who remained with him an hour in private prayer. About ten o'clock, Colonel Hacker, who was commissioned to conduct him to the scaffold, tapped softly at the chamber-door, to say they were ready. They went together from St James's through the park towards Whitehall, in the front of which the scaffold had been erected. Charles walked erect and very fast, having on the right hand Bishop Juxon, and on the left Colonel Tomlinson, and being followed by a guard of hal-off his cloak, gave his George' to Juxon, with the berdiers, and by some of his own gentlemen and single word, "Remember!" then laid his head servants, who walked bareheaded. There was across the block, and stretched out his hands as no shouting, no gesticulating, no turmoil of any a signal. The masked executioner let fall the axe, kind: the troops, men and officers, the spectators which severed the neck at one blow; and another of all ranks, were silent as the grave, save now man wearing a mask took up the head and and then when a prayer or a blessing escaped shouted, "This is the head of a traitor!" The from some of them. At the end of the park bloody deed was accompanied by a "dismal, uniCharles entered Whitehall, and, passing through versal groan." the long gallery, went into his own old cabinet chamber. There he was delayed, for the scaffold was not quite ready: he passed the time in prayer with the bishop. At last all was in readiness; and he was led out to the scaffold, which was hung round with black. Vast multitudes of people had come to be spectators: they were all silent, respectful, or awe-stricken; and so were the soldiers. Perceiving that the people could not approach near enough to hear him, he addressed a speech to the gentlemen upon the scaffold. He called God to witness that it was not he but the parliament who had begun the war; he deplored having assented to the death of Strafford, saying that he was now punished by an unjust sentence upon himself; he declared that he pardoned his enemies, and died a Christian according to the profession of the Church of England, as he found it left by his father. Turning to Bishop Juxon he said, "I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side." He took "2 1 The George, or badge of the order of the Knights of the Garter, worn by Charles I. at his execution, and given by him to Bishop Juxon, is thus described by Ashmole:-"The George which his late majesty wore at the time of his martyrdom, was curiously set in an onyx, set about with twenty-one large table diamonds in the fashion of a garter; on the back side of the George was the picture of his queen, rarely well limned, set in a case of gold, the lid neatly enamelled with goldsmith's work, and surrounded with another garter, adorned with a like number of equal sized diamonds as was the fore side." In the engraving, a represents the upper side of the George, b the under side, and c the upper side raised, displaying a portrait of Henrietta Maria. 2 Whitelock; Herbert; Warwick; Nalson. CHAPTER XVII.-CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY.-A.D. 1649-1660. THE COMMONWEALTH.-A.D. 1649-1660. Proceedings of the Independents against the royalists after the king's execution-The "Executive Council of State" appointed-Attacks on the new government-Prince Charles proclaimed king in Scotland and Ireland-Cromwell makes a hostile landing in Ireland-His victories there-He returns to London-Montrose lands in Scotland-He is defeated, captured, and executed-Arrival of Charles II. in Scotland-Cromwell defeats the Scots at Dunbar-Charles II. marches into England-He is defeated by Cromwell at Worcester-He escapes to France-England, Scotland, and Ireland incorporated into a Commonwealth-War with Holland-Naval victories of Blake-The Rump parliament becomes unpopular-Mutual jealousies between it and the armyCromwell suggests the necessity of a royal rule-He purposes to dissolve the parliament-His summary ejec tion of the members-Barbone's parliament-Its proceedings-Its speedy dissolution-Cromwell appointed lord-protector of the Commonwealth-Formation of his new government-Signal naval victory over the Dutch in the Downs-Cromwell's strict and impartial justice-He summons a new parliament-His address to the members-They become obstinate-Cromwell dissolves parliament-Plots of Levellers and royalists-Naval successes-A third parliament called-Proposal to make Cromwell king-Discontent and danger produced by it-Cromwell rejects the proposal-Honours bestowed on him by the parliament-His court, and mode of life-Death of Admiral Blake-Meeting of parliament-Members for its upper house-Impracticability of establishing an upper house-Cromwell dissolves the parliament-Plots against his life-His last illness— His death-His son Richard proclaimed protector-Richard's difficulties-Hostility of parliament towards him -He abdicates-Monk's plots for the restoration of royalty-His caution and duplicity-His professions of devotedness to the Commonwealth-His march into England-His proceedings and intrigues in London-His preparations for the recall of Charles II.