after the failure of the numerous conferences which have been held between charles stuart and the commissioners of parliament, and after a trial in westminster hall the incidents of which it would be painful to recall, the court appointed for the purpose has reached a conclusion with which we think the mass of englishmen will, however reluctantly, agree. the courtesy and good feeling upon which we pride ourselves in our political life seem to have been strangely forgotten during the controversies of the last few months. it would be invidious to name particular instances, and we readily admit that the circumstances were abnormal. feeling ran high, and with englishmen at least, who are accustomed to call a spade a spade, strong words will follow upon strong emotions; but we can hope that the final decision of the[pg 315] court will have put behind us for ever one of the most critical periods of discussion, with all its deplorable excesses and wild and whirling words, which we can remember in modern times.

upon the principle of the conclusion to which the court has come there is a virtual unanimity. men as different as colonel harrison on the one hand and mr. justice bradshaw on the other, mr. cromwell—whom surely all agree in regarding as a representative englishman—and that very different character, mr. ireton, whom we do not always agree with, but who certainly stands for a great section of opinion, are at one upon a policy which has received no serious criticism, and recommends itself even to such various social types as the blunt soldier, colonel pride, and the refined aristocrat, lord grey of groby.

but though a matter of such supreme importance to the mass of the people, a measure which it is acknowledged will bring joy to the joyless, light to those who sit in darkness, and a new hope in their old age to fifteen millions[pg 316] of british working men and women, may be unanimously agreed to in principle, it is unfortunately possible to defeat even so beneficent a measure by tactics of delay and by a prolonged criticism upon detail. the government have therefore, in our opinion, acted wisely in determining to proceed with due expedition to the execution of charles stuart, and we do not anticipate any such resistance, even partial and sporadic, as certain rash freelances of politics have prophesied. there was indeed some time ago some doubt as to the success of a policy to which the government was pledged, and in spite of the strong and disciplined majority which they commanded in the house, in spite of the fact that the house was actually unanimous upon the general lines of that policy, many people up and down the country, who did not fully comprehend it, had been led to act rashly and even riotously against its proposals. all that we may fairly say is now over, and we trust that the government will have the firmness to go forward with a piece of work in which it now[pg 317] undoubtedly has the support of every class of society.

we should be the last to deny the importance of meeting any serious objection in detail that still remains. thus the inhabitants of charing cross have a legitimate grievance when they say that the scene of the execution will be hidden from them by the brick building which stands at the northern end of whitehall, but they must remember that all practical measures involve compromise and that if their point of view alone had been considered and the scaffold were to be erected upon the north of that annex, the crowd for which the home secretary has made such wise provision by the erection of strong temporary barriers in the court of the palace would have no chance of attending at the ceremony.

we confess that the more serious point seems to us to arise on the bishop of london's suggestion that only the clergy of the established church should be present upon the platform, and we very much fear that this pretension—in [pg 318]our view a very narrow and contemptible one—will receive the support of that large number of our fellow citizens which is still attached to the episcopal forms of christianity. but we take leave to remind them, and the bishop of london himself, that the present moment, when the free churches have so fully vindicated their rights to public recognition, is hardly one in which it is decent to press these old-fashioned claims of privilege.

there is a third matter which we cannot conclude without mentioning: we refer to the attitude of charles stuart himself. while the matter was still sub judice we purposely refrained from making any comment, as is the laudable custom, we are glad to say, in the country. but now the sentence has been pronounced we think it our duty to protest against the attitude of charles stuart during the last scene of this momentous political controversy. he is too much of an english gentleman and statesman to exaggerate the significance of our criticism, or to fail to understand the spirit in[pg 319] which it is offered, for that is entirely friendly, but he must surely recognise by this time, that such petty ebullitions of temper as he exhibited in refusing to plead and in wearing his hat in the presence of men of such eminence as mr. justice bradshaw were unworthy of him and of the great cause which he represents. he would have done well to take a lesson from the humble tipstaff of the court, who, though not required to do so by the judges, instantly removed his cap when they appeared and only put it on again when he was conducting the prisoner back after the rising of court.

finally, we hope that all those who have been permitted by the home secretary to be present at whitehall upon next tuesday will remember our national reputation for sobriety and judgment in great affairs of the state, and will be guilty of nothing that might make it necessary for the government to use severe measures utterly repugnant to the spirit of english liberty.