In mid-afternoon on the 30th of January, 1649, Charles Stuart, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, stepped out of a window on the second floor of the Banqueting House in London onto a platform erected within the yard of the Palace of Westminster. He had spent the morning in prayer. Now he gave a brief speech to those in close attendance. He began by asserting his innocence, and he asked God's forgiveness for those responsible for his trial and condemnation. He attested his desire for the “liberty and freedom” of his countrymen, which consisted, he said, “in having of government, those laws by which their life and their goods may be most their own.” He denied that the people had a rightful “share in government.” That, he argued, “is nothing pertaining to them,” for “a subject and a sovereign are clear different things.” These remarks he concluded with a confession, confirming that he died a Christian according to the profession of the Church of England as he had found it left him by his father. “I go,” he observed, “from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be, no disturbance in the world.” Then, and only then, as a deep groan issued from the otherwise silent crowd below, did he surrender his head to the executioner's axe.