-The new king proclaimed, and the Commonwealth terminated. N the day of the king's execution, | Rump immediately debated how to bring some the Independents prohibited, under of the chief royalists to a speedy trial, and orpain of high treason, the proclama- dered that the vacillating and unprincipled Ear! tion of the Prince of Wales, or any of Holland should be removed to London. Duke other, to be king or chief magis- Hamilton was retaken the day after his flight. trate. On the same mournful day On the 1st of February it was voted that HamDuke Hamilton escaped with the Lord Lough- ilton and Holland, with Goring, Lord Capel, and borough out of Windsor Castle. The house or Colonel Owen, should be "the next persons to THE GREAT SEAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH.-From a fine cast in the British Museum. be proceeded against for justice." Capel escaped | Lords should be continued a court of judicature out of the Tower, but was apprehended two days after. On the 5th of February the commons debated till six o'clock at night whether the House of or a court consultatory only. On the 6th the debate was renewed; and it ended that night in 1 This seal is 5 inches in diameter; the obverse gives an interesting representation of the House of Commons at the period. the vote, "that the House of Peers in parliament | a vehement pamphlet, entitled England's New is useless and dangerous, and ought to be abo- Change. Mutinies broke out at Salisbury and lished." Other votes were rapidly passed for Banbury; but they were presently crushed by demolishing the statues of kings, and for con- Fairfax and Cromwell: Lilburne was shut up verting England into a republic. in the Tower, and some few leaders of a set of madmen, who were sighing after something very like the republic of the illustrious Trinculo, were committed to meaner prisons. But the Rump took some of the worst pages out of the book of despotism, entirely losing sight, in several cases, of the principles of liberty they professed. They made it treason to deny the supremacy of parliament; words spoken were made capital; and simple sedition was converted into high treason. The press was put into its shackles, and extreme penalties were declared against such as printed For some time past the real executive had resided in the committee of government at Derby House; and this, with some very immaterial changes, was now converted into the "Executive Council of State." The president of this council was Bradshaw, the king's judge; and its secretary for foreign correspondence was Bradshaw's friend and relative, the immortal Milton, who employed his learning and genius in defending the judgment and execution of Charles. Although they had pronounced the doom of the upper house, the Independents admitted five earls and three lords into this council, which also included Cromwell, Fairfax, Skippon, Sir Harry Vane, General Ludlow, St. John, Harry Martin, Whitelock, and four other commoners. The army remained under the command of the men who had created it, and made it the best army then in the world; and Fairfax, though he had abstained from committing himself upon the king's trial, continued to be commander-in-chief. But in the navy an important change made immediately; the Earl of Warwick was removed, and Blake was appointed, with Dean and Popham, to command the fleet. was or published anything against the new Commonwealth, the council of state, &c. In the meantime the late king's eldest son had been proclaimed, as Charles II., both in Scotland and in Ireland. On the 15th of August, Cromwell, with his son-in-law Ireton, landed near Dublin, to. suppress the formidable insurrection, and, if possible, to give peace. to a country which had never been quiet. His. army did not exceed 6000 foot and 3000horse; but it was an army of Ironsides. When these men landed hardly anything was left to the Protestants. except Dublin and Derry; but now town after town was re-captured with the utmost rapidity. Drogheda was stormed on the 11th of September, Cromwell himself fighting in the breach.. Wexford was taken in the same manner; Cork, Kinsale, and numerous other places, opened their gates. Before the month of May of the following year Irish Papists and royalists were completely subdued by Cromwell and his brave and able son-inlaw. Leaving Ireton to organize the country, Cromwell took his departure for London, where his presence was eagerly looked for. He was received with respect by the people and with enthusiasm by the army. He was conducted to the house called the Cock-pit, near St. James's, which had been appointed and prepared for him. Here he was visited by the lord-mayor of Lon OLIVER CROMWELL.