Matters were at this pass when the army,resolved to defy the Parliament,marched up to London.The Parliament,not afraid of them now,and boldly led by Hollis,voted that the King's concessions were sufficient ground for settling the peace of the kingdom.Upon that,COLONEL RICH and COLONEL PRIDE went down to the House of Commons with a regiment of horse soldiers and a regiment of foot;and Colonel Pride,standing in the lobby with a list of the members who were obnoxious to the army in his hand,had them pointed out to him as they came through,and took them all into custody.This proceeding was afterwards called by the people,for a joke,PRIDE'S PURGE.Cromwell was in the North,at the head of his men,at the time,but when he came home,approved of what had been done.
What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away,the army had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so.
These soon voted that it was treason in a king to make war against his parliament and his people,and sent an ordinance up to the House of Lords for the King's being tried as a traitor.The House of Lords,then sixteen in number,to a man rejected it.Thereupon,the Commons made an ordinance of their own,that they were the supreme government of the country,and would bring the King to trial.
The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst Castle:a lonely house on a rock in the sea,connected with the coast of Hampshire by a rough road two miles long at low water.
Thence,he was ordered to be removed to Windsor;thence,after being but rudely used there,and having none but soldiers to wait upon him at table,he was brought up to St.James's Palace in London,and told that his trial was appointed for next day.
On Saturday,the twentieth of January,one thousand six hundred and forty-nine,this memorable trial began.The House of Commons had settled that one hundred and thirty-five persons should form the Court,and these were taken from the House itself,from among the officers of the army,and from among the lawyers and citizens.
JOHN BRADSHAW,serjeant-at-law,was appointed president.The place was Westminster Hall.At the upper end,in a red velvet chair,sat the president,with his hat (lined with plates of iron for his protection)on his head.The rest of the Court sat on side benches,also wearing their hats.The King's seat was covered with velvet,like that of the president,and was opposite to it.He was brought from St.James's to Whitehall,and from Whitehall he came by water to his trial.
When he came in,he looked round very steadily on the Court,and on the great number of spectators,and then sat down:presently he got up and looked round again.On the indictment 'against Charles Stuart,for high treason,'being read,he smiled several times,and he denied the authority of the Court,saying that there could be no parliament without a House of Lords,and that he saw no House of Lords there.Also,that the King ought to be there,and that he saw no King in the King's right place.Bradshaw replied,that the Court was satisfied with its authority,and that its authority was God's authority and the kingdom's.He then adjourned the Court to the following Monday.On that day,the trial was resumed,and went on all the week.When the Saturday came,as the King passed forward to his place in the Hall,some soldiers and others cried for 'justice!'and execution on him.That day,too,Bradshaw,like an angry Sultan,wore a red robe,instead of the black robe he had worn before.The King was sentenced to death that day.As he went out,one solitary soldier said,'God bless you,Sir!'For this,his officer struck him.The King said he thought the punishment exceeded the offence.The silver head of his walking-stick had fallen off while he leaned upon it,at one time of the trial.The accident seemed to disturb him,as if he thought it ominous of the falling of his own head;and he admitted as much,now it was all over.
Being taken back to Whitehall,he sent to the House of Commons,saying that as the time of his execution might be nigh,he wished he might be allowed to see his darling children.It was granted.