who had been Lord-deputy of Ireland, where he had been guilty of many arbitrary acts, and who had been the adviser of some of the most violent measures of the English court. He was con demned; and Charles, after declaring that a hair of his head should not be injured, signed his death-warrant. The earl was beheaded (May 12, 1641). Laud and others were also impeached; and the aged prelate, much to the discredit of the parties concerned, was decapitated (Jan. 10, 1645).

The parliament in its earlier sittings passed many useful measures; and the members induced the king to assent to a statute that parliament should not be dissolved without the previous assent of the two Houses. In October, 1641, & formidable rebellion broke out in Ireland, and the Protestants, wherever the Roman Catholics were superior in strength, were ruthlessly murdered. This rebellion, from the countenance which had been shown to the Roman Catholics in England during the intermission of parliament, proved very injurious to the royal interests.

In January, 1642, Charles tried to recover his power by an attempt to seize Pym, Hampden, and three other members on a charge of high treason, and it became evident before long that the differences between king and parliament could only be settled by war. Both parties accordingly prepared for the contest.

Charles set up his standard at Nottingham (Aug. 22, 1642); and the first battle was fought at EDGEHILL, in Warwickshire (Oct. 23): the result was indecisive. The parliamentarians (or Roundheads, as they were called) were defeated at STRATTON (May 16, 1643); and John Hampden was mortally wounded in a skirmish at CHALGROVE, near Oxford (June 18). The Earl of Newcastle vanquished the parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax, at ATHERTON MOOR, in Yorkshire (June 30); and Waller was also defeated at LANSDOWN, near Bath (July 5), and at ROUNDWAY-DOWN (July 13). At the first battle of NEWBURY, the Earl of Essex, the commander-in-chief of the parliamentary army, gained a victory over Charles (Sept. 20).

In the course of 1643 the parliament sought and secured the aid of the Scots; and Charles, in compliance with the wishes of some of his advisers, summoned those members favourable to his cause to a parliament at Oxford (Jan., 1644).

Sir Thomas Fairfax defeated a body of Anglo-Irish, who had come over to aid Charles, at NANTWICH (Jan. 25, 1644); but at CROPREDY-BRIDGE, near Banbury, Charles gained some advantage over Waller (June 29). Three days after, the battle of MARSTON MOOR, in Yorkshire, was fought, in which the parliamentarians and Scots were led by Fairfax, the Earl of Leven, and Oliver Cromwell, and the royalists by Prince Rupert, the king's nephew. Chiefly through the skill and courage of Cromwell, the royalists were completely overthrown (July 2). The second battle of NEWBURY Occurred Oct. 27, but was somewhat indecisive; and a re-organization of the parliamentary army took place in the spring of the following year. The new army met the royal forces at NASEBY, in Northamptonshire; and again, through the conspicuous valour of Cromwell, the latter were so utterly routed that the cause of the king became hopeless (June 14, 1645).

Meanwhile the Earl of Montrose, a royalist nobleman, gained a series of victories in Scotland-TIPPERMUIR (Sept. 1, 1644); ABERDEEN (Sept. 12); INVERLOCHY (Feb. 2, 1645); AULDEARN (May 9); ALFORD (July 2); and KILSYTH (Aug. 15); but he was totally defeated by Lesley, at PHILIPHAUGH (Sept. 13).

In May, 1646, the king, after some vain attempts to make peace with the parliament, surrendered to the Scots at Newark. On receiving 200,000l., and the promise of a second payment of equal amount as a compensation for their services, the Scots surrendered Charles to the parliament (Jan., 1647), out of whose hands he was subsequently seized by the army (June). He was detained at Hampton Court, whence he escaped to the Isle of Wight. Being again arrested, he was confined first at Carisbrooke Castle, and afterwards at Hurst Castle.

Violent disputes arose between the Presbyterians and the

Independents,* whose strength laid in the army, and whose most influential adherent was Cromwell. That general, sufficiently convinced of the perfidy of the king, resolved to come to no arrangement with him; and having crushed a royalist rising, he fell in with the desire of the army that the king should be brought to trial. Colonel Pride "purged” the House of Commons, by excluding a large number of Presbyterians; and the remainder independently of the House of Lords, voted that Charles should be arraigned as guilty of treason against the people. A High Court of Justice was erected; and, though the king would not acknowledge its jurisdiction, he was convicted and sentenced to death.

