king again refused to plead, he was again removed, calling out to the people, "Bear in mind that your king is to be condemned without being permitted to say a word in defence of his and your own liberties!"

It was on the 27th that this court opened in the Painted Chamber for the last time; and the names being called over as usual, a woman's voice was heard to exclaim from the gallery, at the name of Fairfax, “He has too much sense to be here!" When the king entered, the soldiers, incited by Axtell their commander, grossly insulted him; the people, meantime, said nothing. The king wished first to address the court; but Bradshaw overruled this, and was solemnly calling on all present to recollect that "the prisoner at the bar had been brought by consent of the nation to answer for his crimes at that bar," when the same female voice called out, "Not half the people! Oliver Cromwell is a traitor!" This courageous woman proved to be Lady Fairfax herself, whom Axtell, applying to her and the other ladies present the grossest names, soon silenced by sending a file of soldiers into the gallery. Bradshaw then proceeded; but as the king demanded to be heard by his peers or equals, and Colonel Downs, one of the court, leaned to his request, the whole party adjourned for a time to another room, and in half an hour returned, declaring that his wish could not be complied with. Charles appeared to be subdued on hearing this, and no longer insisted with any degree of vigour. Sentence of death having then been pronounced, he attempted to speak, but was refused that privilege by Bradshaw, who called out, "Guards, remove your prisoner."

TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF KING CHARLES THE
FIRST-continued.

The king, though surrounded by the soldiers, exclaimed, "Surely, sir, with your permission, I can speak after sen

on

tence! Stay, soldiers. The sentence, sir-sir, think what justice others are to expect!"--And with these words on his lips, he was hustled from the hall, many of the soldiers spitting in his face, reviling him, and more than one even striking him. One poor fellow, however, called to Charles for his blessing, and endeavoured to allay the rancour of his companions; but Axtell, coming behind him, knocked him down whereat the king could not help saying, "Sir, you have assuredly visited his sin with a heavy punishment!" Many in the crowd, not soldiers, poured forth their wishes for his preservation; and the king, softened by this unexpected commiseration, warmly expressed his gratitude for their dutiful affection. When in the park again, returning to the palace of St. James's, some rude soldiers pressed upon him and shouted out "Justice! which the monarch calmly observed, "Poor souls! for a little money they would do as much against their commanders." The king passed the three days' interval allowed him with great tranquillity, chiefly in reading and devotion. All his family that remained in England were allowed access to him; viz., the Princess Elizabeth, and the Duke of Gloucester, the former very young, and the latter nearly an infant. He desired the princess to tell her mother that he had never once, even in thought, failed in fidelity towards her; and taking the young duke on his knee, he said, "They are going to cut off thy father's head." At these words the child looked very stedfastly upon him. "Mark, child," continued the king, "what I say they will cut off my head, and perhaps make thee a king: but thou must not be a king so long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive!" The little prince passionately exclaimed, "I will be torn in pieces first!"

:

On the morning of his death, Charles awoke two hours before daybreak, after a sound sleep of four hours. He called to Sir Thomas Herbert, who lay on a pallet by his side, and bade him rise; "For," said he, "I have a great work to do this day!" He then said to an attendant, "Let me have a shirt on more than ordinary, by reason

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the season is so sharp;" (it was a severe frost, so that Bishop Juxon induced the king to wear a cloak till the moment of his death ;) as, if I should shake, some observers will think it proceeds from fear. I would have no such imputation. I fear not death; for I bless God, I am prepared!" Bishop Juxon then came, and read the church service for the day with him; and at ten o'clock Colonel Hacker arrived, and entering the royal chamber, trembling from head to foot, announced that it was time to set off for Whitehall. The king cheerfully agreed to begin his last walk on earth; which was from St. James's palace, across the park to Whitehall, Bishop Juxon accompanying him on one side, and Colonel Tomlinson on the other, both bare-headed. Charles walked fast, and every now and then called out to the guard to walk apace. As he passed Spring-garden, he pointed to a tree, saying, "That tree was planted by brother Henry;" and he then suddenly said to Juxon, "I now go to strive for an heavenly crown, with less solicitude than I have often fought for an earthly one." On reaching Whitehall, the preparations were not complete, so that he took, when offered, a glass of claret and some bread about twelve o'clock; and soon after, the bishop administered the sacrament to him.

