Chap. X. The HIS T 0 R Y of the PuRITANS.' dent pronounced fcnt~n~e of d~ath againft him as a tra~tor, fifty nine be~ K. ;t;~:esi. ing prefent, and figmfymg the1r concurrence by jlandrng up, as had been ~. agreed. Sund ry indignities and i~ fu lts were offered to the king by the foldiers, as he pa!fed alongWtjlnunjler-Ha/1, but the far greater number ofpeople deplored his unhappy condition. 'Tuf}i:iay Jan. 30. being appointed for his execution his majefl:y was offered the a!Iiftance of Mr. Calam)•, Vines, Cm)'!, Dell and Goodwin, but he refufcd them, and chofe Dr. Juxon birhop of L ondon, who according to bifhop Burnet, performed his office with fuch a dry coldnefs as could not raife the king's devotion. On the fatal day, he was condutl:ed on foot by a firong guard through St. Janus's Park to a fcaffold ereCted in the open ftreet before the banqueting-boufe at Whitehall, where he made a ibort fpeech to the people, in which he makes no acknowledgment of the mifiakes of his government, but declared himfelf a martyr for the laws and liberties of the people; after which he laid down his head on the block, which was fevered from his body at one blow by fome bold executioner in a mafk, in the forty-ni nth year of his age, and twenty-fourth of his reign: His body was interred privately at Wincffor Feb. zSth. following, without ceremony, and with no other infcription on the cofiin, than KING CHARLES, 1648. The reader will colletl: the charader of this unfortunate prince rather His charac– from the preceeding facts, than from the keen refleCtions of his determin- ter. ed enemies, or the flattering encomiums of his friends and admirers, which latter in their anniverfary fermons, have almoft equalled his fufferings with thofe of our ble!fed faviour. It muft be admitted, that king Charles I. was fober, temperate, cbafte, an enemy to debauchery and lewdne fs, and very regular in his devotions. But thefe excellent qualities were ballanced with forne of a very difl:erent nature; his temper w-as diftant and referved to a fault; he was far from being generous, and when he befl:owed any £wom did it in a very difagreeable and uncourtly manner; his judgment in afiairs of government was weak and unfready, and generally under the diretl:ion of a favourite. In his treaties with the parliament, he was chargeable with great infincerity, making ufe of evafive and ambiguous terms, the explication of which he referved for a proper place and feafon. He had lofty notions of the abfolute power of princes, and Cl d the unl!mited ob_edience. of fubjetl:s; and tho' he was very fcrupulous hift~e;. ~30, a.bout h1s c~ronatto.n oatkm regard to the church, he feems to have paid httl.e attent~on t? It as It refpetl:e_d the la1vs and liberties qf his ji 1 bjeCls, wl11ch he liVed I? the conftant vwlation of for fifteen years. He was a perfeCt dupe to h1s queen, who had too much the diretl:ion of public affairs both in c;hurch and ftate; no wonder therefore that he had a deter~ mined averfion to the puritans, and leaned fo much to the pomp and ceremony
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