She proposed to him to
take an armed force with him, and proceed boldly to the halls where
the Parliament was assembled, and arrest the leaders of the party who
were opposed to him. There were five of them who were specially
prominent. The queen believed that if these five men were seized and
imprisoned in the Tower, the rest would be intimidated and overawed,
and the monarch's lost authority and power would be restored again.
The king was persuaded, partly by the dictates of his own judgment,
and partly by the urgency of the queen, to make the attempt. The
circumstances of this case, so far as the action of the king was
concerned in them, are fully related in the history of Charles the
First. Here we have only to speak of the queen, who was left in a state
of great suspense and anxiety in her palace at Whitehall while her
husband was gone on his dangerous mission.
The plan of the king to make this irruption into the great legislative
assembly of the nation had been kept, so they supposed, a very profound
secret, lest the members whom he was going to arrest should receive
warning of their danger and fly.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33