-After Sir P. Lely. The trial of Duke Hamilton, the Lord Capel, Goring, and Sir John Owen, was probably hastened by the hostile demonstrations made in Scotland. Goring pleaded not guilty, and was dismissed for the present, "behaving himself with great respect to the court." On the 6th of March, that court pronounced judgment against the rest. Owen was respited and ultimately spared. Duke Hamilton, the Lords Holland and Capel, were beheaded in Palace-yard on the 9th of March. The first attack that was made upon the new government proceeded from a part of that army which had raised them to their pre-eminence. "Free-born John," who thought that the revolution had not gone half far enough, put forth the In the spring of this year (1650) Montrose, the precursor of Prince Charles or King Charles II., crossed from the Continent over to the Orkneys, with a few hundred foreign soldiers. In a short time he disembarked on the shores of Caithness, with the design of penetrating into the Highlands, and calling his former followers to his standard. But Montrose was a royalist such as the Presbyterian royalists could not tolerate; the committee of estates were well prepared, and Strachan, their general, surprised and thoroughly defeated the Marquis just as he had advanced beyond the pass of Invercarron, Montrose fled from this his last fight, leaving his cloak and star, his sword, and the garter with which he had been lately invested, behind him, An old friend with whom he sought refuge basely betrayed him to the Covenanters, who bound him with ropes, carried him to Edinburgh, and there, in virtue of a former attainder, hanged him on a gallows thirty feet high. Such was the wretched end of Montrose, in the 38th year of his age, in the middle of the month of May. don and by many other persons of quality, who | troops on his way, and none would come out from all expressed their own and the nation's great Edinburgh to meet him. Want of provisions, and obligations to him, The speaker in an elegant a sickness which had broken out in his army, speech gave him the thanks of the house. compelled him to retreat for Dunbar. The Scots then sallied from their capital, and some of them did not a little mischief to Cromwell's rear. He, however, reached Dunbar, and having shipped his heavy baggage and his sick men, he designed to return into England. But David Leslie and the army of the kirk had gotten between Dunbar and Berwick, and possessed themselves of all the hills and passes. He had only 12,000 men, while Leslie had 27,000. It was Sunday, the 31st of August, when Cromwell drew up on the fields and braes near Dunbar, to gaze at the still increasing numbers and the formidable positions of Leslie's host. Nothing was done that day, but, on the Monday morning, the Scots, urged on it is said by their impatient preachers, who proved by Scripture that their victory was certain, drew down part of their army and their train of artillery towards the foot of the hills; and then Cromwell, who had ever as much Scripture at command as any Presbyterian preacher of them all, exclaimed joyously, "The Lord hath delivered them into our hands." At an opportune moment a thick mist was dispersed by the rising sun. Cromwell shouted to his Ironsides. "Now let God arise, and his enemies shall be scattered!" And before the sun was much higher the army of the kirk was scattered, with the tremendous loss of 4000 slain and 10,000 prisoners, The conqueror ordered the 107th Psalm to be sung on the field, and then marched again to Edinburgh, which threw wide its gates at his approach. Glasgow followed the example; and the whole of the south of Scotland quietly submitted. The young king fled towards the Highlands, with the intention of quitting Scotland, or at least the Covenanters, for ever; but the chiefs of that party made him stay, and prepared to crown him at Scone.' Charles II. landed in the Frith of Cromarty about a month after Montrose was hanged, being constrained to swallow the Covenant as best he could ere he was allowed to set foot on shore, and was joined by the Presbyterian Covenanting army. But he was allowed small time to recruit that army or to do anything else. By the 29th of June Cromwell had left London and was on his march to the Borders, having, three days before, been appointed commander-in-chief of all the forces of the Commonwealth. On the 22d of July, having concentrated his troops on the Borders, he crossed them and marched into Scotland. The whole country between Berwick and Edinburgh had been swept as with a broom; nothing was left that could yield any comfort or succour to the invaders. He advanced to Dunbar, where he received provisions from English ships. He then proceeded to Haddington, and from Haddington to Edinburgh. He saw no The political principles of the Scotch Presbyterians at this time may be learned from Dr. Douglas's sermon at the coronation of Charles II., at Scone, on the 1st of January, 1651:-"It is clear from this Covenant that a king hath not absolute power to do what he pleaseth; he is tied to the conditions by virtue of a covenant. It is clear from this Covenant that a people are bound to obey a king in the Lord; that the king's power is not absolute, as flattering courtiers apprehend; it is subject to a threefold limitation:-1. In respect of subordination. There is a power above him, even God's power, whom he is bound to obey, and to whom he must give an account of his administration. Kings not only have their crowns from God, but must reign according to his will. He is called the minister of God, he is God's servant. 