King Charls HIS TRYAL AT THE High Court of Justice sitting in Westminster Hall Begun on Saturday Jan 20. Ended Jan. 27. 1648. Also His Majesties SPEECH On the SCAFFOLD Immediately before his Execution On Tuesday Ian. 30. Together with the Several SPEECHES OF Duke HAMILTON the Earl of HOLLAND and the Lord CAPEL Immediately before their EXECUTION On Friday March 9. 1649. The Second Edition much enlarged and faithfully Corrected LONDON Printed by J. M. for Petâ—â— Cole Francis Tyton and John Playford 1650. King Charls HIS TRYAL AT THE High Court of Justice sitting in Westminster Hall Begun on Saturday January 20. and ended Saturday Jan. 27. 1648. A List of the Names of the Judges and Officers of the High Court of Justice appointed by an Act of the Commons of England in Parliament assembled for the Tryal of the King THomas Lord Fairfax General Oliver Cromwel Lievt General Henry Ireton Commissary General Philip Skippon Major General Sir Hardress Waller Colonel Colonel Valentine Walton Colonel Thomas Harrison Col. Edward Whalley Col. Thomas Pride Col. Isaac Ewers Col. Richard Ingolsby Col. Richard Dean Col. John Okey Col. Robert Overton Col. John Harrison Col. John Desborough Col. William Goff Col. Robert Duckenfield Col. Rowland Wilson Col. Henry Marten Col. William Purefoy Col. Godfrey Bosvil Col. Harbottle Morley Col. John Berkstead Col. Matthew Tomlinson Col. John Lambert Col. Edward Ludlow Col. John Hutchingson Col. Robert Titchburn Col. Owen Roe Col. Robert Manwaring Col. Robert Lilburn Col. Adrian Scroop Col. Alg Sidney Col. John Moore Col. Francis Lassels Col. Alexander Rigby Col. Edm Harvey Col. John Venn Col. Anthony Stapley Col. Thomas Horton Col. Thomas Hammond Col. George Fenwick Col. George Fleetwood Col. James Temple Col. Thomas Wayt. Sir Henry Mildway Sir Thomas Honywood Thomas Lord Grey Philip Lord Lisle William Lord Munson Sir John Danvers Sir Thomas Maleverer Sir John Bowcher Sir James Harrington Sir William Brâ—reton Robert Wallop Esquire William Henningham Esquire Isaac Pennington Alderman Thomas Atkins Alderman Sir Peter Wentworth Thomas Trencherâ— Esquire John Blackstone Esquire Gilbert Millington Esq Sir William Constable Sir Arthur Haslerig Sir Michael Livessey Richard Saloway Esq Humphrey Saloway Esq Cornelius Holland Esq John Carne Esq Sir William Armine John Jones Esq Miles Corbet Esq Francis Allen Esq Thomas Lister Esq Ben Weston Esq Peregrin Pelham Esq John Gourdon Esq Francis Thorp Esq Serjeant at Law John Nutt Esq Thomas Challoner Esq John Anlaby Esq Richard Darley Esq William Say Esq Iohn Aldred Esq Iohn Fagge Esq Iames Nelthorp Esq Sir William Roberts Henry Smith Esq Edmond Wilde Esq Iames Challener Esquire Iosias Barns Esq Dennis Bond Esq Humph Edwards Esq Gregory Clement Esq Iohn Fray Esq Thomas Wogan Esq Sir Gregory Norton Iohn Bradshaw Esq Serjeant at Law Iohn Dove Esq Iohn Foulks Alderman Thomas Scot Alderman Thomas Andrews Alderman William Cawley Esq Abraham Burrel Esq Roger Gratwick Esq Iohn Downes Esq Robert Nichols Esq Serjeant at Law Vincent Potter Esq Sir Gilbert Pickering Iohn Weaver Esquire Iohn Lenthal Esquire Robert Reynolds Esquire Iohn Lisle Esquire Nicholas Love Esquire Sir Edward Baynton John Corbet Esquire Thomas Blunt Eq Thomas Boone Esq Augustine Garland Esquire Augustine Skinner Esq John Dickswel Esq Simon Mayne Esq John Brown Esq John Lowrey Esq John Bradshaw Esq Serjeant at Law Lord President of the Court. Counsellors assistant to the Court and to draw up the Charge against the King are Doctor Dorislow Mr Ask. Mr Steel Attorney General Mr Cook Solicitor General Clerks to the Court. Mr Broughton Mr Phelps Officers of the Court. Serjeant Danby Serjeant at Arms and Mace-Bearer Col. John Humphrey Sword-Bearer Mr King Cryer of the Court. The Messengers and Door-Keepers with Tip-Staves Mr Walford Mr Radley Mr Payn Mr Powel Mr Hull The manner of the Tryal of CHARLES STUART King of England in the great Hall in Westminster ON Saturday being the 20. day of January 1648. The Lord President of the High Court of Justice with neer fourscore of the Members of the said Court having sixteen Gentlemen with Partizans and a Sword and a Mace with their and other Officers of the said Court marching before them came to the place ordered to be prepared for their sitting at the West end of the great Hall at Westminster where the Lord President in a Crimsion Velvet Chair fixed in the midst of the Court placed himself having a Desk with a Crimsion Velvet Cushion before him The rest of the Members placing themselves on each side of him upon the several Seats or Benches prepared and hung with Scarlet for that purpose and the Partizans dividing themselves on each side of the Court before them The Court being thus sate and silence made the great Gate of the said Hall was set open to the end That all persons without exception desirous to see or hear might come into it upon which the Hall was presently filled and silence again ordered This done Colonel Thomlinson who had the charge of the Prisoner was commanded to bring him to the Court who within a quarter of an hours space brought him attended with about twenty Officers with Partizans marching before him there being other Gentlemen to whose care and custody he was likewise committed marching in his Rear Being thus brought up within the face of the Court The Sergeant at Arms with his Mace receives and conducts him streight to the Bar having a Crimsion Velvet Chair set before him After a stern looking upon the Court and the people in the Galleries on each side of him he places himself not at all moving his Hat or otherwise shewing the least respect to the Court but presently rises up again and turns about looking downwards upon the Guards placed on the left side and on the multitude of Spectators on the right side of the said great Hall After Silence made among the people the Act of Parliament for the Trying of CHARLS STVART KING of England was read over by the Clerk of the Court who sate on one side of a Table covered with a rich Turky Carpet and placed at the feet of the said Lord President upon which table was also laid the Sword and Mace After reading the said Act the several names of the Commissioners were called over every one who was present being 80. as aforesaid rising up and answering to his Call Having again placed himself in his Chair with his face towards the Court Silence being again ordered the Lord President stood up and said Lord President CHARLES STVART King of England The Commons of England Assembled in Parliament being deeply sensible of the Calamities that have been brought upon this Nation which is fixed upon you as the principal Author of it have resolved to make inquisition for Blood and according to that Debt and Duty they owe to Justice to God the Kingdom and themselves and according to the Fundamental Power that rests in themselves They have resolved to bring you to Tryal and Judgement and for that purpose have constituted
against the said Charls Stuart and also of replying to the Answers which the said Charls Stuart shall make to the Premises or any of them or any other Charge that shall be so Exhibited doth for the said Treasons and Crimes on the behalf of the said People of England Impeach the said CHARLS STUART as a Tyrant Traytor Murtherer and a publike and Implacable Enemy to the Common-wealth of England And pray That the said CHARLS STUART King of England may be put to answer All and Every the Premises That such Proceedings Examinations Tryals Sentence and Judgment may be thereupon had or shall be agreeable to Justice IT is observed that the time the Charge was reading the King sate down in his Chair looking sometimes on the Court sometimes up to the Galleries and having risen again and turned about to behold the Guards and Spectators sate down looking very sternly with a countenance not at all moved till these words viz. Charls Stuart to be a Tyrant and Traytor c. were read at which he laughed as he sate in the face of the Court. The Charge being read the Lord President replyed Lord President Sir you have now heard your Charge read containing such matter as appears in it you finde That in the close of it it is prayed to the Court in the behalf of the Commons of England that you answer to your Charge The Court expects your Answer The King I would know by what power I am called hither I was not long ago in the Isle of Wight how I came there is a longer story then I think is fit at this time for me to speak of but there I entred into a Treaty with both Houses of Parliament with as much publique faith as it 's possible to be had of any people in the world I treated there with a number of Honorable Lords and Gentlemen and treated honestly and uprightly I cannot say but they did very nobly with me we were upon a conclusion of the Treaty Now I would know by what Authority I mean lawful there are many unlawful Authorities in the world Theeves and Robbers by the high-ways but I would know by what Authority I was brought from thence and carryed from place to place and I know not what and when I know what lawful Authority I shall answer Remember I am your King your lawful King and what sins you bring upon your heads and the Judgment of God upon this Land think well upon it I say think well upon it before you go further from one sin to a greater therefore let me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I shall not be unwilling to answer in the mean time I shall not betray my Trust I have a Trust committed to me by God by old and lawful descent I will not betray it to answer to a new unlawful Authority therefore resolve me that and you shall hear more of me Lord President If you had been pleased to have observed what was hinted to you by the Court at your first coming hither you would have known by what Authority which Authority requires you in the name of the People of England of which you are Elected King to answer them The King No Sir I deny that Lord President If you acknowledg not the Authority of the Court they must proceed The King I do tell them so England was never an Elective Kingdom but an Hereditary Kingdom for neer these thousand years therefore let me know by what Authority I am called hither I do stand more for the Liberty of my People then any here that come to be my pretended Judges and therefore let me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I will answer it otherwise I will not answer it Lord President Sir how really you have managed your Trust is known your way of answer is to interrogate the Court which beseems not you in this condition You have been told