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and Independency, grew daily more bitter. The parliament were still willing to consider terms of reconciliation with the king, whilst Cromwell and the army had resolved that no more treaties should be offered him. The latter, to secure possession of his person, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Cobbet to convey Charles from Carisbrook, to the solitary, gloomy castle of Hurst, on the Hampshire coast. Having possession of the king, a band of armed soldiers, under Colonel Pride, entered London, surrounded the parliament house, and seized the principal members. Many fled, and all that remained were fifty Independents. This seizure is generally called Pride's Purge, and the members who were left are known as the Rump Parliament.

In the dreary walls of his prison-house, Charles was filled with fears for his life. The idea of his subjects bringing their king to trial, and passing a judicial sentence upon him, could never have entered into the imagination of this firm believer in the divine right of kings. When, therefore, on the night of the 16th December, 1648, he heard the creaking of the drawbridge, and the tramp of armed men, he feared the hour of his assassination was come. Great was his relief on finding that their commission was to convey him to Windsor Castle. On the route, Charles received touching evidences of the reviving love and loyalty of the people towards their discrowned and fallen monarch. On the day that his majesty entered Windsor, the few Independents who now were left as

1648.

the House of Commons, appointed a committee to Dec. 23, draw up charges against the king. On the 6th January, 1649, a high court of justice was appointed for the trial. On the 20th, Charles Stuart was summoned before it, and accused of treason. For seven days, in the presence of that court, composed of those subjects whose power he had despised, was King Charles obliged to appear, and listen to the fearful charges of criminal misrule which were brought against him. On the last day of the trial, Charles Stuart, as "a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy," was sentenced to be executed.

On the 30th January, 1649, on a scaffold erected in front of the royal palace of Whitehall, the king's head was laid upon the block. He met death with calmness, even cheerfulness. "I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown," were his last words, addressed to Bishop Juxon. When the executioner had performed his office, and the severed head was held up in the sight of the people, "one dismal, universal groan" broke from the awe-stricken witnesses of this fearful deed.

?

QUESTIONS.-Describe Charles's attempt to seize the five members of the Commons. What effect did it produce upon the nation?—— Mention the bill introduced at this time in parliament.-What was the consequence of the king's refusal of this bill?-Describe the king's army. By what means did the parliament raise troops ?Describe the zeal which pervaded them.—Mention two distinguished commanders.-Describe the character and discipline of the parliament's army.-Where was the first battle fought ?-With what result? For what was the skirmish at Chalgrove Field memorable ?

On what condition did the Scots promise to aid the parliamentarians?-Describe the views of the Independents.—What was the Scotch National Covenant?-Relate the manner in which it acquired the additional title of League.-IIow was it then received in England?-Describe the battle of Marston Moor, and the result of it.— Mention the grounds of dispute between the Independents and the Presbyterians. By what parliamentary act did the former triumph? -Relate the provisions of that act.-Who was exempted from it ?— Give an account of the battle won by him shortly after.

Describe Charles's reverses.-What circumstances defeated his hope of aid from Scotland?-Mention his subsequent conduct.— What motive induced him to act thus?-Relate the conduct of the Scots with regard to the king.-By what means did he fall into the hands of the Independents ?-How was he treated by them?-What defeated every attempt to enter into treaty with the king?-By what false hopes was he actuated?-Relate the discovery of Charles's treachery made by Cromwell and Ireton.-Relate the king's subsequent conduct.-Describe his attempt at escape.—What induced the king's removal to Hurst Castle?-Describe the proceedings of the army with regard to the parliament.-Describe the trial of the king. -Relate the circumstances and manner of his death,

CHAPTER XLIV.

ENGLAND A COMMONWEALTH.

1649.

CHANGES IRELAND-PRINCE CHARLES-THE DUTCH WAR.

On the 9th of January, before the trial of King Charles, the great seal had been broken and a new one made. It bore on one side the words "The Great Seal of England," and on the other, "In the first year of freedom by God's blessing restored 1648."*

Seldom has a great change in a nation's government been effected with so little bloodshed. Three royalists and four discontented mutinous soldiers were all who suffered in the mighty revolution which converted England from a monarchy into a republic. The remnant of Charles's Long Parliament still continued its sittings, but the House of Peers was abolished, and the government vested in a committee called "The Executive Council of State." Cromwell and other distinguished members of the army were of this council.

