loaded, and even pointed at the breasts of their so called enemies. One

word had been sufficient; and there the last of mankind would have

burthened their souls with the crime of murder, and dipt their hands in

each other's blood. A sense of shame, a recollection that not only their

cause, but the existence of the whole human race was at stake, entered the

breast of the leader of the more numerous party. He was aware, that if the

ranks were thinned, no other recruits could fill them up; that each man was

as a priceless gem in a kingly crown, which if destroyed, the earth's deep

entrails could yield no paragon. He was a young man, and had been hurried

on by presumption, and the notion of his high rank and superiority to all

other pretenders; now he repented his work, he felt that all the blood

about to be shed would be on his head; with sudden impulse therefore he

spurred his horse between the bands, and, having fixed a white handkerchief

on the point of his uplifted sword, thus demanded parley; the opposite

leaders obeyed the signal. He spoke with warmth; he reminded them of the

oath all the chiefs had taken to submit to the Lord Protector; he declared

their present meeting to be an act of treason and mutiny; he allowed that

he had been hurried away by passion, but that a cooler moment had arrived;

and he proposed that each party should send deputies to the Earl of

Windsor, inviting his interference and offering submission to his decision.

His offer was accepted so far, that each leader consented to command a

retreat, and moreover agreed, that after the approbation of their several

parties had been consulted, they should meet that night on some neutral

spot to ratify the truce. At the meeting of the chiefs, this plan was

finally concluded upon. The leader of the fanatics indeed refused to admit

the arbitration of Adrian; he sent ambassadors, rather than deputies, to

495

The Last Man