246. OLIVER CROMWELL AND THE CIVIL WAR, 1642-1649 A.D.
OUTBREAK OF THE GREAT REBELLION, 1642 A.D.
Thus far, the Long Parliament had acted along the line of reformation rather than revolution. Had Charles been content to accept the new arrangements, there would have been little more trouble. But the proud and imperious king was only watching his chance to strike a blow at Parliament. Taking advantage of some differences in opinion among its members, Charles summoned his soldiers, marched to Westminister, and demanded the surrender of five leaders, including Pym and Hampden. Warned in time, they made their escape, and Charles did not find them in the chamber of the Commons. "Well, I see all the birds are flown," he exclaimed, and walked out baffled. The king's attempt to intimidate the Commons was a great blunder. It showed beyond doubt that he would resort to force, rather than bend his neck to Parliament. Both Charles and Parliament now began to gather troops and prepare for the inevitable conflict.
"CAVALIERS" AND "ROUND-HEADS"
The opposing parties seemed to be very evenly matched. Around the king rallied nearly all of the nobles, the Anglican clergy, the Roman Catholics, a majority of the "squires," or country gentry, and the members of the universities. The royalists received the name of "Cavaliers." The parliamentarians, or "Roundheads," [22] were mostly recruited from the trading classes in the towns and the small landowners in the country. The working people remained as a rule indifferent and took little part in the struggle.
[Illustration: OLIVER CROMWELL
A painting by Robert Walker, in the National Portrait Gallery, London.]
OLIVER CROMWELL, 1599-1658 A.D.
Both Pym and Hampden died in the second year of the war, and henceforth the leadership of the parliamentary party fell to Oliver Cromwell. He was a country gentleman from the east of England, and Hampden's cousin. Cromwell represented the university of Cambridge in the Long Parliament and displayed there great audacity in opposing the government. An unfriendly critic at this time describes "his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervor." Though a zealous Puritan, who believed himself in all sincerity to be the chosen agent of the Lord, Cromwell was not an ascetic. He hunted, hawked, played bowls, and other games, had an ear for music, and valued art and learning. In public life he showed himself a statesman of much insight and a military genius.
THE "IRONSIDES" AND THE "NEW MODEL"
At the outset of the war fortune favored the royalists, until Cromwell took the field. To him was due the formation of a cavalry regiment of "honest, sober Christians," whose watchwords were texts from Scripture and who charged in battle while singing psalms. These "Ironsides," as Cromwell said, "had the fear of God before them and made some conscience of what they did." They were so successful that Parliament permitted Cromwell to reorganize a large part of the army into the "New Model," a body of professional, highly disciplined soldiers. The "New Model" defeated Charles decisively at the battle of Naseby, near the center of England (1645 A.D.). Charles then surrendered to the Scotch, who soon turned him over to Parliament.
PRESYBTERIANS AND INDEPENDENTS
The surrender of the king ended the Great Rebellion, but left the political situation in doubt. By this time the Puritans had divided into two rival parties. The Presbyterians wished to make the Church of England, like that of Scotland, Presbyterian in faith and worship. Through their control of Parliament, they were able to pass acts doing away with bishops, forbidding the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and requiring every one to accept Presbyterian doctrines. The other Puritan party, known as the Independents, [23] felt that religious beliefs should not be a matter of compulsion. They rejected both Anglicanism and Presbyterianism and desired to set up churches of their own, where they might worship as seemed to them right. The Independents had the powerful backing of Cromwell and the "New Model," so that the stage was set for a quarrel between Parliament and the army.
"PRIDE'S PURGE," 1648 A.D.
King Charles, though a prisoner in the hands of his enemies, hoped to find profit in their divisions. The Presbyterian majority in the House of Commons was willing to restore the king, provided he would give his assent to the establishment of Presbyterianism in England. But the army wanted no reconciliation with the captive monarch and at length took matters into its own hand. A party of soldiers, under the command of a Colonel Pride, excluded the Presbyterian members from the floor of the House, leaving the Independents alone to conduct the government. This action is known as "Pride's Purge." Cromwell approved of it, and from this time he became the real ruler of England.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF WESTMINSTER HALL Next to the Tower and the Abbey Westminster Hall adjoining the Houses of Parliament, is the most historic building in London. The hall was begun by William Rufus in 1097 A.D. and was enlarged by his successors. Richard II in 1397 A.D. added the great oak roof, which has lasted to this day Here were held the trials of Stafford and Charles I.]
EXECUTION OF CHARLES I, 1649 A.D.
The "Rump Parliament," as the remnant of the House of Commons was called, immediately brought the king before a High Court of Justice composed of his bitterest enemies. He refused to acknowledge the right of the court to try him and made no defense whatever. Charles was speedily convicted and sentenced to be beheaded, "as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good of the people." He met death with quiet dignity and courage on a scaffold erected in front of Whitehall Palace in London. The king's execution went far beyond the wishes of most Englishmen; "cruel necessity" formed its only justification; but it established once for all in England the principle that rulers are responsible to their subjects.