Stern and severe as these men were, they nevertheless were the first to proclaim that doctrine of personal liberty in its highest sense which it has been England's special mission to teach to the nations of the earth. They were persuaded that— "All constraint Except what wisdom lays on evil men, To be the tenant of man's noble form." Milton, the great poet of Puritanism and the secretary and friend of Cromwell, has rendered himself almost as illustrious by his noble defence of liberty in his prose writings as by his immortal poem Paradise Lost.* His hope, and that of the leaders of the army, was to establish a new regime in which "Truth would be free to grapple with Falsehood." Of London, his birthplace, he had fondly prophesied that it was about to become a true "city of refuge, the mansion house of liberty encompassed by God's protection." To weaken their opponents, Parliament, which was strongly supported by the city of London, resolved to reduce the army to twelve thousand men, who were to be under the command of two Presbyterian generals, and to be sent to quell the rebellion in Ireland. The army, however, refused to be disbanded, and protested that its arrears of pay were still due. It declared that the plan of the Parliament was a treacherous snare to separate the soldiers from the officers whom they loved, and to cover the ambition of a few men who have tasted sovereignty, and, in order to remain masters, degenerate into tyrants;" and it also made manifest its resolve that the cause for which it had fought should be wrecked neither by the tyranny of the Parliament nor the plots of the king. 6 The aim of Charles, as he himself confessed, was to "draw either the Presbyterians or the Independents to side with him for the extirpating of the other." If he succeeded in making these two parties fall out,' there was every likelihood that he would in this way ( come to his own.' At last he agreed to favour Presbyterianism for at least three years, and it was rumoured that on this condition the Parliament were about to permit him to return to London. The King in the hands of the Army.-In such a crisis, hesitation was ruin; and the army at once set the Parliament at defiance. On the morning of the 3d of June 1647, a certain Cornet Joyce with 500 men appeared at Holdenby House, where the king was still in charge of the guard of the commissioners. When he appeared before Charles and informed him that he must set out to the army at Newmarket, the king asked him for his commission. "It is behind me," said Joyce, pointing to his soldiers; upon which Charles, with good-humoured flattery, remarked that it "was written in very fine and legible characters." When Fairfax afterwards declared to the king that he had given no commission for the seizure, Joyce said, "I acted by order of the army. Let it be assembled, and if three-fourths do not approve of the act, I consent to be hanged at the head of my regiment." Charles remained in the hands of the army for six months. He accompanied it as it gradually advanced from Newmarket to London, and was then lodged in his He was there treated with palace of Hampton Court. the utmost respect, and his circumstances had the outward appearance of royal splendour. He was indeed a prisoner, and carefully guarded; but his friends were allowed to visit him, his heart was gladdened by the sight of his children, and there was no interference with the performance of his religious duties. Further, the officers submitted most favourable terms for settling the matters in dispute--terms much more moderate than the Parliament had been willing to offer, and remarkably mild for men of such strong convictions and unflinching determination. Episcopacy was to be restored, but a religious liberty almost as complete as that enjoyed in England at the present time was to be permitted. Charles seemed to regard these proposals favourably; but all the time he was secretly treating with the leaders of the Presbyterian party in Parliament, as well as with the Scots and the Irish. While we cannot overlook this double-dealing, we must remember that the king believed in his divine right, and regarded both Presbyterians and Independents as wicked enemies whom it was lawful to defeat in any possible way. The feeling between Parliament and army-which really meant between Presbyterians and Independents -became more and more bitter. Accordingly the king, thinking his opportunity had come, began to frown upon the very favourable terms he had before seemed to accept. His friends were astonished, and remonstrated with him. "You will soon see," said he, "that they will be only too glad to propose more just conditions." One of the officers warned him. "Sire, it is not you who can be the judge between the Parliament and us, but 5 we who are willing to mediate between the Parliament and you." Charles confidently replied, "You cannot be without me; you will fall to ruin if I do not uphold you." It seemed at one time as if the king were correct in his judgment. The Parliament began to enrol the militia of London for their defence, the Presbyterian populace of the capital became more and more turbulent, and the Independent minority of the Commons took refuge in the camp. A bloody struggle seemed impending; when the army boldly entered the city, forced their opponents to give them a humble welcome, and restored the fugitive members of Parliament, which at once yielded all their demands. Even then, when the army was supreme, Charles finally refused the terms which had been so often pressed upon him. The officers felt that it was hopeless to treat further with him, and realised that to preserve their own safety it would be better to leave him to himself. Charles was now treated with far less respect, his friends were dismissed from his side, and his guards were doubled. A large number of the army, named the levelling party, began to clamour for justice on him whom they denounced as the chief delinquent.' Charles may probably have become afraid of bodily harm; it is said, indeed, that he received an unsigned letter warning him of the urgency of his danger. However that may be, on the night of the I 1th of November he made his escape from what had become a hated and even a dangerous prison. 1. The king was handed over to the Parliament 3. Bestial, like that of beasts. 2. Independents or Congregationalists. They 96 4. Paradise Lost, the finest epic poem in our -language, was not published till 1667. 5. Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law. 6. Delinquent. See page 33. 7. Some say that the letter was written by Cromwell himself. THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR THE KING. CHA HARLES at Carisbrooke.-A horse was standing ready for the fugitive king outside the grounds of the palace, and accompanied by a few faithful friends he hastened towards the south-west. The night was so dark and stormy that they lost their way in passing through the New Forest. Misfortune now seemed to have marked Charles for her own. He found no place of safety in England; and, having reached Southampton, he resolved to take refuge in the Isle of Wight. The governor of that island, Colonel Hammond, was nephew of one of the king's chaplains; and Salisbury Charles was, accord ingly, sanguine that he would be able to win him over. But Hammond, though he "turned suddenly pale" at the difficult position in which he was placed, could not be persuaded to be a traitor to the army. Charles was removed by him to Carisbrooke Castle, a fortress on the coast, where, although his friends were permitted freely to visit him, he was kept under the closest guard. He was once more a prisoner. The news of the king's escape awakened a mutinous spirit among the 'Levellers' of the army; and at the rendezvous at Ware1 two of the regiments displayed in |