THE KING AT CARISBROOKE.

III

XXIII. THE DEATH OF CHARLES I.

I. KING CHARLES was kept as a prisoner at Holdenby House in Northamptonshire, while the Parliament and the army were disputing. The Members of Parliament were mostly Presbyterians, and, though they disapproved of bishops, had appointed ministers in every parish; but in the army that Cromwell had trained the greater number were Independents, and held that any man who felt able to do so might preach and act as a minister without being set apart for the purpose.

2. Cromwell and his army were quite as strong as the Parliament, and after four months an officer named Joyce carried off the King from the keeping of the Parliament, and lodged him at Hampton Court, his own palace. Attempts were made to come to some settlement, but all in vain; for the army and Parliament did not agree in what they asked, and the King would not grant all that they demanded, nor did they put faith in what he did promise.

3. Some of the more violent of the army became furious, and there was danger of their attacking the King's life. So he escaped from Hampton Court, but not finding any safe shelter, he gave himself up to Colonel Hammond, the governor of the Isle of Wight, where he was kept in Carisbrooke

Castle, and there seemed to be a chance that he

and the Parliament might come to an agreement which would set him on his throne again.

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4. Finding out this, General Cromwell sent a party of soldiers with Colonel Pryde, who stood at the door of the House of Commons and shut out all the members who were against the plans of the army, leaving only about fifty, who were ready to do whatever he pleased. After this strange thinning out of the Parliament, the remainder were nicknamed the Rump.

5. The remnant, at Cromwell's bidding, voted that the King should be brought to trial for treason against the nation. The House of Lords would not pass such a measure, so the Rump declared itself the chief authority in the kingdom, and appointed a High Court of Justice of about 135 members.

6. The King had in the meantime attempted again to escape from Carisbrooke, but the window through which he tried to get out was too narrow, and held him fast. He had been seized there and had been taken to Hurst Castle. The patience and dignity with which he bore his troubles had touched the hearts of all who came near him, especially Colonel Hammond, who became his warm friend.

7. After this Charles was brought to the Palace of St. James's, London, and on the 20th of January, 1649, was led into Westminster Hall to be tried, as Charles Stewart, for having levied war against the Parliament and caused the shedding of blood. He was called on to plead Guilty or Not Guilty; but in answer he declared with truth

that this was no lawful court, and that it had no authority to judge him; therefore he refused to make any reply or to plead before it.

8. Sixty-nine of the persons named as belonging to the Court of Justice were present, and of these fifty-nine at the end of a week signed a paper sentencing the King to be beheaded at Whitehall on the 30th of January. He was permitted to have Juxon, the Bishop of London, with him for his last day and night, which he spent in earnest prayer and preparation for death.

On the last evening he was allowed to see two of his children. Of the others, Charles, Prince of Wales, had long been abroad; James, Duke of York, had fled from Sion House, while supposed to be playing at hide-and-seek, and had been taken on board ship in girl's clothes; Mary was married to the Prince of Orange; and little Henrietta had been taken abroad disguised as a beggar's child. But Elizabeth, a girl of thirteen, and Henry, a boy of eight, were still kept at Sion House, under the care of the Duke of Northumberland.

10. Elizabeth was old enough to write an account of this last meeting with her father. He told her what books he wished her to read, and gave her his messages to her mother and brothers. Then taking up little Henry on his knee, he said, 'Mark me, child, they will cut off thy father's head, and may perhaps make thee a King; but mark what I say, you must not be a King so long as

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your brothers Charles and James do live, for they will cut off your brothers' heads when they can catch them, and cut off thy head at last. Therefore, I charge thee, do not be made a King by them.' The little boy, with a deep sigh, said, 'I will be torn in pieces first.' Afterwards the King gave them the few jewels he still had, and left the poor girl weeping in anguish.

II. He said that death was not terrible to him, since he thanked God that he was prepared, and he slept soundly for some hours, then prayed with the Bishop, and when called for by the guard crossed the Park to Whitehall, where he again had to wait till the scaffold was ready. 'Sire,' said the Bishop, 'there is but one stage more, and it will carry you from earth to heaven.' 'I go,' he said, 'from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can be.' Then he laid his head on the block, and, after a brief prayer, he stretched out his arms as a signal to the executioner, and so died in his forty-ninth year, on the 30th of January, 1649.

12. His body was carried to Windsor Castle, and there, through the falling snow, which whitened all the pall, he was carried to his grave in St. George's Chapel, attended by four faithful noblemen; but no service was permitted at his burial.

Persons: Oliver Cromwell-The Presbyterians-The Independents-Colonel Hammond-Coloniel Pryde-The Rump -Charles, Prince of Wales-James, Duke of York.