The warrant for the execution was at length brought by Hacker, and signed by Cromwell, who had obtained the names of his adherents to the document after no small contention; having, it is said, in his resentment spirted the ink out of his pen over the hand and face of one of the party. In fact, it seems to have been a trifle which, after all this formal mockery of justice, turned the scale against the monarch.

With great calmness King Charles walked to the scaffold, having with him the bishop and colonel; and after addressing those who were around him rather than the people beneath (as the Parliament had ordered an immense guard to keep off the crowd), he closed his earthly communing with a few pious observations to Juxon, and some words of

*

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caution to the executioner. Speaking to the latter (who it seems probable was the common hangman, Richard Brandon, disguised by a mask), he said, "I shall say but short prayers; and when I put out my hands, do your duty." Then turning to the bishop, he said, "I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can be.""You exchange, Sire," said the prelate, an earthly for a heavenly crown,-a goodly exchange!" He gave his George to the bishop, saying "Remember!" (meaning that he was to convey it, if possible, to Prince Charles); and then, fitting his head to the block, said to the executioner, "You must set it fast."-Soon after, he knelt down, and, having offered up a brief prayer, gave the appointed signal; whereon Brandon, at a blow, severed his head from his body, and holding it up, cried aloud, "Behold the head of a traitor!" A dismal groan, such (says an eyewitness) as never before was heard, resounded in every direction; a vast number of persons, men and women, fainted; and as the shrieks of females began to preponderate, several troops of horse, marching up from Charing-cross, pressed upon the vast assembled crowd, and rapidly cleared the street before Whitehall.—From Prince's Parallel Universal History.'

SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S CONSPIRACY, A.D. 1603, AND HIS EXECUTION, A.D. 1618.

THE attempt to place Lady Arabella Stuart† on the throne, occurred in the very commencement of the reign of James I. It is called Raleigh's plot, although Lord Grey, a puritan, Lord Cobham, a man of no principle, and Watson and Clarke, Roman Catholic priests, were the * A George means a figure of St. George on horseback, worn by Knights of the Garter.

†The Lady Arabella Stuart was a cousin of James I., and, like him, descended from Henry VII.

leaders; and Cobham alone accused Raleigh of being privy to the conspiracy, a charge which that dishonourable lord soon retracted. Coke, the famous lawyer, then attorneygeneral, loaded Raleigh with abuse, because he had been Essex's rival; but he owned, when the jury pronounced him guilty, that he only charged him with having been aware of the plot, and of keeping it secret. The two priests, and Lord Cobham's brother, Mr. Broke, were executed; Cobham, Grey, and Markham, were pardoned, after they had laid their heads upon the block; and Raleigh was reprieved, but ordered into confinement. He had been thirteen years imprisoned for this offence (during which he had written a portion of his History of the World, and had won all hearts by the dignified calmness with which he bore his captivity), when James permitted him to go as commander of an expedition to the South Seas, in search of a gold-mine, which Raleigh asserted was to be found in Guiana, and which was sufficient, he said, not only to enrich all the adventurers, but the nation itself. James, though he refused to grant Raleigh a pardon, virtually did so by bestowing on him the supreme command; but when, repulsed by the Spaniards, who were then in possession of the part of Guiana to which he bent his course, Raleigh was compelled to return disappointed home, the king ordered his immediate execution, by virtue of the former sentence.

Raleigh's last night was occupied in letter-writing, an interview with his wife, and the composition of some English verses; the latter having been his constant resource when agitated in mind. The Dean of Westminster, wondering at the hero, reprehended the lightness of his manner; but Raleigh gave God thanks that he had never feared death, and that he had so much time as thirteen years given him to think of it; "not," said he, "but that I am a great sinner, and have need of pardon; for I have been a soldier, a seaman, and a courtier." On the morning of his execution, he smoked as usual his favourite tobacco; and in going from the prison to the scaffold, he saw his old