Adrian Scroope
1601-1660
Born: Lewkner, Oxfordshire, , England
Died: Charing Cross, London, , England
1601-1660
Born: Lewkner, Oxfordshire, , England
Died: Charing Cross, London, , England
<font size="2">From: http://www.scroope.net/ancestors/cockerington/coladrianscrope1600.htm</font><br><p><font face="Old English Text MT" color="#0000a0">Colonel Adrian Scrope of Wormsley, Oxfordshire - born about 1600</font></p> <hr> <p>Adrian Scrope was a son of Sir Adrian Scrope of Hambleden, Bucks. He was born about 12 January, 1600-01. <font size="3">He was a direct descendant of the family of Buckinghamshire, the head of which was ennobled. He himself occupied the Scrope mansion at Wormsley, Oxfordshire, England. </font></p> <p>He married Mary Waller (born 1605; died 1660 in Charing Cross, London, England) on 29 November, 1624 in Southwark, Surrey, England. They had children: </p><ul><li>Edmund Scrope - born 1626 in Southwark, Surrey, England; died 1658 </li><li>Robert Scrope - born 1628 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Thomas Scrope - born 1630 in Southwark, Surrey, England; christened 11 September, 1630 in Bristol; died about 1658</li><li>Margaret - born 1632 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Ann - born 1634 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>William Scrope - born 19 March, 1636 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England; possible alias as a Throope who died 4 December, 1704 and was buried in East Burial Ground Cem, Bristol, Rhode Island </li><li>Margaret - born 6 February, 1639 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Mary - born 1640 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Margaret - born 1642 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Elizabeth - born 1644 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li><li>Adrian Scrope - born 1646 in Southwark, Surrey, England</li></ul> <p>He was believed to be the regicide, Col. Adrian Scrope, whose signature is on the death warrant of King Charles I. <font size="3">Colonel Adrian Scrope was prominent under Cromwell in the Great Rebellion; fought at Edgehill and other battles, was Governor of Bristol Castle, a Commissioner to Scotland, and was appointed one of the High Court of Justice which condemned Charles the First to be beheaded. He attended that Court with exemplary regularity, sat close to Bradshaw, the President, was 37th to sign the death warrant on Jan. 27, 1648. During the political revolutions of 1659-60, he apparently remained neutral and had some prospect of escape at the Restoration of Charles the Second. He surrendered himself in obedience to the King's proclamation; the House of Commons voted he should have the benefit of the Act of Indemnity on payment of one year's rent, but the House of Lords ordered all the King's judges to be arrested and excepted Scrope absolutely from pardon. Later, the Commons reiterated their vote in Scrope's favour, but the Lords remained firm. Taken altogether, this was an inexcusable breach of faith, as Scrope had surrendered in reliance upon the King's proclamation. </font></p> <p><font size="3">At his Trial, held at Old Bailey, Oct. 12, 1660, Scrope defended himself with dignity and moderation. He admitted, reluctantly, that he had signed the death warrant of Charles the First. Pleaded that "he was not in the parliament, and that which was done in the high court of justice, it was done by a commission from the parliament, and it was that authority that was then accounted the supreme authority of the nation." Answering this plea, the presiding judge gave an exposition of the British Constitution, showed that the so-called Parliament which had appointed the High Court of Justice was not only unconstitutional but unrepresentative, for "there was but forty-six sat, whereas there were above two hundred and forty excluded," and said : "When men shall assume their acts by obeying them, it is an aggravation." Scrope then pleaded : "If I have been misled, I am not a single person that has been misled, for I see a great many faces that were misled at that time as well as myself," and "I hope that an error of the judgement shall not be accounted an error of the will, for I never went to the work with a malicious heart," to which Lord Chief Barron replied : "If a man do an act of this nature, that may be some kind of excuse to God, but towards man you are to look to the fact." Scrope then reminded the Court that he had surrendered himself on the King's proclamation, but Richard Browne, lord mayor elect of London, in whom "there was great meanness, if not worse," certainly a renegade, for he had been formerly a major-general in the parliamentary army and a kind of a friend of Scrope's, now anxious to prove his loyalty to the new regime, swore that since the restoration of Charles the Second, Scrope had used words apparently justifying the late King's execution and had not pronounced it murder, saying "some are of the opinion, and some of another," and this evidence, which also led to the abandonment of Scrope by the Commons, sealed his fate and he was executed at Charing Cross</font>, London, England<font size="3"> on Oct. 17, 1660, </font>aged 58<font size="3">. