e
did not hesitate. He still hoped that the pacific party in Parliament
would overcome the more violent, and that the tyranny of a small
minority toward which the country appeared to be drifting would be
nipped in the bud.

The divisions, indeed, in the Parliament were far greater than in the
councils of the king. Between the Independents and the Presbyterians a
wide gulf existed. The latter party, which was much the more numerous in
Parliament, and which had moreover the countenance and alliance of the
Scotch Presbyterians, viewed with the greatest jealousy the increasing
arrogance of the Independents and of the military party. They became
alarmed when they saw that they were rapidly drifting from the rule of
the king to that of Cromwell, and that while they themselves would be
satisfied with ample concessions and a certain amount of toleration, the
Independents were working for much more than this. Upon the Presbyterian
side, Lord Essex was regarded as their champion with the army, as
against Cromwell, Fairfax, and Ireton. So strong did the feeling become
that it was moved in the Commons "that no member of either House should,
during the war, enjoy or execute any office or command, civil or
military." A long and furious debate followed; but the ordinance was
passed by the Lower House, and went up to the Lords, and was finally
passed by them.

Now, however, occurred an episode which added greatly to the religious
hatred prevailing between the two parties, and shocked many of the
adherents of the Parliament by the wanton bigotry which it displayed.
Archbishop Laud had now lain for four years in prison, and by an
ordinance of Parliament, voted by only seven lords, he was condemned for
high treason, and was beheaded on the 10th of January. This cruel and
unnecessary murder showed only too plainly that the toleration which the
Dissenters had clamored for meant only toleration for themselves, and
intolerance toward all others; and a further example of this was given
by the passing of an ordinance forbidding the use of the Liturgy of the
Church of England in any place of worship in the country.

Rendered nervous by the increasing power of the Independents, the
majority in Parliament now determined to open fresh negotiations with
the king, and these offered a fairer prospect of peace than any which
had hitherto preceded them. Commissioners were appointed by Parliament
and by the king, and these met at Uxbridge, a truce bei