,1639.

Finally the Scots, animated by religious enthusiasm, raised an army, and under banners bearing the inscription, "For Christ's crown and covenant," marched to encounter the king's forces which had been raised to quell them. They met near the river Tweed, but no engagement took place. Charles found the enemy stronger than he had anticipated, and perceived, moreover, that there was no disposition on the part of his own troops to make the attack. Charles was forced to withdraw his army and enter into treaty with the Scots.

Wentworth, soon after he had taken sides with the king, had been sent to govern Ireland. He was a man of great ability, and succeeded in restoring something like order to that distracted country. He even managed to obtain from the Irish parliament supplies of money for the king. When Charles was in the midst of his troubles with the Scots, he sent for Wentworth, made him Earl Strafford, and asked his advice. Strafford, thinking that he could manage the English parliament as well as he had done an Irish one, advised his master to summon it. This parliament met in April, 1640. The spirit of the Commons was as high as ever, and as they began upon the old subject of grievances, before granting any money, the king dissolved it, at the end of a short session of three weeks.

1640.

Charles was now in greater trouble than before. The Scots, with a good stout army in "uniform of hodden gray, with blue caps," had crossed the border, successfully encountered the royal forces, and entered England to "present their griev ances to the king's majesty." The sympathy of the great body of the English people was with them, nor had Charles and his advisers either the money or the troops sufficient for their reduction. Under these circumstances he was compelled to enter into negotiations with the Scots, and moreover to yield to the clamors of the nation, and summon his fifth and last, the celebrated Long Parliament. It met on the 3d November, 1640.

One of its earliest acts was to impeach for high treason,

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, and Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, both of whom were sent to the Tower. There was no sufficient evidence on which Strafford could be convicted of high treason, but the people, excited against him, as they had formerly been against the Duke of Buckingham, because they believed him to be the adviser of Charles's tyrannical measures, clamored for his death. After a long trial, which absorbed the attention and interest of the nation, the court pronounced Strafford guilty, and sentenced him to the block. Charles, after much wavering, yielded to the pleas of his courtiers, and gave his assent to the fatal bill. One honest man alone was found-the good Juxon, bishop of London-who urged the king not to go against his conscience. In a letter addressed to Charles, Strafford had written: "I do most humbly beseech your majesty, for prevention of evils which may happen by refusal, to pass this bill." He added: 'My consent shall more acquit you herein to God, than all the world can do besides." When, however, Charles took him at his word, and the consent of the king to his death was made known to the fallen courtier, he exclaimed: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man, for there is no help in them."

แ

1641.

On the day in which Strafford's bill of attainder May 10, received the royal assent, another important bill, that annulling the king's prerogative for dissolving parliament, passed the great seal. Previously, Charles had been forced to consent to a bill for triennial parliaments, and on the 5th of July of this year, he consented to the removal of the detestable courts of High Commission and Star Chamber.

Three years later, Archbishop Laud was brought to a trial similar to that of Strafford, before bitter enemies. Condemned to death, he laid his head upon the block, with an unshrinking courage, praying for forgiveness of his enemies, and uttering among his last words, "I desire to depart and be with Christ."

After the death of Strafford, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. It was headed by Roger More, a Roman Catholic, and

directed against the English of the Pale, as the Protestant colonists of Ireland were called. The news produced a great excitement in England, and men and money were raised to put down the rebellion. The king was so lukewarm in suppressing this outbreak, that suspicions were aroused of his being in league with the Roman Catholics. He was accused, moreover, of soliciting the aid of foreign princes to quell the growing power and spirit of his parliament.

QUESTIONS. When and under what circumstances did Charles ascend the throne ?-How did Charles regard the royal prerogative? -Describe the progress and prosperity of the Commons at this time. -What demands were made by the king's first parliaments?-How did Charles act on each of these occasions?-What was the character of the king's advisers ?-From what motives did Villiers promote an expedition against the French government?-Describe the object of this expedition and the result.-What befell Villiers the following year?

Name two other advisers of the king.-Describe the character and conduct of Archbishop Laud.-How did the Puritans oppose the archbishop?-Relate the persecutions which they suffered in consequence.-Describe the conduct of Wentworth.-What was the Petition of Right?-How received by the king?-What was tonnage and poundage?-Relate Charles's conduct with regard to this tax.-On what occasion did Cromwell first speak regarding public affairs ?— Describe his appearance and remarks.—Relate his history up to this period.

