Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Arthur, Lord Capel

CAPEL, Arthur, Lord (c. 1600-1649), was the son of Sir Henry Capel. His birth year is not accurately known ; but it was about 1600. In 1610 he was chosen to represent the county of Hertford, and sat as a member of the Long Parliament, which was convened that year. He was elevated to the peerage by Charles I.; and on the break ing out of the revolutionary war he raised and maintained a troop in the royal interest, till the final triumph of the Parliamentarians compelled him to make peace with them. During the war he acted, together with Edward Hyde and Lord Colchester, as general in the west, and was concerned in important engagements at Bristol, Exeter, and Taunton. Having with noble devotion reassembled his troop in order to effect the rescue of Charles, he was forced by famine and sedition to surrender at Colchester to General Fairfax, and was condemned by the Commons to be banished ; but on the authority of some of the Parliamentary leaders he was immediately committed to the Tower. He contrived to eiFect his escape from prison, but was apprehended at Lambeth, and again committed to stand his trial at Westminster for treason. He was condemned to death, and was executed on the 9th of March 1649, exhibiting on the scaffold the greatest calmness and dignity. He was the author of Daily Observations or Meditations, a posthumous publication, which was afterwards reprinted under a difer- ent title, with an account of his life.