[Battle of Lutzen and death of Gustavus Adolphus, 1632. Peace of Westphalia, the basis of the subsequent policy of Europe, 1648.]

Death. Charles was executed on a scaffold before Whitehall, Jan. 30, 1649.

THE COMMONWEALTH.

1649 to 1660.

The House of Lords was voted useless, and the Commons (known as the Rump Parliament) created a council of state, consisting of forty-one members, among whom were Cromwell, Fairfax, and Sir Harry Vane.

The Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, and Lord Capel were executed for having taken part in the royalist rising in the past year, and Lilburne and other republicans (called Levellers) were committed to the Tower.

Cromwell was sent to Ireland (Aug., 1649), which had for the

The Independents are a religious body who hold that every Christian congregation is complete in itself, and subject to no superior authority.

most part acknowledged Charles's son, Charles II, as king. He stormed Drogheda, Wexford, and other towns, in some of which the resisting soldiery were ruthlessly slaughtered; and in a few months, having nearly pacified the country, he returned home, leaving Ireton, his son-in-law, to complete the conquest. Early in 1650, Montrose landed in Scotland, and tried to rally the royalists round him; but he was defeated at CORBIESDALE (April 27), and executed at Edinburgh. A few weeks later, Charles, who had been proclaimed king on his father's execution, arrived in Scotland; and as it was expected that the Scots would now invade England, it was resolved to anticipate them by leading an army into their country. Accordingly Cromwell crossed the Tweed (July 16), and on the 3rd of September he totally defeated General Lesley at DUNBAR; and the southern part of the kingdom fell into his hands. Charles was crowned at Scone (Jan. 1, 1651), and in the middle of the year he marched into England, at the head of an army of more than ten thousand men; but he was followed by Cromwell, who gained a decisive victory over him at WORCESTER (Sept. 3, 1651). The king disguised himself, and after many hazardous adventures he safely arrived in France.

The English government was anxious to form an alliance with the Dutch, but the latter seemed disposed to favour the royalists, and a rupture ensued. A navigation law was passed, which enacted that European goods should be imported in English vessels alone, or in those of the country from which the goods came-an enactment very injurious to the Dutch, who greatly depended on their carrying trade. War was declared, and several battles were fought at sea, the chief English admirals being Blake, Monk, Ayscue, Penn, and Dean, and the Dutch, Van Tromp and De Ruyter. The contest was, on the 'whole, decidedly favourable to the English, and peace was concluded (April, 1654).

Cromwell, by forcible means, dissolved the Long Parliament (April 20, 1653), and summoned a number of persons selected

by the congregational churches of the country to form a new parliament. The Barebones Parliament, so called from one of their members, surrendered their power into Cromwell's hands after a sitting of five months; and that distinguished general was made Lord Protector (Dec. 16, 1653). A parliament, elected according to a more constitutional method, met Sept. 3, 1654; but they questioned the authority by which they were summoned, and were dissolved as speedily as the law would allow.

The protector for a time collected taxes without parliamentary sanction, and a special assessment was laid on the royalists, who gave much trouble by their resistance to the government. The episcopal form of church government was abolished, and the use of the Prayer Book was not allowed; but Cromwell connived at the exercise of the episcopalian worship by those who otherwise obeyed the laws; and, with the exception of Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, all others were allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences.

"After half a century, during which England had been of scarcely more weight in European politics than Venice or Saxony, she, at once, became the most formidable power in the world." The protector placed himself at the head of the Protestant interest, and when he concluded a treaty with France against Spain, he secured religious liberty for the persecuted Waldenses.

In May, 1655, Jamaica was taken from Spain; and in October, war was declared against that country. Some valuable captures were made of treasure vessels; and in conjunction with their allies the English defeated the Spaniards at DUNKIRK June, 1658).

Cromwell called a new parliament in September, 1656, and the members offered him the title of king, which he reluctantly declined. A house of peers, however, was created, and his powers as protector were augmented-in particular the privilege was allowed him of naming his successor.

• Macaulay's "History of England."