of it twice or thrice The King Here is a Gentleman Lievt Col. Cobbet ask him if he did not bring me from the Isle of Wight by force I do not come here as submitting to the Court I wil stand as much for the priviledg of the house of Cōmons rightly understood as any man here whatsoever I see no House of Lords here that may constitute a Parliament and the King too should have been Is this the bringing of the King to his Parliament Is this the bringing an end to the Treaty in the publike Faith of the world Let me see a legal Authority warranted by the Word of God the Scriptures or warranted by the Constitutions of the Kingdom and I will answer Lord President Sir You have propounded a Question and have been answered seeing you will not answer the Court will consider how to proceed in the mean time those that brought you hither are to take charge of you back again The Court desires to know whether this be all the Answer you will give or no. The King Sir I desire that you would give me and all the world satisfaction in this let me tell you it is not a slight thing you are about I am sworn to keep the Peace by that duty I ow to God and my Country and I will do it to the last breath of my body and therefore you shall do well to satisfie first God and then the Country by what Authority you do it if you do it by a usurped Authority that will not last long There is a God in Heaven that will call you and all that give you Power to account Satisfie me in that and I will answer otherwise I betray my Trust and the Liberties of the People and therefore think of that and then I shall be willing For I do avow That it is as great a sin to withstand lawful Authority as it is to submit to a Tyrannical or any other ways unlawful Authority and therefore satisfie God and me and all the world in that and you shall receive my Answer I am not afraid of the Bill Lord President The Court expects you should give them a final Answer their purpose is to adjourn till Monday next if you do not satisfie your self though we do tell you our Authority we are satisfied with our Authority and it is upon Gods Authority and the Kingdoms and that Peace you speak of will be kept in the doing of Justice and that 's our present Work The King Let me tell you if you will shew me what lawful Authority you have I shall be satisfied But that you have said satisfies no reasonable man Lord Presid That 's in your apprehension we think it reasonable that are your Judges The King 'T is not my apprehension nor yours neither that ought to decide it Lord Presid The Court hath heard you and you are to be disposed of as they have commanded Two things were remarkable in this days Proceedings 1. It is to be observed That as the Charge was reading against the
King the silver head of his staff fell off the which he wondred at and seeing none to take it up he stoops for it himself 2. That as the King was going away he looked with a very austere countenance upon the Court with stirring of his Hat replyed Well Sir when the Lord President commanded the Guard to take him away and at his going down he said I do not fear that pointing with his Staff at the Sword The people in the Hall as he went down the stairs cryed out some God save the King and some for Justice O Yes being called the Court adjourned till Monday next January 22. at 9. in the morning to the painted Chamber and from thence to the same place again in Westminster Hall At the high Court of Justice sitting in Westminster Hall Munday January 22. 1648. O Yes made Silence commanded The Court called and answered to their names Silence commanded upon pain of imprisonment and the Captain of the Guard to apprehend all such as make disturbance Upon the Kings coming in a shout was made Command given by the Court to the Captain of the Guard to fetch and take into his custody those who make any disturbance Mr Solicitor May it please your Lordship my Lord President I did at the last Court in the behalf of the Commons of England exhibit and give into this Court a Charge of high Treason and other high Crimes against the Prisoner at the Bar whereof I do accuse him in the name of the People of England and the Charge was read unto him and his Answer required My Lord He was not then pleased to give an Answer but instead of answering did there dispute the Authority of this high Court My humble Motion to this high Court in behalf of the Kingdom of England is That the Prisoner may be directed to make a positive Answer either by way of Confession or Negation which if he shall refuse to do That the matter of Charge may be taken pro confesso and the Court may proceed according to justice Lord President Sir You may remember at the last Court you were told the occasion of your being brought hither and you heard a Charge against you containing a Charge of high Treason and other high Crimes against this Realm of England you heard likewise that it was prayed in the behalf of the People that you should give an Answer to that Charge that thereupon such proceedings might be had as should be agreeable to justice you were then pleased to make some scruples concerning the Authority of this Court and knew not by what Authority you were brought hither you did divers times propound your Questions and were as often answered That it was by authority of the Commons of England assembled in Parliament that did think fit to call you to account for those high and capital Misdemeanours wherewith you were then charged Since that the Court hath taken into Consideration what you then said they are fully satisfied with their own authority and they hold it fit you should stand satisfied with it too and they do require it that you do give a positive and particular Answer to this Charge that is exhibited against you they do expect you should either confess or deny it if you deny it is offered in the behalf of the Kingdom to be made good against you their authority they do avow to the whole world that the whole Kingdom are to rest satisfied in and you are to rest satisfied with it and therefore you are to lose no more time but to give a positive Answer thereunto The KING When I was here last 't is very true I made that Question and truly if it were only my own particular case I would have satisfied my self with the Protestation I made the last time I was here against the legality of this Court and that a King cannot be tryed by any Superiour Jurisdiction on Earth but it is not my case alone it is the Freedom and the Liberty of the People of England and do you pretend what you will I stand more for their Liberties For if Power without Law may make Laws may alter the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom I do not know what Subject he is in England that can be sure of his life or any thing that he calls his own therefore when that I came here I did expect particular Reasons to know by what Law what Authority you did proceed against me here and therefore I am a little to seek what to say to you in this particular because the Affirmative is to be proved the Negative often is very hard to do but since I cannot perswade you to do it I shall tell you my Reasons as short as I can My Reasons why in Conscience and the duty I owe to God first and my People next for the preservation of their Lives Liberties and Estates I conceive I cannot answer this till I be satisfied of the legality of it All proceedings against any man whatsoever Lord President Sir I must interrupt you which I would not do but that what you do is not agreeable to the proceedings of any Court of Justice you are about to enter into Argument and dispute concerning the Authority of this Court before whom you appear as a Prisoner and are charged as an high Delinquent if you take upon you to dispute the Authority of the Court we may not do it nor will any Court give way unto it you are to submit unto it you are to give in a punctual and direct Answer whether you will answer your Charge or no and what your Answer is The KING Sir by your favour I do not know the forms of Law I do know Law and Reason though I am no Lawyer profess'd but I know as much Law as any Gentleman in England and therefore under favour I do plead for the Liberties of the People of England more then you do and therefore if I should impose a belief upon any man without Reasons given for it it were unreasonable but I must tell you That that Reason that I have as thus informed I cannot yield unto it Lord President Sir I must interrupt you you may not be permitted you speak of Law and Reason it is fit there should be Law and Reason and there is both against you Sir the Vote of the Commons of England assembled in Parliament it is the Reason of the Kingdom and they are these that have given to that Law according to which you should have ruled and raigned Sir you are not to dispute our Authority you are told it again by the Court. Sir it will be taken notice of that you stand in contempt of the Court and your contempt will be recorded accordingly The KING I do not know how a King can be a Delinquent but by any Law that ever I heard of all men Delinquents or what you will let me tell you they may put in Demurrers against any proceeding as legal and
