)RIO F! 



EXTEHIOK VIEW OF WESTMINSTER HALI,. 



babbled the plot, so that one of the ladies in attendance dis- 

 patched a hasty note to the parties, who, as the king entered 

 the House, had just time to leave it." The lady in question 

 was the Countess of Carlisle, who was on intimate terms with 

 several of the accused. On receipt of her note, which was com- 

 municated to the House, a brief but excited debate took place. 

 Some were for directing the accused to absent themselves, hoping 

 thereby to avoid an unseemly quarrel ; others were inclined to 

 have them remain, and to make common cause with them in 

 case of any violence being offered. While the debate was yet 

 going on, the gentlemen most concerned being themselves un- 

 decided as to the best course to adopt, a friend of Mr. Fiennes, 

 a member, came hurriedly, and told him that the king had 

 already left Whitehall, at the head of 200 armed men, and was 

 coming in the direction of the House. There was no time for 

 further talk. Action must be taken forthwith. A motion was 

 hurriedly passed, giving leave to the five members to absent 

 themselves, and they quitted the House a few secends only 

 before the King entered it. 



Up Westminster Hall the place which was in a few years 

 to witness his trial and condemnation King Charles walked, 

 followed by his ordinary retinue, and a force of soldiers variously 

 estimated at two, three, and even five hundred men. " It struck 

 euch a fear and terrour into all those that kept shops in the 

 said Hall, or near the gate thereof, as they instantly shut up 

 their shops, looking for nothing but bloodshed and desolation " 

 so wrote an eye-witness of the affair. Arrived in the Hall, 

 the armed men formed a lane, stretching down the whole length 

 of it ; the king passed along, and going up the staircase out of 

 the Hall wont into the Commons' House, "where never king 

 was (as they say) but once King Henry the Eighth." 



Attended only by his nephew Rupert, the son of the Elector 

 Palatine of the Rhine, the king entered the House, the door of 

 which, however, was kept open ; and through the open door wore 

 to bo seen officers and soldiers armed with swords and pistols, 

 while the Earl of Roxborough and a Captain Hide stood within 

 the door, and leaned upon it. 



The Speaker of the House, Lenthal, had been instructed to 

 sit still, with the mace before him ; but when the king entered 

 and the whole House rose and uncovered their heads, Lenthal 

 also rose and stood in front of the chair. Charles removed his 

 hat, and bowed to either side of the House as he came up. 

 " Mr. Speaker, I must for a time make bold with your chair," 

 he said, as he approached Lenthal, who made way for him, ' 

 though the king did not sit down in the chair, but stood on 

 the step of it. 



A deep silence reigned in the House, till the king, who had 

 been occupied in looking round for the five members, said, 

 breaking in upon the silence, " Gentlemen, I am sorry for this 

 occasion of coming unto you. Yesterday I sent a sergeant-at- 

 arms upon a very important occasion, to apprehend some that, 

 by my command, were accused of high treason ; whereunto I 

 did expect obedience, and not a message. And I must declare 

 unto you here, that albeit no king that ever was in England 

 shall bo more careful of your privileges, to maintain them to 

 the uttermost of his power, than I shall be, yet yon must know 

 that in cases of treason no person hath a privilege. And there- 

 fore I am come to know if any of these persons that were 

 accused are here." 



No one answered. Charles, after a pause, made a few more 

 remarks, and then asked specifically for each of the accused. 

 No one informing him, he turned to Speaker Lenthal, requiring- 

 to bo told ; but Lenthal, kneeling, humbly desired to be excused, 

 saying : "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this 

 place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whoso servant I 

 am here ; and I humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot 

 give any other answer than this to what your Majesty ia pleased 

 to demand of me." 



Baffled by the silence, and by the extreme courtesy evinced 

 by the attitude of the House, the king went on to make some 

 further remarks, with difficulty concealing, in the midst of his 

 excitement, the natural infirmity of his speech. Not seeing 

 those for whom he sought, he said, " Well, since I see all my 

 birds are flown, I do expect from you that you will send them 



