authority again. All men were therefore much relieved when at last peace was made with Scotland, and the Scottish and English armies were both broken up and sent back to their homes, so that Charles might no longer be tempted to try to employ either of them against Parliament.

3. Ecclesiastical Parties.--The whole of the House of Commons was of one mind in wishing the king to consult his Parliament, and to govern according to law. But there was one subject on which there was no agreement. The bishops had oppressed the Puritans so much in Laud's time that most of the Puritans wished that there should be no bishops at all, and they also wished that the Prayer Book should be altered. On the other hand there were many men in the House of Commons who wished that there should still be bishops in the Church and that the Prayer Book should remain exactly, or nearly exactly, as it was. In the summer of 1641 there were two parties in the House nearly equal, which always voted against one another whenever anything was to be done about the Church. Pym and Hampden were the chief men of those who wanted some change to be made. Hyde and Falkland were the chief men of those who wished things to remain as they were. No one thought it possible that every one should be allowed to do as he thought right, and that there might be some churches where one Prayer Book was used, and some churches where another was used, and other churches, again, where there was no Prayer Book at all.

4. The Rebellion in Ireland.-At the time when

the two parties were growing angry with one another, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. The Irish of Ulster, whose lands had been taken away in James's reign, drove out the English and Scottish colonists who were in possession of those lands. The Irish knew that they had been wronged, and they were ignorant and cruel. They murdered a great many of the colonists, and stripped a great number of men and women of their clothes, leaving them to wander naked through the country in the cold winter nights. The story was bad enough as it really was, but it was far worse as it was told in England. The Parliament resolved that an army must be sent to Ireland. Unhappily when the soldiers arrived they treated the Irish without mercy, and massacred not only men, but even women and children.

5. The Grand Remonstrance and the Attempt on the Five Members.-Pym and his friends in the House of Commons were afraid lest if the king appointed the officers of this army he would be able to use it against Parliament as well as against the Irish. They therefore drew up a long paper called the Grand Remonstrance in which they found fault with all that Charles had done since the beginning of his reign, and asked him never to appoint any ministers except such as Parliament should approve of. They also asked him to allow a number of clergymen to meet to consider what alterations should be made in the Prayer Book. Charles refused to do this, and though the greater number of the Commons were against him, the greater number of the Lords were for him. The mob from the City came to threaten

the Lords, and especially the bishops.

Charles

determined to accuse five members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords as traitors for having resisted his authority. The House of Commons refused to deliver them up, and the king came to the House to take them, followed by three or four hundred armed men. When he reached the House he looked round, and found that the five members were gone. He commanded the speaker to tell him where they were. Sir,' said the speaker, 'I have neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear, save as this House shall please to direct me.' The king left the House without discovering where the five members were. The next day he learned that they were in the City, and he went there to take them. The citizens refused to give them up. A few days later the citizens in arms escorted them back to Westminster. Charles left London rather than see the triumph of his enemies.

6. Breach between the King and the Parliament.— For some months the king and the House of Commons argued with one another. The Commons did. not trust the king. They thought he would bring foreign soldiers into England to attack them, and they asked him to let the Parliament appoint the officers of the militia. As there was no regular army in England then, the country was defended by men who were drilled for a few days every year, and spent the rest of their time in looking after their farms or keeping their shops. These men were called the militia. If an enemy invaded the country these men were bound to come together to resist him. Up

to this time their commanders had been appointed by the king, but the House of Commons were too much afraid of the king to allow these to be appointed by him any longer. Charles would not give up his right of appointing the officers. He went to York and summoned his faithful subjects to join him there.

Nearly half the House of Commons and more than half the House of Lords supported him. Some of these men were ready to fight for him because he was the king, but a great many more fought for him because they did not want to see the Prayer Book altered. At last, in August 1642, he set up his standard at Nottingham, as a sign that he in

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