tended to march against Parliament. The civil war had begun. Those who took the side of the king were known as Cavaliers, meaning horsemen, or gentlemen; whilst those who took the side of the

Parliament were nicknamed Roundheads, because being Puritans they cut their hair short.

7. The Beginning of the first Civil War.-For some time the King prospered. The first battle was fought at Edgehill. Neither side gained the victory, but as the Parliamentarians retreated, the king had

the advantage. He entered Oxford and made it his head-quarters for the rest of the war. Then he marched towards London and reached Brentford. The citizens of London took arms and went to Turnham Green. The two armies looked at one another, but there was no fighting. If the king had taken London the war would have been over, as the London merchants were so rich that the Parliament could not have paid its army without their help. The next year, 1643, sometimes one had the better, and sometimes the other. Hampden was killed on the side of the Parliament, and Falkland on the side of the king. On the whole, however, the king gained more than he lost. The whole of the north and west of England was in his hands. At the end of the year Pym died worn out with anxiety. So little chance did the Parliament appear to have that its leaders invited the Scots to help them. In 1644 the Scots crossed the border and joined an English army. The two forces together completely defeated the king's army in the north at Marston Moor near York. From this time the king began to lose ground.

8. Presbyterians and Independents.-Amongst the Puritans themselves there were now two parties. The greater number of the members of the House of Commons who had taken part against the king were Presbyterians. They had ordered that there should be no more bishops in the Church, and that the Prayer Book should not be used any more, but they were not at all willing that congregations should meet to hear doctrines preached of which

the Presbyterian clergy did not approve. There were, however, a few members who were called Independents. These thought that every congregation should settle its own religion for itself, and that every man, or at least every Puritan, should be free to worship God as he thought right. The head of this party was Oliver Cromwell. At the beginning of war he had been a captain in the army and had filled his company with Puritans who were determined to fight for their religion. As the war went on he became a general, and always filled his regiments with men of the same sort. He soon found that these men, though they were all Puritans, were not all agreed about religion. One soldier was a Baptist, another an Independent, another a Presbyterian. Cromwell thought that when he made a man an officer he ought to take the best soldier, without asking what his religious opinions were, provided that he was a good man and a Puritan. He thought too that members of Parliament and persons in office in the State should be chosen in the same way. The Presbyterians did not like this, and thought that people who were not Presbyterians should not be allowed to have office.

9. The Self-denying Ordinance and the New Model. -Most of the generals of the army were Presbyterians, and would rather have made an agreement with the king than have allowed Cromwell to do as he wished in this matter. As they did not want to beat the king too much, they did not beat him at all, and as most people were tired of the war, Cromwell was able to persuade Parliament to pass what

was called the Self-denying Ordinance, which forbade any member of Parliament to be also an officer in the army. As the chief Presbyterian generals were also members of Parliament, this made them give up their posts in the army. Cromwell was also a member of Parliament, but he was such a good general that he was allowed to remain as an officer. A new set of officers were appointed. The General was to be Fairfax, and the Lieutenant-General Cromwell. The army after this change was called the New Model.

10. End of the First Civil War and the Negotiations with the King.-The New Model met the king in 1645 at Naseby, and defeated him utterly. The next year his condition was hopeless. He rode off to the Scots and surrendered himself to them. They wanted him to set up a Presbyterian church government in England. As he would not do this. they gave him up to the English Parliament, which lodged him at Holmby House in Northamptonshire. He had not been long there when the English army quarrelled with the Parliament. The Presbyterians in Parliament wanted to send the soldiers home without paying them. The soldiers said that they would not go home without being paid, and they also said that they had fought for their religion, and that they would remain armed till they were sure that they would be allowed to worship as they thought right. They marched to London and turned some of the leading Presbyterians out of Parliament. The army was now master of England. Before this it had taken possession of the king, and had lodged him at Hampton Court. The officers offered to allow the worship of the

Church of England to be set up again, provided that no one was compelled to attend it who did not wish to do so, and that full religious liberty was granted to all Protestants. Charles would not hear of this, and soon afterwards he escaped to the Isle of Wight.

11. The Second Civil War and the Execution of Charles I.-Charles was not allowed to remain at large. He was lodged in Carisbrook Castle, near

Newport. Persons were sent by the Parliament to negotiate with him. While Charles was arguing with them in a friendly way, he was preparing for a second civil war. In the spring there was an insurrection in his favour in Wales, in Kent, and in Essex. A Scotch army, this time taking his part, invaded the north of England. Charles himself tried to escape