pation; that he was willing, before a proper tribunal, to enter into the particulars of his defense; but that before them he must decline any apology or plea of innocence, lest he should be considered as the betrayer of, and not a martyr for, the constitution.

3. Bradshaw, in order to support the authority of the court, insisted that they had received their power from the people, the source of all right. He pressed the prisoner not to decline the authority of the court, which was delegated by the Commons of England; and he interrupted and overruled the king in his attempts to reply. In this manner the king was three times produced before the court, and as often he persisted in declining its jurisdiction. The fourth and last time he was brought before the self-created tribunal. As he was proceeding thither he was insulted by the soldiers and the mob, who exclaimed, "Justice! justice! execution! execution!" but he continued undaunted. His judges, having now examined some witnesses, by whom it was proved that the king had appeared in arms against the forces commissioned by Parliament, pronounced sentence against him.

4. The conduct of the king, under all these instances of low-bred malice, was great, firm, and equal: in going through the hall the soldiers and the rabble were again instigated to cry out, "Justice and execution!" They reviled him with the most bitter reproaches. Among other insults, one miscreant presumed to spit in the face of his sovereign. He patiently bore their insolence. "Poor souls," cried he, "they would treat their generals in the same manner for sixpence." Those of the populace who still retained the feelings of humanity, expressed their sorrow in sighs and tears. A soldier, more compassionate than the rest, could not help imploring a blessing on his royal head. An officer, overhearing him, struck the honest sentinel to the ground, before the king, who could not help saying that the punishment exceeded the offense.

5. After returning from this solemn mockery of justice, the unhappy monarch petitioned the House for permission to see

his children, and desired the attendance of Dr. Juxon, Bishop of London, to assist in his private devotions. Both requests were immediately granted, and three days were allowed to prepare for the execution of the sentence. This interval was spent by Charles in the exercises of devotion, and in adminis tering consolation to his unhappy family. During the progress of the trial, the French and Dutch ambassadors vainly interceded in his behalf; and the Scots, who had set the first example of resistance to his authority, now remonstrated against the violence offered to his person and dignity. After his condemnation, the queen and the Prince of Wales wrote the most pathetic letters to the Parliament, but nothing could divert the stern regicides from their atrocious design.

6. The king was confined in the palace of St. James's, but the place selected for erecting the scaffold was the street before the palace of Whitehall. On the morning of the execution he rose early, and having spent some time in private devotion, received the sacrament from the hands of Bishop Juxon. He was then conducted on foot through the park to Whitehall, and partook of some slight refreshment. After a brief delay, he advanced to the place of execution, attended still by his friend and servant, Dr. Juxon, who used every exertion to soothe the last moments of his unfortunate master.

7. The scaffold, which was covered with black, was guarded by a regiment of soldiers, under the command of Colonel Tomlinson, and under it were to be seen a block, the axe, and two executioners in masks. The people, in immense crowds, stood at a great distance in dreadful expectation of the event. The king surveyed all these solemn preparations with calm composure; and as he could not expect to be heard by the people at a distance, he addressed himself to the few persons who stood around him.

8. He then justified his own innocence in the late fatal war; and observed that he had not taken arms till after the Parliament had shown the example. That he had no other object in his warlike preparations than to preserve that authority entire, which had been transmitted to him by his ancestors; but,

though innocent toward his people, he acknowledged the equity of his execution in the eyes of his Maker. He owned that he was justly punished for having consented to the execu tion of an unjust sentence upon the Earl of Strafford. He forgave all his enemies, exhorted the people to return to their obedience, and acknowledged his son as his successor; and signed his attachment to the Protestant religion, as professed in the Church of England. So strong was the impression his dying words made upon the few who could hear him that Colonel Tomlinson himself, to whose care he had been committed, acknowledged himself a convert.

9. While he was preparing himself for the block, Bishop Juxon called out to him, "There is, sir, but one stage more, which, though turbulent and troublesome, is yet a very short one. It will soon carry you a great way. It will carry you from earth to heaven; and then you shall find, to your great joy, the prize to which you hasten, a crown of glory." "I go," replied the king, "from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can have place." "You exchange," replied the bishop, "a temporal for an eternal crown; a good exchange!"