I do demand that and demand to be heard with my Reasons if you deny that you deny Reason Lord President Sir you have offered something to the Court I shall speak something unto you the sence of the Court. Sir neither you nor any man are permitted to dispute that point you are concluded you may not demur the Jurisdiction of the Court if you do I must let you know that they over-rule your Demurrer they sit here by the Authority of the Commons of England and all your Predecessors and you are responsible to them King I deny that shew me one president Lord President Sir you ought not to interrupt while the Court is speaking to you this point is not to be debated by you neither will the Court permit you to do it if you offer it by way of Demurrer to the Jurisdiction of the Court they have considered of their Jurisdiction they do affirm their own Jurisdiction The King I say Sir by your favour that the Commons of England was never a Court of Judicature I would know how they came to be so Lord President Sir You are not to be permitted to go on in that speech and these discourses Then the Clerk of the Court read as followeth CHARLS STUART King of England You have been accused on the behalf of the People of England of high Treason and other high Crimes the Court have determined that you ought to answer the same The King I will answer the same so soon as I know by what Authority you do this Lord President If this be all that you will say then Gentlemen you that brought the Prisoner hither take charge of him back again The King I do require that I may give in my Reasons why I do not answer and give me time for that Lord President Sir 'T is not for Prisoners to require The King Prisoners Sir I am not an ordinary Prisoner Lord President The Court hath considered of their Jurisdiction and they have already affirmed their Jurisdiction if you will not answer we shall give order to record your default The King You never heard my Reasons yet Lord President Sir Your Reasons are not to be heard against the highest Jurisdiction The King Shew me that Jurisdiction where Reason is not to be heard Lord President Sir We shew it you here the Commons of England and the next time you are brought you will know more of the pleasure of the Court and it may be their final determination The King Shew me where ever the House of Commons was a Court of Judicature of that kind Lord President Serjeant Take away the Prisoner The King Well Sir Remember that the King is not suffered to give in his Reasons for the Liberty and Feeedom of all his Subjects Lord President Sir You are not to have liberty to use this language how great a friend you have been to the Laws and Liberties of the People let all England and the world judg The King Sir under favour it was the Liberty Freedom and Laws of the Subject that ever I took defended my self with Arms I never took up Arms against the People but for the Laws Lord President The Command of the Court must be obeyed no answer will be given to the Charge The King Well Sir Then the Lord President ordered the default to be recorded and the contempt of the Court and that no answer would be given to the Charge And so was guarded forth to Sir Robert Cottons house Then the Court adjourned to the Painted Chamber on Tuesday at twelve a clock and from thence they intend to adjourn to Westminster Hall at which time all persons concerned are to give their attendance At the high Court of Justice sitting in Westminster Hall Tuesday Ianuary 23. 1648. O Yes made Silence commanded The Court called Seventy three persons present The King comes in with his Guard looks with an austere countenance upon the Court and sits down The second O Yes made and silence commanded Mr Cook Solicitor General May it please your Lordship my Lord President This is now the third time that by the great grace and favour of this high Court the prisoner hath been brought to the Bar before any issue joyned in the cause My Lord I did at the first Court exhibite a Charge against him containing the highest Treason this ever was wrought upon the Theatre of England That a King of England trusted to keep the Law That had taken an Oath so to do That had Tribute paid him for that end should be guilty of a wicked design subvert and destroy our Laws and introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government in the defence of the Parliament and their Authority set up his Standard for War against his Parliament and People and I did humbly pray in the behalf of the People of England that he might speedily be required to make an Answer to the Charge But my Lord instead of making any answer he did then dispute the Authority of this High Court Your Lordship was pleased to give him a further day to consider and to put in his Answer which day being yesterday I did humbly move that he might be required to give a direct and positive Answer either by denying or confession of it but my Lord he was then pleased for to demur to the Jurisdiction of the Court which the Court did then over-rule and command him to give a direct and positive Answer My Lord Besides this great delay of Justice I shall now humbly move your Lordship for speedy Judgment against him My Lord I might press your Lordship upon the whole That according to the known Rules of the Law of the Land That if a Prisoner shall stand as contumacious in contempt and shall not put in an issuable Plea guilty or not guilty of the Charge given against him whereby he may come to a fair Tryal That as by an implicite Confession it may be taken pro confesso as it hath been done to those who have deserved more favor then the Prisoner at the Bar has done But besides my Lord I shall humbly press your Lordship upon the whole Fact The House of Commons the supream Authority and Jurisdiction of the Kingdom they have Declared That it is notorious That the matter of the Charge is true as it is in truth my Lord as clear as chrystal and as the Sun that shines at noon day which if your Lordship and the Court be not satisfied in it have notwithstanding on the People of Englands behalf several witnesses to produce And therefore I do humbly pray and yet I must confess it is not so much I as the innocent blood that hath been shed the Cry whereof is very great for Justice and Judgment and therefore I do humbly pray That speedy JUDGMENT be pronounced against the Prisoner at the Bar. Lord President Sir You have heard what is moved by the Councel on the behalf of the Kingdom against you Sir you may well remember and if you
do not the Court cannot forget what delatory dealings the Court hath found at your hands you were pleased to propound some Questions you have had your Resolution upon them You were told over and over again That the Court did affirm their own Jurisdiction That it was not for you nor any other man to dispute the Jurisdiction of the Supream and highest Authority of England from which there is no Appeal and touching which there must be no dispute yet you did persist in such carriage as you gave no manner of obedience nor did you acknowledge any Authority in them nor the high Court that constituted this Court of Justice Sir I must let you know from the Court That they are very sensible of these delays of yours and that they ought not being thus Authorized by the supream Court of England to be thus trifled withal and that they might in Justice if they pleased and according to the Rules of Justice take advantage of these delays and proceed to pronounce judgment against you yet nevertheless they are pleased to give direction and on their behalfs I do require you That you make a positive Answer unto this Charge that is against you Sir in plain terms for Justice knows no respect of persons you are to give your positive and finall Answer in plain English whether you be guilty or not guilty of these Treasons laid to your Charge The KING after a little pause said When I was here yesterday I did desire to speak for the Liberties of the People of England I was interrupted I desire to know yet whether I may speak freely or not Lord President Sir You have had the Resolution of the Court upon the like Question the last day and you were told That having such a Charge of so high a Nature against you and your Work was that you ought to acknowledge the JURISDICTION of the COURT and to Answer to your CHARGE Sir if you Answer to your Charge which the Court gives you leave now to do though they might have taken the advantage of your contempt yet if you be able to Answer to your Charge when you have once Answered you shall be heard at large make the best Defence you can But Sir I must let you know from the Court as their commands that you are not to be permitted to issue out into any other discourses till such time as you have given a positive Answer concerning the Matter that is CHARG'D upon you The King For the Charge I value it not a Rush it is the Liberty of the People of England that I stand for for me to acknowledge a new Court that I never heard of before I that am your King that should be an example to all the people of England for to uphold Justice to maintain the old Laws indeed I do not know how to do it you spoke very well the first day that I came here on Saturday of the Obligations that I had laid upon me by God to the maintenance of the Liberties of my People The same Obligation you spake of I do acknowledge to God that I owe to him and to my People to defend as much as in me lies the ancient Laws of the Kingdom therefore untill that I may know that this is not against the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by your favour I can put in no particular Charge If you will give me time I will shew you my reasons why I cannot do it and this Here being interrupted he said By your favour you ought not to interrupt me how I came here I know not there 's no Law for it to make your King your Prisoner I was in a Treaty upon the publique Faith of the Kingdom that was the known two Houses of Parliament that was the Representative of the Kingdom and when that I had almost made an end of the Treaty then I was hurried away and brought hither and therefore Here the Lord President said Sir you must know the pleasure of the Court. The King By your favour Sir Lord President Nay Sir by your favour you may not be permitted to fall into those discourses you appear as a Delinquent you have not acknowledged the authority of the Court the Court craves it not of you but once more they command you to give your positive Answer Clark Do your Duty The King Duty Sir The Clark reads CHARLES STVART KING of England You are accused in the behalf of the Commons of England of divers high crimes and Treasons which Charge hath been read unto You the Court now requires you to give Your positive and final Answer by way of confession or denial of the Charge The King Sir I say again to you so that I might give satisfaction to the People of England of the clearness of my proceeding not by way of Answer not in this way but to satisfie them that I have done nothing against that Trust that hath been committed to me I would do it but to acknowledge a new Court against their Priviledges to alter the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom Sir you must excuse me Lord President Sir this is the the third time that you have publiquely disown'd this Court and put an affront upon it how far you have preserv'd Priviledges of the People your actions have spoke it but truly Sir mens intentions ought to be known by their actions you have written your meaning in bloudy Characters throughout the whole Kingdom but Sir you understand the pleasure of the Court Clerk Record the default and Gentlemen you that took charge of the Prisoner take him back again The King I will only say this one word more to you if it were only my own particular I would not say any more nor interrupt you Lord President Sir you have heard the pleasure of the Court and you are notwithstanding you will not understand it to find that you are before a COURT of JUSTICE Then the King went forth with his Guard and Proclamation was made That all persons which had then appear'd and had further to do at the Court might depart into the Painted-Chamber to which place the Court did forthwith adjourn and intended to meet in Westminster Hall by ten of the clock the next morning Cryer God bless the Kingdom of England Wednesday January 4. 1648. THis day it was expected the High Court of Justice would have met in Westminster Hall about ten of the clock but at the time appointed one of the Ushers by direction of the Court then sitting in the Painted Chamber gave notice to the people there assembled That in regard the Court was then upon the examination of Witnesses in relation to present affairs in the Painted-Chamber they could not sit there but all persons appointed to be there were to appear upon further Summons The Proceedings of the High Court of Justice sitting in Westminster Hall on Saturday the 27. of January 1648. O Yes made Silence commanded The Court called Serjeant Bradshaw Lord
