HISTORY OP ENGLAND,

religious zealots, to whom this deed is to be ascribed, hadcommitted, not only a crime, but an error. They had givento a prince, hitherto known to his people chiefly by his faults,an opportunity of displaying, on a great theatre, before theeyes of all nations and all ages, some qualities which irre-sistibly call forth the admiration and love of mankind, the highspirit of a gallant gentleman, the patience and meekness of apenitent Christian. Nay, they had so contrived their revengethat the very man whose whole life had been a series ofattacks on the liberties of England now seemed to die amartyr in the cause of those liberties. No demagogue everproduced such an impression on the public mind as the captiveKing who, retaining in that extremity all his regal dignity, andconfronting death with dauntless courage, gave utterance tothe feelings of his oppressed people, manfully refused toplead before a court unknown to the law, appealed frommilitary violence to the principles of the constitution, askedby what right the House of Commons had been purged ofits most respectable members and the House of Lords de-prived of its legislative functions, and told his weeping hearersthat he was defending not only his own cause, but theirs.His long misgovernment, his innumerable perfidies, were for-gotten. His memory was, in the minds of the great majorityof his subjects, associated with those free institutions whichhe had, during many years, laboured to destroy: for thosefree institutions had perished with him, and, amidst themournful silence of a community kept down by arms, hadbeen defended by his voice alone. From that day began areaction in favour of monarchy and of the exiled house, areaction which never ceased till the throne had again been setup in all its old dignity.

At first, however, the slayers of the King seemed to havederived new energy from that sacrament of blood by whichthey had bound themselves closely together, and separated