ncery which had for a long time been sitting there. The rest of the hall was cleared to accommodate the public. The King, who had spent his time at Windsor in meditation and prayer, was brought in a closed coach to the Palace of St James where he arrived on 19 January 1849. The High Court of Justice to try the King assembled on Saturday 20 January 1849. A roll call was conducted. The Commissioners were a motley crew of the Commons - a kind of jury but a specially selected one 14 . Many absentees were noted at the first roll call. Mr Justice Bradshaw's chair was somewhat raised in the middle of the front row. Cook and his colleagues appeared attired in their black barristers' gowns. On the order of Bradshaw, the King was brought into the Hall. Until this moment he did not know who constituted the Court and what were the charges. Cook rose to read the accusation to the King. It charged him with "high treason and high misdemeanours ... in the name of the commons of England" 15 . The King tried to interrupt. Bradshaw directed that the charge be read. The full instrument contended that the King had been "trusted with a limited power to govern by and according to the laws of the land and not otherwise". Instead, he had "traitorously and maliciously levied war against the present Parliament and the people therein represented". The charge concluded that he was "A Tyrant, traitor and murderer and a public and implacable Enemy to the Commonwealth of England" 16 . King Charles I, like the present Queen's father King George VI, had a speech impediment. He was not a good public speaker. However, the records of the trial (which are virtually verbatim ) and the accounts of many of the observers suggest that he spoke fluently, clearly and with strength. It is said that he was secretly instructed by Sir Mathew Hale, later to be Chief Justice after the Restoration 17 . When called up to answer to the Court he said 18 : "I would know by what power I am ca...