hear you they have patiently waâ—ted your pleasure for three Courts together to hear what you would say to the Peoples Charge against you to which you have not vouchsafed to give any Answer at all Sir This tends to a further delay Truly Sir such delaies as these neither may the Kingdom nor Justice well bear You have had three several daies to have offered in this kind what you would have pleased This Court is founded upon that Authority of the Commons of England in whom rests the Supreme Jurisdiction That which you now tender is to have another Jurisdiction and a Co-ordinate Jurisdiction I know very well you express your self Sir That notwithstanding that you would offer to the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber yet nevertheless you would proceed on here I did hear you say so but Sir That you would offer there what ever it is it must needs be in delay of the Justice here so as if this Court be resolved and prepared for the Sentence this that you offer they are not bound in Justice to grant but Sir according to that you seem to desire and because you shall know the further pleasure of the Court upon that which you have moved the Court will withdraw for a time King Shall I withdraw Lord President Sir Yow shall know the pleasure of the Court presently the Court withdraws for half an hour into the Court of Wards Sergeant at Arms the Court gives command that the Prisoner be withdrawn and they give order for his return again The Court withdraws for half an hour and returns Lord President Sergeant at Arms send for your prisoner Sir you were pleased to make a motion here to the Court to offer a desire of yours touching the propounding of somewhat to the Lords in the Painted Chamber for the Peace of the Kingdom Sir you did in effect receive an Answer before the Court adjourned Truly Sir their withdrawing and adjournment was pro forma tantum for it did not seem to them that there was any difficulty in the thing they have considered of what you have moved and have considered of their own Authority which is founded as hath been often said upon the Supream Authority of the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament The Court acts accordingly to their Commission Sir the return I have to you from the Court is this That they have been too much delayed by you already and this that you now offer hath occasioned some little further delay and they are JUDGES appointed by the highest JUDGES and Judges are no more to delay then they are to deny Justice they are good words in the old Charter of England Nulli negabimus nulli vendemus nulli deferremus Justitiam There must be no delay but the truth is Sir and so every man here observes it That you have much delayed them in your contempt and default for which they might long since have proceeded to judgment against you and notwithstanding what you have offered they are resolved to proceed to punishment and to Judgment and that is their unanimous resolution King Sir I know it is in vain for me to dispute I am no Sceptick for to deny the Power that you have I know that you have Power enough Sir I confess I think it would have been for the Kingdoms Peace if you would have taken the pains for to have shewn the Lawfulness of your Power for this delay that I have desired I confess it is a delay but it is a delay very important for the Peace of the Kingdom for it is not my Person that I look on alone it is the Kingdoms well-fare and the Kingdoms Peace it is an old Sentence That we should think on long before we have resolved of great matters suddenly Therefore Sir I do say again That I do put at your doors all the inconveniency of an hasty Sentence I confess I have been here now I think this week this day eight days was the day I came here first but a little delay of a day or two further may give Peace whereas an hasty Judgement may bring on that trouble and perpetual inconveniency to the Kingdom That the child that is unborn may repent it and therefore again out of the Duty I ow to God and to my Country I do desire that I may be heard by the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber or any other Chamber that you will appoint me Lord Pres Sir you have bin already answer'd to what you even now moved being the same you moved before since the Resolution and the Judgement of the Court in it and the Court now requires to know whether you have any more to say for your self then you have said before they proceed to Sentence King I say this Sir That if you will hear me if you will give me but this delay I doubt not but I shall give some satisfaction to you all here and to my People after that and therefore I do require you as you will answer it at the dreadfull day of Judgment that you will consider it once again Lord President Sir I have received direction from the Court. King Well Sir Lord President If this must be re-enforc'd or any thing of this nature your answer must be the same and they will proceed to Sentence if you have nothing more to say King Sir I have nothing more to say but I shall desire that this may be entered what I have said Lord President The Court then Sir hath something else to say unto you which although I know it will be very unacceptable yet notwithstanding they are willing and are resolv'd to discharge their Duty Sir you spake very well of a precious thing that you call Peace and it had been much to be wished that God had put it into your heart that you had as effectually and really endeavoured and studied the Peace of the Kingdom as now in words you seem to pretend but as you were told the other day Actions must expound Intentions yet Actions have been clean contrary and truly Sir it doth appear plainly enough to them That you have gone upon very erronious principles the Kingdom hath felt it to their smart and it will be no ease to you to think of it for Sir you have held your self and let fall such Language as if you had been no ways Subject to the Law or that the Law had not been your Superiour Sir The Court is very well sensible of it and I hope so are all the understanding People of England That the Law is your Superiour That you ought to have ruled according to the Law you ought to have done so Sir I know very well your pretence hath been that you have done so but Sir the difference hath been who shall be the Expositors of this Law Sir whether you and your Party out of Courts of Justice shall take upon them to expound Law or the Courts of Justice who are the Expounders nay the Soveraign
be responsible to Justice Sir we know very well That it is a question on your side very much prest by what President we shall proceed Truly Sir for Presidents I shall not upon these occasions institute any long discourse but it is no new thing to cite Presidents almost of all Nations where the People when power hath been in their hands have been made bold to call their Kings to account and where the change of Governement hath been upon occasion of the Tyranny and Mis-Government of those that have been placed over them I will not spend time to mention France or Spain or the Empire or other Countries volumes may be written of it But truly Sir that of the Kingdom of Aragon I shall think some of us have thought upon it when they have the Justice of Aragon that is a man tanquam in medio positus betwixt the King of Spain and the people of the Country that if wrong be done by the King he that is the King of Aragon the Justice hath power to reform the wrong and he is acknowledged to be the Kings Superiour and is the grand preserver of their priviledges and hath prosecuted Kings upon their miscarriages Sir What the Tribunes of Rome were heretofore and what the Ephori were to the Lacedemonian State we know that is the Parliament of England to the English State and though Rome seemed to lose it's Liberty when once the Emperors were yet you shall find some famous Acts of Justice even done by the Senate of Rome that great Tyrant of his time Nero condemned and judged by the Senate But truly Sir to you I should not mention these Forreign examples and stories If you look but over Tweed we find enough in your native Kingdom of Scotland If we look to your first King Fergusius that your stories make mention of he was an elective King he dyed and left two Sons both in their minority the Kingdom made choyce of their Unkle his Brother to govern in the minority afterwards the elder brother giving small hopes to the people that he would rule or govern well seeking to supplant that good Unkle of his that governed then justly they set the elder aside and took to the younger Sir if I should come to what your stories make mention of you know very well you are the 109. King of Scotland for to mention so many Kings as that Kingdom according to their power and priviledg have made bold to deal withal some to banish and some to imprison and some to put to death it would be too long and as one of your own Authors says it would be too long to recite the manifold examples that your own stories make mention of Reges say they we do create we created Kings at first Leges c. We imposed Laws upon them and as they are chosen by the suffrages of the people at the first so upon just occasion by the same suffrages they may be taken down again and we will be bold to say that no Kingdom hath yeelded more plentiful experience then that your Native Kingdom of Scotland hath done concerning the deposition and the punishment of their offending and transgressing Kings c. It is not far to go for an example neer you our Grandmother set aside and your