138 TRIAL OF THE KING. A. D. Ch. 12 imputed to Parliament the neglect of the affairs of the realm; called upon it to proclaim the sovereignty of the people, and 1648. the election of a supreme magistrate, and threatened to take matters into their own hands. This was in November, 1648. Pro gress of revolu tion. Trial and death of the King The mighty stream of revolution could now no longer be checked. Twenty thousand men had vowed that Parliament should be purged. On the morning of December 6, Colonel Pride and Colonel Rich, with troops, surrounded the House of Commons; and, as the members were going into the House, the most obnoxious were seized and sent to prison; among whom was Primrose, who had lost his ears in the contest against the Crown, Waller, Harley, Walker, and various others, who had distinguished themselves as advocates of constitutional liberty. None now remained in the House of Commons but some forty Independents, who were the tools of the army, and who voted to Cromwell their hearty thanks. "The minority had become a majority,"-not unusual in revolutionary times-and it proceeded in good earnest to the work, which it had long contemplated. This was the trial of the King, whose apartments at Whitehall were occupied by the victorious general, and whose treasures were lavished on his triumphant soldiers. On the 17th of December, 1648, in the middle of the night, the drawbridge of the Castle of Hurst, to which the royal prisoner had been removed, was lowered, and a troop of horse entered the yard. Two days after, the King was removed to Windsor. On the 23rd, the Commons voted that he should be brought to trial; and on the 20th of January, 1649, Charles Stuart, King of England, was placed at the bar of the Court of High Commission, in Westminster Hall, to be tried by this self-constituted body for his life. In the indictment he was charged with being a tyrant, traitor, and murderer. To such an indictment the dignified but unfortunate King deHe refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the court. But the solemn mockery proceeded; and on the 27th sentence of death was pronounced. On the 30th the bloody ABOLITION OF THE MONARCHY. 139 sentence was executed, and the soul of the murdered Monarch Ch.12 appeared before that higher Tribunal, which pronounces judg-A. D. ment upon the motives, as well as upon the actions of 1649. mankind. On that day the House of Commons-but the shadow of a House of Commons, yet ostensibly the supreme authority in England-passed an act prohibiting the Prince of Wales, or any other person, from becoming King of England. On the 6th of February, the House of Peers was decreed useless and dangerous, and was also dispensed with. On the next Aboliday royalty was formally abolished. The supreme executive tion of Royalty power was then vested in a Council of State of forty members, the president of which was Bradshaw, the relative and friend of Milton, who employed his immortal genius in advocating a new government. The army remained under the command of Fairfax and Cromwell; the navy was controlled by a board of admiralty, headed by Sir Harry Vane; and a greater toleration of religion was proclaimed than had ever been known before. one ration The Independents pursued their victory with moderation; the Duke of Hamilton, and Lords Holland and Capel, being Modethe only persons executed for treason, while a few others were of the shut up in the Tower. But it required all the wisdom and Revoluvigor both of Fairfax and Cromwell to repress, on the tionists. hand, the violent spirit which had crept into several detachments of the army, and to baffle, on the other, the movements which the Scots were making in favour of Charles Stuart, who had already been proclaimed King by the Parliament of Scotland, and in Ireland by the Marquis of Ormond. lion in Ireland. The insurrection in Ireland first required the notice of the new government. Cromwell accepted the conduct of the war, Rebeland the office of lord lieutenant. Dublin and Derry were the only places which held out for the Parliament. All the rest of the country was in a state of insurrection. On the 15th of August, Cromwell and his son-in-law, Ireton, landed near Dublin, with an army consisting only of six thousand foot and three thousand horse; but it was an army of Ironsides and 140 BATTLE OF WORCESTER. Ch. 12 Titans. In six months the complete reconquest of the country was effected. The policy of the conqueror was severe and 1650. questionable; but it was successful. A. D. War Scots. When the conquest of Ireland was completed, Cromwell hastened to London to receive the thanks of Parliament and the acclamations of the people; and then he hurried to Scotwith the land to do battle with the Scots, who had made a treaty with the Prince, and were resolved to establish Presbyterianism and royalty. Cromwell, now captain-general of the forces of the commonwealth, passed the borders, reached Edinburgh without molestation, and then advanced on the Scottish army of twenty-seven thousand men, under Leslie, at Dunbar, where a desperate battle was fought, which Cromwell gained by marvellous intrepidity and skill. Three thousand men were killed; ten thousand were taken prisoners; and the hopes of the Scots were utterly blasted. The lord-general now made a halt, the whole army sang the one hundred and seventeenth psalm, and then he advanced Estab- upon the capital, which