ly hour in the
morning, he desired his servant Herbert to ascertain the cause; but every
mouth was closed, and Herbert returned with the scanty information that a
Colonel Harrison had arrived. At the name the king turned pale, hastened
into the closet, and sought to relieve his terrors by private devotion. In
a letter which he had received at Newport, Harrison had been pointed out to
him as a man engaged to take his life. His alarm, however, was unfounded.
Harrison was a fanatic, but no murderer: he sought, indeed, the blood of
the king, but it was his wish that it should be shed by the axe of the
executioner, not by the dagger of the assassin. He had been appointed to
superintend the removal of the royal captive, and had come to arrange
matters with the governor, of whose fidelity some suspicion existed.
Keeping himself private during the days he departed in the night; and two
days later Charles was conducted with a numerous[b] escort to the royal
palace of Windsor.[2]

Hitherto, notwithstanding his confinement, the king had always been
served with the usual state; but at Windsor his meat was brought to table
uncovered and[c] by the hands of the soldiers; no say was given; no

[Footnote 1: Nalson, Trial of Charles I. Clarendon Papers, ii. App. ii.]

[Footnote 2: Herbert, 131-136, Rushworth, vii. 1375.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1648. Dec. 18.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1648. Dec. 23.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1648. Dec. 27.]

cup presented on the knee. This absence of ceremony made on the unfortunate
monarch a deeper impression than could have been expected. It was, he said,
the denial of that to him, which by ancient custom was due to many of his
subjects; and rather than submit to the humiliation, he chose to diminish
the number of the dishes, and to take his meals in private. Of the
proceedings against him he received no official intelligence; but he
gleaned the chief particulars through the inquiries of Herbert, and in
casual conversation with Witchcott the governor. The information was
sufficient to appal the stoutest heart; but Charles was of a most sanguine
temperament, and though he sought to fortify his mind against the worst, he
still cherished a hope that these menacing preparations were only intended
to extort from him the resignation of his crown. He relied on the
interposition of the Scots, the intercession of foreign powers, and the
attachment of many of his English subjects. He persuaded himself that his
very enemies wo