wall as the nonconformists, and was received with silent repugnance.
On the 25th of October was issued the promised declaration for healing the strife. It went to unite the presbyterian form of government with the episcopal. There were to be presbyteries and synods, and no bishop was to ordain ministers or exercise the censures of the church without the advice and assistance of the presbyteries. Presbyters were to be elected deans and canons; a number of divines of each sect was to be chosen by the king to revise the liturgy, and all points of difference should be left unsettled till this revision was made; and no person should be molested on account of taking the sacrament standing or kneeling, for making the sign of the cross in baptism or not making, for bowing or not bowing at the name of Jesus, for wearing or not wearing the surplice. The presbyterians were delighted at the prospect thus afforded of free admission to good livings and dignities; but the episcopalians intended nothing less than that any such thing should ever come to pass.
With more earnest intention the government proceeded to judge the regicides, and soon stepped up to the knees in blood. On the 9th of October the trials commenced at the Old Bailey, before thirty-four commissioners appointed for the purpose. These were Sir Thomas Alleyn, lord mayor elect, lord chancellor Clarendon, the earl of Southampton, the duke of Somerset, the duke of Albemarle, the marquis of Ormond, the earls of Lindsay, Manchester, Dorset, Berkshire, Sandwich, late admiral Montague, the lords Saye and Sele, Roberts, and Finch, Sir Frederick Cornwallis, Sir Charles Berkeley, Denzell Hollis, Mr Secretary Nicholas, Mr. Secretary Morrice, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, Arthur Annesley, Esq., Sir. Justice Foster, Mr. Justice Mallet, Mr Justice Hyde, Mr. Baron Atkins, Sir Justice Twisden, Mr Justice Tyrrol, Mr. Baron Turner, Sir Harbottle Grimstone, Sir William Wild, recorder of London, Mr. Serjeant Brown, Mr. Serjeant Hale, and Mr. John Howel. The counsel for the crown were Sir Geoffrey Palmer, attorney-general. Sir Heneage Finch, solicitor-general. Sir Edward Turner, attorney to the duke of York, Serjeant Keeling, and Mr Wadham Windham.
Perhaps it would be impossible, in all the long history of oppressions, to point out a set of more objectionable judges. They consisted of the present king's ministers, the ordinary judges yet depending on the crown, and therefore not free from suspicion of bias, royalists, and of presbyterians who had been mortally opposed to the republican regicides, and who had all been grievously beaten and humiliated by them. Every evil passion was, therefore, let loose from the bench on the devoted prisoners, and the known expectation of the court; was not, therefore, likely to be disappointed. That such men as Monk, who had continued Cromwell's right hand man to the last, Denzell Hollis, the earl of Manchester, Finch, Annesley, and Bridgman, Ashley Cooper, Saye and Sele, who had all been engaged in the war against Charles I., should be suffered to sit in judgment on their fellow revolutionists, was monstrous. True bills were found against nineteen of the prisoners, namely—Sir Hardress Waller, Harrison, Carew, Cook, Hugh Peters, Scott, Clement, Scrope, Jones, Hacker, Axtell, Heveningham, Marten, Millington, Tichbourn, Row, Kilburn, Harvey, Pennington, Smith, Downes, Potter, Garland, Fleetwood, Meyn, J, Temple, P. Temple, Hewlet, and Waite.
The first man tried was Waller, who pleaded guilty, and had his life spared; the second was Harrison, the late major-general. Harrison was a sincere and honest fifth-monarchy man. He conscientiously believed that Christianity required all governments to be carried on in the name and under the authority of the Saviour. He was not wrong in his doctrine, which all true Christians hold, but in his imagination that the world was a world capable of such a government for ages to come. He was an enthusiast, but no fool. On the contrary, he had on all occasions shown the perfect command which Christian principles had over his mind; and well would it have been for the world could it have adopted his faith. He had borne his decided testimony against Cromwell for his usurpation of the supreme authority, and had been imprisoned by him for it. He now stood before the court with the simple and heroic dignity of a man who felt assured that his views were sound, and that his heart was upright before God. Hume, in describing this scene, says, "Can anyone without concern for human blindness and ignorance consider the demeanour of general Harrison when brought to his trial? With great courage and elevation of sentiment, he told the court that the pretended crime of which he stood accused, was not a deed done in a corner. The sound of it had gone forth to most nations; and in the singular and marvellous conduct of it, had chiefly appeared the sovereign power of heaven. That he himself, agitated by doubts, had often, with passionate tears, offered up his addresses to the Divine Majesty, and earnestly sought for light and conviction. He had still received the assurance of heavenly sanction, and returned from these devout supplications with more serious tranquillity and satisfaction. That all the nations of the earth were, in the eyes of their Creator, less than a drop in the bucket, nor were their erroneous judgments aught but darkness compared with divine illuminations That these frequent illapses of the Divine Spirit he could not suspect to be interested illusions, since he was conscious that for no temporal advantage would he offer injury to the poorest man or woman that trod the earth. That all the allurements of ambition, all the terrors of imprisonment, had not been able, during the usurpation of Cromwell, to shake his steady resolution, or bind him to a compliance with that deceitful tyrant. That when invited by him to sit on the right hand of the throne, when offered riches and splendour and dominion, he had disdainfully rejected all temptations; and, neglecting the tears of his friends and family, had still, through every danger, held fast his principles and his integrity."
The blindness and ignorance our times will apply to the historian rather than to the prisoner. Harrison stood there the undaunted patriot, who had acted conscientiously, the result of sincere prayer and application to God. He had not done in a fit of enthusiasm what cooler moments had led him to repent. He retained the same conviction of his having done what was right, a conviction that we believe will be shared by a large majority who weigh that great action, its motives, its necessity, and its consequences. No accused patriot ever stood in a more noble and assured attitude than general Harrison, whose life had stamped the