10. Charles, having taken off his cloak, delivered his George* to the prelate, pronouncing the word "Remember!" Then he laid his neck on the block, and, stretching out his hands as a signal, one of the executioners severed his head from his body at a blow; while the other, holding it up, exclaimed, "This is the head of a traitor!" The spectators testified their horror of the sad spectacle in sighs, tears, and lamentations; the tide of their duty and affection began to return; and each blamed himself either for active disloyalty to his king, or a passive compliance with his destroyers.

[At the time of his execution, Charles was in the forty-ninth year of his age. He was of middle stature, robust, and well-proportioned. The expression of his countenance was pleasing, but melancholy; due, doubtless, to the troubles which he had endured, As a man, his character was without reproach; but as a king, it has been very gener ally condemned.]

A figure of St. George on horseback, worn by the Knights of the Garter

Character of Oliver Cromwell.-Clarendon.

[After the execution of the king, Cromwell soon obtained the undisputed control of the government; and in 1653, he dissolved the "Long Parliament" by force, bidding its members “to be gone and give place to honester men." He then caused himself to be appointed Lord Protector, and under this title ruled the country till his death in 1658. The following sketch of his character is from "The History of the Rebellion," by Lord Clarendon, who, as Sir Edward Hyde, had been a prominent royalist in the war, and accompanied Charles II. in exile. On the restoration, he was appointed prime-minister, and received his title. His statements and views are therefore those of a partisan writer.]

1. OLIVER CROMWELL was one of those men whom his very enemies could not condemn without commending him at the same time; for he could never have done half that mischief without great parts of courage, industry, and judgment. He must have had a wonderful understanding in the nature and humors of men, and as great a dexterity in applying them; who, from a private and obscure birth (though of a good family), without interest or estate, alliance or friendship, could raise himself to such a height, and compound and knead such opposite and contradictory tempers, humors, and interests into a consistence, that contributed to his designs, and to their own destruction; whilst himself grew insensibly powerful enough to cut off those by whom he had climbed, in the instant they projected to demolish their own building.

2. What was said of Cinna may very justly be said of him,"he attempted those things which no good man durst have ventured on, and achieved those in which none but a valiant and great man could have succeeded." Without doubt, no man with more wickedness ever attempted anything, or brought to pass what he desired more wickedly,-more in the face and contempt of religion and moral honesty. Yet wickedness as great as his could never have accomplished those designs without the assistance of a great spirit, an admirable circumspection and sagacity, and a most magnanimous resolution.

3. When he appeared first in the Parliament, he seemed to have a person in no degree gracious, no ornament of discourse, none of those talents which use to conciliate the affections of the stander-by. Yet, as he grew into place and authority, his

parts seemed to be raised, as if he had had concealed faculties, till he had occasion to use them; and when he was to act the part of a great man, he did it without any indecency, notwithstanding the want of custom.

4. After he was confirmed and invested Protector by humble petition and advice, he consulted with very few upon any action of importance, nor communicated any enterprise he resolved upon with more than those who were to have principal parts in the execution of it; nor with them sooner than was absolutely necessary. What he once resolved, in which he was not rash, he would not be dissuaded from, nor endure any contradiction of his power or authority, but extorted obedience from them who were not willing to yield to it. . ...

5. Thus he subdued a spirit that had been often troublesome to the most sovereign power, and made Westminster Hall as obedient and subservient to his commands as any of the rest of his quarters. In all other matters, which did not concern the life of his jurisdiction, he seemed to have great reverence for the law, rarely interposing between party and party. As he proceeded with this kind of indignation and haughtiness with those who were refractory, and durst contend with his greatness, so toward all who complied with his good pleasure, and courted his protection, he used great civility, generosity, and bounty.

6. To reduce three nations which perfectly hated him to an entire obedience to all his dictates; to awe and govern those nations by an army that was indevoted to him and wished his ruin, was an instance of a very prodigious address. But his greatness at home was but a shadow of the glory he had abroad. It was hard to discover which feared him mostFrance, Spain, or the Low Countries, where his friendship was current at the value he put upon it. As they did all sacrifice their honor and their interest to his pleasure, so there is nothing he could have demanded that either of them would have denied him.

7. To conclude his character: Cromwell was not so far a man of blood as to follow Machiavel's (mak'e-ah-vel) method,