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The Chief Justice, who treated Scrope with great civility and was as just as could be expected at the time, stated : "Mr. Scrope to give him his due is not such a person as some of the rest, but he was unhappily engaged in this bloody business." Noble in his "Lives of the Regicides," states : "It was a thousand pities that if so many were to die as public examples, some of the others were equally guilty of the King's death, and whose lives were a disgrace to any cause, were not substituted in hes stead." Ludlow, a contemporary, said : "His port and mean were noble, and the endowments of his mind every way answerable," and an account of his behaviour in prison and at the gallows describes him as "a comely ancient gentleman," and dwells on his cheerfulness and courage. The night preceeding his death, a nephew came to him in his dungeon and requested him to repent of the part he acted in the King's death, and submit to the present King's mercy, to which he replied, "avoid satan," and this same night he composed himself and "slept so sound he snored." At the gallows he referred to "him through whose means I was brought here to suffer, I say no more, the Lord forgives him, I shall not name him," and in his last prayer, he asked for "strength to stand and endure the present hour of temptation," after which the executioner performed his bloody office.</font></p>
<p>He was believed to be the regicide, Col. Adrian Scrope, whose signature is on the death warrant of King Charles I Stuart. Adrian Scrope was executed in 1660 as retribution for this deed, on the restoration of the English monarchy.<br>Christening, January 12, 1599/60<br>Disk 11-267 Colonel Adrian Scrope was a member of the English Parliament and one of the members who formed the High Court of Justice that tried and found guilty King Charles I of England and then imposed the death penalty on the King on January 30, 1649. Several years later, after Oliver Cromwell died, Sir Adrian and the other conspirators were put into prison. While there Sir Adrian met with his sons including William and suggested that as he was certain to be executed for his role in the High Court of Justice, it might be that the conspirators sons would also be arrested. Thus, he cautioned that they leave England.<br> Adrian was a Colonel in the New Model Army whose regiment mutinied against service in Ireland 1649. Appointed governor of Bristol Castle, then served in Scotland under Monck. At the Restoration, the House of Commons voted to pardon him under the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, but the house of Lords demanded that he be brought to trial. He was condemned to death when Richard Browne, A former Major-General testified that Scrope had justified Charles I's execution to him even after Charles II's return.<br>Occupied the Scrope Mansion at Wormsley, Oxfordshire England<br>Adrian Scroope, Soldier, Regicide, d.1660<br>Colonel in the New Model Army whose regiment mutinied against service in Ireland in 1649. After sitting as a commissioner on the High Court of Justice and signing the King's death warrant, Scroope was appointed governor of Bristol Castle, then served in Scotland under Monck. At the Restoration, the House of Commons voted to pardon him under the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, but the House of Lords demanded that he be brought to trial. He was condemned to death when Richard Browne, a former Major-General, testified that Scroope had justified Charles I's execution to him even after Charles II's return<br>Before the English had a chance to restore the monarchy, Virginia would restore its own ousted leaders. In the case of Virginia, this change was not so much caused by a rebellion as much as the fact that Governor Mathews died in January 1660. In March, the General Assembly appointed William Berkeley as governor once again.