There followed a period of intrigue and an uprising
of the Scotch Presbyterians against the English Puritan.
In August of the year 1648 after the three-days' battle of
Preston Pans, Cromwell made an end to this second civil war,
and took Edinburgh. Meanwhile his soldiers, tired of further
talk and wasted hours of religious debate, had decided to act
on their own initiative. They removed from Parliament all
those who did not agree with their own Puritan views. Thereupon
the ``Rump,'' which was what was left of the old Parliament,
accused the King of high treason. The House of Lords
refused to sit as a tribunal. A special tribunal was appointed
and it condemned the King to death. On the 30th of January
of the year 1649, King Charles walked quietly out of a window
of White Hall onto the scaffold. That day, the Sovereign
People, acting through their chosen representatives, for the
first time executed a ruler who had failed to understand his own
position in the modern state.
The period which followed the death of Charles is usually
called after Oliver Cromwell. At first the unofficial Dictator
of England, he was officially made Lord Protector in the year
1653. He ruled five years. He used this period to continue
the policies of Elizabeth. Spain once more became the arch
enemy of England and war upon the Spaniard was made a national
and sacred issue.
Pages:
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315