France, Holland, and the Scotch, interested them selves to avert his impending fate; the Presbyterians raised a feeble cry in his behalf.
Charles behaved, during the whole trial, with all the dignity that became him as a man, a Christian, and a monarch.* Dr Juxon, late bishop of London, attended his devotions. He was lodged at St James's, and the front of Whitehall was selected as the place of his exe cution. On the morning of the fatal day, he rose at an early hour after an undisturbed repose, and having con cluded his devotions with the cucharist, was conducted on foot through the park, which was lined with guards, to Whitehall, where an apartment was prepared for his reception. After a slight refreshment he ascended the scaffold, and surveyed, without emotion, the awful pre parations for death. Despairing of being heard by the multitude, (as the scaffold was surrounded to a great depth with troops,) he addressed his discourse to the officers and attendants. He protested that the war on his part was strictly defensive, and without accusing par liament, he blamed the intervention of wicked instru ments. His death, he confessed, was a merited retri bution for consenting to Strafford's. He forgave his enemies, admonished the people to return to loyalty, and attesting his dying attachment to the English church, laid his head on the block. An executioner, who wore a vizor, severed his head from his body at one stroke. Another in the same disguise held it up to the specta tors, whose sobs and lamentations were intermixed with the acclamations of the soldiery.
Whilst the general propensity of the English to mo narchy, and of men to pity royal misfortunes, was ex cited by this tragical event, the republican spirit, on the other hand, misguided by fanaticism, began to threat en the wildest excesses ; and sects arose under the name of Levellers, Millinarians, and Antinomians, whose ob ject was to abolish all the forms of government and rights of property. But the civil and military power acquired by Cromwell, was built sufficient to restrain those turbulent spirits. (See CROMWELL.) Soon after the king's death, the House of Peers was abolished as useless by the commons; and it was voted high treason to acknowledge the son of Charles his successor in the throne. The first year of freedom was inscribed on the
new great seal of England ; and public business was transacted by those who were called, the keepers of the liberties of England. A council of 38 performed the functions of the executive, and digested all business pre paratory to laying it before parliament. It was declared, (and probably with sincerity by many of those,) that they intended to settle a new representative, and restore li berty to the people.
The Scottish nation was invited to form a confederate republic; but irritated at the fate of Hamilton, who was executed after the victory of Cromwell, and at the many indignities offered by the independents, they acknow ledged Charles II. as their king. As Argyle and the strong Covenanters still predominated in Scotland, they made their loyalty conditional to the king's good beha viour.
Ireland demanded more immediate efforts. After the cessation between the late king and the Catholics, war had been kept alive by the parliamentary and Scotch Protestants; but while Ormond rested secure in his com promise with the council of Kilkenny, the Pope's nuncio assumed an active influence over the bigotry of the an cient natives, turned his arms indiscriminately against Ormond and the other Protestants, and obliged Ormond to submit, for his own preservation, his royal garrisons to Jones, the parliamentary general. The Earl of Clan ricarde, however, forming a party among the loyal Ca tholics, succeeded in chasing the nuncio out of the kingdom, and recalled Ormond, who had fled to France. Ormond, in spite of many difficulties, raised an army of 16,000 men, recovered Dundalk, Newry, Tredah, and other forts from the republicans. Affairs were in this state, when Cromwell, who was nominated to the go vernment of Ireland, was for a short time detained by the mutinous spirit of the Levellers in his own army. Four thousand of these assembled at Burford, who were seduced by the appearance of a treaty ; but being at tacked while unprepared for defence, 400 were taken prisoners, and after some severe examples, the muti nous spirit gave way.