In the first year of the war, Hampden received his deathwound in an engagement near Wycomb; but his loss was balanced by that of Lord Falkland at Newbury, who seems, of all who took part in these troubles, to have had the purest patriotism. The commanders of most note on the royal side (besides Prince Rupert) were the Marquesses of Worcester, Hertford, and Newcastle, and the Lord Goring. On the other side, Sir Thomas Fairfax and the Generals Waller, Massey, and Skippon, were chiefly distinguished; until the energy of Oliver Cromwell enabled him to obtain ascendancy over all the others. His military skill appeared conspicuously at the battle of Marston Moor (July 2, 1644), where he overthrew the royal forces under Prince Rupert. From this time the cause of Charles declined. An army from Scotland under the Earl of Leven had been summoned by the parliament to their aid; and though Charles was cheered by the brilliant success of the Marquess of Montrose in the Highlands of Scotland, he received so complete an overthrow from Fairfax at Naseby, near Daventry (June 13, 1645), that he resolved to deliver himself up to the Scottish army. He was treated by the Scots with outward respect: but they at length basely delivered their sovereign to the parliamentary forces, on the payment of the arrears which were due to them.

Before this time the trial of Laud had been brought to a close by a most iniquitous bill, in which only six peers could be brought to concur. He suffered on the 10th of January, 1645, with the constancy of a martyr; and with him fell for a season, so far as man could cause it to fall, the Church for which he died. "Thus fell Laud,” says Heylin, "and the Church fell with him: the Liturgy whereof was voted down about the same time that the Ordinance was passed for his condemnation; the Presbyterian Directory authorized for the press by ordinance March 13; Episcopacy, root and branch, suppressed by ordinance in like manner, October 9, 1646; the lands of the cathedrals sold; the bishops dispossessed of their lands and rents, without the charity of a small annual pension towards their

5

5 A sort of substitute for a Prayer Book, according to the Presbyterian system, sanctioned by parliament during the great rebellion, It did not contain forms of Prayer, but directions for praying, preaching, and the performance of ministerial offices generally.

support; the regular, conformable Clergy sequestered, ejected, and turned out of all, to the utter undoing of themselves, their wives, and their children"."

The rise of Cromwell was the more important, because he was at the head of a sect called the Independents, who were distinguished for their stern and fanatical temper; and as much opposed to the Presbyterians as these had been to the Church of England. The principles of this sect spread widely in the army, and that portion which embraced these views succeeded in obtaining possession of the king's person from the guards which the parliament had placed about him. He was now brought to Hampton Court, and treated with outward respect. There was even some hope that Cromwell might embrace his cause; but the distrust of Charles, which was so general, seems to have stood in the way of any such arrangement, though it is not unlikely that Cromwell connived at the king's escape, who withdrew himself from Hampton Court, and fled to Titchfield-house in Hants. His friends then opened a correspondence with Colonel Hammond, the governor of Carisbrook Castle in the Isle of Wight; the result of which was, that Charles passed over to the island; but soon found himself a prisoner in that castle. Efforts in his favour were made by the royalists; but with ill success; and treaties were opened with him by the Scots as well as by the parliament, which came to nothing. The Scots, however, sent an army into England, which was defeated by Cromwell, who then sent Colonel Pride to purge the parliament of all the more moderate members. This measure, which was effected by violence, is known as "Pride's purge," and the miserable remnant of the house was called "The Rump." The king made some vain attempts to escape from Carisbrook, and was brought to Windsor. From thence he was removed to London, as the house (under the influence of the army) had resolved to bring him to trial. A court, of which one Bradshaw was president, was constituted in Westminster-hall; and though the peers refused to concur in this proceeding, Charles was arraigned on a charge of high treason, for having levied war against his parliament. His behaviour in these last scenes of his life was kingly

[H. 8. 1.]

• Quoted by Archdeacon Berens.

and Christian. He had steadily refused to sacrifice whatever is essential to the episcopal government of the Church, and he now met the violent death which he saw before him with mildness and constancy. Throughout the trial (which lasted more than a week) he denied the right of subjects to sit in judgment on their sovereign; and was not suffered to speak when judgment was passed upon him. The soldiers grossly insulted him as he passed up the hall; and one of them even spat on him. 'Poor souls!" he said, "they would do the same to their own generals for sixpence." One soldier was struck down by his officer for imploring a blessing upon him:-"Surely," said the king, "the punishment exceeds the offence." The warrant for his death was The brutal levity

signed by fifty-nine commissioners. which was joined to the fanaticism of the regicides may be seen in the fact, that as Cromwell approached the table with the pen in his hand to sign the warrant, he drew it across the face of a member of the court named Marten, who did the same to Cromwell.