<br>Berkeley had been given a difficult time during Cromwell's rule, mostly because Berkeley was openly anti-Puritan and annoyed them every chance he got. His successors, Bennett, Digges and Mathews, were Puritans and were probably all recommended by Parliament or Cromwell. Suddenly, being non-Puritan was "in" again, so the Assembly put Berkeley back in charge of the colony.<br>1660, Mar. 23.Sir William Berkeley, elected Governor by the General Assembly. But on March 9, 1659-60, Sir William Berkeley, as Governor, and his Council, appointed a sheriff for Lower Norfolk County. This was four days before his election by the Assembly, so there may be some truth in the old account that he was first made Governor by a popular uprising. His commission from the King was dated July 31, 1660.<br>The return of Berkeley was the beginning of a reaction which concentrated authority, both in the House of Burgesses and in the Council, in the hands of the older families, and thus created a 'privileged class. The governor, supported by the great families, retained the same House of Burgesses for sixteen years lest a new one might not be submissive.<br>In London, General Monck restored the Presbyterian members to Parliament that had been I~icked out during Pride's Purge. Charles II took the throne of England in May. The fashion-conscious 'of the era (or maybe it was the silk salesmen) noted that his coronation robes were made of silk from Gloucester Co., Virginia.<br>So England has now come full circle. We're back 'to the same basic King Parliament House of Lords Political set-up that was happening when James I took the throne, with many of the same members of Parliament from Charles I's reign. The Catholics are still not getting a break, though.<br>And neither is anyone who signed King Charles's death warrant, which instantly became a list of people who should run away and hide because they are now guilty of treason.<br>the UK devoted to the British civil wars provides a complete list of the 59 signers (in the order they signed) and small biographies of each. We won't go into that much detail, but these guys are all someone's ancestors.<br>Category 1 --Already dead but they dug 'em up and kicked them around a little anyway.<br>(Signer No.1) John Bradshaw<br>President of the High Court of Justice, Bradshaw presided over the King's trial and pronounced the sentence of death. Bradshaw died in October 1659 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His body was exhumed after the Restoration and hung in chains at Tyburn.<br>Charles II in Coronation robes by Wright<br>The Royal Collection ~ 2001, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II<br>(Signer 3) Oliver Cromwell --Buried in Westminster Abbey, but on January 30, 1661, the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, his body was dug back up and taken by sledge to Tyburn.. The corpse was hanged from the gallows for a day and at evening the body was buried beneath the gibbet. The head was taken to Westminster Hall and hung on a pike. It remained on public display for more than 20 years before someone finally removed it.<br> (14) Thomas Pride --We've met this guy earlier in the "Pride's Purge" portion of the story. Bought Henry VIII's palace of Non such during the Protectorate and was buried there when he died in 1658. After the Restoration, Pride's body was ordered to be exhumed and defiled.<br>,(32) Sir William Constable --Purchased a baronetcy from James I and married a daughter of the first Lord Fairfax. Fell into debt during the 1630s and was obliged to sell his estate to the Royalist Sir Marmaduke Langdale --which he recovered after the Civil Wars. When he died in 1655, he ,received a state funeral and was buried in Westminster Abbey. At the Restoration, his body was exhumed and flung into a common burial pit.<br>Category 2 --Already dead and not dug back up (16 names)<br>.(Signer 2) Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby --Stood beside Colonel Pride during Pride's Purge, identifying the MPs who were to be excluded as they tried to enter the House. But his sympathies for the Levellers alienated him from Cromwell. Arrested on suspicion of plotting against the LP and imprisoned at Windsor Castle, where he died in 1657<br>.(7) Sir John Danvers --Died in 1655.<br> .(9) Henry Ireton --Cromwell's right-hand man in his dealings with the Levellers and a leading architect of the King's trial and execution. Died in 1651<br>.(10) Sir Thomas Mauleverer --Raised two regiments of foot and a troop of horse for Parliament out of his own pocket, for which he claimed £15,000 reimbursement. Arraigned several times before Parliament for pillaging his neighbors. Died in 1655.