look for help. None of the neighbouring kings assisted him, and he was left to be tried and judged by his offended subjects, without a voice being lifted up for him.

There can be no doubt that he had deeply provoked them. Some of his letters, which had fallen into the hands of the parliament, showed that he had no real intention to keep the different treaties which had been proposed. He seemed to have settled it with himself that the circumstances justified his making false promises, which he might afterwards break.

He stood before his judges with the firmness of a martyr, and throughout the whole of the business he behaved with great dignity and composure. The charges that were brought against him were, that he had been 66 a tyrant, because of his desire to reign as an arbitrary monarch; a traitor, be

cause he had made void his trust towards the people; a murderer, because all the bloodshed of the civil war was to be attributed to him."

Upon all these points he was judged guilty, and condemned to die.

Many of those who had all along fought against the king, were very far from approving of his death. Indeed, it was but a small party of them who did so; the rest would have wished him to be deposed and banished, but nothing more.

Yet so it was, that a court of less than eighty persons, being confident that the people and the army were with them, prevailed over the opinions of all the rest, and carried through the whole sad and evil business.

And now that Charles found he was indeed to die, he put from his mind all thoughts but of his near approaching end; he saw the only two of his children who were in England, and parted with them, giving them advice, and sending kind messages to their mother and brothers; and he gave them a few jewels, all he had left, besides his blessing, to bestow upon them.

He obtained the attendance of Bishop Juxon, and spent the greater part of his time in devotion. When the fatal morning came, he went to his death, (the scaffold being erected in front of Whitehall,) endeavouring to the last to vindicate his conduct; but saying that he had suffered an unjust sentence (against Strafford) to take effect, which was now punished by an unjust sentence against himself.

He made a declaration of his adherence to the

Church of England. "There is, Sir," said Bishop Juxon, "but one stage more, which, though rough and troublesome, is yet a very short one. Consider, it will carry you a great way, even from earth to heaven." "I go," replied the king, "from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown."

He then laid his head down upon the block, and, after a few moments spent in prayer, he gave the signal by stretching forth his hands, and it was severed from the body at a single blow.

How

One loud groan burst forth from the multitudes below, who, a few days before, had been shouting, "Justice! justice! execution!" many hearts repented and grieved for their desire of bloodshed, we know not; but among all those thousand people we cannot be wrong in saying, that there probably were few indeed who, a month afterwards, could undertake to vindicate the act which had sent an erring, mistaken man into

eternity, without the common forms of justice, even though some might still maintain the people's right to avenge themselves on a tyrannical king.

I TOLD you that the other sovereigns of Europe sat quietly by, during the trial and execution of Charles I., and that no one came forward to help him; but as soon as he was gone they were willing to share in the spoils of the monarchy.

For the Prime Minister of France, Cardinal Mazarin, bought the rich beds and hangings, and carpets, which had belonged to the late King of England, and furnished his own palace at Paris with them.

And the King of Spain's ambassador bought

the finest of his pictures, many of which were very valuable, as Charles had great taste in painting; and Queen Christina of Sweden was so kind as to buy the best of the medals, and some jewels, and also to purchase some pictures of the parliament agent.

And the Archduke Leopold of Austria likewise purchased with a large sum of money many of the best pictures which had adorned the royal palaces, so that art in England lost at this time some great treasures.

The parliament published a proclamation ordering that no person should presume to call Charles Stuart, son of the late Charles, king; also they said that it was found unnecessary and troublesome to have a king, and that all writs should henceforth run in the name of the Guardians of English Liberties under the authority of parliament. The House of Lords was abolished; but the Peers might be elected as knights or burgesses to sit in parliament.

It should be remarked that this great change wrought in the whole government of England was effected with a very small loss of life; and, although it was thought necessary to make a few examples of those disaffected to the Commonwealth, out of five noblemen brought to trial, only three suffered death.

The Prince of Wales, who in right of his father was now King Charles II., was staying, meanwhile, at the Hague, with the Prince of Orange, who had married his sister. His mother, Henrietta, was in France with her younger son, the Duke of York;