Execution of the Royalists

‘4th July, 1660. I heard Sir Samuel Tuke harangue to

the House of Lords, in behalf of the Roman Catholics,

and his account of the transaction at Colchester in mur-

dering Lord Capel, and the rest of those brave men, that

suffered in cold blood, after articles of rendition.’

Sir John Evelyn discusses Lord Capel  in his diary, on July 4^th, 1660.  Sir Walter Scott published the following in “Tales of a Grandfather “  on this subject:

‘…The unfortunate Duke of Hamilton, a man of a gentle but indecisive character, was taken, as I have told you, in his attempt to invade England and deliver the King [Charles II], whom he seems to have served with fidelity, though he fell under his suspicion, and even suffered a long imprisonment by the royal order. While he was confined at Windsor, Charles, previous to his trial, was brought there by the soldiers. The dethroned King was permitted a momentary interview with the subject, who had lost fortune and liberty in his cause. Hamilton burst into tears, and flung himself at the King's feet, exclaiming, " My dear master!"—" I have been a dear master to you indeed," said Charles, kindly raising him. After the execution of the King, Hamilton, with the Earl of Holland, Lord Capel, and others, who had promoted the rising of the royalists on different points, were condemned to be beheaded. A stout old cavalier, Sir John Owen, was one of the number. When the sentence was pronounced, he exclaimed it was a great honour to a poor Welsh knight to be beheaded with so many nobles, adding, with an oath, "I thought they would have hanged me." This gallant old man's life was spared, when his companions in misfortune were executed…’

On America

‘America must certainly be accounted a successful attempt to establish a republic on a much larger scale than those we have mentioned. But that great and flourishing empire consists, it must be remembered, of a federative union of many states, which, though extensive in territory, are comparatively thin in occupants. There do not exist in America, in the same degree, those circumstances of a dense and degraded population, which occasion in the old nations of Europe such an infinite difference of knowledge and ignorance, of wealth the most exuberant, and indigence the most horrible. No man in America need be poor, if he has a hatchet and arms to use it. The wilderness is to him the same retreat which the world afforded to our first parents. His family, if he has one, is wealth; if he is unencumbered with wife or children, he is the more easily provided for. A man who wishes to make a large fortune, may be disappointed in America; but he who seeks, with a moderate degree of industry, only the wants which nature demands, is certain to find them. An immense proportion of the population of the United States consists of agriculturalists,  who live upon their own property, which is generally of moderate extent, and cultivate it by their own labour. Such a situation is peculiarly favourable to republican habits. The man who feels himself really independent,—and so must each American who can use a spade or an axe,—will please himself with the mere exertion of his free-will, and form a strong contrast to the hollowing, bawling, blustering rabble of a city, where a dram of liquor, or the money to buy a meal, is sure to purchase the acclamation of thousands, whose situation in the scale of society is too low to permit their thinking of their political right as a thing more valuable than to be bartered against the degree of advantage they may procure, or of a license which they may exercise, by placing it at the disposal of one candidate or another.’

For July 4, American Independence Day, some observations made by Sir Walter Scott in his “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte”. 

Independence Day

July 4, 1776 is, of course, the birth date of the United States.  Fifty years later, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 to be followed by James Monroe on July 4, 1831.  Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, living in Graff House in Philadelphia while writing it.  Graff House was once the home of Rebecca Gratz who some believe was the model for Scott's Rebecca in "Ivanhoe".  The connection runs through Scott's friend and fellow author Washington Irving.  Gratz herself appreciated Scott's Rebecca saying "I felt a little extra pleasure from Rebecca's being a Hebrew maiden. It is worthy of Scott in a period when persecution has re-commenced in Europe to hold up a picture of the superstition and cruelty in which it originated."

Sources:
http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/thomas-jefferson-declaration-of-independence.html
http://jwa.org/historymakers/gratz/ivanhoe-legend