<br>.(11) John Blakiston --MP and Mayor of Newcastle, an extreme anti-Episcopalian. Died in 1649.<br>.(19) Sir Peregrine Pelham --Mayor of the city of Hull. Staunch supporter of Cromwell. Died 1650.<br>.(20) Richard Deane --Commanded Parliament's artillery at Naseby. Killed in action during the first Anglo-Dutch war.<br>.(22) Humphrey Edwards --Lawyer of Gray's Inn. Attended King Charles in his attempt to arrest the Five Members 1642, then changed sides. Profited from the sale of church lands in Wales during the Commonwealth. Died 1658.<br>.(25) William Purefoy --Died 1659.<br>.(36) Isaac Ewer --Was responsible for removing King Charles from Carisbrooke to Hurst Castle on the way to his trial. Served on Cromwell's expedition to Ireland, where he died of fever in 1650.<br>.(40) Thomas Horton --Falconer to Sir Arthur Haselrig who rose to the rank of colonel in the New Model Army. Died on Cromwell's Irish campaign 1650, leaving Cromwell his horse called "Haselrig" in his will.<br>.(42) John Moore --MP for Liverpool in the Long Parliament who became a colonel in Parliament's armies during the Civil Wars. Lost Liverpool to Prince Rupert in 1644, but was appointed governor of the city when Parliament re-took it. Moore supported Pride's Purge and organized security arrangements at the King's trial. Fought in Ireland against the Marquis of Ormond 1649, then appointed governor of Dublin. Died of fever in Ireland 1650.<br>.(46) John Alured (Aldred) 1607-51 --MP for Hedon, Yorkshire, in the Short and Long Parliaments. Served under Sir Thomas Fairfax during the Civil Wars. A patron of the poet Andrew Marvell. Died 1651.<br>.(49) Anthony Stapley --Puritan Justice of the Peace in Sussex, active in resisting<br>Archbishop Laud's reform of the Church prior to the Civil Wars. Died in 1655.<br>.(50) Sir Gregory Norton --Recruiter MP during the Rump Parliament who profited from confiscated Royalist estates and properties. Died before the Restoration.<br>.(53) John Venn --Warden of the Company of Merchant Taylors in London and a staunch Presbyterian. Active in mobilizing apprentice riots against the King and in organizing petitions sent down from the City. Said to have committed suicide in 1650.<br>Okay, that's 20 people from the list that were already dead when Charles II came into power. That narrows us down to 39 people who are still in deep trouble. Half of that number were dealt with almost immediately.<br>Category 3 -Gave Up Without Much ora Fight (20 names)<br>.(8) Sir John Bourchier --Nominated to the High Court of Justice, he rarely attended the King's trial but signed the death warrant. Too ill to be brought to trial at the Restoration, he died unrepentant in 1660.<br>.(15) Peter Temple --High Sheriff of Leicestershire, active in suppressing Baptists. Surrendered himself at the Restoration, so his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in the Tower, where he died c.1663.<br>.(16) Thomas Harrison --A leader of the fanatical Fifth Monarchists and an unrepentant Regicide. Died in 1660.<br>.(18) Henry Smith --Brought to trial at the Restoration, he pleaded youthful ignorance and "bad influence". Imprisoned in the Tower, he was released before his death in 1668.<br>.(21) Robert Tichborne --Anny colonel appointed to the committee responsible for organizing the King's trial. Later knighted by Cromwell. Brought to trial at the Restoration and imprisoned for life.<br>.(24) Owen Rowe --London merchant. Appointed lieutenant-colonel in charge of the arms and ammunition magazine at the Tower of London, with responsibility for supplying weapons for the Parliamentary armies. An old man at the Restoration, he was spared the death penalty and imprisoned in the Tower where he died 1661.<br>.(27) James Temple --Sentenced to life imprisonment on Jersey.<br>.(28) Augustine Garland --London attorney who became involved in drafting the ordinance that constituted the High Court of Justice. It was Garland who proposed to Parliament that Cromwell should be offered the Crown. Arrested at the Restoration and sentenced to be transported to Tangier.<br>.(30) Henry Marten --Known both for his radical republican views and for his witty quips and jokes. Played a leading role in the King's trial, helping to draft the charges against him. Marten and Cromwell famously flicked ink at one another during the signing of the King's death warrant. Marten was a good-humored man, whose kindness to Royalists during the Commonwealth years probably helped save him from a death sentence. Imprisoned at Chepstow Castle until his death in 1680.<br>.