sidering whose hat this could be, a man without a hat was seen very quietly walking before the door, and was heard to say, "I am he!" He seemed to glory in his crime, and to the last moment he never would confess that he had done any thing wrong.

It would be very long to tell you of all the troubles of this reign; the history of this rebellion takes up whole volumes. The Parliament took up arms against the King, and there were many battles between the King's army and their's. It is dreadful to think of the miseries and slaughter which filled the kingdom; and to reflect, that these were all among fellow countrymen, who ought to live like friends and brothers, instead of quarrelling and killing one another.

During these wars, Oliver Cromwell came forward as an officer in the Parliamentary army, and he beat the King's army at the battle of Marstonmoor. But it was at the battle of Naseby, in Northamptonshire, that the King suffered such a loss as he was never able to recover. He was in this battle in person, but was obliged to retreat; and Cromwell and his friends gained a complete victory. King Charles fled to Oxford, where he had always found steady and loyal supporters, but the place was not strong enough to protect him, and he would soon have fallen into the hands of the Parliamentary forces, commanded by Fairfax, had he not resolved to put himself under the protection of the Scotch army, where he was in hopes that he should find friends. He was, however, deceived. The Parliament offered to pay a large sum of money to the Scots, and they gave up their King. The Scotch army returned home loaded with the riches which they had earned by this treacherous and disgraceful action.

Oliver Cromwell may now be considered as the chief man in this great rebellion. He was the son of a gentleman in Huntingdonshire; his fortune

was but small, and there seemed nothing in his character which could give any reason to expect that he should ever become so great a man. He was rough in his person, very slovenly in his dress, and had a very stammering and awkward manner of expressing himself. By perseverance, however, he got to be the leader in this rebellion, and to carry every thing his own way. The King, after being harassed and imprisoned, and moved from one place to another, was now a prisoner in Hamptoncourt. After this, he was confined in Carisbrookcastle, in the Isle of Wight; then he was conveyed to Hurst-castle, in Hampshire: he was afterwards brought to Windsor, and then to London. Many of his subjects who saw him could not help grieving to perceive his altered appearance: he looked pale and sickly; his hair had become grey with sorrow, he had suffered his beard to grow, and his apparel shewed all the marks of his poverty and distress. Nobody could see him without feeling for his sufferings.

He was soon brought to trial; and when he was produced before his judges, he sat down with all the dignity of a King, without moving his hat, or shewing, by any such sign, that he acknowledged their power over him. The charge against him was then read, and he was accused of being the cause of all the bloodshed since the beginning of the rebellion. At this the King could not help shewing by his looks how false and unjust he considered this accusation. He was four times brought before this assembly of the Commons, but never would allow that it was a fair court of justice, or that it had any right to try him. They were, however, determined to bring him to execution; and on the fourth day they accordingly pronounced sentence against him. When he returned to Whitehall, he begged to be allowed to see his children, and to have the Bishop of London (Dr. Juxon), to assist him in his

prayers. He was allowed three days to prepare for execution. All of his family that were now in England were the Princess Elizabeth, and the Duke of Gloucester, a child of about three years of age. He gave the Princess some pious and good advice; and then he took his little son in his arms, and said, "My child, they will cut off thy father's head, and will, perhaps, make thee a king; but remember, thou must not be a king as long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive. They will cut off their heads when they can take them; and they will cut off thy head at last, and therefore I charge thee do not be made a king by them." The child, bursting into tears, replied, "I will be torn in pieces first."

It is said, that the King's mind was so firm, that he slept as well as usual every night between the sentence and the execution, though the noise of the workmen, who were raising the scaffold, was continually within reach of his ears.

It was on the 30th of January that the bloody sentence was put in execution. The scaffold was so contrived that it was on a level with one of the windows at Whitehall: it was covered with black, and upon it were the block and the axe, and two executioners in masks. The King then came forth, attended by his faithful friend and servant Bishop Juxon.

Whilst he was preparing himself for the block, the good Bishop said to him, "There is, Sir, but one stage more, which, though turbulent and troublesome, is yet a very short one. It will carry you a great way. It will carry you from earth to heaven; and there you shall find, to your great joy, the prize to which you hasten, a crown of glory. "I go," replied the King, "from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can have place." "You exchange," replied the Bishop, "a temporal for an eternal crown; a good ex

change!" Then the King laid his neck on the block, and one of the executioners severed his head from his body at one blow; and the other, holding it up, exclaimed, "This is the head of a traitor." The people who saw this sad sight, shewed the most mournful signs of grief and sorrow, and seemed to blame themselves for being patient spectators of so horrible a deed.

Charles was executed in the 49th year of his age, and the 24th of his reign. "He was of a middling stature, robust, and well proportioned. His countenance was pleasing, but melancholy, and this mournful cast was probably brought on by the troubles and afflictions which he had so long endured.

Believe me your affectionate father,

T. S.

KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL.

IN reading the Old Testament with children, we have sometimes seen them a good deal puzzled at the names of the kings of Judah and of Israel. Finding that the Jewish people are sometimes called Israelites, it has been a matter of some difficulty to beginners to understand, why, at another time, the Jews, or the people of Judah, are mentioned as a different people from those of Israel. A few words may, perhaps, explain this. The Jewish nation was divided into twelve tribes, from the sons of Jacob, or, as they are sometimes called, the children of Israel, After their settlement in the promised land, they were governed by Judges. But, after a time, they grew weary of this government, and begged to have a King set over them. Their first king was Saul. After him came David; and then Solomon, the son of David. Then Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became king; but Jeroboam, his servant, rebelled against him, and was joined by ten of the tribes.

The tribes of Judah and Benjamin were the only two that remained stedfast to their king. These, and their descendants, were called the house of Judah. The ten tribes, and their descendants, were called the House of Israel. The following table will serve as an explanation of this, and shew us the succession of the kings both of Judah and of Israel.

The following extracts, chiefly from Bishop Tomline, will throw more light on this subject.

"The extreme folly of Rehoboam's conduct upon his ascending the throne, induced ten of the tribes to revolt immediately, and they chose Jeroboam for their king. Thus two kingdoms were formed; that under Jeroboam and his successors, was called the kingdom of Israel; and that under Rehoboam