Father â—n Infant crowned and the State did it here â—n England here hath not been a want of â—ome examples they have made bold the Parâ—iament and the People of England to call â—heir Kings to account there are frequent â—xamples of it in the Saxons time the time before the Conquest since the Conquest here want not some presidents neither King Edward the second King Richard the second were dealt with so by the Parliament as they were deposed and deprived and truly Sir who ever shall look into their stories they â—hall not finde the Articles that are charged upon them to come neer to that height and capitalness of Crimes that are layd to your charge nothing neer Sir You were pleased to say the other day wherein they discent and I did not contradict it but take altogether Sir if you were as the Charge speaks and no oâ—herwise admitted King of ENGLAND but for that you were pleased then to alledg now that almost for a thousand years these things have been stories will tell you if you go no higher then the time of the Conquest if you do come down since the Conquest you are the Twenty fourth King from William called the Conqueror you shall find one half of them to come meerly from the State and not meerly upon the point of Discent it were easie to be instanced to you the time must not be lost that way And truly Sir what a grave and learned Judge in his time and well known to you and is since printed for posterity That although there was such a thing as a discent many times yet the Kings of Enland ever held the greatest assurance of their Titles when it was declared by Parliament And Sir your Oath the manner of your Coronation doth shew plainly That the Kings of England although it 's true by the Law the next Person in bloud is designed yet if there were just cause to refuse him the people of England might do it For there is a Contract and Bargain made between the King and his People and your Oath is taken and certainly Sir the Bond is reciprocal for as you are the liege Lord so they liege subjects and we know very well that hath been so much spoken of Ligantia est duplex This we know now the one tye the one Bond is the bond of perfection that is due from the Soveraign the other is the Bond of Subjection that is due from the Subject Sir if this Bond be once broken farewell Soveraignty Subjectio trahit c. These things may not be denyed Sir I speak it the rather and I pray God it may work upon your heart that you may be sensible of your miscarriages For whether you have been as by your Office you ought to be a Protector of England or the destroyer of England let all England judge or all the world that hath look'd upon it Sir though you have it by Inheritance in the way that is spoken of yet it must not be denyed that your Office was an Office of Trust and indeed an Office of the highest Trust lodged in any single person For as you were the grand Administrator of Justice and others were as your Deligates to see it done throughout your Realms If your great Office were to do Justice and preserve your People from wrong and instead of doing that you will be the great wrong doer your self If instead of being a Conservator of the Peace you will be the Grand disturbe of the Peace surely this is contrary to your Office contrary to your Trust Now Sir if it be an Office of Inheritance as you speak of your Title by Discent let all men know that great Offices are
Seizable and Forfeitable as if you had it but for a year and for your Life Therefore Sir it will concern you to take into your serious consideration your great miscarriages in this kind Truly Sir I shall not particularize the many miscarriages of your Reign whatsoever they are famously known it had been happy for the Kingdom and happy for you too if it had not been so much known and so much felt as the story of your miscarriages must needs be and hath been already Sir That that we are now upon by the command of the highest Court hath been and is to try and judg you for these great offences of yours Sir the Charge hath called you Tyrant a Traytor a Murtherer and a publique Enemy to the Commonwealth of England Sir It had been well if that any of all these terms might rightly and justly have been spared if any one of them at all King Ha Lord Pres Truly Sir We have been told Rex est dum bene regit Tyrannus qui populum oppâ—â—vit and if so be that be the definition of a Tyrant then see how you come short of it in your actions whether the highest Tyrant by that way of Arbitrary Government and that you have sought for to introduce and that you have sought to put you were putting upon the people whether that was not as high an act of Tyranny as any of your predecessors were guilty of nay many degrees beyond it Sir the term Traytor cannot be spared we shall easily agree it must denote and suppose a breach of Trust and it must suppose it to be done by a Superior and therefore Sir as the People of England might have incurred that respecting you if they had been truly guilty of it as to the definition of Law so on the other side when you did break your Trust to the Kingdom you did break your Trust to your Superior For the Kingdom is that for which you were trusted And therefore Sir for this breach of Trust when you are called to account you are called to account by your Superiors Minimus ad majorem in judicium voâ—it And Sir the People of England cannot be so far wanting to themselves which God having dealt so miraculously and gloriously for they having power in their hands and their great Enemy they must proceed to do Justice to themselves and to you For Sir the Court could heartily desire That you would lay your hand upon your heart and consider what you have done amiss That you would endeavor to make your Peace with God Truly Sir These are your high Crimes Tyranny and Treason There is a third thing too if those had not been and that is Murther which is layd to your charge All the bloody Murthers that have been committed since this time that the division was betwixt you and your People must be layd to your charge that have been acted or committed in these late Wars Sir it is an heinous and crying sin and truly Sir if any man will ask us what punishment is due to a Murtherer Let Gods Law let mans Law speak Sir I will presume that you are so well read in Scripture as to know what God himself hath said concerning the shedding of mans blood Gen. 9. Numb 35. will tell you what the punishment is and which this Court in behalf of the Kingdom are sensible of of that innocent blood that has been shed wherby indeed the Land stands stil defiled with that blood as the text hath it It can no way be cleansed but with the shedding of the blood of him that shed this blood Sir we know no Dispensation from this blood in that Commandment Thou shalt do no Murther we do not know but that it extends to Kings as well as to the meanest Peasants the meanest of the People the Command is universal Sir Gods Law forbids it Mans Law forbids nor do we know that there is any manner of exception not even in mans Laws for the punishment of Murther in you 'T is true That in the case of Kings every private hand was not to put forth it self to this work for their Reformation and punishment But Sir the People represented having power in their hands had there been but one wilful act of Murther by you committed had power to have convented you and to have punished you for it But then Sir the weight that lies upon you in all those respects that have been spoken by reason of your Tyranny Treason breach of Trust and the Murthers that have been committed surely Sir it must drive you into a sad consideration concerning your eternal condition as I said at first I know it cannot be pleasing to you to hear any such things as these are mentioned unto you from this Court for so we do call our selves and justifie our selves to be a Court and a High Court of Justice authorized by the highest and solemnest Court of the Kingdom as we have often said and although you do yet endeavor what you may to dis-court us yet we do take knowledg of our selves to be such a Court as can administer Justice to you and we are bound Sir in duty to do it Sir all I shall say before the reading of your Sentence it is but this The Court does heartily desire that you will seriously think of those evils that you stand guilty of Sir you said well to us the other day you wisht us to have God before our eyes Truly Sir I hope all of us have so that God that we know is a King of Kings and Lord of Lords that God with whom there is no respect of persons that God that is the avenger of innocent blood we have that God before us that God that does bestow a curse upon them that with-hold their hands from sheding of blood which is in the case of guilty Malefactors and that do deserve death That God we have before our eyes and were it not that the conscience of our duty hath called us unto this place and this imployment Sir you should have had no appearance of a Court here but Sir we must prefer the discharge of our duty unto God and unto the Kingdom before any other respect whatsoever and although at this time many of us if not all of us are severely threatened by some of your party what they intend to do Sir we do here declare That we shall not decline or forbear the doing of our duty in the administration of Justice even to you according to the merit of your offence although God should permit those men to effect all that bloody design in hand against us Sir we will say and we will declare it as those Children in the fiery furnace that would not worship the golden Image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up That their God was able to deliver them from that danger that they were neer unto but yet if he would not do it yet notwithstanding that they would not fall down and worship the