(31) Vincent Potter --Anny commissioner in Warwickshire with responsibility for provisioning Cromwell's campaigns in Scotland and Ireland. Condemned to death at the Restoration, but the sentence was never carried out. Died in prison, date unknown.<br>.(39) Simon Mayne --Cromwell's cousin by marriage. Inherited estates in Buckinghamshire and ran the County Committee during the wars. Surrendered at the Restoration and died in the Tower, 1662.<br>.(41) John Jones --Married Cromwell's sister Catherine, but remained a staunch republican. Made no attempt to escape at the Restoration and was hung, drawn and quartered, conducting himself bravely at his execution.<br>.(43) Sir Hardress Waller 1604-66 --Knighted by Charles I at the beginning of his reign. A Protestant landowner in Ireland, he was ruined by the Irish Uprising of 1641 and sided with Parliament because he regarded the King as pro-Catholic. Became governor of Cork and campaigned against the Irish in Munster. Worked with Colonel Pride at the purging of Parliament and took part in the arrangements for the King's execution. Fled to France, then decided to surrender himself. Though condemned, his cousin Sir William Waller interceded for him, and the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on Jersey.<br>.(44) Thomas Millington --Nottinghamshire lawyer. Sentenced to life imprisonment on<br>Jersey.<br>.(45) George Fleetwood --A relative of Major-General Charles Fleetwood. Under the Commonwealth he served as an "Ejector" of Anglican clergy and as a Visitor to purge the university of Oxford. In May 1660, Fleetwood supported the mayor of York in proclaiming Charles II. Brought to trial as a regicide, his life was spared. Imprisoned in the Tower until 1664 then transported to Tangier where he died 1672.<br>.(47) Robert Lilburne --Elder brother of the Leveller leader John Lilbume , a Baptist and opponent of the Presbyterians. Lilbume pleaded for mercy, confessing his sense of guilt and claiming that he would have saved the King's life if he could. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound.<br>.(55) John Downes --Barrister of the Inner Temple and MP for Arundel, Sussex. During the King's trial, he was moved by the King's words and rose to protest, "Have we hearts of stone?" for which he was furiously rebuked by Cromwell, though he later served on the Council of State. He was arrested at the Restoration and condemned to death, then reprieved because of his defence that Cromwell had intimidated him into signing the death warrant against his better judgement. Spent the rest of his life a prisoner in the Tower.<br>.(56) Thomas Waite --Leicestershire lawyer who profited from the sale of the Duke of Buckingham's lands under the Commonwealth. Arrested at the Restoration and pleaded that he had been forced by Cromwell and Ireton to sit on the High Court of Justice. Sentenced to life imprisonment on Jersey.<br>.(57) Thomas Scot --Recruiter MP for Ayelsbury from 1645. An enthusiastic republican and supporter of the King's execution. Became involved in building Cromwell's spying and intelligence network that was later directed by John Thurloe. He opposed Cromwell as Protector and helped to unseat his heir Richard in 1659. Fled to Brussels, but was persuaded to turn himself in and return for trial in England. He was sentenced to death and died unrepentant "in a cause not to be repented of."<br>.(58) John Carew --One of the commissioners sent to receive the King at Holdenby.<br>Opposed Cromwell's elevation as Protector and was imprisoned twice during the Protectorate. At the Restoration, the Commons voted to exclude him from the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion by 80 votes to 70. He made no attempt to escape and was sentenced to death.<br>Category 4 --Ran Away, Got Caught, Got Dead<br>.(5) Sir Michael Livesey --Sided with Parliament during the Civil Wars and was pronounced a traitor by King Charles in 1642. Accused of running away at the battle of Cheriton, he quarrelled with Sir William Waller. Denounced at the Restoration, he fled to Holland where he was attacked and killed in 1660.<br>.(6) John Okey --Fled to Holland at the Restoration but was extradited by George Downing and hung, drawn and quartered with John Barkstead and Miles Corbet.<br>.(35) John Barkstead --One of the hard core of Army officers on the High Court of Justice. Fled to Germany at the Restoration where he was welcomed and given the freedom of the Lutheran city of Hanau. However, when he crossed into Holland to meet his wife, he was arrested by George Downing, returned to England and executed.<br>.