Its secretary was John Milton. Little care we for the deeds of state recorded by the Puritan secretary; whilst we dwell with enthusiasm upon those glorious descriptions of higher transactions in the Court of Heaven, which fell from the all but inspired pen of the author of "Paradise Lost."

The affairs of the church were settled by allowing greater toleration than had ever before been permitted within the realm. In the army, the same masterly hands which had raised it to such a pitch of greatness, retained the command. In the navy, Blake, "the sea-hero of that age," was made high admiral, and given the command of the fleet.

The affairs of Ireland were in a most distracted condition. The native Irish and Romanists had risen against the Pro

* Old Style.

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testant English of the Pale, until scarcely a town, excepting Dublin and Derry, were left, in which the latter could feel safe. The Marquis of Ormond had proclaimed Charles (eldest son of the late king), and the royal standard floated over the island. Cromwell and Ireton crossed St. George's Channel with nine thousand men. Town after town was retaken, and the spirit of insurrection crushed. Ireland was quiet, but this tranquillity was secured at the price of cruelty, burning, bloodshed, and massacre, which will ever cast a stain on the administration of Cromwell. When Cromwell had broken the strength of the rebellion, he recrossed the Channel, leaving Ireton to finish the conquest, and govern the country. After the death of Ireton, which occurred some years later, Cromwell's second son, Henry, was sent into Ireland. Under his wise and good administration, that kingdom not only enjoyed quiet but prosperity.

The murder of the king, for such was the execution of Charles I. considered by most of the governments abroad, and by the royalists at home, had raised up a host of enemies against the infant commonwealth. France, Spain, Portugal, and Russia committed acts of hostility. In Holland, six masked royalists fell upon the English minister and murdered him. In the colony of Virginia, the authority of the new government was denied, and the fugitive Prince Charles was invited to cross the ocean, and become king in that province. This invitation had no result, save winning for that most loyal colony the title of "The Old Dominion."

The darkest clouds arose from Scotland. There Prince Charles had been proclaimed, and invited into the country. The prince was at Breda, in Holland, when he received the propositions of the Scots. In them lay his only hope of a crown, and he sailed for Scotland. Before he left his vessel, which anchored in Cromarty Frith, the prince was obliged to sign the "Solemn League and Covenant," and he entered the gates of Aberdeen, over which were hung the limbs of that loyal partisan, the gallant Marquis of Mon

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trose.

The English parliament appointed Cromwell commander-inchief of the army, and sent him into Scotland. At Dunbar, about twenty miles from Edinburgh, Cromwell, with only twelve thousand men, was surrounded by the Scots, whose forces numbered twenty-seven thousand. The latter were well posted, too, on the hills which rise above the town. It was unwise to attack them in this strong position, and Cromwell waited. On the second day, the Scots, animated by hopes of certain victory, rushed down from the hills; whereupon Cromwell joyously exclaimed: "The Lord hath delivered them into our hands." On the morning of the 3d of September, a mist which had hung over the field, rolled away, and the clear sunlight revealed the contending armies. "Now, let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered," shouted the Puritan general, as he rushed into the conflict. Ere it ended, four thousand of the Scots army lay upon the bloody field, and ten thousand prisoners swelled the train of the conquerors. Cromwell offered praise for this victory, in the glowing language of King David, by ordering the 107th Psalm to be sung upon the battle-field. Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other towns submitted to the Puritan army.

1651.

The following year, whilst Cromwell was besieging Edinburgh Castle, Charles gathered an army and marched into England, hoping to be joined by the royalists, and, with their aid, to gain the English crown. When this news reached Cromwell, he started at once in pursuit. At Worcester, on the 3d September, the anniversary of the battle of Dunbar, this praying, fighting, praising, Puritan general gained another great victory, which he called "his crowning mercy." No doubt he felt it to be such, for, had royalists and Presbyterians united in support of Prince Charles, the power of Cromwell and the army might have been broken.

As it was, Charles Stuart became a fugitive, indebted for his life to the faithful loyalty of a family of Staffordshire wood-cutters. In the humble cottage of the Penderells, amid the woody shades of Boscobel, he lay concealed for many weeks. On one occasion, the thick foliage of a friendly oak