calls both houses together, and in a speech tells them, that he had been present at the hearing of that great cause, and that in his conscience, positively he could not condemn him of high treason, and yet could not clear him of misdemeanours; but hoped a way might be found out to satisfy justice and their fears, without oppressing his conscience. And so he dismissed them to their great discontent, which was propagated so far, that May 3, near a thousand citizens, most of them armed with swords, cudgels, and staves, came thronging down to Westminster, crying out for justice against the Earl of Strafford; especially applying themselves to the Earl of Montgomery, lord chamberlain, by whose persuasions and promises their fury was partly abated: however they posted upon the gate at Westminster a list of the names of those who would have acquitted the Earl, whom they stiled Straffordians.

The parliament being informed that some endeavours were used, to raise a disgust in the English northern army against their proceedings, they now enter into a national protestation to maintain with life, power and estate the true reformed Protestant religion, expressed in the doctrine of the church of England, against all Popery and Popish innovations which was ordered to be printed and published through the kingdom

May 5, the Lords acquainted the Commons, that they thought it the safest course to lay by the bill of attainder, because it brought in the king for judge, and the next day they debated the several articles of his impeachment, and voted the Earl guilty of high treason upon two of them, that is, the 15th, for leveying of monies in Ireland by force, in a warlike manner; and the 16th, for imposing an oath upon the subjects of Ireland.

The Commons had now finished a bill, for the continuance of the parliament; which having passed the Lords, was tendered to the King to be signed; together with the Bill of Áttainder. His Majesty answered, that on Monday following he would satisfy them; and on the Sunday before, the King spent the whole day in consulting about the Earl of Strafford with the judges and bishops: the judges told him, that in point of law, (according to the oath made by Sir H.. Vane of the Earl's advice, to raise horse to awe this nation) he was guilty of treason. In the evening the five bishops, viz. of Armagh, London Durham Lincoln, and Carlisle, were called into the King to satisfy his conscience about it, who all agreed, that the King might shew mercy without any scruple, and that he could not condemn the Earl, if he did not think him guilty: this was to matter of fact, but as to matter of law, he was to rest in the opinion of the judges.

Monday, May 10, the King gives commission to several lords to pass two bills, one the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford: the other, for continuing the parliament, during the pleasure of both houses; which last act was accasioned for satisfying the Scots, who required vast sums of money; and for disbanding both the armies: whereby great taxes were laid upon the people by act of parliament, which could not possibly be levied in a short time, and therefore there needed a present supply from the city of London who (as it was alledged) would not part with their money, least a dissolution of the parliament should happen before payment, upon which account the King was pressed to pass this act.

The same day the bill was passed against the Earl of Strafford, the King sent Sir Dudley Carlton, secretary of state, to acquaint the Earl with what was done and the motives thereto, whereat the Earl was greatly astonished; but the next day the King being troubled, writes a Letter with his own hand to the House of Lords, and sent it by the Prince of Wales, telling them that whereas justice had been satisfied in his condemnation, an intermixture of mercy would not now be unseasonable, and therefore he desired them, that if it might be done without any discontent to the people, the Earl might be permitted to fulfill the natural course of his life in close imprisonment, sequestred from all public affairs, provided he never attempted to make an escape; however he thought it a work of charity to reprieve him till Saturday. But nothing could be obtained in favour of him, but that the Lords said, their intention was to be suitors to his Majesty to shew favour to his innocent children, and that whatever provisions himself had made for them, it might be confirmed.

Some designs were to have been laid for his escape, however May 12, 1641, the Earl of Strafford was conveyed from the Tower by a guard consisting of the trained bands, marshals men, sheriffs officers, and wardens of the Tower. Before him went his gentleman-usher bare headed, and he himself followed, accompanied with the archbishop of Armagh and others. As he went along he passed by Arch-bishop Laud's lodging, and spying him at the window he called to him for his prayers and his blessing; but the bishop at the sight of him was so surpriz'd that for some time he could not recollect himself, and being reprehended by his friends of an undecent pufillanimity, he replied; that he doubted not but when that bitter cup should come to his turn, he should taste it with a most christian courage. The Earl being come to the scaffold upon Tower-hill, addrest himself to the Arch-bishop of Armagh to this effect, that he was come to pay the last debt he owed to sin with a good hope of rising again

to righteousness: that he died willingly, forgave all and submitted to justice: he professed himself guiltless as to the matter for which he died; he wished all prosperity to the King and people; and acquitted him from the guilt of his death, as having acted therein no otherwise than as constrained: he advised his adversaries to repent of their violent proceedings against him; and telling them that he thought it a strange way to write in blood the beginning of reformation and settlement of the kingdom. However he wished that his blood might rest, and not cry against them. He declared, he died in the faith of the church of England for whose happiness he prayed, and concluded his speech with intreating the spectators to pray for him. After which he kneeled down to prayer, and rising up again, took his last leave of George Went his friends, love to his blessing to his a most strict his only son, dle with the the church: ing the sign to oner, his head

his brother Sir worth and all sending his wife, and his children; with injunction. to never to medpatrimony of and then givthe executiwas severed