this High Court of Justice before which you are brought This said M. Cook Attorney for the Common-wealth standing within a Bar on the right hand of the Prisoner offered to speak but the King having a staff in his Hand held it up and laid it upon the said M. Cooks shoulder two or three times bidding him hold Nevertheless the Lord President ordering him to go on he said M. Cook My Lord I am commanded to charge CHARLES STVART King of England in the name of the Commons of England with Treason and high Misdemeanors I desire the said Charge may be read The said Charge being delivered to the Clerk of the Court the Lord President ordered it should be read but the King bid him hold Nevertheless being commanded by the Lord President to read it the Clerk begun THE Charge of the Commons of ENGLAND against Charles Stuart KING of England Of High Treason and other High Crimes exhibited to the High Court of Justice THat the said CHARLES STVART being admitted King of England and therein trusted with a limited Power to govern by and according to the Laws of the Land and not otherwise And by his Trust Oath and Office being obliged to use the Power committed to him For the good and benefit of the People and for the preservation of their Rights and Liberties Yet nevertheless out of a wicked Design to erect and uphold in himself and unlimited and Tyrannical Power to rule according to his Will and to overthrow the Rights and Liberties of the People Yea to take away and make void the Foundations thereof and of all redress and remedy of misgovernement which by the fundamental Constitutions of this Kingdom were reserved on the Peoples behalf in the Right and Power of frequent and successive Parliaments or National meetings in Councel He the said CHARLES STVART for accomplishment of such his Designs and for the protecting of himself and his adherents in His and Their wicked Practises to the same Ends hath Trayterously and maliciously levyed War against the present Parliament and the People therein Represented Particularly upon or about the thirtieth day of June in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred fourty and two At Beverly in the County of York And upon or about the thirtieth day of July in the year aforesaid in the County of the City of York And upon or about the twenty fourth day of August in the same year at the County of the Town of Nottingham when and where He set up His Standard of War And also on or about the twenty third day of October in the same year at Edg-Hill Keinton-field in the County of Warwick And upon or about the thirtieth day of November in the same year at Brainchford in the County of Middlesex And upon or about the thirtieth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred fourty and three at Cavesham-bridge neer Roding in the County of Berks And upon or about the thirtieth day of October in the year last mentioned at or neer the City of Glocester And upon or about the thirtieth day of November in the year last mentioned at Newbery in the County of Berks And upon or about the one and thirtieth day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred fourty and four at Cropredy-Bridge in the County of Oxon And upon or about the thirtieth day of September in the year last mentioned at Bodmin and other places neer adjacent in the County of Cornwal And upon or about the thirtieth day of November in the year last mentioned at Newbery aforesaid And upon or about the eighth day of June in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred fourty and five at the Town of Leicester And also upon the fourteenth day of the same month on the same year at Naseby-field in the County of Northampton At which several times and places or most of them and at many other places in this Land at several other times within the years aforementioned And in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred fourty and six He the said CHARLES STVART hath caused and procured many thousands of the Free-People of the Nation to be slain and by Divisions Parties and Insurrections within this Land by Invasions from Forraign parts endevored and procured by Him and by many other evil ways and means He the said CHARLS STVART hath not only maintained and carried on the said War both by Land and Sea during the years before mentioned but also hath renewed or caused to be renewed the said War against the Parliament and good People of this Nation in this present year One thousand six hundred fourty and eight in the Counties of Kent Essex Surry Sussex Middlesex and many other Counties and places in England and Wales and also by Sea And particularly He the said CHARLES STVART hath for that purpose given Commission to his Son the Prince and others whereby besides multitudes of other Persons many such as were by the Parliament intrusted and imployed for the safety of the Nation being by Him or His Agents Corrupted to the betraying of Their Trust and revolting from the Parliament have had entertainment and Commission for the continuing and renewing of War and Hostility against the said Parliament and People as aforesaid By which cruel and unnatural Wars by Him the said CHARLES STVART levyed continued and renewed as aforesaid much Innocent Blood of the Free-people of this Nation hath been spilt many Families have been undone the Publike Treasury wasted and exhausted Trade obstructed and miserably decayed vast expence and damage to the Nation incurred and many parts of the Land spoyled some of them even to Desolation And for further prosecution of His said evil Designs He the said CHARLES STVART doth still continue his Commissions to the said Prince and other Rebels and Revolters both English and Forraigners and to the Earl of Ormond and to the Irish Rebels and Revolters associated with him from whom further Invasions upon this Land are threatened upon the procurement and on the behalf of the said Charls Stuart All which wicked Designs Wars and evil Practises of Him the said CHARLES STVARRT have been and are carryed on for the advancing and upholding of the Personal Interest of Will and Power and pretended Prerogative to Himself and his Family against the publique Interest Common Right Liberty Justice and Peace Of the People of this Nation by and for whom he was entrusted as aforesaid By all which it appeareth that He the said CHARLS STUART hath been and is the Occasioner Author and Contriver of the said Vnnatural Cruel and bloody Wars and therein guilty of all the Treasons Murthers Rapines Burnings Spoils Desolations Damage and Mischief to this Nation acted or committed in the said Wars or occasioned thereby And the said John Cook by Protestation saving on the behalf of the People of England the liberty of Exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Charge
President in a Scarlet robe with sixty eight other Members of the Court. As the King comes in a cry made in the Hall for Execution Iustice Execution King I shall desire a word to be heard a little and I hope I shall give no occasion of interruption Lord President You may answer in your time hear the Court first King If it please you Sir I desire to be heard and I shall not give any occasion of interruption and it is only in a word a sudden Judgment Lord President Sir you shall be heard in due time but you are to hear the Court first King Sir I desire it will be in order to what I believe the Court will say and therefore Sir an hasty Judgment is not so soon recall'd Lord President Sir You shall be heard before the Judgment be given and in the mean time you may forbear King Well Sir shall I be heard before the Judgment be given Lord President Gentlemen it is well known to all or most of you here present That the Prisoner at the Bar hath been severall times convented and brought before the Court to make Answer to a Charge of Treason and other high crimes exhibited against him in the name of the People of England to which Charge being required to Answer he hath been so far from obeying the commands of the Court by submitting to their Justice as he began to take upon him to offer reasoning and debate unto the Authority of the Court and of the highest Court that constituted them to Try and judge him but being over-ruled in that and required to make his Answer he was still pleased to continue contumacious and to refuse to submit or Answer Hereupon the Court that they may not be wanting to themselves to the trust reposed in them nor that any mans wilfulness prevent Justice they have thought fit to take the matter into their consideration They have considered of the contumacy and of that confession which in Law doth arise upon that contumacy They have likewise considered of the notoriety of the Fact charg'd upon this Prisoner and upon the whole matter they are resolved and have agreed upon a Sentence to be now pronounced against this Prisoner but in respect he doth desire to be heard before the Sentence be read and pronounc'd the Court hath resolved that they will hear him yet Sir thus much I must tell you before-hand which you have been minded of at other Courts That if that you have to say be to offer any debate concerning Jurisdiction you are not to be heard in it you have offered it formerly and you have indeed struck at the root that is the power and Supreme Authority of the Commons of England which this Court will not admit a debate of and which indeed is an irrational thing in them to do being a Court that acts upon Authority derived from them that they should presume to judge upon their Superior from whom there 's no Appeal But Sir if you have any thing to say in defence of your self concerning the matter charged the Court hath given me in command to let you know they will hear you The King Since that I see that you will â—ot hear any thing of debate concerning that which I confess I thought most material for the peace of the Kingdom and for the Liberty of the Subject I shall wave it I shall speak nothing to it but only I must tell you That this many a day all things have been taken away from me but that that I call more dearer to me then my life which is My Conscience and my Honor and if I had respect to my Life more then the Peace of the Kingdom the Liberty of the Subject certainly I should have made a particular defence for my self for by that at leastwise I might have delayed an ugly Sentence which I believe will pass upon me Therefore certainly Sir as a man that hath some understanding some knowledge of the world if that my true zeal to my Country had not over-born the care that I have of my own preservation I should have gone another way to work then that I have done Now Sir I conceive That an hasty Sentence once past may sooner be repented then recalled and truly the self-same desire that I have for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject more then my own particular does make me now at last desire That having something for to say that concerns both I desire before Sentence be given that I may be heard in the Painted-Chamber before the Lords and Commons this delay cannot be prejudicial to you whatsoever I say if that I say no reason those that hear me must be Judges I cannot be Judge of that that I have if it be reason and really for the welfare of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject I am sure on 't very well t is worth the hearing Therefore I do