CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



good understanding with the king, when the troops 

 returned to London breathing vengeance against 

 him for this last war, of which they considered 

 him as the author. Cromwell sent to the House 

 three regiments, under Colonel Pride, who forcibly 

 excluded from it about 200 members of the Presby- 

 terian party ; a transaction remembered as PridJs 

 Purge. The remainder, being chiefly Independ- 

 ents, were ready to give a colour of law to what- 

 ever further measure might be dictated by the 

 military leaders, and it was now resolved to bring 

 the king to trial. The House of Lords disapprov- 

 ing of the step, the Commons passed a resolution 

 that the chief power resided with themselves, and 

 closed the Upper Chamber. A High Court of 

 Justice, as it was called, was appointed by ordin- 

 ance, consisting of 133 persons, named indiffer- 

 ently from the parliament, the army, and such of 

 the citizens as were known to be well affected to 

 the Independent party. This body sat down in 

 Westminster Hall (January 20, 1649), under the 

 presidency of a barrister named Bradshaw, while 

 another named Coke acted as solicitor for the 

 people of England. The best known of its mem- 

 bers are Cromwell and his son-in-law, Henry 

 Ireton. Charles, who had been removed to St 

 James's Palace, was brought before this court, and 

 accused of having waged and renewed war upon 

 his people, and of having attempted to establish 

 tyranny in place of the limited regal power with 

 which he had been intrusted. He conducted him- 

 self with great firmness and dignity : denied the 

 authority of the court, and protested against the 

 whole of the proceedings, but was nevertheless 

 found guilty, and the commissioners pronounced 

 the verdict, ' that Charles Stuart, as a tyrant, traitor, 

 murderer, and public enemy to the good people of 

 this nation, be put to death by having his head 

 severed from his body.' On the 3Oth of January, 

 he was accordingly beheaded in front of his palace 

 of Whitehall. The people were in general horror- 

 struck at this event ; but they were too effectually 

 kept in check by the army to have any influence 

 in preventing or resenting it The Church of 

 England publicly styled him martyr. 



Charles I. was a man of slender person, of the 

 middle size, and of a grave and somewhat melan- 

 choly cast of countenance. He had not a gracious 

 manner, but possessed considerable dignity. The 

 general opinion of modern times respecting his 

 political conduct is unfavourable ; though few 

 deny that his death was an unjustifiable as well 

 as imprudent act on the part of those who 

 brought it about. The worst point of his character 

 was his insincerity. In private life he was a vir- 

 tuous man, and he is entitled to much credit for 

 the taste which he displayed in the encourage- 

 ment of the fine arts. He left three sons Charles, 

 Prince of Wales, born 1630; James, Duke of York, 

 afterwards James II.; and Henry, Duke of Glou- 

 cester, who died in early life. He also left several 

 daughters, one of whom, named Elizabeth, was 

 treated with much harshness by the new govern- 

 ment, and died not long after him in prison ; 

 while another, Mary, married Prince William of 

 Nassau, Stadtholder of Holland ; her son after- 

 wards became William III. of England. 



In the reign of Charles I. the chief literary men 

 were Ben Jonson and Philip Massinger, drama- 

 tists ; and Samuel Daniel, Michael Drayton, and 

 William Drummond, poets. The most eminent 



118 



man of science was Dr William Harvey, who 

 discovered the circulation of the blood. The king 

 patronised the Dutch artists, Rubens and Van 

 Dyck, and collected many fine pictures, which 

 were afterwards sold by his enemies. The excise 

 and the tax upon landed property were introduced 

 by the parliament, in order to support the war 

 against the king. When the parliamentary party 

 became triumphant, it suppressed the theatre, 

 which was not again set up till the restoration of 

 monarchy. 



THE COMMONWEALTH SUBJUGATION OF 

 IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. 



Though the execution of the king produced 

 some reaction in favour of royalty, the small re- 

 maining part of the House of Commons, known 

 by the nickname of the Rump, was able to estab- 

 lish a republic, under the title of the COMMON- 

 WEALTH, the executive being trusted, under great 

 limitations, to a Council of State, containing forty- 

 one members. Of this council, Bradshaw was 

 the President, and Milton the Foreign Secretary ; 

 but all real power was in the hands of Cromwell. 

 The House of Peers was voted a grievance, and 

 abolished, and the people were declared to be the 

 legitimate source of all power. Soon after the 

 king's death, the Duke of Hamilton and a few 

 other of his chief adherents were executed. 



During the progress of the civil war, Ireland 

 had been the scene of almost ceaseless contention 

 among the various parties of the king, the English 

 House of Commons, and the Catholics, none of 

 which could effectually master the rest. At the 

 time of Charles's execution, the royalists were in 

 considerable force under James Butler, Marquis 

 of Ormond, the royalist Lord-lieutenant, who 

 proclaimed Charles's eldest son king, under the 

 title of Charles II. Cromwell, appointed Lord- 

 lieutenant by parliament, landed (August 1649) 

 with 12,000 horse and foot, and although at the 

 time only Dublin, Belfast, and Londonderry were 

 held by the parliamentary party, he easily gained 

 a series of victories over his opponents, and suc- 

 ceeded in asserting the sway of the Common- 

 wealth. One of his most important actions was 

 the capture of Drogheda, where he put the gar- 

 rison and a number of Catholic priests to the 

 sword, in order to strike terror into the nation. 



The people of Scotland, who had had scarcely 

 any other object in the civil war than the estab- 

 lishment of their favourite form of worship, heard 

 of the death of the king with the greatest indigna- 

 tion, and immediately proclaimed his eldest son 

 Charles. Early in 1650, the young monarch, who 

 had taken refuge in Holland, sent Montrose with 

 a small force to attempt a Cavalier insurrection 

 in Scotland ; but this nobleman being taken and 

 put to death, Charles found it necessary to accede 

 to the views of the Scotch respecting the Presby- 

 terian religion, and he was accordingly brought 

 over, and having signed the Solemn League and 

 Covenant, was put at the head of a considerable 

 army, though under great restrictions. Crom- 

 well, who had now nearly completed the conquest 

 of Ireland, lost no time in returning to London, 

 and organising an army for the suppression of 

 this new attempt against the Commonwealth, 

 leaving Ireland to his son-in-law, Ireton. 



Crossing the Tweed with a force of 16,000 men, 



