Now, when the New Year came, there were new affairs of state to be adjusted, and these were so important that no man thought of his own business, but watched the great drama which was being played out before his very eyes. I could prosecute my own claim no further, for all the answer I got was that it was under consideration; but though I was anxious to return home, my curiosity about such events as were then happening kept me waiting in London. Those events truly were awful in themselves, for each led to the deposition and execution of the King. On the 1st of January the Commons, or rather that portion of them left by Colonel Pride, appointed a new tribunal, which they called the High Court of Justice, to try the King’s majesty on a charge of high treason against his subjects. Four days afterwards the same body put forward a declaration that the people of England were, under God, the source of all just power, and that the Commons, being the representatives duly elected of the people, had no need of approval from either the House of Lords or the King. On the 9th this High Court of Justice was formally constituted and the trial of the King definitely arranged for.
There were many who all this time doubted that the King would really be put upon his trial, for they held that the sovereign is above the law, and that the army after all would shrink from carrying matters to such extremities. But during the next ten days affairs went forward, and on the 20th his Majesty was brought to Whitehall for his trial. Then indeed London was in a state of great excitement, for it was rumoured by some that the King would be put to death, and by others that he would be banished across seas. As for all those who had been true to his Majesty, their hearts were filled with sorrow to think of his sad condition.
On the morning of the 21st of January Master Goodfellow and I rose early and made our way to the entrance of the great hall, where his Majesty was to appear before the men who had constituted themselves his judges. There were great crowds about Westminster and Whitehall, and the Roundhead soldiers were assembled in much force, as though to check any demonstration in the King’s favour. By dint of hard work and much pushing through the crowds we managed to secure places near to the door by which his Majesty was to enter, and there we abode very uncomfortably for two or three hours, swayed hither and thither by the crowd, the members of which kept up a continual talk and chatter as to what would take place before the judges. As for me, I wished I was well out of it, for I was squeezed and shoved against more than I had a mind for. But at last a great hush fell over the crowd around us, and a way being made by the troopers, there appeared a small body of guards, in whose midst walked the King. And then for the first time I saw his Majesty Charles the First, in whose cause I had fought and suffered.
Now, there was a perfect stillness as the King came along, and the great crowd was motionless save where some man tried to lift himself high enough to look over the shoulders of those before him. The King held himself very erect, and looked into the faces of the crowd with a calm and serene gaze, so that to me he seemed the very picture of a highborn gentleman, who knew naught of fear nor asked for favour. Yet there were deep lines upon his face, and his hair was thickly sprinkled with gray, and his eyes had a look of suffering in them. And so he and his guards went quickly by, and as they passed there were one or two in the crowd, myself included, who said heartily, “God save your Majesty!” upon hearing which the King inclined his head in our direction and smiled upon us, and entered the hall. We hung about the entrance that day, listening to such scraps of news as came from the trial chamber. First we heard that of the hundred and thirty-five members of the court only sixty-seven were present, and that one of these was General Oliver Cromwell. Then came news that when they called on Fairfax to answer his name, his lady answered from the gallery that he was not there and never would be, and that they wronged him to name him. After that we heard that the King, on being called upon to answer the charges brought against him, did deny the authority of that tribunal and refused to plead. Upon that the trial became naught but a formality, for the judges had it all their own way, and finally, on the 27th, they sentenced the King to death.
It was on the morning of the 30th of January that they beheaded the King before Whitehall. We rose before it was light, and at once made our way across the gardens and parks lying between Westminster and Whitehall, so that we might come near to the scaffold on which his Majesty was to die. This they had caused to be erected in front of the windows of the banqueting hall, and the carpenters were busy finishing it when we arrived. There were already great crowds of people gathered together, and when the sun rose it shone on as sad a scene as ever I saw. For there was the palace of Whitehall, its roofs slightly covered with snow, and the trees in its gardens and courtyards silvered with frost, and against all this whiteness the black drapery of the scaffold made a dark blot. Then came the soldiers, musketeers, and pikemen, and troopers, stern-faced and resolute, and set
