him, Charles yielded. Strafford was at once executed, and the throngs that came to see the great traitor die went home rejoicing. Laud did not meet his fate till 1645, four years later.
11. The Grand Remonstrance.—Parliament was not content with removing the men who gave the king bad advice. It sought to prevent bad government in the future, and to make sure that Parliaments should be called it passed a ‘‘Triennial Act,” by which it was ordered that a Parliament should meet, at least once in every three years. But through its fear of being dissolved, it went too far, and made Charles consent to a bill decreeing that Parliament should not be dissolved without its own consent. It passed laws against illegal taxation, and condemned the decision the judges had given in the case of Hampden and ship-money. The chief leaders in Parliament of those opposed to the king were Pym and Hampden; but a party arose that thought the king was being harshly treated, and that Parliament was exceeding its rightful authority. Pym and his followers wanted to take the command of the army and navy, and the appointment of great officers in the State, out of the king’s hands, as they could no longer trust him. These demands caused a great many to go over to the king’s side, and such moderate men as Lord Falkland and Edward Hyde became leaders of a party which wished to keep the king from acts of tyranny, and yet leave him his ordinary power and authority. Thus we see that now there were two parties in Parliament, and as time passed the feeling between them became very bitter. This feeling was increased by terrible news from Ireland. When Strafford returned to England, he left no one behind strong enough to keep peace, and to prevent the English and Irish from flying at each other’s throats. A dreadful massacre took place in 1641, in which the English settlers, being few in number suffered most. The Irish leaders said that they were acting, under Charles’ authority. This was not true, but many people believed it. This they did the more readily because Charles was very cool and unconcerned when the news of the rising and massacre reached him.
Pym and Hampden, seeing what a strong following Charles had in Parliament, determined to rouse the nation by bringing in a bill called the ‘‘Grand Remonstrance,” in which all the king’s
