Parte alia lautas aedes, magna atria regum

Cernere erit.

When the was erected, it was little thought that James was constructing a passage from it for his son and successor, Charles I., to the scaffold. It would be unpardonable to pass over an event of this magnitude slightly, especially at a time like the present, when so much is said and written on the subject of monarchical government and republicanism. Rapin has impartially laid down what has been said for and against the proceedings of the Parliament in their quarrel with Charles I., which led to the establishment of the Commonwealth. Mr. Nightingale, in

The Beauties of England and Wales,

The unfortunate monarch was evidently the prey of

two

contending parties: the Independents, whose descendants still survive in the various sects now called Calvinistic Methodists; and the Presbyterians, who are now risen or degenerated into the sects of Unitarians, Arians, and General Baptists. The

first

of these parties was bent on the king's destruction; the latter wished to save him, and eventually brought about the restoration of Charles II., though they could not succeed in saving the life of his father. The rebellious army had the support of the Independents; but it should not therefore be concluded that the king had the cordial support of the Presbyterians, whom nothing would satisfy but the abolition of the episcopacy, though they do not seem to have wished this at the expense of their monarch's life.

On the , the voted:--

1

. That the government of the kingdom should be still by the King, Lords, and Commons.

2

. That the groundwork for this government should be the propositions last presented to the king at

Hampton Court

.

3

. That any member of the House should have leave to speak freely to any votes, ordinances, or declarations concerning the king, &c.

These votes did not at all accord with the designs of the Independents, who meant to abolish all kingly authority, and establish a Commonwealth; and who, although weak in the House, but strong in the field, contrived to prevent a reconciliation or treaty with the king till Cromwell should be sufficiently strong to allow them to act with the necessary vigour against their enemiesthe Scots, the Royalists, and the Presbyterians. In the meanwhile Cromwell gained strength, and the Independents at length openly demanded

that the king be brought to justice, as the capital cause of all the evils in the kingdom, and of so much blood being shed.

On the -, the king, who had in the meantime been removed from Hurst Castle to Windsor, was brought to St. James's. His trial was quickly hurried on, and on the sentence of death was passed upon him. His Majesty was taken back to , and [extra_illustrations.3.347.3]  into effect days afterwards upon a scaffold erected [extra_illustrations.3.347.4] . Mr. J. H. Jesse thus minutely describes the last sad scene:--

Colonel Hacker having knocked at his door and informed him that it was time to depart, Charles took Bishop Juxon by the hand, and bidding his faithful attendant Herbert to bring with him his silver clock, intimated to Hacker, with a cheerful countenance, that he was ready to accompany him. As he passed through the Palace Garden into the Park, he inquired of Herbert the hour of the day, bidding him at the same time keep the clock for

his

sake.

The procession

was a remarkable

one

. On each side of the king marched a line of soldiers, while before him and behind him were a guard of halberdiers, their drums beating and colours flying. On his right hand was Bishop Juxon, and on his left hand Colonel Tomlinson, both bareheaded. There is a tradition that during his walk he pointed out a tree, not far from the entrance to

Spring Gardens

, which he said had been planted by his brother Henry. He was subjected to more than

one

annoyance during his progress. On reaching the spot where the

Horse Guards

now stand, Charles ascended a

staircase which then communicated with

Whitehall

Palace, and passing along the famous gallery which at that time ran across the street, was conducted to his usual bedchamber, where he remained till summoned by Hacker to the scaffold.

This day,

his Majesty died upon a scaffold at

Whitehall

. His children were with him last night. To the Duke of Gloucester he gave his George; to the Lady Elizabeth his ring off his finger. He told them his subjects had many things to give

their

children, but that was all he had to give them. This day, about

one

o'clock, he came from St. James's in a long black cloak and grey stockings. The Palsgrave came through the Park with him. He was faint, and was forced to sit down and rest in the Park. He went into

Whitehall

the usual way out of the Park, and so came out of the Ban-

Queen Elizabeth. (From The Portrait By Zucchero, L575.)

queting House upon planks, made purposely to the scaffold. He was not long there, and what he spoke was to the

two

bishops, Dr. Juxon and Dr. Morton. To Dr. Juxon he gave his hat and cloak. He prayed with them, walked twice or thrice about the scaffold, and held out his hands to the people. His last words, as I am informed, were, To your power I must submit, but your authority I deny. He pulled his doublet off, and kneeled down to the block himself. When some officer offered to unbutton him, or some such like thing, he thrust him from him.

Two

men, in vizards and false hair, were appointed to be his executioners. Who they were is not known. Some say he that did it was the common hangman; others, that it was

one

Captain Foxley, and that the hangman refused. The Bishop of London had been constantly with him since sentence was given. Since he died they

have made proclamation that no man, upon pain of I know not what, shall presume to proclaim his son Prince Charles as King; and this is all I have yet heard of this sad day's work.

It has often been denied that the of was the actual scene of the execution of King Charles I. But the fact that the sad scene was witnessed by [extra_illustrations.3.349.1]  from the roof of Wallingford House, which stood on the spot now occupied by the Admiralty, establishes the precise locality.

The Archbishop,

lived at my Lady Peterborough's house, near

Charing Cross

; and on the day that King Charles was put to death he got upon the leads, at the desire of some of his friends, to see his beloved sovereign for the last time. When he came upon the leads the King was in his speech; he stood motionless for some time, and sighed, and then, lifting up his tears to heaven, seemed to pray very earnestly. But when his Majesty had done speaking, and had pulled off his cloak and doublet, and stood stripped in his waistcoat, and that the villains in vizards began to put up his hair, the good Bishop, no longer able to endure so horrible a sight, grew pale and began to faint; so that if he had not been

Whitehall Yard.

observed by his own servant and others that stood near him, he had fainted away. So they presently carried him down and laid him upon his bed.

in the open street before

Whitehall

.

the street in front of the Banqueting House did not then exist.

a passage was broken through the wall by which the king passed unto the scaffold.

