the
crowd through which the king had to pass as he went from the hall
scoffed and derided him. They blew the smoke of their tobacco in his
face, and threw their pipes at him. Some proceeded to worse
indignities than these, but the king bore all with quietness and
resignation.

The king was sentenced on Saturday. On the evening of that day he sent
a request that the Bishop of London might be allowed to assist at his
devotions, and that his children might be permitted to see him before
he was to die. There were two of his children then in England, his
youngest son and a daughter. The other two sons had escaped to the
Continent. The government granted both these requests. By asking for
the services of an Episcopal clergyman, Charles signified his firm
determination to adhere to the very last hour of his life to the
religious principles which he had been struggling for so long. It is
somewhat surprising that the government were willing to comply with
the request.

It was, however, complied with, and Charles was taken from the palace
of Whitehall, which is in Westminster, to the palace of St. James, not
very far distant. He was escorted by a guard through the streets. At
St. James's there was a small chapel where the king attended divine
service. The Bishop of London preached a sermon on the future
judgment, in which he administered comfort to the mind of the unhappy
prisoner, so far as the sad case allowed of any comfort, by the
thought that all human judgments would be reviewed, and all wrong made
right at the great day. After the service the king spent the remainder
of the day in retirement and private devotion.

During the afternoon of the day several of his most trusty friends
among the nobility called to see him, but he declined to grant them
admission. He said that his time was short and precious, and that he
wished to improve it to the utmost in preparation for the great change
which awaited him. He hoped, therefore, that his friends would not be
displeased if he declined seeing any persons besides his children. It
would do no good for them to be admitted. All that they could do for
him now was to pray for him.

The next day the children were brought to him in the room where he was
confined. The daughter, who was called the Lady Elizabeth, was the
oldest. He directed her to tell her brother James, who was the second
son, and now absent with Charles on the Continent, that he must now,
from the time of his father