conjure you as you love that that you pretend I hope it 's real the Liberty of the Subject the Peace of the Kingdom that you will grant me the hearing before any Sentence be past I only desire this that you will take this into your consideration it may be you have not heard of it before hand if you will I 'le retire and you may think of it but if I cannot get this Liberty I do here protest that so fair shews of Liberty and Peace are pure shews and not otherwise then that you will not hear your KING Lord President Sir you have now spoken King Yes Sir Lord President And this that you have said is a further declining of the Iurisdiction of this Court which was the thing wherein you were limited before King Pray excuse me Sir for my interruption because you mistake me It is not a declining of it you do judge me before you hear me speak I say it will not I do not decline it though I cannot acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court Yet Sir in this give me leave to say I would do it though I did not acknowledge it in this I do protest it is not the declining of it since I say if that I do say any thing but that that is for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject then the shame is mine Now I desire that you will take this into your consideration if you will I 'le withdraw Lord President Sir This is not altogether new that you have moved unto us not altogether new to us though the first time in Person you have offered it to the Court Sir you say you do not Decline the Jurisdiction of the Court. King Not in this that I have said Lord President I understand you well Sir but nevertheless that which you have offered seems to be contrary to that saying of yours for the Court are ready to give a Sentence it is not as you say That they will not hear your King for they have been ready to
and the High Court of Justice the PARLIAMENT of England that are not only the highest Expounders but the sole makers of the Law Sir for you to set your self with your single judgment and those that adhere unto you to set your self against the highest Court of Justice that is not Law Sir as the Law is your Superior so truly Sir there is something that is Superior to the Law and that is indeed the Parent or Author of the Law and that is the People of England For Sir as they are those that at the first as other Countries have done did choose to themselves this Form of Gouernment even for Justice sake that Justice might be administred that Peace might be preserved so Sir they gave Laws to their Governors according to which they should Govern and if those Laws should have proved inconvenient or prejudiciall to the Publique they had a power in them and reserved to themselves to alter as they shall see cause Sir it is very true what some of your side have said Rex non habet parem in Regno This Court will say the same while KING That you have not your Peer in some sense for you are major singulis but they will aver again that you are minor universis and the same Author tels you that in exhibitione Juris there you have no power but in _____ quasi minimus This we know to be Law Rex habet superiorem Deum Legem etiam curiam and so says the same Author and truly Sir he makes bold to go a little further Debent ei ponere frenum they ought to bridle him and Sir we know very well the stories of old Those Wars that were called the Barons Wars when the Nobility of the Land did stand out for the Liberty and Property of the Subject and would not suffer the Kings that did invade to play the Tyrants free◠but called them to account for it we know that truth That they did Frenum ponere But Sir if they do forbear to do their Duty now and are not so mindfull of their own Honor and the Kingdoms good as the Barons of England of old were certainly the Commons of England will not be unmindfull of what is for their preservation and for their safety Justitiae fruendi causâ Reges constituti sunt This we learn the end of having Kings or any other Governors it 's for the enjoying of Justice that 's the end Now Sir if so be the King will go contrary to that End or any other Governor will go contrary to the end of his Government Sir he must understand that he is but an Officer in trust and he ought to discharge that Trust and they are to take order for the animadversion and punishment of such an offending Governor This is not Law of yesterday Sir since the time of the division betwixt you and your People but it is Law of old And we know very well the Authors and the Authorities that do tell us what the Law was in that point upon the Election of Kings upon the Oath that they took unto their People and if they did not observe it there were those things called Parliaments The Parliaments were they that were to adjudge the very words of the Author the plaints and wrongs done of the King and the Queen or their Children such wrongs especially when the People could have no where else any remedy Sir that hath been the People of Englands case they could not have their remedy elsewhere but in Parliament Sir Parliaments were ordained for that purpose to redress the grievances of the People that was their main end and truly Sir if so be that the Kings of England had been rightly mindfull of themselves they were never more in Majesty and State then in the Parliament but how forgetful some have been Stories have told us We have a miserable a lamentable a sad experience of it Sir by the old Laws of England I speak these things the rather to you because you were pleased to let fall the other day you thought you had as much knowledg in the Law as most Gentlemen in England it is very well Sir And truly Sir it is very fit for the Gentlemen of England to understand that Law under which they must live and by which they must be governed And then Sir the Scripture says They that know their Masters will and do it not what follows The Law is your Master the Acts of Parliament The Parliaments were to be kept anciently we find in our old Author twice in the year That the subject upon any occasion might have a ready remedy and redress for his Grievance Afterwards by several Acts of Parliament in the days of your Predecessor Edward the third they must have been once a year Sir what the intermission of PARLIAMENTS hath been in your time it is very well known and the sad Consequences of it and what in the interim instead of these PARLIAMENTS hath been by you by an high and Arbitrary hand introduced upon the People that likewise hath been too well known and felt But when God by his Providence had so far brought it about that you could no longer decline the calling of a Parliament Sir yet it will appear what your ends were against the Ancient and your Native Kingdom of SCOTLAND The Parliament of England not serving your ends against them you were pleased to dissolve it Another great necessity occasioned the calling of this Parliament and what your Designs and Plots and endeavours all along have been for the crushing and confounding of this Parliament hath been very notorious to the whole Kingdom And truly Sir in that you did strike at all That had been a sure way to have brought about that that this Charge laies upon you Your Intention to Subvert the FVNDAMENTAL LAWES of the Land For the great Bulwark of the Liberties of the People is the PARLIAMENT of England and to Subvert and Root up that which your aim hath been to do certainly at one blow you had confounded the liberties and the property of England Truly Sir it makes me call to minde I cannot forbear to express it for Sir we must deal plainly with you according to the merits of your cause so is our Commission it makes me call to mind these proceedings of yours That we read of a great Roman Emperor by the way let us call him a great Roman Tyrant Caligula That wisht that the People of Rome had had but one neck that at one blow he might cut it off and your proceedings hath been somewhat like to this for the body of the People of England hath been and where else represented but in the Parliament and could you have but confounded that you had at one blow cut off the neck of England But God hath reserved better things for us and hath pleased for to Confound your designs and to break your Forces and to bring your Person into Custody that you might
thank you very heartily my Lord for that I had almost forgotten it Introth Sirs My Conscience in Religion I think is very well known to all the world and therefore I declare before you all That I dye a Christian according to the profession of the Church of England as I found it left me by my Father and this honest man I think will witness it Then turning to the Officers said Sirs excuse me for this same I have a good cause and I have a gracious God I will say no more Then turning to Colonel Hacker he said Take care they do not put me to pain and Sir this and it please you But then a Gentleman coming neer the Ax The King said Take heed of the Ax pray take heed of the Ax Then the King speaking to the Executioner said I shall say but very short Prayers and when I thrust out my hands Then the King called to Doctor Juxon for his Night-cap and having put it on he said to the Executioner Does my hair trouble you who desired him to put it alâ— under his Cap which the King did accordingly by the help of the Executioner and the Bishop Then the King turning to Doctor Juxon said I have a good Cause and a gracious God on my side Doctor Juxon There is but one Stage more This Stage is turbulent and troublesom it is a short one But you may consider it will soon carry you a very great way it will carry you from earth to heaven and there you shall find a great deal of cordial joy and comfort King I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be no disturbance in the world Doctor Juxon You are exchanged from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown a good exchange The King then said to the Executioner is my hair well Then the King took off His Cloak and his George giving his George to Doctor Iuxon saying Remember Then the King put off his Dublet and being in his Wastcoat put his Cloak on again then looking upon the Block said to the Executioner You must set it fast Executioner It is fast Sir King It might have been a little higher Executioner It can be no higher Sir King When I put out my hands this way then After that having said two or three words as he stood to himself with hands and Eyes lift up Immediately stooping down laid his neck upon the Block And then the Executioner again putting his hair under his Cap the King said Thinking he had been going to strike stay for the sign Executioner Yes I will and it please your Majesty And after a very little pawse the King stretching forth his hands The Executioner at one blow severed his head from his body That when the Kings head was cut off the Executioner held it up and shewed it to the Spectators And his Body was put in a Coffin covered with black Velvet for that purpose and conveyed into his Lodgings there And from thence it was carried to his house at S. Iames's where his body was put in a Coffin of lead laid there to be seen by the people and about a fortnight after it was carried to Windsor accompanied with the Duke of Lenox the Marquess of Hartford and the Earl of Southampton and Doctor Iuxon late Bishop of London and others and Interred in the Cappel-Royal in the Valt with King Henry the eight having only this Inscription upon his Coffin Charls King of England c. 1648. Sic transit Gloria Mundi FINIS THE SEVERAL SPEECHES OF Duke Hamilton Earl of CAMBRIDG HENRY Earl of HOLLAND AND ARTHUR Lord CAPEL UPON THE SCAFFOLD Immediately before their EXECUTION on Friday March 9. 