The leaders of the army being anxious to fortify themselves by all
possible means against the Presbyterians, opened a negotiation with
the king, whose influence, such as it now was, they proposed to
purchase, by allowing Episcopacy to be the state religion, and leaving
him in command of the militia. Charles, however, with characteristic
insincerity, carried on at the same time a negotiation with the
Presbyterians, which, being discovered by the military chiefs, caused
them to break off all terms with him. Under dread of their resentment,
he made his escape from Hampton Court (November 11, 1647): and after
an unsuccessful atempt to leave the kingdom, was obliged to put
himself under the charge of the governor of Carisbrooke Castle, in the
Isle of Wight. Here he entered upon a new negotiation with the House
of Commons, to whom he made proposals, and from whom he received
certain proposals in return; all of which were, however, rendered of
non-avail by a secret treaty which he at the same time carried on with
a moderate party of the Scottish Presbyterians.
He finally agreed with the latter party, but under strict secrecy, to
give their form of church government a trial of three years, and yield
to them in several other points; they, in return, binding themselves
to unite their strength with the English Royalists, for the purpose of
putting down the Independent party, now predominant in the English
Parliament. With some difficulty the Duke of Hamilton and others, who
conducted this negotiation, succeeded, by a vote of the Scottish
Parliament, in raising an army of 12,000 men, with which they invaded
England in the summer of 1648. The more zealous of the clergy and
people of Scotland protested against an enterprise, which, from its
cooperating with Royalists and Episcopalians, and not perfectly
insuring the ascendancy of the Presbyterian church, appeared to them
as neither deserving of success nor likely to command it. As the
Scottish army penetrated the western counties, parties of
Presbyterians and Royalists rose in different parts of England, and
for some time the ascendancy of the Independents seemed to be in
considerable peril. But before the forces of the enemy could be
brought together, Cromwell, with 8000 veteran troops, attacked and
overthrew Hamilton at Preston, while Fairfax put down the insurgents
in Kent and Essex. Hamilton was himself taken prisoner, and very few
of his troops ever returned to their native country.
While Cromwell was employed in suppressing this insurrection, and in
restoring a friendly government in Scotland, the Presbyterians of the
House of Commons, relieved from military intimidation, entered upon a
new negotiation with Charles, which was drawing towards what appeared
a successful conclusion――though the king secretly designed to deceive
them, and to pursue other means for an effectual restoration――when the
army returned to London, breathing vengeance against him for the last
war, of which they considered him as the author. Finding the
Parliament in the act of voting his concessions to be satisfactory,
Cromwell sent two regiments, under Colonel Pride, who forcibly
excluded from it about two hundred members of the Presbyterian party;
a transaction remembered by the epithet of _Pride’s Purge_. The
remainder, being chiefly Independents, were ready to give a color of
law to whatever farther measure might be dictated by the military
leaders. Convinced of the utter faithlessness of the king, and that,
if he continued to live, he would take the earliest opportunity of
revenging himself for what had already been done, Cromwell and his
associates resolved to put him to death. A high court of Justice, as
it was called, was appointed by ordinance, consisting of a hundred and
thirty-three persons, named indifferently from the Parliament, the
army, and such of the citizens as were known to be well affected to
the Independent party. This body sat down in Westminster Hall (January
20, 1649), under the presidency of a barrister named Bradshaw, while
another named Coke acted as solicitor for the people of England.
Charles, who had been removed to St James’ Palace, was brought before
this court, and accused of having waged and renewed war upon his
people, and of having attempted to establish tyranny in place of the
limited regal power with which he had been intrusted. He denied the
authority of the court, and protested against the whole of the
proceedings, but was nevertheless found guilty and condemned to die.
On the 30th of January, he was accordingly beheaded in front of his
palace of Whitehall.