(54) Gregory Clement --During the Commonwealth, his signature was struck from the King's death warrant and he was suspended from Parliament after he was discovered in bed with a maidservant. Went into hiding at the Restoration but was discovered and condemned to death.<br>.(59) Miles Corbet --Served on Parliament's Committee for Ejecting Scandalous Ministers. Fled to Holland at the Restoration but was extradited by George Downing. Hung, drawn and quartered along with John Barkstead and John Okey.<br>Category 5 --Special Cases<br>.(12) John Hutchinson --When brought to trial after the Restoration, he pleaded for mercy and was pardoned, probably through the intercession of his wife's Royalist relations and of his cousins the Byrons. However, he was arrested in 1663 on suspicion of plotting against the government and imprisoned in Sandown Castle, where he died the following year.<br>.(26) Adrian Scroope --Colonel in the New Model Army whose regiment mutinied against service in Ireland in 1649. Served in Scotland under Monck. The House of Commons voted to pardon him under the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, but the House of Lords demanded that he be brought to trial. He was condemned to death when Richard Browne, a former Major-General, testified that Scroope had justified Charles I's execution to him even after Charles II's return.<br>.(33) Richard Ingoldsby --Cromwell's cousin and a colonel in the New Model Anny. Sat on the High Court of Justice but later claimed that Cromwell had physically forced him to sign the King's death warrant. After Cromwell's death in 1659, he appealed to Charles II for a pardon, then sided with Monck. Ingoldsby suppressed Lambert's last attempt at resistance to the Restoration and arrested Lambert himself, for which he was knighted by Charles II.<br>Category 6 --Made a Clean Getaway (11 names)<br>(4) Edmund Whalley --Had charge of King Charles during his imprisonment at Hampton Court. Fled to New England and, although pursued by Royalist agents, survived there until at least 1674.<br>.(13) William Goffe --Anny officer nicknamed "Praying William" from his claim that he prayed for Cromwell "without ceasing". Escaped to New England. Died around 1680<br>.(17) John Hewson (Hughson) d.c.1662 --One-eyed Anny colonel who was given the task of finding an executioner to behead the King. Fled to Holland where he died about 1662. <br>.(23) Daniel Blagrave --Nephew of the Elizabethan mathematician John Blagrave. Governor of Reading during the Protectorate and an active member of the Committee for the Ejection of Scandalous Ministers. Escaped to Aachen, Germany.<br>.(29) Edmund Ludlow --Active in organizing Pride's Purge and the King's trial. Appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland after the death of Henry Ireton. Escaped to France and then to Switzerland. Returned to England in 1688, but went back to Switzerland where he died in 1692.<br>.(34) William Cawley --One of the commissioners responsible for the destruction of religious pictures and monuments in London and an "enthusiastic" member of the High Court of Justice. Escaped to Switzerland where he died in 1667.<br>.(37) John Dixwell-- Escaped to New England where he died in 1689.<br>.(38) Valentine Wauton (Walton) --Cromwell's brother-in-law. Raised a troop of horse for Parliament and fought at Edgehill where he was taken prisoner, later exchanged. Fled abroad at the Restoration.<br>.(48) William Say --Acquired the sequestered estates of Lord Abergavenny during the Civil Wars. Acted as temporary president of the High Court of Justice before the arrival of John Bradshaw and assisted him during the trial. Drafted the King's death warrant and reported the proceedings to Parliament. Escaped to Holland.<br>.(51) Thomas Challoner --MP for Richmond, Yorkshire, in the Long Parliament and a witness at the trial of Archbishop Laud. Associated with Henry Marten politically. Challoner had a reputation as a wit and womanizer; he was publicly denounced by Cromwell as a "drunkard" in 1653. Escaped to the continent and died at Middelburg in 1661.<br>.(52) Thomas Wogan --Appointed governor of Aberystwyth Castle by Cromwell. Surrendered at the Restoration and was held at York Castle until 1664 when he escaped to Holland. Last heard of at Utrecht in 1666.<br>So let's review. We've got four dead bodies dug up and defiled, 12 life sentences (and another one that would have been a life sentence if he would have stayed in the Tower just a little longer), two were shipped off to Tangier, and 9 executions took place (10 if you count the guy that got killed in Holland). Of the only two men that were pardoned, one of them managed to get arrested again later and died in prison.