2. In regard of laws; a king is sworn at his coronation to rule according to the standing received laws of A.D. 1651. But while Cromwell was besieg ing Edinburgh Castle, disputing upon points of theology with the Presbyterian preachers, and suffering from a fit of the ague, Charles collected another army, and took up a the kingdom. . . . 3. In regard of government; the total He strong position near Stirling. In vain Lambert | pursuit. On the 3d of September, the anniverattempted to bring him to action; the Scots re- sary of the fight of Dunbar, Cromwell obtained membered the lesson that had been taught them the victory at Worcester, which he was wont to at Dunbar. Cromwell then crossed the Forth, term his "crowning mercy." The fight itself, and sat down before Perth, "thereby to stop the although at such disadvantages, and all but deHighlanders from sending any supplies to the cided from the commencement, was maintained by king." Hopeless of maintaining their ground in the Scots with their wonted hardihood. Having Scotland, Charles and his counsellors imagined failed, in several desperate sallies, to secure the that by a march into England they would greatly principal approaches to Worcester, they marched recruit their army among the royalists of the out by the Sudbury gate, and fell upon the EngEnglish border, and renew the war under more lish, who were drawn up at Percywood, within favourable circumstances than ever. But the re- a mile of Worcester, where they were preparing solution, as events showed, was adopted too late. to storm the town. The battle lasted more than With the Scottish army, amounting to about 9000 three hours: but the Scots were outnumbered at foot and 4000 horse, Charles commenced his des- every point, and driven back upon the town, perate undertaking, and by rapid marches passed where they still continued the conflict from street through Lanarkshire and Dumfriesshire, and to street, until they were cut down or dispersed. crossed into England. In the meantime, Crom- In the earlier part of the engagement, the Duke well, on finding that his enemies had given him of Hamilton and Sir John Douglas were morthe slip, proceeded to act with his wonted deci- tally wounded. Nearly 3000 of the Scots were sion and promptitude. He wrote to the parlia- killed, and about twice that number taken prisonment announcing the coming invasion, but bid- ers. Cromwell's loss was small, and set down by ding them be of good comfort, as he would be himself as scarcely 200, but other accounts swelled quickly on its track. He detached Lambert with it up to nearly 1000, which is perhaps nigher the 800 horse to follow in the rear of the Scots, and truth, considering the length and obstinacy of ordered General Harrison and Colonel Rich with the resistance. "Indeed, this hath been a glo3000 horse to hover upon and harass them in rious mercy," thus he announced it to the parflank. Then, leaving Monk with a strong force liament, "and as stiff a contest for four or five to complete the reduction of Scotland, he followed hours as I have ever seen. . . . . The dimensions the flying enemy, whom he overtook when they of this mercy are above my thoughts. It is, for had effected a lodgment in the town of Wor- aught I know, a crowning mercy." He might WORCESTER.-From a view by W. Westall. well call it so, as it utterly extinguished the hopes of his enemies, and terminated the war. As for the conduct of Charles during this battle, in which his last army was destroyed, the accounts are so contradictory, that the truth cannot easily be ascertained. According to some, he was in bed and asleep during the greater part of the engagement; and when he awoke, his only thought was to escape to Scotland with the cavalry, and leave the foot to perish in his defence. By others, he is described as discharging all the duties of a skilful leader and brave soldier, and only retreating when resistance After he had left Worcester about half a mile behind him, he threw off his armour, and, accompanied by about sixty followers, all mounted and of noble rank, he rode on to Kinvearn Heath, near Kidderminster, when, as it was now dark, they were eager to find a place of cester. Few or none of the English had joined | was useless. |