Beaumont. Neville waved his hand in silence. "Oh! my friend," said he,
as soon as the Protector and Whitlock had retired, "I have suffered more
than the rack. I have seen the fiend-like face which looked, without
compunction, on the sufferings of the Royal Martyr, and I felt too weak
to revenge his wrongs. Have I not gone too far in saying I would accept
of freedom from his hands?"
"Vengeance for such a crime," replied Dr. Beaumont, "is too vast and
comprehensive to be entrusted to mortal agency. Let us leave it to Him
who claims it as his own prerogative. Murder, perfidy, and treason, will
be remembered when the avenging angel shall visit the sins of man."
Cromwell returned from his insidious visit, disappointed and dejected.
He had failed of the end which he proposed to himself by his
condescension. A reconciliation with two such distinguished Loyalists,
founded on the mutual benefits of submission and restitution, would have
strengthened his government; but he found abstinence from treacherous
hostility was all that his blandishments could obtain, and this he would
owe rather to their own principles of honour and religion than to his
threats or his promises.
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