Having curiosity enough to visit the interior of the building, the walls of which were then [at the renovation of the Banqueting House] laid bare, a space was pointed out to the writer between the upper and lower centre windows, of about

seven

feet in height and

four

in breadth, the bricks of which presented a broken and jagged appearance,

and the brick work introduced was evidently of a different date from that of the rest of the building. There can be little doubt that it was through this passage that Charles walked to the fatal stage.

Pennant confirms the circumstantial account given above, stating that the passage broken in the wall in order to make a passage for Charles to the scaffold still remained when he wrote, forming the door to a small additional building of later date.

It is on record, and attested on all hands, that the king walked to the scaffold with a cheerful countenance and a firm and undaunted step, as whose conscience told him that he died in a good cause and with a good conscience. Thus it comes to pass that who certainly was no partisan of Charles I., or an advocate of the

divine right of kings,

While round the armed bands

Did clasp their bloody hands,

He nothing common did, or mean,

Upon that memorable scene,

Nor called the gods, with vulgar spite,

To vindicate his hopeless right;

But with his keener eye

The axe's edge did try;

Then bowed his kingly head

Down, as upon a bed.

In a rare book, called

Gleanings,

King Charles was beheaded in that very place where the

first

blood was shed in the beginning of our late troubles ; for a company of the citizens returning from

Westminster

, where they had been petitioning quietly for justice, were set upon by some of the Court as they passed

Whitehall

: in the which tumult divers were hurt and

one

or more were slain just by the Banqueting House, in the place where stood the scaffold on which he suffered. 'Tis further remarkable,

that he should end his days in a tragedie at the Banqueting House, where he had seene and caused many a comedy to be acted on the Lord's Day.

By a signal providence,

the bloody rebels chose that day for murdering their king on which the history of our Saviour's sufferings (Matt. xxvii.) was appointed to be read as a lesson. The blessed martyr had forgot that it came in the ordinary course; and therefore, when Bishop Juxon (who read the morning office immediately before his martyrdom) named this chapter, the good prince asked him if he had singled it out as fit for the occasion: and when he was informed it was the lesson for the day, could not without a simple complacency and joy admire how suitably it concurred with his circumstances.

Whilst holding that the execution of the king was a murder and a sin, we cannot go so far with the Royalists as to endorse the exaggerated sentiments of the following epitaph, which we find in the

Eikon-Basilike,

So falls the stately cedar; while it stood,

That was the onely glory of the wood;

Great Charles, thou earthly god, celestial man,

Whose life, like others, though it were a span,

Yet in that span was comprehended more

Than earth hath waters, or the ocean shore;

Thy heavenly virtues angels should rehearse,

It is a them too high for humane verse.

Hee that would know thee right, then let him look

Upon thy rare-incomparable book,

And read it or'e and or'e, which if he do,

Hee'll find thee king, and priest, and prophet too,

And sadly see our losse, and though in vain,

With fruitlesse wishes, call thee back again.

Nor shall oblivion sit upon thy herse,

Though there were neither monument nor verse.

Thy suff'rings and thy death let no man name;

It was thy glorie, but the kingdom's shame.

A question has often been asked, who was the executioner of Charles I.? We do not mean, who were the men at whose bidding the deed was done?-for their names have come down to posterity, with lasting dishonour as

the regicides

this R. Brandon is supposed to have cut off the head of Charles the

First

.

Confessions of Richard Brandon, the Hangman

He [Brandon] likewise confessed that he had

thirty pounds

for his pains, all paid him in half-crowns within an hour after the blow was given, and that he had an orange stuck full of cloves and a handkercher out of the king's pocket, so soon as he was carried from the scaffold, for which orange he was proffered

twenty shillings

by a gentleman in

Whitehall

, but refused the same, and afterwards sold it for

ten shillings

in

Rosemary Lane

.

Squire Dun

that insatiable amateur of executions,

always asserted, on the authority of Charles the

Second

, that the king, his father, was not beheaded by either Colonel Joyce or Colonel Pride, as was then commonly believed; but that the real name of the executioner was

Gregory

Brandon; that this man had worn a black crape stretched over his face, and had no sooner taken off the king's head than he was put into a boat at

Whitehall Stairs

, together with the block, the black cloth that covered it, the axe, and every others article that had been stained with the royal blood. Being conveyed to the Tower, all the implements used in the decapitation had been immediately reduced to ashes. A purse containing

one hundred

broad pieces of gold was then delivered to Brandon, and he was dismissed. He survived the transaction many years, but divulged it a short time before he died. This account,

as coming from the Duchess of Portsmouth, challenges great respect.

By Lilly's Life it would appear that the man who acted as the executioner of Charles I. was Lieut.-Colonel Joyce; but whether it was Joyce's or Brandon's hand that shed the king's blood, it is a satisfaction to let their names go down together to posterity in these columns stamped with the infamy and disgrace of

[] Banqueting House of Whitehall

[extra_illustrations.3.347.3] the sentence was carried

[extra_illustrations.3.347.4] in front of the Banqueting House of Whitehall

[] Great Seal of Commonwealth

[extra_illustrations.3.349.1] Archbishop Usher

[] See Vol. II., p. 143.