have
been William COTE. the regicide.
| In his place of concealment he had
seen the peril of the whites and so
had rushed out and saved the settle
ment.
If you should chance to visit the
| dreamy little village on the Connecti-
cut you may stand upon the very
ground where the tall warrior ap-
peared with streaming white hair and
beard. waving high the sword that
had flashed and struck on Marston
Moor and rallied the panic-stricken
settlers in thatSlong ago year OF grace.
1876.