This was the end of that great and able minister of state, who is reported when he heard the king had consented to the Bill of Attainder to have lift up his eyes to heaven, and clapping his hand upon his heart, to have cried out (perhaps in imitation of cardinal Woolsey's complaint) put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, for in them is no salvation. And indeed it seemed very hard that he should be made guilty of high treason by a bill framed on purpose, without former precedent, and to which his Majesty's consent was in a manner extorted, and which he afterwards bewailed with great remorse of conscience, though it is said the King was not so much convinced by any thing said to him, but the chief motive was a letter from the Earl, wherein he thus concluded:

Sir, (to set your Majesty's conscience at liberty) I do most humbly beseech you, for the preventing of such mischiefs as may happen by your refusal to pass the bill, by this means to remove praised be God (I cannot say this accursed but) this unfortunate thing forth of the way towards that blessed agreement which God I trust shall for ever establish between you and your subjects. My consent herein shall

more acquit you to God, than all the world can do beside: to a willing man there is no injury done.

His character is expressed by the King his master, in his Eikon Basilike who said, be looked upon the Earl of Strafford as a gentleman, whose great abilities might make a prince rather afraid than ashamed to employ him in the greatest affairs of state.

The fall of this powerful man so startled other great officers of state, that several resigned their places: about the same time some discontents arose between the Parliament and the English army in the north, but a while after both armies were disbanded. The payment of tunnage and poundage had been much questioned since 1628. But now the King at the request of the Commons was content to relinquish his claim to it, and afterwards passed a bill for pole-money, and two others for putting down the star-chamber and high commission courts; which had proceeded with too much severity, having so far out grown the power of the law, that they would not be limited nor guided by it.

July 5. A charge was brought into the house of Commons against Dr. Wren bishop of Ely, being accused of some treasonable misdemeanors in his diocese; who thereupon voted him unworthy and unfit to hold or exercise any office of dignity in church or state, and desired the Lords to join with them, to request the King for his removal from his service; and so he was committed to the Tower, and about the same time the writs for ship-money, and all the proceedings therein were by the King's consent judged, and five of the judges that gave their opinions for it, were impeached of high misdemeanor; that is Bramston, Trevor, Weston, Davenport, and Crawly; and Berkly another of the judges was accused for treason, but no further prosecution was made therein.

August 6. Both the English and Scots armies were disbanded, and four days after the King went toward Scotland and was entertained with great demonstration of affection by that nation, and conferred several places of honour and power upon divers of them; confirming likewise the treaty between the two nations by act of parliament.

October 23, 1641, a horrid and notorious rebellion broke out in Ireland which was managed with such secrecy, that it was not discovered till the night before it was to have been put in execution; which was in divers places carried on with such fury, that two hundred thousand English men, women, and children were in a short space barbarously murdered by all manner of most cruel torments that their devilish minds could invent. And this was chiefly occasioned by the instigation of the Irish popish priests, monks and friars, who every where declaimed loudly against the protestants, saying, that they were

hereticks and not to be suffered any longer to live amongst them, that it was no more sin to kill one of them then to kill a dog; and that it was a mortal and unpardonable sin to relieve or protect any of them. Yea the priests gave the sacrament to divers of the Irish, upon condition they should spare neither man, woman nor child of the protestants, saying that it did them a great deal of good to wash their hands in their blood: and that they were worse than dogs; and if any of them died in the quarrel before their bodies were cold their sonls should be in heaven without ever calling in at purgatory by the way.

This bloody rebellion happened in a time wherein the Irish had all the priviledges and liberty they could reasonably expect, and the ancient hatred which the Irish had born to the English, did now seem to be forgotten, forty years of peace having compacted and cemented them together, both by alliances and marriages, which were all now miserably broken and destroyed. The Castle of Dublin, wherein were ten thousand arms and all other forts and magazines in the kingdom, were to have been surprized, and all the English protestants that would not join with them, were to be murthered, but the seizing of the castle was happily prevented by one Owen Conally, from some discourse accidertally in a tavern with one Hugh Mac Mahon, grandson to the great Earl of Tyrone the night before the intended execution.

Upon this discovery, Mac Mahon and lord Mac Guire, were seized by the lords chief justices of Ireland, and many principal conspirators escaped that night out of Dublin, so was Dublin saved, that all Ireland might not be lost in one day. But the horrid design was past prevention as to the general, for the conspirators were in arms at the day appointed in all the counties round about, and poor English protestants daily arrived there, robbed and spoiled of all they had; giving lamentable relation how their houses were seized, the towns and villages fired, and in all parts all manner of cruel outrages and villanies committed. The lords justices Sir William Parsons and Sir John Burlace, taking those arms which they found in Dublin, and arming whom they could to defend themselves, sent Sir Henry Spotswood to the King then in Scotland, with an account of all that happened, who dispatched Sir James Stuart with intructions to the lords of the privy Council in Ireland, and to carry all the money his present stores would supply. He likewise moved the parliament of Scotland (as being nearest) for their assistance, but they excused it, because Ireland was a dependant upon the crown of England; but if the state of England would use any of their men for that service, they would make propositions in order to it. At the same time likewise, the King sent