1649. Also the several Exhortations and Conferences with them upon the SCAFFOLD BY D. Sibbald M. Bolton M. Hodges London Printed for Peter Cole Francis Tyton and John Playford 1650. The several speeches of the Earl of Cambridg the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel upon the Scaffold c. UPon Friday the ninth of this instant being the day appointed for the Execution of the Sentence of Death upon the Earl of Cambridg the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel about ten of the Clock that morning L. Col. Beecher came with his Order to the several Prisoners at S. Iames's requiring them to come away According to which Order they were carried in Sedans with a Guard to Sir Thomas Cottons house at Westminster where they continued about the space of two hours passing away most of that time in Religious and seasonable Conferences with the Ministers there present with them After which being called away to the Scaffold it was desired that before they went they might have the opportunity of commending their souls to God by Prayer which being readily granted and the room voyded Mr. Bolton was desired by the Lord of Holland to take the pains with them which was accordingly done with great appearance of solemn Affection among them Prayer being concluded and hearty thanks returned by them all to the Minister who performed as also to the rest who were their assistants in this sad time of trouble the Earl of Cambridg prepared first to go towards the place of Execution and after mutual embraces and some short ejaculatory expressions to and for his Fellow-sufferers he took his leave of them all and went along with the Officers attended upon by Dr. Sibbald whom he had chosen for his Comforter in this his sad condition The Scaffold being erected in the new Pallace-yard at Westminster over against the great Hal-Gate in the sight of the place where the High Court of Iustice formerly sate the Hal-doors being open there was his Excellencies Regiment of Horse commanded by Cap. Disher and several Companies of Col. Hewsons and Colonel Prides Regiments of Foot drawn up in the place When the Earl came from Westminster-Hall nere the Scaffold he was met by the Under-sheriff of Middlesex and a Guard of his men who took the charge of him from Lievt Col. Beecher and the Partizans that were his Guard The Sheriff of London being also according to command from the High Court of Iustice present to see the Execution performed The Earl of Cambridg being come upon the Scaffold and two of his own servants waiting upon him he first spake to the Doctor as followeth Earl of Cambridg Whether shall I Pray first Dr. Sibbâ—ld As Your Lordship pleases Earl of Cambridg My Lord of Denbigh has sent to speak with me I know not the fashion I may ask you Sir Do these Gentlemen expect I should say any thing to them or no They cannot hear Dr. Sibbald There will be a greater silence by and by It will not be amiss if your Lordship defer your speaking till you hear from his Lordship Cambridg There is something in it He was with the House Dr. Sibbald I suppose he would give no interruption to your Lordship at this time were there not something of concernment in it
Cambridg He is my Brother and has been a very faithfull servant to this State and he was in great esteem and reputation with them He is in the Hall and sent to speak with a Servant of mine to send something to me Dr. Sibbald It will not lengthen the time much if you stay while you have a return from him My Lord you should do well to bestow your time now in meditating upon and imploring of the Free-mercy of God in Christ for your Eternall Salvation and look upon that ever-streaming Fountain of his precious Bloud that purgeth us from all our sins even the sins of the deepest dye The Bloud of Jesus Christ washes away all our sins and that Bloud of Christ is poured forth upon all such as by a lively Faith lay hold upon him God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life That is now my Lord the Rock on which you must chiefly rest and labor to fix your self in the Free-mercy of God through Christ Jesus whose mercies are from everlasting to everlasting unto all such as with the Eye of Faith behold him Behold Jesus the Author and Finisher of your Salvation who hath satisfied the Justice of God by that Al-sufficiency of his Sacrifice which once for all he offered upon the Cross for the sins of the whole World so that the sting of Death is taken away from all believers and he hath sanctified it as a passage to everlasting blessedness It is true the Waters of Iordan run somewhat rough and surly betwixt the Wilderness and our passage into Canaan but let us rest upon the Ark my Lord the Ark Christ Iesus that will carry us through and above all those waves to that Rock of Ages which no flood nor waves can reach unto and to him who is yesterday to day and the same for ever against whom the Powers and Principalities the Gates of Hell shall never be able to prevail Lift up and fasten your eyes now upon Christ Crucified and labor to behold Iesus standing at the right hand of his Father as the Protomartyr Stephen ready to receive your Soul when it shall be separated from this Frail and Mortal body Alas no man would desire Life if he knew before-hand what it were to live it is nothing but sorrow vexation and trouble grief and discontent that waits upon every condition whether publique or private in every station and calling there are several miseries and troubles that are inseparable from them Therefore what a blessed thing it is to have a speedy and comfortable passage out of this raging sea into the Port of everlasting Happiness We must pass through a Sea but it is the Sea of Christ Blood in which never Soul suffered shipwrack in which we must be blown with winds and Tempests but they are the Gales of Gods Spirit upon us which blow away all contrary winds of diffidence in his Mercy Here one acquainting the Earl his servant was coming he answered So Sir And turning to the under-Sheriffs son said Cambridg Sir have you your Warrant here Sheriff Yes my Lord we have a Command Cambridg A Command I take this time Sir of staying in regard of the Earl of Denbighs sending to speak with me I know not for what he desires me to stay Dr. Sibbald I presume Mr. Sheriff will not grudg your Lordship a few minutes time when so great a work as this is in hand His Lordships servant being returned and having delivered his Message to the Earl of Cambridg privately he said So it is done now and then turning to the Front of the Scaffold before which as in all the rest of the Pallace there was a great concourse of people He said Earl of Cambridg I think it is truly not very necessary for me to speak much there are many Gentlemen and Souldiers there that sees me but my voyce is so weak so low that they cannot hear me neither truly was I ever at any time so much in love with speaking or with any thing I had to express that I took delight in it yet this being the last time that I am to do so by a Divine Providence of Almighty God who hath brought me to this end justly for my sins I shall to you Sir Mr. Sheriff declare thus much as to the matter that I am now to suffer for which is as being a Traytor to the Kingdom of England Truly Sir it was a Country that I equally loved with my own I made no difference I never intended either the generality of it's prejudice or any particular mans in it What I did was by the Command of the Parliament of the Country where I was born whose Commands I could not disobey without running into the same hazard there of that condition that I am now in The ends Sir of that Engagement is publique they are in Print and so I shall not need to specifie them Dr. Sibbald The Sun perhaps will be too much in your Lordships face as you speak Cambridg No Sir it will not burn it I hope I shall see a brighter Sun then this Sir very speedily Dr. Sibbald The Sun of Righteousness my Lord. Cambridg But to that which I was saying Sir It pleased God so to dispose that Army under my Command as it was ruined and I as their General clothed with a Commission stand here now ready to dye I shall not trouble you with repeating of my Plea what I said in my own Defence at the Court of JUSTICE my self being satisfied with the Commands that are laid upon me and they satisfied with the justness of their procedure according to the Laws of this Land God is just and howsoever I shall not say any thing as to the matter of the Sentence but that I do willingly submit to his Divine Providence and acknowledg that very many ways I deserve even a wordly punishment as well as hereafter for we are all sinful Sir and I a great one yet for my comfort I know there is a God heaven that is exceeding merciful I know my Redeemer sits at his right hand and am confident clapping his hand to his brest is mediating for me at this instant I am hopeful through his Free-Grace and al-sufficient merits to be pardoned of my sins and to be received into his mercy upon that I rely trusting to nothing but the Free-Grace of God through Jesus Christ I have not been tainted with my Religion I thank God for it since my Infancy it hath been such as hath been profest in the Land and established and now 't is not this Religion or that Religion nor this or that fancy of men that is to be built upon t is but one that 's right one that 's sure and that comes from God Sir and in the Free-Grace of our Saviour Sir there is truly something that had I thought my Speech would have been thus