Happily the eldest sons of Charles were at the Hague. He was allowed to see the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth; and the meeting which took place was as tender as might be expected, from the depth and purity of his affections. He told his daughter that he died a martyr for his people; an expression which he repeated on the scaffold; and desired her also to tell the queen that he had never even in thought swerved from his fidelity to her. The Duke of Gloucester was only three years of age. The king took him in his arms, and said: "My child, they will cut off thy father's head, and will perhaps make thee a king; but remember, thou must not be a king as long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive. They will cut off their heads when they can take them and they will cut off thy head at last, and therefore I charge thee do not be made a king by them." The child burst into tears, and said, "I will be torn in pieces first." The king was allowed the attendance of Bishop Juxon, who administered to him the Holy Communion. During the night that preceded his execution, he slept soundly; and, on rising, desired to be dressed with great care, as for the day of his second marriage. Juxon prayed with him, and read the lesson for the day (Jan. 30), which is the 27th chapter of

:

St. Matthew. Thus did the Church, to which he was so truly attached, direct his mind at that moment to the only foundation for a Christian's hope, our Lord's atoning sufferings, and the model which they present for His followers.

The scaffold was erected opposite his chamber in the royal banqueting-house at Whitehall, and guarded by regiments of foot and horse. The streets within sight of the scaffold were thronged with people. Charles walked at his usual quick pace through the park, calling out to the guard, March on apace." He showed anxiety that the axe should be sharp and keen; for he disliked pain, though he did not fear death. After speaking with calmness and dignity to those about him, he was reminded by Juxon that he had only one stage more to take, which, though turbulent and troublesome, would carry him from earth to heaven. "I go," said the king, from a corruptible crown to an incorruptible, where no disturbance can be." gave his cloak and George to the bishop, saying, "Remem ber." His head was struck off at one blow; and a groan arose from the multitude, when the fatal deed was done, as if to the last moment they expected some other end to this tragedy. Many ran to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood; and the saintly meekness with which he bore adversity, as well as the firmness with which he struggled and suffered for the English Church, will ever justify the title which has now been given him by many generations-King Charles the Martyr.

He

CHAPTER XXXII.

CHARLES II. (TILL THE RESTORATION.)

Born at St. James's Palace. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Reigned 36 years. From A.D. 1649 to A.D. 1585.

Archbishops of Canterbury.

(Vacancy 16 years, from A.D. 1645- Gilbert Sheldon, A.D. 1663–1678.

1660.)

William Juxon, A.D. 1660-1663.

William Sancroft, A.D. 1678-1691.

Usurpation of the Cromwells, from A.D. 1649 to A.D. 1660.

THE murderous execution of Charles was followed by Acts to abolish the House of Peers and the office of a king. An engagement to be true to the Commonwealth of England

was substituted for the oaths of allegiance and supremacy; and all acts were to run in the name of "the keepers of the liberties of England." A council of state was appointed, of which Bradshaw was president; and it found full employment in quelling the mutinous temper of the army, as well as in the affairs of Ireland and Scotland.

In Ireland the royal cause was supported by the Marquesses of Ormonde and Clanricarde; and in Scotland Prince Charles was received as king. The Scots had assisted the parliament in their rebellion, but were not prepared to abolish the royal office. Charles was however forced to take the covenant in favour of the presbyterian system, and was treated with great rudeness by the Scotch preachers and their supporters.

The energy of Cromwell brought the parliament through their difficulties. Being sent to Ireland as lord-lieutenant, he conquered great part of that island, and was then entrusted with the command of the English forces in Scotland. He routed the Scotch at Dunbar (Sept. 3, 1650), and great part of the country submitted to him. Charles was, however, crowned at Scone, and resolved on the bold measure of a march into England. He was followed by Cromwell, and a battle took place at Worcester (Sept. 3, 1651), in which the Scots, after a brave resistance, were completely defeated. Vast numbers of them were sent as slaves to the West Indies, or to work in the mines of Africa. Charles himself escaped, and wandered about in various disguises for six weeks with a price set on his head. He once concealed himself in the foliage of an oak at the very time when his pursuers were passing under the tree. In the course of his wanderings his secret became known to upwards of forty persons, but none betrayed the trust. At length he embarked in a collier vessel at Shoreham, and was put ashore at Fechamp in Normandy. Scotland was annexed to England as a conquered province; and a settlement of Ireland was effected by the severe measure of confiscating the estates of such persons as had been concerned in the late troubles, and transporting them in vast numbers to other parts of the island.

Cromwell now thought that the time was come, when he might take the reins of government into his own hands: and with this view he resolved to rid himself of the remnant