About ten o’clock Colonel Hacker knocked at the King’s chamber door, and, being admitted by Herbert, came in trembling, and announced to the King that it was time to go to Whitehall, where he might have further time to rest; and soon afterwards the King, taking the Bishop by the hand proposed to go.  Charles then walked out through the garden of the palace into the Park, where several companies of foot waited as his guard; and, attended by the Bishop on one side, and Colonel Tomlinson on the other, both bare-headed, he walked fast down the Park, sometimes cheerfully calling on the guard to “march apace.”  As he went along, he said, “he now went to strive for an heavenly crown, with less solicitude than he had often encouraged his soldiers to fight for an earthly diadem.”

At the end of the Park, the King[5] went up the stairs leading to the long gallery, and so into the Cabinet Chamber of the Palace of Whitehall.  Being delayed here in consequence of the scaffold not being ready, he offered up several prayers, and entered into religious discourse with the Bishop.  About twelve he ate some bread, and drank a glass of claret, declining to dine after he had received the sacrament.

[5] The late Sir Henry Englefield related a traditional anecdote, that Charles, in passing through the Park, pointed out a tree near the entrance from Spring Gardens (where the cows at present stand,) saying, “That tree was planted by brother Henry.”

When Charles arrived at Whitehall, the Colonels Hacker, Huncks, and Phayer produced to Tomlinson the warrant for his execution; and in the Horn Chamber the King was delivered by Tomlinson into the custody of those officers; Charles requested Tomlinson, however, to remain with him to the last, and acknowledged his kind and respectful conduct by presenting to him a gold toothpicker and case which he carried in his pocket.  Tomlinson also introduced to him Mr. Seymour, who brought a letter from the Prince to his father, with whom the King conversed, and charged him with various messages for the Prince.

In the mean time a different scene was passing in Ireton’s chamber, a small room in another part of the palace.  Ireton and Harrison were here in bed; and Cromwell, Axtell, Huncks, Hacker, and Phayer were present.  Cromwell commanded Huncks to draw up an order to the executioner pursuant to the warrant for the King’s execution.  Huncks refused; whereupon Cromwell was highly incensed, and called him a peevish, froward fellow; and Axtell exclaimed, “Colonel Huncks, I am ashamed of you:—­the ship is now coming into the harbour, and will you strike sail before we come to anchor?” Cromwell then went to a table, and, as it would appear, wrote the order to the executioner, and then gave the pen to Hacker, who, as one of the officers charged with the execution of the warrant, signed it.[6] Cromwell, and the rest of the officers, then went out of the chamber, and, in a few minutes, Hacker came and knocked