Mention the precedent which encouraged the king to levy the tax called ship-money.-Describe the conduct of Hampden in this connection. Mention its result.-Describe Charles's attempt to introduce Episcopacy into Scotland.-State the result.-Relate the success of Wentworth's government in Ireland.-To what did he advise the king at this juncture?--With what success?-Describe the conduct of the Scots at this time.-What circumstances compelled the king to treat with them?-Describe the parliament which met on the 3d November, 1640.-Mention one of its first acts.-Give an account of the trial, imprisonment, and death of Strafford.-What important bills passed in parliament on the day of Strafford's attainder?Describe the end of Archbishop Laud.-What occurred in Ireland during the year 1641 ?-What accusations were brought against the king?

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE LAST ELEVEN YEARS OF CHARLES I.'S REIGN.

SEIZURE OF THE FIVE MEMBERS-THE KING'S FORCES-THE PARLIAMENT'S ARMY-CIVIL WAR-RELIGIOUS PARTIES-THE KING AND THE SCOTSCONDUCT OF CROMWELL-THE KING'S DOWNFALL.

1642.

These

DISTRUST of King Charles grew stronger day by day. But nothing so roused the fears of the nation as his attempt to seize in their places in the house, five members of Jan. 4, the Commons on the charge of high treason. gentlemen withdrew, before the king entered Westminster Hall, and were safely lodged in the city beyond his majesty's reach. This breach of parliamentary privilege injured Charles more than anything else in the eyes of his subjects. His coming to the house with an armed band, induced them to think of getting the military force of the kingdom, for the future, under their own control.

With this view, parliament passed a bill for the naming of such lords-lieutenant of counties, as would raise a militia mindful of their interests. The king refused his assent to a bill which would place this power in the hands of the parliament. That body then resolved to muster an army and put the kingdom in a state of defence, without the king's consent. Of course, when affairs were in such a state, civil war could not be far distant. The king, who had gone into the north, issued his "Commission of Array," for levying troops. His cause was strongest in the north, the west, and the south of England. His army was raised chiefly among the nobility, who were most loyal in their devotion to the king. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and some of the country gentlemen in the north, also favored the royal cause. The queen, who had gone to Holland, pawned the crown jewels, and sent her husband money. Many of the king's officers were well skilled in the art of war, but the bad morals

of his troops, especially those commanded by his nephew, Prince Rupert, who had come over from Germany, excited the indignation of the people. Prince Rupert (or Prince Robber, as he was nicknamed) scoured the counties of England, burning and pillaging. The word plunder, which originated in Germany during the miseries of the Thirty Years' War, was now heard for the first time in England. Well would it have been had the deeds of robbery and wrong which the word describes, been for ever and in all lands unknown.

1642.

The parliament published their "Ordinance of June, Militia," and enlistments, especially from among the lower classes, soon swelled their ranks. Although there were few well-trained soldiers amongst them, they were enthusiasts for the cause in which they fought. Such zeal was shown in contributions, from the bag of gold, or silver plate, of the wealthy Londoner, down to the poor countrywoman's silver thimble, that their army was called, in derision, "the thimble and bodkin army." John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell had commissions as colonels in the parliament's army. Colonel Hampden gathered his men under a banner, bearing on one side the inscription, "God with us,” and on the other the Hampden motto, "Vestigia nulla retrorsum" (never retracing our steps). Cromwell set about raising troops who should be "men of religion," and soon he had raised his famous body of "Ironsides," among whom no drinking nor disorder nor impiety was allowed; nor swearing, because for every oath a fine of twelve pence was paid. There were nearly as many preachers as soldiers in the parliament's and much time was spent in listening to sermons and attending prayer meetings. The Puritans looked upon their enemies as Amalekites, Philistines, and idolaters, whom they, as God's chosen people, were commissioned to punish and overthrow. Roundheads was a nickname given, in derision, to this army, because of the fashion generally prevalent among the Puritans, of cropping the hair close. Cavaliers and Malignants were terms applied to the royalist army.

army,