<br>Only 11 men on the list managed to escape. Three went to New England, three to Holland, the rest [(0 various points in Europe.<br>This messy business out of the way, Charles II officially appoints William Berkeley as Governor of Virginia in July and gives him the authority to select his own Council.<br>The Grand Assembly also limited the number of Burgesses to two from each county. On April 30, 1661, Governor Berkeley sailed for London. In his absence, Frances Moryson serves as acting governor.</p><p>Colonel Adrian Scroop, b. 1601,. of the great House of Scroop, which could trace their lineage back to the Conquest, if not to Edward the Confessor, was an indirect descendant of the noble family of Scroop, barons of Bolton. He was a direct descendant of the family In Bucklnghamshire, the head of which was ennobled. He himself occupied the Scroop mansion at Wormsley, Oxfordshire, England. Scroop was prominent under Cromwell in the Great Rebellion; fought at Edgehill and other battles, was Governor of Bristol Castle, a Commissioner to Scotland, and was appointed one of the High Court of Justice which condemned Charles the First to be beheaded. He attended that<br>Court with exemplary regularity, sat close to Bradshaw, the President, was 37th to sign the death warrant on Jan. 27, 1648. During the political revolutions of 1659-60, he apparently remained neutral and had some prospect of escape at the Restoration of Charles the Second. He surrendered himself in obedience to the King's proclamation; the House of Commons voted he should have the benefit of the Act of Indemnity on payment of one year's rent, but the House of Lords ordered all of The king's judges to be arrested and excepted Scroop absolutely from pardon. Later, the Commons reiterated their vote in Scroop's favour, but the Lords remained firm.<br>Taken altogether, this was an inexcusable breach of faith, as Scroop had surrendered in reliance upon the King's proclamation. At his Trial, held at Old Bailey, Oct. 12, 1660, Scroop defended himself with dignity and moderation. He admitted, reluctantly, that he had signed the death warrant of Charles the First. Pleaded that "he was not in the parliament, and that which was done in the high court of justice, it was done by a commission from the parliament, and it was that authority that was then accounted the supreme authority of the nation." Answering this plea, the presiding judge gave an exposition of the British Constitution, showed that the so-called Parliament which had appointed the High Court of Justice was not only unconstitutional but unrepresentative, for "there was but forty-six sat, whereas there were above two hundred and forty excluded," and said: "When men shall assume an authority never heard of before, if men will countenance their acts by obeying them, it is an aggravation." Scroop then pleaded: "If I have been misled, I am not a single person that has been misled, for I see a great many faces that were misled at that time as well as myself," and "I hope that an error of the judgment shall not be accounted an error of the will, for I never went to the work with a malicious heart," to which Lord Chief Barron relied: "If a man do an act of this nature, that may be some kind of excuse to God, but towards man you are to look to the fact." Scroop then reminded the Court that he had surrendered himself on the King's proclamation, but Richard Browne, lord mayor elect of London, in whom "there was great meanness, if not worse," certainly a renegade, for he had been formerly a major-general in the parliamentary army and a kind of a friend of Scroop's, now anxious to prove his loyalty to the new regime, swore that since the restoration of Charles the Second, Scroop had used words apparently justifying the late King's execution and had not pronounced it murder, saying "some are of one opinion, and some of another," and this evidence, which also led to the abandonment of Scroop by the Commons, sealed his fate and he was executed at Charing Cross on Oct. 17, 1660. The Chief Justice, who treated Scroop with great civility and was as just as could be expected at the time, stated: "Mr. Scroop to give him his due is not such a person as some of the rest, but he was unhappily engaged in this bloody business." Noble in his "Lives of the Regicides," states: "It was a thousand pities that if so many were to die as public examples, some of the others who were equally guilty of the King's death, and whose lives were a disgrace to any cause, were not substituted in his stead." </p>