The Court being sate, and the Prisoner at the Bar, Mr. Cook, Solicitor General, spake thus; My Lord, In behalf of the Commons of England, and of all the people thereof, I do accuse Charls Stuart, here present, of High Treason, and High Misde­meanors: And I do, in the name of the Commons of England, desire the Charge may be read unto Him, which the Clerk then read, as followeth;

THat the said CHARLS STUART, being admitted King of England, and therein trusted with a limited Power, to Govern by, and accord­ing to the Laws of the Land, and not otherwise; And by his Trust, Oath, and Of­fice, being obliged to use the power committed to him, For the good and benefit of the People, and for the preservation of their Rights and Liber­ties; Yet nevertheless, out of a wicked Design, to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and Tyrannicall power, to rule according to his Will, [Page 4] and to overthrow the Rights and Liberties of the People; Yea, to take away, and make void the foundations thereof, and of all redress and remedy of mis-government, which by the fun­damental Constitutions of this Kingdom, were reserved on the Peoples behalf, in the Right and Power of frequent and successive Parlia­ments, or Nationall meetings in Councell; He, the said Charls Stuart, for accomplishment of such his Designs, and for the protecting of himself and his adherents, in His and Their wicked Practises to the same Ends, hath Trayte­rously and maliciously levyed War against the present Parliament, & the People therein Represented.

Particularly, upon or about the thirtieth day of Iune, in the yeer of our Lord, One thousand six hundred forty and two, At Be­verly, in the County of York; And upon, or about the thirtieth day of Iuly, in the yeer a­foresaid, in the County of the City of York; And upon, or about the twenty fourth day of August, in the same yeer, at the County of the Town of Nottingham (when, and where He set up His Standard of War;) And also on, or about the twenty third day of October, in the same yeer, at Edg-Hill, and Keinton field, in the Coun­ty of Warwick; And upon, or about the thirti­eth [Page 5] day of November, in the same yeer, at Brainchford, in the County of Middlesex: And upon, or about the thirtieth day of August, in the yeer of our Lord, One thousand six hundred fourty and three, at Cavesham-bridg, neer Red­ing, in the County of Berks; And upon, or about the thirtieth day of October, in the yeer last mentioned, at, or neer the City of Glocester; And upon, or about the thirtieth day of Novem­ber, in the yeer last mentioned, at Newbery, in the County of Berks; And upon, or about the one and thirtieth day of Iuly, in the yeer of our Lord, One thousand six hundred fourty and four, at Cropredy-bridg, in the County of Oxon; And upon, or about the thirtieth day of Septem­ber, in the yeer last mentioned, at Bodmin, and other places neer adjacent, in the County of Cornwal; And upon, or about the thirtieth day of November, in the yeer last mentioned, at New­bery aforesaid; And upon, or about the eighth day of Iune, in the yeer of our Lord, one thou­sand six hundred forty and five, at the Town of Leicester; And also, upon the fourteenth day of the same moneth, in the same yeer, at Naseby­field, in the County of Northampton. At which several times and places, or most of them, and at many other places in this Land, at several [Page 6] other times, within the yeers aforementioned: And in the yeer of our Lord, One thousand six hundred fourty and six, He the said Charls Stuart, hath caused and procured many thou­sands of the free-people of the Nation to be slain; and by Divisions, Parties, and Insurrections, within this Land, by invasions from forraign parts, endevored and procured by Him, and by many other evil ways and means. He the said Charls Stuart, hath not onely maintained and carryed on the said War, both by Land and Sea, during the yeers before mentioned; but also hath renewed, or caused to be renewed, the said War against the Parliament, and good people of this Na­tion, in this present yeer, One thousand six hundred forty and eight, in the Counties of Kent, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and many other Counties and places in England and Wales, and also by Sea; And particularly, He the said Charls Stuart, hath for that purpose, Given Commissions to his Son, the Prince, and others, whereby, Besides multitudes of other persons, many such, as were by the Parliament intrusted and imployed, for the safety of the Nation; being by Him or His Agents, corrupted; to the betray­ing of their Trust, and revolting from the Par­liament, have had entertainment and commissi­on, [Page 8] for the continuing and renewing of War and Hostility, against the said Parliament and People, as aforesaid. By which cruel and unnatural Wars by Him, the said Charls Stuart, levyed, continued, and renewed, as aforesaid, much Innocent blood of the Free-people of this Nation hath been spilt; many Families have been un­done, the Publike Treasury wasted and exhausted, Trade obstructed, and miserably decayed; vast ex­pence and damage to the Nation incurred, and many parts of the Land spoyled, some of them even to desolation.

And for further prosecution of His said evil Designs, He, the said Charls Stuart, doth still continue his Commissions to the said Prince, and other Rebels and Revolters, both English and Forraigners; and to the Earl of Ormond, and to the Irish Rebels and Revolters, associated with him; from whom further Invasions upon this Land are threatned, upon the procurement, and on the behalf of the said Charls Stuart.

All which wicked Designs, Wars, and evill pra­ctises of Him, the said Charls Stuart, have been, and are carryed on, for the advancing and up­holding of the Personal Interest of Will and Power, and pretended Prerogative to Himself and his Family, against the publike Interest, Common Right, Liberty, Justice, and Peace [Page 6] [...] [Page 8] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page 8] Of the People of this Nation, by, and for whom he was entrusted, as aforesaid.

By all which it appeareth, that He, the said Charls Stuart hath been, and is the Occasioner, Author, and Contriver of the said Unnaturall, Cruell, and bloody Wars, and therein guilty of all the Treasons, Murthers, Rapines, Burnings, Spoiles, Desolations, Damage and Mischief to this Nation, acted or committed in the said Wars, or occasioned thereby.

And the said Iohn Cook, by Protestation (saving on the behalf of the People of England, the li­berty of Exhibiting at any time hereafter, any other Charge against the said Charls Stuart; and also of replying to the Answers which the said Charls Stuart shall make to the Premises, or a­ny of them, or any other Charge that shall be so Exhibited) doth, for the said Treasons and Crimes, on the behalf of the said People of Eng­land, Impeach the said Charls Stuart, as a Tyrant, Traytor, Murtherer, and a publike, and Implacable Enemy to the Common-wealth of England: And pray, That the said Charls Stuart, King of Eng­land, may be put to answer All and Every the [...]remises, That such Proceedings, Examinations, [...]ryals, Sentence, and Iudgment may be thereup­on had, or shall be agreeable to Justice.