opened its gates. Glasgow followed lish- the example; the whole south of Scotland submitted; the the Prince fled towards the Highlands; and then took the bold power of resolution of marching into England, while Cromwell was ment of Crom well. besieging Perth. Charles reached Worcester before he was overtaken, and established himself there with sixteen thousand men. But it was all in vain. He was speedily attacked by Cromwell, and defeated. With great difficulty he reached France, where he remained until he was brought back by General Monk. With the battle of Worcester, September 3, 1651, ended the military life of Cromwell. He called it his "Crowning mercy." From that day to the time when he became Protector, the most noticeable point in his history is his conduct towards the Parliament. And this conduct is the most objectionable part of his life and character; for in this it is difficult to exculpate him from violating the principles he professed, and committing the same usurpations which he condemned in Charles. THE RUMP PARLIAMENT. 141 racter The Parliament, or rather the forty Independents, who Ch.12 constituted that body, and who were everywhere ridiculed A. D. under the title of the "Rump," now cared only for perpetuat- 1652. ing its own existence. But Cromwell was not the man to permit this; especially as he considered it inefficient and careless about the interests of the country. Meeting White- Chalock, who then held the great seal, he said that the “ army was of Parbeginning to have a strange distaste against them; that their liament. pride, and ambition, and self-seeking; their engrossing all places of honor and profit to themselves and their friends; their daily breaking into new and violent parties; their delays of business, and design to perpetuate themselves, and continue the power in their own hands; their meddling in private matters between party and party; their injustice and partiality; the scandalous lives of some of them, do give too much ground for people to open their mouths against them; and unless there be some power to check them, it will be impossible to prevent our ruin." These things Whitelock admitted, but did not see how they could be removed, since both he and Cromwell held their commissions from this same Parliament, which was the supreme authority. bition of Cromwell replied there was nothing to hope, and everything to fear, from such a body of men; that they would destroy what the Lord had done. "We all forget God," said he, "and God will forget us. He will give us up to confusion, and these men will help it on, if left to themselves." Then he asked the great lawyer and chancellor, "What if a man should take Amupon himself to be King ?"-evidently having in view the Cromregal power. But Whitelock presented such powerful reasons well. against it, that Cromwell gave up the idea. He then held repeated conferences with the officers of the army, who sympathized with him, and who supported him. At last, while Parliament was about to pass an obnoxious bill, Cromwell hurried to the House, taking with him a file of musketeers, having resolved what he would do. These he left in the lobby, and, taking his seat, listened awhile to the discussion. He 142 CROMWELL ASSUMES THE PROTECTORATE. A. D. Ch. 12 then rose and addressed the House. Waxing. warm, he told them, in violent language, "that they were deniers of justice, 1653. were oppressive, profane men, were planning to bring in Presbyterians, and would lose no time in destroying the cause they had deserted." Sir Harry Vane and Sir Peter Wentworth rose to remonstrate, but Cromwell, leaving his seat, walked up and down the floor with his hat on, reproaching the different members, who again remonstrated. But CromParlia- well, raising his voice, exclaimed, "You are no Parliament. ment Get you gone. Give way to honester men." Then stamping destroy ed. with his feet, the door opened, the musketeers entered, and the members were dispersed, after giving vent to their feelings in the language of reproach. Most of them wore swords, but none offered resistance. His next step was to order the continuance of all the courts of justice, as before, and to summon a new Parliament, the members of which were nominated by himself and his council of officers. This Parliament, composed of one hundred and twenty persons, assembled on the 4th of July, 1653, when Cromwell explained the reasons of his conduct, and set forth the mercies of the Lord to England. He admitted that the Parliament was unconstitutional, since it was not elected by Crom the people of England; but he urged, as his excuse, that, had the elections been left free, the Presbyterians would have been Protec- returned as the largest party, and they would have ruined well be comes tor. the cause. Having reappointed the old Council of State, abolished the High Court of Chancery, and nominated commissioners to preside in courts of justice, the House, obedient to its master, quietly dissolved, and surrendered all power into the hands of Cromwell, who now assumed the title of Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. On the 16th of December he was installed in his high office, with considerable pomp, in the Court of Chancery, and the new constitution was read, which invested him with all the powers of a king. It, however, ordained that he should rule with the aid of a Parliament, which should have all the |