52 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VIL 



was that of Charles I.* Indeed, another writer, who 

 was present at Newmarket during this compulsory 

 sojourn and last visit of the king there, remarked that 

 " such a sudden change was made in the condition of 

 the king, as to his liberty and honour, that most of his 

 party was dazeled with the show of it." f He was 

 allowed to make excursions without let or hindrance 

 in the vicinity of the town, and enjoyed many a bout 

 at bowls at Chippenham with his friend Sir William 



Russell. { 



Such was the last sojourn of Charles I. at New- 

 market. The rendezvous of the army on the heath, 

 the extraordinary defiance to Parliament, the arrival 

 of Cromwell, the march to London with the captive 

 monarch, the king's escape from Hampton Court, his 

 imprisonment in the Isle of Wight, his trial, con- 

 demnation, and death, are too well known to call for 

 any notice at our hands. 



Charles I. — second son of James I. and Anne of Den- 

 mark — was born in Scotland, December 30, 1600. He suc- 

 ceeded to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland on the 

 death of his father, March 27, 1625, and on June 16 follow- 

 ing he married Henrietta Maria of France. The end of the 

 " Martyred Monarch " is probably one of the most generally 

 known incidents in the history of the kings and queens of 

 England. Our greatest delineator of " household words " 

 portrays a certain character who never could get the tragic 

 end of the unfortunate Charles Stuart out of his head. 



All students of history are more or less acquainted with the 

 prominent political and polemical events of Charles I.'s reign ; 



* Burnet, " History of his own Times," vol. i., p. 86, note, 

 t " Flagellum," by S. T. Gent, London, 1663, p. 50. 

 % Seepos/, p. 59. 



